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16 Pages Price 40,000 Rials 1.00 EURO 4.00 AED 39th year No.13392 Sunday MAY 19, 2019 Ordibehesht 29, 1398 Ramadan 13, 1440 Iran able to defeat It is the U.S. that Yahya Golmohammadi Iranian cinema enemies in ‘doesn’t know named Iran U23 shines at Argentine intelligence war 2 what to think’ 2 football coach 15 labor film festival 16

Iranian, Iraqi businessmen gather See page 2 for Iftar dinner in Baghdad

TEHRAN — Officials, businessmen Investment Commission (NIC), as well and entrepreneurs from Iran and Iraq as heads of Iraqi chambers of commerce gathered together for an Iftar dinner in and representatives of private companies Friday evening at the Iranian embassy from both sides were among the event’s in Baghdad, IRNA reported. attendees. Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad As reported, on the sidelines of the Iraj Masjedi, along with the governor of event, the two sides held talks on ways Iraq’s Central Bank Ali al-Alagh and Sami of expanding cooperation in various al-Araji, the chairman of Iraq’s National areas. 4

Over 7,200 villages to be linked with National Information Network

TEHRAN — Over 7,200 villages across the Information Society Day (WTISD) is country will be connected to the National annually celebrated on May 17 to help Information Network on the occasion of raise awareness of the possibilities that the World Telecommunication and In- the use of the Internet and ICT can bring formation Society Day, the Information to societies and economies, as well as of and Communication Technology (ICT) ways to bridge the digital divide. Ministry announced, Mehr reported on The internet coverage will expand inter- Saturday. net-based market through providing infra- Plan to smooth The World Telecommunication and structure and ICT development. 11

Syria says its air defenses intercept production ratified several Israeli projectiles TEHRAN — The Syrian army says its air in the Syrian capital, said several loud defense units have brought down sever- explosions were heard near Damascus. al projectiles fired from Israeli-occupied SANA, in a later update, quoted a mil- territories. itary official as saying that the projectiles Syria’s official news agency SANA, came from “the direction of” Syria’s south- citing its correspondent, said that the western province of Quneitra near the Israeli aerial aggression occurred on Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, adding Friday night. that the air defense units had “countered” president.ir Other reports, quoting some residents them. 13 PERSPECTIVE Nigerian army opens fire on protesters demanding release of Zakzaky REPORT Hanif Ghaffari TEHRAN — The Nigerian army has opened fire Zakzaky’s legal team has long called for his Ramin Hossein Abadian Head of the Politics Desk of on protesters demanding the release of top Muslim release, saying he is suffering from health issues Mehr News Agency the TehranTimes cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has been that require urgent medical care abroad but the journalist held for four years on trumped-up allegations. state high court in Kaduna has denied the request. Several people were seriously injured after A group of medical experts and consultants, John Bolton’s being shot by soldiers at the rally on Friday night. who conducted health assessments on Zakzaky U.S. faking The protesters were calling for justice for the and his wife earlier this month, suggested that political death leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), the two need to be taken abroad without further insecurity in Iraq: who has been held since December 2015 following delay for treatments. ohn Bolton, U.S. National Securi- a deadly raid by the Nigerian army troops on his The cleric and his wife were unable to attend New strategy to ty Advisor, continues to promote residence in the country’s northern Kaduna State. a court hearing back in March this year, due to war and terror and violence in his push Baghdad into J According to press TV, Sheikh Zakzaky, who dire health conditions, according to their lawyer foreign policy. Bolton’s title is basically is in his mid-sixties, lost his left eyesight in the Femi Falana SAN. tied to crime, war and terror. In George raid. His wife also sustained serious wounds while “My clients are yet to access any form of compliance W. Bush’s presidency, people like Dick more than 300 of his followers and three of his Back in 2016, Nigeria’s federal high court or- medical attention even after the court had or- Cheney and John Bolton have become pparently, the U.S. government sons were killed in the violence. dered his unconditional release from jail following dered so,” he said, referring to a court order the messengers of the White House’s is not going to end its suspicious The cleric has been kept in custody along his a trial but the government has so far refused to on January 22 to avail the cleric and his wife defeat in the world. This time Bolton and hostile actions in Iraq anytime wife and a large number of his followers ever since. set him free. access to medical care. A has also become a messenger for de- soon. These activities have been rapidly feating Trump and the United States in increasing over the last five months, in- the world. The U.S. National Security tensifying pressure on Iraq into yielding Adviser is having difficult days. John to the White House demands. Bolton has not been able to achieve his Iraq will remain part of ‘axis of resistance’ despite foreign plots: al-Kaabi A few months ago, Donald Trump se- goals toward the Islamic Republic of TEHRAN— Iraq’s Harakat al-Nujaba managing a media war against the resistance According to Press TV, last week, during an cretly went to Iraq and visited the American Iran. Many American analysts say the Secretary General Akram al-Kaabi says and are seeking to target our youth and our unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital Baghdad, armed forces based in Ayn al-Asad in the National Security Adviser to the Trump Iraq will remain part of the “axis of resist- moral values,” he added. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Al Anbar province. government has become the symbol of ance” despite foreign-backed attempts to The popular resistance force chief added the Iraqi government to restrain the country’s This visit clearly was an act of under- the White House’s failure in the inter- detach the Iraqi society from the regional that it was unfortunate that some of “Iraq’s popular mobilization and anti-terror forces, mining the Iraqi national authority; it national system. developments. elite and leaders” had been influenced by this saying that they posed a “threat” to U.S. in- violated the standard politic rules and Bolton’s story is a sad story for Amer- “Our enemies want Iraq to be an apathetic foreign-backed trend. terests. regulations and greatly offended Iraqi of- ican citizens! He is today a symbol of society and not react to what is happening “If our positions are based on the enemy’s Washington has also notified Iraqi officials ficials. It induced strong reactions from the embarrassment of all Americans. in our region. This goes against our beliefs,” media objectives, this will surely deviate us,” that U.S. may even directly attack the groups different parties and political coalitions in Bolton was one of the influential officials said al-Kaabi. he said. without coordinating with Baghdad if it per- Iraq, each releasing separate statements in the country since the start of the war Al-Kaabi stressed that based on Islam- The Harakat al-Nujaba leader made ceived any threat. and requesting the immediate expulsion in Iraq in 2003, by the George Walker ic beliefs, Iraq can’t be separated from the the statements as the United States has Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Iraqi of U.S. troops. Bush administration until 2008 (when greater Muslim world and the regional “re- recently ratcheted up pressure seeking Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi dismissed Such derogatory actions were repeated the neocons in the United States were at sistance axis”. to hamper efforts of a unified front coun- the comments, saying that Iraq had not ob- by Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State the head of the political and executive “Major organizations affiliated with the Zi- tering foreign intervention and terrorism served “movements that constitute a threat who made an unannounced visit to Iraq. equations of the country). Bolton and onists, the United States and the Saudis are in the region. to any side.” 13 En route to Baghdad, Pompeo told his entourage have repeatedly become reporters “I wanted to go to Baghdad to the symbol of the failure of the United speak with the leadership there, to assure States in the West Asia region.However, them that we stood ready to continue to Bolton’s defeat in the United States is ensure that Iraq is a sovereign, indepen- now far broader! John Bolton, the U.S. Community dent nation.” National Security Adviser, continues his It seems that Pompeo was trying to anti-Iranian negotiations in various suggest that Iran is the one who is a threat fields. In recent months, he has been Iftar at to Iraq independence and national sov- busy discussing the presence of Iran in ereignty! Syria and, on the other hand, engaging Tehran’s Imam U.S. actions in Iraq doesn’t stop here. in negotiations with other countries over Many Arab media have now exposed how Iran’s sanctions. But the existing evi- Hossein (AS) U.S. have been trying to extort money dences suggest that the U.S. National from Iraq. Al-Araby Al-Jadeed announced Security Adviser is not going to succeed that U.S. will give Iraq exemptions from in this regard. square sanctions provided that they clinch deals Democratic presidential candidate and agreements with American companies, Every day since the beginning of the holy month Bernie Sanders responds to a New York worth millions of dollars. of Ramadan (May 7), Iftar meal is being served Times report about the Trump administra- On the other hand, Abdul-Mahdi, the to the public at Tehran’s Imam Hossein (AS) tion’s potential plan to send thousands of Iraqi prime minister has clearly stated that his square. troops to the Middle East, saying national country “will not be part of the United States’ Mohammad Khodabakhsh People gather around the square before sunset security adviser John Bolton “was one of sanctions against Iran,” proving that U.S. every day and recite verses of the holy Quran the architects of the war in Iraq.” “threat or reward” policy has failed in Iraq. before the call to prayer. As Peter Bergen, CNN National With such reaction, U.S. now has de- Iftar is the evening meal with which Muslims Security Analyst wrote, John Bolton, cided to start a new scheme in Iraq. Last end their daily Ramadan fast. Muslims break President Trump’s national security Wednesday, U.S. State Department ordered

Tehran Times/ Tehran Times/ their fast at the time of the call to prayer for the adviser, seemingly hasn’t met a war all non-critical government employees to evening prayer. he doesn’t love. 6 leave Iraq. 13 I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y POLITICS MAY 19, 2019

Plan to smooth production Zarif to Trump: It is the U.S. that ratified

POLITICAL TEHRAN — The Supreme Council of Eco- desknomic Coordination convened on Saturday during which a plan to facilitate production process and removing ‘doesn’t know what to think’ obstacles to it were approved. The session was headed by President Hassan Rouhani and POLITICAL TEHRAN – Iranian pushed back against reports of conflict attended by Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani and Ebrahim Raeisi, deskForeign Minister Mo- between Secretary of State Mike Pom- the Judiciary chief. hammad Javad Zarif has said it is the peo and National Security Adviser John It was also decided to facilitate repayment of debts by pro- United States that “doesn’t know what Bolton amid tensions between the United duction enterprises in order to prevent their closure. to think” as President Donald Trump says States and Iran. Communications and Information Technology Minister Mo- one thing and his national security advisor “Mike Pompeo is doing a great job. hammad Javad Azari Jahromi presented a report on production says something else. Bolton is doing a great job. They make it program and supplying communications needs of the country, He made the remarks on Friday in a sound like it’s a conflict,” he said. based on which decisions were made by the council. post on his Twitter account after U.S. Zarif has classified Bolton, Israeli President Donald Trump tweeted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with “all of the Fake and Made Up News (bibi), Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed out there, Iran can have no idea what is bin Salman (MBS) and Abu Dhabi Crown Tehran welcomes Venezuela actually going on!” Prince Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) as “The Fake News Media is hurting our B-team who are working hard to push peace initiative Country with its fraudulent and highly in- the U.S. toward a war with Iran. POLITICAL TEHRAN – Tehran says it welcomes a accurate coverage of Iran. It is scattershot, Zarif says ‘Israel first’ replacing deskpeace initiative between the Venezuelan poorly sourced (made up), and DANGER- ‘America first’ government and the opposition hosted by Norway, expressing OUS. At least Iran doesn’t know what to Zarif also said on Saturday that the the hope that the talks would result in a political solution. think, which at this point may very well be policy of “Israel first” is beginning to “We hope these talks would a good thing!” Trump said in another tweet. replace the proclaimed “America first”. result in a political solution Responding to the comments, Zarif “What has been mentioned as the policy between the two sides, and tweeted, “With the #B_Team doing one of ‘America First’ in that country is turning Venezuela could immediate- thing & @realDonaldTrump saying an- We in Iran have actually known what to into a policy of ‘Israel first’ or ‘certain ly improve its economy and other thing, it is apparently the U.S. that reactionary regional rulers first’,” Zarif the livelihood of its people ‘doesn’t know what to think’. We in Iran think for millennia—and about the U.S., told reporters in Beijing. peacefully,” Foreign Ministry have actually known what to think for mil- since 1953. The chief diplomat said those par- spokesman Abbas Mousavi lennia—and about the U.S., since 1953. At ties are employing “financial power and said in a statement on Satur- this point, that is certainly ‘a good thing!’” coup against the democratically elected Also on Friday, in a speech to the Na- propaganda” as a leverage to impose their day, Tasnim reported. 1953 refers to the CIA-engineered government of Mohammad Mossadegh. tional Association of Realtors, Trump demands on the U.S. government. Warning against the dire consequences of foreign in- terference in the Latin Ameri- can country’s internal affairs, Takht Ravanchi says U.S. must end its illegal military presence in Syria Mousavi said, “Unfortunately, the U.S. is collectively punish- POLITICAL TEHRAN — Majid Takht Ravanchi, Continuation of current state of affairs in Idleb ing the people of Venezuela deskIran’s permanent representative to the would further interrupt the restoration of Government’s by blocking and plundering their financial assets.” United Nations, has said that the United States must control over all its territory and securing the safety and The spokesman said it is necessary that the U.S. aban- put an immediate end to its illegal military presence in security of all its citizens, prevent the return of refugees don its “economic terrorism” against Venezuela and stop parts of Syria. and internally displaced persons, delay the country’s its “illegal behaviors” in the country “that run counter to In a statement addressed to the UN Security Council reconstruction, and hamper the political solution, all human rights norms”. on Friday, Takht Ravanchi said that sovereignty, political of which are inherently interlinked. President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday that the talks in independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria In conclusion, I would like to stress once again on Norway with representatives of Venezuela’s government and should be respected by all. the need for full respect by all to sovereignty, political the opposition sought to “build a peaceful agenda”. Following is full text of the statement published by independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria. According to Reuters, the representatives of each side IRNA: As underlined in the Joint Statement of recent meeting arrived in the Nordic country this week, signaling a fresh Along with other Guarantors of the Astana Format, of the Guarantors of the Astana Format in Nur-Sultan approach to ending months of tensions that escalated after the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to support keeping on 25-26 April 2019, no action, no matter by whom, a failed uprising last month led by opposition leader Juan Idlib as a de-escalation area. should undermine these principles. Guaido, who called on the military to oust Maduro. This approach is based on a reality and a fundamental In this context, the Guarantors of the Astana Format also Venezuela was thrust into a deep power struggle in January principle: there are a large number of civilians there rejected all attempts to create new realities on the ground when Guaido, leader of the opposition-controlled National whose lives must be saved. under the pretext of combating terrorism. Therefore, Assembly, invoked the constitution to assume an interim At the same time, certain questions are in order: can the US must put an immediate end to its illegal military presidency, arguing Maduro’s 2018 re-election was illegitimate. and should this situation continue indefinitely? Should are necessary. presence in parts of Syria. Shortly after Guaido took an oath swearing himself in the Government allow these internationally designated Current situation in Idlib under which the most With this in mind, the Syrian Government must be before his supporters, U.S. President Donald Trump rec- terrorist groups continue their control over its territory? dangerous terrorist groups are allowed to use over assisted in the formation of the Constitutional Committee ognized him as the country’s leader. In response, President Should the international community allow such terrorist two million civilians as human shields, continue their facilitated by the SRSG Pedersen, whose efforts enjoys Maduro broke off diplomatic ties with the U.S. and expelled groups to take a large number of civilians as their hostage? control over a large part of a sovereign State’s territory, our support. We encourage him to further strengthen American diplomats from his country. The answer is clear: the establishment of the Idlib de- and conduct their operations therefrom attacking both its direct consultation with the Government of Syria. escalation area was only a temporary measure with the military and civilian targets beyond that area cannot As stated in the aforesaid Joint Statement, there is exclusive objective of protecting civilians, not providing and must not continue indefinitely. no military solution to the Syrian conflict and the only terrorist groups with a safe haven. It does not limit the Persistence of this situation would enable terrorists option is to advance the Syrian-led and Syrian owned, Tehran says U.S. acting against right of the Syrian Government to fight Security Council to kill more civilians. This is in contradiction with the UN-facilitated political process. Ultimately, the right designated terrorists, which of course have to be carried objective of the Idlib de-escalation area’s creation. We to determine the future of Syria belongs exclusively to UN charter, human rights out in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. should be vigilant enough not to confuse the protection Syrians themselves. We must genuinely support the Therefore, both, defeating terrorists and releasing civilians of civilians with the protection of terrorists. realization of this objective. POLITICAL TEHRAN – Iran’s envoy to the United Nations deskbodies headquartered in Vienna has criticized the measures taken by Washington, saying that the White House moves are in violation of all international norms and human rights. Commander stresses boosting There will be no war between Iran and Speaking before the 35th meeting of the member states of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) army units’ preparedness U.S., Zarif says planning and budget committee on Friday, Kazzem Qaribabadi TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Army Com- POLITICS TEHRAN – Iranian a “psychological warfare” against Tehran. desk said the U.S. acts are against the mander Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi Foreign Minister Mo- Leader of the Islamic Revolution Aya- UN charter, international reg- highlighted the country’s full readiness hammad Javad Zarif predicted on Saturday tollah Ali Khamenei has ruled out the pos- ulations and the human rights to counter foreign threats and said at the that there would be no war between the sibility of war between the U.S. and Iran which can have destructive im- current situation, boosting the Army units’ U.S. and Iran, however he said Washington despite heightened tensions between the pacts on UNIDO activities and preparedness is “an inevitable necessity”. should explain to the American people two sides. missions. Addressing a gathering of the Army about its “dangerous moves” in the region. Speaking at a large gathering of officials He also expressed concern commanders on Saturday, Major General “I am sure, as Leader of the Islamic on Tuesday, the Leader said Washington over the unsuitable financial Mousavi stressed the importance of boost- Revolution has said, there will be no war, knows that engaging in such a conflict would conditions of the UNIDO and ing the vigilance and preparedness of the because neither we seek a war nor anyone not be in its interest. its influence on the develop- military commanders at all strategic and can imagine any confrontation with Iran The Washington Post, citing several ment plans of the body and its operational levels. in the region. However, it is essential to unnamed U.S. officials, reported late effective performance. “Today, thank God, all units of the Army end up to our benefit,” the Leader said, clarify the U.S. dangerous moves for the Wednesday that Trump was frustrated Qaribabadi urged the UNI- have full combat and psychological read- citing warnings by American analysts that people of this country,” he told IRNA before that his advisers may be rushing into war DO managing director to spare iness and if the enemy dares to make a Washington’s pressure on Tehran would, leaving Beijing for Tehran. and that he preferred a more diplomatic no effort to force the U.S. to pay miscalculation or a strategic mistake, it contrary to its intended purpose, trigger He added, “The reality is that Trump has approach and direct talks with Iran. its €60m dues which date back to its exit from UNIDO. will receive a response that would make an “economic mutation.” said and reiterated recently that he does U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said U.S. pullout from international organizations does not provide it regret it,” Major General Mousavi said. The U.S. has ratcheted up pressure on not seek war. However, there are people on Thursday that the Trump administration any legal basis for not paying its dues to these bodies. “In the current situation, maintaining Iran since last year after withdrawing from around him who push him towards war does not have congressional authorization UNIDO’s primary objective is the promotion and acceleration and boosting the vigilance and readiness the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint under the pretext that they want to make to go to war against Iran. of industrial development in developing countries and countries of the Army units is an inevitable necessity Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). the U.S. powerful.” She told reporters that she backed with economies in transition and the promotion of international and would deter the enemy threats,” the Since then, the administration of U.S. Zarif noted that the U.S. priorities in what appeared to be U.S. President Don- industrial cooperation. commander added. President Donald Trump is trying to reduce politics are just in line with interests of ald Trump’s aversion to actual military Earlier, Qaribabadi had called on the international community The remarks came a few days after Iran’s oil exports to “zero,” and has sent the Zionist regime of Israel and certain conflict with Tehran, Reuters reported. to stand against the U.S. unilateralism, saying that Washington’s Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatol- an aircraft carrier strike group, a bomber reactionary countries in the region. “I like what I hear from the president — coercive foreign policy runs counter to international law and lah Seyed Ali Khamenei downplayed the squad, an amphibious assault ship, and a Tension has been increasing in the Per- that he has no appetite on this,” she said. the UN Charter. United States’ highly belligerent rhetoric Patriot missile battery to the Middle East sian Gulf and the wider Middle East region She noted, “This is part of a pattern that The U.S. government is involved at a high level in unilateral and against Iran, stressing that Washington’s to try to stack up pressure on Tehran. since the U.S. has made military threats is not right because we have responsibilities coercive measures such as imposition of sanctions, threats of use real capability do not match its inflated Iranian officials, however, have dis- against Iran and dispatched aircraft carrier — the responsibility in the Constitution is of force, military intervention, and even acts such as withdrawal bluster. missed such moves as psychological to the regional waters and deployed Patri- for the Congress to declare war, so I hope from international treaties and agreements, said Qaribabadi on “In (its) policy of confrontation with warfare, saying the country has its own ot missiles in certain regional countries. the president’s advisers recognize that they April 30, in his address to a ceremony commemorating the In- the Islamic Republic too, the U.S. will defi- ways of circumventing the American bans Iranian officials and analysts have said have no authorization to go forward in ternational Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace. The nitely suffer defeat, and (the situation) will and selling crude oil. the dispatch of carriers to the region are just any way.” event was held in Vienna hosted by the Non-Aligned Movement. Earlier this week, Chairman of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations Seyyed Kamal Kharrazi said that global efforts to reach multilateralism are in serious danger as some countries Iran able to defeat enemies in intelligence war: IRGC chief are seeking to impose their will and secure their interests by withdrawing from international agreements. POLITICAL TEHRAN — “We are involved in full-fledged enemies’ strategies. At a time when certain countries consider exit from interna- deskCommander of the intelligence war with the U.S. and Elsewhere, he said that the “political tional treaties as a way to meet their desires and impose their will Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) enemies of the revolution and the Islamic philosophy” in the U.S. has led to a failure on others, multilateralism is not only on the decline, but also on said on Saturday that Iran is able to defeat system. This atmosphere is a combination by Washington. the path to destruction, Kharrazi said last Monday, addressing enemies in intelligence war. of psychological and cyber operation, “The U.S. political system has the second meeting of the Paris Peace Forum. Speaking during a ceremony, Major military moves and dissemination of suffered cracks and lost its strength,” During the meeting, major issues of the draft report of the General Hossein Salami said the fear,” he said. the commander noted. forum were discussed when Kharrazi said that certain cases in intelligence war between Iran and the The top commander attached great He also said that Iran is on the path the report need amendment. U.S. is a “serious reality”. importance to necessity of observing of empowerment. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y MAY 19, 2019 IRAN IN FOCUS Guardian Council reacts negatively to Dual nationals can safely provincialize elections travel to Iran: diplomat

POLITICAL TEHRAN — The spokes- They further said it would deepen the deskman of the Guardian rift among ethnic, linguistic and religious Council on Saturday reacted negatively to groups, and would pose a threat against the prospects of provincializing elections, national security. saying the council deems there would be It would “block the people’s communica- downsides to doing so. tion links with the establishment and would Speaking at a press conference, Abbasali radicalize the public atmosphere,” they argued. Kadkhodaei said the Guardian Council is not The think tanks called on the lawmak- against provincialization “but it will lead to ers to avoid partisanship and haste, and to smaller turnout, violation of the rights of make well-considered decisions in order to candidates and people, and go against equity safeguard the country’s interests. in elections.” The Majlis is considering a bill Also in early May, members of the princi- that would have the collection and counting plist faction of the House of Parties criticized of parliamentary votes at provincial level. the plan to hold parliamentary elections at Kadkhodaei said there are 10 instances provincial level, saying the plan is “prema- of ambiguity in the bill regarding which the ture” and needs further study. Guardian Council is seeking clarification. The principlist politicians reached a con- “Four instances were against Sharia while sensus in their first meeting that the plan is there were other instances that went against “ill-considered” and no “deep expert work” the Constitution,” he said. has been done on it. POLITICAL TEHRAN — Tehran’s Ambassador to Lon- Just recently the government cabinet The parliamentary election will be held deskdon, Hamid Baeidinejad, has said that dual expressed their general agreement to the parliamentary elections from local to pro- Ali Larijani, the think tanks claimed the move on February 21, 2020. nationals can safely travel to Iran. provincialization bill. vincial level, saying the move would decrease is contrary to general election policies and The Guardian Council vets candidates for “Every day thousands of Iranian dual nationals and Iranian Earlier this month, 15 Iranian think tanks voter turnout. would have “catastrophic” social, political, presidential, parliamentary, and Assembly nationals working in the UK are travelling safely to Iran. Iranian voiced concerns over the motion to change In an open letter to Parliament Speaker legal and security consequences. of Experts elections and monitors elections. dual nationals and Iranians working in the UK are all respected Iranian citizens and are all welcomed to visit their country and families,” he tweeted on Friday. His comments came as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Pentagon cannot decide for Iran, Iraqi group: Military threats against of the UK issued a statement on Friday advising against all travel for British-Iranian dual nationals and for Iranian nationals who ex-minister says Iran shows Washington’s ‘new idiocy’ work for organizations perceived as linked to UK government. According to the statement, British Foreign Secretary Jer- emy Hunt claimed, “Dual nationals face an intolerable risk of mistreatment if they visit Iran.” “Regrettably, I must also offer a message of caution to Iranian nationals resident in the UK – but who return to visit family and friends – especially where the Iranian government may perceive them to have personal links to UK institutions or the British government,” he added.

