Category: What’s News Asia

• Effective October 1, 2026, Julian Neo succeeds Andy Chiang as Managing Director for DHL Express Hong Kong and Macau; Andy will retire from DHL Group on January 1, 2027
• Julian brings more than 25 years of experience across sales, commercial and general management roles at DHL Express in Asia Pacific

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 September 2026 – DHL Express, the world’s leading international express service provider, has appointed Julian Neo as Managing Director for DHL Express Hong Kong and Macau, effective October 1, 2026. He succeeds Andy Chiang, who will retire from DHL Group on January 1, 2027, following more than 34 years of service with the company.

Julian brings more than 25 years of experience with DHL Express across sales, commercial and management roles in Malaysia, Singapore and Asia Pacific. As Managing Director of DHL Express Malaysia and Brunei since 2019, he has achieved sustained revenue and EBIT growth, strengthened market leadership and delivered outstanding customer quality results. Under his leadership, the company has fostered a high-performance culture, earning Great Place to Work® certification for seven consecutive years and being recognised as the No. 3 Best Workplace™ in Malaysia in 2026. Prior to his leadership role in Malaysia, Julian served as Vice President for Global Multinational Customers for the Asia Pacific region, where he led strategic relationships with multinational customers, driving profitable growth and strengthening long-term customer partnerships in diverse markets.

Ken Lee, CEO for Asia Pacific, DHL Express, said, “Julian has demonstrated exceptional leadership throughout his career with DHL Express. His strong commercial acumen, customer-centric mindset and proven track record of developing high-performing teams have consistently delivered outstanding results across the region. Hong Kong’s position as a major international trade and logistics hub, particularly for growing intra-Asia trade, presents significant opportunities for businesses across the region. I am confident Julian’s extensive experience across Asia Pacific will enable him to build on our strong foundation and further strengthen our market leadership, customer partnerships and growth in Hong Kong and Macau.”

Julian Neo, incoming Managing Director for Hong Kong and Macau, DHL Express, said, “I am honored to take on this role and lead our talented team in Hong Kong and Macau. As one of the world’s most connected economies and a critical gateway for international trade, Hong Kong is uniquely positioned to capture emerging opportunities in the region. Supported by our world-class international network, we are well placed to help customers navigate evolving supply chains and expand across borders. I look forward to working closely with our employees, customers and partners to deliver exceptional service, support business growth and animate our purpose of ‘Connecting People, Improving Lives’.”

Reinforcing Hong Kong’s role as a gateway to global trade
In his new role, Julian will be based in Hong Kong to focus on strengthening DHL Express’s position as the partner of choice for businesses pursuing international growth. Hong Kong is one of the world’s most connected economies, ranking sixth¹ globally for international connectedness, and is a leading international logistics and aviation hub. Leveraging these strengths, Julian will support customers, particularly SMEs, in accessing global opportunities and expanding into new markets.

Building on his extensive commercial and leadership experience, Julian will also drive closer collaboration across DHL’s business units to deliver integrated logistics solutions and support customers’ evolving supply chain needs, including newly introduced offerings such as Heavyweight Express services. These efforts will help customers unlock new growth opportunities while further strengthening Hong Kong’s competitiveness as a global logistics hub.

DHL Express was established in Hong Kong in 1972 and boasts a robust network, including the Central Asia Hub, one of DHL’s three global hubs, three service centers, approximately 750 retail outlets and service points and a committed team of more than 1,700 employees.

Hashtag: #DHL

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DHL – The logistics company for the world

DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With approximately 389,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global sustainable trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare, engineering, manufacturing & energy, auto-mobility and retail, DHL is decisively positioned as “The logistics company for the world”.

DHL is part of DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of approximately 82.9 billion euros in 2025. With sustainable business practices and a commitment to society and the environment, the Group makes a positive contribution to the world. DHL Group aims to achieve net-zero emissions logistics by 2050.

Security teams can now investigate AI agent activity, including prompts, responses and tool calls, alongside the rest of their security telemetry

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 September 2026 – TrendAI™, the global AI security leader and enterprise business unit of Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), today expanded support for Claude’s Compliance API in TrendAI Vision One™. The integration now covers Claude Code and Cowork session transcripts from Claude Enterprise. It builds on the integration TrendAI™ announced with Anthropic in June 2026, adding visibility into how engineering and knowledge-work teams use AI agents day to day.

AI agents now write code, call tools and reach into business systems on behalf of employees. Security teams usually know these agents are running, but not what they were asked to do, what they did or whether it followed policy.

