Brazil boosts security ahead of Olympics in Rio de JaneiroJuly 13, 2016 - 10:20 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The federal government in Brazil says it is releasing additional funding to beef up security ahead of next month's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, BBC News reports. Sports Minister Leonardo Picciani said the armed forces would get an extra $24m to help them meet security needs. The military would begin patrolling sports venues from 24 July, he added. More than 80,000 police and soldiers will patrol the streets of Rio for the duration of the games. The state of Rio de Janeiro has recently cut budgets across the board, including that of the police. The police in Rio recently staged demonstrations against the late payment of salaries and a lack of basic necessities like car fuel and toilet paper. Correspondents say the protests are a symptom of the political and economic woes which have engulfed Brazil in recent times. Brazil's Senate suspended the country's President Dilma Rousseff in May, and then began impeachment proceedings against her over allegations that she manipulated the government budget ahead of her 2014 re-election campaign. On the economic front, government figures for the first quarter of 2016 showed that Brazil was experiencing its worst recession in 25 years. And the Olympic organising committee has had to deal with news that several famous sportsmen - including golf world number one Jason Day - have withdrawn from the games because of fears about the Zika virus. However, the CEO of the games has said that concerns about the virus affecting the Olympics have been "blown out of the proportion." Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |