this is business live from bbc news, with ben thompson and maryam moshiri. the first us interest rate cut in more than a decade. will america's central bank push the button to rev up the economy? live from london, that's our top story on wednesday, 31st ofjuly. america is enjoying a record—breaking economic expansion, with the unemployment rate near a 50—year low and inflation tame. so, why might the us fed cut the cost of borrowing? also in the programme... apple's shift to

services bears fruit. the technology giant's sales rise, even as its iphone revenues fall. and we will explain why the numbers are doing that on the european markets with an expert later. and we'll be getting the inside track on... two—ply, quilted, patterned, embossed. what am i talking about? toilet paper. but the sustainable kind, made from bamboo. today, we want to know... as one hotel chain scraps toiletry bottles, replacing them with sustainable alternatives, we want to know, will you miss "ta keaway" toiletries? should others follow suit? let us know. just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. a bathroom theme to the end of the show, we will explain that later. starting first in the united states. we start in the united states, where the country's central bank —

the federal reserve — is widely expected to trim interest rates today for the first time since 2008. the only question is, by how much? some believe it could be a 50 basis point cut, as fed chairmanjerome powell voices growing concerns about us trade tensions and a global slowdown. the us economy is enjoying its longest—ever economic expansion, with the unemployment rate at a near 50—year low. but inflation remains below the fed's 2% target. the majority of economists favour a 25—point cut, with another following in the coming months. and up to three next year. so, why cut at all? when the economy is seemingly doing 0k. when the economy is seemingly doing 0k. lowering borrowing rates makes it easier for businesses to get loans to invest in new projects, and for consumers to spend to keep the economy moving. but president trump has weighed in, pushing for a large cut and extra stimulus measures. mr powell, however, has defended the fed's independence, insisting the bank won't bend

to political pressure. with us now is peter hahn, expert on international trade. from the london institute of banking & finance. jerome powell has said, i won't bend to pressure, but for some people, this looks like he is. yes, we are ata this looks like he is. yes, we are at a critical moment. the world's central bankers for a very long time was seen as this independent, above political people, looking at managing the economy. but in the last several years, that sort of independence has been questioned. and i think it is a critical moment for the fed because if they make a rate cut, they will have to justify it really strongly to not look like they have succumbed to political pressure. and how will theyjustify it? well, what data are they going to base the cut on? i don't think a small cut will influence the economy, but it certainly is a signal. and with a us election process under way, it is an important signal. surely not, surely it is nothing to do with the

elections, it is to do with the economy, what are you saying? we all know politicians are likely to get elected with booming economies rather than those going into recession, so it is a really sensitive political time. recession, so it is a really sensitive politicaltime. if you recession, so it is a really sensitive political time. if you cut interest rates when there is not may bea interest rates when there is not may be a complete need to come out what impact would that have? well, in this case, it doesn't seem like there is much of an impact. it is a signalling factor. nobody is going to borrow lots more money for a quarter point, that is not likely to happen. what we will see is probably the dollar won't strengthen relative to other currencies and in the trade discussions we have had, there is almost a war on keeping your currency low. so the effects probably will be more symbolic. we talk about the american economy showing signs of strength, but there isa showing signs of strength, but there is a trade dispute going on with china and that surely will have more ofan impact china and that surely will have more of an impact as time goes by?m china and that surely will have more

of an impact as time goes by? it is. it also affects the manufacturing sector of the us economy more. and the manufacturing sector of the us, like many other developed economies, has been shrinking. so it can help the us manufacturing sector, but it is not likely to change the economy very much. 0k, peter, thank you very much indeed forjoining us. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. from around the world. aircraft manufacturer airbus says its earnings more than doubled in the first six months of the year. the company says the strong set of results was helped by a rise in commercial aircraft deliveries. it's operating profitjumped by 72% to roughly $2 billion. —— its operating profitjumped by 72% to roughly $2 billion. samsung electronics has posted a 56% drop in second—quarter operating profit. that's as it was hit by continuing falls in memory chip prices. the notoriously cyclical memory chip industry is seeing a downturn after a two—year boom, as slowing demand for gadgets such as smartphones pulls down prices.

