hello again. time for the top business stories. beefing up security, finland and swedenjoin nato: we take a look at the cost involved in joining the alliance. us consumer confidence falls to a 16—month low as concerns over an imminent recession grow. a stunt and not reality: uk transport secretary grant shapps tells the bbc it's not his job to settle a pay dispute between rail employers and the workers union with more strike action likely in the coming months. and no fuel, medical supplies and heavily in debt: we take a look at how sri lanka's economic crisis is getting worse by the day.

let's get down to business. as promised, we have more for you on the nato summit that will be getting under way in a few hours time. where, as you've been hearing, finland and sweden have joined the alliance after turkey dropped its opposition against their membership. so, two of the hot topics at the summit are deciding whether russia or china is the biggest threat to world stability currently, and how to share the combined costs of defence security. members are expected to meet the nato target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defence. the uk presently spends 2.1% of its gdp on security, but there have been calls for an increase after russia's

invasion of ukraine. michael rowe is vice president of aerospace and defence at frost & sullivan. good morning to you, michael. first of all, finland, sweden joining nato. what does that mean in money terms? good morning- _ mean in money terms? good morning. when _ mean in money terms? good morning. when you - mean in money terms? good morning. when you look- mean in money terms? good morning. when you look at i mean in money terms? good i morning. when you look at the contributions, it should be a good burst. most of our british forces are deployed at present. that should help them on the whole of the scandinavian border. it would be a good boost. , ., boost. it is a good boost in terms of — boost. it is a good boost in terms of nato, _ boost. it is a good boost in terms of nato, the - boost. it is a good boost in. terms of nato, the alliance, and what that means in terms of commitment going forward, and for finland such a huge border with russia, it is significant in the current crisis we are seeing there. but in terms of public spending for nato members, it is a very difficult

time for most countries who are recovering from the pandemic and they have probably huge domestic pressures like we do in the uk with the cost of living crisis. i in the uk with the cost of living crisis.— living crisis. i think you would be _ living crisis. i think you would be looking - living crisis. i think you would be looking at - living crisis. i think you - would be looking at finland and sweden and other countries which contribute, the ones that contribute the most other ones most at rest. greece is top of the list, poland, lithuania, estonia for uk. sweden and finland coming in would help. —— help bolster that. it is a key factor in whether you believe you must put defence first. i think that will guide things. in the end, as we saw in ukraine, all aspects of economy come behind security. what extent is the war ukraine really given nato a boost on many levels, already we are seeing new members, that is today's news, but also in terms of the bush from washington and what that means? —— the push.

generally it is sad. everyone was hoping they would be world peace and we would move to a better world, peace and we would move to a betterworld, but peace and we would move to a better world, but most people realise there is always going to be a major threat. while we had the conflict and the peacekeeping operations in afghanistan and so on, the equipment is completely different for general warfare and where this generalisation —— realisation that it is still a unstable world and you need strong defence forces to maintain your way of life. it maintain your way of life. it is a very crude way of looking at it but we are no war is big business and defence companies do very well in these sort of times, as it were. talk us through what this means for defence companies and who will benefit. , . , , ., , benefit. defence spending has been increasing _ benefit. defence spending has been increasing globally - benefit. defence spending has been increasing globally since| been increasing globally since 2014 and the end of the invasion by russia. spending has been a bit localised, big

companies have been merging. it is a difficult market for anyone to get involved in. they have been merging, and while you can spend money on them, they still have time to ramp up production lines like any industry. money is being present to the industry both but they struggle to deliver it in time as well as the other training dimensions for the bosses themselves. thousand extra troops take time to train and they require new equipment and they require new equipment and reaching out and grabbing it is not on the shelf at the moment. it will be a challenge. it is a huge challenge and president zelensky is all too aware of that. thank you, good to get your analysis on that this morning. let's get some of the day's other news. airbnb has announced it will permanently ban parties in homes listed on its platform. the firm put a temporary ban in place in august 2020 due to rising covid infections. airbnb also said it will

