This handout released by the U.S. Navy depicts aircraft conducting flight operations on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in support of Operation Epic Fury at sea on March 2, 2026.
US Navy | Getty Images
What you need to know today
A vote to force President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Iran war failed to pass in the US Senate on Wednesday. The resolution had many hurdles and was largely symbolic, as it was almost certain that President Trump would veto it. French President Emmanuel Macron said France would increase the number of nuclear warheads and promised further cooperation with interested European allies. Analysts say this is “the most important update to France’s nuclear deterrence policy in 30 years.”
If the conflict in the Middle East continues for a long time, remittances will decline enough to affect the Indian economy. The Indian diaspora in the Gulf accounts for nearly 38% of total remittances to India, according to a Citi report. Based on inflows of $135.4 billion in fiscal year 2025, the Gulf countries’ share will be $51.4 billion. To put this in perspective, India’s total trade surplus with the US was $58.2 billion in 2025.
China on Thursday set its GDP growth target for 2026 at 4.5% to 5%, according to a copy of a government work report obtained by CNBC. This is the lowest goal ever recorded dating back to the early 1990s. Defense spending is expected to rise 7%, the slowest growth since 2021, as Beijing grapples with persistent deflationary pressures and trade tensions with the United States, but analysts believe the official figures are an underestimate.
State media Fars news agency reported on Wednesday that Amazon’s Bahrain data center was targeted by Iran for supporting the US military. The company’s cloud computing division announced Monday that one of its facilities in Bahrain was damaged in a nearby drone attack on Sunday. Two data centers in the United Arab Emirates were also damaged by “direct hits” from drones.
Tech industry groups have expressed “concerns” to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth after a company was designated as a supply chain risk. The letter, written by the Information Technology Industry Council, did not mention Anthropic by name, but the artificial intelligence company was given that name Friday after failing to reach an agreement with the Department of Defense. Participating companies include Nvidia, Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon.
Broadcom, the chipmaker riding the artificial intelligence boom, reported stronger profits and revenue and issued a strong outlook for the current fiscal year. Shares rose as much as 5% in extended trading Wednesday. “We expect AI revenue from chips alone to exceed $100 billion in 2027,” Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said on a conference call with analysts. “We have also secured the necessary supply chain to achieve this.”
And finally…
The United States insists that the Iran conflict will not become a “forever war.” experts disagree
Since the United States and Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran last weekend, Washington has emphasized that the military action would last only a few weeks and would not result in a so-called “forever war.”
But experts say the US could easily stall Operation Epic Fury if the Iranian regime proves more resilient than expected.
— Holly Ellyatt
