Morning Briefing — July 4, 2026

World News

Iran begins dayslong funeral for slain Supreme Leader Khamenei — Iran prepared Friday for the multi-day funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with banners across Tehran urging the public to rise up in support of the Islamic Republic after the devastating war that killed the 86-year-old cleric. The country's theocracy hopes to see millions flood the streets of the capital in scenes reminiscent of the 1989 burial of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. NPR/AP

Hope fades for finding more survivors after Venezuela earthquakes — Thousands remain missing more than a week after twin earthquakes struck Venezuela, with the effort shifting toward recovering remains. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez pushed back against critics who say authorities reacted too slowly to the June 24 quakes, which have killed at least 2,595 people. NBC/AP

Vatican excommunicates traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X bishops — The Vatican responded to a traditionalist society that consecrated bishops without the pope's consent, declaring the Society of St. Pius X in schism and excommunicating its bishops and priests. The move also extends to lay Catholics who formally adhere to the society, raising the spiritual stakes for thousands of followers worldwide. CBC News

Extreme heat dome bakes eastern U.S. over July 4th weekend — A massive heat wave has trapped more than half of the United States under a heat dome through the holiday weekend, with more than 300 daily records expected to be set by Saturday. More than 185 million people were under heat alerts including residents of Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. CBS News

UK investigators uncover 'international network' of drug-facilitated sexual assault — The National Crime Agency said online networks, many still unidentified by law enforcement, were allowing offenders to arrange to rape and abuse sedated victims or to have assaults filmed. Investigators say many crimes were perpetrated within long-term trusting relationships, citing the high-profile Gisèle Pelicot case in France. Guardian

Overnight Russian aerial assault damages buildings in Kyiv — Loud explosions shook Kyiv for hours during the night, with many residents sheltering in subway stations as emergency crews dug through rubble in search of victims. Dozens more were injured by the aerial assault, which damaged buildings and civilian infrastructure. NPR/AP

Ontario couple sentenced to life in prison for murder of 12-year-old boy — A Burlington, Ontario couple caring for two brothers received life in prison for the murder of one of the boys and other serious crimes involving his brother. The surviving brother said the couple 'got what they deserved.' CBC News

Gordie Howe bridge cost holds at $6.4B despite delays — The federal authority overseeing the new Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit confirmed the project's cost remains at $6.4 billion despite multiple construction delays. CBC News

Business

Dow hits record high as weak jobs report boosts rate-cut hopes — A sharp slowdown in the US jobs market spurred gains in most stocks as investors bet the Federal Reserve won't be forced to raise interest rates soon. The Dow climbed 1.1% to all-time highs while the Nasdaq lagged on a chipmaker selloff, with swap traders pricing in a quarter-point hike but not before December. Bloomberg

European stocks hit record high as AI jitters subside — Stocks rose as the latest round of jitters about the artificial-intelligence trade eased, with Europe's benchmark rising to an all-time high. The dollar touched a two-week low while gold extended gains, and Nasdaq 100 futures rebounded 1.2% in holiday trading. Bloomberg

Google loses European antitrust appeal, fined €4.1 billion — Alphabet shares fell after a European court upheld Google's €4.1 billion ($4.67 billion) fine tied to a 2018 European Commission decision that punished the company for giving its own applications unfair advantages on Android devices. CNBC

Canada Post suspends parcel service to EU countries over new customs rules — Canada Post said it is suspending service to a dozen European Union countries in response to new EU customs rules for low-value shipments. The postal agency said it will not accept parcels bound for the affected countries until further notice. CBC News

AI boom mints 19 new billionaires as investors reassess sector — The relentless AI capex boom has produced 19 new billionaires, according to Bloomberg. But questions are mounting about whether the $700 billion-plus in AI investment will pay off, with the Silicon Data LLM Token Expenditure Index down nearly 20% from a May peak. Bloomberg

Europe pushes to loosen US grip on payment systems — Concerns over economic sovereignty are fueling a European search for alternatives to Visa and Mastercard as policymakers debate reducing reliance on American payment rails. Bloomberg

Canada's economy grew 0.5% in April, reversing months of stagnation — Statistics Canada reported the economy expanded by 0.5% in April, ending a long run of weak or negative growth. The data landed just before the deadline to renew CUSMA, feeding into a wider debate about whether Canada's technical recession is over amid Trump's tariff pressures. CBC News

France's Thales to take a hit after Germany scraps frigate program — French defense giant Thales will take a financial hit after Germany cancelled a planned frigate program, a setback for one of Europe's largest defense electronics suppliers. WSJ/Dow Jones

