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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

German Protestant Church rules out AfD politicians as speakers at congress At the German Protestant Churchʼs (EKD) congress slated for June 2019 in Dortmund, politicians from Germanyʼs far-right populist party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), will be welcome to attend the church service. They will not, however, be invited to take part in podium talks or other discussion events, the EKD announced on Wednesday. The ban on AfD politicians from taking the stage at the multiday congress, known in German as the "Kirchentag," reflects the ongoing struggle within German church organizations on how to deal with the AfD, which has beencriticized for dehumanizing and antidemocratic statements, among other things, in their role aspolitically independent institutions. The EKDʼs executive committee cited the AfDʼs "fluid boundary on right-wing extremism and ties to anti-constitutional networks" in its decision, a church spokesperson said Wednesday.

Indiaʼs top court curbs use of worldʼs largest biometric scheme Indiaʼs Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the validity of the countryʼs Aadhaar biometric identity scheme, saying it did not infringe the privacy of Indians. Aadhaar, which translates to "foundation" in Hindi, is the worldʼs largest biometric ID database, is a 12-digit unique identification number tied to an individualʼs fingerprints, face and iris scans. Critics of the scheme had expressed concerns that it could give rise to a surveillance state and hand over critical personal information to private companies. "This is a fabulous judgment," said lawyer Kapil Sibal, a member of the opposition Congress Party, which led the government that launched the scheme in 2010.

221/2018 • 27 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Airline cancels 150 flights

Fired German migration chief

Ryanair strikes:

Jutta Cordt was given a new job in the Interior Ministry in charge of a subsection on digitalization, according to a Bild newspaper report on Wednesday. The position means that she will receive a monthly salary cut of €1,700 ($2,000) as she shifts several levels down the pay scale for civil servants. In June, the 55-year-old lawyer was sacked as head of Germanyʼs Federal Office of Migration and Refugees (BAMF), a job she had been appointed to by the Interior Ministry. Under Cordtʼs watch, a corruption scandal at the Bremen branch of BAMF provoked feverish media attention and a drop in public trust in the countryʼs migration authorities and contributed to tensions within Chancellor Angela Merkelʼs conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

More than 30,000 passengers across Europe will be impacted by Ryanair cabin crew strikes on Friday. German cabin crew are to decide on joining the strike on Thursday.

EU plan to sidestep Iran sanctions: How will it work?

The EUʼs vow to keep trading with Tehran despite new US sanctions is causing further friction with Washington. The creation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) will help facilitate payments between Iran and Europe.

The foreign ministers of the EU, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China agreed on Tuesday to set up a new mechanism to facilitate legitimate trade between European companies and Iran. The goal: To bypass United States sanctions, which have been reintroduced after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Anew legal entity will be created to allow finan-

cial transactions with Iranbetween oil companies and other businesses. The EUʼs External Action Service (EEAS) saysthe measure is being created to "ensure the full and effective implementation of the Iran deal." EEAS said the new payment system will "assist and provide reassurance to European businesses wishing to continue trading with Iran, mitigating the effect of re-imposed US sanctions, in accordance with European Law." In 2017, the EU was Iranʼs second largest trading partner, after China. Some of Washingtonʼs new punitive measures against Tehran took effect in August; the rest are due to begin in November.

Pop singer Lary: ʼI was often reduced to sexʼ Because the decision-makers are often just men who maybe just donʼt have the vision or the perspective at that moment to really let something in and let something grow, which they might not really understand or see at first. We simply have a fundamentally different perspectives on life. And thatʼs why itʼs so important that men AND women are included everywhere. That happens all the time. In my first album, for example, I showed a lot more skin, a lot more sex than

usual. A lot of it resonated. It struck me that I was automatically taken less seriously than an artist as a result. I found that somehow unfair. After all, I wrote all my songs myself and perceived myself as an artist. But then I was often reduced to sex. Because the theme was very loud in the music, but also because I dealt with it a lot at that time. I found it a shame that I then had the feeling I had to censor myself because I was not perceived the way I would have liked to be.

relegated to Interior Ministry

Germany: The gap between east and west is narrowing, but not fast enough The economic gap between Germanyʼs former Soviet eastern states and their neighbors to the west continues to narrow, but at a rate that is hardly noticeable. Theannual Unity Report, (Jahresbericht zum Stand der deutschen Einheit) presented to the federal government on Wednesday, found that the east German statesʼ economic power is "only very slowly" catching up to the levels enjoyed in the more export-oriented states in the west. In 2017,gross domestic product per inhabitant in the eastwas 73.2 percent of that in the west, roughly the same level as the previous year.

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221/2018 • 27 September, 2018

Two Australians sentenced over

Trade conflicts to dampen growth in Asia

Airbnb killing in Melbourne An Australian court passed prison sentences for two Melbourne residents, Ryan Smart and Craig Levy, on Wednesday, after they confessed to killing their Airbnb guest Ramis Jonuzi after a dispute over 210 Australian dollars ($152, €130) in rent.

Ryan Smart received a nine-year sentence and will serve at least six years before parole, with Levy being sentenced to seven and a half years and spending at least four and a half years in jail. Both men had pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Smart and Levy shared a Melbourne house with the third housemate, who is also alleged to have taken part in the attack. They admitted to assaulting Jonuzi in October last year after he extended his stay and was unable to pay for it. The victim was kicked and punched until he passed out inside the Levy-owned property. The beating continued outside after Jonuzi regained consciousness. According to the prosecutors, Smart at one point held the 36-yearold in a leg lock and forced Jonuzi to check his bank account balance, confirming that he only had six Australian dollars.

Gennady Golovkin v Saul ʼCaneloʼ Alvarez - Golovkin relishes rematch Gennady Golovkin says Saturdayʼs rematch with Saul ʼCaneloʼ Alvarez is "100% the biggest fight of my career".

The middleweight pairʼs first fight, in September 2017, wascontroversially scored a draw,with Golovkin landing more punches and considered the stronger fighter by many pundits. "I hope it is going to be a better fight than the first one," said the 36-year-old Kazakh.

The Manila, Philippines-based Asian Development Bank said in an updated report Wednesday thatit expected economic expansion in Asia to remain at a robust 6 percentthis year but to slip to 5.8 percent in 2019. The worldʼs second-largest economy, China, was forecast to log 6.3 percent growth next year, down from 6.6 percent in the current year. The lender citedlooming financial and trade shocks as the big-

gest sources of potential trouble on the continent. It said that if the US kept hiking interest rates, including one increase expected Wednesday to take the benchmark rate to 2-2.25 percent, currency markets and capital flows in Asia could be disrupted, leading to massive problems with toxic loans.Overly high housing prices were seen as a big risk for China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and South Korea.

The top fall feasts celebrated in Germany Germany is full of traditions celebrated throughout the year, but autumn has its own special brand of festivities celebrating harvest, light, liberty and luck to warm up a season heading into darkness.

Whether itʼs fireworks on New Yearʼs Eve, not saying "Happy Birthday" before oneʼs actual birthday, dancing around the May pole on May Day, or celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day, Germany has its own unique take on traditions, superstitions and simply throwing a party. Even in modern, technicized 2018, many traditions and customs still center around the seasons.

Spring is heralded as the season of new beginnings; summer is cherished as time off work and school and a chance to experience; Christmastime will make any small kidʼs eyes light up – while fall traditions often look to the outdoors for inspiration. The changing light outside plays a big role in those autumn traditions, with candles and lanterns taking center stage.

Apple festivals celebrate the bounty of a fruit harvest, but also mark the end of a season full of sunlight. Fall in Germany also means a look back at significant political events that changed modern German history forever. Take a look at our picture galleries to get a glimpse of autumn in Germany.

World Press Photo exhibition now open in Budapest A heartwarming hug, exploited sex workers and all of the chaos and calamity caused by an increasing terrorist attacks and conflict. The annual World Press Photo travelling exhibition once again portrays milestones from the past year through the best works of photojournalism. The exhibition is on view until October 23rd at the Hungarian National Museum. If you just visit one show in Budapest this autumn, it should be this one.

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US loses its shine as investment location for German firms Presenting the results of a poll among its member companies, the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany on Tuesday said German firms had become less confident in doing business in the United States. It said that over two-fifths of the companies polled stated the US had become less attractive as a business location in the wake of a trans-Atlantic trade conflictthat looks defused for the moment, but by no means resolved.

While 82 percent of respondents acknowledged that economic relations between the US and Germany were still "strong or very strong," 42 percent of the German firms polled said the US had lost some of its former attractiveness to them. Only 20 percent of the US firms polled said the same about Germany.

Ceasefire on Israel-Gaza border largely holds as UN warns sides are on ʼbrink of warʼ A ceasefire announced by Hamas largely held along the Israel-Gaza border on Sunday, a day after the most intense exchange of fire between Israel and the Palestinian group since the 2014 Gaza war. Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of airstrikes in the densely populated Gaza Strip on Saturday on what it said were Hamas military, training and supply targets, while Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired nearly 200 rockets and mortars at Israel. Read more: Israel and Gazaʼs militant groups agree to ceasefire The Israeli airstrikes wounded more than 20 people and killed two teenage boys, Palestinian health officials said, while a Hamas rocket injured four Israelis. Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, and Islamic Jihad announced the Egyptian and UN-brokered ceasefire late Saturday. The Israeli military said its response would depend on the situation on the ground. After the ceasefire announcement, four mortars were fired into Israel early Sunday. In response, Israeli planes destroy at least one launch site. Israel also carried out three airstrikes later in the day on what it said were Hamas squads launching incendiary balloons and kites across the border.