australia investigates claims by hackers that they've stolen the details of more than half a billion of its customers. mega deals in the pipeline. us oil giant conocophillips to buy rival marathon oil — adding to a quarter of a trillion dollars worth of mergers in the industry last year. also coming up, ai for good — the un hosts a global summit focusing on the benefits as well as the risks of artificial intelligence. and preparing for take—off — what's it like to start an airline from scratch and challenge the biggest names in the business? we speak to the boss of riyadh air. welcome to business today, i'm mark lobel. we start with the event ticketing giant ticketmaster — because the australian

government says it's investigating claims by a hackers that they have stolen the details of 560 million of its global customers. it could be a fresh crisis for the company's owner live nation — whichjust last week was hit by a us government lawsuit accusing it of having a monopoly over the live music business — and seeking to have it broken up. the bbc�*s monica miller is looking at this for us in singapore. this news just breaking, this newsjust breaking, what is the latest? we this newsjust breaking, what is the latest?— is the latest? we know the u-rou is the latest? we know the grow) that _ is the latest? we know the group that emerged - is the latest? we know the group that emerged is - is the latest? we know the i group that emerged is named shiny hunters and online later they have stolen data including they have stolen data including the names, addresses, phone numbers and partial credit card details of customers and in the post it said the data was available for $500,000 in a one—time sale. 0fficials available for $500,000 in a one—time sale. officials in australia say the national office of cyber security is engaging with ticketmaster to understand the incident and

urged people specific questions to contact ticketmaster directly. the us embassy in australia says the fbi has offered assistance to australian authorities. according to the usjustice department shiny hunters came on the scene in 2021 weight put up on the scene in 2021 weight put up huge troves of customer records from more than 60 companies. ticketmaster operates one of the largest ticket sales platform is in the world and last week us government filed a lawsuit accusing the company of monopolising the market and calling for it to be broken up. thanks for the latest. mark humphery—jenner is associate professor at the university of new south wales in sydney. what are the implications of this for ticketmaster, who are already facing a lawsuit? great to be with _ already facing a lawsuit? great to be with you. _ already facing a lawsuit? great to be with you. the _ to be with you. the implications are not good. it is pretty dire because we are seeing class actions in the us

and australia for prior data breaches against other companies and it is going to have a very negative impact on ticketmaster and live nation. details are still emerging, the 500,000 being asked for, what does that indicate about the seriousness of this data breach?— seriousness of this data breach? ., , ., breach? to my mind, given that they were _ breach? to my mind, given that they were preaching _ breach? to my mind, given that they were preaching about - breach? to my mind, given that they were preaching about half. they were preaching about half a billion customers, 1.3 tb of data. if they are only asking for $500,000 it suggests they don't have the highest quality information, may be not enough personal details to fully identify people or full credit card details, but that is a small consolation to those affected. if they had in—depth data they would probably be asking for more.— data they would probably be asking for more. that could be some consolation _ asking for more. that could be some consolation for - some consolation for ticketmaster. what you think they're planning on doing now, how would you manage a like this? iii

how would you manage a like this? , ., ., how would you manage a like this? ,, ., a .,, this? if you are ticketmaster ou this? if you are ticketmaster you want _ this? if you are ticketmaster you want to _ this? if you are ticketmaster you want to avoid _ this? if you are ticketmaster you want to avoid obvious i you want to avoid obvious gating because one thing that has gone really badly for companies in australia in particular when they try to manage this is equivocal to. failing to own up. failing to level with customers about the depth of the severity of this. we also need to annunciate a clear plan, notjust to perhaps protect people from data breaches right now, but to protect people in the future. people will not trust ticketmaster if they think the data will be hacked. they need a clear and coherent strategy to prevent this happening in the future and own up to what went wrong this time.- went wrong this time. mark humphery-jenner, - went wrong this time. mark humphery-jenner, great i went wrong this time. mark humphery-jenner, great to | went wrong this time. mark i humphery-jenner, great to have humphery—jenner, great to have you on the show, thank you. let's turn to the us now — and big oil — because one of the world's giants just got bigger. conocophillips has agreed to buy its us rival marathon 0il in a $22.5 billion dollar deal. it's the latest mega merger in the oil and gas industry — which has seen takeover deals worth a quarter of a trillion dollars last year — as us oil production hits record levels. erin delmore reports.

