MENA – Page 156 – Eritrea Wire

January 31, 2022

Short Film Debut: TIME IS ETERNAL: starring, co-written and produced by Berite Labelle

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Starring, co-written and produced by Los Angeles-based model and actress Berite Labelle, the short film Time Is Eternal is the debut production for Labelle in collaboration with filmmaker Daniel Lir. Lir co-wrote the script and co-directed the short with his wife and business partner, Bayou Bennett through Dream Team Directors.

https://www.beritelabelle.com
https://www.dreamteamdirectors.com/filmc343928d

The 15-minute film takes you inside the mind of a renowned female writer in present-day Los Angeles, who is penning her latest novel, which imagines the fictional meeting of two legendary women. Cleopatra VIII, queen of Egypt during the first century B.C., comes face to face with the English writer-women’s rights activist Mary Wollstonecraft, also the mother of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley. A powerful ode to female strength, the film chronicles a soulful discussion between these two trailblazers. Both known as lovers and as warriors for a cause, the fighter and the writer contemplate their differing approaches to leadership, culminating in a shared passion that intertwines eternally.

Labelle deftly champions four roles in her debut film—playing the writer, Cleopatra, Wollstonecraft, and a mermaid, who symbolizes swimming through another dimension in time.

Shot at The Paramour Estate in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, with opulent early twentieth century period décor, the surreal, dreamlike visuals have a fashion focus. Hollywood fashion stylist Wilford Lenov (who has worked with Saweetie, Bebe Rexha and Iggy Azalea) served as costume designer, sourcing mostly vintage pieces. Painter-turned-makeup artist Francie Tomalonis and makeup artist April Garcia respectively created the looks of Cleopatra and Wollstonecraft, while hair stylist Derrika Mayweather crafted custom wigs for Cleopatra and the mermaid.

Since October 2021, Labelle has covered four international editions of Vogue, Glamour and Harper’s Bazaar as well as Bold magazine. She is currently pursuing an Associate of Fine Arts (AFA) degree in Acting for Film at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles.

Dream Team Directors has collaborated with talent such as Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Mackie, Juliette Lewis, Lea Michele, Coldplay, Paris Hilton and Bella Hadid, plus brands including Adidas, Smashbox Cosmetics, Atlantic Records and Chrome Hearts. Their 2019 short film, Tombstone Pillow, has drawn widespread acclaim and won 33 awards.

Viewing links and imagery are available by request to consider coverage.
Berite Labelle is available for interview.
Please contact management, Tracy Paul & Company: tracy@tracypaul.com

The trailer link: https://vimeo.com/647101977/93b38e9197

Crédit photos: CHRISTOPHER SCOTT
https://www.cscottcreative.com
https://instagram.com/cscott_creative?utm_medium=copy_link

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1735716/TIME_IS_ETERNAL_Poster.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1735715/TIME_IS_ETERNAL_Set_Still.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1735714/TIME_IS_ETERNAL_Berite_Labelle.jpg

January 31, 2022

NFT Charity Auction Launched to Help Vulnerable Displaced Afghans

World renowned authors, digital and fine arts artists, NFT influencers, and professional footballers participate in Mars Panda NFT Charity Auction in support of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency

SINGAPORE, Jan. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Mars Panda, an all-in-one aggregation blockchain platform, has launched a charity NFT (Non-fungible tokens) auction in support of UNHCR’s humanitarian efforts for vulnerable displaced Afghans.

Caption will be: © UNHCR/Andrew McConnell (The photo cannot be saved/edited/changed and can only be used in line with this press release)

The Mars Panda NFT charity auction in support of UNHCR (https://unhcr.marspanda.world) will take place from January 31, 2022 to March 4, 2022 and feature over 30 NFTs that world-renowned authors, digital and fine arts artists, NFT influencers, and professional footballers have pledged to the auction. All proceeds from the charity auction, minus administrative and operational costs, will be donated to UNHCR in support of vulnerable displaced families affected by the Afghanistan emergency.

