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Thailand Moves to Decriminalize Marijuana

Thailand moves to decriminalize marijuana

Thailand has become the first Asian nation to move to decriminalize marijuana, although rules governing recreational use remain unclear.

xx network Launches a Quantum Resistant Messaging App – xx messenger

Blockchain-based xx messenger protects message content and metadata with unprecedented quantum resistance

LOS ANGELES, US – Media OutReach – 26 January 2022 – The world’s first quantum-resistant messaging app, xx messenger, launched on the xx network today. xx messenger allows users to communicate in real time through hundreds of decentralized nodes operating worldwide. The app is available for download on IOS and Android, features group chat as well as photo and audio sharing, and designed for easy use and switching to legacy messaging apps.

 

Unlike existing messaging apps, xx messenger uses quantum-resistant cryptography to protect message content from decoding and cMix software to obfuscate or shred metadata—information about who sends, when they send, where they send from, and who receives. Randomly selected teams of xx nodes encrypt anonymity sets of 1,000 messages, which are then repeatedly shuffled and have also been encrypted using quantum-resistant cryptography. Information that links senders and receivers is destroyed, preventing third parties from tracking intimate details about the patterns and structure of our lives.

 

xx messenger is dedicated to protecting and strengthening inalienable privacy rights at the dawn of web3.

  • Existing Message Encryption is not Quantum Resistant: Currently, messages sent on all other existing messengers, even those with “strong end-to-end encryption,” will be easily retroactively decoded and analyzed by AI. Only what has been said using xx messenger will remain private.
  • Only xx Offers Metadata Shredding: Metadata shredding works by sending messages through randomly chosen xx network nodes around the world. Each node changes the order and the encryption  before forwarding and then erases any record of what it has done.
  • Full xx Decentralization: The xx network supporting the xx messenger is a distributed, decentralized blockchain, now in mainnet, and is operated on transparent software run by more than 350 independently owned nodes in more than 80 countries. The xx messenger App is truly a decentralized App (dApp), which means that it operates on a decentralized blockchain autonomously through smart contracts.

The pioneering team behind the creation of the xx messenger developed early practical, anonymous, and verifiable cryptographic systems and is led by renowned cryptographer David Chaum, who proposed and deployed digital currencies, mix networks, permissionless cryptographic solutions, and verifiable voting systems starting in the 1980s.

 

For more, please visit https://xx.network/

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

#KpopTwitter reaches new heights with 7.8 billion global Tweets

Younger artists like ENHYPEN, aespa, and ITZY forged strong connections with their fans in 2021


Fans are growing in many countries such as Peru, Colombia, Singapore, and Ecuador

 

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – Media OutReach – 26 January 2022 – With a massive 7.8 billion global Tweets in 2021, #KpopTwitter once again showed its power by breaking its previous record of 6.7 billion Tweets in 2020. Registering a notable 16% increase in Tweet volume globally, #KpopTwitter conversations became more diverse and vibrant in 2021.

Diving deeper into the flurry of Tweets, Twitter’s analysis reveals the Top 20 countries Tweeting most about K-pop, the Top 20 countries with the most K-pop fans, as well as rankings of the most Tweeted about K-pop artists and rising K-pop artists.    

With its legion of passionate and active fans, Indonesia tops the list for most number of K-pop Tweets for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, the United States, Mexico, Malaysia, Brazil, India, and Japan made it into the top 10.

While the list of countries with the most number of fans (analyzed by unique authors) looks similar to the list for most number of Tweets, with Indonesia coming in first and the others like Japan and the Philippines close behind, countries like Peru, Colombia, Singapore, and Ecuador were featured among the top 20 this year (after missing out in 2020). Meanwhile, as the number of fans continues to grow in various countries, Chile and Vietnam climbed the ranks by four and five positions, ultimately securing the 16th and 13th spots respectively.  

Of course, the 21st century pop icon, BTS (@BTS_twt), takes the top spot as the most Tweeted about K-pop artist globally – with the band’s real-life concert ‘BTS PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE – LA’ alone contributing more than 68 million Tweets from all over the world. For the second year in a row, NCT (@NCTsmtown) comes in second.

In addition to K-pop sensation BLACKPINK (@BLACKPINK) and heavyweights EXO (@weareoneEXO) being featured on the top 20 list, younger groups also cemented their positions with TOMORROW X TOGETHER (@TXT_members) rising from 8th place in 2020 to 6th in 2021, ATEEZ (@ATEEZofficial) climbing one spot to 9th, and Stray Kids (@Stray_Kids) at 10th.

