July 22, Thursday, 2021 (1:30 p.m.) Newsline read by Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1. The Olympic organizing committee says the men’s soccer match between Japan and South Africa is going ahead as scheduled. This comes after coronavirus cases in the South African squad. 2. The Tokyo Games organizers have sacked one of the directors of the opening ceremony just a day before the event. They say Kobayashi Kentaro made anti-Semitic remarks as part of a comedy act in the 1990s.
3. Officials in Tokyo on Thursday confirmed 1,979 new coronavirus infections in the capital. The figure was 671 higher than a week ago. The recent rapid resurgence shows no signs of receding.