Japan

With no confirmation over the suspension of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 thus far, organisers are likely to go ahead with the much-awaited event starting July 23.

Tokyo, July 22 (Reuters) - More than 160 openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer athletes are due to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, making this year's Games the most inclusive ever.

About 950 people, including officials and journalists, will watch Friday's opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics at the main stadium from which spectators have been banned, one of the organisers said.

The hometown team scored the first win of the Tokyo Olympics as the pandemic-delayed Games began with an 8-1 win for Japan over Australia in the softball.

Japan's women's softball team got the Tokyo 2020 Olympics off to a winning start for the hosts on Wednesday, kicking off a pandemic-postponed Games that the World Health Organization says can be "a celebration of hope" even as COVID-19 cases surge

The so-called bubble to control COVID-19 infections at the Olympic Athlete's Village in Tokyo is already "broken" and poses a risk of spreading infections to the general populace, a prominent public health expert said on Tuesday.

Researchers in Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology recently set a new world record for the world's fastest internet speed at 319 Terabytes per second (Tbps).

A person has tested positive for COVID-19 at the Tokyo Olympics athletes' village, organisers said on Saturday, in the first such case that adds to concerns about infections at the Games which begin next week.

Olympic champions at the Tokyo Games starting next week can forget about having their medals hung around their necks as they stand on the podium, shaking hands with dignitaries and soaking up their success.

Thomas Bach’s attempts to win over the reluctant hosts of the Tokyo 2020 Games got off to an embarrassing start on Tuesday when the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) referred to the people of Japan as “Chinese”.