DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
How right-wing nationalism fuels climate denial Martin Hultman: Until the mid-1980s, there was a really strong consensus between politicians and scientists that climate change is really acute and that we have to do something about it. So at that point, politicians with various political ideologies, from Ronald Reagan to Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev, actually got together and thought of this as a global threat to humanity. They agreed that we have to set up bodies of interdisciplinary research and policies and to tackle this threat together. Around the same time, the extractive industries — the oil and coal industries — started to fund climate change denial research to promote their own interests. They set up various think tanks, like the US-based Heartland Institute, and started opposing climate change research.
Islamist threat lingers in Philippines despite Marawi victory Abdul, his young face hidden by a headscarf, stares into the camera as he contemplates his shattered dream. He has lost dozens of friends. His family has been displaced. "Our original plan was limited to attacking the military camp in Marawi and expelling the soldiers from the city," he tells DW. The homegrown jihadi leaderswho laid siege to Marawiunder the banner of the "Islamic State" (IS) had convinced Abdul and his fellow fighters that the Philippine government would then withdraw. "They told us we would get what we had always wanted: an Islamic state here in Marawi." More than a year after theheaviest urban fightingin the Philippines since World War II, the historic center of Marawi, the countryʼs largest Muslim city on the southern island of Mindanao, remains sealed off.
288/2018 • 20 DECEMBER, 2018
European Commission accepts Italyʼs revised budget proposal Italy has promised to reduce its deficit targets for the next three years
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the long awaited agreement allowed his government to honor its main commitments and boost the economy. The European Commission hasreached an agreement with Italyon its budget plans, after months of Brussels resisting Romeʼs intentions to exceed EU rules on government borrowing. Italy agreed, as part of the compromise, to lower its deficit target for 2019 from 2.4 to 2.04 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The governmentʼs projections now operate on the basis of economic growth predictions that the EU considers more realistic. European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said the plan, though "not ideal," allows the commission to avoid legal action against Italy "provided that the measures are fully implemented." The commission said it had been reassured by new fiscal measures provided by Italyʼs populist government and decided to accept their budget offer rather than recommend launching legal action called "excessive deficit procedures." Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte hailed the agreement when addressing Italian parliament on Wednesday, saying he had resisted calls for
even greater cuts and had protected key measures in the budget. "At the end of tough negotiations, conducted with tenacity, we have reached a point of sustainable equilibrium,sticking to a higher (deficit) figurethan that deemed appropriate by Europe," Conte told Italyʼs upper house. As a share of national economic output,Italyʼs debt levelis thesecond highest in Europe, after Greece, at over 130 percent of GDP. The commission can implement sanctions when countries breach, or are at risk of breaching, the deficit threshold of 3 percent of GDP or have a government debt level above 60 percent of GDP. That said, the majority ofEU members, including Germany, exceed the 60 percent target for total national debt.The countryʼs new government — comprised of a coalition between the far-right, euroskeptic Lega party and the leftleaning, anti-establishment Five Star Movement — initially sought sweeping budget measures including tax cuts, early retirement measures and the establishment of a universal basic income.
German cabinet approves skilled labor draft law Angela Merkelʼs Cabinet has approveda new immigration law that German businesses have been crying out for, and which has been the subject of political debate in the country for 30 years. Three ministers appeared before the press on Wednesday to present the fruit of their tortuous inter-departmental negotiations: a law aimed at attracting skilled foreign labor that is due to come into force in 2020, but could still struggle to get past the conservative wing of Merkelʼs Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in parliament. "This is a good day for modern Germany," Labor Minister Hubertus Heil told the assembled reporters, while Economy Minister Peter Altmaier hailed a "historic day" that proved the effectiveness of the much-abused grand coalition between the CDU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
EU reaches agreement on single-use plastic ban A plan to ban single-use plastic products such as disposable plates and straws has been agreed. EU member states and the EU parliament still have to give the provisional agreement the go-ahead. European lawmakers have reached an agreement on a ban of single-use plastic products, the Austrian presidency said in Brussels on Wednesday. The move is aimed at making the EU a world leader in using sustainable alternatives that avoid marine pollution.
