Olympics threaten to erase a symbol of Paris, say riverside booksellers
Paris, FranceReuters Booksellers along the river Seine say the Olympics threaten to erase a symbol of Paris, after they were told by local authorities that they will have to remove their stalls for the Summer Games opening ceremony in 2024 for security reasons. Around 570 of the famous old stalls that line the river in […]
A year before Paris Olympics, Ukraine torn over boycott threat
Kyiv, UkraineReuters Kyiv could drop a threatened boycott of next year’s Paris Olympics if athletes from Russia and Belarus, allies in the war in Ukraine, compete under a neutral flag rather than their national colours, Ukraine’s sports minister told Reuters. Vadym Huttsait said there had been no decision to soften Ukraine’s stance but indicated Kyiv […]
Poland expects broad coalition to call for Olympics ban on Russian, Belarusian athletes
Vilnius, LithuaniaReuters Poland believes it will be possible to build a coalition of some 40 countries, including the US, Britain and Canada, by 10th February supporting the call to block Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympics, a Polish minister said on Thursday. The Baltic nations and Poland earlier Thursday called on international sports […]
China agrees to Xinjiang visit by UN rights chief in early 2022 – South China Morning Post
Beijing, ChinaReuters China has agreed to let the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights visit Xinjiang in the first half of 2022 after the Beijing Winter Olympics, according to a report in the South China Morning Post which cited unnamed sources. Rights groups have accused China of perpetrating widescale abuses against Uyghurs and other minority […]
Japan to hospitalise only most serious COVID-19 cases in surge
Tokyo, JapanReuters Japan will hospitalise only COVID-19 patients who are seriously ill and those at risk of becoming so while others isolate at home, officials said, as worries grew about a strained medical system amid a surge in Olympics host city Tokyo and elsewhere. The country has seen a sharp increase in coronavirus cases, and […]
Essay: 3,600 microphones and counting – how the sound of the Olympics is created
In an article first published on The Conversation, JOSHUA REISS, a Reader at the Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London, looks at the evolution of how sound has been recorded and broadcast at successive Olympics…
Pope honours grandparents on first World Day for elderly
Vatican CityAP Pope Francis celebrated the Roman Catholic Church’s first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly on Sunday. Francis solicited a round of applause from the faithful in St Peter’s Square and urged people everywhere to reach out to older generations. Faithful crowd St Peter’s square during the Angelus prayer celebrated by Pope Francis, […]
Host city Tokyo bans Olympic spectators amid COVID-19 emergency
Tokyo, JapanReuters The Olympics will take place without spectators in host city Tokyo, organisers said on Thursday, as a resurgent coronavirus forced Japan to declare a state of emergency in the capital that will run throughout the Games. The move marked a sharp turnabout from as recently as last week, when some officials were still […]
Half of Japanese people predict Olympics will be held this summer – Yomiuri poll
Tokyo, JapanReuters Half of the Japanese public thinks the Olympics will take place this summer, a survey by Yomiuri daily newspaper showed on Monday, less than two months before the Games’ scheduled opening. For the Tokyo Olympics, already postponed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, questions still remain over how Tokyo can hold the […]
No-one’s safe anymore: Japan’s Osaka city crumples under COVID-19 onslaught
Osaka, JapanReuters Hospitals in Japan’s second largest city of Osaka are buckling under a huge wave of new coronavirus infections, running out of beds and ventilators as exhausted doctors warn of a “system collapse”, and advise against holding the Olympics this summer. Japan’s western region home to nine million people is suffering the brunt of […]