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Senior Japanese diplomat Britain knows Iran’s situation is says Tokyo attaches great importance to ties with Tehran POLITICAL different from the past: Larijani TEHRAN – Japanese Senior Deputy Minister deskfor Foreign Affairs Takeo Mori said on Saturday that his country highly prioritizes ties and consultations with Iran. POLITICAL TEHRAN — Iranian Zarif added, “This piracy attempt is desk “Tokyo attaches great importance to ties with Tehran and Majlis Speaker Ali indicative of Trump admin’s contempt continuation of consultations,” Mori said during a meeting with Larijani said on Saturday that the British are for the law.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran, well aware that Iran’s situation is different Mahmoud Vaezi, the Iranian president’s the Foreign Ministry said in a press release. from the past. chief of staff, said on Friday that release of Speaking during an open session of the the supertanker Grace 1 is a “diplomatic parliament, Larijani said that the British victory” for Iran. can no longer hatch plots and show muscles “Release of oil tanker Grace 1 with to Iran. supports from the government and all The government, a semi- bodies of the system and the country’s autonomous territory ruled by London, lawyers and diplomats is a diplomatic released on Thursday the Iranian victory,” Vaezi told reporters. supertanker Grace 1, despite the U.S. Also, government spokesman Ali attempt to block the release of the vessel. Rabiei said in a tweet message on Friday “Authorities in Gibraltar have released that the tanker was released despite the the Iranian supertanker Grace 1, which U.S. pressure and this is a “defeat” for was seized on July 4 on suspicion it was Washington. shipping 2.1 million barrels of crude oil This victory is result of upholding the to Syria in breach of EU sanctions,” the Iranian people’s rights, Rabiei added. Gibraltar Chronicle reported on Thursday. Iranian Ambassador to London Hamid The tanker was seized in a British Royal Baeidinejad also tweeted on Thursday, Zarif also said Tehran and Tokyo have established constructive Navy operation off the coast of Gibraltar. saying that the U.S. was desperately trying relationship. Iran had vehemently rejected the claim to prevent release of the tanker and faced Zarif also pointed to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s that the tanker was destined for Syria. Iran a humiliating defeat. “historic and important” visit to Iran and his meeting with Leader has further said the sanctions on Syria does “The U.S. in a last minute attempt made of the Islamic Revolution in June, and welcomed continuation not apply to non-EU members. -Repeated public statements about Foreign and Commonwealth Office. a futile effort to block the release of the oil of consultations on bilateral and regional issues. In a tweet on Thursday, Iranian Foreign destination; & -Made it crystal clear that In another tweet, Zarif said, “Having tanker and were faced with humiliating Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called EU sanctions do NOT apply to Iran—a failed to accomplish its objectives through defeat. With recent attempts, all necessary detention of the tanker “100 percent position shared by most Europeans. its economic terrorism—including depriving preparations and technical issues to release unlawful”. Nothing changes the fact: detention was cancer patients of medicine— the U.S. the tanker to an open sea have been arranged Official website of Ayatollah “Our London Embassy note to UKFCO: 100% unlawful,” he tweeted. attempted to abuse the legal system to and the ship will soon leave Gibraltar,” he Khamenei to launch three -Protested the illegal detention of Grace1; UKFCO is an abbreviation for the UK steal our property on the high seas.” wrote on Twitter, in Farsi. new languages POLITICAL TEHRAN – The official website of the Leader Culture of martyrdom has protected Iran against pressure: Zarif deskof the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khame- nei plans to launch three new languages of Russian, French and POLITICAL TEHRAN – Iranian For- ident Donald Trump’s administration has we have it is from people,” the chief diplomat desk Spanish on Monday. eign Minister Mohammad launched the toughest ever economic sanctions said during a speech at the ceremony. The ceremony will be opened by a speech from Kamal Khar- Javad Zarif said on Saturday that culture of against Iran in line with the White House’s He noted that power is not limited to razi, chairman of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations. altruism and martyrdom has protected the “maximum pressure” against Tehran. political, economic and military capabilities. country against foreign pressure. The chief diplomat also said, “All Iranian During a speech at a ceremony held to “Culture of altruism and martyrdom has people are indebted to altruists, prisoners, mark the international day of Islamic human protected the country against pressure and and the martyrs.” rights on August 7, Zarif said it is the people Any war against Iran will the people have insured the country against Zarif also said that people former the cor- and not foreign powers that form the basis pressure and aggressions,” Zarif said during nerstone of Iran’s power and the country of Iran’s power. set the entire region on fire: a ceremony held to mark the anniversary of has made progress as a result of resisting “Power of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hezbollah chief the return of the POWs to the country in 1990. sanctions. is the discourse that it has presented to the The first group of Iranian soldiers captured “People are the basis of our power. What world. A discourse which considers people and not a foreign power the basis of power, POLITICAL TEHRAN — Hezbollah Secretary General by during Saddam Hussein’s war against legitimacy, security, progress and independ- deskSeyyed Hassan Nasrallah said late on Friday Iran returned to the country two years after “All Iranian people are indebted to ence,” he said. that any war against Iran will set the entire Middle East on fire, the end of the war. Iraq launched war on Iran altruists, prisoners, and the martyrs,” He said, “We never buy security and we the Mehr news agency reported. in 1980 which ended in the summer of 1988. Zarif notes. never sell it, because we gain our security, The Hezbollah chief also said, “Iran shot down a U.S. drone The remarks by Zarif comes as U.S. Pres- progress and legitimacy from our people.” and seized a British oil tanker. These show Iran’s courage.” Kremlin: and share common task to preserve nuclear deal By staff and agency the second 60-day deadline. Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov has said that Russia and France The third step can include installation of more centrifuges, share the common tasks of preserving the 2015 nuclear deal, especially advanced ones. officially known as the JCPOA. “We are holding talks with the neighboring countries and “Let me note that Russia and France share the common other countries in the world in line with boosting relations tasks of preserving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and we will continue talks in the course of reducing nuclear (JCPOA) and preventing an escalation of tensions between commitments. However, if we will not reach any result at Iran and the U.S. in the Persian Gulf and in general,” he told the end of the second 60-day deadline, we will definitely reporters on Friday, according to TASS. start the third step. We will give another 60 days in order He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin and to reach a right and logical solution,” he stated. French President Emmanuel Macron are scheduled to meet Rouhani also described Iran’s move in reducing nuclear He added that U.S. President Donald Trump is well aware of on August 19 at the Bregancon fort off France’s Mediterra- commitments step by step as a “wise” decision Iran’s military power and that is the reason he avoided attack nean coast to discuss the JCPOA. Under the JCPOA, Iran is allowed to possess 300 kilo- on Iran after the downing of the drone. Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the UN-endorsed grams of uranium enriched to 3.67 percent. The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) shot down a JCPOA in May 2018 and imposed the toughest ever sanctions Nuclear spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi announced highly-sophisticated U.S. stealth drone in June after it violated against Iran in line with his administration’s “maximum on Tuesday that Iran’s stockpile of uranium has reached Iran’s airspace over the Persian Gulf. pressure” policy against Tehran. an agreement is not made within 60 days to protect it from 370 kilograms. Trump reportedly gave initial approval for the U.S. military The remaining parties, particularly the European sides, the sanctions’ effects. Iran says its decision to reduce its commitments are in to launch strikes on Iran in retaliation, however, he cancelled have so far failed to honor their commitments since the U.S. In follow-up to that deadline, on July 7 Iran announced line with paragraph 36 of the JCPOA which has provided a the strikes. returned sanctions and imposed new ones. that it has started enriching uranium to a higher purity than mechanism to resolve disputes and allows one side, under IRGC Quds Force Commander Major General Qassem Soleim- On May 8, exactly one year after the U.S. abandoned the the 3.67% as the Europeans missed the 60-day deadline to certain circumstances, to stop complying with the deal if ani has warned that the U.S. may begin a war against Iran, but multi-nation nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions devise a concrete mechanism to protect the country from the other side is out of compliance. it is Iran which will “end” it. on Iran, Tehran said its “strategic patience” is over and the U.S. sanctions. Officials in Tehran have insisted if the remaining parties Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has also announced a partial withdrawal from some aspects of the President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that Tehran to the JCPOA compensate sanctions effects Iran will reverse said that anyone who starts a war against Iran will not be the pact. It also threatened to step up uranium enrichment if will start the next step of reducing nuclear obligations after its decision. one who ends it. During a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in Tehran in June, Zarif insisted on Tehran’s long- held position that Iran has not initiated and will not initiate a war with any country. U.S. issues warrant to seize Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 However, he said, no one can take a military action against By staff and agency pulled out the 2015 nuclear deal last year,” the Iranian people without receiving a “firm response”. The has issued a warrant for said Al Jazeera’s John Hendren, reporting the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker captured from Washington, DC. by British Royal Marines in Gibraltar last “The big question is will the British gov- month, according to Aljazeera. ernment help the U.S. by seizing this ship, Iran becoming self-reliant in The Grace 1 vessel, which was ordered will Interpol be involved or will the U.S. producing aircraft engines: to be released by the Gibraltar Supreme government try to seize that ship,” he added. Court after 43 days in detention, shifted On Thursday, a Gibraltar judge ordered commander position but remained anchored in the Brit- the release of the Grace 1, six weeks after it ish Mediterranean territory late on Friday. was detained, rejecting a last-minute legal 1 “It would be impossible to create deterrence and de- The tanker was seized by British Royal move by Washington demanding that the fense power in a world where they have shut all the doors to us Marines at the western mouth of the Med- ship remain detained. with sanctions but through localization and reliance on our own iterranean on July 4. According to radio transmission ex- young scientists (we can),” he noted. Washington had attempted to seize the changes overheard by Al Jazeera, the ship Grace 1 on the pretext that it had links to is expected to set sail on Sunday evening. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Gibraltar Chronicle newspaper The lawyer said the tanker had been visible identity,” he said. (IRGC). also reported that the vessel was unlikely due for repairs in Gibraltar even before it The Grace 1 vessel and its July 4 seizure According to the warrant issued on to sail before Sunday, citing an unnamed was seized and its detention impeded the came amid surging tensions in the Persian Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice source who added that it was waiting for replacement of parts, making the tanker Gulf. The U.S. has expanded its military also ordered the seizure of $995,000 in six new crew members including a captain unfit for an immediate long voyage. presence in the region with a new aircraft an account at an unnamed U.S. bank asso- to arrive that day. Earlier on Friday, Iranian officials said carrier task force, missile batteries and ciated with Paradise Global Trading LLC, A lawyer for the Grace 1’s current captain, the tanker was preparing to set sail under strategic bombers which it called a shell company associated an Indian national, said that his client had an Iranian flag after its registration was Iran called the detention of the Grace 1 with businesses which act for the Revolu- asked to be replaced. switched from Panama and would be re- an illegal interception staged by the U.S., tionary Guards. “He doesn’t want to stay in command named the Adrian Darya for the voyage. while Washington cheered it as “excellent “Before the revolution we were the sort of country which There was no immediate word from Brit- of the ship, he wants to go home, because Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting news”. would import most of their industrial products in the military ain or Gibraltar over whether they would act he wasn’t happy to go back and pick up the from Gibraltar, said the Grace 1 signage had Tehran and Washington have been at as well as non-military sectors,” Baqeri said, adding that despite on the warrant, as Iran said it was sending broken pieces,” his lawyer Richard Wilkinson been removed as well as the Panamanian flag. loggerheads since U.S. President Donald sanctions and foreign pressure, the country is now facing a totally a new crew to pilot the tanker. told The Associated Press news agency. “But “The navigation systems, all of them, Trump withdrew last year from a landmark different horizon which promises success in meeting its own “This U.S. complaint alleges that Iran he’s a professional skipper and needs to wait indicate that it’s still Grace 1, but in terms 2015 nuclear deal between major powers needs with self-reliance. has violated U.S. sanctions after the U.S. for a new crew to do a proper handover.” of maritime law, this vessel really has no and Iran, reimposing unilateral sanctions. TECHNOLOGY

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 18, 2019 IRAN IN FOCUS 3 Iran ready to scale up nuclear work by India’s ties with Iran installing advanced centrifuges: top MP not influenced by others: ambassador POLITICAL TEHRAN – The head of Meanwhile, according to Rezaee, Europe deskthe Majlis Nuclear Com- has done nothing to salvage the JCPOA be- POLITICAL TEHRAN – The Indian ambassador to Iran mittee has said Iran is ready to use advanced cause “they lack the willpower do to so and desksays that his country’s ties with Tehran will centrifuges in the third phase of reducing they do not want to pay the price of confronting not be influenced by other countries. its commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal, the U.S. to save Barjam (JCPOA).” In an exclusive interview with the Iran Labor News Agency officially called the Joint Comprehensive They have voiced support for the deal but (ILNA) published on Saturday, Gaddam Dharmendra said, Plan of Action (JCPOA). failed to provide meaningful economic incen- “Bilateral discussions between Indian prime minister and Iran’s “We have many options to choose from in tives as required under the deal, he added. president have led to a diversification of trade exchanges.” the third phase, such as utilizing advanced Elsewhere in his remarks, the top lawmaker centrifuges,” Mehr on Saturday quoted Mo- hinted at contradictory remarks by Europe- hammad Ebrahim Rezaee as saying. an officials, claimed, “Today, we are certain “In fact, we are currently using the old IR1 that Europe has been in coordination with centrifuges, while the IR6 and IR8 centrifuges the U.S. from the very beginning and they are ready to be used,” he stated. advanced this joint scenario against Iran.” Rezaee said IR6 and IR8 centrifuges re- Asked about the prospects of INSTEX, a spectively have a capacity 26 to 48 times mechanism created by Europe to do business more than the IR1 ones. with Iran, Rezaee voiced reservations, saying Centrifuges are machines that spin ura- that Europe plays a complementary role in nium hexafluoride gas (UF6) at high speeds. Washington’s anti-Iran plots. The legislator said Iran can further acti- France, and the vate its production of heavy water, increase set up the Instrument for Trade Exchanges its stockpile of heavy water and increase its (INSTEX) in January to satisfy Iran’s de- enrichment level. mands for a way to bypass U.S. sanctions. The Westerners should know well that multilateral agreement. program and resume previous activities at The European Union announced on June Ambassador Dharmendra says Iran scaled back its nuclear program because As a first step, Iran increased its enriched the Arak heavy-water nuclear facility in its 28 that INSTEX has gone into effect. sanctions are making officials in India of its commitment to the JCPOA, and all uranium stockpile to beyond the 300 kilo- third step. Tehran says the mechanism is far short of the actions taken by Iran under the deal are grams set by the JCPOA. However, Iran has announced that its re- its expectation. Iran insists the mechanism and Iran to think of diversifying trade reversible. In the second step, Iran began enrich- ciprocal measures will be reversed as soon as should include Iran’s oil purchases. ties beyond the energy sector. On May 8, exactly a year after the U.S. with- ing uranium to purity rates beyond the 3.76 European parties to the deal find practical Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran’s permanent drawal from the JCPOA, Tehran announced percent limit. ways to shield the Iranian economy from representative to the United Nations, has With regards to how U.S. sanctions can affect the volume steps to reduce its nuclear commitments as Tehran has also warned that it may push unilateral U.S. sanctions which were imposed likened INSTEX to a “beautiful car without of trade between Iran and India, he said, “We do not adjust envisioned under articles 26 and 36 of the forward with a 20% uranium enrichment by the U.S. government after its pullout. gasoline”. our relations with Iran based on the behavior of other coun- tries. Iran is our neighbor and we have extensive relations with Iran. We saw a rise of more than 25% in bilateral trade as compared to last year.” Grand ayatollah demands immediate halt to Admiral: IRGC has reinforced “As you know, India is not part of the 2015 Iran nuclear military in Strait of Hormuz deal but India has backed the nuclear deal. Indian violence in Kashmir We also know that the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran has fulfilled all its obligations so far.” POLITICAL POLITICAL TEHRAN – A senior TEHRAN – Deputy Dharmendra then referred to a decision by Iran to scale desk desk Iranian religious scholar Chief of the Islamic down its commitments to the international nuclear deal, saying has condemned the inhumane treatment of Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ali it is clear that Iran has made decisions “that we are aware of, Kashmiris by the Indian government, urging Fadavi has advised Iran’s enemies to but we hope that all countries will resolve these differences the central government to immediately stop learn lessons from forty years of testing peacefully by negotiation and dialogue.” its atrocities against the innocent Kashmiri Iran, warning about the dire consequenc- He also compared the European Union’s Special Purpose people and observe their rights. es of “even thinking of carrying out a Vehicle (SPV) for trade with Iran under U.S. sanctions with In a statement, Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah conspiracy or an attack against Iran.” India’s recent measures to maintain commercial relations with Safi Golpaygani said, “The disastrous incidents Rear Admiral Fadavi also said the Tehran, saying, “Iran and India’s special financial mechanism that is happening in India’s Kashmir breaks IRGC’s power in the Persian Gulf and has been active for about a year and is pleasing to both countries.” the heart of every freedom-seeking person.” the Strait of Hormuz is at its height, “This mechanism enables us to meet some of Iran’s basic “What sin have the innocent and op- especially in the wake of the recent in- needs, including pharmaceuticals. In fact, we have set up our pressed people of Kashmir committed to cidents in the region, ISNA reported own SPV and we are happy about that.” deserve the harshest oppression and cruelty countries have fought three wars over the on Saturday. Hossein Salami said the shooting down The ambassador also said that sanctions are making officials by India’s military forces?” Ayatollah Safi territory.On Friday, Hojjatoleslam Kazem “This is something the world acknowl- of the U.S. drone had a straightforward on both sides to think of diversifying their trade ties beyond Golpaygani asked. Seddiqi, the interim Friday prayer leader of edges it,” added Admiral Fadavi who was message that any foreign intrusion into the energy sector. “Why have the international community, Tehran, said the issue of Kashmir is one of promoted to the rank of the IRGC deputy Iranian territories would draw a crush- “Tehran-New Delhi relations were mostly in the field of the so-called advocates of human rights, the the tragedies of the Muslim world. chief on May 16. ing response. energy, and Iran exported oil to India and India exported United Nations and the Organization of the “Their action is contrary to human con- On June 20 the IRGC shot down a U.S. Earlier this month, Fadavi said the items to Iran that were not in balance before.” Islamic Cooperation have kept silent and science, fairness and even the domestic laws spy drone that had violated the Iranian United States has been a complete loser “But now regarding to new issues, we have to see what we do not condemn these atrocities against of that country,” the cleric said of the Indian territorial airspace over the Persian Gulf. in confronting the “pious, revolutionary, can do about Iranian oil. India-Iran bilateral trade stands at defenseless and innocent people?” government’s crackdown on protesters. The advanced drone was downed by the jihadi and enthusiastic children of the more than $ 17 billion (2018-19). Tensions have been simmering between The UN Security Council met on Friday IRGC Aerospace Force’s air defense unit Iranian nation” serving in the IRGC Navy. This is an increase of 25%. At present, commodities like India and since New Delhi stripped to discuss Kashmir for the first time in 54 near the Kooh-e-Mobarak region in the U.S. President Donald Trump imposed Basmati rice, Soybean meal, black tea and cane sugar are seeing Indian-controlled Kashmir of its special au- years, an event the Pakistani government southern province of Hormozgan. unilateral sanctions against Tehran after an upward trend.” tonomy earlier this month. Pakistan has called hailed as a major diplomatic breakthrough. The invading drone was shot by he withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear According to Dharmendra, the U.S. sanctions against Iran that move “illegal.” Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan homegrown air defense missile system deal last year. Tehran has slammed the are a new challenge which nevertheless offers an opportunity Kashmir is generally considered disputed tweeted on Saturday welcoming the meeting, “Khordad-3rd”. sanctions, which have affected the lives for both countries. territory. It has been split between India and saying that “ensuring resolution of the dis- In comments made a few hours after of thousands of Iranians, as “economic Members of Iran-India chambers of commerce, manufac- Pakistan since their partition in 1947. The pute is the responsibility of this world body. the incident, IRGC Chief Major General terrorism”. turers and traders must explore ways to further boost trade between the two countries, he suggested. “Both Iran and India are large, developing economies with solid fundamentals. Both countries are benefiting from their respective de- ‘Iran after forming constructive ties with neighbors’ mographic advantages. I see our economic partnership as POLITICAL TEHRAN – The Iranian Ambassador Trump, have begun a “dangerous game”. being on a positive trajectory,” the Indian ambassador stated. deskto Kuwait, Mohammad Irani, says Iran’s The United States has been trying to persuade its allies foreign policy is based on establishing constructive relations into joining the coalition. However, the call has been met with neighbors. with cold response from European and Asian allies, in one “This is not the first time that the Islamic Republic of way or another. General: 76% of opium Iran is calling for cooperation and alliance with the Persian They are concerned such an alliance could drag them Gulf countries,” ISNA on Saturday quoted Irani as saying. into a conflict with Iran. produced in the world He said the Islamic Republic believes that the Persian In his remarks, Irani said the Americans claim they want is discovered in Iran Gulf countries can establish security in the region without to establish security in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of any foreign interference. Hormuz but their primary goal is to foment instability in POLITICAL TEHRAN – Head of the counter-narcotics “The region does not need the presence of foreign forces,” the region, especially if Israel joins the coalition. deskcenter said on Saturday that the United Nations the ambassador stated. Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz said on August 7 that has announced that 76 percent of the opium and also 67 percent The comments by the ambassador comes as Washington the regime would be part of the U.S.-led coalition to “protect of morphine produced in the world are discovered in Iran. is trying to form a military coalition in the Persian Gulf under the security of the Persian Gulf”. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Brigadier General the claim of providing “security” for merchant shipping in Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi has Eskandar Momeni also said those convicted of drug-related the Strait of Hormuz — which accommodates around a third warned that the country considers possible Israeli presence offenses account almost for 70 percent of prisoners in Iran. of global seaborne oil traffic — and other strategic Middle in the coalition in the Persian Gulf as a clear threat to its Eastern shipping lanes. national security, and reserves the right to counter it. defensive policy, the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the Ambassador Irani said American rulers, especially Donald “Within the framework of the country’s deterrence and right to counter this threat and defend its territory,” he noted. Saudi good treatment of Iranian pilgrims may lead to thaw in ties: MP TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The chairman of In 2016, more than 1.8 million pilgrims the parliament’s National Security and attended Hajj, but Iranians stayed home Foreign Policy Committee has hailed Sau- after tensions between Riyadh and Tehran dis’ good behavior toward Iranian Hajj boiled following a deadly crush of people pilgrims and expressed optimism about during the 2015 pilgrimage. the possible thaw of relations between On September 2, 2015, thousands of Tehran and Riyadh. people lost their lives in the deadly crush He added the distributors, retailers and drug addicts all “Good behavior toward the (Iranian) after Saudi authorities blocked a road in belong to a cycle that needs to be addressed altogether, ISNA pilgrims is one of Saudi Arabia’s messages Mina during a ritual, forcing large crowds reported. in line with more interaction with Iran,” of pilgrims to collide. Also on Saturday, the anti-narcotics police chief in Yazd Mojtaba Zonnour told Tasnim. The crush was the deadliest incident said that 189kg of narcotics have been seized in the central “Up to this day, they (Saudis) have in the history of the pilgrimage. province of Yazd. behaved hospitably and if they contin- According to an Associated Press count During an operation in the city of Yazd, police seized the ue this path, there would be a thaw of based on official statements from the 36 opium which was destined to Tehran, Colonel Ali Afkhami explained. relations with Saudi Arabia as we are countries that lost citizens in the disaster, witnessing it with the existing signs,” One smuggler was arrested and has been handed over to more than 2,400 pilgrims were killed in the lawmaker added. the judicial officials, he added. the incident. During a visit to Saudi Arabia in De- Over 10 tons of illicit drugs have been confiscated by an- Saudi Arabia claims nearly 770 people cember 2018, Head of Iran’s Hajj and ti-narcotics police in Yazd province since the start of the year Pilgrimage Organization Alireza Rashid- The two sides signed an agreement at they faced in previous years. were killed, but officials at Iran’s Hajj 1398 (March 21, 2019). ian held meetings with officials from the the conclusion of the meetings, aimed at The agreement stipulated that 86,500 and Pilgrimage Organization say about Located near which is one of the main sources kingdom’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah making better arrangements for Iranian Iranian pilgrims would go on pilgrimage 4,700 people, including over 460 Iranian of opium production in the world, Iran is on the frontline of about the 2019 Hajj season. pilgrims and preventing the problems to Saudi Arabia in the 2019 Hajj season. pilgrims, lost their lives. the fight against drug trafficking. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 4 ECONOMY AUGUST 18, 2019

