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Matt Davis — Need2Know Chedditor

News You Need2Know

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Spooks: Russia sending drones to Iran

Well, here's a shocker: Russia might not be telling the whole truth. I know, I know — take a moment to collect yourself.

According to western intelligence reports reported in the Financial Times (and the rumor is that the FT might even have the odd secret agent on-staff like half of Fleet Street aside from your big-mouthed Chedditor, who would obvs make a terrible spy), Moscow is sending shipments of drones, medicine, and food to Iran. But don't worry! Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov assures us: "There are a lot of fakes going around right now. One thing is true — we are continuing our dialogue with the Iranian leadership."

Ah yes, dialogue. That famously benign word that definitely never involves discussions about weapons shipments days after your ally gets bombed by the U.S. and Israel. Just two old chums swapping recipes!

Moscow has been very publicly highlighting its humanitarian side, boasting about sending “more than 13 tonnes of medicine" (that’s tonnes with an “ne”, so you know they’re Imperial, btw) to Iran through Azerbaijan. How heartwarming. What they're less chatty about is the satellite imagery, targeting data, intelligence support, and upgraded attack drones. Russia has been producing drones based on Iranian designs since 2023, modifying the “Shahed” drones to evade air defenses and carry heavier payloads. Now they're potentially sending improved versions back. It's the circle of death.

Nicole Grajewski from Sciences Po confirmed: "The Russians dramatically improved the Shaheds, including modifications to the engines, navigation and anti-jamming capabilities. So these systems are already more advanced than the ones Iran was producing domestically."

Russia says "fake news" while simultaneously shipping upgraded weapons to a nation at war with…er…America. Their strategic partnership agreement with Iran last year "fell notably short of committing the sides to the other's mutual defence" — which in practice apparently means "we'll help you kill people, just don't expect us to admit it."

Song of the Day: Alessia Cara, Norah Jones, ‘I’m In Trouble’

This is a soulful, jazz-inflected collaboration between Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara and Ravi Shankar’s kid, Norah Jones. It’s a standout on Cara’s new album, “Love Or Lack Thereof,” which sees her rework her greatest hits into jazz and soul arrangements.

Iran rejects U.S. peace plan and suggests its own

The diplomatic ping-pong match from hell continues. Iran flatly rejected America's proposal to pause the devastating Middle East war, instead issuing its own 15-point counterproposal, including the words “go ___ yourself, Donnie!” as point 15.

The U.S. plan, as described by two Pakistani officials, addressed relieving sanctions, rolling back Iran's nuclear program, limiting missiles, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil flows. Iran's counter? They want a halt to killings of their officials, guarantees against future wars, reparations, and — here's the kicker — Iran's "exercise of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz."

Essentially, both sides want the same waterway with very different strings attached.

Meanwhile, President Trump continues insisting that talks are yielding "great progress," while Iran has denied any negotiations were taking place, pledging instead to fight "until complete victory."

The human cost of this diplomatic stalemate is staggering: over 1,500 dead in Iran, more than 1,000 in Lebanon, 16 in Israel, and 13 U.S. military members, plus countless civilians across the Gulf region. Millions have been displaced.

As confusion mounts over a war whose goals were already unclear, one thing remains certain: An awful lot of people have died. Pray with me for a speedy resolution? Amen.

Wall street is nervous about local opposition to AI data centers

Welcome to the AI revolution, where the only thing louder than a data center’s cooling fan is the sound of Wall Street’s cash registers. While local communities are busy whining about things like water shortages, the five-story windowless monoliths next door — the adults in the room, the ones with sacred Bloomberg terminals — are focused on the only metric that matters: Infinite growth.

Locals like Sarah Jenkins are making a fuss, telling reporters from the New York Times, “The humming never stops. It’s like living inside a giant refrigerator.” Honestly, Sarah, maybe if you bought the dip on Nvidia $NVDA ( ▼ 4.16% ) , that hum would sound like a symphony.

Developer Marcus Thorne told the Times: “We are building the backbone of the global economy.” If that backbone needs to crush a few sleepy suburbs to support a chatbot that generates videos of cats in space, so be it. As one analyst noted, “Community sentiment doesn’t drive quarterly earnings.”

Miriam Cobb volunteered as the campaign manager for a Republican state senate candidate in Texas, who ran on opposing new data centers. Although the candidate lost the primary, Ms. Cobb said resistance to AI data centers is deeply felt in conservative, rural communities across the state.

“This isn’t a ‘save the whales’ kind of thing,” she told the Times. Thank God, because I hate the whales. “This is going to destroy the agricultural landscape of Texas if we keep letting this happen. It’s not a ‘sort of,’ it’s a ‘definite.’”

The pushback is starting to force investors to grapple with the proposition that the hyper-scalers may not be able to reach the lofty goals they have set for themselves. That’s gonna knock my 401(k), fools!

Quote of the Day

Report: Inflation could surge to 4.2% over Iran

Ah, 2024: the year we all marched to the polls with grocery receipts clutched in our fists, demanding someone do something about those pesky prices. 18 months later a coalition of 38 countries called the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development just forecast U.S. inflation hitting 4.2% this year, the highest in the G7.

While we were busy debating egg prices, we apparently forgot to factor in potential Middle East wars into our economic anxieties. As the OECD cheerfully notes, "the resilience of the global economy is now being tested" thanks to attacks on Iran sending oil, gas, fertilizer, and even helium prices through the roof (it’s lighter than air, after all, helium…).

Remember when inflation was dropping to 2.6% and we were almost there? I do. It was [checks notes] last month. Now we're looking at US growth slowing to 2%, the Fed keeping rates frozen, and global GDP gains completely "erased" by the conflict, says the OECD. The organization also warns that "a prolonged period of disruption could result in significant energy shortages that would lower growth further."

Haters gonna hate, I guess?