The company did not give details on the new prices, but local media outlet Yicai reported earlier that list prices for the two highest dosages of Wegovy were cut by 48% to 987 yuan ($141) and 1,284 yuan per month

International News via Reuters:

Novo Nordisk is lowering prices of its top-selling obesity drug Wegovy in China, the Danish drugmaker said on Monday, as it braces for intense competition from local rivals next year when the patent for its blockbuster treatment ends.

The company did not give details on the new prices, but local media outlet Yicai reported earlier that list prices for the two highest dosages of Wegovy were cut by 48% to 987 yuan ($141) and 1,284 yuan per month respectively in some Chinese provinces.

“We can confirm that we are adjusting our prices of Wegovy in China,” the firm told Reuters in a statement. “We believe this pricing adjustment in China will further help alleviate the treatment burden for patients and improve their quality of life.”

Over 65% of China’s population of around 1.4 billion could be overweight or obese by 2030, making it a rapidly growing market for weight-loss drugs.

With Novo’s patent on Wegovy’s active ingredient semaglutide expiring in 2026 in China and some other important markets, Chinese drugmakers, including CSPC Pharmaceutical Group and Hangzhou Jiuyuan Genetic Biopharmaceutical Co, are developing their own versions of the drug and others are gearing up to launch rivals.

Yicai, citing local procurement authorities, had reported that the price cuts would be made in the southwestern Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan.

Novo slashed Wegovy prices by up to 37% in India last month, as it looks to gain ground in another fast-emerging market for obesity treatments. Novo and U.S. rival Eli Lilly – both shifting towards cash-paying consumers – also agreed to cut U.S. prices in November.

($1 = 7.0056 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Additional reporting by Bhanvi Satija in London; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Susan Fenton and Joe Bavier

The actress, who became a symbol of 1950s and 60s France, made her home in the resort where she said she found solace among animals and dedicated her life to their welfare

International News via Reuters:

French film icon Brigitte Bardot, who died on Sunday aged 91, will be buried in a cemetery by the sea in the French Riviera resort of Saint-Tropez, a spokesperson for the local authority said on Monday, without giving a date.

The actress, who became a symbol of 1950s and 60s France, made her home in the resort where she said she found solace among animals and dedicated her life to their welfare.

“She was lovely, lovely, there’s no other word. Yes, we will really miss her,” Saint-Tropez resident Philippe Volmier told Reuters on Monday.

Volmier said he had known her for 30 years and used to see her walking her dogs on the beach. “One time, she fell into the water with her dog. I had to pick her out,” he added. “She was a friend who helped people a lot.”

President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday Bardot embodied “a life of freedom”. “A French existence, a universal radiance. She moved us. We mourn a legend of the century,” he added.

For much of the latter part of her life, she lived alone behind high walls in the resort, surrounded by a menagerie of cats, dogs and horses.

She told French weekly Paris Match in 2024 that she wanted to be buried in her garden.

The Var Prefecture told Reuters it had not received any request for a private burial, which would have been needed to bury her in her garden.

Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Elissa Darwish, Mar Leras, editing by Dominique Vidalon and Andrew Heavens

The live-firing exercises will continue on Tuesday across a record seven zones designated by China’s Maritime Safety Administration

International News via Reuters:

China launched its most extensive war games around Taiwan on Monday to showcase Beijing’s ability to cut off the island from outside support in a conflict, testing Taipei’s resolve to defend itself and its arsenal of U.S.-made weapons.

The Eastern Theatre Command said it had deployed troops, warships, fighter jets and artillery for its “Justice Mission 2025” exercises to encircle the democratically governed island, conduct live fire and simulated strikes on land and sea targets, and drills to blockade Taiwan’s main ports.

The live-firing exercises will continue on Tuesday across a record seven zones designated by China’s Maritime Safety Administration, making the drills the largest to date by total coverage and in areas closer to Taiwan than previous exercises. The military had initially said artillery firing would be confined to five zones.

