Live Nation

One insider estimates Australians pay A$10 in fees per ticket, with fans bearing the burden of monopolised music tour schedules and inflated artist valuesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia is being urged to improve ticketing transparency after a US federal court found Live Nation Entertainment had a harmful monopoly over big concert venues.This week, a New York jury found the global entertainment giant and its subsidiary Ticketmaster liable for systematically stifling competition to extract excessive profits from concertgoers. The jury identified a baseline overcharge of US$1.72 for every ticket sold by Live Nation since 2010 – totalling an additional US$595m in 2025 alone. Continue reading...

Verdict in states’ lawsuit says concert giant stifled competition, raising pressure for changes to ticketing marketA jury has found that concert giant Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had a harmful monopoly over big concert venues, dealing the company a loss in a lawsuit over claims brought by dozens of US states.A Manhattan federal jury deliberated for four days before reaching its decision Wednesday in the closely watched case, which gave fans the equivalent of a backstage pass to a business that dominates live entertainment in the US and beyond. Continue reading...

• Advocate Health will launch the country's largest hospital-based drone delivery network, beginning in Charlotte, NC, using Zipline drones to deliver prescriptions, lab specimens, and medical supplies across three of its markets. • The system is projected to conduct approximately 100,000 deliveries per year, significantly expanding healthcare logistics and supply chain capabilities within hospital systems. • This initiative represents a major technological advancement in hospital operations and marks a shift toward automated delivery infrastructure in American healthcare systems.

More assistance to businesses amid ballooning petrol prices expected to be discussed as prime minister and premiers meet. Follow updates liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning, Krishani Dhanji with you here for the final sitting week of the month, and the final sitting week before the budget.The prime minister will convene the national cabinet again today, the second since the US and Israeli strikes on Iran. And this morning the government will introduce legislation to underwrite fuel supplies into Australia. Continue reading...

Ministers will publish review by Philip Rycroft, which will make recommendations relevant to all the political parties, todayGood morning. In December the government announced that Philip Rycroft, a former permanent secretary at the Brexit department, will lead a review into foreign financial interference into UK politics. The review is being published today, and it will include recommendations that we’re told the government will implement as a priority.The review will make recommendations relevant to all the political parties, but no one in government is trying very hard to pretend that one party in particular isn’t the main focus. Rycroft was hired for the job soon after Nathan Gill, the former Reform UK leader in Wales, was sentenced to 10 and a half years in jail for taking bribes to spout pro-Russian propaganda. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, dismissed Gill as a one-off bad apple, but other Brexit party MEPs gave pro-Russian speeches similar to Gill’s. Reform UK is the Brexit party under a new name. Continue reading...

LSE research found some Reform councillors have denied the reality of climate science, and mention of climate has been removed from strategy documentsGood morning. Seven weeks from today, counting will be taking place for the English local elections and, unless the polls are more wrong than they have ever been before, Reform UK will be celebrating record wins. The commentary will focus on the implications for national politics. But councils have significant powers, and a report today says Reform wins in local government could have a significant impact on climate policy.We know that Reform UK are opposed to net zero, and they have pledged to cut green subsidies, but there is still some lack of clarity as to exactly what they would do on climate policy. Some Reform UK figures refuse point-blank to acknowledge that human-made global heating is a reality. Others claim they are just opposed to the pace of transition to renewables. But Nigel Farage, the party leader, has a long history of climate change scepticism.• Seven Reform UK-led councils have “scrapped” their climate targets and climate change denial has been expressed by Reform UK councillors in five councils. Some of these councils have removed content about climate change from strategy documents.• While work related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions continues in these councils, mitigating climate change is no longer explicitly cited as the motivation.In our study we found that ‘scrapping net zero’ is not only a policy position but a signal of a broader retreat from treating climate change as urgent. This takes the form of both delaying action and outright climate change denial. Voters should be aware that this is the case.In the upcoming local elections in May, should Reform UK expand its council base, we can expect further retreat from climate action. The government must be alert to this challenge, given the importance of local authorities to the delivery of national climate goals. Continue reading...