Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is conducting an internal review of a Frankfurt hotel and weighing whether to terminate a management agreement amid scrutiny over the property’s ultimate beneficial owner, according to people familiar with the matter. The US-based hotel operator is assessing whether continuing to manage the Hilton Frankfurt Gravenbruch could expose it to sanctions risks after a Bloom...
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is conducting an internal review of a Frankfurt hotel and weighing whether to terminate a management agreement amid scrutiny over the property’s ultimate beneficial owner, according to people familiar with the matter. The US-based hotel operator is assessing whether continuing to manage the Hilton Frankfurt Gravenbruch could expose it to sanctions risks after a Bloomberg News investigation revealed that the property’s ultimate owner is Mojtaba Khamenei , the second-eldest son of Iran’s Supreme Leader, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a confidential process. Khamenei has been under US sanctions since 2019. Hilton manages the hotel under a long-term contract with Allsco Gravenbruch Hotelbetriebsgesellschaft mbH, which has owned the property since 2011, Bloomberg reported last month. The Bloomberg investigation found that Khamenei directs a sprawling international investment network spanning luxury London property, European hotels and offshore companies financed largely from the proceeds of oil sales. Ownership was structured so that no assets were held directly in his name. Instead, many purchases appeared in the name of Ali Ansari , an Iranian businessman who has known Khamenei for decades. Ansari has not been sanctioned by Washington. Read more: How the Son of Iran’s Leader Built a Global Property Empire A spokesperson for Hilton declined to comment, while a representative for the Treasury Department — which administers and enforces the US sanctions program — didn't respond to a request for comment. The review comes as Western governments step up scrutiny of Iran-linked assets, part of efforts to punish Tehran for a crackdown on domestic protests that has left thousands dead since the start of the year. Last October, the UK sanctioned Ansari , while in late January the European Union tightened measures targeting Iran’s leadership and designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a powerful branch of the m...
A documentary film about First Lady Melania Trump surprised movie experts with a strong opening weekend at the box office last week. That opening weekend may have been a good start, but the film's plunge in the second weekend box office is more bad news for Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN). ‘Melania' Box Office Falls Amazon.com's movie studio segment had a busy weekend with a Super Bowl LX commercial ...
A documentary film about First Lady Melania Trump surprised movie experts with a strong opening weekend at the box office last week. That opening weekend may have been a good start, but the film's plunge in the second weekend box office is more bad news for Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN). ‘Melania' Box Office Falls Amazon.com's movie studio segment had a busy weekend with a Super Bowl LX commercial for its upcoming theatrical film "Project Hail Mary." That film could have high expectations and be
With 13 medals through the first five days – surpassing their total at Turin 2006 – the Italians are the surprise stars of these Games. What’s different this time? From Milan to Cortina and beyond, the star of the first Olympic weekend in Italy was … Italy. The electric celebrations started Saturday in Bormio, close to the Swiss border, with a silver and bronze in the men’s downhill. They echoed a...
With 13 medals through the first five days – surpassing their total at Turin 2006 – the Italians are the surprise stars of these Games. What’s different this time? From Milan to Cortina and beyond, the star of the first Olympic weekend in Italy was … Italy. The electric celebrations started Saturday in Bormio, close to the Swiss border, with a silver and bronze in the men’s downhill. They echoed a few hours later in Milan, where Francesca Lollobrigida set an Olympic record in women’s 3000m speed skating for the host country’s first gold. Continue reading...
LSEG said on Thursday it plans to build an on-chain settlement service for institutional investors called the LSEG Digital Securities Depository, which will connect traditional and digital securities markets. This will enable trading and settlement of tokenised bonds, equities and private market assets across multiple blockchain networks, while remaining interoperable with existing settlement p...
