US & Iran exchange accusations on damaged oil tankers
The US blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, releasing video it said supported the allegation, reported the BBC, Guardian and Reuters. Iran said it “categorically rejects the US unfounded claim”. The news sent oil prices up and fuelled speculation it could rise further, reported CNBC and Marketwatch. Four oil tankers were attacked in the Persian Gulf in May.
Next British PM: Johnson leads in first round of voting
Boris Johnson received 114 out 313 MP votes to replace Theresa May as head of the Conservative Party and thus as the UK’s prime minister. His closest rival, Jeremy Hunt, got 43 votes. The final vote is expected the week of 22 July. Reported by the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Financial Times and Guardian.
Firms to Trump: tariffs hurt consumers
More than 600 US companies--including Ikea North America Services, Levi Strauss, the Port of Los Angeles, Ralph Lauren and Walmart--signed a letter urging Donald Trump to resolve the US trade dispute with China. Reported by CNN, The Hill and Reuters.
SEC could set CEO social media rules
One of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s commissioners said the regulator should consider issuing guidelines on CEO use of social media, according to the Financial Times.
Hargreaves Lansdown takes £45m from Woodford Income Focus Fund
Investors continued to pull money out of the asset manager Neil Woodford’s remaining open fund, reported Citywire, the Guardian and Telegraph.
Ford & VW close to self-driving car deal
The head of VW said his firm and Ford are close to striking a partnership to develop electric and self-driving vehicles, according to Bloomberg and Reuters. However, a Ford exec raised doubts the deal would be done, said CNBC.
Later today
7am: Fête de la Musique kicks off in Luxembourg City and across the grand duchy. 2:30pm: The economy ministry provides an update on the EuroHPC supercomputer project.
Looking ahead
Saturday 15 June: St George’s International School holds its Summer Fayre (Delano will have a stand). Sunday 16 June: The Anglican Church is hosting a family sports day in Kirchberg.
Here are 3 drone stories you may have missed
Regulation: The EU published a bloc-wide rulebook for drones that start taking effect in June 2020, per Techcrunch. Health: UPS started delivering medical samples via drone in the US state of North Carolina, per MIT Technology Review. Food: Uber started testing McDonald’s delivery via drone in San Diego, per Bloomberg Businessweek.
Here are 3 data protection stories you may have missed
Privacy: Microsoft “has quietly pulled” its facial recognition database of 10m images from the internet, reported the Financial Times. Security: “IT security professionals admit that one in three breaches are the result of vulnerabilities that they should have already patched,” ZDnet wrote of a recent study. Internet: CNBC explained “How to set your Google account to delete itself after you die”.
Fatal cruise ship accident
A woman fell overboard from a cruise ship in the Mediterranean last weekend and is presumed dead, reported Marketwatch. Eight other cruise ship passengers have gone overboard so far this year; three survived.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald