Dubai, UAE — At the forefront of Middle East’ innovative medical community is the name of talented surgeon Dr. Vardan Khachatrian, a visionary specialist and celebrity doctor, whose methods are increasingly shaping expectations across high-end patient segments not only in MENA region, but globally. Industry observers note a growing demand for natural, long-lasting results with minimal visible intervention, particularly among international patients travelling to Dubai for advanced […]
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority has opened a new Al Mutakamela vehicle testing and registration centre in Al Qusais, adding fresh capacity to a part of the city with heavy residential and commercial traffic and extending access to licensing services for motorists in the eastern districts. The facility began operations on 6 April and is intended to ease processing for both private vehicle owners and business customers. […]
Dubai Basketball’s Under-18 Elite team has won the 2026 Basket Cup Sarajevo title, beating Ras Beograd U18 69-53 in the final after an unbeaten run through the tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The victory, secured in the side’s first appearance at the event, marks one of the clearest signs yet that Dubai’s push to build a serious youth basketball pathway is beginning to produce results beyond the […]
Indonesia Blockchain Week will return to Jakarta on August 12 and 13 with organisers positioning the 2026 edition as a pivot point for Web3, arguing that the sector is moving beyond pilot projects and speculative narratives towards infrastructure with measurable economic use. Official event channels identify the Jakarta International Convention Center as the venue and carry the theme “Turning Infrastructure into Impact”, framing the gathering as Southeast Asia’s leading institutional-focused blockchain conference.
That message reflects a wider shift in digital assets. After years dominated by token launches, trading cycles and proof-of-concept experiments, the emphasis across much of the industry has moved towards tokenised securities, cross-border settlement, digital identity, compliant custody and blockchain rails for mainstream financial institutions. Reuters has reported that major market infrastructure players are developing tokenised securities platforms, while analysts have projected strong growth in tokenised real-world assets, even as sceptics warn that much of the promise still sits in early-stage back-office applications rather than broad public adoption.
For Indonesia, that debate carries particular weight because the country has spent the past two years reshaping supervision of digital assets. Regulatory oversight of crypto assets and other digital financial assets was formally transferred from commodity futures regulator Bappebti to the Financial Services Authority, or OJK, under the wider financial sector reform framework. That has tightened the link between blockchain activity and mainstream finance, while signalling that the authorities want a more structured regime around licensing, compliance and consumer safeguards.
OJK’s own public updates show that digital financial assets and crypto supervision now sit within a broader integrity and resilience agenda for the financial system, alongside sandbox oversight and enforcement. That regulatory direction matters for a conference such as Indonesia Blockchain Week because institutional investors, banks and enterprises are less likely to engage seriously with Web3 infrastructure unless licensing, governance and disclosure standards are clearer than they were during the sector’s earlier growth phase.
Another strand of the Indonesian story is the state’s interest in sovereign digital infrastructure. Bank Indonesia’s Project Garuda, the central bank’s digital rupiah initiative, has been presented as part of a broader effort to safeguard monetary sovereignty in the digital era. Even though a retail or wholesale digital rupiah remains under development rather than fully launched, the project has become one of the clearest signs that distributed ledger technology is being examined not just by crypto-native firms but by the institutions that underpin payments and currency systems.
That backdrop helps explain why conference organisers are leaning into the language of “impact”. Across Asia, the conversation has become more institutional and more policy-aware. Reuters reported last year that wealthy Asian investors were increasing crypto exposure, while other reporting this year has shown how tokenisation is moving closer to exchanges and regulated financial venues. At the same time, risks remain central to the story: the IMF warned this month that tokenised finance could amplify market stress if regulatory guardrails and crisis-response mechanisms do not keep pace with technology.
That balance between promise and caution is likely to define the Jakarta event. Proponents of tokenisation argue that blockchain-based representations of bonds, funds, property interests and other assets can reduce settlement delays, widen market access and make ownership more divisible. Critics counter that many of these benefits are still more theoretical than proven at scale, and that fragmented standards, legal uncertainty and cybersecurity risks continue to hold the sector back. Reuters’ explainer on tokenisation captured that divide by noting both the liquidity and access arguments advanced by supporters and the unresolved questions over how fast real adoption will follow.
