Argentina shrugged off the injury absence of Lionel Messi to maintain their perfect start at the Copa America on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Peru in Miami. Lautaro Martinez scored twice at the Hard Rock Stadium to seal a win that ensured Argentina advance to the quarter-finals as Group A winners. With Messi sidelined after complaining of a sore right hamstring, and coach Lionel Scaloni serving a one-game suspension, Argentina made nine changes to their starting XI at the Hard Rock Stadium.

But despite the makeshift-looking line-up, Argentina were always in control against a disappointing Peru side who managed just one shot on goal during a one-sided encounter.

Martinez’s first goal came just after half-time. A sublime through ball from Angel Di Maria released the Inter Milan forward, who calmly lifted a deft finish over advancing Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese.

Argentina had a chance to double their lead in the 72nd minute after Jesus Castillo handled in the area to concede a penalty.

But Leandro Paredes crashed his ensuing spot-kick against the woodwork to leave the score at 1-0.

Martinez then grabbed a second in the 86th minute, latching on to a long pass forward before finishing past Gallese. 

Replays indicated Martinez appeared to shove defender Aldo Corzo in the build-up but referee Cesar Ramos waved Peru’s protest and the goal stood.

“It was tough in the first half because they were defending deep, but the first goal opened up the game,” Martinez said afterwards. “There’s a lot more to come from us.”

Martinez has now scored in four consecutive appearances for Argentina and is relishing his hot streak.

“Every time I put on this shirt, every training session, every meal, every team talk, I enjoy it,” Martinez said.

Argentina will now face the runner-up from Group B in the quarter-finals in Houston next Thursday, most likely either Ecuador or Mexico.

In Saturday’s other Group A game, Canada held 2015 and 2016 Copa America champions Chile to a 0-0 draw in Orlando, which was enough to see the Canadians into the last eight.

Chile needed a victory to leapfrog the Canadians into the knockout rounds but were left with a mountain to climb early in the game when Gabriel Suazo was dismissed for a second yellow card after only 27 minutes.

“It took a lot of hard work — it’s our first time in this competition and it’s not easy,” Canada captain Alphonso Davies said about his team’s advance to the last eight.

“There’s a lot of good teams in this competition and a lot of good players. But we stuck to our plan and we played well. We showed a lot of fight. We had to show our teeth at times, but overall we did well.”

Canada will play the winners of Group B in the quarter-finals.

Lima:

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck off the coast of central Peru on Friday, the United States Geological Survey said, but a tsunami threat from the tremor has passed.

The USGS said the tremor hit 8.8 kilometers (5.5 miles) from Atiquipa district, raising an initial magnitude rating soon after the quake was reported.

The USGS said that strong shaking from the quake would have been felt in areas near the epicenter.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre had earlier said “hazardous tsunami waves are forecast for some coasts” but later said the threat had passed.

“There is no longer a tsunami threat from this earthquake,” it said.

Peru, with some 33 million inhabitants, lies on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a vast area of intense seismic activity that runs along the west coast of the Americas.

Peru is hit by hundreds of detectable quakes every year.

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Two-time Copa America champions Chile opened their bid for a third title with a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Peru in Arlington on Friday. A scrappy encounter at the Texas home of the Dallas Cowboys NFL team saw neither side manage to get on top before a result that boosts Argentina’s hopes of winning Group A. Chile were left ruing a golden missed chance from veteran Inter Milan forward Alexis Sanchez in the 16th minute. Sanchez, one of the heroes of Chile’s back-to-back Copa America victories in 2015 and 2016, was teed up in the six-yard box after a low pass from Victor Davila.

But with plenty of time and space, the 35-year-old somehow scooped his shot over the bar as Peru were given a huge let-off.

“I had one or two chances and this is the Copa America — when you have a chance you have to make it,” Sanchez said afterwards.

Despite his frustration in front of goal, Sanchez insisted Chile were satisfied with their display.

“The feeling is good. I am happy with the performance. I am excited,” said the former Barcelona and Arsenal forward.

Sanchez’s botched effort ended up being the best chance of the night for Chile, who enjoyed 65% possession yet only managed one shot on target during the game.

A disjointed encounter never really got going, with some 37 fouls breaking up play and contributing to a lacklustre spectacle.

Peru’s best chance came near the hour mark when Gianluca Lapadula volleyed over from close range.

Peru’s Uruguayan coach Jorge Fossati was encouraged by his team’s performance.

“In the first half Chile had more possession of the ball, although they could not do much damage to us,” he said. “I saw a Peru with a very good attitude, but anxious and with little confidence when it came to playing. But we improved substantially in the second.

“I didn’t see anything in Peru that couldn’t be corrected. I know we’re not a machine, but we are taking steps in the right direction.”

