Morning Briefing — June 22, 2026

World News

Right-wing De la Espriella narrowly wins Colombia presidential runoff — Far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella secured a razor-thin lead in Colombia's presidential runoff, taking 49.7% versus left-wing senator Iván Cepeda's 48.7% with nearly all ballots counted. Cepeda has refused to formally concede and his campaign is challenging results from roughly 33,000 polling stations. Al Jazeera

US and Iran launch 60-day sprint to finalize nuclear deal — Vice President JD Vance met Iranian negotiators in Switzerland in a rare face-to-face encounter, with mediators Qatar and Pakistan describing the session as constructive. The parties agreed on a road map for a final deal within 60 days while technical talks continue on sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program. NBC News

Counter-terrorism police probe suspected anti-Muslim attacks in Edinburgh — Scottish counterterrorism officers are investigating a series of Friday-night attacks in Edinburgh in which five men were injured, with three requiring hospital treatment. A 36-year-old Scottish man has been charged, and PM Keir Starmer said the suspect appeared motivated by anti-Muslim hatred. Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera cameraman killed in Israeli strike on Gaza refugee camp — Al Jazeera Mubasher cameraman Ahmed Wishah was killed after an Israeli drone targeted a home in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. The network condemned the killing as a deliberate targeting of its correspondent. Al Jazeera

Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire holds amid disputed strikes in southern Lebanon — Hezbollah said it has adhered to the recent ceasefire and accused Israel of fabricating pretexts for ongoing strikes in southern Lebanon. Netanyahu has resisted withdrawing Israeli forces from the security zone, complicating the broader US-brokered framework with Iran. CBS News

Ukrainian strikes spark worst energy crisis in Crimea since annexation — Ukrainian forces have repeatedly hit fuel supplies into Crimea in recent weeks, producing what analysts describe as the worst energy crisis there since Russia's 2014 annexation. The strikes mark a continued widening of the conflict's economic toll. NBC News

Business

US stock futures slip as oil eases on Iran diplomatic progress — S&P 500 futures dipped about 0.2% heading into Monday's open after the long weekend, with Brent crude dropping roughly 1.7% toward $79 as US and Iranian negotiators agreed on a road map for a final deal. Treasuries fell across the curve and the dollar edged higher. Bloomberg

Carney unveils $3.2B National Food Security Strategy — Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada's first National Food Security Strategy, committing $3.2 billion over a decade to expand domestic food production, fund new food terminals and boost the Competition Bureau. The plan aims to break the dominance of Canada's five largest grocers, who control about 75% of the market. CBC

Canada's Competition Bureau to probe food supply chain — The Competition Bureau launched a broad market study examining how competition along the food supply chain influences grocery prices, looking at production and processing, transportation, and retail pricing practices. A final report with recommendations is expected next spring. CBC

Colombia election seen as boost for business-friendly, pro-US policies — Bloomberg analysts say the preliminary Colombia election outcome signals a swing back toward business-friendly and pro-US policies after four years of leftist rule. Major business guilds congratulated de la Espriella, although a divided Congress and high public debt loom as constraints. Bloomberg

Fed left rates unchanged at 3.50–3.75% as projections turn hawkish — The Federal Reserve held its target range steady but its updated Summary of Economic Projections leaned hawkish, triggering a mid-week sell-off. Nine of 18 policymakers now pencil in at least one rate hike before year-end, a sharp reversal from March's outlook for cuts. T. Rowe Price

China property slump deepens as investment falls 16.2% — Property investment in China dropped 16.2% year-on-year in the first five months of 2026 and new-home prices kept declining in May, though first-tier cities saw their third consecutive month of gains. PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng also unveiled new financial sector measures including expanded overnight reverse repos. T. Rowe Price

Technology

Trump softens stance on Anthropic after AI access dispute — President Trump told Axios he no longer views Anthropic or CEO Dario Amodei as US security threats following the company's compliance with export-control directives on its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models. The reversal follows weeks of confrontation that forced the AI firm to disable access to its top models. Bloomberg

Nobel winner John Jumper to leave Google DeepMind for Anthropic — AlphaFold creator and Nobel laureate John Jumper is reportedly departing Google DeepMind to join Anthropic, a high-profile talent shift between two leading AI labs. The move comes as Anthropic prepares its long-awaited IPO. Bloomberg

How a single Commerce Department directive forced Anthropic's top AI offline — NBC News details the chain of events that began with a remark on a call between Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and Trump administration officials and ended with Anthropic disabling Fable 5 and Mythos 5 worldwide. It is the first time the federal government has forced a leading AI company to retract its systems from public use. NBC News

UnitedHealth's $3 billion AI push has bots calling doctors — UnitedHealth is rolling out a multi-billion dollar AI strategy that includes voice bots placing calls to physicians, part of a broader effort to cut costs across its insurance and care operations. The push is one of the largest enterprise AI deployments in US healthcare. Bloomberg

