at an annual rate of half a percent injuly, although the price of services has continued to rise. that's raised hopes that after 11 hikes in the cost of borrowing, the fed may have won the battle against soaring inflation. all eyes now are on official employment numbers for august out later today. the fed will want to see a continued slowdown in hiring and pay rises. we certainly got an indication from thejobs report we certainly got an indication from the jobs report and from the adp report that the jobs could be weaker than anticipated, which would be good because that implies the fed might not need to raise rates september or november. also unemployment rate remaining very low and the hourly wages actually being equal to or less than last month, so again, inflationary pressure is probably coming down. let's speak to joshua mahony, chief market analyst at scope markets. has the fed nailed this? has it achieved a possible dream soft landing for the us economy, tackling inflation without a huge sort of spike in unemployment? so without a huge sort of spike in unemployment?— without a huge sort of spike in unemployment? so far we've seen thins unemployment? so far we've seen things relatively _ unemployment? so far we've seen things relatively soft _ unemployment? so far we've seen things relatively soft in _ unemployment? so far we've seen things relatively soft in terms - things relatively soft in terms of that landing but it could just be the beginning. ultimately we started to see some of the economic data attorney significantly towards the down side both here in europe and over in the us. certainly the question mark areas with the fact that those higher interest rates could have a somewhat lighting effects, is this the worst that is going to get or in the beginning? certainly the federal reserve will have to wait up when they decide whether they will raise interest rates further and for how long they are going to have the interest rates higher longer. the interest rates higher loner. ~ . , the interest rates higher loner. . ., longer. what is your view on likelihood — longer. what is your view on likelihood of _ longer. what is your view on likelihood of a _ longer. what is your view on likelihood of a recession - longer. what is your view on | likelihood of a recession now in the us? it's the worlds biggest economy and affects us all. i biggest economy and affects us all. ~' ,, all. i think the us economy looks healthier than - all. i think the us economy | looks healthier than others, frankly. if you look inflation, three we have over double that in the uk and that means the federal reserve will be able to become accommodative quickly than the uk. certainly safer if you at consumption behaviours the us consumer has remained remarkably stronger throughout the whole crisis despite the fact that we see high interest rates, people keep spending. i think so by the risk of recession has remained relatively low and i think the rest of the moment is more around the recession in europe over a recession in the us. speaking of which, how other countries, i'm picky about europe and here in the uk, are theyin europe and here in the uk, are they in tackling inflation and they in tackling inflation and the interest rate cycles? will we see interest rates for example in this country continue moving up or might they plateau is like i think that's been the theme recently is we've been seeing the strength of the euro, the strength of the euro, the strength of the powers of the back of this dynamic differential dynamic between expectation here and expectation here and expectation in the us. but because — expectation in the us. but because we _ expectation in the us. but because we found - expectation in the us. elf because we found it much more difficult for us to be able to drive down inflation in part because of the proximity of the ukraine and russia crisis and the fact that we had to switch our resources elsewhere away from russian gas. the us are not necessarily have the same problem and they are a major producer so we have a bigger problem when it came to sourcing energy and paper energy and therefore we had higher inflation. i think it is a bigger problem here we have been making significant swerves. it is notable that while we see us atley leading europe in terms driving down inflation, they are alongside us have not necessarily been particularly great when it comes to driving down core inflation, so there is headline inflation, so there is headline inflation and core. core inflation and core. core inflation is a big problem and we saw yesterday when we saw the federal reserve favouring reading, the core pce moving towards the upside, essentially this strips are volatile factors like food, energy, and essentially leaves you with the parts for federal reserve and the bank of england can actually do something about and that has not necessarily moved as quickly towards the downside so i think they will feel like they have some way to go. really interesting. thank you for talking to us about us interest rates. the employment data will be out at about lunchtime here in the uk and also quickly before i go, i want to make sure you do know that the bank of england chief economist huw pill has adjusted recently and comments in south africa that giving interest rates here in the uk at 5—.20 5% for a longer time would potentially be better than raising them further and began as the financial markets currently expect them to do so -- 5.25%. currently expect them to do so —— 5.25%. interesting comments from huw pill. to france now, where despite months of strikes and mass protests, new laws raising the retirement age come into force today. they mean the state pension age will be gradually raised from 62 to 64 by 2030. president macron has always argued france's pension terms