Morning Briefing — July 9, 2026

World News

Trump declares Iran ceasefire 'over' after new US strikes on 80 targets — President Trump said the ceasefire with Iran is over after Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz prompted US strikes on 80 targets, an announcement made at the NATO summit in Ankara. The escalation marks the worst since talks began to end the war. Fox News

Russian drones and missiles kill four across Ukraine as Kyiv struck again — Russian drones and missiles killed four people across Ukraine on July 8, striking Kyiv for the second straight day, with Ukraine's air force reporting 169 long-range drones and seven missiles launched. Ukraine retaliated by striking oil refineries deep inside Russia in Saratov and Tatarstan. Washington Times / AP

NATO summit in Ankara concludes with Erdogan calling it 'historic' — Turkish President Erdogan said the 2026 NATO summit in Ankara concluded successfully at a critical moment for Euro-Atlantic security. UK PM Keir Starmer said NATO emerged 'stronger and more united' despite Trump's criticism of the alliance. Anadolu Agency

Trump moves to remove Syria from state sponsors of terrorism list — President Trump formally notified Congress of his administration's intent to rescind Syria's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced. Erdogan met Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the Ankara summit. Anadolu Agency

IMF trims 2026 global growth forecast citing Middle East war — The International Monetary Fund lowered its 2026 global growth forecast to 3% from 3.1%, citing the impact of the Middle East war, elevated inflation and risks from trade fragmentation. The UN also reported that verified conflict-related sexual violence cases more than doubled worldwide in 2025. Anadolu Agency

Trump threatens Spain trade embargo over defence spending dispute — President Trump ordered Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to cut off all trade with Spain, including visits, amid tensions over the country's defence spending commitments. The move escalates a diplomatic dispute over NATO burden-sharing. BNN Bloomberg

FIFA reverses US player's red card suspension, roiling soccer world — FIFA's decision to reverse a US player's red card suspension has sparked controversy in international soccer, following Belgium's 4-1 knockout victory over the US in the World Cup. The red-card controversy has drawn wide criticism ahead of subsequent knockout rounds. CBC

Business

Asian stocks climb on AI chip optimism as oil extends gains after Iran strikes — Asian shares rose July 9, led by chipmakers as optimism over AI-driven demand rekindled appetite for semiconductor stocks. Oil extended gains after the US struck Iran for a second day, with South Korea's Kospi climbing 1%. Bloomberg

Air Canada names Anko Van der Werff as new president and CEO — Air Canada named Anko Van der Werff its new president and CEO. The move comes as the airline is also halting and delaying several US routes amid high fuel costs. CBC

Rogers cuts 230 jobs and closes radio stations across Canada — Rogers is cutting 230 jobs and closing radio stations in Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax and Kitchener. The reductions add to a wave of consolidation in Canadian media. CBC

Canada's trade surplus hits four-year high in May on US exports — Canada's trade surplus climbed to a four-year high in May, driven by a jump in exports to the United States. The figure comes despite ongoing trade tensions and stalled negotiations, with US envoy Hoekstra saying there has been no significant progress in 14 months of talks. CBC

UK stocks poised for rebound as oil cools — The FTSE 100 is set to rebound as oil prices ease after the initial spike from renewed US-Iran hostilities. UK gilts and the pound are being closely watched amid ongoing volatility from the Hormuz crisis. Bloomberg

BP CEO says oil giant must make 'fewer and better' choices — BP's chief executive said the oil major needs to be more selective in its capital allocation. The strategy shift comes amid volatile oil prices and pressure to rationalise investment across the sector. Bloomberg

Sapporo and Carlsberg form $643 million Southeast Asia joint venture — Sapporo Breweries will invest around $643 million to acquire a 25% equity stake as part of an expanded joint venture with Carlsberg covering Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Carlsberg will contribute its businesses in the relevant markets, with returns expected to top 12%. CNBC

Fiserv shares surge on report of talks to sell payments unit — Fiserv shares rallied more than 5% after the WSJ reported the fintech has held talks with major US banks, including JPMorgan and Bank of America, to sell its debit-card payments infrastructure business. CNBC

