", about 3,000 people gathered outside the luxury Copacabana Palace Hotel where many Olympic athletes are staying. Brazil has spent more than $10 billion on new infrastructure and preparing for the Games at a time of economic crisis. She refused to attend the ceremony, leaving Temer in her place with a hostile reception from the crowd predicted. The billions lavished on the Games has angered many Brazilians as the country grapples with a tanking economy and mass social problems. (Reuters photo)Fireworks and laser-lit choreography launched the Rio Games on Friday as Brazil sought to forget seven years of troubled preparations and the Olympic movement temporarily put aside its doping crisis.

Source: Bangkok Post August 06, 2016 01:18 UTC