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(Reuters) -Chinese tech giants, including Alibaba-backed Ant Group and e-commerce group JD.com, have paused plans to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong after the government raised concerns about the rise of currencies controlled by the private sector, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. Companies have put their stablecoin ambitions on hold after receiving instructions from Chinese regulators, including the People’s Bank of China and Cyberspace Administration of China, not to move ahead with the plans, FT reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Hong Kong's legislature passed a stablecoin bill in May that established a licencing regime for fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong, providing regulatory clarity for future participants. Under the new regime, any person who issues stablecoins in Hong Kong – or issues stablecoins backed by Hong Kong dollars, whether within or outside the city – must obtain a licence from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Fin tech giant Ant Group said in June it would be participating in the pilot stablecoin programme. JD.com has also said it would take part in the pilot, according to the FT. PBC officials advised against participating in the initial rollout of stablecoins over concerns about allowing tech groups and brokerages to issue any type of currency, the FT report said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Ant Group and JD.com did not respond to requests for comment. The PBC, CAC and HKMA could not be reached for comment. Stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value, usually pegged to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar, are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. (Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru, Editing by Franklin Paul and Michael Perry)

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(Reuters) -Chinese tech giants including Alibaba-backed Ant Group and e-commerce group JD.com have paused plans to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong after the government raised concerns about the rise of currencies controlled by the private sector, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. Companies have put their stablecoin ambitions on hold after receiving instructions from Chinese regulators, including the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), not to move ahead, FT reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. (Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru, Editing by Franklin Paul)

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By Karen Freifeld (Reuters) -U.S.-based electronic components distributor Arrow Electronics said on Saturday the U.S. government was reversing trade restrictions placed on Arrow's China-based affiliates for facilitating the sale of U.S. components found in weaponized drones used by Iran-backed groups like the Houthis. Arrow (China) Electronics Trading Co and another Arrow entity with six aliases in Hong Kong were added to the Commerce Department's Entity List on October 8 in a Federal Register posting. Licenses are required to export goods and technology to companies on the list and are likely to be denied. Firms are placed on the list over U.S. national security or foreign policy interests. On October 8, Commerce said that drones operated by Iran-backed groups and their debris recovered in the Middle East since 2017 had U.S. components traced to sales tied to these Arrow-related entities. Arrow said on Saturday the Commerce Department told it the department would soon publish the reversal in the U.S. Federal Register and sent a letter Friday removing the restrictions in the meantime. "We have received official communication from the U.S. Commerce Department," Arrow spokesman John Hourigan said in an email. "Arrow is authorized to resume shipping to and from these entities under the same conditions that applied prior to October 8."  Asked about the matter, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security said in an email: "BIS is committed to ensuring that export restrictions are appropriately targeted to protect national security." Hourigan said the company operates in compliance with all laws and regulations. Centennial, Colorado-based Arrow Electronics had global 2024 sales of $28 billion. Hourigan said that Arrow Electronics (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd, which he described as a subsidiary when it was added to the Entity List, was not actually affiliated with Arrow Electronics.  However, the six aliases tied to the Hong Kong company in the Federal Register posting are affiliated with Arrow and, the company said, would be removed from the Entity List. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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By Raphael Satter WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. court has ordered Israel's NSO Group to stop targeting Meta Platforms' WhatsApp messaging service, a development the spyware company warned could put it out of business. In a 25-page ruling handed down Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton imposed a permanent injunction on NSO Group's efforts to break into WhatsApp, one of the world's most widely used communications platforms. Hamilton also handed NSO a significant break on the damages awarded in a recently concluded jury trial, reducing the punitive damages it owes Meta from about $167 million to $4 million.  The injunction is likely to pose a challenge to NSO, which has for years been accused of facilitating human rights abuses through its flagship hacking tool, Pegasus.  Pegasus takes advantage of weaknesses in commonly deployed pieces of software to power its surveillance, making WhatsApp one of its bigger targets. NSO has previously argued that an injunction preventing it from going after WhatsApp "would put NSO’s entire enterprise at risk" and "force NSO out of business," according to the judgment. Meta executives celebrated the decision. “Today’s ruling bans spyware maker NSO from ever targeting WhatsApp and our global users again," WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart said on X. "We applaud this decision that comes after six years of litigation to hold NSO accountable for targeting members of civil society." NSO, which has long insisted its products fight serious crime and terrorism, did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the ruling. The company was recently purchased by Hollywood producer Robert Simmonds, according to a report earlier this month in tech publication TechCrunch. Simmonds did not immediately return an email. (Reporting by Raphael SatterEditing by Marguerita Choy)

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By Raphael Satter WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. court has ordered Israel's NSO Group to stop targeting Meta Platforms' WhatsApp messaging service, a development the spyware company warned could put it out of business. In a 25-page ruling handed down Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton imposed a permanent injunction on NSO Group's efforts to break into WhatsApp, one of the world's most widely used communications platforms.  Hamilton also handed NSO a significant break on the damages awarded in a recently concluded jury trial, reducing the punitive damages it owes Meta from about $167 million to $4 million.  The injunction is likely to pose a challenge to NSO, which has for years been accused of facilitating human rights abuses through its flagship hacking tool, Pegasus.  Pegasus takes advantage of weaknesses in commonly deployed pieces of software to power its surveillance, making WhatsApp one of its bigger targets.  NSO has previously argued that an injunction preventing it from going after WhatsApp "would put NSO’s entire enterprise at risk" and "force NSO out of business," according to the judgment. Meta executives celebrated the decision. “Today’s ruling bans spyware maker NSO from ever targeting WhatsApp and our global users again," WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart said on X. "We applaud this decision that comes after six years of litigation to hold NSO accountable for targeting members of civil society." NSO, which has long insisted its products fight serious crime and terrorism, said it welcomed the 97% reduction in punitive damages and said that the injunction did not apply to NSO's customers, "who will continue using the company’s technology to help protect public safety." The company said it would review the decision and "determine its next steps accordingly.” The company was recently purchased by a group led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds, according to a report earlier this month in tech publication TechCrunch. Simonds did not immediately return an email. (Reporting by Raphael SatterEditing by Marguerita Choy)

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By Che Pan and Brenda Goh BEIJING (Reuters) -Nexperia’s China unit has respected Chinese laws and has the right to operate independently, it said on Saturday, a day after the Netherlands said talks had begun to try to ease tensions over export controls. As Nexperia became entangled in trade frictions between the United States and China, the Dutch government on September 30 took control of the company that makes chips for carmakers and for consumer electronics. It cited worries about the possible transfer of technology to Nexperia's Chinese parent company, Wingtech. Days later, on October 4, China's commerce ministry blocked Nexperia from exporting chips from China.   On Saturday, Nexperia's China unit said on its official WeChat account that all of its employees continued to work under the instructions of the China unit. Its employees have the right to reject any "external instructions" not consented to by its Chinese legal representative, it added.   Salaries and bonuses would continue to be paid out by Nexperia China, and not by Nexperia Netherlands, it also said.  Wingtech and Nexperia did not immediately respond to requests for comments.  The tensions have led to worries in the global automotive and electronic industries of possible chip shortages that could disrupt production.   Nexperia's chips, which are not technically sophisticated, are needed in large volumes.  The biggest manufacturing site is in Hamburg, Germany, but according to two sources briefed on the matter, more than 70% of Nexperia's chips are shipped back to China to be packaged in Dongguan, a manufacturing hub in China's southern Guangdong province.  Volkswagen and BMW both said they were working to identify potential supply risks, but that production in Europe had not been impacted yet. ($1 = 7.1264 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Che Pan and Brenda Goh; editing by Barbara Lewis)

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SEOUL (Reuters) -The mother and two sisters of Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee plan to sell some 1.73 trillion won ($1.22 billion) worth of shares in the South Korean tech firm, the company said in a regulatory filing. The purpose of the sale of 17.7 million shares, or a 0.3% stake in Samsung Electronics, is to cover tax payments and loan repayment, according to the late Friday filing with the Korea Exchange. Experts view the sale by Lee's sisters Lee Boo-jin and Lee Seo-hyun and his mother, Hong Ra-hee, as part of the owner family's efforts to secure funds to pay their inheritance tax estimated at about 12 trillion won, following the 2020 death of Samsung patriarch Lee Kun-hee. The sale will be handled by Shinhan Bank under a trust contract and completed by next April, according to the filing. Samsung shares have jumped more than 48% since it announced a chip-supply deal with Tesla in July. It has secured supply deals with other major customers such as OpenAI, and expectations have risen that the company will be able to supply its latest high-bandwidth memory products to Nvidia. The stock is up more than 84% this year, gaining 0.2% on Friday to 97,900 won. "Samsung's 10 trillion won share buyback plan last year was aimed at protecting the stock value, which would help the Samsung family to secure fund for inheritance tax," said Park Ju-gun, head of corporate analysis firm Leaders Index. With Samsung's share price now nearing 100,000 won, the planned sale likely aims to complete inheritance tax payments. "One disappointing aspect is that the owner family is selling shares at a time like this, which could dampen sentiment among retail investors," he said. "After all, Samsung Electronics is practically a 'national stock', owned by about 5 million retail shareholders who have been eagerly watching the shares approach the 100,000-won mark after the recent rally." ($1 = 1,421.5800 won) (Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by William Mallard)

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A new blood test has shown promising results in detecting over 50 types of cancer, including hard-to-diagnose ones like pancreatic, ovarian and head and neck cancers. London (PA Media/dpa) – A blood test that screens for more than 50 cancers is correct in 62% of cases where it thinks people may have the disease, a study has found. The Galleri test, which can be given annually and is being trialled in the UK's health system, looks for the “fingerprint” of dozens of deadly cancers, often picking up signs before symptoms even appear. It works by identifying DNA in the bloodstream that has been shed by cancer cells, giving the earliest signs somebody may have the disease. Now, a key US trial on the test has shown that Galleri is highly accurate in ruling out cancer in people without the disease, while also picking up cancer cases at an early stage, when the disease is more treatable. Of those people found to have a “cancer signal” detected in their blood, 61.6% went on to be diagnosed with cancer, the findings of the Pathfinder 2 study showed. And in 92% of cases, the test could pinpoint in which organ or tissue the cancer arose, meaning time and money could be saved on other scans and other tests. More than half (53.5%) of the new cancers detected by Galleri in the study were the earliest stage I or II, while more than two-thirds (69.3%) were detected at stages I-III. Galleri, which has been dubbed the holy grail of cancer tests, also correctly ruled out cancer in 99.6% of people who did not have the disease. The findings are being presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Berlin. Sir Harpal Kumar, president of International Business and BioPharma at Grail, which pioneered Galleri, and former head of Cancer Research UK, said the findings were impressive. He told the PA news agency: “We’re really very excited and we think this is a further step along the way in really transforming cancer outcomes.” The Pathfinder 2 study looked at how the Galleri test may be used in a real-world setting, alongside regular screening programmes for things like breast and bowel cancer. People from the US and Canada with no symptoms were recruited, of which 23,161 were analysed and had a follow-up period of at least 12 months. The results suggested that adding Galleri to regular cancer screening led to a more than seven-fold increase in the number of cancers found within a year. The test detected a cancer signal in 216 people, and cancer was diagnosed in 133 of these. Therefore, the likelihood of receiving a cancer diagnosis following a positive test result showing a “cancer signal” was 61.6%. Sir Harpal told PA: “What we wanted to assess was, what added value does the test provide over and above existing screening? “And one of the most important and exciting results is the fact that it detected seven times as many cancers as the other screening programmes put together.” He said the screening programmes in the US are slightly different to those in the UK but “in the sense of what screening programmes are offered, it’s comparable.” An NHS Galleri trial on how well the test works in screening people without symptoms is expected to be published in the middle of next year. Sir Harpal said: “Assuming we do get positive results from NHS Galleri, the opportunity to find substantially greater numbers of cancers before they present clinically means we should be able to find a lot more of them at an earlier stage. “This opens up the possibility we can use more effective treatments and, in many cases, curative treatments. “That should make a substantial difference to cancer outcomes. “This is also particularly effective in those types of cancer where we have no other screening at the moment – and in those types that are typically diagnosed very late, like pancreas, head and neck, liver and ovary, and so on. “As a complement to existing screening, we could find many, many more cancers earlier before they present symptomatically, which has the potential to really transform how we diagnose cancer and the outcomes we can expect. “Once we get those results next year, we would hope the NHS would move very quickly to an implementation evaluation in the NHS.” Sir Harpal said the fact the test can also pinpoint which organ or tissue the cancer is in makes the “diagnostic process very efficient and quick”. Galleri can also aid doctors treating patients who may have vague symptoms. Sir Harpal said: “If somebody presents with abdominal pain, you might ask: is this ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer – or is it not a cancer at all? “If we can help clinicians direct those investigations, then we can make much better use of what is very scarce diagnostic capacity.” Modelling suggests the Galleri test could be effective as an annual blood test in people from the age of 50, when cancer cases begin to rapidly increase. “Our analysis would suggest it’s going to be more cost effective from age 50 upwards,” Sir Harpal said, adding that there will be some younger people, such as those with prior cancer or a genetic predisposition to the disease, who may also benefit. Research published in the journal BMJ Open in May found that an annual blood test for cancer could lead to 49% fewer late-stage diagnoses and 21% fewer deaths within five years compared to patients receiving usual care. Josh Ofman, president at Grail, said: “These results are extremely compelling as approximately three-quarters of the Galleri-detected cancers do not have recommended screening tests today.” Responding to the findings, Professor Clare Turnbull, from the Institute of Cancer Research, London, said data was needed on whether tests such as Galleri had an effect on reducing death rates from cancer. Professor Nitzan Rosenfeld, director of the Barts Cancer Institute in London, said the results were “impressive” and the 62% figure was “very encouraging and provides strong evidence that this test could be safe and informative”. He said more data was needed on mortality, but added: “Importantly, more than 50% of the cancers detected by the Galleri test in this study were early stage (stages I-II), and more than 75% of them do not have common screening options.” Anna Schuh, professor of molecular diagnostics at the University of Oxford, said the likelihood that an individual with a positive test result actually has cancer is about 60%, according to the findings. “Or in other words: almost half of the time, the test gets it wrong when it calls a positive result,” she said. “This is disappointing as it is only fractionally better compared to tossing a coin, although better compared to current screening tests where still most positive results turn out to be nothing.” She suggested the current rate of detection may mean the NHS does not find it a cost-effective test. She said the test sensitivity was good “for some of the common cancers (where it was 74%), but not so much for the others (that together make up more than half of all cancers) as for these the clinical sensitivity is poor (40%).” The following information is not intended for publication pa dpa coh

