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34/2018 • 10, FEBRUARY 2018 WEEKEND ISSUE

DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Germanyʼs Martin Schulz drops bid for foreign minister job after SPD pressure SPD head Martin Schulz has abandoned his bid to serve as Germanyʼs foreign minister

Schulz said he hopes his decision will prevent SPD party members from rejecting a coalition deal with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Eritrean migrants shot in massive Calais brawl At least five people have been shot after a fight involving more than 100 Eritreans and Afghans erupted in Calais. The French interior minister blamed traffickers for "fueling daily violence and brawls." A massive, two-hour brawl involving more than 100 Eritrean and Afghan nationals in Calais on Thursday left five migrants in critical condition after being shot. Twenty-two people were injured. They had been standing in line waiting for food handouts.

Russia marks Stalingrad defeat of Nazis 75 years ago, the surrender of Nazi Germanyʼs Sixth Army marked the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. It was a major turning point in the war, which remains important for many Russians even today. During World War II, Nazi Germanyʼs Wehrmacht intended to conquer the industrial city of Stalingrad — named after then Soviet leader Joseph Stalin — before advancing onward to capture its intended goal: The Caucasus oil fields. Given the cityʼs name, both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin afforded great symbolic meaning to the Battle of Stalingrad that transcended its strategic importance.

The current head of Germanyʼs Social Democrats (SPD), Martin Schulz, said on Friday that he would no longer pursue a ministerial post in the next German government, including the job of foreign minister. Schulz had come under heavy criticism in his own party for claiming the foreign minister role for himself after leaders of Germanyʼs largest parties agreed to form another coalition government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Therefore, I hereby declare that I am giving up joining the federal government and at the same time express the hope that this will end the personnel debate within the SPD, Schulz announced on Friday.

"My own personal ambitions must be placed behind the interests of the party," he said in a statement. Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament, said he believed the internal squabble within his party risked jeopardizing a pending coalition deal with Merkelʼs conservatives. The SPD reached a deal with Merkelʼs Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), on Wednesday. The coalition deal still requires the approval of SPD party members, who will vote on the deal in the coming weeks and can still reject it. Former Labor Minister Andrea Nahles is reportedly set to take over from Schulz after the SPD member vote and would become the first woman to head Germanyʼs Social Democrats. His announcement follows

days of mounting pressure from senior members of his party,including from current Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who criticized Schulzʼs intention to take the helm at the Foreign Ministry. In an interview published on Friday, Gabriel complained about a lack of appreciation for his work as Germanyʼs top diplomat, saying that he had been praised by the wider public. "It is clear, unfortunately, that the publicʼs regard for my work meant absolutely nothing to the new SPD leadership," Gabriel said in the interview with the Funke media group newspapers.

Directly after the September election, Schulz ruled out forming a new coalition with Merkelʼs CDU/CSU bloc and had categorically ruled out joining her Cabinet in the past. The backtracking

by SPD leaders angered many in the partyʼs youth branch, the Jusos, who have opposed joining another "grand coalition" with Merkel. Following Schulzʼs decision, his likely SPD successor Nahles said she had "the greatest respect and recognition" for his decision.

Although the SPD appeared to welcome his move, other German parties seemed perplexed by it. "It would have been better if Schulz had reached this correct decision by himself and not under pressure — but this step wonʼt help the SPD much," Sahra Wagenknecht, who heads the Left partyʼs parliamentary group, told news agency dpa recently.

Terror attacks Af-Pak relations hit a new low

Eldest son of exCuban leader Fidel Castro, dies aged 68

Ties have been strained between Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent months, with spiraling mutual distrust and antipathy proving a hindrance toward repairing a relationship critical for long-lasting peace in the region.

"Down with Pakistan," "Down with the Taliban," "Down with Daesh."

These chants filled the air outside the Pakistani embassy in Kabul on Thursday when dozens of Afghans protested against Islamabad, blaming it for the latest wave of violent attacks rocking the already war-ravaged nation.

The son of the leader of the Cuban revolution was widely known as "Fidelito" ("Little Fidel"). He had reportedly been suffering for months from depression before his apparent suicide.

The eldest son of late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, killed himself on Thursday aged 68, Cuban media have reported. "Castro Diaz-Balart, who had been attended by a group of doctors for several months due to a state of profound depression, committed suicide this morning," Cuba debate website said.

34/2018 • 10, February 2018 Weekend issue

US Nuclear Posture Review: A bigger bang for the buck?

The United States has put countering China and Russia, dubbed "revisionist powers," at the center of a new national defense strategy. DW takes a look at what that entails.

At the height of the Cold War, the United States and the then-Soviet Union possessed around 70,000 nuclear warheads between them — enough to destroy or poison every square centimeter of inhabited land on Earth several times over. Americas US Nuclear Posture Review: A bigger bang for the buck? The United States has put countering China and Russia, dubbed "revisionist powers," at the center of a new national defense strategy. DW takes a look at what that entails. At the height of the Cold War, the United States and the then-Soviet Union possessed around 70,000 nuclear warheads between them — enough to destroy or poison every square centimeter of inhabited land on Earth several times over. Somewhat ironically, the concept of "mutually assured destruction" (MAD), whereby the full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two or more opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender, was and is a guarantor of peace.

A record 28 French restaurants get Michelin three-star ratings

Twenty-eight French restaurants have been honored with the gastronomic sectorʼs most coveted rating.

Thatʼs a record number of threestar ratings for any single country in the Michelin Red Guide.

A comeback by La Maison des Bois mastermind Marc Veyrat (pictured) and the emergence of Christophe Bacquieʼs Hotel du Castellet as another culinary force in southern France have given the country a record for most restaurants to hold a vaunted foodie guideʼs coveted three-star maximum. Set for official release on Friday, Michelin France has become the most prestigious of the publicationʼs 31 national editions and the domestic culinary bible. Michelin has faced criticism that its stars reward pomp and presentation rather than the food itself and for the guideʼs putting restaurateurs under unbearable scrutiny. The guide has made many a chefʼs name; others say it has nearly broken their wills. Veyrat — a 67-yearold who quit cooking after a skiing accident nine years ago and faced hardship again when La Maison burned down in 2015 — told The Associated Press that he does not mind the stress. "We need the pressure and adrenaline because we are creatives," he said late Monday.

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EU warns Britain of ʼunavoidableʼ trade barriers if it leaves customs union Brexit:

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said Britain must decide whether to stay in the blocʼs customs union ahead of talks later this week. British PM Theresa May earlier ruled out remaining in the customs union.

Britain will face "unavoidable" trade barriers if it decides to leave the European Unionʼs customs union, the EUʼs chief negotiator Michel Barnier said Monday after meeting British Brexit Minister David Davis in London. Barnierʼs comments come after British Prime Minister Theresa May ruled out Britainʼs membership of the EU customs union after it leaves the bloc and ahead of the first formal negotiations on a final deal starting Tuesday. Barnier said: "Without a customs union ... barriers to trade and goods and services are unavoidable ... Time has come to make a choice." He told

Finding ancient cities and improving weather forecasts with LiDAR Researchers discovered an old Mayan city with the help of lightwave technology. Christoph Kiemle from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) explains how the method works and how it could be used in self-driving cars. LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging. Itʼs similar to radar, or radiowave detection and ranging, but it works with optical radiation rather than radio waves. It works with light, basically. You can use lasers to send out this light to discover properties of the atmosphere or the Earth surface. We typically send a laser beam down to Earth from an airborne platform. That beam travels through the atmosphere and can measure par-

British broadcaster Sky News ahead of his arrival in London: "My feeling is that we have not a minute to lose because we want to achieve a deal." Speaking alongside Barnier, Davis said Britain was clear on what it wanted, including a customs agreement with the EU that would make trade as "frictionless as possible," while allowing Britain to negotiate new trade deals with non-EU countries. - Mayʼs spokesman told reporters on Monday: "We will be leaving the EU and the customs union and it is not government policy to be members of ʼtheʼ customs union or ʼaʼ customs union." ticle matter, aerosol in the atmosphere for example. It can detect clouds, it could travel down to the surface when there are no clouds, and it gives us profiles of atmospheric properties. We can detect and derive a lot of information from these measurements that help advance science.

Maldives declares state of emergency, former president arrested The president of the Maldives has ordered his predecessor arrested and called a state of emergency. Soldiers charged into the Supreme Court and arrested two judges after they ordered imprisoned politicians released. Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen called a state of emergency on Monday and ordered soldiers to arrest his 80-year-old predecessor, Maumoon Abdul Gay-

Indonesia debates bill criminalizing gay sex and any sex outside of marriage Indonesiaʼs parliament speaker has called for reforms to the criminal code that would outlaw any sex outside of marriage, including gay sex.

Critics say the bill would also weaken checks and balances on democracy.

Indonesian lawmakers began debating controversial changes to the countryʼs criminal code on Tuesday, which critics warn would violate human rights and undermine the countryʼs democracy.

Indonesiaʼs parliament speaker Bambang Soesatyo opened proceedings by urging lawmakers to consider the legislation that would curb "homosexual excesses." Writing in the Indonesian daily Koran Sindo, Soesatyo also said Tuesday that gay lifestyles in the country had spawned "horrifying" excesses, such as murder, HIV/AIDS and pedophilia. "If these people actively promote their lifestyles, it will be very worrying," he said.

"We urge the state to take firm action."

While homosexuality is not illegal in the worldʼs largest Muslim majority country, it has long been viewed as a bugbear to both Indonesiaʼs Islamic and secular political parties. Gay marriage is not permitted. The countryʼs LGBT community has also faced an increasing amount of prosecutionin the past two years, with multiple reports of police raids on gay-friendly establishments. Scores of gay people have also been detained on suspicion of prostitution and pornographic acts.

oom, his estranged half brother, who supported the main political opposition. Yameen is in an escalating legal battle with the South Asian island nationʼs Supreme Court after judges ordered the release of all imprisoned opposition leaders in a surprise ruling last week. He ordered Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another of the Supreme Courtʼs four judges arrested early Tuesday. Yameen called a 15-day state of emergency, deepening a political crisis.The emergency decree grants wide powers for the security forces and police to make arrests, search and seize property and restricts freedom of assembly, officials said.Soldiers forced their way into the Supreme Court building and arrested two of the tribunalʼs four justices.Police used pepper spray to disperse hundreds of protesters who had gathered outside the court.Former President Gayoom was charged with bribery and attempting to overthrow the government, according to his lawyer.

34/2018 • 10, February 2018 Weekend issue

Maximal femininity and chicness in a young sexy brand called NANA’S NANA’S was found in 2015 February, by the young designer and fashion blogger Nati Drencheva (23). The main idea of NANA’S is to be an affordable, chic and unique designer brand, which represents value behind it.

"Wearability is a must for us. We create pieces which can be easily wore by day or at night" - says the young designer lady.

Nati was originally born in Kazanlak, Bulgaria, but living in Budapest. Nati started her career as a fashion blogger ate age of 18.

Her website, WWW.NANASFASHION.COM now has more than140.000 monthly visitors. After 2 years of blogging she decided to turn her creativity into something she always wanted to do as a child and founded her womenswear designer fashion brand – NANA’S. “My little brother used to call me NANA when he was little, this is where the name comes from" - tell Nati.

She graduated as a fashion manager in 2016 at Mod’Art, worked as a

stylist (2012-14) and a fashion editor (2014), but had no experience at the designing process. “I learned every

single step by creating the brand from zero and I think this is the best way to learn.” Due to the big audience of

the blog, the brand quickly became popular on the Hungarian market.

“First we had a mini collection including not more then 15 types of clothes, and a mini store, now the palette has grown and besides our flagship store in the city center of Budapest, we have resellers in Hungary and abroad as well. “ The

brand also represents values such as

creating a community and movement, called “Lotusbynanas” which is made to help underprivileged and sick children through many platforms. “Being successful is one thing.