“The relentless influx of wealth and interest in NFTs are perfect ingredients to make them a force of good. NFTs have empowered everyone to convert their art and creativity into meaningful actions targeting social and humanitarian issues,” said Kevin Pang, CEO, Mars Panda World.

Among the VIP contributors are world-renowned authors and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassadors Khaled Hosseini and Neil Gaiman, illustrator Dan Williams, Thai Venerable and UNHCR Patron Phra Medhivajirodom.

Neil Gaiman has donated a UNHCR produced film of his poem What You Need To Be Warm which includes a never-previously-published message from Neil on the writing of the poem and its development into a film. Winning bidders of this NFT will also receive a copy of The Sandman signed by Neil Gaiman with a personalized message.

Dan Williams has donated 17 original ink and watercolour illustrations from Sea Prayer, a short book by Khaled Hosseini (author of The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns). Winning bidders will also receive a copy of Sea Prayer signed by Khaled.

Venerable Phra Medhivajirodom has painted a one-stroke painting specifically for this charity auction. The Venerable has also blessed the artwork for the New Year.

The VIP NFTs will be auctioned for 1 week only, between January 31, 2022 to February 6, 2022. NFTs from other contributors, including Valencia F.C. footballers, Hunn Wai and Dark Zodiac will be auctioned from February 7, 2022 to March 4, 2022.

In recent months, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has dramatically worsened, resulting in significant new displacement of civilians. 24.4 million people – 55% of the population – are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2022, a staggering 30% increase from last year.

Harsh winter weather has also forced road closures in many provinces, as well as disrupted flights to and from Kabul Airport, including those carrying emergency assistance and supplies.

Despite this, UNHCR’s emergency response in Afghanistan continues. The humanitarian agency has been scaling up winter support and cash assistance to the most vulnerable displaced families. In the course of 2021, UNHCR assisted 1.1 million displaced and vulnerable people and helped 3 million people with improved access to infrastructure and services.

UNHCR and partners’ ability to further ramp up emergency preparedness and response interventions is greatly dependent on the timely availability of resources.

NFTs or non-fungible tokens are digital collectibles represented by code on a decentralised digital ledger called a blockchain. Each NFT can be bought and sold like a physical item, but the blockchain keeps an unalterable record of its ownership and transaction history. NFTs experienced a meteoric rise last year, with the most expensive one sold for nearly USD$70 million at the Christie’s auction house.

Mars Panda is a unique platform that has a know-your-customer (KYC) process to identify and verify each client when they open an account. This has allowed it to be chosen as the NFT platform to power Singapore’s inaugural NFT charity auction, Blockchain for Good by Blockchain Association of Singapore, which raised more than SGD$400,000 in September 2021 for the National Trade Union Council U-Care Fund and subsequently also supported local Singapore newspaper, The Straits Times, with its first-ever NFT auction, where over SGD$21,000 was raised for The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund.

Visit the Mars Panda Charity Auction in support of UNHCR here.

Note to Editors: Mars Panda is currently pending approval from the Singapore Commissioner of Charities to conduct campaign activities in Singapore. In the interim, the campaign will commence outside Singapore, and exclude Singapore residents from participating.

About Mars Panda

Mars Panda is a complete eco-system which consists of:

NFT Marketplace
Games Ecosystem consisting of native Mars Panda game with NFT game and play to earn elements
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and TradeFi

We aim to fuse mainstream eCommerce and Gaming to the crypto world of NFTs and DeFi, on one seamless, unified platform that will evolve into an all encompassing metaverse.

About UNHCR

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organisation dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution.

We lead international action to protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.

We deliver life-saving assistance, help safeguard fundamental human rights, and develop solutions that ensure people have a safe place called home where they can build a better future. We also work to ensure that stateless people are granted a nationality.

