Example Output

• UN pledges full support to Nagasaki voices fuelling ‘powerful global movement’ against nuclear arms — Global Issues
• UN Preaches Transparency to the Outside World but Fails to Practice it in its Own Backyard — Global Issues
• St Jude Invitational: Kim Si-woo finds water five times on one hole to score 13 on par three
• For women in e-commerce, ‘entrepreneurship means freedom’ — Global Issues
• Lionel Messi: Paris St-Germain move ‘a possibility’ after Barcelona exit
• Tokyo Olympics: US women win a record seventh basketball gold medal
• South Africa riots: How apartheid’s legacy drove a race riot in Phoenix and left three dozen dead
• Tokyo 2020: Olympic athletes targeted by false and misleading claims
• Tokyo Olympics: Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge successfully defends Olympic marathon title
• Tokyo 2020: Japan beat US to win first Olympic baseball gold medal

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      ["title"]=>
      string(121) "UN pledges full support to Nagasaki voices fuelling ‘powerful global movement’ against nuclear arms — Global Issues"
      ["link"]=>
      string(153) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/09/un-pledges-full-support-to-nagasaki-voices-fuelling-powerful-global-movement-against-nuclear-arms-global-issues/"
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      string(31) "Mon, 09 Aug 2021 08:41:31 +0000"
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      string(164) "NewsarmsfuellingFullglobalglobal issuesissuesLaw and crime preventionmovementNagasakinuclearPeace and securitypledgesPowerfulsupportUN NewsUnited Nations newsvoices"
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      string(84) "In his message to the Nagasaki Peace Memorial on the 9 August anniversary, the UN..."
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In his message to the Nagasaki Peace Memorial on the 9 August anniversary, the UN Secretary-General said he continued to be humbled by the “selfless acts of the hibakusha, the name given to those who survived and continue to bear witness.
“Your courage in the face of immense human tragedy, is a beacon of hope for humanity”, he said in his address, delivered on his behalf at the ceremony by the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu.
“I reaffirm the full support of the United Nations to ensuring that your voices are heard by the world’s people, and especially by younger generations.”
Out of the ashes

The UN chief told the people of the city that was devastated in 1945, just days after the first bomb was dropped by the United States on Hiroshima during the final days of World War Two, that they had built a “cultural metropolis” out of the ashes.
“Your dynamic city exemplifies modernity and progress, while you work diligently to prevent devastation from ever befalling another city”, he said, warning however that the prospect of another nuclear weapon being used, were as dangerous now, as any time since the height of the Cold War between the US and former USSR.
“States are racing to create more powerful weapons, and broadening the potential scenarios for their use. Warlike rhetoric is turned up to maximum volume, while dialogue is on mute”, said the Secretary-General.
Grounds for hope
But two developments this year provide grounds for hope, in the form of the reaffirmation from the US and Russia, “that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought”, together with a commitment to engage in arms control talks.
Secondly, said Mr. Guterres in his message, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has now come into force, representing “the legitimate fears of many States, about the existential danger posed by nuclear weapons.”
And for the parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the UN chief said they all parties now need to reinforce “the norm against nuclear weapons” at the upcoming Tenth Review Conference, and take real steps towards elimination.
It is incumbent on all Member States of the UN, “to seek the abolition of the most deadly weapons ever made”, said Mr. Guterres, and together, we must prevent the tragedy of Nagasaki’s nuclear destruction, “from ever occurring again.”

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In his message to the Nagasaki Peace Memorial on the 9 August anniversary, the UN Secretary-General said he continued to be humbled by the “selfless acts of the hibakusha, the name given to those who survived and continue to bear witness.
“Your courage in the face of immense human tragedy, is a beacon of hope for humanity”, he said in his address, delivered on his behalf at the ceremony by the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu.
“I reaffirm the full support of the United Nations to ensuring that your voices are heard by the world’s people, and especially by younger generations.”
Out of the ashes

The UN chief told the people of the city that was devastated in 1945, just days after the first bomb was dropped by the United States on Hiroshima during the final days of World War Two, that they had built a “cultural metropolis” out of the ashes.
“Your dynamic city exemplifies modernity and progress, while you work diligently to prevent devastation from ever befalling another city”, he said, warning however that the prospect of another nuclear weapon being used, were as dangerous now, as any time since the height of the Cold War between the US and former USSR.
“States are racing to create more powerful weapons, and broadening the potential scenarios for their use. Warlike rhetoric is turned up to maximum volume, while dialogue is on mute”, said the Secretary-General.
Grounds for hope
But two developments this year provide grounds for hope, in the form of the reaffirmation from the US and Russia, “that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought”, together with a commitment to engage in arms control talks.
Secondly, said Mr. Guterres in his message, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has now come into force, representing “the legitimate fears of many States, about the existential danger posed by nuclear weapons.”
And for the parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the UN chief said they all parties now need to reinforce “the norm against nuclear weapons” at the upcoming Tenth Review Conference, and take real steps towards elimination.
It is incumbent on all Member States of the UN, “to seek the abolition of the most deadly weapons ever made”, said Mr. Guterres, and together, we must prevent the tragedy of Nagasaki’s nuclear destruction, “from ever occurring again.”

    .

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      ["title"]=>
      string(108) "UN Preaches Transparency to the Outside World but Fails to Practice it in its Own Backyard — Global Issues"
      ["link"]=>
      string(146) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/09/un-preaches-transparency-to-the-outside-world-but-fails-to-practice-it-in-its-own-backyard-global-issues/"
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        string(15) "Michael Johnson"
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      ["pubdate"]=>
      string(31) "Mon, 09 Aug 2021 07:08:32 +0000"
      ["category"]=>
      string(165) "NewsBackyardFailsGenderglobalglobal issuesInter Press ServiceIPS UN: Inside the GlasshouseissuesPopulationpracticePreachesThalif DeenTransparencyWomen & Economyworld"
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      ["description"]=>
      string(102) "by Thalif Deen (united nations) Monday, August 09, 2021 Inter Press Service UNITED NATIONS, Aug 09..."
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by Thalif Deen (united nations)
Monday, August 09, 2021
Inter Press Service


UNITED NATIONS, Aug 09 (IPS)  – The United Nations has long preached the wisdom of transparency and accountability to the outside world, but has failed to practice the same principles in its own backyard – or even on the 39th floor of the Secretary-General’s office in the UN Secretariat.

The opaqueness, ironically, is visible in most of the high-ranking appointments in the UN system, two of which—the posts of executive directors at UN Women and UNICEF—fall vacant soon.
Antonia Kirkland, the Global Lead on Equality Now’s programmes for Legal Equality and Access to Justice, told IPS: “We are concerned that the process for the selection of the third head of UN Women has been quite non-transparent”
She said the current Executive Director of UN Women has worked well with both civil society and governments “to advance our joint agenda for gender equality, culminating in over $40 billion of commitments at the Generation Equality Forum”. 
“We know that to successfully achieve equality for women and girls, UN Women must be led by someone who has impeccable credentials in the field of women’s rights and significant experience in driving inter-governmental processes with excellent bridge-building and negotiating skills”.  
So far, she lamented, “we have not had any transparency around the criteria used in interviews and the process being used to make the decision, which has caused apprehension and calls for accountability.”
Purnima Mane, a former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), told IPS appointments of senior leadership in UN organizations have always been an issue of interest and concern for civil society.

“The UN is seen by civil society as a key body which influences the issues it cares about deeply and in which it wants to have a larger say. Women’s rights are one such issue, making the appointment of the UN Women executive director of deep interest,” she argued. 
She pointed out that the UN has always handled appointments of senior positions in a highly confidential manner and as a matter determined by Member States to a large extent. 
Most partners of the UN are cognizant of the negotiations that happen behind the scenes between countries in the case of high-level UN appointments to ensure that their desired candidate is appointed. 
“But civil society is now increasingly acknowledged as having a key role to play in implementing the UN’s agenda and monitoring how Member states perform on their commitments made in the UN,” she noted.  
“It is not surprising, therefore that civil society is asking for more openness in senior appointments to ensure that its voice is heard. It also wants to ensure that a public vision statement makes the agenda of a potential candidate, transparent and to which he/she/they can be held accountable,” she said. 
The major intention, Mane argued, is to see that the candidate with the best record and abilities is appointed and that the incoming executive director espouses a strong, rights- and evidence-based agenda of action, and respects the voice of civil society. 
Last week, a coalition of some 380 civil society organizations (CSOs), along with 746 individuals, public figures and feminists, have expressed their “concerns with the process to recruit a new UN Women Executive Director.”
The joint letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reads: “Because of the importance of UN Women to our work for women’s rights globally, many of us have signed two prior letters to you emphasizing the importance of a transparent process informed by civil society.” 
“As this process unfolds, we have not seen those principles upheld,” says the letter.
When he introduced the report of the High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity back in February 2021, Guterres said the panel provided a vision of a better system that works for all — as well as “recommendations for building more robust systems for accountability, transparency and integrity”.
Speaking of corruption as the ultimate betrayal of public trust, Guterres said back in 2017: “Together, we must create more robust systems for accountability, transparency and integrity without delay. “
But regrettably, all three elements are missing in most of the high-ranking and senior appointments at the UN. 
Andreas Bummel, Executive Director, Democracy Without Borders, told IPS the legitimacy of the next Executive Director of UN Women relies on an open, transparent and competitive selection process. 
He said it is necessary to see vision statements of the candidates and for civil society to participate in public hearings and interviews. 
“This should be in the best interest of the UN itself as it impacts the future effectiveness of UN Women. By now this should really be a standard procedure for all top leadership positions at the UN,” Bummel declared.
Mane, who is also a former President and Chief Executive Officer of Pathfinder International, a global leader in sexual and reproductive health, said it is likely that many of the demands in the coalition letter will not be well-received by UN Member States. 
The proposed process for the UN Women appointment, which is different from the UN selection process, is likely to be seen as setting a precedent for all senior appointments in future, leading to reluctance to bring in other players in the selection process. 
“This is especially true in the case of civil society which some Member States regretfully see as their adversary and not ally,” she noted. 
Moreover, deeper involvement of civil society and more transparency overall in appointments would in fact be the right step to take if the UN has to be respected by all its partners and stakeholders. 
It would also send out a message from the UN that it acknowledges the key role which civil society plays, along with national governments, in translating the UN’s agenda into action, she added.
Mane also argued that NGO involvement in the interview panel is perhaps the most radical request included in the letter.  Member States are unlikely to alter the process to include civil society more formally in the selection committee, as proposed. 
“But asking for the ideal, is the right thing to do, even if it may seem difficult.  A town hall, where candidates can engage in a dialogue with civil society is definitely doable and merits serious consideration”. 
Such exchanges with potential candidates have in fact, been organized informally by civil society in the past and help to root for the best candidate as seen by civil society, even if it is not formally represented in the selection process, she noted. 
“The UN needs to evolve in order to be relevant to the times, and inclusion and transparency are key to this evolution,” Mane declared. 
According to PassBlue, a  job advertisement has been released, and the deadline of June 28 has been extended, which suggests more applications are wanted. 
Although the list of applicants is not public, so far, the current UN Women deputy heads, Asa Regner of Sweden and Anita Bhatia of India, are believed to have applied for the job. 
Other candidates who are rumored to have submitted their names, PassBlue reported, are former UN Under-Secretary-General Radhika Coomaraswamy of Sri Lanka, Kang Kyung-wha of South Korea and Mereseini Rakuita Vuniwaqa of Fiji. 
And candidates from the Arab region include Zineb Touimi-Benjelloun of Morocco and Sima Sami Bahous of Jordan, according to PassBlue, an independent, women-led digital publication covering the United Nations. 
The UN is strongly encouraging young people to apply. Of the known list, Vuniwaqa, 47, is the only one under 50 years old. All the applicants have impressive leadership experience in the UN, their governments or both.
Meanwhile, in its letter, the coalition emphasizes the importance of the following: 
? The list of candidates to the UN Women Executive Director position should be made public. This selection process should follow the precedent of the selection process for other United Nations leadership roles such as the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Secretary General by releasing the names. While confidentiality is vital in ordinary recruitment, the names of candidates in this and all UN agency searches should be made public.

