World

Sydney was battling a fresh Covid-19 cluster on Tuesday just as Melbourne’s latest outbreak receded, highlighting Australia’s difficulty in quashing persistent small virus flare-ups.

Ten people were diagnosed with Covid-19 in Sydney overnight, taking the cluster that first emerged in the city’s Bondi Beach area last week to 21 cases.

New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said health officials expected the outbreak in Australia’s most populous city to continue growing in the coming days, after several people were infected in just “fleeting” non-physical contact with a case in a cafe and a large shopping centre.

In response, the government has reimposed mandatory mask-wearing in public transport and retail outlets across much of greater Sydney, but it has stopped short of ordering a lockdown.

The outbreak is thought to have started when a man who works as a driver for international flight crews contracted the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus, which was first identified in India.

“We also need to recognise that this Delta variant… is actually a gold medallist when it comes to jumping from one person to another,” Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

It comes as restrictions on Melbourne’s five million residents continued easing, with new cases slowing to a trickle in recent days. 

New Zealand and several Australian states have announced the removal of travel restrictions imposed last month as dozens of cases were detected in Melbourne and the city endured a two-week lockdown.

Canberra has maintained strict international border closures since March 2020 — even limiting its own citizens’ travel to and from the country — in an effort to shut out Covid-19.

But the virus has repeatedly escaped hotels used to quarantine returning travellers, and health experts say the outbreaks will continue until large numbers of Australians are vaccinated.

Australia has administered 6.7 million doses to date in a population of 25 million, with only a small fraction having received both jabs.

The country has recorded about 30,000 cases of Covid-19 and 910 deaths during the pandemic.

In the offices of a small Athens charity offering vocational courses, a group of women are busy editing short films and podcasts under the supervision of an American director.

Refugees from Congo, Syria, Afghanistan and Iran, the women are being trained by GlobalGirl Media, an organisation teaching digital media and journalism skills to young women from under-served communities.

But although some have come to Greece from halfway across the world, they have found that the problems they face are not so different after all.

“I was not aware of the difficulties experienced by Greek women. During the interviews, we discussed at length the need to support each other as women whatever our origins, because we are going through similar experiences”, notes Fatemeh Jafari, a 25-year-old Afghan.

Violence against women and femicide in Greece have gradually seen more exposure in recent years after decades of silence.

Sexual harassment is also more widely reported since January when Greek Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou accused a federation official of sex abuse, spurring a belated #MeToo awakening in Greece.

“The voices of women are hardly audible in the media, especially those of young refugees,” says GlobalGirl Media’s coordinator in Greece, American director Amie Williams.

“The idea is to allow them to train in journalism professions, to be heard but also to rebuild themselves by filming their stories or those of other women who are committed to gender equality,” she said.

On June 30, the United Nations will host a forum on gender equality in Paris, where activists will seek to influence states to advance gender equality.

For the occasion, Williams says the young refugees received training and money to make short films by interviewing organisations and feminist icons in Greece.

Sude Fazlolah, a 38-year-old Iranian, said she “learned a lot” after she and her sister Elie interviewed Bekatorou.

– ‘Speak up’ –

“You shouldn’t be afraid to speak up or be ashamed to denounce a man’s inappropriate behaviour,” Sude said.

The two sisters had previously lived in the notorious Moria camp on the island of Lesbos.

After it burned down in September, they wandered the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki for days before going to the Elaionas camp in the capital.

“As women, dangers are everywhere, in the camps this feeling is even more present. You are afraid to go to the toilet, to walk alone at night,” says Elie.

One of the short films deals with a space on Lesbos set aside for women for showering and relaxation. Another asks female interviewees to identify what constitutes feminism.

– ‘I was lucky to find a good man’ –

At 14, Ataa Brimo was married off by her parents to a man nine years her senior, and had her first child a year later.

Now 30, stranded in Greece and separated from her family in Germany for the past two years, this Syrian refugee has made a short film on underage marriages that resonates with thousands of women with similar experiences — and many more with even worse tales to tell.

Titled “Little Mother”, Brimo’s film has been selected for the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival that opens Thursday.

“I was lucky to come across a good man. But clearly I was not prepared to become a mother so young, I did not understand what happened to me,” she told AFP.

According to Greek police, the number of domestic violence incidents quadrupled in Greece between 2010 and 2018, from 1,148 to 4,254. 

But many cases still go unreported.

Last week, a 32-year-old Greek confessed to killing his 20-year-old British wife as she slept next to their baby daughter, and tried to disguise the crime as a deadly burglary.

– ‘Together we feel stronger’ –

“These young women did not necessarily know until now what gender equality was,” said Williams.

“But even without knowing it, they are very strong and feminists… they have left their families, patriarchal societies, travelled, faced many hardships alone.”

“They are fighting to rebuild their lives as they wish,” she adds. 

Project supervisor Adriana Theochari says speaking to refugees has helped Greek women address their fears and challenges, too.

“Among themselves, without the presence of men, they feel safe, they can express themselves without restraint, cry without shame,” Theochari said. 

“The fact that Greek women like myself also participate in sessions facilitates the integration of refugees, and leads to more understanding between us.”

“After all, we are all women, regardless of our background and our origins, and we often understand each other without speaking the same language,” she stresses. 

“Together, we feel stronger, more equipped to face the inequalities and discrimination that exist in all societies”.

In the offices of a small Athens charity offering vocational courses, a group of women are busy editing short films and podcasts under the supervision of an American director.

Refugees from Congo, Syria, Afghanistan and Iran, the women are being trained by GlobalGirl Media, an organisation teaching digital media and journalism skills to young women from under-served communities.

But although some have come to Greece from halfway across the world, they have found that the problems they face are not so different after all.

“I was not aware of the difficulties experienced by Greek women. During the interviews, we discussed at length the need to support each other as women whatever our origins, because we are going through similar experiences”, notes Fatemeh Jafari, a 25-year-old Afghan.

Violence against women and femicide in Greece have gradually seen more exposure in recent years after decades of silence.

Sexual harassment is also more widely reported since January when Greek Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou accused a federation official of sex abuse, spurring a belated #MeToo awakening in Greece.

“The voices of women are hardly audible in the media, especially those of young refugees,” says GlobalGirl Media’s coordinator in Greece, American director Amie Williams.

“The idea is to allow them to train in journalism professions, to be heard but also to rebuild themselves by filming their stories or those of other women who are committed to gender equality,” she said.

On June 30, the United Nations will host a forum on gender equality in Paris, where activists will seek to influence states to advance gender equality.

For the occasion, Williams says the young refugees received training and money to make short films by interviewing organisations and feminist icons in Greece.

Sude Fazlolah, a 38-year-old Iranian, said she “learned a lot” after she and her sister Elie interviewed Bekatorou.

– ‘Speak up’ –

“You shouldn’t be afraid to speak up or be ashamed to denounce a man’s inappropriate behaviour,” Sude said.

The two sisters had previously lived in the notorious Moria camp on the island of Lesbos.

After it burned down in September, they wandered the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki for days before going to the Elaionas camp in the capital.

“As women, dangers are everywhere, in the camps this feeling is even more present. You are afraid to go to the toilet, to walk alone at night,” says Elie.

One of the short films deals with a space on Lesbos set aside for women for showering and relaxation. Another asks female interviewees to identify what constitutes feminism.

– ‘I was lucky to find a good man’ –

At 14, Ataa Brimo was married off by her parents to a man nine years her senior, and had her first child a year later.

Now 30, stranded in Greece and separated from her family in Germany for the past two years, this Syrian refugee has made a short film on underage marriages that resonates with thousands of women with similar experiences — and many more with even worse tales to tell.

Titled “Little Mother”, Brimo’s film has been selected for the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival that opens Thursday.

“I was lucky to come across a good man. But clearly I was not prepared to become a mother so young, I did not understand what happened to me,” she told AFP.

According to Greek police, the number of domestic violence incidents quadrupled in Greece between 2010 and 2018, from 1,148 to 4,254. 

But many cases still go unreported.

Last week, a 32-year-old Greek confessed to killing his 20-year-old British wife as she slept next to their baby daughter, and tried to disguise the crime as a deadly burglary.

– ‘Together we feel stronger’ –

“These young women did not necessarily know until now what gender equality was,” said Williams.

“But even without knowing it, they are very strong and feminists… they have left their families, patriarchal societies, travelled, faced many hardships alone.”

“They are fighting to rebuild their lives as they wish,” she adds. 

Project supervisor Adriana Theochari says speaking to refugees has helped Greek women address their fears and challenges, too.

“Among themselves, without the presence of men, they feel safe, they can express themselves without restraint, cry without shame,” Theochari said. 

“The fact that Greek women like myself also participate in sessions facilitates the integration of refugees, and leads to more understanding between us.”

“After all, we are all women, regardless of our background and our origins, and we often understand each other without speaking the same language,” she stresses. 

“Together, we feel stronger, more equipped to face the inequalities and discrimination that exist in all societies”.

New York City residents cast ballots in a Democratic primary Tuesday that will select the candidate almost certain to take over as mayor tasked with shaping the post-pandemic future of America’s largest metropolis.

Registered Democrats will choose from a diverse group of 13 candidates for the job often called “the second-most difficult” in the United States after that of president.

Voters head to polls with Covid-19 still casting a long shadow over the Big Apple, the epicenter of America’s early outbreak, and which has lost 33,000 people to the virus.

But the city is now coming back to life — virtually all coronavirus restrictions have been lifted, and 66 percent of adults have received at least one vaccine dose.

A crowded field of progressives and moderates face off in a race made all the more uncertain by a new ranked-choice system of voting that has clouded all predictions.

The winner of the vote is unlikely to be known for several weeks.

Since New York is a Democratic stronghold, though, they are virtually guaranteed to win November’s mayoral election against whomever Republicans choose as their candidate.

“There’s a lot at stake here,” said Columbia University politics expert Lincoln Mitchell, citing issues ranging from the post-pandemic recovery to climate change. 

Unemployment, homelessness, shootings and homicides have all surged since the coronavirus struck. Thousands of businesses have closed, tens of thousands of wealthier residents have fled and many employees are still working from home.

– Five choices –

The pandemic, demonstrations sparked by the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and attacks on Asian Americans have also highlighted the extent of racial inequalities in the city of 8.5 million.

New York’s first new mayor in eight years will have to contend with projected budget gaps of several billion dollars each in the next few years.

They will succeed unpopular far-left Democrat Bill de Blasio, who has been mayor since January 2014. 

Eric Adams, the moderate, Black ex-policeman and president of the borough of Brooklyn, has been leading in most recent polls, putting crime at the forefront of his campaign.

Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who ran for president, is also a moderate and was frontrunner for much of the campaign.

Kathryn Garcia, another moderate, and Maya Wiley, a Black lawyer specializing in civil rights who was endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are bidding to become New York’s first woman mayor.

The new voting system, which asks voters to rank up to five candidates in order of preference, makes predictions almost impossible.

Unless a candidate immediately garners more than 50 percent of the votes — an unlikely scenario — the candidate who came in last is eliminated, and the ballots cast for them are redistributed to voters’ second choice, and so on until a candidate finally exceeds the 50 percent threshold. 

This may not produce a clear winner until mid-July.

More than 191,000 people have already cast ballots during the nine-day early voting period that ended Sunday. Tens of thousands of absentee ballots will also need to be counted.

The Tokyo Olympics have weathered a historic postponement, an unprecedented ban on overseas fans and persistent domestic opposition, but with one month to go, the finish line is finally in sight.

The journey to this year’s Games has involved a long list of complications that sometimes threatened to make them the first modern Olympics cancelled in peacetime.

Now, just four weeks remain until the opening ceremony on July 23, and while the mood is far from jubilant, organisers might just have cause to celebrate.

The first Olympic teams are already in Japan, along with key officials and some overseas media. And polls suggest long-standing public opposition to the Games may be weakening as D-day approaches.

“We are in the full delivery phase,” International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach said on Monday.

“Athletes are beginning to arrive in Tokyo, ready to make their Olympic dreams become a reality.”

It has been an uphill battle since the unprecedented decision to postpone the Games in March 2020, as the scale of the pandemic started to emerge.

Back then, there was cause to hope the pandemic might be over before the opening ceremony came around — the Games would be “proof of mankind’s victory over the virus”, Japanese officials said.

But a global coronavirus surge and the rise of more infectious variants put paid to that triumphant tone, and fuelled rising opposition in Japan.

– No cheering, high-fives –

For the first half of the year, polls regularly found most Japanese opposed the Games this summer, favouring either a further delay or cancellation.

But officials pressed ahead, contending with delayed qualifiers and test events and launching a mammoth effort to draft virus rules they say will keep the event safe.

