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bp agrees to sell Netherlands mobility & convenience and bp pulse businesses to Catom | News and insights

bp has reached an agreement to sell its mobility & convenience and bp pulse businesses in the Netherlands to Catom. The sale is part of bp’s previously announced $20bn divestment programme and is expected to complete by the end of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals.

This is the latest example of bp’s strategy in action to reshape and high-grade its downstream businesses, focusing on leading integrated positions.

The transaction includes around 300 bp-owned or branded retail sites – some with on-site EV charging infrastructure – as well as 15 operational bp pulse EV charging hubs, eight under development and the associated Dutch fleet business.

Catom, founded in 1998 by experienced entrepreneurs, is a fast-growing player in the trade, distribution, and sale of fuels and lubricants in the Netherlands. With this acquisition, Catom expands its OK retail network to over 400 retail sites in strategic locations across the Netherlands. Catom was ultimately selected as the successful bidder as they presented the best overall offer, including future plans for the business and protection of terms and conditions of employees.

“We have built a high-quality retail and convenience business in the Netherlands but as we look to focus our downstream as part of a reset bp, we believe a new owner is best placed to take our Dutch business forward.”

Emma Delaney, EVP customers & products, bp

Emma Delaney, EVP customers & products at bp, said: “We have built a high-quality retail and convenience business in the Netherlands but as we look to focus our downstream as part of a reset bp, we believe a new owner is best placed to take our Dutch business forward. We are working together with Catom to deliver a smooth and swift completion with minimal disruption on our people and customers.”

Jan Willem Westerhuis, CEO Catom & OK, said: “With this acquisition, we’re on our way to becoming the number one brand in our industry in the Netherlands. We’re happy and excited to welcome all our new colleagues.”

In its 1Q25 results, bp updated its divestment guidance to $3-4bn for 2025, with $1.5bn signed or completed to that date. Further progress on divestment proceeds will be provided as part of 2Q25 results.

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July 9, 2025
Palau’s Koror Beach Volleyball Venue officially recognised as Centre of Excellence following MoU signing – FIVB
1. Palau’s Koror Beach Volleyball Venue officially recognised as Centre of Excellence following MoU signing FIVB
2. Day three in Palau sees workshop held with National Federations FIVB
3. PALAU’S KOROR BEACH VOLLEYBALL VENUE OFFICIALLY RECOGNISED AS CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOLLOWING MOU SIGNING – Asian Volleyball Confederation Asian Volleyball Confederation
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July 9, 2025
Apple Arcade to introduce four new games on 7 Aug, including a Worms Spinoff, Everybody Shogi and more – Mint
1. Apple Arcade to introduce four new games on 7 Aug, including a Worms Spinoff, Everybody Shogi and more Mint
2. These Four Games Are Coming to Apple Arcade MacRumors
3. Angry Birds Bounce game lead talks brick breaker genre, development under Sega and “a great deal of interest on Apple Arcade” Pocket Gamer.biz
4. Worms Make Me Uncomfortable, but I’ll Still Play This Upcoming Apple Arcade Game CNET
5. Apple Arcade is getting 4 new games this August FoneArena.com
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July 9, 2025
Ice in a million-degree Fermi bubble reveals the Milky Way’s recent eruption

Researchers have found clouds of cold gas embedded deep within larger, superheated gas clouds — or Fermi bubbles — at the Milky Way’s center. The finding challenges current models of Fermi bubble formation and reveals that the bubbles are much younger than previously estimated.

“The Fermi bubbles are enormous structures of hot gas that extend above and below the disk of the Milky Way, reaching about 25,000 light years in each direction from the galaxy’s center — spanning a total height of 50,000 light years,” says Rongmon Bordoloi, associate professor of physics at North Carolina State University and corresponding author of the research.

“Fermi bubbles are a relatively recent discovery — they were first identified by telescopes that ‘see’ gamma rays in 2010 — there are different theories about how it happened, but we do know that it was an extremely sudden and violent event, like a volcanic eruption but on a massive scale.”