July 4th holiday period on track to be third-most expensive for US drivers on record — US gasoline costs during the Independence Day travel period are set to hit their third-highest level on record. Meanwhile the largest US grid saw demand hit a record high Thursday as the heat dome drove up air conditioning usage. Bloomberg

Technology

OpenAI previews GPT-5.6 family with new Sol, Terra and Luna models — OpenAI began a limited preview of GPT-5.6, introducing three models — Sol (flagship), Terra (lower-cost) and Luna (fastest) — with stronger reasoning, coding, biology and cybersecurity performance. The company also plans to deploy GPT-5.6 Sol on Cerebras wafer-scale hardware in July at up to 750 tokens per second. OpenAI

CISA flags exploited RCE flaw in LiteLLM AI gateway — CISA added CVE-2026-42271 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. The bug is an unauthenticated remote code execution chain in LiteLLM's AI Gateway that exploits Model Context Protocol endpoints to gain full access to server environments, including configured OpenAI and Anthropic API keys. BuildFastWithAI/CISA

Anthropic launches Claude Science for drug discovery and life sciences — Anthropic unveiled Claude Science, built on its acquisition of computational biology startup Coefficient Bio (~$400M all-stock) and the hire of AlphaFold lead John Jumper. The launch positions the company against OpenAI's GPT-Rosalind and Google's Isomorphic Labs in the AI drug discovery race. BuildFastWithAI

Sony to end releasing PlayStation games on disc, drawing publisher ire — Sony confirmed it will end production of PlayStation games on physical discs, prompting game companies to say they were 'profoundly disappointed' by the move even as the market has largely shifted to digital downloads. CBC News

Italian tech firm Bending Spoons debuts on Nasdaq — Shares of Italian technology company Bending Spoons soared almost 40% from their IPO price on debut Wednesday, though the stock gave back 7% the following session as the broader tech market wobbled. CNBC

AeroVironment wins $500M US Army counter-drone contract — Defense technology company AeroVironment jumped 4% after winning a $500 million US Army contract to develop counter-drone capabilities for the military. CNBC

Redesign of US government websites stokes surveillance fears — Privacy advocates warn that the Trump administration's redesign of federal websites is 'dangerous' and could erode public trust, raising concerns about data collection and surveillance across government digital services. Guardian

WhatsApp will allow users to go by usernames, closing privacy blind spot — Meta's WhatsApp will let users identify themselves by usernames instead of phone numbers, addressing a long-standing privacy gap in the messaging app. CBC News

Amazon refreshes Fire HD 10 Tablet with more RAM — Amazon has updated its Fire HD 10 tablet with a modest hardware refresh that includes additional memory, keeping the mid-range slate competitive against similarly priced Android alternatives. Engadget

Renewable Energy

US court restores 5% safe harbor rule for wind and solar tax credits — A federal judge vacated Treasury guidance that had eliminated the ability of wind and solar projects to prove tax credit eligibility by showing 5% of project costs had been spent. The ruling could give some projects a route to qualify for 45Y and 48E clean energy credits before the July 4, 2026 One Big Beautiful Bill Act deadline. Utility Dive

Clean power was world's largest source of new energy in 2025 — Renewable energy overtook coal to become the world's largest source of electricity in 2025, according to thinktank Ember. Wind and solar alone met 99% of the growth in electricity demand last year, with fossil-fuel generation falling 0.2% in what Ember describes as the first structural decline of its kind. Carbon Brief

UK newspapers have printed 63 editorials backing North Sea drilling in 2026 — Carbon Brief analysis found UK newspapers have already published 63 editorials this year supporting new North Sea oil and gas drilling, highlighting how energy security concerns are reshaping the domestic media narrative around fossil fuels. Carbon Brief

Solar, wind and battery storage forecast to provide 99% of new US capacity in 2026 — According to the EIA, virtually all net new US electrical generating capacity in 2026 will come from solar, wind and batteries. Utility-scale renewables plus battery storage are projected to increase by nearly 70,000 MW — equivalent to the capacity of 70 nuclear power plants. Environment America

Deloitte: US clean energy phaseouts could raise solar costs 36–55% within a year — Deloitte's 2026 outlook warns that accelerated phaseouts of 45Y and 48E tax credits for projects starting after July 4, 2026 could increase solar costs by 36–55% and onshore wind by 32–63%. Data-center demand and rising electricity prices still reinforce renewables' viability, and fixed-mount solar remains cheaper than natural gas combined cycle in many US regions. Deloitte Insights

China's fifteenth five-year plan targets 50% non-fossil power by 2030 — China's National Development and Reform Commission released its new 'new-type energy system' plan, stating wind and solar will become the 'mainstay' of the power mix. The plan targets non-fossil energy at 50% of generation and 'new energy' at 30% by 2030, up from roughly 22% today. Carbon Brief

Global Energy Outlook 2026: Renewables projected to lead world electricity by 2050 — Resources for the Future's Global Energy Outlook 2026 finds wind and solar could account for 40–72% of world electricity generation by 2050, with renewables including hydro and geothermal reaching 52–70% under reference scenarios and over 80% in ambitious climate paths. The report warns the 1.5°C goal has effectively been lost. Resources for the Future

Media reaction: How climate change intensified Europe's record June heat — Carbon Brief's media reaction round-up examines how attribution scientists tied Europe's record-breaking June 2026 heatwave to human-caused climate change, and how outlets across the continent framed the link to fossil fuels and adaptation. Carbon Brief

Livestock heat deaths in UK transit doubled during 2025 heat summer — New Carbon Brief reporting shows livestock deaths during transport in the UK doubled during the record-hot summer of 2025, raising fresh questions about welfare rules and climate resilience for the agricultural supply chain. Carbon Brief

Soil Science

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook: 13% production growth over the next decade — The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2026-2035 projects global agricultural production will expand 13% by 2035, driven mainly by productivity improvements rather than land expansion. Direct agricultural greenhouse gas emissions are projected to increase just 6%, with growth concentrated in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. OECD/FAO

FAO Cereal Supply and Demand Brief forecasts 2% drop in 2026/27 production — FAO's July brief projects world cereal production for 2026/27 to decline by 2% to 2,982 million tonnes, with the largest year-on-year fall in wheat. Global cereal utilization is nonetheless forecast to rise 0.6%, tightening the balance heading into the new marketing year. FAO

Middle East conflict projected to constrain fertiliser use and cereal output — An OECD-FAO supplementary analysis finds that disruptions tied to the 2026 Middle East conflict will constrain fertiliser use and reduce cereal production over the outlook period. The report notes global gross agricultural income per worker is projected to rise 9% by 2035, but with a 25% chance of a 3% decline. OECD/FAO

Regenerative agriculture evidence base strengthens across hundreds of studies — A large review of regenerative agriculture research shows practices that rebuild soil often raise organic carbon and improve soil function, though outcomes vary widely across climates and soil types. Researchers say the growing evidence base is reshaping policy debates around carbon markets and long-term soil incentives. Regenerative Agriculture Summit

USDA's $700M Regenerative Pilot Program draws greenwashing criticism — USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service will administer a new Regenerative Pilot Program funded by diverting $400M from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and $300M from the Conservation Stewardship Program. Critics call the reshuffle 'greenwashing' that diverts resources from organic transition, and note NRCS has lost almost 25% of its staff since January 2025. Beyond Pesticides

Miraterra acquires Trace Genomics to build integrated soil analytics platform — Miraterra acquired Trace Genomics' technology, lab and team to accelerate soil-to-table measurement at scale. Analysts say the deal reflects an industry shift toward end-to-end platforms spanning biology, mineralogy and hydrology to support carbon markets and supply-chain verification. Regenerative Agriculture Summit

Research review: Soil health is central driver of regenerative agriculture outcomes — A Frontiers editorial synthesises evidence that restoring soil structure, organic carbon and biological activity significantly enhances long-term system sustainability. Studies in the topic reported measurable increases in soil organic carbon, aggregation and nutrient retention following organic fertiliser application in arid systems. Frontiers in Environmental Science

Russia's wet spring hampers spring wheat sowing campaign — USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service reports Russia's Ministry of Agriculture had planted only 8.0 million hectares of spring wheat out of a projected 11.1 million as of early June. With the optimal window narrowing, some farmers are shifting to oilseeds or corn as winter wheat harvest begins in July. USDA FAS

Groundswell festival showcases regenerative innovations for soil health — The UK's Groundswell regenerative agriculture festival opened with sessions on RNAi biological pesticides, integrated pest management, pulse rotations and cash crops aimed at improving resilience, soil health and profitability. New Barclays research finds 80% of surveyed farmers have adopted or plan to adopt regenerative practices. Farmers Guardian

Cover photo by Çağlar Oskay on Unsplash.