hi there, welcome to asia business report with me, mariko oi. let's begin with the cost of living in the world's latgests economy. inflation in the us has risen byjust inflation in the us has risen by just 3% inflation in the us has risen byjust 3% in the year tojune. that is the lowest level in more than two years. the news has been cheered by financial markets which closed as the highest level in more than a year. especially the tech heavy nasdaq doing quite well. investors are feeling more confident that the us economy may be able to avoid a recession. samira hussein has more. from new york the headline in these latest inflation numbers is that the cost of living in the united states is headed in the united states is headed in the united states is headed in the right direction. inflation rose 3% in the month ofjune. down a full percentage point from a month earlier.

and it has fallen pretty sharply from its peak of more than 9% injune of last year. it is a sign that the federal reserve�*s moves to raise interest rates to slow down inflation seems to be working. but analysts still think america's central bank will raise interest rates one more time at their next meeting. now, the cooler inflation is good news for consumers but it is also good news for us presidentjoe biden, who touted the administration's efforts to bring prices down. now, he's facing re—rlection next year and being able to control inflation without pushing the economy into a recession will be key if he want another four years in the white house. william lee is the milken institute chief economist and he says everyone is wondering whether this is a turning point.

that is the ultimate question at the fomc and all the central banks around about asking themselves, has it peaked? a lot of the inflation decreases have come about because supply chain to become restored around the world and consumers are able to get the kind of stuff they want to buy but one of the things defence is concerned with, even though the headlines numbers are down to 3%, way down from nine, the core rate of inflation, excluding the bulk of it energy component is still pretty high, nowhere near the 2% target. we have a good downpayment but i think we have yet to see convincing evidence that the turn has actually arrived in a convincing way. what does that mean for the federal reserve�*s next move? move ? we were move? we were expecting two more hikes. has this latest inflation data changed that or not? i do not think most of the members of the committee will believe this is enough. they are going to say, we have been there before and we have seen occasions where inflation rates are down and it looks like it was going

in the right direction and then all of a sudden it would turn up again. i think the fed has to convince itself that not only is the trend going the right but all event inflation, including services — if anyone here in the united states tells you about the cost of car repairs going to the dentist — you will see we still have very high rate of inflation in very important part of the economy and the fed is going to wait until it is convinced we are close enough to 2% that they will stop tightening. investors seem to be chairing that they may avoid a recession. it that they may avoid a recession.— that they may avoid a recession. , , ., recession. it seems that right now, recession. it seems that right now. with _ recession. it seems that right now, with unemployment - recession. it seems that right| now, with unemployment rate that 3-.5% now, with unemployment rate that 3—.5% and a lot ofjob openings, we are nowhere near to what we would traditionally call a recession. we might hit the goldilocks of a perfect soft landing without throwing people out of work and rising unemployment and we will have to see if that works but really on the path to do the.

now, it is owning season once again for corporate america and later today we're due to get a second—quarter result from us carrier delta airline. when borders reopen post— covid, there was a surge in demand for white is known as revenger travel, and airlines saw a major leap in bookings. on the flipside, staff shortages have led to operational challenges which resulted in things like flight delays and or cancellations, baggage that handling issues to name a few. the america's air transport editor at flight global says it revenger travel is in full swing this summer. passenger numbers are over pre—covid now. we have millions of people who are, as you mentioned earlier, engaging what we called revenge travel, and that is travelling aggressively to make up for all that last time that we missed during covid. it started last year and it is continuing this year.

the trasportation security administration which does security screening in about a50 airports across the country has nudged record numbers in the last couple of weeks. also, even higher than 2019 numbers. here in asia, some tourism spots are struggling with staff shortages because many have had to let go of them during the pandemic and american airlines are experiencing the same thing, aren't they? indeed. the entire airline infrastructure and the airports, the ground handling, the security, all of those roles, they lost a lot of people through covid and through the aftermath. very experienced pilots and air traffic controllers retired so they are bringing lots of new people who do not have that experience and need to build up that experience now as well. let's now turn to pakistan because international monetary fund has approved a $3 billion bailout programme for the south asian country.

the imf will immediately disperse more than $1 billion to help stabilise the economy while the rest of the funds will be paid out in the next nine months. the deal is a lifeline to the country of 230 million people. pakistan had been facing a severe balance of payments crisis with only enough central bank reserves to cover barely a month worth o imports. that story is now online. and pakistan is not alone in needing imf assistance. not long ago, sri lanka was in the same situation. it has been a year since its former president fled the country amid a massive economic crisis. this is one of colombo's busiest markets, it was deserted a year ago but now it is abuzz with activity and

businesses. in the country the shortages have eased, the fuel fueds have disappeared and ban on non—essential impulse like that of machines, auto parts, even electronics, have all been lifted, giving the pause to the important economy of sri lanka. but my conversations with people here reveal that underneath this sense of normalcy, there lies an undercurrent of instability and worry. prices of everyday goods has continued to sore. this, coupled with lower incomes and higher taxes, has caused living standards to drop. for small businesses, higher import costs are eating into profits. last year, this man was on the verge of closing down his restaurant — a year later he is still struggling. most skilled labour has left the country.

