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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Turkish economic shadow looms over Europe and beyond All year long, Turkish economic delight has been in short supply. Fears of a possible currency collapse moved from a steady flow to just shy of a dam burst in recent days as the Turkish lira plunged in value against the US dollar. Although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been defiant about his governmentʼs response to the brewing crisis, financial markets are far from reassured. With inflation soaring alongside borrowing costs in the country, the number of major loan defaults across the heavily indebted Turkish economy is rising fast. With that comes the varied and familiar lexicon of financial crises, well-known to those with clear memories of the global financial crisis of a decade ago — contagion, "too big to fail", "systemically important", and so on.

Turkey attempts to curb currency crisis Turkeyʼs central bank on Monday announced a series of measures to address bank liquidity, marking the first major action to stem a meltdown in the lira that has threatened to morph into a fullblown financial crisis. The central banksaid in a statementthat it would "take all necessary measures to maintain financial stability" and "provide all the liquidity the banks need." The central bank specified several measures to manage lira liquidity and provide sufficient foreign currency to banks. The announcement appeared to help reverse what looked to be a currency freefall, as the Turkish lira plummeted in early trading in Asia on Monday to 7.22 against the dollar. It later pared back losses to settle around 6.85 to the dollar as of 9:30 UTC, compared to a close on Friday of 6.6. That represented a 4 percent drop.

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Taliban advance causes disappointment in Afghan government Afghans criticize President Ashraf Ghaniʼs administration

As battle between government troops and Taliban militants rages in the eastern city of Ghazni, Afghans criticize President Ashraf Ghaniʼs administration for having failed to protect the city and its residents.

For the fourth straight day, Afghan security forceshave been fighting the Taliban in Ghazni, a key provincial capital in the east of the country. The insurgents have been attempting to seize control of the city since Friday. The Taliban launched a massive assault on the city last week, which is a strategic center on the main highway linking the capital Kabul with southern Afghanistan.

Read more: Why Taliban wonʼt make peace with Kabul Heavy fighting is taking place between Afghan government forces and militants. With government buildings and police headquarters under attack, multiple accounts suggest the city is largely controlled by the Taliban. The attack is a major blow to President Ashraf Ghani and his government in the run-up to parliamentary elections, scheduled to take place in October.

Situation ʼunder controlʼ Itʼs reported that Taliban fighters surprised government security forces with their attack, which has so far killed at least 100 Afghan policemen and soldiers. However, on Monday, Afghan Defense Minister Tariq Shah

Bahrami and Interior Minister Wais Barmak said the situation was under control. "We have lost a number of men, but the number of causalities on the side of our enemies is four times larger," Bahrami told reporters during a press conference. The defense ministry claims the number of civilian causalities is between 20 and 30. Around 200 Taliban, including Pakistani and Chechen fighters, were supposedly killed. Both ministers said they are hopeful security forces will regain control of the city within the next 24 hours. Read more: UNICEF: Nearly half of children in Afghanistan do not go to school Dire situation for residents But the reality on the ground appears different. The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said they have received reports of people trying to reach safe areas outside the city. "Residents of Ghazni have seen their city turn into a battlefield since Friday morning, with fighting and clashes reportedly still ongoing," Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, said in a statement.

Osama bin Ladenʼs suspected bodyguard Sami A. barred from re-entering Germany German authorities confirmed on Monday that they had issued a reentry ban against Sami A., a suspectedformer bodyguard for Osama bin Ladenwho was controversially deported from Germany to his native Tunisia last month. A spokesperson for the city of Bochum said the reentry ban was a normal procedure under European Union immigration law.

Once a suspect has been deported, he or she is barred from re-entering any country within the EUʼs Schengen area. The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper first reported that Sami A. had been listed by security authorities as an undesirable person in the Schengen Information System database.

The Turkey crisis: A threat to Europeʼs economy?

