WhatsApp accounted for 71.82 per cent of harmful-content alerts from identified apps outside the Government’s planned under-16 social-media ban, according to data published by phone safety software maker SafetyMode.

The company analysed an anonymous, random sample of more than 25,000 content blocks from children’s phones running its parental-control software. It removed detections in apps the Government has indicated will be covered by the ban before calculating each app’s share.

On that basis, WhatsApp’s share was more than six times the 11.36 per cent recorded for the Google app, which ranked second. Chrome accounted for 4.21 per cent, Messages for 3.86 per cent and Spotify for 1.72 per cent.

Messaging apps outside the ban

The Government confirmed in its announcement of the under-16 ban on 15 June that the restrictions will cover platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X. Messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal will not be included. The Government has said regulations are expected to go before Parliament before Christmas, with the protections coming into force in spring 2027.

SafetyMode said its data suggests a large volume of potentially harmful material is being detected inside apps viewed as traditional messaging services rather than social-media platforms.

The company said that, aside from the messages themselves, some of the material may be shared from social media, viewed through links or browsers, or appear because WhatsApp contains a number of social features that many parents may be unaware of.

Breakdown by category

According to SafetyMode, WhatsApp accounted for 78.86 per cent of triggers involving swearing, slurs and other banned words among the identified apps outside the planned ban. It was responsible for 58.60 per cent of obscenity triggers, 80.12 per cent of harassment triggers and 39.88 per cent of nudity triggers.

When WhatsApp and Android Messages are combined, the company said, messaging services accounted for 63.48 per cent of obscenity triggers and 87.39 per cent of harassment triggers.

Bertie Aspinall, co-founder of SafetyMode, said: “SafetyMode and OtherPhone users are typically more aware of the harms of social media and abstain from letting their kids have access. Which indicates that WhatsApp is an app perceived to be OK, but may be where harm is being viewed. Google, Chrome and spotify are two others that parents may not instinctively think of in the same way as social media.”

He added: “According to the actual blocks taking place on our children’s phones, WhatsApp is the main culprit for detected issues outside the apps covered by the planned ban. It accounted for more harmful-content triggers than every other app combined, and was top of every category.”

Aspinall pointed to changes in how messaging apps work. “One issue is the scope creep of many apps acting more like social media, with statuses, anonymised channels, live streams and vertical-scroll video content. All of which open the door to more problematic content,” he said.

“Another is that all it takes is one person with access to share harmful content from one platform to another for a seemingly safe app like WhatsApp to change. It makes it even worse that links and content from elsewhere on the internet can be viewed without really leaving that environment.”

He said: “We are seeing that children do not experience online harm according to neat app categories. They do not care whether an app is officially classed as social media, private messaging or entertainment. If images or links can be shared or viewed, the risk is there.”

Aspinall added: “A social-media ban may stop some children accessing TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, but it may not stop harmful content being shared and viewed in WhatsApp groups, channels and private messages.

“This is why protection has to work across the entire phone. App-by-app regulation will always leave gaps, and children will inevitably find them.”

SafetyMode’s software operates across the device, detecting and blocking potentially harmful content regardless of which app is being used.

The ban has drawn criticism from other quarters since it was confirmed, with industry groups questioning whether age limits alone will work. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had earlier reversed his opposition to Australia-style age restrictions before the policy was set out.

About the author

Amy Ingham

Amy Ingham is a reporter at Business Matters, covering UK business news with a focus on breaking news, business policy, late payments and insolvency. She joined the magazine in 2026 after completing the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism at Harlow College’s journalism school. Her recent reporting includes British Steel’s nationalisation and its impact on SME suppliers, the decline in late payments by large firms, and Insolvency Service director disqualifications. Reach her at aingham@cbmeg.co.uk.

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Burnham told reporters his own speech to the UN General Assembly later would reflect on the decade since the Brexit vote and the “turbulence comes when outside actors seek to manipulate, to distort facts, influence the British democratic process”.

“Going into the next decade, we need to be clear-eyed about that and become stronger and more on the front foot about challenging that,” he said.

Asked if he would rule out making a pledge to rejoin the EU at the next general election, Burnham said: “Our focus at the moment is on a UK-EU summit which we hope will take place later this year.

“My immediate priority is to build on the good work that Keir [Starmer] did in rebuilding bridges, because those bridges were broken in the early part of this decade.”

He added: “What we have got to do is now go to the next level in terms of reaching practical agreement that will further boost the British economy, and those issues are the substance of the summit alongside EU requests around youth mobility.”

He said questions about rejoining the EU were for “another day”.

Speaking at the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton on Monday, the EU’s new ambassador to the UK was asked whether the UK could rejoin the EU or be granted associate membership.

Jukka Salovaara said: “The doors are open but it’s very much up to the UK public to identify and decide on its level of ambition when it comes to deepening cooperation with the EU.”

Last September, Burnham said he would like to see the UK back in the EU in his lifetime.

Earlier this year, he said Brexit had been “damaging” but “the last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments”.

The EU has recently suggested Canada could become the bloc’s first “associate member”.

Asked if this could be an option for the UK, Burnham said: “The European Union made it clear that that wasn’t open to us.”

Additional reporting by Brian Wheeler

Actress Lily McInerny has reportedly stepped into the lead role of Brady Corbet’s upcoming film “The Origin of the World,” replacing Sadie Soverall in the ensemble project that also features Selena Gomez, according to industry outlet World of Reel.

The report, which has not been officially confirmed by Corbet, the film’s production team, or either actress involved, cites McInerny’s recent presence on the film’s set alongside co-star Michael Fassbender as evidence of the reported casting change. No official explanation has been given for Soverall’s departure from the project.

According to sources cited in the report, McInerny traveled to Portugal to shoot her scenes for the film around the same time she had been expected to appear at the Toronto International Film Festival to promote her separate project, “Magazine.” McInerny’s absence from that festival appearance has been cited as one of the factors fueling speculation about her involvement in Corbet’s production.

“The Origin of the World” is described as a Western drama mystery set primarily in the 1970s, exploring American mysticism and the broader history of occult belief in the United States. Corbet, who won the Oscar for directing “The Brutalist,” has said the film’s narrative scope extends well beyond its 1970s setting. Speaking about the project, Corbet described its ambitious structure. “The film is really, really genre-defying,” he said, noting that the story spans roughly 150 years, from the 19th century through the present day.

Corbet also addressed and directly disputed earlier online speculation linking the project to “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.” He said such comparisons misrepresented comments he had previously made about the film. “That is just inaccurate,” Corbet said of the comparison. “I think that the reason that was misconstrued is that I was talking about making a film that’s set in the 1970s.”

Beyond Gomez, McInerny and Fassbender, the film’s ensemble cast includes Cate Blanchett and Joe Alwyn. The production is being produced by Corbet alongside David Kaplan, Andrew Morrison and Brian Young, with Corbet co-writing the screenplay together with Mona Fastvold, his longtime collaborator and creative partner.

The film’s expected runtime, cited at nearly four hours, would place it among the longer theatrical releases in recent years, continuing a pattern associated with Corbet’s prior work. His previous film, “The Brutalist,” similarly drew attention for its extended runtime alongside the critical acclaim that ultimately earned Corbet the Academy Award for Best Director.

“The Origin of the World” does not yet have an official release date, though the project is currently expected to arrive sometime in 2027. Details about the film’s plot, casting and production have continued to circulate gradually through industry outlets and social media speculation in the months leading up to its eventual release, a pattern common for high-profile prestige films still early in their production timelines.

McInerny has built her recent profile through roles including “Palm Trees and Power Lines,” while Soverall, the actress reportedly departing the project, previously appeared in “Saltburn.” Neither actress’s representatives have issued a public statement addressing the reported casting change as of the most recent available reporting.