What’s more important is to be able to change things in your environment in a good way. Charity has always been a close thing to me. I would like to open people’s eyes with the power we have through our costumers and my readers that fashion industry is not only about superficial things.” Webshop and

more information: nanas.com

http://shop-

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 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.

35th Hungarian Press Photo Exhibition at Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center The previous year’s best Hungarian press photos were chosen for the thirty-fifth time - a celebration of photo reporters and photography across the country. Capa Center exhibits camera-captured fates, relationships and humanity for two months.

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34/2018 • 10, February 2018 Weekend issue

Franceʼs first panda cub, Yuan Meng, makes public debut Little Yuan Meng is the first panda cub to be born in a French zoo

Global warming: 2017 was secondwarmest, last three years are record hot Data from leading international weather agencies shows the recordbreaking trend toward a warmer planet is continuing. The findings uphold scientistsʼ understanding of human-caused climate change.

The World Meteorological Organization has released ameta-analysis confirming that 2017 was the second-hottest year on record. The year2016 remains the warmest since records began, the United Nations agency said, with an average Earth surface temperature at 1.2 degrees

Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. Measuredglobal average temperatures in 2015and 2017 came in at 1.1 degrees Celsius warmer. The analysis consolidated millions of meteorological and marine observations from five international datasets: NASA, the NOAA, the Met Office, the Copernicus Climate Change Service, and the Japan Meteorological Agency. Data from these sources confirmed that the last three years — 2015, 2016 and 2017 — were the warmest ever recorded.

A playful baby panda has been the star attraction this weekend at Beauval Zoo, south of Paris.

Five-month-old Yuan Meng — whose name means "making a dream come true" — has proved a huge hit at Beauval Zoo. The baby appeared along with his mother in a new enclosure. In keeping with his name, Yuan Mengʼs appearance meant some zoo visitors had their wishes fulfilled.

"We got up at 3 in the morning," said Delphine, who had traveled from the Paris region. "My son absolutely wanted to see the cub. We felt we took part in a historic moment. It was very moving." Yuan Meng wasone of

twins when he was born in August, but his sibling died soon after birth.

"It is very important," said another visitor, Patricia. "We absolutely wanted to be here, to discover this ball of fur. Itʼs a little ball of happiness, of peace." China has sent pandas to only about a dozen countries, using the animal as a mark of good relations. A female and male arrived in Beauval in 2012 after top-level negotiations between Paris and Beijing.

Yuan Meng was born five years later through artificial insemination.

Extreme weather a factor in 2015 mass death of saiga antelopes

Trump ʼhealthyʼ with perfect cognitive score, says doctor

"Unusually" warm weather contributed to the sudden death of 200,000 saiga antelopes in 2015 — an event that had baffled scientists — according to a new study. It could happen again, putting the species at risk.

Unusually high temperatures helped contribute to the dramatic sudden death of more than 200,000 "critically endangered" saiga antelopes in Central Asiaʼs remote steppe grassland in 2015, according to a new study. Over the course of three weeks in May 2015, a bacterial disease caused blood poisoning and wiped out more than 80 percent of the saiga population in Kazakhstanʼs Betpak-Dala region. In some herds, not a single animal survived. Researchers already believed the disease was caused by the pathogen Pasteurella multocida, but they were baffled by the die-off because the bacteria had likely been living harmlessly in the saigasʼ tonsils up to that point. This led researchers to wonder why the bacteria suddenly became deadly on such a vast scale among the nomadic animals with the distinctive pendulous nose.

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The White House doctor says Donald Trump is in excellent health following his first physical as president. The exam took place days after a controversial book raised questions about Trumpʼs mental fitness for office.

White House physician Ronny Jackson said Tuesday that Donald Trump had a very strong chance of remaining physically fit and healthy for the full term of his presidency. "In summary, the presidentʼs overall health is excellent," Jackson told reporters at a briefing in Washington.

Following UK, German politicians urge for measures to fight loneliness

German lawmakers have said more needs to be done to help those who suffer from loneliness and to remove the taboos around the issue.

