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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Tightened security at French and German airports ahead of holidays German and French airports have tightened their security measures in the run-up to Christmas, authorities confirmed Thursday. At this time of year, airports across Europe receive tips from many other countries around the world, some of them highly credible. According to German public broadcaster ARD, some of these credible tips included information from Moroccan intelligence indicating that an attack was planned at an airport either in France or Germany. Two days after anattack on the Strasbourg Christmas market, police found the very men described by their Moroccan counterparts in a Germanlicensed vehicle at Parisʼ Charles De Gaulle Airport. Another credible tip involved a father and son from the German state of North RhineWestphalia that appeared to be casing some of the countryʼs airports. Police said they had made four arrests related to the possibility that extremists were surveilling German airports.

US charges Chinese nationals with computer hacking of Navy, NASA US prosecutors have accused two Chinese nationals of working with the Ministry of State Security in China. The FBI accused China of aiming to replace the US as the worldʼs superpower with "illegal methods." Zhu Hua and Zhang Jianguo worked in China to hack into computers and steal intellectual property, US prosecutors charged on Thursday. Their targets included the US Navy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and a range of aviation, space and satellitetechnology companies. US authorities said the two men worked in association with Chinaʼs Ministry of State Security. "From at least in or about 2006 up to and including in or about 2018, members of the APT10 Group, including Zhu and Zhang, conducted extensive campaigns of intrusions into computer systems around the world," the Justice Department said.

289/2018 • 21 DECEMBER, 2018

German lawmakers meet Julian Assange in London The WikiLeaks founder must be protected from extradition to the US

Two German parliamentarians have become Julian Assangeʼs first visitors in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since March. The Left party members say the WikiLeaks founder must be protected from extradition to the US. Two members of the German parliament, the Bundestag, visited Julian Assange in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London on Thursday to pass on their "greetings of solidarity from the [opposition] Left party and his many supporters from Germany," and to discuss the possibility of a "humanitarian solution" to theWikiLeaks founderʼs legal situation. Sevim Dagdelen and Heike Hänsel, who also sit on the Bundestagʼs foreign affairs committee, traveled to London as Ecuador increases the pressure to end Assangeʼs six-year stay in the embassy. "He was really happy to see us, he hugged us tightly when we left," Dagdelen told DW after the hourlong meeting, which she said was his first visit from parliamentarians in at least eight months. "It was obvious that he was happy about our visit." She added that he had been presented with an eight-page "strict set of rules" by embassy staff, that for several months he had had no internet and only limited use of a phone, and "80 percent of the time he is still isolated," because he is only allowed to receive visitors on weekdays during office hours. He is

also forbidden from making any public political statements. "Thatʼs not his choice," she said. "Any breach of these rules can lead to an immediate end to his political asylum in the embassy." Assange is currently suing the Ecuadorean authorities to improve these conditions. "This is all evidence that his life is being made difficult in his asylum," she said. "Nowhere in the western world is there a journalist who has been detained like this. I have never seen a case of someone with asylum being forbidden from expressing their opinions. This is not acceptable under international law. So I think Europe must act in this situation." Though Assange was granted Ecuadorean citizenship in December 2017, his relations with the government are often fraught. His internet access was temporarily cut off in 2016 because WikiLeaks had released documents "impacting on the US election campaign." These were believed to include the transcripts of speeches presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made to Goldman Sachs as well as personal emails by Clintonʼs campaign chairman John Podesta.

Londonʼs Gatwick Airport closed due to drones over airfield One day on, Londonʼs Gatwick Airport remains closed, stranding tens of thousands due to drone activity in the area, bringing the military to the scene and causing airlines to cancel flights by the day. British carrier easyJet, for instance, canceled all remaining flights Thursday, saying, "At this stage, there is no indication of when the airport might reopen." More than 110,000 passengers affectedArmy deployed on site to assist policePerpetrator(s) remain at largeUKʼs second largest airport, processing 125,000 passengers daily Two drones flying over the airport caused officials to suspend and divert flights on Wednesday and Thursday. The airportʼs runway remains closed until further notice, following multiple drone sightings that began Wednesday evening. Although the runway was reopened at 3 a.m. (03:00 UTC) on Thursday, another drone sighting 45 minutes later caused it to be closed again.

