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Ulta Beauty Teams Up with Instacart to Deliver Beauty in a Flash Nationwide

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Beauty meets convenience with largest specialty U.S. beauty retailer now available on Instacart for delivery in as fast as an hour from more than 1,400 stores

SAN FRANCISCO and BOLINGBROOK, Ill., Jan. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Instacart (NASDAQ: CART), the leading grocery technology company in North America, and Ulta Beauty, the nation’s largest beauty retailer, today announced a nationwide partnership to offer same-day delivery. With this collaboration, Ulta Beauty’s unparalleled assortment – spanning every category and price point – now available for delivery in as fast as an hour via Instacart from more than 1,400 stores across the United States.

From established to emerging beauty brands, Instacart customers can now shop a wide selection of beloved skin care, hair care, cosmetics, fragrances, and wellness products with even greater convenience. This partnership also integrates Ulta Beauty Rewards™ into the Instacart App, allowing members to earn points on every Ulta Beauty purchase made via Instacart by linking their accounts  through Ulta Beauty’s storefront.* To celebrate the launch of the partnership, customers can receive $10 off their $50 order through January 26.**

“Our partnership with Ulta Beauty comes at a perfect time when millions of Instacart customers are setting new intentions, focusing on wellness, and envisioning aspirational versions of themselves,” said Blake Wallace, Senior Director of Retail Partnerships at Instacart. “With Ulta Beauty’s wide range of products now available on Instacart, we’re giving customers more selection, convenience, and beauty options in the New Year and beyond.”

“Reimagining how and where beauty lovers can shop with us has always been at the core of Ulta Beauty’s mission,” said Jodi Williams, Vice President of eCommerce at Ulta Beauty. “Our collaboration with Instacart allows us to meet guests in even more places, offering fast and seamless access to the products they love. With self-care top of mind in the New Year, this partnership debuts at the perfect time to help guests refresh their rituals and routines with ease.”

Ulta Beauty joins more than 1,500 retailer banners already available on the Instacart App – ranging from grocery to beauty to home improvement to pet supplies. To begin shopping from Ulta Beauty for same-day delivery via Instacart, customers nationwide can visit https://www.instacart.com/store/ulta/storefront or select the Ulta Beauty storefront on the Instacart App. 

*For full details, see Program Terms and Conditions
**$10 off is valid through 1/26/2025 at 11:59PM PT and is valid only in the United States for one order of $50 or more with Ulta Beauty and purchased through Instacart.com, while supplies last. Discount will be applied to the total purchase price for all non-alcohol products, and excludes taxes, service fees, special handling fees and/or other fees; offer cannot be applied to alcohol products. Deliveries subject to availability. In order to take advantage of this offer, customers must have a valid account on Instacart.com with a valid form of accepted payment on file. Only one offer per household. Instacart reserves the right to modify or cancel this offer at any time. Offer may not be sold, copied, modified, transferred or used retroactively for prior purchases. Void where restricted or prohibited by law. Offer may not be combined with any other sale, promotion, discount, code, coupon, and/or offer. Offer has no cash value. Instacart is not a retailer or seller. Instacart may not be available in all zip or post codes.

About Instacart
Instacart, the leading grocery technology company in North America, works with grocers and retailers to transform how people shop. The company partners with more than 1,500 national, regional, and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from more than 85,000 stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace. Instacart makes it possible for millions of people to get the groceries they need from the retailers they love, and for approximately 600,000 Instacart shoppers to earn by picking, packing and delivering orders on their own flexible schedule. The Instacart Platform offers retailers a suite of enterprise-grade technology products and services to power their e-commerce experiences, fulfill orders, digitize brick-and-mortar stores, provide advertising services, and glean insights. With Instacart Ads, thousands of CPG brands – from category leaders to emerging brands – partner with the company to connect directly with consumers online, right at the point of purchase. With Instacart Health, the company is providing tools to increase nutrition security, make healthy choices easier for consumers, and expand the role that food can play in improving health outcomes. For more information, visit www.instacart.com/company, and to start shopping, visit www.instacart.com. Maplebear Inc. is the registered corporate name of Instacart.

About Ulta Beauty
At Ulta Beauty, the possibilities are beautiful. Ulta Beauty is the largest U.S. beauty retailer and the premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin care products, hair care products and salon services. In 1990, the Company reinvented the beauty retail experience by offering a new way to shop for beauty – bringing together All Things Beauty, All in One Place®. Today, Ulta Beauty operates more than 1,400 retail stores across 50 states and also distributes its products through its website, which includes a collection of tips, tutorials, and social content. For more information, visit https://www.ulta.com.

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SOURCE Maplebear Inc. dba Instacart

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Melody Party Offers Over 20,000 Songs and Adds More Than a Thousand New Tracks Monthly, Enhancing Its Online Karaoke Experience

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SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Melody Party is a music social app featuring a variety of activities, including Mic Grab, Artist Mafia, and Singing Battle. Through its online karaoke feature, SING A SONG, the app brings the traditional karaoke experience online, removing time and location constraints and offering a music experience that combines real-time singing with social interaction.

