Protests cloud political honeymoon

Street protests and controversy over the absence of female ministers clouded Brazilian acting president Michel Temer's political honeymoon on Monday as he began his first full week in power.

Temer took over from President Dilma Rousseff last week after the Senate voted to open an impeachment trial on charges that she illegally manipulated the budget.

The 75-year-old center-right leader has vowed to reverse Rousseff's left course in an attempt to haul Brazil back from its deepest recession in decades.

Though a cabinet - which will be reduced from a bloated 32 ministries to 23 - has already been named, there was a delay to the nomination in the key post of central bank head.

In a television interview late on Sunday, Temer vowed to unite Brazil after months of increasingly divisive debate over the impeachment of Rousseff, who accuses Temer of leading a coup.

But just a few days into the presidential post, the interim leader finds himself under steady attack from the left.

Jeering and pot-banging could be heard in parts of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo during his television interview, a form of protest that used to dog Rousseff to the point where she began avoiding broadcast appearances.

Street protests also took place on Sunday in several cities, including the capital Brasilia and the financial center Sao Paulo.

Activists occupied offices of the education and culture ministries, which are being merged under Temer's plan.

"This coup is setting us years back," said renowned Brazilian filmmaker Rui Guerra, 84, who was taking part in the protest.

Though the scale of opposition demonstrations is so far modest, Rousseff's fight against impeachment in the Senate trial, which could take as long as six months, means that Temer is having trouble settling in.

"The popular reaction to the coup continues and the protests should continue," Rui Falcao, president of Rousseff's Workers' Party, said on Monday.

Olympics: Temer says Rio will be ready

Interim president Michel Temer told the International Olympic Committee that Brazil's change of government has not interrupted preparations for the Rio 2016 Games, new Sports Minister Leonardo Picciani said on Monday.

Temer spoke to IOC President Thomas Bach by telephone and assured him the Games will take place as planned, Picciani said after a meeting with Temer, who replaced suspended President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday.

The Defense Ministry will deploy 38,000 troops for security during the Olympics to back 47,000 police and civil defense personnel in Rio de Janeiro.

Political turmoil, the risk of crime and an outbreak of the Zika virus have threatened to keep visitors away from the games that start on Aug 5.