Paris deploys massive security to keep the Olympics opening ceremony safe

Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — A massive security operation has been deployed Friday in Paris to keep the opening ceremony of the Olympics safe. The capital’s streets are blocked off, squadrons of police are on patrol and imposing metal-fence security barriers have been erected like an iron curtain on both sides of the River Seine. Up to 45,000 police and gendarmes as well as 10,000 soldiers have been deployed for Olympic security. The long-awaited parade of about 10,000 athletes on the river comes as France’s high-speed rail network was hit with widespread and “criminal” acts of vandalism including arson attacks, paralyzing travel to Paris from across the rest of France and Europe.