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☆ Brazil Senate confirms Lula's ex-lawyer for Supreme Court seat
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Cristiano Zanin, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's former defense lawyer, walks during Brazil's Senate hearing to serve on the country's Supreme Court at Brazilian Federal Senate in Brasilia, June 21, 2023. Pedro Franca/Agencia Senado/Handout via REUTERSBRASILIA, June 21 (Reuters) - Brazil's Senate on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Cristiano Zanin, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's former defense lawyer, to serve on the country's Supreme Court. Zanin, 47, will be the youngest justice on the 11-member court and could remain there for 28 years. He is married to law office partner, Waleska Zanin Martins, whose father Roberto Teixeira was Lula's lawyer for decades. Lula denied the charges and said he was the target of political prosecution to stop him from running in the 2018 elections.

Persons: Cristiano Zanin, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's, Pedro Franca, Zanin Martins Advogados, Lula, Andre Cesar, Ricardo Lewandowski, Lula's, Zanin, Waleska Zanin Martins, Roberto Teixeira, Sergio Moro, Ricardo Brito, Maria Carolina Marcello, Anthony Boadle, David Gregorio, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Senate, Brazilian Federal Senate, Agencia, REUTERS, Wednesday, Supreme, Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo, Lawfare Institute, Thomson Locations: Brasilia, Handout, REUTERS BRASILIA, Zanin

Santander and Goldman Sachs were the latest to upgrade their recommendations on the oil company to "Buy". They announced the change late on Tuesday, citing an attractive valuation and limited impacts from recent changes to key company policies. That followed similar calls earlier this month by Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, which upgraded Petrobras to "Overweight" mentioning less disruptive policy changes than initially expected and lower risk perceptions, respectively. Analysts now await an announcement on the firm's dividend policy by July, but they do not foresee a major shift. "We believe the company's financial vigor and the government's fiscal needs make the case for limited changes," said Santander analysts, who raised their rating to "Outperform".

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Goldman, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's, Gabriel Araujo, Brad Haynes, Emma Rumney, Sharon Singleton Organizations: SAO PAULO, Petrobras, PETR4, Santander, JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: Brazil

PARIS, June 20 (Reuters) - Brazilian planemaker Embraer (EMBR3.SA) on Tuesday notched fresh orders from American Airlines and Spanish carrier Binter for its E-Jets in deals announced at the Paris Airshow that are seen totaling about $1 billion. Embraer, the world's third-largest planemaker after Airbus and Boeing (BA.N), said the new orders follow expansion goals of regional carriers such as Binter and Canada's Porter Airlines, underscoring positive momentum for its planes in global markets. "We were expecting Embraer to announce at least 30 new orders during the event," they said. "We believe that additional new orders could be announced in the coming days, as in the last Paris Air Show Embraer divided its announcements into 3 days." "The best orders are repeat orders," Embraer's Chief Commercial Officer for commercial aviation Martyn Holmes said.

Persons: Le Bourget, Canada's, Binter, Rodolfo Nunez, Martyn Holmes, Porter, Holmes, Gabriel Araujo, Steven Grattan, Jan Harvey, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Embraer, EMBR3, American Airlines, Spanish, Jets, Paris Airshow, Airbus, Boeing, Canada's Porter Airlines, JPMorgan, Air, Envoy Air, Leasing, Avolon, Sao Paulo, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Sao Paulo, Paris, Sao

SAO PAULO, June 19 (Reuters) - Electric aircraft maker Eve (EVEX.N) and Blade Air Mobility (BLDE.O) are expanding their partnership to integrate Eve's upcoming flying car into Blade's European route network, starting with France, the companies said on Monday. Eve is controlled by Brazilian planemaker Embraer (EMBR3.SA) and expects to start commercial operations of its vehicle in 2026. They did not say if the deal would involve new eVTOL purchases by Blade, whose current European operations include flying conventional helicopters between Nice and Monaco. "Extending our partnership with Eve underscores Blade's commitment to leading the transition from conventional to electric vertical aircraft," Blade Chief Executive Officer Rob Wiesenthal said. Eve CEO Andre Stein said he expected the extended partnership with Blade to allow the companies to combine expertise and resources to make travel more accessible and drive environmental improvements.

