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Subscribe to RSSPeople surround a bus which fell from a bridge with a height of 49 feet in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Tuesday. The accident left 7 people dead and 11 injured.
Vanderlei Almeida / AFP - Getty Images
Wildfire threatens ecological zone in southern Brazil
Lauro Alves / Agencia RBS via AFP - Getty Images
An aerial view of the Taim Ecological Station on fire, in Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil, on March 27, 2013.
A wildfire that started on Tuesday has consumed around 1,400 acres of a protected ecological station in southern Brazil. The fire at the Taim Ecological Station is at risk of spreading further, Agence France-Presse reports, since there is limited access to water.
Lauro Alves / Agencia RBS via AFP - Getty Images
Puppets used to model the latest designs during Sao Paulo Fashion Week
Photos by Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP - Getty Images
Marionettes present creations by Fause Haten during Fashion Week for 2013 Summer collections, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 20, 2013. Real size collections showed after the puppet fashion show.
See the embedded youtube video below to see how the puppets are created.
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See how the puppets are created and used for fashion shows.
Paint war declared in Brazil, clean clothes only casulties
Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters
Youth take part in a "paint war" flash mob in the city park of Brasilia, Brazil on March 17.
Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters
A youth reacts during a "paint war" flash mob in Brasilia, Brazil, March 17.
Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters
A man reacts during a "paint war" flash mob in the city park of Brasilia, Brazil on March 17.
Dead fish fill Rio lagoon
Christophe Simon / AFP - Getty Images
Tons of dead fish float on the waters of the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, beside the Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on March 13, 2013.
Christophe Simon / AFP - Getty Images
Municipal workers collect dead fish floating on the waters of the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, beside the Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on March 13, 2013.
A storm earlier this week washed organic matter into a lake in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil leading to the deaths of 12 tons of fish, reports the Montreal Gazette.
Ricardo Moraes / Reuters
Royal Ballet prepares to open in Rio de Janeiro
Students attend a master class with dancers of the Royal Opera House at the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theater on Feb. 23. The Royal Ballet will open the 2013 season of the theater with gala performances March 1-3.
Gold and feathered samba dancers spice up Carnival celebrations in Rio
Christophe Simon / AFP - Getty Images
A dancer with the Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba school performs during Carnival at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, on Feb. 12.
Alexandro Auler/str / Getty Images
Members of the Beija Flor Samba School perform during Carnival at the Sambodrome on Feb. 12, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Antonio Scorza / AFP - Getty Images
The Grande Rio samba school performs during Carnival at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Feb. 12.
Antonio Scorza / AFP - Getty Images
Dancers with the Grande Rio samba school perform during the second night of Carnival parade at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Feb. 12.
Also see: From cubicle to Carnival: A samba dancer keeps her day job
Felipe Dana / AP
A performer from the Unidos de Vila Isabel samba school parades during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, on Feb. 12.
From cubicle to Carnival: A samba dancer keeps her day job
Felipe Dana / AP
Samba dancer Diana Prado, right, adjusts her costume as she prepares for a carnival parade at central station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 2.
Felipe Dana / AP
Samba dancer and as a call center supervisor Diana Prado talks with a co-worker, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 5.
Pilar Olivares / Reuters
A reveller participates in the annual block party known as the "Banda de Ipanema
Published 3:30pm ET -- Though samba dancers, or "passistas," as they're known in Portuguese, are unquestionably the star attractions of the world's most iconic Carnival celebrations, they're not on the payroll of the samba school they represent. Diana Prado made her Carnival debut at age 19, after auditioning for a spot with the Sao Clemente, one of 13 top-tier schools that will compete for the annual titles at the Sambadrome this weekend.
Prado spends her daylight hours working at a call center. At night, she is a samba dancer for the Sao Clemente group. Although her hectic schedule of pre-Carnival preparations often requires her to apply her extravagant glitter stage makeup in the office bathroom, Prado insists being a "passista" doesn't undermine her authority with the 15 telemarketers she supervises.
-- The Associated Press
Felipe Dana / AP
Samba dancer and a call center supervisor Diana Prado sits at her work desk, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 5.
Felipe Dana / AP
Samba dancer Diana Prado does her makeup before the start of a carnival parade at central station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 2.
Felipe Dana / AP
Samba dancer Diana Prado performs during a carnival parade at central station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 2.
Brazil nightclub fire kills at least 245
Agencia RBS via AP
A man carries a man injured in a fire at the Kiss club in Santa Maria city, Brazil, early Jan. 27.
"It was really fast. There was a lot of smoke, really dark smoke," survivor Aline Santos Silva, 29, told Globonews TV. "We were only able to get out quickly because we were in a VIP area close to the door."
-- Reported by NBC News and wire reports
Agencia RBS via Reuters
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at Kiss nightclub in the southern city of Santa Maria, Brazil.
Agencia RBS via AP
People help a man injured in a nightclub fire in Santa Maria city, Brazil, on Sunday.
Ronald Mendes / EPA
Relatives of those trapped in a nightclub fire in southern Brazil mourn on Sunday.
A fire broke out early Sunday morning at a night club in Santa Maria, in southern Brazil, killing revelers — many of them students. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.
Reuters
A fast-moving nightclub inferno claimed the lives of more than 230 people in southern Brazil.
Captivating mural painting in Sao Paulo
Nacho Doce / Reuters
Brazilian graffiti artist Eduardo Kobra (C) puts the final touches to his piece of art in tribute to Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, next to his assistants, at the financial center on Sao Paulo's Avenida Paulista January 22, 2013. Kobra created the 56-meter (61-yard) tall graffiti artwork as a tribute to Niemeyer, one of the 20th century's most influential modernist architects. Niemeyer died in December 2012, aged 104.
Nacho Doce / Reuters
Brazilian graffiti artist Eduardo Kobra puts the final touches.
Nacho Doce / Reuters
Cat caught smuggling items into Brazilian prison
Penitentiary System Of Alagoas / AFP - Getty Images
A penitentiary agent holds a cat with a package of tools and a mobile phone taped to its body at Luiz de Oliveira Souza prison in Arapiraca, Alagoas, Brazil. Brazilian authorities captured the cat, which was entering the prison with a saw, bits for hand drills, a mobile phone, batteries and a charger. The cat belonged to the prisoners and was frequently taken by relatives to their homes, returning to the prison on its own.
Alagoas state prisons spokeswoman Cinthya Moreno says that the cat was caught New Year's Eve at the medium-security prison in the city of Arapiraca.
-- Reported by the Associated Press
AP
Items retrieved from the cat are displayed by authorities.
A cat slipped into a prison in Brazil but was intercepted by prison officials, who found drill bits, a saw and other items taped to its body. TODAY's Jenna Wolfe reports.
Felipe Dana / AP
A blue Santa tries to prevent a blue Christmas for residents of a Rio shanty town
A police officer dressed in a Santa Claus costume holds a sack and cane in the Macacos favela, or slum, after arriving by police helicopter in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Dec. 20, 2012. Wearing police blue, the Santa Claus handed out gifts to young residents of the favela.