the us has urged south korea and japan to consider signing a "standstill agreement" on a serious diplomatic dispute to buy time for the countries to negotiate. tokyo reined in exports of high—tech materials to south korea over differences that date back to the second world war. authorities have confirmed they have located the body of indian coffee baron vg siddhartha from near the netravati river, in the southern indian state of karnata ka. well, mr siddhartha, the founder of the cafe coffee day chain, which has 1,700 outlets in india, went missing monday. 0ur correspondent zoe thomas is in mumbai. we talked about this in the programme yesterday. and just give us programme yesterday. and just give usa programme yesterday. and just give us a sense programme yesterday. and just give us a sense of what we know so far, but also, the scale of that firm that he founded and ran. yes, there haven't been too many updates since the authorities found his body. they

confirmed that it is him, but no news yet on what the cause of death was, so there is still a lot of speculation around. the thing people are speculating on is this letter allegedly from him taking responsibility for financial issues the company was having. it talks about problems with lenders, pressure from the indian tax authorities and from an unnamed private equity partner he was pushing the company to do a share buy—back. and this is the biggest coffee chain in india, it far outnumbers international brands like starbucks in the country and it plays a big role in indian culture, particularly in cities where young people go there for their first date and really find this as a comforting location to go to. the company is still operating. the coffee shops are still open if you are in india and you want to go get a coffee, but it is unknown what will happen to the company. shares fell when he disappeared and at the moment, the stock has been frozen while they figure out what is going on. a lot

is up in the air and in the balance is up in the air and in the balance is this $1 billion business. yes, a really sad story, thank you for giving us the latest on what has happened. we will follow that story and bring you more as we hearfrom india and ourteam and bring you more as we hearfrom india and our team based there with the details in mumbai. investors discouraged by what they have heard from president trump, the world's have heard from president trump, the worlds to biggest economies resumed trade touches today, but they are worried about the impact on the global economy —— two biggest. not just those two powerhouses. if deals are not done as far as commitments between the two countries. president trump accusing china of changing the rules. markets cautious ahead of the fiddled reserve decision. —— federal reserve.

when the us central bank is expected to cut interest rates. samsung profits down in the second quarter and it's warned of "challenges" ahead. the world's biggest smartphone and memory chip maker says profits fell 56% from the year before. staying with tech, apple reported a small gain in sales for the third quarter of the year — iphone sales were down, but the firm made up for the difference in higher revenues for services including software and music. the pound still under pressure too. because of concerns over the prospect of a no—deal exit from the european union. thank you, and from one ben to another! joining us is ben kumar, investment manager, from seven investment management. apple, share prices better than what a nalysts apple, share prices better than what analysts expected. yes, the expectation is apple is going to see a decline in iphone revenue, people buying fewer iphones. but they are making it up, people are buying more of the ipods and the apple watch and

more ingrained in the ecosystem of apple so people are using the app store and this is good news. you don't want to be one of the biggest companies in the world and just have one product, they are changing. but if you broaden what you do, you broaden the rivals you have to contend with in the technology world. that is right, apple has been clever in the way it has built itself in the last decade, you are locked into the ecosystem. if you getan locked into the ecosystem. if you get an iphone, you probably get an ipod and get the air part and use the app store and are excited about apple tv coming in september and the ability to use an apple credit card you are in for life. with that ecosystem you are in for life. with that ecosyste m co m es you are in for life. with that ecosystem comes challenges because there are others that want to replicate that, but apple warning the market the days of double digit iphone sales are gone and services is how they will make their money. yes, effect is no big blockbuster

product. 0nce yes, effect is no big blockbuster product. once you are locked in, you are locked in. if you can make $10 billion a quarter profit, that is still pretty good going. the other thing is the value of the brand, apple is the most valuable brand in the world depending on the survey she read and they can still rely on that to push people into their products. briefly before you go, the markets, we have touched on what the markets, we have touched on what the markets are thinking about and all eyes a re markets are thinking about and all eyes are on the fed? absolutely right, no one i have spoken to is doing anything because they are going to wait to see whether we have the first rate cut since the crisis. interesting times. thank you, ben, we will see you later. still to come... can it be kind both to the planet and to your skin? we'll bejoined by a co—founder of the cheeky panda, the company behind bamboo alternatives to traditional tissue paper. congratulations to the people who wrote that headline. bamboo for your loo. stay with us.

