Simone Biles' Tokyo Olympics future was in doubt on Tuesday when she dropped out of the women's team final after one vault as Team USA surrendered the gold.
Following a poor performance that saw her exit the evening's competition, Biles said she was unsure whether she would compete in the women's all-around event on Thursday.
"After the performance I did I just didn't want to go on," Biles said. "We are going to see about Thursday. I'm just trying to gear up for the next test."
After a disappointing attempt in the first rotation, the American was shown as an 'R' on the competitor list before the bars began. Leaving the floor with the team doctor, Biles then returned several minutes later. She took off her bar grips and then hugged teammates Grace McCallum, Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles before putting on her tracksuit. Chiles replaced Biles on uneven bars and balance beam.
USA Gymnastics did not specify the nature of Biles’s medical issue, saying in a statement she “will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions".
The star gymnast said there are bigger issues at hand. "I do not trust myself anymore," Biles said. "I tried to go out there for the team and they stepped up to the plate. I have to focus on my mental health."
Biles had been leading the US defence of their women's gymnastics team title and was aiming to add to her haul of four gold medals won at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
However, the Russian Olympic Committee won the gold medal on Tuesday. The Russian gymnasts posted a team score of 169.528, ahead of the US in second place at 166.096. The gold is the first for the Russians since the unified team triumphed in Barcelona in 1992. It came a day after the ROC men’s team edged out Japan for the top spot in the men’s final.
Biles' bid did not get off to a great start, with a disappointing score of 13.766 on the vault in the first rotation. All three ROC players who vaulted scored higher, as did her US teammates.
Winning the six golds on offer in Japan would have lifted Biles to 10 – one more than Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina’s women’s record of nine gold medals won over three Olympic Games: Melbourne 1956, Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964.
It would also have marked the most gold medals won by any woman in any Olympic sport.
Only Michael Phelps, with his 23 swimming golds, has won more.
After the qualifying rounds, Biles shared her thoughts on struggling with the pressure placed on her, writing in a social media post that "the Olympics is no joke".
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Saturday: Super Special Spectator Stage – Yas Marina Circuit – start 3.30pm.
Sunday: Yas Marina Circuit Stage 1 (276.01km)
Monday: Nissan Stage 2 (287.92km)
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2007 Osaka
200m Silver
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2009 Berlin
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2011 Daegu
100m Disqualified in final for false start
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2013 Moscow
100m Gold
200m Gold
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200m Gold
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Fireball
A plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.
"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv was targeted.
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
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Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”
Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.
This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.
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Most smart home devices are controlled via the owner's smartphone. Therefore, if you are using public wi-fi on your phone, always use a VPN (virtual private network) that offers strong security features and anonymises your internet connection.
Keep your smart home devices’ software up-to-date. Device makers often send regular updates - follow them without fail as they could provide protection from a new security risk.
Use two-factor authentication so that in addition to a password, your identity is authenticated by a second sign-in step like a code sent to your mobile number.
Set up a separate guest network for acquaintances and visitors to ensure the privacy of your IoT devices’ network.
Change the default privacy and security settings of your IoT devices to take extra steps to secure yourself and your home.
Always give your router a unique name, replacing the one generated by the manufacturer, to ensure a hacker cannot ascertain its make or model number.
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Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
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Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
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