imaginima/E+ via Getty Images Introduction Shurgard Self Storage ( SSSAF ) is down by more than 30% over the past year. That would normally indicate the business is in serious trouble, but the operating figures don 't support this conclusion. Revenue is still growing, the company continues to add space across Europe, and the Lok 'nStore acquisition is progressing. The problem is further down the i...
imaginima/E+ via Getty Images Introduction Shurgard Self Storage ( SSSAF ) is down by more than 30% over the past year. That would normally indicate the business is in serious trouble, but the operating figures don 't support this conclusion. Revenue is still growing, the company continues to add space across Europe, and the Lok 'nStore acquisition is progressing. The problem is further down the income statement. Shurgard is growing its portfolio faster than earnings per share. New capacity takes years to mature, competition increased in several markets during late 2025, and financing costs are absorbing part of the benefit from EBITDA growth at the per-share earnings level. Portfolio Growth Remains Strong Shurgard 's 2025 results were solid. Revenue increased 10.8%, while underlying EBITDA rose 10.4%. The company ended the year with close to 350 properties and almost 1.8 million square meters of rentable space across Europe. The longer-term record is also encouraging. Over the past five years, Shurgard increased its store count and rentable space at a compound annual rate of almost 7%, while revenue grew at close to 11%. The company has also filled newly opened space and raised rents as properties matured. Available square meters rose 5% in 2025, average rented space increased 8.8%, and in-place rent was 1.9% higher. Management has increased the required return on newly approved projects from 8% to 9% to a new range of 9% to 10%. That makes sense after the rise in Shurgard 's cost of capital, although it could reduce the number of viable projects from 2028 onward. Lok 'nStore is also progressing. Occupancy increased from 67% at acquisition to 80% by the end of 2025. It then declined to 78.1% in Q1 2026 after Shurgard added more rentable space to the portfolio. Management now expects occupancy of 80% to 85% by the end of 2026. The operational integration is mostly complete. The stores have been rebranded, access-control systems have been installed, and the former Lo...
The SpaceX IPO is quickly approaching. While there are ways to invest in SpaceX today , most investors are simply better off waiting for shares to be publicly available. According to reports, SpaceX is targeting a $1.77 trillion valuation, raising as much as $75 billion in new capital. That capital will be quickly deployed as SpaceX believes it has a total addressable market of $28.5 trillion. Not...
The SpaceX IPO is quickly approaching. While there are ways to invest in SpaceX today , most investors are simply better off waiting for shares to be publicly available. According to reports, SpaceX is targeting a $1.77 trillion valuation, raising as much as $75 billion in new capital. That capital will be quickly deployed as SpaceX believes it has a total addressable market of $28.5 trillion. Not every expert is excited about the IPO. A recent Morningstar report concludes that the entire company is currently worth just $780 billion -- less than half of SpaceX's top-end valuation range. "[L]ong-term investors eager to participate in SpaceX's future endeavors and potential success will have opportunities to do so with a greater margin of safety than the initial offering is likely to provide," one of Morningstar's analysts warns. Continue reading
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images PhysicsX, a UK-based startup specializing in AI models for designing and manufacturing complex industrial components such as jet engines and semiconductors, has secured $300M in funding, bringing its valuation to approximately $2.4B. The company operates in a highly competitive sector that includes ventures backed by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon ( AMZN...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images PhysicsX, a UK-based startup specializing in AI models for designing and manufacturing complex industrial components such as jet engines and semiconductors, has secured $300M in funding, bringing its valuation to approximately $2.4B. The company operates in a highly competitive sector that includes ventures backed by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon ( AMZN ). Singapore’s Temasek led the Series C financing into PhysicsX, the London-based company said on Monday. Intrepid Growth Partners and M&G Catalyst joined as new investors alongside earlier backers, including Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Applied Materials ( AMAT ). The company was valued at almost $1B at its last funding round. PhysicsX is developing and deploying its AI-native engineering platform to accelerate hardware innovation and drive engineering and manufacturing productivity in industrial organizations. The company's AI models "predict physical behavior in seconds rather than hours or days, enabling engineering teams to evaluate orders of magnitude more design variants and carry physics insight across the full product lifecycle: from early-stage design and manufacturing through to real-time digital twins in operation." The financing comes amid rapid growth, the company said. PhysicsX has doubled year-over-year recognized revenue, tripled booked revenue, while more than doubled its customer count over the past year. The team has grown to more than 300 people, doubling in size in the past twelve months. More on Nvidia, Applied Materials Nvidia: Downgrade To Hold As Earnings Fail To Push Price Higher Nvidia: I Do Not Fear The AI Bubble Yet NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) Presents at Bank of America 2026 Global Technology Conference Transcript South Korea's Naver will build AI factories using Nvidia's DSX platform Nvidia is working with LG on humanoid robots, next-generation data centers
XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) dropped to $1.08 on Friday—its lowest price in 19 months. The last time the cryptocurrency traded this low was November 2024, when it briefly crashed all the way to $0.50. The XRP price now looks to be stabilizing around $1.12 to $1.16. XRP’s chances of a sustained recovery depend on institutional buyers, ... Can XRP (Ripple) Bounce Back After Reaching a 19-Month Low?
XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) dropped to $1.08 on Friday—its lowest price in 19 months. The last time the cryptocurrency traded this low was November 2024, when it briefly crashed all the way to $0.50. The XRP price now looks to be stabilizing around $1.12 to $1.16. XRP’s chances of a sustained recovery depend on institutional buyers, ... Can XRP (Ripple) Bounce Back After Reaching a 19-Month Low?
How Was Your Dream? is a documentary project by Thadde Comar, a Franco-Swiss photographer, created during the extradition bill protests in Hong Kong between June and October 2019. His work is displayed as part of the Belfast photo festival , which runs until 30 June at venues across the city Continue reading...
How Was Your Dream? is a documentary project by Thadde Comar, a Franco-Swiss photographer, created during the extradition bill protests in Hong Kong between June and October 2019. His work is displayed as part of the Belfast photo festival , which runs until 30 June at venues across the city Continue reading...
The newly designated Joyce Country and Western Lakes Unesco Geopark in Galway and Mayo celebrates a 700-million-year geological history that has produced a unique terrain and rich cultural heritage ‘If you take all these springs together in terms of flow, it’s by far the largest in Ireland, and one of the biggest systems in the world,” said Dr Benjamin Thébaudeau, geologist for the newly designate...
The newly designated Joyce Country and Western Lakes Unesco Geopark in Galway and Mayo celebrates a 700-million-year geological history that has produced a unique terrain and rich cultural heritage ‘If you take all these springs together in terms of flow, it’s by far the largest in Ireland, and one of the biggest systems in the world,” said Dr Benjamin Thébaudeau, geologist for the newly designated Unesco Joyce Country and Western Lakes Geopark in western Ireland. Over a few days, I discovered that this massive system of limestone springs and caves is the engine that drives this landscape, in the same way as an underground train network powers a city. It’s a place where rivers disappear into limestone fissures and subterranean lakes, and where roads twist through drowned valleys beneath mountains shaped by fire and ice. Continue reading...
Senior medical staff call for solutions to tackle root causes of excess deaths amid tenfold increase in a decade More than 1,300 patients a month in England are dying needlessly due to long A&E waits, a tenfold rise in a decade, figures suggest. There were more than 300 deaths linked to long waits every week in 2025, up from 30 a week in 2015, according to analysis by the Royal College of Emergenc...
Senior medical staff call for solutions to tackle root causes of excess deaths amid tenfold increase in a decade More than 1,300 patients a month in England are dying needlessly due to long A&E waits, a tenfold rise in a decade, figures suggest. There were more than 300 deaths linked to long waits every week in 2025, up from 30 a week in 2015, according to analysis by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Continue reading...
Bereaved relatives have been bombarded with calls, emails and letters addressed to the deceased ScottishPower sent a debt collection letter to my house demanding £130 owing on my late brother’s gas account. I am his sole executor and had informed it of his death. The company, meanwhile, owed a £430 credit on his electricity account. It eventually paid this with a cheque issued in my late brother’s...
Bereaved relatives have been bombarded with calls, emails and letters addressed to the deceased ScottishPower sent a debt collection letter to my house demanding £130 owing on my late brother’s gas account. I am his sole executor and had informed it of his death. The company, meanwhile, owed a £430 credit on his electricity account. It eventually paid this with a cheque issued in my late brother’s name, which could not therefore be cashed. Continue reading...
Anas Zawahri’s documentary lays heart-wrenching testimony over languorous shots of bullet-ridden ruins and deserted streets The western Syrian city of Homs is only a husk of its former self. Previously a major industrial centre, the region became a key battleground between 2011 and 2014, for Bashar al-Assad’s army and rebel forces. Amid the immense bloodshed, hundreds of thousands of civilians wer...
Anas Zawahri’s documentary lays heart-wrenching testimony over languorous shots of bullet-ridden ruins and deserted streets The western Syrian city of Homs is only a husk of its former self. Previously a major industrial centre, the region became a key battleground between 2011 and 2014, for Bashar al-Assad’s army and rebel forces. Amid the immense bloodshed, hundreds of thousands of civilians were either displaced or trapped inside their own homes. Filmed in the summer of 2023, this deeply moving documentary from Palestinian-born and Syria-based film-maker Anas Zawahri maps out the collective trauma and sorrow that continue to linger, even after the shooting has stopped. Unfolding in languorous, largely static shots of bombed rubble, hollowed-out buildings, and deserted streets, the film lays bare the startling extent of wartime brutality. A sense of stillness and stagnancy hangs in the air, and almost every wall is riddled with bullet holes, urban scars that mirror the psychological wounds borne by the survivors. Their heart-wrenching testimony is laid over these images of destruction, lending a human dimension to the ruins. One resident ruminates over how Homs changed from a city of laughter to one of agony and grief. With bitter irony, another considers himself lucky to be blind, and thus does not have to suffer the mental shock of seeing his beloved home town razed. Continue reading...
As social attitudes shift and concern for animal rights grows, the dog meat tradition in many parts of Nigeria is increasingly being questioned Every weekend in Lagos, 36-year-old Izien Aigbodion walks down his street with his three dogs – a poodle and two chow chows. Neighbours and passersby, more used to seeing dogs in cages than walking on leashes beside their owners, stop to stare. With treats...
As social attitudes shift and concern for animal rights grows, the dog meat tradition in many parts of Nigeria is increasingly being questioned Every weekend in Lagos, 36-year-old Izien Aigbodion walks down his street with his three dogs – a poodle and two chow chows. Neighbours and passersby, more used to seeing dogs in cages than walking on leashes beside their owners, stop to stare. With treats in one pocket and a bottle of water in the other, he pauses to calm his most skittish dog. “People believe that dogs can only follow orders,” he says, as one nudges his leg for attention. But when you live with them, you come to appreciate things like loyalty, emotion, even empathy.” Continue reading...
Former US soccer player Merritt Mathias looks at times when the beautiful game has been a political football. Plus, a deep dive into who is funding Reform UK Former US soccer player Merritt Mathias (pictured above) and journalists Musa Okwonga and Julio Ricardo Varela are a fascinating team of “football/soccer time-travellers”. They trace the history of how global power has tried to influence the ...
Former US soccer player Merritt Mathias looks at times when the beautiful game has been a political football. Plus, a deep dive into who is funding Reform UK Former US soccer player Merritt Mathias (pictured above) and journalists Musa Okwonga and Julio Ricardo Varela are a fascinating team of “football/soccer time-travellers”. They trace the history of how global power has tried to influence the game and make it political. After setting the scene with musings on this year’s World Cup, they first look at the 1934 tournament in Mussolini’s Italy, which Uruguay boycotted. Hollie Richardson YouTube and Spotify, episodes weekly Continue reading...
This clarion call about the loss of delight and safety in children’s lives is also a reminder of the sheer magic of reading Every day, on my walk to work, I pass a primary school. A group of little people are being dropped off by parents. They are met at the gates by a teacher who greets them all by name before leading them up the steps to breakfast club. In the cold and dark of winter, with the s...
This clarion call about the loss of delight and safety in children’s lives is also a reminder of the sheer magic of reading Every day, on my walk to work, I pass a primary school. A group of little people are being dropped off by parents. They are met at the gates by a teacher who greets them all by name before leading them up the steps to breakfast club. In the cold and dark of winter, with the school’s windows glowing invitingly, I sometimes envy these children their warm, welcoming cocoon. I thought of that daily scene often when reading this book, which is inspired by Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s time as Waterstones children’s laureate. During his laureateship he ran a campaign with the literary charity BookTrust called Reading Rights, addressing literacy inequality for children in poverty. It was prompted by the discovery that nearly half of children were arriving at school without having been read to. Many had no clue how books worked. They were trying to swipe rather than turn pages, or expand illustrations by pinching them with their fingers. Continue reading...
Four months into US oil blockade, Cubans see island drained as state electric company fights to provide even a few hours of power a day The doctor called from the darkness, a shadowy figure sitting on the stoop of his apartment building. “I want to tell you we’ve been four days without light,” he said. “And without electricity, water is also a problem. And there are mosquitoes everywhere.” From th...
Four months into US oil blockade, Cubans see island drained as state electric company fights to provide even a few hours of power a day The doctor called from the darkness, a shadowy figure sitting on the stoop of his apartment building. “I want to tell you we’ve been four days without light,” he said. “And without electricity, water is also a problem. And there are mosquitoes everywhere.” From the buildings around came a cacophony, as beyond dark windows people smashed pots against pans. It was a cacerolazo , a traditional form of protest which has now become commonplace in Cuba amid seemingly endless rolling blackouts. Continue reading...
Foreign executives used to come to China to study shoppers. Today, many come to study their future competitors. That shift, according to Joe Ngai, chairman of Greater China at McKinsey & Company, says almost everything about how China’s role in the global economy has changed. For much of the past two decades, China was the market multinationals could not afford to miss. The formula was often strai...
Foreign executives used to come to China to study shoppers. Today, many come to study their future competitors. That shift, according to Joe Ngai, chairman of Greater China at McKinsey & Company, says almost everything about how China’s role in the global economy has changed. For much of the past two decades, China was the market multinationals could not afford to miss. The formula was often straightforward: enter the market, ride the growth of a rapidly expanding middle class and capture a...