News

Hefei, China – September 21, 2026 -- The 2026 World Manufacturing Convention opened in Hefei, Anhui province, on September 20 under the theme "Intelligent Manufacturing for a Better Future," marking the eighth consecutive year the province has hosted the event.

Convention Draws Over 1,000 Guests as UK Serves as Guest Country of Honor

British Ambassador to China Peter Wilson delivered remarks as the UK's designated guest country of honor, while Solange Amicha, representing Côte d'Ivoire's Cabinet Minister of the Presidency, read a congratulatory letter from the Ivorian president. The convention attracted more than 1,000 guests, including over 500 overseas representatives and more than 40 overseas companies, spread across a 70,000-square-meter venue that features an unmanned-systems showcase at Luogang Park alongside China-Europe, China-France and China-UK industrial matchmaking sessions.

Shanghai – September 21, 2026 -- Huawei unveiled its SCALE partner support system at HUAWEI CONNECT 2026, aiming to move enterprise AI deployments beyond pilot projects into full-scale industry adoption.

Huawei's Leo Chen outlines five partner challenges blocking large-scale AI rollout

Leo Chen, Huawei's Senior Vice President and President of Enterprise Sales, said during his keynote that partners face five recurring obstacles when scaling intelligent industry projects: solution development, integration verification, solution delivery, operations and maintenance, and system collaboration. The new SCALE system is structured around five corresponding support pillars: Scenario-based Solutions, Co-innovation, Aligned Marketing, Local Services with Consistent Quality, and Efficient Collaboration.

Bratislava – September 21, 2026 -- EXPO 2027 Belgrade brought its "Visit Serbia" roadshow to Bratislava, convening Serbian and Slovak travel and business representatives to forge partnerships ahead of the Western Balkans' first Specialised Expo, scheduled for 15 May to 15 August 2027 under the theme "Play for Humanity: Sport and Music for All."

More than 135 countries confirm participation in Belgrade Expo

Organizers expect several million visits over the 93-day event, with over 135 countries having already confirmed participation.

Slovakia becomes first country to sign Expo participation contract

"Slovakia was the first country to sign the Participation Contract for EXPO 2027 Belgrade, reflecting the strong ties between our business communities," said Igor Kovačević, Executive Director of EXPO 2027 Belgrade, who invited Slovak travel professionals to develop itineraries and visit Serbia directly.

London – September 21, 2026 -- askelie has launched its Operational AI Platform, giving managed service providers (MSPs), software vendors and business users direct access to the AI capabilities previously reserved for its enterprise deployments.

Platform lets customers configure AI tools instead of building them from scratch

The Operational AI Platform allows organisations to combine existing, reusable askelie capabilities to create AI-powered Assistants and Automations tailored to specific business needs. Askelie says the approach cuts the time, cost and risk typically associated with building an AI foundation internally.

Boston – September 21, 2026 -- Cellular Intelligence, a Boston-based AI company building a universal foundation model of cell signaling, has appointed Turing Award laureate Yann LeCun, Moderna co-founder Robert "Bob" Langer, BioInnovation Institute CEO Jens Nielsen and Helmholtz Munich computational health director Fabian Theis to its Scientific Advisory Board. Langer also joins the company's Board of Directors as an observer.

Gothenburg – September 21, 2026 -- SKF has launched its new Progressive Lubrication Pump (PLP), an automatic lubrication system engineered to reduce unplanned downtime and lower total maintenance costs for industrial and mobile equipment operators.

SKF builds PLP on combined Lincoln and SKF lubrication expertise

The modular pump system targets faster installation and commissioning, improved serviceability, and better visibility into lubricant levels and system status. SKF positions PLP as the first product family built on a new lubrication platform designed to support future functional expansion.

Christophe Laurans says PLP addresses reliability and maintenance simplification

"Every hour of unplanned downtime matters. PLP helps customers improve equipment reliability, simplify maintenance, and keep their operations running efficiently," said Christophe Laurans, Head of Automatic Lubrication Systems at SKF.

Washington – September 21, 2026 -- Arc XP, the media technology platform built inside The Washington Post, launched Arc XP Compass, a personalization engine that rebuilds news home pages and section fronts around each returning reader while leaving editorial priorities in newsroom hands.

Publishers' own sites just lost their lead as the top news source

Social media and video networks now edge out publishers' own websites and apps as the most common way people get news, used by 54% of respondents across 48 markets versus 51% for news organizations' own sites and apps, according to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism's Digital News Report 2026.

Paris – September 21, 2026 -- Legend Robot previewed its CE-compliant autonomous latex paint and putty spraying robot at BATIMAT 2026, citing a field-validated peak output of 237 square meters per hour during a hotel renovation in Athens, Greece. The system, developed with European partner ROBOSWISS AG, is positioned to address skilled labor shortages across European construction markets while meeting EU CE safety standards.

Athens hotel project validates 237 m2/h spraying speed across 19 room layouts

During a brownfield renovation for Gnosis Investments Group in Athens, Legend Robot's continuous spraying fleet executed 2-coat and 3-coat latex wall finishing across 19 distinct room layouts, compensating for manual substrate imperfections. The robots operated on direct electrical stabilization throughout the project, combining CE safety compliance with a material waste reduction of up to 15%, according to the company.

Stockholm – September 21, 2026 --

Fredrik Rystedt, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Essity, has notified the company of his intention to retire during 2027, triggering an immediate search for his successor.

Rystedt exits after more than nine years steering Essity's finances

Rystedt has served as CFO and Executive Vice President at Essity for over nine years. He will remain in his current role until a successor is appointed and an orderly handover is completed, the company said.

Stockholm – September 21, 2026 -- Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson repurchased Class B shares between September 14 and September 18, 2026, under its ongoing SEK 15,000,000,000 buyback program, lifting the company's treasury stock holding to 108,018,663 Class B shares.

Ericsson's buyback program targets up to SEK 15 billion through March 2027

The repurchase activity forms part of a program Ericsson announced on April 16, 2026, running from April 23, 2026, through March 31, 2027 at the latest. The initiative is structured under the EU's Market Abuse Regulation (No 596/2014) and the accompanying Safe Harbour Regulation (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 of March 8, 2016), ensuring the transactions comply with European market conduct rules.