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Clayton State University, a public university in Morrow, Georgia, today announced that it has been recognized by Newsweek as a top college for women in the nation in the publisher’s America’s Best Colleges for Women 2026. Clayton State was also ranked No. 6 among colleges and universities in Georgia included on the list.

The recognition highlights Clayton State University’s commitment to student success, opportunity, and social mobility. As a national leader in social mobility, Clayton State is dedicated to helping students from diverse backgrounds achieve economic mobility, career advancement, and long-term success through access to higher education and workforce pathways.

The university’s student-centered approach provides strong academic programs, personalized support, and real-world learning opportunities that empower students to thrive both inside and outside the classroom. Clayton State continues to cultivate an inclusive campus culture where women are encouraged to lead, succeed, and pursue meaningful careers in Georgia and beyond.

“We are honored to be recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s Best Colleges for Women,” said Dr. Georj Lewis, President of Clayton State University. “This recognition reflects the strength of our dynamic faculty and staff, our commitment to student success, and the remarkable women graduates who continue to lead and make an impact in their communities and professions. At Clayton State, we remain focused on creating opportunities that empower students to achieve their goals and transform their futures.”

America’s Best Colleges for Women is a ranking developed by Newsweek in partnership with Gender Fair to highlight institutions that support gender equality and empower women. The methodology is rooted in the Women’s Empowerment Principles and evaluates colleges across four key areas: leadership, pay and policies, safety, and opportunity.

The ranking identifies colleges that have established the structural elements necessary to foster education and employment for women by drawing on data from the U.S. Department of Education — including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the Campus Safety and Security Database — as well as additional desk research. Only institutions meeting specific criteria for size and academic roles are included, ensuring the results reflect meaningful progress toward gender equity in higher education.

“Choosing a college is a defining moment for many young women, and it’s about more than academics alone,” said Jennifer H. Cunningham, Editor-in-Chief of Newsweek. “America’s Best Colleges for Women highlights institutions that are making measurable progress in leadership, equity, safety, and opportunity, helping students identify environments where women are supported and positioned to succeed.”

About Clayton State University

Founded in 1969, Clayton State University, a member of the University System of Georgia, is a student-centered institution committed to expanding access, advancing social mobility, and preparing graduates for meaningful, career-connected success. Through a range of undergraduate, and graduate degree programs. Clayton State provides clear pathways for students from all backgrounds. Located in Morrow, Georgia on 214 acres with six lakes, the University serves as a vital engine for workforce development and community impact. Clayton State competes in NCAA Division II athletics and is home to Spivey Hall, a premier performance venue in the Atlanta metropolitan area. For more information, visit www.clayton.edu.

About Newsweek

Newsweek is the global digital news organization built around the iconic 93-year-old American magazine. Newsweek reaches 100 million people monthly with its thought-provoking news, opinion, images, graphics, and video delivered across a dozen print and digital platforms. Headquartered in New York City, Newsweek also publishes international editions in EMEA and Asia. For more information, visit www.newsweek.com.

Media Contact

Joseph Clark
Assistant Director of Strategic Communications and Media Relations, Clayton State University
JosephClark@Clayton.edu
+1 470-476-5627

Discovery Cove®, Orlando’s premier all-inclusive day resort, has been named Newsweek’s No. 1 Best Theme Park in the Summer Travel category of the publication’s 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards, placing the Orlando destination among the country’s top summer travel experiences as voted by Newsweek readers nationwide.

Discovery Cove offers a unique, limited-capacity experience centered on relaxation, personalized service, and immersive animal encounters. Guests can swim with bottlenose dolphins, snorkel among thousands of tropical fish and rays, hand-feed exotic birds, and unwind amid white-sand beaches, winding waterways, and lush tropical landscapes, while enjoying freshly prepared meals, beverages, snorkeling gear, wetsuits, and parking — all included with admission.

“Being named Newsweek’s No. 1 Best Theme Park is an incredible honor because Discovery Cove was intentionally designed to offer something fundamentally different,” said Brad Gilmour, Park President of Discovery Cove. “Guests come here to slow down, connect with nature, and share meaningful experiences together. These awards are a reflection of the passion our ambassadors bring to creating those moments every day.”

The recognition comes as Discovery Cove continues expanding its guest experience with the recent launch of Paradise Nights, a new, separately-ticketed summer evening dinner show featuring beachside cocktails, Caribbean-inspired cuisine, animal ambassador appearances, and a live entertainment production with aerialists and fire performers after the park closes for the day.

Additional recent enhancements and premium add-on experiences include:

• Flamingo Point, featuring up-close flamingo encounters
• Shark Interaction and snorkel, an immersive guided shark experience
• Ultimate Animal Experience, an exclusive behind-the-scenes half-day adventure 
• Animal Trek, a guided rainforest exploration featuring birds and small mammals
• SeaVenture, an underwater walking experience among tropical marine life 

As Florida’s only all-inclusive day resort, Discovery Cove continues to distinguish itself through its combination of personalized service, intimate animal experiences, and resort-style atmosphere.

The Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards recognize standout businesses, brands, and experiences across a wide range of consumer categories. Winners are determined through a public voting process in which readers select the companies and organizations they believe deliver exceptional quality, value, and customer experience.

The 2026 program highlights leading companies and destinations across numerous industries, including the Summer Travel category, Best Theme Park, where Discovery Cove was awarded first place.

“Each year, the Readers’ Choice Awards celebrate the best of the best, as chosen by the people who matter most — our readers,” said Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jennifer H. Cunningham “We’re proud to recognize those organizations that continue to raise the bar for quality, innovation, and customer experience.”

About Discovery Cove

Recently named a 2026 Good Housekeeping Travel Award winner for the third consecutive year, the “Best Theme Park” by Newsweek and ranked “Best Lazy River” in the U.S. by USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards. Discovery Cove® provides guests with a one-of-a-kind, all-inclusive tropical getaway. From pristine white-sand beaches and winding rivers to vibrant coral reefs, visitors can relax and connect with nature while enjoying unlimited food, drinks, and swim gear throughout the day. For more information, visit DiscoveryCove.com.

About Newsweek

Newsweek is the global digital news organization built around the iconic 93-year-old American magazine. Newsweek reaches 100 million people monthly with its thought-provoking news, opinion, images, graphics, and video delivered across a dozen print and digital platforms. Headquartered in New York City, Newsweek also publishes international editions in EMEA and Asia. For more information, visit www.newsweek.com.

Media Contact

Hayworth PR
discoverycove@hayworthpr.com
+1 386-677-7000

The Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust (HART) today released the following statement from Jeff Smith, Executive Director, in response to President Trump's statement from the Oval Office (32:36) on May 11, 2026, referring to efforts to get natural 7-OH FDA approved:

“President Trump said his administration is trying to keep 'natural 7-OH' available. That distinction matters, and it is the same distinction lawmakers and regulators should be moving forward. Policymakers should focus on stopping bad actors, mislabeled products, unsafe marketing practices, and inconsistent manufacturing standards, not criminalizing naturally derived products that millions of Americans already use. A blanket ban on natural 7-OH is now directly at odds with the President’s stated goal. The FDA should support the direction set by the President and work toward a regulatory framework that protects consumers without eliminating lawful access to natural products.” 

HART continues to advocate for a commonsense regulatory framework for kratom and its naturally occurring compounds, including 7-OH, focused on:

• Age restrictions
• Clear labeling and dosing standards
• Third-party testing and manufacturing controls
• Consumer transparency

About Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust (HART)

The Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust (HART) is a nonprofit policy organization dedicated to advancing safe, evidence-based access to natural alternatives for recovery and wellness. HART advocates for scientific transparency, consumer safety, and regulatory accountability in emerging health and wellness industries. Learn more at hartsupporter.com.

Disclaimer

HART supports a science-based regulatory pathway that preserves access to naturally derived 7-OH products. While the FDA and state health departments have issued safety alerts citing 7-OH as a potential public health threat, HART contends that these risks are primarily associated with mislabeled, adulterated, or highly manipulated products, not naturally occurring alkaloids found in the kratom leaf itself. 7-OH products marketed by HART members comply with FDA’s adulteration standard for dietary supplements; further, 7-OH is not lab-made nor fully synthetic, it is naturally-derived from kratom, the same plant that all other kratom products come from, and undergoes a simple, one-step oxidation process, similar to how vitamin C is stabilized for supplements. Consumers are urged to consult with a healthcare professional before using any dietary supplements.

Media Contact

HART Media
media@hartsupporter.com

NUVA, the institutional-grade RWA marketplace co-created by Animoca Brands and Nuva Labs, today announced it has launched on the Ethereum Mainnet. NUVA is a new non-custodial platform that unlocks access to institutional-grade real-world assets (RWAs) leveraging ERC-20 standards, enabling composability and deployment across DeFi. Access the NUVA marketplace today at NUVA.finance.

NUVA was co-created by Animoca Brands, a global AI and digital assets leader, and Nuva Labs, a RWA infrastructure pioneer. NUVA provides an institutional distribution layer bridging DeFi and TradFi, bringing the more than US$23 billion RWA total value locked (TVL) of the Provenance Blockchain to multiple other blockchain ecosystems. NUVA’s launch on the Ethereum Mainnet today advances its vision to become the universal multichain distribution layer for RWAs. 

Coinciding with the launch, NUVA has entered into a strategic partnership with Hastra, a protocol backed by Figure Technologies Solutions ("Figure," Nasdaq: FIGR). Under this agreement, NUVA becomes a primary distribution partner of Hastra’s PRIME on the Ethereum blockchain. 

NUVA’s initial flagship assets include:

• nvYLDS: a vault containing YLDS, a U.S. SEC-registered instrument backed by short-dated treasuries and bank deposits.
• nvPRIME: a vault backed by native PRIME tokens that provides exposure to Figure’s US$17.4 billion pool of natively on-chain prime home equity line of credit (HELOCs). Holders of static PRIME tokens can obtain nvPRIME at app.nuva.finance to unlock instant composability across the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem.

All vault participants receive NUVA Points, aligning the incentives of early adopters with the long-term growth of the marketplace. The products described may not be available in all jurisdictions. 

Yat Siu, the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, said: “The launch of NUVA and its partnership with Figure are vital steps toward making global finance more efficient, transparent, and accessible. The on-chain financial system already provides the infrastructure for openness, and now NUVA will help broaden the spectrum of capital available within the decentralized economy.” 

“NUVA’s focus on liquid, composable tokens backed by real-world assets is exactly what the industry needs to bridge TradFi and DeFi at scale,” said Mike Cagney, NUVA Labs board member. “I'm excited to see NUVA leverage the proven infrastructure of Provenance Blockchain to bring these assets to a global audience.”

“nvYLDS and nvPRIME are the differentiated real-world assets the DeFi community has been waiting for,” said Anthony Moro, chief executive officer of Nuva Labs. “As the NUVA platform expands, look for a wide range of assets to be available to everyone in an easy to use, self-directed and self custodial manner, eliminating Wall Street’s limited access, time lag and high fees.” 

Additional blockchain integrations and asset classes are scheduled for release in the coming weeks. NUVA updates will be posted on NUVA.Finance, X, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Discord. 

About NUVA

NUVA is transforming global capital markets by connecting issuers and users in a curated institutional-grade DeFi marketplace with high-quality real-world assets that are yielding, liquid, composable, transparent, and accessible. NUVA is supported by the NUVA Foundation, which oversees ecosystem growth and leverages operational support from Nuva Digital, a collaboration of Animoca Brands and Nuva Labs. For more information, visit nuva.finance or follow us on X and LinkedIn.

About Animoca Brands

Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (ACN: 122 921 813) is a global digital assets leader building and investing in impactful technologies and ecosystems to reimagine future economies through AI and the agentic web. It has received broad industry and market recognition including Fortune Crypto 40, Top 50 Blockchain Game Companies 2025, Financial Times’ High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific, and Deloitte Tech Fast. Animoca Brands is recognized for building digital asset platforms such as the Moca Network, Open Campus, Anichess, and The Sandbox, as well as institutional-grade platforms; providing digital asset services to help Web3 companies launch and grow; and investing in frontier Web3 technology, with a portfolio of over 600 companies and digital assets. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on X, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and TikTok.

About Nuva Labs

NUVA Labs (formerly Provenance Blockchain Labs) powers digital asset issuers with a full lifecycle of blockchain infrastructure that enables the tokenization, management, and distributions of real-world assets at scale. From structuring advice and mission-critical APIs and SaaS services, to supporting broad, multi-chain Web3 distribution through Vault marketplaces such as NUVA. NUVA Labs is the leading developer and integration partner on Provenance Blockchain, a leading public Layer 1 blockchain network with over $23 billion in real-world assets total value locked (TVL). Learn more at: NuvaLabs.com, and follow us on X and LinkedIn.

Disclaimer

This announcement does not constitute any offer or solicitation to offer or recommendation of any investment product. It is intended for general purposes only and does not take into account any individual needs, investment objectives and specific financial circumstances. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as being financial, investment, legal or tax advice. Target APYs are indicative only and not guaranteed. Actual returns may vary and past returns do not guarantee future performance. Investment carries risk. For more information, visit nuva.finance/terms-policies/terms-of-service.

Cyberscope, the Web3 Security Arm of TAC InfoSec Limited (NSE: TAC), today announced the launch of Cyberscan AI, an AI-powered smart contract security platform designed to make Web3 audits faster, more accessible, and free for developers at the earliest stage of building.

The launch marks a strategic push by Cyberscope into one of the most critical layers of digital-asset infrastructure: real-time vulnerability validation before a project reaches formal audits, exchange listings, investor diligence, or large-scale user adoption.

For years, Web3 security has suffered from a widening gap. Developers have had access to more scanners, more tools, and more alerts, but not necessarily more certainty. The result has been a costly and time-consuming cycle of false positives, delayed audits, repeated fixes, and unresolved risk before launch.

Cyberscan AI is Built to Change That Equation.

The platform introduces a validation-led model for smart contract security, using artificial intelligence to help developers identify which risks are real, which are theoretical, and which require immediate action. By making AI-powered smart contract scanning available to developers for free, Cyberscope is positioning Cyberscan AI as an early security layer for the broader Web3 ecosystem.

Cyberscan AI combines structural code intelligence with a vulnerability dataset of more than 150,000 real-world vulnerabilities, alongside an AI-driven validation engine that assesses whether a vulnerability actually exists in the contract being reviewed. The aim is to reduce false positives, improve signal quality, and help teams move from detection to decision-making faster.

The platform integrates:

• AST-level code understanding
• Vector-based similarity mapping across historical exploits
• AI-driven validation and contextual reasoning
• Developer-friendly smart contract scanning
• High-confidence risk prioritization before formal audits

The company said Cyberscan AI is designed to sit before the traditional audit process, helping projects clean up major risks earlier and reduce back-and-forth audit cycles. For developers, that could mean faster deployment. For exchanges and institutions, it could create a stronger layer of pre-listing and pre-adoption due diligence.

The commercial implications are significant. By lowering the barrier to smart contract security, Cyberscan AI could help early-stage Web3 projects access security intelligence that was previously expensive, delayed, or limited to later stages of growth.

The platform is expected to support:

• Free and accessible smart contract security checks for Web3 developers
• Faster pre-audit vulnerability discovery
• Lower audit iteration costs
• Shorter deployment and listing timelines
• Stronger readiness for exchanges, investors, and institutional partners
• Improved confidence in digital-asset infrastructure

Saransh Rawat, President of Cyberscope and CTO at TAC Security, said the launch reflects a larger shift in how Web3 security will be consumed as the sector moves toward institutional adoption.

“Web3 security is entering a new phase where speed alone is not enough. Developers, exchanges, and institutions need confidence that the vulnerabilities being flagged are real, material, and actionable,” said Rawat. “Cyberscan AI is our answer to that shift. By making AI-powered smart contract scanning free and accessible, we are helping developers validate risk earlier, reduce audit friction, and move from code to market with greater confidence.”

Saransh added that the platform is designed to move security closer to the developer lifecycle.

“The future of smart contract security will not be defined only by final-stage audits,” Saransh said. “It will be defined by continuous validation before audits, before listings, and before scale. Cyberscan AI gives Web3 teams an early intelligence layer that helps them build security into their foundation from day one.”

The launch positions Cyberscope not only as a smart contract audit provider, but as a validation layer for the next generation of digital-asset infrastructure.

The move comes as Web3 projects face growing pressure from exchanges, investors, regulators, and institutional participants to prove security readiness before entering the market. In that environment, pre-audit intelligence is becoming more than a developer tool. It is becoming a trust requirement.

Cyberscope has been expanding its presence across high-trust blockchain ecosystems. The company is active within the TON ecosystem, a Layer 1 blockchain network, and has previously announced a collaboration with Circle, the issuer of USDC, focused on supporting secure and compliant digital-asset infrastructure.

The launch also builds on TAC Security’s recent milestone of crossing 10,000 clients across more than 100 countries, reinforcing its position as a rapidly scaling global cybersecurity company — among the top five Vulnerability Management and AppSec Companies globally. Through Cyberscope, TAC Security is now extending that momentum into high-growth Web3 markets, including exchange ecosystems, DeFi platforms, token projects, and institutional blockchain adoption.

As Web3 matures from experimental finance into institutional-grade infrastructure, platforms such as Cyberscan AI are expected to play a larger role in how projects prove security, reduce risk, and accelerate market entry.

For Cyberscope, the message is clear: the next era of smart contract security will not be defined only by audits. It will be defined by accessible, AI-powered validation before the audit even begins.

Watch the launch live at 4:30 AM (EST) at www.youtube.com/watch?v=id8HnYUTvts, and explore Cyberscan AI at www.cyberscope.io/cyberscan-ai.

About Cyberscope

Cyberscope, a TAC Security Company, is a leading provider of Web3 Security, smart contract auditing, and compliance solutions, serving a global client base across the decentralized finance, blockchain, and digital asset sectors. Founded in 2023, the company has completed over 2,700 smart contract audits and 500+ KYC verifications, securing more than $2 billion in digital assets for over 3,000 clients. Cyberscope's proprietary tools combine automated and manual analysis to deliver rapid, high-quality security assessments recognized by major industry platforms such as CoinMarketCap, PinkSale, and DxSale. With a reputation for quality, speed, and trust, and backed by the resources and global reach of TAC Security, Cyberscope is positioned to set new standards for security, transparency, and compliance in the rapidly evolving Web3 ecosystem. 