you're with business live, from bbc news. just eat, the food—ordering app, said its core profit dropped 16% in the first half of the year, as it increased spending on the rollout of its delivery services. the results come two days after the firm agreed to combine with its dutch rival takeaway.com, in an £8.2 billion deal. andre spicer is professor of organisational behaviour at cass business school. good morning. this is interesting because it has changed our behaviour in terms of how we consume these things and a merger in the pipeline, talk is through the numbers. well, if we look atjust eat, the numbers of people using the product have gone up quite significantly, so 21%. but it is facing increased competition. so uber eats and delivery, and those companies don't make money. just eat is making money and these other companies are not and these other companies are not and it is hard to compete with a company that does not make money.

you get the sense this is a winner ta kes all you get the sense this is a winner takes all fields, it is a crowded market, we have so many options available. how will we determine who is the winner in this race? well, thatis is the winner in this race? well, that is likely to be a large shake—up and we see that happening. soa shake—up and we see that happening. so a couple of businesses will dominate, just eat had a different model where you order something and pick it up yourself but now they are capping the same business model and it is unlikely we will have so many different apps in place and we will probably only have one or two in the future. when we look at that competition, they are all trying to throw money at it as we said in the introduction, to bring down delivery costs a nd introduction, to bring down delivery costs and to tempt you with new offers, it is not a lucrative business right now. no, the margins are fairly narrow and sender. from all sides, from the delivery people, the restaurant and the companies. so it isa the restaurant and the companies. so it is a question about where they are going to get the margin from the

market. so one of the dangers is that the people making the food are going to find themselves increasingly squeezed and that will be bad potentially for the british high street. so the small takeaway stores. interesting. amj, thank you. it is good to talk to you. ladbrokes carol be made to pay five —— to pay a fine over failings ladbrokes carol be made to pay five —— to pay a fine overfailings in safeguarding is. plenty more in our business page. you're watching business live, our top story — the us central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates later for the first time in a decade. that's despite america enjoying

its longest—ever economic expansion. a quick look at how the markets are faring. a lot of corporate results, just waiting to see what the federal reserve does, the first time since the financial crisis, a cut in interest rates, if that is confirmed later today. two—ply, quilted, extra—tough, extra—long, patterned, embossed. iam not i am not talking about him! we're talking toilet paper. the same thing! but what about sustainability? in america alone — a country that accounts for around 20% of all gloabl consumption — barely a third of the paper sold there are from recycled sources. most of it comes from virgin wood pulp, which threatens forest areas worldwide with deforestation. world wildlife foundation say toilet paper production wipes out about 27,000 trees per day — that's almost nine million trees per year. ifind i find that ifind that astonishing! well, one company says its products offers a sustainable solution to the problem. the uk—based cheeky panda takes unused bamboo that's destined for the rubbish heap, and turns it into biodegradable baby wipes and other products.

with us now isjulie chen, co—founder. it is lovely to meet you, let's talk about the product first. it is interesting, i didn't realise you could make paper out of bamboo, what made you first realise that? so, i grew up in china. we use lots of bamboo. so i had the idea of my business and i had the idea of creating a range of products using bamboo and calling it cheeky panda. but we did not do anything until two or three years ago and i went back to china to visit my parents with my partner and we decided to investigate this idea. so we went to a city in the west part of china and what we learned is bamboo can be used to create a lot of different things, tissue, wipes, textiles. but there is so much bamboo that only

10% is used and 90% surplus. so what we thought is, why are we cutting down trees when we have such a wonderful resource? that we are not using. so that is really why we decided to launch this business because it was a no—brainer for us. the very definition of toilet paper is that it is designed to be thrown away and yet so much of it made around the world still comes from virgin pulp, not recycled. some firms are trying to do it and we are not buying it, why not, why is it such a big problem? sometimes it is not easy for people to make a change. sometimes, people think it is easy but actually, when implementing it, with an individual company, it is harder than you thought. but what we are trying to do is encourage a positive change. using something more sustainable. better for the environment. better

