  We use currently available data of nonleptonic charmless 2-body $B\to MM$
decays ($MM = PP, PV, VV$) that are mediated by $b\to (d, s)$ QCD- and
QED-penguin operators to study weak annihilation and new-physics effects in the
framework of QCD factorization. In particular we introduce one weak
annihilation parameter for decays related by ($u \leftrightarrow d$) quark
interchange and test this universality assumption. Within the standard model,
the data supports this assumption with the only exceptions in the $B\to K \pi$
system, which exhibits the well-known "$\Delta A_{CP}$ puzzle", and some
tensions in $B \to K^* \phi$. Beyond the standard model, we simultaneously
determine weak-annihilation and new-physics parameters from data, employing
model-independent scenarios that address the "$\Delta A_{CP}$ puzzle", such as
QED-penguins and $b\to s \bar{u}u$ current-current operators. We discuss also
possibilities that allow further tests of our assumption once improved
measurements from LHCb and Belle II become available.
