Grows

Bangladesh is moving toward formal negotiations with China over a potential purchase of J-10CE fighters and attack helicopters, in what could become one of the country’s most significant defense acquisitions in years. The development also underscores the growing international interest in a Chinese fighter that has gained considerable attention since seeing combat in Pakistani service last year.

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister’s Information and Broadcasting Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman said Tuesday that a government panel is preparing a draft agreement that could pave the way for negotiations with Beijing. The government has not disclosed how many aircraft it intends to acquire, the potential value of the deal, or a delivery schedule, with those details expected to be determined during negotiations.

Local reporting has previously pointed to a potential requirement for as many as 24 J-10CEs.

If ultimately contracted and delivered, Bangladesh would become only the second confirmed foreign customer of the export version of the J-10C, after Pakistan. However, there has been growing speculation about other potential customers, too, fueled by imagery showing apparent export-standard J-10s being tested in China.

The potential acquisition comes as Bangladesh seeks to modernize its aging combat aircraft fleet. Dhaka already maintains a long-standing defense relationship with Beijing, which has supplied Bangladesh with combat aircraft, naval vessels, tanks, missile systems, and other military equipment over the past two decades.

The J-10CE is a much more capable proposition than many of the older fighters still operated by air forces that have historically relied on Chinese or Soviet-designed equipment, of which Bangladesh is a prime example. Currently, the Bangladesh Air Force’s fighter fleet is made up of different versions of the Chengdu F-7 (an updated Chinese version of the MiG-21 Fishbed) and much smaller numbers of MiG-29 Fulcrums.

Maintaining aging Soviet-designed fleets increasingly presents challenges in terms of airframe life, avionics, spare parts, weapons, and overall readiness. Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine and accompanying sanctions serve to make Russia an even less reliable source of military aircraft and other arms.

The J-10C is a single-engine multirole fighter equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, modern avionics, electronic warfare capabilities, and the ability to employ a growing range of Chinese precision-guided weapons. The export J-10CE also provides access to weapons such as the much-vaunted PL-15 beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile.

The aircraft’s growing reputation has been helped considerably by Pakistan.

Pakistan became the first foreign operator of the J-10CE, and the aircraft received intense international attention during the May 2025 conflict between Pakistan and India. Pakistan said its Chinese-made fighters were involved in shooting down several Indian aircraft, while the precise circumstances, numbers, and tactics involved remain the subject of competing claims and outside analysis.

Nevertheless, the conflict provided the J-10CE with an unusual degree of combat visibility for a Chinese export fighter. Now, Bangladeshi officials have explicitly acknowledged that the aircraft’s reported performance during that conflict has attracted attention in Dhaka.

The J-10CE is also particularly well positioned within China’s emerging fighter-export portfolio.

China is developing more advanced stealth aircraft, including the FC-31/J-35 family, but that program represents a different proposition for prospective customers, coming with greater cost and potential uncertainty attached. The J-10C is a much more mature design already in operational foreign service, giving China an aircraft that can be offered today rather than relying entirely on future capabilities.

That combination of modern systems and an established production line could prove attractive to countries that need to replace aging fighters without taking on the financial, political, or industrial commitments associated with acquiring a Western combat aircraft.

As well as the potential Bangladesh deal, Uzbekistan has been linked to the J-10CE.

For months, Chinese military aviation observers have speculated that Tashkent could become another customer for the fighter. More recently, imagery of an aircraft carrying the serial number 1020 has generated renewed interest, with low-visibility markings on its tailfin appearing to resemble the Uzbek flag.

The waters far away from El Niño’s Pacific hunting ground are also extremely warm, including around the UK and Europe.

The western English Channel has seen almost continuous marine heatwave conditions for more than three years, peaking at 7C above normal in July, according to Prof Tim Smyth, director of science at Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

“This is unprecedented,” he added.

Scientists say such widespread warmth around the planet is a clear sign of the growing effect that human-caused climate change is having on the world’s seas.

The oceans take up more than 90% of the excess heat trapped by humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels.

“The latest Copernicus data reinforce the troubling upward trend in ocean temperatures,” said Smyth.

Warmer seas help to fuel more extreme weather. They can provide storms with extra moisture and energy, and can intensify heatwaves on land in some coastal regions by reducing the cooling effect of sea breezes.

Warmer water also takes up more space, raising sea levels and bringing a greater risk of coastal flooding – while intense ocean heat can be devastating for sea habitats, such as coral reefs.

