October 2, 2023

Duck Creek Technologies Values Tech Ecosystem Connections, Extends Partnership with Hyland as Sponsor for CommunityLIVE User Conference

BOSTON, Oct. 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Duck Creek Technologies, the intelligent solutions provider defining the future of property and casualty (P&C) and general insurance, extends support to ecosystem partner Hyland and sponsors its CommunityLIVE user conference, which takes place October 3-5, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Duck Creek continues to strengthen its customer focus by partnering with industry leaders, such as Hyland, and fulfilling its commitment to deliver more humanized technology experiences across the insurance industry.

As part of CommunityLIVE, Hyland, a leading content services provider for insurers, will host P&C insurers at an interactive networking event focused on the pivotal role of digital transformations in modernizing the insurance industry. Duck Creek has three Anywhere Managed Integrations (AMI) with Hyland OnBase, which enable its claims, policy, and billing customers to simplify their access and control of documents through the secure content management system. During the sponsored “Insurance Interactive” session, Hyland OnBase customers will gain valuable insights into how Duck Creek’s AMI accelerates the development of new products and processes. This acceleration is achieved through comprehensive management, maintenance, and support services, underscoring the company’s dedication to delivering superior customer value.

“Duck Creek is proud of our long-standing partnership with Hyland and our strong integration strategy, which allows us the opportunity to sponsor industry events such as CommunityLIVE,” said Robert Fletcher, Sr. Partner Manager, Duck Creek Technologies. “Through meaningful integrations, we are able to bring further value to our customers with enhanced user experiences and operational efficiencies that take the burden off insurers.”

“Hyland and Duck Creek’s partnership has been incredibly important for our joint customers, and we’re thankful Duck Creek has deepened that partnership by sponsoring CommunityLIVE,” said Brian Schlosser, VP of Global Partner Programs at Hyland. “The event is a premier digital conference each year, and Duck Creek’s presence only enhances the experience our attendees will encounter.”

About Hyland

Hyland provides industry-leading technology foundations that empower its customers to create better human connections. Trusted by thousands of organizations worldwide, including more than half of the Fortune 100, Hyland’s intelligent solutions seamlessly integrate content, data and processes to improve each interaction.

About Duck Creek Technologies
Duck Creek Technologies is the intelligent solutions provider defining the future of the property and casualty (P&C) and general insurance industry. We are the platform upon which modern insurance systems are built, enabling the industry to capitalize on the power of the cloud to run agile, intelligent, and evergreen operations. Authenticity, purpose, and transparency are core to Duck Creek, and we believe insurance should be there for individuals and businesses when, where, and how they need it most. Our market-leading solutions are available on a standalone basis or as a full suite, and all are available via Duck Creek OnDemand. Visit www.duckcreek.com to learn more. Follow Duck Creek on our social channels for the latest information – LinkedIn and Twitter.

Media Contacts:
Carley Bunch
carley.bunch@duckcreek.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8941557

October 2, 2023

At the Yacht Club de Monaco explorers & scientists gather together for the environment

Bernard d’Alessandri, Yacht Club de Monaco General Secretary

At the Yacht Club de Monaco explorers & scientists gather together for the environment

MONACO, Oct. 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Over 2 thousand meters. It is the sum of the linear metres, 2,207m to be precise, of the yachts flying the YCM flag belonging to the hundred owners invited by the Ycm at the traditional Owners Lunch on the opening day of the Monaco Yacht Show. On this occasion an agreement was signed with The Explorers Club, founded in 1904 to promote scientific exploration. “This agreement reflects yet again our Club’s commitment to environmental issues, as well as the bond that unites Monaco and The Explorers Club,” says Bernard d’Alessandri, Yacht Club de Monaco General Secretary. He adds: “Our wish is to bring together all those who are witnesses to climate change and those working to combat the problem.” “It means we share the same missions, one of which is to preserve the planet in every way possible or imaginable. We are joining forces in the noble quest for innovation, paving the way to a brighter more sustainable future for our oceans and the world,” adds Sir William Roseman, Executive Director at The Explorers Club which has 4,000+ members from over 60 countries. In 1921, Prince Albert 1st was made an honorary member while in 2017 YCM President HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco received the prestigious Lowell Thomas Award from The Explorers Club.