In March they announced the Games would be the first to bar overseas spectators, a decision that Tokyo 2020 chief and former Olympian Seiko Hashimoto called “unavoidable”.

On Monday, organisers set a maximum of 10,000 domestic fans per venue, but warned events could move behind closed doors if infections surge.

Even with some spectators in the stands, there’s no doubt this year’s Games will be a pale imitation of Olympics past.

Cheering will be banned, and athletes can’t hug or high-five.

They must wear masks at all times except when eating, sleeping or competing, and are only allowed to move between the Olympic Village and their venues.

Punishments for violating the rules will range from verbal warnings and fines to being kicked out of the Games altogether.

– Hurdles ahead –

The Tokyo Olympics faced setbacks as far back as 2015, when the main stadium’s revamp was sent back to the drawing board because it was too expensive.

In 2019, the head of Japan’s Olympic committee stepped down over a French investigation probing $2.3 million in payments made before and after Tokyo’s nomination. He denied any wrongdoing.

And in February, Tokyo 2020 chief Yoshiro Mori resigned after causing a furore with his sexist remarks that women talk too much in meetings. 

As the Games finally approach, the IOC says more than 80 percent of those in the Village will be vaccinated, but competitors will still be tested daily.

In a taste of the challenges ahead, a coach from Uganda’s Olympic team tested positive on arrival in Japan on Saturday, despite the delegation reportedly being vaccinated and testing negative before travel.

The Olympic delay and virus security have added at least 294 billion yen ($2.6 billion) to an already hefty budget of 1.64 trillion yen ($14.9 billion), which could make Tokyo the most expensive Summer Games ever.

But despite the coronavirus and the hefty expense, there are signs public opposition is softening, with recent surveys finding 50 percent or more favour the Games going ahead over cancellation.

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who faces his first election just after the Games, will be hoping for a success that can boost his political career.

His government has faced pressure over its coronavirus response, though Japan has seen a smaller outbreak than many nations, with around 14,500 deaths despite avoiding harsh lockdowns.

The country vaccine rollout started slowly, though the pace is now increasing, with around seven percent of the population fully inoculated.

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Tuesday that Washington had “wrong” expectations for dialogue with Pyongyang and was facing “greater disappointment”, state media reported. 

Kim Yo Jong’s comments came after US national security advisor Jake Sullivan described her brother’s first reaction to Washington’s recent review of its approach to the North as an “interesting signal”.

The Biden administration has promised a practical, calibrated approach, including diplomatic efforts, to persuade the impoverished North to give up its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

In response, the North’s leader Kim last week said Pyongyang must prepare for both dialogue and confrontation.

Washington considered his comments as interesting, Sullivan told ABC News, adding the administration “will wait to see whether they are followed up with any kind of more direct communication to us about a potential path forward”.

But Kim Yo Jong — a key adviser to her brother — appeared to dismiss the prospects for an early resumption of negotiations.

The US seemed to be seeking “comfort for itself”, she said in a statement reported by Pyongyang’s official KCNA news agency.

It harboured expectations “the wrong way”, she added, which would “plunge them into a greater disappointment”.

Kim’s comments came with the top US diplomat in charge of North Korea negotiations on a five-day visit to Seoul, where he said Monday that Washington was ready to meet with Pyongyang “anywhere, anytime, without preconditions”.

Just hours before Pyongyang released Kim’s statement, US envoy Sung Kim met with the South’s unification minister, reiterating Washington’s willingness to talk with the North.

The North at the weekend admitted it was tackling a food crisis, sounding the alarm in a country with a moribund agricultural sector that has long struggled to feed itself.

It is now under self-imposed isolation to protect itself against the coronavirus pandemic, and as a result trade with Beijing — its economic lifeline — has slowed to a trickle while all international aid work faces tight restrictions. 

Media outlets in Hong Kong must not “subvert” the government, the city’s leader said Tuesday, rejecting US criticism of recent action against a pro-democracy newspaper under a powerful new security law.

Hong Kong has long hosted a vibrant international and local media scene but press freedoms have slipped dramatically in recent years.

Last week, authorities froze the assets of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, using the national security law Beijing imposed on the city in 2020.

Two of the paper’s executives were charged with “collusion”, a national security crime, over what police said were articles calling for international sanctions against China and Hong Kong’s leaders.