About TAC Security

TAC Security (TAC InfoSec Limited, NSE: TAC) is a publicly listed global cybersecurity company specializing in vulnerability management. Serving 10,000+ clients across 100+ countries, the company is among the world’s largest vulnerability management providers by client count. Its flagship platform, ESOF (Enterprise Security in One Framework), enables cyber risk quantification, vulnerability assessment, and AI-driven security analysis. TAC Security holds certifications including CREST, and ISO standards, and partners with global technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Meta.

Alternative asset management firm BlockBooster has officially announced its membership in the Canton Foundation, marking a key step in its strategic path to expand institutional-grade on-chain asset management and deepen collaboration with leading global financial infrastructure. The Canton Foundation is the independent governance body responsible for overseeing the operational mechanisms, technical standards, and validator framework of Canton Network.

The Canton Foundation is co-chaired by DTCC (The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation) and Euroclear, with current members including BNP Paribas, HSBC, Broadridge, Tradeweb, BNY, SBI Digital Asset Holdings, Moody's, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Digital Asset, and other leading global financial institutions. Canton Network currently supports more than $6 trillion in tokenized real-world assets across over 600 institutions, with strategic backers including Goldman Sachs, BNY, Nasdaq, and S&P Global. Core applications already deployed on the network include DTCC's U.S. Treasury tokenization project, Goldman Sachs' GS DAP digital bond platform, HSBC's Tokenised Deposit Service, and Broadridge's Distributed Ledger Repo platform.

As a Foundation member, BlockBooster will focus on advancing three core directions:

1. Foundation Governance — participating in governance decisions, committee work, and standards-setting processes;
2. Ecosystem Development — contributing to Canton Network's institutional reach, developer ecosystem, and cross-institutional collaboration;
3. On-Chain Asset Management — continuing to expand its business footprint on Canton Network across private credit, tokenized funds, and other real-world asset categories, serving institutional investors globally.

Samuel Gu, founder and CEO of BlockBooster, said: "RWA tokenization has moved from the experimental phase into the infrastructure phase, and institutional capital is converging on a handful of core platforms — Canton is one of them. We chose to join the Canton Foundation because it represents the on-chain financial infrastructure closest to institutional-grade standards today: a clear governance structure, a credible membership base, and real business volume."

On future plans, Samuel added: "Building on Canton Network's infrastructure capabilities, BlockBooster will continue to develop its product suite across private credit, tokenized funds, and other real-world asset categories. Our goal is to become a trusted asset management bridge between traditional capital and the on-chain world, bringing compliant, professional alternative asset strategies to institutional investors globally."

About BlockBooster

BlockBooster is an on-chain alternative asset management firm operating on a dual-engine business model: co-investing and incubating projects alongside leading public blockchain networks, while providing institutional-grade on-chain asset management services spanning yield strategies, private equity, private credit, and RWA tokenization. As a value co-builder, we are committed to unlocking the long-term potential of these assets and delivering exceptional value to our partners and investors in the digital economy. For more information, visit www.blockbooster.io.

About Canton Foundation

The Canton Foundation is an independent non-profit organization responsible for the overall governance of Canton Network. Through transparent governance mechanisms and deep collaboration with its members, the Foundation works to establish Canton Network as a reliable, fair, and trustworthy infrastructure layer for institutional-grade digital assets and capital markets. For more index information, visit canton.foundation.

Media Contact

Samuel Gu
media@blockbooster.io

VillageReach, an international non-profit organization rooted in Mozambique since 2000 and focused on improving access to quality healthcare for hard-to-reach communities, and Qure.ai, a global AI company innovating solutions in healthcare for early detection and care management, have partnered with Mozambique’s Ministry of Health to strengthen national pandemic preparedness.

Through a Gates Foundation grant focused on strengthening pandemic preparedness and resilient health systems, VillageReach will work with Mozambique’s Ministry of Health to enhance national early warning and emergency response mechanisms. Central to this initiative is the integration of Qure.ai’s Aira, an AI-powered healthcare co-pilot that assists health systems to digitize and interpret health information from primary health centers (PHCs) and communities for faster emergency response planning.

Embedded within health information sources like AlôVida, Aira will help health authorities and emergency coordination mechanisms, including Mozambique’s Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC), to better detect emerging community concerns, understand patterns of misinformation and respond to potential public health risks earlier.

Through platforms like AlôVida and Mozambique Health Information System for Monitoring and Evaluation (SIS-MA), the PHEOC receives thousands of health queries from citizens across the country. These queries range from new symptom reporting and care-seeking questions to new disease concerns and other public health enquiries, including vaccine information. Historically, AlôVida has served primarily as a hotline, connecting communities to trusted health information and services.

“By integrating AI into trusted platforms like AlôVida, we are creating a more responsive system that listens to people in real time and translates their concerns into meaningful insights for decision-makers,” saidRotafina Donco, Mozambique Country Director, VillageReach. “This partnership represents an important step toward strengthening community-centered health, ensuring that even the most remote voices help shape faster, more effective public health responses.”

By embedding AI directly into existing health platforms, these interactions can now also contribute to continuous population-level health monitoring. Aira will analyse the interactions at scale to identify emerging symptom patterns, detect unusual health trends and issue early warning signals that may otherwise remain fragmented across individual reports. This initiative will be a game-changer in identifying geographic clustering of symptoms, monitoring potential infectious disease risks, and prioritizing timely investigation and response efforts.

“Our experience working with public health systems globally has shown that meaningful AI must adapt to how health systems already function,” said Divya Gupta, Chief Business Officer for Global Health, Qure.ai. “We have partnered with health programs across diverse settings, including Mozambique, to help move from reactive response toward proactive preparedness. With Aira embedded within Mozambique’s healthcare system, this collaboration supports earlier understanding of risks and more informed public health decision making.”

Mozambique continues to face recurrent public health emergencies, including cyclones and cholera outbreaks, which place significant strain on health systems, particularly in rural and hard-to-reach regions. These recurring emergencies have disrupted healthcare services and highlighted the challenges of maintaining timely outbreak detection and response at a community level.

While existing surveillance systems largely depend on data reported through healthcare facilities, many early warning signals first emerge within communities through symptoms, concerns and information requests. In several instances, misinformation and limited access to trusted health information have affected care-seeking behaviour and vaccination uptake, underscoring the need for stronger channels connecting communities and health authorities. By strengthening the ability to capture and learn from these signals, this partnership aims to support faster, more coordinated decision-making during health emergencies and improve preparedness for future outbreaks.

About Qure.ai

Qure.ai is a global AI company innovating solutions in healthcare for early detection and care management. Qure's solutions power early detection of lung nodules, neurocritical findings and infectious diseases to support clinicians and propel developments in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The company empowers healthcare workers and health systems by helping to identify pathology quickly, prioritize treatment planning, and ultimately improve quality of patient lives. Qure.ai has deployments in over 107 countries, with regional offices in New York, London and Mumbai. It is a TIME100 Most Influential Company 2025. For more information, visit www.qure.ai/aira.

About VillageReach

VillageReach works with governments, the private sector, partners and communities to build responsive primary healthcare systems that deliver health products and services to the most under-reached. As a locally driven and globally connected organization working across Africa, VillageReach’s primary goal is to reduce inequities in access to quality primary healthcare in health systems reaching 350 million people by 2030. For more information, visit www.villagereach.org.

Media Contact

Amrutha Joseph
amrutha.joseph@qure.ai

One great irony of the AI boom is the more people rely on it, the more they are beginning to distrust it. 

According to a survey of over 2,000 consumers in five countries for its new report, "The AI-Powered Consumer," growth firm Prophet found that global consumer use of generative AI has increased more than 50% in the past two years, from 45% in early 2024 to 73% in 2026."

Yet, roughly two-thirds of AI users are concerned about the effects: specifically, that AI inaccuracies could influence world events while eroding logical skills and human connection. That raises the bar for business leaders.

Embracing autonomous agents

Many users have moved well beyond “prompting” towards more sophisticated and personalized AI use cases. More than a quarter of users (27%) report using AI to simulate future versions of themselves and testing how different purchase decisions might play out over time. Another 13% say they are sharing personal medical information with AI systems in exchange for tailored health guidance.

Furthermore, 66% of people say they want systems that can interpret intent and context without requiring carefully written prompts. As they experience more fluid interactions elsewhere, writing instructions, refining inputs, and managing outputs starts to feel like work. They want platforms that anticipate needs, recognize patterns, and respond with minimal friction. The direction mirrors changes already underway in enterprise environments, where more adaptive systems are replacing rigid input structures.

