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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Dalit caste protests in India hit Mumbai Hundreds were arrested after lowercaste Dalits took to the streets to protest attacks on their communities.

Opposition politicians in the state government accused the ruling party of tolerating nationalist violence. Protesters from Indiaʼs lowest castes brought parts of Mumbai to a standstill on Wednesday following violence from Hindu nationalists. One member of the Dalit — formerly known as the "untouchable" — caste, was killed in a Mumbaiʼs Maharashtra state on Monday during a ceremony to commemorate a 200-yearold battle. A group of Dalits had gathered to mark the anniversary of the battle of Bhima-Koregaon in 1818 when they helped the British defeat higher-caste elites. Demonstrators blocked roads and railways in Indiaʼs financial capital, resulting in 100 arrests as many businesses and schools remained shuttered in anticipation of more violence. The government of Maharashtra has called for an official investigation into the violence.

Singapore arrests Vietnamese spy linked to Berlin kidnapping A lawyer has urged Berlin to help a detained intelligence officer, who has "valuable information" and wants to go to Germany. The man has been accused of "revealing state secrets," a crime punishable by death in Vietnam. Lawyers representing fugitive Vietnamese intelligence officer Phan Van Anh Vu confirmed on Tuesday that Singaporean authorities took their client into custody. Vu confirmed that "apart from being a property developer, he was also a senior officer in the Vietnamese intelligence services," Singaporean lawyer Remy Choo told AFP news agency. The fugitive intelligence officer is wanted in Germany for his potential knowledge about thealleged forced disappearance of Vietnamese oil tycoon Trinh Xuan Thanh, according to German lawyer Victor Pfaff.

4/2018 • 5, JANUARY 2018

Germans believe Merkelʼs best days are over Although 67 percent of Germans think Merkel is no longer the leader she once was, they donʼt see man

According to a new survey, three-quarters of the country think its time for a change at her CDU party.

About two-thirds of Germans believe that Chancellor Angela Merkelʼsbest times are behind her, according to a new survey published Thursday. The poll, carried out by Die Welt daily and public broadcaster ARD, said that 67 percent of Germans believe that Merkel is no longer the leader she once was. That didnʼt mean, however, that Germans have completely lost faith in their long-time leader. Some 65 percent of respondents said they believed that Merkel was still "a good chancellor." The bigger problem, the poll suggests, is the lack of other stand-out personalities in hercenter-right Christian Democratic (CDU) party, which after Merkelʼs 12 years in office has not been able to come up with an heir apparent to the chancellor. Threequarters of Germans said that it was time for "new personnel" in the CDU. The survey also highlighted the growing frustration thatmore than 100 days after the countryʼs general electionon Sep-

tember 24, the seven parties in the Bundestag haveyet to form a government. Although the CDU and its Bavarian sister party the CSU votes at 32.9 percent, the relatively weak result has left them scrambling for coalition partners.

After talks with the pro-business FDP and Green party fell through, the CDU has had to approach its biggest rivals and reluctant "grand coalition" partners, Social Democrats (SPD), to see if the center-left would agree to rule together for four more years. Although a grand coalition may be the only way out of a minority government, an unstable option Berlin wants to avoid at all costs, Germans were less than enthusiastic at the prospect. About 45 percent said they would support another CDU/SPD pairing, while the greater majority – 52 percent – said they simply didnʼt feel strongly enough about it to register an opinion, which perhaps says more about the state of German politics than anything else.

Mormon church President Thomas Monson dies aged 90 The leader of the global Mormon Church, Thomas Monson, has died at the age of 90 at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah. He actively served in various top ranking positions of the church for more than half a century.

Thomas Monson, leader of the Mormon church, has died at the age of 90 at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah, the church said on Wednesday. Monson was the 16th President of the Mormon Church, which is officially known as "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (LDS) He held the position for 10 years following the death of his predecessor, Gordon Hinckley, who died in late 2007, aged 97. "President Monson had all the hallmarks of an unassuming servant of the Lord," the church said in a statement.