STOCK MARKET Russia eyes Iran’s Chabahar TEDPIX 261405.8 IFX 3526.02 to transit goods Sources: tse.ir, Ifb.ir ECONOMY TEHRAN – Russia is Oman. It serves as Iran’s only oceanic port, deskseeking to use Iran’s and consists of two separate ports named Chabahar port in order to transit goods Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti, each to other countries especially to the Indian of which has five berths. CURRENCIES subcontinent, Tasnim reported, quoting After years of negotiations, Iran has USD 42,000 rials Sergei Milushkin, managing director of awarded the development project of its Astrakhan Special Economic Zone in Rus- strategic Chabahar port to India, and the EUR 46,634 rials sia, as saying. South Asian country committed $500 mil- GBP 51,031 rials Mulishkin who visited Chabahar port on lion to build two new berths in this port. Saturday, also voiced his country’s readiness In last November, the United States AED 11,437 rials for investing in the port for construction announced that it would grant a sanctions Source: cbi.ir of specialized terminals, including a con- waiver for the Iranian-Indian port project tainer terminal and a liquid bulk terminal at Chabahar. in Chabahar’s Shahid Beheshti Port. Chabahar Port’s exemption from the As reported, during his visit, the Rus- new round of the U.S. sanctions on Iran sian official was accompanied by Behrouz is an opportunity for development of tran- COMMODITIES Aghaie, the director general of Ports and sit via this port, according to Iran’s Ports Brent $58.64/b Maritime Department of Sistan-Baluch- and Maritime Organization (PMO) Head WTI $54.87/b estan Province, who briefed him on the Mohammad Rastad. potentials, capacities and capabilities of This port’s exemption from the sanctions OPEC Basket $58.87/b Chabahar port. provides the opportunity for benefitting In response to Milushkin’s remarks from the potentials and infrastructures Gold $1,523.60/oz regarding Russia’s interest in transiting of Chabahar which will definitely boost Silver $17.08/oz goods through Chabahar port, Aghaie said exports and imports, Rastad said, adding “There are no restrictions for the invest- Chabahar port for Russian investors and Chabahar Port is a seaport in Chabahar that it would be an achievement for the Platinium $851.80/oz ment and transfer of goods through the businesses.” located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of country’s economy. Sources: oilprice.com, Moneymetals.com Bangladesh private sector seeking enhanced co-op with Iran Preferential trade agreement with ECONOMY TEHRAN – Bangladesh’s commercial capabilities, saying Iran’s private sector is ready to coop- deskattaché in Iran said his country’s private erate with Bangladeshi economic operators in all areas, D-8 to take effect in 2 months sector is seeking to boost cooperation with the Iranian coun- especially in the export of petrochemical products as well terpart, the portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, as joint ventures. ECONOMY TEHRAN – Deputy director of Iran’s Trade Pro- Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) reported. He mentioned the lack of proper banking relations be- desk motion Organization (TPO) said an agreement on Mohammad Sabour Hossein, made the remarks in a tween the two countries as a major obstacle in the way of preferential trade with the members of D-8 Organization for Economic meeting with ICCIMA Deputy Head Mohammadreza Kar- trade relations between the two countries, adding that this Cooperation has been reached and it will take effect in the next two basi on Saturday. obstacle can be overcome by creating mechanisms such as months. In the meeting, the two sides discussed potentials, ca- barter trading. Speaking in a gathering of industry ministry’s deputies in Tehran on pacities and mutual areas for development of bilateral trade “It is also necessary to implement the preferential trade Saturday, Hamid Zadboum said TPO is planning on doubling trade with between the two countries. agreement signed by the two countries years ago and to 15 neighboring countries in the near future, Shata news agency reported. Expressing dissatisfaction with the current level of trade revise it if necessary,” he added. He referred to the industry ministry’s programs for using the country’s between the two countries, Karbasi noted that “unfortunately Sabour Hossein for his part stressed the long history of production capacities to improve exports, saying that “Identification despite the good political relations and the two sides’ pri- all-out relations between the two nations, saying that the of exports barriers and activation of different markets are among the vate sectors willingness for cooperation the level of trade two sides’ private sectors could play a significant role in programs which the industry ministry is following.” between Iran and Bangladesh is not at a satisfactory level.” boosting the mutual trade. Elsewhere in his remarks, the official referred to the trade agreements “Reaching a $1 billion trade volume is the least level “Considering Bangladesh’s development plans, the country In the end, the two sides emphasized the need to pursue that Iran has signed with various global organizations and economic which should be considered an acceptable trade turno- has a lot of needs in various areas, including petrochemicals, implementing the preferential trade agreement signed between bodies including Eurasia Union, Economic Cooperation Organization ver between the two countries, for which development of and Iran can also meet its needs through the Bangladesh the two countries and to follow up on the establishment of a (ECO), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and D-8 Organization business relations between the two countries should be market,” he said. joint chamber of commerce as well as cooperating in holding for Economic Cooperation, and said Iran’s preferential trade agreement reconsidered,” he added. According to him, joint investments between the two an Iran-Bangladesh business and investment opportunities with Eurasia member countries has been prepared in 9 chapters with Karbassi further underlined Iranian private sector’s countries should also be seriously considered. conference in Tehran. more than 100 articles and the agreement with D-8 organization also covers 34 articles. He finally noted that bilateral trade agreements have also been reached with , Bangladesh, and Syria, adding that talks on $1.5b allocated for job creation in rural areas ECONOMY TEHRAN–Presidential the past two years and the number is showcasing achievements of villagers same agreements were also underway with other trade partners such deskchief of staff Mahmoud continuing to grow. and nomads opened on Thursday, August as , India and Pakistan. Vaezi said on Wednesday that the gov- The official underlined the government’s 15, at Tehran Permanent International The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, also known as ernment has allocated $1.5 billion for efforts for providing facilities like drink- Fairgrounds. Developing-8, is an organization for development co-operation among job creation in the country’s rural areas, able water, electricity, gas, telephone and First Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri eight member countries namely, Bangladesh, , Nigeria, , IRIB reported. internet to rural areas in order to improve and Vice President for Women’s and Family Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Turkey. He added that $750 million has so far the life quality in such regions. Affairs Masoumeh Ebtekar attended the The objectives of D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation are to been paid in this regard. “Currently over 90 percent of the coun- opening ceremony. improve member states’ position in the global economy, diversify and Vaezi made the remarks on the sidelines try’s villages are connected to the national The event aims to introduce successful create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in of the fourth national exhibition of villagers electricity network, gas supply is continuing production and job creation plans in rural decision-making at international level, and improve standards of living. and nomads’ capabilities and achievements. and the government is taking all necessary areas. Participant villagers and nomads According to the official, more than measures to supply drinkable water and have put some of their products up for German economy slips 2000 job opportunities have been creat- other facilities to all villages,” he said. sale to visitors. ed in rural areas across the country in The fourth national exhibition for The exhibition will wrap up today. back into negative growth

Germany’s economy shrunk by 0.1% in the three months to June, caught in the cross-fire of the trade war between U.S. and . ’s Central Bank cuts rates for first time in five years According to clicklancashire.com, the nation has been hit hard Mexico’s Central Bank on Thursday cut its key lending since December 20. Five of those surveyed expected a “But depending on the trajectory of Fed rates, the by a crackdown on global trade under U.S. President Donald Trump, rate for the first time since June 2014, citing slowing in- rate cut of 25 basis points. door may be open to further rate cuts.” while its prized auto making industry has been hammered in a sales flation and increasing slack in the economy - and fueling “Slack conditions in the economy have continued to At the end of last month, the U.S. Federal Reserve slump as customers shun diesel due to pollution fears. expectations that further monetary policy easing could loosen, even more than expected, widening the nega- cut its main lending rate for the first time since 2008. As a result, if China weakens its currency and produces fewer be on the way. tive output gap,” the bank said. “In an environment of The Banxico rate cut could help boost the Mexican goods in anticipation of weaker overseas demand, sales of German According to aljazeera.com, in a majority decision, significant uncertainty, the balance of risks for growth economy after paltry growth of 0.1 percent in the second industrial products fall, damaging a key sector of Germany’s economy. the five-member board of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) remains tilted to the downside.” quarter. The deceleration is spreading in Germany, which supports the voted to lower the overnight interbank rate by 25 basis In general terms, inflation has gone down “a little The bank’s decision was the first since Mexican President ECB’s signals that more monetary stimulus would be required. points to 8.00 percent. faster” than expected, central bank governor Alejandro Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who says he respects the A further quarterly contraction would mean the nation had entered One board member voted to maintain the rate at 8.25 Diaz de Leon said on Mexican radio. central bank’s autonomy, told Bloomberg News Agency recession.Cars for export and import stored in front of containers percent, the bank said in a statement. “We’ve seen economic activity stagnating for several last month it was important to lower interest rates to at the harbor in Bremerhaven, Germany.Andreas Rees, the chief The surprise move by Mexican policymakers follows quarters now, and that in some way has given the bank boost growth. economist of the bank UniCredit, added: The “fact is the German rate cuts by central banks around the world in the last space to consider that it will contribute to inflation its Helping to justify the cut was a third consecutive month- economy has only been moving forward in crawler gear for a year now”. week as a trade-induced slowdown shows more signs of trajectory of converging toward the three percent target,” ly slowdown in annual inflation in July, when the rate Its export-reliant economy avoided a technical recession - two stymieing global growth. said Diaz de Leon. eased to 3.78 percent. consecutive quarters of falling GDP - by a whisker past year but Last week ’s Central Bank cut rates to a As the week progressed, however, more analysts began The bank targets a rate of three percent, with a one-per- could fail to escape for a second time. record low, a move that was followed by reductions from to say that the central bank could lower borrowing costs centage-point tolerance threshold above or below that In a statement to the populist tabloid Bild, Economy Minister central banks in and the . with the economy sputtering and inflation slowing. figure. Peter Altmaier said Wednesday’s data was a wake-up call, calling The peso weakened as much as 0.4 percent to 19.76 Charles Seville, co-head of Latin America sovereigns Edward Glossop, Latin America economist at Capital for a more expansionary budget. per United States dollar after Banxico’s decision, but at ratings agency Fitch, said the rate cut reflected lower Economics, said that though Banxico’s relatively cautious “Trade conflicts, global uncertainty and the struggling automotive quickly reversed those losses. Yields on Mexico’s 10-year inflation risks and greater domestic and global growth post-meeting statement was “probably designed to temper sector have finally brought it down on its knee”. The Germany economy contracted bonds fell by 19 basis points to 7.06 percent, Refinitiv risks since the bank’s last meeting. expectations of an aggressive easing cycle”, he believes The last time the German economy contracted on a quarterly data showed. Further rate cuts that “more rate cuts are on the way”. basis was the third quarter a year ago when the automotive sector Eleven of 16 analysts and economists surveyed for a “We still think Banxico will stay vigilant given domestic “With inflation set to fall further and growth to stay was dealing with bottlenecks getting cars certified under new emis- Reuters poll published on Monday had expected Banxico policy risks and the potential for risk aversion to affect weak, we expect another 50 basis points of rate cuts to sions standards.Brzeski noted, however, that it was the uncertainty to hold the rate at 8.25 percent, the level it had maintained the exchange rate,” he said. 7.50 percent by year-end,” Glossop said in a note to clients. created by trade conflicts, rather than their direct effects that was principally to blame. As a result, global trade tensions weigh on its economy.In 2005, China to reform key interest rate to boost economy Germany’s unemployment rate hit 12.6%, with the country also China’s Central Bank unveiled a key inter- tion mechanism of LPR, we will be able to Banks must set rates on new loans by facing a budget deficit at 3.5% of GDP. est rate reform on Saturday to help steer use market-based reform methods to help mainly referring to the LPR and use LPR as Europe’s largest economy - and long once of the most dynamic - borrowing costs lower for companies and lower real lending rates,” the PBOC said in the benchmark for setting floating lending has now become a drag on the eurozone.Growth was non-existent in support a slowing economy that has been a statement published on its website. rates, the PBOC said, adding that banks will whose economy stagnated in the three months through June. hurt by a trade war with the United States. The central bank will “deepen mar- be barred from setting any implicit floor on “We expect the weakness in the German economy to only broaden According to thenational.ae, the People’s ket-based interest rate reform, improve lending rates in a coordinated way. in the coming quarters”. Bank of China (PBOC) said it will improve the efficiency of interest rate transmission, The central bank said five-year and longer That could make the country less dependent on exports.On Tuesday, the mechanism used to establish the loan and lower tenors will be added to the existing one-year Chancellor Angela Merkel poured cold water on the calls for more prime rate (LPR) from this month, in a move financing costs of the real economy”, it said. LPR, which will help banks set rates on long- fiscal stimulus, and on Wednesday the government spokeswoman to further lower real interest rates for com- Chinese banks’ new LPR quota- term loans such as mortgages. said this position had not changed. panies as part of broader market reforms. tions China will add eight small banks, including European authorities will release economic growth and employ- Analysts say the move, which came after Chinese banks’ new LPR quotations will two foreign-funded banks, to the existing 10 ment figures for the Eurozone today. data that showed weaker than expected growth be based on rates of open market operations, nation-wide banks that will be allowed to The “development of foreign trade slowed down economic growth in July and followed a cabinet announcement and the national interbank funding center submit LPR quotations, the central bank said. because exports recorded a stronger quarter-on-quarter decrease on Friday, underscores the government’s will be authorized to publish the rate from The move followed pledges from China’s than imports”, the Statistisches Bundesamt said.The economic gloom attempts to use reforms to support a slowing August 20, the PBOC said. It added the rate State Council on Friday that the country will was not confined to Germany, as eurozone industrial production economy. will be published every month on the 20th, rely on market-based reform measures to fell 1.6pc month-on-month in June, according to Eurostat. “By reforming and improving the forma- effective this month. help lower real interest rates for companies. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 18, 2019 ENERGY 5 Iran, Afghanistan considering energy projects in border areas Global energy demand ENERGY TEHRAN – Iran and Af- that the two sides need to make Long-term rising 62 percent by 2050 deskghanistan are considering and short-term planning in order to realize realization of 16,000 megawatts potential of such cooperation. Bloomberg NEF’s latest New Energy Outlook report predicts that renewable energy projects in border areas, Gul Kholmi for his part underlined his global power demand will grow by 62 percent between now and IRNA reported. country’s willingness for expanding energy 2050, equating to a 1.5 percent increase a year. “With good wind energy capacity in the ties with Iran, saying that Afghanistan is As stated by power-eng.com, in a news post, Climate Action re- two countries border regions, the two sides seeking to become an energy hub in the ported that the study looked at how the demand for renewables is set can use that capacity to produce nearly region and the country has long term plans to grow and clarifies that aggressive decarbonization will be needed 16,000 megawatts of electricity,” Iran’s in this regard. beyond 2030 to keep temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Deputy Energy Minister for Electricity Mentioning the great potentials for en- The New Energy Outlook combined the expertise of over 65 market Homayoun Haeri said in a meeting with ergy cooperation with Iran, the official said and technology specialists in 12 countries to provide a unique view Afghan Minister of Energy and Water “Energy is one of the areas that contributes of how the market will evolve. Mohammad Gul Kholmi on Saturday. to both regional stability and security and The report says that energy storage installations around the world Haeri who is visiting Afghanistan employment for the people.” will multiply exponentially, from a modest 9GW/17GWh deployed heading a high-ranking delegation from The Iranian Delegation is scheduled as of 2018 to 1,095GW/2,850GWh by 2040. Iran’s Energy Ministry, arrived in Kabul on to spend two days in Afghanistan, during Coal is set to collapse everywhere in the world, except Asia and Saturday to hold talks with senior Afghan which they will visit the country’s energy peaks globally in 2026. By 2032, there is more wind and solar elec- officials on the future of energy ties and infrastructure and hold talks with senior tricity in the world than coal-fired electricity. potential areas of cooperation between officials from the country’s energy sectors. International variations are highlighted: “By 2040, renewables the two countries. As the biggest exporter and importer of make up 90 percent of the electricity mix in Europe, with wind and Speaking in the meeting, Haeri men- electricity in the Middle East, Iran plays a solar accounting for 80 percent.” tioned the two neighbors’ great capacities exporter of electricity in the region, and Turkey, Iraq and other countries. central role in power supply in the region. China continues to be the largest market for wind and solar, which for energy cooperation, saying that joining connecting to Iran’s grid is one way to ac- He voiced Iran’s Power Generation, It exports electricity to Pakistan, Turkey, together grow from 8 percent to 48 percent of total generation by 2050.” the two countries’ electricity networks celerate this goal,” he said. Distribution and Transmission Company Iraq and Afghanistan. Yayoi Sekine, energy storage analyst for BNEF and co-author of could be beneficiary for both sides. The official further added that by joining (Tavanir)’s readiness for helping Afghan- Under swap deals, Iran exports electricity the report, said: “Two big changes this year are that we have raised “Afghanistan’s abundant solar and water the two countries power networks Afghan- istan’s power distribution companies re- to and in winter and our estimate of the investment that will go into energy storage by resources could make the country a major istan would be able to export electricity to solving the country’s energy issues, saying imports in summer. 2040 by more than $40 billion, and that we now think the majority of new capacity will be utility-scale, rather than behind-the-meter at homes and businesses.”The report also looks at electric vehicles, finding that EVs will add about 3,950TWh of new electricity demand IRENEX to hold 6th round of heavy oil offering on Wednesday globally by 2050, accounting for 9 percent of the world’s energy needs. ENERGY TEHRAN – Unlike previous offerings, Offering gas condensate at IRENEX came after the suc- deskthe sixth round of National Iranian Oil cessful offering of crude oil at this market. The first offering Company (NIOC)’s heavy crude oil offering at Iran Energy was done on February 13, which failed to attract customers. Chinese investments Exchange (IRENEX) is due to be held on Wednesday, IRNA And then the turn came to heavy crude. Offering heavy in Nigerian oil hit $16b reported. crude at IRENEX came after NIOC offered light crude at In this round, two million barrels of heavy crude will be this stock market in eight round. Chinese investments in the oil and gas industry of Nigeria have offered at the base price of $52.81 per barrel. National Iranian Oil Company sold 70,000 barrels of reached $16 billion, according to a senior NNPC official, but the Buyers can receive their cargo up to three months after heavy crude oil at IRENEX for the first time on April 30. industry needs even more to advance its production growth agenda. the transaction, and the delivery of the cargo in other regions In the first round one million barrels of heavy crude was According to oilprice.com, Vanguard quotes NNPC’s Group Man- is subject to NIOC approval. offered at a base price of $60.68. aging Director Malla Mele Kyari as saying “To have investment of Since the U.S.’s withdrew from Iran’s nuclear pact in NIOC’s representative in IRENEX has said that the $16bn in Nigeria is clearly an indication of your confidence in us. May 2018, vowing to drive Iran’s oil exports down to zero, company will continue offering oil at IRENEX, Mehr news We have a target to grow production to 3m barrels per day by 2023, the Islamic Republic has been taking various measures to agency reported. to do that, we need partners like you. You can count on us because counter the U.S. actions and to keep its oil exports levels “Offering oil and gas condensate in the international we have common interest.” as high as possible. ring of IRENEX has become a legal obligation, and it will The comments were addressed to the management of CNOOC, One of the main strategies that Iran chose to execute definitely be a lasting move,” Amir Hossein Tebyanian said the third-largest state oil major in China and a company focused to help its oil exports afloat has been trying new ways to in a press conference hosted by Mehr news agency at the on overseas investments. These have become essential for China as diversify the mechanism of oil sales, one of which is offering place of the agency in early July. domestic production declines due to natural depletion and challenges oil at the country’s stock market. Briefing the press about the procedures and processes surrounding the development of new reservoirs, including shale plays. NIOC offered light crude oil at IRENEX first on Octo- of NIOC’s oil and gas condensate offerings at IRENEX, the class stock exchanges.” he said. Nigeria is a natural focus for investments despite problems with ber 28, 2018 just few days before new U.S. sanctions on official noted that physical sales of oil at IRENEX is just IRENEX was initially founded in an attempt to permit militant groups that have in the past few years caused several force Iran’s petroleum sector took effect (November 4). In the the first step and the main goal is to activate other financial the Iranian private sector export crude oil since Washington majeure closures of pipelines and export terminals. first round, NIOC could sell some 280,000 barrels of crude instruments, and offer Iranian crude in the regional stock aims to cut Iran’s oil sales. Earlier this year, Nigeria’s oil operations were disrupted several oil at $74.85 per barrel. markets. However now, foreign buyers have also expressed will- times due to fires, shutdowns, force majeure, and protests. With the daily supply amount of one million barrels, the “We will continue offering oil at the IRENEX in order ingness to engage in IRENEX oil offerings and welcoming In April and May, a key oil pipeline and a logistics base in Nigeria’s market wrapped up by selling eight 35,000-barrel cargos to institutionalize the necessary procedures which are a the idea, NIOC is preparing necessary bases for them to be oil-rich Niger Delta were rocked by a shutdown and protests in the of oil on the day. prerequisite for improving IRENEX to the level of world able to do so. latest incident that disrupted the Nigerian oil industry. Shell declared a force majeure on Bonny Light exports, while exports of Amenam, operated by France’s Total, were also under force majeure in April.Nigeria is one of OPEC’s largest producers, with Iranian heavy crude oil price rises $1.77 per barrel in July: OPEC the June average at 1.855 million bpd, according to the secondary ENERGY TEHRAN- Iranian heavy oil buyers to continue shipping in oil from sources that OPEC uses for its monthly oil market updates. deskoil price increased $1.77 the county were expired in early May. The country was against the OPEC production cuts agreed last in July, according to OPEC’s latest monthly However, Iran has been mobilizing all December because it needed to recover its production after a truce report published on Friday. its resources to sell its oil in gray market, agreed with some militant groups in the Niger Delta. Eventually, Iran sold its heavy crude oil at $62.65 per countering unjust and illegitimate U.S. however, it agreed to join the cuts. barrels in the mentioned month, register- sanctions. ing a 2.9 percent raise compared to June’s Earlier this month, Reuters reported that $60.88 per barrel. despite the sanctions Iran is delivering its The fastest growing energy According to the report, Iran produced oil to China and some other destinations producer in the world 2.213 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in Asia. in July, a 47,000 bpd decrease from 2.260 “China imported Iranian crude oil in Russian giant Gazprom saw the highest production growth over the million bpd in the preceding month. July for the second month since a U.S. last five years, followed by shale gas players in the U.S. and China, The report put average Iranian crude out- sanctions waiver ended, according to re- while BP dominates among the majors, according to Rystad Energy. put for the Q2 2019 at 2.407 million barrels search from three data firms, with one Onshore resources – whether conventional or unconventional – are per day indicating a near 318,000-bpd fall estimate showing some oil entered tanks a major driver of growth. compared to the figure for Q1 2019. holding the country’s strategic reserves,” As per oilprice.com, Rystad Energy has analyzed the production The country’s average heavy crude price a Reuters report said. of all global E&P companies and ranked them according to their was also reported to be $63.15 since beginning China and other Iranian oil buyers like production growth from 2014 through 2018. of 2019 up to the report’s publishing day. India have repeatedly criticized the uni- “Gazprom, the clear leader in production growth, is the only com- Iranian oil industry has been under pres- by re-imposing sanctions. oil sector were put in action in early November lateral U.S. sanctions on Iran and opposed pany with a total growth of more than 1 million barrels of oil equivalent sure from the U.S. efforts to isolate the country The new round of sanctions targeting Iran’s 2018, and the waivers which allowed Iranian Washington’s “long-arm” jurisdictions. per day (boepd) over the last five years. The growth comes primarily from conventional assets, with gas being the key contributor to the spectacular development,” says Espen Erlingsen, head of upstream OPEC reports big drop in crude production, amid ‘somewhat bearish’ market outlook research at Rystad Energy. Production growth is a key performance indicator for E&P By Herman Wang that OPEC and its allies have said they are targeting companies. This metric is commonly used by upstream players to with their production cuts, the report said. demonstrate to investors that their portfolios are poised for growth Led by its kingpin Saudi Arabia, which said it pumped The data comes ahead of a key OPEC/non-OPEC as opposed to stagnated production. at its lowest level in more than five years, OPEC on monitoring committee meeting next month in Abu Runner-up to Gazprom is PetroChina, with a total growth of around Friday reported it slashed its crude production in July, Dhabi, which delegates have said will likely examine 730,000 boepd, also driven by conventional onshore gas production as it continues to battle slumping oil prices. if further action is needed to reverse the recent tumble as well as splashes of shale gas growth. The third company to make OPEC pumped 29.61 million b/d last month, an 8.2% in oil prices. the podium is shale-focused EQT, the largest producer of natural gas drop from June, it said in its closely watched monthly Front-month ICE Brent futures were trading at $59.25/b in the U.S., boasting equity production growth of close to 600,000 oil market report, which uses six independent secondary at 1047 GMT, up 1.75% from the previous close. boepd, or 340% growth over the last five years. sources to track production. But they are down more than 21% from their peak in The fastest-growing companies Many countries are far below the quotas they had late April, as trade tensions between the U.S. and China “Behind the state behemoths in Russia and China, majors and committed to under a deal aimed at bolstering oil prices. have soured market sentiment. shale companies are some of the fastest-growing companies over the That should set the oil market up for a tighter second The committee, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and non- last five years. Rystad Energy expects this rise in output among the half of 2019, OPEC projected, though the producer OPEC Russia, is tasked with monitoring market conditions majors and shale companies to continue,” Erlingsen said. group likely will need to rein in output further to avoid and assessing compliance with production quotas. Among the majors, BP posted the largest production increase It will meet September 12 on the sidelines of the World another bearish build-up of inventories in 2020. since 2014, seeing total production grow almost 500,000 boepd in Energy Congress. “While the outlook for market fundamentals seems the last five years. The world’s largest crude exporter somewhat bearish for the rest of the year, given sof- Much of the production uptick can be credited with the company’s The production accord, which OPEC signed with Russia operations in the Middle East, with significant production additions tening economic growth, ongoing global trade issues and nine other non-OPEC countries in December, commits from the Rumaila field in Iraq, and in North America, where shale and slowing oil demand growth, it remains critical to the 24-country coalition to 1.2 million b/d in supply cuts 140,000 b/d contraction. and U.S. deep water are driving most of the changes. closely monitor the supply/demand balance and assist through March 2020. Five of the majors – BP, Shell, Total, Chevron and Eni – have The declines were partially offset by Nigeria, which market stability in the months ahead,” OPEC said in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, reined made Rystad Energy’s list of the 15 fastest-growing E&P companies. revealed a 150,000 b/d gain in July to 1.95 million b/d -- the report. in its output to 9.70 million b/d in July, a 134,000 b/d Absent from the list are ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. more than 260,000 b/d above its quota -- despite pledges OPEC’s analysts raised their projections of global fall from June, according to secondary sources. But the Equity production is strong not only among the majors, but also Wednesday by Mele Kyari, the head of its state oil compa- demand for the bloc’s crude to 31.66 million b/d in kingdom, which has declared its intent to “lead by exam- among five companies that are primarily focused on U.S. shale and the third quarter and 30.17 million b/d in the fourth ny, that “Nigeria is totally committed to full compliance ple” on the cuts, self-reported an even greater decline to tight oil: EQT, Antero, EOG, Ascent Resources and Range Resources. quarter, indicating that if OPEC members maintain with the agreement.” Secondary sources had estimated 9.58 million b/d -- some 730,000 b/d below its quota. Our benchmark analysis evaluates the companies’ total produc- their current production levels, oil inventories should a 20,000 b/d decline for Nigeria in the month. That is the lowest Saudi Arabia has pumped since March tion growth for the five-year period, looking at both organic growth see a significant fall. Iran, also struggling under U.S. sanctions, saw its out- 2014 and is a counter-cyclical drop, as Saudi production (increased field-level production in assets the company already owns) The call on OPEC crude put fall 50,000 b/d to 2.21 million b/d in July, according typically rises in the summer as it burns more crude for and inorganic growth (increased production due to mergers or ac- But the call on OPEC crude retreats to 28.85 million to secondary sources. power generation to meet air conditioning demand. quisitions). All calculations have been made using each company’s b/d in the first quarter of 2020 and 29.39 million b/d The country did not self-report a figure for the month, equity, or working interest, across its upstream assets. National oil in the second quarter, the report estimated. Also disclosing significant output losses were Ango- as has been its habit since the sanctions were reimposed la, which said its production fell 160,000 b/d month on companies, defined as national companies with activities only in OECD oil stocks stood at 2.955 billion barrels as of in November. their home country, are excluded. June, 67 million barrels above the five-year average month, and sanctions-hit Venezuela, which reported a (Source: spglobal.com) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 6 INTERNATIONAL AUGUST 18, 2019

Americans oppose The third Fox News shock to Trump

Israel lobby junkets 1 On the other hand, the competi- looks just fine for Biden. His position in tion between Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Morning Consult’s weekly tracking poll By Grant Smith Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris has — first place with 33 percent of the vote intensified. If either of these candidates — is unchanged. Antiwar–Seventy members of the U.S. Congress (16% of the reach the final stage of next year’s presi- In HarrisX’s tracking poll for ScottR- total membership) are visiting Israel during recess. Most of the dential race, they will have a greater chance asmussen.com, he’s at 28 percent, which private funding for the junket arrives through an entity called of defeating Trump. is up 3 percentage points from a week ago. the American Israel Education Foundation. AIEF officially However, there is still much time left for He’s down 1 point in YouGov’s week- formed as a “supporting organization of the American Israel the Democratic primary. ly poll, and he did get some middling Public Affairs Committee” (AIPAC) in 1988 and applied for The election will be held primarily in the numbers in New Hampshire this week. tax exempt status in 1989. crucial state of Iowa. If any Democrat can- But Biden also got a good poll in South AIEF formed to receive fully tax-deductible contributions didate can win in this small and important Carolina. for “educational purposes” that could then be funneled into state, he can also win other Democratic Not that you should necessarily have AIPAC initiatives. AIPAC – then as now – is categorized by the intra-party election contests. Here’s a look expected any differently. IRS as a lobbying organization that can only receive non-de- at some news and analysis on the U.S. pres- Biden has survived more serious prob- ductible contributions. idential election: lems — a rough first debate, a group of AIEF claimed in filings to the IRS that it would educate Fox News poll shows Trump losing to allegations about inappropriately touching students and young professionals about the Middle East and Biden, Warren, Sanders and Harris women — only to see his numbers rebound pursue other educational endeavors with a bona fide social A Fox News poll released Thursday from any decline (if they were even af- welfare purpose. showed President Trump losing head-to- fected in the first place). So it probably head matchups against four of the top Dem- would have been optimistic for Biden’s ocratic presidential primary contenders.The rivals to expect a handful of verbal gaffes poll found Trump with 39 percent support to move his polls, especially given that among registered voters in head-to-head Biden already came into the campaign matchups against Sens. Bernie Sanders with a reputation for being gaffe-prone. (I-Vt.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Eliz- Some influential Democrats are focus- abeth Warren (D-Mass.). ing on those gaffes for another reason, The poll found Sanders beating Trump though: They see them as a sign of Biden’s with 48 percent, Warren winning over advancing age. (Biden is 76 and would Trump with 45 percent and Harris win- be 78 upon assuming the presidency.) ning with 46 percent support. Whether those Democrats are genuinely Former Vice President Joe Biden, mean- Voters who have a negative view of both voters who say they plan to participate in concerned about Biden’s age insofar as while, beat Trump in the theoretical match- Biden and Trump back Biden by a 43- the Democratic primary or caucus in their it might affect his performance against up with 50 percent support among those 10 percent margin in the head-to-head state shows that although Warren still President Trump, or whether they’re using surveyed, compared to Trump’s 38 percent. matchup, although many would vote for trails former Vice President Joe Biden, it as an excuse to promote the candidacies Among Democratic primary contenders, someone else (27 percent), wouldn’t vote pulling in 20 percentage points to his of younger Democrats who they happen Warren saw the largest gain in support (12 percent) or are undecided (8 percent). 31, she posted an 8-point gain over the to like better anyway, undoubtedly varies in the poll — an 8 percent jump from last This is an admittedly small subsample, previous survey conducted last month. from case to case. month’s survey. with a very large margin of error. Given Sanders dropped 5 points in the poll, good A lot of rank-and-file voters do have Warren, according to the poll, took sec- Biden is relatively popular (50 percent for third place with 10 percent support. concerns about Biden’s age. ond place behind Biden with the support of favorable versus 42 percent unfavora- The poll shows remarkable growth for An NBC News/Wall Street Journal ble), the universe of voters who dislike 20 percent of Democratic primary voters. Warren over the last five months — she poll in February found that 62 percent both him and Trump is likely to be a very Sanders dropped to third, now at 10 has gained 16 points since March — while of voters had reservations about voting small share of the roughly 1,000 people percent in the poll and the only other Biden has remained somewhat steady over for someone aged 75 or older. Other polls surveyed. (I asked Fox about the sample have also shown advanced age to be a candidate aside from Warren and Biden the same period.Sanders’ second-place scoring double digit support among voters. size but haven’t heard back yet.) concern among Democrats, Republicans There is nothing in its application for tax exempt status lead has diminished steadily over the same Biden dropped slightly in the poll from But even accounting for that, this is and independents alike. about junkets for politicians. Yet today AIEF funds AIPAC period, with Thursday’s survey the first a previous Fox News poll in July, from ominous for Trump. That’s because these But there hasn’t been much discussion organized trips to Israel for members of Congress costing in which he dropped into third place. He 33 percent to 31 percent, but remains the voters — those who disliked both him and of age from the other candidates. Eric $10,000 or more per individual. has dropped 13 points since May. Sen. clear front-runner in the race according Clinton — made the difference for him in Swalwell brought it up explicitly in the AIPAC staffers organize and conduct the tours. Thanks to Kamala Harris is not far behind him in to the survey. 2016. As Philip Bump wrote last month: first presidential debate, when he urged AIEF and a handful of similar groups, one out of every three The Fox News poll was taken between Nationally, Trump had a 17-point edge fourth place, with 8 percent. privately funded congressional trips lands in Israel. voters to “pass the torch to a new gener- Aug. 11-13 and contacted 1,013 registered with those voters, according to exit polls. Thursday’s poll has no bearing on next A recent representative poll of 2,000 voting age Americans ation of Americans.” Rather than echo voters on landlines and cellphones. The In the three states that handed him the month’s debate in Houston, since every asked about the Democratic Party delegation to Israel reveals Swalwell’s argument, however, Kamala margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent presidency — Michigan, Pennsylvania candidate polling above 2 percent has 65.7% opposed it and think representatives should instead Harris tried to defuse the situation by for all registered voters, and 4.5 percent and Wisconsin — he won those voters already reached the polling threshold return to their districts. suggesting that discussions of age and for Democratic primary voters. by 21, 25 and 37 points, respectively. In for the debate stage. Poll: 41 House Democrats are now visiting Israel during generational change were tantamount 2 troubling signs for Trump in this new each state, those voters made up about The Fox poll shows that any of the the Congressional recess on a trip funded by a tax-exempt to schoolyard insults. “America does not Fox News poll a fifth of the electorate. top four Democratic contenders would pro-Israel charity linked to the US Israel lobby group AIPAC. want to witness a food fight, they want As Washington Post reported, Trump It was one-fifth of the electorate be- best President Donald Trump in a hypo- Following the Jack Abramoff travel scandal, a 2007 law to know how we are going to put food on fails to crack 40 percent in any matchup cause only about 40 percent of voters liked thetical head-to-head matchup. Biden was intended to prevent registered lobbies like AIPAC from their table,” she said. with a potential 2020 opponent in a new both Trump and Clinton. It’s a smaller opens up the widest lead against Trump, conducting such junkets. Fox News poll. And that may not be the universe today, because Trump’s image Maybe anti-Biden Democrats — and But like laws forbidding foreign aid to clandestine nuclear beating him 50-38, while Harris would worst of it for him. the other candidates — think they’re being powers, regulating foreign agents, and combating espionage The new Fox poll is arguably Trump’s coy by using Biden’s gaffes as a proxy for against the US, the lobbying law is completely ignored as worst of the early polls testing potential concerns about his age. applied to Israel and AIPAC.One core question is how AIEF general-election matchups. No reason to get tarred with allega- ever gained or maintains tax exempt IRS status given the di- He trails Joe Biden by 12 percentage tions of ageism, they figure, or to risk vergence between its original claimed social welfare purpose points (50 percent to 38 percent), Sen. offending older voters who turn out in and observable activities. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) by nine points (48 big numbers in the primaries. One reason is the longstanding, mostly unreported, close to 39), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) by (Also, if the candidate they prefer to relationship between the Israel lobby and the US Department seven (46 to 39) and Sen. Kamala D. Harris Biden is Bernie Sanders, they have the of Treasury. (Calif.) by six (45 to 39). further problem that Sanders is a year AIPAC and another related entity, the Washington That’s tied for his biggest deficit to date older than Biden at 77.)1 Show rather than Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) were instrumental against Warren, according to RealClear- tell, as the maxim goes: Plant a few seeds in creating the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelli- Politics, and it’s close to his biggest deficits and let voters build a narrative about gence. OTFI has been led exclusively by hard-core Zionists against the others, too. Biden’s age on their own, without having and functions as Israel’s office of boycott, divestment It’s just one poll of course, and even to give them the hard sell. and sanctions. high-quality polls have margins of error. This strategy might even work! It’s still The IRS has also long been a captive of Israel lobby activ- It’s possible Trump’s support percentage fairly early, and Biden’s age is perhaps ity. Under former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman the is really in the 40s, just like in most oth- his biggest risk factor — bigger, in my IRS gutted its own oversight of “Friends of Israel” charities er polls.But if you drill down, there are view, than his policy positions, which shuffling billions of dollars offshore into illegal settlements. a couple other problematic pieces of this are often more in line with the views of Over decades and despite lawsuits and persistent Free- poll for Trump. the average Democrat than those of the dom of Information Act Requests, the IRS still refuses to The first is his vote share versus his more liberal candidates. clarify its position on illegal settlements. approval rating. But especially in the era of Trump A close tie to the IRS is also the story of how the American There has been plenty of talk about — who, of course, has already begun to Israel Education Foundation came into being. Although Trump’s consistently low approval rat- question Biden’s mental fitness — there AEIF claims it “was created in 1990” it actually formed in ing and how it sets him up for reelection. might also be something to be said for September of 1988 and applied for tax-exempt status in But in this poll, he doesn’t even com- saying the quiet part out loud. April of 1989. AIEF’s application presented tightly argued pletely lock down that vote. While he gets In a poll conducted shortly after the first reasons for why it should immediately – and forever after – 38 to 39 percent in all four matchups, his debate, some Democratic voters explicitly be affirmed by the IRS as a tax-exempt educational charity. approval rating is actually 43 percent. used Swalwell’s “pass the torch” language The IRS delivered a determination letter to AEIF in That means roughly 4 percent of reg- when asked an open-ended question about just four months. istered voters say they approve of Trump why they didn’t want to vote for Biden. There was little chance for a conditional five year “pro- have the closest contest — though still but they’re not ready to vote for him.And is slightly better and Biden’s is signifi- And they were much more likely to bationary” period which is common for new entities with outside the margin of sampling error — as Josh noted, this isn’t the first cantly better than Clinton’s. But it’s also explicitly mention Biden’s age than to no track record. That is because of AIEF’s October 11, 1988 beating Trump 45-39. poll to show that. true that this universe of voters probably use vaguer responses, such as that he (PDF) seven-page justification for why it should receive tax The poll also shows a nearly even split I looked back on three other high-quality comes more from the right side of the was “out of touch.” exempt status. in what Democratic primary voters are national polls and found a drop-off in all electorate, given Biden’s superior image There’s also risk to anti-Biden Democrats It was signed off and most likely entirely drafted by Milton looking for in a presidential candidate. three — albeit not as big as in Fox’s poll. rating. And yet Trump barely gets any in drawing voters’ attention to gaffes or Cerny who had worked as the technical advisor in charge of Forty-eight percent of voters said they’d Reelection bids are generally viewed as support here. other incidents that voters view as rela- tax exempt rulings at the IRS National Office in Washington like a Democratic nominee to build upon referendums on the incumbent in which, For now, let’s set aside the numbers tively minor. up until departing the IRS in September of 1988 to “begin” the legacy of former President Barack in a close race, you’d expect the president in the head-to-head matchups. The fact Biden remains an extremely well-liked work on AIEF’s submission. Obama, while 47 percent said they’d prefer figure among Democratic voters; 75 percent to at least get the percentage of voters is that Trump can win reelection with an Despite well-documented complaint filings to the IRS a new approach. of them have a favorable view of him, ac- who approve of him. approval rating in the low-to-mid 40s, that AIEF is a prohibited “sham…alter ego” organization of which is where it’s been throughout his The survey was conducted Aug. 11-13 cording to Morning Consult’s latest polling. AIPAC, there is little chance the IRS will compare AIEF’s For Trump, it appears there is a small presidency. among a random national sample of 1,013 So three-quarters of the electorate is present day activities with its original tax exempt purpose. percentage of people who like the job he’s But he can’t do it if he’s not locking down registered voters and has a margin of sam- going to start with a predilection against Likewise for yet another official IRS complaint about AI- done but for whatever reason — concern pling error of plus or minus 3 percentage for sympathizing with critiques of Biden. If PAC’s own failure to mention in its 1967 application for about his tendency to fly off the handle, basically everyone who approves of him and all registered voters. It has a margin of error those critiques aren’t really bringing the tax exempt status that it was formerly an unincorporated perhaps, or the fact that they also like is getting beaten among those who dislike of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points for the goods and instead seem like petty griev- lobbying division of an umbrella organization ordered to the Democrats — aren’t yet on board with both him and his Democratic opponent. 483 Democratic primary voters surveyed. ances, those Democrats may conclude that register as the foreign agent of Israel by the Department his reelection. It’s one thing to run for If those findings are accurate, then fo- cusing on his low approval rating might Voters Care About Biden’s Age — Not the case against Biden is a lot of hot air. of Justice in 1962. reelection with a low approval rating; Meanwhile, if the false alarms contin- actually oversell his reelection chances. About His Gaffes In the 1960s IRS Commissioner Mortimer Caplin, a it’s another to not even be able to count ue — as in, Democrats on Twitter or on Poll: Warren jumps over Sanders for Also Fivethirtyeight Reported that After longtime Israel booster, delayed and finally brushed off a on that level of support. podcasts predict Biden’s demise and the second place behind Biden a week’s worth of media focus on a series of 1963 Senate Foreign Relations Committee demand for the An alternative reading, of course, is polls are unmoved — the media may come gaffes and misstatements by former Vice review of Israel lobby entity tax exempt status. that these voters are ripe for Trump to As Politico reported, Sen. Elizabeth to view Biden as a Trump-like “Teflon” President Joe Biden, Democratic voters Today in an America where key federal and even state bring back into the fold and increase his Warren has leapfrogged Sen. candidate who isn’t greatly affected by are reacting by … apparently not giving agencies are under increasingly intense levels of capture vote share as the race moves forward. Bernie Sanders for second place nation- gaffes and scandals. by Israel and its US lobby, warranted accountability and much of a damn. But even then, he’s not in great shape. ally in the Democratic presidential primary, That could reduce their appetite for cov- compliance with regulations rigorously enforced on most Granted, there hasn’t been a ton of The second problematic number comes according to a new poll out Thursday. ering them in the future — even if more other taxpayers simply does not exist. polling this week. But what data we have from Fox News’s write-up of its poll: The new Fox News poll of registered serious ones occur than what’s taken place . I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 18, 2019 ANALYSIS & INTERVIEW 7

