Rifle emoji blocked from phones 'after pressure from Apple'

New emojis including chopsticks and curling stones will be released in latest version of Unicode, but one dropped off the list

At least eight new emoji will be arriving in 2017, including chopsticks, curling stones and dumplings, but one that won't be coming to smartphones any time soon is the rifle emoji.

The gun had been proposed as part of a set of new icons representing winter sports (as was the curling stone emoji and a sled emoji, both of which have been approved). Rifles are used in the biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing and shooting at a target.