should we be interpreting the slide in the value? {lila should we be interpreting the slide in the value?— should we be interpreting the slide in the value? ,, , ., ., , in the value? ok, you should not be lookin: in the value? ok, you should not be looking out — in the value? ok, you should not be looking out in _ in the value? ok, you should not be looking out in the _ in the value? ok, you should not be looking out in the same _ in the value? ok, you should not be looking out in the same way - in the value? ok, you should not be looking out in the same way as - in the value? ok, you should not be looking out in the same way as if. looking out in the same way as if there was a slide in a normally functioning economy or european economy. the rouble is entirely managed now by the central bank in conjunction with the finance ministry and has been since we last saw the rouble collapsed down to about 130 in march of last year. so the central bank's priority last year was to keep the rouble exchange rate high, because it was tackling inflation. but this year, because of the sanctions impact and because it has led to a big hit on the value of russia's oil exports in particular, they have devalued the rouble in order to compensate for that fall in dollar terms. order to compensate for that fall in dollarterms. in order to compensate for that fall in dollar terms. in other words, we get rouble translating dollars into a higher rouble amount to balance the budget. that it's been the priority this year. it doesn't reflect an imminent crisis, it doesn't reflect a broad collapse in the economy, it is the result of the central bank managing the rouble. arguably they have gone too far the other side. the economic adviser is at loggerheads with the central bank, he is blaming loose or soft policy stop what does he mean by that? this stop what does he mean by that? sis you stop what does he mean by that? s you say, stop what does he mean by that? sis you say, he is complaining that the rouble is now too weak, and i guess he is indirectly criticising the central bank's actions with the finance ministry, essentially saying that they have mismanaged the conversion of export receipts since june, when this latest decline in the rouble started. but in terms of loose policy, we haven't seen much of an increase in say consumer lending, there is no real issue there, there is no big surge in any sort of investment or consumer activity, so i think what he is saying is that the central bank in the finance ministry are mismanaging this balance and they need to bring the rouble higher because of the risk of inflation or the risk of loss of confidence which then could have broader economic implications in the autumn. so clear disagreement within government over what should be done with the rouble. let’s within government over what should be done with the rouble.— be done with the rouble. let's take one of the options, _ be done with the rouble. let's take one of the options, there - be done with the rouble. let's take one of the options, there are - be done with the rouble. let's take one of the options, there are a - be done with the rouble. let's take one of the options, there are a few that have been discussed, and some saying that an interest rate hike, which could come in on the 15th of december, that is when the next meeting will take place, would impact on economic growth. what would be the best part? i presume it is the regional economies that are going to be impacted by this, rather than global. going to be impacted by this, rather than ulobal. , , than global. yes, it will be regional. _ than global. yes, it will be regional, so _ than global. yes, it will be regional, so there - than global. yes, it will be regional, so there is - than global. yes, it will be regional, so there is a - than global. yes, it will be i regional, so there is a strong correlation between the rouble and the currencies of, say, central asia and the caucasus countries, and they have been relatively more stable than in the past, but there is a lot of money that comes out of russia, worker remittances or trade deals with these countries, so unless they rouble can stabilise and rally soon, then we will probably start to see weakness in currencies in neighbouring countries. we expect the central bank will raise its policy rate in september. there is a concern that inflation will rise because of the weak rouble, only about 6%, but nevertheless they are keen to keep it in the high single figures, ratherthan keen to keep it in the high single figures, rather than losing control of it. but really, as i said at the beginning, the rouble system is managed by the central bank, and in cooperation with the big exporters, the finance ministry, so i would expect the central bank today is on the phone with those exporters, managing the conversion of foreign currency and the flow in and out of roubles. and they should be able to do that over the next couple of weeks, as i say, it is not the normally functioning economy, the rules do not apply.