Chief-Exec.com

US House delivers rebuke to Trump as it votes to halt Iran war
The US House of Representatives has passed a measure that seeks to halt President Donald Trump from taking further military action in Iran. The 215-208 vote, which is largely symbolic, was successful after four Republicans joined Democrats in a public show of disapproval of the war, which began in February. The vote was to adopt the war powers resolution, which requires Trump to withdraw US forces or seek congressional approval for the conflict. It is unclear how much legal force this House measure would have. The White House has dismissed the merits of the resolution, saying it is an unconstitutional attempt to restrict presidential power. But its passing is significant because it adds to the pressure on the White House to find an end to the Iran War, as petrol prices have spiked and public opposition to the war has increased. This was the fourth attempt by the House to rein in Trump's war powers. The Senate advanced a similar resolution in May but has yet to hold a full floor vote. The measure considered on Wednesday was a concurrent resolution. If it is also passed by the Republican-controlled US Senate, it would not require the president's signature, though it could be subject to a legal challenge. BBC news, June 4

Israel announces continued operations in south Lebanon - hours after renewing ceasefire
Israel's ​military will continue to carry out operations in Lebanon for the time being and will not be withdrawing from the country, Defence Minister Israel ​Katz said on Thursday, despite the announcement of a new ceasefire after US-mediated talks on Wednesday. In a statement, ⁠Katz said that Israel's military would remain in swathes of southern Lebanon it is occupying as part of what Israel's government describes as a buffer zone meant to protect northern ‌Israeli communities from Hezbollah attacks. Israel and Lebanon agreed on Wednesday to implement a ceasefire but said it would require a “complete cessation” of fire by Iran-backed Hezbollah, according to a joint statement after US-led talks in Washington. The two sides, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also agreed to create “pilot zones” in which the Lebanese armed forces “will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors”. France 24, June 4

UK Treasury set to take control of fighter jet spending after defence ministry mishaps
The Treasury is preparing to seize control from the Ministry of Defence of spending on a multibillion-pound fighter jet programme in an effort to ensure that the UK’s planned increase in military expenditure avoids a repeat of past cost overruns. The move comes as wrangling over the government’s delayed 10-year military funding plan enters its final phase. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to announce an injection of about £15bn into Britain’s military up until 2030 as part of the settlement for the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan, people familiar with the matter said. That total is a compromise between the £12bn that chancellor Rachel Reeves attempted to impose and the £18bn that defence secretary John Healey and UK military chiefs insisted was the least they could accept, the people added. The settlement is expected to include up to £6bn extra for the Global Combat Air Programme, a sixth-generation stealth fighter jet that the UK is developing alongside Italy and Japan. Financial Times, June 3

Germany suffers historic UN security council defeat
Germany has suffered a significant diplomatic defeat after failing to secure a seat on the UN security council. In a secret ballot on Wednesday, Berlin was decisively outpolled by Austria and Portugal for the two rotating slots reserved for western nations. It was the first time Germany had lost a vote for the council, delivering a severe blow to its global standing. Traditionally, Germany’s status as the second-biggest financial contributor to the UN and its reputation in parts of the world as a large European power relatively untainted by imperial overreach outside Eurasia have made it a heavyweight in the global forum. Unlike the five permanent members, Germany must compete every decade for one of the council’s 10 non-permanent seats, which are held for two-year terms. Berlin had maintained an unbroken winning streak in these periodic ballots, making Wednesday’s failure to cross the required two-thirds voting threshold an unprecedented rejection by its international peers. The Times, June 3

Elon Musk’s SpaceX pitches investors $1.78tn valuation in historic IPO
SpaceX has said it is seeking to raise as much as $86bn at a valuation of $1.78tn, as Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and AI group prepares for the world’s biggest initial public offering. The company plans to sell 555.6mn shares at $135 apiece, raising $75bn, according to an amended IPO filing on Wednesday. The fundraising could rise to $86bn if underwriters exercise a so-called greenshoe option to sell additional shares - giving the group a market value of $1.78tn. The IPO will cement Musk’s control of two of America’s most valuable companies, SpaceX and electric-car maker Tesla, a position without modern precedent. His special class of SpaceX shares will give him control of 82 per cent of the voting power at the rocket group. SpaceX’s listing comes amid a push by Big Tech groups to raise more capital to plough into the AI race. Alphabet this week moved to raise $85bn in equity while AI lab Anthropic announced it had confidentially filed for its listing. ChatGPT maker OpenAI is also expected to unveil its IPO plans soon. Financial Times, June 3

