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ViaBTC Partners With Mempool to Widen BTC Transaction Acceleration

Hong Kong – September 18, 2026 -- ViaBTC, a global multi-cryptocurrency mining pool, has partnered with Mempool to expand access to Bitcoin transaction acceleration services, deploying its mining pool infrastructure to help unconfirmed BTC transactions get processed faster.

ViaBTC has accelerated more than 800,000 BTC transactions since 2016

Bitcoin transactions can stall for extended periods when network congestion rises or fees are set too low. ViaBTC became one of the first providers to launch a Bitcoin transaction accelerator in 2016, offering both free and paid options, and has refined the technology since. As of September 16, 2026, the company has processed acceleration requests for over 800,000 BTC transactions.

Borr Drilling Secures Texas, Vietnam Contracts, ENI Extension

Hamilton, Bermuda – September 18, 2026 -- Borr Drilling Limited (NYSE: BORR) (OSE: BORR) confirmed that its jack-up rig Odin began earning dayrate revenue offshore Texas on September 11, 2026, following mobilization in mid-August and completed acceptance testing.

Odin starts dayrate operations offshore Texas after August mobilization

The rig's contract activation marks the completion of a testing phase that followed its move to the U.S. Gulf Coast, giving Borr an active revenue-generating asset in the Americas region.

Idun wins three-well Vietnam campaign lasting an estimated 130 days

An undisclosed operator awarded the Idun a three-well drilling campaign in Vietnam, scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2026 as a direct continuation of the rig's current contract, extending its Southeast Asia workload without a gap in deployment.

Travel Answers Offers Advisors Up to $250 via BOOK26 Incentive

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Travel Answers Offers Advisors Up to $250 via BOOK26 Incentive

Bellevue, Wash. – September 18, 2026 -- Travel Answers has launched BOOK26, a limited-time incentive paying Travel Advisors up to $250 in gift cards per qualifying new booking made by October 31, 2026, for travel commencing by December 31, 2026.

Advisors earn tiered rewards based on booking value

Under BOOK26, Advisors can earn $50, $100 or $250 per qualifying booking, with payouts scaled to the value of the reservation. The tour operator reports more than one-third of current inquiries already concern 2026 travel, driven by demand for last-minute getaways, holiday trips and cruise extensions.

ZBeats Wins FDA Clearance for ZBPro v2.0, Expands ECG Analysis to 14 Days

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ZBeats Wins FDA Clearance for ZBPro v2.0, Expands ECG Analysis to 14 Days

Stony Brook – September 18, 2026 -- ZBeats Inc. has secured U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance (K261580) for its ZBPro Diagnostic v2.0 software, extending its independent ECG analysis platform to cover recordings ranging from one minute to 14 days.

FDA clearance broadens device compatibility to Holter monitors and wearable patches

The updated clearance allows ZBPro to process data from a wider range of recording technologies, including Holter configurations and wearable patch devices, positioning the software as a device-agnostic layer for cardiac diagnostics providers.

IPA Names 21 Alternative Investment Leaders in 2026 Awards

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IPA Names 21 Alternative Investment Leaders in 2026 Awards

Washington – September 18, 2026 -- The Institute for Portfolio Alternatives (IPA) has named 21 leaders as recipients of its 2026 IPA Awards, recognizing executives from firms including Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Blackstone for their contributions to the alternative investments sector.

IPA honors 21 executives across five award categories at Atlanta conference

The awards were presented during IPAVision in Atlanta before more than 550 professionals representing asset management, wealth management and the broader alternatives ecosystem. Honorees were selected across five categories: Outstanding Service, Policy Leadership, Rising Voice, Emerging Champion and Lifetime Achievement.

Treasury Releases FY2025-26 CDFI Fund Awards After Yearlong Push

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Treasury Releases FY2025-26 CDFI Fund Awards After Yearlong Push

Washington – September 18, 2026 -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury has moved forward with fiscal year 2025 and 2026 awards across multiple Community Development Financial Institutions Fund programs, ending more than a year of advocacy by the CDFI industry for the release of the funds.

Opportunity Finance Network credits bipartisan pressure for the award release

Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), which represents nearly 500 CDFI members, said the announcement followed sustained lobbying by OFN, the broader CDFI sector, industry partners, and congressional champions from both parties. Harold Pettigrew, President and CEO of OFN, said CDFIs form part of America's economic and financial infrastructure, financing small businesses, affordable housing, and community facilities nationwide. "The CDFI Fund has earned broad bipartisan support because it produces measurable economic results in rural, urban, and Native communities alike," Pettigrew said.

Singtel Wins Frost & Sullivan 2026 APAC 5G Enterprise Award

San Antonio – September 18, 2026 -- Frost & Sullivan has named Singtel its 2026 APAC Company of the Year in the 5G enterprise industry, citing the operator's enterprise connectivity strategy, innovation pipeline, and measurable customer impact across the region.

Frost & Sullivan benchmarks Singtel on strategy effectiveness and execution

The research firm's evaluation process scored Singtel across two core dimensions -- strategy effectiveness and strategy execution -- with the company excelling in both categories. Mei Lee Quah, Senior Director of ICT Research at Frost & Sullivan, said Singtel is demonstrating how 5G infrastructure can evolve beyond connectivity into an agile, secure, and financially optimized enterprise utility.