Also present as a guest at the Owners Lunch was Dr Nina Lanza, Team Leader for Team Lead for Space and Planetary Exploration in Space Remote Sensing and Data Science (ISR-6) at the Los Alamos Laboratory. “The ocean has long captured our imaginations. We have always considered it to be an eternal, unlimited resource. But appearances can be deceptive. Oceans are much more ephemeral than we often think they are,” explained the researcher. “Oceans are probably the cradle of life. That’s why exploration is so important: it teaches us to know ourselves and know the future.”

The attendance of these two leading figures echoes the 13th Environmental Symposium, due to be held 21st March 2024 before the YCM Explorers Awards by La Belle Classe Superyachts, two initiatives under the aegis of the collective ‘Monaco, Capital of Advanced Yachting’ approach. “We reward people who genuinely care about sustainability. We need to understand that our impact on the planet is disproportionate and that we can actually alter our environment. This event is an opportunity to recognise those who are doing their best to maintain these sustainable explorations,” believes Dr Nina Lanza. A sentiment shared by Sir William Roseman for whom this meeting is essential. As he says, “we would not be here today discussing these issues if YCM and its members did not share the same objective.” It is through these international events that YCM is establishing itself as a proactive stakeholder in the environmental transition of yachting, positioning itself as a communication platform for all those involved in building the yachting sector of tomorrow.

For more information:
Press Office LaPresse – ufficio.stampa@lapresse.it

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/84288c17-68af-458c-b3e4-2067b71901f1

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8941788

October 2, 2023

Tim launches digital booths, new infotainment and charging services

TURIN, Italy, Oct. 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — From infotainment to charging smartphones, from digital payments to calls. Tim’s phone boxes become, thanks to the collaboration with Urban Vision, ‘smart stations’ for the cities of the future and allow touch-screen access to a wide range of digital services and content.

“When we talk about Tim,” explained the CEO of Tim, Pietro Labriola, during Italian Tech Week in Turin, “in our collective imagination we all physicalise the former Telecom Italia with telephone booths. Therefore, we risk projecting the image of a company that looks at the future through the rear-view mirror. We must propel ourselves into the future. These digital booths will make it possible to provide citizens with a range of services related to tourism, information, but also security and social services. What we are envisaging with our partner Urban Vision is a button that would allow a woman in danger to call out and be assisted with a video call for a higher level of safety. So, innovation and image. A symbiosis that leads us to say that Tim is future-oriented.” The plan is to install 2,500 booths. The project will start in the city of Milan, where approximately 450 smart stations will be progressively installed. The initiative will subsequently extend to 13 other major Italian cities.

The new booths will provide citizens with ‘digital stations’ for infotainment services, charging smartphones, online payments and ticketing, and free calls to national landline and mobile numbers. With a completely new design, they also feature sensor applications that will allow people with motor disabilities, language barriers or visual impairments to access information and services. Another interesting function concerns the possibility for the municipalities involved to support culture, tourism and institutions, providing their citizens with, for example, information on the city’s artistic offer, on the programming of cinemas, theatres and museums, on concerts and other events, on how to buy tickets, choose a restaurant, book a taxi, check weather forecasts and public transport timetables, get updates on traffic, and so on.

For more information:
Press Office LaPresse – ufficio.stampa@lapresse.it

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d3fb2367-a098-44ee-bd8b-586ad0dd85f8

A video accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3afe79b0-2ae2-4dbd-9794-4caad75f1e24

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8941746

October 2, 2023

Center for Studies on New Religions’ Bitter Winter Publishes an Analysis by a Leading Japanese Christian Theologian on the Japan Family Federation for World Peace and Unification/Unification Church Issue

“This is the first religious persecution in the post-war history, and it could also greatly undermine Japanese constitutionalism” – Haruhisa Nakagawa, President, Japan Christian Theological Institute

Washington, DC, Oct. 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“This is the first religious persecution in the post-war history,
and it could also greatly undermine Japanese constitutionalism”
– Haruhisa Nakagawa, President, Japan Christian Theological Institute

Center for Studies on New Religions’ Bitter Winter
Publishes an Analysis by a Leading Japanese Christian Theologian on the
Japan Family Federation for World Peace and Unification/Unification Church Issue

