Morning Briefing — May 7, 2026

World News

Tehran evaluating U.S. proposal to end war, but Iranian lawmaker calls it 'American wish list' — President Trump said the war with Iran is going 'very smoothly' and that Tehran wants to make a deal, while continuing to describe the conflict as a 'skirmish.' Iran has yet to hand over more than 408 kg of highly enriched uranium as the two countries struggle to reach an agreement. CBC

Trump pauses U.S. effort to guide vessels through Strait of Hormuz in bid to make deal with Iran — The U.S. president halted 'Project Freedom,' the effort to help ships transit the Strait of Hormuz, as Washington signaled progress toward a peace agreement with Iran. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi held parallel talks in China to discuss the conflict. BBC

Carney says international order will be 'rebuilt out of Europe' — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters he believes Europe will lead the rebuilding of a new international order amid escalating American threats. The remarks coincided with Industry Minister Mélanie Joly's announcement of a $1.5 billion package for tariffed Canadian industries. CBC

Hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship spreads as passengers evacuated — Three passengers were evacuated from a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, with related cases now confirmed in Switzerland and South Africa. The WHO says there may have been human-to-human transmission of the rare rodent-borne respiratory virus aboard the vessel off Africa's west coast. BBC

Rudy Giuliani leaves intensive care after pneumonia hospitalization — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has left the intensive care unit after being hospitalized with pneumonia, his spokesperson confirmed. He had previously been listed in critical condition. CBS News

U.S. forces disable Iranian-flagged oil tanker in Gulf of Oman — U.S. Central Command said it disabled the tanker M/T Hasna after it allegedly tried to breach a U.S.-imposed blockade on vessels heading to or from Iran. The tanker was spotted in international waters en route to an Iranian port. CBC

Ambassadors from around the world gather in Halifax — Foreign ambassadors to Canada are visiting Halifax as part of an annual program that lets them see parts of the country outside Ottawa and meet with provincial governments. Nova Scotia officials say they have high hopes for the diplomatic opportunity. CBC

Business

Stocks rally to record highs, oil retreats as Iran deal hopes mount — Global stocks climbed and bonds gained as oil pulled back on hopes the U.S. and Iran are nearing a deal to end the war. The S&P 500 rose 1.5%, with AMD leading a rally in chipmakers, while U.S. crude settled around $95 and the dollar fell to pre-war levels. Bloomberg

Ottawa announces $1.5 billion lifeline for steel, aluminum and copper sectors — Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and AI Minister Evan Solomon unveiled a new $1 billion Business Development Bank of Canada program plus $500 million in additional Regional Tariff Response funding. The package targets industries hit by Washington's April 6 tariff adjustments on products containing steel, aluminum and copper. Government of Canada

Quick-service restaurants taking bigger hit as Canadians feel cost-of-living crunch — A new Restaurants Canada report says half of restaurants reported lower sales and fewer guests in 2026, with quick-service chains hit harder than higher-end ones. Industry leaders describe a K-shaped economy where lower-income households are pulling back most sharply on discretionary spending. CBC

Canada posts trade surplus in March on higher crude prices and surging gold exports — Canada swung to a $1.78 billion trade surplus in March from a $5.11 billion deficit, the first surplus in six months as the Iran war boosted crude prices. Total exports rose 8.5% to $72.8 billion, with energy exports hitting their highest level since September 2022. CBC / Reuters

U.S. Treasury punts on debt auction changes, signaling no shifts into 2027 — The U.S. Treasury indicated it will hold off on changing its debt auction sizes well into 2027, even as Bank of America argued Washington could lower borrowing costs by going more 'bespoke' on issuance. The yen also spiked to a 10-week high, sparking intervention speculation. Bloomberg

U.S. alcohol exports to Canada plunge 63% after provinces pull American products — An American industry group reported that U.S. alcohol exports to Canada collapsed by 63% in 2025 after most Canadian provinces pulled U.S. products from store shelves in retaliation for tariffs. The drop highlights the deepening trade rift between the two countries. BNN Bloomberg

