10 things you need to know today: July 21, 2021

Pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics get underway, Trump ally charged with acting as unregistered foreign agent, and more

A sign for the Tokyo Olympics
(Image credit: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

1. Pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics launch with first games

Host Japan, which is ranked No.2, beat eighth-ranked Australia 8-1 in women's softball on Wednesday in the first game of the first event in the Tokyo Olympics, which were delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The top-ranked U.S. beat Italy in the second game of a triple-header. The U.S. women's soccer team also was among the first to play Wednesday morning, but lost 3-0 to Sweden, ending the team's 44-match winning streak. The International Olympic Committee pressed ahead with the Games despite questions about whether that was wise in a country struggling to contain the virus. Japanese authorities at the last minute scrapped plans to allow domestic spectators. International fans had already been banned to reduce coronavirus infection risk.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.