With the four major AI hyperscalers set to spend around $650 billion in 2026 on data center capital expenditures, there are a lot of companies slated to cash in. While some may question how much Amazon , Microsoft , Alphabet , and Meta Platforms are spending, the reality is that AI demand is real, and any company not spending as much as they can to establish a foothold in this industry is falling ...
With the four major AI hyperscalers set to spend around $650 billion in 2026 on data center capital expenditures, there are a lot of companies slated to cash in. While some may question how much Amazon , Microsoft , Alphabet , and Meta Platforms are spending, the reality is that AI demand is real, and any company not spending as much as they can to establish a foothold in this industry is falling behind. There are several ways to play this spending, but my favorite, by far, is Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM) . Taiwan Semiconductor is slated to be a winner regardless of which computing unit is used, making it a no-brainer buy right now. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Russia said Ukraine can obtain sensitive information from troops using the Telegram app on the front line, signaling tightening scrutiny over a platform used by millions of Russians. The use of Telegram in combat areas has repeatedly endangered the lives of Russian servicemen, Russia’s Federal Security Service, a powerful domestic intelligence agency and the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, s...
Russia said Ukraine can obtain sensitive information from troops using the Telegram app on the front line, signaling tightening scrutiny over a platform used by millions of Russians. The use of Telegram in combat areas has repeatedly endangered the lives of Russian servicemen, Russia’s Federal Security Service, a powerful domestic intelligence agency and the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said in the statement through RIA Novosti on Saturday. Ukraine’s special services can quickly obtain information from the messaging platform and use it for military purposes, it said. Russia’s communications watchdog limited access to Telegram — a popular messaging app owned by Russian-born billionaire Pavel Durov — over a week ago for failing to comply with Russian laws requiring personal data to be stored locally. Voice and video calls were blocked via Telegram in August. The pressure is the latest move in a long-running campaign to promote what the Kremlin calls sovereign internet that’s led to blocks on YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp. Telegram is facing restrictions even as some of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal supporters are up in arms over the Kremlin’s latest move to restrict the messaging service and push people to use a new state-backed alternative. Read: Putin’s Crackdown on Telegram Slammed by Russian Propagandists Several military bloggers on Telegram said in posts the move risks leaving soldiers without communications. There are no viable alternatives to Telegram on the front, soldiers complained. Foreign intelligence services are able to see Russia’s military messages in Telegram too, Russia’s Minister for digital development Maksut Shadaev said on Wednesday, although he added that Russia will not block access to Telegram for troops for now. Telegram responded at the time that no breaches of the app’s encryption have ever been found. “The Russian government’s allegation that our encryption has been compromised is a deliberate fabrication intend...
McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) scale is easy to see, but the business model can be underappreciated. Most people view it strictly as a burger joint, yet the corporation owns a ton of valuable real estate. While independent operators run 95% of the 45,000 stores, the company owns 80% of the buildings and 56% of the land. This structure provides shareholders with meaningful asset value that a typical restau...
McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) scale is easy to see, but the business model can be underappreciated. Most people view it strictly as a burger joint, yet the corporation owns a ton of valuable real estate. While independent operators run 95% of the 45,000 stores, the company owns 80% of the buildings and 56% of the land. This structure provides shareholders with meaningful asset value that a typical restaurant stock lacks. It also allows McDonald's to collect rent and royalties as a percentage of sales . Every time menu prices or traffic increase, the bottom line grows without taking on the direct risk of rising food or labor costs. McDonald's rent-heavy franchise model distinguishes it from competitors like Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) and Restaurant Brands International (NYSE: QSR) . The combination of prime real estate, predictable rent collection, and high margin royalties has made McDonald's one of the market's most reliable long-term holdings, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Continue reading
Nepal’s Lumbini has long anchored the Buddhist pilgrimage map as the Buddha’s birthplace. Nearby, however, stand the fortified ruins of Tilaurakot – believed to be the ancient capital where Siddhartha Gautam spent his princely years – a site of profound historical weight that draws only a fraction of the visitors. A newly unearthed temple could change that, archaeologists say, offering fresh evide...
Nepal’s Lumbini has long anchored the Buddhist pilgrimage map as the Buddha’s birthplace. Nearby, however, stand the fortified ruins of Tilaurakot – believed to be the ancient capital where Siddhartha Gautam spent his princely years – a site of profound historical weight that draws only a fraction of the visitors. A newly unearthed temple could change that, archaeologists say, offering fresh evidence that Tilaurakot once held far greater religious significance to Buddhists than its quiet present...
City minister Lucy Rigby acts after woman faced repossession of house burned down by controlling husband A woman who was nearly killed by her abusive husband has been invited to advise the government on measures to support victims of financial abuse after the Guardian highlighted her story last weekend. Francesca Onody was left homeless and penniless when her husband doused their cottage with petr...
City minister Lucy Rigby acts after woman faced repossession of house burned down by controlling husband A woman who was nearly killed by her abusive husband has been invited to advise the government on measures to support victims of financial abuse after the Guardian highlighted her story last weekend. Francesca Onody was left homeless and penniless when her husband doused their cottage with petrol while she and her two children were inside. Her husband, Malcolm Baker, died when the property exploded. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Project Giving Back, set up in 2022 to help charities exhibit show gardens, says this year will be its last Chelsea flower show is looking for new charity sponsors after the mystery philanthropic couple who have spent more than £23m on show gardens end their support. Project Giving Back was set up by two anonymous donors in 2022, and since then it has paid for 63 gardens at the most pre...
Exclusive: Project Giving Back, set up in 2022 to help charities exhibit show gardens, says this year will be its last Chelsea flower show is looking for new charity sponsors after the mystery philanthropic couple who have spent more than £23m on show gardens end their support. Project Giving Back was set up by two anonymous donors in 2022, and since then it has paid for 63 gardens at the most prestigious horticultural event in the world, held each summer at the Royal Hospital gardens in south-west London. Continue reading...
economica20/iStock via Getty Images Market sentiment seems to be shifting dramatically in technology, particularly as it relates to Internet software and services companies. While the megacap leviathans are forever testing record highs, those following the 52-week lows are finding familiar names appearing. The market may have an endless appetite for the Alphabets ( GOOGL ) and Microsofts ( MSFT ) ...
economica20/iStock via Getty Images Market sentiment seems to be shifting dramatically in technology, particularly as it relates to Internet software and services companies. While the megacap leviathans are forever testing record highs, those following the 52-week lows are finding familiar names appearing. The market may have an endless appetite for the Alphabets ( GOOGL ) and Microsofts ( MSFT ) of the world, but smaller companies focused on single markets are decidedly out of favor right now. From a contrarian perspective, this is a potential opportunity, because while there are a lot of dot-com companies that still struggle with an identity and a business model, there are companies here that actually are generating respectable free cash flow and doing a responsible job of returning that to shareholders. The company I want to take a look at today is OneSpan ( OSPN ). Originally known as VASCO Data Security International, OneSpan is heavily in the security and authentication business. Their historic claim to fame was the DigiPass two-factor authentication devices, though in recent years we see that hardware-based solutions are falling in popularity and digital solutions are favored. We’ll be looking at OneSpan’s efforts to redefine itself as less of a hardware company, how that is impacting their margins, and, importantly, how the company is using the free cash flow they continue to generate while they are going through this transition. Hardware Wanes, But Authentication Remains a Vital Industry It was not so long ago that DigiPass hardware authentication was OneSpan’s bread and butter product. In recent years though, hardware is less and less a vital part of their revenue stream. 2022 2023 2024 2025 (9 months) Subscriptions $47 million $61 million $81 million $70 million Maintenance $43 million $42 million $38 million $26 million Professional Services $7.1 million $5.4 million $4.4 million $2.2 million Hardware Products $74 million $76 million $59 million $35 mill...
Tax authorities warn sole traders and landlords to act, as the biggest change to self-assessment in decades looms Spring is “the time of plans and projects”, wrote Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina. For hundreds of thousands of self-employed people and property owners, those words are ringing true – and have never felt more daunting. This spring, HM Revenue and Customs is introducing the biggest shake-...
Tax authorities warn sole traders and landlords to act, as the biggest change to self-assessment in decades looms Spring is “the time of plans and projects”, wrote Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina. For hundreds of thousands of self-employed people and property owners, those words are ringing true – and have never felt more daunting. This spring, HM Revenue and Customs is introducing the biggest shake-up of the self-assessment tax system in decades. Continue reading...
