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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Raids across Germany target suspected Iranian spies

18/2018 • 22, JANUARY 2018

Spain urges ex-Catalan leaderʼs arrest if heads to Denmark

Germany-wide police raids have been carried out on suspected Iranian spies.

Iran has been linked in the past to spying, assassinating dissidents and targeting Israelis. German authorities on Tuesday conducted searches of homes and businesses belonging to 10 suspected Iranian spies. The Federal Prosecutors Office ordered the searches after receiving a tip from Germanyʼs domestic intelligence agency. The suspects are believed to have spied on persons and institutions "on behalf of an intelligence entity associated with Iran," the prosecutorʼs office said. No arrests were made during the raids, which were carried out in Baden-Württemberg, North RhineWestphalia, Bavaria and Berlin. The German magazine Focus, which first reported on the searches, said that the 10 individuals were suspected members of the al-Quds Brigade, the external operations arm of the powerfulIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC).

Carles Puigdemont is wanted in Spain for involvement in a controversial independence referendum

Myanmar, Bangladesh agree to return Rohingya refugees in two years

Madrid has vowed to reissue an international arrest warrant for the former president of Catalonia if he travels to Denmark.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees within two years. NGOs viewed the deal with skepticism, saying it doesnʼt fully address safety and resettlement concerns.

Officials in Bangladesh and Myanmar announced the first concrete deadline for returning hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to Myanmar on Tuesday, following a joint meeting in Myanmarʼs capital, Naypyitaw. The repatriation plan, which Myanmar said would start next Tuesday, seeks to return the refugees "within two years from the commencement of repatriation."

Spainʼs federal prosecutorʼs office on Sunday said former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont should be arrested if he travels to Denmark for a scheduled university debate about thebreakaway regionand democracy in Europe. The prosecutorʼs office said it would have a Supreme Court judge "immediately" issue an arrest warrant for Puigdemont. In December,Spainʼs top court withdrew an extradition order for the former Catalan leaderand four regional councilors, saying they had illustrated their "intention to return to Spain." Puigdemont and four former ministers who fled Catalonia to Belgium are wanted in Spain for rebellion and sedition for orchestrating an outlawed independence referendum in October last year. In the wake of the referendum,Madrid imposed direct rule on the region and dissolved Cataloniaʼs parliament. Earlier this week, the University of Copenhagen announced a debate

entitled "Catalonia and Europe at a Crossroads for Democracy" for Monday.

The universityʼs spokesman said Puigdemont would attend "in person." While Puigdemont is free to move around the EU at the moment, that could change if Spanish judges reissue an international arrest warrant for the Catalan politician and his accompanying associates. The former Catalan leaderʼs party has said that it will try to have Puigdemont reinstated as the regionʼs president and allow him to rule from exile.

Madrid and experts on Catalan politics have warned thatsuch an attempt lacks a legal route. However, Puigdemont told Catalan public radio that "new technologies" could be used that would allow him to rule from exile. "If I have to choose between being an inmate or a president, Iʼd rather be a president, even from afar," Puigdemont said. "At least now I can do things that I wouldnʼt be able to do in prison."

Polandʼs new foreign minister aims to improve ties with Germany On his first visit to Germany, Polandʼs new Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz has his work cut out for him. Will he be able to mend the turbulent ties between the two European neighbors? For years, German-Polish interests were defined by good relations. After the collapse of Communism in 1989, the two neighbors were able to come together to address global problems, like the war in Ukraine. But compared to those past times of relative friendliness, relations now are quite poor, according to Piotr Buras, head of the European Council of Foreign Relations (ECFR) Warsaw branch. Not much is happening between Germany and Poland, he said, noting that Warsawʼscurrent reparation demands70 years after the end of the Second World War have only increased the diplomatic tension.

Trial in Cologne city archive collapse set to begin Nine years after the devastating collapse of the cityʼs historic archive, six defendants will finally go on trial.

The men face charges of negligent homicide and hazardous building practices. Some nine years after the spectacular and deadly collapse of Cologneʼs city archive, the trial of six men accused of negligent homicide and dangerous building practices will begin at the cityʼs state courthouse.

City prosecutors had also charged a seventh man but he has since died.

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18/2018 • 22, 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.

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Mexico border ʼWall is the Wallʼ Donald Trump tweets:

Donald Trump is defending his pledge to build a "big, beautiful wall" on the USʼs border with Mexico. The president says his position on his most popular campaign promise "has never changed or evolved."

Donald Trump struck back after Chief of Staff John Kelly attempted to clarify the presidentʼs current stance on his campaign pledge to erect a wall on the USʼs southern border. "The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it," Trump wrote Thursday on Twitter. "Parts of it will be, of necessity, see through [sic] and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water."

Kelly made the remarks at a closed-door meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Wednesday, The New York Times reported. According to the newspaper, Kelly said Trump had pledged his "big, beautiful wall" before becoming "fully informed" of the natural barriers that already lie along the US border with Mexico. He added that he had persuaded Trump that he did not need the wall and said the presidentʼs opinion on the once-sacred barrier had "evolved."

