A number of flights were diverted from Gatwick airport after a plane temporarily blocked one of its runways.

Emergency services met the British Airways plane as a precaution upon landing, following reports of a “technical fault” with the aircraft.

One of the diverted planes, an already-delayed EasyJet flight from Rome to Gatwick, had to land at Stanstead airport instead – and subsequently became stuck there because it was unable to find fuel.

Passengers were left on that plane for over two hours in the middle of the night before disembarking.

The BA plane which temporarily blocked the runway at Gatwick Airport reportedly experienced a landing gear issue. BA said the plane landed safely and passengers disembarked normally.

A London Gatwick spokesperson said: “Earlier this morning, the runway was closed for a short period due to a technical issue with an aircraft.

“As a result, a small number of flights were diverted, with the majority later returning to London Gatwick. As always, safety and security is our number one priority.”

There were a number of delays to arrivals and departures from Gatwick Airport on Wednesday, although it was not clear if these were connected to the earlier runway closure.

Picture the average American bedroom at night: a phone charging on the nightstand, glowing softly within arm’s reach of the pillow. According to a 2023 survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 87% of adults regularly sleep with their phone in the bedroom. YouGov polling shows that for many Americans, the smartphone is the last thing they see before sleep and the first thing they reach for upon waking. And a 2026 survey from mattress company Amerisleep found that Americans now spend an average of 38 minutes scrolling in bed before sleep, adding up to roughly 231 lost hours of sleep a year, nearly ten full days.

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The instinctive explanation is that people are “addicted” to their phones, or simply can’t bear to be apart from a device they love. But when psychologists and sociologists have actually sat down with people and asked why they do it, the answers turn out to be far more layered, and far less about gadget infatuation than most of us assume.

The phone as a night-time companion, not a compulsion

One of the most detailed studies on this subject comes from sociologist Dana Zarhin, who interviewed dozens of adults and analyzed their sleep diaries in depth. She found that people weave their phones into the bedtime routine for reasons that are practical and social rather than compulsive. Many use it as an alarm clock. Others keep it close so they remain reachable for family members, aging parents, or work emergencies through the night. Some check messages one last time to feel that their social obligations for the day are complete before they allow themselves to switch off.

Zarhin coined a term for this pattern: “sleepful sociality”, a way of describing how the phone lets people stay socially connected even as they drift toward sleep, without necessarily disrupting the sleep itself. In many of the accounts she gathered, the phone wasn’t a distraction pulling people away from rest; it was a tool people used to manage the handover between their waking responsibilities and the act of sleeping.

A digital security blanket

There’s also a psychological explanation that has nothing to do with entertainment or scrolling. Researchers studying attachment theory, the same framework used to explain why toddlers cling to a favorite blanket or soft toy, have found that adults form comparable bonds with their smartphones. A widely cited study out of the Wharton School even labeled this the “Adult Pacifier Hypothesis,” showing that people experience genuine comfort and faster recovery from stress simply by having their phone nearby, in much the same way a child is soothed by a familiar object.
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Later research building on this idea has shown that people who see their smartphone as a kind of “safe base”, something that makes them feel secure rather than merely entertained, are more likely to keep it close during vulnerable moments, and few moments are more vulnerable than the transition into sleep, when the mind is unguarded and thoughts tend to wander. Seen this way, keeping the phone on the pillow isn’t fundamentally different from earlier generations keeping a transistor radio, a landline, or a family photograph within reach at night.

The quiet pull of staying updated

A third strand of research points to something closer to social vigilance than addiction. A study of nearly 500 college students, published in the journal OBM Neurobiology, examined how bedtime smartphone habits related to Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and general anxiety levels. It found that people with higher trait anxiety and stronger FOMO tended to use their phones more in the sleep environment, not because they were fixated on the device itself, but because the phone offered a way to manage the discomfort of not knowing what they might be missing, whether that was a message, breaking news, or simply what friends were doing. AASM’s own 2025-2026 polling backs this up on a national scale: over a third of U.S. adults say reading the news on their phone before bed, or “doomscrolling,” actively makes their sleep worse, with adults under 35 the most affected. For many, scrolling before sleep functions as a way to quiet racing thoughts, even if it sometimes backfires by keeping the mind more alert than intended.

Where the addiction story does hold some truth

None of this means concern about excessive phone use is misplaced. A large body of research on “nomophobia“, literally, the fear of being without a mobile phone, tells a more cautionary story, particularly among college students. As of 2024, roughly 91% of U.S. adults own a smartphone, a figure that climbs to 98% among those aged 18 to 29, and researchers have found nomophobia to be especially common in this age group, where it’s been linked to anxiety, physical health symptoms, and difficulty tolerating uncertainty.

Separately, a JAMA Network Open study published in March 2025 that tracked screen use among adults across the U.S. found that people who used screens before bed had a 33% higher rate of poor sleep quality and slept roughly 50 minutes less per week than those who avoided screens at night.

