Nigerian students abroad re-enacts NYSC experience

Tokyo residents react to the decision taken by the organisers of the Olympics to allow an audience of up to 10,000 at events.

Forced by the pandemic to swap city living for the rural life they had left behind, Egberto and Prudencia fell back on an old family tradition. Last winter, this Bolivian couple began making chuno using a technique widespread in the Andean region to preserve potatoes through a natural freeze-drying process which allows them to be eaten decades after they are dug up.

Hot air balloon rides are gaining traction in the Amboseli National Park. It can go as low as 20 meters above the ground, giving tourists the best view of elephant families and access to places no overland tour vehicle can go.

The show director for the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony, former comedian Kentaro Kobayashi, has been fired on the eve of the event for making jokes referencing the Holocaust, in the latest blow for organisers of the pandemic-delayed Games. Tokyo 2020 has been plagued by a series of gaffes and missteps by Olympic officials, as well as pandemic restrictions.

Tokyo residents share their support for athletes and coronavirus concerns as Olympic Games enters its Day 4 and Japan taking leading positions on the medal table. "So as long as we try to minimise contaminations, I want to see the athletes perform," said one resident.

Simone Biles' bid for a record six gold medals at the Tokyo Games ended abruptly on Tuesday (July 27) when she dropped out of the women's team final after one vault and watched as the United States surrendered their title to Russia. It was a stunning and disappointing start to the Olympics for the U.S. women, who had expected to dominate the final as they had not been beaten in a major team competition since 2011. But the entire event was turned on its head in an instant when Biles, the world and Olympic all-around champion, completely mistimed her opening vault to earn a low score of 13.766.

Three Tunisian brothers couldn't afford to buy a car, so they built one. Four years later, the trio manufactured the car of their dreams, and now hope to open up their own production line.

In her family's garden in Drosopigi, where much has been destroyed by the wildfires, Eleni Haniosakis finds it hard to hide her dismay as she looks at the charred hillside tumbling down to the Greek capital some 20 kilometres away. Eleni and her mother were among hundreds forced to abandon their homes that week, unsure of whether they would see them again, as Greece battled some 600 blazes fuelled by bone-dry conditions during one of the worst heatwaves in decades.

With a new type of simple blood test, Elizabeth Holmes wanted to revolutionize the health care industry. Her company Theranos was a Wall Street darling until it was exposed as a fraud. Now she is on trial in California.

Voters at a polling station in Moscow give their views on Russia's parliamentary elections. Results on Sunday showed President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party was on track to win a strong majority in a parliamentary vote following an unprecedented crackdown on the opposition.

Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden have agreed that "open consultations" could have prevented the diplomatic row between Paris and Washington over a nuclear submarine deal.

Dubai's Expo-2020 opens for visitors, during which the United Arab Emirates hopes to welcome about 25 million guests, as it is considered the first universal exhibition held in the Middle East and the largest event globally since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.