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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Fire at UK safari park kills 13 patas monkeys Officials have announced that 13 monkeys have died in a fire at the Woburn Safari Park in England. The blaze followed a fire at London Zoo that killed an aardvark and four meerkats. The fire reportedly broke out in the early hours of January 2 inside the Patas monkey house within the African Forest drive-through enclosure at Woburn Safari Park near Milton Keynes, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of London.

"Staff and fire crews attended the scene, however, devastatingly for everyone at the park, none of the thirteen animals could be saved," the park said in a statement "All other animals within the jungle drive-through enclosure are being monitored, but early signs suggest that they have not been affected."

Two more prisoners break out of Berlin jail The prison had failed to raise the alarm for more than 30 minutes after the inmates broke out of the facility. The Plötzensee facility has initiated a security review after the second breakout within a week.

The Plötzensee prison in Berlin said late Monday that two men had escaped earlier in the day, marking the second jailbreak in less than a week. Prison authorities sounded the alarm more than half an hour after the prisoners managed to break free. The latest escape has brought the number of missing prisoners to five. Last week,two prisoners broke out of the prison through a ventilation gap in the wall. Last weekʼs escapees managed to make a hole in the wall using a power tool stolen from the prisonʼs car repair shop.

Meanwhile, another inmate failed to return by Friday evening after a parole day. The men were reportedly imprisoned for aggravated assault, theft and burglary.

2/2018 • 3, JANUARY 2018

South Korea sees ʼgroundbreakingʼ chance in talks with North North Koreaʼs leader has also suggested dialogue

South Korea has suggested a meeting to talk about the Northʼs participation in the Winter Olympics, claiming there is a "groundbreaking" chance to improve relations.

South Korea on Tuesday said an improvement in relations with the North must be linked to Pyongyangʼs nuclear program, but offered high-level diplomatic talks with the North on January 9. "The improvement of relations between North and South Korea cannot go separately with resolving North Koreaʼs nuclear program, so the foreign ministry should coordinate closely with allies and the international community regarding this," South Korean President Moon JaeIn said in a statement. South Koreaʼs Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon meanwhile proposed that the two sides meet in the village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone on January 9 to discuss North Koreaʼs participation in the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

If the talks go ahead, they will mark first meeting between the two governments in more than two years. On Tuesday, Pyongyangʼs closest ally China said greeted the "positive message" on possible talks. "This is a good thing,"said spokesman Geng Shuang. "China welcomes and supports that both North Korea and South Korea take this as an opportunity to make effective efforts to improve their mutual

relations and promote the relaxation of the situation on the peninsula and the denuclearization of the peninsula." On Monday, North Korean leaderKim Jong Un also suggested that both countries held talks, saying Seoul should stop seeking foreign countriesʼ assistance to improve ties on the Korean Peninsula. "We are ready to take various steps, including the dispatch of the delegation.

To this end, the two Koreas can immediately meet," Kim said in his New Yearʼs address, as reported South Koreaʼs Yonhap news agency.

"The Winter Games to be held in South Korea will be a good occasion for the country. We sincerely hope that the Winter Olympics will be a success," Yonhap further reported Kim as saying. South Koreaʼs Moon urged authorities to organize "follow-up measures to quickly restore … dialogue" between the two countries, saying he sees Kimʼs statement as a "groundbreaking chance" to improve relations and "establish peace." In the same address, however, Kim also said that the United States should be aware that his countryʼs nuclear forces were now a reality and not a mere threat. He stressed he had a "nuclear button" on his office desk.

Pakistan summons US ambassador to explain Donald Trump tweet The Pakistani government has summoned US ambassador David Hale to the nationʼs foreign office after Donald Trump said the state was protecting terrorists.

In a tweet, Trump accused Islamabad of "lies & deceit."

Islamabad called on the US envoy to Pakistan David Hale to explain Donald Trumpʼs claims that Pakistan was harboring and aiding jihadists from neighboring Afghanistan. Hale was summoned to Pakistanʼs foreign office on Monday, hours after the US president used his first tweet in 2018to slam Pakistan for "lies & deceit."Trump also hinted at cutting or limiting US aid to Pakistan.

