President-elect Dilma Rousseff has named Antonio Patriota as Brazil's next foreign minister. Currently secretary-general of the foreign ministry, Patriota served as Brazil's ambassador to the United States from 2007 to 2009. Read more

Brazilian finance minister Guido Mantega believes the government-led Growth Acceleration Programme (Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento – PAC) – a four-year, $300bn programme of infrastructure investment, launched in January 2007 – has yielded very positive results. Read more

For the second consecutive year the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations is organizing a drawing competition for Brazilian children aged 6-11 who are living abroad. This year’s theme is 'My favourite Brazilian'. Read more

According to figures released this week by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, annual deforestation in the Amazon region has fallen to its lowest level since 1988, when satellite monitoring of deforestation began. Read more

Brazil is sending additional medical aid in response to the cholera epidemic in Haiti, which has already claimed well over a thousand lives. Read more

Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's president-elect, has named the senior members of her economics team. Guido Mantega will stay on as finance minister, while Alexandre Tombini becomes president of the Central Bank and Miriam Belchior takes over as planning minister. Read more

Looking back on his eight years in office, Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim said this week that a 'proud and active' foreign policy has contributed to the country playing a significantly expanded role on the world stage. Read more

In his Canning Lecture on 9 November, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK was committed to strengthening its ties with Latin America. He paid particular attention to relations with Brazil, stressing the huge potential for expanding trade and investment, and reiterating British support for an enlarged UN Security Council with Brazil as a permanent member. Read more

Dilma Rousseff of the Workers' Party (PT) will become Brazil's first female president after she beat José Serra of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) in a presidential election run-off on 31 October. In the parliamentary elections the PT-led government coalition won a clear majority in both the upper and lower houses. The PSDB was the most successful party in the gubernatorial elections. Read more

The former British prime minister this week participated in a seminar in São Paulo on the opportunities and challenges Brazil faces in organizing of the 2016 Olympic Games and 2014 World Cup. Read more

The recently launched Low Carbon Agriculture Programme forms part of Brazil's commitment to cut its projected emissions by more than a third by 2020. Read more

In its latest World Economic Outlook report the International Monetary Fund has again revised its prediction for Brazil's GDP growth during 2010, raising it to 7.5%. Its prediction for average worldwide growth is 4.8%. Read more

With Brazil-UK trade between January and August significantly higher than in 2009, representatives of the two countries met in Brasília this week to further strengthen economic and financial ties. Read more

Brazilian government representatives have been specially invited to a UN summit next week in recognition of the country's progress in pursuing the Millennium Development Goals. Read more

After showing last year at Gallery 32, the 'Brazil Illustrated' exhibition by Eduardo Recife, Wagner Pinto and Bruno Kurru is to be hosted by the Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. Read more

The Embassy’s annual 7 September reception to commemorate the anniversary of Brazil’s independence was hosted by the recently-appointed Ambassador, Roberto Jaguaribe, and his wife at their Mayfair residence. Read more

The Brazilian navy training ship "Brasil", which will be docking in September, has an onboard photographic exhibition entitled "50 years of Brazilian Achievements - 2010". Read more

Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, is visiting Brazil with a delegation representing some of the UK's largest companies. The purpose of the visit is to strengthen business cooperation between the two countries and maximize reciprocal opportunities for investment. Read more

An architectural scheme presented at the 'Swarming Futures' exhibition at Gallery 32 receives gold medal at the IAKS LAC awards. Read more

Brazil's foreign ministry has published a document with advice about how best to deal with immigration procedures at European airports. Read more

Following President Lula’s recent visits to Caracas and Bogotá, the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Colombia this week was a cause for great satisfaction. Read more

The total number of homicides in Rio de Janeiro state in June was lower than in any other month since 1991. Read more

During a visit to Brasília by Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, President Lula said that progressive democratic reforms in Central America merited greater attention from the UN. Read more

The Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, meeting this week in Luanda, has a combined population of over 230 million. Portuguese ranks third among the European languages in terms of the number of native speakers around the world. Read more

A council of representatives is to be formed as part of the 'Brasileiros no Mundo' project set up to encourage dialogue with and between Brazilian communities around the world. Read more

According to the international affairs institute Chatham House, illegal deforestation in the Amazon region has fallen by more than half in the last decade. Read more

The World Cup baton was passed to Brazil on 8 July at a ceremony in Johannesburg attended by President Lula. As the official logo of the 2014 tournament was launched, Lula promised that in four years’ time the passion of the Brazilian fans would enchant the world. Read more

Gallery 32’s ‘Swarming Futures’ was shortlisted as one of the best three exhibitions in the International Architecture Showcase at the London Festival of Architecture. Read more

The Brazilian government is supporting football coaching for young people from deprived communities in South Africa during the World Cup. Read more

Délcio spoke on 'How to Engage Young People in Creative Writing' as part of the Portuguese Achievement Conference at London's Southbank Centre on 21 June 2010. Read more

Brazil's finance minister Guido Mantega said this week that Brazil's rate of job creation has been the highest in the world. The economy is on course to generate 2 million new jobs during 2010 – an increase in employment of 6.5%. Read more

Parliamentarians and business leaders from both countries were among the guests at the annual event, held at The Dorchester on 26 May. 'Personality of the Year' awards went to Henrique Meirelles, president of the Central Bank of Brazil, and Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England. Jorge Paulo Lemann and Baron Lawson of Blaby were guests of honour. Read more

In a week in which record figures for job creation were announced, the head of Brazil's Institute of Applied Economic Research predicted the country could become the world's fifth biggest economy by 2020. Read more

On 6-7 May 2010 the Brazil Institute at King's College London will be hosting Multiculturalidade & Brasilidade, a two-day multimedia event showcasing diverse aspects of Brazilian culture. Read more

Anyone wishing to help families in Rio de Janeiro affected by the recent torrential rains can donate to a special fund set up by UNICEF and the FAO. Read more

The Global Meeting on Government Interoperability Frameworks (GIFs) 2010 will be taking place in Rio de Janeiro on 4-6 May, organized by the Brazilian Government in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme. Read more

All those who wish to participate in the forum, particularly official guests, are requested to register as soon as possible. Read more

Brazil's sports minister Orlando Silva predicts that the Olympics cooperation agreement will stimulate investment and business partnerships between Brazil and the UK. Read more

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply has released a set of forecasts outlining the great potential for growth in Brazilian agribusiness over the coming decade. Read more

Brazil's Ministry of Sport predicted this week that around 600 thousand foreign football fans will visit the country during the 2014 World Cup, and announced that all twelve stadiums will be ready at least a year before the tournament kicks off. Read more

The forthcoming conference of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (25-30 March) will discuss ways of raising the international profile of the Portuguese language. With over 200 million native speakers, Portuguese is usually ranked sixth or seventh among the world's most widely-spoken languages. Read more

As part of the Brazilian government's drive to eliminate illegal deforestation caused by cattle farming, the Boi Guardião programme is using satellite images to monitor thousands of farms in the Amazon region. Read more

Carnival week in Brazil was once again enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists. Rio de Janeiro reported a rise in tourist numbers, attributed partly to recent positive publicity such as the city having been chosen to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Read more

From 22 to 26 March Rio de Janeiro will be hosting the World Urban Forum, a major biennial event established by the UN to examine the economic, environmental and social-welfare challenges presented by global urbanisation. Read more

Inaugurated by President Lula da Silva on 19 January 2010, the world's first ethanol-fired thermal power plant represents another milestone for Petrobras and Brazil in the production and use of ethanol, emissions reduction and energy security. Read more

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

Total annual spending by foreign tourists in Brazil in 2009 was the second highest since records began. Read more

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. Read more

French president Nicolas Sarkozy this week 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