Prince Harry, armed with Aslan's courage, Hercules' strength, and Mr. Clean's sturdy arms, has saved yet another mortal from certain death.

The city of Rio had a busy Sunday: 3,000 heavily armed police and military troops swarmed one of the city's largest favelas as part of a massive effort to secure the city in anticipation of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. Explore operation "Shock of Peace" in this slideshow.

Just imagine you're a 20-year-old guy wrapping up a Brazilian vacation, and you've got managed to fit close to a kilo of cocaine down your throat before heading to the airport. Oh, the raging parties you'll throw! And the money! And the ladies. But then you're kindly asked at the airport to submit to a medical scan. Via MSNBC's Photoblog, we learn that these images are of a 20-year-old Irish man who was arrested on September 12 at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Earlier this year, aerial photos of a newly discovered tribe living in Brazil's Amazon rainforest electrified the internet. Now that entire tribe, numbering around 200, has gone missing—and a panicking Brazilian government fears that cocaine smugglers are to blame.

If anyone's been put down by society for far too long — besides young white males — it's the straights, of course. That's precisely why members of Sao Paulo, Brazil's city council have adopted legislation to create Heterosexual Pride Day.

During a concert in Belo Horizonte, Brazil on Tuesday, Avril Lavigne was about to begin a cover of Coldplay's "Fix You" when a rogue superfan approached her after gaining access to the stage. Lavigne's security team acted quickly to remove the assailant, but not before she let out a fearful shriek, as you'll see in the video above. [via ONTD]

Rio de Janeiro, the site of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, has 60,000 unsolved murders, a new investigation by the federal Ministry of Justice reveals. 24,000 of the victims haven't even been identified. [AP]

Last week, Brazilian authorities confirmed the existence of an uncontacted tribe of about 200 in the Western Amazon. They may be the last people on Earth unaware of the whole Charlie Sheen thing. (His existence, that is.)

In your cloudy Friday media column: a journalist murdered in Brazil, the latest Matt Taibbi uproar, Timesmen are momentarily glamorous, Gay Talese's reading material is so Gay, Newsweek's big positive news, and an illustrated NYT paywall hack.

Brazilian police are looking for a thief who allegedly stole a woman's hair while she waited in line at a bus stop. Not, like, by pulling it out! The man apparently used a "knife-like weapon to cut the hair while the woman turned her back to him (she "thought the man was going to steal her purse"). Police believe that it will be sold to some kind of shady wig-maker, which is, all things considered, the least-gross possibility.

Absolutely brilliant, subtle work here (click to enlarge) by Brazilian ad agency Agencia 3 for Cachaça Magnífica liquor. Think your son might be a gay? You'll need some of our booze! I'd probably be more driven to drink if I woke up as an ad executive, but to each their own. [via Copyranter]

Police in Rio de Janeiro arrested 214 people last weekend for pissing in the streets during Carnival as part of the city's "Zero Tolerance for Pissing" campaign. There's no ambiguity in that name.

Some 617 people have died and 14,000 left homeless after ruinous mudslides tore through neighborhoods around Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This dog, Leao, has been visiting her owner Cristina Maria Cesario Santana's grave since Santana's death. Oh, my.

An 88-year-old Brazilian woman, Maria das Dores, was declared dead on December 22 at a hospital in her town. Luckily an undertaker decided to check inside the coffin, because she was still breathing and moving. An investigation is underway. [Telegraph]

Some 2,600 police and army operatives swept through a Brazilian slum on Sunday, seizing 11 tons of marijuana and "a small arsenal" of weapons—including a missile—from a notorious drug gang. They also found a Justin Bieber mural.

[Children play at the home of an alleged drug trafficker in Rio's Complexo do Alemao slum today, as Brazilian security forces declare victory against the city's infamous drug gangs. Image via AP]

Military police in Rio say they've "won" the fight against drug gangs in the city's favelas.

Brazilian security forces for the last week have been battling Rio de Janeiro's notorious drug gangs and have issued an ultimatum for gang members holed up in the Alemao favela to surrender. At least 35 people have died so far.

Dilma Rousseff, the Worker's Party candidate for President of Brazil, defeated opponent Jose Serra of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party with 56 percent of the vote, becoming Brazil's first female president. Not bad for a former guerilla fighterformer guerilla fighter.

Brazilian congressional candidate Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva won 1.3 million votes in the country's Sunday elections—twice as many as the second-place finisher. It may be because he is also a clown named Tiririca ("Grumpy") with amazing campaign ads.