Several killed in Brazil prison gang battle, dozens escape At least nine people have died in clashes between rival gangs in one of Brazilʼs chronically overcrowded prisons. The South American countryʼs penitentary system is beset by violence, riots and mass breakouts.

Clashes erupted at about 2 p.m. local time Monday (1700 UTC) when inmates from one wing of the Colonia Agroindustrial prison in the Aparecida de Goiania Complex in the city of Goiania broke into another wing.

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2/2018 • 3, January 2018

Russia vetoes last-ditch bid to save probe into gas attacks in Syria Russia used its veto twice in 24 hours to deny a new mandate to the UN team looking into chemical weapon attacks in Syria. Moscow said it would not extend the mandate of the probe without fixing its "fundamental flaws." Tensions were running high in the UN Security Council on Friday after Russia vetoed a last-ditch motion

by Japan to continue the UN-led investigation into chemical weapons use in Syria. The move comes only a day after Russiavetoed a separate US draft resolutionto extend the probe, and its own draft was in turn rejected by the US, UK, and France. Moscow has repeatedly criticized the findings of the UN-backed investigative body, dubbed Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) as biased and inaccurate. Last week, JIM released a report blaming the Syrian regime for the chemical attack which killed around 100 people in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in April. Russia rejected it as "invented" and insisted that the body needed to reform.

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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North Korea has completed nuclear program, US will never attack Kim Jong Un:

North Korea made significant strides in the development of its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs in 2017. In a New Yearʼs speech, the countryʼs leader said it can now start focusing on mass production.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Monday the country had completed its nuclear weapons arsenal in 2017, an achievement that would deter the United States from ever attacking it. "[The North] can cope with any kind of nuclear threats from the US and has a strong nuclear deterrence that is able to prevent the US from playing with fire," Kim said in a televised New Yearʼs Day speech. Tensions between the United States and North Koreareached new heights in 2017after Pyongyang conducted multiple nuclear and ballistic missile tests in violation of international

Argentina navy loses contact with submarine with 44 crew on board No one has heard from an Argentinian submarine for at least two days. While authorities initially insisted it wasnʼt missing, Argentinaʼs navy has stepped up its search efforts. Argentinaʼs navy lost contact with one of its submarines and its 44 crew members, it announced on Friday. Although the German-built ARA San Juan has been out of contact for two days, the navy initially did not consider it lost. "Itʼs not that itʼs lost, because to be lost, you have to look for it and not find it," the navy told a local broadcaster. However, after an initial search operation in the submarineʼs last known position, around 430 kilometers (267miles) off the southeastern

sanctions. In September,North Korea tested its sixth and most powerful nuclear warhead, and in November,it launched its longest-range missilethat it claims can deliver a nuclear strike anywhere in the continental United States. "The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk. This is reality, not a threat," Kim said. The Northʼs weapons, he added, "will be used only if our security is threatened" and will multiply as Pyongyang focuses on mass production of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles.

Valdez peninsula, bore no results, Argentina said it was stepping up its search efforts and calling on allies for help. "We have not been able to find, or have visual or radar communication with the submarine," navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told reporters at a news conference. "I donʼt want to dramatize the issue. Weʼre lacking communication and donʼt know what happened."

The incident has formally been upgraded to a "search and rescue" operation, Balbi added.

Cambodia charges 2 journalists with espionage The arrests are the latest in a widening crackdown on media and the opposition in Cambodia ahead of elections next year. The move further

Australia shutters Papua New Guinea detention center Around 600 asylum seekers have refused to leave the facility, citing fears of attacks from locals. Australian lawmakers have warned of a "humanitarian emergency" when authorities in Papua New Guinea shut off the water.

Private security staff at a controversial Australian detention center in Papua New Guinea left the facility for the first time in years on Tuesday ahead of its expected closure.

The facility formed an integral part ofAustraliaʼs expensive offshore detention programknown as "Sovereign Borders." However, Papua New Guineaʼs Supreme Court ruled that the facility is unconstitutional and needed to be closed. Some 600 asylum seekers residing at the facility have refused to leave, saying the alternatives provided are less secure.

Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the campʼs closure would proceed, and that the asylum seekers have access to temporary residences nearby. "All have been informed for a considerable period of time that there is safe and secure alternate accommodation where health and other services will be maintained," Dutton told Reuters news agency in an emailed statement.

strains ties between the United States and Cambodia. Two Cambodian journalists who worked for a US-funded radio station were charged with espionage on Saturday, the latest move in a widening crackdown on critics of authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Uon Chhin and Yeang Socheameta, former journalists of the Washington-based Radio Free Asia, were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly providing information to a foreign power. The offense carries up to 15-years in prison. Radio Free Asiaʼs Phnom Penh bureau closed its office in September, citing "intimidation" and threats that it was violating tax and registration regulations. The Cambodia Daily newspaper reported the two journalists were accused of setting up broadcasting equipment in the capital and sending news reports to Radio Free Asiaʼs Washington bureau.

2/2018 • 3, January 2018

Afghanistan suicide attack: Kabul blasts kill dozens near media outlet Suicide bomb attacks in the Afghan capital, Kabul, have killed at least 40 people and injured some 30 others. The attacks were near a media outlet and a Shiite cultural center.

A suicide bomber on Thursday blew himself up near the news agency Afghan Voice Agency, killing at least 40 people and injuring many others, a spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry said, adding that the toll might rise. The attack occurred at a Shiite cultural center located in the same building as the agency while a panel discussion on the 38th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was being held there, the spokesman, Nasrat Rahimi, said. He said many of the vic-

US and Poland strike $10.5 billion missile defense deal The US has approved the $10.5 billion sale of a Patriot anti-missile system to NATO ally Poland. Eastern European NATO states have been ramping up their military capabilities in the face of perceived Russian aggression.

In a move likely to irk Russia, the US and Poland agreed on Friday a major arms deal that could see the eastern European NATO member soon begin conducting air and missile defense operations. As part of the $10.5 billion (€8.9 billion) sale, Poland is expected to receive 208 Patriot Advanced Capabilty-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement missiles, 16 M903 launching stations, four AN/MPQ-65 radars, four control stations, spares, software and associated equipment.

Made by US defense contractor Raytheon, the missiles are reportedly designed to detect, track and engage unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles and shortrange or tactical ballistic missiles. In a statement issued following the sale, the State Department said that: "A secure Europe capable of deterring air and missile threats and other forms of aggression promotes peace and stability within NATO and on the European continent."

tims were students who had been attending the event. Two other smaller bombs also went off at the center, though it is not clear whether they claimed any casualties. The Sunni extremist group "Islamic State" (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attack in an online statement posted by its propaganda outlet Amaq. The agency, however, offered no evidence for its claim.

In its statement, Amaq alleged that the center was funded by Iran and propagated Shiite beliefs.

Cow flees slaughterhouse, stops express train in Germany

An escaped cow delayed over a dozen trains in southwest Germany when it refused to budge from the train tracks.

The cow had fled from a nearby slaughterhouse, according to the police. A cow caused hours of delays on a busy railway route in Germany and prompted a major police response early on Tuesday. The animal was set to be slaughtered in the southwest town of Bühl when it escaped and

found its way to the nearby train tracks. The route is a part of a vital railway that links the German city of Karlsruhe with the Swiss city of Basel.

An inter-city express (ICE) train driver was first to report the cow at around 5 am local time.

The man halted the train to avoid hitting the animal. German police shared a pre-dawn photo on Twitter, claiming it showed the cow on the tracks.

Austrian full-face veil ban comes into effect Austriaʼs prohibition of full-face coverings has officially come into force. The government said the ban helps uphold Austrian values and promotes integration despite criticism from Muslim and refugee groups. People in Austria are now banned from covering their faces in public.

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2/2018 • 3, 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 Berlin-based 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 second-hand 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.

China sales behind German carmakersʼ rosy third quarter Strong vehicle sales in the wordʼs most important car market have been essential in enabling German carmakers to end their third quarters on a positive note. Their dependence on China is expected to increase further.

Germanyʼs top carmakers would not have been able to present positive third-quarter results without a booming auto market in China, a study by consultancy EY showed Tuesday.

It said China had long become the most important market for Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler, with one in three of their cars sold in the third quarter having gone to the Asian nation. To be more precise, the Chinese market accounted for 34 percent of Germanyʼs overall car sales between July and September, the highest ever rate logged so far.

Back in 2010, only 23 percent of Germanyʼs quarterly car sales ended up in China.

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BP warns of huge hit from US tax reforms BP has warned that they will suffer a painful blow to its fourth-quarter figures, which are due to be announced on February 6. However the energy giant predicts its long-term earnings will be "positively impacted."

British energy giant BP expects a oneoff charge of 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to eat into their fourth-quarter 2017 figures, the company announced on Tuesday. Donald Trump signed into law the mostradical changes to the US tax codein 30 years, and BP is one of several conglomerates to allude to large one-time hits in the fourth quarter.

Royal Dutch Shell last week claimed last an expected $2-2.5 billion dent in their fourth-quarter results, and Barclays projected a $1- billion variation. Goldman Sachs suggested a $- billion hit as a result of the new levy on overseas earnings. "The lowering of 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 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.

H-1056 Budapest, Só u. 6.

Telephone: +36 1 577 0700 Fax: +36 1 577 0710 bhzinfo@zeinahotels.com www.boutiquehotelbudapest.com

Norwegian wealth fund plans to divest of oil and gas Norwayʼs trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund is proposing to drop oil and gas companies from its holdings, saying it already has enough exposure to the industry and wants to protect against fluctuating oil prices.

Oslo is set to decide in the fall of 2018 on backing a proposal from the countryʼs sovereign wealth fund —the worldʼs biggest— to cut oil and gas companies from its benchmark index. In a letter to the government, the Norwegian central bank, which manages the fund, said on Thursday that the move would make Norway "less vulnerable to a lasting decline in oil prices." "This advice is based exclusively on financial arguments and analyses of the governmentʼs total oil and gas exposure," the bankʼs deputy governor Egil Matsen said in a statement. "It does not reflect any particular view of future movements in oil and gas prices or the profitability or sustainability of the oil and gas sector," he added.

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

US corporate income tax rate to 21 percent requires revaluation of BPʼs US deferred tax assets and liabilities," the company said in a statement. "The current estimated impact of this will be a one-off non-cash charge to the group income statement of around $1.5 billion that will impact BPʼs fourthquarter 2017 results." BP admitted that their long-term earnings would be"positively impacted" by the tax reforms, which are expected to boost corporate profits of banks and other companies over the medium and long term by lowering the rate of corporation tax from 35 percent to 21 percent.

VW aims to block emissions audit in constitutional court

The German carmaker has lodged a complaint with Germanyʼs highest court, seeking to overturn a lower courtʼs ruling that it must appoint a special auditor to investigate its Dieselgate emissions scandal.

Germanyʼs Constitutional Court on Friday confirmed media reports that Volkswagen (VW) was seeking to prevent the instalment of a special auditor to investigatemanagement actions during its diesel emissions scandal. A lower court appointed the auditor in November, in a victory for shareholder groups that want to establish whether VW bosses withheld market-moving information about the manipulation of emissions tests in VW vehicles. The court in the town of Celle ruled that VW could not appeal, which the auto maker views as a violation of its fundamental rights, according to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which researched the report together with public TV channels NDR and WDR.

2/2018 • 3, January 2018

The Danger of Vitamin D Deficiency Vitamin D is essential for our body. It strengthens our immune system, our bones and supports our muscles

Many people underestimate the importance of vitamin D and unknowingly suffer from vitamin D deficiency.

The human body produces vitamin D by itself, but it needs support from the sun. Without its rays we would have a hard time producing enough vitamin D to live. Some vitamin D can also be taken up through a healthy diet – by eating fatty fish, mushrooms or dairy products. The fact that our main source of vitamin D is sunlight, means that many people in the northern hemisphere suffer from vitamin D deficiency, especially in winter. An extreme deficiency can cause bone damage, which increases the risk of developing osteoporosis or rickets, a malformation of the bones. There is

also a danger that the immune system is weakened, making the affected person more prone to infections. Another theory states that vitamin D deficiency can increase the risk of developing specific chronic diseases, such as diabetes type 2, cardiovascular diseases and even cancer. Current research is also studying the relationship between multiple sclerosis (MS) and vitamin D deficiency. It is looking into the fact that vitamin D supplementation might actually slow down or partly reverse the effects of MS and other autoimmune diseases on the human body.

