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Youth Co:Lab Summit 2024 Provides a Platform for Youth from Singapore to Shine on the Regional Stage

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The Regional Youth Co:Lab Summit, jointly organized by Citi Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), positions young people at the forefront to solve the region’s most pressing challenges

SINGAPORE, July 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Representing Singapore – Greenairy and Moonbeam, young social enterprises focused on air purification and repurposing excess produce respectively, joined over 200 participants from 20 countries and territories gathered in the Philippines at the Youth Co:Lab Summit 2024. Centered on the theme of ‘Inclusive Entrepreneurship’, the Summit was a platform to celebrate and highlight the critical role of young entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds in driving sustainable and equitable economic development and in advancing the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Youth Co:Lab Summit 2024 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Citi Foundation, was organized together with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Department of Trade and Industry Philippines (DTI). 

Held at the ADB Headquarters in Manila, Philippines recently, the Summit was a platform to champion inclusivity in entrepreneurship, promote youth-driven climate initiatives, and harness digital skills where young social entrepreneurs present their inclusive solutions, female-centric initiatives, support for underserved communities and innovative climate responses to build inclusive and just societies. The two-day summit saw participants from diverse backgrounds, including young social entrepreneurs, government delegates, private sector partners, investors, and other youth community partners also joining virtually.

Founder of Greenairy Tanvi Ravindra Thombre, and Co-Founder of The Moonbeam Toh Varden showcased their innovative solutions before a high-level judging panel at the regional summit, highlighting their commitment to sustainability and inventive approaches. Greenairy, provides an innovative plant-based air purification solution for indoor spaces, delivering clean air efficiently through active air phytoremediation technology, and The Moonbeam aims to repurpose excess produce and create high-value products that can be consumed instead of being wasted, focusing on creating products with greater value showcased their innovative solutions at the regional summit, highlighting their commitment to sustainability and inventive approaches.     

Commenting on the experience Tanvi Ravindra Thombre, Founder of Greenairy said: “Meeting other youth change-makers and hearing about their diverse solutions reinforced the power of the youth in driving impactful change. Hearing from the government and social incubators reminded us that it takes a village to grow an enterprise. We will take these insights back and continue to grow our sustainability efforts with Greenairy. Knowing we have Youth Co:lab’s support in terms of mentorship, funding, exposure, and opportunities encourages us to work even harder to make our social innovation a reality.”

“Through our Pathways to Progress job skills-building initiative, the Citi Foundation has been a longtime supporter of organizations working around the globe to address the persistent issue of youth unemployment,” said Florencia Spangaro, Chief Operating Officer of the Citi Foundation. “With its focus on inclusive entrepreneurship, this year’s Youth Co:Lab Summit is a celebration of the next generation of diverse entrepreneurs and innovators who are committed to leaving a positive mark on their communities.”

The Summit provided a regional space for young social entrepreneurs across the Asia-Pacific region to foster knowledge and idea exchanges through networking and collaboration, inspire and engage youth to take action, discuss emerging trends in the youth entrepreneurship ecosystem, advocate for policies to enhance its resilience and inaugurate collaborative initiatives for inclusive youth entrepreneurship.

Youth Co:Lab Summit 2024 was also held in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), CVC Capital Partners, the Commonwealth Secretariat (CWS), EY, The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the Spark Project, and the StartupUp Quezon City and the Local Economic Investment Promotions Office of the Local Government of Quezon City.

In Singapore, Youth Co:Lab has been partnering government agency National Youth Council since 2020 through the Youth Action Challenge (YAC) – a four-month national program that gives youths opportunities to ideate and develop potential ideas, be provided with resources, networks, and funds to implement their ideas. The initiative has benefited a total of 1100 young people since its inception, with a balanced and diverse representation across youths’ age groups, education, and gender.

Youth Co:Lab, co-created by UNDP and the Citi Foundation in 2017, is the largest youth movement for empowerment, social entrepreneurship, equality, and social inclusion in Asia Pacific and has supported young people in 28 countries and territories. Since its inception, activities supported by Youth Co:Lab have reached 280,300 participants across the Asia-Pacific region.

About Citi

Citi is a preeminent banking partner for institutions with cross-border needs, a global leader in wealth management and a valued personal bank in its home market of the United States. Citi does business in more than 180 countries and jurisdictions, providing corporations, governments, investors, institutions and individuals with a broad range of financial products and services.  

Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | X: @Citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi 

About Citi Foundation

The Citi Foundation works to promote economic progress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities around the world. We invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion, catalyze job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building economically vibrant communities. The Citi Foundation’s “More than Philanthropy” approach leverages the enormous expertise of Citi and its people to fulfill our mission and drive thought leadership and innovation. For more information, visit www.citifoundation.com.  

About UNDP

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet. Learn more at undp.org or follow at @UNDP.

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CGTN: China, Myanmar agree to deepen pragmatic cooperation across the board

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BEIJING, June 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Marking a new milestone in bilateral ties, President of Myanmar Min Aung Hlaing completed his first state visit to China from June 15 to 19, opening a new chapter of in-depth, multi-field pragmatic cooperation between the two neighboring countries.

