SeaPRwire

Ben & Jerry’s to stop ice cream sales in occupied Palestinian territories

elean
2 minutes

NEW YORK (AFP) - American ice cream-maker Ben & Jerry's announced on Monday (July 19) they would stop selling their ice cream in the occupied Palestinian territories, saying its sale "is inconsistent with our values." In a statement, the Unilever subsidiary said they "hear and recognise the concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners," without elaborating. More than 600,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where tensions often flare up between settlers and the Palestinian population. The settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal by the UN and the international community. "We have a longstanding partnership with our licensee, who manufactures Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Israel and distributes it in the region," the company said, adding that its license won't be renewed when it expires at the end of 2022. The company said its products will continue to be sold in Israel "through a different arrangement." Israeli political figures met the announcement with ire, with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett saying in a statement that "there are lots of ice cream, but we have only one state. Ben & Jerry's decided to brand itself as an anti...

SeaPRwire

Climate change to pose bigger test for newsroom leaders than Covid-19: World Editors Forum president

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - Beyond the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change will emerge as an even bigger challenge for newsroom leaders to cover well, across various domains ranging from environmental to political impact, said World Editors Forum (WEF) president Warren Fernandez. "That is the crisis of our generation," stressed Mr Fernandez, who is editor of The Straits Times and editor-in-chief of Singapore Press Holdings' English/Malay/Tamil Media Group. "If we have seen in Covid-19 how hard it is to get communities, governments and societies behind a solution, I think climate change is going to show how it is going to be even harder. That's where newsrooms come in." Mr Fernandez was speaking on Monday (July 5) to 28 editors and journalists at the start of the second Young Media Leaders Fellowship programme, an initiative by the WEF Asia Chapter under the World Association of News Publishers. The six-month programme, supported by Temasek Foundation, aims to nurture the next generation of media leaders through professional development and networking opportunities. It will take place mostly through online platforms because of the ongoing pandemic, but could see the participants meet physically in Si...

SeaPRwire

Sydney Airport gets $22.3 billion takeover bid

elean
2 minutes

SYDNEY (BLOOMBERG) - Sydney Airport received a A$22.3 billion (S$22.3 billion) takeover offer from a group including IFM Investors, in one of the boldest bets since the pandemic on a recovery of global travel. The consortium offered A$8.25 a share, Sydney Airport said in a statement Monday. It said it's assessing the proposal, which is 42 per cent higher than Friday's closing price of A$5.81. The stock traded close to A$9 in late 2019, before Covid-19 devastated aviation. The suitors are seeking to capitalise on the slump in market value at Australia's largest airport, which is also the country's main overseas gateway, before global travel starts to pick up. Australia's international border, which as been mostly closed since March last year, is expected to open in mid-2022 after the nation's vaccination program is completed. Sydney Airport said it's considering "whether the proposal is reflective of the underlying value of the airport given its long-term remaining concession and the expected short-term impact of the pandemic." Sydney Airport named Barrenjoey Capital Partners and UBS Group AG as financial advisers. One of the conditions of the offer is that UniSuper Ltd., which owns...

SeaPRwire

GIC-backed clinical trial firm WCG reveals revenue jump in IPO filing

elean
1 minute

BENGALURU (REUTERS) - WCG Clinical, a clinical trial solutions company backed by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States on Thursday and revealed a jump in its quarterly revenue. The company, which also counts buyout firm Leonard Green & Partners LP among its investors, plans to list on the Nasdaq. WCG was valued at US$3.1 billion when Leonard Green took a stake in the company in 2019, Reuters reported at the time. Private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners is also an investor in the firm which helps clients reduce the time and cost of enrolling patients in clinical trials. The company's revenue jumped by a third to US$137.6 million in the three months ended March 31, its filing showed. Net loss came in at US$20.6 million from US$30.1 million last year. Princeton, New Jersey-based WCG is looking to issue into an IPO market which has been on a record run, helped by the US. Federal Reserve's easy money policy and unprecedented government stimulus. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and BofA Securities are among the underwriters for WCG's IPO.

