The force that through the green fuse drives the flower / Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees / Is my destroyer. / And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose / My youth is bent by the same wintry fever¡¦.by Dylan Thomas
fir2z331 2020-01-01 (21:16) IP address :46.244.29.75
For several years, 'marginal gains' was credited with transforming British cycling's fortunes on both the road and the track, where it became the driving-force behind successive Olympic triumphs.
But during the second half of the decade, ·¹Çø®Ä«±¸¸Å´ëÇà=·¹Çø®Ä«·¹Çø®Ä« ·¹Çø®Ä«½Å¹ß ·¹Çø®Ä«±¸¸Å´ëÇà Team Sky came under mounting scrutiny over how they managed to win so much amid a series of controversies.
Among them was the failure to keep basic medical ·¹Çø®Ä«½Ã°è=·¹Çø®Ä«½Ã°è records, Froome being cleared of wrongdoing after an adverse analytical finding for salbutamol, and revelations over separate unresolved È«Äá¸íǰ»çÀÔ=È«Äá¸íǰ»çÀÔ scandals over two medical deliveries; the first a mystery jiffybag for Sir Bradley Wiggins, the second a batch of testosterone to the national velodrome.
wom4111 2020-01-01 (20:55) IP address :46.244.29.75
But more than any other, ¸íǰst=¸íǰst the scandal came to symbolise a number of issues; sub-standard governance across sport, the greed and unchecked excess at the top of world football, and the vast wealth generated by deals with sponsors and È«Äá·¹Çø®Ä«=È«Äá·¹Çø®Ä« TV companies.
The record TV audiences that watched the groundbreaking 2019 ·¹Çø®Ä« ¸íǰ=·¹Çø®Ä« ¸íǰ Fifa Women's World Cup felt like a watershed moment. As had the inspiration provided by Team GB's gold-medal winning hockey players at Rio 2016, England's World Cup-winning cricketers in 2017, and their triumphant netball team at the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
Team Sky and their riders always ¸íǰ·¹Çø®Ä«½Å¹ß=¸íǰ·¹Çø®Ä«½Å¹ß denied any wrongdoing and rejected accusations they had ever cheated their way to success. But a landmark medical tribunal to determine if former chief medic Dr Richard Freeman ordered testosterone to help an unnamed rider to cheat nine years ago will resume in 2020.
In 2015 a World ÄíÄí ÀνºÇ»¾î ½½¸²=ÄíÄí ÀνºÇ»¾î ½½¸² ³Ã¿ÂÁ¤¼ö±â·»Å»¾ÆÁÖÁÁÀ½ Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report laid bare the details of a conspiracy like no other. Masterminded by the former head of Moscow's anti-doping lab turned whistle-blower Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, Russia's state-sponsored doping racket implicated 1,000 athletes across multiple sports and sabotaged successive Olympic Games - including London 2012 - now known as the dirtiest statistically in history - with more than 130 competitors since disqualified.
In the years that followed, more gory details have emerged, the scandal ³²ÀÚ·¹Çø®Ä«½Å¹ß=³²ÀÚ·¹Çø®Ä«½Å¹ß doing untold damage to the credibility of major institutions like the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Wada, undermining the anti-doping system, eroding public trust, and dominating the build-up to both Rio 2016 Á¦ÀϾÆÄí¾ÆÆ÷ƼÁ¤¼ö±â=Á¦ÀϾÆÄí¾Æ Æ÷Ƽ Á¤¼ö±â·»Å» ½Ç¹ö/ÈÀÌÆ®¹«·á and Pyeongchang 2018 - from which the Russian team were banned.
It now threatens to do the same to Tokyo 2020 with Russia recently hit with an unprecedented À̹ÌÅ×À̼ǽðè¹Ì·¯±Þ=À̹ÌÅ×À̼ǽðè À̹ÌÅ×À̼ǹ̷¯±Þ À̹ÌÅ×À̼Ƿ¹Çø®Ä« (but qualified) four-year ban from major international events after another audacious cover-up.
But with an appeal yet to be heard, and some athletes furious that an À̹ÌÅ×À̼Çsa=À̹ÌÅ×À̼Çsa±Þ À̹ÌÅ×À̼ǼîÇÎ ·¹Çø®Ä«¼îÇθô outright ban was avoided, it is clear that this crisis will extend well into the 2020s. Surely the greatest scandal sport has ever known.
comma331 2019-12-31 (20:32) IP address :178.162.199.116
Washington on Monday accused the Iraqi authorities of failing to "protect" US interests.
"We have warned the Iraqi government many times, and we've shared information with them to try to work with them to carry out their responsibility to protect us as their invited guests," a senior US state department official ¸íǰÆÐµù·¹Çø®Ä«=¸íǰÆÐµù·¹Çø®Ä« told reporters in Washington.
Several attacks have in recent weeks targeted Iraq bases where Americans are present. The US has blamed the attacks on pro-Iran factions.
Sunday's air strikes in Iraq and Syria against Kataib Hezbollah were in response to the killing of a US civilian contractor.
Weapons caches and command and È«Äá¸íǰ½Ã°èÄ¿½ºÅÒ±Þ=È«Äá½Ã°è È«Äá¸íǰ¼îÇÎ È«Äá¸íǰĿ½ºÅÒ±Þ control centres at five sites associated with the militia were hit, the US said.
Kataib Hezbollah (Brigades of the Party of God) is a powerful Iraqi Shia militia that receives financial and military support from ³»Ãß·²¿öÅÍ Á¤¼ö±â·»Å»=ÄíÄí ³»Ãß·²¿öÅÍ ³Ã¿Â Á¤¼ö±â·»Å» ÇÏÇÁÇü¸Å¿ìÁÁÀ½ Iran.
Since 2009, the US has designated the group as a terrorist organisation, accusing them of threatening the peace and stability of Iraq.
It has close links to Shia politicians who are part of the ruling elite, and has backed the Popular Mobilisation, which played a key role in defeating IS.
Thousands of people have fled À̹ÌÅ×À̼ǹ̷¯±Þ=À̹ÌÅ×À̼ǹ̷¯±Þ into the water at a beachside town in Australia to seek shelter from a massive bushfire bearing down on the area.
Residents said the blaze moved into the ·¹Çø®Ä«½Ã°è»çÀÌÆ®=·¹Çø®Ä«½Ã°è»çÀÌÆ® Victorian town of Mallacoota on Tuesday morning, throwing embers towards homes.
Online, people reported the "roar" of the fire and posted pictures of a black and then deep-red sky.
Several popular holiday spots along the coast ¸íǰÈĵ导=¸íǰÈĵ导 between Sydney and Melbourne are currently under threat from bushfires.
The most serious "emergency-level" blazes span a 500km (310 miles) stretch from Batemans Bay in New South Wales (NSW) to Bairnsdale in Victoria.
Authorities had told people in these ·¹Çø®Ä«¼îÇθô=À̹ÌÅ×À̼ǼîÇÎ ·¹Çø®Ä«¼îÇθô ·¹Çø®Ä« regions - many of them tourists - to stay put because it was too late and dangerous to evacuate.
The major road in the region - the Princes Highway - has been closed off.
Gal3l1ag2her 2019-12-31 (19:32) IP address :178.162.199.116
Marginal offsides are causing particular consternation, with Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder saying VAR was "not ¸íǰ·¹Çø®Ä«Ãßõ=¸íǰ·¹Çø®Ä«Ãßõ helping the game".
Some fans have been singing "it's not football any more" at matches.
"The technology will get better and the operatives will get better. We've got to allow it a bit of wriggle room. It was never going to be perfect," he said.
Sheffield United suffer most from VAR calls
Norwich, Brighton, Crystal Palace, ÄíÄí Àξؾƿô 10s=ÄíÄí Àξؾƿô 10s ÀÚµ¿»ì±Õ ³Ã¿ÂÁ¤¼ö±â·»Å»ÈǸ¢ÇØ Wolves and Sheffield United all had goals chalked off for offside via VAR at the weekend, with the Blades now having had five goals ruled out for offside - the most of any Premier League team.
Halsey said: "We've seen 21 or 22 goals ruled out through offside, but some of them have got to be given as goals because fans are paying a lot of money to watch.
decisio31116 2019-12-31 (19:25) IP address :178.162.199.116
Norwich, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Wolves and Sheffield United all had goals chalked off for offside via VAR at the weekend, with ¸íǰ·¹Çø®Ä«½Å¹ß=¸íǰ·¹Çø®Ä«½Å¹ß the Blades now having had five goals ruled out for offside - the most of any Premier League team.
They have had a total of seven VAR decisions go against them, more than any other top-flight team.
"We know technology isn't 100%, so where are they drawing these lines? They've been consistent, but it doesn't make it right."
Wolves had two VAR decisions ·¹Çø®Ä«½Ã°è=·¹Çø®Ä«½Ã°è go against them in their 1-0 defeat by Liverpool on Sunday, when VAR ruled that the league leaders' goal should stand and when they also had Neto's equaliser ruled out for a marginal offside.
Guardiola said: "Hopefully next season it can do better."
Wilder added: "Yet again we had another goal disallowed by VAR. That's about eight or nine over the weekend, this is not a situation helping the game."