Claude’s Compliance API returns session records for Claude Code and Cowork, including prompts, responses and tool calls, each tied to a verified user. With today’s expanded integration, TrendAI brings these records into TrendAI Vision One™, where security teams can investigate AI activity in context, correlate it with endpoint, identity, cloud and network signals, and build custom detections for the agent behavior that matters to them.

“We understand security teams need transparency to validate AI agent activity against company policy and integrate that intelligence with their existing endpoint, identity, network and cloud signals,” said Rachel Jin, Chief Platform and Business Officer, Head of TrendAI™. “Coding and knowledge-work agents are now doing real work inside the business, and security teams should be able to see and investigate that work the same way they do everything else. This is about making informed decisions and maintaining control as these tools scale. Organizations can now move faster with AI while keeping proper oversight in place.

What security teams can do:

• Flag agent tool calls outside expected boundaries
• Tie AI session activity to specific users during investigations
• Check whether agent workflows follow required processes
• Correlate AI activity with other security events instead of treating it as a separate silo
• Keep an auditable record of AI session activity for compliance review

TrendAI Vision One™ also continues to ingest activity logs from Claude Enterprise, covering user logins, admin actions and configuration changes, and from Claude Platform, covering admin, system and resource events. Claude’s Compliance API integration in TrendAI Vision One™ is available now for TrendAI Vision One™ customers using Claude Enterprise.

Hashtag: #trendai #trendaivisionone #visionone #trendmicro #claude #claudecode #aisecurity

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About TrendAI™

TrendAI™, the global AI security leader and enterprise business unit of Trend Micro, empowers organizations with full AI visibility, governance, and consolidated security that inspires confidence, drives innovation, and eliminates risk. Trusted by the largest enterprises and governments across 185 countries, TrendAI™ secures the entire organization, from identities, to infrastructure, to data. Global Fortune 500 companies rely on TrendAI™ to stop threats up to 115 days earlier, powered by world-leading threat and attack intelligence. Through deep ecosystem partnerships with market leaders like NVIDIA, Anthropic, AWS, Google, and Microsoft, TrendAI™ enables teams to securely move at the speed of AI. These alliances deliver results, as TrendAI™ became the first APJ-based AI security partner to surpass US $1 billion in AWS Marketplace sales.

With TrendAI™, organizations can clearly see how AI is used across environments, identify emerging risks, and take action faster. CISOs can simplify their security stack while giving business leaders the confidence to innovate, securely. AI Fearlessly. trendaisecurity.com

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 September 2026 – The 17th FutureChina Global Forum recently convened in Singapore. As the annual flagship event of Business China, the forum brought together business and political leaders from China and Southeast Asia for dialogue on shifting consumption structures, China’s manufacturing capabilities, and the evolving regional competitive landscape. Ms. Clara Chang, President of Hisense ASEAN, was invited to attend and, drawing on Hisense’s 57-year history and three decades of overseas expansion, shared her observations on China’s changing consumer landscape, manufacturing upgrades, and paths to globalization for Chinese enterprises.

From “Buying Products” to “Buying Lifestyles”: The Logic of Consumption Is Being Rewritten

Ms. Chang noted that the underlying logic of home appliance consumption is shifting from “purchasing home appliance bundles and choosing features based on price” to “making targeted upgrades, addressing specific pain points, and paying for genuine experiences.” What has changed is not what consumers buy but why they buy—and what value they expect appliances to create. This shift is pushing competition beyond end-product manufacturing toward long-term competition in core technologies and cross-scenario system solutions. Hisense believes that the home, automotive, energy, health, and office sectors together form a single integrated living system—and that corporate boundaries will inevitably expand from “product boundaries” to “consumer lifestyle boundaries.” This is the underlying logic behind Hisense’s expansion from traditional home appliances into semiconductors and automotive electronics.

Service as Growth: Products Are No Longer the Endpoint but the Entry Point

Addressing the idea of “making service itself a growth engine,” she explained that this means redefining products not as “one-time hardware deliveries” but as entry points into “long-term user relationships that can be continually nurtured and sustained.” Products are no longer the endpoint of a transaction—they are the entry point for service. In the past, products were defined by the question, “What technology do we have?” In the future, they must be defined by the question, “What problems and needs do consumers have?” Once a user purchases a Hisense product, that product becomes an ongoing point of connection: software upgrades, maintenance, and trade-in services are all available through Hisense. In ASEAN, Hisense has built its brand around three core lifestyle scenarios: Technology, Health, and Art. Technology enhances efficiency; Health improves quality of life; and Art meets aesthetic needs. Together, they correspond to consumers’ progression from “getting by” to “living well” to “living life on their own terms.”

Technology Benefits People; Industry Benefits People: The “Two-Way Journey” of Manufacturing and Consumption Upgrading

The story of Hisense Laser TV exemplifies the value of long-term technological investment. Hisense began investing in laser display technology in 2007 and became a global leader in the field over the next 17 years. By 2024, Hisense Laser TV accounted for 65.8% of global shipments, ranking No. 1 worldwide for six consecutive years. At CES 2025, Hisense unveiled RGB-Mini LED technology, advancing RGB technology toward industrialization and mass production. Hisense believes that Chinese manufacturing and Chinese consumption are forming a new symbiotic relationship—a “two-way journey”: consumption determines why we innovate; manufacturing determines how far we can innovate; and true innovation, in turn, creates new forms of consumption. The two reinforce each other in a spiraling process.

30 Years of Going Global: True Globalization Must Be Localized

At the forum, Ms. Chang shared three layers of experience from Hisense’s 30-year overseas journey. The first layer is “Take root first, then bloom.” Hisense entered the South African market in 1996—30 years ago. Today, Hisense operates 32 R&D centers, 41 industrial parks and manufacturing bases, and 65 overseas companies and offices, forming a “7+1” regional network with integrated R&D, manufacturing, and sales. Since 2018, Hisense has helped more than 40 supply chain partners expand overseas. The second layer encompasses 20 years of building its own brand. Hisense adheres to “Local for Local,” establishing regional headquarters, factories, and local teams in ASEAN. Hisense broke ground on the Thailand HHA Smart Manufacturing Industrial Park—its largest overseas industrial park—in September 2025. The third layer concerns the present and the future: ASEAN serves as a testing ground for brand globalization. Major projects involving commercial displays for the Indonesian government and Kelin Electric have been successfully implemented in ASEAN, marking B2B as Hisense’s second growth curve and driving its evolution from a home appliance brand to a technology group.

Globalization Upgraded: From “Made in China” to “Created for the World”

She noted that the underlying logic has shifted from exporting products and capacity to exporting technological value and localized scenario solutions. The narrative has evolved from “affordable Chinese manufacturing” to “a global brand that takes root locally and solves local users’ problems.” Today’s globalization harnesses global resources, innovation, and manufacturing to serve consumers worldwide. Hisense’s experience in ASEAN reinforces one conviction: the best approach to globalization is not to replicate the Chinese model but to use China’s technology, manufacturing, and brand capabilities to respond to the real needs of each local market and grow alongside local partners. As Ms. Chang concluded: “Quality is character; quality is morality; quality is values. Enterprises that hold fast to conscience amid the noise are the foundation and future of China’s high-quality development.” Looking ahead, guided by confidence, determination, a commitment to its original aspirations, and craftsmanship, Hisense will continue to uphold its “user-centric” philosophy as it deepens its roots in ASEAN, expands its global reach, and shares its experience, channels, and localization resources with more Chinese brands. Together, they will help Chinese brands move from “going global” to “becoming truly global.”Hashtag: #hisense

https://hisense.sg/

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About Hisense

Founded in 1969, Hisense is a global technology group operating in 160+ countries, with a strong portfolio across TVs, home appliances, air-conditioning and commercial solutions. Recognised as one of the Top 2 TV brands worldwide, Hisense continues to strengthen its global presence through innovation, quality manufacturing and major international partnerships, including its role as an Official Sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026™

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 September 2026 – Cashku, the AI-native digital wealth platform operated by Advisonomics Sdn Bhd and licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia (“SC“), today announced a distribution partnership with Kenanga Investors Berhad (“Kenanga Investors“), the asset and wealth management arm of Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad and one of Malaysia’s largest investment management firms.

Under the partnership, a selected range of funds offered by Kenanga Investors and its Institutional Unit Trust Adviser partners will be available to Cashku users with no sales charge and from a minimum investment starting from RM10.

For investors, the effect is practical: investors can review fund information, open an account, set their investing goals, invest and make additional investments within a single application, with suitability assessed at the point of investment and monitored continuously thereafter.

