Tokio Marine pauses sale of $1b Southeast Asia life insurance business

Business News

Japanese insurer Tokio Marine has paused the sale of its $1 billion Southeast Asia life insurance  business, partly due to a dispute with a Malaysian partner over an expiring products distribution agreement, four sources with knowledge of the matter said.The Tokyo-listed company hired Goldman Sachs and Jefferies last year to work on the sale that include Tokio Marine‘s life insurance businesses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, Reuters reported in June 2023.
The sale has attracted interest from Japanese and Middle Eastern buyers, said the first source.
However, Tokio Marine last month filed a lawsuit against RHB in Malaysia, seeking to enforce its right of first refusal over a 10-year product distribution agreement that is due to expire by year-end, a filing by RHB at that time showed.
Tokio Marine also asked RHB for details of the final bid that RHB has agreed to accept from other parties for a new deal, and applied for an interim injunction to prevent RHB from finalising an agreement with other parties, the filing showed.
Given the pending dispute, buyers were unable to make offers that would meet Tokio Marine‘s valuation expectations, said the first and second sources.
Some buyers had separately offered to buy only part of Tokio Marine‘s Southeast Asia life insurance business, but the insurer insisted on selling it as a whole, those two sources said.
All sources declined to be named as the matter was private.
In a response to Reuters’ query, Tokio Marine confirmed it was suing a Malaysian bank, but declined to give details or comment on any impact on the sale of its Southeast Asia life insurance business.
Goldman Sachs and Jefferies declined to comment. RHB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The paused sale comes as Tokio Marine has been reviewing its businesses to boost profitability.
The Tokyo-headquartered company divested its Tokio Marine Highland’s U.S. construction division to Intact Insurance Group in August 2022, according to announcement at that time.
Founded in 1879, Tokio Marine was Japan’s first non-life insurance company and it has since expanded into life insurance and now has a presence in 46 countries besides Japan, according to its website.
International businesses contribute 75% of its profits and Japan 25%, its website shows.
Shares of Tokio Marine have surged 61.1% year-to-date, giving it a market value of $75.1 billion as of Friday, LSEG data showed.
Reuters 

‘A fertile time’: Bafta Cymru honours golden age of film and TV production in Wales

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Back at the turn of the century, it could be something of a challenge to persuade film and television talent that Wales was the place to make world-class drama.Twenty-odd years on, figures reveal that Cardiff’s creative sector is growing more rapidly than any UK city apart from London. And this weekend Bafta Cymru is celebrating a “golden age” for film and television production in Wales at its annual awards ceremony.View image in fullscreenFrom Doctor Who and His Dark Materials to Men Up, which tells how Viagra was developed in Swansea, and the thriller Dal y Mellt (Catch the Lightning), the first Welsh language-only show to be bought by Netflix, the hits keep coming.“It is definitely a golden age for Wales-based production in TV and film,” said Angharad Mair, the chair of Bafta Cymru. Mair said young people keen to get into the industry no longer had to leave for London or Hollywood. “If I was a young person now in school in Wales, with aspirations to work in television or film, I would be so enthused. I’d think, wow, I can be part of that without having to work out how to get away. That’s a massive change.”Figures from the Centre for the Creative Economy at Cardiff University found business turnover in the Welsh capital’s audiovisual media sector between 2021 and 2023 grew by 55% – the highest for any UK city outside London.More than 15% of enterprises in Cardiff are in the creative industries, and south Wales is said to have more television and film studios than anywhere in the UK outside London. The Welsh government has ploughed millions into the sector, with regional and local authorities also seeing it as a priority for economic growth.View image in fullscreenOne of the architects of this golden age, Julie Gardner, the co-founder of the production company Bad Wolf, which is behind shows including Dr Who, A Discovery of Witches and The Winter King will receive an outstanding contribution to television award at the Bafta Cymru ceremony.Mair said: “What they are doing there in Wolf Studios is absolutely incredible – a centre of excellence producing some of the best work that’s ever come out of Wales. They are very involved with local schools and colleges. They bring young people in and show them that this great work is happening in Wales.”Gardner said there were negative preconceptions about Wales two decades ago: “There was suspicion and a lack of confidence that Wales could produce the sort of projects the country is creating now. When I would be doing meetings with talent, I’d ask them how long they thought the journey from London to Cardiff was. Everyone thought Cardiff was five, six hours away. No one thought it was two hours. It felt like such a distant place. There were a lot of preconceptions.”She said the revolution began in the early 2000s when the rebooted Doctor Who was based in Wales. “It was such a major moment in the evolution of the creative industries in Wales. In terms of network television, it was a lightning rod. And as Russell T Davies [the Doctor Who show runner] always says, work begets work.View image in fullscreen“When we were setting up Bad Wolf, we knew we wanted to come home to Wales. Knowing how great the crews are, how great the locations are, how extraordinary the Welsh government is in supporting that sector. This is an incredibly fertile, joyful time for Welsh-based production.”Also receiving a special award is Mark Lewis-Jones, who is recognised globally for his work on shows such as The Crown and Baby Reindeer – but also starred in Welsh hits such as Men Up (six Bafta Cymru nominations) and works in Welsh and English.The success of the industry is boosting Cymraeg, the Welsh language. Shows such as the dark comedy Pren ar y Bryn/Tree on a Hill, which has five nominations, have been shot “back to back” – in Welsh and English.Sara Pepper, the deputy director of Media Cymru, a 22-partner consortium delivering projects in and for the sector in Wales, said: “We are witnessing impressive growth in Wales, particularly within the Cardiff capital region’s media cluster.”Moves are afoot to form a film and TV “supercluster” with Bristol, the city with the second-highest growth rate, at 41%.Pepper said: “The potential for further growth is apparent. To build on existing successes and create new opportunities, it’s essential that innovation remains a top priority.”The Bafta Cymru ceremony will be livestreamed from 7pm on Sunday on the Bafta YouTube channel.

Scientists develop new method to detect alien radio signals”

Science and Health

Simplifying…
Inshort

Scientists at Penn State University have developed a new method to detect alien radio signals by observing when one planet passes in front of another, a phenomenon known as planet-planet occultation.

Using the Allan Telescope Array, they scanned the TRAPPIST-1 star system for a record 28 hours, identifying over 2,200 potential signals.

Although no alien transmissions were confirmed, the technique shows promise for detecting everyday radio signals from other star systems, potentially increasing our chances of finding extraterrestrial life.

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The novel method allows the detection of smaller bandwidth radio signals from solar system

Oct 18, 2024

06:50 pm

What’s the story

In a major breakthrough, a team of astronomers has devised a revolutionary technique to spot possible signs of alien life.

The study, which will soon be published in The Astronomical Journal, describes a method that allows the detection of smaller bandwidth radio signals. These are similar to those we use to communicate with our own spacecraft.

The TRAPPIST-1 star system, just 41 light years away, served as the testing ground for the approach.

Star system

TRAPPIST-1: A promising system for extraterrestrial life

The TRAPPIST-1 star system hosts a cool red dwarf star, orbited by seven rocky exoplanets the size of Earth. Three of these worlds lie within their star’s habitable zone, where they could support water and life.

While they didn’t detect any alien technosignatures during their study, the astronomers successfully demonstrated their technique could be used to intercept communications not intended for deep space reception.

Sensitivity issue

Overcoming limitations in detecting alien signals

Nick Tusay, the study’s lead author and an astronomer at Penn State University, explained that most searches for extraterrestrial life assume a powerful signal.

However, our receivers have a sensitivity limit to a minimum transmitter power beyond anything we unintentionally send out.

He suggested that with better equipment such as the upcoming Square Kilometer Array, we could soon be able to detect signals from an alien civilization communicating with its spacecraft.

Detection method

The team’s strategy

The team’s strategy was to wait for planet-planet occultations, where one planet passes in front of another from our perspective on Earth.

This event provides a unique opportunity to catch radio “spillover” of a signal being sent from the further world to the nearer one.

To try and capture such communications, the researchers employed the Allan Telescope Array, scanning TRAPPIST-1 for a record-breaking 28 hours – the longest single-target search in this star system.

Results and future applications of the technique

The team predicted seven potential planet-planet occultations. These events produced some 2,200 candidate radio signals that coincided with the astronomical occurrences.

Although none were confirmed as alien transmissions, their ability to identify promising signals validates their technique’s potential for detecting everyday radio signals in other stellar neighborhoods.

Tusay emphasized that the methods and algorithms developed for this project can eventually be applied to other star systems, potentially increasing our chances of finding regular communications among planets beyond our solar system.

