Brazil: Information

Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) unanimously rejected a request to suspend a samba school parade that will honor President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The court's ministers warned the school, Acadêmicos de Niterói, about the risks of committing electoral violations, but experts defended the decision. The parade has become a political flashpoint, with former minister Damares Alves filing a complaint against the school and a federal audit office proposing to suspend a public grant for the event. Separately, Lula underwent a minor medical procedure to remove excess skin and appeared with a mark on his head. In other political news, a fake AI-generated video circulated online, falsely claiming that Central Bank President Roberto Campos Neto had fled to the U.S. with a dossier against Lula and a Supreme Court justice.

São Paulo is experiencing a mix of transit problems and cultural events. Technical issues affected the Line 8-Diamante train and other metro lines, while the city also saw heavy rain and storm alerts from the national weather service. Meanwhile, the city is in a Carnival mood. The Acadêmicos do Tatuapé samba school paraded, and an opinion piece traced the origins of São Paulo's organized Carnival to the Barra Funda neighborhood. The city center showed signs of cleanup after pre-Carnival street parties. On the cultural side, a concert featured Criolo and Rogério Flausino performing songs by Cazuza with an orchestra. A Rita Lee musical starring Mel Lisboa returned to stages, and VIPs attended the premiere of 'Ópera do Malandro.' The São Paulo Biennial changed its contract with curators after reports of extravagance, and an exhibition of rare works by artist Antonio Dias valued at R$25 million opened. In sports, São Paulo won a classic match against Santos in the Paulista championship.

Several major Brazilian soccer clubs have matches scheduled. Atlético-MG is set to play Remo and Red Bull Bragantino in the Brasileirão league. Palmeiras and Corinthians are also playing each other in the Paulistão tournament and in the women's Supercopa do Brasil. Separately, there is analysis about a specific play by a player named Andreas during a previous Corinthians versus Palmeiras match, questioning whether a certain tactic was allowed.

Flamengo is scheduled to play Botafogo in a Campeonato Carioca match. The headlines provide details on where to watch the match live, the time, and the lineups. Another headline notes that Flamengo player Filipe Luís has reached 100 games for the club.