
Brazil’s Embraer, the world's biggest maker of regional aircraft, chose International Aero Engines as engine supplier for its military transport plane KC-390, signalling that the company is moving ahead in its venture into defence within schedule.

Former president Lula da Silva described as ‘nonsense’ the biblical statement that the poor will be “blessed with treasure in heaven” and strongly supported the policies of his government (2003/2010) which helped millions in Brazil lift from poverty.

The Brazilian Executive is “playing with fire” in the way it addresses relations with other partners of the ruling coalition warned the Party of the Republic (PR) which is threatening to join the opposition conditioning the government’s majority in Congress.

Most Brazilians feel that race and skin colour have great influence in labour relations and in the way they are treated by police and the judiciary, according to a report from the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute, IBGE.

The upcoming World Cup soccer tournament and Summer Olympics in Brazil should be harnessed to deliver a “positive social legacy” for the South American country and beyond, the United Nations envoy for sports and peace has said.

Brazil’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest since January in spite of efforts by policy makers to cool growth and inflation in Latin America’s biggest economy. The jobless rate fell to 6.2% in June, from 6.4% in May and 7% a year earlier, the national statistics agency said in a report distributed in Rio de Janeiro.

Swedish truck-maker Scania controlled by Germany’s Volkswagen, reported second-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates as orders in Brazil slowed. Net income in the quarter rose to 2.43 billion kronor (380 million USD) from 2.37 billion kronor a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Brazil’s central bank announced late Wednesday the fifth straight increase in its benchmark Selic rate by a quarter points to 12.5%, a decision much anticipated by the market and geared to combat high inflation, which is running at a six-year high, 6.75% above the government’s upper target of 6.5%.

After growing 20% annually over the past ten years and reaching a level of 800,000 tourists annually, the pace of cruise expansion in Brazil is expected to encounter a sharp slowdown in the 2011-2012 season.

Former Brazilian leader Lula da Silva said President Dilma Rousseff managed the latest political crisis in the cabinet ‘correctly’ and is proving she has the capacity to lead “in this and in all situations”.