Drones and other high-tech marvels were on parade at the Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony on Friday, but some of the most heartfelt moments were a look back to the past - 1964, when the Japanese capital became the first place in Asia to host the Games. Those Olympics have long been a touchstone of national pride, marking Japan's return to the global stage fewer than 20 years after its devastating defeat in World War Two and ushering in a period of robust economic growth and technological innovation. Eager to watch the Olympics, broadcast live for the first time, many bought their first televisions - even though a black-and-white set cost nearly a month's salary.

South Africa's COVID-19 vaccination campaign is regaining momentum after being disrupted earlier this month by a week of riots sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma, the country's acting health minister said Friday. At least 120 pharmacies, including 71 that were vaccination sites, were damaged and closed during the unrest in the KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, acting Health Minister Mamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said. “The social unrest has added to the complexity of our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," Kubayi-Ngubane said, adding that the “violent nature of the protests unsettled the health care system as a whole.”