We work in over 130 countries, using our expertise to protect and care for millions.

Media Contact:
Nicole Chua, media@marspanda.world

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1736238/1.jpg

January 31, 2022

Journalists From 55 African Countries Join Press Conference Hosted By Shincheonji Church

NEW YORK, Jan. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Media outlets from 55 African countries joined a press conference hosted by Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, on January 28th. The event included remarks from Shincheonji Church Chairman Man Hee Lee and highlights regarding the church’s latest series, titled, “Testimony on the Parables of the Secrets of Heaven and Their True Meanings.” The press conference was planned at the request of African reporters and pastors throughout the continent.

Africa Press Conference of Shincheonji Church

Shincheonji Church’s newest online seminar on the parables of Jesus began January 3rd and continues through March 28th. It follows the successful completion of the church’s previous series, which testified the prophecies and fulfillment recorded in the Book of Revelation for 10 weeks in 2021 from October 18th through December 27th. Cumulative views on YouTube so far have reached 8 million. As a result of this Revelation seminar, Shincheonji Church has signed MOUs with more than 1,200 pastors and seminaries in 57 countries. Of that total, 235 MOUs were signed in 16 countries in Africa.

“I wish everyone across the world will come and study the word from Shincheonji seminar to change people’s lives,” said Stephen Ogwang, secretary general of Born Again Churches in Uganda.

About 300 journalists participated in the January 28th press conference. Chairman Lee, who answered questions about the seminars and MOUs, asked all press associates to promote that there is a testimony on the prophecy and fulfillment of Revelation and that the secrets of the kingdom of heaven are available to everyone.

“Testimony on the Parables of the Secrets of Heaven and Their True Meanings” is broadcast twice a week through the Shincheonji Church YouTube Channel in 24 different languages.

Visit the Shincheonji Americas website for more information: www.scjamericas.org

MEDIA CONTACT: Gina Del Gigante, 16466287365, revelation@scjamericas.com

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1736581/Photo_Main_Image.jpg

January 27, 2022

Turing Launches a Global, Career-Centric Community for Developers

One-of-a-kind online community set to propel career growth for developers

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Turing, an AI-powered, international platform that connects software developers with high quality, long-term, remote U.S. jobs, announces today the launch of Turing Community: a career-centric developer community platform.

According to a study done by Science Direct, it’s proven that software developers deal with overwhelmingly high stress levels stemming from a lack of support and recognition from the companies they serve. As a result, many become isolated and overwhelmed, causing burnout and decreased productivity.

With over 1 million developers signed up on Turing, the creation of a career-centric developer community will further strengthen their mission to help solve the challenges faced by software developers globally and unleash untapped human potential.

Leveraging crowdsourced intelligence to create an upward spiral of success, the Turing community aims to inspire developers worldwide; encouraging them to form deep relationships with fellow developers, seek advice from industry veterans, and create positive experiences. This platform will pave the way for developers to thrive; providing a career-centric, safe space for developers to grow, seek guidance, hone their skills, and find jobs.

“The Turing experience goes beyond a simple job search,” shares Jonathan Siddharth, the CEO & Founder of Turing. “We aim to serve as true partners to the developers we work with and equip them with the tools necessary to experience personal and professional breakthroughs. With our diverse range of offerings, and now the Turing Community, we will walk hand in hand with developers as they walk the path to success.”

The Turing Community is a free and open platform for developers at every stage of their careers to network, stay current with industry news, enhance their skills, and develop both personally and professionally. It will also offer job preparation, coaching, and mentoring; including special programs and social events offered to community members.

Thousands of developers have already joined the Turing Community and are excelling in their careers as a result. To learn more about the Turing Community, visit: https://community.turing.com/

About Turing

Founded in March 2018, Turing’s Intelligent Talent Cloud uses AI to connect the world’s best developers to high-quality U.S. jobs. Turing is the brainchild of Stanford alumni and serial AI entrepreneurs Jonathan Siddharth and Vijay Krishnan. The duo’s previous company Rover, a machine learning-based content discovery engine, was successfully acquired.

With Turing, companies can hire pre-vetted, Silicon Valley-caliber remote software talent across 100+ skills at the “push of a button”. 200+ firms, including Johnson & Johnson, Dell, Disney, Coinbase, Rivian, Plume, and VillageMD, have hired remote engineering talent from Turing.

The company recently entered unicorn territory (now valued at over $1.1 B) with a Series D round of financing and is backed by prominent investors such as WestBridge Capital, Foundation Capital, Founders Fund (investors in Facebook, Tesla, Asana), Altair Capital, Mindset Ventures, Frontier Ventures, Gaingels, Facebook’s first CTO (Adam D’Angelo), and illustrious executives from Google, Amazon, and Twitter.

January 27, 2022

BigPanda Announces Global Expansion and Midsize Enterprise Presence Fueled by Explosive Demand for AIOps

BigPanda Leverages Recent Investment of $190 Million to Bring in New EMEA Leader and Double-down on New Segments

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BigPanda, Inc., the leader in AIOps Event Correlation and Automation, today announced the company has opened an office in London, led by Ben Sekhon, to provide on-the-ground support for both existing and new customers across the EMEA region. In addition, BigPanda has created a business unit dedicated to helping address needs from midsize enterprises to scale IT with AIOps.

Intensified Support in EMEA
The EMEA market is on par with the U.S. in terms of AIOps demand, particularly as customers move away from aging on-premises infrastructure towards cloud and cloud-native environments. The business will be led by Ben Sekhon, a 20-year sales veteran who had a successful track record at SAP, Gigya and Experian.

“I am delighted to join BigPanda,” said Ben Sekhon, VP of EMEA Sales and Channels. “EMEA represents a huge addressable market, so the timing of this investment helps us maintain the same level of focus and quality we deliver to our existing customers while addressing the growing demand for BigPanda’s market-leading AIOps platform.”

“We’re very excited to welcome BigPanda to Europe to further build on our relationship and the high level of support the team has already provided,” said Harvey Shaw, Senior IT Director at News Corp. “The company has proven to be a vital partner, and we’re confident that its on-the-ground presence will help us accelerate our AIOps strategy.”

EU Region Platform Availability
To support BigPanda’s EMEA customers, BigPanda is also expanding its platform availability with an instance hosted in Germany. This BigPanda instance will conform to leading international security and privacy standards and address European data residency requirements to store customer data in Europe.

Addressing Demand in Midsize Enterprises
Over the course of several years, BigPanda has built a base of midsize enterprise customers. With the launch of BigPanda University and the continued focus on self-service capabilities within the BigPanda platform, the team is poised to expand its ability to deliver AIOps to the midsize enterprise.

“While a focus for most IT Ops vendors is the largest of enterprises, the reality is that midsize enterprises also need to improve app experiences by scaling through technology, making AIOps a foundational element of their roadmap,” said Isaac Sacolick, President of StarCIO, author, and digital transformation influencer. “In recent research, 70 percent report it typically takes three hours or longer to resolve major incidents, and the right solution leverages AIOps to improve IT performance. BigPanda is putting its energy in all the right places to serve this market segment well.”

BigPanda’s AIOps Turbo Pack is a customized offering that gives IT Ops teams within midsize organizations a quick path to success. It includes flexible, tiered, consumption-based licensing along with a standard set of integrations and implementation services to get them up and running in a matter of weeks. To learn more about the AIOps Turbo Pack for fast-growing IT Ops, please visit BigPanda for Midsize enterprises.

About BigPanda

BigPanda keeps businesses running with AIOps that transform IT data into insight and action. With BigPanda’s AIOps platform, businesses prevent IT outages, improve incident management and deliver extraordinary customer experiences. Without BigPanda, IT Ops, NOC, and DevOps teams struggle with a tsunami of data and highly-manual, reactive incident response processes that are poorly suited for the scale, complexity and velocity of modern IT environments. This results in painful outages, unhappy customers, growing IT headcount and the inability to focus on innovation.

BigPanda’s AIOps Event Correlation and Automation platform helps Fortune 500 enterprises such as Intel, Cisco, United, Abbott, Marriott and Expedia take a giant step towards Autonomous IT Operations. BigPanda is backed by Advent International, Insight Partners, Sequoia Capital, Mayfield, Battery Ventures, Glynn Capital, Mayfield, Greenfield Partners and Pelion. Visit www.bigpanda.io for more information.

Media contact:
Sammy Totah
BOCA Communications for BigPanda
bigpanda@bocacommunications.com

January 27, 2022

Hitachi Energy achieves 100% fossil free electricity in own operations

The global technology and market leader in power grids has achieved the first-step target in its Sustainability 2030 plan and steps up the pace towards carbon-neutral

Zurich, Switzerland, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hitachi Energy today announced that it has achieved the first-step target set out in its Sustainability 2030 plan – the use of 100% fossil-free electricity in its own operations1. The company is driving towards being carbon-neutral in its own operations by 20302, in line with its Purpose, ‘Advancing a sustainable energy future for all’.

“By achieving 100% fossil-free electricity in our own operations, we have reduced our CO2 equivalent emissions by over 50% compared to 2019,” says Claudio Facchin, CEO of Hitachi Energy. He continued, “The Net Zero challenge is global and it’s about acting now, innovating and collaborating across countries, industries and societies. Together with customers, partners, and all stakeholders, we are advancing the world’s energy system to be more sustainable, flexible and secure.”

The targeted 50% reduction achieved ahead of plan will amount to approximately 175 kilo tonnes of CO2e per year, equivalent to removing over 35,000 passenger cars off the road.

To achieve 100% fossil-free electricity in its own operations – and in support of the Hitachi Group’s carbon-neutrality goal3 – the company has pursued a number of pathways including supporting projects to generate its own fossil-free electricity, such as installing solar roof panels combined with e-meshTM digital solutions for distributed energy resources maximizing energy efficiency and minimizing CO2 emissions. In its Zhongshan factory in China, the company is generating nearly 20% of its total energy consumption from solar panels. In its first year of operation, the power generated at the factory is expected to reach 1,510 megawatt hours (MWh), contributing to the reduction in annual carbon emissions by more than 1,000 tonnes.

To achieve 100% fossil-free electricity, Hitachi Energy has also switched to green tariffs, bought Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs), and signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) across its operations and facilities in 90 countries.

Looking ahead, Hitachi Energy is continuing to invest in its journey towards carbon-neutrality by further increasing energy efficiency, as well as electrifying its own operations. In Ludvika, Sweden, the company is now using 100% renewable electricity generated from hydropower and from solar panels to support its operations. Ludvika, which is one of Hitachi Energy’s largest production facilities, has gone beyond tackling its electricity supply and is now close to removing the use of all fossil fuels from the whole of its operations.

The company has a track record of implementing its own technologies in its operations to enable the integration of renewable energy. For example, in 2015 its South Africa operations installed a 750 kW rooftop photovoltaic plant and a 1 MVA/380 kWh battery-based PowerStoreTM for enhancing the use of renewables and providing a continuous supply of power.

Through its Sustainability 2030 plan and targets, the company reinforces its commitment to accelerating actions driving business in a sustainable way. Based around four pillars – Planet, People, Peace, and Partnerships – the strategy draws from the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with specific focus on the following eight: 3 (Good health and well-being), 4 (Quality education), 5 (Gender equality), 6 (Clean water and sanitation), 7 (Affordable and clean energy), 12 (Responsible consumption and production), 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions); and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). In line with these SDGs, each pillar has corresponding targets that drive the business to contribute social, environmental, and economic value.

