Brasilia:

 A majority of the justices on Brazil’s Supreme Court are in favor of decriminalizing the possession of marijuana for personal consumption, following a crucial vote on Tuesday.

“The position is clear that no user of any drug can be considered a criminal,” said Justice Dias Toffoli, the sixth judge on the 11-member top court to vote for decriminalization.

So far, three justices have opposed a decision to no longer make possession of cannabis a crime, including its most recent member, Cristiano Zanin, who was appointed by leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The consumption of marijuana in public will continue to be prohibited and cannabis remains illegal in Brazil.

Decriminalizing its use has been discussed by the Supreme Court since 2015 and the justices reached a majority at a time when politicians are proposing a constitutional ban on the use of illegal drugs.

A bill advancing in Congress, with the support of conservative and evangelical lawmakers, proposes amending the Constitution to make the use and possession of any kind of narcotics a criminal offense.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Vinicius Junior during Brazil 0-0 Costa Rica in Copa America 2024.© AFP

World champions Argentina get an expanded Copa America under way on Thursday with Lionel Messi looking to add a second continental title in what is almost certainly his final appearance in the tournament. The 108-year-old competition is being held in the United States with the host nation among six teams from the CONCACAF region joining the 10 South American nations looking for a place in the July 14 final in Miami. While FIFA will be looking closely at the organization of the event, two years out from the World Cup which will be co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico, the tournament’s rich history and prestige means it is much, much more than a ‘trial event’.

Argentina have won the Copa 15 times but only once, in 2021, during the Messi era and coach Lionel Scaloni has stuck largely with his World Cup-winning squad, with veterans Angel Di Maria and Nicolas Otamendi likely taking their final bow in a major tournament.

Whether this is Messi’s goodbye to elite international football is yet to be seen – the eight-times Ballon d’Or winner, now playing in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami, will turn 37 four days after Thursday’s opener in Atlanta against Canada and has yet to decide whether he will try to play in a record sixth World Cup.

“It’s great to have records and continue to achieve things but I won’t take part in a World Cup just to say I’ve done six,” Messi told ESPN last week.

“If I feel good and everything is in place for me to be there, fine, but I won’t go just to go. It’s very difficult to imagine what can happen because it’s still two years away. I don’t need to commit right now to whether or not I’ll be there,” he added.

What is certain is that Messi, who has managed his workload to try to be in peak condition for the tournament, would relish the chance to win a third straight major tournament with his country after so many years of frustration with his national team.

Tough opposition

After facing Canada, Argentina take on Chile in New Jersey before finishing their group A action against Peru in Miami but they know that tough opposition awaits in the knock-out stage with rivals Brazil and Uruguay the two expected challengers for the title.

Brazil have struggled in CONMEBOL qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup having won just two of their opening six games and they currently sit in sixth place in the standings having lost to Uruguay, Colombia and Argentina.

There are several familiar names missing from Dorival Junior’s Brazil squad with Casemiro, Gabriel Jesus and Thiago Silva left out while Richarlison and Neymar are both missing due to injury.

The pressure will be on the Real Madrid attacking pair of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo to translate their club form into success for the Selecao while there is much excitement around the senior tournament debut of 17-year-old talent Endrick, who is set to join Real next month from Palmeiras.

Uruguay, also 15-times winners, have impressed under their 68-year-old Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa, who has brought his trademark high-energy style to the team and raised expectations with recent wins over Argentina and Brazil.

Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez will lead the line although Bielsa has the option of introducing veteran Luis Suarez from the bench.

Colombia head into the tournament without a loss in over two years and with Liverpool’s livewire winger Luis Diaz a constant threat and James Rodriguez enjoying a late career revival, Nestor Lorenzo’s team can’t be discounted.

The USA will hope that they can generate some sorely needed excitement after losing their way since a creditable run to the last-16 at the World Cup.

Coach Gregg Berhalter is under some pressure to show he can get his team, which relies on the smart wing play of Christian Pulisic, to compete with teams from outside of CONCACAF.

Mexico have guested frequently in the Copa in the past and reached the final in 1993 and 2001, but they look well below their usual level although they can, as always, count on huge support in the USA.

This is the second time the Copa America is being held in the USA, after the Centenary tournament in 2016, and while that is a break with tradition the presence of significant immigrant communities from all the competing nations, should ensure big crowds at the mostly NFL stadiums being used.

File photo of Ronaldinho© AFP

A man in Brazilian city of Sao Paulo rammed his Lamborghini into a thief who stole his Rolex watch at gunpoint. According to CNN Brazil, the incident took place in the upscale region of Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima on Saturday, May 18. Videos of the incident appeared on social media and were widely circulated. The clip shows the green-coloured Lamborghini racing towards a two-wheeler – being driven by the thief – as he tries to escape. The thief, however, ran away.

