the bbc�*s north america business correspondent michelle fleury reports from outside the federal reserve in washington dc. since march 2022, interest rates in america have gone up 5%. that's an enormous amount in a short period of time. on wednesday, policymakers inside here all agreed, given its historic rate hiking campaign. now was the time to take a break and give the economy time to adjust to its actions that have pushed up the cost of borrowing for things like mortgages, business loans and credit cards. the decision left the fed's benchmark rate unchanged in a range between 5% and 5.25% percent. but for companies and consumers alike, the pain may not be over. as fed chairjerome powell made clear during his press conference with us, inflation still running well above the bank's 2% target. its job is not yet done.

there was not a rate cut this year— there was not a rate cut this year nor— there was not a rate cut this year nor is _ there was not a rate cut this year nor is it likely to be appropriate if you think about it. inflation has not moved down _ it. inflation has not moved down and it is not reacted much to our— down and it is not reacted much to our interview existing rate hikes — to our interview existing rate hikes so _ to our interview existing rate hikes so we have to keep at it. most officials think two more rate hikes are needed this year, starting perhaps as early as next month. wednesday's decision ushers in a new phase in the fed's battle to lower prices and follows a path carved out by central banks in countries such as australia and canada, which recently announced rate hikes following a break. the latest decision by america's central bank comes at a time when inflation is slowing but not as quickly as the federal reserve wants. earlier, i spoke with blerina uruci of t. rowe price... who gave her take on the fed's latest move to pause interest rate hikes. i think it's important for the

fed to take a look around and consented to or monetary policy lacks. they tighten monetary policy very fast of the last few months and we are at a point with interest rates where businesses and consumers are feeling the pain and are feeling the pain and are feeling the pain and are feeling the tightening in monetary policy we have received, and they now have to be more considerate about the pace they proceed from here. there's a clear sense of urgency and of the fact that more needs to be done to bring inflation down but at the same time doing this as a pace where the economy and markets can absorb it more gradually and so that they can keep a path to a soft landing still alive. the last time _ soft landing still alive. the last time we _ soft landing still alive. the last time we spoke - soft landing still alive. the last time we spoke was last month and there was a banking crisis going on, where do we stand? how much of that are they considering in the fed? i think this is something the monitor closely. we also have the treasury general account rebuilt this summer which means some liquidity will be drained

out of the financial system in the west. when you look at the data, the tightening in credit conditions has not been much more significant than before the banking crisis and we are not seeing the events of march play out into the real economy as a big shock. this was a special meeting for the f rmc where the revised their forecast and they told us in june that they had a better view of the economy going forward, their outlook for growth and the labor market is more optimistic than it was in march, and that's why i think they now share this collective view that they need to do more tightening in their policy. we have been — tightening in their policy. we have been worried for some time about a recession in the worlds biggest economy, is that still a possibility? i biggest economy, is that still a possibility?— biggest economy, is that still a possibility? i think you have to take that _ a possibility? i think you have to take that possibility - a possibility? i think you have to take that possibility pretty| to take that possibility pretty sears in this business cycle because of the pace in which financial conditions have tightened and how high inflation is. there is a real chance that the fed may need to

create much more slack in the labor market to bring inflation down and typically when you create this much slack in the labor market, recession tends to follow, so that remains a possibility. it's hard right now to have conviction regarding the exact timing when the economy may really feel the pain from tightening in monetary policy. food prices — especially for grain — have been affected by russia's invasion of ukraine 16 months ago. this week in london, ministers and top organisations from the grain industry are meeting for their annual conference. and the top agenda is ensuring stability.

jagdip cheema explains. i'm at the international green conference here grainn conference here in the heart of london. this event is being attended by global agriculture ministers, leading trade bodies and the industry's biggest players. some 60 countries have some sort of representation here. the big topic is ukraine, because they currently have a black sea safe passage agreed with russia to export ukrainian grain through turkey's bosporus strait. but that deal is due to expire on the 17th ofjuly. so the big question is will they get an extension even if the grain deal is prolonged, is extended, well, i think that quite possibly the general situation will be like a lottery. grain corridor is critically important for ukrainian and global food security. as previously, more than 30

million tonnes of grain and other commodities were exported through the grain corridor. the world is not better equipped to deal with this right now. there are more people than ever before in hunger, and yet we are producing more food than ever before. so there's this great conundrum about the situation we are in today. the good news is that everyone's attention has been drawn to this and there are opportunities ahead of us to get out of this situation. historically, in spain have been developing events of drought, very serious. but the difference now maybe is that we are having them more frequently and accompanied by high temperatures.