during the crisis even i had 1a chefs inside my kitchen. right now i have only two. i am recruiting weekly. as a businessman i do not see a clear future right now. in 2022 more than 300,000 left the country in search of a better future. the highest migration in sri lanka's history. the brain drain of the most skilled, like the doctors, paramedical staff, chefs, it professionals, is leaving a critical gap that economists worry can affect the country's economic recovery. government says imf financial support is helping stabilise the economy. the present concern from the current government is to finalise debt restructuring talks before the imf review in september. the government is proposing its foreign lenders take a 30% cut on the principal amount owed. now, getting the bilateral creditors, especially china,

to agree on these terms will be crucial for sri to agree on these terms will be crucialfor sri lanka to to agree on these terms will be crucial for sri lanka to get the next bunch of imf funding in october. financial problems are not unique to those south asian nations. indeed, a global public debt has surged to a record of modern $90 trillion last year. aun a un report says governments have borrowed more. now to hollywood because the capital of america showbiz is facing the possibility of its first simultaneous strike by writers and actors in more than 60 years. the screen actors guild is currently taking part

in last ditch talks on whether federal mediator about contract negotiations with films and tv studios. without the actors you cannot film a thing going forward. if they go strike, they lose a reality— if they go strike, they lose a reality on game shows and _ a reality on game shows and they are going to really start— and they are going to really start to _ and they are going to really start to feel it because right now— start to feel it because right now they have stockpiled scripts _ now they have stockpiled scripts and i have things in the _ scripts and i have things in the pipeline, things i think they— in the pipeline, things i think they can _ in the pipeline, things i think they can do without writers. frankly _ they can do without writers. frankly actors are more powerful— frankly actors are more powerful collectively i powerful collectively than _ powerful collectively than writers. - than writers. you - than writers. you go - than writers. you go to . than writers. you go to a i than writers. - you go to a movie because _ you go to a movie because of- you go to a movie because of your. you go to a movie - because of your favourite you go to a movie _ because of your favourite stars are in — because of your favourite stars are in it — that is it for the show, thank you so much for watching. bringing you different stories from across the uk. jamie reeves is showing me a video that no parent should ever have to film. it is of his 8—month—old daughter, ali, on an emergency medicalflight from spain, where the family had been

on holiday, back to birmingham where doctors then diagnosed her with a rare form of leukaemia. since lastjuly, it has been hell. i don't think there has been a week that has passed where we have not been in hospital. i think the most we've done is about three or four days. ali has had two stem cell transplants — the most recent one in april — neither has worked. her medical team says they are not prepared to do a third transplant. in all honesty, i thought, last week, when we were not seeing any of her counts come up, i was getting really worried. i started to think in my mind, maybe that could be it. her family has been told their best option might be to pay for a highly specialised treatment called car—t cell therapy in america, as it is not currently available on the nhs, but the treatment is expensive and the family is now on a mission to raise £1 million. the clock is ticking, time is not on our side so the sooner we can get over there, the better. for more stories

from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hello, i amjack with the catch up. we're going to start tonight with the news that the wife of the bbc news reader, huw edwards, has named him as the presenter facing misconduct allegations. he was suspended by the bbc after the sun newspaper published claims that he paid a teenager for explicit images. a little earlier, the met police said there was no evidence of any criminality, after looking at the sun's allegations. in a statement, his wife, vicki flind, said huw is suffering form serious mental health issues and... the bbc says it will now continue its own investigation. a couple of other stories for you, then. we have been talking lots about the cost of owning your

own home going up and today the bank of england has done the maths and worked out that nearly1 million households will be paying at least £500 more for their mortgages each month by the end of 2026. it all evolves around the rising cost of living. lots of info and advice on the bbc news app, under the tackling it together section. and it has been a challenge for thousands of people trying to get tickets for taylor swift, the eras. but for disabled fans trying to secure a place at wembley it has been even tougher because accessibility places for the shows that are not sold by ticketmaster online the venue directly, leading to much longer waiting times. wembley stadium has told the bbc that demand has been unprecedented. tonight, i'm going to leave tonight, i'm going to leave you with ten seconds you with ten seconds of cuteness overload of cuteness overload because a giant panda has given birth to twins for because a giant panda the first time in south korea yesterday. the female babies were born yesterday. just hours apart and they are

tiny, weighing just under 200g each. both mum and babies are doing well. both mum and babies are doing well. you're all caught up now, see you later. superstars it's carlos alcaraz hello and welcome to sports day. i am marc edwards from the bbc sport centre. unstoppable alcaraz.

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