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BOYD GAMING ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL $500 MILLION SHARE REPURCHASE AUTHORIZATIONLAGOS – The federal government, on Tuesday in Lagos, disclosed that ongoing efforts and activities of partner agencies to reduce the Out-Of-School-Children in Nigeria has impacted a total of two million beneficiaries. Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, the Honorable Minister Of Education, disclosed this at the opening ceremonies of the ongoing three-day summit of the Basic Education In Nigeria Bootcamp (Ben-B) summit held in Lagos with the theme: “Improving Access to Inclusive Quality Education for All Children in Nigeria: Addressing the Challenges of Out-of-School Children”. The Minister in his message delivered by Dr (Mrs) Folake Olatunji-David, Director of Basic Education in the Federal Ministry of Education said the implementation of policies through the activities of four of its agencies and bilateral development partners supported by the take-off of the Almajiri and Out-of-School Commission is making positive impacts as part of the system-wide policy with a huge impact on Out-of-School Children. He said, “The Federal Ministry of Education is set for and indeed has commenced the implementation of key policies distilled with system-wide outcomes and their deep practical effects in the life of this Administration.” He said the policies captured by the Data Repository, Out-of-School Children Education, Teacher Training & Development, and Skills Development and Acquisition (DOTS) when implemented, will succeed in connecting the dots for the improvement of the overall education system in Nigeria. Emphasising the importance of data at the summit organised by the Federal Ministry of Education (FMoE), the Minister lamented the uncoordinated data repository in the country, saying unverifiable data has resulted in the citing of different figures for Out-Of-School-Children by governments and various bilateral partners. He acknowledged the place of quality teachers as pivotal in achieving policies on quality education and skilling, saying extant policies on teacher’s welfare, support and development would be reviewed for a more effective implementation. He added, “As we strive to ensure unfettered access to nine (9) years of formal basic education, we recognize the importance of free, Universal Basic Education for every Nigerian child of school-going age. Our collective efforts aim to reduce drastically the incidence of drop-out from the formal school system, through improved relevance, quality and efficiency.” Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in a keynote address, said the place of education at all levels of the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu will create a befitting future for children and, in effect, have a positive impact on the nation’s social, economic, technology and political advancement. The Governor, represented by Hon. Jamiu Alli-Balogun, the Commissioner For Primary and Basic Education, said the outcomes will include sustainable plans, policies, and regulations that are visible, accessible, practical-oriented and cost-effective. He stressed the commitment of the state government to education and technology as one of the core THEME+ agenda of Lagos State, saying it has created and leveraged better education performance with a technology-driven approach. “The state had committed more resources in the establishment of new schools, skills acquisition centres, continuous rehabilitation of schools, restructuring of school plants, recruitment of professionally qualified teachers, provision of teaching materials, deployment of technology, teachers’ capacity building and motivation across the board. “In Lagos State, we have come up with various strategies to combat out-of-school children through aggressive enrollment drives and project zero, which reduces learning poverty and equally returning children found on the street to school,” he said. He urged stakeholders in the education sector to change the current approaches to build a world where every child survives, thrives, and has the power to shape their future. Prof Pai Obanya of the Institute of Education at the University of Ibadan (UI), the lead paper presenter, urged stakeholders to change the current notion about the profession, saying “Teaching is not as simply telling, but mainly as guiding, continuous assessment in place of continual testing, support tools from local and other sources,” he advocated. Delivering a paper titled: “Improving Access to Inclusive Quality Education for all Children in Nigeria: Addressing the Challenge of Out-Of-School-Children”, Prof Obanya called for disaggregated data and enhanced inter-agency synergy, the institution of systematic monitoring and targeted funding as part of measures to put the nation’s education back on track and tackle the Out-Of-School-Children menace. He urged the managers of the education sector to revisit and be guided by the implementation guidelines on Universal Basic Education (UBE),1999, UBE Roadmap, 2015 and the National Teacher Education Policy to reset the sector for sustainable growth amd development. Purpose Of the Summit Dr. Olatunji-David, represented by Mrs Joy Onoja, Director, Public asic Education Education said the main objectives of the Bootcamp are to: Assemble Basic Education stakeholders to deliberate on Policy, practice and implementation gaps facing the sub-sector. Ensure responsiveness of state ministries of Education (SMoEs) in compliance with National Education Policy decisions and programmes. Harmonize and coordinate resources and activities in the Basic Education sub-sector towards the achievement of national goals and aspirations. Monitor the progress of states and ensure reporting to the Federal Ministry of Education for proper coordination. The summit will review the implementation status, that is assess the extent to which recommendations have been implemented, identify best practices, share successful strategies and experience, address implementation gaps, refine strategies, foster collaboration, inform policy decisions, monitor progress and identify resource gaps.
Liverpool next six fixtures ahead of Man City game after Real Madrid Champions League win
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ: API) (the "Company”), a pioneer and leader in real-time engagement technology, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024. "Recently, we launched our Conversational AI SDK in collaboration with OpenAI's Realtime API to allow developers to bring voice-driven AI experiences to any app. We believe multimodal AI agents that can interact with human through natural voice will gain widespread adoption across many use cases such as customer support, education and wellness, and Agora is well positioned to become a key infrastructure provider for real-time conversational AI,” said Tony Zhao, founder, chairman and CEO of Agora. "To support this vision, we recently made some structural changes, aligning our organization to fully leverage the accelerating conversational AI opportunities, and operate in a faster, leaner, and more responsive fashion. These changes will help us build the next generation real-time engagement technology for the Generative AI era and strengthen our position as the leader in real-time engagement space.” Third Quarter 2024 Highlights Revenues Total revenues were $31.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of 9.8% from $35.0 million in the same period last year. Revenues of Agora were $15.7 million in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of 2.6% from $15.3 million in the same period last year, primarily due to our business expansion and usage growth in sectors such as live shopping. Revenues of Shengwang were RMB112.9 million ($15.9 million) in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of 20.0% from RMB141.2 million ($19.7 million) in the same period last year, primarily due to a decrease in revenues of RMB 17.5 million ($2.4 million) due to the end-of-sale of certain products and reduced usage from customers in certain sectors such as social and entertainment as a result of challenging macroeconomic and regulatory environment. Cost of Revenues Cost of revenues was $10.5 million in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of 16.4% from $12.6 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the end-of-sale of certain products and the decrease in bandwidth usage and costs, which was offset partially by severance expenses for customer support teams of $0.3 million. Gross Profit and Gross Margin Gross profit was $21.0 million in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of 6.1% from $22.4 million in the same period last year. Gross margin was 66.7% in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of 2.7% from 64.0% in the same period last year, mainly due to the end-of-sale of certain low-margin products, which was offset partially by higher severance expenses in the third quarter of 2024. Operating Expenses Operating expenses were $45.9 million in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of 24.3% from $36.9 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the increase in restructuring and severance expenses in the third quarter of 2024, which included share-based compensation of $11.4 million as a result of the cancellation of certain employees' equity awards and immediate recognition of relevant remaining unrecognized compensation expenses, as well as severance expenses of $4.4 million. Loss from operations was $24.7 million in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $13.9 million in the same period last year. Interest Income Interest income was $3.9 million in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $4.9 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the decrease in the average balance of cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and financial products issued by banks and the decrease in average interest rate realized. Losses from equity in affiliates Losses from equity in affiliates were $4.2 million in the third quarter of 2024, primarily due to an impairment loss on an investment in certain private company of $4.1 million. Net Loss Net loss was $24.2 million in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $22.5 million in the same period last year. Net Loss per American Depositary Share attributable to ordinary shareholders Net loss per American Depositary Share ("ADS”) 1 attributable to ordinary shareholders was $0.26 in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $0.23 in the same period last year. _____________ 1 One ADS represents four Class A ordinary shares. Share Repurchase Program During the three months ended September 30, 2024, the Company repurchased approximately 6.8 million of its Class A ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 1.7 million ADSs) for approximately US$3.9 million under its share repurchase program, representing 1.9% of its US$200 million share repurchase program. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had repurchased approximately 129.4 million of its Class A ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 32.3 million ADSs) for approximately US$113.7 million under its share repurchase program, representing 57% of its US$200 million share repurchase program. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had 368.3 million ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 92.1 million ADSs) outstanding, compared to 449.8 million ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 112.5 million ADSs) outstanding as of January 31, 2022 before the share repurchase program commenced. The current share repurchase program will expire at the end of February 2025. Executive Leadership Update Today the Company announced that Chief Security Officer Roger Hale will be leaving the Company, effective immediately. Mr. Hale has served in this role for the past 2.5 years, during which he made significant contributions to enhancing the Company's security, compliance, and data protection protocols. Mr. Hale will work closely with senior leadership to ensure a smooth transition of his responsibilities. Moving forward, Patrick Ferriter and Robbin Liu will assume responsibility for security and compliance, reflecting the Company's commitment to maintaining a strong and effective security framework. Mr. Hale will continue to provide strategic advice as an advisor to the Company. "We are grateful for Roger's dedication and expertise over the past two and a half years. His leadership has been invaluable in strengthening our security & compliance foundation,” said Tony Zhao, founder, chairman and CEO of Agora. "Security and compliance remain top priorities for Agora, and we will continue to uphold the highest standards to protect our customers and stakeholders.” Financial Outlook Based on currently available information, the Company expects total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2024 to be between $34 million and $36 million, compared to $31.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, and $33.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 if revenues from certain end-of-sale low-margin products were excluded. The Company also expects significant improvement in net income / (loss) in the fourth quarter. This outlook reflects the Company's current and preliminary views on the market and operational conditions, which are subject to change. Earnings Call The Company will host a conference call to discuss the financial results at 5 p.m. Pacific Time / 8 p.m. Eastern Time on November 25, 2024. Details for the conference call are as follows: Event title: Agora, Inc. 3Q 2024 Financial Results The call will be available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/wie28zvr Investors who want to hear the call should log on at least 15 minutes prior to the broadcast. Participants may register for the call with the link below. https://register.vevent.com/register/BIf58a0b6f500c4362b1a8c64f9fa4cea8 Please visit the Company's investor relations website at https://investor.agora.io on November 25, 2024 to view the earnings release and accompanying slides prior to the conference call. Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures The Company has provided in this press release financial information that has not been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP”). The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures internally in analyzing its financial results and believe that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as an additional tool to evaluate ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing its financial results with other companies in its industry, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures. Besides free cash flow (as defined below), each of these non-GAAP financial measures represents the corresponding GAAP financial measure before share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets, income tax related to acquired intangible assets and impairment of goodwill. The Company believes that such non-GAAP financial measures help identify underlying trends in its business that could otherwise be distorted by the effects of such share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets, income tax related to acquired intangible assets and impairment of goodwill that it includes in its cost of revenues, total operating expenses and net income (loss). The Company believes that all such non-GAAP financial measures also provide useful information about its operating results, enhance the overall understanding of its past performance and future prospects and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by its management in its financial and operational decision-making. Non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP financial measures and should be read only in conjunction with the Company's consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of its historical non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures has been provided in the tables captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures” included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation. Definitions of the Company's non-GAAP financial measures included in this press release are presented below. Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss) Non-GAAP net income (loss) is defined as net income (loss) adjusted to exclude share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets, income tax related to acquired intangible assets and impairment of goodwill. Free Cash Flow Free cash flow is defined as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment (excluding the acquisition of land use right and the payment for the headquarters project). The Company considers free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors regarding net cash provided by operating activities and cash used for investments in property and equipment required to maintain and grow the business. Operating Metrics The Company also uses other operating metrics included in this press release and defined below to assess the performance of its business. Active Customers An active customer at the end of any period is defined as an organization or individual developer from which the Company generated more than $100 of revenue during the preceding 12 months. Customers are counted based on unique customer account identifiers. Generally, one software application uses the same customer account identifier throughout its life cycle while one account may be used for multiple applications. Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate is calculated for a trailing 12-month period by first identifying all customers in the prior 12-month period, and then calculating the quotient from dividing the revenue generated from such customers in the trailing 12-month period by the revenue generated from the same group of customers in the prior 12-month period. As the vast majority of revenue generated from Agora's customers is denominated in U.S. dollars, while the vast majority of revenue generated from Shengwang's customers is denominated in Renminbi, Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate is calculated in U.S. dollars for Agora and in Renminbi for Shengwang, which has substantially removed the impact of foreign currency translations. Shengwang excluded the revenues from certain end-of-sale products, Easemob's CEC business and K12 academic tutoring sector. The Company believes Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate facilitates operating performance comparisons on a period-to-period basis. Safe Harbor Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical or current fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements regarding the Company's financial outlook, beliefs and expectations. Forward-looking statements include statements containing words such as "expect,” "anticipate,” "believe,” "project,” "will” and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. Among other things, the Financial Outlook in this announcement contain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to the growth of the RTE-PaaS market; the Company's ability to manage its growth and expand its operations; the continued impact of COVID-19 on global markets and the Company's business, operations and customers; the Company's ability to attract new developers and convert them into customers; the Company's ability to retain existing customers and expand their usage of its platform and products; the Company's ability to drive popularity of existing use cases and enable new use cases, including through quality enhancements and introduction of new products, features and functionalities; the Company's fluctuating operating results; competition; the effect of broader technological and market trends on the Company's business and prospects; general economic conditions and their impact on customer and end-user demand; and other risks and uncertainties included elsewhere in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC”), including, without limitation, the final prospectus related to the IPO filed with the SEC on June 26, 2020. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. About Agora, Inc. Agora, Inc. is the Cayman Islands holding company of two independent divisions, under Agora brand and Shengwang brand, respectively, whose businesses are conducted through separate entities. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Agora is a pioneer and global leader in Real-Time Engagement Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), providing developers with simple, flexible, and powerful application programming interfaces, or APIs, to embed real-time voice, video, interactive live-streaming, chat, whiteboard, and artificial intelligence capabilities into their applications. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Shengwang is a pioneer and leading Real-Time Engagement PaaS provider in the China market. For more information on Agora, please visit: www.agora.io For more information on Shengwang, please visit: www.shengwang.cn Agora, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited, in US$ thousands) Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss (Unaudited, in US$ thousands, except share and per ADS amounts)Stock market today: Wall Street slips below its records as bitcoin briefly pops above $100,000
Agora, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2024 Financial ResultsAirport surfaces most likely to have a deadly virus lurking on them