for your health as well. so you are bringing products from china, does that mean you are not exposed to brexit in the same way as other toilet paper companies have been touted as being? i know in this country, there has been a big push towards some people hoarding toilet paper ahead of the possibility of reading —— of leaving the eu no deal. yes, we a french company to deal. yes, we a french company to deal with european customers, so we can trade under the french company so there is really no difference to us. so there is really no difference to us. because they continue to import from china and it goes directly to europe and distributes in europe. how worried are you about china and the reputation it has over concerns about sustainability, about factory conditions in china, how worried are you about those concerns?” conditions in china, how worried are you about those concerns? i think china has changed a lot, which i am very proud. the past few years, we see the changes. so china is still

receiving waste from other countries. implementing changes to get rid of old machines that cause massive environmental problems. and spent a lot of money to put new machines in place. i saw ourfactory for example generate electricity using the steam processing bamboo, and also the water treatment is more clea n and also the water treatment is more clean than the water in the river. cani clean than the water in the river. can i ask you about wet wipes? it is a huge problem in cities as well that you think you can flush them down the toilet and then the authorities will discover a huge amount of them stuck in sewers and pipes because they are not biodegradable. you make wet wipes, i know. are they biodegradable and do they break down, what should we be doing? i think people should not confuse biodegradable and aquatic.

biodegradable, the wet wipe is 100% made from bamboo and it is biodegradable and it can be composted, in three weeks. we want otherwise people not to flush theirs because it does not break down as fast as tissue so tissue should not be flushed down toilets or into the system. it can be composted at home but it should not be flushed. can you put it in the bane of the recycling? you put it in the compost bin. what if you don't have a compost bin? some counties now have compost bin? some counties now have compost bags for recycling so you can collect that from the library and put them, the wipes in the compost bags. it is really interesting and thank you for a clear definition because so many people are confused by what you can and cannot recycle and what you cannot flush. julie chen, thank you so cannot flush. julie chen, thank you so much indeed. now to something entirely different.

now, all this week, we're looking at social media influencers. today, we head to ghana, where clothing designers are increasingly making a mark, and one fashion influencer who's made it her mission to showcase their work to the world. my name is afua rida and i'm a fashion and lifestyle influencer. my main platforms are afua rida on instagram and styledbyrida on facebook. if you want all the great fashion looks coming out of africa, you need to come onto my website. i became an influencer sort of by mistake. initially, i was working as a fashion stylist and i realised that we didn't really have enough platforms like magazines or online websites that were showcasing what these designers and artists were putting out there. and so i decided, why don't ijust put the clothes on myself and take pictures and put it out there on my blog? and then when i got comfortable with instagram and facebook, i put those pictures out there too. and before i knew it, i was an influencer! the whole idea of being

an influencer is quite new within, well, my country first and foremost, ghana, and then the west of africa. so, i had to do a lot of educating, a lot of explaining. usually, it takes a couple of years of being an influencer before you can fully say that you can 100% full—time work as an influencer and make your money. a lot of people come into the job after a year and they think that, oh, i can make money. or, i demand this, i need this. but that's not how it happens. you need to pay your dues. you need to work hard. you need to prove yourself to the brands. and hopefully, it works out. interesting stuff. there is more from that series for the rest of the week here on the programme. but we estimate the start of the programme whether you would miss those toiletries you get when you stay in a hotel? i don't miss those, i don't use those, to be honest with you. i like my own stuff, i like to wash myself with my own stuff, my hair is quite

particular, ben. princess! i like deeply moisturising shampoo and they are all for normal hair, i don't have normal hair, forgive me. bet is nothing normal about you! we did ask you whether you would miss that stuff? 0ne did ask you whether you would miss that stuff? one of the big global hotel chains will remove those toiletries and put in big bottles instead, reusable things. a lot of you getting in touch. this says, i travel for work a lot and stay in these hotels and they wonder why they have not done it before, that is so much plastic. he says, he hasn't brought back things from their trip? me, basically! i don't want to leave a half filled bottle because it will go in the bin so bottle because it will go in the bin so you may as well take it. do you rate the mini bar as well? let's not go there. this says, we have collected all of these, when do you use them? i had an idea to give these to homeless shelters and food banks to help people, waiting to see if we can execute on that. there is a charity that does that for those kits you get on