Cashku has rebuilt the advice layer of wealth management around agentic AI; software that does not simply answer questions, but carries out risk profiling, goal-based portfolio construction, suitability assessment and ongoing portfolio monitoring, under the oversight of licensed human advisers and within the SC’s regulatory framework. That architecture, for which Cashku received a DIGID award for data-driven advisory under the SC’s Digital Innovation Fund in 2024, is what allows the platform to reach investors at a materially lower cost to serve.

The partnership arrives as Malaysia’s fund management industry reaches record scale. Assets under management rose 6.9% to a record RM1.14 trillion in 2025, with unit trust funds forming the largest single category at roughly half of that total. The SC’s Capital Market Masterplan 2026–2030 targets a capital market of over RM6 trillion by 2030 and names an inclusive capital market for all Malaysians as one of its four strategic themes — an agenda that depends on reaching the Malaysians who are not investing today. Individual participation in the capital market currently stands at 25%, and the Masterplan finds that around 60% of non-investors are under the age of 40.

“Malaysia’s problem has never been the quality of its funds — it has been access to the advice that helps people use them well. Financial planning has traditionally been reserved for those wealthy enough to pay for it, which is why most households have never had a plan at all. Cashku exists to change that: to give every Malaysian a plan built around their own goals. Partnering with managers like Kenanga Investors is how that gap closes.”

— Raevendren Ramachandran, Chief Executive Officer, Cashku

“Digital distribution is a natural extension of the Group’s own digitalisation agenda. Working with a licensed platform such as Cashku allows us to reach investors who are starting earlier and investing in smaller amounts than traditional channels are built to serve, without compromising the standards of suitability, transparency and governance our clients expect.”

— Datuk Wira Ismitz Matthew De Alwis, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Kenanga Investors.

Hashtag: #Kenanga

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About Kenanga Investors Berhad 199501024358 (353563-P)

Kenanga Investors Berhad is a licensed fund management company regulated by the Securities Commission Malaysia and a wholly owned subsidiary of Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad. It provides investment solutions spanning collective investment schemes, portfolio management services, alternative investments, and wills and trusts for retail, corporate, institutional and high net worth clients through a multi-distribution network.

The LSEG Lipper Fund Awards 2026 recognised four funds under the Malaysia Provident Funds category; Kenanga Growth Fund was named Equity Malaysia (5 Years), Kenanga Growth Fund Series 2 was awarded Equity Malaysia Diversified (3 Years), Kenanga Malaysian Inc Fund was awarded Equity Malaysia Diversified (10 Years) while Kenanga Managed Growth Fund was recognised with the title Mixed Asset MYR Balanced – Malaysia (10 Years).

The Hong Kong-based Asia Asset Management’s (“AAM”) 2026 Best of the Best Awards awarded Kenanga Investors under the following categories, Malaysia Best Impact Investing Manager, Best Impact Investing Manager in ASEAN, Malaysia Best Equity Manager, Malaysia CEO of the Year (Co-Winner), Malaysia CIO of the Year, Malaysia Best House for Alternatives and Malaysia Best ESG Engagement Initiative.

At the AAM ETF Awards 2026, Kenanga Investors received an accolade under the category Malaysia Leverage and Inverse ETF of the Year for the Kenanga KLCI Daily (-1x) Inverse ETF. The IFN Investor Awards 2025 awarded the Kenanga Islamic Balanced Fund under the categories of “IFN Investor Best Balanced Mixed Assets Fund in Malaysia — MYR 2025”, “IFN Investor Best Balanced Mixed Assets Fund in Asia Pacific 2025”, and “IFN Investor Best Global Balanced Mixed Assets Fund 2025”.

For the ninth consecutive year, we were affirmed an investment manager rating of IMR-2 by Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad, since first rated in 2017. The IMR rating on reflects the fund management company’s well-established investment processes and sound risk management practices.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 September 2026 – Se7en Friday Pte Ltd, an event management company in Singapore, provided show-calling services for the National Day Parade 2026 (NDP 2026) at the National Stadium on 9 August. The company fielded four experienced show-callers across three months of planning and rehearsals leading up to show day. It also planned and ran the appreciation event held after the parade for the participants, volunteers, and crew behind the production.

NDP 2026 returned to the National Stadium for the first time since 2016 and played to a capacity crowd of about 42,000, the largest National Day Parade audience in a decade. Staged under the theme “Majulah Singapura, Go Beyond!”, the show ran across six chapters on an arrow-shaped stage measuring 162 metres long and 74 metres at its widest, served by six stage lifts and eight tunnel entrances and exits. More than 2,600 performers and 36 artistes took part alongside 32 marching contingents and 1,271 civilian participants, according to the NDP 2026 organising committee. The production carried 1,654 entertainment lighting fixtures and over 170 special effects machines, and featured NDP’s first indoor drone display, in which 300 drones flew 30 metres above a stadium floor occupied by performers.

