Things To Do In SW Florida

By TOM MURPHY, AP Health Writer

The market for obesity and diabetes treatments remains scorching hot, funneling billions in sales to Eli Lilly and fueling a bidding war over another drugmaker.

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Lilly said Thursday that its top-selling drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, brought in more than $10 billion combined during the recently completed third quarter. That made up over half of the drugmaker’s $17.6 billion in total sales.

Separately, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk announced plans to buy Metsera Inc. in a deal that could be worth up to $9 billion. read more

Theme park revenue climbed 18.7% in the third quarter for Comcast Corp., propelled by the early months of operation of Epic Universe, the company reported Thursday.

The attractions segment, which includes Universal Orlando as part of Comcast’s content and experiences division, took in $2.7 billion in the quarter that ended Sept. 30. Epic Universe theme park debuted May 22.

“We’re really pleased with the early results from Epic, which are driving higher per-cap spending and attendance across the entirety of Universal Orlando,” said Jason Armstrong, Comcast’s chief financial officer.

Officials said the new park is performing as designed by making the resort more of a draw to weeklong visitors.

“The full resort of Orlando is very strong,” said Mike Cavanagh, Comcast president. He said there has been less “cannibalization” of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, the pre-existing parks of Universal Orlando, than anticipated.

“Our focus now is just driving increased ride capacity. It’s a new park and very technologically advanced, so working on the labor and the kinks to drive it to full capacity,” said Cavanagh, who will become co-CEO of the company in January. read more

By BARBARA ORTUTAY, Associated Press Technology Writer

President Donald Trump’s meeting Thursday with China’s top leader Xi Jinping produced a raft of decisions to help dial back trade tensions, but no agreement on TikTok’s ownership.

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“China will work with the U.S. to properly resolve issues related to TikTok,” China’s Commerce Ministry said after the meeting.

It gave no details on any progress toward ending uncertainty about the fate of the popular video-sharing platform in the U.S.

The Trump administration had been signaling that it may have finally reached a deal with Beijing to keep TikTok running in the U.S. read more

By Ilena Peng, Bloomberg News

Halloween is shaping up to be a test for the chocolate industry, as high cocoa costs threaten to accelerate a consumer shift toward cheaper and trendier sweets such as sour gummies.

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For candy makers, Halloween remains crucial — the holiday made up nearly 18% of annual U.S. candy sales last year, second only to Christmas. But chocolate makers have been passing along costlier input prices to consumers, and that’s leaving an opening for rivals — who have already seen a shift toward non-chocolate treats — to grab more market share. read more

After a weekslong delay because of the federal government shutdown, the latest report on consumer prices has arrived, giving Americans a glimpse at how President Donald Trump’s economic policies are impacting everyday costs everywhere from the grocery store to the gas pump.

Across the board, inflation accelerated in September, with prices rising 0.3% — though slightly less than the 0.4% in August. Consumer costs are also 3% higher than they were a year ago, an increase economists largely attribute to surging food and energy costs as a result of the president’s sweeping tariffs.

Still, nine months into the second Trump administration, the data ran somewhat counter to what many economists anticipated, particularly following the latest round of import tax hikes that took effect in early August. The cost of bananas is at a record high, but beef prices have finally fallen, utility expenses are down month-over-month and other goods only saw minimal changes in cost in September.

The better-than-expected figures come as a spate of good news for money-conscious Americans, particularly as many may lose their SNAP benefits in the coming days — including nearly 2 million Illinoisans. read more