I mean, these figures for trade are actually even worse than economists had anticipated in terms of exports. Its the weakest data since back in february 2020, when china, of course, was right in the thick of the pandemic. Why is this data so bad . Well, its mainly to do with chinas customers abroad. Theyre really struggling with high inflation, high Interest Rates. So theyre spending less money on chinese goods. And if youre a policymaker in beijing, well, its difficult to say what you should do about that. You cantjust force other countries to start buying more of your goods. But theres also more to contend with. If you look at the spending within china, thats also looking not very encouraging at the moment. Tomorrow, were expecting some more figures to be coming out, which will probably show Deflation Prices actually going down in china. Thats a bit more difficult to explain. But there are some people who think that chinas Zero Covid Policy went on for so long that customers just arent ready to splurge Post Pandemic like they did in europe, like they did in the united states. So youve got problems outside of china, people not ready to spend on chinese goods and within china, as well. Flexible working space firm iwg retained a cautiously optimistic outlook after posting a 48 surge in half year profit today, helped partly by highdemand for its spaces and improved pricing. The uk listed owner of the spaces and regus brands said adjusted core profit from continuing operations, for the Six Months Ended june 30, jumped to £198 million or 253 million. Im joined by mark dixon, ceo of iwg. Good to see you. Where is your growth coming from . It is good to see you. Where is your growth coming from . It is coming from everywhere. Growth coming from . It is coming from everywhere. We growth coming from . It is coming from everywhere. We operate growth coming from . It is coming from everywhere. We operate in l growth coming from . It is coming i from everywhere. We operate in 120 countries and we are seeing a growth in demand for Flexible Working pretty much everywhere, but the key drivers should be western europe, the united states. 50 drivers should be western europe, the united states. The united states. So why is that then, do the united states. So why is that then. Do you the united states. So why is that then, do you think . The united states. So why is that then, do you think . Well, the united states. So why is that i then, do you think . Well, basically, new technology then, do you think . Well, basically, new technology is then, do you think . Well, basically, new technology is allowing then, do you think . Well, basically, new technology is allowing people l then, do you think . Well, basically, | new technology is allowing people to work wherever they are most productive, so it is changing the geography of the workplace. Companies are adopting at that speed because it reduces their costs by 50 , reduce its Carbon Footprint by 70 and it is what people want. A large percentage of any workforce would close to home or at home than being forced to commute long distances to inconvenient central workplaces. So this change in the way that people can work is financially interesting to companies and popular and the Technology Keeps on getting better, it allows it to take place with ever more efficiency and helps productivity. And. Take place with ever more efficiency and helps productivity. And helps productivity. And, of course, and helps productivity. And, of course. Post and helps productivity. And, of course, post covid, and helps productivity. And, of course, post covid, people and helps productivity. And, ofl course, post covid, people have and helps productivity. And, of course, post covid, people have been encouraged to go back to work. Zoom has just today ordered people back into the office. What do you make of that . ,. , into the office. What do you make of that . ,. ,. , that . This is a huge change to the way people that . This is a huge change to the way people are that . This is a huge change to the way people are working, that . This is a huge change to the way people are working, job i that . This is a huge change to the way people are working, job toj way people are working, job to geography and many things. The narrative has not caught up. Zoom talking about getting to people to come in a couple of days a week or month, this is about collaboration. Zoom is a very well run company, it is saying you cant have everyone Working From Home or remotely all the time, you have to bring people together, youd have to have a social part of the workplace, you have got to Business Review people from time to time face to face and you need to train, to mentor, all of those things. People are not asking people to come in every day of the way to an inconvenient workplace, they said we want you to comment on certain days to meet colleagues face to face. That is the modern way of working and it is being adopted ljy of working and it is being adopted by many companies. Very rarely is it people actually coming in on 20 days a month. That is very unusual these days. A month. That is very unusual these da s. ~ , a month. That is very unusual these da s. , days. When the Company Posted these