Brazil

• Monday, February 7th 2011 - 14:06 UTC

  Rio do Janeiro police take hold of favelas in early operation with no shots fired

  

  Rio do Janeiro police with the support of the Navy, other security agencies and armoured personnel vehicles in an flash operation on Sunday occupied nine “favelas,” or shantytowns dominated by drug gangs and did so “without a single shot,” officials said.

• Sunday, February 6th 2011 - 21:29 UTC

  Brazil and UK ready to sign huge defence contract, say media reports

  

  Brazil with a defence market described as “one of the fastest growing in the world” will be signing a defence agreement with the UK which should open the way for a deal worth “billions of dollars”, according to reports in the Brazilian and UK media.

• Sunday, February 6th 2011 - 21:02 UTC

  Geithner visits Brazil to discuss economic and financial cooperation

  

  United States Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will visit Monday Brazil to discuss economic cooperation. Geithner is scheduled to return on the same day.

• Sunday, February 6th 2011 - 20:43 UTC

  Droughts could turn Amazon basin from greenhouse gas eater to source of gases

  

  A long-lasting drought that affected the Amazon Rain Forest last year was worse than the once-in-a-lifetime drought that the region suffered in 2005, and a team of British and Brazilian scientists say it may have a bigger impact on global warming than the US does in a year.

• Friday, February 4th 2011 - 23:29 UTC

  Armoured helicopter to combat organized crime in Rio do Janeiro

  

  The Brazilian city of Rio do Janeiro, host of the Olympic Games in 2016 presented on Friday its new weapon to combat organized crime and drug dealers that have control over urban shanty towns: an armoured US manufactured Bell Huey II helicopter which can transport 13 troops and two crew members.

• Friday, February 4th 2011 - 22:28 UTC

  Brazil preparing package to counter surging imports rapidly eroding trade surplus

  

  Brazil’s trade surplus fell more than economists expected in January from a month earlier as exports declined at a faster pace than imports. The surplus narrowed to 424 million USD last month from 5.37 billion in December, said the Trade Ministry.

• Friday, February 4th 2011 - 22:22 UTC

  Brazil’s industrial output fell in December for second month running

  

  Brazil’s industrial output unexpectedly fell for a second straight month in December. Output in December fell 0.7% from November after a 0.2% decline in the previous month, the national statistics agency IBGE said this week.

• Friday, February 4th 2011 - 21:21 UTC

  Rousseff and Obama to discuss ways to counteract China’s undervalued Yuan

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will discuss with her U.S. counterpart Barack Obama ways to counteract the threat posed by an undervalued Yuan and cheap imports from China, a Brazilian official said.

• Friday, February 4th 2011 - 21:11 UTC

  Massive blackout in Brazil exposes vulnerability of energy infrastructure

  

  A widespread blackout hit at eight states in Brazil's northeast Friday exposing energy infrastructure vulnerabilities of the nation that will host an Olympics and a World Cup.

• Thursday, February 3rd 2011 - 22:17 UTC

  Brazil to provide free medicines for high blood pressure and diabetes

  

  Brazil is to provide free medicines for everyone suffering from high blood pressure or diabetes. The drugs will be distributed as of next month through a nationwide network of budget pharmacies, where many medicines are already heavily subsidised.