MANILA, PHILIPPINES (18 October 2022) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $59 million loan and $500,000 grant to enhance livability and economic competitiveness in four secondary cities of Uzbekistan.
ADB’s Integrated Urban Development Project will support strategic investments in municipal infrastructure and services in the cities of Djizzak, Havast, Khiva, and Yangiyer, which have experienced lagging growth due to the COVID-19 pandemic and vulnerability to climate change.
“Integrated, climate-resilient urban development can boost the economic competitiveness of secondary cities while significantly improving the quality of life for people who live there,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. “ADB’s project will apply innovative solutions and strengthen institutional capacity to help these cities build back better and faster.”
The project will support the development of green, community-centered infrastructure including a new public park with a multifunctional community center in Havast and a public greenway and two-story visitor center in Khiva featuring Uzbekistan’s first digital museum with a Silk Road theme. It will also support the development of water distribution networks with climate-smart water saving technologies in Djizzak and improved solid waste management in all four cities.
“All residents and visitors will benefit from the development of these cities, especially the poor and vulnerable, from improved access to reliable and inclusive urban services,” said ADB Portfolio Management Unit Head for Central and West Asia Ron Slangen. “And by providing tourism skills training and support for small and medium-sized enterprises, this project will also help boost livelihoods.”
ADB will also provide a capacity development program to improve sustainability, efficiency, and services delivery in the four cities. The bank will administer the $500,000 grant provided as co-financing by the High-Level Technology Fund for the digital museum.
Uzbekistan joined ADB in 1995. The bank has since committed loans, grants, and technical assistance of more than $10 billion to the country.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
OKX is publicly launching Block Trading, which allows institutional and high net worth investors to place significant trades with no price slippage and minimal market impact
VICTORIA, Seychelles, Oct. 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — OKX, the world’s second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has announced the public launch of its paradigm-shifting Block Trading product following extensive iteration and improvement since its soft launch in June.
A block trade is a privately negotiated purchase or sale of large blocks of assets settled over the counter. Block trades are useful for buying or selling vast numbers of shares, derivatives, bonds or cryptocurrencies without slippage affecting an asset’s market price. OKX Block Trading allows crypto traders to access a secondary liquidity pool away from the order book in order to trade with minimal market impact and no price slippage.
Lennix Lai, Director of Financial Markets, OKX, said, “OKX’s block trading product is restructuring the crypto market. While some liquidity networks provide similar offerings, their products don’t deliver the same level of customization or capital optimization across instruments. Following the recent liquidity crisis in which a lack of transparency and communication caused investor losses, we have worked with clients to create customized instruments and establish better risk management and capital efficiency than anyone else can offer.”
Already a leading trading platform for institutional investors due in part to its globally trusted OTC venue and competitive portfolio margin offer, OKX’s intimate knowledge of the needs of institutional investors has allowed it to produce a product that caters closely to the needs of this investor class. To further the refinement of the product, OKX soft launched Block Trading in June of 2022 and has been further developing it based on the needs of users ever since.
OKX Block Trading is different in the below ways:
Leverages OKX’s industry-leading tech stack
Utilizes a marketplace model for OTC liquidity with several market makers. This means the best price wins
Incorporates multi-leg strategies and RFQ automation for reduced execution risk and better prices
Allows traders to maximize their capital efficiency using lower margins
The entry point for Block Trading is now $100k instead of $200k
To celebrate the public launch of Block Trading, OKX is offering its VIP clients up to 50% off in taker fee rebates
For further information, please contact: Media@okx.com
About OKX
OKX is the second biggest global crypto exchange by trading volume and a leading web3 ecosystem. Trusted by more than 20 million global customers, OKX is known for being the fastest and most reliable crypto trading app for investors and professional traders everywhere.
As a top partner of English Premier League champions Manchester City F.C., McLaren Formula 1, golfer Ian Poulter, Olympian Scotty James, and F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, OKX aims to supercharge the fan experience with new financial and engagement opportunities. OKX is also the top partner of the Tribeca Festival as part of an initiative to bring more creators into web3.
Beyond OKX’s exchange, the OKX Wallet is the platform’s latest offering for people looking to explore the world of NFTs and the metaverse while trading GameFi and DeFi tokens.
To learn more about OKX, download our app or visit: okx.com
Global internet freedom declined again in 2022 for the 12th year in a row, with China remaining as the most restricted country for the 8th consecutive year, a new study has found.
In its latest study, ‘Freedom on the Net 2022’, U.S.-based advocacy organization Freedom House said Russia, Myanmar, Sudan and Libya received the largest downgrades in terms of internet freedom.
The invasion of Ukraine saw Russia’s rating drop seven points to an all-time low as “the Kremlin blocked websites as well as major social media platforms to eliminate other accounts of its ‘special military operation’,” the report said.