Show-calling is the discipline that commits all of that to a single running order. Working from a cue script, the show-caller calls each segment change, performer entry, lighting state, audio cue, video roll and effect in sequence over headset to the crews and stage managers executing them. What separates a parade from a corporate show is that there is no reset. The running order cannot be paused or restarted, so a late cue does not delay the show. It puts the performers, the drones, the lighting, and the broadcast feed out of alignment with one another for as long as it takes to recover. Se7en Friday’s show-callers worked through the full rehearsal ladder, including the combined rehearsals, the two National Education shows, and the previews on 25 July and 1 August, building and testing the cue stack and the contingency calls for weather, timing overruns, and equipment faults. This same level of show control and precision underpins Se7en Friday’s work in dinner and dance event management and large-scale corporate productions.

The appreciation event that followed the parade was planned and run by the same team, covering catering, event decoration, master of ceremonies services, and the games and segments that made up the programme. Because the team producing it had worked the production from planning through to show day, the event was built by people who knew the schedule the participants had been keeping. For the organisers, it also placed a single supplier in charge of both the show-calling and the appreciation event, rather than a second vendor briefed from scratch once the parade was over.

Henry Tan, Events and Managing Director at Se7en Friday, said the engagement was decided in rehearsal.

“A show this size is not difficult because it is big, it is difficult because nothing waits. If a cue lands a second late, the performers, the drones, and every light in the building are a second out of alignment, and there is no way to take it back. So most of the work happened in the stadium in the weeks before, building the cue stack and deciding in advance what we would do if something went wrong, which meant that on the night there was nothing left to decide. The appreciation event was the other half of it. For months everybody on this project had been working to somebody else’s cue, and that was the one evening the people who built the show got to sit down and be looked after.”

The same cue scripting, stage management, and rehearsal practice apply to the company’s commercial work at a smaller scale. Se7en Friday runs conference and seminar event management, dinner and dance events, product launches and openings, family days and retreats, and livestreamed and hybrid events, using an in-house production team with its own warehousing and logistics fleet and full-time crew.

The NDP engagement is the largest application to date of the production discipline Se7en Friday applies to its corporate work. The company continues to operate from Singapore, serving government ministries, statutory boards, and corporate accounts. The direction Tan has set out is for the company to continue operating as a single production partner across the full run of an event, from cue scripting and technical delivery through to the events that follow it, rather than as a supplier engaged for one component of a programme.
Hashtag: #Se7enFriday

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About Se7en Friday

Founded in 2015, Se7en Friday Pte Ltd is a Singapore-based corporate event management company with more than 10 years of industry experience. The company has delivered over 5,200 events across more than 20 industries for clients including the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, alongside statutory boards and Fortune 500 corporations. Its services span conferences and seminars, product launches and openings, dinner and dances, family days and retreats, and livestreamed, virtual and hybrid events, supported by an in-house production team, company-owned warehousing and a logistics fleet. Se7en Friday is bizSafe Level 3 certified, a certified Safe Event SG organiser, and the exclusive carrier of L-Acoustics professional audio systems in Singapore.

Unlock US$232,420+ PhD scholarship packages—apply by 1 Dec 2026

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 September 2026 – For prospective doctoral and research postgraduate students seeking to elevate their research on a global stage, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has opened applications for the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS), offering fully funded PhD opportunities for the 2027–28 academic year. Supported by competitive scholarship packages, distinguished faculty mentorship, and cutting-edge facilities, CUHK provides an ideal launchpad for high-achieving international scholars to drive global impact.

Dedicated Doctoral & Postgraduate Scholarships
Through CUHK’s enhanced HKPFS Package, successful PhD candidates receive a scholarship package valued at over US$232,420+, covering annual stipends, full tuition fee waivers, lodging awards, and conference travel allowances across their normative study period. Additionally, competitive international awards, including the Belt & Road Scholarship, are available to cover full tuition fees for eligible research postgraduate students.

World-Class Academic & Research Ecosystem
Ranked 18th globally by QS World University Rankings 2027 and 10th in Asia by Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2026, CUHK provides a top-tier environment for master’s and doctoral candidates alike. Situated on Hong Kong’s largest university campus, CUHK offers 240+ English-taught postgraduate programmes across eight faculties, featuring 20 subjects in the global top 30 and six in the top 10—including Education (#1), Gastroenterology and Hepatology (#2), Nursing (#6), Computer Science (#7), and Arts and Humanities and Artificial Intelligence (both ranked #9).