DRILLS FORCE FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said there was also an extra zone for a two-hour drill on Monday morning, which took place without a Chinese announcement in the eastern waters of the island.

The Transport Ministry said more than 100,000 passengers on scheduled international flights will be affected by Tuesday’s drills, while around 80 domestic flights are set to be cancelled.

China’s sixth major round of war games since 2022, after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the democratically governed island, follows stronger rhetoric promoting Beijing’s territorial claims in response to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggesting a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

Taiwan rejects China’s claimed sovereignty, maintaining that only its people can decide the island’s future. 

“Our armed forces operate on the principle of preparing for the worst and must take every possible scenario into account,” Hsieh Jih-sheng, deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence at Taiwan’s defence ministry, told reporters, when asked about Tuesday’s drills. 

“Conducting live-fire exercises around the Taiwan Strait … would not only constitute military pressure on us, but could also pose more complex challenges and impacts for the international community and neighbouring countries.”

‘STRONG MESSAGE ON EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE’ 

The exercises began 11 days after the U.S. announced $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest ever weapons package for the island, drawing a protest from China’s defence ministry and warnings the military would “take forceful measures” in response.

“They (China) are sending a strong message on external interference,” said Chieh Chung, a researcher at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defence and Security Research, pointing to how China had “completely cut off” air and sea links with Japan for three zones to Taiwan’s north.

Analysts say Beijing’s drills increasingly blur the line between routine military training exercises and what could be stage-setting for an attack, a strategy intended to give the U.S. and its allies minimal warning of an assault.

The Chinese military also released a video depicting automated humanoid robots, microdrones and weaponised robotic dogs attacking the island, futuristic technology China has never showcased before.

Fu Zhengyuan, a researcher at the Chinese military’s Academy of Military Science, told state media the exercises were justified by concerns over increasing interoperability between Taiwanese and U.S. combat systems, which he said raises the risk of a direct clash between the two superpowers.

Taiwan’s government condemned the drills, while its defence ministry posted a video on Facebook showcasing various weapons, including U.S.-made HIMARS rocket systems, a highly mobile artillery system with a range of about 300 km (186 miles) that could hit coastal targets in China’s southern province of Fujian, on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, in the event of a conflict.

The island’s coast guard said it had deployed large ships to face off against Chinese coast guard vessels near its waters and was coordinating with the military to minimise the drills’ impact on maritime routes and fishing grounds.

RAPID RESPONSE

Taiwan’s defence ministry said 89 Chinese military aircraft, 14 military vessels and 14 coast guard boats had been operating around the island on Monday, while four additional warships were also spotted in the Western Pacific.

Authorities said some of the Chinese vessels were engaged in stand-offs with Taiwanese ships near the island’s contiguous zone, defined as 24 nautical miles offshore.

The ministry said Taiwan’s military was on high alert and poised to carry out “rapid-response exercises”, designed to move troops swiftly in case the drills turn into an attack.

Taiwan stock markets were unaffected by the drills, closing up 0.9%.

“I think these drills are just meant to scare us,” said Lin Wei-ming, a 31-year-old teacher based in the capital, Taipei. “Similar drills have happened before … the political side of things can only be handled by Taiwan’s current government and how they choose to respond.”

SEALING OFF PORT CITIES

The Chinese military released a series of propaganda posters along with a graphic depicting four locations across the island with targets locking on, following the drill announcement.

China’s state broadcaster said the exercises would focus on sealing off Taiwan’s vital deep-water Port of Keelung to the island’s north and Kaohsiung to Taiwan’s south, the island’s largest port city.

The first poster appeared to show the armada of civilian ships China is mobilising to help in an attack on Taiwan, vessels with ramps and open decks that could be used to carry out an amphibious assault.

Reporting by Joe Cash and Yimou Lee and Wen-yee Lee in Taipei; Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing and Fabian Hamacher and Roger Tung in Taipei; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Stephen Coates and Saad Sayeed