By Emma McDermott ATT, Founder of Global Tax Consulting Dubai’s lack of personal income tax is one of the main attractions for British professionals considering a move to the UAE. Combined with the employment opportunities, lifestyle and relative proximity to the UK, it is easy to understand why so many people are making the move. However, relocating to Dubai does not automatically mean that you stop […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Emaar Hospitality Group has confirmed the opening of Emaar South Golf Club in Dubai South, adding an 18-hole championship course to its leisure portfolio and expanding golfing facilities near Al Maktoum International Airport. The club welcomed its first players on 5 October and becomes the group’s fourth golf club. Designed by European Golf Design, the course measures 7,278 yards from the black tees, […]
Corporate investment in artificial intelligence is accelerating, but most technology leaders still cannot demonstrate substantial financial benefits, according to new research exposing a widening gap between adoption and measurable business performance. A Gartner survey released on October 19 found that only 13 per cent of chief information officers said their organisations had achieved significant or transformational value from AI. The findings, presented at the Gartner IT Symposium […]
Technology companies were responsible for the largest share of people affected by third-party data breaches, according to new findings from risk advisory firm Kroll. Kroll’s 2026 Data Breach Outlook, published on Thursday, found that 69% of individuals affected in incidents it handled between June 2025 and June 2026 had been exposed through breaches involving third parties. Of that group, 79% were linked to compromises in the technology […]
Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a campaign targeting diplomatic organisations in three Central Asian countries with BlackX, a bootkit capable of circumventing Windows Secure Boot protections even on updated computers. Kaspersky disclosed the operation on Thursday, identifying diplomatic agencies in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan as targets. Its Global Research and Analysis Team linked the activity to APT41, a hacking group associated with China, but assigned only medium confidence […]
Searches of mobile phones, laptops and other electronic devices by United States customs officers have risen sharply, intensifying scrutiny of border security practices and the privacy protections available to international travellers. Figures from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show that officers searched 55,318 electronic devices during the 2025 fiscal year, an increase of 17.6 per cent from 47,047 in 2024 and 32.4 per cent from 2023. […]
US semiconductor stocks suffered a sharp sell-off on Thursday, wiping billions of dollars from market valuations after equipment manufacturer Lam Research warned that supply-chain bottlenecks were restricting shipments despite strong demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 6.72 per cent on October 22, with all 30 constituent companies declining. The retreat reflected mounting investor concerns about whether chipmakers could sustain ambitious expansion plans amid […]
By Dr. Gyan Pathak Prime Minister is entitled to criticise the Leader of the Opposition forcefully, but the dignity of the office calls for a distinction between robust political criticism and personal ridicule. Nevertheless, PM Narendra Modi ridiculed his rival LoP Rahul Gandhi on 22 October 2026 at a World Summit organised by NDTV, where […]
The article Prime Minister Ridiculing Leader Of Opposition At World Summit Is Ridiculous appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).
By Rahil Nora Chopra The UP Congress is gearing up for the 2027 Assembly elections and negotiating the seat-sharing arrangement with the Samajwadi Party (SP). With the aim of outlining the terms of negotiations with the SP, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi held a three-hour-long meeting with UP Congress leaders regarding seat allocation. The Congress […]
The article Priyanka Meets UP Congress Leaders To Chalk Out Seat-Sharing Terms appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).
French health authorities have confirmed the world’s first documented human infection with Shamonda virus in a severely immunocompromised patient who died earlier this month, while emphasising that no wider public health threat has been identified. The patient was receiving treatment for a serious underlying illness at Hospices Civils de Lyon and died in early October. Officials announced the finding on Thursday, saying investigations were continuing into the […]
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered an all-out search for survivors and urgent treatment for the injured after a powerful earthquake struck Tibet, killing at least 16 people and leaving dozens injured. The magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Baqen County in Nagqu, in the Xizang Autonomous Region, at 10.33pm on Thursday. Local authorities said on Friday that the number of injured had risen to 65, while the confirmed […]
By Bhasha Singh New defence partnerships are emerging across the world. Their purpose is not merely to strengthen military capabilities but also to reduce dependence on other countries for weapons production and technology. On October 21, Türkiye, Pakistan, Indonesia and Qatar signed the Badr Memorandum of Understanding in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Under this […]
The article From Mecca To Badr: New Defence Alliances And The Questions Facing India appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 23 October 2026 – LeapThought and Google Cloud today announced a strategic partnership to bring sovereign, domain-native AI to the owners and operators of critical building infrastructure, giving them control of their data and sharper decision-making across the full value chain, from delivery through operations.
The partnership has two priorities. The first is value chain integration, which connects everyone involved in delivering and running an asset — owners, operators, developers, consultants, contractors, and suppliers — on one governed platform. The second is security and sovereignty: owners can keep control of their data, within compliant, standardized frameworks that can be repeated from one program to the next.
FULCRUMHQ, LeapThought’s globally recognized Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD) platform, gives infrastructure owners the option to run on Google Cloud, including Google’s sovereign, air-gapped solutions for defense, public sector, and private sector environments requiring high security. At its core is GENIEHQ, LeapThought’s own Industrial AI, embedded directly into the platform and built to reason over the structured and unstructured data that defines a capital program — BIM models, GIS and geospatial data, ERP financials, schedules, contracts, reality capture, telemetry, and data from field robotics and sensors. The partnership pairs GENIEHQ with Google Cloud’s Gemini models, giving owners and their delivery teams natural-language access to that data across a project and a portfolio.
The partnership delivers on these two priorities as follows:
1. Value Chain Integration: One Governed Record, Natural-Language Insight
Major capital and building infrastructure programs span owners, operators, developers, consultants, contractors, and suppliers — each typically working in separate systems, with design, construction, and operational data fragmented across handovers. LeapThought’s FULCRUMHQ platform brings this information together into a single governed record that follows an asset from design through operation, giving owners a consistent view across their portfolio, not just a single project.
By running FULCRUMHQ — and the GENIEHQ Industrial AI embedded within it — on Google Cloud, and integrating LeapThought’s proprietary data architecture with Google’s Gemini models, the partnership enables:
2. Security and Sovereignty: Full Control on Google Cloud’s Sovereign Solutions
For critical civil assets, defense installations, public sector agencies, and private sector owners where data cannot traverse the public cloud, LeapThought gives owners the choice to deploy on Google Cloud’s data residency solutions, including Google Cloud Data Boundary, Google Cloud Dedicated, and Google Distributed Cloud. In these environments, GENIEHQ, LeapThought’s Industrial AI embedded within FULCRUMHQ, runs alongside Gemini locally, within the owner’s chosen security boundary, ensuring zero cross-boundary exposure or unauthorized external telemetry.
“The value of an asset now lies as much in the intelligence around it as in its physical form. That intelligence belongs to the owner, and it must be secure, sovereign, and shared across the whole value chain. Demand for this is growing quickly, in Asia and around the world, and that is what brought us and Google Cloud together. We’re starting from Singapore and building toward a standard for critical infrastructure everywhere,” said Ratnakar Garikipati, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of LeapThought.
“Public sector and critical infrastructure agencies manage some of the most intricate engineering and regulatory datasets in the world. The partnership between Google Cloud and LeapThought enables project teams and portfolio owners to quickly surface actionable insights directly from complex BIM models and program data using everyday language. Combined with Google’s sovereign, air-gapped solutions, we’re providing agencies with the option to modernize project workflows while maintaining strict data governance, residency, and operational sovereignty,” said Rahul Sharma, Managing Director, APAC Public Sector, Google Cloud.
Hashtag: #LeapThought
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
LeapThought is a US technology company that builds software connecting people, data, and AI across the infrastructure lifecycle. It is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, has its Asia headquarters in Singapore, and operates across the United States, Brazil, Singapore, and New Zealand. Its FULCRUMHQ platform and embedded GENIEHQ Industrial AI serve public agencies, developers, consultants, contractors, and universities and institutes of higher learning. Clients include Singapore’s Land Transport Authority, Building and Construction Authority, and JTC. The company was founded and led by Ratnakar Garikipati.