Persons: Blade, Eve, Rob Wiesenthal, Andre Stein, Azur, Gabriel Araujo, Steven Grattan, Jamie Freed Organizations: SAO PAULO, Electric, Blade Air Mobility, Brazilian, Embraer, EMBR3, Monaco, United Airlines, Royce, Heli, Thomson Locations: France, Paris, India, United States, Nice, U.S

"Inflation expectations are still very high," Campos Neto told a seminar hosted by newspaper Folha de S.Paulo on Monday, highlighting elevated long-term forecasts as particularly problematic. "Long-term forecasts remained little changed," the central bank chief said. "And we have a problem that are long-term inflation expectations persistently stuck around 4%". In the minutes of its May meeting, the central bank expressed concerns about inflation expectations, saying it continued "to assess that de-anchored expectations raise the cost of bringing inflation back to the target". Campos Neto acknowledged that headline inflation has been slowing down in Brazil, but noted that the core index remains "high" and "well above target".

☆ Brazil boosts bird flu defense to protect world's top chicken industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Ana Mano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Per protocol, local veterinarians in Espirito Santo took samples from the birds on site and sent them to the reference lab in Campinas, Brazil. "The entire industry is mobilized to monitor the situation identified in Espirito Santo," national meat lobby ABPA said in a statement. In other countries, avian flu outbreaks in wild birds have frequently been followed by transmission to commercial flocks. Bird flu outbreaks have contributed to higher prices of poultry and eggs, normally an affordable source of protein. Since early 2022, wild birds have spread the highly infectious virus farther and wider around the world than ever before.

SAO PAULO, May 16 (Reuters) - France's Thales SA (TCFP.PA) will provide maintenance services for Brazilian airline Gol (GOLL4.SA) in Brazil instead of abroad, the companies outlined on Tuesday in a deal that aims to cut turnaround time and lower costs. Under the deal, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, as the airline is formally known, will no longer need to ship its Thales equipment to the United States or France for maintenance, as they will now be repaired at a Thales plant near Sao Paulo. Thales supplies avionics to Gol, which has a fleet of roughly 120 Boeing (BA.N) aircraft, and to local rival Azul , which mainly operates Airbus (AIR.PA) and Embraer (EMBR3.SA) aircraft. Gol and Thales did not disclose financial details of their deal, but the carrier's director of maintenance, Fernando Miwa, said Thales' investments in Brazil would provide local operators with an opportunity to cut costs. "The market for this type of service in Brazil is still very limited," Miwa said.

The new pricing system scraps a so-called fuel import parity policy that more closely aligned prices at the pump with the oil market and exchange rates. In a research note, JPMorgan (JPM.N) described the reworked pricing policy as "more friendly than investors expected." The policy shift will be tested when oil prices rise, and apply upward pressure on what consumers can expect to pay for motor fuels or LPG. Petrobras' new pricing policy also came under criticism from some as too opaque. The previous pricing policy was adopted seven years ago by conservative former President Michel Temer.

Eve, controlled by aircraft manufacturer Embraer (EMBR3.SA), said it expects to start commercial operations of its fully electric vehicle in 2026. The concept, called an electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, or eVTOL, has been dubbed a flying taxi. The completed wind tunnel tests are seen as key for certification by regulators, as well as future production and sales to buyers worldwide. The wind tunnel tests were completed in Switzerland using an eVTOL scale model, which the company said helped it investigate how components such as its fuselage and wings will perform in flight. "The Eve eVTOL is unlikely to be first to market, although the order pipeline provides runway to capture market share of the emerging eVTOL market," according to Jefferies analysts.

☆ The Link Between Highly Processed Foods and Brain Health
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Sally Wadyka | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

They’re increasingly edging out healthier foods in people’s diets and are widely consumed across socioeconomic groups. “The problem is that in order to make the products taste better and better, manufacturers make them less and less like real food.”What effect do ultraprocessed foods have on mental health? Recent research has demonstrated a link between highly processed foods and low mood. A 2022 study that followed nearly 11,000 Brazilian adults over a decade found a correlation between eating ultraprocessed foods and worse cognitive function (the ability to learn, remember, reason and solve problems). It’s possible that eating a healthy diet may offset the detrimental effects of eating ultraprocessed foods.

IRACEMAPOLIS, Brazil, April 28 (Reuters) - Brazil's ability to produce and sell hybrid cars that can run on 100% ethanol is a huge asset for its auto industry as global economies push for decarbonization to tackle climate change, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin told Reuters. Alckmin on Thursday attended the opening of a factory by Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motor Co Ltd (601633.SS) that will produce hybrid cars, including a flex-fuel pickup called Poer. Brazil has one of the world's largest ethanol industries, and most cars in the country can run on 100% biofuel made from sugarcane or corn. He highlighted the export opportunities hybrid cars manufactured in Brazil can bring for the country as it pushes for re-industrialization, a process in which he sees the auto industry playing a key role. "It is very important because it is an industry of cutting-edge technology, with semiconductors and the whole decarbonization area," said the vice president.

