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LINCOLN — Nebraska football is going bowling. Finally. After an eight-year hiatus, the Huskers are returning to the postseason after Saturday's 44-25 win over Wisconsin Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The Huskers have a chance to get a seventh win next Friday at Iowa to conclude the regular season. With a lot of bowl game maneuvering to be decided across the country, here are some likely destinations for the Huskers this holiday season: Reliaquest Bowl Date: Dec. 31 Where: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Nebraska has never played a bowl game in Tampa. The last time the Huskers played a postseason game in Florida was in 2014 against Georgia in the Gator Bowl. The ReliaQuest Bowl has a Big Ten/ACC vs SEC tie-ins. Likely opponents include South Carolina, Ole Miss and Florida, among others. Music City Bowl Date: Dec. 30 Where: Nissan Stadium, Nashville Nebraska's last bowl appearance in 2016 was the Music City Bowl, falling 38-24 to Tennessee in Nashville. The Music City Bowl has a Big Ten/SEC tie-in, with likely opponents including Missouri, LSU and Vanderbilt, among others. Pinstripe Bowl Date: Dec. 28 Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx Nebraska has never played a bowl game in New York. The Pinstripe Bowl has a Big Ten/ACC tie-in, with likely opponents including, Louisville, Boston College and North Carolina, among others. Rate Bowl Date: Dec. 26 Where: Chase Field, Phoenix Arizona has been a frequent bowl stop for Nebraska over the years, most recently in 2000, beating Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl. The Huskers have never played in the Rate Bowl. The Rate Bowl has a Big Ten/Big 12 tie-ins, with likely opponents including Texas Tech, Baylor and West Virginia, among others. GameAbove Sports Bowl Date: Dec. 26 Where: Ford Field, Detroit The Huskers have never played in the Detroit-based Bowl Game, which has been under several other names over the past couple decades. This bowl game has a Big Ten/Mid-American Conference tie-ins, with likely opponents including Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois and Toledo, among others.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." Something in the kitchen was contaminated 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." But how did the drugs get into the kitchen? 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." New information sent to WADA ... eventually 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."
Originally published by The 19th In the days following the 2024 presidential election, Barb Byrum of Michigan watched open skepticism pour in online about former President Donald Trump’s win over Vice President Kamala Harris . Some questioned how there could be lower overall voter turnout compared to four years ago, especially when there was record early voting in some states . Others wondered how enthusiasm for Harris — who packed campaign rallies in the final weeks of the election — could translate into more votes for Trump. And yet others raised the possibility that their votes hadn’t actually been recorded. There is no proof of widespread voter fraud, and officials who oversee the country’s decentralized election system have praised how smoothly the process played out this year . That hasn’t stopped suspicions from manifesting on several social media platforms. But Byrum — herself a Harris supporter and a former Democratic state representative — does nonpartisan work as the chief elections official in Ingham County, which includes part of the state capital of Lansing. Byrum was wearing that hat as she started debunking conspiracy theories, something she also did in 2020 when Trump challenged the election results and some of his supporters began spreading unfounded doubt. “In the end, we must combat mis- and disinformation,” Byrum told The 19th. “No matter who is saying it, it is imperative that we bring truth and shed light.” Byrum has been addressing the incoming false narratives that she encounters on different social media accounts since the election. No, results were not manipulated or sent via the internet , she explained. And yes, there are multiple ways for voters in the state to know whether their vote was counted or not, as Byrum provided in a step-by-step explainer that included screenshots of the status page. “I don’t think it’s election denialism yet, but if it's allowed to persist, it will go in that direction,” she said of the narratives floating around. “Right now, people are grieving the loss of their candidate and they’re trying to understand.” Byrum’s efforts show the lengths to which some election officials — a predominantly women-led workforce — are taking to restore trust in how elections are administered . But while allegations of widespread voter fraud did not derail vote counting for the presidential race nor pose serious security issues like some experts had worried, Byrum’s debunking still signals the bumpy road ahead for those who will grapple with future claims — and there’s no immediate end to the work. “We’re at such a low point of trust in institutions and media,” said Isabel Linzer, an elections and democracy fellow at the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) , a research and policy organization that works to improve technology in spaces like elections. “It’s not a surprise that we see election denialism continuing.” Trump won more votes than Harris in the Electoral College, and he is on track to win the popular vote. The president-elect’s margin of victory in key battleground states was wide enough that major media outlets were able to project his win in the early morning hours after election night — a stark contrast to 2020 when it took several days to determine President Joe Biden had won. Votes are still being counted and processed in several states during the post-election canvassing period, but there is enough information available that indicates Trump made in-roads with voters across race, gender and ethnicity, among other demographics . And irrespective of rally sizes and on-the-ground enthusiasm for the candidates, most polls showed a close race going into Election Day. The final tally of votes is expected to reflect that. Narratives about widespread voter fraud flourished in the lead-up to November 5, in part because Trump has spread unfounded conspiracy theories about it over several years. That contributed to a more organized election denialism movement that now includes some election officials . It’s also a message that members of Congress concluded directly led to the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Election officials have been on the receiving end of the conspiracy theories. After 2020, they reported harassment, intimidation and threats of violence . They advocated for federal support and policies to protect their safety . They tried to bring transparency to the election process, offering tours of ballot processing facilities and other public events. They still dealt with a flood of disinformation . Tina Barton is a senior election expert for The Elections Group , which aims to build trust and stronger relationships between election officials and law enforcement. She believes the scope of election denialism in the post-November 5 sphere has been contained in part because of the work that election officials have done to prepare, including running through security scenarios and efforts to debunk lies. “We have come a long way from where we were four years ago, and I give a lot of credit to the election officials for the work that they have done, and so many partners and groups who have been dedicated to the election process and democracy,” she said. Trump said during his third bid for the presidency this year that he would not fully accept the results of the election. Early on November 5, he claimed without evidence that cheating was taking place in Philadelphia and that there was related police presence in Detroit — two cities with large populations of Black voters who tend to vote for Democrats. For those reasons, voting experts expected Trump to challenge the results if he lost. But as incoming vote tallies on election night showed Trump in the lead, his messaging on the subject stopped. He has primarily turned his attention to announcing his picks for Cabinet and other government roles . Harris never publicly questioned the results, and like Hillary Clinton in 2016, she conceded the day after the election — ensuring the peaceful transfer of power. Still, other forms of election denialism are playing out elsewhere on the internet. Some of Trump’s supporters are pointing to Trump’s win as proof that he also won in 2020. He did not, as determined by audits, lawsuits and his own administration . When Byrum did similar debunking following Trump’s loss to Biden, she was surprised at the verbal vitriol that came in response. This time, Byrum is seeing something different: people are thanking her for the explanations. “They’re trying to process the information,” she said. “And the response that I've received thus far has been very positive.” In recent days, billionaire investor Elon Musk has also claimed without evidence that Democrats are trying to cheat in the close Pennsylvania Senate race between Republican Dave McCormick and Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. McCormick leads Casey in unofficial results that are within half of a percentage point — triggering a legally required statewide recount that is scheduled to be completed later this month. The Associated Press and Decision Desk HQ have called the race for McCormick. But Casey has not conceded in the race amid ongoing ballot counting. Musk — who endorsed Trump, financially supported his candidacy and has since been tapped by the president-elect to co-lead a newly proposed “Department of Government Efficiency” — claimed on the social media platform that he owns that noncitizens voted in Pennsylvania. There is no proof of such widespread voter fraud. Trump won the state this year. In a close Wisconsin Senate race, Republican Eric Hovde, who challenged Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, claimed without evidence that there were “voting inconsistencies” on Election Day. The Associated Press and Decision Desk HQ have called the race for Baldwin. Hovde conceded on Monday. It’s unclear for now to what degree election denialism will shape future elections — or policy. Trump posted on his Truth Social account on November 8 that he planned to advocate that Americans show proof of citizenship and voter identification to cast a ballot. It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in state and federal elections. Thirty-six states require some form of identification to vote, and the remaining others use other methods to verify identification . Hannah Fried, executive director of All Voting is Local , a nonpartisan organization that works to protect voting access, said it’s too early to know how the new administration might try to implement voting policy. But she said in some way, changing the law may not be the point. “It is to create enough doubt in our elections that you can use that doubt to consolidate your own power, or create this sort of undergirding to pass laws that a state legislature, for example, can pass that can be really harmful to voters,” she said. Byrum in Michigan has been relieved by the reduction in threats and intimidation following this year’s election. But she knows that weaponized denialism can fester over time and create future problems for the election workforce. She wants to remind people that the vast majority of election officials are public servants who are trying to follow election laws and rules. They’re also just humans. “We are your neighbors. We sit beside you at church. We are behind you in the drop-off line at school,” she said. “We are dedicated to promoting safe and secure elections.”InspireMD Announces Appointment of Accomplished Medical Technology Executive Scott R. Ward to its Board of Directors