Bordoloi and the research team used the U.S. National Science Foundation Green Bank Telescope (NSF GBT) to observe the Fermi bubbles and get high resolution data about the composition of the gas within and the speed at which it is moving. These measurements were twice as sensitive as previous radio telescope surveys of the Fermi bubbles and allowed them to observe finer detail within the bubbles.

Most of the gas inside the Fermi bubbles is around 1 million degrees Kelvin. However, the research team also found something surprising: dense clouds of neutral hydrogen gas, each one measuring several thousand solar masses, dotted within the bubbles 12,000 light years above the center of the Milky Way.

“These clouds of neutral hydrogen are cold, relative to the rest of the Fermi bubble,” says Andrew Fox, ESA-AURA Astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute and coauthor of the paper.

“They’re around 10,000 degrees Kelvin, so cooler than their surroundings by at least a factor of 100. Finding those clouds within the Fermi bubble is like finding ice cubes in a volcano.”

Their existence is surprising because the hot (over 1 million degrees Kelvin), high-velocity environment of the nuclear outflow should have rapidly destroyed any cooler gas.

“Computer models of cool gas interacting with hot outflowing gas in extreme environments like the Fermi bubbles show that cool clouds should be rapidly destroyed, usually within a few million years, a timescale that aligns with independent estimates of the Fermi bubbles’ age,” Bordoloi says. “It wouldn’t be possible for the clouds to be present at all if the Fermi bubbles were 10 million years old or older.

“What makes this discovery even more remarkable is its synergy with ultraviolet observations from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST),” Bordoloi says. “The clouds lie along a sightline previously observed with HST, which detected highly ionized multiphase gas, ranging in temperatures from a million to 100,000 Kelvin — which is what you’d expect to see if a cold gas is getting evaporated.”

The team was also able to calculate the speed at which the gases are moving, which further confirmed the age.

“These gases are moving around a million miles per hour, which also marks the Fermi bubbles as a recent development,” Bordoloi says. “These clouds weren’t here when dinosaurs roamed Earth. In cosmic time scales, a million years is the blink of an eye.”

“We believe that these cold clouds were swept up from the Milky Way’s center and carried aloft by the very hot wind that formed the Fermi bubbles,” says Jay Lockman, an astronomer at the Green Bank Observatory and coauthor of the paper. “Just as you can’t see the motion of the wind on Earth unless there are clouds to track it, we can’t see the hot wind from the Milky Way but can detect radio emission from the cold clouds it carries along.”

This discovery challenges current understanding of how cold clouds can survive the extreme energetic environment of the Galactic Center, placing strong empirical constraints on how outflows interact with their surroundings. The findings provide a crucial benchmark for simulations of galactic feedback and evolution, reshaping our view of how energy and matter cycle through galaxies.

The work appears in Astrophysical Journal Letters and is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number AST-2206853.

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July 9, 2025
Diagnostic dilemma: Orgasm involving a kitchen whisk likely triggered person’s fatal aneurysm

The deceased: A 39-year-old woman in Belgrade, Serbia

The discovery: The woman’s ex-husband found the woman’s body in her apartment and notified the police. She was lying on her left side on the living room couch, and her body was covered by a blanket.

What happened next: Police removed the blanket to examine the body; the woman was naked from the waist down. There were no visible signs of violence or injury. The police then discovered an object protruding from the woman’s bottom: a spring twirl whisk.

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Its wooden handle had been inserted into her anus to a depth of about 4 inches (10 centimeters), penetrating her anus and rectum as “a dildo-like object,” doctors wrote in a report of the case. According to the ex-husband, the woman had high blood pressure, also known as arterial hypertension, for which she was taking medication.

The autopsy findings: An examination of the woman’s cranium revealed a subarachnoid hemorrhage — bleeding in the space between the brain and a layer of tissue surrounding it. Blood had pooled to a depth of up to 0.2 inches (6 millimeters) around the base of the brain and the brainstem.

