Today was a very important, if not the most important, day for gay rights in the country: civil unions of same sex couples were voted in the Supreme Court, and in an unanimous decision of ten votes to zero, civil unions of homosexual couples will be recognized in Brazil, and same sex couples will have the same rights and benefits of heterosexual couples on a federal level. With today's decision, homosexuals in Brazil will be granted over one hundred different rights.

It was incredibly touching to listen to the speeches given by the ministers live this afternoon while following the voting process. It is almost overwhelming to think of the voting today, and what it will mean for the lives of many gay couples in the country, including me and my boyfriend. I am certain that today's voting will have a major impact in the fight against homophobia on many levels as well, and open the door to more changes. Thank you to all the ministers who voted today, not only for your votes but also for your words.

Expect updates later today and tomorrow here and on facebook.

A man entered a public school in Rio de Janeiro this morning and opened fire in one of the class rooms before taking his own life. Eleven people have been confirmed dead, and more than fifteen were wounded and taken to the hospital. The death toll is expected to rise according to news reports this morning.

According to UOL, the shooter has been identified as 24-year-old Wellington Menezes de Oliveira, a former student at the school. He left a suicide note.

As violent as Rio de Janeiro (and Brazil in general) may be, up until now I had always thought that at least school shootings were not a part of our reality here. Sadly I was wrong. Expect updates throughout the day via twitter @blogmib.

With a tribute to singer Roberto Carlos, samba school Beija-Flor ended up with a nearly perfect score and won Carnival in Rio for the twelfth time. My favorite Unidos da Tijuca, last year's winner, ended up in second place.

View pictures of Beija-Flor on the second night of Carnival at the sambadrome at G1 and UOL.

Twenty five models in nothing but underwear and top hats hit the streets of Brasília yesterday in celebration of the fifth annual National Underwear Day, which this year had a bit of a burlesque theme. My friends at Finíssimo sent me a great selection of pictures from the event to share with you guys. View more after the jump.

A large cloud of black smoke took over the skyline of Rio this morning due to a fire at approximately 7 am in the area known as Samba City, where floats and decorations for the city's Carnival are manufactured and stored.

The fire was under control at 11 am, and no victims have been reported so far. Out of the fourteen warehouses in the district, at least four were severely damaged by the fire this morning, including those of samba schools Grande Rio, Portela, and União da Ilha do Governador. According to Márcio André, Carnival director for União da Ilha, 90% of the costumes and floats for this year's Carnival were practically ready before the fire struck. Damages for the samba schools affected by the fire are estimated at R$5 to R$7 million. With Carnival less than a month away, it is very sad that the samba schools hit by this morning's fire will not have time to recover from the accident.

The first issue of volume 2 of U Mag is now online.
The Colcci show at SPFW is only on Sunday, but Gisele is already in São Paulo. She is hosting a press conference for her new skincare line Sejaa tomorrow at Hotel Emiliano, where she is staying. Rumor has it that she will grace the cover of the April issue of Vogue Paris.
Raquel Zimmermann does H&M with Freja Beha.
Marlon Teixeira by Dawidh Orlando.
Tom Ford is never clothed at home.
Loving Eastpak's new collaboration with Kris Van Assche.
Praying that someone will wear Givenchy haute couture to the Oscars this year.
Emmanuelle Alt talks about her new job, her love of Topshop and plans for Vogue Paris.
Stylist Camile Bidault-Waddington is in São Paulo working on the Colcci fall/ winter 2011 show.
On a side note, I would like to thank all of you who contributed with donations to the people who were left homeless as a result of the floods in Rio de Janeiro. The death toll in the area is now at 838 people and there are reports of over 500 people still missing. The campaign I posted here last week managed to collect 1,027 mattresses. Thank you for your help.
Brazil is campaigning for Kylie Minogue to come back to the country this year.