UK inflation slows to 3.4% in May as transport costs ease – business live

Inflation in the UK has slowed slightly, as expected.The consumer prices index rose by 3.4% year on year in May, down from 3.5% in April, according to the Office for National Statistics. This was bang in line with City economists’ forecasts

Qantas rebounds from worst-ever performance to be named world’s 14th best airline in ranking

Qantas has rebounded from its worst-ever performance in the aviation industry’s annual awards to be named the world’s 14th best airline, after the national carrier’s reputation was badly damaged by a string of scandals during the pandemic.The national carrier climbed 10 spots in the 2025 Skytrax World Airline awards from its nadir of 24th place in 2024, after customers across more than 100 nationalities voted in the world’s largest airline passenger satisfaction survey.Qatar Airways was named the world’s best airline for the second consecutive year, which will benefit Qantas’s main domestic competitor, Virgin Australia, given it has just entered into a partnership with the Gulf carrier.Virgin recently entered a code-sharing agreement with Qatar, meaning there is now a second Australian carrier apart from Qantas that flies to the Middle East with a global network of connections beyond that.Qatar has been crowned the winner of the Skytrax awards nine times

Up to 70% of streams of AI-generated music on Deezer are fraudulent, says report

Up to seven out of 10 streams of artificial intelligence-generated music on the Deezer platform are fraudulent, according to the French streaming platform.The company said AI-made music accounts for just 0.5% of streams on the music streaming platform but its analysis shows that fraudsters are behind up to 70% of those streams.AI-generated music is a growing problem on streaming platforms. Fraudsters typically generate revenue on platforms such as Deezer by using bots to “listen” to AI-generated songs – and take the subsequent royalty payments, which become sizeable once spread across multiple tracks

Elon Musk’s X sues New York over hate speech and disinformation law

Elon Musk’s X Corp filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the state of New York, arguing a recently passed law compelling large social media companies to divulge how they address hate speech is unconstitutional.The complaint alleges that bill S895B, known as the Stop Hiding Hate Act, violates free speech rights under the first amendment. The act, which the governor, Kathy Hochul, signed into law last December, requires companies to publish their terms of service and submit reports detailing the steps they take to moderate extremism, foreign influence, disinformation, hate speech and other forms of harmful content.Musk’s lawyers argue that the law, which goes into effect this week, would require X to submit “highly sensitive information” and compel non-commercial speech, which is subject to greater first amendment protections. The complaint also opposes the possible penalty of $15,000 per violation per day for failing to comply with the law

Emma Raducanu’s stalker blocked by Wimbledon after name found in ballot

Emma Raducanu’s stalker has been blocked from buying tickets for the Wimbledon Championships this month in the public ballot, it has emerged.Security staff at the All England Club discovered that the man, who has never been named, was on the waiting list when they did a re-sweep of the ballot, after he was given a restraining order in Dubai in February.The authorities in Dubai acted after the British No 1 was forced to hide in tears behind the umpire’s chair when the “fixated” admirer was removed from the stands and detained by police during her second-round match against Karolina Muchova.The previous day the man had given Raducanu a letter and asked for a photograph in a coffee shop. The 22-year-old had also been aware of his presence at tournaments in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Doha in preceding weeks

Katie Boulter reveals shocking online abuse sent to her and other tennis players

Katie Boulter has revealed the extent to which she has been targeted by online abusers who have sent death threats, explicit pictures and toxic comments during her matches. The British No 2 believes much of the abuse comes from gamblers who have lost money.Boulter, aiming for a hat-trick of victories at the Nottingham Open, opened her defence with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win against the world No 44, Lulu Sun, but it was the grim catalogue of hate posted online that Boulter had earlier made public in an interview with BBC Sport which was the talk of the tournament.One message sent to the 28-year-old during the French Open, said: “Hope you get cancer”. Another told her: “Go to hell