Brazil

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:39 UTC

  First shipment of New Zealand lamb to Brazil, a market of “great potential”

  

  New Zealand's first branded lamb shipment to Brazil is scheduled to arrive at the port of Santos in the middle of next month and be available at 120 stores in Sao Paulo and to diners in restaurants and hotels throughout the country.

• Friday, August 17th 2012 - 17:34 UTC

  Brazilian new middle class pay their bills and like to keep their names clean

  

  Brazil National Confederation of Store Managers, CNLD, and the Credit Protection Service, SPC, report that payment delinquency was down 5.6% in July. At the same time the two organizations revealed that over the last five years indebtedness in Brazil has risen 20% annually.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 04:40 UTC

  Brazilian president riding high in approval ratings despite economic slowdown

  

  President Dilma Rousseff continues to enjoy high approval ratings as Brazilians remain mostly unaffected by the country's recent economic slowdown, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 04:31 UTC

  Supreme Tribunal rejects request to include Lula da Silva in the corruption scheme

  

  Brazil Federal Supreme Tribunal denied on Wednesday a request to include former president Lula da Silva in the so-called “trial of the century” involving 38 former ministers and lawmakers accused of an extended bribes scheme.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 01:38 UTC

  Brazil invites private sector to invest in new highways and railways plan

  

  Brazil's government unveiled on Wednesday measures to lure up to 133 billion Reais (66 billion dollars) in private investment for new roads and railways needed to unclog the country's transportation bottlenecks.

• Wednesday, August 15th 2012 - 09:43 UTC

  Unasur ratifies sanctions; Paraguay president more concerned with OAS position

  

  Unasur ratified on Tuesday Paraguay’s suspension from the block at a meeting of the so called High Level Group in Lima, Peru which assessed the situation of the landlocked country.

• Wednesday, August 15th 2012 - 08:54 UTC

  Brazilian court listens to natives claims and suspends work on Belo Monte dam

  

  A Brazilian federal court has ordered the immediate suspension of work on the controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric plant, ruling that indigenous communities were not consulted. It was set to be the world's third-largest dam.

• Wednesday, August 15th 2012 - 08:46 UTC

  Brazilian state plans cattle traceability system with ear-tags and chips

  

  The Government of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul is planning to invest about 25 million dollars in restructuring animal health protection in the state and electronically identifying every beast in its 13 million cattle herd, in a project designed to provide a full traceability system.

• Tuesday, August 14th 2012 - 23:38 UTC

  Mercosur farmers plan to sow record soybean area; stocks drop to half from a year ago

  

  Mercosur farmers in Brazil and Argentina are forecast to plant more soybeans for harvesting this season in response to higher prices, at the expense of wheat and corn sowing, according to Oil World. Paraguay and Uruguay Agriculture ministries have also anticipated an increase in the soybeans planted areas.

• Tuesday, August 14th 2012 - 23:23 UTC

  Petrobras says it struck light oil in deep waters offshore Sao Paulo state

  

  Brazil's state-managed energy giant Petrobras confirmed the presence of significant quantities of light oil in deep waters off the country's south-eastern coast. Petrobras said in a statement released late Monday that the high-grade oil was in the Carcara well, located 230 kilometres off the coast of the Sao Paulo state, in the BM-S-8 block.