UK economy grew 0.1% in August ahead of Healey's first Budget The UK's economy grew slightly in August, according to the last set of official figures before John Healey's Budget. With the chancellor planning to set out his tax and spending plans later this month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the economy expanded by 0.1%, which was better than analysts had expected. The small increase follows growth of 0.4% in July, as well as positive upgrades to the outlook for Britain's economy from global watchdog the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But Healey still faces a challenge to to deliver a balanced Budget without turning to more borrowing. Britain's economy was boosted in August by an increase in production, which includes manufacturing, oil and gas extraction and energy supply.

I'm 12 and I want to try protein powder - should I? Twelve-year-old Ben is desperate to try protein powder but there's one hurdle: me, his mum. I've asked about 20 times and you just keep saying no!, he says, claiming it would make him fitter and bigger and that his male friends use it. In recent years, there's been an explosion of products marketed as high protein, including milk, yoghurt, breads, cereals, bars and powders. Social media is flooded with adverts for various supplements, including protein powder. As a health journalist, I'm sceptical and think at Ben's age he must be getting enough protein through his diet.

Amarpreet Singh has been drinking protein shakes since he was 16. The 30-year-old, who lives in London and works in banking, started going to the gym at a time when he says protein supplements were mostly associated with bodybuilders. Fourteen years later, shakes are still part of his routine, but they have become considerably more expensive. He says a 4.5kg bag of the whey protein he buys cost around £60 in 2020. By last year, the price had gone up to £120, though he managed to get one from eBay for £90. Now the same bag is £170.

Late autumn is the time for making lap yuk, a type of preserved pork that is a local speciality, and across town I would often spot slabs of meat hanging from high-rise apartment balconies, tied up with string and swaying next to shirts and sheets left out to dry. To make lap yuk, a piece of raw pork belly is soaked in a blend of rice wine, salt, soy sauce and spices, then hung out to cure in the damp, cold autumn air. The fat becomes translucent and imparts a savoury-sweet taste to any stir-fried vegetable dish. A relative of mine claims that only southern China can make preserved pork like this. The secret is the native spores and bacteria that are carried on the wind there. Guangzhou was the first stop on a journey I was taking in order to try to understand how artificial intelligence is transforming China's pork industry. The country is the world's largest producer of pork, and the story of how it has ramped up production in recent years to feed its growing middle class is sometimes described as "China's pork miracle".

Thursday's top Amazon deals are on things you'll love. If you make a purchase by clicking one of our links, we may earn a small share of the revenue. However, our picks and opinions are independent from USA Today's newsroom and any business incentives. When everyone else is checking their email, reading the news, or scrolling through Facebook as they start their day, I'm over here poring over Amazon's deals to try and find those hidden gems and exciting sales on products that are actually awesome. Some days, it can be hard to find more than one or two that really wow me, but today it took no time at all to spot these all-star deals on vacuums, soundbars, smart speakers, protein powder, and tax software.