The former president of the supreme court who ruled on the most high-profile assisted dying cases has declared his support for the law change, as MPs backing the bill say they believe they have the numbers for Friday’s historic vote to pass. David Neuberger, who ruled against high-profile assisted dying cases including Debbie Purdy in 2009 and Tony Nicklinson in 2015, told the Guardian he believed the status quo was failing “the fundamental aims of the law – to respect people’s right of personal autonomy, and to protect the vulnerable”. Neuberger said his experience sitting on cases involving assisted dying meant he was confident the tight terms of Kim Leadbeater’s bill – that it would apply to only those who are terminally ill – could not be expanded by judicial challenge. Both sides in the debate have been making their final calls to MPs in the last days before the vote, with dozens still telling colleagues they are undecided. The Guardian can reveal MPs are also preparing to announce a new independent commission on palliative care – spearheaded by the Labour MP Rachael Maskell – which they are hopeful will get backing from the health secretary, Wes Streeting, when it launches in December. High-profile charities backing the new commission include the Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland, Hospice UK, Marie Curie and Sue Ryder, though all say it must take hearings from all sides of the debate. The focus would be on improving end-of-life care and a favoured chair is the palliative care doctor llora Finlay, though she has been explicitly anti-assisted dying. MPs this week have also heard impassioned plea from disability activists against assisted dying. Pam Duncan-Glancy, the Scottish Labour MSP who uses a wheelchair, said she felt disabled people’s voices were being forgotten and wrote a letter to Labour MPs saying the state would be at risk of making it easier for disabled people to die than to access the right help to live comfortably. The MPs backing Leadbeater’s private member’s bill are understood to believe they have solidified support in recent days and now have enough to get the bill past its first parliamentary hurdle, though some support is conditional on changes at the next stage. In the first Westminster vote on the issue in nearly 10 years, MPs at Westminster have been given a free vote, meaning they can vote according to conscience. Esther Rantzen, the TV presenter who has been one of the most high-profile advocates for change, also wrote to MPs on Friday saying “my time is running out” but the issue was one “the public care desperately about” and said it might not be debated by MPs “for another decade” if the legislation did not pass. But a slew of new Labour MPs – who could be the decisive votes on Friday – came out against the bill on Wednesday evening, having not made their views public previously. Those include Imogen Walker, the PPS to Rachel Reeves, Zubir Ahmed, PPS to Wes Streeting, and Blair McDougall, a former aide to David Miliband. Lord Neuberger said that those concerned about a slippery slope after the bill passed should be confident that could not occur through the courts, saying it could only occur if MPs in parliament decided to change the law again to expand its definition beyond terminally ill adults. “The European court of human rights has repeatedly ruled that legislation on assisted dying is a matter for individual states,” he said. “As for domestic courts, seven of the nine judges including me in the Nicklinson case held that assisted dying was a matter for parliament not the courts,” he said. “The present law ... prevents those who genuinely and understandably wish to end their lives and who need help to do so, from getting such help. It also fails to protect the vulnerable, because the blanket ban can drive terminally ill people to end their lives in secret.” Another former supreme court president, Brenda Hale, and former supreme court judge Jonathan Sumption have also backed the law change. But a number of other senior members of the judiciary have voiced concern about the bill, including Sir James Munby, the former president of the high court’s family division; and the former lord chief justice Lord Thomas, who has warned “ no one has grappled with the detail ” of the impact of the legislation on family courts. About 130 MPs are already down to speak in the five-hour debate on Friday and at least four amendments have been submitted, sparking fears speeches will be severely limited. Duncan-Glancy, who has been meeting MPs in parliament, wrote an emotional letter to her Labour colleagues asking them to reconsider supporting the bill. “My opposition to the bill is based on one simple point; that it should not be easier to get assistance to die, than to live,” she wrote. “If this bill was to pass, the former could become the case. I know some MPs support the principle of assisted dying but that you have some doubts about what is in – and not in – this bill. You are right to have doubts and you are not voting on a principle. You are voting on a piece of legislation that I believe could put disabled people at risk if passed. “During Covid-19, my husband and I wrote letters to say: ‘Please do not put a DNR notice on us’ because such was the opinion and low value that we felt that was placed on disabled people’s lives, that we, even as supported as we are, were scared. No one should feel their existence is a burden on others.” In her letter to all 650 MPs, Rantzen urges them to listen to Friday’s debate and to vote, whatever their view. “This is such a vital life-and-death issue, one that we the public care desperately about, so it is only right that as many MPs as possible listen to the arguments.” Rantzen will not attend Friday’s debate in person but her daughter Rebecca Wilcox will be in the public gallery on her behalf. Wilcox told the Guardian Rantzen had been in contact with “so many brilliant families and relatives of people that have experienced trauma”, Wilcox said. “They are looking down the barrel of a terrible diagnosis and are just hoping for the vote to go their way so that there’s more compassion and more empathy in the law.”South Korea Gross Domestic Product Growth (YoY) in line with forecasts (1.5%) in 3QWith nearly all of the votes counted, left-leaning Mr Milanovic won 49% while his main challenger Dragan Primorac, a candidate of the ruling conservative HDZ party, trailed far behind with 19%. Pre-election polls had predicted that the two would face off in the second round on January 12, as none of the eight presidential election contenders were projected to get more than 50% of the vote. Mr Milanovic thanked his supporters but warned that “this was just a first run”. “Let’s not be triumphant, let’s be realistic, firmly on the ground,” he said. “We must fight all over again. It’s not over till it’s over.” Mr Milanovic, the most popular politician in Croatia, has served as prime minister in the past. Populist in style, the 58-year-old has been a fierce critic of current Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and continuous sparring between the two has been a recent hallmark of Croatia’s political scene. Mr Plenkovic has sought to portray the vote as one about Croatia’s future in the EU and Nato. He has labelled Mr Milanovic “pro-Russian” and a threat to Croatia’s international standing. “The difference between him (Mr Primorac) and Milanovic is quite simple: Milanovic is leading us East, Primorac is leading us West,” he said. Though the presidency is largely ceremonial in Croatia, an elected president holds political authority and acts as the supreme commander of the military. Mr Milanovic has criticised the Nato and European Union support for Ukraine and has often insisted that Croatia should not take sides. He has said Croatia should stay away from global disputes, thought it is a member of both Nato and the EU. Mr Milanovic has also blocked Croatia’s participation in a Nato-led training mission for Ukraine, declaring that “no Croatian soldier will take part in somebody else’s war”. His main rival in the election, Mr Primorac, has stated that “Croatia’s place is in the West, not the East”. However, his bid for the presidency has been marred by a high-level corruption case that landed Croatia’s health minister in jail last month and which featured prominently in pre-election debates. Trailing a distant third in the pre-election polls is Marija Selak Raspudic, a conservative independent candidate. She has focused her election campaign on the economic troubles of ordinary citizens, corruption and issues such as population decline in the country of some 3.8 million. Sunday’s presidential election is Croatia’s third vote this year, following a snap parliamentary election in April and the European Parliament balloting in June.
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BOYD GAMING ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL $500 MILLION SHARE REPURCHASE AUTHORIZATIONLAGOS – The federal government, on Tuesday in Lagos, disclosed that ongoing efforts and activities of partner agencies to reduce the Out-Of-School-Children in Nigeria has impacted a total of two million beneficiaries. Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, the Honorable Minister Of Education, disclosed this at the opening ceremonies of the ongoing three-day summit of the Basic Education In Nigeria Bootcamp (Ben-B) summit held in Lagos with the theme: “Improving Access to Inclusive Quality Education for All Children in Nigeria: Addressing the Challenges of Out-of-School Children”. The Minister in his message delivered by Dr (Mrs) Folake Olatunji-David, Director of Basic Education in the Federal Ministry of Education said the implementation of policies through the activities of four of its agencies and bilateral development partners supported by the take-off of the Almajiri and Out-of-School Commission is making positive impacts as part of the system-wide policy with a huge impact on Out-of-School Children. He said, “The Federal Ministry of Education is set for and indeed has commenced the implementation of key policies distilled with system-wide outcomes and their deep practical effects in the life of this Administration.” He said the policies captured by the Data Repository, Out-of-School Children Education, Teacher Training & Development, and Skills Development and Acquisition (DOTS) when implemented, will succeed in connecting the dots for the improvement of the overall education system in Nigeria. Emphasising the importance of data at the summit organised by the Federal Ministry of Education (FMoE), the Minister lamented the uncoordinated data repository in the country, saying unverifiable data has resulted in the citing of different figures for Out-Of-School-Children by governments and various bilateral partners. He acknowledged the place of quality teachers as pivotal in achieving policies on quality education and skilling, saying extant policies on teacher’s welfare, support and development would be reviewed for a more effective implementation. He added, “As we strive to ensure unfettered access to nine (9) years of formal basic education, we recognize the importance of free, Universal Basic Education for every Nigerian child of school-going age. Our collective efforts aim to reduce drastically the incidence of drop-out from the formal school system, through improved relevance, quality and efficiency.” Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in a keynote address, said the place of education at all levels of the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu will create a befitting future for children and, in effect, have a positive impact on the nation’s social, economic, technology and political advancement. The Governor, represented by Hon. Jamiu Alli-Balogun, the Commissioner For Primary and Basic Education, said the outcomes will include sustainable plans, policies, and regulations that are visible, accessible, practical-oriented and cost-effective. He stressed the commitment of the state government to education and technology as one of the core THEME+ agenda of Lagos State, saying it has created and leveraged better education performance with a technology-driven approach. “The state had committed more resources in the establishment of new schools, skills acquisition centres, continuous rehabilitation of schools, restructuring of school plants, recruitment of professionally qualified teachers, provision of teaching materials, deployment of technology, teachers’ capacity building and motivation across the board. “In Lagos State, we have come up with various strategies to combat out-of-school children through aggressive enrollment drives and project zero, which reduces learning poverty and equally returning children found on the street to school,” he said. He urged stakeholders in the education sector to change the current approaches to build a world where every child survives, thrives, and has the power to shape their future. Prof Pai Obanya of the Institute of Education at the University of Ibadan (UI), the lead paper presenter, urged stakeholders to change the current notion about the profession, saying “Teaching is not as simply telling, but mainly as guiding, continuous assessment in place of continual testing, support tools from local and other sources,” he advocated. Delivering a paper titled: “Improving Access to Inclusive Quality Education for all Children in Nigeria: Addressing the Challenge of Out-Of-School-Children”, Prof Obanya called for disaggregated data and enhanced inter-agency synergy, the institution of systematic monitoring and targeted funding as part of measures to put the nation’s education back on track and tackle the Out-Of-School-Children menace. He urged the managers of the education sector to revisit and be guided by the implementation guidelines on Universal Basic Education (UBE),1999, UBE Roadmap, 2015 and the National Teacher Education Policy to reset the sector for sustainable growth amd development. Purpose Of the Summit Dr. Olatunji-David, represented by Mrs Joy Onoja, Director, Public asic Education Education said the main objectives of the Bootcamp are to: Assemble Basic Education stakeholders to deliberate on Policy, practice and implementation gaps facing the sub-sector. Ensure responsiveness of state ministries of Education (SMoEs) in compliance with National Education Policy decisions and programmes. Harmonize and coordinate resources and activities in the Basic Education sub-sector towards the achievement of national goals and aspirations. Monitor the progress of states and ensure reporting to the Federal Ministry of Education for proper coordination. The summit will review the implementation status, that is assess the extent to which recommendations have been implemented, identify best practices, share successful strategies and experience, address implementation gaps, refine strategies, foster collaboration, inform policy decisions, monitor progress and identify resource gaps.
Liverpool next six fixtures ahead of Man City game after Real Madrid Champions League win
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ: API) (the "Company”), a pioneer and leader in real-time engagement technology, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024. "Recently, we launched our Conversational AI SDK in collaboration with OpenAI's Realtime API to allow developers to bring voice-driven AI experiences to any app. We believe multimodal AI agents that can interact with human through natural voice will gain widespread adoption across many use cases such as customer support, education and wellness, and Agora is well positioned to become a key infrastructure provider for real-time conversational AI,” said Tony Zhao, founder, chairman and CEO of Agora. "To support this vision, we recently made some structural changes, aligning our organization to fully leverage the accelerating conversational AI opportunities, and operate in a faster, leaner, and more responsive fashion. These changes will help us build the next generation real-time engagement technology for the Generative AI era and strengthen our position as the leader in real-time engagement space.” Third Quarter 2024 Highlights Revenues Total revenues were $31.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of 9.8% from $35.0 million in the same period last year. Revenues of Agora were $15.7 million in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of 2.6% from $15.3 million in the same period last year, primarily due to our business expansion and usage growth in sectors such as live shopping. Revenues of Shengwang were RMB112.9 million ($15.9 million) in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of 20.0% from RMB141.2 million ($19.7 million) in the same period last year, primarily due to a decrease in revenues of RMB 17.5 million ($2.4 million) due to the end-of-sale of certain products and reduced usage from customers in certain sectors such as social and entertainment as a result of challenging macroeconomic and regulatory environment. Cost of Revenues Cost of revenues was $10.5 million in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of 16.4% from $12.6 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the end-of-sale of certain products and the decrease in bandwidth usage and costs, which was offset partially by severance expenses for customer support teams of $0.3 million. Gross Profit and Gross Margin Gross profit was $21.0 million in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of 6.1% from $22.4 million in the same period last year. Gross margin was 66.7% in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of 2.7% from 64.0% in the same period last year, mainly due to the end-of-sale of certain low-margin products, which was offset partially by higher severance expenses in the third quarter of 2024. Operating Expenses Operating expenses were $45.9 million in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of 24.3% from $36.9 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the increase in restructuring and severance expenses in the third quarter of 2024, which included share-based compensation of $11.4 million as a result of the cancellation of certain employees' equity awards and immediate recognition of relevant remaining unrecognized compensation expenses, as well as severance expenses of $4.4 million. Loss from operations was $24.7 million in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $13.9 million in the same period last year. Interest Income Interest income was $3.9 million in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $4.9 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the decrease in the average balance of cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and financial products issued by banks and the decrease in average interest rate realized. Losses from equity in affiliates Losses from equity in affiliates were $4.2 million in the third quarter of 2024, primarily due to an impairment loss on an investment in certain private company of $4.1 million. Net Loss Net loss was $24.2 million in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $22.5 million in the same period last year. Net Loss per American Depositary Share attributable to ordinary shareholders Net loss per American Depositary Share ("ADS”) 1 attributable to ordinary shareholders was $0.26 in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $0.23 in the same period last year. _____________ 1 One ADS represents four Class A ordinary shares. Share Repurchase Program During the three months ended September 30, 2024, the Company repurchased approximately 6.8 million of its Class A ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 1.7 million ADSs) for approximately US$3.9 million under its share repurchase program, representing 1.9% of its US$200 million share repurchase program. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had repurchased approximately 129.4 million of its Class A ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 32.3 million ADSs) for approximately US$113.7 million under its share repurchase program, representing 57% of its US$200 million share repurchase program. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had 368.3 million ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 92.1 million ADSs) outstanding, compared to 449.8 million ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 112.5 million ADSs) outstanding as of January 31, 2022 before the share repurchase program commenced. The current share repurchase program will expire at the end of February 2025. Executive Leadership Update Today the Company announced that Chief Security Officer Roger Hale will be leaving the Company, effective immediately. Mr. Hale has served in this role for the past 2.5 years, during which he made significant contributions to enhancing the Company's security, compliance, and data protection protocols. Mr. Hale will work closely with senior leadership to ensure a smooth transition of his responsibilities. Moving forward, Patrick Ferriter and Robbin Liu will assume responsibility for security and compliance, reflecting the Company's commitment to maintaining a strong and effective security framework. Mr. Hale will continue to provide strategic advice as an advisor to the Company. "We are grateful for Roger's dedication and expertise over the past two and a half years. His leadership has been invaluable in strengthening our security & compliance foundation,” said Tony Zhao, founder, chairman and CEO of Agora. "Security and compliance remain top priorities for Agora, and we will continue to uphold the highest standards to protect our customers and stakeholders.” Financial Outlook Based on currently available information, the Company expects total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2024 to be between $34 million and $36 million, compared to $31.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, and $33.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 if revenues from certain end-of-sale low-margin products were excluded. The Company also expects significant improvement in net income / (loss) in the fourth quarter. This outlook reflects the Company's current and preliminary views on the market and operational conditions, which are subject to change. Earnings Call The Company will host a conference call to discuss the financial results at 5 p.m. Pacific Time / 8 p.m. Eastern Time on November 25, 2024. Details for the conference call are as follows: Event title: Agora, Inc. 3Q 2024 Financial Results The call will be available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/wie28zvr Investors who want to hear the call should log on at least 15 minutes prior to the broadcast. Participants may register for the call with the link below. https://register.vevent.com/register/BIf58a0b6f500c4362b1a8c64f9fa4cea8 Please visit the Company's investor relations website at https://investor.agora.io on November 25, 2024 to view the earnings release and accompanying slides prior to the conference call. Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures The Company has provided in this press release financial information that has not been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP”). The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures internally in analyzing its financial results and believe that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as an additional tool to evaluate ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing its financial results with other companies in its industry, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures. Besides free cash flow (as defined below), each of these non-GAAP financial measures represents the corresponding GAAP financial measure before share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets, income tax related to acquired intangible assets and impairment of goodwill. The Company believes that such non-GAAP financial measures help identify underlying trends in its business that could otherwise be distorted by the effects of such share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets, income tax related to acquired intangible assets and impairment of goodwill that it includes in its cost of revenues, total operating expenses and net income (loss). The Company believes that all such non-GAAP financial measures also provide useful information about its operating results, enhance the overall understanding of its past performance and future prospects and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by its management in its financial and operational decision-making. Non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP financial measures and should be read only in conjunction with the Company's consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of its historical non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures has been provided in the tables captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures” included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation. Definitions of the Company's non-GAAP financial measures included in this press release are presented below. Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss) Non-GAAP net income (loss) is defined as net income (loss) adjusted to exclude share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets, income tax related to acquired intangible assets and impairment of goodwill. Free Cash Flow Free cash flow is defined as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment (excluding the acquisition of land use right and the payment for the headquarters project). The Company considers free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors regarding net cash provided by operating activities and cash used for investments in property and equipment required to maintain and grow the business. Operating Metrics The Company also uses other operating metrics included in this press release and defined below to assess the performance of its business. Active Customers An active customer at the end of any period is defined as an organization or individual developer from which the Company generated more than $100 of revenue during the preceding 12 months. Customers are counted based on unique customer account identifiers. Generally, one software application uses the same customer account identifier throughout its life cycle while one account may be used for multiple applications. Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate is calculated for a trailing 12-month period by first identifying all customers in the prior 12-month period, and then calculating the quotient from dividing the revenue generated from such customers in the trailing 12-month period by the revenue generated from the same group of customers in the prior 12-month period. As the vast majority of revenue generated from Agora's customers is denominated in U.S. dollars, while the vast majority of revenue generated from Shengwang's customers is denominated in Renminbi, Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate is calculated in U.S. dollars for Agora and in Renminbi for Shengwang, which has substantially removed the impact of foreign currency translations. Shengwang excluded the revenues from certain end-of-sale products, Easemob's CEC business and K12 academic tutoring sector. The Company believes Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate facilitates operating performance comparisons on a period-to-period basis. Safe Harbor Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical or current fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements regarding the Company's financial outlook, beliefs and expectations. Forward-looking statements include statements containing words such as "expect,” "anticipate,” "believe,” "project,” "will” and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. Among other things, the Financial Outlook in this announcement contain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to the growth of the RTE-PaaS market; the Company's ability to manage its growth and expand its operations; the continued impact of COVID-19 on global markets and the Company's business, operations and customers; the Company's ability to attract new developers and convert them into customers; the Company's ability to retain existing customers and expand their usage of its platform and products; the Company's ability to drive popularity of existing use cases and enable new use cases, including through quality enhancements and introduction of new products, features and functionalities; the Company's fluctuating operating results; competition; the effect of broader technological and market trends on the Company's business and prospects; general economic conditions and their impact on customer and end-user demand; and other risks and uncertainties included elsewhere in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC”), including, without limitation, the final prospectus related to the IPO filed with the SEC on June 26, 2020. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. About Agora, Inc. Agora, Inc. is the Cayman Islands holding company of two independent divisions, under Agora brand and Shengwang brand, respectively, whose businesses are conducted through separate entities. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Agora is a pioneer and global leader in Real-Time Engagement Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), providing developers with simple, flexible, and powerful application programming interfaces, or APIs, to embed real-time voice, video, interactive live-streaming, chat, whiteboard, and artificial intelligence capabilities into their applications. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Shengwang is a pioneer and leading Real-Time Engagement PaaS provider in the China market. For more information on Agora, please visit: www.agora.io For more information on Shengwang, please visit: www.shengwang.cn Agora, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited, in US$ thousands) Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss (Unaudited, in US$ thousands, except share and per ADS amounts)Stock market today: Wall Street slips below its records as bitcoin briefly pops above $100,000
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The former president of the supreme court who ruled on the most high-profile assisted dying cases has declared his support for the law change, as MPs backing the bill say they believe they have the numbers for Friday’s historic vote to pass. David Neuberger, who ruled against high-profile assisted dying cases including Debbie Purdy in 2009 and Tony Nicklinson in 2015, told the Guardian he believed the status quo was failing “the fundamental aims of the law – to respect people’s right of personal autonomy, and to protect the vulnerable”. Neuberger said his experience sitting on cases involving assisted dying meant he was confident the tight terms of Kim Leadbeater’s bill – that it would apply to only those who are terminally ill – could not be expanded by judicial challenge. Both sides in the debate have been making their final calls to MPs in the last days before the vote, with dozens still telling colleagues they are undecided. The Guardian can reveal MPs are also preparing to announce a new independent commission on palliative care – spearheaded by the Labour MP Rachael Maskell – which they are hopeful will get backing from the health secretary, Wes Streeting, when it launches in December. High-profile charities backing the new commission include the Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland, Hospice UK, Marie Curie and Sue Ryder, though all say it must take hearings from all sides of the debate. The focus would be on improving end-of-life care and a favoured chair is the palliative care doctor llora Finlay, though she has been explicitly anti-assisted dying. MPs this week have also heard impassioned plea from disability activists against assisted dying. Pam Duncan-Glancy, the Scottish Labour MSP who uses a wheelchair, said she felt disabled people’s voices were being forgotten and wrote a letter to Labour MPs saying the state would be at risk of making it easier for disabled people to die than to access the right help to live comfortably. The MPs backing Leadbeater’s private member’s bill are understood to believe they have solidified support in recent days and now have enough to get the bill past its first parliamentary hurdle, though some support is conditional on changes at the next stage. In the first Westminster vote on the issue in nearly 10 years, MPs at Westminster have been given a free vote, meaning they can vote according to conscience. Esther Rantzen, the TV presenter who has been one of the most high-profile advocates for change, also wrote to MPs on Friday saying “my time is running out” but the issue was one “the public care desperately about” and said it might not be debated by MPs “for another decade” if the legislation did not pass. But a slew of new Labour MPs – who could be the decisive votes on Friday – came out against the bill on Wednesday evening, having not made their views public previously. Those include Imogen Walker, the PPS to Rachel Reeves, Zubir Ahmed, PPS to Wes Streeting, and Blair McDougall, a former aide to David Miliband. Lord Neuberger said that those concerned about a slippery slope after the bill passed should be confident that could not occur through the courts, saying it could only occur if MPs in parliament decided to change the law again to expand its definition beyond terminally ill adults. “The European court of human rights has repeatedly ruled that legislation on assisted dying is a matter for individual states,” he said. “As for domestic courts, seven of the nine judges including me in the Nicklinson case held that assisted dying was a matter for parliament not the courts,” he said. “The present law ... prevents those who genuinely and understandably wish to end their lives and who need help to do so, from getting such help. It also fails to protect the vulnerable, because the blanket ban can drive terminally ill people to end their lives in secret.” Another former supreme court president, Brenda Hale, and former supreme court judge Jonathan Sumption have also backed the law change. But a number of other senior members of the judiciary have voiced concern about the bill, including Sir James Munby, the former president of the high court’s family division; and the former lord chief justice Lord Thomas, who has warned “ no one has grappled with the detail ” of the impact of the legislation on family courts. About 130 MPs are already down to speak in the five-hour debate on Friday and at least four amendments have been submitted, sparking fears speeches will be severely limited. Duncan-Glancy, who has been meeting MPs in parliament, wrote an emotional letter to her Labour colleagues asking them to reconsider supporting the bill. “My opposition to the bill is based on one simple point; that it should not be easier to get assistance to die, than to live,” she wrote. “If this bill was to pass, the former could become the case. I know some MPs support the principle of assisted dying but that you have some doubts about what is in – and not in – this bill. You are right to have doubts and you are not voting on a principle. You are voting on a piece of legislation that I believe could put disabled people at risk if passed. “During Covid-19, my husband and I wrote letters to say: ‘Please do not put a DNR notice on us’ because such was the opinion and low value that we felt that was placed on disabled people’s lives, that we, even as supported as we are, were scared. No one should feel their existence is a burden on others.” In her letter to all 650 MPs, Rantzen urges them to listen to Friday’s debate and to vote, whatever their view. “This is such a vital life-and-death issue, one that we the public care desperately about, so it is only right that as many MPs as possible listen to the arguments.” Rantzen will not attend Friday’s debate in person but her daughter Rebecca Wilcox will be in the public gallery on her behalf. Wilcox told the Guardian Rantzen had been in contact with “so many brilliant families and relatives of people that have experienced trauma”, Wilcox said. “They are looking down the barrel of a terrible diagnosis and are just hoping for the vote to go their way so that there’s more compassion and more empathy in the law.”South Korea Gross Domestic Product Growth (YoY) in line with forecasts (1.5%) in 3QWith nearly all of the votes counted, left-leaning Mr Milanovic won 49% while his main challenger Dragan Primorac, a candidate of the ruling conservative HDZ party, trailed far behind with 19%. Pre-election polls had predicted that the two would face off in the second round on January 12, as none of the eight presidential election contenders were projected to get more than 50% of the vote. Mr Milanovic thanked his supporters but warned that “this was just a first run”. “Let’s not be triumphant, let’s be realistic, firmly on the ground,” he said. “We must fight all over again. It’s not over till it’s over.” Mr Milanovic, the most popular politician in Croatia, has served as prime minister in the past. Populist in style, the 58-year-old has been a fierce critic of current Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and continuous sparring between the two has been a recent hallmark of Croatia’s political scene. Mr Plenkovic has sought to portray the vote as one about Croatia’s future in the EU and Nato. He has labelled Mr Milanovic “pro-Russian” and a threat to Croatia’s international standing. “The difference between him (Mr Primorac) and Milanovic is quite simple: Milanovic is leading us East, Primorac is leading us West,” he said. Though the presidency is largely ceremonial in Croatia, an elected president holds political authority and acts as the supreme commander of the military. Mr Milanovic has criticised the Nato and European Union support for Ukraine and has often insisted that Croatia should not take sides. He has said Croatia should stay away from global disputes, thought it is a member of both Nato and the EU. Mr Milanovic has also blocked Croatia’s participation in a Nato-led training mission for Ukraine, declaring that “no Croatian soldier will take part in somebody else’s war”. His main rival in the election, Mr Primorac, has stated that “Croatia’s place is in the West, not the East”. However, his bid for the presidency has been marred by a high-level corruption case that landed Croatia’s health minister in jail last month and which featured prominently in pre-election debates. Trailing a distant third in the pre-election polls is Marija Selak Raspudic, a conservative independent candidate. She has focused her election campaign on the economic troubles of ordinary citizens, corruption and issues such as population decline in the country of some 3.8 million. Sunday’s presidential election is Croatia’s third vote this year, following a snap parliamentary election in April and the European Parliament balloting in June.
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