The Capitals: Meloni in Beijing after exiting Xi's BRI dream; Jaishankar's peace message in Tokyo; and more

New Delhi

The 33rd Olympics began with a splash — quite literally — as rain-drenched Paris kicked off the quadrennial event to host 10,500 athletes from around the world. For the first time, the Games have an equal number of male and female athletes: 5,250. Rather than athletes marching along a track as typically seen in years past, guests and those watching from home saw a colourful river parade through the French capital city.

An aerial view of the Eiffel Tower and the Olympics Rings lightened up during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris | AFP

Besides, the Olympians who win a medal will take home a real piece of the Eiffel Tower. Fragments of iron that were removed and preserved during renovations to the Eiffel Tower during the 20th century have been infused into the medals. Each medal includes 18 grams (0.04 pounds) of Eiffel iron. As I write The Capitals this week, India has opened its account in the medal tally after 22-year-old shooter Manu Bhaker won bronze in the 10m Air Pistol event.

So far, two of the biggest Olympic headlines have been following:

Paris Olympics: IOC faces backlash for allowing Steven van de Velde to compete despite child abuse charges

'Blasphemy and Insult': Paris Olympics draws backlash for 'Last Supper' drag performance

For all the latest updates from the 2024 Paris Olympics, click on the Olympics 2024 icon on the WION website. 

Beijing, China

Italy's national flag (L) flutters beside the Chinese flag outside Tiananmen Square, during the official visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Beijing on July 28, 2024 | AFP

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Beijing on Saturday (July 27) in her first visit to the country since she took office nearly two years ago. She is due to meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, in a key bilateral visit after Italy backed out of China's flagship Belt and Road Initiative. 

Meloni will be looking to "relaunch bilateral relations in sectors of common interest", an Italian official told the news agency AFP on condition of anonymity.

Talks will focus on "the main issues on the international agenda, starting with the war in Ukraine", the official added.

Also read | Xi Jinping's 2023: When China's BRI dream faced an Italian 'reality check'

Italy was the only G7 nation to sign up for the BRI and its exit became a defining setback for Beijing.

Caracas, Venezuela

Voting in Venezuela's presidential elections opened on Sunday (July 28) with clash between President Nicolas Maduro and rival Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia — supported by María Corina Machado, the purported 'Iron Lady' of the South American petro-state.

Around 21 million people are registered to vote in the once wealthy South American state that saw GDP drop 80 per cent in a decade, following which more than 7 million of its 30 million emigrated elsewhere. 

Polls suggest that Sunday's vote poses the biggest threat so far to over two decades of "Chavismo," the populist movement founded by Maduro's predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez.

Tokyo, Japan

External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar after unveiling a Mahatma Gandhi bust in Tokyo, Japan on July 28, 2024 ahead of Quad Foreign Ministers Meet | X/@DrSJaishankar

Rising powers advance their "national interests by identifying and exploiting opportunities created by global contradictions," India's External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar wrote in his latest book 'Why Bharat Matters'. WION first reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Ukraine's capital Kyiv next month.

This will be over a month after the optics of Modi embracing Russia's President Vladimir Putin created furore in the Western capitals. 

In between Modi's Moscow and Kyiv visits, External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar is in the Japanese capital Tokyo for the Quad foreign ministers meeting. 

Also read | Jaishankar restates Modi's Moscow message after unveiling Gandhi bust in Tokyo

Before that meeting, Jaishankar addressed a public gathering after unveiling a Mahatma Gandhi bust in Tokyo. Restating Modi's Moscow message — "no era should be an era of war" — the South Block's 'China specialist' has paved the path forward for Modi's Kyiv visit.