Brazil Faces Deadly Bus Crash and Street Attacks as Probes Advance Into Police Killing and Emenda Fund Scheme

Overview

• At least 17 people died in a tourism bus rollover on BR-423 in Pernambuco, with PRF investigating causes, reporting signs some passengers were unbelted, and noting the driver tested negative for alcohol after alleging brake failure.
• Two men were killed and a third remains intubated after a pre-dawn shooting targeting people in street situations under a viaduct in Irajá, Rio, where homicide detectives collected rifle and pistol casings and examine possible faction-linked disputes without firm conclusions.
• The São Paulo military police officer who fatally shot medical student Marco Aurélio Cardenas Acosta was indicted for intentional homicide and suspended, as body-camera footage captured conflicting on-scene accounts and records show the victim was taken to an overcrowded hospital without a working CT scanner.
• Federal Police in São Luís arrested leaders of cultural entities and a legislative aide after a R$400,000 cash withdrawal tied to suspected laundering of state emendas, and a judge later ordered their release after custody hearings while the inquiry continues.
• Congress’s Joint Budget Committee set a calendar targeting a 2026 budget vote by December 18, seeking to avoid the delays that pushed this year’s budget approval into March.