When medical examiners cleared out the blood clots, they discovered a ruptured saccular aneurysm, a blood-filled sphere that ballooned from a blood vessel in the brain. This is also known as a “berry aneurysm” for its resemblance to a round berry dangling from a stem, and it is the most common type of aneurysm.

The aneurysm measured 0.4 inches (11 millimeters) in diameter and had popped at the top of its dome. When aneurysms rupture, they release blood that can kill nearby brain cells and increase pressure inside the skull. As pressure builds, the flow of oxygen and blood to the brain may be disrupted, which can lead to unconsciousness and death. Aneurysms are more common in women than in men, especially in women with low estrogen levels, such as postmenopausal women. People with hypertension are also more likely to develop aneurysms that rupture and cause bleeding in the brain.

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Physical exertion raises blood pressure, and orgasms elevate it even more. In the woman’s case, her partial nudity, body posture and the presence of the whisk suggested that she was using the kitchen tool for anal self-stimulation, the report’s authors wrote. Her sexual excitement and subsequent orgasm could have temporarily caused her blood pressure to spike enough to rupture the aneurysm, causing a fatal hemorrhage.

What makes the case unique: Sexual activity is not a common cause of sudden death. In prior studies that evaluated a total of nearly 130,000 forensic autopsies, 195 of the deaths (0.15%) were linked to sex, and only a fraction of the deceased were women. When someone dies during or shortly after intercourse, it is usually an older male with a much younger female partner, and the cause of death is typically abrupt cardiac failure, according to the report.

For women, sudden death during sex is often caused by a subarachnoid hemorrhage from a burst saccular aneurysm. However, this is the first case to present such a scenario for a woman’s death during anal self-stimulation, the authors wrote.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice.

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July 9, 2025
Aimee Barrett-Theron to referee opening match of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025
- Appointments of Emirates World Rugby Match Officials for the 24 Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 pool matches
- Three referees to make Rugby World Cup debuts in the middle
- Sara Cox to become first female to referee 50 tests with Japan v Spain on 7 September
- Match official profiles are available in the World Rugby Media Zone
South Africa’s Aimee Barrett-Theron will referee the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 opening match between hosts England and 1991 champions USA at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland on 22 August.

With excitement building around the world as the countdown hits 44 days to go, World Rugby has announced the Emirates Match Official appointments for the 24 matches that make up the pool stage of what promises to be the biggest and best-ever Women’s Rugby World Cup.

VIEW APPOINTMENTS >>

In May, a team of 22 Emirates Match Officials (10 referees, six assistant referees and six Television Match Officials) were selected for the showcase event in England, which runs from 22 August to 27 September across eight host locations.

It will be the second time that the South African official has been handed the honour of refereeing the opening match, having also taken charge of England’s encounter with Spain at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 in Ireland.

A significant milestone will be reached on the last day of the pool stage on 7 September with Sara Cox (England) to become the first female to referee 50 test matches when she takes charge of Japan v Spain at York Community Stadium in York.

Clara Munarini (Italy) will be in the middle for the final match of the pool stage later that day, the Pool D meeting between France and South Africa at Franklin’s Gardens in Northampton.