The increasing frequency of marine heatwaves is already “putting increasing pressure on marine ecosystems and the communities that depend on them”, Burgess said.

Oceania have offered support to Gianni Infantino, but New Zealand have gone against their own confederation in FIFA row.

New Zealand has become the latest nation to withdraw its support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s re-election bid over his aborted commercial rights stake sale plan, while Oceania’s confederation cautiously backed the ⁠governing body’s leadership.

Infantino has faced open revolt after three confederations – Europe’s UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean) – called for a review of his leadership and attacked his conduct over the plan to bring private investment into FIFA competitions.

Infantino will seek re-election for a fourth term in ⁠charge of the global governing body at the FIFA Congress next year, with the African and South American confederations declaring their continued support.

New Zealand, the only Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) nation to qualify for this year’s World Cup, said on Friday it had withdrawn support for Infantino and that the review of the stake sale proposal should be independent due to a loss of confidence and trust in FIFA’s leadership.

“We’ve called for an independent review specifically because what we don’t ‌want to see is a sort of in-house quick washover of this,” New Zealand Football (NZF) Chief Executive Andrew Pragnell told the Reuters news agency.

“An independent review is something else that has been called for by other confederations that will help restore some of the trust.”

The OFC said in a statement that it welcomed FIFA’s decision to withdraw the proposal and that football in the Oceania region had grown under the current FIFA leadership.

“OFC recognises the progress achieved over the last decade in advancing football development in Oceania under FIFA’s leadership and encourages FIFA to use the review as an opportunity to identify and implement any changes that may be necessary,” it added.

What allies does Infantino have?

Swiss Infantino had proposed carving off ⁠the commercial rights to the World Cup and selling 20 percent to private investors to raise about $4.2bn before ⁠a U-turn following the furore.

The proposal came with a $20m grant for member associations for the next funding cycle, an amount that could have been doubled if they signed the deal.

Following a crisis meeting in Morocco last week, FIFA apologised to its 211 member associations for mistakes in the handling of the proposal and said its leadership had ⁠full support for Infantino.

Despite the opposition of the three confederations, which represent 136 of the 211 member associations who will vote in the FIFA presidential election in March, Infantino still has plenty of allies in the game.

Six ⁠heads of Arab national football associations, including Qatar and 2030 World Cup cohost Morocco, firmly ⁠backed him on Thursday, saying they appreciated his “sustained efforts to advance football globally”.

The Confederation of African Football’s executive committee also unanimously confirmed its support for Infantino, though, there is no guarantee of a bloc vote from all 54 members.

Pragnell said an independent review into the scrapped FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal needed to shed light on decision-making and oversight at FIFA.

It should ‌also identify who was involved in the plan for Thrive Capital, a firm with close familial links to US President Donald Trump, to play a leading role in the venture.

“I think the scope needs to be considered really carefully, but what’s most important is that all confederations should agree ‌on ‌the scope, and it needs to get under way with urgency,” Pragnell told Reuters.

AFC member Australia has also called for an independent review alongside the Asian bloc, without publicly expressing a position on Infantino’s leadership.

“Based on what we’ve seen, including [Australia’s] commitment to the AFC statement, we’re strongly aligned,” Pragnell said.

The Tour de France has a chequered history that cannot be forgotten.

“He knows what the record is,” Lance Armstrong said on social media following Sunday’s result, referring to Pogacar.

The American’s record of seven Tour de France victories between 1999 and 2005 has long since been wiped from the record books following the revelation of his systematic doping.

And those in the sport have fairly diligently avoided mentioning his name since.

But the night-time anti-doping tests during this year’s Tour, which the International Testing Agency (ITA) told BBC Sport were undertaken as an “exceptional operation” and because time was of the essence, once again raised questions in a sport which doesn’t need them, thanks to that dark past.

Testing at such anti-social hours is rare and requires additional permission, and some suspect it may have been a factor in Jonas Vingegaard’s Tour-ending crash after he was woken at 2am the previous night, and Pogacar himself at 5am.

Others were tested at night, too, and all riders were tested during the race. But what were the ITA looking for?

They wouldn’t say, specifically, but one possible explanation for night-time testing of professional cyclists appears to be to gather as much information as possible to try to understand micro-dosing. That is where an athlete could take performance-enhancing drugs, such as red blood cell stimulant EPO or anabolic steroids, in very small quantities to evade detection on the Athlete Biological Passport, which is endorsed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and used across cycling.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing in the case of Pogacar, Vingegaard or any of those tested at night this year.

