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  • Recreational athletes feel healthy but unhappy with their bodies

    Recreational athletes feel healthy but unhappy with their bodies

    New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has revealed a striking disconnect between how recreational athletes perceive their health and fitness, and how they feel about their bodies. 

    The research found that while 69 per…

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  • Treasuries Rise on Weak US Jobs, Dollar Holds Loss: Markets Wrap

    Treasuries Rise on Weak US Jobs, Dollar Holds Loss: Markets Wrap

    (Bloomberg) — Treasuries advanced across the curve after private-sector data signaled a cooling US labor market and bolstered bets on a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut.

    The yield on the 10-year fell four basis points to 4.08% after employment figures from ADP Research signaled US companies shed 11,250 jobs per week on average in the four weeks ended Oct. 25. Money markets also added to bets on Fed rate cuts, pricing roughly a 70% chance of a reduction next month, according to swaps tied to policy-meeting dates. A gauge of the dollar was flat after five days of losses while gold gained.

    Asian shares edged higher along with US equity-index futures. Advancers outnumbered decliners seven to one on Japan’s Topix Index. Technology firms lagged, with SoftBank Corp. tumbling as much as 10% after selling its entire stake in Nvidia Corp.

    The federal government’s closure has elevated the importance of private data, as investors lacked key official indicators to gauge the strength of the American economy. The record US shutdown may end as soon as Wednesday after the Senate passed a temporary funding bill, buoying stocks as investors brace for a flood of delayed data once agencies reopen.

    “The biggest near-term catalyst would be a reopening of the government which would buttress current-quarter GDP forecasts but also may release more liquidity into the market, which typically is supportive of stocks,” said the JPMorgan Market Intelligence team led by Andrew Tyler.

    ADP figures suggested the labor market slowed in the second half of October, compared with earlier in the month. ADP’s most recent monthly report, released last week, showed private-sector payrolls increased 42,000 in October after declining in the prior two months.

    The data come after an array of companies flagged plans to reduce headcount in recent weeks. A report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. showed employers announced the most job cuts for any October in more than two decades, spurring anxiety about the health of the labor market.

    “The market will be guided by the general risk vibe and Fedspeak, but we suspect it will be unable to establish consistent directional impetus,” Westpac Banking Corp. strategists Damien McColough and Uma Choudhury wrote in a note.

    The reopening of the government now depends on the House, which plans to return to Washington to consider the spending package. It would keep most of the government open through Jan. 30 and some agencies through Sept. 30.

    If approved, the bill goes to President Donald Trump, who has already endorsed the legislation.

    Back in 2013, which was the last shutdown to affect the jobs report, the government reopened on October 17, and the September jobs report was released five days later, noted Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank.

    “So based on that timeline, we could get the September jobs report pretty quickly, not least because the original release was meant to be on Oct. 3, just a couple of days after the shutdown began,” he said. “Early next week is realistic.”

    The resumption of economic data releases could make the case for increased wagers on Fed rate cuts. Most economists surveyed by Bloomberg suggest that Fed officials will lower borrowing costs by a quarter-point at their Dec. 9-Dec. 10 meeting. But the central bank’s path remained foggy after Chair Jerome Powell last month said a cut is not a certainty, a sentiment since shared by others at the Fed.

    Corporate News:

    Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Nvidia Corp.’s nearest rival in AI chips, predicted accelerating sales growth over the next five years, driven by strong demand for its data center products. FedEx Corp. expects profit this quarter to improve from a year ago, easing investor concerns about a lackluster holiday season and volatile trade policies. A group of investors led by Macquarie Group Ltd. is expected to acquire infrastructure services business Potters Industries from private equity firm TJC, in a deal valuing the company at approximately $1.1 billion. JD.com Inc. said orders surged nearly 60% during this year’s Singles’ Day event. South Korea’s POSCO Holdings Inc. will buy a 30% stake in Mineral Resources Ltd.’s lithium business in a deal worth $765 million. Sea Ltd.’s quarterly profit missed analysts’ estimates after the company boosted spending to battle competitors in Southeast Asia’s cutthroat e-commerce market. Some of the main moves in markets:

    Stocks

    S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:54 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures rose 0.4% Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) fell 0.5% Japan’s Topix rose 1% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2% Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.2% Currencies

    The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was unchanged at $1.1582 The Japanese yen was little changed at 154.24 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1216 per dollar The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6521 Cryptocurrencies

    Bitcoin rose 0.3% to $102,892.04 Ether was little changed at $3,419.62 Bonds

    The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.08% Japan’s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.685% Australia’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 4.36% Commodities

    West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed Spot gold rose 0.2% to $4,135.95 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

    –With assistance from Toby Alder and Matthew Burgess.

    ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

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  • Addison Rae review – glorious fantasy from pop’s newest star | Music

    Addison Rae review – glorious fantasy from pop’s newest star | Music

    On stage, two grand wrought iron-style gates merge seamlessly with the Forum theatre’s famous Greco-Roman statues. Their curlicued bars twist into a giant A, seemingly inspired by the scribbles teenagers have inked in notebooks everywhere since…

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  • SoftBank shares plunge as much as 10% after selling Nvidia stake

    SoftBank shares plunge as much as 10% after selling Nvidia stake

    Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk past signage for SoftBank Corp. near a store in Tokyo, Japan, on May 15, 2020.

    Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Shares of SoftBank Group plunged as much as 10% Wednesday after the Japanese giant said it had sold its entire stake in U.S. chip giant Nvidia for $5.83 billion. The capital will be used to fund SoftBank’s $22.5 billion investment in ChatGPT parent OpenAI, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.

    Shares of SoftBank Group last traded more than 6% lower.

    In its earnings report, SoftBank said it sold 32.1 million Nvidia shares in October. It also trimmed its T-Mobile position, raising $9.17 billion.

    “We want to provide a lot of investment opportunities for investors, while we can still maintain financial strength,” said SoftBank’s chief financial officer, Yoshimitsu Goto, during an investor presentation.

    While the decision to unload Nvidia shares may have caught some investors off guard, it isn’t SoftBank’s first exit from the U.S. chip heavyweight.

    The company’s Vision Fund was an early Nvidia supporter, reportedly building a $4 billion stake in 2017 before fully divesting in January 2019. Despite the latest sale, SoftBank remains closely tied to Nvidia through its broader business interests.

    “This is a bullish signal on the theme from SoftBank doubling down and not a bearish sign in our view,” said Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities.

    While OpenAI is central to SoftBank’s GenAI portfolio, hardware remains a priority as well, mostly through its stake in British chip designer Arm, with which SoftBank is co-developing products, said Rolf Bulk, equity research analyst at New Street Research. SoftBank has a controlling stake in U.K-based Arm Holdings, whose chip designs power mobile and AI processors.

    Several other tech stocks in the region also declined. Semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest and Tokyo Electron, a chip production equipment maker, slipped over 2%.

    Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, fell 0.34%. South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix was 1.62% lower.

    —CNBC’s Dylan Butts and April Roach contributed to this report.

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  • No, taking paracetamol while pregnant doesn’t cause autism or ADHD, major review finds

    No, taking paracetamol while pregnant doesn’t cause autism or ADHD, major review finds

    An umbrella review finds that studies suggesting a link between prenatal paracetamol exposure and neurodevelopmental disorders are limited by bias and weak methodology, with stronger analyses showing no clear causal…

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  • ‘Landman’ Season 2 Premiere Photos

    ‘Landman’ Season 2 Premiere Photos

    The Landman cast — including Demi Moore and Ali Larter in showstopping looks — was out in force for the show’s Season 2 premiere in New York.

    Season 2 of the series will premiere November 16 on Paramount+. The Taylor Sheridan…

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  • Scientists reveal mathematical law governing limits of biological growth

    Scientists reveal mathematical law governing limits of biological growth

    A research team including a scientist of Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, has identified a novel principle in biology that mathematically explains why the growth of organisms slows as…

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  • FDA names longtime cancer scientist Pazdur to lead drug center

    FDA names longtime cancer scientist Pazdur to lead drug center

    WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday named a longtime regulator of cancer medicines to lead the agency’s drug center, replacing the former drug director who was recently ousted after an ethics complaint.

    Dr. Richard Pazdur, a 26-year veteran of the agency, will become director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the FDA’s largest unit. A cancer specialist, Pazdur has previously served in numerous FDA roles, most recently leading the agency’s Oncology Center of Excellence.

    Pazdur’s appointment comes just over a week after Dr. George Tidmarsh abruptly departed the agency after federal ethics lawyers began reviewing “serious concerns about his personal conduct,” according to a government statement. Tidmarsh, a former pharmaceutical executive and scientist, had been recruited to the agency by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary.

    A lawsuit filed early this month alleged that Tidmarsh used his position at the FDA to pursue a “longstanding personal vendetta” against the chairman of a Canadian drugmaker’s board of directors. The two men had previously worked as business associates at several pharmaceutical companies, according to the lawsuit.

    Tidmarsh has denied any wrongdoing in media interviews. He did not respond to requests for comment sent by The Associated Press to him and his lawyer.

    Pazdur is one of the last remaining members of the FDA’s senior leadership to survive months of retirements, firings, resignations, and other actions by the Trump administration that forced longtime employees out of the agency.

    He’ll be tasked with bringing stability to a unit that has been riven by low morale, return-to-office orders and turf battles with other parts of the agency, including the vaccine and biologics center led by Dr. Vinay Prasad.

    The FDA’s drug center has lost more than 1,000 staffers over the past year to layoffs or resignations, according to agency figures. The center is responsible for the review, safety and quality control of prescription and over-the-counter medicines.

    Pazdur will also inherit several new initiatives announced by Makary, including a voucher program that aims to review drugs that are deemed a “national priority” in just one to two months. Previously, the FDA’s fastest drug reviews required six months.

    As the FDA’s top cancer specialist, Pazdur previously oversaw efforts to expedite the approvals of experimental cancer therapies based on early measures, such as tumor shrinkage. That approach has been criticized by many in academia, including Prasad, who spent years publishing papers scrutinizing the FDA’s approach to cancer medicines before joining the agency earlier this year.

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Maryam declares climate action non-negotiable

    Maryam declares climate action non-negotiable

    Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz is addressing a press conference in Lahore. — YouTube@Geo News/screengrab

    LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister…

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  • Dinosaur Eggshells Help Paleontologists Determine Age of Fossil-Bearing Rocks

    Dinosaur Eggshells Help Paleontologists Determine Age of Fossil-Bearing Rocks

    Scientists from Stellenbosch University and elsewhere have used advanced uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating and elemental mapping to measure trace amounts of uranium and lead inside the calcite of fossilized dinosaur eggshells found in the United…

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