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Pilot dies in small plane crash off Copacabana beach in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A plane pulling an advertising banner crashed into the sea off Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday afternoon, killing the pilot, local authorities said.

The pilot’s body was sent to a medical examiner’s office for identification, officials said.

Fire department rescue teams were working at the site using Jet Skis, inflatable boats, divers and aerial support. The search also includes sonar equipment to help locate possible additional victims and wreckage.

Security camera footage released by authorities shows the plane diving nose-first into the sea near the beach around 12:30 p.m. (1530 GMT).

The Brazilian air force said that it opened an investigation into the cause of the crash. The aircraft was a Cessna 170A owned by an advertising company.

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

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

By WTOP Staff
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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