Top 5 agentic capabilities users want

1. Discount monitoring and automatic purchasing: Monitor favorite brands and automate purchases when they're on discount (60%)
2. Proactive customer service prevention: Proactively manage products and services to prevent issues or breakdowns (54%)
3. Experience coordination: Coordinates experiences across multiple brands used (54%)
   (e.g., automatically rerouting a dinner reservation as a result of a flight delay)
4. Needs-based purchasing: Automate purchases based on personal preferences (53%)
5. Offer negotiation: Negotiates pricing and terms on the consumer's behalf (49%)

“Users are signaling AI should meet them where they are, without requiring them to adapt their behavior to a tool,” said Chan Suh, Chief Digital Officer at Prophet. “As generative AI becomes more embedded in everyday decision-making, the next phase will be defined less by access and more by experience, including how naturally these systems fit into people’s lives, and how much trust they can earn along the way.”

Ironically, trust is getting harder to maintain as adoption rises.

AI users are now weighing convenience against control, and speed against trust. Overall excitement about GenAI has dropped approximately 7% since Prophet’s 2024 study. More significantly, 30% fewer users believe that they will come to rely on GenAI for most of their daily decisions. That signals a meaningful shift in consumer psychology.

• 71% of consumers worry that inaccurate AI outputs could influence decisions in the real world.
• 63% are concerned that relying too heavily on AI may erode human skills.
• 61% say they fear a loss of human connection as AI becomes more embedded in daily life.

“As consumers continue to increase their reliance on AI to support their lives, businesses will need to redirect AI investments from efficiency to innovation that provides emotional benefits, not just utility,” said Chiaki Nishino, President at Prophet. “The next wave will be defined by systems that don’t just complete tasks, but create meaning, delivering experiences that feel intuitive, human, and emotionally resonant. That’s where real differentiation happens.”

Methodology

For its new "The AI-Powered Consumer" report, Prophet surveyed more than 2,000 consumers in China, Germany, Singapore, U.K. and the U.S. in January and February of this year. All respondents were 18 years of age or older and had used at least one AI tool for personal reasons during the prior six months.

About Prophet

Prophet is the Uncommon Growth Company — accelerating impact for business and marketing leaders through consulting, experience, and creative services. With 15 global offices and 500+ strategists, analysts, creatives, marketers, digital experts and change agents, Prophet has worked with the world’s most successful companies, including CVS Health, Home Depot, Salesforce, Google, Marriott, Netflix, Amazon, T-Mobile and UBS, partnering with them from strategy to in-market execution. Our teams are committed to partnering with clients to develop solutions that drive lasting impact and help move society forward. For more information, visit prophet.com.

Media Contact

Belle Lenz
belle@tonileepr.com

On May 10, COOFANDY joined NASCAR’s race weekend at Watkins Glen as the sponsor of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 car driven by Christopher Bell. With COOFANDY branding present across the race car and fire suit, the partnership brought to life the brand’s "Dress the Journey, Dress the Win" spirit on one of racing’s most competitive tracks.

Ahead of the race, COOFANDY invited creators, media guests, and fans to experience the weekend alongside the JGR team. Creators, including RawGator, Brett Maverick, Jamaal Lewis, and Josh Taubes, joined the event, along with media guests such as Fox 8’s Chris Weaver, On3’s Brian Jones, and Brobible’s Clay Sauertieg and Douglas Sheckler.

For COOFANDY, bringing together creators, media, and fans in this setting was about more than access — it was about allowing different audiences to experience the culture, energy, and human side behind motorsports.

During the driver meet-and-greet, guests spent time with the JGR team and experienced a tour of the team’s hauler, gaining a closer look at NASCAR operations behind the scenes.

As engines fired and the crowd rose for driver introductions and the national anthem, Watkins Glen shifted into race mode. Bell was strong the early portion of the race finishing Stage 1 in the seventh position.

The style of racing on a road course such as Watkins Glen often creates tense moments with competitors making contact creating frustrating moments. Bell would have to navigate several of those situations throughout the day before finishing in the 21st position.

COOFANDY CMO Sidney Sun noted, "The brand’s philosophy of 'Dress the Journey' and 'Dress the Win' speaks to how men navigate pressure and setbacks along the way — maintaining composure, confidence, and the right mindset through every stage of the journey."

Race Weekend Style Picks

From trackside viewing to post-race gatherings, COOFANDY also offers effortless style inspiration for the race weekend:

• Short-Sleeve Textured Shirt – Breathable and comfortable, perfect for daytime track viewing.
• Solid-Color Hoodie – Minimalist and versatile, blending casual ease with athletic energy for multi-scenario wear.

As COOFANDY continues exploring the connection between motorsports and modern menswear, Watkins Glen became more than a race weekend — it became a reminder that composure, confidence, and resilience are part of the journey too.

For more information, please visit the COOFANDY official website and the COOFANDY Men's Fashion Amazon Storefront, or connect with COOFANDY on Facebook and Instagram.

Disclaimer

This press release contains information regarding a commercial sponsorship between COOFANDY and Joe Gibbs Racing. Mention of media guests and creators does not necessarily imply their personal endorsement of COOFANDY products beyond their participation in the event. Race results and statistics cited are based on official NASCAR data from the Watkins Glen event held on May 10, 2026.

The growing campaign by sellers and advocates of dangerous high-potency 7-hydroxymitragynine (“7-OH”) products to portray all 7-OH as “natural” and “non-synthetic” is dangerously misleading and threatens to undermine legitimate public health protections designed to prevent consumer harm.

FDA Commissioner Makary made the distinction between trace amounts of 7-OH that occur naturally in kratom raw materials that pose no safety concern and chemically manipulated 7-OH products that are highly concentrated into compounds that pose the same threat to consumers as traditional opioids. Legislators and public health officials are encouraged to review the FDA’s “Hiding in Plain Sight: 7-OH Products” resource webpage and watch the Department of Health and Human Services' “Press Conference on Opioid 7-OH Public Safety Measure.”

State legislators, regulators, and public health officials are increasingly hearing testimony in legislative hearings and regulatory proceedings form 7-OH manufacturers claiming that because trace amounts of 7-OH can naturally occur in kratom leaves through oxidation — and because tiny amounts may be formed in the human body through metabolism of mitragynine — then all commercial 7-OH products must therefore be “natural.” That argument is scientifically flawed, intentionally deceptive, and ignores the critical distinction between naturally occurring trace compounds and chemically manipulated products engineered to make 7-OH the dominant alkaloid.

Natural kratom leaf products contain mitragynine as the overwhelmingly dominant alkaloid, with only trace levels of naturally occurring 7-OH. These naturally occurring trace levels do not remotely approach the concentrations now being sold in highly concentrated tablets, chewable products, gummies, tinctures, and sublingual products marketed as “7-OH.”

The issue confronting policymakers is not the existence of minute naturally occurring trace amounts of 7-OH in kratom. The issue is the deliberate chemical manipulation of kratom alkaloids to convert mitragynine into a concentrated 7-OH dominant compound that bears no resemblance to traditional kratom leaf products consumed by millions of Americans.

That conversion process fundamentally changes the alkaloid profile and pharmacological properties of the product. Once mitragynine is chemically manipulated so that 7-OH becomes the dominant compound, the resulting product acts more like a synthetic opioid than a traditional kratom product.

The argument that these products are “natural” simply because trace 7-OH exists in nature is scientifically indefensible. By that logic, virtually any chemically manipulated substance could be labeled “natural” if a trace precursor existed somewhere in nature.

The FDA’s own materials explain the exact distinction that many industry witnesses are now attempting to obscure before state legislatures:

• naturally occurring trace levels of 7-OH in kratom leaf are not the same as concentrated chemically manipulated 7-OH products;
• and the deliberate enhancement and concentration of 7-OH creates substantially vastly different safety and abuse risks.

Legislators should clearly reject false and misleading testimony claiming that “all 7-OH is natural” or that “7-OH is not synthetic.” These statements intentionally blur the line between trace naturally occurring alkaloid levels found in traditional kratom leaf; and chemically manipulated high-potency 7-OH dominant products engineered for amplified psychoactive effect.

This distinction is central to responsible public health policy.

The current generation of high-potency 7-OH products did not emerge from traditional kratom use. They emerged from chemical manipulation designed to create a far more potent product profile while continuing to exploit the public recognition and goodwill associated with natural kratom.

Increasingly, state lawmakers are recognizing that these products are fundamentally different from traditional kratom products and require separate regulatory treatment — including scheduling consideration, age restrictions, warning labels, potency limits, and prohibitions on deceptive marketing practices that falsely portray synthetic or chemically manipulated products as “natural kratom.”

Public health officials and legislators should rely on the growing body of FDA documentation, toxicological evidence, and pharmacological data — not misleading semantic arguments designed to conceal the true nature of these chemically manipulated products.

Consumers deserve transparency. Legislators deserve accurate science. And policymakers should reject efforts to deliberately confuse the distinction between natural kratom and concentrated chemically manipulated 7-OH products.

About American Kratom Association (AKA)

American Kratom Association (AKA) is a consumer-based, nonprofit organization, focused on furthering the latest science as guidance for kratom public policy. AKA works to give a voice to millions of Americans by fighting to protect their rights to access safe and natural kratom. For more information, visit americankratom.org and learn more at kratomanswers.org.