Past findings produced by Wada suggest micro-dosing could evade detection methods, and so the scope to cheat in professional sport remains, meaning all efforts must be taken to ensure nobody beats the system.

The ITA cannot confirm when the results of the Tour tests will be made public, but EF Education-Easypost boss Jonathan Vaughters told BBC Sport: “Doubts? Actually [those tests] solve my doubts.”

Vaughters, who doped during his riding career, is now reformed.

He said during this year’s race: “If we had 24-hour testing in 2001 when EPO tests were first introduced we would have had a huge number of riders excluded from the sport, including me. And it would have saved 25 years of drama.

“So I mean we wouldn’t have had to go through Lance Armstrong… The problem would have been solved immediately in 2000.

“If you introduce a low enough dose of a peptide hormone, the clearance time can be four hours – if you take it at 11 it’ll be out of the system at 3am, so it makes a difference. The testing technology is evolving quickly.

“If you want to watch a clean sport, watch cycling, most other sports’ testing is a complete joke.

“Why is cycling so hyper-focused? History. This is human F1 car racing; this is edge of human performance; boundaries are always going to be pushed.”

Many riders and team bosses won’t go near the ‘D’ word, and the consensus is ‘believe what you are seeing’ when Pogacar accelerates away and wins by, at times, a matter of minutes, and when others perform their own remarkable feats in the saddle.

Protesters shut roads and ministries in Tripoli as a civil disobedience campaign over power cuts spreads to more areas.

Protesters in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, have shut down roads and public buildings across the city as a civil disobedience campaign, launched over prolonged power cuts and high electricity rates, spread to more districts.

Crowds blocked the coastal road in Janzour, west of Tripoli, late on Sunday, and gathered outside the West Tripoli power station, closing the local municipal council building in protest at the prolonged outages.

Videos posted online, verified by Al Jazeera shows, protesters burning tyres and closing down major roads elsewhere in the capital.

The footage also shows protesters unloading a truck loaded with dirt in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the district of Sater Turba in Tripoli to close it.

The mostly young protesters also shut the offices of state telecoms operator Libyana in the district of Souq Al-Jumaa, according to the DPA news agency, carrying banners criticising Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dabaiba.

The campaign was launched by the Souq Al-Jumaa Movement, which has opposed the Government of National Unity since May 2025. It said its aim was to “completely paralyse the government” rather than disrupt ordinary life.

It called for accountability over alleged corruption and for the dissolution of Libya’s existing political institutions, including the government, the House of Representatives, the State Council and the Presidential Council.

The unrest also spread to the district of Tajoura, where the Tajoura Families and Youth Movement said it would begin a full boycott of state institutions from Monday, rejecting both the unity government and the House of Representatives.

It said in a statement that the call was in protest against the deterioration of services, citing the decline in electricity, water, education and health services, alongside continuing fuel and liquidity crises and medicine shortages, while “officials are preoccupied with political conflicts”.

There was no immediate comment from the Government of National Unity.

Blackouts in Tripoli and other areas have reached up to ten hours a day, prompting the state-run General Electricity Company to reinstate load-shedding measures after two years of relative network stability.

The outages have compounded existing public frustration over inflation, currency instability, fuel and liquidity shortages, and Libya’s protracted political deadlock.

Separately, Massad Boulos, the White House adviser for African affairs, said he had held a “productive call” with Dabaiba on Sunday to discuss steps toward Libyan unification, including security cooperation between the country’s eastern and western factions.

“We also reviewed opportunities to further coordination and interoperability between Libyan forces and Africom,” Boulos said on X, adding that Washington remained committed to supporting Libya’s unification “in order to achieve durable peace, stability and prosperity”.

Tehran, Iran – Iran and the United States have returned to mediated talks, and their military action is temporarily suspended, but the war continues to impact international maritime corridors beyond the Strait of Hormuz as well as domestic markets.

The near-total closure of the strategic waterway, disruptions in the Red Sea by the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen and Ukraine attacking an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea have all kept tensions high.

Iran’s government is also facing more tough choices, including a potential fuel price hike amid high social and economic discontent, as the US military enforces a naval blockade of the country’s southern ports for a second time.