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."

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Germany must allow third gender 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 self-image 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.

Advent Feast at the Basilica November 24 - January 1

One of the ‘Best European Christmas Markets’ is a must-see event in the heart of Budapest Discover Hungary’s most acclaimed Christmas market: The Advent Feast at the Basilica is blending Central European traditions and modern attractions, turning the iconic St. Stephenʼs square into 3D cinema. For more details and information about the Advent Feast’s event schedule, check out thewww.adventiunnep.hu/enwebsite. Budapest 1051, Szent István tér Opening hours: MondayFriday: 11 am – 10 pm, SaturdaySunday: 10 am – 10 pm, and 10 am – 2 pm on December 24. Skating class hours: Friday from 2-8 pm, Saturday from 10 am – 6 pm and Sunday from 10 am -6 pm.

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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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2/2018 • 3, January 2018

Serena Williams to return to tennis in Abu Dhabi

The former world number one will make her comeback this month after birth of her first child. The 36-year-old will take on the reigning French Open champion. American tennis star and former world number one Serena Williams is set to make her comeback on December 30 after birth of her first child. The 36-year-old will play her first competitive match in 11 months in the United Arab Emirates. Serena Williams will play an exhibition match on the final day of the Mubadala event on December 30, tournament organizers announced Sunday. The former world number one will take on reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in Abu Dhabi. Williams has not played since hervictory in the Australian Open11 months ago. She gave birth to her first child, Alexis Olympia, in September.

North Korea could take part in Winter Olympics, says Kim

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has given a first indication that Pyongyang could send a delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics, which will take place in the South. Kim said authorities "should meet in the near future." Despitemounting tensions in the Korean peninsulaover the Northʼs nuclear weapons program, the North Korean leader conveyed a rather peaceful message in his New Yearʼs speech to the nation. "I sincerely hope the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics will be staged successfully,” said Kim, adding that his country was "willing to take necessary measures, including to dispatch our delegation.”

Kim also suggested that both countries should set up a meeting to discuss the prospect of the North Korean teamʼs participation in the Games.

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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.

Sandro Wagner joins Bayern Munich The Hoffenheim striker returns to his boyhood club for a reported fee of 12 million euros

Wagner, whose form under Julian Nagelsmann has put him in with a shot of a World Cup spot, said: "Iʼm coming back home."

After weeks of rumors, Bayern Munich have finally confirmed the signing of Hoffenheim striker Sandro Wagner for a reported fee of €12 million ($14.25 million). The Germany international joins the Bundesliga champions after two successful years at Hoffenheim, in which he scored 18 goals, and played a key part in the team qualifying for Europe last season. Wagner started his professional career at Bayern in the 2007/8 season. He made his Bundesliga debut with the club, before moving elsewhere in

order to secure more game time.

The Munich-born striker then went on to play for Duisburg, Werder Bremen, Hertha Berlin and Darmstadt, before joining Hoffenheim.

"A long journey has come to an end for me, Iʼm coming back home to my club," said Wagner after the deal was confirmed. "Bayern is one of the worldʼs biggest clubs." Wagner is expected to join the clubas a backup for prolific Polish striker Robert Lewandowski; unusually for a front man, he will play with the number 2 on the back of his jersey.

What does Mario Gomezʼs return mean to Stuttgart?

Stuttgart are desperate for goals as the team have failed to put the ball in the back of the net in their last four Bundesliga matches. Is the return of striker Mario Gomez what they have been missing?

Usually there isnʼt a dry season in Stuttgart as the city receives moderate precipitation year-round but when it comes to goals, this December has been the driest of months for the Swabians. Zero goals in their last four games have amounted to zero points, leaving the team just two points away from the relegation zone. Last sea-

son the club relied heavily on striker Simon Teroddeʼs nose for goal. The player had four assists and scored 25 goals in 32 games, becoming the top scorer in Germany’s second division.

However, it has been a different story ever since Stuttgart’s promotion.

Terodde, a striker with minimal topflight experience, has only managed one assist and two goals in 15 matches this Bundesliga season. The club have announced Terodde is moving to Cologne, leaving a gap in Stuttgartʼs attack which they have quickly filled by signing their former striker Mario Gomez from Wolfsburg.