Meta Platforms has agreed to give chief executive Mark Zuckerberg greater freedom to sell shares without surrendering voting control, securing his commitment to remain in California as voters prepare to decide on a billionaire wealth tax. The arrangement, disclosed in a regulatory filing, follows Zuckerberg’s warning that he was considering moving his primary residence outside the state to avoid a potentially multibillion-dollar liability under Proposition 40, which […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai The United Arab Emirates and Greece announced 18 agreements and commercial partnerships worth €12.75 billion ($14.3 billion) on Thursday, alongside plans for another €15 billion of UAE investment in Greece. The announcements came at the UAE-Greece Strategic Forum in Athens, attended by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The package covers […]
Gold prices fell on Friday and headed for their sharpest weekly decline in more than four months as rising energy costs reinforced expectations that the US Federal Reserve will keep interest rates elevated. Spot bullion traded around $4,021 an ounce, extending its weekly loss to approximately 3.6 per cent. US gold futures dropped 0.6 per cent to about $4,035, bringing the psychologically important $4,000 threshold into sharper […]
Abu Dhabi renewable energy company Masdar has priced its $600 million five-year blue bond at 115 basis points above the comparable US Treasury benchmark, narrowing the spread from initial guidance of around 130 basis points. The 15-basis-point tightening establishes the final borrowing margin on the dollar-denominated offering, which is structured as senior unsecured debt and is scheduled to mature on 29 October 2031. The securities carry a […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai The United Arab Emirates has formally nominated senior diplomat Lana Nusseibeh to become the next United Nations secretary-general, introducing a Middle Eastern contender into a leadership contest marked by divisions among the Security Council’s permanent members. President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan submitted her nomination on Wednesday in a letter to the presidents of the General Assembly and Security Council. Nusseibeh, the […]
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 23 October 2026 – Finding a suitable flight is only one part of booking a trip. For travellers comparing regional journeys online, the final decision can also depend on what happens at checkout, from the currency displayed to whether their preferred way to pay is available.
The payment options available at checkout can influence where consumers choose to complete a purchase. According to the 2025 Global Digital Shopping Index: Singapore Edition, 68% of Singapore consumers said access to their preferred payment option influences where they shop, while 41% described it as highly influential. Credit cards, debit cards and digital wallets also ranked among consumers’ preferred payment methods for online purchases.
For travellers, this creates a simple expectation: even when the destination is overseas, checkout should not feel unfamiliar.
For travel platforms, this means convenience needs to extend beyond search and comparison to the final step of booking. Airpaz, a travel booking platform founded in 2011, adapts its booking experience to the market where the traveller is booking, supporting more than 100 payment methods, 61 currencies and 38 languages. In Singapore, available options include PayNow, alongside major credit and debit cards, PayPal, Google Pay and other payment methods.
“Travellers may be heading to the same destination, but how they prefer to complete a booking can differ significantly from one market to another,” said Wesley Wijaya, Chief of Partnership at Airpaz. “Making familiar payment options available helps keep the final step of booking as straightforward as the search itself.”
The importance of that convenience becomes even clearer as travel habits change. The Pacific Asia Travel Association‘s September 2026 Tourism in Focus report, produced with Euromonitor International, found that 11% of Gen Z travellers in APAC take day trips weekly, while 25% cite value for money as their primary trip criterion.
With Gen Z now representing nearly a quarter of total travel spending, these findings highlight the growing commercial importance of younger travellers and the emphasis they place on value when making travel decisions. For this group, the ability to compare a broad range of flights and complete payment using a familiar method can help make the overall booking journey more convenient and easier to repeat.
This is where breadth of choice also becomes important. Airpaz provides access to more than 450 airlines and over 600,000 routes worldwide, giving travellers options across short regional getaways as well as longer international journeys. Popular regional routes available through the platform include Singapore–Kuala Lumpur and Singapore–Bangkok.
“Convenience is about more than comparing fares,” Wesley added. “It is also about how well a platform supports travellers throughout the booking journey, from evaluating their options to completing a transaction. Access to 24/7 live chat and travel protection options can provide an added layer of reassurance, particularly when plans change or travellers need support along the way.”
Whether it is a short regional getaway or a longer holiday, payment flexibility gives travellers another layer of choice once they have found the fare, schedule and route that suit their plans. Airpaz also offers reschedule and refund add-ons, with 24/7 live chat available to support travellers when plans change after booking.
Travellers can compare available flight and booking options through Airpaz.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Airpaz is a Jakarta-headquartered travel booking platform founded in 2011. The company offers flight bookings, hotel and accommodation reservations, and activity bookings. Its mobile apps for iOS and Android support multiple currencies and languages, helping travellers plan and book in a more localised way. Airpaz partners with airlines and accommodation providers worldwide and aims to make travel planning simple, affordable and seamless from search to booking. Visit 
Airpaz to explore available travel options.
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 23 October 2026 – Qashier, the unified merchant operating system serving more than 25,000 businesses across Southeast Asia, today launched QashierGM, an AI general manager that works with a merchant’s whole team. Available at no additional cost to all Qashier merchants in Singapore, QashierGM lives in QashierHQ, the web and mobile app (Android and iOS) merchants use to manage their sales, payouts, products and staff. Owners can ask it about sales, payouts and products in plain language. Merchants on the Qashier plan also get Crew, a new team chat where staff can bring QashierGM into any conversation by tagging @GM. Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines follow in November.
Because QashierGM works directly from each merchant’s own transactions and settlements, it can do what a general-purpose chatbot cannot: explain, line by line, why a payout is lower than the day’s sales, or show which outlet is underperforming this week. Owners get answers grounded in their actual operations, without piecing together reports.
“Most small business owners can’t afford a general manager, so they become one after closing, going through reports at midnight,” said Christopher Choo, Co-Founder and CEO of Qashier. “QashierGM is the manager they never had. It already knows the business, takes on the routine work and never makes a change without asking. With Crew, it now works alongside the whole team, not just the owner.”
The launch follows an open beta that began in September with merchants ranging from single-outlet cafés and shops to multi-outlet chains, with F&B operators the most active. Their most common questions were about sales trends, best sellers and payouts, and with the year-end festive season approaching, many are asking QashierGM to suggest festive promotions built around their most popular items.
Jun Rong, Operations Manager of Coexist Coffee Co., likens using QashierGM to talking to his store managers, only faster. “Running a café means wearing every hat, and the numbers usually wait until after closing. QashierGM already knows our sales, payouts and menu, so I just ask. When we plan a promotion, it suggests ideas based on what our customers actually buy, and nothing changes until I confirm. It feels like having a general manager who’s been with us from day one.”
QashierGM also takes routine admin off the owner’s plate. An owner can ask it to update a price, mark an item as sold out or add a new product, and QashierGM shows a card with exactly what will change and where. Nothing goes live until the owner taps confirm. Multi-outlet operators can compare stores, spot the one underperforming and push a change to every store in one request. Store managers see and change only their own store. Owners can also set alerts in their own words, such as “alert me on any unusual refunds” or “tell me when the first staff clocks in”, and QashierGM tells them when it matters.
Crew: the whole team, with QashierGM in the conversation
Crew, included in the Qashier plan and Enterprise plans, gives a merchant’s team a work chat of its own, separate from personal messaging groups where messages get lost and former staff keep the history. Owners, managers, kitchen and floor staff get private direct messages, group chats by team or department, and announcements with read receipts. Anyone can tag @GM to check a number, update an item or send a customer an invoice with a payment link. QashierGM acts only with the permissions of the person who tagged it, sends bigger changes to whoever can approve them right in the chat, and posts an update when an invoice is paid. It only sees the conversations it is tagged into.
On a typical day, a floor staff member can mark a dish sold out, a manager can approve a price change from her phone, and an owner can send an event deposit invoice and see it paid, all in the same app. Crew and QashierGM work in all major languages used across the region, including English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Thai.
Connectors to third party apps such as Gmail and Google Business Profile arrive in November, extending QashierGM beyond Qashier to supplier emails, customer enquiries and Google reviews. “A good general manager handles the work wherever it lands, not just inside one system,” added Choo. “This is the first step.”
Qashier processes more than US$1 billion in annualised payment volume for over 25,000 merchants across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. The company has been profitable since December 2025 and raised US$6.125 million in Series A+ financing in June 2026. QashierGM is available now to all Qashier merchants in Singapore through QashierHQ on web, Android and iOS, at no additional cost. Crew is included in the Qashier plan and Enterprise plans. Both launch in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines in November. To learn more, visit https://qashier.com/sg/.
Hashtag: #Qashier #QashierGM
https://qashier.com/sg/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/qashier/
https://www.facebook.com/Qashier
https://www.instagram.com/qashier.sg/
Tiktok: 
https://www.tiktok.com/@qashier.sg
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Qashier is a unified merchant operating system that brings together payments, business software, embedded financial services and customer engagement tools on one platform. Operating across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, Qashier supports more than 25,000 SMEs with an integrated ecosystem built for Southeast Asia’s digital economy. Qashier is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a Major Payment Institution. Founded in Singapore in 2019, Qashier gives merchants an AI general manager, QashierGM, and a team chat, Crew, through QashierHQ.
NAF 2026 is designed as an action-oriented platform connecting global investors, industry leaders, and policymakers to advance investment opportunities across strategic sectors. Moving beyond conventional economic dialogue, the forum seeks to translate investment interest into concrete commitments, financing structures, and measurable outcomes.
Pahala Nugraha Mansury, Managing Director of Global Relations & Communications at Danantara Indonesia, emphasized Asia’s growing potential to attract long-term global capital amid shifting economic and geopolitical dynamics.
“Our focus is on encouraging long-term capital to recognize the many investment opportunities across Asian countries, because this is precisely where the center of gravity for growth lies. This will enable growth at scale, anchored by ASEAN and driven by Indonesia as the largest country in ASEAN,” said Pahala.
The Asia-Pacific region currently accounts for nearly 60% of global economic growth. However, long-term international capital allocation to the region remains below its potential, presenting significant opportunities for greater investment collaboration.
NAF 2026 expects to convene more than 1,000 global leaders, feature over 100 speakers, and host more than 40 sessions involving sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors, development finance institutions, multinational corporations, and government representatives. Notable speakers include President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia; Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group; Tshering Tobgay, Prime Minister of Bhutan; Kathleen Quirk, Chief Executive Officer of Freeport-McMoRan; Matteo Renzi, former Prime Minister of Italy; and Israfil Mammadov, Chief Executive Officer of the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The forum will follow a two-day structure: Discovery & Diligence on 3 December, focusing on investment opportunities, feasibility, and transaction structures; and Action & Execution on 4 December, advancing capital commitments, strategic partnerships, and implementation milestones.
Eight priority sectors will anchor the discussions: strategic resources and downstreaming; energy and power; advanced mobility and manufacturing; digital infrastructure and AI; food and agribusiness; trade and connectivity; tourism and creative economy; and education and human capital.
As a founding partner, Danantara Indonesia will participate as a co-investor alongside global partners, supporting investment in strategic sectors and reinforcing Indonesia’s role in regional economic transformation.
Through its transaction-focused approach, NAF 2026 aims to deliver preliminary investment agreements, bankable financing structures, and clearly defined implementation milestones. Investment commitments and progress will be tracked across subsequent editions to promote accountability, continuity, and tangible economic impact for Indonesia and the wider region.
Hashtag: #NewAsiaForum2026
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