The U.S. government doesn’t UAE hatching evil plots against neighbouring care about Afghan women countries, Arab World By Maj. Danny Sjursen What’s more, if the many D.C.-based United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the name of a country that backers of continued, perpetual US military TEHRAN — Antiwar-In once, and to some didn’t exist before 1971 when the area was called Emirates involvement in Afghanistan were truly con- extent still, relatively cosmopolitan Baghdad, of Motesalehe or the Emirates of the Coast of Oman. Iraq, I once saw three young female college cerned with women’s rights, perhaps they’d students from Mustansiriyah University raise the alarm about the millions of women walking home from class. They couldn’t have oppressed by Washington’s ally, the Saudi been more differently clothed. One wore a full absolute monarchy. After all, women in the burqa that exposed only her eyes; another kingdom live under the thumb of venal theoc- a hijab, a more modest head scarf without racy, as morality police roam the Saudi streets. a facial veil, and a pair of jeans; the third This is a kingdom that still beheads women sported a pink miniskirt and a revealing tank for “sorcery” and “witchcraft.” On this topic, top with her long hair fully exposed. Still, you’ll hear hardly a peep from the dominant they chatted like old friends. class of Washington interventionists. By early 2007, this range of women’s One final note on mainstream milita- clothing was already highly rare in all but rist hypocrisy. A majority of these folks are the safest Baghdad neighborhoods, yet it did older, white, socially conservative American still happen. I remember woefully realizing men. Hardly feminists by any stretch of the that I, a 23-year-old American lieutenant, had imagination, on domestic policy they widely been treated to a rare glimpse of Saddam’s refuse to address the pervasive gender pay largely secular (if brutal) regime that had gap, have no stomach for ratification of the preceded the U.S. military’s ill-fated inva- Equal Rights Amendment and support the sion. Before Uncle Sam fractured Iraq and escalating state-based war on constitutionally protected abortion rights. See, the militarists’ empowered Islamist zealots, I was often told This country which appeared on the map of the world ethnic Pashtun villagers wanted it that way. ianism in general. The US military and CIA hypocrisy knows no bounds. by locals that men and women could go on on December second 1971, now has taken up a destabi- I think about that striking young girl invaded Afghanistan out of vengeance for the The whole phony concern for Afghan dates and drink alcohol publicly in cafes along lizing role in Middle East and is trying to interfere in the occasionally as I repeatedly argue for the 9/11 attacks, out of a degree of uncertainty women’s rights in the wake of a potential the Tigris River. But those days were gone. affairs of other Arab countries in the region, both openly full and rapid withdrawal of the US military about what else to do. Someone had to pay, US military withdrawal is a canard. These Four years later, and even further east and in secret. from Afghanistan—which is, after all, the gold someone had to be bombed, and bin Laden hypocrites’ calls for perpetual war on behalf in the proverbial Greater Mideast, while UAE’s destructive role, especially in suppressing public standard of hopeless wars. As I’ve predicted, was, well, in Afghanistan. of Afghan women’s souls serve only as an patrolling rural Kandahar, Afghanistan— protests became more evident after the events of Septem- it seems likely the Taliban will either conquer Treating the terror attacks as an act of war excuse for imperial expansion, future domi- birthplace of the Taliban movement—I ber 2011; as UAE and its allies did their best to stop the much of the country outright in the near rather than an international crime was then nation of Afghan mineral wealth, a regional hardly even saw a solitary grown woman. progress of Arab countries and prevent the public uprisings future or at least maintain de facto control the original sin of these forever wars. The check on the growing Chinese dragon and There, in the backwater of a country full of that were rooted in Islamic reawakening. of Afghanistan’s Pashtun-dominated south rapid decision to shift strategy in Afghani- mastery of potential oil pipelines to bypass backwaters, adult women were rarely seen On the other hand, Al Nahyan, one of the six ruling fam- and east indefinitely. That means Afghan stan from limited counter-terror operations Russia. It’s all old-fashioned geopolitics, outdoors and never without a male family ilies of the UAE, did its best to destroy all resistant groups women in those regions, and potentially to nation-building, counterinsurgency and folks, mixed with some absurd attachment member as an escort. that were against Zionists such as Hamas and Hezbollah many others, will suffer.Yet, here’s the nasty prolonged military occupation ought to be by the military to dominance of the region. It was all rather archaic and made Baghdad to prepare the ground for normalizing relations between truth: When I (and some 100,000 other US considered the second sin. The Afghan people, especially women, rank seem as liberal as Boston. I remember one Israel and Arab nations; something that led to creation of troops) occupied much of Afghanistan, rural Make no mistake: The well-being of Af- as little more than pawns in a new Great young girl with shocking blue eyes, maybe the Deal of the Century. women still suffered. We could scarcely alter ghan women hardly motivated the architects Game in this long-contested region. twelve, playing close to my patrol base in To give an example, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was the longstanding cultural traditions of these of the American invasion and occupation. This author, as a former “guest” in the the nearby village of Pashmul. Watching among top Hamas leaders and was the chief of the Izz regions. If, at the height of Obama’s Afghan Need proof? Here’s an ever-so-brief history country, and as a (mostly) empathetic hu- her skip a strange, improvised jump rope ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades was assassinated in Dubai. surge, the status of most (largely pastoral) lesson. During the Soviet war in Afghanistan man, is sad for the women who do and will gave me rare moments of innocent joy in Later, Yedioth Ahronoth, Israeli daily newspaper said the women didn’t change, what hope do the (1979-89), the CIA not-so-secretly backed live under medieval Taliban rule. Still, the an altogether dangerous place I shouldn’t assassination was planned by Mossad and was carried out remaining 14,500 or so American soldiers some of the worst Islamist theocrat “freedom realist in me recognizes the limits of American have been in in the first place. in cooperation with UAE’s intelligence service. still there have to protect these women? And fighters” against the Soviet-backed secular military power, that the war shouldn’t have Then one day, she disappeared, this (to There are many similar examples, in another one, we after 18 years of stalemate, if—as now seems communist government then in power. ever been fought and can’t be won. And as a me) nameless, joyful girl, never to be seen see that UAE’s secret service agent enters the Gaza Strip obvious—the US can’t meaningfully win this Whatever else Soviet socialist-style reforms born-again skeptic and a student of Afghan again. Eventually I asked a village elder, through Egypt, under the cover of a Red Crescent volunteer war, what point is there in pining over the fate brought to Afghanistan, they undoubtedly history, I know this much, too: Washington who probably played both sides—Taliban to spy on Hamas and Palestinian resistant groups in order of human rights in this landlocked Central greatly improved the lot of local women, who helped create what became the Taliban, sold and America—against the other, what had to give information to the Zionist regime. Asian time warp? gained full civil and social rights, access to out Afghan women to theocracy once before happened to the blue-eyed Afghan girl. His Apart from activities against Palestinians, UAE has also Sure, it’s disturbing, but it’s also a solid education and prospects for professional ca- in the interest of embarrassing a Cold War answer was simple: puberty. She had had tried to sabotage Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan Al-Muslim- fact of life. What’s more, militarist, inter- reers. Uncle Sam hardly cared about Afghan rival, and never, ever, cared much about the her first period, was immediately deemed in) in Egypt through its media channels such as Al-Hayat, ventionist mainstream foreign policy wonks’ women back then. It was not so long ago plight of the blue-eyed girl who once made a “woman,” and cloistered away behind the Al Youm Al Sabee, and Al-Masry Al-Youm. Furthermore, sudden feigned concern for the fate of Af- when Washington knowingly backed the most me smile. mud walls of her family home until her fa- UAE gave full financial support and security help to certain ghan women is cynical bunk meant only to chauvinist theocrats in the Afghan mujahi- I only wish the militarists in the foreign ther decided to marry her off—likely to a groups in order to topple Muslim Brotherhood. prolong America’s longest ever war. It was deen and, let’s not forget, the Islamists’ Arab policy elite would admit as much, and leave much, much older man. Such was life in rural UAE is a big supporter of Egypt’s current government. never about women’s rights or humanitar- volunteers—including one Osama bin Laden. the abandoned Afghan women out of it. southern Afghanistan. It seemed most of the The country keep spending billions of dollars to carry out Zionists’ plans in Middle East and suppress any democratic movement in the region that is based on public votes and people’s determination. Trump’s tariffs mean a less merry Christmas in US An example of UAE’s interference in is the story of Yusef Mobarak. He was arrested in Al-Aqiq Airport in By Hu Weijia thanks to Trump’s tariffs, because countries outside China Tripoli after the intelligence service of Libya’s Government GLOBALTIMES —If China plays the card of the holiday can hardly develop a production capacity that is large enough of National Accord accused him of taking pictures from economy to hit back on the US in the trade war, Americans to meet the demand from the US market in the short run. high-security centers and foreign embassies in Tripoli. may have an unforgettable Christmas this year with price That’s why Trump pulled back from some pending tariffs After investigations, it was revealed that Yusef was a main hikes for Christmas trees, plastic reindeer, glittery wreaths ahead of the Christmas season. link to Khalifa Haftar, the renegade military commander of and even Bibles. The US is delaying tariffs on made-in-China items such Libya, and was particularly supported by UAE and Abdel US President Donald Trump said earlier this week that as cellphones, laptop computers, video game consoles, and Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt’s president. he is delaying some tariffs on Chinese imports because of certain toys, footwear and clothing. This means the US market Everyone knows that UAE’s army has given modern the Christmas season, “just in case some of the tariffs would has rigid demand for those items and can tolerate price hikes. weapons and high-tech tanks to Khalifa Haftar and has have an impact on US customers.” Trump previously claimed This can be a bargaining chip in China’s trade negotiations supported the renegade commander against Tripoli. UAE’s that China is paying the full price of his tariffs, but now he with the US: Trump can delay tariffs on imports from China interference in Libya is aimed at keeping the country en- has changed his mantra that the tariffs may have an impact to curb inflation, so China can encourage its companies to tangled in wars and chaos, so that Libya can become a on US consumers. raise the prices of certain products to push up inflation. heaven for the intelligence services of the United States, Some statistics show that two-thirds of the world’s Even if Chinese exporters raise their prices, US consumers Israel and UAE. Christmas decorations are produced in Yiwu, East China’s cannot find alternative products in the short run. This may UAE has also been seriously interfering in Tunisia. Zhejiang Province. In the US, some 90 percent of imported give an advantage to China during the upcoming holiday The country is putting enormous political and economic Christmas ornaments and lights come from China, the US shopping season. pressure on Tunisia to expand its control over it and crush media outlet marketplace.org reported, citing data from China won’t be content to only play defense in the trade all the public movements. They have forced Tunisia to the US Census Bureau. war. Trump’s decision to delay tariffs reminds China that gious texts in China. If the US-launched trade war results in choose between surrendering to UAE and suffering under Not only Christmas ornaments but also a wide range of it can choose certain products on which to raise prices in a price hike or even a shortage of Bibles during the Christmas a security crisis. made-in-China products hold a large market share in the the US market. holiday, Americans will be deeply impressed by the inter- Yemen is another country that is crushed by UAE’s inter- US, so US consumers may have to endure higher prices Most US publishers print the Bible and some other reli- connection between China and the US economy. ference. UAE has done a dirty job in Yemen by destroying Yemen’s infrastructures and killing thousands of innocent Yemeni citizens. The octopus of UAE has extended its claws to Oman as well. Oman intelligence service discovered an Emirati spy Wise companies in Hong Kong ought to draw a clear line against violent protests network that was supposed to predict and influence what By Hu Weijia are very short-sighted. They may have The economic or commercial boom will also happens in Oman after Sultan Qaboos. The network was pandered to some groups but it will end be dealt a blow, thus companies’ long-term trying to make strong bonds with anti-government tribes GLOBALTIMES — A group of violent pro- up costing them business.Compared to interests will be undermined. such as Al Shuluh tribe which has close relationships with testers in Hong Kong organized a series of the rioters, the majority of the population The recent violence in Hong Kong has UAE, especially with Ras al Khaimah emirate. illegal rallies and violent protests that have seeks peace. Compared to a small fraction had a severe impact on the local economy. Another UAE spy network was discovered in Turkey had devastating effects on the local economy of Hong Kong secessionist forces, China’s The tourism, retail and restaurant sectors of and brought shame to Emirati leaders. According to and people’s well-being.Radical protesters 1.4 billion strong population means a Hong Kong have all seen an apparent decline Turkish media, UAE was trying to support some of the tarnished the national emblem mounted on huge market. Some companies fail to see in business. The Hong Kong stock market government dissidents and army commanders including an official building, desecrated the national the bigger picture. has also taken a plunge. Fethullah Gülen. Turkish intelligence service also dis- flag, defying national sovereignty and seriously Although the majority of companies Companies should not become accom- covered that Mohammed Dahlan entered Turkey under challenging the “one country, two systems” understand the situation very well, a select plices of the rioters. Moreover, they need to a fake identity and by using an Emirati passport. In principle. Such violent actions have triggered number are still willing to take chances see themselves as an important symbol of this secret trip, he had meetings with the opponents of public anger across China. by acting in contradictory ways on the maintaining a stable and prosperous society. Turkish government. Illegal protests and violence are sup- Hong Kong question. However, in the They should stand up and draw a clear UAE is also trying to expand its reach to the Islamic posed to be condemned by all of society, internet age, this duplicity can hardly boundary against violent actions. Some Republic of Iran as well. The country has already given but it is unfortunate that certain influential hide itself. Behavior that hurts Chinese multinational corporations have taken re- financial support and intelligence to some terrorist cells multinational companies doing business in people’s feelings are always eventually sponsible actions, expressing their stances that worked against Iran. Once again, UAE’s efforts to in- Hong Kong are not acting wisely. Some are uncovered by netizens, and the companies against violence, and their support of safe- terfere in Iran was proved when it was revealed that Global catering to the radical protesters, others guilty of such behavior are criticized or spect and abide by the local rule of law guarding the rule of law.It does not mean Hawk drone was sent to Iran from an Emirati base.Apart try to hype themselves up, and some even boycotted.Companies are supposed to be and international consensus, instead of that all corporations will be forced to take from having a destructive role in Middle Eastern countries, play an insidious role in supporting the rational entities. Their decisions should intentionally turning a blind eye to it or a position or speak out. UAE is quickly expanding its relationship with the Zionist violent protests. take both company and society interests feigning ignorance. However, it is necessary for all to draw a regime. Now, Zionists have representative offices in Abu Whether it is out of ignorance or pur- into account. In the case of Hong Kong, all enterprises line against violence with their actions, not Dhabi and can freely travel to UAE. posely done, these companies are doing A responsible company needs to build a should respect Hong Kong’s legal system and to be hijacked or deceived by violence, and All these facts show that Al Nahyan family and specially the wrong thing.The reason is simple: coherent image worldwide and protect that value the “one country, two systems” princi- not root for it. Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of the Emirate Any company with a sense of social re- image through practical actions. Localiza- ple, rather than practice irrationality.They This should be their bottom line. Silence of Abu Dhabi, are the main causes of war in Arab World sponsibility should not be associated with tion of services should never be used as an should understand that stability underpins or even encouragement of violence will harm and division among Muslims. They are completely abiding violence. Only a stable social environment excuse to go out of the way to cater to certain business success. Stability is based on abiding and wound the pacifists the most. In this by the goals of the Zionist regime; therefore, the Muslim can help businesses flourish. Commercial radical groups. by the law. If any illegal incident or violence sense, the vast number of consumers on the community and Arab world should free itself from the entities which are eager to promote hype A responsible company ought to re- occurs, it is not only a public security issue. mainland always have sharp eyes. influence of this evil element. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 8 ADVERTISEMENTS AUGUST 18, 2019

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Moon glows brighter than sun in Study predicts universe’s population of Earth-like images from NASA’s Fermi planets orbiting sun-like stars These images show the steadily improving view and would always look full,” said Loparco. How many other Earths are there? Scientists still aren’t sure, but of the Moon’s gamma-ray glow from NASA’s As NASA sets its sights on sending humans researchers have narrowed the range of possibilities. Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Each to the Moon by 2024 through the Artemis In a new study, astronomers offered the most accurate formula yet 5-by-5-degree image is centered on the Moon program, with the eventual goal of sending for calculating the rate of Earth-like planets orbiting sun-like stars. and shows gamma rays with energies above astronauts to Mars, understanding various For the research, scientists surveyed the exoplanet discover- 31 million electron volts, or tens of millions of aspects of the lunar environment take on new ies made by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, which identifies alien times that of visible light. At these energies, importance. These gamma-ray observations worlds by observing the dimming of stellar light as exoplanets transit the Moon is actually brighter than the Sun. are a reminder that astronauts on the Moon across the face of their host stars. Scientists can use the transit data Brighter colors indicate greater numbers of will require protection from the same cosmic collected by Kepler to estimate the size of the planet and its distance gamma rays. This image sequence shows rays that produce this high-energy gamma from its host star. how longer exposure, ranging from two to radiation. 128 months (10.7 years), improved the view. While the Moon’s gamma-ray glow is If our eyes could see high-energy radiation surprising and impressive, the Sun does shine called gamma rays, the Moon would appear brighter in gamma rays with energies higher brighter than the Sun! That’s how NASA’s than 1 billion electron volts. Cosmic rays with Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has seen lower energies do not reach the Sun because our neighbor in space for the past decade. its powerful magnetic field screens them out. Gamma-ray observations are not But much more energetic cosmic rays can sensitive enough to clearly see the shape phenomena in the universe, like the blast The Moon absorbs most of these gamma penetrate this magnetic shield and strike of the Moon’s disk or any surface features. waves of exploding stars and jets produced rays, but some of them escape. the Sun’s denser atmosphere, producing Instead, Fermi’s Large Area Telescope (LAT) when matter falls into black holes,” explained Mazziotta and Loparco analyzed Fermi gamma rays that can reach Fermi. detects a prominent glow centered on the Mazziotta. LAT lunar observations to show how the Although the gamma-ray Moon doesn’t Moon’s position in the sky. Because the particles are electrically view has improved during the mission. show a monthly cycle of phases, its brightness Mario Nicola Mazziotta and Francesco charged, they’re strongly affected by They rounded up data for gamma rays with does change over time. Fermi LAT data show “Kepler discovered planets with a wide variety of sizes, compositions Loparco, both at Italy’s National Institute of magnetic fields, which the Moon lacks. As energies above 31 million electron volts -- that the Moon’s brightness varies by about and orbits,” study author Eric B. Ford, professor of astronomy and Nuclear Physics in Bari, have been analyzing a result, even low-energy cosmic rays can more than 10 million times greater than the 20% over the Sun’s 11-year activity cycle. astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University, said in a news release. the Moon’s gamma-ray glow as a way of better reach the surface, turning the Moon into a energy of visible light -- and organized them Variations in the intensity of the Sun’s “We want to use those discoveries to improve our understanding of understanding another type of radiation from handy space-based particle detector. When over time, showing how longer exposures magnetic field during the cycle change the planet formation and to plan future missions to search for planets space: fast-moving particles called cosmic rays. cosmic rays strike, they interact with the improve the view. rate of cosmic rays reaching the Moon, that might be habitable. However, simply counting exoplanets of a “Cosmic rays are mostly protons powdery surface of the Moon, called the “Seen at these energies, the Moon would altering the production of gamma rays. given size or orbital distance is misleading, since it’s much harder accelerated by some of the most energetic regolith, to produce gamma-ray emission. never go through its monthly cycle of phases (Source: Science Daily) to find small planets far from their star than to find large planets close to their star.” To overcome this bias, Ford and his colleagues developed a model to analyze how many planets -- and at what range of sizes and orbital Elon Musk wants to drop nuclear Scientists find natural pigment in distances -- Kepler would find in a simulated universe. “We used the final catalog of planets identified by Kepler and bombs on Mars 54-million-year-old insect eyes improved star properties from the European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft to build our simulations,” said co-author Danley Hsu, a Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Scientists were surprised to find a natural grad student at Penn State. “By comparing the results to the planets still wants to drop nuclear bombs on pigment called eumelanin in the 54-million- cataloged by Kepler, we characterized the rate of planets per star Mars to transform it into a livable planet year-old eyes of an ancient crane fly. The and how that depends on planet size and orbital distance. Our novel for humans — as evidenced by his latest fossilized fly was recovered from Denmark’s approach allowed the team to account for several effects that have tweet on Friday morning. Fur Formation. not been included in previous studies.” Musk believes that by hitting Mars “We were surprised by what we found The simulations suggest approximately one in four sun-like stars with nuclear weapons, the planet’s because we were not looking for, or ex- host an Earth-like exoplanet, a planet three-quarters to one-and-a- polar ice caps could melt and release pecting it,” Johan Lindgren, an associate half times the size of earth and with an orbital period between 237 vast amounts of carbon dioxide into the professor in the geology department at Lund and 500 days. atmosphere, which would essentially University in Sweden, said in a news release. The research, published this week in the Astronomical Journal, could create a greenhouse effect that raises Eumelanin, a type of melanin, is found prove useful to scientists looking for signs of alien life on Earth-like the temperature and air pressure of the It’s unclear if Musk is actually serious in human eyes. After finding the pigment in group of extinct marine arthropods from the planets. Understanding the relative abundance or scarcity of Earth-like planet — like a really quick version of about the “Nuke Mars!” shirts, but he the eyes of a prehistoric crane fly, scientists Cambrian period, used mineralized lenses exoplanets can help researchers properly scale their search efforts. climate change. does seem very serious about making went looking for it in the eyes of living crane to see. The latest research -- published this “Knowing how often we should expect to find planets of a given Musk has shared this opinion for humans an “interplanetary species”. flies. Sure enough, it was there. week in the journal Nature -- suggests the size and orbital period is extremely helpful for optimize surveys for years, dating back to interviews with the His company SpaceX is currently By comparing the ancient and modern hypothesis is flawed. exoplanets and the design of upcoming space missions to maximize billionaire from 2015. He even went on testing a prototype version of its rocket crane fly eyes, scientists were able to gain “The general view has been that trilo- their chance of success,” Ford said. Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk show to Mars called Starship, which Musk a better understanding of how the fossili- bites had lenses made from single calcium (Source: UPI) to discuss his idea to bomb Mars. hopes will eventually send humans to zation process effects the composition and carbonate crystals,” study author Lindgren In 2017, Musk published an article Mars. structure of an insect eye. said. “However, they were probably much in the journal New Space detailing how The prototype for this ship, called In addition to eumelanin, researchers more similar to modern arthropods in that Scientists to use near-Earth humans could build a 1-million-person Starhopper, just had its first successful also identified calcified ommatidial lenses. their eyes were primarily organic.” colony on Mars in less than a century. test after a previous launch went wrong. Researchers suggest that over time, the The compound eyes of arthropods, object telescope to observe Perhaps in an effort to get more NASA is hoping to use rockets from original chitinous material was replaced including insects and crustaceans, are cosmic mergers people on board with his idea, Musk SpaceX for future visits to the moon by calcium salts. made up of dozens of tiny light-sensitive ommatidia. floated the idea of selling “Nuke Mars!” and Mars. Scientists have previously hypothesized Scientists have reprogrammed the Catalina Sky Survey’s near-Earth (Source: UPI) merchandise to the Twitter crowd. (Source: sciencealert.com) that trilobites, a diverse and widespread object telescopes to look for both asteroids and cosmic mergers. “Catalina Sky Survey has all of this infrastructure for their asteroid survey,” Michael Lundquist, postdoctoral research associate at the University of Arizona, said in a news release. “So we have deployed Here’s what Earth might look like to aliens additional software to take gravitational wave alerts from LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, and the Virgo When Earthly astronomers train their telescopes on When researchers analyzed the curves and compared interferometer then notify the survey to search an area of sky most exoplanets beyond our solar system, they’re lucky to see them with the original images, they figured out which likely to contain the optical counterpart.” even a single dot of light. How can they figure out whether parameters of the curves corresponded to land and cloud it might have suitable conditions for life? To find out how cover in the images. Once they knew those relationships, they might know more, a team of scientists turned the they picked out the parameter most closely related to land problem on its head: They took images of a habitable area, adjusted it for the 24-hour rotation of the Earth, and planet—Earth—and transformed them into something constructed the above contour map, soon to be published alien astronomers light-years away would see. in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The team started with about 10,000 images of our The black lines, which mark the median values for planet taken by NASA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory the land parameter, serves as an approximate coastline. (DSCOVR) satellite, which sits at a gravitational balance Rough outlines of Africa (center), Asia (upper right), and point between Earth and the Sun, allowing it to see only the Americas (left) are clearly visible. While this is obviously the daytime side of the planet. The images were taken at no substitute for an actual image of an alien world, it may 10 specific wavelengths every 1 to 2 hours during 2016 allow future astronomers to assess whether an exoplanet and 2017. wavelength—10 “dots” that, when plotted over time, produce has oceans, clouds, and icecaps—key requirements for a To simulate an alien point of view, the researchers 10 light curves that represent what a distant observer might habitable world. reduced the images into a single brightness reading for each see if they steadily watched exoplanet Earth over 2 years. (Source: sciencemag.org) The Catalina Sky Survey telescopes will continue to look for asteroids, but it will scan parts of the sky that LIGO and Virgo observations suggest is likely to feature the optical signals of merg- Prehistoric humans drove bears ers, the cosmic events thought to be responsible for producing LIGO and Virgo probably spotted the first gravitational waves. black hole swallowing up a neutron star to extinction, DNA study suggests The Catalina Sky Survey began its new approach to sky-gazing in April. In the first month, the telescopes were alerted to look for three Shudders in the cosmos have revealed tentative hints of a rendezvous between Europe’s vegetarian cave bears were driven to They identified five major mitochon- potential massive collisions. what’s likely the sad end of a neutron a black hole and neutron star, but the extinction by humans around 24,000 years drial DNA lineages that originated from a Tracing gravitational waves to the origins and finding the event’s star — getting swallowed by a black hole. signal was weak and could have been a ago, according to a new DNA study. common ancestor around 451,000 years optical counterpart is difficult. Scientists have mostly taken a pre- If confirmed, it would be the first solid false alarm. There was a drastic decline in their pop- ago and spread across Europe – indicating cise approach, using small telescopes with narrow fields of view. The detection of this source of gravitational This new discovery offers much more ulation starting around 40,000 years ago, cave bear distribution was more complex Catalina Sky Survey uses a 60-inch telescope with a wide field of view waves, revealing a type of cataclysm never solid evidence: The detection was so clear the findings, published in Scientific Reports, than previously thought. to image large swaths of sky in just half-an-hour. before spotted. Researchers from the LIGO that it’s considered very unlikely to be suggest. This coincided with the spread of Cave bear populations remained relatively Researchers built a sophisticated algorithm to analyze LIGO and and Virgo gravitational wave observatories a false alarm. The researchers estimate anatomically modern humans in Europe stable until around 40,000 years ago, includ- Virgo data and help the Catalina Sky Survey determine what to look reported the candidate event, which was that the run-in between the two objects and pre-dated climate cooling. ing during two cold periods and multiple for. The team of astronomers described their new survey software detected August 14, in a public database occurred around 900 million light-years “Our study supports a potential significant cooling events, scientists estimate. this week in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. used by astronomers. away, and within an area about 23 square human role in the general extinction and They say that as the cooling climate of Initially, the April alerts triggered the search for 20,000 objects, Scientists are still analyzing the data degrees across the sky. (For comparison, local extirpation of the European cave bear the last ice age started much later – around but the machine-learning algorithm narrowed down the search to to verify what created the gravitational the moon is about half a degree across.) and illuminates the fate of this megafauna 30,000 years ago – the findings suggest other five potential objects. waves, which are tiny vibrations in Astronomers have since been peering at species,” the authors wrote. factors, such as hunting by humans, may The first of the three events was a merger of two black holes. spacetime caused by massive, accelerating that region with their telescopes, looking Researchers led by Verena Schuenemann have had a major impact. “There are some people who think you can get an optical counterpart objects. But one thing seems fairly certain: for any light that may have been emitted from the University of Zurich and Herve Bo- The study also sets out that the cooling to those, but it’s definitely inconclusive,” Lundquist said. “Something has occurred out there in in the merger. Such light could have been cherens, from the University of Tubingenand, climate and subsequent reduced availa- The second event was a merger of two neutron stars -- the giant, the sky,” says physicist Daniel Holz of released if the neutron star were torn apart reconstructed 59 cave bear mitochondrial bility of food from plants may have split dense cores of collapsed stars. the University of Chicago, a member of by the black hole before being gulped genomes from bone. the overall bear population into various While the survey failed to find any corresponding optical signals for LIGO. “So far, it doesn’t obviously look within its depths. The samples were collected across 14 sites sub-populations. the potential merger of objects, astronomers did identify a supernova. like anything we’ve detected with high Further study of the encounter could in , , France, , Ger- They would have inhabited more moderate “We also found a near-Earth object in the search field on April confidence before.” help reveal new secrets about some of the many, Italy and . climates with a rich supply of different plants. 25,” Christensen said. “That proves right there we can do both things LIGO and Virgo previously have picked universe’s most mysterious objects. But The team than compared these genomes By interrupting the connectivity between at the same time.” up gravitational waves from pairs of the potential detection is exciting on its to 64 previously published mitochondrial these sub-populations, humans may have Scientists hope that as the survey continues to run, and as LIGO merging black holes and from colliding own, Holz says. “The first of anything is genomes to show where different populations played a decisive role in the species’ extinc- and Virgo identify new targets, the Catalina Sky Survey will observe the neutron stars, which are extremely dense always really fascinating.” of cave bears lived and how they migrated tion, according to the study. optical signal of a merger event responsible for a gravitational wave. collapsed stars. In April, scientists saw (Source: sciencenews.org) during the Late Pleistocene. (Source: The Independent) (Source: UPI) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 10 HERITAGE & TOURISM AUGUST 18, 2019

Turkish tourism booms with Iran among countries with Eid al-Adha Turkey’s resort towns saw a 100 percent occupancy rate with the discoveries Eid al-Adha holiday, including the southern province of Antalya and Aegean province of Mugla, the top two favorite destinations TOURISM TEHRAN — Iran is on in Spain, France and Germany, he added. of both domestic and foreign tourists. deskthe list of countries that The discovery was made in Wezmeh “We had a great Eid al-Adha holiday as a country. We projected have yielded Neanderthal remains during Cave, in the Kermanshah region of Central 5.5 million citizens to travel to their hometowns and 4.5 million archaeological excavations, Mehr reported Western Zagros. citizens to flock to resort towns,” Ulkay Atmaca, the president of on Saturday. Several fragmented human bones and Professional Hoteliers Association, told Anadolu Agency. The Journal of Human Evolution has re- teeth were discovered in the site. Among “About 10 million people travelled during the holiday season. cently included Iran in the list of countries these human remains one tooth studied in There was especially intensity in the Mediterranean and Aegean in which Neanderthal human remains have detail by Paleoanthropologists such as Erik [provinces],” Atmaca added. been found, the report said. Trinkaus. Wezmeh 1, also known as Wezmeh Existence of in the coun- Child, represented by an isolated unerupted try was confirmed by a new study jointly human maxillary right premolar tooth (P3 or carried out by experts from the University possibly P4) of an individual between 6-10 of Tehran, the University of Poitiers, the years old. It is relatively large compared University of Bordeaux, National Museum with both Holocene and Late Pleistocene of Iran, and Research Institute of Cultural P3 and P4. Later Researchers analyzed it by Heritage and Tourism. non-destructive gamma spectrometry that Established in 1972, the Journal of Human resulted in a date of around 25,000 years Evolution is a monthly peer-reviewed scien- BP (). tific journal covering all aspects of human “Uranium-series analyses of the fauna by and primate evolution. alpha spectrometry provided age estimates Last year, a team of archeologists discov- A Neanderthal premolar tooth from Wezmeh Cave between 70 and 11 ka. Crown dimensions place ered a focalized tooth, believed to be from the tooth specimen at the upper limits of Late a Neanderthal kid, in the central western Pleistocene human ranges of variation…. We Zagros mountainous area. used microfocus X-ray tomography to reas- According to Saman Heydari-Guran, a sess the metameric position and taxonomic senior Iranian archaeologist, the team detect- attribution of this specimen. We investigated On a daily basis, about 100,000 people travelled to Mugla’s ed a milk tooth, belonging to a six-year old its endostructural features and quantified Ula district, which has a population of 4,000. Neanderthal kid, which was found along with crown tissue proportions,” the Journal of “We have hosted guests 25 times more than our population. It several stone tools belonging to the Middle Human Evolution wrote. was a fruitful Eid al-Adha,” said Ismail Akkaya, the mayor of Ula. Paleolithic period, an era between 125,000 “We compared Wezmeh 1 with unworn/ Daily excursion boats also saw a 100 percent occupancy rate in Ula. to 40,000 years ago. slightly-moderately worn P3 and P4 of Euro- While many domestic tourists preferred to have their vacations He said the tooth is the first of its kind being pean Neanderthals, modern at Mugla, Marmaris and Fethiye, the resort towns of Bodrum, excavated in the country with a 100-percent humans from Qafzeh, an Upper Paleolithic others were drawn to Antalya with its golden beaches and tur- certainty of fitting to the Neanderthals. premolar, and Holocene humans. The results quoise-hued waters. “Using radiocarbon-14 dating technique, confirm that Wezmeh 1 represents a P3… In Marmaris, too, daily excursion boats were full. “About 20,000 the tooth is estimated to date from 42,000 to Wezmeh 1 is thus the first direct evidence of vacationers enjoyed a blue voyage, on a daily basis, in each day 45,000 years ago… So, the kid belonged to Neanderthal presence on the western margin of the [Eid al-Adha] holiday,” said Halil Bagli, the chairperson the Neanderthal species with features close of the Iranian Plateau.” of the Marmaris branch of Chamber of Shipping. to modern humans.” The Wezmeh Cave is an archaeological site About 5,000 vacationers each day travelled to the coves of “The recovered tooth is among rare Ne- near Islamabad Gharb, around 470 km (290 Marmaris on gulets, Bagli added. anderthal milk teeth that have been found mi) southwest of the capital Tehran. The site In Antalya, especially the Kaputaj Beach in Kas, Phaselis yet across the world,” the archeologist said. was discovered in 1999 and excavated since Cove in Kemer and the King’s Cove in Gazipasa attracted the Similar fossils have previously been found Entrance of Wezmeh Cave, view from inside 2001 by a team of Iranian archaeologists. attention of visitors. The Cleopatra Beach in Alanya was also a frequent destina- tion of tourists. Cleopatra Beach is among the 10 most beautiful beaches of Turkey. Throughout centuries it was said that the fine WCC-applauded Marivan to host major Foreign visitors hold 40% share of and non-sticking sand of the beach was brought from the North African coast upon Cleopatra’s command. handicrafts exhibit hotel occupancy in Khorasan Razavi In the five-day-long holiday, roughly 600,000 foreign and HERITAGE TEHRAN — Tens of TOURISM TEHRAN — Foreign 100,000 domestic tourists came to Antalya, said Erkan Yagci, deskartisans who are na- desktravelers and pilgrims the head of Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Investors tives of western Iranian provinces will account for some 40 percent share of hotel Association. He also added that 100 percent occupancy rate was show their skills at a vast sales exhibit, occupancy in Khorasan Razavi province, seen in Antalya’s hotels. which will be held in the city of Marivan a local tourism official has said. “There was a tourism volume of 700,000 [people],” he said. from August 22 to 26. The province embraces over 900 hotels, The sector’s expectations have been met with the number of Some 60 stalls will be set up for the apartment hotels and guest houses, ac- tourists arriving in resort towns for vacation, said Osman Ayik, event, in which street theater troupes are cording to provincial tourism department. the chairman of Turkey’s Hoteliers Federation, adding that the scheduled to turn the spotlight on touristic Each day, Mashhad, the provincial sector’s expectations have been met with the number of tourists. capacities of the region, CHTN reported. capital, welcomes thousands of trav- “There was intensity in all regions of Turkey. Many people Located in Kordestan province, Marivan elers, who come from various Iranian travelled during Eid al-Adha. It was also a period in which the was officially named a world crafts city of cities, neighboring countries and even volume of foreign tourists was dense in coastal regions,” Ayik said. Kalash by the World Crafts Council-Asia every corner of the globe to visit the holy This holiday season was profitable, according to Bilal Pacific Region. The city won the WCC-APR shrine complex of Imam Reza (AS), the Korkmaz, chairperson of the Association of Turkish Travel status in September 2017 after a delega- eighth Imam of the Shia Muslims. Agencies (TURSAB). tion of international experts probed the Gholamabbas Arbab-Khales, the head (Source: Hurriyet Daily News) in-house expertise which has been passed of Foreign Ministry’s Mission in East and down generations to generations. North Iran, said earlier in June that the Kalash, also called Giveh, is a tradi- number of foreign travelers to Mashhad has ROUND THE GLOBE tional footwear used to be very popular intended to wear by men, however, in some been rising over the past couple of years. ally, according to [the number of] visas on all over Iran in the past. The lightweight regions they are welcomed by women too “The arrival of foreign tourists to Mash- arrival that are issued by this mission,” National History Park – and breathable footwear was originally in the hot summertime. had is increasing by 15-20 percent annu- the official said. Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers Iranian hajj pilgrims returning home In the northern part of Haiti, the National History Park – Citadel, Sans-Souci, Ramiers (NHP-CSSR) is located in TOURISM TEHRAN — The first group of Iranian taking some 88,000 pilgrims from the Saudi cities of the central zone of the northern massif that extends to the deskhajj pilgrims flew home on Friday, de- Jeddah and Medina to 19 provinces in Iran over a period . parting from Medina in Saudi Arabia to Sari, the capital of 23 days. The NHP-CSSR is located between the coastal plains and of Mazandaran province, Tasnim reported. A total of 361 return flights are scheduled to be oper- the mountainous interior of the region. The choice to build Another group of Iranian hajj pilgrims returned home ated, of which 176 are from Jeddah and the remaining the Citadel on the summits responded to a strategy for inte- on Saturday, leaving Medina for Salam Terminal at Tehran 185 from Medina, Fars reported on Saturday. rior protection, differing from the coastal defense strategy Imam Khomeini Airport City (IKAC). Over 88,500 hajj pilgrims were transported from var- inherited from French colonization. Iranian flag carrier Iran Air sent a special Airbus aircraft ious Iranian airports to Saudi Arabia via 360 flights over from Jeddah to Tehran to transfer the pilgrims, said the the course of 30 days (July 8 – Aug. 6), the report said. general manager of Salam terminal, Mohammad Reza Performing hajj is compulsory on every Muslim at Fardi, according to IKAC news service. least once in their life. It is one of the largest annual A total of 12 flights were operated by Iran Air on Friday gathering of human beings on earth, with approximately to return Iranian pilgrims to the provinces of Mazandaran, three million people gathering each year for three to five Yazd and Zanjan. days between the eighth and 12th of Dhul-Hijjah, the last Return flights will be carried out until September 8, month of the Muslim calendar. Stash of ancient diamonds is discovered near the Earth’s core An ancient reservoir of diamonds that is scientists noticed some basalt lavas from stance known, so they form a perfect time older than the moon has been discovered particular locations had a ratio of helium-3 capsule that provides us a window into the near the Earth’s core, more than 410km to helium-4 isotopes that was higher than deep Earth,” she said. below the surface. usual. What was particularly interesting “We were able to extract helium gas from Created by presidential decree in 1978, to preserve the The diamonds had lain undisturbed for was that this ratio mirrored the isotope 23 super-deep diamonds from the Juina splendid natural scenery of the mountainous peaks covered more than 4.5 billion years before being ratio found on early meteorites that had area of . with luxuriant vegetation, the NHP-CSSR covers an area of brought to the surface by a violent volcanic crashed into Earth. “These showed the characteristic iso- 25 km2. It includes the monumental ensemble of the Palace eruption in Brazil. This suggested the lava had come from topic composition that we would expect of Sans-Souci and its annex buildings, the Citadelle Henry An international group of scientists meas- some deep reservoir in Earth which hasn’t from a very ancient reservoir, confirming and the Ramiers site, universal symbols of liberty, being the ured helium isotopes – different atomic changed for billions of years. that the gases are remnants of a time at or first monuments to be constructed by black slaves who had forms of helium – in the diamonds to find “This pattern has been observed in ‘ocean even before the moon and Earth collided.” gained their freedom. For Haitians, they represent the first the ancient reservoir, according to a study island basalts’, which are lavas coming to By studying the diamonds, scientists monuments of their independence. published in Science. the surface from deep in the Earth, and form could tell they came from an area called On 1 January 1804, after fourteen years of struggle by Researchers say they acted as “perfect islands such as and Iceland,” said Dr the ‘transition zone’ which is between 410 The diamonds were ‘perfect time cap- the island’s black slaves against the colonists, Jean-Jacques time capsules” that gave them an insight Suzette Timmerman, from the Australian and 660km below the surface of the Earth. sules’ that gave scientists an insight into Dessalines, the principal leader of the revolution, proclaimed into the tumultuous period shortly after National University, who led the research. “This means that this unseen reservoir, a violent period shortly after the Earth the independent Republic of Haiti. The “Emperor” Dessalines the planet formed. During this period there “The problem is that although these ba- left over from the Earth’s beginnings, must formed (Graham Pearson) immediately entrusted to one of his generals, Henri Christo- was so much violent geological activity that salts are brought to the surface, we only see be in this area or below it,” said Dr Tim- scientists map out where these ancient phe, the task of constructing an immense fortress on the Pic almost nothing of the young planet’s original a glimpse of their history. We don’t know merman. domains are in the Earth’s deep interior. Laferriere, to protect the young republic. structure remained. much about the mantle where their melts No one knows the size of the reservoir “This work is an important step towards Both military installation and political manifesto, the However, amid all this change, it had came from,” said Dr Timmerman. and they believe there could be more than understanding these reservoirs, and points Citadelle Henry, constructed to a height of 970 m, is one of long been suspected there was an area of the To find out more, researchers studied one of them. the way to further research,” he said. the best examples of the art of military engineering of the mantle somewhere between the crust and helium isotope ratios in super-deep dia- Professor Matthew Jackson from the Scientists will present their work at the early 19th century. core which had been relatively undisturbed. monds that formed between 150 and 230km University of California, Santa Barbara, who Goldschmidt conference in Barcelona later (Source: UNESCO) Until now, there was no proof it existed below the Earth’s crust. “Diamonds are the was not involved in the research, said the this month. The first clues came in the 1980s when hardest, most indestructible natural sub- result was “interesting” and would help (Source: Independent) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 18, 2019 TECHNOLOGY 11

Iran wins 27 prizes Iranian technology delegation to visit China at FIRA Robo in November TECHNOLOGY TEHRAN – A delegation of 50 Iranian knowl- deskedge-based firms will travel to China in November in order to boost technological cooperation between the two countries. World Cup 2019 Heading by the vice president for science and technology, Sourena Sattari, the delegation is scheduled to hold meetings from November 10 to 14, Mehr reported on Saturday. 1 The student teams came from According to FIRA website, the FIRA The meetings aim to pave the way to change trade cooperation Amir Kabir University of Technology, Sharif RoboWorld Cup 2019 included competitions between the two countries from oil-based into knowledge-based. University of Technology, Yazd University, in FIRA AIR, that included the use of auton- University of Isfahan and Technical and omous flying vehicles in urban and disaster and service robot settings and FIRA Youth, chine learning (ML) with a specific focus on Vocational University and the junior teams scenarios, FIRA Sports, the goal of developing competitions for our younger participants such developing software. came from Salam, Danesh, Allameh Tabat- robot athletes that can compete against humans as the mission impossible events. FIRA AI is a new league that explores de- abaei, Khatam, Allameh Helli and some other in Olympic events, FIRA Challenges, focuses FIRA also introduced a new set of chal- veloping software to solve problems in AI, schools and academies. on complex challenges in industrial, rescue, lenges in artificial intelligence (AI) and ma- ML, and robotics.

ITO seeks UNIDO’s help to introduce Iranian startups to global market TECHNOLOGY TEHRAN — The Information the exemplary countries in the field of IT and praised deskTechnology Organization (ITO) of Iran advancement of startups in the country. has asked the United Nations Industrial Development He said that UNIDO paves the way for development The event will be held concurrent with the China Hi-Tech Fair Organization (UNIDO) for introducing Iranian startups of countries in the global market and cooperates with (CHTF), which will be held from November 13 to 17 at the Shenzhen to the global market, Mehr reported on Thursday. Iran in international levels. Convention & Exhibition Center. ITO Director Amir Nazemi and Deputy ICT Minister UNIDO is ready to boost cooperation in order to Iran national pavilion at the CHTF will present new achievements Mehdi Ahuyee met with the managing director of program support Iranian startups in the international market, of Iranian knowledge-based firms and startups. development and technical cooperation at UNIDO, he added. The Iranian delegation will also pay a visit to Suzhou Science Philippe Scholtès, in Tehran on Wednesday. In May, the Strategic Technologies Center announced and Technology Park. Representatives of six Iranian startups also attended that over 6,500 startups are now active in Iran. The ITO Director Amir Nazemi (2nd from right) and UNIDO the meeting, in which, Nazemi presented a report on Iranian startup ecosystem is one of the biggest ones official Philippe Scholtès pose for a photo during the meeting the internet penetration rate among Iranian startups. in the southwestern Asia and will turn into the most Flexible stick-on sensors on Wendesday During the meeting, Scholtès called Iran one of powerful economies in the near future. could wirelessly monitor your sweat and pulse

