A subdued opening ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has taken place, with around 1,000 spectators – mostly dignitaries, including less than 20 global leaders – in attendance.

Universal Hydrogen has signed letters of intent with Ravn Alaska and Spain’s Air Nostrum for 16 De Havilland Canada Dash 8s to be converted into zero-emissions airliners.

Most hospitalisations and deaths from coronavirus have occurred among unvaccinated people, yet there have also been so-called breakthrough infections of fully vaccinated people.

Global interest in the spectatorless Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is muted at below 50%, according to an Ipsos poll of 28 countries. Overall, 57% of respondents would also like to see the Olympics cancelled.

Netflix has reported its worst slowdown in subscriber growth for eight years, adding just 1.5 million subscribers in Q2 2021. The streaming giant now plans to add video games to keep subscribers loyal.

More than 1.5 million children worldwide saw a parent, custodial grandparent or other related caregiver die from Covid-19, according to a study published by the Lancet.

Despite strict quarantine procedures, organisers of the Tokyo Olympics are seeing a multitude of Covid-19 infections befall teams and staff, with some athletes set to miss their event due to being locked down.

The World Health Organisation says that coronavirus cases and deaths are climbing globally after a period of decline, spurred by the highly contagious Delta variant.

As the death toll from devastating floods in western Germany climbs above 190, with scores missing and more flood warnings, insurers prepare for one of the most expensive natural catastrophes in decades.

Valve is to release a portable PC gaming platform, soon after the launch of Nintendo’s revamped Switch games console. The Steam Deck will allow gamers to access 30,000 games available on Steam.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is set to fly to space on the first human flight by his space company, Blue Origin, a landmark moment in the bid to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel.

Each month Graphic News moves a World Agenda – an illustrated diary of upcoming events – in both print format and as a responsive interactive version for digital devices.

Each month Graphic News moves a World Agenda – an illustrated diary of upcoming events – in both print format and as a responsive version for digital devices.

Opinion polls suggest that with three potential chancellors standing to replace Angela Merkel, Germany’s September election could result in a fragmented parliament.

A record number of Americans died of drug overdoses last year, rising almost 30% to over 90,000 deaths. Overdose fatalities from opioids rose 37% in a year, to 69,710 – largely fuelled by synthetic opioid painkillers.

Taliban fighters in Afghanistan have seized control of Afghanistan’s Spin Boldak crossing with Pakistan – one of the most important objectives they have achieved as U.S. forces pull out.

More than 20 people have died and scores are missing after devastating floods followed heavy precipitation in Benelux and Germany, as slow-moving storms brought the region’s single-day heaviest rainfall since 1983.

U.S. consumer debt soared by $85 billion to $14.64 trillion in the first three months of 2021, driven by a jump in mortgages, auto and student loans – the largest components of household debt.

More manatees have died in 2021 than at any time in Florida’s known history, says the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. So far his year, 841 manatee have perished – 11% of the population.

The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is an effort to reduce greenhouse gasses by putting a price on each tonne of carbon emitted by some 12,000 EU businesses and aircraft operators.

The Biden administration is warning that the U.S. is heading for a dangerous economic deficit as post-WWII baby boomers become senior citizens, highlighting the need for increased federal aid.

After more than a decade in development and $72 billion in state support, China’s first passenger jet, the single-aisle Comac C919, is nearing approval to start commercial flights.

NASA has placed its Hubble Space Telescope in “safe mode” configuration after the payload computer -- which controls its science instruments -- suddenly stopped working.

Cubans are protesting over a worsening economic crisis and shortages of essential goods amid skyrocketing prices and inflation. President Miguel Díaz-Canel blames ongoing U.S. sanctions.

The United States is being scorched by more extremely hot weather, causing excessive heat warnings in many areas west of the Rockies. It’s feared rising temperatures like these are becoming the new norm in North America.

For a second year, Ethiopia is filling the reservoir behind its giant hydropower Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, amid a diplomatic campaign with Egypt and Sudan which view it as a threat to their Nile water supplies.

An 18-year-old British pilot has broken the world record for the youngest person to fly solo round the world in a single-engine aircraft. Travis Ludlow landed safely back at his starting point on Monday, July 12.

Airbus and Boeing delivered 188 aircraft in June – one of the largest monthly totals since the start of the pandemic – taking Airbus’ handovers for the first six months of the year to 297 and Boeing’s to 156 aircraft.

Taliban fighters seized a major border crossing with Iran as the Islamist insurgents continued their rapid military advances.

After a three-month siege, Spanish conquistadores under Hernán Cortés captured the city of Tenochtitlan on August 13, 1521, bringing an end to Aztec civilisation.

The pandemic has left 22 million people out of work in industrial nations, with the young and low-skilled hurt most, according to the OECD.

After a year-long delay due to the global pandemic, Marvel’s high-octane spy thriller, “Black Widow”, finally opens in cinemas around the world – the first film in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse was shot dead in an attack on his private residence, interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph has said.

Elsa, the first hurricane of the season, is posing a threat to northern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina with high winds, isolated tornadoes and heavy rains.

Cybersecurity teams are working to stem the impact of the biggest global ransomware attack on record – a “supply chain” attack infecting thousands of users of Kaseya’s VSA software.

Ransomware gang REvil has demanded that software provider Kaseya pay $70 million in bitcoin to release information locked in a hack on between 800 and 1,500 businesses worldwide.

Structural engineers think critical concrete supporting structures at the collapsed Florida condominium may not have had enough internal reinforced steel bars, known as “rebar”.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has opened a large naval base on the Mediterranean Sea near the Libyan border, the latest example of the government’s military build-up.

China is reportedly modernizing its nuclear arsenal, constructing dozens of missile silos to accommodate newer-generation solid-fuelled Dong Feng-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Rescuers are searching for survivors with over 100 people still missing after landslides hit the popular resort of Atami.

The catastrophic decline in international tourism caused by the global pandemic is likely to cost the world $4 trillion in lost GDP for 2020 and 2021, according to a bleak new report from the United Nations.

Manned submersibles company, OceanGate, is planning tourist dives to the wreck of RMS Titanic, during the summer months, allowing up to three passengers to descend almost 4km in its new Titan submarine.

Crude oil is back near $75 a barrel, driving a commodities boom as the world emerges from lockdown – a remarkable comeback after plunging below zero for the first time last year.

One year after Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong, authorities have arrested more than 100 people. The law prohibits subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

An unprecedented heatwave has smashed records across the Pacific Northwest and contributed to more than a hundred deaths in the Canadian city of Vancouver alone.

Greek police have recovered two valuable paintings by Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian, both stolen from Greece’s National Gallery in 2012. The artworks were found wrapped in garbage bags in a ravine near the capital.

United Nations peacekeeping missions globally are preparing for a possible shutdown if the UN General Assembly fails to agree a new $6 billion budget for the year to June 30, 2022.

Improvements in battery technology mean that electric vehicles (EVs) are reaching cost parity with fossil-fuel cars. Last year, lithium-ion battery prices were $137/kWh -- 64% lower than in 2015.

The coronavirus Delta variant, first identified in India, is rapidly spreading across the world and is the most contagious of any Covid-19 strain so far identified, according to the World Health Organisation.

The stalemate between India and China drags on, with each side currently deploying 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the fiercely contested “Line of Actual Control” in India’s Himalayan Ladakh region.

LEGO has unveiled a process that it hopes will allow it to include building bricks made from recycled water bottles in future model kits. LEGO CON, its first online streaming event, took place on June 26.

Indian premier Narendra Modi has said his government plans to hold elections in the Muslim-majority Kashmir region, in a major reversal of his policy since August 2019.

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the U.S. and crucial to the water supply of 25 million people, has sunk to its lowest level ever, highlighting the extreme drought gripping the U.S. West.

Tokyo’s postponed Olympics budget has more than doubled from the $7.3 billion Japan initially earmarked when the International Olympic Committee awarded the games in 2013.

A Finnish astronautics company is set to launch the world’s first wooden satellite into space in November. The diminutive WISA Woodsat is largely constructed from a specially treated birch plywood.

The first module of the central magnet for a state-of-the-art hydrogen fusion reactor has embarked on an epic road trip across the United States, on its way to the ITER megaproject in southern France.

A palm-sized 1,098-carat diamond unearthed by the Debswana company in Botswana's Jwaneng Mine, could be the third largest of its kind ever discovered.

Pine Island Glacier is increasingly vulnerable as a large, floating ice shelf that stops it from collapsing into the sea is breaking up more quickly than previously observed, creating vast icebergs.

International aircraft leasing company Avolon, American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic have announced a $4 billion deal for up to 1,000 VA-X4 electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft from British-based Vertical Aerospace.

When the FBI dismantled an encrypted messaging service called Phantom Secure, based in Vancouver, Canada, in 2018, agents decided on a new tactic: creating their own service.

Palaeontologists have confirmed that dinosaur fossils found in the Queensland outback in 2006 belong to a new species of giant sauropod.

