Morning Briefing — June 25, 2026

Morning Briefing — June 25, 2026

World News

Senate rejects measure to curb Trump's Iran war powers — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted down a resolution aimed at restricting President Trump's power to wage war against Iran, a day after narrowly approving a separate symbolic war powers measure. The vote came amid ongoing U.S.-Iran peace talks and continued clashes in southern Lebanon. CBS News

Israeli drone strike kills two in southern Lebanon as talks continue — Two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike near Kfar Rumman in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, even as U.S.-mediated talks between Israeli and Lebanese delegations entered a second day at the State Department. Hezbollah accused Israel of violating the 14-point U.S.-Iran ceasefire plan. CNN

Strait of Hormuz traffic doubles as evacuations begin — Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has doubled in the past 24 hours to its highest level since February, according to MarineTraffic data. The International Maritime Organization said the U.S.-Iran agreement has cleared the way for evacuating more than 11,000 stranded seafarers from the Persian Gulf. CNN

Mamdani-backed socialists sweep New York Democratic primaries — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed three left-of-center House candidates, and CBS News projects all three will win their Democratic primaries. State AG Letitia James said she was disappointed with the mayor as the wins raise questions about the future of the Democratic Party. CBS News

Europe's second 2026 heatwave brings record temperatures — A severe heatwave began on June 22 with overnight temperatures in France the hottest since records began in 1947, and 54 departments placed under red alert. The single highest temperature recorded was 44.3 °C in Pissos, with Bordeaux reaching 41.1 °C. Wikipedia

Trump administration requests $87.6 billion in supplemental funding after Iran war — According to a letter obtained by CNN, the Trump administration is seeking $87.6 billion in supplemental funding, most of it to replenish resources depleted by the war in Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio notably skipped Israel on his Persian Gulf tour amid tensions with Netanyahu. CNN

Eight convicted in Texas immigration center attack sentenced to long prison terms — A federal court sentenced the ringleader of a Texas immigration detention center attack to 100 years in prison, with seven other defendants receiving 30 to 70 years. The Justice Department called it the country's first federal terrorism case tied to antifa. WORLD

Business

Brent oil erases wartime gains as Strait of Hormuz reopens — Brent crude prices have wiped out their war-driven gains as the Strait of Hormuz returns to normal flows, with markets now flooded with supply from the Middle East and Africa. U.S. oil prices have fallen to their lowest level since before the Iran war began. Bloomberg

Asian stocks rally on Micron's blowout AI memory forecast — Asian markets surged alongside U.S. equity futures after Micron Technology's quarterly sales outlook crushed Wall Street estimates, reigniting confidence in the AI trade. Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 1.8%, South Korea's Kospi rallied as much as 6%, and Micron shares climbed about 15% after hours. Bloomberg

Bank of Canada security officers begin job action — Security officers at the Bank of Canada launched a job action after collective bargaining talks failed to produce a new agreement with the central bank. The labour dispute adds to a difficult backdrop for Canadian institutions navigating a recession-era economy. Global News

Canada chases tariff relief from China on canola, peas and seafood — International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu told BNN Bloomberg that further relief from Beijing's tariffs on Canadian canola, peas and seafood will be on the table when he meets his Chinese counterpart in the fall. The talks come as Canadian exporters struggle with prolonged trade frictions. BNN Bloomberg

Air Canada criticised for dynamic pricing during promotion — A Montreal couple rebooked their Air Canada flight during a sale only to find the new tickets cost more. The case highlighted how dynamic pricing during discount promotions can mislead consumers, with experts calling for greater transparency. CBC

Trump brands Strait of Hormuz transit fees 'unacceptable' — President Trump publicly warned Iran over proposed fees for shipping passing through the Strait of Hormuz, calling the levies unacceptable. Analysts warned that imposing tolls in international waters could prove disastrous for the global economy. Bloomberg

Oilsands greenhouse gas intensity falls for 13th straight year — A new analysis from S&P Global Energy says the greenhouse gas intensity of Canada's oilsands declined two per cent in 2025, marking the 13th consecutive annual drop. The industry continues to argue it can play a role even as countries pursue clean energy transitions. BNN Bloomberg

Technology

Micron poised to confirm AI memory boom with record Q3 results — Micron Technology reported fiscal Q3 results after Wednesday's close with analysts forecasting roughly $35 billion in revenue, up 279% year-over-year, on record AI memory demand. The company's entire 2026 supply of high-bandwidth memory is already sold out under fixed-price contracts to Nvidia, AMD and Google. Eciks

Micron and Anthropic strike multi-year memory supply and investment deal — Micron announced a strategic agreement with AI lab Anthropic that combines a multi-year memory and storage supply contract with a strategic investment in Anthropic's Series H funding round. Anthropic's chief compute officer Tom Brown said the deal links Claude's training infrastructure directly to Micron's roadmap. TheStreet

AI memory shortage to keep consumer chip prices elevated through 2027 — IDC has characterised the current memory squeeze not as a cyclical shortage but as a potentially permanent strategic reallocation of global silicon wafer capacity toward AI. Micron's Q3 guidance of 81% gross margins helps explain why DDR5 and laptop prices keep climbing, with no relief expected until late 2027. TechTimes

Bill Gates testifies to House Oversight Committee on Epstein ties — Microsoft founder Bill Gates told a congressional panel that files released by the Justice Department in January only added to his embarrassment over interacting with the late Jeffrey Epstein. He testified for nearly six hours before the committee examining government handling of the case. CBC

Drone flights near World Cup venues prompt TSA warning — The TSA reports that despite repeated warnings, many drone operators continue to violate flight restrictions near World Cup sites in the U.S. The issue comes as drones become more integrated into U.S. national airspace and military operations. CBS News

