Police foil bomb plot targeting Lady Gaga's biggest-ever concert

Brazilian police say they foiled a bomb attack planned for a Lady Gaga concert on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach that attracted an estimated 2.1 million people.

The plot was orchestrated by a group promoting hate speech and the radicalisation of teenagers, including self-harm and violent content as a form of social belonging, according to the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, which worked in coordination with the country's justice ministry. "The suspects were recruiting participants, including minors, to carry out coordinated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails," the force said.

The justice ministry said the recruiters identified themselves as Gaga's fans, known as "Little Monsters". It said Operation Fake Monster was based on a report by the ministry's cyber operations lab following a tip-off from Rio state police intelligence, which uncovered digital cells encouraging violent behaviour among teenagers using coded language and extremist symbolism.

Authorities carried out over a dozen search and seizure warrants, and a man described as the group's leader was arrested in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul for illegal possession of a firearm, and a teenager was detained in Rio de Janeiro for storing child abuse images. In a statement, a spokesperson for Lady Gaga said: "We learned about this alleged threat via media reports this morning.

"Prior to and during the show, there were no known safety concerns, nor any communication from the police or authorities to Lady Gaga regarding any potential risks. "Her team worked closely with law enforcement throughout the planning and execution of the concert and all parties were confident in the safety measures in place." Gaga's biggest ever show Some 500,000 tourists travelled to watch the concert, which was paid for by the city in an attempt to boost the struggling economy.

Saturday night's two-hour show, which marked Gaga's biggest ever, marked the first time she had played in Brazil since 2012, having cancelled an appearance at the Rock in Rio festival in 2017 over health issues. Gaga, who released her seventh studio album, Mayhem, in March, opened with a dramatic, operatic edition of her 2011 track Bloody Mary, before launching into Abracadabra, a recent track.

"Brazil! I missed you. I missed you so much," she exclaimed, before launching into Poker Face, one of her biggest hits.

The American pop star drew in a similar crowd to Madonna's in May last year, who performed at the same beach, which is transformed into an enormous dance floor for the shows. Addressing the crowd in English and through a Portuguese translator, Gaga became emotional as she said: "I'm so honoured to be here with you tonight.

"Tonight we're making history, but no one makes history alone. Without all of you, the incredible people of Brazil, I wouldn't have this moment.

Thank you for making history with me. "The people of Brazil are the reason I get to shine today.

But of all the things I can thank you for, the one I most am grateful for is this: that you waited for me. You waited more than 10 years for me." She said it took so long to come back because she was "healing" and "getting stronger".

The pop sensation cancelled many of her shows in 2017 and 2018 due to her fibromyalgia condition, which can cause pain and fatigue. It is estimated Gaga's show will have injected around 600 million reais (£79.9m) into the economy, nearly 30% more than Madonna's show.

Read more:John Lithgow on JK Rowling's trans stance backlashWhy are the band Kneecap controversial? The large-scale free shows are set to continue annually until at least 2028, always taking place in May, which is considered the economy's "low season.