The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver will allow the player, who has played all season, to compete in the Mountain West Conference women's championship opening this week in Las Vegas. The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by nine current players against the Mountain West Conference challenging the league's policies for allowing transgender players to participate. The players argued that letting her compete was a safety risk and unfair. While some media have reported those and other details, neither San Jose State nor the forfeiting teams have confirmed the school has a trans woman volleyball player. The Associated Press is withholding the player's name because she has not commented publicly on her gender identity. School officials also have declined an interview request with the player. Crews' ruling referred to the athlete as an "alleged transgender" player and noted that no defendant disputed that the San Jose State roster includes a transgender woman player. San Jose State will "continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms," the university said in a statement, confirming that all its student-athletes are eligible to participate under NCAA and conference rules. "We are gratified that the Court rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to change those rules. Our team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West volleyball tournament this week." The conference said it was “satisfied” with the judge's decision and would continue upholding policies established by its board of directors, which “directly align with NCAA and USA Volleyball.” “We are excited to proceed with the Mountain West Conference Women's Volleyball Championship,” its statement added. The players filed a notice for emergency appeal with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Crews said the players who filed the complaint could have sought relief much earlier, noting the individual universities had acknowledged that not playing their games against San Jose State this season would result in a loss in league standings. He also refused a request to re-seed the tournament without the forfeited losses. The judge said injunctions are meant to preserve the status quo. The conference policy regarding forfeiting for refusing to play against a team with a transgender player had been in effect since 2022 and the San Jose State player has been on the roster since 2022 -– making that the status quo. The player competed at the college level three previous seasons, including two for San Jose State, drawing little attention. This season's awareness of her reported identity led to an uproar among some players, pundits, parents and politicians in a major election year. Crews' ruling also said injunctions are meant to prevent harm, but in this case, he argued, the harm has already occurred. The games have been forfeited, the tournament has been seeded, the teams have made travel plans and the participants have confirmed they're playing. The tournament starts Wednesday and continues Friday and Saturday. Colorado State is seeded first and San Jose State, second. The teams split their regular-season matches and both get byes into Friday's semifinals. San Jose State will play the winner of Wednesday's match between Utah State and Boise State — teams that both forfeited matches to SJSU during the regular season. Boise State associate athletic director Chris Kutz declined to comment on whether the Broncos would play SJSU if they won their first-round tournament game. Utah State officials did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. The conference tournament winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. San Jose State coach Todd Kress, whose team has not competed in the national tournament since 2001, has said his team has been getting "messages of hate" and that has taken a toll on his players. Several teams refused to play against San Jose State during the season, earning losses in the official conference standings. Boise State and Wyoming each had two forfeits while Utah State and Nevada both had one. Southern Utah, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, was first to cancel against San Jose State this year. Nevada's players stated they "refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes," without elaborating. Nevada did not qualify for the conference tournament. The nine current players and others now suing the Mountain West Conference, the California State University Board of Trustees and others include San Jose State senior setter and co-captain Brooke Slusser. The teammate Slusser says is transgender hits the volleyball with more force than others on the team, raising fear during practices of suffering concussions from a head hit, the complaint says. The Independent Council on Women's Sports is funding a separate lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing transgender women to compete in women's sports. Both lawsuits claim the landmark 1972 federal antidiscrimination law known as Title IX prohibits transgender women in women's sports. Title IX prohibits sexual discrimination in federally funded education; Slusser is a plaintiff in both lawsuits. Several circuit courts have used a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to conclude that discriminating against someone based on their transgender status or sexual orientation is sex-based discrimination, Crews wrote. That means case law does not prove the "likelihood of success" needed to grant an injunction. An NCAA policy that subjects transgender participation to the rules of sports governing bodies took effect this academic year. USA Volleyball says a trans woman must suppress testosterone for 12 months before competing. The NCAA has not flagged any issues with San Jose State. The Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the team cancellations, citing fairness in women's sports. President-elect Donald Trump likewise has spoken out against allowing transgender women to compete in women's sports. Crews was a magistrate judge in Colorado's U.S. District Court for more than five years before President Joe Biden appointed him as a federal judge in January.
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Hail Flutie: BC celebrates 40th anniversary of Miracle in MiamiLSU running back Caden Durham (29) runs the ball in the second half between the Tigers and the Gators, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. Florida won 27-16. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save LSU (6-4, 3-3 SEC) is set to play Vanderbilt (6-4, 3-3) in its penultimate game of the regular season. The Tigers are in the midst of a three-game skid, losing to Texas A&M, Alabama and Florida. The Tigers are unranked in AP Top 25 after climbing as high as No. 8 in the country thanks to a six game win-streak. The biggest culprit to their woes as of late has been their offensive struggles. Since leading the Aggies 17-7 at halftime a month ago, LSU can barely put points on the scoreboard. It has scored just 35 points over the past 10 quarters and has three touchdowns in 27 drives, averaging 4.6 yards per play. For LSU to avoid a fourth consecutive loss, it’ll need to limit turnovers, produce in the redzone and have an effective running attack. Follow along here for live updates and analysis from LSU's home game against Vanderbilt, which kicks off Saturday at 6:45 p.m. in Baton Rouge.
