downgraded agency fitch has downgraded american top credit rating from aaa to aa plus. fitch cited expected physical deterioration over the next three years as well as growing government debt burden. the downgrade also follows a death—dealing agreement injune that saw once agreement injune that saw once a political bryggman ship. —— debt ceiling agreement for stub these are used by investors... the us treasury secretary janet yellen said she disagreed with the move and said it was based on outdated data. the white house has also said the move defies reality and they strongly deserved ruthie decision. cafe giant starbucks has unveiled a quarterly earnings that beat expectations. the worlds largest coffee chain reported revenue of $9.2 billion. that is a jump of revenue of $9.2 billion. that is ajump of 12% revenue of $9.2 billion. that is a jump of 12% from a year ago. the earnings were helped by a consumer recovery in

china. and a return to office in the united states. michelle fleury has more.— in the united states. michelle fleury has more. americans love lattes and _ fleury has more. americans love lattes and coffee _ fleury has more. americans love lattes and coffee helping - lattes and coffee helping starbucks to the rest supposed eidetic years but with high inflation in the us, a cup of coffee is now $5 on average of the big question for investors going into this earnings season was going to consumer still spend money on elaborate coffees? the answer was mixed. sales in north america grew 7% even after the chain raised prices. that figure was below wall street's forecast. customer traffic only increased by 1% full time most of the goods came from existing customers spending more money. sales in china, its second is market, rose sharply. sales increased a whopping a0 said percent from a year ago. starbucks remains a favourite brand among chinese consumers, the company benefiting from a rebound after strict covid—19 restrictions were lifted. but the coffee chain said that wage

increases and investment in its caf s dragged down its overall profits. starbucks ceo, who took over from predecessor howard schultz in march, held the progress the company was making. he still faces lots of challenges, though, including the company's response to union organising. the company's response to union organising-— organising. shall fleury there. meanwhile. — organising. shall fleury there. meanwhile, uber_ organising. shall fleury there. meanwhile, uber reported - organising. shall fleury there. meanwhile, uber reported a l meanwhile, uber reported a surprise pocket of almost $a00 million for the second quarter. after a 2,000,000,000—dollar loss compared to a year ago. this is uber�*s first ever quarterly operating profit. the results were boosted by gains in uber cosmic equity investments. revenues rose 1a% but missed analysts forecast slightly. 0il giant bp saw its second—quarter profits slumped 70% from a year ago. coming in at $2.6 billion and missing forecast. this is a redefining

margins and for our futures have fallen. 0il margins and for our futures have fallen. oil and gas prices in 2022 surged with the russian invasion of ukraine. i'm sure you've noticed recently but it has been hot this summer. heat waves have hit the united states, europe and asia, fronting warnings from experts like the world meteorological organisation. typhoons and floods have also meant travel operators about to change their usual offerings. earlier i spoke to the co—founder of a market intelligence firm targeted at the travel industry, and he explains how travellers are reacting to the wild weather.— travellers are reacting to the wild weather. this has been a bi issue wild weather. this has been a big issue for _ wild weather. this has been a big issue for several - wild weather. this has been a big issue for several years. i big issue for several years. for example, if you think about the industry in the united states and elsewhere, season have been contracted because the lesser snowfall, so there's a lot of adjustments around where travellers are going and concerns they will have. so a few things we see are already

happening in the industry for example, in southern europe, we see tour operators are chained to their itineraries, they are doing less outdoors in the middle of the day. we see the parthenon in athens is now closed in the afternoon during some of these really difficult days, so there's a lot of things that are changing. for travellers i think it really big consideration is, again, when they are going to be going but also, it is so important to keepin but also, it is so important to keep in mind, especially for those bucket list trips, i want to see some of the incredible sites in europe or the majesty of kyoto, i'm going to go, so it is going to be a lot more about when i got and not as sparely the destination. talking about travel insurance, does travel insurance these days cover any of these cataclysmic events? i days cover any of these cataclysmic events? i think the best thing _ cataclysmic events? i think the best thing that _ cataclysmic events? i think the best thing that is _ cataclysmic events? i think the best thing that is actually - best thing that is actually really come out of covid, in

fact, is this growing adoption of cancel for any reason insurance. this is something that more and more travel companies are adopting, and i think really this is going to become a mainstay for travellers. this is something the industry really tried to do, just to get travellers back into the market and travelling again, and i think now every traveller has got to be thinking about travel insurance, especially because of the uncertainty in the increased volatility that we will be experiencing with travel, and any travel company thatis travel, and any travel company that is not thinking about their insurance policies and in general thinking about the implications of climate change and the impact it is going to have on the destinations in which they operate, they are going to face a pretty rude awakening. going to face a pretty rude awakening-— going to face a pretty rude awakenina. �* . ,, , awakening. and have you seen any change _ awakening. and have you seen any change in _ awakening. and have you seen any change in travel _ awakening. and have you seen any change in travel patterns l any change in travel patterns in light of the extreme heat, the flooding of the wildfires?

so far, not so much, there has been certainly a lot of disruption, but again i think this is something that is going to change how travellers think about this in the future. again, with when they travel. we could see a shift in the seasonality, windows high seas and become most important? and again another big factor too is there's also over tourism. that has been in the short—term one the biggest factors on changes in travel patterns and increasingly we are seeing travellers confer more secondary or less popular destinations —— looking for more secondary. 0r during during off—season times to get a better experience. during off-season times to get a better experience.— a better experience. over to the uk, where _ a better experience. over to the uk, where food - a better experience. over to j the uk, where food prices in the uk, where food prices in the country are rising at its lowest rate since last december. as our business correspondent emma simpson explains, even though the food in the shops are still more expensive compared to a year ago, there is some hope.