By visiting China Railway Construction Corporation Limited in Beijing and traveling from the Chinese capital to Shanghai aboard the Fuxing high-speed train, the Myanmar president experienced China’s development achievements firsthand, and voiced Myanmar’s strong willingness to further expand practical infrastructure cooperation with China.

Throughout the fruitful visit, the two countries signed a series of cooperation agreements, consolidating their time-honored “pauk-phaw” friendship.

During a meeting with Min Aung Hlaing on Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China stands ready to share its development experience with Myanmar and jointly build a China-Myanmar community with a shared future, which is underpinned by political amity and mutual trust, win-win development, security coordination and people-to-people exchanges.

For years, China has remained Myanmar’s largest trading partner, largest source of imports and most important source of investment. Bilateral trade reached $19.4 billion in 2025, up 19.1% year on year.

Boasting prominent structural complementarity, the trade landscape sees China exporting electromechanical equipment and vehicles to Myanmar while importing high-quality agricultural products and mineral resources from Myanmar, forming a mutually beneficial and stable industrial and trade cycle.

As a key landmark of Belt and Road cooperation, the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor has entered a fast-track development phase. A cluster of flagship projects, including the New Yangon City, the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone and the China-Myanmar Railway, have gradually taken shape, forming a solid framework for the construction of the corridor.

These major connectivity projects have effectively driven Myanmar’s industrial upgrading, and improved local livelihoods, injecting strong impetus into cross-border economic integration.

During Tuesday’s talks, Xi reiterated that the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor is a flagship project of the Belt and Road cooperation.

The two sides need to steadily advance the construction of major projects on the basis of ensuring safety and security, and support Myanmar in growing its economy and improving livelihoods, he said.

China, Xi added, stands ready to implement more “small and beautiful” assistance programs, and jointly tell the stories of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

China and Myanmar on Tuesday issued a lengthy joint statement on accelerating the building of a community with a shared future between the two countries to better benefit the people of both countries.

In a demonstration of the depth and breadth of bilateral relations, the two sides signed a number of cooperative documents, covering transport, science and technology, intellectual property rights, human resources development, public health and media.

Bilateral and multilateral law-enforcement cooperation to combat cross-border criminal activities was also highlighted during the visit, with China and Myanmar expressing their support for the establishment of an international alliance against telecom cyber fraud.

Over recent months, through joint law enforcement coordination, China and Myanmar have cracked down the telecom fraud criminal operations in northern Myanmar, effectively upholding peace and stability along the border as well as the safety of lives and property of people of both countries.

During the talks, Xi said the two sides need to continue cracking down on criminal activities including online gambling, telecom fraud and drug trafficking, and fully safeguard the interests and security of the two peoples.

For his part, Min Aung Hlaing said Myanmar stands ready to work closely with China to resolutely combat online gambling and telecom fraud and safeguard security and stability in the border areas.

Qu Jianwen, chief of the Yunnan Province Association for Southeast Asian Studies, wrote that the China visit by Myanmar’s president vividly demonstrates the sound and growing momentum of bilateral cooperation.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-06-19/China-Myanmar-agree-to-deepen-pragmatic-cooperation-across-the-board-1O64ed6YbYI/p.html

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SOURCE CGTN

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Protecting and Innovating Critical Infrastructure Through New Security Landscapes

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The following article is authored by Skyla Loomis, General Manager, IBM Z Software

ARMONK, N.Y., June 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Over the last few years, we’ve seen seismic shift in enterprise computing. From the rise of machine learning to today’s agentic AI, computing systems have advanced beyond tools into active assistants, requiring new levels of secure, high-powered and efficient infrastructure.

One thing hasn’t changed though the decades. IBM Z has been the most resilient server platform in the market with its average yearly downtime as less than a third of a second.1

This reputation is because as technology has evolved, so has IBM Z. Today, clients have more workloads that may be considered highly sensitive and mission-critical given new sovereignty and regulation requirements, and continue to turn to IBM Z for their core applications.

IBM is continuing to innovate mainframes to address and combat the technological challenges of the future. As part of this mission, today we’re announcing the general availability of three new Z software tools designed to not only meet clients where they are, but to start addressing future challenges such as frontier model attacks. These complement our recent developments with Project Glasswing and our commitment to open-source security with Project Lightwell.

As a leading provider in hybrid cloud, AI and consulting expertise, IBM has developed decades of IBM Z Software to help clients protect themselves for what’s ahead. In cybersecurity, IBM developed IBM Concert for Z last year for enterprises to discover and address vulnerabilities across the entire landscape because we saw the siloed nature of infrastructure and application teams across an organization. Hybrid infrastructure is the reality and we are passionate about giving teams world-class software built to innovate and defend the full stack for the future – IBM Z included.

