URUMQI – November 12, 2026 -- Farmer and agricultural technician Zhang Xiying has helped 19 neighboring households in Urumqi county, Xinjiang, take up specialty crops including flowers, figs and strawberries, according to a China Daily report. She charges nothing for technical guidance and arranges buyers for the harvest, which she calls the farmers' main obstacle.

"Selling is the biggest challenge for farmers," Zhang said. The report names no other cost or income barrier.

Zhang links growers to wholesalers and pick-your-own buyers

After households started growing cut flowers, Zhang connected them with wholesalers at a flower market. She says those channels remain in place and that the flowers are distributed among the wholesalers.

SHANGHAI -- November 12, 2026 -- DFRobot and Sensirion launched the Gravity: SFA40 Formaldehyde (HCHO) Module, a formaldehyde sensor board now on sale in DFRobot's online store for $49.50. The SFA40 formaldehyde module measures 0–1000 ppb, but the companies specify its typical accuracy only for the 0–200 ppb band, which is one-fifth of that range.

DFRobot builds the module around Sensirion's SFA40 chip

The board uses Sensirion's SFA40 electrochemical sensing chip and DFRobot's Gravity 4-pin interface. The companies say it connects to development platforms such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi. An integrated SHT4X temperature and humidity sensor compensates for environmental changes automatically.

The companies state cross-sensitivity to ethanol is below 0.3%, which they say limits interference from alcohol and perfume. DFRobot offers an SCI firmware version for serial data reading without programming, compatibility with Mind+ graph

COLUMBUS, Georgia -- November 12, 2026 -- Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) raised its first-quarter 2027 dividend 4.9% to $0.64 per share, payable on March 1, 2027 to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 17, 2027. By FairsOnline's calculation, the previously declared fourth-quarter 2026 dividend works out to about $0.61, so the increase is roughly $0.03 per share.

On an annualized basis, the new rate equals $2.56 per share (4 x $0.64), against about $2.44 at the fourth-quarter rate. A holder of 1,000 shares would receive $640 for the quarter, versus about $610 under the prior payout.

Record date and payment date are 12 days apart.

CHENGDU – November 12, 2026 -- Yum China Holdings (NYSE: YUMC; HKEX: 9987) has passed 20,000 stores across more than 2,800 cities and towns in China, and targets 30,000 stores by 2030, which means adding 10,000 more within four years.

The company announced the milestone at its annual convention for restaurant general managers (RGMs) in Chengdu, attended by more than 10,000 RGMs. It marked the occasion by opening six stores simultaneously, one for each brand it runs in Mainland China: KFC, Pizza Hut, Lavazza, Taco Bell, Little Sheep and Huang Ji Huang. The milestone coincides with the 10th anniversary of its New York Stock Exchange listing.

Phuket – November 12, 2026 -- Thailand's wellness economy reached $46.5 billion in 2025, with wellness real estate surging 66.7% to $1.2 billion, according to new Global Wellness Institute (GWI) data released at the 20th anniversary Global Wellness Summit in Phuket.

Overall growth slowed to 8.8% in 2025, from 11.6% in 2024, 16.9% in 2023 and 15.3% in 2022. GWI attributes the earlier double-digit rates to post-pandemic recovery after declines in 2020 and 2021. Thailand now ranks as the world's 26th largest wellness economy and the ninth largest in Asia-Pacific.

Wellness real estate becomes Thailand's fastest-growing wellness sector

The 66.7% expansion between 2024 and 2025 ranks first in Asia-Pacific and 11th globally for wellness real estate growth. GWI links the surge to wellness features moving into residential communities, hospitality developments and the built environment.

PERTH – November 12, 2026 -- OncoRes Medical has rebranded as Ziva Surgical, moving its ELORA System, which holds FDA Breakthrough Device Designation and more than 44 granted patents, closer to commercialization.

Ziva Surgical targets residual cancer found after breast-conserving surgery

The Perth-based tissue intelligence company is addressing a persistent clinical gap: about one in five women undergoing breast-conserving surgery faces a second operation to remove residual cancer. Surgeons currently rely on sight, touch, specimen imaging and clinical judgment, methods that can leave residual cancer undetected during the procedure.

Osnabrück – November 12, 2026 -- Lower Saxony's Environment Minister Christian Meyer of the Green Party has called Federal Economics Minister Katharina Reiche's absence from the Energy Ministers' Conference in Göttingen an affront to the federal states.

Meyer links federal uncertainty to slower energy transition

Meyer told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that the states want the energy transition to succeed jointly. In his view, current uncertainty is eroding trust and slowing the expansion of the energy transition.

Five agenda items left without federal input

Meyer had wanted Reiche, a member of the CDU, or her state secretary to attend. He listed five topics for discussion:

Tokyo -- Sompo Holdings and NTT signed a partnership agreement on November 11, 2026 to bring physical AI into Japan's nursing care sector, starting with indirect tasks such as cleaning, laundry, meal handling and item transport.

Partners target labor shortages in a super-aging Japan

The agreement responds to a shortage of frontline nursing care workers that the companies say is already a social issue and will intensify as Japan ages. Sompo Holdings (Group CEO Mikio Okumura) and NTT (President and CEO Akira Shimada) define physical AI as cameras, sensors, robots and the systems connecting them. The technology perceives physical space and carries out tasks through equipment such as robots.

The companies say deployment requires more than technology development. It also needs integrated preparation covering data, operational design, operations, maintenance and security for stable everyday use.

San Francisco – – November 12, 2026 -- Meta has signed a multi-year agreement with electric truckload carrier Nevoya to buy environmental attribute certificates (EACs) supporting 25 Class 8 battery-electric trucks on Interstate 10 between San Bernardino, California, and Phoenix, Arizona.

Nevoya expects the trucks to begin operating in 2027 and to cover about 4 million freight miles a year. The deal includes bringing online charging infrastructure for the fleet, with charging matched 100% by renewable energy certificates.

Meta buys certificates, not freight capacity

The purchase is not tied to the physical transport of Meta's own goods. Companies buy EACs to address emissions in their value chains, including logistics. Meta's Head of Net Zero Strategy, Devon Lake, said freight is part of the emissions footprint of building and operating its data centers. He said multi-year commitments like this help address Meta's scope 3 emissions.

New York – November 12, 2026 -- Butterfly Equity portfolio company Actus Nutrition has acquired the North American operations of Erie Foods International, a dairy protein ingredient maker founded in 1938. The transaction closed on October 26, 2026, with PKF Investment Banking acting as exclusive financial advisor to Erie Foods.

Actus adds a dairy protein processor to its ingredient platform

Actus, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, converts milk and whey into functional ingredients for human and animal nutrition. It also offers private-label manufacturing and custom ingredient development for food, beverage and performance nutrition brands. Financial terms were not included in the announcement.