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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Venice imposes entry fee for day-trippers There are 25 million visitorsto the city of Venice in northern Italy each year. Of these about 14 million stay just for a day, and often bring their own picnics. With no visible benefit for local restaurants and bars, and costs of cleaning up after the visitors growing every year, councilors have decided to put a price on entry. From May, visitors will pay an entry fee of €3 (about $3.50) for this year, and a planned €6 in 2020. Plans also include a variable fee depending on the number of visitors in the city at the time, on a range of €3 to €10 for entry. "This is unique in the world, the first time that anyone has dared to do anything this important to help manage a city," said Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro after the council decision late on Tuesday.

Japan: Worldʼs smallest baby leaves hospital The smallest surviving male baby, born weighing just 268 grams (9.45 ounces), has been sent home after months in a Toyko hospital. The boy was delivered at 24 weeks through Caesarean section in August after he failed to gain weight during the pregnancy and doctors feared his life was in danger. After five months of treatment in intensive care, he now weighs 3.2 kilograms (7.1 pounds) and is feeding normally, Keio University hospital said. "I am grateful that he has grown this big because, honestly, I wasnʼt sure he could survive," the boyʼs mother said. The previous record for smallest baby was held by a boy in Germany who, in 2009, was born weighing 274 grams, according to the University of Iowaʼs Tiniest Babies registry. The previous record for smallest baby was held by a boy in Germany who, in 2009, was born weighing 274 grams, according to the University of Iowaʼs Tiniest Babies registry.

51/2019 • 1 MARCH, 2019

Canada’s Justin Trudeau refuses to resign over claims of interference in bribery trial Trudeau has rejected calls to resign over the scandal

India-Pakistan tensions force airlines to cancel and reroute flights Dozens of flights between Thailand and Europe have been canceled after Pakistan closed its airspace in response to soaring tensions with India, with both states claiming to have shot down each otherʼs jets. Thai Airways canceled 27 flights on Wednesday and Thursday, mostly to and from Europe, because they had been scheduled to fly over Pakistani airspace. Nearly 5,000 passengers are stranded in Thailand. Read more: Nuclear fears abound after India-Pakistan military escalation "There are 4,000 from European flights and 700 to 800 from flights to Pakistan," a Thai Airways spokesperson said. Thailandʼs flagship carrier said it was requesting to fly over other countriesʼ airspace.

Australian journalists accused of violating Cardinal Pell Canadaʼs former justice minister has said the prime ministerʼs inner circle wanted her to help a Montreal-based firm accused of corruption.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed calls from the opposition to resign late on Wednesday after his former justice minister told parliament that officials in his inner circle had pressured her not to prosecute a Montreal-based engineering giant accused of fraud. "I experienced a consistent and sustained effort by many people within the government to seek to politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, in an inappropriate effort to secure a deferred prosecution agreement with SNC-Lavalin," exminister Jody Wilson-Raybould told the House of Commons. WilsonRaybould added that she received "veiled threats" from Michael Wernick, Canadaʼs top bureaucrat, that "a collision with the prime minister on these matters should be avoided."

Trudeau responded that he "completely disagrees with the former attorney generalʼs characterization of events." Firm bribed Gaddafi government The scandal has rocked the Trudeau administration as the Liberal party leader prepares to run for re-election in October. It centers

around allegations that SNC-Lavalin bribed officials in the Libyan government under strongman Muammar Gaddafi between 2001 and 2011.

The company was formally charged with corruption in 2015, with prosecutors saying that it had paid Gaddafiʼs regime 130 million Canadian dollars (US$98 million) for lucrative government contracts, including the Great Man-Made River Project, the biggest irrigation project in history. SNC-Lavalin heavily lobbied the government to settle the corruption case out of court. The firm has repeatedly claimed that anyone responsible for the wrongdoing has since left the company. WilsonRaybould testified that "the prime minister asked me to help out, to find a solution for SNC, citing that if there is no DPA (deferred prosecution agreement), there would be many jobs lost and that SNC would move from Montreal." She said 11 other top officials, including Finance Minister Bill Morneau, raised concerns that the firm would move to London if it did not face favorable legal conditions in Canada.

suppression order Up to 100 journalists in Australia could face jail time for their coverage of the Cardinal George Pell trial. Local media reported they received letters from the Victoria stateʼs director of public prosecutions, Kerri Judd, threatening them with contempt of court charges. The accused include individual publishers, editors, broadcasters, reporters and subeditors at media giants News Corp Australia, Nine Entertainment, the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC), Crikey and several smaller publications, the Guardian and Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Nineʼs Melbourne newspaper The Age alone received more than 30 letters.

