Nico Iamaleava passed for four touchdowns and Dylan Sampson rushed for 77 yards and set a school-record for TDs as No. 11 Tennessee rolled to a 56-0 victory over UTEP on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville, Tenn. Sampson scored on a 14-yard TD run early in the second quarter for the game's first points to deliver his 22nd TD of tje season to break the Tennessee single-season mark set by Gene McEvers in 1929. Iamaleava was 15 of 20 for 173 yards for Tennessee (9-2), while Bru McCoy caught a pair of TD passes and Squirrel White and Ethan Davis each had a TD reception. Tennessee moved its all-time record to 2-0 against the Miners, also having blanked the Conference USA school 24-0 in 2018. Jermod McCoy and John Slaughter had interceptions for the Volunteers, while Dominic Bailey recovered a fumble to set up a score. Skyler Locklear was 10-of-19 passing for 50 yards with an interception for UTEP (2-9), while rushing for 37 yards on eight carries. JP Pickles also had a turn at QB for the Miners and was 10 of 15 for 72 yards. Kenny Odom had eight receptions for 70 yards. Both defenses set the tone in the first quarter. The UTEP defense allowed just one first down to the Southeastern Conference team in three ugly series in the opening quarter and only 22 yards. In the second quarter, Sampson ended a 68-yard drive by dashing up the middle for 14 yards for the record-setting score to take a 7-0 lead with 13:22 remaining before halftime. After Bailey's fumble recovery, Iamaleava flipped a screen pass that White took 9 yards to the end zone nearly six minutes later. Davis put the Volunteers up 21-0 when he grabbed a short pass for a 1-yard TD. Iamaleava then found Bru McCoy from 18 yards with eight seconds left in the second quarter for a 28-0 halftime lead. McCoy caught his second TD and Peyton Lewis rushed for a pair for a 49-0 lead in the third quarter, but the biggest roar from Volunteers fans came when it was announced Florida beat No. 9 Ole Miss 24-17, to enhance the Volunteers' College Football Playoff hopes. Cameron Seldon's 3-yard run capped the scoring as the Volunteers finished the season undefeated at home for the second time in four years. --Field Level MediaLosing to older brother John Harbaugh and seeing the Los Angeles Chargers' four-game winning streak snapped Monday night might be the least of Jim Harbaugh's problems this week. The Chargers are holding their breath that running back J.K. Dobbins isn't seriously hurt after he left with a knee injury late in the first half of the Chargers’ 30-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens .
Hailing the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance’s win in Maharashtra assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the state has witnessed the triumph of development, good governance and genuine social justice. “Today, development, good governance and true social justice has won in Maharashtra. At the same time, today lies, deceit and fraud have been badly defeated in Maharashtra. Divisive forces have been defeated, negative politics has been defeated, today nepotism has been defeated,” Modi said. “Today, the forces of deception, divisive politics, and family dynasty have been defeated! Today, Maharashtra has strengthened its resolve for a developed India. I congratulate and applaud all BJP and NDA workers across the country,” the Prime Minister said while addressing party workers and leaders at the BJP headquarters here after the results of Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and bypolls were announced. Advertisement Talking about the results of bypolls across 48 assembly and two Lok Sabha seats in 15 states, the Prime Minister said the BJP has increased its strength. PM Modi said that Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan have given strong support to the BJP adding that the people of Assam have once again expressed confidence in BJP. “We have got success in Madhya Pradesh also. NDA’s support has increased in Bihar also. This shows that the country now wants only development,” the Prime Minister said. Mentioning about Jharkhand in his address, the Prime Minister said: “I bow to the people of Jharkhand. We will work even harder for the rapid development of Jharkhand, and every single BJP worker will contribute their utmost efforts towards this goal.” Advertisement
Everyone will love this Marry Me chicken budget mealIraq warns of possible Israeli attacks in letters to UNPresident Emmanuel Macron is to name a new prime minister on Friday, aides said, after days of deadlock over finding a candidate to replace Michel Barnier whose ousting by parliament pushed France into a fresh crisis. Barnier was toppled in a historic no-confidence vote on December 4 and there had been expectations Macron would announce his successor in an address to the nation even a day later. But in a sign of the stalemate in French politics after inconclusive legislative elections this summer, he did not name his successor then and has now missed a 48-hour deadline he gave at a meeting meeting of party leaders on Tuesday. On Thursday, Macron left France on a day-long trip to key EU and NATO ally Poland but shortened the visit in an apparent bid to finalise the appointment. "The statement naming the prime minister will be published tomorrow (Friday) morning," said an aide to to the president, asking not to be named, late Thursday just after Macron touched down from the trip to Poland. "He is finishing his consultations," the aide added, without giving further details. - 'Stuck' - Whoever is named will be the sixth prime minister of Macron's mandate after the toppling of Barnier, who lasted only three months, and faces an immediate challenge in thrashing out a budget to pass