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Saturday, October 03, 2009 RIO DE JANEIRO: Rio de Janeiro was ready to party, and it had the best of reasons _ winning the 2016 Olympics. Rio citizens celebrated by jamming bars along Copacabana beach,sipping the famed caipirinhas to savor one of the city's proudest moments. A huge roar from the crowd of nearly 50,000 people was heard at the famed beach the moment International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said the words ``Rio de Janeiro'' to announce the winner in Copenhagen. As popular President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and football great Pele celebrated in Denmark, the Cariocas, as Rio citizens are known, raised their arms to celebrate on Copacabana, frantically wavingflags and hugging each other.The government has promised significant improvements to get Rio ready, and the Cariocas are hoping they will benefit from the preparations in a city known for its natural beauty and fun-loving people but also for its violent crime and many slums. Winning the 2016 ...

Saturday, October 03, 2009 WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Friday congratulated Brazil and the city of Rio de Janeiro for beating out his hometown of Chicago and winning the right to host the "historic" 2016 Olympics. Obama spoke at the White House moments after arriving back from a swift trip to Copenhagen and a failed bid to rally the International Olympics Committee to Chicago's Olympic dream. "I do want to congratulate Rio de Janeiro and the nation of Brazil for winning the 2016 Olympics. I think this is a truly historic event as these will be the first Olympic Games ever to be held in South America," Obama said. "One of the things that I think is most valuable about sports is that you can play a great game and still not win," Obama said. "And so, although I wish that we had come back with better news from Copenhagen, I could not be prouder of my home town of Chicago."