Brazil

Sunday, January 11th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Brazil's capital readies for the fiftieth anniversary in 2010

Brazil's greatest living architect Oscar Niemeyer has presented the blueprint for a new project, “The Sovereignty Plaza” to be built next to the Ministries esplanade in Brasilia. The official opening is scheduled for April 21st, 2010 when the capital city he designed will be celebrating half a century.
Friday, January 9th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Brazil plans internet access for 26% of the population

Brazil has 43 million Internet users, according to Ibope/NetRatings statistics for the year 2008 published in the business daily Valor. The number of cybernauts could be even greater since the statistics included only people over 16 with Web access from home, workplaces, schools, libraries and Internet cafes, the newspaper said.
Friday, January 9th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Plan to encircle Rio's favelas triggers controversy

Plans to surround a Rio de Janeiro favela (slum) with a 650-metre-long concrete barrier have come under fire from environmentalists, human rights activists and residents who describe it as “discriminatory” and in the best “Gaza wall” style.
Friday, January 9th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Brazil in “technical recession”; industrial output down 6.2%

Yet another bank cut the 2009 economic growth forecast for Brazil: JPMorgan Chase & Co. downed Latinamerica's largest economy expansion estimate for this year from 2% to 1.5%, as global recession takes its toll on industrial production and business confidence.
Thursday, January 8th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Brazil expects lower corn and soy crop because of drought

Brazil's crops of corn and soybean has been downgraded from previous forecasts because of the persistent drought in the southern states, said on Thursday the country's Ministry of Agriculture.
Tuesday, January 6th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Five Brazilian banks concentrate 65% of financial assets

The share of total assets held by Brazil's five largest banks rose to 65.72% at the close of 2008, up more than 13 percentage points from the end of the previous year, according to Central bank figures quoted by financial and business daily Valor.
Monday, January 5th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Brazil beefs up troops and forts to protect Amazon forest

Brazil plans to double the number of troops along the borders of its vast Amazon rain forest area in the framework of the “Protecting Amazon” project, reported O Estado de Sao Paulo” this weekend.
Monday, January 5th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Yellow fever re-emerges in triple border area

Dead monkeys have been found in the jungle of northeast Argentina, next to Brazil and Paraguay, probably caused by yellow fever, according to local sanitary authorities. The discovery follows the confirmed yellow fever deaths of two jungle workers in the neighbouring province of Misiones.
Saturday, January 3rd 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Brazil's 2008 trade surplus still strong but drops 38%

In spite of a record year of exports, Brazil's 2008 trade surplus reached 24.7 billion US dollars which is a significant 38% descent compared to the previous year when it totalled more than 40 billion US dollars.
Thursday, January 1st 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Brazil embraces spelling reforms

Brazilians start 2009 facing the task of learning new spelling rules that have just come into effect.