NewsBreak Names Nicolas Zylberstein First Chief Business Officer

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NewsBreak Names Nicolas Zylberstein First Chief Business Officer

Mountain View, Calif. – September 18, 2026 -- NewsBreak has appointed Nicolas Zylberstein as its first Chief Business Officer, tasking him with commercial growth across the core NewsBreak platform and two new AI ventures, Nearby AI and NDot AI.

NewsBreak creates first-ever Chief Business Officer role to scale two AI businesses

The newly created position places Zylberstein over strategic growth for NewsBreak's flagship local news and life platform, which serves more than 40 million monthly active users across the U.S. He will also oversee commercialization of Nearby AI, an agentic local intent marketplace connecting consumers to local businesses, and NDot AI, a B2B media technology platform offering publishers audience growth, personalization, engagement and monetization tools.

MySize Raises $2.5M via Private Placement at $1.91/Share

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MySize Raises $2.5M via Private Placement at $1.91/Share

Airport City, Israel – September 18, 2026 -- MySize, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYSZ) has signed definitive agreements to sell 1,308,901 shares of common stock, or pre-funded warrants in lieu thereof, at $1.91 per share, generating expected gross proceeds of approximately $2.5 million.

Private placement priced at-the-market carries dual warrant coverage

Alongside the common stock, MySize will issue unregistered Series C warrants for up to 1,308,901 shares and Series D warrants for up to 1,308,901 shares, both exercisable immediately at $1.66 per share. The Series C warrants run for five years from the effective date of the company's forthcoming resale registration statement, while the Series D warrants expire after 18 months from that same trigger date.

Hanwha Power Wins ABS Approval for 22,000 CBM LNG Bunkering Vessel

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Hanwha Power Wins ABS Approval for 22,000 CBM LNG Bunkering Vessel

Seoul – September 18, 2026 -- Hanwha Power has secured Approval in Principle (AiP) from the American Bureau of Shipping for a 22,000-cubic-meter LNG bunkering vessel concept design, the company announced on September 15 at GASTECH 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Approval completes Hanwha Power's bunkering vessel lineup from 7,500 to 22,000 CBM

The certification rounds out a full range of medium- and large-scale LNG bunkering vessels for Hanwha Power, positioning the company across multiple vessel size classes for shipowners transitioning to alternative marine fuels.

ACLS Awards $300,000 in 2026 Open Access Book Prizes

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ACLS Awards $300,000 in 2026 Open Access Book Prizes

New York – September 18, 2026 -- The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) has named six winners of the 2026 ACLS Open Access Book Prizes and Arcadia Open Access Publishing Awards, distributing a combined $300,000 across humanities disciplines.

Six titles split $50,000 prizes each across authors and publishers

Each winning author receives a $20,000 cash award, while the corresponding publisher receives a $30,000 grant to fund immediate open access publication of at least two new books. Winners span Anthropology, Environmental Humanities, History, Literary/Media Studies, Multimodal scholarship, and Political Science categories, selected from shortlists of five finalists per category by a judging panel.

LAZ Parking Names Co-CEOs, Plans 1,000+ Jobs in LAZ 3.0

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LAZ Parking Names Co-CEOs, Plans 1,000+ Jobs in LAZ 3.0

Hartford, Conn. – September 18, 2026 -- LAZ Parking, North America's largest privately owned parking and mobility company, unveiled a growth strategy dubbed "LAZ 3.0" that will add more than 1,000 jobs across North America within a year and expand its Hartford headquarters to house over 100 additional staff.

Tony DiPaolo and John Svendblad become Co-CEOs effective January 1, 2027

DiPaolo, who joined LAZ in 2005 and currently serves as President of the Midwest, and Svendblad, who joined in 2008 and leads the West Coast, will jointly assume the chief executive role. Combined, the two bring more than four decades of internal leadership experience at the company.

Dolby Grants New CEO Marc Whitten $10M in Stock, Performance RSUs Tied to $175 Share Price

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Dolby Grants New CEO Marc Whitten $10M in Stock, Performance RSUs Tied to $175 Share Price

San Francisco – September 18, 2026 -- Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB) has granted incoming President and Chief Executive Officer Marc Whitten inducement equity awards worth approximately $10 million in time-based restricted stock, plus a performance package that vests only if Dolby's share price climbs as high as $175.

Dolby ties CEO pay to five escalating stock-price hurdles

The compensation package, disclosed under Dolby's newly adopted 2026 Inducement Stock Plan, splits into two components. The first is a time-based award of 160,256 restricted stock units, valued at roughly $10 million using the average closing price of Dolby's Class A shares over the 30 trading days preceding the grant date. Those units vest semi-annually over two years, contingent on Whitten remaining employed at Dolby through each vesting date.

