Can Rio be ready for the World Cup?

Next month, more than three and a half million soccer fans are expected to head to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the World Cup.

But there are some serious questions about whether Rio is ready to play host. And the World Cup is just a dry run for the Summer Olympics two years from now.

Protests have erupted in Brazil in recent weeks over the high cost of hosting the soccer tournament.

Brazil is reportedly spending $11 billion, more than double what South Africa spent and five times more than Germany.

Protests are just one of several problems plaguing the Brazilian government ahead of the World Cup. Several of the 12 stadiums being built are not finished. Major infrastructure updates have either been postponed or canceled.

And Brazil is also preparing to host the Olympics.

Olympic sailors training in Rio have already complained about pollution. A trash-filled canal feeds into a bay where the sailing and windsurfing events will take place. Last month, a top Olympic official called Brazil's preparations the "worst" he'd ever experienced.


Brazil is reportedly spending $11 billion to host the World Cup

Professor Lee Igel studies the role of sports in society at New York University.

"If there are issues in Brazil around security, transportation, any of these sorts of things that make the World Cup not what it should be, it's going to have an effect on the Olympic Games in 2016," Igel said.

Which is why Brazil is working frantically to make the World Cup a success.

With fans coming from around the world, officials plan to deploy 100,000 law enforcement and security personnel during the tournament.

Liliana Ayalde is the U.S. ambassador to Brazil.

"Any major event like World Cup has its challenges," Ayalde said, when asked whether Brazil was ready. "I think similar issues have been raised in other major events. We have been following it, and I think we feel that they are fully committed to having a successful game."

When the opening match takes place on June 12, many there hope to keep the focus on the field, not on issues off of it.

READ MORE AT: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/world-cup-2014-can-rio-de-janeiro-brazil-be-ready/

80 U.S. troops now in Chad for schoolgirl search

Ray Locker, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Eighty U.S. troops have deployed to the Central African nation of Chad to assist forces in the international search for the almost 300 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamist radical group Boko Haram, President Obama said Wednesday in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner.

"These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area," the letter said. "The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required."

Chad is on Nigeria's northeast border.

The schoolgirls were taken last month from a remote town in predominantly Muslim northeastern Nigeria. Boko Haram seeks to turn Nigeria, a nation of 170 million people, into an Islamic republic under sharia law. Christians make up half of Nigeria's population.

The troops are part of a widening commitment of U.S. resources in the search. The military's Global Hawk drone, which can remain airborne for more than 28 hours, and the MC-12 Liberty reconnaissance plane are also part of the U.S. effort. The troops going to Chad are part of a drone launch-and-recovery team.

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Boy is carried down Grand Canyon to achieve dream

As a teenager with muscular dystrophy, Anthony Castle's wish was to dip his feet in the Colorado River. How his family and friends managed to get him to the bottom of the Grand Canyon is nothing short of incredible. KPNX

Carlos Costa - Just Us - (Clip Oficial)

Naked Cristiano Ronaldo stands behind girlfriend Irina Shayk...

Power couple: Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and his model girlfriend, Irina Shayk, show off their sex appeal in a racy new shoot for Spanish Vogue

They are one of the best looking couples in the world.

And footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and his model girlfriend, Irina Shayk, set out to prove this in a racy new shoot for Spanish Vogue.

The couple put their enviable physiques on display in the sultry new shoot by famed photographer, Mario Testino.

While most models tend to dress up for the fashion bible, it was clear the couple and Testino thought that dressing down was the better option.

The sexy cover gave a tease of the Real Madrid player's toned body while Irina was protected his modesty in a thigh slit strapless white dress.

The 29-year-old Portuguese player and the 28-year-old model have been dating since 2010 and follow in the footsteps of fellow power couple Kanye West and Kim Kardashian who famously landed

the cover of Vogue US earlier this year.

A behind the scenes video from the shoot reveals that the couple had no issue posing for the spread as Irina places herself on top of the half naked player as he lay on the floor.

She laughed and smiled before getting back into focus and showing her famous assests to the camera.

The Russian model then revealed a more seductive way to wear sports attire as she displayed an array of sultry poses on a white bed.

Another setting saw the pair showcase their bronzed skin in white outfits as Cristiano put his famous six pack on full display.

Irina then stepped things up a notch in wet see-through shorts and she posed playfully in the kitchen of the home that the shoot was held in.

The couple pose in the June 2014 issue of Spanish Vogue.

