title

DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Mafia raids in Germany, Italy: Police make over 170 arrests German and Italian police have detained scores of people with alleged ties to the ʼNdrangheta mafia. The suspects formed part of a transnational network involving bakeries, funeral services and vineyards, police said. Authorities in Germany and Italy busted aʼNdrangheta mafia clanon Tuesday, detaining scores of suspects and seizing millions of euros in property. In Germany, 11 men between the ages of 36 and 41 were detained in the states of Bavaria, Hesse, North-Rhine Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg, Germanyʼs Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said in a statement. German authorities said the men were suspected of blackmail and money laundering, and that the detentions were carried out at the request of Italian authorities.

Alpine snow leaves thousands of tourists stranded in Switzerland Authorities have begun airlifting stranded tourists by helicopter after road and rail links to Zermatt were cut off. At least 80 centimeters of snow dropped on the town over 24 hours. Helicopters airlifted guests at the popular Swiss resort of Zermatt on Tuesday after heavy snowfall and a power outage marooned an estimated 13,000 tourists at the base of the famous Matterhorn Mountain. Rail and road links were cut off after at least 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) of snow dropped on the area over 24 hours, according to Switzerlandʼs WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research. The airlift was not part of an official evacuation, according to AP news agency, which was aimed at transporting those in need and bringing in supplies to stranded visitors. "Power has returned, thereʼs still the chance that it could go out ... but at this time things look good," a tourist office spokeswoman in the town said. "The atmosphere in the village is relaxed and comfortable."

9/2018 • 11, JANUARY 2018

Tusk warns Poland may quit EU Is ʼPolexitʼ on the cards?

Renewed hope for gay rights in India Indiaʼs Supreme Court has ordered a re-examination of a 2013 verdict that upheld the criminalization of sexual relations between same-sex adults. The ruling was welcomed by the LGBT community. On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered a larger bench toreexamine Section 377 of the Indian Penal Codethat criminalizes homosexuality. Under the British colonial-era law, homosexual acts are punishable by a 10-year prison term. Despite seeing rare enforcement, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code prohibits "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal." Activists have accused authorities of using the law to intimidate, harass and blackmail members of the LGBT community. Chief Justice Dipak Misra said Monday the apex courtʼs 2013 verdict upholding the law appears to violate individual sexual preferences. "A section of people or individuals who exercise their choice should never remain in a state of fear," said the Supreme Courtʼs three-judge bench.

EU President Donald Tusk has warned that Polandʼs PiS government could push the country out of the bloc if it stops being a net benefactor of EU funds. Relations between Brussels and Warsaw are at all-time low.

Catholic ex-priest refuses to

Donald Tusk, the EU Council president and former prime minister of Poland, warned on Wednesday that Warsawʼs Law and Justice (PiS) government could push the country towards what is already being dubbed in Brussels as "Polexit." In an interview in Polish weekly Tygodnik Powszechny, Tusk said that "for PiS the benefit of being in the EU boils down to the balance of payments, with a complete disregard for other benefits like the common market, legal order, guaranteed security, etc." He added: "As long as weʼre not a net contributor, the game is worth the candle for them. So I can easily imagine a situation where if one day Poland finds itself among the (net) contributors, the Polish government will decide that itʼs time to ask Polesif they still want Poland in the EUand then will work hard so that they come to the conclusion that itʼs necessary to say goodbye to membership."

Itʼs the second court session in which the 53-year-old declined to speak. He faces sexual abuse and other charges.

He was expelled from the priesthood in 2008 but continued to pose as a cleric. A 53-year-old former priest is currently on trial in a district court in the Bavarian city of Deggendorf.

Thomas Maria B., who was born in Wuppertal, is accused of having sexually abused five German boys under the age of 14 a total of 110 times between 1997 and 2016.

Polandʼs nationalist-conservative government has been on a collision course with the EU for around two years, driven mainly by its decision to impose a series of controversial judicial that, according to Brussels, threaten toundermine the countryʼs rule of law and democratic values. Last month, the European Commission launched unprecedenteddisciplinary proceedings against Poland by triggering Article 7of the EU treaty. The measure could lead to sanctions and see Polandʼs EU voting rights suspended. Tusk described the move "as a sad day for all" in Wednesdayʼs interview but stressed that the PiS could put an end to the political crisis by abandoning the judicial changes. "In Brussels thereʼs still a huge surplus of hope -- Iʼm not saying trust, that unfortunately vanished already -- that Poland will nevertheless remain in the EU," the former Polish premier said.