The result leaves Argentina, 2-0 winners over Canada in the tournament’s opening game on Thursday, two points clear at the top.

Chile face Argentina in their second match on Tuesday in New Jersey in a replay of the 2016 Copa Centenario final at the same venue.

Lima:

At least 25 people died and more than a dozen were injured when a bus plunged into a ravine from a mountain road in northern Peru, local authorities said Monday.

Local official Olga Bobadilla told RPP radio the incident late Sunday happened on a potholed dirt road in the Andean region of Cajamarca, “and the bus fell into an abyss” some 200 meters (some 650 feet) deep.

The toll was updated from an initial 23 to 25 later in the day.

The bus with more than 50 passengers ended up on the edge of a river, and some of those on board were swept away by the water, municipal official Jaime Herrera said.

Rescue workers and firefighters were at the scene of the crash, from where the injured have been evacuated to hospital.

The Celendin municipality declared 48 hours of mourning as dozens of people, many crying, gathered at a police station near the accident scene, desperate for news of their loved ones.

Accidents are frequent on Peruvian roads due to speeding, poor road conditions, lack of signs and poor enforcement of traffic rules.

Last year, the country registered more than 3,100 deaths from traffic accidents.

Authorities are investigating whether the bus was roadworthy.

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Lima, Peru:

Peru’s embattled government will on Wednesday ask Congress for a vote of confidence that collides with its umpteenth scandal: how the president came to own a collection of pricey Rolex watches and jewelry.

Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen was appointed only a month ago after his predecessor resigned over a scandal in which he allegedly granted political favors to a much younger love interest.

Like any new prime minister, Adrianzen has to go before Congress to receive the green light to proceed in the post.

But the scheduled vote of confidence comes in the same week that six ministers resigned after a police raid on President Dina Boluarte’s home and offices, making it a key litmus test of support for her fragile government.

If lawmakers deny Adrianzen a vote of confidence, he will have to step down.

Such an outcome would only deepen the turmoil in Peru, which is on its sixth president in eight years.

The 61-year-old Boluarte, who holds rock-bottom approval ratings, is being investigated for suspected illegal enrichment and failing to declare her luxury timepieces – a scandal dubbed Rolexgate by local media.

On the eve of the vote, attorney general Juan Villena announced an expansion of the probe into Boluarte’s possession of a “$56,000 Cartier bracelet” and other jewelry valued at more than $500,000. Bank deposits of about $250,000 are also being investigated.

Congress to decide

Boluarte came to power in December 2022 after former president Pedro Castillo tried to dissolve Congress and rule by decree, leading to his arrest and violent protests demanding she step down, and that fresh elections be held.

She is also facing a constitutional complaint over a crackdown on those protests which led to the deaths of more than 50 people.

Her approval rating stands at around 10 percent.

None of the watches were found in the raids, and the prosecutor’s office has ordered her to present the timepieces during her deposition on Friday.

If she is indicted in the Rolex case, a trial could not take place until after her term ends in July 2026 or she is impeached, according to the constitution. 

Peru’s constitution gives Congress outsized power in being able to remove presidents, with impeachment requiring only 87 votes out of 130 lawmakers. 

Impeachment votes can be brought on a vague “moral incapacity” provision that does not require lawmakers to show legal wrongdoing.

So it would be in “Congress where it will be decided whether she remains in the presidency,” said analyst Augusto Alvarez Rodrich.

Leftist lawmakers have presented three motions to impeach Boluarte — the latest started Monday — but none have yet advanced to debate.

Congress is controlled by a majority of right-wing parties who support Boluarte.

The analyst Alvarez, who is also a columnist with the La Republica newspaper, said impeachment is unlikely as Congress would prefer to “avoid the risk” of early elections being called.

“The main forces in Congress intend to maintain the status quo as long as possible,” said political scientist Carlos Melendez, from Chile’s Diego Portales university.

But he said it would be “a miracle” if Boluarte made it to the end of her term “because no one wants to be an ally of an unpopular president” when 2026 elections roll around.

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

Police and prosecutors stand outside President Dina Boluarte’s house during a raid aimed at seizing Rolex watches as part of a preliminary investigation into alleged illicit enrichment in Lima, Peru, on March 30, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Televised images swept Peru late on March 29 of government agents from an investigative team breaking into the President’s residence with a sledgehammer in a raid authorized by the judiciary at the request of the attorney general’s office.

Dina Boluarte is being preliminarily investigated for possessing an undisclosed collection of luxury watches since she came to power in July 2021 as Vice President and Social Inclusion Minister, and then as President in December 2022.

Initially, she claimed ownership of at least one Rolex as a long-held possession acquired through “personal gains” since the age of 18, urging the media not to delve into personal matters.

