A 23-year-old fan of US pop music star Taylor Swift died Friday night of a heart attack amid Rio de Janeiro's historic heat wave that is already casting doubts on next Tuesday's World Cup football playoffs clash between Brazil and Lionel Messi's reigning world champions Argentina at the iconic Maracana Stadium.
Rio de Janeiro's annual New Year's Eve beach bash, already reduced in scope and format, has been canceled due to the raging coronavirus pandemic, the mayor's office said Tuesday.
Brazil's High Court of Justice removed Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel from office on Friday, as police raided his official residence in a probe into accusations he stole emergency funds to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Rio de Janeiro's golden beaches are sparkling a lot more during the coronavirus pandemic, as residents and visitors stay away, revealing miles of pristine sand along the spectacular shore.
Brazil has surpassed 40,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 800,000 cases, according to the latest figures from the health ministry on Thursday. The news came as the number of Latin American cases of the virus broke through the 1.5 million barrier.
Oil from a spill that has contaminated a stretch of Brazil's coast was detected in Rio de Janeiro state, the navy said over the weekend, as President Jair Bolsonaro warned the country was preparing for the worst.
At least ten people were killed on Saturday when a hillside collapsed in a poor neighborhood near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The mudslide buried six homes in the municipality of Niteroi following days of heavy rains in the area. Among those killed were a 3-year-old child and a 10-month-old baby.
Thousands of Brazilian army troops raided Rio de Janeiro slums in a pre-dawn crackdown on crime gangs over the weekend, leaving parts of the city looking like a war zone on the first anniversary of the opening of the Olympic Games. Five favelas were targeted by around 1,300 police and 3,600 troops in a sweep starting at 4 a.m., the Rio state security service said in a statement.
Children returned to school and most public transport began operating again Monday in the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo state, which had been paralyzed by a protest that prevented military police from patrolling. Amid fears a similar protest could erupt in the days before Carnival, the Brazilian government announced it would deploy troops to police the state of Rio de Janeiro.
A partial police shutdown over unpaid wages put Rio de Janeiro on edge Friday, sparking fears of chaos similar to that seen in a neighboring Espirito Santo state where police are in revolt and criminals have run amok. Morale among street police is low as a result of nearly bankrupt Rio state's inability to pay full wages, as well as brutal crime fighting that has seen more than 3,000 officers killed in Rio since 1994.