The following tools are now generally available:

IBM zSecure Detection – Evolving threats mean enterprises need better ways of monitoring and responding. IBM zSecure Detection monitors IBM Z activity for things like ransomware and suspicious behavior across the system. Enterprises now have a comprehensive tool to detect, investigate and respond on z/OS to strengthen their security posture.IBM zSecure Secret Manager – Certificate management can be a burden for infrastructure and security teams. As the lifespan of these certificates shortens, teams need a secure, continuous monitoring for z/OS environments in IBM Z and LinuxONE. Powered by IBM Vault Self-Managed for Z, IBM zSecure Secret Manager gives z/OS teams an automated and cohesive way of addressing certificate management with shortened certificate lifecycle deadlines and fragmented management strategies.IBM Z Database Assistant – IBM Z stands apart with its data integrity, but AI has shifted the need from access to intelligence. Now database teams can use agentic AI to optimize DBA performance, accelerate tasks and help ensure your trusted data is continuously available. IBM Z Database Assistant is proactive, autonomous and intelligent, designed for the future of data operations.

With security threats and new ways of working on IBM Z, we’re equipping the teams that work tirelessly on critical infrastructure to build and operate for the future. The bar for resiliency and 99.999999% uptime1remains the same for our clients, but IBM Z Software will continue to innovate so enterprises can manage and protect their core infrastructure and workloads.

Learn more about the latest Z Software solutions:

IBM zSecure DetectionIBM zSecure Secret ManagerIBM Z Database Assistant

1. ITIC 2025 Global Server Hardware, Server OS Reliability Report, February 2026

About IBM
IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service.  Visit www.ibm.com for more information.

Media contact:

Marshall Hampson
IBM
marshall.hampson@ibm.com

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KCS Opens KuCoin’s Ninth Anniversary Chapter, Advancing Token Utility as a Value Participation Layer

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The upgraded KCS experience brings trading efficiency, rewards, payment benefits and ecosystem privileges into one unified user journey.

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, June 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — KuCoin, a leading global crypto platform built on trust, today announced the upgraded KCS experience, marking the opening chapter of KuCoin’s ninth anniversary journey and a new step in the evolution of KCS from a platform utility token into a broader value participation layer across the KuCoin ecosystem.

Nine years ago, KCS was introduced to reward and empower KuCoin’s earliest users. Since then, both KuCoin and the broader digital asset industry have undergone profound transformation. What began as a token primarily associated with trading benefits has gradually evolved into a broader ecosystem asset connecting users with rewards, payments,  loyalty privileges and community participation.

As digital asset ecosystems mature,  the role of exchange-native tokens is changing as well. Exchange-native tokens are no longer defined only by isolated benefits or short-term incentives. They are increasingly becoming participation layers that connect users with value across an entire ecosystem. The upgraded KCS experience addresses this shift by bringing fragmented KCS-related benefits into a more connected and actionable journey. Through the upgraded experience, users can better discover and activate KCS benefits across trading fee reductions, rewards, loyalty privileges, KuCard-related incentives and broader ecosystem programs through one clearer pathway. This reflects KuCoin’s trust-first approach in practice: making platform value easier to understand, more transparent to access and more consistent across touchpoints.

“KCS has grown alongside our users and our ecosystem for nearly nine years,” said BC Wong, CEO of KuCoin. “As the industry evolves, we believe the next generation of exchange-native tokens will be defined not simply by utility, but by how effectively they connect users with ecosystem value. Our vision is for KCS to serve as a participation layer that brings together trading, rewards, payments, and future ecosystem experiences into one cohesive journey.”

KCS, the native token of the KuCoin ecosystem, has long served as a bridge between users and KuCoin’s platform value. With this upgrade, KCS’s long-term vision of moving blockchain “from geeks to mass adoption” and building a blockchain-based value self-circulation ecosystem is being translated into a clearer and more practical user experience, making KCS easier to understand, activate and use across KuCoin.

The milestone arrives at a symbolic moment for KuCoin, serving as the opening chapter of its ninth-anniversary journey. As KuCoin prepares to celebrate nine years of growth, the evolution of KCS reflects the broader transformation of KuCoin itself — from a crypto exchange into a global digital asset ecosystem spanning trading, payments, Web3 infrastructure, institutional services and emerging technologies such as AI. In this next chapter, KCS is designed to become a clearer user-facing gateway to KuCoin’s expanding ecosystem, helping users better discover, understand and participate in the value created across the platform. As KuCoin enters its ninth anniversary, the upgraded KCS experience sets the tone for a broader vision: making ecosystem value more accessible, connected and meaningful for users worldwide.

About KuCoin

Founded in 2017, KuCoin is a leading global crypto platform built on trust and security, serving over 40 million users across 200+ countries and regions. Known for its reliability and user-first approach, the platform combines advanced technology, deep liquidity, and strong security safeguards to deliver a seamless trading experience. KuCoin provides access to 1,500+ digital assets through a broad product suite and remains committed to building transparent, compliant, and user-centric digital asset infrastructure for the future of finance, backed by SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, and ISO/IEC 27701:2019 Certifications. In recent years, we have built a strong global compliance foundation, marked by key milestones including AUSTRAC registration in Australia, a MiCA license in Europe, and regulatory progress in other markets.

Learn more at www.kucoin.com.

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