The Ministry of Petroleum said on Saturday that Iran has sold $11.5bn of crude oil during the war without specifying the exact dates and $6.5bn during the period of the now-suspended memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the US last month. It said the combined figure represented 60 percent of the full-year oil revenue target in the budget.

The signing of the June 17 MoU led to the partial reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and lifting of the US naval blockade on Iran, which eased some of the pressure on global oil markets and allowed Iran to export oil stored on supertankers waiting to sail from its territorial waters. Iran’s Petroleum Ministry said increased oil prices generated about $3bn in additional value in the first half of the year and $11bn from the yields has so far been transferred to government coffers despite US embargoes.

During the previous blockade that was imposed on April 13 and lasted a little over two months, Iranian authorities attested to near-zero crude exports. A prolonged second blockade risks further reducing Iran’s export revenues and piling pressure on Kharg Island, through which about 90 percent of Iran’s crude oil exports pass, and other Iranian storage and export sites, which could in turn affect production at petrochemical plants and make an eventual restart costlier and slower.

The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said that as of Saturday, soldiers had redirected 12 commercial vessels trying to run the blockade that has been in place since mid-July, disabled two that did not comply and boarded two “to ensure total compliance”.

The US military also showed footage of heavily armed soldiers rappelling down from a helicopter onto the deck of the Charminar, an Iran-linked oil tanker subject to US sanctions since last year for allegedly being part of the Shamkhani network. The US says Iranian oil magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani plays a central role in Iranian and Russian shadow fleet operations.

Iran has also said it has been redirecting multiple ships each day to keep the strait closed as its armed forces emphasised that they will not bow to pressure. On Sunday, Iranian media reports said a vessel blew up after hitting a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz.

Still, CENTCOM has stopped extensive bombing strikes against Iran for two nights with US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz saying President Donald Trump is giving talks with Tehran “some space”.

Iran has also stopped retaliatory attacks across the region while Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said discussions with Oman on reopening the Strait of Hormuz have been productive.

The domestic picture

The oil export constraints, however, are still adding to Iran’s existing economic woes, which are linked to domestic structural issues and mismanagement as well as years of harsh sanctions.

Iran’s infrastructure has also suffered significant damage during the war launched by the US and Israel in late February and may fare worse if the conflict escalates.

The government said last month that about 230 million cubic metres (300 million cubic yards) per day of Iran’s pre-war natural gas output of roughly 650 million cubic metres (850 million cubic yards) was lost due to US and Israeli bombing, worsening electricity and petrochemical shortages.

Sekhavat Asadi, managing director of the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone, said on Sunday that Iran expects to restore more than 100 million cubic metres (130 million cubic yards) per day of that lost production capacity within the coming months.

Authorities are also managing a fuel imbalance as the country faces a deficit of more than 20 million litres (5.3 million gallons) per day of petrol. The shortage is managed through limited but costly imports, blending fuel components, tapping inventories stocked before the war and repeatedly asking citizens to consume less.

The Petroleum Ministry said tighter monthly fuel consumption caps may be imposed if the imbalance persists.

The government said this week that it is seriously considering doubling the price of a third tier of monthly petrol quotas allocated to individuals.

Another petrol price hike was made in December, weeks before the country was swept by a wave of nationwide protests, in which thousands of people were killed in a government crackdown in January. An overnight fuel price increase in November 2019 also triggered deadly nationwide protests.

The capital, Tehran, and cities across the country are facing rolling electricity cuts, which also create water and communications disruptions. President Masoud Pezeshkian said he has ordered industries not to be cut off until late September to avoid further inflaming a bruised jobs market.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has also hit Iran’s commerce with China, its largest trading partner and buyer of oil, which has considerably curtailed its overall crude oil imports to adapt to conditions created by the war.

But nonoil trade with China has also deteriorated since the start of the war, falling by 75 percent in March and June when compared with a year before, according to Chinese customs data.

Two near-total internet shutdowns imposed by the authorities, first during the January protests and then during the war, only worsened conditions for Iran’s economy this year as it battles chronic inflation and a rapid dwindling of public purchasing power.

A report last year by the Saba Pension Strategies Institute, a think tank affiliated with Iran’s state-run pension fund, found that while a little more than 30 percent of Iranians lived below the poverty line five years ago, that rate was projected to have reached 45 percent this year – and was still rising.

