Brazil breaks out in a rash over life-like doll craze
Gabi Matos looks the quintessential doting mum as she changes Ravi's nappy, cooing reassuringly as he stares up at her.
But this Brazilian 'newborn' doesn't seem to mind having his nappy changed. In fact, he has no real emotions whatsoever.
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NZ Herald
7 days ago
- NZ Herald
Brazil breaks out in a rash over life-like doll craze
Gabi Matos looks the quintessential doting mum as she changes Ravi's nappy, cooing reassuringly as he stares up at her. But this Brazilian 'newborn' doesn't seem to mind having his nappy changed. In fact, he has no real emotions whatsoever.
RNZ News
04-05-2025
- RNZ News
Brazil police foil bomb plot targeting packed Lady Gaga concert in Rio
US pop star Lady Gaga performs during a free concert at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: AFP Brazilian police said on Sunday that they had thwarted a bomb attack planned for Lady Gaga's historic concert that drew over 2 million people to Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro state, working in coordination with the Justice Ministry, said the plot was orchestrated by a group promoting hate speech and the radicalization of teenagers, including self-harm and violent content as a form of social belonging. According to the Rio city hall, 2.1 million people attended the concert of the American pop icon. "The suspects were recruiting participants, including minors, to carry out coordinated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails," the police said in a statement. The Justice Ministry said the recruiters identified themselves as members of Gaga's global fan base, known as the "Little Monsters." The operation was based on a report by the ministry's Cyber Operations Lab following a tip-off from Rio state police intelligence, which uncovered digital cells encouraging violent behavior among teenagers using coded language and extremist symbolism. A man described as the group's leader was arrested in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul for illegal possession of a firearm, while a teenager in Rio de Janeiro was detained for storing child pornography. Authorities carried out over a dozen search and seizure warrants across the states of Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso, Rio Grande do Sul and Sao Paulo. - Reuters
1News
04-05-2025
- 1News
Lady Gaga rocks Copacabana Beach with free concert for over 2 million fans
Lady Gaga gave a free concert Saturday night in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach for the biggest show of her career. 'Tonight, we're making history. (...) Thank you for making history with me,' Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, kicked off the show at around 22.10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly-packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organisers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga performed her classic hits, including Poker Face and Alejandro, switching between an array of dresses including one with the colours of the Brazilian flag. Some fans – many of them young – arrived on the beach at the crack of dawn to secure a good spot, armed with snacks and drinks. They spent the day under a blazing sun, while others perched in trees, determined to get a panoramic view. 'Today is the best day of my life,' said Manoela Dobes, a 27-year-old designer who was wearing a dress plastered with a photograph from when she met Lady Gaga in the United States in 2019. 'It's surreal to be here.' Madonna also turned Copacabana Beach into a massive dance floor last year. The large-scale performances are part of an effort led by City Hall to boost economic activity after Carnival and New Years' Eve festivities and the upcoming month-long Saint John's Day celebrations in June. 'It brings activity to the city during what was previously considered the low season – filling hotels and increasing spending in bars, restaurants, and retail, generating jobs and income for the population,' said Osmar Lima, the city's secretary of economic development, in a statement released by Rio City Hall's tourism department last month. Rio's City Hall said in a recent report that around 1.6 million people were expected to attend Lady Gaga's concert and that the show should inject at least 600 million reais (NZ$178.3 million) into Rio's economy. Similar concerts are scheduled to take place every year in May at least until 2028. Lady Gaga arrived in Rio in the early hours of Tuesday. The city has been alive with Gaga-mania since, as it geared up to welcome the pop star for her first show in the country since 2012. Rio's metro employees danced to Lady Gaga's 2008 hit song LoveGame and gave instructions for today in a video. A free exhibition celebrating her career sold out. While the vast majority of attendees were from Rio, the event also attracted Brazilians from across the country and international visitors. More than 500,000 tourists poured into the city in the days leading up to the show, more than double the initial forecast, according to data from the local bus station and Tom Jobim airport, Rio's City Hall said in a statement yesterday. Ingrid Serrano, a 30-year-old engineer, made a cross-continent trip from Colombia to Brazil to attend the show. 'I've been a 100% fan of Lady Gaga my whole life,' said Serrano, who was wearing a T-shirt featuring Lady Gaga's outlandish costumes over the years. For her, the mega-star represents 'total freedom of expression – being who one wants without shame'. Rio officials have a history of organising huge concerts on Copacabana Beach. Madonna's show drew an estimated 1.6 million fans last year, while 4 million people flooded onto the beach for a 1994 New Year's Eve show by Rod Stewart in 1994. According to Guinness World Records, that was the biggest free rock concert in history. To ensure fans could hear the songs, sixteen sound towers were spread along the beach. Rio state's security plan included the presence of 3300 military and 1500 police officers, and 400 military firefighters. Among those present were Lady Gaga admirers who remember their disappointment in 2017, when the artist cancelled a performance scheduled in Rio at the last minute due to health issues. Ricardo Filho, who has been a fan since childhood, said it was worth the wait. 'She's the best artist in the world,' the 25-year-old said, as chants of 'Gaga, I love you' in Portuguese rose from the crowd behind him.
