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  • Asian stocks climb after Wall Street rallies on hopes for lower interest rates

    Asian stocks climb after Wall Street rallies on hopes for lower interest rates

    BANGKOK — Asian shares and U.S. futures advanced on Wednesday after benchmarks on Wall Street surged on hopes the Federal Reserve will soon opt to cut interest rates.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.7% to 49,502.38 in a broad rally that encompassed major exporters and technology shares. However, shares in Kioxia dropped 15% on reports that Bain Capital plans to sell $2.3 billion of the computer memory maker’s shares.

    In South Korea, the Kospi gained 2.5%, to 3,960.84, helped by a 3.5% gain for Samsung Electronics, the market’s biggest heavyweight. Computer chip maker SK Hynix climbed 1%.

    Taiwan’s Taiex surged 1.9%.

    Chinese markets were mixed.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.4% to 25,992.25 and the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% lower, to 3,866.59.

    Chinese e-commerce and technology giant Alibaba fell 1.3%. Its U.S.-traded shares fell 2.3% on Tuesday after its profit fell short of forecasts, though it reported stronger revenue than analysts had expected for the latest quarter.

    Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.8% to 8,606.50. In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 added 0.6% after the central bank cut its official cash rate to 2.25% from $2.5%.

    U.S. markets will have a shortened trading week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, closing on Thursday and opening for shorter hours on Friday.

    On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.4%. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.7%.

    Easier interest rates can give particularly big boosts to smaller companies, because many of them need to borrow to grow. The Russell 2000 index of the smallest U.S. stocks jumped 2.1% to lead the market.

    Mixed economic data left traders betting on a nearly 83% probability that the Fed will cut in December, according to data from CME Group.

    Shoppers bought less at U.S. retailers in September than economists expected, while confidence among U.S. consumers worsened by more in November than expected, signals the economy could use help from lower interest rates.

    Easier rates can boost the economy by encouraging households and companies to borrow more and investors to pay higher prices for investments than they would otherwise.

    Another report said U.S. inflation at the wholesale level was a touch worse in September than expected, but a closely tracked underlying trend was slightly better. Lower interest rates can worsen inflation, and higher prices are the main reason the Fed has been holding back on rate cuts.

    Later Wednesday, the U.S. was due to release more data that had been delayed by the six-week long government shutdown.

    The Fed has already cut rates twice this year in hopes of shoring up the slowing job market.

    Several retailers leaped after delivering stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected.

    Abercrombie & Fitch soared 37.5% after the apparel seller reported a better profit than expected, while Kohl’s surged 42.5% after reporting a profit for the latest quarter, when analysts were expecting a loss. Best Buy rose 5.3% after boosting its profit forecast for the full year following a better-than-expected third quarter, citing strength across computing, gaming and mobile phones.

    In other dealings early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 24 cents to $58.19 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 26 cents to $62.06 per barrel.

    The U.S. dollar rose to 156.13 Japanese yen from 156.06 yen. The euro rose to $1.1594 from $1.1569.

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  • Bellastella, G. et al. How much does obesity affect the male reproductive function?. Int. J. Obes. Suppl. 9, 50–64 (2019).

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  • Gadde, K. M., Martin, C. K., Berthoud, H.-R. & Heymsfield, S. B….

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  • Research reveals ‘hidden movement’ of Pseudomonas aeruginosa • healthcare-in-europe.com

    Research reveals ‘hidden movement’ of Pseudomonas aeruginosa • healthcare-in-europe.com

    Once this bacterium establishes itself, it tends to persist rather than being replaced by new infections. This persistence helps explain why the bug can be so difficult to eradicate in hospital settings

    Lewis Fisher

    P. aeruginosa is a common…

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  • Get one year of Headspace for $35 with this Black Friday deal

    Get one year of Headspace for $35 with this Black Friday deal

    Headspace’s Black Friday deal is live, offering 50 percent off its annual subscription through December 4. That brings the cost of a full year down to $35, giving you access to guided meditations, courses and stress-management tools that can…

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  • WBCSD launches the Nature Action Portal to drive business action and accountability on nature

    WBCSD launches the Nature Action Portal to drive business action and accountability on nature

    Geneva, 26 November 2025 – Today the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) releases the Nature Action Portal, a new digital resource to help companies turn ambition into measurable action and direct investment toward solutions that credibly contribute to halting and reversing nature loss by 2030.

