TOKYO — For a country officially barred from the Olympics,   Russia   is very much a presence at this summer’s Tokyo Games. Take Friday’s opening ceremony. A significant Russian delegation marched in the parade of nations — right behind San Marino and just ahead of Sierra Leone — under the banner of R.O.C., the acronym for the Russian Olympic Committee. That is the official label under which more than 330 Russian athletes are competing here, a bit of disciplinary sleight of hand required by punishments imposed after the country’s recent doping scandals. Read More

  anielle Byrdsong loaded bags of breast milk into her car, preparing to make her first donation since receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in April. “To be honest, I was a little concerned,” she said. Byrdsong, a 36-year-old mother of two living in the Washington, DC, area, told BuzzFeed News that at the time, she didn’t know if getting the COVID vaccine would affect her ability to donate her breast milk — an information gap that is increasingly becoming a factor for milk banks as more of the US population is vaccinated. A key question from donors and recipients is whether protection against  the coronavirus  travels through a vaccinated person’s breast milk to an infant. While long-term studies at a larger scale are needed, early research suggests that the answer is yes. Read More

  Osaka bowed out of the women's singles as Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova defeated the Japanese second seed 6-1, 6-4 in 68 minutes in the third round of the competition. Vondrousova is the first player through to the women’s singles quarter-finals and awaits the winner of the game between Spain's Paula Badosa and Argentina's Nadia Podoroska. Read More

  The U.S. gymnastics team took silver in the women's team event after Simone Biles withdrew from the competition after the first event. According to a statement from USA Gymnastics, Biles withdrew due to a medical issue. The organization said she will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions. Biles' coach wrote to NBC after Biles' exit, "Physically she is fine. But she is done for the night." Read More

Not everyone is thrilled about this evolution of a renegade sport, long prized for its counterculture vibe, individual artistry and lack of rules. As Thrasher magazine, the bible of the sport headquartered in San Francisco, wrote when it was announced that skateboarding would be part of the Olympic program, “Like many skaters, we have mixed feelings about skateboarding appearing in the next Olympics. And by mixed feelings we mean disgust combined with a headache.” Read More

  Bill’s final semester at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was already difficult enough. He was part of the final graduating class of survivors of the 2018 shooting, and they all had just marked the third anniversary of the day 17 people were killed, nine of whom were Bill’s classmates. Read More

  TOKYO —  Yosh Uchida  made a promise to  Colton Brown  in 2016, right after Brown competed in judo for the United States at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics: Qualify for the 2020 Games in Tokyo and I’ll be there. Attending the  Tokyo Olympics  would have closed a circle for Uchida. The son of Japanese immigrants and raised in Orange County, he was the U.S. judo team’s coach at the Games in 1964, when the sport made its Olympic debut in its birthplace. The city, the country, the martial art supplied him more than a lifetime’s worth of memories. Uchida was 96 years old in 2016. He would be a centenarian by the next opening ceremony. People his age usually don’t make plans four years in advance. But Uchida reached his 100th birthday in April 2020 and bought his ticket to the  Nippon Budokan  to fulfill his pledge. Read More

  Pop star P!nk has offered to pay the fines handed to the Norwegian women’s beach handball team who were charged for not wearing bikini bottoms during the European Beach Handball Championships, she Tweeted on July 24. She said “the European handball federation should be fined for sexism. Good on ya, ladies. I’ll be happy to pay your fines for you. Keep it up.” The Norway Handball Federation also offered to pay the fines for the team and supported the team’s decision. Germany's gymnastics team wore full-body suits during qualifications in Tokyo, in a protest against the sexualization of women in the sport.

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Within the next fortnight two of the Earth’s wealthiest individuals will attempt to fly into space. Richard Branson’s flight on Sunday aboard a Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. spaceship will be followed by Jeff Bezos’s rocket trip with Blue Origin LLC on July 20. In a summer not lacking in awe-inspiring spectator sports, this rivalry remains pretty unique. And it’s not without risk. It’s taken a couple of decades for both men to realize their ambition of going into space. Blue Origin was founded in 2000 and Virgin Galactic four years later. The critics will harp that they could have devoted their time and money toward more worthy terrestrial endeavors (and paying more tax). Their jostling to be first smacks of billionaire bravado. Yet the spectacle is unmissable. If seeing Earth’s majestic curvature inspires better care of this planet, then I’m all for rich folks taking a joyride into space. (At around $250,000 a ticket to fly with Virgin Galactic, this remains a rich person’s pastime.)

  Pulitzer Prize-winner Danish Siddiqui was the chief photographer of Reuters news agency in India and was on assignment in Afghanistan when he died. Siddiqui's notable work over the last decade included the coverage of the COVID-19 crisis, Delhi riots, Rohingya refugee crisis, Hong Kong protests, and the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

Flooding in Belgium and Germany has killed dozens with more still missing. Flooding also extended to streets and homes in Switzerland and the Netherlands. Rescue efforts are ongoing and local authorities have declared a state of emergency.