Morning Briefing — September 26, 2026

World News

Bangkok declares flood disaster after nearly 48 hours of heavy rain — Thai capital authorities declared a flood disaster across all 50 districts after almost two days of torrential rain left roads submerged and canals overflowing. Officials distributed one million sandbags and opened temporary shelters, with the governor warning it could take several days for the water to drain. Times of Israel / AP

Israeli teen killed in Russian drone strike on Kyiv apartment building — Israel's Foreign Ministry said a 14-year-old boy with Israeli citizenship was killed in a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Ukraine's capital. Israeli diplomatic staff and the Situation Center for Israelis in distress abroad were in contact with the family. Times of Israel

Saudi crude exports surge to seven-month high despite escalating conflict with Iran-backed militants — Kpler data shows Saudi Arabia is exporting 6 million barrels per day in September, the highest level since the Iran war began about seven months ago. Shipments have jumped nearly 80% over August, even after damage to the East-West pipeline from a drone attack launched from Iraq. CNBC

Iranian foreign minister remains in New York as UN General Assembly talks continue — Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his delegation are expected to stay in New York until Wednesday, state outlet IRNA reported. His extended stay comes amid ongoing tensions and diplomatic exchanges around the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. Times of Israel

CBC investigation finds IDF removing rubble from bombed Gaza sites — CBC's visual investigations team uncovered satellite imagery showing the Israeli military clearing rubble from sites in Gaza it had bombed. Experts and human rights advocates warned the practice risks destroying evidence of alleged war crimes. CBC News

NY politicians arrested at anti-Netanyahu protest tout charges — Several New York politicians detained during protests against Benjamin Netanyahu's UN visit publicised their arrests after being charged with disorderly conduct. Netanyahu returned to Israel after his one-day trip, again barring the traveling Israeli press corps from his official plane. Times of Israel

Manchester City found guilty on 'vast majority' of Premier League financial charges — The Guardian's Saturday front page reports Manchester City has been found guilty of most of more than 100 charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial rules. Sanctions have not yet been determined and the club is expected to appeal, in a case covering years of the club's dominant sporting success. Guardian

Business

Wall Street steadies as Dow rises 0.93% and Treasury yields cool — The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.93% to 51,829 while the 10-year Treasury yield eased to 5.17%, offering relief to risk assets. The S&P 500 added 0.51% to 7,743 as the VIX volatility index tumbled more than 5%, signalling calmer near-term sentiment after a turbulent week. Rio Times

Dollar softens as gold holds above $4,200 an ounce — The US dollar index fell 0.25% to 101.035, easing imported inflation pressure for emerging-market currencies including the Brazilian real. Bullion continued its safe-haven bid, rising 0.46% to $4,285 an ounce as investors kept hedges in place despite calmer equity markets. Rio Times

Fed's September hike takes fed funds rate to 3.75%-4% amid Iran war energy shock — The Federal Open Market Committee voted 12-0 on September 16 to raise its benchmark rate by 25 basis points, the first hike since 2023. Updated dot-plot projections showed 16 of 18 policymakers expect at least one more increase this year as inflation stays elevated near 3.7% headline PCE. CNBC

Canada's Q2 GDP grew a strong 3.3% annualized as Q1 revised higher — Statistics Canada reported second-quarter growth of 3.3% annualized, driven by high exports (including autos) and domestic investment, while first-quarter figures were revised upward. Investment in computers and peripherals for data centres jumped 16.7%, and one economist said the upward revision put recession fears in the "trash bin." CBC News

US trade representative says 'no urgency' to strike Canada deal — US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the two sides continue to discuss potential deals but there is no urgency, even as Canada continues to supply key exports to the United States. The comments come as Trump-era tariffs on Canadian goods remain in effect. CBC News / BNN Bloomberg

Bell plans expansion of Saskatchewan AI data centre in largest private investment in province's history — Bell Canada announced an expansion of its Saskatchewan AI data centre, which the CBC reports would become the largest private investment in the province's history. The move underscores the accelerating build-out of AI infrastructure across Canada. CBC News

Canada and EU deepen economic ties amid US trade friction — With Ottawa pivoting away from Washington, CBC charts show how Canada's and the EU's economies stack up as the two seek closer commercial ties. Meanwhile, Canada's international trade minister is heading to India and the Philippines for talks on new agreements. CBC News