For Gomez, the project represents a notable departure from the type of work she has more commonly been associated with in recent years, joining a prestige ensemble drama under an Oscar-winning director known for ambitious, structurally unconventional filmmaking. Details about the specific nature of Gomez’s role within the film’s sprawling, multi-decade narrative have not been publicly disclosed.

The recasting report adds to a growing body of speculation surrounding “The Origin of the World” as it continues production ahead of its expected 2027 release. Given the absence of an official statement confirming the change from Corbet’s production team, the casting update remains, for now, based on outside reporting and set observations rather than a formally announced update from the filmmakers themselves. As with many high-profile film productions still in active shooting, further details about the cast, plot specifics and eventual release timeline are likely to continue emerging gradually as the project moves closer to completion.

This article was written by

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BOISE, IDAHO — NNB and Axiom Foods have developed PeptiClear, a plant protein platform intended to serve as an alternative to dairy proteins.

PeptiClear are hydrolyzed plant proteins that may provide a neutral flavor profile, improved functionality and solubility in formulations. The proteins also are highly concentrated, clear protein ingredients.

The dairy alternative ingredient may be used in such applications as functional beverages, ready-to-drink products, ice cream and frozen desserts, condiments and dressings, sauces, confectionery, baked foods, high-protein snacks and functional foods.

To further advance PeptiClear’s performance, NNB said it has launched DL-185.

DL-185 is a legal, dietary di-leucine peptide intended to enhance the anabolic potential of protein formulations, the company said. DL-185 is composed of two leucine molecules that are linked together in peptide form and can be added into dietary supplements and food products similarly to leucine.

“As consumer demand continues to outpace traditional dairy supply, the industry needs innovative solutions that combine functionality, scalability and performance,” said Dustin Elliott, chief brand officer at NNB. 

Ineos, the chemicals group chaired by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is mothballing three acetyls plants in Hull, blaming a UK gas price it says is now 12 times higher than in the United States. The plants directly employ 245 people, and Ineos said they support almost 4,000 jobs in the wider supply chain across Humberside.

The company said today that two of the plants had already ceased production, with the third “due to come offline in a few days”. They will remain mothballed “until further notice”.

Ineos did not set out a timescale for moving to permanent closure of the sites, which it has invested in upgrading in recent years.

What the plants make

The Hull sites produce acetyls, which are used as raw materials for products ranging from pharmaceuticals to food and military explosives.

The plants use gas as a feedstock and also burn hydrogen derived from gas as an energy source to power chemical production.

According to Ratcliffe, producing acetyls using gas in Britain is now eight times more expensive than production using coal in China. He said the Chinese coal-based process was also eight times more polluting.

Earlier job cuts at the site

The group already cut 60 jobs at the Hull site last year in response to the same pressures. At the time, Ineos attributed the Hull acetyls job cuts to energy costs and to importers “dumping” product into the UK and European markets, S&P Global Commodity Insights reported.

Ineos is now calling for action to bring down gas prices. A spokesman said the company also wants the UK government to work with the European Commission to put in place anti-dumping measures to stop cheap US and Chinese products flooding into the market at below cost.

Ratcliffe said: “I’m sure people will find it hard to believe that we are being forced to mothball some of the most efficient plants in Europe but with gas prices now 12 times the level in the US and eight times that of China, we just cannot compete.

“Not only is the ridiculously high gas price in the UK destroying our manufacturing base and the jobs of hard-working people on Humberside, it is also massively increasing the environmental burden with replacement products supplied from the USA at double the carbon emissions and from China at eight times the emission level.

“The UK government’s energy policy is leading to economic vandalism on an industrial scale, exporting jobs to China and the United States and driving up global CO2 emissions at a stroke.”

Pressure on the wider group

The Hull decision follows earlier cutbacks at Ineos. In January 2025 the group closed its synthetic ethanol plant at Grangemouth, with the loss of 80 direct jobs, and Ratcliffe warned at the time that the UK chemicals industry was “heading for extinction” because of energy costs and carbon taxes.