They also praised the UKʼs recent decision to appoint a "Minister for Loneliness."

Politicians in Germany are taking a harder look at loneliness and how it affects the countryʼs large — and growing — elderly population. For someone over the age of 60, loneliness "increases mortality as much as heavy smoking," Karl Lauterbach, a health expert and Social Democrat (SPD), told the German daily Bild newspaper on Friday."There has to be someone who is responsible for the topic of loneliness, preferably in the Health Ministry, who can coordinate the fight against loneliness," Lauterbach added. A discussion about loneliness in Germany was prompted by the United Kingdomʼs recent moveto name a "Minister for Loneliness."

Marcus Weinberg, a politician with German Chancellor Angela Merkelʼs Christian Democrats (CDU), said people should be able to talk the issue freely without fearing that they would be seen as weak, reported Bild.

34/2018 • 10, February 2018 Weekend issue

What is the future of animal testing?

Recent tests of car exhaust on monkeys have renewed the debate around animal testing

While researchers say eliminating animal testing is impossible, they agree there are alternatives that are less cruel.

For Jo Neill, her workday doesnʼt end without paying a visit to her lab rats. A professor of psychopharmacology at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, Neill finds her field of research to depend upon those rats. Neill injects her animals with a chemical andobserves their learning and memory behaviors. She will only get approval from regulators to test the chemical on humans if it benefits her rats, which are ailing from her experimental imitation of a form of human schizophrenia. "Itʼs impossible to think of find-

ing a replacement for rats to do these kinds of behavior experiments in psychiatry," Neill told DW. Science has a tradition of testing on nonhuman animals like chimpanzees, rats, guinea pigs, and fruit flies to understand how life functions, and how chemicals alter any function in a positive (drugs) or negative (toxins) way. But many scientists from the UK, European Union and the United States are greatly altering their scientific practice due to their own commitment to animal welfare — or to pressure from the public.

German university hospital defends auto firmsʼ nitrogen dioxide test ethics No experiments on animals or humans can take place in Germany without a go from an authorized ethics committee. Dr. Thomas Kraus from Aachen University Hospital says this was the case in the most recent NO2 scandal.

The European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT) "did not impinge in any way on the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) research it commissioned Aachen University Hospital to do," Professor Thomas Kraus from the hospital told the German press agency DPA on Monday. The EUGT is a now defunct organization that was funded

by German carmakers Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW plus partsmaker Bosch, thus raising questions of possible conflicts of interest. In 2013, 25 healthy volunteers were exposed to NO2 pollution for three hours, Kraus said. "None of them had any negative health effects," he went on, adding that the tests were meant to measure the impact of pollutants in the workplace.

Classic Hungarian Sunday Lunch Anker Klub

Russian accused of running spam network extradited to US Suspected Russian hacker Pyotr Levashov pleaded not guilty before a US judge after being extradited from Spain. Prosecutors claim he ran a massive computer network that sent out spam and installed malicious software.

Spanish authorities have extradited to the US a Russian man suspected of carrying out cybercrimes using bulk spam emails and malicious software, US officials announced Friday. Pyotr Levashov, a 37-year-old from St. Petersburg, pleaded not guilty to the charges of wire and email fraud, hacking, identity theft and conspiracy after appearing before a federal judge in the US state of Connecticut. He re-

mains in detention. Levashov was arrested in Aprilwhile vacationing with his family in Barcelona. In October, Spainʼs National Court granted the US extradition request, rejecting a counter-extradition request from Russia. US prosecutors say Levashov ran the sprawling Kelihos botnet — a network involving up to 100,000 infected computers that sent spam emails, harvested usersʼ logins and installed malicious software that intercepted bank account passwords. According to the indictment, the network generated and distributed more than 2,500 spam emails a day and allegedly victimized thousands of people in the US.

Have classic family dinners at Anker Club every Sunday through February with chicken soup, fried meat with mashed potatoes, and a classic dessert.

