article: But there are still many real problems and concerns for Rio 2016 organisers with two weeks before the opening ceremony in the Maracana Stadium. The biggest of those worries is the return of violence and crime to the streets of the so-called "Marvellous City" after years of steady progress in a positive direction. The worrying reverse is most notable in the favelas, or shantytowns, that skirt Rio's more affluent south zone. What has gone wrong in Brazil? In favelas like Santa Marta, Pavaozinho and Babilonia the much-heralded Police Pacification projects (UPP) have stalled, drugs gangs have moved back in and people are again being killed. Babilonia is one notable case because the favela overlooks the tourist beaches of Leme and Copacabana, where Olympic events including beach volleyball and the triathlon will take place. Until recently it was regarded as one of the safest and coolest destinations in the city; with hillside bars overlooking the beach offering the best seafood and beer in town to visitors and steady employment for locals. But as Lieutenant Carlos Veiga leads us on a patrol through the favela's steep, narrow alleyways, he tells me how things have deteriorated badly in recent months. "It's dangerous, particularly at night and the gangs often shoot at our patrols," says the UPP commander here. Bodies have been found in the nearby mata, or forest - the result of clashes between the two drugs gangs vying for control of the favela complex. Locals who have enjoyed and benefited from the relative calm of recent years echo each other's concerns about a return of violence and many residents worry that after the Olympic Games the financially-broke state government will cut the pacification programme, abandoning the favelas to their fate. If the situation is bleak in the smaller favelas like Babilonia, it can sometimes seem like all-out war in the bigger conurbations of Complexo do Alemao and Mare. There are shootings on a daily basis, bringing a halt to traffic on the main road between the airport and the city. An eye-watering number of people - almost 2,000 - have been murdered in Rio this year already. Many victims of violence are killed by police, either in crossfire or shot dead by a military police force which is accused of being trigger happy and too eager to execute suspected criminals rather than arrest them. But the police are victims of violence too. "Welcome to Hell" was the slogan that greeted arriving travellers at Rio's international airport recently. The protestors were policemen, complaining about unpaid salaries and the deaths of colleagues in the city's brutal drugs wars. "There have been more than 50 policemen and women killed this year - another one this week," says Carlos Braga. The recently retired civil police inspector added: "I am not safe. I cannot even guarantee my own safety. We police officers have to hide our badges and our guns. There will be a big amount of foreigners here yet the government can't even pay the police to protect them!" After the city's high profile and sometimes outspoken Mayor
summary: The spectre of an Olympic Games plagued by the Zika virus may be waning, as the cold spell sweeping through southern Brazil deals with disease-carrying mosquitoes more effectively than any repellent.