Let there be no mistake — the International Monetary Fund certainly has a rescue plan for Turkey in the drawer, although no one wants to confirm this right now. The IMF also had such a plan back in 2002 when Turkey was an unstable nation, with a 40 percent inflation rate and high unemployment haunting the country. It was only through IMF loans that a state default could be prevented back then. It was also the very year when Erdoganʼs party, the AKP, rose to power. The then government under Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan stuck to the terms and conditions the IMF loans entailed.

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185/2018 • 14 August, 2018

ʼMostʼ Israelis and Palestinians oppose two-state solution A survey released on Monday, which tested aspects of a permanent peace deal, showed a decline in support for a two-state solution in the Middle East. The study — conducted by Tel Aviv University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research — was partly funded by the European Union. Support for a two-state solution among Palestinians and Israeli Jews dropped three points to 43 percent each from December 2017, an eight-point decline among Palestinians and nine points among Israeli Jews since June 2016. Among Israeli Arabs, support remains stable and very high at 82 percent. German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said last year that atwostate solution was the foundation of Germanyʼs Middle East policy.

North and South Korea to hold third peace summit in Pyongyang

The upcoming meeting comes amid doubts that the North will fulfill its pledge to denuclearize

Tunisiaʼs president promises inheritance equality to women Tunisiaʼs President Beji Caid Essebsi marked Womenʼs Day in Tunisia on Monday with a speech in which he pledged to refer a law introducing equal inheritance rights for men and women to parliament in the near future. "I propose to make equal inheritance a law," he said in the televised speech, adding that "male and female citizens are equal before the law without discrimination." Currently, under the sharia or Islamic law as applied in Tunisia and in many other Muslim-majority countries, male heirs receive double the assets given to females of the same level of kinship. The proposal to establish inheritance equality is one of the most hotly contested of the social reforms put forward by a commission set up by Essebsi last year to review the countryʼs rights laws. The commission, which has consulted with representatives of civil society and political parties, has also proposed decriminalizing homosexuality and abolishing the death penalty. A protest against the proposed reforms in the capital, Tunis, on Saturday drew thousands of people. A pro-equality demonstration is planned for Monday evening in the city center. Ever since it gained independence from France in 1956, Tunisia has been seen as progressive in implementing womenʼs rights compared to other countries in the Muslim world. Last year, it passed alandmark law on violence against women,which went into force in January.

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China state media justify Muslim Uighur crackdown to prevent ‘Chinaʼs Syriaʼ Chinaʼs harsh security policy against ethnic Uighurs in the far western region of Xinjiang has saved the area from "massive turmoil," an official Communist Party paper said Monday.

The editorial in Global Times was the first response from China to a worrying United Nations panel on Friday claiming hundreds of thousands of Uighurs have been detained in what "resembles a massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy."

"Through the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the national strength of the country and the contribution of local officials, Xinjiang has been salvaged from the verge of massive turmoil. It has avoided the fate of becoming ‘Chinaʼs Syriaʼ or ‘Chinaʼs Libya,ʼ" the editorial said.

North Koreaʼs Kim Jong Un and his counterpart from the South, Moon Jae In, will hold talks for a third time next month.

Envoys from North and South Korea announced on Monday they had reached agreement to hold the upcoming peace summit in the Northʼs capital of Pyongyang next month. It will mark the third meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Officials from both sides reached an agreement at the truce village of Panmunjom, located in

Boardwalk collapse in Vigo, Spain, injures hundreds About 316 people were injured, nine seriously, on Sunday evening when a section of wooden boardwalk collapsed during a crowded music festival in the northwestern Spanish city of Vigo. The seafront platform suddenly gave way under the weight of the many visitors shortly before midnight, causing several to fall into the water, Jesus Vazquez Almuina, the health minister for the region of Galicia, said on Monday. Rescuers used infrared cameras for three hours to search for any further victims buried under de-

the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas. While no date or an agenda for the upcoming talks were formally announced, the two sides are widely expected to discuss a potential peace declaration and the possibility of launching a series of joint economic and infrastructure projects that could go ahead once sanctions on Pyongyang are lifted. bris, but no one was found. Divers also searched the nearby sea. The mayor, Abel Caballero, said an area of 30 meters by 10 meters (99 by 33 feet) had given way. He said the reason for the collapse of the 28-year-old platform was not clear. But the daily Faro de Vigo reported that the Spanish rap artist performing at the time, Rels B, had told the crowd to jump shortly before the accident occurred.

Aretha Franklin, ʼQueen of Soul,ʼ gravely ill: The family of the "Queen of Soul" have asked for "prayers and privacy." a reporter and family friend of Aretha

Franklin wrote on his website column on Monday, after describing how the singer was gravely ill. "She will be so missed as a mother, sister, friend, cousin. But her legacy is larger than life," added Roger Friedman in his Showbiz411 column. "Itʼs not just that Rolling Stone called her the number 1 singer of all time, or that she is the Queen of Soul. Long live the Queen." Made first record in 1956 With a career spanning six decades, the 76 year-old Franklin is best known for hits such as "Respect" (1967), "I Say a Little Prayer" (1968), and "Spanish Harlem" (1971). Other memorable songs include "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (1968), "Freeway of Love" (1985), and "A Rose Is Still A Rose," (1998).

185/2018 • 14 August, 2018

From refugees to Russia: Angela Merkelʼs foreign policy problems The German chancellorʼs return to work has come with a number of foreign policy challenges. Migration has dominated her agenda of late, while disagreements over Ukraine and Syria continue to fuel tension with Russia.

Hardly is Angela Merkelʼs vacation over, and fresh headaches are approaching. She began the late summer with anurgent trip to Spain on Saturday, when she attempted to start picking at the tightest and most complicated of Gordian knots — how to regulate migration in Europe. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had already become the one of the first European leaders to reach a new bilateral mi-

Aquarius rescue ship seeks European port for migrants found off Libya Italian transport minister Danilo Toninelli said on Monday that the UK should take in the migrants on board the Aquarius as it was a vessel flying under a Gibraltar flag and currently in Maltese waters. "The boat is now in Maltese waters and has a Gibraltar flag. At this point, the United Kingdom should take responsibility for the safeguarding of the shipwrecked," Toninelli wrote on Twitter. The Italian government has refused to allow rescue ships to dock at its ports, calling for all migrants rescued at sea to be taken to Libya or other EU ports. Ships passed them by The Aquarius — run by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors without Borders (MSF) — rescued 141 people in two separate operations off the Libyan coast on Friday.

Of the rescued people, 25 are thought to have spent 35 hours adrift at sea. The other 116 migrants, 67 of whom are unaccompanied minors, were picked up in a separate operation. The people rescued told the crew that several ships passed them by without offering assistance, according to SOS Mediterranee.

gration dealwith Germany, which means Berlin will be able to send a few refugees back to Spain if they have already registered there. The most profound byproduct of that agreement, and the deals that Merkelʼs administration will be trying to strike in the coming weeks, is that Germany has been forced to admit the Dublin system is no longer functioning.

Chinese tourist dies in hippo attack in Kenya

A Chinese tourist died after being attacked by a hippo on the shores of Lake Naivasha in Kenya, the Kenya Wildlife Service said on Twitter on Sunday. His colleague, also from China, was also injured in the incident and is being treated at a local hospital. Six people have died in hippo attacks this year at Lake Naivasha, a popular tourist destination about 100 kilometers from capital Nairobi, Kenyan newspaper The

Star reported on Sunday. Higher-than-

normal water levels were causing hippos to wander from the lake to nearby farms and hotel properties searching for pasture, the newspaper quoted the head of a boat ownersʼ association in Navaisha as saying. After facing asevere drought last year,Kenya witnessed several months of heavy rains earlier this year that flooded a number of areas, including around Lake Naivasha.

Vegan restaurants run by cult leader who ʼspeaks to Godʼ In just four years, vegan restaurant Loving Hut has opened more than 140 locations in the United States, Austria, Germany, Australia and South America, which makes it the biggest vegan chain worldwide. Its founder, known asChing Hai, has more than 500,000 followers (by some counts up to 2 million) who believe she has direct conversations with God and call her Supreme Master.

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185/2018 • 14 August, 2018

North Korea slams US over sanctions warning

North Korea on Thursday accused theUS of pushing forward with international sanctionsdespite progress on an agreement to dismantle its nuclear and ballistic missiles programs. The US is "insulting the dialogue partner and throwing cold water over our sincere efforts for building confidence, which can be seen as a precondition for implementing" an agreement between the countriesʼ leaders, North Koreaʼs foreign ministry said. In June, US President Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore for a historic summit between both countries. During the summit,Trump and Kim agreed to "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula. Shattering confidence In a movelargely aimed at building confidencebetween both countries,North Korean authorities last month handed over the remains of some US soldierswho were killed during the Korean War in the early 1950s. Read more:Is North Korea defying the US in expanding weapons production? But last week, US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo warned Russia, China and other countries of violating international sanctionsstill in place against North Korea. Pompeo cited reports that Moscow violated UN sanctions by allowing joint ventures with North Korean companies.

Risk of poverty at new high in Germany The Düsseldorf-based Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI) highlighted Germanyʼs bitter paradox Friday that despite the countryʼs export-led boom, poverty looms large for nearly one in six of its 82 million residents,, especially among persons with "migratory backgrounds." The statistical poverty threshold is defined as a household having to make do with only 60 percent of the median monthly income as measured across households. A single-person [household] is exposed to poverty risk when the net income undercuts €969 ($1122). For a four-person family, including two small children, the threshold is €2035 net per month. In its latest report, based on 2017 micro-census data as yet unpublished by federal statisticians, the WSI puts the poverty risk quota for Germany as a whole at 15.8 percent.

The WSI is an economic and social science unit created in 1946 and part of the trade union-affiliated Hans-Böckler Institute.

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Russia to settle more bills in euros instead of dollars

The Russian government has said it will further decrease its investment in the US economy as new sanctions loom. It added that for the time being, no US company active in Russia would be shut down.

The Kremlin said Russia would keep reducing its investment in US government bonds and drastically cut its payments in dollars in response to new sanctions placed on Moscow by Washington. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on state TV at the weekend that the new sanctions to be imposed by the US by the end of Augustover Russiaʼs alleged involvement in the use of a nerve agent against a former spy and his daughter

Almost like staying with friends - Airbnb turns ten It started with an air mattress, and the fact that, in 2007, because of a conference in San Francisco, the hotels in the city were all fully booked. Three San Francisco students got the idea of offering places to sleep on an air mattress: "AirBed and Breakfast." Customers came and a business idea was born: why not rent a room or your whole apartment to people who needed somewhere to stay for a few days? All they had to do was to bring guests and hosts together. So the three students, Nathan Blecharzcyk, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia created a website and presented their idea to the world. That was on August 11, 2008.

Sixteen places were on offer. Home sharing at Airbnb In 2009 the portal got the name known to every vacationer the world over: Airbnb. 300 million customers have booked overnight accommodation via the home sharing platform, which offers 5 million different places to stay in 200 countries. In 2017 Airbnb had a market value of 31 million US dollars.

Hotel Palazzo Zichy H-1088 Budapest, Lőrinc pap tér 2.

T.: +36 1 235 4000 reservation@hpz.hu www.hotel-palazzo-zichy.hu/

Spreewald gherkin festival missing royal couple Organizers of the 20th annual pickle festival in Spreewald announced on Sunday that no one wanted to be king or queen of the pickles this year. Despite more than 150 businesses participating in the festival, not one person applied for the queen or king roles, organizers added.

Spreewald, a lush biosphere south of Berlin, is known for its pickled cucumbers. Read more: Trip tips for the Spreewald Home to a vast network of lakes, canals and agricultural areas, the Spreewald region draws thousands of tourists each year. But the lack of a pickle queen or king this year wasnʼt the only problem Spreewald faced this year. Due to warm weather, the harvest of the pickles was pushed forward.

A lack of help for the harvest meant many picklers struggled to reap their crop.

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

in Britainwould restrict purchases of Russian government bonds, describing the impact as "unpleasant, but not fatal." In response, "we have lowered to the minimum level and will further decrease our investment in US securities," Siluanov said only days after Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned any US move to curb the activities of Russian banks would be seen "as a declaration of economic war."

Bayer shares plunge on Monsanto ruling

Shares in German pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant Bayer have taken a dive to their lowest level in five years. Investors reacted to a shock US ruling against Monsanto, which now belongs to the Leverkusen-based firm.

Shares in German chemicals behemoth Bayer tumbled more than 10 percent only half an hour into regular trading on Monday morning. Stock in the Leverkusen-based group fell 10.4 percent to €83.61 ($95.19) during the first 30 minutes of trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It wasa market reaction to a California court ruling last Friday when a dying groundskeeper was awarded damages of almost $290 million, with the judges finding that Monsanto — now belonging to Bayer — should have warned buyers that its flagship Roundup weed killer could cause cancer. Bayer shares dropped to their lowest level since late 2013, preventing an otherwise rather bullish DAX index of the countryʼs 30 largest blue chips from rising.

185/2018 • 14 August, 2018

Will Donald Trumpʼs star on Hollywood Walk of Fame be removed?

But the initiators told DW that the decision isnʼt entirely theirs

Idris Elba stokes speculation of a black James Bond The 45-year-old Brit made a name for himself starring in the gritty US television drug drama The Wire from 2002-2004 and won a Golden Globe in 2010 for his role as a murder detective in Luther before moving on to the big screen. The son of a car factory worker from a working-class London neighborhood, Elba is now one of Hollywoodʼs most sought-after stars.

He has starred in blockbusters such as Thor, Pacific Rim and Star Trek, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for playing the title role in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Rumors swirl around Elba Bond movie boss Barbara Broccoli reportedly told American film producer Antoine Fuqua recently that "it is time" for a non-white actor to play the suave and debonair spy, according to Britainʼs Daily Star.

Charlottesville: Between defiance and new hope

The West Hollywood City Council wants the US presidentʼs star taken out of Hollywoodʼs famous sidewalk because of his "disturbing treatment of women."

The West Hollywood City Council voted Monday evening in favor of a resolution calling for the removal of US President Donald Trumpʼs star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the media insider news outlet The Hollywood Reporter first reported.

The Council confirmed its unanimous approval on Tuesday to DW. The resolution urged the Los Angeles City Council and the Hollywood

Chamber of Commerce to take the presidentʼs star out of the pavement "due to his disturbing treatment of women and other actions that do not meet the shared values of the City of West Hollywood, the region, state and country." West Hollywood Mayor John J. Duran said that political motivations were not behind the call to remove Trumpʼs star.

Oleg Sentsov, imprisoned filmmaker "Gamer" was Sentsovʼs first feature film as director and screenwriter following two short films made a few years earlier. Released in 2011 in Russian and Ukrainian, "Gamer" tells the story of a young gamer who lives with his mother in Simferepol, a city on the Crimean peninsula. The movie premiered in Rotterdam to much praise in 2012 and also showed at several other in-

ternational film festivals. Sentsov started his next film, "Rhino," in 2013 but never finished as he took time off to join the Euromaidan movement protests in Ukraine. The Ukrainian artist also wrote and published short stories in Russian, translated into English and published by Pen International in June along with an appeal for his immediate release.

A year ago, a right-wing extremist march in Charlottesville ended in deadly violence.

Flowers and a little teddy bear have been left on the pavement.

Someone has written "Gone — not beaten" in chalk on the wall of the house. This is the place in Charlottesville where Heather Heyer was killed one year ago when a right-wing extremist drove his car straight into a group of counterdemonstrators. "She has always believed in fair. Sheʼs always believed in doing what is right," says Heyerʼs mother, Susan Bro. Sheʼs standing on the sidewalk of Fourth Street in this town of 49,000 people in the US state of Virginia. The street where her daughter died is now called "Heather Heyer Way." Susan Bro closes her eyes and swallows hard.