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51/2019 • 1 March, 2019

German teachers fined for treating wasp sting with heated fork Two teachers at a school in the western German state of Hesse were fined for causing bodily harm with their questionable home remedy for a studentʼs wasp sting.

The incident occurred during a school trip to a youth hostel in the neighboring state of RhinelandPalatinate in May 2017, when a 14-year-old student was stung by a wasp. In response, a 39-year-old male teacher heated the handle of a fork with a lighter and pressed it on the boyʼs hand where heʼd been stung. After a blister formed, another 40-year-old female teacher cut it open and treated the wound with cream. The studentʼs lawyer said that as a result of the sting, the boy had to wear a protective glove for a considerable period of time. The German daily Bild newspaper reported that the boyʼs hand became infected and that he wasnʼt able to attend an internship as a result. A district court in Cochem fined the male teacher €2,700 ($3,160) for causing bodily harm.

The female teacher was also fined €2,500 ($2,900) for both assisting and causing bodily harm to the student.

Dutch shipbuilder in dock over North Koreanʼs Polish slave claims The first case in the Netherlands of worker exploitation involving a Dutch company for alleged crimes committed outside the country could be nearing an end in the coming weeks, lawyers said, and if successful may open the door to more such cases. Barbara van Straaten, the lawyer representing a North Korean worker, said Dutch law criminalizes the act of profiting from exploitation.

The name of the Dutch shipping company sued by the worker couldnʼt be disclosed for safety reasons, she added. Under the countryʼs antitrafficking law, offenders can be jailed for up to 18 years and face fines of €83,000 ($95,000). The plaintiff claims he was sent to Poland by the Pyongyang regime and forced to work12-hour days for low wages in awful conditions. The lawyer did not say when this happened. Van Straatenʼs Amsterdam-based law firm, Prakken dʼOliveira, said the North Korean worked for the Polish company Crist. Crist received financial assistance from the European Regional Development Fund, a loan of €37 million in 2009.

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No agreement reached at Trump-Kim summit in Vietnam Read here to see how the meeting unfolded

US President Donald Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wanted all sanctions lifted in return for denuclearization.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have entered their second day oftalks aimed at achieving denuclearizationin North KoreaTrump and Kim had been due to release a joint statement but the White House announced a schedule change and Trump will now hold a solo press conferenceThe White House announced that no agreement on denuclearization was reached between Kim and Trump 12:00 After a telephone conversation with Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo

Syria blames Israel for ʼattack on Damascus airportʼ Israel launched missiles at a target near the Syrian capital of Damascus, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Sunday. "Our air defenses responded to an Israeli missile attack on Damascus international airport and shot down a number of hostile missiles," said a military source cited by Syriaʼs SANA news agency. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), an independent war monitor that relies on a network of on-the-ground sources, said the missiles had targeted an arms depot near the airport,likely used by Iranian forces or the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

History of attacks An Israeli Defense

Abe said he backs the US Presidentʼs decision to end his summit with Kim without an agreement and suggested it was his turn to meet with the North Korean leader.

"I fully support President Trumpʼs decision not to make the easy choice," Abe said. "I am determined that I must meet Chairman Kim next." 8:30 South Koreaʼs presidential office described the breakdown of nuclear talks "unfortunate," but it expects "active dialogue" to continue between Washington and Pyongyang.

Forces (IDF) spokeswoman said Israel does not comment on reports by foreign media. However,it would not be the first time Israel has targeted assets on Syrian soil. Earlier this month, an Israeli official said the IDF has hit more than 200 Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria.

World Bank offers financial assistance to disaster-hit Indonesia The World Bank announced Sunday it would provide up to $1 billion (€860 million) in loans to the Indonesian government to help relief and reconstruction efforts in areas hit

Germany ready to ʼhelp Iraq back on its feetʼ German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Iraq on Saturday to discuss her countryʼs intention to develop its military assistance program in the country. Von der Leyen said that followingthe "Islamic State" militant groupʼs military defeat in Iraq, it is time to move forward with other endeavors, includingstabilization and reconstruction. "Now it is important to shape and protect the reconstruction of the country under a new mandate," said von der Leyen.