Watch the video:

Motorista de Lamborghini persegue ladrão de Rolex e acaba batendo em poste na Faria Lima em São Paulo pic.twitter.com/AANSrcd6Ov

— BHAZ (@portal_bhaz) May 19, 2024

The outlet said that Lamborghini driver was approached by the thief on a motorcycle while he had stopped the vehicle at a traffic light. He forcefully took the lavish timepiece and tried to run away from the scene.

Soon, the traffic started moving and the Lamborghini driver decided to chase the man on the two-wheeler, as seen in the video. The car is seen speeding up to catch with the escaping biker.

As the robber attempts to make an illegal left-hand turn, the furious Lamborghini owner steps on the gas pedal and ploughs into his motorbike.

The supercar then smashes into a pole, sending the traffic lights to topple to the ground.

Luckily, the robber survives and is seen quickly getting back to his feet and dashing away from the crash scene, abandoning his wrecked motorcycle.

Brazilian outlet Metropoles said the watch was valued at Brazilian real 200,000 ($40,000 or Rs 32 lakh) and the man suspected of stealing it has been identified.

Quoting local police, the outlet said that the man lives in Taboao da Serra and was using a motorcycle registered in his mother’s name.

While running away from the site of the crash, he left a 32-caliber revolver used in the robbery and a cellphone, which helped investigators identify him.

Brasilia:

Twelve people including a baby died Sunday in a small plane crash in the Brazilian Amazon, officials said.

The plane, a single engine Cessna Caravan, came down near the airport of Rio Branco shortly after takeoff, the government of the northwestern state of Acre said in a statement.

Ten passengers — nine adults and an infant — as well as the pilot and co-pilot all died at the scene, it said.

According to local press reports, the plane erupted in flames on impact, causing a forest fire in a remote area near Brazil’s border with Peru and Bolivia.

Many of the passengers were returning to the neighboring Amazonas state after receiving medical care, media said.

Fourteen people were killed in September when a plane crashed while trying to land during a storm in the Amazonas town of Barcelos.

And in June, four Indigenous children survived a plane crash in the Colombian Amazon, then managed to stay alive for 40 days in the jungle before being rescued in a massive search.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s veto will take effect after publication in the official gazette, and will be analyzed by Congress, which could still reverse it, setting up another Supreme Court challenge. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Brazil’s President announced on Friday that he will partially veto a bill restricting Indigenous groups’ claims to ancestral lands, overriding Congress’s recent approval of the legislation.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will veto a core stipulation of the bill which would have only recognised Indigenous peoples’ right to claim territories they occupied or were legally disputing in October 1988, when the constitution was ratified, Minister of Institutional Relations Alexandre Padilha announced.

The land rights legislation, backed by the powerful agribusiness sector, is seen by some critics as an effort to counteract Mr. Lula’s efforts to bolster environmental and Indigenous land protections, after his campaign pledge to demarcate new tribal territories.

Mr. Padilha said that the president’s veto would be partial and not total as Indigenous movements had requested, with the rest of the bill signed into law.

“Everything that attacked the rights of Indigenous peoples, and which contradicted the constitution, and the recent decisions of the court, were vetoed,” Mr. Padilha said.

The bill drew backlash with its 1988 “time-frame argument”, or Marco Temporal thesis, which was pushed by the country’s powerful farm lobby. Indigenous groups filed a lawsuit arguing that many people had been forced from their ancestral lands, including during the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from the 1960s to 1980s.

The Supreme Court sided with the Indigenous activists and climate campaigners last month.

But days later, Congress approved the legislation, in conflict with the court’s ruling.

The president’s veto will take effect after publication in the official gazette, and will be analyzed by Congress, which could still reverse it, setting up another Supreme Court challenge.

Sonia Guajajara, Brazil’s first Indigenous Affairs Minister, who was appointed by Mr. Lula, called the President’s move “a great victory”.

“Vetoing the time frame reaffirms the Supreme Court’s decision, guaranteeing the government’s coherence with the Indigenous, environmental and international agenda,” she said.

Many environmentalists consider the establishment of state-protected Indigenous reserves one of the best ways to fight deforestation and, with it, climate change.

According to data from Funai, a government entity that defends Indigenous populations, the reserves occupy 13.75 percent of the country’s territory.

Indigenous people make up 1.7 million of Brazil’s 203 million inhabitants.

Neymar twisted his knee in a collision with Uruguayan midfielder Nicolas de la Cruz.© AFP