Brazil

• Monday, March 2nd 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Brazil: dispute over federal funds for landless peasants

  

  Brazil's cabinet Chief Dilma Rousseff said the government will continue to support financially the Landless Peasants Movement, MST, until it has been proven that the organization is using the funds for illegal actions, reported the official news agency Agencia Estado.

• Monday, March 2nd 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Central banker upbeat on Brazil's capacity to cope slowdown

  

  Brazil's economy is in a strong position to weather the financial crisis and will grow above the global average this year, Brazil's Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles said on Sunday in Portugal.

• Sunday, March 1st 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Plant closures cause turmoil in Brazilian cattle industry

  Brazil's fourth largest Brazilian exporter of beef has halted slaughtering operations at all 11 of its plants and sent workers home, local Brazilian media reports. In addition, Independencia has not paid cattle suppliers for several days and has returned most cattle to suppliers.

• Thursday, February 26th 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Samba school Salgueiro crowned Rio Carnival champs

  

  Samba school Salgueiro was crowned champion of Rio's fiercely competitive Carnival parades on Wednesday, knocking off a powerhouse rival and overcoming a shooting that left three dead outside its headquarters just months ago.

• Tuesday, February 24th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Rio' Carnival parade with a prophylactic presidential touch

  

  Spectacular bodies, minimum clothing plus bubbles, feathers and glitter blended the first night of parades in Rio do Janeiro's Carnival, as the city's samba schools battled for top honours in what Brazilians proudly consider the world's largest party.

• Sunday, February 22nd 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  World's main iron ore producer optimistic about China demand

  

  Brazilian mining giant Vale do Rio Doce, the world's biggest iron ore producer, expects to ship a record-high 30 million tonnes of iron ore to China in the first quarter of 2009, it said on Friday.

• Sunday, February 22nd 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil carnival kicks off; Pte Lula to attend Parades in Rio

  

  Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will become on Sunday the country's first president in the last 15 years to attend one of the samba-school parades at the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro, the main event of the festival, his office confirmed.

• Saturday, February 21st 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil's unemployment reaches sever-year high: 8.2%

  

  Brazil unemployment rate in January jumped the most in seven years to 8.2% from 6.8% in December according to the country's national Statistics Agency. The jobless rate is based on Brazil six largest metropolitan areas.

• Saturday, February 21st 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazilian think tank forecasts second quarter upturn

  

  Brazil has survived the worst of the global financial crisis and could see an upturn as early as the second quarter, the state-funded Institute for Applied Economic Research, or IPEA, said this week.

• Saturday, February 21st 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Petrobras establishes new oil production record in January

  

  Petrobras average oil and gas production in Brazil during January climbed to 2,219,165 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe), 4.8% more than a year ago and up 0.7% over December 2008. Oil from domestic fields was 1,922,946 barrels/day, setting a monthly record, 5.3% above the mark set a year earlier and 2.5% more than the December volume.