that has a real big impact in the husbandry farming and in the crop production. earlier this month, the united nations food price index showed that global food prices are currently at their lowest level in two years. the food index has fallen by some 22% since april 2021. yet many here are concerned about the war in ukraine and how the drought season may affect grain supplies. so coming up with a long term sustainable solution remains top priority. jagdeep cheema, bbc news central london. elsewhere in asia — football legend lionel messi is due to play in a friendly match between argentina and australia in china's capital beijing later today. according to state media, messi's presence has driven up prices notjust for match tickets — but also for hotel bookings! i spoke with tom byer earlier — a football development adviser — and he explained why the sky—high prices will not be a deterrent to fans.

they're playing the game in a new beijing stadium which is renovated and there's a lot of interest around going to that stadium and when you have the world cup champions in one of the greatest players of all time playing, i think people would play anything and that is what it is turning out to be. china has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build its lead, and it's not been successful. why do you think that is? fix. successful. why do you think that is? �* , , that is? a few things, they overspent _ that is? a few things, they overspent in _ that is? a few things, they overspent in the _ that is? a few things, they overspent in the early - that is? a few things, they l overspent in the early days, most of the cso clubs were owned by real estate moguls and companies and some were owned by the governments are privatized so when the real estate bubble burst, we say a lot of decrease in funding of the football teams and some went underwater so there's been

a major crisis. that, coupled with the new scandal going on with the new scandal going on with corruption and cracking down on that, we had this back in 2009, and know we have 2.0 this time. so, football is struggling and hopefully it can rebound in the future. you talk about corruption, _ rebound in the future. you talk about corruption, how - rebound in the future. you talkl about corruption, how pervasive is it in the sport?— is it in the sport? let's talk about first _ is it in the sport? let's talk about first of _ is it in the sport? let's talk about first of all, _ is it in the sport? let's talk about first of all, you - is it in the sport? let's talk about first of all, you have | about first of all, you have the football business site and then technical development side. the business side is a multibillion—dollar industry and it depends on what is happening in the development of players, so you have a list of bureaucracies involved in the game. you have small people making big decisions which have huge amounts of responsibility, able to choose different bands to work in different sections of the game and i think that's where you insert run up to some of the problems they have run into which is corruption. that is all we _ into which is corruption. that

is all we have _ into which is corruption. that is all we have from _ into which is corruption. that is all we have from you - into which is corruption. that is all we have from you now at asia business report. you can keep up with the latest news on bbc news .com or or apple. i am monica miller, thanks for watching. bringing you different stories from across the uk. this year marks the 75th anniversary of the empire windrush. the black cultural archives and circa have teamed together to bring us a collection of memories. we wanted to celebrate the archival memory of this important generation by inviting photos, memories, which could be written or recorded. we will then edit that together collectively into a ten minute film that will play on piccadilly lights. this first one is of the delroy stevens and the commandos,

four brothers, a jazz band, therefore men who were on that ship, empire windrush, coming over in 1948. and for its managing director at the black cultural archives it's important for us to recognise the impact that people who came from different countries, from the commonwealth, who saw the uk as home and contributed to the fabric of the united kingdom, whether it's economically, culturally, politically or otherwise, and if there's any part of society that people from the windrush generation haven't positively impacted, the uk that we know today wouldn't be the same without them. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hey, i'm zoff with the catch up tonight. cocaine in surfboards, hay fever, surges and platypus. chaos. but first, the families of two students who were killed in nottingham have come together at a huge vigil on their uni campus.

barnaby webber and grace o'malley kumar were stabbed to death early on tuesday morning. 65—year—old school caretaker ian coates was also killed. thousands gathered to pay their respects. it's been hard to comprehend what has happened to the city and to our students in the last 36 hours. what should have been one of the biggest celebrations for the student body has turned into one of our darkest days. it's been six years since the grenfell tower fire that killed 72 people. the public inquiry has finished, but the community is still waiting for its final report on some of the stories. now the latest on phillip schofield. itv bosses have told mps they didn't ignore rumours he was having a relationship with a younger colleague this morning. they say they didn't see evidence until recently.

now are you struggling with hay fever? well, you're not alone. one hospital has asked people to avoid a&e for non—urgent stuff after seeing loads of people come because of hot weather and hay fever, theyjust said to call 111 instead. police in uruguay said they've broken up a drugs ring which smuggled cocaine from south america to europe hidden in surfboards. ten seconds of pure chaos. two platypuses have been caught fighting for territory in australia. apparently it went on for 20 minutes, which is absolutely crazy. i do hope they've made up now. you're all caught up now. see you later.

coming up on this programme... it's official — the england internationaljude belligham signs a six year deal with real madrid we hearfrom both the england and australia camps ahead of the first ashes test and golf heads to tinseltown for the us open, after a week of dramatic storylines. .. hello and thanks forjoining us. jude bellingham has bid

an emotionalfarewell to borussia dortmund fans on his social media —