Results Today days. When the Company Posted these Results Today they days. When the Company Posted these Results Today they said days. When the Company Posted these Results Today they said they days. When the Company Posted these Results Today they said they were Results Today they said they were cautiously optimistic. You operate across 120 countries. What areas are you concerned about . We across 120 countries. What areas are you concerned about . You concerned about . We are not concerned you concerned about . We are not concerned about you concerned about . We are not concerned about any you concerned about . We are not concerned about any particular i concerned about any particular country. We are concerned about the overall world economy. This is a volatile period, so we are optimistic. The caution is coming from the fact that one doesnt know what is going to happen, but in terms of our business, we are very confident in what we are saying. And we are confident in the coming year and 18 months. The issue is what are the unforeseen factors that could influence things. What we are saying, i think we see this very attractive movement, we are starting to see deflation. We saw rapid inflation. We can now see what we think is quite rapid deflation and we have seen thatjust in the last 46 we have seen thatjust in the last 4 6 weeks, with infantry is building up 4 6 weeks, with infantry is building up amongst our suppliers, so prices are coming down quite quickly and quite significantly. I think that is a good thing. That will loosen up the economy more. But overall, it is a difficult time for business globally, so that is what is bringing the caution into your optimistic statement. Halal bringing the caution into your optimistic statement. How often do ou work optimistic statement. How often do you work in optimistic statement. How often do you work in the optimistic statement. How often do you work in the office, optimistic statement. How often do you work in the office, mark . Optimistic statement. How often do you work in the office, mark . I optimistic statement. How often do you work in the office, mark . I am| you work in the office, mark . I am not very good you work in the office, mark . I am not very good at you work in the office, mark . I n not very good at Working From Home, so i am in the office every day, but thatis so i am in the office every day, but that is because i cant afford to be distracted. My office is wherever i am, so i work from 50,60 distracted. My office is wherever i am, so i work from 50, 60 different offices around our platform wherever i can be the most effective. Great to have you i can be the most effective. Great to have you with i can be the most effective. Great to have you with us i can be the most effective. Great to have you with us today, i can be the most effective. Great to have you with us today, mark i to have you with us today, mark dixon, thank you. Here in the uk, theres a warning from the central bank that our current high food prices may be here to stay. Speaking to mp5, the Chief Economist of the Bank Of England warned that the era of cheaper food was something we may not be seeing for a while yet, if in the future at all, pointing to an unstable global food supply, pressurised by the war in ukraine. Now, the price of food in the uk rose by nearly 17. 5 in the yeartojune, which was actually a fall from a high ofjust over 19 in the year to march, following an overall drop in the wholesale price of food, which you can see here, peaking when russia invaded ukraine last year. But prices are still much higher than before the war and have started creeping up again. We got the view from kona haque, head of reserach at commodities house ed f man holdings. She explained that low global food stocks are pressuring prices. I think, at least for the short term, we still have got some pressures that are going to keep prices elevated. The fact is, globally, global stocks of grains, staples such as grains and oils and sugar these are still much lower than they were, even before covid. So, it is going to take a while for these stocks to be replenished. We are still consuming more than. At a faster rate than we are producing at a global level. And this means that, really, those stocks just need to be replenished a lot faster. And its not happening, partly because of what you mentioned the ukraine war. But also, because of unusual Weather Patterns around the world. And of course, we have the whole transportation and logistics of moving food around the world, it is a lot more expensive than it used to be before covid. To the us now and a Management Change at the Electric Car Giant Tesla that has surprised industry watchers. No, its not elon musk, but a figure considered to be a possible successor. Finance chief Zach Kirkhorn is stepping down after 13 years. Michelle fleury in new york has the details. It was a bit of a surprise. In a linkedin post, Zach Kirkhorn confirmed he was stepping down from his role as chief Financial Officer and would leave the electric car maker at the end of the year. He also expressed gratitude to his boss, elon musk, and to his colleagues, saying, quote, they had accomplished things many thought not possible. Mr kirkhorn