"Germany is ready to continue helping Iraq get back on its feet. That is why I am here." ʼOther forms of engagementʼ In February, von der Leyen saidthe role of the Bundeswehr — Germanyʼs armed forces — needed to evolveto meet the "needs of Iraq." At the time, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Baghdad wanted a "commitment from Germany" for "other forms of engagement," including training and logistics. Since 2014, Germany has provided Iraq withmore than €1 billion ($1.16 billion) in humanitarian and development aid, making the Middle Eastern country one of the largest recipients of German foreign assistance.

by recent earthquakes and a tsunami.

Kristalina Georgieva, the bankʼs CEO, unveiled the funds in Bali during its annual meeting. "Disasters will continue to hit, and with climate change there will be more," said Georgieva, who earlier visited Palu City, which was hit by a 7.5magnitude quake and a resulting tsunami last month. "The best memorial we can build for the victims of disaster is to build better, so next time when a disaster hits, fewer people are affected, fewer lives are lost, and there is less damage," she added. Indonesia sits on one of the most tectonically active parts of the world, and is prone to earthquakes as well as occasional tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. On Saturday, torrential rains triggered flash floods and landslides on the island of Sumatra, killing 27 people, including a dozen school children.

51/2019 • 1 March, 2019

BMW, Daimler team up to develop self-driving cars BMW and Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, join forces to develop automated driving technology. It is the two German automakersʼ second collaboration in less than a week.

In their latest strategic partnership agreement, BMW and Daimler announced Thursday that they have joined forces to develop automated driving technology. The German automakers have agreed to a "long-term, strategic cooperation" to more develop advanced driver assistance systems, automated driving on closed spaces and automated parking, they said in a statement. They hope "to make nextlevel technologies widely available" by 2025. "Combining the strength of our two companies will boost our in-

Jewish Museum Berlin bans Iranian state broadcaster IRIB The Jewish Museum Berlin (JMB) is currently showcasing an exhibition titled "Welcome to Jerusalem," which attracted criticism from Israelʼs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it adopts a onesided Muslim and Palestinian perspective.

Netanyahu even demanded the German government cut back its financial support for the museum. Now, in the wake of this high-profile criticism by Netanyahu, the Berlin bureau of Iranian state broadcaster IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) has requested to report on the exhibition, citing an interest in the JMBʼs view on Jerusalem.

IRIB said it wanted to convey the exhibitionʼs message that Jerusalem is an important center of faith for "all major monotheistic religions," as its chief correspondent, Valiallah Shojaee Khanabadi, told DW.

novative strength and speed up the spread of this technology," said Klaus Froehlich, BMWʼs head of development. BMW and Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz and Smart, have launched multiple collaborative efforts as it tries to fend off competition from tech companies like Uber and Waymo. Last week, the two rival auto manufacturers launched a €1 billion ($1.1 billion) joint venture in auto-related digital service such as car sharing, ride hailing and ticketless parking.

Brexit: UK Parliament to decide between ʼno dealʼ and delay

UK lawmakers have backed a plan by Prime Minister Theresa May that could result in a delay to the countryʼs planned exit from the European Union at the end of next month. More than 500 MPs voted in favor of a motion by Labour Party MP Yvette Cooper on Wednesday that voiced support for the

three-step plan, which foresees Parliament voting a second time on a revised version of Mayʼs Brexit deal by March 12. If the deal is defeated, Parliament would then vote on whether to leave the EU without a deal or delay its departure date. The vote came a day after May presented her plan to lawmakers.

Europe-wide Rhine River cleanup draws thousands of volunteers Anke Mielke digs through her orange garbage bag, sifting through numerous plastic bags and other scraps of trash before pulling out the strangest thing sheʼs found so far on the banks of the Rhine River — a pungent pair of jeans. Mielke tells DW that she hopes that by cleaning up the riverbank, others will be reminded to take their rubbish with them next time. "I grew up along the Rhine and I want it to remain beautiful so that others can enjoy it," she says.

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51/2019 • 1 March, 2019

Older German diesels face reckoning German government ministers met at Chancellor Angela Merkelʼs offices on Friday to discuss the vexatious diesel question. After years of wrangling, a solution is dearly sought, but what are the realistic options? Is Germanyʼs seemingly never-ending diesel debate edging towards its endgame? On Friday, German government ministers for transport, finance, the economy and the environment met at the offices of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to try and reach an agreement on the thorny subject of how to reduce pollution from diesel cars as quickly as possible.

