WWW.TEHRANTIMES.COM I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

16 Pages Price 10,000 Rials 38th year No.12909 Thursday AUGUST 24, 2017 Shahrivar 2, 1396 Dhul Hijjah 2, 1438 Saudi Arabia has been Iranian companies ready to Healthcare city aims Iranian theaters get harmed by its policies: contribute in Iraq’s energy to boost Iran’s medical box office boost Zarif 2 projects: Zanganeh 4 tourism prospects 10 16

‘New Trump strategy for Nuclear snap-back Afghanistan to prove abortive’ By Javad Mohammadi by Afghanistan as well as that allow- Leader of the Islamic Movement of Af- ing dominance of non-Muslims over ghanistan Party Mohammad Mukhtar Muslims is against the law of Islam,” he Mufleh said increasing America’s- mil clarified. itary presence in Afghanistan, under He said similar to Russian’s fruitless can offset U.S. violation Trump’s new strategy, will yield no presence in Afghanistan, giving any POLITICS TEHRAN — fruitful result. opportunity to American forces would deskThe Iranian In an exclusive interview with the mark another wrong measure. government can show a stronger Tehran Times, Mohammad Mukhtar Mufleh recalled that presence of reaction to violation of nuclear deal Mufleh, Leader of the Islamic Move- US forces, although effective in some if violated by the other parties, a ment of Afghanistan Party and advisor other parts of the world, can exert no senior official with the Expediency to the Afghan Chief Executive, touched positive effect in Afghanistan given Council said late on Tuesday. upon the new strategy announced by that the two sides lack religious com- “Iran can activate its yellow cake Trump government towards Afghani- monalities. production plant based on the article stan and presented the stance taken He underlined that military pres- 36 of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of by the Afghan government on the US ence of Americans had no compliance Action reached between the Islamic measure. with the goals and interests pursued Republic and Group 5+1 (the U.S., “Increasing the number of foreign by the Afghan nation since US forces Russia, China, France and the UK plus militants cannot resolve issues faced mainly sough domination. 13 Germany),” Secretary of the Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaee said. Rezaee made the remarks as he was elaborating the Expediency Iran-Europe trade up 94% Council’s view towards a Majlis bill on countering the U.S. adventurist measures in the region. on year in H1 His remarks came after Ali Akbar ECONOMY TEHRAN — Trade the implementation of Iran’s nuclear Salehi, the director of the Atomic Energy deskexchange between deal with G5+1, has played an Organization of Iran, said that Iran can Iran and Europe increased 94 percent important role in pushing the figure resume uranium enrichment to the in the first half of 2017 from the same up, the report added. purity of 20 percent in five days in the time in 2016, based on the latest Europeans imported €5 billion of Fordow plant if necessary. figures released by the European goods from Iran in the first half of 2017, Iran and the G5+1 reached a deal in Union’s statistics agency Eurostat. showing 224 percent growth from €1.54 Vienna in 2015 which stresses curbing Iran-Europe trade stood at €9.9 billion in the same period in 2016. Iran peaceful nuclear activities in billion in the first six months of this Their exports to the Islamic exchange for removal of sanctions. year, while the figure was €5.1 billion country in the first six months of Washington has been a major in the time span from January to June 2017, registering 37 percent rise, hit cause of problems in the way of the 2016, the same report confirmed. €4.9 billion, while the figure stood at implementation of the deal over The upward trend of Europe’s €3.56 billion in the same time in the past two years. 2 imports of Iranian crude oil, following preceding year.

EDITORIAL Fresh Saudi airstrikes kill dozens in Yemen’s Sana’a ARTICLE By Mohammad Ghaderi Dozens of people have lost their lives in fresh timated 70 people were in the inn prior to the The friendly fire incident took place on By Setareh Behroozi Tehran Times editor-in-chief air raids conducted by the House of Saud re- aerial assaults. Tuesday as the Saudi regime jets mistook a Tehran Times Journalist gime warplanes against residential areas in Meanwhile, the Saudi regime air raids, group of troops loyal to the former president Yemen’s western Sana’a Province. which targeted security centers in the south Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi for members of Arabic-language al-Masirah television of Sana’a City, killed two Yemenis and injured the country’s Ansarullah (Houthi) movement Tehran councilors Negative balance; network reported on Wednesday that the over 10 others, according to the report. in the central province of Ma’rib. Afghanistan’s bodies of at least 30 people were recovered Separately on Wednesday, Yemeni army sol- The House of Saud regime has been leading a set sights on from the rubble of an inn in Sana’a province’s diers and allied popular forces launched rocket brutal military campaign against Yemen for more rescue Arhab district, which was hit by Saudi air raids. and artillery attacks on positions held by Saudi re- than two years to reinstall Riyadh-friendly Hadi, cleaner sky Hussein al-Tawil, head of the Sana’a branch of gime mercenaries in several areas across Yemen. and to eliminate the Ansdarullah movement. As evidence displays, the capital’s air pol- Afghanistan has been suffering from a Yemen’s Red Crescent, confirmed the death toll as The attacks killed three Saudi regime mer- The Saudi regime aggression, however, has lution and traffic congestion are amongst positive balance policy for many reasons. rescuers continued to pull bodies from the rubble. cenaries in Yemen’s southern Ta’izz and Bay- failed to achieve its goals despite spending billions the main concerns of the newly-elected A positive balance in the concepts of Hakim Al Masmari, a journalist with the da provinces. of dollars on the war and enlisting the cooperation Tehran City Council. international relations and foreign policy is Yemen Post, told Al Jazeera from Sana’a that Saudi warplanes kill 3 Hadi loyalists of its vassal states as well as some Western countries. During the first session of the fifth a policy that less powerful states, a policy air raids hit several areas of the city. in friendly fire incident The protracted war, which has been accom- Tehran City Council on Wednesday, the that less powerful states give ways and “It is probably the biggest massacre Yem- Elsewhere, Saudi regime warplanes have panied by a naval and aerial blockade on Yemen, chairman Mohsen Hashemi highlighted credit to more powerful countries in re- en has witnessed by the Saudi-led coalition,” mistakenly killed three troops loyal to Yemen’s has so far killed over 12,000 people and led to the need for following-up on different turn for a privilege, while reassuring equal Al Masmari told Al Jazeera by phone. Saudi regime-backed former president and a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished state. urban management plans with the aim distribution of credits between the power- The death toll is expected to rise as an es- injured eight more. (Source: agencies) ful countries to keep them both pleased. of reducing traffic congestion and de- The policy had precedent in the history creasing air pollution in the capital as of Iran before the Islamic Revolution, when Erdogan conveys Turkey’s unease over U.S. support for Kurdish militants one of the main programs of the council. the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasty continued Hashemi proposed the expansion of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednes- pendence referendum in September. annulment of this referendum decision.” public transportation as the solution for to give credits to the then two powerful day told U.S. Secretary of Defense James Both Turkey and the United States have Masoud Barzani, the Kurdish region’s pres- states, Russia and England, simultaneously. environmental problems Tehrani citizens Mattis that Turkey felt unease over U.S. sup- voiced concerns over the referendum, with the ident, announced the vote on whether to se- are grappling with. History, of course, tells us that the adop- port for Kurdish militant group YPG, presi- former’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, cede from Iraq would be held on September 25. tion of such a policy has not only had any He also pointed to reducing gener- dential sources said. saying earlier on Wednesday he would ask Iraqi Cavusoglu says Turkey has been saying al expenses and government involve- effect on controlling the insatiable appetite In a statement following meetings between Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani to cancel it. all along that “the referendum decision is of colonial powers, but also failed to secure ment in urban management and im- Mattis and Turkish officials, the sources said the Cavusoglu told reporters in Baghdad that wrong” and that he would tell the Iraq Kurd- proving cultural and social services as and safeguard the national interests. two sides emphasized the importance of main- Turkey’s expectation from Irbil, the capital of ish leaders so “once more” when he visits Irbil This has happened to our Afghan the aims of the new council. taining the territorial integrity of Syria and Iraq, the autonomous northern Iraqi Kurdish re- later on Wednesday. He is of the opinion that air pollution, brothers for many years, while the adop- as Kurdish northern Iraq gears up for an inde- gion, is “very plain and clear - and that is the (Source: Reuters) tion of such policy over the years has not massive traffic jam, noise pollution, urban had the slightest impact on the improve- environment damages, the sprawling city, ment of the situation in the country. run-down areas, labor children, etc. are all An overview of the current situation Iran Handmade making Tehran ill-suited to inhabit. in different parts of Afghanistan sug- Hashemi, 56, is the eldest son of the gests that damages caused by years of Carpet late Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani conflict and combat with foreigners and - the fourth president of Iran. their mercenaries on the territory of the Exhibition opens The pro-reform Hope list succeeded country largely deprived the nation of its to win all the 21 council seats in Tehran will and ability to recover quickly. on May 19 election, replacing priniciplist That’s precisely why countries like the The 26th Iran Handmade Carpet who took the helm of the fourth council. United States are allowed to intervene in Exhibition opened its doors to the Najafi in, Qalibaf out various countries like Afghanistan. public at the Tehran Permanent Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who served in the post of Tehran Mayor for 12 years, left In any case, the new generation looks International Fairgrounds on his office on Tuesday for the new mayor. more than ever before to revive its intrinsic Wednesday. Mohammad Ali Najafi, the sole can- capabilities and is determined to rebuild A total of 730 carpet producers a livable and independent Afghanistan, didate for the post of Tehran mayor, was are participating in the exhibit which formally elected at the first session of an issue that I was deeply touched by as I will run till August 29. The showcase travelled to Afghanistan a few months back Tehran City Council on Wednesday. will also include nomadic rugs and All Tehran city councilors voted for Na- and saw Kabul up-close and personal. carpets. Accordingly, what can be more than jafi, a reformist figure who held office at the Iran exported $89 million of anything else to meet this need of the Education Ministry from 1988 to 1997. hand-woven carpets during the first eastern neighbor of Iran is to look in- However, the mayor will be officially side and adopt a negative policy in their four months of the current Iranian inaugurated after getting approval from foreign policy, a policy that can be the Mojtaba Mohammadlo calendar year (March 21- July 22, the Ministry of Interior which is due to strongest response to the interference of 2017), showing a year-on-year take place in coming days. increase of 3.7 percent in terms of All in all, Tehrani citizens hope for a bright- foreigners, especially the United States IRNA/ to take their hands off Afghanistan. value. er future and a more vibrant city with the new council setting sights on a cleaner sky. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y POLITICS AUGUST 24, 2017 MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS Security issues Saudi Arabia has been behind Iraq’s reluctance to lift visa restrictions: minister harmed by its policies: Zarif

