Day: September 19, 2022

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Huawei Cloud Summit in Bangkok: Driving the Leapfrog Growth of the Digital Economy with Cloud Native

BANGKOK, Sept. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — HUAWEI CONNECT 2022 kicked off in Bangkok on September 19. At the Huawei Cloud Summit themed “Inspire Innovation with Everything as a Service”, Zeng Xingyun, President of Huawei Cloud APAC, William Fang, Chief Product Officer of Huawei Cloud, and customers and partners delivered keynote speeches. During the event, Huawei Cloud released the Cloud Native 2.0 Architecture White Paper and launched Cloud Native Elite Club (CNEC) APAC together with Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). To accelerate the digital transformation in the Asia Pacific, Huawei Cloud proposed three initiatives: acting with strategic resolve, embracing cloud native, and cultivating digital talent.

Cloud Native Elite Club (CNEC) APAC launch ceremony

In his keynote speech, Mr. Zeng said that going cloud native is to think cloud native, act cloud native. Huawei, together with its customers and partners, will witness a leapfrog growth in digital transformation powered by cloud native in APAC. Adhering to the approach of “by local, for local”, Huawei Cloud will promote the digital industry of the Asia Pacific by strengthening investment in infrastructure, professional B2B services, partner ecosystem, developer services, and startup support.

Huawei Cloud has already set up 13 localized service centers in the Asia Pacific, with more than 1,000 certified engineers to provide tailored services. In addition, ecosystem development has been fruitful, with more than 2,500 local partners generating more than 50% of the revenue of Huawei Cloud. Huawei Cloud is also forging ahead with industry-government-academia collaboration in the Asia Pacific. Investment in the Huawei ASEAN Academy and the Seeds for the Future Program will be used to cultivate more than 1 million digital experts over the next five years.

As a cloud native pioneer, Huawei Cloud serves 80% of the 50 best Internet companies in China and more than 200 major Internet companies in the Asia Pacific. In Sarawak, Malaysia, Huawei Cloud, together with its partners, has built cloud native infrastructure to support the collaboration of more than 30 government departments in five fields, and provided more than 80 digital government and smart city services to ensure more efficient and better-informed decision-making. In Indonesia, Huawei Cloud has provided a unified data foundation to help CT Corp migrate its media, retail, and finance services to the cloud, enabling precise recommendations for 200 million Internet users. The cloud native technologies of Huawei Cloud have helped Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) in Thailand quickly roll out its digital loan service. Loan approval and issuance, which used to take one month of work, is now fully automated and can be completed in just five minutes.

William reaffirmed Huawei Cloud’s commitment to thinking and acting cloud native and adhering to its Everything-as-a-Service strategy. The ultimate goal is to offer full-stack cloud native capabilities to customers. The four pipelines and more than 10 products unveiled at this year’s HUAWEI CONNECT, such as CCE Turbo (the next-gen container engine) and UCS (a service for ubiquitous cloud native), will be rolled out in the Asia Pacific and go global. In the future, Huawei Cloud will go beyond to breathe new life into cloud native infrastructure, cloud native application development, and data-AI convergence. This summit also saw Huawei Cloud release the Cloud Native 2.0 Architecture White Paper, which looks to help customers evolve and advance towards the digital transformation of tomorrow.

To accelerate the digitalization of the Asia Pacific with cloud native, Huawei Cloud joined hands with CNCF and technology pioneers to launch CNEC APAC. CNEC has contributed to the popularization and maturity of cloud native technologies in China over the past two years. CNEC APAC will gather the greatest cloud native minds in the region and have them focus on the digital transformation of local enterprises. It is a platform for exchanging cloud native experiences so that more organizations can dive deeper into the forefront of cloud native technologies and better use cloud native. The exchange of ideas will create more opportunities for cloud native to empower industry innovations, breaking a new path for the digitalization in the Asia Pacific.

William said that Huawei Cloud will continue to innovate full-stack technologies to pioneer the cloud native field, enable industries through Infrastructure as a Service, Technology as a Service, and Expertise as a Service, and unleash digital productivity with Everything as a Service.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1901772/Cloud_Native_Elite_Club__CNEC__APAC_launch_ceremony.jpg

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Swakop Uranium lance un rapport sur le développement durable soulignant les réalisations importantes sur la pratique multidimensionnelle

WINDHOEK, Namibie, 19 septembre 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Swakop Uranium (la « Société »), une filiale de China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), a récemment publié son rapport de développement durable 2021 dans la capitale namibienne, à Windhoek. Le rapport détaillait les performances et les pratiques de la société en Namibie, tout en mettant en avant les statistiques officielles et les engagements de responsabilité sociale.

