That was clear hours before the competition even started, with the world's media eyeing the 24-year-old's every move as she warmed up on the balance beam. With Biles, considered by many as the greatest gymnast of all time and also lauded around the world for raising mental health awareness during these Olympics, Hashimoto's home-crowd appeal was no match. As Biles collected a bronze medal on the beam and exited the competition floor, journalists and photographers followed en masse for her media briefing. But Hashimoto, who turns 20 in four days, said he was not quite ready to step into those shoes. "But I will do my best, practise more and try to live up to his reputation and level."

(Aug 3): Assicurazioni Generali SpA Chief Executive Officer Philippe Donnet said it’s too early to speak about a possible new term before the expiration of his mandate next year. Donnet, backed by Generali’s top investor Mediobanca SpA, was named to the job five years ago, replacing Mario Greco. The French native, 61, joined the firm as CEO of Generali Italy in 2013, after holding various roles at insurance companies in Italy, France and Asia. Cutting CostsAs CEO, Donnet has cut costs, focused on digitalisation and expanded into more lucrative product areas and higher-margin insurance to boost profitability. Generali in November confirmed its three-year strategy and financial targets for this year, despite the pandemic effect.

WASHINGTON (Aug 3): It took a pandemic for America’s army of gig workers to win access to some of the social protections that regular employees enjoy. For Rubi Jones, a 33-year-old freelance hairstylist, the PUA was “a breath of fresh air.” In the absence of any safety net, her strategy often was to work long hours. With less job security, what workers really need is a stronger social safety net, Sherbin said. Back in LimboInstead, many US gig workers are getting thrown back into the safety-net limbo that preceded the pandemic. The unemployment insurance that the PUA offered isn’t the only safety net that freelancers aspire to.

PETALING JAYA: The withdrawal of support by Umno MPs for the present Perikatan Nasional government must be backed by statutory declarations (SDs) to the King, say constitutional experts. For a leader to remain as prime minister, Shamrahayu said the requirement is that he must be able to maintain his support among MPs. So far, the accepted practice is that MPs send or sign SDs," she told The Star on Tuesday (Aug 3). Dr Sivamurugan said that ultimately it will once again boil down to the numbers game to show that the prime minister still has the support of MPs. Earlier, Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi dropped a bombshell after he revealed that 11 Umno MPs have signed SDs to withdraw support from the Perikatan government and these SDs have been presented to Istana Negara.

IPOH (Aug 3): Datuk Seri Shamsul Anuar Nasarah today announced his resignation as the Energy and Natural Resources Minister as he wants to focus on his role as a Member of Parliament (MP) and help strengthen his party in facing an increasingly challenging political situation. The MP for Lenggong said he made this decision after taking into consideration several decisions and stands made by UMNO. “First, I would like to record my thanks to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for giving me an opportunity to serve as Energy and Natural Resources Minister, and also the UMNO leadership for recommending me as a federal minister. “After considering several decisions and stands taken by the party, I, as an obedient and loyal UMNO member, hereby tender my resignation as a member of the Federal Government Cabinet,” he said in a three-paragraph statement this evening.

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 3): The Financial Planning Association of Malaysia (FPAM) recently announced the appointments of its members to the Board of Governors effective June 26, for the term 2021-2023. “We are pleased to welcome the new line-up of board members to drive sustainability, membership growth and remain as industry thought leaders in FPAM. We believe they will provide valuable perspectives and contribution as we continue to execute our strategies,” said FPAM Chief Executive Officer Linnet Lee. According to a statement, the combined specialisation of its Board Members in financial planning, wealth management, insurance, investment and education provides the right mix of skills and experience to continue upholding FPAM’s vision and mission. FPAM is the pioneer professional body for financial planning in Malaysia.

PETALING JAYA: None came close in comparison to the rivalry between China's Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia at the Tokyo Games. Despite a commanding head-to-head record over Chong Wei throughout their fascinating rivalry, legendary Lin Dan revealed that the Malaysian remained his most feared rival. And the feeling is mutual as Chong Wei recalled how Lin Dan has haunted him throughout his career. The 38-year-old Chong Wei even joked that he thinks about his nemesis more than his wife Wong Mew Choo. Lin Dan quipped: "Chong Wei, now you know it was not easy for me too.

PETALING JAYA: Umno's Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah has resigned as Energy and Natural Resources Minister. His resignation was announced in a press statement released on Tuesday (Aug 3). "Firstly, I would like to thank the Prime Minister for giving me the chance to serve as the Energy and Natural Resources Minister and also the Umno leadership, who proposed me for the position of a federal minister. "Taking into account several decisions and the party's stand, therefore, as a loyal Umno member, I hereby tender my resignation as a Cabinet minister. Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is expected to give a press conference later this evening following an emergency Umno Supreme Council meeting held virtually.

Benjamin took silver for the U.S. in 46.17 after staying neck-and-neck with Warholm going into the final straight. "If you would have told me I would run 46.1 and lose, I would probably beat you up," Benjamin later said. And I saw 46.1 and was like, 'There's no way I really ran 46 and lost'." Benjamin said Tuesday's 400m final will probably go down as the best race in the history of the Games. At 24, Benjamin is a year younger than the Norwegian and he predicted that their rivalry could have more in store.

Greysia and Apriyani were on a mission to win the first ever gold medal for Indonesia’s women’s doubles team while Chen and Jia were trying to bring back gold supremacy in Chinese women’s doubles. Through all the challenges and knockouts that we have had, [we] must persevere because this gold medal, this moment, this was our aim for all this time. The gold medal surely means so much for Greysia, who has been through a lot as a badminton player, especially in the last decade. “When people said: 'You're not going to make it, Indonesia doesn't have the history in women's doubles.' Indonesia bagged another medal in badminton on Monday, after Anthony Sinisuka Ginting defeated Guatemalan Kevin Cordon 21-11, 21-13 in the men’s singles bronze medal match.

The circus was back in town for a while last week, and yes, I am talking about Malaysia's Parliament. (Note that I wrote this column after the third meeting held on Wednesday, July 28, before we all watched the chaos unfold on Thursday, which is a story for another day.) The Health Minister was lambasted for not approving the drug while people lay dying in ICUs. Those MPs said they are not concerned with waiting for trials, they want the medicine to be offered now. The minister agreed, saying “I think we can work together on this, Yang Berhomat”, to which Dr Dzul responded, “Excellent, Mentri.

It will be the second-biggest listing of a fintech firm after cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s US$51 billion IPO earlier this year. Second, fintechs or neobanks are cutting costs aggressively and do not have the legacy costs of bank branches. Using cloud computing platforms and renting software, fintechs can deliver services at a fraction of the cost of banking incumbents. Of the top four unicorns in the world, two are fintechs, according to CB Insights, a start-up advisory firm in New York. The fintech market mania has been fuelled by a wave of blank-cheque special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) targeting fintech firms.

Some (if not many) Malaysians are still behaving so irresponsibly in the midst of this dire Covid-19 pandemic. Upon arrival, he was stopped from entering the house because his mother has just received news that she had tested positive for Covid-19. Or do we still think that as long it’s someone we know, it’s safe because they can’t possibly be infected? And she has been asked to go in to her office on Monday even though the company is aware that her whole household has tested positive. Dear Malaysians, this is how ignorant and irresponsible some of us have been and still are.

BUY now, pay later (BNPL) is fast emerging as a popular payment method in the e-commerce space in Asia, and Malaysia is catching on to the trend. But then I see that there is a BNPL option where I can pay in three instalments, and this works for me. In India, Pine Labs has a massive 95% market share of offline BNPL services. Together, we aim to help [merchants] drive business growth through BNPL payment acceptance processed via Pine Labs’ merchants payment technology,” Hazra says. Meanwhile, as acceptance of BNPL grows, Pine Labs is considering an initial public offering.

What I liked about PJ Old Town was its close-knit community,” he recalls, adding that it was a place where everyone knew each other’s name. “Rezoning PJ Old Town to commercial use may emulate the successful redevelopment of Petaling Jaya’s Section 13,” he says. “When the zoning is changed to commercial, the land in PJ Old Town will be an ideal target for developers wishing to develop commercial projects in the Old Town areas.”Outlook“All four sections in PJ Old Town were not very active in 2020. “Many existing buildings in PJ Old Town are old buildings, which may be physically and economically obsolete. “Due to its strategic location, PJ Old Town is ready for redevelopment, which should be carried out holistically, and priority should be given to old and obsolete buildings to optimise the potential of the location.”According to Laurelcap’s Toh, “Transactions have been relatively slow in PJ Old Town, with two transactions occurring in 2021, and five transactions in 2020 in Section 4.