Carnival Opens in Rio Amid Tight Security
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From Times Wire Reports
Rio de Janeiro’s annual Carnival parade opened to the explosion of fireworks and thunderous drums as the city’s elite samba schools took center stage amid the tightest security ever, following gang threats.
Wearing little more than body glitter and strategically placed patches, the Carnival queen and her 300-pound consort, King Momo, inaugurated the contest by dancing down the 700-yard runway of Rio’s Sambadrome, an open-air stadium built 19 years ago to house the two-day extravaganza.
About 70,000 people cheered from the grandstands.
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