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This is the World in Brief from the Economist.

Our top stories.

Rupert Murdock announced that he would step down as chairman of Fox Corporation, the parent company of Fox News,

a newscorp which owns newspapers including the Wall Street Journal.

His son, Locklin, will now run both companies.

In a memo to employees, Mr Murdock wrote that the, quote, time is right for me to take on different roles.

Kevin McCarthy, the embattled speaker of the American House of Representatives, suffered defeat as conservative Republicans blocked a defense spending bill for the third time.

The bill is one of twelve that must be passed to avoid a government shutdown on October 1st.

Mr McCarthy and moderate Republicans have tried to pass stopgap funding to extend the deadline so far without success.

Russia barred the export of petrol and diesel, except to Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Russia is a global supplier of petrol and diesel, even after the EU and America banned most imports of refined fuel from the country in February.

Oil prices are already high. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, almost hit $96 per barrel on Tuesday. His highest price in ten months.

The Bank of England kept its benchmark interest rate at 5.25%. Its first pause in nearly two years.

The Bank's decision followed promising inflation figures. The annual rate unexpectedly slowed to 6.7% in August, from 6.8% in July.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve left its interest rate unchanged, but signalled support for another hike this year.

Pakistan's Electoral Commission announced that general elections will be held next January.

The timing of the forthcoming vote has been controversial amid the army's growing influence over the country's politics.

Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister, has been banned from running as he battles charges of corruption and sedition, which he claims are politically motivated.

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