Ex-envoy predicts EU’s JCPOA inaction will continue

POLITICAL TEHRAN — Iran is a “maximum pressure” against Iran under POLITICAL TEHRAN — The Also, military invasion of Iraq under deskcountry that a few peo- President Donald Trump. deskUnited States’ military the pretext that Saddam Hussein was hid- ple at the Pentagon cannot decide for it, Employing the policy, Washington left threats and intensive pressure campaign ing weapons of mass destruction, led to former Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmo- a multilateral nuclear deal last year, which against Iran shows Washington’s “new id- hundreds of thousands of deaths coupled hammadi said on Saturday. was reached between Iran and six major iocy” in the region, says Jassim Al-Jazairi, and the spread of terrorism in the region. The remarks by Pourmohammadi comes powers – the U.S., UK, France, Russia, a member of the political office of the Iraqi Al-Jazairi said the U.S. cannot do any- as Washington has intensified its rhetoric China, and Germany – back in 2015. al-Kataeb movement. thing against “united Iranian nation” and of war against Iran followed by a harsh It then reinstated the sanctions that had “The recent pressures and moves of the that most regional countries back Iran. economic sanctions against the country. been lifted under the accord, and began U.S. against Iran shows their confusion “If there is a war, Iran will definitely Speaking with IRNA, Pourmohammadi threatening the countries not abiding by and new idiocy,” Jassim, whose movement emerge victorious,” he predicted. said owing to Iran’s national and defensive the bans with “secondary sanctions.” is affiliated to Hashd al-Shabi, said in an He added the Americans are unaware might, it is not possible for the United States The moves came while the nuclear deal interview with IRNA on Saturday. of this bitter fact that the region can no to decide about attacking the country. has been ratified in the form of a Unit- He said, “They have not learnt from their longer tolerate new crises. “As the Supreme Leader remarked on ed Nations Security Council resolution, past experiences and history, and think that Various Iraqi groups as well as religious Tuesday, neither we intend to enter a war making Washington culpable for violating the Islamic Republic is a low-hanging fruit.” and political figures have expressed support nor the U.S. dares to wage a war without international law. The U.S. military adventures in Af- for Iran in the face of the Trump admin- TEHRAN (MNA)– A former Iranian envoy has predicted that considering its ramifications,” he remarked. On May 8, a year after U.S. withdrawal, ghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 have istration’s economic war and its threat of the European parties to the nuclear agreement will not do any- “However,” Pourmohammadi added, Iran announced it would partially end its proven a fiasco. military force against the country. thing special in the 60-day ultimatum to offset U.S. sanctions, “a madman can disturb the situation even compliance with the deal unless European The United States, which invaded Af- Despite the fact that Iran supported Mehr reported on Wednesday. so no[as1] rational mind would sanction nations are able to circumvent the sanc- ghanistan to defeat Taliban, is now begging Iraqis against Daesh, Washington is pressing “I believe that whatever has happened so far will also happen a war.” tions and provide it with benefits it was for dialogue with the militant group to find the officials in Baghdad to cut economic in the next two months … We really should not expect something The U.S. has been deploying a policy of due under the accord. a face-saving exit from the country. ties with Tehran. special from Europe,” said Abolfazl Zohrehvand, who served as Iran’s ambassador to Italy. Zohrehvand pointed out that some European countries have pinned hope on the post-Trump era, but at the same time they have been compliant with the United States’ policies and will MP: U.S. left JCPOA because it didn’t receive economic benefits remain so in the future. He also said that while inflicting a great cost on the country, POLITICAL TEHRAN— A top Iranian lawmaker says Iran’s economy,” he maintained. the experience of “negotiating with the West in recent years was deskthe Trump administration’s withdrawal Ghazizadeh referred to the U.S. efforts to start negotiations very valuable, because it exposed the true face of the West for from the 2015 nuclear accord was due to the fact that the with Iran by passing phone number, saying holding talks those who had hoped for a Western-oriented approach.” U.S. didn’t receive any economic benefits from the deal, Mer with Iran is “in Trump’s interests for the future presidential Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) announced reported on Saturday. election which is tied to Iran.” on May 8 that “the Islamic Republic of Iran upholds its rights “The U.S. signed a contract which benefited the Eu- “America doesn’t know what it actually wants and how under articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA and will stop implementing ropeans but did not bring any economic benefits to the to achieve it,” he stated. Ghazizadeh went on to say that some parts of its obligation under the JCPOA from today, May Americans,” said Amirhossein Ghazizadeh, a member “The window of negotiation with those who have broken 8, 2019, in line with protecting the Iranian people’s security and of the parliament’s presiding board. The MP also said their international commitments is closed.” national interests.” Iran was ready to work with General Motors instead of To negotiate with Iran, he continued, the U.S. government President Rouhani also gave Europeans 60 days to ensure that Renault and Peugeot, or allow American oil companies needs to first return to the JCPOA (the official name for the Iran’s interests were protected under the agreement, otherwise to enter Iran’s oil fields. multilateral nuclear deal) and honor its international obli- it is ready to take further steps towards leaving the nuclear deal. Ghazizadeh argued that the Americans themselves were gations. “Then they can claim for a new round of talks,” he On Wednesday, Iran announced that it has stopped imple- responsible for not receiving the benefits because of the added. He also stressed that Iran is not seeking a war with menting some parts of its commitments. sanctions they imposed on the Islamic Republic. the U.S. but is fully ready to defend itself and inflict heavy “Over the past 10 years, the U.S. has been putting pressure on Iran while different European countries benefited from losses to its enemies. Americans waiting ‘by the phone’ for call from Tehran Bosnian parliament speaker pushes for closer ties with POLITICAL TEHRAN – An America that “any attack on United States interests of his advisers, such as John Bolton, were up), and DANGEROUS. At least Iran doesn’t deskofficial has said the Trump or on those of our allies will be met with pushing for war. know what to think, which at this point may Iran administration is waiting “by the phone” for unrelenting force.” Hawks in Trump’s team have reportedly very well be a good thing!” he added. Iran to call. Bolton said the decision was in response gone as far as drawing up plans for a possible Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Ja- POLITICAL TEHRAN – Borjana Kristo, Bosnia-Herze- The U.S. has heard no message yet from to what he called “a number of troubling and military strike that could involve sending vad Zarif immediately replied, “With the #B_ deskgovina’s House of Representatives speaker, Iran, the senior official, who declined to be escalatory indications and warnings.” 120,000 soldiers to the Middle East. Team doing one thing & @realDonaldTrump has underlined the importance of friendly relations with Iran identified, told a small group of reporters on Trump, however, later ordered his admin- The New York Times on Monday claimed saying another thing, it is apparently the US and called for a boost in mutual cooperation in all fields. Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal. istration to avoid a military confrontation Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan that ‘doesn’t know what to think.’” Kristo made the remarks during a meeting with Iranian am- Back on May 9, Trump publicly appealed with Iran, The New York Times and Reuters had presented an updated military plan that “We in Iran have actually known what bassador to Sarajevo Mahmoud Heydari, IRNA reported. to Iran to call him amid heightened tensions. reported Friday. envisioned sending as many as 120,000 troops to think for millennia—and about the US, She voiced hope that bilateral ties will expand with the for- On the same day, CNN reported that the During a Wednesday morning meeting in to the Middle East should Iran attack American since 1953. At this point, that is certainly ‘a mation of a new government in her country and establishment White House has contacted Swiss authori- the Situation Room, Trump sent a message forces or accelerate work on nuclear program. good thing!’” the top Iranian diplomat added. of parliamentary commissions. ties to share a telephone number with Iran to his hawkish aides that he does not want The New York Times’ claim was later on Zarif’s response apparently made the U.S. Heydari, for his part, congratulated the election of Kristo in hopes that Tehran will contact Trump. the U.S. pressure campaign against Iran to Tuesday denied by Trump, who described it president soften his tone to some extent, as as house speaker and presented a report on the situation of The call for talks came four days after John explode into an open conflict. as “fake news” and said, “Hopefully we’re not he later suggested that fake news are con- bilateral relations. Bolton, the hawkish U.S. national security “Trump was firm in saying he did not want going to have to plan for that. And if we did that, fusing Iran too. He also stressed the need for promoting parliamentary co- advisor, declared the U.S. was sending an a military clash with the Iranians,” read the we’d send a hell of a lot more troops than that.” The Iranian foreign minister has yet to operation. aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber paper citing five senior officials who described Later on Friday, Trump tweeted that “the continue this Twitter war of words, but Iran’s Commenting on Iran’s stance on the nuclear deal and the task force to the Middle East in a “clear and the administration’s internal debate over Iran. Fake News Media is hurting our Country Minister of Information and Communica- recent developments in the Persian Gulf and Middle East, unmistakable” message to Iran. The report cited anonymous officials in- with its fraudulent and highly inaccurate tions Technology Mohammad Javad Azari he said that the Iranian nation has always abided by its com- The move, he said, is aimed at sending a formed on the matter as saying that Trump coverage of Iran.” Jahromi said that Trump’s “mad advisors” mitments and responsibilities and will never surrender to “clear and unmistakable message” to Iran had privately expressed concern that some “It is scattershot, poorly sourced (made are the source of fake news. threats and bullying. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 4 ECONOMY MAY 19, 2019 Small ports can play key STOCK MARKET TEDPIX 212750.0 IFX 2612.64 role in current economic Sources: tse.ir, Ifb.ir condition: PMO official ECONOMY TEHRAN — Small ports always possible and it has been already trans- CURRENCIES deskcan play some key and ferred to the private sector in some ports, USD 42,000 rials essential role in the country’s current eco- the PMO director stated, adding that such nomic condition, the ports affairs director transferring is possible provided that the EUR 46,923 rials of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization ports will bring profit. GBP 53,418 rials (PMO) Ravanbakhsh Behzadian asserted. In late April, PMO Head Mohammad The official also said that developing Rastad announced that Iran’s maritime AED 11,437 rials these ports can prevent from immigra- fleet has been placed on white list of the Source: cbi.ir tion of their population to the big cities International Maritime Organization through job creation, IRIB reported on (IMO), thanks to the set of measures the by the PMO to maintain and enhance mari- “The issue of safety at sea is very im- Saturday. country has taken to preserve and enhance time safety have led Iran to stand among the portant, and if ships lack the necessary Transferring the operating of small ports maritime safety. world’s top countries in terms of standard standards for maritime safety, they naturally COMMODITIES to the private sector has been and will be The official said that the measures taken and fleet safety. endanger the lives of people”, Rastad noted. Brent $73.00/b WTI $63.40/b OPEC Basket $71.26/b Over $428m allocated for agricultural mechanization this year ECONOMY TEHRAN – The head of Iran’s Agri- of various agriculture sectors will be achieved without Gold $1,287.85/oz deskcultural Mechanization Development any problems. Silver $14.53/oz Center said some 18 trillion rials (over $428.5 million) In the past forty years, since the Islamic Revolution, has been allocated for mechanization of the country’s Iran has witnessed a remarkable improvement in vari- Platinium $827.35/oz agricultural sectors including agriculture, horticulture, ous sectors and the agriculture industry has been one livestock, poultry, aquatic, and forests. of the areas in which the country has undergone huge Sources: oilprice.com, Moneymetals.com According to Kambiz Abbasi, last year 15.4 trillion rials development. (over $366 million) was allocated in this area. Implementing billions of dollars’ worth of devel- The official noted that since over 95 percent of the opment, research and educational projects across the technology and knowledge in this area is domestic, despite country is an indication of the significant improvements Iranian, Iraqi businessmen the U.S. sanctions most of the goals in the mechanization in this sector. gather for an Iftar dinner in Baghdad 1 The two sides also emphasized the positive relations Trade war could slice 1 percent off China’s economic growth, top party official says between the two countries and the Iraqi side stated that the Arab The U.S.-China trade war could slash one in Shanghai and was a member of the As- one percentage point drag from the trade He justified the move by saying Beijing had country will always stay by its good neighbor Iran. percentage point off Beijing’s economic growth sociation of Taiwan Investment Enterprises war seems like a reasonable guess,” he said. reneged on commitments made during earlier Iranian Commercial Attaché to Iraq Naser Behzad said on this year, a senior Chinese policymaker said on the Mainland. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean that rounds of the trade negotiations. Wednesday that there is no new limitation in trade relations on Thursday. “He said the most pessimistic forecast was growth will decline by one percent, as we This week, the U.S. said it had started between Iran and Iraq and the two neighbors are strongly de- According to scmp.com, speaking to a that it would trim one percentage point off expect part of the drag to be offset by policy making preparations to levy tariffs on a fur- termined to strengthen and develop their trade cooperation. group of Taiwanese businesspeople whose the mainland’s GDP growth,” the person said. stimulus.” ther $300 billion worth of Chinese imports, companies are based in mainland China, “Wang said that the authorities would not Evans-Pritchard said the impact of the which could go into effect in July. Wang Yang – one of the seven members of oppose Taiwanese businesses that wanted to recent acceleration in credit growth should Evidence of the impact the trade war is the elite Politburo Standing Committee – move their operations away from the mainland take effect in the second half of the year, having on China’s economy came with the said that the government had assessed the (to avoid U.S. tariffs), but stressed that the which would support growth and reduce the latest performance figures, which showed that impact of the near year-long dispute and vast market there offered huge development negative impact of the trade war on jobs. its exports in April fell by 2.7 percent despite estimated that in the worst case scenario opportunities for us.” Economic planning agency expanding by 14.2 percent a month earlier. gross domestic product growth would be Wang, who is party secretary of the Chinese On Friday, the National Development and Despite the downturn, economic growth for one percentage point lower than expected. People’s Political Consultative Conference, Reform Commission – China’s top economic the first quarter of the year stabilized at 6.4 Beijing had earlier set a target of 6 to 6.5 said also that the U.S. had underestimated the planning agency – said it would continue to percent. percent growth for the full year. tenacity of the Chinese people if it thought a use measures to support growth in the private “China’s economy has been cooling for While Wang did not outline any plans for trade war would “bring suffering” to China, sector and among small- to medium-sized the past 24 months and that is not just due dealing with the fallout from the trade war, he the businessman said. enterprises, as well as stimulating consump- to the trade war but because of a broader is the first official from the top policymaking With China’s economy already slowing, tion in rural areas. trend,” he said. body to speak so candidly about its possible any discrepancy between actual and targeted “We will provide more help for key groups “But if the growth headwinds intensify, I Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi (R) shakes hand impact on headline targets. performance would be a significant blow to like college graduates (to find jobs) … and think the Chinese government can do more with the governor of Iraq’s Central Bank Ali al-Alagh on the A member of the audience at the event in Beijing as it would hit corporate earnings focus on solving the problem of structural to stimulate consumption, such as cutting sidelines of an Iftar dinner at Iranian embassy in Baghdad Beijing said that despite the official’s frank and jobs, and could threaten social stability, unemployment,” spokeswoman Meng Wei the car sales tax and subsidizing home ap- on Friday. assessment, he did not seem too worried analysts said. said. pliance purchases.” about the long-term effects of China’s spat Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China “We will also strengthen vocational skills The NDRC drafted a plan earlier this year In this due, the two countries are following up plans for in- with the U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said that training and implement a plan to enroll 1 to provide such incentives but because of the creasing their bilateral economic relation, the official noted. The trade war if the U.S. went ahead with its threat to impose million people in higher vocational colleges,” strong economic performance in the first The Iranian commercial attaché further said that Iran’s monthly “Wang said that although the trade war 25 percent tariffs on the $300 billion worth she said. quarter did not implement it. exports to Iraq is expected to be doubled in the current Iranian would have an impact on the mainland’s of Chinese imports currently free from such The U.S. and China appeared to be mov- Iris Pang, Greater China economist at calendar month (ends on May 16) from its previous month. economic development, and had caused duties, it would shave 0.7 percentage points ing towards a trade deal until U.S. President ING, said that in the event of a one percentage significant waves it would not lead to any off China’s GDP growth. Donald Trump – as threatened – more than point drop in China’s GDP growth the urban structural changes,” said the delegate, who “On top of that, there will be the indirect doubled the tariff on $200 billion worth of unemployment rate could rise to about 6 Going down: Brazil economic asked not to be named but said he was based impact on confidence and investment, so a Chinese imports to 25 percent on May 10. percent from around 5 percent at present. woes hit stocks, currency Atrophying growth forecasts and waning confidence in President Jair IMF urges Germany to cut taxes and upgrade infrastructure Bolsonaro sent Brazil’s stocks and currency to their lowest level of the year this week, as analysts warned of further falls. The IMF has called on Germany to lower taxes on poorer expanding research and development credits for com- AFP reported since touching a record 100,000 points in mid-March, households and to invest more in the country’s infrastruc- panies to speed up innovation; and continuing to invest the Bovespa has fallen 10 percent and wiped out gains made since far- ture, as part of a broader effort to improve long-term in public infrastructure.” right Bolsonaro took power on January 1 on a promise to revive Latin competitiveness and help tackle economic imbalances. The IMF notes that Germany has made some pro- America’s biggest economy. As per ft.com, “Germany’s economic fundamentals gress towards reducing its current account surplus — the The benchmark index closed just below 90,000 on Friday, while are sound, public and private balance sheets are healthy, size of which has been a longstanding irritant to trading Brazil’s currency traded at its lowest level against the dollar in eight unemployment is at a historical low, wages have finally partners like the U.S. — but cautions that more needs to months, breaking through four reais. accelerated, and the large current account surplus is slowly be done. “Though the external surplus has come down The sharp declines have been fanned by uncertainty over U.S.-China shrinking,” the fund says in its annual assessment of the from its peak, it remains well above the level consistent trade talks that has pummeled stocks and currencies in emerging mar- German economy, released on Friday. with fundamentals and is expected to remain so in the kets, which are perceived as riskier bets. But the report also points to a series of longer-term medium term,” the fund says. But the “external headwinds” have been compounded by concerns challenges, including an ageing population and weak pro- “This contributes to global imbalances at a time when over Brazil’s feeble economy, which has struggled to grow since emerg- ductivity growth. The IMF also warns that Germany’s In response to these and other problems, Germany trade tensions threaten Germany’s export dependent ing from the devastating 2015-2016 recession, said William Jackson “technological edge” is under threat, echoing widely- should “use the space within the fiscal rules to bolster economy. Faster wage growth, which would be consistent of London-based Capital Economics. shared concerns that the country’s carmakers and other long-term growth and help rebalance the economy”. The with the very tight labour market, could help accelerate “There was a lot of hope when Bolsonaro came to power that the industrial groups have been slow to respond to the digital report adds: “Priorities include lowering the burden of real exchange rate appreciation and speed up external economy would turnaround, but we have seen no evidence of this,” challenge and the potential for disruption coming from taxation on low-income households further while also rebalancing, while also ensuring that the benefits of growth Jackson told AFP. electronic vehicles. reducing disincentives to work for secondary earners; are widely shared,” the report argues. Pace of economic reforms This week’s massive nationwide protests over education spending freezes, money laundering accusations against Bolsonaro’s eldest son and the slow pace of economic reforms were adding to the general malaise. Singapore leads talks on digital economy pact The “economy is really flirting with recession,” Jackson added. The bleak outlook was underscored by economy minister Paulo Talks started on May 17 on an agreement initiated by Sin- Economic ties and digital links between the three Guedes, who warned this week that Brazil was “at the bottom of the gapore to advance better trade in the digital era. countries are also expected to be strengthened by the well” as he slashed the government’s forecast for 2019 economic growth As per straitstimes.com, the Digital Economy Partner- agreement. to 1.5 percent from 2.2 percent. ship Agreement (DEPA), as it is called, also involves Chile The agreement was announced on Friday Trade and That was followed by central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto, and New Zealand. Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing with his Chilean and New who flagged a likely contraction in the economy in the first quarter It aims to tackle issues in the digital economy such as Zealand counterparts on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific following a slowdown at the end of 2018. artificial intelligence governance, e-payments, e-invoicing Economic Cooperation Ministers Responsible for Trade Market analysts have pared their full-year growth forecasts 11 weeks and digital identities, said a joint statement on Friday. Meeting in Vina del Mar, Chile. in a row and now expect the economy to expand by an anemic 1.45 The agreement is being spearheaded by the Trade and Navigating international markets percent, according to the latest central bank survey. Industry and Communications and Information ministries Chan said businesses that are able to navigate and tap Some even saw that estimate as optimistic. and the Infocomm Media Development Authority. international markets in the new digital environment will Marcos Casarin of Oxford Economics warned Brazil appeared headed DEPA is an opportunity to “set forward-looking standards have a competitive advantage. for around one percent growth for the third year in a row. on digital trade, and establish new international approaches “Singapore is a strong proponent of an integrated, global “Brazil has never had such a slow recovery,” said Casarin, attribut- to support the digital economy and trade in the digital era”, digital economy,” he said, adding that the agreement with ing lackluster activity to post-recession deleveraging by the Brazilian said the statement. Chile and New Zealand complements Singapore’s network government, businesses and consumers, which has sapped spending, It added that the pact will provide a benchmark for in- of free trade agreements. borrowing and investment in the country. ternational trade rules that benefit businesses while sup- Tech company Xero, which provides cloud accounting “Everyone had to pay back debt at the same time.” porting the digitalization and internationalization efforts software for SMEs, believes DEPA will provide huge sup- partners, many of whom conduct business outside their But the risk of a technical recession -- two straight quarters of con- by small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). port for its customers, with a common set of standards to geographical boundaries.” traction -- was low. We believe that DEPA will promote the adoption and facilitate secure and smooth transactions between markets. Zhou Junjie, e-commerce firm Shopee’s chief commer- “We are already at the bottom,” Casarin noted. use of digital technologies to drive cross-border trade … this “We believe that DEPA will promote the adoption and cial officer, called DEPA a “step in the right direction” as it “We could potentially see a double dip, but that would have to be would benefit our SME customers and accounting partners, use of digital technologies to drive cross-border trade,” said will facilitate greater transparency and simplify processes triggered by a domestic crisis” -- such as failure to pass the pension many of whom conduct business outside their geographi- Xero’s Asia regional director Kevin Fitzgerald. in digital trade, which will enable Singapore businesses to reform bill. cal boundaries. “This would benefit our SME customers and accounting reach customers in the region better. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y MAY 19, 2019 ENERGY 5

IRENEX to hold 80 new power projects to be implemented in Tehran by 10th round of oil late-June

ENERGY TEHRAN – Iranian Energy Ministry is going deskto implement 80 new electricity projects worth offering based on five trillion rials (over $119 million) in the capital to get the grid prepared for passing the summer’s peak demand period, IRIB reported quoting an energy official. According to Gholamreza Khoshkholgh, the managing director new guidelines of Tehran Regional Electricity Company, most of the mentioned projects are already completed and the work is underway for the ENERGY TEHRAN — National is going to offer two million barrels of light rest to go operational by the beginning of summer (June 22). desk Iranian Oil Company crude at the base price of $67.28 on May 21. The projects include renovation and expansion of power (NIOC) is going to set new guidelines for In the previous round, NIOC offered one transmission lines and substations, the official said. holding the 10th round of crude oil offer- million barrels of crude oil at the base price Khoshkholgh emphasized the need for subscribers’ coopera- ing at Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX), of $63.36. Like the previous rounds, the tion in order to manage the consumption in the summer period, IRNA reported. least amount of sales was 35,000 barrels. lion barrels, the market wrapped up by to counter U.S. actions and to keep its oil saying “we expect people to manage their consumption in the After two unsuccessful offerings of light NIOC offered crude oil at IRENEX first peak hours between 12 and 16 during the summer.” crude oil in the new Iranian calendar year on October 28, 2018 just few days before selling eight 35,000-barrel cargos of oil exports levels as high as possible. (started on March 21), NIOC decided to new U.S. sanctions on Iran’s petroleum on the day. One of the main strategies that Iran halt the process to prepare new guidelines sector took effect (November 4). In the Since the U.S.’s withdrew from Iran’s chose to execute to help its oil exports afloat for the new fiscal year and then resume first round, NIOC could sell some 280,000 nuclear pact in May 2018, vowing to drive has been trying new ways to diversify the the offerings. barrels of crude oil at $74.85 per barrel. Iran’s oil exports down to zero, the Islamic mechanism of oil sales, one of which is Accordingly, for the 10th round NIOC With the daily supply amount of one mil- Republic has been taking various measures offering oil at the country’s stock market.

