casino plus download It looked like a recipe for disaster. So, when his country's swimmers were being accused of doping earlier this year, one Chinese official cooked up something fast. He blamed it on contaminated noodles. In fact, he argued, it could have been a culinary conspiracy concocted by criminals, whose actions led to the cooking wine used to prepare the noodles being laced with a banned heart drug that found its way into an athlete's system. This theory was spelled out to international anti-doping officials during a meeting and, after weeks of wrangling, finally made it into the thousands of pages of data handed over to the lawyer who investigated the case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for that same drug. The attorney, appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, refused to consider that scenario as he sifted through the evidence. In spelling out his reasoning, lawyer Eric Cottier paid heed to the half-baked nature of the theory. “The Investigator considers this scenario, which he has described in the conditional tense, to be possible, no less, no more,” Cottier wrote. Even without the contaminated-noodles theory, Cottier found problems with the way WADA and the Chinese handled the case but ultimately determined WADA had acted reasonably in not appealing China's conclusion that its athletes had been inadvertently contaminated. Critics of the way the China case was handled can't help but wonder if a wider exploration of the noodle theory, details of which were discovered by The Associated Press via notes and emails from after the meeting where it was delivered, might have lent a different flavor to Cottier's conclusions. “There are more story twists to the ways the Chinese explain the TMZ case than a James Bond movie,” said Rob Koehler, the director general of the advocacy group Global Athlete. "And all of it is complete fiction.” In April, reporting from the New York Times and the German broadcaster ARD revealed that the 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine, also known as TMZ. China's anti-doping agency determined the athletes had been contaminated, and so, did not sanction them. WADA accepted that explanation , did not press the case further, and China was never made to deliver a public notice about the “no-fault findings,” as is often seen in similar cases. The stock explanation for the contamination was that traces of TMZ were found in the kitchen of a hotel where the swimmers were staying. In his 58-page report , Cottier relayed some suspicions about the feasibility of that chain of events — noting that WADA's chief scientist “saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities.” But without evidence to support pursuing the case, and with the chance of winning an appeal at almost nil, Cottier determined WADA's “decision not to appeal appears indisputably reasonable.” A mystery remained: How did those traces of TMZ get into the kitchen? Shortly after the doping positives were revealed, the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations held a meeting on April 30 where it heard from the leader of China's agency, Li Zhiquan. Li's presentation was mostly filled with the same talking points that have been delivered throughout the saga — that the positive tests resulted from contamination from the kitchen. But he expanded on one way the kitchen might have become contaminated, harkening to another case in China involving a low-level TMZ positive. A pharmaceutical factory, he explained, had used industrial alcohol in the distillation process for producing TMZ. The industrial alcohol laced with the drug “then entered the market through illegal channels,” he said. The alcohol "was re-used by the perpetrators to process and produce cooking wine, which is an important seasoning used locally to make beef noodles,” Li said. “The contaminated beef noodles were consumed by that athlete, resulting in an extremely low concentration of TMZ in the positive sample. "The wrongdoers involved have been brought to justice.” This new information raised eyebrows among the anti-doping leaders listening to Li's report. So much so that over the next month, several emails ensued to make sure the details about the noodles and wine made their way to WADA lawyers, who could then pass it onto Cottier. Eventually, Li did pass on the information to WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel and, just to be sure, one of the anti-doping leaders forwarded it, as well, according to the emails seen by the AP. All this came with Li's request that the noodles story be kept confidential. Turns out, it made it into Cottier's report, though he took the information with a grain of salt. “Indeed, giving it more attention would have required it to be documented, then scientifically verified and validated,” he wrote. Neither Wenzel nor officials at the Chinese anti-doping agency returned messages from AP asking about the noodles conspiracy and the other athlete who Li suggested had been contaminated by them. Meanwhile, 11 of the swimmers who originally tested positive competed at the Paris Games earlier this year in a meet held under the cloud of the Chinese doping case. Though WADA considers the case closed, Koehler and others point to situations like this as one of many reasons that an investigation by someone other than Cottier, who was hired by WADA, is still needed. “It gives the appearance that people are just making things up as they go along on this, and hoping the story just goes away," Koehler said. “Which clearly it has not.” AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-gamesPrime