 ? Candidates should have a public motivation or vision statement. It is important that all candidates provide a motivation or vision statement so that civil society can understand what they hope to achieve as the head of UN Women.

? A virtual candidates town hall should be held for civil society. Because the Executive Director must be able to interact effectively with civil society, all stakeholders should have a vested interest in seeing the candidates in a live virtual format. The town hall should happen prior to the interview panel so that the event can feed into the information collected for the interview process.

? Civil society should be properly represented on the interview panel. Ideally, half of the members of the selection panel should consist of representatives of civil society organizations. At a minimum we must have one representative from the Global North and one representative from the Global South. 
The next Executive Director of UN Women is of vital importance to feminist civil society and other stakeholders globally. It is critical that this is a transparent and inclusive process. 
“As feminist civil society organizations that routinely engage with UN Women, we look forward to seeing our requests adequately reflected in the process, and we are ready and willing to work directly with the search committee or appointed representatives to meet this aim”, the letter adds. 
Thalif Deen, Senior Editor and Director at the UN Bureau of Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency, is the author of a newly-released book on the United Nations titled “No Comment -– and Don’t Quote Me on That.” Peppered with scores of anecdotes-– from the serious to the hilarious-– the book is available on Amazon worldwide. The link to Amazon via the author’s website follows: https://www.rodericgrigson.com/no-comment-by-thalif-deen/
Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
Follow IPS New UN Bureau on Instagram
© Inter Press Service (2021) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service


    .

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      string(102) "by Thalif Deen (united nations) Monday, August 09, 2021 Inter Press Service UNITED NATIONS, Aug 09..."
      ["atom_content"]=>
      string(15230) "



by Thalif Deen (united nations)
Monday, August 09, 2021
Inter Press Service


UNITED NATIONS, Aug 09 (IPS)  – The United Nations has long preached the wisdom of transparency and accountability to the outside world, but has failed to practice the same principles in its own backyard – or even on the 39th floor of the Secretary-General’s office in the UN Secretariat.

The opaqueness, ironically, is visible in most of the high-ranking appointments in the UN system, two of which—the posts of executive directors at UN Women and UNICEF—fall vacant soon.
Antonia Kirkland, the Global Lead on Equality Now’s programmes for Legal Equality and Access to Justice, told IPS: “We are concerned that the process for the selection of the third head of UN Women has been quite non-transparent”
She said the current Executive Director of UN Women has worked well with both civil society and governments “to advance our joint agenda for gender equality, culminating in over $40 billion of commitments at the Generation Equality Forum”. 
“We know that to successfully achieve equality for women and girls, UN Women must be led by someone who has impeccable credentials in the field of women’s rights and significant experience in driving inter-governmental processes with excellent bridge-building and negotiating skills”.  
So far, she lamented, “we have not had any transparency around the criteria used in interviews and the process being used to make the decision, which has caused apprehension and calls for accountability.”
Purnima Mane, a former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), told IPS appointments of senior leadership in UN organizations have always been an issue of interest and concern for civil society.

“The UN is seen by civil society as a key body which influences the issues it cares about deeply and in which it wants to have a larger say. Women’s rights are one such issue, making the appointment of the UN Women executive director of deep interest,” she argued. 
She pointed out that the UN has always handled appointments of senior positions in a highly confidential manner and as a matter determined by Member States to a large extent. 
Most partners of the UN are cognizant of the negotiations that happen behind the scenes between countries in the case of high-level UN appointments to ensure that their desired candidate is appointed. 
“But civil society is now increasingly acknowledged as having a key role to play in implementing the UN’s agenda and monitoring how Member states perform on their commitments made in the UN,” she noted.  
“It is not surprising, therefore that civil society is asking for more openness in senior appointments to ensure that its voice is heard. It also wants to ensure that a public vision statement makes the agenda of a potential candidate, transparent and to which he/she/they can be held accountable,” she said. 
The major intention, Mane argued, is to see that the candidate with the best record and abilities is appointed and that the incoming executive director espouses a strong, rights- and evidence-based agenda of action, and respects the voice of civil society. 
Last week, a coalition of some 380 civil society organizations (CSOs), along with 746 individuals, public figures and feminists, have expressed their “concerns with the process to recruit a new UN Women Executive Director.”
The joint letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reads: “Because of the importance of UN Women to our work for women’s rights globally, many of us have signed two prior letters to you emphasizing the importance of a transparent process informed by civil society.” 
“As this process unfolds, we have not seen those principles upheld,” says the letter.
When he introduced the report of the High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity back in February 2021, Guterres said the panel provided a vision of a better system that works for all — as well as “recommendations for building more robust systems for accountability, transparency and integrity”.
Speaking of corruption as the ultimate betrayal of public trust, Guterres said back in 2017: “Together, we must create more robust systems for accountability, transparency and integrity without delay. “
But regrettably, all three elements are missing in most of the high-ranking and senior appointments at the UN. 
Andreas Bummel, Executive Director, Democracy Without Borders, told IPS the legitimacy of the next Executive Director of UN Women relies on an open, transparent and competitive selection process. 
He said it is necessary to see vision statements of the candidates and for civil society to participate in public hearings and interviews. 
“This should be in the best interest of the UN itself as it impacts the future effectiveness of UN Women. By now this should really be a standard procedure for all top leadership positions at the UN,” Bummel declared.
Mane, who is also a former President and Chief Executive Officer of Pathfinder International, a global leader in sexual and reproductive health, said it is likely that many of the demands in the coalition letter will not be well-received by UN Member States. 
The proposed process for the UN Women appointment, which is different from the UN selection process, is likely to be seen as setting a precedent for all senior appointments in future, leading to reluctance to bring in other players in the selection process. 
“This is especially true in the case of civil society which some Member States regretfully see as their adversary and not ally,” she noted. 
Moreover, deeper involvement of civil society and more transparency overall in appointments would in fact be the right step to take if the UN has to be respected by all its partners and stakeholders. 
It would also send out a message from the UN that it acknowledges the key role which civil society plays, along with national governments, in translating the UN’s agenda into action, she added.
Mane also argued that NGO involvement in the interview panel is perhaps the most radical request included in the letter.  Member States are unlikely to alter the process to include civil society more formally in the selection committee, as proposed. 
“But asking for the ideal, is the right thing to do, even if it may seem difficult.  A town hall, where candidates can engage in a dialogue with civil society is definitely doable and merits serious consideration”. 
Such exchanges with potential candidates have in fact, been organized informally by civil society in the past and help to root for the best candidate as seen by civil society, even if it is not formally represented in the selection process, she noted. 
“The UN needs to evolve in order to be relevant to the times, and inclusion and transparency are key to this evolution,” Mane declared. 
According to PassBlue, a  job advertisement has been released, and the deadline of June 28 has been extended, which suggests more applications are wanted. 
Although the list of applicants is not public, so far, the current UN Women deputy heads, Asa Regner of Sweden and Anita Bhatia of India, are believed to have applied for the job. 
Other candidates who are rumored to have submitted their names, PassBlue reported, are former UN Under-Secretary-General Radhika Coomaraswamy of Sri Lanka, Kang Kyung-wha of South Korea and Mereseini Rakuita Vuniwaqa of Fiji. 
And candidates from the Arab region include Zineb Touimi-Benjelloun of Morocco and Sima Sami Bahous of Jordan, according to PassBlue, an independent, women-led digital publication covering the United Nations. 
The UN is strongly encouraging young people to apply. Of the known list, Vuniwaqa, 47, is the only one under 50 years old. All the applicants have impressive leadership experience in the UN, their governments or both.
Meanwhile, in its letter, the coalition emphasizes the importance of the following: 
? The list of candidates to the UN Women Executive Director position should be made public. This selection process should follow the precedent of the selection process for other United Nations leadership roles such as the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Secretary General by releasing the names. While confidentiality is vital in ordinary recruitment, the names of candidates in this and all UN agency searches should be made public.

 ? Candidates should have a public motivation or vision statement. It is important that all candidates provide a motivation or vision statement so that civil society can understand what they hope to achieve as the head of UN Women.

? A virtual candidates town hall should be held for civil society. Because the Executive Director must be able to interact effectively with civil society, all stakeholders should have a vested interest in seeing the candidates in a live virtual format. The town hall should happen prior to the interview panel so that the event can feed into the information collected for the interview process.

? Civil society should be properly represented on the interview panel. Ideally, half of the members of the selection panel should consist of representatives of civil society organizations. At a minimum we must have one representative from the Global North and one representative from the Global South. 
The next Executive Director of UN Women is of vital importance to feminist civil society and other stakeholders globally. It is critical that this is a transparent and inclusive process. 
“As feminist civil society organizations that routinely engage with UN Women, we look forward to seeing our requests adequately reflected in the process, and we are ready and willing to work directly with the search committee or appointed representatives to meet this aim”, the letter adds. 
Thalif Deen, Senior Editor and Director at the UN Bureau of Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency, is the author of a newly-released book on the United Nations titled “No Comment -– and Don’t Quote Me on That.” Peppered with scores of anecdotes-– from the serious to the hilarious-– the book is available on Amazon worldwide. The link to Amazon via the author’s website follows: https://www.rodericgrigson.com/no-comment-by-thalif-deen/
Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
Follow IPS New UN Bureau on Instagram
© Inter Press Service (2021) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service


    .

"
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      int(1628492912)
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    [2]=>
    array(11) {
      ["title"]=>
      string(92) "St Jude Invitational: Kim Si-woo finds water five times on one hole to score 13 on par three"
      ["link"]=>
      string(133) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/09/st-jude-invitational-kim-si-woo-finds-water-five-times-on-one-hole-to-score-13-on-par-three/"
      ["dc"]=>
      array(1) {
        ["creator"]=>
        string(15) "Michael Johnson"
      }
      ["pubdate"]=>
      string(31) "Mon, 09 Aug 2021 00:24:40 +0000"
      ["category"]=>
      string(55) "NewsFindsholeInvitationalJudeKimparscoreSiwootimeswater"
      ["guid"]=>
      string(133) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/09/st-jude-invitational-kim-si-woo-finds-water-five-times-on-one-hole-to-score-13-on-par-three/"
      ["description"]=>
      string(83) "Kim finished in a share of 32nd in the men’s golf competition at the Tokyo..."
      ["content"]=>
      array(1) {
        ["encoded"]=>
        string(9233) "







-16 A Ancer (Mex), S Burns (US), H Matsuyama (Jpn); -15  H English (US); -14  B Berger (US), P Casey (Eng), C Smith (Aus); -12  B DeChambeau (US), W Zalatoris (US); -11  D Johnson (US), I Poulter (Eng); -10 R McIlroy (NI), J Spieth (US)


Selected others: -8 R MacIntyre; -7  T Hatton (Eng); -6  S Lowry (Ire); -5  A Rai (Eng); -4  L Westwood (Eng);  Level  T Fleetwood (Eng); +2  J Rose (Eng); +3  M Fitzpatrick, M Laird (Sco)


Full scorecard



Ever had that sinking feeling that it’s just not your day?

When Kim Si-woo hit five straight shots into the water on the 11th at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational, he would certainly have been asking the question.

And it’s not one he is going to be allowed to forget anytime soon, as his score of 13 goes down as the highest on a par three on the PGA Tour – outside of the four majors – since 1983.
It saw him slip from five over par to 15 over and tumble to the back of the field in one horror 155-yard hole. 
His disastrous bid to find terra firma saw Kim send his tee shot right of the island green. 
The South Korean, who has won three PGA Tour events, then went to a drop zone 96 yards from the hole.
From there, it became a recurring golfing nightmare as he plonked his next four shots into the water before finally finding the rough with his 11th shot.
Kim then chipped to within a foot of the cup before tapping in for an unenviable 13.
And how does one respond to such a showing?
Well, it was a mixed bag from Kim who last week finished in a share of 32nd in the men’s golf competition at the Tokyo Olympics.
He birdied the next hole, then had more trouble on the par-three 14th where he sent another tee shot into the water and double-bogeyed before following up with three birdies.
While it was a significant recovery, it was not enough to avoid finishing last in the field of 65 that completed all four rounds at TPC Southwind in Memphis.
Kim finished 30 shots adrift of the trio of Abraham Ancer, Sam Burns and Hideki Matsuyama who finished 16 under par to go to a three-way play-off.
Ancer clinches first Tour title
Ancer eventually prevailed on the second play-off hole with a birdie to clinch his first Tour victory and become just the fourth Mexico-born player to win a title.
The 30-year-old had started the day four strokes adrift of overnight leader Harris English, but produced a solid final round 68 to find his way into the play-off.
English looked to be closing in on a wire-to-wire victory going onto the final nine holes of the event, but doubles bogeys on the 11th and 14th and a bogey on the 16th saw him fall one stroke short of the play-off trio.


"
      }
      ["summary"]=>
      string(83) "Kim finished in a share of 32nd in the men’s golf competition at the Tokyo..."
      ["atom_content"]=>
      string(9233) "







-16 A Ancer (Mex), S Burns (US), H Matsuyama (Jpn); -15  H English (US); -14  B Berger (US), P Casey (Eng), C Smith (Aus); -12  B DeChambeau (US), W Zalatoris (US); -11  D Johnson (US), I Poulter (Eng); -10 R McIlroy (NI), J Spieth (US)


Selected others: -8 R MacIntyre; -7  T Hatton (Eng); -6  S Lowry (Ire); -5  A Rai (Eng); -4  L Westwood (Eng);  Level  T Fleetwood (Eng); +2  J Rose (Eng); +3  M Fitzpatrick, M Laird (Sco)


Full scorecard



Ever had that sinking feeling that it’s just not your day?

When Kim Si-woo hit five straight shots into the water on the 11th at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational, he would certainly have been asking the question.

And it’s not one he is going to be allowed to forget anytime soon, as his score of 13 goes down as the highest on a par three on the PGA Tour – outside of the four majors – since 1983.
It saw him slip from five over par to 15 over and tumble to the back of the field in one horror 155-yard hole. 
His disastrous bid to find terra firma saw Kim send his tee shot right of the island green. 
The South Korean, who has won three PGA Tour events, then went to a drop zone 96 yards from the hole.
From there, it became a recurring golfing nightmare as he plonked his next four shots into the water before finally finding the rough with his 11th shot.
Kim then chipped to within a foot of the cup before tapping in for an unenviable 13.
And how does one respond to such a showing?
Well, it was a mixed bag from Kim who last week finished in a share of 32nd in the men’s golf competition at the Tokyo Olympics.
He birdied the next hole, then had more trouble on the par-three 14th where he sent another tee shot into the water and double-bogeyed before following up with three birdies.
While it was a significant recovery, it was not enough to avoid finishing last in the field of 65 that completed all four rounds at TPC Southwind in Memphis.
Kim finished 30 shots adrift of the trio of Abraham Ancer, Sam Burns and Hideki Matsuyama who finished 16 under par to go to a three-way play-off.
Ancer clinches first Tour title
Ancer eventually prevailed on the second play-off hole with a birdie to clinch his first Tour victory and become just the fourth Mexico-born player to win a title.
The 30-year-old had started the day four strokes adrift of overnight leader Harris English, but produced a solid final round 68 to find his way into the play-off.
English looked to be closing in on a wire-to-wire victory going onto the final nine holes of the event, but doubles bogeys on the 11th and 14th and a bogey on the 16th saw him fall one stroke short of the play-off trio.


"
      ["date_timestamp"]=>
      int(1628468680)
    }
    [3]=>
    array(11) {
      ["title"]=>
      string(79) "For women in e-commerce, ‘entrepreneurship means freedom’ — Global Issues"
      ["link"]=>
      string(110) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/08/for-women-in-e-commerce-entrepreneurship-means-freedom-global-issues/"
      ["dc"]=>
      array(1) {
        ["creator"]=>
        string(15) "Michael Johnson"
      }
      ["pubdate"]=>
      string(31) "Sun, 08 Aug 2021 16:03:05 +0000"
      ["category"]=>
      string(125) "NewsAmericasecommerceEconomic developmententrepreneurshipfreedomglobalglobal issuesissuesmeansUN NewsUnited Nations newswomen"
      ["guid"]=>
      string(110) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/08/for-women-in-e-commerce-entrepreneurship-means-freedom-global-issues/"
      ["description"]=>
      string(98) "Pierangela Sierra set up an e-commerce platform in Ecuador called Tipti to make shopping easier..."
      ["content"]=>
      array(1) {
        ["encoded"]=>
        string(7196) "

Pierangela Sierra set up an e-commerce platform in Ecuador called Tipti to make shopping easier but also to save people time.
Ms. Sierra spent the better part of her career working for prominent international corporations across Latin-America, becoming a renowned marketing expert. A few years ago, she decided to retire from the corporate world to embark on a ground-breaking venture alongside her partner. Together, they hatched a plan that would give them back what they lacked the most, despite their successful careers: time.
“I remember that we did the math in 2015, and I had been away from my home for 48 weeks that year. So, I was practically just there over Christmas, like a guest in my own home. We couldn’t spend time together as a couple or as a family,” confides Tipti’s founder.
Tipti, the couple’s brainchild, is short for “Tiempo para Ti” (Time for you). The integrated mobile and web platform for grocery shopping and delivery is now the fastest growing e-commerce company in Ecuador.
“We witnessed the birth of other e-commerce platforms as we began to hatch our business plan. This is how Tipti was born, with the idea that giving the gift of time back to ourselves, as a couple and as a family, as well as to our clients, was the most valuable thing we could offer”.
Digital commerce in Latin America
In 2019, 1.5 billion people, or approximately 27 per cent of the world’s adult population, made purchases online, according to UNCTAD.
The overall number is increasing annually and is expected to grow further as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the proportion of people using e-commerce in low- and middle-income countries is much lower compared to high-income nations. For example, in countries like Switzerland more than half of the population use these services, while only 2 per cent do in developing nations.
Latin America and the Caribbean makes up 9 per cent  of the world’s population over the age of 15. Although 346 million people have access to the internet, only 20 per cent  made online purchases in 2019 placing the region only above Africa in the UNCTAD e-commerce index.
Lack of trust in postal services, as well as barriers to obtaining a digital payment-enabled bank account, are among the top reasons why the Latin-American continent is not buying into global e-commerce.
According to Pierangela Sierra, a lack of education and access to technology also pose considerable obstacles, particularly among low-income populations.
“When you begin to understand where the sweet spot for potential new businesses lies, you realize it’s in e-commerce, biotech, and everything related to technology. There is a great need for access to education in all these areas, particularly so for women.”
Debunking myths
Ms. Sierra advises women to challenge gender stereotypes.
“They always tell you ‘oh you’re a bad driver’, or ‘you’re no good at using a computer’. In the tech industry, similar myths that target women proliferate and sometimes, we even come to believe them ourselves and we might feel like we are incapable. We feel that if we do not study something related to technology, that we will not have anything to contribute to this field, and that is absolutely not true. The competencies that you may have in terms of drive, strategy, or leadership can place you —as it is in my case— at the helm of a functional team and company”.
According to data from UN Women, currently only 45 per cent of women worldwide have access to the internet, while most mobile phones are in the hands of men. Furthermore, while girls around the world tend to outperform boys in reading and writing, they are still underrepresented among the top performers for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Moreover, women represent less than 10 per cent of the people who work on the design and prototyping of tech products, reveals UNESCO.
Generating change
Tipti’s founder firmly believes that for women to break into the tech sector, they must mobilize their entire community to create a positive and lasting economic impact on society at large.
“Women always seek to educate the next generation: be it children, nephews, a sister, or a fellow mother... For each woman you support, the multiplier effect always amplifies the impact exponentially. The moment you lend a woman a helping hand, you are helping up to 20 other people, too,” she explains.
The tech entrepreneur, who held leadership positions in companies such as Coca-Cola and Colgate, told UN News that her drive and determination have been her defining characteristics throughout her career.  That is why she has always been motivated to uplift and support fellow women.
“While it is true that it is quite a feat to secure oneself a place at the top table, this also hinges on our own ability to believe in ourselves,” she highlights.
As part of the UNCTAD programme, Pierangela Sierra will deliver a Masterclass at the end of 2021, geared towards women who are ready to craft their own business plan for the tech sector.
The goal is to identify and train women leaders from the tech sector and across the continent, who can, in turn, positively impact other women within their own countries and communities. The multiplier effect would ensure an increase in women-led businesses and ventures, explains Ms. Sierra. Ultimately, promising projects would be pitched to investors.