Disclaimer

This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, or regulatory advice. The American Kratom Association (AKA) provides this information as part of its mission to advocate for consumer safety and scientific transparency. While the information provided is based on current pharmacological data and official statements from the FDA and HHS, readers are encouraged to consult with public health officials or legal counsel regarding specific state regulations and scheduling. Reference to third-party government resources does not imply an endorsement of the AKA by the FDA or HHS.

Media Contact

Mac Haddow
Senior Fellow on Public Policy
press@americankratom.org

Andrew Pagsisihan will serve on the 2026 Los Angeles County EMS Disaster Exercise Evaluation Committee, following his participation at the 2025 conference. Building on that involvement, he will contribute his expertise to strengthen disaster preparedness and response. During the 2025 evaluation conference, Pagsisihan focused on cross-sector collaboration and identifying operational gaps.

Pagsisihan represented AllCare Provider at the conference held at the City of Hope's Cooper Auditorium. The partnership represented a continued effort to build a more resilient emergency response program to protect the most vulnerable communities. 

Service at AllCare Provider

Pagsisihan began his career as an operations manager at AllCare Provider in 1998. He remained there until 2003, during which time he pursued an education. He completed a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering at California State Polytechnic University in 2005, followed by an Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business in 2019.

From 2004 to 2007, Pagsisihan worked as a research and design engineer at Belkin International Inc., and from 2005 to 2008, he returned to AllCare Provider as director of data management. He has remained with the organization since, promoted from data infrastructure engineer to chief data officer, chief technology and information officer, and, most recently, chief operating officer.

Additionally, Pagsisihan has served as a health care coalition representative for the Home Health & Hospice at the L.A. County EMS Support within the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services since 2010.

Core Responsibilities in At-Home Health Care

With more than two decades of professional experience in health care, health care technology and operations management, Pagsisihan is responsible for integrating technology to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. At the same time, he works to ensure that the quality of patient care is uncompromised, reviewing logistics and focusing on partnerships with insurance providers and hospital systems.

Much of Pagsisihan’s work focuses on delivering quality home health care services, using technology to connect with and support patients. He believes this focus enables him to create tangible, human-focused impact, closing the gap between digital innovation and direct, in-home health care.

Outside of his professional and conference involvement, Pagsisihan also occupies various leadership roles within membership organizations. These include the National Alliance for Care, the Los Angeles County Healthcare Coalition, the Los Angeles County Emergency Management Council and the California Association for Health Services at Home.

Guiding an Industry’s Trajectory

Equipped with unique technical and leadership expertise in health care, Pagsisihan stands out as a quality fit for the 2026 committee for the L.A. County EMS Disaster Evaluation Conference. His strategic vision centers on reducing expenditures, streamlining health benefits and enhancing health literacy, each of which is valuable to the traditional and at-home health care industries.

As a direct observer of the number of newcomers to the industry, Pagsisihan aims to impart his experience in the same way his colleagues did for him. He believes that this kind of collaborative learning has given his industry an edge and a clear direction for the future.

Moving forward, Pagsisihan envisions himself at the forefront of a shift in health care that places the patient’s home at the center of care delivery. He aims to expand access to comprehensive medical services, delivering on innovative at-home care models and medical home initiatives. By focusing on patient satisfaction outside of the hospital, Pagsisihan hopes to positively impact thousands.

About Andrew Pagsisihan

Andrew Pagsisihan is the chief operating officer of AllCare Provider, which delivers expert medical care at home. With 23 years in the health care industry, he is a board member for the California Association for Health Services at Home and the Los Angeles County Healthcare Coalition. He was previously featured by Yahoo Finance and the Wall Street Journal.

About Marquis Who's Who

Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who’s Who in America®, Marquis Who’s Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who’s Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms worldwide. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who’s Who® website, marquiswhoswho.com.

Media Contact

Marquis Who's Who
info@marquiswhoswho.com

InvGate, a provider of IT service and asset management software, today announced the general availability of its AI Hub for InvGate Asset Management. The release packages three distinct capabilities — Atlas, Smart Recommendations, and Automatic CMDB Mapping — into a single update that activates automatically for all cloud-based customers with no setup required and no additional cost.

The launch addresses a persistent gap in IT asset management: the manual effort required to track hardware lifecycle status, identify inventory problems, and maintain accurate configuration maps. IT teams at enterprises, hospitals, universities, and public-sector organizations have historically relied on spreadsheet exports, vendor website lookups, and quarterly manual reviews to surface the information InvGate's AI Hub now delivers continuously and automatically.

Atlas: End-of-Life and End-of-Support Data, Automatically Enriched

Atlas is InvGate's proprietary IT lifecycle database that pulls end-of-life (EoL) and end-of-support (EoS) information directly into asset profiles. When a technician opens any computer, switch, router, or database record in InvGate Asset Management, the lifecycle dates are already populated — sourced automatically from manufacturer data.

On launch day, Atlas covers hardware computers and databases, with approximately 80% of computer assets across existing InvGate instances expected to have data populated immediately. Lenovo coverage reaches approximately 99.8%, with other major brands — including Dell, HP, and others — included at varying levels depending on manufacturer data availability. Coverage for remaining models will expand through Q2 2026.

Operating system EoL and EoS coverage and software lifecycle data are planned for later in 2026. Atlas is available on all InvGate Asset Management plans and is cloud-only at launch.

Smart Recommendations: A Continuously Updated Inventory Action List

Smart Recommendations scans the contents of each customer's instance and surfaces assets that require attention — without requiring users to build reports or know what to look for. Each recommendation displays which assets are affected, why the condition matters, and a direct link to take action.

Approximately 20 recommendation types are available at launch, covering hardware categories including computers, laptops, servers, switches, routers, and databases. Conditions detected include:

• Assets with no owner, no location, or no recorded purchase cost
• Antivirus, firewall, or encryption disabled
• Devices that have not reported in more than seven days
• Expired warranties, with dedicated coverage for Dell and Lenovo devices
• Sustained CPU usage above 80% or RAM above 85% over a seven-day period
• Critical battery degradation, pending restarts, and energy waste metrics
• Lifecycle accounting automation triggers

Recommendations are scoped to each user's permissions, so individuals see only what they are authorized to act on. The feature requires no configuration and activated automatically for all customer instances on launch day. Printer ink-level recommendations and lifecycle-based recommendations tied to Atlas data are planned for a subsequent release.

Automatic CMDB Mapping: Infrastructure Dependencies Built from Real Data

The third capability in the AI Hub release makes CMDB dependency suggestions visible directly inside Business Application diagrams. Users select a configuration item (CI), activate suggestion mode, and see related CIs detected by InvGate's Agent, discovery scans, and asset properties. Each suggestion can be accepted or skipped individually.

The update is designed as the first step toward one-click Business Application creation, where the system generates a full infrastructure map from automatically detected patterns. Automatic CMDB Mapping is available on Pro and Enterprise plans and ships as early access beginning with version 3.14.

“For years, IT teams have been running the same quarterly manual process: exporting from their tools, filtering in spreadsheets, and trying to identify which assets need attention before something breaks.”

“The AI Hub is InvGate’s answer to that. Atlas, Smart Recommendations, and Automatic CMDB Mapping ship together today because the problem isn’t one feature — it’s the entire workflow,” said Ariel Gesto, CEO, InvGate.

Availability and Pricing

All three capabilities are included in InvGate Asset Management at no additional cost. Atlas and Smart Recommendations are available on all plans beginning with version 3.13. Automatic CMDB Mapping is available in early access on Pro and Enterprise plans beginning with version 3.14. Atlas and Smart Recommendations are cloud-only at launch; on-premises support is planned for a future release.

About InvGate

InvGate provides IT service management and IT asset management software to enterprises, public-sector organizations, and managed service providers worldwide. Its products include InvGate Service Management and InvGate Asset Management. For more information, visit invgate.com.

Media Contact

Support Team
info@invgate.com

The Prelude Network® (Prelude), the largest provider of comprehensive fertility services and clinics across North America, announces today that 13 of its clinics have been named an America's Best Fertility Clinic in 2026.

In 2026, reproductive medicine is rapidly evolving, with fertility clinics becoming advanced centers that use AI, genomics, and automation to improve outcomes and broaden access to care. As IVF becomes increasingly mainstream in the U.S., demand for high-quality fertility services continues to grow.

For the fourth consecutive year, Statista and Newsweek collaborated to identify the top fertility clinics in the United States, recognizing 140 clinics in this year’s ranking. Only facilities classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as fertility clinics and assisted reproductive technology (ART) providers were included in the scope of the evaluation. Each clinic was assigned a composite score based on four key components, including:

• Quality metrics based on 2022 CDC-reported cycle data
• A nationwide survey of reproductive endocrinologists, infertility specialists, obstetricians/gynecologists, registered nurses, and laboratory assistants who work in and refer patients to fertility clinics
• Accreditation data from organizations including The Joint Commission (JCI), College of American Pathologists (CAP), Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), and the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM)
• Patient satisfaction from Google reviews

Those Prelude clinics recognized with the America's Best Fertility Clinics 2026 award include Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago; Aspire Fertility Austin; Aspire Fertility Dallas; Aspire Fertility San Antonio; Aspire Houston Fertility Institute; IVFMD; Main Line Fertility; NYU Langone Fertility Center; NYU Langone Reproductive Specialists of New York; Pacific Fertility Center; Reproductive Biology Associates; Tennessee Fertility Institute and The Reproductive Medicine Group.

