Latest News.. The Meaning of Life
SINGAPORE– Singapore reported 2,088 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total tally to 2,148,794.
A total of 200 cases are currently warded in hospitals, with 11 of them in intensive care units, according to statistics released by the country’s Ministry of Health.
One new death from COVID-19 was reported yesterday, bringing the total death toll to 1,699.
Source: Nam News Network
BANGKOK– Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies, met here today, to discuss ways to promote sustainable development and facilitate trade and investment.
Addressing the 29th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, Thai Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, said that, the leaders would exchange views on supporting economic growth and sustainable development, leading the region towards a better future.
Making its Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) economy model, high on the agenda, Thailand hopes the BCG economy model would further promote sustainable development and environmental protection goals, said Prayut, chairman of the meeting.
It is the first in-person meeting of the APEC economic leaders since 2018, which was held under the theme of “Open, Connect, Balance” – to open to all opportunities, to connect in all dimensions and to balance in all aspects.
APEC, established in 1989, is a premier regional economic forum, with an aim to support sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
The leaders met as the global economic recovery is facing multiple challenges of rising inflation, heightened geopolitical tensions, climate change and prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
With nearly 40 percent of the world population, the 21 APEC member economies account for about half of global trade and over 60 percent of the world’s total gross domestic product.
Source: Nam News Network
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris convened an emergency meeting of key regional powers Friday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok to discuss North Korea’s latest missile launch, that fell 200 kilometers off Japan’s coast.
“This conduct by North Korea most recently is a brazen violation of multiple U.N. Security resolutions. It destabilizes the security in the region, and unnecessarily raises tensions,” Harris said in brief remarks to press prior to meeting with leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
The launch is the latest of the barrage of missiles that North Korea has test-fired in recent weeks. Pyongyang said they were a “corresponding military operation” aimed at conducting simulated strikes on South Korea and the United States in response to large-scale allied air drills.
North Korea’s provocation occurs amid already heightened geopolitical tensions over the war in Ukraine that has exacerbated supply chain issues and inflationary pressures globally.
Harris is in Bangkok as the head of the U.S. delegation in the meetings of members of APEC, a grouping of 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific, whose mandate is to promote regional economic cooperation and integration.
“Our message is clear; the United States has an enduring economic commitment to the Indo Pacific, one that is measured not in years but in decades and generations,” she said during remarks at the APEC CEO Summit.
Harris argued that there is “no better economic partner for the Indo-Pacific than the United States of America” as she pushed for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework that Washington launched in May.
Indo-Pacific Economic Framework
The framework is a trade facilitation, standards-setting, and capacity-building mechanism designed to provide a counterweight against Chinese economic clout in the region. It is the Biden administration’s effort to reengage Indo-Pacific nations on trade after former President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew in 2017 from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The previous U.S. administration, that of President Barack Obama, had promoted and launched that regional comprehensive trade pact in 2015.
Thirteen countries in the region have signed on to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, or IPEF, which includes provisions divided into categories that countries can choose from – fair and resilient trade; supply chain resiliency; clean energy, decarbonization and infrastructure; and taxation and anti-corruption.
While there are signals the region wants the U.S. to increase its economic engagement to counterbalance China’s, it has given lukewarm reception to IPEF, which does not include market access or tariff-reduction provisions.
Beijing meanwhile boasts the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a free trade agreement it promoted and has been signed onto by Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is also accelerating negotiations on the ASEAN -China Free Trade Area “Version 3.0” with Southeast Asian nations.
It is a big challenge for U.S. policymakers to match China’s latest geoeconomic maneuver, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute for Science and International Security at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.
Nevertheless, the U.S. is still a major investor in the region, Pongsudhirak told VOA.
“The stock of U.S. investments is immense, very close to China. They take turns going back and forth,” he said.
Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment
Harris highlighted the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, the West’s counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
“At the G-7 we intend to mobilize $600 billion in infrastructure investment in the developing world that will be high standard, transparent, climate-friendly,” Harris said.
In a veiled criticism of Beijing, she added the partnership, “does not leave countries with insurmountable debt.”
Harris noted the Just Energy Transition Partnership developed with Indonesia during its G-20 presidency that aims to mobilize $20 billion over the next three to five years to help the country’s energy transition and implementation of its climate agenda.
“That effort shows Washington recognizes that it has work to do to compete with China,” said Susannah Patton, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, said.
“However, until tangible projects are delivered, skepticism about U.S. efforts will remain,” she told VOA.
Like many other countries in the region who look to China to bankroll its infrastructure, Indonesia in 2023 is set to launch its Beijing-funded $8 billion high-speed rail project connecting Jakarta and Bandung.
Biden absence
The APEC summit caps off a series of international meetings in Southeast Asia this week, following the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia and the ASEAN meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Harris is standing in for President Joe Biden who attended the G-20 and ASEAN meetings but returned to Washington Wednesday to host his granddaughter’s upcoming wedding at the White House.
Biden’s absence will feed into some of the concerns and anxieties the region has on U.S. commitment to the region, said Andreyka Natalegawa, associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to VOA.
Natalegawa noted that the U.S. is taking over as APEC chair next year.
“That’s sort of a strong signal that Washington remains engaged and committed to economic integration in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
Following his meeting with Biden on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Bali Monday, from Bangkok Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against Cold War tensions, saying that the Asia-Pacific is no one’s backyard and should not become an arena of big power rivalry.
Capping off her day in Bangkok, Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will meet with King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana.
Source: Voice of America
When North Korean state media posted pictures of Kim Jong Un attending Friday’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, the big news wasn’t the rocket.
What sent analysts scrambling was a young girl with a ponytail and puffy white jacket who was shown walking hand in hand with Kim after inspecting the ICBM. Other pictures showed the girl standing next to Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, as they observed the launch from a viewing station.
Yes, that’s right — Kim, one of the world’s most secretive leaders, apparently unveiled a daughter at an ICBM launch.
The girl, whose name is Ju Ae, has long been the subject of rumors in South Korean and global media, but until now had never been seen in public — at least in a confirmed appearance.
The only reason the world knows her name is because former NBA basketball star Dennis Rodman revealed it after meeting with Kim in North Korea during a 2013 visit.
Ju Ae, who was born around 2013, is believed to be the second oldest of Kim’s three children with Ri. Their oldest child, a son, was born around 2010, according to South Korean spy agency assessments. The other children’s names are not known.
In fact, next to nothing is known about Kim’s family, which makes analysts wonder even more — why would he choose to unveil a daughter now, and why did he do it at a missile launch?
Theories abound. Was Kim sending a message about succession? Was it just his way of showing that he’s a family man? On Twitter, many made cringe-worthy jokes about the world’s most depressing “take your daughter to work day.”
“This is not exactly a family trip to the zoo,” said John Delury, a professor at South Korea’s Yonsei University, in a written message to VOA. “No question it says SOMETHING about succession. The problem is, what?”
Kim, who is believed to be 38, is the third generation of leaders in a Kim family that has near-divine status in North Korea. Kim took over the country following the sudden death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.
Since then, there have been repeated rounds of rumors about Kim Jong Un’s health. The speculation was partly spurred by the enormous amount of weight Kim has gained in recent years, as well as several extended periods where he did not make public appearances.
If Kim were to die, it’s not clear who would succeed him. His firstborn son is likely too young. His sister, Kim Yo Jong, has taken on a bigger public role in recent years, but analysts say she would struggle to overcome gender biases in North Korean society.
In this context, analysts are uncertain why Kim would unveil his daughter before he showed the world his son, who is likely ahead of her in any succession plan.
“I think we have to read it as a very early act of grooming,” Delury said. “It’s not entirely about ‘succession’ though, and we should take a deep breath. For example, the inclusion of his daughter softens the ‘martial’ spirit of the missile test.
“The implication is that Kim is not a warmonger, but a normal dad who cares about his kids like everyone else,” he added.
But any softer message that Kim may have intended was offset by his comments at the ICBM launch, where he blasted U.S. “imperialists” and vowed to continue a policy of “nukes for nukes and frontal confrontation for frontal confrontation.”
Some analysts say that by showing off his daughter at the launch of a Hwasong-17, the country’s largest missile that appears designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads, Kim may be signaling that he is invested in nukes for the long haul.
“It could be his way of indicating that he expects the nuclear deterrence enterprise to be a multigenerational affair for North Korea,” said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
In September, North Korea passed a new law further enshrining its nuclear weapons status, with Kim vowing to never give up his nukes or use them as a bargaining chip in negotiations.
Michael Madden, who focuses on North Korean leadership at the Washington-based Stimson Center, agrees with Panda’s assessment. But he says Kim also may be trying to send a message that not only his nukes, but also his family, isn’t going anywhere.
“He is showing his daughter the family legacy to which Kim Jong Un made a major contribution. This is also a way to smother out any long-term ambitions from other DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] elites about a post Kim Jong Un … political culture,” Madden said.
The state media photos — particularly one that shows the profiles of Kim and his daughter watching as the ICBM soars into the sky in the background — had striking and clearly intentional optics, said Jenny Town, another Korea specialist at the Stimson Center.
“[The picture] has sort of a gravity to it — that this is now her legacy too,” Town said. “It seems to underscore that this is here to stay — not something they plan to give up any time in the near future.”
Source: Voice of America
Amsterdam, 18 November 2022 – Today, Azerion has announced the acquisition of Hybrid Theory, a data led programmatic agency and trading desk specialising in mid and lower funnel campaigns. Their technology delivers a hybrid approach that connects data intelligence with human nuance, understanding, and creativity, to power smarter advertising across the full customer journey. Headquartered in London and with offices in six other markets, this acquisition also opens a new footprint for Azerion in the US, and the broader APAC market.
Umut Akpinaar, co-CEO of Azerion, comments: “I am pleased to announce the acquisition of Hybrid Theory by Azerion. This acquisition will provide Azerion with enhanced skills and capabilities to manage advertiser campaign performance. We are confident that Hybrid Theory’s market-leading data capabilities will provide Azerion with the best-in-class technology to power better and smarter data-driven advertising potential to our advertisers and publishers. As such, this acquisition is a perfect fit to our growing portfolio and we are excited to harness the power of data and create tailored ads to give our audiences the best experience on our platform.
Patrick Johnson, CEO of Hybrid Theory, added: “Joining the Azerion Group allows us to continue to deliver on our ambitions through far greater global scale and linkages between our technology and the Azerion platform. Hybrid Theory’s unique capabilities in data now have the addition of proprietary first party data at scale, which coupled with Azerion’s branding capabilities provide an unparalleled linkage with our performance heritage. At the same time, Azerion’s culture is also a fantastic match of client-focused entrepreneurial thinking to deliver industry-leading results. We are thrilled to be joining the Azerion team.”
Azerion will integrate Hybrid Theory’s custom-built technology offering of flexible solutions, hands-on support and independent managed execution. Hybrid Theory’s immense strength in data will allow Azerion to build and target unbelievably detailed audience segments, proving more effective for brands at acquiring new customers compared to third party programmatic data sources. Through this acquisition, Azerion will strengthen its position in the UK, US, and broader APAC market to deliver and work with our advertisers and publishers in flexible, collaborative, hybrid ways, bridging the gap between in-housing and outsourcing for brands and agencies.
The aggregated consideration consists of an all-share transaction. In total, 1,381,625 treasury shares were transferred to the selling shareholder. The transaction is effective as of 10 November 2022. Hybrid Theory generated approximately £15.6 million gross revenue in 2021.
This latest news follows the announcements of various previous acquisitions, as Azerion continues to execute on its growth strategy.
About Azerion
Azerion is a high-growth digital entertainment and media platform. As a content-driven, technology and data company, Azerion serves consumers, digital publishers, advertisers, and game creators globally. Azerion’s integrated platform provides technology solutions to automate the purchase and sale of digital advertising for media buyers and sellers, supported by in-market sales and campaign management teams. Through our technology, content creators, digital publishers and advertisers work with Azerion to reach the millions of people across the globe that play Azerion’s games and view its distributed entertainment content to increase engagement, loyalty, and drive e-commerce.
Founded in 2014 by two Dutch entrepreneurs, Azerion has experienced rapid expansion driven by organic growth and strategic acquisitions. Azerion is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and is a publicly traded company listed on Euronext Amsterdam. For more information visit: www.azerion.com.
About Hybrid Theory
Hybrid Theory is a data-driven digital services partner to brands and agencies, known for its unique capabilities in building real-time, in-market audiences, coupled with flexible advice, hands-on support, and independently managed digital media execution. Our technology delivers a hybrid approach that connects data intelligence with human nuance, understanding, and creativity, to power smarter advertising across the full customer journey.
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in London, Hybrid Theory has hubs in New York and Singapore, with satellite offices in six other markets. Hybrid Theory holds several international industry awards for its work and unique user-centric, holistic approach to audience discovery, including Programmatic Power Players 2021, Best Use of Audience Insights in Digiday Media Awards Europe 2021, and MarTech Outlook Top 10 Ad Management Solutions Provider in APAC 2022. www.hybridtheory.com
Contact
Investor Relations
ir@azerion.com
Media
press@azerion.com 
GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 1000757589
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell
LONDON, Nov. 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell has been named winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2022. The winner was announced by Chair of Judges Caroline Sanderson at a ceremony hosted at the Science Museum and generously supported by The Blavatnik Family Foundation. The announcement was streamed to readers around the world via the Baillie Gifford Prize social media channels.
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne gives readers a window into the little-known myriad lives the poet John Donne lived. He was a scholar of law, a maritime adventurer, an MP, a priest, the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral – and perhaps the greatest love poet in the history of the English language. Standout scholar Katherine Rundell shows readers the many sides of his life, his obsessions, his blazing words, and his tempestuous Elizabethan times – unveiling Donne as the most remarkable mind and as a lesson in living.
Katherine Rundell is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, where she works on Renaissance literature. Her bestselling books for children have been translated into more than 30 languages and have won multiple awards. Rundell is also the author of a book for adults, Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise. She has written for, among others, the London Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, the New York Review of Books and The New York Times, largely about books, though sometimes about animals, night climbing and tightrope walking.
The Baillie Gifford Prize aims to recognise and reward the best of non-fiction and is open to authors of any nationality. It covers all non-fiction in the areas of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. As the winner, Rundell will receive £50,000 along with the £1,000 given to each of the shortlisted authors. Last year’s winner was Patrick Radden Keefe for Empire of Pain, which became a Sunday Times bestseller.
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne was chosen by this year’s judging panel: writer and Associate Editor of The Bookseller, Caroline Sanderson (chair); writer and science journalist, Laura Spinney; critic and writer for The Observer, Rachel Cooke; BBC journalist and presenter, Clive Myrie; author and New Yorker writer, Samanth Subramanian; and critic and broadcaster, Georgina Godwin. Their selection was made from 362 books published between 1 Nov. 2021 and 31 Oct. 2022.
The other titles on this year’s shortlist were:
| Author / translator (Nationality) | Title (Imprint) |
| Caroline Elkins (American) | Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire (The Bodley Head, Vintage, Penguin Random House UK) |
| Jonathan Freedland (British) | The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World (John Murray Press, Hachette) |
| Sally Hayden (Irish) | My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route (4th Estate, HarperCollins) |
| Anna Keay (British) | The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown (William Collins, Harper Collins) |
| Polly Morland (British) | A Fortunate Woman: A Country Doctor’s Story (Picador, Pan Macmillan) |
READ SMART, the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction’s podcast, will release an episode devoted to the winner of the 2022 award, hosted by Razia Iqbal and featuring Katherine Rundell. It will be available on Thursday, 24 Nov.
-ENDS-
For information about the prize, visit: www.thebailliegiffordprize.co.
or follow us on Twitter @BGPrize #BGPrize2022
For more information about Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, Katherine Rundell, Baillie Gifford or the Blavatnik Family Foundation, please click the following link: https://we.tl/t-
Images of the winning author and book are available to download here.
This folder is being updated with images from the ceremony.
Contact Information:
Nathaniel Ashley
Account Executive
nathaniel.ashley@
+44 (0)20 3103 9598
Julie Holman
Account Director
julie.holman@
+44 (0)7841 672 393
Related Images
Image 1: Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell
This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.