The country's IPCA-15 inflation index eased to a 30-month low of 4.16% from 5.36% in the previous month, government statistics agency IBGE said on Wednesday, coming in below market consensus of 4.20% in a Reuters poll of economists. The latest data comes a day after central bank Governor Roberto Campos Neto ruled out an imminent interest rate cut, saying in a Senate hearing that the current rate was appropriate to address inflation concerns. "Will RCN and his team wait for current inflation to reach 3% before starting to cut interest rates?" William Jackson, Capital Economics' chief emerging markets economist, said he doubts policymakers will pivot to interest rate cuts imminently, considering that core inflation remains strong and the central bank has been striking a hawkish tone. "All told, the inflation picture continues to improve in Brazil," Pantheon Macroeconomics' chief Latin America economist Andres Abadia said.

[1/2] An Airbus A320neo aircraft is pictured during a news conference tin Colomiers near Toulouse, France, October 17, 2017. Airbus' defense portfolio includes the A400M and the C295, which are respectively larger and smaller than Embraer's KC-390. De La Vela said he sees potential collaborations emerging in areas such as unmanned aircraft and space technologies, including for new products, adding that he would like to hear from Embraer before elaborating. De La Vela said Airbus expects the Brazilian MRTTs to open the Latin American market for the aircraft, noting talks with four other undisclosed countries in the region were underway. Reporting by Gabriel Araujo and Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 11 (Reuters) - Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA (EMBR3.SA) aims to sign a deal for the sale of 20 commercial jets to a Chinese airline during President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's visit to China this week, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The deal would mark a breakthrough for Embraer in China, where it has struggled to find new business since the 2016 closure of a joint venture at a factory in Harbin. That venture with Chinese group Avic, launched in 2003 during Lula's first presidential term, produced a previous generation of regional jets and Legacy 650 executive jets. Embraer has delivered 110 commercial aircraft to Chinese airlines, including 70 to Hainan Airlines (600221.SS) and 20 to China Southern (600029.SS), according to securities filings. The planemaker has not received a new order from a Chinese airline since leaving Harbin in 2016.

SAO PAULO, March 13 (Reuters) - Mexican unicorn Clara has secured $90 million in fresh debt funding led by U.S. debt provider Accial Capital, the company said on Monday, as it looks to boost its expansion in Latin America. Meanwhile in Colombia, where Clara has over 1,300 clients, the money will help it establish a second office in the country, located in Medellin. The new funding marks the second debt facility secured in less than a year by Clara, having announced a $150 million debt line from Goldman Sachs (GS.N) in August 2022. But he did not rule out new announcements on the equity side in the future as well. ($1 = 5.2181 reais)Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Josie Kao and Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SAO PAULO, March 13 (Reuters) - Mexican unicorn Clara has secured $90 million in fresh debt funding led by U.S. debt provider Accial Capital, the company announced on Monday, as it looks to boost its Brazil expansion. The new funding marks the second debt facility secured in less than a year by Clara, having announced a $150 million debt line from Goldman Sachs (GS.N) in August 2022. The executive noted the move allowed the firm to separate money used to increase liquidity solutions for customers from that used to invest in team and products. But he did not rule out new announcements on the equity side in the future as well. ($1 = 5.2181 reais)Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ultraprocessed food may contribute to dementia, study says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —We all eat them — ultraprocessed foods such as frozen pizza and ready-to-eat meals make our busy lives much easier. If more than 20% of your daily calorie intake is ultraprocessed foods, however, you may be raising your risk for cognitive decline, a new study found. While short of proof, this is robust enough that we should conclude ultraprocessed foods are probably bad for our brains.”There was an interesting twist, however. “Ultraprocessed foods drag diet quality down, and thus their concentration in the diet is an indicator of poor diet quality in most cases,” Katz said. One easy way to ensure diet quality is to cook and prepare your food from scratch, Suemoto said.

☆ How the Brazil side of the 1982 World Cup became one of the most beloved in history
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

He was also captain of the Brazil team at the 1982 World Cup, long before cable television and streaming made every football match and player compilation readily available. Socrates in action vs. Argentina during 1982 World Cup. Despite losing to host Uruguay in the Gold Cup final, Brazil beat West Germany – one of the favorites for the 1982 World Cup and eventual losing finalist – 4-1 in the group stages. So, it all came down to Brazil vs. Italy on July 5 for a place in the 1982 World Cup semifinal. Melchert/picture alliance/Getty ImagesMacpherson described the result as “a huge anti-climax” for the neutrals watching at the World Cup.