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Swiss say no to world’s highest minimum wage

Low-paying jobs like waiting staff account for 10.5% of the working population (Keystone)

by Jessica Dacey, swissinfo.ch May 18, 2014 - 14:54

Voters in Switzerland have rejected plans for a nationwide minimum wage. At CHF22 ($25) an hour, the limit would have been the highest in the world.

Final results from Sunday's nationwide vote show it was opposed by 76.3% of votes cast.

The country’s biggest trade union umbrella group pushed the initiative to a vote, arguing a nationwide limit would entitle everyone to a “decent rate of pay”. In the grander scheme of things, they said the change would help reduce poverty and fight wage dumping, where firms bring in workers from abroad but pay them less.

The Trade Union Federation had the backing of the Social Democrats and the Greens. But opponents – most political parties, the government and the business community – argued it would be tantamount to state interference in a free market economy and could prove counterproductive, forcing firms to cut costs by killing some low paid jobs.

After the vote, unions said they would continue to fight against low pay. The Trade Union Federation chief economist, Daniel Lampart, conceded that a large majority had come out against the minimum wage being enshrined in law. But that does not mean that the Swiss back wages that people are unable to live on, he said.

“People want collective bargaining agreements to guarantee good salaries,” he noted.

The Swiss Business Federation, economiesuisse, described the rejection of the initiative as a clear signal that the electorate wouldn’t tolerate government intervention in a free market economy.

Its president, Heinz Karrer, said: “In recent weeks we were able to show that the initiative hurts low-paid workers in particular.”

He added that the issue of minimum wages would be addressed in collective agreements in some regions and industries.

INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC

Vote results

Check the details of the four nationwide ballots on the updated graphic chart. It gives a breakdown from each of the 26 cantons and also shows the overall results.  [.

Too high?

Under the  initiative, someone on a minimum wage in Switzerland would have earned double the rate in Britain or the United States. Although high, the Swiss limit was set against the country’s high cost of living, where the median hourly wage is around CHF33.
 
Luxembourg currently has the top ‘real’ minimum wage at $10.70 an hour, when adjusted for purchasing power, and the Swiss wage would have been comfortably ahead of that at $14. (See infobox)
 
The minimum wage initiative was the third time in just under two years that Swiss voters have been called upon to decide how much – or how little – jobs should be worth. Last year voters approved a crackdown on pay packages for ‘fat cat’ top managers but rejected a move to cap executive salaries at 12 times that of the lowest paid employees.
 
The CHF22 an hour limit would have fallen in the current upward range for low-paying jobs, which account for about 10.5% of all jobs.
 
The Swiss Employers’ Association said in opposing a minimum wage they were not defending a policy of low pay rates, but believed pay policy should be “realistic and flexible”.
 
The rate proposed was too high, they said, even when the cost of living and median wage was taken into account.
 
They had warned a high, uniform rate could hurt low earners. Instead of rates being negotiated by social partners through collective bargaining agreements on the basis of local conditions and economics, companies would have to cut jobs to meet higher costs.
 
Fundamentally, they were against the idea of a nationwide minimum wage being set by the government “contrary to the principle of pay rates being set in accordance with market conditions”, and “incompatible with a liberal economic system”, Alexandre Plassard told swissinfo.ch ahead of the vote.

Ironing out differences

The cost of living varies greatly from region to region, and the collective bargaining in place takes account of real conditions in different regions and industries, the employers association has said.

Unions however hoped the initiative would be a tool to put an end to pressure on pay rates in areas and economic sectors that rely on imported workers from other countries.

Switzerland is currently grappling with how to implement a rightwing move approved by voters in February to curb immigration from European Union countries.

Unions believed their initiative would have been “an effective tool” against firms wage dumping, because it would have required the government and cantons to promote collective agreements specifying the minimum rates of pay and to ensure its implementation, trade union spokesman Ewald Ackermann told swissinfo.ch.

It would have also covered those people who fall through the net. At present, only 49% of employees work under a collective agreement in Switzerland and only 80% of those have a collective agreement that sets minimum wage limits.

International comparison

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development calculates the real minimum wages in 2013 among 26 member countries, adjusting them for purchasing power parity.

The top five rates were Luxembourg ($10.70), followed by France ($10.60), Australia ($10.20), Belgium ($10) and the Netherlands ($9.5).

When adjusted by currency rates, Australia came top with $15.20, followed by Luxembourg, France, Belgium and Ireland.

(Source: OECD 2014)

READ MORE AT: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Swiss_say_no_to_world_s_highest_minimum_wage.html?cid=38543758