‘Energy Ministry to support private renewable power plants for electricity exports’ ENERGY TEHRAN – Iranian Energy Minister Development Plan, “As from the first year of implementation deskReza Ardakanian said the country’s of the plan, the government is required to take necessary renewable power plants operated by the private sector will measures to create a regional power hub so that the country’s be provided with necessary facilities to export electricity to electricity grid will be connected to the neighboring countries the neighboring countries, Tasnim news agency reported from the north, south, east and west.” on Friday. In February 2019, Seyed Mohammad Sadeqzadeh, the According to the minister, the legal basis for electricity head of Iran’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency According to the official, during the last year’s peak consump- exports is provided based on the Article 49 of the Sixth Organization (known as SATBA) announced that Iran plans tion period, 10,182 megawatts of electricity was consumed in Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021), and to diversify its energy exports in the current Iranian calendar the capital, which is projected to increase this year by 600 or thereafter it is possible for the private investors of the year by adding electricity generated from renewable sources 700 megawatts. renewable energy plants to sign export contracts with the to the export backset. On Friday, the Managing Director of Iran Grid Management neighboring countries. Currently there are 700 megawatts (MW) capacity of Company (IGMC) Davoud Farokhzad said the country’s total year- “In this regard, the ministry of energy also provides renewable power plants installed across the Iran. to-date electricity consumption has decreased by four percent the necessary facilities and provides them with a grid to Overall, in the next five years, Iran is aiming for a 5,000 compared to the last year. facilitate the exports,” Ardakanian said. more employment opportunities, especially in the country’s MW increase in renewable capacity to meet growing domestic According to Farokhzad, although the total electricity con- The official noted that “In return, the energy ministry will vast plains.” demand and expand its presence in the regional electricity sumption since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar receive a payment as transmission fee which will provide According to the Article 49 of the Sixth Five-Year National market. year has decreased but concurrency of hot season with Ramadan has resulted in an early surge in consumption. Russia finally brings oil production below OPEC cap A month before OPEC and allies are set to As part of the OPEC+ production cuts Last month, Russia halted supplies review compliance with the cuts. Asian LNG prices slip as discuss the future of their production cut between January and June, Russia is via the Druzhba oil pipeline to several At this weekend’s meeting, discussion numerous sell tenders deal, the leader of the non-OPEC group, taking the lion’s share of the non-OPEC European countries due to a contamina- could revolve around a possible production Russia, appears to have finally fallen in cuts and pledged to reduce production tion issue, which the Russians say was increase after the end of the U.S. sanction overshadow demand line with its share of the cuts, producing by 230,000 bpd from October’s post-So- deliberate. Russian production has been waivers to all Iranian oil buyers. By Jessica Jaganathan below its OPEC+ quota for the month viet record level of 11.421 million bpd, curtailed because of the restricted exports Talk of raising — instead of cutting — of May. to 11.191 million bpd. via the Druzhba pipeline. production would be in line with Russia’s Asian spot prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell to a As per oilprice.com, Russia’s oil pro- In the first twelve days of May, Russia’s Estimates that Russia is finally within ambition to resume pumping more as its three-week low this week as cargoes were offered against duction between May 1 and 16 averaged crude oil production was said to have its quota under the OPEC+ deal come companies benefit from higher produc- little buying interest despite the approach of summer, when 11.156 million bpd, Reuters reported on averaged 11.16 million bpd, although the days before a panel of ministers from tion as much as from higher oil prices warmer weather typically boosts power generation demand. Friday, quoting two industry sources, decline in production may have been the OPEC and Russia are scheduled to meet and have seen their new field production Spot prices for July delivery to Northeast Asia slipped to which means that Moscow is now below result of restricted exports via the Druzhba this weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, plans stalled by Russia’s commitments $5.35 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), down 30 its quota under the production cut deal. oil pipeline due to a contamination issue. to discuss the state of the oil market and to the OPEC+ deals. cents from the previous week, several industry sources said. Prices for cargoes delivered in June are estimated at $5.30 per mmBtu, also down 30 cents from a week ago, they said. Stalling renewables growth raises concern about global decarbonization efforts Several LNG sellers offered cargoes, overshadowing limited buying interest from Pakistan and Mexico, they said. By Brian Murray will set the tone here. The “European gas prices fell overnight, so that’s dragging In 2018, for the first time this century, global China, the world’s largest energy user, is so down Asian prices as well,” a Singapore-based trader said. growth of new renewable energy capacity did big that whatever the Xi government and any Day-ahead prices at the Dutch TTF hub fell on Thursday not show a year-to-year increase. While this successors choose to do with renewables will on lower gas demand in continental Europe, while the spread leveling off counters a long and steady trend have an outsized effect at home and abroad, between the Asian and European markets narrowed this of increased new renewable capacity each year not just in terms of global adoption numbers week with offers for delivery of cargoes from the United – capacity added in 2018 is ten times higher but on global markets. States to Europe in June and July, sources said. than it was in 2001 – it has raised concern One thing that early adopters like Germany, There were several sell tenders this week, with Egypt’s that efforts to advance a low-carbon energy the rest of the EU, and U.S. states that enacted natural gas company (EGAS) offering up to 13 cargoes for transition may be stalling at just the wrong time. an RPS decades ago have done is provided the loading from its Idku plant over June and July. Just about any ambitious climate plan in scale effect necessary to bring down the unit Angola LNG offered its second cargo this week for de- circulation – for example, the Intergovern- costs of wind and solar generation dramat- livery in June, after earlier offering a cargo for late May mental Panel on Climate Change’s “1.5 degree” ically, so that they can compete on par with to June delivery, trade sources said. Oman LNG has also report and the Green New Deal resolution in the fossil generation in many cases. It is tempting indicated that it will have six cargoes to sell for loading U.S. Congress – calls for massive mobilization to conclude that in due time renewables will over June to September. of renewable energy investment. Though the outcompete fossil generation everywhere Ichthys LNG plant last decade’s growth in renewables is impres- without reliance on targeted policies what- Australia’s Ichthys LNG plant may be offering a spot sive, many policymakers are looking for it to soever, which would certainly help scale up cargo, while Algeria’s Sonatrach may be offering a cargo accelerate rather than flatten in order to help adoption. But that is not guaranteed. through private talks, traders also said. meet long-term decarbonization targets to First, energy storage technologies and grid mitigate climate risk. Let’s unpack how this to grow by over 300 GW each year between and Renewable Energy for capping wind power improvements must catch up to integrate the development might affect such efforts. now and 2030 – or roughly two-thirds higher tariffs at such a low price. higher levels of renewables. Both movements The International Energy Agency (IEA) than last year’s total. Zooming in to the United States reveals are underway. Second, although the average reports that new renewable energy capacity Hydropower accounts for more than half that the last two decades have seen tremen- unit cost of renewables has been declining additions in 2018 were about 180 gigawatts of global renewable capacity today, but in the dous growth in renewable capacity, but that through technical improvements and scale (GW), the same as in 2017. That is roughly last decade capacity growth has been driven growth has been uneven. The United States economies, the marginal cost of generation equivalent to 180 nuclear power plants and first by wind and now solar PV. is adding much more renewable capacity, but rises as you move from the choicest spots accounts for two-thirds of annual global ca- The big story here is last year’s slowdown not always increasing year-over-year. The U.S. with the least expensive land and the most pacity additions last year. The International in solar PV’s growth. As the IEA explains, added 18 GW in 2018 – up from the 17 GW productive resources to those that are more Renewable Energy Association reports that global solar PV’s exponential growth had in 2017, but not quite the 24 GW from 2016. expensive and less productive. That’s exactly one-third of all power generating capacity is been compensating for slower increases in The U.S.’s growth in renewable capacity what happened with dam construction in the now from renewables. wind and hydropower since 2015. Solar PV’s should continue through the short-term. The United States. As the Atlantic explains, “by That sounds like a lot, but the actual gen- growth flattened in 2018, however, as China U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 1980 nearly all the nation’s good sites – and eration that comes from a given amount of suddenly changed its solar PV incentives to expects non-hydro renewables to be the fastest many dubious sites – had been dammed.” renewable capacity is lower than nuclear and address cost and grid integration challenges. growing source of U.S. electricity generation Geographic variation in policy has ensured fossil fuel plants because of the intermitten- China announced drastic cuts to support for at least the next two years. that we are not necessarily starting with the Indonesia’s Pertamina has offered five LNG cargoes cy of renewables. Currently, renewables, in- for solar developments in May 2018. Of the Renewable targets most productive spots and moving on from after the country’s monthly exports of the fuel dropped cluding hydropower, account for just under 97 GW of new solar capacity added last year Last year’s stalled growth in renewable there. This means that there may be more in April to its lowest in two years. The reason for the drop one-quarter of global power production. The globally, 44 GW came from China – but that capacity is worthy of attention, but it does low-hanging fruit as policies migrate to new in exports was not immediately clear. gap between renewable capacity and genera- actually marks a sharp decline from the 53 not by itself indicate that we have hit “peak areas, but eventually highly ambitious glob- Downside pressure on prices was limited by the shutdown tion shares will narrow if energy storage and GW China installed in 2017. renewable.” Policies still matter – a lot – and al targets will run into site quality and cost of a pipeline for repairs in Malaysia and several buy tenders. grid infrastructure investments geared toward Other factors behind last year’s slowdown in some places, policies have barely scratched constraints. Malaysia’s state oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional renewable integration grow to match the scale in renewable capacity are a drop off in wind the surface. While many countries declared Policies will continue to play an important Bhd has temporarily shut the Sabah-Sarawak pipeline that of renewable capacity additions. investment in the EU and India. From 2017 to renewables targets as part of their Paris Agree- role for renewables for the foreseeable future. feeds gas to its LNG complex at Bintulu in the state of Sar- The renewable generation 2018, new onshore wind installations dropped ment pledges in 2015, some are still crafting Policymakers should consider whether 100% awak, which is expected to curb spot exports from the plant. Last year, renewable generation grew 7 almost a third in the EU. Twelve EU countries those policies. renewable targets should be the sine qua non Pakistan is seeking five cargoes for delivery over July to percent, but this only supplied 40 percent failed to install a single wind turbine last year, In the United States, national commitments of climate policy or if high renewables adoption September, while Mexican utility CFE and Chilean consor- of the growth in total global electricity de- but the largest drop-offs came from Germany, have devolved to subnational actions, and yet mixed with other emissions-free sources and tium GNL Chile are also seeking cargoes for delivery over mand. Consequently, global CO2 emissions which was down by more than half compared the needle is moving toward more renewables. carbon capture should be part of the portfolio. May to August, industry sources said. from the energy sector rose by 1.7 percent, to 2017, and the UK. Wind industry analysts Harmonized national polices – whether focused Whether mandating high levels of renewa- Chinese buyers were also in the market for the third and even with the impressive growth in renew- point to permitting issues, especially in Ger- directly on renewables or decarbonization bles is the most cost-effective way to reduce fourth quarter but at heavily discounted prices, indicating ables. For renewables to play a major role many and France. more broadly - would be more efficient than greenhouse gas emissions is the subject of the demand may not be firm, a Singapore-based trader said. in curbing global emissions commensurate In India, wind installations were at 1,481 the current piecemeal approach in the U.S. much current debate, which I will wade into A South Korean company was also seeking a cargo for with the Paris Agreement, the IEA estimates MW (down from 5,400 MW in 2016-17). and could expand renewables and modify the in another article. July, the trader said. that renewable capacity additions will need Some observers blame the Ministry of New mix considerably if adopted. Future elections (Source: forbes.com) (Source: finance.yahoo.com) ساعت: 17:00 امضاء صفحه آرا: ساعت: امضاء مسئول صفحه: ساعت: امضاء ادیتور: ساعت: امضاء سردبیر:

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 6 INTERNATIONAL MAY 19, 2019

Bannon confronts China with John Bolton’s political death 1 Bolton was a prominent proponent he felt like a kid on Christmas Day. fringe theories of the Iraq War and he has never evinced any When Bolton became Trump’s national doubt about the wisdom of that decision, security adviser, he ensured that anyone on Global Times — U.S. far-right nationalist Steve Bannon pub- telling the Washington Examiner four years the International Criminal Court who was lished an article in The Washington Post on May 6, vehemently ago, “I still think the decision to overthrow investigating American soldiers or intel- vilifying China and inciting his country to confront China. The Saddam was correct.”By contrast, last year ligence officials for possible war crimes goal of the Communist Party of China (CPC), he claimed, is “to President Trump said the Iraq War was “the in Afghanistan was denied visas to the be the global hegemonic power.” To prove his point that it was single worst decision ever made.” United States. “futile” for the US to compromise, he asserted China “has been Just before he was installed a little over Bolton’s dislike of the Iranian regime waging economic war against industrial democracies,” and the a year ago as Trump’s national security ad- is longstanding. In 2015, Bolton wrote in China-US trade dispute is “a fundamental clash.” viser, Bolton advocated for a pre-emptive the New York Times that the United States Bannon maliciously smeared China by saying that China is a war against North Korea in the Wall Street should bomb Iran because “Iran will not “rapidly militarizing totalitarian state imprisoning millions in Journal. negotiate away its nuclear program,” which work camps,” and “the world is a house divided half slave, half The US government is now ramping up is exactly what Iran did that same year when free.” Washington and Beijing are “facing off to tip the scales in tensions with the volatile North Korean it negotiated an agreement with the Obama one direction or the other,” he wrote. regime, announcing Thursday that it had administration to halt its nuclear weapons To rational analysts, Bannon is not just radical, but a bit in- “recently” taken into custody a North Ko- program.The New York Times reported sane. He is obsessed with certain resentful suspicions that the rean ship that was defying sanctions on the that Bolton has ordered up military options US is on a razor’s edge. nuclear-armed state -- the first time the US that were presented to top Trump national With a deep racist imprint, Bannon’s ideas roughly equal to has taken such an action. security officials last week. They include those of European extreme-rightists, even neo-Nazists. Such But Trump’s general approach on North the potential deployment of as many as ideas used to be outside US mainstream discourse. But his brief Korea has been to engage in negotiations 120,000 American troops to the Middle experiences of working at the White House got himself an unex- with its leader, Kim Jong Un.In recent weeks East if Iran attacks American targets in pected opportunity to expand influence, letting his voice echo Bolton pushed for a coup in Venezuela involv- use of the military seems out of place in the president, Spiro Agnew. Bolton went to Yale the region or resumes work on its nuclear on the national stage. His extreme personality, however, kept ing opposition leader Juan Guaido that was administration of a President who has repeat- and then to Yale Law School. He has worked weapons program! his peers away and had him expelled from the White House. believed to have the backing of key officers of edly questioned and sought to end America’s in Republican administrations since Ronald What is certain is that Bolton’s political Bannon simply has no idea about the globalized world and the nation’s military. The US-backed upris- wars in the Middle East.Yet while Trump and Reagan’s first term. death is very close to the American National the complexity of major power relations. He is trying to make ing seems to have fizzled.Trump has since Bolton may be out of step with each other on Bolton has long rejected any constraints Advisor. He is doomed to failure!What is greed and fear the basic guidelines for US China policy. expressed frustration to White House officials policy toward Venezuela and North Korea, on American power. The happiest moment certain is that John Bolton has no choice but Bannon and far-right wingers do not care at all how much about Bolton’s overly aggressive Venezuela one country they both seem to be on the same Bolton had when he was working for the US to confess to defeat against Iran. As we can pain the China-US conflicts bring to the people. The only thing policy. page about is Iran. State Department was when he “unsigned” see, John Bolton has started a full-fledged they concerned about is defeating China. However, not only will On Thursday, President Trump said that Bolton, 70, has espoused deeply con- the agreement that made the United States opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran in a powerful China break their dreams, but a loose-minded and he actually moderates the bellicose Bolton: servative views since he was a teenager. a party to the International Criminal Court, the economic, political and regional dimen- swaying US will also disappoint them. Although the wills that “I’m the one who tempers him, which is OK. The son of a Baltimore firefighter, Bolton which he saw as a risk for US political and sions. Donald Trump seems to have given tend to prioritize American interests exist in US society, they I have John Bolton and I have people who worked on the Barry Goldwater Republican military leaders who might be charged with Bolton full authorization in this regard, but cannot be incited by Bannon and his followers and turn into a are a little more dovish than him.” presidential campaign in 1964, and he later war crimes. After Bolton pulled the United he has not been able to take a practical step real determination to be antagonistic toward China. Bolton’s enthusiasm for the muscular interned for President Richard Nixon’s vice States out of the agreement in 2002, he said forward in confronting Iran. American people want high-quality goods at reasonable prices and they want peace and predictability. They don’t want to see a strategic clash between the world’s superpower and the second biggest power in the world. They don’t want to sacrifice their life for the sake of the so-called ideals of a few zealots. The US Saudi coalition game Intl. humanitarian law in Yemen government hit China with high tariffs. But when Washington TEHRAN (FNA) — The United Nations has confirmed (Hodeida, Al-Salif, and Ras Isa) to the UN. politicians saw the plunging stock market, they rushed to release that Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance forces have begun their The withdrawal should now make sure humanitarian signs to ease tension. Adopting a tough approach toward China withdrawal from three Red Sea ports a good-will move to aid could be delivered to millions of civilians who are still doesn’t work in the US as it does not fit the theme of peace and ensure relief aid to the poor and war-ravaged people. trapped in war-torn regions of the country and in dire need development in the 21st century. The pullout is yet another goodwill gesture on the part of food and medical assistance. China-US trade war tensions have bestowed a sense of presence of the resistance and its allies to prove to the international Sadly enough, the same cannot be said about the Saudis, to Bannon. He actively launched the “Committee on the Present community that there is no military solution to the US-backed, their coalition and the United States. After President Donald Danger” which obviously targeted China and has often flexed Saudi-led conflict in the poorest country in the Arab world. Trump’s veto of the War Powers Act demand by Congress his muscles against China on Fox TV. He is an opportunist who It also shows that the main concern for the resistance is now to end the illegal Yemen war, a new report from the UN exploits the trade war to play up to US policies and public opinion. humanitarian aid and dialogue, and not politics or gaming Development Program says the war has also set back the Bannon wrote that the US fight is not with the Chinese people international humanitarian law. poorest country in the Middle East many years. Further but the Communist Party of China. What he fears most is China’s UN teams are overseeing the Ansarullah redeployment still, according to a new World Health Organization report, development. Isn’t he fighting the interests of Chinese people? in Saleef, used for grain, as other teams are in the second in 2018, there were more than 1.1 million cholera cases in We hope he is not the cancer cell of the US China diplomacy. port of Ras Isa, used for oil, to implement the withdrawal. Yemen. At least 2,310 people died from the disease, most The resistance pullback is a first step in implementing a of them children. hard-won ceasefire deal, the Stockholm Agreement, reached The Saudis and their allies should stop gaming the in- between Yemen’s pro-Saudi forces and the Ansarullah forces ary 2016, according to the Armed Conflict and Location ternational humanitarian law in Yemen. The Ansarullah U.S. state senator hails Iran’s late last year in Sweden. Event Data Project (ACLED), a database tracking violence resistance movement’s decision to withdraw from the key According to the Ansarullah officials, the ports were handed in the country. The US-backed war on Yemen has been at a humanitarian corridors leaves no more excuses for the Saudi- key role in fighting terrorism over to coastguard personnel who are now in charge. However, stalemate for years, with the Saudi-led coalition and Yem- led coalition to justify the military aggression. The UN should leaders of Saudi-backed forces still claim the pullout is “a eni forces unable to take over the capital Sanaa from the confront and correct their deliberate mistakes. The Saudis in region flagrant show”. They go on to claim that “it’s an attempt to Ansarullah forces. and their allies shouldn’t be allowed to rebrand their failed misinform the international community ahead of a meeting ACLED has recorded 3,155 direct Saudi-led attacks that campaign to prolong the unnecessary war and blockade. TEHRAN (Tasnim) — US Republican Sen. Richard H. Black, of the UN Security Council.” targeted civilians and the UN figures also show that 30 percent The time is now for the UN and the international civil of Virginia, ruled out remarks by certain US officials that Iran These statements speak for themselves. The Saudis and of the civilians were either killed and wounded inside their society to force the Saudis and their coalition partners to stop has a “destabilizing and malign” role in the region, hailing the their allies are still not ready for dialogue and peace, despite homes, with non-combatants also targeted when traveling their campaign to ravish Yemen and reject any glorification Islamic Republic for promoting peace and fighting terror groups, UN warning that the country is in urgent need of interna- on roads, working on farms and at other civilian sites. of this immoral violence. Just like the people of Yemen, the including the Daesh. tional humanitarian aid. Hodeida, the fourth-largest city in Thankfully, the number of deaths has dropped signifi- world community should also support the Ansarullah and “Western media has accused Iran of certain ‘malign activities’ Yemen and its port plays a crucial role in allowing food to be cantly in Hodeida due to the ceasefire agreement reached appreciate its decision to withdraw from a highly strategic in Syria. I see nothing malign in what Iran has done in Syria. imported into the country. The UN has wanted to place the between the warring parties. The Stockholm Agreement position to ensure relief aid to the poor and war-stricken Iran’s principal actions in Syria were effectively fighting ISIS and port under its control due to the humanitarian crisis caused lay the groundwork for peace which brought agreements people. The continuation of the current political process al Qaeda. But this has not pleased the US since it has interfered by the conflict and that’s precisely why the Ansarullah forces on the exchange of prisoners, a truce in the vital port city could only be ensured if the ceasefire agreement in Hodeida with our plans to topple the Syrian government,” US Republican decided to withdraw. of Hodeida, the establishment of humanitarian corridors and the delivery of humanitarian aid are observed by all Sen. Richard H. Black, of Virginia, told Tasnim. More than 70,000 people have been killed since Janu- in war-torn Taiz, and a handover of the three Red Sea ports parties involved. He added, “From the beginning of the Syrian War, many Americans have been concerned that the war was not a domestic uprising. Instead, it was an attempt to overthrow Syria, using Wahhabi terrorists, including al Qaeda. This is ironic because the United States was attacked by al Qaeda during the infamous Barrett: Trump, NZ shooter both national Zionists attacks on the Pentagon and Twin Towers, which killed 3000 TEHRAN (FNA) — Kevin Barrett, Jour- view about Muslims’ immigration to the US, American citizens”. nalist and Islamologist, says Trump and the “invasion”. Can one claim Trump and the In 2018, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, after meeting New Zealand attacker both aim to “stoke shooter share a common cause or purpose? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed that the the flames of Islamophobia” and “create and A: Trump and the shooter are both Na- White House was deeply concerned by Iran’s “destabilizing and maintain a synthetic wave of fake right-wing tional Zionists, and therefore have a common malign activities” in the region. populism in service to Zionists.” purpose: to create and maintain a synthetic “General Wesley Clark, the Supreme Allied Commander, Eu- Speaking to FNA in an exclusive interview, wave of fake right-wing populism in service rope, explained how plans were laid to overthrow seven countries Kevin Barrett shed light on Trump’s connec- to their Zionist paymasters. Trump’s busi- in the Middle East during the five-year period following the 9-11 tion with Zionists, and discussed possible ness career was created by his mentor, Roy attacks in 2001. Although the time schedule has not been met, connection of the NZ attacker to Zionists, Cohn, the kosher nostra kingpin who ran our military actions have followed those plans with disturbing saying, “Shooter is almost certainly a paid New York’s political system and judiciary regularity,” Black said. and mind-controlled pawn of Israel… he was on behalf of J. Edgar Hoover and Hoover’s The American senator further said, “Among the counties tar- professionally trained and/or mind-controlled. real boss, Meyer Lansky. Trump’s entire ca- geted, were Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Iran. He is known to have spent nine days in Israel… reer as a hotel and gambling magnate was a Although President Obama’s foreign policy record was extremely and Syrian intelligence reports claim he was charade. His enterprises were really money- violent and militaristic, he appeared intent on stopping the in- known as a trained Mossad assassin who laundering operations for organized crime. cessant march toward war when he finalized the Iran Nuclear was on a watch list for presenting a threat His real “Russian connection” is to the Rus- Agreement. However, when that agreement was renounced by to Syrian leadership.” sian Jewish mob, whose world headquarters the (Trump) Administration, the march toward war seemed to Dr. Kevin Barrett, a Ph.D. Arabist-Isla- occupies the top floors of Trump Tower. He resume”. mologist, is a Muslim convert author and was inserted into the Presidency by arch- He further warned against CIA’s long record in launching radio host. He has taught the French and criminal Netanyahu, who wanted revenge false flag attacks across the world, and said, “The CIA has a long Arabic languages, African literature, English, on Obama — and a free pass from the US history of employing false flag attacks as pretexts for military he got himself elected president by pandering international bankers — toward the Zionists’ humanities, religious studies, and folklore to steal Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and action against other nations. In Iraq, for example, Secretary to the Islamophobia and xenophobia of white enemies, namely, Muslims and honest leftists. at colleges and universities in the US and other occupied territories. Likewise the New of State Collin Powell addressed the United Nations, waving a nationalists! In fact Trump and the shooter They do this for Zionist pay. As Nick Griffin, abroad, before being blacklisted from teaching Zealand shooter is almost certainly a paid test tube of simulated Sarin gas, falsely claiming that Iraq had both belong to the same global political party: the authentically nationalist founder of the in the University of Wisconsin since 2006, and mind-controlled pawn of Israel and its such gas and intended to use it. This, and other statements were the National Zionists. These phonies stoke British National Party has explained: “We due to his political views.Below is the full intelligence agencies and organized crime employed by the CIA to deceive the American people and people the flames of Islamophobia for political gain were offered big money by Zionists in 2007 text of the interview: affiliates. Witness reports and at least one of other nations into launching a war of aggression that had no and Zionist dollars. They have opportunisti- under two conditions: That we attack Islam, How could Trump distance him- video reveal that there was more than one justification whatsoever. Such false flag strategies are deeply cally taken advantage of the neocon-Zionist and never criticize the banking system.” Grif- self from the New Zealand shooter, when shooter — a classic sign of a professional embedded within the National Clandestine Service of the CIA false flag operation of September 11 to surf fin refused; but Tommy Robinson didn’t. his stances like his demand to ban Muslim operation designed to be blamed on a des- and within other elements of the government.” the global wave of Islamophobia that those Nor did Marine Le Pen or the other leaders of immigration during the 2016 campaign or his ignated patsy. The patsy’s history indicates Elsewhere in the interview, Senator Black referred to Wash- attacks were designed to elicit. European National Zionist pseudo-populist statement that “Islam hates us” all disclose that he was professionally trained and/or ington’s decision to deploy a carrier group to the Middle East, The natural enemies of real nationalists parties. Nor did Trump. Donald Trump is his identical mindset? mind-controlled. He is known to have spent and said, “The USS Abraham Lincoln was already on a routine should be the Zionists, who have infiltrated, reading from the same National Zionist script A: Trump only weakly distanced himself nine days in Israel; the time he spent in Turkey deployment to the Persian Gulf. The only unusual moves by subverted, and badly damaged all of the West- as Robinson and Le Pen, and for the same from the alleged lone shooter. He tried to seems to have included stints fighting with U.S. military forces is the possible movement of several B-52 ern nations. Indeed, it is the Zionists who reason: In Ilhan Omar’s words, it’s “all about minimize the significance of the shooter’s Israel-supported anti-Syrian mercenaries; bombers into the region”. orchestrated 9/11 and the 9/11 wars, which the Benjamins.” rabid Islamophobia and xenophobia by say- and Syrian intelligence reports claim he was He added, “The extreme rhetoric about military movements is have flooded Europe with refugees. But the The shooter praised Trump as “a ing that white nationalism is not a growing known as a trained Mossad assassin who tied to vague claims of Iranian threats towards American interests National Zionists are fake nationalists who symbol of renewed white identity”, and de- threat and only represents “a small number was on a watch list for presenting a threat to in the region. Since the source of these “intelligence reports” deflect justifiable popular anger away from scribed Muslim immigration to NZ in the of people.” But he knows otherwise, because Syrian leadership including the president. appears to be the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad”. the targets who deserve it — the Zionists and same term Trump did when expressing his ساعت: امضاء صفحه آرا: ساعت: امضاء مسئول صفحه: ساعت: امضاء ادیتور: ساعت: امضاء سردبیر:

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y MAY 19, 2019 ANALYSIS & INTERVIEW 7 Will Trump lose this time in the presidential election? U.S. carrier group on White House concerns about the routine naval patrol in Mideast: analyst

Florida and Pennsylvania votes TEHRAN (Tasnim) — An Irish political commentator described the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln and a bomber task force to the Middle East as a violation of By Saeed Sobhani Sanders at 11 percent and California Sen. Kamala Harris at 9 percent. The other 14 international law, adding that the carrier group had already TEHRAN — Donald Trump, President Democratic candidates and hopefuls barely been assigned to a routine naval patrol in the Persian Gulf of the United States, is very worried about registered. And 46 percent were undecided. weeks ago. his situation in two states of Pennsylvania “Biden begins with a groundswell of sup- “The deployment of such a large military force in such and Florida. This concern continues to be port,” said Amandi. “Biden has a solid base an aggressive manner towards Iran is in itself arguably a strengthened! If Trump arrested the two states of support that cuts across all demographics gross violation of international law and the United Nations’ of Pennsylvania and Florida, Trump might — age, race and ideology — in all corners of Charter. There are indications that the USS Abraham Lincoln have been defeated in the 2020 presidential the state.”Amandi, who typically surveys for strike carrier group was already assigned to a routine naval election.Recent polls in Pennsylvania have Democratic candidates, did not poll head- patrol in the Persian Gulf from weeks ago when it left Nor- raised concerns about Trumps: to-head matchups between Democrats and folk, Virginia. Therefore, the comments by Bolton may be As The Hill reported,A new poll shows Trump.Biden’s lead over Sanders is bigger somewhat disingenuous and opportunistic. The deployment former Vice President Joe Biden has opened among African-American and Hispanic voters, may not be specifically activated by US claims against Iran,” up a big lead over President Trump in Penn- whose lack of support for the Vermont senator Cunningham told Tasnim. sylvania, a Rust Belt battleground state that in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary Finian Cunningham (born 1963) has written extensively will play a pivotal role in determining the helped Clinton crush him in Florida. Sanders on international affairs, with articles published in several outcome of the 2020 election.A state-level struggled with nonwhite voters in a number languages. Originally from Belfast, Ireland, he is a Master’s survey by Quinnipiac University finds Biden of primaries, especially in the South, but his graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scien- at 53 percent and Trump at 42 percent in campaign has shown signs he’s reaching out tific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, a head-to-head match-up in Pennsylvania. to them more in 2020. England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. Trump has a narrow 4 point advantage among Despite having appeared on the Florida For over 20 years he worked as an editor and writer in major male respondents, but Biden holds a 24 point ballot in 2016, Sanders is barely ahead of news media organizations, including The Mirror, Irish Times lead among women -- 60 percent to 36 per- Harris in the poll. Her third-place standing and Independent. Now a freelance journalist based in East cent. Among white voters, Biden leads 49 and near tie with Sanders for second is a Africa, his columns appear on RT, Sputnik, and Strategic percent to 45 percent, but he leads among sign that the relative newcomer — who Culture Foundation. nonwhite voters by a whopping 70 percent to has never been on a Florida ballot and has Following is the full text of the interview: 27 percent.Trump and Biden pulled at least made few high-profile appearances in the Last Sunday, the White House made an announce- 90 percent support from within their own state — has capitalized on earned media ment that the USS Abraham Lincoln and a bomber task force parties, while the former vice president held since her recent campaign launch.When were being deployed in response to unspecified “troubling a 14 point advantage among independents, Donald Trump, President of the United States, Democrats were first asked an open-ended and escalatory indications and warnings.” What is your take on the deployment? leading 51 percent to 37 percent. is very worried about his situation in two states question about their candidate of choice, “More than half of Pennsylvania voters Harris was named by 4 percent, Sanders A: The deployment of such a large military force in such say they are better off financially than they of Pennsylvania and Florida. This concern by 5 percent and Biden by 11 percent. All an aggressive manner towards Iran is in itself arguably a were in 2016,” said Mary Snow, the poll- continues to be strengthened! If Trump arrested others were at 1 percent. gross violation of international law and the United Nations’ ing analyst for Quinnipiac University. “But As the only black woman in the race, Charter. There are indications that the USS Abraham Lincoln the economy isn’t giving President Donald the two states of Pennsylvania and Florida, Harris could also be well-positioned for strike carrier group was already assigned to a routine naval Trump an edge in an early read of the very Trump might have been defeated in the 2020 a boost from the state’s African-Ameri- patrol in the Persian Gulf from weeks ago when it left Nor- key Keystone State.” presidential election. can voters, who can account for about 28 folk, Virginia. Therefore, the comments by Bolton may be Trump edged out Democratic nominee percent of the ballots cast in a Democratic somewhat disingenuous and opportunistic. The deployment Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania by less than than they were in 2016. Only 21 percent said vorably — and 46 percent very unfavorably. primary. Harris’ standing now resembles may not be specifically activated by US claims against Iran. 1 point in 2016, making him the first GOP they are worse off. Seventy-one percent of Trump’s approval ratings look even worse that of Andrew Gillum, who rocketed from Nevertheless, the rhetoric about directing the military presidential nominee to carry the state since Pennsylvanians describe the economy as when compared with the man he helped make unknown to rising star in the Democrats’ force towards Iran now is reprehensible and could merit 1988.Trump also won in two other tradition- “excellent” or “good.”The Quinnipiac Uni- Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, who has a 2018 gubernatorial primary due to the a prosecutable case for unlawful aggression by the United ally blue states -- Michigan and Wisconsin versity survey of 978 Pennsylvania voters was 50 percent approval rating while only 23 strong backing of black voters.The only States. It is outrageous belligerence that should be condemned -- that have made up the Democratic “blue conducted May 9-14 and has a 4.2 percentage percent disapprove. other black top-tier candidate in the race, internationally by the UN, European Union, Arab League, wall” in the Rust Belt and Midwest.Those three point margin of error. “Trump is in trouble,” pollster Fernand New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is polling at 1 Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and various human states will be a central focus for both parties What are polls in Florida? Amandi said, noting that 23 percent of all percent.Amandi said the poll also calls into rights groups – if they had any integrity. The fact that the in the 2020 general election. Biden, who is An overview of the recent polls in Florida Florida Republicans said he doesn’t deserve question whether Florida Democrats have aggression of the US is met with such international silence from Scranton, Pa., held his first campaign also shows that Donald Trump does not have reelection. “When that many people from your to veer to the left, with 39 percent describ- and acquiescence shows, regrettably and disturbingly, the rally in Pennsylvania last month at a union a good status in this important and deci- own party don’t support you, it means you ing themselves as moderate, 32 percent inequity of this world where warmongering rogue conduct hall.Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also leads in sive state. Florida Residents’ opposition to have to spend more time consolidating your saying they’re progressive or liberal, and by Washington is granted impunity. a head-to-head matchup against Trump in Donald Trump’s re-election as president of base.”With numbers like that in the nation’s 21 percent calling themselves conservative. Bolton, Pompeo and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu are Pennsylvania, 50 percent to 43 percent.Sen. the United States is the worst possible news largest swing state — one that Republicans “There’s this conventional wisdom that idiots and ignoramuses, who, despicably, have personal con- Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) held a smaller for him. In the 2016 presidential elections, typically need to win to capture the White this election is a referendum on the rise of trol over immense destructive power. Their hatred of Iran lead over the president, 47 percent to 44 Trump won the rival Democratic Party in House — Amandi says it underscores that the progressives in Florida,” Amandi said. is unfathomably irrational and propagandized. Deplorably, percent. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin Florida is in play for Democrats, despite the “But Democratic voters aren’t embracing these people are permitted to create policies of aggression Trump split in their hypothetical head-to- and Michigan.However, it seems that if the party losing the past three top-of-the-ticket the liberal or progressive label.” which could lead to a catastrophic war. Bolton’s warmonger- head contest, at 45 percent each.Trump is Presidential elections are held today in the races in the state.“This idea that we need to Will the game change in Pennsylvania ing and his odious lying in the service of warmongering goes essentially running even with former Rep. Beto United States, These important and decisive re-evaluate Florida as a swing state is utterly and Florida? back decades to the US criminal, genocidal war on Iraq. In O’Rourke (D-Texas) and South Bend, Ind., states are becoming signs of the defeat of disproved by this poll,” said Amandi, who What is certain is that US President a sane and just world, Bolton should be in prison for life as Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D).Trump’s approval Trump. conducted the survey . Donald Trump has about a year to change a convicted war criminal. There is limited value in trying to rating is deep underwater in Pennsylvania As Politico reported, Donald Trump is The former president’s stature among the equation in Florida and Pennsylvania. understand this person’s logic. He is a psychopath, as no doubt -- 54 percent of respondents disapprove of in trouble in Florida, a state that’s crucial Florida Democrats has given former Vice The publication of recent polls in the state are Pompeo and Netanyahu. Interestingly, there seems lately him while 42 percent support him. to his reelection hopes.Just 40 percent of President Joe Biden an edge in the crowded of Florida suggests that Trump will face a to be a divergence between Trump and Bolton with regard White voters are evenly divided over the Florida voters said they believed the president primary, where Amandi says the “Obama tough run in the 2020 presidential election. to US hostility towards Venezuela. Also Trump is talking at job Trump has done, but nonwhite voters should be reelected, while 53 percent were effect” is reflected in his relatively strong If the president of the United States can not least superficially about perhaps holding negotiations in the disapprove by a margin of 74 percent to 23 opposed to a second term, according to a standing among nonwhite voters.Biden would repeat the results of the 2016 presidential future with the Iranian leadership. We shouldn’t base too percent. A slim majority of men approve of new Bendixen & Amandi International poll. enter the Democratic presidential primary as election in these two fatal states, Biden (likely much on this Trump overture. But the point is Trump does Trump’s job performance while 62 percent of Trump’s approval ratings were also poor, with the clear front-runner in Florida, according to to be a Democrat nominee) may well be in not seem to be as hellbent belligerent as Bolton or Pompeo women disapprove.Still, 54 percent of voters 43 percent having a favorable impression of the poll. Biden is supported by 26 percent of competition with Trump. The breakdown are towards Iran (or Venezuela). In other words, Trump is in the state say they’re better off financially Trump, and 52 percent viewing him unfa- Democrats, followed by Vermont Sen. Bernie is a nightmare for him. being led towards war by idiots. If Trump had any semblance of rationality (a faint hope, admittedly), he should sack Bol- ton and Pompeo. It is abominable that such irresponsible psychopaths should have so much control over US policy and the fate of millions of lives. Iran only major obstacle to U.S. hegemony in The deployment of the warship was based on claims of a possible attack on US forces stationed in the region. So far, there is little detail from the Americans of the alleged Iranian actions that have prompted this warning nor of the Mideast: analyst specific US deployments underway. It seems that the Trump administration is looking for pretexts to wage war. How do TEHRAN (Tasnim) — An American political analyst A: Bolton, Pompeo, and many others within Trump’s you see this? What is the goal of the administration? and academic said the US government is marshalling inner circle are rabid Zionists. They plan on consolidating A: Definitely, the vagueness and subjectivity of the US all its forces to contain Iran’s influence in the region as US Imperialist control of the Middle East through the intelligence claims against Iran seem to be a blank cheque for the Islamic Republic is the only “major obstacle to US agency of Israel and Saudi Arabia. The major obstacle to American militarism. The claims are ridiculous and contempt- hegemony in the Middle East”. US hegemony in the Middle East is the Islamic Republic ible, especially coming from a documented lying warmonger “Bolton, Pompeo, and many others within Trump’s inner of Iran. The US is marshalling all the forces it can muster as Bolton. It seems incredible that the US warmongers could circle are rabid Zionists. They plan on consolidating US to combat Iranian influence in the region. be so deluded as to actually contemplate starting a war with Imperialist control of the Middle East through the agency The deployment of the warship was based on claims Iran, given Iran’s formidable military power. The ratchet- of Israel and Saudi Arabia. The major obstacle to US he- of a possible attack on US forces stationed in the region. ing up of American rhetoric may, therefore, reflect reckless gemony in the Middle East is the Islamic Republic of Iran. So far, there is little detail from the Americans of the arrogance as to their belief in being able to intimidate other The US is marshalling all the forces it can muster to combat alleged Iranian actions that have prompted this warning nations. Of course, Washington wants to instigate regime Iranian influence in the region,” Dennis Etler, a professor of nor of the specific US deployments under way. It seems change in Tehran. But it is not clear if Washington would Anthropology at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California, told that the Trump administration is looking for pretexts to be willing to go to full war for this objective. It could be all Tasnim.Following is the full text of the interview. wage war. How do you see this? What is the goal of the bluster and over-reaching in the self-deluded sense of one’s Late Sunday night, the White House made an an- administration? power. Hubris before the eventual fall perhaps. nouncement that the USS Abraham Lincoln and a bomber A: Claims of a possible attack by Iran on US forces Many critics of the administration fear a developing task force were being deployed in response to unspecified stationed in the region are pure speculation and total- drumbeat towards a conflict which, they fear, could erupt “troubling and escalatory indications and warnings.” What ly unsubstantiated. It is a classic case of fake news and either by accident or by design. Iranian state and military is your take on the deployment? disinformation, the template of which was the campaign officials have repeatedly stressed Iran will never start a war A: The Trump Administration is ratcheting up a full waged against Iraq’s alleged possession of WMDs that and it will only defend itself. What are your thoughts on this? spectrum assault against Iran. Pressure is being applied served as a pretext for the US-Iraqi War. A: Iran’s principle of self-defense is admirable and disproves diplomatically to isolate Iran within the international Bolton, Pompeo, and many Many critics of the US administration fear a de- the slander by Washington claiming Iranian aggression. But community of nations, economically with sanctions and others within Trump’s inner veloping drumbeat towards a conflict which, they fear, the situation is on a despicable knife-edge, concerning eco- an oil embargo and now militarily with these deployments. could erupt either by accident or by design. Iranian state nomic warfare against Iran, and US threats of military attack. The unspecified “troubling and escalatory indications circle are rabid Zionists. and military officials have repeatedly stressed Iran will Iran’s principles of self-defense may be breached owing to the and warnings,” are fabrication of Israeli intelligence and They plan on consolidating never start a war and it will only defend itself. What are unrelenting and very real aggression already being inflicted serve as a pretext to escalate US attempts to destabilize your thoughts on this? by the US regime and its psychopathic policymakers. It is Iran and foment regime change. US Imperialist control of the A: The US is engaging in gun-boat diplomacy and brinks- Washington that bears full responsibility and culpability for A statement from National Security Adviser John Middle East through the agency manship against Iran. The imperialists are pushing the volatile creating this appalling knife-edge situation. Iran is being Bolton said the deployments were intended “to send a of Israel and Saudi Arabia. The situation in the region to its limits, hoping that it will lead to tried with a torturous situation. If Iran unleashed military clear and unmistakable message to Iran that any attack Iran buckling under the pressure. They want Iran to “give force now, it would be understandable and righteous given on United States interests or on those of our allies will be major obstacle to US hegemony up the ghost” and become a compliant vassal state of the the unrelenting aggression it is being subjected to by the US met with unrelenting force.” Why do you think Bolton, in the Middle East is the Islamic US, Israel and Saudi Arabia. They are blinded by their own regime. But for the sake of world peace, should Iran hold on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Israeli PM are Republic of Iran. hubris and deluding themselves. History shows they will be to perseverance and stoically wait for the US regime to bury pushing the US into a war with Iran? met with ignominious defeat and humiliation. itself from its own collapsing empire of hubris and criminality? I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 8 ADVERTISEMENTS MAY 19, 2019