Eli Lilly kicks off high-grade bond sale to fund deals — Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly launched a major investment-grade bond offering to finance acquisitions, joining a wave of corporate debt issuance as markets rally. The deal comes amid record highs in emerging-market stocks and tightening credit spreads. Bloomberg

Gas prices in Canada surge as Iran war strains oil supply — Rystad Energy's chief economist warned the world will lose 1.2 to 2.0 billion barrels of oil supply, equivalent to 16-27% of pre-war global inventories, before shipping normalizes. Vancouver gasoline passed $2.30 per litre, with no immediate relief expected at the pump. CBC / Reuters

Technology

Anthropic taps Elon Musk's SpaceX for more AI computing power — Anthropic struck a deal to use the full computing power of SpaceX's Colossus 1 facility in Memphis, which houses more than 220,000 Nvidia processors and gives the Claude maker 300 megawatts of new capacity within a month. The two companies are also exploring multi-gigawatt space-based orbital data centres. CBC

OpenAI didn't respect Canadian privacy law when training ChatGPT, investigation finds — A joint investigation by Canada's federal privacy commissioner and counterparts in Quebec, B.C. and Alberta concluded OpenAI's training of ChatGPT involved improper collection and use of sensitive personal information. The findings come amid lawsuits over the Tumbler Ridge, B.C. mass shooting and growing calls for AI chatbot regulation. CBC

Telecom workers say AI being used to monitor employees, disguise offshore agents' accents — The Canadian Telecommunications Workers Alliance, representing 32,000 workers at Bell, Rogers and Telus, told a House of Commons committee that AI is being used to mask the accents of overseas call centre agents and to surveil technicians. The unions are calling for a permanent federal AI working group and stronger worker protections. CBC

Microsoft may shelve 2030 clean energy target as AI lifts power use — Bloomberg News reports Microsoft is considering abandoning its 2030 clean energy commitment as ballooning AI workloads drive up electricity demand at its data centres. The reversal would mark a major retreat by one of the most prominent corporate climate pledges in tech. Reuters

U.S. Supreme Court declines to pause order holding Apple in contempt in Epic Games case — The U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt a lower-court contempt finding against Apple in the long-running Epic Games antitrust litigation. The decision keeps pressure on Apple over its App Store practices while the case proceeds. Reuters

EU plan to phase out Chinese tech could cost bloc over $400 billion, Chinese study says — A new Chinese study claims that European Union plans to remove Chinese technology from its supply chains would cost the bloc more than $400 billion. The estimate adds to a growing trans-Pacific debate over decoupling and digital sovereignty. Reuters

Elon Musk to pay $1.5M fine to settle suit over delayed Twitter disclosures — Musk agreed to a $1.5 million settlement over allegations he failed to timely disclose his stake in Twitter before his 2022 takeover. The accord closes one of several regulatory matters tied to the deal. CBC

OpenAI explores building its own smartphone to challenge Apple and Samsung — Bloomberg Businessweek reports that OpenAI is mulling a possible battle with Apple, Samsung, Huawei and other device makers by developing its own smartphone. The move would mark a major hardware push for the AI company. Bloomberg Businessweek

Renewable Energy

Clean energy pushes fossil-fuel power into reverse for 'first time ever' — According to Ember's latest annual review, renewable energy has overtaken coal as the world's largest source of electricity in 2025, the first time since 1919. Fossil-fuel generation fell 0.2% as wind and solar alone met 99% of growth in electricity demand, with solar generation jumping a record 30% year-on-year. Carbon Brief

The future of electricity is wind and solar, new report says — Canada is lagging behind — A global review found renewable energy met all new demand for electricity in 2025, halting growth of fossil-fuel-powered generation. The Canadian Renewable Energy Association projects solar, wind and storage capacity will double in Canada by 2035 based on recently approved provincial procurements. CBC

Countries chart path away from fossil fuels at first Santa Marta summit — Ministers and envoys from around the world gathered at the inaugural 'transitioning away from fossil fuels' summit co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands. France announced a new national roadmap, and Tuvalu and Ireland will co-host the second summit in 2027. Carbon Brief

Trump administration spending nearly $2 billion to incentivize companies to abandon U.S. offshore wind — The Trump administration is paying energy companies to walk away from U.S. offshore wind projects, a move that has prompted a congressional investigation by Democrats. Critics say the spending will accelerate the rollback of America's clean-energy buildout. Renewable Energy World

Sierra Club analysis: U.S. thermal power plants guzzle ~100 billion gallons of water annually — A new Sierra Club report finds Texas gas, coal and nuclear plants alone consume roughly 100 billion gallons of water per year, while renewables and battery storage use almost none. The findings underline water as another mounting argument for the clean-energy transition. CleanTechnica

Coal delivered to U.S. manufacturers falls by half over 15 years — The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that the volume of coal delivered for non-power uses such as manufacturing dropped by about half between 2010 and 2025, with the South seeing a 75% (14.7 million ton) decline. Industrial decarbonization and cheaper alternatives are reshaping demand. U.S. EIA / CleanTechnica

Voter anger over rising electricity prices becomes a force in U.S. midterms — Bloomberg reports that surging energy costs are turning the price of electricity into an unusual but powerful issue in high-stakes U.S. midterm elections for the first time. The dynamic is reshaping how candidates talk about both fossil fuels and renewables. Bloomberg

China sets target for traded electricity to reach 70% of consumption — China has set a goal for traded electricity to make up 70% of total power consumption under a new unified power-market policy, up from 64% last year. The policy supports clean-energy participation and aims to roll out spot trading nationwide by 2027. Carbon Brief

Soil Science

FAO: Soil compaction is a major and growing driver of land degradation worldwide — The Food and Agriculture Organization warns that soil compaction has become one of the top drivers of global land degradation, threatening agricultural productivity. The FAO will host its symposium on the issue in Aarhus, Denmark, in September 2026. FAO

FAO 2025 State of Food and Agriculture: Land degradation widening global yield gap — The 2025 edition of FAO's flagship report examines how human-induced land degradation reduces yields for producers of all scales and harms vulnerable populations. It draws on new data on global farm distribution to show how the scale of land management shapes opportunities for sustainable practices. FAO

Small soil upgrade cuts locust damage and doubles yields in Senegal — Researchers working with farmers in Senegal showed that improving soil health can dramatically reduce damage from locust swarms while doubling crop yields. The findings suggest soil-focused interventions could help protect food supplies in regions repeatedly hit by locust outbreaks. ScienceDaily

Mining-disaster soils still funneling toxic metals into Brazilian crops — A new study of crops grown in soil contaminated by Brazil's 2015 mining disaster found that lead and other toxic metals are still moving from earth into edible plants like bananas, cassava and cocoa. The work raises fresh concerns about long-term food safety in mining-impacted regions. ScienceDaily

Cropped: Iran war drives up food prices — Carbon Brief's Cropped newsletter reports the Iran war is pushing up global food prices through energy- and fertilizer-cost shocks, while UN nature talks have concluded and the UK's tallest bird is staging a return. The brief tracks impacts across agriculture, biodiversity and land-use policy. Carbon Brief

EU resists French request to pause carbon border tax on fertilisers — The European Commission again rebuffed a request from France and other member states to suspend the EU's CO2 emissions levy on imported fertilisers, which governments argued would help farmers facing high prices. The decision keeps pressure on agricultural input costs across the bloc. Reuters / Clean Energy Wire

Farmers Guardian: Food inflation could quadruple due to extreme weather — A new report cited by Farmers Guardian warns that food inflation could quadruple as climate-driven extreme weather, supply disruptions and market volatility hammer agricultural systems. Soil resilience and crop diversification are highlighted as key adaptation tools. Farmers Guardian

Chickpeas grown in simulated lunar soil offer step toward farming on the moon — Scientists successfully grew chickpeas in moon-like regolith mixed with worm-produced compost, an early proof-of-concept for off-world agriculture. The research highlights how soil amendments can transform sterile substrates into viable growing media. ScienceDaily