think about the early days of the pandemic. people were stuck at home, not going out and not driving their cars. oil prices crashed. but since then, oil prices have come back up. oil producers are back to making bank, and they're using their cash on hand to strike some deals. take conocophillips. its share price has nearly tripled in the last four years, and now it's acquiring marathon oil in an all—stock deal worth $22.5 billion — including debt. that'll help conoco expand its drilling operations in new mexico, north dakota and texas, and offshore of equatorial guinea. in the last years, large and mid—sized oil companies have been competing to buy up their smaller rivals. according to reuters, that deal—making totalled some $250 billion last year. 60 billion of that is thanks to exxonmobil�*s takeover of pioneer natural resources last fall. another 53 billion is due to chevron�*s deal with hess, which was approved earlier this week. if conocophillips' latest deal is approved by marathon 0il�*s shareholders —

and by regulators — it will be expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year. dan kemp is chief research and investment officer at the investment management firm morningstar. dan, what is driving this boom in oil and gas deals we are seeing, what is driving this run? ., , ., , run? hello. yes, actually, it is a break-out _ run? hello. yes, actually, it is a break-out of— run? hello. yes, actually, it is a break-out of common i run? hello. yes, actually, it- is a break-out of common sense is a break—out of common sense in the energy industry that is driving this, particularly this latest deal because if you cast your mind back a few years ago, we have this massive boom in shale energy, new form of energy production, and from that we had oversupply and make energy companies were investing very heavily, being quite speculative in their use of profits, and now after the

crises and ups and downs over the last few years and we see covid has been part of that, as well, and we are now seen companies being very careful with their cash, very careful with their cash, very careful with their cash, very careful with their profits, and very careful about how they invest, so this is a really interesting deal because the acquirer conoco is using its own shares to buy corel three rather than spending cash and that is a big step forward with companies being careful about how they use the money of their shareholders.- use the money of their shareholders. ., ~ , ., it's not the benefits, but the risks of artificial intelligence that keep us all awake at night. that was the warning from the head of the un's communications agency as she opened a global conference on al in geneva on wednesday. the ai for good global summit aims to bring together industry leaders to try and harness al to further the un's development goals — in areas like health, climate and sustainability. but the un sees it as a huge regulatory challenge.

how do we govern a technology? how do we govern technologies if we don't yet know their full potential? there is no one answer to that question. but what we do know is that we have been there before. it was 20 years ago. the internet was met with a sort of similar mix of shock, awe, scepticism. it raised the same questions about how our economies, our societies, our environment would transform — for better and for worse. let's go to geneva and speak to dr bileljamoussi from the international telecommunication union — the un body hosting the event. i , thank you forjoining us. how sophisticated of these deep fakes become and can it actually go undetected? well, the are actually go undetected? well, they are certainly _ they are certainly sophisticated, but the good

news is that the future of undetectable defects can be avoided through the development and implementation of robust detection technologies and international standards. advancements in al forensics, including watermarking techniques, can embed identifiable markets, making it easier to distinguish real from fake. �* . ., ., fake. are we close to that technology. _ fake. are we close to that technology, the _ fake. are we close to that technology, the ai - fake. are we close to that | technology, the ai needed fake. are we close to that i technology, the ai needed and the policymakers providing? policymakers can mitigate risk of deep fakes by establishing and enforcing comprehensive legal frameworks and standards for additional content verification and promoting international collaboration to standards and policy makers should support research in al forensics and encourage the use and encourage public awareness.

i want to make sure we cover the power for good with you. it is said defects can also be used to design molecules that can potentially treat diseases and help with therapy. can you outline how that is possible? very interesting. generative ai can be applied in different ways but the idea of deep fake analysis is to look at inconsistencies and detect patterns and they can detect subtle and unreleased so techniques like digital watermarking can be integrated to verify the authenticity of media, ensuring integrity and traceability.— traceability. incredible, thank ou ve traceability. incredible, thank you very much _ traceability. incredible, thank you very much for _ traceability. incredible, thank you very much forjoining i traceability. incredible, thank you very much forjoining us. | to beijing now — where arab leaders have been arriving for talks with president xijinping as part of the china arab cooperation forum — which takes place every two years. in the last hour or so president xi said he wants

to "deepen energy cooperation" with arab states. united arab emirates president sheikh mohammed bin zayed al—nahyan is among those attending — as well as egypt's president sisi. china—arab trading relations have developed rapidly since the forum was first held two decades ago — trade between china and the arab states hit almost $400 billion last year — ten times the level it was at in 200a. david woo is a former imf economist and wall street strategist — he's injerusalem. president xi talking about deep energy cooperation now. there's a lot at stake and it has grown exponentially over 20 years. there is no question. especially because china's this energy has gone through the roof. 20 years ago, less than 1% of chinese people owned a car. now you are talking about 30% and you can only imagine is