Mme Kornelia Shilunga, vice-ministre des mines et de l’énergie de Namibie, a salué la publication du rapport de durabilité 2021 de Swakop Uranium et a félicité la société pour avoir fait preuve d’un engagement envers la bonne gouvernance d’entreprise et la transparence. La mine Husab contribue de manière importante à l’économie du pays et est le plus grand employeur de l’industrie minière namibienne avec plus de 1 700 employés permanents et 1 000 sous-traitants.

Mme Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi, membre du conseil d’administration de Swakop Uranium et présidente du comité de développement durable de Swakop Uranium, a déclaré : « Le rapport 2021 souligne les impacts positifs de la société en matière de développement durable en Namibie, en particulier dans la région d’Erongo. Grâce à ce rapport, nous pouvons constater que la société s’engage à soutenir pleinement les impératifs de développement national et les objectifs de développement durable des Nations Unies. Le développement continu de l’entreprise fait partie intégrante de la stratégie commerciale de Swakop Uranium, avec pour objectif de construire une entreprise de classe mondiale dont la Namibie peut être fière. »

Le conseiller économique et commercial de l’ambassade de Chine en Namibie, M. Liu Mingzhe, a remercié toutes les parties prenantes pour leur soutien et leur assistance à long terme à la Swakop Uranium. Par le biais de la CGN, la Chine a réalisé son plus grand investissement de projet en Afrique sous la forme de la mine d’uranium Husab de Swakop, avec un investissement de plus de 5 milliards de dollars US qui a apporté 3,2 milliards de NAD à l’économie locale en 2021. La localisation de la main-d’œuvre est également un objectif important pour la société, qui s’efforce d’employer une main-d’œuvre composée à 96 % de talents locaux grâce à divers programmes de formation mis en place pour garantir une main-d’œuvre compétente et dévouée. CGN s’efforce également de s’approvisionner en énergie renouvelable, et a récemment construit une centrale solaire de 12 mégawatts à la mine.

Dans son avant-propos au rapport, le PDG de Swakop Uranium, M. Qiu Bin, a remercié les actionnaires, les principales parties prenantes et les employés pour avoir établi des relations positives et constructives qui ont permis à Swakop Uranium de réussir et de créer un héritage durable et positif en Namibie.

Pour plus d’informations, veuillez consulter Swakop Uranium ou télécharger le rapport sur https://we.tl/t-278qvPaO0d.

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Madison Realty Capital Originates $315.6 Million Loan for The Four Seasons Hotel and Residences in New Orleans

NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Madison Realty Capital, a vertically integrated real estate private equity firm focused on debt and equity investment strategies, today announced that it has provided a $315.6 million loan to Carpenter & Company, Inc. and Woodward Interests, LLC for the completion of the renovation at the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences New Orleans located at 2 Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Josh Zegen, Managing Principal and Co-Founder of Madison Realty Capital, said, “The Four Seasons New Orleans is well positioned along the Mississippi River, between the French Quarter and Central Business Districts, to capitalize on the demand from New Orleans’ robust tourism market and expanding business district. We are pleased to leverage our familiarity with the Four Seasons brand to deliver a timely and customized financing solution to an experienced borrower group for a well-recognized New Orleans landmark with exciting cultural attractions.”

The 341-key Four Seasons hotel opened in July 2021 and is part of a mixed-use tower that includes 92 residential condominiums on the top floors. Operated by the Four Seasons, the residences have a private entrance from the hotel and offer one- to three-bedroom units and four-bedroom penthouses. To date, the property has sold 50% of the condominiums.

The 33-story hotel and residence offers event space and amenities including two restaurants, a lobby and bar, full-service spa, fitness center, outdoor pool, and private gardens. The highly awarded hotel was named a “Best Hotel in New Orleans” and one of the “Best New Hotels in the World” by Travel + Leisure; a “Best of the Best” New Hotels in the World by Robb Report; and a “Best New Hotel in the Country” by USA TODAY 10Best. Additionally, the building is home to Vue Orleans, a unique indoor and outdoor observatory with panoramic views of the city and historic and cultural exhibits.

Richard Friedman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Carpenter & Company Inc., said, “Madison Realty Capital has significant expertise investing in Four Seasons projects and we are pleased with their team’s ability to work quickly and provide certainty of execution. We look forward to moving to the next stage of this exciting project as we raise the hotel quality bar in New Orleans with the customized and flexible financing Madison delivered.”

Madison Realty Capital has significant experience investing in Four Seasons Hotels. Notable transactions include a $210 million loan to Fort Partners for the construction of the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Fort Lauderdale and $105 million loan to Fort Partners for the acquisition and modernization of the Four Seasons Hotel Miami.

