Day: October 16, 2026

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🇫🇷 Marine Le Pen on hijabs:

“Look at Muslim countries where Islamist fundamentalists come to power. The first thing they do is impose the veil.

I will begin by banning it in universities, sports federations and public buildings.”

Writer: Mhedi
Video
 

Last night, Ukrainian drones finished off the Yandex data center in Vladimir, Russia. Just as the Russians were getting their hopes up, claiming that nothing serious had happened and that the Vladimir data center could be repaired, our relentless drones came back to finish the job.

Let’s be clear: enormous data centers like those operated by Yandex are not particularly difficult targets for drones. First of all, data centers are buildings. Their coordinates are known, and they cannot suddenly pack up and run away. They don’t have effective air defenses, and they never will, no matter what Putin promises.

Besides, inside those buildings, it was extremely hot and there was a powerful wind. Hot because thousands of computer servers were running 24/7. Windy because those overheating machines had to be cooled somehow, and the Russians chose the simplest solution: installing powerful fans that ran around the clock. What can I say? Somehow they managed to cool things down to around 60°C. 🙂

The result was an inferno, with the ventilation system diligently spreading the flames throughout the premises.

Obviously, after such a gigantic bonfire, a data center ceased to exist. The Vladimir facility proved particularly stubborn, so the Ukrainian Armed Forces gave it another dose of fire.

But what happened to the hundreds and thousands of businesses that relied on those destroyed data centers?

Exactly what you’d expect: back to paperwork, straight into the Stone Age.

When a data center stops working, businesses are left processing their information manually. Bring back the cashiers, expand your call centers tenfold, and don’t forget the accountants. How are you going to survive without them now?

Yandex had only five major data centers. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have permanently shut down three of them. And in this war, three years might as well mean forever.

P.S. Ukraine hasn’t forgotten about Moscow’s airports either. All four were out of operation last night, exactly as they should be.

🇺🇸 The AI gold rush just hit a wall. Investors are DUMPING the debt that bankrolled it.

Bonds financing massive U.S. data centers for the likes of Meta, Nvidia, Oracle and Microsoft are trading well below face value, just months after investors were happy to pay full price.

Meta’s “Hyperion” bonds dropped to 92 cents on the dollar, Microsoft’s “Project Excalibur” fell below 88, and CoreWeave’s plunged under 80.

CoreWeave is in distressed territory, with investors now demanding yields near 15%.

Meanwhile, Nvidia lost roughly $270B in market value in a single week.

But the AI math gets more uncomfortable.

Gartner estimates data center owners need $8.5 TRILLION in revenue by 2030 to cover costs and earn a decent return. Expected AI services spending? Just $3.6 trillion.

That’s a $4.9 TRILLION GAP, and Gartner reckons 80% of neoclouds like CoreWeave will be gone or absorbed by 2030.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang insists he’s “optimistic” and says CoreWeave’s borrowing costs are actually falling.

Someone should tell the bond market. It’s charging nearly 15% for the privilege.

Source: Financial Times / Writer: Julie