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Taskforce Launches Fundraising Campaign to Combat COVID-19

The Lao Government has opened a donation channel for all those looking to contribute financially to the fight against the outbreak of COVID-19.

VinUni sets its sights on world’s top 100 universities – Recruiting 500 leading scholars worldwide


HANOI, VIETNAM – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 June 2025 – VinUniversity (VinUni) has officially unveiled its second-phase development strategy, with the ambitious vision of becoming one of the world’s top 100 universities. At the heart of this initiative is the “VinUni 500” program, which aims to attract 500 outstanding scholars from around the globe. The strategy is backed by a USD 372 million investment from Vingroup to scale up academic capabilities and cultivate a world-class research ecosystem in Vietnam.

VinUni fosters a multicultural, globally oriented learning environment.
VinUni fosters a multicultural, globally oriented learning environment.

VinUni’s phase 2 strategy is built on two core pillars: enhancing academic and research infrastructure to international standards and strengthening academic capacity to meet global benchmarks. The University will focus on five strategic research domains: (1) Brain, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics;(2) Health Sciences; (3) Environmental Intelligence; (4) Intelligent Computing and Data Science; and (5) Policy Development and Sustainable Societies.

In terms of infrastructure, Vingroup has pledged up to USD 372 million in funding for this new phase. Of this, approximately USD 60 million will be allocated to expanding the campus, including new auditoriums, dormitories, sports facilities, and cutting-edge laboratories. Student enrollment will increase from 1,500 to 5,000, nearly half of whom will be postgraduate students—laying the foundation for VinUni’s evolving research-intensive environment. A highlight of this expansion is the establishment of the VinUni Industry, Innovation and Research Complex on campus— an integrated research center that will house advanced technology laboratories, incubation for university-industry partnership, and a 1,000-seat international conference center. The facility is expected to regularly host over 600 scientists.

VinUni’s cutting-edge laboratories are purpose-built to enhance both education and scientific research.
VinUni’s cutting-edge laboratories are purpose-built to enhance both education and scientific research.

At this complex, R&D professionals from industry, including subsidiaries of Vingroupsuch as VinFast, Vinmec, VinBigData, VinRobotics, and VinMotion—will collaborate with VinUni faculty members and students in co-innovation studios. Together, they will develop high-impact, application-oriented research with strong commercialization potential, fueled by an entrepreneurial mindset.

In parallel, VinUni will strengthen international academic partnerships with leading institutions such as Cornell University (USA), the University of Pennsylvania (USA), and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), as well as with leading Vietnamese universities. These partnerships will facilitate the formation of interdisciplinary RISE (Research, Innovation, Sustainability, and Excellence) research clusters, aimed at creating high-impact scholarly publications and tackling pressing issues at both the local and global levels.

To strengthen academic capacity, the institution is launching the “VinUni 500” program to recruit 500 top-tier scholars and researchers, including: 10 high-caliber academic leaders, 200 talented research-focused faculties, 200 outstanding early-career researchers, and 100 affiliated faculties.

To attract these scholars, VinUni will offer globally competitive remuneration and support packages. For instance, all faculty will receive a personal development grant of up to approximately USD 6,000 annually, and outstanding researchers may access seed funding of up to approximately USD 230,000.

Besides forging research and teaching excellence, “VinUni 500” serves as a bridge connecting the Vietnamese academics with international scholars as well as world-class scientists from the VinFuture Prize network—fostering impactful, cross-border research collaborations.

Dr. Le Mai Lan, President of The University Council, VinUniversity, shared: “VinUni is not just a university, but a vision to nurture a new generation of talent for the future. We believe that by building internal strength through talent-driven development, leveraging strong commitment from our founding ecosystem, and joining forces with local and global partners, VinUni will make meaningful contributions to the national development strategy in this era of Vietnam’s rise.”

Founded with the mission to build a world-class university in Vietnam, VinUni has, in just five years, emerged as a symbol of entrepreneurial spirit, agility, academic excellence, and global connectivity. It is the youngest university worldwide to achieve a QS 5-Star overall rating, affirming its accelerating progress in the global higher education landscape.

More information on “VinUni 500”: https://legacyofexcellence.vinuni.edu.vn

Hashtag: #VinUniversity

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

“2025 Sun Life Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races” Successfully Concluded in Acclamation

Cancer patients, survivors and their loves ones formed an inaugural dragon boat team Citizens and tourists dive into the Dragon Boat Frenzy


HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 June 2025 – The “2025 Sun Life Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races”, organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board in collaboration with the Hong Kong China Dragon Boat Association and proudly title-sponsored by Sun Life, saw the city’s waterfront come alive over the weekend as a huge crowd came to enjoy the mix of international competition and cultural tradition, along with a range of other fun activities.

Sun Life has 21 teams composed of advisors, employees and partners participate in the “Sun Life Elite Cup”, actively supporting the city’s dragon boat racing culture.
Sun Life has 21 teams composed of advisors, employees and partners participate in the “Sun Life Elite Cup”, actively supporting the city’s dragon boat racing culture.

The annual event attracted numerous citizens to the East Tsim Sha Tsui promenade over the two days (June 7-8) to witness 19 thrilling races in Victoria Harbour that drew over 190 teams and more than 4,500 paddlers from around the world. Among the races, the new “Sun Life Elite Cup” saw enthusiastic participation from 21 teams made up of Sun Life’s advisors, employees, and partners, underscoring the company’s commitment to preserving and promoting dragon boat culture.

Demonstrating its strong commitment to the community, Sun Life has proudly sponsored Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre to form the “Move for Maggie’s Dragon Boat Team”. Comprised of cancer patients, survivors, and their loved ones, the team made an impactful debut at this year’s “Sun Life Elite Cup”, raising funds to support individuals affected by cancer. Dr. the Hon Leong Che-Hung, GBM, GBS, OBE, JP, Chairman of the Board of Governors at Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre, attended the event to cheer on the inspiring paddlers. Proceeds from the fundraising will enhance the Centre’s free support services, while the dragon boat race itself delivers a powerful message of hope and resilience. Through this initiative, participants and supporters alike embrace a positive outlook on living with cancer, inspiring patients and their families to face challenges with renewed courage and hope.

Mr. Clement Lam, Chief Executive Officer of Sun Life Hong Kong Limited, said: “As an international financial institution rooted in Hong Kong for over 130 years, our 16-year commitment to local dragon boat racing reflects not only our dedication to sustaining cultural heritage, but also our pledge to grow alongside this city. We are proud that Sun Life has helped propel this tradition onto the global stage, embodying the city’s spirit of teamwork and energy. Moving forward, we will continue to support diverse sports initiatives, offering innovative experiences that blend athletics, culture, and entertainment for citizens and tourists, ultimately helping our Clients live healthier lives while also creating societal value.”

Alongside the main event, Sun Life launched a variety of engaging promotional activities, both online and offline, that attracted widespread participation across the city. A highlight was the “Sun Life Dragon Boat House”, a giant interactive installation at K11 MUSEA that became a viral sensation. Through its multi-platform campaign, Sun Life helped deepen public appreciation for this cultural tradition – and encouraged greater participation too.

The triumph of the “2025 Sun Life Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races” reflects the ability of Hong Kong to host world-class events and attract new audiences to an old tradition. It all bodes well for next year.

Hashtag: #SunLife永明 #永明金融 #SunLife #香港國際龍舟邀請賽 #龍舟 #盛事 #盛事之都 #旅發局 #銘琪癌症關顧中心 #HongKongInternationalDragonBoatRaces #dragonboat #megaevent #eventscapital #tourismboard #Maggie’sCanceCaringCentre

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Sun Life

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of March 31, 2025, Sun Life had total assets under management of $1.55 trillion. For more information, please visit .

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF. Sun Life Financial Inc. is the holding company of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. Sun Life Hong Kong Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada.

Lao Government Unveils Four Strategies to Boost Domestic Power Generation

Lao Government Unveils Four Strategies to Boost Domestic Power Generation. (Photo: Anja van de Gronde on Unsplash)

The Lao government has announced four key strategies aimed at accelerating domestic power generation, to address the country’s ongoing electricity shortage. 

Speaking at a National Assembly session on 9 June, Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone outlined the first measure: completing the Nam Ngum 3 Hydropower Plant project. 

This state-owned initiative, led by Electricité du Laos (EDL), is currently over 80 percent complete. The dam is expected to become operational and begin generating electricity in early 2027. The project is receiving domestic funding to remain on schedule and is expected to significantly increase national power capacity, according to the Prime Minister.

Another measure focuses on promoting large-scale solar projects across various locations, Sonexay said. Twelve major developments totaling 650 MW capacity are underway. A 50 MW solar project in Khammouane province, built by China Gezhouba Group Co., Ltd. (CGGC), began commercial operations on 1 March. Located in Thakhek and Xabangfai districts, the project is now actively supplying electricity to the national grid.

A third initiative encourages the development of small-scale solar projects under 5 MW in capacity. These localized installations are aimed at addressing power shortages in specific areas, improving grid stability in underserved regions.

The final measure involves closely monitoring and promoting the progress of existing hydropower and other generation projects that have signed power purchase agreements with EDL, to ensure they are completed on schedule.

The government has also directed EDL to revise its electricity supply planning for digital mining operations. As of May 2025, the allowed power usage for mining has been reduced from 250 MW to 135 MW.

Often referred to as the “battery of Asia” for its hydropower exports, Laos still faces electricity shortages and high domestic prices. In 2024, electricity exports continued to lead Laos’ export revenues, generating nearly USD 980 million and accounting for 15.35 percent of total exports, according to the Department of Foreign Trade.

Kenanga Investors Recognised At The Global Islamic LSEG Lipper Fund Awards 2025 For Shariah-Compliant Excellence


KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 June 2025 – Kenanga Investors Berhad (“Kenanga Investors“) has received international recognition for the Kenanga SyariahEXTRA Fund (“KSEF“) which was awarded under the Mixed Asset MYR Balanced 10 Years category at the Global Islamic LSEG Lipper Fund Awards 2025. The KSEF recently won the Best Mixed Asset MYR Balanced – Malaysia Islamic Funds Awards Over 10 Years title at the LSEG Lipper Fund Awards 2025. This recognition further affirms Kenanga Investors’ standing as a leading global asset and wealth management firm.

Datuk Wira Ismitz Matthew De Alwis, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kenanga Investors Berhad
Datuk Wira Ismitz Matthew De Alwis, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kenanga Investors Berhad

Datuk Wira Ismitz Matthew De Alwis, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer said, “We are pleased that the Kenanga SyariahEXTRA Fund has received its second Lipper recognition in a year for its impressive performance. Shariah-compliant funds have seen increased interest, partly due to inclination toward defensive sectors like healthcare, telecommunications, and utilities, which tend to be more resilient during market downturns, making them attractive to both Muslim and non-Muslim investors seeking resilience amid market uncertainty. The Fund exemplifies our commitment to investing for good, blending Shariah principles with the benefits of impact investing. By focusing on sectors that align with both ethical values and long-term sustainability, we strive to deliver strong returns for our investors while contributing to meaningful, positive outcomes.

As at 31st March 2025, the KSEF delivered returns of 46.30%* (5-years), 62.85%* (10-years), 220.02%* (since inception). Launched in 1996, KSEF aims to provide investors with medium to long-term capital appreciation through investments in specified asset classes by adopting a balanced approach towards equities and fixed income exposure based on Shariah principles.

Lee Sook Yee, the Chief Investment Officer of Kenanga Investors explained, “The KSEF’s outperformance is mainly attributed to Shariah-compliant stock, sukuk selection and asset allocation. The team continued the strategy of identifying key sectors or groups of Shariah-compliant securities that we believe would perform well under an anticipated economic condition. Individual Shariah-compliant securities selection will then focus on well-managed, financially sound companies with attractive relative valuations and a potential for high earnings growth over the medium to long term time frame. We believe in staying consistent with our investment philosophy so that we may manage our portfolios effectively to capitalise on market opportunities, even with volatility”.

