US gymnastics star Simone Biles launches her bid for Olympic immortality at the Tokyo Games as surfing and skateboarding make their debuts as part of a drive to attract young audiences #Olympics#AFPsports u.afp.com/UaPV
Australia’s Cate Campbell, Emma McKeon, Meg Harris and Bronte Campbell shatter the women's 4x100m freestyle world record to win gold clocking 3mins 29.69 secs to better their own mark set three years ago #Olympics#AFPsports
#BREAKING Defending champion Andy Murray out of Olympics singles with injury: Team GB
#UPDATES A “really disappointed” Andy Murray makes “the difficult decision” to withdraw from the men's singles #Olympics due to muscle injury, but says will stay to play doubles with Joe Salisbury, after medical staff advise against “playing in both events”
#UPDATES In a shock opening round defeat, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty crashes out of #Olympics women's singles 6-4, 6-3 to Spain's 48th-ranked Sara Sorribes Tormo
Reigning Wimbledon champion Barty drops serve twice in each set and makes 27 unforced errors
Japan's Yuto Horigome holds his nerve to be crowned skateboarding's first ever Olympic gold medallist after winning a tense street competition
Horigome landed three huge tricks in a row to eclipse American favourite Nyjah Huston #Olympics#AFPsports
VIDEO: Fans queue in Sendai to hop on buses that will take them to Miyagi Stadium to watch the women’s football clash between the Netherlands and Brazil, some of the rare fans who will be able to watch #Olympics action
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#BREAKING Romania's constitutional court orders recount of first round of presidential vote: statement
#UPDATE Romania's constitutional court on Thursday ordered a recount of votes cast in the first round of the presidential election, after a rival far-right contender filed a legal challenge ➡️ u.afp.com/597X
#BREAKING TikTok gave 'preferential treatment' to far-right candidate who won Romania election first round: presidency
#UPDATE A referendum on Moldova joining the EU passed with a razor-thin majority on Monday as pro-Brussels President Maia Sandu blamed the outcome on foreign meddling in a veiled reference to Russia, which denied the accusations ➡️ u.afp.com/5zL7
BREAKING France's high-speed train system disrupted by vandalism: operator
#UPDATE Hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris #Olympics , France's high-speed rail network has been hit by "malicious acts" including arson attacks that have disrupted the transport system, train operator SNCF says.
"This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyse the TGV network," SNCF told @AFP, adding that many routes will have to be cancelled and the situation would last "at least all weekend while repairs are conducted"
BREAKING The arson attacks on France's high-speed rail network were coordinated acts of "sabotage", a source close to the investigation tells @AFP
#BREAKING 104 police, 30 journalists among injured in Bangladesh clashes: TV
#UPDATE Protesters in Bangladesh set fire to several government buildings during a day of deadly nationwide clashes between students and riot officers, a police statement said.
"The miscreants have already torched, vandalised and carried out destructive activities," on the offices of state broadcaster BTV and the national disaster management agency along with "various" police and government buildings, said the statement, issued after a nationwide internet shutdown
Bangladesh wakes to torched government buildings, internet blackout.
This week's unrest has killed at least 39 people including 32 on Thursday, with the toll expected to rise further after reports of clashes in nearly half of the country's 64 districts
#BREAKING Biden says still considers Xi a 'dictator'
#UPDATE US President Joe Biden said after a summit with Xi Jinping that he still considers the Chinese president a "dictator", after he sparked fury from Beijing by making the comparison earlier this year.
"Well look he is, I mean he's a dictator in the sense that he's a guy who's running a country, a Communist country, that's based on a form of government totally different than ours," Biden said at the end of a news conference when a reporter asked if he would still use the term to describe Xi
#BREAKING China will not begin armed conflict with any nation, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday, after a high-stakes summit with US President Joe Biden.
"China does not seek spheres of influence, and will not fight a cold or hot war with any country," he told a gathering of business leaders in San Francisco