remove its 16—person limit, allowing larger homes to be listed on its platform. the us pharmacy giant walgreens has dropped plans to sell boots, saying buyers were unable to raise enough funds due to instability in financial markets. walgreens said it had various offers for the pharmacy business after it put boots up for sale injanuary. but none of the offers adequately reflected the high potential value of the uk pharmacy chain. now, onto financial markets with stocks sliding again and heavy losses on wall street after some disappointing economic data was released in the us. it is another rollercoaster day in the last day or so. consumer confidence has dropped in the last month, falling to a 16—month low with many worrying about a potential recession. our business correspondent in new york samira hussain was watching all the action.

if you look at how the american consumer is spending, and overall economic growth right now, it is still looking pretty good. but if you look at what people think about the us economy going forward, well, thatis economy going forward, well, that is not so good. one of the main gauges of consumer confidence fell in the month of june and missed estimates by some economists. the same report also showed the 12 month inflation expectations were at 8% for the month, the highest level since 1987. although the economy seems to be chugging along at the moment, the economy depends really heavily on consumer spending. almost two—thirds of the country's economic growth can be attributed to consumer spending. if the outlook is pessimistic with people anticipating a possible recession, staring down interest rate hikes as the us central bank tries to rein in inflation, it seems pretty likely that people will stop spending, so it is no surprise

retail stocks or the brunt of the losses. wall street keeps hoping they have found the market bottom, but it doesn't seem that it has really gotten there just yet. let's talk this through with bill street, group chief investment officer at quintet private bank. good morning to you, bill. we had the federal reserve policymakers on tuesday following the latest data being released, saying more rate hikes are to come. we knew that. but give us your take on this news we have had in the last day. this news we have had in the last da . , ., ., this news we have had in the last da . , ., last day. yes, good morning. it has been _ last day. yes, good morning. it has been a _ last day. yes, good morning. it has been a difficult _ last day. yes, good morning. it has been a difficult 24 - last day. yes, good morning. it has been a difficult 24 hours. . has been a difficult 24 hours. we had a week of relatively positive instability up to yesterday. to a certain extent, the consumer confidence numbers are not surprising. they are a little bit lagging in terms of an indicator but given the headline news of the war and inflation, the fed are somewhat hawkish over the recent weeks, the consumer is actually

getting a little bit anxious. i think ultimately investors and consumers are concerned that the fed are going to kill the growth cycle and the fed, it is fine between inflation and maintaining growth. but we shouldn't be completely negative. the us is coming from a very strong bed with nearly maximum employment within the us, and growth is quite strong. from the consumer's perspective, not all is bad at the moment. but there is a lot of anxiety in the system at the moment. , ., ., moment. there is, and that -la s a moment. there is, and that plays a huge _ moment. there is, and that plays a huge part _ moment. there is, and that plays a huge part in - moment. there is, and that plays a huge part in what i moment. there is, and that. plays a huge part in what might happen next, because as everybody says, it is how we feel about the future which will dictate what we do with our money in terms of spending. if we are worried about what is ahead, which us consumers are at the moment, they are more likely to save than spend, aren't they? that impact the us and global economy, doesn't it?

absolutely. we talk about the stock markets early on in your report. the us stock markets are very global by nature and so if there is concern about global instability, the us markets get hit first. but it doesn't look like it will be a bit of a long, hot summer as we look at the inflation numbers, and we are probably one inflation print from either more of a correction stock market or a relatively significant bounce back, because as the numbers moderate over the summer, you could have quite a positive back end of the year. however, the universe is true as well. if inflation doesn't start to ebb away, investors and consumers continue to get quite anxious throughout summer. fik. continue to get quite anxious throughout summer.- continue to get quite anxious throughout summer. ok. we shall kee a throughout summer. ok. we shall keep a close _ throughout summer. ok. we shall keep a close eye _ throughout summer. ok. we shall keep a close eye for— throughout summer. ok. we shall keep a close eye for sure. - keep a close eye for sure. thank you. here in the uk, transport secretary grant shapps has described calls by the rmt for him to intervene to settle the ongoing dispute

between the union and rail employers as a "red herring" and a "stunt". speaking to our transport correspondent katy austin, shapps said outdated practices "had to end" for a resolution to be possible. it isa it is a red herring and one put up it is a red herring and one put up by the unions and backed up by labour even though the labour mayor in london isn't doing exactly what they are saying. the point of this is that employers are the only people who can settle this strike. myjob is to set an overall mandate, which is what i have done, and then as for the employers in the unions to discuss the very detailed implementation of that. i am afraid it is a stunt by the unions and one thing they can do with get out of the tv studios and get back into the negotiating rooms and settle this dispute, which can easily be settled because there were so many modernisations from antiquated work practices, for example, two vans have to be sent to a maintenance job when

only one van is required. why? no good reason. that was the transport secretary. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, no fuel, medical supplies and heavily in debt: we take a look at how sri lanka economic crisis is getting worse by the day. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge fireworks display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit _ at the start of a new era of cooperation in spacej

tennis balls thwack cheering and applause challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering a record that had stood for 34 years, and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: nato members are meeting in madrid. the war in ukraine, and the future direction of the alliance are on the agenda as turkey drops its opposition to sweden and finland joining. a us congressional committee hears damning testimony about donald trump from a former white house aide who says the president wanted tojoin the

capitol hill rioters. let's talk statistics. don't go anywhere because we will explain. the latest statistics from the 0ns on job vacancies in the uk shows hospitality and health care are among the sectors with the highest number ofjobs available, with construction and manufacturing also having high vacancy numbers. so, is this down to an ongoing skills shortage? that is one of the questions being asked. according to the open university's business barometer 2022 report out today, two—thirds of small businesses are currently facing skills shortages, rising to 86% in large organisations. joining me now is michelle smyth, who's the head of government and external affairs at the open university. good morning. that is most

companies. most large organisations are lacking the skills that they need. that isn't good, isn't it? it isn't good at all, and as you talked about, this is the open university's latest 0pen university's latest temperature, if you like, with employers on the uk's skills blanchette, this year in partnership with the british chamber of commerce, so it is a survey of about 1300 employees and organisations around the uk and organisations around the uk and across different sectors. as you have said, that knock—on effect of ongoing skills shortages and recruitment challenges is absolutely still there. it is having a significant impact. 78% of those that we surveyed talked about the impact on reduced output, profitability, growth. nearly a third of employers and organisations have had to turn down work or can't bid for work due to staff shortages. i think what is particularly concerning also this year is the impact of

the skills shortages on staff morale and well being, almost three quarters of those that we surveyed told us about how that has increased workload pressures on staff, and that is a significant increase compared to the business barometer that we did last year. it to the business barometer that we did last year.— we did last year. it sounds like a perfect _ we did last year. it sounds like a perfect storm - we did last year. it sounds l like a perfect storm because we did last year. it sounds - like a perfect storm because if you add to that as well the fact that these businesses, whether small or large, are paying much higher energy costs for a lot of their supplies, they are more expensive. they are in a position — do they pass on the cost to customers? the whole challenge we are currently in at the moment, and what needs to be done, do we think, to find the skills that we are looking for? absolutely, those challenges _ we are looking for? absolutely, those challenges are _ we are looking for? absolutely, those challenges are very - we are looking for? absolutely, those challenges are very real, | those challenges are very real, evident and increasingly and incredibly filled by employers all around the uk. i think this really reiterates the planning for skills being more important than ever. really essential for businesses to take that long—term strategic approach to