“Half-truths,” “false claims” and “misinformation” are being used to dissolve the religion,
says theologian Haruhisa Nakagawa, a longtime critic of the Unification Church

TORINO, Italy (September 29, 2023) Bitter Winter, a magazine of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), has been following the Japanese government’s unusual and intrusive investigation—and possibly liquidation—of a minority religion, which began after the July 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Today, Bitter Winter is publishing an analysis by a leading Japanese Christian theologian who, despite his opposition to the Japan Family Federation for World Peace and Unification/Unification Church, is alarmed by the government’s mistreatment of it. This two-part series, by Haruhisa Nakagawa, president of Japan Christian Theological Institute, will run September 29-30, 2023.

Mr. Nakagawa decries the Japanese media’s one-sided and sensationalistic coverage of the Japan Family Federation and its ready acceptance of baseless or exaggerated claims against it. “However, the erroneous information and its sources have remained unchanged and uncorrected… In reality, there should be a stern call for, ‘Enough!’” he writes.

“We have now heard of widespread and blatant discrimination against Family Federation members, as they are denied access to public spaces, blocked from renting apartments, and denied commercial services like printing materials,” said Dr. Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist who serves as editor-on-chief of Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious liberty and human rights published by CESNUR.

“Because of things like this, we regard what is happening in Japan as the worst current religious liberty crisis in a democratic country,” said Dr. Introvigne. “It is important that a prominent Japanese Christian theologian, and one who has been known for years as a theological opponent of the Unification Church, has decided to speak up and remind the Japanese authorities that religious liberty should be guaranteed also to minorities slandered by the media.”

Mr. Nakagawa argues that the public has only heard “half of the truth.” Critical (and exculpatory) information that has been left out includes the Family Federation’s effective reforms in its fundraising practices, and its believers’ hidden suffering at the hands of “modern-day witch trials,” with illegal kidnappings, confinements, and deprogramming.

The human rights violations of Family Federation believers are so outrageous that Mr. Nakagawa concludes that: “This is the first religious persecution in the post-war history, and it could also greatly undermine Japanese constitutionalism.”

Mr. Nakagawa’s article was originally published September 22, 2023 in the Christian web magazine, SALTY.

For more information, please contact: info@bitterwinter.org.

Links to Bitter Winter articles on theologian Nakagawa’s analysis (Parts 1 and 2)
https://bitterwinter.org/the-unification-church-issue-in-japan-a-japanese-christian-theologian-speaks-1-lies-about-abes-relations-with-the-church/

https://bitterwinter.org/the-unification-church-issue-in-japan-a-japanese-christian-theologian-speaks-2-the-other-half-of-the-truth-about-the-family-federation/

Massimo Introvigne
Center for Studies on New Religions, "Bitter Winter"
+39011541950
massimo.introvigne@bitterwinter.org

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8941679

October 2, 2023

(Asiad) Baseball team to play last group round game vs. Thailand; diver, cyclist, Go player on board

After the crucial game against Chinese Taipei, South Korea will face Thailand in its last preliminary group round match Tuesday at the 19th Asian Games in China.

The final Group B game against Thailand will be held at 12:00 p.m. at Shaoxing Baseball and Softball Sports Centre in Shaoxing, southeast of the main host city, Hangzhou.

Led by manager Ryu Joong-il, the team of under-24 players has started its hunt for the fourth consecutive Asian Games gold with its first Group B match against Hong Kong and the second against Chinese Taipei.

Chinese Taipei, featuring some U.S.-based minor leaguers, is regarded as the biggest obstacle to the country’s path to the top of the podium.

In the next Super Round, the top two teams of Group A, South Korea and Chinese Taipei, will take on their Group A counterparts.

In diving, Woo Haram, the most decorative diver in South Korea, will compete in the men’s 3-meter springboard event, seeking his double-digit Asian Games medal.

In the men’s 3m synchronized springboard Saturday, he teamed up with Yi Jae-gyeong and bagged silver to raise his medal tally to nine.

Cyclist Na Ahreum will compete in the women’s individual time trial road race for her sixth career Asian Games gold, tying the country’s all-time record shared by several other athletes, including swimmer Park Tae-hwan, and fencers Nam Hyun-hee and Gu Bon-gil. She wrapped up her track races empty-handed at this year’s Asian Games.