“Inception Fertility is honored to see the clinics within The Prelude Network recognized for their continued excellence,” said TJ Farnsworth, Founder and CEO of Inception Fertility, the parent company to Prelude. “This acknowledgment speaks to the dedication across our teams to push the boundaries of reproductive medicine while delivering thoughtful, individualized care to every patient. It’s rewarding to see that commitment reflected in meaningful recognition like this.”

About The Prelude Network

The Prelude Network® (Prelude), the fastest-growing network of fertility clinics and largest provider of comprehensive fertility services in North America, is the clinic network of Inception Fertility — a family of fertility brands that touches every part of the fertility journey, including diagnostics and treatment to financial accessibility. Each clinic, as part of Prelude, is committed to delivering the highest level of personalized fertility care by the nation's leading reproductive endocrinologists, embryologists and practitioners by focusing on excellence in science, medicine and the patient experience. The growing Prelude Network has more than 90 total locations nationwide, offering a wide range of fertility services including egg freezing, IVF, genetic testing, LGBTQ+ fertility options, and egg/embryo storage, among others. Clinics within Prelude include Aspire Fertility Austin (Texas); Aspire Fertility Dallas (Texas); Aspire Fertility San Antonio (Texas); Aspire Houston Fertility Institute (Texas); Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago (Illinois); Center for Reproductive Medicine (Florida); Indiana Fertility Institute (Indiana); IVFMD (Florida); Main Line Fertility (Pennsylvania); NYU Langone Fertility Center (New York); NYU Langone RSNY (New York); Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine (Canada); Pacific Fertility Center (California); Regional Fertility Program (Canada); Reproductive Biology Associates (Georgia); Reproductive Science Center of New Jersey (New Jersey); Tennessee Fertility Institute (Tennessee), and The Reproductive Medicine Group (Florida). For more information, visit www.preludefertility.com.

About Inception Fertility

Inception Fertility™ (Inception) is a family of fertility brands committed to helping patients build their own families. Built by patients for patients, Inception's purpose is to achieve the highest bar in experience, science and medicine in an effort to enhance each patient's experience and achieve better outcomes. Inception's medical experts are leading pioneers in fertility care. Our doctors are some of the first to use breakthrough assisted reproductive technologies (ART) — including in vitro fertilization (IVF), preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) and fertility preservation services — and they continue to lead the industry by building on these technologies by through development, research and thought leadership. Through its growing family of national organizations — which includes The Prelude Network®, the fastest-growing network of fertility clinics and largest provider of comprehensive fertility services in North America; MyEggBank®, one of the largest frozen donor egg banks in North America; BUNDL Fertility™, a multi-cycle fertility service bundling program; HavenCryo™, a long-term reproductive preservation and storage solution provider and NutraBloom®, a premium lifestyle brand with expertly formulated supplements to support individuals' health and wellness goals for preconception — Inception is working to deliver on its promise to push the envelope of what is possible for exceeding patient expectations. For more information, visit www.inceptionfertility.com.

Media Contact

Mia Humphreys
mhumphreys@kruppagency.com

The Oblist, a platform curating collectible furniture, art, and lifestyle objects from international galleries and creators, presents the exhibition “Objects We Collect and Live With” with a vernissage at Ogata in Paris. The exhibition brings together a selection of pieces that illustrate current developments in how interiors are conceived, assembled, and valued.

“Objects We Collect and Live With” examines the transition of home design from decoration to an alternative asset class. It also points to increasing interest from high-net-worth individuals in collectible design and the growing relevance of curated interiors as portfolios of functional art. Objects are presented with attention to origin, material, and authorship, reinforcing their position within timeless collections.

Interiors as an Asset Class

Across global markets, interior ؜design ؜is gaining ؜recognition ؜؜as ؜a category associated ؜with long-term ؜value. High-net-worth collectors ؜are allocating attention and capital toward collectible ؜design, including ؜Art Deco furniture, limited-edition works, and historically significant pieces. These ؜objects are acquired ؜؜with consideration for provenance, rarity, and durability.

This development highlights a shift away from short-cycle consumption toward acquisition driven by permanence and authorship. Objects such as vintage end tables or hand-produced seating are evaluated in a manner comparable to art, where condition, origin, and scarcity influence their position within a collection.

The Oblist and Its Network of Designers and Galleries

The Oblist is a curated platform for collectible design, connecting collectors with a network of galleries and independent designers. Its selection draws on years of research across periods, cultures, and production techniques, with a focus on pieces that carry distinct visual and material identities.

Co-founded by Paris-based creative Leia Sfez and her husband, a marketing specialist, The Oblist was established to encourage discovery and access to singular works. The platform prioritizes pieces made to order or produced in limited quantities, supporting production methods that reduce excess and favor longevity.

Material and Design Philosophy

The exhibition emphasizes material composition and method of construction. Timber, metal, and ceramics are presented with visible surface variation, joinery, and texture. Irregularities are retained in the finished objects rather than removed during production. Construction details remain visible, with an emphasis on structural honesty.

Each piece is designed for use within interior settings while maintaining an independent form. This creates a balance between function and autonomy in both production and presentation.

A New Generation of Designers

“Objects We Collect and Live With” includes work from emerging designers who represent the “New Guard” within collectible design. Their practices are defined by limited series, experimental processes, and a rejection of industrial standardization.

Many of the designers produce works that emphasize scarcity and authorship, with each piece showing a unique approach to material and form. Materials are handled in ways that retain their natural characteristics, allowing each work to reflect how it was made.

The selection presents a range of practices where design is closely connected to fabrication, resulting in objects that differ in form, finish, and construction.

Acquisition and Selection in Interior Design

The exhibition highlights changing attitudes toward interiors. Modern interiors are moving from decoration to curated environments, where acquisition is guided by long-term value and careful selection.

The collection’s core message, “What We Collect Becomes What We Value,” is reflected in how spaces are assembled. Each piece contributes to the experience of a space, carrying material, cultural, and functional significance. Interiors are understood as collections that emphasize continuity over replacement.

By presenting these works within a single setting, The Oblist provides a view into how design is integrated into daily life with long-term consideration. Its “Objects We Collect and Live With” exhibition links individual pieces to broader patterns of acquisition and use, where durability, authorship, and material presence guide selection.

About The Oblist

The Oblist is a digital platform curating a unique selection of furniture, art, and lifestyle works. Working with international galleries and creators, the platform focuses on craftsmanship and timeless aesthetics. Each piece is selected for its design significance and history, offering collectors access to rare works worldwide. For more information, visit oblist.com.

Media Contact

Leia Sfez
CEO, The Oblist
marketing@oblist.com
+33 1 89 71 83 63

Mylio, the privacy-first photo organization platform trusted by photographers, families, and digital archivists worldwide, today announced the launch of a recurring monthly webinar series designed to help users unlock the full potential of Mylio Photos. The live sessions will cover topics including AI-powered photo search, cross-device synchronization, duplicate removal, family library setup, and more.

Why It Matters

The program comes in direct response to growing demand from Mylio's active user community, where members regularly seek guidance on managing photo libraries that can span decades, multiple devices, and hundreds of thousands of files.

"The more content we create, the harder it becomes to preserve what truly matters," said Alex Tsepko, CMO at Mylio. "Families today aren't failing to document their lives — they have thousands of photos spread across phones, laptops, and clouds. The real problem is that this abundance buries the memories we care about most."

What to Expect

Each webinar will be led by Mylio's product experts and is open to all users — from first-time subscribers to long-time power users. Sessions are designed to be practical and hands-on, walking participants through real workflows inside the app. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions live and get direct answers from the team.

Mylio Photos is available across iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS, and is built around a simple but powerful idea: users should own and control their memories. Mylio never mines photo data, never compresses originals, and never locks users into a proprietary ecosystem. Photos sync privately across devices — including offline — using peer-to-peer technology, with no mandatory cloud uploads required.

The webinar series will address some of the most common challenges users face — including how to consolidate scattered libraries from multiple devices and hard drives — how to use Mylio's AI face recognition and smart search without sending data to outside servers, and how to set up Mylio Family so multiple generations can contribute to and access a shared photo archive.

"We built Mylio for people who understand that their memories are irreplaceable," said Tsepko. "These webinars are our way of making sure every user — no matter their technical background — can get the most out of the software and keep those memories safe."

How to Register

Upcoming webinar dates and registration links are available at community.mylio.com/events. All sessions are available to Mylio subscribers.

About Mylio

Mylio is a privacy-first media organization platform for individuals, families, and businesses. It unifies photos, videos, and documents from any device or source into a single, searchable library — with no cloud lock-in, no data mining, and no compromises on privacy. Mylio Photos is available on iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. Learn more at mylio.com.

Media Contact

Alex Tsepko
Chief Marketing Officer, Mylio
alex@mylio.com

Ryder Toys, a company that designs and sells premium battery-powered ride-on vehicles for children, has been acquired by Daniel Pahl, a veteran digital marketing executive with more than 20 years of e-commerce experience. The transaction was completed on March 31 and Pahl has assumed the role of CEO.