2021 also proved to be a breakthrough year for the 4th generation of K-pop idols. ENHYPEN (@ENHYPEN_members) who were 5th on the 2020 list of rising K-pop artists impressively came in as the 3rd most Tweeted about band in 2021 (just after BTS and NCT). Within a year of their debut, the group celebrated a huge achievement with their first studio album “DIMENSION:DILEMMA” becoming a ‘million-seller’ and placing 11th on the Billboard 200 chart. Fellow 4th generation idols aespa (@aespa_official) and ITZY (@ITZYofficial) also hit significant milestones as they first entered the top 20 list, being 14th and 16th respectively.

Other K-pop idols on the top 20 list include TREASURE (@treasuremembers), SEVENTEEN (@pledis_17), TWICE (@JYPETWICE), GOT7 (@GOT7Official), THE BOYZ (@IST_THEBOYZ), iKON (@YG_iKONIC), ASTRO (@offclASTRO), MonstaX (@OfficialMonstaX), Red Velvet (@RVsmtown), and SHINee(@SHINee).

Unsurprisingly ENHYPEN (@ENHYPEN_members) is first on the list of the Top 10 rising Artists, followed by TOMORROW X TOGETHER (@TXT_members), TREASURE (@treasuremembers), aespa (@aespa_official), and ITZY (@ITZYofficial). Newer generation groups like IVE (@IVEstarship), CRAVITY  (@CRAVITYstarship), WEi (@WEi__Official), ONEUS (@official_ONEUS), and CIX (@CIX_twt) are also featured on the Top 10.

2021 saw growing global interest in Korean entertainment beyond music

While the reach of K-pop continued to skyrocket, we also saw a variety of conversations as Korean dramas, movies, webtoons, and other types of entertainment steadily cemented their place on the world stage. In particular, webtoons turned K-dramas were embraced by the global audience, with True Beauty, Sweet Home, and Navillera among the top most Tweeted about webtoons on Twitter. Of course, the influence of K-pop also had a part to play. When official soundtracks included famous K-pop artists, dramas and webtoons enjoyed a boost in viewership – such as BTS V’s song ‘Sweet Night’ for Itaewon Class.

As the place to be for both fans and artists to connect, Twitter is a home for many celebrities from the different facets of Korean entertainment. In addition to well-known rapper Youngji (@dokgodieinsaeng) and actress Lee SeYoung (@seyoung0703), stars from the hit show Street Woman Fighter such as Monika (@monikaaashin), Honey J (@__honey_j__), and no:ze (@noze_world) started new Twitter accounts in the second half of 2021.

Fans enjoyed more #OnlyOnTwitter content connecting themselves closely to stars

Twitter continues to launch new features and programs that deliver #OnlyOnTwitter content to fans everywhere. Beyond providing support to the K-pop community, Twitter is also expanding our capabilities and evolving into a service to promote K-content. We have already hosted #TwitterBlueroom live sessions for movies and dramas including Q&As with the cast of The Book of Fish, King Maker, The Red Sleeve, and One Ordinary Day. Twitter also brought #FanTweets and #BehindTheTweets to K-pop starting with BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ’s. With the introduction of Twitter Spaces in 2021, Twitter has also created more opportunities and channels for fans and artists to connect and communicate, building stronger relationships with each other.

Twitter’s Head of Global K-pop Partnerships, YeonJeong Kim says, “In 2021, with BTS and NCT leading the conversation, we could also see an increase in conversation related to rising artists such as ENHYPEN, aespa, and ITZY. But beyond K-pop, we’ve also seen discussions about Korean content across the board on Twitter growing with K-pop fans talking about not just their favorite music, performances, concerts, and daily lives, but showing increasing interest in dramas and webtoons with K-pop soundtracks or starring K-pop idols. As the global consumption of Korean content grows, we look forward to seeing even more diverse conversations on Twitter and providing more content you can see #OnlyOnTwitter in 2022.”

About Twitter, Inc.

Twitter is what’s happening and what people are talking about right now. To learn more, visit about.twitter.com and follow @Twitter and @TwitterKorea. Let’s talk.

#Twitter

China Announces Closure of Borders with Luang Namtha

Laos Suspends Visas at Checkpoints Bordering China

China has announced the closure of international border crossings connecting it to Luang Namtha Province in Laos due to local outbreaks of Covid-19.

Singapore based IN Financial Technologies launches its “Buy Now Pay Later” service

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 25 January 2022 – Buy Now Pay Later (“BNPL“) –– a concept we are all too familiar with. This fintech trend that enables business customers to make purchases through instalment plans has seen a high traction recently. However, these are often tied to tedious credit assessment, documents requirements and hefty interest with fine print, resulting in much debt that often goes unpaid for far too long. With INFT BNPL, businesses can now be more competitive and gain higher sales volume, while their customers get the products with 0% interest instalment payments.