SING A SONG features an extensive library of more than 20,000 songs, with over a thousand new songs added every month. Its diverse selection includes popular K-pop tracks, classic Korean songs, and karaoke favorites. The feature offers a free-use model, allowing users to start singing their chosen songs without paying a separate fee. This helps reduce the time and cost associated with visiting traditional coin-operated karaoke venues, making it easier to enjoy singing as part of everyday life.

In terms of functionality, SING A SONG supports pitch adjustment and independent volume controls for vocals and accompaniment, allowing users to customize their singing experience according to their preferences. Users can also create online karaoke rooms, invite friends to sing together in real time, and enjoy voice chat and social interaction.

By continuously expanding its song library and offering diverse music-based interactive experiences, Melody Party continues to strengthen its music ecosystem. Through SING A SONG, the platform aims to create an accessible, highly interactive online music social space.

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SOURCE Melody Party

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Drawing new strength from 20-year legacy, IAACA calls on global counterparts to join annual conference to fortify integrity

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MARRAKECH, Morocco, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA), an independent and non-political anti-corruption organisation with over 190 member anti-corruption authorities (ACAs) worldwide, will co-host IAACA Annual Conference 2026 in Marrakech, Morocco next month together with the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong, China (ICAC) and the National Authority for Probity, Prevention and Fight Against Corruption of Morocco (INPPLC) to chart a path for the global graft fight and explore cutting-edge approaches to tackle emerging corruption challenges.

Themed “Building on 20 Years of Legacy: Drawing Strength from the Past, Guarding Global Integrity for the Future”, the international event will not only mark the 20th anniversary of the IAACA, but also provide a dynamic forum for IAACA members to exchange insights and enhance co-operation.

Calling on international counterparts to participate in the conference scheduled for November 25, IAACA President Mr Woo Ying-ming, who also serves as ICAC Commissioner, said that “As the IAACA marks its 20th anniversary, the conference will bring together global anti-corruption community at a pivotal moment for collective action. I anticipate that the valuable insights and new approaches generated through the international synergy will chart a resilient strategic path for us to navigate integrity risks and draw strength from our shared legacy to guard global integrity for generations to come.”

During the conference, renowned international experts from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Basel Institute on Governance, the International Anti-Corruption Academy, and global anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies and institutions will shed light on harnessing artificial intelligence in the fight against corruption, safeguarding integrity within global climate and biodiversity frameworks and analysing global corruption measurement and systemic effectiveness.

Following the conference, the ICAC, the INPPLC, the IAACA and the UNODC will co-organise a training seminar on leveraging AI in combating corruption.

While the ICAC and INPPLC will share how AI and new technology can reshape the future of anti-graft enforcement and corruption prevention, the UNODC will provide a global perspective on using AI models in financial crime investigations and addressing the operational relevance, legal robustness and adaptability across jurisdictions.

For details of the conference and training, please visit:
https://www.icac.org.hk/icac/iaaca-morocco-2026/index.html

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SOURCE International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA)

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Viettel moves 100 million subscribers to home-grown cloud-native charging in three months – with zero downtime

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HANOI, Vietnam, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Viettel High Technology Industries Corporation (Viettel High Tech), part of Viettel Group, has migrated more than 100 million subscribers and some 5,000 tariff plans at Viettel, Vietnam’s largest mobile operator, to vOCS 4.0, its in-house cloud-native charging system. The three-month cutover ran on a live national network with no service disruption.

Replacing a charging system is one of the riskiest projects an operator can undertake, which is why many stick with legacy platforms. Viettel High Tech reduced the risk through real-time data synchronization, parallel running and a phased cutover, with instant rollback at every stage.

The project won the Telecom Review Excellence Awards 2026 prize for Best Technology Deployment in Asia, a first for a Vietnamese company.

What it means for operators:

Scale: more than 300,000 transactions per second at latency below 5 milliseconds, across 2G–5G and fixed services on one platformLower cost: up to 50% less hardware investment than the previous generation, by sharing infrastructure with the networkAgility: new tariff plans in hours instead of days, new features three times faster and deployments about 30% fasterResilience: two active data centers about 2,000 km apart and automatic recovery in under two minutes

Viettel High Tech developed every core layer in-house, from a telecom-grade cloud-native platform and NFV-MANO orchestration to real-time charging, subscriber and balance management.

“Passing rigorous tests of real-time self-diagnosis and self-recovery is what allows an operator to keep its promise of 24/7 service to customers,” said Luu Manh Ha, CEO of Viettel Networks, which operates the system on Viettel’s network in Vietnam. “Above all, owning the charging system means an operator is not dependent on foreign vendors – it safeguards digital sovereignty and preserves business flexibility.”

“The charging system is where an operator’s business strategy turns into revenue in real time,” said Nguyen Minh Quang, CEO of Viettel High Tech. “We believe vOCS 4.0 is ready to help operators worldwide capture the value of 5G and digital services.”

In 2017, vOCS 4.0’s predecessor, vOCS 3.0, replaced a foreign vendor’s platform for 90 million Viettel subscribers. Across both generations, vOCS serves more than 220 million subscribers in 11 countries. Viettel High Tech now offers vOCS 4.0 to operators worldwide.

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SOURCE Viettel Group

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