Oil prices rallied on the back of Iran tensions, trading near six-month highs. President Donald Trump said Iran had 15 days at most to reach a deal over its nuclear program as the US assembled a vast array of forces in the Middle East. Carole Nakhle, CEO of Crystol Energy spoke to Bloomberg’s Horizons Middle East and Africa anchor Joumanna Bercetche on the impact of US action on Iran. (Source: Blo...
Oil prices rallied on the back of Iran tensions, trading near six-month highs. President Donald Trump said Iran had 15 days at most to reach a deal over its nuclear program as the US assembled a vast array of forces in the Middle East. Carole Nakhle, CEO of Crystol Energy spoke to Bloomberg’s Horizons Middle East and Africa anchor Joumanna Bercetche on the impact of US action on Iran. (Source: Bloomberg)
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images The past few weeks of 2026 have seen volatility return to the market. Investors have already begun to look outside the Mag 7 for lower risk AI beneficiaries. Large, broad pullbacks like these offer investors opportunities to invest in high-quality companies at discounts to recent valuations. Broadcom ( AVGO ) is a buy now as it has earnings visibility, pric...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images The past few weeks of 2026 have seen volatility return to the market. Investors have already begun to look outside the Mag 7 for lower risk AI beneficiaries. Large, broad pullbacks like these offer investors opportunities to invest in high-quality companies at discounts to recent valuations. Broadcom ( AVGO ) is a buy now as it has earnings visibility, pricing power, and strong cash flow. They have multiple business lines, including hardware and software, right at the intersection of three of the AI industry's three most transparent and structural trends. The first is Hyperscalers raise their forecast on capital expenditures every quarter The largest companies have made headlines with astounding capital expenditure numbers, with $175 billion for Google and $200 billion for Amazon. The market is rightly concerned about AI spending. McKinsey estimates that $7 trillion will be spent on AI infrastructure by 2030. What is notable about the McKinsey $7 trillion forecast is that “ About 70 percent of that projected 2030 demand will come from hyperscalers ” As many recent Google articles on this site explain, Google pays Broadcom to design their custom TPU chips. The chips provide cost savings relative to Nvidia ( NVDA ) chips, in both their purchase and the ownership costs. Broadcom TPU chips cost $10-15k , while Nvidia’s Blackwell are estimated at $40-50k. This is a substantial difference. As AI spending comes under pressure, more clients will look to Nvidia alternatives such as Broadcom. Current clients of custom silicon include Meta, OpenAI, and ByteDance. As evidence, in December 2025, Anthropic was the latest to team up with Broadcom. The custom designed XPU chip is part of the fast-growing Semiconductor Solutions segment of Broadcom. Their products in this segment include networking infrastructure, switches, routers, and other critical AI components that sell to all three of the major cloud providers, even names not mentioned ...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images The past few weeks of 2026 have seen volatility return to the market. Investors have already begun to look outside the Mag 7 for lower risk AI beneficiaries. Large, broad pullbacks like these offer investors opportunities to invest in high-quality companies at discounts to recent valuations. Broadcom ( AVGO ) is a buy now as it has earnings visibility, pric...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images The past few weeks of 2026 have seen volatility return to the market. Investors have already begun to look outside the Mag 7 for lower risk AI beneficiaries. Large, broad pullbacks like these offer investors opportunities to invest in high-quality companies at discounts to recent valuations. Broadcom ( AVGO ) is a buy now as it has earnings visibility, pricing power, and strong cash flow. They have multiple business lines, including hardware and software, right at the intersection of three of the AI industry's three most transparent and structural trends. The first is Hyperscalers raise their forecast on capital expenditures every quarter The largest companies have made headlines with astounding capital expenditure numbers, with $175 billion for Google and $200 billion for Amazon. The market is rightly concerned about AI spending. McKinsey estimates that $7 trillion will be spent on AI infrastructure by 2030. What is notable about the McKinsey $7 trillion forecast is that “ About 70 percent of that projected 2030 demand will come from hyperscalers ” As many recent Google articles on this site explain, Google pays Broadcom to design their custom TPU chips. The chips provide cost savings relative to Nvidia ( NVDA ) chips, in both their purchase and the ownership costs. Broadcom TPU chips cost $10-15k , while Nvidia’s Blackwell are estimated at $40-50k. This is a substantial difference. As AI spending comes under pressure, more clients will look to Nvidia alternatives such as Broadcom. Current clients of custom silicon include Meta, OpenAI, and ByteDance. As evidence, in December 2025, Anthropic was the latest to team up with Broadcom. The custom designed XPU chip is part of the fast-growing Semiconductor Solutions segment of Broadcom. Their products in this segment include networking infrastructure, switches, routers, and other critical AI components that sell to all three of the major cloud providers, even names not mentioned ...
May Lau was jolted awake by loud, urgent knocking on her cabin door in the early hours of Friday – and she knew immediately something was wrong. “They were knocking so loudly, I thought there was no way this was a drill,” she said in Mandarin. “They told us to get up as soon as we could. I could smell the smoke in the air and I knew there was a problem. We didn’t even have time to take our things....
May Lau was jolted awake by loud, urgent knocking on her cabin door in the early hours of Friday – and she knew immediately something was wrong. “They were knocking so loudly, I thought there was no way this was a drill,” she said in Mandarin. “They told us to get up as soon as we could. I could smell the smoke in the air and I knew there was a problem. We didn’t even have time to take our things.” A fire had broken out on deck nine of the World Legacy, a Liberia-registered cruise ship, as it...
Katrina Wittkamp/DigitalVision via Getty Images Right now, Flowers Foods ( FLO ) is getting a lot of attention from investors because of its 10% dividend. And many investors are debating whether this bread company will keep paying its dividend. It doesn’t sound like its management plans to cut the dividend, at least for now. Meanwhile, the bread market may shrink, at least in the short term, so it...
Katrina Wittkamp/DigitalVision via Getty Images Right now, Flowers Foods ( FLO ) is getting a lot of attention from investors because of its 10% dividend. And many investors are debating whether this bread company will keep paying its dividend. It doesn’t sound like its management plans to cut the dividend, at least for now. Meanwhile, the bread market may shrink, at least in the short term, so it may be hard for this company to grow sales in the current environment. I think that Flowers Foods may need to sell one of its bread brands because of its short-term cash needs. But in the long term, I think this stock will keep paying dividends. Flowers Foods reported 11% revenue growth in Q4 2025 , although this revenue growth was primarily because the company bought Simple Mills and 2025 included an additional week. This isn’t a growth stock. More importantly, Flowers Foods also said its adjusted EBITDA rose 14% to $117.4 million and its adjusted EBITDA margin rose from 9.2% to 9.5%. The company also reported a gross margin of 51.5% in Q4 2025 versus a gross margin of 51.2% in Q4 2024, so its GAAP margins are rising as well. So, it looks like Flowers Foods became a bit more efficient in 2025. But the main thing that investors want to know right now is whether Flowers Foods will keep paying its dividend, so that’s the topic I’d consider first. Flowers Foods’ Dividend Doesn’t Look Very Affordable Flowers Foods currently pays a dividend of $0.25 per quarter and has been raising its dividend by $0.01 each year for the last few years. So, if it continues to raise its dividend in fiscal 2026, it’s likely to increase this quarterly payout to $0.26, which is an annual dividend of $1.04. Flowers Foods’ closing price was $9.89 on February 18, so its stock currently has a forward yield of 10.5%. But in its report, Flowers Foods also guided for adjusted EPS of $0.80 to $0.90 in 2026, which is less than $1.04. So, this bread company doesn’t expect to earn enough income to pay its div...
Joep Wennemars went under the previous Olympic record in the men’s 1500m speed skating. But so did three others Picture this: you are on the verge of breaking an Olympic record. The cheers, the spotlight, your name etched in history. The magical initials – OR – next to your name until it is next broken. You have got a gold medal waiting to be draped around your neck? Wait, no gold? Silver, maybe? ...
