Morning Briefing — June 5, 2026

World News

Trump open to meeting Iran's supreme leader as Hezbollah rejects Lebanon ceasefire — President Trump said he would be open to meeting with Iran's new supreme leader if a deal ends the war, and warned that Iranian killing of US troops would be 'a very good reason' to restart hostilities. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected the latest Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, describing the negotiations as humiliating and vowing the resistance would continue. CNN

WHO says Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in DRC has reached 344 confirmed cases — WHO Director-General Tedros said following his trip to Ituri province that 344 cases and 60 deaths have been confirmed across three provinces of the DRC, with another 15 cases and one death in Uganda. He reported progress in reducing the backlog of suspected cases from over 1,000 to 116, but said insecurity continues to hamper the response. WHO

Ebola spreads across 11 health zones with cross-border cases reaching Uganda — The ECDC confirmed 363 Ebola cases including 62 deaths in the DRC as of 3 June, with Uganda reporting 15 confirmed cases linked to local transmission and DRC travel. The Bundibugyo strain involved has no approved vaccine or treatment, complicating containment in a region wracked by armed conflict. ECDC

Former US national security adviser John Bolton to plead guilty over classified documents — John Bolton, former White House national security adviser, is set to plead guilty to charges of retaining classified information after being indicted on 18 counts last year. The plea concludes one of the highest-profile classified-records prosecutions of a former senior official. Fox News

House Republicans defy Trump to pass Ukraine aid and Russia sanctions package — Eighteen House Republicans broke with President Trump to help pass a sweeping Ukraine security package that includes military assistance and new sanctions on Russia. The bill now heads toward a likely veto fight after Trump signalled his opposition. Fox News

Saudi energy minister calls for stabilisation of global energy sector amid Iran war fallout — Speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Saudi Arabia's energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said greater stabilisation of the global energy market is needed to prevent further losses. He argued that energy security underpins both affordability and sustainability across the world economy. CNN

Business

Canada unveils national AI strategy with over $2 billion in funding — Prime Minister Mark Carney officially launched Canada's long-awaited AI strategy on Thursday, aiming to support 250,000 new jobs by 2031 and boost business AI adoption from 12% to 60% by 2034. The plan includes a $500 million expansion of the Regional AI Initiative and a Canada trusted AI certification program, though critics worry the push could displace workers. CBC

Wall Street rotates out of chipmakers after Broadcom's AI outlook disappoints — Broadcom's underwhelming AI chip forecast tested the artificial-intelligence trade, with the stock tumbling the most since January 2025 and dragging a key sector gauge down 2.2%. Despite the chip weakness, breadth held up as roughly 360 firms in the S&P 500 advanced on the day. Bloomberg

Oil holds steady on hopes US-Iran talks will reopen the Strait of Hormuz — WTI traded below $93 a barrel and Brent closed near $95 after sliding more than 3% on Thursday, as traders bet ceasefire talks could restore energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said talks were going well even as Hezbollah rejected the US-brokered Israel-Lebanon ceasefire. Bloomberg

Canada slipped into a technical recession in Q1 as growth stalled — Statistics Canada said real GDP fell 0.1% on an annualized basis in the first quarter, following a downwardly revised 1% contraction in Q4 2025 — meeting the definition of a technical recession. Business capital investment fell 0.7%, marking its fifth consecutive quarterly decline amid uncertainty linked to the Iran war and rising energy costs. CBC

US jobless claims jump to highest level since Iran war began — Weekly initial unemployment insurance claims climbed to their highest level since the Iran war started in February, suggesting growing strain in the labour market. The release adds pressure on the Fed as it weighs further rate cuts later this year. Britannica/AP

Bolton stock-market sectoral moves: tech leads May rally as energy and utilities slide — The S&P 500 rose 5.26% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 8.43% in May, with technology jumping 19.76% to drive nearly all of the index's gains. Eight of the eleven S&P sectors actually fell, led by Energy (-5.63%) and Utilities (-5.19%), as the late-April oil spike unwound. James Investment

Technology

Broadcom shares tumble as AI chip forecast misses expectations — Broadcom's Q2 revenue of $22.19 billion missed analyst estimates and the company guided to $16 billion in AI chip revenue for the current quarter, slightly below consensus. Shares fell more than 13% in extended trading, though CEO Hock Tan said the company now expects to ship more than 10 gigawatts' worth of AI chips in 2027. Reuters/The Star

Intel and Foxconn team up on AI chips and infrastructure — Intel and Foxconn announced a partnership to jointly develop AI chips and broader AI infrastructure solutions. The deal deepens Intel's push to claim a bigger slice of the AI hardware market alongside the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer. Yahoo Finance

AI boom mints 19 new billionaires from Cerebras, Replit and Vercel — Bloomberg reported that 19 new billionaires were created this year as AI infrastructure and tooling companies, including Cerebras, Replit and Vercel, kept up their relentless boom. The wealth surge reflects how new technology is being applied to old businesses across the economy. Bloomberg

Carney pledges $66 million for AI sector and Canadian supercomputer plan — AI Minister Evan Solomon announced $66 million in federal funding for Canada's AI sector and committed to building a world-leading sovereign supercomputer by 2031. The strategy also offers free AI literacy training to up to one million entry-level post-secondary students and aims to train 3,000 educators with AI learning kits. CBC

Polymarket bets on social-media 'vibes' expose prediction-market bot risk — Bloomberg Businessweek reported that Polymarket's move into wagers tied to social-media clout has made the prediction market increasingly vulnerable to bot manipulation. The piece highlights how prediction markets are stretching beyond traditional politics and sports into areas where data integrity is harder to guarantee. Bloomberg Businessweek

Meta plans $200 billion data centre in Louisiana's Bayou — Bloomberg Businessweek detailed Meta's plans for an enormous $200 billion data centre complex in the Louisiana bayou as the company races to support AI workloads. The project is among the largest single AI-driven infrastructure bets ever announced. Bloomberg Businessweek

Renewable Energy

UK government tables Seventh Carbon Budget targeting 87% emissions cut by 2040 — Energy Secretary Ed Miliband introduced legislation for the Seventh Carbon Budget, committing the UK to cut greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 87% over 2038-2042. The government argued the budget will protect bill-payers from fossil fuel shocks and unlock further clean energy investment, building on more than £90 billion of private clean-energy investment announced since July 2024. GOV.UK

Carbon Brief analysis says UK's 7th carbon budget will deliver £865bn in net economic benefits — Carbon Brief's analysis of the government's impact assessment found that meeting the seventh carbon budget would yield £1,620bn in benefits versus £880bn in investment over 25 years. Crucially, it could save £445bn on fossil-fuel imports by 2050, with the net benefit rising to £1,035bn if fossil-fuel prices stay near current elevated levels. Carbon Brief

China's Q1 CO2 emissions grew 2% as renewables struggled to keep up with demand — Carbon Brief analysis found China's CO2 emissions rose 2% in Q1 2026 after an increase in 'wasted' wind and solar output, with more coal and gas burned despite record renewable capacity additions. The strait of Hormuz crisis has sharpened Beijing's focus on energy security, but the grid is failing to keep pace with electricity demand growth. Carbon Brief

UK net-zero economy worth £105 billion and supporting over one million jobs in 2025 — An independent report from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit with CBI Economics analysis showed the UK's net-zero economy added £105 billion in gross value in 2025 and supports more than one million jobs. Ministers cited the figures alongside the Seventh Carbon Budget as evidence that climate action is now a leading driver of UK economic growth. BusinessGreen

Iran war 'strengthens the case for renewables' rather than coal, Carbon Brief finds — Ember analysis for Carbon Brief found that despite the Iran-driven energy crisis, the world is unlikely to see a significant return to coal in 2026. Experts said new clean-energy investment is being given a 'superboost' by the crisis, while higher coal use will be limited to small amounts of gas-to-coal switching, mainly in China and the EU. Carbon Brief

Miliband says clean energy is the only way to escape the 'fossil fuel rollercoaster' — Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told Parliament that moving at pace to clean energy is the best protection against future fossil fuel price shocks, citing Britain's second such shock in five years following the Iran war. March 2026 saw the highest monthly solar deployment in over a decade and a record month for EV sales. Energy Live News

Soil Science

FAO warns urgent action needed to avoid global food crisis from Strait of Hormuz disruption — The FAO said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is the start of a systemic agrifood shock that could trigger a global food price crisis within six to 12 months. Chief Economist Maximo Torero called for alternative trade routes, restraint on export restrictions and buffers for higher transport costs, warning that decisions on fertiliser use and crop choice taken now will determine whether a severe crisis emerges. OFI Magazine / FAO

FAO Food Price Index hits 130.7 points in April as fertiliser and energy costs bite — The FAO Food Price Index rose for a third consecutive month in April to 130.7 points, with farmers shifting to less fertiliser-intensive crops amid high fertiliser prices driven by the Strait of Hormuz closure. Wheat plantings are expected to fall in 2026 as drought concerns in the US and Australia add further pressure. FAO

FAO chief economist: fertiliser prices could average 15-20% higher in H1 2026 — FAO projections show global fertiliser prices could average 15 to 20 percent higher in the first half of 2026 if the Strait of Hormuz crisis persists, with Middle East granular urea up 19% in the first week of March alone. The disruption is expected to reduce yields of fertiliser-intensive crops like wheat, rice and maize, while encouraging a shift toward nitrogen-fixing crops such as soybeans. FAO

New paper outlines how multi-agent AI could transform soil science research — Researchers led by Professors Minasny and McBratney published a Frontiers in Science article proposing autonomous AI agents to synthesise field-sensor and remote-sensing data, build dynamic 'digital soil twins' and design soil experiments. The authors stress AI should augment, not replace, the contextual judgement of human soil scientists. Frontiers in Science

Viewpoint warns AI in soil science still depends on domain expertise — A Frontiers in Science Viewpoint responding to the Minasny et al. paper argues that because soil systems are complex and sparsely observed, AI-driven research risks reinforcing biases toward easily measurable variables. The authors say effective use of AI in soil science will hinge on expert humans to guide, interpret and critically evaluate AI workflows. Frontiers in Science

Louis Dreyfus and PepsiCo launch 45,000-acre regenerative ag program in Saskatchewan — Louis Dreyfus Company and PepsiCo launched a regenerative agriculture program targeting 45,000 acres in Saskatchewan in 2026, supporting farmers adopting practices that improve soil health and cut greenhouse gas emissions. SAI Platform will also formally launch the next phase of its regenerative framework in Saskatoon in June 2026. Agroforestry Partners

USDA's $700 million Regenerative Pilot Program draws fire as 'greenwashing' — USDA is dedicating $400 million through EQIP and $300 million through CSP for its new Regenerative Pilot Program, which links to the Make America Healthy Again agenda and lets producers bundle whole-farm regenerative practices into a single application. Critics including Friends of the Earth argue the loosely defined program diverts resources from organic transition and risks becoming greenwashing. Beyond Pesticides

Cover photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash.