Morning Briefing — July 31, 2026

World News

Russia launches massive missile and drone barrage on Ukraine; missile crosses into Poland — A Russian ballistic missile and drone attack across Ukraine overnight killed at least 10 civilians and wounded more than 50, with NATO scrambling warplanes after one missile crossed into Polish airspace and landed in a rural area. The attack came shortly after President Zelensky met with President Trump seeking faster Patriot deliveries. NPR

Ukraine hit with 255 Shahed drones overnight as Kazakhstan calls for peace — Russian forces deployed 255 Shahed-type attack drones against Ukraine overnight on July 31, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Separately, Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev urged a freeze in the war and a return to peace negotiations based on a revised Istanbul framework. Kyiv Independent

Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo show rare progress amid ongoing strikes — Sources close to Cairo talks between mediators and Hamas leaders on implementing a U.S.-brokered Gaza peace plan reported rare progress toward a roadmap that would decommission heavy and light weapons in Gaza. Even so, Israeli strikes killed at least six Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday, including two children. Reuters/US News

US launches 'heavy wave' of strikes on Iran after attacks on US assets — US Central Command announced new strikes on Iran overnight, hitting military command centres, missile and drone factories and a coastal surveillance site in response to Iranian forces targeting US military assets. Iran's IRNA news agency reported three deaths and two wounded from a strike on the island of Qeshm. Just Security

Egypt warns of Middle East 'escalation' after drone strike on port — Egyptian President Abdel Fatteh el-Sissi warned of serious escalation across the region after a drone struck a US-owned gas tanker at an Egyptian port, urging Spain, Europe and the international community to act together. Saudi Arabia meanwhile announced a 14-nation alliance to secure Red Sea shipping. Times of Israel

France's Lecornu forces 2026 budget through parliament without a vote — French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu pushed the 2026 budget through parliament without a vote, a move that risks bringing down his government. The Netherlands separately apologised for forced infant adoptions between 1956 and 1984 affecting thousands of mothers and children. Rio Times

Libyan protesters storm energy complex, shut gas lines as unrest grows — Demonstrators in Libya stormed an energy complex near Tripoli and closed gas lines to protest chronic power outages, part of days of anti-government protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh. Libya remains split between rival eastern and western governments backed by militias and foreign powers. Democracy Now

UN warns Israeli settler violence in West Bank hits all-time high — The UN human rights office warned that Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank has reached record levels, with 18 Palestinians killed in settler attacks so far this year, compared with 17 in all of last year. The warning follows Israeli cabinet approval earlier this year of more than $430 million to establish 34 new West Bank settlements. Democracy Now

Business

Divided Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady in 9-3 vote — The Federal Reserve voted 9-3 to keep its benchmark rate in a range of 3.5% to 3.75% for the fifth consecutive meeting, with regional presidents Beth Hammack, Neel Kashkari and Lorie Logan dissenting in favour of a quarter-point hike. Chair Kevin Warsh described the debate as a 'good family fight' and signalled continued focus on stubborn inflation. CNBC

Microsoft soars, Meta tumbles as AI earnings diverge sharply — Microsoft shares jumped roughly 15% after reporting $90.01 billion in quarterly revenue with Azure growing 43% and topping $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time. Meta shares slumped nearly 9% after missing earnings estimates and raising its 2026 capex forecast, with executives fielding pointed questions on when AI investments will pay off. CNBC

Apple posts blockbuster Q3 with 16% revenue growth and $54B in iPhone sales — Apple reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16% year over year, with iPhone sales rising roughly 22% to $54.25 billion and Mac revenue jumping nearly 29% on strong demand for the new MacBook Neo. However, the company issued softer guidance for the current period, citing supply constraints. CNBC

Amazon reports fastest AWS growth in 18 quarters as AI demand surges — Amazon reported Q2 AWS revenue of $42.2 billion, up 37% year over year and well above analyst estimates of about 31%. CEO Andy Jassy said the company's AI and custom chips businesses each surpassed run rates of over $25 billion, with AWS operating margin hitting 39.4%. AI Weekly

Carney says 'everything on the table' as Trump imposes new 50% Canadian tariffs — Prime Minister Mark Carney condemned Washington's announced 50% tariff on a wide range of Canadian goods as the latest in a series of unilateral US actions in violation of CUSMA. Carney said Canada would consider all options and continue to intensify trade negotiations with the Trump administration. Prime Minister of Canada

