Bank of England warns ‘higher inflation unavoidable’ after holding interest rates

The Bank of England has left interest rates unchanged at 3.75% but said the UK may need to brace for increases later this year, as “higher inflation is unavoidable” as a result of the war in the Middle East.The Bank’s rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC) voted to leave borrowing costs on hold, but said that if energy costs stayed persistently high it might have to take a more “forceful” response to keep inflation under control.The nine-member MPC was split 8-1 in its decision to keep borrowing costs on hold for the third consecutive meeting.Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, said: “Where we go from here will depend on the size and duration of the shock to energy prices” as the conflict in the Middle East evolves

The chips are down: pizza, fried chicken and doughnut shares plunge on ASX as living costs bite budgets

Once a symbol of cheap eating, fast food is transforming into a luxury many can no longer afford due to resurgent living costs.This shift is reflected on the ASX, where major pizza, fried chicken and doughnut outlets are seeing significant price drops, raising the question: are consumers so downbeat that they are even giving up on fast food?Shares in Domino’s Pizza, KFC operator Collins Foods and multi-brand food franchise owner Retail Food Group have all suffered double-digit falls over the past two months, coinciding with surging oil prices tied to the US-Israel war on Iran.The Guzman y Gomez share price is also down, even as the broader ASX has proven robust.Lochlan Halloway, an equity market strategist at Morningstar, says the stocks are under pressure because concerns over consumer spending are coinciding with fast-rising operational costs.“Fast food is a discretionary purchase, something that’s probably fairly easy to cut if your budget’s pinched, and so they might be a casualty of consumers just trading out of the category entirely,” Halloway said

Judge cuts off Musk’s AI doomsday talk as his testimony ends in Open AI case

Elon Musk’s court case against Sam Altman continued on Thursday, after a day of contentious exchanges during OpenAI’s cross-examination of the Tesla CEO. Musk faced more combative questioning throughout the morning, in a glimpse of what may await other prominent witnesses set to take the stand.Witness testimony and evidence has revealed formerly private emails, text messages and diary entries surrounding the formation of OpenAI, giving a behind-the-scenes look at how the tech behemoth was created. Many of the tech industry’s most powerful players are named as witnesses and will give their accounts on the origins of Musk and Altman’s bitter feud. Altman will testify later in the trial, which will last three weeks

AI outperforms doctors in Harvard trial of emergency triage diagnoses

From George Clooney in ER to Noah Wyle in The Pitt, emergency department doctors have long been popular heroes. But will it soon be time to hang up the scrubs?A groundbreaking Harvard study has found that AI systems outperformed human doctors in high-pressure emergency medicine triage, diagnosing more accurately in the potentially life and death moments when people are first rushed to hospital.The results were described by independent experts as showing “a genuine step forward” in the clinical reasoning of AIs and came as part of trials that tested the responses of hundreds of doctors against an AI.The authors said the results, published in the journal Science, showed large language models (LLMs) “have eclipsed most benchmarks of clinical reasoning”.One experiment focused on 76 patients who arrived at the emergency room of a Boston hospital

LIV Golf races against time for investment with confirmation Saudi funding will end in 2026

LIV Golf’s race to secure at least a watered-down future is formally under way after Saudi Arabia’s ­Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed it will cease to fund the breakaway ­circuit at the end of this year. Fears over LIV’s existence are inescapable given the PIF has bestowed in excess of $5bn on the tour since 2021. Tournaments started in the following year; there is a very real chance the 2026 season will prove LIV’s last.LIV had already confirmed appointment of new board ­members, aimed with the specific task of ­raising finance, by the time the PIF stipulated its position on Thursday. “PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season,” read a statement

Blues win Women’s State of Origin opener in fast fight with Maroons – as it happened

Here is Jack Snape’s match report:What an exciting game to start the series – NSW will be very relieved to get the win with the next two games being played in Queensland and will feel confident that they can snatch a win up there.The Maroons will take a lot of heart from that performance though. They lost two players to HIAs, both important players to their side, and they still were in the match right until the final whistle. They will have a lot of belief that they can win the final two matches with home crowds behind them.Thank you so much for joining us tonight – I hope you enjoyed this game as much as I did! Champagne rugby league out there in Newcastle tonight