In October 2025 the company introduced a hiring freeze and cut discretionary spending as it sought to reduce its debt.

In March this year Ineos reported a $593m loss and suspended its dividend for a second year, citing UK energy costs, volatile energy markets and competition from cheaper Chinese imports. It reported net debt of €11.7bn.

About the author

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Amy Ingham

Amy Ingham is a reporter at Business Matters, covering UK business news with a focus on breaking news, business policy, late payments and insolvency. She joined the magazine in 2026 after completing the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism at Harlow College’s journalism school. Her recent reporting includes British Steel’s nationalisation and its impact on SME suppliers, the decline in late payments by large firms, and Insolvency Service director disqualifications. Reach her at aingham@cbmeg.co.uk.

SAN DIEGO — Shares of Viking Therapeutics Inc. surged 29.69% to $39.05 in Tuesday trading, adding $8.94, after the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company reported positive top-line results from a maintenance study of its experimental obesity drug, showing patients retained the vast majority of their weight loss even after switching to a reduced dosing schedule.

The results come from a maintenance trial of VK2735, Viking’s dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist being developed to compete in the rapidly expanding obesity drug market alongside blockbuster treatments including Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy. According to the data released Tuesday, the 17.5-milligram weekly dose of VK2735 delivered a 22% placebo-adjusted reduction in body weight over a 33-week treatment period.

The trial’s maintenance phase, examining what happens when patients shift away from weekly dosing, produced the results that most directly drove Tuesday’s rally. Patients who moved to an every-other-week dosing schedule for 12 weeks retained up to 97% of their prior weight loss, while those who shifted to monthly dosing retained up to 90%, compared with just 61% retention among patients in the placebo group over the same period. Viking also reported a favorable safety profile from the trial, with gastrointestinal side effects, a common concern with this class of obesity drugs, occurring at rates comparable to placebo.

The maintenance data adds to earlier results from the same trial, in which patients treated with weekly VK2735 lost between 16% and 19% of their body weight after 21 weeks of treatment, according to the company’s disclosures. Viking had previously indicated it expected maintenance data from the study to become available during the third quarter of 2026, a timeline the company said remained unchanged with Tuesday’s release.

Viking is already advancing an injectable formulation of VK2735 through Phase 3 clinical trials, with approximately 5,500 patients enrolled across two separate late-stage studies. Separately, the company has said it plans to advance an oral formulation of VK2735 into its own Phase 3 program by the end of 2026, a step the company has described as a critical milestone on the path toward potential regulatory approval and eventual commercialization.

Trading volume in Viking shares climbed sharply above typical levels as the news spread Tuesday, with the stock’s move standing out clearly against an otherwise muted broader market. The S&P 500 edged up just 0.1% on the day, the Nasdaq Composite gained roughly 0.05%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 0.3%, indicating that Tuesday’s sharp move in Viking shares was driven entirely by the company-specific clinical trial news rather than any broader market catalyst.

Viking shares had previously touched a 52-week high of $43.15, and the stock’s premarket trading Tuesday, which saw shares briefly approach the $42 level before regular trading began, brought the stock within close range of that prior peak. Tuesday’s percentage gain ranks among the largest single-day moves for the stock since February 2024, according to trading data reviewed following the announcement.

Ahead of Tuesday’s data release, Oppenheimer had maintained a price target of $100 on Viking shares, a level that implied substantial potential upside even before the maintenance study results were made public. Other analysts have offered similarly bullish assessments of the stock in recent months as VK2735’s clinical program has advanced, with firms including H.C. Wainwright, Cantor Fitzgerald and BTIG Research maintaining Buy ratings on the shares over the course of the year, even as JPMorgan trimmed its own price target to $65 from $75 in August, reflecting a range of views on the stock’s near-term valuation heading into Tuesday’s catalyst.