Research postgraduates at CUHK create real-world impact alongside 430+ top 2% global scientists while accessing 250+ interdisciplinary research institutes, four State Key Laboratories, and pioneering InnoHK centres. Through collaborations with leading universities worldwide, they contribute to innovations that generate tangible impact locally, nationally, and globally. Driven by this dynamic research environment, CUHK unlocked over US$324 million in annual research funding in 2024–25 alone.

Voices of International Students
The transformative impact of CUHK’s academic environment is echoed by its international doctoral students:

“The HKPFS has enabled me to advance interdisciplinary research in Blue Humanities and Pacific environmental literature,” said Ananya Roy, an HKPFS awardee pursuing a PhD in English Literary Studies from India. “Through international conference presentations and forthcoming publications, I am developing a globally engaged research agenda that bridges literary studies and environmental thought.”

Alexandra Rose McCombie, a PhD candidate in Biology from Scotland, added: “The opportunity to study science at CUHK has allowed me to pursue my passion through an intellectually challenging and thoroughly enjoyable programme in one of the world’s most vibrant cities. Researching alongside world-class academics and talented peers has been incredibly motivational and inspiring for my future career.”

Take Your Next Step Global
Applications for the 2027–28 HKPFS intake close on 1 December 2026 (11:59PM HKT).

To help prospective international applicants navigate admission requirements and scholarship applications, CUHK will host a Virtual Info Session on 15 October 2026. Attendees will connect live with professors and current students to gain key tips on admission and scholarship opportunities.

For event registration and application details, visit https://www.gs.cuhk.edu.hk/hkpfs.

Hashtag: #CUHK #HKPFS #PhD

https://www.gs.cuhk.edu.hk/hkpfs

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About CUHK

Founded in 1963, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a leading comprehensive research university with a global reputation and world-leading rankings. Located in the heart of Asia, CUHK has a vision and a mission to combine tradition with modernity, and to bring together China and the West. The University has eight faculties: Arts, Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Science, and Social Science. Together with the Graduate School, the University offers over 300 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. All faculties are actively engaged in research in a wide range of disciplines, with an array of research institutes and research centres specialising in interdisciplinary research of the highest quality.

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 September 2026 – The Datawords Group announces its name change and becomes 87seconds. For 27 years, the group has supported the world’s leading brands in creating, deploying, and managing their content on an international scale, combining human expertise, proprietary technology, and artificial intelligence. Today, it adopts a name equal to that ambition.

87. AND EVERYTHING THOSE TWO DIGITS SAY ABOUT THE WORLD.

87seconds is not a name chosen at random. It carries both a cultural conviction and a strong business ambition.

In many Asian cultures, the number 8 symbolizes prosperity, success, and forward momentum. In the West, the number 7 is associated with luck, achievement, and success. Together, 8 and 7 bring two continents and two worldviews together around a single ambition: helping brands succeed everywhere, while respecting every culture. They reflect what the group has always been: a bridge between East and West, between markets, cultures, and audiences.

87seconds is also a unit of time that says everything there is to know about the attention challenge brands face today.

Choosing this name expresses the ambition to go beyond those few seconds, to create content and experiences that make people want to stop, discover, watch, engage, and remember.
It is no longer enough to be seen. Brands must earn more time and more attention: turning a fleeting exposure into emotion, and an interaction into a lasting connection.

This name carries forward the group’s founding conviction: Everyone Matters. Every culture, every market, every audience, every platform matters. And so does every second it takes to reach them.

CREATE, DEPLOY, MANAGE: A THREE-PILLAR ORGANIZATION

With this name change, 87seconds is clarifying its organization around three major, complementary areas of expertise, making its offering easier to understand without affecting the identity or independence of its agencies:

• CREATE, which brings together the expertise of 87seconds Creative and Switching-Time in content creation, production, and amplification;
• DEPLOY, which unites Datawords and Wezen around the orchestration, management, and governance of content on an international scale;
• MANAGE, which brings together Vanksen and Whatsquare around visibility, monitoring, digital performance, and conversational experiences.

The brands 87seconds Creative, Switching-Time, Datawords, Wezen, Vanksen, and Whatsquare continue to exist under their respective identities, with their expertise, teams, and organization intact.

