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China on Thursday set its GDP growth target for 2026 at 4.5% to 5% — the lowest target on record going back to the early 1990s — according to a copy of the government work report seen by CNBC, as Beijing grapples with persistent deflationary pressures and trade tensions with the U.S. Defense spending will rise by 7%, the slowest increase since 2021, although analysts believe the official figures are understated.
A vote to force President Donald Trump to pull back from the war in Iran failed to pass in the U.S. Senate Wednesday. The resolution faced plenty of hurdles and was largely symbolic, as Trump was almost certain to veto it. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday described the Middle East war as a “disaster”. That follows Trump’s pledge to cut off trade with Madrid after Spain’s government prevented two jointly operated bases in its territory from being used in the strikes.
Amazon’s Bahrain data center was targeted by Iran for supporting the U.S. military, state media Fars News Agency said Wednesday. The company’s cloud computing unit said Monday that one of its facilities in Bahrain was damaged due to a nearby drone strike on Sunday. Two data centers in the United Arab Emirates were also damaged after they were “directly struck” by drones.
