The new T-Roc achieved high scores in tests conducted by the renowned European consumer protection institute. These included protection of adult occupants, protection of children and protection of vulnerable road users as well as pedestrian protection. In addition, the Euro NCAP test team places great emphasis on accident prevention. In this area, too, the compact SUV – which is equipped with numerous standard driver assistance and emergency braking systems even in the basic version – earned good marks from the test commission.
Back in May, the Volkswagen Tayron had already received the coveted five-star rating. Furthermore, the 2025 Euro NCAP re-assessments of Golf, ID.3 and ID.4 confirm that these Volkswagen models also continue to achieve five-star levels thanks to ongoing improvements. All awards once again demonstrate that Volkswagen lives up to its “safety4all” claim: the company deploys high-tech assistance systems not only in premium models but especially in its high-volume models, thereby further enhancing the comfort and safety of individual mobility.
(Bloomberg) — Stocks are marking a second straight day of restrained moves as traders await the Fed’s outlook for interest rates in 2026 after an expected cut at Wednesday’s policy announcement.
S&P 500 futures were little changed. A rally in US stocks has stalled this week after traders pulled big bets off the table, with mixed economic signals and divisions among Fed policymakers clouding the path for rates. Europe’s Stoxx 600 ticked lower while markets in Asia were mixed.
Treasury yields extended their advance. The 10-year rate rose two basis points to 4.20%, the highest since the first week of September. Globally, the view that rate-cutting cycles are nearing their end has driven yields on a Bloomberg gauge of long-dated government debt to a 16-year high.
Recent economic data have shown that the US economy is cooling in a manner consistent with what the Fed wants, but not weak enough to accelerate rate cuts, wrote Linh Tran, market analyst at XS.com. Inflation is easing but still above target, while the labor market continues to show some resilience.
“This combination provides little incentive for investors to continue buying at elevated valuations, yet does not offer sufficient reason for them to sell aggressively,” Tran said. “What the market needs at this moment is a clearer policy signal from the Fed.”
Markets are anticipating a third straight rate cut at Wednesday’s Fed meeting, with attention centered on the latest dot plot, economic projections and comments from Chair Jerome Powell. Investors will also be watching Oracle Corp.’s post-market results as questions mount over technology valuations and whether heavy investment in artificial intelligence will ultimately pay off.
In Asia, Chinese property stocks surged on expectations for policy stimulus from Beijing and hopes of progress in China Vanke Co.’s debt talks.
A Bloomberg Intelligence gauge of Chinese developer shares jumped 3%. Shares of Vanke, which is at the center of investor scrutiny following bond payment delays, jumped as much as 19% in Hong Kong.
Silver extended its rally after breaking above $60 an ounce for the first time on Tuesday, with momentum coming from supply tightness and bets on further monetary easing by the Fed. The white metal rose as much as 1.6% to a record $61.6145 an ounce.
Corporate News:
China Vanke Co. rallied in the equity and credit markets Wednesday after a bondholder meeting included discussion of sweetened terms among plans for a closely watched effort by the distressed builder to delay a note payment. HSBC Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Georges Elhedery said not enough executives were fully accountable for the performance of their businesses before he began his radical restructuring of the bank 15 months ago. SpaceX is moving ahead with plans for an initial public offering that would seek to raise significantly more than $30 billion, people familiar with the matter said, in a transaction that would make it the biggest listing of all time. Amazon.com Inc. pledged to invest $35 billion in India over the next five years, boosting its spending in the key growth market to expand in businesses from quick commerce to cloud computing. Coupang Chief Executive Officer Park Dae-jun resigned over his failure to prevent South Korea’s largest-ever data breach, Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.2% as of 9:30 a.m. London time S&P 500 futures were little changed Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2% The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.3% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1642 The Japanese yen was little changed at 156.80 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0616 per dollar The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3315 Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 0.2% to $92,524.1 Ether rose 0.5% to $3,319.01 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.20% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.89% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 4.55% Commodities
Brent crude rose 0.2% to $62.04 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.2% to $4,198.18 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Neil Campling and James Hirai.
Paris, France, 10 December 2025 – The French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) has awarded Airbus Defence and Space a framework contract worth up to €50 million for the integration of artificial intelligence components into the weapons, information, communication and cybersecurity systems used by the French armed forces.
