On 26 December 2006 the Iraqi Supreme Court of Appeal confirmed the death sentence passed on Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq. Read more

The Brazilian National Congress has approved the text of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT), adopted in New York on 18 December 2002. Read more

The IBSA fund, created and maintained by India, Brazil and South Africa for the purpose of helping other developing countries, today received a prize at the United Nations South-South Partnership awards in New York. Read more

The American missionary Dorothy Stand, murdered in the Amazon region in 2005, has been honoured by the Brazilian government as 'Defender of Human Rights'. Read more

A ceremony in Brasília marks the creation of a parliament consisting of congressional representatives from each member of the South American economic bloc. Read more

The Benefício de Prestação Continuada welfare programme now reaches more than 2.4 million of the poorest Brazilians. Read more

Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned national oil company, set a new record for monthly oil exports in November, selling a total of 14.52 million barrels at an average of 484 thousand barrels per day. Read more

Mr Alcides Rodrigues Filho, Governor of the State of Goiás, accompanied by trade mission, will be holding a number of meetings in London on 8 December. Read more

The state of Pará in northern Brazil has created the largest single conservation area on Earth, giving protected status to 15 million hectares of rainforest – an area larger than England. Read more

Increased cooperation is aimed at fighting crime around the Triple Frontier region. Read more

The Brazilian government is concerned by articles in the international press regarding a supposed case of sexual abuse involving a Brazilian soldier in Haiti in 2004. Read more

Um Computador por Aluno (One Computer Per Pupil) is a Brazilian government programme which is set to have a huge impact in primary and secondary schools throughout the country. Read more

Brazil's concerted efforts to eradicate the problem of forced labour have been praised by the International Labour Organization. Read more

The country is enjoying an increasingly high profile as a destination for tourists and business travellers. Read more

Numerous issues on the agenda at the first meeting of its kind between African and South American leaders. Read more

Members of South American Community of Nations agree to allow their citizens to travel between them without passports. Read more

Brazilian foreign minister seeks 'courageous gesture' from richest countries with regard to agricultural subsidies. Read more

The Brazilian government condemns the murder of Lebanon's industry minister, Pierre Gemayel, the victim of an attack carried out in Beirut today. Read more

With a view to stimulating trade and investment between Brazil, India and South Africa, representatives from the tax authorities of the three countries have been meeting in Pretoria to negotiate agreements regarding customs regulations. Read more

Brazil supports an initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) aimed at helping the most severely indebted poor countries. Read more

The agenda of the International Seminar on Education, Equality and Social Justice will include Brazilian government initiatives aimed at widening access to education. Read more

Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim has reiterated that the creation of closer economic ties between the countries of South America will continue to be one of the main foreign policy aims of the Lula administration. Read more

The Ministry of External Relations reiterates Brazil's absolute commitment to non-proliferation and the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Read more

Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim said today that the country will forge ahead with the key elements of its foreign policy during President Lula’s second term of office, building on the achievements of the first term. Read more

Figures released by the Environment Ministry show that the rate of deforestation in the Amazon is continuing to fall. Read more

Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim believes that changes need to be made both to the composition of the United Nations Security Council and the way in which it currently operates. Read more

The Brazilian government believes Ban Ki-moon will be able to lead the UN in a balanced and firm way. Brazil also reiterates that UN reform is crucial in order to adapt the organization to the challenges of the twenty-first century. Read more

Public health organisations and specialists from around the world are backing the International Drug Purchase Facility launched in September by Brazil, Chile, France, Norway and the UK. Read more

Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim has praised the work of the Brazilian diplomatic mission responsible for evacuating more than 3,000 people from Lebanon during the conflict with Israel in August. Read more

Brazil anticipates producing biofuel at a rate of 1 billion litres per year by the end of 2007, and Haiti is considering adopting aspects of the Brazilian model. Read more

An International Labour Organization report has noted the progress made since the launching of the National Plan for the Eradication of Bonded Labour in Brazil in 2003. Read more

The International Drug Purchase Facility (IDPF) – funded by Brazil, Chile, France, Norway and the UK – will be launched at UN headquarters in New York. Read more

British sports minister Richard Caborn will today visit an innovative sports and social centre in a Rio de Janeiro favela. The British government made a financial donation to help with the construction of the centre, which opened last year. Read more

On 29 September the Brazilian Space Agency will unveil Projeto Ciclone, for the purpose of launching rockets and satellites from Alcântara space centre in the state of Maranhão in northeast Brazil. Read more

A bilateral cooperation agreement will be signed tomorrow by the Brazilian sports minister, Orlando Silva, and the British sports minister, Richard Caborn, in São Paulo. Read more

The G-20 countries met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 9 September to consider the situation regarding the Doha Round negotiations. Read more

The 1st Summit Meeting of the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA), taking place in Brasilia on 13 September, will discuss the creation of a working group to develop the basis for a free trade agreement between Mercosur, India and the Southern African Customs Union. Read more

Alistair Darling’s three-day trip includes the first meeting of the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO), aimed at further improving economic relations between the UK and Brazil. Read more

At the international donor conference for the Middle East in Stockholm, Brazil will announce that it will make a donation of US$ 500,000 to the United Nations as a contribution towards the reconstruction efforts in Lebanon. Read more

On 11 August the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) sent a message of congratulations to the Brazilian government following the country's adoption of the Domestic and Family Violence Law. Read more

On 15 August Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim will travel to Beirut to meet President Emile Lahoud and the Lebanese prime minister, Fuad Siniora, along with other government officials. Read more

Today, 30 July 2006, President Lula sent the following message to the prime minister of Lebanon, Fouad Siniora. Read more

The Crown Prosecution Service today announced its verdict regarding the circumstances that led to the death of the Brazilian citizen Jean Charles de Menezes in London on 22 July 2005. Read more

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will visit Venezuela on 4 July 2006 at the invitation of President Hugo Chávez to attend the signing of the Adhesion Protocol for Venezuela to join Mercosur. Read more