DR Congo vote delayed by a week The Electoral Commisison (CENI) in the Democratic Republic of Congo said on Thursday that the countryʼs longdelayedpresidential election will likely be postponed again. Set to take place on Sunday, the run-up to the vote had been marred by escalating violence. Presidential candidates were told at a meeting called by CENI Kinshasa that sectarian violence, a warehouse fire that destroyed vote counting machines in Kinshasa, and the risk of spreading an Ebola outbreak in the eastern part of the country were the key reasons the vote had to be pushed back again.

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289/2018 • 21 December, 2018

Two ships collide in Mediterranean near Corsica The collision between the Tunisian and Cypriot ships spilled a trail of pollution stretching 4 kilometers across the water. Italy and France have sent ships to assist with cleanup efforts. Two cargo ships collided in the Mediterranean Sea near the island of Corsica on Sunday, causing an oil spill, coastal authorities said.

The Ulysse, operated by the Tunisian operator CTN, ran into the Cyprus-based CLS Virgina while it was anchored about 30 kilometres (20 miles) off the northern tip of the island at around 7:30 a.m. local time, the regional naval authority said in a statement.

Read more: Time to clean up the ocean garbage dump No one was injured but "the collision caused considerable damage, with an opening several meters long in the CLS Virginiaʼs hull," the statement said. The spill created a trail of pollution 4 kilometers long and several hundred meters wide, heading away from Corsica to the northwest, toward the French and Italian mainland, the statement continued.

Vietnamʼs dog meat culture clashes with modern tastes Hoang has been eating dog meat since he was young. He canʼt imagine there will be a time that he wonʼt be eating it at least twice a month. However, Vietnamese officials announced in September that dog and cat meat should no longer be served in the inner districts of the capital city Hanoi because itʼs offensive to tourists and can spread diseases like rabies. Read more: Illegal dog meat trade raises moral questions Dog meat lovers and restaurant owners fear that the government will try to expand the ban and decide to officially forbid eating dog and cat meat entirely. "I donʼt see how they can ban it. The demand is just too high," Hoang said at a restaurant in Vietnamʼs largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City. In a small alley in Ho Chi Minh City, at least four restaurants serve dog meat, or Thịt chó. People gather around small tables to dine on the canine meat, complementing it with rice wine or beer. Hoang, who declined to give his full name, is sitting at a table with three good friends. "For us itʼs a tradition to eat dog meat. Itʼs just as normal as eating seafood or chicken," he told DW. 2

Weapons for a ʼstrategicʼ partner Germany and Saudi Arabia:

Saudi Arabia is one of the German arms industryʼs top customers, despite human rights concerns over Yemen. It took the murder of Saudi journalist Khashoggi for Germany to temporarily halt arms exports.

Most of the time, the planes swoop down without warning to unleash death and destruction: a busload of children on their way to school, mourners at a funeral and guests at a wedding party, a family of six asleep in their beds — they are all examples of the tens of thousands of Yemenis killed or injured in deadly airstrikes that target them for no apparent military reason. In Yemen, each new day brings "a

China says Interpol chief Meng Hongwei under investigation for bribery Interpol President Meng Hongwei, who had gone missing in late September, is under investigation for bribery and other crimes, the Chinese Security Ministry announced on Monday.

Meng is accused of "accepting bribes and is suspected of violating the law," the ministry said in a statement. It also hinted at a political dimension by stating Meng was being probed because of his own "willfulness and for bringing trouble upon himself."

Meng, a senior security official in China as well as the first Chinese head of Interpol, has beenmissing since September 25 while on a trip to his native country. On Sunday, Chinaʼs anti-graft body had said that "Public Security Ministry Vice Minister Meng Hongwei is currently under

Asia Bibi: Pakistan top court hears blasphemy appeal amid Islamist threats On Monday, Pakistanʼs Supreme Court began the hearing of Asia Bibiʼsfinal appeal against her 2010 death penalty. The three-judge bench said it has reserved the verdict on the appeal, however the judges did not say when they will announce it. If the top court upholds her death sentence, the only recourse for the 53-year-old would be toappeal to the countryʼs president for clemency. In 2014, her death sentence was upheld by the Lahore High Court. Rights group Amnesty International dubbed the verdict a "grave injustice." Religious extremists in Pakistan, particularly the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) group, have warned the authorities against reversing the blasphemy verdict."If there is any attempt to hand her [Bibi] over to a foreign country, there will be terrible consequences," TLP said in a statement.