As people strive ever harder to minutely quantify every action they Some startup culture mistakes do, the sensors that monitor those actions are growing lighter and Remember, the startup culture is critical to the success of guarding his information more closely and when making less invasive. Two prototype sensors from crosstown rivals Stan- a startup. You need to create a culture if you want to be in crucial decisions, leaving the startup completely in the dark. ford and Berkeley stick right to the skin and provide a wealth of the market forever. But there are some mistakes in building The best method to prevent this problem is to carefully physiological data. culture. screen for jerks while the interview process, listening for Stanford’s stretchy wireless “BodyNet” isn’t just flexible in order Therefore try to prevent when you want to build a startup trash talking past employers and self-centered answers. to survive being worn on the shifting surface of the body; that flexing culture as a startup. You believe violate the rules as a startup culture. is where its data comes from. Founders think startup culture just “happens.” A great way to get new customers and attract attention is The sensor is made of metallic ink laid on top of a flexible material Maybe you think startup culture can be fixed later. Once pushing the limits. A startup was known as a major disruptor like that in an adhesive bandage. But unlike phones and smartwatches, you want to build a startup everything takes a backseat to in the insurance industry. Investors of that pushed it to im- which use tiny accelerometers or optical tricks to track the body, this get MVP. prove its sales goals. The Startup ignored state regulations system relies on how it is itself stretched and compressed. These You need to know that “culture” is another way of saying to meet those goals which finally threatened to destroy the movements cause tiny changes in how electricity passes through “how we work”. organization and forced the CEO out. the ink, changes that are relayed to a processor nearby. When you get to your MVP, startup culture will be deeply Before you think about lawyering up, you need to meet Naturally if one is placed on a joint, as some of these electronic entrenched. your founders and determine your startup values and un- stickers were, it can report back whether and how much that joint Some founders never took the time to define the startup derstand what’s important to your team? When do you need has been flexed. But the system is sensitive enough that it can also culture and they felt it is too “cheesy”. But when their com- bribing employees. They attempt to get more work out of to discuss an action before moving forward? Track every detect the slight changes the skin experiences during each heartbeat, pany grows, the culture of their company will get diluted. employees by meditation classes, and laundry service. But quarter so that when money’s on the line and deadlines or the broader changes that accompany breathing. You can shape your startup culture while you build your these bribes don’t come cheap. For example, when funds approaching, you know what you stand for. MVP rather than waiting to define it. You don’t need to write of VC decreased, they forced to cancel its free shuttle and From Lean to the design team a complex culture, just simply write five words that describe limit free meals Maybe you’ve already implemented practices of lean your startup culture and once a month discussing whether Try to give your team meaningful work if you want your into your startup: create prototypes, test prototypes with those words are still appropriate. team to do their best work, regardless of your compensation consumers and modify the next version. Founders only hire their friends budget. Once they find out how their work is impacting the If you really want to build the best startup culture, it’s as High level of trust is a critical point when you want to hire startup and how the startup is making a difference in the simple as applying those same principles to your team. This for a startup. As a founder, you need your team to believe in world, they will work better. You need just give them pur- process is called Team Design and helps your team reach you and your vision, work hard and make the right decisions. pose. The purpose doesn’t have to be a service or product higher levels of engagement and performance: Therefore, you can look for people from your existing network. that saves the world, have a mission and compelling vision Identify belief or practice that could be better As you know the teams are homogenous communicate is sufficient. Fuzzy values?and ineffective meetings, approach it from better. But it can quickly lead to trouble. Work hard and spend long hours at the office your team’ point of view. What will help your team better The problem comes when you have to get that signal off the skin. For example, a startup was launched, but this startup was as a startup cultural perform their jobs? What’s avoiding your team from achiev- Using a wire is annoying and definitely very ’90s. But antennas don’t hit with a lawsuit due because the general counsel of this When you begin to build a startup, outrageous goals and ing their goals? work well when they’re flexed in weird directions — efficiency drops startup was the brother of the co-founder. long hours are part of the agreement. But this doesn’t mean Build a few prototypes off a cliff, and there’s very little power to begin with — the skin sensor You can establish the rules of engagement early on that push too hard because it can be caused to trouble. This process is very simple, just declare one day a week is powered by harvesting RFID signals, a technique that renders contains what happens in a worst-case scenario to avoid these For instance, at a startup obsession with performance as “No Meeting Day” so your team has enough time to do very little in the way of voltage. type of problems. You need to plan into the existing culture metrics, long hours and “aggressive” deadlines led to a talent more deep thinking, or declare your status meeting with a The second part of their work, then, and the part that is clearly about how you’re going to integrate people. drain, and even hampered its ability to acquire companies. one-sentence review of your strategy to see if tasks of every- most in need of further improvement and miniaturization, is the Founders think hiring lots of people means success If you want to help your team manage workload and stress one are on track. receiver, which collects and re-transmits the sensor’s signal to a Success at a startup can be so rare in the first months so levels hold regular check-ins with them and also try to check- Hold a retrospective phone or other device. Although they managed to create a unit that’s celebrating is so important. The size of your team is easy to in with the founder. If you want to know what worked and what didn’t. just light enough to be clipped to clothes, it’s still not the kind of thing understand. According to reports, about 30% of founders report being like you would for a product, tweak the pilot and track if it’s you’d want to wear to the gym. The founder of a famous startup noted he impressed people depressed. worth keeping, or if you should take a different approach. The good news is that’s an engineering and design limitation, not when he told them how big the company was and he was proud Finally, spend some weekends and long nights at this office These steps aren’t as glamorous as holding a luxurious a theoretical one — so a couple years of work and progress on the to share it. But the startup brought on lots of people, too fast is not a bad decision but never try to make it a cultural norm. offsite retreat, but it is a reliable method to create a start- electronics front and they could have a much more attractive system. and they were forced to lay off about 11% of the company. Hire talent people without any focus on their up culture that you and your team are proud of and enjoy “We think one day it will be possible to create a full-body skin-sen- Track more accurate measures of success and protect the behavior working in. From my own experience, I’ve seen teams’ ability sor array to collect physiological data without interfering with a morale of your team and find some ways to celebrate small As you know, hiring smart people is highly competitive. to plan, as well as teams’ interpersonal trust, improve by person’s normal behavior,” Stanford professor Zhenan Bao said success regularly. Assume you accept their productivity and their superior skill a third. And when you do make some mistakes, they will in a news release. Compete with other startups by spending too set, but their personality will destroy your team culture. For be small and corrected fast, and less likely to end up as a Over at Cal is a project in a similar domain that’s working to get much money on perks instance, I worked with an executive whose attitude turned headline on a front page. from prototype to production. Researchers there have been working Maybe as you know a common Silicon Valley practice is the rest of the team against him. He protects his own job by (Source: startupik.com) on a sweat monitor for a few years that could detect a number of physiological factors. Normally you’d just collect sweat every 15 minutes or so and analyze each batch separately. But that doesn’t really give you very good temporal resolution — what if you want to know how the sweat Technology brought us all together; that’s part of what’s holding us back changes minute by minute or less? By putting the sweat collection Our connected world has allowed researchers the same. The conclusions of such studies greenhouse effect. Those are widely accepted and analysis systems together right on the skin, you can do just that. to become so tightly networked that they’re are unlikely to represent broad biological now, in part because they were supported While the sensor has been in the works for a while, it’s only re- falling into the trap of groupthink. That might facts, and probably won’t be of much use by independent, even isolated researchers. cently that the team has started moving toward user testing at scale explain why some researchers seeking cures in medicine. What’s rewarded these days is the absolute to see what exactly sweat measurements have to offer. for Alzheimer’s disease, for example, have To sort the weak from the strong, Evans opposite of those historic claims. While science RollToRoll BN 768x960“The goal of the project is not just to conceded that they’ve been throwing years of and colleagues were able to use a special works best when researchers prove one idea make the sensors but start to do many subject studies and see what work and billions of dollars toward a single case where thousands of studies on the multiple ways, funding agents and journal sweat tells us — I always say ‘decoding’ sweat composition. For that theory that has failed to lead to any treatment interaction between drugs and genes can editors today reward those with only a single we need sensors that are reliable, reproducible, and that we can –while ignoring promising alternatives. be re-tested quickly. A machine can now line of evidence to support multiple claims. fabricate to scale so that we can put multiple sensors in different Sociologist James Evans of the University do what’s called a high throughput assay They want bigger claims and are content with spots of the body and put them on many subjects,” explained Ali of Chicago has concluded that what’s being to rerun a whole slew of previous studies. lesser evidence. Javey, Berkeley professor and head of the project. lost, at least in biomedical research, is And so Evans was able to evaluate more The technology that’s allowed so much As anyone who’s working in hardware will tell you, going from a scientific independence. Being able to work than 3,000 published claims against the look into the same events independently and connection has of course also been positive, hand-built prototype to a mass-produced model is a huge challenge. independently of other labs allows researchers results of this mechanical backup, which not know the others’ results until the next enabling people to collaborate and learn more So the Berkeley team tapped their Finnish friends at VTT Technical to come up with fresher insights. can not only replay the exact experiments day’s papers, now there’s an unconscious efficiently. Researchers can sometimes even Research Center, who make a specialty of roll-to-roll printing. In a new study, Evans and colleagues but also test the robustness of the claims temptation among journalists to believe the counteract extraneous noise by harnessing a For flat, relatively simple electronics, roll-to-roll is a great tech- found that weak studies are more likely to by varying the parameters a bit. interpretation of the most prominent news wisdom-of-the-crowd phenomenon, where nique, essentially printing the sensors right onto a flexible plastic come from labs that share lots of researchers There was a huge correlation between outlets, or whoever posts online first. many individuals converge on a right answer. substrate that can then simply be cut to size. This way they can make and methods with others, and strong studies centralized, networked groups and weak Scientists are subject to the same human But like many technological changes, it’s come hundreds or thousands of the sensors quickly and cheaply, making come from labs that do things their own way. studies. The most networked groups were foibles, but groupthink shouldn’t be conflated with unintended consequences. The fact that them much simpler to deploy at arbitrary scales. Weak studies are not just those that come more likely to replicate themselves and each with scientific consensus, which is often based U.S. researchers are producing 1,000 papers These are far from the only flexible or skin-mounted electronics to the wrong conclusions but those whose other, but less likely to reach conclusions that on ideas that are backed up by multiple lines a day shows there’s a lot of energy out there projects out there, but it’s clear that we’re approaching the point conclusions are fragile. If a competitor tries checked out with the mechanical system. of inquiry. That would include things like to be used more productively – if funding when they begin to leave the lab and head out to hospitals, gyms to replicate them, the result will be different, Groupthink is well known in politics and the structure of DNA, Einstein’s theory of encouraged bold exploration. and homes. unless conditions and methods are exactly media. Where once competing reporters would relativity, and the basic physics behind the (Source: bloomberg.com) (Source: techcrunch.com) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 12 SOCIETY AUGUST 18, 2019

IRCS rescues some 29,000 from death in summer Iranian universities

SOCIETY TEHRAN — The Iranian Red Crescent So- deskciety (IRCS) has rescued 28,947 individuals from death since the beginning of summer (June 22), within the framework of the national rescue and relief scheme, IRCS among world’s top 1,000 director Morteza Salimi has said. The national rescue and relief scheme aims at performing relief SOCIETY TEHRAN — Thirteen Harvard University, Stanford Uni- and rescue operations over a period of 94 days to help victims deskIranian universities versity and University of Cambridge and the injured in natural disasters and accidents nationwide have been ranked among the top 1,000 have been listed as the three leading during summer vacations. universities in the world, according universities, respectively. to the latest report published by the Among the top 20 universities, 16 Academic Ranking of World Univer- have been from the United States and sities (ARWU). four from Europe. Thirteen universities of Iran have Last year, 13 Iranian universities also been placed in the list, while university of were analyzed in this ranking, and placed Tehran managed to stay among the top among the top 1,000 universities. 400, similar to the previous year’s result. The ARWU was first published in Sharif University of Technology and June 2003 by the Center for World-Class Tehran University of Medical Sciences Universities (CWCU), Graduate School with a promotion compared to that of of Education (formerly the Institute of last year, ranked among the top 500 Higher Education) of Shanghai Jiao Tong universities of the list, while placed 2nd University, China, and updated on an and 3rd among the Iranian universities annual basis. of the list. ARWU uses six objective indicators Meanwhile, 8,865 operations have been made to rescue peo- University of Tehran, Amirkabir to rank world universities, including the ple whether in natural disasters or accidents happened due to University of Technology, Sharif Uni- number of alumni and staff winning No- human errors, he added. versity of Technology, Tehran University bel Prizes and Fields Medals, number Various relief services have been offered to 28,947 people of Medical Sciences, Iran University of of highly cited researchers selected by nationwide, 9,041 of them have been provided with outpatient Science and Technology, Tarbiat Modares Clarivate Analytics, number of articles care, while 4,874 individuals were hospitalized, he noted, Mehr University, Babol Noshirvani Universi- published in journals of Nature and reported on Saturday. ty of Technology, Isfahan University of Science, number of articles indexed in He went on to explain that 49 percent of the operations were Technology, Shahid Beheshti University Thirteen universities of Iran have been Science Citation Index - Expanded and conducted for traffic-related accidents, 5 percent for drowning of Medical Sciences, Ferdowsi University Social Sciences Citation Index, and per incidents and 5.5 percent for mountain climbing ones. of Mashhad, Shiraz University, University placed in the list, while university of capita performance of a university. More He added that 718 operations were also made to rescue 978 of Tabriz, and Iran University of Medical Tehran managed to stay among the top than 1800 universities are actually ranked people from car rollovers, car fires and traffic-related accidents. Sciences were among the best Iranian by ARWU every year and the best 1,000 universities. 400, similar to the previous year’s result. are published. Thailand’s beloved baby dugong dies of shock and Tehran bus fleet delivers 165 million rides within 4 months ENVIRONMENT TEHRAN —The bus transport system “Of all the buses, 3,382 are running on diesel, 2,480 ingesting plastic deskin the metropolis of Tehran has delivered running on gas while some 64 are electric,” he stated, over 165 million rides during the first four months of the noting that the average lifespan of the fleet is 11.5 years A baby dugong which became a national sweetheart after she current Iranian calendar year (started March 21), Teh- which shows that 3,232 buses accounting for 54 percent was rescued near a beach in southern Thailand, has died after ran bus operating company’s managing director Peyman are extremely old. ingesting plastic waste. Sanandaji has said. In line with the 5-year development plan of Tehran, Biologists say a combination of shock and plastic consumption On average, more than two million passengers are some 500 buses are planned to be renovated in addition caused the death of the orphaned dugong named Marium, who transported daily by the buses in both public and private to 500 new buses to be replaced with old ones this year, captured the nation’s hearts when she was found lost and alone. sectors in the capital, he stated, Mehr reported on Friday. Sanandaji concluded. The eight-month-old dunong, a large ocean mammal, went Since the beginning of this year until July 22, some 165 Moreover, on February 7, Mohammad Javad Hesh- viral after photos of her being hugged and fed sea grass and milk million passengers were delivered to their destinations mati, deputy prosecutor general, said that more than 80 by veterinarians spread across social media. by the Tehran bus fleet, he said, adding that the figure is percent of the air pollution in metropolises is caused by Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) roughly equivalent to that of the same period last year. low quality fuel. dubbed her “the nation’s sweetheart”. Veterinarians and volunteers Referring to equipping the buses with diesel particulate So it is not so farfetched to conclude that air pollution fed her up to 15 times a day and gave her health checks. filters, he noted that some 41 buses have been equipped in Tehran and other metropolises of Iran are derived from But last week, she was brought in for treatment in the artificial with the filters so far. low quality fuel and the old transportation system. sea on Libong Island in Krabi province after she was found bruised. A diesel particulate filter is a device designed to remove Globally transportation accounts for about 21 percent Experts believe she may have been attacked by a male dugong diesel particulate matter or soot from the exhaust gas of a to 700 will install the filters by the Iranian calendar year of greenhouse emissions. The International Energy Agency during the mating season.The dugong is a species of marine mammal diesel engine by 85 percent, and under certain conditions 1401 (March 2022- March 2023). (IEA) has predicted that transport sector emissions of similar to the American manatee and can grow to about 3.4 meters can attain soot removal efficiencies approaching 100 percent. Sanandaji also highlighted that 100 new articulated carbon dioxide will increase by 92 percent between 1990 in length. Its conservation status is currently listed as vulnerable. “Public transport fleet, operating by Tehran munici- buses are planned to be purchased and some of which will and 2020. Most importantly the age of the transport fleet, Jatuporn Buruspat, the director-general of the DMCR, said: pality, also is supposed to buy diesel particulate filters, be added to Tehran public transport fleet by the next month. the technology used within it and the extent to which “We assume she wandered off too far from her natural habitat but some of buses are over 10 years old, so cannot be “Currently, 5,926 buses are operating in Tehran’s bus such vehicles are maintained as well as the availability and was chased, and eventually attacked by another male dugong, equipped with the filters,” he said. transport fleet, 1,342 of which are at service in the public of appropriate fuel can decide the amount of emission or dugongs, as they feel attracted to her.” He went on to add that the rest of the buses amounting sector and 4,584 in the private sector,” he added. attributed to the transport sector. (Source: The Independent) WORDS IN THE NEWS Taxi drivers to be trained on emergency medical services Macedonia - talks begin SOCIETY TEHRAN — Head dents, he said, ISNA reported on Saturday. “Providing emergency care to the public deskof Tehran Emergency “If we expand public education and fa- is one of the priorities of Tehran Emergency (July 9, 2001) Center, Peyman Saberian, announced that miliarize the majority of people with how to Center. So far, employees of the Ministry Talks between Albanian and Macedonian politicians are due to cab drivers in the city will be trained on respond before the emergency forces arrive, of Health, the Judiciary, and the Traffic begin in Skopje today. Paul Anderson reports on the difficulties pre-hospital care in order to enhance their a better outcome will be achieved in reducing Police have taken courses in this field,” he skills and capabilities during incidents or accidents and mortalities,” he explained. highlighted. the participants face in reaching an agreement. accidents. “We are planning to offer cab drivers such “Unfortunately, there is lack of trainers, Senior Albanian politicians haven’t rejected outright the Considering the sheer volume of cars on training courses,” he said, adding, given their and the courses are time consuming, so it new set of proposals they and their Macedonian counterparts the roads, traffic accidents are in fact quite occupation that are constantly traveling on makes the process slower, however, we pro- will be discussing today. But they’ve raised serious objections, common; therefore, pre-hospital emergency urban areas, they can play a very important vide training for 20 to 60 individuals daily,” removing any hope of a speedy breakthrough. One leader said care plays a key role in traffic-related acci- role in this regard. he concluded. the framework document would not stop the war. Another said the proposals it contains were unacceptable and the Albanians couldn’t be held accountable for the repercussions. He said the document failed to meet Albanian demands for greater ENGLISH IN USE official use of their language, better state higher education for their community and more legislative power. LEARN NEWS TRANSLATION The document hasn’t been made public yet, and there’s been no official response to it or the Albanian statements from the Macedonian side. The Macedonians however have reported Miankaleh peninsula faces serious تاالب میانکاله در معرض خشکی کامل several albeit minor infringements of the ceasefire which came into force last Thursday. risk of disappearing That and progress at the political talks are the key conditions for the حســین علــی ابراهیمــی مدیــر کل محیــط زیســت اســتان مازنــدران20 درصــد از تــاالب deployment of a force of around three thousand soldiers drawn Hossein Ali Ebrahimi, head of Mazandaran province department میانکالــه کامــا خشــک شــده اســت. from NATO, which would oversee the disarming of the rebels. of department, has said that almost 20 percent of the peninsula’s wetlands have dried up. بــه گــزارش روز چهارشــنبه باشــگاه خبرنــگاران جــوان ابراهیمی ادامــه داد: تغییــرات اقلیم Words rejected: if you reject a proposal you refuse to agree to it Drought spell and climate change are two of the key factors شــده و خشکســالی نیــز بــر ایــن تــاالب تاثیــر گذار outright: completely and totally contributing to the Miankaleh peninsula dryness, YJC quoted گفــت: متاســفانه اســتان مازنــدران نیــز ماننــد ســایر اســتا نهای کشــور درگیــر تغییــرات .counterparts: Macedonian politicians carrying out similar jobs Ebrahimi as saying on Wednesday breakthrough: an important development or achievement اقلیــم شــده و خشکســالی نیــز بــر ایــن اســتان تاثیــر گــذار بــوده اســت بــه همیــن دلیــل framework document: an outline - the main points - of what Unfortunately, the province of Mazandaran has also been قســمتی تــاالب میانکالــه کامــا خشــک شــده اســت. وی در ادامــه افــزود: عــاوه بــر has been agreed negatively affected by climate change and less precipitation has accountable: responsible increased the peninsula water deficits, Ebrahimi said, stating تغییــرات اقلیمــی و کمبــود نــزوالت آســمانی، نبــود مدیریــت صحیــح منابع آبی برداشــت repercussions: the effects of an event - which happen sometime that additionally mismanagement, unsustainable agricultural غیرمجــاز از چ اههــا و و منــاع آب زیرزمینــی و کشــاورزی ناپایــدار در منطقــه، وضعیــت afterwards practices, and severe depletion of the wells and groundwater legislative: related to the process of making and passing laws ایــن تــاالب بحرانــی اســت. .made public: if something is made public it is made known to resources have exacerbated Miankaleh peninsula’s condition everyone and so is no longer secret albeit: although, even though infringements: the breaking of an agreement or law PREFIX/SUFFIX PHRASAL VERB IDIOM ceasefire:an agreement between countries or groups who are at war to stop fighting for a time “-ization, -isation” Gnaw (away) at A breeze came into force: started to be obeyed Meaning: a word ending that indicates process somebody/something Meaning: say that something was a breeze means deployment: the organization and preparation of troops so or result that it was very easy or that everything went smoothly they are ready for immediate action For example: The characterization is believable, Meaning: to make someone feel worried or fright- For example: The interview was a breeze - barely 10 oversee: to make sure it is done properly but it’s still not a very good book. ened, over a period of time minutes and I got the job! disarming: taking away weapons For example: Something was gnawing at the back (Source: BBC) of his mind. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 18, 2019 WORLD IN FOCUS 13

Israel’s 2006 war on Lebanon was meant Yemen attacks Saudi oil field at Shaybah with 10 drones

to create new Middle East: Nasrallah 1 Sare’e said the operation was launched as part of “a legitimate deterrence for the aggression crimes and TEHRAN— The secretary general of the new Palestinian generation,” Nasrallah said. siege” against the Yemeni nation. Lebanese resistance movement Hezbol- ‘A war on Iran would mean He renewed call on companies and civilians to stay away lah says the Israeli military’s 33-day war the whole region will be set ablaze’ from all vital sites in Saudi Arabia, adding that Yemen’s on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 was Elsewhere in his remarks, the Hezbollah bank of targets inside the kingdom “expands daily” and aimed at creation of a new Middle East chief described Iran as a “major regional that the future attacks would be more painful to the enemy. region, where the Tel Aviv regime would superpower,” stating that the rhetoric and “Forces of aggression have no choice but to stop the war have performed the leading role. threats of a war against the Islamic Republic and lift the siege on the Yemeni people,” Sare’e said. “The Israeli military was simply a tool in have ebbed because Trump came to realize Yemeni fighters regularly target positions inside Saudi the 2006 war against Lebanon, as the mili- that Iran is not an easy target. Arabia in retaliation for the Saudi war, which began in March tary campaign had been orchestrated by the “War against Iran means the entire region 2015 in an attempt to reinstall the country’s Riyadh-al- United States. Among the objectives of the will be set on fire,” Nasrallah underlined. lied former regime and crush the popular Houthi Ansarullah war were putting an end to the presence of According to Press TV, he stated that Iran’s movement. (Hezbollah) resistance (movement) in Leb- Islamic Revolution Guards Corps lawfully The Western-backed military aggression, coupled with anon, toppling the Syrian government, and captured British oil tanker Stena Impero a naval blockade, has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, defeating Iran in the region,” Sayyed Hassan for breaching international maritime law destroyed the country’s infrastructure and led to a massive Nasrallah stated in a televised speech broad- while crossing the Strait of Hormuz on July humanitarian crisis. cast live from the southern Lebanese town 19, and shot down an intruding U.S.-made Saudi-led coalition attacks Aden of Bint Jbeil on Friday evening. Global Hawk surveillance drone in the skies Early on Saturday, Saudi-led coalition warplanes fired He added that American officials, by over the country’s southern coastal province flares over Yemen’s southern port city of Aden near camps launching the 33-day war on Lebanon, had of Hormozgan on June 20. occupied by the Emirati-backed separatists. wished to form a new Middle East, where “Iran has proved its strength and showed The coalition also urged the southern separatists to with- the Israeli regime would have been in the Nasrallah said, describing Hezbollah as a momentum across the Middle East, and now that it does not accept to be threatened… draw from all sites they have recently captured in Aden. saddle, controlling everything. deterrent force against U.S. and Israeli acts covers a vast expanse of land from Lebanon I assure that a war on Iran is a war on the However, Aden local officials said that although the “In that war, John Bolton, then the U.S. of aggression in the region. to Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Iraq and Iran. resistance front in the entire region.” UAE-sponsored elements had moved away from the nearly ambassador to the UN Security Council, told The Hezbollah chief noted that Lebanon “Reliance on the resistance front will “All enemies’ efforts to topple the re- empty presidential palace and central bank, they were not an Arab official: ‘The war will stop only if could emerge victorious in the war because prevent war, acts of aggression as well as sistance front in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, quitting the city’s military camps. Hezbollah is crushed or it surrenders.’” it held on to the golden equation of people, terrorism. Being part of such an axis will Iraq, Yemen and Iran have failed. As Imam “We will not retreat, we will not budge and planes will “But Bolton later told the same Arab army and the anti-Israel resistance front. prevent (U.S. President Donald) Trump’s ex- Khomeini [the late founder of the Islamic not scare us,” a statement from one of the brigades fighting official: ‘We have to stop the war now.” Nasrallah then warned Israeli officials ploitation as he is now milking (Persian) Gulf Republic] said the price of the resistance is as part of the Emirati-backed militants. “The Arab official asked him: Did you against launching a new military aggression countries,” Nasrallah stated. much lower than the price of submission. In recent days, Aden has witnessed deadly clashes between crush Hezbollah? He said no. The Arab of- against his country, stressing that all Israeli He also lauded Palestinians’ outright re- Hezbollah, which they wanted to destroy, UAE-backed southern separatists and Saudi-led militants ficial asked: Did Hezbollah surrender? He battalions will be destroyed under the eyes jection of Trump’s controversial proposal for is now a regional power,” Nasrallah said. loyal to ex-Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in said no. the Arab official said: So why did of mainstream media. peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, Nasrallah also highlighted that Hezbollah Aden, a gateway for commercial and aid supplies. you stop the war?! Bolton said: Israel would “Israeli military experts acknowledge that dubbed “the deal of the century.” does not intend to remove any one from According to Press TV, Both camps serve the Riyadh-led face a catastrophe if the war continues,” the the Israeli army is incapable of waging a “Look at daily operations being carried the political arena in Lebanon, calling on coalition, and have been engaged, since 2015, in a bloody Hezbollah chief said. fresh war on Lebanon,” he said. out by Palestinians against Israel in the oc- politicians and people from all walks of the military campaign against Yemen aimed at reinstating Hadi, “American and Israeli officials failed to The Hezbollah secretary general went cupied territories. They are done by young Lebanese society to join forces and address who resigned in 2014 and later fled to the Saudi capital. attain any of their goals (in the 33-day war),” on to say that the resistance front is gaining people who are not older than 15. This is the lingering corruption in the country. The clashes erupted weeks after the UAE announced a surprise plan to withdraw part of its troops from Yemen in a major blow to its coalition allies. France joins pressure campaign to prevent Syria’s Idlib liberation TEHRAN — France has joined a pressure campaign to advance on Idlib’s southern edges with the aim of Kim oversaw the test-firing of on Syria to prevent the liberation of northwestern retaking Khan Shaykhun, which lies on a key high- Idlib Province, the last terrorist stronghold in the way connecting the capital Damascus with the city new weapon again Arab country, as the army edges closer to final victory of Aleppo. over the Takfiri terrorist groups. Foreign-backed terrorists resort to be- TEHRAN — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw On Friday, the French Foreign Ministry called for heading tactic the test-firing of a new weapon again on Friday morning, an immediate end to the anti-terror fight in Idlib. Latest reports said terrorists have now resorted to state media KCNA said on Saturday. The request followed fresh Israeli airstrikes on their old tactics of beheading Syrian soldiers. North Korea launched at least two short-range ballistic Syria, which are usually viewed as attempts to prop In the last few days alone, the Takfiri elements missiles on Friday, South Korea’s military said, its sixth up terrorists suffering defeats at the hands of Syrian released at least five videos of beheading Syrian troops round of weapons launches since late July, complicating government forces. in Idlib’s southern countryside. efforts to restart talks between the United States and North Also recently, an official in the so-called National On Friday, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary Korea over Pyongyang’s weapons programs. Syrian Army announced that the Turkey-backed terrorist General of the Lebanese resistance movement Hez- Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special envoy for North Korea group would send reinforcements to the frontlines of bollah, stressed that Syria has withstood “a universal will travel to and South Korea next week to coordinate the town Khan Shaykhun in Idlib Province. war” and is now “moving steadily towards the final efforts to secure the denuclearization of North Korea, the Idlib remains the only large area in the hands of victory.” State Department said on Friday. anti-Damascus terrorists after the Syrian army -- backed Earlier this month, American and Turkish officials of growing concern,” she said. “Russia’s approach to News of Biegun’s trip came after U.S. President Don- by Iran and Russia -- managed to undo militant gains agreed to quickly set up a Turkey-based operations this issue has remained unchanged. As before, we ald Trump said last Saturday that Kim had told him he across the country and wrest back control of almost center “to coordinate and manage the implementation support efforts to reach long-term stability and secu- was ready to resume stalled denuclearization talks with all of Syrian soil. of the safe zone” in northeastern Syria. rity in the northeast by restoring Syria’s sovereignty the United States and would stop recent missile testing as In January, the UN estimated that there were The area is currently under the control of the and a productive dialogue between Damascus and soon as U.S.-South Korea military exercises that have been 20,000 terrorists in Idlib associated with Hayat Tahrir U.S.-backed Kurdish militants, who are considered the Kurds.” held this month end. al-Sham, which is a coalition of different factions of terrorists by Ankara. According to Press TV, Syria had already rejected The North has protested against joint U.S.-South Korea terror outfits largely composed of the Jabhat Fateh Speaking on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minis- the U.S.-Turkey agreement as “blatant aggression” military drills, which kicked off last week, calling them a al-Sham Takfiri terrorist group, formerly known as try spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reiterated Mos- against the country’s territorial integrity and a “fla- rehearsal for war. al-Nusra Front. cow’s support for Syria’s sovereignty. grant violation” of the international law and the An official at Seoul’s defense ministry said on Friday that Over the past week, Syrian forces have managed “Attempts to isolate Syria’s northeast are a source UN Charter. there was a possibility that the North fired the same type of missiles it used on Aug. 10, which Pyongyang also called “a new weapon” at that time. Last week, Trump played down the North’s recent mis- UN says 2nd attempt to return Rohingya to planned sile tests, saying they do not violate Kim’s pledge to forego nuclear and long-range tests. Trump also said that he had TEHRAN — The UN refugee agency says Agency spokeswoman Caroline Gluck that Bangladesh had sent to Myanmar for Rohingya exodus to Bangladesh and accu- just received a “very beautiful letter’ from Kim and added Myanmar and Bangladesh are making a sec- said Friday that the Bangladesh govern- verification. sations that security forces committed mass that he could have another meeting with him. ond attempt to start repatriating Rohingya ment has asked for its help in verifying the Myanmar’s military in August 2017 rapes and killings and burned thousands of The denuclearization talks have been in a stalemate Muslims after more than 700,000 of them 3,450 people on a new list of returnees are launched a counterinsurgency campaign homes, AP reported. since a June 30 meeting between the two leaders, Reu- fled a security crackdown in Myanmar almost going back to Myanmar voluntarily. She said in response to an attack by a Rohingya in- ters reported. two years ago. the list was whittled from 22,000 names surgent group. The army operation led to the