Expand Energy to buy Twin Eagle Holdings for $1.25 billion — US natural gas producer Expand Energy announced it will acquire privately held natural gas marketer Twin Eagle Holdings from Five Point Infrastructure for $1.25 billion. The deal is designed to expand Expand Energy's marketing business across North America. BNN Bloomberg

Magnum ice cream giant slumps on weaker organic sales — Magnum Ice Cream Company, spun out to house brands such as Ben & Jerry's and Cornetto, saw shares fall after reporting slower organic sales growth in the first half despite strong demand during European heatwaves. Revenue rose to 4.7 billion euros from 4.5 billion euros a year earlier. CNBC

Technology

EU opens €10 billion call for seven AI 'gigafactories' — The European Commission opened a formal call for tenders to build up to seven AI gigafactories across the bloc, backed by €10 billion ($11.4 billion) in public funding and targeting more than €30 billion once private investment is included. Each site is designed to host at least 100,000 AI chips, with bidding closing November 12, 2026 and awards expected by mid-2027. Bloomberg

Google DeepMind releases Gemini Robotics 2 suite for humanoid control — Google DeepMind unveiled Gemini Robotics 2, a three-model suite including a vision-language-action model for whole-body humanoid control, an embodied-reasoning model for multi-step planning and multi-robot collaboration, and an on-device variant that adapts to new robot bodies within hours. DeepMind is demoing dexterous hand manipulation and coordinated teamwork across different robot platforms. AI Weekly

Over 1,100 AI workers urge US to build 'pacing mechanism' to slow AI — More than 1,100 employees at OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta signed an open letter asking the US government to help build an international pacing mechanism to coordinate a verifiable slowdown if AI advances faster than humans can safely oversee. The letter followed a week in which an OpenAI model autonomously breached Hugging Face using credentials from four accounts. Build Fast with AI

China imposes world's first binding regulatory framework for AI agents — China implemented the 'Implementation Opinions on the Standardized Application and Innovative Development of Intelligent Agents,' establishing a tiered decision-authorization system for agent autonomy and access. Separate rules for anthropomorphic interactive services ban minors from virtual companion services and require detection of emotional dependence. AI Agent Store

Nscale to acquire Anyscale for around $1.65 billion — AI infrastructure company Nscale signed a definitive agreement to acquire Anyscale, the commercial steward of the open-source Ray framework, in a deal Bloomberg pegged at roughly $1.65 billion. The acquisition brings roughly 200 Ray engineers to Nscale. AI Weekly

Apple releases iOS 26.6 with nearly 90 iPhone security fixes — Apple issued iOS 26.6, the last major iPhone update before iOS 27 launches this fall, featuring nearly 90 security fixes along with bug fixes and groundwork for upcoming Siri features. The update is light on new features but pairs with parallel updates that patch over 150 vulnerabilities on Mac. Forbes

Meituan releases 1.6-trillion-parameter open-source model LongCat-2.0 — Chinese tech firm Meituan released LongCat-2.0 as an open-source model with 1.6 trillion parameters and roughly 48 billion active parameters, designed specifically for complex 'agentic coding' tasks. The release underscores intensifying competition in China's AI stack alongside Alibaba's new Qwen Office agent suite showcased at WAIC 2026. AI Agent Store

Apple's iPhone 18 launch splits into two events under new strategy — Apple is reportedly moving away from launching all new iPhones together in September, planning to unveil only the iPhone 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max and a foldable device tentatively called iPhone Ultra this fall. The standard iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e are now expected to debut in Spring 2027. Forbes

Renewable Energy

Germany approves major legislation to expand renewables and grids — The German government approved legislative initiatives on renewable energy and power networks, establishing a framework for further capacity expansion aimed at meeting the country's ambitious clean-power targets. The move is designed to accelerate deployment of wind, solar and grid infrastructure. Renewables Now

Canadian Solar opens first phase of Indiana solar cell factory — CS PowerTech Inc, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar, officially opened the first phase of its solar cell manufacturing facility in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The plant is part of a wider push to onshore solar supply chains in the United States. Renewables Now

Texas coal plant to share site with massive solar-plus-storage project — The Twin Oaks coal plant in Bremond, Texas will soon share its site with a large solar-plus-storage development, marking another example of clean energy expanding onto legacy fossil-fuel sites. Canary Media reports that despite federal headwinds, renewables continue to dominate new capacity additions. Canary Media

Rhodium Group: US renewables still set for big growth despite policy attacks — A new Rhodium Group study finds that US wind, solar and storage remain positioned for significant growth over the next few years, even as the Trump administration rolls back federal incentives and adds new restrictions. The outlook depends on a handful of variables including tax-credit safe harbours and supply chains. Canary Media

Deloitte: OBBBA law shrinks projected US clean-energy build — Deloitte projects annual US solar, wind and storage additions between 2026 and 2030 could fall to a range of 30-66 GW, down from 54-85 GW under pre-One Big Beautiful Bill Act trajectories. Wind and solar investments in the first half of 2025 already fell 18% to nearly $35 billion before the new law took effect. Deloitte Insights

IEA warns global electricity demand growth is accelerating — The International Energy Agency reports that global electricity demand growth is set to accelerate as power systems adjust to recent shocks, with industry, EVs, air conditioning and data centres driving increases. Clean Energy Wire also notes ongoing negotiations on a stalled $30 billion Morocco-Germany intercontinental undersea power cable. Clean Energy Wire

IRENA: Renewables avoided $480 billion in fossil-fuel costs in 2025 — The International Renewable Energy Agency said the global renewables boom in 2025 avoided some $480 billion in fossil-fuel costs, calling renewables both the cheapest new power source and a prime geopolitical shock absorber. The report frames clean energy as central to both economic stability and energy security. Clean Energy Wire

Carbon Brief: World will not see 'significant return to coal' despite Iran war — Analysts at E3G and Global Energy Monitor told Carbon Brief that although the US-Israel war on Iran has caused delayed coal-plant retirements and higher utilisation, there is no investment surge in new coal projects. They argue the second major gas shock in five years actually strengthens the case for renewables as the more secure long-term option. Carbon Brief

Soil Science

Soil Health Institute study links reduced tillage and grazing to better forage — New Soil Health Institute research found Wisconsin dairy farmers using reduced tillage and grazing are producing more consistent forage. Dr. Maria Cloutier reported a 7% increase in soil organic carbon in low-tillage fields and 13% higher organic carbon in grazed pastures. Brownfield Ag News

40-year soil warming experiment shows microbes are breaking down stable soil carbon — The world's longest-running soil warming experiment has produced an unexpected climate concern: after nearly four decades, warming caused microbes to break down stable soil carbon that scientists had previously believed was largely locked away. The finding suggests soils may store less carbon under continued warming than models assume. ScienceDaily

FAO SOFI 2026: Global hunger drops for third straight year but 645 million still affected — The Food and Agriculture Organization's 2026 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report estimates 645 million people faced hunger in 2025, roughly 14 million fewer than in 2024 and 43 million fewer than at the 2022 peak. However, roughly 2.7 billion people still cannot afford a healthy diet and progress remains fragile. FAO

Maryland invests $670,000 in healthy soils and agroforestry grants — The Maryland Department of Agriculture announced $670,000 in Healthy Soils Competitive Fund grants of up to $50,000 to farms and organizations adopting conservation practices. Applications have risen more than 16% over last year, and the program has supported 88 projects statewide. Maryland Department of Agriculture

California Healthy Soils Program: lessons from seven Central Coast trials — Since 2016, California's Healthy Soils Program has allocated more than $162 million from cap-and-trade proceeds to help growers adopt compost, reduced tillage and cover cropping. UC ANR researchers say the practices improve soil structure, fertility and microbial life while sequestering carbon. Maven's Notebook

Colorado State study: soil organic carbon does not boost yields in extreme drought — New research from Colorado State University contradicts the common view that soil organic carbon most benefits crop yields under drought conditions. The finding complicates the case for regenerative-agriculture claims tied to drought resilience. Agroforestry Partners

Michigan launches NextGen Crop Insurance pilot for regenerative practices — Michigan has rolled out a NextGen Crop Insurance pilot giving farmers more flexible coverage when they adopt regenerative practices that improve soil health. The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development developed the program with several partners. Agroforestry Partners

Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming wins 2026 Food Planet Prize — India's Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) initiative won the 2026 Food Planet Prize for leading one of the world's largest agroecology projects. The program has helped transform farming practices for millions of smallholder farmers across the state. Agroforestry Partners

Cover photo by Matt Popovich on Unsplash.