The UK economy unexpectedly failed to grow in July, after flatlining in June, for the second month in a row.

Analysts had originally forecasted a slight growth of 0.2 percent.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says drops in the manufacturing and construction sectors contributed to the downturn.

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The UK economy unexpectedly failed to grow in July, after flatlining in June, for the second month in a row.
Analysts had originally forecasted a slight growth of 0.2 percent.
UK correspondent Gavin Grey says drops in the manufacturing and construction sectors contributed to the downturn.
LISTEN ABOVE

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on the UK economy flatlining again in July

Tech giant Google is being accused of playing hardball with the Government and media companies over the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill.

The bill would force Google to pay for the journalism and news content that help drive its business model.

NZME editor-at-large Shayne Currie says it's unlikely Google will pull away from New Zealand altogether - despite the company's threats.

"They will certainly be reviewing their stance - they've actually said publicly in their submission to Parliament for the Fair Digital News Bill that they will need to review operations in New Zealand if the bill goes ahead."

LISTEN ABOVE

Tech giant Google is being accused of playing hardball with the Government and media companies over the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill.
The bill would force Google to pay for the journalism and news content that help drive its business model.
NZME editor-at-large Shayne Currie says it's unlikely Google will pull away from New Zealand altogether - despite the company's threats.
"They will certainly be reviewing their stance - they've actually said publicly in their submission to Parliament for the Fair Digital News Bill that they will need to review operations in New Zealand if the bill goes ahead."
LISTEN ABOVE

Shayne Currie: NZME editor-at-large on Google threatening to pull out of New Zealand over Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill

About this debate in Australia on banning social media for kids - I have just come across an article that makes the best comparison yet for how we should deal with this issue.

Treat it like sex.

This article is by an academic in Australia and she argues that the best way to protect kids from social media is by teaching them its dangers, like we do with sex.

I think we know now that banning sex for teens doesn't work, celibacy all the way through to marriage doesn’t work - and the best way to deal with it is with sex education.

We teach kids how the whole thing works, we teach them how to be safe, and most kids actually do end up fine. That, she says, is how we should treat social media.

Teach the kids how it works, teach them about the algorithms that push information at you, teach them that if you click something you’ll get more of the same, teach them how the perfect model lying by the pool with her perfect boyfriend on the perfect holiday is just a photo and it's not real.

And teach them how to be safe, teach them not to look at certain things, show them how to talk about what they see if it upsets them and so on.

But with sex - we do ban it as well. We say kids under sixteen cannot legally have sex, we put these guardrails up, and I think we should do that with social media too, if only as a guardrail.

For kids under a certain age, ban it. No social media.

But ban it knowing the ban is just a guardrail - it's not going to work. Most kids are going to flout it because if it doesn't work for sex, it won't work for social media. But educate them as well, that is the most important part.

If we think about it like that - kids will do this thing you don't want them to do, if you ban them from doing it, they'll do it anyway. Then you understand the best thing you can do as a parent and an educator is teach the kids how to do it safely.

LISTEN ABOVE

About this debate in Australia on banning social media for kids - I have just come across an article that makes the best comparison yet for how we should deal with this issue.
Treat it like sex.
This article is by an academic in Australia and she argues that the best way to protect kids from social media is by teaching them its dangers, like we do with sex.
I think we know now that banning sex for teens doesn't work, celibacy all the way through to marriage doesn’t work - and the best way to deal with it is with sex education.
We teach kids how the whole thing works, we teach them how to be safe, and most kids actually do end up fine. That, she says, is how we should treat social media.
Teach the kids how it works, teach them about the algorithms that push information at you, teach them that if you click something you’ll get more of the same, teach them how the perfect model lying by the pool with her perfect boyfriend on the perfect holiday is just a photo and it's not real.
And teach them how to be safe, teach them not to look at certain things, show them how to talk about what they see if it upsets them and so on.
But with sex - we do ban it as well. We say kids under sixteen cannot legally have sex, we put these guardrails up, and I think we should do that with social media too, if only as a guardrail.
For kids under a certain age, ban it. No social media.
But ban it knowing the ban is just a guardrail - it's not going to work. Most kids are going to flout it because if it doesn't work for sex, it won't work for social media. But educate them as well, that is the most important part.
If we think about it like that - kids will do this thing you don't want them to do, if you ban them from doing it, they'll do it anyway. Then you understand the best thing you can do as a parent and an educator is teach the kids how to do it safely.
LISTEN ABOVE

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Here's a solution to handling kids and social media

Donald Trump's out-the-gate claim that migrants eat people's pets has gone viral.

In yesterday's presidential debate, the former President claimed migrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating dogs and cats.

US correspondent Logan Church says Trump got it from a social media post.

"There was absolutely no proof or evidence of anything like this actually happening. But that rumour started spreading like wildfire."

Springfield's mayor's released a statement saying it's disappointing misinformation's skewed - and been amplified in the debate.

LISTEN ABOVE

Donald Trump's out-the-gate claim that migrants eat people's pets has gone viral.
In yesterday's presidential debate, the former President claimed migrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating dogs and cats.
US correspondent Logan Church says Trump got it from a social media post.
"There was absolutely no proof or evidence of anything like this actually happening. But that rumour started spreading like wildfire."
Springfield's mayor's released a statement saying it's disappointing misinformation's skewed - and been amplified in the debate.
LISTEN ABOVE

Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on the UK economy flatlining again in July

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