Disclosures alleging that the United States has collected data on billions of telephone and email conversations in Brazil will not affect Brazil-U.S. relations, said the head of the country’s joint congressional committee on intelligence.
US government posted an unexpectedly large budget surplus in June, a further sign of the rapid improvement in public finances that has taken the heat off Congress to find savings and raise the nation's borrowing limit.
US shares closed at record levels after the Federal Reserve indicated that its efforts to boost the economy would continue for now. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.1% higher at 15,460.92 and the broader S&P 500 added 1.3% to end at a new peak of 1,675.02. Both measures surpassed previous record highs hit in late May. The Nasdaq ended at its highest close since October 2000.
After almost twenty years of negotiations United States confirmed the opening of its market to citrus from Uruguay, which will become effective next 9 August when certain coordination and logistics tasks are coordinated by both countries.
The United States Congress sent a strong letter to Argentine president Cristina Fernandez expressing ‘disappointment’ and ‘deep concern’ over the government’s decision to deny General Prosecutor of the AMIA Case, Alberto Nisman, the opportunity to testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security’.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his government has received an asylum application from US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and the fugitive must now decide if he wants to fly to Caracas.
Bolivia demanded France, Portugal, Spain and Italy reveal who told them that former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was aboard President Evo Morales' flight from Moscow last week.
The US State Department spokesperson during the daily briefing declined to comment on the alleged intelligence activity in Brazil but admitted dialogue with the Brazilians through normal diplomatic channels, but those conversations ‘of course we would keep private’.
Brazil began an investigation Monday into whether telecommunications firms operating in the country cooperated with the U.S. as part of a spying program that has collected data on billions of telephone and email conversations. Anatel, the government agency that regulates the telecom sector in Brazil, said in a note that it's working with federal police and other government agencies on the investigation.
Lawmakers in Brazil said Monday they want to question Washington's ambassador here about revelations that the United States has collected and stored the e-mail and telephone records of millions of Brazilians.