Destination Guyana Now Business Conference giving back to the Tiger Bay community

Business News

The second annual Designation Guyana Now Business Conference got underway yesterday at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown. The conference, which ends on October 21, seeks to provide a platform for education, investment prospects, business collaboration, and networking for local business people and those in the diaspora.The genesis of the conference was the challenges its founder Stacey Mollison faced in her efforts to get involved in business in Guyana.“It really is an act of love. I started it following the challenges I had as a business owner in the diaspora who wanted to do business in Guyana,” she said. “I was encountering all this stuff, but I made a decision that I was going to figure it out, and when I figured it out I would bring smaller groups of business owners together in a very strategic manner to help them navigate this process.

Meeting our mission to support local business

Business News

Here at the CHQ Chamber our mission is to build vital connections, provide professional resources, and champion our local businesses in Chautauqua County. So, what does that mean for your local business? Plenty! Study after study over the years has demonstrated the business benefits of joining a local Chamber of Commerce. Chamber membership will help…

Discover the Story of Edna Ferber’s Novel in New Book GIANT LOVE

Arts & Culture, Books

Existing user? Just click login.GIANT LOVE, the compelling story of the writing of Edna Ferber’s acclaimed novel, “Giant,” and the making of the classic Oscar-winning blockbuster film, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean, will be published on December 3 by Pantheon Books, a division of Penguin/Random House.LATEST NEWSIn GIANT LOVE, author/playwright Julie Gilbert, Ferber’s great-niece, explores Ferber’s writing of the controversial international bestseller, “Giant.” The novel set off a storm of protest over its portrayal of Texas manners, money and mores with oil-rich Texans threatening to shoot, lynch or ban Ferber from ever entering the state again upon its publication in 1952.GIANT LOVE also chronicles the making of the 1956 film of the same name, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and, in his third and final film role, James Dean. Hailed today as “…the definitive 20th-century Texas movie” by USA Today and “a classic for the themes it represents, both on screen and off” by Associated Press, “Giant” continues to enthrall audiences. Director George Stevens captured the Best Director Oscar for the film, which garnered nine other nominations that year.GIANT LOVE chronicles Ferber’s evolution from mid-west maverick girl-reporter to Pulitzer Prize winning American novelist, from her want-to-be actress days to becoming Broadway’s acclaimed prize-winning playwright whose collaborators – George S. Kauffman and Moss Hart, among them, were, along with Ferber, herself, the most successful playwrights of their time. The new book has been called “…(a) riveting narrative… a multi-dimensional portrait of a writer’s creative process, accompanied by a vibrant history of the making of the film ‘Giant'” by film historian Foster Hirsch and “one of those rare books you can’t put down and don’t ever want to end” by Andre Bishop, producing artistic director of the Lincoln Center Theater.One of the most widely read writers in the first half of the 20th Century, Edna Ferber’s prodigious canon is comprised of twelve novels (one a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner)-ten of which were adapted into films (some of them more than once)-eight plays, several produced on Broadway, eleven collections of short stories and not one, but two memoirs. She socialized with members of the famous Algonquin Round Table, including President Teddy Roosevelt, and had friendships with luminaries such as Katharine Hepburn, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.Julie Gilbert, whose previous book, “Opposite Attraction: The Lives of Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Goddard,” was Pulitzer nominated, had unique access to Ferber’s treasure trove of personal letters, interviews and journals. In “Giant,” Ferber used copious first-hand research via five protracted trips to Texas to depict the horrific treatment of cheap Mexican labor and the prejudice against Mexican immigrants, inciting the wrath of Texans while going on to sell millions of copies. Gilbert also captures the making of the film, with stories about the writing of the screenplay, the location search and the casting.Ferber made American stories her milieu, calling her work “novels of protest.” She created tales of everyday life on a truck farm in Illinois (So Big), the bleakness of pre-statehood Alaska (Ice Palace), the development of Oklahoma after the Land Rush that usurped the natives of the area (Cimarron) and, of course, the oil fields of West Texas depicted in her sweeping novel “Giant.” Her meticulously researched work reflected a profound contempt for racism, discrimination and intolerance of any kind.GIANT LOVE chronicles Ferber’s evolution from mid-west maverick girl-reporter to Pulitzer Prize winning American novelist, from her want-to-be actress days to becoming Broadway’s acclaimed prize-winning playwright whose collaborators – George S. Kauffman and Moss Hart, among them, were, along with Ferber, herself, the most successful playwrights of their time. The new book has been called “…(a) riveting narrative… a multi-dimensional portrait of a writer’s creative process, accompanied by a vibrant history of the making of the film ‘Giant'” by film historian Foster Hirsch and “one of those rare books you can’t put down and don’t ever want to end” by Andre Bishop, producing artistic director of the Lincoln Center Theater.One of the most widely read writers in the first half of the 20th Century, Edna Ferber’s prodigious canon is comprised of twelve novels (one a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner)-ten of which were adapted into films (some of them more than once)-eight plays, several produced on Broadway, eleven collections of short stories and not one, but two memoirs. She socialized with members of the famous Algonquin Round Table, including President Teddy Roosevelt, and had friendships with luminaries such as Katharine Hepburn, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.Julie Gilbert, whose previous book, “Opposite Attraction: The Lives of Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Goddard,” was Pulitzer nominated, had unique access to Ferber’s treasure trove of personal letters, interviews and journals. In “Giant,” Ferber used copious first-hand research via five protracted trips to Texas to depict the horrific treatment of cheap Mexican labor and the prejudice against Mexican immigrants, inciting the wrath of Texans while going on to sell millions of copies. Gilbert also captures the making of the film, with stories about the writing of the screenplay, the location search and the casting.Ferber made American stories her milieu, calling her work “novels of protest.” She created tales of everyday life on a truck farm in Illinois (So Big), the bleakness of pre-statehood Alaska (Ice Palace), the development of Oklahoma after the Land Rush that usurped the natives of the area (Cimarron) and, of course, the oil fields of West Texas depicted in her sweeping novel “Giant.” Her meticulously researched work reflected a profound contempt for racism, discrimination and intolerance of any kind.For more information on GIANT LOVE, visit:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/607862/giant-love-by-julie-gilbert/

Can Eating Leftover Rice Kill You? Here’s The Science Behind ‘Fried Rice Syndrome’

Science and Health

Once again, TikTok has spurred intense conversations relating to food safety.In recent weeks, a 2008 news story resurfaced on the social media platform, terrifying users about the dangers of eating reheated leftover starches, particularly rice and pasta. On TikTok, it’s referred to as “fried rice syndrome.”Originally published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, the story focused on the death of a Brussels-based student following his consumption of a plate of meal-prepped spaghetti that he supposedly cooked Sunday, left out, and five days later reheated and ate it. @jpall20 This has to be some form of #naturalselection because idk how this isnt common sense #leftovers #spoiledfood #bacteria #foodpoisoning ♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs – Skittlegirl Sound Advertisement

So that may get you wondering: How long can food be left out and eaten again? Is it safer to eat leftovers out of a fridge? What, exactly, did the late student actually consume?We asked all of that and more to food safety experts. What is ‘fried rice syndrome’?In the case of the Brussels student, the illness was food poisoning caused by the Bacillus cereus bacterium.Advertisement

80s movie pin-up, 62, looks unrecognisable 39 years after smash hit movies and new career

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

IN the mid 80s she was part of a formidable group of emerging talent that was, perhaps unfairly, dubbed The Brat Pack.Though Charli XCX has very much rebranded the term Brat into a positive this year, it had adverse repercussions for actress Ally Sheedy four decades ago as she struggled to break free from the cloak it put around her and peers like Demi Moore, Robert Downey Jr and Rob Lowe, among others.5Ally Sheedy now works as a university lecturer as well as an actressCredit: Getty5She features in the new documentary Brat, looking at the emergence of The Brat Pack in the 80sCredit: GettyThe moniker, a play on the famous Rat Pack nickname given to 50s and 60s crooners like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole – came to be after a bunch of young up and comers appeared alongside one another in multiple coming of age movies like St Elmo’s Fire and The Breakfast Club.At the height of those films’ success, Ally didn’t feel particularly concerned, and why would she, as one of the industry’s hottest new stars.She told Vanity Fair in 2022: “Movies and working in film and TV and all that— it was this all-consuming love affair in my 20s. This is what I want to do…. “So I understand myself in my 20s, and I also understand how dangerous it can be to simply decide this is my path—period, end of story, nothing else matters. But that’s in your 20s. You’re passionate.”READ MORE ON THE 80SHowever, that attitude began to change as she became increasingly pigeon-holed and was urged to change her style in order to compete for more prominent roles.The shallow nature of Hollywood irked her and she had no desire to transform herself into a stereotypical ‘pretty girl’ to land roles.It was something she had enough difficulty doing while in character during a pivotal scene in The Breakfast Club when her character, Allison, is given a glam makeover that then makes her more attractive to boys.She told The Independent in 2020: “I never liked the makeover. Listen, it was Hollywood in the Eighties. They wanted to take the ugly duckling and make her into a swan. “As far as I was concerned, that wasn’t what I was doing with that character, but that was what they wanted.”Ally lamented the misogynistic culture within Hollywood at the time and the pressure on women to conform to the standards set out by the “white men’s club” in charge.Demi Moore reveals A-list cast ‘is in and gung-ho’ for St. Elmo’s Fire reboot nearly 40 years after movie’s premiereShe said: “Acting started to just feel more and more to me like something that