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We devoted enormous resources to rescue aid worker: Obama

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Barack-Obama

Washington: US President Barack Obama today stated that they tried a lot to save the deceased aid worker Kayla Mueller who was captured by the terrorist group, Islamic State (IS).

“We devoted enormous resources, always devote enormous resources to freeing captives or hostages anywhere in the world,” Obama said Tuesday in an interview with the online Buzzfeed News.

“And I deployed an entire operation — at significant risk — to rescue not only her but the other individuals who had been held, and probably missed them by a day or two, precisely because we had that commitment,” said Obama.

The US revealed in August that it had launched a secret mission in Syria to secure the release of several hostages, including the American journalist James Foley, abducted in Syria in 2012 and beheaded in 2014, but the mission failed because it did not find the correct location.

Obama said that among the hostages was Mueller, 26, whose death was confirmed Tuesday by her family and the White House.

The president defended the US policy of not paying ransom for the release of American hostages abroad, while Mueller’s parents were raising funds for that purpose.

“We will do everything we can short of providing an incentive for future Americans to be caught,” Obama said.

He also said that although other governments can decide to pay ransom to organisations like the IS, the US would remain firm in its policy in this regard.

“The reason is that once we start doing that, not only are we financing their slaughter of innocent people and strengthening their organisation, but we’re actually making Americans even greater targets for future kidnappings,” he added.

Obama confessed that he was “heartbroken” to learn of the death of Mueller who he described as “an outstanding young woman” whose “spirit will live on”.

Mueller is the fourth American hostage killed by the IS and the White House stated Tuesday that it had evidence of at least another American retained in the Middle East, although it failed to specify the country or the identity of that person’s captors.

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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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