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288/2018 • 20 December, 2018
Hundreds of migrants scale Spanish enclave fence One man died and several were injured as hundreds tried to reach the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco. Despite the Spanish governmentʼs promise to remove barbed wire on top of the fence, it has not yet done so. Some 300 people rushed a border fence between Morocco andSpainʼs North African enclave Melilla, Spanish authorities said on Sunday. Out of those who attempted to scale the two fences topped in barbed wire, 200 sub-Saharan Africans entered Spanish territory, a representative of Spainʼs government in Melilla said in a statement. One man who climbed over the fences died of an apparent heart attack despite efforts to revive him. Nineteen other people were being treated for fractures or cuts sustained while scaling the fences, authorities said. Another six Civil Guards sustained non-serious injuries during the rush at the border fence.
Disaster-prone nations threatened by huge insurance gap New research from Lloydʼs and CEBR has shown that vast assets are underinsured, posing a huge threat to livelihoods particularly in poorer nations. Those most at risk are also those with the lowest insurance levels. Disaster-prone developing nations are exposed to crippling losses when storms, floods or earthquakes strike, because they suffer from a dangerous lack of insurance, industry experts said Monday. Globally, assets worth about $163 billion (€141 billion) are not insured against catastrophes, posing a significant threat to livelihoods and prosperity,Londonbased insurance market Lloydʼs said in a fresh report. The value of underinsured assets had shrunk by only 3 percent since 2012, it noted. Many nations with the lowest levels of insurance were also among those most exposed to risks, including from climate change impacts, and were least able to fund recovery efforts, the study stressed. "If insurance is not available,catastrophes can have a much greater impact on economies and lives, Lloydʼs Chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown said in a statement. Emerging and low-income nations accounted for almost the entire global insurance gap, the report noted. 2
US Federal Reserve hikes rates one more time in 2018 He had insisted a renewed rate hike would be bad, considering global economic uncertainties
Australia apologizes to child sex abuse victims Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has delivered an apology to survivors and victims of institutional child sex abuse. "Today, Australia confronts a trauma, an abomination, hiding in plain sight for far too long," Morrison told parliament in an emotional televised speech on Monday. "Today, as a nation, we confront our failure to listen, to believe and to provide justice. Again, today, we say sorry. To the children we failed, sorry. To the parents whose trust was betrayed and who have struggled to pick up the pieces, sorry. "As a nation, we failed them, we forsook them, and that will always be our shame." Hundreds of survivors and their families gathered in Canberra and at special receptions around the country to witness the apology.
Federal Reserve policymakers have raised the key interest rate one more time, thus drawing the ire of the US President. Meeting for the last time this year, US central bank policymakers increased the key interest rate for a fourth time in 2018. The quarterpoint hike took the rate to the target range of 2.25-2.5 percent. The renewed increase — the ninth since the Fed started raising rates back in 2015 — mirrored the consensus view among investors and once more demonstratedthe central bank was not willing to bow to any outside pressures. Three years ago, the
Siemens CEO pulls out of Saudi investment conference over Khashoggi case After receiving "hundreds, if not thousands" of e-mails and posts urging him not to attend the Future Investment Initiative (FII), Joe Kaeser on Monday announced his withdrawal from the Saudi conference. The chief executive of Siemens is now one of many high-profile senior executives and financiers pulling out of the three-day event in Riyadh this week, afterSaudi Arabia has admitted it murdered Saudi government critic Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul two weeks ago. In a post on social network
Fed began moving away from the near-zero rate that had been in place since the peak of the global financial crisis. For consumers, any hike in the rate has meant higher borrowing costs, including mortgage and credit card payments. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly lashed out against the Federal Reserveʼs rate hikes, arguing theyʼve been coming too fast and might choke growth in the worldʼs largest economy. LinkedIn, Kaeser described his move as "the cleanest decision but not the most courageous one." He also wrote that the decision was not one "against the Kingdom or its people," and noted that Siemens had been "a reliable partner to Saudi Arabia for decades." "But for now, the truth must be found and justice must be served," he added in the post. Pressure had been mounting for the Siemens CEO to withdraw from the FII conference, which is intended to showcase the reform efforts undertaken by the new Saudi strongman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
China unveils plans to launch man-made moon into space
China is set to launch into orbit a huge space mirror,which has been specifically designed to reflect sunlight back to Earth, the stateowned China Daily online portal reported. In Chengdu, a city in southwestern Sichuan province, the "illumination satellites" are being rigously tested. If all goes to plan, the construction will shine simultaneously with the real moon, but will be almost eight times brighter, the online portal wrote. The mirrors will launch from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province before the end of the year. "By then, the three huge mirrors will divide the 360-degree orbital plane, continuously illuminating an area for 24 hours," Wu Chunfeng, head of Tian Fu New Area Science Society and the company responsible for the project, told newspaper in an interview. Three more moons will launch in 2022 if the initial test goes off without a hitch, he added.
288/2018 • 20 December, 2018
Riyadh between an OPEC rock and Trumpʼs hard place Donald Trump wants Riyadh to keep pumping oil to keep global prices low, a tactic that pleases his blue-collar base at home. But the Saudis may balk at opposing other OPEC members ahead of a key meeting of the cartel. The oil market has been very publicly bludgeoned in the last two months, with prices down from $86 per barrel on October 3 to $58 on November 23, a 32 percent cull. The question being asked in the run-up to a key OPEC meeting is which end of the producer/consumer spectrum will the cartel, a body dominated by US ally Saudi Arabia, fall? "Crude prices are suffering strong downside pressures due to abundant global supply and weakening demand,” Daniela Corsini of Intesa Sanpaolo in
Invisible and dangerous: The Salafist scene in North RhineWestphalia There are more Salafists in North Rhine-Westphalia than in any other German state. The scene has all but vanished from the public eye in its stronghold. But it is still very active, as DW is told by numerous sources. "Speak after me," the red-bearded German convert and Salafist preacher Pierre Vogel says as he publicly summons the young woman. Cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd in the pedestrian zone of the western city of Offenbach, she does exactly that, and repeats the words of the Islamic profession of faith. That was in 2010. The conversion was filmed and uploaded to YouTube — just one example of the many videos shared online from the heydays ofSalafist missionary work in Germany. Until 2016, the scene had a self-confident and sometimes aggressive public appearance. Bearded men in baggy pants and flowing white robes such as Pierre Vogel regularly distributed free German-language editions of the Koran in market squares and pedestrian zones.
Milan told DW. "In our baseline scenario we expect that OPEC and nonOPEC allies will cut by about 1.3-1.8 million barrels per day (mbd).” She saw a cut as the most likely outcome of the OPEC+ (including non-member Russia) meeting in Vienna on December 6. Oil prices are increasingly being determined by the Troika of Saudi Arabia, Russia and the US, the worldʼs three largest producers accounting for 40 percent of global production of crude oil and condensates.
Grace Mugabe wanted in South Africa over assault on model
South African police have issued an arrest warrant for Grace Mugabe, the wife of Zimbabweʼs former leader Robert Mugabe, following accusations of an assault on a model in South Africa last year, it was revealed on Wednesday. Grace Mugabe is accused of whipping Gabriella Engels with an electrical cord and cutting her forehead at a plush hotel in Johannesburg. The former first lady of Zimbabwe was granted diplomatic immu-
nity by the South African government after the reported assault, but a court found themove was illegal this July, paving the way for the warrant. "I can confirm that a warrant for the arrest of Grace Mugabe was issued last Thursday," South African Police Service spokesman Vishnu Naidoo said, adding that police were seeking Interpolʼs help to enforce the warrant. There was no immediate comment from Grace Mugabe.
Pakistan honor killings haunting young women Khanzadi Mehboob lives in constant fear for her life after she married against the wishes of her family. Although honor killings are illegal, tribal customs in Pakistan often trump the rule of law. In 2008, when she was only 15 years old, Khanzadi Mehboob started teaching children in her village located near Jacobabad in Pakistanʼs southern province of Sindh. Her dedication impressed an NGO, which provided her "school" with a building in 2011.
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288/2018 • 20 December, 2018
Aircraft makers are optimistic about Farnborough despite Brexit The Farnborough Airshow is a major trade venue for the aeronautical industry. As manufactures set up their displays their thoughts hover between anticipation of the next big order and fears of Brexit says Andreas Spaeth. The global aviation industry will come together on Monday at the Farnborough airfield southwest of London for its biennial industry fair — the second largest in the world after the Paris Air Show. The UK has traditionally been one of the worldʼs leading aviation countries and the Farnborough trade fairʼs roots date all the way back to 1920. It moved to its current location in 1948. Read more: Air India sale grounded after privatization flops However, this year is likely to be full of uncertainty as to the future role of the British aviation industry is called into question due to the UKʼs impending departure from the EU in 2019. Airlines and manufacturers have both recently denounced the prevailing uncertainties and demanded clear post-Brexit rules.Read more: Air India sale grounded after privatization flops However, this year is likely to be full of uncertainty as to the future role of the British aviation industry is called into question due to the UKʼs impending departure from the EU in 2019. Airlines and manufacturers have both recently denounced the prevailing uncertainties and demanded clear post-Brexit rules.
Indiaʼs currency tumbles amid rising oil prices The rupee has dropped over 12 percent against the US dollar since the beginning of 2018, earning it the unfortunate distinction of Asiaʼs worst performing currency this year. Economists blame risingglobal crude prices for the slide. India imports 80 percent of its oil needs and soaring prices have blown a hole in the nationʼs finances. The country also imports huge quantities of items like gold and electronics, swelling its import bill further. Indiaʼs current account deficit (CAD) will also likely widen to 2.8 percent of GDP in financial year 2018 — up from 1.9 percent last year — according to consultancy Nomura Research Institute. CAD is a measure of the flow of goods, services and investments in and out of the country. Still, macroeconomic problems resulting from a higher CAD and depreciating rupee are not Prime Minister Narendra Modiʼs biggest concerns. His administration is more worried about growing public discontent due to the rise in petrol and diesel prices. 4
Venezuela: Erdogan and Maduro slam US sanctions Venezuela has suffered from a severe political and economic crisis since a collapse in oil prices several years ago. It has sought to bolster its ties with Turkey as it faces down a range of US sanctions. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced US sanctions against Venezuela at a joint press conference with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Monday. Ties between the two countries have grown closer in recent months as Venezuela struggles to overcome a severe economic and political crisis. The Turkish president said Venezuela had been unfairly targeted with economic sanctions, adding that he "did not approve of these measures
Foreign investment in the United States of America down sharply Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States plunged by a staggering 32 percent in 2017 year on year, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported. Investment totaled $259.6 billion (€221.2 billion),with the figure representing the second year of declineafter a peak in 2015 when foreign investorsʼ expenditure in the US hit $439.5 billion. Last year, most foreign investments in the United States came from neighboring Canada which contributed $66.2 billion. European Union member states accounted for 40 percent of the 2017 FDI total. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the drop in foreign investment in the United States is part of a global trend. Not just a US problem OECD researchers noted that FDI levels were down 18 percent worldwide in 2017.
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China: Multiple deaths in chemical plant blast Authorities in southwestern Sichuan province have opened an investigation into a blast at an industrial complex that left 19 people dead, state news agency Xinhua reported Friday. The explosion ripped through the Yibin Hengda Technology complex in the city of Yibin at 6:30 p.m. (1030 UTC) Thursday, sparking a fire that burned late into the night, Xinhua said. County officials said that 12 people wounded in the blast had been taken to hospital and were in a stable condition.Read more: China convicts dozens for last yearʼs giant explosions in Tianjin Reports in the Sichuan Dailysaid the force of the explosion reduced three buildings to their steel frames and shattered the windows of nearby properties. China, the worldʼs largest producer of chemicals, has sought to improve industrial safety standards following aseries of high-profile accidentsin recent years.
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that ignore the rules of global trade." He said his "friend" Maduro was facing "manipulative attacks from certain countries and acts of sabotage from economic assassins." He vowed to strengthen trade ties with Venezuela to help alleviate the economic crisis. He also praised Maduro, saying the Venezuelan leaderʼs "exemplary attitude is very valuable at a time when enmity toward Islam has risen and Western countries are stoking hostility toward foreigners."