North Korea reopens hotline to South to talk Olympics North Korea has reopened a crossborder communication channel with South Korea despite the spike in animosity between the two countries in 2017. The main topic of conversation is set to be the Winter Olympics.

North Korea has restored a crossborder hotline to the South to discuss its participation in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The hotline, which is situated at the shared border village of Panmunjom, was cut by the North in 2016.

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4/2018 • 5, January 2018

Russia vetoes last-ditch bid to save probe into gas attacks in Syria Russia used its veto twice in 24 hours to deny a new mandate to the UN team looking into chemical weapon attacks in Syria. Moscow said it would not extend the mandate of the probe without fixing its "fundamental flaws." Tensions were running high in the UN Security Council on Friday after Russia vetoed a last-ditch motion

by Japan to continue the UN-led investigation into chemical weapons use in Syria. The move comes only a day after Russiavetoed a separate US draft resolutionto extend the probe, and its own draft was in turn rejected by the US, UK, and France. Moscow has repeatedly criticized the findings of the UN-backed investigative body, dubbed Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) as biased and inaccurate. Last week, JIM released a report blaming the Syrian regime for the chemical attack which killed around 100 people in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in April. Russia rejected it as "invented" and insisted that the body needed to reform.

Ousted Venezuelan opposition leader escapes house arrest, flees to Spain Ousted Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma has likened his escape to a film. He plans to take the fight against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro abroad.

The ousted opposition mayor of Caracas arrived in Spain on Saturday after orchestrating a daring escape from house arrest in Venezuela. Antonio Ledezma landed in Madrid from Bogota, Colombia, where he arrived a day earlier after slipping across the border. He was greeted by his wife and two daughters who live in Spain.

Ledezma said he planned to organize resistance from abroad to President Nicolas Maduro, under whose rule millions of Venezuelans have suffered from shortages of food and other basic supplies. "I am going to travel the world to spread the hope of all Venezuelans to escape this regime, this dictatorship," Ledezma said. The 62-year-old opposition figure was removed as mayor of Caracas and arrested in 2015 on allegations he sought to topple Maduro. He was later put under house arrest due to health issues. Ledezma was one of the opposition leaders who led protests against the government in 2014, which also resulted in the arrest of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.

He remains under house arrest.

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Meryl Streep wants to hear Melania and Ivanka Trump on #MeToo From Weinstein to Trump

The Oscar-winning actress, criticized for repeatedly claiming that she didnʼt know anything about Weinsteinʼs offenses, deflected the blame in a New York Times interview by asking to hear from other powerful women.

Meryl Streep repeated that she "really didnʼt know" about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinsteinʼs sexual offenses in a New York Timesinterview alongside Tom Hanks, her co-star in the newly released film "The Post."

"I did think he was having girlfriends. But when I heard rumors about actresses, I thought that that was a way of denigrating the actress and her ability to get the job," Streep said in the interview published on Wednesday. "I didnʼt know that he was in any way abusing people. He never asked me to a hotel room."

Streep has insisted several times that she had no clue of Weinsteinʼs mis-

Argentina navy loses contact with submarine with 44 crew on board No one has heard from an Argentinian submarine for at least two days. While authorities initially insisted it wasnʼt missing, Argentinaʼs navy has stepped up its search efforts. Argentinaʼs navy lost contact with one of its submarines and its 44 crew members, it announced on Friday. Although the German-built ARA San Juan has been out of contact for two days, the navy initially did not consider it lost. "Itʼs not that itʼs lost, because to be lost, you have to look for it and not find it," the navy told a local broadcaster. However, after an initial search operation in the submarineʼs last known position, around 430 kilometers (267miles) off the southeastern

conduct, even though she has worked with Weinstein on different films, and once jokingly referred to him as "god" during a Golden Globe acceptance speech. Actress Rose McGowan was one of the public figures to slam Meryl Streep on Twitter for her hypocrisy over the Weinstein case. Posters showing a smiling Streep standing alongside the disgraced producer also popped up in LA in December, her eyes covered with the words "She Knew." The street artist behind the posters later revealed himself as a right-wing activist who aimed to retaliate against Streep for her anti-Trump politics.

Valdez peninsula, bore no results, Argentina said it was stepping up its search efforts and calling on allies for help. "We have not been able to find, or have visual or radar communication with the submarine," navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told reporters at a news conference. "I donʼt want to dramatize the issue. Weʼre lacking communication and donʼt know what happened."

The incident has formally been upgraded to a "search and rescue" operation, Balbi added.

Cambodia charges 2 journalists with espionage The arrests are the latest in a widening crackdown on media and the opposition in Cambodia ahead of elections next year. The move further

Australia shutters Papua New Guinea detention center Around 600 asylum seekers have refused to leave the facility, citing fears of attacks from locals. Australian lawmakers have warned of a "humanitarian emergency" when authorities in Papua New Guinea shut off the water.

Private security staff at a controversial Australian detention center in Papua New Guinea left the facility for the first time in years on Tuesday ahead of its expected closure.

The facility formed an integral part ofAustraliaʼs expensive offshore detention programknown as "Sovereign Borders." However, Papua New Guineaʼs Supreme Court ruled that the facility is unconstitutional and needed to be closed. Some 600 asylum seekers residing at the facility have refused to leave, saying the alternatives provided are less secure.

Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the campʼs closure would proceed, and that the asylum seekers have access to temporary residences nearby. "All have been informed for a considerable period of time that there is safe and secure alternate accommodation where health and other services will be maintained," Dutton told Reuters news agency in an emailed statement.

strains ties between the United States and Cambodia. Two Cambodian journalists who worked for a US-funded radio station were charged with espionage on Saturday, the latest move in a widening crackdown on critics of authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Uon Chhin and Yeang Socheameta, former journalists of the Washington-based Radio Free Asia, were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly providing information to a foreign power. The offense carries up to 15-years in prison. Radio Free Asiaʼs Phnom Penh bureau closed its office in September, citing "intimidation" and threats that it was violating tax and registration regulations. The Cambodia Daily newspaper reported the two journalists were accused of setting up broadcasting equipment in the capital and sending news reports to Radio Free Asiaʼs Washington bureau.

4/2018 • 5, January 2018

Emmanual Macron proposes new law against fake news In his first New Year address as president, Emmanuel Macron said measures were needed to defend French democracy. Macron has previously taken aim at Russian media for allegedly spreading untruths ahead of elections.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said he would propose a new law to fight online fake news in the run-up to French elections. "We are going to develop our legal means of protecting democracy against fake news," Macron said in a New Yearʼs speech to the press in Paris. "If we want to protect liberal democracies, we must have strong legislation."

Macron had strongly criticized Russian media outlets for allegedly spreading false information shortly before his election in May. The 40-

US and Poland strike $10.5 billion missile defense deal The US has approved the $10.5 billion sale of a Patriot anti-missile system to NATO ally Poland. Eastern European NATO states have been ramping up their military capabilities in the face of perceived Russian aggression.

In a move likely to irk Russia, the US and Poland agreed on Friday a major arms deal that could see the eastern European NATO member soon begin conducting air and missile defense operations. As part of the $10.5 billion (€8.9 billion) sale, Poland is expected to receive 208 Patriot Advanced Capabilty-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement missiles, 16 M903 launching stations, four AN/MPQ-65 radars, four control stations, spares, software and associated equipment.

Made by US defense contractor Raytheon, the missiles are reportedly designed to detect, track and engage unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles and shortrange or tactical ballistic missiles. In a statement issued following the sale, the State Department said that: "A secure Europe capable of deterring air and missile threats and other forms of aggression promotes peace and stability within NATO and on the European continent."

year-old president said Russian outlets RT (formerly known as Russia Today) and Sputnik published "defamatory untruths" and "deceitful propaganda" in a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin following the vote. Promising more details in the coming weeks, Macron said legal changes would allow judges to quickly respond to false online content by either deleting the information, closing the associated account or blocking access to the host website.

Powerful ʼbomb cycloneʼ winter storm hits US East Coast

A powerful winter storm called a "bomb cyclone" has barreled into the US Northeast bringing heavy snow and high winds. The storm has led to travel chaos with thousands of canceled flights and dangerous roads.

The US East Coast hunkered down on Thursday as a massive winter storm walloped the region with sub-freezing temperatures, heavy snowfall and high winds. Blizzard warnings were in place from the southern state of North Carolina up to the northern state of Maine. The US National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) posted an image of the spinning storm on Twitter. The National Weather Service forecast winds as high as 70 miles per hour (113 kilometers per hour) that could knock down powerlines, leaving people without electricity or heat. "We can handle snow," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference. "Itʼs snow plus the wind which is going to cause the trouble today. The wind is going to be high all through the day."

Austrian full-face veil ban comes into effect Austriaʼs prohibition of full-face coverings has officially come into force. The government said the ban helps uphold Austrian values and promotes integration despite criticism from Muslim and refugee groups. People in Austria are now banned from covering their faces in public.

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4/2018 • 5, January 2018

Can the ad industry become sustainable?

A look at an entrepreneur who wants to revolutionize the ad industry. Andrea Henao is a former advertising executive who left the corporate world to found her own business — a boutique ad agency that vets its clients. ndrea Henao wants to change the ad industry. Two years ago, the Berlinbased French entrepreneur founded an ad agency that only works with sustainable brands. I met Henao in her offices, not too far from the Berlin’s notorious Alexanderplatz.

The premises are decorated with secondhand furniture that she bought online, and art pieces collected and made with friends and colleagues. While showing me around, she shared the stories about the furniture and art.

Henao understands the importance of stories. And she knows just how brands come up with stories that appeal to customers with certain values.

With rising consumer awareness about environmental issues and labor practices, brands increasingly emphasize ecological footprint and employee working conditions. Unfortunately, ad campaigns do not always tell the truth — they exaggerate, embellish and lie. And this is something Henau wants to change. "We really believe that we are responsible for the ad that we promote, hence we promote exclusively sustainable brands," she tells me. The ad industry has yet to play a significant role in ensuring brands tell the truth.The onus to reveal false claims has generally fallen on activists, consumer groups and the media. But Henao believes advertisers can play a bigger role.

China sales behind German carmakersʼ rosy third quarter Strong vehicle sales in the wordʼs most important car market have been essential in enabling German carmakers to end their third quarters on a positive note. Their dependence on China is expected to increase further.

Germanyʼs top carmakers would not have been able to present positive third-quarter results without a booming auto market in China, a study by consultancy EY showed Tuesday. It said China had long become the most important market for Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler, with one in three of their cars sold in the third quarter having gone to the Asian nation. To be more precise, the Chinese market accounted for 34 percent of Germanyʼs overall car sales between July and September, the highest ever rate logged so far. Back in 2010, only 23 percent of Germanyʼs quarterly car sales ended up in China.

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BP warns of huge hit from US tax reforms BP has warned that they will suffer a painful blow to its fourth-quarter figures, which are due to be announced on February 6. However the energy giant predicts its long-term earnings will be "positively impacted."

British energy giant BP expects a one-off charge of 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to eat into their fourthquarter 2017 figures, the company announced on Tuesday. Donald Trump signed into law the mostradical changes to the US tax codein 30 years, and BP is one of several conglomerates to allude to large one-time hits in the fourth quarter. Royal Dutch Shell last week claimed last an expected $2-2.5 billion dent in their fourth-quarter results, and Barclays projected a $1- billion variation.

Goldman Sachs suggested a $- billion hit as a result of the new levy on overseas earnings. "The lowering of

Germany bans sale of childsnooping smartwatches A German regulator has banned the sale of childrenʼs smartwatches that have one-way monitoring functions.

Officials said parents had been using the watches to listen in on teachers while their children were in class.

Certain smartwatches for children can no longer be sold in Germany as some of these models are equipped with a "wiretapping" function, a regulator said on Friday Germanyʼs Federal Network Agency, orBundesnetzagentur, announced the ban saying that these watches can be classed as "unauthorized transmitters." "According to our investigations, parents were using the watches, for example, to listen in on teachers during class," said Bundesnetzagentur President Jochen Homann. Germany Germany bans sale of child-snooping smartwatches A German regulator has banned the sale of childrenʼs smartwatches that have one-way monitoring functions.

Officials said parents had been using the watches to listen in on teachers while their children were in class.

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Norwegian wealth fund plans to divest of oil and gas Norwayʼs trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund is proposing to drop oil and gas companies from its holdings, saying it already has enough exposure to the industry and wants to protect against fluctuating oil prices. Oslo is set to decide in the fall of 2018 on backing a proposal from the countryʼs sovereign wealth fund —the worldʼs biggest— to cut oil and gas companies from its benchmark index. In a letter to the government, the Norwegian central bank, which manages the fund, said on Thursday that the move would make Norway "less vulnerable to a lasting decline in oil prices." "This advice is based exclusively on financial arguments and analyses of the governmentʼs total oil and gas exposure," the bankʼs deputy governor Egil Matsen said in a statement. "It does not reflect any particular view of future movements in oil and gas prices or the profitability or sustainability of the oil and gas sector," he added.

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the US corporate income tax rate to 21 percent requires revaluation of BPʼs US deferred tax assets and liabilities," the company said in a statement. "The current estimated impact of this will be a one-off non-cash charge to the group income statement of around $1.5 billion that will impact BPʼs fourth-quarter 2017 results." BP admitted that their long-term earnings would be"positively impacted" by the tax reforms, which are expected to boost corporate profits of banks and other companies over the medium and long term by lowering the rate of corporation tax from 35 percent to 21 percent.

Spotify hit with $1.6 billion copyright lawsuit

Songs by Tom Petty, Neil Young and the Doors are just some of the titles licensed by music publisher Wixen.

The company is suing Spotify, claiming it didnʼt obtain the rights to distribute thousands of songs.

Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. holds the rights to songs of major artists including Neil Young, The Doors, Tom Petty, Santana, The Beach Boys, Janis Joplin and Missy Elliott. Those songs are also part of Spotifyʼs 30 million-song catalog — but Wixen is claiming that the Swedish streaming company has failed to obtain permission to distribute over 10,000 titles it manages. The music publisher is now suing Spotify for alleged copyright violations. Wixen said it is seeking $150,000 in damages for each song, the maximum allowed for copyright damages — for a total of at least $1.6 billion including lawyersʼ fees. "While Spotify has become a multibillion dollar company, songwriters and their publishers, such as Wixen, have not been able to fairly and rightfully share in Spotifyʼs success, as Spotify has in many cases used their music without a license and without compensation," reads the explanation for the lawsuit filed last week in a federal court in Los Angeles.

4/2018 • 5, January 2018

Diphtheria - a nearly eradicated disease returns among Rohingya refugees Most patients are children

The WHO has diagnosed more than 3,000 cases of the lifethreatening disease in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

The NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has reporteda dramatic outbreak of diphtheria in Rohingya refugee campsin Bangladesh. Thus far, the humanitarian organization has treated 2,000 patients showing symptoms of the bacterial infection. The World Health Organization, meanwhile, has registered more than 3,000 recent cases, with more coming in. "This outbreak of diphtheria hits the people in the camps at a time where theyʼre al-

ready struggling with a measles epidemic and an overall emergency situation, which puts enormous strain on the health system," said Pavlos Kolovos, the country coordinator for MSF. Bad hygenic and healthcare circumstances are aggravating the epidemic: Many people - particularly children - are not vaccinated.