Words of wisdom
For Pierangela Sierra, the single biggest mistake she made as an entrepreneur was not having done it before.
“For me, entrepreneurship is about freedom. The drive for that freedom, that balance that we often seek as women, emanates from our passion, from our dreams; but mainly from being able to contribute enthusiastically towards building a better future”.
The founder of Tipti highlights that the most important thing for women is to learn to believe in themselves and in their dreams.
“And that would be my message to all the people who doubt themselves: find the inspiration within yourselves to launch your own business and let that force drive you towards freedom and making your dreams come true”.

    .

"
      }
      ["summary"]=>
      string(98) "Pierangela Sierra set up an e-commerce platform in Ecuador called Tipti to make shopping easier..."
      ["atom_content"]=>
      string(7196) "

Pierangela Sierra set up an e-commerce platform in Ecuador called Tipti to make shopping easier but also to save people time.
Ms. Sierra spent the better part of her career working for prominent international corporations across Latin-America, becoming a renowned marketing expert. A few years ago, she decided to retire from the corporate world to embark on a ground-breaking venture alongside her partner. Together, they hatched a plan that would give them back what they lacked the most, despite their successful careers: time.
“I remember that we did the math in 2015, and I had been away from my home for 48 weeks that year. So, I was practically just there over Christmas, like a guest in my own home. We couldn’t spend time together as a couple or as a family,” confides Tipti’s founder.
Tipti, the couple’s brainchild, is short for “Tiempo para Ti” (Time for you). The integrated mobile and web platform for grocery shopping and delivery is now the fastest growing e-commerce company in Ecuador.
“We witnessed the birth of other e-commerce platforms as we began to hatch our business plan. This is how Tipti was born, with the idea that giving the gift of time back to ourselves, as a couple and as a family, as well as to our clients, was the most valuable thing we could offer”.
Digital commerce in Latin America
In 2019, 1.5 billion people, or approximately 27 per cent of the world’s adult population, made purchases online, according to UNCTAD.
The overall number is increasing annually and is expected to grow further as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the proportion of people using e-commerce in low- and middle-income countries is much lower compared to high-income nations. For example, in countries like Switzerland more than half of the population use these services, while only 2 per cent do in developing nations.
Latin America and the Caribbean makes up 9 per cent  of the world’s population over the age of 15. Although 346 million people have access to the internet, only 20 per cent  made online purchases in 2019 placing the region only above Africa in the UNCTAD e-commerce index.
Lack of trust in postal services, as well as barriers to obtaining a digital payment-enabled bank account, are among the top reasons why the Latin-American continent is not buying into global e-commerce.
According to Pierangela Sierra, a lack of education and access to technology also pose considerable obstacles, particularly among low-income populations.
“When you begin to understand where the sweet spot for potential new businesses lies, you realize it’s in e-commerce, biotech, and everything related to technology. There is a great need for access to education in all these areas, particularly so for women.”
Debunking myths
Ms. Sierra advises women to challenge gender stereotypes.
“They always tell you ‘oh you’re a bad driver’, or ‘you’re no good at using a computer’. In the tech industry, similar myths that target women proliferate and sometimes, we even come to believe them ourselves and we might feel like we are incapable. We feel that if we do not study something related to technology, that we will not have anything to contribute to this field, and that is absolutely not true. The competencies that you may have in terms of drive, strategy, or leadership can place you —as it is in my case— at the helm of a functional team and company”.
According to data from UN Women, currently only 45 per cent of women worldwide have access to the internet, while most mobile phones are in the hands of men. Furthermore, while girls around the world tend to outperform boys in reading and writing, they are still underrepresented among the top performers for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Moreover, women represent less than 10 per cent of the people who work on the design and prototyping of tech products, reveals UNESCO.
Generating change
Tipti’s founder firmly believes that for women to break into the tech sector, they must mobilize their entire community to create a positive and lasting economic impact on society at large.
“Women always seek to educate the next generation: be it children, nephews, a sister, or a fellow mother... For each woman you support, the multiplier effect always amplifies the impact exponentially. The moment you lend a woman a helping hand, you are helping up to 20 other people, too,” she explains.
The tech entrepreneur, who held leadership positions in companies such as Coca-Cola and Colgate, told UN News that her drive and determination have been her defining characteristics throughout her career.  That is why she has always been motivated to uplift and support fellow women.
“While it is true that it is quite a feat to secure oneself a place at the top table, this also hinges on our own ability to believe in ourselves,” she highlights.
As part of the UNCTAD programme, Pierangela Sierra will deliver a Masterclass at the end of 2021, geared towards women who are ready to craft their own business plan for the tech sector.
The goal is to identify and train women leaders from the tech sector and across the continent, who can, in turn, positively impact other women within their own countries and communities. The multiplier effect would ensure an increase in women-led businesses and ventures, explains Ms. Sierra. Ultimately, promising projects would be pitched to investors.

Words of wisdom
For Pierangela Sierra, the single biggest mistake she made as an entrepreneur was not having done it before.
“For me, entrepreneurship is about freedom. The drive for that freedom, that balance that we often seek as women, emanates from our passion, from our dreams; but mainly from being able to contribute enthusiastically towards building a better future”.
The founder of Tipti highlights that the most important thing for women is to learn to believe in themselves and in their dreams.
“And that would be my message to all the people who doubt themselves: find the inspiration within yourselves to launch your own business and let that force drive you towards freedom and making your dreams come true”.

    .

"
      ["date_timestamp"]=>
      int(1628438585)
    }
    [4]=>
    array(11) {
      ["title"]=>
      string(76) "Lionel Messi: Paris St-Germain move ‘a possibility’ after Barcelona exit"
      ["link"]=>
      string(111) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/08/lionel-messi-paris-st-germain-move-a-possibility-after-barcelona-exit/"
      ["dc"]=>
      array(1) {
        ["creator"]=>
        string(15) "Michael Johnson"
      }
      ["pubdate"]=>
      string(31) "Sun, 08 Aug 2021 11:48:35 +0000"
      ["category"]=>
      string(57) "NewsBarcelonaexitLionelMessimoveParisPossibilityStGermain"
      ["guid"]=>
      string(111) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/08/lionel-messi-paris-st-germain-move-a-possibility-after-barcelona-exit/"
      ["description"]=>
      string(94) "Lionel Messi in tears as he receives ovation from Barcelona at news conference An emotional..."
      ["content"]=>
      array(1) {
        ["encoded"]=>
        string(12980) "


An emotional Lionel Messi said joining Paris St-Germain was “a possibility, but nothing is agreed” as he confirmed his exit from Barcelona.
The record six-time Ballon d’Or winner, 34, is now a free agent.
“My family and I were convinced we were going to stay here, at home,” he said during a news conference on Sunday.
The Argentina forward added: “This is the end with this club and now a new story will begin. Yes, it’s one of the most difficult moments for me.
“I don’t want to leave this club – it’s a club I love and this is a moment I didn’t expect.”Last year I wanted to leave, this year I wanted to stay. That’s why I’m so sad.
“It was like my blood ran cold. I was really sad. It was really difficult right up to now. I’m still trying to process it all.
“When I get home I will still feel bad; it will be even worse. I’m not ready for this.”
What else did Messi say?

Messi, Barcelona’s record goalscorer, submitted a transfer request  last summer before agreeing to stay for the final year of his contract.
That expired on 1 July and Messi is now in talks over a move to PSG,  where he would play alongside Kylian Mbappe and former Barca team-mate Neymar.
“It is a possibility, but I have not agreed anything with anyone,” he said. “I have got different clubs interested. Nothing is definitive but clearly we are talking to them.”
Messi left Argentina for Spain when he was 13 and made his first-team debut for Barcelona aged 17 in October 2004.
He went on to score 672 goals in 778 games and helped the Spanish giants win 34 trophies, replicas of which were displayed at the news conference.
“I’m so grateful for the love that everyone’s shown me, for all my team-mates, and the club being by my side,” he said. “Today I have to say goodbye to all this.
“I arrived when I was very young, 13 years old, and after 21 years I am leaving with my wife and three Catalan-Argentine children.
“I cannot be more proud of everything I did and lived in this city. I have no doubt that, after a few years away, we will return because it is our home.”
Why is Messi leaving Barcelona?
Messi looked set to extend his stay at the Nou Camp having agreed a new five-year contract  in July.
His previous contract reportedly paid him £123m a season but Messi agreed to halve his salary.
The agreement was still dependent on player departures to get Barca’s wage bill under La Liga’s limit, however, and the club were unable to do so.
“I offered to reduce my salary by 50% and they didn’t ask me for anything else,” Messi said.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Friday that trying to keep Messi could have put the club at risk for 50 years.
Once it became clear Barca were unable to honour the contract they had agreed with Messi, his representatives contacted PSG.
Lionel Messi’s transfer timeline
25 August 2020  – Messi sends a fax to the club saying he wishes to exercise a clause in his contract, allowing him to leave for free with immediate effect. 
4 September 2020  – Messi says he is staying at Barcelona  because it is “impossible” for any team to pay his 700m euro (£624m) release clause, which the club insist would have to be met.
27 October 2020  – Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who had fallen out with Messi over his failed transfer request, resigns.
28 December 2020  – Messi says he hopes to one day play in the United States, but is unsure of his future when his contract runs out.
31 January 2021  – Barcelona say they will take “appropriate legal action” against Spanish newspaper El Mundo after it published details of Messi’s contract, worth £492m over four years. 
16 May 2021  – Manager Ronald Koeman says he hopes Messi has not played his final home game for the club after a 2-1 defeat by Celta Vigo  ended their title hopes and meant they finished outside the top two for the first time since 2007-08.
22 May 2021  – Paris St-Germain are believed to be “looking closely” at Messi’s contract  situation.
28 May 2021  – Barcelona president Joan Laporta says a new contract for Lionel Messi is “not done yet”  but that “things are going well”.
1 July 2021  – Messi’s Barcelona contract expires and he becomes a free agent.
15 July 2021  – Messi agrees to stay with Barca  on a deal until 2026 that includes reducing his wages.
5 August 2021  – Barcelona announce Messi will leave the club “because of financial and structural obstacles”.


"
      }
      ["summary"]=>
      string(94) "Lionel Messi in tears as he receives ovation from Barcelona at news conference An emotional..."
      ["atom_content"]=>
      string(12980) "


An emotional Lionel Messi said joining Paris St-Germain was “a possibility, but nothing is agreed” as he confirmed his exit from Barcelona.
The record six-time Ballon d’Or winner, 34, is now a free agent.
“My family and I were convinced we were going to stay here, at home,” he said during a news conference on Sunday.
The Argentina forward added: “This is the end with this club and now a new story will begin. Yes, it’s one of the most difficult moments for me.
“I don’t want to leave this club – it’s a club I love and this is a moment I didn’t expect.”Last year I wanted to leave, this year I wanted to stay. That’s why I’m so sad.
“It was like my blood ran cold. I was really sad. It was really difficult right up to now. I’m still trying to process it all.
“When I get home I will still feel bad; it will be even worse. I’m not ready for this.”
What else did Messi say?