had been with tesla for 13 years. He took over the finance role in 2019. During that time, teslas profits and its Market Valuation soared. No reason was given for his exit, but his departure does raise questions about who will succeed elon musk, a busy man, who also runs spacex and the former twitter platform x. Accounting head Vaibhav Taneja will take over the role of cfo, but no word yet whether he will inherit the title of master of coin, a name that was given to mr kirkhorn back in march 2021. In other news the online payments giant paypal has launched a us dollar stablecoin. Dubbed paypal usd, its fully backed by The American Dollar and short term us treasuries. The move makes Paypal The First Major Financial Tech Firm to embrace such Digital Currencies for payments and transfers. Stablecoins are Crypto Tokens whose value is pegged to a stable asset and are currently mostly used to trade for other cryptocurrencies. Publishing giant Simon Schuster is to be sold to a private equity giant for 1. 6 billion in cash. The deal with investor kkr marks the likely end of a years long saga for owner paramount global, which had been looking for a buyer for the book Company Since 2020. Competition concerns had scuppered a previous deal, which valued the firm at more than 2bn. Italys cabinet have approved a 40 windfall tax on Banks Profits for 2023, with the money, thought to be in the billions of euros, set to be used to help Mortgage Holders and cut taxes, according to the deputy prime minister, matteo salvini, who criticised the banks for not passing on higher Interest Rates to savers. The Italian Government have repeatedly criticised the European Central bank over rate hikes. The Australian Company that was meant to buy failed battery firm britishvolt has missed the deadline to pay for the business, casting doubt on the deal. Filings from administrators ey show that the final instalment, due in april, is still outstanding. Ey said that the buyer, recharge industries, had therefore defaulted on its agreement to buy the business. Recharge industries dispute that they are in default. Here in the uk, new figures suggest julys wet weather caused a slowdown in retail sales, with demand for clothing falling. 0verall Retail Sales grew 1. 5 injuly, down from 2. 3 the year before, according to the british retail consortium. Thats it. I will be back a little bit later. Thanks for watching. This meeting in july this meeting injuly was supposed to be an opportunity for Birmingham City council to tell residents about their plans for a £2 billion regeneration of their area, ladywood, but it descended into farce as hundreds were locked outside. The residents feel left in the dark about the plans, especially the dark about the plans, especially the fact that the council has sanctioned the use of compulsory purchase orders, giving them powers to force people out. I purchase orders, giving them powers to force people out. To force people out. I want something to force people out. I want something for to force people out. I want something for my to force people out. I want something for my family. To force people out. I want l something for my family and to force people out. I want something for my family and friends and children. Are they going to be just pushed away and forgotten . Laura could not move to the area a few years ago and has joined a campaign to give residents a voice. 0ver campaign to give residents a voice. Over 2,000 people affected by this and theyjust dont know what is going to happen next. It is not as though the council has sent us letters saying our home is risk with a compulsory purchase order, instead we have had to find out from the news. �. , we have had to find out from the news. �. ,. ,. News. Birmingham city council says the area is deprived news. Birmingham city council says the area is deprived that news. Birmingham city council says the area is deprived that will the area is deprived that will benefit in the long term. This the area is deprived that will benefit in the long term. This is a longterm benefit in the long term. This is a longterm programme, benefit in the long term. This is a longterm programme, 20 benefit in the long term. This is a longterm programme, 20 year. Long term programme, 20 year programme, foran area long term programme, 20 year programme, for an area that needs it. Programme, for an area that needs it nobody programme, for an area that needs it. Nobody will be turfed out of their it. Nobody will be turfed out of their house. There will be an offer made their house. There will be an offer made at their house. There will be an offer made at some point. Hello from the bbc sport centre. Im tanya arnold. Colombia are through to the quarter finals of the womens world cup for the first time. They beat Jamaica One Nil and will now face england on saturday. Katie smith was watching the game in melbourne and katie is was tense and jamaica again proving hard to break down. It took them five hours 13 minutes to finally concede a goal, the line and you could feel that in the bar staff. It is very cagey. Both sides very physical and very aggressive, they were leaving a lot and each other and the referee was allowing it. The atmosphere was incredible. So much