LSEG said on Thursday it plans to build an on-chain settlement service for institutional investors called the LSEG Digital Securities Depository, which will connect traditional and digital securities markets. This will enable trading and settlement of tokenised bonds, equities and private market assets across multiple blockchain networks, while remaining interoperable with existing settlement platforms, the London Stock Exchange operator said. The move comes as LSEG faces pressure to improve performance from activist investor Elliott Management, which has built a stake in the company and is pushing for changes, after the company's shares fell more than 35% over the past year.
adventtr/iStock via Getty Images BETA Technologies ( BETA ) stock surged 15.6% following a stake disclosure from Amazon ( AMZN ) and an upgrade from Jefferies. BETA Technologies is also backed by GE Aerospace ( GE ), and I believe that the company has a lot of unique drivers that many other developers of eVTOLs simply do not have, and that makes it more attractive for investors, including big corp...
adventtr/iStock via Getty Images BETA Technologies ( BETA ) stock surged 15.6% following a stake disclosure from Amazon ( AMZN ) and an upgrade from Jefferies. BETA Technologies is also backed by GE Aerospace ( GE ), and I believe that the company has a lot of unique drivers that many other developers of eVTOLs simply do not have, and that makes it more attractive for investors, including big corporations such as Amazon and GE Aerospace. In this report, I will discuss these unique drivers and assess the investment case for BETA. BETA Technologies Amazon Surge Is A False Flag BETA Technologies went public in November 2025, raising $1 billion in capital. BETA is already substantially different in that regard compared to peers, as it went public through a traditional IPO rather than a SPAC. Since then, the stock price has come down to as low as $15.61 before the rebound to $19.39. BETA Technologies already had quite a strong backing in investor rounds. In September 2025, GE Aerospace announced a $300 million equity investment in BETA through private placement. Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund already invested in BETA in 2021. The stock now surged on the news that Amazon holds a stake, but this was already disclosed in the prospectus ( S-1, Page 153 ). BETA Technologies (S-1 Filing) We see that both Amazon and GE Aerospace were already listed in the prospectus as parties holding more than 5% ownership of the company. So, the disclosure of Amazon holding 5.3% is not a surprising one, nor does it constitute an additional equity contribution as far as I can tell. It provides investors with a sign of equity and strategic backing from Amazon, but that equity backing could already be seen in the prospectus as well as the press release from Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund from 2021. So, in my view, it is a bit of a false flag for the company’s stock price to surge. BETA Has An Attractive Business Setup BETA Technologies is taking a vastly different approach, which I believe creates a...
In a makeshift boxing ring, two humanoids square off; one in blue headgear and gloves, the other in matching red. The spectacle might be run-of-the-mill for a robotics conference, but this was Consensus Hong Kong 2026, one of the largest events for the digital assets industry. Behind the human-controlled fighting humanoids was BitRobot, an embodied AI research network built on the Solana blockchai...
In a makeshift boxing ring, two humanoids square off; one in blue headgear and gloves, the other in matching red. The spectacle might be run-of-the-mill for a robotics conference, but this was Consensus Hong Kong 2026, one of the largest events for the digital assets industry. Behind the human-controlled fighting humanoids was BitRobot, an embodied AI research network built on the Solana blockchain. Despite the bitcoin drawdown of recent weeks, the mood was upbeat. Consensus this year...
As Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights gets a boost from a new film adaptation, we survey the surprising, seditious and sensual ways in which prose has influenced pop The oeuvre of Katy Perry occasionally has some profoundly unexpected inspirations: California Gurls is spelt in homage to Big Star’s September Gurls, while Firework was based on, wait for it, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, specifically the li...
As Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights gets a boost from a new film adaptation, we survey the surprising, seditious and sensual ways in which prose has influenced pop The oeuvre of Katy Perry occasionally has some profoundly unexpected inspirations: California Gurls is spelt in homage to Big Star’s September Gurls, while Firework was based on, wait for it, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, specifically the line about how his favourite people “burn like fabulous yellow roman candles”. Continue reading...
China’s latest rocket test has put the country neck and neck with the US in the race to the moon, with crewed landings before 2030 a realistic goal for both nations, according to analysts. During Wednesday’s eight-minute flight from southern Hainan province, China successfully tested two major components of its crewed lunar system: a mid-air escape of the Mengzhou crew capsule and a full launch, r...
China’s latest rocket test has put the country neck and neck with the US in the race to the moon, with crewed landings before 2030 a realistic goal for both nations, according to analysts. During Wednesday’s eight-minute flight from southern Hainan province, China successfully tested two major components of its crewed lunar system: a mid-air escape of the Mengzhou crew capsule and a full launch, re-entry and splashdown of the moon rocket’s core stage. Rand Simberg, an aerospace engineer and...