Indonesia Blockchain Week itself appears keen to place the country at the centre of that regional conversation. Organiser material describes the event as a gateway between local innovation and global capital, policy and technology networks. Yet the official website also shows some transitional messaging, with parts of the site still carrying 2025 branding even as other official channels and partner announcements point to the August 2026 summit. That inconsistency does not alter the announced dates, but it does suggest organisers are still in the process of consolidating the event’s next edition across platforms.
Psychedelic drugs appear to alter consciousness by loosening the brain’s usual chain of command, allowing regions that normally operate in more separate layers to communicate more freely, according to a large international analysis of brain scans that is helping sharpen scientific understanding of how substances such as LSD, psilocybin, DMT, mescaline and ayahuasca affect perception and the sense of self. The study, published in Nature Medicine on […]
HANOI, VIETNAM – Media OutReach Newswire – 6 April 2026 – On April 6, 2026, three Vingroup member organizations—the “For Green Future” Foundation, VinUniversity, and VinTechTalent (Vingroup Young Technology Talent Club) – officially launched the Asian Hackathon for Green Future, a competition dedicated to developing technology-driven solutions for a sustainable future. Open to undergraduate and master’s students from universities across Asia, the competition offers a total prize pool of USD 24,000.
The Asian Hackathon for Green Future officially opened for registration on April 6, 2026, marking the start of the competition, with a total prize pool of USD 24,000. Photo courtesy of the “For Green Future” Foundation.
This marks the first time an Asia-wide environmental hackathon exclusively for undergraduate and master’s students is held in Vietnam. The competition aims to identify and develop technology-driven solutions to pressing environmental challenges, while fostering innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration among the younger generation.
Participants will advance through three main stages: Registration & Preliminary (April 6 – May 17, 2026); Online Training Phase (June 2 – June 28, 2026); and Final Round & Hackathon at VinUniversity (July 2 – July 5, 2026, tentative).
During the Registration & Preliminary Round, participants register online in teams of up to four members. Eligible applicants must be current undergraduate or master’s students at universities across Asia.
Application materials include an idea proposal and an introductory video. Based on evaluation by the Technical Board, the Top 30 teams will be selected to advance to the next stage.
The competition encourages interdisciplinary ideas that integrate multiple fields—including technology, environmental sciences, economics, and social sciences—with the aim of creating solutions that are innovative, feasible, and socially impactful.
Proposed ideas should address one of three key challenge areas: Renewable Energy and Low-Carbon Mobility; Urban Air Quality and Climate Resilience; Water Resources and Climate-Resilient Agriculture.
During the Online Training Round, the Top 30 teams will participate in a series of intensive training sessions and expert consultations with multidisciplinary specialists. These sessions are designed to equip teams with deeper domain knowledge and up-to-date insights on sustainability trends and relevant technologies, enabling them to further refine and expand their proposed solutions.
During the Final Round and Award Ceremony, all travel and accommodation expenses for the Top 30 teams will be fully covered. The teams will take part in a 24-hour hackathon at VinUniversity (Hanoi), where they will further develop and refine their technology-driven solutions before presenting them to the Judging Panel. Based on this evaluation, the Top 9 teams will be selected to advance to the final assessment round, from which the winning team will be determined.
The Chair of the Judging Panel is Prof. Duong Nguyen Vu, Vice Provost of Graduate Education at VinUniversity and Chief Scientific Officer at the Center for AI Research. He had been a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore until July 2025, where he served as Scientific Director at the Air Traffic Management Research Institute (ATMRI). Under his leadership—as Executive Director until 2025—the institute has emerged as a global leader in air traffic management research, thanks in large part to the scientific foundation he helped establish. Before joining NTU, Prof. Vu was the founding Director of the John von Neumann Institute at Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, spearheading university-industry collaborations and championing innovation and entrepreneurship in education.
Prior to returning to Vietnam in 2010, he was Head of Innovative Research and Senior Scientific Advisor at the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL). He also advised Vietnam’s Minister of Planning and Investment on innovation strategy, contributing to the establishment of the National Innovation Center.
The competition offers a total prize pool of USD 24,000, comprising one First Prize of USD 8,000, one Second Prize of USD 5,000, two Third Prizes of USD 3,000 each, and five Consolation Prizes of USD 1,000 each. Beyond the awards, participating teams will gain valuable opportunities to engage with leading experts from across the region, expand their professional networks, and strengthen their access to the broader innovation ecosystem.
Dr. Le Thai Ha, Managing Director of the “For Green Future” Foundation and Head of the Organizing Committee, shared: “We believe that ideas with the power to shape the future do not always emerge from large laboratories or well-established institutions; they often arise from the insight, initiative, and determination of young people to make a difference. Through the Asian Hackathon for Green Future, we seek to create a platform where students across the region can transform their environmental awareness into tangible, innovative solutions that deliver meaningful impact for communities and the future.”
The Asian Hackathon for Green Future is expected to foster innovation aligned with sustainable development, while contributing to the development of a new generation of young talents capable of cross-border collaboration to create solutions with lasting, positive impact across the region.
Paramount Skydance is moving to shore up financing for its planned takeover of Warner Bros Discovery with nearly $24 billion in equity commitments from three Gulf sovereign wealth funds, a step that would strengthen funding for one of the biggest media deals ever attempted and deepen Middle East capital’s role in reshaping Hollywood. The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is […]
Al Hudayriyat Island has emerged as one of Abu Dhabi’s clearest statements of how urban expansion, tourism strategy and lifestyle planning are being fused into a single waterfront destination, as the emirate pushes to raise liveability, broaden its non-oil economy and create new high-value districts beyond its traditional city core. Developed by Modon, the island’s evolution has moved well beyond a beach-and-leisure concept into a much […]
Scientists in Poland have built an ultrathin optical structure that traps infrared light inside a layer about 40 nanometres thick, a result that pushes light confinement far below the scale long regarded as practical for conventional photonic components. The work, led by researchers at the University of Warsaw with partners at Łódź University of Technology, Warsaw University of Technology and the Polish Academy of Sciences, uses patterned […]
Bit Reactor founder Greg Foertsch has praised Lucasfilm Games and Respawn Entertainment for backing Star Wars Zero Company, saying the decision to build a turn-based tactics title around one of entertainment’s biggest franchises stood out at a time when much of the games business is leaning towards safer, more familiar ideas. Foertsch said the two companies showed “vision and the courage and the conviction” by trusting a […]
Gold prices extended their retreat as investors recalibrated expectations for US interest rates after stronger labour-market signals collided with a worsening conflict in the Middle East, a combination that lifted the dollar, pushed oil higher and revived concerns that inflation could stay stubborn for longer. Spot bullion has come under pressure even as geopolitical risk remains elevated, an unusual pattern that reflects how sharply energy costs and […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Huawei has raised its research spending to one of the heaviest levels in the global technology industry, saying it invested CNY192.3 billion in 2025, or roughly $27.8 billion, equal to 21.8% of annual revenue. The figure came with group revenue of CNY880.9 billion and net profit of CNY68 billion, underlining how the Shenzhen-based company is continuing to prioritise long-term technology development even as […]
Justin Bieber’s headline-grabbing purchase of a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT for about $1.3 million in January 2022 has become one of the clearest symbols of how sharply the NFT market has deflated, with comparable pricing for the collection now hovering around $11,000 to $12,000. The singer bought Bored Ape #3001 for 500 ether at a time when digital collectibles were commanding extraordinary sums, fuelled by celebrity […]
Dentsu has appointed Yusuke Kagohara as chief financial officer for Southeast Asia, handing him a mandate that goes beyond traditional finance oversight as the advertising and marketing group tightens governance and prepares for a more disciplined phase of expansion across one of Asia’s most competitive markets. The appointment took effect immediately, and Kagohara will report to Sanjay Bhasin, chief executive for Southeast Asia.
The move lands at a sensitive point for global agency networks. Growth remains available across Southeast Asia, but margins, client expectations and regulatory scrutiny are all sharpening. Dentsu’s own framing makes clear that this is not merely a replacement hire. Company statements and industry reports describe the post as part of a wider effort to deepen strategic and financial discipline and strengthen governance across the regional cluster, which covers Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The business employs more than 4,000 people in the region under what Dentsu describes as a borderless operating model formed in 2023.
Kagohara arrives with a profile that fits that brief. Before this appointment, he served as group head of risks and controls at Dentsu Group Inc., where he worked on internal controls, enterprise risk management and broader governance and remediation efforts. Earlier assignments included chief financial officer and deputy chief financial officer roles in Beijing and at Dentsu Creative China, experience that gave him exposure to large and complex operating environments in Asia. Industry coverage of the appointment has also highlighted his background in corporate strategy, transformation and all-round finance, suggesting the company wanted someone comfortable with both compliance architecture and commercial execution.
