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Construction of the stage for Shakira’s concert in Brazil resumes after worker’s death

By The Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Workers in Brazil on Monday resumed the construction of the stage for the concert by Shakira next weekend on Rio de Janeiro’s famous Copacabana Beach, work that was halted the day before amid a police investigation into the death of a 28-year-old locksmith at the scene.

The boundary-breaking Colombian singer and pop star has not commented on the death of the worker.

According to police, Gabriel de Jesus Firmino died on Sunday after being crushed by two stage elevators when the equipment was activated by another worker. Investigator Ângelo Lages told journalists that the Brazilian company that operates the stage is under investigation for alleged non-compliance with workplace safety regulations.

Shakira, who spent the last year on her first global tour since 2018, where she has made history, is to give a free concert on Saturday evening at the Copacabana. Last year, Lady Gaga gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach for the biggest show of her career.

Many beachgoers said they were sorry for the worker’s death and that hey think the concert should still go on as planned.

“It is a sad thing that this happened,” said Anita Costa, a 41-year-old singer, as she strolled near the stage on Monday morning. “But the concert should go on.”

Concert organizers expressed support and solidarity with the company in charge of the stage construction, its “staff and the family of the victim” of the tragic accident.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait following US strikes, threatens to end talks to end the war

By The Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched drone and missile attacks Sunday targeting Bahrain and Kuwait in response to U.S. airstrikes that hit the Islamic Republic, and threatened a “complete halt” could come to negotiations to end the war if Washington continues its attacks. Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf that once carried a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas, without Iran's direct oversight sparked the crossfire now gripping the region. A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday that it would expand a route near Oman in the Strait of Hormuz to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic — setting up a new flashpoint with Tehran. Iran insists it alone must govern the strait after the war, upending decades of the world considering that the strait was international waters free for all, despite its sitting in Iran and Oman's territorial waters. Tehran has twice attacked vessels going through the Oman route, backed by a United Nations agency, in recent days. Early Sunday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship at sea early Saturday morning. That ship, the Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku, carried crude oil for the state-run energy company of Qatar, a key negotiator between Iran and the United States.
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