speak at sexual abuse trial in Germany

weather today BUDAPEST

2 / 6 °C Precipitation: 0 mm

9/2018 • 11, January 2018

Westjet, Sunwing planes collide on the ground at Toronto airport A Westjet plane arriving from Cancun was hit by a Sunwing aircraft at Toronto airport, prompting the Westjet passengers to evacuate via emergency slides. The other plane was reportedly empty. Two planes collided after landing at Toronto Pearson Airport, starting a small fire and forcing all 168 passengers on one of the planes to leave via the emergency slides. No passengers or crew members were injured, but one member of the emergency services was treated in hospital, officials said late on Friday. The Boeing 737, operated

by Westjet, had landed from Cancun, Mexico, and was waiting to approach the gate, when it was "struck" by a Sunwing plane, Westjet said. No crew or passengers were aboard the Sunwing aircraft, as it was hauled away from the terminal by ground crew.

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.

2

British PM Theresa May struggles on amid Brexit uncertainty Although weakened by an inconclusive election result, Theresa May has so far defied her critics

Despite plunging approval ratings and calls from prominent quarters for a second EU referendum, Theresa May appears to be safe in her job for the time being.

It may be hard to fathom these days, but there was a time when Theresa May appeared invincible.

In the aftermath of Brexit, the MP for Maidenhead and long-time home secretary became prime minister and purged her former cabinet colleagues. She had the backing of Britainʼs powerful right-wing press, and her personal approval ratings were higher than those of former Prime Ministers Tony Blair

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

and Margaret Thatcher at their peak. That all changed during the snap election on June 8, 2017.

During the campaign, May came across as awkward and robotic, undermining the strategy to put her personality front and center.

Jeremy Corbynʼs Labour Party surged and Mayʼs Conservatives were left with a hung parliament and a greatly diminished mandate for Brexit.

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.

9/2018 • 11, January 2018

Israelʼs Netanyahu urges end to UN Palestinian refugee agency Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuʼs move comes a few days after President Trump threatened to cut off US aid to Palestinians. Experts warn that closing the agency could increase poverty and fuel violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for the closure of a United Nations agency that aids Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and Gaza — a move that critics say would lead to a humanitarian crisis.

Netanyahuʼs push on Sunday comes just days after US President DonaldTrump threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinians. The Israeli government has long looked at the agency, known as UNRWA, with a jaundiced eye, seeing the agency as biased against Israel. Israel also objects to the agencyʼs method of classifying refugees, with descendants also eligible to register. "UNRWA is an organi-

zation that perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem," Netanyahu said at the start of the governmentʼs weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday. "It also perpetuates the right of return narrative in order to eliminate the state of Israel," he added. "Therefore UNRWA must become a thing of the past." The prime minister said millions of refugees around the world are aided by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), but Netanyahu slammed UNRWA as an exclusive aid agency for the Palestinians that also treats "greatgrandchildren of refugees — who arenʼt refugees." Netanyahu added, "This absurd situation must be ended."

How #MeToo affects the Golden Globes

Catherine Deneuve and 100 French women denounce #MeToo ʼpuritanismʼ

With sexual harassment cases in the backdrop, the Golden Globes are set to launch Hollywoodʼs annual awards season. A black-dress protest will be held — but "men in black" are accused of slacktivism.

Hollywoodʼs biggest pre-Oscars prize-giving ceremony takes place on January 7. It is the first major award ceremony since the start of the #MeToo movement and showcases an industry which, after operating for decades under the motto "sex sells," is having to reinvent itself. Organized by the 90-member Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), a total of 25 prizes are up for grabs on Sunday — 14 in film and 11 in television — at the Golden Globes awards ceremony. But the mood in Los Angeles in the wake of widespread sexual harassment claims is rather heavy.

As was the case two years ago with the #Oscarssowhite campaign, social media was a driving force in this new reality check for Hollywood. Even before the launch of Hollywoodʼs annual awards season, the fallout of the scandal has already managed to change the face of the industry in various ways — and appears to be set to do so for the foreseeable future.

French star Catherine Deneuve and other artists wrote in an open letter published in daily Le Monde that the wave of "denunciations" in the wake of the #MeToo movement is a threat to sexual freedom and a "witch-hunt."

An open letter has been published in the daily Le Monde on Tuesday, attacking feminist social media campaigns like #MeToo and its French equivalent #BalanceTonPorc (Call out your pig) for allegedly unleashing a "puritanical... wave of purification." Its

around 100 signatories include French actress Catherine Deneuve, author Catherine Millet, publisher Joëlle Losfeld and German film actress and singer Ingrid Caven. "Rape is a crime, but trying to seduce someone, even persistently or cack-handedly, is not — nor is men being gentlemanly a macho attack," the letter says. "Men have been punished summarily or forced out of their jobs when all they did was touch someoneʼs knee or try to steal a kiss."

