Eight Things To Talk About For Wednesday, July 28, 2021

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The 8 topics that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:

SIMONE BILES PULLS OUT OF US WOMEN’S OLYMPIC TEAM FINALS 
In a surprise reversal of her Tokyo Olympic hopes, Simone Biles exited the women’s gymnastics team final early on Tuesday night in Japan — after briefly leaving the competition floor following a botched showing on the vault, her first event. Speaking after the final ended, Biles said she was “okay, just dealing with some things internally which will get fixed out in the next couple of days.” Her choice was not connected to an injury, she said. Instead she described an almost overbearing amount of stress in the lead-up to Tuesday night.
[SOURCE: people.com / ENGAGEMENT: 28.97%]

“THE GREEN KNIGHT” HAS BEEN PULLED FROM MOVIE THEATERS IN ENGLAND
The Green Knight, A24’s much anticipated Arthurian epic fantasy film starring Dev Patel, will not be hitting theaters in the UK on August 6 as originally planned. The decision was taken by UK distribution company Entertainment Film Distributors (EFD) in light of COVID-19 concerns, although the UK is witnessing a decline in the COVID cases. The UK removed almost all restrictions on July 19, but is seeing a surge of the more virulent and dangerous Delta variant, despite overall COVID cases in decline. The US release on July 30 shall go as planned. The movie has been a big hit with critics, and cinema goers are waiting to see what such a talented cast has brought to the screen.
[SOURCE: buzzfeed.com / ENGAGMENT: 16.27%]

NAOMI OSAKA KNOCKED OUT OF OLYMPICS IN STRAIGHT SETS BY 42nd RANKED PLAYER 
Naomi Osaka was knocked out of the women’s singles tennis at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday when she suffered a surprise defeat in the third round of competition to Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic. Vondrousova, the 2019 French Open runner-up, is ranked no. 42 in the world. She beat Osaka, who is ranked no. 2, in just 1 hour and 8 minutes of play. That makes Vondrousova the first player to move through to the quarter-finals. Vondrousova beat Osaka 6-1, 6-4 in the third round of competition at the Ariake Tennis Park. The roof was closed on Tuesday due to rain from the incoming Tropical Storm Nepartak.
[SOURCE: time.com – ENGAGEMENT: 13.69%]

MISSING MAN FEARED DEAD IN PLANE CRASH 45 YEARS AGO PLANS REUNION WITH STUNNED FAMILY
Sajid Thungal, now 70, left his home town of Kottayam, India, back in 1974 to work in the Persian Guf. The then 22-year-old left behind his parents, four brothers and four sisters and began organising events in Abu Dhabi for singers and dancers from India. But in October 1976, a troupe of performers Mr Thungal had spent 10 days working with died in a plane crash. All 95 passengers and crew on board the Indian Airlines flight to Madras lost their lives when the plane crashed after one of its engines caught fire. Mr Thungal was feared dead by his family and, racked by grief and guilt, he did not contact his loved ones. He then moved to Mumbai (formerly Bombay) in 1982, and has lived there ever since, reports the National News. Two years ago, a friend found Mr Thungal destitute and so ill he could barely walk, and took him to a shelter.
[SOURCE: the-sun.com / ENGAGEMENT: 11.11%]

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CFA LEVEL 1 PASS RATE PLUMMETS TO RECORD LOW OF 25% 
The pass rate for the Chartered Financial Analyst Level I exam administered in May was the lowest since testing began in 1963. Twenty-five percent of applicants passed the latest test, down from 44% for those who sat for the February examination, according to the CFA Institute’s website. The 10-year average pass rate is 42%. Nearly 26,000 candidates sat for the Level I exam, which was administered at test centers around the world, the CFA Institute said in a statement Tuesday. Passing all three CFA exams can lead to higher salaries and better job opportunities. Candidates on average study 300 hours for each level and take four years to complete the series.
[SOURCE: bloomberg.com / ENGAGEMENT: 8.53%]

FORMER US SEN. MIKE ENZI DIES AFTER BEING INJURED IN BICYCLE ACCIDENT   
Former US Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, 77, died Monday following a bike accident last week that left him seriously injured. The senator’s family announced his passing in a message posted to Enzi’s Twitter page late Monday. On Friday, Enzi was riding a bike near his home in Gillette, Wyo., when something went awry. He was badly injured and needed to be flown to UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colo. The Republican was elected to the Senate in 1996 and decided not to seek re-election in 2020.
[SOURCE: nypost.com / ENGAEGEMENT: 8.13%]

LEGENDARY 23RD WWE WRESTLER SUPER PORKY DEAD AT 58
Former WWE wrestler Super Porky has died aged 58 amid reports that he was suffering from health problems. The legendary 23st sports entertainer, real name José Luis Alvarado Nieves, died at his home in Mexico City on Monday. The cause of the sports entertainer’s death is not yet known but it’s reported that his “legs couldn’t take his weight”, according to wrestling magazine Súper Luchas. Super Porky signed for WWE in 2005 and was part of the “Juniors Division” before being released a year later. He gained the nickname “Super Porky” after jokes were made about his weight, according to reports. The legendary wrestler made his debut in 1977 as a masked character named Brazo de Plata (Silver Arm), according to the Wrestling Observer.
[SOURCE: the-sun.com / ENGAGEMENT: 7.14%]

SAUDI ARABIA LAYS 3-YEAR TRAVEL BAN FOR CITIZENS VISITING ‘RED LIST’ COUNTRIES
Saudi Arabia will impose a three-year travel ban on citizens travelling to countries on the kingdom’s ‘red list’ under efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus and its new variants, state news agency SPA said on Tuesday. It cited an unnamed interior ministry official as saying some Saudi citizens, who in May were allowed to travel abroad without prior permission from authorities for the first time since March 2020, had violated travel regulations. Saudi Arabia has banned travel to or transit at a number of countries including Afghanistan, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates. The kingdom, the largest Gulf state with a population of some 30 million, on Tuesday recorded 1,379 new COVID-19 infections, bringing its total to 520,774 cases and 8,189 deaths. It saw daily infections fall from a peak above 4,000 in June 2020 to below the 100 mark in early January.
[SOURCE: indianexpress.com / ENGAGEMENT: 6.15%]

Eight Things To Talk About uses the raw engagement data from the social media engagement from The Conversation Project to generate the top-ranking headlines over the course of the past day.

A full weeks’ data (from Friday to Friday) is compiled, weighed, and sorted to produce the content for the Weekly Wrap-Up with J Cleveland Payne, published every Saturday as a podcast available at ThisIsTheConversation.com or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

To ‘participate’ in the rankings of the headlines for this newsletter or the podcast, follow the Conversation Project on social media and engage with the posts to give them more ‘votes.’ The Conversation Project can be found on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.

Connect with us directly by emailing us at theconversationinbox@gmail.com or by simply visiting thisistheconversation.com.

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