Paul Pogba is expected to leave Monaco amid talks over a possible contract termination.

The 2018 World Cup winner joined the Ligue 1 side last summer after he was permitted to return to professional football after a doping suspension.

Pogba signed a two-year deal, which was due to run until the end of the forthcoming season.

But a source has told the BBC discussions over an early exit are under way and are expected to be concluded soon.

BBC Sport understands Pogba is attracting interest from Major League Soccer (MLS). He has previously been linked to DC United and Inter Miami.

Monaco have not yet commented on the situation.

Pogba’s first season at Monaco was disrupted by injury but there was hope this season would see the France midfielder play regularly.

But a change in manager, after Filipe Luis replaced Sebastien Pocognoli, could see Monaco head in a different direction in central midfield.

Pogba was provisionally banned from football for four years after a positive test for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in February 2024, following a doping test in August 2023.

Pogba maintained it was a mistake and that he was given a supplement without knowing it contained a banned substance.

He was permitted to return to football in March 2025 following the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to reduce his ban to 18 months.

Elena Rybakina stages a huge comeback to beat Naomi Osaka and will now play Coco Gauff for a place in the final.

Second-seeded Elena Rybakina fought back from a set and a break down to prevail 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in her Canadian Open quarterfinal against Naomi Osaka in Toronto on Tuesday.

Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon and 2026 ⁠Australian Open champion, will meet fourth-seeded Coco Gauff for a place in the final after the American’s opponent, Belinda Bencic, withdrew due to a hip injury.

In ⁠the first tour-level meeting between Osaka and Rybakina, the Japanese player looked to be cruising to victory after breaking in the opening game and holding that advantage to pocket the first set.

The four-time Grand Slam champion then surged to a 4-2 lead in ‌the second set, but Rybakina rallied and came out on top in a tiebreaker to force the decider.

In the third set, the Kazakh successfully defended four break points before breaking Osaka’s serve in back-to-back games to seize control and seal victory in two hours and 33 minutes.

“This first game of the match was really tough because it cost me the set,” Rybakina said. “In the second ⁠I was just trying to stay closer to the score, ⁠even if I’m losing.

“It’s rare when you don’t play some players for so many years you’re on tour. She’s a great champion. She’s a fighter. I knew it would be a tough match.”

Earlier ⁠on Tuesday, Gauff advanced without striking a ball after Bencic withdrew from their quarterfinal, giving the American more time to ⁠fine-tune her game before the US Open.

The 2023 ⁠US Open champion is into the 16th WTA 1000 semifinal of her career as the 22-year-old chases her first title of the year.

Gauff finished runner-up in Miami and Rome before her Wimbledon campaign ended ‌in a tight semifinal defeat. She has introduced new tactical elements to her game and has looked strong in Toronto, where she has not dropped a set.

The only ‌previous ‌meeting between Gauff and Rybakina was also in Toronto, where the American won in three sets in 2022.

Iran is set to join the New Development Bank (NDB), the development lender established by the BRICS group, Iranian central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said on Wednesday, as Tehran seeks to deepen financial ties with emerging economies amid sweeping international sanctions.

Hemmati made the remarks ahead of a BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors meeting hosted by India, which holds the group’s rotating chairmanship this year.

Iran joined BRICS in 2024 as part of the bloc’s expansion and has since expressed interest in becoming a member and shareholder of the NDB. The bank was established in 2015 by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects.

“The most important result of cooperation among BRICS member countries is the establishment of the New Development Bank, and our country will soon become a member of this bank,” Hemmati said, according to Iranian state media.

Iran Seeks Alternative Financial Channels

Membership of the NDB would give Iran another avenue for economic cooperation outside traditional Western dominated financial institutions, although the extent of any benefit would depend on the bank’s ability to operate with a heavily sanctioned Iranian economy.

Iran remains under extensive U.S. and international sanctions and has yet to reach a peace agreement to end its current conflict with the United States and Israel. These pressures have increased Tehran’s incentive to strengthen economic relationships with non-Western powers and reduce its exposure to dollar based financial systems.

The NDB has expanded beyond its original five members to include countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, increasing its role as a financial institution connecting emerging economies.

BRICS Pushes for Local Currency Trade

Hemmati also said Iran supported greater use of national currencies in trade among BRICS members.

BRICS countries have increasingly promoted mechanisms intended to reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar, including greater use of national currencies for bilateral trade and financial transactions.

Iran is also seeking bilateral and trilateral monetary cooperation with other BRICS members, Hemmati said.

A Strategic Financial Move for Tehran

Iran’s expected entry into the NDB is significant not simply as a development financing decision but as part of Tehran’s broader effort to build an alternative economic network amid Western sanctions.

For Iran, deeper integration with BRICS could provide additional channels for investment, infrastructure cooperation and financial transactions while strengthening economic ties with major emerging powers such as China, India and Russia. However, membership alone will not remove the restrictions created by U.S. sanctions or guarantee access to international capital.

The move also reflects the broader evolution of BRICS from an economic grouping into a platform through which its members can challenge aspects of the Western dominated financial order. Iran’s participation strengthens that trend, particularly as the group promotes greater use of local currencies and seeks to diversify international financial relationships.

For Tehran, therefore, joining the NDB would represent both an economic opportunity and a geopolitical signal: Iran is seeking to reduce its vulnerability to Western financial pressure by embedding itself more deeply within emerging non-Western economic institutions.

With information from Reuters.

A 90s Baywatch bombshell has signed up to OnlyFans and will post sexy content including feet pics.

Erika Eleniak, 56, famously wore the iconic red swimsuit as Shauni McClain in the hit beach drama, alongside Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff.

Three decades on and with a Baywatch reboot in the works, former Playboy girl Erika is set to coin it in from a new generation of fans and is charging $10 (£7.40)-a-month to subscribe to her channel.

She announced the move on Instagram, telling her followers: “At 56, I’m embracing exactly who I am today. From Baywatch to Playboy and beyond.

“You’ve been with me through so many chapters of my life and career. Now I’m opening up a brand-new one.

“This is about having fun, being unfiltered, sharing exclusive photos and videos, and most importantly, connecting directly with you. If you’ve ever wanted to talk to me personally, now you can.”

BOMBSHELL BATTLE

How Baywatch’s Brooks Nader is on ‘mission’ to eclipse Sydney Sweeney

BEACH BABE

Baywatch star Brooks Nader frolics in the sea in skin-tight mini-dress

Speaking in more detail about her decision to TMZ, Erika said joining OnlyFans felt like a “full circle” moment and gave her control over her image.