Founded and based in San Diego, Viking Therapeutics focuses on developing therapies for metabolic and endocrine diseases. Beyond VK2735, the company’s broader pipeline includes VK2809, a treatment candidate for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and hypercholesterolemia; VK5211, aimed at muscle wasting conditions; and VK0214, targeting X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, a rare genetic disorder. As a clinical-stage company, Viking currently generates no product revenue and continues to fund its operations primarily through equity offerings and collaboration agreements. The company reported cash reserves of approximately $502 million as of the end of the second quarter of 2026, providing capital runway to continue advancing its pipeline through the coming stages of clinical development.

With Viking’s injectable VK2735 program continuing through Phase 3 testing and the company targeting a Phase 3 launch for its oral formulation before year-end, investors are likely to watch closely for further data readouts in the coming months, as the company works to establish VK2735 as a credible competitor within a rapidly growing obesity treatment market currently dominated by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk’s established blockbuster therapies.

The international conglomerate says gas prices in the UK are now 12 times those in the US, and eight times more costly than production based on coal from China

Three chemical plants in Hull owned by Ineos are set to be “idled” in a move that puts 4,000 jobs at risk. Ineos’ billionaire owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe cited soaring gas prices as the reason for mothballing the facilities at Saltend Chemicals Park, which manufacture products used across pharmaceuticals, clothing, cosmetics, detergents, construction materials and military explosives.

The international conglomerate states that gas prices in the UK are now 12 times higher than those in the US, and eight times more expensive than production using coal from China. With the plants relying on gas both for energy and throughout the manufacturing process, continuing operations has become financially unviable.

Sir Jim, chairman of INEOS, said: “I’m sure people will find it hard to believe that we are being forced to mothball some of the most efficient plants in Europe but with gas prices now 12 times the level in the US and eight times that of China, we just cannot compete. Not only is the ridiculously high gas price in the UK destroying our manufacturing base and the jobs of hard-working people on Humberside, it is also massively increasing the environmental burden with replacement products supplied from the USA at double the carbon emissions and from China at eight times the emission level.

“The UK Government’s energy policy is leading to economic vandalism on an industrial scale, exporting jobs to China and the United States and driving up global CO2 emissions at a stroke.”

Two of the three chemical intermediate plants have already suspended operations, with a third set to go offline within the coming days. Ineos has described the move as being “until further notice” and warned that permanent closure would put close to 4,000 jobs on Humberside at risk, reports Hull Live.

The decision by Ineos comes after the loss of 60 jobs at Saltend last year, when the company similarly cited soaring energy costs and competition from abroad. The facilities provide materials to clients throughout Europe.

The company maintains that due to significant investment, the Hull operations rank among the most efficient globally and run at the lowest achievable CO2 emissions levels. The Hull units manufacture material with a carbon footprint reportedly two times smaller than that produced in the United States and eight times lower than Chinese-made material.

A Government spokesperson said: “While this is a commercial decision from Ineos, we know this will be a concerning time for workers in Saltend and their families. We’ve taken bold action to support our chemicals industry including £350m for strategically important chemicals producers, which will be available on a co-investment basis.

“We’ve also put trade measures in place on foreign chemicals imports and are tackling high electricity costs via our Supercharger and British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme to keep our chemicals sector competitive.”

NEW YORK — Momofuku Goods is launching a line of cooking sauces.

The chili crunch sauce is formulated with chili crunch, miso and garlic.

Momoyaki sauce is made with soy, ginger and garlic.

The sweet and spicy sauce contains gochujang, soy and garlic.

The sweet and sour sauce is formulated with vinegar, chili crunch and ginger.

The miso ginger sauce is made with miso and ginger.

The sauces are sold at retailers such as Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Albertsons, Target, Publix, HEB and Hy-Vee.

