- New York area port prepares for possible US strike disruption
- Rodri 'irreplaceable' but Guardiola confident Man City will still compete
- Brook 'relieved' as maiden ODI hundred sets up first win as England captain
- Dior's arrows and Amazons as Saint Laurent revives its master
- Mbappe strikes again as Madrid hold off Alaves
- Nkunku hits Chelsea hat-trick, Man City edge into League Cup last 16
- Amnesty calls for commission to probe Kenya protest deaths
- Bolivian government rejects Morales ultimatum for cabinet reshuffle
- US Congress calls on Novo Nordisk to lower drug prices
- Stock markets advance on China stimulus
- Russia 'can only be forced into peace," Zelensky tells UN
- Hundred hero Brook keeps England alive in Australia ODI series
- Biden pleads for democracy in final UN address
- Brook's hundred sees England beat Australia in 3rd ODI
- Alarm grows as Israel and Hezbollah exchange intense fire
- NFL legend Favre reveals Parkinson's diagnosis
- Biden urges world to 'stop arming generals' in Sudan
- Defying experts, Trump vows tariff-driven US economic boom
- Stokes open to England white-ball return
- No peak oil demand 'on the horizon', phaseout a 'fantasy': OPEC
- Sri Lanka's new leftist leader dissolves parliament, calls snap polls
- England scrum-half Mitchell to see specialist on neck injury
- Under-pressure Masood to lead Pakistan in England Tests
- Storm Helene on track to hit Florida as major hurricane
- IOC should reinstate Russia as soon it obeys rules: Samaranch
- Dior unleashes arrows and Amazons at Paris Fashion Week
- San Siro loses 2027 Champions League final due to uncertain future
- Canada's Trudeau faces no-confidence vote
- AI research uncovers 300 ancient etchings in Peru's Nazca desert
- Brazil's Lula calls Security Council makeup 'unacceptable'
- Alarm grows as Israel launches new 'extensive' strikes on Lebanon
- Carey blasts Australia to 304-7 against England in 3rd ODI
- Biden warns against clinging to power in UN farewell
- Alarm grows as Israel launches new strikes on Lebanon
- Biden warns at UN against 'full-scale war' over Lebanon
- 'Monumental step' as Thai king signs same-sex marriage into law
- French lake still riddled with bombs 80 years after World War II
- Alberta Ferretti quits as creative director at brand she founded
- Two killed in Mexico as Hurricane John weakens to tropical storm
- Multiple arrests after US woman uses machine-assisted suicide in Switzerland
- Dubois will next fight Joshua or Usyk, 'whoever pays me the most'
- Stock markets surge on China stimulus
- Lopetegui ready to learn from mistakes as Liverpool loom in League Cup
- US Fed dissenter warns inflation risks remain 'prominent'
- UN chief warns Lebanon on 'brink' as world leaders gather
- Surprise start for Libbok as Etzebeth set for Springboks record
- Ten Hag says expanded schedules make injuries 'almost unavoidable'
- Liverpool boss Slot praises Alexander-Arnold's defensive work
- Barca coach backs Pena but will debate new goalkeeper signing
- UN says tens of thousands flee Lebanon strikes
Sparkling message of tolerance wins Rio carnival title
After a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19, the jury for Rio de Janeiro's colorful, cutthroat carnival competition on Tuesday named the winner of the 2022 edition -- a parade on the theme of religious tolerance.
Grande Rio, a samba school from the impoverished neighborhood of Duque de Caxias, claimed the coveted title for the first time in their history for a highly colorful, sparkling parade dedicated to the Afro-Brazilian deity Exu.
It was a politically charged choice of theme in a Brazil where Afro-Brazilian faiths such as Candomble and Umbanda have been widely demonized by the country's powerful Evangelical Christian movement, which is closely allied with far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
"We conceived our parade as a defense of our beliefs against religious racism and the demonization of Exu," said the school's creative director, Leonardo Bora.
Twelve samba schools took part in the all-night contest Friday and Saturday, which had the city's dedicated carnival parade venue, the "Sambadrome," throbbing to the beat as a glittering, sequin-studded sea of dancers, drummers and floats flooded the avenue.
It was an exuberant unleashing of pent-up party spirit, after two long years of a pandemic that has hit Brazil hard, claiming more than 660,000 lives.
The six top samba schools will fill the avenue again for a "champions' parade" Saturday night.
Of the six, five chose themes related to racial injustice or Afro-Brazilian history -- Grande Rio, Beija-Flor (second place), Vila Isabel (fourth), Portela (fifth) and Salgueiro (sixth).
The issues highlighted by the schools are in the spotlight as Bolsonaro, who has faced frequent accusations of racism and intolerance, gears up to seek re-election in October.
Third place in the contest went to 2020 champions Viradouro, whose parade paid tribute to the legendary carnival of 1919, the first after the devastation of another pandemic, the Spanish flu.
L.Janezki--BTB