Messi, Barcelona’s record goalscorer, submitted a transfer request  last summer before agreeing to stay for the final year of his contract.
That expired on 1 July and Messi is now in talks over a move to PSG,  where he would play alongside Kylian Mbappe and former Barca team-mate Neymar.
“It is a possibility, but I have not agreed anything with anyone,” he said. “I have got different clubs interested. Nothing is definitive but clearly we are talking to them.”
Messi left Argentina for Spain when he was 13 and made his first-team debut for Barcelona aged 17 in October 2004.
He went on to score 672 goals in 778 games and helped the Spanish giants win 34 trophies, replicas of which were displayed at the news conference.
“I’m so grateful for the love that everyone’s shown me, for all my team-mates, and the club being by my side,” he said. “Today I have to say goodbye to all this.
“I arrived when I was very young, 13 years old, and after 21 years I am leaving with my wife and three Catalan-Argentine children.
“I cannot be more proud of everything I did and lived in this city. I have no doubt that, after a few years away, we will return because it is our home.”
Why is Messi leaving Barcelona?
Messi looked set to extend his stay at the Nou Camp having agreed a new five-year contract  in July.
His previous contract reportedly paid him £123m a season but Messi agreed to halve his salary.
The agreement was still dependent on player departures to get Barca’s wage bill under La Liga’s limit, however, and the club were unable to do so.
“I offered to reduce my salary by 50% and they didn’t ask me for anything else,” Messi said.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Friday that trying to keep Messi could have put the club at risk for 50 years.
Once it became clear Barca were unable to honour the contract they had agreed with Messi, his representatives contacted PSG.
Lionel Messi’s transfer timeline
25 August 2020  – Messi sends a fax to the club saying he wishes to exercise a clause in his contract, allowing him to leave for free with immediate effect. 
4 September 2020  – Messi says he is staying at Barcelona  because it is “impossible” for any team to pay his 700m euro (£624m) release clause, which the club insist would have to be met.
27 October 2020  – Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who had fallen out with Messi over his failed transfer request, resigns.
28 December 2020  – Messi says he hopes to one day play in the United States, but is unsure of his future when his contract runs out.
31 January 2021  – Barcelona say they will take “appropriate legal action” against Spanish newspaper El Mundo after it published details of Messi’s contract, worth £492m over four years. 
16 May 2021  – Manager Ronald Koeman says he hopes Messi has not played his final home game for the club after a 2-1 defeat by Celta Vigo  ended their title hopes and meant they finished outside the top two for the first time since 2007-08.
22 May 2021  – Paris St-Germain are believed to be “looking closely” at Messi’s contract  situation.
28 May 2021  – Barcelona president Joan Laporta says a new contract for Lionel Messi is “not done yet”  but that “things are going well”.
1 July 2021  – Messi’s Barcelona contract expires and he becomes a free agent.
15 July 2021  – Messi agrees to stay with Barca  on a deal until 2026 that includes reducing his wages.
5 August 2021  – Barcelona announce Messi will leave the club “because of financial and structural obstacles”.


"
      ["date_timestamp"]=>
      int(1628423315)
    }
    [5]=>
    array(11) {
      ["title"]=>
      string(67) "Tokyo Olympics: US women win a record seventh basketball gold medal"
      ["link"]=>
      string(108) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/08/tokyo-olympics-us-women-win-a-record-seventh-basketball-gold-medal/"
      ["dc"]=>
      array(1) {
        ["creator"]=>
        string(15) "Michael Johnson"
      }
      ["pubdate"]=>
      string(31) "Sun, 08 Aug 2021 08:09:23 +0000"
      ["category"]=>
      string(57) "NewsbasketballgoldmedalOlympicsrecordseventhTokyowinwomen"
      ["guid"]=>
      string(108) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/08/tokyo-olympics-us-women-win-a-record-seventh-basketball-gold-medal/"
      ["description"]=>
      string(109) "A blistering United States outplayed hosts Japan to win a seventh successive women’s basketball gold..."
      ["content"]=>
      array(1) {
        ["encoded"]=>
        string(5271) "

A blistering United States outplayed hosts Japan to win a seventh successive women’s basketball gold on Tokyo 2020’s final day of action. 

Celebrated veterans Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi become the first players to win five Olympic basketball titles.

It means the side are unbeaten in 55 Olympic matches, with their last defeat was in the 1992 semi-final. 
Japan earn silver in their best-ever finish, with France taking the bronze.
Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner was the dominant force during the 90-75 win, scoring a game-high 30 points with five rebounds and two assists. 
“Seven in a row, I mean that’s just amazing. That just goes to show everything USA basketball’s about,” Griner said. 
They had a 50-39 lead at half-time and there was no stopping them, with a valiant Japan settling for second-place and a best-ever Olympic finish.

The Americans’ seventh title equalled the longest streak by a team in any Olympic sport, matching the US men’s basketball team between 1936 and 1968.
The US men’s team also won gold in Tokyo.
“What can you say? It’s 20 years of sacrifice, of putting everything aside and just wanting to win” Taurasi said after the victory. 
“It’s never easy playing on this team [with] the pressure, but this group found a way to win and I’m just happy this group got to enjoy it.”
Taurasi, 39, who has led the Phoenix Mercury to three WNBA championships, and Bird, 40, who has won four WNBA titles with the Seattle Storm, both won their first gold medals at Athens in 2004. 
That team also featured current national coach Dawn Staley, who claimed three gold medals as a player.
Taurasi hinted she was not ready to leave the Olympic set-up, ending her post match interview with US outlet NBC saying, “See you in Paris!”


"
      }
      ["summary"]=>
      string(109) "A blistering United States outplayed hosts Japan to win a seventh successive women’s basketball gold..."
      ["atom_content"]=>
      string(5271) "

A blistering United States outplayed hosts Japan to win a seventh successive women’s basketball gold on Tokyo 2020’s final day of action. 

Celebrated veterans Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi become the first players to win five Olympic basketball titles.

It means the side are unbeaten in 55 Olympic matches, with their last defeat was in the 1992 semi-final. 
Japan earn silver in their best-ever finish, with France taking the bronze.
Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner was the dominant force during the 90-75 win, scoring a game-high 30 points with five rebounds and two assists. 
“Seven in a row, I mean that’s just amazing. That just goes to show everything USA basketball’s about,” Griner said. 
They had a 50-39 lead at half-time and there was no stopping them, with a valiant Japan settling for second-place and a best-ever Olympic finish.

The Americans’ seventh title equalled the longest streak by a team in any Olympic sport, matching the US men’s basketball team between 1936 and 1968.
The US men’s team also won gold in Tokyo.
“What can you say? It’s 20 years of sacrifice, of putting everything aside and just wanting to win” Taurasi said after the victory. 
“It’s never easy playing on this team [with] the pressure, but this group found a way to win and I’m just happy this group got to enjoy it.”
Taurasi, 39, who has led the Phoenix Mercury to three WNBA championships, and Bird, 40, who has won four WNBA titles with the Seattle Storm, both won their first gold medals at Athens in 2004. 
That team also featured current national coach Dawn Staley, who claimed three gold medals as a player.
Taurasi hinted she was not ready to leave the Olympic set-up, ending her post match interview with US outlet NBC saying, “See you in Paris!”


"
      ["date_timestamp"]=>
      int(1628410163)
    }
    [6]=>
    array(11) {
      ["title"]=>
      string(99) "South Africa riots: How apartheid’s legacy drove a race riot in Phoenix and left three dozen dead"
      ["link"]=>
      string(137) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/08/south-africa-riots-how-apartheids-legacy-drove-a-race-riot-in-phoenix-and-left-three-dozen-dead/"
      ["dc"]=>
      array(1) {
        ["creator"]=>
        string(15) "Michael Johnson"
      }
      ["pubdate"]=>
      string(31) "Sun, 08 Aug 2021 06:06:29 +0000"
      ["category"]=>
      string(69) "NewsAfricaapartheidsdeaddozendroveleftlegacyPhoenixraceriotriotssouth"
      ["guid"]=>
      string(137) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/08/south-africa-riots-how-apartheids-legacy-drove-a-race-riot-in-phoenix-and-left-three-dozen-dead/"
      ["description"]=>
      string(96) "PHOENIX, South Africa — Thirty-six years separated the infamous race riots of 1949 and 1985..."
      ["content"]=>
      array(1) {
        ["encoded"]=>
        string(23150) "

PHOENIX, South Africa — Thirty-six years separated the infamous race riots of 1949 and 1985 in this area, when people of African and South Asian descent — pitted against one another at the bottom rungs of the apartheid system — killed each other in a bubbling over of resentment.
Last month, another 36 years after the last riots, Phoenix and surrounding towns ignited once again.
Amid a week-long bout of looting, arson and clashes that saw at least 342 killed across two South African provinces, 36 were killed in this patchwork of poor Black townships and more developed  “Indian” suburbs that had been coexisting peacefully, though unequally. Most of the dead were Black this time, and most of the suspected killers were Indian, the country’s police chief said this week.
Interviews with nearly two dozen people — including victims, their family members, community leaders, politicians, business owners and others — were laced with disbelief. Decades of work had been put into building a peaceful coexistence. All wondered the same thing: How had it unraveled so suddenly?
The answer, most thought, was rooted in South Africa’s failure to truly heal the divides of apartheid. The country may have christened itself the Rainbow Nation, but high walls of income and opportunity still divide each of its stripes.

The wave of looting that swept across the metropolitan areas of Johannesburg and Durban, two of South Africa’s biggest cities, had already been raging for days when Thuto Shwuaka, 18, and friends decided to gather for a pickup soccer game on an empty field in Phoenix, whose population of around 200,000 is mostly descended from South Asians brought to South Africa more than 100 years ago by the British colonial government as farm and railroad laborers.
The television news had been broadcasting live shots of mostly Black crowds streaming out of department stores and warehouses with whatever they could grab. Interspersed with such footage were interviews with mostly White and Indian men in relatively affluent neighborhoods who said they had armed themselves in case the looters came for their homes. Shwuaka and his friends were stopped by one of these groups, he said.
[What did Mahatma Gandhi think of black people?]
“We came across a group of Indian men who told us that we could not pass there and turned us away,” he recalled on a recent day at home. “Then they accused us of being part of the group of people who had been looting and started beating us.”
[‘I am broken’: South African communities are gutted by a wave of looting, arson and loss]



Despite their denials, Shwuaka said, one man forced him to tie his own feet with rope and told him to walk.


When Shwuaka couldn’t, and fell, the man and his accomplices whacked his feet with the back of a machete and bashed him with stones until he lost consciousness.


Hundreds of people were injured in the days of violence, including the sister of 21-year-old Zinhle Maboja, right.