that heads towards 90%, the american level. secondly, because after the us having reached energy independence, the us is no longer basically a net importer of energy from the middle east. as a result that means china has got bigger in terms of its market share. like today, saudi arabia, the uae, their number one destination is china so china is its single biggest client in the entire middle east.— biggest client in the entire middle east. investment and tourism, huge _ middle east. investment and tourism, huge opportunity i tourism, huge opportunity between arab states and china but what are the challenges they need to overcome? if there is anything _ they need to overcome? if there is anything to — they need to overcome? if there is anything to overcome - they need to overcome? if there is anything to overcome it i they need to overcome? if there is anything to overcome it is i is anything to overcome it is the fact that the us is trying to break up the party. as you know, to a great extent, last year, if you recall, china mediated the truce between iran and saudi arabia. the us has been trying to upstage this by trying to get this deal with saudi arabia. what you are

seeing right now is that the us is trying to get back into the game. as i said before, the us lost its interest in the middle east after independence but now the us has gone right back in because china is having influence. the iran israel proxy war being fought in gaza, it is a microscope of what is going on between the us and china. �* ~' going on between the us and china. �* ~ ., china. almost like an alternative _ china. almost like an alternative emerging| china. almost like an i alternative emerging there. david woo, thank you very much. you are welcome. let's get some of the day's other news now. australian mining giant bhp is walking away from its $49 billion attempt to buy uk rival anglo american, after a month of wrangling between the two. bhp was keen to get hold of anglo's copper mines, with demand for the metal soaring because of the transition to renewables and electric power. but the future of anglo's—platinum mining business in south africa proved politically sensitive. the czech billionaire who is buying the uk's

royal mail says the firm needs major investment to avoid a "fatal" loss of market share. speaking to the reuters news agency, daniel kretinsky said europe's postal market is evolving towards "out of home delivery" — where people collect parcels from delivery lockers and pick—up spots. the london newspaper the evening standard has announced its set to scrap its daily editions in favour of a weekly publication. the newspaper is currently circulated free of charge at the capital's underground stations from monday to friday. but the paper is blaming home working and the availability of wi—fi on the tube for falling circulation. coming up, preparing for take—off — what's it like to start an airline from scratch and challenge the biggest names in the business? we speak to the boss of riyadh air. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

welcome back to the programme. boeing bosses will meet us safety watchdogs later to set out exactly how they intend to fix quality control issues on their production line, and address serious concerns about the firm's safety culture. the aerospace giant has been under renewed scrutiny since an an unused door fell off a brand new boeing 737 max during a flight injanuary. here's our business correspondent, theo leggett. concerns about boeing's attitude towards safety, and conditions in its factories, are not new. the company received intense criticism five years ago after two 737 max aircraft were lost in separate but almost identical accidents, costing 346 lives. january's incident — which investigators said occurred because vital bolts were not fitted — raised new doubts about its corporate culture and quality controls. boeing was given 90 days to come up with a comprehensive plan to address regulators' concerns.

the document is expected to concentrate on actions the company has already begun taking. these include holding so—called stand—downs, where productions pause to give employees a chance to speak up on safety issues, increased training, more quality checks, and a renewed focus on orderly procedures in its factories. from the problems at one of aviation's oldest names to one of the world's newest airlines. riyadh air was launched last year — as part of saudi arabia's plans to boost tourism and diversify its economy away from oil. the airline is aiming to start passenger services from the middle of next year — using boeing 787 dreamliner jets — and hopes to serve 100 world destinations by 2030. so what are the challenges in starting an airline from scratch, and taking on the big names in the industry? tony douglas is chief executive officer at riyadh air — he's a former boss of uae airline etihad, and also used to run heathrow airport.

