Zep Inc. lined up a partnership with home improvement retailer Lowe’s Companies Inc. to sell 50 Zep Commercial products in its stores and on Lowes.com. Financial terms were not disclosed. The Zep products will hit Lowe’s shelves by March. The line includes professional strength cleaning and maintenance solutions such as All Purpose Cleaner-Degreaser, Oxy Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, Hardwood Floor Cleaner, and High Traffic Floor Cleaner. Lowe’s already carries Zep’s Enforcer brand of insecticide, herbicide and rodenticide products...

Atlanta-based law firm Morris, Manning & Martin LLP has lured a six-person international trade group away from Troutman Sanders LLP, providing a significant boost to its small District office. Partners making the move include Donald Cameron, Julie Mendoza, Will Planert and Brady Mills. Associate Mary Hodgins and trade analyst Paul McGarr are also coming along. Morris, Manning wants to establish itself as a leader in comprehensive representation of foreign companies wanting to enter the U.S. market, firm leaders said...

Oscar nominations are out and probably the only thing Oscar addicts enjoy as much as second-guessing the eventual winners is second-guessing who got nominated and who got snubbed. Here are some random thoughts on last Tuesday’s naming names. Best Picture “The Artist” “The Descendants” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” “The Help” “Hugo” “Midnight in Paris” “Moneyball” “The Tree of Life” “War Horse” With the Best Picture category expanded to anywhere between 5 and 10, you’d think there wouldn’t be any snubs...

 Nothing better than to start the year trying to play a guess game: which was the most ecologically regrettable episode in 2011? In our view, it was the fact that former minister Marina Silva left the Green Party (Partido Verde), something that will rekindle the dispute waged for decades or even centuries over the sovereignty in the Amazon.

As a rising star on the global stage and as the current financial model that many other Latin American states wish to emulate, Brazil is viewed as the poster child for regional development. With that said, one aspect of Brazil's extraordinary pace of growth that has not been widely discussed is how widespread Internet usage is in the Portuguese-speaking giant.

President Obama's authorization of the expulsion of the Venezuelan consul general from that country's consulate office has further deteriorated relations between the two countries. Although the Obama administration has not been explicit as to the reason for the expulsion, the action is within Washington's legal right.

Having gone through the year-end celebrations we were left with the feeling that 2011, as a whole, will not be missed: it will be marked as one of the most mediocre political years, characterized by successive crises involving the three branches of government. I don't know which one most haunts my fears, what I know is they all exacerbate my deepest suspicion.

In spite of its cold winters, the state of Massachusetts has been very attractive to Brazilian immigrants, who now form one of the largest and most vibrant expat Brazilian groups (second only to Florida), where they have established businesses like restaurants, bakeries, language schools and capoeira centers.

By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – More bodies have been recovered from the rubble of Wednesday’s multiple building collapse in the Centro district of Rio de Janeiro, bringing the confirmed death toll to seventeen at the time of writing. Burials of the first victims have already taken place. Officials say [...]

By Laura Madden, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The death toll in the multiple building collapse on Wednesday night in Rio de Janeiro’s Cinelândia area of Centro remains at six, according to the Medical-Legal Institute (IML). A Globo TV report early Friday morning lists the number of people missing at 27 in total. [...]

By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Emergency services and rescue workers have started finding bodies in the remains of the three buildings which collapsed last night in the Cinelândia area of Centro in Rio de Janeiro. As of 1:30 PM on Wednesday, three people are confirmed dead, and at least [...]

By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A number of people have been injured after two high-rise buildings – one twenty floors high – collapsed following an explosion, allegedly caused by a gas leak, late last night in the downtown area of Rio de Janeiro. A smaller building – under construction – also collapsed. [...]

By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – As Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff summoned her government to the annual ministerial meeting on Monday to take stock of the past year, and set out plans and goals for 2012, she must have been only too conscious of the balancing act her government will [...]