Argentina navy loses contact with submarine with 44 crew on board

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.

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

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.

18/2018 • 22, January 2018

Former Auschwitz guard Gröningʼs clemency bid fails German prosecutors have rejected a clemency request from former Nazi SS guard Oskar Gröning. Known as the "bookkeeper of Auschwitz," the 96-year-old has been convicted of being an accessory to murder in 300,000 cases.

Oskar Gröningʼs bid to avoid a fouryear prison sentence for his role as a guardat the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitzwas rejected by German authorities on Wednesday. "The clemency request has been denied," Wiebke Bethke, a spokeswoman for the prosecutorsʼ office in Lüneburg told news agency epd. She did not provide further details. Although his legal options are running thin, Gröning could still appeal his clemency request to the Justice Ministry of Lower Saxony, the northern state where Lüneburg is located. The 96-year-old

was convicted of being an accessory to the murder of 300,000 people during his time as a guard and bookkeeper at Auschwitz and wassentenced to four years in prison. At the end of December, Germanyʼs Constitutional Courtrejected Gröningʼs attempt to suspend his sentencedue to health reasons. The court found no identifiable health risks and said that his prison sentence "carried a special weight." Gröning voluntarily joined the Naziʼs elite Waffen-SS at the age of 21 and was stationed at Auschwitz in 1942.

How #MeToo affects the Golden Globes

Russia moves toward creation of an independent internet

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 prizegiving 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 90member 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.

Experts say Russia is planning the next step in making the country independent from the West, at least in cyberspace: Moscow wants to install its own root servers. But why, and does it make any sense? Freedom on the internet has diminished over the years in Russia: people go to jail for posts on social media, thereʼs a ban on VPN services and expanded data storage is hard to come by. And recent moves by the Russian government indicate that further developments are yet to come. According to a report by

the RBK web portal, Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2017 ordered his government to negotiate independent root name servers for the socalled domain name system (DNS) with the BRICS states, which apart from Russia includes Brazil, India, China and South Africa, by August 2018. These servers contain global databases of public IP addresses and their host names. If Russia had its own root servers, it could create a kind of internet of its own, experts say.

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.

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18/2018 • 22, 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.

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Critics weigh in on Germanyʼs coalition talks ʼbreakthroughʼ Germanyʼs prospective deal for Chancellor Angela Merkel to head another grand coalition has been slammed by industry leaders as "expensive." Asylum advocates say it hands hard-liners a "triumph" over human rights.

Elements of a 28-page policy paper backed Friday by Merkel and Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Martin Schulz as the basis forrecommended formal coalition talks have quickly drawn criticism. Mario Ohoven, president of Germanyʼs BVMW federation of medium-sized industrial companies, said a further coalition — potentially Merkelʼs third with the SPD since 2005 — would be "costly for Germany." The

Germany bans sale of childsnooping smartwatches

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

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

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

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

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Norwegian wealth fund plans to divest of oil and gas Norwayʼs trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund is proposing to drop oil and gas companies from its holdings, saying it already has enough exposure to the industry and wants to protect against fluctuating oil prices. Oslo is set to decide in the fall of 2018 on backing a proposal from the countryʼs sovereign wealth fund —the worldʼs biggest— to cut oil and gas companies from its benchmark index. In a letter to the government, the Norwegian central bank, which manages the fund, said on Thursday that the move would make Norway "less vulnerable to a lasting decline in oil prices."

"This advice is based exclusively on financial arguments and analyses of the governmentʼs total oil and gas exposure," the bankʼs deputy governor Egil Matsen said in a statement. "It does not reflect any particular view of future movements in oil and gas prices or the profitability or sustainability of the oil and gas sector," he added.

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outcome of six days of exploratory talks that peaked early Friday would raise the cost of labor, worsen competition and ignore the need for tax competitiveness, Ohoven asserted. President of the German Chamber of Commerce (DIHK), Eric Schweizer, said the prospect of a government being formed after a 3-month hiatus was "important and good" but that a great policy vision was not discernible.

Germanyʼs SPD plans to trim fat from pizza, slash sugar in soda

Comfort food favorites could be in for a recipe change. The SPD is pushing for reductions in sugar, fat and salt in processed foods, as well as a law to enforce the healthy eating measures.

Germanyʼs center-left Social Democrats (SPD) are taking aim at the food and beverage industry in an effort to make sweet and savory treats a bit healthier, according to a report published late on Wednesday. An SPD position paper calls for limits on salt, sugar and fat in processed food, the German daily Bild newspaper reported. The plan received unanimous approval from the SPDʼs parliamentary group. A panel of independent nutrition experts, doctors, health insurance companies as well as health and consumer organizations should establish "binding reduction goals for sugar, salt and fat content," Bild reported, citing the SPD paper. "Health must take precedence over economic interests," SPD politician Ursula Schulte told the newspaper.

18/2018 • 22, January 2018

Nail biting can make you ill!

It also heightens the risk of disease

Nail biting is a bad habit. Most people do it unconsciously, to relieve stress and tension. But nail biting doesnʼt just make your hands unattractive.

Our hands touch all sort of things during the course of the day, and we donʼt always have the opportunity to wash them. If you bite your fingernails, youʼre constantly ingesting microorganisms, and that can have consequences. Nail-biters get colds, gastrointestinal infections and skin rashes more frequently. Your teeth and oral cavity can suffer as well, because pathogens can also establish themselves there. If you gnaw your nails down to below the quick, it can lead to bleeding and damage the nail bed. Constantly open wounds on your fingers can also become infected. In addition, nail biters often suffer psychologically.

The feel stigmatized and hide their fingers because theyʼre embar-

rassed. Many people think chewed fingernails are a sign of being weakwilled and lacking self-discipline.

Our tips for kicking the habit: Choose one finger and consciously donʼt bite it. After a few days, youʼll already see progress. Then choose the next one. Or if you have the impulse to bite your nails, clench your fist, squeeze a rubber ball or chew gum. You canʼt chew gum and your nails at the same time. Another option is to wear special nail varnish that acts as a deterrent because of its bitter taste. Another tip: always carry a small nail file with you to smooth out irregularities and hangnails. And use hand cream: that really doesnʼt taste good.

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

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

Germanyʼs Federal Constitutional Court on Wednesday called for a third gender option in the registry of births. Intersex people, who are neither male nor female, should be able to register their sexual identity as such, the Karlsruhe court ruled. The court found that the general right to the protection of personality in Germanyʼs Basic Law meant the register had to be altered to allow a third gender. The court ruled seven to one that lawmakers must create new legislation by the end of 2018 to allow for a third sex, providing the examples of "intersex," "diverse" or another "positive designation of sex." Another possibility raised was to scrap gender entries altogether. "Assignment to a gender is of paramount importance for individual identity; it typically plays a key role both in the 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.

Turkish brunch at Pancs Élesztőház

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."

Weather

Germany must allow third gender

You have visited Turkey before and would like to relive the magical experience of a rich Turkish breakfast? Or you’ve never tried it but would like to see an authentic Turkish breakfast? Nar Gourmet will move from its apartment restaurant to the private room of Pancs gasztroplacc with a huge table of cheeses, olives, fresh vegetables, tahini, pekmez, fruits, fresh Turkish pastries, yogurt poached eggs, and many other goodies. The menu will be meatless. Registration is advance is required at nargourmet.hu@gmail.com

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Culture

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

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

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

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18/2018 • 22, 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.

One more year! Bastian Schweinsteiger signs new Chicago Fire contract

A hunger for yet more trophies has seen Bastian Schweinsteiger sign up for a further year in Americaʼs Major League Soccer. The German midfielder has extended his deal with Chicago Fire ahead of the 2018 season. Amove to Americamay be seen as a wind down to retirement for many European footballers but Bastian Schweinsteiger has insisted that he has unfinished business with Chicago Fire. Despite a trophy-laden career with Bayern Munich and Germany that included a World Cup, a Champions League title and eight Bundesliga crowns, the 33-year-old has just inked a new deal to try and right the wrongs of his first year in Major League Soccer (MLS).

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

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

Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho retires The 37-year-old is planning a series of farewell matches after this yearʼs World Cup

The former Barcelona playmaker won multiple club trophies and was a key part of the Brazilian team that won the 2002 World Cup. Ronaldinho, who won the 2002 World Cup with Brazil and the 2006 World Player of the Year award, is retiring from football, his brother and agent Roberto Assis said Tuesday. "Ronnieʼs professional career is over," Assis told The Associated Press news agency. "He wants to be a football ambassador, do charity, and work with his friends in music from now on." The announcement brings

a definitive end to the former Brazilian and Barcelona midfielderʼs celebrated career. The 37-year-old last played in a competitive match in 2015. Assis suggested his brother may play in some farewell matches, including one with the Brazil national team. "Weʼre going to do something pretty big, something cool, after the World Cup in Russia, probably in August," he said.

Franck Ribery on song as Bayern Munich end Leverkusen’s unbeaten run Bayern Munich go 14 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with victory at Bayer Leverkusen, courtesy of goals by Javi Martinez, Franck Ribery and James Rodriguez.

Franck Ribery may be in the twilight of his career, but his value to Bayern still cannot be understated. All eyes were onnew signing Sandro Wagner, who was restricted to a late cameo despite the absence of Robert Lewandowski, but it was a trademark dribble and instinctive low finish by Ribery shortly before the hour that settled this game.

His goal ensured the Frenchman be-

comes the first non-German player to score in 11 Bundesliga seasons for Bayern. For all the calls to replace him – and his partner in crime Arjen Robben – Bayern will be hard pressed to find a winger as effective and consistent. His strike made it 2-0 and effectively put the game out of Leverkusen’s reach. The hosts went into the game on a high. Undefeated since September, Leverkusen have flourished under Heiko Herrlich and played without fear, shifting the ball to Leon Bailey at every opportunity as the Jamaican tried to rip through a Bayern defence missing Mats Hummels.