DEVELOPING Defence rests without Donald Trump taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial
Donald Trump's lawyers rested their defence Tuesday without the former president taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial.
Simone Biles, the U.S. gymnast who withdrew from Tokyo 2020 Olympic events to prioritize her mental health, has thanked fans for their "love and support" amid an outpouring of praise and well wishes from people around the world.
The 24-year-old, who is one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, withdrew from Thursday's individual all-around competition yesterday after stepping away from a dramatic team competition earlier in the week. She cited mental heath concerns and the need to protect "her body and mind."
In a tweet published Wednesday, Biles addressed the support she has since received from fans and said it had shown her she was "more" than her sporting accomplishments.
"The outpouring love and support I've received has made me realize I'm more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before," Biles said.
USA Gymnastics said in a statement earlier on Wednesday that it supported her decision "wholeheartedly" and applauded her "bravery."
"Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many," USA Gymnastics said.
Biles, who had been a favorite to win gold in the final, has won every individual all-around competition that she has entered since 2013 and won four gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
But on Tuesday, while attempting an advanced vault that involves a back handspring with two-and-a-half twists in the air before landing, Biles faltered and left the field of play close to tears.
Writing on Instagram earlier in the week she said she felt "the weight of the world on [her] shoulders at times."
"I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn't affect me but damn sometimes it's hard hahaha!" she wrote in the post.
Her honesty about the pressure of competition and mental health has been supported by fellow athletes, as well as sponsors including Visa, American Airlines and Uber Eats.
Three-time Olympic gold medalist and former teammate Aly Raisman is among those to voice their support for Biles.
She criticized USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic Committee for a lack of leadership in supporting athletes and said athletes were "people at the end of the day."
"USA Gymnastics has been an absolute disaster for years and unfortunately not enough has changed for us to believe in a safer future, but I think this just really shows the lack of leadership [of] USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee," she told CNN's Jake Tapper Tuesday.
"Does Simone have the support that she needs?" continued Raisman. "Do other athletes have the support that they need?"
She added: "It's a tremendous amount of pressure... I'm completely devastated and I support her so much."
Paula Radcliffe, the former team GB runner who was labeled a "quitter" when she was forced to withdrawn from the 2004 Athens Olympic marathon a few miles before the finish line due to injury, spoke of her own experience in an interview with CNN Wednesday.
"Neither one of us quit. Our bodies just weren't able to do it," Radcliffe said.
"Very few people actually understand the relationship between your mind and your body ... particularly in something that's really physically, or mentally -- or both -- taxing, you really need to know when to push through it and when to listen to your body, and it's what has made her the great champion that she is," she added.
"I would argue that she's actually even stronger mentally for being able to make that call now," Radcliffe said of Biles.
Sports stars are becoming more open about the pressures they face.
In May, four-time major tennis champion Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open, citing mental health reasons.
The 23-year-old revealed she had suffered with anxiety and depression.
"The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that," she said in a statement at the time.
"Anyone that knows me knows I'm introverted, and anyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I'm often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety."
Donald Trump's lawyers rested their defence Tuesday without the former president taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial.
One passenger was killed and 30 injured after a Singapore Airlines SIAL.SI flight from London hit severe turbulence en route on Tuesday, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, officials and the airline said.
Anything is possible this week, as far as Canada's weather is concerned, with forecasts ranging from scorching heat in some parts of the country to rain and snow in others.
Canada's annual inflation rate slowed to a three-year low of 2.7 per cent in April, matching expectations, and core measures continued to ease, data showed on Tuesday, likely boosting chances of a June interest rate cut.
Donald Trump's reelection campaign called 'The Apprentice,' a film about the former U.S. president in the 1980s, 'pure fiction' and vowed legal action following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. But director Ali Abbasi is offering to privately screen the film for Trump.
Nestle NESN.S will market a new, US$5 line of frozen pizzas and protein-enriched pastas in the United States which it says it designed specifically for people taking drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss.
If you've been to a party lately and haven't seen someone drinking a BORG, you're likely not partying with college students.
As the month-long boycott of Loblaw-owned stores wears on, small independent food retailers and alternative grocery options say they're seeing a boost in traffic and sales.
Prince Harry can't expand his privacy lawsuit against The Sun tabloid publisher to include allegations that Rupert Murdoch and some other executives were part of an effort to conceal and destroy evidence of unlawful information gathering, a London judge ruled Tuesday.
For those who go to their local libraries often, they know there’s much more to their library than just borrowing books. Local libraries in Atlantic Canada are now renting out a broader range of items for people.
Flashes of purple darting across the sky mixed with the serenading sound of songs will be noticed more with spring in full force in Manitoba.
Catching 'em all with impressive speed, a 7-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. who only started his competitive Pokémon journey seven months ago has already levelled up to compete at a world championship level.
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
2b Theatre recently moved into the old Video Difference building, seeking to transform it into an artistic hub, meeting space, and temporary housing unit for visiting performers in Halifax.
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.