For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Thanks to wildfires, air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report.
China's Yang Qian won the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday after prevailing in a battle of nerves with Russian Anastasiia Galashina in the women's 10-metre rifle final.
Galashina barely made it to the final, grabbing the last of the eight qualifying slots, but was in pole position for gold until she cracked under the pressure.
That pressure also weighed heavily on South Korean shooting great Jin Jong-oh, whose quest for a record-extending fifth individual Olympic gold fell short when he failed to qualify for the final of the men's 10m air pistol.
Javad Foroughi comfortably beat an elite field to win gold, Iran's first ever shooting medal, with a Games record total of 244.8 in the final.
Foroughi told reporters he was able to maintain his composure in the final because he had stumbled in qualification but still made it through.
"That's why I was relaxed during the final because in the qualification round I was so nervous and still did well," he said.
Serbian Damir Mikec finished second on 237.9, ahead of 2008 Beijing Olympics champion Pang Wei of China. Defending Olympic champion Hoang Xuan Vinh of Vietnam could not make the final.
In the women's rifle final, Galashina's hopes were dashed by her last shot of 8.9, which was the lowest of any competitor in the final, leaving her on a total of 251.1.
Yang was not immune to the pressure at the Asaka Shooting Range either but her below-par final shot of 9.8 was still enough to snatch the gold with an Olympic record total of 251.8.
In the stands, supporters and team mates watched the nail-biting women's final, cheering to the rock music piped into the venue.
"We did train how to perform under pressure. The coaches would actually create a nerve-wracking atmosphere and try to pressure us," Yang told reporters after winning an event which did not feature a single medallist from Rio.
Galashina said the pressure got to her on the final shot.
"I got too nervous, held on too long. My thoughts were not in the right place. I lost concentration. The explanation is very simple," Galashina said.
Russian athletes are competing under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) at the Tokyo Olympics this year as part of sanctions for several doping scandals.
Norwegian Jeanette Hegg Duestad had set an Olympic qualifying record of 632.9 to reach the final but finished just outside the medals.
(Reporting by Mari Saito and Amlan Chakraborty; Additional reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Thanks to wildfires, air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report.
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.