Latest news with #RioDeJaneiro
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jack Draper dispatches teenage sensation Joao Fonseca in straight sets to reach the last-16 of the French Open for the first time
There will come a day when Jack Draper vs Joao Fonseca blossoms into a fine rivalry. But not this day. For now, it is man against boy. The 23-year-old from London dispatched the 18-year-old from Rio de Janeiro 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second week of the French Open for the first time. 'Joao has caught the intention of everyone, there's so much more to come from him,' said No 5 seed Draper. 'Just a bit of experience from me today. But he's got a really bright future right at the top of the game.' Draper had never won a match here before this fortnight, but his stated ambitions are far greater than breaking his duck and he is matching deed with word. In the last 16 he will be a heavy favourite, whoever wins the clash of outsiders between Alexander Bublik and Henrique Rocha. A likely quarter-final against the mighty Jannik Sinner awaits thereafter. But his focus over the last two days was squarely on Fonseca, a teenager whom everyone has pegged as a future Grand Slam champion. Draper's chances received a boost at 8.52pm on Friday night, with the news that French No 1 Arthur Fils was withdrawing with a stress fracture of the back. That triggered a chain reaction in the schedule which saw Draper v Fonseca bumped up from Court Simone Mathieu to Suzanne Lenglen. The result was a totally different atmosphere. Mathieu is only partially ticketed, so the unreserved upper tiers would have been swarming with Brazilians. Over on Lenglen, there were only a few brushstrokes of green and gold. It was not even a full house. It was hot and humid - too muggy to be chanting and hollering. Draper will have been urging himself to strike early and take the sting out of the match. There was very little sting to begin with and what venom there was he quickly extracted. As Draper secured an early break, there was a shot from Fonseca which summed up where his game is currently at. Draper whipped a solid forehand, deep and with plenty of spin. On clay, it called for Fonseca to retreat a few feet, allow the ball to drop and rebuild the rally. Instead he stepped in, took it on the half-volley and ripped it into the middle of the net. Tennis, especially on the dirt, is about knowing when to push and when to absorb; it is about respecting your opponent's shots. Fonseca plays with the disrespect of youth and that makes him thrilling to watch. It also for now, at least for the top guys, makes him rather easy to beat. And Draper is every inch a top guy these days. He dominated Fonseca in every facet of the game. Instead of avoiding the dangerous Fonseca forehand, he attacked it. The Brazilian loves to trade in the backhand corner, before stepping round and unleashing the forehand hammer. By proactively going into the forehand wing, Draper was hitting into space, and forcing Fonseca to defend on a side where he prefers to attack. In his second-round win over Gael Monfils, Draper struggled at times with the cool, slow night time conditions. In the 28 degree afternoon heat, his forehand and serve had far more zip. The drop shot was also tremendously, at times laughably, effective - Fonseca just couldn't get a read on it, often so bamboozled he stood stock still as the ball plopped over. And those two weapons were often deployed in tandem: heavy forehand down the line to push Fonseca back; wrong-footing drop shot to that same side. Clay-court mastery of which Rafael Nadal would have been proud; it is startling how quickly Draper has tapped into the cadences of this most unfamiliar surface. He displayed a tactical sophistication of which Fonseca is not yet capable. For now, the young man's results remain far short of the hype. There were so many flashes of cameraphones from the crowd that Draper asked the umpire to ask them to stop. And that speaks to the fact that, as much as people flock to Fonseca's matches to watch him, they come almost more to have watched him; to be able to say, when he lifts a 10th Grand Slam title, 'I was there when he lost to Draper on Lenglen.' If that sounds like a lot on a teenager's shoulder's, that's because it is, but Fonseca seems to be dealing with things remarkably well at the moment. His game is so impressive, just unrefined. He will surely sit at the top table one day. Draper has not taken his seat there yet either - but he is pulling up a chair and perusing the starters.
Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
Brazil's Petrobras to cut average jet fuel prices by 7.9% as of June
RIO DE JANEIRO, May 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras ( opens new tab will cut its average jet fuel prices to distributors by 7.9%, or 0.28 real ($0.0490) per liter, starting June 1, the company said in a statement on Friday. ($1 = 5.7174 reais)
Associated Press
a day ago
- Health
- Associated Press
Brazil's lifelike doll craze goes from shopping malls to state legislatures
SAO PAULO (AP) — Videos featuring emotional moments with hyper-realistic baby dolls have sparked both online fascination and political debate in Brazil, with lawmakers even bringing the lifelike dolls into legislatures. Influencers have staged situations such as birth simulations and strolls in shopping malls with the hand-crafted baby figures, known as 'reborn' dolls, creating videos that have gone viral. In Rio de Janeiro, the city council has passed a bill honoring those who make the lifelike dolls, pending Mayor Eduardo Paes' signature. Meanwhile, legislators elsewhere across the country have debated fines for those seeking medical help for such dolls, following a video allegedly showing a woman taking one to a hospital. Lawmakers have brought the dolls into legislative chambers. On Tuesday, Joao Luiz, a state lawmaker from Amazonas, appeared with a doll at the State House to announce plans to ban reborn dolls from receiving care in the state's public health system. However, local media reported that health authorities had never recorded any such cases. Last week, congresswoman Talíria Petrone criticized the attention her colleagues were giving to the issue. 'Can we focus on what really matters? If someone wants to have a doll, let them. I have two real children and they're more than enough work,' she said. Dozens of 'reborn mothers' gathered at Villa Lobos Park, in Sao Paulo, on Saturday for a 10th annual meet-up. Participants say criticism should be aimed at attention-seeking influencers, not the broader community. The hyper-realistic baby dolls are often used for grief therapy or parenting practice. Berenice Maria, a nursing assistant and longtime collector who owns eight dolls, says they offer emotional comfort. 'I love reborns, despite the hate we see out there,' she said. 'I want the right to go out with them … go to the mall, go to the park.' Daniela Baccan, co-owner of a reborn doll shop in Campinas, Sao Paulo, said dolls sell from 700 reais ($124) to nearly 10,000 reais (nearly $1,800). With the rising controversy, safety concerns are increasing. 'We're locking up the store more, adding cameras,' Baccan said. 'But at the same time, online demand has increased, and the store is seeing a much higher flow of people.' ___
Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
Exclusive: Miner Vale misses deadline for power to expand Brazil nickel complex
SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO, May 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian power grid operator ONS told Reuters it denied miner Vale's ( opens new tab request to increase power consumption at its northern Onca Puma nickel complex, after missing a deadline to confirm the bid. The denial comes as Vale prepares to start up a second furnace at Onca Puma, a $555 million expansion that should help the miner boost nickel production in coming years. Vale told Reuters that despite the denied request it was maintaining its outlook to start operating the new furnace in the second half of this year. The miner plans to raise its global nickel production to as much as 250,000 metric tons in 2030, from around 160,000 tons last year. The second furnace in Onca Puma is expected to add annual output of 15,200 tons. ONS documents seen by Reuters showed Vale in late 2023 asked to increase power consumption at Onca Puma to 200 megawatts at the start of this year. Over the past year, ONS issued documents attesting to the viability of the power consumption increase at Onca Puma, but ONS said Vale did not sign a contract within the stipulated deadline. Vale filed a new request with ONS in February, ONS said, asking for the power consumption increase at Onca Puma to start in June. The request, however, was denied by the national grid operator, which said the additional power had been allocated to another project in its pipeline. Vale told Reuters it is evaluating "technical alternatives" with ONS to enable the approval of its request for the Onca Puma expansion. The miner said it expects to resolve the issue soon. The nominal nickel capacity at Vale's Onca Puma is currently around 27,000 tons per year. The complex accounted for around 10% of Vale's total nickel production last year.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Brazil's life-like doll craze goes viral as online videos spark political reaction
A hyper-realistic reborn baby doll lies in an incubator for sale at a store in Campinas, Brazil Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) SAO PAULO — Videos featuring emotional moments with hyper-realistic baby dolls have gone viral in Brazil, sparking both fascination and controversy. Influencers have staged situations such as birth simulations and strolls in shopping malls with the hand-crafted baby figures, known as 'reborn' dolls, in a trend that has even prompted political reactions. In Rio de Janeiro, the city council has passed a bill honoring those who make the life-like dolls, pending Mayor Eduardo Paes' signature. Meanwhile, legislators elsewhere across the country have debated fines for those seeking medical help for such dolls, following a viral video allegedly showing a woman taking one to a hospital. Lawmakers have even brought the dolls into legislative chambers. On Tuesday, Joao Luiz, a state lawmaker from Amazonas, appeared with a doll at the State House to announce plans to ban reborn dolls from receiving care in the state's public health system. However, local media reported that health authorities had never recorded any such cases. Last week, congresswoman Talíria Petrone criticized the attention her colleagues were giving to the issue. 'Can we focus on what really matters? If someone wants to have a doll, let them. I have two real children and they're more than enough work,' she said. Dozens of 'reborn mothers' gathered at Villa Lobos Park, in Sao Paulo, on Saturday for a 10th annual meet-up. Participants say criticism should be aimed at attention-seeking influencers, not the broader community. The hyper-realistic baby dolls are often used for grief therapy or parenting practice. Berenice Maria, a nursing assistant and longtime collector who owns eight dolls, says they offer emotional comfort. 'I love reborns, despite the hate we see out there,' she said. 'I want the right to go out with them … go to the mall, go to the park.' Daniela Baccan, co-owner of a reborn doll shop in Campinas, Sao Paulo, said dolls sell from 700 reais (US$124) to nearly 10,000 reais (nearly $1,800). With the rising controversy, safety concerns are increasing. 'We're locking up the store more, adding cameras,' Baccan said. 'But at the same time, online demand has increased, and the store is seeing a much higher flow of people.'