The contract covers information systems delivered by Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters. Within this framework, Airbus and the DGA are working in collaboration with the Ministerial Agency for Defence AI (AMIAD), created in May 2024 to enable France to master these technologies and avoid dependence on other nations. It is part of the ministerial strategy on artificial intelligence for defence, which aims to address the challenge of sovereignty in this field and develop the use of AI for military operations.
The first stage of this contract will consist of increasing the capabilities of Spationav, the French maritime surveillance system with AI elements that will enable the automated merging of surveillance data from satellite systems and Spationav.
Many other potential uses are being or will be explored, particularly in the fields of intelligence, cybersecurity and connectivity, such as real-time assistance in the management and optimisation of military telecommunications networks.
With the proliferation of sensors (satellites, radars, drones, smartphones, social networks) generating massive amounts of data, only AI can process it efficiently and quickly. The aim is to save humans time in activities they already carry out, as well as to perform tasks that are impossible for humans to complete, given the urgency of the situation or the excessive volume of data to be processed. The other major challenge associated with AI is the ability to store, archive and structure all the data that feeds it using appropriate infrastructure.
-Denifanstat (ASC40) met all primary, key secondary and secondary efficacy endpoints (ITT analysis) and significantly improved moderate-to-severe acne vulgaris compared with placebo in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter Phase III clinical trial.
HONG KONG, Dec. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Ascletis Pharma Inc. (HKEX: 1672, “Ascletis”) announces today that its New Drug Application (NDA) for denifanstat (ASC40), a first-in-class, once-daily oral small molecule fatty acid synthase (FASN) inhibitor for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acne vulgaris, has been accepted by the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).
“Acceptance of this NDA is an important milestone in our efforts to provide a potentially groundbreaking therapeutic approach for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acne,” said Jinzi Jason Wu, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman and CEO of Ascletis, “We are excited denifanstat (ASC40) is only one step away from the commercialization.”
Ascletis has completed Phase II (NCT05104125) and Phase III (NCT06192264) studies of denifanstat (ASC40) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acne vulgaris.
In the Phase III study, denifanstat (ASC40) met all primary, key secondary and secondary efficacy endpoints (ITT analysis) and significantly improved moderate-to-severe acne vulgaris compared with placebo. Denifanstat (ASC40) demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile. All denifanstat (ASC40)-related treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were mild (Grade 1) or moderate (Grade 2). There were no denifanstat (ASC40)-related Grade 3 or 4 TEAEs and no denifanstat (ASC40)-related serious adverse events (SAEs). There were no denifanstat (ASC40)-related permanent treatment discontinuations or withdrawals observed.
The Phase III study results were presented as an oral presentation at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress 2025 in Paris, France on September 17, 2025 (link).
The Company recently completed the pre-NDA consultation with the China NMPA for denifanstat (ASC40) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acne vulgaris and received positive feedback from NMPA.
Ascletis licensed denifanstat (ASC40) from Sagimet Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq: SGMT) for exclusive rights in Greater China.
About Ascletis Pharma Inc.
Ascletis Pharma Inc. is a fully integrated biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of potential best-in-class and first-in-class therapeutics to treat metabolic diseases. Utilizing its proprietary Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Structure-Based Drug Discovery (AISBDD) and Ultra-Long-Acting Platform (ULAP) technologies as well as Peptide Oral Transport ENhancement Technology (POTENT), Ascletis has developed multiple drug candidates in-house, including both small molecules and peptides, such as its lead program, ASC30, a small molecule GLP-1R agonist designed to be administered once daily orally and once monthly to once quarterly subcutaneously as a treatment therapy and a maintenance therapy for chronic weight management; ASC36, a once-monthly subcutaneously administered amylin receptor peptide agonist, ASC35, a once-monthly subcutaneously administered GLP-1R/GIPR dual peptide agonist and ASC37, an oral GLP-1R/GIPR/GCGR triple peptide agonist for chronic weight management. Ascletis is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (1672.HK).
For more information, please visit www.ascletis.com.
Contact：
Peter Vozzo ICR Healthcare 443-231-0505 (U.S.) [email protected]
Ascletis Pharma Inc. PR and IR teams +86-181-0650-9129 (China) [email protected] [email protected]
Air China, as China’s sole national flag carrier, is a long-term strategic customer for Rolls-Royce. By establishing BAESL jointly, the two companies have deepened their cooperation. In the meantime, it further enhances Air China’s strategic layout in the aircraft maintenance industry chain, improving its overall fleet operational support capabilities.
