Bank of England expected to raise UK interest rates twice this year to fight inflation shock from Middle East crisis – business live

City traders are betting that the Bank of England will raise UK interest rates at least twice this year, to combat the inflationary hit from the Middle East crisis.The money markets are now fully pricing in a quarter-point rise in Bank rate, to 4%, by June.A second hike, to 4.35%, is fully priced in by September.These implied interest rates are volatile today, though

Oil and gas prices jump after Iran and Israel attack gasfields

Gas prices jumped to four-year highs and oil prices rose again after an escalation of attacks by Israel and Iran on gasfields heightened fears of prolonged disruption to international energy supplies.On Thursday, QatarEnergy told Reuters Iran had damaged facilities that produced 17% of the state-owned company’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity and that it would take three to five years to repair them.Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose by 8% to $116 a barrel. Crude prices have soared by 60% since the US-Israeli war on Iran started on 28 February.European gas prices jumped, with the Dutch wholesale gas price up 24% at €68 a megawatt hour, the highest since the end of December 2022

Essex police pause facial recognition camera use after study finds racial bias

Essex police have paused the use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology after a study found cameras were significantly more likely to target black people than people of other ethnicities.The move to suspend use of the AI-enabled systems was revealed by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which regulates the use of the technology deployed so far by at least 13 police forces in London, south and north Wales, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Hampshire, Bedfordshire, Suffolk, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Surrey and Sussex.The ICO said Essex police had paused LFR deployments “after identifying potential accuracy and bias risks” and warned other forces to have mitigations in place. LFR systems are either mounted to fixed locations or deployed in vans. In January, the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced the number of LFR vans would increase five-fold, with 50 available to every police force in England and Wales

US startup advertises ‘AI bully’ role to test patience of leading chatbots

Imagine a day at work where your main task is to pick a fight with a computer. No meetings, no emails – just you, a chair and a chatbot with the maddening tendency to think it has the cleverest mind in the room.The job title alone raises an eyebrow: “AI bully”. But this is precisely what a California startup called Memvid is offering: $800 to spend eight hours testing the patience and memory of artificial intelligence.“You’ll spend a full eight-hour day interacting with leading AI chatbots – and your only job is to be brutally honest about how frustrating they are,” the company’s job listing states

Striking gambit: Erling Haaland invests in new world chess championship

Erling Haaland has become a significant investor in a new world chess championship tour that is expected to star his fellow Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, the Guardian can reveal.The deal was agreed shortly before Manchester City played at West Ham last Saturday, with Haaland shown on Sky Sports wearing a Norway Chess cap as he entered the London Stadium – without anyone noticing.Haaland said that his investment in the Total Chess World Championship Tour, which will have an annual prize pool of $2.7m (£2m), was part of his ambition to help chess become a bigger and more spectator-friendly sport.“Chess is an incredible game,” Haaland said

Prem ‘train’ returns with Saracens looking for instant lift at Bath

Remember the Prem? It’s been in hibernation almost as long as your tortoise. The last sighting of England’s elite men’s domestic league was on 24 January but now, finally, it is re-emerging from the shadows of the Six Nations, starting under the Friday night lights at the Rec where second-placed Bath are hosting sixth-placed Saracens.It has certainly felt like a protracted hiatus, even if the lower-profile Prem Cup has taken up some slack. And with only eight regular season rounds remaining every would-be playoff contender has no choice but to hit the ground running. As Bath’s head coach, Johann van Graan, says: “It doesn’t really matter what you’ve done before