probably in your spare time! to start with, building an airline from scratch, how has your time at etihad helped and what parts of the industry are you hoping to disrupt?— of the industry are you hoping to disru t? ,., ., ., u, to disrupt? good morning. i can tell ou to disrupt? good morning. i can tell you it— to disrupt? good morning. i can tell you it is _ to disrupt? good morning. i can tell you it is super— to disrupt? good morning. i can tell you it is super exciting. i tell you it is super exciting. this is the biggest commercial aviation start—up in the last 35 years and we are moving at breakneck speed. the kingdom has got very clear economic diversification strategy and far better global connectivity is a key enabler to that, so starting up a world—class service carrier from scratch is a mission and we are having an awful lot of fun doing it and we will be ready to go into service summer of next year. which airlines and routes will you be most aggressive on to start with? it you be most aggressive on to start with?—

start with? it is fair to say that the — start with? it is fair to say that the kingdom - start with? it is fair to say that the kingdom is i start with? it is fair to say i that the kingdom is underserved when it comes to global connectivity so simply by example there are no direct flights to tokyo or shanghai, sydney, many others and i pick though simply as examples. we will be looking to connect all of the major capital cities in the far east, all of the major capitals within the indian subcontinent and central asia, obviously within our reach to the gcc, western europe and north america. we need to be a global carrier in order to connect the kingdoms of the world and the world to the kingdom but importantly the brand is riyadh and that will present itself with a modern twist with the statements of obsessional attention to detail of guest experience. we will be

the world was my first digitally native airline and of course it will have environmental sustainability in its foundation.— its foundation. how did you weiah its foundation. how did you weigh up — its foundation. how did you weigh up the _ its foundation. how did you weigh up the reputationall its foundation. how did you i weigh up the reputational risk of using boeing planes when, as we all know, in april this year, boeing engineer turned whistle—blower said that the planes that you are using are unsafe to fly due to assembly flaws? although boeing disputes the claims. i flaws? although boeing disputes the claims. ~ ., ,, ., the claims. i think we all know air travel— the claims. i think we all know air travel is _ the claims. i think we all know air travel is by _ the claims. i think we all know air travel is by far _ the claims. i think we all know air travel is by far and - the claims. i think we all know air travel is by far and away i air travel is by far and away the safest form of travel, and in the lead in, you introduced a number of decades i have had in this industry and i have seen many challenges in the past but i'm sure will be challenges going forward. we have every confidence in boeing and airbus. we eagerly await the report. we are in constant dialogue with boeing and airbus and, let's face it, air travel

continues to grow, the world needs two incredible 0ems in this space and we're sure boeing will deal with the they have. i boeing will deal with the they have. ~ ., ., have. i know you mentioned it will provide — have. i know you mentioned it will provide direct _ have. i know you mentioned it will provide direct results i have. i know you mentioned it will provide direct results to l will provide direct results to riyadh and will be digitally advanced and environmentally friendly airline, but why does the world need another airline? they have over 5000 already. they have over 5000 already. the kingdom is two thirds of the size of western europe and todayit the size of western europe and today it is currently underserved, so we desperately need to serve our citizens. but it is the second highest google tourism destination, according tourism destination, according to google analytics, so we want to google analytics, so we want to do something different. let me give you two quick sound bites of what we will be sharing very soon. the first is a build—up to the paris fashion week, and at the show we will

release our cabin crew fashion. think of that movie, catch me if you can,, the moment when leonardo dicaprio goes through the airport with incredible style, grace, refinementand beauty of the cabin crew, the days of pan am, so to speak. we will be announcing a global a—list, the president, when it comes to tony —— haute couture and we will have connection back to the halcyon days of style and grace... back to the halcyon days of style and grace. . ._ style and grace... having worked — style and grace... having worked in _ style and grace... having worked in the _ style and grace... having worked in the region i style and grace... having worked in the region for. style and grace... having | worked in the region for a while... thank you, having worked in the region you are never short of sound bites or glamour and we really appreciate you coming on the programme. tony douglas, chief executive of riyadh air.

finally let's return to london — and a new business venture just a few miles from here. carpenters workshop gallery runs art exhibition spaces in paris, new york and los angeles — but last year its owners decided to try something different for their base here in london. they spent £30 million converted the sprawling ladbroke hall in kensington into a venue which is part art gallery, part music auditorium, and part fine—dining restau ra nt. if you pay to become a patron of the gallery, you get access to a private members—only bar. so what's the idea behind it, and will it pay off? loic le gaillard is co—founder of carpenters workshop gallery. if it is date night in london and you want to take your wife out, yourfriends or and you want to take your wife out, your friends or parents, why on earth would you choose your place over the many other attractions and restaurants on offer? ,., ., attractions and restaurants on offer? , ., ., ., attractions and restaurants on offer? ., ,, offer? good morning. i guess ladbroke _ offer? good morning. i guess ladbroke hall— offer? good morning. i guess ladbroke hall is _ offer? good morning. i guess ladbroke hall is a _ offer? good morning. i guess ladbroke hall is a different i ladbroke hall is a different concept and we wanted to put together what i would consider total light concept, where he could experience a gallery, workshop gallery, putting some

