She was cheered by legions of Carnival fans, but 7-year-old Julia Lira, the youngest drum corps queen in memory at Rio's lavish party, broke down crying after being surrounded by cameras early Monday.
Dressed in a sequined halter top and a miniskirt made of purple feathers, the youngster tentatively stepped through the first 50 yards of the parade. Her father -- the president of the parading Viradouro samba group -- then took her by the hand and presented her to the crowd. She smiled big for the photographers and adoring fans.
But 10 minutes into the group's parade and surrounded by dozens of photographers and television cameramen, the youngster broke down in tears and was immediately scooped up into the arms of her unofficial handler, the group's spokeswoman Joice Hurtado, and taken away from the attention.
After a five-minute cool down, Julia returned to her place in front of the group's massive drum line, but was quickly whisked through the parade grounds by her father and out of the media's eye.
"She just got scared after having all those cameras thrust in her face," Hurtado said after the parade. "After we got her into her mother's arms, she quickly calmed down and put on a great show."
While Julia bounced back and began to samba at the helm of the parade, television coverage broadcast to millions in Brazil steered clear of showing any more shots of her.
Before the parade began, Julia's father, Marco Lira, said that "she's happy, she is ready to
dance."
After the parade, however, both father and daughter looked tired and emotionally exhausted, though Julia managed a few furtive smiles but no words when asked how she liked the event.
Some in the audience thought she was not ready for the spotlight
"She is too young to be a drum corps queen," said Marister Deniz, 60, who was watching from the stands. "A girl that size shouldn't be thrust in such a role."
But Jorge Elias Souza, a member of the Viradouro drum corps, said he was proud of the girl regardless.
"She is the embodiment of all the love in our school. Normally a famous person is the drum corps queen, but her father is our president and she is the center of our family," he said. Putting Julia in the Carnival role drew the ire of child welfare advocates who were against a young girl taking on a role normally reserved for sultry models and actresses.
Carlos Nicodemos, director of the Rio de Janeiro state Council for the Defense of Children and Adolescents, two weeks ago asked a judge to keep the girl from dancing, arguing that "what we can't allow is putting a 7-year-old girl in a role that traditionally for Carnival has a very sexual focus."
A judge ruled last week that the girl could join the parade, and the overwhelming response in Brazil was a shrug and acceptance.
Before Julia took to the parade ground, the Rio's reigning Carnival Queen Shayene Cesario Vieira, 24, said she thought "it's cool" that the girl would participate.
"I don't remember hearing of a drum corps queen being so young," she said. "But her dad is the president of the group and if he thinks it's OK, it's OK.
In the two weeks leading up to the Carnival parade, Marco Lira said repeatedly that he and his wife would be with the girl at all times and they would carefully watch to make sure she doesn't get too tired during the parade. Both he and his wife were with the girl through the entire parade.
The Viradouro samba group has a history of controversial themes. A 2008 float portrayed Hitler amid a sea of naked mannequins representing Holocaust victims. A judge banned that float from being in the parade.
Nicodemos has also suggested that the samba group put Julia into her role to get extra attention -- a charge strongly denied by her father.
As 12 top-tier Rio samba schools compete fiercely in the parades that are broadcast to viewers nationwide, massive street parties continued to erupt across the city.
Tourism officials said almost 730,000 visitors arrived in Rio this year for the big party -- a 5 percent increase over last year.
It's the first Carnival since Rio was named as host to the 2016 Olympics, and officials have been working hard to show that the city, known for the drug-gang violence that pervades its slums, can safely host major events.
There have been few reports of violence during the party so far.
A 37-year-old Dutch tourist was shot by a robber as he tried to defend a Dutch woman he was with, police said. A spokesman for the Silvestre Hospital said Alexander Kors Johannes had been operated on and was in stable condition Sunday.
In the film world, Kevin Smith is larger than life. And in the real world, he's too big to fly on an airplane. The director, actor and comedian was escorted off an airplane Saturday because he could not fit comfortably in his seat.
Smith boarded a flight from Oakland to Burbank, Ca, but was soon escorted off the flight because he was encroaching upon the comfort of his fellow passengers.
"If a customer cannot comfortably lower the armrest and infringes on a portion of another seat, a customer seated adjacent would be very uncomfortable and a timely exit from the aircraft in the event of an emergency might be compromised if we allow a cramped, restricted seating arrangement," Southwest said.
Of course, Smith was not happy about it. The Mallrats director took to Twitter soon after with a series of rants.
"I broke no regulation, offered no 'safety risk' (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?)" he wrote. "I saw someone bigger than me on THAT flight! But I wasn't about to throw a fellow Fatty under the plane as I'm being profiled. But he & I made eye contact, & he was like 'Please don't tell...'"