— rules do not apply. chris weafer, sor for rules do not apply. chris weafer, sorry for interrupting, _ rules do not apply. chris weafer, sorry for interrupting, just - rules do not apply. chris weafer, l sorry for interrupting, just running out of time, thank you very much. to australia now, where workers at some of the country's lng plants — producers of liquefied natural gas — will decide this week if they'll go on strike over pay and employment rights. now this matters, as the plants together supply around 10% of the global lng market. european gas prices were pushed up again today, after surging last week. reliance on lng has grown since the russian war in ukraine, especially in europe, where pipeline gas supplies were cut. the relative calm in the global natural gas markets has been broken by the threat of strikes in australia. it is largely because europe has become more reliant on liquefied natural gas because of the sanctions placed on russia. at the moment, european storage facilities are close to 90% full, so that does mitigate some of the worst parts of the risk, but supply and demand is so finely balanced in europe that only a small amount of natural gas supplies coming off market has a massive ripple effect of bringing prices up. as you said, 40% on a single day last week. find prices up. as you said, 4096 on a single day last week.— prices up. as you said, 4096 on a single day last week. and yet demand in the northern _ single day last week. and yet demand in the northern hemisphere _ single day last week. and yet demand in the northern hemisphere has- in the northern hemisphere has effectively dropped, hasn't it? the concern, isuppose, is effectively dropped, hasn't it? the concern, i suppose, is asia, effectively dropped, hasn't it? the concern, isuppose, is asia, and effectively dropped, hasn't it? the concern, i suppose, is asia, and the fact that they will be sorting out other spot supplies.— fact that they will be sorting out other spot supplies. yeah, so asia is the largest _ other spot supplies. yeah, so asia is the largest importer _ other spot supplies. yeah, so asia is the largest importer of - is the largest importer of australian liquefied natural gas, so the strikes in australia impact asia a bit more, but in today's environment, as the european union has been trying to wean itself off russian dependency, there is more need for natural gas. europe is in a lot more competition for every module unit of natural gas across the world, and that is why the prices have become a lot more volatile, we have more of an interconnected global gas market compared to two years ago. where would those _ compared to two years ago. where would those spot _ compared to two years ago. where would those spot supplies - compared to two years ago. where would those spot supplies come i compared to two years ago. where - would those spot supplies come from? say the strikes did take place, the likes of asia, japan, south korea, malaysia, where would they be competing if europe is also impacted by this? competing if europe is also impacted b this? ~ ,, , s, competing if europe is also impacted b this? ~ ,, , by this? well, the us is a very larae by this? well, the us is a very large exoorter _ by this? well, the us is a very large exporter of _ by this? well, the us is a very large exporter of liquefied - by this? well, the us is a very - large exporter of liquefied natural gas, and it supplies have been growing. in fact, gas, and it supplies have been growing. infact, earlierthis gas, and it supplies have been growing. in fact, earlier this year, at one of its largest lng facilities, that was offline, but it is back online now and is producing in large quantities, so there is gas supplies from the us, that is likely to make its way over to asia alongside the eu. and the eu has been building out its own storage capacities as well, so it's ability to incrementally increase storage has improved as well. now, from mumbai to bangkok and jakarta, motorbikes are the most popularform of personal transport across asia. they're cheap and convenient, but also extremely polluting. 0ne taiwanese company believes it has a solution. 0ur asia correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes sent us this report from taipei. here i am in taiwan, and this little electric scooter may not look like anything revolutionary, but it is. it is a world first. and i'm going to show you why. there are 1a million motor scooters here in taiwan, and they are very noisy and very dirty. so how do you get people to switch from their dirty petrol scooters to clean electric one like this? well, they have to be just as cheap and just as reliable. there is no infrastructure to convert to electric. and then the moment came, what about battery not included? what if you are actually able to sell the vehicle without the battery, reducing the cost of that vehicle by 30 or 40%? so this is the really clever and unique thing about this system. when you buy one of these bikes, it doesn't have any battery in it, that makes it cheap. instead, you subscribe to the company's batteries, and when it