In this Guardian Live event, historian Timothy Snyder and Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding will discuss the causes of Putin's invasion and the impact of Ukraine's resistance after six months of conflict.
Monday 26 September, 8pm–9pm BST | | | | |  Retail sales volumes in Great Britain slumped by 1.6% in August from July – much worse than expected.
Economists had expected a 0.5% drop. The sharp decline came after an upwardly revised 0.4% rise in July.
The Office for National Statistics, which released the figures, said all main sectors (food stores, non-food stores, online retail and fuel) fell over the month; this last happened in July 2021, when all legal Covid restrictions on hospitality were lifted and people headed out to bars and restaurants.
Sales at supermarkets and other food stores were down 0.8% in August, which leaves them 1.4% below their pre-pandemic levels in February 2020. However, alcohol and tobacco sales rose, by 6.3%, as people sought relief from the cost of living crisis. Petrol and diesel sales fell 1.7% despite a fall in prices.
Sales at department stores fell by 2.7%, while household goods stores posted a 1.1% fall, mainly because of declines in furniture and lighting stores. Feedback from retailers suggests that consumers are cutting back on spending because of increased prices and affordability concerns.
At clothing stores, sales volumes fell by 0.6% in August and were 5.7% below their February 2020 levels.
The proportion of retail sales online fell to 25.7% from 26.3% in July; but it remains significantly above pre-coronavirus levels, when it was 19.8%.
The world looks to be edging toward a global recession as central banks are forced to raise interest rates to fight high inflation, the World Bank has warned.
The world's three largest economies – the US, China and the eurozone – have been slowing sharply, and even a "moderate hit to the global economy over the next year could tip it into recession", the bank said in a new study.
It said the world economy was now in its steepest slowdown after a post-recession recovery since 1970, and consumer confidence had already fallen more sharply than in the run-up to previous global recessions.
Expressing concerns that these trends would persist, with damaging consequences for emerging market and developing economies, the World Bank president, David Malpass, said: "Global growth is slowing sharply, with further slowing likely as more countries fall into recession."
The agenda
• 10am BST: eurozone inflation for August, final estimate (forecast: 9.1%)
• 10am BST: Italy inflation for August, final estimate (forecast: 8.4%)
• 3pm BST: US Michigan consumer sentiment for August
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