China remains “the worst environment for internet freedom.” Beijing continued to tighten its control over the country’s technology sector and set up new rules that require platforms to use their algorithmic systems to promote the Communist Party’s ideology.
In at least 53 countries, internet users “faced legal repercussions for expressing themselves online, often leading to draconian prison terms,” Freedom House said.
Yet in some 26 countries internet freedom improved, especially thanks to the efforts of civil societies.
‘Most repressive online environment’
‘Freedom on the Net’ is an annual study of internet freedom conducted by Freedom House. This year it covered 70 countries with 89 percent of the world’s internet users.
China stayed at the bottom of the list, with content related to the 2022 Beijing Olympics and the COVID-19 pandemic being heavily censored during the coverage period.
Censorship of content related to women’s rights against sexual assault and harassment was also tightened.
One of the examples was the case of Peng Shuai, the tennis star who accused former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual abuse on social media platform Weibo.
Not only did her posts about Zhang disappear from Weibo but also posts by other users which referred to Peng were removed.
“Journalists, human rights activists, members of religious and ethnic minority groups, and ordinary users were detained for sharing online content, with some facing harsh prison sentences,” the study said, naming China “the world’s most repressive online environment.”
Beijing created new policies and rules to strengthen the government’s control over Chinese tech firms. Companies that defy the government’s authority, such as by enabling internet users to bypass the state firewall, face heavy fines or even stronger penalties.
And it is not only in China that has a repressive internet, authorities in 47 countries, or two-thirds of the 70 countries surveyed in the report, “have used their legal and regulatory powers to limit access to foreign information sources, leaving residents in a domestic information space that is effectively shaped by the state.”
The result is an internet that “is more fragmented than ever, preventing billions of people from exercising their human rights online,” said the authors of the study.
A woman uses the internet at a cafe in Yangon, Myanmar, Feb. 5, 2016. CREDIT: Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun
Blocking internet access
One of the worst offenders when it comes to internet restriction is Myanmar where the ruling junta has created a domestic intranet to silence opposition and consolidate power following the Feb. 2021 coup.
The internet has often been shut down or restricted at the same time as military campaigns against pro-democracy groups and ethnic militias.
The study found that the Myanmar public can currently only access an estimated 1,200 websites and platforms through mobile connections. Popular platforms Facebook and Twitter remain inaccessible for most people.
One of the most economically developed countries in Southeast Asia, Singapore, has also experienced a decline in internet freedom, the study alleged.
“Laws passed in recent years, such as the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act, 2021 (FICA) and the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, 2019 (POFMA), empower authorities to restrict online activity with broad latitude,” the report said.
“The ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and the family of current prime minister Lee Hsien Loong has dominated Singapore’s parliamentary system since 1959,” it said, noting that the Singaporean legal framework “allows for some political pluralism but constrains the growth of credible opposition parties and limits freedoms of expression, assembly, and association.”
Singapore is rated as “partly free.”
Locals sit in a bus before departing for a polling station in Russia’s Rostov Region to vote in the Russian parliamentary election in the rebel-held city of Donetsk, Ukraine September 17, 2021. CREDIT: Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko
Internet freedom in Russia
A main section of the ‘Freedom on the Net’ study was dedicated to Russia where the largest national decline in freedom was reported.
Within weeks of the invasion of Ukraine, “the Kremlin blocked Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, depriving Russians of access to reliable information about the war and limiting their ability to connect with users in other countries,” the report said.
More than 5,000 websites were blocked and a law was introduced to prescribe up to 15 years in prison for those who spread “false information” about the Ukrainian war.
By the end of February 2022, the Russian government had blocked a number of news sites including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a sister broadcaster of RFA, the Voice of America (VOA) and the BBC.
Moscow also blocked civil society websites, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Authoritarian leaders have sought to contain online dissent by preventing residents from reaching information sources based in countries with a greater level of media freedom, the study said.
“Greater focus should be placed on developing political and societal resilience… Democratic leaders should recommit to preserving the benefits of a free and open internet,” it recommended.
“True resilience requires new regulations that enshrine protections for human rights in the digital age, stronger multilateral coordination on cybercrime and corporate accountability, and deeper investment in civil society,” Freedom House said.
Founded in 1941, Freedom House is a non-profit, non-partisan organization mostly funded by the U.S. government. It “works as an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world,” according to the Freedom House website.
This story has been updated to correct the final photo caption.
Recent expansion to 77,000 sq ft. makes Mosa Meat the largest cultivated meat campus in the world.
Maastricht, The Netherlands, Oct. 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mosa Meat, a leader in the cultivated meat space that grows beef directly from animal cells, and unveiled the first cultivated hamburger in 2013, has announced the next step in the scale up of the company’s cultivated beef production facilities.
