Chief-Exec.com

King Charles subtly rebukes Donald Trump despite show of unity
In King Charles’s speech to a joint session of Congress, the first by a member of the British royal family in more than 30 years, he admonished his hosts on Capitol Hill - and down the road at the White House. “America’s words carry weight and meaning, as they have since independence,” the 77-year-old British monarch said. “The actions of this great nation matter even more.” While the royal visit to Donald Trump’s court over the past two days has featured all the mutual flattery and pomp of the occasion, there was no way to conceal the strain in the “special relationship” between the UK and US. The growing chasm was apparent amid friction over the war in Iran. Plus, there was the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, which rattled the White House as well as the King’s brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and the attack on the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner days earlier. The two heads of state made a valiant effort to rise above all that with the US president treating King Charles to a fly-past of F-35 fighter jets and the tunes of the Marine Corps band. After meeting in the Oval Office, Trump described the King as a “fantastic person”. Financial Times, April 29

Europe hit by record heat, glacier loss and marine extremes per climate report
Europe endured a historic heatwave across Nordic countries, shrinking glaciers and record sea temperatures in 2025 as the fast-warming continent faces more frequent climate extremes, a new report showed on Wednesday. "The climate indicators … are quite worrying," Mauro Facchini, a European Commission official, told journalists. The European State of the Climate report underscores the urgent need for the region to adapt to global warming and accelerate its transition to clean energy, another EU official said. At least 95 per cent of the region experienced above-average annual temperatures, with Britain, Norway and Iceland recording their warmest year on record. "Since 1980, Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average, making it the fastest warming continent on Earth," WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a briefing on the report. "Heatwaves are becoming more frequent and severe. And in 2025, we saw long duration heatwaves from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle." France 24, April 29

UBS trading gains fuel 80% profit surge
Profits at UBS jumped 80 per cent in the first quarter, as strong trading and client activity fuelled by market volatility from the war in the Middle East lifted net profit to $3bn. The Swiss bank benefited from a sharp rise in markets revenues, with higher volatility boosting equities and foreign-exchange trading, while its core wealth-management arm continued to attract fresh client inflows. The record trading performance at the Swiss lender mirrors that of US rivals, which were able to capitalise on a frenzy of activity sparked by the US military intervention in Venezuela in January and the ongoing conflict in Iran to report some of their best results in years. Underlying revenues in UBS’s markets division hit a record $3.2bn, almost a third higher than the same period a year earlier, the bank said. The performance was driven by a 29 per cent jump in its equities trading business to $2.3bn, and a 38 per cent gain at its smaller fixed-income unit, which brought in $900mn. Financial Times, April 29

Lloyds Bank profits hit £2bn on higher for longer interest rates
Higher-for-longer interest rates amid the war in the Middle East have boosted quarterly profits at Lloyds Banking Group to a bigger-than-expected £2 billion. The bank, which is the country’s largest mortgage lender, said on Wednesday that its pre-tax profits in the three months to the end of March had climbed by 33 per cent, taking them above the £1.8 billion forecast by City analysts. It has been buoyed by fatter margins, which benefit from higher borrowing costs. Its net interest margin, which is the difference between what a bank charges for loans and pays on deposits, increased to 3.17 per cent from 3.03 per cent a year earlier. This also beat the 3.15 per cent pencilled in by analysts and was up from the 3.1 per cent Lloyds had reported for the end of December. Expectations for higher rates also prompted the group to lift its forecast for underlying net interest income this year to greater than £14.9 billion, from its previous guidance of about that figure. The Times, April 29

11 cancers on the rise in young people - scientists find first clue why it's happening
Eleven cancers are becoming more common in young people in England, a major analysis shows. A full explanation for why levels of cancer are increasing remains elusive. But the study reveals that a decades-long pattern of people becoming more overweight is likely to play some role, even though it is far from the whole story. Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research and Imperial College London stressed cancer in young people is still rare and that everyone can reduce their risk by living a healthy lifestyle. BBC news, April 29

MSF says Israel is weaponising water access in Gaza
Israeli authorities are systematically depriving people in Gaza of the water they need to live, Doctors Without Borders warned on Tuesday, decrying a campaign of "collective punishment" against Palestinians. The extensive destruction of civilian water infrastructure in Gaza coupled with obstruction of access constitutes "an integral part of Israel's genocide", said the medical charity, which goes by its French acronym MSF (Médecins sans Frontières). In a report entitled "Water as a Weapon", MSF said the "engineered scarcity" was occurring alongside "direct killing of civilians, the devastation of health facilities, (and) the destruction of homes". Together, this amounted to "the deliberate infliction of destructive and inhumane conditions of life on the Palestinian population in Gaza", warned the report, based on testimonies and data MSF collected in 2024 and 2025. France 24, April 28

US being ‘humiliated’ by Iran, says German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
Friedrich Merz said the US was “being humiliated” by Iran, as the German chancellor warned that he saw “no exit strategy” to end the Middle Eastern conflict any time soon. The comments from a staunch Atlanticist leader underscore growing irritation in Europe as the US-Israel war on the regime in Tehran hurts growth, disrupts global oil and gas supplies and strains transatlantic relations. Speaking during a school visit in western Germany on Monday, Merz said Washington “quite obviously went into this war without any strategy” and had “no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either”. The Iranians were “obviously negotiating very skilfully — or simply very skilfully not negotiating”, he added. “A whole nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership.” After initially justifying the US-Israeli attacks on Iran - and saying it was “not the time to lecture” Washington - Merz has grown more critical of the conflict in recent weeks, as its economic fallout has spilled over into a full-blown domestic crisis. Financial Times, April 27

BP profits double to $3.2bn on higher crude prices
Volatile energy prices have handed a windfall to BP in an early boost to efforts by its new boss to restore confidence in the oil major. Underlying profits for the first quarter more than doubled to $3.2 billion, exceeding a forecast of $2.7 billion from City analysts. Performance was lifted by an “exceptional” performance from its oil traders, cashing in on volatile crude prices due to the Middle East conflict and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Oil and gas prices have risen sharply since the strait, which carries about a fifth of the world’s energy supplies, was effectively closed. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, averaged $81.13 a barrel during the first three months of the year, up from $63.73 a barrel in the fourth quarter of last year. However, price lags built into some of BP’s contracts meant that it did not feed through to the average price at which it sold oil and gas in the quarter. The Times, April 28

Russian superyacht sails through Strait of Hormuz despite blockade
A superyacht linked to one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's key allies has sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, despite the ongoing blockade of the critical shipping channel. The 142m-long (465 feet) Nord luxury boat, linked to sanctioned Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov, travelled from Dubai to Muscat, Oman over the weekend, one of a few private vessels to transit through the strait in recent months. Iran has engaged with Russia in high-level talks this week as its standoff with the US over the strait's re-opening continues. Approximately one-fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass through the waterway. BBC news, April 28

London landlord sues John Lewis in click-and-collect dispute
John Lewis is being sued by the owner of London’s Brent Cross shopping centre over claims that the retailer owes it a cut of online sales collected from its store, despite the lease being agreed decades before the rise of ecommerce. Property company Hammerson and Standard Life Investments, the current and former owners of Brent Cross respectively, are seeking a declaration from the High Court that click-and-collect sales should be included in the calculation that determines the rent payable. The case revolves around the “turnover rent” provision in the lease, which was agreed in 1979. John Lewis must pay Hammerson additional rent once the north London store’s annual takings hit certain levels, in addition to a base rent of £30,000 a year. Lawyers and property advisers say these kinds of contracts are often contested and that there is no consensus on whether click-and-collect sales should be included in turnover rent deals. Financial Times, April 28