Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, called on July 3 for a series of joint actions between developing countries, particularly Brazil and African nations, to address several issues pertaining to the international scenario, such as the resumption of the Doha Round for the liberalization of global trade, the reform of international financial institutions, and climate change.

Due to intermittent rainfall in virtually all sugarcane regions in South-Central Brazil there was a 10.08% reduction in the volume of crushed cane in the first half of June compared to the previous two-week period, with the total reaching 32.64 million tons by June 15.

Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee in the US senate, is urging the American Government to extend trade benefits to Uruguay, bypassing Mercosur, a move he says would also increase pressure on Brazil to deepen commercial ties.

Trade relations between Brazilians and Arabs are entering a new and important phase: investment. This after consolidation of bilateral trade between Brazil and the Arab countries in a way that the region has become the fourth largest destination of Brazilian exports.

At the opening of the African Union (AU) heads of state assembly, in Sirte, Libya, this July 1st, the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, proposed that a a conference of African ministers of Agriculture be promoted in Brazil to discuss the sector's development in the continent.

A working-class shopping complex in the center of Rio de Janeiro city, known as Saara (the Sahara) - Portuguese acronym for Sociedade dos Amigos e das Adjacências da Rua da Alfândega - Society of Friends of the Alfândega Street and Vicinities - has just launched an Internet sales portal.

Iraq is negotiating the purchase of 250 trucks from the Mercedes-Benz plant in São Bernardo do Campo, in the Greater São Paulo, Brazil. The information was disclosed by the Iraqi minister of Industry, Fawzi Hariri.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, said this Tuesday (June 30) that Brazil is willing to establish partnerships for investing in Africa. Lula was the guest of honor at the opening session of the African Union (AU) heads of state assembly, July 1st, in Sirte, Libya.

In a bid to speed up the Brazilian economy's recovery, Brazil is going to cut sales taxes on 70 capital goods and lower the long-term interest rate charged by the state development bank, BNDES, announced Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega.

Brazilian newspapers "Integração", based in Tatuí, and "Jornal da Cidade", based in Adamantina, both in the interior of São Paulo state, are being sued. Carlos Balladas, the president of the Countryside Newspapers' Association of São Paulo (Adjori-SP), considers the lawsuits against the newspapers to be an attempt to intimidate them.

Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil and gas multinational, provided sponsorship and support for 2,300 projects in Brazil last year. In all, 554.8 million Brazilian reais (US$ 286 million) were invested in the environmental, social, cultural and sports fields.

Measures announced June 29 by the government of Brazil to stimulate the economy will favor investment by companies, as well as sales of the capital goods industry. A reduction of interest rates on loans by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) was announced.

The Brazilian laboratories of Rhodia have already become a reference in modern technologies for developing intelligent yarns, ones that hold promise ranging from improving sports performance to treating cellulite of those who wear clothing that uses it as raw material. The new launches produced exclusively in Brazil will soon be exported to the world.

Brazil sees this as the starting point in a quest for cleaner public transport in the country. The first Brazilian hydrogen-fueled bus will be presented this Wednesday (July 1st) in the city of São Bernardo do Campo, in the Greater São Paulo area, according to information supplied by the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Brazil's presidential advisor Roberto Mangabeira Unger and the chief of the Brazilian Central Bank (BC), Henrique Meirelles, will be leaving the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration in the coming months. Unger, who was US president Obama's professor, is returning to his post in Harvard University. Meirelles intends to run for governor of Goiás state, in the Brazilian Midwest.