Thousands of extra security agents for World Cup

Brazil has announced a security boost of around 70,000 officers to police this year’s football World Cup. In total, 170,000 people are expected to be deployed to guarantee security across the 12 host cities. But at a security workshop on Thursday, the World Cup organising committee said this figure should be increased. “We have a lot of concerns, not so much about protests which are a democratic right, but rather about potential violence. We are committed to preventing violence during any protest activity,” a Justice ministry official, Andrei Rodrigues, told reporters. Around 150,000 personnel will be from the armed services and police. But an extra 20,000 security stewards will be trained to work inside the 12 stadiums of the tournament, organisers say. Also on Thursday, Brazil launched its first naval preparatory exercise ahead of the World Cup. Around 30,000 men, in more than 60 ships and 15 planes took part in the operations, according to a news agency.