Nasrallah’s strong warnings India says committed to ‘no first use’ of nuclear weapons for now to the enemies of resistance TEHRAN — India has stuck to its the comments could be aimed at Pakistan, commitment of ‘no first use’ of nuclear which has said previously it needed to 1 Hezbollah’s warnings are coming at a critical weapons but future policy will depend on develop small nuclear weapons to deter time; over the past few weeks Americans had repeatedly the situation, the defense minister said a sudden attack by India. announced that military operation against Iran is on the Friday, which analysts said introduced “Rajnath Singh is measured and not table; however, they reduced these threats after they re- a level of ambiguity in a core national given to loose talk or bluster. He isn’t sign- alized the power of Iran; over this time Iran downed an security doctrine. aling a shift, but an open mind on the NFU intruding American drone in the sky of Persian Gulf and India declared itself a nuclear (No First Use) inherited from Vajpayee’s seized a British oil tanker who had violated international weapons power after conducting un- Nuclear Doctrine,” he said on Twitter. maritime laws. derground tests in 1998 and long-time Tensions between the two countries Nasrallah reminded enemies of “the unity of resistance” and rival Pakistan responded with its own have increased following India’s move to made it clear that attacking any members of resistance is the tests shortly afterwards. Since then, revoke autonomy in the disputed region same as attacking the whole unity. nuclear experts say the rivals have been of Kashmir, the cause of two of their three Nasrallah’s threat was very clear, so the warmongers in the developing nuclear weapons and the wars. In February, Indian and Pakistani region such as Bin Salman, Bin Zayed and Netanyahu will surely missiles to deliver them. fighter jets clashed over the territory. receive the intended message. In a visit to Pokhran in western Vipin Narang, a nuclear affairs On the other hand, what Nasrallah said about the defensive India, the site of the nuclear tests, expert at MIT in the United States, and military power of Iran against U.S. and its allies drew the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh paid said that Singh’s comments were a attention of media all around the world toward Iran. tribute to late former prime minister sign the policy on ‘no first use’ could Nasrallah clearly stated that “Donald Trump, the U.S. president and revered leader of the ruling Hindu change in the future. realized Iran’s high military power and brevity, so he refrained nationalists, Atal Behari Vajpayee, for to the doctrine of “No First Use.” China but it has also long been concerned “Make no mistake: this is by far the from attacking the country.” making India into a nuclear power, “India has strictly adhered to this doc- about Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities. highest official statement-from the Rak- Nasrallah meant to clarify that U.S. decision to avoid war with Reuters reported. trine. What happens in future depends Shekhar Gupta, a political commentator sha Mantri’s (Defense Minister) mouth Iran was not a strategic and diplomatic decision; rather, it was “Pokhran is the area which witnessed on the circumstances.” and defense expert, said the government directly-that India may not be forever made out of fearing Iran’s power. Atal Ji’s firm resolve to make India a nuclear At the time of the tests, India said it appeared to have an open mind on the bound by No First Use,” Narang said Clearly, Nasrallah’s speech was supposed to have a “pre- power and yet remain firmly committed needed a deterrent against nuclear-armed issue of ‘no first use’ of nuclear arms and on Twitter. ventive effect”; the purpose was that the warmongers in the region and the world will get a grasp of the unity of resistance forces, so they will take it into account, before seeking any adventures in the region and reconsider all their moves and decisions. We will not rule out any option to stop Brexit - Scottish leader Sturgeon Another purpose of the speech was to notify enemies, including Saudi and the U.S., about the rising power of Hezbollah and Iran TEHRAN— The leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola out backing opposition Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn, who earlier urged rivals to back him in a bid to as this power will change all their previous calculations and even Sturgeon, said Thursday her party and its 35 lawmakers would “We will work with anyone and we’ll explore any option topple Prime Minister Boris Johnson, had to set out a clear some western media are now admitting that U.S. power against explore any option to stop Brexit in parliament and did not rule to stop Brexit,” Sturgeon told the BBC. She added that position on Brexit, Reuters reported. Iran is rapidly declining. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 14 WORLD SPORTS AUGUST 18, 2019

Nike changes policy for Race to remember Berlin pregnant athletes

Six-time Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix says female athletes will “no longer be financially penalized for having a child” after Nike changed its contracts for pregnant athletes. Wall victims, 30 years on In a letter shared by Felix on social media, Nike says it will “not apply any performance-related reduction” for 18 months Where guard towers and barbed wire once Perkins in 2014, stands at a mind-blowing if an athlete becomes pregnant. stood, runners pounded the 100-mile (160 13 hours, 6 minutes for the 100 miles. Felix’s daughter Camryn was born prematurely in November. kilometer) path along the former Berlin Wall Russian-born Israeli Tom Shenbrun, 50, In May, she said Nike wanted to pay her 70% less after she this weekend in a race with victims of the whose grandfather was part of the Red Army became a mother. Cold War relic at its heart. which invaded Berlin in 1945, was inspired Writing in the New York Times at the time, Felix, 33, said: On Saturday at 6:00 am (0400 GMT), to run the race by the Wall’s history “I asked Nike to contractually guarantee that I wouldn’t be around 500 runners, started the 8th edi- “As a Jew, it’s something very special. You punished if I didn’t perform at my best in the months sur- tion of the Berlin Wall Race, ahead of the feel the history all along the course, you see rounding childbirth. 30th anniversary of the Wall’s demise this the guard towers and you can understand “I wanted to set a new standard. If I, one of Nike’s most November. how it divided a nation, families, friends,” widely marketed athletes, couldn’t secure these protections, With weary legs, most runners will jog he said. who could? Nike declined.” through Saturday night, aiming to reach the The East German authorities “were pre- Felix returned to racing for the first time in 13 months in city center stadium which doubles as both pared to shoot people on the basis of ideology. July at the US National Championships. After the meet, she start and finish, in the early hours of Sunday. History is something we must learn from and decided to not renew her Nike contact and joined women’s The race is part ultra-marathon, part trib- must not be repeated,” he added. athletic wear company Athleta. ute to those who died trying to cross the Wall, The Wall’s history is entwined in the On social media on Friday, Felix posted a picture of the letter which the East German communist regime race’s DNA. from Nike executive vice president of global sports marketing hastily erected in 1961 and stood for 28 years. Registration for the following year’s race John Slusher. She wrote: “Our voices have power. Precious little of the original concrete always opens at 18:57 (1657 GMT) on No- “Nike has joined in officially and contractually providing structure remains, most of it hurriedly torn vember 9 -- marking the exact moment in maternal protection to the female athletes they sponsor. This down when East Germany collapsed in late 1989 when East Germany lifted its travel means that female athletes will no longer be financially penal- 1989. ban, triggering the Wall’s demise. ized for having a child.” The longest single section is the kilometre- Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie as Mental challenge Each year, one Wall victim features on In a statement to Sports Illustrated, Nike said: “Female long East Side Gallery, where the former well as leafy suburbs, farmland and forests. The mammoth race is not for the faint- start numbers and finisher medals, while a athletes and their representatives will begin receiving written symbol of oppression is now covered in art, Along the route, memorials tell the per- hearted: it is effectively four marathons ceremony is held at the spot where they died. confirmation reaffirming Nike’s official pregnancy policy for a popular backdrop for tourists posing for sonal stories of many of the around 130 people back-to-back. For the first race in 2011, Chris Gueffroy, elite athletes. selfies. killed along the Wall. “You know you are going to feel pain, the last person shot dead on the Berlin Wall, “In addition to our 2018 policy standardizing our approach What was once a heavily-fortified border “When you move around Berlin now, you you have to accept it and think ‘I can do one was honored. across all sports to ensure no female athlete is adversely impacted strip that encircled West Berlin and patrolled hardly see any of the Wall left, but when you step more,” said Patrik Gullerstrom, from He was killed in February 1989, nine financially for pregnancy, the policy has now been expanded by guards under shoot-to-kill orders, was in run the path and see its scale, you have a bet- Stockholm, who hopes to finish in under months before the Wall fell, and on Sun- to cover 18 months.” 2006 turned into the ‘Mauerweg’ or Berlin ter understanding of the divide it caused,” 17 hours and has run the race four times day, Gueffroy’s mother Karin will present (Source: BBC) Wall path. said race organizer Olaf Ilk, who was born in previously. medals at the finishers’ ceremony. It passes iconic landmarks such as the East Germany and was 24 when the Wall fell. The course record, set by Briton Mark (Source: AFP) Neymar left out of PSG team again Lacazette and Aubameyang fire Water bacteria cancels Tokyo 2020 Arsenal to win over Burnley paratriathlon test swim Neymar has been left out of the Paris St Germain team for the second week running, coach Thomas Tuchel said on Saturday, as speculation continues over whether or not the Brazilian will remain at the French champions. “He won’t be with us,” Tuchel told reporters ahead of Sun- day’s league match away at Rennes, adding that the forward was still not fully fit having missed last week’s season opening win over Nimes. Tuchel said Neymar’s future at PSG remained undecided, but that he remained one of the club’s most important players. “If I think of a strong PSG team, I think of a team with ‘Ney’ in it,” the German coach said. Neymar joined Qatari-owned PSG from Barcelona in 2017 in a deal valued at a record 222 million euros ($246 million). However, injuries have kept him out of key Champions League matches and media reports have linked him with a transfer to Barcelona or Real Madrid. (Source: Mirror) Dzeko commits to Roma Arsenal’s dominant run against Burnley for £8 million, and the Gunners’ record The swimming section of a paratriathlon test high temperatures, as Tokyo swelters through with three-year contract continued on Saturday with a 2-1 victory signing, Nicolas Pepe, who came off the event for Tokyo 2020 was cancelled Saturday a deadly heatwave. at the Emirates, courtesy of goals from bench. due to high levels of bacteria in the water, Competitors at a marathon swimming extension Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick The winger only arrived after a the latest in a series of difficulties over water test event on Sunday complained of smelly quality and temperature. water and high water temperature at Odaiba Bosnian international striker Edin Dzeko has ended specula- Aubameyang. dramatic end to the first half, though, Olympic organizers have won widespread Bay, the location for long-distance swimming tion about his future by signing a new three-year contract with Since their last promotion to the as the visitors leveled on 43 minutes and praise for their preparations but extreme sum- and triathlon. Roma, the Serie A club announced. Premier League in 2016, Burnley have Arsenal were denied a second goal by VAR; mer heat and poor water quality have brought Organizers are desperate to avoid the em- The 33-year-old had been touted for a possible move to Inter failed to take a single point from the Reiss Nelson’s strike in added time was headaches at practice events, with less than a barrassment of the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Milan but has opted instead for a new deal until June 30, 2022 Gunners, losing all six league fixtures ruled out due to Nacho Monrealcrossing year to go until the opening ceremony. when the pool used for diving events turned with the capital side. against Arsenal before Saturday. Despite from an offside position, just minutes The International Triathlon Union (ITU) an unsettling shade of green overnight. “I realized just how much they wanted me to stay,” Dzeko, that poor record, Sean Dyche’s men were after Ashley Barnes poked in the equalizer shelved the swimming leg after tests showed Brazilian officials also had to scramble to who joined the club in August 2015 from Manchester City, told far from intimated at the Emirates, from close range. levels of e-coli more than double the accept- clean up the bay used for sailing and windsurf- the club’s website. pressuring their opponents throughout It was Barnes’ third goal in his side’s able standard. ing that was plagued by sewer bacteria and “Here there is everything we need to win something and I the first half. opening two games this season, following The 70 paratriathletes instead competed in a filthy with rubbish. am delighted to be able to stay here even longer.” But their determination was not the 29-year-old’s brace in a 3-0 victory duathlon format with two runs and a bike race. In October 2017, Tokyo 2020 organizers Dzeko has played 179 times for Roma and scored 87 goals. enough to avoid a first defeat of the season, against Southampton at Turf Moor last week. “I’m so sorry for athletes that we could were left red-faced after tests revealed levels He was the Serie A top goal scorer during the 2016-17 season. with Arsenal taking the lead 13 minutes Burnley endured a tougher second half, not prepare the competition conditions effec- of e-coli bacteria more than 20 times higher Roma also confirmed they have signed Turkish defender in as Lacazette scored the opener. forced to defend throughout as Arsenal tively,” Shinichiro Otsuka, managing director than international standards, sparking doubts Yildirim Mert Cetin on a five-year deal from Genclerbirligi for Seconds earlier, Burnley goalkeeper enjoyed the majority of possession. The of Japan’s Triathlon Union, told reporters. about the venue’s safety. three million euros ($3.3 million). Nick Pope denied the France striker a home team’s mounting pressure paid off “It was regrettable,” he said, vowing to step At the time, the organizing committee Roma finished sixth in Serie A last season and under new headed goal with a reflex save from shortly after the hour mark, with Ceballos up preparations for Sunday’s Mixed Relay. blamed prolonged summer rain that had coach Paulo Fonseca open their campaign at home against close range, but Lacazette found the winning the ball deep in the Clarets’ half Former British paralympic triathlete Clare brought pollutants from offshore for the Genoa next weekend. net from Dani Ceballos’ resulting corner, and Aubameyang pouncing before guiding Cunningham tweeted that Saturday’s decision high readings between late July and early (Source: France 24) controlling the ball well in a crowded box a finish past Pope from the edge of the box. before spinning Erik Pieters and blasting Unai Emery’s side were largely to abridge the race was “disappointing for all”. September. a shot in at the near post. untroubled through the rest of the half It was the latest setback at a test event A year later, organizers said that tests us- Barca beaten in Bilbao Ceballos’ assist was one of a number of and were able to make it back to back for Olympic organizers after extreme tem- ing underwater “screens” to filter the water promising moments as the Real Madrid wins at the start of a league campaign peratures women’s triathlon run was cut had successfully reduced bacteria levels at by thunderous strike loanee proved the man of the match in his for the first time in 10 years. short due to extreme heat in the Japanese the venue. first start for Arsenal, with the Spaniard Arsenal next face Liverpool at Anfield capital on Thursday, with French triathlete “We will keep doing our best to secure from Aduriz showing off some flashy footwork and tidy in the Premier League on Saturday Aug. Cassandre Beaugrand was taken to hospital a safe and sound environment for athletes passing throughout the game. Meanwhile, 24, while Burnley play Wolves away on for suspected heatstroke. towards the Games next year,” Tokyo 2020 La Liga champions Barcelona fell to their first opening day there were debuts for David Luiz, who Sunday Aug. 25. Around a dozen competitors and spectators spokesman Masa Takaya said Saturday. defeat of the season in 11 years when they were beaten 1-0 at joined Arsenal from Chelsea this summer (Source: Goal) also fell ill at a rowing test event, also due to (Source: Eurosport) Athletic Bilbao thanks to a sensational late overhead kick from veteran striker Aritz Aduriz. The 38-year-old came off the bench late in the game and soon made Barca pay for squandering several chances by acrobatically lashing an unstoppable shot into the net in the 89th minute. Bayern Munich haunted by Guardiola’s ghost in Bundesliga opener The Catalans were without injured captain Lionel Messi but If there was one way Niko Kovac did not want to start his Bayern were disjointed in attack, they looked, whisper it lined up with 200 million euros of new talent in France forward second season at Bayern Munich, this was it. This was a per- quietly, vulnerable in defense. Manuel Neuer no longer pos- Antoine Griezmann and Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong. formance from Bayern that sent an untimely but a familiar sess the same aura of invincibility, and the defensive line in However, they lacked sparkle against an energetic Bilbao reminder that the ruthlessness of the Pep Guardiola days front of him is changing often enough to cause disruption. side who had the better run of play for the first half even though is still very much noticeable in its absence. Such a start by They looked hurried, anxious and lacking the composure Barca came closest to scoring before the interval. Bayern is more liable to prolong some supporters’ summer of old. Quick, transitional football — often in the form of Luis Suarez struck the near post in the first half when pre- of discontent than to banish it. one direct pass — was their undoing. Hertha’s head coach sented with a terrible back pass from Athletic’s Unai Lopez and It was not what Bayern Munich fans had spent the off- Ante Covic made sure that plan was delivered in his first was soon forced off with a calf injury, while substitute Rafinha season waiting for. As the sun set on Friday evening, a packed Bundesliga game in charge. rattled the crossbar after coming on. U6 underground line was full of smiles. Bayern jerseys, new “Bayern obviously take a lot of risks. They have a lot of Barca improved after the break as coach Ernesto Valverde and old, lined the road from Munich’s Karlsplatz down to possession and put a lot of numbers forward,” Hertha’s replaced young midfielder Carles Alena with the more experi- Marienplatz. Fans were loud, happy to be back in their seats, Mathew Leckie told DW after the game. “They have the enced Ivan Rakitic and spent most of the second period in the shouting the surnames of their favorite players. The wait quality to keep the ball and take those risks. But obviously, home side’s area. was finally over. Football was back. Ninety minutes later, came away with at least a point, but the damage was al- one, two, three times in a game, everyone can make a mistake Rakitic and Rafinha each came close to scoring for the visi- Bayern’s fans must have felt as if they were still waiting. ready done. Dodi Lukebakio’s deflected strike and Mark — they’re human as well. We took those chances. We know tors but they were outdone by one of Spanish football’s best Serge Gnabry was perhaps the only bright spark for Bay- Grujic’s composed finish left Bayern embarrassed at the they stood really high and also they often play man-against- loved players in Aduriz, who has announced that he will retire ern. The 24-year-old picked up where he left off last season, break. It was Lukebakio who exposed Bayern’s defensive man at the back, so we tried to use that to our advantage at the end of the season. leaving defenders in his dust. He fittingly set up Robert line last season, scoring three for Fortuna Düsseldorf. After and, for the second goal, it worked really well.” “Sometimes football is so beautiful and when you least ex- Lewandowski to score Bayern’s and the Bundesliga’s first that game, Kovac described his mood as “worse than mere Though Leckie conceded the spoils were hard-earned: pect it a ball like that comes to your feet and goes into the net,” goal of the new season, sliding in at the back post like he discontent,” while Uli Hoeness labeled Bayern’s defensive “I think we ran more today than we did all season last year Aduriz told reporters. has done many, many times before. efforts a “slapstick” showing. in one game. It was a real good team effort.” (Source: Reuters) Lewandowski’s second-half penalty made sure Bayern This wasn’t quite as bad, but it wasn’t much better. If (Source: Deutsche Welle) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 18, 2019 SPORTS 15