skills. in the survey that we are publishing today from the open university, the british chamber of commerce, nine and ten of large organisations we spoke to are looking, are taking that long—term strategic approach to tackling skills gaps, more than half are going to be increasing their investment in staff training over the next year stop but i think it is also where you see the difference between large organisations and employers and smaller ones, and the challenges the smaller organisations face. for example, micro organisations, obviously those with less than ten employers so that we surveyed, only 43% of those to have a plan at the moment, the strategic plan, and only 39% of those do plan to invest in the coming year. it really does reiterate the challenges between larger and smaller organisations in tackling this. there is so much more to discuss. sadly we don't have the time, but we appreciate you

sharing your thoughts on this huge challenge. michelle smyth there from the open university. time for the latest from our ceo secrets series now. and have you ever dreamed of starting your own business, but never quite got round to it? well, according to one successful entrepreneur, there's never been a better time to try, thanks mainly to the internet. take a look how. there is no other better time to start a business than today. friction has been taken away. if you want to set up, you don't have to back retailer to get product listed and pay listing fees. you can directly approach customers online,

control your imagery, and the real kick is you can have a direct relationship with customers versus not knowing who is buying the product at retailer level. you would have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars or pounds to get your product on tv, radio or print. you can do it directly and tested to see what is working and what return on investment you are getting. even with press and media, social media you can use these to connect with consumers. setting up your company, trademarks, bank accounts, they can be done with a couple of clicks. the barriers to entry have gone, so if you have an idea don't wait around. go for it now. they you have it. some top tips. sri lanka is an economy in turmoil. the country has been hit hard by the pandemic and doesn't have enough foreign currency coming into the country to pay for imports of essential goods. desperate shortages of fuel, food and medicines are pushing inflation to record highs

as our business correspondent the crisis is deepening by the day, and the island nation is using all it has in its arsenal to at least just stay afloat. petrol and diesel stocks have come down, and it will last less than a week. last saturday at a minister apologised for delayed oil cargoes due to a lack of resources. now for the next two fuel will only be for medical services and transporting food. schools are shot, operations at the government are skeleton staff, and adding to the burden has been boat tips on fuel price hike, the third in two months. transport has come to a stop. translation: transport has come to a stop. tuna/mom— transport has come to a stop. translation: i haven't slept at all for the last _

translation: i haven't slept at all for the last 11 _ translation: i haven't slept at all for the last 11 days. _ translation: i haven't slept at all for the last 11 days. i- all for the last 11 days. i waited for two days for petrol, got some, and i was back in the queue by noon. life is very hard for us. transport, we will see compounded pain, power cuts have made life tough. translation: have made life tough. tuna/mom- have made life tough. translation: ., , translation: our families de-end translation: our families depend on _ translation: our families depend on the _ translation: our families depend on the for _ translation: our families depend on the for survival. | depend on the for survival. there are 600 vehicles in this queue. that means 600 families are going to struggle for their meal today. fuel is the back bone of the economy, and at this pointjust rationing supplies will not help. the country is also looking to reduce oil import bills and has sent ministers to stigmatise for cheaper oil. the sri lankan government has also allowed foreign oil companies to import and sell fuel to overcome the shortage. the energy minister said all companies will be selected on the inability to import and operate without extra

requirements from the central bank. sri lanka will need $5 billion in the next six months to pay for essential imports, and dialogues to secure it over the international monetary fund on a bailout package. even the us state department has promised on. the united nations has offered help to feed the poon has offered help to feed the poor, as they say that four out of five poor sri lankans have reduced their food intake amid the shortages. many in the country feel that things will get worse before getting any better. joining me now isjeffrey halley, who's the senior market analyst asia—pacific at oanda. iam i am assured you heard what our reporter was discussing, the imf welcome to the rescue very soon, presumably, but what will want in return from sri lanka? they will require sri lanka to

raise tax rates quite substantially, and part of the reason they are in this mess because they cut tax rates, and they will also expect interest rates to go much higher and they will probably be looking for some rationalisation of the public service. when the imf arrives their medicine is never painless, shall we say. h0. painless, shall we say. no, very painful _ painless, shall we say. no, very painful and _ painless, shall we say. no, very painful and fact. - painless, shall we say. no, very painful and fact. it - painless, shall we say. no, very painful and fact. it is l very painful and fact. it is called the lender of last resort for a reason. correct. things will get really tough for sri lankans in at the nearfuture, but tough for sri lankans in at the near future, but these turnarounds can be quick, can't they, if the right measures are put in place yes, and? yes, and they are talking to china and india as well. there are other aid offers are bad but it will be led by the imf this time. it will be challenging to recover from because of the damage done the

tourism sector, but also the agriculture sector has taken a huge shock as well. i can anticipate is taking quite a long time for chillagoe to recover from. tourism is so important to this economy, as we are aware, and yet this current crisis is not a good advert for sri lanka, if you hear there isn't fuel, basic supplies, you aren't going to book a holiday, are you? absolutely not and you wouldn't be able to get from the airport to your resort or where you are staying anyway, let alone eat or drink or anything else like that. they had the terrorist attacks before the pandemic, which torpedoed the tourism sector, then of course it was decimated by the pandemic itself. now they look like they are going to miss out very badly on the post pandemic recovery, as other tourism nations do very well. jeffrey halley, good to talk to you, thank you for your time

today. and thank you for your company as well. remember, more on the stories we have touched on the stories we have touched on on the website. for now, goodbye. hello there. on tuesday, we saw a definite east—west divide across the country. eastern areas saw the best of the sunshine and the warmth. further north and west, it was windy with outbreaks of rain and felt fairly cool for the time of year. now, for today, it's going to be one of sunshine and showers and it'll be less windy as well. the reason for it — the centre of this low pressure system will be just pulling away slightly from the northwest of the uk, so we'll have fewer isobars across the charts, but still some weather fronts which will bring outbreaks of rain. the overnight band of rain will be slowly clearing away from eastern england and eastern scotland. it will do by around mid—morning, and then we're all into the regime of sunshine and showers, and into the afternoon, some of these showers could turn out to be heavy and thundery across some northern and western areas. probably the best of the sunshine across the southeast.

winds will be lighter — these are mean wind speeds — much lighter than what we had on tuesday. i think with lighter winds and in the sunshine, it'll feel a touch warmer. temperatures range from around 18—23 degrees across the southeast. many of the showers will tend to fade away during wednesday night. just watching this area of heavy, perhaps thundery rain, just scrape the far southeast of the near continent there. that'll push in towards the north sea, perhaps affecting northeast scotland during the morning. but for most, it's clear spells, one or two showers and mild, with temperatures in double figures for most. you can see that weather front bringing heavy rainfall across the eastern parts of the uk as we head through thursday. otherwise, low pressure, again, close enough to bring another day of sunshine and showers. so, this rain could get close, again, to the southeast of england during thursday afternoon. could be some heavy rain as well across the far northeast of scotland. otherwise, for most, sunshine and showers again, some of them will be quite heavy, and because the winds are light, these showers will be fairly slow—moving. temperatures reaching highs of 18—21 degrees. friday, similar story.

we've got low pressure to the west of the uk, so again, it's generally light winds, sunny spells, scattered showers and some of them could be quite heavy in places, and those temperatures around just a little below the seasonal norm of, say, 18—21 celsius. now, as we head into the weekend, we'll hold onto the sunshine and showers theme, but i think from sunday and into the following week, it looks like high pressure will build in from the west, and that should settle things down and turn warmer in the south.

good morning, welcome to breakfast withjon kay and nina warhurst. our headlines today. cancer campaigner dame deborah james — known to millions as bowel babe — has died at the age of 40. # when you hold me like that #. she challenged taboos and changed the conversation around bowel cancer — urging people to check their poo. we'll speak to those who knew and loved her about her life and her remarkable legacy.