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fishing diving The list of President-elect Donald Trump's legal cases is shrinking — or being delayed. On Monday, Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion to dismiss the Washington, D.C. election subversion case. He also asked a federal appeals court to stop reviewing the classified documents case in Florida. On Tuesday, that court granted dismissal of the case against Trump — though not against other appellees. In dismissing the cases, the Special Counsel cited the Department of Justice's long-standing policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents. "After careful consideration, the Department has determined that OLC's prior opinions concerning the Constitution's prohibition on federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting President apply to this situation and that as a result this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated," Smith wrote in his court filing regarding the election subversion case. "We've used the word unprecedented a lot over the course of the last four years, and yet again this is something that is unprecedented, and Smith himself said this in his motion," former state and federal prosecutor David S. Weinstein told Scripps News. "He took great detail to point out that this was not based on the strength or weakness of the case." In a post on Truth Social , Trump said in part "These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless." RELATED STORY | Special counsel evaluating how to wind down federal cases against Trump Earlier this year, Trump faced four on-going criminal cases. He was convicted in his New York hush money case in May, but sentencing — which was scheduled for this week — has been delayed . After Smith's actions Monday, Trump now faces only the Georgia election interference case. In Georgia, Trump was indicted along with 18 allies, accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. But that case is now on hold after the state appeals court unexpectedly removed a December hearing from its calendar. That court will issue a new order on how this case will move forward, but with less than two months before the inauguration, the future of the Georgia and New York hush money cases are still being decided. "The two state cases are likely to recede into the background — at best," former Department of Justice attorney and current partner at Gelber, Schachter & Greenberg, Barbara Llanes, told Scripps News. "We probably won't hear much about these cases following the inauguration of President-elect Trump." Defense attorneys for Trump believe his election victory is enough for the hush money case to be dismissed. They need to file a motion by Dec. 2 making that argument. Then prosecutors have until Dec. 9 to file a rebuttal. They still believe Trump should be sentenced — even if it's after he leaves office. Judge Juan Merchan will then make a decision on how this case should move forward. There's no set date on exactly when he will make that decision.Omg! Overcoming financial and academic challenges: How Ghanain achieved first class honorsConstruction partners SVP Robert Flowers sells $2.53m in stock

Clemson adds top 50 QB to '25 recruiting class

White House says at least 8 US telecom firms, dozens of nations impacted by China hacking campaign

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What both sides are saying about ceasefire deal between Israel and HezbollahTen years of Labor rule in Victoria has changed the state. or signup to continue reading Under premiers Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan, Victoria has embarked on a decade-long infrastructure agenda and raft of Australian-leading social reforms. But no state had more COVID-19 lockdowns, net debt is climbing and the government has faced a series of scandals, as well as criticism over its lack of transparency and accountability. The Andrews government ministry was sworn in after Labor ended four years of Liberal rule under Denis Napthine and Ted Baillieu on November 29, 2014. The 2014 state election was effectively a referendum on Melbourne's East West Link project. Mr Andrews had pledged to rip up the contract to build the contentious toll road if Labor was victorious and ordered the suspension of all work in his first weeks as premier. The state's auditor-general later the total cost of cancelling the project topped $1.1 billion. To soften the blow, Labor promised to build the Metro Tunnel and remove 50 level rail crossings. While over budget, the Metro Tunnel is due to open to fanfare in 2025 and the level crossing removal program has been expanded and hailed as one of Labor's greatest achievements. Socially, Victoria enacted laws to ban anti-abortion protesters harassing women outside clinics and became the first state to pass voluntary assisted dying laws in 2017. But it wasn't long until the government was in turmoil. Minister Adem Somyurek stood down after being accused of bullying, Steve Herbert quit cabinet for using his taxpayer-funded driver to chauffeur his two dogs and former speaker Telmo Languiller and his deputy Don Nardella were exposed rorting an allowance for country members. The biggest scandal of the lot was "red shirts rorts". A found 21 past and present Labor MPs breached parliamentary guidelines by wrongly approving $388,000 in taxpayer funds be spent on campaign staff before the 2014 election. The money was repaid by the party and no charges were laid by police. Nonetheless, Labor swept to a second term with a huge majority in what was known as the "Danslide". Bushfires, a global pandemic and a high-profile corruption probe knocked Labor's second term off course. After setting up a into the state's "broken" mental health system, Victoria was plunged into one of its worst bushfire seasons in memory. The 2019-20 black summer bushfires burned more than 1.5 million hectares of Victorian land, killing five people and razing more than 400 homes. But the scale of the devastation paled in comparison to what came next. Mr Andrews declared a state of emergency in March 2020 as COVID locked down the entire country. As Victoria was cautiously reopening, cases leaked out of the state hotel quarantine system, sparking a second COVID-19 lockdown for Melbourne that ultimately ran for 112 days. The premier, ministers, bureaucrats and agency officials fronted a into hotel quarantine breaches, but none said they could recall whose idea it was to use private security. In June 2020, Mr Andrews sacked Mr Somyurek from his cabinet - following his return to the frontbench in 2018 - after Channel Nine aired allegations of branch stacking and a recording of him using offensive language about a ministerial colleague. He was the first of four ministers to depart in the fallout. A subsequent by the corruption watchdog and ombudsman exposed misuse of taxpayer resources but again did not recommend any criminal charges. In the middle of the separate crises, Mr Andrews spent 111 days off work after fracturing his spine and breaking several ribs in a fall. He and other MPs also became the target of fierce, and at times violent, opposition to pandemic-specific laws passed in late 2021 following Melbourne's sixth and final lockdown. The COVID-fuelled community anger and division did not dent Labor electorally as Mr Andrews steered it to another thumping win. Cancelling the 2026 Commonwealth Games in regional Victoria was among Daniel Andrews' final acts as premier. He called a snap press conference in July 2023 to pull the pin on the event, citing estimated costs blowing out from $2.6 billion to between $6 billion to $7 billion. In September 2023, just days after handing down a landmark , Mr Andrews announced his retirement from politics, paving the way for heir apparent Ms Allan to replace him. Both Mr Andrews and Ms Allan forced backbench MPs Will Fowles and Darren Cheeseman out of the Labor party room over past instances of alleged misconduct, reducing its numbers in the lower house. Mr Fowles was investigated by police but not charged, while Mr Cheeseman has not publicly addressed complaints of inappropriate behaviour towards female staff. Ms Allan's first 12 months in the top job were dogged by a parliamentary inquiry and journalists probing the decision to cancel the Games. She confirmed lawyers were hired to provide advice on Victoria withdrawing on June 14 2023, a full month before the Games decision was announced. The premier denied misleading Victorian parliament on June 13, when as the then responsible minister she told a budget estimates hearing the state was making "tremendous progress" on delivering the Games and gave no indication of budgetary concerns. The auditor-general later that abandoning the event cost the state more than $589 million, including a $380 million settlement. Ms Allan has since backflipped on several controversial policies backed by her old boss, including plans to set up a supervised injecting room in Melbourne's CBD and raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14. The long-serving Bendigo East MP has instead staked her premiership on housing, repeatedly describing herself as a builder not a blocker. For all the controversy surrounding construction of the Suburban Rail Loop, a proposed 90km rail line orbiting Melbourne, a planned statue of Mr Andrews might be the government's most contentious build. State premiers who spent more than 3000 days in the top job are immortalised in bronze statues outside government offices in central Melbourne, under a rule introduced by former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett. The process to install one for Mr Andrews is under way. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. WEEKLY Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe. WEEKLY Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. WEEKDAYS Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more. TWICE WEEKLY Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday. WEEKLY Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert, ACM's exclusive motoring partner. TWICE WEEKLY Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. 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Qatar tribune Agencies China announced Tuesday it is banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications, as a general principle, lashing back at U.S. limits on semiconductor-related exports. The Chinese Commerce Ministry announced the move after the Washington expanded its list of Chinese companies subject to export controls on computer chip-making equipment, software and high-bandwidth memory chips. Such chips are needed for advanced applications. The ratcheting up of trade restrictions comes as President-elect Donald Trump has been threatening to sharply raise tariffs on imports from China and other countries, potentially intensifying simmering tensions over trade and technology. China’s Foreign Ministry also issued a vehement reproof. “China has lodged stern protests with the U.S. for its update of the semiconductor export control measures, sanctions against Chinese companies, and malicious suppression of China’s technological progress,” Lin Jian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said in a routine briefing Tuesday. “I want to reiterate that China firmly opposes the U.S. overstretching the concept of national security, abuse of export control measures, and illegal unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction against Chinese companies,” Lin said. China said in July 2023 it would require exporters to apply for licenses to send to the U.S. the strategically important materials such as gallium and germanium. In August, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said it would restrict exports of