I didn’t want my life to necessarily be about.”Despite her disillusionment, Ally has remained in the industry, though has been selective with the roles she has taken and the people she works with.In 1998, the romantic comedy High Art renewed interest in her acting career.Ally played alluring, party-loving photographer Lucy, who lives with her heroin-addict girlfriend in the flat above aspiring high fashion snapper Syd.After a chance meeting, Lucy and Syd’s lives start to become complicatedly entwined both professionally and romantically.Ally has gone on record as calling it her favourite role, loving every aspect of it from the direction to the script and filmography.5Ally played gothic high schooler Allison in The Breakfast ClubCredit: Alamy5Ally starred alongside a robot in 1986 film Short CircuitCredit: Rex5St Elmo’s Fire had a stellar cast of emerging talent in the mid 80sCredit: RexNow 62, mum-of-one Ally splits her time between acting and working as a professor in the theatre department at the City University of New York.She recently spoke out about her class and how she deals with students who might not be as committed to the course as they should.Read More on The US Sun”There’s so much to get out of this class, it’s really great,” she said. “If you don’t avail yourself of what’s here, then that’s on you. If I can see a particular kid who’s on their phone all the time, I’m not going to say anything. It’s just you’re missing out.”

When nature calls Cleveland will provide a new place to go and do your business

Business News

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – When nature calls there will soon be a new place to go and do your business in Cleveland.Robin Riley of Cleveland can relate, “When you gotta go, you gotta go.”Four Portland Loo portable toilets, an upgrade to what’s considered a normal porta potty, will be placed in three locations around Cleveland. The city’s Planning Commission approved the project “conditionally” on Friday.Tuck Milligan temporarily living in downtown Cleveland tells 19 News, “I think it’s a good idea to have public facilities if people need them. European cities have public facilities everywhere and it’s a convenience, rather than trying to find a corner somewhere.”free-standing, gender-neutral public restroom equipped with a sink for hand washing. It is also wheelchair—and stroller-accessible and has a changing table. These are welcomeThe Portland Loo is a free-standing, gender-neutral public restroom equipped with a sink for hand washing. It is also wheelchair—and stroller-accessible and has a changing table. These are welcome amenities in a city where sports and events fuel the nightlife and attract plenty of visitors.Robin Riley of Cleveland says it’s a great idea, “I mean sometimes you gotta go and some businesses won’t let you go unless you’re purchasing something.”The Cleveland locations will include two portable toilets in Canal Basin Park in the Flats, one on Payne Avenue near the Virgil E. Brown building, as well as one in Perk Plaza downtown.The Portland Loo was designed in Portland, Oregon back in 2008 in the wake of the 2008 recession, and it’s become a public solution nationwide during the COVID-19 Pandemic.,Josh Clark who lives in the city tells 19 News, “I say it’s probably a good idea to give people, especially the homeless an option to use them if they have to – they’re not going on the streets or anything like that.”The Planning Commission wants to make sure the portable facilities integrate into the environment. Some people who declined an interview did say they have concerns that the portable toilets will attract illegal activity like prostitution or drug use.However, the makers of the Portland Loo say blue lights are installed so that drug users are unable to find a vein as a means to discourage drug activity.The Portland Loos are already stored at the Harbor Maintenance Garage and are expected to be installed in the near future.Copyright 2024 WOIO. All rights reserved.