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I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y MAY 19, 2019 SCIENCE 9 Scientists boost the carbon-capturing Bedbugs date back to the time of the dinosaurs, new abilities of metal-organic frameworks family tree suggests Metal-organic frameworks are metal deployed a new technique called “post- compounds with lattice structures that boast synthetic rapid heat treatment.” Bedbugs are more than just the sneaky appleseed-size blood nano-sized pores. These pores are quite In the lab, scientists exposed a common suckers that have made travelers paranoid about their hotel beds. adept at filtering a variety of chemicals out MOF called ZIF-8, or zeolitic imidazolate About 100 species, some living deep inside caves that humans of water solutions, including heavy metals, framework 8, to temperatures of 360 degrees rarely enter, plague bats and birds. Now, scientists have used hydrogen and even gold. Celsius for only a few seconds. The treatment DNA from more than 30 species to create the first bedbug family But metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, worked to strengthen the chemical bonds of the tree, and it is full of surprises: For example, the insects are far are less effective at gas separation -- until MOF and stiffen the material’s lattice structure. more ancient than previously thought, dating back to the time now, that is. Scientists in Switzerland have After the treatment, the MOF of the dinosaurs. And even though researchers can’t say what found a way to make MOFs lattice more demonstrated improve carbon capture creature was the lucky recipient of the first bedbug bite, they rigid, helping the materials capture and abilities. Scientists expect the new material to now know that at least three different kinds came to love human separate gas molecules. be used to prevent carbon dioxide produced blood over time. In a way, metal-organic frameworks were in industrial facilities from entering the Scientists have recently made progress detailing the evolutionary too good at trapping molecules. atmosphere. But the new technology has histories of insects like stink bugs, kissing bugs, and assassin “The flexible ‘lattice’ structure of metal- a variety of gas-separating applications. bugs, says Christiane Weirauch, a systematic entomologist at the organic frameworks soaks up gas molecules “Rapid heat treatment is an easy and University of California, Riverside, who was not involved in the that are even larger than its pore window versatile technique that can vastly improve new study. But “with bedbugs we have not done too well.” Many making it difficult to carry out efficient the gas-separation performance of the MOF species are parasites of bats, and researchers had long assumed membrane-based separation,” Kumar membranes,” said Agrawal. “By making the that these mammals were their first victims. But bat bedbug Varoon Agrawal, researcher at the Swiss lattice rigid, we can efficiently carry out a species are hard to collect: Many are never found except in the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, number of separations.” depths of caves where bats roost. “You don’t know how difficult said in a news release. Scientists described their breakthrough it is to get some of these bedbug species,” Weirauch laments. To make the lattices of metal-organic this week in the journal Advanced Materials. That inaccessibility didn’t stop Klaus Reinhardt, whose frameworks more discerning, scientists (Source: UPI) interest in bedbugs has led him to write two treatises about the cultural history of bedbugs. For the bedbug family tree study, this entomologist at Dresden University of Technology in Germany and colleagues got some of their specimens from museums and other researchers. But the rest they chased down in areas plagued Study reveals the secrets of cell size control by civil war, and in hot, dark caves, where they traipsed through knee-deep guano—only after dealing with all the red tape needed New research has revealed the mechanism cells use to control through a sense time and space, but it failed to explain the the adder is exclusively determined by some key proteins to get permission to work on endangered bats. Once they had their growth and maintain their size, a phenomenon known exact mechanisms that allows for size homeostasis. involved in cell division.” collected thousands of bugs, they sequenced and compared DNA as “cell size homeostasis.” The latest research -- published this week in the journal Jun and his colleagues observed the mechanisms in a pair from 34 species to build the family tree. “Cell size homeostasis is a fundamental biological Current Biology -- showed cell size homeostasis is made of bacteria species, Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, but They used a 100-million-year-old fossil and estimated mutation question and to our knowledge this is the first time we possible through two main components: the balanced synthesis estimate the same components ensure cell size homeostasis rates to calculate when bedbugs first appeared and when they finally understand its mechanistic origin,” Suckjoon Jun, of essential biological ingredients, proteins necessary for in all living organisms. diversified. That work revealed that bedbugs “existed long before a biophysicist at the University of California, San Diego, cell division, and a critical threshold that triggers the adder Researchers credited the power of interdisciplinary any records of bats,” says Thomas Lilley, an ecophysiologist at said in a news release. Jun and his colleagues previously process once all the ingredients have been assembled. collaboration with their breakthrough discovery. the Finnish Museum of Natural History in Helsinki. The oldest showed that cell size is controlled by something called the The two components make the adder principle possible. “We would not have been able to solve this with pure known bat fossil is just 64 million years old, and, according to “adder principle.” The researchers showed cells grow by a “It’s a very robust mechanism because each cell is physics or pure biology. It was a very multidisciplinary the new study, bedbugs date back 115 million years, to the time fixed added size, irrespective of their birth size. guaranteed to reach its target cell size whether it is born approach,” Jun said. of the dinosaurs, Reinhardt and his colleagues report today in The adder principle proved cells don’t control growth large or small,” said Jun. “The bottom line is that we found (Source: UPI) Current Biology. “This is something that people have suspected, but it’s really nice to have it in black and white,” Weirauch says. Also, it now appears that those first bedbugs evolved from an ancestral bug that was already a blood sucker—some researchers Exoplanet-hunting CubeSat photographs Los Angeles thought blood meals came later, after bedbugs had already split from their ancestors. NASA’s smallest exoplanet-hunting satellite, The newly published photos reveal Los stability. Currently, the miniaturized satellite The new family tree also upends ideas about bedbugs and the CubeSat ASTERIA, recently captured Angeles’ grid of city streets and freeways is scanning the skies in search of exoplanets. humans. Two species of the insect—Cimex lectularius and the photographs of Los Angeles from 250 miles -- lots and lots of freeways -- glowing in ASTERIA is designed to hunt for planets tropical C. hemipterus—typically bite people. Previously, researchers above Earth’s surface. The space agency’s the night. using the same strategy as Kepler and NASA’s proposed that the two types arose from a common ancestor and Jet Propulsion Laboratory published the On the evening that ASTERIA snapped newest plane-hunter, TESS. The CubeSat diverged about 1.6 million years ago when Homo sapiens split photographs on its website this week. the photograph, the hometown Dodgers were records images of bright Sun-like stars. These off from an ancient human line, H. erectus. But the new study ASTERIA, short for Arcsecond Space playing the Arizona Diamondbacks. Dodger observations are then analyzed for evidence indicates the two bedbugs went their separate ways 47 million Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics, Stadium can be seen in the image, a bright of periodic dimming, the signature created years ago, meaning both must have independently shifted to a is a miniaturized satellite made up of six spot at the center of the photo. by orbiting exoplanets as they move across human diet. cubed units measuring 4.5 inches on each Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where ASTERIA the face of their host star. Since then, one or two other bedbug species have switched size. Most of the time, ASTERIA is pointed was designed and built, in Pasadena, seen in “The extended [ASTERIA] mission also to human hosts, Reinhardt says. For example, his research on away from Earth, searching for alien worlds the top right quadrant of the photo, just below provides long-term validation of hardware Hopi legends has convinced him that a bedbug known to infect in the Milky Way, far beyond our own solar the darkness of the San Gabriel Mountains. and software for use on future projects,” eagles also started to feed on humans. And the human-loving system. But in March, the CubeSat trained Last year, ASTERIA passed a number according to NASA. bedbug Leptocimex boueti, which also enjoys bat blood and its camera on the City of Angels. of tests proving its exceptional pointing (Source: UPI) likely had that mammal as its first host, may have switched to people as global guano mining increased. Together, the evidence suggests “a new species of bedbug conquers humans about every half a million years,” Reinhardt says. Given the ever-growing contact among people, livestock, and wildlife, Antarctic instability “is spreading” “It may not even take half a million years,” for another bedbug to start sucking human blood, he adds. Almost a quarter of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet can now level rise coming from Antarctica by 2100. Bedbugs’ host-switching success suggests they are incredibly be considered unstable, according to a new assessment of As things stand, it’s likely to be another 10cm higher, good at adapting to new situations, notes Coby Schal, a behavioral 25 years of satellite data. says CPOM colleague and lead author on the paper, Prof ecologist at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, who was By unstable, scientists mean more ice is being lost from Andrew Shepherd from Leeds University. not involved with work. “Bedbug populations rapidly adapted to the region than is being replenished through snowfall. “There is a 3,000km section of coastline - including the global travel, other changes in human behavior, and [insecticides].” Some of the biggest glaciers have thinned by over 120m Bellingshausen, Amundsen and Marie Byrd Land sections And, he predicts, they will continue to do so. in places. - that is clearly not properly modelled because that’s where (Source: sciencemag.org) Losses from the two largest ice streams - Pine Island all the ice is coming from, and more ice than was expected,” and Thwaites - have risen fivefold over the period of the he explained. spacecraft observations. “So, we need to go back to those models to try to understand And the changes have seen a marked acceleration in what part of the signal they’re not capturing. And, certainly, Peacock spiders’ superblack just the past decade. the altimeter data, which gives a very detailed description The driver is thought to be warm ocean water which is of the imbalance, should be the first thing people refer to.” spots reflect just 0.5 percent attacking the edges of the continent where its drainage glaciers There is now a concerted international effort to investigate enter the sea. The British-led study has been presented in the most rapidly changing areas. of light Milan at the Living Planet Symposium, Europe’s largest McMillan from Lancaster University and the UK’s Centre This past expedition season saw a UK-US-led mission Earth observation conference. It has also been published for Polar Observation and Modelling. to gather geophysical information from the ocean in front concurrently in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. “We can now clearly see how these regions have expanded of Thwaites Glacier. Repeat expeditions to the ice surface Male peacock spiders know how to put on a show for potential The overview stitches together the data from four through time, spreading inland across some of the most are planned for coming seasons. mates, with dancing and a bit of optical trickery. overlapping satellite missions of the European Space Agency vulnerable parts of West Antarctica, which is critical for Thwaites, and its neighbour Pine Island Glacier, appear Microscopic bumps on the arachnids’ exoskeletons make velvety (Esa) - ERS-1, ERS-2, Envisat and Cryosat. understanding the ice sheet’s contribution to global sea level to be the Achilles heel of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. black areas look darker than a typical black by manipulating light. These spacecraft were all launched with radar altimeters rise,” he told BBC News. Sited in the Amundsen Sea sector, they account for by far This architecture reflects less than 0.5 percent of light, researchers to measure the change in height across both the eastern and If West and East Antarctica are considered as a whole, the largest signal of imbalance. About 50% of their drainage report May 15 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. western sectors of the ice sheet. this contribution is 4.6mm over the study period. It would basins are now losing mass, at average rates from 1992 of The ultradark spots, found near vivid colors on the spiders’ Their unified record from 1992 to 2017 was then combined have been more than a millimetre higher still had the eastern 28 billion tonnes a year at Pine Island and 46 billion tonnes abdomens, create an “optical illusion that the colors are so bright … with weather models to tease apart the elevation trends due sector of the ice sheet not gained mass slightly over the period. a year at Thwaites. they’re practically glowing,” says Harvard University evolutionary to short-term variations in snowfall from those longer-term Even so, the observed losses in the west mean that the But it is the acceleration that is telling, say the scientists. biologist Dakota McCoy. shifts in ice mass resulting from melting and iceberg calving. continent’s input to the ever rising surface of the world’s Between 1992 and 1997, the loss rates were 2 billion Male peacock spiders swing and shake their brilliantly colored “Using this unique dataset, we’ve been able to identify oceans is now tracking towards the upper end of projections. tonnes per year and 12 billion tonnes per year, respectively. abdomens during elaborate mating displays. Pigments produce the parts of Antarctica that are undergoing rapid, sustained The computer models contained within the last major During the latter period of the survey (2012 to 2016), the rate the red and yellow hues, but blues and purples come from light thinning - regions that are changing faster than we would assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate rises to 55 billion tonnes and 76 billion tonnes per annum. interacting with hairlike scales. expect due to normal weather patterns,” said Dr Malcolm Change (IPCC) foresaw, in the central range, 5cm of sea- (Source: BBC) Black areas on the spiders contain pigment, too. But scanning electron microscopy also revealed a landscape of tiny bumps in superblack patches on Maratus speciosus and M. karrie peacock spiders. In contrast, all-black, closely related Cylistella spiders Scientists release latest findings on ancient object at the solar system’s edge have a smooth texture. Using simulations, McCoy and colleagues showed that the As the ball dropped in Times Square this captured data that had been transferred by gentle collision. Later images and analysis “These discoveries have strong implica- bumps make dark spots appear even darker in several ways. New Year’s Eve, the New Horizons space- March 1. Overall, the new findings paint a revealed the two lobes are also flattened, with tions for how planetesimals and hence planets Curved surfaces bounce light around, so less is reflected, and craft was fast approaching an approximately vivid picture of a tiny, cold and distant world the larger lobe (called Ultima) more pan- form,” Stern wrote. diffract light in a way that it evades the field of view of an onlooking 20-mile-long space rock nicknamed Ultima that has likely changed little since it formed cakelike than the smaller one (called Thule). The researchers also found that Ultima female. And the bumps are microlenses — angling entering light Thule, located a whopping 4 billion miles during the earliest days of the solar system, Scientists don’t yet know what caused Thule sports a uniform red color, likely from so that it takes a longer path and spends more time interacting from Earth. As the spacecraft zipped past about 4.5 billion years ago. the flattened shape, but offered several irradiated ice and organic molecules on its with light-absorbing black melanin pigment than it would if the the tiny world, it deployed a suite of seven Some of the most significant results have possible explanations. One is that Ultima surface. Scientists found evidence for the surface was flat. scientific instruments to gather a treasure to do with the shape of Ultima Thule, wrote formed from an already flattened cloud of presence of both water ice and methanol. The spiders’ luxe looks resemble that of birds of paradise, trove of images and measurements, which Alan Stern, the principal investigator for New particles. Others suggest that it was creat- Thule is marked by a depression about 4 which also use tiny structures to create ultrablack feathers. But it has been slowly sending back to Earth for Horizons, in an email to Inside Science. ed in a head-on collision of two similarly miles wide, named Maryland, which probably the animals evolved their abilities separately, the researchers months. The earliest images from the spacecraft sized objects, or was deformed as it spun formed from an impact with another object, say. And the phenomenon may not be so rare. There is evidence The data dumps will continue until the sum- showed that the object has two distinct sec- rapidly, or even that it was pulled on by the but overall the two lobes have only a small for superblack shades in snakes, a type of beetle and a variety of mer of 2020, but today scientists published tions joined together, a shape that scientists gravity of another object before it merged number of craters for objects so old. other birds, McCoy says. their latest findings, based on the 10% of the calculated likely resulted from a relatively with Thule. (Source: Inside Science) (Source: sciencenews.org) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 10 HERITAGE & TOURISM MAY 19, 2019 Safari tourists harm elephants’ health ‘Dutch Venice’ bolsters its bridges and make them violent, researchers find A village known as the “Dutch Venice” is shutting its canals for several hours each morning to repair the damage tourist boats Tourists on safari are damaging elephants’ Other people have suffered serious injuries have caused to its historic bridges. health, scaring them, stressing them out and while taking selfies with elephants. Hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to Giethoorn in the making them more violent towards people Earlier studies have found wildlife eastern Netherlands each year, attracted by its network of ca- and each other, new research says. tourism causes fear, alertness, aggression, nals, but many of them have trouble handling their hire boats Herds retreat from where they are resting vigilance and stress behavior in animals and end up bumping into the bridges, the regional broadcaster or feeding when groups of tourists turn up including rhinos. RTV Oost reports. in jeeps and take photographs. Ms Szott, whose research was published The bridges are the private property of the 2,600 villagers, And elephants are more likely to be in the Journal of Zoology, said elephants at and they depend on them to get about car-free Giethoorn, much aggressive to other group members when waterholes could experience frustration and of which is only accessible by boat or on foot. large numbers of people are nearby, the stress, as well as being targeted by other herd “There is a love-hate relationship with the visitors,” according 15-month study in South Africa found. members, increasing the risk of aggression to the NOS national broadcaster, which says that the income is Lead author Isabelle Szott, of Liverpool towards people in vehicles. welcome but “tourists walking through their gardens and looking John Moores University, said aggression in “We suggest a consistent minimum in through their windows” less so. elephants rose in parallel with tourist pressure, distance from the nearest individual, especially ’Whisper boats’ with males more prone than females. upon first approach, should be introduced Last year Giethoorn hired an “environment director”, who “Tourists who wish to observe animals in to guidelines for wildlife viewing to alleviate tries to balancing the demands of tourism with the needs of the their natural habitat should be aware of their the potential for conflict,” she said. permanent residents. Companies offer canal tours with experienced potential negative effects on animal welfare. Audrey Delsink, head of wildlife for captains, but many visitors prefer to hire private “whisper boats”. “Research should investigate best practice Humane Society International/Africa, told Their electric engines are much quieter than conventional outboard standards to minimize such negative effects,” The Independent: “Stress can be caused to motors, but they still lead to accidental collisions on the often-con- Ms Szott said. animals if the guide or tourists approach gested waterways, and these are weakening many of the bridges. Observing elephants in the wild has become too close to the elephants, coming between Last year the council installed new mirrors on the canals to increasingly popular with holidaymakers as females and calves or cutting off exit routes, help skippers see what’s just around the corner, but now it has awareness has started to grow of the cruelty Last year a German tourist was trampled to Zimbabwean tourist resort Victoria Falls. and it’s that sort of irresponsible behavior on decided to take the major step of reinforcing the bridges with of riding the animals. death by an elephant as she tried to photograph Another local man was killed in a separate the part of people that encourages negative extra posts and cross-beams. Captive elephants trained with hooks to it in Zimbabwe. incident after trying to drive elephants into responses in elephants. The job is more complex than it sounds. give rides or perform tricks often develop The woman was in a group of tourists the open to take pictures. “Wildlife tourism should not in itself cause “The narrow canals and low bridges are not accessible from post-traumatic stress. who encountered a herd in Mana Pools A trend for taking selfies with wild an issue if conducted according to strict codes the road, and the posts have to be driven deep if they are to get a Tourism chiefs say the income from the National Park. elephants in the eastern Indian state of Orissa of conduct regulating how elephants should purchase on the peaty soil,” RTV Oost says, adding that the re- safari industry protects elephants and their In 2017, a trained elephant was shot has also led to a series of fatal attacks. Officials be viewed, such as safe-distance observation.” pairmen have to work with cranes mounted on floating pontoons. habitats. dead after fatally trampling a tour guide in believe such incidents are on the rise. (Source: The Independent) This means the canals will be closed to locals and visitors alike for four hours early each morning until the end of May, by which time the 45 bridges in question should be fixed. The council has put diversions in place for essential journeys, Modern humans split from Neanderthals far earlier than thought: study and has managed to repair two of the bridges so far. Scientists seeking to unlock the mysteries of human you know, there was a hybridization between Neander- (Source: BBC) evolution have in recent years relied on increasingly thals and modern humans” she continued. “So this is sophisticated DNA techniques that provide “molecular also adding noise to all these studies.” clocks” to date the remains of our ancient ancestors. Praise and pushback But a new analysis that instead examines fossil teeth Gomez-Robles’ work was praised by Mirjana Roksan- Good ‘til the last drop? $75 cups provides an alternative approach -- and one which yields dic, a biological anthropologist at the University of Win- a significantly earlier date for the divergence between nipeg who recently co-authored her own paper which of coffee sell out in California modern humans and Neanderthals. described H. heidelbergensis as non-Neanderthal. If you thought your $5 morning latte was expensive, think again. The study by Aida Gomez-Robles from University Col- “She is pinpointing a time when Neanderthals must Southern California-based Klatch Coffee Roasters has been lege London proposes that the two species’ last common have moved their own way and that is a very, very sig- selling a $75 cup of coffee, and all sold out. ancestor may have lived 800,000 years ago, entering a nificant result,” said Roksandic. The company offered a tasting experience at its San Francisco debate that is hotly contested among anthropologists. “Teeth are born fossils, they carry so much information. location on May 11 and gave people the option to have some of The new timeline is between 200,000 to 400,000 They’re just absolutely brilliant that way,” she added. the coffee shipped to them. According to Klatch’s website, the years earlier than current estimates, and if correct would The new methodology was also described as “useful” beans are all sold out. rule out Homo heidelbergensis, another extinct human by Harvard anthropologist Bridget Alex, who neverthe- Why is it so expensive? species, as the last common ancestor between Homo had time to achieve their particular features, barring less added that it raised the tension between genetic From dying your hair to fixing furniture scratches, the humble sapiens and our nearest relatives the Neanderthals, as strong environmental factors that caused the species change against physical and physiological changes in coffee bean (and drink) has some surprisingly practical alternative some scientists presently posit. to evolve at a quicker rate. evolution, which may not occur at the same rate. uses. Click through for a selection of them. According to Gomez-Robles, whose paper was “The major implication is Homo heidelbergensis But the study was criticized by Susan Cachel, a pro- The coffee shop is roasting the Elida Geisha 803 coffee beans published in Science Advances on Wednesday, recent cannot be the last common ancestor between modern fessor in human evolution at Rutgers University, who from Panama. They were sold at $803 per pound, the highest research on hominin teeth has shown that while size humans and Neanderthals,” she told AFP. asked: “If the ancestors of anatomically modern humans price paid for the beans at the Best of Panama green auction. The varied greatly across various human species, the shape No clean split and Neanderthals do not come from the taxon Homo auction is referred to as the “Oscars for coffee.” of teeth was more homogeneous and evolved at stable The findings may not put an end to the longstanding heidelbergensis, then where do they come from? Some Only 100 pounds of the beans were available for purchase, and rates across the board. debate, not least because of its variance with some of the unknown, shadowy ancestor?” Klatch snatched up 10 of them, becoming the only coffee shop She examined the molars and pre-molars of around DNA-based dating, which also relies on assumptions Cachel added that “there is an astonishing amount of in the United States to have it. The beans were divided among 30 fossils thought to be early Neanderthals from the about how quickly genetics change over time. dental variation in living humans,” which she said under- their several Southern California locations and one shop in San Sima de los Huesos cave site in Spain as well as of seven Gomez-Robles said that while no method was per- cut one of the key assumptions used by Gomez-Robles’ Francisco. According to ABC7 News, a local Bay Area news sta- other extinct hominin species in order to determine fect, studying anatomical variation “gives us a more statistical model, pointing to the example of how some tion, the 10 pounds of beans comes out to about 80 cups of the how much they changed over time. accurate picture” partly because it is still not possible Native Americans have a distosagittal ridge, known as Elida Geisha coffee. A 2014 study using luminescence techniques and to extract DNA from most ancient fossils. the “Uto-Aztecan premolar.” “It’s a unique coffee that comes from Panama. It’s by far better palaeomagnetism was said to have reliably dated the Moreover, differing timelines could point to growing body This trait “is globally very rare and geographically than any of the coffee you hear about that comes from animals,” cave site, in Spain’s Atapuerca Mountains, to 430,000 of evidence that there are no clean splits between species. restricted, must have appeared within the last 15-20,000 Bo Thiara, co-owner of the Bay Area Klatch, told ABC 7. years ago, which already hinted that sapiens and Ne- “When we are talking about the divergence between years -- since the divergence between Native Americans The Elida Geisha 803 is a type of Kopi Luwak coffee which is anderthals went their separate ways before this time. Neanderthals and modern humans, or between any and their ancestral population,” she said. made from partially digested coffee beans. The beans are eaten Using computer modeling, she found that early two species, that is not something that happens at one “I therefore question the idea that rates of dental by civets, a cat-like animal, and then pooped out. Sapiens and Neanderthals would have had to have di- specific moment of time,” she told AFP. evolution are invariably slow.” (Source: USA Today) verged 800,000 years ago for the Sima teeth to have “And something that we know today as well is that, (Source: AFP) ROUND THE GLOBE How to protect yourself from air pollution while traveling City of Bath By Hahna Yoon be your best friend when air quality is Love the skin you’re in low. Although you can find disposable After a day of sightseeing, protecting The city of Bath in South West England was founded in the Poor air quality is a growing problem face masks at pharmacies in most cities, your skin and your lungs from air pollution 1st century CE by the Romans who used the natural hot for travelers headed abroad. Here’s how the type of masks recommended by and particulates that may have settled in springs as a thermal spa. It became an important center to read up before you go, and protect medical professionals are rarely found your clothes, on your skin or in your hair, for the wool industry in the Middle Ages but in the 18th yourself once you’re there. in drugstores or department stores. is simple: take a shower as soon as you century under the reigns of George l, ll and III it developed When Yondje Choi was told she would You’re better off ordering quality ones can, apply sunscreen and moisturizer, and into an elegant spa city, famed in literature and art. need a face mask for an upcoming trip online in advance of your trip instead of repeat every time you spend a prolonged to South Korea, Ms. Choi, a 31-year-old scrambling to find them in a new city. period outdoors. New Yorker, was shocked. Not sure which kind to get? Based Dr. Steven Wang, director of Dermatology “I knew air pollution is a major on her research on the effectiveness at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer problem in Beijing, but I didn’t know of face masks in Beijing, Dr. Miranda Center of Basking Ridge, has studied the it was this bad here,” she said last month Loh at the Institute of Occupational effects of ambient air pollution on skin. His in Seoul. Medicine in Edinburgh recommends top tips include applying sunscreen in the While China takes a bulk of the heat looking for masks rated to at least N95 morning; using gentle, liquid cleansers; when it comes to unhealthy levels of air (meaning the mask removes 95 percent and generally making sure to take care of quality, air pollution is a major issue of all particles in the air that are at least your skin when you travel. throughout Asia and beyond, even to 0.3 microns in diameter or larger) or Know when to just stay inside Europe and North America. Without FFP3 (meaning the mask may only leak Refraining from outdoor activities research and self-care, even short-term a maximum of 5 percent or air and it on heavily-polluted days is the most visitors may feel the effects. Here are must filter 99 percent of all particles common piece of advice when it comes some precautions you can take to help measuring up to 0.6 microns), both to avoiding the effects of air pollution you breathe easier. standards that indicate a high ability from medical experts, including those The City of Bath is of Outstanding Universal Value for the Look up the air quality before to filter out fine dust. at the American Lung Association. following cultural attributes: The Roman remains, especially you go Of the masks she studied, Dr. Loh Plan activities like museum visits, the Temple of Sulis Minerva and the baths complex (based You can find a given city’s Air Quality said she found 3M’s Aura Disposable souvenir shopping trips, and other around the hot springs at the heart of the Roman town of Index, or A.Q.I., on air-monitoring Respirator 9322+ mask most effective mostly-indoor activities for days when Aquae Sulis, which have remained at the heart of the City’s websites like aqicn.org. This index at consistently reducing exposure to the air quality is really bad. Or, just development ever since) are amongst the most famous and indicates how polluted or dirty the air their study volunteers. In addition to keep a few of those activities in your important Roman remains north of the Alps, and marked the is (typically measuring particulate matter buying a proper mask, she recommends pocket in case everything seems good beginning of Bath’s history as a spa town. in the air) and explains the possible health limiting a mask’s use and wearing the one day, but the air quality takes a The Georgian city reflects the ambitions of John Wood implications of that level. While A.Q.I. mask strictly as its package instructs. turn on the next. Senior (1704-1754), Ralph Allen (1693-1764) and Richard levels are often referenced to in the United When you should wear your mask Fortunately for those looking for a “Beau” Nash (1674-1761) to make Bath into one of the States during allergy season or at times depends on your age and health, and reprieve from air pollution, a growing most beautiful cities in Europe, with architecture and of dust storms or wildfires, the index there’s no strict guideline that everyone number of accommodations and landscape combined harmoniously for the enjoyment is commonplace throughout Asia. The everywhere agrees on. In China, for activities are now making clean air a of the spa town’s cure takers. U.S. Department of Agriculture has a instance, the government suggests main feature. Not only have several The Neo-classical style of the public buildings (such as complete explanation of what makes daily, unhealthy air pollution. East Asian wearing a mask when the A.Q.I. is over hotel chains have added air purifiers the Assembly Rooms and the Pump Room) harmonises with “good” or “bad” air quality on its website. countries, for instance, are affected by 200, but many people choose to wear to their list of amenities, but smog-free the grandiose proportions of the monumental ensembles When it comes to travel, researching Asian Dust (yellow dust particles carried one when the A.Q.I. is closer to 100 or cinemas, oxygen bars and clean air cafes (such as Queen Square, Circus and Royal Crescent) and air-quality websites can help inform on the wind from the Gobi Desert) in the 150. Your best bet is to look at the A.Q.I. have become en vogue in cities like collectively reflects the ambitions, particularly social, of where you want to go and when you want spring, and many savvy travelers opt for on a given day, review the air quality Seoul, Bangkok and Beijing. If you’ve the spa city in the 18th century. to be there. Heavily polluted cities have visiting during the fall instead. scale, and judge for yourself. People with already been to the museum, maybe (Source: UNESCO) bad A.Q.I. measures all year, but some Learn face mask basics respiratory issues, allergies or asthma it’s time to take in a film. destinations have only a few months of A proper air-filtering face mask can should be especially careful. (Source: The New York Times) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y MAY 19, 2019 TECHNOLOGY 11 ‘Transportation, tourism and energy are Over 7,200 villages to be linked with National important for making Isfahan a smart city’ Information Network