Nearly a month after the violence, South Africa’s police have come forward with a clearer picture of what transpired.
On July 12, days before President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the deployment of thousands of reserve soldiers to the area, Phoenix residents began setting up checkpoints, according to Bheki Cele, the country’s top police official.
“Problems started when people at checkpoints turned to vigilantism and started racially profiling people, preventing them entry into the suburb,” Cele said at a news conference Tuesday, adding that the targets were “mainly African people.” Cele did not explain why so few police were available to intervene, leaving an opening for vigilantism.
Tensions quickly rose, and people on both sides brought weapons to the checkpoints. Shots were fired, people spread out and recriminations took place across Phoenix and adjacent settlements. People were “butchered with bush knives,” Cele said. “Vehicles were set alight.”
“We are concerned about the potential outbreak of racial tension going forward,” Sihle Zikalala, the premier of KwaZulu-Natal, the province where Phoenix is located, said at the same news conference. He referred to the events of July 12 as a “massacre.”
All in all, 30 were shot dead. Two were burned to death. One was stabbed and one run over with a truck. Two more died of injuries from assaults. All but three of the dead were Black.

The police have deployed 31 special detectives to the area in the weeks since and have opened 52 cases of attempted murder, 25 cases of assault and other cases against a smattering of people accused of spreading inflammatory misinformation online. They have seized 152 firearms from  “private security companies” and another 112 from private citizens.
The debate over private gun possession in South Africa roughly mirrors that in the United States.
“Discussions about guns are highly emotional, and pro-gun groups are mostly conservative and White and similar to the National Rifle Association in the U.S.,” said Guy Lamb, an expert on urban crime and policing at the University of Stellenbosch. “Whereas most of the gun violence that takes place in South Africa is in poor, Black townships.”
South Africa’s police force has recently pushed for a ban on licensing firearms for private citizens but has  faced enormous pushback from gun owners. South Africa already requires owners to be over 21, and to undergo background checks and competency tests.
“There was clearly a failure in policing,” Lamb said of what happened in Phoenix. “In those instances, people may feel justified to use vigilantism.”
‘No bail, no bail’
Court proceedings are underway against dozens of alleged perpetrators of the violence in Phoenix. Outside a courtroom last week, police and soldiers separated large crowds of protesters. “No bail, no bail” was the loudest chant.
“We want to make sure that people who are murderers do not get bail,” said Vukani Ndlovu, provincial treasurer for the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party, which supports a radical vision of racial justice based on the redistribution of land from those who benefited from apartheid to the Black majority.
Supporters of the ruling African National Congress, which promotes a more conciliatory racial tone, emphasized that the killings should not drive a wedge between communities that had come to rely on each other for jobs and services.
“We must not allow the incidents of the past weeks to divide us,” said Kwazi Mshengu, a provincial ANC official, standing on the sidelines of the protest. “We are one people. We need to build a nonracial, united South Africa.”
[Deadly riots in South Africa are a ‘huge tremor’ for Africa’s most renowned liberation party]
The ANC has struggled to achieve that goal since apartheid ended in 1994. The party inherited a country that had been strictly divided by race in almost all walks of life by the apartheid government. All towns were racially segregated by the Group Areas Act, which imposed apartheid’s hierarchical system of privileges and services onto South Africa’s geography.



Bhekinkosi Ngcobo’s family found his body at a local mortuary with a deep gash across his neck. He was 35, a welder and his family’s sole breadwinner.


“My son drove out to fill his car up with petrol and he never came back,” said Thulile Ngcobo, 59, Bhekinkosi’s mother.


“We are scared now, said Bhekinkosi’s sister, Philiswe Ngcobo. “It is much better when we walk in groups than alone.”



Phoenix’s Indian community is not wealthy by South African standards, but it is glaringly better off than the impoverished Black communities nearby that suffer from lack of water and electricity — public services that the ANC government has yet to reliably provide after nearly three decades in power.
While the two communities rely on each other, racism and resentment stretch back at least 120 years to when a young Mahatma Gandhi lived in Phoenix, where he published a newspaper and was a community leader. Despite his saintly reputation elsewhere, South African scholars have detailed his racist views toward Africans, and he is remembered by the Black community in South Africa as an apologist for the supremacist notions that undergirded what would eventually become the apartheid system. So-called Indian South Africans make up about 2.5 percent of the national population.
[What did Mahatma Gandhi think of black people?]
The White community, which makes up close to 10 percent of the population, was relatively untouched by July’s violence, an indicator of how much more separate they remain from the rest of South Africans than the Indian community.
“What has happened here again is a blight on humanity and it shows the failure of the democratic project,” said Amyna Fakhude, an activist working on interracial and interfaith dialogue in Phoenix. “Due to the negligence that has happened [since apartheid ended], we actually shot ourselves in the foot as a society by not working toward equality.”
That inequality is most keenly felt in Black townships like KwaMashu, just south of Phoenix.

When the looting began to spread through KwaZulu-Natal, some members of the community there saw an opportunity to take basic goods like refrigerators and couches that are too expensive to normally afford. But most stayed at home out of fear that Blacks would collectively be seen as looters and rounded up or worse.
“We don’t own anything. We are consumers and spectators in our own economy,” said Mlamuli Shangase, president of the local chapter of the Black Business Federation, a national organization. “What happened is not about ‘Indians and Africans,’ it is about criminals who took law into their hands.”
‘Tell us: Why did they kill us?’
As the violence surged on July 12, Fabian Moodley, the protective eldest son of a young single mother in a rough neighborhood, rushed to one of the checkpoints that had sprung up. He was shot dead there under disputed circumstances.
Looking back on that day, his mother, Tashleen, feels not just sadness but anger at the absence of the police. Faybian, 18, had always acted older than his age, but she wished he’d been more like a child that day.

“It wasn’t his place to assist in a roadblock, we have law enforcement, we have police. If our president could deploy the army for covid,” she said, before trailing off. “My child is not a soldier, he shouldn’t have been there.”
On the way to meeting committee members in the township of Bhambayi, a man pointed a gun at a driver of Indian descent hired by The Washington Post.



Political party, African National Congress (ANC) supporters protest outside the courthouse in Verulam, where seven of the suspects who were arrested for various crimes during the recent unrest are to request bail on Durban on July 30, 2021. (Photo by Gulshan Khan/For The Washington Post)(Gulshan Khan/FTWP)


Leaders in the Black townships that surround Phoenix are demanding justice — and investment in their communities — before considering reconciliation.


Some are participating in peace committees, set up by local elected officials, that aim to promote dialogue between communities. But the tension is palpable. 



In a meeting arranged later, Blessing Nyuswa, one of the committee’s conveners, said that even though many in Bhambayi relied on Phoenix for jobs, schools and clinics, they were hesitant to go back, even though it might worsen their economic status.
“The people in Bhambayi say to me, ‘Before you tell us about peace, Blessing, tell us: Why did they kill us?” she said.
The answer she gives them is an indictment of South Africa’s quest for racial justice in the decades since apartheid was ended.
“We didn’t get freedom,” she said. “We only got democracy.”


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      string(96) "PHOENIX, South Africa — Thirty-six years separated the infamous race riots of 1949 and 1985..."
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PHOENIX, South Africa — Thirty-six years separated the infamous race riots of 1949 and 1985 in this area, when people of African and South Asian descent — pitted against one another at the bottom rungs of the apartheid system — killed each other in a bubbling over of resentment.
Last month, another 36 years after the last riots, Phoenix and surrounding towns ignited once again.
Amid a week-long bout of looting, arson and clashes that saw at least 342 killed across two South African provinces, 36 were killed in this patchwork of poor Black townships and more developed  “Indian” suburbs that had been coexisting peacefully, though unequally. Most of the dead were Black this time, and most of the suspected killers were Indian, the country’s police chief said this week.
Interviews with nearly two dozen people — including victims, their family members, community leaders, politicians, business owners and others — were laced with disbelief. Decades of work had been put into building a peaceful coexistence. All wondered the same thing: How had it unraveled so suddenly?
The answer, most thought, was rooted in South Africa’s failure to truly heal the divides of apartheid. The country may have christened itself the Rainbow Nation, but high walls of income and opportunity still divide each of its stripes.

The wave of looting that swept across the metropolitan areas of Johannesburg and Durban, two of South Africa’s biggest cities, had already been raging for days when Thuto Shwuaka, 18, and friends decided to gather for a pickup soccer game on an empty field in Phoenix, whose population of around 200,000 is mostly descended from South Asians brought to South Africa more than 100 years ago by the British colonial government as farm and railroad laborers.
The television news had been broadcasting live shots of mostly Black crowds streaming out of department stores and warehouses with whatever they could grab. Interspersed with such footage were interviews with mostly White and Indian men in relatively affluent neighborhoods who said they had armed themselves in case the looters came for their homes. Shwuaka and his friends were stopped by one of these groups, he said.
[What did Mahatma Gandhi think of black people?]
“We came across a group of Indian men who told us that we could not pass there and turned us away,” he recalled on a recent day at home. “Then they accused us of being part of the group of people who had been looting and started beating us.”
[‘I am broken’: South African communities are gutted by a wave of looting, arson and loss]



Despite their denials, Shwuaka said, one man forced him to tie his own feet with rope and told him to walk.


When Shwuaka couldn’t, and fell, the man and his accomplices whacked his feet with the back of a machete and bashed him with stones until he lost consciousness.


Hundreds of people were injured in the days of violence, including the sister of 21-year-old Zinhle Maboja, right.



Nearly a month after the violence, South Africa’s police have come forward with a clearer picture of what transpired.
On July 12, days before President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the deployment of thousands of reserve soldiers to the area, Phoenix residents began setting up checkpoints, according to Bheki Cele, the country’s top police official.
“Problems started when people at checkpoints turned to vigilantism and started racially profiling people, preventing them entry into the suburb,” Cele said at a news conference Tuesday, adding that the targets were “mainly African people.” Cele did not explain why so few police were available to intervene, leaving an opening for vigilantism.
Tensions quickly rose, and people on both sides brought weapons to the checkpoints. Shots were fired, people spread out and recriminations took place across Phoenix and adjacent settlements. People were “butchered with bush knives,” Cele said. “Vehicles were set alight.”
“We are concerned about the potential outbreak of racial tension going forward,” Sihle Zikalala, the premier of KwaZulu-Natal, the province where Phoenix is located, said at the same news conference. He referred to the events of July 12 as a “massacre.”
All in all, 30 were shot dead. Two were burned to death. One was stabbed and one run over with a truck. Two more died of injuries from assaults. All but three of the dead were Black.

