Head of IMF says risks in private credit market keep her awake at night

The head of the International Monetary Fund has admitted that worrying about the risks building up in non-bank lending markets keeps her awake at night.Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday urged countries to pay more attention to the private credit market, after the failure of the sub-prime auto lender Tricolor and the car parts supplier First Brands.Speaking at the IMF’s annual meeting in Washington DC, Georgieva said the fund was concerned about the “very significant shift of financing” from the banking sector to non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs).Those NBFIs are not regulated as closely as the banking sector, she pointed out, meaning the world could end up in “a difficult place” if the private credit sector continued to grow significantly and the global economy then weakened.“This is why we are urging more attention to the non-bank financial institutions,” Georgieva told reporters, suggesting there should be more oversight of the sector

UK economy expands as GDP rises by 0.1% in August ahead of crucial budget

The UK economy expanded by 0.1% in August, according to official figures, giving a lift to Rachel Reeves before next month’s crucial budget.A boost from the manufacturing sector helped the economy improve along with a strong performance by the health sector.However, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it had revised down July’s flatlining growth to a 0.1% contraction, limiting the rise in output over the three months to August to 0

Italian news publishers demand investigation into Google’s AI Overviews

Italian news publishers are calling for an investigation into Google’s AI Overviews, arguing that the search engine’s AI-generated summaries feature is a “traffic killer” that threatens their survival.FIEG, the Italian federation of newspaper publishers, said it has submitted a formal complaint to Agcom, Italy’s communications watchdog.Similar complaints have been filed in other EU countries. Coordinated by the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association, the aim is to push the European Commission to open an investigation against Google under the EU Digital Services Act.The threat posed by AI Overviews, which gives users information without them having to click through to the original source by summarising searches with a block of text at the top of the results page, is among the main concerns of European news outlets

Spotify partnering with multinational music companies to develop ‘responsible’ AI products

Spotify has announced it is teaming up with the world’s biggest music companies to develop “responsible” artificial intelligence products that respect artists’ copyright.The market-leading music streamer is collaborating with the Sony, Universal and Warner music groups – whose combined rosters feature artists including Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift – to create new AI features.Spotify did not give details of what the new products would entail, but the company said artists would not be forced to participate, and their copyright would not be violated.In a blogpost announcing the agreement, Spotify referred pointedly to a move-fast-and-break-things approach to copyright in some parts of the tech industry. The tension between the music industry and some tech firms has already led to three major labels suing AI companies whose tools create music from user prompts

Mohammed Ben Sulayem set to remain FIA president after Mayer denied by arcane rule

Mohammed Ben Sulayem will stand unopposed for another term as the president of the FIA, motor sport’s governing body. The last remaining candidate is due to pull out on Friday because of an arcane election rule.Tim Mayer, a former FIA senior steward with 15 years in the role until he was sacked last November, was one of three candidates who had announced they would oppose Ben Sulayem, alongside the former racing driver Laura Villars and the Belgian journalist Virginie Philippot.None of them, however, are able to meet the FIA requirements for the election process. Mayer is expected to formally announce the end of his campaign in Austin on Friday , the Guardian understands, where he will make clear the reasons behind it and his assessment of the current electoral process

Women’s Cricket World Cup: Australia storm to 10-wicket win over Bangladesh

That, it must be said, was a display of piss-taking by this Australian team. England struggled to chase a score against Bangladesh, South Africa struggled to chase a score against Bangladesh, and now the Aussies have come out and done inside 25 overs without losing a wicket. And that means their semi-final spot is locked up.It was a really poor performance by Bangladesh in the field, though. So many runs given away, dropped catches, missed stumpings