Brazil police use tear gas at Rio protest hours before opening ceremony

06 August 2016 - 01:37 By REUTERS

Brazilian riot police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a small protest near the Maracana stadium that will host Friday's opening ceremony for the Olympic Games, Reuters television images showed. The protest, which grouped a few hundred people according to a Reuters witness, was against corruption and overspending on the Olympic Games, which are taking place during Brazil's worst economic downturn in decades. The iconic Maracana Stadium will host a pulsating gathering for more than 70,000 fans, 10,400 athletes and dozens of world leaders as the first Olympics to be staged in South America gets under way.Squatters react as they are evicted from an abandoned building in Flamengo neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro April 14, 2015The four-hour ceremony in the teeming Brazilian city sets off two weeks of sporting excellence and drama featuring the likes of Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps that wraps up on August 21...

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