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Saudi Arabia Launches Sand and Dust Storm Monitoring Initiative to Expand Global Early Warning System Capacity

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Resilience Day at COP16 in Riyadh mobilizes action and financing

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Saudi Arabia’s UNCCD COP16 Presidency has announced the launch of an international initiative for sand and dust storm monitoring, part of a regional sand and dust storm early warning system, in a major boost for global early warning systems. The initiative will expand on existing international sand and dust storm capacity, overseen by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Part of the Riyadh Action Agenda at COP16 in Riyadh, the announcement took place during Resilience Day on Tuesday, a thematic day at COP16 designed to amplify action on global resilience initiatives. Discussions and events throughout the day sought to deliver renewed funding and solutions to combat land degradation, drought, and desertification. Two billion tonnes of sand and dust enter the atmosphere every year according to the UNCCD, equivalent in weight to 350 Great Pyramids of Giza. Over 25% is estimated to be due to human activity.

Based in Jeddah, the Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System (SDS-WAS), increases the number of global WMO-affiliated nodes to four, part of an international network including Beijing, Barcelona, and Barbados.

Speaking about the growing capacity of the center during a panel discussion, Jumaan Al-Qahtani, CEO, GCC Regional Sand and Dust Storms Warning Advisory and Assessment Node, Jeddah, said: “The center managed to develop three models with different resolutions that have been validated to predict sand and dust storms in the region, and they are all now in operation.”

Al-Qahtani also addressed an initiative to increase global monitoring, warning, and coordination for sand and dust storms, saying: “Saudi Arabia just launched an international partnership initiative where we want to enhance early warning systems in those countries that are not able to do it. This will be done through the WMO accredited regional centers that now exist, and Saudi Arabia will fund this initiative with $10 million for the next five years. We call upon other UN organizations and countries to support this initiative.”

Scaling global drought resilience also featured heavily in official dialogue throughout the ninth day of COP16 in Riyadh. It comes after Saudi Arabia launched the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, part of the Riyadh Action Agenda, at the beginning of COP16 in Riyadh. It has already secured $2.15 billion in financial backing.

“Over 1.8 billion people are impacted by drought, with this number forecast to accelerate. Drought resilience must be a global priority, one that see’s us shift from a reactive response after droughts hit, to a proactive stance of comprehensive drought readiness and resilience,” said Dr. Osama Faqeeha, Deputy Minister for Environment, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, and Advisor to the UNCCD COP16 Presidency.

“We are very proud to launch the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership during COP16 in Riyadh, and we are very proud of the of the stakeholders that already supported the partnership. We are calling upon all countries, organizations, private sector, and NGOs, to join us in these efforts to enhance drought resilience. With this initiative we are targeting the 80 most vulnerable countries to drought,” added Dr Faqeeha.

Elsewhere during the COP16 Resilience Day, the World Bank announced they had raised $24 billion in donor contributions, as part of their International Development Association. In a statement, the World Bank said this will help generate a total of $100 billion in affordable financing. Amongst other areas, the funding will be used to support climate resilience, farmers, and boost infrastructure, in 78 countries determined to be most in need. COP16 in Riyadh is mobilizing global state and non-state actors, seeking to enhance international land restoration and drought resilience initiatives.

About COP16 Riyadh: 

The UNCCD COP16 conference is taking place from December 2-13, 2024, at Boulevard Riyadh World, Saudi Arabia. The conference, themed Our Land. Our Future, will mark the 30th anniversary of the UNCCD and aims to secure multilateral action on critical issues such as drought resilience, land tenure, and sand and dust storms.

For more information about UNCCD COP16, please visit UNCCDCOP16.org  

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2578677/UNCCD_COP16_Presidency.jpg
Logo:  https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2556588/5072558/UNCCD_COP16__Logo.jpg

 

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SOURCE UNCCD COP16 Presidency

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Mastech Digital to Announce Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results; Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference

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July 24, 2026

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PITTSBURGH, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Mastech Digital, Inc. (NYSE American: MHH) (“Mastech Digital”), a leading provider of Digital Transformation IT Services, today announced the date for the release of its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, and its participation in an upcoming investor conference.

Second Quarter 2026 Earnings:

Mastech Digital will report its financial results for the second quarter 2026 before the market opens on Thursday, August 6, 2026. Management will host a live conference call and webcast at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on that day to discuss the Company’s financial performance and operating results.  The conference call will be hosted by Nirav Patel, President and CEO, and Kannan Sugantharaman, Chief Financial and Operations Officer.

Those wishing to participate via webcast should access the call through Mastech Digital’s Investor Relations website at https://investors.mastechdigital.com. Those wishing to participate via telephone may dial in at 1-800-715-9871 (USA) or 1-646-307-1963 (International) with the passcode 7506988. The replay will be available via webcast through Mastech Digital’s Investor Relations website.

Upcoming Investor Conference:

Mr. Sugantharaman will host a fireside chat at the Sidoti Micro-Cap Investor Conference on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at 9:15 a.m. Eastern Time.

Mastech Digital management is scheduled to host virtual one-on-one and small group meetings with investors during the conference on August 19-20, 2026. Investors interested in arranging a meeting should contact their Sidoti representative or reach out to the Mastech Digital investor relations team at investors@mastechdigital.com.

About Mastech Digital, Inc.

Mastech Digital (NYSE American: MHH) is a leading provider of Digital Transformation IT Services. The Company offers Data Management, Analytics & AI Solutions, and IT Staffing Services with a digital-first approach. A minority-owned enterprise, Mastech Digital is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, with offices across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and India. Visit us at www.mastechdigital.com.

Investor Relations Contact:
investors@mastechdigital.com 

 

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SOURCE Mastech Digital, Inc.

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SOLAI Limited Announces Extraordinary General Meeting

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July 24, 2026

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AKRON, Ohio, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SOLAI Limited (NYSE: SLAI) (“SOLAI” or the “Company”) (previously known as “BIT Mining Limited”), a technology-driven personal AI and digital infrastructure provider, today announced that it will hold its extraordinary general meeting of shareholders at 428 South Seiberling Street, Akron, Ohio, US on August 14, 2026 at 10:00 a.m., New York time.

Holders of record of ordinary shares and preference shares of the Company at the close of business on July 20, 2026, New York time (the “Record Date”) are entitled to receive notice of, and to attend and vote at, the extraordinary general meeting or any adjournment thereof. Holders of the Company’s American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) who wish to exercise their voting rights for the underlying ordinary shares must act through the depositary of the Company’s ADS program, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas.

The notice of the extraordinary general meeting, which sets forth the resolutions to be submitted to shareholder approval at the extraordinary general meeting is available on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at https://ir.solai.com. 

About SOLAI Limited

SOLAI Limited (previously known as “BIT Mining Limited”) (NYSE: SLAI) (previously traded under “BTCM”) is a technology-driven personal AI and digital infrastructure provider. Building upon its historical legacy in digital asset mining and blockchain network operations, the Company is leveraging extensive experience in large-scale hardware deployment, data center operations, and high-performance computing to build the foundational infrastructure for personal AI computing and digital asset ecosystems globally.

For more information:

SOLAI Limited
ir@solai.com
ir.solai.com
www.solai.com 

Christensen Advisory
Jason Ng
Tel: +852-2117-0861
Email: solai@christensencomms.com 

 

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SOURCE SOLAI Limited

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/U P D A T E — TrendAI/

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2 hours ago

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July 24, 2026

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This release has been updated to include new information provided by TrendAI. The complete, corrected release follows, with additional details at the end:

TrendAI™ Adopts Claude Opus 5 to Advance Vulnerability Prioritization and Virtual Patching

As a participant in Anthropic’s Cyber Verification Program, TrendAI applies frontier reasoning to convert vulnerability intelligence into faster protection across hybrid environments

DALLAS, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — TrendAI™, the enterprise AI security leader from Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), today announced it is adopting Claude Opus 5, Anthropic’s latest and most capable Opus model, to help security teams convert vulnerability intelligence into immediate protection, from prioritization to virtual patching. The move builds on TrendAI’s collaboration with Anthropic on Claude Opus 4.8, extending the same defensive focus to a model that delivers step-change gains in advanced reasoning, agentic workflows, and long-horizon analysis. As AI makes finding vulnerabilities easier than ever, the harder problem becomes protecting organizations faster than software can be permanently patched, and that is where TrendAI is putting Opus 5 to work.

As a participant in Anthropic’s Cyber Verification Program, which credentials organizations for the defensive use of frontier AI models, TrendAI is positioned to apply Claude Opus 5 to defensive security as access becomes available. The model is Zero Data Retention compatible, supporting TrendAI’s governance and data-protection requirements as it scales AI across security operations.

The work extends to TrendAI Threat Research, where frontier AI models are combined with our proprietary frontier intelligence engine and human expertise to generate pre-disclosure intelligence. Those insights power TrendAI Vision One™, delivering stronger detection, deeper forensic insights, and proactive protection through virtual patching.

Rachel Jin, Chief Platform and Business Officer, Head of TrendAI™:
“With Claude Opus 5, TrendAI can move from vulnerability intelligence to action faster than ever, prioritizing what matters most by exploitability and business impact. Finding the vulnerability was always the hard part. Now the challenge is protecting organizations faster than software can be permanently patched, and frontier reasoning is what changes that equation, extending all the way to virtual patching that protects customers before a vendor fix ships. This is what it means to secure the AI age, fearlessly.”

These capabilities support TrendAI Vision One™ in helping security analysts, AppSec teams, and SOC teams prioritize exposure, map attack paths, and accelerate mitigation, including virtual patching, across hybrid environments, moving vulnerability management from a static scanning process into a faster, context-aware risk mitigation workflow.

About TrendAI™
TrendAI™, the global AI security leader and enterprise business unit of Trend Micro, empowers organizations with full AI visibility and consolidated security that inspires confidence, drives innovation, and eliminates risk. Trusted by the largest enterprises and governments across 185 countries, TrendAI™ secures the entire organization, from identities, to infrastructure, to data. Global Fortune 500 companies rely on TrendAI™ to cut risk and stop threats up to three months earlier, powered by world-leading threat and attack intelligence. Through deep ecosystem partnerships with market leaders like NVIDIA, Anthropic, AWS, Google, and Microsoft, TrendAI™ empowers your organization to securely drive forward at the speed of AI. AI Fearlessly. Learn more: trendaisecurity.com

About Anthropic
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company dedicated to building reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. Its Claude family of models, including Claude Opus 5, enables advanced capabilities across a wide range of applications, including code understanding and security analysis.

Update: The latest version of this release includes additional statements from TrendAI related to the original announcement.

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SOURCE TrendAI

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