Read more: New analysis reveals deadly scale of diesel emissions Last weekend, German government figures and car manufacturers were in talks over potential hardware retrofits for older diesels, but no deal was reached. With diesel bans allowed in Germany since rulings earlier this year, the debate has entered a decisive phase.Hamburg began a partial ban in May, while Stuttgart,Frankfurtand Düsseldorf are among the other cities expected to follow. Car manufacturers are vehemently opposed to such bans, as they have added to uncertainty over dieselʼs future and hit sales. The debate in the Chancellery once more centered on a few key questions around whether older diesels should be banned outright, retrofitted with new hardware or gradually phased out through incentivized buyback schemes. On top of that is the fundamental issue of who pays to make things better.

Sri Lanka seeks investment, but China questions linger You donʼt need to be an expert on international trade routes to look at a map and understandthat Sri Lankaʼs location is one of potentially serious economic advantage. The island nation — population 22 million — sits at the southern tip of India, almost as close to the Middle East and the Horn of Africa as it is to South East Asia. The value of this location has not been lost on its northern neighbor China.Under Xi Jinpingʼs so-called ʼBelt and Road Initiative,ʼ the Chinese government has pumped billions into Sri Lanka in the form of both foreign investment and loans in recent years. This reliance on Chinese money is part of a longstanding Sri Lankan problem. With a major trade deficit, as well as crippling levels of debt, the country needs foreign money. China has rushed to fill the gap more enthusiastically than anyone else. The current Sri Lankan government came to power in 2015, when it replaced former President Mahinda Rajapaksaʼs administration.

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France and Netherlands quarrel over Air France-KLM France has called on the Netherlands to clarify its intentions after it raised its stake in the holding company Air France-KLM. The Dutch made the moves without telling their French counterparts.

Speaking in Paris alongside Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron said the Dutch government must clarify why it bought 12.7 percent of shares in Air France-KLMʼs holding company.

"The government was not informed of this decision, nor its implementation," Macron said at a press conference in Paris. "I take note of it. Itʼs now up to the Dutch government to clarify its intentions." Later Wednesday, the Dutch government said it had increased its stake even further — to 14 percent — which nearly matches the French state holding of 14.3 percent.

Can the European Union control Chinaʼs connectivity in Europe?

Last week, the EU announced a proposal for a "new and comprehensive strategy to better connect Europe and Asia." As European countries and industry expand infrastructure and network connections with Asia, and China in particular, the EU is seeking to level the playing field and ensure that joint projects develop with Brussels setting the standard. DW spoke with Mathieu Duchâtel, senior policy fellow and deputy director of the Asia and China Program at the European Council on Foreign Relations, about the EUʼs strategy on connecting Europe and Asia. Mathieu Duchâtel: This proposal is the EUʼs response mainly to Chinaʼs Belt and Road initiative, with the aim of making European values on connectivity clear. I think itʼs the result of a feeling in the EU that it wasnʼt in the driverʼs seat on the connectivity discussion in Eurasia. This, of course, includes infrastructure because thereʼs no connectivity without infrastructure.

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Knorr-Bremse set to become German IPO of the year Knorr-Bremse said on Friday that strong investor demand for its 35 million shares to be publicly listed on October 12 could value the stake at up to €4.21 billion ($4.77 billion). The German braking and technology group now hopes to sell its newly-floated shares at a price of between €72 and €87. Earnings from the 30-percent stake in the company could make the flotation the biggest in Germany this year, overtaking that of Siemens Healthineers — the worldʼs largest maker of medical imaging equipment — which sold for €4.2 billion.

The companyʼs chief executive Klaus Deller, said Knorr-Bremse would welcome new investors as it was heading toward further growth.

"We have received very positive feedback from investors and other stakeholders...confirming our strong belief that this IPO is the next logical step for us," he said in a statement.

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"The Dutch state has bought a 14 percent stake in Air France-KLM," the Dutch government said in a statement, adding that the "buying of Air France-KLM shares has been halted."

Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra announced the initial purchase of the 12.7 percent stake late Tuesday for €680 million ($774 million). He said then that the government aimed to eventually match the French governmentʼs 14.3 percent holding in the airline. Air France-KLM shared plunged 11.7 percent on Wednesday after the Dutch governmentʼs announcement.

VW and Microsoft put their heads together in the digital cloud

The car industry is going through profound change. Volkswagen appears to understand the scale of this better than most, and its collaboration with Microsoft is part of its attempt to rebrand itself for the future.

Many cinematic and literary visions of the future have portrayed us driving in the clouds.A good example is the film Blade Runner, made in 1982 but fittingly set in 2019, where driving takes place in cars that glide through the skies. Here in the real 2019, it turns out that sooner or later, we will be driving in a cloud after all — specifically speaking, the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud. At least thatʼs the vision that was sold at a slick press event on Wednesday in the German capital. The Berlin district of Friedrichshain, politically one of the most left-wing in the country, is not one you would readily associate with corporate powwows between captains of industry. Yet taking place on the banks of the river Spree was an event labeled as a "CEO Fireside Chat" between Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen, and Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. Needless to say, there wasnʼt a fireside in sight in the decidedly chill, sharp-edged surrounds of the Volkswagen Digital Lab.

51/2019 • 1 March, 2019

Citizen scientists and an app for Alzheimerʼs disease Combating Dementia with Virtual Reality

Neurologist Emrah Düzel has developed a smartphone app to diagnose the early stages of Alzheimerʼs disease. DWʼs Zulifkar Abbany finds out just how it works and what Düzel hopes to achieve with the app.

Memory and mobile apps Citizen scientists and an app for Alzheimerʼs disease Neurologist Emrah Düzel has developed a smartphone app to diagnose the early stages of Alzheimerʼs disease. DWʼs Zulifkar Abbany finds out just how it works and what Düzel hopes to achieve with the app. Professor Emrah Düzel: The aim is to improve the prevention of Alzheimerʼs disease in the future — thatʼs our global aim. And one of the major hurdles there is that itʼs very difficult to diagnose, track, and monitor the disease.

That makes it very difficult to recognize the early stages of the dis-

ease and start prevention in time.

Well, first, we want [the app] to become a medical device at some point, one that has a strong basis in science, so thatʼs why we have these ties to the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases. Then we also want to reach out to the public to inform and empower citizens, so that they know about the early aspects of Alzheimerʼs. And we want to empower science. One of the hardest aspects of Alzheimerʼs research is understanding the impact of intermittent health conditions on the main symptom of the disease, which is memory impairment.

We need men to talk about periods: Oscar winner Guneet Monga Period. End of Sentence is a documen-

tary about the deep-rooted stigma attached to menstruation in the village of Hapur in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. For generations, women here did not have access to sanitary pads, leading to health issues and girls dropping out from schools.

Directed by award-winning IranianAmerican filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi, the film is created by The Pad Project, an organization established by a group of students at the Oakwood School in Los Angeles and their teacher, Melissa Berton. The movie has been produced by 34-yearold Guneet Monga (pictured above), who was born in Delhi and heads the production company, Sikhya Entertainment. She has been involved in several critically acclaimed Indian movies, including Lunchbox, Gangs of Wasseypur and Masaan, which won the International Jury of Film Critics Prize at Cannes in 2015. Monga is brimming with ambition and confidence after her Oscar victory and hopes the movie will help change mindsets and hard-wired attitudes, especially among males, towards menstruation.

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German museum returns stolen colonial era artifacts As "Kaptein," Hendrik Witbooi was one of the most important leaders of the Nama tribes in Namibia during the German colonial period and revolted against German power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He accepted the Christian faith by way of missionary influence in the then "South West Africa."

Witbooiʼs personal bible, together with a cattle whip, have been given back to the Namibian nation at arestitution ceremony on Thursday, held in the resistance heroʼs hometown of Gibeon. The objects were probably captured in 1893 during an

attack by German colonial troops. In 1902, they were donated to the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, which actively participated in their return as part of its provenance research.

However, there were conflicts in the negotiations over the return as to whether the bible should not be handed over directly to the legitimate descendants. Namibian President Hage Geingob has promised to give the bible to the family at a later date. In an interview with DW, Sandra Ferracuti, Africa consultant at the Linden Museum, explained what makes this return so important.

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Culture

Renovated Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest to Open on 31 October AFTER MORE THAN THREE YEARS OF RENOVATION, THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BUDAPEST WILL OPEN ON 31 OCT NOW OPEN TO PUBLIC Thanks to the largest-scale and most comprehensive reconstruction project in the museum’s history, the museum building has been renewed, and, returning to the collection’s first concept, the museum’s permanent exhibitions will also be rearranged. Besides the new permanent exhibitions, the revamped museum will welcome visitors with a chamber exhibition titled Leonardo & the Budapest Horse and Rider. The museum reconstruction, implemented within the framework of the Liget Budapest Project, included the restoration of the Romanesque Hall, which sustained severe damage in World War II and since then had been only partially renovated and used as a storage area, along with the modernisation of the building’s obsolete heating system, the installation of air conditioning in some of the exhibition halls, the renewal of a large part of the roof structure, as well as the addition of new exhibition spaces, visitor areas and modern storage facilities.