    As nature degradation and pressure to act accelerates, businesses face a complex landscape of frameworks, metrics, and disclosure requirements. The Nature Action Portal offers a practical, user-friendly resource to help sustainability practitioners navigate the landscape in which they operate. In a few clicks, users can identify the metrics that matter to drive action across their operations and supply chains.

    Co-created with more than 100 leading companies, 6 service providers, and dozens of external partners, the Portal is a resource supporting sustainability practitioners to:

    • Explore actions across operations and supply chains to halt and reverse nature loss
    • Identify relevant metrics and targets linked to actions
    • Align with key nature-related frameworks to measure and disclose progress transparently and consistently

    The first version of the Portal features actionable insights for five sectors (agri-food, forest products, energy, built environment, and pharmaceuticals); along with two supply chains (bio-based materials flowing from the agri-food and forest sectors); and one cross-cutting topic (water), all rigorously tested with members and stakeholders throughout 2024–2025.

    The initiative seeks to support the harmonization of existing nature-related corporate action and disclosure frameworks, and to enhance their practical application through a user-friendly portal that helps sustainability practitioners to navigate through extensive guidance.

    Meaningful and comparable data is vital for companies to signal risks to financial markets and stakeholders, and to justify the investments needed to address them. Yet with an overwhelming number of metrics, consistency remains out of reach. The Nature Action Portal seeks to simplify and harmonize the use of nature-related metrics by providing companies with a practical pathway to identify, measure and disclose the actions to address their most material dependencies and impacts.

    – Peter Bakker, President & CEO, WBCSD

    To address the need for a globally accepted approach to measuring and disclosing nature-related impacts and dependencies, WBCSD and the Nature Positive Initiative have recently announced their intention to convene the development of a Nature Measurement Protocol, in collaboration with leading organizations at the forefront of sustainable development. As this work progresses in the coming years, the Nature Action Portal will provide a valuable transitional solution, enabling corporate action to continue without delay.

    In recent years, WBCSD and the Nature Positive Initiative have worked to simplify and harmonize nature-related metrics so businesses can accelerate meaningful action for nature. As we now move toward developing a Nature Measurement Protocol – aimed at delivering decision-ready data and robust measurement methodologies – the Nature Action Portal provides an essential bridge. It gives companies a practical way to act now, driving momentum for nature-positive transformation while the Protocol is being developed.

    – Marco Lambertini, Convener, Nature Positive Initiative

    I am pleased to see WBCSD and the Nature Positive Initiative carrying forward the Nature Measurement Protocol initiative recommended by the TNFD in its recent nature data recommendations. We look forward to supporting their shared leadership on this effort which will be critical to provide market participants with specific guidance on measurement methodologies for key nature-related metrics already recommended by the TNFD, SBTN and others. While that work progresses, the Nature Action Portal offers a practical tool to help sustainability practitioners navigate and implement regulatory and voluntary frameworks such as the TNFD.

    – Tony Goldner, CEO, Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures

    The Nature Action Portal was developed with support from Arcadis, The Biodiversity Consultancy, Environmental Resource Management (ERM), EY, PwC and Quantis, a BCG company.

    For any requests related to the Nature Action Portal, please contact nature@wbcsd.org.

    WBCSD partners and members across sectors who supported this work highlight:

    Business leaders are asking for clear, actionable guidance. They need priority actions, aligned metrics, and simple disclosures. This will help them move faster, show credible progress and halt and reverse nature loss. The Nature Action Portal delivers targeted sectoral actions identified by Business for Nature, WBCSD and World Economic Forum. Businesses can explore their impacts, plan priority actions, and choose the most sector-relevant metrics to measure progress, helping us demonstrate credible business contributions towards the Global Biodiversity Framework.

    – Eva Zabey, CEO, Business for Nature

    Science-based action is essential for companies to make credible contributions to a nature-positive future. We welcome WBCSD’s efforts to help companies turn ambition into impact through science-based targets for nature.