Spread to Bab al-Mandeb, Caspian Sea

After repeated Iranian threats that escalating the war could spread the scope of maritime disruptions to the Red Sea, the Houthis in Yemen last week declared a blockade against Saudi Arabia, turning back or hitting vessels transiting near the strait of Bab al-Mandeb while also bombing Saudi oil facilities.

Dozens of commodity vessels have still continued their transit through the strait, including Chinese supertankers, but war-risk premiums have increased, raising import and insurance costs for all.

Saudi authorities, who lead a coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government against the Houthis, have responded by launching major air attacks across Yemen.

And farther north, Ukraine has confirmed that it struck a vessel in the Caspian Sea with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alleging it was carrying Iran-linked military cargo.

Iran’s authorities said it was a commercial vessel importing iron from Astrakhan, a port on the Volga River in Russia, and bound for Bandar Anzali in northern Iran. They said one sailor was killed and three were wounded.

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Kyiv’s charge d’affaires in Tehran to deliver a strong protest and a warning that “the act will not go unanswered”.

The incident has raised concerns that the Caspian Sea, a waterway previously used safely for trade, could also become the scene of more military confrontations.

Iran’s Caspian trade is primarily with Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. It imports essential goods, such as wheat and other grains, corn, barley and animal feed as well as timber and fertiliser.

The country’s exports through the northern maritime route include construction materials, steel products, agricultural goods and some refined petrochemical products.

The war’s expanding disruptions have only prompted hardline state-linked analysts to advocate closer strategic partnerships with China and Russia.

“We can now say that the two war fronts in the Middle East and Ukraine are increasingly intertwined,” Mahdi Kharratiyan, a political analyst linked with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, wrote on X on Sunday.

Madrid, Spain – Badr Tmairi, 22, from Morocco, has spent six years living in Spain without legal status. He arrived at 16, alone, without his family. He held legal residency briefly after turning 18, but lost it when he failed to renew it in time.

“What I want is to get my papers back so I can work as a hairdresser and travel to visit my family in Morocco,” he said.

Tmairi is one of more than a million people who have now applied for regularisation under a new scheme that contrasts with a growing European trend against irregular immigration.

He has been homeless for the past year. Without documents, finding work and decent housing in Spain is difficult.

“It’s very encouraging to know that so many people submitted an application and are trying to regularise their situation, but that huge number is also proof that the state has failed in its duty to protect the most vulnerable,” Edith Espinola, president of the Active Domestic Workers’ Service Association (SEDOAC) and spokesperson for the Regularizacion Ya (Regularisation Now), told Al Jazeera.

Regularizacion Ya, a collective made up of migrants, has led the push for regularisation since 2020. The measure grew out of a broad social consensus and has been backed by civil society organisations, the Catholic Church, trade unions and business associations.

Living without legal status, Espinola said, condemns people to social exclusion, as it has for Tmairi. Without rights or protection from abuse, they are unaligned with most of the rest of the population.

The new initiative, Spain’s first regularisation process since 2005, began in April and closed on June 30. The government now has three months to resolve the vast majority of the applications submitted.

Of the 1,174,978 applications, according to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, only 11,000 have received a favourable resolution so far. About 608,000 have been accepted for processing, granting provisional residency and work permits until a final resolution.

‘All I want is to work’

Rocio Neciosupe, 54, is a Peruvian migrant who has spent two years without legal status in Spain. “Regularisation isn’t a handout; all I want is to work. To work without fear and with rights, so that if I fall and I’m sick, I don’t have to go to work that day and can still get paid, like anyone else,” she said.

Neciosupe, a cleaner in private homes, is busy across six different buildings around Madrid. But she is currently recovering from a back injury sustained in a fall at work. Without documents or a contract, she has no right to sick leave.

Unable to afford to lose her income while she recovers, her husband accompanies her to work each day and helps her with tasks she cannot manage alone.

Rocio, her husband and their two daughters, aged 22 and 17, have all had their regularisation applications accepted for processing and are now awaiting a favourable resolution.

“I want to support the country I live in, and if the country grows, we grow too,” Neciosupe added.

It is precisely in the contribution and growth potential of people like her that the Spanish government has framed its case for the measure.

“By 2050, Spain’s GDP would be 19 percent lower, 90,000 bars would close, 50,000 classrooms would shut and 220,000 farms would disappear,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said recently in a public address.

Gonzalo Fanjul, director of ISGlobal’s policy and development team and head of Research at the porCausa Foundation, said: “If you look at what’s happening in the United States, there are already estimates of the impact of the government’s violent, hostile anti-migration policies. Whole economic sectors are struggling to keep functioning.”

