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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Americans to set aside political differences and unite to support the US athletes at the Summer Olympics under way in Rio de Janeiro. Obama, in his weekly Saturday morning radio and online address, praised Team USA’s diversity and urged Americans to appreciate “the peaceful competition and sportsmanship” of the event. “Team USA reminds the world why America always sets the gold standard: We’re a […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — The Maracana stadium erupted in jeers as Brazil’s unpopular interim president Michel Temer opened the Rio Olympics on Friday — and the hostility spread far beyond the sports venue. The colorful opening ceremony in the famous football stadium was meant to be Brazil’s moment of coming together as first host of the Olympics in South America. The booing in response to Temer’s less than 15 second statement put an […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) – by Sebastian Smith with Laura Bonilla Cal Thousands of Brazilians angry at political upheaval, corruption and the cost of the Rio Olympics blocked traffic in protests Friday ahead of the gala opening ceremony. About 3,000 people occupied the busy avenue running along Copacabana beach, while a smaller crowd including radical leftists faced off with mounted police near the Maracana stadium where the opening was to be staged. Most […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) – by Sebastian Smith Protesters will take to Rio’s streets Friday during the Olympics opening ceremony and heckle Brazil’s unpopular acting president in the stadium, setting an angry backdrop to South America’s first Games. With the eyes of the world on Rio, Brazilians furious over the country’s political crisis, crippling recession and what they see as an Olympics favoring the rich will seize the limelight. Protests are scheduled in the morning […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) – by Talek HARRIS A top Russian official said Thursday that at least 271 athletes would compete in the Rio Olympics after clearing a doping probe which has slashed their team to its smallest size in more than a century. Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov said some other cases remained unresolved after investigations prompted by the discovery of a state-orchestrated plot to dupe drugs testers. “As of now 271 athletes […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) – Russian appeals against Olympic bans were piling up Tuesday as IOC president Thomas Bach slammed what he called the “contemptuous” doping system blamed on the Moscow government. Bach said the Russia scandal along with Brazil’s political and economic crises had made the runup to the first Olympics in South America “challenging”. An investigation by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren which revealed state-organised doping in Russia, has overshadowed the buildup to […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) – Record-seeking Britain have pulled out all the stops for their Rio Olympics campaign — to the extent of employing their own plumber for the leaky athletes’ village. Water leaks and even a small fire have been among the problems reported at the newly built tower blocks, along with blocked toilets, exposed wiring and unlit stairwells. Australia had to delay moving in because of concerns over the accommodation, and the […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – The head of United Kingdom Anti-Doping believes a partnership programme of pre-Olympic drug tests conducted by world swimming governing body FINA and 15 national anti-doping agencies will help “safeguard the integrity” of events in the pool at the Rio Games. FINA announced a Games ban on seven Russian swimmers on Monday, a day after the International Olympic Committee caused widespread controversy by declining to impose a blanket suspension on Russia, despite evidence […]
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AFP) – by Agnès Pedrero in Lausanne and Ben Simon in Geneva The international sports tribunal on Thursday rejected an appeal by Russian athletes against a Rio Olympics ban amid mounting pressure for action over state-run doping in Russia. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling on track and field is seen as a key indicator as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) debates whether to order a blanket ban on Russia from the Rio […]
LAUSSANE, Switzerland (AFP) – The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Monday it has put back its ruling on the two-year doping ban for Maria Sharapova for two months to September, ruling the tennis superstar out of the Rio Olympics. The 29-year-old Russian tested positive for the banned medication meldonium during January’s Australian Open, in a severe blow to her reputation. If the ban — which Sharapova has called “unfairly harsh” — is upheld it […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Rio state authorities declared a “state of public calamity” Friday over a major budget crisis, in order to release emergency funds to finance the Olympic Games due to begin in August. The decree authorizes the state to “adopt all necessary emergency measures to ration essential public services in order for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to take place.” “Any institutional instability would hurt the country’s image,” said […]
by Sebastian Smith RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Rio police arrested two men Monday and hunted four others in the alleged gang rape of an unconscious teenage girl that came to light in an online video that shocked Brazil. Globo television showed footage of heavily armed police in black uniforms outside a house in a favela in the west of Rio de Janeiro, which will host the Olympics in August. They were searching for […]
