Sao Paolo: JBS SA, the world’s biggest beef producer, said third-quarter profit declined 78% from a year earlier, when the meat -packer posted gains from currency hedges. The stock was the biggest drop in the Bovespa index.

A TAM jet pulled out of an attempted landing today at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport, and federal prosecutors sought a court order to shut the entire airport - Brazil’s busiest – until the investigation into this week’s crash that killed at least 189 people is completed.

Brazil’s ruling politicians have been shaken by a scandal involving prostitutes, suitcases full of lobbyists’ cash and an apparent violation of bank secrecy laws that brought down the finance minister and again raised questions about the leadership of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.