Minister Justin Trudeau was taking part in a cabinet committee meeting on Canada-U.S. relations today, amid increasing calls for his resignation. A mid-day adjustment to Trudeau’s itinerary was issued by the Prime Minister’s Office and noted he was taking part in the meeting virtually, though a specific time wasn’t listed. Neither Trudeau, nor Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc issued a public comment after the meeting. Last week was a chaotic one for the governing Liberals, starting with Chrystia Freeland’s cabinet resignation just hours after she was set to table the fall economic statement. RELATED: Political strategist weighs in on tumultuous week in Ottawa for Trudeau Freeland and LeBlanc have previously spoken with the media at the conclusion of these cabinet committee meetings on dealing with the incoming Trump administration. The committee was reformed following Donald Trump’s re-election, and a chief topic of discussion at the meetings has been border security after the incoming president threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian products. Several Liberal MPs publicly called for Trudeau to step down as Liberal leader since Freeland’s resignation, and the NDP has joined the other major opposition parties in saying it no longer has confidence in the minority Liberal government. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2024

Referee David Coote will not appeal against termination of contract

Letter of agreement: US manufacturer, UET to establish training centreABU DHABI, Emirados Árabes Unidos--(BUSINESS WIRE)--nov 26, 2024-- A Cúpula de IA de Código Aberto de Abu Dhabi, organizada pelo Instituto de Inovação Tecnológica (TII), um centro global de pesquisa científica aplicada, teve início com conversas críticas que moldarão a agenda global de IA. Regis Saadiyat Island, hoje e amanhã, com a presença de mais de 300 pessoas, converge com o crescente foco internacional na atração e no impulso entre IA de código aberto e fechado. Este comunicado de imprensa inclui multimédia. Veja o comunicado completo aqui: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241126392436/pt/ Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute Inaugurates Open-Source AI Summit with Critical Discussions on the Future of AI (Photo: AETOSWire) “Existem duas escolhas críticas ao se referir à IA”, disse Sua Excelência Faisal Al Bannai, secretário-geral do Conselho de Pesquisa em Tecnologia Avançada e conselheiro do presidente dos Emirados Árabes Unidos. “Você pode utilizar um modelo de IA de código fechado que pertence a uma empresa. Eles o controlam, incluindo os dados que você fornece. A inovação começa e termina com eles”. “Como alternativa, você pode usar um modelo de código aberto que cresce dentro da comunidade. Inovamos juntos, e qualquer pessoa, em qualquer lugar, pode acessá-lo e desenvolvê-lo. Se a IA vai fazer parte do tecido de nossa sociedade – e ela fará –, países, empresas e indivíduos precisam decidir quem a controla. A abertura dos modelos Falcon AI foi a contribuição do TII para o mundo”. A Dra. Najwa Aaraj, diretora-executiva do TII, que abriu a cúpula, afirmou: “A Cúpula de IA de Código Aberto em Abu Dhabi é um momento decisivo para o discurso global sobre IA. O Falcon, assim como outros modelos de código aberto, une cientistas, desenvolvedores e inovadores para acelerar avanços tecnológicos como um catalisador para mudanças globais. Estamos ansiosos para ver o impacto contínuo que ele terá, especialmente enquanto continuamos nosso trabalho com a Falcon Foundation”. A agenda da cúpula continuou com discussões de palestrantes renomados, incluindo o Dr. Belgacem Haba, vice-presidente da Adeia Corporation nos EUA, que falou sobre os desafios que a IA criou no setor de fabricação de semicondutores. Philip Torr, professor e conselheiro científico chefe da Universidade de Oxford, no Reino Unido, falou sobre quem deve ser o proprietário da IA, abordando as possíveis desvantagens, bem como a regulamentação, e argumentando que, a longo prazo, os benefícios da IA de código aberto superam os riscos. O Dr. Hakim Hacid, principal pesquisador do Centro de Pesquisa em IA do TII, afirmou: “Acreditamos que a IA de código aberto é o caminho a seguir, mas está longe de ser simples – existem desafios e questões sobre controle, políticas, poder de computação e hardware que precisamos abordar. É por isso que estamos reunindo tantos especialistas globais nesta cúpula e continuaremos a fazê-lo nos próximos anos, em parceria com a Falcon Foundation. Essas conversas são cruciais”. Entre os palestrantes posteriores estarão a Dra. Natalia Vassilieva, vice-presidente e CTO de campo da Cerebras Systems nos EUA, o Dr. June Paik, fundador e CEO da FuriosaAI nos EUA, o Dr. Armand Joulin, diretor de pesquisa da Google DeepMind na França, e o Dr. Michal Valko, engenheiro principal da Llama na Meta Paris na França. Eles falarão sobre graus de abertura de IA, computação sustentável de IA, criação de LLMs mais compactos, aproveitamento de modelos de base para algoritmos confiáveis e muito mais. O Dr. Jingwei Zuo do TII falará sobre o Falcon Mamba, o primeiro Modelo de Linguagem de Espaço de Estado, construído com uma arquitetura totalmente nova e lançado no início deste ano. O evento culminará em um painel liderado pelo TII sobre sua visão para IA de código aberto. A série Falcon AI LLM do TII ganhou reconhecimento global. A série começou com o lançamento do Falcon 40B, o primeiro LLM de código aberto dos Emirados Árabes Unidos, em maio de 2023. Desde então, os modelos subsequentes do Falcon têm consistentemente