A samba group that highlighted prejudices against African-Brazilian religions have been crowned champions of this year's Rio de Janeiro carnival parade.

The Grande Rio Samba School has won its first title with a song, costume and floats that paid tribute to Exú, a Yoruba god revered by many African cultures.

The parade was cancelled last year because of Covid and this year's event was delayed due to the impact of a new variant of the coronavirus.

Twelve samba schools, representing different communities of the city, compete every year at the Sambadrome for the top prize.