Five multiple-choice questions – set by children – to test your knowledge, and a chance to submit your own junior brainteasers for future quizzes Submit a question Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun , a podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book , as well as her new title, Everything Under the Sun: Al...
Five multiple-choice questions – set by children – to test your knowledge, and a chance to submit your own junior brainteasers for future quizzes Submit a question Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun , a podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book , as well as her new title, Everything Under the Sun: All Around the World . Continue reading...
In this week’s newsletter: The race to crown a new 007 has become its own long‑running spectacle, turning the search for Bond into an event as big as the films themselves • Don’t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Callum Turner’s turn as James Bond lasted at most a couple of weeks. No sooner had he been enshrined as frontrunner to succeed Daniel Craig, than he was nudged from the...
In this week’s newsletter: The race to crown a new 007 has become its own long‑running spectacle, turning the search for Bond into an event as big as the films themselves • Don’t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Callum Turner’s turn as James Bond lasted at most a couple of weeks. No sooner had he been enshrined as frontrunner to succeed Daniel Craig, than he was nudged from the DB5 driver’s seat by the latest heir apparent, Jacob Elordi, installed as the new bookies’ favourite after his smouldering, highly profitable performance in Wuthering Heights. Smarting somewhere in the background is Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who seemed locked in for the job a couple of years ago, enjoying the backing of former 007s Pierce Brosnan and George Lazenby, but now seems to have fallen out of favour. And don’t forget the succession of other dead cert Bonds now banished to the back of the odds market: the long-rumoured likes of Tom Hardy and Idris Elba (both now likely to have aged out of the role); Theo James; James Norton; Josh O’Connor; Harris Dickinson; Bridgerton’s Rége-Jean Page; and approximately 5,000 other predominately British actors who have enjoyed box office success/led a successful TV drama/look good in a tuxedo. On and on the hunt goes. Five years after Craig’s final outing, one that left absolutely no wriggle room for his return, and not far off a year since Denis Villeneuve was pegged as director of the next, still-untitled instalment, the next 007 has still not been found. Or if he has (and it seems certain to be a he), everyone involved in the Bond operation is keeping characteristically tight-lipped about it. Continue reading...
From thorn, seat, shout and stew to Bruno Mars and Bette Midler, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz 1 What, in Spain, is the world’s largest Renaissance building? 2 Which rock group’s name was inspired by a label on a sewing machine? 3 The body produces about 2 million what every second? 4 What is the only non-US team to win baseball’s World Series? 5 Who did Violet Gibson try to assassina...
From thorn, seat, shout and stew to Bruno Mars and Bette Midler, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz 1 What, in Spain, is the world’s largest Renaissance building? 2 Which rock group’s name was inspired by a label on a sewing machine? 3 The body produces about 2 million what every second? 4 What is the only non-US team to win baseball’s World Series? 5 Who did Violet Gibson try to assassinate in Rome in 1926? 6 Financially, what rose from £85,000 to £120,000 in December 2025? 7 Which bird can dive to depths of more than 500m? 8 The Sonderbund civil war in 1847 was what country’s last military conflict? What links: 9 Thorn; seat; shout; stew? 10 Nicole Kidman; Bruno Mars; Bette Midler; Jason Momoa; Barack Obama? 11 Circular orders; rectangular information; triangular warning? 12 Hannah Montana: The Movie; Lara Croft: Tomb Raider; On Golden Pond; Paper Moon? 13 Argentina; Mexico; New Zealand; Qatar; Senegal; Spain? 14 Black; brown; Philippine forest; Polynesian; ricefield? 15 John Flamsteed (1675) and Michele Dougherty (2025)? Continue reading...
Images include Mountbatten-Windsor with Virginia Giuffre, Jeffrey Epstein and an unknown female lying on a floor Allegations about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s links to Jeffrey Epstein have unfolded over several years – and in several pictures. Here is how they have dripped into the public’s consciousness and kept the pressure on the royal family. Continue reading...
Images include Mountbatten-Windsor with Virginia Giuffre, Jeffrey Epstein and an unknown female lying on a floor Allegations about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s links to Jeffrey Epstein have unfolded over several years – and in several pictures. Here is how they have dripped into the public’s consciousness and kept the pressure on the royal family. Continue reading...
Dr Cox is still electrifying, the original cast’s interactions are a joy to watch, and after a couple of episodes it finds its tone – making it just the comfort TV we need right now It is possible to believe contradictory things. For instance, I believe TV’s reliance on reviving old shows is a risk-averse, creative regression. On the other hand, I love it. I particularly love it when fictional cha...
Dr Cox is still electrifying, the original cast’s interactions are a joy to watch, and after a couple of episodes it finds its tone – making it just the comfort TV we need right now It is possible to believe contradictory things. For instance, I believe TV’s reliance on reviving old shows is a risk-averse, creative regression. On the other hand, I love it. I particularly love it when fictional characters have visibly aged. There’s a broken humanity that you don’t get with flawless, collagen-rich skin. You sense you could talk to them about your sciatica and they’d get it. I got that feeling with the new series of Scrubs (Disney+, from Thursday 26 February), a show I once mainlined on E4. Scrubs was as comforting as tea and toast. Surprisingly malleable, too. In its bones, it was a coming-of-age workplace bromance between junior doctors JD and Turk, played by then newcomers Zach Braff and Donald Faison. Their chemistry was the show’s anchor, balancing sassy racial harmony with irreverence and heart, as they bore witness to universal human drama. But is it healthy enough to survive resuscitation, more than 15 years after its last episode aired? Continue reading...
A cricket match kindled my love affair with the Greek island, inspiring both a literary festival and my new novel This is not where you would expect an article about one of the Mediterranean’s most beautiful islands to start. It’s the tail end of winter, 2021. Kensal Green Cemetery in west London: the imperial mausolea canted and crumbling, low clouds dissolving into rain. We are still in that str...
A cricket match kindled my love affair with the Greek island, inspiring both a literary festival and my new novel This is not where you would expect an article about one of the Mediterranean’s most beautiful islands to start. It’s the tail end of winter, 2021. Kensal Green Cemetery in west London: the imperial mausolea canted and crumbling, low clouds dissolving into rain. We are still in that strange phase of the pandemic when we are masked, newly aware of our bodies and the space around them. We are here to bury Nikos, a man who for me, for many, was the incarnation of Corfu. I had spent my 20s trying to find the perfect Greek island, hopping from the well-trodden (Mykonos, Santorini, Cephalonia) to the more obscure (Kythira, Symi, Meganisi). None quite matched the vision I had dreamed into being as a child, when I segued from Robert Graves to Mary Renault, then to Lawrence Durrell and John Fowles. Greece was an idea before it was a place: freedom and deep thought, a constellation of sand, salt and thyme. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy says treating these objects as collectors’ items ‘should be looked at in horror’ An antiques auction selling chains linked to the enslavement of African people in Zanzibar has been accused of “profiting from slavery”. Neck irons dated to the Omani-Arab dominated trade in enslaved people in east Africa , which ended after African resistance and British pressur...
Exclusive: Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy says treating these objects as collectors’ items ‘should be looked at in horror’ An antiques auction selling chains linked to the enslavement of African people in Zanzibar has been accused of “profiting from slavery”. Neck irons dated to the Omani-Arab dominated trade in enslaved people in east Africa , which ended after African resistance and British pressure in the late 19th century, will go on sale this weekend in Scotland. Continue reading...
A musical number about a woman’s letter to her husband on the second world war frontline unlocked my ability to blub – and made me a happier person I am sure I must have cried as a child, but by the time I was a teenager it had stopped. It was probably a boarding school thing. Very stiff upper lip. My parents are not the most emotionally available human beings, either. I like to tease them by sayi...
A musical number about a woman’s letter to her husband on the second world war frontline unlocked my ability to blub – and made me a happier person I am sure I must have cried as a child, but by the time I was a teenager it had stopped. It was probably a boarding school thing. Very stiff upper lip. My parents are not the most emotionally available human beings, either. I like to tease them by saying: “I love you.” You can see the panic in their eyes. They will normally say: “All right then, bye.” My gran died when I was about 18, and I was sad, of course, but in terms of tears there was nothing, no water. I never cried at movies. I didn’t cry on my wedding day, nor at the birth of either of my daughters. It never alarmed me. I actually thought I might have underactive tear glands. Looking back, it was probably all about control. Continue reading...