Jane Birkin, the British-born singer and actress who became a style icon in her adopted France, has died, a close source said...

Two done, how many more to go? Ask Liverpool supporters at the end of last season how many new signings they needed to bring in across the summer and not too many would have suggested fewer than four. An upturn in form and fortunes between March and May probably reduced that from a higher number, too. But even with individuals showing better levels and the team looking capable of beating most they came up against, the new shape and certain aging faces - as well as expiring contracts in the squad - meant a renewal, if not an outright overhaul, was required. That was especially the case in midfield and with almost £100 million now spent this summer on two new components, in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, the Reds will definitely have a refreshed feel about them, regardless of what else happens. Both are expected to be first-team regulars, and no wonder: one has won the World Cup, the other cost upwards of £60m. But, thus far, no starters from last term have departed, so places will have to be earned if the regular line-up is to indeed alter. Or, given the form of too many in the squad across much of 2022/23 - particularly the middle third - perhaps those jerseys had already been lost. Jurgen Klopp refuted, last year and before, the idea that he keeps too many around for too long, that he has favourites who have a place in the team as long as they are available. James Milner and Roberto Firmino have now exited, two who were go-to lieutenants for so many seasons of the German’s tenure, while fringe pair Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita are likewise out. Three midfielders, one forward; the trio from the centre of the park only contributed 2,261 minutes though across all competitions; throw in departed loanee Arthur Melo too, why not, for an additional 13 on the pitch. Their new No.10, Mac Allister, played far more than that by himself, over 3,300 minutes not including his mid-season international exploits, while his fellow new arrival, who will hope to wear the No.8 with more distinction than Keita managed, tallied over 3,700 for Leipzig. While gametime doesn’t translate to immediacy in the team, the expectation is that they will sooner or later combine as the new more offensive pair in a traditional three or, in the Reds’ more recent shape, the forward-thinking pair ahead of the roving Trent Alexander-Arnold and a holding midfielder. The latter is, at present, still Fabinho. But it is the third area of the centre of the park where Liverpool must surely continue to seek out reinforcements and improvements, with summer rumours suggesting Manu Kone and Romeo Lavia are of significant interest. The additions already made to the squad will help the Reds from the perspective of creativity, build-up play and - over time - with off-the-ball, first lines of defence too. When transitions move behind the midfield line, though, is where the biggest problems arose last season and where improvements must continue to be seen. Fabinho has been a massive pillar of a successful team, but agility and recovery speed deserted him entirely for much of 22/23. Eluding him, attacking midfielders and ball-carriers opened up vast spaces to race toward Liverpool’s back line and threaten Alisson’s goal with. It’s not something the team will be able to offer up with such regularity in 23/24 - at least, not if they want regular success - and especially considering the alteration in Alexander-Arnold’s role still means work to be done in terms of overall cohesion when teams attack that side. A deep midfielder more able to make up that extra ground has to remain priority No.1 now, considering it appears a more defensive option for the right-sided role is not on the agenda. If it does end up being Lavia or a similarly future-proofing signing, the biggest decisions for Klopp may come in games against the best transition teams: does he want the greater experience or the greater athleticism in the side? But this is a Liverpool team being built once more to dominate play, first and foremost, and beat teams by out-playing them, not just by shutting them out. The new recruits will add more guile, more on the ball quality and more speed across the ground than those who played most of the season in midfield last year, up until Curtis Jones forced his way into the team. The big work in pre-season will be getting them to gel with Cody Gakpo, Mo Salah and Luis Diaz on a regular basis - and to find out how to get the best use out of Darwin Nunez, of course. Szoboszlai’s delivery from the channels, his driving runs and set-piece prowess are all expected to be enormous factors there. Liverpool’s squad suddenly looks rather more capable of competing among the top four once more, having looked stale and badly in need of a redesign. Which final touches are put on it across the next eight weeks will determine whether they push even higher across the following ten months.

By Jayshree P Upadhyay and Krishn Kaushik India's market regulator is investigating the relationship between the Adani Group

José Martínez scored his first MLS goal from distance in the 90th minute to help the Philadelphia Union tie Orlando 2-2

By Kevin Buckland TOKYO Asian stocks sold off and the dollar scaled an 11-week peak against major peers

Ukraine hit five of Moscow’s fighter jets with an overnight drone strike on Russian soil, a source in Kyiv’s security service has told Ukrainian outlets. Russia’s defence ministry claimed to have shot down two drones in the Bryansk and Kursk regions, which both border Ukraine, giving no information about possible damages or casualties. But the Kyiv Post and Ukrainska Pravda both cited sources in Ukraine’s SBU security service as claiming that just three of more than a dozen drones were brought down, claiming strikes on four Russian Su-30 fighter jets and one MiG-29 at an airfield in Kursk. It came as Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was confirmed by Russia’s Investigative Committee to have died in a plane crash near Moscow on Wednesday, citing the results of genetic tests it said confirmed the identities of the 10 bodies found in the wreckage. Western politicians and commentators have speculated that Mr Putin ordered Prigozhin to be killed as punishment for Wagner’s brief mutiny in June. Meanwhile, a resurfaced clip of Prigozhin talking about a “plane falling apart in the sky” has resurfaced on social media. Read More What we know — and don't know — about the crash of a Russian mercenary's plane Putin says Wagner chief had ‘complicated fate’ – as officials suggest explosion on plane caused fatal crash While world media speculates on Wagner chief's presumed death, Russian state media shies away Wagner has been decapitated – the mercenaries should fear the future

Georgia’s hold on No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll loosened as the Bulldogs received a season-low 35 first-place votes out of possible 62

(Reuters) -Salesforce raised its annual revenue forecast on Wednesday and projected quarterly sales above estimates as it benefits from a

No matter how much you know about tennis, you can guarantee yourself at least one win betting on Wimbledon if you sign up with FanDuel Sportsbook.Tennis fans who sign up with FanDuel and place their first bet will be rewarded with bonus bets equal to 10X the value of that first wager –...

'The View' host Ana Navarro celebrated Marc Anthony's Hollywood Walk of Fame star with a drunk and fun Instagram video

Apple has finally pushed an update to the new iPhone 15 that should stop it running hot. In recent days, some owners of new iPhone 15 models, as well as the Pro and Max, reported that the devices appeared to be much warmer to the touch than expected. It prompted worry that the new design and materials in the iPhone 15 had caused it to be worryingly hot. Last week, however, Apple finally broke its silence on the problem. It said that many new iPhones could run hot for normal reasons – because they are setting themselves up, for instance – but also because of flaw in the new system software. “We have also found a bug in iOS 17 that is impacting some users and will be addressed in a software update,” the company said in a statement to Forbes. “Another issue involves some recent updates to third-party apps that are causing them to overload the system. We’re working with these app developers on fixes that are in the process of rolling out.” As well as confirming that the issue could be fixed with a new update, Apple said that it would not throttle performance. Previous reports that the issue could be fixed with a new version of iOS 17 had led to fears that would bring slower processing in an attempt to reach cooler temperatures. Now that update has finally arrived, in the form of iOS 17.0.3. It is available now, and can be downloaded through the Settings app as usual. The new update also brings fixes for security bugs that could be used by hackers to gain access to the phone. One is thought to have been “actively exploited” already, meaning that the update is an urgent fix. Read More Apple is preparing an urgent iPhone 15 update after they started overheating The mystery AI device that could replace your phone Zuckerberg says Metaverse can bring back the dead – virtually

Singapore’s elections department said that three candidates will run for president in a vote on Sept. 1 after