"Don't worry," he added. "[The] wall of the plane was opened & I was airlifted out while Richard Simmons supervised."
Southwest Airlines said they called Smith to offer their "heartfelt apologies," but reiterated that his removal was for the "safety and comfort of all customers."
Smith has now joked he wants to start a boycott of the airlines, and says that he will try to never fly Southwest again.
"The SouthwestAir Diet. How it works: you're publicly shamed into a slimmer figure. Crying the weight right off has never been easier!"
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday Iran is sliding into a military dictatorship, a new assessment suggesting a rockier road ahead for U.S.-led efforts to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
As the first high-level Obama administration official to make such an accusation, Clinton was reflecting an ever-dimming outlook for persuading Iran to negotiate limits on its nuclear program, which it has insisted is intended only for peaceful purposes. The U.S. and others — including the two Gulf countries Clinton visited Sunday and Monday — believe Iran is headed for a nuclear bomb capability.
Clinton also was revealing the logic of the administration's plan to target the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with a new round of international sanctions intended to compel Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions before it increases the likelihood of a military clash.
Clinton flew to Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and then was driven in King Abdullah's private bus about 65 miles northeast to Rawdat Khurayim, a secluded royal hunting retreat where the vacationing king hosted her for lunch — and where a large-screen TV was on. Afterward they met privately in his elaborately appointed tent, which includes five crystal chandeliers in the reception room. Clinton also met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in Riyadh and later was flying to Jeddah on the Red Sea coast.
Earlier in the day, in Doha, Qatar, Clinton spoke bluntly about Iranian behavior and what she called the Obama administration's view of Iran as increasingly dominated by the Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Last week the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it was freezing the assets in U.S. jurisdictions of a Revolutionary Guard general and four subsidiaries of a previously penalized construction company he runs because of their alleged involvement in producing and spreading weapons of mass destruction.
The Revolutionary Guard has long been a pillar of Iran's regime as a force separate from the ordinary armed forces. The Guard now has a hand in every critical area, including missile development, oil resources, dam building, road construction, telecommunications and nuclear technology.
It also has absorbed the paramilitary Basij as a full-fledged part of its command structure — giving the militia greater funding and a stronger presence in Iran's internal politics.
"The evidence we've seen of this increasing decision-making (by the Revolutionary Guard) cuts across all areas of Iranian security policy, and certainly nuclear policy is at the core of it," Clinton told reporters flying with her from Doha to Saudi Arabia.
Asked if the U.S. was planning a military attack on Iran, Clinton said "no."
The United States is focused on gaining international support for sanctions "that will be particularly aimed at those enterprises controlled by the Revolutionary Guard, which we believe is in effect supplanting the government of Iran," she said.
Meanwhile, a semi-official news agency quoted the head of Iran's nuclear program as saying the country received a new proposal last week from the United States, Russia and France, three of the countries trying to rein in Tehran's uranium enrichment program.
Iran said that it was studying the joint proposal purportedly made after the country announced last week it had begun enriching uranium to a higher level than previously acknowledged. The ILNA news agency quoted Ali Akbar Salehi as saying various countries have also offered Iran proposals on a nuclear fuel swap, adding that Iran is reviewing all the proposals. He did not provide any more details.
Private U.S. experts on the Iranian regime said they agreed with Clinton's assessment of Iran's drift toward military dominance.
"When you rely on the power of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to remain in power it is only a matter of time before the regime becomes a paramilitary dictatorship — and it is about time we realize this," Iranian-born Fariborz Ghadar, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in an e-mail to The AP. He said the current regime is "beholden to the Revolutionary Guard for its survival."
Ray Takeyh, a former administration adviser on Iran who now follows Iranian developments from the private Council on Foreign Relations, said by e-mail, "The Revolutionary Guards are increasingly represented in all aspects of governance."
Clinton told reporters it appears the Revolutionary Guard is in charge of Iran's controversial nuclear program and the country changing course "depends on whether the clerical and political leadership begin to reassert themselves."
She added: "I'm not predicting what will happen but I think the trend with this greater and greater military lock on leadership decisions should be disturbing to Iranians as well as those of us on the outside."
Clinton said the Iran that could emerge is "a far cry from the Islamic Republic that had elections and different points of view within the leadership circle. That is part of the reason that we are so concerned with what we are seeing going on there."
In her Doha appearance, Clinton also said she foresees a possible breakthrough soon in stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
"I'm hopeful that this year will see the commencement of serious negotiations that will cover every issue that is outstanding," she said, adding that "everyone is anticipating" progress after more than a year of impasse between the negotiating parties.
The peace talks broke down in late 2008 with Israel's incursion into Gaza, which had launched rocket attacks on Israeli targets.
Clinton spoke in an interview with the Al-Jazeera TV network before a live audience of mostly Arab students at the Carnegie Mellon campus.