The firm recently saw its innovative efforts within the Shariah investing landscape recognised at the Bursa Excellence Awards 2024 which awarded its exchange-traded funds’ arm, Eq8 Capital Sdn Bhd with the Special Award – Thought Leadership for launching Eq8 FTSE Malaysia Enhanced Dividend Waqf ETF, the world’s first Waqf-featured Exchange Traded Fund. The Waqf ETF aims to distribute income annually with half of the income distribution to be allocated as Waqf assets with the remaining half payable to unitholders.

The Global Islamic LSEG Lipper Fund Awards celebrate funds and fund management firms that have delivered consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to peers.

For more information about Kenanga Investors, please visit www.kenangainvestors.com.my.

*Source: Lipper Investment Analytics, 31 March 2025.

Hashtag: #Kenanga

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Kenanga Investors Berhad 199501024358 (353563-P)

We provide investment solutions ranging from collective investment schemes, portfolio management services, alternative investments, as well as wills and trusts for retail, corporate, institutional, and high net worth clients via a multi-distribution network.

The Morningstar Award 2025 has recognised the Kenanga Blue Chip Fund as Best Malaysia Large-Cap Equity Fund. The Bursa Excellence Awards 2024 awarded KIB’s exchange-traded funds’ arm, Eq8 Capital Sdn Bhd with the Special Award – Thought Leadership for launching Eq8WAQF, the world’s first Waqf-featured Exchange Traded Fund. Introduced under a newly established category, the award highlights innovations that are reshaping the investment landscape.

At the LSEG Lipper Fund Awards Malaysia 2025, KIB received awards for the Kenanga DividendEXTRA Fund (“KDEF”) under the Best Equity Malaysia Diversified – Malaysia Funds over 3 years, Kenanga Malaysian Inc Fund (“KMIF”) under the Best Equity Malaysia Diversified – Malaysia Provident Funds over 10 years, Kenanga Balanced Fund (“KBF”) under the Best Mixed Asset MYR Balanced – Malaysia Provident Funds over 10 years, Kenanga Managed Growth Fund (“KMGF”) under Best Mixed Asset MYR Flexible – Malaysia Provident Funds over 10 years, and Kenanga SyariahEXTRA Fund (“KSEF”) under the Best Mixed Asset MYR Balanced – Malaysia Islamic Funds Awards over 10 years.

The Hong Kong-based Asia Asset Management’s 2025 Best of the Best Awards awarded KIG under the following categories, Malaysia Best Impact Investing Manager, Best Impact Investing Manager in ASEAN, Malaysia Best Equity Manager, Malaysia CEO of the Year (Co-Winner), Malaysia CIO of the Year, Malaysia Best House for Alternatives, Malaysia Best ESG Engagement Initiative, Malaysia Fund Launch of the Year, and Malaysia Best Retail Asset Management Company.

The FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2024/2025 has awarded the Kenanga Growth Fund Series 2 with the “Sector Equity – Malaysia Focused” award for the third consecutive year since 2022. We were also recognised at The BrandLaureate BestBrands Awards 2024 – Brand of the Year under the category Wealth Management & Investment Solutions. For the eighth consecutive year, KIB was affirmed an investment manager rating of IMR-2 by Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad, since first rated in 2017. The IMR rating on KIB reflects the fund management company’s well-established investment processes and sound risk management practices.

This Press Release was issued by Kenanga Group’s Marketing, Communications & Sustainability department.

2025 Beijing Cyber Security Conference Opens, Focusing on Security Breakthroughs in the AI Era


BEIJING, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 June 2025 – On June 5, the Main Forum on Digital Security of the Global Digital Economy Conference 2025 (GDEC 2025), along with the 2025 Beijing Cyber Security Conference (BSC 2025), officially opened in Beijing. Under the theme “Security Breakthrough: Reshaping Built-in Security Systems”, the conference brings together stakeholders from government, industry, academia, and research institutions to explore strategic breakthroughs for the cybersecurity industry in the age of artificial intelligence.

The 2025 Beijing Cyber Security Conference
The 2025 Beijing Cyber Security Conference

Xu Xinchao, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal People’s Government, stated in his speech that the construction of the Beijing National Cybersecurity Industrial Park has made phased progress. The Haidian Park, Tongzhou Park, and the Information Innovation Park in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area have together registered over 740 enterprises. The park has launched a national-level public cybersecurity service platform and has emerged as a leading national platform for China’s cybersecurity industry. Going forward, Beijing, as a hub for international scientific and technological innovation, will promote breakthroughs in core technologies, enhance digital security application capabilities, speed up the development of standards systems, and foster a vibrant industrial ecosystem, laying a solid security foundation for the healthy development of emerging industries, new business models, and innovative formats.

Qi Xiangdong, Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and Chairman of Qi-Anxin Group, emphasized that as intelligent agents and vertical AI applications proliferate rapidly, cybersecurity has reached a critical juncture requiring decisive breakthroughs. According to him, reshaping data aggregation models, security operations models, and ecosystem cooperation models are three major pathways for the security industry to reconstruct its framework and achieve transformation.

“Enhancement of AI capabilities does not equate to an improvement in security capabilities,” noted Zeng Yi, Dean of the Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance. He pointed out that AI security threats are becoming increasingly complex, evolving from basic threats to composite and sophisticated attacks.

Zhao Zhiguo, Executive Deputy Director of the Expert Advisory Committee of the Internet Society of China, remarked that artificial intelligence is not only a key technological domain in the global competition over cybersecurity but also a strategic asset in gaining the initiative in cyberspace. He called for a systematic approach to address complex risks and the construction of a more agile, intelligent, and collaborative security framework.

Participants at the conference underscored the importance of an ecosystem based on the principles of coexistence, mutual prosperity, and shared success, which plays a critical role in overcoming key technological challenges, promoting industrial synergy, and co-building the cybersecurity ecosystem. They expressed hope that the Beijing Cyber Security Conference would continue to serve as a platform to drive the modernization of the national cybersecurity system.

This year’s conference features cutting-edge technology forums, specialized competitions, international collaboration sessions, and, for the first time, a satellite venue in the Macao Special Administrative Region. Over a dozen sub-forums were held from June 5 to 6, covering topics such as smart energy security, data security, and AI large model application security.Hashtag: #GDEC2025

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

PolyU-led research reveals that sensory and motor inputs help large language models represent complex concepts


HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 June 2025 – Can one truly understand what “flower” means without smelling a rose, touching a daisy or walking through a field of wildflowers? This question is at the core of a rich debate in philosophy and cognitive science. While embodied cognition theorists argue that physical, sensory experience is essential to concept formation, studies of the rapidly evolving large language models (LLMs) suggest that language alone can build deep, meaningful representations of the world.

A research team led by Prof. Li Ping, Sin Wai Kin Foundation Professor in Humanities and Technology, Dean of the PolyU Faculty of Humanities and Associate Director of the PolyU-Hangzhou Technology and Innovation Research Institute, explored the similarities between large language models and human representations, shedding new light on the extent to which language alone can shape the formation and learning of complex conceptual knowledge.
A research team led by Prof. Li Ping, Sin Wai Kin Foundation Professor in Humanities and Technology, Dean of the PolyU Faculty of Humanities and Associate Director of the PolyU-Hangzhou Technology and Innovation Research Institute, explored the similarities between large language models and human representations, shedding new light on the extent to which language alone can shape the formation and learning of complex conceptual knowledge.

By exploring the similarities between LLMs and human representations, researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and their collaborators have shed new light on the extent to which language alone can shape the formation and learning of complex conceptual knowledge. Their findings also revealed how the use of sensory input for grounding or embodiment – connecting abstract with concrete concepts during learning – affects the ability of LLMs to understand complex concepts and form human-like representations. The study, in collaboration with scholars from Ohio State University, Princeton University and City University of New York, was recently published in Nature Human Behaviour.

Led by Prof. LI Ping, Sin Wai Kin Foundation Professor in Humanities and Technology, Dean of the PolyU Faculty of Humanities and Associate Director of the PolyU-Hangzhou Technology and Innovation Research Institute, the research team selected conceptual word ratings produced by state-of-the-art LLMs, namely ChatGPT (GPT-3.5, GPT-4) and Google LLMs (PaLM and Gemini). They compared them with human-generated word ratings of around 4,500 words across non-sensorimotor (e.g., valence, concreteness, imageability), sensory (e.g., visual, olfactory, auditory) and motor domains (e.g., foot/leg, mouth/throat) from the highly reliable and validated Glasgow Norms and Lancaster Norms datasets.

The research team first compared pairs of data from individual humans and individual LLM runs to discover the similarity between word ratings across each dimension in the three domains, using results from human-human pairs as the benchmark. This approach could, for instance, highlight to what extent humans and LLMs agree that certain concepts are more concrete than others. However, such analyses might overlook how multiple dimensions jointly contribute to the overall representation of a word. For example, the word pair “pasta” and “roses” might receive equally high olfactory ratings, but “pasta” is in fact more similar to “noodles” than to “roses” when considering appearance and taste. The team therefore conducted representational similarity analysis of each word as a vector along multiple attributes of non-sensorimotor, sensory and motor dimensions for a more complete comparison between humans and LLMs.

The representational similarity analyses revealed that word representations produced by the LLMs were most similar to human representations in the non-sensorimotor domain, less similar for words in sensory domain and most dissimilar for words in motor domain. This highlights LLM limitations in fully capturing humans’ conceptual understanding. Non-sensorimotor concepts are understood well but LLMs fall short when representing concepts involving sensory information like visual appearance and taste, and body movement. Motor concepts, which are less described in language and rely heavily on embodied experiences, are even more challenging to LLMs than sensory concepts like colour, which can be learned from textual data.

In light of the findings, the researchers examined whether grounding would improve the LLMs’ performance. They compared the performance of more grounded LLMs trained on both language and visual input (GPT-4, Gemini) with that of LLMs trained on language alone (GPT-3.5, PaLM). They discovered that the more grounded models incorporating visual input exhibited a much higher similarity with human representations.

Prof. Li Ping said, “The availability of both LLMs trained on language alone and those trained on language and visual input, such as images and videos, provides a unique setting for research on how sensory input affects human conceptualisation. Our study exemplifies the potential benefits of multimodal learning, a human ability to simultaneously integrate information from multiple dimensions in the learning and formation of concepts and knowledge in general. Incorporating multimodal information processing in LLMs can potentially lead to a more human-like representation and more efficient human-like performance in LLMs in the future.”

Interestingly, this finding is also consistent with those of previous human studies indicating the representational transfer. Humans acquire object-shape knowledge through both visual and tactile experiences, with seeing and touching objects activating the same regions in human brains. The researchers pointed out that – as in humans – multimodal LLMs may use multiple types of input to merge or transfer representations embedded in a continuous, high-dimensional space. Prof. Li added, “The smooth, continuous structure of embedding space in LLMs may underlie our observation that knowledge derived from one modality could transfer to other related modalities. This could explain why congenitally blind and normally sighted people can have similar representations in some areas. Current limits in LLMs are clear in this respect”.

Ultimately, the researchers envision a future in which LLMs are equipped with grounded sensory input, for example, through humanoid robotics, allowing them to actively interpret the physical world and act accordingly. Prof. Li said, “These advances may enable LLMs to fully capture embodied representations that mirror the complexity and richness of human cognition, and a rose in LLM’s representation will then be indistinguishable from that of humans.”

Hashtag: #PolyU #HumanCognition #LargeLanguageModels #LLMs #GenerativeAI

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Lao Students in Limbo as US Freezes Visas, Tightens Travel Rules

Lao Students in Limbo as US Freezes Visas, Tightens Travel Rules
US President Donald Trump signed a new travel ban June 4, 2025 targeting 12 countries, saying it was spurred by an attack on a Jewish protest in Colorado that authorities blamed on a man they said was in the country illegally. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)

The Laotian Times/AFP – President Donald Trump’s sweeping new travel ban came into effect on 9 June immediately after midnight, barring citizens from a dozen nations from entering the United States and reviving a divisive measure from his first term.

Laos Reports Fewer Road Accidents in May

The accident in Vientiane (Photo: Lao News Agency)

Laos recorded a decline in road accidents in May, with incidents dropping from 734 in April to 532 nationwide. Despite the decrease, the accidents still resulted in economic losses estimated at LAK 19.37 billion (approximately USD 896,000).