Latest news for 26 June 2026

DR CONGO

Ebola hope?

With the three fast-tracked Ebola vaccine candidates still months away (Oxford, IAVI, and Moderna), the World Health Organisation is now launching Congo clinical trials on whether the remdesivir antiviral or MBP134 antibody cocktail can help blunt the region’s fast-moving Bundibugyo strain outbreak. (WHO)

Comment: Tedros (the WHO boss) is sounding more optimistic than earlier briefings as the response accelerates — regional testing and beds are both way up, and these two trials are building on donations from the US (which just left the WHO in January).

IRAN

Ship hit in Hormuz Strait.

The UN has halted its planned evacuation of over 11,000 sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz after a presumed Iranian drone or missile hit a Singapore-flagged ship transiting near Oman. The regime’s IRGC naval arm had just warned this Oman route was unauthorised. Oil prices spiked on the news but have since stabilised back around the $70 post-deal mark. (EuroNews)

Comment: With US-Iran talks ongoing, it’s a pretty direct flex of the regime’s most powerful asymmetric weapon: the ability to choke 20% of global oil. So for anyone still hoping for a rapid return to the Strait’s pre-war free status, there’s your answer.

JAPAN

Invest your trillions.

PM Takaichi has unveiled an unprecedented $2.3T investment plan in combined public + private financing for the next 14 years, with nearly a third earmarked for AI and semiconductors alone. (Bloomberg $)

Comment: The cautious market response is revealing — rather than exacerbate pre-existing fears around Tokyo’s fiscal trajectory, the ‘meh’ might hint at initial confusion, both around exactly where that tsunami of cash comes from, and the ability to assess the merits of a plan over such a long time-frame. Still, it looks to us like a Takaichi flex both to reverse decades of sluggish growth, and respond to US-China tech rivalry and supply chain vulnerabilities.

UKRAINE

40-day blitz.

President Zelensky has announced plans for a 40-day pressure campaign to get Russia to end the war. The Ukrainian leader declined to share any further details, but confirmed Ukraine just hit another two Russian oil refineries. (Independent)

NORTH KOREA

Ship-measuring contest.

Pyongyang has commissioned its biggest-ever ship, a 5,000-ton destroyer the supreme leader claims will “put an end to over 70 years of [his navy’s] stagnation”. (CNN)

Comment: As much as bro has been on a hot-streak lately, it’s worth noting this is still pretty small by modern standards — the US Arleigh Burke-class is almost double that size. But it’s interesting because, after decades of his navy being a touchy subject, Kim now has the cash (courtesy of Putin) to get on with a gradual modernisation. Longer term, that’ll expand his ‘anti-access/area-denial’ bubble, raising the risks for US and South Korean operations off the peninsula.

INDIA

AI on the prize.

Amazon has announced another $13B investment in India’s AI sector, bringing its cumulative announced injection to $48B through to 2030. It’s mostly going to expand AWS data centres in Mumbai and Hyderabad. (TechCrunch)

Comment: Why so much Big Tech interest in India? It’s got a rare mix of low-cost, high-volume, and world-class engineering talent, plus the world’s largest untapped digital consumer base, in an English-speaking democracy with solid US / Quad ties. It’s also a win for PM Modi, who’s citing it domestically as proof the world is betting big on India under his leadership.

IRAQ

Empty (?) threat.

Baghdad authorities have reportedly considered leaving OPEC+ if the cartel doesn’t significantly expand its production quotas. Key member UAE already just left the group of oil producing countries citing the same complaint. (Reuters)

Comment: We flagged back when the UAExit news broke that “each departure weakens the club’s leverage, in turn making the next departure not only easier, but more logical.” Iraq is proving us right, though its “threat”, via a “leak” to international press, still seems more an initial strategy to increase pressure on OPEC’s de-facto leader Saudi Arabia to let members open their spigots. The timing for an actual exit was better for the Emiratis, just as Hormuz was blocked and prices were higher.