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By Suzanne McGee (Reuters) -Investors are directing money into U.S.-based exchange-traded funds at a rapid clip, pushing inflows so far this year across the $1 trillion line, State Street Investment Management said on Tuesday. That puts U.S. ETF inflows on pace to set a new annual record of as much as $1.4 trillion by the end of 2025, State Street said, with virtually every category benefitting from the torrent of new cash as investors continue to yank money out of traditional mutual funds in favor of lower-cost and more liquid ETFs. "Any market correction might slow the pace but it wouldn't halt the trend," said Matthew Bartolini, global head of research strategists at State Street. Last year, ETF flows reached the $1 trillion mark on December 11, State Street said, marking the first year they hit that threshold. This year, the breakneck pace has accelerated, with investors steering money into everything from low-cost, plain-vanilla ETFs tied to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to cryptocurrencies and gold, Bartolini said. Overall, assets in the U.S. ETF industry stood at $12.7 trillion at the end of September after 41 straight months of net inflows, according to data released on Tuesday from industry analysis firm ETFGI. Year-to-date, the pace of asset growth stands at nearly 23%, ETFGI said. Crossing the $1 trillion mark in flows "underscores the need for accelerating innovation, expanding market access and scaling education," said Elise Terry, head of U.S. iShares at BlackRock, the single-largest global ETF issuer. Michael Venuto, chief investment officer of Tidal Financial Group, a provider of ETFs, said the outflow of assets from mutual funds will continue to propel ETF inflows higher. Mutual fund outflows totaled $481 billion in the first nine months of 2025, according to data from Morningstar. "What's happening is impressive because it's continuing at a time when there's growing uncertainty in the markets," Venuto said. "But we're having discussions daily" with asset managers hoping to launch new ETFs or convert existing mutual funds into ETFs, he said. (Reporting by Suzanne McGee in Providence, Rhode Island; Editing by Megan Davies and Matthew Lewis)

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(Reuters) -Nvidia uveiled on Friday the first U.S.-made Blackwell wafer, produced at TSMC's semiconductor manufacturing facility in Phoenix, as demand for AI chips accelerates. Companies have been racing to meet the broader AI industry's voracious appetite for computing power as they develop AI technology that meets or exceeds human intelligence. The move "bolsters the U.S. supply chain and onshores the AI technology stack that will turn data into intelligence and secure America's leadership for the AI era," Nvidia said in a blog post. It also aligns with President Donald Trump's efforts to strengthen U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership. TSMC's Arizona facility will produce advanced technologies including two-, three- and four-nanometer chips, as well as A16 chips, that are essential for applications like AI, telecommunications and high-performance computing, Nvidia said. There has recently been a flurry of mega deals between AI firms and chipmakers such as Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom to build data center capacity. TSMC, the world's biggest producer of advanced chips, raised its full-year revenue forecast on Thursday on a bullish outlook for AI spending after posting a record profit that blew past market estimates. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Alan Barona)

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