November 10, 2021

The University of Hong Kong Offers Entrance Scholarships for International Students to Realise Dreams

HONG KONG, Nov. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Offering generous entrance scholarships that recognise students’ remarkable achievements, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) empowers students from diverse backgrounds to pursue their dreams and develop their ambitions towards shaping a promising future. The HKU entrance scholarships may cover full tuition fees and accommodation and general living allowance.

Aleena Khalid, recipient of HKU HeForShe IMPACT Champion Scholarship

Growing up in the northern city of Pakistan, Peshawar, Aleena Khalid had to tolerate criticism from her extended family for wanting to study abroad because of her gender. Aleena’s mother was diagnosed with cancer, so it was Aleena’s dream to go into the biomedical research field to contribute to drug development and clinical validation, to help patients suffering from cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It was the HKU HeForShe IMPACT Champion Scholarship (HeforShe Scholarship) that turned her dream into reality. Being awarded the scholarship, Aleena pursued a Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences HKU and graduated with flying colours. “The HKU HeforShe Scholarship not only allowed me to chase after my dream, but also enabled me to voice out for girls who have been silenced. I’m now pursuing a PhD degree in Hong Kong and I can proudly say that HKU paved the path towards my research career to contribute to the biomedical field by providing me with the scholarship.”

From another corner of the world, Martin Kibiru received the HeforShe Scholarship, bade farewell to his home country Kenya and embarked on his journey at HKU. Possessing a deep-seated passion for building things, Martin aspires to be an engineer and is now pursuing a Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Engineering). “I find it incredible that in just about two years’ time, my dream of becoming an engineer will come true. And it is thanks to HKU for offering me the scholarship and allowing me to do the things I love, and in a beautiful city that I’m proud to call home,” said Martin.

Martin Kibiru, recipient of HKU HeForShe IMPACT Champion Scholarship

To Hanie Luong, receiving the Vietnam Van Thinh Phat Scholarship (VTP Scholarship) is a life-changing opportunity. Hanie, who lived most of her life on a remote highland of Vietnam, is now a 4^th year Accounting and Finance student at HKU. When asked about how she felt being a scholarship recipient, she said, “Neither attending an international school nor communicating in English on a daily basis back in my home country, I had never imagined studying abroad possible. It is the VTP Scholarship that gives me the opportunity to study at one of the best research-led universities in Asia and the world.”

When asked about their life at HKU thus far, both Hanie and Martin said that it has been an incredibly fulfilling and transformational journey. As scholarship recipients, they have been given the opportunities to join cultural exchange, study and internship programmes in different countries to meet like-minded students worldwide.

Hanie Luong, recipient of Vietnam Van Thinh Phat Scholarship

Professor Bennett Yim, HKU’s Director of Undergraduate Admissions and International Exchange said, “HKU is committed to nurturing future global talents who are able to make valuable contributions to the world and pursue their dreams at the same time. We believe that our supportive scholarships enable students to enjoy and live their university lives to the fullest by going on exchange, launching start-ups, competing in international competitions and by interacting with the diverse community on campus.”

To empower students to realise their dreams, the HKU Future Leaders of the Year Scholarship (FLY Scholarship) was established in 2020 for students who aspire to launch their own start-ups and make their mark in the future. Recipients of the scholarship will be awarded an amount to use as s start-up fund or to engage in start-up-related activities. In addition, recipients will have the opportunity to be coached by HKU tutors, alumni or entrepreneurs in iDendron, HKU’s dedicated centre for innovation and entrepreneurship.

“In an era where information is at your fingertips, it is more important to know how to integrate creativity and innovation. With the support of the HKU FLY Scholarship, the innovative ideas put forward by talented students can be more easily realised, thereby creating a positive impact on the community and offering value to society,” Professor Bennett Yim added.

The HKU Admissions Office will organise an online Scholarships Info Session on 12 November, 2021 for prospective international students to learn about HKU scholarships for undergraduate admissions. The scholarships that will be covered in the session include HKU Belt and Road Scholarship, HKU HeForShe IMPACT Champion Scholarship and Vietnam Van Thinh Phat Scholarship. Please refer to the details below and register to secure a place for the info session.

HKU Scholarships Info Session

Date: 12 November 2021
Time: 4pm – 5pm (HKT)
Register now: https://bit.ly/HKUscholarships2021

Undergraduate Admissions 2022

HKU is now accepting online applications for the 2022-2023 academic year that will commence in September 2022. Students who wish to be empowered to pursue their dreams at university are encouraged to submit an application for our first-round evaluation by 17 November, 2021. Applicants will automatically be considered for HKU entrance scholarships. Please submit an online application with this link: https://bit.ly/ApplytoHKU

Virtual Consultation Sessions

Students who are interested in learning more about HKU are invited to register for an individual virtual consultation session with our admissions representatives. Please sign up with this link: https://bit.ly/HKU-consultation

About the University of Hong Kong
HKU is a world-leading, research-led, comprehensive university. With distinguished excellence in research and outstanding performance in teaching, HKU brings together bright minds from around the world and wins a respectable reputation in renowned international rankings. HKU has been ranked 1^st in Hong Kong and 22^nd in the world in the QS World University Rankings 2022, and the Most International University in the World by Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021.
https://hku.hk/

About HKU Belt and Road Scholarship
As stated by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam during her 2018 policy address, Hong Kong is a prime platform and key link for the Belt and Road Initiative. With the government’s full support, HKU is gearing up to groom and nurture graduates with the expertise and commitment to build lasting links between their home communities and Hong Kong. The scholarship supports students from countries under the initiative for the duration of their studies at HKU.
https://admissions.hku.hk/fees-and-scholarships/scholarships/belt-and-road-scholarship

About HKU HeForShe IMPACT Champion Scholarship
In 2015, HKU became the first university in the world to launch the United Nations’ HeForShe initiative on campus – the global solidarity movement that campaigns for gender equality. Addressing barriers to social mobility in less developed countries, the HeForShe IMPACT Champion Scholarship gives talented students who’ve risen above gender inequality access to a world-class education at HKU.
https://admissions.hku.hk/fees-and-scholarships/scholarships/HeForShe-IMPACT-Champion-Scholarship

About Vietnam Van Thinh Phat Scholarship
In February 2012, Mr Chu Nap Kee and Ms Truong My Lan of Van Thinh Phat Group Holdings generously donated a sum to HKU for the establishment of the Vietnam Van Thinh Phat Scholarship to attract outstanding talents from Vietnam to study undergraduate programmes at the University.
https://admissions.hku.hk/fees-and-scholarships/scholarships/vietnam-van-thinh-phat-scholarships

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1684237/Aleena_Khalid.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1684234/Martin_Kibiru.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1684236/Hanie_Luong.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1684235/HKU_Eng_Logo.jpg

November 10, 2021

LONGi achieves new milestone for Hi-MO 5 module shipments

XI’AN, China, Nov. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — As of early November, LONGi’s Hi-MO 5 (72C) modules had been supplied to some 600 clients in 57 countries, with cumulative shipments now exceeding 10GW.

The Hi-MO 5 module is designed for utility-scale PV plants, and its dimensions are the result of in-depth analysis of industry chain, product value and lifecycle reliability, with the latest shipment milestone confirming that the module’s design concept has been widely accepted by global customers.

LONGi’s Hi-MO 5 series modules exceed 10GW of global shipment.

Shipments of the Hi-MO 5 module are based on a reliable packaging method to maximize use of container capacity while also leaving enough space for loading and unloading, significantly reducing shipping costs. The module is also fully compatible with brackets, inverters, and other PV plant equipment under a variety of application scenarios, reducing BOS costs. In wind tunnel, hail, and dynamic mechanical load (DML) testing the Hi-MO 5 has shown outstanding performance, ensuring reliability in extreme meteorological conditions throughout its full lifecycle.

Milestone review of the LONGi Hi-MO 5 module:

June 29, 2020 – technical specification released.
August 8, 2020 – module showcased at SNEC Shanghai.
September 15, 2020 – first shipment contract signed.
April 28, 2021 – recognized with awards at “All Quality Matters” Solar Congress.
May 31, 2021 – wind tunnel testing results released.
July 21, 2021 – recognized with award at Intersolar Europe.
September 18, 2021 – analysis of performance in hail impact testing released.
October 29, 2021 – dynamic mechanical load (DML) testing results released.
November 5, 2021 – global shipments exceed 10GW.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1684143/LONGi.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/781516/LONGi_Solar_Logo.jpg

November 10, 2021

Human Rights Watch Warns Iran Population Growth Law Will Endanger Women

Human Rights Watch warned Wednesday that a new Iranian law aimed at raising the birth rate would put women’s lives at risk by denying them access to reproductive health care.

The bill, which is expected to become law later this month, provides various additional benefits to families with children and outlaws sterilization and free distribution of contraceptives in the public health care system unless a pregnancy threatens a woman’s health.

“Iranian legislators are avoiding addressing Iranians’ many serious problems, including government incompetence, corruption and repression, and instead are attacking women’s fundamental rights,” said HRW’s senior Iran researcher Tara Sepehri Far.

“The population growth law blatantly undermines the rights, dignity and health of half of the country’s population, denying them access to essential reproductive health care and information.”

Over the past decade, Iran has shifted its population policy from providing family planning and access to contraception, to seeking to boost population growth by limiting women’s access to sexual and reproductive health care.

HRW said that several articles in the new legislation further limit already restricted access to safe abortion.

Currently, abortion can be legally performed during the first four months of pregnancy if three doctors agree that a pregnancy threatens a woman’s life or the fetus has severe physical or mental disabilities that would create extreme hardship for the mother.

Source: Voice of America

November 10, 2021

Pfizer Asks US Regulators to Expand Booster Shot of COVID-19 Vaccine to All Adult Americans

U.S.-based drugmaker Pfizer is seeking to make a booster shot of its COVID-19 vaccine available to all adult Americans 18 years of age and older.

Pfizer filed the request Tuesday with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, citing a new clinical trial involving 10,000 volunteers who received a third injection of the two-dose vaccine, which it developed in collaboration with German-based BioNTech. According to Pfizer, the preliminary results show the third shot boosted a person’s protection against the virus to about 95%.

The request comes just weeks after the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine for Americans 65 and older, adults at a high risk of severe illness, plus front-line workers such as teachers, health care workers and others whose jobs place them at greater risk of contracting COVID-19. The Pfizer booster shot is available for people regardless of whether they initially received the two-shot Moderna vaccine or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which offers less protection than either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Astra-Zeneca’s separate unit

British-Swedish drugmaker Astra-Zeneca announced Tuesday that it is creating a separate unit entirely devoted to developing and manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. The company’s two-shot vaccine, developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford, had a troubled rollout due to manufacturing delays and confirmation of a link between the vaccine and rare, possibly fatal blood clots, prompting some governments to limit its use among certain age groups.

But the AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and easier to use because it does not need to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures than either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. The vaccine makes up the bulk of the vaccine supply of COVAX, the international vaccine sharing mechanism for the world’s poorest nations supported by the United Nations and the health organizations Gavi and CEPI.

Meanwhile, the current surge of new COVID-19 infections in Germany prompted Dr. Christian Drosten, the head of virology at Berlin’s Charite Hospital, to issue a warning Wednesday that 100,000 people could die if the vaccination rate does not pick up quickly, and that Germany faces “a very tough winter with new shutdown measures.”

Drosten’s warning coincided with an announcement by the country’s Robert Koch Institute of 39,676 new COVID-19 infections across Germany, a new one-day record. Charite Hospital announced Tuesday that it is postponing all non-critical operations due to the growing rate of new COVID-19 patients.

In a related matter, the country’s vaccine advisory committee Wednesday recommended that people 30 years of age and under be vaccinated only with the Pfizer vaccine. The committee cited a higher risk of younger people developing a rare side effect of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, from the Moderna vaccine than the Pfizer version.

NFL vaccination

In the U.S. sports world, quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the National Football League’s Green Bay Packers franchise acknowledged “misleading” the public about his vaccination status shortly before the start of the current season.

Rodgers has been under intense criticism since last week’s revelation that he had tested positive for COVID-19, contradicting his earlier claims back in August that he had been “immunized.” Rodgers told radio sports host Pat McAfee after his diagnosis that he had not taken any of the approved vaccines because of concerns about adverse side effects, and instead relied on homeopathic treatments as an alternative.

In a follow-up interview with McAfee Tuesday, Rodgers said he took “full responsibility” for his comments back in August, but also said that he continued to stand by his concerns about the vaccines. He also said he expects to be cleared to rejoin the Packers in time for Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.

The NFL has fined Rodgers and teammate Allen Lazard $14,650 each for violating the league’s COVID-19 protocols for unvaccinated players when they attended a Halloween party despite their status. The Packers were also fined $300,000 for failing to discipline the players and for not reporting the violations to NFL officials.

Source: Voice of America