Ranking: The most visited cities in the world
The British market research institute Euromonitor has determined which cities counted the most visitors in 2017. With 27.9 million visitors, Hong Kong once again achieved 1st place, Bangkok 2nd place, London 3rd place. Asian cities dominate the top positions. Of the European cities, only London and Paris made it into the top ten most visited cities in the world. The French capital recorded growth of 13.7 percent over the previous year. Amsterdam ranked 23rd, Vienna 34th and Berlin 36th. Ranking 2018 1. Hong Kong (27.9 million visitors) 2. Bangkok (22.5 million visitors) 3. London (19.8 million visitors) 4. Singapore (17.6 million visitors) 5. Macau (17.3 million visitors) 6. Paris (15.8 million visitors) 7. Dubai (15.8 million visitors) 8. New York City (13.1 million visitors) 9. Kuala Lumpur (12.8 million visitors) 10. Shenzhen (12.1 million visitors)
288/2018 • 20 December, 2018
German food industry to cut sugar, salt and fat content Sugar, salt and fat content in processed foods will be cut by 2025
The German Food and Agriculture Ministry has struck a deal with the food industry to make processed foods healthier. The German food industry has agreed to voluntarily reduce the amount of sugar, salt and fat in processed foods by 2025, Food and Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner said on Wednesday. "The food industry has for the first time committed to and will let itself be subject to checks on the steps it is taking to reduce sugar, salt and fat in processed food," she told Bild newspaper. "That has never hap-
Client Earth: Changing environmental law, the world over James Thornton, head of public interest law firm Client Earth, holds governments around the world accountable for environmental damage. He tells DW how the law can be harnessed for the good of people and the planet. James Thornton: The thing that allows a really small group of people to change the world is using the enormous power of the law. Legal systems encapsulate, really, what a society thinks about itself and the rules that people in the particular society have mutually agreed to be governed by. It always includes enforcement mechanisms. If, for example, a government has passed a law about air pollution or water pollution and then it doesnʼt do the right thing and protect the people like the law says, we — using the power of the law — can go to the courts and force the government to do the right thing.
Alma Abonyi designer bag under every Christmas tree!
pened before." Speaking in Berlin, Klöckner defended the programʼs focus on voluntary commitments from the food industry. "Everyone must deliver and everyone will deliver," the Christian Democrat said after the German Cabinet signed off on the plan. Klöckner said it would not only lead to healthier food, but to "positive competition" among the industry.
and draws on her own experiences of coming out as gay. "Her work explores issues surrounding queer identity, landscape, language technology and time," judges said. The 44-year-old artist said she felt "quite overwhelmed" about winning the award. "The stories that I am telling, although they are mine and are personal, are stories that a lot of people — well, I guess queer people — have experienced," the Glasgow-based artist told British broadcaster the BBC, upon recieving the prize.
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Culture
Renovated Museum of Fine Arts to Open on 31 October AFTER MORE THAN THREE YEARS OF RENOVATION, THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BUDAPEST WILL OPEN ON 31 OCTOBER. NOW OPEN TO PUBLIC
Charlotte Prodger wins Turner Prize for smartphone video British artist Charlotte Prodger has won the prestigious Turner Prize for art with a video shot on an iPhone. The film snippets center on her experiences of coming out as gay. Charlotte Prodger has won the 2018 Turner Prize, Britainʼs most prestigious award for art. The 44-year-old received the award for an autobiographical video entitled "BRIDGIT," shot over the course of a year on her iPhone. Judges praised "the painterly quality" of the work, which questions gender and identity
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50% SALE on every left piece of the first leather collection, until on stock! Visit almaabonyi.com for more information! "Itʼs unbelievable but from the first leather collection there are only a few pieces left. You can get them with 50% discount now, until Christmas, as long as we have them on stock!" Foto: Forgeron Studio
Thanks to the largest-scale and most comprehensive reconstruction project in the museum’s history, the museum building has been renewed, and, returning to the collection’s first concept, the museum’s permanent exhibitions will also be rearranged. Besides the new permanent exhibitions, the revamped museum will welcome visitors with a chamber exhibition titled Leonardo & the Budapest Horse and Rider. The museum reconstruction, implemented within the framework of the Liget Budapest Project, included the restoration of the Romanesque Hall, which sustained severe damage in World War II and since then had been only partially renovated and used as a storage area, along with the modernisation of the building’s obsolete heating system, the installation of air conditioning in some of the exhibition halls, the renewal of a large part of the roof structure, as well as the addition of new exhibition spaces, visitor areas and modern storage facilities.