two bags for £2.50. grapes, grapes. would you like the grapes? they're buying, but they're also watching the pennies. at this fruit and veg stall in high wycombe, they used to charge £1 a bowl. it's £1.50 now, although some items are coming down. there's still customers who come along and say, "really?" because they haven't noticed we've actually bought some of our prices down, or we're trying as much as possible. like with the onions, they used to be £5, but they're down to £a.50. so, it's slowly, but they still think it's quite steep. that's because money's tight. it is very hard. even both of us, me and my husband working, yeah, it's hard. i do feel a bit optimistic now that maybe things i will ease, but they need - to come down, notjust go up less, just come down. well, that's not likely to happen any time soon, but let's look at the bigger picture. food inflation was on a downward trend up until two years ago, but you can see here how prices then started to creep up. and this was happening before

the invasion of ukraine. it wasn't until last summer, though, when food inflation really started to soar, heading to record breaking levels. on this survey, the rate peaked at nearly 16% in april this year, but it has been falling ever since, down to 13.a% forjuly, as lower costs and supply chains start to filter through. the brc says some products like cereals, fish and cooking oils have now fallen in price since last month. we have passed the peak of food price inflation now. we are still seeing price rises, but nowhere near the levels that we saw earlier in this year. and i think the trajectory that we're on is downwards. the question is, just how quickly? wheat prices, for instance, are on the rise again after russia pulled out of a deal allowing the safe export of grain here in ukraine. and today's figures are unlikely to prevent

another rise in interest rates this week. unfortunately, the bank of england probably still will have to press ahead with higher interest rates on thursday. services inflation still is far too high relative to their target, and so they need to squeeze the economy a bit harder to get that down, too. consumers are trying to cope by changing what they buy in the aisles. but the financial pressures are so great, one recent survey found some have been running out of food. and overall, grocery prices are still going up. it's just that they're not going up quite as fast as before. emma simpson, bbc news. and finally american singer lizzo and her production company have been sued by three former dancers over allegations of sexual harassment and the creation of a hostile work environment. the lawsuit also dusted several racial and religious harassment claims over several incidents between

2021 and 2023. the dancers also say that lizzo, known as an advocate for body positive images, criticised dancers recent weight gain and eventually fired them for recording a meeting. that is all we have for you on asia business report. i am monica miller. goodbye for now. bbc news — bringing you different stories from across the uk. # when i take my sugar to tea # all the boys arejealous of me... # the blaze family are absolutely potty about teapots. they've spent a quarter of a million pounds on the biggest collection in the uk, everything from politicians to pop culture and some wild and wacky creations. i've got a favourite, which is a harley davidson teapot, that was made, and i saw the man make it and i saw how

hard it was for him to make it. and your one is...? diana. because diana was my favourite person. people say, "why collect pots?" and i always say, "well, why not?"j there's so many different weird and wonderful things. - and once people get- into the museum and they can actually see the different. things that we do, we've got | ones that are size at this sort| of size and we've got a 12—foot teapot in the garden, | you never can believe the things that. people can make. this museum contains more than 8,500 teapots. it all started with these two here, given to sue and keith by her grandmother and aunt. and that sparked a passion between them that has become their lives and their livelihoods. but now, after a0 years, it is time for sue and keith to put their feet up and have time to share some pots of tea together in peace. they are looking for a buyer to take on the cafe and museum. hey, i'm dylan with the catch up. tonight — lioness success, the war in ukraine and a panda with the hiccups.

but first — if you haven't already seen, the lionesses are through to the last 16 at the women's world cup after they easily beat china 6—1 to top their group. two of the goals came from the amazing laurenjames, who also made three assists, but the win was a proper team effort. and their performance has got fans thinking they could go all the way. chayenne is one of them. she watched the game with fans at boxpark in croydon. oh, i really hope that england will push through and win. i'm pretty sure they will. at least it's looking good for us so far. england now have a bit of time for recovery before they face nigeria next monday. some other stories now — and angus cloud from the tv series euphoria has died age 25. he played the drug dealer fez 0'neil in the drama. he died at at his family home in california just a week after attending his dad's funeral. next, a new drone delivery service has been launched

in 0rkney, the islands north of scotland, to help speed up delivery times. the drone will be used to send parcels and letters around the islands. and borisjohnson's plans to build a pool at his house have been delayed because of a group of newts living there. newts are a protected species and damaging their habitats is an offence. it's a rule he fought against when he was prime minister. and finally, ten seconds to make your dayjust that bit better — it's a hiccupping giant panda. the animal was caught on camera at a panda conservation centre in china. hopefully a little bit of bamboo will sort him right out. that's it from me. take care.

cern is one of the most famous centres for science in the world. 0n the border of switzerland and france, this place has been

expanding our horizons for decades. its high—energy physics research has helped reveal the secrets of our existence. and i have been allowed in it to meet some of those at the cutting—edge. 2500 people work here. 12,000 more pour over the results of the experiments. here at cern, it is a really unique community. it is an international group of people, so we are from all over the world. you can knock on the door of a nobel prize—winning scientist, ask them a question, and they will say, "come in." "let's talk about it and have a coffee." any young boy or girl's dream to work in science, right, is to go to a place which is like a town of science, and that is what cern really is. it's buzzing with the ideas. it's also buzzing with energy of a different kind, with giant laboratories that feel almost ramshackle. they're not really though. one thing i love about cern is they seem to have most of the world's supply of tinfoil here.