Volunteers from Vientiane Rescue 1623 in Khammouane province, Laos. (Photo: Vientiane Rescue 1623)
Eight provinces across Laos have been the victims of flash floods, affecting thousands of households across the country, especially in Khammouane, Bolikhamxay, and Savannakhet. As a result, several government and volunteer organizations have stepped in to help in rescue and immediate assistance efforts for affected victims.
Avery Dennison is advancing AD Circular — their state-of-the-art, pressure-sensitive label waste recycling program — in ASEAN
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 8 August 2023 – Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE:AVY), a leader in global materials science and manufacturing, is taking responsibility for the matrix and liner waste its labels generate by providing an accessible and efficient recycling program that helps turn them into valuable resources.
In 2022, Avery Dennison’s global recycling program was relaunched as AD Circular in ASEAN and has since saved 2,628 tons of label waste. This is done by recycling glassine liners into white or corrugated paper, or by incinerating matrix and others into fuel and energy, the ash from which is used to make cement powder or bricks. By incorporating various ways of recycling, Avery Dennison is ensuring zero waste generation.
“AD Circular is a simple process that costs the same or less compared with other recycling programs or disposal services,” says Darren Milligan, Vice President and General Manager of Label and Packaging Materials, Avery Dennison ASEAN. “We believe this is a beneficial program and expect to gain more participation from converters and brands — and hopefully help them reach their own sustainability goals as well.”
Sam Manlosa Jr., the Head of Geocycle, expresses enthusiasm and support for Avery Dennison’s initiative. “Geocycle and Holcim Philippines are thrilled to partner with AD Circular to drive circularity. We are one in the belief that sustainability is a non-negotiable value when doing business, and we will further strengthen our partnership in the years to come.”
Anan Hongsongkeat, Packaging and Recycling Business Division Manager of SCG International Corporation Co., Ltd., adds, “With over 40 years of expertise in end-to-end supply chain solutions and a strong focus on green solutions to help our partners achieve their sustainability journey, SCG International is proud to collaborate with Avery Dennison in driving sustainable initiatives. We are inspired by their commitment to circularity and, together, through partnerships and recycling programs like AD Circular, we can create a better tomorrow for a greener future.”
Avery Dennison continues to expand its partnership with recyclers across the ASEAN value chain, with more recycling options underway. AD Circular is currently available in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia (coming soon). The launch of the program is being explored in Singapore. Visit label.averydennison.com to learn more.
Hashtag: #AveryDennison
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Road Town, BVI – News Direct – 8 August 2023 – In the high-octane world of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC), Filecoin (FIL), and InQubeta (QUBE) are gaining attention. Investors anticipate big moves for these digital currencies, suggesting that they are promising candidates for adding value to portfolios. As the crypto market continues to expand and evolve, here’s a look at the growth trajectories of these three cryptocurrencies.
Starting off with a unique crypto player, InQubeta is changing the game by marrying blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. Built on the Ethereum network, the company’s QUBE token is quickly gaining traction among investors for its high-growth potential.
The InQubeta platform aims to connect investors with AI start-ups, creating an ecosystem where ideas and investments flourish. Their deflationary ERC20 token, QUBE, fuels this ecosystem. Following a successful pre-sale, which saw the company raise over $2 million, the token has caught the attention of investors worldwide. It recently entered the third stage of the presale round, and the price is already up by 60% from the beta stage.
Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies, QUBE’s value is driven by a 2% burn rate and a 5% buy/sell tax, which rewards QUBE holders. By using a deflationary model, QUBE is expected to increase in value over time, as supply gradually diminishes.
The success of the QUBE presale and the subsequent increase in token value underscores InQubeta’s potential. As the company prepares to launch its NFT marketplace, InQubeta Swap, and the InQubeta DAO, the future looks promising for QUBE and its holders.
Bitcoin (BTC), the first-ever cryptocurrency, remains a heavyweight in the market, despite recent market turbulence. BTC’s value continues to fluctuate around key resistance levels, leading to predictions of big moves in the future.
While Bitcoin has recently dropped below the key support level of $30,000, market analysts believe that this could be a temporary retracement before a larger upward trend. The decentralized nature of Bitcoin and its position as a “store of value” means that it continues to attract institutional and retail investors alike.
Filecoin: The Future of Decentralized Storage
Filecoin (FIL), the token of the decentralized storage system, is another cryptocurrency expected to make significant strides. The platform allows users to rent out their spare storage space or buy space from others, creating a decentralized “marketplace” for data storage.
FIL has experienced steady growth, largely due to the increased adoption of decentralized storage solutions. As more businesses and individuals seek out secure, reliable storage options that offer more control over data, the demand for services like Filecoin is expected to increase.
Cryptocurrency: An Ever-Evolving Landscape
In the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrencies, BTC, FIL, and QUBE are showing strong potential for growth. While Bitcoin continues to lead in market value, innovative platforms like InQubeta and Filecoin provide compelling investment opportunities.
