Commenting after his firm's joint bid for William Hill collapsed, Itai Freiberger, boss of online operator 888, says...

Image source, William Hill

Two gambling companies seeking to take over William Hill, the UK's largest betting shop operator, have walked away from the bid. 

Rank, the UK's biggest casino chain, and online operator 888 said they had withdrawn their interest, external as it had "not been possible to meaningfully engage with the board of William Hill". 

William Hill had already rejected a revised bid worth more than £3bn from the two firms.

Dearbail Jordan
Business reporter

Always the first to be down with the kids, the US Federal Reserve has set up its very own Facebook page, external. Twelve years after the social networking site was launched, the US central bank's board is now kicking it online and has already amassed 425 “likes”. 

It turns out the aim of the page is to increase “the accessibility and availability of Federal Reserve Board news and educational content”. 

“You guys are so cool,” exclaimed one excited chap on the page. Our thoughts too.   

Image source, EPA

Faced with funding shortfalls for the Paralympic Games, recession-struck Brazil has turned to public banks and state-run oil company Petrobras, Bloomberg reports, external. 

The firms are in talks to sponsor a combined 100 million reais ($31 million) for next month's event. The news comes after the International Paralympic Committee warned earlier this week that athletes from more than 50 countries could miss the Paralympics due to a lack of funding.

Image source, Getty Images

Asda owner Walmart is among the big winners so far in a quiet day on Wall Street. The US retail giant's shares are up 2% after it reported better-than-expected sales and raised its profit forecast for the year. That's despite a heavy sales fall for Asda in the UK.

The big three US stock indexes, though, are currently flat. The Dow Jones is largely unchanged at 18,575 points, likewise the S&P 500 at 2,183 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq at 5,235.

Dearbail Jordan
Business reporter

In the dying hours of 1984, on a mobile phone weighing slightly more than the average house cat*, a man ushered in a “social and technological revolution”.

Historian Dominic Sandbrook details the historic moment Britain went mobile in The 80s on BBC 2 tonight at 9.00pm when Mike Harrison made the historical call. He rung his father, Sir Ernest Harrison, who went on to become the first chairman of Vodafone.

*The average female house cat weighs between 10-11 lbs.

IHS economist Howard Archer has read the minutes of the European Central Bank's July meeting, external, so you don't have to. The ECB is mulling fresh economic stimulus efforts, he says, but there's no guarantee it'll come straight after the summer break...

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, is trading back above $50 a barrel following a jump of nearly 20% this month. The oil price had dropped near to $40 a barrel in early August on renewed fears of a supply glut and a slowdown in global demand.

But it's surged back up in recent days after Saudi Arabia and Russia hinted that a supply freeze could be on the table at talks between major oil exporters next month.

Brent is currently at $50.25 a barrel, having risen 40 cents - or 0.8% - so far today. US crude is up even more, rising 1.6% to $47.55.

Image source, Getty Images

The merger of two of the biggest makers of toys for toddlers may face a full-blown investigation by UK competition regulators.

VTech, whose toys include toddler cameras and tablets, struck a deal to buy US firm Leapfrog for $72m in April, bringing together two of the biggest names in children's electronic toys.

But the takeover could leave little competition in Britain for children's electronic learning toys, the Competition and Markets Authority found, external.

In particular, UK regulators see them as close competitors in the supply of audio narration accompanying books; and warn that their tie-up could lead to higher prices for families.  

Vtech has until 25 August to allay the CMA's concerns.

Image source, Volvo

As well as trialling driverless taxis in the US in the next few weeks, Uber is also teaming up with Swedish car maker Volvo to develop more self-driving cars. 

The two companies are contributing a combined $300m, with Volvo making the base vehicles and Uber adding its self-driving system. The taxi hailing company will then buy the cars as well. 

Volvo says it means reduced costs and increased sales for its driverless cars. The tie-up also marks the beginning of what both companies say will be a longer term partnership.

What neither reveal, though, is what it'll mean for Uber's hoard of drivers, or whether customers will still need to give a rating to their robot replacements.

Dan Macadam
BBC business reporter

Thanks Karen and Chris for acting as our personalised shoppers through this morning's retail-heavy news, including the post-Brexit boost to the High Street; Asda's sales woes and difficulties for B&Q owner Kingfisher. 

Coming up this afternoon, we've got more on Uber's plans for self-driving cars (will it still keep the five-star rating system?), as well as a report on Brazil's last-minute funding for the Paralympic Games, plus all the business news and views as they happen.

Lots of bemusement on Twitter about what the Republican presidential candidate means by this slightly cryptic tweet:

Mark Broad
Business producer

Image source, Getty Images

Steve Dresser of Grocery Insight says the discounters - Aldi and Lidl - pose a perfect storm for Asda because their prices are lower and have better perceived quality.

He welcomes Asda's "Project Renewal", along with some changes to the product ranges and own-label development, but concedes they are disruptive for shoppers.

Store revamps are also annoying, but necessary, Mr Dresser adds. 

"I think they're now in a place to tackle the issues now they accept they have challenges, but it will take time. No one perhaps expected such a poor like-for-like sales performance, but the momentum isn't with them at the minute."

Image source, PA

Sports Direct says the independent report on working practices being undertaken by the law firm RPC will be published in the first week of September. 

When founder Mike Ashley appeared before MPs in June, he said the internal investigation had discovered "some issues" with working practices at its Shirebrook warehouse that had "hopefully" been addressed.

Mr Ashley said much of what the probe found about how staff were treated was an "unpleasant surprise".  

He also admitted workers at the Derbyshire warehouse were paid below the minimum wage and the company's policy of fining staff for being late was unacceptable.

Earlier this week the Unite union said workers will get back-pay of about £1m following Sports Direct's failure to pay the minimum wage.

The retailer's shares are up 1% in afternoon trading at 292.8p - but are still almost 50% lower since the start of the year.

Image source, Reuters

The 7.5% slide in sales for Asda is the eighth consecutive quarterly fall and worse than the 5.7% drop for the three months to 30 March.

The disastrous figures underline the challenge facing new Asda boss Sean Clarke, who started last month.

He is attempting to turn Asda around with a £1.5bn investment in price cuts amid a brutal price war in the supermarket sector.

Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon said: 

Image source, Getty Images

Despite Asda's woes in the UK, Walmart said like-for-like sales at its US stores rose a better-than-expected 1.6%, excluding fuel.

That was the eighth consecutive quarter of increases and sent shares in the world's biggest retailer up more than 3% in premarket trading.