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Zimbabwe’s former VP to take oath as new President (Lead)

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Harare, Nov 22 (IANS) Zimbabwe’s former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa returned to the country on Wednesday and will be sworn in as President on Friday, succeeding friend-turned-foe Robert Mugabe.

“It’s done. President Mnangagwa will be sworn in on Friday,” Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party said on Twitter. “The new era has arrived, our new President,” the party added, attaching a photo of Mnangagwa, 75.

Earlier, state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp (ZBC) said the ruling party had selected Mnangagwa to replace Mugabe, the nonagenarian who had been in power since 1980 but was finally forced to quit after military intervention and mass protests.

Advocate Jacob Francis Mudenda, a ZANU-PF member, said Parliament informed the Chief Secretary to the Office of President of Mnangagwa’s nomination, the Guardian reported.

Mnangagwa fled for safety to South Africa two weeks ago when he was sacked by Mugabe, triggering a political crisis that culminated in the resignation of the 93-year-old autocrat on Tuesday.

Mnangagwa touched down at a military air base in Harare on Wednesday on a flight from South Africa. Car horns and celebrations greeted the motorcade believed to be carrying Mnangagwa as it passed through the Zimbabwean capital on the way to the ruling party headquarters.

Mugabe, who ruled the country with an iron grip for 37 long years, finally caved to popular and political pressure hours after Parliament launched proceedings to impeach him.

He had refused to leave office during eight days of drama and uncertainty that began with a military takeover last week.

Harare was quiet on Wednesday morning after a night of joyous celebration. Traffic was normal and many people were going to work.

“It’s a new day for Zimbabwe. We are smiling,” said Lovemore Simbeli, 19, as he sold newspapers with frontpages splashed with headlines announcing Mugabe’s departure.

Attention now turns to Mnangagwa, once one of Mugabe’s closest aides and one of the most powerful officials within the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa in a bid to clear the way to power for his ambitious but unpopular 52-year-old wife Grace Mugabe and her G40 faction.

It is unclear whether Mugabe and his wife will remain in Zimbabwe, where both would be seen as a potential threat to Mnangagwa or any other new leader and could face prosecution.

Mnangagwa on Tuesday night congratulated the people of Zimbabwe “on reaching this historic moment”.

“Together we will ensure a peaceful transition to the consolidation of our democracy and bring in a fresh start for all Zimbabweans and foster peace and unity.”

–IANS
soni/mr

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Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

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CasinoDays India

International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.

Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.

The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.

Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile

The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.

CasinoDays India

The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.

“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.

Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings

Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.

 

CasinoDays India

Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).

Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.

The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.

Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.

Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities

The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.

On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.

Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.

“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.

The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.

 

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