Technology

Chinese AI models now account for 30-46% of enterprise API token use in US — A CNBC investigation confirmed that Chinese AI models now account for between 30% and 46% of enterprise API token usage flowing through US developer platforms, up from an average of 11% over the prior year. Open-source Chinese models are reportedly 60-90% cheaper than leading Anthropic and OpenAI offerings. CNBC / Build Fast with AI

Trump cancels AI executive order signing ceremony without explanation — The White House cancelled an anticipated AI executive order signing ceremony without explanation, during the same window it was expected to announce a voluntary AI model standards framework. The August 1 deadline for NSA and CISA to deliver classified frontier model benchmarks still stands. Build Fast with AI

Anthropic's Fable 5 shifts to paid usage credits for all users — As of July 8, every Claude user accessing Fable 5 must pay usage credits at $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens, ending its inclusion in Pro, Max and Team subscriptions. The pricing is double that of Claude Opus 4.8, prompting developers to audit routing configurations. Build Fast with AI

DeepSeek developing its own AI inference chip — DeepSeek is developing its own artificial intelligence chip designed for inference rather than model training, according to Reuters sources. The Chinese startup's effort began about a year ago and remains at an early stage, intensifying the US-China tech competition. Reuters via CNBC

Nvidia's Vera Rubin VR200 rack to cost hyperscalers $7.8M per unit — According to Morgan Stanley Research, Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin-based VR200 NVL72 rack will cost cloud providers around $7.8 million per unit, up from $4 million for the prior GB300. Memory now accounts for roughly 25% of total system cost, with each Rubin GPU priced near $55,000. Crescendo AI / Morgan Stanley

Meta lays off about 8,000 workers in AI-focused restructuring — Meta began implementing layoffs of approximately 8,000 employees, about 10% of its workforce, while reassigning 7,000 others to AI-focused teams and cancelling 6,000 open roles. The cuts add to over 100,000 tech industry job losses in 2026, many attributed to AI automation. Crescendo AI

JADEPUFFER agent marks new frontier of autonomous AI ransomware — HiddenLayer's 2026 AI Threat Landscape Report finds that autonomous agents now account for 1 in 8 reported AI breaches, with JADEPUFFER representing a fully autonomous agent executing an entire ransomware lifecycle. 76% of organisations cite shadow AI as a growing problem. Build Fast with AI / HiddenLayer

SK Hynix launches $29 billion US stock market listing — SK Hynix kicked off the formal marketing process for its US listing, which may help the Korean chipmaker compete in the global memory chip market for AI computing. The move comes amid strong demand for HBM memory tied to AI training. Bloomberg

Renewable Energy

EU plans 2040 electrification target to cut oil and gas consumption — The European Union is planning a 2040 electrification target aimed at reducing oil and gas consumption across the bloc. The target forms part of Brussels' next phase of decarbonisation strategy. Bloomberg

IRENA: renewables helped avoid $480 billion in fossil-fuel costs in 2025 — IRENA reported that renewables not only were the cheapest new power source but also acted as a geopolitical shock absorber, helping avoid $480 billion in fossil-fuel costs in 2025. The EEA separately said homegrown renewables are Europe's best route to reducing exposure to volatile international energy supplies. Clean Energy Wire / IRENA

Renewables supplied record 58% of German electricity in H1 2026 — Renewable energy sources supplied a record 58% of Germany's electricity consumption in the first half of 2026, according to a new report, putting the country on track toward its 2030 clean energy goals. Carbon Pulse

China's top solar firm switches from silver to copper metallisation — China's leading solar manufacturer is switching from silver to copper for cell metallisation, a shift that could sharply cut costs and reduce reliance on silver supplies. The move signals a manufacturing breakthrough for the solar industry. Bloomberg

China's Q1 2026 CO2 emissions rise 2% as clean power is wasted — China's CO2 emissions from energy and industry grew 2% in Q1 2026 as more coal and gas were burned despite record wind and solar additions. Clean power equivalent to more than France's entire quarterly electricity output was curtailed due to grid inflexibility and long-term coal contracts. Carbon Brief / CREA

Brussels taps ETS cash for €2.5 billion clean energy push in poorer EU states — The European Commission is channelling €2.5 billion of EU ETS revenue into a clean energy push aimed at poorer EU member states. The move aims to support the bloc's energy transition while addressing regional disparities. Carbon Pulse

Wildfire Energy raises funds from Qantas and Airbus for waste-to-fuel tech — Australian investor Climate Tech Partners put A$2 million into Wildfire Energy with Qantas and Airbus participating, backing its waste-to-energy and sustainable fuels platform. The company's gasification technology converts unprocessed waste into synthetic gas for power, heat and low-carbon fuels. Carbon Pulse

Aramis CO2 storage hub in Netherlands delayed to late 2027 decision — The final investment decision on the Aramis CO2 transport and storage hub in the Netherlands will be taken at the end of next year, once the EU regulatory landscape becomes clearer, according to the Dutch gas infrastructure operator behind the project. Carbon Pulse

Soil Science

UK launches Center for Dynamic Soils to bridge research and farm practice — The UK's Center for Dynamic Soils launched as an independent, farmer-led initiative to transform how soil science is conducted and applied across the food and farming sectors. The centre aims to bridge cutting-edge soil research with on-farm practice to accelerate nature-positive agriculture. Agroforestry Partners

80% of UK farmers adopting or planning regenerative agriculture, Barclays finds — New Barclays research finds 80% of surveyed UK farmers have adopted or plan to adopt regenerative farming practices. The survey signals broad mainstream acceptance driven by environmental awareness and economic incentives. Agroforestry Partners / Barclays

FAO warns Strait of Hormuz crisis is creating a global fertilizer shock — FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu warned that the Strait of Hormuz disruption is causing a global fertilizer and farm production shock, since a large share of world fertilizer and sulfur exports pass through the strait. Farmers globally are already cutting investment, reconsidering crops and reducing fertilizer use. FAO / Food Ingredients First

Fertilizer prices up 35% year-on-year, threatening 2026 harvests — Global fertilizer prices increased by 35% in the first five months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, according to the World Bank. Effects of reduced fertilizer application will likely only become visible in later harvest outcomes, with a 61-87% probability of El Niño emerging by mid-2026. World Bank

USDA finalises rule for measuring regenerative biofuel feedstock benefits — The USDA finalised its Production of Regenerative Agricultural Biofuel Feedstocks rule, giving producers a standardised method to measure the environmental benefits of conservation practices. An accompanying Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator lets growers quantify the carbon value of their practices. Agroforestry Partners / USDA

Trump suspends duties on Moroccan phosphate fertilizer amid supply squeeze — President Trump declared an emergency and suspended certain duties on phosphate fertilizer imports from Morocco to ensure adequate supply for American farmers. The action aims to safeguard US food production amid concerns about fertilizer availability tied to the Hormuz disruption. Agroforestry Partners

EPA launches $30 million challenge for alternatives to chemical crop desiccation — The EPA announced a $30 million national innovation challenge to develop cost-effective alternatives to chemical crop desiccation, the common practice of spraying pesticides to dry crops before harvest. The prize invites public input on solutions that reduce pre-harvest pesticide use while maintaining yields. Agroforestry Partners / EPA

New research: biochar shows promise for remediating microplastic-contaminated soils — A comprehensive review in the Soil Science Society of America Journal evaluates biochar as a promising, cost-effective and sustainable strategy for remediating microplastic-contaminated soils. Biochar stabilises aggregates, improves porosity and moisture retention, and boosts beneficial soil microbes, though field-scale knowledge gaps remain. Soil Science Society of America Journal

Standard Bank commits R3.45 billion to climate-smart agriculture in South Africa — Standard Bank Group committed R3.45 billion to climate-smart agriculture in South Africa to strengthen farmer resilience and food security. The initiative reflects growing institutional support for sustainable farming and climate adaptation across the continent. Agroforestry Partners

Cover photo by Çağlar Oskay on Unsplash.