Brazil, Rio De Janeiro | featured news

Rio de Janeiro, which will host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, faces criticism for not doing enough to curb the deadly problem.

The snuffing out of the Olympic flame in London Sunday marks a conclusion for most, but for 2016 host city Rio de Janeiro it kicks off four years of pre-games jitters and a race against the clock to ready this notoriously laid-back beach city for the global sports showcase.

Proponents of so-called "green accounting" - gathered in Rio de Janeiro this week for the Rio Earth Summit - hope that putting dollar values on resources will slam the brakes on unfettered development. A mentality of growth at any cost is already blamed for disasters like the chronic floods that hit deforested Haiti or the raging sand storms that have swept regions of China, worsening desertification.

Brazilian police backed by armored military vehicles have invaded Rio de Janeiro’s biggest slum. Hundreds of black-clad, rifle-armed officers began swarming into the Rocinha shantytown early Sunday. Experts say it’s the most important step yet in bringing security to Rio de Janeiro before it hosts the final matches of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

Brazil has aspired for generations to climb into the club of the world's rich nations. By one measure, that moment has arrived: This city and others like Rio de Janeiro are now among the world's priciest.

It was like a tsunami from the sky in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state as flood water gushed through hill towns and giant boulders catapulted from hillsides instantly crushing cars and houses.

Authorities launched a massive sweep of the Alemao favela complex in northern Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday morning. Military police told reporters they were entering the virtually impenetrable labyrinth of slums, searching for drug gang ...

In his only interview since his dramatic Christmas Eve reunion with the son for whom he has waged a five-year international custody battle, David Goldman revealed that Sean, 9, has yet to call him Dad. “But now we’re together and we'll heal,” Goldman said.

Brazilian officials are insisting security won't be a problem for the 2016 Olympics despite drug-gang violence that plunged Rio de Janeiro into a day of bloody chaos just two weeks after it was picked to host the games.