A mysterious airbase is being built on a volcanic island off Yemen that sits in one of the world’s crucial maritime chokepoints for both energy shipments and commercial cargo.

Google has developed a “magical” video calling booth that renders a lifelike 3D image of each person – making video conferences more personal than ever before.

Archaeologists have found the remains of a child buried at a cave in Kenya 78,000 years ago, which provide new insights into the origin of mortuary practices on the continent of our species’ birth.

Britain’s HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier will lead Carrier Strike Group 21 – a flotilla of Royal Navy ships – on its 28-week maiden deployment to East Asia.

A pioneering design to bore a train tunnel between Helsinki and Tallinn is gaining ground after Finland and Estonia signed a letter of intent.

With drones increasingly important in 21st century warfare, a U.S. startup has developed a portable and powerful microwave energy weapon that can disable enemy drones with pinpoint accuracy.

The venues for Tokyo 2020 predominantly consist of two zones: the “Heritage Zone” which houses several iconic venues used at the 1964 Games and the “Tokyo Bay Zone” which serves as a model for innovative urban development, symbolising the exciting future of the city.

England’s 30th Premier League season kicks off, with Champions League qualification, fierce rivalries, title glory or relegation all set to be decided over 380 enthralling matches.

The 2020 summer Olympic Game will officially begin with the Opening Ceremony in Tokyo, Japan on July 23 - although a number of matches begin July 21 - closing after the final medals have been awarded on August 8.

The 2021 Styrian MotoGP, officially known as Michelin® Grand Prix of Styria, is the tenth race of the 2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship, staged at Spielberg, Austria

After Lewis Hamilton’s controversial victory at the British GP, Max Verstappen’s Championship lead is cut to just 8 points, but the Red Bull driver will be aiming to open the gap again at the Hungaroring in Budapest.

The 76th edition of the Vuelta a España, cycling’s final Grand Tour of the year, will feature more than three weeks of racing and 21 stages, covering a distance of over 3,000km.

The modern Olympic Games were founded in 1896, with the tradition of gold, silver and bronze medals introduced at the 1904 Games. The 2020 Summer Olympic Games, postponed for a year by the coronavirus pandemic, take place in Tokyo.

The Games of the XXXII Olympiad, will take place in Tokyo, Japan without spectators due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A number of new sports, including surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing will feature.

The postponed 2020 summer Olympic Games take place in Tokyo, Japan, from July 23 to August 8, 2021.

The postponed 2020 summer Paralympic Games take place in Tokyo, Japan, from August 24 to September 5, 2021.

The NBA Finals get underway, a best-of-seven playoff between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns. The Bucks are aiming to end their 50-year wait for a second NBA title, while the Suns are targeting their first ever crown.

In a controversial move, New Zealand officials have chosen Laurel Hubbard for the women’s weightlifting team – the first ever transgender athlete picked to compete at an Olympics.

There are three race walking events in the current Olympic programme: a men’s and a women’s 20km walk, and a men’s 50km walk. All events will take place in the city of Sapporo, located 800km to the north of Tokyo.

Triathlon is an endurance sport that combines swimming, road cycling and distance running. New for Tokyo 2020 is the mixed relay event, with four athletes (two women and two men) each completing a 300m swim, 8km bike ride and a 2km run.

England’s 30th Premier League season kicks off, with Champions League qualification, fierce rivalries, title glory or relegation all set to be decided over 380 enthralling matches.

The NBA play-offs, the climax of North America’s National Basketball Association season, get underway. Eight teams in each conference contest the best-of-seven play-off series, before the Eastern and Western champions clash in the NBA Finals to decide the 2021 NBA Championship winner.

This is the second time that Tokyo has hosted the Summer Olympic Games – the first being in 1964. Athens, Paris and Los Angeles have also hosted two Olympics while only London has been a host city three times.

Sport Climbing is making its Olympic debut, with athletes scaling devious wall courses, often times holding on by just their finger tips. Climbers will participate in three disciplines – Speed, Bouldering and Lead.

The world's top surfers will compete on Japan's spectacular Pacific coastline. Men and women will take part in Shortboard tournaments, striving to perform the most impressive aerials and tube rides.

With its humble roots in the youthful energy of 1940s America, skateboarding has finally reached the heady heights of the Olympic Games. Two disciplines will be contested by men and women – Park and Street.

The countdown to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is on with the Torch Relay setting off from Fukushima, visiting all 47 of Japan's prefectures. The Olympic torch design is inspired by traditional cherry blossoms.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games medals are made from 72,000 tonnes of recycled small electronic devices and around six million old and unwanted mobile phones, collected across Japan over two years.