Chief-Exec.com

US strikes Iranian targets after attacks on warships
US forces carried out strikes against Iranian military targets on Thursday in response to an attack on three American destroyers in the Strait, threatening a month-old ceasefire. Iran’s central military command accused the US of violating the ceasefire by attacking an oil tanker and another ship. US Central Command said no US assets were struck as they moved through the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman. “Centcom does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces,” a statement said. Iranian state media claimed the exchange came after the US military attacked an oil tanker, prompting Tehran to fire missiles at US ships. The Times, May 8

Court blocks Trump’s 10% tariff
A panel of federal judges ruled today that President Trump’s 10 per cent tariff on most US imports is illegal. The decision appeared to place, for now, strict new limits on the president’s trade powers. In a split ruling, the Court of International Trade found that Trump had wrongly invoked a decades-old trade law when he applied across-the-board tariffs in February. The president had imposed the levies after his previous set of tariffs was struck down by the Supreme Court. While the court declared Mr Trump’s tariffs to be illegal, it only explicitly blocked their collection from small businesses and some states that had sued over their legality. It remained unclear how the administration would interpret that order, though it is widely expected to appeal. New York Times, May 7

US businesses urge Trump to intervene over new EU consumer rules
US businesses have pleaded with the Trump administration to intervene over new EU consumer protection rules that they fear will leave them open to an avalanche of class-action lawsuits. A group of five major US trade associations, led by the US Chamber of Commerce, wrote to top Trump administration officials earlier this year requesting “active engagement with the European Commission” over rules that would require companies to prove their products were not at fault if a customer alleged injury. The changes, due to be introduced from December as part of an update to the EU’s Product Liability Directive, threaten to become a new flashpoint in transatlantic relations. The Trump administration is already piling pressure on the bloc over a range of regulations, in particular its digital rules. The lobby groups raised their concerns about the new consumer protection rules in a letter to US trade representative Jamieson Greer, expressing “significant concerns” about updates to the directive to include injuries caused by digital products. Financial Times, May 8

French prosecutors seek charges against Musk and X over Grok content
French prosecutors are seeking charges against Elon Musk and his social platform X over child sexual abuse images on the platform, deepfakes, disinformation and complicity in denying crimes against humanity by the platform's artificial intelligence system, Grok. The Paris public prosecutor's office said on Wednesday it has opened an investigation into X on charges including complicity in possessing and distributing child sexual abuse images and unlawfully collecting personal data. It's also investigating charges of disseminating non-consensual images or other content and denial of crimes against humanity. X and its parent company SpaceX did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Thursday. France 24, May 8

Anthropic weighs deal for near $1tn valuation as revenue surges
Anthropic is weighing raising tens of billions of dollars this summer to fund a vast expansion in computing capacity, in a move that would catapult it past rival OpenAI to a valuation of almost $1tn. The Claude maker, which was valued at $380bn in February, has been fielding interest from investors including Dragoneer, General Catalyst and Lightspeed Venture Partners as its revenue continues to rise, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Those people expect Anthropic’s annualised revenue, which extrapolates full-year revenue based on recent weeks, to cross $45bn imminently - a fivefold increase from $9bn at the end of last year. “People are ready to throw any dollar amount at Anthropic. It’s just about when [Anthropic] want to pop their heads up and say ‘we’re ready’,” said one investor in the company. Financial Times, May 8

US to revoke passports of parents with child support debt
The US State Department has said it will start to revoke the passports of Americans who owe significant amounts of child support. The department announced that parents who have outstanding debt of more than $2,500 (€1,844) in child support payments could be impacted, but would be targeting those with "significant outstanding" debt. The State Department said it is using "commonsense tools to support American families and strengthen compliance" with US laws in an approach it said would enforce parents' "legal and moral obligations to their children". Those with such debt were advised to arrange payment to relevant state agencies to prevent passport revocation. Once a passport has been revoked, it will no longer be able to be used for travel. Those whose passports are revoked won't be eligible for a new one until their child support debt has been paid, the State Department said. BBC news, May 8

