Beauty giants target ‘Ozempic face’ as boom in obesity drugs opens new market

Published: October 22, 2026 at 7:44a.m. EDTJi Zhang, portfolio manager of global real estate at Cohen & Steers, joins BNN Bloomberg to share her Hot Picks in global real estate. Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, posted a drop in third-quarter earnings on Thursday, as a turbulent market environment weighed on its ability to cash in on investments. Global markets have been roiled by surging bond yields, expectations of higher-for-longer interest rates and elevated market volatility from the Iran war. As a result, many prospective deals are being put on hold, leading to a slowdown in deals and IPOs in the first half of the year. Global M&A activity fell 41 per cent sequentially in the third quarter, according to LSEG data. Latest updates on company news hereBlackstone’s net realizations, which track proceeds from investment exits, fell 34 per cent to about US$332 million, weighed down by a nearly 50 per cent drop in its private equity business. Distributable earnings, or profit available to shareholders, fell 13 per cent to $1.32 per share. Analysts on average had expected $1.26, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Published: October 22, 2026 at 6:57a.m. EDTMeta Platforms has struck a deal with Mark Zuckerberg to keep him living in California after the CEO warned he was considering leaving the state that houses the company’s headquarters if voters pass a wealth tax proposal next month. Under the deal, Zuckerberg will get non-voting shares he can sell to potentially foot a multibillion-dollar tax bill in the event the proposal is approved, in exchange for a commitment to remain a resident of California, or wherever Meta maintains its headquarters, for eight years, Meta said on Wednesday. Zuckerberg, the world’s sixth richest person according to Forbes, told Meta he was considering moving his primary residence outside California because Proposition 40, a ballot measure dubbed the “California wealth tax,” could expose him to a massive tax liability, potentially forcing him to sell voting shares to pay it. Proposition 40, which asks Californians whether to impose a one-time 5 per cent tax on the state’s billionaires, is far from certain to pass, political analysts say. The state is home to as many as 250 billionaires collectively worth upwards of US$2 trillion.

Published: October 22, 2026 at 6:35a.m. EDTThe Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) announced it will hold a strike vote for roughly 120,000 federal public servants. CTV’s Austin Lee reports. Thousands of employees at Parks Canada will receive notices that their jobs are at risk as the federal department enters the “second period” of workforce adjustments. Parks Canada tells CTV News Ottawa that 2,917 employees will receive notices that their positions will “impacted by workforce adjustment” in the weeks ahead. The department is expecting to reduce full-time equivalent positions by approximately 500 positions through the workforce adjustments. “Parks Canada has been working to modernize how it delivers programs and services to ensure they provide the greatest value to Canadians while supporting long-term sustainability,” Parks Canada said in an email Wednesday afternoon.

Published: October 22, 2026 at 6:09a.m. EDTAbigail Bimman has more on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip as Canada looks to deepen trade relations with new partners and away from the United States. ANKARA — Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Turkiye on Thursday to kick off a three-day trip aimed at deepening political and economic ties with the NATO ally. Carney is set to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, in what the Prime Minister’s Office says will be the first bilateral visit by a Canadian prime minister to Turkiye. Shortly after landing on Thursday, Carney laid a wreath at the mausoleum of Turkish founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Joining Carney on the trip are Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson. Senior government officials told reporters ahead of the trip that Hodgson’s presence on the trip speaks to the importance of energy projects in talks between the nations. Canada and Turkiye do about $4 billion in trade annually, and formally launched talks to pursue a free-trade pact on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara earlier this year.

Published: October 22, 2026 at 6:04a.m. EDTSeven oil tankers caught fire or were damaged in the Strait of Hormuz overnight after being hit by Iran or striking naval mines, Tehran said Thursday, a markedly high number as tensions wind upward over concerns about a return to all-out war. With days before Israel’s close elections in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could lose power, and ahead of next month’s U. S. midterm elections in which war-linked high prices have sparked voter anger, there are concerns that U. S.-Israeli attacks on Iran could resume. Iranian state television reported the claims about the latest attacks on ships, citing the Revolutionary Guard Corps navy, which again threatened to strike U. S. military bases in the region if the U. S. keeps helping to guide commercial ships through the strait. The report did not mention casualties. A British military monitor, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, did not report the attacks, but monitors in recent days have noted reluctance by some shippers to report incidents. Iran still asserts control over the waterway, a central point of leverage in any talks with the U. S. over the war.

Published: October 22, 2026 at 5:58a.m. EDTWorld shares and U. S. futures retreated on Thursday as oil prices jumped more than 2 per cent following a report by Iran’s state television that seven oil tankers caught fire and were damaged in the Strait of Hormuz. If the report is verified, it would be the largest number of vessels damaged in the waterway in a single day since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 3.2 per cent to US$112.27 per barrel. It has been bouncing between $97 and $112 in recent days on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal. U. S. benchmark crude rose 2.8 per cent to $99.80 per barrel. In early European trading, Germany’s DAX shed 1.1 per cent to 25,367.96, while the CAC 40 in Paris declined 1.3 per cent to 7,816.67. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.7 per cent at 10,678.67. The future for the S&P 500 lost 1 per cent and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.7 per cent lower. In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 2.7 per cent to 62,907.84 on heavy selling of big tech companies like SoftBank Group, which lost 6.9 per cent.