ACN Newswire
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Market Selloff Presents Good Opportunity to Accumulate ETH While It is Undervalued Says PrimeXBT Analyst Kim Chua

indie
7 minutes

US, Jun 30, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - News flows the past week has centred around BTC's big flash dip and about how long-term investors are taking the chance to accumulate more BTC. However, no one seems to be talking about the second largest coin, ETH. Is ETH a good buy at these levels?The rise in DeFi is the single largest contributor towards the demand for ETH in this bull run as ETH is used both as a collateral as well as a fuel to use the ETH blockchain for yield-farming. While other developments like NFTs also contribute to the popularity of ETH, by and large, 90% of the demand for ETH has been for DeFi usage so far. Thus, to study if ETH is a worthwhile investment now, our focus should still be on DeFi, specifically, the trend about DeFi going forward.ETH, while being the undisputed leader in DeFi, has seen some competition from other blockchains like Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Polygon (MATIC). Part of the argument against ETH in DeFi use has been its high gas fee and slow speed, which has caused both yield-farmers and protocols to migrate to other cheaper blockchains like BSC and Polygon (MATIC). This resulted in some value from the ETH blockchain moving ...

SeaPRwire

Didi prices US IPO at top of range to raise more than $5.4 billion

elean
4 minutes

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) - Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global Priced shares in its US initial public offering at the top of a marketed range to raise at least US$4 billion (S$5.4 billion) and will likely add to that sum by expanding the size of the share sale, according to people familiar with the matter. Didi, which planned to sell 288 million American depositary shares, priced them at US$14 each on Tuesday (June 29) after marketing them for US$13 to US$14, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details weren't public yet. A final decision hasn't been made on increasing the number of shares being sold, the people said. A representative for Didi declined to comment. At US$14 a share, the IPO would raise more than US$4 billion before any increase in the number of shares, making it the second largest US IPO by a Chinese company on record, after Alibaba Group Holding's US$25 billion debut in 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The IPO shows investors are backing Didi despite Beijing's scrutiny of Chinese internet firms, which has stoked uncertainty ahead of its debut. The price would give Didi a market value of about US$67 billion, based on the outstan...

JCN Newswire
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Japan’s Fugaku Retains Title as World’s Fastest Supercomputer for three consecutive terms

ruth
3 minutes

TOKYO, Jun 28, 2021 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The supercomputer Fugaku, jointly developed by RIKEN and Fujitsu, has successfully retained the top spot for three consecutive terms on all four of the major high-performance computer rankings. This includes the TOP500 list as well as the HPCG, a performance ranking for computing methods often used for real-world applications, HPL-AI, which ranks supercomputers based on their performance on single- and half-precision computing typically used in artificial intelligence applications, and the Graph 500 ranking, which ranks systems based on graph analytic performance, an important element in data-intensive workloads. The results of the TOP500, HPCG and HPL-AI rankings were announced on June 28, and the details of the Graph 500 will be revealed on July 1 at ISC High Performance 2021 Digital, which is currently being held as an online event.Supercomputer Fugaku The results this time were made with Fugaku's full complement of 158,976 nodes fit into 432 racks. On the Top500, it achieved a LINPACK score of 442.01 petaflops. On HPCG, it scored 16.00 petaflops, and on HPL-AI it gained a score of 2.004 exaflops.The top ranking on Graph 5...

SeaPRwire

Woman who shouted racist abuse on bus jailed for 4 weeks

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - A woman who hurled racist insults and profanities at another woman on a bus for over seven minutes was sentenced to four weeks' jail on Wednesday (June 23). Siti Ai'sha Jaffar, 40, called the victim, Ms Danaletchmi Selvam, 33, a "stupid Indian" during her tirade, which the court heard was unprovoked. Siti Ai'sha, who was unrepresented and appeared via video link, frowned and lowered her head as two video clips of the incident were played in court. In passing a deterrent sentence, District Judge Tan Jen Tse said that "in no way can this (sort) of offence... stand in our society". The court heard that the incident occurred on Sept 3 last year at around 9.30am, after the victim boarded the service 182 bus from Tuas Checkpoint. She was listening to music using her earphones when she noticed Siti Ai'sha pointing and staring at her. In the two clips played in court, which were taken by the victim, Siti Ai'sha can be seen gesturing and shouting at the woman, calling her a "minority". In the first clip which lasted 15sec, she can be heard saying: "Your heart is also black... everything is black" and in the second clip, which was 4min and 21sec long, she said: "stupid Indians......