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51/2019 • 1 March, 2019

Maria Sharapova withdraws from Miami Open after ʼsmall procedureʼ on shoulder

Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from Marchʼs Miami Open after having a "small procedure" on her shoulder.

The five-time Grand Slam champion, 31, has struggled with an injury to her right shoulder since last summer. She previously withdrew from Januaryʼs St. Petersburg Ladiesʼ Trophy and next monthʼs BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. "I am incredibly committed to getting back strong," said Sharapova in a "little update" onInstagram. "More importantly, without the pain I was playing with at the beginning of this year."

Sharapova - who has previously had shoulder surgery - beat defending champion Caroline Wozniacki to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open in January beforelosing to Ashleigh Barty.

Roger Federer claims his 50th win in Dubai to reach quarter-finals

Roger Federer claimed his 50th win of the Dubai Tennis Championships by beating Spainʼs Fernando Verdasco in three sets to reach the quarter-finals. Federer moves a step closer to his 100th ATP singles title with Wednesdayʼs 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory. The 20-time Grand Slam winner, 37, will face Hungarian world number 35 Marton Fucsovics for a place in the last four. Meanwhile, there was a shock defeat for top seed Kei Nishikori against Polish qualifier Hubert Hurkacz. Hurkacz converted six out of seven break points to beat his Japanese opponent 7-5 5-7 6-2.

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London Broncos have long-term ambition to win Super League title Promoted London Broncos must have the ambition to win Super League in the future, says head coach Danny Ward. The Broncos will be back in the top flight in 2019 afterbeating Toronto Wolfpack 4-2 in the Million Pound Gameon Sunday. "We need to make it work, have a five-year plan of where we want to be," Ward told BBC Radio London.

"Next year is going to be tough but we want a long-term vision to make London the best club in the country." He added: "We donʼt just want to compete in Super League, but win it. We are not there just to survive." Ward, who took charge following the departure of Andrew Henderson at the end of last season, described their victory over the Wolfpack in Canada as "one of the proudest moments" of his career. "What a performance, what a day and what an achievement - I am still on a massive high," he said on their return to England. "To lead the club into the Million Pound Game and win promotion is one of my biggest ever achievements."

UIPM LASER RUN, BIATHLE AND TRIATHLE TOUR DATES IN PLACE FOR 2019 MONACO

From Cape Town to Tbilisi, from Panama City to Beijing, preparations are continuing in all corners of the world for the 3rd UIPM Global Laser Run City Tour.

With a truly global schedule and a growing band of devotees of all ages and social backgrounds, the urban sports phenomenon is poised in 2019 to enjoy its most successful year to date, with the calendar now available to view. UIPM’s pyramid of development sports exists to grow participation rates from the bottom up, offering all athletes a potential pathway to the Olympic sport of Pentathlon. And Laser Run is not the only one on the brink of an exciting year. There will also be a first edition of the new Biathle/Triathle National Tour, which will begin in June 2019, visiting eight cities, leading up to the UIPM Biathle/Triathle World Championships in St Petersburg, Florida (USA) in October. The Biathle

and Triathle calendars are now available to view. Furthermore, Laser Run and Triathle will both feature for the first time in the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines.UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann said: “On behalf of our global pentathlon community I am proud to say that we are making truly great strides in the development of our non-Olympic sports. UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann said: “UIPM competitions don’t only happen in stadiums and park venues, they can also take place on beaches and in cities. We are taking our sport to the people, rather than asking the people to come to us.” For more information on UIPM’s various multi-discipline sports visit the UIPM website.

Prince William criticises football clubs over mental health The Duke of Cambridge has criticised football clubs for their attitude towards the mental health of players.

Prince William, who is president of the Football Association, accused clubs that fail to support players of a "dereliction of duty". He also said that the habit of treating players like "financial assets" must change. He made the comments during a meeting with mental health staff at the Irish Football Association in Belfast. He met participants of

their Ahead of the Game programme which aims to support clubs and volunteers when dealing with mental health issues with a focus on challenging the stigma and preventative measures. The prince, who has been a strong advocate for mental health, created the charity Heads Together in 2017 with the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. He has spoken regularly and openly on the subject, including atlast monthʼs Davos World Economic Forumin Switzerland.