Gallery 32, the art gallery adjacent to the Embassy of Brazil in London, has just launched its own website. Opened in 2001, Gallery 32 is an exhibition space regularly hosting a varied programme of exhibitions, screenings and talks. Gallery 32's main aim is to promote Brazilian culture in all its vibrancy, with a focus on modern and contemporary art, architecture and design.
www.gallery32.org.uk

Inaugurated by President Lula da Silva on 19 January 2010, the world's first flexi ethanol-fired thermal power plant represents another milestone for Petrobras and Brazilian leadership in production and use of ethanol, emissions reduction and energy security.
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Brazil's foreign ministry has set up a special bank account through which money can be donated to the earthquake relief effort in Haiti. Read more

Serra waits, a bit too patiently, for the presidency – The Economist 5/2
Brazil is building economic strength by lifting millions out of poverty – The Independent 4/2
Brazil's Lula 'in perfect health' after hospital tests – BBC News 30/1
The almost-lost cause of freedom – The Economist 28/1
Donors urged to pay climate cash – BBC News 24/1

Total annual spending by foreign tourists in Brazil in 2009 was the second highest since records began.
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Brazilian military personnel in Haiti are assisting with relief work following the devastating earthquake on 12 January. Additional personnel and equipment, including a field hospital, were flown out from Rio de Janeiro on 14 January. Brazil has a particularly close relationship with Haiti as its soldiers lead the UN peacekeeping mission in the country.
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On 7 January French president Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated his support for Brazil's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. The UK has also called for Brazil's inclusion. Read more

The writer Clarice Lispector (1920-1977) was born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, emigrated to Brazil with her family in the aftermath of World War I, and grew up in Recife and Rio de Janeiro. The author of this latest biography is Benjamin Moser, a historian and columnist for the New York Review of Books. (2009, Haus Publishing, London)
Read review in The Economist
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