Learn how to take simple x/y coordinates, and create map polygons shaped like holiday images, that can be plotted using SAS/Graph's PROC GMAP.

Act now for the best deal on SAS Global Forum 2016 registration. You already know that SAS Global Forum will pay for itself in learning opportunities.

Currently, more than 20 SAS products, solutions, and technology packages interact with Hadoop. Read this book to understand how to maximize your big data assets.

SAS admins need to know about these menu options that may not be available in SAS Visual Analytics Viewer.

This new program offers two immersive program levels, industry-recognized credentials, classroom instruction, around-the-clock access to SAS software and course materials, and more.

This paper highlights the many enhancements to SAS/ETS software and demonstrates how these features can help your organization increase revenue and enhance productivity.

 We introduced a Topics tab in the online documentation a few releases ago, and there are corresponding pages in our focus area that briefly describe the topic areas and the procedures that perform analyses for those areas.

This paper begins with a look at both optimization modeling and discrete-event simulation modeling, and explores how they can most effectively work together to create additional analytic value. It then considers two examples of a combined optimization and simulation approach and discusses the resulting benefits.

This paper provides recommendations for circumventing memory problems and reducing execution times for your mixed-modeling analyses, as well as showing the new HPMIXED procedure can be beneficial for certain situations, as with large sparse mixed models.

This paper provides a high-level tour of five modern approaches to model building that are available in recent releases of SAS/STAT.

 This paper presents the essential information that you need to get started with ODS Graphics in SAS 9.4.

You have just a few more days to submit your paper proposal for the 2017 SAS® Global Forum in Orlando on April 2–5. The call for papers ends and registration begins October 3.

Johnson & Johnson must pay US$15 million (S$19.6 million) to a Connecticut man who alleges that he developed mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, as a result of using the company's talc powder for decades, a jury found on Tuesday (Oct 15). Plaintiff Evan Plotkin sued the company in 2021 soon after his diagnosis, saying he was sickened by inhaling J&J's baby powder. The jury in Fairfield County, Connecticut Superior Court also found that the company should pay additional punitive damages, which will be determined later by the judge overseeing the case. "Evan Plotkin and his trial team are thrilled that a jury once again decided to hold Johnson & Johnson accountable for their marketing and sale of a baby powder product that they knew contained asbestos," Ben Braly, a lawyer for Plotkin, said in an email. Erik Haas, J&J's worldwide vice president of litigation, said in a statement that the company would appeal "erroneous" rulings by the trial judge that kept the jury from hearing critical facts about the case.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that slivered onions served on McDonald's, opens new tab Quarter Pounder hamburgers and other menu items were the likely source of an E. coli outbreak that sickened 90 people. The outbreak linked to Quarter Pounder was first reported on Oct 22, and slivered onions were suspected to be the source of the infections. The US Food and Drug Administration and the company have confirmed that Taylor Farms was the supplier for the affected locations, and it has since recalled several batches of yellow onions produced in a Colorado facility. The FDA on Wednesday said it had initiated inspections at a Taylor Farms processing center in Colorado, a state where 29 people have fallen ill due to the outbreak. An onion grower of interest in Washington state is also being investigated, the FDA added. The CDC said the number of infected people has risen by 15 people from 75 and 27 persons have been hospitalised due to the illness, which has already killed one person.

LONDON — The world's biggest food and beverage companies on average sell products in low-income countries that are less healthy than what they sell in high-income countries, according to a new report. Products sold by companies including Nestle, Pepsico and Unilever were assessed as part of a global index published by the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI), its first since 2021. The non-profit group found that across 30 companies, the products sold in low-income countries scored lower on a star rating system developed in Australia and New Zealand than those sold in high-income countries. In the Health Star Rating system, products are ranked out of five on their healthiness, with five the best, and a score above 3.5 considered to be a healthier choice.

Monday blues were non-existent at the Singapore Indoor Stadium yesterday (Nov 11) as fans of Blackpink's Lisa strolled into the venue in their Y2K-style outfits inspired by the Thai singer's Rockstar music video. Singapore was the first stop for the 27-year-old's first solo fan-meet tour and needless to say, the excitement could be felt, and heard. Once the lights turned off and Lisa appeared, the screams were deafening. The show started with a bang, fittingly with her self-titled hit song Lalisa. Usually at fan-meets of K-pop idols, the special effects are kept to a minimum unlike concerts. PHOTO: UnUsUaL Entertainment But at Lisa's, the performances were elevated with bursts of pyrotechnics and visual effects. After the first song, she sat down for a few interactive segments. During Welcome Lisa, she tried local delicacies like kaya toast and chicken rice.

JAKARTA — Indonesia said on Monday (Nov 11) it does not recognise China's claims over the South China Sea despite signing a joint maritime development deal with Beijing, as some analysts warned the agreement risked compromising the country's sovereign rights. Beijing has long clashed with its Southeast Asian neighbours over territory in the South China Sea, which it claims sovereignty over in almost its entirety via a "nine-dash line" on its maps that cuts into the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of several countries. Joint agreements with China in the strategic waterway have for years been sensitive, with some claimant states wary of entering into deals they fear could be interpreted as legitimising Beijing's vast claims. An arbitral tribunal in 2016 said the Chinese claim, based on its old maps, has no basis under international law, a decision China refuses to recognise. A joint statement issued at the weekend during Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's visit to Beijing mentioned the two countries had "reached important common understanding on joint development in areas of overlapping claims".

TAIPEI — Taiwanese businessman Robert Tsao said on Nov 11 that he would sue in a Taiwan court senior Chinese officials over sanctions they had placed on him, saying he was seeking to counter China's intimidation of lawful activity. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, said in October it would punish and sanction Tsao, the retired founder of chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC), for alleged criminal and pro-Taiwan independence activities. China's Taiwan Affairs Office said the "Black Bear Academy" that Tsao has helped fund was seeking to incite separatism that would endanger cross-strait ties. Tsao, one of Taiwan's richest men who has pledged to provide millions to two civilian defence training programmes, told a press conference that China was threatening the lawful holding of political views in Taiwan and his personal safety. The lawsuit will be lodged in a Taipei court against Song Tao, head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, and also the office's spokesman Chen Binhua. Taiwan courts have no jurisdiction in China and senior Chinese officials do not visit the island.

In July 2024, internet personality Bobby Saputra posted a video of himself living it up at what appeared to be the star-studded, ultra-lavish wedding of Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani, the youngest child of Indian billionaire and Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani. The video featured clips of Saputra dancing, feasting and soaking up the "completely crazy" celebrations. He gushes in the voiceover: "It was like watching a Bollywood production." The video quickly went viral, racking up 6.6 million views on Instagram, 5.1 million on TikTok, and another 2.2 million on YouTube. Thousands left comments, including some celebrities who claimed they spotted him there. Except… he never set foot in the party. As it turns out, he had pieced together clips from a wedding he attended a few months prior — complete with him in full Indian attire, dancing with friends — and spliced in shots from the Ambani wedding that he found online. The result? Social media magic.

CANBERRA — China is putting ever-greater pressure on the Philippines to cede its sovereign rights in the South China Sea, Secretary of National Defence Gilberto Teodoro said on Nov 12 after a meeting with his Australian counterpart in Canberra. "What we see is an increasing demand by Beijing for us to concede our sovereign rights in the area," he said, adding that the Philippines was a "victim of Chinese aggression". China and the Philippines have sparred repeatedly this year over disputed areas of the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal, one of Asia's most contested features. Teodoro's meeting with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles, their fifth since August 2023, reflects growing security ties between the countries, both of whom have expressed concern about Chinese activity in areas of the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations. The two nations signed a strategic partnership in September 2023 and held their first joint sea and air patrols in the South China Sea several months later. The Philippines also joined war games in Australia this year for the first time.

ISLAMABAD — Beijing is pushing Pakistan to allow its own security staff to provide protection to thousands of Chinese citizens working in the South Asian nation, during talks after a car bombing in Karachi that was seen as a major security breach, sources said. Last month's airport bombing in the southern port city that killed two Chinese engineers returning to work on a project after a holiday in Thailand was the latest in a string of attacks on Beijing's interests in Pakistan. The attacks, and Islamabad's failure to deter them, have angered China, which has pushed Pakistan to begin formal negotiations for a joint security management system. Reuters spoke to five Pakistani security and government sources with direct knowledge of the previously unreported negotiations and demands on condition of anonymity, as the talks are sensitive, and reviewed a written proposal sent by Beijing to Islamabad. "They (Chinese) want to bring in their own security," said one official, who sat in on a recent meeting, adding that Pakistan had not so far agreed to such a step.

Dec 15, 2023

Calder Walton writes that if proved, Victor Manuel Rocha's espionage would place him among the longest-serving spies in modern times. Allowing him to operate as a spy in the senior echelons of the U.S. government for so long would represent a staggering U.S. security failure.

An Indian I greatly admire is the social worker and pioneer of the Chipko movement, Chandi Prasad Bhatt. My first meeting with him, when I was in my early twenties, had an transformative impact on my life. I have met him many times since; each encounter providing fresh insights into the moral, political and environmental [...]

In a wide-ranging meeting with CODEL McCaskill February 17, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon touched on several regional security and trade-related issues.

Zardari made repeated pleas for drones to be "put in Pakistan's hands" so that Pakistan would own the issue and drone attacks (including collateral damage) would not provoke anti-americanism.

In Ambassador Mulford's January 7 farewell call on External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Minister said he understood the seriousness of the error in releasing sensitive intelligence from the Mumbai terrorism investigations and pledged that the Ministry would not further disseminate that information.

Menon emphasized that India had been tough on Pakistan with regard to accountability, but restrained in its rhetoric and actions.

Benazir Bhutto claimed that the Sindh Government had informed her that if she goes to Larkhana (her ancestral home), she would be attacked.

Embassy strongly recommends against providing a U.S. Government evaluation, saying it will inevitably expose performance gaps that would not meet American standards of training and equipment.

It was made clear to the PPP representatives that certain dangers were inherent in the return of Bhutto to Karachi, mostly directed by elements from the northern areas.

Admitting that they are "facing a tough time in the courts," Asif related that the LHC has asked for the evidence that the Home Department used to extend the detention. "There has never been a case against them," he noted, "and we have no criminal record of these gentlemen."

Complicating the PPP decision-making are growing indications of a leadership struggle.

DMK Member of Parliament Dayanidhi Maran spoke candidly about India's current political scene.

In a surprise development, the GOI has told us that it would welcome US participation as an Observer to SAARC.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has requested $1 billion in additional FMF support for the F-16 program

Because of production issues, missing the deadline could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs.

It is hard to exaggerate the effect the failure of the F-16 sale would have on U.S. relations with Pakistan and on our allies in the Pakistani military.

The Indian civil nuclear bureaucracy understands it is "essential" to advance cooperation with the U.S., but claims progress is stymied by the inability of U.S. firms to share sensitive technical information pending the authorizations required under U.S. licensing regulations.

Revelation contained in Kissinger-era documents obtained by WikiLeaks

The Farm Laws Repeal Bill was discussed in the LS for two minutes - the joint second-lowest time for discussion of a bill since 2014

The Pakistani Taliban on Monday claimed responsibility for the January 30 mosque attack in Peshawar which left 100 people dead and over 220 injured

Jul 17, 2023

Apekshya Prasai, a political science doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was recently named a 2023 Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Emerging Scholar.   The Emerging Scholars (nine in all) are doctoral candidates who are in the final year of writing dissertations on the nature of and responses to violence around the world.

Dec 1, 2022

A conversation hosted by the Faultlines Podcast with Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky covering her career at the U.S. State Department and current geopolitical issues like the Russia-China strategic alignment.

Feb 20, 2023

U.S. President Joe Biden spent five hours in the Ukrainian capital on Monday, meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky and even taking a stroll through the streets of Kyiv – despite the sound of air sirens – to visit The Wall of Remembrance, which displays portraits of the approximately 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers who have died since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

The trip was kept under a media blackout until a few hours after Biden’s arrival, with the president’s official schedule only saying he would fly in the evening to Warsaw for a planned visit. The New York Times reported, quoting an anonymous official source, that Biden arrived in Kyiv early this morning after making the same 10-hour long journey from Poland that every world leader visiting Ukraine since the start of the war has.

Jul 10, 2023

The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University launched today a major research and outreach initiative to reduce global methane emissions. The initiative seeks meaningful and sustained progress in global methane-emissions reductions through research and effective engagement with government policymakers — and with key stakeholders in business, nongovernmental organizations, and international institutions.

Sep 8, 2023

Energy economist Severin Borenstein, Professor of the Graduate School at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, discussed the many significant challenges facing the nation’s electricity power sector in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.