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Maduro blocks aid to crisis-stricken nation

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Cucuta (Colombia), Feb 8 (IANS) The government of embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has blocked a bridge on the Colombia-Venezuela border amid rising tensions over opposition plans to bring humanitarian aid into the country.

Venezuela’s opposition leader and self-declared president, Juan Guaido, last week named the Colombian border town of Cucuta as one of three collection points for the delivery of international aid.

His move ramped up tensions with Maduro’s government even as many in Venezuela remain in desperate need of food and medical supplies, CNN reported.

Maduro has rejected the international aid, saying: “We are not beggars.”

Guaido on Thursday said he was confident his efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the country would work out.

“We will succeed in letting the humanitarian aid in, because it’s about saving lives,” Guaido posted on his official Twitter feed. “While we work every day to reach the delivery of humanitarian aid, they insist in siphoning the medicines and food from those who urgently need it.”

Colombian officials and a CNN photojournalist at the scene confirmed the presence of the blockade, which would effectively prevent humanitarian aid from reaching Venezuela via this route.

Juan Caicedo, a spokesperson from Migration Colombia, Colombia’s Ministry of Immigration and Immigration Control, said the Venezuelan military put the blockade into place Tuesday afternoon, adding that there are cameras monitoring activity on the bridge.

It’s possible the Venezuelan government fears aid crossing the border could be used as cover for an invasion to depose Maduro.

Guaido called Wednesday on the conscience of Venezuela’s military — which has so far been loyal to the government — to permit aid into the country from Colombia, which is run by a right-wing government critical of Maduro.

“Brother, let the aid in. Do not stop it,” he said, appealing to members of the country’s armed forces while speaking at a meeting with farmers in Caracas. “The end of the usurpation will be the end of hunger,” he added, as he called for Venezuelans to reject the Maduro government.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also urged Venezuela to open the bridge, tweeting that “the Maduro regime must let the aid reach the starving people.”

–IANS
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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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