parliament. Each premier under Macron has served successively less time in office and there is no guarantee for the new premier that they will not follow this pattern. Macron remains confronted with the complex political equation that emerged from the snap parliamentary polls -- how to secure a government against a no-confidence vote in a bitterly divided lower house where no party or alliance has a majority. All the candidates widely floated so far have encountered objections from at least one side of the political spectrum. "They are stuck," said a person close to Macron, asking not to be named and lamenting that "each name gets blocked." "No one is in agreement around the president," added the source, expressing hope Macron will surprise everyone with an unexpected choice. Macron's rumoured top pick, veteran centrist Francois Bayrou, raises hackles on the left -- wary of continuing the president's policies -- and on the right, where he is disliked by influential former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Beyond Bayrou, prime ministerial contenders include former Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve, current Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu, a Macron loyalist, and former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Another name being discussed in the media is Roland Lescure, a former industry minister, but the nomination of the former Socialist risks inflaming the right. - 'Fresh wind' - These "are names that have been around for years and haven't seduced the French. It's the past. I want us to look to the future," Greens leader Marine Tondelier said. "The French public want a bit of enthusiasm, momentum, fresh wind, something new," she told France 2 television. Polls indicate the public is fed up with the crisis. Just over two-thirds of respondents to one Elabe poll published on Wednesday said they want politicians to reach a deal not to overthrow a new government. But confidence is limited, with around the same number saying they did not believe the political class could reach agreement. In a separate IFOP poll, far-right National Rally (RN) figurehead Marine Le Pen was credited with 35 percent support in the first round of a future presidential election -- well ahead of any likely opponent. She has said she is "not unhappy" that her far-right party was left out of the horse-trading around the government, appearing for now to benefit from the chaos rather than suffer blame for bringing last week's no-confidence vote over the line. In a critical looming moment, Le Pen on March 31, 2025 faces the verdict in an embezzlement trial on charges she denies. If convicted, she could lose the chance of standing in the 2027 elections and with it her best chance yet of winning the Elysee. burs-tgb-sjw/rlpCanada Post down eight million parcels amid strike as talk carry on over weekend
Rapes, torture, killings -- a litany of abuses blamed on Assad forcesSCHEID FAMILY WINES REPORTS SECOND QUARTER FISCAL 2025 RESULTS
Expanded CFP field draws more bets and on more teamsDrake beats Florida Atlantic 75-63
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The new chief of the Los Angeles police force said his department is working with consulate offices for Mexico and other Central American countries to draft a plan to protect immigrants ahead of the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations. In an interview with The Associated Press, Jim McDonnell said his tenure as police chief will be marked by high engagement with the community, adding that all of society must participate in the criminal justice system to create a safe place to live. A veteran police officer and former sheriff, McDonnell was selected by Mayor Karen Bass in October and sworn in last month . The LAPD does not stop people or take action for any reason related to immigration status, and it doesn’t enforce immigration laws, a practice that has been in place for 45 years, said McDonnell, referring to a department policy known as Special Order 40 enacted in 1979. Any immigration enforcement would be “undercutting our primary mission, which is to be able to build public trust to work with every member of all of our communities, to be able to have hope that people will come forward if they were a victim of crime, a witness to a crime,” McDonnell said. The department plans to work with the consulates to create and circulate a video explaining their policies to the immigrant community and alleviating their concerns. During the last Trump administration, the U.S. Justice Department attempted to withhold funding from sanctuary cities and favor cities that pledged to cooperate with immigration enforcement for federal grants. McDonnell said the department is “cognizant of what’s at stake” –- with a majority of the LAPD budget going toward personnel, the police force often relies on grants to provide for equipment and tools. He will be working with national police groups like the Major Cities Chiefs Association to advocate for law enforcement needs with the Trump administration, McDonnell said. Along with engaging the immigrant community, McDonnell said he hopes to seek a greater level of engagement from communities that traditionally haven’t felt comfortable doing so, “just human-to-human, going out and asking for help.” He also vows to build back the police force from currently just under 9,000 sworn officers to a baseline of 10,000, ideally even exceeding that number. While recent recruitment class size numbers have been in the mid-30s, he hopes to double that to 60, McDonnell said. The additional officers will be crucial as Los Angeles prepares to play host to a number of events that will draw visitors from all over the world, including the FIFA World Cup in 2026, Super Bowl in 2027 and the Olympics in 2028. One additional tool in the law enforcement arsenal is the recent passage of Proposition 36 , which reverted to a previous law making some shoplifting and drug offenses felonies again. While it will mainly affect prosecutors, McDonnell said it will make arrests for those types of crimes “more meaningful” and give local businesses more safety and comfort, preventing them from having to shut down their stores and leave the community. “As we move forward, we do so judiciously so that we use the tools that are available to us,” McDonnell said. Jaimie Ding, The Associated PressOpenAI to partner with military defense tech company