Investors are keeping a close eye on these three cryptocurrencies, anticipating big moves in the near future. As we continue to monitor the crypto landscape, it’s clear that these digital currencies are set to redefine how we think about finance, investment, and digital technology.
Doctors in Laos treating a patient with dengue fever.
Health authorities in Laos have reported a significant increase in dengue fever cases across the country, raising concerns among officials and prompting urgent preventive measures.
Hundreds of people have been displaced across the country, and at least two fatalities have been recorded in Bolikhamxay due to widespread flooding and landslides amid the ongoing monsoon.
Hun Manet, son of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, receives flowers from his supporters as he leads a procession to mark the end of an election campaign of the Cambodia People's Party in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Photo: AP)
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s king on Monday formally appointed army chief Hun Manet to succeed his father and long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen as the nation’s leader later this month after their party sealed victory in a one-sided election last month.
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 7 August 2023 – The geologists at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) have achieved a historic feat by obtaining lunar soil samples collected by the Chinese lunar probe Chang’e-5 in 2020. This marks the first time that a Hong Kong research team has secured such samples.
With the support of Dr Joseph MICHALSKI of HKU Department of Earth Sciences, Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Yuqi QIAN formed a team to apply for the lunar samples. The team obtained approval from the China National Space Administration’s Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Centre to study the lunar soil samples.
Led by postdoctoral fellow Dr Yuqi QIAN from the Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, the team obtained approval from the China National Space Administration’s Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Centre to study the lunar soil samples. Dr Qian personally travelled to Beijing to retrieve the samples, which weigh 822.6 milligrams in total. These lunar samples offer valuable insights into the Moon’s geological and thermal history and its connection to the formation and evolution of planetary bodies in the Solar System. The achievement by the HKU team underscores the university’s growing contributions to China’s lunar and planetary exploration efforts.
‘This is a dream come true for us and Hong Kong’s space science community,’ said Qian, who is eager to analyse the samples using state-of-the-art instruments at the university. ‘We hope to reveal the secrets of the Moon and gain insights into the early Earth, which could have important implications for our understanding of the Solar System and beyond.’
Previous Study on the Chang’e-5 Landing Site Paves the Way
Dr Qian is making waves in the field of planetary geology with his exceptional research on the Chang’e-5 landing site. Having published the first paper documenting the site and constructing a complete picture, he has been focusing on different aspects such as regolith properties, volcanic history and the provenance of lunar soils. His research work has been published in top-tier journals and widely cited, with over 400 citations, solidifying his position as an emerging expert. Recently, Dr Qian joined HKU as a postdoctoral fellow after obtaining his doctoral degree in Planetary Geology from China University of Geosciences.
Drawing on years of research on the Moon, the most exhilarating moment of his research career was an exciting discovery regarding the latest volcanic activity on the Moon’s surface – he discovered that the eastern part of the pre-selected Chang’e-5 landing region contained one of the youngest mare basalts on the Moon.
Recognising the scientific significance of this finding, he proposed that Chang’e-5 should explore this region to collect these young basalts, which were younger than any previously returned lunar basalts.
In 2020, Chang’e-5 successfully landed on the lunar surface within the Procellarum KREEP Terrane, a chemical anomaly province known for its elevated heat-producing elements and lunar volcanic deposits. Upon analysing the samples collected from this region, scientists were stunned to discover that the basalts were 2.0 billion years old – almost 1 billion years younger than any previous lunar volcanic samples collected by Apollo or Luna missions. This ground-breaking discovery confirmed Dr Qian’s prediction and has reshaped our understanding of lunar history. It has also raised the question: how did the young volcanism originate?
Dr Qian had been working tirelessly on this question, using remote sensing techniques to explore the volcanic history of the Chang’e-5 landing site. His previous research proposed that the Chang’e-5 basalts originated from the source vent of Rima Sharp, whose channel is only ~15 km from the landing site. Rima Sharp is a lunar sinuous rille whose formation required tons of lavas and was highly likely to be sampled by Chang’e-5.
Gearing up for Insights into Moon’s Volcanic History and Evolution of Planetary Bodies in the Solar System
After joining HKU, Dr Qian recognised the potential of the support and resources available at the university to make progress in understanding young lunar volcanism with samples. When Dr Qian learned about the sixth batch of lunar research samples is open for application earlier this year, he swiftly mobilised scientists in the department to join his application. ‘I knew this was an opportunity we could not miss for the further development of lunar science at HKU and with our collaborators throughout Hong Kong,’ said Dr Qian.
With the support of Dr Joseph MICHALSKI of the Department of Earth Sciences, an expert with extensive experience in planetary geology and mineralogy, Dr Qian formed a team to apply for the lunar samples. Other members of the department included Professor Guochun ZHAO, a renowned geologist specialising in tectonic processes and the evolution of the Earth’s lithosphere; Dr Weiran LI, a volcanologist specialising in magmatism, volatile cycling, and volcanic hazards; Professor Min SUN, a prominent geochemist focusing in the evolution of old continents; Professor Jian ZHANG, a structural geologist with expertise in crustal growth and tectonic evolution; and Dr Yiliang LI, an astrobiologist whose research centres in the search for life beyond Earth.
Now, armed with the returning samples and his previous research, Dr Qian and the team can link remote sensing and laboratory studies to unravel the secrets behind the lunar basalts and address the question that has puzzled scientists about the origins of young volcanism on the Moon. The team aims to use petrological-volcanological and spectroscopic techniques to reconstruct and study lunar magmas’ generation, ascent, and eruption, focusing on the evolution of volatiles in the lunar soil samples. By analysing the volatiles in the samples, the team hopes to gain insights into the history of lunar late volcanism and the distribution and evolution of volatiles in the Moon’s magma system, providing valuable information about the Moon’s geological and thermal history and its connection to the formation and evolution of the Solar System in the future.
Dr Qian’s supervisor Dr Joseph Michalski established the Planetary Spectroscopy and Mineralogy Lab at HKU, with the aim of providing laboratory support for space missions. He stated that the successful acquisition of lunar samples from the Chang’e-5 mission proved the value of the laboratory and expressed his hope for future collaborations in sample research. He said, ‘We are also proud to work with our collaborators at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and other universities in HK to build a strong space research community, that might help with our future collaborations and explorations.’
Dr Qian expressed that he is thrilled to be part of the effort to explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond. He stated, ‘I believe that space exploration is crucial for humanity’s future. It is an exciting time to be involved in this field, and I hope our research will inspire future generations to continue exploring and expanding our knowledge of the vast space.’
In addition to studying the samples collected by Chang’e-5, Dr Qian eagerly anticipates the upcoming Chang’e-6 mission to the lunar farside. He hopes to conduct further research on lunar geology based on China’s future lunar missions, especially the crewed ones and the International Lunar Research Station, which could provide valuable insights into the formation and evolution of the Moon and lead human’s way to other worlds.
HONG KONG SAR – EQS Newswire – 7 August 2023 – On the evening of August 5th, the 2023 SNH48 GROUP Annual Youth ceremony and the 10th Anniversary Concert of the Siba Family, sponsored by Meta48 Meta-universe(www.meta48.com), ended successfully in Shanghai.
SNH48 GROUP is a large woman group operated by Shanghai Siba Culture Media Group under Meta48 Holdings Ltd., the largest and longest-active woman idol group in the Chinese-speaking area. It is composed of five female groups: SNH48 (Shanghai), GNZ48 (Guangzhou), BEJ48 (Beijing), CKG48 (Chongqing), and CGT48 (Chengdu). Famous mainland artists such as Ju Jingyi, Li Yitong, Sun Rui, Xu Jiaqi, and Zhao Yue have emerged. All the female group members and artists attended the concert and garnered billions of discussions on the Internet.
In addition to the concert, a number of excellent works of the year were excavated and commended at that night’s event. In the end, SNH48 Yuan Yiqi’s work “The Law of the Forest” won the Gold Award of the Influential Member of the Year and the QUEEN honor of the year’s peak popularity. SNH48 Wang Yi’s work “Mute” and SNH48 Song Xinran’s “Brave Heart” won the Silver Award and Bronze Award. Meanwhile, SNH48 Zhou Shiyu, GNZ48 Zheng Dani, GNZ48 Chen Ke and GNZ48 Zeng Aijia’s works “Truth of the Night”, “The Law of the Forest”, “Walking without stop” and “I Wanna PLAY” won the Outstanding Member of the Year Award.
Shanghai Siba Culture Media Group Co., Ltd. has disclosed a series of major operational measures in the future, including the “Woman Group Going Overseas Strategy”. With Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan regions of China, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and other Asian countries as the core, official sister troupes and their own theatres will be set up in batches, and all kinds of large-scale events will be held.
At the concert, Meta48 Holdings Ltd. officially released China’s first vertical multimodal artificial intelligence model, “Xinle Dance River”, which entirely focuses on virtual digital human music, dance, and virtual sociality. the artificial intelligence multimodal model and its supporting digital toolkits, meta-universe SaaS “Seine River creation”,which are jointly built by Meta48 Holdings Ltd’s Meitao artificial Intelligence Lab, Meita Digital Homo sapiens Lab, and R & D centers in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu, and exclusively own 500T of graphics, audio and video materials accumulated during SNH48 GROUP’s operation over the past decade as initial feeding data.
At a time when AI computing power and data assets have become the core competitiveness of future development in the field of artificial intelligence, “Xin Yue Wu He “, which, when equipped with sufficient basic computing power, will play a key role in the technical realization and practical application of digital virtual humans and its industrial application scenarios such as music and dance entertainment, next-generation games, virtual social networking and the creation of all kinds of digital content, and provides indispensable core technical support for the implementation of WEB3.0 immersive interactive social meta-universe, especially its WEB3.0 co-creation functions PGA, UGA, PGC, and UGC, which is implementing limited user technology testing.
Hashtag: #Meta48Holdings
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