POLITICS TEHRAN — Iranian interior minister POLITICS TEHRAN — Iranian change its views on regional issues, the deskhas said that due to security reasons deskForeign Minister Mo- Iranian foreign minister said. the Iraqi government is reluctant to lift visa require- hammad Javad Zarif has said that Sau- “We have always been ready to ments for Iranian pilgrims. di Arabia’s policies in the Middle East hold talks with Saudi Arabia. We have “Iraqi officials say the security conditions are not region are “destructive” and “harmful” always made all efforts to reach a po- good enough for hosting a massive crowd (of pil- to the country itself. litical strategy to settle regional crises. grims) without a visa,” Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said on “Iran has always sought good rela- However, unfortunately, Saudi Arabia Wednesday. tions with its neighbors, but we believe has not taken actions in this line and He also said that if Iraqi authorities manage to re- that Saudi Arabia’s policies in the re- sought to gain benefits from creating solve the issues, it’s possible that visa restrictions be gion have been destructive which have tension in the region,” Zarif said. lifted for Iranians during Arbaeen, an event marking harmed the country,” he told ISNA in He expressed hope that the Saudi the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam an interview published on Wednesday. officials would make decisions based Hussein (AS). He said, “A safe and powerful region on wisdom which will help them come serves the interests of all the regional to the understanding that Iran seeks countries. Iran’s policy in interacting stability and peace. Iraq not to be used with the regional countries and Saudi Iran and Saudi Arabia have been at Arabia has been within this framework odds since the conflict arose in Syria to attack Iran: al- and has not changed.” in 2011. The relations suffered more Abadi More “coordination” and “integrity” setbacks as 464 Iranian pilgrims were are required in decision making at the crushed to death in a stampede in regional arena, he said. Mecca in September 2015. Elsewhere, Zarif said that Saudi Ara- The relations started deteriorating POLITICS TEHRAN — Iraqi Prime Minister bia should review some of its policies. as a number of Iranians attacked the deskHaider al-Abadi says Iraq would not al- “Such revision will be followed by Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran low any offensive to take place against neighboring Iran Iran’s positive response,” he added. and Mashhad in protest to the exe- Nimr al-Nimr in January 2016. Though move, Saudi completely cut ties with through its borders, ISNA reported on Wednesday. It is essential for Saudi Arabia to cution of the pro-democracy cleric senior Iranian officials condemned the Tehran. Al-Abadi stressed that Iraq is not a passage through which foreign countries can invade its neighbors, saying in the event a war breaks out between Iran and the U.S., Iraq will not be used to invade the Islamic republic. Haley in Vienna to push inspection of Iran military sites “Iraq has its own interests and we expect other coun- POLITICS TEHRAN — U.S. Ambassador to the the U.S. national security interest. tries to respect Iraq’s independence,” he added. deskUN Nikki Haley met with International Ali Akbar Salehi, the director of the Atomic Energy Atomic Energy Agency officials in Vienna on Wednes- Organization of Iran, said on Tuesday that Iran can re- day for what she described as a fact-finding mission, sume uranium enrichment to the purity of 20 percent in Rouhani’s attendance which is part of President Donald Trump’s review of the five days in the Fordow plant if necessary. at UNGA under deal Iran made with world powers to curb its nuclear Based on the nuclear agreement, Iran agreed to put consideration: Vaezi program in return for the lifting of most sanctions. limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the lift- Haley asked on Tuesday if the UN atomic watchdog ing of economic and financial sanctions. The deal was plans to inspect Iranian military sites to verify Tehran’s signed between Iran, the European Union, Germany and compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal. the five permanent members of the UN Security Council POLITICS TEHRAN — President Hassan Rou- According to Reuters, she said she was traveling to including the U.S. It went into effect in January 16, 2016. deskhani’s chief of staff, Mahmoud Vaezi, Vienna to ask questions, not to push the IAEA to do On August 15, Rouhani said that Iran will quit nu- said Wednesday that whether the president would attend anything. clear agreement “in hours” and return to the previous this year’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in Reports by the IAEA have shown Iran to be in com- stage if sanctions are re-imposed on the country. New York is under consideration. pliance with its landmark agreement with six major Rouhani’s comments were referring to sanctions The UNGA is one of the six principal organs of the powers. planned and publicized and the signal that it sends imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department on six Iran- United Nations (UN), the only one in which all member In the meantime, the Washington Post said Iran’s have notable detrimental consequences for the suc- based satellite companies on July 28 after Iran launched nations have equal representation. foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, complained cessful implementation of the JCPOA,” Zarif wrote in a the Simorgh (Phoenix) satellite carrier rocket into space The General Assembly meets under its president or to IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano that Haley’s vis- letter to Amano, the Post reported. a day earlier. secretary-general in annual sessions, the main part of it was intended to sow doubt about the nuclear agree- In April, Trump ordered a review of whether a sus- Last month, the two houses of the U.S. Congress which lasts from September to December and resumed ment. pension of sanctions on Iran related to the nuclear deal ratified non-nuclear sanctions against Iran. The sanc- part from January until all issues are addressed. “Even before the visit takes place, the way it is - negotiated under President Barack Obama - was in tions were mainly targeted at Iran’s missile capability.

New government Lebanon, Iran view Israel, terrorism as threats to regional stability to have at least Lebanon’s prime minister has held talks tary, backed by the Hezbollah resistance one woman with an Iranian deputy foreign minister movement and the nation’s support, on the threats posed by the Israeli re- have managed to score major victories ambassador: Zarif gime and terrorism to the troubled Mid- against the terrorists. dle East region. He expressed hope that the joint co- POLITICS TEHRAN — Foreign Minister Mo- The meeting between Saad Hariri operation will continue until terrorists deskhammad Javad Zarif has said that the and Hossein Jaberi Ansari, which took are eradicated from the border region. new administration will have at least one woman as am- place in Beirut on Tuesday, focused on The Iranian official further congratu- bassador. Tehran-Beirut ties as well as the lat- lated the Lebanese nation, government, In an interview with ISNA on Wednesday, Zarif said est developments in Lebanon and the army and the resistance on the battle- during his first four-year term in office, a woman deputy broader Middle East region. field victories. foreign minister as well as a woman ambassador were During the meeting, Hariri referred to The Lebanese military launched its appointed in the ministry for the first time since the vic- Israel and terrorism as the two primary anti-terror operation on Saturday. Hez- tory of the Islamic Revolution. threats facing Lebanon and the entire bollah also started a simultaneous of- “Now we are hopeful about having one or two wom- region. fensive against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist an ambassadors,” he said, expressing unwillingness to Hariri described dialogue and co- group from the Syrian side of the frontier. promise an exact number. operation among different Lebanese Last month, Hezbollah concluded a political parties as the reason behind joint counter-terrorism campaign with Iran reduced the Beirut government’s recent achieve- public’s readiness to bolster relations and to continue the counter-terrorism the Syrian army at Lebanon’s highlands ments, stressing that the country was with Lebanon in all fields and termed fight there. of Arsal. challenges facing determined to continue that approach. the Arab country as a good example of Jaberi Ansari expressed Iran’s resolve Jaberi Ansari, who arrived in Leb- Syrian people: Jaberi Ansari, for his part, said the national consensus and domestic coex- to bolster cooperation with Lebanon, anon on Monday for a three-day visit, two threats highlighted by the Lebanese istence. especially in the political and the eco- has already held talks with President Syrian PM premier provide a common ground for In a press conference following the nomic areas. Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih boosting Tehran-Beirut ties and regional meeting, the Iranian official said he had Asked about Lebanon’s recent coun- Berri and Hezbollah Secretary General POLITICS TEHRAN — Iran played an important cooperation. held talks with Hariri on the need to re- terterrorism operation near the Syrian Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. deskrole in reducing challenges facing Syr- He further voiced the Islamic Re- solve the Syria crisis through dialogue frontier, he said that the Lebanese mili- (Source: Press TV) ian people and stood by Syria in fighting terrorism, the Syrian prime minister said on Wednesday. Imad Khamis made the remarks in an interview with al-Mayadeen TV channel. Iran to ‘bake’ yellowcake for Trump? He appreciated Iran for the help it provided to the While President Donald Trump is expected tween the Islamic Republic and world sions in the US appear to weaken him. tration certify every 90 days whether Iran Syrian people, saying Iran and Syria have long-standing to recertify whether Iran is in compliance powers, including the US, in 2015. “A group of observers believe that is in compliance with the nuclear deal. ties. with the 2015 nuclear deal in September, “If we have determination, at most in Trump does not tend to create new ten- Trump’s administration has already de- There is now tendency among Syrian companies to Tehran has warned that it is capable of five days we can start 20 percent enrich- sions, therefore he would probably recer- clared Iran in compliance, as required by engage with the countries of the East, especially Iran, resuming high-level uranium enrichment ment in Fordo [nuclear plant],” the chief tify Iran’s commitment to the deal in Sep- law, twice during his tenure. Russia and China, he added. within five days. of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali tember,” Seyed Asgari told Trend. However, Trump’s remarks, forecasting The remarks come as the growing Akbar Salehi, told Iranian state media on Chief strategist Steve Bannon is Trump’s that the US would declare Iran non-com- tensions between the White House and Tuesday. latest top aide leaving his post at the pliant when the next review is due in Sep- City, village Tehran have been red hot in recent weeks Mehrdad Seyed Asgari, a Nor- White House, which is taken by many as tember, have cast shadow over the future councils across Iran amid speculations in Iran that the US may way-based Iranian commentator, suggests an indication of possible changes in the US of the landmark nuclear deal between Iran commence term tear up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of that President Trump seems unlikely to kill foreign policy. and the world powers. Action, aka nuclear deal, concluded be- the nuclear accord as the domestic ten- The US Congress requires the adminis- (Source: Trend)

