Lent excess before Lent begins. Some of the most famous are the Carnival of Barranquilla, the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Carnival of Venice, Cologne Carnival, the New Orleans Mardi Gras, the Rio de Janeiro carnival, and the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. The day immediately preceding Lent is variously called Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday"), Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday. Sometimes, it is the peak of the pre-Lenten festival, while sometimes it is largely occupied with preparations for Lent. The observances vary from culture to culture, and even from town to town. Originally, in Lebanon and Syria, the last Thursday
Maré, Rio de Janeiro occupied by various Brazilian security forces in an attempt to pacify the region. The raid began before dawn and involved over 1,000 police and other forces, including the Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE), Shock Police Battalion, several other police units, and the Brazilian Marine Corps. Maré, Rio de Janeiro Maré is a neighborhood and "favela" (low-income informal neighborhood) in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a grouping of several favelas, suburbs with houses, and housing complexes. With approximately 130,000 residents (2006 estimate), it is one of the largest slum complexes in Rio de Janeiro, a consequence