Nine years after footballer Neymar moved from Brazil to Barcelona, he faces trial for alleged irregularities surrounding the transfer. In a legal saga that has dragged on for years, the Brazilian international who now plays for Paris Saint-Germain is accused of fraud and corruption. The trial is due to take place for two weeks from 17 October, a month before the World Cup in Qatar. Several other figures are also due to stand trial. Two former presidents of Barcelona football club, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, as well as Neymar’s parents face the same allegations, according to Spanish reports. All those involved in the case have long denied the allegations, made by investment fund DIS, which argued it was entitled to 40% of Neymar’s 2013 transfer fee when he left Brazilian club Santos.(BBC)…[+]

Ukraine says work has started at three ports aimed at forming “green corridors” to allow grain exports. A spokesperson for the Odesa military administration said naval teams will build routes out of southern ports in Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi. Once the routes are established, “caravans” of ships led by Ukrainian naval vessels will sail through the Black Sea, Serhiy Bratchuk said. Kyiv and Moscow struck a deal to allow the grain exports last week. Under the deal, which was brokered by Turkey and the UN, Russia agreed not to target ports while grain was in transit, while Ukraine pledged to guide cargo ships through waters that have been mined. However, the agreement was thrown into chaos less than 24 hours after the deal was signed, when two Russian missiles targeted a port in the city of Odesa.(BBC)…[+]

The US Justice Department is examining Donald Trump’s actions in connection with efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, say US media. Federal prosecutors have reportedly asked witnesses directly about the behaviour of the former US president. So far, they have chosen not to open a formal criminal investigation into Mr Trump himself. Rioters stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in an effort to overturn the president’s election defeat. No former US president has ever been indicted for criminal conduct. Mr Trump has publicly praised those who attacked the building, but denies any personal wrongdoing. The Justice Department already has a criminal investigation into what happened on 6 January. The reports that witnesses are being questioned about Mr Trump’s role does not mean that federal prosecutors will decide to pursue criminal charges against him.

More than 3,800 monkeypox cases have been reported in the US, the most of any country around the globe, government health data shows. The rising number of cases has reportedly prompted the Biden administration to mull declaring a national health emergency. The virus has already been classified as a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). To date, more than 18,000 cases have been reported in 75 countries. According to data published online by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of 25 July there were 3,846 confirmed or suspected monkeypox cases in the US. The figure – which comes amid expanded testing in addition to the growing outbreak of the virus – is now ahead of that of Spain, where 3,105 cases have so far been reported.(BBC)…[+]

Russia says it will withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 and build its own station instead. The US and Russia, along with other partners, have successfully worked together on the ISS since 1998. But relations have soured since Russia invaded Ukraine, and Russia previously threatened to quit the project because of Western sanctions against it. Nasa said it had not yet received any official notice of Russia’s intention to withdraw from the programme. The ISS – a joint project involving five space agencies – has been in orbit around Earth since 1998 and has been used to conduct thousands of scientific experiments. It is approved to operate until 2024, but the US wants to extend that for six more years with the agreement of all partners.(BBC)…[+]

More than 200 people have been killed in gang violence in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, in the space of 10 days, United Nations figures reveal. Almost half of those who died were residents without ties to the gangs which are fighting for control of the Cité Soleil neighbourhood, the UN says.  Locals say they are running out of drinking water and food as deliveries have been halted amid the shoot-outs. One resident described his life as “a cycle of fear, stress and despair”.Gang violence had already shot up since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse by mercenaries a year ago, but it has reached shocking new levels since a battle erupted on 8 July between two criminal alliances, known as G9 and G-Pèp.(BBC)…[+]

Shops in France will be ordered to close doors when using air conditioning and limit neon lighting in a bid to cut energy waste, a minister has said. These rules, already in place in some areas, will be rolled out across France, Minister of Ecological Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. Energy costs in Europe have spiralled since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Shops will be fined up to €750 (£640) for breaking the air-conditioning rule. Leaving doors open when air conditioning is on is “absurd”, Ms Pannier-Runacher told local radio station RMC. She will issue two decrees on energy waste in the coming days, she told the Journal du Dimanche.(BBC)…[+]

Moscow has charged 92 members of the Ukrainian armed forces with crimes against humanity, the head of Russia’s investigative committee has said. Alexander Bastrykin told government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta over 1,300 criminal investigations had begun. He also proposed an international tribunal backed by countries including Iran, Syria and Bolivia – traditional allies of Russia. Ukraine is also conducting its own war crimes investigations. As well as the 92 who have already been charged by Russia, some 96 people, including 51 armed forces commanders, are wanted, Mr Bastrykin said. The Ukrainians were involved in “crimes against the peace and security of humanity”, he told the paper. The BBC has been unable to verify claims made in the interview and Kyiv has not commented. But this month, Ukraine said it was examining more than 21,000 war crimes and crimes of aggression allegedly committed by Russian forces since the start of the invasion in February. And in May, the first war crimes trial since the invasion began took place in Ukraine, where a court jailed a Russian tank commander for life for killing a civilian. The International Criminal Court (ICC), which has described Ukraine as a “crime scene”, has also sent a team of investigators and forensics experts to Ukraine.(BBC)…[+]

Japanese police are turning to tranquiliser guns in an attempt to stem the tide of wild monkey attacks that have been terrorising residents. In recent weeks, 42 people have been reported injured in Yamaguchi city – including children and the elderly. The attacks are being blamed on Japanese macaques. However, while they are a common sight in large parts of the country, incidents like these are unusual. “It’s rare to see this many attacks in a short period of time,” said one city official, declining to give their name. “Initially only children and women were attacked. Recently elderly people and adult men have been targeted too.” Attempts to capture the animals with traps ended in failure and police patrols implemented since the first attack in early July have failed to deter the culprits.(BBC)…[+]

A diplomatic row has erupted between Iraq and Turkey after nine civilians were killed when artillery shells hit a park in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Most of the victims were Iraqi tourists and children were among the dead. At least 23 people were wounded. Local officials blamed Turkish forces and Iraq is recalling its charge d’affaires from Ankara. Turkey is suggesting that forces belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) carried out the strike. The “fierce artillery bombing” hit a park in Zakho, a city on the border between Iraq’s Kurdistan region and Turkey, Iraq state TV said. Children, including a one-year-old baby, were among the victims, the Kurdish health minister said. Hassan Tahsin Ali, a man injured in the attack, called the attacks “indiscriminate”. “Our young people are dead, our children are dead, who should we turn to? We have only God,” he told the AFP news agency from in front of a hospital.(BBC)…[+]