Authorities take precautions as rivers across Germany continue to flood Snowmelt in the Alps and volatile weather patterns have caused rivers across Germany to burst their banks. Europeʼs most important shipping routes have been closed off to traffic, with some areas facing evacuation. Days of heavy rain and melting snow have caused water levels of the Rhine, Moselle and Danube rivers in Germany to rise, with authorities warning flooding is likely to continue through the weekend. The Rhine in the countryʼs southwest has witnessed a particular surge in recent days after the Eleanor weather pattern brought rainstorms to the entire continent.

3

9/2018 • 11, 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.

US December job creation disappoints The US has added fewer jobs lately than expected by labor market experts, fresh government figures have shown. The overall unemployment rate held steady at a 17-year low in the worldʼs largest economy.

The US economyʼs job creation ability decreased in December 2017 despite solid hiring in the manufacturing and construction sectors, government data showed Friday. While theunemployment rate remained unchanged at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent, employers across the nation added just 148,000 jobs in the final month of last year. The figure was far below expectations of 200,000 new positions and even below the sluggish 155,000 jobs reported in December 2016. Economists had been more optimistic especially after payroll services firm ADP said Thursday that private hiring experienced a boost in the final four weeks of December 2017.

4

Easyjet takes off from Berlin Tegel as it joins crowded German market The low-cost airline has launched its first domestic flights in Germany from its new base at Berlinʼs Tegel Airport. The British carrier has added 19 new routes and joins an already crowded domestic market in Germany.

Low-cost carrier Easyjet commenced its new domestic German service shortly after 10.30 CET on Friday morning from Berlinʼs Tegel airport, as it seeks to capitalize on Air Berlinʼs demise. Easyjet will add 19 destinations to its schedules from Tegel, with four of those within Germany — Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich and Düsseldorf — and said it aims to fly 40 times a week between Tegel and Düsseldorf. The airlineʼs increased focus on the German market comes after theAir Berlin dealand puts Easyjet in

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.

Hotel Parlament H-Budapest 1054, Kálmán Imre utca 19.

T.: +36 1 374 6000 reservation@parlament-hotel.hu www.parlament-hotel.hu

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.

Published by: Mega Media Kft. 1075 Budapest, Madách I. út 13-14. +36 1 398 0344 www.hotelujsag.hu

direct competition with Lufthansa and its subsidiary Eurowings, which have been criticized in recent months for inflating its fares amid claims of antitrust. During the period of Air Berlinʼs insolvency, the price of some domestic fares have risen by 30 percent. Easyjet currently has 12 planes stationed at Tegel but plans to increase that figure to 25 within the next six months with aircraft purchased from Air Berlin, making it Easyjetʼs second largest base after London Gatwick, where the company has 37 aircraft.

Microsoft halts AMD chip patches after PC problems

The US software giant has temporarily suspended patches for the security bugs known as meltdown and Spectre for PCs that use some older AMD chips after complaints by customers that the updates froze their machines.

Microsoft said on Tuesday it had received reports from customers with PCs that feature AMD chips that their machines stopped loading the Start menu or taskbar after installing Windows operating system security updates. "To prevent AMD customers from getting into an unbootable state, Microsoft will temporarily pause sending the following Windows operating system updates to devices with impacted AMD processors at this time," Microsoft said in its statement. AMD said on the same day that the issue would affect mainly its decade-old Athlon X2 chips. "AMD is aware of an issue with some older generational processors following installation of a Microsoft security update that was published over the weekend," the US chipmaker said in a statement. The updates are part of emergency measures aimed at protecting computers and mobile devices from Meltdown and Specter chip design flaws that affect microprocessors made by AMD, Intel and Arm Holdings.

9/2018 • 11, January 2018

What fats are best in food?

Germany must allow third gender

The healthiest and most flavorful dietary fats

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 selfimage 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.

There are all sorts of dietary fats, from butter, to oils, to margarine.

Though fats have a reputation for causing weight gain, they’re essential to cooking.

Butter or margarine? When it comes to sandwiches and similar foods, whether you use butter or margarine is largely a matter of personal preference. Many prefer the taste of butter. But in the past, butter’s reputation has suffered due to its animal-fat content. Consumed in moderation, though, butter doesn’t pose a risk to health. And onequarter of the saturated fat in butter is made up of short- and mediumchain fatty acids, which are beneficial to health. The best oil for your salad? When it comes to salads, all plant-based oils with monounsatu-

rated or polyunsaturated fatty acids are a good choice. These oils contain the essential fatty acids that our bodies can’t produce themselves.

