Apple has confirmed that it has removed two of China’s most popular gay dating apps – Blued and Finka – from its app store in the country following an order from authorities.
“We follow the laws of the countries where we operate. Based on an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China, we have removed these two apps from the China storefront only,” an Apple spokesperson said.
The move has raised concerns amongst the LGBT community in the country.
The BBC has contacted the Chinese embassy in Washington and the companies behind both apps for comment.
A “lite” version of the Blued app remains available on Chinese app stores, according to checks by the BBC. Some other gay and bisexual dating apps are also still available in the country, like Jicco and Jack’d.
Blued is one of the most widely-used gay dating apps in China, with tens of millions of downloads.
Apple runs a separate app store in China, in accordance with the country’s strict internet laws. Popular apps like Instagram and WhatsApp are not available in China.
Android device users there use locally adapted versions of the operating system as the Google Play Store is also blocked in China.
Members of the LGBT community expressed concerns about the removal of Blued and Finka, with one saying, “I hope those heterosexual policymakers can understand that love is rare – it’s not something shameful or unspeakable.”
Screenshot from Huawei AppGallery
A “lite” version of the Blued gay dating app remains on app stores in China
In 2022, popular US-based gay dating app Grindr was removed from Apple’s App Store in China shortly after the Cyberspace Administration of China began a crackdown on content it viewed as illegal and inappropriate.
The following year, the Chinese government announced new rules requiring all apps serving domestic users to register for licenses, resulting in a slew of foreign apps being removed online.
The online regulator said the rules were designed to “promote the standardised and healthy development of the internet industry.”
Homosexuality was decriminalised in China in 1997, though same-sex marriages remain unrecognised.
Advocacy groups, including the Beijing LGBT Center and the ShanghaiPride, have ceased operations in China in recent years.
Nov 11 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab is dropping CVS Health’s (CVS.N), opens new tab drug benefit plan for its employees after CVS stopped covering its weight-loss drug in favor of a rival medication from Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Beginning on January 1, Lilly employees covered by the company’s medical plan will be automatically enrolled with pharmacy benefit coverage through pharmacy benefit manager Rightway, according to a document viewed by Bloomberg.
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CVS in May said its Caremark pharmacy benefit management unit had decided to drop Lilly’s weight-loss drug Zepbound as a preferred product from its reimbursement list from July 1 and that it will retain rival Wegovy after negotiating more favorable pricing for Novo Nordisk’s medicine, adding that will make the drug more affordable for patients.
CVS spokesperson David Whitrap told Reuters that while the company won’t comment on specific clients, Caremark’s overall client retention remains in the high 90% range year after year, adding that it offers options that covers both Zepbound and Wegovy, but “this option is costlier for plan sponsors than our standard commercial formulary that excludes Zepbound.”
“Our move earlier this year to negotiate Lilly and Novo against one another drove significant savings for our clients,” Whitrap added.
Eli Lilly and Rightway did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the Bloomberg report.
Novo faces increasing competition from Lilly’s Zepbound and compounded copycat drugs in the weight-loss drug market.
Wegovy and Zepbound are the only highly effective GLP-1 weight-loss drugs sold mainly in the U.S. as weekly injections.
Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal and Dheeraj Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema
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There could be tug of war under the Christmas tree this year owing to the growing trend of adult toy collectors, a rundown of the season’s must-haves suggests.
Singing Wicked 2 dolls, manga-themed Lego, a Pokémon game and a mini-fridge playset are among the items on the annual DreamToys selection that experts say are as likely to feature on the wishlists of adults as children.
In recent years, the industry has been bolstered by the passions of “kidults” (buyers aged 12 and over) who spend their spare cash on expensive Lego sets and collectible figurines. This group is behind £1 in every £3 spent on toys in the UK.
Almost half of adults (43%) have bought a toy for themselves or another adult this year – a figure that rises to 76% among gen Z (aged 18 to 28) shoppers, according to figures from the data company Circana.
After several difficult years, encouragingly, data from January to the end of June showed that toys for children grew 6%, the strongest performance in years.
“It’s a double success story,” said Melissa Symonds, the UK toys director at Circana. “We’re seeing children rediscover the joy of play while adults are embracing it as a form of self-care, nostalgia and fandom. That combination is keeping the market vibrant and relevant.”
Given the recent strong run, gift retailers were feeling optimistic about the all-important Christmas period but there is now concern that tax rises in the autumn budget could hit spending.
However, Symonds argued the toy market was different: “Toys don’t always follow the general economic trends because they are part of the joy economy.”
Toys are also relatively affordable, she said. Last December, the average selling price for a toy was £13.43, with the £10-20 range accounting for a third of sales.
Paul Reader, the chair of the DreamToys selection panel at the Toy Retailers Association, said it had been an “incredible” year for the sector. “We are in seriously positive territory … and optimistic that the momentum is going to follow into Christmas.”
“There is a strong sense that we are going to have less disposable income coming out of the budget,” he said, adding that the list could help consumers “make informed decisions about what we believe are the best toys this Christmas”.
People were starting to think about how much they would spend and it was “too early” to tell what impact the budget would have. “The magic of Christmas is always going to be there and parents and grandparents all work hard to make sure it is enjoyable for the whole family,” said Reader.
The cheapest toy on the DreamToys list is a £13 Dress to Impress doll spun out of the hit fashion game on Roblox. The most expensive is a £120 Lego ship inspired by the Japanese anime series One Piece.
A new Lego collaboration with hit Japanese manga One Piece will let fans build the Going Merry Pirate Ship at home. Photograph: James Manning/PA
With the highly anticipated sequel out next week, there is expected to be feverish demand for all things Wicked including the £35 singing Elphaba and Glinda dolls that make the list.
Characters from film and TV loom large. There is a £30 interactive Evie Pig (baby sister to Peppa) and an £80 Stitch soft toy that has 100 sounds and reactions.
One of the most unusual entries is the £20 Fill the Fridge playset. However, it ticks two boxes: it taps into the viral “fridge restocking” trend as well as the popularity of collectibles that make up just over a fifth of all toys sold.
DreamToys list 2025
Dress to Impress Mystery Model Dolls – £12.99
Gui Gui Shimmer deluxe pack – £19.99
Hot Wheels Racing F1 Grand Prix circuit – £79.99
Human Controller – £34.99
Jurassic World Primal Hatch T-Rex – £64.99
Marshmallow Madness – £19.99
Fill the Fridge playset – £19.99
Monster Jam Smash & Bash Grave Digger – £49.99
Lego One Piece: the Going Merry Pirate Ship – £119.99
Peppa Pig Oinks & Snuggles Evie doll – £29.99
Pokémon Trading Card: Mega EvolutionElite Trainer Box – £54.99
TOKYO, Japan ― Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced that it has delivered the industry’s first sixth-generation Registered Clock Driver (RCD) for DDR5 Registered Dual In-line Memory Modules (RDIMMs). The new RCD is the first to achieve a data rate of 9600 Mega Transfers Per Second (MT/s), surpassing the industry standard. This breakthrough marks a significant leap from the 8800 MT/s performance of Renesas’ Gen5 RCD, setting a new standard for memory interface performance in data center servers.
Key Features of Renesas’ Gen6 DDR5 RCD
10% Bandwidth Increase over Renesas’ Gen5 RCD (9600 MT/s versus 8800 MT/s)
Backward Compatibility with Gen5 Platforms: Provides seamless upgrade path
Enhanced Signal Integrity and Power Efficiency: Enables AI, HPC, and LLM workloads
Expanded Decision Feedback Equalization Architecture: Offers eight taps and 1.5mV granularity for superior margin tuning
Decision Engine Signal Telemetry and Margining (DESTM): Improved system-level diagnostics provides real-time signal quality indication, margin visibility, and diagnostic feedback for higher speeds
The new DDR5 RDIMMs are needed to keep pace with the ever-increasing memory bandwidth demands of Artificial Intelligence (AI), High-Performance Compute (HPC) and other data center applications. Renesas has been instrumental in the design, development and deployment of the new RDIMMs, collaborating with industry leaders including CPU and memory providers, along with end customers. Renesas is the leader in DDR5 RCDs, building on its legacy of signal integrity and power optimization expertise.
“Explosive growth of generative AI is fueling higher SoC core count. This is driving unprecedented demand for memory bandwidth and capacity as a critical enabler of data center performance,” said Sameer Kuppahalli, Vice President of Memory Interface Division at Renesas. “Our sixth generation DDR5 Registered Clock Driver demonstrates Renesas’ continued commitment to memory interface innovation, path-finding and delivering solutions to stay ahead of market demand.”
“Samsung has collaborated with Renesas across multiple generations of memory interface components, including the successful qualification of Gen5 DDR5 RCD and PMIC5030,” said Indong Kim, VP of DRAM Product Planning, Samsung Electronics. “We are now excited to integrate Gen6 RCD into our DDR5 DIMMs, across multiple SoC platforms to support the growing demands of AI, HPC, and other memory-intensive workloads.”
