RIO DE JANEIRO // Brazilian officials have called for calm amid escalating fears that preparations for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will be left until the last minute, or worse.
Two years ahead of the opening ceremony, which will be on August 5, 2016, several infrastructure projects are behind schedule, some planned venues have only recently broken ground and the mayor of Rio has conceded at least one bid promise will not be met.
Senior figures within the International Olympic Committee have expressed their concerns that Rio was further behind on its plans than even Athens in 2004.
Such delays are no surprise in a country that pushed Fifa's deadlines to the absolute limit in the lead-up to the recent World Cup and where residents are famously renowned for poor timekeeping.
But Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio, said last month's successful summer football showcase has only boosted his belief that the Games will be delivered on time.
“I have no doubt that the success of the World Cup helps the Olympics quite a lot,” Paes said.
“We have suffered all of the criticisms – some were relevant, some were unfounded – but we took it all on and we delivered, so the lesson learnt is the journey does not need to be so painful.
“Brazilians are not well known for being on time or meeting deadlines, but this is a good chance to show that we can be on time and can deliver. We do not have to be beaten up. Demands can be high, but we do not need to become martyrs.”
Luiz Fernandes, as the executive secretary for Brazil’s ministry of sports, was involved in delivering the World Cup and has shifted more of his attention to 2016.
He said he has “every conviction” the Games will be delivered on time and highlighted the acceleration of construction in recent weeks.
Work finally began last month on the northern Deodoro Sports Complex, which will host 11 Olympic sports, while shifts at the sprawling Olympic Park in the southern neighbourhood of Barra da Tijuca were recently extended to 24 hours per day. Grass has been planted and is at the growing-in stage at the nearby golf course.
“I have the same certainty I had with the World Cup,” Fernandes said. “We were certain that we would deliver the World Cup with the necessary quality and I have the same conviction here with the Olympics.
“We have absolute confidence that the games will be delivered with the necessary quality that people expect. All I would ask for is a vote of confidence.”
One of the criticisms of the World Cup was that, such were the high cost of tickets, it excluded much of the Brazilian population.
Paes said that to combat that scenario in two years time, the city government will subsidise 1.2 million of the eight million tickets being made available and distribute them among Rio schoolchildren.
“We will ensure all the kids in public schools will be able to attend at least one event of the Games,” he said.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80
Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
