Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony Costly

The Beijing Olympic Games finally got underway on Friday amid a thunderous display of fireworks. The opening ceremony is being described as the largest and most expensive in history (a small fraction of the €42 billion in spending, more than 100 million Swiss francs). Shortly beforehand, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an Olympic truce to be observed in all ongoing conflicts around the world. His recorded message was played in the stadium to 91,000 spectators. The number of viewers is estimated at 4 billion. A major security presence is in place. Nicolas Sarkozy, G.W. Bush, Vladimir Putin, and Lula are among those present in the "bird's nest.".