“It’s not a problem to criticise the Hong Kong government, but if there is an intent to organise activities to incite the subversion of the government then that is, of course, a different thing,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam said when asked about Apple Daily and press freedom in the city.

“Media friends should have the ability to distinguish between them,” she added during her weekly press conference.

Unlike mainland China, where the press is overwhelmingly state-owned and heavily censored, semi-autonomous Hong Kong has free speech protections baked into its mini-constitution.

But an ongoing campaign by China to root out dissent after huge and often violent democracy protests in 2019 has deepened unease over the business hub’s future.

The new security law has criminalised a host of political views and the action against Apple Daily has left the media wondering what opinions or reporting could trigger an investigation.

– Resignations and closures –

Echoing other officials, Lam said the prosecution of Apple Daily was not an attack on “normal journalistic work” and that the paper was trying to undermine China’s national security with its coverage.

When asked by a reporter what the government’s definition of normal journalistic work was, she replied: “I think you are in a better position to answer that question.”

The United States was among multiple Western nations that criticised the police operation against Apple Daily, saying it undermined press freedoms as well as Hong Kong’s reputation as a safe place to do business.

Lam rejected those suggestions.

“Don’t try to accuse the Hong Kong authorities of using the national security law as a tool to suppress the media, or to stifle the freedom of expression,” she said. 

“All those accusations made by the US government, I’m afraid, are wrong.”

Apple Daily has long been a thorn in Beijing’s side, with unapologetic support for the city’s pro-democracy movement and caustic criticism of China’s authoritarian leaders.

The arrests and asset freeze last week have crippled its ability to continue operations.

Board members of the paper’s parent group Next Digital have asked Hong Kong’s Security Bureau to unfreeze some of its assets so it can pay staff.

If that does not happen, the paper said it will cease publishing with a final print date to be announced on Friday.

Resignations have already begun and some of the paper’s sections have gone silent in the last 24 hours.

On Monday night, the anchor of an Apply Daily online evening show announced it was her final broadcast.

The paper’s financial news desk and its English edition also announced they would cease publication.

Media outlets in Hong Kong must not “subvert” the government, the city’s leader said Tuesday, rejecting US criticism of recent action against a pro-democracy newspaper under a powerful new security law.

Hong Kong has long hosted a vibrant international and local media scene but press freedoms have slipped dramatically in recent years.

Last week, authorities froze the assets of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, using the national security law Beijing imposed on the city in 2020.

Two of the paper’s executives were charged with “collusion”, a national security crime, over what police said were articles calling for international sanctions against China and Hong Kong’s leaders.

“It’s not a problem to criticise the Hong Kong government, but if there is an intent to organise activities to incite the subversion of the government then that is, of course, a different thing,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam said when asked about Apple Daily and press freedom in the city.

“Media friends should have the ability to distinguish between them,” she added during her weekly press conference.

Unlike mainland China, where the press is overwhelmingly state-owned and heavily censored, semi-autonomous Hong Kong has free speech protections baked into its mini-constitution.

But an ongoing campaign by China to root out dissent after huge and often violent democracy protests in 2019 has deepened unease over the business hub’s future.

The new security law has criminalised a host of political views and the action against Apple Daily has left the media wondering what opinions or reporting could trigger an investigation.

– Resignations and closures –

Echoing other officials, Lam said the prosecution of Apple Daily was not an attack on “normal journalistic work” and that the paper was trying to undermine China’s national security with its coverage.

When asked by a reporter what the government’s definition of normal journalistic work was, she replied: “I think you are in a better position to answer that question.”

The United States was among multiple Western nations that criticised the police operation against Apple Daily, saying it undermined press freedoms as well as Hong Kong’s reputation as a safe place to do business.

Lam rejected those suggestions.

“Don’t try to accuse the Hong Kong authorities of using the national security law as a tool to suppress the media, or to stifle the freedom of expression,” she said. 

“All those accusations made by the US government, I’m afraid, are wrong.”

Apple Daily has long been a thorn in Beijing’s side, with unapologetic support for the city’s pro-democracy movement and caustic criticism of China’s authoritarian leaders.

The arrests and asset freeze last week have crippled its ability to continue operations.

Board members of the paper’s parent group Next Digital have asked Hong Kong’s Security Bureau to unfreeze some of its assets so it can pay staff.

If that does not happen, the paper said it will cease publishing with a final print date to be announced on Friday.