Nvidia outlines agentic AI vision around new Vera CPU — At GTC Taipei 2026, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang declared 'useful AI has arrived' and that AI is now both a profit and GDP generator. He unveiled the Vera CPU, a processor designed for agentic AI workloads with low latency and high memory bandwidth, and suggested it could be one of Nvidia's most successful product launches. S&P Global

Renewable Energy

UN chief lays out seven-step clean energy blueprint — Speaking at London Climate Action Week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres outlined a seven-step plan to wean the world off fossil fuels and reach net-zero by 2050. He noted renewables avoided more emissions than the U.S., EU and Japan combined and said clean energy now attracts almost twice as much investment as fossil fuels. UN News

Guterres calls on AI firms to disclose data centre environmental impact — The UN chief urged every major AI company to publicly disclose the carbon, water and land footprints of their data centres and to commit to powering them entirely with renewables by 2030. He warned that by 2030 AI data centres could consume enough water to meet the basic needs of all 1.3 billion residents of sub-Saharan Africa for a year. UN News

Bonn UN climate talks end in 'gridlock' — UN climate talks in Bonn ended in deadlock as negotiators failed to balance developing countries' demand for adaptation finance with richer nations' push on emissions cuts. Both topics were subject to 'rule 16', meaning no agreement was reached and the issues will be pushed to COP31 in Türkiye. Carbon Brief

IEA forecasts oil glut next year if Iran peace deal holds — The Financial Times reported that the International Energy Agency expects a glut of oil to emerge next year if the U.S.-Iran peace deal holds. The agency said the surplus would let countries rebuild strategic reserves as they review their energy strategies after the recent shock. Carbon Brief / FT

Renewables overtook coal as world's biggest power source in 2025 — Think tank Ember reports that renewables overtook coal as the world's largest source of electricity in 2025, the first time since 1919 that coal's share fell below that of renewables. Wind and solar alone met 99% of the growth in global electricity demand last year, with record solar generation up 30% year-on-year. Carbon Brief

UK EV drivers save £1,100 each per year, Carbon Brief finds — New Carbon Brief analysis shows the more than 2 million battery EVs, 1 million plug-in hybrids and 100,000 electric vans on UK roads are saving drivers about £3 billion annually in fuel costs. The figures emerge as UK media reports the government is considering watering down its EV sales targets. Carbon Brief

Nova Scotia courts oil and gas expansion despite environmental pushback — Bloomberg reports that Nova Scotia, Canada's lobster capital, is pushing to become a major oil and gas producer to reduce dependence on U.S. energy. The plans have drawn sharp pushback from environmentalists and fishermen worried about marine ecosystems. Bloomberg

Soil Science

TRAILS4SOIL briefing: policy and finance pathways to scale regenerative agriculture — A Science4Policy briefing co-organised by the IEEP and MEPs explored how regenerative and conservation agriculture practices can boost soil health, climate resilience, biodiversity protection and long-term farm viability. The event focused on policy, finance and risk-sharing mechanisms needed to scale these practices across Europe. IEEP

Editorial: soil health is the central driver of regenerative agriculture outcomes — A new Frontiers editorial summarising 27 research contributions positions regenerative agriculture as a systems-based paradigm integrating soil restoration, climate mitigation and sustainable productivity. The authors argue soil health functions as the central regulator linking carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, biodiversity and greenhouse gas dynamics. Frontiers in Environmental Science

World Bank: Strait of Hormuz disruption drives 46% urea price jump — The World Bank reports that disruptions to oil, gas and fertiliser flows through the Strait of Hormuz drove a 46% month-on-month rise in urea prices and pushed agricultural price indices up 8%. The shock raises the risk of an affordability crisis for farmers as conflict and climate shocks continue to drive food insecurity. World Bank

FAO publishes 2026-2028 emergency plan for Ukrainian agriculture — The Food and Agriculture Organization released its Emergency and Early Recovery Response Plan for Ukraine for 2026-2028, outlining priority actions to protect agricultural livelihoods and restore productive capacity. The FAO also confirmed that 615 modular grain storage units were distributed to frontline farmers in 2025. FAO

Organic farming systems show large soil carbon and yield gains, study finds — A study published in Scientific Reports compared organic, biodynamic and conventional systems over five years on maize, tomato, faba bean and potato in Egypt. The authors found organic and biodynamic practices substantially increased soil carbon sequestration and crop yields while cutting CO2 emissions and costs. Scientific Reports

Global soil carbon potential concentrated in Africa, Asia and Middle East — A new Environmental Research Letters study estimates that regions with large cropland areas — the Middle East, Africa and Asia — hold 70% of global soil organic carbon sequestration potential. Researchers found substantial potential can be realised at under $100 per tonne of CO2, making SOC sequestration a feasible climate strategy. IOPscience

Miraterra fuses DNA and Raman soil analytics after Trace Genomics deal — Soil analytics firm Miraterra acquired the assets of Trace Genomics, combining DNA-based soil microbiome analysis with Raman spectroscopy in a single platform. The merger promises faster and more accurate measurement of soil health across biological, chemical and structural dimensions — a key need for regenerative carbon markets. Regenerative Agriculture Summit

USDA's FY2026 Regenerative Pilot Program targets whole-farm planning — The USDA's new Regenerative Pilot Program focuses on whole-farm planning addressing soil, water and natural viability under a single conservation framework. Critics from organic farming advocacy groups have called the initiative greenwashing that diverts resources from organic transition. Farm Progress

Cover photo by Turquoise Partners on Unsplash.