rating from aaa to aa—plus. fitch cited expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years, as well as growing government debt burden. now, the downgrade also follows a debt ceiling agreement injune that saw months of political brinkmanship. credit ratings like these are used by investors to assess the risk profile of companies and government, us treasury and us government governments, rather. now, the us treasury secretary, janet yellen, said that she disagreed with fitch's move and said it was based on outdated data. the white house has also said that the move defies reality and that they strongly disagree with the decision. cafe giant starbucks has unveiled quarterly earnings that beat expectations. the world's largest coffee chain reported revenue of $9.2 billion. that's 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.

americans love of lattes and iced coffee helped starbucks through the worst of the post pandemic years. but with high inflation in the us, a cup of coffee is now $5 on average. the big question for investors going into this earnings season was would consumers 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%. most of the gains came from existing customers spending more money. sales in china, its second biggest market, rose sharply. same store sales increased a whopping 46% from a year ago. starbucks remains a favorite 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 cafes dragged down its overall profits. starbucks ceo laxman narasimhan, who took over from predecessor howard schultz in march, hailed the progress the company was making. he still faces lots of challenges, though, including the company's response to union organizing. that's michelle fleury there. meanwhile, ride hailing firm uber reported a surprise profit of almost $400 million for the second quarter after a $2 billion loss compared to a year ago. now, this is uber�*s first ever quarterly operating profit. the results were boosted by gains in uber�*s equity investments. revenue rose 14%, but missed analysts forecasts slightly. oil giant bp saw its second quarter profits slumped 70% from a year ago, coming in at $2.6 billion and missing forecasts. this is a read line defining margins, rather, and oil trading income has fallen. energy giants have seen their profits dwindle from 2022 when oil and gas prices surged in the wake of the russia's invasion of ukraine.

and i'm sure you've noticed recently, but it has been hot this summer. heatwaves have hit the united states, europe and asia, prompting warnings from experts like the world meteorological organization. typhoons and floods have also meant travel operators have had to change their usual offerings. earlier, i spoke to douglas quimby, who is the co—founder of arrival, a market intelligence firm targeted at the travel industry, and he explains how travelers are reacting to the wild weather. this has been a big issue for several years. for example, if you think about the ski industry here in the united states and elsewhere where seasons have been contracting because there's less snowfall. so there's a lot of adjustments around when travelers are going and thinking about some of the concerns that they'll have. so a few things that we see are already happening in the industry. for example, in southern europe, we see tour operators are changing their itineraries. they're doing less outdoors. in the middle of the day,

we see a 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 there for travelers. i think a really big consideration is, again, it's when they're going to be going. but also its so important to keep in mind, especially for those bucket list trips, you know, if i want to see some of the incredible sights in europe or the majesty of kyoto, i'm going to go. so it's going to be a lot more about when i go and not necessarily changing the destination. let's talk about travel insurance. does travel insurance these days cover any of these cataclysmic events? well, i think the best thing that's 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 for travelers. this is something the industry really tried to push just to get travelers back into the market and traveling again. and i think now every traveler has got to be thinking about incorporating travel insurance, especially because of the uncertainty and increased volatility that they'll all be experiencing with travel and any travel company that isn't thinking about their insurance policies and in general thinking about the implications of climate change and the impact it's going to have on the destinations in which they operate, they are going to face a pretty rude awakening. and have you seen any change in travel patterns in light of the extreme heat, the flooding, the wildfires? you know, so far, not so much. there's been certainly, you know, a lot of disruption. but again, i think this is something that is going to change how travelers think

about this in the future again, with when they travel. so it really we could see a shift in seasonality when those high seasons become most important. and again, another big factor, too, is is also overtourism. i think this has been in the short term, one of the biggest factors on changes in travel patterns. and increasingly we're seeing travelers looking for more secondary or kind of less popular destinations or going during off season times to have a better experience. well, over to 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 and the shops are still more expensive compared to a year ago, there is some hope. would you like the grapes?

they're buying, but they're also watching the pennies and at this fruit and veg stall in high wycombe, they used to charge a pound a bowl. it's 1,50 now, although some items are coming down. they're still customers who come along and say, really? because they haven't noticed. we 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 4.50, so it's slowly but they still think it's quite steep. that's because money's tight. it's very hard. even both of us, me and my husband are working. it's hard. i do feel a bit optimistic now that maybe things i will ease, but they need to come down, notjustl 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 13.4% 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. 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 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 to. consumers are trying to cope by changing what they buy in the aisles, but the financial pressures are so great. one recent survey finds 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 listed 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, criticized dancers recent weight gain and eventually fired them for recording a meeting.

that's all we have for you on asia business report. i'm monica miller. bye for now. voice-over: bbc news, bringing you different stories from across the uk. safe and sound asleep. these puppies are lucky to be here. their mum was a stray, rescued from the streets, heavily pregnant, clearly traumatised. when she arrived with us, she was so nervous to the point where she did not walk for the first week. she wouldn't stand. she was so nervous, she wouldn't go anywhere, particularly with men but with everyone, basically.

staff at the rescue centre named the nervous collie roo and a foster family was found at this farm near helston where she could have her litter of seven pups in peace and quiet. things aren't perfect for her. she definitely still has a long way to go, but coming to a nice, quieter environment than being in kennels has been fantastic for her. she has come along really well and the next stage will be keep feeding and growing the puppies and when they are old enough we will find them all homes. and roo as well. but for now, she is really happy here, she has settled well. with tens of thousands of dogs in uk rescue centres, the national animal welfare trust says roo's story is an important reminder to think before getting a pet. voice—over: for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. 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. cheyenne 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. and this is looking good for us so far. well, 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 aged 25. he played the drug dealer fez o'neill in the drama.

he died 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 orkney, 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 new pool at his house have been delayed because of a group of newts living there. newts are actually a protected species and damaging their habitats is an offence. it's a rule he fought against when he was prime minister. and finally, 10 seconds to make your dayjust that bit better. it's a hiccuping giant panda. the animal was caught on camera at a panda conservation centre in china with a fit of the hiccups. hopefully a little bit of bamboo will sort him right out. well, that's all from me. take care.

cern is one of the most famous centres for science in the world. on 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. 2,500 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.

most famously, cern is home to the large hadron collider,