A new industrial production development center is being developed close to Mosa Meat’s existing pilot facility in Maastricht. After demonstrating the beef cultivation process at pilot scale, Mosa Meat is now ready for the next phase of expansion, housing industrial-size production lines and enabling larger production quantities of beef.
“We’ve expanded our space by 30,000 square feet in our next phase, which brings Mosa Meat’s total footprint to over 77,000 square feet,” shared Maarten Bosch, Mosa Meat’s CEO. “This makes us the largest cultivated meat campus in the world, and provides a solid foundation for our European and global commercialisation plans.”
Global meat consumption is projected to grow more than 40% by 2030, and Mosa Meat is part of a growing global movement to transform the way meat is produced. Beef specifically, is the protein with the highest carbon footprint, which is why Mosa Meat has focused on it since the company was founded in 2016.
Mosa Meat has grown to over 160 employees, with over 80 scientists and the largest number of PhDs in the industry in just a few years’ time. The production team has grown five-fold in the last three months to 15 members. Simultaneously the company has also expanded its footprint at existing locations, including operations at Brightlands and the current pilot facility in Maastricht, where R&D capacity continues to grow. Together, this brings Mosa Meat one step closer towards commercialisation.
Mosa Meat plans to announce the launch of its industrial production development center in 2023.
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About Mosa Meat
Mosa Meat is a global food technology company pioneering a cleaner, kinder way of making real beef. Our founders introduced the world’s first cultivated beef hamburger in 2013, by growing it directly from cow cells. Founded in 2016, Mosa Meat is now scaling up production of the same beef that people love, but in a way that is better for people, animals, and the planet. A diverse and growing team of food-loving problem-solvers, we are united in our mission to fundamentally reshape the global food system. Headquartered in Maastricht, The Netherlands, Mosa Meat is a privately held company backed by Blue Horizon, M Ventures, Bell Food Group, Nutreco, Mitsubishi Corporation, Leonardo DiCaprio and other high-caliber investors.
The mother and brother of human rights activist and journalist Pham Doan Trang have been allowed to visit her for the first time since she was transferred to An Phuoc prison in the southern province of Binh Duong on Oct. 1.
The meeting comes nearly two months after the high court in Hanoi upheld her nine-year prison sentence for “conducting propaganda against the State.”
Trang was arrested in October 2020 but the charges were not made public for more than a year and her family was denied permission to visit her. They were also refused permission to attend her appeal hearing in August this year.
Pham Thi Lan was also allowed to visit An Phuoc prison on Oct.1. She is the wife of journalist Nguyen Tuong Thuy, Vice President of the Association of Independent Journalists of Vietnam. He is serving an 11-year prison sentence for the same “propaganda” charge as Trang.
RFA tried to contact Trang’s mother Bui Thien Can on Monday but was unable to reach her. However, a reporter was able to get comments about the visit from Pham Thi Lan.
“After the visit, I saw that Doan Trang’s family was also excited as they were allowed to bring a lot of items for her,” she said. “We also talked about Doan Trang. They said her health did not seem to be good. Her feet were swollen. The family bought slippers but she couldn’t walk. However, she was brought out by the guards to meet the family and then they took her back in.”
Trang has been suffering from a variety of health issues including sinusitis as a result of contracting COVID-19, a knee injury from when she was beaten by security forces during a 2015 protest, arthritis and gynecological problems.
Lan said Trang’s family was kept in the dark about her move to a prison in Bin Duong province.
“The family said that Doan Trang was moved to An Phuoc Prison camp from Oct. 1, 2022. Her family was not informed. Her relatives went to Hoa Lo detention center [in Hanoi] and they were told she had been transferred on that day.”
Lan also spoke about Nguyen Tuong Thuy, telling RFA she could see that her husband’s health had not improved.
“He said that his joint disease now hurts a lot, especially the left wrist because police officers pushed on his hands during his arrest in order to open his electronic devices with his fingerprint. He also has high blood pressure, which increases if he stops taking medicine regularly. But what I am most worried about is the stroke. Mr. Thuy had a stroke in 2015 but, now he is in prison, if he gets upset about a problem the strokes could come back.”
Lan also said although An Phuoc prison staff did not make it difficult for her family on each visit, most of the letters Thuy sent to her were confiscated by the prison
“My husband sent many letters to me but they didn’t give them to me. They said these letters can’t be delivered but I want to read them. I said ‘if you don’t give them to me, let me read the content, I won’t publicize it,’ but they wouldn’t even let me read them.”
Nguyen Tuong Thuy, 70, was a blogger for Radio Free Asia. He was arrested in mid-2020 along with the President of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam, Pham Chi Dung, and Vietnam Times website editor Le Huu Minh Tuan.
In early 2021, in a trial that lasted less than a day, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced Dung to 15 years in prison. Thuy and Tuan were both sentenced to 11 years. All three of them have to spend three years’ probation after serving their prison terms.