“We didn’t change our name to change our image. We changed our name because we have changed. The group 87seconds represents 27 years of work, culture, and conviction, finally with a name capable of carrying it all.” Alexandre Crazover, CEO and Co-Founder of the Group.
Hashtag: #87seconds #Datawords

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WHO IS 87S ?

87seconds connects brands to the world.

Driven by the conviction that every individual deserves unique attention, 87seconds puts respect for local nuances across the globe at the core of its commitment and expertise. By combining artificial and emotional intelligence, the Group creates, deploys, and manages visual, audio, and written content—faster, smarter, and at scale. This guarantees that brand messages resonate across every touchpoint (websites, e-commerce, e-retail, social media, OOH, TV, and physical stores) across 160 cultures.

Powered by an international network of over 1,000 in-house experts operating 24/7, 87seconds has earned the trust of major global groups (Coty, L’Oréal, LVMH, Michelin) for 27 years to accelerate their international growth.

WHO IS 87S CREATIVE ?

We make every second count.

87seconds is now 87seconds Creative, the creative agency of the 87seconds group (formerly Datawords). Founded in 2010, the agency brings together +100 creative minds to design and produce campaign content across all touchpoints: TV, print, digital, social media, influencer marketing, brand content, activations, and events. Fully integrated, from strategy and creation to production and post-production, the agency turns trends and culture into ideas that capture attention and drive impact from the very first seconds.

Key clients: Henkel, L’Oréal, Darty, Pierre Fabre, Sanofi, Carrefour, Lacoste, Metagenics, Candia Baby, TotalEnergies, Nestlé, Thales, Cavaillès, and Candy’Up.

Unlock US$232,420+ PhD scholarship packages—apply by 1 Dec 2026

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 September 2026 – For prospective doctoral and research postgraduate students seeking to elevate their research on a global stage, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has opened applications for the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS), offering fully funded PhD opportunities for the 2027–28 academic year. Supported by competitive scholarship packages, distinguished faculty mentorship, and cutting-edge facilities, CUHK provides an ideal launchpad for high-achieving international scholars to drive global impact.

Dedicated Doctoral & Postgraduate Scholarships
Through CUHK’s enhanced HKPFS Package, successful PhD candidates receive a scholarship package valued at over US$232,420+, covering annual stipends, full tuition fee waivers, lodging awards, and conference travel allowances across their normative study period. Additionally, competitive international awards, including the Belt & Road Scholarship, are available to cover full tuition fees for eligible research postgraduate students.

World-Class Academic & Research Ecosystem
Ranked 18th globally by QS World University Rankings 2027 and 10th in Asia by Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2026, CUHK provides a top-tier environment for master’s and doctoral candidates alike. Situated on Hong Kong’s largest university campus, CUHK offers 240+ English-taught postgraduate programmes across eight faculties, featuring 20 subjects in the global top 30 and six in the top 10—including Education (#1), Gastroenterology and Hepatology (#2), Nursing (#6), Computer Science (#7), and Arts and Humanities and Artificial Intelligence (both ranked #9).

Research postgraduates at CUHK create real-world impact alongside 430+ top 2% global scientists while accessing 250+ interdisciplinary research institutes, four State Key Laboratories, and pioneering InnoHK centres. Through collaborations with leading universities worldwide, they contribute to innovations that generate tangible impact locally, nationally, and globally. Driven by this dynamic research environment, CUHK unlocked over US$324 million in annual research funding in 2024–25 alone.

Voices of International Students
The transformative impact of CUHK’s academic environment is echoed by its international doctoral students:

“The HKPFS has enabled me to advance interdisciplinary research in Blue Humanities and Pacific environmental literature,” said Ananya Roy, an HKPFS awardee pursuing a PhD in English Literary Studies from India. “Through international conference presentations and forthcoming publications, I am developing a globally engaged research agenda that bridges literary studies and environmental thought.”

Alexandra Rose McCombie, a PhD candidate in Biology from Scotland, added: “The opportunity to study science at CUHK has allowed me to pursue my passion through an intellectually challenging and thoroughly enjoyable programme in one of the world’s most vibrant cities. Researching alongside world-class academics and talented peers has been incredibly motivational and inspiring for my future career.”

Take Your Next Step Global
Applications for the 2027–28 HKPFS intake close on 1 December 2026 (11:59PM HKT).

To help prospective international applicants navigate admission requirements and scholarship applications, CUHK will host a Virtual Info Session on 15 October 2026. Attendees will connect live with professors and current students to gain key tips on admission and scholarship opportunities.

