An AI data center construction boom in the US since about 2020

Good news!

"... AI data center construction spending, on the other hand, is soaring. Compared with a year ago, it is up 28.1 percent to $50.7 billion. It now accounts for 52 percent of private office construction and 2.3 percent of all construction spending.  On a longer timeline, the growth is truly explosive. Compared with February 2020, spending is up around 420 percent.

The shift has been remarkably fast. A year earlier, in April 2025, data centers accounted for 44.5 percent of private office construction.

Two years earlier, in April 2024, they were just 32.9 percent. 

In dollar terms, data center construction has climbed from $28.3 billion in April 2024 to $39.6 billion in April 2025 and $50.7 billion in April 2026. ..."

Breitbart Business Digest

Nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine since 2022, top UK intel chief says

Bad news!

When will the lethargic, apathetic Russian Slav(e)s/Serfs finally get rid of their last tsar, the megalomaniac, warmonger and war criminal Putin the Terrible! He is an ugly remnant of the Cold War and a former KGB agent. He is a wannabe Stalin. Please Russian people make the world a better, more peaceful place again! How many more young Russian men will be killed or maimed before you act!

"... Russia is now losing roughly 1,000 troops a day in killed and wounded along the front, according to Ukraine’s General Staff. ..."

Nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine, top UK intel chief says

Norway becomes ninth country to sign up for French nuclear deterrence

Good news! About time!

"... Norway will not host nuclear weapons in peacetime ... But the new French doctrine, which was announced ... by Emmanuel Macron, the country’s president ... in March, promises to link existential threats to European allies to a French nuclear response even if the U.S. may disengage. All decision-making powers will remain in Paris, as will the control over nuclear weapons. France would, in effect, act as a protective power for Europe. ...

Others are farther along: The discussions in Poland, for example, envision a possible role for forward deployment of French nuclear-capable Rafale aircraft.

The nuclear-deterrence framework is perhaps most mature in Germany: The two countries formed a steering group on the issue earlier this year, promising first concrete steps by the end of 2026. ...

France is one of five countries permitted under international treaties to possess nuclear weapons, and one of nine that actually do. At around 290 warheads, the French nuclear arsenal is the fourth-largest in the world, after China, the U.S. and Russia, and ahead of the U.K."

Norway becomes ninth country to sign up for French nuclear deterrence as trust in US falters "President Emmanuel Macron’s initiative is gaining steam, as German officials plan to observe French nuclear operations."

US general holds rare meeting with Cuban military officials near Guantanamo Bay on Cuba

What is President Trump up to regarding Cuba?

Will Cuba libre finally happen?

"The top U.S. general overseeing forces in Latin America held a rare meeting on Friday with senior Cuban military officials at the perimeter of U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the U.S. military said on Friday, confirming a Reuters story. ..."

US general holds rare meeting with Cuban military officials near Guantanamo Bay

Disclaimer

Since end of February, I  am blogging from behind the Great Firewall of China.

My Internet service in China is very spotty. Thus, I am not able to blog as usual.