gets low, you just come to a charging station like this one and switch it out for a fresh one. there are more than 10,000 of these charging stations across taiwan, with more than a million of these batteries in them. that should mean goodbye to range anxiety. well, if my vehicle has a 100 kilometre range, i can only go 50 and then 50 back. which means that now you have a tether on your neck, everywhere you go, that's not a solution. we are solving for range anxiety also at the same time because you can just hop, hop, hop from point to point. this could be the answer to zero—emissions personal transport for many of asia's huge megacities. and for this taiwan start—up, the next stop is india. rupert wingfield—hayes. to the us, now where it's a big week for retail results, with the numbers due from some of america's biggest shops, giving us an opportunity to take the pulse of the us consumer. 0ur north america business correspondent michelle fleury is in new york for us. hello! yes, we are expecting to hear from some — hello! yes, we are expecting to hear from some of— hello! yes, we are expecting to hear from some of the _ hello! yes, we are expecting to hear from some of the big _ hello! yes, we are expecting to hear from some of the big box _ hello! yes, we are expecting to hear from some of the big box retailers . from some of the big box retailers here in america, walmart, target and also home depot, and the reason all of this matters is because together consumers in america account for about two thirds of economic activity. so far things have been looking pretty good, if you think about the blockbuster start for movies like barbie, then you have got taylor swift's tour, and you have got economists think the chances of a recession seem to be diminishing. all eyes now turn to what is happening to consumers that really help power strengthen the economy and help produce higher growth than expected. the problem is, if you think back to the last time any of these companies reported results, they started to show cracks, that consumers, worn down by inflation, were beginning to slow down their spending. i think also tomorrow, when we get a us government report on retail sales, there will be a lot of focus to see if that is holding up, our consumers simply slowing down, or are they beginning to hit the breaks? thank ou ve beginning to hit the breaks? thank you very much _ beginning to hit the breaks? thank you very much indeed. _ don't forget, you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter, i'm @lukwesaburak. bbc news, bringing you different stories from across the uk. turtles are part of a really important ecosystem, they are on top of that triangle, altogether with the sharks, they are the natural trash bins of the ocean. doing their bit to support sea turtles in the caribbean. we've got a team here today from hms dauntless, who are here to support a local charity as turtles are being affected by ocean plastic. team one is netting the turtles, team two is transporting the turtles from the beach, and team three is conducting medical checks on the turtles. hms dauntless, which is based in portsmouth, is deployed to the region to counter drug smuggling and support british territories affected by hurricanes. but 50 sailors volunteered to help a conservation charity during a stop at the dutch caribbean island of curacao. the royal navy has a responsibility to support environmental protection. 12 million tonnes of plastic pollution make their way into the ocean every year. unbelievable. sea turtles sometimes mistake plastic for food, leading to injuries that can be fatal. more than 200 kilograms of plastic was cleared from this nesting beach. the hope is the exercise will raise awareness, encourage people to think about their behaviour, and inspire similar initiatives. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hello from the bbc sport centre. chelsea have agreed a deal to sign brighton midfielder moises caicedo for a british record fee of £115 million. liverpool agreed a deal for the 21—year—old on friday. but caicedo's favoured chelsea and they have finally succeeded with a bid after having a number of offers knocked back by brighton. caicedo will become chelsea's eighth signing of the summer. neymar�*s leaving paris saint—germain tojoin saudi pro—league club al—hilal. the fee is understood to be around 90 million euros, plus add—ons. the transfer is subject to the brazilian completing a medical and all the necessary paperwork. it comes after it became clear neymar was not part of new coach luis enrique's plans for the new season. not long to go until he women's world cup semifinals get under way. australia head into their semi—final after defeating england 2—0 away in a friendly back in april, ending the lionesses' 30—match unbeaten run. that was a friendly game, and yes, we do take something out of it. but at the same time, we are into knockout games in a world cup, so it is a completely different game, and i think we want sort of let the result of that last game that played get in the way or alters sort