Updated

Brazil's Supreme Court is now headed by a black justice for the first time.

Joaquim Barbosa was sworn in on Thursday. He'd already become the only black to have served on the court when he joined it in 2003, even though more than half of the country's 192 million people identify themselves as having African descent.

He is presiding over a high-profile corruption trial involving a congressional cash-for-votes scheme. The court has convicted 25 people including the former chief of staff of ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.