With increasing companies now offering such services, this holds testament to consumer preference for flexible payment methods instead of traditional payment schemes. However, given most companies take cuts from business profits, one might be reluctant to consider offering BNPL to customers. But perhaps we can sell you a couple of benefits, including the massive potential for business growth. Such is exceptionally attractive for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (“SME”) seeking to establish a loyal client base right from the outset. As such, INFT is choosing to launch its very own Buy Now Pay Later, a product stemming from the concept of BNPL.

 

Designed to help you grow, INFT aims to provide an easy and fuss-free solution to encourage higher sales volume and average transaction size. In just three simple steps, your business will be far more attractive to new customers in comparison to competitors. Firstly, your business will submit an invoice to INFT. INFT then assesses the customer and verifies the purchase. Your business will receive the full amount (less transaction fee) from INFT upon receiving the first upfront payment from the customer.

 

Buy Now Pay Later extends across all business transactions including food to electronics. INFT’s recent launch of BNPL offers flexibility with 6 easy payments that come with a maximum transaction size of up to S$5,000, while featuring transparent fees with no interest rate. By breaking these jaw-dropping prices into more manageable, 6 interest-free payments, the prices presented are more palatable to business customers. This service is the perfect win-win situation for businesses and business customers alike.

 

With the introduction of Buy Now Pay Later, INFT hopes to encourage competitiveness in businesses with easy payment methods and higher turnover rates while getting paid upfront. Using this form of short-term financing credit will allow businesses to reach out to a wider target audience, remain competitive and foster consumer loyalty. With INFT, you can boost your business sales by enhancing customers’ experiences and reducing cash flow strain.

 

Learn more about INFT Buy Now Pay Later at:

https://www.inft.co/buy-now-pay-later

About IN

Launched in 2020 by Singapore-native entrepreneurs, Eldwin and Roy, who have more than two decades of experiences in technology, retail banking and financial industry, IN aims to level the playing field for start-ups and SMEs to grow. They have one simple mission to empower Micro, Small and Medium enterprises in Asia to digitalize their businesses, and to break down financial access barriers. The flexible and secure IN ecosystem offers a competitive and attractive pricing, and the best-in-class financial solutions to empower entrepreneurs to focus on their core business.

#INFT

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

Trend Micro Blocks Over 94 Billion Threats in 2021

Detections increased 42% YoY as malicious actors stepped up their attacks

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 25 January 2022 – Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), announced today that its industry-leading threat intelligence infrastructure, Smart Protection Network™ (SPN), stopped 94.2 billion* cyber-threats heading for consumer, government and business customers in 2021.

 

The volume of detections represents a 42% increase on the number of detections recorded in 2020. It reveals that attacks surged by over 53 billion in the second half of 2021 after Trend Micro blocked 41 billion threats in 1H 2021.

 

The threats were detected by more than five trillion threat queries, a 36% year-on-year increase from queries in 2020. Trend Micro’s SPN leverages over 250 million sensors across the broadest attack surface globally to proactively protect organizations and individuals faster.

 

“Trend Micro detects threats across endpoints, mobile, servers, IoT/IIoT, home networks, messaging, network, web and cloud environments,” said Jon Clay, vice president of threat intelligence for Trend Micro. “That’s a testament to our continuous effort to expand attack surface protections and improve our advanced detection technologies deployed to 500,000 commercial and government accounts and millions of consumer customers. But it also underscores the mounting threat from bad actors, as outlined in our 2022 predictions report.”

 

Despite a double-digit surge in detected cyber-threats from 2020 to 2021, Trend Micro blocked 66% fewer ransomware attacks over the period, reinforcing the theory that these threats are becoming more targeted. Another contributing factor in this decrease is that more ransomware attacks are being blocked in earlier stages before being deployed. Over 14 million attacks were proactively stopped in 2021 before they could impact customers.

 

Even with Trend Micro’s comprehensive cloud-first protection capabilities, security teams must be prepared for another onslaught of threats in 2022. Trend Micro predicts that IoT systems, global supply chains, cloud environments and DevOps functions will come under increasing scrutiny from attackers over the coming year.

 

Enhanced risk-based patching, XDR, server hardening, Zero Trust, network monitoring and DevSecOps practices will be critical to prevent spiraling cyber risk in 2022.

 

*The figure stands at 94,289,585,240 threats.

 

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity leader, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Fueled by decades of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro’s cybersecurity platform protects hundreds of thousands of organizations and millions of individuals across clouds, networks, devices, and endpoints. As a leader in cloud and enterprise cybersecurity, the platform delivers a powerful range of advanced threat defense techniques optimized for environments like AWS, Microsoft, and Google, and central visibility for better, faster detection and response. With 7,000 employees across 65 countries, Trend Micro enables organizations to simplify and secure their connected world. www.trendmicro.com.hk

#TrendMicro

Cyberport houses nearly 60 WealthTech startups offering diverse solutions, helping to promote inclusive wealth management and improve industry efficiency

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 25 January 2022 – According to a Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) report, Hong Kong’s asset and wealth management business recorded an increase in assets under management (AUM) of over 20 percent year-on-year, to HK$34.9 trillion, as of end 2020. As one of the region’s most robust wealth management hubs, Hong Kong holds considerable potential for WealthTech development. As the largest FinTech community in Hong Kong, Cyberport houses nearly 400 FinTech start-ups, including around 60 WealthTech companies which offer diverse technology solutions covering B2B, B2C and B2B2C businesses. These solutions both address individual users’ varying financial needs and assist financial institutions in improving the efficiency of their wealth management services.

Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport, said that WealthTech can lower the cost of wealth management services and enhance the efficiency of product development and operation, in turn lowering the threshold for customers to enjoy personalized investment products and wealth management advice.

 

Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport, said, “WealthTech has become one of Fintech’s fastest-growing areas in recent years. According to a market report, the global wealth management software market is anticipated to more than double from nearly $2.5 billion in 2019 to $5.8 billion by the end of 2025. WealthTech can lower the cost of wealth management services and enhance the efficiency of product development and operation, in turn lowering the threshold for customers to enjoy personalized investment products and wealth management advice. In addition to catering for all investment stages, WealthTech can help financial institutions scale up their customer base. The Cyberport community features a number of outstanding WealthTech start-ups, and I believe that the cross-border Wealth Management Connect will open up further market opportunities for them.”

 

From financial management to investment appreciation

Wealth management begins with saving and managing consumption. Cyberport incubatee StevTech has launched a Cantonese intelligent wealth management program called ‘Sui Gor’. Users can record their bills through a Cantonese voice-recognition bookkeeper, while the system analyzes their spending habits using artificial intelligence (AI). The system can propose the most suitable expenditure according to the user’s financial goals in order to help develop saving habits.

 

When sufficient savings have been accumulated, it is time to add value to wealth. WealthTech can provide investment advice and related products. Cyberport incubatee AQUMON uses algorithms and AI to assist financial institutions as well as individual users who may lack the time or financial knowledge to choose more diversified investment products at a lower cost, so as to easily carry out appropriate asset allocation. AQUMON’s main investment portfolio currently includes exchange-traded fund (ETF) portfolios and themed stock portfolios, and it boasts 100,000 registered APP users. StashAway, a digital wealth manager from Singapore, provides users with automated and personalized ETF global asset allocation portfolio management according to each user’s risk tolerance level and financial goals, while adjusting the portfolio in accordance with market conditions at the user’s acceptable risk level. Stashaway entered Hong Kong last April and settled at Cyberport, and now has more than US$1 billion in assets under management.

 

In addition, Cyberport incubatee LORA Technologies has developed an AI engine that can analyze market data such as stock charts and financial statements, helping to recommend suitable stocks for investors according to the user’s investment preferences while automatically performing stock transactions at opportune times. For investors who want to choose their own stocks, iDDY, another Cyberport incubatee, has used AI and machine learning to develop an intelligent investment assistant. When the user sends a voice command, the investment assistant program will search a large amount of financial information while simultaneously analyzing it, sending relevant information to the user for reference in real time.

 

Expanding investment channels for professional investors

In addition to retail investors, the Cyberport Community’s products and platforms meet the needs of professional investors. ALTIVE has launched fund products investing in private equity, private debt and real estate, offering alternative investment opportunities for professional investors. Moonfare provides a technology platform that enables high-net-worth individuals and family offices to invest at a lower threshold in top ranked private equity funds selected by the team. It also cooperates with private banks and other wealth management institutions, allowing relevant institutions to offer customers opportunities to invest in the top ranked private equity funds.

 

Multiple start-ups within the Cyberport community also provide WealthTech solutions. If members of the press wish to learn more about them, please get in touch with Cyberport’s Communications and Stakeholder Engagement team.

 

About Cyberport

Cyberport is an innovative digital community with around 800 on-site start-ups and technology companies. It is managed by Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, wholly owned by the Hong Kong SAR Government. With a vision to be the hub for digital technology, thereby creating a new economic driver for Hong Kong, Cyberport is committed to nurturing a vibrant tech ecosystem by cultivating talent, promoting entrepreneurship among youth, supporting start-ups, fostering industry development by promoting strategic collaboration with local and international partners, and integrating new and traditional economies by accelerating digital transformation in public and private sectors.

 

For more information, please visit www.cyberport.hk

#Cyberport

SEZs to Develop Labor Skills and Employ Thousands of Workers in Laos

Special Economic Zone SEZ in Laos

The Special Economic Zone Promotion and Management Office is to improve labor skills and see thousands of Lao people employed by SEZs across the country.