of america's culture wars. the company saw sales fall in store and online for the first time in years, after a backlash over its pride month offering. those reactions were so negative that target felt it had to remove the items from some stores over concerns about staff safety. our north america business correspondent michelle fleury has more from new york. between april and june, sales at target fill 5% compared to a year ago. at target fill 5% compared to a yearago. e—commerce at target fill 5% compared to a year ago. e—commerce sells the micro sales fell 105%. the boss of the biggest box retailer said it was difficult to tell how much was because customers were feeding the micro feeling from higher prices and how much it was over backlash to its pride month offerings, leading to items being pulled from the store to protect the safety of its staff. despite the sales decline, the retailer reported

higher profit margins than expected as offered fewer discounts. all that bodes well for walmart which is due to report a 4% rise in sales. results from the world's largest retailer should also a glimpse into demand for back—to—school items. traders are hoping that despite higher borrowing costs, it will show that us shoppers are still willing to spend on essentials. staying with retail — jd.com beat analyst forecasts for second quarter revenue, which rose more than 7% to nearly $40 billion. the chinese e—commerce giant's focus on lower—priced products paid off in the fight for customers amid an economic slowdown. the company said it attracted more vendors to its platform, helped by lower thresholds and costs for them to join, and that users shopped more frequently as its product range expanded. it was a different story over at tencent — where earnings results came in below estimates in the second quarter. revenue grew 11% to just over $20 billion. tencent�*s core gaming

business experienced weaker than expected growth. domestic gaming revenue in particular was little changed — a sign that the economic slowdown in china has hurt the tech giant's recovery from a record slump last year. let's turn to us government bonds, which are typically considered a safe haven investment. well, demand for those bonds — commonly known as us treasurys — has held up, despite a downgrade by fitch ratings agency at the start of the month, and a report by moody's investors service calling into question the financial stability of some regional us banks. china and japan have typically been some of the biggest foreign buyers of us treasurys. that has helped to fund the massive us debt pile. earlier, i spoke to fixed income expert steven major, who told me the downgrade has had little impact on the global economy. so far there's not been that much of an impact. and you're

right, there's a drop in demand for us treasuries. it might be a nudge for all the authorities involved in the us to get their house in order over the longer term, but right now there's no meaningful movement in the yields. if anything, they are pretty much the same. we were seeinu pretty much the same. we were seeing reports _ pretty much the same. we were seeing reports there's _ pretty much the same. we were seeing reports there's a - pretty much the same. we were seeing reports there's a real - seeing reports there's a real appetite for short—term bonds — how do you describe this phenomenon?— how do you describe this phenomenon? how do you describe this henomenon? ., u, , phenomenon? you can see the a- etite phenomenon? you can see the appetite in _ phenomenon? you can see the appetite in the _ phenomenon? you can see the appetite in the yield _ phenomenon? you can see the appetite in the yield level - appetite in the yield level compared to the official rates from the fed. so the yields actually sit on the lower edge of the range, showing there must be huge demand for them. and if you think about it, we are talking about yields above 5% in totally risk—free assets, you'll get your money back whatever and it's in dollars. so investors in asia have no problem buying these securities. 5% is something people haven't seen for a long

time also, and it's a good level of saving for most people given the expected outlook for inflation. let's take a look at agriculture in southeast asia, and how climate change and the el nino weather patterns are affecting food production in the region. the united nations says global rice prices have surged around 30% this year. and, according to some experts, these extreme weather conditions stress the need to use more modern techniques in farming in asia. joining us now is deepak moorthy, an agriculture specialist with the consulting firm mckinsey & company. earlier who told me how climate change is acting as a change in globalfood markets. i change is acting as a change in global food markets.— globalfood markets. i think as we talk about _ globalfood markets. i think as we talk about climate - globalfood markets. i think as we talk about climate change | global food markets. i think as l we talk about climate change in general, there are two things we see happening. number one is the fact that it's the main catalyst for supply shocks and a prolonged period of price volatility in the food supply chain. in the second one is the fact that it would be the main

driver for fact that it would be the main driverfor men and fact that it would be the main driver for men and food to compete for land and water. now the second one is particularly worrying given we have a green population to feed. but the good new news is there potential ways to plug this leakage —— these leakages and the benefits can be quite significant. the way to think about it is to split it across two main lenses — one from the pre—harvest lens, and the second from a post harvest lens. ., ,., second from a post harvest lens. ., ., ~ lens. your report make suggestions _ lens. your report make suggestions about - lens. your report make - suggestions about changing farming practices. give us an example. 50 farming practices. give us an example-— farming practices. give us an examle. ~ ., example. so when we think about farmina example. so when we think about farming practices, _ example. so when we think about farming practices, and _ example. so when we think about farming practices, and i _ example. so when we think about farming practices, and i think- farming practices, and i think the report referred more to post harvest practices, we were referring to the things that impact the value chain post harvesting. so an example of thatis harvesting. so an example of that is really around the supply chain efficiencies, starting from how the farmers

harvest their crops. so a lot of serial crops are manually harvested which results in a lot of losses. so one way to improve that would be to use a truncated version of that. now, nave you heard about clean air zones? well, they are already in operation in hundreds of traffic—choked cities across europe. london's ultra low emission zone is starting later this month and will become one of the world's largest to tackle air pollution. katy austin took a look at how clean air zones have been working in other parts of england. signs like these have become a common site. we've just entered birmingham's clean air zone, it's been in operation forjust over two years now, and it's one of seven that have sprung up one of seven that have sprung up in cities around england over the past few years. here, driving an older, more polluting car or van means an £8 polluting car or van means an e8 daily charge. in one

£8 daily charge. in one residential area, we got a sense of how opinions remain divided. some people welcome to the zone and even said it should be stricter. its, the zone and even said it should be stricter.- the zone and even said it should be stricter. a lot of --eole should be stricter. a lot of peeple live _ should be stricter. a lot of people live here, - should be stricter. a lot of| people live here, especially kids. so at least those cars which make a lot of pollution, i think we should ban them. others strongly objected. because i'm disabled it, i don't _ because i'm disabled it, i don't have to pay — but i would have _ don't have to pay — but i would have to — don't have to pay — but i would have to pay _ don't have to pay — but i would have to pay if i wasn't disabled. but there's a lot of people — disabled. but there's a lot of people around here struggling to put— people around here struggling to put food on the table. as for the _ to put food on the table. as for the clean air zone, it won't _ for the clean air zone, it won't work because the people around — won't work because the people around here won't be able to afford — around here won't be able to afford other cars. the manager of this ship — afford other cars. the manager of this shop did _ afford other cars. the manager of this shop did manage - afford other cars. the manager of this shop did manage to - of this shop did manage to switch to a car that doesn't attract the charge — but he's still felt a financial hit. coming into my shop, first question people ask is, are you in or out of his own? once i tell them i'm inside the taxi zone, fell at £8 to your delivery. zone, fell at £8 to your delivery-— zone, fell at £8 to your delivery. zone, fell at £8 to your delive . ., ., ., , ., delivery. clean air zones have come in after _ delivery. clean air zones have come in after the _ delivery. clean air zones havej come in after the government told a number of councils to

bring down air pollution to within legal limits as quickly as possible. birmingham city council told us the proportion of the most polluting vehicles entering the zone had more than halved to 6.4% since it was introduced. barton, the famous jewellery corner, say however much they support the printable, it's come at a cost. we've noticed a definite drop in footfall. there's been confusion as to what cars are and aren't allowed. the money noes and aren't allowed. the money goes towards _ and aren't allowed. the money goes towards running - and aren't allowed. the money goes towards running the - and aren't allowed. the money i goes towards running the scheme then to a local transport related projects. in bradford, the clean air zone is slightly different. the rules here mean that there isn't a charge for private cars driving into the zone, but there is one for taxis, vans, lorries and coaches if they don't meet the emissions standards. the council says 98% of local taxis now do, helped by krantz. so has the scheme worked so far?