As one of four authorised joint-venture overhaul facilities within the Rolls-Royce global services network, BAESL will be an integral part of its worldwide Trent MRO ecosystem, which also consists of two Rolls-Royce maintenance facilities, seven joint-venture or independent Authorised Maintenance Centres, and customer-owned shops.
Starting from 2026, BAESL will begin introducing overhaul capability for Trent 700, Trent XWB-84 and Trent 1000 engines, with capacity expected to ramp up to 250 overhauls per year by 2034.
Rialto focused on low-value transactions such as remittances and other person-to-person payments executed via the traditional banking channel. Despite past efforts to reduce the inefficiencies associated with such payments, FX and settlement remain key frictions.
In the search for more efficient options, there has been an increasing focus on instant payment-versus-payment (PvP) solutions that allow for fast and reliable access to liquidity in foreign currency.
Rialto’s technical experiment combined PvP and automated FX with tokenised central bank money settlement in a simulated cross-border payment infrastructure by building on previous work by the BIS Innovation Hub such as Project Mariana and Project Nexus.
The technical report describes the Project Rialto proof of concept, its architecture and design as well as the economic considerations regarding the viability of the Rialto technical approach.
Elon Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX is preparing to list on the stock market next year in a move that could raise more than $25bn (£19bn) and value the business at more than $1tn, according to reports.
SpaceX, which designs, builds and launches rockets, is said to have started discussions with banks about an initial public offering (IPO). It could join the stock market in about June or July, according Reuters, which cited an unnamed source familiar with the matter.
A flotation could rival the market value that the oil company Saudi Aramco achieved during its listing in 2019, which remains the biggest in history. It raised $29bn at the time, at a valuation of $1.7tn.
SpaceX could raise “significantly more than £30bn”, according to a separate report by Bloomberg, which said Musk was targeting an overall valuation of about $1.5tn.
Reuters said SpaceX planned to use the funds from the public listing to fund its space-based datacentres, including buying the chips required to run them.
The company was expected to make about $15bn in revenue in 2025, rising to between $22bn and $24bn in 2026, Bloomberg reported. Most of this is due to come from Starlink, its internet satellite business.
Last week, media reports suggested SpaceX was in talks with investors about a share sale that would value it at $800bn, pitting it against OpenAI to become the most valuable private company in the world.
However, Musk said the reports were inaccurate on Saturday. He wrote: “SpaceX has been cashflow positive for many years and does periodic stock buybacks twice a year to provide liquidity for employees and investors. Valuation increments are a function of progress with Starship and Starlink and securing global direct-to-cell spectrum that greatly increases our addressable market.”
HERNDON, Va., 9 December 2025 – ST Engineering iDirect, a global leader in satellite communications, today announced that its Chief Technology Officer, Sridhar Kuppanna, has been named CTO of the Year (Solution Provider, Global) in the Leadership Excellence category at The Fast Mode Awards 2025. The award recognizes Kuppanna’s visionary leadership in advancing satellite technology and its integration into the global telecommunications ecosystem.
The inaugural awards program from The Fast Mode, a leading industry media, research and analysis platform, celebrates the organizations and leaders driving innovation in connectivity and digital transformation. The Leadership Excellence category honors executives whose work has significantly shaped the telecom industry through strategic vision, measurable achievements, and forward-looking impact.
Under Kuppanna’s leadership, ST Engineering iDirect has pioneered breakthroughs in cloud-native satellite ground systems, AI-driven network automation and 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN). His strategic direction has been instrumental in unifying satellite and terrestrial networks, highlighted by the industry’s first demonstration of interoperability between a cloud-native ground system and a 5G Core. This work is paving the way for a standardized 5G-6G future where satellite connectivity is seamless.
“I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious award from The Fast Mode,” said Sridhar Kuppanna. “This recognition is a testament to the incredible talent and dedication of the entire ST Engineering iDirect team. Our focus is on building an open, standardized, and interoperable future where satellite and terrestrial networks converge. By harnessing the power of cloud, 5G, and AI, we are committed to delivering autonomous, intelligent networks that redefine the possibilities of global connectivity.”
As announced by The Fast Mode on 1 December 2025, winners will be honored at the LiveX Kuala Lumpur 2026 summit on 6 February 2026. The event will bring together industry leaders to explore the technologies and strategies shaping AI-first telecommunications.
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Media contact: Donna Armstrong Brodeur Email: darmstrong@brodeur.com