POLITICS TEHRAN — Ali Asghar Ahmadi, polit- deskical deputy to the interior minister, said Nuclear snap-back can offset U.S. violation 38,000 village councils and 1,245 city councils officially 1 U.S. President Donald Trump has recently we hope that would not happen, we will do something began their four-year term on Wednesday. signed, according to Foreign Policy, a team of his close that will surprise them,” Salehi, a nuclear physicist, told With the start of this term, Ahmadi said, more than aides to assess Washington’s withdrawal from the nu- the IRIB, the national TV. 150,000 people were added as main members to city clear deal. To counterbalance the United States’ post-JCPOA and village councils across the country. The U.S. has tried to circumvent the JCPOA by im- sanctions that violated the deal, the Iranian Majlis on City and village councils are local councils which are posing new sanctions against Iran under the pretext of July 18 approved the single urgency of a bill on coun- elected by public vote in all cities and villages throughout its regional policies. tering the U.S. adventurist measures in the region. Iran. Council members in each city or village are elected “Our first priority is to protect the JCPOA, but not The bill was proposed by the Iranian MPs to re- by direct public vote to a 4-year term. at any cost. If the other side stands by the JCPOA, we ciprocate the U.S. Senate’s bill titled Countering Iran’s will stand by it. If they seek to sabotage it [the deal], Destabilizing Activities Act of 2017. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 24, 2017 INTERNATIONAL Pakistan says U.S. must not make Taliban suicide bomber kills civilians in Helmand it a ‘scapegoat’ for Afghan failures A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least seven people and wound- ed 42 others in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, an official Pakistan rejected on Wednesday the Unit- said, in an attack targeting police. ed States criticism of its efforts to fight “A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car in a park- terrorism, saying it should not be used as ing lot near the main police headquarters in Lashkar Gah,” Omar a scapegoat for the failure of the U.S. mil- Zhwak, a spokesman for the governor of Helmand province, told itary to win the war in Afghanistan. reporters. The U.S. President Donald Trump In addition to four soldiers, a girl and two women were among unveiled his policy for Afghanistan on those killed, Zwak said, expressing fears that the death toll could Monday, committing to an open-ended rise further. conflict there and singling out Pakistan for Children were studying at a nearby mosque when the ex- harboring Afghan Taliban insurgents and plosion took place, Zhwak said, adding they were injured in the other militants. violence. U.S. officials later warned that aid to Authorities said that a group of police officers who had lined Pakistan might be cut and Washington up to collect their pay had been targeted, according to Al Ja- might downgrade nuclear-armed Pa- zeera’s Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul. kistan’s status as a major non-NATO “As there have been so many threats on Afghan banks that (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) ally pay out government and security forces, there is actually a bank to pressure it to do more to help bring branch inside the police station,” she said. “Police officers were about an end to America’s longest-run- lined up when the attack happened.” ning war. The Taliban effectively controls or contests 10 of 14 districts in Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif Helmand. added his voice to a chorus of indigna- tion in Pakistan over the U.S. criticism, re- iterating Pakistan’s denial that it harbors militants. “They should not make Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures in Afghani- stan,” Asif said in an interview to Geo TV late on Tuesday. “Our commitment to war against ter- rorism is unmatched and unshaken.” since Pakistan joined the U.S. “war on ter- riods of extreme strain during the past ghanistan. Pakistan has for years been battling rorism” after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks decade, especially after al-Qaeda mili- “Attempting to isolate Pakistan will not militants who are seeking to overthrow on the United States. tant leader Osama bin Laden was found yield anything but a dangerous sharp- the state with bomb attacks and assassi- But he said Pakistan’s efforts to fight and killed by the U.S. special forces in ening of strategic fault lines,” said Sherry Intensified fighting nations. terrorism were being taken for grant- Pakistan in 2011. Rehman, a senior opposition politician Intensified fighting last year forced thousands of people But critics say the Pakistani military ed and dismissed the notion the United The U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tiller- and former Pakistani ambassador to the to flee to Lashkar Gah from neighboring districts. nurtures other extremist factions, includ- States could “win war against terror by son, who is due to meet Asif in coming United States. Early in July, an American soldier was killed and two others ing the Afghan Taliban, which are seen threatening us or cornering us”. days, on Tuesday outlined a range of op- Former cricket star turned opposition were wounded in an attack in Helmand province while con- as useful to Pakistan’s core confrontation “Our contributions, sacrifices and our tions to change Pakistan’s approach but politician Imran Khan said Pakistan should ducting operations against the Taliban. with old rival India. role as a coalition country have been dis- conceded there were concerns about finally learn a valuable lesson: “Never to Since it launched an annual spring offensive in late April, Asif said Pakistan had suffered great regarded and disrespected,” Asif said. putting too much pressure on Pakistan. fight others wars for the lure of dollars,” the Taliban has been mounting lethal assaults on the Afghan losses from militancy - the government The relationship between Pakistan Asif said Pakistan was also angered by he said on Twitter. army and police outposts in Helmand. estimates 70,000 people have been killed and the United States has endured pe- Trump’s appeal to India to do more in Af- (Source: Reuters) The attack comes a day after the United States Presi- dent Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would continue fighting in Afghanistan to avoid the “predictable and unac- ceptable” results of a rapid withdrawal from the country. Iraqi forces make gains against ISIL in Tal Afar push In response, the Taliban said that Afghanistan would be- Iraqi forces on Tuesday said they were making gains in modate nearly 30,000 more. come a “graveyard” for American soldiers. their ongoing push to dislodge fighters from the Islamic As the fighting continues, the U.S. Defense - Secre Trump did not provide the number of additional troops State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Daesh) terrorist group tary James Mattis, who made an unannounced visit to that would be sent to the conflict, America’s longest war, from the northern city of Tal Afar, as the United States Iraq, declared that “ISIS (ISIL) is on the run”, following though U.S. officials said before the speech they expected Pentagon chief made a surprise visit to Iraq in a show his meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in him to go along with a Pentagon recommendation for nearly of support. Baghdad. 4,000 new troops. (Source: Al Jazeera) The joint Iraqi forces took control of al-Jazirah area, “Today, the security for the Iraqi people has been on the eastern side of Tal Afar, as troops and members greatly improved,” Mattis said. “Cities have been liber- of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU/Al-Hashd Al- ated. People are free from ISIS ... the economy is recov- Turkey again warns against Sha’abi) started heading towards the city center, a secu- ering.” holding Iraqi Kurdish rity source told the DPA news agency. But Mattis declined to make any predictions on the ISIL terrorists, estimated to number up to 1,000, re- battle. referendum portedly responded with artillery fire, as government “ISIS’s days are certainly numbered, but it’s not over forces massed outside the city. The city has been under yet, and it’s not going to be over anytime soon,” he said. Turkey’s foreign minister has reiterated his country’s demand ISIL control since 2014. areas in the south and west of Mosul. Mattis then left for Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish that the Iraqi Kurds cancel a scheduled referendum for independ- Al Jazeera’s Osama bin Javaid, reporting from Erbil The latest offensive has forced thousands of people semi-autonomous region, where he is scheduled to hold ence. in northern Iraq, quoted military sources as saying that to flee to the country’s Kurdish region, according to the a meeting with President Massoud Barzani. Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Baghdad that Turkey’s ex- forces are moving in from the western and northeastern United Nations. A key sticking point in the meeting is Iraqi Kurdistan’s pectation from Irbil, the capital of the autonomous northern Iraqi front of the city, adding that they have taken control of Since Friday, more than 3,000 people had arrived at plan for an independence referendum on September 25, Kurdish region, is “very plain and clear - and that is the annulment an oil refinery “and breached the city’s walls”. two emergency sites, many with just the clothes on their strongly opposed by the U.S. and Baghdad. of this referendum decision.” Army, police and units of the PMU also took “full back, according to the International Organization for Mi- Barzani, who has so far resisted international pres- Masoud Barzani, the Kurdish region’s president, announced control” of Tal Afar’s al-Kifah and al-Nur districts, PMU gration (IOM). sure to delay the referendum, said the vote would not the vote on whether to secede from Iraq would be held on Sep- spokesman Ahmed al-Assadi was quoted by the AFP “These internally displaced persons (IDPs) carried a be postponed “for the Kurds’ own good” despite reports tember 25. news agency as saying. minimal amount of clothes; some only had what they that the U.S. administration is critical of the vote, accord- Cavusoglu says Turkey has been saying all along that “the ref- Assadi said Iraqi forces had encircled the city despite wore, some were partially clothed,” IOM said in a state- ing to Kurdish news website Rudaw. erendum decision is wrong” and that he would tell the Iraq Kurd- “intense” fighting, adding that the offensive would likely ment, adding that thousands more are expected to flee “Waiting for Baghdad to approve the referendum is ish leaders so “once more” when he visits Irbil later on Wednesday. last for weeks. in the coming days. dangerous,” said Barzani. “The Kurds have agreed to Turkey - which has a large Kurdish population and is battling In his weekly press conference, Iraqi Prime Minister Most of the residents had to walk for hours in ardu- start a new page with Baghdad, but the Baghdad gov- Kurdish rebels - is strongly opposed to an independent Kurdish Haider al-Abadi described Tuesday’s progress as “excel- ous conditions before reaching safe areas, the statement ernment’s mentality has not changed,” he added. state. (Source: AP) lent”, calling it an “indication of the enemy’s collapse”. said. Many “arrive exhausted and in poor health, often The Iraqi constitution “gives us the right to self-deter- Tal Afar, located some 70km west of the recently re- with critical levels of malnutrition among children, some mination.” Britain urged to recognize captured city of Mosul, is a key ISIL hub between Iraq’s unable to move.” Brett McGurk, the White House envoy to the anti-ISIL second largest city and the Syrian border. UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency also said it had re- coalition, told the Associated Press news agency that a sovereign Palestinian state In July, Iraqi troops routed ISIL in Mosul, allowing it to ceived some 9,000 people at the Hamman al-Alil transit referendum at this time “would be potentially catastrophic advance into Tal Afar on Sunday. ISIL still controls other center in the past week, and it was preparing to accom- to the counter-ISIS campaign”. (Source: agencies) Palestinian officials have called on Britain to recognize an inde- pendent Palestinian state and press the Israeli regime to end its colonial activities in the occupied lands. In a meeting with British minister of state for the Middle East and Thousands of Rohingya flee Myanmar for Bangladesh North Africa, Alistair Burt, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Pales- Thousands of Rohingya have crossed into They included more than 70,000 who tinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said British Foreign Secretary Bangladesh since Myanmar announced arrived in the months that followed the Boris Johnson should recognize Palestine in a statement akin to the a military build-up in Rakhine state ear- crisis in October, many bringing stories of Balfour Declaration that led to the creation of Israel. lier this month, community leaders said systematic rape, murder and arson at the The document issued in November 1917 by the then British Wednesday. hands of Myanmar soldiers. foreign secretary Arthur Balfour said British government “views Rakhine in northern Myanmar has But Rohingya are also increasingly un- with favor the establishment in Palestine of” Israel. been gripped by violence since October, welcome in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, It set the stage for the Nakba Day (the Day of Catastrophe), when militants attacked police posts. where police often blame them for crimes when hundreds of thousands of Palestinian fled or were expelled That sparked a bloody military crack- such as drug trafficking. from their homes by Israel during the 1948 war. down that the United Nations believes Dhaka has floated the idea of relocat- “Balfour became famous for his promise … to establish” Israel on may amount to ethnic cleansing of the ing tens of thousands of Rohingya refu- the land of Palestine, Maliki said, adding, “I call for the current British Rohingya, a mainly Muslim minority living gees to a remote, flood-prone island off foreign secretary to be famous for giving the Palestinians a promise in Buddhist Myanmar. its coast, despite opposition from rights called the ‘Johnson declaration’ that recognizes a Palestinian state.” On August 12 authorities in Myanmar groups. Separately on Tuesday, Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian chief negoti- said hundreds of troops had moved into On Wednesday the UN refugee agen- ator and secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization Rakhine as it ramps up counterinsurgency cy said it was “deeply concerned” by the (PLO), sat down with Burt in the West Bank city of Ariha (Jericho). efforts there. reports of a boat carrying Rohingya be- Erekat urged Britain to recognize the Palestinian state within the Rohingya leaders in Bangladesh told ing turned back. 1967 borders and to reconsider plans to celebrate the 100th anni- AFP that at least 3,500 had arrived since “UNHCR is deeply concerned by this versary for the Balfour Declaration. then, piling pressure onto already over- incident, which as the coast guard report- “Britain ... and the rest of the world have to obligate the Israeli crowded refugee camps in the Cox’s Ba- ed, involved women and children who government to accept the principle of [the so-called] two states zaar area near the Naf river that divides said they were fleeing violence,” a UNHCR based on the June 4, 1967 borders, that is an independent state of the two countries. spokesman told AFP. Palestine with East Jerusalem [al-Quds] as its capital … and a halt to That is despite stepped-up patrols by Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long access to basic rights. “In the current security context, the all Israeli colonial activities,” Erekat told his British guest. Bangladeshi border and coast guards, faced criticism for its treatment of the Dhaka estimates that nearly 400,000 majority, if not all, of these people cross- Israel occupied the West Bank, including East al-Quds (Jerusa- who said this week they had pushed back more than one million Rohingya who live Rohingya refugees are living in squalid ing from Myanmar into Bangladesh are lem), during the Six-Day War in 1967. It later annexed East al-Quds a boat carrying 31 Rohingya, including in Rakhine, who are seen as interlopers refugee camps and makeshift settlements believed to be fleeing insecurity,” he said. in a move not recognized by the international community. children. from Bangladesh, denied citizenship and in Cox’s Bazar. (Source: AFP) (Source: Press TV) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 4 ECONOMY AUGUST 24, 2017 NEWS IN BRIEF Iranian China’s oil imports from Iran up 0.45% in July yr/yr companies ready to ENERGY TEHRAN — China imported 568,720 deskbarrels per day (bpd) of Iranian oil in July 2017, an increase of 0.45% from July 2016, Reuters report- join Iraq’s ed on Wednesday. Russia held its spot as China’s top crude oil supplier for a fifth month in a row in July, with shipments up 54 percent over a year earlier, the report added. energy Iran’s oil production capacity stands at projects 3.95m bpd ENERGY TEHRAN — Iranian Oil Minister Bi- minister. sides have it on the agenda to increase the figure to deskjan Namdar Zanganeh said Iranian During this meeting Zanganeh noted that Iranian 35 mcm/d. companies are ready for contribution to Iraq’s oil and oil ministry is ready for expansion of mutual coopera- In the meeting, Iraqi oil minister’s representative gas projects, Shana reported. tion with Iraq in oil and gas industries. expressed his country’s satisfaction with the progress ENERGY TEHRAN — Based on the latest statis- desk The minister made the remarks in a meeting with The official also expressed his ministry’s support in joint fields development projects’ follow up meet- tics, Iran’s oil production capacity stands an Iraqi delegation who visited Iran on Tuesday to for continuous gas exports to Iraq. ings and said, “We hope the two countries’ coopera- at 3.95 million barrels per day (bpd) of which currently 2.2 pass on their oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi’s congratula- Iran in June started exporting 7 million cubic me- tion in joint fields expand to other areas of the oil million bpd is being exported to the world markets, Iranian tions to Zanganeh regarding his retention as Iran’ oil ters (mcm) of gas to Iraq on a daily basis and the two industry as well.” Deputy Oil Minister Ali Kardor was quoted as saying by ISNA. According to the official, Iran’s oil production is in com- pliance with the ceiling approved for the country in OPEC, China’s robot revolution may affect the global economy non-OPEC deal in January 2016. China is installing more robots than any other nation, And while China is catching up to global leaders and that may affect every other nation. like South Korea and Singapore, saturation is no- Intl. glass exhibition Shipments jumped 27 percent to about 90,000 units where in sight and its density of robots is below the last year, a single-country record and almost a third of world average, according to the IFR. running in Tehran the global total, and will nearly double to 160,000 in China also is buying more and more of its own 2019, the International Federation of Robotics estimates. robots. Under Made in China 2025 and a five-year robot The blazing pace hasn’t dented Chinese wages – yet plan launched last year, Beijing plans to focus on auto- – but it might influence the global economy, according mating key sectors like car manufacturing, electronics, to a report this week by Bloomberg Intelligence. appliances, logistics, and food. ECONOMY TEHRAN — Iran’s 1st international exhi- Automation may drive productivity gains and export The “robot revolution” proposed by President Xi Jin- deskbition of glass and related industries (Iran competitiveness, but the rising use of robots also threat- ping in 2014 will also raise fears of greater inequality GlassTec) kicked off on Wednesday at the Tehran Perma- ens to exacerbate domestic income inequality, under- as the benefits of productivity gains are skewed toward nent International Fairgrounds. mining consumption. And that could spill out beyond the owners of capital, at the expense of workers, ac- Several Iranian and foreign exhibitors from different the country’s borders, economists said. cording to BI. Such an outcome would be bad news for countries including France, Italy, Germany and China are “By turbocharging supply and depressing demand, household spending and might delay the shift toward a participating in this four-day event, IRIB news reported. automation risks exacerbating China’s reliance on consumer-driven economy, Orlik and Chen said. The latest innovations and products in glass industry in- export-driven growth – threatening hopes for a more The government also wants to increase the share cluding machinery, equipment, mining and processing of balanced domestic and global economy,” BI economists Orlik and Chen said. “Yet wage growth in China re- of Chinese-branded robots in the country’s $11 billion raw materials, glass in the building industry, facade glass, Tom Orlik and Fielding Chen wrote. mains rapid, and if anything medium-skilled work- market to more than 50 percent of total sales volume doors and windows and office furniture are being show- Pay gains are intact. Domestic manufacturing work- ers conducting routine work are doing better than by 2020 from 31 percent last year, and aims to produce cased in the exhibition. ers with a high-school education saw wages rise 53 per- average.” 100,000 robots a year by 2020, compared with 33,000 in cent from 2010 to 2014, according to China Household Robots are at the core of the government’s sweep- 2015. That means competition will intensify for foreign Finance Survey data cited by BI. ing Made in China 2025 plan to upgrade factories to firms that supply 67 percent of China’s robots, such as Russia’s Sberbank “Increasing use of robots should be bad news for be highly automated and technologically-advanced. Re- Japan’s Fanuc Corp. and Yaskawa Electric Corp., accord- medium-skilled workers, especially those in sectors placing assembly-line workers will also help it to offset a ing to BI. makes record 185.6bl where routine work means scope for automation,” shrinking working-age population. (Source: Bloomberg) rouble Q2 profit Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, said on Wednesday it made Big UK firms face 2018 slowdown amid Brexit uncertainty a net profit of 185.6 billion roubles ($3.14 billion) in the sec- The long-term effects of the Brexit future has resulted in some compa- eclipsed by longer term worries. ond quarter, posting a record quarterly result and beating vote on the economy will become nies putting plans on hold or shifting “The currency is a kneejerk reaction analysts’ forecasts. clear next year when profit growth at operations to other parts of the EU. that mathematically comes through,” Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast Sberbank would some of the UK’s largest companies It comes as WPP, the world’s larg- Nick Nelson, head of European equity make 167.4 billion roubles in net profit in April-June. is expected to drop considerably, ac- est advertising group, slashed growth strategy at UBS, told the FT. “Years Sberbank said its net interest income increased to 357.6 cording to a new study. forecasts for the second time amid two, three and beyond there’s more billion roubles in the second quarter from 339.3 billion rou- An analysis of forecasts for 2018 cuts in ad budgets. uncertainty.” bles a year ago, while return-on-capital was at 24.8 percent gives a grim view on the future for Analysts expect profit growth at Among the illustrations of the versus 22.8 percent a year ago. some of the UK’s biggest companies, Britain’s largest companies to rise by slowdown are Burberry’s planned Alexander Morozov, deputy chief executive of the bank, with expectations that there will be a 7.2% in 2018, according to the FT trenchcoat factory in Leeds being put said in a statement that results were supported by growth marked slowdown. analysis, compared with an anticipat- on hold and a 75% drop in investment in lending, stable margins and an increase in commission in- The survey of projections compiled ed 19% this year. Meanwhile, gains by in the car industry in the first half of ceiving a promise of no tariffs or extra come. The bank’s loan book grew by 4.7 percent from the by UBS for the Financial Times (£) companies listed in London as a re- this year. Nissan said it would con- bureaucratic burdens on the sector. first quarter. (Source: Reuters) shows the uncertainty of a post-Brexit sult of currency fluctuation have been tinue production in the UK after re- (Source: The Guardian) Trump’s comments dent Hispanic consumers spending less Euro-area factories feed best growth U.S. stock futures due to Trump’s immigration policy spell for economy in years U.S. stock index futures were lower on Wednesday as inves- tors appeared to be in a risk-off mode a day after President Donald Trump said he will shutdown the U.S. government if necessary to build a wall along the border with Mexico. (Source: Reuters) India to set up ministers’ panel to oversee state bank consolidation India›s federal cabinet has approved a mechanism to oversee consolidation in the state-run banking sector, Finance Minis- ter Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday. Jaitley said a ministerial panel will be set up to supervise merger proposals from banks’ boards, adding that the ob- jective of the planned consolidation was to create strong banks. The Trump administration’s crackdown weakness in Hispanics’ spending in Surging demand for ‘Made in the Euro orders surging at the fastest pace in (Source: Reuters) on immigration policy is contributing the past year. Target CEO Brian Cornell Area’ goods is feeding an economy more than six years, IHS Markit said, to a slowdown in Hispanic consumer cited market research on the slowdown that is creating jobs and finally also adding that demand in services grew spending, according to a recent Wall in Hispanics’ spending in a July con- seeing price growth accelerate. at the slowest rate since January. In- Russia, Turkey negotiate Street report. ference, “They are staying at home. A Purchasing Managers’ Index for put costs and output prices in both “Numerous consumer companies They are going out less often. Particu- manufacturing rose to 57.4 in August sectors increased at faster rates in contracts worth $820m flagged weak spending from Hispanic larly around border towns in the United from 56.6 in July, according to IHS August. consumers this earnings season,” wrote States, you’re seeing a change in be- Markit. That’s the highest reading in “This is another positive set of num- MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian and Turkish businesses researchers at Jefferies. “Weakness havior.” two months and compares with a me- bers for the euro area, which continues have made preliminary agreements on contracts that to- doesn’t appear to be a result of a de- The Jefferies researchers noted that dian estimate for a slowdown in activ- to enjoy its best growth spell for a num- gether are worth approximately $820 million within the teriorating macro backdrop; rather, it’s while some companies with significant ity. Momentum in services unexpect- ber of years,” said Andrew Harker, asso- framework of the 86th Izmir International Fair, Russian likely because of uncertainty around exposure to Hispanic populations have edly cooled to a seven-month low. ciate director at IHS Markit. A stronger Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Georgy Kalamanov told immigration policy.” explicitly cited a slowdown in spending, The 19-nation euro economy intake of factory orders “bodes well for Sputnik Tuesday. President Donald Trump’s pursuit of others have probably been affected, gathered pace in the second quarter the labor market as firms will likely look “There has been a tight schedule of meetings during the more aggressive immigration reform too. as more countries joined the recov- to hire extra staff to deal with outstand- whole period of the exhibition. According to the Russian Ex- has drawn criticism from many consum- Target rival Wal-Mart did not specifi- ery. Steadily declining unemployment ing work.” port Center alone, at least 196 meetings were held, which ers and businesses for social responsi- cally note a slowdown, but “it is prob- and business confidence at a decade ECB policy makers are set to start resulted in negotiations of contracts worth nearly $820 mil- bility reasons, but this report shows the able that a considerable portion of their high are feeding confidence that in- a discussion about the future path of lion,” Kalamanov stated. new push by the administration may consumer base is Hispanic given that flation -- still well below the European monetary stimulus in September, when The deputy minister added that over course of the fair, not make sense for another reason: It about 20 percent of their store locations Central Bank’s goal -- will eventually new economic projections will be pub- Russia presented several new helicopters models, emergency could be hurting the economy. are over-indexed to states where one- pick up on a sustained basis. lished. Asset purchases are currently equipment for miners, the newest machine tool equipment Companies including Target, Foot third of the population is Hispanic.” Manufacturers recorded an “im- scheduled to expire in December. as well as an updated series of GAZ vehicles. Locker, and Wingstop have all flagged (Source: cnbc) pressive” performance, with export (Source: Bloomberg) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 24, 2017 ENERGY 5