FASTSIGNS: 76% of Consumers Enter Stores Based on Signage Alone

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FASTSIGNS: 76% of Consumers Enter Stores Based on Signage Alone

Carrollton, Texas – September 18, 2026 -- Seventy-six percent of consumers say they have entered a business they'd never visited before based solely on its exterior signage, according to data cited by FASTSIGNS, the global custom signage franchise. The company is publishing guidance for business owners navigating a fragmented exterior signage market that spans channel letters, monument signs, pylon signs and wayfinding systems, each carrying distinct cost, zoning and visibility trade-offs.

Sixty percent of shoppers avoid businesses lacking clear signage

FASTSIGNS data shows 68% of consumers associate signage quality with product and service quality, while 60% say unclear signage actively deters them from entering a business. Theron Andrews, FASTSIGNS Vice President of Marketing, said signage decisions hinge on visibility, brand identity, location, budget, property type and local regulations rather than aesthetics alone.

Nuna Offers Free AI Health Coach to Medicare Patients Under CMS Model

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Nuna Offers Free AI Health Coach to Medicare Patients Under CMS Model

San Francisco – September 18, 2026 -- Nuna Health LLC is now offering its AI-driven digital health coach at no cost to eligible Original Medicare (Parts A and B) beneficiaries in markets where the company operates, positioning itself among the first participants in the CMS Innovation Center's ACCESS (Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions) Model.

CMS payment model ties reimbursement to patient outcomes, not services rendered

The ACCESS Model is a payment test that rewards participating organizations based on health outcomes achieved rather than volume of care delivered. Enrollment is voluntary and subject to CMS eligibility criteria. Nuna is supporting beneficiaries enrolled in the Model's Early Cardio-Kidney-Metabolic (eCKM) and Cardio-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) tracks, covering high blood pressure, high cholesterol, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Trip.com Group Posts Q2 Net Loss After RMB5.2B China Antitrust Fine

Singapore – September 18, 2026 -- Trip.com Group Limited swung to a net loss of RMB2.4 billion (US$361 million) in the second quarter of 2026, reversing from net income of RMB4.9 billion a year earlier, after China's State Administration for Market Regulation imposed a RMB5.2 billion (US$763 million) anti-monopoly penalty on the travel platform operator.

San Francisco Health Plan Hits Record 4.5-Star NCQA Rating

San Francisco – September 18, 2026 -- San Francisco Health Plan (SFHP) has earned a 4.5-star rating in the 2026 NCQA Health Plan Ratings, the highest score in its history, as the Medi-Cal insurer covers more than 172,000 residents.

NCQA places SFHP among the nation's top-rated health plans

NCQA classifies plans scoring 4.5 or 5 stars as among the highest-rated in the country, basing the evaluation on clinical quality, member experience, and accreditation status. SFHP, created by the City and County of San Francisco, is the city's leading Medi-Cal provider, offering preventive care, specialty care, hospitalization, prescription drugs, and family planning services.

Microsoft Raises Quarterly Dividend 8% to $0.98 Per Share

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Microsoft Raises Quarterly Dividend 8% to $0.98 Per Share

Redmond, Wash. – September 18, 2026 -- Microsoft Corp.'s board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.98 per share, an 8% increase of 7 cents over the prior quarter's payout.

Dividend rises to $0.98 per share with December payment date

The dividend is payable Dec. 10, 2026, to shareholders of record as of Nov. 19, 2026. The company also set the ex-dividend date as Nov. 19, 2026.

Annual shareholders meeting scheduled for Dec. 8, 2026

Microsoft confirmed its 2026 Annual Shareholders Meeting will take place virtually on Dec. 8, 2026. Shareholders of record as of the close of business on Sept. 30, 2026 will be entitled to vote their shares at the meeting.

Harness WAAP Named Leader in SecureIQLab's 2026 Cloud Security Test

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Harness WAAP Named Leader in SecureIQLab's 2026 Cloud Security Test

San Francisco – September 18, 2026 -- Harness Web Application & API Protection (WAAP) scored a 99.8% Security Efficacy rating and 98.2% Operational Efficiency rating in SecureIQLab's Cloud WAAP v5.0 CyberRisk Validation Comparative Report, earning Leader status among 12 tested vendors.

Harness is one of only five vendors meeting both Secure by Design and Secure by Default criteria

SecureIQLab tested 12 leading Cloud WAAP vendors, with just six achieving Leader status. Harness was among only five vendors to satisfy both the Secure by Design and Secure by Default criteria, a distinction it also held in 2025 when its solution was evaluated under the Traceable by Harness name in the Cloud WAAP v4.0 report.

Rutgers, RWJBarnabas Health Launch AWS-Powered Innovation Hub

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Rutgers, RWJBarnabas Health Launch AWS-Powered Innovation Hub

New Brunswick, N.J. – September 18, 2026 -- Rutgers University and RWJBarnabas Health launched the Rutgers/RWJBarnabas Health Innovation Hub, powered by Amazon Web Services, creating one of the nation's first technology hubs to unite a medical school, an academic health system and a cloud provider under one roof.

Hub pairs New Jersey's largest health system with AWS cloud and AI tools

The facility combines Rutgers' academic and research capacity, RWJBarnabas Health's clinical reach as New Jersey's largest academic health system, and AWS cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure to address health care challenges spanning the classroom and hospital bedside.