Carnival Begins In Shadow of Rio's Violence
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 17 -- Revelers clad in black and white flocked to the city's center Saturday for the traditional Black Ball band, putting aside the violence that has cast a shadow over Rio de Janeiro in recent weeks.
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A big police operation continues in a group of Rio shanty towns, as Brazilian police confront drug dealers.
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Renato Lourenco usually sweeps up heaps of trash after Rio de Janeiro's elite samba schools parade at Carnival. This year he will be one of its most surprising stars.
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Travel: Where better to master the samba than  Rio, with a chance to strut your stuff at the world's greatest carnival?  Rachel Foster  limbers up.
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This year's Pan Am Games are being held in Rio de Janeiro, and the event will test Brazil's ability to become a host on the global sports stage.
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Violence began before dawn as Myanmarâs military junta tried to crush a wave of nationwide protests with tear gas, beatings and volleys of gunfire.
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil  - Rio de Janeiro  authorities on Thursday played down a human rights group report  which claimed police violence in the Brazilian city was rife,  saying the number of people killed by police was decreasing.
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The mere idea that U.S. soldiers on leave from Iraq see Rio's carnival as a free-floating sex party has Brazilians outraged.
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A leader of a top samba troupe was shot dead in Rio de Janeiro just days before its famed Carnival celebrations and heavily armed police occupied a slum on Wednesday after clashes with drug traffickers killed six people.
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Brazil's raucous Carnival celebrations kicked off in Rio de Janeiro on Friday with tens of thousands dancing and singing in the streets, defying a recent surge of gun violence in the city's slums.
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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Days before Gov. Sergio Cabral took his oath of office this year, drug gangs in this city set fire to public buses and opened fire on police stations in what Brazil's president called the "most violent terrorist act I have ever seen in this country."
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Even the pouring rain couldn't put a damper on this country's famed carnival as tens of thousands of revelers took to the streets Saturday, dancing to the sound of samba drums on the second day of the annual celebration.
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil  - Police armed with rifles  and wearing flak jackets manned checkpoints across Rio de  Janeiro on Thursday to prevent muggings and other violence as  tourists flocked to the ocean city for the holiday season.
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Thousands of people gather on the streets of west London for the opening day of the Notting Hill Carnival.
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The United States made an impressive start to the Panamerican Games on Saturday but there were no gold medals for Rio organizers as the event slowly slipped into chaos.
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Brazil's Carnival parades got off to a majestic start on Sunday night as dancers dressed as monarchs, courtiers and even roast pheasants at a royal feast shimmied their way through Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome.
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Football's Copa America tournament kicks off in Venezuela with a colourful ceremony.