Brazil

• Monday, July 4th 2011 - 04:32 UTC

  Brazilian government conditions support for major retail chain merger

  

  BNDES bank will not put up the 2.4 billion US dollars it pledged for the merger of Brazil's biggest retailers, Grupo Pao de Acucar and France's Carrefour, unless France’s Casino is on board, bank president Luciano Coutinho said in a local magazine.

• Monday, July 4th 2011 - 04:23 UTC

  Brazilian Transport ministry suspends four top officials on corruption claims

  

  Four of the top officials in Brazil's Transportation Ministry have been temporarily suspended from their posts after a magazine reported on fraud they allegedly committed in several bidding contests on public works.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 06:52 UTC

  British Gas doubles oil estimates off the coast of Brazil to 8 million boe

  

  Reserve estimates in the Santos Basin off the coast of Brazil have an upside potential of 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent, an energy company in London said.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 06:46 UTC

  Desforestation in Brazil doubles, in anticipation of an amnesty for illegal logging

  

  Deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon, the world’s biggest rain forest, more than doubled last month as farmers become more confident they’ll be granted amnesty for illegal logging.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 03:14 UTC

  Brazil exceeds primary budget surplus target and keeps net debt under control

  

  Brazil’s primary budget surplus exceeded expectations in May, providing additional support for the central bank in its efforts to cool the fastest inflation since 2005. The bank also revealed that net debt for May was 39.8% of GDP.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 02:03 UTC

  Brazilian judge approves first gay marriage in the country

  

  A Brazilian judge approved what is considered to be the country’s first gay marriage. Sao Paulo state Judge Fernando Henrique Pinto ruled on Wednesday two men could convert their civil union into a full marriage.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 01:48 UTC

  Brazil and Japan allege over 100 countries support UN Security Council reform

  

  Foreign Affairs ministers from Brazil and Japan announced that over 100 nations have expressed support for a proposal to expand the United Nations Security Council.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 21:07 UTC

  French food giants battle over Brazil’s number one retailer

  

  Two French food giants are locked in a battle to take over Brazil's number one retailer, Grupo Pao de Acucar. Proposals to merge Pao de Acucar with the local operations of Carrefour are opposed by rival Casino, which already has a stake in the Brazilian group.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 06:53 UTC

  Trade problems between Brazil and Argentina ‘persist’, but can be managed

  

  Trade problems between Mercosur two main partners ‘subsist’, but both sides are optimistic that they can be solved. The revelation in the framework of the Mercosur summit follows weeks of discussions and paralyzing trade, sometimes for weeks at the borders.

• Wednesday, June 29th 2011 - 03:53 UTC

  Mercosur ‘structural convergence fund’ has distributed 1.1bn USD in 37 projects

  

  Mercosur structural convergence fund, Focem, which was created in 2005, has distributed 1.1 billion US dollars among its full members for the implementation of 37 projects basically to improve roads for inter-region and international trade, according to official figures released in Asunción.