Strong performances by husband and wife Clayton and Lucinda Fredericks in the dressage on Saturday put Australia on top in the Olympic equestrian three-day event.
However, the French team were dealt a blow with a sudden withdrawal from the Games.
By the end of the second session, the Australian eventing team had amassed a total of 102.80 penalty points, followed by the US team with a total of 121.50 penalties. Germany finished in third place with 135.30 points.
Dressage, the first phase of eventing, will be followed by cross-country and show jumping next week.
"I thought it was very tough. My horse is 100 per cent fit and it is suitable for the course. The test is that I don't stuff it up and take a wrong line," Lucinda Fredericks told reporters, referring to the cross-country course.
"He did everything I asked. He was agile, wide-awake, fully switched on. I noticed his eagerness." Germany's Heinrich Romeike told reporters.
Some horses spooked slightly at members of the audience who used pieces of paper to fan themselves in the hot weather.
"Of course horses notice these things. They are flight animals by nature and had to look out for wolves," German teammate Frank Ostholt said.
France's Nicolas Touzaint announced his withdrawal from the Olympics after his horse, Galan de Sauvagere, was injured in a suspected accident in his stable in Hong Kong.
"The groom heard a bang in the stables during a thunderstorm yesterday morning. We didn't think it was serious, but when we were warming the horse up today we saw he was not well. He is injured on the hind leg," team leader Thierry Touzaint said at a news conference late on Saturday.
New Zealand's eventing team, which welcomed two-time Olympic gold medallist Mark Todd after his eight-year retirement, slipped to sixth place.
Three members out of each country's eventing team rode in the dressage on Saturday, and will be followed by the third and last session on Sunday.
*Reuters
'Morbius'
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona
Rating: 2/5
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
'Peninsula'
Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Rating: 2/5
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
What is a robo-adviser?
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Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
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Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets