🌎 Bad Report

US weighs military action in Iran amid anti-government protests

The protests have become one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution. President Donald Trump said the US is considering military action in response to a violent government crackdown on anti-government protests in Iran.

What’s going on?

On Sunday, widespread anti-government protests across Iran entered their third week, marking one of the largest waves of unrest in the country since 2022:

• Over 540 people have been killed, including 48 reported deaths among security forces, and at least 10,000 people have been arrested, according to human rights groups.

• Hundreds of protests have been documented across all 31 provinces (watch video), though a government-enforced nationwide internet shutdown has limited reliable reporting.

Why the anti-government protests? The demonstrations began in late December as Iran’s currency fell to a record low, causing the price of food and other necessities to skyrocket. See a further timeline of events here.

The US wants to step in

As the death toll of the protests increased, President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States “will come to their rescue.” But what would US intervention look like?

• Trump said the US has a range of “strong options” it could take, including airstrikes, according to several media outlets.

• However, nonmilitary options, such as cyberattacks and sanctions, are reportedly being considered as well.

Looking forward… Trump told reporters that diplomatic channels with Iranian leaders remain open, and that talks are being arranged, but also warned that the US might act before formal negotiations occur if the situation continues to worsen. In a Monday statement, the speaker of Iran’s parliament said that US military bases, ships, and personnel across the region would be targeted if Washington intervenes in any way.

🌎 Why this matters: Even a limited conflict between the two nations could disrupt oil exports (potentially raising gas and energy prices at home), cause travel disruptions, and pose potential cyber threats.

2025 was one of the worst years for job hunters in over a decade

US employers couldn’t stop hitting the ‘denied’ button. The US economy added just 50,000 jobs last month, making 2025 the worst year for job creation (outside of a recession) since 2003.

Bad report, bad year

According to a recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, last year’s job creation numbers essentially fell off a cliff when compared with previous years:

• In 2025, total payroll gains hit nearly 584,000, significantly lower than the approximately 2 million jobs added the previous year.

• As for monthly averages, the US added around 49,000 jobs a month last year, a stark contrast to the 168,000 seen in 2024.

Employers said their reasons for not hiring as much boiled down to economic uncertainty and waiting to see if widespread AI adoption would increase worker productivity or not.

Is there any good news? While hiring sat at record lows, December’s unemployment rate dipped to 4.4% in December, down from 4.5% from the previous month, and average hourly wages continued to grow, rising about 3.8% from the year prior, outpacing inflation.

🌎 What does this mean for you? Since barely anyone got hired last year, young Americans entering the workforce are likely to face stiffer job competition, slower promotions, and smaller pay bumps, making it harder to build experience in an already packed job market.

Meta is going nuclear to power its data centers

This will make a great Instagram post. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced a series of major deals with nuclear energy companies to supply electricity for its growing AI infrastructure.

Going nuclear

The agreements, signed with TerraPower, Oklo, and Vistra, are designed to provide reliable nuclear power for Meta’s large‑scale Prometheus AI data center that’s currently under construction in Ohio. According to Meta:

• The deals could support up to 6.6 gigawatts of clean energy by 2035, enough power to provide electricity to 5 million homes.

The agreements make Meta one of the largest corporate purchasers of nuclear power in US history, all at a time when Big Tech has been under pressure to find alternative energy options for its data centers that increasingly stress local electrical grids.

Why nuclear power?

Data centers demand massive, steady, around-the-clock energy, and nuclear power offers a clean, low-carbon option to feed tech companies’ increasing AI appetite. That’s why Meta isn’t alone in its pursuit:

• Microsoft recently made an agreement to restart the infamous Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania to match its growing AI infrastructure.

• Google inked a deal last summer to produce advanced nuclear energy for its data centers, with initial capacity expected by the early 2030s.

• Amazon built a large data center next to the Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania and made other agreements to explore nuclear options for its business operations.

It’s a new life for nuclear: Tech companies push toward nuclear to power their energy-intensive data centers is breathing new life into an industry long in decline and frequently written off as a relic of the 20th century.