new face of tragedy," Ali Jameel told DW on a crackling phone line from the capital, Sanaa. When it comes to tragedy, Jameel is an expert: He works for a Yemeni human rights organization, Mwatana, that despite the odds and risks its researchers face, including arbitrary detention, painstakingly documents human rights violations committed by both sides in a conflict that has been dragging on for more than three years. investigation by the National Supervisory Commission for suspected violations of law," without specifying its allegations. China has been cracking down on corruption under President Xi Jinping.

Interpol later said Meng had resigned as president of the international police organization with immediate effect. It named South Korean national Kim Jong Yang, who was Senior Vice-President, as acting president.

Attack on Iranian military parade may harden domestic and regional policies A deadly attack on an Iranian military parade may strengthen hardliners in the country and send al-

ready heightened tensions across the Middle East soaring, asTehran points its finger at the United States and its Gulf Arab allies.

The rare attack claimed by Arab separatists killed 12Revolutionary Guard (IRGC)members and 13 others in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province, which is home to Shiite Iranʼs Sunni Arab minority. It was the deadliest attack in the country in nearly a decade. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed "mercenary terrorists" who carried out a crime in "continuation of the conspiracies by the US-backed regimes in the region," while the IRGC under his command vowed "deadly and unforgiving revenge," if need be abroad.

Iran did not name a particular Arab country, but the accusations appeared to be aimed at regional rivals Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

289/2018 • 21 December, 2018

Russiaʼs Vladimir Putin warns about growing threat of nuclear war If the US puts intermediate-range missiles in Europe, Russia will take countermeasures, Putin said at his end-of-year press conference. He warned the "threshold" for the use of nuclear weapons was getting lower.

An attempt to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons could potentially result in an all-out nuclear war, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned during his traditional end-ofyear press conference on Thursday. It is the first such event since the beginning of Putinʼs new presidential term in May and the 14th for him in total.

"There is a tendency to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons," he said. "In the West, there is this idea of using low-yield nuclear weapons. The use of such weapons

Migrant caravan ʼcould not be larger giftʼ for Donald Trump "Remember the midterms", US President Donald Trump reminded his 55 million followers on Twitter on Tuesday in a sequence of tweets focused on the so-called migrant caravan that is making its way through Mexico towards the US border. If there was ever any doubt that Trump would forego the attentiongrabbing visuals of thousands of Latin American migrants braving brutal conditions to trek tens of miles per day in hopes of reaching the US, a series of presidential tweets sent out in the past couple of days erased it.

Using military jargon to describe the caravan and alleging — without offering evidence — that criminals and "unknown Middle Easterners" were part of the group, Trump faulted Democrats and US courts for standing in the way of a tougher immigration policy, and El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, the home countries of most of the migrants, for not preventing them from making the journey.

could lead to a global disaster," the Russian leader stressed. Putin pointed at the US intention to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. He said that if the US puts intermediate-range missiles in Europe, Russia will be forced to take countermeasures. The Russian leader also warned against developing tactical nuclear warheads and conventional long-range ballistic missiles.

According to him, both are dangerous, because they increase the threat of an incidental nuclear war.

Airbus shares fall on reports of US corruption investigation

Shares in Airbus fell 9 percent on Thursday on the news published in Le Monde newspaper, before recovering to €83.37 ($95.18) in late-afternoon trading, a fall of 4 per cent on the day.

The French daily newspaper reported that the US Department of Justice had opened an official inquiry into Airbus. "Airbus is cooperating with the US authorities in close coordination” with investigators inthe UKand France, the company said in a state-

ment. The UKʼs Serious Fraud Office and Franceʼs Parquet National Financier have been probing possible bribery in Airbusʼs passenger jet business for some time. In February Airbus said it had been asked to supply information to US authorities about the use of middlemen in obtaining sales. This suggested that the United States could be drawn into the UK and French proceedings against alleged corruption.