Notes
1. The contract for its South Korea operations (equivalent to 0.4% total electricity usage) is expected to be signed in February 2022 retrospectively through green tariffs.

2. Discover more about Hitachi Energy’s approach to Sustainability 2030 here

3. Hitachi Sustainability Report 2021

About Hitachi Energy Ltd.

Hitachi Energy is a global technology leader that is advancing a sustainable energy future for all. We serve customers in the utility, industry and infrastructure sectors with innovative solutions and services across the value chain. Together with customers and partners, we pioneer technologies and enable the digital transformation required to accelerate the energy transition towards a carbon-neutral future. We are advancing the world’s energy system to become more sustainable, flexible and secure whilst balancing social, environmental and economic value. Hitachi Energy has a proven track record and unparalleled installed base in more than 140 countries. Headquartered in Switzerland, we employ around 38,000 people in 90 countries and generate business volumes of approximately $10 billion USD.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, contributes to a sustainable society with a higher quality of life by driving innovation through data and technology as the Social Innovation Business. Hitachi is focused on strengthening its contribution to the Environment, the Resilience of business and social infrastructure as well as comprehensive programs to enhance Security & Safety. Hitachi resolves the issues faced by customers and society across six domains: IT, Energy, Mobility, Industry, Smart Life and Automotive Systems through its proprietary Lumada solutions. The company’s consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2020 (ended March 31, 2021) totaled 8,729.1 billion yen ($78.6 billion), with 871 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 350,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at https://www.hitachi.com.

Attachment

Hitachi Energy – Advancing a sustainable energy future for all

Rebecca Bleasdale
Hitachi Energy Ltd.
+41 78643 2613
rebecca.bleasdale@hitachienergy.com

January 25, 2022

WHR Group, Inc. Offering Free Employee Relocation Policy Reviews

MILWAUKEE, Jan. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — WHR Group, Inc. (WHR), a leader in the global employee relocation industry, is offering companies free relocation policy reviews. WHR will also help companies create new policies from scratch. Even with the Covid pandemic, companies are still relocating employees to fill crucial roles. Reviewing relocation policies and making critical adjustments helps organizations win in the war for talent, meet employees’ needs, benchmark against the competition and control business costs.

Relocation policies should be incorporated into an organization’s total rewards and talent management strategies. The right relocation policy can help a company, while a weak policy – or none at all – could have a negative impact on the candidate recruiting success rate. “With the current war for talent, it’s critical to have a structured and competitive relocation program. This helps companies attract and retain top talent,” says WHR’s Business Development Regional Manager, Ben Koceja. Making sure a relocation policy meets transferees’ needs helps reduce transferee stress so that employees can focus on work roles in their new locations.

Benchmarking a policy against other companies also helps organizations stay competitive in the war for talent. The policy needs to include a choice of offerings since relocation policies are wrapped into job offers. Companies also need to ensure they’re allocating the right amount of dollars to transferees and organizational needs. It is important organizations are not paying for unnecessary or outdated benefits.

According to WHR’s International Business Development Manager, Linden Houghtby, MBA, GMS, MIM+, “Having a relocation policy aligned with your company culture, talent strategy, and recruiting goals is essential to having a successful relocation/mobility program. It allows companies to move employees where they are needed most. Policies ensure transferees will be taken care of in a way that reflects the organization’s values and goals.”

To learn more about WHR’s free employee relocation policy reviews or for help creating a new policy, contact WHR.

About WHR Group, Inc.
WHR is a private, woman-owned, global employee relocation management company distinguished by its white glove service delivery structure and proprietary technology. WHR has offices in Wisconsin, Switzerland, and Singapore. With its 100% client retention rate for the past decade, WHR continues to be the trusted leader in global employee relocation.
https://www.whrg.com, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Media Contact: Mindy Stroiman, Corporate Writer
Mindy.Stroiman@whrg.com
262-523-7510