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Culture

Swimmers warned against Baltic Sea as German heat wave approaches German health officials have warned members of certain ʼat riskʼ groups to avoid swimming in the Baltic Sea as increased water temperature poses a danger from vibrio bacteria. The health ministry in Germanyʼs northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania warned that people living with HIV, the elderly, liver patients and alcohol addicts are particularly prone to bacterial infection. Germanyʼs weather service (DWD) issued a heat warning for large parts of Germany on Monday and advised the elderly and sick people to sit in the shade, drink plenty of water and avoid the heat. What are vibrio bacteria? Vibrio bacteria live in certain coastal waters and are present in higher concentrations between May and October when water temperatures are warmer, according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). How does infection occur? If open wounds come into contact with infected sea water, vibrio bacteria can infect the wounds. People may also become infected by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters. Elderly and immunosuppressed people are at particular risk of infection.

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185/2018 • 14 August, 2018

Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep win Rogers Cup titles

World number one Rafael Nadal beat unseeded Stefanos Tsitsipas to win the Rogers Cup in Toronto, bringing the Greekʼs stunning run to an end.

Tsitsipas, who turned 20 on Sunday, beat Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev en route to the final but lost 6-2 7-6 (7-4). He had a set point in the 12th game of the second set but could not convert. Earlier, Romaniaʼs Simona Halep beat American Sloane Stephens in three sets to win the womenʼs event in Montreal. In a re-run of the French Open final in June, Halep eventually came out on top 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-2.

US team headed

by Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson

Three-time major champion Brooks Koepka and world number one Dustin Johnson will play for the US against Europe in Septemberʼs Ryder Cup in France. Eight players have already qualified for the 12-man team with captain Jim Furyk set to name four wildcard picks in early September.

Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson make up the other six. European golfers have three more events to play before their team is announced. The final one of those events is the Made in Denmark Tournament, which takes place from 30 August - 2 September.

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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.

Cristiano Ronaldo scores in Juventus v Juventus B match The match was abandoned after 72 minutes due to the annual tradition of fans running onto the pitch

In a small Italian town with a population of 4,000 people, 5,000 fans packed out the stadium to watch Cristiano Ronaldo score eight minutes into his first appearance in a Juventus shirt.

The clubʼs annual curtain-raiser - a friendly against the Juventus B team - is organised every year by the Old Lady owners, the Agnelli family, in the small town of Villar Perosa, outside of Turin. Five-time Ballon dʼOr winner Ronaldo, 33, whosigned from Real Madrid for £99.2m in July, scored the first goal and created another in Sundayʼs 5-0 vic-

tory, which attracted huge interest.

The townʼs population swelled before the game, as the bars and restaurants were heaving with fans and media. Fans chanted "Ronaldo, bring us the Champions League" during his 45-minute cameo and one supporter tried to hug the new number seven as he left the pitch at half-time.

David Silva: Manchester Cityʼs Spain midfielder retires from international football Manchester Cityʼs Spain midfielder David Silva has announced his retirement from international football.

Silva, 32, won the 2010 World Cup and 2008 and 2012 European Championship titles and played 125 times for Spain after making his debut in 2006.

He said he was "very proud" of his achievements with La Roja, and that the decision to retire was "one the most difficult of my career". "I lived and dreamed with a team that will forever be remembered," he added. "It has not been easy, after all Iʼve experienced, to

write these lines," he wrote in a social media post. "Iʼve spent days and weeks considering this. The national team gave me everything and helped me grow as a player and a person. "I leave proud and happy, bringing an end to a time full of emotions and memories, like of the figure of Luis Aragones, a maestro who will never be forgotten." Aragones led Spain to their first major trophy at an international tournament in 44 years with victory in the 2008 Euros. He died at the age of 75 in 2014.