So the honest picture sits somewhere in between. For a large number of people, keeping the phone by the bed is a rational, low-stakes habit rooted in convenience, connection, and comfort, not so different from wanting a glass of water within reach. For a smaller but significant group, especially younger users, the pattern shades into something closer to genuine dependency, where the phone’s presence is driven more by anxiety than by choice.

What the research firmly does not support is the blanket assumption that reaching for your phone at bedtime says something troubling about your character, willpower, or mental health. It says more about the roles the phone has come to play, as alarm clock, lifeline to family, stress reliever, and social anchor, all rolled into one small rectangle of glass.

What this means for your own sleep

Understanding the “why” doesn’t erase the “what happens next”, screen light and late-night scrolling are still linked to delayed sleep onset and poorer sleep quality across nearly every study on the subject. But experts suggest the fix isn’t guilt or willpower alone. The AASM’s own recommendations focus on substitution rather than deprivation: leave the phone in another room and rely on a standard alarm clock, start a low-tech wind-down routine like reading or journaling, and turn off notifications so the device stops pulling at your attention even when you’re not reaching for it.

It helps to notice which specific need the phone is meeting for you, the alarm function, the fear of missing an emergency call, or simply the comfort of having something familiar nearby, and to find a substitute for that specific need, rather than trying to quit the habit cold turkey. Small, targeted changes tend to work far better than blanket bans, precisely because the habit was never really about the gadget in the first place.

Samsung has confirmed that its upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineup will feature a redesigned foldable display architecture aimed at significantly reducing the visibility of the crease that forms down the center of foldable phone screens, the company announced this week.

The new display structure, which Samsung is calling “Flex Titanium,” will be used across the company’s next generation of Galaxy foldable devices, referring specifically to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The announcement comes just over a week before Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event on July 22, where the devices are expected to be formally introduced.

A New Approach to Display Durability

According to Samsung, Flex Titanium is designed to deliver an improved viewing experience for foldable phone owners, combining enhanced durability with what the company describes as reduced crease visibility. The technology incorporates a titanium-alloy film positioned beneath the device’s OLED display panel, replacing the plastic components used in earlier foldable generations.

Samsung said the titanium-alloy film offers 20 times greater mechanical stiffness compared with the plastic films used in previous models, while measuring less than 30% the thickness of a human hair. That combination allows the film to provide added structural rigidity without adding meaningful thickness to the overall display panel, according to the company.

The titanium film is paired with a separate titanium plate that supports the display module from underneath. According to Samsung, this plate helps eliminate air gaps between the display module and the adhesive layer beneath it, resulting in more stable support when the device is unfolded, while still preserving the flexibility required for repeated folding over the phone’s lifespan.

Leaked Footage Suggests a Major Visual Improvement

Ahead of Samsung’s official announcement, leaked video footage purporting to show the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra in action circulated online, revealing what appeared to be a nearly invisible display crease even after the device had been folded and unfolded multiple times during the demonstration. If accurate, the footage suggests Flex Titanium could represent one of the more meaningful visual improvements to Samsung’s foldable lineup since the company began addressing the crease issue in earlier device generations.

No New Fold-Cycle Rating Announced

Despite the structural changes, Samsung’s announcement did not include any updated claims regarding the device’s overall fold-cycle durability rating. The Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung’s previous flagship foldable, carried a rated lifespan of 500,000 folds, a figure achieved using some plastic components rather than the titanium parts now being introduced in the Fold 8 series.

Given the shift to titanium-based components, industry observers will likely be watching closely to see whether Samsung’s testing eventually reveals an improved fold-cycle rating for the new devices, even though the company has not made any specific claims on that front as part of this week’s announcement.

Other Specs Detailed Through Leaks

Beyond the new display architecture, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra have already been extensively detailed through a series of leaks ahead of Samsung’s official reveal. Those leaks have pointed to a larger battery capacity compared with previous models, along with upgraded charging capabilities, including 45-watt wired charging and 20-watt wireless charging, both improvements over the charging speeds offered by earlier Fold generations.

Leaks have also suggested the new devices could carry a higher price tag than their predecessors, reflecting the added manufacturing costs associated with the new titanium-based display components, though official pricing has not yet been confirmed by Samsung.

Samsung Launches Pre-Reservation Campaign

Ahead of the official July 22 announcement, Samsung has already begun a reservation campaign for the upcoming devices. The promotion includes a $30 credit for customers who reserve early, along with the potential for savings of up to $1,230 through trade-in and promotional offers. Samsung is also distributing a number of $500 gift cards as part of the pre-launch campaign, a marketing strategy the company has used in past product cycles to build early interest and reduce the risk of production shortages at launch.

Part of a Broader Samsung Strategy

The introduction of Flex Titanium reflects Samsung’s continued effort to refine its foldable phone lineup as the product category matures. Since introducing foldable phones to the mainstream market several years ago, Samsung has steadily worked to address the two most persistent criticisms of the format: durability concerns and the visible crease that forms on foldable displays over repeated use.

While Samsung’s most recent foldable generations had already made progress reducing the crease issue compared with earlier models, the introduction of a titanium-based support structure suggests the company is aiming to push that improvement further rather than treating the problem as fully resolved.

With Galaxy Unpacked now just over a week away, Samsung is expected to formally unveil full specifications, pricing and availability details for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra on July 22. Until then, the company’s Flex Titanium announcement offers the clearest official confirmation yet of what consumers can expect from the display technology powering its next generation of foldable devices, even as many additional details continue to circulate through pre-launch leaks and reports.

Lars Solstad
CEO & MD

Good morning, and welcome to the Solstad Offshore Second Quarter Presentation. It has been a strong and active quarter for the company with improved operational performance, important contract wins, increased backlog visibility and a continued capital distribution to our shareholders. We have also taken important strategic steps through the new joint venture we have established with SBM Offshore and the ordering of a specialized mooring and installation vessel further strengthen our long-term position in an attractive offshore market.

This presentation will be held by CFO, Kjetil Ramstad; and myself, CEO, Lars Peder Solstad, and there will be a Q&A session after the presentation. So please send in your questions in the chat. We take a quick look at the disclaimer before we move over to the business update for the quarter.

It has been a solid quarter with increased utilization and earnings from the vessels as well as good performance from the JVs and the associated companies. We entered into a long-term contract with SBM Offshore for a newbuild specialized mooring and installation vessel, and this vessel will be jointly owned with SBM and start operation in 2029.

We have also signed an MOA for the sale of the vessel, Normand Tonjer. We own 56% of the vessel, and we expect a cash effect for Solstad Offshore of around USD 19 million when the vessel is delivered to new owners sometime during the next 6 months.

During this quarter, we have also won an arbitration case, which will give the company a positive liquidity effect of around $14.5 million when received. And a P&L effect of USD 7 million has been

When flights are delayed or cancelled, UK and EU airlines, and other carriers when you are departing a UK or EU airport, have a duty to look after you.

That includes providing meals and accommodation, if necessary, and getting you to your destination. The airline should organise putting you on an alternative flight, at no extra cost.

Additional losses, such as unused accommodation, might require a claim to a credit card provider, if that was the payment option used.

After that, a claim may need to go to your travel insurance provider. But there is no standard definition of what is covered.

It may require a close look at the details of the policy to see what is covered, in which circumstances.

Passengers are also being urged to heed travel advice from the UK government, external, as this can also affect travel insurance rights.

The South West city has been ranked among the priciest in the world for construction

Bristol is among the top 10 most expensive places in the world to build in, according to a new report. The South West city ranked ninth on the International Construction Cost Index, above Los Angeles, Paris and Sydney.

The findings, which were compiled by design consultancy Arcadis, compared construction costs across 100 major cities around the globe.

Geneva, in Switzerland, took the top spot followed by London, Zurich, Munich and Copenhagen.

The index found the world’s highest-cost construction markets remain concentrated in mature cities with deep demand and constrained delivery capacity.

While Arcadis said the top of the ranking remained “broadly consistent”, the wider market context is understood to have shifted. Global construction markets are moving from inflation-led uncertainty into a more selective phase of investment, where capital is being deployed more carefully rather than demand simply slowing.

Edel Christie, global president of places at Arcadis, said: “The need to build has not gone away. Cities still need homes, infrastructure, resilient energy systems, modern workplaces and digital infrastructure to support the next generation of economic growth.

“The opportunity is clear, but investment will flow to places and programmes where delivery is credible, viable and achievable — not just cheap to build.”

The report found that many developers are increasingly favouring complex, high-performing assets that support long-term growth such as modern workplaces, healthcare facilities, laboratories, data centres and advanced manufacturing plants.

Ms Christie said one area where demand was “abundant” and where the construction sector was “rising to the delivery challenge” was in data centres.

“The spectacular growth of the wider data centre ecosystem has created a critical scaling challenge for the construction sector: the ability to deploy huge project teams quickly while maintaining detailed control over scope, quality, schedule and risk,” she said.

The Arcadis report also highlighted the breadth of cost variation across global construction markets. While high-cost locations are concentrated in Europe, the UK and North America, some of the lowest-cost locations were found across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Bengaluru ranked as the least expensive city in the index, followed by Buenos Aires, Delhi, Mumbai and Ho Chi Minh City.

10 most expensive cities in world for construction

1. Geneva

2. London

3. Switzerland

4. Munich

5. Copenhagen

6. New York

7. San Francisco

8. Dublin

9. Bristol

10. Philadelphia

SYDNEY — Shares of Sunrise Energy Metals surged 13.34% on Wednesday to close at $16.82, gaining $1.98 on the day and extending one of the most dramatic rallies on the Australian Securities Exchange, as investor enthusiasm for the company’s scandium project in New South Wales continued to drive intense buying activity.

The Melbourne-based mineral exploration company, formerly known as Clean TeQ Holdings before rebranding in March 2021, has emerged as the flagship Western play in the global scandium market, a niche but strategically significant metal used in aerospace, defense and clean energy applications. The stock’s latest surge builds on a rally that has seen shares climb from levels below 30 cents in early 2025 to well above $16 today, a gain exceeding 3,000% over roughly the past year.

The Syerston Project at the Center of the Story

At the heart of Sunrise’s remarkable ascent is its Syerston Project in New South Wales, which the company is developing into what would become the largest primary scandium operation outside China. The project’s significance has grown alongside intensifying global competition over critical mineral supply chains, particularly as China has moved to tighten export restrictions on scandium, a metal it currently controls an estimated 80% to 85% of global supply for.

Company materials have emphasized scandium’s applications across a range of high-specification uses, including defense and aerospace alloys, hypersonic technology, missile systems, shipbuilding and solid-oxide fuel cells, some of which support energy-intensive data centers used in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

A Landmark Deal With Lockheed Martin

A significant catalyst behind the stock’s re-rating came when Sunrise secured a multi-year supply agreement with Lockheed Martin, one of the world’s largest defense contractors. Under the arrangement, Lockheed holds an option to purchase up to 15 tonnes of scandium oxide over five years from the Syerston project, representing roughly 25% of the operation’s forecast Phase 1 production.

The agreement marked a significant validation for a company that had previously struggled to attract top-tier offtake partners, demonstrating both the project’s technical viability and genuine commercial demand for its output from a major aerospace and defense supplier.

CEO Sees Role in US Strategic Stockpile

Sunrise Energy Metals CEO Sam Riggall has publicly stated that the company expects to contribute scandium supply to the United States’ critical minerals stockpile, positioning Sunrise within broader U.S. industrial policy and defense supply-chain objectives as Washington works to diversify away from Chinese-dominated mineral markets.

That positioning has become central to the market’s valuation of the company, with investors increasingly treating the Syerston project as strategic infrastructure rather than a conventional speculative mining play, a framing that has helped cushion the stock against some of the volatility typically associated with pre-revenue resource companies.

Additional Government and Financial Backing

Sunrise has also drawn interest from U.S. government financing channels. The company received a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States for up to $67 million, or roughly 103 million Australian dollars, in debt financing support for the Syerston project, further reinforcing the strategic significance being placed on the operation by policymakers seeking to secure non-Chinese sources of critical minerals.

The company is backed in part by Canadian mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland, whose involvement has added additional credibility among institutional and retail investors closely tracking the critical minerals sector.

A Resource Base That Keeps Growing

Sunrise’s project economics have continued to improve alongside its exploration results. A mineral resource estimate revision in September 2025 roughly doubled the contained scandium metal identified at Syerston, reinforcing the project’s potential to support multi-decade supply commitments to strategic partners. The company has since moved from the study phase into early construction activity, awarding engineering contracts earlier this year as it works to advance the project toward production.

A feasibility study previously pegged life-of-mine direct site cash costs at roughly $530 to $540 per kilogram of scandium oxide, positioning Syerston at the lower end of the global cost curve and suggesting the project could offer Sunrise meaningful pricing power in a market where transparency remains limited and supply is tightly controlled by a small number of producers.

A Stock That Has Captured Retail Attention

Sunrise’s dramatic share price trajectory has made it a frequently discussed name within retail investing communities, with online forums repeatedly highlighting the stock’s outsized gains as a case study for other critical minerals equities. The broader rare earths and critical minerals sector has benefited from improving sentiment throughout 2026, supported by continued demand tied to electric vehicles, renewable energy infrastructure and heightened geopolitical concern over supply chain security.

Risks Remain Despite the Rally

Despite the extraordinary run, analysts have cautioned that Sunrise remains a pre-revenue company, meaning its current valuation continues to rest heavily on the successful execution of its development plans rather than established cash flow. The stock has also experienced sharp pullbacks at points over the past year, including notable declines in late February, underscoring the volatility that continues to accompany its rapid ascent.

With a market capitalization that has climbed into the billions of Australian dollars, the margin for error has narrowed considerably even as bullish sentiment persists. Whether Sunrise can successfully convert its scandium narrative into consistent operational output, and whether global demand for the metal ultimately matches current market expectations, will likely determine whether Wednesday’s gains represent another step in a sustainable long-term growth story or a further extension of a speculative run that has already defied expectations for more than a year.