Users of TopstepX, the proprietary trading platform used by futures traders participating in Topstep’s funded trading programs, began reporting connectivity problems Tuesday morning, with outage-tracking service Downdetector logging a spike in user complaints starting at 9:54 a.m. Eastern time and the hashtag #TopstepxDown trending on social platform X as affected traders compared notes on the disruption.

Downdetector’s official account posted an alert shortly after the spike began, asking users how the outage was affecting them and directing them to submit detailed reports through the platform. As of the alert, the scope, cause and expected duration of the disruption had not been detailed in any official statement from Topstep.

For TopstepX users, an outage carries stakes that go beyond the typical inconvenience associated with most consumer app disruptions. TopstepX serves traders working through Topstep’s funded trading programs, commonly known in the industry as “combines,” in which traders attempt to demonstrate profitable trading performance on a simulated or funded account in order to qualify for access to larger amounts of trading capital. When the platform experiences technical issues during active trading hours, affected users can find themselves unable to close open positions, facing frozen or delayed price data, or locked out of their trading dashboard entirely, circumstances that can directly affect a trader’s profit and loss on open positions depending on how markets move while the platform remains inaccessible.

TopstepX operates as a rebranded version of a trading platform called ProjectX, according to industry reporting, though neither Topstep nor ProjectX has officially confirmed the exact nature of that relationship. The arrangement took on added significance last year, when multiple futures proprietary trading firms announced that ProjectX intended to end its services to third-party platforms, with Topstep positioned as the sole firm continuing to offer trading through ProjectX’s underlying infrastructure going forward.

Tuesday’s reported outage adds to a pattern of recurring technical disruptions that TopstepX has faced over the past year, a pattern that has previously generated significant frustration within the futures trading community. Following an earlier wave of repeated outages, Topstep acknowledged the problems directly in a message posted to the company’s Discord server. “Right now, we are not delivering the Ultimate Trading Experience we promised,” the company wrote at the time, addressing trader frustration over the disruptions. That acknowledgment came amid broader criticism from traders who said the company had responded inadequately to users who experienced financial losses tied to platform outages, with some describing the company’s response to affected traders as unsupportive.

Independent outage-tracking services have continued to log periodic complaints about TopstepX’s reliability throughout the year. Reports collected by various monitoring services have described symptoms including the platform failing to load properly, data feeds not connecting, and, in at least one previously documented case, price charts appearing to freeze entirely during active trading hours, with the platform’s internal clock continuing to advance even as displayed prices remained static at a level last updated hours earlier. Individual trader complaints logged through these services have also described being unable to close open trades or enter new positions during periods when the platform was experiencing technical difficulties.

Not every reported connectivity issue necessarily reflects a problem on Topstep’s own servers. Some independent monitoring services have noted that isolated user reports can stem from a trader’s own specific network connection or an outdated version of the trading application, rather than a broader, platform-wide outage affecting all users simultaneously. Those same services generally advise traders experiencing connection issues to check Topstep’s official status page or its community Discord channel for confirmation of whether a reported problem reflects a genuine, widespread service disruption before assuming a broader outage is underway.

As of the most recent available information, Topstep had not issued a detailed public statement specifically addressing Tuesday’s reported outage, and it remained unclear whether the disruption was affecting all users across all regions or was concentrated among a specific subset of traders. Affected users were directed to Topstep’s official channels, including its status page and Discord server, for the most current and authoritative updates on the situation, rather than relying solely on crowdsourced outage trackers, which can occasionally lag behind or imprecisely characterize the true scope of a still-developing technical issue.

Downdetector, the platform that first flagged Tuesday’s disruption, aggregates user-submitted problem reports alongside automated monitoring signals to identify spikes in complaints for a given service, generating alerts when reports exceed typical baseline levels. Given TopstepX’s history of recurring outages and the financial consequences those disruptions can carry for traders with open positions, Tuesday’s reported issues are likely to draw renewed scrutiny from the platform’s user base, many of whom have publicly expressed frustration over how previous outages were handled and resolved.