🗞️ Ozempet

Good morning. Weight loss medications like Ozempic and Wegovy have revolutionised healthcare across America and are now rapidly expanding worldwide.

The trend is even moving into a surprising new frontier: Ozempet (yes, it's what it sounds like, Ozempic for pets).

Okava Pharmaceuticals is set to announce the launch of a pilot study aimed at helping your obese cat, Ginger, shred for a Bondi Summer.

All the headlines and more below...

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

21K Aussies leave workforce before Christmas

• Australia’s job market lost 21K positions in November as full-time employment fell by 57K while the unemployment rate stayed steady at 4.3%. LINK 

• The RBA has ruled out rate cuts soon due to inflation and labour market pressures, advising mortgage holders to refinance for savings. LINK 

• Australia’s R&D expenditure is lagging OECD peers by up to 50% while a federal review aims to boost innovation and competitiveness. LINK 

• Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology issued $96.5M in website upgrades, revising parts after receiving 400K negative user feedback items. LINK 

• Authorities deactivated over 200K TikTok accounts under Australia’s age restriction laws as legal mechanisms are prepared to ensure social media compliance. LINK 

• Australian chemist Richard Robson received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry at age 88 as recognition for creating molecular structures that gases can pass through. LINK

GLOBAL NEWS

The US Federal Reserve cuts rates again

• The US Fed lowered its benchmark rate to 3.6% in a split decision, signalling a possible pause amid pressure from President Trump. LINK

• The US may require visa-exempt tourists to submit 5 years of social media history as part of enhanced security screening. LINK 

COMPANY NEWS

ASIC fined 12 major firms over missing FY24 reports

• ASIC has fined 12 major firms $2.2M for missing FY24 financial report deadlines including Grill’d, White Fox and MJ Bale. LINK 

• Bupa was fined $35M for unjustly rejecting thousands of valid hospital claims while repaying over $14M in compensation to affected customers. LINK

• Oracle reported Q2 cloud revenue of US$8B and cloud infrastructure sales of US$4.1B while earnings per share surged 91% to US$2.10 and remaining performance obligations jumped 438% to US$523B. LINK

• Optus remains Australia's most distrusted telco as outages continued to drive a 23% higher distrust rate among the business community than the general population. LINK 

• APRA imposed new licence conditions on super fund HESTA after a tech upgrade caused a 6-week disruption and exposed weakness in governance. LINK 

• McDonald’s removed an AI-generated Dutch Christmas ad titled 'the most terrible time of the year' after public backlash over its negative holiday message. LINK

• PEXA is refusing to pay a $1-per-transaction NSW levy as it awaits national agreement to pass the charge to consumers as legal action arises over the eConveyancing data standard. LINK

CHART OF THE DAY

Global air passenger traffic expected to grow by 5% annually

ONE MORE SCROLL

Editor’s Pick: TIME’s top 100 photos of 2025.

Draft Pick: AFL great’s son unmasked as a rapist.

Odd Pick: Creator IShowSpeed sued for allegedly punching and choking viral humanoid Rizzbot.

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TRIVIA

The first selfie in space was taken on November 12, 1966. Who took it?

A. Neil Armstrong
B. Buzz Aldrin
C. Michael Collins
D. Yuri Gagarin

Answer below

OUR SOCIALS

ANSWER

B. Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin, aka the second man on the moon, snapped the first selfie outside a space capsule during the Gemini 12 mission.

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