Morning Briefing — November 13, 2026
Morning Briefing — November 13, 2026
World News
US envoys meet Putin in Moscow, then Zelenskyy in Dublin as peace push intensifies — US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin for roughly two hours before flying to Ireland to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Washington tries to inject new momentum into its peace efforts. Kushner said Putin agreed to allow Europe to participate in negotiations to end the war, though Moscow restated that European troops in Ukraine after any ceasefire would be 'absolutely unacceptable.' PBS NewsHour / AP
Eight dead, including two children, in Brooklyn building collapse — A three-story building in Flatbush, Brooklyn collapsed into an adjacent construction site, killing eight people and injuring at least 18 others. NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani said two of the dead were children and two were construction workers, and the FDNY ended its rescue operation Thursday afternoon after determining there were no more victims. Washington Post
Israeli strike on Gaza's Nasser Hospital kills six, including surgeon and child — An overnight Israeli airstrike on the surgical wing of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis killed six people — among them Palestinian surgeon Rizk Abu Shaira and a 13-year-old boy — and injured dozens more. The Israeli military said it was targeting a Hamas commander operating from the hospital, a claim it did not substantiate, and the UN warned the attack jeopardises an already fragile ceasefire. NPR / AP
Millions strike across Spain in first general strike in 14 years over housing crisis — Millions of Spanish workers shut down businesses and public transport in the eurozone's fourth-largest economy to protest soaring rents and home prices, with large marches filling Madrid and Barcelona ahead of a snap general election. It was Spain's first general strike in 14 years and the first driven principally by housing, as unions and activists demanded regulation of real estate speculation and more public housing. NPR / AP
Microsoft global outage drags into second day, hitting services in 74 countries — A major Microsoft 365 outage that began Thursday continued into Friday, disrupting Outlook, Teams, Copilot and Exchange Online for businesses, airlines, hospitals and government agencies worldwide. Downdetector logged around 140,000 reports from 74 countries, and in the UK the NHS cancelled some operations as its calendars and electronic prescriptions were affected. CBS News / AP
Countries vulnerable to climate disaster push for faster finance access at COP31 — At the COP31 summit in Antalya, vulnerable nations are pressing for easier and faster access to climate finance as Finance and Trade Day unfolds on 13 November. Developing-country delegates are calling on rich nations to honour commitments to mobilise at least $300 billion a year by 2035 and scale total climate finance to $1.3 trillion annually. CBC News
Business
Canada threatens to sue Stellantis over Brampton plant sale as subsidy dispute escalates — Ottawa has given Stellantis 30 days to address alleged breaches of its federal funding agreement or face legal action, after the carmaker agreed to sell its idled Brampton, Ontario, assembly plant to Canadian armoured-vehicle maker Roshel. Stellantis Canada CEO Trevor Longley said the company will return $24 million in subsidies, well below the hundreds of millions the government says it is owed. CNBC
Feds say Stellantis owes 'hundreds of millions' in subsidies as company offers $24M — Industry Minister Mélanie Joly's letter to Stellantis gives the company 30 days to take corrective action or risk termination of the 2022 funding agreement, after the Brampton plant was sold to Roshel. Prime Minister Mark Carney has called the sale a 'betrayal' of Canadian workers, while the automaker has only offered to repay $24 million voluntarily. CBC News
Anthropic IPO reportedly shuts out mainland China and Hong Kong investors — Anthropic's planned IPO — part of a fundraise worth up to $90.4 billion alongside a concurrent private placement — will reportedly exclude institutional investors from mainland China and Hong Kong, with underwriters citing possible ITAR restrictions. The AI firm is set to price shares on 18 November and begin trading on Nasdaq the next day under the ticker ANT. Investing.com / Bloomberg
Nasdaq falls as Nvidia slide extends in Huang resignation fallout — Wall Street stocks slipped on Friday following disappointing US inflation data as Nvidia shares continued to retreat in the wake of CEO Jensen Huang's resignation. The Nasdaq dropped 1.7% and the S&P 500 slid 1%, though the major indexes were still on track for weekly gains. CNBC
FAO Food Price Index falls 1.2% in October as sugar prices keep climbing — The FAO Food Price Index averaged 133.9 points in October, down 1.2% from September for its third consecutive monthly decline, as cereal, dairy and meat prices fell. Sugar prices jumped 6.6% on supply concerns in Brazil and India to their highest level since December 2024, and the overall index remains 5.9% above a year earlier. Reuters / Global Agriculture
Carney government's Budget 2026 doubles down on building Canadian economy at home — The Liberals' second budget under Prime Minister Mark Carney outlines nearly $142 billion in new spending over five years, aiming to attract global investors and speed up major projects to reduce reliance on the United States. It also includes a one-time top-up to the grocery and essentials benefit to help households struggling with the cost of living. CBC News
Technology
Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO; CFO Colette Kress named interim chief — Nvidia's board accepted Jensen Huang's resignation as president, CEO and director, effective immediately, ending his 33-year tenure after reports of extramarital affairs — including with a woman alleged to be a Chinese spy — and a second affair with an Nvidia executive. CFO Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor, and Harvey C. Jones has been appointed first-ever chair of the board. Nvidia / SEC filing
Microsoft battles worldwide Microsoft 365 outage into second day — Microsoft said it was seeing 'continued recovery progress' on a major outage of Outlook, Teams, Copilot and Exchange Online that has stretched across two days and 74 countries. The company blamed server settings applied after an update rather than a cyber attack, with the broader Microsoft 365 incident tracked as MO1550821 in its admin centre. Wikipedia / Microsoft Q&A
Jensen Huang summoned to testify before Congress after Nvidia resignation — After Huang's abrupt exit, US lawmakers summoned the former Nvidia CEO to testify over his relationship with a woman US officials have alleged is a Chinese spy, with Rep. Brian Mast saying he is prepared to subpoena him. President Trump said he had spoken to Huang before the resignation and praised his record while suggesting Tim Cook should take his place. CNN
Anthropic IPO shuts out Chinese and Hong Kong investors over AI security concerns — Banks running Anthropic's IPO are reportedly refusing orders from mainland China and Hong Kong investors over possible US International Traffic in Arms Regulations exposure, mirroring restrictions seen on the recent SpaceX offering. Anthropic is seeking to raise up to $90.4 billion through the IPO and a concurrent private placement, pricing on 18 November. Investing.com
A tech expert explains what went wrong in Microsoft's global outage — Writing in The Conversation, a technology expert says Microsoft's account of the outage has shifted, moving from 'elevated load' to automated health checks that judge whether servers can carry traffic. Until the company publishes a post-incident review, a definitive root cause remains an inference from Microsoft's own updates. The Conversation
Nvidia market cap sheds roughly $490 billion amid Huang scandal — Nvidia has lost about $490 billion in market value since the Huang affair scandal broke, according to Yahoo Finance's tracking, as investors weighed the leadership vacuum and allegations of multiple relationships with employees. Nvidia stock slipped another 2% on Friday as the market absorbed the fallout and speculated about successor candidates such as Ian Buck. Yahoo Finance
Renewable Energy
COP31 Finance Day puts $305bn adaptation funding gap under the microscope — As COP31 in Antalya reached Finance and Trade Day on 13 November, negotiators focused on how to close a huge adaptation funding gap: UNEP's Adaptation Gap Report 2026 estimates developing countries will need roughly $305 billion a year by 2035 to adapt to climate impacts. Talks are also shaping a possible overarching 'cover decision' on the summit's final outcome. Royal Meteorological Society
Carbon Brief: Climate-finance pledges fall 70% as countries meet at COP31 — Carbon Brief analysis published during the summit found new public climate-finance pledges now total about $11.7bn a year, down from roughly $40bn previously, with only five countries announcing new multi-year commitments. The sharp drop raises serious questions about whether COP31 can bridge the $1.3 trillion annual external finance need identified for developing economies. Carbon Brief
Global fossil CO2 emissions set to dip 0.4% in 2026 as Iran conflict hits oil use — The Global Carbon Project's 2026 budget, released on 10 November, projects fossil CO2 emissions to fall 0.4% to 38.2 Gt, with oil down 1.9% as higher prices linked to the Iran conflict curb demand. Researchers warn the decline is not a sign of a sustained peak but a short-term response to the energy shock, as clean energy offsets only about two-thirds of rising energy demand. Carbon Brief
UNCTAD launches new global carbon market network at COP31 — A new global network bringing together exchanges and regulators from Astana, Singapore, Hong Kong, Casablanca, Johannesburg and elsewhere launched at COP31 on 12 November to tackle fragmentation in carbon markets and channel more investment into climate projects in developing countries. Organisers say inconsistent standards and worries over credit quality have been holding back finance. UNCTAD
Carbon Brief: Just transition 'Belém-Antalya mechanism' set to be a key COP31 outcome — Carbon Brief's Q&A explains that one of the main expected deliverables of COP31 is the launch of a 'just transition mechanism,' tentatively dubbed the Belém–Antalya mechanism, to help countries manage the social and economic shifts of moving away from fossil fuels. The idea was carried over from COP30 in Brazil and is being negotiated alongside roadmaps on fossil-fuel phase-out and deforestation. Carbon Brief
Energy & Environment briefing: clean energy now offsetting two-thirds of demand growth — A 7–13 November energy and environment briefing highlights that clean-energy deployment (solar, wind, EVs) is now offsetting roughly two-thirds of global energy-demand growth and that around $2.2 trillion was invested in clean energy last year — about twice the amount flowing to fossil fuels. Pre-Paris warming pathways near 4°C have been pulled down to about 2.6°C, though still well above the 1.5°C goal. Energy & Environment Briefing (Substack)
Soil Science
Tasmania grazing trial: rested paddocks nearly double pasture, soil carbon climbs — Midway findings from a Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture cell-grazing trial, presented at a field day on 13 November, showed rested regenerative paddocks grew about 900 kg of pasture per hectare — nearly double conventional grazing — with soil carbon rising about 2.9 tonnes per hectare per year. By contrast, soil carbon under conventional stocking fell by roughly 0.9 tonnes per hectare per year. News Today World / University of Tasmania
Penn State: Only some microbes 'awaken' when rain returns to dryland soils — A Penn State–led team found that when dryland biocrusts are wetted, most microbes stay inactive and the bacteria most abundant in the soil are not necessarily those that become active after rainfall. The researchers hope the findings can help design more efficient restoration of biological soil crusts, which are projected to decline by up to 40% in the next 45 years. Penn State News
Study: long-term drip irrigation keeps crop yields stable in arid regions — Research published in npj Sustainable Agriculture shows that long-term drip irrigation in arid regions can reduce salinity in the crop root zone even as salts accumulate elsewhere in the profile, with freeze–thaw cycles and off-season leaching helping maintain a stable water–salt balance. The authors say pairing water-saving drip with autumn or winter salt-leaching irrigation offers a practical model for other arid cropping systems. Phys.org
Nature Reviews Microbiology: 'The soil microbiome in an era of global change' — A major Nature Reviews Microbiology article published 12 November synthesises how the soil microbiome is being reshaped by global change, drawing together recent work on biogas-slurry application, fertility, and sustainable agriculture. It is part of a wave of early-November soil-chemistry papers in the Nature portfolio covering sensor-based soil monitoring and biochar carbon sequestration. Nature Portfolio
IFDC's Soil Values program puts soil health at the centre of African agri-innovation — At the Agricultural Innovations and Technologies Marketplace (MITA) 2026, the IFDC-led Soil Values program launched its first-ever Special Prize recognising six youth- and women-led initiatives developing locally adapted solutions for sustainable land management. Organisers framed MITA 2026 as the start of a longer-term effort to scale soil-fertility innovations across West Africa. IFDC
European Journal of Soil Science: soil compaction harms straw-N utilisation in rice — The November 2026 issue of the European Journal of Soil Science features a 15N tracer study showing that soil compaction from heavy agricultural machinery significantly reduces how much straw-derived nitrogen is utilised under conservation tillage. Other papers in the issue cover biochar effects on N2O and NH3 emissions and the fate of residual fertiliser nitrogen in upland–paddy rice rotations. European Journal of Soil Science (Wiley / Ovid)
CSIRO launches A$8m regenerative-farming research program for Australia's dry soils — Australia's national science agency CSIRO has launched a five-year, nearly A$8 million research program to test whether regenerative-farming practices developed in Europe can be adapted to the older, drier soils of Australia's grain-growing regions. The project is one of several new initiatives — alongside BMO's $200,000 regenerative-ag prize in North America — pushing science-backed soil solutions. Agroforestry Partners briefing