Morning Briefing — June 28, 2026

Morning Briefing — June 28, 2026

World News

Tanker struck in Strait of Hormuz as naval threat level raised — A Panama-flagged VLCC tanker Kiku carrying Qatari oil was hit by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, with damage to its bridge but no environmental harm. The Joint Maritime Information Center raised its threat level to 'substantial' following the second merchant ship attack of the week. Bloomberg

US launches additional strikes on Iran after Hormuz tanker attack — CENTCOM announced retaliatory strikes targeting Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communications, air defense sites and drone storage after Iran reportedly launched a drone that struck the M/T Kiku. Bahrain also condemned what it said was a separate Iranian drone attack on its territory. Fox News

Venezuela earthquake death toll climbs as US rescuers join effort — The death toll from a major earthquake in Venezuela has reached at least 920, with American search and rescue teams joining efforts in La Guaira to pull survivors from collapsed buildings. Crews are racing against a critical survival window. Fox News

Europe's record-shattering heatwave 'unequivocally' linked to climate change — A World Weather Attribution study found Europe's ongoing June heatwave would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago and is the most severe ever recorded on the continent. France set its hottest day on record two days in a row, while the UK, Spain and Switzerland broke June records. CNN

Critical fire weather complicates massive Utah wildfire fight — Firefighters are battling the largest current US wildfire in southern Utah under historic weather conditions, with extreme fire behavior expected to continue through the weekend. The blaze has prompted evacuations and major air operations. NPR

Carney discusses Iran and NATO in security call with Trump — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney held a wide-ranging security call with US President Donald Trump covering the Iran conflict and NATO matters. The talks come amid Canada's efforts to balance relations with Washington while diversifying trade. CBC

Supreme Court permits Trump administration to end legal protections for Haitian and Syrian residents — The US Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration can end Temporary Protected Status for many residents from Haiti and Syria currently living in the United States. The decision could affect hundreds of thousands of people facing potential deportation. CBC

Business

Ontario town to host North America's first battery-grade cobalt refinery — A facility near Cobalt, Ont. has been tapped to become North America's first battery-grade cobalt refinery, projected to be fully operational by late 2027. Electra Battery Materials will import cobalt from the DRC and process it into cobalt sulfate, potentially loosening China's grip on the supply chain. CBC

Wall Street's AI trade cools as oil sinks in volatile week — The AI-fueled stock rally hit a wall this week as chip stocks sold off and oil prices retreated, even as Alphabet, Nvidia and the broader megacap tech complex showed signs of rotation. Oracle had its worst week since the 2001 dot-com bust as AI financing concerns escalated. CNBC

BC Premier Eby heads to China seeking diversified trade ties — BC Premier David Eby departed for China on Saturday in an effort to diversify the province's trade relationships amid ongoing tensions with the United States. The visit reflects a broader Canadian push to reduce dependence on US markets. BNN Bloomberg

AI boom mints 19 new billionaires as memory-chip shortage shakes electronics market — Bloomberg reports the AI boom is producing record numbers of new billionaires while a memory-chip shortage caused by surging data center demand is forcing consumer electronics makers to raise prices. Europe is also pushing to loosen US dominance over payment systems like Visa and Mastercard. Bloomberg

Apple and Microsoft raise hardware prices as memory chip costs surge — Apple raised prices on MacBooks and iPads by up to several hundred dollars and Microsoft hiked Xbox prices as DRAM costs surged roughly 80%. Microsoft said console storage and memory prices have more than doubled and may double again by fall 2027. CBS News

Global fertilizer trade plunges 30% in first four months of 2026 — The FAO disclosed that worldwide fertilizer trade fell 30% in the first four months of 2026 due to Middle East conflict-linked supply disruptions and export restrictions by China and Turkey. Total trade volumes dropped from 58 million to 41 million metric tons year-on-year. IndexBox / FAO

Technology

US government allows Anthropic limited release of Mythos AI model — The US Commerce Department lifted its export block on Anthropic's powerful Claude Mythos 5 model, allowing release to a select group of roughly 100 trusted partners including cyber defenders and infrastructure providers. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said appropriate safeguards are now in place, though Fable 5 remains restricted. CNN

Trump admin allows Anthropic to release Mythos AI model to companies and federal agencies — The US government granted Anthropic permission to release its Mythos 5 model to about 100 companies and federal agencies on Friday, while continuing to withhold approval for the broader Fable 5 release. The decision follows national-security-driven export controls imposed earlier in June. CNBC

Memory shortage shaking Apple and Microsoft is 'existential crisis' for smaller players — The shortage of memory chips, driven by AI data center demand consuming up to 70% of global DRAM production, is forcing consumer device makers into difficult tradeoffs. Smaller hardware companies face particular pressure as hyperscale buyers lock in long-term supply contracts. CNBC

GE Vernova ramps up massive gas turbines to power AI data center boom — CNBC profiled how GE Vernova is building the giant gas turbines that hyperscale operators are turning to in order to power the rapid expansion of AI data centers. Demand for new power generation has become a central bottleneck for the AI industry's growth. CNBC

China's Zhipu emerges as top AI challenger as Anthropic and OpenAI held back — Chinese AI lab Zhipu is gaining ground at the frontier of large language models while US export controls and licensing restrictions slow rollouts from Anthropic and OpenAI. The dynamic is fueling debate about whether US AI regulation could cede competitive ground to Chinese rivals. CNBC

ON Semiconductor strikes $7 billion deal for Synaptics in physical AI push — ON Semiconductor agreed to acquire Synaptics for roughly $7 billion as part of a strategy to expand into 'physical AI' applications such as humanoid robotics and autonomous sensing. The deal underscores the consolidation wave sweeping the chip industry as hardware demand shifts to embedded AI. CNBC

Renewable Energy

DeBriefed: heat records broken across Europe and Project Cosmos launches — Carbon Brief's weekly DeBriefed highlights record-breaking June heat across the UK, France, Spain and Switzerland, the launch of its Project Cosmos climate research database, and key announcements from London Climate Action Week. UN chief Guterres called on AI firms to disclose data center environmental impacts and to use only renewable power by 2030. Carbon Brief

China's new five-year plan targets 30% clean energy share by 2030 — China's National Development and Reform Commission published its 15th five-year plan for a 'new-type energy system,' targeting 30% clean energy in power generation by 2030, up from about 22% today. Wind and solar are designated as the future 'mainstay' of China's power mix. Carbon Brief

UN chief lays out clean energy transition blueprint at London Climate Action Week — Secretary-General António Guterres issued a seven-step blueprint for moving off fossil fuels, calling on AI companies to disclose data center carbon, water and land footprints and to commit to fully renewable power by 2030. He noted renewables avoided more CO2 than the US, EU and Japan combined produce annually. UN News

European heatwave 'worst ever' and impossible without climate crisis, scientists say — Scientists say western Europe's heatwave is the most severe and widespread ever recorded and is only possible due to fossil-fuel-driven climate change. A French court also ordered TotalEnergies to account for the indirect emissions of end users in a separate landmark ruling. Carbon Brief / Guardian

China's CO2 climbs 2% in early 2026 due to 'wasted' wind and solar — Carbon Brief analysis found China's CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry rose 2% in Q1 2026, even as wind capacity grew 23% and solar 33% year-on-year. The increase was driven by record curtailment of clean power that could not be absorbed by an inflexible grid. Carbon Brief

Europe's heatwave raises the cost of waiting to adapt — Bloomberg reports the European heatwave has prompted urgent questions about how cities, hospitals and grids can adapt to a continent warming twice as fast as the global average. The piece notes record-breaking temperatures have surprised even officials accustomed to summer extremes. Bloomberg

Soil Science

El Niño risks sharpest in Sahel, Southern Africa and Central America's Dry Corridor — 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 more than 50% probability of agricultural drought in coming months. Disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz are simultaneously driving up energy and fertilizer costs for farmers. FAO

FAO Investment Centre: turning agrifood potential into progress — FAO's Investment Centre helped design 43 new public agrifood investment projects worth $7.8 billion across 44 countries in 2025 and supported 254 ongoing projects valued at $51 billion. The 2025 Annual Review highlights firsts including the first livestock project ever approved by the Green Climate Fund. Global Agriculture / FAO

BC backs smart-farming and dry-farming training to bolster food security — British Columbia is supporting a smart-farming project at Delta-based Windset Farms that uses sensors to monitor plant stress, alongside new training programs at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in dry farming and at the University of the Fraser Valley in robotic weeding. The initiatives aim to advance soil health and drought-resilient crop systems. BC Gov News

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2026-2035 released — The new OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook covers ten-year prospects for commodity and fish markets, projecting that consumption will grow 13% by 2034, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. The report emphasizes that productivity gains must accelerate to limit greenhouse gas emissions while feeding a growing population. OECD

23rd World Congress of Soil Science wraps up in Nanjing — The 23rd World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS2026) convened June 7-12 in Nanjing under the theme 'Soil and the Shared Future for Humanity.' Organized by the International Union of Soil Sciences and Soil Science Society of China, it included plenary and parallel sessions, soil judging contests and field tours to typical Chinese soils. Springer Nature

European Journal of Soil Science publishes survey on climate-driven soil threats — A new open-access survey article in the European Journal of Soil Science examines how soil threats vary by climate zone and whether targeted soil management practices can mitigate them. The May-June 2026 issue features research advancing global understanding of soil processes from molecular to landscape scales. European Journal of Soil Science

Biochar emerges as promising remediation for microplastic-contaminated soils — A comprehensive review in the Soil Science Society of America Journal evaluates biochar as a cost-effective, environmentally sustainable strategy for remediating soils contaminated by microplastics. The authors note knowledge gaps remain on microscopic biochar-microplastic interactions and field-scale applications. Soil Science Society of America Journal

Cover photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash.