Author: Andrew Rogers

BP faces mounting pressure from investors as it prepares to publish full-year results expected to show weaker profits. Analysts forecast earnings of about $7.5bn, down from nearly $9bn last year, after oil prices fell for a third consecutive year. Crude prices dropped below $60 a barrel in the final quarter, dragging down profits across the sector. Incoming chief executive Meg O’Neill will face demands to outline a clear long-term strategy. Activist investors want BP to explain how it will manage spending on oil and gas as global demand slows. Shareholders including Nest and the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility have…

Researchers say a home test using menstrual blood could detect cervical cancer risk accurately and non-invasively.A sanitary pad with a sample strip can identify human papillomavirus, which causes most cervical cancers. Scientists in China compared menstrual blood testing with clinician-collected cervical samples.The study involved more than 3,000 women aged 20 to 54 with regular menstrual cycles. Menstrual samples detected high-grade cervical cell changes with 94.7% sensitivity.This matched the accuracy of samples taken by clinicians. The findings, published in BMJ, suggest strong screening potential.Researchers said the method could improve access for women who skip clinical screening. Cancer Research UK welcomed the…

A major review finds most listed statin side-effects are not caused by the drugs.Researchers published the analysis in The Lancet after reviewing 19 trials with 124,000 participants.Statins reduced heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular deaths over an average follow-up of four and a half years.Evidence supported only muscle pain, diabetes risk, and four minor effects.These included liver test changes, mild liver abnormalities, urine changes, and tissue swelling.Researchers found no strong evidence for memory loss, depression, sleep problems, or nerve damage.Lead author Christina Reith said statins did not increase common complaints.Senior author Rory Collins urged rapid updates to drug labels.Experts said clearer…

Online 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 to enter within 24 hours. Health experts warn these promotions create serious risks.They misuse marketing tactics designed to reduce caution. One group offered retatrutide, Glow pens, and melanotan II as prizes.None of these injectable products have UK approval. UK law allows weight-loss injections only with a prescription.Unapproved drugs cannot be legally sold or advertised. Another seller disguises drug sales as fitness coaching programmes.Platform owners say they ban illegal drug sales.

Researchers argue ultra-processed foods resemble cigarettes more than healthy food and need stricter regulation.Scientists from Harvard University, University of Michigan and Duke University led the study.They say UPFs are engineered to drive addiction and overconsumption.The products exploit reward pathways, similar to how cigarettes deliver nicotine.The findings appeared in the Milbank Quarterly on 3 February.Researchers criticised marketing claims like “low fat” as misleading health washing.They urged regulation to shift blame from individuals to the food industry.Experts said lessons from tobacco control could reduce diet-related disease.

Toto Wolff dismissed rival complaints over the legality of Mercedes’ 2026 engine and told competitors to “focus on themselves”.He insisted the power unit fully complies with regulations and said rivals missed an opportunity.The dispute centres on engine compression ratios and alleged gains from thermal expansion.FIA discussed the issue with manufacturers but reached no resolution.Mercedes-AMG Petronas and Red Bull Racing maintain their engines are legal.Wolff did not rule out protests after the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Scientists say cosmic dust may hold clues to how life began on Earth.University of Sydney researcher Linda Losurdo has recreated cosmic dust in a laboratory from scratch.Cosmic dust forms around dying stars and later reaches Earth as meteorites.The dust contains CHON molecules, key chemical building blocks of life.Losurdo used plasma physics to mimic star-like conditions inside a vacuum tube.The artificial dust matches infrared signatures seen in real meteorites.Researchers hope the work explains how organic matter arrived on early Earth.The study appears in the Astrophysical Journal of the American Astronomical Society.

Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply warned rising shipping costs could push up consumer prices in 2026.Procurement leaders reported growing supply chain disruption, calling it cracks in global trade.Shipping, logistics, and energy costs rose fastest, with 22% reporting double-digit increases.Computer, transport, and electrical equipment prices also climbed sharply.Manufacturers like Lenovo and Dell already raised prices late last year.CIPS said geopolitical tensions and tariffs, including policies linked to Donald Trump, fuel ongoing volatility.

West Ham United banned season-ticket holder Joshua Wood for five games after he held an oversized protest banner.The banner urged owners David Sullivan and Karren Brady to sell the club.Wood displayed it during last weekend’s home match against Sunderland.The club cited a breach of stadium rules on banner size, not its message.Wood denied bringing the banner into the ground and plans to appeal.

A Swedish trial found AI-supported breast screening reduced later cancer diagnoses by 12% and improved early detection.The study followed 100,000 women and compared AI-assisted mammography with standard double readings by radiologists.Researchers published the results in The Lancet.AI flagged high-risk scans for double review and assigned low-risk cases to a single radiologist.Early-stage cancers accounted for 81% of detections with AI, compared with 74% under standard screening.Aggressive cancer subtypes appeared 27% less often in the AI group.Lead author Kristina Lång of Lund University said AI could ease radiologist workloads.Experts stressed AI should support, not replace, trained clinicians.