Author: Andrew Rogers

The UK has paused a clinical trial on puberty blockers after the medicines regulator raised safety concerns. The agency warned about unknown long-term biological risks and demanded a minimum age of 14. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will hold talks with King’s College London next week. The Department of Health and Social Care said recruitment will not start until they resolve the issues. The study followed the Cass review, which found weak evidence for benefits in young people. Dr Hilary Cass said only a trial could clarify the treatment’s effects. The government stressed that participant safety guides every…

China has overtaken the United States as Germany’s top trading partner in 2025.Total trade between Germany and China reached €251bn, according to official data.Trade with the US fell to €240bn after a 5% decline. Germany imported far more from China than it exported.Imports were worth about €170.6bn, while exports totalled €81.3bn.Tariffs introduced by Donald Trump are seen as one reason for weaker US trade. Chancellor Friedrich Merz will visit Beijing for talks with Li Qiang and Xi Jinping.He is expected to discuss Ukraine, human rights and economic relations.A delegation of German business leaders will accompany him. German carmakers remain deeply…

OpenAI considered notifying Canadian authorities about an account later linked to a deadly school shooting.The company said its systems flagged the profile in June for potential “furtherance of violent activities”. Staff reviewed whether to contact the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.They decided the activity did not show an imminent or credible threat of serious harm.Company policy requires that threshold before a referral to law enforcement. Months later, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed eight people in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, before taking their own life.Police said the victims included a teaching assistant and several students.The attacker had previous mental-health-related contact with officers.…

Amazon’s cloud division reportedly suffered at least one outage last year after an internal AI agent made a critical change to its system.The incident caused a disruption lasting about 13 hours when the tool deleted and recreated part of its environment. AWS said only one event affected customer-facing services and described it as user error caused by misconfigured access controls.The company denied that artificial intelligence increases the risk of mistakes compared with human engineers. The outages come as Amazon cuts thousands of jobs while expanding its use of AI.Chief executive Andy Jassy has said automation will reduce routine work and…

Airbus has suggested building two separate fighter jets to break the deadlock over Europe’s €100bn Future Combat Air System.The plan would allow the wider project to continue despite disagreements between partners. The dispute pits Airbus’s defence arm, representing Germany and Spain, against Dassault Aviation of France.The companies are competing for leadership of the next-generation fighter element.The programme also includes drones and a digital combat cloud. Chief executive Guillaume Faury said the impasse must not endanger Europe’s future defence capability.He argued a split approach could attract additional partners if governments approve it. German chancellor Friedrich Merz recently said the planned aircraft…

Condo listings are rising in parts of New Jersey and New York, giving buyers more options as new inventory enters the market. Rising supply is helping balance demand, even as median prices adjust across multiple metropolitan areas. Real estate analysts say the increase in listings is making the condo market more accessible. Buyers now have more choices for location, size, and price, which is encouraging new activity in both urban and suburban areas. “More inventory gives buyers a stronger position in negotiations,” said a housing market expert. “It also helps moderate price growth while keeping the market competitive.” The surge…

Top alpine skiers have raised alarm over the fast loss of glaciers during the Winter Games in Cortina.Lindsey Vonn said many glaciers she trained on as a child have almost disappeared.Mikaela Shiffrin called the changes a direct threat to the future of the sport.Italy’s Federica Brignone said the retreating ice worries her more for the planet than for skiing. Scientists report that Italy has lost more than 200 square kilometres of glacier area since the late 1950s.The decline has accelerated sharply in the past two decades.Glaciers around Cortina have shrunk to small ice patches high in the Dolomites.The nearby Marmolada,…

Senior UK bank executives will meet this week to begin work on a national payments network that could act as a backup to Visa and Mastercard.The talks, chaired by Vim Maru of Barclays, will focus on creating a City-funded payments company known as DeliveryCo. The plan reflects concern about relying on US-owned systems for about 95% of UK card transactions.Fears have grown that geopolitical tensions could disrupt access to those networks.Executives warned that losing them would push the economy back toward cash dependence. The initiative has government backing and long predates recent political tensions.Bank of England officials say an additional…

Volkswagen aims to cut costs by 20% by 2028 as part of a new restructuring drive.Plant closures are reportedly being considered to secure long-term profitability. Chief executive Oliver Blume and finance chief Arno Antlitz presented the plan to senior managers.The overhaul responds to weak sales, high costs, automation and growing pressure from Chinese carmakers. An earlier programme already included 35,000 job cuts by 2030 and €10bn in savings.Volkswagen says previous measures have produced double-digit billion-euro reductions and helped absorb geopolitical risks. The move comes as the EU’s trade deficit with China continues to widen and competition in electric vehicles intensifies.Details…

Daily GLP-1 tablets are widening the race to dominate the obesity drug market.Analysts expect the sector to reach about $200bn by the early 2030s.The new pills offer a simpler alternative to weekly injections and attract new patients. Novo Nordisk has launched the first oral Wegovy in the US with strong early demand.Users say pills provide steady appetite control and remove the need for needles or refrigeration.Lower prices also make them more accessible for people without full insurance cover. Rival Eli Lilly is preparing its own tablet, orforglipron, which does not require fasting.Competition is intensifying as more companies develop oral and…