consumer prices continue to rise in the us, driven by a search and the cost of fuel. strike action takes a dent out of the uk economy. official figures show the economy shrank again last month — we'll assess what happens next. welcome to world business report. i'm ben thompson. we start this our in the united states. new figures have recorded the highest monthly increase of prices in over a year. august saw inflation rise by 0.3 % amid a surge in the cost of fuel. analysts expect the figures will encourage the federal reserve to keep interest rates on hold next wednesday. it could give the american banks have some breathing room, encouraging the federal reserve to keep interest rates on hold on wednesday. to discuss this further, i'm nowjoined by steven blitz.

he is chief us economist with ts lombard. we know food and fuel is pretty volatile right now. but what does it tell us, the underlying figure? it does by the feds some breathing room, doesn't it?— does by the feds some breathing room, doesn't it? well, how much breathin: room, doesn't it? well, how much breathing room _ room, doesn't it? well, how much breathing room depends _ room, doesn't it? well, how much breathing room depends on - room, doesn't it? well, how much breathing room depends on the i room, doesn't it? well, how much - breathing room depends on the course of growth over the next few months. i am still in the recession camp, but i have to admit i am one step out of it. one of the things you see in the core data is that the disinflation in those areas looks to have bottomed in may— june, just like the economic data looks to have bottomed then. that is the feds telling me —— that is the fed telling me —— that is the fed telling me —— that is the fed telling me that you don't get the

kind of disinflation that the fed wants. with the economy growing faster than 2% rate.— wants. with the economy growing faster than 296 rate.— wants. with the economy growing faster than 296 rate. there are a lot of thin . s faster than 296 rate. there are a lot of things to — faster than 296 rate. there are a lot of things to juggle _ faster than 296 rate. there are a lot of things to juggle for _ faster than 296 rate. there are a lot of things to juggle for the - faster than 296 rate. there are a lot of things to juggle for the fed. - faster than 296 rate. there are a lot of things to juggle for the fed. i i of things to juggle for the fed. i have got their eye on so many indicators right now, it is hard to know what they prioritise. inflation is clearly their main concern. but it is a lagging indicator, isn't it? it tells us what has already happened. they have to make an educated guess about the future in which direction the us economy is heading in. which direction the us economy is headin: in. . ., which direction the us economy is heading in-— which direction the us economy is headin: in. . . ., , ., heading in. yeah, and in answer to that, there — heading in. yeah, and in answer to that, there are _ heading in. yeah, and in answer to that, there are two _ heading in. yeah, and in answer to that, there are two issues. - heading in. yeah, and in answer to that, there are two issues. the - that, there are two issues. the famous two—handed economist, the one hand and the other hand. on the one hand, you don't typically have disinflation of this magnitude. remember, we were at 8% a year ago, with a full employment economy with nominal wage growth strong. so you are increasing purchasing power as a

result, and that is not the usual course of events. but we did see a big drop in retail sales. we saw a big drop in retail sales. we saw a big drop in airline pricing and hotels last month and the last few months. so it tells us they are getting concerned about employment, and we will see what retail sales looked like tomorrow. i think the consumer is slowing down, but whether they are slowing down fast enough to suit the fed at this moment, i would enough to suit the fed at this moment, iwould have enough to suit the fed at this moment, i would have to say it is probably better than 50—50 that we see a small hike in november. probably better than 50-50 that we see a small hike in november. thanks for “oininu see a small hike in november. thanks forjoining us. — see a small hike in november. thanks forjoining us, steven _ see a small hike in november. thanks forjoining us, steven blitz, _ see a small hike in november. thanks forjoining us, steven blitz, chief- forjoining us, steven blitz, chief us economic that to slumber. breaking news from the newsroom with daniel now. a very significant development in the investigation into the death of ten—year—old sara sharif, who was found dead in august at her home in

woking. the bbc understands that her father, herstepmother woking. the bbc understands that her father, her stepmother and her father's brother have boarded a flight in pakistan in the early hours of this morning. they flew to dubai and are booked on a flight from dubai, landing at london gatwick airport tonight. it's not clear whether they definitely boarded that flight from dubai to london gatwick, but they were certainly booked onto that flight and the expectation is that they boarded it. so the three adults that were living in the house in woking when sara sharif is believed to have died and certainly who all left the country the day before her body was found, those three adults are returning to the uk as we speak and they are likely to land at london gatwick tonight. we understand that surrey police are aware that that is going on, they are aware that those

three adults are returning. surrey police have always said they want to question those three people about sara sharif�*s death, so we can expect that on landing in london gatwick tonight, those three people are likely to be quickly met by surrey police and if not all three of them, certainly some of them are likely to be taken to a police station in surrey the questioning. by station in surrey the questioning. by far the most significant development in this investigation so far since sara sharif was found dead in the first week of august. it looks as if her father, her stepmother and her father's looks as if her father, her stepmother and herfather�*s brother stepmother and her father's brother are stepmother and herfather�*s brother are all on a flight returning to the uk and should be landing at london gatwick this evening and they will probably be in police custody also this evening. then surrey police will be able to get on with the next stage of their investigation. they have spent a lot of time gathering

information from neighbours and anyone else who knew the family. they have spent an enormous amount of time at the house. for more than a month, they have been at the house doing forensic investigations. but now they will be able to talk to three adults who were living in that house at the time that sara sharif is believed to have died. a reminder that the postmortem examination of sara sharif, it wasn't possible to conclude the precise cause of her death. that was left open because of the number of injuries she had. they were described as multiple and extensive injuries that she had endured over an extensive period of time. we also heard details when her inquest was opened, that it was not possible at that stage to ascertain the precise cause of her death. so just a reminder, and incredibly

significant development in the investigation into the death of sara sharif her father, investigation into the death of sara sharif herfather, urfan investigation into the death of sara sharif her father, urfan sharif, investigation into the death of sara sharif herfather, urfan sharif, her stepmother beinash batool and her father's brother faisal malik are believed to be on a flight from dubai to london gatwick. they have flown out of pakistan to dubai. it is thought they took a connecting flight from dubai to london gatwick and they will be in the uk tonight. thanks, daniel sandford, live in the newsroom. here in the uk, new figures published today revelealed that the economy shrank by half of i% injuly. that's the largest contraction since december 2022. economists had expected the output of the economy to drop by around 0.2%, making today's figures far worse than projected. july saw an overall decline in all major sectors of the economy including services, manufacturing and construction. but the finance minister, jeremy hunt, has said: "there are many reasons to be

confident about the future!. there certainly wasn't any positive news in that result that came out in this morning's gdp, as you say. it was pretty broad across the entire economy. maybe he was looking back to some of the divisions we have seenin to some of the divisions we have seen in uk gdp over the long—term. the ons found some extra growth last week, which was a boost, with those 2021 numbers getting revised up. but the real short term looks like a weakening across the whole economy is coming to fruition. there are few economists this morning clearly calling for a recession in the uk by the end of this year the beginning of next year. find the end of this year the beginning of next year-— of next year. and what is interesting _ of next year. and what is interesting when - of next year. and what is interesting when we - of next year. and what is interesting when we look of next year. and what is i interesting when we look at of next year. and what is - interesting when we look at these gdp figures, they give us a snapshot of what the economy was doing at that point in time. two notable things — strike action took a big dent out of economic growth, but one thing that did contribute was the movie weekend, the barbie and

oppenheimerfilms. they movie weekend, the barbie and oppenheimer films. they did well for the economy because we put our hands in our pockets and went to the cinema again.— in our pockets and went to the cinema again. in our pockets and went to the cinema aaain. ., . ,, ., ., ~' cinema again. yeah, and if you look at the breakdown, _ cinema again. yeah, and if you look at the breakdown, you _ cinema again. yeah, and if you look at the breakdown, you will- cinema again. yeah, and if you look at the breakdown, you will see - cinema again. yeah, and if you look at the breakdown, you will see that| at the breakdown, you will see that section of arts, leisure and recreation still pretty positive. so the consumer sector is remaining fairly resilient, and some people might think that is surprising given what has happened to interest rates and all of the headlines around mortgage rates. but if we look at the other side of it, just last week we had the wage data out in the uk, with uk wages up 8.5%. so that is probably feeding into more consumer confidence and people happy to spend on travel and going to the cinema. it's pretty hard right now to get any sense of the direction of travel. if you look at the graph that shows that the economy grew and thenit that shows that the economy grew and then it contracted and grew and contracted, there is no clear direction about what happens next. what is our best guess about where we go from here? i