Availability
The RRG5006x Gen6 RCD is designed to meet the stringent requirements of next-generation server platforms, offering robust performance, reliability, and scalability. Renesas is sampling the new RRG5006x RCD to select customers today, including all major DRAM suppliers. Production availability is expected in the first half of 2027. More information about Renesas’ memory Interface solutions is available at www.renesas.com/ddr5. To request additional details about the new RCD, please send an email to [email protected].
Renesas at SC25
Renesas will showcase its memory interface solutions at the SC25 conference in St. Louis from November 16 through November 21 at booth #4101.
About Renesas Electronics Corporation
Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) empowers a safer, smarter and more sustainable future where technology helps make our lives easier. A leading global provider of microcontrollers, Renesas combines our expertise in embedded processing, analog, power and connectivity to deliver complete semiconductor solutions. These Winning Combinations accelerate time to market for automotive, industrial, infrastructure and IoT applications, enabling billions of connected, intelligent devices that enhance the way people work and live. Learn more at renesas.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, YouTube, and Instagram.
(Remarks). All names of products or services mentioned in this press release are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
The content in the press release, including, but not limited to, product prices and specifications, is based on the information as of the date indicated on the document, but may be subject to change without prior notice.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that the head of Russia’s Sberbank, German Gref, spoke of Russia’s economic problems in a meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. His bank was experiencing only “very modest” growth due to “challenging macroeconomic conditions” including a shrinkage of its consumer loan portfolio, while 2025 growth was worse thank the bank expected. “Gref’s statements are notable,” the ISW assessed, “as Russian officials have largely refrained from admitting to any weakness in Russia’s economy and as the Kremlin has undertaken an information campaign to portray the Russian economy as stable and strong.”
Ukraine’s top military commander, Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Tuesday that the army’s situation had “significantly worsened” in parts of the Zaporizhzhia region amid fierce fighting with Russian forces. “In the Oleksandrivka and Huliapole directions … using its numerical superiority in personnel and materiel, the enemy advanced in fierce fighting and captured three settlements,” Syrskyi posted. The ISW, in its most recent assessment at time of writing, reported on advances in the area – both unconfirmed gains proclaimed by Russian sources, and others confirmed by geolocation of video footage.
Ukraine’s military said it struck a Russian oil refinery in the city of Orsk in Russia’s Orenburg region on Tuesday. “Explosions and a fire have been observed on the premises. According to preliminary information, one of the primary oil processing units has been hit,” the statement said.
Nato member Romania found drone fragments on its territory near the south-eastern border region after Russian strikes on Ukrainian Danube River ports, authorities said on Tuesday. Drones were earlier detected near Romanian and Nato airspace, said the defence ministry. The foreign minister, Oana Toiu, said: “These actions are part of a series of similar incidents and represent a characteristic of the war of aggression waged by Russia. This is also reflected in Russia’s systematic provocations against the EU and Nato.”
Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was “ready” to discuss with Washington accusations by Donald Trump that Russia had carried out secret underground nuclear tests. “We are ready to discuss the suspicions raised by our American colleagues regarding the possibility that we might be secretly doing something deep underground,” Russia’s recently reclusive foreign minister told state media in a televised interview. He denied it and said the US could check whether Russia tested a nuclear warhead via the global seismic monitoring system. “Other tests, both subcritical, or those without a chain nuclear reaction, and carrier tests, have never been prohibited,” Lavrov said.
Russian interests were negotiating their withdrawal from key Serbian oil company NIS which now faces US sanctions, Serbia’s energy minister said on Tuesday. Russia’s Gazprom Neft and its owner Gazprom have held nearly 45% of NIS since 2009. Gazprom recently transferred about 11% to another Russian firm, Intelligence. The Serbian state has just under 30%. Serbian officials feared that continued Russian control of NIS could harm Serbia’s economy. NIS runs Serbia’s main refinery at Pancevo near Belgrade which supplies about 80% of the country’s needs. The knock-on effects of the US sanctions on Russian oil companies have upended Russian investments in several countries.
The head of Ukraine’s delegation for talks with Russia said on Tuesday he was in Istanbul to try to “unblock” the process of prisoner swaps, and that he would have more meetings in the Middle East on the issue. “There was an agreement – and it must be implemented,” said Rustem Umerov, who is also the secretary of Ukraine’s security council.