Two October surprises could China’s July gasoline exports third-highest boost oil prices above $50 since 2000 China’s July gasoline exports rose 5.9 percent on a year earlier to 1.02 million tons, the third highest monthly amount since Oil prices will remain stuck in a range near $50 a barrel at least 2000, Chinese customs data showed on Wednesday. unless one of two global hotspots delivers an October China’s diesel exports in July fell 8.8 percent on a year ago surprise to the market, jolting the cost of crude higher, to 1.4 million tons, the data showed. according to Helima Croft, global head of commodity Kerosene exports fell 3.1 percent to 1.06 million tons. strategy at RBC Capital Markets. (Source: Reuters) The first potential shock Croft and her team at RBC are monitoring is a debt default by Venezuelan oil gi- ant Petroleos de Venezuela SA. Oil production from the Shale drillers head north state-owned PDVSA has steadily slipped as the country grapples with a financial crisis after the collapse in crude as the Permian fills up prices in 2014 and years of economic mismanagement. “They have $3.5 billion in national oil company debt Just as the Permian Basin is showing some wear and tear, there is coming due in October-November. If they default, that growing interest in a separate shale play to the Permian’s north. could be significant for Venezuela’s production outlook,” The Anadarko shale region, located mostly in Oklahoma, has Croft told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Tuesday. seen a sharp increase in investment and drilling activity in recent Lower crude production from Venezuela would tend years. The expanding presence of shale players in the Anadarko to support the oil market, which has been oversupplied has resulted in the EIA including the region in its monthly Drilling for years. Productivity Report alongside more well-known places such as The second surprise would come if the United States the Permian, Eagle Ford and the Bakken. abandons an international deal that lifted sanctions on The Anadarko produces more than 450,000 barrels of oil per Iran. President Donald Trump could refuse to certify day, but the region is increasingly becoming known for its surg- that Iran is complying with an accord regarding the ing natural gas production, which is set to top 6 billion cubic feet country’s nuclear program. That could lead to the re- per day (bcf/d) in September, according to the EIA. newal of sanctions, which could impact Iran’s oil pro- The EIA noted in its DPR that the Anadarko is second only to duction. the Permian Basin in the number of active rigs – the Anadarko John Kilduff, founding partner at energy hedge fund He also noted that Venezuela is indebted to Russia lending to PDVSA, which has less than $10 billion left in had 129 as of July, while the Permian had 373. The Anadarko re- Again Capital, said these geopolitical concerns may be and China. Russian oil giant Rosneft has amassed a large reserves, according to Croft. gion is “well-established,” the EIA says, but improved drilling and somewhat overstated. He noted that the five other na- stake in PDVSA’s U.S.-based refiner Citgo by bankrolling “The math simply does not work on PDVSA staying completion technology has led to a resurgence in interest for tions that negotiated the Iran nuclear deal would prob- Venezuela. China has long lent Venezuela money in ex- solvent” without help from Russia and China, she said. the region. The shale layers in the Anadarko tend to be rather ably break with the U.S. and refuse to snap sanctions change for oil. “So we think this default is a clear and present danger.” deep, but also thicker than in the Bakken, for example. back on Iran. However, Rosneft has recently suggested it is done (Source: CNBC) The region is comprised largely of the STACK (Sooner Trend Anadarko Canadian and Kingfisher) and the SCOOP (South Central Oklahoma Oil Province) plays, two areas that have seen a surge of investment from shale E&Ps in the past few years. Exxon duped public First tanker with U.S.-produced LNG for Rising interest in the Anadarko comes as the market for oil in over climate concerns Lithuania leaves behind ‘political’ wake the Permian is starting to look a little frothy, with high land prices, a shortage of oilfield services, and some production hiccups. Exxon Mobil Corp. spent the last 40 years The delivery of liquefied natural gas Another important takeaway from the inclusion of the Ana- undermining public concern over climate (LNG) from the United States to Lith- darko in the EIA’s monthly roundup is that natural gas produc- change, even as its own scientists deter- uania is mainly motivated by political tion continues to rise in places that are home to interest from mined man-made global warming was real reasons, Vladimir Feygin, president of oil producers. Shale producers tend to extract natural gas as a and a serious threat, according to Harvard the Energy and Financial Institute, told byproduct when targeting oil, and almost half of the U.S.’ nat- University researchers writing in a peer-re- Radio Sputnik. ural gas production is now coming from oil plays, according to viewed journal. “Of course, there is a combination Bloomberg. “ExxonMobil contributed to advancing of political reasons and Washington’s “This is again telling us why we are in a perpetual bear mar- climate science -- by way of its scientists’ interests in this case. The U.S. wants ket in natty gas,” Stephen Schork, president of Schork Group Inc., academic publications -- but promoted to show that its plan [to supply LNG to a consulting group in Villanova, Pennsylvania, told Bloomberg doubt about it in advertorials,” the Har- eastern European countries] is already in an interview. “We are finding more and more gas. It’s giving vard researchers wrote in the journal En- working,” Feygin pointed out. the bears more ammo.” Gas production is rising quickly, and not vironmental Research Letters. “Given this 1977 and 2014. Their article, “Assessing Lithuania has received its first ship- Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas, the just in the Anadarko. Output in September is expected to jump discrepancy, we conclude that ExxonMobil ExxonMobil’s climate change communica- ment of American-produced LNG, as American gas will boost competi- across all major shale basins, including the Marcellus, Bakken, misled the public.” tions,” was published Wednesday. the result of an agreement between tiveness in the regional energy mar- Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Permian and Niobrara. That will keep a The findings could add fuel to lawsuits While 83 percent of Exxon’s peer-re- Lithuania’s state-owned trader Lietuvos ket. lid on natural gas prices. brought against the world’s largest oil ex- viewed scientific papers and 80 percent Duju Tiekimas and Cheniere Marketing Lithuania expects more LNG sup- In addition, the Anadarko offers shale companies another plorer by market value. New York’s attorney of its internal documents acknowledge cli- International. The LNG tanker from Sa- plies from Cheniere in 2017. The coun- option for oil and gas exploration if they find the Permian a lit- general is probing whether Exxon lied to in- mate change is real and human-caused, 81 bine Pass in the U.S. moored in the port try also purchases LNG from Norway, tle too crowded. The Wall Street Journal recently profiled Jim vestors and the public for almost four dec- percent of its advertorials expressed doubt of Klaipeda on Monday. Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago. The Hackett, the former CEO of Anadarko Petroleum, who has set ades about the impact of climate change over the issue, according to the research. According to the expert, Lithuania government estimated Lithuania will up a new company that will target the STACK play. The SCOOP on profits. Exxon is one of the world’s Internal documents accepted the risk of wants to show that it has implemented import half of its 2017 domestic gas and STACK have the best well economics out of any other shale largest sources of fuels responsible for cli- stranded assets caused by climate change, diversification of energy supplies. consumption in the form of LNG. basin after the Permian, according to RBN Energy. mate change, producing 10 million gallons while the advertorials did not. “This shipment is not large and can- On June 8, the US delivered its first Hackett’s company, Silver Run Acquisition Corp. II, is taking of gasoline and other fuels every hour of The researchers point to the example of not satisfy Lithuania’s need for natural LNG shipment to Poland, as part of a over two other STACK-based companies, and the combined every day. Exxon scientist Brian Flannery, who in 1985 gas. However, it is kind of demonstra- plan to cut Warsaw’s reliance on Rus- outfit will be called Alta Mesa Resources Inc., with a market The researchers said Exxon has disa- helped the U.S. Department of Energy write tive gesture,” he said. sian imports. cap of $3.8 billion. The efforts of Hackett mark a major in- greed with their conclusion and said its a report acknowledging a scientific con- Feygin also underscored that the According to energy industry ana- vestment – and a large bet – on the STACK play. “There are statements on public policy and climate sensus on future warming trends caused LNG currently being exported from the lysts, the U.S. is expected to become a one or two careers worth of opportunities just in the Stack,” science “have always reflected the global by carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuels. U.S. is much more expensive than Rus- net exporter of natural gas by next year, Hackett told the WSJ in mid-August. Intriguingly, Hackett says understanding of the issue,” according to an Despite that conclusion, company adverto- sian natural gas. largely thanks to the country’s LNG ex- the STACK is attractive because “the Permian Basin has been opinion piece written by two of the authors rials in 1997 and 2000 downplayed the hu- “There is no doubt that the political ports. picked over pretty well.” and published Wednesday in the New York man effect on climate change and instead factor is prevalent in this case. I can’t Washington has long been arguing Alta Mesa will ramp up drilling in the STACK over the next Times. promoted “natural variability” in the atmos- see any other logic in these supplies,” for the geopolitical importance of LNG year and a half while also investing in pipelines, storage facil- A spokesman for Houston-based Exxon phere, according to the research. he said. exports to Europe, saying it would help ities and gas processing plants, according to the WSJ. Hack- didn’t respond outside of business hours to “ExxonMobil’s scientists and executives The deal was signed in June as part European allies decrease dependence ett says the company’s wells will have a breakeven price of an email or phone call seeking comment. were, for the most part, aware and accept- of Lithuania’s efforts to reduce de- on Russian energy imports. However, around $25 per barrel. (Source: oilprices.com) The study’s authors, Geoffrey Supran ing of the evolving climate science from the pendence on Russian gas supplies and the cost of shipping natural gas from and Naomi Oreskes, both scholars of scien- 1970s onwards, but they painted a different consolidate ties with Washington. The the U.S. to Europe remains high and tific history at Harvard in Cambridge, Mas- picture in advertorials,” wrote Supran and agreement envisages LNG deliveries of requires sizable infrastructure invest- Australia looks to lock in sachusetts, reviewed 187 climate change Oreskes. 140,000 cubic meters. ments. communications issued by Exxon between (Source: Bloomberg) According to Lithuanian Energy (Source: Sputnik) renewable energy target Australia›s second most populous state has proposed pass- ing laws to lock in a renewable power target of 40 percent Oil prices fall on concerns of oversupply as Libyan output recovers by 2025, looking to spur investment in solar and wind farms SINGAPORE (Reuters) — Oil prices mittee of OPEC and non-OPEC states to even as the national government wrangles over energy pol- fell on Wednesday, weighed down by discuss their production pact has been icy beyond 2020. concerns of oversupply as Libyan output proposed for Sept. 22. Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews will introduce legis- improves and as U.S. gasoline inventories In the United States, crude inventories lation to the state parliament this week to cement renewable rose despite the peak summer driving fell by 3.6 million barrels in the week to energy targets, including 25 percent by 2020. season. Aug. 18 to 465.6 million, industry group The eastern state, with a population of 6.24 million, suf- Brent crude futures, the international the American Petroleum Institute said fered a sharp jump in wholesale electricity prices earlier this benchmark for oil prices, were at $51.64 Tuesday. However, gasoline stocks rose year after one of its largest coal-fired power plants closed. per barrel at 0721 GMT, down 23 cents, by 1.4 million barrels, compared with an- The 1,600 megawatt Hazelwood plant had provided a or 0.4 percent, from their last close. alyst expectations in a Reuters poll for a quarter of Victoria›s power supply, and its closure has raised U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) 643,000-barrel decline. demand for gas-fired power at a time when east coast gas crude futures were at $47.59 a barrel, Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at supply has been strained, fueling rises in gas and power pric- down 24 cents, or 0.5 percent. futures brokerage OANDA said that the es. Libya’s Sharara oil field, the country’s rising U.S. gasoline inventories were “not The federal government, controlled by the Liberal Party, largest, was gradually restarting on Tues- a good sign during the U.S. summer driv- has no renewable energy target beyond 2020 and has said it day after a shutdown, although instability ing season” during which fuel demand wants to take a more technology-neutral approach to ensure in the country means that output there tends to be high. stable and affordable power supply. could be volatile, traders said. Official inventory data by the U.S. En- States led by the opposing Labor party have long pushed Sharara recently reached output of ergy Information Administration is due to their own green power targets due to a decade of energy 280,000 barrels per day (bpd), but closed be released late on Wednesday. and climate policy uncertainty at the federal level. earlier this week due to a pipeline block- Meanwhile, Bernstein Research Victoria, a Labor-controlled state, will hold renewable ade. Its production is key to Libya’s oil warned that low prices and ample sup- energy auctions in which companies will bid to supply the output, which surged above 1 million bpd Russia has pledged to hold back around empt from cuts. plies were resulting in low oil industry in- market, the first of which is for 650 megawatts, which the in late June, about four times its level last 1.8 million bpd of supplies between Jan- “Sentiment towards oil remains bear- vestment levels. government said it hopes will bring up to A$1.3 billion ($1 summer. uary this year and March 2018 to tighten ish amid oversupply fears and the possi- “We see (oil and gas)... order intake billion) worth of investment into the sector. Libya’s rising output is a headache for supplies. ble threat of OPEC’s supply cut deal fall- activity at almost the same low level as in However, big energy users and major power producers the Organization of the Petroleum Ex- However, OPEC has so far fallen short ing apart,” said Lukman Otunuga, analyst 2016 ... For now, we remind investors that cautioned against a state-by-state approach to setting re- porting Countries (OPEC), which togeth- of its pledge, in part due to Libya’s strong at futures brokerage FXTM. contract levels appear to still be insuffi- newable energy targets, following the Victorian govern- er with non-OPEC producers including output. The OPEC-member has been ex- The next meeting of a ministerial com- cient to drive recovery in earnings,” it said. ment›s announcement. (Source: Reuters) ADVERTISEMENTS

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 6 INTERNATIONAL AUGUST 24, 2017

Steve Bannon’s departure: Turkey fumes as Sinjar Yazidis A presidency in eclipse The most combative White House aide has gone. Less a vic- tory for moderation than a win for Wall Street, the generals declare ‘democratic autonomy’ and low tax Republicans. In some civilizations, eclipses of the sun have always been by Amberin Zaman seen as powerful portents. Awe-struck humans have even been As Massoud Barzani, the president of the known to respond with a human sacrifice, designed to appease Iraqi Kurdistan Region, continues to re- deities who could make the land dark. If Donald Trump’s sacking sist mounting international calls to scrap of his chief strategist Steve Bannon was a sacrifice of this kind, it a referendum on Kurdish independ- did not protect America from Monday’s spectacular sea-to-sea ence planned for September, a rival Kurd- darkling. But it was certainly an attempt to save the administra- ish faction has added its voice, declaring tion from a total eclipse of its own. what it calls “democratic autonomy” in the Some see the ousting of Bannon last week simply as a predominantly Yazidi region of Sinjar. The victory for traditionalist and moderate Republicans. In this Sinjar Democratic Autonomous Adminis- reading, the disciplined new White House chief of staff, Gen- trative Council made the announcement eral John Kelly, has triumphed over the disruptive rightwing on Sunday, saying it wants “free and populism of Bannon. There is some validity to that. The democratic life for all Yazidis.” president’s broadcast on Monday, which was expected to an- Sinjar is among the so-called disputed nounce fresh troop deployments in Afghanistan, will be scru- territories that the Kurdistan Regional tinized for evidence of it. While he was in the White House, Government (KRG) and the central gov- Bannon fought the generals’ wishes for more troops, backing ernment in Baghdad both claim as their the use of private contractors rather than U.S. forces. Trump’s own. The KRG says the referendum will be words may show the extent to which Bannonism of some conducted in all the disputed territories, kind has survived the departure of the man himself. including Sinjar. But there is more to this than moderation. Bannon saw Bordering Syria, Sinjar remains the himself as a nationalist warrior, speaking for the president’s scene of a turf war between the Barzani-led blue-collar, white-skinned electoral base against the Belt- Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), backed way establishment. Although he boasts that he will be even by Turkey, and the Kurdistan Workers Party more powerful outside the White House, this is bluster. His (PKK), which is fighting for Kurdish autono- departure weakens the administration’s nationalist radicalism my inside Turkey and is also vying for influ- on issues like trade, immigration, and the economic stimulus ence in Iraq, Iran and Syria. The PKK-backed that candidate Trump promised. Relations with China, which administration council says it will not allow preoccupied Bannon so much that he rang a liberal journalist the referendum to be conducted in areas last week to announce that “to me the economic war with under its control, including Khanasor, a stra- China is everything”, may ease. But the opposition he voiced tegic crossing point for PKK militants head- Turkey has several thousand troops in Iraqi Kurdistan and has to military action against North Korea or Syria may also give ing to Syria. way to a more interventionist approach from the generals – Bilal Wahab, a senior fellow at the repeatedly threatened to take military action against the PKK in Sinjar. including national security adviser HR McMaster and defense Washington Institute for Near East Policy, control of pro-KDP Yazidis, but the rest actions, the KDP and its Syrian Kurdish Iran and to help drive PKK fighters out of secretary James Mattis – who have forced him out. told Al Monitor, “If they decide to, the PKK of the region has largely been divvied up proxies sought in March to dislodge the Sinjar as well. An equally important example on the domestic front is tax can block positioning referendum ballot between pro-KDP and pro-PKK groups, PKK from Khanasor, but failed. In April, In a further twist, a growing number reform. Gen Kelly was reported this week to see tax as the way boxes in Sinjar in towns and neighbor- and in some instances they cohabit. Turkish fighter jets targeted PKK and YBS of Yazidis have defected from KDP- and to rebuild the administration’s ties with congressional Republi- hoods, they control.” This, he said, would Diplomatic body militants in the area, but ended up killing PKK-backed outfits to join the Baghdad- cans and to repair relations with business after Trump disbanded leave the Yazidis caught in the middle of Sunday’s assembly presented a list of six KDP peshmerga instead. supported, predominantly Shiite Popular three presidential business councils last week. But the congres- the political rivalry between the PKK and planned institutions meant to convey the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Er- Mobilization Units, which have driven sional leaders do not want the spending on jobs and infrastruc- the KDP. distinct and independent character of the dogan asserted today that his govern- ISIS from southern Sinjar, effectively cur- ture that Trump campaigned for. They only want tax and budget Tensions between the KDP and the PKK autonomous zone. These include a “dip- ment is considering joint military action tailing the KDP and PKK’s influence there. cuts, plus tax breaks for business to go alongside the scrapping flared in September 2014, when Islamic lomatic body” to “manage relations with with Iran against the PKK. “[The] PKK ter- This dynamic makes it less likely that the of rules on the environment and consumer protection. State (ISIS) terrorists unleashed an orgy of Iraq, Kurdistan and other states” and a ror organization has a foot in Iran,” Er- PKK-backed administrative council is act- The immediate reason Trump is in trouble is because of mass murder and rape, killing thousands “neutral court” to prosecute “those who dogan said, speaking to reporters ahead ing under Baghdad’s influence or that it his terrible response to the Charlottesville protests. But his of Yazidis. Many blame KDP peshmerga caused or helped [ISIS] in the Yazidi re- of an official visit to Jordan. “They always is part of an effort to prevent the Sept. deeper crisis is that he actually shares many of the congres- for failing to defend the Yazidis and for gions.” There was no immediate reaction cause harm to Iran and us. … We believe 25 independence referendum from tak- sional party’s priorities. The voters who rallied to his (and fleeing the scene without even leaving from the KRG, but Barzani repeated to- if the two countries cooperate, we can ing place. Bannon’s) nationalist appeal a year ago are getting it. Sup- weapons for the beleaguered minority to day that there is no question of postpon- reach a conclusion in a much shorter pe- “I don’t believe the council was coor- port for Trump in states that he won in 2016, like Michigan, defend itself. That is when the PKK inter- ing the referendum. riod of time.” dinating with Baghdad,” said Arzu Yilmaz, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, is down to between 34% and vened, shepherding thousands of Yazidis All of this is infuriating Turkey, which Those comments follow last week’s an Iraqi Kurdistan-based academic who 36%. That reflects not just Charlottesville but the fact that in to the safety of the Sinjar Mountains. views the PKK’s presence in Sinjar as a fur- groundbreaking three-day visit to Ankara has done extensive research on Sinjar. practice this president is less concerned with jobs and work- The PKK has since overseen the es- ther threat to its own security. Turkey has by Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, Iran’s She told Al-Monitor, “More likely, it is part ers and more concerned with corporate interests – not least tablishment of a Yazidi militia, the Sinjar several thousand troops in Iraqi Kurdistan military chief of staff. According to the of a broader strategy [for the PKK] to po- his own.Trump isn’t an outsider but an insider. And increasing Resistance Units (YBS), as well as an all- and has repeatedly threatened to take pro-government daily Turkiye, Bagh- sition themselves ahead of any declara- numbers of Americans can see this, even in the dark. female force along with local governing military action against the PKK in Sinjar. eri offered to launch a joint operation tion of independence proper by the KRG.” (Source: The Guardian) bodies. Sinjar town remains under the In a bid to pre-empt further Turkish against the PKK’s Qandil bases bordering (Source: Al Monitor) The U.S. navy’s deadly Terrorists threaten the walkability of Europe’s cities collision course Planners face the challenge of preserving traditions of civic sociability The circumstances of the crash of the USS John S. McCain By Andrew Hill near Singapore, which killed at least one U.S. sailor and has left nine missing, remain unclear pending a Navy investiga- Barriers are going up around Europe. Hours after a ter- tion. The bigger picture, however, is already in focus: Four rorist in a van mowed down pedestrians on Barcelona’s major accidents this year involving ships of the Seventh Fleet Las Ramblas last week, Madrid installed massive plant- highlight a systemic problem that imperils American domi- pots at Puerta del Sol in the Spanish capital. Entrances nance on the high seas. to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, leading to Milan’s ca- At any given time, about 100 of the Navy’s roughly 275 ships thedral, are blocked by ugly new jerseys, as Italians call are deployed. Yet the fleet is half the size it was 30 years ago, them — the modular concrete lane separators first used meaning the ships are docked for shorter periods before rede- in the U.S. state. ploying. The uncertainty caused by so-called budget sequestra- Nice, victim of the worst vehicle attack to date, has only tion has hindered the Pentagon’s long-term planning. All this recently unveiled a white truck-resistant pillar-and-cable has made shortcuts inevitable, such as neglecting standard up- fence, cordoning off the Promenade des Anglais, where keep and putting off some training until after deployment. 86 people died on Bastille Day last year. London, hit by Such pressure on craft and crew alike takes a toll, and base- two attacks this year, has reinforced pedestrian walkways line skills such as ship-handling can atrophy. This larger context on bridges with concrete blocks. To the acute pain of fur- helps to explain the events of Monday, in which the McCain col- ther loss of innocent lives — tourists, shoppers, revelers lided with a petroleum tanker, but there are other factors. — add the sinister, hard-to-define threat to something Another of the Seventh Fleet’s destroyers -- the USS Fitzger- quintessentially European: the paseo, the passeggiata, ald -- collided with a container ship near Japan in June, killing the promenade. seven sailors. Both ships had reportedly turned off their iden- “Walkability” has become a central tenet of urban tification systems to maintain a military level of stealth, which planning. One study suggests that people living in walk- is typical for a combat ship that wants to see but not be seen. able places engage in 100 minutes more physical activ- Particularly in the case of the McCain, which was making its way ity a week than those who don’t. “Walking meetings”, as across the most crowded commercial waterway in the world, favored by the late Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, are more visibility can make for greater safety. now modish ways to stimulate creativity in Silicon Valley It has also been reported that the commercial ships in and beyond. both collisions were operating on autopilot. Especially in the But we Europeans do not need to be told by profes- To the acute pain of further loss of innocent lives — tourists, Strait of Malacca, this is an unfortunate break with maritime sors and entrepreneurs that walking is good for us. We tradition and common sense. Yet commercial ships, with have been strolling sociably towards greater wellbeing shoppers, revelers — add the sinister, hard-to-define threat smaller crews and the need to economize, often cut such for centuries. Arriving in Barcelona in 1826, the Ameri- to something quintessentially European: the paseo, the corners. The shipping companies need to acknowledge and can naval officer Alexander Slidell Mackenzie took rooms passeggiata, the promenade. address this danger -- and if they don’t, their insurers should. overlooking “the Rambla”. The street, built over an old (It’s worth noting that the damage to the McCain is on its riverbed and at that time only recently urbanized, was terrorism will have already persuaded some nervous told me. She and others have tested clever alternatives left-hand, or port, side, strongly suggesting it had right-of- “constantly frequented by every variety of people, and in boulevardiers to divert to less populous places, take to fortifying public spaces, such as using mirrors or floor way over the tanker.) the afternoon was thronged to overflowing”, he wrote in the car, or cower on the sofa at home. For those who markings to make pedestrians act playfully, so that suspi- With the McCain and Fitzgerald now out of service indefi- his travelogue A Year in Spain. do venture out, having to keep an eye out for murder- cious behavior stands out. It is worth a try, if only to safe- nitely, the Seventh Fleet finds itself without two of its seven The threat of imminent attack ers in vans wrecks the whole idea of a civilized city walk guard the public demonstration of civic sociability and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. These are the ships equipped Well-dressed men and women mingled with peas- as an exercise in stress-free people watching. It doesn’t friendly exchange so admired by generations of visitors. with the Aegis anti-missile systems that would be the front-line ants, artisans, French officers and their girlfriends, stu- do to romanticize the notion too much. These days, “Who can say enough in praise of the paseo?” Macken- defense against a missile attack by North Korea in the region. dents, curates and monks. It goes without saying that the Las Ramblas is as much an overcrowded tourist attrac- zie wrote in the 1820s. “It furnishes an amusement at The Navy has rightly decided to put a temporary pause on threat of imminent attack puts this tradition of ambula- tion as a civic amenity. It has “evolved from being the once delightful and innocent, and from which not even operations by the Seventh Fleet, with a focus on “trends in per- tory, open-air cosmopolitanism in jeopardy. The essence favorite street of Barcelonans to a street many avoid”, the poorest are excluded, a school where the public sonnel, materiel, maintenance and equipment.” Given the per- of the stroll — which, in Paris, gave birth to the ideal of Eduard Cabré, an urban planning consultant, told web- manners are softened and refined by social intercourse vasiveness of the issues, this shutdown should be extended to the flâneur, the leisurely observer of city life — is that it site Citylab shortly after the attacks. And of course, local and mutual observation; where families meet families, its surface ships worldwide. Undoubtedly, some senior officers should be relaxed. authorities need to protect citizens from likely threats. and friends meet friends, as upon a neutral ground.” It is will find their careers ended. Yet the larger issue will remain: how When I lived in Milan, which is certainly not Italy’s Hence the new bollards on many of our boulevards. At a measure of how hard terrorists have hit Europe that we best to train sailors, and deploy ships, to continue to protect vital most laid back city, a passeggiata in one’s Sunday best, the same time, though, “we really don’t want to abol- now have to armor that innocent, neutral ground like a U.S. interests in an increasingly threatening environment. past the Galleria and the Duomo, was a weekly restate- ish pedestrians or we will end up with ghost cities”, as potential battlefield. (Source: Bloomberg) ment of one’s part in civilized society. The menace of Marialena Nikolopoulou of Kent School of Architecture (Source: FT) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 24, 2017 ANALYSIS 7

NATO-CIA-Pentagon: Junction of Trump draws geopolitical battle lines in South Asia the real druglords and warlords By James M. Dorsey President Donald J. Trump has drawn battle lines in South By Sibel Edmonds Asia that are likely to have a ripple effect across Eurasia: a The Casualties of CIA-NATO Afghan Operations In- stepped-up war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, a tougher clude Heroin-Related Deaths approach towards Pakistan’s selective support of militancy, Are you aware of the heroin epidemic that has been and closer cooperation with India – moves that are likely to on fire all across America- since 2001? Thanks to the push Pakistan closer to China and Russia. government-corporate media outlets you probably are There is little doubt that Mr. Trump had few good choices not. 16 years into an Afghanistan war in which the Taliban and Between 2002 and 2013, heroin-related overdose other militant groups are holding their ground, if not making deaths in the US quadrupled, with more than 10,000 advances, buffeted by Pakistani policies that are rooted in the people dying of heroin overdoses in America in 2014 fabric of the country’s military and society. Similarly, there is alone. Afghanistan has been the number one source little doubt that Pakistan’s convoluted relationship to militan- globally of both opium and heroin: cy poses serious challenges to US policy in South Asia as well Heroin from Afghanistan has killed more people as a global effort to contain political violence. than the 55,000 Americans killed in the Vietnam War. Nonetheless, Mr. Trump could find that his newly an- An American now gets killed every 32 minutes by Af- nounced South Asia policy will fail to achieve his goal of an ghan heroin. With US heroin deaths tripling every four “honorable and enduring outcome worthy of the tremen- years, an American will get killed by heroin every 16 dous sacrifices” made by the United States. The silver lining minutes by 2020. is that Pakistan may temporarily engineer a stay of execution There were 189,000 heroin users in the US in 2001, but ultimately will find itself in a cul de sac from which there before the US-NATO invasion of Afghanistan. By 2016 is no escape. that number went up to 4,500,000 (2.5 million heroin Mr. Trump, despite refusing to disclose details of his strate- addicts and 2 million casual users). Heroin deaths shot gy in Afghanistan, made clear in a speech outlining his South up from 1,779 in 2001 to 10,574 in 2014 as Afghan Asia policy, that he hopes that an increased US military pres- opium poppy fields metastasized from 7,600 hectares ence will force the Taliban to come to the negotiating ta- in 2001 (when the US-NATO War in Afghanistan be- ble. Yet, achieving that would require the kind of military and gan) to 224,000 hectares in 2016. (One hectare equals Mexico with 10,500 hectares of opium could not possibly political engagement in Afghanistan that Mr. Trump seems approximately 2.5 acres). Ironically, the so-called US supply even 1/20th of the heroin demand in the US. What has unwilling to embrace. eradication operation in Afghanistan has cost an esti- the DEA been doing about the vast majority of heroin which US media reported that Mr. Trump envisioned only mated $8.5 billion in American taxpayer funds since the a modest increase of several thousand troops in a country US-NATO-Afghan war started in October 2001. is coming in from Afghanistan? wracked by corruption whose military is largely incapable of Interestingly, while the mainstream and pseudo-al- It was estimated that more than 200,000 people in New reports submitted to the US Congress in 1999 by FAS: standing its ground on its own. Various military and political ternative media outlets keep playing up drugs from York City alone were using heroin. At one point in time, 1960s- In support of the US war in Vietnam, the CIA analysts suggest that it would take a far greater commitment Mexico, we hardly hear a peep on the massive amount you were able to find used syringes on public play- renewed old and cultivated new relations with Laotian, to militarily turn the tables on the Taliban in Afghanistan. of Afghan-sourced heroin. To put it in perspective: In grounds. As in the case of Afghanistan, the CIA-Penta- Burmese and Thai drug merchants, as well as corrupt Moreover, Mr. Trump’s exclusive focus on defeating mili- 2014, according to the DEA drug threat assessment, gon WarLords-DrugLords were at the top of the chain: military and political leaders in Southeast Asia. Despite tants militarily or bombing them into submission ignores the Mexico produced an estimated 42 metric tons of her- In the 1960s and early 1970s, the CIA recruited the the dramatic rise of heroin production, the agency’s re- broader economic, social and political problems that fuel oin. Afghanistan produced 6,400 metric tons of opi- Laotian Hmong tribe to fight communist forces in the lations with these figures attracted little attention until militancy in Afghanistan and drive Pakistan’s support for the um that same year. The largest share of US heroin is region. The CIA encouraged the Hmong to grow opi- the early 1970s. Taliban and a selection of other groups. “We are not nation Afghanistan-sourced. It is coming from US-occupied um instead of rice to make them dependent on CIA MAY 1970- A Christian Science Monitor corre- building again. We are killing terrorists,” Mr. Trump said. Afghanistan. There is no other mathematical possibility: air drops of food. The agency could then force their spondent reported that the CIA `is cognizant of, if Announcing a tougher approach towards Pakistan, Mr. Mexico with 10,500 hectares of opium could not compliance by threatening to withdraw the food aid. not party to, the extensive movement of opium out Trump insisted that the South Asian nation’s partnership with possibly supply even 1/20th of the heroin demand in To make the deal even sweeter, they even located a of Laos,’ quoting one charter pilot who claimed that the United States would not survive if it continued to harbor the US. What has the DEA been doing about the vast heroin refinery at CIA headquarters in northern Loas `opium shipments get special CIA clearance and moni- and support groups that target the United States. majority of heroin which is coming in from Afghani- and used Air America, a passenger and cargo airline toring on their flights southward out of the country.’ At Adding fuel to the fire, the president emphasized the US’ stan? that was covertly owned and operated by the CIA, to the time, some 30,000 US service men in Vietnam were strategic partnership with India, calling on it to support his Looking at facts and figures regarding the heroin export the Laotian opium and heroin. Much of it ended addicted to heroin. administration’s policy with increased Indian economic assis- epidemic, it becomes obvious that the DEA has been a up in Vietnam, causing an epidemic of heroin addiction 1972-The full story of how Cold War politics and US tance to Afghanistan. In doing so, Mr. Trump challenged a colossal failure and they refuse to answer most ques- in US soldiers. covert operations fueled a heroin boom in the Golden pillar of Pakistani policy towards Afghanistan: limiting Indian tions asked of them. Perhaps, the DEA would answer CIA ties to international drug trafficking goes back Triangle broke when Yale University doctoral student influence in the country at whatever price. questions (or plead the 5th) at Congressional Hearings. to the Korean War: Alfred McCoy published his ground-breaking study, Mr. Trump’s approach to South Asia puts to the test two First, ‘the Mexicans did it” which is to say that the In 1949, two of Chiang Kai-shek’s defeated generals, The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia. The CIA at- assumptions: that Pakistan will want to preserve its partner- tempted to quash the book. ship with the United States at whatever cost and that it has 1960s- In support of the US war in Vietnam, the CIA renewed 1973- Thai national Puttapron Khramkhruan was few alternatives. Mr. Trump could well find that at least in the old and cultivated new relations with Laotian, Burmese and arrested in connection with the seizure of 59 pounds short term those assumptions are incorrect. of opium in Chicago. A CIA informant on narcotics Pakistan’s relationship to militancy is engrained in a deep- Thai drug merchants, as well as corrupt military and political trafficking in northern Thailand, he claimed that the ly-rooted zero-sum-game approach towards India within the leaders in Southeast Asia. agency had full knowledge of his actions. According to military as well as an empathy for Sunni Muslim ultra-con- the US Justice Department, the CIA quashed the case servatism that is woven into the fabric of the security forces, 173 tons of raw opium from Latin America (from Li Wen Huan and Tuan Shi Wen, marched their Third because it might `prove embarrassing because of Mr. parts of the government bureaucracy, and significant seg- 10,500 hectares in Mexico and 1,500 hectares in Co- and Fifth Route armies, with families and livestock, Khramkhruans’s involvement with CIA activities in Thai- ments of society. lombia) were converted into 17.3 tons of heroin and across the mountains to northern Burma. Once in- land, Burma, and elsewhere.’ Pakistan’s use of militant groups to counter India in Af- all 17.3 tons were imported into the US, where it would stalled, the peasant soldiers began cultivating the crop For those who consider alternative media outlets ghanistan and Kashmir as well as an anti-dote to nationalist not supply even 5% of the US heroin demand. they knew best, the opium poppy. such as Newsbud conspiracy hubs, here is a report, al- insurgents in the restive province of Balochistan is moreover If all countries on Earth growing opium, except Af- When China entered the Korean War, the CIA had beit watered-down, by the New York Times, published tacitly endorsed by China’s repeated vetoing of the designa- ghanistan, were to convert their opium to heroin and a desperate need for intelligence on that nation. The in 1993: tion of Masood Azhar, an anti-Indian militant, former fighter send it to the US, it wouldn’t be enough for even half agency turned to the warlord generals, who agreed to During the Vietnam War, operations in Laos were in the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan, and Islamic scholar of the current US heroin demand. slip some soldiers back into China. In return, the agen- largely a CIA responsibility. The agency’s surrogate who graduated from a Deobandi madrassah, Darul Uloom With the obvious parallels and undeniable cor- cy offered arms. Officially, the arms were intended to there was a Laotian general, Vang Pao, who com- Islamia Binori Town in Karachi, that is the alma mater of nu- relations, any critical mind would begin spewing the equip the warlords for a return to China. In fact, the manded Military Region 2 in northern Laos. He enlist- merous Pakistani militants. following questions: How did Afghan opium spread Chinese wanted them to repel any attack by the Bur- ed 30,000 Hmong tribesmen in the service of the CIA. Moreover, China, with an investment of more than $50 from 7,600 hectares prior to the US-NATO invasion to mese. These tribesmen continued to grow, as they had for billion in Pakistani infrastructure and energy that would turn 224,000 hectares since the invasion? What is the cor- Soon intelligence began to flow to Washington from generations, the opium poppy. Before long, someone the country into a key node, if not the crown jewel of its One relation between US heroin deaths rising from 1,779 the area, which became known as the Golden Triangle. – there were unproven allegations that it was a Mafia Belt, One Road initiative, is a logical escape for a government in 2000-pre Afghan invasion, to more than 10,000 in So, too, did heroin, en route to Southeast Asia and of- family from Florida – had established a heroin refining and a military that lacks the political will to confront its own 2014 alone? ten to the United States… lab in Region Two. The lab’s production was soon being demons. Similarly, Russia, long eager to gain access to warm Parallels & Flashbacks The CIA did, however, lobby the Eisenhower admin- ferried out on the planes of the CIA’s front airline, Air water ports and expand its influence in Central and South Forty years ago the United States was hit by anoth- istration to prevent the Bureau of Narcotics and Dan- America. A pair of BNDD agents tried to seize an Air Asia, is certain to see opportunity in further estrangement er major heroin epidemic. During the 1970’s, during gerous Drugs, the DEA’s predecessor, from establishing America. between Pakistan and the United States. the Vietnam War, heroin making its way to the United monitoring posts in the area to study the traffic. A pair of BNDD agents tried to seize an Air Ameri- Closer ties to China and Russia may offer Pakistan a tem- States from the Golden Triangle became an epidemic. Let’s take a few documented facts from records and ca DC-3 loaded with heroin packed into boxes of Tide porary escape from dealing with structural problems. Ulti- soap powder. At the CIA’s behest, they were ordered to mately, however, Pakistan’s relationship to militancy is likely release the plane and drop the inquiry. to also complicate its relations with Beijing and Moscow amid Author and activist William Blum noted in his book escalating violence in Balochistan and no end in sight to the Rogue State, militant insurgency in Afghanistan. “The CIA flew the drugs all over Southeast Asia, to A series of devastating attacks in Balochistan over the last sites where the opium was processed into heroin, and year that have targeted Pakistani cadets, decimated the le- to trans-shipment points on the route to Western cus- gal profession in the capital Quetta, and targeted Chinese tomers.” nationals as well kidnappings and drive-by shootings pose Do you remember the Iran Contra scandal and the a serious obstacle to China’s strategic ambition to extend its days when Crack Cocaine was the major drug that de- maritime power across the Indian Ocean and turn the sleepy stroyed communities and lives across the United States Baloch fishing port of Gwadar into a gateway to its troubled in the early 1980’s? Another fact obscured by the main- north-western province of Xinjiang. stream media, so that many still have either not heard Pakistan has, moreover, in the past year turned a blind eye about it or consider it another conspiracy story. to Saudi funding of anti-Shiite, anti-Iranian militants in Ba- The United States supported the Contras in their lochistan, including a Pakistani cleric who remains a member fight against the Sandanista government in Nicaragua. of the Council of Islamic Ideology, a government advisory Officially barred from arming and funding the Contras body tasked with ensuring that legislation does not contra- by Congress, the CIA came up with a scheme to sell dict Islamic law, despite having been designated a global ter- arms to Iran and use the funds to illegally arm and rorist by the US Treasury. supply the Contras. CIA-protected drug smugglers flew China has too much invested in for Pakistan’s selective down to Nicaragua loaded with arms to supply the support of militancy or the advantages of needling India by Contras and flew back loaded with Columbian cocaine. protecting Mr. Azhar to ultimately get in the way of achiev- A decade later, investigative reporter Gary Webb used ing its geopolitical goals vested in its One Belt, One Road official government documents to prove that the CIA initiative. had sheltered these drug smuggling operatives and As a result, Pakistan’s refusal to confront its demons could During the Vietnam War, operations in Laos were largely a followed the trail of this cheap Columbian cocaine to in the final analysis leave it out in the cold: its relationship the beginning of the crack epidemic in South-Central with the United States severely damaged, India strengthened CIA responsibility. The agency’s surrogate there was a Laotian LA. Ironically, again, during this same period Ameri- by closer cooperation with the US, and China and Russia de- general, Vang Pao, who commanded Military Region 2 in can Taxpayers were funding DEA operations that were manding that it do what Washington wanted in the first place. northern Laos. He enlisted 30,000 Hmong tribesmen in the supposedly countering crack-cocaine suppliers and Pakistan is likely to have fewer, if any, options and no escape operations. routes once China and Russia come to the conclusion Mr. service of the CIA. (Source: Newsbud) Trump has already articulated. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 8 INTERNATIONAL AUGUST 24, 2017 The threat to internet freedom in Trump’s America By Emily Parker is not limited to rioters. It could also affect DreamHost explained that law enforcement it’s just not worth the trouble. Citizens’ self- and coordinate action. people who casually visited a protest web regularly approaches the company to ask for censorship helps authoritarian governments How many Americans would think twice One of the great things about America is site, perhaps simply to learn more about information about customers who might be keep the Web in check. about visiting a protest site if they knew that that if you don’t like the government, you what was happening. the target of criminal investigations. But the Self-censorship may not appear to be the hosting company might have to hand have the right to speak out against it. Since This DOJ request appears groundbreaking, DOJ is going too far. DreamHost is protesting much of an issue in the United States, where over information about them? Would people President Donald Trump took office in January, and not in a good way. Mark Rumold, an because, it writes, “Internet users have a a brief glance at Twitter will expose you to still want to express their views on social ordinary citizens have been voicing dissent attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation reasonable expectation that they will not get a flood of anti-Trump commentary. Street media if it meant exposing themselves to a on the internet and in the streets. Now, an (EFF), which is working with DreamHost on the swept up in criminal investigations simply protests are popping up regularly, with the potential investigation? Complaining won’t extraordinary request from the Department of case, says that this kind of information seizure by exercising their right to political speech help of social media. Americans don’t seem solve anything anyway, they might figure, so Justice (DOJ) could make people increasingly usually would be limited to a site dedicated against the government.” particularly afraid of expressing themselves, or it’s not worth the risk. afraid to exercise that right. to criminal activity, like child pornography In making this overly broad request, the of mobilizing for action. But that could change. In this particular case, the DOJ may not The DOJ is trying to compel an internet or drug sales. What’s unusual about the DOJ has taken a page from the playbook America is very divided and the atmosphere get what it wants. EFF’s Rumold says that the hosting company, DreamHost, to hand over DreamHost case, Rumold said in an email, is of authoritarian governments. It may seem is tense. If protests were to escalate, it’s not most likely outcome is that DreamHost will information about everyone who visited that the targeted website is not dedicated to far-fetched to compare the United States to hard to imagine the Trump administration, have to turn over some information from the disruptj20.org, a DreamHost customer web a criminal enterprise, “but to engaging in the China, for example, where political protest putting more pressure on internet companies site, after the DOJ’s warrant is substantially site that helped organize Trump inauguration core of what the First Amendment is designed sites wouldn’t even be allowed to exist. But to reveal information about people associated narrowed and protections are put in place protests. DreamHost is fighting back, arguing to protect: associating, communicating, blocking Web sites is only one way to crack with demonstrations. to protect innocent users. But even if that that complying with the request would require learning and engaging with like-minded down on dissent. Political activists happens, the story shouldn’t end there. handing over 1.3 million IP addresses, as well political protesters and in organizing protests Authoritarian governments use the threat Political activists are not likely to be deterred Internet companies should continue to as contact information, content of emails, and dissent.” of surveillance – and possible subsequent by such information requests, even if they speak out about overly broad government and photographs of thousands of people. Constitutionality of a warrant legal action - to create an atmosphere of were overly broad. But ordinary citizens, those requests, and the media and public must While the Trump inauguration protests were DreamHost is challenging the DOJ on fear and caution. Expressing your viewpoint that don’t consider themselves “dissidents,” remain vigilant. Americans should not take largely peaceful, some protestors were the constitutionality of its warrant. In a or organizing for activism online is a good might balk. The internet is where all kinds of internet freedom for granted. violent and destructive. But the DOJ request blog post called “We Fight for the Users,” way to get on the official radar. Sometimes, people come together to express grievances (Source: Reuters)