TECHNOLOGY TEHRAN – Smart formation are important for safety factors 1 Up to now, 80 percent of rural area have ICT coverage, desk transportation, tourism, in smart city, he said. the ICT Ministry announced. water resources and energy are all impor- Smart cities - statistics & facts The first phase of e-government services project in Iran of- tant for making Isfahan a smart city, the According to statista, smart cities, also ficially came on stream under the title of ‘Mobile Government’ secretary of smart city council of Isfahan commonly known as cyberville, digital cities, in mid-May 2018. Municipality announced, IRNA reported intelligent cities, and wired cities, are urban The project aims to facilitate some government services, reduce on Sunday. areas that collect electronic data from citi- unnecessary expenses and ease traffic jam, which is the main Mehdi Behroozi made the remarks zens, devices, and assets to manage available cause of air pollution in big cities. during a meeting held in Tehran on the resources more efficiently. It is based on the National Information Network, an ongoing necessity of smart city in today world. A wide range of information and commu- project to develop a secure and stable infrastructure network Isfahan enjoys e-city and e-government nications technology (ICT) applications are in the country. services, he said, adding that smart trans- executed to enhance, reduce costs and resource portation systems, smart traffic lights, use, as well as increase the communication smart traffic counter and smart air qual- between government and citizens. Ideally, ity monitoring system have already been these applications can enhance knowledge established in Isfahan. and innovations, promote working environ- However the smart city would be possi- ments, and connect technology and society. ble through automatic connection between It also strives to embed a digital connection these elements, he explained. between government services and citizens to So far some applications have provided positively impact local communities. the information for empty parking spaces There are dozens of ways to define a smart for the citizens, he said. city based on the types of technology imple- Behroozi also explained about smart mented and its goals. irrigation system, which is already oper- For example, developments of ubiquitous ating in the city, he added. the smart city goals, he added. Strategic management, an im- cities (U-Cities) in South Korea has been Cashless taxi services, which is possible The good data process is a great help portant factor in smart cities notable; U-Cities aim to connect citizens to through QR Code, is another service in for smart city, he explained. The smart city faces executive and opera- any service through any smart device. According to a report released by the Measuring Information the city of Isfahan, he explained. Unfortunately the laws belong to the tional challenges and the strategic manage- Knowledge cities focus on the innovation Society of Iran at the Information Technology Organization in The council plans to use smart meth- time before digitalization and there is no ment is one of the most important challenges of the knowledge economy and subsequently January, 64 percent of Iranians above six years are internet users. ods and up-to-date applications for street facility for innovation development, he in smart cities, an expert with cyberspace aim to increase its skilled workforce. A digital A survey was conducted at urban and rural areas during winter parking spaces, he added. lamented. strategic management said. city is defined as a region that allows for season of the Iranian calendar year 1396 (ended March 20, 2018) Smart governance, smart citizen, smart Safety is one of the most important Ehsan Shahir said that different groups of increased interconnection and information by the Statistical Center of Iran. ecosystem, smart economy, smart trans- factors in smart cities, which should be people including children, clergies, teachers sharing. Despite a wide range in the purposes According to the survey, the internet user is defined as someone port and smart energy are the categories considered before the start, he said. and elderlies should be considered as one behind smart cities, they generally promote who has used internet during the past three months and by this of smart city worldwide, he said. Education of human resource is very of the most important smart city project. the efficient use of physical infrastructure and definition 46,315,545 people are internet users in Iran. The data received by electronic devices important in smart city, which should be Privacy, content, software and hardware act as a collaborative effort between locals According to the report, 72.8 percent of Iranian families have should be processed in order to achieve considered by the government, he said. as well as IT-based infrastructures and in- and government to improve the city. access to the internet, which means that 17,936,000 families benefit from internet nationwide. A total of 17,216,000 families have access to computer, which Iranian company manufactures nano air filter for cars is 69.7 percent of the population. HEALTH TEHRAN – An Iranian knowledge-based ruary, for instance, the capital breathed less polluted air. deskcompany has manufactured nano air filter Bright blue skies were seen for approximately one-fourth Appropriate ecosystem can for vehicles, which can decrease air pollution by 20 percent, of the studied period, as the air quality index was in ‘good’ improve innovation: VP ISNA reported on Friday. condition for seven days. The filter, which is made from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) The index categorizes conditions according to a measure TECHNOLOGY TEHRAN – The innovation should be improved nanofibers, also has impact on vehicle fuel economy from of polluting matters into good (0-50), moderate (51-100), deskin an appropriate ecosystem and the education 5 to 15 percent. unhealthy for sensitive groups (101-150), unhealthy (151- is not enough, the vice president for science and technology said, If 25 percent of vehicles use this nano air filter, Iran can 200), very unhealthy (201-300) and hazardous (301-500). IRNA reported on Saturday. save 100 million liters of fuel annually, the director of the Tehran saw 21 days of ‘moderate’ air quality, with the Sourena Sattari said that the development is possible with company Shahpour Pirouzi said. index swinging between 51 and 100. soft technology, which can turn into innovative companies with In this way, the country can save 100 thousand trillion TAQCC data proved that in February, sensitive groups planning. rials (about $2 billion) in facing air pollution, he explained. in the capital breathed only 3 days of ‘unhealthy’ air as the Innovation and creation can create value added for the young Most of domestic cars including Pride, Samand, different index stood between 101 and 150. generation, which is weakened by the oil economy, he lamented. types of Peugeots, Renault Logan L90 and Citroën Xantia Air quality status in Tehran Pollutants measured to determine air quality include carbon Development cannot be imported from other countries but can use the filter, he added. Unlike the inefficiency of measures taken so far by monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ground-level it is an inner power, which is strengthened by empowering en- Nanofibers, with smaller thickness and higher surface Tehran Municipality to control the growing air pollution ozone and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10). AQI fig- trepreneurship in a society, he explained. area than regular fibers, have enormous applications in in the metropolis, data from Tehran Air Quality Control ures are calculated as per the concentration of pollutants. The new generation of entrepreneurs improve without oil filtration. Electrospinning (also called electrostatic fib- Company (TAQCC) shows during the past months, Tehran Analyses reveal that the pollutant responsible for the three money and they can continue their way with appropriate laws er spinning) has been one of the promising processes to residents had some relief with better air quality compared moderate days recorded in the studied period was PM2.5 and omission of bureaucratic procedures, he added. produce continuous nano-scale fibers from both synthetic to the previous year. (atmospheric particulate matters that have a diameter of and natural polymers. Charts published on TAQCC website show that in Feb- smaller than 2.5 micrometers). Video game addiction could First ICT co-working space established in Tehran be made an official disease HEALTH TEHRAN — The first Iranian Informa- According to coworkingresources.org, co-working is Games developers say they are listening to and acting on rising desktion and Communication Technology a growing trend for startups as well as for people who concerns about the disorder as more people are being affected. (ICT) co-working space was established in Tehran. work from home. With co-working spaces, you pay for Video game addiction could be made an official disease after Located at the venue of Iranian Research Institute a membership, either for a choice of seating options it was officially recognised and classified by the World Health for Information Science and Technology, it is sponsored every day or a dedicated desk. There are even offices Organization (WHO). by the private sector. available at many co-working companies. The disorder has been suggested by some medics as a distinct Co-working is defined as a self-directed, collabora- Iranian Research Institute for Information Science behavioral addiction characterized by excessive or compulsive tive, flexible and voluntary work style that is based on and Technology (IranDoc) is a national institute affiliated use of computer games or video games that affects an individ- mutual trust and the sharing of common core values to the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technolo- ual’s daily life. between its participants. gy (MSRT), Iran. It has five main missions: research, Last June, WHO included gaming disorder within the 11th The co-working space hosts companies, startups and scientific and technical information management, ed- revision of its international classification of diseases and next freelancers active in different fields of ICT. ucation, scientific cooperation, and supporting science week it will vote on whether to make it an official disease. The ICT co-working space aims to establish network and technology policy-making. Gaming impacted every aspect of James Good’s life including between members of ICT ecosystem, improve marketing Having 50 years of experience, IranDoc now ex- his mental and physical health. through platform management of the working space. ploits more than 100 experts, nine research groups in Microsoft said it is giving more power to parents to control It also aims to hold events and academic courses three departments, and three research laboratories. and technical databases in Iran with more than one how much time their children can spend gaming. to fill the gaps between universities and industries. It has developed one of the biggest Persian scientific million records. Microsoft’s head of gaming Dave McCarthy told Sky News: “We put a lot of controls in place that parents can leverage to manage things like screen time and game usage. “And we also think as an industry there is more we can and should do around research and collaboration.” These are the top skill sets for a successful blockchain team Other concerns among parents of children who play video KPMG has defined what it sees as the most works without being a blockchain hammer is its ability to span an organization and its upscaling them to deliver blockchain skills,” games also include safety and violence, aggression and mis- important skills needed for a top-notch block- looking for a nail,” said Tegan Keele, KP- business partners, essentially connecting Keele said. “Until universities start printing behavior. chain team – and knowledge of blockchain MG’s U.S. blockchain program lead. “You multiple, disparate entities through a single, blockchain degrees, that will be the pattern Microsoft’s Dave McCarthy said the company is giving more isn’t necessarily the most important one. have to know how to apply it and that really transparent electronic ledger. that will continue.” power to parents As undergraduates emerge from schools only comes if you have an understanding “But, then you have multiple people The list of U.S. universities now offering WHO has said that only a small number of people are actually with software development or business skills, of business processes.” within each participating entity looking at courses on blockchain continues to grow affected by gaming disorder. companies exploring blockchain use are Secondly, members of a blockchain team the blockchain and they’re all going to want to and includes such prestigious institutions However the consequences can be catastrophic for those seeking job candidates with four specific should understand the difference between a see slightly different things,” Keele said. “So as MIT, Princeton, UC Berkeley and Stanford suffering from gaming addiction. skill sets, according to a new report from variety of technologies, including the cloud, understanding how to derive those insights University. Former gaming addict James Good became addicted to video consultancy KPMG. protocols, ERPs and networks, and know when out of the information on a blockchain is key.” The top blockchain jobs, according to a games during his teenage years and his obsession led to depres- Those skills are needed more with each to use different mechanisms and platforms. A hacker’s ability to problem solve report last year by BusinessStudent.com, sion and extreme mood swings, affecting every part of his life. passing month; KPMG expects an increase “This will help ensure they can under- Those entering the blockchain develop- are interns, project managers, developers, He told Sky News: “Most of the time I would tell my friends in the number of companies exploring block- stand how blockchain interacts within an ment/engineering field should have the men- engineers, quality engineers, legal consultants I couldn’t go out because I had work to do - but I would just chain this year for everything from identifying existing technology ecosystem, and how tality of a hacker - or the ability to problem or attorneys and web designers. stay at home and play video games until three in the morning. new business models to piloting projects and that ecosystem will impact the design of solve collaboratively in a workshop setting While most techies who add blockchain “Then I would do my coursework, hand it in at 9am and ultimately, progressing to scalable solutions. the blockchain solution,” KPMG said. “And when a client presents a business problem. to their skillset are versed in programming then go back to bed”. KPMG said, not surprisingly, that it’s for those who are planning to work on the They need to be able to think through the languages such as Java or Python, it’s by Since kicking his addiction nine months ago, Mr. Good has seeking graduates with a solid grasp of block- development side of blockchain, some business objectives, implications and value no means a prerequisite for learning the developed new interests and joined a community called Game chain at a high level – those who understand knowledge of coding (JavaScript, HTML, “for each of the participants and then [de- technology. Quitters, where he helps other addicts and advises worried distributed ledgers, peer-to-peer topologies solidity, etc.) is helpful....” fine] the architecture and overall solution Like any emerging technology, having the parents. and consensus mechanisms; all are key for That means the company looks for block- flow,” KPMG said. “It is this collaborative right talent is paramount to driving results, It has been unclear how much gaming disorder is caused a technologist hoping to land a high-paying chain developers with business acumen, such approach that leads to a successful application KPMG’s report said. by the gaming activity itself, or whether it could be an effect blockchain developer job. as a knowledge of supply chain or procure- of blockchain.” “Blockchain projects will not succeed of other disorders. But even more critical is an understanding ment systems or finance processes – skills Given the lack of coursework around or scale without a multifaceted team that In 2008 researchers at the University of Rochester investi- of the business landscape and how to apply that are already taught in undergraduate blockchain and its relatively new existence goes beyond technologists,” KPMG wrote. gated what motivates gamers to continue playing video games, the still-emerging technology to a specific programs. in the enterprise, a team must be open to “We expect more universities to integrate with lead investigator Richard Ryan claiming individuals play problem. KPMG also looks for a job candidate’s exploring and experimenting by “hacking blockchain into future coursework, which for more reasons than fun alone. The nexus of tech and business technical literacy, or the ability to understand the problem” from a business and IT per- will help prepare both end users as well as He said that many video games satisfy basic psychological acumen data generated on a blockchain platform spective, according to KPMG. those who will be responsible for building, needs, and players continue playing because of rewards, freedom “The key thing we do at KPMG is balance and how to use it in a business context. “I’d say at KPMG we’ve been very success- deploying and managing blockchain.” and connection to other players. an understanding of how this technology One of the key attributes of blockchain ful at taking [employee] skills in-house and (Source: computerworld.com) (Source: news.sky.com) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 12 SOCIETY MAY 19, 2019

Iran supports breadwinner Dam constriction on Anzali women granting solar power plants SOCIETY TEHRAN — Iran plans to facilitate income wetland; threats and advantages deskgeneration for breadwinner women provid- TEHRAN — With the Anzali wetland. ing them with small-scale solar power plants, Vice President ENVIRONMENT deskconstruction project Referring to the dam as a source of fresh for Women’s and Family Affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, said. of Lasak dam on Anzali wetland getting water supply, he said that unfortunately, Ebtekar made the remarks during a meeting with the underway many are now voicing concerns due to excessive use of fertilizers and Dutch ambassador to Iran, Jacques Werner, on Wednesday, or counting advantages of building the chemical pesticides, groundwater resources Mehr news agency reported. dam on the precious ecosystem. of the provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran The two officials discussed issues in the field of entre- Following the construction of a are polluted and the dam’s water must not preneur women, supporting women-headed families, and dam in Gilan province, Anzali wetland be used for drinking purposes. facilitating income generation for those who support their may bear dire consequences, Masoud This is while, Vahid Khorrami, Gilan’s family solely. Baqerzadeh Karimi, the director general regional water company director, said “We are planning on launching campaigns to support of aquatic ecosystems at the Department that the dam has a positive effect on the entrepreneur women as well as supporting projects for of Environment (DOE) has said. reduction of Anzali wetland’s sediments. breadwinner women employment,” she highlighted. Covering more than 19,000 hectares, One of the objectives of constructing the Ebtekar went on to say that “we decided to provide a the wetland is located near the northern Lasak dam is reducing the sediments, which number of small scale solar power plants across the country port city of Bandar Anzali, neighboring the are continuously entering the wetland even to be used by female headed households, as an alternative Caspian Sea. The wetland was designated when there is no dam near it, he said, for earning monthly income through selling the generated as a Ramsar site on June 23, 1975. It is adding, so the dam will help the wetland power to the country’s grid.” fed by several rivers and separated from to get rid of the sediment loads. Werner further lauded the country’s plan for supporting the Caspian Sea by a dune system. The Over 2.3 billion cubic meters of water the breadwinner women, and expressed readiness to ex- lagoon is home to submerged and floating enter Anzali wetland, and the Lasak dam change information and experiences in the field of energy vegetation and also extensive reed beds. It retain only 45 million cubic meters of water, generation and water resources management. bears international importance in terms of of which, 33 million cubic meters will be According to statistics released in 2017, there are around breeding, staging and wintering water birds. released as the water right of the wetland, 2.5 million breadwinner women in the country, including Lasak dam prevents the entry of spring he explained. 180,000 families, making up 500,000 people. floods into the wetland, which results in He went on to conclude that the flood About 71 percent of breadwinner women have taken the accumulation of sediment, and finally will be restricted by the dam, therefore, responsibility of their families due to loss of their husbands. water level reduction, he lamented. it will help reduce the accumulation of Some 11 percent of breadwinning women are divorced, 10 The wetland is already suffering huge sediments in the wetland. percent are disabled or handicapped or have drug-addicted sediment loads accumulated on its bed In early January Mehdi Abtahi director husbands, and about 5 percent of them are unmarried girls which causes the wetland to loose part of Lasak dam prevents the entry of spring of Isfahan Science and Technology Town who are taking caring of their parents or their whole families. its retaining capacity, he stated, adding, floods into the wetland, which results in said that amid all the contaminations Solar-powered photovoltaic panels convert the sun’s rays so, the wetland is not able to retain water increasing in the wetland for a long into electricity by exciting electrons in silicon cells using accumulation of sediment, and finally and the water constantly enters the sea. period of time, minerals play a major role the photons of light from the sun, which is the cleanest, In such condition, dam construction water level reduction in causing severe threats to the regions most reliable form of renewable energy, and can be used in only compounds the situation, when the biodiversity, thus the wetland undergone several forms to help generate electricity along with income. Dam construction is in contrast with Elsewhere in his remarks, he stated wetland already must be revived reducing wetland conservation, restoration means that economic activities, such as tourism, numerous environmental problems. sediment loads and expanding its capacity, increasing the wetland’s reservoir volume, fishing and sailing, also depend on the A scheme on restoration of the he further said. on the other hand, dam prevents the water depth of the wetland, adding, some species endangered Anzali wetland by Charity foundation to launch He went on to explain that obviously, the to enter the wetland, so, if the wetland of migratory birds wintering in the Anzali removing contaminants using domestic dam acts like a barrier preventing spring capacity expand, there will be no water wetland choose its deepest areas as habitats bioremediation nano-technology will 200 health care centers in floods into the wetland, which can move to fill it, he also explained. for food supplies, therefore, it will greatly be implemented, which is earmarked a the sediments and contaminants to enter At least an important point must be affect the area’s biodiversity. total budget of 9 trillion rials (nearly $215 deprived areas the sea; although pushing the pollution considered in damming, which is granting Deputy environment chief Masoud million), he added. to the sea is not a good idea, it prevents the wetland’s water right, he highlighted, Tajrishi also said that Lasak dam will surely The scheme was proposed by researchers SOCIETY TEHRAN — Barekat Charity Foundation the accumulation and concentration of adding so, environmental assessment prior bring environmental consequences, but at Isfahan Science and Technology Town deskwill launch 200 health care centers in un- contaminants in the wetland. to construction is a must. it has a 4 percent effect on the inflow of and approved by the DOE. derprivileged areas across the country, an official with the foundation has said. The medical units will offer comprehensive health care, med- ical, rehabilitation and treatment services as well as emergency Iranian DOE succeeded in monitoring dioxin, furan emissions services, YJC quoted Ali Vaezinejad as saying on Saturday. The health care centers will be launched in 16 provinc- SOCIETY TEHRAN — Dioxin and furan, highly common air quality index in mega cities and industrial areas,” es across the country, costing 683 billion rials (nearly $16 desktoxic persistent organic pollutants, have she concluded. million), he added. been sampled for the first time in an attempt by experts, Effects of dioxins on human health He went on to say that some 147 of 200 centers have so far head of environmental pollutants monitoring office at the According to WHO, short-term exposure of humans to high been operational, and the rest will be soon be up and running. Department of Environment (DOE) said. levels of dioxins may result in skin lesions, such as chloracne In order to ensure medical services in deprived areas, a Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and and patchy darkening of the skin, and altered liver function. memorandum of understanding was inked with the Ministry dibenzofurans (PCDFs) are highly toxic persistent organic Long-term exposure is linked to impairment of the immune of Health to construct some 10 hospitals, he stated. pollutants (POPs), which can cause various health outcomes, system, the developing nervous system, the endocrine system To do that, a total budget of 1.1 billion rials (nearly $28 such as cancer. They are found throughout the world in the and reproductive functions. Chronic exposure of animals to million) has been allocated, he said, adding that so far, environment and accumulate in the food chain, mainly in dioxins has resulted in several types of cancer. 8 hospitals have been fully constructed and 2 others are the fatty tissue of animals. Due to the omnipresence of dioxins, all people have being completed. Sampling of dioxins and furans is an automatic system background exposure and a certain level of dioxins in the Barekat Charity Foundation, affiliated to Headquarters for continuous monitoring of emissions from industrial body, leading to the so-called body burden. Current normal for Executing the Order of the Imam also known as Setad-e processes which require official approval in compliance background exposure is not expected to affect human health Ejraiy-e Farman-e Hazrat-e Emam, has been established with environmental regulations. on average. However, due to the high toxic potential of this on December 11, 2007, in order to act as an organization to “Sampling was carried out in a waste disposal site emissions] should be purchased, but waste segregation at class of compounds, efforts need to be undertaken to reduce uproot deprivation, to realize economic and social empow- in Markazi province during three days with DOE source plays a more vital role in this regard. current background exposure. erment and to carry out public affairs. representatives in attendance,” Mehr quoted Shina Ansari Burning wet and dry waste can increase the concentration How to control dioxin exposure? as saying on Saturday. of air pollutants, therefore, even if incinerators are advanced, Proper incineration of contaminated material is the best “The process of measuring and sampling dioxin measuring dioxins and furans at the smoke released from available method of preventing and controlling exposure to WORDS IN THE NEWS and furans emissions is complex and requires specific the incinerators is undeniable, she highlighted. dioxins. The incineration process requires high temperatures, equipment,” she added. She went on to state that measuring these pollutants using over 850°C. For the destruction of large amounts of Bomb attacks in Moscow Considering waste incinerators operations in the northern domestic lab and experts is a turning point in monitoring contaminated material, even higher temperatures - 1000°C part of the country, measurements of dioxins and furans, specific emissions. or more - are required. (September 16, 1999) emitted from the incinerators, are of particular importance, “Monitoring specific air pollutants such as heavy metal, Prevention or reduction of human exposure is best done The most recent bomb blast in Moscow targeted an apartment block she said, adding that it has always been emphasized that high- volatile organic compounds, including dioxins and furans, is via source-directed measures, i.e. strict control of industrial where the death toll rose to 118. BBC Russian Affairs Specialists tech waste incinerators [to avoid release of such hazardous one of the measures needed to be taken alongside monitoring processes to reduce formation of dioxins as much as possible. Paul Anderson and Malcolm Haslett reported. More than a thousand rescue workers have been searching the blast site for sign of survivors but hopes of reaching anyone alive have all but disappeared. As they worked, a huge police operation ENGLISH IN USE swung into action to find three men named as key suspects. Security at nuclear power plants, airports and other potential LEARN NEWS TRANSLATION targets throughout Russia has been stepped up. Troops and police have been drafted into the capital and have been searching buildings for explosives. They reported finding and defusing 97% of Iran affected by long-term 97 درصد مساحت ایران تحت تاثیر .one bomb. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack Most people in Moscow live in just such a block as the two drought: expert destroyed in the past week, in Guryanova Street and now on the خشکسالی است busy Kashirskoye Boulevard on the city’s south side. In both cases Based on the dada collected over the past decade approximately 97 percent صــادق ضیائیــان رئیــس مرکــز ملــی خشکســالی و مدیریــت بحــران ســازمان the multi-storeyed buildings collapsed in a heap of rubble. of the country is affected by long-term drought, director of the national The people asleep inside had little chance of escape, whether drought warning and monitoring center, Sadeq Ziaeian, has said. هواشناســی اعــام کــرد: بررســی دادههــای ۱۰ ســاله خشکســالی بیانگــر آن they were on the top storeys or lower down. Many of Moscow’s Some 12.7 percent of the country is hit by extremely severe drought, 53.6 apartment blocks were built rapidly from pre-fabricated panels اســت کــه ۹۷ درصــد مســاحت ایــران تحــت تأثیــر خشکســالی بلندمــدت اســت. in the post-war years, to house the dramatic expansion of the percent of the country is affected by severe drought while 24.8 percent of ضیائیــان در گفتوگــو بــا ایســنا گفــت: از ایــن مقــدار ۵۳.۶ درصــد مســاحت کشــور بــا population which now stands at over ten million. These blocks the country is facing moderate drought and 5.9 percent of the country is have always been vulnerable to fire and gas explosions, like withstanding mild drought, ISNA news agency quoted Ziaeian as saying خشکســالی شــدید، ۱۲.۷ درصــد بــا خشکســالی بســیار شــدید، ۲۴.۸ درصد مســاحت .the one last year which killed six people بــا خشکســالی متوســط و ۵.۹ درصــد مســاحت با خشکســالی خفیــف مواجه هســتند. .Words on Wednesday وی ادامــه داد: ۲ درصــد جمعیــت ایــران بــا خشکســالی بســیار شــدید بلندمــدت all but: very nearly or almost He went on to say that extremely severe long-term drought has had negative huge: very large effects on 14.2 percent of the country’s total population, severe long-term اســت همچنیــن ۴۷ درصــد جمعیــت کشــور بــا خشکســالی شــدید، ۳۰.۷ درصد swung into action: began drought has hit 47 percent of the country’s population, 30.7 percent of جمعیــت بــا خشکســالی متوســط و ۵.۱ درصــد جمعیــت بــا خشکســالی خفیــف potential targets: possible targets - places that may be aimed at stepped up: increased the country’s population is affected by moderate long-term drought and دســت و پنجــه نــرم م ی کننــد. .defusing: taking a fuse out of a bomb so that it cannot explode. 5.1 percent of the population is stricken with mild drought A fuse delays the explosion of a bomb just such a block: a block of flats similar to the one which has been destroyed PREFIX/SUFFIX PHRASAL VERB IDIOM multi-storeyed buildings: buildings constructed on a number of levels or storeys (floors) “fore-” Hack somebody off Bring something/nothing a heap of rubble: a pile of broken glass, metal and cement post-war years: in this case, the years following the Second Meaning: before, front Meaning: to annoy someone to the table World War For example: Can dreams foretell the future? For example: His attitude really hacks me off! stands at: at present the population is over ten million but this Explanation: if you participate in negotiations and number may change bring nothing to the table, you have nothing of interest vulnerable: if a building is vulnerable, then it is not well protected to offer the other side against explosions - from fire, gas or bombs For example: “We’ll never reach an agreement if we (Source: BBC) don’t all bring something to the table.” I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y MAY 19, 2019 WORLD IN FOCUS 13 Syria says its air defenses intercept U.S. faking insecurity in Iraq: New strategy to push several Israeli projectiles Baghdad into compliance 1 The Israeli regime launches air- firmed that terrorists based in the provinc- strikes on the Syrian territory from time es of Idlib and Latakia had fired rockets at 1 In this statement, Washington has claimed that to time. Such aggressive moves are usual- Sharasher and Hweiz villages in Lattakia its citizens might be at risk of terrorism, abduction and ly viewed as attempts to prop up terrorist countryside, killing one civilian and injuring armed clashes in Iraq. groups suffering defeats at the hands of two others. The statement has also warned that American citizens Syrian government forces. The terrorist attack, it added, also caused or companies in Iraq might be at risk of attacks with home- On April 13, the Syrian army said that its material damage to Syrian houses. made explosives and bombs Even in Bagdad. air defenses intercepted some of the Israeli In recent weeks, there has been a surge U.S. has also evicted some of its embassy staff, claiming missiles fired at a Syrian military base in attacks from Idlib which is the last major that they might be at “high risk”. near the city of Hama, while the remain- terrorist stronghold. It seems that U.S. officials are trying to present Iraq as ing missiles hitting the target destroyed a Russia has been piling pressure on Turkey an unstable country where people are exposed to many number of buildings and wounded three to start an operation against terrorist-held risks and threats. U.S. knows perfectly that by enforcing Syrian troopers. areas after Ankara’s failure to get militants such a picture, it might be able to push Iraq into accept- Syrian air defenses foil linked to al-Qaeda out of a buffer zone agreed ing its demands. One of the most important ones of these drones, rockets fired at key base between the two countries. demands is for Iraq to imply with U.S. sanctions on Iran. Meanwhile, Syria says its air defenses In September, a deal was struck with the Iraq, however, has so far given a firm response by re- in the Hmeimim air base have thwarted assistance of Russia and Turkey to make Idlib jecting this demand, something that has greatly angered projectiles and drones fired by terror- a de-escalation zone. The area is now largely the White House. ist groups. controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham which Terrorist groups fired projectiles was formerly known as Jubhat al-Nusra. at Hmeimim, situated in Latakia’s Russia has said it will refuse to consider Jableh district, as well as the nearby TV reported on Saturday. person dead and several others wounded. terrorists “untouchable” and continue to Iraq will remain part of ‘axis Qardaha neighborhood, the Syrian It also noted that the attack had left one Syria’s official SANA news agency con- target them. of resistance’ despite foreign plots: al-Kaabi Maduro says Norway talks sought Massacres won’t weaken Yemeni 1 Washington has commonly described the popular Iraqi forces as being “Iran-backed proxies”, despite being ‘peaceful agenda’ with opposition nation: Houthi leader formally funded and incorporated into Iraq’s security forces. Groups such as the Harakat al-Nujaba are part of the Iraqi TEHRAN —Talks in Norway this week tests against Maduro’s government. TEHRAN — The leader of Yemen’s An- of the airstrike. Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a combination of some with representatives of Venezuela’s gov- An economic downturn has driven sarullah movement has condemned the Houthi said that killings served as yet 40 groups formed shortly after the emergence of the Daesh ernment and the opposition sought to more than 3 million Venezuelans to recent Saudi-led airstrikes on residential another instance of Saudi crimes against terrorist group in Iraq in 2014. “build a peaceful agenda” for the cri- emigrate, fleeing hyperinflation and areas in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, say- the country, revealing the “true essence” Since the early days of the Daesh’s reign of terror, the sis-stricken South American country, shortages of food and medicine. ing the attacks won’t weaken the nation’s of the enemy. PMU-aligned forces have played a major role in reinforcing President Nicolas Maduro said. The ruling socialist party, which has determination. “The coalition proved its animosity to- the Iraqi army, which had suffered heavy setbacks in the Norway’s foreign ministry, which has long said it is open to dialogue, has “The enemy’s persistent crimes will wards the Muslim people of Yemen since face of initial lightning advances of the terrorists. a tradition of conflict mediation, said endorsed the talks. But many sectors never weaken the will of the Yemeni na- the first days [of its campaign] and showed Daesh has currently been effectively vanquished in Iraq earlier on Friday that the talks were in of the opposition remain skeptical, tion; they are in fact steadfast in the re- that the victims of the coalition’s crimes and Syria, with only few remaining cells operating in isolated an “exploratory phase.” arguing that Maduro has in the past sistance against the enemy’s aggression,” are children, women and civilians which desert areas. The representatives of each side ar- used dialogue as a stalling tactic to said Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi on are bombed while asleep,” he said. rived in the Nordic country this week, maintain his grip on power as living Saturday. According to Press TV, The Ansarullah signaling a fresh approach to ending standards steadily declined in the oil- At least seven civilians, including chil- leader further noted that “the crimes of months of tensions that escalated af- rich nation. dren, were killed in the Saudi air raids on the coalition have developed into a well- ‘Iraqi parl. to vote on bill ter a failed uprising last month led by “Norway announces that it has had Thursday. Four of those died were from one known issue in the world.” opposition leader Juan Guaido, who preliminary contacts with represent- family. Dozens more were also wounded “Today, the transgressing coalition – banning U.S. military called on the military to oust Maduro, atives of the main political actors of in the attacks. with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab presence’ Reuters reported. Venezuela, as part of an exploratory The United Nations Office for the Co- Emirates (UAE) at its forefront, along with So far this year, dozens of people phase,” the ministry said in a state- ordination of Humanitarian Affairs later all its backers – hosts the worst record in TEHRAN — The Iraqi parliament is set to vote on a draft have been killed in opposition pro- ment. said that five children had died as a result genocide in the world,” he said. bill that would ban the United States-led military presence in Iraq, a report says. Israeli disinformation campaign targeted Nigerian election A U.S. think tank that analyzes misinformation online said users, and the pages had engaged over 5,000 followers, Friday that an Israel-based influence campaign busted by according to Facebook’s estimates. Facebook had stumped for the winning candidate in the One of the pages that Facebook cancelled appeared filled February 2019 Nigerian presidential elections. with viral misinformation attacking Abubakar, the former A new report from the Atlantic Council’s Digital Foren- vice president of Nigeria. The page’s banner image showed sic Research Lab highlights sample posts removed from Abubakar as Darth Vader, the Star Wars villain, holding up Facebook that appeared to praise incumbent President a sign reading, “Make Nigeria Worse Again.” Muhammadu Buhari and smear his leading opponent, Another page with almost identical visuals, although Atiku Abubakar. significantly excluding the Darth Vader mask, purported to Many of the pages and accounts were discovered to be support Abubakar, with the slogan “Team Atiku For Pres- linked to a Tel Aviv-based political consulting and lobbying ident.” The report identified the page as a covert attempt firm named Archimedes. On its sparse website of African to infiltrate Abubakar’s audience of potential voters and stock images, the company advertises its deliberate efforts manipulate their views, gradually spamming them with The draft bill, which stipulates the expulsion of all foreign to conduct disinformation campaigns, boasting that it takes antithetical content and diverting them to the “Make Ni- forces from Iraq but which focuses specifically on dislodg- “every advantage available in order to change reality ac- geria Worse” page. ing American forces, is scheduled for a vote on Saturday, cording to our client’s wishes” through “unlimited online The report also featured a page that explicitly lionized Iraq’s al-Ma’lomah news website reported. accounts operation.” and boosted Buhari, with amateur videos eulogizing the opponent. One page with artificially amplified audi- According to Press TV, the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Facebook banned Archimedes from the platform accomplishments of his presidency as though he were not ence engagement, called “Rivers Violence Watch,” claiming that then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein pos- Thursday for its “coordinated and deceptive behavior” locked in a tight battle for re-election. pumped out political propaganda while posing as a sessed weapons of mass destruction and sought to use and conducted a sweeping takedown of dozens of accounts Yet another series of pages targeted the local Riv- neutral monitor of election violence, using the page them against the U.S. Combat forces pulled out of the and hundreds of pages primarily aimed at disrupting ers state elections in Nigeria’s turbulent south, which description to mask its efforts. country in 2011, nominally ending the war. However, elections in African countries, with some scattered was marred by widespread violence. Several of the Most of the pages claimed to be run by local Nigerian thousands of American and other troops remain in the activity in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Overall, removed pages attempted to defame a candidate from users, but in fact were managed from Israel. country to allegedly provide logistics and training to the misleading accounts had reached some 2.8 million Abubakar’s People’s Democratic Party and boost his (Source: AP) Iraqi forces. Many politicians across Iraq’s political landscape have questioned the foreign military presence in the country over the years. Calls for a withdrawal of foreign forces have Austrian far-right leader quits over N. Korea asks UN chief to address grown following the defeat of the Daesh terrorist group in Iraq in 2018. video sting as coalition teeters ship seizure by ‘gangster’ U.S. Speaking about the draft bill due for a vote, Karim Alivi, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s national se- TEHRAN— Austria’s vice chancel- it was a mistake,” Strache told a news con- TEHRAN— North Korea has asked United down in Hanoi in February. curity and defense committee, said on Thursday that lor and longtime far-right leader, ference, fighting back tears as he asked his Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gu- The letter also called for “urgent meas- the country’s two biggest parliamentary factions — Heinz-Christian Strache, said on Sat- wife and others to forgive him. He main- terres to deal with the “illegal” seizure of ures” by Guterres and claimed that Wash- the Sairoon bloc, led by Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, urday he was stepping down over “cat- tained, however, that he had done nothing one of its cargo ships by the United States, ington infringed the North’s sovereignty and the Fatah alliance, headed by secretary general astrophic” video footage of him that illegal and that it was a “targeted political state media said on Saturday. and violated UN charters. of the Badr Organization, Hadi al-Ameri — supported threatened to bring down the right-wing assassination”. “This act of dispossession has clearly With the denuclearization talks stalled, the document. coalition government. “In the cold light of day, my remarks indicated that the United States is indeed North Korea went ahead with more weapons The Iraqi lawmaker predicted that the draft text would Freedom Party (FPO) leader Strache were catastrophic and exceedingly embar- a gangster country that does not care at tests this month. The tests were seen as a gain the required majority needed for it to become law, was shown in the footage of as-yet unknown rassing,” he said about the video, in which all about international laws,” the North protest by Kim after Trump rejected his calls given the two parliamentary blocs’ support. origin meeting a woman posing as the niece he also referred to party financing rules Korean ambassador to the United Nations for sanctions relief at the Hanoi summit. More recently, as speculation grew about potential U.S. of a Russian oligarch in 2017, shortly before and how to work around them, but also said in a letter sent to Guterres dated Fri- North Korea has said the ship seizure vio- military aggression against Iran, Iraqi figures, including Prime the election that brought him to power, insisted on having to act legally. day, according to North Korea’s KCNA lated the spirit of the summit and demanded Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, emphasized that U.S. forces Reuters reported. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz news agency. the return of the vessel without delay. would not be allowed to use Iraqi territory to launch any In the footage published by German is expected to make a statement later on According to Reuters, Pyongyang’s pro- The U.S. Justice Department said the attacks on Iran if a war did break out. media on Friday evening, a week before Saturday as speculation swirled about test to the United Nations over the seizure North Korean cargo ship, known as the European Parliament elections, he ap- whether the damage would be limited comes amid mounting tensions since a “Wise Honest”, was seized and impounded pears to offer to funnel contracts toward to Strache or if Kurz would call a snap second summit between North Korean to American Samoa. The vessel was accused a company in exchange for political and election only a year and a half after the leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President of illicit coal shipments in violation of sanc- Boris Johnson clear favorite financial support. coalition between his conservatives and Donald Trump, aimed at bringing about tions and was first detained by Indonesia “It was dumb, it was irresponsible and the FPO was formed. the denuclearization of the North, broke in April 2018. among UK Conservative members to succeed PM May

Boris Johnson, a prominent leader of the Brexit campaign Protesters take to streets of paris on 27th week of yellow vests rallies and former foreign minister, is the top choice among members TEHRAN — France’s Yellow Vest protesters were taking Place de la République, a massive protest demonstration that they are “always present, but always in the background,” of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party to replace Theresa May as to the streets for the 27th weekend in a row. against producer of genetically modified food Monsanto is that they are “equivalent to determination,” and “always prime minister, according to a poll. Enthusiasm for the Yellow Vest movement seems to planned, coinciding with a gathering by the Yellow Vests’ mobilised in spite of increasing repression” against them. Johnson is the first choice among 39 percent of party mem- be cooling after a historic low, last week, of some 18,600 “National Council of Resistance” that is organising a poll The Paris police announced that all Yellow Vest gather- bers, followed by former Brexit minister Dominic Raab in second people participating (figure by the Ministry of the Interior). where participants can participate in “the first vote/opinion ings will be forbidden on the Champs Elysées with a circle place on 13 percent, according to the survey by YouGov for The Tens of thousands have marched in the streets of France poll” on the movement. that also covers the Presidential palace and the buildings Times newspaper. every Saturday since November 2018, for a variety of griev- The event of the day will be a march starting at 13:00 of the General Assembly, as well as a sector surrounding May has said she will agree a timetable for the election of her ances ranging from taxes on fuel to income inequality. at La Défence that will eventually end at the Sacré Coeur. the Notre Dame de Paris during the whole day. successor after she puts her Brexit deal to a parliamentary vote In addition to protesting in France, the Yellow Vests This specific march was organised by Inda Inda, Ne- Meanwhile, demonstrators are not allowed to use objects in the week of June 3. have been spotted in other parts of Europe. jeh Ben Farhat and Jean Christian Valentin. In a message meant to “completely or partly” cover their face in “order to Conservative Party members are due to have the final say In Pantin, in the northeast of Paris, Yellow Vest organisers on Demosphere, an online agenda for all protest gatherings, be unrecognisable” and impromptu police inspections of on who the next leader will be after the wide field of anticipated called on teachers and parents to join the march and at the organisers specifically call upon women to participate, saying bags at sites where demonstrations are allowed are possible. candidates is whittled down to just two names. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 14 WORLD SPORTS MAY 19, 2019 Dirk Nowitzki becomes China 2019 global Marquez claims Le Mans pole

World champion Marc Marquez took pole for Sunday’s French ambassador, joining Yao and Kobe MotoGP with Ducati duo Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller joining the Honda rider on the Le Mans front row. Former German national team and NBA said: “It is a great privilege and honor for FIBA Saturday’s qualifying was staged in changeable conditions superstar Dirk Nowitzki on Thursday was to have an icon like Dirk Nowitzki join Yao which made tyre choice a complex affair, as underlined by Marquez revealed as a global ambassador for the FIBA Ming and Kobe Bryant as a global ambassador posting the fastest lap only to then fall off his bike. Basketball World Cup 2019. for the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China. The Spaniard quickly climbed back on board to continue Nowitzki becomes the third global sport- “Dirk has consistently held a leading role unscathed. ing icon to be named an ambassador of the at top FIBA national team competitions, French fans eager to see home hope Fabio Quartararo repli- first-ever 32-team World Cup, joining Yao representing Germany with pride and com- cate his fine performance in qualifying in Jerez a fortnight ago, Ming and Kobe Bryant. mitment. He has performed for his team as when the 20-year-old became the youngest rider to take pole in Nowitzki has had an illustrious playing the superstar that he is, always leaving fans a MotoGP, were left disappointed. career for Germany and consistently was and spectators in awe and wanting to see The Yamaha-SRT rookie will set off from 10th on the grid. a star performer at FIBA competitions for more. He is among the very best players in (Source: AFP) the better part of two decades (1999-2015). the history of international basketball and In 2002, he led his country to its best-ever we’re thrilled to have him be a part of the result at the World Cup, a third-place finish - historic event that is China 2019.” the nation’s only medal/podium at the world Nowitzki’s appointment as a global ambas- level (World Cup and Olympic Games). He sador is one of the many tangible results of the Ibrahimovic gets 2-match ban was named the tournament’s MVP and was fruitful cooperation between FIBA and FIBA its top scorer, averaging 24 points a game. Basketball World Cup 2019 Global Partner for Johnson scrap Three years later, Nowitzki spearheaded Nike, the brand endorsed by the former player Germany’s run to the Final of FIBA EuroBasket throughout his illustrious career. 2005 before they eventually had to settle for Announcing Nowitzki as the third global second place behind Greece. ambassador is the latest in an impressive list The following year, the 7ft (2.13m) forward in the 2015 edition of Europe’s biggest basket- Kobe Bryant, some of my contemporaries and of exciting milestones that have taken place registered his best-ever individual scoring ball competition, playing on home soil in the biggest rivals, in taking up this prestigious role. on the Road to China 2019. performance for the national team in an official German capital of Berlin. Earlier this month, “I have so many great memories of playing Previous ones have included: unveiling game as he poured in 47 points in a 108-103 Nowitzki brought the curtain down on his in basketball’s top competitions. Wearing the Yao Ming as the first ambassador; revealing overtime win over Angola during the Group illustrious 21-year NBA playing career - the national team jersey and representing my the competition’s logo and mascot; the World Phase of the 2006 World Cup in Japan. entirety of which he spent with the Mavericks. country in FIBA competitions has always been Cup Qualifiers played over the course of 16 In 2008, he led Germany to the Final of He is one of the greatest players to have a source of immense pride for me. I have been months (November 2017-February 2019) the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, ever played in FIBA competitions and was a fortunate to perform on the world’s biggest to determine the 31 participating teams thereby securing the country’s place in the trail blazer in showing that big players could stages - at World Cups, Olympic Games and joining hosts China; marking 1 year to the Olympic Basketball Tournament at the Bei- do more than play in the low post by being EuroBaskets. Helping Germany finish third start of China 2019 with the presentation jing Games and ending a 16-year absence from an unstoppable threat out on the perimeter. at the World Cup in Indianapolis in 2002 of Tissot countdown clocks in all eight host the Olympics. He served as the flagbearer for As a global ambassador, Nowitzki will ranks among the best moments in my career. cities; revealing Kobe Bryant as the second Germany’s delegation during the Opening help promote the World Cup by taking part “Over the past two decades, I have person- ambassador; unveiling the competition’s of- Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been suspended two games for violent Ceremony in the Bird’s Nest. In 2011, after in activities on the Road to China 2019 as ally seen the level of play in the international ficial ball and holding a star-studded draw; conduct after grabbing goalkeeper Sean Johnson by the neck leading the Dallas Mavericks to a first-ever NBA well as being present at the first-ever 32- game evolve and grow. A World Cup with 32 launching sales of tickets. during last weekend’s 2-0 loss to New York City FC, MLS’ disci- championship - and earning NBA Finals MVP team edition of FIBA’s flagship competition. teams can bring national team basketball to Before the competition tips off on August plinary committee announced on Friday. honors - he returned to the German national Nowitzki said: “I’m very excited to become a level that has never been reached before 31, more exciting activities will take place, The 37-year-old was also fined an undisclosed amount. team at EuroBasket in Lithuania. He would go an ambassador for the FIBA Basketball World and can be the most competitive event ever.” including the launch of the Trophy Tour. Ibrahimovic will miss Sunday’s home game against the Col- on to make his final appearance for his country Cup 2019. It’s an honor to join Yao Ming and FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis (Source: Fiba. Basketball) orado Rapids, as well as the May 24 match at Orlando City. The Galaxy are attempting to halt a three-game losing streak. Ibrahi- movic is second in MLS with nine goals in 10 games this season Liverpool should re-sign Coutinho - Boxing body faces Olympic inquiry team to go along with two assists. Carlos Vela leads the league with 13 goals in 13 games. Carragher before Tokyo ruling The incident took place in the 86th minute, following a se- quence in which Ibrahimovic hit the crossbar with a shot and the rebound attempt was put over the goal by Chris Pontius. NYCFC keeper Sean Johnson bumped into Ibrahimovic after the play was over, with the Galaxy forward turning around and grabbing Johnson by the neck before both players fell to the ground. Both players were cautioned and after the final whistle continued jawing with one another. The confrontation with Johnson is just the latest incident in which Ibrahimovic has been at the center. He was recently fined an undisclosed amount for diving in the May 8 defeat to the Columbus Crew. The former Manchester United and Milan player also made news the prior weekend for alleged verbal threats and a post-match confrontation with Real Salt Lake defender Nedum Onuoha. (Source: ESPN)

Philippe Coutinho should be on Liverpool’s when they went. GENEVA (AP) — The embattled amateur member federations. It opened the inquiry Griezmann, Godin say transfer radar this summer if they get a “Sometimes we pick and choose who boxing federation faces an Olympic inquiry within weeks of interim president Gafur chance to re-sign him from Barcelona, we love when they leave. Nobody forced on Monday fearing it could be punished Rakhimov of Uzbekistan being formally goodbye as Atletico held according to the club’s former captain any player to go to Real Madrid or Bar- for forcing out a longtime IOC member elected last November, and barred AIBA Jamie Carragher. celona, [Javier] Mascherano is another as its president. officials from contacting Tokyo organizers. Atletico Madrid came back from two goals and a man down to Coutinho left for Camp Nou in 2018’s one. Suarez only got stick when he came For the first time in a six-month probe, Rakhimov is on a U.S. Treasury Depart- draw 2-2 at Levante on Saturday in their final La Liga game of January transfer window for an initial back because of his antics in the first International Boxing Association (AIBA) ment sanctions list for suspected links to the season which was also the last stand for departing long-time £105m (rising to £142m) but has struggled game [against Liverpool], if he hadn’t officials will sit down with the three-member an organized crime group in former So- club servants Diego Godin and Antoine Griezmann. in Spain and has been repeatedly linked done that then he’d be adored when he investigation panel. It will wrap a six-month viet Union republics involved in heroin Atletico dominated the play but were picked off on the counter- with a return to the Premier League. came back. What’s the difference between probe of AIBA’s reformed leadership, fi- trafficking. He denies any wrongdoing. attack by Levante, who took the lead in the sixth minute through Sources told ESPN FC that Barcelona him and Coutinho?” nances, judging and refereeing of bouts, Rakhimov stepped aside from AIBA in Erick Cabaco and doubled it later in the first half when Roger would accept an offer of around £90m Liverpool finished second in the Pre- and report Wednesday to the IOC. March to help persuade the IOC inquiry Marti pounced on a misplaced pass by Thomas Partey. and Carragher claims that the Brazil in- mier League this season behind Man City, The International Olympic Committee’s of boxing’s good faith. Argentine winger Angel Correa was shown a straight red card ternational would be the perfect player with a club-record 97 points and will play executive board is expected to take AIBA This “self-suspension” matched the early in the second half for kicking out at an opponent but mid- for Liverpool. the Champions League final against Tot- out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics boxing actions of two senior IOC members — Ku- fielder Rodri drilled a scorching shot into the top corner from “I wouldn’t say I would be actively tenham on June 1. But, after failing to tournaments. waiti power broker Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad outside the box in the 68th minute. going to get him, but if there was a pos- land Lyon midfielder Nabil Fekir, Car- It is unclear if the inquiry team — led by al-Sabah and former board member Patrick Teenage debutant Sergio Camello completed the comeback in sibility of bringing Coutinho back for ragher believes the club miss a central board member Nenad Lalovic, the Olympic Hickey of Ireland — who were charged or the 79th minute with a strike from close range, ensuring Atletico decent money, and Barca wanted to cut attacking midfielder. wrestling body’s president — will recom- arrested in criminal investigations. ended the campaign second in the standings with 76 points, 10 their losses a little bit because it hasn’t “We lack that player in the squad,” he mend specific next steps. “(Rakhimov) did the exact same thing behind champions Barcelona. worked out, then I’d do that,” Carragher added. “We have it in [Adam] Lallana and “We have grave concerns about my their people did,” Virgets said at AIBA (Source: Soccernet) told the Liverpool Echo. [Xherdan] Shaqiri, but this is a different partner (the IOC) during this whole pro- headquarters in the Olympic home city “Would he be welcomed back? I’m not level of player. cess,” Virgets said, suggesting the IOC is Lausanne, praising his “great leadership” sure. But he should be. I don’t see any reason “It’s the one thing Man City have on still unhappy at AIBA ousting “one of their in correcting the troubled finances. why he shouldn’t be. I know he got a little bit us, they have Bernardo Silva, David Silva, own” as president. “AIBA has been broken and now we of stick when he came back [with Barcelona Kevin De Bruyne. We don’t have that type of During the 11-year AIBA presidency of have fixed it,” the American official said, Konta stuns Bertens to reach for the Champions League semifinal earlier player. We have great midfield players who C.K. Wu, an IOC member since 1988, doubts citing turmoil under Wu ahead of the 2016 this month] because he wanted to move. are all very similar. We could add some- were expressed over financial management Rio de Janeiro Olympics. “It was allowed Italian Open final “But [Xabi] Alonso wanted to move thing a little bit different. But that would and the integrity of OIympic bout results. to go on for many, many years without to Real Madrid, [Luis] Suarez wanted to only really be if it was a good price for us.” The IOC increased scrutiny after Wu this (type of) evaluation. We are 100 times Britain’s Johanna Konta fought back from a set down to seal move to Barcelona, and we still loved them (Source: ESPN) resigned in 2017 under pressure from AIBA better than we were in 2015.” victory on her fourth match point against Kiki Bertens to reach the final at the Italian Open. Konta, ranked 42, came through 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 against sixth seed Bertens, winner of the Madrid Open last week, after almost De Bruyne has no sympathy for Liverpool over narrow title miss three hours on the red clay of Rome. Dutchwoman Bertens had advanced to the semi-finals after Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne understands Liv- Cup final. world number one Naomi Osaka of Japan retired with a hand erpool players being disappointed at falling just short of “We’d feel the same if it happened to us. But we’re still injury before their match Friday. winning the Premier League title but he does not have any competitors. We want to win as much as they do but I can Konta next meets either Czech fourth seed Karolina Pliskova sympathy for them. understand the feelings they have.” or Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari, who beat the British number The 27-year-old Belgian midfielder says simply his side De Bruyne, whose high point in what he admits has “not one on clay in the final of the Moroccan Open earlier this month. were better than Liverpool. been the most fun season” has come off the pitch with his In the men’s semi-finals, world number one Novak Djokovic City, who face Watford in the FA Cup final on Saturday second son being born, is a great believer in football being plays Argentine Diego Schwartzman after surviving two match chasing a historic domestic treble, retained their title by a played through emotions. points in a thrilling three-set tussle late into the night against point from Liverpool. However, he says the introduction of VAR -- it was that Juan Martin del Potro on Friday. De Bruyne says no one would have felt sorry for City which cost City victory over Spurs in the Champions League Defending champion Rafael Nadal has not dropped a set yet when they lost to Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions as Raheem Sterling’s late goal was ruled out for offside -- is with the eight-time winner setting up a rematch with Greek rising League quarter-final. removing that ingredient from the game. star Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the final. “No,” he said this week when asked did he have sympathy “For me football is still a game of emotions,” he said. Tsitsipas stunned Nadal in last week’s Madrid Open semi-fi- for Liverpool. “It’s a remarkable effort but it means that we “I don’t like how people try to take emotions out of the nals before falling to Djokovic, but lost to the Spaniard in the were just better than them in the end. hamstring problem. game, because what it’s about is having fun, enjoying. Australian Open semis earlier this year. “I don’t feel sorry for them because I don’t think they’d De Bruyne, who had a superb 2018 being named City’s “If you win you’re happy, if you lose you are sad. And Tsitsipas advanced after Roger Federer -- returning to clay feel sorry for us. “I don’t think anybody felt sorry about the player of the 2017/18 season and then sparkled for Belgium that’s what it’s all about. after a two-year absence -- retired with a right leg injury before way we went out of the Champions League.” as they finished a best ever third in the World Cup, says “That’s why I also don’t like the new things like VAR their clash in the final warm-up before the French Open gets He played a less influential role than in City’s 2017/18 Liverpool feeling sore is understandable. because it takes, for me, all the passion out and it becomes underway at Roland Garros next weekend. title triumph, starting just 11 league matches with bit parts “I know how they feel because you’re going to feel dis- more –- you need be more like a robot these days.” (Source: AFP) in eight others due to two serious knee injuries and then a appointed,” said De Bruyne, who is fit for selection for the (Source: AFP) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y MAY 19, 2019 SPORTS 15