Capitalism cares about our species’ prospects as much as a wolf cares about a lamb’s. But democratise our economy and a better world is within our grasp We have an urgent responsibility. Our existing economic system is incapable of addressing the social and ecological crises we face in the 21st century. When we look around we see an extraordinary paradox. On the one hand, we have access to remarka...
Capitalism cares about our species’ prospects as much as a wolf cares about a lamb’s. But democratise our economy and a better world is within our grasp We have an urgent responsibility. Our existing economic system is incapable of addressing the social and ecological crises we face in the 21st century. When we look around we see an extraordinary paradox. On the one hand, we have access to remarkable new technologies and a collective capacity to produce more food, more stuff than we need or that the planet can afford. Yet at the same time, millions of people suffer in conditions of severe deprivation. What explains this paradox? Capitalism. By capitalism we do not mean markets, trade and entrepreneurship, which have been around for thousands of years before the rise of capitalism. By capitalism we mean something very odd and very specific: an economic system that boils down to a dictatorship run by the tiny minority who control capital – the big banks, the major corporations and the 1% who own the majority of investible assets. Even if we live in a democracy and have a choice in our political system, our choices never seem to change the economic system. Capitalists are the ones who determine what to produce, how to use our labour and who gets to benefit. The rest of us – the people who are actually doing the production – do not get a say. Continue reading...
Once thought of only for vodka and lager, Poland is in the midst of a wine-making revival that’s infiltrating restaurant lists, bars and independent suppliers Swap the staid stereotypes of Żubrówka vodka and Żywiec lager for vineyards and vintages, because Poland is in the throes of a viticultural renaissance, the likes of which hasn’t been seen for centuries. On a road trip tracing Poland’s best ...
Once thought of only for vodka and lager, Poland is in the midst of a wine-making revival that’s infiltrating restaurant lists, bars and independent suppliers Swap the staid stereotypes of Żubrówka vodka and Żywiec lager for vineyards and vintages, because Poland is in the throes of a viticultural renaissance, the likes of which hasn’t been seen for centuries. On a road trip tracing Poland’s best terroirs back in the summer of 2023, I met winemakers going against the grain, unshackled by tradition and producing unpretentious, expressive pours that more than merit a place on your dining table. Lately, Polish wines have been cropping up all over bar and restaurant lists: Niemczańska’s chardonnay at London’s most emblematic Polish restaurant, the borscht-fronted Daquise in South Kensington, say, while chic bar Spry in Edinburgh has started stocking my favourite producers, Dom Bliskowice, Kamil Barczentewicz and Nizio. But you won’t find bottles nestling between the neat rows of kabanos sausages of your local Polski sklep , nor lining the supermarket shelves. Or not just yet, anyway. Victoria Brzezinski is co-author of Drinking the World: A Wine Odyssey, published by Pavilion Books/HarperCollins at £22. To order a copy for £19.80 go to guardianbookshop.com Continue reading...
400tmax/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images I continue to rate Alphabet stock ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) a strong buy based on re-rating from an advertising conglomerate to the premier Agentic Utility. The market’s post-earnings bearish reaction to the $175 billion–$185 billion 2026 CapEx guidance , in my opinion, misprices the strategic value of the Universal Commerce Protocol and the Apple ( AAPL ) Found...
400tmax/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images I continue to rate Alphabet stock ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) a strong buy based on re-rating from an advertising conglomerate to the premier Agentic Utility. The market’s post-earnings bearish reaction to the $175 billion–$185 billion 2026 CapEx guidance , in my opinion, misprices the strategic value of the Universal Commerce Protocol and the Apple ( AAPL ) Foundation Model deal. These initiatives led to the 55% sequential explosion in Cloud backlog to $240 billion and locking in AI infrastructure edge. Although the DOJ antitrust rulings and the immediate cash flow inversion (CapEx exceeds trailing operating cash flow) present short-term volatility factors, the proprietary Ironwood TPU architecture and 78% reduction in serving costs build a deflationary unit-cost advantage. Here, the major risk is an extended ROIC compression if agentic workflow monetization lags the aggressive depreciation schedule of the expanded asset base. My January 10 GOOG coverage was focused on the Ironwood Singularity and predicting valuation expansion through zero-marginal-cost inference. As expected in that article, GOOG stock is consolidating over $295. This current article advances that thesis from theoretical unit economics to financial structuralism post-Q4’s disclosures. The thesis shifts from TPUs’ efficiency to the capital barrier of the $185 billion FY2026 CapEx guidance. Beyond the previous focus on deflationary hardware, this article exposes the important Cash Flow Inversion paradox and identifies the Universal Commerce Protocol and the $240 billion cloud backlog as the definitive basis that is resolving the agentic disintermediation risk (previously hypothesized). Analyst's compilation [From previous coverage] The Mergence of Cloud Backlog, Universal Commerce Protocol, and Ironwood TPU Efficiency The bullish driver for Alphabet stock price upside is the structural instrumentalization of its $175 billion-$185 billion FY2026 CapEx guidance to es...
