Human Rights Watch said a pattern of covering up police killings has thwarted efforts to curb violence in Rio de Janeiro’s slums ahead of the summer Olympic Games in Brazil.

Just weeks ahead of the Olympic Games, police helicopters are grounded, patrol cars are parked, and Rio de Janeiro’s security forces are so pressed for funds that some have to beg for donations of pens, cleaning supplies, and even toilet paper, fuelling worries about safety at the world’s premier sporting event.

Police and drug gangs have traded fire in a huge gun battle that raged for hours in Rio de Janeiro's largest slum, terrifying residents.

At least two people were killed when part of an elevated bike lane, built ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, was hit by a strong wave and collapsed on to the beach below, authorities in Brazil said.

Rio de Janeiro’s police force operates with “total impunity,” targeting mostly young, mostly black and mostly poor people, in the Olympic city’s violent slums, for extrajudicial executions, Amnesty International alleged in a report.

Residents of violence-ravaged slums near the centre of Rio de Janeiro have torched two buses and set up barricades of flaming tyres on a main route through the city in anger over the deaths of two young men.

Hundreds of people marched through the narrow streets of one of Brazil’s largest slums in a peaceful demonstration demanding an end to recent violence.

Residents in one of Brazil’s biggest complex of slums demonstrated over the shooting death of a young boy in the shantytown, allegedly at the hands of police.

Rio de Janeiro’s mayor has admitted that the much-touted goal of cleaning up the Brazilian city’s blighted waterways in time for the 2016 Olympics will probably not be met, with just 500 days until the games begin.

BRAZIL: The animal oracle predictions for the World Cup are well under way, with host nation Brazil getting a vote of confidence from its chosen turtle tipster.

Brazilian police have used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse striking workers inside a subway station, adding to fears that labour troubles could disrupt the World Cup when it opens in six days.

As Brazil prepares for the World Cup, Rio de Janeiro has worked to tame the crime-ridden favelas, but at what cost? asks Mac Margolis.