Attachment
GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8699308
Nyxoah to Participate in the Piper Sandler 34th Annual Healthcare Conference
Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium – November 17, 2022, 10:30pm CET / 4:30pm ET – Nyxoah SA (Euronext Brussels/Nasdaq: NYXH) (“Nyxoah” or the “Company”), a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative solutions to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), today announced that the Company will participate in the Piper Sandler 34th Annual Healthcare Conference, which takes place November 29-December 1, 2022, at the Lotte New York Palace hotel in New York.
Olivier Taelman, Nyxoah’s Chief Executive Officer, will deliver a corporate update during a fireside chat on Thursday, December 1, 2022, at 12:00pm ET. A webcast of the presentation will be available on the Events section of Nyxoah’s Investor Relations website. The Company will also be available for 1×1 meetings with institutional investors attending the event.
Nyxoah’s updated Investor Presentation can be accessed on the Shareholder Information section of the Company’s Investor Relations page.
About Nyxoah
Nyxoah is a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative solutions to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Nyxoah’s lead solution is the Genio® system, a patient-centered, leadless and battery-free hypoglossal neurostimulation therapy for OSA, the world’s most common sleep disordered breathing condition that is associated with increased mortality risk and cardiovascular comorbidities. Nyxoah is driven by the vision that OSA patients should enjoy restful nights and feel enabled to live their life to its fullest.
Following the successful completion of the BLAST OSA study, the Genio® system received its European CE Mark in 2019. Nyxoah completed two successful IPOs: on Euronext Brussels in September 2020 and NASDAQ in July 2021. Following the positive outcomes of the BETTER SLEEP study, Nyxoah received CE mark approval for the expansion of its therapeutic indications to Complete Concentric Collapse (CCC) patients, currently contraindicated in competitors’ therapy. Additionally, the Company is currently conducting the DREAM IDE pivotal study for FDA and US commercialization approval.
For more information, please visit http://www.nyxoah.com/.
Caution – CE marked since 2019. Investigational device in the United States. Limited by U.S. federal law to investigational use in the United States.
Contacts:
Nyxoah
Loic Moreau, Chief Financial Officer
corporate@nyxoah.com
+32 473 33 19 80
Jeremy Feffer, VP IR and Corporate Communications
jeremy.feffer@nyxoah.com
+1 917 749 1494
Attachment
GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 1000757427
PICKERING, Ontario, Nov. 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TJP Labs Inc. (“TJP Labs”) is North America’s leading full-service contract manufacturer of premier next-generation products, focusing on modern oral nicotine pouches and oral delivery solutions for caffeine and other nutraceutical products. Today, TJP Labs announced that after completing a thorough regulatory assessment and meeting all GMP requirements, it received a notice of compliance for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) following an audit by the Health Canada Drug GMP Inspection Program.
The announcement aligns with TJP Labs’ strategy to offer drug manufacturing services, and the new achievement enables TJP Labs to spearhead further licensable activities.
Speaking on the achievement, David Richmond-Peck, CEO of TJP Labs, remarked:
“I cannot overstate the significance of this most recent compliant rating by Health Canada, and I congratulate our quality and manufacturing teams on their continued success.
GMP certification for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients accelerates TJP’s bold innovation strategy in the modern oral and beyond nicotine categories. Furthermore, it reinforces that our facilities operate to a set of internationally recognized pharmaceutical standards to ensure product quality and safety.
The modern oral category is seeing exponential growth and this critical API milestone positions TJP as a formidable and aggressive partner. There is a growing demand for innovation, and our certifications give us the unique ability to provide more value-added products and services. But, most importantly, it allows us to offer a broad range of best-in-class products across multiple categories. It also enhances TJP’s long-term value for our investors.”
About TJP Labs Inc.
TJP Labs is a leading North American full-service manufacturer of premium quality next-generation products, specializing in modern oral nicotine, energy, and nutraceutical pouches. Our products are manufactured and packaged in our DEL, Site-Licensed, cGMP/HACCP compliant, ISO 9001:2015 certified state-of-the-art facilities.
Contacts
David Richmond-Peck – business@tjplabs.com
Website: www.tjplabs.com
GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8699638
