Spanish football club Barcelona sold 25 percent of Barca Studios, which manages the club's digital business and audiovisual productions, to Socios.com for $102.5 million dollars (100 million euros), club's president Joan Laporta has said.

Club members had voted to allow the sale of 49 percent of the shares.

"For the moment, we have sold 25 percent to Socios.com," Laporta said at the press conference on Monday to present Jules Kounde, bought for a reported $51.2 million (50 million euros) from Sevilla, as a Barcelona player.

Earlier this summer, the deeply indebted club sold 15 percent of its La Liga TV revenue to the American investment fund Sixth Street in two tranches or a total of 400m euros before going on a transfer spree.

In addition to Kounde, Barcelona have bought Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich and Raphinha from Leeds and signed AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie and Chelsea's Danish central defender Andreas Christensen on free transfers.

Drive to raise money

While the deals with Sixth Street are for 25 years, the sale to the Socios.com platform is permanent.

"It's a sale for ever," Laporta said. "There would be a way to recover this 25 percent but for the moment this operation means the entry of a new partner, Socios.com, which has injected 100 million euros," he said.

Socios.com is a platform that allows clubs to increase their interaction with fans and try to make more money from it, including the use of Fan Tokens, a kind of digital asset based on blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

In its drive to raise money quickly, Barcelona has taken a $611 million (595 million euro) loan from investment bank Goldman Sachs and signed a sponsorship deal worth an estimated $446 million (435 million euros) with streaming service Spotify.

In August 2021, Laporta announced that an audit of the club's finances showed Barca faced an estimated debt of $1.39 billion (1.35 billion euros).

They allowed Lionel Messi to leave for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 because they could not afford to keep the Argentine star, even on a reduced salary.

Source: agencies

As part of a recent deal brokered by Türkiye, the first ship carrying Ukrainian grain has departed from the port of Odessa to Lebanon.

Loaded with corn, the Sierra Leone-flagged dry cargo ship Razoni left Odessa on Monday morning, as agreed by the sides of the accord, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.

"The ship Razoni has left the port of Odessa bound for Tripoli in Lebanon. It is expected in Istanbul on August 2. It will then continue its journey after it has been inspected in Istanbul," the ministry said.

The Razoni, built in 1996 and measuring 186 metres in length and 25 metres in width, is carrying 26,527 tonnes of corn.

The grain-loaded ship will be in Istanbul at 12:00 GMT on Tuesday, Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said at Anadolu Agency's Editors' Desk in the capital Ankara on Monday.

"The ship will be anchored off the coast of Istanbul around 1500 (local time) for a joint inspection," Akar said. "The next ships will continue likewise without any disruptions."

He said that the efforts on grain shipments from Ukraine will continue, adding that this matter is a "humanitarian issue."

On grains and chemicals awaiting shipment out of Russian ports, Akar said Türkiye would "be glad" to contribute on that issue as well.

UN, Ukraine hail shipment

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres "warmly welcomes" the departure of the Razoni ship, a spokesperson said on Monday.

"The Secretary-General hopes that this will be the first of many commercial ships moving in accordance with the initiative signed, and that this will bring much-needed stability and relief to global food security, especially in the most fragile humanitarian contexts," the UN said in a statement.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also hailed the departure of the first shipment of grain as a "relief for the world".

"The day of relief for the world, especially for our friends in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, as the first Ukrainian grain leaves Odesa after months of Russian blockade," Kuleba tweeted.

Ankara-brokered landmark deal

Türkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny — for grain that has been stuck for months because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is now in its sixth month.

To oversee Ukrainian grain exports, a joint coordination centre in Istanbul was officially opened on Wednesday, comprising representatives of Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine.

The centre will enable the safe transportation, by merchant ships, of commercial foodstuffs and fertilisers from the three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.

The blockage of deliveries from two of the world's biggest grain exporters has contributed to a spike in prices that has made food imports prohibitively expensive for some of the world's poorest countries.

UN estimates say nearly 50 million people began to face "acute hunger" around the world as a direct consequence of the conflict.

Wheat prices fell sharply hours after the grain deal was signed.

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has thanked Türkiye for its efforts and leadership as a nascent deal to resume grain exports from Ukraine saw its first ship depart from the port of Odessa.

The departure of the Sierra Leone-flagged dry cargo ship Razoni marked an "important starting point" for the agreement, Guterres said on Monday. 

"It must be the first of many commercial ships bringing relief and stability to global food markets," he added.

"Today's departure is an enormous collective achievement by the Joint Coordination Center, set up last week in Istanbul under United Nations auspices, with representatives from Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and Türkiye," the UN chief told reporters.

"Ensuring that grain, fertilisers, and other food-related items are available at reasonable prices to developing countries is a humanitarian imperative. People on the verge of famine need these agreements to work in order to survive," he said.

The Razoni is due to arrive in Istanbul on Tuesday for an inspection under the historic Ankara-brokered agreement to facilitate grain and foodstuff exports. The vessel is bound for the Lebanese port of Tripoli in the country's north.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny — for grain that has been stuck for months because of ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is now in its sixth month.

First shipment welcomed

The European Union and NATO welcomed the grain shipment's departure as a "first step" towards easing the food crisis.

EU spokesperson Peter Stano, however, cautions the bloc still expects the "implementation of the whole deal and resumption of Ukrainian exports to the customers around the world."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, Western allies "strongly support the full implementation of the deal to ease the global food crisis caused by Russia's war in Ukraine".

"I thank our Ally #Türkiye for its pivotal role," he continued in a tweet.

Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Twitter that the first grain ship has left, adding: "Thanks to the support of all our partner countries & @UN we were able to full implement the Agreement signed in Istanbul."

Russia, for its part, said the first grain ship to leave Odessa was "very positive" news.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he hoped the agreement will be implemented by all sides.

"This is a good opportunity to test the implementation of the agreements that were agreed upon at the Istanbul talks," Peskov said.

Source: agencies

A UK court has ruled to end life support for a 12-year-old boy despite opposition from his parents and a last-minute intervention by the United Nations.

The Court of Appeal in London decided on Monday that doctors can switch off life support for Archie Battersbee from 1100 GMT on Tuesday.

Archie had been due to have his life support at the Royal London Hospital ended Monday afternoon after his parents failed in a domestic legal bid to halt the move.

As a last resort, Archie's parents applied to the United Nations and the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The UN committee requested on Friday that his treatment be continued while Archie's case was under consideration.

The UK government then asked the Court of Appeal to "urgently consider" his case Monday afternoon. An appeal court judge argued the UN request was not enforceable but granted a delay until 12 noon tomorrow.

The Court of Appeal is a High Court based at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

Archie's parents can still ask the UK Supreme Court if it will hear the case. If it agrees, the deadline would likely be extended again.

'It's so traumatic'

Archie's mother, Hollie Dance, discovered him unconscious at home in April with signs he had placed a ligature over his head, possibly after taking part in an online asphyxiation challenge.

UK courts earlier found that ending life-preserving treatment for Archie was in his best interests as doctors believe he is brain-stem dead.

In an interview with Sky News, Dance condemned what she called the "choreographed execution of my son".

"It's so traumatic: to just be dragged through courts, no empathy, no compassion," she said.

The case is the latest in the UK that has pitted the judgment of doctors against the wishes of families. 

In several cases, including this one, the families have been backed by a campaign organisation, the Christian Legal Centre. The centre's chief executive, Andrea Williams, tweeted that the case "goes right to the heart of protections at end of life".

Under British law, it is common for courts to intervene when parents and doctors disagree on the treatment of a child. In such cases, the rights of the child take primacy over the parents’ right to decide what’s best for their offspring.

Source: agencies

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there could be no winners in a nuclear war and no such war should ever be started.

The Kremlin leader made the comment in a letter to participants of a conference on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), more than five months into Ukraine conflict.

"We proceed from the fact that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed, and we stand for equal and indivisible security for all members of the world community," he said.

The United Nations is holding the 10th review conference of the treaty, which came into force in 1970.

The review is being held amid rising concerns about the spread of nuclear technology, especially in Iran and North Korea, and China's rapid expansion of its nuclear arsenal.

Putin's letter to the NPT forum appeared aimed at striking a reassuring note and portraying Russia as a responsible nuclear power.

They contrasted with earlier statements by Putin and other Russian politicians that have been interpreted in the West as implicit nuclear threats.

Biden seeks talks on new framework

In a speech on February 24, as he launched the Russian attacks on Ukraine, Putin pointedly referred to Russia's nuclear arsenal and warned outside powers that any attempt to interfere would "lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history."

Days later, he ordered Russia's nuclear forces to be put on high alert.

The conflict has raised geopolitical tensions to levels not seen since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, with politicians in both Russia and the United States speaking publicly of the risk of World War Three.

CIA director William Burns said in April that given the setbacks Russia had suffered in Ukraine, "none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons."

Russia, whose military doctrine allows for the use of nuclear weapons in the event of an existential threat to the Russian state, has accused the West of waging a "proxy war" against it by arming Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Moscow.

Earlier on Monday, a Russian foreign ministry source questioned the seriousness of comments by US President Joe Biden calling for talks on a nuclear arms control framework to replace a treaty expiring in 2026. 

In April, Russia conducted a first test launch of its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, capable of mounting nuclear strikes against the United States, and said it planned to deploy the weapons by autumn.

Source: agencies

India has confirmed its first monkeypox death, a young man in the southern state of Kerala, in what is only the fourth known fatality from the disease in the current outbreak.

Last week, Spain reported two monkeypox-related deaths and Brazil its first. The death in India is also the first in Asia. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global health emergency on July 23.

The 22-year-old Indian man died on Saturday, Kerala's revenue minister told reporters, adding that the government had isolated 21 people who had come in contact with him.

"The person reached Kerala on July 21 but visited a hospital only on July 26 when he displayed fatigue and fever," Minister K Rajan said, adding that there was no reason to panic as none of the primary contacts were showing symptoms.

Kerala's health minister, Veena George, told reporters on Sunday that the man's family told authorities the previous day that he had tested positive in the United Arab Emirates before returning to India.

Five more infected

India's federal health ministry had no comment on the death, except for saying that the government had formed a task force of senior officials to monitor monkeypox cases in the country, where local media have reported at least five infections.

The WHO said late last month 78 countries had reported more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox, the majority in Europe.

It says the monkeypox virus causes a disease with less severe symptoms than smallpox and occurs mainly in central and west Africa. The disease is transmitted from animals to humans.

Human-to-human transmission happens through contact with bodily fluids, lesions on the skin or on internal mucosal surfaces, such as in the mouth or throat, respiratory droplets and contaminated objects.

Source: agencies

California's largest wildfire this year has claimed two lives after exploding in size over the weekend and forcing thousands to evacuate their homes.

Firefighters in the state's north battled to gain control of the McKinney Fire on Monday.

Whipped up by strong winds and lightning storms, the fire ripped through the state's dry terrain on Sunday to spread over some 52,500 acres of Klamath National Forest near the town of Yreka — and was zero percent contained as of Sunday night according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

It had broken out Friday near the border with Oregon. 

Emergency declared

Nearly 650 people were working to douse the blaze as of Sunday, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency, saying the fire threatens "critical infrastructure."

More than 2,000 residents of rural neighbourhoods in the area were under evacuation orders, according to the California Office of Emergency Services, mostly in Siskiyou County.

The US Forest Service said thick smoke had helped to limit the growth of the fire on Sunday, but also meant that firefighters' aircraft were "mostly grounded."

California, which is facing a punishing drought, still has months of fire season ahead of it. The state and other parts of the western United States have been ravaged by huge and fast-moving wildfires in recent years, driven by years of drought and exacerbated by a warming climate.

Source: agencies

UN head Antonio Guterres has warned that a misunderstanding could spark nuclear destruction as the United States, Britain and France urged Russia to stop "its dangerous nuclear rhetoric and behaviour."

At the opening of a key nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference in New York, Guterres warned that the world faced "a nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War."

Citing Russia's attacks on Ukraine and tensions on the Korean peninsula and in the Middle East, Guterres said he feared that crises "with nuclear undertones" could escalate.

"Today, humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation," Guterres told the tenth review conference of the NPT, an international treaty that came into force in 1970 to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

"We have been extraordinarily lucky so far. But luck is not a strategy. Nor is it a shield from geopolitical tensions boiling over into nuclear conflict," he added, calling on nations to "put humanity on a new path towards a world free of nuclear weapons."

In January, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France — had pledged to prevent the further dissemination of nuclear weapons.

'No winners'

The three also took aim at Russia, which announced it had placed its nuclear forces on alert shortly after its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, urging Moscow to respect its international commitments under the NPT.

"Following Russia's unprovoked and unlawful war of aggression against Ukraine, we call on Russia to cease its irresponsible and dangerous nuclear rhetoric and behaviour," they said.

President Vladimir Putin insisted that Russia remained faithful to the treaty's "letter and spirit" and that there could be "no winners" in a nuclear war, according to the Kremlin.

While many speeches focused on Russia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also denounced North Korea, which "continues to expand its unlawful nuclear program" and Iran, which "remains on a path of nuclear escalation."

"And so we come together at a critical moment," he said.

Earlier, in a statement, US President Joe Biden called on Russia and China to enter nuclear arms control talks.

Source: AFP

Chilean authorities started investigating a mysterious sinkhole about 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter that appeared over the weekend in a mining area in the north of the country.

Chilean media on Monday showed aerial images of the sinkhole on land operated by a Canadian Lundin Mining copper mine, about 665 kilometers (413 miles) north of capital Santiago.

The National Service of Geology and Mining (Sernageomin) became aware of the sinkhole on Saturday and has sent specialist personnel to the area, the agency's director David Montenegro said in a statement.

"There is a considerable distance, approximately 200 meters (656 feet), to the bottom," Montenegro said. "We haven't detected any material down there, but we have seen the presence of a lot of water."

Sernageomin reported the closure of areas from the entrance to the work site of the Alcaparrosa mine, located near the sinkhole.

In a statement released on Monday afternoon, Lundin Mining said the sinkhole did not affect any workers or community members.

"The closest home is more than 600 meters (1,969 feet) away while any populated area or public service are almost a kilometer away from the affected zone," the statement read.

Lundin Mining owns 80 percent of the property and the rest is held by Japan's Sumitomo Corporation.

Source: Reuters