Yemeni blogger Omar Barsawad compares the seaside Yemeni town of Mukalla to Rio de Janeiro . “Mukalla is utterly free of gangs, criminals or thugs. Of a violent kind. As are all urban centers in Yemen. But there is a striking likeness between Mukalla and Rio De Janeiro, the Marvelous City. From a distance, out in the sea, Mukalla looks strikingly so; like Rio,” he writes.