Emirates World Rugby Match Official appointment highlights
- Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa) will be assisted in the opening match by Natarsha Ganley (New Zealand) and Maria Heitor (Portugal) with Leo Colgan (Ireland) as Television Match Official and Rachel Horton (Australia) as Foul Play Review Official.
- Heitor will become the first Portuguese official on the Rugby World Cup stage.
- Precious Pazani (Zimbabwe) will follow suit as the first African female from outside South Africa when she is an assistant referee for the other Pool A match on the opening weekend between Australia v Samoa in Manchester a day later.
- Sara Cox will officiate in her fifth Women’s Rugby World Cup, having had appointments as an assistant referee in 2010 and 2014 before refereeing in the last two tournaments.
- Natarsha Ganley, Ella Goldsmith (Australia) and Kat Roche (USA) will make their Rugby World Cup refereeing debuts, the latter having been an assistant referee in New Zealand.
- Goldsmith will take charge of New Zealand’s opening match of their title defence, against Spain in York on 24 August.
- Four officials will referee three matches in the pool stage in Maggie Cogger-Orr (New Zealand), Cox, Aurélie Groizeleau (France) and Hollie Davidson (Scotland).
- Groizeleau’s first appointment – Canada v Fiji in York on 23 August – will be her 40th test as a referee, making her the fourth female to reach the milestone after Barrett-Theron, Cox and Davidson.
- Cox’s third match in the pool stage – Japan v Spain in York on 7 September – will see her become the first female to take charge of 50 tests and the 16th overall in test history.
- Davidson will referee Brazil’s first-ever Women’s Rugby World Cup match against South Africa in Northampton on 24 August.
Chair of Emirates World Rugby Match Officials Selection Committee and Executive Board member, Su Carty said: “Firstly, a big congratulations to the match officials, who have earned their place and appointments on merit. Rugby is a team sport, and every step of the way, this group of exceptional people have worked tirelessly as a team to calibrate, review and advance. This will continue throughout Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. I know that they are all excited in playing their part in facilitating great matches that will be at the heart of an era-defining competition.”

World Rugby Women’s High Performance Referee Manager Alhambra Nievas said: “Congratulations to all our match officials. Everyone will play their part in the pool phase. With less than 50 days to go, we are all now focused on being the best we can be on and off the field. There is an incredible camaraderie and bond within this group, and I look forward to seeing our team in action, doing what they do best at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.”

Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 panel

Referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa), Maggie Cogger-Orr (New Zealand), Sara Cox (England), Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Ella Goldsmith (Australia), Natarsha Ganley (New Zealand), Aurélie Groizeleau (France), Lauren Jenner (Italy), Clara Munarini (Italy), Kat Roche (USA).

Assistant referees: Maria Heitor (Portugal), Jess Ling (Australia), Amelia Luciano (USA), Precious Pazani (Zimbabwe, reserve referee), Amber Stamp-Dunstan (Wales), Holly Wood (England).

Television Match Officials: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Rachel Horton (Australia), Quinton Immelman (South Africa), Matteo Liperini (Italy), Andrew McMenemy (Scotland), Ian Tempest (England).
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July 9, 2025
Handheld sensors have potential to detect bacteria from volatile organic chemicals in body Labmate Online

Tiny sensors similar to alcohol breathalysers could be used to detect bacterial infections and identify antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bodily fluids, according to an opinion article published in the journal Cell Biomaterials. The authors, a team of engineers, microbiologists and machine learning specialists based in Switzerland, said the technology could lead to affordable, rapid diagnostic tools that would enhance treatment decisions and help address AMR.

“One of the biggest drivers of AMR is that we lack rapid diagnostics,” said Dr Andreas Güntner, senior author and a mechanical and process engineer at ETH Zurich, who collaborated on the project with Dr Catherine Jutzeler, Dr Thomas Kessler, Professor Emma Slack and Professor Adrian Egli.

The researchers proposed bypassing conventional multi-step laboratory procedures that can take many hours, days or even weeks, and instead make use of handheld chemical sensors which would be capable of delivering results in seconds or minutes.

Historically, clinicians have used smell to detect certain infections. For example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa can produce a sweet, grape-like odour, whereas Clostridium infections are associated with a putrid smell. These scents are caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs), small molecules released by bacteria and other organisms.

The authors argued that VOCs in blood, urine, faeces or sputum could be measured by specially designed sensors, offering a reliable proxy for the presence of infection. Similar approaches have been used to detect contaminants such as methanol in alcoholic beverages and to monitor air quality.

“We have already developed and commercialised something similar for detecting methanol. Now, we are trying to transfer this technology to more complex situations,” explained Güntner.

Because even closely related bacterial strains can emit distinct patterns of VOCs, the approach could help to distinguish those AMR strains. Laboratory studies have already shown that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and its non-resistant counterpart can be identified based on their VOC profiles.