aeroplanes. this says, there is one that works like that near me and it works like a food bank. ben, do you pinch from hotels? no, but a lot of people do and theyjust clutter up your house until people throw them away. it is the right idea. i read something that changed my mind i'm using gels yourself. a lot of people think producers use gels because you put so much hand and it goes down the sink, somebody said, use a bar of so, it is old school, it works, it comes in cupboard packaging and it comes in cupboard packaging and it works. is that hygienic when other people use it? just make sure nobody else uses it, everybody else can have your own bar of so. then you have five bars along your sink! then you get the soapy nurse around the taps and you have to clean it. —— you get the so. the taps and you have to clean it. -- you get the so. you are not being practical here! the environment is not practical! let's talk about practicality in terms of family.

prince harry talking about sustainability, talking about his family and his future and he said a p pa re ntly family and his future and he said apparently that he doesn't want to have more than two children because he thinks that it is not sustainable to have more than that for the environment, what think? the increase in human population has caused problems in the environment. iam not caused problems in the environment. i am not sure there is an exact number of children acceptable or not a cce pta ble number of children acceptable or not acceptable and it depends on your lifestyle. if you decide to be quite environmentally friendly and you live in the woods in a cabin, you could probably have as many children as you like. if you raise lots of children in a city and you are buying lots of expensive toiletries and you take them to hotels and you drive around in cars, that will cost the environment. it is sort of an acknowledgement that whatever our best intentions, we will have a huge environmental impact. look, there are7 environmental impact. look, there are 7 billion people and it will increase to 9 billion in the next ten years, that is a big weight on

the world. 0k, ben, as always, lovely to have you on the programme, thank you very much. thank you for your company can have a great day whatever you are doing, we will see you in the same place tomorrow, goodbye. hello, yesterday, thunderstorms and showers brought disruption for some. parts of north yorkshire saw torrential downpours and high rainfall totals, around 50 millimetres recorded in one hour and we saw scenes like this with flash flooding. further south, the winds we re flooding. further south, the winds were causing issues with trees in full leaf, some came down, this photo from suffolk. this was courtesy of low pressure pushing north and east so the focus of the heavy, thundery downpours further north today. largely dry day across southern parts of wales and england, sunny spells, one or two showers, lighter winds and heavy thundery downpours and the risk of disruption again across northern england and

central and western scotland in particular, the potentialfor thunderstorms. sunny spells and one or two showers in northern ireland with highs of 2a celsius in the south east. tonight, heavy thundery downpours will ease and still showers lingering but you can see that area of low pressure pushing further east so tomorrow, j weather around again, and areas of cloud and sunny spells. the chance of showers in eastern areas and for northern england, quite heavy and possibly thundery and thunderstorms for central and western parts of scotland. temperatures perhaps a degree higher, a maximum of 25 celsius. 0vernight, low pressure finally clearing towards the east so it means friday, again, fewer showers than we will see on thursday. it doesn't mean there won't be any showers and where we do see showers, they could be heavy as possibly thundery. the greatest chance of seeing those into the afternoon. still sunny spells around and temperatures similar to what we are looking out over the next few

days. 17, 20 one celsius in the north, 21—25 further south. into saturday, a ridge of high pressure brings a largely dry and fine start for many, cloudy conditions into the west with some showers and rain later. we can't rule out showers across scotland, england and way is. temperatures in the high teens and low 20s, a maximum of 2a celsius. sunday, weather fronts from the west likely to bring with them showery outbreaks of rain. temperatures will be fairly similarto outbreaks of rain. temperatures will be fairly similar to what we are looking at over the next few days.

you're watching bbc news at 9:00am with me, rebecca jones. the headlines... mps call for dedicated police officers in schools, saying violence among youths is now a "social emergency". flash flooding in north yorkshire causes a bridge to collapse, and roads are washed away. flood warnings are in place across the north and west. borisjohnson is in northern ireland for crucial talks to try to restore the stormont government, amid continued tension over the prime minister's brexit plans. clearly, the people of northern ireland have been without a government, without stormont, for two years and six months, so my prime focus this morning is to do everything i can to help that to get up and running again,