put too much strain on the public finances. the government is spending more than it takes in taxes and the cost of borrowing has risen sharply. will the reforms solve the problem? tomasz michalski is associate professor of economics at the hec business school in paris. thank you very much forjoining me this morning, professor. have the french public accepted that they will have to retire later in life? well, at the moment they have no other choice. they protested, there is a political process that can turn it back ——is not. the main labour union moved forward with some other pieces in the agenda, so there is a generalfeeling of pieces in the agenda, so there is a general feeling of there. other pragmatic things like you mentioned in the earlier parts of the programme, inflation, interest rates and how it weighs on consumption. while the government _ weighs on consumption. while the government hopes - weighs on consumption. while the government hopes to - weighs on consumption. while | the government hopes to break even by 2030, the pension�*s watchdog found they would still be between a five and 8 billion euros deficit beyond that date so will the government, do you think, have to raise the retirement age again in the future? mil retirement age again in the future? �* , retirement age again in the future? , . ., , future? all these pro'ections are future? all these pro'ections based * future? all these pro'ections are based on fl future? all these projections are based on assumptions i future? all these projections - are based on assumptions about what will be our gdp growth over the next 7—10 years and the future is very difficult to predict, so if gdp growth in france would be, say, i.6%, generating revenue and jobs, islamic balance itself out. —— system balances itself. if we project that would be i% a year, but is not going to happen and probably the system will limp onto the next ten years with a small deficit and thenit years with a small deficit and then it might meet another reform as well —— need. l then it might meet another reform as well -- need. i hear ou reform as well -- need. i hear you about _ reform as well -- need. i hear you about assumptions - reform as well -- need. i hear you about assumptions and i reform as well -- need. i hear| you about assumptions and the fact that you tweak them a little and you get different results, i understand and he won that. —— i hear you on that. if we assume that growth and productivity in the french economy follows current predictions, does the french government have control over public spending? france is really about smoothing out a lot of consumption expenditure, so they are accepting the deficit and in fact some of this projected deficit is given by the actions of the government itself because they have to juggle itself because they have to juggle a lot of things together, for example, one of the important factors given the size of the public sector is how many public servants you will have and how fast you will raise their wages. and this is going to be muted given the fact that the government is trying to contain spending in the short run and that's going to impact pensions, so there is, there are tensions over here, but overall the deficits are not big and of course where the retirement age will be pushed to 65 which will probably happen in 2030, would be one that would more realistically balance these terms, so overall i would say the french government is a little bit lax on some of the deficits that is generating, but is still under more or less control. �* .,, but is still under more or less control. �* ., control. almost under control. what more — control. almost under control. what more can _ control. almost under control. what more can we _ control. almost under control. what more can we ask - control. almost under control. what more can we ask for? i control. almost under control. i what more can we ask for? there is a lot. there _ what more can we ask for? there is a lot. there often _ what more can we ask for? there is a lot. there often is. _ tomasz michalski is associate professor of economics at the hec business school in paris. let's stay with the issue of ageing populations and the financial implications. around the world, average life expectancy has doubled in just over 100 years. that brings big challenges about how to pay for healthcare and welfare. but drjoseph coughlin from the mit agelab has told the bbc it is something to be celebrated. frankly, there are many challenges but longevity for ageing population should also be looked at as an amazing opportunity. we never had this many older people and frankly living lewis long and listen well. some challenges however are how do we keep them engaged? how do me or might we maintain activity and ageing wealth? these are not challenges but global opportunities.- challenges but global opportunities. very big questions. _ and you can get much more on the economics of an ageing population — talking business weekly with aaron heslehurst, this weekend, here on bbc news. and available on bbc iplayer. now, this is really interesting. now to agriculture, because farmers around the world are facing challenging times. how to meet the growing demand for food from an increasing world population while also hitting sustainability goals? by 2035 the european union has pledged to eliminate all synthetic pesticides. agriculture ministers from the 27 member states are holding talks in spain this weekend. one big area for discussion is biocontrol, controlling pests using their natural enemies. they could be other insects or pathogens such as viruses orfungi. all that kind of thing. this is someone who knows a lot more about that than i do. jennifer lewis is executive director of the international biocontrol manufacturers association with 35 years of