She said: “Fans are getting my real life, my personal photos and videos, plenty of beach days and, yes, the feet everyone keeps asking about.

“I’ve been Erika from Baywatch for decades, but OnlyFans gets a side of me people haven’t seen.

“It’s personal, playful and unfiltered – and if you came for the bare feet in the sand, I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

Erika, who is now heavily tattooed, announced she was returning to acting earlier this year and teased new projects.

One of which is a return to Baywatch, with her character Shauni now working as a councilwoman in Santa Monica and involved in helping Hobie Buchannon put on the first Beach Games.

The Games will pit the Baywatch lifeguards against members of the Coast Guard in a series of competitions.

Hobie, who is the son of David Hasselhoff’s character Mitch Buchannon and now played by Stephen Amell, is returning as a regular on the new version of the show.

Stanway’s arrival at Arsenal on a free transfer from Bayern is one of the most high-profile moves of an eye-catching transfer window in the Women’s Super League (WSL).

The midfielder enjoyed four trophy-laden years with the German club, and boasts two European Championship winners’ medals with England.

A long-established totem in Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses side, Stanway told the Women’s Football Weekly podcast how playing in the Bundesliga has developed her game.

“I’ve massively changed as a player and as a person,” she said. “I’ve got more comfortable with myself and I enjoy my own time a lot more.

“Munich also gave me the opportunity to develop a position and to figure out how I wanted to play with trust and expectation from the manager.”

She arrives at Emirates Stadium in her prime and ready to ignite Arsenal’s push for a first WSL title since 2018-19.

She explains that once aware of their interest, there was only one club in the running for her signature.

“I knew I wanted to take the next step,” she said. “I really like the fact Arsenal came in for me when I wasn’t available. It’s a really nice feeling to be wanted.

“What Arsenal are building within England, within the WSL, within Europe, is something I want to be part of.

“It’s setting the standard with women’s football.”

Aug. 12 (UPI) — Lightning struck a northern Ohio state prison, injuring at least 16 people, who were transported to the hospital, officials said Tuesday night.

The lightning struck the Grafton Correctional Institution, located about 30 miles southwest of Cleveland, Tuesday night, as inmates were returning from their evening meal, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said in a statement.

Of the 16 people transported to an outside hospital, one was airlifted, it said.

The conditions of those injured were not immediately clear, though the department said, “there have been no reported deaths at this time.”

The incident comes as larges portions of Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia were under flood watches amid thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, according to the National Weather Service.

Ohio correctional authorities said they are continuing to assess and monitor the situation.

The Grafton Correctional Institution opened in 1988 on 1,396 acres, according to its website.

UK Energy Minister Michael Shanks told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast the UK’s power infrastructure had undergone decades of “woeful underinvestment”.

He said he understood the objections of those living nearby, but added the pylons were “crucial” to ensure the National Grid maintained future resilience.

“I totally accept that people might not like that, but it is critical national infrastructure and it has to be built somewhere,” he said.

“Building any kind of infrastructure in these communities does cause disruption. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t build any kind of infrastructure and I’m afraid in this country, for too long, we have taken that view, and the result is that we have been held back by not having the infrastructure the country needs.”

Shanks added: “Either we go through decades of not upgrading the grid and take the risk that the grid will actually fail, but we also lose the opportunity of cheaper bills, homegrown power connecting.

“We’re not prepared to take that risk.”

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero says Britain’s electricity grid was largely designed for an era when power came from coal and gas-fired power stations, and now needs major upgrades to cope with growing amounts of renewable energy.

Ministers say the lack of capacity means some wind farms are sometimes paid to switch off because there is not enough network infrastructure available to carry the electricity to homes and businesses that need it.

Greg Jackson, chief executive of the UK’s biggest domestic energy supplier, Octopus Energy, said the electricity system is inefficient, brittle and expensive.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the discount scheme was a “positive first step”, adding that last year the UK spent more than £1bn paying wind farms to turn off on windy days.

“We should just be giving that electricity more cheaply to the people and businesses who live in the areas where we’re generating it,” he said.

“By doing that, you’d be able to stop wasting that money and instead put the electricity to use cutting bills for those people. But crucially cutting bills for everybody else as well because it’s less wasteful.”

The Mirror’s Stephen Jones and his wife Charlotte braved taking their five-month-old twins on holiday for the first time – and were blown away by the resort

A few months after our twins were born we were badly in need of a holiday… somewhere distant enough to guarantee sunshine but not so far as to become a nightmare journey with two five-month-olds in tow.

With a flight time of four and a half hours, Gran Canaria seemed ideal. What we didn’t appreciate at the time we booked is how brilliantly accommodating the TUI Blue Orquidea would prove to be for young families. I’m pleased to say that a week there completely reinvigorated us but also changed our expectations of what a family holiday could be.

Like many new parents, we were worried about flying abroad with babies whose very existence is based on a routine of feeding, changing, entertaining and sleeping on repeat. Packing alone felt like preparing for a military expedition but by the time we reached the boarding gate at Gatwick – each pulling a big suitcase and pushing a travel buggy simultaneously – we felt like accomplished war veterans able to deal with any situation.

And after arriving at the hotel in a prebooked taxi transfer of just 20 mins from the airport, all our other worries soon melted away.

Set right on the seafront in Bahia Feliz on Gran Canaria’s sunny south coast, the all-inclusive TUI Blue Gran Canaria immediately radiates a relaxed atmosphere. Instead of loud entertainment and crowded spaces, the resort feels spacious, clean and remarkably calm, something any sleep-deprived parent will appreciate.

Our room was bright, modern and comfortably large enough to accommodate two cots without making us feel as though we were navigating an obstacle course every time we walked across it. Having a balcony overlooking the sea quickly became one of our favourite places to relax after putting the babies to bed each evening. Early mornings with bottles in hand somehow felt a little more manageable while watching the sunrise.

Travelling with babies means your holiday revolves around their schedule rather than your own, but this hotel made that surprisingly easy. Staff couldn’t have been more welcoming, always greeting the twins with smiles and happily offering helpful tips whenever we needed.

Meal times were relaxed and there were wide enough spaces between the tables to manoeuvre the buggies. The buffet restaurant deserves particular praise for its generous choices, meaning nobody should ever struggle to find something they like – from fresh salads and grilled meats to fish, pasta and pizza cooked to order.

Although our twins were far too young to sample the menu themselves, we were able to easily grab things we liked to keep ourselves nourished while we fed them, and families travelling with slightly older babies and toddlers seemed pleased with extensive options.

