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Real Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay has admitted his interest in signing Real Madrid's Alvaro Odriozola.

By Indradip Ghosh BENGALURU Home prices in Germany will fall by more than 5% this year and stagnate

The European Central Bank may need to raise interest rates further, Austrian central bank chief Robert Holzmann said

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has been criticised for visiting China. This is why he went.

Hong Kong is making preparations for a possible direct hit by Super Typhoon Saola, which is shaping up

Liverpool continue to hunt reinforcements as they bid to put a difficult season last campaign behind them. Jurgen Klopp’s club entered the transfer window with a clear emphasis on bolstering their midfield, particularly considering the confirmed departures of James Milner, Fabio Carvalho, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, as well as the exit of Jordan Henderson. The club has been proactive in pursuing this objective, and still may not be done yet in the market. Meanwhile, one of Jurgen Klopp’s stars has been linked with a mega-money transfer to Saudi Arabia, with both Henderson and Fabinho already having moved to the Middle East. LIVE: Follow all the latest transfer moves as deadline day approaches Here are the latest news and transfer updates around Anfield: Mohamed Salah Mohamed Salah has emerged as a target for Saudi Arabian champions Al Ittihad as the Middle Eastern league continues to flex its financial muscles after significant backing from the country’s Public Investment Fund. The Saudi Pro League have already bought Fabinho, Roberto Firmino and Jordan Henderson from the Merseyside club this summer but are now said to have turned their attention to Jurgen Klopp’s star forward, who only signed a new contract at the start of last season. The Daily Mail have reported that the Saudi club are willing to pay as much as £118 million for the 31-year-old but, despite that, Liverpool’s stance remains clear. The player is not for sale under any conditions and especially this late in the window. Ryan Gravenberch Versatile midfielder Ryan Gravenberch has been once again linked with Liverpool late in the window, with the Anfield club reigniting their interest in the Dutchman after missing out on other midfield targets, including Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. According to Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, the Dutch midfielder is keen to leave the German club having started just three games last season. Negotiations remain ongoing between the two clubs with the defending Bundesliga champions said to want around €30m for the 21-year-old who joined from Ajax last summer. Cheick Doucoure Should a deal for Gravenberch fail to materialise, Liverpool may turn their attention back to Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure, with the central midfielder attracting long-standing interest from the club. According to The Indeependent’s Miguel Delaney, Klopp’s side remain interested in the 23-year-old, although they have so far been put off by Palace’s asking price - believed to be around £70m. Read More Jurgen Klopp wanted a midfield change at Liverpool – instead he got a revolution New signing Wataru Endo compared to ‘one of the biggest Liverpool legends’ by Jurgen Klopp Jurgen Klopp makes definitive statement on Mohamed Salah transfer saga Transfers latest LIVE: Premier League updates ahead of deadline day Rumours: Salah bid well over £100m; Chelsea winger set for exit Liverpool hold talks with Bayern Munich over deal for Ryan Gravenberch

Like Wolfgang Wolf managing Wolfsburg or Arsene Wenger taking charge of Arsenal, perhaps Romelu Lukaku’s imminent arrival in Rome is striking a blow for nominative determinism in football. When Roma secure his services on a year’s loan, it may seem a triumph for the Giallorossi’s negotiating skills and an extension to the strange on-off relationship between Lukaku and Jose Mourinho. Yet for Lukaku and Chelsea, trapped in a loveless marriage during which neither has been able to formalise a lasting parting of the ways, it represents a failure on both fronts. Even as Chelsea have sold a host of players this summer, it is ever likelier that they will not recoup a transfer fee for a man who cost them a then club record £97m. Chelsea, it feels, have been doubly culpable in the last two summers, first being too generous and too willing to loan him out to Inter for a relatively small sum last year and then overpricing him 12 months on, when cash-strapped Italian clubs were unlikely to pay £40m and Lukaku had little interest in moving to Saudi Arabia. It was a sign he still has footballing ambitions. The wrong ones, perhaps. Lukaku’s flirtation with Juventus cost him a chance of a return to Inter; he has often had the feel of an outsider everywhere he has been but there was a sense of belonging among the Nerazzurri as a catalyst in their first Scudetto in 11 years. A willingness to join their enemies led Javier Zanetti, whose loyalty to Inter was established over 858 appearances, to accuse him of betrayal. So Roma it is, as the short-term replacement for Tammy Abraham, whose cruciate ligament injury will sideline him for much of the season. The odd, interconnected history of the supposed new Didier Drogbas continues: neither Lukaku nor Abraham has actually assumed the Ivorian’s totemic role at Stamford Bridge, the destiny that seemed to await each when he debuted at 18. When Lukaku makes his Roma bow, they will have played for a combined total of seven other clubs on loan when owned by Chelsea. Each has missed a decisive penalty in a Super Cup; Lukaku at least scored in a Club World Cup final but Abraham, with 18 goals in a breakthrough season under Frank Lampard, has arguably had the better Chelsea career. Tellingly, Mauricio Pochettino seemed to have little interest in resurrecting Lukaku’s. Meanwhile, he appears to be a curiously unfulfilled figure. A move to Mourinho’s United was supposed to be the end to his days as a wanderer, rendering him an iconic figure for an elite club. So, four years later, was his return to Chelsea. And, had he gone back to Inter this year, that could have been his mantle. Instead, he is forever a staple of transfer market discussion. And a player with a remarkable 355 goals by the age of 30 – 280 in club football, 75 for his country – now feels defined by those he didn’t score: the four misses in 45 minutes by a semi-fit Lukaku as Croatia held on for a stalemate that brought Belgium’s Golden Generation to an undignified end, the late header that Ederson somehow saved in the Champions League final. It may be harsh or recency bias: time can supply more context. For now, however, Lukaku can be portrayed as a nearly man, a player who has lost more finals than he has won, one who has a solitary league title since leaving Anderlecht as a teenager, who, like Zlatan Ibrahimovic – another sizeable Mourinho striker – is among the most prolific forwards never to win the Champions League. Strikers can require a selfish streak but Lukaku may end up defined by individual exploits: he could join Cristiano Ronaldo, Ali Daei and Lionel Messi in the select group who score a century of international goals. At club level, meanwhile, Chelsea may deem him Thomas Tuchel’s folly, the most damaging part of their Champions League-winning manager’s legacy, his huge salary making him the hardest player to shift. For Roma, where the wider perception of Mourinho is a manager in decline, raging against the brightest of lights dying out, Lukaku might be a boost to the ego. Lukaku spent some of an injury-hit affected 2022-23 on the bench but in his previous campaign in Serie A, two years earlier, he was the division’s best player. In his first spell at Inter, he delivered 23 and 24 league goals in two seasons, adding 11 assists in the second. Even last year, he was directly involved in a goal every 100 minutes in Serie A. For Roma, whose tally of 50 Serie A goals was both meagre and their lowest in 26 years, he shapes up as their ideal acquisition. For them, Lukaku could be forgiven for a few big-game misses in exchange for a consistent return in lesser matches. There is something poignant in Mourinho bringing together another band of thirty-somethings, chasing figures from his past as he bids to recreate it. The previous times he and Lukaku linked up, it was with more of a promise of greatness and, while the Belgian scored 25 goals in their first year together at Old Trafford, their finest exploits came without the other. For now, though, Lukaku is a coup for Mourinho and Roma offer an escape from Chelsea for him. Read More Romelu Lukaku, a chessboard and the Jose Mourinho phone call that lured him to Roma Chelsea transfer news: Brennan Johnson, Romelu Lukaku, Trevoh Chalobah and more The answers to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter quiz Chelsea’s Academy stars can rise to Carabao Cup challenge – Mauricio Pochettino Romelu Lukaku, a chessboard and the Jose Mourinho phone call that lured him to Roma Roma set to sign Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku on season-long loan

The Swiss bank reports bumper profits following the rescue of its rival but staff face redundancies.

Gary Oldman has landed a part in Paolo Sorrentino's new film which is described as a love letter to his home city of Naples.

Some of the world’s most celebrated wines – and the historic cultures of the communities which produce them – are under threat, scientists have warned. The harvesting of grapes on steep slopes is known as “heroic” viticulture – named so for the difficulty in producing fruitful harvests on such challenging terrain, typically without the use of mechanised tools, and many such vineyards across Europe have been designated Unesco world heritage sites. But researchers have warned that farmers and scientists must work together to protect this centuries-old tradition in the likes of Italy, Spain and Portugal, where climate change is threatening to disrupt the delicate equilibrium cultivated and maintained for generations. Scientists set out their concerns in a paper last month published in the journal iScience, warning that soil degradation and drought – such as those which devastated swathes of Europe last year – are the most worrying risks posed by climate change. Furthermore, the researchers from the University of Padova warned of a simultaneous threat posed by the “rural exodus and a gradual abandonment of mountain landscapes” which have “characterised” the past 50 years. “The new generation is not attracted to continue working under extreme conditions if economic benefits are insignificant,” they wrote, and warned that the technological modernisation of society is “degrading” the rural cultural background of previous generations. “The risk is not only losing an agricultural product or seeing a landscape change, negatively impacting the local economy,” said lead author Dr Paolo Tarolli and his co-writers. “The risk is losing entire communities’ history and their cultural roots.” Vineyards are considered “heroic viticulture” sites if they have a slope steeper than 30 percent, are located on small islands or at an altitude higher than 500 metres above sea level, or if they incorporate vines grown on terraces – conditions key to developing the wines’ prized flavours. Some of the most famous examples include the Prosecco Hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, Portugal’s Alto Douro region, and the Spanish Canary Islands. The increased frequency of weather extremes driven by climate change accelerates soil degradation, the researchers warned, pointing to the ability of intense rainfall to “quickly trigger slope failures” without optimum water conservation processes. Meanwhile, prolonged droughts can threaten already difficult and costly irrigation processes on such slopes. “The key to success lies in combining the traditional knowledge of winemakers with innovation and scientific rigor,” the researchers said. “In this way, farms can work closely with scientists to optimise investments for a more functional, sustainable, and safe agricultural landscape – a winning alliance to face these diverse natural and anthropogenic challenges.” The warning came just days after researchers at the University of East Anglia and London School of Economics suggested that climate change is likely to increase the potential for UK wine production over the next two decades. Wine growing conditions in parts of the UK could grow to resemble those in famous growing regions of France and Germany, they suggested, with new areas in England and Wales finding they are able to grow varieties rarely found at present, including still pinot noir, sauvignon blanc and riesling. But, the study published in the journal OENO One also warned that British weather will remain unpredictable, and that producers will therefore need to remain “agile”. Read More Why climate change could be good news for UK wine ‘A new way of looking at whisky’: The rise of English distilleries Independent Wine Club fair weather friends: Wines for summer sipping Follow your tastebuds to find the hidden Algarve, a foodie’s paradise far from the madding crowd

Sea Ltd. is bringing back one of its top mobile games in India a year and a half

The increases, which come into effect from midnight, follow a number of temporary reductions.