what is our best guess about where we go from here?— what is our best guess about where we go from here? i think the rest of this ear we go from here? i think the rest of this year is — we go from here? i think the rest of this year is likely _ we go from here? i think the rest of this year is likely to _ we go from here? i think the rest of this year is likely to continue - we go from here? i think the rest of this year is likely to continue to - this year is likely to continue to be challenging. the impact of the interest rate increases, we have talked all year about how long that takes to transmit into the real economy, particularly through mortgage rates. so we will not feel the full effect of that until the beginning of next year. the same time, if we compare to where were coming into last winter with the way energy prices were moving and the cost of living crisis impacted by that, that is also dissipating. so the energy price cap will come down in october and people will see some benefit from that. generally, if the most pessimistic outlook is for a recession, the most optimistic is for sluggish growth. there is nowhere in any of the forecasts that we will see a booming economy in 2024. g g, i ~ :, we will see a booming economy in

2024. jackie bowie, speaking to me earlier. latest figures from the european union show industrial production dropped by 1.1% month on month injuly. making a 2.2% drop across the eurozone compared to july last year. the numbers were weaker than expected. the european commission said exports suffered from weaker global demand — particularly from china. tiktok has announced it is officially rolled out its e—commerce business in the united states after months of testing. chinese—owner bytedance looks to capitalise on the popularity of the social media app. tiktok is bringing online shopping through a series of features on its main app and is hoping to replicate the success of asian platforms. the australian airline qantas has lost an appeal against a ruling that found it illegally sacked nearly 1,700 baggage handlers and cleaners during the covid—i9 pandemic. qantas said it was a necessary cost—cutting measure designed to keep the airline afloat during the pandemic. the jobs were then outsourced. trade unions say the high court decision is a historic victory for workers.

here in the uk, the owner of poundland has agreed to take on the leases of dozens of wilko shops after they went into administration. pepco group, which owns poundland, is expected to convert up to 71 wilko stores to the brand. in a statement, pepco said that wilko staff would have priority when applying for newjobs at the poundland shops. continuing coverage of that breaking news throughout the afternoon on bbc news. there is more on all of those stories on the bbc website. online, i'm @benthompsontv we will see for another edition of world business report very soon. bye—bye.

this nurse is testing the hand—eye coordination of lisa haynes. lisa has progressive ms. her symptoms first started when she was in her late 30s. ,, ., first started when she was in her late 30s. , .,, .,, late 30s. some people, when i was walkin: , late 30s. some people, when i was walking. they _ late 30s. some people, when i was walking, they were _ late 30s. some people, when i was walking, they were like, _ late 30s. some people, when i was walking, they were like, lisa, - late 30s. some people, when i was walking, they were like, lisa, have| walking, they were like, lisa, have you been drinking. i looked as if i had had a drink. i said you been drinking. i looked as if i had had a drink. isaid no, that you been drinking. i looked as if i had had a drink. i said no, that is just what i used to call my dodgy legs. when i walked, it was as if my feet didn't know where the earth was. ,, , ., ., was. she is now involved in the first wales _ was. she is now involved in the first wales best _ was. she is now involved in the first wales best part _ was. she is now involved in the first wales best part of - was. she is now involved in the first wales best part of a - was. she is now involved in the i first wales best part of a uk-wide first wales best part of a uk—wide child, the octopus trial, so—called because it has multiple arms and stages. it looks to see if medicine is used to stem the progression of other conditions can help with hers. we see there is a slow deterioration in walking abilities as well as cognitive slowing. so we hope to see that all those aspects will be slower through the drugs we try. lisa doesn't know what is in the two large tablets she currently takes

each evening. indeed, they may be the placebo, but she is happy to be involved in something that one day, hopefully, could have a huge impact on the lives of those with ms. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hello from the bbc sport centre. two time grand slam champion and former world number one

simona halep says she is "shocked" after being banned for four years from the sport following breaches of the tennis anti—doping programme. the former wimbledon and french open winner says she intends to appeal against the decision at the court of arbitration for sport. she tested positive for the use of roxadustat at last year's us open and an independent tribunal also found her guilty of using an unspecified prohibited substance or method in 2022 after irregularities were found in her biological passport. translation: i'm shocked. it is a great injustice, what's happening. i have never doped. my blood tests were negative and there were no banned substances found. only a tiny amount of roxadustat came out in the urine test and that was it. now i have to go to the court of arbitration and i will appeal this decision, which makes no sense in my view. i hope the truth will come out

one day and i will fight to the