Riaz Cassum and Henry Schaffer from JLL Capital Markets arranged the financing.

About Madison Realty Capital 

Madison Realty Capital is a vertically integrated real estate private equity firm that, as of August 31, 2022, manages approximately $9.5 billion in total assets on behalf of a global institutional investor base. Since 2004, Madison Realty Capital has completed approximately $21 billion in transactions providing borrowers with flexible and highly customized financing solutions, strong underwriting capabilities, and certainty of execution. Headquartered in New York City, with an office in Los Angeles, the firm has approximately 70 employees across all real estate investment, development, and property management disciplines. Madison Realty Capital has been frequently named to the Commercial Observer’s prestigious “Power 100” list of New York City real estate players and is consistently cited as a top construction lender, among other industry recognitions. To learn more, follow us on LinkedIn and visit www.madisonrealtycapital.com.

Nathaniel Garnick/Grace Cartwright
Gasthalter & Co.
(212) 257-4170
madisonrealty@gasthalter.com
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South African Energy Crisis Sees Rolling Blackouts

South Africa’s state power utility, Eskom, has implemented its highest level of nationwide power cuts to reduce pressure on the grid after two more of its aging power plants broke down.

South Africans will be forced to go up to nine hours a day without electricity, putting a severe strain on Africa’s most industrialized economy.

The energy crisis is so severe that President Cyril Ramaphosa is cutting short his trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York to return home and try to find solutions to the electricity shortages.

Ramaphosa, who is currently in England for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, had just held an urgent virtual meeting with the concerned ministers to find out what led to so many units tripping, his spokesman Vincent Magwenya told VOA.

“He further wanted to understand what could be done immediately to resolve the current state of loadshedding which is devastating to businesses as well as households,” Magwenya said.

On Sunday, officials from state power utility Eskom warned that the country could be heading for even higher stages of what’s known here as “loadshedding” — scheduled blackouts to save energy.

Stage Six, the worst level seen so far, and which was last implemented in June during South Africa’s winter, allows for some 6,000 megawatts to be cut to avoid total collapse of the national grid.

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said loadshedding might have to be ramped up to Stage Eight, but that “total blackout” was not an imminent risk.

“I think we are doing our level best to avoid a total system collapse, that is why we have to impose loadshedding,” de Ruyter said.

For ordinary South Africans, loadshedding makes all aspects of daily life difficult, from having to plan when to cook, to making sure they always have gas lamps or candles available for when homes across the country are plunged into darkness.

And for small businesses that can’t afford to get generators, the cuts are devastating.

Jeanette Mmelwa is a hairdresser at a small Johannesburg salon which was empty on Monday morning. She says there’s no electricity to run the hair dryers, so no clients are coming in. Mmelwa works on commission, so isn’t earning anything.

“I am concerned because of this loadshedding my boss can one day just say, ‘No, I can’t take this anymore. We’re not making enough money, so we have to close.’ I am worried about that,” she said.

Things are even worse at home, said Mmelwa, who has a young son.

“Waking up in the morning and there’s no lights, now you think, ‘What is he going to eat before he goes to school?’ So yes, it’s very stressful,” she said.

The current electricity crisis has been brewing for a decade. The cash-strapped and debt-ridden power utility relies on aging coal plants that are prone to breakdowns.

Corruption has also weakened the utility considerably, said independent political analyst Ralph Mathekga.

“The problem with loadshedding is that ours is self-created, it is about corruption, inability to turn things around and fight against corruption,” Mathekga said.

If South Africa’s energy crisis persists, there will be massive damage to the economy, which has already been badly hit by the pandemic, with the official unemployment currently at 33.9 percent.

Source: Voice of America

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At UN, Leaders Confront COVID’s Impact on Global Education

With COVID-related school disruptions setting back children around the world, activists implored world leaders Monday to prioritize school systems and restore educational budgets slashed when the pandemic hit.

The summit on transforming education, held at the U.N. General Assembly ahead of the annual leaders’ meeting, was expected to produce commitments from the world’s nations to ensure that children everywhere from sub-Saharan Africa to the United States don’t fall too far behind.

“Seven years ago, I stood on this platform hoping that the voice of a teenage girl who took a bullet in standing up for her education would be heard,” said Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, a U.N. messenger of peace. “On that day, countries, corporates, civil society, all of us committed to work together to see every child in schools by 2030. It is heartbreaking that halfway through that target date, we are facing an education emergency.”

Nigerian youth activist Karimot Odebode was more pointed. “We demand you take responsibility,” Odebode told the General Assembly. “We will not stop until every person in every village and every highland has access to an education.”

The percentage of 10-year-old children in poor and middle-income countries who cannot read a simple story increased to an estimated 70% — up 13 percentage points since before the pandemic shuttered classrooms, according to a report from the World Bank, UNESCO and UNICEF.

Will the world’s leaders do enough to help their youngest citizens learn to read and gain the other skills they need to thrive? It will require addressing systemic problems that existed before the pandemic, dignitaries and students say. Countries will need to increase spending, change policies to increase access for girls and disabled students, and modernize instruction to stress critical thinking rather than rote memorization.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to radically transform education,” U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told reporters ahead of the education summit at U.N. headquarters in New York. “We owe it to the coming generation if we don’t want to witness the emergence of a generation of misfits.”

When COVID-19 closed schools around the world in spring 2020, many children simply stopped learning — some for months, others for longer. For many, there was no such thing as remote learning. More than 800 million young people around the world lacked internet access at home, according to a study by UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union in December 2020.

More recent studies underscore the pandemic’s lasting effects. “The learning losses from COVID were enormous,” Mohammed said.

The amount of time school buildings were closed because of COVID-19 varied widely around the world. At the extreme, schools in parts of Latin America and South Asia were closed for 75 weeks or longer, according to UNESCO. In parts of the United States, including cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, schools operated remotely from March 2020 through most of the 2020-2021 school year.

There also were huge variations in the availability and quality of remote learning. In some countries, students stuck at home had access to paper packets, or radio and television programs, or almost nothing at all. Others had access to the internet and video conferences with teachers.

The estimated learning delays on average ranged from over 12 months of school for students in South Asia to less than four for students in Europe and Central Asia, according to an analysis by consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

Most of the world’s classrooms are now back open, but 244 million school-age children are still out of school, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said during the summit, citing data from the U.N. education agency. Most of those children — 98 million — live in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by Central and Southern Asia, in a reminder of the deep inequalities that persist in access to education, she said.

In many places, money is the key ingredient for stemming the crisis, if not fully reaching the leaders’ lofty goal of “transforming education.” “Education financing must be a priority for governments,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the General Assembly Monday. “It is the single most important investment any country can make in its people and its future.”

On average wealthy countries invest $8,000 a year per school-aged child, compared to upper middle-income countries, like some in Latin America, that invest $1,000 per year, according to a report from UNESCO and Global Education Monitoring. Lower income countries allot roughly $300 a year and some poor countries— just $50 a year per student.

Rich countries should also step up spending, said Guterres. In recent years, Germany, France and the United States have given the most international aid toward education in low-income countries, according to a 2021 Center for Global Development report. The United States invested more than $1.5 billion annually from 2017-2019, according to the report based on the most recent available data.

As top dignitaries urged individual countries to prioritize their youngest citizens, it was some of the youngest attendees at the summit who aired the most skepticism toward any prospect of change. After all, the U.N. lacks any authority to force countries to spend more on schooling.

Yousafzai urged countries to devote 20% of their budgets toward education. “Most of you know what exactly needs to be done,” she said. “You must not make small, stingy and short-term pledges.”

Source: Voice of America

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Central African Republic: Overview of incidents affecting humanitarian workers (January – August 2022)

The civilian population remains the primary victim of the ongoing armed violence and tensions in several parts of the country. During the first eight months of the year, 125 incidents affecting humanitarian workers or property were recorded.

Since September 2021, almost a year ago, the number of incidents affecting humanitarian actors has never been so high in a month. This increase is mostly due to a surge in administrative impediments in Bangui vis-à-vis humanitarian vehicles. Ten incidents have been reported of INGO and UN vehicles stopped, immobilized or confiscated. Of the 29 incidents recorded during the month of August, 14 or 48 per cent involved cases of theft, robbery or intrusions.

The prefectures of Ouham (24.6 per cent), Bangui (23.2 per cent) and Ouaka (9.6 per cent) were the most affected during the first eight months of 2022. Thefts, robberies, lootings, threats and assaults represented 79 per cent of the 125 incidents. Interferences and restrictions represented 37 incidents or 30 per cent.

Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

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First HUAWEI CONNECT Outside China: Huawei Cloud Innovations Go Global

BANGKOK, Sept. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — HUAWEI CONNECT 2022 kicked off in Bangkok today. Ken Hu, Rotating Chairman of Huawei, delivered a keynote speech, Unleash Digital. Zhang Ping’an, CEO of Huawei Cloud, announced plans to launch new Regions in Indonesia and Ireland, unveiled the “Go Cloud, Go Global” ecosystem plan, and reaffirmed the commitment to Everything as a Service. Jacqueline Shi, President of Huawei Cloud’s Global Marketing and Sales Service, said that Huawei Cloud will launch more than 15 innovations globally, covering cloud native, AI development, data governance, digital content, software development, and MacroVerse aPaaS.

