Chief-Exec.com

Trump gives Iranians 10 more days to open Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump has said he will pause airstrikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure for 10 days because peace talks are going “well”. The US president extended the Saturday deadline he had previously given Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as he thanked Tehran for allowing 10 Pakistani-flagged oil tankers to leave the Gulf unharmed. Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was pausing “energy plant destruction” until April 6, adding: “Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well.” Trump said that the pause had been requested by Iran. “They said to me, very nicely through my people, ‘Could we have more time?’ Because we’re talking about tomorrow night,” he told Fox News. “So, I gave them a 10-day period. They asked for seven.” The Times, March 27

Putin asks oligarchs to donate to budget as cost of Ukraine war soars
Vladimir Putin has asked oligarchs to donate to Russia’s budget in a bid to stabilise the country’s finances as he presses on with his invasion of Ukraine, according to three people familiar with the matter. The comments by Russia’s president to a large group of prominent businessmen on Thursday made it clear that he is intent on pursuing the war to a victorious end despite the growing strains on the Kremlin’s budget. Russia will fight on, Putin said, until it captures the remaining areas of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region not under its control, according to two of the people. He said the decision was necessary because Ukraine had refused to withdraw unilaterally from the Donbas during recent rounds of talks brokered by the US, the people added. The Russian leader had supported what he viewed as a compromise proposal to turn the Donbas into a “demilitarised zone” or US-backed “special economic zone”, but dropped the idea after Ukraine made it clear that surrendering the region was a red line, one of the people said. Financial Times, March 26

EU parliament clears the way for offshore migrant detention centres
European lawmakers cleared the way on Thursday for tougher penalties for irregular migrants and their potential deportation to so-called return hubs outside the bloc. The measures, criticised by human rights groups, are part of a tightening of Europe's immigration rules in response to pressure across the 27-nation bloc to curb migration. The European Parliament approved the package with support from right-wing and far-right groups in a 389 to 206 vote in Brussels - bringing it a step closer to final approval pending negotiations with the European Commission and Council of the European Union. Thirty-two members abstained from the vote. The reform would notably allow for the opening of centres or "return hubs" outside the EU's borders to which migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected would be sent. France 24, March 26

UK: Keir Starmer set to make Sadiq Khan a lord
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to offer a peerage to London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, in a bid to mollify one of his most high-profile Labour critics, according to people familiar with the matter. The move would come after local and devolved elections in May that are expected to be a severe blow for the prime minister. One person familiar with the matter also said that conversations had taken place about Starmer offering Khan a cabinet role as part of a post-election reset. A Downing Street official said that suggestion was incorrect. Appointing a spate of new peers, including Khan, would likely be criticised, given that Starmer has already appointed more peers than any of the previous four prime ministers. He gave the mayor a knighthood last January. Nonetheless, Downing Street officials see the move as helping Starmer “shore up his position with patronage” at what is expected to be a moment of maximum danger, said the person familiar with the discussions. Financial Times, March 27

Just Eat and Autotrader among firms investigated in fake reviews probe
Food delivery giant Just Eat and motoring site Autotrader are among five firms being investigated as part of a probe into fake and misleading online reviews by the UK's competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority, which is also investigating reviews site Feefo, funeral firm Dignity and Pasta Evangelists, is looking at whether they have broken consumer law. The investigation will focus on how reviews are obtained, moderated and presented to customers. Online reviews influence billions of pounds of spending each year, yet many consumers worry about misleading content online … Under new powers announced in 2024 the CMA can fine firms for violating consumer law, without needing to go through the courts. While the CMA is investigating the five businesses, it said it had "not reached any conclusions about whether consumer law has been broken". BBC news, March 27

Trump threatens to ‘unleash hell’ as Iran rejects peace plan
President Trump threatened to “unleash hell” on Iran after the ­regime said it would reject a 15-point plan to end the war. Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said that Iran had “miscalculated” by refusing to accept defeat in the war being waged on the country by the United States and Israel. “If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, ­President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” she said. “President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to ­unleash hell. Iran should not miscal­culate again.” The Times, March 25

Meta and YouTube found liable in landmark social media addiction trial
A Los Angeles jury has handed down an unprecedented win for a young woman who sued Meta and YouTube over her childhood addiction to social media. Jurors found that Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, and Google, owner of YouTube, intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed the 20-year old's mental health. The woman, known as Kaley, was awarded $6m (£4.5m) in damages, a result likely to have implications for hundreds of similar cases now winding their way through US courts. Meta and Google said separately that they disagreed with the verdict and would both appeal. Meta said: "Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online." A spokesperson for Google said: "This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site." Jurors found that Kaley should receive $3m in compensatory damages and an additional $3m punitive damages, because they determined Meta and Google "acted with malice, oppression, or fraud" in the way the companies operated their platforms. Meta will be expected to shoulder 70 per cent of Kaley's damages award, with Google the remaining 30 per cent. BBC news, March 26

France is 'more and more keen' on Australia critical minerals investment, minister says
France is among the countries poised to invest in Australian critical minerals projects, ​Australia's resources minister said on Thursday, as Canberra's framework deal with the US prompts nations with advanced manufacturing sectors to secure access to supply. Australia has been on a four-year mission to build an industry for minerals like rare earths that are key to future technologies such as electronics and defence, ​as countries look to ‌diversify their supply chain away from dominant producer China. As well as last October's critical minerals agreement with the ⁠United States, which included an $8.5 billion pipeline of investments, Australia has inked agreements for sector cooperation with Japan, South Korea, India, France, Germany and Britain. France 24, March 26

England set to charge foreign tourists for entry to leading museums
Millions of foreign tourists visiting England’s best-known museums will have to pay fees under proposals set out on Thursday by culture secretary Lisa Nandy. The culture department has accepted a proposal by Baroness Margaret Hodge, a former Labour MP, that museums and galleries, including the British Museum and the National Gallery, should consider limiting free entry. Nandy said that the government wanted to explore “the potential opportunities that charging international visitors at museums could bring”. However, Hodge’s proposal, made in a recent independent review of Arts Council England, was conditional on the government first rolling out a universal ID scheme, which would make it easier to differentiate domestic and international visitors. One leader of a big London museum said: “It’s very sensible. The current model doesn’t work because government funding is constantly being squeezed.” Financial Times, March 26

NS&I faces £400m bill over missing savings scandal
National Savings and Investments is set to pay out £400m to customers following a missing savings scandal first revealed by The Telegraph. The savings bank is in discussions with the Treasury to repay some 37,000 savers whose money is understood to have been misplaced, after failings dating back years. The exact amount to be returned is yet to be determined, with Treasury officials understood to be working with NS&I on the finer points of “a very complex issue”, but it is thought to stretch into the hundreds of millions, potentially £400m. It is expected to be the single biggest payout in the history of the 160-year-old institution. It is as yet unclear exactly how it will be funded, but it is thought that the Treasury, which provides 100 per cent backing to the bank, could pick up the bill. The Telegraph, March 25