In the Go competition, South Korean players will go for gold each in the men’s and women’s team finals, led by top-ranked male player Shin Jin-seo, who won bronze in the individual event.

The women’s handball team will clash with China in the semifinals to seek its third consecutive Asian Games title.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

October 2, 2023

(Asiad) No regrets for roller skaters after taking silver in relay

No competitive athlete tries to finish in second place. The ultimate goal is always to take the top prize.

That was also the goal for the South Korean women’s roller skating relay team at the Asian Games in China. But after settling for silver, Lee Seul, Park Min-jeong and Lee Ye-rim said they were pleased with the color of their medal, knowing that they had given a valiant effort and laid the foundation for a bright future together.

South Korea finished second in the women’s speed skating 3,000m relay in 4:21.146 at Qintang Roller Sports Centre in Hangzhou. Chinese Taipei got the gold in 4:19.447.

“All of us have been preparing for this competition for over four years, and we poured out everything on this track,” said Lee Seul, the senior member of the team at 31. “Obviously, there’s a bit of disappointment, but I think we can build on this experience and do even better in the future.”

Lee, the youngest skater at 21, said she was thankful that all three members were able to finish the competition without suffering any injury.

“I think this experience will allow me to grow further as an athlete,” Lee said. “I will try to work on my weaknesses and put on a better race in the future.”

Roller sports have been in and out of the Asian Games since their debut in 2010. There were no speed skating track events in 2018, with only road races being held then. Track events returned this year, and the women’s and men’s 3,000m relays made their first Asiad appearances Monday.

Lee Ye-rim said the uncertain future of her sport at the Asian Games has made preparing for the continental event even more challenging than it already is.

“My two teammates have had to deal with a lot more adversity than I have, since this is my first Asian Games,” she said. “And I think we’ve come this far because we’ve relied on each other and pushed each other. If the relay race is back at the next Asian Games, we’ll try to win the gold medal then.”

Chinese Taipei moved ahead of South Korea on the third lap of the 15-lap final and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way. But Park said Chinese Taipei can be beaten.

“In Hangzhou, we didn’t have as much time to train at this track as we would have liked. We didn’t get to see this place until we were really close to the competition,” Park said. “Even though we really have good chemistry, we couldn’t take advantage of that because we were not entirely familiar with the track. If we can have enough time to adjust to our surroundings at future races, I think we can be competitive against Chinese Taipei.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency

October 2, 2023

(Asiad) Rare all-Korean final heats up Hangzhou Asiad

At the ongoing 19th Asian Games in China, South and North Korean athletes have faced each other in many competitions, such as women’s football, judo and boxing.

At Gongshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium in Hangzhou on Monday, another all-Korean matchup was set up in the final of the women’s doubles table tennis, which has a long history of united Korean teams for about three decades.

South Koreans Jeon Ji-hee and Shin Yu-bin clashed with North Koreans Cha Su-yong and Pak Su-gyong for the first Asiad gold medal in ping pong in 21 years.

North Korea, who returned to the international sports stage after years of pandemic-led closure, was seeking its first table tennis title since 2014, when its mixed double team topped the podium.

It was the first gold medal match between South and North Koreans in any sport at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

And it was the first inter-Korean gold medal match in table tennis since the 1990 Asian Games, when the South Korean team beat its North Korean counterparts.

But the current chilly diplomatic relationships between the two Koreas apparently repeated at the rare final showdown.

When the two pairs entered the stadium before the match, the athletes did not exchange glances, and had prematch handshakes briefly and expressionlessly.

On the stand, athletes from the two countries cheered their teammates playing the final, but they did not seem to interact with each other or give friendly gestures.

The unusual match ended in a one-sided game. The South Korean team, the world No. 1 women’s doubles duo, beat North Korea 4-1 (11-6, 11-4, 10-12, 12-10, 11-3), featuring their high level of skill and experience.

After the final, the North Korean players congratulated Jeon and Shin, and took photos together on the podium during the medal ceremony.

But the Cha-Pak pair did not attend the post-match press conference without explanation.

Source: Yonhap News Agency