Latest Brasilia News

The dizzying array of legal threats to Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro

Jul. 05, 2024 14:47 PM EDT

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro has been a target for investigations since his early days in office, and the swarm of cases have multiplied since his failed reelection campaign in 2022. Authorities have been looking into everything from allegations he...

Brazilian police indict ex-President Bolsonaro in undeclared diamonds case, sources say

Jul. 05, 2024 13:49 PM EDT

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's Federal Police have indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro for money laundering and criminal association in connection with undeclared diamonds the far-right leader received from Saudi Arabia during his time in office, according to a source with knowledge of the...

Brazil’s Supreme Court decriminalizes possession of marijuana for personal use

Jun. 25, 2024 22:22 PM EDT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s Supreme Court on Tuesday voted to decriminalize possession of marijuana for personal use, making the nation one of Latin America’s last to do so, in a move that could reduce its massive prison population. With final votes cast on Tuesday, a...

Brazil's Cavalhadas festival celebrates victory of Iberian Christian knights over the Moors

May. 19, 2024 17:03 PM EDT

PIRENOPOLIS, Brazil (AP) — People in the heartland Brazilian city of Pirenopolis took to the streets on Sunday in a procession of the traditional Cavalhadas festival. The tradition began in the 1800s with a Portuguese priest who wanted to celebrate the Holy Spirit — one of the...

Southern Brazil has been hit by the worst floods in more than 80 years. At least 39 people have died

May. 04, 2024 16:23 PM EDT

SAO PAULO (AP) — Heavy rains in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul killed 39 people, with another 68 still missing, the state civil defense agency said Friday, as record-breaking floods devastated cities and forced thousands to leave their homes. It was the fourth...

Brazil's Lula invites Japan's prime minister to eat his country's beef, and become a believer

May. 03, 2024 20:58 PM EDT

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Friday welcomed Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on his first visit to the country, with the two meeting in the capital of Brasilia and the South American leader pushing his counterpart to buy his country's beef. ...

Growing demand for minerals sparks Indigenous outcry over 'business as usual' mining practices

Apr. 18, 2024 20:23 PM EDT

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Indigenous representatives from 35 countries issued a declaration Thursday criticizing the fact that they are too rarely consulted about mining that takes place on or near their lands, an issue that has become more acute with increased demand for minerals needed in the...