Japan is not making any preparations to postpone the 2020 Olympics, the government's top spokesman said on Wednesday, stressing Tokyo's resolve to host the event as scheduled despite the global spread of coronavirus.
Security presence which has been bolstered by flying in more army troops and rapid action force and central police forces was clearly visible at all major areas and roads.
'For years we train for the Olympics and when we are this close, how can we stop training?'
Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap have urged badminton's governing body to reconsider its decision not to extend the qualification period for the Tokyo Games despite several events being cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus.
Due to restricted entry in Japan, the race has now been pushed back to Oct. 17.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke's office said he was still considering whether to use his discretionary power to cancel Novak Djokovic's visa.
No lives were lost after cyclone Biparjoy made landfall. Preparations for Biparjoy were not only extensive, they were also telecast far and wide. Ahead of the cyclone's landfall, Shyam G Menon observes there was considerable publicity on how much the government was geared up to face the storm and its aftermath.
'Every time a disturbed or demented person commits such a hideous crime, there's always a grotesque effort by some in our society to use the suffering of others to advance their own extreme political agenda'
The International Olympic Committee has been advised by the World Health Organization that there is no case for contingency plans to cancel or relocate the Tokyo 2020 Olympics over the coronavirus outbreak, the IOC's Coordination Commission head said on Friday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last Sunday that there would be no change to the current lowest Level One of the country's five-level lockdown strategy.
Ranji Trophy, India's premier tournament which was cancelled for the first time in 87 years in 2020, has been planned between December and March in the upcoming season.
Dozens of Japanese towns have abandoned plans to host Olympic athletes because of concern they will overburden stretched medical resources amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections.
It is learnt that neither Head Coach Ravi Shastri nor captain Virat Kohli sought any written permission from the BCCI to attend the former's book launch at the team hotel.
Rafael Nadal is taking no pleasure from the absence of great rival Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, even if it means he has a clearer shot at the Grand Slam title record.
Test cricketers from England and South Africa paid tributes to Queen Elizabeth II as they wore black armbands and observed a minute's silence ahead of start of Day 3 of the third and final Test match at The Oval in London.
Flipkart claims that over one billion customers visited its platform during the eight-day-long The Big Billion Festival. Amazon's Great Indian Festival 2022, which will go on for a month, is throwing discounts at customers that can hardly be ignored. But some of the stories that are coming out from these sales are not so great.
Sponsors also worry that organisers have not told them what contingency plans there are in case the pandemic derails the Games again this year.
Tokyo residents are deeply divided on whether they should go ahead with the Olympics mid-pandemic
The 96-year-old monarch has been suffering from age-related mobility issues and has cut down her travels, including appointing new Prime Minister Liz Truss in Scotland earlier this week.
Stuck at his parents place in Hyderabad without his golf clubs, India's Anirban Lahiri heaved a sigh of relief after getting the good news that his playing status on the elite PGA Tour has been guaranteed for not only the remainder of the year but also for the 2020-21 season.
Cycling teams are gearing up for the Tour de France to be held in August rather than the usual July, after French President Emmanuel Macron said big public events would be halted until mid-July as the country fights the COVID-19 pandemic. Marc Madiot, president of the French cycling league and director of the Groupama-FDJ cycling team, said Macron's comments, which included extending measures to slow the coronavirus outbreak, paved the way for the Tour to be held in August.
The exclusion of shooting, wrestling and archery from the initial programme of 2026 Commonwealth Games as "grave injustice" to the country
The man, who declined to be named, said he charges "the most dedicated supporters" a 1,000% markup for tickets to sought-after matches featuring stars like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
A top Japanese virologist and government adviser has warned of the risks of spreading COVID-19 infections during the Tokyo Olympics.
Each disaster has the same message: Learn to respect the mountains before you build tunnels, roads, and houses, notes Sunita Narain.
The All India Football Federation on Saturday suspended tournaments at all levels, including the flagship I-League, till March 31 owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix will go ahead this month without spectators due to the coronavirus crisis, a blow to the Gulf's Arab states important tourism sector. Bahrain, which is hosting the second round of the Formula One season on March 22, has reported 83 cases of the virus, mostly linked to people who had travelled to Iran.
The Cannes International Film Festival was scheduled to take place from May 12 to 23, but it was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Djokovic's father blamed the cancellation of the tour on Dimitrov. There is nothing to suggest that Dimitrov spread the virus to others.
Former head coach Ravi Shastri on Friday said that Indian cricket would become "spineless" if the currently postponed Ranji Trophy is ignored.
'As of now, we have not discussed what will be the new dates for Indian Grand Prix competitions and Federation Cup'
It said it was also cancelling all veterans tour events and Table Tennis X events for the entire year while looking into cost-cutting measures to meet the financial challenges.
Australian swimming great Ian Thorpe says athletes should not put their Olympic dreams before their health in deciding whether to compete at the Tokyo Games as global health authorities battle to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. A number of international sports events have been hit by the coronavirus, with some competitions being postponed and others cancelled outright, and there are concerns that the outbreak might scupper the Tokyo Olympics.
The first race at the Red Bull Ring would be on the July 3-5 weekend.
Japan on Friday extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas by about three weeks to June 20 as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of easing less than two months before the Summer Olympics open.
Organisers said last December that the entire cost of holding the Games would come to about $15.4 billion, including $2.8 billion in costs for the unprecedented postponement from 2020. Since then, the projected bill for postponement has risen to $3 billion.
Besides Srikanth, the other players withdrawn are Ashwini Ponnappa, Ritika Rahul Thkar, Treesa Jolly, Mithun Manjunath, Simran Aman Singh and Khushi Gupta.
Kerala Minister Saji Cheriyan on Tuesday landed in trouble for his harsh remarks against the Constitution, triggering a huge political row in the state with the opposition demanding for his sacking, but the Left leader later expressed regret and claimed news reports in this connection were 'distorted'.
Tokyo 2020 said it chose not to send the high-level delegation, which was originally set to include organising committee president Yoshiro Mori and Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto, to Greece due to the coronavirus.
"Now it is necessary to investigate whether there is a lapse in the security or the anger of the farmers!" Tikait tweeted in Hindi on Wednesday.