🌎 What actually changes: While Big Tech’s shift toward nuclear power could mean more reliable electricity and potentially less strain on the grid as AI usage grows, it may also raise local concerns about plant location, safety, and the long-term costs in communities near new or restarted facilities.

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Trump pushes 10% cap on credit card interest rates

It’s a 2024 campaign promise banks hoped they could forget. Friday night, President Trump announced a plan to limit credit-card interest rates to 10% for one year, starting later this month. The banking industry is not happy.

What would capping rates do?

Trump said the goal is to protect consumers from getting “ripped off” by what he described as “excessive” rates, saying that a 10% interest rate cap would help alleviate some affordability concerns.

It’s worth noting that rates are pretty high:

• The average credit-card interest rate has peaked above 20% in recent years, and is currently sitting at 19.65%, compared to just 14% a decade ago.

Would it actually save Americans money? A paper published by Vanderbilt University last year found that capping credit card interest rates at 10% could save Americans roughly $100 billion in interest costs each year, while still allowing banks to remain profitable if they reduced rewards programs.

Banks aren’t fans of the plan

After President Trump floated the plan in a Truth Social post (see here), financial institutions sharply pushed back, warning that a hard cap could have unintended consequences.

The American Bankers Association (among other major banking associations) said a 10% limit would make many credit cards unprofitable. That means:

• Banks would likely respond by lending less to borrowers with credit scores below 600 and make it harder for higher-risk consumers to access credit markets.

• It could also push consumers toward less-regulated, higher-cost, riskier alternatives, like payday loans.

Looking forward… While the idea has drawn some bipartisan support, it’s still unclear whether Trump would pursue it through executive action, legislation, or public pressure, and legal experts say the president will need the thumbs up from Congress to enforce a hard cap nationwide.

🌎 The real-world takeaway: While capping rates would save Americans a lot of money, lenders tightening standards or cutting off credit for riskier borrowers could hurt the same people the proposal aims to help.

CES 2026 was all about humanoid robots

I mean what else did you expect? The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the tech world’s biggest annual showcase, wrapped up in Las Vegas this weekend.

Among the most talked about products were humanoid robots and rather interesting AI-powered innovations, highlighting how AI is moving from screens into physical machines.

Bring on the bots

Companies from around the world debuted what they call “home helper” robots that walk, talk, interact with people, and perform real-world tasks. Some of the standout products were:

• Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid (see here), which it worked on with Hyundai, could be used in industrial settings such as factory assembly lines by the end of the decade.

• LG’s CLOiD robot, which was shown performing everyday household tasks, including folding laundry and interacting with appliances.

• One of the more dexterous robots, from Singapore-based Sharpa, played ping-pong with attendees and even started dealing a hand of blackjack.

See a compilation of the show’s other robots here (with videos).

Were there any other cool gadgets? Outside of the walking, talking, blackjack-dealing bots, non-humanoid AI tech was also on full display. From fully holographic AI companions to AI-powered robo-vaccums to AI bartenders, the show was certainly riding (at least in part) on the AI wave.

🌎 Why this matters: The emphasis on almost-uncanny-valley-level robots marks a shift toward “physical AI,” and shows that these humanoid models aren’t just novelties anymore; they’re future partners in workplaces, homes, and service settings from factories to kitchens.

Catch up on this week’s weird news

 > OpenAI reports that 230 million users ask ChatGPT medical-related questions each week, around 29% of the chatbot’s total userbase.

 > A new study found that a rare group of dogs can learn the meanings of words simply by eavesdropping on their owners talking.

 > A Belarusian woman performed the world’s highest skysurf jump by free-falling from 20,945 feet above Mount Everest, setting a new Guinness World Record.

 > NASA ordered the first-ever medical evacuation of an astronaut from the International Space Station due to an unspecified medical emergency.

 > Researchers have identified chemical traces of plant-based poison on 60,000-year-old arrowheads from South Africa’s Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter, making them the oldest known poisoned weapons ever found.