Rio de Janeiro
Brazilian bathers attacked and killed three sharks this week after numerous sightings sparked panic on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Lifeguards ordered swimmers to leave the fish alone, and environmental officials threatened jail terms of up to a year under wildlife protection laws. Sharks are common in the area, a civil defense official said, but the public is gripped by “shark hysteria.” A young swimmer was bitten last week, and a flurry of sightings made matters worse. Beachgoer Rodrigo Eichler told the Rio daily O Globo that he was in the water when a crowd caught a small shark and began beating it. Eichler yelled at the mob to stop, but he was too late. “It was like a public lynching,” he said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Can AI tools be used to Hollywood's advantage?Talking Points It makes some aspects of the industry faster and cheaper. It will also put many people in the entertainment world out of work
-
'Paraguay has found itself in a key position'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Meet Youngmi Mayer, the renegade comedian whose frank new memoir is a blitzkrieg to the genreThe Week Recommends 'I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying' details a biracial life on the margins, with humor as salving grace