400tmax/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images I continue to rate Alphabet stock ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) a strong buy based on re-rating from an advertising conglomerate to the premier Agentic Utility. The market’s post-earnings bearish reaction to the $175 billion–$185 billion 2026 CapEx guidance , in my opinion, misprices the strategic value of the Universal Commerce Protocol and the Apple ( AAPL ) Found...
400tmax/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images I continue to rate Alphabet stock ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) a strong buy based on re-rating from an advertising conglomerate to the premier Agentic Utility. The market’s post-earnings bearish reaction to the $175 billion–$185 billion 2026 CapEx guidance , in my opinion, misprices the strategic value of the Universal Commerce Protocol and the Apple ( AAPL ) Foundation Model deal. These initiatives led to the 55% sequential explosion in Cloud backlog to $240 billion and locking in AI infrastructure edge. Although the DOJ antitrust rulings and the immediate cash flow inversion (CapEx exceeds trailing operating cash flow) present short-term volatility factors, the proprietary Ironwood TPU architecture and 78% reduction in serving costs build a deflationary unit-cost advantage. Here, the major risk is an extended ROIC compression if agentic workflow monetization lags the aggressive depreciation schedule of the expanded asset base. My January 10 GOOG coverage was focused on the Ironwood Singularity and predicting valuation expansion through zero-marginal-cost inference. As expected in that article, GOOG stock is consolidating over $295. This current article advances that thesis from theoretical unit economics to financial structuralism post-Q4’s disclosures. The thesis shifts from TPUs’ efficiency to the capital barrier of the $185 billion FY2026 CapEx guidance. Beyond the previous focus on deflationary hardware, this article exposes the important Cash Flow Inversion paradox and identifies the Universal Commerce Protocol and the $240 billion cloud backlog as the definitive basis that is resolving the agentic disintermediation risk (previously hypothesized). Analyst's compilation [From previous coverage] The Mergence of Cloud Backlog, Universal Commerce Protocol, and Ironwood TPU Efficiency The bullish driver for Alphabet stock price upside is the structural instrumentalization of its $175 billion-$185 billion FY2026 CapEx guidance to es...
Human trafficking syndicates operating across Southeast Asia are increasingly laundering their profits through cryptocurrency, a shift that reflects how swiftly these networks are scaling up and exploiting the ease of moving funds across borders, according to findings by a US blockchain analysis firm. Crypto transactions linked to suspected trafficking operations surged 85 per cent in 2025 to US$2...
Human trafficking syndicates operating across Southeast Asia are increasingly laundering their profits through cryptocurrency, a shift that reflects how swiftly these networks are scaling up and exploiting the ease of moving funds across borders, according to findings by a US blockchain analysis firm. Crypto transactions linked to suspected trafficking operations surged 85 per cent in 2025 to US$260 million, Chainalysis said in its 2026 report on crypto crimes, which tracked illicit activity on...
Magnificent 7 tech stocks on display at the Nasdaq. Adam Jeffery | CNBC While the prospect of a SpaceX initial public offering and the hopeful listings from OpenAI and Anthropic have juiced IPO excitement on Wall Street, the current action in tech capital markets has nothing to do with equity. Rather, it's all about debt. Tech's four hyperscalers — Alphabet , Amazon , Meta and Microsoft — are coll...
