The opening day of athletics at the 2020 Tokyo #OlympicGames will take place at the Olympic Stadium on Friday. #AFPSports looks at five stand-out events 👟 u.afp.com/URph
China's unrelenting domination of #Olympics#Diving has rivals in #Tokyo2020 wondering not just how they can beat them, but also whether the country's approach is desirable or even healthy
#BREAKING China's Zhang Yufei proved untouchable in the #Olympics 200m butterfly final, blasting to the #gold medal in the third fastest time ever.
The 23-year-old has been in red-hot form this year and hit the wall in a new Olympic record time of 2mins 03.86sec
#UPDATE USA star Caeleb Dressel blazed to victory in the #Olympics 100m freestyle final.
The 24-year-old powered to the wall in a new Olympic record time of 47.02sec to dethrone Australian defending champion Kyle Chalmers, who came second. Russia's Kliment Kolesnikov took bronze
#BREAKING World pole vault champion American Sam Kendricks is out of #Olympics after testing positive for Covid: USOPC
📸 File photo of Kendricks competing in May 2021
#BREAKING China win women's #Olympics 4x200m freestyle relay in world record time
#UPDATE China's Li Bingjie (bottom R) is congratulated by teammates Yang Junxuan, Tang Muhan and Zhang Yufei after they set a new World Record to take #gold in the final of the #Olympics 4x200m freestyle relay swimming event
- Wheels up in the BMX racing men's quarter-finals.
- Taijikistan's Siyovush Zukhurov and France's Mourad Aliev meet in boxing super heavy preliminaries.
- Japan's Mima Ito serves to China's Sun Yingsha.
- Australia and Japan tackle a rugby sevens match
Multiple members of Australia's track and field team have been placed in isolation on the eve of the Tokyo #Olympics athletics competition after US pole vaulter Sam Kendricks tested positive for Covid
China's women stunned the field to smash the world record and win the #Olympics 4x200m relay.
The team finished in 7mins 40.33 seconds ahead of USA (7:40.73) and Australia (7:41.29). It is the first time neither Australia nor USA have won gold since 1996
#BREAKING Most of Australian #Olympics athletics team out of isolation after Covid scare: officials
#UPDATE All but three of Australia's track and field team at the Tokyo #Olympics have been released from isolation after a coronavirus scare, officials say.
The three, close contacts of Covid-positive US pole vaulter Sam Kendricks, have tested negative but remain in isolation
Australia's track and field team was briefly placed in isolation on Thursday as a coronavirus scare caused fresh jitters on the eve of the #Tokyo2020#Olympics athletics programme u.afp.com/URfD #AFPSports
Switzerland's Belinda Bencic came through a marathon match against Kazakh player Elena Rybakina on Thursday to reach the women's tennis final at the Olympics and keep her bid for double gold alive u.afp.com/URga
Australia's Jessica Fox has won her first #Olympics gold medal in the women's canoe slalom, an event she pushed to have added to the programme for #Tokyo2020 u.afp.com/URgR #AFPSports
#Tokyo2020 - Former world number one golfer Rory McIlroy has backed @Simone_Biles over her Olympic withdrawal, saying the superstar gymnast was "100%" right to prioritise her mental health u.afp.com/URg9 #AFPSports
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#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
#BREAKING Any compromise with Russia will 'destroy' Ukrainian statehood: presidential aide to AFP
#BREAKING Putin says West used grain deal for 'political blackmail'
VIDEO: Ukrainian firefighters battle flames after a Russian strike on Odesa.
Ukraine's president accused Russia of deliberately targeting grain export infrastructure in the city after Moscow ended a landmark deal and lifted security guarantees in the Black Sea