Technology

Google to send its AI chips to orbit starting October 1 — Google is preparing to launch its custom AI chips (TPUs) into space, with the first hardware heading to orbit on October 1 as part of a plan to run inference workloads off-Earth. Analysts note the concept still relies on solving substantial bandwidth and cooling challenges before it becomes a real service. Artificially Intimidating

Sanders and Casar introduce Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act — Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar filed legislation to permanently prohibit AI systems that exceed human cognitive performance across most domains, pause frontier development pending federal safety rules, and create a cabinet-level Department of Artificial Intelligence. Violators would face corporate dissolution or up to 20 years' imprisonment, penalties compared to those for unlawful nuclear weapons work. AI Weekly

OpenAI adds plugins to ChatGPT Voice and lets users switch between GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna — OpenAI rolled out three voice upgrades: plugin support for email, calendar and Slack; user-selectable GPT-6 model backends (Astra, Sol and Luna); and Voice inside ChatGPT Work on web and mobile. Previously the voice mode was tied to a single underlying model. 9to5Mac / AI Weekly

California requires disclosure of AI-generated performers in advertising — California enacted SB 1050, requiring video and audio ads that use AI-generated performers to include explicit disclosure that the performer is synthetic. The law also bars continued use of ads found to violate the requirement, making California the second state after New York to adopt such a rule. MarketingProfs

Vatican calls for international AI governance akin to nuclear controls — Vatican officials argued that no single country can manage AI risks alone and compared the need for international governance to longstanding efforts to control nuclear weapons. Pope Leo has highlighted the dangers of autonomous weapons and AI-driven misinformation, and the US bishops' conference recently formed an AI taskforce. MarketingProfs

Alibaba ships Qwen-Audio 3.1 stack and cuts voice API prices up to 95% — Alibaba's Qwen team released a new voice model stack and simultaneously announced steep price cuts of up to 95% on voice APIs. The move ratchets up cost competition in the multimodal AI market. The Decoder / AI Weekly

Universal quantum computing demonstrated with non-Abelian anyons on 54-qubit processor — Researchers showed that exotic quantum particles called non-Abelian anyons can perform the full range of operations needed for universal quantum computing. Using 54 qubits on Quantinuum's H2 processor, they combined braiding and fusion operations, a significant step toward fault-tolerant quantum machines. ScienceDaily

Frontier AI model cracks 1941 German Enigma message that stumped cryptographers — A frontier AI model broke a 1941 Enigma-encrypted message that human cryptographers had been unable to solve. The demonstration adds to a growing list of historical puzzles being reopened by modern large language models. Artificially Intimidating

Renewable Energy

World must build more renewable capacity in 2026-2030 than in all previous years combined — Despite record growth in 2025, analysts told a UN gathering that meeting climate goals requires deploying more renewable power between 2026 and 2030 than has been built in the entire history of the sector. Turkey's incoming COP31 presidency laid out an agenda aimed at converting existing pledges into measurable projects. Clean Energy Wire

EU proposes rules requiring data centres to disclose energy and water use — The European Commission proposed regulations that would require data centres operating in Europe to publicly report how efficiently they consume energy and water. The move responds to mounting concern about AI-driven demand pushing up power and resource use. Reuters / Clean Energy Wire

Sunrun and Tesla dispatch record 580 MW from California home batteries during heatwave — During an extreme-heat event on September 9, Sunrun and Tesla dispatched a combined 580 MW of peak electricity from residential batteries in California. The output, comparable to a utility-scale plant, showed how thousands of distributed home batteries can act as a coordinated virtual power plant. GreentechLead

Goldwind selected for 408 MW Gawara Baya wind farm with 104 MW battery in Australia — Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners chose Goldwind to supply turbines for its 408 MW Gawara Baya wind project in North Queensland, which will pair with a 104 MW grid-forming battery. CIP secured an AUD 1.7 billion financing facility from ten banks, with early construction starting this month and full operation expected in 2030. GreentechLead

Envision wins 131 MW turbine order for North Macedonia's largest wind project — Envision Energy will supply 21 turbines totalling 131.25 MW for the first phase of Alcazar Energy Partners' Stip wind project, which has reached financial close. When completed to 396 MW across three phases, the project would more than quadruple North Macedonia's installed wind capacity and support the country's shift away from coal. GreentechLead