UK to challenge EU over ‘devastating’ plans to almost halve tariff-free steel import quotas
The UK business secretary, Peter Kyle, is to raise concerns about EU plans to dramatically reduce tariff-free imports of British steel with its trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, in Brussels on Friday. The UK steel industry has previously warned of “devastating” consequences from the new quota system being planned by the EU, which will cut overall tariff-free imports from non-EU countries by 47 per cent on 2024 levels from 1 July. Kyle’s meeting comes as industry leaders on the EU side worry about retaliatory measures by the UK affecting their own sales to Britain. The UK was part of the EU’s previous steel safeguards regime but after Brexit must design its own quota and tariff regime, also from 1 July. European Steel Association Eurofer, the EU trade industry body, has already written to Šefčovič to protest that the “UK is setting new quotas for the EU at extreme low levels” with the EU only getting 9 per cent of its previous levels of hot coil imports, 4 per cent of tin mill, and 3 per cent of merchant bars. In his letter, the Eurofer director general, Axel Eggert, said that the UK’s provisional quotas would slash their exports of organic coated products by 80 per cent with rebar steel down 45 per cent and steel rails down 38 per cent. The safeguards are being introduced on both sides of the Channel as an attempt to protect their industries from competition from China. The Guardian, June 4

Trump signs order seeking government access to new AI releases
Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order creating a voluntary framework under which AI developers will share advanced models with the US government before public release. The central provision allows companies such as OpenAI, Google or Anthropic to give the government access to their most powerful models for up to 30 days before planned release. The order was triggered by concerns over Anthropic's Mythos model, which the AI start-up has held back from the public due to its ability to expose vulnerabilities in computer systems, including those of banks, governments and hospitals. The 30-day window represents a compromise. The original draft called for up to 90 days of pre-release government access, while tech companies had pushed to cut that figure to just 14 days. France 24, June 2

OECD warns of ‘dark scenario’ if Gulf energy crisis drags on
Failure to resolve the energy crisis in the Middle East would plunge the world into a “dark scenario” of tumbling growth and sharply higher interest rates, the OECD has warned. The Paris-based organisation said a “prolonged disruption” to energy flows that lasts into the second half of 2027 would cut global growth to 2.1 per cent this year and just 1.8 per cent next year. Such rates are “extremely low outside of major global recessions such as the global financial crisis or the pandemic”, the OECD warned, adding that major central banks such as the US Federal Reserve would need to respond by lifting interest rates at least a half-point to curtail inflation risks. Efforts to move beyond the fragile truce between Washington and Tehran have faltered in recent days as Iran attacked a US military base in Kuwait in response to American strikes against military targets in southern Iran. This has damped hopes that a deal may be close to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to more ships. Financial Times, June 3

Shell pumped oil through Nigeria pipeline for years despite pollution evidence, documents show
British multinational Shell continued operating a major oil pipeline in Nigeria for years even though it knew it was causing widespread pollution - despite a warning from its own staff and its own technical standards, internal documents obtained by the BBC show. The files, including emails and presentations, reveal that a senior Shell executive cautioned as early as 2008 about the risks of continuing to pump millions of barrels of unrefined fuel through one of the company's main pipelines in Africa's biggest oil producer while it was subject to massive and destructive uncontrolled theft and infrastructure failures. Across Nigeria's oil-rich southern Niger Delta, decades of oil spills have left a landscape deeply scarred, with wetlands increasingly coated in crude and contaminated sediment. The BBC obtained the internal documents after Shell disclosed them as part of ongoing legal proceedings in the UK brought by communities living around the creeks and mangroves of the Niger Delta, who want Shell to be liable for the pollution caused by more than 100 leaks stemming from theft and illegal refining of oil between 2011 and 2013 that have damaged their health, environment and livelihoods. BBC news, June 3

Several UK universities nearly ran out of cash last year, says report
Nearly a quarter of British universities had less than 70 days of cash to cover their costs at the end of 2024-25, according to a new analysis highlighting the intensifying difficulties facing the country’s higher education institutions. A report prepared by the University of East London based on the published accounts of 160 universities shows that 60 institutions scored badly on a range of financial sustainability metrics including liquidity, with 39 reporting less than two months’ net cash to cover costs. A quarter had very concentrated sources of income, with staffing accounting for at least three-fifths of total costs, and high marginal cost ratios, meaning spending had grown more rapidly than income in recent years. Financial Times, June 3

David Cameron offered Boris Johnson senior cabinet role if he agreed not to push for Brexit
David Cameron offered Boris Johnson a senior cabinet position in return for campaigning for the UK to remain in the EU during the 2016 referendum, it has been revealed. In the event, and with four months to go before the vote, Johnson transformed the terms of the debate by announcing in February 2016 that “after a huge amount of heartache” he was throwing his weight behind the campaign to take Britain out of the EU. Lord Cameron told a BBC documentary to mark the 10th anniversary of Brexit that he had offered Johnson - a sometime friend and long-term rival in the Conservative party - a “top five” position, such as defence secretary, on the condition that he did not support the push to leave. In the programme, Johnson speaks of being invited in early 2016 by Cameron, who was then the prime minister, to play tennis and discuss his position on the forthcoming poll. The Guardian, June 3

Trump administration abandons $1.8bn ‘slush fund’
The Trump administration has abandoned its plans to disburse $1.8 billion to Americans supposedly wronged by previous presidents after a political and legal backlash. The $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponisation Fund”, announced by the Department of Justice last month, drew criticism from both sides of the political divide. Todd Blanche, the acting attorney-general, told the House on Tuesday: “We’re not moving forward with the fund, period.” The Times, June 2