Now headquartered in Los Angeles, Ryder Toys sells a range of electric ride-on cars, off-road buggies, go-karts, ATVs, mini bikes and licensed replica vehicles from brands including Mercedes-Benz, Lamborghini, Jeep and Ford. The company’s products span 6-volt, 12-volt, 24-volt and 48-volt models designed for children ages one through their early teens, with prices ranging from entry-level options to premium vehicles. Ryder Toys has been featured on The Kelly Clarkson Show and recognized by Car and Driver as a top maker of electric ride-on cars for kids.

Pahl spent the bulk of his career in senior digital marketing roles at major consumer brands. He served as VP of media and acquisition marketing at TechStyle Fashion Group, the parent company of Savage X Fenty, Fabletics and JustFab, where he helped scale annual revenue from $300 million to more than $1 billion. Earlier in his career, he held multiple roles at eBay, including head of search engine marketing. More recently, he worked as a fractional VP of growth at Chameleon Collective, consulting for brands including Vera Bradley, Lord & Taylor, Good American and The Children’s Place.

Pahl said he began actively searching for a business to acquire in August 2025 after years of advising companies as a consultant.

“As a consultant, you don’t fully control the fate of the business,” Pahl said. “I wanted to take everything I’ve learned over 20 years and apply it to growing a business on my own terms.”

When he found Ryder Toys, Pahl said the product quality and business fundamentals immediately stood out as extremely strong. During his due diligence, he also identified digital marketing opportunities that could be used to accelerate growth, making the company a perfect fit for what he was looking for.

“The previous owner built a great foundation,” Pahl said. “With my background, I saw a clear growth engine I could activate right away.”

Pahl is already implementing new digital marketing and social media strategies and plans to expand Ryder Toys’ product lines and pursue brand partnerships with iconic Los Angeles institutions, from sports teams and entertainment properties to police and fire departments and museums.

Originally from Germany, Pahl said the acquisition represents a personal milestone as much as a professional one.

“I grew up in East Germany behind the Iron Curtain, learning that capitalism was the worst thing in the world,” Pahl said. “Now I’m running my own company. I never would have imagined this, but I love what I’m doing.”

Pahl credited the previous owner for building a strong brand and said the transition was smooth.

“The seller was fantastic throughout the entire process,” Pahl said.

He said maintaining product quality will be central to the company’s growth. Ryder Toys employs a quality assurance team at the manufacturer and conducts additional checks when products arrive in the United States. The company sells exclusively through its own website, rydertoys.com.

About Ryder Toys

Ryder Toys is a California-based company that designs and sells premium battery-powered electric ride-on vehicles for children. The company’s lineup includes licensed replicas of Mercedes-Benz, Lamborghini, Jeep and Ford vehicles as well as off-road buggies, go-karts, drift carts, ATVs and mini bikes spanning 6V to 48V power options. Ryder Toys has been featured on the Kelly Clarkson Show and in Car and Driver and sells directly to consumers at rydertoys.com. For more information, visit rydertoys.com.

Media Contact

Matt Pressberg
matt@pressbergmedia.com

CRA Marketplace and Black Lake Digital Markets today announced the launch of GATHER™, a comprehensive end-to-end institutional platform for sourcing, pricing, trading, transferring, and settling CRA-eligible mortgage assets. GATHER™ was conceived and built by Wayne Brown, a career mortgage banking professional with deep roots in community lending, correspondent finance, and CRA program design.

Powered by Black Lake’s proprietary auction technology, the GATHER™ platform helps banks manage their CRA obligation, turning a back-office challenge into a capital markets opportunity. GATHER™ supports the full spectrum of qualifying loan types across purchase, refinance, and specialty programs. It features a buy box matching engine built for precision lending decisions. This engine considers assessment area mapping, income and product eligibility, and portfolio gap analyses.

“GATHER is the platform I spent my entire career wishing existed,” said Wayne Brown, founder of GATHER™ CRA Marketplace. “It connects the originators producing CRA product with the banks that need it. And it does so efficiently, transparently, and with documentation that actually survives an examination.”

GATHER™ standardizes loan tape data from any originator format into a consistent, validated, institution-ready data structure at the loan level. This happens before loans are auctioned and managed in an end-to-end transaction, with systematic document exchange, exception handling, and servicer coordination.

The platform’s key capabilities include:

• Originator Sourcing Network: Direct pipeline from IMBs, community banks, credit unions, and mortgage companies producing CRA-eligible volume.
• CRA Eligibility Scoring & Documentation: Loan-level qualification powered by MATRIX™ against FFIEC income limits, census tract designations, program criteria, and exam standards. It produces examiner-ready output on every transaction.
• Buy-Box Matching Engine: Systematic, real-time routing of originator supply to bank buyers based on assessment area, income tier, product type, and CRA exam-cycle priority.
• Structured Price Discovery: Competitive auction formats and bilateral execution options that surface true market pricing and replace opaque bilateral negotiation permanently.
• Standardized Due Diligence Infrastructure: Consistent data rooms, documentation protocols, and eligibility packages. Every counterparty operates from the same verified information set.
• Automated Settlement & Post-Trade Workflow: Systematic execution from bid acceptance through final funding, document delivery, and servicer boarding. Powered by MATRIX™, which compresses timelines from weeks to days.
• Clean Loan Transfer & Boarding: Coordinated transfer of loan files, servicing rights, and compliance documentation to the receiving institution with full boarding support.
• Full Compliance Archive: Every transaction logged, time-tamped, and accessible. Designed for federal banking examiner scrutiny from day one.

“GATHER™ represents exactly the kind of institutional-grade infrastructure we built Black Lake to power,” said Al Qureshi, CEO and co-founder of Black Lake. “CRA compliance has long been a friction point between originators and banks, and we're proud to provide the technology backbone that eliminates that friction at scale.”

GATHER™ is available immediately to qualified institutional participants. Lenders, investors, and servicers interested in learning more about the platform or participating in upcoming auctions can learn more at gathermarkets.net.

About Wayne Brown

Wayne Brown, the founder of GATHER™ is a career mortgage banking professional with expertise in community lending, correspondent finance and CRA program design. As a former Senior Director of the Freddie Mac Cash Desk, Wayne spent over a decade working strategically with banks and credit unions across the nation around affordable products & deal structure. Wayne brings this unique experience to the GATHER™ program. In addition, Wayne’s career spans decades at the intersection of regulatory obligation and capital markets execution. This perspective allows Wayne to serve both sides of the originator–bank relationship, and Wayne is excited to finally deploy a scalable solution to the industry.

About Black Lake Digital Markets

Black Lake Services, LLC d/b/a Black Lake Digital Markets (“Black Lake”) operates a comprehensive end-to-end mortgage technology ecosystem spanning underwriting, pricing, trading, transfer, settlement, tokenization, and third-party staging. By unifying every stage of the mortgage lifecycle on a single platform, Black Lake delivers institutional-grade infrastructure that makes mortgage markets faster, more transparent, and more efficient for all participants.

Black Lake is the marketing name for a group of affiliated companies providing a range of services. All services are provided through separate agreements with each company. This material is for general information purposes only and is not intended to provide specific advice or a specific recommendation. Black Lake Investment Solutions LLC (“Black Lake”) wholly owns Black Lake Services LLC d/b/a Black Lake Digital Markets and Black Lake Investments LLC. Black Lake Digital Markets offers proprietary technology services for the pricing, trading, and transfer of mortgage assets.

Black Lake does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. Black Lake is not a licensed insurance company and does not underwrite or sell insurance products.

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements contained herein may contain certain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements relating to the companies business prospects, future developments, trends and conditions in the industry and geographical markets in which the company operates, its respective strategies, plans, objectives and goals, ability to control costs, operations, margins, and overall market trends.

When used herein, the words "anticipate," "believe," "could," "feel," "estimate," "expect," "going forward," "intend," "may," "ought to," "plan," "project," "seek," "should," "will," "would" and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect Black Lake and Ascendant’s current views with respect to future events and are not a guarantee of future performance or developments. You are strongly cautioned that reliance on any forward-looking statements involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results and events may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including any changes in the laws, rules and regulations relating to any aspects of company’s business operations, general economic, market and business conditions, including capital market developments and changes or volatility in interest rates, and developments of the company’s competitors.

Subject to the requirements of applicable law, neither Black Lake nor Ascendant intends to update or otherwise revise such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. As a result of these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions, forward-looking events and circumstances discussed herein might not occur in the way Black Lake or Ascendant expects, or at all.

Accordingly, you should not place reliance on any forward-looking information or statements. All forward-looking statements herein are qualified by reference to the cautionary statements set forth in this disclaimer.

Geely Auto Group celebrates a monumental milestone in global motorsports. During the FIA TCR World Tour at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Geely Auto achieved a historic first victory with the all-new Geely Preface TCR, driven by Chinese driver Ma Qinghua.

In Race 2 at the renowned Italian circuit, Ma delivered Geely Auto’s first victory in stunning style. Starting from third on the grid, Ma launched quickly into a frantic battle for the lead. The defining moment arrived on lap six, when he executed a decisive move to seize control of the race. Managing the distance to the chasing pack until the chequered flag, Ma secured a landmark win for Geely Motorsport Group, raising the Chinese national flag and cementing a proud moment for Chinese automotive brands and the Chinese people on the world stage.

The Geely Preface TCR, a testament to the extensive testing and development by the global team, made an immediate impact throughout its debut weekend. Alongside Ma's triumph, Kumho FIA TCR WORLD TOUR defending champion Yann Ehrlacher secured a historic first podium for Geely with a third-place finish in the 15-lap Race 1 opener. Furthermore, Thed Björk joined his teammate on the podium in Race 2, underscoring the strong foundational pace and competitive viability of the new vehicle.

Geely has consistently pursued challenges, viewing the fiercely competitive environment of international racing as a place to hone its people and technology. Securing strong championship points early in the season serves as a vital reward for the dedicated project teams operating across China and Europe. As the team prepares for the hotter, more demanding circuits of Valencia, Paul Ricard, and Vila Real, Geely Auto Group will continue to push the continuous development of the Preface TCR. By showcasing its speed and commitment to technological innovation, Geely will continue to hone its engineering prowess through these challenges, delivering exceptional performance and excitement to motorsports fans worldwide.

About Geely Auto Group

Geely Auto Group is a leading global automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, China. A part of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Geely Auto Group develops and manufactures passenger vehicles under the Geely, Lynk & Co, and Zeekr brands. Geely Auto achieved cumulative sales of 3,024,567 units in 2025, exceeding the full-year sales target with a year-on-year growth of 39%. New energy vehicle (NEV) sales reached 1,687,767 units, a year-on-year increase of 90%. With a strong focus on technology innovation, electrification, and sustainable mobility, Geely Auto Group operates world-class R&D centers and manufacturing facilities across China, Europe, and key international markets. The Group is committed to delivering safe, high-quality, and intelligent vehicles enabled by advanced technologies such as hybrid powertrains, full-electric architectures, smart connectivity, and autonomous driving systems. As a global company, Geely Auto Group continues to expand its international presence through strategic partnerships, localized operations, and industry-leading platforms. Geely strives to create mobility solutions that are greener, smarter, and more accessible, driving forward the future of sustainable transportation.

NOTAPE™, an innovative zipper technology brand, will debut its tape‑free, stitch‑free zipper technology at European Outdoor Week (EOW) 2026, taking place from May 17–19, 2026, in Riva del Garda, Italy. The company says the technology is designed to simplify zipper construction, reduce reliance on conventional zipper tape and stitching, and support lighter, cleaner and more sustainable outdoor apparel manufacturing.

Breaking a Century‑Old Convention: From Addition to Subtraction

For more than 130 years, most zipper designs have continued to rely on a tape-and-teeth architecture, even as materials, finishes and production processes have evolved. NOTAPE offers what it describes as a new approach by removing conventional tape and stitching from zipper construction.

Three Core Values for Outdoor Fashion

Built on three decades of R&D and eight years of intensive testing, NOTAPE has developed a tape-free, stitch-free zipper structure that integrates zipper teeth directly with fabric. The brand has received international design recognition, including Red Dot “Best of the Best” and ISPO “Best Product” awards, according to company-provided information.

1. Design Aesthetics: Invisible Integration

Conventional zippers typically use a “teeth + tape” structure, creating a layered build-up of tape, stitches and fabric that can add thickness and stiffness to lightweight garments. NOTAPE’s tape-free zipper adopts a one-piece integrated construction, with zipper teeth attached directly to the fabric.

The company says this structure allows the zipper to become a natural extension of the fabric itself, helping reduce bulges and wrinkles on windbreakers, sun-protection jackets and ski jackets, while supporting the minimalist and lightweight design direction of modern outdoor apparel.

2. Functional Breakthrough: Waterproof, Lightweight & Durable

Conventional waterproof zippers rely on film or coatings applied to the tape. However, tape absorbency, needle holes, and coating wear can limit long-term reliability. Unlike conventional waterproof zippers, NOTAPE’s Structural Engineered Anti-Leak Technology (SEAL) removes the absorbent tape and needle holes. Through precision teeth attachment directly with the fabric, it creates a physical barrier — achieving waterproof performance without any film — that does not degrade with washing or abrasion.

The tape-free structure also reduces weight by over 30%, while the self-supporting teeth design delivers both thinness and strength.

3. Sustainable Innovation: 26.6% Carbon Reduction per Zipper

Conventional zipper tape requires spinning, weaving, dyeing, and setting — each step consuming energy and water while generating wastewater, emissions, and solid waste. Dyeing, in particular, is a major source of pollution. Moreover, the tape adds complexity to garment recycling.

NOTAPE’s “subtraction innovation” eliminates the tape from the source and delivers measurable environmental benefits, supported by TÜV-certified data provided by the company. The tape-free, stitch-free process reduces resource consumption by up to 95% by eliminating energy-intensive steps such as tape weaving, dyeing, sewing, and transportation. The company says the carbon footprint reduction is fully traceable. Backed by eight years of R&D, NOTAPE demonstrates how tape-free structures can reshape design, manufacturing efficiency, and supply chain collaboration. By turning the zipper into a grown-in function of the garment, NOTAPE™ opens new possibilities for lighter, more efficient, and more sustainable outdoor apparel. Join us at EOW 2026 to experience this next-generation zipper technology firsthand.

NOTAPE’s Global Debut at EOW

Europe is the key market for outdoor innovation, and EOW brings together over 350 leading brands, designers, buyers, and media. On site, the brand will share eight years of R&D insights, exploring how tape‑free structures can reshape design, manufacturing efficiency, and supply chain collaboration.

From a “sewn‑on part” to a “grown‑in function”, NOTAPE opens new possibilities for the outdoor fashion industry. Join us at EOW — Outdoor Trade Show, May 17–19, 2026, Riva del Garda, Italy.

Advances in medical aesthetics are increasingly being shaped by specialist-led approaches, particularly in highly precise fields such as oculoplastic surgery. Among practitioners working in this area is Dr. Yıldız Acar Ebcim, a board-certified oculoplastic surgeon based in Istanbul, whose work focuses on the complex anatomical structures of the eyelids and surrounding facial region.

With more than a decade of clinical experience, Dr. Ebcim has developed an integrated upper face rejuvenation approach that combines multiple surgical and non-surgical techniques within a single treatment plan. The model is designed to address both functional and aesthetic considerations in the periocular region, where precision is critical and outcomes must balance both appearance and eye function.

The approach reflects a broader shift in patient expectations. Increasingly, international patients are seeking natural-looking results, shorter recovery times, and procedures performed by specialists with focused anatomical expertise. Rather than pursuing dramatic or exaggerated changes, many patients are prioritising subtle refinements that align with their natural facial structure.

“In oculoplastic surgery, precision and experience are everything,” said Dr. Ebcim. “We are now treating patients from different parts of the world who are specifically seeking advanced eyelid and midface procedures performed with modern, minimally invasive techniques.”

Dr. Ebcim’s integrated approach typically combines procedures such as upper and lower eyelid surgery, including almond eye surgery and hunter eye surgery, brow and midface lifting, and tissue-support techniques including micro fat grafting. These are planned as part of a cohesive strategy rather than as isolated interventions, allowing for more balanced and consistent outcomes across the upper facial region.

Treatments may also be supported by adjunctive technologies such as laser-based skin treatments and regenerative applications, depending on patient suitability and clinical assessment. This layered approach enables a more comprehensive focus on skin quality, structural support, and long-term stability of results.

Unlike traditional cosmetic procedures that focus on isolated corrections, the integrated model aims to address the periocular region holistically. This includes preserving natural facial expression, maintaining eyelid function, and achieving anatomically balanced outcomes that remain consistent over time.

Oculoplastic surgery is widely regarded as one of the most technically demanding areas within aesthetic and reconstructive medicine. The proximity to the eye and surrounding structures means that both functional and aesthetic considerations must be managed simultaneously. Even minor inaccuracies can affect vision or eye health, making specialist training and detailed anatomical understanding essential.

Dr. Ebcim’s work places particular emphasis on careful surgical planning and precision-based execution. By combining multiple techniques within a single treatment framework, the approach aims to reduce the need for staged procedures while supporting more cohesive results.

As patient awareness continues to grow, there is increasing interest in procedures that offer refined, natural-looking outcomes without compromising facial identity. Within this context, integrated approaches such as those developed by Dr. Ebcim are becoming more relevant for patients seeking specialist-led care in oculoplastic surgery.

About Dr. Yıldız Acar Ebcim

Dr. Yıldız Acar Ebcim is a board-certified oculoplastic surgeon based in Istanbul, Türkiye, specialising in upper facial aesthetics. Her expertise focuses on upper and lower blepharoplasty (including transconjunctival techniques), brow lift, and midface lift procedures. She integrates advanced surgical approaches with complementary treatments such as fractional laser therapies and nano/micro fat grafting to enhance both functional and aesthetic outcomes. Dr. Ebcim treats hundreds of international patients each year and is recognised for her precision-driven approach, natural results, and patient-centered care in the field of oculoplastic surgery. For more information, visit www.yildizacarebcim.com.

Media Contact

Dr Yildiz Acar Ebcim
dryildizacar@gmail.com