Magnificent 7 tech stocks on display at the Nasdaq. Adam Jeffery | CNBC While the prospect of a SpaceX initial public offering and the hopeful listings from OpenAI and Anthropic have juiced IPO excitement on Wall Street, the current action in tech capital markets has nothing to do with equity. Rather, it's all about debt. Tech's four hyperscalers — Alphabet , Amazon , Meta and Microsoft — are collectively projected to shell out close to $700 billion this year on capital expenditures and finance leases to fuel their artificial intelligence buildouts, responding to what they call historic levels of demand for computing resources. To finance those investments, industry giants may have to dip into some of the cash they've built up in recent years. But they're also looking to raise mounds of debt, adding to concerns about an AI bubble and fears about a market contagion if cash-burning startups like OpenAI and Anthropic hit a growth wall and pull back on their infrastructure spending. In a report late last month, UBS estimated that after tech and AI-related debt issuance across the globe more than doubled to $710 billion last year, that number could soar to $990 billion in 2026. Morgan Stanley foresees a $1.5 trillion financing gap for the AI buildout that will likely be filled in large part by credit as companies can no longer self-fund their capex. Chris White, CEO of data and research firm BondCliQ, says the corporate debt market has experienced a "monumental" increase in size, amounting to "massive supply now in the debt markets." The biggest corporate debt sales this year have come from Oracle and Alphabet. Oracle said in early February that it planned to raise $45 billion to $50 billion this year to build additional AI capacity. It quickly sold $25 billion of dollars worth of debt in the high-grade market. Alphabet followed this week, upping the size of a bond offering to over $30 billion, after holding a prior $25 billion debt sale in November. Other companies are ...
“We’re empowering health-care providers with unprecedented clinical depth in a compact portable form factor,” AliveCor CEO Priya Abani says about the development of its AI-enabled electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors, which provide medical-grade heart data anytime and anywhere. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Abani sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth discussion about the...
“We’re empowering health-care providers with unprecedented clinical depth in a compact portable form factor,” AliveCor CEO Priya Abani says about the development of its AI-enabled electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors, which provide medical-grade heart data anytime and anywhere. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Abani sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth discussion about the expansion of AliveCor’s Kardia 12L device, which gives physicians a smaller, more portable ECG opti
This recognition driven by client reviews reinforces BairesDev’s satisfaction scores, engineering excellence, and global delivery impact.MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BairesDev®, a leading nearshore software development company, today announced it has been ranked #15 on the 2025 Clutch 1000 List, placing it among the top 1% of B2B service providers worldwide. The recogni...
This recognition driven by client reviews reinforces BairesDev’s satisfaction scores, engineering excellence, and global delivery impact.MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BairesDev®, a leading nearshore software development company, today announced it has been ranked #15 on the 2025 Clutch 1000 List, placing it among the top 1% of B2B service providers worldwide. The recognition is based on verified client reviews, a 4.9 out of 5 Clutch score, and a consistent track record
Constellation HomeBuilder Systems, the largest provider of homebuilding software solutions and services in North America, today announced the availability of BuilderMetrix® for Excel, a powerful add-on to BuilderMetrix, the company's robust reporting, data analytics, and benchmarking tool.
Constellation HomeBuilder Systems, the largest provider of homebuilding software solutions and services in North America, today announced the availability of BuilderMetrix® for Excel, a powerful add-on to BuilderMetrix, the company's robust reporting, data analytics, and benchmarking tool.
FDA Established April 23, 2026 as PDUFA Target Date for Review of Submission Seeking Approval for GTx-104 in the Treatment of Patients with aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (aSAH)
FDA Established April 23, 2026 as PDUFA Target Date for Review of Submission Seeking Approval for GTx-104 in the Treatment of Patients with aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (aSAH)
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PodcastOne (Nasdaq: PODC ), a leading publisher and podcast sales network, today announced record financial results for the third quarter (“Q3 Fiscal 2026”) and first nine months (“YTD Fiscal 2026”) ended December 31, 2025 of its fiscal year ending March 31, 2026 ("Fiscal 2026"). PodcastOne will host a conference call and webcast today, February 12, 2...
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PodcastOne (Nasdaq: PODC ), a leading publisher and podcast sales network, today announced record financial results for the third quarter (“Q3 Fiscal 2026”) and first nine months (“YTD Fiscal 2026”) ended December 31, 2025 of its fiscal year ending March 31, 2026 ("Fiscal 2026"). PodcastOne will host a conference call and webcast today, February 12, 2026.