Of course, five-month-old babies with priorities of bottles, naps and cuddles don’t care so much for infinity pools or cocktail bars, but the hotel’s peaceful surroundings ticked every box.

The swimming pools were spotless, with plenty of comfortable sun loungers available throughout most of the day. We quickly settled into a rhythm that revolved around popping to the air conditioned baby lounge with changing facilities a stone’s throw from the main pool after breakfast for nappy changes, feeds and a play before hitting the loungers. Its sister hotel next door the Playa Feliz, where your wristbands are equally welcome, has a bigger splash pool for toddlers with a huge shade screen and that’s where we spent many of our afternoons.

While you are essentially doing exactly the same as you would be back home looking after newborn twins with the endless cycle of washing bottles, laundry and trying to get them to sleep, those same routines somehow became more enjoyable against a backdrop of palm trees, warm blue skies and the gentle sound of waves.

The childcare offering at a TUI Blue is arguably beyond generous if you choose to get involved. There’s baby and tots club sessions which run twice daily for children aged 0-35 months with gentle play, songs and stories and there’s more lively 45-minute playdate sessions available. The organised Little Splashers or Little Ravers sessions are self-explanatory, but our twins especially enjoyed their visit to a Baby Spa for a sensory-led pampering session with soft music and calming lights they seemed to enjoy as much as the TUI reps holding the session.

Speaking of the TUI reps, you also have the option of leaving your babies with them for a couple of hours while you enjoy some me time on a sun lounger or even pop to the gym or Club Spa, which we both managed to escape to on occasion. The open-air spa pool is actually something of a hidden gem squirreled away at the back of this hotel, but boasting a fantastic array of hydrotherapy jets where you can relax while you gaze out at the Atlantic ocean. There’s a Finnish sauna, Hammam steam room and a sanarium – or you can just pull up a lounger and relax in the sun away from the kids.

A highlight of our week was a meal out at La Taverna a la carte restaurant which is included in the all inclusive package, where they serve a variety of vibrant tapas as you watch the sun go down; in many ways a kind of special evening out we would love but find hard to achieve at home.

We weren’t racing to tick off tourist attractions or planning packed itineraries, if anything we wanted to slow down and enjoy some relative peace in the sunshine, which we achieved in batches daily. We did day trips but we were more than happy to just recline on a lounger by the side of the pool with the babies and switch off.

For any parent wondering if their first overseas holiday with young babies is worth attempting, this hotel provides a reassuring answer. Its combination of comfortable accommodation, welcoming staff, quality food and peaceful atmosphere creates an environment where families genuinely feel supported rather than merely accommodated.

Our first holiday abroad with two five-month-old twins could easily have been unforgettable for all the wrong reasons. Thanks to the TUI Blue Gran Canaria, it became unforgettable for exactly the right ones – a sun-soaked reminder that life doesn’t stop when you become parents. It simply changes. We knew that having holidays after having children would be different, what we realised at the TUI Blue Gran Canaria was that it didn’t mean that they shouldn’t be relaxing.

• TUI offers seven-night holidays to Gran Canaria, Spain staying at the 4T TUI BLUE Orquídea on an all-inclusive basis from £900pp, based on 2 adults and 1 child sharing a twin room, flying from London Luton in August, and 23kg luggage per person and transfers included. tui.co.uk
• TUI Musement offers a Gran Canaria’s ‘Little Venice’ – visit Puerto de Mogan by boat from £45 per adult, £28 per child (3-12 years old) and children (0-2) go free. tuimusement.com/uk

“Bachelorette” alum Joe Amabile is home following brain surgery.

“They got it all!” wrote Amabile, who uploaded an Instagram carousel with pictures of himself post-surgery on Aug. 6.

His wife Serena Pitt — whom he met in 2021 while filming Season 7 of “Bachelor in Paradise” — also updated fans on his recovery, uploading an Instagram carousel with pictures from NYU Langone Health, where the surgery took place.

“A few peaceful moments from the hospital,” Pitt wrote in the caption. “Joe is home recovering and we’re so grateful to have been in such good hands.”

In July, Amabile revealed on Instagram that MRI testing found a “blueberry-sized” brain tumor, which would need to be removed for further examination.

The couple would elaborate further on the health issue on their July 16 podcast “Not Married to This With Serena & Joe,” saying that they both underwent a preventative whole-body MRI scan with Prenuvo (the same private diagnostic company that showed “Extra” and “E!” host Maria Menounos had a full mass on her pancreas, which was later confirmed to be a cancerous Stage 2 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor).

Pitt’s scan revealed two small, innocuous nodules. Amabile’s results indicated that he had a lesion in his brain the size of a marble, prompting him to get an additional MRI with and without contrast.

“We got the good news that it wasn’t enhancing and we got the concerning news that it still was something. It wasn’t nothing,” Pitt said on the podcast.

“There’s no other way around it. There’s something there and you don’t want anything in your brain,” added Amabile.

Before surgery, Amabile shared that he would undergo a craniotomy, a surgery in which a neurosurgeon temporarily removes a piece of the skull to reach the brain and remove the tumor. According to the medical professionals he consulted, the likelihood that the low-grade glioma would turn into something aggressive was high and he was encouraged to treat the lesion while in its early stages.

“We will actually have so much more information once the tumor is removed and they test it and then we can actually create a plan of next steps,” Pitt said on the podcast.

Amabile first came into the spotlight in 2018 after appearing on Season 14 of “The Bachelorette,” featuring Becca Kufrin. While he was eliminated on the first night, he was a beloved participant for his charming, down-to-earth personality as a grocery store owner from Chicago, earning him the nickname “Grocery Store Joe.”

Later that same year, Amabile would participate in Season 5 of “Bachelor in Paradise” and compete in Season 27 of “Dancing With the Stars,” making it to the semifinal round. In 2021, he returned for Season 7 of “Bachelor in Paradise,” proposing to Pitt in the finale.

Now it seems that Amabile is bringing people along on his healing journey, having documented his anxieties before surgery.

“This is my journey, I’m telling it. This is what it is. You can take what you want away from it,” Amabile said on the podcast.

Published on
12/08/2026 – 8:34 GMT+2

Oil prices climbed and world stocks were mixed on Wednesday, with Asian shares mostly higher even as Wall Street slipped further from last week’s record highs, as investors awaited a crucial US inflation reading and watched for any breakthrough in the stalled Iran war talks.

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The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 0.9% at $89.67 early on Wednesday. US benchmark crude picked up 0.9% to $83.98.