For event registration and application details, visit https://www.gs.cuhk.edu.hk/hkpfs.

Hashtag: #CUHK #HKPFS #PhD

https://www.gs.cuhk.edu.hk/hkpfs

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

· World’s first and only commercially available cochlear implant with all components implanted beneath the skin
· Continuous hearing day and night
· Hearing performance designed to be the same as established cochlear implant solutions

INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA – Newsaktuell – 29 September 2026 – MED-EL, a global leader in hearing implant technology, today announced the launch of TICI UNICO, the world’s first and only commercially available totally invisible cochlear implant. Designed for people with severe-to-profound hearing loss, TICI UNICO enables continuous hearing 24 hours a day while remaining completely beneath the skin. It has received CE Mark approval and is being introduced in European markets.

Cochlear implants have helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide to hear. TICI UNICO expands hearing implant options by combining continuous hearing with complete invisibility and freedom from external audio processors. Users can hear while sleeping, exercising, showering, swimming and charging the device.

“TICI UNICO is a new chapter in the history of hearing,” says Dr. Ingeborg Hochmair, co-founder and CEO of MED-EL. “For the first time, invisible hearing with a cochlear implant is possible. This is a milestone for people with hearing loss and the result of decades of research and innovation at MED-EL.”

Key benefits of TICI UNICO:
· Completely invisible
· 24/7 access to sound
· No external equipment to wear, remove, or maintain
· No concerns about losing or damaging external devices
· Hearing performance comparable to established cochlear implant solutions

Long-Held Vision becomes Reality

Capturing sound through the skin has long been one of the greatest challenges in developing a totally invisible cochlear implant. MED-EL successfully developed an innovative microphone technology designed to deliver high-quality sound while remaining completely beneath the skin.

Prof. Philippe Lefèbvre, Head of the ENT Department at CHU Liège, and Prof. Joachim Müller, Associate Professor for Otology and Cochlear Implants at LMU University Hospital Munich, highlight the significance of TICI UNICO: “Twenty-four-hour, invisible hearing opens the door to a completely new generation of hearing implants.”

For recipients, the impact extends to the freedom of hearing. Thomas, one of the first TICI UNICO recipients, says: “I wake up hearing, fall asleep hearing, and can enjoy everyday moments without having to think about my hearing device.”

TICI UNICO is intended for people with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss who may benefit from a cochlear implant. More information: http://go.medel.com/tici.

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

About MED-EL

Users in 142 countries hear with a MED-EL device. www.medel.com

BEIJING, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 September 2026 – On September 28, the 2026 Bank of China Beijing Marathon & National Marathon Championships held a press conference in Beijing, officially disclosing the event’s preparation details and competition arrangements. The race is scheduled to start on October 18, 2026, with a total field of 32,000 runners.

Founded in 1981, the Beijing Marathon is the oldest city marathon in China and a World Athletics Gold Label road race. Over more than four decades, it has evolved from a simple marathon event into a unique urban experience that traverses Beijing.

The Beijing Marathon boasts a highly distinctive course. The start line is set at Tiananmen Square. After setting off, runners follow Chang’an Avenue, passing through Fuxingmen and Fuxing Road, before heading north into the Xueyuan Road area in Haidian District, and finally arriving at the Olympic Park, where they sprint to the finish along the landscaped avenue between the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube.

One of the most notable features of this year’s Beijing Marathon is the integration of the race with the National Marathon Championships. China’s top professional athletes will compete for championship placings on the same course, while mass runners set off alongside them, bringing professional competition and national fitness together on a single course. The event not only provides a high-level competitive platform for professional runners but also preserves broad participation channels for everyday runners, striving to strike a balance between competitive leadership, public participation, and organisational effectiveness.

In terms of event support and civilised race organisation, the organising committee has simultaneously released a number of upgraded measures to comprehensively optimise the participant experience and safeguard race order, building a refined system of medical support, course supplies, and smart guidance, while continuing mature international event service standards. The event also emphasises green organisation, introducing reusable eco-friendly cups, multi-tap self-service water stations, backpack-style water supply equipment, and recyclable waste collection pools, among other environmental measures.

In golden autumn October, Beijing’s mild temperatures make it the perfect season for running. This year’s Beijing Marathon continues to be rooted in Beijing, the “Dual Olympic City,” showcasing the vitality of China’s road running and the urban charm of Beijing to runners and audiences around the world through professional race standards, international event-organising concepts, and profound urban heritage.

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