Wind and solar produced 22% of US electricity in first half of 2026 — Wind and solar, including small-scale rooftop installations, supplied more than 22% of US electricity generation in the first six months of 2026, according to the Energy Information Administration's Electric Power Monthly. The US produced roughly seven times as much solar power in 2025 as in 2016. Environment America

EU's first full-scale carbon dioxide storage project begins operations — The European Union's first full-scale CO2 storage project has come online, marking a milestone for continental carbon capture and storage. Separately, France called for a G7 summit on releasing additional oil reserves after a drone attack on a Saudi pipeline worsened supply concerns. Clean Energy Wire

Zambia signs 25-year PPA for 500 MW Copperbelt solar project with EnerSynk — Zambia's national utility ZESCO signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Hungary-based EnerSynk Group for a planned 500 MW solar project in Copperbelt province. The deal allows the project to advance to technical, environmental and financing studies, with power destined for the national grid. SustainabilityOnline

Carbon Brief: 2026 'super El Niño' reaches record-breaking territory — This year's El Niño event is entering all-time record territory, according to a Carbon Brief analysis, with implications for extreme weather worldwide. The publication says it is projected to be the most intense El Niño since records began. Carbon Brief

Soil Science

FAO's 2026 Global Emergency Appeal seeks $2.5 billion to reach 100 million people — The Food and Agriculture Organization's first Global Emergency and Resilience Appeal is calling for $2.5 billion to assist more than 100 million people across 54 countries this year. FAO notes that agriculture offers strong returns – on average, each dollar invested in a farmer's field produces $3 in local food value – yet only 5% of relevant humanitarian funding supports food production. FAO

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2026-2035 forecasts 13% rise in global food production — The joint 22nd edition of the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook projects global agricultural production will expand 13% over the next decade, driven by productivity gains and intensification concentrated in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Direct agricultural greenhouse-gas emissions are expected to grow 6%, well below the pace of output, but the 2026 Middle East conflict is projected to constrain fertiliser use and cereal production in low-income countries. OECD / FAO

Long-term US trials find cover crops deliver clearest gains in soil health — A multi-state research team analysed 21 long-term US field trials of soybean-based cropping systems and found cover crops most consistently improved soil health, particularly by raising mineralizable carbon and water-extractable organic carbon. Two-crop rotations boosted phosphorus, while no-till was linked to lower soil pH, highlighting tradeoffs for farmers to manage. Phys.org

FAO Director-General says One Health is 'a farmer's agenda' at global conference — At the FAO Global Conference for Actions on One Health in Agrifood Systems in Rome (21-23 September), Director-General QU Dongyu emphasised that One Health approaches – linking human, animal, plant and environmental health – must be embraced by farmers, scientists and ministers alike. The event convened global leaders and technical experts to accelerate practical application across agrifood systems. FAO

Study: Sesbania green manure and organic nutrients boost soil aggregate formation — New research in the European Journal of Soil Science shows that long-term integration of Sesbania green manuring with organic nutrient management enhances both macro- and meso-aggregate formation and promotes carbon stabilisation within soil aggregates. In contrast, purely chemical fertilisation favours micro-aggregate formation, with implications for soil carbon stocks and long-term crop productivity. European Journal of Soil Science

Biochar shows promise for remediating microplastic-contaminated soils — A comprehensive evaluation published in the Soil Science Society of America Journal describes biochar as a promising, cost-effective and sustainable strategy for remediating soils contaminated with microplastics. The authors note that knowledge gaps remain around microscopic biochar-microplastic interactions and field-scale application, and call for further research. Soil Science Society of America Journal

Canadian Journal of Soil Science: long-term cover cropping did not alter microbial carbon cycling under corn — A Canadian study published in August 2026 found that long-term fall cover cropping with a mixed radish-and-rye blend did not measurably change microbial soil carbon cycling dynamics under corn. The finding adds nuance to the growing evidence base on which soil-health practices deliver reliable biological benefits. Canadian Journal of Soil Science

Temperature sensitivity of alpine mine-slope soil carbon decomposition quantified — New research examines how temperature drives decomposition of soil organic carbon on alpine mine slopes, a fragile landscape where restoration is difficult. The findings inform climate-vulnerability assessments of high-altitude soils undergoing warming. European Journal of Soil Science

Cover photo by Matt Popovich on Unsplash.