Gold edged up 0.8% to $4,400.44 an ounce, while silver gained 1% to $65.30 an ounce.

Iran has rejected a comment by US President Donald Trump suggesting that, since Tehran is seeking compensation as part of any talks to end the war, Washington would demand the same.

The United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February, a strike that led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and kept much of the world’s oil pent up in the Middle East. Last month alone, Brent’s price swung between $72 and $102 a barrel.

Meanwhile, an attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on a vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, off Yemen’s southern tip, has raised concerns that the violence could reignite civil war and further threaten regional shipping routes.

Higher oil prices worsen inflation, and they have pushed the average cost of a gallon of regular petrol in the US to $4.01, according to AAA — up from less than $3.14 a year ago.

That has Wall Street’s attention fixed on Wednesday, when the US government releases its latest monthly inflation reading. Economists expect it to show inflation slipped to 3.4% in July from 3.5% in June.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% for a second modest drop since setting its all-time high on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 184 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite sank 0.6%.

Cooler inflation could ease pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to tamp down price increases.

Higher rates could curb inflation, but they would also drag on the wider US economy by making it more expensive for households and businesses to borrow, while undercutting prices for stocks and other investments.

Treasury yields have jumped since the war with Iran began, driven by higher oil prices and inflation worries, sending long-term US mortgage rates to their highest levels in a year.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.6% to 67,334.94.

In South Korea, the Kospi jumped more than 4% to 6,597.90 on renewed buying of computer chipmakers. Samsung Electronics gained 7.7% and memory chipmaker SK Hynix rose 7.1%.

Taiwan’s Taiex advanced 0.8%.

The Shanghai Composite index added 0.3% to 3,946.51, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.2% to 25,352.13.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6% to 9,197.00.

In other early Wednesday dealings, the dollar rose to 159.41 yen from 159.30 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1535 from $1.1544.

Additional sources • AP

Memphis Depay has accused Corinthians of “unacceptable behaviour” and of breaching an agreement after the Brazilian club decided against renewing his contract.

The former Manchester United and Barcelona forward joined Corinthians on a two-year deal in 2024, but is now out of contract after he said the club withdrew a previously agreed extension.

“This renewal was explicitly agreed upon by the president as well as the sporting, legal and financial department. Some people decided however to breach this engagement,” Depay wrote on social media.

“I didn’t want this situation and always respected the club throughout the process, but now I am forced to react strongly in order to preserve my interests.

“In the upcoming days I will speak publicly but rest assured that I will not leave this unacceptable behaviour unsanctioned.”

Depay scored 20 goals in 79 appearances for Corinthians and helped them win the Copa do Brasil in 2025 and the Supercopa do Brasil this year.

The Sao Paulo-based club, currently seventh in Brazil’s Serie A, said the decision not to extend the 32-year-old’s contract was because of finances.

“It became clear that taking on a new commitment of this magnitude would not be compatible with the financial balance we need to preserve to ensure the institution’s sustainability,” said a club statement.

“We recognise that this was a difficult decision, but it was undoubtedly necessary for the future of Corinthians.”

Corinthians said club president Osmar Stabile will hold a press conference in the coming days to address the decision.

Depay is the Netherlands’ all-time leading goalscorer but failed to score in three appearances as his side exited the 2026 World Cup in the last 32.

Ukrainian president also says Russia will use its parliamentary election next month as a pretext to declare a new mobilisation.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Kyiv has handed the United States new proposals aimed at ending the four-and-a-half-year war with Russia.

The announcement on Tuesday came amid suggestions by both Ukraine and Russia that US negotiators would soon pay a visit to their two countries.

“We have conveyed our proposals to the American side,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

He said the US could help strengthen Ukraine’s defences, particularly its air defences, while increasing pressure on Moscow so that Russia prepares “for an end to the war rather than prolonging it”.

The Ukrainian leader offered no details on the proposals.

Talks to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022, have largely stalled since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran.

US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were last in Moscow in January and have not yet visited Kyiv.

Ukraine has repeatedly called for a ceasefire after years of fighting. Russia says it wants a settlement, but any solution must involve Ukraine fully ceding four regions Moscow claims as well as resolving the conflict’s “root causes”.

In his address, Zelenskyy also accused Russia of preparing to use its parliamentary elections next month as a pretext for another large-scale military mobilisation.

“They are preparing for mobilisation in the autumn, immediately after the imitation of parliamentary elections,” Zelenskyy said, as part of a plan to “create the appearance that ⁠Russians supposedly support the war”.

Following the “pseudo-election”, Russian President Vladimir Putin “plans an additional rapid mobilisation of several hundred thousand Russians by the end of the year, plus another ⁠similar number next year”, he added.

Officials in Moscow, however, have previously denied that another mobilisation is necessary.

Separately on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump announced that Russia has released former US Marine Robert Gilman after four years in detention.

Trump said Putin agreed to free the 32-year-old “on a humanitarian basis” and that Washington released no prisoners in return.

Gilman was expected to arrive at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, DC, on Tuesday night.

The US had been pressing Moscow to release Gilman so he could receive medical treatment. US officials said he would be evaluated by doctors during the flight before being transferred to a rehabilitation centre in San Antonio, Texas.

Gilman was detained in Russia in January 2022 after an alleged altercation with a police officer and was later designated by Washington as wrongfully detained.

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to its lowest level in a week on Tuesday as vessel operators continued to avoid the strategically vital waterway amid ongoing hostilities in the Middle East.

Kpler data showed that only eight vessels were tracked in the strait on Tuesday, below the 10-day average of around 12 and the lowest daily total since August 5. Of those vessels, only one, a coal carrier, had exited the strait, while the remaining ships were still making their way through.Seven vessels entered the waterway, all using the Iranian route, highlighting the limited movement through the strait as uncertainty over its security continues to weigh on shipping activity.

Separate data from LSEG recorded 11 vessel transits on Tuesday, down from 14 the previous day, also pointing to a slowdown in traffic through the crucial maritime passage.

The decline comes as the United States and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis reported separate attacks, while prospects for an end to the Iran war appeared to weaken. Tehran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed unless Washington accepts its conditions.

Hormuz Traffic Plummets

The scale of the disruption is stark compared with normal shipping activity. Around 130 to 140 vessels typically passed through the Strait of Hormuz before Iran closed the waterway following the start of U.S.-Israeli attacks on February 28.

The sharp reduction in traffic underscores the growing risks facing international shipping and energy markets as vessels avoid one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.

The strait is particularly important for global energy supplies, meaning prolonged restrictions could increase pressure on oil markets and raise transportation and insurance costs for vessels operating in the region.

Red Sea Traffic Holds Up

Shipping activity through the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea showed a different trend.

Kpler data recorded 30 vessels crossing the waterway on Tuesday, above its 10-day average of 25.

The contrasting figures suggest that while some shipping activity continues through alternative routes, the Strait of Hormuz remains heavily affected by the ongoing hostilities and uncertainty surrounding its reopening.

With information from Reuters.

ITV fans are in for a treat as a new five-part thriller with a stellar cast is set to air very soon

ITV have shared a dramatic first look at what fans can expect to see in its upcoming series.

The Party is a five-part thriller following the lifelong friendship between journalist Martin Glimour (Luke Evans) and wealthy politician Ben Fitzmaurice, played by Downton Abbey’s Tom Cullen.

When Martin, who’s been raised by working-class mum Sylvia (Joanna Scanlan), gets a scholarship to an elite boarding school where he meets Ben, the pair forge an unbreakable bond.

As Martin is given a sense of belonging with Ben and his family, he remains loyal to them without question. That is until three decades later when things take a drastic turn.

A synopsis for the ITV show reads: “Martin is invited to Ben’s lavish birthday party at the Fitzmaurices’ country pile. The news of the Conservative leader’s resignation threatens to derail Ben’s Party, as he considers announcing his intention to stand.

“Martin fears the publicity that Ben’s bid would bring, dredging up the secrets of their past with tragic consequences. The drama moves between the shocking events of the Party and the police investigation that follows, with flashbacks to Martin and Ben’s lives at school, university and London party days.

“What unfolds is a gripping exploration of identity, privilege and devotion, combined with a tender ode to anyone who has fought to live authentically.”

Now, ITV have shared some images from the upcoming drama as one shows Martin looking with a concerned look on his face while the shirt he’s wearing is covered in blood.

Another snap shows him in the same clothes, although this time, it seems as though he’s speaking to the police in a questioning room. It raises the question of whose blood that is and what crime has been committed.

Other images include Martin and Ben having an intense conversation with one another at a bar, Ben waving to the crowd on a platform with a woman and a snap of the two main stars in their younger years at school. It wasn’t long before people commented on the first glimpse at the upcoming series, with many sharing their excitement.

One person said: “Incredible! Two supremely talented actors.” Someone else wrote: “We are beyond excited!” Another added: “I loved the book. Luke is surely an amazing Martin.” While a fourth commented: “So excited about this!!”

The Party will air this autumn on ITV1, STV, ITVX and STV Player.

European shares have started August 2026 in almost the opposite way to what their seasonal reputation would suggest.

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The EURO STOXX 50 and DAX are hovering near record highs, while the CAC 40 remains close to its peak. Yet August has historically been one of Europe’s weakest months.

That contradiction raises a more interesting question than whether investors should simply “sell in August”.

The data suggests August is not consistently a bad month. Instead, its poor reputation has been shaped by a small number of extraordinary market shocks.

European markets are defy ‘August curse’

European shares have started August 2026 in almost the opposite way to what their seasonal reputation would suggest.

The EURO STOXX 50 and DAX are hovering near record highs, while the CAC 40 remains close to its peak. Yet August has historically been one of Europe’s weakest months.

That contradiction raises a more interesting question than whether investors should simply “sell in August”.

The data suggests August is not consistently a bad month. Instead, its poor reputation has been shaped by a small number of extraordinary market shocks.

Germany’s DAX, which tracks the 40 largest companies on the Frankfurt exchange, tells the same story going back to 1970.

August has averaged a loss of 1.03%. September has averaged a loss of 1.64%.

France’s CAC 40, which tracks the 40 biggest companies in Paris, has data going back to 1988. August has averaged a loss of 1.22%. September has averaged a loss of 1.38%.

Three different countries, three different stretches of history — and exactly the same ranking. September worst, August second.

Yet August 2026 has looked nothing like that.

On 11 August, the EURO STOXX 50 closed at an all-time high above 6,560 points, up roughly 13% since the start of the year. The DAX moved above 26,450 for the first time, while the CAC 40 finished around 8,740 points.

So who is right — the calendar or the market?

The short answer: the calendar has a much weaker case than it appears.

The average August is not the typical August

An average is only useful when the numbers around it are relatively similar.

Picture five people walking into a room. Four earn €30,000 a year, one earns €1 million. The average income in that room suddenly looks far higher than what most people actually take home.

August equity returns have a similar problem. A handful of extreme crashes drag the long-term average sharply lower.

That is where the median becomes useful. It is simply the middle observation once every August return is ranked from worst to best, so half the years sit below it and half above — a better guide to what a typical August actually looks like.

For the EURO STOXX 50, the median August return is -0.19%, a very different picture from the -1.42% average. The typical August has been close to flat.

Five Augusts explain the damage

Most of the damage comes from five extraordinary episodes.

In August 1998, the EURO STOXX index fell 14.44% as Russia defaulted on domestic debt and devalued the rouble.

In August 1990, it dropped 13.82% after Iraq invaded Kuwait. August 2011 brought a 13.79% fall as the eurozone debt crisis intensified around Italy and Spain. In August 1997, the index lost 9.99% as the Asian financial crisis spread across the region, and in August 2015 it fell 9.19% when China devalued the yuan.

These were not ordinary corrections. They were global shocks that happened to land in August.

Strip out those five years and the EURO STOXX 50’s average August return flips from -1.42% to +0.17%. Five years out of 39 turn a seemingly weak month into a slightly positive one.

Why can August amplify a shock?

The explanation may have less to do with the month itself than with how markets function during the summer.

Europe effectively goes on holiday in August. Trading desks thin out and fewer investors are actively setting prices. That does not cause a sell-off on its own, but it can make markets more sensitive once one begins.

There are also fewer scheduled monetary-policy decisions. The European Central Bank’s latest meeting was in July, with its next scheduled decision not due until September.

The US Federal Reserve follows a similar summer gap, leaving markets with fewer major policy events to anchor expectations at precisely the moment liquidity is thinnest.

Then there is Jackson Hole. The Federal Reserve’s annual conference in Wyoming, held later in August, can become a major market event in its own right, particularly when investors are hunting for clues on interest rates.

This year’s gathering carries extra weight: it is Kevin Warsh’s first Jackson Hole address as Fed chair.

August therefore combines three potentially volatile ingredients: thinner liquidity, fewer scheduled policy events, and the possibility of a significant central bank signal arriving late in the month.

What makes August 2026 different?

The historical pattern is only useful if investors understand what has changed.

European equities entered August at or near record highs, underpinned by strong earnings expectations. Reuters reported that analysts had raised expectations for second-quarter earnings growth across the STOXX 600 to almost 21%, up from 12.5% in May — giving markets a fundamentally stronger backdrop than the historical average would suggest.

But there is another side to the ledger. The Middle East energy shock remains a risk for Europe: higher energy prices could push inflation back up while squeezing consumers and corporate margins at the same time.

Eurozone inflation eased to 2.8% in June, down from 3.2% in May, though a fresh energy shock could complicate the path back to the European Central Bank’s 2% target.

That leaves an unusual setup heading into the rest of the month.

So should investors fear August?

The historical record does not say European stocks must fall this month. In fact, the EURO STOXX 50 and DAX have both finished August higher almost half the time.

What history does show is more subtle: August is not necessarily Europe’s seasonal crash month. It is a month in which rare shocks have historically produced unusually large losses. That distinction matters in 2026.

Investors do not need to predict whether August will end higher or lower. The more useful question is whether markets, having just reached record highs, are sufficiently prepared for an unexpected shock arriving while liquidity is thin.

That is what the August pattern is really warning about — not a calendar effect, but a vulnerability.

After years and years of failure and billions of pounds spent, Paris St-Germain finally won the Champions League in 2025.

And then they became one of only two teams to win consecutive Champions League trophies.

They hammered Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich in 2025 and then beat Arsenal on penalties in Budapest this year.

Only Real Madrid had won the Champions League back-to-back before – winning three in a row from 2016 to 2018.

It is something even the great teams like Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona or Manchester City, or Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, or various Bayern Munich sides have not done.

Joining Real on three is the aim for Luis Enrique’s side this season.

Going back to the start, only three other teams have managed to win three consecutive European Cups – Real Madrid, who won the first five from 1956 to 1960, and Ajax and Bayern Munich both in the 1970s.

In fact if you stretch it out to three European Cups in five years you would only have to add Liverpool (1977, 1978, 1981) to that list.

Why go now?

A thin peninsula just south of Rotterdam’s centre, Katendrecht was once at the heart of the world’s busiest port, home to continental Europe’s first Chinatown and a lively sailors’ quarter. Its later reputation as a red light district has been shrugged off – part of the city’s wider reinvention in the aftermath of extensive second world war bombing.

Still Europe’s largest port, Rotterdam’s maritime history is very much evident today, with the former headquarters of the Holland-America Line now a hotel just a short hop across the Rijnhaven Bridge. The 2012 opening of this pedestrian and bicycle bridge finally connected cut-off Katendrecht to Wilhelminapier, which was a jumping off point for transatlantic migration, and is today a major cruise terminal, with more than 100 ships departing every year.

The opening of the Fenix museum of migration last year and the reopening of the Nederlands Fotomuseum in a new location here in February have accelerated Katendrecht’s rise in status, following on from the entrepreneurs and creatives who have introduced craft breweries, food halls and design boutiques in recent years.

Former warehouses have been transformed – into the aforementioned museums among other venues – and a lively cultural and arts scene has grown as the neighbourhood has seen new residents rediscover the formerly downtrodden area.

With more big construction projects under way, Katendrecht will be transformed further over the next five years, with apartments, shops, a five-star hotel, an urban beach and, notably, the Rotterdam Centre for Dance, Danshuis, on the horizon.

Where to eat and drink

Deliplein is the place to begin – the tree-lined square lies at the heart of the old sailors’ quarter and houses more than 20 restaurants and bars. Originally home to the first Chinese restaurant in the Netherlands, Delistraat is buzzing from morning to night.

Start at Jordy’s Bakery, where flaky pastries, vegan muffins, sourdough sandwiches and speciality coffees will fuel you for the morning. Across the road in the Fenix atrium, O: Anatolian Café is run by the Michelin-starred chef Maksut Aşkar; on the menu are all-day Turkish breakfasts, meze platters, sandwiches and salads at extremely reasonable prices.

Kaapse Brouwers in the Fenix Food Factory is where the post-work crowd heads. Sit on the terrace, admire the waterfront view and explore its range of more than 20 craft beers on tap – from Belgian blonds and New England IPAs to pilsners and sours. And back on Delistraat, Café de Ouwehoer is a classic old-style pub with a nod to the area’s past – and a huge range of whiskeys to boot.

A few doors down, finish your evening at the small but perfectly formed fine-dining establishment De Matroos en Het Meisje (The Sailor and the Girl), which offers a changing daily menu. With the option of choosing from four to six courses, dependent on season and produce, dishes could be charred carrot, cured Japanese fish, creme fraiche and onion, or chicken breast with mushroom beurre blanc, blackberries and crisped rice.

Cultural experiences

Fenix is the obvious first stop. Funded by the philanthropic foundation Droom en Daad (Dream and Do), the museum of immigration opened last May in a renovated historic warehouse and finally gave Katendrecht a real focal point for visitors.

Formerly part of the world’s largest warehouse for cargo transfer, the museum reflects the fact that millions of migrants arrived at and departed from the port in search of a new life. At its heart is the Tornado, a spectacular mirrored spiral staircase, which offers 360-degree views across the neighbourhood, docks and the city. It symbolises the central theme, with architect Ma Yansong describing it as “a metaphor for the journeys of migrants”.

The industrial space is used sparingly to display photography, art and sculpture that communicate the experience of immigration, movement and displacement of peoples. It’s humbling and moving. The exhibition All Directions features more than 100 artists, with stories of the war in Kyiv and refugee camps in Tunisia, Jordan and Lebanon, as well as a lifesize New York bus made from fabric.

The Family of Migrants exhibition showcases more than 200 photos from around the world, depicting the story of migration from the late 19th century to the present day. And the Suitcase Labyrinth has about 2,000 donated cases, dating from 1898 to today, with 30 audio stories detailing the unique past of some of them.

Farther down the waterfront, the newly opened Nederlands Fotomuseum is also in a renovated warehouse – formerly used to store coffee from Brazil – and is topped with a modern anodised aluminium structure. Inside, the exposed brick, rough-edged concrete and steel girders offer a striking contrast to the impressive photography on display.

The original museum opened in 2003, and the collection now comprises more than six million negatives, transparencies, prints, photo albums and other archival matter – visitors are encouraged to look in the depots and studios. Every week, thousands of images are digitised and made available online, while old and damaged photography is conserved and restored.

