Rio de Janeiro

Latin American countries began their yearly four-day Carnival festivities, an especially significant celebration to Brazil.

Officials in Rio de Janeiro were so excited about pop star Taylor Swift’s imminent concerts in Brazil that they electronically projected a Swifty-themed robe onto its famed Christ the Redeemer statue that overlooks the glittering city.

Climate activists projected a “Climate Clock” on the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, over the weekend, claiming that the world has “less than six years left” to stop climate change and avoid “catastrophic scenarios.”

Brazilian police on Wednesday announced they are investigating a mother-and-daughter team of social media influencers named Kerollen Cunha and Nancy Golcalves, who sparked outrage by posting videos of themselves offering black children gifts such as stuffed monkeys and bananas.

A massive fire at a government food storage center in Rio de Janeiro on Monday attracted a roving mob attempting to loot the supplies before they burned, prompting police to shoot bullets into the air to disperse the crowd.

The state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, documented an 18-percent drop in homicides in the first three months of 2022 compared to the same timeframe a year ago, reports revealed Wednesday, resulting in the lowest numbers since 1991.

The Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, traditionally home to the world’s largest carnival festival, held the celebration over the weekend for the first time in two years after being forced to cancel the event amid the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, Brazil’s GloboNews reported on Monday.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro led a caravan of between 10,000 to 15,000 people in Rio de Janeiro, local police estimated, by motorcycle on Sunday, the second such event this month.

The two largest cities in Brazil, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, are implementing curfews and business lockdowns in the face of consecutive record-high death rates in the past several days, peaking with 1,840 deaths tied to the Chinese coronavirus on Wednesday.

Brazil’s top federal court, the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), removed Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel from his office on Friday citing extensive evidence that he and wife Helena Witzel were involved in a kickback scheme with healthcare companies.

Tributes for healthcare workers are pouring in from around the world, and Brazil’s “Christ the Redeemer” statue in Rio de Janeiro also plays a role.

Homicides in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro have fallen to their lowest level in nearly 30 years when the government began keeping records, according to new figures released on Tuesday by Brazil’s Public Security Institute.

Iran’s only female Olympic medalist has defected from her country and reportedly fled to the Netherlands, according to a post on her Instagram account Saturday.

A witness linking Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to the murder of a left-wing politician lied in his deposition, a public prosecutor revealed Wednesday, following the publication of a report Bolsonaro denounced in an impassioned Facebook live as “villainy.”

Many churches in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are in a state of disrepair as a result of poor conservation and vandalism, O Globo reported Monday.

A female UFC fighter proved herself to be too much to handle for a would-be armed robber in Rio de Janeiro, who ended up with a face full of bruises instead of a pocket full of cash.

Pop star Iggy Azalea begged her fans to have sympathy on her after she received criticism this week for continuing to perform after one of her backup dancers collapsed and seized during a performance. In the middle of a concert

Thousands of leftist protesters took to the streets of Brazil this week to march against the election of conservative firebrand Jair Bolsonaro, with some groups protesters turning into violent confrontations, local media reported. 

Conservatives in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and nation’s capital Brasilia organized rallies in support of conservative candidate Jair Bolsonaro this weekend, insisting that the fact a socialist assailant tried to assassinate Bolsonaro will only serve to strengthen his nationwide support.

A fire of unknown origin destroyed the entirety of the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro Sunday night, collapsing at least two of the 200-year-old former palace’s floors and destroying most of the items on display, including Latin America’s largest ancient Egyptian exhibit, priceless fossils, and natural artifacts.

Nearly two years after Rio de Janeiro police welcomed Olympics spectators at their airport with a banner reading “Welcome to Hell,” Brazilian President Michel Temer sent the nation’s military to take over the city on Friday, cracking down on a crime wave exacerbated by Carnival festivities and a woefully underfunded law enforcement corps.

Brazilian prosecutors have uncovered a sprawling corruption scheme following a raid on the home of Brazilian Olympic Committee President Carlos Nuzman, presenting mounting evidence that Brazil bought its way through the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) voters to secure the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.

In a rising tide of populist sentiment, Brazil’s two largest cities swore in mayors from outside the political class Sunday, underscoring widespread frustration with the establishment.

Brazilian police have arrested two former governors of Rio de Janeiro state — one for involvement in the sprawling Petrobras corruption scandal, one for allegedly buying votes — within a 24-hour period.

The mayor-elect of Rio de Janeiro, a prominent evangelical leader, reportedly will be going to Israel to celebrate his victory.

The ongoing rivalry between the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California (USC) has yielded another victory to USC, with the Trojans earning more Olympic medals from the Rio Summer Games than their Bruin counterparts. But Stanford stands alone on top, with 27 medals, according to one count.

In an extensive investigation featuring an eyewitness interview, observance of multiple surveillance camera videos, and an on-location visit, USA Today has found significant evidence that American Olympic champion Ryan Lochte was robbed at a gas station in Rio de Janeiro, and police lied about him and three other U.S. swimmers vandalizing a bathroom.

Rio de Janeiro police have agreed to let U.S. Olympic swimmer James Feigen return home if he pays $11,000 to a charity of the city’s choice, following an incident in which Feigen and teammates Ryan Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, and Jack Conger were forced to pay gas station attendants money for damage at gunpoint.

Brazilian news sources say video exists showing U.S. swimmers Ryan Lochte, James Feigen, Gunnar Bentz, and Jack Conger engaged in a drunken altercation at a gas station. Police allege this proved they lied about being robbed early Sunday morning in Rio de Janeiro.

The judge overseeing an investigation into the early-morning robbery of U.S. swimming champion Ryan Lochte and three colleagues during the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics has banned the Americans from leaving Brazil and called for their passports to be confiscated. The order comes one day after Lochte flew back to the United States, ending his Olympic trip early.

Brazil’s O Globo has revisited Rio de Janeiro’s “Bin Laden Bar,” an establishment first made famous when foreigners discovered it during the 2014 World Cup. The bar is a hit with Olympic athletes, who find its “local flavor” superior to the allegedly insipid Olympic Village.

Brazilian civilian police are opening an investigation into the robbery at gunpoint of American Olympics swimming champion Ryan Lochte and three other athletes, who contend men with “police badges” held them up at gunpoint and stole their wallets.

As if the crime, political instability, dicey infrastructure, questionable sanitation, and Zika weren’t bad enough, Olympic tourists also find themselves set upon by swarms of predatory hackers.

Ryan Lochte and three other American swimmers were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday by thieves posing as police officers who stopped their taxi and took their money and belongings, the U.S. Olympic Committee said.

A Brazilian soldier was shot dead in Rio de Janeiro this week after his GPS led him to the notoriously violent Vila do Joao favela while the group attempted to navigate back to the Olympic Village.

The latest high-profile victim of a violent robbery in Rio de Janeiro is Yevgeny Korotyshkin, an Olympic silver medalist and the president of the Moscow Swimming Federation. He joins Portugal’s Minister of Education and the head of security for the 2016 Olympic Games in having experienced a mugging while traveling between Olympic venues.