That background matters because agency finance chiefs are no longer judged only on forecasting, cost control and reporting. They are increasingly central to how networks integrate acquisitions, police internal controls, price AI-enabled services and defend profitability while clients demand more measurable returns. Dentsu has been signalling this shift at group level for months. Its global management overhaul announced in February was pitched around stronger execution, while its 2025 integrated report and governance materials emphasised capital discipline, internal investment, productivity and the strengthening of leadership and controls.
Southeast Asia gives that challenge extra complexity. The cluster spans fast-growing but highly uneven markets, each with different media structures, regulatory standards, client mixes and digital maturity. Dentsu has described the region as one of the world’s fastest-growing, and its own ad spend outlook has projected Asia Pacific growth ahead of the wider global economy. In December, the company forecast that global advertising spend would rise 5.1 per cent in 2026 to more than $1 trillion, with Asia Pacific remaining the fastest-growing region. For a network trying to convert that momentum into durable earnings, stronger financial control becomes a strategic tool rather than a back-office function.
Bhasin’s comments underline that point. In remarks carried by multiple reports and company-linked posts, he said growth on its own was not enough and that the business needed expansion that was “accountable, resilient, and built to last”. He described Kagohara’s experience in governance, transformation and complex markets as critical to the next stage of Southeast Asia’s development. Kagohara, for his part, said the region stood out for its scale, complexity and ambition, adding that strong fundamentals were universal even when market conditions varied widely. Those comments indicate a leadership view that the next test for Dentsu is not whether Southeast Asia can grow, but whether it can do so with tighter controls and greater consistency across markets.
The timing also follows a change in the seat Kagohara is filling. Trade reports late last month said Bharti Agrawal, who had served as CFO for Southeast Asia at Dentsu, had moved to Monks as chief financial officer for APAC marketing services. That succession gives the new appointment a sharper operational significance, because it suggests Dentsu moved quickly to avoid drift in a role that sits at the centre of planning, compliance and regional coordination.
Patients with dangerously hard-to-control blood pressure may be moving closer to a new treatment option after late-stage evidence showed baxdrostat can cut systolic pressure in people who do not respond adequately to standard medicines. The once-daily pill, developed by AstraZeneca, works by blocking aldosterone synthase, an enzyme involved in producing the hormone aldosterone, which drives salt and water retention and can keep blood pressure elevated despite multiple […]
Microsoft has rolled out three first-party artificial intelligence models aimed at speech transcription, voice generation and image creation, stepping up its push to offer developers and companies a broader in-house alternative to rival tools. The new systems — MAI-Transcribe-1, MAI-Voice-1 and MAI-Image-2 — are available through Microsoft Foundry, while the company’s MAI Playground has opened access for trials in the United States. The launch puts the spotlight […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Iran’s downing of a US F-15E Strike Eagle and the loss of another American combat aircraft in the Gulf theatre have pushed Washington’s war with Tehran into a more dangerous phase, exposing the risks of a campaign that has already rattled oil markets and widened instability across the Middle East. US officials said one member of the F-15E crew was rescued while another […]
Wall Street’s rush to treat hyperscalers as the safest way to profit from artificial intelligence is running into a harder question: whether all that spending will generate returns fast enough to justify the cost. Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta are pushing capital expenditure to extraordinary levels as they race to build data centres, secure chips and expand cloud capacity, but investors are facing a business model that […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Saudi Arabia has launched the pilot phase of “Ahlan”, a new mobile application designed to serve as a single digital identity for supporters attending football tournaments hosted by the Kingdom, as organisers step up preparations for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027. The platform is intended to bring together trip planning, ticketing, transport and stadium access in one system, with the first […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Patients in the UAE are set to gain access from May to a new once-daily obesity treatment in tablet form after the Emirates Drug Establishment approved Eli Lilly’s Foundayo, known chemically as orforglipron, marking what officials described as the second national registration for the medicine and widening treatment choices beyond injections. The decision places the UAE among the earliest markets to back a […]
Dubai Municipality has unveiled a Dh150 million plan to install electric-vehicle supercharging facilities across 600 public parking spaces at parks, beaches and recreational sites, in a move aimed at widening access to charging beyond roadsides, malls and fuel stations. The scheme, announced on Friday, is being rolled out with Emarat EV Charging Stations Company, known as UAEV, and its first phase will bring 75 supercharging stations serving […]
Greenlogue/AP TotalEnergies and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC – Masdar have signed a binding agreement to create a $2.2 billion joint venture that will combine their onshore renewable energy activities across nine Asian markets, in a move that underlines how large energy groups are shifting capital towards power demand growth in the region. The partners said the new platform will be owned equally, based in Abu […]
JAKARTA, INDONESIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 3 April 2026 – Green SM Indonesia and Bank Central Asia (BCA) today announced the signing of a five-year investment loan agreement with a total value of IDR 600 billion, marking the formalization of a long-term financial partnership between the two parties.
Green SM Indonesia has officially signed a IDR 600 billion investment loan agreement with BCA, strengthening its long-term financial foundation and advancing sustainable urban mobility in Indonesia.
The agreement marks the next phase of cooperation between Green SM Indonesia and BCA, reflecting a shared commitment to supporting sustainable, well-governed business development in Indonesia’s urban mobility sector.
The investment loan facility is intended to support Green SM Indonesia’s operational readiness and service continuity. The facility provides a stable financial structure to underpin the company’s disciplined growth approach and support consistent service delivery across its existing urban operations.
The signing builds on earlier cooperation between the two parties, which began with Green SM’s market launch in Jakarta in December 2024. Since then, BCA and Green SM Indonesia have collaborated on customer-focused programs and initiatives to improve service accessibility and raise awareness of environmentally responsible transportation solutions. The transition from cooperation activities to a formal financing arrangement reflects the maturation of this partnership and BCA’s support in Green SM Indonesia’s operational model and governance standards.
The cooperation also reflects BCA’s broader role in supporting business sectors that are adapting to evolving urban development needs, including shifts toward more efficient and forward-looking mobility solutions.
Representing BCA, Mr. Denny Haryanto, SVP Corporate Banking BCA said: “This agreement reflects our approach to supporting businesses with a long-term outlook. Sustainable transportation is increasingly important to Indonesia’s urban development. Through this cooperation, we support initiatives that align with long-term economic resilience and environmental responsibility.”
Mr. Deny Tjia, Managing Director of Green SM Indonesia, said the agreement reflects trust built through consistent cooperation and shared values. “The investment loan agreement reflects recognition of the disciplined operating model and long-term development orientation that Green SM Indonesia has pursued since its early stages. The facility further strengthens the company’s financial foundation, supporting stable and consistent service delivery across the cities where it operates.”
Since commencing operations, Green SM Indonesia has established a presence in several major urban centers, including Jakarta, Makassar, Bekasi, Surabaya, and Bali. These cities face increasingly complex urban mobility requirements alongside rising expectations for cleaner, more responsible transport solutions. In the Indonesian market, Green SM provides all-electric taxi services that support routine urban travel while reducing emissions and noise. The company’s operating approach emphasizes reliability, professional service standards, and scalability aligned with city-level transport planning.
Through this agreement, Green SM Indonesia and BCA reaffirm their shared view that the transition to sustainable urban mobility requires not only electric vehicle technology but also sound financial structures, responsible governance, and long-term commitment. The investment loan agreement is a practical step to support that transition in Indonesia’s evolving mobility landscape.
Hashtag: #GreenSM
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About GSM & Green SM
GSM (Green Smart Mobility) is the world’s first company to operate an all-electric ride-hailing service across multiple platforms. As a pioneer in sustainable transportation, GSM has built the foundation for a cleaner, smarter, and more responsible mobility model powered entirely by VinFast electric vehicles. GSM is committed to developing a future-ready mobility ecosystem and inspiring greener lifestyles in countries rapidly embracing sustainability.
Green SM is GSM’s official global brand, representing the company’s vision and values in every market it serves. In Southeast Asia, Green SM operates in Indonesia; under the name Xanh SM in Vietnam and Laos; and as Green GSM in the Philippines. Across all markets, the brand offers a refined travel experience with VinFast electric cars, professional drivers, and a service culture centered on safety and care.
Green SM represents progress toward a future where technology, the environment, and humanity advance together in harmony. The brand is committed not only to providing zero-emission transportation but also to fostering an environmentally conscious society in every market it serves.
Security researchers at Varonis have identified a new infostealer dubbed Storm that appears to mark a more polished phase in credential theft, using server-side decryption to extract browser passwords, session cookies, crypto-wallet data and other sensitive material while avoiding many of the on-device traces that endpoint tools have grown used to flagging. The malware was observed on underground forums in early 2026 and is being sold as […]