Ukraine will increase power import capacity from neighbouring countries to a total of 2,300MW in December, the head of the state grid operator said on Tuesday, without elaborating on how this would be achieved. Vitaliy Zaichenko told a press conference that current capacity was 2,100MW but Ukraine was not able to use it all owing to limitations in the system.
Ukraine’s prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, said the government had dismissed Energoatom’s supervisory board while anti-corruption authorities said they had charged seven individuals over an alleged $100m kickback scheme involving the nuclear agency and other state enterprises. Energoatom, which generates more than a half of Ukraine’s energy supply, said the probe had not disrupted production or operational safety.
A Ukrainian man accused by German prosecutors of involvement in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline blasts has ended a hunger strike he began on 31 October after Italian authorities pledged to give him food meeting his medical requirements, his lawyer said on Tuesday. The detainee, identified under German privacy laws as Serhii K, has said he suffers from pancreatitis and coeliac disease and is vegan. He denies any role in the explosions that severed Russian gas supplies to Europe, and is appealing against extradition to Germany.
Britain plans to ban companies from providing services such as shipping and insurance for Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. The EU has approved sanctions that ban Russian LNG imports from 1 January 2027 but the UK government said on Tuesday it wanted to go further. “The ban will be phased in over 2026 in lockstep with our European partners,” said the British Foreign Office.
DUBLIN, Nov 12 (Reuters) – Most of Ireland’s big corporate taxpayers have so far escaped the direct impact of U.S. tariffs, but American trade policies have made the outlook for this critical source of government revenue increasingly uncertain, Ireland’s fiscal watchdog said.
Irish corporate tax receipts, paid mainly by a small number of U.S. multinationals, have jumped sevenfold since 2014 to account for close to one third of all taxes collected and transform the public finances.
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The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) noted on Wednesday that the pharmaceutical and technology sectors, which together represent about 87% of corporate tax payments from U.S.-owned firms, had avoided U.S. tariffs so far.
PHARMA EXPORTS SURGED AHEAD OF EXPECTED TARIFFS
In fact, the watchdog said pharmaceutical exports to the U.S. had benefitted from frontloading, with Ireland’s shipments exceeding the record total for all of 2024 by April, as companies moved to stay ahead of potential trade barriers.
It added that the data also pointed to a structural increase in exports of an active ingredient used in weight-loss drugs, boosting short-term corporate tax receipts.
However, IFAC warned the sector’s outlook remained “very uncertain”.
Risks include the long-term objective of the tariffs to encourage more pharma manufacturing in the United States.
“Multiple forces are at play, from potential tariffs and drug price reforms to new blockbuster drugs and buoyant underlying demand. Each could have an influence on the value of Ireland’s pharma exports to the U.S. and, hence, Ireland’s corporation tax receipts,” the watchdog said.
“Corporation tax revenues from pharma could go up by a lot or down by a lot.”
While there is a clear risk corporate tax could decline in other manufacturing sectors such as drinks and medical devices likely to be directly affected by tariffs, they accounted for just 4% of Irish corporate revenues in 2024, IFAC added.
Reporting by Padraic Halpin
Editing by Mark Potter
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
(Bloomberg) — Treasuries advanced across the curve after private-sector data signaled a cooling US labor market and bolstered bets on a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut.
The yield on the 10-year fell four basis points to 4.08% after employment figures from ADP Research signaled US companies shed 11,250 jobs per week on average in the four weeks ended Oct. 25. Money markets also added to bets on Fed rate cuts, pricing roughly a 70% chance of a reduction next month, according to swaps tied to policy-meeting dates. A gauge of the dollar was flat after five days of losses while gold gained.
Asian shares edged higher along with US equity-index futures. Advancers outnumbered decliners seven to one on Japan’s Topix Index. Technology firms lagged, with SoftBank Corp. tumbling as much as 10% after selling its entire stake in Nvidia Corp.
The federal government’s closure has elevated the importance of private data, as investors lacked key official indicators to gauge the strength of the American economy. The record US shutdown may end as soon as Wednesday after the Senate passed a temporary funding bill, buoying stocks as investors brace for a flood of delayed data once agencies reopen.
“The biggest near-term catalyst would be a reopening of the government which would buttress current-quarter GDP forecasts but also may release more liquidity into the market, which typically is supportive of stocks,” said the JPMorgan Market Intelligence team led by Andrew Tyler.
ADP figures suggested the labor market slowed in the second half of October, compared with earlier in the month. ADP’s most recent monthly report, released last week, showed private-sector payrolls increased 42,000 in October after declining in the prior two months.
