President Lula's chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff, has announced that the Brazilian federal government will invest $1.7bn in infrastructure and sanitation in poor areas of Rio de Janeiro.

The main aim of the investment programme, which will begin later this year, is to improve living conditions in favelas (shantytowns).

Ms Rousseff said the objective is to create 'infrastructure capable of changing the living conditions of the poorest people in the city and its periphery'.

For Rio state governor Sérgio Cabral, the public works will help re-establish 'the rule of law, social investment and public security' in the favelas.

Source: Agência Brasil and Embassy of Brazil in London