experience in this field. thank you so much forjoining us here on bbc news. this might be a silly question and i hope it is not. if natural predation is better, why did agriculture decide to abandon it in favour of pesticides in the first place? good morning. thank you. biological control, biological ways of controlling pests and diseases, farmers need ways of controlling pests and diseases for crops, and by being able to use biocontrol, they can do this without really upsetting some of the biodiversity and to bring benefits of climate mitigation. and they work! biocontrol works by regulating the affiliation so it may be predation, maybe microbial, so good microbes competing about microbes, or it may be pheromones, and with biocontrol we are adding some of these to the crops to enhance what is there and what's available naturally —— regulating population. ft naturally -- regulating population-— naturally -- regulating population. naturally -- regulating --oulation. , ~ ., population. it sounds like a no-brainer_ population. it sounds like a no-brainer so _ population. it sounds like a no-brainer so why - population. it sounds like a no-brainer so why has - population. it sounds like a no-brainer so why has it. population. it sounds like a | no-brainer so why has it not no—brainer so why has it not been adopted unilaterally around the world? alan mak it has been adopted in many places and millions of hectares used under biocontrol is, it a civilian market globally, about one point in europe. and in europe we see some fantastic examples. forfarmers they europe we see some fantastic examples. for farmers they need to have pest and disease control and farmers will try this out to try out new things on their crops, so that gradually they will change from what's worked historically true what's worked historically true what they want to use now, but to have more biocontrol, you need more biocontrol, and that's the challenge is to ensure we are able to authorise biocontrol and authorise biocontrol and authorise biocontrol we need a provision to actually speed up the authorisation of biocontrol, this provision is available, and taxed under construction in the european union. available discussion european cannot assure global food security and to the same extent as genetic manipulation? —— can it assure? certainly we have effective biocontrol and we see a good example would be to take the valencia and delta. 16,000 hectares of freshwater lagoon and here is where you grow rice for payer. farmers here have successfully, with the help of the regional government and the help of manufacturers, switched to biocontrol for the rice and there, by using native disruptions such as releasing pheromones to confuse the males we cannot find the female and then there are no eggs fertilised, minimal egg is fertilised, minimal egg is fertilised and there are no larvae, then we actually see good rice production, we see farmers continuing profitably, we see the benefits of biodiversity with a tenfold increase in aquatic nesting birds in this key area for my greater birds. and we see the tourist trade maintained. so where we are able to make the switch it is hugely productive. as the public ready to unleash pheromones, hormones, microorganisms on a mass scale in to the food chain, do you think? ! in to the food chain, do you think? ~' in to the food chain, do you think? ~ ., think? i think we need to realise that _ think? i think we need to realise that this - think? i think we need to realise that this is - think? i think we need to | realise that this is already the case. there are already many biological controls authorised. the challenge is to authorised. the challenge is to authorise more of them. we already have microbials and pheromones used every day in farms across the world. if one looked at, for example, at brazil, 44 million hectares in brazil, 44 million hectares in brazil under biocontrol, 60% of the agricultural area. and the advantage of biocontrol is that it has helped biodiversity by maintaining or enhancing diversity and, according to a recent mckinsey report, it is the second most important action that can be taken on the farm to reduce greenhouse gases. farm to reduce greenhouse cases. , , ., ~ gases. very interesting. thank ou ve gases. very interesting. thank you very much- _ around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. voice-over: bbc news, bringing you different - stories from across the uk. meet bill cooksey. he's 102, and he's attempting to become the oldest person to ever complete the great north run. he's no stranger to a challenge. when he turned 100, he walked 100 miles in ten days. and after his 101st birthday, he cycled 1000 miles on his tricycle. but given his age, the great north run organisers requested that he do the walk accompanied by two carers. he says, "i fancy doing the great north run, "will you help us? " and he just really took off from there, so i couldn't say no, really. one thing i hope comes out of it is it encourages other people to try the same thing. because very often you get to a certain age, and they say, "well, that's it. "i'm not supposed to be able to do this." but ijust didn't hear that. ijust carried on as normal. i shall continue to do so until i'm forced to stop. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. to the music business now — because a major label has signed a digital popstar — whose voice has been made with the help of artificial intelligence. warner music now have noonoouri on the books — who is releasing her first song. what does it mean for the music industry? shiona mccallum's been to berlin to find out. meet noonoouri. she is a virtual character and instagram influencer and has worked with big fashion brands. her appearance has been created using 2d graphics and motion capture and now this avatar has a record deal by a major label. oh, my god. this is amazing. it was accelerating my pulse when i got the e—mailfrom was accelerating my pulse when i got the e—mail from warner music central europe and they were asking me are you interested in using this? i said what a question. i? interested in using this? i said what a question. # started a chain reaction... _ said what a question. # started a chain reaction... . _ said what a question. # started a chain reaction... . her- said what a question. # started a chain reaction... . her voice i a chain reaction... . her voice has been _ a chain reaction... . her voice has been created _ a chain reaction... . her voice has been created with - a chain reaction... . her voice has been created with the - a chain reaction... . her voice| has been created with the help of artificial intelligence. they pitched it higher, of course, and made it more female but we did not want to create a human voice. we wanted to have it a bit like technology, like a tech voice. so the base and the original voice of her is my voice. �* ., ., ~' the original voice of her is my voice. �* ., ., ~ ,., voice. and to make the sound the not voice. and to make the sound they got a _ voice. and to make the sound they got a singer _ voice. and to make the sound they got a singer involved - voice. and to make the sound they got a singer involved asl they got a singer involved as well. . ., , ., well. then comes the moment where we _ well. then comes the moment where we use _ well. then comes the moment where we use ai _ well. then comes the moment where we use ai technology. l well. then comes the moment i where we use ai technology. the where we use a! technology. the voice from the singer, we needed to know when he was singing high and when he was singing high and when he was singing low, when he was singing low, when he was singing slower, and it would get more speed, more pressure. warner is releasing noonoouri's first single. warner is releasing noonoouri's first single-— first single. whenever it comes to appearances _ first single. whenever it comes to appearances in _ first single. whenever it comes to appearances in the - first single. whenever it comes to appearances in the meta- i to appearances in the meta— verse, in gaming, when you want to experiment with motion capture technology, noonoouri is a perfect fit. you can appear in different places at the same time, you can change her style in a minute, we can make noonoouri fly if we want because it feels natural to her because it feels natural to her because she is already a digital character. so there are more opportunities than with a human artist in that respect. ai human artist in that respect. al was only a small step in the creation of this song. producers and songwriters all over the globe contributed. like every new technology a! brings with it immense opportunity that also raises profound challenges for the creative community. ft is profound challenges for the creative community. it is about understanding _ creative community. it is about understanding transparency, i understanding transparency, knowing what comes in and what data a! has been trained on, ensuring that there is adequate transparency so we know whether or not music has been generated by ai. and at the moment personality rights, they are not properly protected in the uk, you could generate an ai uk, you could generate an a! version of someone, of a popstar or a singer and they have no rights about how that is used. so we're looking how we can share the regulatory and legal framework behind ai, we can share the regulatory and legalframework behind ai, and it is absolutely critical from our position in the music industry. our position in the music industry-— our position in the music indust . ., , , ., ~ industry. clearly the use of ai is becoming _ industry. clearly the use of ai is becoming more _ industry. clearly the use of ai i is becoming more mainstream. but now that it is officially entering the child, will it ever get to number one? at? entering the child, will it ever get to number one? # watch them fall like — ever get to number one? # watch them fall like dominoes. - ever get to number one? # watch them fall like dominoes. shiona i them fall like dominoes. shiona mccallum, _ them fall like dominoes. shiona mccallum, bbc _ them fall like dominoes. shiona mccallum, bbc news, - them fall like dominoes. shiona mccallum, bbc news, berlin. . let me know what you think about that on twitter, now x. let me know what you think of that story. before i go let's turn our attention to portugal because this is a country on track for its best year of tourism on record. more than 8 million foreign tourists visited the country in the first half of the year, more than the first half of 2019 which was its best ever year before covid completely wiped out the global travel industry. we can speak to a tourism ministerfor portugal. thank minister for portugal. thank you ministerfor portugal. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news and we appreciate your time. i must say, though, isit in this chair every single we have been beaming pictures of wildfires across the iberian peninsula and beyond, greece, et cetera, to the rest of the world. temperatures this summer have reached a0 degrees where you are. firefighters battle to contain wildfires. how confident are you that the performance we have seen in the tourism sector in the first half of the year will be replicated into the future? good morning. thank you for the invitation it is a pleasure to be here with you. like you mention, in fact, be here with you. like you mention, infact, we be here with you. like you mention, in fact, we are having the best semester in the history of tourism in portugal. we have 10% of international tourism arrivals compared to 2019 which was our best year in terms of tourism and we have more than a0% in terms of tourism revenues which is a new record in the history of tourism in portugal. regarding your question, let me tell you we have so far in terms of forest fires we have a relatively calm year compared to 2020-21 relatively calm year compared to 2020—21 or relatively calm year compared to 2020-21 or 2022. just relatively calm year compared to 2020—21 or 2022. just to give you some figures from january until today we have 30% of fires and 60% of burnt area compared to the last ten years and, in fact, compared to the last ten years and, infact, in compared to the last ten years and, in fact, in the last months we have two major fires with no impact on population and no impact on tourists and, actually, in terms of tourism we have fewer tourism accommodation affected in one municipality. until now we are having a relative calm here in terms of fire impaired to the previous years but, of course, we have a strategy to combat fires not only in terms of prevention but also in terms of the initial attack. let me tell you, to give you an example, 90% of the fires are put out on the first 90 minutes. so we have a strong strategy of combat fires but at the same time we also have a strategy of prevention and this year we have relatively calm year compared to other years. l have relatively calm year compared to other years. i am afraid we _ compared to other years. i am afraid we will— compared to other years. i am afraid we will have _ compared to other years. i am afraid we will have to - compared to other years. i am afraid we will have to leave i compared to other years. i am afraid we will have to leave it. afraid we will have to leave it there because i have run out of time. thank you very much for explaining your policy towards climate change in portugal. stay with us here on bbc news. good morning. well, with the change of month, once again, we're likely to see a change of weather fortunes. high pressure is going to build as we head into the weekend and for the first week of september. yes, we'll see some early morning mist and fog first thing but on the whole, for most of us, it will be dry, sunny and increasingly warm. ahead of that, though, we've still got to get rid of this messy—looking weather front that's going to produce some low cloud and some drizzle first thing in the morning, particularly through northern ireland, scottish borders, down into the north of england. now, to the north of that, clear skies and a chilly start but sunny start for scotland. to the south of that, a cloudy start but the cloud will thin and break and a few scattered showers break out. one or two of those could be quite hefty. top temperatures generally between 17 and 22 celsius. now, as we move into the weekend, we are likely to see that frontal system easing away and the high pressure starts to build from the west. we could start off with a little bit of patchy low cloud, mist and fog across central and eastern england. clearer skies further north here. single figures to start off our saturday. so, that mist will take its time to clear away but on the whole, it's all about high pressure. a weak weather front will bring some breezier and wetter conditions to the north but with lighter winds first thing in the morning, it could start off a little bit murky and disappointing. it won't be long, though, before we see some sunshine breaking through and the warmth starts to build. so, as we go into saturday, yes, a grey start for some. more sunshine further north and west. this weather front trying to push in but really, not making too much of an impression for the first half of the weekend. as we go through the afternoon, there'll be some decent sunny spells and temperatures will start to climb, 23 or 2a degrees — that's into the mid 70s fahrenheit. now, as we move out of saturday into sunday, there's that weatherfront, bringing some breezier conditions and rain to the far north—west but on the whole, sunday will be a dry day with plenty of sunshine coming through and a degree or so warmer by the middle part of the afternoon — mid 20s quite possible across central and southern parts of england. warmer still as we go through the week ahead — in fact, some places could see temperatures into the high 20s by the middle part of the week. take care. good morning. welcome to breakfast with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. our headlines today... teachers warn of disruption after more than 100 schools are told to shut their buildings because of safety fears. it is a little bit concerning that it's so close to going back to school. but these things happen, don't they? i'd rather my child not be in school than the school fall down around him. as another day of rail strikes gets under— as another day of rail strikes gets underway. — as another day of rail strikes gets underway, good as another day of rail strikes gets under way, good morning from huddersfield station. today is the last huddersfield station. today is the iast day— huddersfield station. today is the last day to let train companies know what you _ last day to let train companies know what you think of plans to close ticket _ what you think of plans to close ticket offices like this. a last ditch attempt to save wilko. if it succeeds, it will save thousands ofjobs and most of the stores. in sport... four brits make round three at the us open but andy murray's tournament is over after he lost in the second round in new york. how tally the turtle has returned home to texas after taking a a,000 mile detour to north wales. and as meteorological autumn starts, summer looks like it is making an appearance over the next few days. lots of sunshine in the forecast. i will bring you the full detail throughout the programme.