Pham Doan Trang, 40, used to work as a reporter for Vietnamese state newspapers. She is also the author of many books such as “Popular Politics,” “The Prison Visiting Manual,” “Nonviolent Resistance” and several bilingual reports.
Trang also founded two independent newspapers, Luat Khoa Magazine and The Vietnamese, an English-language human rights magazine.
Trang has been awarded many international awards for her human rights activities and writing, including the U.S. Department of State’s 2022 Woman of Courage Award, the British and Canadian governments’ Media Freedom Award 2022, the 2017 Homo Homini Prize from the Czech Republic’s People in Need NGO, the 2019 Press Freedom Prize from Reporters Without Borders, the Martin Ennals Award 2022, and the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Award 2022.
Many international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists and PEN America have called on Vietnam to release her immediately and unconditionally.
WONJU, South Korea, Oct. 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Fortinet, a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, will become the Official Cybersecurity Partner of the BMW Ladies Championship, taking place at the Oak Valley Country Club in the Republic of Korea. The partnership with the BMW Ladies Championship will represent Fortinet’s first sponsorship with the LPGA and in Asia.
The 2022 BMW Ladies Championship will take place at Oak Valley Country Club from October 20-23, where 78 players, including 68-top class LPGA Tour players will compete for a prize fund of $2,000,000. The Tournament began in 2016 as an LPGA of Korea Tour event and became a co-sanctioned LPGA event in 2019. It remains as the only LPGA event in Korea. World No.1 and Seoul native, Jin Young Ko will return to Oak Valley Country Club in October as defending champion after beating fellow Korean Heejeong Lim in a playoff last year to secure her third victory at this event.
Sangyun Han, Representative Director and CEO of BMW Korea commented, “I am thrilled to announce this partnership with Fortinet. We will promote tournaments and create events that will contribute to the development of the Korean golf and sports industry while expanding our partnership with a wide range of well-known corporate sponsors.”
John Maddison, EVP of products and CMO at Fortinet commented: “To help foster inclusion and diversity, Fortinet supports women’s career development through the Fortinet Training Advancement Agenda and Training Institute initiatives. As part of this work, Fortinet is excited to support LPGA tournaments and events for talented women.”
As part of the company’s dedication to the community, Fortinet has designated proceeds from the Fortinet Championship to benefit nonprofit organizations in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM); diversity and inclusion; and reskilling programs, including organizations like non-profit WINE WOMEN, focused on advancing women in their careers.
About the LPGA
The LPGA is the world’s leading professional golf organization for women. Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Daytona Beach, Fla., the association celebrates a diverse and storied membership with more than 2,300 members representing more than 30 countries. With a vision to inspire, empower, educate and entertain by showcasing the very best of women’s golf, LPGA Tour Professionals compete across the globe, while the Symetra Tour, the official qualifying tour of the LPGA, consistently produces a pipeline of talent ready for the world stage. Additionally, LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals directly impact the game through teaching, coaching and management.
The LPGA demonstrates its dedication to the development of the game through The LPGA Foundation. Since 1991, this charitable organization has been committed to empowering and supporting girls and women through developmental, humanitarian and golf community initiatives, including LPGA*USGA Girls Golf, the LPGA Women’s Network and the LPGA Amateur Golf Association.
About The BMW Group
With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. The BMW Group production network comprises over 30 production sites worldwide; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.
In 2021, the BMW Group sold over 2.5 million passenger vehicles and more than 194,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2021 was € 16.1 billion on revenues amounting to € 111.2 billion. As of 31 December 2021, the BMW Group had a workforce of 118,909 employees.
The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company set the course for the future at an early stage and consistently makes sustainability and efficient resource management central to its strategic direction, from the supply chain through production to the end of the use phase of all products.
About IMG
IMG is a global leader in sports, fashion, events and media. The company manages some of the world’s greatest athletes and fashion icons; owns and operates hundreds of live events annually; and is a leading independent producer and distributor of sports and entertainment media. IMG also specializes in licensing, sports training and league development. IMG is a subsidiary of Endeavor, a global sports and entertainment company.
About Fortinet
Fortinet makes possible a digital world that we can always trust through its mission to protect people, devices, and data everywhere. This is why the world’s largest enterprises, service providers, and government organizations choose Fortinet to securely accelerate their digital journey. The Fortinet Security Fabric platform delivers broad, integrated, and automated protections across the entire digital attack surface, securing critical devices, data, applications, and connections from the data center to the cloud to the home office. Ranking #1 in the most security appliances shipped worldwide, more than 595,000 customers trust Fortinet to protect their businesses. And the Fortinet NSE Training Institute, an initiative of Fortinet’s Training Advancement Agenda (TAA), provides one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry to make cyber training and new career opportunities available to everyone. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet Blog, or FortiGuard Labs.