of the most incredible shows, design shows, contemporary art shows in the world. the restaurant. we see restaurants as a form of artistic expression, as well. live music, where we have a jazz programme, classical music programme. imagine a space whereby any form of art is celebrated and it is an immersive experience as you walk into the venue.— walk into the venue. drawing big names — walk into the venue. drawing big names like _ walk into the venue. drawing big names like kai _ walk into the venue. drawing | big names like kai langerfeld. he is one of the artists of the gallery but if you go to ladbroke hall, at the moment you will experience works. showing at the serpentine gallery. this gives you the level of art that we show there. and if you come and venture into the restaurant you will experience total

incredible experience and, as a matter of fact, it has been voted the best italian restaurant in the uk. ~ ., restaurant in the uk. well done for that. £30 _ restaurant in the uk. well done for that. £30 million _ restaurant in the uk. well done for that. £30 million is - restaurant in the uk. well done for that. £30 million is a - for that. £30 million is a risky venture, isn't it? a lot of money to recoup. are you hoping to sell a lot of art? lode hoping to sell a lot of art? we are obviously _ hoping to sell a lot of art? - are obviously looking at selling because commercial project that we are here for the long run and i think in our field of art it is very important we have a platform where you can deliver the best possible experience. ladbroke hall in notting hill is very much a place where you can experience all of this. all]! experience all of this. all ri . ht, experience all of this. all right. many _ experience all of this. all right, many people will no doubt be trying it out. thank you for coming the programme. thank you for your company. see you soon on bbc news. hello there. well, wednesday was certainly

a day of contrast. the sun is strong at this time of year, and if you get some, wow, those temperatures start to climb. in fact, it was a beautiful afternoon in surrey with a high of 21 celsius — 70 fahrenheit. it was a different story however, further north and east, we had a real cluster of thundery downpours across eastern scotland and they drifted their way into northeast england, threatening—looking skies to close out wednesday across sunderland. and those showers are continuing to move their way steadily southwards as we go through the day thursday. so, some of the showers will continue to be quite heavy. not too bad a day across much of scotland, and northerly winds still feeding in a few scattered showers here. but there is a greater risk across the east midlands, east anglia, and southeast england by the middle part of the afternoon, seeing some sharp thundery downpours. and if you catch one of them, well, they could bring a lot of heavy rain. now, further west, we will see the best of the sunshine. fewer showers here, 19—20 celsius not out of the question. a pleasant afternoon for northern ireland on the whole, fewer showers generally through scotland.

and, if you get more in the way of sunshine, fewer showers here, 19—20 — again, it's quite possible in sheltered western areas. now as we go through thursday evening and overnight, those showers will ease away. but that northerly wind always just feeding in a little more cloud off the north sea. a relatively mild start to our friday morning. and with clearer skies out to the north and west, there will be some early morning sunshine around. but, because of the wind direction, we always run the risk across eastern england, down towards the southeast of seeing a few scattered nuisance showers. and if you don't get the showers, you could have quite a grey day. further north and west, there'll be a lot of sunshine, maybe some cloud continuing to linger in the northwest of the great glen. but where we get the best of the sunshine, again, we could see temperatures into the high teens, possibly 20 celsius. a little bit cooler on those exposed east coasts. as we head towards the end of the week, this high pressure

will continue to feed in from the west. we will be chasing cloud amounts around from time to time, but it's certainly going to be a drier story. some significantly drier weather. we haven't seen a good five—day stretch quite widely across the country of dry, settled weather since january. so enjoy the sunshine and the warmth.

good morning, welcome to breakfast with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. 0ur headlines today. with five weeks to go until voters head to the polls, both the conservatives and labour rule out increasing vat if they win the general election. diane abbott suggests labour is trying to purge the party's left—wing as confusion remains over her future. a child is in a serious condition and three adults have been injured in a shooting in east london. "she's our heart warrior". former england footballer jack wilshere speaks for the first time about his daughter's congenital heart defect and his family's mission to raise awareness. there's so many warriors out there. and hopefully we can give parents support, we can get more research into it and really try and make a difference to the parents' lives, but also the children's. supermarket loyalty schemes that set "challenges" for customers to earn