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288/2018 • 20 December, 2018
Fans will decide ʼUEL2ʼ success
Sundayʼs announcement that UEFA is set to introduce a new club competition, known provisionally as "UEL2," came as no great surprise, as the Executive Committee of European footballʼs governing body merely confirmed what for months had been widely expected. But does Europe really need yet another club competition? UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and the rest of his Executive Committee obviously think so.
Sergio Garcia claims Valderrama Masters hat-trick
Sergio Garcia won his third Valderrama Masters in a row after the event was reduced to 54 holes and completed on the fifth day because of bad weather. The 2017 Masters champion, 38, was three clear on 10 under with 11 holes remaining going into day five and finished on 12 under after a 69. Irelandʼs Shane Lowry was second after a round of 66 left him on eight under. Lowry got to within a shot of Garcia with three consecutive birdies after the turn but the Spaniard held on. While Lowry ran up a double bogey at the 15th, Garcia added birdies at the 14th and 17th to give himself a cushion playing the last. Englandʼs Lee Westwood made four birdies on Sunday to move up to second but eventually finished in a share of fifth after shooting a 70. 6
Aleksandar Kolarovʼs free kick stunner secures Serbia win over Costa Rica A brilliant second half free kick from captain Aleksandar Kolarov led Serbia to a deserved win over Costa Rica. Serbia were wasteful in front of goal but did enough to secure three vital points in Group E. Another World Cup day, another sublime freekick. If Cristiano Ronaldo’s ice-cold effort tosnatch a point against arch-rivals Spain on day two was the current goal of the tournament front-runner, the Portuguese may have just met his match. Aleksandar Kolarov, take a bow. A combination of poor finishing and sublime goalkeeping had kept the scores level until Serbia’s no.11 produced his moment of magic. Kolarov’s powerful left foot is no secret, but few inside the stadium would have expected such a thunderous strike when the Roma defender stood over a free kick midway through the second half. His shot was unstoppable; a side-footed missile which screamed into the top corner of the Costa Rica net. Kaylor Navas, who kept his team in the game with several crucial saves either side of half time, was nowhere near it.
Replacing Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery wonʼt come cheap Bayern Munich:
With Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery set to leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season, replacements are needed in Bavaria. Nothing comes cheap in todayʼs market, but Bayern must be prepared to flash the cash. Out with the old and in with the new. Never has a statement been so accurate as in the case of Bayern Munichʼs wingers. With a combined age of 69, Arjen Robben (pictured above, right) and Franck Ribery (above, left) finally look set to ride off into the sunset at the end of the current season, bringing to an end an era of remarkable success. With neither player ever
too far from the treatment room, Bayern fans have become used to seeing understudies assume greater responsibility in recent years. However, when the pair are fit and firing, they continue to carry Bayernʼs creative burden well into retirement age. 178 goals in the past 457 games wonʼt be easy, or cheap, to replace, but Bayern will need to find a solution soon.
Murray to use protected ranking to play in Melbourne Andy Murray will use his protected ranking of world number two to gain entry to Januaryʼs Australian Open. The Briton, 31, ended his season early to focus on making "big improvements", having played in six events since returning from hip surgery in June. He will join last yearʼs semifinalist Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie in the field for the menʼs singles. Serena Williams will return to Melbourne for the first time since winning while pregnant in 2017. The American reached the finals of both Wimbledon
and the US Open in 2018 and will attempt to equal Margaret Courtʼs record of 24 Grand Slam singles victories. Katie Boulter will make her debut in the main draw of the womenʼs singles, with Johanna Konta and Heather Watson the other British players to make the cut. Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, now ranked 259th in the world, has not played since losing to Spainʼs Fernando Verdasco in the Shenzhen Open in September. His protected ranking affords him direct entry in up to nine tournaments from the point he returned from 11 months out in June.