Will Brazil Fill The Olympic Stands?
This year, Brazil is scheduled to open its arms to people from all over the world for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
With the Games nearly three months away, the country is facing a series of unprecedented challenges: the Zika virus outbreak, which has been connected to a rare birth defect; a crippling recession that has left hundreds of thousands unemployed and sent inflation through the roof; and a political 
crisis that has implicated some of the country's most powerful lawmakers.
Now, President Dilma Rousseff may have to step down amid allegations of fiscal mismanagement, leading many to ask: Will the Olympics even happen?
According to organizers at the International Olympic Committee, the Games should not be affected by the current crisis.
The IOC said it is closely following the impeachment situation, but stressed that the effects of such a controversy would likely be minimal.
"These kinds of political issues have much less influence than at other stages of organizing the Olympic Games," the IOC said.
Source: CNN
BRAZIL, THE WORLD CUP NATION
Brazil scored the first goal of the 2014 World Cup and it would've been a
perfect way to start their second turn as host nation had they not
scored the goal on themselves.
But just two minutes later, just as he did at the 2013 Confederations
Cup, Neymar scored the first goal in Brazil's favor to make it 1-1 in
the 29th minute and prompt a relieved host nation to erupt with joy.
Neymar added a second goal with a penalty off the hands of Croatia's
goalkeeper in the 71st minute after Fred fell down to draw the
undeserved call in the box.
That made it 2-1 Brazil. Oscar then sealed
it for Brazil by adding another goal during injury time and Brazil came
away with a 3-1 win most people expected, but in a way few predicted.
However, this is a modern economic history of Brazil and its rise from heavy laden debt and high inflation in the 1990s to stability and wealth in the new millennium, under influential Worker's Party President Ignacio Lula da Silva.
Its currency is now stable and a favourable trade balance in natural resources with major powers like China makes it now an IMF creditor rather than debtor.
Using archive and interviews in Portuguese and English, the film examines some of the reasons for the country's difficulties last century - and its subsequent recovery in the past decade.
Interviews with former Minister for Social Development, Patrus Ananias, opposition politicians and social/economic commentators describe how, under da Silva, millions of Brazilians were taken out of poverty and a new middle class began to enjoy relative prosperity.
Hosting the World Cup has grown out of this new-found affluence - but so have the protests about the cost of the tournament in relation to the reforms many think are still needed to the country's infrastructure, health and education.
Source: Al Jazeera
WORLD CUP'S MOST EXOTIC CITY AWAITS TOURISTS
Death by giant snakes, malarial mosquitoes or drug-addled,
knife-wielding thieves: If the barrage of blood-soaked headlines in the
British tabloids is to be believed, that's what awaits soccer fans
travelling to the most exotic of Brazil's World Cup host cities, the
Amazonian metropolis of Manaus.
Despite Manaus' location in the heart of the world's biggest rainforest, making it reachable only by plane or boat, the ills most likely to affect the 52,000 or so foreigners expected for soccer's premier tournament are disappointingly mundane.
Source:AP
12 PEOPLE KILLED OVERNIGHT BY MASKED GUNMEN IN BRAZIL
SAO PAULO, Brazil - An investigation is under way in
Brazil to find out whether a group of policemen went on a three-hour killing
spree in an alleged revenge attack.
Twelve people were killed overnight by gunmen in vehicles in a district of
Campinas, a city north of Sao Paulo.
The attacks began hours an off-duty policeman died in a robbery.
Investigators told the BBC that a revenge attack by fellow military
policemen is regarded as "the strongest theory".
In one incident, the attackers stopped their car next to a group of people,
asked children to be taken away and fired on the others, killing several
people.
The calibre of weapons used in the attacks is the same as that used by
military police, a source told the BBC.
Extra police were deployed to the neighbourhood where the incidents took place
Extra police were deployed to the neighbourhood where the incidents took place
- Several of those who died had criminal records, local media reported.
- Investigators believe it is significant that the attacks "happened in a sequence, in the same area of the city and in the space of a few hours," local police commander told Licurgo Nunes Costa O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper.
- He said other possibilities are being considered, including "an extrajudicial execution or even a conflict between rival criminal gangs".
The shootings sparked an attack at
the Campinas bus terminal, located in the area where the killings took place,
said the BBC's Gary Duffy.Around lunch time, a group of more than 20 masked men set fire to three buses and one car at the terminal. Seven other vehicles were vandalised.
- Campinas, with a population of more than 1 million people, is located 100 km (60 miles) from Sao Paulo - Brazil's most populous city.
Source: BBC
BRAZIL'S RIO ARRESTS 63 POLICE CORRUPTION CRACKDOWN
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Investigators in Rio de Janeiro arrested 63 police officers and 11
alleged drug traffickers today after a year-long bribery probe and
ongoing efforts to stamp out police corruption ahead of the World Cup in
2014 and Summer Olympics in 2016.
The arrests, part of a crackdown on Rio's historically violent and
corrupt state police force, follow an investigation into bribes that
drug dealers allegedly paid to police officers so they could operate
without interference. The arrests were centered around Duque de Caxias,
one of the crime-ridden suburbs that make up the gritty outskirts of the
coastal metropolis.
The officers and others arrested were charged with crimes including
drug trafficking, corruption and kidnapping. The activities, state
police officials said, were carried out in the favelas, or slums, north
of central Rio.
Officials have gone to great lengths to clean up Rio and the
surrounding state of the same name before the international sporting
events, which are expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors.
surrounding state of the same name before the international sporting
events, which are expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors.
But the violence, corruption and drug trade that have plagued Brazil's
second-biggest city thrive in all but the few neighbourhoods where the
events will take place.
Combined with construction delays, missed budgets and a stagnant
Brazilian economy, security concerns add to growing uncertainty ahead of
the competitions. On Tuesday, officials at the International Olympic
Committee reminded Rio that "time is ticking" ahead of the games.
Source: Herald...More...
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