World

The UK and Ireland are among five nations most likely to survive a collapse of global civilisation, researchers have said. A study has suggested a combination of ecological destruction, limited resources and population growth could trigger a worldwide breakdown “within few decades”, with climate change making things worse. A “very likely” collapse would be characterised

Which country is more likely to win the largest number of medals at Tokyo 2020? No points for guessing either United States or China. In fact, the US has won more medals than any other country since the 1996 Games in Atlanta. But what are the reasons behind that success? Data shows that the size

If you do what Simone Biles does, if you take the awe-inspiring risks that she takes, you really have to believe that you can pull them off. In short, she stopped believing in herself and didn’t want to harm herself or her team’s chances of doing well. At the start of the week she posted

COVID-19 cases in Tokyo are now rising faster than at any time in the pandemic but Japanese authorities are resisting renewed calls for the Olympics to be suspended. The Japanese capital reported 2,848 cases on Tuesday, which is a record number and 149% higher than the previous week’s average. Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has

The German pharmaceutical group behind one of the most successful COVID-19 vaccines wants to use the same technology to develop a malaria vaccine.  BioNTech, who developed the first coronavirus jab with US company Pfizer, is aiming to begin clinical trials for a “safe and highly effective malaria vaccine” by the end of next year. According

Troops have surrounded Tunisia’s parliament building as supporters and opponents of the president clashed with each other following his dismissal of the prime minister. The violence in the capital Tunis comes after President Kais Saied ousted the government and froze parliament, with help from the army. Officers used tear gas to disperse some demonstrators throwing projectiles at

Tunisia’s president has been accused of staging a coup by his opponents after he dismissed the prime minister and froze parliament following violent demonstrations over the country’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement on Tunisia’s state television, President Kais Saied said he would assume executive authority with the support of a new prime

Dr Angelique Coetzee is a GP in the South African capital Pretoria, where she has run a family clinic for the past 33 years. But she has never known anything like COVID-19. She said: “If you have never been in such a situation, you can’t imagine what it is like. We’ve been dealing with 30

Slava Kemlil is waiting for us on the dock in the Arctic town of Chersky.   He’s been there applying for government grants but it is not where he feels at home. Home is in the tundra with his reindeer. “You can relax there,” he says. “You can breathe the fresh air. In the settlement

Team GB’s hopes of a cycling medal on the first full day of competition at the Tokyo Olympics were hit after one of the favourites in the men’s road race, Geraint Thomas, pulled out following a crash. Thomas and teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart fell around 70km (43 miles) into the 234km (145 mile) event which

Japanese fans have lined the streets to support riders in the Men’s Road Race on day one of the Olympics. Tokyo 2020 organisers had asked people not to gather along the 145-mile route but locals turned out in big numbers to cheer on the competitors and wave flags. The ban on spectators at almost all

The opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has begun with a spectacular show at the national stadium. The event began with a performer seeming to morph from a seed into a plant through the use of overhead projections. A compilation video showing athletes training alone as they prepared for the Games. A countdown kicked

There will be no fans, just a handful of VIPs, small parties of socially-distanced athletes and protests outside the stadium – the Opening Ceremony of Tokyo 2020 will feel very different. From the archer in Barcelona in 1992 who fired a burning arrow up into the cauldron of the Olympic flame to the stadium street

Guinea has pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics, citing a “resurgence of COVID variants”. It means five athletes from the African nation will be missing from the delayed Games. Minister of sports Sanoussy Bantama Sow said the decision had been taken because of the continuing coronavirus pandemic. “Due to the resurgence of COVID variants, the

The director of the Olympics opening ceremony has been fired over comments he made about the Holocaust. The remarks were made by Kentaro Kobayashi during a comedy show in 1998 and included the phrase: “Let’s play Holocaust”. Mr Kobayashi’s words resurfaced in news articles ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony, and organising committee president Seiko Hashimoto

Further rain has been forecast until the weekend in China’s Henan province where at least 25 people have been killed in days of flooding. From Saturday to Tuesday, 3,535 weather stations in Henan saw rainfall exceeding 5cm, of which 1,614 had levels above 10cm and 151 above 25cm. Twelve people died and more than 500