    – Erin Billman, Executive Director of the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN)

    As a financial service provider in the food and agri sector, we aim to understand the key dependencies, risks, impacts, and opportunities related to nature in the sectors where we operate. Our objective is to help customers transition to more sustainable practices and strengthen their resilience. By linking sector initiatives to practical metrics and disclosures, the Portal lays the foundation for a system where nature-related data is applied consistently by all actors, supporting purposes from prioritization to performance monitoring.

    – Aafke Keizer, Chief Sustainability Officer, Rabobank

    To achieve the needed transformation, every business must recognize the complex interdependence between its activities and nature. Holcim is proud to have contributed to the collaborative process behind the Nature Action Portal which has delivered clarity and consistency across the built environment system – building alignment on priority actions, metrics and accelerating the shift to a more resilient, nature-positive future.

    – Antonio Carrillo, Vice President Sustainability, Holcim

    The resilience of our agri-food system is highly dependent on nature and the services it provides. A unified approach to measuring the benefits of these services across farmers, suppliers, consumers, and financial partners is essential to measure and track progress of landscape-based actions and initiatives. The Portal and the underlying work to align metrics is an important first step in harmonizing corporate impact monitoring and reporting. It builds trust and a common language, which can unlock finance and de-risk investments – accelerating credible nature-positive action and accountability.

    – Natasha Santos, VP Sustainability, Bayer

    The Portal creates a well thought-through overview of nature related indicators and metrics across supply chains. Aligned metrics and definitions will help harmonize reporting and enable efficient monitoring – all the way to the forests and agricultural landscapes helping companies understand dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities – both for their business and for nature.

    – Sofia Gape, Head of Biodiversity and Land use, Inter IKEA Group

    Sustainably managed forests are core business assets, securing raw-material supply, storing carbon, and providing biodiversity habitat and water. The Nature Action Portal helps the forest sector to further implement sustainable forest management and align on relevant metrics across operations and value chain.  It also assists us to make better investment decisions and report consistently to customers and financiers.

    – Yuuko Iizuka, Executive Officer, Sustainability Department, Sumitomo Forestry

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  • WeRide and Uber Launch Middle East’s First Fully Driverless Robotaxi Commercial Operations in Abu Dhabi, UAE – Uber Investor Relations

    1. WeRide and Uber Launch Middle East’s First Fully Driverless Robotaxi Commercial Operations in Abu Dhabi, UAE  Uber Investor Relations
    2. WeRide Secures World’s First City-level Fully Driverless Robotaxi Permit Outside the U.S.  GlobeNewswire
    3. Road clear for Swiss self-driving car project  SWI swissinfo.ch
    4. Global Expansion Accelerates: Landmark UAE Driverless Robotaxi Commercial Permit, Autonomous Vehicles Licensed in Eight Countries, Record YoY Revenue Growth of 144.3%  MarketScreener
    5. Uber rolls out driverless robotaxis in Abu Dhabi  CNBC

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  • Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery review – Josh O’Connor excels in another deadpan delight | Film

    Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery review – Josh O’Connor excels in another deadpan delight | Film

    Rian Johnson’s delectable new Knives Out film is a chocolate box: mouthwateringly delicious on the first layer and … well, perfectly tasty on the second. Daniel Craig returns as private detective Benoit Blanc, in a slightly more serious mode…

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  • Flagship Foldable Phone to Highlight Huawei’s Product Launch in Dubai

    Flagship Foldable Phone to Highlight Huawei’s Product Launch in Dubai

    SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Huawei will host its “Unfold the Moment” flagship product launch on December 11, 2025, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The event will see the unveiling of groundbreaking…

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  • Mysterious structures under the Pacific: What scientists found beneath the ocean floor could reshape Earth’s history |

    Mysterious structures under the Pacific: What scientists found beneath the ocean floor could reshape Earth’s history |

    For decades, scientists believed they understood how material moves deep inside the Earth. The basic theory seemed simple enough. Tectonic plates slowly shift across the planet, some slide beneath others, and the remains of these plates sink…

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  • Security, protection of Pakistanis is paramount for Army: Field Marshal – RADIO PAKISTAN

    1. Security, protection of Pakistanis is paramount for Army: Field Marshal  RADIO PAKISTAN
    2. Professionalism of armed forces during Marka-i-Haq enhanced Pakistan’s global stature, says COAS Munir  Dawn
    3. COAS urges unity to confront security threats  

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