Japan

Kishida easily won Monday's vote in parliament to confirm him as prime minister

Administrative reform minister Kono is the favourite with the public, reflecting in part his strong name recognition.

China's application comes at a time when Beijing is feuding with a host of western nations.

The group is billed as "the largest concentration of maritime and air power to leave the UK in a generation"

The contamination in Okinawa and Gunma follows the suspension of 1.63 million doses across Japan on Thursday

Contaminants were seen in 39 unopened vials at eight vaccination locations in central Japan, including Tokyo, according to national broadcaster NHK.

Most of those linked to the Paralympics who have tested positive so far are Japan-based Games staff and contractors

Outside the Olympic bubble, Japan hit new virus records, with the capital accounting for a large portion of the numbers.

The Americans started the day two golds behind China but the women's basketball and volleyball titles and US track cyclist Jennifer Valente's omnium victory put them top of the final table.

Overwhelmed mortuaries are renting refrigerated containers to store bodies, while medical and other frontline workers are exhausted.

"The temperature today was the biggest competitor. I beat it and I beat everything in this race."

The first day features the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m.

Britain's Jason Kenny will attempt to win his seventh Olympic gold in the men's track cycling team sprint final.

Day seven also features gold medals in badminton, canoe slalom, fencing, rowing, shooting, table tennis and trampolining.

Chen and Zhang, the teenage Olympic champions, have been diving since they were four.

Biles and Osaka, who are aged just seven months apart, are by no means the only young athletes to suffer in the public eye.

The US women came to Tokyo as firm favourites but Biles admitted to feeling the pressure

In gymnastics, US superstar and defending champion Simone Biles produced a rusty performance in qualifying

Murray will continue playing doubles with Joe Salisbury

The build-up has been dogged by scandals ranging from corruption during the bidding process to plagiarism allegations over the design of the Tokyo 2020 logo.

In Britain, daily infections have climbed, averaging more than 50,000 since last week, with Delta taking hold in many areas.

Japan has so far recorded around 14,900 deaths, despite avoiding harsh lockdowns, but the government has been criticised over the slow start to its vaccination programme.

Japanese sponsors Rakuten and Konami were particularly enraged by the incident.

Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele were caught mocking Asian hotel workers on video

Faced with the surge in a pandemic that has already killed more than 3.9 million people worldwide, officials are racing to vaccinate their populations.

A new poll Sunday showed 86 percent of Japanese fear the Games will spark a rebound in virus cases.

WHO and partners also highlighted the desperate need for funds to overcome the pandemic.

Over 100 million people in the 27-nation European Union, or 22.6 percent of its population, have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19

It comes less than two months until the Games are set to begin, and days after the US State Department issued a travel warning for Japan over virus risks.

Wealthy nations have put an emphasis on Covax, a UN-backed programme meant to share vaccines with the poorest nations.