Nagoya Oceans beat Mes Sungun to Iran U19 national volleyball team defeats in win AFC Futsal Club Championship friendly game SPORTS TEHRAN — Nagoya Oceans from Japan IRNA — Iran’s U19 national volleyball team, which is deskwon AFC Futsal Club Championship for camping in Tunisia, beat Cuba in a friendly game 3-2. the fourth time on Saturday. During the Friday game, Iran defeated its mighty rival Nagoya Oceans defeated Mes Sungun Varseqan 2-0 at in the first set 25-18. However, it was Cuba that won the the Bangkok Arena. second and third sets. Neto Antonio Hirata and Ryohei Ando were the Oceans› But the Iranian team defeated Cuba in the fourth and scorers as the Japanese outfit dashed Mes Sungun›s bid to fifth sets to beat its rival 3-2. win back-to-back titles, the-afc.com reported. Iran had another friendly game in Tunisia on Thursday The early stages were an evenly matched contest with when it easily passed Egypt in consecutive sets. both sides playing with extreme caution with neither side The Iranian volleyball players are also scheduled to finding much room to create chances. face Brazil in a third friendly game on Saturday. It was only in the sixth minute that Oceans had their Iran’s U19 national volleyball team left Tehran for Tu- first opportunity at goal but Ryosuke Nishitani’s effort from nisia on Tuesday morning to attend World Championship. above the arc lacked sting and was easily collected by Mes Iran will compete with , , Co- Sungun goalkeeper Alireza Samimi. lombia and Italy in Pool B of FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 Mes Sungun responded immediately but captain Farhad World Championship. It will face Bulgaria in its first Fakhim could not find the target after dribbling into the box. game of the tournament on August 22. Oceans began to see more of the ball and took the lead in the seventh minute through Hirata’s fine strike from inside the box with Soma Mizutani providing the assist. A stunned Mes Sungun almost conceded another goal two Iran become champs minutes later when Mohammad Shajari lost possession in his own half which forced Samimi into making a save from Oceans’ in Eurasia budo Ryuta Hoshi and later the follow-up from Masaya Hashimoto. Mes Sungun had a half chance in 11th minute but an IRNA — Iran’s team of bodu received 30 gold medals unmarked Mahdi Javid failed to connect to Fakhim’s pass. to become the champion of the first Eurasian contests. The Iranian club wasted several chances after that with Athletes from Sweden Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Alireza Askari Kohan sending his shot over the bar in the Azerbaijan Republic, , Iraq, Russian and Iran 15th minute and Fakhim firing his effort high in the 19th 23rd minute but Samimi was equal to the challenge when corner to increase their advantage. participated in the event, Saeed Salmanpour, the head minute as Oceans took a 1-0 lead into the break. he saved efforts from Pepita and then Ryohei Ando. The 2019 AFC Futsal Club Championship was the 10th of Iran’s Bodu association, told IRNA. Mes Sungun came back fighting in the second half and Oceans came close to finding the net at the half-hour edition of the AFC Futsal Club Championship, an annual He said that Afghanistan received one gold, four Javid had the goalmouth in sight in the 22nd minute but the mark but with only the goalkeeper to beat Tomoki Yoshikawa international futsal club tournament in Asia organized by silver, and two bronze medals to become second; and Oceans players were quick to snuff out the chance. fired his effort wide. the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Azerbaijan came third with one gold, one silver and two Oceans, however, slowly begin to dominate with their The Japanese club’s persistence paid off in the 34th The competition was held in Bangkok, Thailand on bronze medals. fast-attacking transitions, which almost bore fruit in the minute when Ando scored a volley following Yoshikawa’s August 7-17. He also said that 150 athletes attended the competitions. The head of the world federation of bodu, Faeg Rafi- of, and the heads of the federations of Afghanistan and Pakistan were the special guests of the event that took Iran’s road to 2022 World Cup starts on Sept. 1 place in Orumiyeh, northwestern Iran. SPORTS TEHRAN — Iran national football team The next best 24 teams from the second round of the Budo is a Japanese term describing modern Japanese deskwill start their journey to the 2022 World joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the martial arts, such as karate, judo, jujutsu, aikido, shorinji Cup in Qatar on Sept. 1. remaining 12 slots in the 24-team AFC Asian Cup China 2023. kempo, and sumo. Team Melli will hold the camp in Tehran on Sept. 1 and Iran fixtures in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers leave the country for Hong Kong after three days. September 10, 2019: Hong Kong vs Iran Marc Wilmots’s side will face the East Asian country in October 10, 2019: Iran vs Group C of the Asian Qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup October 15, 2019: Bahrain vs Iran Iranian paddlers to and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup on Sept. 10. November 14, 2019: Iraq vs Iran The eight group winners and four best runners-up March 26, 2020: Iran vs Hong Kong participate in World Dragon will advance to the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Finals March 31, 2020: Cambodia vs Iran Boat C’ships and the final round of qualifying for the FIFA World June 4, 2020: Iran vs Bahrain Cup Qatar 2022. June 9, 2020: Iran vs Iraq MNA — A team of Iranian men’s paddlers have departed Tehran for Thailand to take part in the 14th edition of Andrés Iniesta tackles football 5-a-side Thai Son Nam end campaign in style IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships. Organized by the International Dragon Boat Federation, 14th World Dragon Boat Racing Championships will be held from August 20 to 25 in Pattaya-Rayong, Thailand. Iran will take part in the event in both men’s and women’s categories. The men’s team comprises 15 athletes and two coaches. The Iranian women dragon boat team will also depart for Thailand on Sunday. Dragon boat racing is a watersport wherein a number of watercrafts called dragon boats race over a clearly de- fined unobstructed course in the shortest time possible. Paddlers sit in twos side-by-side and use a single-bladed paddle. There are two categories that compete in this dis- cipline, 10-seater (small boat) and 20-seater (standard) referring to the number of paddlers in the boat. A team also has a drummer and a steerer, with everybody in the boat paddling to the rhythm of the drum.

Ahead of the launch of Paralympic Agitos Foundation and UNICEF. Thai Son Nam FC came from behind to like a comfortable 3-1 lead into the break. Games ticket sales on 22 August, the Find out who was victorious as Messi defeat AGMK FC 6-4 to clinch third place It was, however, a different Thai Nagoya Oceans’ Yoshikawa Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee has and Ivo Rakatic went head-to-head with in the AFC Futsal Club Championship Son Nam in the second half as they launched a video entitled «Experience Spain’s best blind footballers. Thailand 2019 on Saturday. increased the intensity of their game wins MVP award the Unbelievable» featuring members Not to be outdone, former England In a thrilling contest which saw the and their persistence paid off in the of Japan’s football 5-a-side team and captain David Beckham trained with the outfit trailing 2-0 and then 3-1 24th minute when Ropiev deflected Spain’s FIFA World Cup winner Andrés Great Britain team prior to the London before leading 4-3, Thai Son Nam’s Ka- the ball into his own net in trying to Tomoki Yoshikawa of Nagoya Oceans was named the Most Iniesta playing blind football. 2012 Paralympic Games. Putting the zuya Shimizu struck twice in the final clear Ho’s goal kick. Valuable Player of the AFC Futsal Club Championship “Experience the Unbelievable” displays former Real Madrid and Manchester three minutes to settle the tie at the The goal spurred Thai Son Nam to push Bangkok 2019 on Saturday. the amazing skills and athletic abilities of United midfielder through his paces Bangkok Arena. forward even harder and they equalized Yoshikawa played a key role in Oceans’ campaign, football 5-a-side players. Led by Japan was David Clarke, a scorer of a record Thai Son Nam, who had to come from three minutes later through Ton That Phi, which climaxed with the Japanese club winning a re- national team captain Ryo Kawamura, 128 goals in 144 international appear- behind to defeat AGMK 4-1 in the group who finished Nguyen Minh Tri’s long pass cord-extending fourth AFC Futsal Club Championship title. the film shows Iniesta trying out the sport ances for Great Britain and England’s stage, found themselves again trailing when by chipping the ball over Umarov. blindfolded like all Paralympic football football 5-a-side team. the club’s Davron Choriev beat he equaliser left AGMK reeling and 5-a-side players. See how many attempts Beckham Tran Thai Huy inside the box before set- Pham Minh Giang’s side took the lead “It was an amazing experience for me needed to score a penalty blindfolded. ting up Akbar Usmonov to score into an for the first time in the match in the 28th because I could spend time with these Iniesta, Messi and Beckham have empty net in the first minute. minute through Tran Thai Huy’s strike guys and see the great work they’re do- nothing on these players though – at the AGMK continued to apply pressure from the above the arc. ing. It was really complicated to do. It’s last Paralympics in Rio there were some and doubled their advantage a minute A stung AGMK pushed forward and very difficult,” said the 35-year-old who stunning goals. later after Davron Valijonov forced a forced their way back into the game as won 131 caps for Spain during a glittering The first ticket lottery offering Tokyo save from Thai Son Nam goalkeeper Ho Choriev scored in the 34th minute from international career. 2020 Paralympic Games tickets for Jap- Van Y with the rebound falling invitingly inside the box off Adilov’s kick-in. Having won pretty much every com- anese residents will take place from 22 for Mashrab Adilov, who scored from It was not to be for AGMK though as petition there is in international and club August to 9 September. close range. Shimizu scored from above the arc off Al- football, including the UEFA Champions Tickets for all sports are being offered at Thai Son Nam fought back with Shimizu ireza Rafiei Pour’s assist in the 37th minute League four times with FC Barcelona, affordable prices which aim to encourage fending off Adilov’s challenge before firing and with just seconds to go, completed his Iniesta is widely regarded as one of the people to attend with their family and a low drive past AGMK goalkeeper Rustam hat-trick - taking his tournament tally to world’s best players of his generation. friends. Seats at competitive events will Umarov in the fifth minute. 10 - as Thai Son Nam sealed third place Yoshikawa, 30, was at the centre of Oceans triumph, He currently plays in Japan’s J. League be priced from just JPY 900 and will cost Shimizu then forced Umarov into a save with a remarkable performance. which saw them lifting the title with a 100 percent record with Vissel Kobe. no more than JPY 7,000. but it was AGMK, who had progressed Pham Minh Giang: Thai Son - including two wins over 2018 champions Mes Sungun Iniesta is not the first star footballer to be This is part of the Organizing Commit- to the knockout stage of the Champion- Nam head coach Varzeqan of Islamic Republic of Iran. blindfolded and give football 5-a-side a try. tee’s commitment to enhance the family ship for the first time, who increased their “AGMK approached the match better He scored the second goal in Oceans’ 2-0 win over Ahead of the Rio 2016 Paralympic atmosphere at the Paralympic Games and advantage in the sixth minute through than us and they led 3-1 at half-time. But Mes Sungun in the final. Games, his former FC Barcelona teammates attract as many young spectators as pos- Ikhtiyor Ropiev’s fine finish from above in the second half, we changed our tactics, Meanwhile, Thai Son Nam’s Kazuya Shimizu won including five-time Ballon d’Or winner sible. Tickets for the Opening and Closing the arc off Anaskhon Rakhmatov’s assist. played well and scored the goals. If given the Top Scorer award after hitting a whopping 10 goals. Lionel Messi, took part in a penalty shoot- Ceremonies will cost from JPY 8,000 up The third goal stunned 2018 runners-up the chance to coach Thai Son Nam again Shimizu’s goals powered the Vietnamese side’s campaign, out against the Spain’s football 5-a-side to JPY 150,000. Thai Son Nam as the Vietnam club failed next year, our target is to reach the final. which included a hat-trick in the third-place playoff which team as part of a joint campaign for the (Source: Paralympic.org) to trouble AGMK who took what looked (Source: the-afc) Thai Son Nam won 4-3 against AGMK FC of Uzbekistan. Mes Sungun won the Fair Play Award. ROLL OF HONOUR Champions: Nagoya Oceans (JPN) Doping: Seven more Russian weightlifters banned Runners-up: Mes Sungun Varzeqan (IRN) MOSCOW (Reuters) — Another seven Russian weightlifters The announcement come days after the IWF said five other sions,” the president of Russia’s weightlifting federation, Third: Thai Son Nam (VIE) have been provisionally suspended for doping violations, joining Russian weightlifters had been provisionally suspended. Maxim Agapitov, told RIA news agency. Most Valuable Player: Tomoki Yoshikawa (Nagoya five compatriots already banned from the sport earlier this week. The latest batch include Dmitry Lapikov and Nadezh- The World Anti-Doping Agency is in the process of Oceans) The International Weightlifting Federation said on Friday da Evstyukhina, who had Olympic medals from the 2008 analyzing data retrieved earlier this year from the Mos- Top Scorer: Kazuya Shimizu (10 goals, Thai Son Nam) the seven had been charged based on data from the Moscow Beijing Games stripped for doping. cow laboratory and submitting the results to international Fairplay: Mes Sungun Varzeqan anti-doping laboratory. “There is no certainty that there won’t be more suspen- sports federations. (Source: the-afc) Prayer Times Noon:13:08 Evening: 20:11 Dawn: 4:54 (tomorrow) Sunrise: 6:26 (tomorrow) AUGUST 18, 2019 ART&CULTURE I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y www.tehrantimes.com Managing Director: Ali Asgari Editor-in-Chief: Mohammad Ghaderi Editorial Dept.: Fax: (+98 21) 88808214 — 88808895 [email protected] Navaye Rahmat Intl. Daf Switchboard Operator: Tel: (+98 21) 43051000 Advertisements Dept.: Telefax: (+98 21) 43051450 Public Relations Office: Tel: (+98 21) 88805807 Subscription & Distribution Dept.: Tel: (+98 21) 43051603 www.eshterak.ir Distributor: Padideh Novin Co. Festival wraps up Tel: 88911433 Webmaster: [email protected] ARTTEHRAN — The 9th edition of the Printed at: Jame Jam Bartar Borna - 44197737 deskNavaye Rahmat International Daf Festival came to an end on Friday during a ceremony Tehrantimes79 Tehrantimesdaily at Bahman Cineplex in Sanandaj, the capital of the western Iranian province of Kordestan. No. 18, Bimeh Alley, Nejatollahi St., Tehran, Iran The winners of the various sections were announced P.o. Box: 14155-4843 during the ceremony, which was attended by a number Zip Code: 1599814713 of cultural officials and musicians. In the group performance section, Nuance Ensemble led by Puria Rahmani received first prize as it was followed by Aras Ensemble led by Nilufar Karimi and Avin Ensemble led by Maryam Golsorkhi. Suzidel Ensemble led by Mehran Hosseini took first place in the section of Moludi Khani, a poem reciting ritual that is performed to celebrate the birthdays of the Prophet Muhammad (S), his household and Imams. In this section, Bidel Ensemble led by Ali Puratai and GUIDE TO Mohammad Rasulullah Ensemble led by Farid Mansuri SPIRITUAL AWAKENING received second and third prizes respectively. He who adopts patience like free spirits against Erfan Moradi won first prize in the men’s solo performance

category, while Siran Adibfar received first prize in the women’s / Aryan Nasrollahi hardships will benefit greatly, but if he is solo performance section. impatient like ignorant people, he will gradually Taimaz Mohseni was named best player in the boys’ solo fall into forgetfulness. Imam Ali (AS) performance category and Mahtab Keramati was picked as best player in the girls’ solo performance section. The Navaye Rahmat International Daf Festival is held every year in Sanandaj, which is considered as the birthplace Four cultural figures to receive of the daf instrument. TEHRAN TIMES TEHRAN Music ensembles from Iran as well as groups from India, Ghadir Artistic Awards Afghanistan and Pakistan performed in various categories of this year’s edition of the festival with the motto of “Art, Aras Ensemble poses after accepting second prize of the group performance section at Bahman Cineplex ARTTEHRAN — Four cultural figures will be Unity and Kindness”. during the 9th Navaye Rahmat International Daf Festival in Sanandaj on August 16, 2019. deskhonored during the Sixth Ghadir Artistic Awards, which will be presented during a special ceremony at the Imam Ali (AS) Religious Arts Museum in Tehran today. The awards are annually granted to those artists who have Omid Salehi named Iran’s film Love is Folly festival to screen created works on Imam Ali (AS), the first Imam of the Shia, and photographer of the year movies from Iran the awards ceremony is organized every year on the anniversary of Eid al-Ghadir, the day on which Imam Ali (AS) was appointed as successor to the Prophet Muhammad (S). This year’s honorees are calligrapher Ahmad Abdorrezai, painter Habibollah Sadeqi, mirror mosaic artist Ebrahim Zaif-Sanayei and poet Ahmad Alavi. Calligrapher Nasrollah Afjei, director of the Nahj- ul-Balaghah Foundation A poster for the Sixth Ghadir Seyyed Jamaleddin Dinparvar, Artistic Awards. actor Asghar Hemmat, writer Ebrahim Hassanbeigi and singer Hesameddin Seraj were honored at the fifth edition fo the awards in 2018. Scholars Seyyed Jafar Shahidi and Morteza Asgari, poet Seyyed Ali Musavi Garmarudi, filmmaker Davud Mirbaqeri, calligrapher Hamid Ajami and actor Dariush Arjmand received the award in 2017. The museum will also be hosting an exhibition of works by Omid Salehi (C) accepts the award for the film photographer of the year at the 5th various artists on Imam Ali (AS). Iranian Society of Still Photographers Celebration at the Rayzan International Conference Center in Tehran on August 15, 2019. (Mehr/Behnam Tofiqi) A scene from Iranian director Behruz Nuranipur’s drama “Dayan”. ARTTEHRAN — Omid forces Faezeh to leave her homeland ARTTEHRAN — “Yeva” after the Syrian war, which displaced over deskSalehi has been along with her brother to live in Pakistan deskand “Dayan” will 4 million families, and 450,000 women “The Fishermen” comes to selected as Iran’s film photographer where they find themselves involved be competing in the 27th Love is Folly and girls never came back to their loved Iranian bookstores of the year for his collection of the in Jundallah terrorist activities. International Film Festival, which will take ones as a result. highly acclaimed movie “When the The ceremony went on with place in Varna, Bulgaria from August 23 Iranian filmmakers have been frequent CULTURE TEHRAN — Prominent young Nigerian Moon Was Full”. honoring filmmaker Sirus Alvand to September 1. visitors to the Love is Folly International deskwriter Chigozie Obioma’s debut novel “The He was awarded at the closing with a lifetime achievement award “Yeva” directed by Anahid Abad is Film Festival. “Melancholy” by director Fishermen” has recently been published in Persian by Chatrang ceremony of the 5th Iranian Society of for his special outlook towards film about Yeva, a young woman who escapes Morteza Atashzamzam won the Award Publications in Tehran. Still Photographers Celebration, which photography. her influential in-laws with her daughter of the Union of Bulgarian Film Makers Translated by Misaq Khalaj, the 2015 book follows the lives and was held at the Rayzan International “We are here to be the voice of Nareh, after her husband’s tragic death, at the 25th edition of the festival in 2017. childhood of four brothers Ikenna, Boja, Obembe and Benjamin Conference Center in Tehran on people and society and this instills and takes refuge in one of the villages of Victor Chouchkov Jr., the Bulgarian in a small Nigerian town in the late 20th century. Thursday. in us great pride,” Alvand said in his Karabakh, Azerbaijan. Yeva is a complete actor and director, will preside over the When their strict and overbearing father leaves town Directed by Narges Abyar, “When acceptance speech. stranger in this village and is obliged to international jury, which is composed of temporarily for a business opportunity, the brothers make the Moon Was Full” won Crystal Veteran photographer Hossein live her daily life in disguise. British actor Alexander Perkins, Turkish use of the opportunity to live dangerously, skipping school Simorghs in six categories, including Maleki also received a lifetime The film, which is a co-production actress and director Cigdem Sezgin, and engaging in fun recreational activities instead, including best film and best director, at the achievement award for his lifelong between Armenia and Iran, has been Romanian critic Ileana Pernes Danalache fishing in the river near their home, despite being forbidden 37th Fajr Film Festival in February. collaboration in numerous film projects. acclaimed at several international events, and Kazakh actress Irina Lindt. from doing so by their parents. The film is about Abdul-Hamid Accepting his award, the 78-year-old including the Arpa International Film Twelve movies, including Hungarian On one of their fishing trips, they encounter a local madman, Rigi, the younger brother of Abdul- photographer said that he had been Festival in Los Angeles that selected it as director Laszlo Csuja’s “The Valley of Abulu, who follows them shouting the name of Ikenna, the oldest Malik Rigi, the founder and leader active in cinema when he was only 14. best film in November 2018. the Flowers” and Canadian filmmaker brother. The other children flee, but the four brothers stop to of the Jundallah terrorist group in “I must express thanks to the Iranian Directed by Behruz Nuranipur, “Dayan” Warren Sulatycky’s “April in Autumn”, listen, as Abulu shouts a series of prophecies that Ikenna will southeastern Iran, who marries Faezeh Society of Still Photographers that tells the story of a group of people in a will be screened in the official competition become blind, mute and crippled. He finishes by prophesying Mansuri, a woman from Tehran. He dedicated this award to me,” he added. small village that try to have a better future of the festival. that Ikenna is destined to be killed by a fisherman. Ikenna thinks this means one of his brothers will kill him, and he gradually turns against them. The prophecy undoes the Youth Film Making Olympiad of Iran opens in Isfahan family and the expectations the brothers’ parents have for them. ARTTEHRAN — The third edition of the Youth Veteran animator Abdollah Alimorad and filmmakers Iraj The book received several awards, including NAACP Image deskFilm Making Olympiad of Iran opened Tahmasb, Puran Derakhshandeh, Abolfazl Jalili, Kambozia Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Debut Author, Los at the Isfahan branch of the Art Bureau on Saturday, the Partovi, Marzieh Borumand, Ali-Akbar Qazinezam and Vahid Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and organizers announced. Nik-Khah Azad will share their knowledge and experiences Nebraska Book Award for Fiction. The Olympiad is part of a program arranged every year with the participating children during the Olympiad. It was also shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize and on the sidelines of the 32nd International Film Festival for In his brief words, Alimorad also told the participants received positive reviews from critics. Children and Youth (IFFCY) in Isfahan. that learning animation does not mean that they will become The Olympiad, which will be running until August professional animators. 21, has been launched as a special section for children “We intend to grow your talents. If you are deeply in love aged between 9 and 16 to compete with their three- with this art you will surely reach the highest levels, since “How the Zebra Got Its minute films. doing animation is a difficult job,” he added. Speaking at the opening ceremony, the director of Borumand recommended the participants to read more Stripes” published in Persian the festival, Alireza Tabesh, said that the organizers books. “Any individual who reads books will be much more aim to discover young talents in filmmaking through successful in a job he or she would choose in the future. CULTURE TEHRAN — “How the Zebra Got Its Stripes: deskDarwinian Stories Told Through Evolutionary this program. Filmmakers Puran Derakhshandeh (3rd R) and Marzieh Turning into good people with high morality is much more Biology”, a book by French writer and blogger Léo Grasset, has Addressing the participants, he said, “The participation Borumand (4th R) and participating youth cut the important than only becoming big filmmakers when you been published in Persian in Tehran. of famous filmmakers and cineastes will give you the cake for the third edition of the Youth Film Making grow up,” she asserted. Kaveh Feizollahi is the translator of the book, which has been chance to learn more from them and help you plan for Olympiad of Iran at the Isfahan branch of the Art The festival will be held in the central Iranian city of released by Now Publications. your future wishes and dreams.” Bureau on August 17, 2019. (IFFCY) Isfahan from August 19 to 26. Published in 2017, the book tries to answer some funny yet serious questions about topics in biology and evolution such as: why do giraffes have such long necks? And why are zebras striped? Deploying the latest scientific research and his own extensive Sheeran design Heinz Ketchup bottle sells for 1,500 pounds observations in Africa, Grasset offers answers to these questions LONDON (Reuters) — Three limited- featuring a copy of Sheeran’s own Heinz said. “They’re part of the label, so it’s his superfans and museums. and many more in the book. edition bottles of Heinz Tomato Ketchup inking, will be available across the world. sleeve on our sleeve.” All money raised from the bottles will be Complex natural phenomena are explained in simple and at based on the tattoos of British songwriter Ed The first three were sold for 1,050 pounds, He said he suspected not many people donated to East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, times comic terms, as Grasset turns evolutionary biology to the Sheeran, a dedicated fan of the condiment, 1,100 pounds and 1,500 pounds on Thursday. would open the bottles, but they had “perfectly a charity nominated by Sheeran, and Rise burning questions of the animal kingdom, from why elephants prefer sold at auction in London on Thursday, Nigel Dickie, Kraft Heinz director of enjoyable ketchup” inside. Against Hunger, which is supported by Heinz. dictators and buffalos’ democracies, to whether the lion really is king. with one going under the hammer for 1,500 corporate affairs, said 150 of the bottles Some 104 bottles will be the prizes in a The 28-year-old star, who has sold more Photo: Front cover of the Persian version of “How the Zebra pounds ($1,816). were made to mark Heinz 150th birthday. free global draw, according to a statement than 150 million records worldwide, is a long- Got Its Stripes: Darwinian Stories Told Through Evolutionary Only 150 of the “Ed Sheeran X Heinz “What’s special about them is that linked on Sheeran’s Instagram account, and time fan of the sauce and has the “Heinz Biology” by French writer Léo Grasset. Tomato Ketchup, the Tattoo Edition” bottles, they have his tattoos on the label,” he the remainder would go to Sheeran and Heinz Tomato Ketchup” label tattooed on his arm.