JO-2020: Finally the kick-off after 2,872 days of waiting!

Japan and the world have been waiting for this moment since September 8, 2013 and the designation of Tokyo as the host city of the 2020 Olympic Games: the opening ceremony will kick off at 8:00 p.m. local time on Friday (11:00 GMT / 1:00 p.m. French) official of the Olympics, postponed for a year by the coronavirus pandemic and shaken by many storms. It was originally scheduled to take place on July 24, 2020 and celebrate Japan and the Olympic spirit. A year late, the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games will mark above all, more than the beginning of two weeks of sporting exploits, the end of a long and trying marathon for the Japanese organizers. There will be the parade of 206 delegations lined up behind, for the first time, two standard bearers, a woman and a man (judoka Clarisse Agbegnenou and gymnast Samir Aït Saït for France), but no crowd to applaud them in an Olympic Stadium in Tokyo that can normally accommodate 68,000 spectators.

IN SHORT

President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Tokyo on Friday morning, where he is to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in the evening, after meetings with the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Emperor of Japan.

The British government announced Thursday to impose sanctions against five people - including the son of the president of Equatorial Guinea - involved in serious acts of corruption.

Morocco, accused of having used the Pegasus spy software, has decided to sue Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories for defamation before the Paris Criminal Court.

The daily number of new Covid-19 cases has climbed to its highest since early May, to nearly 22,000, according to figures released by Public Health France.

Australia and New Zealand have announced that they will not take part in the 2021 Rugby League World Cup scheduled for England due to fears "for the health of the players and their safety" linked to the Covid pandemic -19.