Weather

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Hungary Budapest: Debrecen: Eger: Hévíz:

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

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Kecskemét: Keszthely: Miskolc:

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

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Culture

Finnish Film Days 2018

Within the framework of the Finnish Film Days, a selection of prominent Finnish productions screen through five days – between February 7th and 11th – at Budapest’s alluring arthouse cinema, the Művész.

The festival presents some of the major talents of the Nordic country’s film industry, and besides the scheduled screenings, workshops, music events and discussions on scriptwriting and on female roles in the contemporary film industry also feature in the festival. The opening film, Eutha‐ nizer, has won various prizes around the world, while Tom of Finland was the country’s official submission for the Academy Awards last year.

All of the films screen with original Finnish audio and English and Hungarian subtitles, unless indicated otherwise.

Within the framework of the Finnish Film Days, a selection of prominent Finnish productions screen through five days – between February 7th and 11th – at Budapest’s alluring arthouse cinema, the Művész. The festival presents some of the major talents of the Nordic country’s film industry, and besides the scheduled screenings, workshops, music events and discussions on scriptwriting and on female roles in the contemporary film industry also feature in the festival.

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34/2018 • 10, February 2018 Weekend issue

IOC concerned over possible design flaws of doping test bottles

The International Olympic Committee says it is concerned about potential flaws in doping sample bottles.

The organization wants assurances that the bottles cannot be tampered with ahead of the Winter Olympics.

After potential issues with the security of the bottles were aired, the IOC has asked the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to ensure that antidoping tests at the forthcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang "can be conducted credibly and reliably," an International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesperson said Tuesday.

Formula One to stop using grid girls amid #MeToo movement

Grid girls have long been a staple of Formula One but the sportʼs new owners have decided to end the practice, days after darts did the same with its walk-on girls. The concept has often been labeled as sexist. Formula One will no longer use walk-on grid girls before races this season, after deciding the practice is old-fashioned amid the current debate oversexual harassment. "Over the last year we have looked at a number of areas which we felt needed updating so as to be more in tune with our vision for this great sport," Sean Bratches, Managing Director of Commercial Operations at Formula One, said in a statement.

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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.

Lindsey Vonn completes Garmisch hattrick with 80th World Cup win Vonnʼs time was just good enough to claim victory by two thousandths of a second

With the winter Olympics just days away, US ski sensation Lindsey Vonn claimed the 80th World Cup win of her career on Saturday as she won the downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen for the third straight year.

Vonn clocked a time of 1 min 12.84sec, just 0.02 secs faster than overall World Cup downhill leader Sofia Goggia, while Austriaʼs Cornelia Hütter finished third. "Itʼs a big number," said Vonn of her 80th victory. "I remember when I got my 50th win here, I never thought I would get close to Annemarie Moser-Proellʼs record [of 62 wins].

Now I am getting closer to Sten-

markʼs. Itʼs incredible. I am so thankful that I have gotten myself in a position to get these wins coming into the Olympics." The 33-year-old is now just six World Cup wins short of matching Ingemar Stenmarkʼs all-time alpine record and will race again in Sundayʼs downhill race, the final tune-up before the Olympics open in Pyeongchang on Thursday.

IOC rejects request to invite 15 cleared Russians to Pyeongchang The IOC has rejected a request to invite 15 Russians, who have had their doping bans overturned, to compete at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. The Kremlin has expressed regret at the decision.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday rejected a request to invite the 15 Russians to the Pyeongchang Winter Games just days after theCourt of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had overturned their lifetime doping bans. A statement posted on the IOCʼs website said that the decision came after a special panel had "unanimously recommended that theIOCnot

extend an invitation to the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 to the 15 individuals."

"The OAR IG (Olympic Athlete from Russia Implementation Group) confirmed that no additional invitations will be extended to these 15 individuals," it added. The 13 active and two retired athletes were among 28 Russians whose bans were overturned by the Swiss-based CAS on Thursday. The IOC bans on 11 other Russian athletes was upheld. The two retired athletes, who had their requests denied, would have worked as coaches for the "Olympic Athlete from Russia" team at the Pyongchang Games.