Morning Briefing — June 13, 2026

World News

US launches second day of air strikes on Iran amid escalating conflict — The United States carried out air strikes on Iran for a second consecutive day, deepening the 2026 Iran war that began in late February. The conflict has heightened regional tensions, with Iranian missiles displayed prominently on banners in Tehran and disruption threatened at the World Cup opening in Mexico City. NPR

South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol sentenced to 30 years over drone-flight plot — South Korea's ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his former defence minister were sentenced to 30 years in prison. Prosecutors alleged Yoon ordered drone flights over Pyongyang in 2024 to heighten tensions with North Korea and justify his short-lived martial law declaration. NPR

Ukraine sends military experts to Gulf to help counter Iranian drones — Following Washington's suspension of direct military aid to Kyiv, Ukraine has agreed to deploy military experts to the Gulf region to help defend against Iranian drone and missile attacks. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy framed the US-Israeli strikes on Iran as a necessary response to regional aggression and confirmed assistance requests from 11 countries. Wikipedia / Al Jazeera

Japan's nuclear reboot stalls over spent-fuel storage crisis — Japan's push to restart its nuclear programme is being undermined by a shortage of storage space for spent nuclear fuel and the lack of any concrete radioactive waste disposal plan. The bottleneck highlights structural weaknesses in a sector Tokyo wants to lean on for energy security. NPR

Northern Ireland sees fresh street unrest as protesters clash with police — Protesters in Northern Ireland set fires and threw bricks and bottles at police lines during a fresh outbreak of disorder. The violence has reignited concerns about community tensions in the region. NPR

Alberta separation push raises questions over mortgages and banking — A group campaigning for Alberta independence from Canada says mortgages would carry over and big banks would continue operating in an independent province. Analysts warn the practical mechanics of separation would be far more complicated than supporters suggest. CBC

Business

Canada adds 88,000 jobs in May, easing recession fears — Statistics Canada reported the economy added 88,000 jobs in May, the first significant employment gain since November 2025. Construction led the surge with 26,800 new positions, followed by information and culture (19,300) and transportation and warehousing (18,700). CBC

Canada slips into technical recession on annualised basis — Canada's economy contracted in the first quarter on an annualised basis, marking two consecutive quarters of decline by that measure. Economists said the news washes away any case for Bank of Canada rate hikes this year, with business confidence visibly weakening. CBC

Canada-US trade minister expects bilateral deals alongside continental pact — Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he expects bilateral agreements to be negotiated in parallel with talks on the critical continental trade pact. The comments come amid ongoing efforts to stabilise the cross-border trading relationship. BNN Bloomberg

Canadian rents fall as new supply and slower population growth bite — Canada's housing agency said rental prices have eased thanks to an influx of completions and slower population growth. However, demand in major cities is expected to rebuild as affordability improves. CTV News

Capital Economics warns IPO surge mirrors late-stage market booms — Analysts at Capital Economics flagged that surging equity issuance has historically coincided with the late stages of major stock market booms. US net equity issuance by non-financial corporations turned positive in Q1 2026 for the first time since mid-2021, sparking concerns the AI-fuelled IPO wave may be a warning sign. CoinCentral

Alphabet plans $80bn share sale to fund AI infrastructure — Alphabet has announced plans to raise about $80 billion through share sales to finance heavy capital spending on AI infrastructure without taking on more debt. Reports suggest Meta may follow with a similar move as hyperscalers turn to equity markets. CoinCentral

Mercedes to partner with Munich drone-defence startup Tytan — Mercedes is set to sign a memorandum of understanding with Munich-based drone-defence startup Tytan Technologies. Under the agreement, the carmaker will supply vehicles for a mobile air-defence system designed to engage small drones. Financial Times

Technology

OpenAI confidentially files for IPO at $852bn valuation — OpenAI submitted a confidential S-1 to the US SEC on June 8, 2026, one week after rival Anthropic filed at a $965 billion valuation. ChatGPT now has 900 million weekly active users, and the company said the listing timing remains undecided. TheStreet

SpaceX debuts on Nasdaq under ticker SPCX — SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 per share on June 11 and began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX on June 12. The listing kicked off a wave of AI and AI-adjacent IPOs, with combined OpenAI/Anthropic/SpaceX valuations now around $3.6 trillion. BeInCrypto

Anthropic poised for first-ever operating profit as enterprise revenue surges — Anthropic's run-rate revenue reportedly crossed $44 billion annualised in May 2026, with the Claude maker on track to post its first-ever operating profit of around $559 million in Q2. The figures underscore the rapid scaling of enterprise AI ahead of its planned IPO. INDmoney

China issues sweeping new tech export and retaliation rules — Beijing rolled out sweeping rules tightening controls over the overseas transfer of domestic technology and giving the government explicit authority to retaliate against countries restricting Chinese investment. Analysts say protecting China's lead in cleantech manufacturing is a central aim of the regulations. Carbon Brief / Caixin

New York moves to cap data-centre power demand from AI boom — New York lawmakers passed a bill imposing a one-year moratorium on permits for large data centres. The legislation also requires bigger facilities to source rising shares of electricity from renewables and shields other utility customers from costs linked to serving the sector. Carbon Pulse

Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI dismissed by Oakland jury — An Oakland jury dismissed Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI in May 2026 on statute-of-limitations grounds. The ruling clears one legal cloud as the two AI rivals separately race toward public market listings. Gotrade

OECD report finds Chinese firms get up to eight times more state support — The OECD released a report finding that Chinese companies receive three to eight times more government support than firms based in OECD countries. Beijing's commerce ministry rejected the findings as one-sided and arbitrary. Carbon Brief / AFP

Renewable Energy

China's Q1 emissions rise 2% as wind and solar curtailment spikes — New analysis for Carbon Brief shows China's CO2 emissions in January-March 2026 rose 2% year-on-year, driven by growing curtailment of wind and solar in the power sector due to inflexible grid management. Emissions nonetheless remain below their March 2024 peak. Carbon Brief

China's 2026 solar additions set to fall below 2025 record — After installing 315 GW of new solar in 2025 - more than half of all new capacity globally - China's 2026 additions are expected to come in lower. Carbon Brief examines what is behind the slowdown, including saturation of low-hanging projects and grid bottlenecks. Carbon Brief

UK and China agree to deepen cooperation on energy and climate — UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that London is willing to deepen cooperation with Beijing on energy and climate change. The readout from China's foreign ministry signals a thaw after a difficult period in bilateral relations. Carbon Brief

China solar cell exports up 60% year-on-year in April — China exported almost 1.2 million tonnes of solar cells in April 2026, a 60% year-on-year rise despite being down from a record high in March. Analysts say the Iran-US conflict and resulting energy-price pressures are driving demand from Europe, Asia and Africa. Carbon Brief / Reuters

Clean industry projects worth $43bn financed in past six months — Clean industry projects secured an estimated $43 billion in financing over the past six months - more than double the pace recorded a year earlier. China accounted for the bulk of new projects, according to a report published this week. Carbon Pulse

Ireland launches €10m EV scrappage scheme — Ireland announced a €10 million scrappage scheme designed to replace older cars with EVs. Applicants who agree to scrap a vehicle registered in 2013 or earlier could receive up to €5,000 on top of other available grants. Clean Energy Wire

UK's 7th carbon budget could deliver £865bn in net economic benefits — New analysis suggests the UK's seventh carbon budget will deliver around £865 billion in economic benefits, including roughly £445 billion saved on oil and gas imports. Carbon Brief notes the figures are presented relative to a 'no net-zero' baseline. Carbon Brief

European climate investment stagnates after 2022 surge — The Institute for Climate Economics' State of Europe's Climate Investment 2026 report finds that climate investment has stagnated after surging in response to the 2022 energy crisis. The authors say the trend reflects a broader lack of long-term investment planning across the continent. Clean Energy Wire

Soil Science

23rd World Congress of Soil Science opens in Nanjing — The 23rd World Congress of Soil Science, often called the 'Olympics' of the soil science community, opened in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province from June 8-12 under the theme 'Soil and the Shared Future of Humankind'. The gathering of nearly 3,000 experts marks the first time the event has been held in China. EurekAlert

Durham-led project tackles sub-Saharan Africa soil acidification crisis — An international team led by Durham University's Physics Department is developing composite particles made from naturally abundant dolomite and biopolymers from agricultural waste to tackle soil acidification across sub-Saharan Africa. The project, funded by the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council, partners with universities in South Africa and Kenya. Durham University

AI soil-imaging probe promises real-time field analysis — A recent publication highlights how AI and advanced imaging through a multi-sensor probe called the Digital Soil Core, developed by Landscan.AI, can rapidly analyse microscopic soil structures directly in the field. The technology could reshape precision agriculture by giving farmers near-instant insight into soil health. UF/IFAS

FAO Food Price Index broadly stable in May 2026 — The FAO Food Price Index averaged 130.8 points in May 2026, down just 0.2% from April and remaining broadly stable. World wheat prices rose for a fourth consecutive month on weaker harvest prospects in major exporters, with US winter wheat conditions among the worst in decades. FAO

Decentralised soil data network proposed for the Mediterranean — Researchers writing in Frontiers in Soil Science propose a decentralised network of soil information systems to harmonise fragmented national datasets across the Mediterranean. They argue interoperable soil data are essential for monitoring soil health and supporting sustainable land management policy. Frontiers in Soil Science

Biochar emerges as promising remediation for microplastic-contaminated soils — A comprehensive review in the Soil Science Society of America Journal evaluates biochar as a cost-effective, environmentally sustainable strategy for remediating microplastic-contaminated soils. The authors stress that efficacy depends on biochar's physicochemical properties and soil conditions, with field-scale knowledge gaps still to be addressed. SSSA Journal

Cheap biodegradable soil sensors tested for drought and flood resilience — A new open-access study in the European Journal of Soil Science deploys novel low-cost sensors across pots containing nutrient-poor biodiverse soils and arable soils growing wheat, subjecting them to drought and flood stress. The work points toward affordable monitoring tools for assessing soil resilience under climate extremes. European Journal of Soil Science

Cover photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash.