Author: Andrew Rogers

BP faces growing calls to end years of strategic turbulence as it prepares to publish full-year results. Analysts expect weaker profits after oil prices fell for a third consecutive year. Forecasts suggest profits of about $7.5bn, down from nearly $9bn in 2024. Falling crude prices are expected to hurt fourth-quarter earnings. Incoming chief executive Meg O’Neill will face pressure to outline a clear long-term strategy. Investor groups want BP to prepare for declining fossil fuel demand. Activists at Follow This and others demand limits on future oil and gas spending. They argue new fossil fuel projects risk becoming financially unsustainable.…

Researchers say a menstrual blood test could provide a simple alternative to cervical screening. A sanitary pad fitted with a sample strip can detect human papillomavirus, which causes most cervical cancers. Women could use the test at home instead of visiting a clinic. Scientists in China compared pad-collected menstrual blood with clinician-collected cervical samples. The study involved 3,068 women aged 20 to 54 with regular menstrual cycles. Results, published in BMJ, showed the pad test detected serious cervical cell changes with 94.7% sensitivity. This matched the accuracy of clinician-collected samples. Researchers said the method offers a non-invasive and standardised screening…

A major review finds most statin side-effects listed on labels lack scientific evidence.Researchers published the analysis in The Lancet after reviewing 19 trials with 124,000 participants.The study shows statins reliably reduce heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular deaths.Evidence supports only muscle pain, diabetes risk, and four minor side-effects.These include small liver test changes, urine changes, and tissue swelling.Researchers found no evidence linking statins to memory loss, depression, or sleep problems.Lead author Christina Reith of Oxford University said benefits clearly outweigh risks for most patients.Experts say labels should reflect the evidence to support informed medical decisions.

Hidden sellers promote unlicensed weight-loss drugs through WhatsApp and Telegram giveaways.They offer injectable medicines as competition prizes. The Guardian found groups advertising retatrutide, an unapproved experimental drug.Posts pressure users with 24-hour deadlines. Experts warn these promotions pose serious health risks.They misuse digital marketing to sell unlicensed medicines. UK law restricts weight-loss injections to prescription-only supply.Unapproved drugs cannot be legally sold or advertised. Some sellers disguise drug sales as fitness coaching programmes.Administrators secretly use workout names to indicate drug dosages. Telegram and Meta say they ban illegal drug sales.

Ultra-processed foods should face tobacco-style regulation because they are engineered to drive addiction and overconsumption, researchers say.Scientists from Harvard University, the University of Michigan, and Duke University found strong parallels between UPFs and cigarettes.The study, published in Milbank Quarterly, links UPFs to widespread health harms and misleading marketing practices.Researchers called for stricter controls, shifting responsibility from individuals to the food industry.

Toto Wolff rejected rivals’ claims that Mercedes broke engine rules for 2026.He said competitors missed an opportunity and should focus on their own development.The dispute centres on compression ratios rising when engines heat up during running.Rivals Ferrari, Audi and Honda raised concerns with the FIA.Wolff insisted the engine complies with regulations and FIA procedures.He did not rule out protests after the Australian Grand Prix.

Scientists recreated cosmic dust in a Sydney laboratory to study how life’s building blocks reached Earth.Cosmic dust comes from dying stars and falls to Earth as meteorites and micrometeorites.The dust contains organic CHON molecules essential for life.University of Sydney researcher Linda Losurdo produced the dust from scratch using plasma physics.She simulated space conditions inside a vacuum tube filled with star-like gases.High voltage transformed the gases into plasma, forming dust analogues.Scientists compared the dust’s infrared fingerprint with real meteorites.The work may explain how organic matter arrived on early Earth.Researchers hope the method will aid studies of life formation on other planets.

Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply warned soaring shipping costs could push up consumer prices in 2026.CIPS said cracks are forming in global supply chains for computers, machinery, and transport equipment.Procurement leaders reported the highest supply disruption concerns in two years.Shipping and logistics face the steepest increases, with 22% seeing costs rise over 10%.Computer prices also climbed, with Lenovo and Dell raising prices by about 15%.Spot shipping rates between Asia and the US jumped nearly 30% in weeks.CIPS blamed tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and volatile trade rules.Chief executive Ben Farrell said volatility now defines global trade, not disruption.

West Ham United banned a season-ticket holder for five games after he held an oversized protest banner.The banner urged owners David Sullivan and Karren Brady to sell the club.Joshua Wood said stewards accused him of breaching stadium rules, not protesting.The incident occurred during a home match against Sunderland.West Ham cited safety concerns and said Wood first picked up the banner on CCTV.

A large Swedish trial found artificial intelligence reduced later breast cancer diagnoses by 12% and improved early detection.The study followed 100,000 women in Sweden who received either AI-supported mammography or standard double readings.AI flagged high-risk scans for closer review and assigned low-risk cases to a single radiologist.Results, published in The Lancet, showed more cancers detected at screening stage and fewer aggressive cases.Researchers said AI could ease radiologist workloads while improving outcomes but warned against replacing human experts.