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Tag: United States

  • McCain says he’s facing ‘very vicious form of cancer’

    McCain says he’s facing ‘very vicious form of cancer’

    U.S. Sen. John McCain, who recently returned to Washington after treatment for brain cancer, said on Sunday the disease was vicious but that the treatment was going well and he has more energy than before.

    “This is a very vicious form of cancer that I‘m facing,” McCain, a Republican, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2008, told CNN’s “State of the Union” programme.

    The 80-year-old Arizona senator was found to have an aggressive form of brain tumour, glioblastoma, after surgery in July for a blood clot above his left eye.

    “All the results so far are excellent,” McCain said of his treatment, adding that the prognosis was “pretty good.”

    “I‘m facing a challenge, but I’ve faced other challenges, and I’m very confident about getting through this one as well,” the senator said.

    “I’ve had no side effects, no nothing except frankly an increased level of energy.”

    McCain recently completed his first round of chemotherapy and radiation, and he said that he would have an MRI on Monday, an imaging technique used to evaluate medical conditions.

    McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, is also going to oversee work on a defence policy bill on the Senate floor next week.

    “Every life has to end one way or another,” he told CNN, adding that he was very happy with his life, including the 2008 campaign that he lost to former President Barack Obama.

    “I am able to celebrate a wonderful life and I will be grateful for additional time that I have,” McCain said.

    “Remember, I am the guy, who stood fifth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy.”

    McCain was re-elected to a sixth Senate term in November. In the past, he has been treated for melanoma, a form of skin cancer.

    He is the son and grandson of Navy admirals, and a U.S. Navy pilot whose plane was shot down over Vietnam in 1967.

    He spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and was tortured repeatedly.

    McCain said on Sunday he hoped that people would remember him as someone, who had served his country.

    “Made a lot of mistakes, made a lot of errors, but served his country, and I hope we could add, honourably.”

  • Statistical lab berths at Anchor varsity

    Statistical lab berths at Anchor varsity

    Researchers stuck with chapter four of their research work can get help from a new statistical collaboration laboratory that has been set up at the Anchor University, Lagos (AUL).

    The Anchor University Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Science and Data Analysis (AU-USSDA) was inaugurated by Eric Vance, Director of the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis (LISA) at the University of Colorado, Boulder, United States, on Monday.

    The laboratory, which is the third in Nigeria and seventh in Africa to be established under the LISA Vision 2020 programme to plant 20 laboratories in developing countries, will train statisticians to work with researchers from various fields of endeavour to interpret their data.

    The other two LISA laboratories in Nigeria can be found at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-ife, and the University of Ibadan (UI)).

    Delivering a lecture after the inauguration, Vance said he was inspired to set up LISA after noticing that researchers in the United States struggled with their researches because of limited knowledge of statistics.

    “I noticed in United States that they were so many researchers who wanted to be able to do more but were limited by their ability in statistics so they weren’t able to analyze the data in new modern ways they were not able to come up with answers to their research questions.  It is a worldwide problem,” he said.

    Apart from serving as an incubation facility to teach students of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science core technical statistical skills and collaborative information gathering techniques, Vance said the laboratory would serve as infrastructure for researchers, businesses and even government to work on their data and come up with solutions that can positively impact society.

    He said; “It is useful in two ways.  One is the students studying mathematics and statistics will have modern statistical software to be able to analyse data; and they can work in the laboratory to gain practical experience to solve problems. The second way is the laboratory is the centre for research; and every field needs statistics and so researchers from the university can come to the laboratory to work with the statisticians to be able to solve their own problems. Not everyone can be and an expert in statistics and data science, so what we do is to train them to be able to collaborate with the researchers to be able to ask them questions; to be able to explain statistics, to be able to identify ways by which statistics can accelerate research.”

    The associate professor of Applied Mathematics said the training would be provided by Dr Olawale Awe of the Department of Mathematics, OAU, the first LISA Fellow he trained from a grant he got from Google in 2013/2014, which underscored the importance of developing capacity of local researchers to find indigenous solutions to local problems.

    Awe, who was selected from a pool of 108 African researchers for the fellowship in 2013, said like the OAU-LISA laboratory, the AUL version would solve problems for researchers and business.

    “We will bring people from the industry, research organisations, come and receive training in data science and statistics. Statistics is needed in almost every aspect of human endeavour.  So we want to float programmes, workshops and issue certificates that will be co-signed by Prof Vance. We want to make this stat lab the centre of data science in Africa.  We are happy to have one in Lagos where we have more people in business and industry so that people can come here and receive training,” he said.

    Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Joseph Afolayan, said the institution welcomed the statistical laboratory because it would help its speedy development.

    “We desire to have collaborations from international bodies as part of our effort to internationalize Anchor University.

    “The LISA Vision 2020 is a vision that pursues the establishment of this kind of laboratory in 20 developing countries of the world, and for us at this time to key into that vision being the seventh university in Africa and third in Nigeria is a great excitement for me personally,” he said.

    Afolayan added that the establishment of the laboratory in his university would spur him up to undertake his own research work in risk management in Civil Engineering, an area that requires a lot of statistical data.

     

  • Facebook’s Watch goes up against YouTube for revenue in dollars

    Facebook’s Watch goes up against YouTube for revenue in dollars

    Facebook Inc launched its Watch video service to United States users on Thursday with plans to allow people to submit shows, as the No. 1 social media network vies with Alphabet Inc’s YouTube for advertising revenue.

    Advertisers are shifting more of their budgets from television to online as viewers have migrated to watching shows on smartphones and tablets.

    On Watch, which Facebook began testing earlier this month, users can see hundreds of shows from the likes of Vox, Buzzfeed, Discovery Communications Inc, A&E Networks, Walt Disney Co’s ABC, as well as live sports like Major League Baseball.

    Americans spend more than 73 minutes a day watching digital video, up more than seven per cent from last year, according to eMarketer data.

    TV watching has dropped 2 percent from last year to 244 minutes a day, a trend that is expected to continue.

    Facebook is initially paying some content creators for shows to drive interest.

    The company is paying 10,000-35,000 dollars for shorter form shows and up to 250,000 dollars for longer shows, sources told Media in May.

    The company declined to comment on how much it was spending on shows.

    Facebook does not intend to make buying content a core piece of its strategy, Dan Rose, vice president of partnerships at Facebook, told Media.

    “We are not focused on acquiring exclusive rights,” he said. “The idea is to seed this with good content.”

    Facebook plans to eventually open the platform to everyone to submit shows for approval and share 55 percent of ad revenue, Rose said.

  • Nigerians are stellar students at U.S.-based Bowie University – officials

    Nigerians are stellar students at U.S.-based Bowie University – officials

    Nigerians studying at the Bowie State University, State of Maryland, U.S., are exceptionally good students, some officials of the university, have said.

    The officials told the correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that about 1,000 Nigerian students -100 international and 900 residents were studying at the university.

    Prof. Cosmas Nwokeafor, the Dean of Graduate School of the university told NAN that Nigerians students were outstanding both in academics and in character.

    “We have a very large number of Nigerian students here at Bowie State University; most of our Nigerian students are majoring in Computer Science and Organisational Communications and many other programmes.

    “And Nigerians have actually performed very well and I can tell you because I’ve been in this university for 25 years.

    “When you look at the list of performance, our students have been stellar students in all facets of our graduate programmes as well as the undergraduate too.

    “In most areas, many of our students have completed their degree programmes here both the undergraduate and graduate, and have advanced in other major professional fields out there.

    “Their character, my goodness, if I would speak about their character based on the ones that work very close with me, you can see the difference.

    “When you meet Nigerian students, you can tell they are well-mannered, very humble, respectful and mindful of their business, which is of course their education.

    “Among all, there might be one or two that do not actually portray what we expect of them but a majority has actually demonstrated excellence and that represents Nigeria very well.”

    Nwokeafor said that many Nigerians who had completed their programmes in the university were medical doctors.

    “Some are professional nursing practitioners and educators are out there are doing very well. A lot of our students on the undergraduate level that come from Nigeria are really doing so well.”

    Robert Batten Senior Director, International Programmes at the university also spoke highly of Nigerian students in the 150-year-old university.

    Batten said: “The first thing I know is about their work ethic; they are tirelessly committed to excellence.

    “When they are hired for on-campus jobs, they show up early, they stay late, they ask for additional job duties; the employers on campus love these Nigerian students.”

    He said that he had never had a problem with any of his Nigerian students as far as following the rules and regulations of their F-1 students’ visas was concerned.

    “We also have a huge number of Nigerian students who either have permanent residence here in the United States or they have gotten their citizenship.

    “But they may have been born in Nigeria or their parents were born in Nigeria and they (students) were born here as little children but raised as Nigerians.

    “We have 1,000 of the total 5,600 we have here, the 100 being on students’ visa and the other 900 being permanent residents or citizens of the U.S.

    “So I’m one of the individuals that call out names at graduation. So we get the list about two weeks ahead of time so we can start practicing the names.

    “We don’t want to mispronounce anyone’s name as we say it over the microphone. Some of the names are a little bit challenging for us U.S. folk, so we practice.”

    Mrs Amina Ayodeji-Ogundiran, a Human Resource Development Master student at the university, said “we are very family-oriented; we know ourselves here on campus irrespective of being in different departments.”

    Ayodeji-Ogundiran, who is President of the Graduate Students Association and served on the Graduate Board at the university, said they were the second largest population after the Saudi Arabian students.

    “As far as performance is concerned, I have not had to worry even in my leadership of the International Students Association for Nigerian students.

    “In my department for example, we have a very good number of Nigerian students who are on 4.0 (CGPA) and who are doing very well academically; I’ve not seen any situation that has been overbore.

    “And talking about the way they conduct themselves morally, we’ve not had any issue about a Nigerian student do something bad or not conducting himself or herself well.

    “So I will say that it’s really been a good experience even as I’ve served them on that association and on the Graduate Board,” she said.

  • Wal-Mart to enter voice-shopping market

    Wal-Mart to enter voice-shopping market

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) is teaming up with Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google to enter the nascent voice-shopping market, currently dominated by Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), adding another front to Wal-Mart’s battle with the online megastore.

    Google, which makes the Android-software used to run most of the world’s smartphones, will offer hundreds-of-thousands of Walmart-items on its voice-controlled-Google-Assistant platform from late September, Walmart’s head of e-commerce, Marc Lore, wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.

    Lore, who joined the world’s largest retailer after it bought his e-commerce company Jet.com, said Wal-Mart would offer a wider selection than any retailer on the platform.

    Amazon, whose voice-controlled-aide Alexa allows users to shop from the retailer, has the lion’s share of the United States voice-controlled device-industry, with its Echo-devices accounting for 72.2 per cent of the market in 2016, far ahead of the Google Home-gadget’s 22 per cent, according to research-firm eMarketer.

    Amazon has also dominated Wal-Mart and other brick-and-mortar retailers in online sales.

    Wal-Mart has begun pushing back aggressively, however, offering discounts to customers who buy online and pick up in-store, and free two-day shipping for purchases of 35 dollars or more.

    The latter move even forced Amazon, which rarely imitates the competition, to lower its threshold for free shipping.

    Lore said that Wal-Mart was also integrating its quick reordering tool into Google’s same-day delivery service.

    “One of the primary-use cases for voice shopping will be the ability to build a basket of previously
    purchased everyday essentials,” he said in an interview.

    He added that Wal-Mart has bigger plans for voice shopping next year that will involve capitalising on its 4,700 U.S. stores to “create customer experiences that don’t currently exist within voice shopping anywhere else”.

    Customers might be able to use voice shopping to pick up a discounted order in-store or buy fresh groceries across the country, he said.

    But while both Amazon and Google’s voice-controlled speakers are gaining in popularity, people still mainly use them for such basic tasks as placing phone calls or playing music.

    To boost voice purchases, Amazon has started offering Alexa-only shopping deals.

    “We’re still in early days, but shopping isn’t yet one of the big uses of the devices,” Victoria Petrock, principal analyst at research firm eMarketer, said on Tuesday.

    “Obstacles to people using the devices to shop are cost and privacy. A little more than six in 10 people are concerned that these virtual-assistants are spying on them”, she said.

  • India key partner for U.S. in modernising Afghanistan – Tillerson

    India key partner for U.S. in modernising Afghanistan – Tillerson

    India will be a key partner for the U.S. that can help modernise Afghanistan both politically and economically, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

    Tillerson made this known in a statement after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.

    “India will be an important partner in the effort to ensure peace and stability in the region, and we welcome its role in supporting Afghanistan’s political and economic modernization,” Tillerson said.

    Earlier President Donald Trump unveiled the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan which included expanded authorities to target terrorists.

    However, Trump said that the United States would not reveal troop numbers or plans going forward.

    Reacting, New Delhi welcomed the announcement of a new strategy of U.S. President Donald Trump for Afghanistan, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

    “We welcome President Trump’s determination to enhance efforts to overcome the challenges facing Afghanistan and confronting issues of safe havens and other forms of cross-border support enjoyed by terrorists.

    “India shares these concerns and objectives,” the statement said.

    The Indian ministry also reaffirmed its commitment to support the Afghan government’s efforts aimed at ensuring peace and security in the country.

    “We are committed to supporting the Government and the people of Afghanistan in their efforts to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in their country.

    “We have been steadfast in extending reconstruction and development assistance to Afghanistan in keeping with our traditional friendship with its people.

    “We will continue these efforts, including in partnership with other countries,” the ministry stressed.

    Afghanistan has long been suffering from unstable political, social and security situation due to the activity of the Taliban and the Islamic State terrorist groups.

    The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces supported by the U.S.-led coalition are currently conducting joint offensive operations to combat terrorism across the country.

  • Oil prices rise, heading to $53 on signs of tightening market

    Oil prices rise, heading to $53 on signs of tightening market

    Oil prices rose on Tuesday, lifted by indications that supply is gradually tightening, especially in the United States.

    Brent crude oil was up 40 cents at 52.06 dollars a barrel by 0715 GMT. United States light crude was 35 cents higher at 47.72 dollars.

    “U.S. crude oil stocks have been falling consistently in recent weeks,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at futures brokerage Forex.com.

    “If the downtrend in oil inventories is maintained, then a bullish case can be made for oil, especially given the ongoing supply restrictions from

    OPEC and Russia,” Razaqzada said.

    U.S. commercial crude inventories have fallen by almost 13 percent from their March peaks, to 466.5 million barrels.

    U.S. crude production has broken through 9.5 million barrels per day (bpd), its highest since July 2015, but analysts say growth may slow as

    U.S. energy firms cut the number of rigs drilling for new oil.

    The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers including Russia have pledged to hold back around 1.8

    million bpd of output between January this year and March 2018 in order to tighten supplies and highten prices.

    The weekly rollout of data on U.S. inventories starts later on Tuesday, giving the market a chance to see if the recent downward trend in U.S.

    crude stocks is continuing.

  • Wreckage of U.S. WWII warship found after 72yrs

    Wreckage of U.S. WWII warship found after 72yrs

    Civilian researchers led by entrepreneur and philanthropist Paul Allen have announced they have found the wreck of the U.S. World War II warship, cruiser USS Indianapolis, which was lost on July 30, 1945.

    The U.S. Department of Defence in a statement on Sunday, described the discovery as “significant”.

    “This is a significant discovery considering the depth of the water in the area in which the ship was lost: more than 18,000 feet.

    “About 800 of the ship’s 1,196 sailors and Marines survived the sinking, but after four to five days in the water – suffering exposure, dehydration, drowning and shark attacks – only 316 survived,” the department said.

    The wreck was located by the expedition crew of Research Vessel Petrel, which is owned by Allen, 2,000 feet below the surface, resting on the floor of the North Pacific Ocean, it said.

    Allen was quoted as saying: “To be able to honor the brave men of the USS Indianapolis and their families through the discovery of a ship that played such a significant role in ending World War II is truly humbling.

    “As Americans, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the crew for their courage, persistence and sacrifice in the face of horrendous circumstances.

    “While our search for the rest of the wreckage will continue, I hope everyone connected to this historic ship will feel some measure of closure at this discovery so long in coming.”

    According to the department, the ship was lost in the final days of World War II when it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the early morning hours of July 30, 1945.

    It explained that the war ship sank in 12 minutes, making it impossible to send a distress signal or deploy much of its life-saving equipment.

    Prior to the attack, the Indianapolis had just completed a secret mission delivering components of the atomic bomb used in Hiroshima that ultimately would help to end the war in the Pacific, it said.

    The department quoted Sam Cox, Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command as saying: “Even in the worst defeats and disasters, there is valor and sacrifice that deserves to never be forgotten,”

    “They can serve as inspiration to current and future sailors enduring situations of mortal peril.

    “There are also lessons learned – and in the case of the Indianapolis, lessons re-learned – that need to be preserved and passed on, so the same mistakes can be prevented and lives saved.”

    According to the department, other researchers have searched for Indianapolis in the past.

    “Among the elements that made this effort different was Allen’s recent acquisition and retrofit of the 250-foot R/V Petrel with state-of-the-art subsea equipment capable of diving 3 and a half miles,” it said.

  • No one should worship in fear globally – US

    No one should worship in fear globally – US

    The United States Secretary of State, Mr Rex Tillerson, has said that no person should live in fear, worship in secret or face discrimination because of his or her religious belief globally.

    Tillerson, who made the assertion while releasing the 2016 International Religious Freedom Report, said that President Donald Trump had said that people should worship according to their conscience.

    According to him, the 2016 International Religious Freedom Report indicates that many governments around the world use discriminatory laws to deny their citizens freedom of religion or belief.

    “Almost 80 per cent of the global populations live with restrictions on or hostilities to limit their freedom of religion.

    “Where religious freedom is not protected, we know that instability, human rights abuses, and violent extremism have a greater opportunity to take root.

    “We cannot ignore these conditions. The Trump administration is committed to addressing these conditions in part by advancing international religious freedom around the world.

    “No one should have to live in fear, worship in secret, or face discrimination because of his or her beliefs,’’ he said.

    The U.S. Secretary of State said that the State Department would continue to advocate on behalf of those seeking to live their lives according to their faith.

    Tillerson said that the report was a requirement pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 that upholds religious freedom as a core American value.

    “We remain concerned about the state of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia. The government does not recognise the right of non-Muslims to practice their religion in public.

    “It applies criminal penalties, including prison sentences, lashings, and fines, for apostasy, atheism, blasphemy, and insulting the state’s interpretation of Islam.

    “Of particular concern are attacks targeting Shia Muslims, and the continued pattern of social prejudice and discrimination against them.

    “We urge Saudi Arabia to embrace greater degrees of religious freedom for all of its citizens,’’ he said.

     

  • China says it will defend interests if US harms trade ties

    China says it will defend interests if US harms trade ties

    China said it would take action to defend its interests if the United States damaged trade ties between them.

    The Ministry of Commerce stated this on Tuesday, after US President, Donald Trump, authorized an inquiry into China’s alleged theft of intellectual property.

    Trump’s move, the first direct trade measure by his administration against China, comes at a time of heightened tension over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, though it is unlikely to prompt near-term change in commercial ties.

    U.S Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, will have a year to check whether to launch formal investigation of China’s policies on intellectual-property, which the White House and US industry groups say are harming US businesses.

    The United States should respect objective facts, act prudently, abide by its World Trade Organization pledges, and not destroy principles of multilateralism, an unidentified spokesman of China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

    “If the U.S side ignores the facts and disrespects multilateral trade principles in taking actions that harm both sides’ trade interests, China will absolutely not sit by and watch.

    “It will inevitably adopt all appropriate measures, and resolutely safeguard China’s lawful rights.”

    The ministry said that the U.S should “treasure” the cooperation and favourable state of China-US trade relations, and warned that any US action to damage ties would “harm both sides’ trade relations and companies”.

    “China is continuously strengthening its administrative and judicial protections for intellectual property,’’ the ministry added.

    China’s policy of forcing foreign companies to turn over technology to Chinese joint venture partners and failure to crack down on intellectual property theft has been long-standing problems for several US administrations.

    Trump administration officials have estimated that theft of intellectual property by China could be worth as much as 600 billion dollars.

    Experts on China trade policy said the long lead time could allow Beijing to discuss some of the issues raised by Washington without being seen to cave to pressure under the threat of reprisals.