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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Paris: 40,000 climate protesters dodge riotous ʼyellow vestsʼ Nationwide protests across France against government inaction on climate change drew more than 350,000 people across 220 towns and cities on Saturday, organizers said. The main rally through the center of Paris brought out some 45,000 campaigners, police said, while organizers put the figure at 107,000. The march coincided with the return of the ʼyellow vestʼ movement,whose so-called ultimatum rally saw violence break out and one of Franceʼs richest neighborhoods torched. Read more: France to introduce plastic packaging tax The environmental rally, however, was a peaceful affair and saw French movie stars, families, activists and politicians turn out.

Slovakia: Government critic Zuzana Caputova wins first round in presidential vote Zuzana Caputova, a vocal government critic, has won the first round of Slovakiaʼs presidential election. With results from 99.4 percent of polling stations counted, the 45-year-old was in pole position with 40.5 percent of votes, far ahead of her strongest challenger, Maros Sefcovic. Sefcovic, a 52-year-old career diplomat and European Commission vice president backed by the ruling Smer-Social Democracy party, had just 18.7 percent of the vote.

Read more: Slovakiaʼs presidential election focuses on corruption, democracy As no single candidate won a majority on Saturday, a runoff will be held between Caputova and Sefcovic on March 30.

Endorsed by outgoing President Andrej Kiska, who did not seek re-election, Caputova has promised to end what she calls the capture of the state "by people pulling strings from behind," while maintaining the course of Slovakiaʼs foreign policy. If elected, Caputova would be the countryʼs first female president.

63/2019 • 18 MARCH, 2019

Thousands march in support of Catalan politicians on trial Catalan independence is set to play a major role in Spainʼs upcoming national election

Supporters of Catalan politicians on trial over an attempted secession from Spain have taken to the streets in Madrid. Catalan independence is set to play a major role in Spainʼs upcoming national election on April 28.

Can the new foreign investment law level the playing field in China?

Delegates to Chinaʼs ceremonial legislature have approved a new law to address Western grievances about unequal market access and IP theft in the Asian giant. But concerns remain among European and US businesses.

Chinaʼs National Peopleʼs Congress (NPC) on Friday rubber stamped a new foreign investment law in a bid to address long-standing problems faced by foreign firms and investors operating in China — such as unequal market access, forced technology transfers and unfair treatment when it comes to public procurement. While 2,929 delegates voted in favor of the

law, eight voted against and eight abstained. Read more: Will Chinese investments in the EU keep plummeting? The legislation was approved just three months after a first draft was debated, an unusually quick turnaround for the legislature, which meets once a year. The speed at which this process was concluded is clearly a response to Beijingʼs ongoing trade dispute with Washington, Katja Drinhausen, a researcher at the Berlinbased Mercator Institute for China Studies, told DW. "Itʼs a clear signal from China to the US and Europe that Beijing is taking further steps toward market opening."

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

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 Iranian-American 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-year-old 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 hardwired attitudes, especially among males, towards menstruation.

Deadly flash floods hit Indonesia Flash floods and mudslides in Indonesiaʼs Papua province have killed at least 50 people and injured 59 others, local officials said Sunday. The flooding was due to torrential rain, which hit the provincial capital of Jayapura beginning Saturday. Read more: Hundreds rescued in Australia after record flooding The water has submerged more than 150 houses in the Sentani area near Jayapura, said Sutopo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. He added that nine villages in Jayapura had been flooded and at least two bridges damaged. "Waters have now receded, leaving mud, logs and other materials carried by the flash floods," Nugroho said in a statement, adding that the death toll would likely rise as search and rescue teams reached other affected areas. More than 4,000 people were staying in temporary shelters, with authorities, the Red Cross and volunteers helping the displaced.

