Top News
Russian plane downed in Syria, Moscow blames Israel (Third Lead)
Moscow, Sep 18 (IANS) A Russian military aircraft with 15 personnel on board was mistakenly downed by a Syrian missile, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, while blaming a simultaneous Israeli strike as the cause of the mistake.
The Ministry said a missile from Syria’s S-200 air defence system shot down the Il-20 surveillance plane with Russian servicemen on Monday night by mistake because an Israeli airstrike took place at the same time, the BBC reported.
The aircraft, which was on its way back to the Russian Hmeymim Airbase, disappeared from the radar at a time when four Israeli F-16 fighters attacked targets in Syria’s Latakia province.
“As a result of the irresponsible actions of the Israeli military, 15 Russian servicemen were killed. This is absolutely not in the spirit of the Russian-Israeli partnership,” Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a televised message.
The Russian military in Syria received a notification via a hotline about the Israeli airstrike one minute before it happened, which did not allow enough time for the Russian aircraft to move to the safe zone, Konashenkov said.
He said the Israeli jets used the Il-20 as a shield, whose effective reflective surface was 10 times larger than that of the F-16, leading to the shooting down of the Russian plane.
The Israeli jets deliberately created a dangerous situation for surface ships and aircraft in the area, the spokesman said.
“We regard the provocative actions of Israel as hostile … We reserve the right to adequate response actions,” Konashenkov said.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, saying that “the blame for the downed Russian plane and the death of the crew lies entirely on the Israeli side”.
“The Russian Defence Ministry has repeatedly called on the Israeli side to refrain from attacks on the Syrian territory that threaten the safety of the Russian servicemen,” Shoigu told Lieberman.
According to Russian officials, their Il-20 crashed about 27 km off the coast of Latakia.
Remains of the crew’s bodies and personal belongings, as well as wreckage of the aircraft were brought aboard Russian ships. Search and rescue operations were still underway.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Israeli Ambassador Gary Koren over the incident. Israeli authorities were yet to comment on the Russian accusation.
The deadly incident occurred just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in Sochi to set up a demilitarized zone between the armed opposition and the government troops in Syria’s Idlib province.
–IANS
soni/mr
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.
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.
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.
Content provided by Adverloom
Cheers and Cheers: Barzilla’s Joyful Ode to Inclusivity and Celebration
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
Lockdowns in China Force Urban Communities to Defy Censorship and Vent Frustration Online
What monkey fled with a bag containing evidence in it: Read full story
IPL 20202 UPDATE: KXIP vs MI IPL Dream11 Team Prediction for Today Match, Update Point Table of all Team.
In a Live debate AAP leader Syed Asad Abbas hurls abuses to BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
‘India’s Most Wanted’ trailer out Arjun Kapoor on hunt of Osama-Bin-Laden
Time to move on: Sonakshi on Shatrughan’s joining Congress