Yahya Golmohammadi named Iranian female badminton player invited to top Asia Iran U23 football coach: official event IRNA — Iranian female badminton player Sorayya Aghaei has SPORTS TEHRAN — Yahya Golmohammadi has been invited to an international training camp in Asia out of the deskbeen named as Iran U-23 football team top 20 Asian badminton players. head coach, Mehdi Taj, the president of the Football Federation She will be accompanied by Vietnamese, Burmese, Kazakh of Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), announced that. and Jordanian badminton players at the event. Golmohammadi made history this season, sending Padideh They have been chosen for their top performance at the Asian to the 2020 AFC Champions League for the first time. Olympic Project (AOP). Now, Taj says he has reached an agreement with The players will take part in Russian and Bulgarian competitions. Golmohammadi to part ways with Padideh to take charge of Iran U23 football team. Golmohammadi will replace Zlatko Kranjcar who was fired as head coach of Iran U23 football team in early May AFC match officials after one year in charge. The Persians earned a spot in the AFC U23 Championship appointed for Persepolis Thailand 2020 Final in late March under coaching of the and Esteghlal 62-year-old Croat but the Iranian officials are not satisfied with the way Iran qualified for the tournament. The 2020 AFC U23 Championship will be held in Thailand Hettikamkanamge Dilan Perera from Sri Lanka has been from Jan. 8 to 26. chosen to officiate the match between Persepolis of Iran and The competition will be the fourth edition of the AFC U23 Qatar’s Al Sadd. Championship, the biennial international age-restricted Persepolis will host Al Sadd in Group D of the AFC Champions football championship organized by the Asian Football League Matchday Six on Monday in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. Confederation (AFC) for the men’s under-23 national Perera will be assisted by his two countrymen. teams of Asia. The tournament will be held from Jan. 8 to Hettikamkanamge Dilan Perera, 39, is a Sri Lankan pro- 26, 2020 in Thailand. fessional football referee. He has been a full international for The top three teams of the tournament will qualify for FIFA since 2004. Perera has refereed some matches in AFC the 2020 Summer Olympics men’s football tournament in Champions League. Japan as the AFC representatives. Also, South Korean referee Ko Hyung-jin has been chosen Iran, a powerhouse of the Asian football, have not been to take charge of the match between Al Ain of the UAE and in the Olympics since the 1976 games in Munich. Iran’s Esteghlal. The 37-year-old referee has already officiated two matches for Iran’s Zob Ahan. The South Korean referee has been a full international Javad Nekounam in the frame for Iran’s NOC secretary general referee for FIFA from 2009. Ko Hyung-jin will be assisted by his countrymen. Tractor Sazi job: report Shahnazi arrested Al Ain will host Esteghlal on Monday at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain. (Source: the-afc)

Mame Baba Thiam linked with Iran’s Esteghlal

TASNIM — Iranian football club Esteghlal have set its sight on signing Senegalese forward Mame Baba Thiam. The 26-year-old striker joined Ajman in August 2018 after leaving Esteghlal but he is reportedly not satisfied with his con- dition in the Emirati football team. Now, Esteghlal, who finished third in Iran Professional League, have reportedly opened negotiations with Thiam. Thiam scored 12 goals in all competitions in 13 appearances for Esteghlal and became so popular among the Iranian team’s fans, but left the team due to financial terms. SPORTS TEHRAN — Former Zob Ahan coach Alireza Mansourian SPORTS TEHRAN — Shahrokh Iranian athletes are preparing for the Esteghlal are going to sign Thiam once again but he is under deskIran national football is also a candidate to take charge of deskShahnazi, secretary prestigious event. contract with the Emirati football team until 2020. team captain Javad Nekounam is reportedly the team but he will have to lead his general of Iran’s National Olympic On Wednesday, Iranian judicial in the frame to be Tractor Sazi coach. team in the AFC Champions League Committee, has been arrested over authorities arrested him and are handling Nekounam most recently was coach of Round of 16. allegations of financial misconduct. the case according to law. Iranian top-flight football team Nassaji. Tractor Sazi also negotiated with former Shahnazi was pursued by creditors and Shahnazi, who was appointed as NOC Al Nassr win thrilling Saudi Belgian coach Georges Leekens is no Saipa coach Ali Daei but the negotiations the committee should replace him another secretary general in 2013, was chef de Pro League title rac longer Tractor Sazi coach and Tabriz based have stalled over the contract. secretary general as soon as possible. mission of Iran delegation at the 2000 football club are going to work with an Tractor Sazi finished in fifth place in The 2020 Summer Olympic Summer Olympic Games in Sydney and Iranian coach. Iran Professional League. Games are barely a year away, and the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. Rui Vitória’s Al Nassr were crowned 2018-19 Saudi Pro League champions after their 2-1 over Al-Batin on Thursday ensured they finished a point above Al Hilal to claim their eighth league title. Paralympic medalist Jawad turns down treatment in bid for The race for the Saudi Pro League title went down to the wire, with Al Hilal chasing their third title in a row and needing a win against Al-Shabab, provided Al Nassr slipped up against Tokyo 2020 qualification Al Batin - to seal the title. British powerlifter Ali Jawad has turned down treatment take them for granted. Al Hilal did their part to stay in contention when they dug for Crohn’s disease to boost his chances of qualifying for “I knew it was going to be like this and with the option deep to defeat Al Shabab 3-2 at home, but Al Nassr had other next year’s Paralympic Games in Tokyo. I took, I knew it would be one hell of a fight and I don’t ideas as Abderrazak Hamdallah’s brace was enough to see The 30-year-old, silver medalist in the under 59 kilo- regret it.” off Marius-Ciprian Panait’s side 2-1 to dramatically win the grams category at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Jawad would need to be ranked inside the top eight to title by a point. told BBC Radio Five Live having the treatment could have secure a place at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Australian goalkeeper Brad Jones played an integral part in Al forced him to retire. The double Commonwealth Games bronze medalist, a Nassr’s march to the title, keeping an impressive 11 clean sheets. The double amputee athlete said his medication was not member of the Global Athlete group which has been among Jones started in goal for all but five league matches this season, working and he was given a choice between a stem cell trial those to call for increased representation for athletes, said including the 2-1 win over Al-Batin that sealed the title. which involved “aggressive chemotherapy” or a stomach bag. he was confident of qualification. It’s the fifth trophy of the 37-year-old journeyman, adding to “Both options looked like I might have to retire, so I “There is still fight in me but we’ll see how the next 10 his English League Cup won with Liverpool and the Eredivisie decided to reject both and try to fight it all the way,” the to 12 weeks go,” he said. title, Dutch Cup and Super Cup won during his time at Feyenoord. 2014 world champion said. “I want to retire on my terms and not on Crohn’s terms In 2019 AFC Champions League action, Al Nassr will face “Sometimes it’s mind over matter – when you’re so used – for me it is the burning desire to retire with happiness Group A winners Zob Ahan on Matchday Six with both teams to that amount of pain on a daily basis it becomes the norm and not regret.” having already confirmed their place in the knockout stage of and, with some of the days that are less painful, you don’t (Source: insidethegames) the competition. (Source: the-afc) I expected more from myself, Brighton winger Jahanbakhsh says Alireza Jahanbakhsh says he hasn’t shown It (the season) wasn’t what I’d planned for Brighton finished 17th in the Premier Samoan Prime Minister his best form for Brighton & Hove Albion and what I was expecting from myself but League and also reached the FA Cup semi- yet and admitted he expected more from it’s gone. finals in Jahanbakhsh’s first season with targets place in archery himself in his first season in England. “I’ll have a good pre-season hopefully and the club. competition at Pacific Games The Iranian winger joined the Seagulls will have a good season (next year) which He said: “For the team it wasn’t that bad for a club record fee, reported to be £17m, I expect from myself and what everyone a season. The last seven, eight, ten games last summer but failed to register a goal or expects from me.” it’s been a little bit difficult with being down Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi is target- assist in a campaign which he said had ‘a Jahanbakhsh admitted his season left him there and stressing about relegation. ing a place in the country’s archery team for the upcoming lot of ups and downs’. unsatisfied and he said: “It was tough getting “We made it difficult for ourselves because Pacific Games. A hamstring injury and the Asian Cup used to a new environment and moving to there was a stage of the season where we were The Prime Minister previously competed at the Games in saw Jahanbakhsh miss three months of the somewhere with a totally different culture 11th, 12th position in the table. We’d been 2007, when the Games last took place in Samoa. season from November to February before and facing new stuff, which I’ve never been doing a great job and got to the semi-finals He became the first Prime Minister to compete in an inter- he started eight of Albion’s final 11 Premier challenged with. of the FA Cup. national sports competition when he participated in the event. League matches. “There were a lot of ups and downs but “We lost a few points which made it more Tuilaepa hopes to repeat the feat by securing a place in the Reflecting on his debut campaign in there were a lot of times I enjoyed and played difficult in the last couple of games but luckily country’s archery team. England, the 25-year-old said: “It was a a lot of minutes. we are staying in the Premier League. The 74-year-old stated he would still need to earn his place little bit up and down, to be honest. At the “But it wasn’t something which makes what I can do.” “We have to plan for next season which in the team. beginning I was trying to get into the team me satisfied, nor the fans and people who Jahanbakhsh, who played 24 times in all we know is going to be even more difficult. “I am not a walk in,” Tuilaepa said. as soon as possible and play games. expect more from me. competitions, feels Brighton fans are still to We are going to do our best to have good “There is no preferential treatment here and I am treated like “Obviously, as everyone knows, I played a “I know the reason why I’m here and I see the best of him: “Definitely. There’s been preparation in pre-season and to have a any other competitor. couple of games and then got an unexpected was expecting more from myself obviously. some games I’ve really enjoyed playing with good season.” “Earning the right to represent your country at any international injury. It took me out for a while and then I I wanted to play more, be important for the my team-mates but my best hasn’t happened Jahanbakhsh now has a rare summer sporting event is the highest honor that any person can ask for. had the Asian Cup. There were some things team statistically but that was something yet obviously. off with no international commitments and “And I will make the final cut to compete in the Pacific Games which kept me away from playing games. which didn’t happen this season. “I expect more of myself and I know I he said: “Now is a good time to have some on my own steam power. “The last couple of games I played, made “Next season I’m going to work with double can show more. That’s the reason I’m not time off, refresh my mind and come back “In my book, I have already won gold for Samoa as the oldest progress and got used to the competition. energy and with the mindset of what I have really happy with this season. in good shape for pre-season.” athlete to compete in the Games.” “The Premier League is a high quality from the Premier League right now. Hopefully “It has gone and next season I’m going (Source: The Games are due to take place from July 7 to 20 in Apia. league and different to what I’m used to. I’ll bring more quality to the team and show to do everything to get into the best shape.” brightonandhoveindependent.co.uk) (Source: insidethegames) Prayer Times Noon:13:01 Evening: 20:16 Dawn: 4:26 (tomorrow) Sunrise: 5:56 (tomorrow) MAY 19, 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 Iranian cinema shines at Editorial Dept.: Fax: (+98 21) 88808214 — 88808895 [email protected] Switchboard Operator: Tel: (+98 21) 43051000 Advertisements Dept.: Telefax: (+98 21) 43051450 Public Relations Office: Tel: (+98 21) 88805807 Argentine labor film festival Subscription & Distribution Dept.: Tel: (+98 21) 43051603 ARTTEHRAN — Several movies from Iran www.eshterak.ir Distributor: Padideh Novin Co. deskhave won awards at the Construir Cine Tel: 88911433 International Labor Film Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Webmaster: [email protected] the organizers have announced. Printed at: Hamshahri No. 3(Rooztab) - ISSN: 1017-94 “The Respectful Gypsy” by Mehdi Ghafuri was crowned Tehrantimes79 Tehrantimesdaily best short fiction at the event, which took place in the capital city of Argentina from May 9 to 15. No. 18, Bimeh Alley, Nejatollahi St., Tehran, Iran The film is about a group of gypsy women packed like P.o. Box: 14155-4843 animals in the back of a truck, which goes to the city center Zip Code: 1599814713 every day to sell all kinds of goods and products to drivers who stop at traffic lights. However, behind this itinerant street work, there is a man who runs the business and ends up taking most of the profits. The male chauvinism, the constant debt, and the enslaving force of this practice mean that the vendors do not find economic freedom that will allow them to escape in the future from the circle of violence to which they are being subjected. “Breathing” by Frashid Ayyubinejad won a mention of merit in this section. GUIDE TO The movie tells the story of a group of Iranian men who, SPIRITUAL AWAKENING without medical care or protection from any regulatory body, earn their living working in a stone factory. They have to hide each time the insurance agent arrives. Confined in The first benefit which a patient man gets a small room while waiting to return to their posts, those from his forbearance is that the people aid dissatisfied with their working conditions consider the him against the ignorant. idea of rebelling against the manager and leaving the job. As the minutes pass, the tension in the bunker increases, Imam Ali (AS) claustrophobia spreads and the atmosphere thickens. One of them suffers an asthma attack, but little by little the air becomes scarce for everyone. Director Rebwar Mahmudpur’s documentary “A Step to Go” received a mention of excellence in the short Troupe to give reading of Ibsen’s documentary category. A scene from director Mehdi Ghafuri’s short drama “The Respectful Gypsy”. The film is about Saman, an Iranian son who has to introduced an expectation to embrace him again that was in the corner of the house. “Catiline” at Tehran theater leave his parents’ house to take a new path and continue put off more and more until reaching eight years. This tearful “The Tent” by Russian director Dmitrii Fetisov was his studies outside the country. The definitive decision was ARTTEHRAN — A group of actors will perform and emotional documentary goes through the rendezvous selected as best short documentary. a pivotal and painful fact for the family. The sadness for deska reading of Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen’s of the family circle with that member who, for a long time, “The Silence of the Wind” directed by Alvaro Aponte- Saman’s departure left his mother ten days without food and first play “Catiline” or “Catilina” at Tehran’s City Theater was present in the form of videos and photographs stuck Centeno from Puerto Rico also won the award for best film. Complex today. The reading performance, which is scheduled to be staged at the Mashahir Hall of the complex at 6:30 pm, will be directed by Iranian musician to perform with Art show celebrates Ramadan at Iranian Yasaman Talebi who is also the translator of the play. Parisian orchestra Artists Forum

Front cover of Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen’s first play “Catiline”. / Meqdad Madadi / Meqdad Iraj Tadayyon, Mehdi Zarreh, Mahshid Zebardast, Mohaddeseh Seifi, Maryam Saburi, Hassan Asgari, Mohammad Moradifar and Hossein Mirhashemi are the members of the cast.

Admission is free for all. TASNIM The main character in this historical drama, which is in blank verse, is the noble Roman Lucius Catilina, based on the historical figure of Catiline. He is torn between two women, his wife Aurelia A poster for Paris-Est Philharmonic Orchestra’s concerts “The Voice of Peace”. Art aficionados visit the 6th Art Feast at the Iranian Artists Forum in June 2018. and the vestal virgin Furia. ARTTEHRAN — Iranian will be held at the University College ARTTEHRAN — The 7th will be attending panel discussions deskmusicians will London (UCL) on June 9. deskArt Feast displaying a during the event. NEWS IN BRIEF accompany the Paris-Est Philharmonic The choir and orchestra will come collection of drawings by young artists The participants will be more Orchestra under the baton of conductor together to perform and promulgate opened at all the galleries of the Iranian familiar with different techniques of Ebrahiminejad Arash Fuladvand during concerts in the Iranian music, poetry and culture Artists Forum on Friday to celebrate modern drawings, while a selection Paris and London, the orchestra has through the performance of well-known the holy month of Ramadan. of films on drawings will be screened. Gallery observes announced. Iranian music and contemporary pieces. The exhibition showcases a selection The artworks are offered at Tar virtuoso Keivan Saket and vocalist Founded in Paris in 2010, the Paris- of 300 works by artists from different reasonable prices to help visitors International Vahid Taj along with the Bahar Choir Est Philharmonic Orchestra is not only Iranian cities to provide new insight into purchase beautiful artworks to bring will accompany the orchestra in the dedicated to classical music but also to the the art of drawings across the country. home, IAF director Majid Rajabi- Museum Day concerts named “The Voice of Peace”. world music, especially Persian music. A number of workshops will also Memar has said. The Paris concerts will take place at The Bahar Choir in Paris is also composed be organized on the sidelines of the The exhibit will be running until ARTTEHRAN — Veteran painter Ali- the Basilica of Saint Clotilde on May 31 of 70 amateur or semi-professional male exhibition at the Mommayez Gallery June 11 at the forum located on Musavi deskAkbar Ebrahiminejad showcased and June 1, and the London performance and female singers. of the forum. In addition, art scholars St., off Taleqani Ave. a large collection of his works in an exhibition at Ebrahiminejad Gallery on Saturday to celebrate International Museum Day. Cannes critics warm to Ken Loach’s dig Architect I.M. Pei dies The exhibition titled “Iran: A Diverse Range of Tribes” will run for one week at the gallery located at gig economy at age 102 at 72 Ahang St., off Mahallati Highway. International Museum Day has been celebrated CANNES, France (Reuters) — With NEW YORK (Reuters) — I.M. Pei, worldwide since 1977 on or about May 18 to highlight the tale of a family unraveling under the whose modern designs and high-profile the importance of museums and the challenges pressure of their precarious jobs, Ken projects made him one of the best-known they face. Loach’s latest Cannes entry takes aim at and most prolific architects of the 20th the gig economy model dividing politicians century, has died, the New York Times and workers the world over. reported on Thursday. He was 102. Rolling Stones to hit the road And at 82, the searing drama showed Pei, whose portfolio included a con- as Jagger regains swagger the veteran British director - who has troversial renovation of Paris’ Louvre already won the cinema showcase’s top Museum and the Rock and Roll Hall of Palme D’Or prize twice - on fine form, Fame in Cleveland, died overnight, his Despite early condemnation by critics, LONDON (Reuters) — The Rolling Stones will hit the road again some critics said. son Chien Chung Pei told the newspaper. Director Ken Loach arrives at the news the Louvre’s monumental glass pyramid, this summer after rescheduling their North American “No Filter” Set in the northeastern English city of Ieoh Ming Pei, the son of a prominent banker conference for the film “Sorry We Missed designed by the Chinese-American architect tour, which was postponed when lead singer Mick Jagger needed Newcastle, “I’m Sorry We Missed You” in China, left his homeland in 1935, moving to You” in competition at the 72nd Cannes I.M. Pei (above), is credited with helping medical treatment. charts hard-working father Ricky Turner’s the United States and studying architecture Film Festival, Cannes, France, May 17, to boost visitor numbers from 3.5 million The 75-year-old, who media efforts to keep his family together after at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2019. (Reuters/Stephane Mahe) in 1989 to more than 10 million last year. reports said had undergone he signs on as a self-employed delivery and Harvard University. After teaching and (Getty Images/Bernard Bisson) heart valve replacement man, and tries to dig himself out of debt. “It’s not capitalism failing. It’s capitalism working for the U.S. government, he went to surgery in New York earlier Life as a contractor on endless shifts soon working as it always will,” Loach added. work for a New York developer in 1948 and striking contrast to the existing Louvre in the spring, showed fans he takes its toll, however, including financially as Known for his explorations of working started his own firm in 1955. structures in classic French style and was had regained his swagger on every delay is logged onto a central electronic class struggles, Ken Loach’s latest film The museums, municipal buildings, hotels, reviled by many French. Wednesday, breaking into his system - one which determines “who lives was “very Ken-Loachian”, Cannes’ festival schools and other structures that Pei built A French newspaper described Pei’s well-known dance moves in a and who dies”, according the delivery firm’s director Thierry Fremaux had said in April around the world showed precision geometry pyramids as “an annex to Disneyland” video shared on Twitter. hard-nosed manager. ahead of the competition. and an abstract quality with a reverence for while an environmental group said they “Mick Jagger, Keith As small sanctions start piling up, adding Some reviewers, including at light. They were composed of stone, steel and belonged in a desert. Richards, Charlie Watts and to the burden Ricky has already taken on entertainment site The Wrap, bemoaned glass and, as with the Louvre, he often worked Pei said the Louvre was undoubtedly Ronnie Wood can’t wait to get with a downpayment on his van, he works a lack of fresh ground in the director’s glass pyramids into his projects. the most difficult job of his career. When Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones back out on the road again,” the ever more doggedly, inflaming relations repertoire. The Louvre, parts of which date to the 12th it opened in 1993 he said he had wanted to performs during a concert of their band said in a tour statement on with his two children and his wife. But in the age of ride-hailing services century, proved to be Pei’s most controversial create a modern space that did not detract “No Filter” European tour at the Thursday, with the rescheduled The film builds suspense as viewers like Uber, or food delivery firms that rely on work, starting with the fact that he was not from the traditional part of the museum. Orange Velodrome stadium in performances now due to kick also will Ricky to stop - highlighting the contractors - increasingly under scrutiny French. After being chosen for the job by “Contemporary architects tend to im- Marseille, France, June 26, 2018. off in Chicago on June 21. paradox of a labor system where, in theory over the protections offered to workers - President Francois Mitterrand amid much pose modernity on something,” he said in (Reuters/Jean-Paul Pelissier) Known for hits like “Brown at least, contractors enjoy the freedom to the movie managed to land its punches secrecy, Pei began by making a four-month an New York Times interview in 2008. Sugar” and “Sympathy For The Devil”, the veteran rock band said all do as they please. well, others said. study of the museum and French history. “There is a certain concern for history but U.S. and Canadian cities from the postponed shows were “locked in”. “It’s the perfect situation for the big “It radiates a timeliness that suggests an He created a futuristic 70-foot-tall (21- it’s not very deep. I understand that time “No Filter”, which now has an added show in New Orleans, companies. No risk and the worker has to old-fashioned Ken Loach lament matters m) steel-framed, glass-walled pyramid as has changed, we have evolved. But I don’t will play in cities across the United States as well as in Ontario, run himself into the ground without being told more than ever,” IndieWire critic Eric a grand entrance for the museum with want to forget the beginning. A lasting Canada before wrapping up on Aug. 31 in Miami. to,” Loach told a news conference on Friday. Kohn wrote. three smaller pyramids nearby. It was a architecture has to have roots.”