figurado entre os principais modelos de IA de código aberto globalmente, como validado pelo ranking independente do setor, Hugging Face. Um novo modelo do Falcon é esperado até o final de 2024. *Fonte: AETOSWire O texto no idioma original deste anúncio é a versão oficial autorizada. As traduções são fornecidas apenas como uma facilidade e devem se referir ao texto no idioma original, que é a única versão do texto que tem efeito legal. Ver a versão original em businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241126392436/pt/ CONTACT: Victoria Meven victoria.meven@edelman.com KEYWORD: UNITED STATES FRANCE UNITED KINGDOM UNITED ARAB EMIRATES NORTH AMERICA EUROPE MIDDLE EAST INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SCIENCE SOFTWARE OTHER SCIENCE RESEARCH HARDWARE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGY OTHER TECHNOLOGY SOURCE: Technology Innovation Institute Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 11/26/2024 04:12 PM/DISC: 11/26/2024 04:13 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241126392436/pt

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Chris Cenac Jr., the top center in the Class of 2025 according to the ESPN100, has committed to play for the Houston Cougars. The five-star recruit announced his decision Tuesday via the Bleacher Report's B/R App. Cenac previously said he wouldn't make his decision until the spring, but his stock soared over the summer after his impressive play on the Puma Pro 16 circuit with Dallas-based YGC, vaulting him into the national top-10 rankings. The 6-foot-10 New Orleans native was reportedly choosing between LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, Baylor, Kentucky, Tennessee and others before making the decision to join Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson's team. "I just like the coaching staff a lot, I like their plan to develop me and I like coming into a winning program," Cenac told 247Sports. "I'm looking forward to producing and just helping them win more. But the main thing was development and them being able to get me better so I can be ready for that next level." Cenac's rating of .9978 by 247Sports Composite makes him the Cougars' highest-rated commit in the modern era, according to multiple outlets. "They see me as a four who can kind of play all over the court and do everything," Cenac told 247Sports. "I can get rebounds, push the ball, shoot and play all over the floor." With Cenac joining other Houston commits like five-star shooting guard Isaiah Harwell, four-star point guard Kingston Flemings and three-star wing Bryce Jackson, Houston's Class of 2025 is ranked No. 2 in the nation by 247Sports and ESPN. --Field Level MediaJewelry conference and exhibition held

Ana Siucho and Edison Flores have once again demonstrated the strength of their marriage by celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary. The couple, who have been under public scrutiny due to rumors of separation and infidelity, made it clear that their relationship remains strong. The presence of both at a recent marriage, where they were photographed together, dispelled speculation about a possible breakup. On another occasion, Edison Flores, a well-known Universitario soccer player, responded firmly to questions about his marital status in a recent interview, stating: “Yes, I’m still with my wife,” accompanied by a broad smile. This statement was enough to calm the breakup rumors that were circulating about their relationship. What did Grasse Becerra say about the marriage of Ana Siucho and Edison Flores? The news of the anniversary did not go unnoticed by Grasse Becerra. Through the ‘Instarándula’ account, managed by journalist Samuel Suárez, the model sent a message in which she reaffirmed her position on the relationship. Edison Flores and Ana Siucho . In his message, Becerra commented: “Jijiji. I told him, they didn’t finish. No one believed me, a total credit to Anita, that girl. Oh... I thought she was smarter.” This comment adds to a series of confrontations between Becerra and Siucho, who had a fight on social networks weeks ago, when the model accused the doctor of working illegally in the United States. The presence of Ana Siucho and Edison Flores in a recent wedding, captured by a guest and shared on Instagram, reflects the unity and complicity of the couple. Despite the extortion threats that led Siucho to travel to the United States and the lack of publications on social networks, the couple has managed to keep their relationship away from scandals. This context, along with the statements of Edison Flores, helps to understand the dynamics of a relationship that has been the subject of public speculation, but that continues to demonstrate its strength. Join our entertainment channel

2024 World Cold Chain Symposium, Focused on Building a Sustainable Cold Chain, Replay Now Available OnlineMinnesota firearms deer harvest remains above 2023 after third weekend, DNR saysPresident-elect Donald Trump has promised an overhaul of the Justice Department when he returns to the White House. Pam Bondi is now Trump’s latest pick to be the next attorney general. The former Florida AG was named after Trump’s first pick, Matt Gaetz, took his name out of the running while dealing with a series of scandals and investigations. Trump has long promised to shake up the country’s top law enforcement divisions. “We will clean out all of the corrupt actors in our National Security and Intelligence apparatus, and there are plenty of them. The departments and agencies that have been weaponized will be completely overhauled,” Trump said in one of his campaign videos posted in 2023. Trump and his allies have pointed to the president-elect’s legal troubles as evidence of a corrupt system that he vows to upend. “The DOJ and the FBI has been politicized. There’s no question about it. We’ve seen what they’ve done to President Trump. We’ve seen the attacks that they continue to go after him with the DOJ is 100 percent weaponized,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., during an appearance on NBC. There’s speculation Trump will also look for a new leader of the FBI. Trump appointed current FBI Director Christopher Wray in 2017, but he’s become a frequent target of Republicans during his tenure. A now-deleted post on X from Vice President-elect J.D. Vance indicated Vance was meeting with Trump this past week “to interview multiple positions for our government, including FBI director.” Wray and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas were set to attend public congressional hearings this week on national security threats. However, they were postponed over an apparent disagreement between officials and lawmakers about whether the hearings should be held in public. The decision drew bipartisan criticism. “The FBI has sort of been front and center whether it’s the censorship industrial complex that’s existed, or going after Catholics, or investigating, quite frankly, parents that showed up to school board meetings under the auspices of the Patriot Act, the Department of Justice has really gone astray and it’s time for Christopher Wray to go, as well,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said this week. Wray’s full term would run until 2027 if Trump wants to keep him. It seems like a long shot at this point after Trump previously called for Wray to resign and accused him of lying to Congress when he vouched for President Joe Biden’s mental acuity earlier this year.

Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Revealed: Next Film Is ‘Mythic Action Epic’ Shot With New Imax TechnologyInvestors who own these ASX sure got some big returns in 2024. What do they have in common? They are all examples of , a strategy whereby investors focus on advancing particular social or ethical causes while still being able to generate financial returns. This investment style is undoubtedly on the rise. The showed that 31% of investors were conscious. The report also found that 23% of investors bought or sold an investment based on environmental factors during that year. In 2024, ethical ASX ETFs showed investors that they can have their cake and eat it, too, enjoying strong gains through ethical funds. Let's take a closer look. Ethical shmethical Making financial decisions with the goal of contributing positively to the planet is a noble cause. It's also important to recognise how these ETFs are actually constructed. Different ethical ETFs use different strategies. Some ETFs actively include specific types of holdings to build their portfolio, such as targeting climate leaders in a certain industry. Other ETFs use a strategy of actively excluding specific companies based on established criteria. For example, an ETF may exclude companies that negatively impact the environment. Or it might exclude companies linked to fossil fuels, nuclear power, tobacco or weapons. I'm not here to rain on anyone's parade, but I do think it's important for investors to decide for themselves how they interpret 'ethical' and 'sustainable' when it comes to their personal investment choices. With that in mind, these ethically conscious ETFs had strong gains in 2024. 28.9% This ASX ETF excludes companies that have a specified level of business involvement in fossil fuels, nuclear power, alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, gambling, adult entertainment or weapons. Due to its screening process, it has a large exposure to the US technology sector. Its largest holdings are , , and . These holdings are likely to have influenced its strong performance in 2024, given this year's monster rally in tech and artificial intelligence shares. This ETF might particularly interest investors looking to invest in some of the largest, ethically conscious companies based outside Australia. Betashares Global Sustainability Leaders ETF ( ) 23.4% The ETHI ETF aims to track the performance of an index that includes a portfolio of large global stocks identified as climate leaders. Similar to other ethical ETFs, ETHI excludes companies with direct or significant exposure to fossil fuels, gambling, tobacco, animal cruelty and weapons. This ASX ETF then goes a step further by excluding companies with human rights concerns or gender inequality. " and as it's "implicated in workplace relations-related controversies". The fund consists of the 200 largest companies that fit this criteria. Its strong performance in 2024 was influenced by strong growth from significant holdings such as Apple, NVIDIA, , and . 12.01% The VETH ETF excludes the securities of companies that have a specified level of business involvement in fossil fuels, nuclear power, alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, gambling, adult entertainment or weapons. It has a large exposure to the Australian financial sector, with the Big Four ASX banks comprising more than 25% of holdings. This has largely influenced its strong returns this year. VETH might not consist solely of companies dedicated to sustainability or climate action, but it may interest investors looking for significant exposure to ASX while avoiding specific mining or gambling companies that may be included in other ASX 200 or 300 tracking ETFs.