Brazil

• 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.

• Tuesday, June 28th 2011 - 18:08 UTC

  Brazilian boom full of ambition and consumers, but also has a downside

  

  House prices in some parts of Rio are up nearly 80% in the past year,” says Ronaldo Coelho Netto, an estate agent in Rio de Janeiro, looking up at a new development near the city centre.

• Tuesday, June 28th 2011 - 16:26 UTC

  Japan interested in closer links with Mercosur attends summit in Paraguay

  

  Japan is attending the Mercosur summit in Paraguay with an eye on proposing the launch of a dialogue to boost bilateral economic relations and explore the possibility of signing a free trade agreement, reports the Japanese news agency Kyodo.

• Tuesday, June 28th 2011 - 06:37 UTC

  Brazil strikes natural gas onshore in the northeast of the country

  

  Brazil’s state-controlled oil company Petrobras discovered natural gas in an onshore field near an area where Brazil plans to auction exploration licenses later this year.

• Tuesday, June 28th 2011 - 06:34 UTC

  South Brazil freezing: temperatures below zero force closure of schools

  

  Several cities in the south of Brazil recorded on Monday temperatures below zero Centigrade which caused the death of a man and forced the closure of schools, according to official reports.