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Monday, October 12, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
TRADE: Agricultural Protectionism Hurts Environment
The liberalisation of trade in agriculture would benefit developing countries as well as the environment, the secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Rubens Ricúpero, and Maurice Strong, chairman of the Earth Council, said in Brazil.TRADE: ‘Four Plus One’ Could Add Up to Zero for Mercosur, US
The United States and South America's Mercosur trade bloc will start talks on a possible trade agreement in Uruguay next Tuesday, which are to run parallel to the negotiations on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).BRAZIL-US: Rocket Launch Base Accord Faces Resistance in Congress
The Brazilian government is stepping up its efforts to prevent Congress from rejecting a treaty that will allow the United States to use the Alcantara base in northern Brazil for launching satellites./ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE-BRAZIL: Capoeira, a Martial Art-cum- Dance ‘For Export’
Capoeira, a mix of martial art and dance created by the African slaves brought to Brazil more than 300 years ago, has become an exhibition sport that is practiced around the world.TRADE: Steel Market Threatened by Wave of Protectionism
The world steel market will be thrashed by a wave of protectionism if the United States adopts new restrictions on imports as Brazilian industrialists fear.HEALTH-BRAZIL: Gov’t to Violate Patent on AIDS Drug
Brazil's Health Ministry has started the paperwork for launching local production of an AIDS- fighting drug, Nelfinavir, breaking the patent rights of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, and backing the measure with a controversial national law.TRADE: Agricultural Limits Unmask Free Market Illusions
The future liberalisation of agricultural markets in Europe, the United States and Japan is idle fantasy, and their failure to open their doors to farm imports reveals their double standard of practicing protectionism at home and preaching free trade for others, agree Brazilian experts./ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/FILM-BRAZIL: Nostalgia for Football’s Glory Days
Brazilians disappointed by their current national football team will soon receive a sort of compensation: three films are in production about Brazil's past glories in this sport.POLITICS-BRAZIL: New Civil Code Marks 20th-Century Changes
Brazil's Congress has passed a new civil code that serves as a window on the evolution of social customs and relations that occurred in this South American nation over the course of the 20th century.POPULATION-BRAZIL: DNA Testing, an Effective Social Remedy
Some 15,000 Brazilians, mainly poor women seeking to confirm the identity of the fathers of their children, are waiting to undergo DNA testing in the Sao Paulo Institute of Social Medicine and Criminology (IMESC).TRADE: High Sugar Barriers Belie Free-Trade Discourse
Sugar is among the most protected products in world trade, and the tariffs and quotas imposed on this commodity -- running counter to the global trend of market liberalisation -- are present even inside free-trade zones.POLITICS-BRAZIL: Gov’t Feels Pressure to Build Warplanes at Home
The Brazilian government has opened an international bidding process for acquiring 24 military jets, attracting the attention of the world aeronautics industry and sparking a movement within Brazil in favour of manufacturing the aircraft locally.ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Animal Trafficking a Billion-dollar Business
Trafficking in wild animals, a global business worth 20 billion dollars annually, is no longer the concern of just a handful of countries in the Americas.LABOUR-BRAZIL: Public Employees Jeopardise Fiscal Adjustment
Public employees in Brazil seeking to recover the lost buying power of their wages are planning to declare an indefinite nationwide strike on Aug 22, and their movement has compounded the difficulties facing the government's fiscal adjustment plan.LITERATURE-BRAZIL: Amado’s Words Gave a Nation an Identity
Jorge Amado, Brazil's most popular novelist, died Monday just four days before his 89th birthday, leaving an opus that was known around the world and which helped a country to recognise its unique qualities and culture.CINEMA-BRAZIL: Hollywood Opens Fire on Plan to Foment Local Films
A new trade dispute between Brazil and the United States is brewing, to judge by Hollywood's reaction to a Brazilian plan still on the drawingboard, the aim of which is to foment local film production.TRADE-MERCOSUR: Britain May Be Door to EU’s Agricultural Market
Hopes are running high in Mercosur (Southern Common Market) that the four-nation bloc will obtain greater access to the European Union's agricultural market following overtures by British Prime Minister Tony Blair during his Latin American visit.DEVELOPMENT-BRAZIL: Poverty and Inequality – Key Campaign Issues
Poverty and inequality will be the key issues in the campaign for the October 2002 elections in Brazil, as signalled by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's statement that social, rather than economic, questions would be the decisive factor in the election of his successor.ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: NGOs Challenge Production of Transgenic Soya
Environmental and consumer rights organisations protested Thursday in the Brazilian capital against the government's intent to authorise the commercial production of the genetically modified soya, RoundUp Ready, produced by the US- based transnational Monsanto.POLITICS-BRAZIL: Police Crisis Puts Military on the Beat
The civil and military police are protesting in several cities throughout Brazil, demanding salary hikes of as much as 41 percent, while some are enlisting their spouses to take part in the demonstrations./ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/FILM-BRAZIL: Copacabana, a Haven for the Elderly
A healthy portion of the Brazilian middle class's memories are concentrated in Copacabana, a coastal neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro that developed and aged during the 20th century, turning into a paradise for retirees - now the theme of a new film.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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