The data come after an array of companies flagged plans to reduce headcount in recent weeks. A report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. showed employers announced the most job cuts for any October in more than two decades, spurring anxiety about the health of the labor market.
“The market will be guided by the general risk vibe and Fedspeak, but we suspect it will be unable to establish consistent directional impetus,” Westpac Banking Corp. strategists Damien McColough and Uma Choudhury wrote in a note.
The reopening of the government now depends on the House, which plans to return to Washington to consider the spending package. It would keep most of the government open through Jan. 30 and some agencies through Sept. 30.
If approved, the bill goes to President Donald Trump, who has already endorsed the legislation.
Back in 2013, which was the last shutdown to affect the jobs report, the government reopened on October 17, and the September jobs report was released five days later, noted Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank.
“So based on that timeline, we could get the September jobs report pretty quickly, not least because the original release was meant to be on Oct. 3, just a couple of days after the shutdown began,” he said. “Early next week is realistic.”
The resumption of economic data releases could make the case for increased wagers on Fed rate cuts. Most economists surveyed by Bloomberg suggest that Fed officials will lower borrowing costs by a quarter-point at their Dec. 9-Dec. 10 meeting. But the central bank’s path remained foggy after Chair Jerome Powell last month said a cut is not a certainty, a sentiment since shared by others at the Fed.
Corporate News:
Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Nvidia Corp.’s nearest rival in AI chips, predicted accelerating sales growth over the next five years, driven by strong demand for its data center products. FedEx Corp. expects profit this quarter to improve from a year ago, easing investor concerns about a lackluster holiday season and volatile trade policies. A group of investors led by Macquarie Group Ltd. is expected to acquire infrastructure services business Potters Industries from private equity firm TJC, in a deal valuing the company at approximately $1.1 billion. JD.com Inc. said orders surged nearly 60% during this year’s Singles’ Day event. South Korea’s POSCO Holdings Inc. will buy a 30% stake in Mineral Resources Ltd.’s lithium business in a deal worth $765 million. Sea Ltd.’s quarterly profit missed analysts’ estimates after the company boosted spending to battle competitors in Southeast Asia’s cutthroat e-commerce market. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:54 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures rose 0.4% Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) fell 0.5% Japan’s Topix rose 1% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2% Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.2% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was unchanged at $1.1582 The Japanese yen was little changed at 154.24 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1216 per dollar The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6521 Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 0.3% to $102,892.04 Ether was little changed at $3,419.62 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.08% Japan’s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.685% Australia’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 4.36% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed Spot gold rose 0.2% to $4,135.95 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Toby Alder and Matthew Burgess.
Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk past signage for SoftBank Corp. near a store in Tokyo, Japan, on May 15, 2020.
Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Shares of SoftBank Group plunged as much as 10% Wednesday after the Japanese giant said it had sold its entire stake in U.S. chip giant Nvidia for $5.83 billion. The capital will be used to fund SoftBank’s $22.5 billion investment in ChatGPT parent OpenAI, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Shares of SoftBank Group last traded more than 6% lower.
In its earnings report, SoftBank said it sold 32.1 million Nvidia shares in October. It also trimmed its T-Mobile position, raising $9.17 billion.
“We want to provide a lot of investment opportunities for investors, while we can still maintain financial strength,” said SoftBank’s chief financial officer, Yoshimitsu Goto, during an investor presentation.
While the decision to unload Nvidia shares may have caught some investors off guard, it isn’t SoftBank’s first exit from the U.S. chip heavyweight.
The company’s Vision Fund was an early Nvidia supporter, reportedly building a $4 billion stake in 2017 before fully divesting in January 2019. Despite the latest sale, SoftBank remains closely tied to Nvidia through its broader business interests.
“This is a bullish signal on the theme from SoftBank doubling down and not a bearish sign in our view,” said Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities.
While OpenAI is central to SoftBank’s GenAI portfolio, hardware remains a priority as well, mostly through its stake in British chip designer Arm, with which SoftBank is co-developing products, said Rolf Bulk, equity research analyst at New Street Research. SoftBank has a controlling stake in U.K-based Arm Holdings, whose chip designs power mobile and AI processors.
Several other tech stocks in the region also declined. Semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest and Tokyo Electron, a chip production equipment maker, slipped over 2%.
Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, fell 0.34%. South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix was 1.62% lower.
—CNBC’s Dylan Butts and April Roach contributed to this report.
Getty Images
Screenshot from Huawei AppGallery
