Zaila Avante-garde, 14, from New Orleans, Louisiana, secured victory at America's Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday after correctly spelling "murraya", a genus of trees.
With her triumph, she became the first African American to win the spelling bee in its more than 90-year history.
The only other black winner was Jody-Anne Maxwell, who represented Jamaica in 1998.
Other words Zaila had to navigate included "querimonious" (complaining), "solidungulate" (having a single hoof on each foot) and "retene" (a chemical isolated).
While she breezed her way through the final, spelling is only a side hobby for the talented teenager, as she's also something of a basketball prodigy, who holds three Guinness World Records for dribbling numerous balls simultaneously.
In 2019, on her 13th birthday, she bounce juggled three basketballs 231 times in one minute, beating the world record by 18. She began practising dribbling at age 5.
"I hope to one day make it all the way to the WNBA," she said at the time. "Dribbling is just one part of my overall basketball skillset."
On Instagram, where her following has jumped overnight, Zaila shares her basketball and spelling journeys.
Zaila leapt with excitement and twirled amid a sea of confetti after spelling the winning word. The only one she stumbled on in the whole set was "nepeta", another botanical word for a type of flowering plants.
The prize is $50,000.
Chaitra Thummala, 12, from Frisco, Texas, was runner-up.
It's about more than just spelling and basketball for Zaila, though. Her motivation comes from a place far more poignant: "I think the more that the achievements and triumphs of women are promoted and publicised, the more likely it is that other girls all around the world will see that they can do any and everything that they put their minds to," she said in a video posted to the official Guinness World Records Twitter page.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee competition, which was cancelled last year because of the pandemic, took place this year at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
It started with 209 spellers, ranging from 9 to 15 years old, with only 11 making it to Thursday night's final. Contestants hailed from five countries: the US, the Bahamas, Canada, Ghana and Japan.
First lady Dr Jill Biden was present to cheer Zaila and the other contestants on.
SERIE A FIXTURES
Friday Sassuolo v Torino (Kick-off 10.45pm UAE)
Saturday Atalanta v Sampdoria (5pm),
Genoa v Inter Milan (8pm),
Lazio v Bologna (10.45pm)
Sunday Cagliari v Crotone (3.30pm)
Benevento v Napoli (6pm)
Parma v Spezia (6pm)
Fiorentina v Udinese (9pm)
Juventus v Hellas Verona (11.45pm)
Monday AC Milan v AS Roma (11.45pm)
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
MATCH INFO
Who: France v Italy
When: Friday, 11pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPAD%20(2022)
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Huddersfield Town permanent signings:
- Steve Mounie (striker): signed from Montpellier for £11 million
- Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
- Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
- Laurent Depoitre (striker): signed from Porto for £3.4m
- Scott Malone (defender): signed from Fulham for £3.3m
- Zanka (defender): signed from Copenhagen for £2.3m
- Elias Kachunga (winger): signed for Ingolstadt for £1.1m
- Danny WIlliams (midfielder): signed from Reading on a free transfer
Honeymoonish
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The%20Kitchen
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EDaniel%20Kaluuya%2C%20Kibwe%20Tavares%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EKane%20Robinson%2C%20Jedaiah%20Bannerman%2C%20Hope%20Ikpoku%20Jnr%2C%20Fiona%20Marr%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
25%20Days%20to%20Aden
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