Developing clinically viable sensors, however, presents a significant challenge. The concentration of VOCs is extremely low and detecting them accurately requires materials with high sensitivity.

“Imagine a room full of a billion tiny blue balls [but] only one red one,” said Güntner. “You must identify that single red ball – and do so within [a few] seconds.”

The authors envisaged that future devices would incorporate arrays of sensors with varying binding properties, built using metal oxides, polymers, carbon nanotubes, and graphene derivatives. Filters would be required to exclude irrelevant compounds, such as human-derived or ubiquitous VOCs.

Machine learning would be instrumental in sensor development, enabling algorithms to identify the minimal set of VOCs necessary to detect bacterial species and assess resistance or virulence factors.

Ultimately, the researchers said their aim was to translate advances in chemical sensing and machine learning into practical diagnostic tools that could be used in everyday medical settings with minimal training.

“We hope this will improve patient outcomes and support antibiotic stewardship,” said Güntner.

For further reading please visit: 10.1016/j.celbio.2025.100125

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July 9, 2025
See interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS zoom through solar system in new telescope imagery (video)

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has captured the clearest images yet of the interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS as it moves inward through the solar system.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) snapped new images of the comet just two days after it was discovered, recording a timelapse as the object moved across the sky. The resulting stacked image is the deepest view yet of the interstellar intruder.

“These data were obtained with the FORS2 instrument on the VLT on the night of 3 July 2025,” ESO officials wrote in a July 8 statement. The VLT timelapse shows the comet moving over the course of 13 minutes.

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Comet 3I/ATLAS was discovered on July 1 by the Deep Random Survey remote telescope in Chile, part of the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) telescope, when the comet was about 410 million miles (670 million kilometers) away from the sun. Originally designated C/2025 N1 (ATLAS), it was quickly confirmed to be an interstellar visitor due to its hyperbolic and highly eccentric orbit.

3I/ATLAS is only the third interstellar object detected visiting our solar system, after 1I’Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. (The 3I in the newfound object’s name stands for “third interstellar.”)

ESO says that better quality images of the comet will become available as it makes its way into the inner solar system. The enigmatic object is expected to make its closest approach to Earth in late October 2025, but it won’t be visible to telescopes or astronomers at this point, as 3I/ATLAS will be hiding behind the sun.

“It will become observable again in December 2025, as it makes its way back to interstellar space,” ESO stated.

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

ESO added that VLT and telescopes around the globe will continue to make observations of the fleeting celestial visitor, hoping to uncover clues about its structure, composition and origin.

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July 9, 2025
High-class junior football – top European teams to compete at Porsche Football Cup

09/07/2025

The 2025 Porsche Football Cup will once again be held at VfB Stuttgart on 6 and 7 September. An international field will be competing for the title at one of the premier U-15 tournaments in Europe. Awaiting the eight teams is a wide range of side events over the tournament weekend. The focus is also on the social aspect of the Porsche Youth Development Programme. Through the “Goals for Charity“ fundraiser, Porsche will donate 400 euro for every goal to the “Stiftung OlympiaNachwuchs” foundation

The U-15 football tournament has established itself as one of the most renowned junior competitions in Europe ever since its inception in 2021. “Through the Porsche Youth Development Programme, we want to fulfil big dreams and foster young athletes both in their sporting and personal development. As one of the most attractive junior football tournaments in Europe, it has been vital in doing just that in the last five years and perfectly reflects the idea behind the Porsche Youth Development Programme,” says Dr. Jochen Breckner, Member of the Executive Board for Finance and IT at Porsche AG.

A factor for the success of the Porsche Football Cup is the top names amongst the competing clubs. In addition to FC Barcelona, FC Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg, partner clubs of the Porsche “Turbo für Talents” Youth Development Programme – hosts VfB Stuttgart, Red Bull Football Academy Salzburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Erzgebirge Aue and SV Stuttgarter Kickers – will also be playing for the coveted trophy.

Porsche Football Cup at VfB Stuttgart: FC Barcelona vs. FC Bayern

“The Porsche Football Cup is a fantastic tournament, both on and off the pitch. It’s also famous far beyond Stuttgart’s borders. We’re looking forward to watching top European teams like Barcelona, the title holders,” says Dr. Sebastian Rudolph, Vice President Communications, Sustainability and Politics. “Alongside the competitive side of things, the focus is on the social aspects. We help give the athletes an understanding of values, further a sense of togetherness and bolster social awareness.”

The programme at a glance

On Friday, 5 September, the teams will have the chance to get to know each other when the groups are drawn in the Porsche Museum – and to immerse themselves in the history of the sports car manufacturer. The tournament will begin on Saturday, 6 September with the preliminary round matches. Split up into two groups of four, the clubs will start with a round robin. Each match will consist of two 20-minute halves.

The top two teams in each group will meet in the semifinals on Sunday morning (7 September). The other results in the group matches will determine who plays each other in the play-offs for the placings. The highlight is the final that will take place at about 1.45 pm in the Robert-Schlienz-Stadium. Admission is free for visitors on both days of the tournament. Awaiting the fans off the pitch are, in addition to the various refreshment stalls, exciting activities for young and old to try their hand at.

Societal commitment

The Porsche Football Cup counts, alongside the Porsche Turbo Award and the “Talents Hand in Hand“ activities, is one of the core components of the “Turbo for Talents” initiative. Through the Youth Development Programme, the sports car manufacturer supports young talents in their sporting, personal and social development. The teams will as a result also this year take part during the week of the tournament in a CSR activity as a part of the “Talents Hand in Hand” programme. The young footballers can also contribute to the “Goals for Charity“ fundraiser by scoring lots of goals. Every time the ball hits the back of the net, the sports car manufacturer will donate 400 euro to the “Stiftung OlympiaNachwuchs Baden-Württemberg”.

Talents hand in hand campaign with all teams

“Sporting and personal development in junior sport is becoming increasingly important. The Porsche Youth Development Programme “Turbo for Talents“ has been pursuing the idea for years now with its excellent holistic approach,” says the former World Cup winner and Porsche Brand Ambassador, Sami Khedira. “The Porsche Football Cup is a real highlight amongst the numerous measures. The programme, the setup and the social aspect are all unique. It’s also something very special for junior teams to compete nationally or even internationally with other top teams. They all gain invaluable experience.”

“Turbo for Talents” – the Porsche Youth Development Programme

Porsche takes its societal responsibility seriously and invests specifically in the future of young people via the Porsche Youth Development Programme. Under the motto “Turbo for Talents”, Porsche commits itself to helping youngsters in a variety of sports in several clubs. In football, there are partnerships with SV Stuttgarter Kickers, the Red Bull Football Academy, Borussia Mönchengladbach, VfB Stuttgart and FC Erzgebirge Aue. In the sport of ice-hockey, Porsche helps foster juniors at the Bietigheim Steelers club. In basketball, Porsche lends its name to the Ludwigsburg Porsche Basketball Academy (BBA) – the elite training centre for the MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg club. The commitment is not just about supporting high-quality sports coaching but also about the social and personal development of young people. Through its “Talents Hand in Hand” initiative, Porsche, together with its partner clubs and social institutions, also conveys values like tolerance, passion and respect to young people. It also promotes the embracing of topics like inclusion, environmental awareness and health. The famous patron of the Development Programme is the football World Cup winner Sami Khedira.

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July 9, 2025
How GLP-1 Drugs Could Cause Vision Loss in Diabetics

Hi, it’s Michelle in New York. You may have heard of “Ozempic blindness,” when obesity drugs are linked to rare vision loss. Does this discovery change the risk-benefit analysis for the drugs? More in a moment, but first …

In June, EU regulators said that people with type 2 diabetes taking semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy, are at risk of developing a rare eye condition that can cause vision loss. This could possibly affect as many as 1 in 10,000 people taking the medicine.

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July 9, 2025