Brazil

• Saturday, June 11th 2011 - 11:37 UTC

  Rousseff names new Congress liaison to improve ties with coalition partners

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff made the second key change of the week in her cabinet on Friday, a move aimed at improving strained ties with allies in Congress. Luiz Sergio, the minister responsible for liaising with Congress, resigned from his post,

• Saturday, June 11th 2011 - 11:00 UTC

  Palocci resigns to his post as member of Petrobras Administration Council

  

  Petrobras announced Friday in an official release that President Dilma Rousseff’s administration former chief of staff Antonio Palocci had resigned to his post in the Administration Council of the country’s oil and gas state-controlled corporation.

• Saturday, June 11th 2011 - 10:52 UTC

  Italy recalls ambassador on Brazil’s refusal to extradite four-murder terrorist

  

  Italy recalled its ambassador to Brazil on Friday after Brasilia refused to extradite a former left-wing guerrilla convicted of four murders. The decision by Brazil's Supreme Court earlier this week to uphold a government refusal to extradite Italian Cesare Battisti, allowing him to walk free, has brought relations between the two countries to a low point.

• Friday, June 10th 2011 - 15:32 UTC

  Petrobras double-strike: major discovery in US Gulf of Mexico and in Brazil

  

  Lucky week for Brazil’s Petrobras that announced major oil and gas discoveries in the US Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Spirito Santo in Brazil.

• Friday, June 10th 2011 - 03:22 UTC

  Brazil promises full cooperation to Peruvian president-elect Humala

  

  Peruvian president-elect Ollanta Humala was received on Thursday with “a wide offer of cooperation in all fields” in Brazil, the first stop in his regional-visits round following his Sunday victory.

• Friday, June 10th 2011 - 01:42 UTC

  “Dilma has the authority to sack the chief of staff and acted at the right time”

  

  Commenting this week’s resignation of Brazilian chief of staff Antonio Palocci in the midst of a political crisis that has shaken Brazil in the past few days, former president Lula da Silva said that Dilma “had the authority to fire the chief of staff and acted at the right time.”

• Thursday, June 9th 2011 - 22:48 UTC

  Brazil crop of grains and oilseeds expected to reach a record 161.5 million tons

  

  Brazil’s 2010/2011 crop of grains and oilseeds is estimated to reach 161.5 million tons, up 8.2% (8.2 million tons) over the previous farm year (149.2 million tons), according to the latest survey from the National Supplies Corporation, Conab.

• Thursday, June 9th 2011 - 22:41 UTC

  Brazil’s world’s leading chicken exporter in 2011, ahead of the United States

  

  Brazil is poised to overtake the United States for the first time ever, as the world’s leading exporter of chicken, with a third of global trade, according to the latest statistics from FAO released this week.

• Thursday, June 9th 2011 - 19:24 UTC

  Brazil hikes basic rate to 12.25% and further increases can be expected

  

  Brazil's central bank increased late Wednesday its benchmark interest rate for the fourth straight meeting after consumer prices exceeded the upper limit of its target range for the first time since 2005.

• Thursday, June 9th 2011 - 05:52 UTC

  Ousted Palocci takes his job as member of Petrobras administration council

  

  Antonio Palocci, who on Tuesday stepped down as President Dilma Rousseff’s chief of staff over questions about his personal finances, will be taking a seat at Petrobras Administration Council, confirmed Brazil’s oil giant president Sergio Gabrielli.