SeaPRwire

Exxon prepares to cull US white-collar ranks by up to 10%

elean
3 minutes

HOUSTON (BLOOMBERG) - Exxon Mobil Corp is preparing to reduce headcount at its US offices by between 5 per cent and 10 per cent annually for the next three to five years by using its performance-evaluation system to suss out low performers, according to people familiar with the matter. The cuts will target the lowest-rated employees relative to peers, and for that reason will not be characterized as layoffs, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn't public. While such workers are typically put on a so-called performance improvement plan, many are expected to eventually leave on their own. This year's evaluation is happening now but affected employees have not yet been notified, the people said. "Our annual performance assessment process has been occurring over the last several months," Exxon spokesman Casey Norton said in an email. "Where employees are not contributing to their highest ability, they may need to participate in an improvement plan. This is an annual process which has been in place for many years, and it is meant to improve performance. This process is unrelated to workforce reduction plans." The plan is separate from Exxon's announcem...

ACN Newswire
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Dynasty expects a 2.2-fold year-on-year revenue growth to over HK$100 million in the first four months of 2021

indie
4 minutes

HONG KONG, Jun 16, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Dynasty Fine Wines Group Limited (Stock Code: 828), a premier winemaker in China, issued its profit alert yesterday. The Group expects to record a significant year-on-year increase of approximately 220% to over HK$100 million in its unaudited revenue for the first four months of 2021 ("the Period"), which also represents an increase of approximately 20% when compared with its unaudited consolidated revenue of approximately HK$89.9 million in the six months ended 30 June 2020.The significant increase in Dynasty's revenue during the Period was mainly attributable to three factors: Firstly, as the COVID-19 pandemic has gradually been brought under control in China, the government has relaxed the restrictions on consuming places, which has boosted the resumption of consumption occasions and consumer sentiment, as well as the rebound in sales resulting from economic growth, particularly in terms of the growth in domestic demand. Secondly, compared with the same period last year, sales of medium to high end wine products increased during the Period following the Group's upgrade of its brands and products. Thirdly, the Group's s...

ACN Newswire
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Registration Open for Electric Vehicles & the Grid Online Workshop

indie
2 minutes

Singapore, Jun 14, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Infocus International Group has launched the Electric Vehicles (EVs) & the Grid online workshop which will be commencing live on 31 August 2021. The essential guide to opportunity and risk within emerging EV charging value chains.Even without the rapid growth of EVs, our current power systems are in the midst of a disruptive transition towards cleaner, diversified and more flexible structures. If a transition from internal combustion engines (ICE) to EVs is to be achieved, what will be the impact on these systems? What are the barriers to scale and which solutions (and hence market opportunities) will be essential? This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the multi-sector issues that must be understood and integrated, plus the competitive battles ahead, including: technology status and trends, management of electricity demand & supply, charging network players and competitors, consumer behaviour influences.Benefits of Attending:- Quantify the variables which will determine the impact of EVs on electricity supply- Identify the key barriers to widespread EV integration and growth, from a power system per...

SeaPRwire

PMD fires often the result of battery short circuits: Experts

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - Personal mobility devices (PMDs) that catch fire usually do so because of batteries that have short-circuited, said experts The Sunday Times spoke to. Associate Professor Palani Balaya from the department of mechanical engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS) told ST that using batteries from an unreliable source, overcharging PMDs, or using an incompatible charger are some reasons why lithium-ion batteries in PMDs can short-circuit. Another issue is when PMDs do not meet safety standards, said experts. There have been a significant number of fires related to non-compliant PMDs which do not have the compulsory UL2272 certificate. In 2019, there were 102 fires caused by non-compliant PMDs - almost double the 52 in 2018. Last year, Mr Lam Pin Min, then Senior Minister of State for Transport, said it was worrying some people had started using non-compliant PMDs during the circuit breaker. The Government banned electric scooters from footpaths in November 2019, following a spate of accidents related to PMDs. Since the ban, the e-scooter population here has shrunk significantly, from a peak of about 100,000 in November 2019, to just 8,500 in March this year....

