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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Afghan electoral body invalidates all votes in Kabul All votes cast in Kabul during the October parliamentary election are invalid, Afghanistanʼs Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) announced on Thursday. The IECC cited 25 reasons for annulling the results in the capital, including fraud and mismanagement during the conduct of the October 20 poll.

"There were serious outstanding problems in Kabul that could hurt the fairness, transparency and inclusiveness of the election," said IECC spokesman Ali Reza Rohani. The finding must be upheld by the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC), which has overall authority over the ballot, More than a month after the vote, official results from the election have only been announced for only 14 of Afghanistanʼs 33 provinces, casting a shadow over the credibility of an election process that was marred by violence and allegations of fraud. More than one million votes were counted in Kabul, accounting for about a quarter of the around 4 million votes cast nationwide.

Yemen peace talks begin in Sweden UN-brokered peace talks between the warring parties in Yemenʼs conflict began on Thursday in Sweden. The meeting isthe latest attemptto end a civil war that has ravaged the country and brought it to the brink of famine. Representatives of Yemenʼs government, the UN special envoy Martin Griffiths and members of the Houthi rebel militia will participate in the talks.

The Houthi rebels, who are backed

by Iran, have been locked in a power struggle with the Saudibacked Yemeni government since late 2014, when the rebels took hold of the capital Sanaa. Griffiths had attempted to bring the two sides together for UN-sponsored talks in Geneva in September, but the rebels failed to appear. Direct talks took place previously in 2015 and 2016, but both attempts were unsuccessful.

277/2018 • 7 DECEMBER, 2018

French government scraps fuel tax hike after yellow-vest protests Despite the decision, protests may continue

The French government announced the fuel tax rise had been scrapped from the 2019 budget after weeks of protests and the worst rioting in Paris in decades.

Venezuelan President Maduro visits Moscow to ask Russia for more money Russian President Putin has voiced strong support for his Venezuelan counterpart but made no mention of new loans. Beleaguered South American leader Nicolas Maduro is dependent upon Russia for his survival.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro traveled to Russia in hopes of securing political and financial assistance from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Although Venezuela is currently in arrears to the tune of billions of dollars to Russia, Putin voiced strong support for his South American counterpart when the two met on

Wednesday. Acknowledging that Moscow realizes "the situation in Venezuela remains dire," Putin told Maduro: "We support your efforts toachieve mutual understanding in societyand all your actions aimed atnormalizing relations with the opposition." Putin also said, "We condemn any terrorist action; any attempts to change the situation by force." ʼWe are winningʼ Maduro, who was reelected in a disputed vote in May, told Putin: "We have faced various threats and aggression but we have learned how to deal with them. We are standing firm, we are winning."

Client Earth: Changing environmental law, the world over James Thornton, head of public interest law firm Client Earth, holds governments around the world accountable for environmental damage. He tells DW how the law can be harnessed for the good of people and the planet.

James Thornton: The thing that allows a really small group of people to change the world is using the enormous power of the law. Legal systems encapsulate, really, what a society thinks about itself and the rules that

people in the particular society have mutually agreed to be governed by. It always includes enforcement mechanisms. If, for example, a government has passed a law about air pollution or water pollution and then it doesnʼt do the right thing and protect the people like the law says, we — using the power of the law — can go to the courts and force the government to do the right thing. Thatʼs an example of how just a few people can actually make a big difference.

Chinaʼs Huawei finance chief arrested in Canada, faces extradition to US The chief financial officer of Chinaʼs Huawei Technologies, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Vancouver on December 1 and faces extradition to the United States, Canadaʼs Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

Mengʼs arrest is related to alleged violations of US sanctions, according to Reuters news agency. A bail hearing for her extradition is set for Friday. Read more: ZTE, Huawei bans: Genuine security concerns or part of China trade spat? Huawei issued a statement saying Meng, also the companyʼs deputy chairman and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, was detained while changing flights in Canada, in order to face "unspecified charges" in New York. The tech company said it complies with all laws and rules where it operates. The company also said it was "not aware of any wrongdoing" by Meng.

Australian court clears ex-archbishop of child sex abuse cover-up A New South Wales court on Thursday ruled against the landmark conviction of former Adelaide archbishop Philip Wilson for concealing child sex abuse within the church.

The 68-year-old became theworldʼs most senior Catholic official to be convicted of the crime in May, but the Newcastle District Court found there was reasonable doubt of his guilt. "There is no proper basis upon which I can rely to reject the evidence of the appellant," Judge Roy Ellis told the court in his summing up.