Joep Wennemars went under the previous Olympic record in the men’s 1500m speed skating. But so did three others Picture this: you are on the verge of breaking an Olympic record. The cheers, the spotlight, your name etched in history. The magical initials – OR – next to your name until it is next broken. You have got a gold medal waiting to be draped around your neck? Wait, no gold? Silver, maybe? Nope? Surely bronze? No?! Fourth place?! Ouch. Such is the life of Joep Wennemars of the Netherlands, who went under the previous Olympic record in the men’s 1500m speed skating. But so did three others. Continue reading...
Anthony Chen offers up a forthright but warm film that navigates romantic crises and Singapore’s infatuation with the rich The warmth, richness and approachability of this lovely film from Singaporean director Anthony Chen, a graduate of Britain’s National Film and Television School, returns him to the family drama style of his 2013 debut Ilo Ilo ; with care and connoisseurship, he again draws on ...
Anthony Chen offers up a forthright but warm film that navigates romantic crises and Singapore’s infatuation with the rich The warmth, richness and approachability of this lovely film from Singaporean director Anthony Chen, a graduate of Britain’s National Film and Television School, returns him to the family drama style of his 2013 debut Ilo Ilo ; with care and connoisseurship, he again draws on the influences of Edward Yang and Tsai Ming-liang, but Chen’s instincts are less oblique. He dots the I’s and crosses the T’s; the film-making is forthright and wholehearted though not unsubtle. The film is set in Singapore, criticising the city-state’s conformism and infatuation with the rich and western prestige, and satirically showing the high-wire dangers of its entrepreneurialism, as attempted by the poor. Koh Jia Ler plays Junyang, a goofy, good-natured but shiftless twentysomething guy who lives with his widowed father Boon Kiat (Andi Lim) in a cramped rented flat. Junyang is about to finish his military service and now needs to figure out what to do with his life – but he certainly doesn’t to work on his dad’s noodle stall, that humble business that puts food on their table. His girlfriend Lydia (Regene Lim) is far more aspirational, a gifted pianist with her sights set on university. Lydia’s stern, churchgoing single mother – hardened by her own husband walking out on them both – does not approve of Junyang one bit. Continue reading...
The 22-year-old singer is up for two Brit awards thanks to her frank songs about family strife and predatory men. She explains why she’s fighting for her fellow council estate kids Although she is on course for pop stardom, with two nominations at next week’s Brit awards, 22-year-old Skye Newman lives in a cabin at the bottom of her sister’s garden in London. It’s the backdrop for the music video ...
The 22-year-old singer is up for two Brit awards thanks to her frank songs about family strife and predatory men. She explains why she’s fighting for her fellow council estate kids Although she is on course for pop stardom, with two nominations at next week’s Brit awards, 22-year-old Skye Newman lives in a cabin at the bottom of her sister’s garden in London. It’s the backdrop for the music video to her song Hairdresser, which has 7.5m views on YouTube. In the clip, she is made up, her hair in rollers, lounging with a gaggle of friends. Licking her fingertips to roll a joint, she laments a one-sided friendship with another woman: “When I’m needed, know I’ll be there first / You don’t reciprocate and, girl, that hurts.” It’s typical of Newman’s songcraft: ballad-driven contemporary soul that goes beyond romantic heartbreak to cover all kinds of pain and recrimination. Continue reading...
Power-hitting co-hosts are hot favourites despite playing in strongest group, while Sri Lanka and New Zealand will fancy chance of making final Pakistan Continue reading...
Power-hitting co-hosts are hot favourites despite playing in strongest group, while Sri Lanka and New Zealand will fancy chance of making final Pakistan Continue reading...
After speaking to locals, I still can’t predict the result, but a big, combined effort will be needed. Without a united front the left may splinter and lose You don’t have to be in Gorton and Denton for long to know that next week’s byelection really matters. If Labour wins in what has been an over-50% solid red-voting area since the second world war, that will calm nerves on its febrile back (and...
After speaking to locals, I still can’t predict the result, but a big, combined effort will be needed. Without a united front the left may splinter and lose You don’t have to be in Gorton and Denton for long to know that next week’s byelection really matters. If Labour wins in what has been an over-50% solid red-voting area since the second world war, that will calm nerves on its febrile back (and front) benches. If Labour loses, heavy blame will fall on Keir Starmer for fixing the party’s ruling NEC to bar Andy Burnham’s selection , ensuring he couldn’t challenge for the leadership without a Westminster seat. Few doubt the popular Greater Manchester mayor would have won next week in Gorton and Denton on his home patch. Blocking him is widely seen as grubby Westminster politicking that has weakened, not strengthened, Starmer’s grip on the leadership. For many erstwhile supporters that jiggery-pokery was a turning point, as Starmer seemed willing to risk Reform UK scoring another win in order to stop Burnham, though “stop Farage” has to be Labour’s overwhelming priority. Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Puerto Rican singer sells out concerts in Portuguese-speaking Brazil with breakthrough ‘anti-American agenda of emancipation’ There is a saying in Brazil that Brazilians realise they are Latin only when they travel to the US or Europe. Among the many reasons for this is that the largest country in Latin America is also the only one in the region where Portuguese is spoken rather than Spanish. Cont...
Puerto Rican singer sells out concerts in Portuguese-speaking Brazil with breakthrough ‘anti-American agenda of emancipation’ There is a saying in Brazil that Brazilians realise they are Latin only when they travel to the US or Europe. Among the many reasons for this is that the largest country in Latin America is also the only one in the region where Portuguese is spoken rather than Spanish. Continue reading...
China has joined Russia in congratulating North Korea on the conclave of its ruling party, hailing economic achievements under the leadership of Kim Jong-un and pledging to work with Pyongyang to promote regional peace. According to Xinhua, the Central Committee of China’s Communist Party sent a congratulatory letter on Thursday, asserting that the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea had in recent year...
China has joined Russia in congratulating North Korea on the conclave of its ruling party, hailing economic achievements under the leadership of Kim Jong-un and pledging to work with Pyongyang to promote regional peace. According to Xinhua, the Central Committee of China’s Communist Party sent a congratulatory letter on Thursday, asserting that the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea had in recent years helped develop the North Korean economy and improve the lives of its people. China’s state news...
Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto has called for a nationwide drive to replace corrugated zinc roofs with clay tiles, saying he wants the country to shed what he describes as a “rusty” image while also cooling homes, reviving a struggling industry and making the country more attractive to tourists. But analysts warn that the plan – dubbed gentengisasi, or mass roofing – could strain the envir...
Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto has called for a nationwide drive to replace corrugated zinc roofs with clay tiles, saying he wants the country to shed what he describes as a “rusty” image while also cooling homes, reviving a struggling industry and making the country more attractive to tourists. But analysts warn that the plan – dubbed gentengisasi, or mass roofing – could strain the environment, require costly structural upgrades and receive a lukewarm reception in regions outside...
A video clip of a woman in her 70s using ritual hell money or toy cards to “buy” snacks at a food street in eastern China without any trouble has touched mainland Chinese internet users. The story unfolded on a food street in Zaozhuang, Shandong province where a poorly dressed grandma often uses her special currency to buy roasted chicken drumsticks, cakes and steamed stuffed buns, the local media...
A video clip of a woman in her 70s using ritual hell money or toy cards to “buy” snacks at a food street in eastern China without any trouble has touched mainland Chinese internet users. The story unfolded on a food street in Zaozhuang, Shandong province where a poorly dressed grandma often uses her special currency to buy roasted chicken drumsticks, cakes and steamed stuffed buns, the local media outlet Qilu Evening News reported. On February 9, a barbecue booth owner released a video showing...