Ensuring a reliable supply of critical battery raw materials will be crucial to the global push to net-zero, especially with demand for battery electric vehicles (BEV) picking up pace towards the end of this decade, a new report by McKinsey finds. By 2030, McKinsey estimates that worldwide demand for passenger cars in the BEV segment will grow sixfold from 2021 through 2030, with annual unit sales increasing to roughly 28 million from 4.5 million during that period. Such a projection, the consultancy says, means that the industry is “likely to confront persistent long-term challenges” in keeping with demand. In particular, its reports highlights that automotive OEMs are giving more attention to reducing Scope 3 emissions from material usage, which contribute a large portion of what batteries emit. As a result, battery materials sourcing has become ever more important for battery producers. Based on the latest estimates, McKinsey’s analysis projects that demand will outpace base-case supply for certain materials, requiring additional investment and leading to fear of shortages and price volatility, among other challenges. Supply shortages looming Based on current market observations, battery manufacturers can expect challenges securing supply of several essential battery raw materials by 2030, McKinsey’s report finds. Battery makers use more than 80% of all lithium that is mined today, and that share could grow to 95% by 2030. With technological advancements shifting in favor of lithium-heavy batteries, lithium mining will need to increase substantially to meet 2030 demand, McKinsey says. For nickel, fears of a shortage prompted by the shift to BEVs have already triggered significant investments in new mines, particularly in Southeast Asia, but even more supply will need to be brought online. McKinsey’s report suggests the possibility of a slight shortage in 2030 as the battery sector continues to vie with steel and other sectors for Class 1 nickel. While the share of cobalt in battery chemistry mix is expected to decrease, the absolute demand for cobalt for all applications could rise by 7.5% a year from 2023 and 2030, McKinsey estimates, adding that shortages of cobalt are unlikely, but its supply will be driven by nickel and copper since it is largely a byproduct of their production. Meanwhile, the supply of manganese is projected to grow moderately through 2030, but an increasing demand for battery-grade material is likely to outpace supply, requiring the development of new refineries. To account for a rapid adoption of LFP (lithium iron phosphate) technology, McKinsey’s study models the 2030 supply and demand balances with two scenarios. Under the base case, only about 20% of the HPMSM (high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate) supply will meet the requirements of battery applications (30% if all announced projects are realized), which themselves will account for only about 5% of total demand for manganese. In a world where the rapid adoption of LFP technology is coupled with a lower growth in EV production, the demand of battery materials could look different: Global trends Although overall demand for batteries and raw materials is increasing rapidly, supply is — and will remain — largely concentrated in a few naturally endowed countries, including Indonesia for nickel; Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile for lithium; and the DRC for cobalt, McKinsey says. Meanwhile, the refining typically takes place elsewhere, often in China (for cobalt and lithium), Indonesia (nickel), and Brazil (niobium). This value chain setup, according to McKinsey, poses additional considerations for regions such as the European Union and the United States, both of which have high demand for imported materials and often rely heavily on single-country sources. For example, the European Union imports 68% of its cobalt from the DRC, 24% of its nickel from Canada, and 79% of its refined lithium from Chile. Supply chain transparency Moreover, although supply concentration for materials such as refined nickel, cobalt and lithium are knowable, complete visibility into the origin of raw materials is sometimes unattainable. This is the case with high-purity manganese, of which more than 95% is produced in China and minor volumes come from Belgium and Japan; graphite, of which almost all is refined in China; and anode production, on which China has a near monopoly. Limited transparency into the origins of battery raw materials supply also poses broader ESG concerns and attention. For instance, the EU Batteries Regulation aims to make batteries sustainable throughout their entire life cycle, from material sourcing to battery collection, recycling and repurposing. As a result, McKinsey believes the pressure to address ESG concerns will likely increase moving forward. Recent supply chain disruptions, such as those affecting magnesium, silicon and semiconductors in from 2021 to 2023, have increased buyers’ needs to boost supply chain resilience for critical battery raw materials. Buyers’ risks of import dependency are further heightened by recent trade restrictions introduced by exporters, including China’s export controls on some materials (such as synthetic graphite and natural flake graphite products used in BEVs) and Indonesia’s ban on nickel ore exports.Saints hope to ride the Rizzi factor back to relevance after their bye week