One of those sectors is care work. With an ageing population, Spain needs trained workers to fill positions in that sector, among others.

Josselyn Aguirre, 32, is one of those workers. A nursing assistant, she migrated from Ecuador to Spain in 2024. Her original plan had been to move to the United States, but her visa application was rejected.

“My goal is to stay and help older people. I really enjoy working with them,” she said.

“Here, in my country and in other countries around the world, this sector is collapsing due to a shortage of staff. That’s why I believe that being able to regularise your status and contribute as a professional benefits everyone,” she told Al Jazeera.

Migrants and refugees who applied for regularisation had already been living in Spain, working in the informal economy for years; 57 percent are men, most come from Latin American countries, and six out of 10 are below the age of 34.

So far, 159,097 additional people have registered with the Social Security system as a result of the regularisation process.

With this measure, “Spain has made a bet on growth. We’re going to be a country of 50 million people,” Fanjul said. “But it’s not enough.”

Amid a European political climate in which anti-migration rhetoric appears to be gaining ground, Spain’s approach shows another path is possible, though “regularisation is only the beginning”, Fanjul said.

“The system has been reset, but none of the underlying reasons that brought us to this point have been resolved.

“For the state to open up legal, safe and orderly channels for labour mobility is simply common sense,” he concluded.

Espinola is in no doubt.

Despite criticism from those opposed to the regularisation, she stressed, “We have come out stronger. The migrant community has once again shown its capacity for mutual support in difficult situations.”

The regularisation process is not yet over, she added: “We will remain vigilant to make sure the more than a million applications submitted are processed properly.”

Regional health agency warns of increased risk of a disease outbreak after Venezuela’s twin earthquakes

Venezuela’s authorities say the death toll from twin earthquakes last month has risen to 3,889, as regional health agencies warn of an increased risk of disease.

Lawmaker Jorge Rodrigues said on Thursday at least 16,740 people had been injured and 17,907 displaced.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned that displaced people across Venezuela’s northern coast, the area most affected by the tremors, are at risk of disease because of limited access to clean water and regular medical care.

“In the coming weeks, the greatest health risks may stem not only from injuries caused by the earthquakes, but also from disruptions to health services, overcrowded conditions, deficiencies in water and sanitation and reduced access to vaccination and routine healthcare,” PAHO’s director Jarbas Barbosa said.

The agency is working with Venezuela’s health ⁠ministry to improve vaccine access and trace any outbreaks of respiratory or digestive illnesses, especially in shelters set up for those who lost their homes.

The United Nations launched an appeal for roughly $300 million to assist 1.3 million people in urgent need of aid in Venezuela.

PAHO urged immediate disbursement of the remaining $15 million in requested emergency aid to repair damaged hospitals and to maintain basic sanitation in camps for the displaced to prevent a health emergency.

July 7 (UPI) — An outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in New York City’s Upper East Side has sickened nearly two dozen people, officials said Tuesday, as they continue to investigate the cluster.

The community cluster has been identified in the neighborhoods of Carnegie Hill and Yorkville. The NYC Health Department said in a statement that there have been 23 cases of the disease, including 17 hospitalizations, since July 6.

The count is also an increase from 14 cases reported on Sunday. The cluster was first made public July 2 after two people were diagnosed with the disease.

City health officials are urging New Yorkers and those who have visited the areas since late June and are experiencing flu-like symptoms to contact a healthcare provider immediately.

“More than 100 NYC Health Department staff members have worked nonstop since the start of this cluster as we take aggressive action to ensure that we are cutting off the source of exposure as quickly as possible,” Dr. Alister Martin, NYC health commissioner, said in a statement.

Legionnaires’ disease is a form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria, which grow in warm water. Those who inhale water vapor that contains the bacteria can get sick with the disease, which causes flu-like symptoms. Most people exposed to the bacteria do not develop the disease. However, among those who do contract it, complications can be fatal.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 8,000 and 18,000 people are hospitalized with Legionnaires’ disease each year in the United States.

All cooling towers in the affected area are being sampled and tested at the city’s public health lab in order to locate the source, NYC Comptroller Mark Levine said, but warned that “it unfortunately takes several weeks for cultures to grow.”

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said that the issue is not with any building’s plumbing or indoor air conditioning and residents of the two neighborhoods are safe to drink tap water, bathe, shower and cook.