antimony, which is used in a wide range of products from batteries to weapons, and impose tighter controls on exports of graphite. Such minerals are considered critical for national security. China is a major producer of antimony, which is used in flame retardants, batteries, night-vision goggles and nuclear weapon production, according to a 2021 U.S. International Trade Commission report. The limits announced by Beijing on Tuesday also include exports of super-hard materials, such as diamonds and other synthetic materials that are not compressible and extremely dense. They are used in many industrial areas such as cutting tools, disc brakes and protective coatings. The licensing requirements that China announced in August also covered smelting and separation technology and machinery and other items related to such super-hard materials. China is the biggest global source of gallium and germanium, which are produced in small amounts but are needed to make computer chips for mobile phones, cars and other products, as well as solar panels and military technology. After the U.S. side announced it was adding 140 companies to a so-called “entity list” subject to strict export controls, China’s Commerce Ministry protested and said it would act to protect China’s “rights and interests.” Nearly all of the companies affected by Washington’s latest trade restrictions are based in China, though some are Chinese-owned businesses in Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Both governments say their respective export controls are needed for national security. China’s government has been frustrated by U.S. curbs on access to advanced processor chips and other technology on security grounds but had been cautious in retaliating, possibly to avoid disrupting China’s fledgling developers of chips, artificial intelligence and other technology. Various Chinese industry associations issued statements protesting the U.S. move to limit access to advanced chip-making technology. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said it opposed using national security as a grounds for export controls, “abuse of export control measures, and the malicious blockade and suppression of China.” “Such behavior seriously violates the laws of the market economy and the principle of fair competition, undermines the international economic and trade order, disrupts the stability of the global industrial chain, and ultimately harms the interests of all countries,” it said in a statement. The China Semiconductor Industry Association issued a similar statement, adding that such restrictions were disrupting supply chains and inflating costs for American companies. “U.S. chip products are no longer safe and reliable. China’s related industries will have to be cautious in purchasing U.S. chips,” it said. The U.S. gets about half its supply of both gallium and germanium metals directly from China, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. China exported about 23 metric tons (25 tons) of gallium in 2022 and produces about 600 metric tons (660 tons) of germanium per year. The U.S. has deposits of such minerals but has not been mining them, though some projects underway are exploring ways to tap those resources. The export restrictions have had a mixed impact on prices for those critical minerals, with the price of antimony more than doubling this year to over $25,000 per ton. Prices for gallium, germanium and graphite also have mostly risen. Copy 05/12/2024 10US expected to send £1 billion in weapons to Ukraine before Trump takes officeFighter Conor McGregor is being ‘strongly advised’ to consider taking an extended break away from Ireland, sources have told Extra.ie. Last month, Nikita Hand , who accused the sportsman of raping her in a Dublin hotel in December 2018, won her claim against him for damages in a case at the High Court in Dublin. Ms Hand sought damages for assault, rape against McGregor and his friend James Lawrence. A jury found she had been assaulted by Mr McGregor but not by Mr Lawrence. The jury awarded damages of €248,603 against Mr McGregor. In the days following the civil action verdict, major retailers across the UK and Ireland stopped selling alcoholic drinks associated with McGregor . Other endorsement deals, like ones with popular video games manufacturer, IO Interactive, were also quick to drop the MMA star after the defeat in court. ‘Let’s be clear Conor isn’t exactly the type to run from a fight. But this is the fight of his life,’ said a source close to the fighter. ‘The news cycle here is constant, whereas in somewhere like America it’s not really a big story and he can have space to retain and regroup,’ the person said. ‘But — and here’s the big but — it’s doomed if he stays and damned if he goes. So that’s the tough choice he has to make. For his own sake and his family.’ The commercial backlash against McGregor has already seen a number of businesses cut ties with him in the wake of the court case. The likes of Musgrave, Tesco and the BWG Group quickly cut ties with him after the result of the court case. In a statement, a spokesman for Musgrave said: ‘Musgrave can confirm these products are no longer available to our store network.’ The network includes SuperValu, Centra, Daybreak and Mace. It is understood that other retail outlets including Costcutter and Carry Out will also stop stocking products linked to Mr McGregor. And it’s not just in Ireland, the UK’s largest independent drinks retailer, LWC Drinks revealed that it ‘does not want to be associated’ with him. In a statement released to MailOnline , it said that it will be joining the growing industry-wide shunning of Conor McGregor-affiliated drinks, including Proper Twelve Irish Whiskey and Forged stout. Supplying over 15,000 UK businesses with their alcohol products, the announcement from LWC comes as the latest in a spate of recent blows to the Irish fighter’s commercial brand. The decision to cease its sale of, and association with, both Proper 12 Irish Whiskey and Forged Irish Stout comes after McGregor lost his civil rape case against Nikita Hand in Irish court last month. That the fallout has spread to other regions has come as a ‘massive blow’ to McGregor. ‘It’s relentless. And the backlash isn’t showing any sign of levelling out. If anything it’s gathering pace,’ explained the source. In a scathing statement shared with MailOnline, LWC drinks said that it does not want to be ‘associated’ with the former two-division UFC champion and his stout product. The statement in full read: ‘In light of Friday’s civil court ruling against Conor McGregor, LWC, the UK’s largest independent drinks wholesaler has taken the necessary legal steps to terminate its agreement to distribute Forged Irish Stout. ‘We are consulting with our customers to support them in the replacement of Forged draught taps. LWC does not want to be associated with Conor McGregor or Forged Irish Stout’. LWC decision to dump McGregor’s drinks brand came just days after UK food delivery severe Ocado and supermarket chains Tesco and Asda followed in Irish retailers’ decision to remove his brand and affiliated products from their shelves. Additionally, the Irish branch of prominent pub chain JD Wetherspoon announced last week that they too would be removing Conor McGregor’s affiliated alcoholic beverages from their pubs in Ireland.’ ’This isn’t a fight he can win at this press moment. So at this stage, it’s best to keep the head down, get his head together and that simply isn’t an option in Ireland where it’s the biggest news story in a very small town. So getting out of dodge is really the best option, all things considered.’ On Thursday (December 6) the High Court will hold a hearing on legal costs for the civil case taken by Ms Hand. The case had been due to be heard on Thursday, November 28 but Mr Justice Alexander Owens agreed to delay it by one week. The losing side pays their own legal costs and those of the successful party. The court has the discretion to depart from this general rule if persuaded that the justice of the case requires this and there are special circumstances.There is something different about this season's Union women's hockey team — Opening Faceoff

Clemson adds top 50 QB to '25 recruiting classPolitical bigwigs join Awam Pakistan partyThe 14th Singapore-Australia Joint Ministerial Committee plenary on Dec 3. SINGAPORE – Agency, agency, agency. With Trump 2.0 tariffs lurking on the horizon, that was the common refrain invoked by several world leaders visiting Singapore this week, in asserting the idea that smaller economies have the power to act for themselves to mitigate the fragmenting effects of the rivalry among great powers such as China and the US. In the Asia-Pacific, that could well mean increasing regional trade to ensure economic stability. South-east Asia as a bloc is expected to be the world’s fourth-largest economy after the US, China and India by the end of this decade. “In the context of intense pressure on the global trading system, our region has agency,” Mr Don Farrell, Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, said on Dec 2 in an address at the annual Next Step (Solutions T o E conomic P roblems) Global Conference. It was organised by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Paterson Institute for International Economics. “In 2025, it will be incumbent on those of us who understand the benefits of global trade rules to actively engage in support of the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organisation at its core,” he added. Incoming US president Donald Trump has so far vowed to impose punitive tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, and he promised more while on the campaign trail. If he goes through with these measures, they may spur retaliatory moves, triggering a trade war. Growth could slow in China, and the reduction in demand would in turn hurt many other exporting countries in the Asia-Pacific. “The way we manage our interests in the face of challenges involving great powers is only partly through direct dealing. Much of the answer lies in approaching these challenges in regional terms,” Ms Penny Wong, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, said on Dec 3 in a dialogue convened by geopolitical think-tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). “There is a lot that happens in the thousands of kilometres between Australia, the United States and China, just as there is a lot that happens in the broader Indo-Pacific,” she added. “I often say that when Australia looks up to the world, we see South-east Asia,” she noted. “This space is central to Australia’s future.” Australia builds stronger trade ties with South-east Asia As part of Australia’s economic strategy to increase trade with South-east Asian nations, a A$70 million (S$60.5 million) investment in the country’s last budget to increase the number of Australian trade officials, among other things, has helped to generate A$1 billion worth of trade in the last 12 months, Mr Farrell told conference participants. Canberra’s South-east Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, launched in September 2023, was born partly out of necessity to look for new export markets after Beijing imposed harsh tariffs in 2020. These came about when Australia’s previous government called for an inquiry into China’s role in the origins of Covid-19. China is by far Australia’s largest trading partner, worth – by some estimates – about a third of Australia’s annual gross domestic product. Beijing’s retaliatory move adversely affected bilateral trade, hitting Australia’s wine producers particularly hard. In a paper released in April 2024, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said a 10 per cent reduction in trade