Brazil

• Friday, October 15th 2010 - 06:15 UTC

  Serra closes in as presidential debate moves to abortion away from the economy

  

  Brazilian opposition presidential candidate Jose Serra seems to be successfully targeting religious voters as he closes the 14 percentage points of the first round ahead of the runoff at the end of October.

• Thursday, October 14th 2010 - 06:09 UTC

  Catholic Church claims candidate Rousseff ‘deceiving voters’ on abortion

  

  The Catholic Church has actively joined the Brazilian presidential campaign. Conservative Archbishop Aldo Pagotto of Paraiba accused Brazil’s Workers' Party of “misinformation and manipulation of consciences” in an effort to win the upcoming presidential run-off election, slated for Oct. 31.

• Thursday, October 14th 2010 - 06:08 UTC

  Brazil to auction patches of Amazon forest to held combat illegal logging

  

  Brazilian Government is to auction one million hectares of Amazon forest in an attempt to reduce the demand for illegal logging.

• Wednesday, October 13th 2010 - 07:20 UTC

  Brazil insists an agreement must be reached to end the “currency war”

  

  Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega insisted while in Washington on the need of the international community to “coordinate” and “reach some kind of agreement” during the next G20 summit in order to put an end to the “currency war” that puts world recovery in danger.

• Tuesday, October 12th 2010 - 19:29 UTC

  UK wants to sell Brazil 11 naval bases, but is a late starter behind France and Italy

  

  Britain is ramping up efforts to sell about 11 new naval vessels, including frigates, to the Brazilian Navy in a bid to catch up with marketing efforts launched by France and Italy, according to a recent article from DefenseNews.

• Tuesday, October 12th 2010 - 07:00 UTC

  Brazilian economy larger than Italy’s next year, according to IMF estimates

  

  Brazil's economy will likely be larger than that of Italy next year, according to the latest data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

• Tuesday, October 12th 2010 - 00:48 UTC

  Brazilian auto production up but exports threatened by the strong Real

  

  Automobile production in Brazil is forecasted to grow 13.1% this year, more than the 6.5% expansion predicted previously according to the national automakers' association Anfavea. Output will probably end the year at 3.62 million units, Anfavea said.

• Saturday, October 9th 2010 - 00:38 UTC

  Abortion becomes an issue in the Brazilian presidential run-off

  

  Brazil’s ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff is playing up her Roman Catholic background in efforts to win back religious voters, whose doubts about her faith and position on abortion rights may have cost her an outright victory in Sunday’s presidential election.

• Friday, October 8th 2010 - 00:12 UTC

  Brazil forecasts crop will reach a record 148.9 million tons in 2010 farm year

  

  Brazil forecasts a record crop of cereals and oilseeds totalling 148.9 million tons, the largest ever, according to the latest release from the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute, IBGE.

• Wednesday, October 6th 2010 - 22:47 UTC

  GM cultivation totalled 134 million hectares in 2009; 77% soybeans, 49% cotton

  

  The cultivation of genetically modified plants increased globally in 2009 with the field area rising by nine million hectares over 2008 to a total of 134 million.