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277/2018 • 7 December, 2018

Migrant caravan ʼcould not be larger giftʼ for Donald Trump "Remember the midterms", US President Donald Trump reminded his 55 million followers on Twitter on Tuesday in a sequence of tweets focused on the so-called migrant caravan that is making its way through Mexico towards the US border. If there was ever any doubt that Trump would forego the attention-grabbing visuals of thousands of Latin American migrants braving brutal conditions to trek tens of miles per day in hopes of reaching the US, a series of presidential tweets sent out in the past couple of days erased it. Using military jargon to describe the caravan and alleging — without offering evidence — that criminals and "unknown Middle Easterners" were part of the group, Trump faulted Democrats and US courts for standing in the way of a tougher immigration policy, and El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, the home countries of most of the migrants, for not preventing them from making the journey.

Paradigm Shift: German smartphones, made differently Imagine rural Germany instead of Silicon Valley, sustainability instead of profits.

At first glance, the Shift phone looks like most smartphones these days — a black cuboid with rounded edges and a screen covering most of the front. But a closer look reveals several lines of text, discreetly printed on the back of the phone: "Warning: Smartphones can be time killers. There is no greater

gift for you today than the next 24 hours. Use them wisely, people are more important than machines." Although successful and growing fast, profit isnʼt the main priority here. That is in large part due to the companyʼs founders, two brothers who live in a tiny village in rural Hesse.

Visit Budapest’s most charming Basilica Advent Fair The Advent Fair by St Stephen’s Basilica is one of the most atmospheric in Budapest.

Centrepieced by a towering Christmas tree and a free ice-rink for kids, stalls offer delicious dishes and all things jolly, while special light shows projected onto the façade of the Basilica make every night special. See below for tips on what to eat, drink and buy – and find out what film star Antonio Banderas was up to here last year!

Right in the city centre, this Christmas fair has been improving year upon year, offering an enchanted experience for all ages. The main attraction is a recent one, illuminated visuals projected onto the façade of the historic Basilica. Look out for them in the evenings, screened every half-anhour after sunset, from 4:30pm. 2D and 3D short stories both feature and 3D glasses are available from stalls around the market.

Adam Peaty criticism leads to Fina promising to ʼmoderniseʼ By Nick Hope Swimmingʼs international governing body says it will look to "improve and modernise" following criticism from Olympic champion Adam Peaty.

Briton Peaty is among a host of leading swimmers to have criticised Finaʼs governance over the past year. "It feels like weʼre still in 1970," Peaty, 23, told BBC Sport.

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Indiaʼs currency tumbles amid rising oil prices The rupee has dropped over 12 percent against the US dollar since the beginning of 2018, earning it the unfortunate distinction of Asiaʼs worst performing currency this year. Economists blame risingglobal crude prices for the slide. India imports 80 percent of its oil needs and soaring prices have blown a hole in the nationʼs finances. The country also imports huge quantities of items like gold and electronics, swelling its import bill further. Indiaʼs current account deficit (CAD) will also likely widen to 2.8 percent of GDP in financial year 2018 — up from 1.9 percent last year — according to consultancy Nomura Research Institute. CAD is a measure of the flow of goods, services and investments in and out of the country.

Still, macroeconomic problems resulting from a higher CAD and depreciating rupee are not Prime Minister Narendra Modiʼs biggest concerns.

His administration is more worried about growing public discontent due to the rise in petrol and diesel prices.

Vietnamʼs dog meat culture clashes with modern tastes Hoang has been eating dog meat since he was young. He canʼt imagine there will be a time that he wonʼt be eating it at least twice a month. However, Vietnamese officials announced in September that dog and cat meat should no longer be served in the inner districts of the capital city Hanoi because itʼs offensive to tourists and can spread diseases like rabies.

Read more: Illegal dog meat trade raises moral questions Dog meat lovers and restaurant owners fear that the government will try to expand the ban and decide to officially forbid eating dog and cat meat entirely. "I donʼt see how they can ban it. The demand is just too high," Hoang said at a restaurant in Vietnamʼs largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City. In a small alley in Ho Chi Minh City, at least four restaurants serve dog meat, or Thịt chó. People gather around small tables to dine on the canine meat, complementing it with rice wine or beer.

Hoang, who declined to give his full name, is sitting at a table with three good friends. "For us itʼs a tradition to eat dog meat. Itʼs just as normal as eating seafood or chicken," he told