Flavio Falcone's patients know him as The Clown, not as a doctor.
He treats a growing number of Brazilians, driven onto the street by the COVID-19 pandemic which has devastated the country's economy reut.rs/3rZc1XB
Falcone, a psychiatrist, has become an icon in Brazil's 'cracolandia,' or crackland: a dangerous wasteland of about eight blocks in the historic center of Sao Paulo where addicts twitch and pushers roam
Costumed as a jester with a bright red nose, Falcone is not your average carnival clown.
Infused with hip-hop street culture, he sports a gold chain and flat brimmed cap and struts the streets followed by a speaker blaring rap
Working with actress Andrea Macera, Falcone uses costumes and music to break the ice with the homeless as a first step to getting them the mental health and addiction treatment they need
In April 2020, one month after the pandemic first hit Brazil, the government closed down a homeless shelter as part of an effort to clean up the city center to make way for construction.
The nearest shelter is about 3 kilometers away
Falcone and Macera helped find housing for about 20 of those displaced and to distribute 200 tents provided by a Brazilian non-government organization
His work in the neighborhood since 2012 has earned him a loyal following.
One man who received addiction help from Falcone tattooed the word 'clown' in Portuguese on his wrist
With government support receding from crackland, Falcone has tried to fill the void.
Threats. Surveillance. Doxxing. Swatting. Here's why some Sikhs in the US and Canada fear Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is trying to silence them ⬇️ 1/6reut.rs/4fFgF78
California's first Sikh American assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains says someone took photos of her home, broke into her mailbox 2/6
Bains is pushing for legislation to give law enforcement training and tools to address harassment by foreign governments 3/6
Kamala Harris is preparing for the fight of her life, if her inner circle is anything to go by 1/9 reut.rs/3LQ8kjh
The vice president has surrounded herself with a group of tested operators, many of them Black women who have been involved in Democratic politics for decades, as she gears up for a brutal three months of campaigning before the November 5 election 2/9
US Senator Laphonza Butler of California, for one, struck a bullish tone this week when asked on MSNBC about the prospect of Harris facing a barrage of sexist and racist attacks. 'Bring it,' she said. 'Because we are not new to this' 3/9
French paramedic Seifelislam Benadda had just dropped off a patient at hospital on July 1, he said, when police informed him he was prohibited from leaving his hometown in the Paris suburbs, saying he was a potential threat to the Olympic Games 1/8 reut.rs/3WhFJrY
For the next nine days, instead of driving his ambulance, the 28-year-old checked in at the Nogent-sur-Marne police station at midday and fought to overturn the administrative measure, which alleged he posed a terrorist risk 2/8
As part of a vast security operation for the Paris Games authorities have turned to powers passed under a 2017 anti-terror law, placing 155 people under surveillance measures that strictly limit their movement and oblige them to register daily with police 3/8
Four decades ago, the United States deployed cruise and Pershing II nuclear missiles in Europe to counter Soviet SS-20s - a move that stoked Cold War tensions but led within years to a historic disarmament deal 1/10 reut.rs/3W97ZNj
'We can be proud of planting this sapling, which may one day grow into a mighty tree of peace,' Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev told US President Ronald Reagan in December 1987 as they agreed to dismantle the rival systems under a new treaty 2/10
The treaty scrapped all ground-based shorter-range and intermediate-range (INF) nuclear and conventional weapons - those with ranges between 500 km and 5,500 km 3/10
Israel intensified its bombardment of Rafah in Gaza's south and over a dozen members of one family were killed in an air strike, residents said, as the ruined Palestinian enclave's health ministry announced 29,313 deaths in the war so far 1/6 reut.rs/3wrVZgR
In Jerusalem, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz cited 'promising early signs of progress' on a new deal to release hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza amid talks conducted by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to secure a pause in the war 2/6
The Israeli army said it had stepped up operations in Khan Younis, a city just north of Rafah. It made no mention of attacks on Rafah itself in its daily summary of events in Gaza and did not immediately respond to a request for comment 3/6
View of Buckingham Palace following King Charles' cancer diagnosis reut.rs/486lbGw
King Charles has been diagnosed with a form of cancer and will postpone public engagements to undergo treatment, Buckingham Palace said, but added he remained ‘wholly positive’ about the scare less than 18 months into his reign