Zhang Ping’an, CEO of Huawei Cloud

According to Ken Hu, organizations should embrace the cloud for leapfrog development as digital smart tech is the future. Huawei Cloud has integrated more than 240 services and more than 50,000 APIs to bring the latest AI, application development, and big data technologies and development tools to the cloud. The innovation and expertise of Huawei Cloud will help more organizations move to the cloud faster and better.

Huawei Cloud is committed to building one global network, which allows services on Huawei Cloud to be accessed within 50 milliseconds from anywhere on the globe. Enterprises will no longer need to build their own data centers. Huawei Cloud will launch new Regions in Indonesia and Ireland. By the end of this year, Huawei Cloud will have deployed 29 Regions and 75 availability zones (AZs) covering more than 170 countries and regions.

Zhang Ping’an also released the “Go Cloud, Go Global” plan. With a focus on Everything as a Service, Huawei Cloud will share its localized experience acquired in the services for more than 170 countries and regions, as well as insight into businesses and industries in major regions, and contribute its technologies and solutions to a global ecosystem. Such effort will help more enterprises use cloud better and go global more successfully.

Huawei Cloud sticks to the approach of “by local, for local” for building a global digital ecosystem. Over the next three years, Huawei Cloud will provide support for at least 10,000 promising startups around the world, with support including cost optimization, technical support, entrepreneurship training, and other business resources. More than 120 enterprises in Asia Pacific have joined the Huawei Cloud Startup Program.

Huawei is also honing the industry-leading platform for innovations on the cloud. In her speech, Jacqueline Shi introduced 15 innovative Huawei Cloud services, including CCE Turbo, Ubiquitous Cloud Native Service (UCS), Pangu wave model, DataArts LakeFormation, Virtual Live, CodeCheck and CloudTest, KooMessage, KooSearch, and KooGallery.

Looking ahead, Huawei Cloud will continue to enable industries through Infrastructure as a Service, Technology as a Service, and Expertise as a Service, to unleash digital with Everything as a Service and build the cloud foundation for an intelligent world.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1901281/Zhang_Ping_an_CEO_Huawei_Cloud.jpg

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From Years to Just One Month: Huawei Cloud’s Pangu Drug Molecule Model Accelerates New Drug Discovery

BANGKOK, Sept. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — On September 19, HUAWEI CONNECT 2022 kicked off in Bangkok, Thailand. At the event, Mr. Ken Hu, Rotating and Acting Chairman of Huawei, delivered a keynote titled “Unleash Digital,” where he talked about how the company is helping organizations make the most of cloud for leapfrog development.

Mr. Ken Hu delivering his speech at HUAWEI CONNECT 2022

During his speech, Mr. Ken Hu spoke about how the First Affiliated Hospital of the Medical School at Xi’an Jiaotong University used AI to expedite pharmaceutical R&D and new drug discovery.

In the pharmaceutical industry, an average of over 1 billion USD and 10 years is needed to put a new drug on the market, from development to approval. While developing antibiotics, it has been noted that resistant bacteria are sometimes discovered even before newly developed antibiotics finish clinical trials.

By using an AI-aided drug design service powered by Huawei Cloud’s Pangu Drug Molecule Model, Professor Liu Bing of the First Affiliated Hospital of the Medical School at Xi’an Jiaotong University and his team developed a new broad-spectrum antimicrobial drug in just one month, and R&D costs were slashed by 70%.

A major challenge in new drug discovery lies in the screening of hundreds of millions of existing drug molecules. Traditionally, drug screening was performed by experts in labs, which was costly, slow, and had a high failure rate.

The Huawei Cloud Pangu Drug Molecule Model has been trained using the data of 1.7 billion drug-life molecules, and can predict the physicochemical properties of drug compounds and score them based on their druglikeness. Researchers can then do targeted experiments to verify drug compounds that have the highest scores.

Moreover, the Pangu Drug Molecule Model’s molecular structure optimizer can be used to optimize the structure of lead compounds, minimizing the potential side effects of the new drugs on normal human cells.

Today, cloud has become an important carrier for digital companies. Huawei Cloud provides four development pipelines, including ModelArts the AI development pipeline, which customers and partners from all industries can access on demand, so they can leave the technical side of digital innovation to Huawei Cloud, and concentrate more on what matters most to them.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1901282/Ken_Hu_HUAWEI.jpg