The police have deployed 31 special detectives to the area in the weeks since and have opened 52 cases of attempted murder, 25 cases of assault and other cases against a smattering of people accused of spreading inflammatory misinformation online. They have seized 152 firearms from  “private security companies” and another 112 from private citizens.
The debate over private gun possession in South Africa roughly mirrors that in the United States.
“Discussions about guns are highly emotional, and pro-gun groups are mostly conservative and White and similar to the National Rifle Association in the U.S.,” said Guy Lamb, an expert on urban crime and policing at the University of Stellenbosch. “Whereas most of the gun violence that takes place in South Africa is in poor, Black townships.”
South Africa’s police force has recently pushed for a ban on licensing firearms for private citizens but has  faced enormous pushback from gun owners. South Africa already requires owners to be over 21, and to undergo background checks and competency tests.
“There was clearly a failure in policing,” Lamb said of what happened in Phoenix. “In those instances, people may feel justified to use vigilantism.”
‘No bail, no bail’
Court proceedings are underway against dozens of alleged perpetrators of the violence in Phoenix. Outside a courtroom last week, police and soldiers separated large crowds of protesters. “No bail, no bail” was the loudest chant.
“We want to make sure that people who are murderers do not get bail,” said Vukani Ndlovu, provincial treasurer for the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party, which supports a radical vision of racial justice based on the redistribution of land from those who benefited from apartheid to the Black majority.
Supporters of the ruling African National Congress, which promotes a more conciliatory racial tone, emphasized that the killings should not drive a wedge between communities that had come to rely on each other for jobs and services.
“We must not allow the incidents of the past weeks to divide us,” said Kwazi Mshengu, a provincial ANC official, standing on the sidelines of the protest. “We are one people. We need to build a nonracial, united South Africa.”
[Deadly riots in South Africa are a ‘huge tremor’ for Africa’s most renowned liberation party]
The ANC has struggled to achieve that goal since apartheid ended in 1994. The party inherited a country that had been strictly divided by race in almost all walks of life by the apartheid government. All towns were racially segregated by the Group Areas Act, which imposed apartheid’s hierarchical system of privileges and services onto South Africa’s geography.



Bhekinkosi Ngcobo’s family found his body at a local mortuary with a deep gash across his neck. He was 35, a welder and his family’s sole breadwinner.


“My son drove out to fill his car up with petrol and he never came back,” said Thulile Ngcobo, 59, Bhekinkosi’s mother.


“We are scared now, said Bhekinkosi’s sister, Philiswe Ngcobo. “It is much better when we walk in groups than alone.”



Phoenix’s Indian community is not wealthy by South African standards, but it is glaringly better off than the impoverished Black communities nearby that suffer from lack of water and electricity — public services that the ANC government has yet to reliably provide after nearly three decades in power.
While the two communities rely on each other, racism and resentment stretch back at least 120 years to when a young Mahatma Gandhi lived in Phoenix, where he published a newspaper and was a community leader. Despite his saintly reputation elsewhere, South African scholars have detailed his racist views toward Africans, and he is remembered by the Black community in South Africa as an apologist for the supremacist notions that undergirded what would eventually become the apartheid system. So-called Indian South Africans make up about 2.5 percent of the national population.
[What did Mahatma Gandhi think of black people?]
The White community, which makes up close to 10 percent of the population, was relatively untouched by July’s violence, an indicator of how much more separate they remain from the rest of South Africans than the Indian community.
“What has happened here again is a blight on humanity and it shows the failure of the democratic project,” said Amyna Fakhude, an activist working on interracial and interfaith dialogue in Phoenix. “Due to the negligence that has happened [since apartheid ended], we actually shot ourselves in the foot as a society by not working toward equality.”
That inequality is most keenly felt in Black townships like KwaMashu, just south of Phoenix.

When the looting began to spread through KwaZulu-Natal, some members of the community there saw an opportunity to take basic goods like refrigerators and couches that are too expensive to normally afford. But most stayed at home out of fear that Blacks would collectively be seen as looters and rounded up or worse.
“We don’t own anything. We are consumers and spectators in our own economy,” said Mlamuli Shangase, president of the local chapter of the Black Business Federation, a national organization. “What happened is not about ‘Indians and Africans,’ it is about criminals who took law into their hands.”
‘Tell us: Why did they kill us?’
As the violence surged on July 12, Fabian Moodley, the protective eldest son of a young single mother in a rough neighborhood, rushed to one of the checkpoints that had sprung up. He was shot dead there under disputed circumstances.
Looking back on that day, his mother, Tashleen, feels not just sadness but anger at the absence of the police. Faybian, 18, had always acted older than his age, but she wished he’d been more like a child that day.

“It wasn’t his place to assist in a roadblock, we have law enforcement, we have police. If our president could deploy the army for covid,” she said, before trailing off. “My child is not a soldier, he shouldn’t have been there.”
On the way to meeting committee members in the township of Bhambayi, a man pointed a gun at a driver of Indian descent hired by The Washington Post.



Political party, African National Congress (ANC) supporters protest outside the courthouse in Verulam, where seven of the suspects who were arrested for various crimes during the recent unrest are to request bail on Durban on July 30, 2021. (Photo by Gulshan Khan/For The Washington Post)(Gulshan Khan/FTWP)


Leaders in the Black townships that surround Phoenix are demanding justice — and investment in their communities — before considering reconciliation.


Some are participating in peace committees, set up by local elected officials, that aim to promote dialogue between communities. But the tension is palpable. 



In a meeting arranged later, Blessing Nyuswa, one of the committee’s conveners, said that even though many in Bhambayi relied on Phoenix for jobs, schools and clinics, they were hesitant to go back, even though it might worsen their economic status.
“The people in Bhambayi say to me, ‘Before you tell us about peace, Blessing, tell us: Why did they kill us?” she said.
The answer she gives them is an indictment of South Africa’s quest for racial justice in the decades since apartheid was ended.
“We didn’t get freedom,” she said. “We only got democracy.”


"
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      ["title"]=>
      string(68) "Tokyo 2020: Olympic athletes targeted by false and misleading claims"
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      string(109) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/08/tokyo-2020-olympic-athletes-targeted-by-false-and-misleading-claims/"
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      string(113) "By Shruti MenonBBC Reality Check image sourceReutersimage captionSimone Biles withdrew from some events at the..."
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By Shruti Menon
BBC Reality Check



image sourceReuters



As the Tokyo Olympics comes to an end, social media posts have been spreading misleading content about some of the competitors, and the events in which they competed.




We’ve selected some of the more widely-shared examples.


No, Simone Biles wasn’t stopped from taking medication








A viral post on Facebook – now with a warning flag on it from the social media platform – falsely claims that the US star gymnast stopped competing in some events because she wasn’t allowed to take medication for ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).




Simone Biles revealed in 2016 that she was on medication for it. 




When she pulled out of the women’s gymnastics team final last week, she said it was to focus on her mental health.




But unfounded claims spread widely on social media, saying that she’d been unable to take ADHD medication because it’s banned in Japan.




It’s true that Japan bans some drugs used for ADHD, but there are special exemptions for athletes competing in the Olympics.




But more importantly, Team USA have told us the claim about the medication is not true because she’s not using it.




Speaking after winning a bronze in the beam final in Tokyo, Biles herself dealt with the speculation head on, and said she had not taken ADHD medication since 2017.


No, a Saudi athlete did not die after losing to an Israeli



False claims about the death of Saudi judo competitor Tahani Al-Qahtani went viral on social media after she lost to her Israeli opponent, Raz Hershko. 




The posts claimed that she had suffered a heart attack because she was subject to bullying and abuse online after she lost.









But this is wrong and the athlete is very much alive.




Qahtani had faced criticism from social media users for agreeing to compete against an Israeli, after other Arab competitors withdrew from a different judo event because they did not want to do the same thing.




The rumours began circulating after a fake website pretending to be Saudi Sabq, a popular Arabic online news portal, posted an article with the claim. 




It was by-lined to the deputy editor of Saudi Sabq, Abdullah Al-Barqawi.




But Mr Barqawi has issued a warning on Twitter about false news reports attributed to him and to the online portal.




He didn’t mention the specific claim about the athlete, but officials from the Saudi Olympic Committee have denied the reports and said she is in very good health.  




She herself spoke about the match a day later, saying that she wasn’t interested in the controversy surrounding it.


No, Japanese table tennis players did not breach Covid guidelines



image sourceEmpics




The mixed doubles table tennis final became the subject of heated discussion on Chinese social media, when their pair lost to a Japanese duo.




The gold-medal winning Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito’s actions in blowing on the ball and touching the table during the match were said to be in violation of rules on Covid safety.




On Weibo, the Chinese social media platform, the hashtag “Mima Ito touches the table” has been viewed more than 13 million times, with some users saying the Japanese players should not have won.




One Chinese-language website said their actions were “ignored by the referee”. 




There are International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Covid safety recommendations, which advise players not to engage in “hand-wiping on the table” and “breathing on the ball for tackiness”.




Some players blow on the ball to make sure it’s as dry as possible when they serve.




The ITTF states that a violation of Covid rules will attract a fine or suspension of the athlete from a competition, so we contacted them to ask about this match.




They put us in touch with leading referee Werner Thury, who explained that the way Ito touched the table during her service did not amount to “hand-wiping on the table surface”. 




He also said that Mizutani’s blowing did not violate Covid guidelines because his mouth was not close enough to the ball.




The ITTF also made clear to us that while potential violations of Covid guidelines are investigated, this is a separate process and the outcome of a match is decided on points alone.


No, a banner behind an Indian medal winner did not thank PM Modi 








In India, a social media post went viral showing silver medal-winning weightlifter Mirabai Chanu at an official ceremony of congratulations, with a banner thanking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visible in the background.




The banner shows a picture of Mr Modi. There is also some Hindi-language text on the banner which reads: “Thank you Mr Modi for getting Mirabai Chanu a medal.”  




Some of those sharing the post asked: “Did Mirabai Chanu get the medal through her hard work or did Mr Modi get it for her?”




The image has been manipulated and the text about thanking Mr Modi added into it. 




image sourcePress Information Bureau, India




The original banner does contain an image of Mr Modi and some text with the name of the athlete, but nothing about thanking the prime minister.




The original appears on some government social media accounts and in a government press release.




Additional reporting by Ahmed Nour and Wanyuan Song.









Read more from Reality Check





"
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      string(113) "By Shruti MenonBBC Reality Check image sourceReutersimage captionSimone Biles withdrew from some events at the..."
      ["atom_content"]=>
      string(18652) "


By Shruti Menon
BBC Reality Check



image sourceReuters



As the Tokyo Olympics comes to an end, social media posts have been spreading misleading content about some of the competitors, and the events in which they competed.




We’ve selected some of the more widely-shared examples.


No, Simone Biles wasn’t stopped from taking medication








A viral post on Facebook – now with a warning flag on it from the social media platform – falsely claims that the US star gymnast stopped competing in some events because she wasn’t allowed to take medication for ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).




Simone Biles revealed in 2016 that she was on medication for it. 




When she pulled out of the women’s gymnastics team final last week, she said it was to focus on her mental health.




But unfounded claims spread widely on social media, saying that she’d been unable to take ADHD medication because it’s banned in Japan.




It’s true that Japan bans some drugs used for ADHD, but there are special exemptions for athletes competing in the Olympics.




But more importantly, Team USA have told us the claim about the medication is not true because she’s not using it.




Speaking after winning a bronze in the beam final in Tokyo, Biles herself dealt with the speculation head on, and said she had not taken ADHD medication since 2017.


No, a Saudi athlete did not die after losing to an Israeli



False claims about the death of Saudi judo competitor Tahani Al-Qahtani went viral on social media after she lost to her Israeli opponent, Raz Hershko. 




