INTERNATIONAL: The Covid-delayed 2020 Olympics get underway on Friday. The opening ceremony will culminate in the lighting of the Olympic flame. The torch relay is on its 10th day in Tokyo, with torchbearers passing the Olympic flame with a “torch kiss" in front of small gatherings of spectators.

After weeks of winding through every prefecture in Japan, the torch relay and Olympic flame now travel to different parts of Tokyo before the opening ceremony on Friday. Despite the typical great excitement, there’s also a great deal of concern, with the first positive Covid cases at the Olympic village. South Africa have confirmed three cases in their soccer squad. As a result, the whole team has been quarantined.

The Tokyo 2020 games, postponed for a year due to the pandemic are being held mostly behind closed doors with no spectators.