it's still too early to tell, we need to wait until the clean air zone has been in place for at least a year to be able to look at the impact of air pollution, but also to look at the impact on health in bradford.— the impact on health in bradford. �*, ., ., , , ., the impact on health in bradford. �*, ., ., , ., bradford. it's already proved a ractical bradford. it's already proved a practical headache _ bradford. it's already proved a practical headache for - bradford. it's already proved a practical headache for this - practical headache for this delivery firm —based literally around the corner from the clean air zone boundary. buses say grants to replace their noncompliant vehicles would not have covered the cost, so now it's a case of avoiding costs wherever possible. we it's a case of avoiding costs wherever possible. we have a team that _ wherever possible. we have a team that look _ wherever possible. we have a team that look at _ wherever possible. we have a team that look at whatever i team that look at whatever vehicle can go into what every area. it's not always feasible to send a large load in, we understand why they're doing it, which is sometimes think it's rushed and not a lot of thought has gone in to help businesses trying to make a living. businesses trying to make a livina. , , businesses trying to make a livina. , ., .~' living. they say the patrick around the _ living. they say the patrick around the country - living. they say the patrick around the country can - living. they say the patrick| around the country can also living. they say the patrick - around the country can also be confusing, straying into a different city zone can prove a costly mistake —— patchwork. plans to introduce a clean air zonein plans to introduce a clean air zone in manchester are under review, been a growing discussion of the best way to

clean up the air without hitting people to harden the wallet —— amid a growing discussion. katy austinm, bbc news. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. stay informed by visiting our website or out. thanks for watching. bbc news — bringing you different stories from across the uk. we all see the beauty of the natural world, but sometimes it takes a unique eye to appreciate its hidden potential. leaf cuttings and berries found at a nearby hedge, plus a vision and some determination, can create something truly wonderful. hello there, my name's winston plowes, i'm an environmental artist — or land artist. so, whereas another artist might use paint and a brush, i use natural materials. in a nutshell, i pick something up and move it

from one place to another. so today, i didn't know what i was going to make at all, but i picked up some of these. so these are from a chestnut tree — that's actually where we're under under now. but i was just looking at these and, the more closely i looked, ijust thought that they were amazing colours. it's quite a simple design, but it'll take a little bit of application to make it look nice. winston's artworks can take anywhere from five minutes to five hours. and, although a simple gust of wind can destroy these masterpieces, it's the process and the impact that it has on passersby that makes this labour of love worthwhile. i think the fact that it's ephemeral, that it's transient, that it's not a permanent thing — i think therein lies the beauty of it. hey, i'mjack with the catch up!

now, we're gonna kick off with the women's world cup, because england have knocked out australia, winning 3—1 at the semifinal stage. goals from toone, hemp, and russo secured the lionesses' win against the matildas in sydney — they'll go on to face spain in the final. in fact, it's the first time the england women's team have made it to a world cup final. now, we've been talking loads about the cost of mortgages going up lately — and now, the price of renting has reached its highest levels since records began, going up by 5.3% in the year up tojuly. it's all because of supply and demand — so more people wanting to rent and fewer properties being available. and in london, rent went up despite house prices falling. a couple of other stories for you. first, to the british museum in london, where a member of staff has been arrested after a number of items kept in storage there were reported as "missing, stolen, or damaged". the items included old jewellery, gems and glass dating back to the 15th century.

the museum says it's sacked the member of staff and will conduct a review of its security operation. and take a look at this. it's the red—footed booby, and it's really rare. the bird is usually found flapping around the galapagos islands, but it's been spotted chilling out on the isles of scilly, a mere 6,000 miles away. experts say the hot weather could have enticed it here. are they sure? tonight, i'll leave you with ten seconds of cardio. not from me, no, from this! it's the latest social trend — people trying to copy madonna's choreography. and doesn't it look like quite the work—out? just promise me, don't try after leg day. you're all caught up now — see you later.

hello, and welcome to sportsday — i'm tulsen tollett. england beat australia to move into sunday's world cup final against spain as the expectation levels rise. never take anything for granted, but i'm like — i'm like ina granted, but i'm like — i'm like in a fairy tale or something! manchester city claim the uefa super cup with a penalty shoot—out

victory over sevilla. and a training session with a difference, as baltimore ravens and washington commanders go toe—to—toe in pre—season. hello, and welcome to the programme — where we start with the footballing news that england have booked their place in sunday's women's world cup final after a 3—1 win over the co—hosts australia, in sydney. ella toone gave england the lead in the first half with a superb strike which found the top corner. australia responded through their superstar sam kerr, starting herfirst match of the tournament, beating mary earps from 25 yards to make it 1—1. lauren hemp pounced

on an australian defensive error eight minutes later to restore england's lead