Rio Olympics

Australia's athletes have been banned from two of Rio de Janeiro's popular beaches after dark due to security concerns.

American six-time Olympic gold medallist Ryan Lochte was confirmed to have been held up at gunpoint on Sunday, while two Australian rowing coaches were robbed at knifepoint shortly after the Games' opening ceremony.

When Michael Phelps decided to try for the Rio Olympics, after his short-lived retirement following the 2012 London Games, the reasoning was perfectly clear to him.

Though he managed to win six medals in London, four of them gold, he had not trained to his standards, had not been as engaged in the pursuit as he was in 2004 and 2008, when he became an Olympic legend.

A day after American swimmer Phelps brought the curtain down on his extraordinary career with a record 23rd gold medal, Bolt will attempt to complete the first leg of an unprecedented "triple-triple" in the 100m at the Olympic Stadium.

With semi-finals scheduled at 9pm local time (10am Monday AEST), Bolt is poised to line up for the final at around 10:25pm (11:25am AEST) where he will aim to clinch a third consecutive 100m crown after wins in 2008 and 2012.

The Jamaican superstar made his opening bow in Rio during Saturday's heats, coasting to victory in 10.07sec.

As the opening ceremonies aired Friday night on NBC, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kuniscouldn't help but show a little team spirit on social media.

While posing arm-and-arm, the Hollywood couple showed who they will be rooting for in the next two weeks.

The wildly popular app where people can use their phones to catch animated monsters in the real world hasn't been formally released in Brazil. Niantic and Nintendo, the companies behind the free game, must know fans are getting restless, because they tweeted about the Brazil release date Wednesday. 

Tech companies big and small are helping power the Olympic games this year from athletic apparel to health to payment solutions. Some are even hoping to advance the Rio area beyond just the two weeks of the games.

The Olympic games officially kick off on Friday and will run for two weeks. There are probably more Silicon Valley companies involved in the Rio Games than mentioned below, but these are the most notable ones.

Tech giants to stream content while training businesses to do so locally.

The social networking giant has hence launched a slew of similar features as well. Users on the social networking giant will be able to show their support for their favorite teams while also getting all the news they could want from a personalized section on the feed.

The new apartment towers built to house 11,000 athletes and 6,000 coaches during Rio's Games are being called basic, even austere.

But when you step out on the balcony of one of the 3,604 apartments, the complex -- with its swimming pools, tennis courts and bike lanes -- looks downright five-star.

"The athletes are going to have everything they could possibly wish for during the Games," said Paul Ramler, founder of RSG events, which has been supplying furniture for athletes' villages since Sydney 2000.

The review follows the attack in the French city of Nice on 14 July which left at least 84 people dead.

The government said that the measures may make attending the games less comfortable for visitors but they would result in greater security.

The Games are expected to attract as many as 500,000 foreign visitors.

"The attack in Nice is worrisome for us too. We will review procedures, make more barriers, more spot-checks on visitors and roadblocks", said Defence Minister Raul Jungmann.

PNG Power staff arrested for claims of stealing

http://www.looppng.com/content/png-power-staff-arrested-claims-stealing

Police have arrested a PNG Power Limited (PPL) employee for allegedly stealing K38, 000 from the company between 2014 and 2015.

AROB sets up committee to account for ‘missing persons’