☆ Bolsonaro contests Brazil election, demands votes be anulled
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Neither explained how that might have affected election results, but said they were asking the electoral authority to invalidate all votes cast on those machines. Diego Aranha, an associate professor of systems security at Aarhus University in Denmark, who has participated in official security tests of Brazil’s electoral system, agreed. Bolsonaro spent more than a year claiming Brazil’s electronic voting system is prone to fraud, without ever presenting evidence. Brazil began using an electronic voting system in 1996 and election security experts consider such systems less secure than hand-marked paper ballots, because they leave no auditable paper trail. But Brazil’s system has been closely scrutinized by domestic and international experts who have never found evidence of it being exploited to commit fraud.

Brazil's 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro set the stage for all major international environmental agreements since, with the signing of U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is aimed at preventing extreme climate change and was the foundation of the COP meetings. He said Lula would turn around Brazil's environmental policies "180 degrees" from those of Bolsonaro. Lula won office last month over Bolsonaro, who appointed climate skeptics as ministers and saw deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest spike to a 15-year high. On Thursday, Lula will meet with civil society and indigenous groups, as well as United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

☆ Highly processed foods are linked to early death, a new study finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

That amounts to more than 10% of annual premature deaths in Brazil among that age group. The authors say their study is the first to estimate the impact of ultra-processed food on the risk of early death. The authors applied that model to Brazil's population and level of ultra-processed food consumption. Ultra-processed foods can often be identified by their long list of ingredients, many of which you wouldn’t normally find in your own kitchen. Willett also said that there may be little benefit to replacing ultra-processed foods with certain items, such as more red meat or foods cooked in a lot of butter.

☆ Brazil's presidential election may determine the fate of the Amazon rainforest — and the entire planet's climate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

An aerial photo shows virgin Amazon jungle in Mato Grosso State, Brazil, on May 18, 2005. An aerial view of logs cut from Amazon rainforest near of the road BR-319 highway in city of Realidade, Amazonas state, Brazil, on August 22, 2019. Ueslei Marcelino/ReutersBolsonaro promises to increase deforestation in the Amazon, while Lula promises to slow it. But it's also the most consequential election on the planet," Christian Poirier, program director at the advocacy group Amazon Watch, told Insider. A miner works in an illegal gold mine at an environmental preservation area in the Amazon rainforest, in Itaituba, Para state, Brazil on September 3, 2021.

☆ Brazil's rural boomtowns ensure Bolsonarismo's future
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Gabriel Stargardter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

REUTERS/Gabriel StargardterCATANDUVA, Brazil, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The small city of Catanduva in the rural farm belt of Sao Paulo state has been ahead of the political curve in Brazil. The residents of Catanduva, who have benefited from robust Chinese demand for Brazilian commodities, are now fully behind Bolsonaro. Since Sahao stepped down in 2005, the PT has spent nearly two decades locked out of power at Catanduva's city hall. Across Sao Paulo, countless PSDB mayors and state lawmakers have, like Father Oliveira of Catanduva, thrown in their lot with Bolsonaro. Bassitt, the farmer, said the conservative values of rural, small-town Brazil were now the driving force in national politics.

☆ One graph shows how Brazil's election could speed up destruction of the Amazon rainforest — and imperil the planet
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro faces former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a runoff election on October 30. The outcome of the election may determine the fate of the Amazon rainforest. The fate of the Amazon rainforest — the planet's largest — is on the ballot. Under Bolsonaro, Brazil has cleared large swaths of the Amazon rainforest for farmland, accelerating deforestation there. MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP via Getty ImagesAbout 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest is located in Brazil.

☆ Lula challenges Bolsonaro's grip on Brazil evangelical vote
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Jimin Kang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterShe is far from the only evangelical Christian in Brazil dancing around that delicate matter. Although Bolsonaro and his allies have worked to transform Brazil's fast-growing evangelical churches into the bedrock of his political base, this year's campaign has shown the limits of that electoral strategy. After Bolsonaro won the evangelical vote two-to-one in 2018, many more evangelicals — especially poorer women — are weighing a vote for Lula, whose legacy of generous social programs speaks powerfully to Brazil's less affluent evangelical voters. Even as Bolsonaro has built up an advantage over Lula in the heat of the campaign, he struggled to break past 50% of the evangelical vote in recent Datafolha surveys. Looking to bolster the 'shy' Lula vote among evangelicals, the Workers Party (PT) is partnering with leftist pastors like Paulo Marcelo Schallenberger, whose sermons aim to counter the party's "demonization" in evangelical circles.

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