SeaPRwire

Singapore VC firm iGlobe starts US$100 million fund for fintech, biotech start-ups

elean
2 minutes

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - Singapore's IGlobe Partners closed its latest venture-capital fund, which plans to invest US$100 million (S$132.3 million) in start-ups focusing on synthetic biology, fintech and technologies for smart cities. The firm's fourth fund, IGlobe Platinum Fund III, will back 15 to 20 start-ups across the US, Europe and Southeast Asia to fund their growth over the next three years, according to a statement from the company on Thursday (June 3). IGlobe, with a history of more than two decades, is betting on emerging trends in health care and technology to fuel its growth. The new fund, which was oversubscribed, will back start-ups including cancer diagnostic service C2i Genomics and personal finance start-up NerdWallet in the US as well as Singapore-based Docquity, a mobile app for doctors, and Tonik, a digital bank in the Philippines. "We focus on cross-border deep tech, which other people can't easily copy," IGlobe founder Koh Soo Boon said in an interview. "We are in the business of building companies, rather than just making a quick buck." Ms Koh started IGlobe in Silicon Valley in 1999 and moved its headquarters to her native Singapore a decade later. The firm ...

SeaPRwire

Zoom forecasts upbeat revenue, expects boost from hybrid work

elean
2 minutes

BENGALURU (REUTERS) - Zoom Video Communications on Tuesday forecast current-quarter revenue above estimates, as increased adoption of hybrid work models by companies is expected to drive steady demand for its video conferencing tools. Zoom became a household name and investor favourite in the past year, as businesses and schools switched to its services for virtual classes, office meetings and socialising. But with rapid vaccination efforts and life slowly returning to normal, analysts are sceptical of the sustainability of Zoom's growth, especially with rivals Microsoft, Cisco and Google snapping at its heels. "The extent to which Zoom can compete sustainably with the likes of Cisco and Microsoft remains to be seen over the next few quarters as we begin to enter true Covid-19 comparable quarters," said Third Bridge senior analyst Joe McCormack. However, the San Jose, California-based company assuaged some of those concerns by forecasting current-quarter revenue in the range of US$985 million (S$1.3 billion) to US$990 million, above Wall Street's estimate of US$931.8 million, according to IBES Refinitiv data. Shares of the company were up 2 per cent, after falling as much as 5 per ...

SeaPRwire

Ethereum hits new record high again, dogecoin slumps

elean
3 minutes

NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Cryptocurrency ethereum climbed to a new peak for a third straight day on Monday (May 10) on continued optimism about further growth in decentralised finance or "DeFi", although some analysts said it was overvalued at current levels. Ethereum has soared this year, fuelled by the boom in DeFi, which are platforms that facilitate crypto-denominated lending outside traditional banking. Many DeFi applications are embedded in the ethereum blockchain. Ethereum, the second-largest coin by market capitalization, hit an all-time high of US$4,200 (S$5,570) and was last up around 5.2 per cent at US$4,133.40. "The myriad possibilities of decentralised ledger technologies should be likened to a technological force of nature that will continue to disrupt finance and other businesses," said Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. An upcoming technical change to its software seen as reducing its supply has also provided a boost, while new institutional investors in the crypto sector have warmed to it amid a tepid quarter so far for bitcoin. "(Crypto has) got a lot more institutional involvement than people who haven't followed the market be...

JCN Newswire
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NEC Contributes to Development of Artificial DNA Aptamer that Binds to the Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)

ruth
5 minutes

TOKYO, May 6, 2021 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701) and NEC Solution Innovators today announced the successful development of artificial DNA aptamers (1) that bind to the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). This breakthrough stems from the NEC Group's efforts to promote spatial monitoring business using aptamers, including the development of new biosensing systems, such as measuring equipment that can monitor spaces where various viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses, are present.Figure 1. RBD, the spike protein on the surface of the virusFigure 2. MSS aptamer biosensor mechanism (under development)Overview of AptamersSARS-CoV-2 enters into human cells when the spike protein, Receptor-Binding Domain ((2), RBD), on the surface of the virus binds to the ACE2 receptors (3) on the surface of human cells.The aptamer developed by NEC Solution Innovators targets RBD, which is the key to infection, then traps the virus by recognizing the three-dimensional structure of the RBD and binding very strongly to it ((4), a dissociation constant indicating the strength of the binding between molecules is less than 1nM). This aptamer uses a new modified base...

SeaPRwire

Archegos prepares for insolvency as banks seek compensation: FT

elean
2 minutes

BENGALURU (REUTERS) - Archegos Capital Management, the family office run by former Tiger Asia manager Bill Hwang, is preparing for insolvency as banks involved in financing its trades seek to recoup some of their losses, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Wednesday (May 5). Archegos has hired restructuring advisers to assess the potential legal claims from banks and to plan for a possible winding down of its operations, the report said, citing two people familiar with the matter. The family office's meltdown was triggered after ViacomCBS, a company Archegos was heavily exposed to, announced a stock offering in March. A slump in the media company's share price alarmed the banks, which called on the fund for more collateral. The fund defaulted on the margin call, which set off a scramble among Wall Street banks that had financed its trades to start unwinding them. Global banks lost nearly US$10 billion (S$13.4 billion) from the Archegos fallout. Credit Suisse, Nomura Holdings and Morgan Stanley were some of the banks that were hit. The New York-based fund had assets of around US$10 billion but held positions worth more than US$50 billion. The saga is likely to have regulatory reper...

SeaPRwire

Singaporean Shou Zi Chew named new CEO of popular Chinese video app TikTok

elean
4 minutes

NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) - TikTok, the popular short-video app, named ByteDance chief financial officer Shou Zi Chew as chief executive officer, filling the top leadership position after the departure of Mr Kevin Mayer last year. Ms Vanessa Pappas, who has served as interim head, was named chief operating officer. Mr Chew, who joined TikTok parent ByteDance last month, will remain in his post at the Chinese company, according to a statement on Friday (April 30). Previously, Mr Chew spent several years as CFO and international business president of Xiaomi Corp, where he took the gadget maker public in one of the largest-ever Chinese tech listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Mr Chew, who is from Singapore, is fluent in English and Chinese. He is experienced in navigating the halls of Chinese tech companies and the boardrooms of banks like Goldman Sachs Group, where he spent time in its investment banking unit. He also previously worked for Yuri Milner's DST Global, which took a chance on ByteDance founder and CEO Zhang Yiming as an early investor in the company. The move to hire Mr Chew is a sign ByteDance is moving towards an initial public offering of some of its businesses. TikTo...

JCN Newswire
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Lexus Premieres New ES

ruth
11 minutes

Toyota City, Japan, Apr 19, 2021 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Lexus held the world premiere of the new Lexus ES today. The ES is a key model in the Lexus lineup, having first appeared with the launch of the first-generation LS flagship sedan in 1989. The ES has been well received by many customers around the world for its high level of quietness, high-quality ride comfort, and spacious cabin. Cumulative sales of the ES since its initial debut so far total approximately 2.65 million units in more than 80 countries and regions.Lexus ES (Prototype)The new ES achieves further enhancements to superior quietness and ride comfort, which form the origin of Lexus, as well as further refinements to its high-quality overall comfort. As can be experienced through the comfort in the car's seamless connection between acceleration, deceleration, and steering in any driving situation, development pursued a linear response that is faithful to the driver's intentions. A proprietary Lexus method was employed to increase the rigidity of the rear suspension-member braces for superior steering stability in situations such as high-speed lane changes. Also, the adoption in the F Sport version of t...

SeaPRwire

Spac boom faces new threat in US with accounting crackdown

elean
4 minutes

NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) - US regulators are throwing another wrench into Wall Street's Spac machine by cracking down on how accounting rules apply to a key element of blank-cheque companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is setting forth new guidance that warrants, which are issued to early investors in the deals, might not be considered equity instruments and may instead be liabilities for accounting purposes. The move threatens to disrupt filings for new special-purpose acquisition companies until the issue is resolved. The accounting considerations mark the latest effort by the SEC to clamp down on the white-hot Spac market. For months, the regulator has been raising red flags that investors aren't being fully informed of potential risks associated with blank-check companies, which list on public stock exchanges to raise money for the purpose of buying other entities. The SEC began reaching out to accountants last week with the guidance on warrants, according to people familiar with the matter. A pipeline of hundreds of filings for new Spacs could be affected, said the people, who asked not to be named because the conversations were private. "The SEC indicated that t...