Death toll rises in New Zealand terror attack he number of dead and injured in Fridayʼsterror attack on two Christchurch mosqueshas risen, New Zealand police announced on Sunday morning, as mourning for the victims continued worldwide. "It is with sadness that I advise that the number of people who died in this event has now risen to 50," Police Commissioner Mike Bush said at a press conference in Wellington. The additional death was discovered as investigators removed bodies from the two mosques where the shootings took place. Bush added that the number of injured had also risen to 50, with 36 people remaining hospitalized. The injured include children aged 2 and 4.

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63/2019 • 18 March, 2019

Grief and shock, but ʼstill homeʼ in Christchurch the day after terror attacks Abbas Nazari first arrived in Christchurch as a child refugee from Afghanistan. He and his family were taken in after the international sea rescue standoff in 2001, known as the Tampa Affair. New Zealand gave them and fellow Afghans "a home, a place, a future, hope," he said. Now itʼs where they have also experienced terrorism. Read more: ʼStand together,ʼ urges New Zealandʼs human rights commissioner On Saturday, Nazari turned out to support the dozens of people at an emergency response center set up for friends and relatives of the victims of Fridayʼsdeadly terror attacks on two of the cityʼs mosques. Guarded by armed police, the center, along with a nearby site where people gathered to lay flowers and tributes, were busy locations in a city that was otherwise subdued. Nazari told DW that everyone in Christchurchʼs small, tight-knit Afghan community knew someone who was in the hospital or had died.

He said he came out to help them coordinate relief efforts.

Valtteri Bottas wins Australian Grand Prix as Mercedes get off to a flyer The Finnish driver started second on the grid but flew past Hamilton at the start of the race and never looked like letting his lead slip. "I donʼt know what just happened," said Bottas after picking up his first race win since 2017 after spending last season in the shadow of Hamilton. "I donʼt know what to say. It was definitely my best race ever. I felt so good and the car was so good." Bottas also ensured he claimed the new fastest lap bonus point, reclaiming that on the penultimate lap from Max Verstappen, who finished third. German driver Sebastian Vettel was a fairly distant fourth after Verstappen eased past him just past the halfway point but it appeared team orders from Ferrari stopped his new teammate Charles Leclerc from going past him.

US SEC files suit against VW, Martin Winterkorn The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed suit against Volkswagen and its former chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, claiming "massive fraud." VW said the SEC is trying to "extract more from the company."

In a complaint filed in San Francisco, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday accused German automaker Volkswagen of perpetrating a "massive fraud" on US investors in the Dieselgate scandal. From April 2014 to May 2015, VW issued more than $13 billion (€11.5 billion) in bonds and assetbacked securities in US markets at a time when senior executives knew that more than 500,000 diesel vehicles in the country exceeded legal ve-

hicle emissions limits. Volkswagen "reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in benefit by issuing the securities at more attractive rates for the company," the SEC said. The suit also seeks to bar former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn from serving as an officer or director of a public US company, and recover "ill-gotten gains." Volkswagen, Europeʼs largest automaker, this week announced both€12 million euros in profitsandplans to cut 7,000 jobs by 2023.

Pussy Riot concert in Christchurch cancelled following NZ shootings Currently touring New Zealand, the Russian feminist punk group had a performance planned in Christchurch on Friday.

The Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot was set to perform in the New Zealand city affected by deadly terrorist attacks, but "due to the devastating events that occurred in Christchurch today, tonightʼs show has been officially cancelled," the organizers wrote, adding that they had been advised by the Christchurch police "that due to the ongoing nature of the events that it is

best to keep everyone safe and at home." Pussy Riotʼs criticism of religion is well known. They became world famous after three members of the feminist protest band were arrested following a masked performance in Moscowʼs Christ the Saviour Cathedral in 2012 (top photo). Their latest show in New Zealand, in the city of Nelson on Thursday, was also in a church. "No-one was arrested in Nelson, but the irony of seeing the international force that is Pussy Riot perform in a holy space again was spine-tingling," wrote the website Stuff.

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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 long-standing 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. His government had been unabashedly eager to seek Chinese money, regardless of the costs, and it left the incoming government with a major web of deals — and debt — to untangle.

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 anti-trafficking 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.