Financial Times editor given one week to leave Hong Kong Outraged Hong Kong media and legal groups pushed the government on Monday to provide an explanation for why a Western journalist had his visa renewal denied. Financial Times Asia news editor Victor Mallet was denied a new work visa after hosting a talk by a pro-independence activist.

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289/2018 • 21 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.

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Washington sues Facebook over Cambridge Analytica scandal The US capital has sued Facebook for sharing usersʼ data with Cambridge Analytica. It is the first legal case against Facebook over the privacy scandal.

The attorney general of Washington, DC, filed a suit against Facebook on Wednesday for allowing Cambridge Analytica to access the personal data of residents of the US capital. Facebook earlier this year admitted that a third-party personality quiz app collected the personal information of usersʼ friends, and the information was sold to the London-based political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. Some 87 million users worldwide were affected. In Washington,

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 US 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 highprofile accidentsin recent years.

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more than 340,000 residents were impacted but only 860 took the quiz, DC Attorney General Karl Racine said.

The lawsuit alleges Facebook knew in 2014 that the app was collecting information on usersʼ friends but failed "to monitor or audit the app." "Weʼre seeking to hold Facebook accountable for jeopardizing and exposing the personal information of tens of millions of its users," Racine said. "We hope this lawsuit will ensure Facebook takes better care with its data."

GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer plan to demerge into two operations

UK drugmaker Glaxo wants to split in two businesses, after agreeing with its US rival Pfizer to form a consumer health joint venture that will become the worldʼs biggest provider of non-prescription drugs.

UK drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)announced on Wednesday that it had agreed with its US rival Pfizer to combine the two companiesʼ consumer health businesses in a joint venture worth about $12.7 billion (€11.1 billion) in combined sales. GSK would lead the new entity with a 68-percent majority, the pharmaceutical firm said in a statement. The GSK business breakup is the plan of the companyʼs new CEO Emma Walmsley, who took over last year. In a conference call with journalists she said the deal would help support "our number-one priority, which is strengthening the pharma business." "Ultimately, our goal is to create two exceptional, UK-based global companies, with appropriate capital structures, that are each well positioned to deliver improving returns to shareholders and significant benefits to patients and consumers," she said. The joint venture will create a consumer health giant with a market share of 7.3 percent — well ahead of its nearest rivals Johnson & Johnson, Bayer and Sanofi, which all have about equal market share of around 4 percent.

289/2018 • 21 December, 2018

European stars who truly hate Christmas But that doesnʼt mean the actor enjoys Christmas... and heʼs not alone

Some of them contributed to the romantic spirit of the Christmas season, like Hugh Grant in "Love Actually."

Are you among the people who get excited days before Christmas, and plan in detail how you will celebrate with your loved ones? Or do you belong to the category of people who view the whole thing as humbug? If youʼre among the latter, youʼre not alone. A survey found out that 15 per cent of all Germans see Christmas as the most stressful time of the year. Every year, the same kitsch decorations appear throughout the city, reminding people that they should get down to

buying presents soon. On average, Germans spend €465 ($570) on gifts. And most of the time, the people receiving those presents do not really want or need any of those things. About 25 per cent of the people surveyed said that Christmas comes with too many expectations.

Those who want to avoid the whole fuss might choose to keep working or take a holiday abroad — ideally somewhere warm. Many stars do the same thing. Check out our High Five gallery to find out which ones.

Plastic pollution: Do beach cleanups really make a difference?

It could be paradise. On the Honduran island of Roatan in the Caribbean, sandy beaches lined with palm trees stretch as far as the eye can see.

But the view is ruined by mounds of trash: Plastic bags and single-use water bottles, old clothes, unloved toys and even plastic chairs. Marine biologist Laura Leiva of the Alfred Wegener Institute grew up here in Honduras and has witnessed the rising tide of plastic pollutionfirst-hand.

"The last 10 years have seen more plastic [wash up] on the shores here," she told DW. "The only clean places are the tourist resorts because people actively clean them," she says. "Around them, [the beaches are] full of trash. Itʼs so sad." The trash originates from Roatan itself, neighboring islands and the Central American mainland.

Alma Abonyi designer bag under every Christmas tree!

stitution prohibited the use of the army for internal affairs (a clause excluding disasters was added in 1968).

That established his reputation as a willing decision maker. "You need a strong will. And cigarettes," he later said of his approach. People in Hamburg still visit his grave in the district of Ohlsdorf. A sign was added in the cemetery because so many people were looking for the modest tombstone, which features his name and that of his wife Hannelore, nicknamed "Loki." Visitors leave flowers and candles, along with cigarettes or snuff tobacco.

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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

Former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt: world citizen, crisis manager and chain smoker Many expected the chain smoker to live for an entire century, yet former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt died a few years too early, at the age of 96 on November 10, 2015, at his home in Hamburg. He would have turned 100 the day before Christmas eve, 2018. Schmidt was and remains the "savior of the city" for Hamburgʼs citizens. During the North Sea flood of February 1962, the then police senator of Hamburg demonstrated his skills as a crisis manager by getting soldiers involved in the rescue operations — which meant overstepping his legal authority as the German con-

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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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289/2018 • 21 December, 2018

Adam Peaty criticism leads to Fina promising to ʼmoderniseʼ By Nick Hope

Swimmingʼs international governing body says it will look to "improve and modernise" following criticism from Olympic champion Adam Peaty.

Briton Peaty is among a host of leading swimmers to have criticised Finaʼs governance over the past year. "It feels like weʼre still in 1970," Peaty, 23, told BBC Sport. But Fina responded on Wednesday to say it is planning to launch an "innovative" new competition in 2019 in order to attract "the best athletes". "Fina will continue to make every effort to protect and improve the competition calendar and promote its harmonious development," the statement added.

Peaty, along with other athletes, has been particularly frustrated by the bodyʼs lack of dialogue in key decision-making.

New Bayern signing Alphonso

Aleksandar Kolarovʼs free kick stunner secures Serbia win over Costa Rica

Have fans reluctantly accepted their teamʼs ʼB-Listʼ status?

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.

Manchester United:

Manchester Unitedʼs players were clapped off the pitch after the 2-2 draw with Arsenal.

Manchester Unitedʼs hopes and ambitions have slipped so alarmingly this season that a routine show of grit that left them eighth in the Premier League drew warm applause from Old Trafford at its conclusion.

Jose Mourinhoʼs side battled back twice to earn a point in an eventful, if scrappy, 2-2 draw against Arsenal

- but was the sanguine reaction at the final whistle acceptance this is now as good as it gets under the current regime? United are eight points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea, 18 behind leaders Manchester City, and are the only team in the Premier Leagueʼs top nine with a minus goal difference.

Davies arrives in Munich

After a start to the season that has had some Bayern Munich fans clamoring for a big signing in the January transfer window, one that could eventually turn out to be a big one has already arrived in the Bavarian capital. After flying into Munich on Tuesday,Alphonso Davies,who just turned 18 earlier this month, underwent medical checks and took part in his first training session with his new club this Wednesday.

"My first impressions of the training ground were great," Davies said in a video posted on Bayern Munichʼs website. "As a kid I dreamed of being part of such a big club. Now I am and itʼs unbelievable. .. I just want to work as hard as I can in training and hopefully get some games."

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USA Gymnastics files for bankruptcy, citing sex abuse lawsuits The governing body is being sued by hundreds of women who were sexually abused by Larry Nassar, a former team doctor. The filing could complicate efforts by the victims to recover damages.

USA Gymnastics, the sportʼs governing body in the United States, on Wednesday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Indianapolis, where it is based. The organization is facing 100 lawsuits representing 350 athletes in various US courts who blame it for failing to supervise Larry Nassar, a former national team doctor accused

of sexually abusing them. Nassar was sentenced to up to 300 years in prison in two different trials in Michigan last February. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy would allow for USA Gymnastics to reorganize while protecting it from creditors. Kathryn Carson, the recently elected chairwoman of the board of directors, cited the lawsuits as the "primary reason" for the filing and that is based on legal expediency rather than fiscal distress. "This is not a liquidation. This is a reorganization," she said, who described the financial condition of the organization as "stable."