“The collection of water samples, laboratory testing and community outreach has been ongoing through the Fourth of July holiday weekend,” he said in an online statement.

Anger is mounting in Venezuela after the military barred citizens from entering zones devastated by Wednesday’s twin earthquakes. As Teresa Bo explains, thousands of people have travelled to help rescue victims, not trusting the government to save survivors in time.

THE friction between Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in 1970 will be brought to life in the upcoming Beatles biopic.

But I can reveal there is tension among the two actors playing the pop legends, too.

Oscar-nominated Barry Keoghan is playing drummer Ringo, alongside Gladiator II star Paul Mescal as Macca.

Sources on the set of the film, directed by Sam Mendes and due for release in 2028, have noticed that the relationship between the two Irish actors has become strained.

One said: “Barry has been rubbing people up the wrong way.

“His timekeeping is not always up to scratch and he often references that he is a parent — despite not living with his son.

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“He also brings his brother Eric on set as his assistant, which doesn’t always bring out the best in his character.

“Barry is professional and can bring out the best in any script.

“But he can test the boundaries off-camera.”

Paul and Ringo, the last surviving members of the band, clashed in 1970, shortly before the group split in April that year.

Paul was preparing to release his first solo album, McCartney, just a few weeks before The Beatles album Let It Be was due to come out.

His bandmates wrote him a letter asking him to delay it, and Ringo hand-delivered it to Paul’s home in London.

Paul, who is now close friends with Ringo, later admitted it was the only time he threw someone out of his house.

The new screen project is a series of four biographical films based on the lives and careers of each member of The Beatles.

The four intersecting biopics, written by James Bond screenwriter Jez Butterworth, will tell the story of the group from their humble beginnings in Liverpool to becoming the biggest band on the planet.

Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn will portray George Harrison and Harris Dickinson stars as John Lennon.

Earlier this week, Harris and co-star Paul went to the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona, where they were filming.

Of the four films, Mendes explained: “Each one is told from the particular perspective of just one of the guys. This is a chance to understand them a little more deeply.”

Even so, it sounds like there’s another meaty story behind the camera.

Reza’s sharpe move

MADE In Chelsea couple Reza Amiri-Garroussi and Bella Sharpe have got back together.

The pair, who first dated in 2024, have been spotted together in London.

It comes as Reza’s ex Ruby Adler announced her engagement to multi-millionaire Luxe Listings Sydney star Gavin Rubinstein after just a year of dating.

An insider said: “Reza and Bella split due to the pressures of filming Made In Chelsea. But now they’re taking a break from the show, they’ve reconnected.

“Reza always wanted to give the relationship another chance. With Ruby out of the picture, there’s nothing to stop them.”

Hopefully it’ll be second time lucky for these two.

CHLOE’S PRICE IS RIGHT

TOWIE’S CHLOE BROCKETT is dating a new man – her co-star’s ex.

I can reveal the reality star is courting Essex lad Daniel Price, who used to romance Yazmin Oukhellou.

Chloe recently split with Love Island champ Jack Fincham.

A source said: “Chloe and Daniel have kept their relationship quiet. They are enjoying getting to know each other. He treats her well and she is happy.”

It’s not the first time Yasmin and Chloe have shared the same taste in men after they both had trysts with James Lock.

Small world . . .  

BEBE AND JASON ON THE BALL

POP’S finest didn’t let the relentless rain dampen their spirits yesterday as they took to the stage to perform for Capital FM’s Summertime ball at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Bebe Rexha belted out hits in a denim corset teamed with a fluffy pink cardie, Jason Derulo ripped his shirt off to bust out some signature moves, and superstar DJ Fatboy Slim got fans dancing.

Lola Young was back on fine form as she sang her anthem Messy and expressed her gratitude to the crowd for their support.

Opening up about her sobriety on the socials this week, she wrote: “Sometimes I feel like I am grieving an old version of myself that I have chosen to let go of. Even though I chose a path that is better and safer, there are days where it still all feels wrong.”

 HOPEFULS GIVE XTINA ROLE A BURL

CHRISTINA AGUILERA has cast three young stars to share the lead role in her upcoming production of Burlesque The Musical.

British newcomers Natalia Jacques and Gracie O’Brien will portray Ali, the waitress-turned-dancer played by Christina in the 2010 movie.

American Cecilia Petrush will also star in the role.

Writer and director Steven Antin said: “When Christina brought Ali to life in the film, she created something truly iconic.

“Bringing Burlesque from screen to stage is about honouring that legacy. These three exceptional actresses step into those heels not to imitate Christina, but to continue the legacy she began.”

Burlesque The Musical returns to London this September at the new West End venue The Arts At Marble Arch.

Netflix boosts brand

NETFLIX has added rape- accused Russell Brand’s hit film St Trinian’s on to the streaming service.

The actor and comedian starred in the 2007 movie about rebellious schoolgirls alongside Colin Firth and Rupert Everett.

Netflix added the flick under “comedies” last month.

Brand starred as crook Flash Harry who taught the schoolgirls about “the seven laws of crime”.

He is accused of three rapes, three sex assaults and an indecent assault on six women from 1999 to 2009.

His trial at Southwark Crown Court is due to start in October and is expected to take up to eight weeks.

The former TV and radio presenter denies all charges against him.

Rupert, who played headmistress Camilla Fritton in the film, claimed Brand behaved “perfectly well” on set.

He said: “There were a lot of beautiful women on St Trinian’s and there was never any scandal to do with Russell Brand.”

Sean sis: it’s real deal

LOVE Island star Sean Fitzgerald has uncovered a perfect match in Lola Deal, according to his sister.

Gaelic footballer Sean, who is in a couple with former police detective Lola, sealed their romance with a kiss at the villa in Majorca earlier this week.

The hunk’s sister Katie revealed: “I absolutely adore Lola.

“She is gorgeous, so sweet, kind, and the smile she puts on Sean’s face is really nice to see.

“As of right now in the villa, I think Lola is best suited to him.”

She said of her brother: “I would just like to see more of his goofy side that we all see at home.”

JEANIE IS OUT FOR B*WITCHED

THEY rose to fame in the late Nineties wearing double denim – but Irish pop band B*Witched have revealed that the outfits in their 1998 hit video C’est La Vie were not actually planned.

Twin sisters Edele and Keavy Lynch, who supported their brother Shane and his Boyzone bandmates last night, sat down with Biz on Sunday’s Emily ahead of their performance at London’s Emirates Stadium.

Edele said: “The day before we were doing the C’est La Vie video, our clothes got stolen from the record company and they never knew where they went.

“So in a panic they ended up going to Levi’s in the morning to just grab some clothes.”

She added: “I still have my outfit from the 1998 tour and I still fit into it. I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing at this point. My eldest daughter borrows stuff all the time and I’m always coming across it.

“In the winter she wears this white fluffy jacket which I wore for the To You I Belong video.”

The twins, along with bandmates Sinead O’Carroll and Lindsay Armmaou, released their single Firefly on Friday ahead of an EP in August – but as they gear up for their 30th anniversary, they don’t plan on hanging up their jeans any time soon.

Edele explained: “We’ve realised that if we turn up without denim, we might as well not sing.”

Asked about the possibility of being in a campaign with Levi’s, the singer said: “I think they are missing a trick.”

KATE’S SEACRET TALENT

KATE MOSS has made her debut as an artist this week by unveiling her first watercolour for sale.

The supermodel painted a green and blue seahorse, left, which is being shown alongside new pieces by Rolling Stone bandmates Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards, Hollywood actress Sharon Stone and Guns N’ Roses legend Slash.

The collection is being auctioned online to raise funds for Doodle Drop For Coral, a new campaign led by Project Zero, the ocean conservation charity co-founded by Ronnie’s son TYRONE WOOD.

Kate has signed her seahorse by hand, writing: “Love, Kate Moss”, alongside a tiny heart.

The current bid stands at £285.

A nude portrait of Kate was painted by the late British artist Lucian Freud in 2002. It sold for £3.5million.

Tyrone told me: “Kate’s seahorse is one of those pieces that makes you smile.”

NIGELLA LAWSON has revealed the secret ingredient she tucks into that keeps her skin looking young and plump.

The Great British Bake Off judge, left, said: “I’m a great believer in butter. I just eat what I want.

“I’m not punish-ing myself trying to look like a model. I just waddle over and enjoy myself.”

Speaking at London’s Japanese restaurant Nobu, Nigella insisted she will not jump on the tweakment bandwagon, adding: “Cosmetic work is a tyranny. I just think there’s no point.”

Remind me to include a tub of Lurpak on my shopping list.