Earlier in the week, Attorney General Juan Villena criticized Ms. Boluarte’s request to delay her appearance before the court for two weeks, emphasizing her obligation to cooperate with the investigation.

Political turmoil is nothing new in Peru, which has seen six presidents in the last five years. But many see Ms. Boluarte’s recent statements as contradicting her earlier pledge to speak truthfully to prosecutors, exacerbating a political crisis stemming from her unexplained ownership of Rolex watches.

The Attorney General emphasized Boluarte’s obligation to promptly produce the three Rolex watches for investigation, cautioning against their disposal or destruction.

Ms. Boluarte, a 61-year-old lawyer, ascended from a modest district official to vice president under President Pedro Castillo in July 2021, subsequently assuming the presidency in December 2022 following Castillo’s impeachment after he attempted to dissolve congress and rule by decree.

At least 49 people were killed in the protests that followed.

Critics accuse Ms, Boluarte’s government of taking an increasingly authoritarian bent as it staves off demands for early elections and works with members of congress on laws that threaten to undermine the independence of Peru’s judicial system.

Peru, Lima:

Scientists on Wednesday unveiled a 16 million-year-old fossil skull unearthed in Peru of a river dolphin that once swam in waters that are now the Amazon, and whose closest living relative is the South Asian river dolphin in India’s Ganges River.

Paleontologist Rodolfo Salas said the skull belonged to the largest dolphin known to have inhabited the waters of South America, measuring 3 to 3.5 meters long (9.8 to 11.4 feet). It was named Pebanista yacuruna after the Yacuruna, a Peruvian mythological being that lived in deep water.

“This dolphin is related to the dolphin of the Ganges river in India,” Salas said, adding the one found in Peru is much bigger than its living relatives in Asia.

The ancestors of both dolphins formerly lived in the ocean, Salas said.

“This allowed them to occupy large ocean spaces near the coasts of India and South America. These animals lived in the freshwater environments both in the Amazon and India. Sadly, they became extinct in the Amazon, but in India they survived,” Salas added.

The study was published in the journal Science Advances.

Scientists found the fossil during a 2018 expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society at the Napo River.

The Amazon and Orinoco river basins still are home to a species known as the Amazon river dolphin, also called the pink river dolphin or boto.

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In a shocking moment captured on dashcam, two vehicles were crushed by an avalanche of enormous boulders that fell down a Peruvian mountainside on Saturday. The hair-raising moment showed fast-moving rocks hitting the truck and flipping it on its side on a road in the San Mateo district of Huanchor, as per a report in the CNN.

Further, other small rocks fell from the mountainside and another gigantic boulder fell from the mountain and crashed into the road, in front of a second vehicle, causing a massive crater, according to the video.

Watch the video below:

Abrupt highway drive

Drivers survived, according to multiple reports. Central Highway in Peru pic.twitter.com/ic2O78GaSN

— Real Untold Story (@RealUntoldStory) March 3, 2024

Miraculously, both the drivers of the two commercial trucks survived. However, their cargo was crushed and a stretch of the Central Highway was destroyed.

Photos of the aftermath show hundreds of stones of various sizes littering the road, as well as the wreckage of the two vehicles, one of which was on its side. According to the authorities, it took four hours to clear the road. 

Meanwhile, an investigation is underway to understand the exact cause of the accident. Officials believe that rains in the region could have led to the destabilization of the terrain.

In 2023, Peru witnessed landslides triggered by heavy rains since the beginning of February. This resulted in the death of several people while many were reported missing across the country. Two miners who were working in the Puno district of southeast Peru were killed after a rock fell on them. At least 18 people were killed after being swept away by a landslide near the mines in the Arequipa Region. Many were also reported injured. 

Lima:

A bus plummeted from the edge of a narrow mountain road in southeastern Peru on Monday, killing 25 people including two children, according to authorities.

The accident occurred before dawn when the bus traveling between two Andean towns careened down a 200-meter (656-foot) ravine in the region of Huancavelica, a police official told AFP.

“The toll is 25 dead and 34 injured,” Defense Minister Jorge Chavez said.

Images of the site showed the battered bus lying on its side near a river, with debris and personal items strewn around.

Police and rescue workers combed the scene, while onlookers watched from the narrow dirt road up above.

President Dina Boluarte, in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, conveyed her condolences to the victims’ loved ones.

An accident in the same region last month left 13 people dead and five seriously injured.

Accidents frequently occur along Peruvian highways due to speeding, poor road conditions, lack of signage and poor enforcement of traffic rules.

The World Health Organization estimated 4,414 road fatalities in Peru in 2019, or 13.6 per 100,000 inhabitants.

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

File image of Neymar© AFP