Green Building Materials Market is Projected to Grow at a CAGR 12.1% during 2024-2031 | BASF SE, Bauder Limited, Binderholz GmbH, DuPont, Kingspan Group plc 11-26-2024 09:09 PM CET | Advertising, Media Consulting, Marketing Research Press release from: DataM intelligence 4 Market Research LLP Green Building Materials Market The Green Building Materials Market report by DataM Intelligence provides insights into the latest trends and developments in the market. This report identifies the key growth opportunities in the market and provides recommendations for market participants to capitalize on these opportunities. Overall, the Green Building Materials market report is an essential resource for market participants who are looking to gain a comprehensive understanding of the market and identify opportunities for growth. Download a Free sample PDF (Use Corporate email ID to Get Higher Priority) at: https://www.datamintelligence.com/download-sample/green-building-materials-market The Global Green Building Materials Market is expected to grow at a CAGR 12.1% during the forecasting period (2024 - 2031). Green materials are harmless and capable of nurturing or at least could prevent the environment from getting destroyed. Renewable rather than nonrenewable resources are used to make green building materials. An evaluation of green materials may include one or more criteria. Reclaimed materials are environmentally friendly since they may be reused and repurposed. Recyclable materials are those that can be reprocessed or repurposed from waste to be reused. Non-toxic materials promote occupant health, lower expenses, and save energy, water, and waste products. Non-toxic materials have no negative impact on the environment, the people who use them, or the people who make them. Key Developments: ❁ On September 4, 2021, Elastopor and Elastopir, BASF's PU rigid foam systems for sandwich panels made from renewable raw materials, were launched. Furthermore, using the BASF Biomass Balance method, which replaces fossil resources with up to 100 percent renewable raw materials, a significant reduction in CO2 emissions can be accomplished Competitive Landscape: The section also contains information related to the new product launches, mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, etc., to give a clear understanding about the competitive landscape prevailing in the global market. With an emphasis on strategies there have been several primary developments done by major companies such as BASF SE, Bauder Limited, Binderholz GmbH, DuPont, Kingspan Group plc, Ownes Corning, Forbo Global SA, Amvik Systems, Cemex S.A.B. de C.V., and Techno Green PVC Pvt. Ltd. Get Customization in the report as per your requirements + Exclusive Bundle & Multi-User Discounts: https://www.datamintelligence.com/customize/green-building-materials-market Market Segments: The detailed segmentation offered in the report will help customers get a clear idea about the market segments and the factors that will drive segmental growth. The Green Building Materials market has been segmented By Product (Structural, Exterior, Interior, Others), By Application (Framing, Insulation, Roofing, Exterior Siding, Interior Siding, Others), By End-User (Commercial and Industrial, Public Facilities, Education, Commercial and Industrial, Healthcare, R&D Centers, Others) Research Process: Both primary and secondary data sources have been used in the global Green Building Materials Market research report. During the research process, a wide range of industry-affecting factors are examined, including governmental regulations, market conditions, competitive levels, historical data, market situation, technological advancements, upcoming developments, in related businesses, as well as market volatility, prospects, potential barriers, and challenges. Regional Outline for Green Building Materials Market: ⇥ North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico) ⇥ Europe (U.K., Italy, Germany, Russia, France, Spain, The Netherlands and Rest of Europe) ⇥ Asia-Pacific (India, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia Rest of Asia Pacific) ⇥ South America (Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America) ⇥ Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., South Africa, Rest of Middle East & Africa) **The full version of the report includes an in-depth analysis of emerging players and startups, which will provide valuable insights into the evolving market landscape and key strategies being adopted** This Report Covers: ✔ Go-to-market Strategy. ✔ Neutral perspective on the market performance. ✔Development trends, competitive landscape analysis, supply side analysis, demand side analysis, year-on-year growth, competitive benchmarking, vendor identification, and other significant analysis, as well as development status. ✔Customized regional/country reports as per request and country level analysis. ✔ Potential & niche segments and regions exhibiting promising growth covered. ✔ Analysis of Market Size (historical and forecast), Total Addressable