On the first floor, the Gallery of Honour of Dutch Photography showcases 99 distinguished photographs, selected by a group of experts, spanning 1842 to the digital era. And as you go up the central staircase, which leads all the way to the rooftop restaurant, a mosaic of projected images merely hints at the breadth and depth of photography in storage.

Where to shop

In the Bay House development, close to the Nederlands Fotomuseum, there are a number of designer fashion and vintage furniture stores. Selected With Love has “upcycled” clothing, Caesar sells designer menswear, while The Gallery by Collectors Network is a space for numerous independent dealers selling vintage design pieces – Vintage Hoarder, for example, has 1980s Belgian floor lamps, a 1970s French slate table and 1960s Italian dining chairs.

The museum shops offer the best range of unique purchases. Fenix has items created in collaboration with artists and designers as well as chocolates from Rotterdam, slippers from Greece and tea from small family-run plantations in China.

Don’t miss

Verhalenhuis Belvédère is perhaps the best place to get a sense of where Katendrecht has come from. Dating from 1894, the building was originally a cafe then a jazz club – saved from demolition, it became a cultural centre, community hub and exhibition space in 2009.

As part of its cultural programmes, community meals and storytelling events, Belvédère collects and shares the stories of Rotterdam residents, from the first Cape Verdean migrants to Jewish families and Chinese seafarers.

Where to stay

Of Hotel New York’s 72 rooms, the suites in the former offices of the Holland-America Line’s directors, overlooking the Nieuwe Maas river, and the two tower rooms are the ones to book. Rooms from €110.

On the western tip of Katendrecht, the former cruise ship SS Rotterdam is permanently moored and is now a 254-room hotel that retains much of its original styling, with wood panelling throughout, and the public spaces – bars, restaurants, theatre – are like stepping back in time. Tours are available. Rooms from €73. The five-star Eurostars hotel is expected to open in the autumn, next door to the Nederlands Fotomuseum and right by the Rijnhaven metro station, which connects easily to Rotterdam Centraal train station.

The trip was hosted by the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions

SEOUL, Aug. 11 (UPI) — North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, the militaries of Seoul and Tokyo said, its second such launch in less than a week as the United States and South Korea gear up to kick off their major summertime joint military drill.

The missile was fired from the Wonsan area on North Korea’s east coast at around 6 a.m., South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message to reporters.

“The detected North Korean missile flew over 700 kilometers (435 miles), and South Korea and the U.S. are currently conducting a detailed analysis regarding its exact specifications,” the JCS said.

The military did not specify the type of missile involved, although the distance the projectile traveled falls within the range of short-range ballistic missiles.

South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities tracked and shared information on the launch from its initial stage, while Seoul also exchanged information related to the ballistic missile with Japan, the military added.

“Under a robust South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture, the military is closely monitoring North Korea’s various movements and maintaining the capability and readiness to overwhelmingly respond to any provocation,” the JCS said.

Japan’s Defense Ministry also detected the launch, saying the missile flew about 429 miles, reached a maximum altitude of roughly 56 miles and fell outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi condemned the launch at a press briefing, saying the North’s weapons tests “threaten the peace and security of our country, the region, and the international community.”

Koizumi said the launch violated relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and noted that Japan had lodged a strong protest with North Korea through diplomatic channels at its embassy in Beijing.

Hawaii-based U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said it detected the launch and was consulting with regional allies and partners.

“Based on current assessments, this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies,” the command said in a statement.

The launch came days before the United States and South Korea are set to begin their annual summertime joint military drills. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise kicks off Monday and will focus on preparing for evolving threats from North Korea, military officials said earlier this week.

North Korea routinely denounces the allies’ joint exercises as rehearsals for an invasion and frequently responds with weapons tests. On Thursday, Pyongyang fired a short-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea.

The allies stressed that the joint exercise is defensive in nature.

“We’re up here today announcing Ulchi Freedom Shield to the entire world before it even starts,” U.S. Forces spokesman Col. Ryan Donald said at a press briefing Monday. “UFS is not a pretext, it’s not a provocation. It’s a transparent, longstanding defensive training event.”

New Delhi, India – The vapour heat treatment (VHT) facility in Rehmanpur village of Lucknow, the capital of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh – used to sterilise fruit and vegetables – was preparing for the busiest time of the year when Japanese quarantine inspectors turned up in March.

Export documents had been cleared, shipping schedules finalised, and growers in the western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat reserved their best Alphonso and Kesar mangoes for export to Japan, one of Asia’s premium markets.

Everything appeared set for the season to begin when production ground to a halt. Japanese inspectors reviewing the fumigation, disinfection and certification procedures raised concerns about the whole process, prompting Japan to suspend imports of the fruits.

However, on March 31, the plant protection authorities in Yokohama sent a formal letter, saying all Indian mango shipments bearing inspection certificates issued on or after March 25 would be barred until inspectors could confirm that operational standards had improved.

It was the first major disruption in India-Japan mango trade in nearly two decades. In 1986, imports of the fruit were barred over fruit fly concerns. Restrictions were lifted in 2006 after the country built VHT infrastructure, strengthened pest surveillance and agreed to annual inspections.

Japan ‘gave us credibility’

The 2026 halt now affects six approved varieties of mango – Alphonso, Kesar, Langra, Banganapalli, Chausa and Mallika – covering the peak export window of April through to June.

Japan imported roughly $1.54m worth of fresh and processed mango products from India between 2025 and 2026. It might appear to be a modest sum, but the Japanese market holds huge significance for the rest of the global trade. Japan pays premium prices for mangoes and the country’s approval signals quality to the rest of the world.

The suspension came at an already challenging time for mango farmers in India. Sustained heatwaves through the Konkan belt had destroyed much of Maharashtra’s Alphonso crop. Geopolitical disruptions in West Asia had pushed freight costs higher, and exporters who had spent years establishing relations with the Japanese suddenly faced cancelled contracts and inventories rotting in storage.

Vikram Shah, a Mumbai-based exporter who shipped about 2.5 tonnes of mangoes to Japan in 2025, highlighted the importance of its market.

“Japan was never our biggest market in terms of quantity, but it was the one that gave us credibility,” Shah told Al Jazeera. “We spent six years building trust with buyers there. I travelled to Osaka twice, sat with importers, visited their cold storage facilities and learned exactly what they expected from us. Relationships like that take years to build and can disappear in a single season.”

Rajesh Patil, an Alphonso grower in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, said his family had cultivated mangoes on a three-acre (1.2-hectare) orchard along the Konkan coast for two generations. The Japanese market, he said, consistently delivered far higher returns than domestic auctions, leading him to invest heavily in meeting Japan’s stringent import standards.

“We upgraded the orchard because Japan rewarded quality,” Patil said. “I spent nearly ₹80,000 [$840] on grading and handling equipment, attended pest-management training sessions, and changed the way we harvest and pack fruit,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The Japanese market paid almost twice what I could earn locally. When you make those investments, you expect the system supporting exports to be as reliable as the fruit you grow.”

China objects to rice

On April 17, China revoked the import licences of three Indian rice exporters after the General Administration of Customs rejected their consignments, claiming traces of genetically modified organisms (GMO).

The exporters disputed the finding, pointing out that their shipments received GMO-free certification before their departure and that the Indian government also said all domestic paddy and rice fields are free of genetic modification.

Rice makes up more than 20 percent of India’s agricultural exports, with a record-breaking $12.5bn of it shipped in the last financial year (2025-26). The three suspended exporters now face an uncertain path back into China, rattling their community.

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), under India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, notified the companies and, on June 8, published a list of laboratories approved for GMO tests on China-bound shipments.

SK Singh, an agricultural scientist in New Delhi, told Al Jazeera the dispute exposed weaknesses in India’s testing system.

“Our labs built expertise in pesticide residue and aflatoxin testing because that’s what most markets wanted,” he said. “China’s demand for GMO verification calls for a different scale of capacity.”

The exporters’ certificates came from accredited labs even if the certification network remains uneven, he added.

Only a handful of facilities, concentrated in New Delhi and Hyderabad in the southeastern state of Telangana, run the required protein analysis, forcing exporters in northern Punjab and Haryana states to ship samples hundreds of kilometres away.

Fragmented supply chain

There were other warning signs before the crisis hit mangoes and rice.

Hong Kong suspended several Indian spice products over pesticide residues, and testing found quality deviations in nearly 12 percent of the samples. The European Union also raised the inspection frequency on Indian cumin to 30 percent in January 2025, following 312 spice alerts on its rapid alert system in 2024.

Ananya Bose, a food safety scientist in Kochi in the southern state of Kerala, traced the problem to a fragmented supply chain.

“A farmer sells to an aggregator, who sells to a trader, who supplies a processor. Somewhere in that chain, the record of what was sprayed disappears,” she said. “The trail is detailed until the first sale, then it effectively ends.”

Bose has pushed for mandatory digital pesticide records, since regulators abroad expect traceability from field to shipment, a standard many states still treat as optional.

These setbacks may read as isolated incidents, but they expose a gap between India’s agricultural strength and the traceability, food safety and certification standards that Japan, the EU, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada now demand. Those standards are tightened by consumer pressure for transparency, climate-driven pest concerns, food-security strategy and the COVID pandemic.

At the same time, competitors have moved faster, with Thailand building a nationwide traceability programme, Vietnam investing in farmers’ training, and Brazil and Chile pouring money into cold-chain systems.

India’s progress has lagged with just 207 registered pack houses, 72 percent of them concentrated in Maharashtra. Moreover, scarce cold storage facilities and logistical costs eat up roughly 15 percent of export value, almost double that of advanced nations. Small farmers owning less than 2 hectares (5 acres) of land make up more than 86 percent of India’s cultivators, making standardisation difficult at scale.

“India built its strategy around producing more, while premium markets reward proving quality along the way,” agricultural economist Anil Gupta told Al Jazeera.

Gupta pointed to some real gains: recognised laboratories grew from 22 to 89 over the past decade, and approved export certificates climbed from roughly 61,000 to more than 170,000.

“The progress is measurable, but so is the scale of the challenge,” he said. “These improvements mark a beginning, well short of the finish line.”

Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, a senior official in the government’s Department of Commerce, has called for tighter controls on antibiotic residues, pesticides and aflatoxins in spices, tea, fruits and vegetables. He said funds have been set aside to upgrade laboratories, though without a timeline.

“The government is strengthening the system from testing to inspection and traceability. We are tightening controls on antibiotic and pesticide residues and aflatoxins, expanding laboratory capacity, introducing risk-based inspections and using digital systems and rapid screening to identify problems faster. The objective is to help exporters meet stricter global food-safety standards while protecting India’s access to international markets,” said Ghosh.

India still holds just 2.4 percent of global agri-exports despite ranking as the world’s second-largest agricultural producer, with processed exports stuck near 17 percent, against 25 percent in the US and 50 percent in China.

And growers are facing the fallout.

Gujarat’s Kesar mango farmers lost their strongest Japanese buyer. A basmati rice farmer in Haryana’s Karnal said local prices had already dropped 8 percent. And a turmeric processor in Kerala’s Erode said residue testing cost him 15,000 rupees ($157) last quarter, almost 10 percent of his profit.

Agriculture still employs about 42 percent of India’s workforce while producing less than a fifth of the national output.

“This is about far more than a few rejected shipments,” Gupta said. “The countries that succeed will consistently meet the standards global buyers demand.”

Indian farmers have long proven they can grow for the world. The task now is building systems that convince the world to keep buying.

FORMER glamour model Katie Price was seen putting on a very cosy display with Wayne Lineker as she took her son Harvey to party at O Beach in Ibiza.

The reality TV star looked as though she was having the time of her life on the party isle as she got behind the DJ decks.

Harvey, Katie and Wayne cuddled up onstage as they faced the huge crowds gathered.

Katie’s eldest son was movin’ and grovin’ to the tunes and fans were going wild.

In clips shared on Instagram by Katie’s pal Lou Roy, they pair could be seen dancing as she planted a sweet kiss on Harvey’s lips.

Lou dubbed Harvey the “main man” as he got the crowd riled up and ready to party.

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The O Beach girls even surprised Harvey, 24, in matching swimsuits, holding up the letters of his name.

Harvey looked over-the-moon and threw his hands up in the air with joy.

Elsewhere, club owner Wayne wrapped his arms around Katie’s waist as she whispered in his ear.

Wayne gave a cheeky grin as the mum-of-five got up close and personal in her skimpy mint-coloured bikini.

She paired the tiny two-piece that barely covered her modesty, with a sheer white cover-up.

In another snap, Wayne, 63, was sandwiched in between Katie and her pal as they smiled for the camera.

Katie, 48, rested her head on Wayne’s shoulder as she took a brief break from tearing up the dance floor.

While the podcast host and party legend Wayne certainly looked cosy the pair are old pals.

They move in similar celebrity circles and she often visits Wayne at his famous Ibiza club.