Iran considering US proposal as Trump says war will be 'over quickly'
US President Donald Trump has predicted that the war in Iran will be "over quickly" and says that most people "understand" his goal of ending Tehran's nuclear ambitions. His comments come after Iran said a US proposal to end the war is "still being considered". US news outlet Axios reported that the White House believes it could be closing in on a 14-point memorandum of understanding with Iran, which could set a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations. A senior member of Iran's parliament has dismissed it as a "wish list", while a foreign ministry spokesman said Tehran would share its views of a US proposal with Pakistani mediators. Pakistan's foreign minister said his country was "endeavouring to convert this ceasefire into a permanent end to this war". In its report, Axios describes the memorandum as a one-page, 14-point memo which could set a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations. Among the provisions it lists are a suspension on Iranian nuclear enrichment, the lifting of sanctions, and restoring free transit through the Strait of Hormuz. BBC news, May 7

EU tells airlines to pay passengers for fuel-linked cancellations
Airlines must continue to reimburse passengers for flight cancellations caused by high energy prices, the EU’s transport chief has warned, rejecting claims of jet fuel shortages in Europe. EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas told the FT that cancellations driven by fuel prices were not considered extraordinary circumstances, meaning airlines must still compensate passengers. He said the rising cost of kerosene was part of doing business in this sector. The Greek commissioner also claimed Europe “can sustain jet fuel supplies for a long period”, despite warnings from the International Energy Agency and fellow EU commissioners that airlines would soon run out of kerosene. “The price of jet fuel is the reason why we have cancellations of flights and if they cancel flights without extraordinary circumstances - jet fuel prices are not extraordinary circumstances - they will have to reimburse the people,” he said. Airlines were cancelling flights that “didn’t make much financial sense and now with the doubling of the prices, they make absolutely no sense for the companies”, Tzitzikostas added. Financial Times, May 7

Shell profits surpass expectations as Iran war delivers trading windfall
Shell’s first-quarter profits surpassed expectations on Thursday as the energy major’s traders capitalised on the volatility unleashed by the Middle East conflict. The London-listed company reported adjusted profits of $6.92bn for the first three months of the year, up by almost a quarter from a year ago and ahead of the $6.36bn forecast by analysts. The bumper profits come a week after UK rival BP hailed an “exceptional” performance from its traders. Traders typically benefit from volatility because sharp price swings create larger spreads between buyers and sellers, more opportunities for arbitrage, and demand for hedging from customers such as utilities and airlines. Last month, Shell announced its largest takeover deal for a decade when it agreed to buy Canadian shale producer ARC Resources for $16.4bn. Financial Times, May 7

France's ex-president Sarkozy escapes second ankle tag sentence
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will not serve time with an electronic ankle tag as punishment for illegal funding of his 2012 re-election bid, an informed source said on Wednesday. Sarkozy, 71, has faced a raft of accusations since leaving office after a single term from 2007 to 2012. He has denied all allegations in all cases. Last year, he became modern France's first president to go to jail, serving 20 days in a case related to alleged Libyan funding in his 2007 election campaign. His appeal in the case is ongoing. France 24, May 7

Just one in 100 failed asylum seekers returned to some countries
As few as one in a 100 failed asylum seekers from some countries are being sent home despite the Home Office designating it safe to do so. Britain returned a total of 11,629 rejected asylum seekers last year. Over the same period a total of 80,264 asylum seekers were refused asylum. But return rates vary significantly depending on the country of origin. Figures released through a freedom of information request have given a breakdown of the number of migrants from each country who have been refused asylum and how many have been forcibly returned or voluntarily travelled home. They revealed that migrants from countries most likely to cross the Channel in small boats were among the least likely to be returned home. Just 115 failed Afghan migrants returned to Afghanistan last year, 1.6 per cent of the 7,330 Afghans who were refused asylum in the same period. For Eritreans, the most common nationality among small boat migrants last year, the proportion was 5 per cent, with 64 returned home and 1,269 rejected for asylum. The Times, May 6