Market (TAM), Serviceable Available Market (SAM), Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM), Market Growth, Technological Trends, Market Share, Market Dynamics, Competitive Landscape and Major Players (Innovators, Start-ups, Laggard, and Pioneer). Chapter Outline: ⏩ Market Overview: It contains five chapters, as well as information about the research scope, major manufacturers covered, market segments, Green Building Materials market segments, study objectives, and years considered. ⏩ Market Landscape: The competition in the Global Green Building Materials Market is evaluated here in terms of value, turnover, revenues, and market share by organization, as well as market rate, competitive landscape, and recent developments, transaction, growth, sale, and market shares of top companies. ⏩ Companies Profiles: The global Green Building Materials market's leading players are studied based on sales, main products, gross profit margin, revenue, price, and growth production. ⏩ Market Outlook by Region: The report goes through gross margin, sales, income, supply, market share, CAGR, and market size by region in this segment. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South America are among the regions and countries studied in depth in this study. ⏩ Market Segments: It contains the deep research study which interprets how different end-user/application/type segments contribute to the Building Materials Market. ⏩ Market Forecast: Production Side: In this part of the report, the authors have focused on production and production value forecast, key producers forecast, and production and production value forecast by type. ⏩ Research Findings: This section of the report showcases the findings and analysis of the report. ⏩ Conclusion: This portion of the report is the last section of the report where the conclusion of the research study is provided. Unlock Year-End Savings! Get Up to 30% Off: https://www.datamintelligence.com/buy-now-page?report=green-building-materials-market Frequently asked questions: ➠ What is the global sales value, production value, consumption value, import and export of Green Building Materials market? ➠ Who are the global key manufacturers of the Building Materials Industry? How is their operating situation (capacity, production, sales, price, cost, gross, and revenue)? ➠ What are the Building Materials market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the global Green Building Materials Industry? ➠ Which application/end-user or product type may seek incremental growth prospects? What is the market share of each type and application? ➠ What focused approach and constraints are holding the Building Materials market? ➠ What are the different sales, marketing, and distribution channels in the global industry? Contact Us - Company Name: DataM Intelligence Contact Person: Sai Kiran Email: Sai.k@datamintelligence.com Phone: +1 877 441 4866 Website: https://www.datamintelligence.com About Us - DataM Intelligence is a Market Research and Consulting firm that provides end-to-end business solutions to organizations from Research to Consulting. We, at DataM Intelligence, leverage our top trademark trends, insights and developments to emancipate swift and astute solutions to clients like you. We encompass a multitude of syndicate reports and customized reports with a robust methodology. Our research database features countless statistics and in-depth analyses across a wide range of 6300+ reports in 40+ domains creating business solutions for more than 200+ companies across 50+ countries; catering to the key business research needs that influence the growth trajectory of our vast clientele. This release was published on openPR.US consumer confidence drops unexpectedly to near-recession levels ahead of Trump’s 2nd term
Trump mocks Jill Biden — again — by sharing photo of Notre Dame meeting
Meta-owned WhatsApp constantly tries to come up with new features and updates with the aim of enhancing the overall user experience. WhatsApp has now announced a new feature which will allow users to transcribe audio messages into text. If you're wondering about why was it needed then imagine a situation when you're sitting in a formal setting and you get an urgent audio message. Now, you can't play it there in the room but the message might be important so you can't miss it either. In such scenarios, this new WhatsApp feature will help you out by converting that voice note into pointers. 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ALSO READ | Redmi A4 5G Challengers: Samsung Galaxy A14, Lava Blaze Pro, More Continues below advertisement window.addEventListener("load", function() { let ad_unit_fire_time = 1000; if(ad_delay_time_abp > 0){ ad_unit_fire_time = parseInt(ad_delay_time_abp) + 500; } setTimeout(function () { googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1253031-3"); }); },ad_unit_fire_time) }); WhatsApp has announced that its Voice Note Transcript feature will be made available to users worldwide in the coming weeks. Initially, the feature will support only a limited number of languages, though the company has not specified which ones. Additionally, WhatsApp has not confirmed whether the transcripts are generated using AI technology. WhatsApp New Feature: How To Use To use the transcript feature, users need to activate it by navigating to WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Voice message transcripts. Here, they can toggle the transcription feature on or off and choose the language for transcribing voice notes. After enabling the feature, users can create a transcript of a voice note by long-pressing the message and selecting the ‘Transcribe’ option from the pop-up menu. Other New Features Earlier this month, WhatsApp rolled out another convenient feature: the ability to automatically save unfinished messages as drafts. This ensures you can easily continue from where you left off, with a draft indicator to remind you of incomplete messages upon reopening the app. Make sure to update to the latest version of WhatsApp to enjoy these new functionalities.It’s easy to think that machine learning is a completely digital phenomenon, made possible by computers and algorithms that can mimic brain-like behaviors. But the first machines were analog and now, a small but growing body of research is showing that mechanical systems are capable of learning, too. Physicists at the University of Michigan have provided the latest entry into that field of work. The U-M team of Shuaifeng Li and Xiaoming Mao devised an algorithm that provides a mathematical framework for how learning works in lattices called mechanical neural networks. “We’re seeing that materials can learn tasks by themselves and do computation,” Li said. The researchers have shown how that algorithm can be used to “train” materials to solve problems, such as identifying different species of iris plants. One day, these materials could create structures capable of solving even more advanced problems—such as airplane wings that optimize their shape for different wind conditions—without humans or computers stepping in to help. That future is a ways off, but insights from U-M’s new research could also provide more immediate inspiration for researchers outside the field, said Li, a postdoctoral researcher. The algorithm is based on an approach called backpropagation, which has been used to enable learning in both digital and optical systems. Because of the algorithm’s apparent indifference to how information is carried, it could also help open new avenues of exploration into how living systems learn, the researchers said. “We’re seeing the success of backpropagation theory in many physical systems,” Li said. “I think this might also help biologists understand how biological neural networks in humans and other species work.” Li and Mao, a professor in the U-M Department of Physics, published their new study in the journal Nature Communications. The idea of using physical objects in computation has been around for decades. But the focus on mechanical neural networks is newer, with interest growing alongside other recent advances in artificial intelligence. Most of those advances—and certainly the most visible ones—have been in the realm of computer technology. Hundreds of millions of people are turning to AI-powered chatbots, such as ChatGPT, every week for help writing emails, planning vacations and more. These AI assistants are based on artificial neural networks. Although their workings are complex and largely hidden from view, they provide a useful analogy to understand mechanical neural networks, Li said. When using a chatbot, a user types an input command or question, which is interpreted by a neural network algorithm running on a computer network with oodles of processing power. Based on what that system has learned from being exposed to vast amounts of data, it generates a response, or output, that pops up on the user’s screen. A mechanical neural network, or MNN, has the same basic elements. For Li and Mao’s study, the input was a weight affixed to a material, which acts as the processing system. The output was how the material changed its shape due to the weight acting on it. “The force is the input information and the materials itself is like the processor, and the deformation of the materials is the output or response,” Li said. For this study, the “processor” materials were rubbery 3D-printed lattices, made of tiny triangles that made larger trapezoids. The materials learn by adjusting the stiffness or flexibility of specific segments within that lattice. To realize their futuristic applications—like the airplane wings that tune their properties on the fly—MNNs will need to be able to adjust those segments on their own. Materials that can do that are being researched, but you can’t yet order them from a catalog. So Li modeled this behavior by printing out new versions of a processor with a thicker or thinner segment to get the desired response. The main contribution of Li and Mao’s work is the algorithm that instructs a material on how to adapt those segments. Although the mathematics behind the backpropagation theory is complex, the idea itself is intuitive, Li said. To kick off the process, you need to know what your input is and how you want the system to respond. You then apply the input and see how the actual response differs from what’s desired. The network then takes that difference and uses it to inform how it changes itself to get closer to the desired output over subsequent iterations. Mathematically, the difference between the real output and the desired output corresponds to an expression called the loss function. It’s by applying a mathematical operator known as a gradient to that loss function that the network learns how to change. Li showed that if you know what to look for, his MNNs provide that information. “It can show you the gradient automatically,” Li said, adding that he had some help from cameras and computer code in this study. “It’s really convenient and it’s really efficient.” Consider the case where a lattice is composed entirely of segments with equal thickness and rigidity. If you hang a weight from a central node—the point where segments meet—its neighboring nodes on the left and right would move down the same amount because of the system’s symmetry. But suppose, instead, you wanted to create a lattice that gave you not just an asymmetric response, but the most asymmetric response. That is, you wanted to create a network that gives the maximum difference in the movement between a node to the weight’s left and a node to its right. Li and Mao used their algorithm and a simple experimental setup to create the lattice that gives that solution. (Another similarity to biology is that the approach only cares about what nearby connections are doing, similar to how neurons operate, Li said.) Taking it a step further, the researchers also provided large datasets of input forces, akin to what’s done in machine learning on computers, to train their MNNs. In one example of this, different input forces corresponded to different sizes of petals and leaves on iris plants, which are defining features that help differentiate between species. Li could then present a plant of unknown species to the trained lattice and it could correctly sort it. And Li is already working to build up the complexity of the system and the problems it can solve using MNNs that carry sound waves. “We can encode so much more information into the input,” Li said. “With sound waves, you have the amplitude, the frequency and the phase that can encode data.” At the same time, the U-M team is also studying broader classes of networks in materials, including polymers and nanoparticle assemblies. With these, they can create new systems where they can apply their algorithm and work toward achieving fully autonomous learning machines. This work is supported by the Office of Naval Research and National Science Foundation Center for Complex Particle Systems, or COMPASS. Astrobiology, cybernetics, SynBio,
Bashar al-Assad's government has been accused of carrying out torture, rape, summary executions and other abuses since since Syria's civil war started in 2011. UN investigators have said that accountability must be taken at the highest level after the downfall of the hardline ruler on Sunday. Here is what we know about the extent of the abuses committed: In 2013 a former Syrian army photographer known by the codename "Caesar" fled the country, taking with him some 55,000 graphic images taken between 2011 and 2013. The photos, authenticated by experts, show corpses tortured and starved to death in Syrian prisons. Some people had their eyes gouged out. The photos showed emaciated bodies, people with wounds on the back or stomach, and also a picture of hundreds of corpses in a shed surrounded by plastic bags used for burials. Assad's Syrian government said only that the pictures were "political". But Caesar testified to a US Congress committee and his photographs inspired a 2020 US law which imposed economic sanctions on Syria and judicial proceedings in Europe against Assad's entourage. In Germany and Sweden eight people suspected of crime against humanity were arrested in July in an operation codenamed "Caesar". Germany, the Netherlands and France have since 2022 convicted several top officials from the Syrian intelligence service and militias. UN investigators say they have lists with the names of 4,000 government officials and operatives responsible for abuses. Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2012 spoke of a "torture archipelago" in which the "use of electricity, burning with car battery acid, sexual assault and humiliation, the pulling of fingernails, and mock execution" were practised in government prisons. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in 2022 more than 100,000 people had died in the prisons since 2011. In 2023, the UN's top court, the International Court of Justice, ordered Syria to stop "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". In 2020, seven Syrian refugees filed a complaint in Germany saying that they had been victims of torture and sexual violence, including rape, electric shocks on the genitals, forced nudity or forced abortion between 2011 and 2013. The UN said in 2018 there had been systmatic rape and sexual violence against civilians by soldiers or pro-Assad militias. It said an investigation had found rebels had committed similar crimes, but fewer. On November 25, 2024, the Syrian Human Rights Network (SNHR) said there had been at least 11,553 incidents of sexual violence against women, including girls aged under 18, by the warring parties since March 2011. Some 8,024 could be blamed on the Assad government and the others mainly on the jihadist Islamic State. In 2016 UN investigators said Syrian authorities were responsible for acts which came down to "extermination" and could be compared to "crimes against humanity". It pointed to the Saydnaya prison outside Damascus, which was described in 2017 by Amnesty International as a human slaughter house carrying out a "policy of extermination". The United States said there was a "crematorium" at the prison which was used to dispose of the bodies of thousands of inmates. In 2022 the Syrian Observatory for Human Righs said around 30,000 people had been killed at Saydnaya, some of them after being tortured. In April 2020, the chemical weapons watchdog OPCW accused the Syrian army of chemical weapons attacks in Latamne in northern Syria in 2017. In November 2023 France issued international arrest warrants against Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher and two generals on suspicion of complicity in the chemical attacks in August 2013 near Damascus, which according to US intelligence left 1,000 dead. Assad's forces have also been accused of using sarin gas on the rebel town of Khan Sheikhun in April 2017, and also of chlorine gas attacks. Assad's government denied using chemical weapons. Israel says it has staged strikes on some chemical weapons sites this week to stop supplies falling into the hands of extremists. acm-lc/jmy/tw
Mid-American Conference football goes all in on November weeknights for the TV viewers