Refugees live in primitive shelters with little space and no safe water supply.

in registry of births, court rules An intersex person has won a court case to allow them to enter a third gender into the registry of births.

The case was appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court after failing at lower levels.

Germanyʼs Federal Constitutional Court on Wednesday called for a third gender option in the registry of births.

Intersex people, who are neither male nor female, should be able to register their sexual identity as such, the Karlsruhe court ruled. The court found that the general right to the protection of personality in Germanyʼs Basic Law meant the register had to be altered to allow a third gender. The court ruled seven to one that lawmakers must create new legislation by the end of 2018 to allow for a third sex, providing the examples of "intersex," "diverse" or another "positive designation of sex." Another possibility raised was to scrap gender entries altogether. "Assignment to a gender is of paramount importance for individual identity; it typically plays a key role both in the self-image of a person and in the way in which the person concerned is perceived by others. The gender identity of those persons who are neither male nor female is protected,"the court ruled.

The Sound of Dignity - Boban Markovic Orkestar Müpa

Teachers for AI — can robots create more jobs than they retire?

While headway in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry has many worried about potential jobs losses, others see this as a perfect opportunity to nurture an economy that is completely human-based.

Workers can spend anywhere from 5 minutes to 40 hours a week going through simple tasks on a smartphone, making AI all over the world more intelligent and efficient. By building platforms and crowd sourcing a large supply of workers, the companies that train AI were smart to realize the data needed could be processed by anyone with steady access to the internet. From this developed companies like Clickwork, Neurala,

and Alegion Inc., which utilize "human taggers" to push AI education.

With over a million "clickworkers" signed up, thereʼs an estimated 100,000 people logged on at this very moment, sifting through droves of information and lending a human touch to robot training. "Staring at security cameras or an airport scanner, remote-controlling a robot, driving trucks up and down a mine did not exist as jobs until recently," says Massimiliano Versace, CEO of Neurala, "and will probably not exist as jobs occupying a full-time human as they are today. Humans were created to do much more complicated and elevated tasks than watching videos 24/7."

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Germany must allow third gender

Boban Markovic, one of the best known artists of Balkan worldmusic, who collaborated on many of Emil Kusturica’s films, will visit Budapest once again with his orchestra within the frameworks of a charity gala for the benefit of the Hungarian Hospice Foundation at Müpa. This night is for greeting the foundation’s supporters and, of course, the New Year.

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Culture

New Hungarian film Aurora Borealis now screens in Budapest Becoming a mother is a miraculous time in a woman’s life. However, there are certain scenarios when the arrival of a newcomer is not entirely wonderful news. The new motion picture by eminent Hungarian director Márta Mészáros, Aurora Borealis, tells a touching tale, taking viewers back in time in Hungary and leaving them reaching for the Kleenex.

The story has two timelines. One transports viewers back to a western Hungarian village in 1953, where a descendant of an aristocratic family, Ákos, falls for a village girl, Mari. They try to escape to Austria together, but unfortunately with no success, and after being harassed by soldiers, Mari has to start a new life alone and pregnant in occupied Vienna. The other storyline is in the present, unfolding the events through the recollections of old Mari, now a pensioner living in her old village.

One day she gets a letter from Russia and falls into a coma. Her daughter Olga, a lawyer living alone in Vienna, comes back to care for her. Suspecting something about her mother’s past isn’t quite right, she starts investigating. This is only a fraction of the story, as anything else would be a major spoiler. However, even the trailer foretells that Olga’s dad might not be who she thinks after all.

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4/2018 • 5, January 2018

Serena Williams to return to tennis in Abu Dhabi

The former world number one will make her comeback this month after birth of her first child. The 36-year-old will take on the reigning French Open champion. American tennis star and former world number one Serena Williams is set to make her comeback on December 30 after birth of her first child. The 36-year-old will play her first competitive match in 11 months in the United Arab Emirates. Serena Williams will play an exhibition match on the final day of the Mubadala event on December 30, tournament organizers announced Sunday. The former world number one will take on reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in Abu Dhabi. Williams has not played since hervictory in the Australian Open11 months ago. She gave birth to her first child, Alexis Olympia, in September.

North Korea could take part in Winter Olympics, says Kim

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has given a first indication that Pyongyang could send a delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics, which will take place in the South. Kim said authorities "should meet in the near future." Despitemounting tensions in the Korean peninsulaover the Northʼs nuclear weapons program, the North Korean leader conveyed a rather peaceful message in his New Yearʼs speech to the nation. "I sincerely hope the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics will be staged successfully,” said Kim, adding that his country was "willing to take necessary measures, including to dispatch our delegation.”

Kim also suggested that both countries should set up a meeting to discuss the prospect of the North Korean teamʼs participation in the Games.

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Athletics doping: IOC confident over Russia doping reform plans International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach believes Russia will resolve its doping issues and field athletes at next yearʼs Rio Games.

Russia was provisionally suspendedfrom world athletics after an independent World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report alleged "state-sponsored doping". Bach met with his Russian Olympic Committee counterpart Alexander Zhukov to discuss the report. He said he was "confident" in the measures put forward by the ROC. Council members of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Friday voted 22-1 in favour of Russia being banned. As it stands, Russian athletes may not enter international competitions, including the World Athletic Series and Rio Olympics, which begin on 5 August next year. Russia will also not be entitled to host the 2016 World Race Walking Cup in Cheboksary and the 2016 World Junior Championships in Kazan. "We are confident that the initiatives being proposed by the ROC, with the responsible international organisations - Wada and the IAAF - will ensure compliance as soon as possible in order to provide participation of the clean Russian athletes at the Olympic Games," said IOC president Bach.

Sandro Wagner joins Bayern Munich The Hoffenheim striker returns to his boyhood club for a reported fee of 12 million euros

Wagner, whose form under Julian Nagelsmann has put him in with a shot of a World Cup spot, said: "Iʼm coming back home."

After weeks of rumors, Bayern Munich have finally confirmed the signing of Hoffenheim striker Sandro Wagner for a reported fee of €12 million ($14.25 million). The Germany international joins the Bundesliga champions after two successful years at Hoffenheim, in which he scored 18 goals, and played a key part in the team qualifying for Europe last season. Wagner started his professional career at Bayern in the 2007/8 season. He made his Bundesliga debut with the club, before moving elsewhere in

order to secure more game time.

The Munich-born striker then went on to play for Duisburg, Werder Bremen, Hertha Berlin and Darmstadt, before joining Hoffenheim.

"A long journey has come to an end for me, Iʼm coming back home to my club," said Wagner after the deal was confirmed. "Bayern is one of the worldʼs biggest clubs." Wagner is expected to join the clubas a backup for prolific Polish striker Robert Lewandowski; unusually for a front man, he will play with the number 2 on the back of his jersey.

What does Mario Gomezʼs return mean to Stuttgart?

Stuttgart are desperate for goals as the team have failed to put the ball in the back of the net in their last four Bundesliga matches. Is the return of striker Mario Gomez what they have been missing?

Usually there isnʼt a dry season in Stuttgart as the city receives moderate precipitation year-round but when it comes to goals, this December has been the driest of months for the Swabians. Zero goals in their last four games have amounted to zero points, leaving the team just two points away from the relegation zone. Last sea-

son the club relied heavily on striker Simon Teroddeʼs nose for goal. The player had four assists and scored 25 goals in 32 games, becoming the top scorer in Germany’s second division.

However, it has been a different story ever since Stuttgart’s promotion.

Terodde, a striker with minimal topflight experience, has only managed one assist and two goals in 15 matches this Bundesliga season. The club have announced Terodde is moving to Cologne, leaving a gap in Stuttgartʼs attack which they have quickly filled by signing their former striker Mario Gomez from Wolfsburg.