among the major economies could shave 1.2 per cent off Australia’s gross domestic product. China’s tariffs have largely been removed since current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came into power in mid-2022. Australia and China notched up A$327 billion of two-way trade in 2023, surpassing the A$271.5 billion in 2020. While Australia’s trade with South-east Asia still pales in comparison to its trading relationship with China, Canberra’s experience in having to diversify trade could also be instructive for its Asia-Pacific neighbours. Strong bilateral relationships have underpinned these efforts in a world that is far less hospitable, with two wars raging in Europe and the Middle East, in addition to the ongoing China-US rivalry. Singapore to strengthen friends network Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said as much on Nov 8, when he convened a press conference to explain his recent flurry of overseas trips. He pointed to fading established norms and weakening multilateral institutions that have led to a growing number of state and non-state actors pushing for what they want with little or no consequences. “All in all, it means a less hospitable environment, especially for small countries like Singapore, and that is why we have to work even harder to strengthen our network of friends and partners and to work with like-minded countries to shape international norms and rules and to find common ground on issues of shared concern,” he said. Ms Wong and Mr Farrell, along with Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, were visiting the Republic at the start of the week to meet their Singapore counterparts in foreign affairs, trade and defence, respectively, for the 14th meeting of the Singapore-Australia joint ministerial committee. A big part of their discussions, they said, was to lay a foundation for a renewal and deepening of the wide-ranging Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) between both countries in 2025, the 10th year of the CSP and 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between both nations. “The fact of the matter is we are now at an inflection point. The contestation between the two superpowers, the simultaneous technological revolutions in the digital space, in biotechnology and in renewable energy, also present another inflection model,” Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs, said at a joint press conference later on Dec 3 after this meeting. “What you see is evidence of a doubling down in this time of volatility and challenge, and that is why this relationship is so vital,” he added. Multilateral organisations to protect open markets Singapore and Australia have more than just a strong bilateral relationship. They are also strong partners in regional forums such as the East Asia Summit and Asean, and multilateral organisations such as the WTO. The WTO, however, is under pressure to reform, because the growing geopolitical and international trade complexities have rendered its dispute settlement and negotiating functions irrelevant for its member states. The tensions and suspicions between China and the US in their rivalry have not only fractured economic and geopolitical relationships among other countries, but have also given rise to grave ramifications for international organisations, deepening the gridlock in these bodies. Asia-Pacific nations have in the meantime sought to establish some new norms in the last decade, with two multilateral free trade agreements, which both now exclude the US. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement counts 15 nations among its signatories, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership includes 11 states, all of whom are Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) members. “The international economic environment is less benign than it has been at any point over 40 years ago – and I think that is a bit of an understatement – but the WTO middle powers are not helpless rule takers,” WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told the Next Step conference on Dec 2. “If they work together, they build coalitions with each other and with smaller developing countries, they can help keep international markets broadly open and advance the much-needed modernisation of the WTO,” she said. “The open global economy underpinned by the WTO has served middle powers well. I think now it is time for them to step up and defend it,” she added. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads. 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Clemson added a quarterback to its 2025 recruiting class on Tuesday with Chris Denson announcing his decision to flip from Coastal Carolina. The 6-foot-2, 175-pounder from Plant City High School in Florida had been committed to the Chanticleers since April and has yet to visit Clemson's campus. Tigers coach Dabo Swinney has been putting a push on to flip Denson in recent weeks following the decommitment of Blake Hebert last month. "I just feel like my development will be through the roof," Denson told On3.com about his decision to switch. "Playing under one of the best coaches in the country and knowing that I haven't reached my potential yet, I know that they will take me to that level." A three-star recruit, Denson is ranked as the No. 50 quarterback in the nation by the 247 Composite. He is the 14th player to commit to the Tigers, who have also seen six players decommit this cycle, according to The Greenville News. "What makes Clemson special is just the level of ball that they are playing at," Denson said. "And the way they compete. I'm a huge competitor, so that's the type of place and people I want to surround myself around." --Field Level MediaIt 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." Get local news delivered to your inbox!

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