The posts claimed that she had suffered a heart attack because she was subject to bullying and abuse online after she lost.









But this is wrong and the athlete is very much alive.




Qahtani had faced criticism from social media users for agreeing to compete against an Israeli, after other Arab competitors withdrew from a different judo event because they did not want to do the same thing.




The rumours began circulating after a fake website pretending to be Saudi Sabq, a popular Arabic online news portal, posted an article with the claim. 




It was by-lined to the deputy editor of Saudi Sabq, Abdullah Al-Barqawi.




But Mr Barqawi has issued a warning on Twitter about false news reports attributed to him and to the online portal.




He didn’t mention the specific claim about the athlete, but officials from the Saudi Olympic Committee have denied the reports and said she is in very good health.  




She herself spoke about the match a day later, saying that she wasn’t interested in the controversy surrounding it.


No, Japanese table tennis players did not breach Covid guidelines



image sourceEmpics




The mixed doubles table tennis final became the subject of heated discussion on Chinese social media, when their pair lost to a Japanese duo.




The gold-medal winning Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito’s actions in blowing on the ball and touching the table during the match were said to be in violation of rules on Covid safety.




On Weibo, the Chinese social media platform, the hashtag “Mima Ito touches the table” has been viewed more than 13 million times, with some users saying the Japanese players should not have won.




One Chinese-language website said their actions were “ignored by the referee”. 




There are International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Covid safety recommendations, which advise players not to engage in “hand-wiping on the table” and “breathing on the ball for tackiness”.




Some players blow on the ball to make sure it’s as dry as possible when they serve.




The ITTF states that a violation of Covid rules will attract a fine or suspension of the athlete from a competition, so we contacted them to ask about this match.




They put us in touch with leading referee Werner Thury, who explained that the way Ito touched the table during her service did not amount to “hand-wiping on the table surface”. 




He also said that Mizutani’s blowing did not violate Covid guidelines because his mouth was not close enough to the ball.




The ITTF also made clear to us that while potential violations of Covid guidelines are investigated, this is a separate process and the outcome of a match is decided on points alone.


No, a banner behind an Indian medal winner did not thank PM Modi 








In India, a social media post went viral showing silver medal-winning weightlifter Mirabai Chanu at an official ceremony of congratulations, with a banner thanking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visible in the background.




The banner shows a picture of Mr Modi. There is also some Hindi-language text on the banner which reads: “Thank you Mr Modi for getting Mirabai Chanu a medal.”  




Some of those sharing the post asked: “Did Mirabai Chanu get the medal through her hard work or did Mr Modi get it for her?”




The image has been manipulated and the text about thanking Mr Modi added into it. 




image sourcePress Information Bureau, India




The original banner does contain an image of Mr Modi and some text with the name of the athlete, but nothing about thanking the prime minister.




The original appears on some government social media accounts and in a government press release.




Additional reporting by Ahmed Nour and Wanyuan Song.









Read more from Reality Check





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      string(84) "Tokyo Olympics: Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge successfully defends Olympic marathon title"
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      ["pubdate"]=>
      string(31) "Sun, 08 Aug 2021 01:11:32 +0000"
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      ["description"]=>
      string(80) "Dates: 23 July-8 August Time in Tokyo: BST +8 Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV,..."
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Dates: 23 July-8 August Time in Tokyo:  BST +8


Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and online; Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sounds; live text and video clips on BBC Sport website and app.



Kenya’s world record holder Eliud Kipchoge became the first athlete since 1980 to retain an Olympic marathon title with victory at Tokyo 2020.

Kipchoge, only the third person to win successive Olympic marathons, finished in two hours eight minutes 38 seconds.

Regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time, the 36-year-old crossed the line one minute 20 seconds ahead of the Netherlands’ Abdi Nageeye.
In the race for bronze, Belgian Bashir Abdi edged out Kenyan Lawrence Cherono.
“Tokyo 2020 has happened, it means a lot. It means there is hope. It means we are on the right track to a normal life,” Kipchoge told BBC Sport.
“We are on the track to our normal lives, that is the meaning of the Olympics.
“I am happy to defend my title and to show the next generation, if you respect the sport and be disciplined you can accomplish your assignment.”

It is a fourth Olympic medal for Kipchoge, who famously recorded the first sub two hour marathon  in 2019.
Kipchoge suffered his first marathon defeat in seven years in London last October, but he looked in control throughout the race in Sapporo, Japan, before moving well clear of the field after 30km.
The Kenyan – whose official marathon record is the 2:01:39 he ran in Berlin in 2018 – won 5,000m bronze in 2004 and silver in 2008, before claiming his first Olympic gold in Rio five years ago.
Britain’s Chris Thompson  was 54th in 2:21:29, however compatriots Callum Hawkins  and Ben Connor  did not finish the race.
Scottish record holder Hawkins, who collapsed in the Gold Coast heat at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, had placed ninth on his Olympics debut in Rio but was unable to stay with the leaders before withdrawing before the 30-kilometre mark.
On Friday, Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir won the women’s marathon  in 28C heat and, while the temperatures reached 27C on Saturday, the men benefitted from increased cloud cover.
Brazil’s Daniel Do Nascimento suffered a nasty looking fall when in the lead group and was among the 30 athletes to pull out. 


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      string(80) "Dates: 23 July-8 August Time in Tokyo: BST +8 Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV,..."
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Dates: 23 July-8 August Time in Tokyo:  BST +8


Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and online; Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sounds; live text and video clips on BBC Sport website and app.



Kenya’s world record holder Eliud Kipchoge became the first athlete since 1980 to retain an Olympic marathon title with victory at Tokyo 2020.

Kipchoge, only the third person to win successive Olympic marathons, finished in two hours eight minutes 38 seconds.

Regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time, the 36-year-old crossed the line one minute 20 seconds ahead of the Netherlands’ Abdi Nageeye.
In the race for bronze, Belgian Bashir Abdi edged out Kenyan Lawrence Cherono.
“Tokyo 2020 has happened, it means a lot. It means there is hope. It means we are on the right track to a normal life,” Kipchoge told BBC Sport.
“We are on the track to our normal lives, that is the meaning of the Olympics.
“I am happy to defend my title and to show the next generation, if you respect the sport and be disciplined you can accomplish your assignment.”

It is a fourth Olympic medal for Kipchoge, who famously recorded the first sub two hour marathon  in 2019.
Kipchoge suffered his first marathon defeat in seven years in London last October, but he looked in control throughout the race in Sapporo, Japan, before moving well clear of the field after 30km.
The Kenyan – whose official marathon record is the 2:01:39 he ran in Berlin in 2018 – won 5,000m bronze in 2004 and silver in 2008, before claiming his first Olympic gold in Rio five years ago.
Britain’s Chris Thompson  was 54th in 2:21:29, however compatriots Callum Hawkins  and Ben Connor  did not finish the race.
Scottish record holder Hawkins, who collapsed in the Gold Coast heat at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, had placed ninth on his Olympics debut in Rio but was unable to stay with the leaders before withdrawing before the 30-kilometre mark.
On Friday, Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir won the women’s marathon  in 28C heat and, while the temperatures reached 27C on Saturday, the men benefitted from increased cloud cover.
Brazil’s Daniel Do Nascimento suffered a nasty looking fall when in the lead group and was among the 30 athletes to pull out. 


"
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      ["title"]=>
      string(66) "Tokyo 2020: Japan beat US to win first Olympic baseball gold medal"
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      string(107) "https://happynewbaby.com/news/2021/08/07/tokyo-2020-japan-beat-us-to-win-first-olympic-baseball-gold-medal/"
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      ["pubdate"]=>
      string(31) "Sat, 07 Aug 2021 16:21:34 +0000"
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      ["description"]=>
      string(99) "Japan’s win sparked wild celebrations with the whole team rushing onto the field An elated..."
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An elated Japanese side won the coveted Olympic baseball gold at Tokyo 2020 after beating the United States on Saturday. 

No doubt watched by a TV audience of millions across a baseball-mad nation, the hosts won 2-0 in a largely empty Yokohama Baseball Stadium. 

The victory means Team Japan complete an historic double with the women’s softball team already taking gold. 
USA claimed silver with the Dominican Republic taking bronze. 
The winning squad will each receive a cash bonus of 10 million yen (£65,000) in what is a long-awaited first Olympic gold for them in the sport. 
The celebrations on the field showed what it meant to Japan, with the entire team flooding the diamond and hoisting coach Atsunori Inaba into the air. 
Munetaka Murakami hit a solo home run off USA starting pitcher Nick Martinez in the third inning to put Japan ahead.
Tetsuto Yamada then slid home in the eighth to add a second run, beating the tag after an American throwing mix-up. Pitcher Ryoji Kuribayashi then saw the game safely out as the US failed to score. 

Major League Baseball chose not to pause the season to allow its biggest stars to play in Tokyo, with the Americans made up of minor league players. 
One notable player, however, was Eddy Alvarez, who became the sixth person – and third American – to win a medal in different sports at a summer and winter Olympics. He claimed silver in speed skating at Sochi 2014. 
The US have not won baseball gold since 2000 in Sydney and, prior to Tokyo, the hosts had only reached the final in 1996, where they took silver. Japan also gained bronze in 1992 and 2004.
Baseball has been an Olympic sport since 1992, but was not contested in 2012 or in Rio four years later. It will not take place in Paris 2024 either.


"
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      ["summary"]=>
      string(99) "Japan’s win sparked wild celebrations with the whole team rushing onto the field An elated..."
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An elated Japanese side won the coveted Olympic baseball gold at Tokyo 2020 after beating the United States on Saturday. 

No doubt watched by a TV audience of millions across a baseball-mad nation, the hosts won 2-0 in a largely empty Yokohama Baseball Stadium. 

The victory means Team Japan complete an historic double with the women’s softball team already taking gold. 
USA claimed silver with the Dominican Republic taking bronze. 
The winning squad will each receive a cash bonus of 10 million yen (£65,000) in what is a long-awaited first Olympic gold for them in the sport. 
The celebrations on the field showed what it meant to Japan, with the entire team flooding the diamond and hoisting coach Atsunori Inaba into the air. 
Munetaka Murakami hit a solo home run off USA starting pitcher Nick Martinez in the third inning to put Japan ahead.
Tetsuto Yamada then slid home in the eighth to add a second run, beating the tag after an American throwing mix-up. Pitcher Ryoji Kuribayashi then saw the game safely out as the US failed to score. 

Major League Baseball chose not to pause the season to allow its biggest stars to play in Tokyo, with the Americans made up of minor league players. 
One notable player, however, was Eddy Alvarez, who became the sixth person – and third American – to win a medal in different sports at a summer and winter Olympics. He claimed silver in speed skating at Sochi 2014. 
The US have not won baseball gold since 2000 in Sydney and, prior to Tokyo, the hosts had only reached the final in 1996, where they took silver. Japan also gained bronze in 1992 and 2004.
Baseball has been an Olympic sport since 1992, but was not contested in 2012 or in Rio four years later. It will not take place in Paris 2024 either.


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