A dire hotel accommodation shortage has opened the city's poorest favelas to tourists.

The Kiwi sportsman allegedly kidnapped by military police in Brazil says there's more to come in the bizarre tale.

The NZ sportsman kidnapped by men in police uniform in Rio de Janeiro this week is now safely in Toronto.

Kiwi sportsman Jason Lee, who alleged he was kidnapped by police in Rio this week, is safe after a second scare in the Olympics host city.

On NZ Herald Focus - Get up close to a golden lion tamarin in Rio de Janeiro.

United States efforts on the Zika virus have been so focused on prevention, almost no firm plans have been made for the care of the nation's first dozen Zika babies.

For those brave enough to make the trip, Rio de Janeiro is a city rich with potential rewards.

COMMENT: Polynesian communities will be hopelessly under-represented in the New Zealand Olympic team in Brazil. Dylan Cleaver explains why.

Across town in crumbling, working-class areas, there are few signs that the Rio de Janeiro Olympics open in just a month.

With the Olympics only a month away, the spotlight is on Brazil as it prepares for half a million tourists from around the world to arrive.

COMMENT: Today Brazil can say with confidence: we are ready to host the first Olympic and Paralympic Games to take place in South America.

What's in the basement of his hotel? Nicholas Jones knows, but will he be allowed to go there?

The ashes of Australian man Rye Hunt have returned home to Tasmania after he was cremated in Brazil.

The family and partner of Australian backpacker Rye Hunt, who has been confirmed dead in Brazil, have spoken of their grief.

A body has been found in the search for missing Australian backpacker Rye Hunt, his family said today. They now await DNA testing results.

Seventeen days since going missing, Brazilian authorities are convinced Australian backpacker Rye Hunt drowned at sea.

Michel Temer, is a career politician with a reputation as a skilled negotiator and smooth behind-the-scenes operator.

A majority of Brazil's Senate had indicated by last night that they will vote to put President Dilma Rousseff on trial for breaking budget laws

A vast roll call of exotic critters entertain Nicholas Jones in the world's biggest wetland

When Brazil was awarded the Olympics in 2009, the country was booming. Now it is in the middle of a crippling recession.

Rousseff's coalition partners have pulled out of the Government, pushing her ruling party closer to the exit door.

Brazil's Lower House of Congress has launched impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff after thousands of Brazilians took to the streets.

On Thursday, state prosecutors filed money-laundering and misrepresentation charges against Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Prosecutors in Sao Paulo state have filed money laundering charges against former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Stadiums, including the Aquatics Stadium and Future Arena are in the finishing stages, and the tottering remains of a favela, or slum, are being torn down.

There's an awful lot of wildlife in Brazil. Most of it lives in the Amazon rainforest, home to one in 10 of all the plant and animal species in the world.

Monkeys just want to have fun - and brandish dangerous weapons.

A report by Argentinian doctors claimed a larvicide used in drinking water was responsible for a rise in cases of microcephaly,not Zika virus.

Brazil's armed forces mobilised 200,000 military personnel on a "day of action" to raise awareness of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries Zika virus.