Sunflower, corn, rapeseed, flaxseed, and walnut oils are all excellent choices. The last three of these oils are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

When these oils are extra virgin and cold-pressed – meaning they’ve been produced using traditional and natural methods – these oils also contain natural flavorings and phytosterols (plant sterols structurally similar to cholesterol, contained in the cell walls of the plants).

in registry of births, court rules

Worldʼs coolest coffee event is back!

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."

Location: Ottakringer Brauerei, Ottakringer Platz 1, 1160 / Wien / Austria, Date: 12-14, January, 2018 The festival will feature the best coffee specialities, gourmet food, tastings and demonstrations from world class baristas, interactive coffee workshops, the SCAE Austria Barista Championship, craftmanship, coffee based cocktails, live music, DJs and much more! http://www.viennacoffeefestival.cc/

Weather

Fri

0/6

Sat

Sun

3/7

3/7

Hungary Budapest: Debrecen: Eger: Hévíz:

2/6 2/6 3/5 3/8

Athens: Berlin: Bratislava: Bucharest: London: Madrid:

5/17 2/7 -1/7 0/8 8/12 10/13

Kecskemét: Keszthely: Miskolc:

2/7 1/4 2/8

Europe Moscow: Paris: Prague: Rome: Varsaw: Vienna:

0/2 9/10 1/6 0/13 1/6 -1/8

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.

5

9/2018 • 11, January 2018

Dakar Rally: Toyotaʼs AlAttiyah takes first stage

Qatarʼs Nasser Al-Attiyah has won the first stage of the Dakar Rally in the Peruvian town of Pisco. Nine-time rally world champion Sebastian Loeb of France endured a torrid opening day, finishing in 29th place. The opening round of the Dakar Rally saw defending champions Peugeot left stunned, as two-time winner Nasser Al-Attiyah of Toyota swept across the short 31-kilometer (19-mile) stretch of desert between Lima and Pisco in just 21 minutes and 51 seconds. The Qatari finished 25 seconds more quickly than his Toyota teammate, Bernhard ten Brinke of the Netherlands, and with 34 seconds in hand over Peruʼs Nicolas Fuchs, driving for Borgward.

Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery still facing uncertain futures at Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich enter the new Bundesliga year in a familiar position of dominance. Despite a commanding lead, thereʼs a degree of uncertainty at the club thatʼs characterized by the futures of two of their best players. An 11 point lead in the Bundesliga, a German Cup draw against third-division Paderborn, a new backup striker and a Champions League tie against outsiders Besiktas; everything appears pretty rosy for Bayern ahead of their trip to face Bayer Leverkusen on Friday.

6

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.

Lukas Podolski opens doner kebab restaurant in home city of Cologne German World Cup winner Lukas Podolski has opened a kebab shop in Cologne

The former Arsenal and Bayern Munich star already owns a clothing store and ice cream parlor in the city he still calls home.

Hundreds of fans queued outside German footballer Lukas Podolskiʼs new kebab restaurant in Cologneʼs trendy Chlodwigplatz on Saturday for the grand opening and a chance to see the cityʼs favorite son. The restaurant, Mangal Döner, is theformer Germany, Arsenal and Bayern Munich starʼslatest business venture in the city he still calls home. Fans got the chance to meet their proclaimed "Prinz Poldi" at his new restaurant, where he posed for photos next to the

rotating spit of meat and signed autographs. Asked how he came up with the idea to open a kebab restaurant, Podolski said he wasnʼt entirely sure: "Ideas just come — I donʼt even really have a business plan right now."

Nevertheless, the footballerʼs spokesman, Sebastian Lange, said "the euphoria is very, very great, contrary to expectations, and Podolski is very happy with the launch." The soccer star plans to run the restaurant with two co-owners.

Philippe Coutinhoʼs Barcelona move poses familiar questions for Jürgen Klopp Liverpool may have received an enormous fee, but Philippe Coutinhoʼs exit leaves a huge hole in their squad. Jürgen Kloppʼs time at Borussia Dortmund offers a few hints at how he might cope without the Brazilian.

Jürgen Klopp has been here before. In the moments followingPhilippe Coutinhoʼs protracted €160-million ($192 million) move to Barcelona, he admitted that even a club as storied as Liverpool could not compete with the

lure of one of world footballʼs biggest beasts. "It is his [Coutinhoʼs] dream and I am now convinced there is nothing left at our disposal to change his mind," the German coach said in a statement posted on Liverpoolʼs website. Many in England have been startled by such a frank acceptance of the situation. But Kloppʼs time in charge of Borussia Dortmund has prepared him well for the realities of running a club who sit on the level just below the very top of the food chain.