Resignations have already begun and some of the paper’s sections have gone silent in the last 24 hours.

On Monday night, the anchor of an Apply Daily online evening show announced it was her final broadcast.

The paper’s financial news desk and its English edition also announced they would cease publication.

Colombia’s death toll from Covid-19 passed the 100,000 mark on Monday with a new 24-hour record of almost 650 deaths, the health ministry said. 

After three weeks of demonstrations that have brought thousands of people into the streets to protest the government of conservative President Ivan Duque, the South American country of 50 million is suffering its worst moment since the pandemic began. 

It has now recorded 100,582 dead, including 648 in the past 24 hours, the ministry said. 

In proportion to its population, Colombia is reporting the fourth worst death toll in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the sixth for the number of infections, according to an AFP count. 

“More than 10,000 deaths could have been avoided if we had not had these gatherings in the past six or seven weeks,” Duque said in a statement. 

The health authorities identified a resurgence of the virus in early April, and brought in restrictive measures such as a nightly curfew in the main cities.

But since April 28, thousands of Colombians have turned out to protest in the street, spurred on by a heavy-handed police response, even after the government scrapped the controversial tax hike that sparked the demonstrations.

On Monday, authorities in Bogota reported that one person had died during fresh clashes between police and demonstrators.

Government secretary of Bogota Luis Ernesto Gomez identified the victim as Jaime Alonso Fandino, 32, saying in a video posted to Twitter that the doctor who treated him said Fandino “was hit in the chest with a blunt object most likely at very close range.”

Images released by local authorities showed members of the riot police using stun bombs to disperse protesters armed with stones.

According to civilian authorities and the ombudsman’s office, at least 63 people have been killed in clashes since the start of the protests.

World anti-doping chiefs insist they are not overly worried by athletes who may have tried to take advantage of reduced drugs testing programmes during the coronavirus pandemic.

With just one month to go before the Tokyo Olympics, Olivier Niggli, the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), told AFP in an interview that testing levels had made a significant, and timely, recovery.

“For sure, at the beginning of the pandemic, there had been a slow down of testing and anti-doping due to health measures,” Niggli said.

Although Covid-19 restrictions had had an initial impact, “we are now back to a level which is even higher than it used to be,” Niggli added.

“A lot of countries have simply closed down for all fields in society. But since March last year, things have recovered significantly, and to the point that… the number of tests that are being conducted, out of competition, are higher than they were at the same time in 2019, pre-pandemic.”

Turning to athletes potentially abusing strict restrictions on travel and face-to-face contact by turning to doping, Niggli said the issue was “not that straightforward”.

– Dismantle networks –

“Testing is not the only weapon in anti-doping,” said Niggli, who has worked as a lawyer in Switzerland.

“You have other means of fighting doping like the longitudinal profile and the athlete’s passport, storage of samples.

“So it’s not as simple as thinking that because you’re not going to get tested, you won’t be caught.”

Niggli added: “Also the reality that when there was no testing, there was no competition… no training.

“So it wasn’t a period of time where doping would have brought you any real benefits. So yes, maybe some have tried to take advantage of that, but it’s not something that I would say is a particular worry for us.”

Niggli, however, said doping was an “ever-evolving situation where more sophistication comes into the picture”. He cited not only new substances and new ways of ingesting drugs like micro-dosing, but also the influence of athletes’ entourages that demands investigations that can help dismantle networks of professionals who are helping the athletes to dope.

“That’s where you can see drastic change in how the fight against doping is conducted,” he said.

The use of dried blood spot testing is also being trialled at the Tokyo Olympics.

The technique — in which small samples are collected from a finger prick and blotted onto an absorbent card — could mark a new era in anti-doping, and WADA believes it could eventually allow for more athletes to be targeted and more tests to be carried out.

WADA will not be responsible for testing in Tokyo. That falls to the International Testing Agency, an independent organisation that implements anti-doping programs which has been delegated by the local organising committee under the authority of the International Olympic Committee.

“What we will have is a team of independent observers, that will be on the ground during the Games,” Niggli said, adding that there will also be a WADA-accredited laboratory.

“They are observing that everything is actually being performed in accordance with the rules.

“If they realized that things could be done differently or it could be improved, then they have a daily interaction with the ITA and those responses to the organising committee to ensure that some corrective action can be done on the day.”