Reuters Institute: AI chatbots gain ground as news trust slides — The 2026 Reuters Institute Digital News Report finds that for the first time, social and video networks have overtaken TV and traditional websites as news sources across surveyed markets. Fewer than four in ten respondents say they trust the news they see, and AI chatbots are emerging as a fast-growing access point. GIJN / Reuters Institute

Cybersecurity executives urge White House to ease Anthropic restrictions — A group of cybersecurity executives wrote to the Trump administration arguing that blocking foreign use of Anthropic's Mythos and Fable models hurts US cyber defense more than it helps. They warn that Chinese models are only months behind the leading American systems. ABC News

Renewable Energy

Carbon Brief DeBriefed: Bonn talks end in 'gridlock' as energy 'new era' looms — Carbon Brief's weekly digest reports that the Bonn intersessional climate talks closed in gridlock, even as the IEA and others describe a 'new era' for energy driven by clean power. Oceans also moved up the formal negotiating agenda ahead of COP31. Carbon Brief

France to tender 10 GW of offshore wind projects — France's energy ministry said it will open a long-awaited call for tenders for 10 gigawatts of offshore wind, with most projects located off the country's west coast. The procurement is one of Europe's largest single offshore-wind tranches to date. Clean Energy Wire / Reuters

UK seventh carbon budget projected to deliver £865bn in net benefits — Analysis of the UK's proposed seventh carbon budget shows it would require investment of about £880bn over 25 years but yield economic benefits worth roughly £1,620bn, including £445bn saved on oil and gas imports. The budget faces a parliamentary 'flashpoint' as Conservatives and Reform UK pledge to scrap net-zero policies. Carbon Brief

Europe's CCS pipeline losing steam as projects stall — A new IEEFA analysis finds new European carbon capture and storage project announcements peaked in 2021 and have been declining as technical and economic challenges mount. The findings cast doubt on CCS's projected contribution to EU climate goals. Clean Energy Wire

China's solar additions set to slow after record 2025 — After installing a record 315 GW of solar in 2025, China is expected to add closer to 120 GW in 2026 amid pricing reform-driven uncertainty. The government's 200 GW combined wind-and-solar target for the year will be 'difficult' to achieve, analysts told Carbon Brief. Carbon Brief

EIA: US to add 80 GW of solar, wind and storage by early 2027 — US Energy Information Administration data shows utility-scale solar, wind and battery storage will add more than 80 GW of new capacity by February 2027, while fossil and nuclear capacity falls by almost 5 GW. Renewables' share of US generating capacity is projected to rise from 33.4% to 36.6%. Electrek

Scientists urge action beyond CO2 to tackle warming — A new report covered by Bloomberg argues that 'indirect' greenhouse gases play a larger role in warming than previously understood, even as CO2 and methane remain dominant. The researchers call on policymakers to broaden mitigation strategies. Bloomberg / Clean Energy Wire

Soil Science

FAO forecasts global cereal output to dip but remain historically high — The FAO's new Food Outlook projects 2026/2027 global cereal production at nearly 3 billion tonnes, down about 2% from record 2025 levels but still elevated. Markets remain highly sensitive to weather, El Niño, and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz which is pushing up fertilizer costs. Agriland / FAO

FAO maps El Niño drought risk to global agriculture — A new FAO analysis using 41 years of satellite data identifies the Sahel, Southern Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Central America's Dry Corridor as facing the highest probability of El Niño-driven agricultural drought. Many areas already see more than a 50% chance of drought in the coming months. FAO

Small soil upgrade cuts locust damage and doubles yields in Senegal — Researchers working with farmers in Senegal found that enriching soil health dramatically reduced locust damage and doubled crop yields. The trial points to a low-cost agronomic intervention that could ease food insecurity in regions prone to swarms. ScienceDaily

Chickpeas grown in simulated moon soil — Scientists have successfully cultivated chickpeas in lunar-regolith simulant mixed with worm-produced compost and beneficial microbes, a promising step toward off-Earth agriculture. The work explores soil amendments that allow legumes to thrive in mineral-poor substrates. ScienceDaily

Seismic signals show how heavy tilling damages soil — New research uses the tiny seismic signals of rainwater moving through soil to demonstrate the damage caused by intensive tillage. The technique could give farmers and scientists a non-invasive way to monitor soil structural health. Science News

Global food import bill hits record $2.22 trillion — The FAO estimates the 2025 global food import bill rose 7.9% to a record $2.22 trillion, driven largely by higher prices for coffee, cocoa, spices, animal products and produce. Concerns remain for the 2026/27 season as fertilizer markets stall, particularly for nitrogen and phosphate. Agriland / FAO

FAO publishes 2026–2028 emergency plan for Ukrainian agriculture — The FAO released its Emergency and Early Recovery Response Plan for Ukraine for 2026–2028, outlining priority actions to protect livelihoods and restore productive capacity in the war-affected agrifood sector. The plan follows the 2025 distribution of 615 modular storage units to frontline farmers, backed by Canada and Japan. FAO

Cover photo by Turquoise Partners on Unsplash.