Special report on the Rio De Janeiro that the world won’t see
With a gang war looming, the 2016 Olympics have suddenly given Arthur and other Rio slum kids a chance to dream
A cloud fell across the face of Arthur’s mother and her son bowed his head as she began to speak.
She was afraid, she said, because everyone knows there will soon be a war in the favela of Rocinha where she and her family live.
The government is trying to win back control of the slum from the drugs gangs and install police militias to run them before the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
And when the police attempt to take Rocinha and the gun battle with the Amigos dos Amigos happens, Arthur’s mother knows it will be close by. Continue Reading »Special report on the Rio De Janeiro that the world won’t see
Categories: Rio de Janeiro, Safety & Crime | 
Tags: Crime, favela, guns, violence | 
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INSIDE STORY: The Olympic challenge
Rio de Janeiro will hold the 2016 Olympics making it the first South American city to host the games after a tight race with Madrid, Tokyo and Chicago.
Cities spend significant money and time on bidding, hoping they will reap significant economic and promotional benefits. But do the rewards always justify the expenditure?
What happens when the athletes leave town? Are host cities left transformed or broken? And will Brazil really benefit from the 2016 games?
Inside Story discusses with guests Leonardo Gryner, the spokesperson for the Brazilian 2016 Olympic Games Organising Committee, Ed Hula, the chief editor of Around the Rings Magazine, and Rich Mkhondo, the chief communications officer of the South African 2010 World Cup.
This episode of Inside Story first aired on Thursday, October 8, 2009.
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Happiness key in Rio’s branding triumph
When Brazil was awarded the rights for hosting the 2016 Olympic Games, analysts were astounded not so much by the fact that Rio de Janeiro came out on top, but that it won so convincingly. Everyone in Olympic circles had expected that the presence of Barack and Michelle Obama in Copenhagen would tilt the voting towards Chicago.
Outshining the Obama factor
In the end, Obama was upstaged by the Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose impassioned speech to the IOC members won over a majority of the members. He was in tears when he realised the games had been awarded to Brazil. Continue Reading »Happiness key in Rio’s branding triumph
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Golf at the Olympics is all about greed
The IOC president Jacques Rogge is a former rugby international
Excuse me if I’m not dancing up and down Copacabana beach over here, but aside from a few thousand Brazilian fans, just who stands to benefit from golf’s inclusion at the 2016 Olympics?
The answer is clearly not the Games themselves, whose currency can only be devalued by an event seen by the world’s best golfers as the fourth (possibly fifth) most important on their calendars. Granted, US TV viewing figures will rise, but since when was the Olympics judged on the same criteria as X-Factor?
Tiger Woods once famously remarked that nobody remembers Jack Nicklaus’s record at the Ryder Cup, so just how many will remember who won golfing gold at Rio 2016? Continue Reading »Golf at the Olympics is all about greed
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Rio Olympics: Master Plan
Take a look at this video of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games master plan.
This video presents the master plan for the construction of venues & sites where the games will be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
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Lula’s Olympic Victory for Brazil Sets Up Battle on Rio’s Crime
President Lula
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who as a boy sold peanuts on the street, beat the world’s two richest nations for the 2016 Olympic Games. Now, he must defeat Rio de Janeiro’s violent crime, which residents call the biggest cloud over their city’s postcard-perfect bid.
Lula will also have to push Rio, the sea-side city of Carnival and the 2007 Pan American games, to improve its transit system, renovate its crumbling airport and double its hotel space before it can host its largest international event ever.
“The security problem is very serious,” said Carlos Langoni, a former central bank president and finance chief of the organizing committee for the World Cup 2014, which Brazil will host. “The city’s transportation infrastructure also needs major work but the government is committed and will tackle these issues.” Continue Reading »Lula’s Olympic Victory for Brazil Sets Up Battle on Rio’s Crime
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Rio’s Suburbs Will Shine During Olympics
Rio's Estadio do Maracana will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympic Games.
When Rio de Janeiro was named host of the 2016 Olympic Games, many Americans were left in shock.
U.S. President Barack Obama and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, made personal appeals to bring the XXXI Olympiad to their home countries. The latter returned to Brazil, the world’s 10th largest economy, having secured South America’s first Olympic Games and what could become Brazil’s “Beijing moment.”
So what can visitors expect from an Olympic Games in Rio? The city is best known for its spectacular beaches and beautiful people, but it’s also filled with notable architecture by Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier. However, beyond Rio’s urban beauty is rampant crime. Continue Reading »Rio’s Suburbs Will Shine During Olympics
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IOC add rugby sevens and golf to 2016 Olympics
Golf: The new Olympic Sport
The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will include rugby union sevens and golf as sports, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced.
Two months ago the IOC’s executive board voted to include the sports in the program, a proposal that was ratified by the body’s members at a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Friday.
Rugby sevens garnered 81 votes in favor while eight were against and one abstained.
Golf was voted in with 63 votes to 27, with two abstentions — it means the number of “Olympic” sports has reached the IOC’s stated maximum of 28. Blog: Money, money, money should be new Olympic motto. Continue Reading »IOC add rugby sevens and golf to 2016 Olympics
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Jacques Rogge re-elected as IOC president
Jacques Rogge
Jacques Rogge easily won re-election as president of the International Olympic Committee on Friday for a final four-year term.
The 67-year-old Belgian, who has served as IOC president since 2001, was the only candidate and needed a simple majority in the vote. The IOC voted 88-1 in favor of his re-election. Three members abstained from voting.
“You have given me a great honor. We have accomplished a lot together,” Rogge said. “Our focus now is on the future. We have a lot of work to do.” Continue Reading »Jacques Rogge re-elected as IOC president
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Brazil ready to welcome rugby sevens to Rio 2016 Olympics
OPEN ARMS: Brazil's women's rugby sevens team is keeping its fiingers crossed their sport gets the Olympic nod
BRAZIL women’s rugby stars are ready to welcome rugby sevens to the 2016 Olympics in Rio ahead of Friday’s IOC Session vote in Copenhagen.
Both rugby sevens and golf made the cut when the IOC Executive Board trimmed the shortlist of sports seeking Olympic inclusion from seven to two in August. Continue Reading »Brazil ready to welcome rugby sevens to Rio 2016 Olympics
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