This is a fascinating report from France24 on the state of Rio de Janeiro one year prior to the start of the Olympic Games. More than anything else, security is the biggest concern for the government and for residents. Brazil is considered one of the most unequal societies in the world, and the gap between the haves and the have nots so great that drug gangs, crime and violence have been a constant background to life in Rio.

While the government has beefed up its police force with the addition of 37 additional special protection units, violence between gangs, and between gangs and police continue. Four thousand have already died from such violence in 2015, many happens when the torch is extinguished, the banners taken down, and the excitement gives way to thoughts of making ends meet in the coming years.