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Opening ceremony kicks off the Tokyo Olympics in a mostly empty stadium
CBSN
The opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics began on Friday in a largely empty stadium, as cases of the coronavirus in the host city hit a six-month high. Friends and families of competitors were among those barred from attending the ceremony in person to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The event was relatively somber in tone. Near the start, a moment of silence was taken for those who had died during the pandemic, as well as for members of the Israeli Olympic team who were murdered during the Munich Games in 1972. The acts reflecting Japanese culture and heritage were streamlined and simple. A white pyramid depicting Mount Fuji remained in the background.
Concern over a man who'd exhibited "fixated behavior" caused Emma Raducanu to approach the chair umpire in tears and take an unscheduled break in her second-round match at the Dubai Championships, the Women's Tennis Association said Wednesday. The incident unfolded three years after a man in Britain was convicted of stalking the star player at her family home.
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Rio de Janeiro — Brazil's prosecutor-general on Tuesday formally charged former President Jair Bolsonaro with attempting a coup to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat, in a plot that included a plan to poison his successor and current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and kill a Supreme Court judge.
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Russia has freed a U.S. citizen arrested earlier this month on drug smuggling charges, according to Russian media reports and a U.S. official who spoke with The Associated Press. The move appeared to be an effort to ease tension between Moscow and Washington ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, which are expected to focus on the war in Ukraine and the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
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Beijing — China's Foreign Ministry took issue Monday with a revised U.S. government fact sheet that removed a line on American opposition to independence for Taiwan. The United States "gravely backpedaled" on its position on Taiwan and sent the wrong message to "separatist forces" on the island, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.