On Friday evening, local time, Japan will welcome the world to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Unfortunately, the lead up to the Games has been been mired in fears caused by a resurgence in COVID-19.
According to Japan s NHK, the country reported 5,397 new cases as of early Thursday evening, with the host city itself reporting one,979.
The Tokyo figure is the highest number of cases in six months. Experts fear a 5th wave has arrived ahead of the Olympics.
The seven-day average of new cases in Japan has more than doubled over the past two weeks.
On top of that, just 22-percent of the population are fully vaccinated, leading experts to believe an explosive increase could happen over the coming weeks, while the Olympics take place.
The Biden administration and the former Trump administration may have been deeply at odds over many issues, but China s claims in the South China Sea isn t one of them.
On Sunday, the Biden administration upheld a Trump-era rejection, warning China that any attack on the Philippines in the highly contested region would draw a U.S. response under a mutual defense treaty. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke military action from the U.S., reaffirming the position laid out by Trump s top diplomat, Mike Pompeo.
It marked a symbolic milestone for Branson, for a venture he started 17 years ago.
Branson was among a crew of four mission specialists who reached speeds three times the speed of sound during launch, grazing the edge of space. Joining him on Galactic Unity 22,. were three employees from Virgin Galactic - Colin Bennett, lead operations engineer, Beth Moses, chief astronaut instructor, and Sirisha Bandla, the vice president of government affairs and research operations.
The crew reached a peak altitude of more than 85-thousand meters, and were weightless for a few moments before the Galactic Unity 22 made its descent. Upon his return, Branson described his view, and his feeling about achieving his lifelong dream.
Tokyo bans spectators amid COVID-19 emergency arirang.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from arirang.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The world is in shock as Haiti s President Jovenel Moise was attacked and killed early Wednesday at his private residence.
According to acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph, a group of unidentified individuals stormed the residence at around 1AM, and killed the president in what he called a highly coordinated attack .
First Lady Martine Moise was also shot, but is said to be in stable but critical condition. Reports say the gunmen were heard speaking Spanish and English.
This is considered unusual as people in Haiti mostly speak French or Haitian Creole.
In a video circulating online, still pending verification, the gunmen can be seen yelling that they were the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, as they entered Moise s guarded residence, before shots rang out.