Here are the top business stories making the headlines in the morning newspapers.
Thin blue line is shrinking in Scotland
Police numbers in Scotland have-dived to their lowest in almost 14 years after an "exodus" of almost 700 officers, according to official figures.
The Telegraph says Police Scotland had 16,610 full-time equivalent (FTE) officers in its ranks at the end of June 2022 - down 679 on the same time last year and the lowest level since September 2008.
Sir Iain Livingstone, Police Scotland's chief constable, blamed "restricted recruitment" during the pandemic, the COP26 climate-change summit and increased retirals triggered by changes to pension arrangements.
But he warned that the Scottish Government's plan to impose a £106million real-terms cut in the force's budget would mean "difficult decisions for policing in Scotland - for example a far smaller workforce".
Drop in fuel prices
The price of petrol fell in July, knocking nearly £5 off the cost of filling a tank, according to the RAC.
The BBC says average petrol prices dropped by nearly 9p over the month to 182.69p per litre, while diesel fell by almost 7p to 192.38p per litre.
But the motoring group warned the reductions still don't fairly reflect the fall in the wholesale price of fuel.
It said major retailers should be cutting pump prices much further.
No let-up in problems with global supply chains
Chaos in global supply chains will continue for several more months, one of the world's biggest shipping companies has warned.
An "exceptional market" for transport companies, including sky-high container rates, will result in further bumper profits and will not ease until late 2022, says Danish shipper Maersk.
Maersk, which handles about a sixth of the global container trade, said its full-year underlying earnings before tax will be around £25billion, versus a previous estimate of £19billion.
"The strong result is driven by the continuation of the exceptional market situation within (ocean freight)," it said in a trading update on Tuesday.
"Congestion in global supply chains leading to higher freight rates has continued longer than initially anticipated."
The Telegraph reports that Maersk said its forecasts were based on a "gradual normalisation" across ocean freight taking place in the final quarter of this year.
Further suspension of BA ticket sales for short-haul flights
British Airways has suspended ticket sales for short-haul flights from Heathrow Airport for a further week until August 15.
The airline said on Monday it had stopped selling the tickets until August 8, but now it has gone a step further.
The move is due to the cap on daily passenger numbers that the UK's biggest airport has imposed over the summer.
The BBC says the suspension will affect BA's flights to domestic and European destinations.
Thousands of air travellers have been hit by disruption in recent months, including last-minute cancellations, which have been caused largely by staff shortages.
Airports and airlines, which cut jobs during Covid lockdowns, have found it difficult to recruit enough staff as demand for holidays has returned.
UK nuclear-fusion venture seeks £400million
An Oxford start-up that claimed a major breakthrough in the quest for nuclear fusion is seeking £400million to fund the next stage of its research.
First Light Fusion made headlines in April when it said it had achieved a reaction using its method of firing projectiles at fuel.
The Telegraph says the business now needs cash to get to the next stage of development - a "gain" experiment, where more energy is produced than put in. This is an important step towards commercialising the technology.
First Light Fusion hopes to hit its funding target in the coming months, according to people close to the firm.
Chief executive Nick Hawker, who founded the company in 2011, is understood to be gauging interest from investment houses and the wealthy.
The process of nuclear fusion melds atoms together, which releases energy. It is the same reaction that generates energy on the sun. This is separate from nuclear fission, the reaction used in power plants where atoms are split to create energy.
Latest twist in bid for Scottish referendum
The SNP has submitted an application to intervene in the Supreme Court case over Holyrood's power to set up an independence referendum.
Scotland's top law officer, the lord advocate, has brought the case to rule if MSPs can pass a referendum bill without Westminster support.
The BBC reports that the SNP has now applied to join proceedings when it calls in October.
The UK Government has said the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to pass a bill to hold indyref2.
It said legislation on the Union was reserved to Westminster.