Apt in Fereshteh Villa in Shahrak Qarb New Commercial Building in Super luxury new Apt A beautiful flat with stunning view duplex villa, 630 Sq.m, 5 Bdrs., Saadat Abad in Elahieh from 8th floor, 292 sq.m one extra Suit with 300 sq.m apt totally around 10000 sq.m built up 2th floor, 140 sq.m, 2 master 4 Bdrs., furn & unfurn with 3 Bdrs., garden, outdoor unbelievable building, each floor rooms, nice view, full of diplomats, located in a very nice residential pool, renovated, too many parking 1500 sq.m, flat, 180 parking spj, gym saloon lobby, green garden apartment & peaceful spaces, security, furn & unfurn Suitable for foreign companies garden furn/unfurn, parking Ms.Diba: 09128103206 neighborhood $15000 $4200 $6500 Suitable for Residency & Ms.Diba: 09128103206 Ms.Sara 09128103207 Whole Building in Dibaji Embassy residential building with good Ms.Diba: 09128103206 access to Sadr-highway, brand-new Office in Jordan Several Apts in Garden Tower in with only 5 floors, contain units of: 110 sq.m to 240 sq.m, full of Elahieh Unbelievable Villa in 60, 80, 95 & 105 sq.m, 19 Bdrs., in foreign companies , could be flat, new, from 150 sq.m to 250 sq.m total, furn ^ unfurn upon request, parking lot with extra visitors Apts, 3 Bdrs., garden spj, equipped North of Tehran $8000 ~ $15000 parking, lobby security, renovated kitchen, could be fully furn and 7000 sq.m land, 2200 sq.m built Suitable for international almost new new brand lobby, opposite to up, duplex, 7 Bdrs., big saloon green garden, renovated waterfall Companies staff accommodation Price per each sq $40 French school, good access to Ms.Sara 09128103207 Sadr highway Suitable for Embassy or Ms.Diba: 09128103206 Reasonable Price Residency Holder of New Whole Building in Elahieh Ms.Diba: 09128103206 Ms.Diba: 09128103206 3 Apts with one duplex villa, 1200 Very Nice Office ISO 9001:2008 sq.m total, parking, luxury & in Jordan Limited summer Offer Duplex Villa modern, $15000 88 sq.m, furn/unfurn in Jorden in Mahmoodieh ISO 10004:2012 Suitable for Only $1200 140 sq.m flat Apt, 3 Bdrs., 4th floor 550 sq.m, 4 Bdrs., parking & ISO 10002:2014 Residency and Embassy Available for Rent peaceful residency sauna, with convenient acess to Ms.Diba: 09128103206 Ms.Sara 09128103207 $1400 Valiasr and Palladium, $7000 From Oxford Cert Universal Ms.Sara 09128103207 Ms.Sara 09128103207 New Whole Building in Apt in Gheytarieh Apt in Velenjak Jordan_Elahieh 120 sq.m, 2 Bdrs., view of park, 1th floor, 270 sq.m, 3Bdrs. fully 2 block, 10 Apts total, 25 rooms, parking, full furn diplomatic Palace in Tehran view, roof garden, outdoor furn, diplomatic building Tajrish/ Elahieh pool located in roof, cozy place nice and cozy, $3000 duplex, 7000 sq.m land, 2200 parking, lobby $1200 Ms.Diba: 09128103206 sq.m built up, 8 Bdrs., renovated, Suitable for Ms.Diba: 09128103206 green & unbelievable garden, Embassy & Residency New Apt in Elahieh water fall spj, parking, completely Ms.Diba: 09128103206 Apt in Zafaranieh 1th floor, 320 sq.m, 3 Bdrs. renovated, big saloon 260 sq.m, 4 Bdrs., nice furn quit & equipped kitchen, furn & unfurn, Very nice Office in Jordan cozy, parking parking, quit, spj $30000 Suitable for Residency & Embassy 80 sq.m, 3 3Bdrs., furn/ unfurn $3300 $5500 Only $12000 Ms.Diba: 09128103206 Suitable for Foreigners Ms.Diba: 09128103206 Ms.Sara 09128103207 Ms.Diba: 09128103206

TEHRAN TIMES Iran’s Leading International Daily

Advertising Dept

Tel: 021 - 430 51 450 Advertising Dept: [email protected] [email protected] 430 51 450 - 430 51 405 I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 24, 2017 HEALTH 9

Symptoms you A bad work environment can be bad for your health

By Daniella Emanuel

shouldn’t ignore Don’t hit the snooze button on this one. By Kara Mayer Robinson in your back, you may have kidney stones. Some dread going to work, and some look forward to A kidney stone is a small crystal made it, but how important is it to actually enjoy and feel satisfied Most aches and pains aren’t a sign of of minerals and salts that forms in your with your job? something serious, but certain symptoms kidney and moves through the tube that Nearly two-thirds of US workers experience some degree should be checked out. See a doctor if carries your urine. of mismatch between their desired and actual working you feel any of these things: Your doctor may take X-rays or do an conditions, according to a recent survey by RAND. To make 1. Weakness in your arms and legs ultrasound to see the stones. An X-ray uses things worse, a study conducted in the UK found that there If you get weak or numb in your arm, radiation in low doses to make images of were more physical markers of stress in people who went leg, or face, it can be a sign of a stroke, structures inside your body. An ultrasound from being unemployed to working in a bad job than in especially if it’s on one side of your body. makes images with sound waves. those who remained unemployed. You could also be having a stroke if Many kidney stones eventually pass Together, these studies provide insight into the struggles you can’t keep your balance, feel dizzy, or through your body when you pee. It can of the work force and the negative health impacts a poor have trouble walking. be very painful. Sometimes your doctor work environment can have on employees. Get help quickly if you suddenly may need to remove the kidney stone. How Americans really feel can’t see well, get a bad headache, feel If you see blood in your urine and you The RAND report reflects the responses of more than confused, or have problems speaking or also have an increase in feeling that you 3,000 Americans ages 25 to 71 on a variety of questions understanding. urgently need to pee, make frequent trips regarding their jobs. “Caught early, it is often reversible,” to the bathroom, or feel burning when you “The thing that surprised me most was how many people says internist Jacob Teitelbaum, MD. urinate, you may have a severe bladder experienced some kind of hostile social interaction in the Don’t wait to see a doctor. Call emergency or kidney infection, Teitelbaum says. Don’t workplace,” said Nicole Maestas, co-author of the study and line. If you get a clot-buster drug within 4.5 wait to see your doctor, especially if you associate professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical hours of your first symptom, you can lower have a fever. School. The report found that one in five US workers had your risk of long-term disability from stroke. If you see blood but don’t feel any such experiences, with the interactions including verbal 2. Chest pain pain, it may be a sign of kidney or bladder abuse and sexual harassment. When it comes to chest pain, it’s better cancer, so visit your doctor. A big factor in this statistic is the level of support that to be safe than sorry. 5. Wheezing a boss provides in the work environment, Maestas said. A “Any chest pain, especially Breathing problems should be treated supportive boss can cut the amount of hostile interactions in accompanied by sweating, pressure, right away. If you’re wheezing, or hear a the workplace in half, she said, and lower it even more than shortness of breath, or nausea, should be whistling sound when you breathe, see that for young women without a college degree. evaluated by a medical professional right your doctor. “The top of the organization sets the tone about what this away,” says Shilpi Agarwal, MD, with One “Without urgent evaluation, breathing culture values and tolerates as far as behavior and codes of Medical Group in Washington, DC. can quickly become labored, and it can conduct, which filters down to all of the supervisory levels,” Chest pain or pressure can be a sign of be catastrophic if not evaluated and Maestas said. “So at every point, having a boss that will either heart disease or a heart attack, particularly if treated quickly,” Agarwal says. not be disrespectful or intervene if you’re being treated you feel it during exertion or while being active. It may be from asthma, a lung disrespectfully by someone else is really, really important.” Or, chest pain may mean problems other than Chest pain may mean problems other than with disease, a severe allergy, or exposure The study also found that nearly three-fourths of with your heart; for example, you have another your heart; for example, you have another serious to chemicals. Your doctor can figure out Americans report intensive or repetitive physical exertion serious condition, such as a blood clot moving condition, such as a blood clot moving into your lung. what’s causing it and how to treat it. If at least a quarter of the time while on the job. And more into your lung, Teitelbaum says. you have allergic asthma, an allergist than half report exposure to potentially dangerous working If your chest feels tight or heavy, and If it’s a blood clot, you may feel the also suggestive of a blood clot,” he says. or pulmonologist (lung specialist) will conditions. it lasts more than a few minutes or goes pain mostly when you stand or walk. You “But don’t rely on that. If it’s hot, red, and create a plan to manage it and reduce One in four American workers said they don’t feel like they away and comes back again, get help. may also notice swelling. The leg is usually swollen on one side, go to the ER.” flare-ups. have enough time to do their jobs, and about half reported Don’t try to tough it out. red and tender, and it will be larger than It’s important to catch a blood Wheezing can also be caused by working during their free time in order to meet expectations. 3. Tenderness and pain in the the other leg. clot before it can break off and block pneumonia or bronchitis. Are you Women report having more difficulty arranging time off to back of your lower leg It’s normal to feel tenderness after your blood flow, which can lead to coughing up yellow or green mucus? take care of personal and family matters than men, as well as This can be a symptom of a blood exercise. But if you also see redness and complications. Do you also have a fever or shortness earning less money. clot in your leg. It’s called deep vein feel heat where it’s swollen or painful, call 4. Blood in your urine of breath? If so, you may have bronchitis A disparity is also seen in the complexity of jobs. Regardless thrombosis, or DVT. It can happen after your doctor. Several things can cause you to see that’s turning into pneumonia. “Time to of their level of education, younger and prime-age working you’ve been sitting for a long time, like Teitelbaum says you can also check blood when you pee. see your doctor,” Teitelbaum says. women were significantly less likely to report having a job on a long plane ride, or if you’re sick and for what’s called the Homans sign. “If you If you have blood in your urine and (Source: health.harvard.edu) that requires solving complicated tasks and unforeseen issues have been in bed a long time. flex your toes upward and it hurts, that’s you also feel a lot of pain in your side or in comparison with similarly aged men. Although 75% of workers received training to improve on or learned a skillset in the past year, only 38% reported that Tips for dining out with type 2 diabetes their job “offers good prospects for advancement.” By Shannan Rouss all could be hints that the dish is going to be higher This study provides important information for employers, in carbs,” warns Zanini. Alternatively, she says, “Broiled, Maestas said. Within work environments, there is an attitude Dining out shouldn’t be stressful, but when you’ve been grilled and even stir-fried or sauteed can be good that if an employee is happy, he or she will be more diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, visiting a restaurant options, as long as you inquire about the base that was productive. In respectful places of work, there is less turnover, can feel suddenly fraught with peril. The temptation used to do so.” If you do opt for something stir-fried so these numbers could help influence employers to aim for of the bread basket or the risk of waiting a ridiculously or sauteed, ask if the restaurant can prepare it using a a better code of conduct, she said. long time for your food might be enough to keep plant-based oil (Zanini says olive oil is the best) or even Seth Kaplan, an associate professor of psychology at George you at home. Fortunately, with a little preparation you water or broth. Mason University who was not involved in the study, said it can still do dinner at the latest Italian hot spot while 4. Scrutinize the sauce. generally corroborates what is already known about American sticking to your meal plan. Keep reading for tips to “The carbohydrate content of food can vary widely, work experiences. But the percentage of people who reported a help you navigate — and thoroughly enjoy — your especially if there are any sauces or additives,” says hostile environment was higher than he suspected. next night out. Catherine Metzgar, Ph.D., RD, of diabetes clinic Virta “We focus a lot on very dramatic overt behaviors in the 1. Stalk the restaurant. Health in San Francisco. The reason? Sauces — even workplace, like workplace shootings, for example. Those are While reviewing a restaurant’s menu online can ones that may seem innocuous like teriyaki or barbecue relatively rare,” he said. “But it’s usually the kind of harsh or certainly help you plan ahead, take your reconnaissance — are often loaded with sugar and other hidden carbs mildly aggressive supervisor that’s the chronic stressor that’s to the next level by checking out your destination’s like cornstarch or flour, explains Metzgar. So either skip there every day that doesn’t get as much attention. And I Instagram, Facebook and more. “I recommend my the sauce altogether or ask for it on the side so you can think we kind of fail to realize how detrimental those types of clients look at the restaurant’s social media accounts control how much you consume. stressors can be.” beforehand,” says Lori Zanini, RD, a certified diabetes 5. Opt for oil and vinegar. On the bright side, four out of five workers reported that educator and creator of the free 7-Day Diabetes Meal Starting off your meal with a fiber-rich salad is a good their jobs were “meaningful” in at least one way, and 84% Plan. “Pictures on social media will provide a great idea idea: Research has shown that it can reduce overall reported that they learn new things. of how large portion sizes are and which dishes look calorie intake at a meal by 11 percent. Just beware of Is a bad job better than no job? like the best option for them. And it lets them plan in Research suggests that the dressing. “Salad dressings are another one of the “Working in a bad job is not good for you. It’s not good for advance for portion control.” biggest culprits of added sugars and hidden carbs,” your physical health, and it’s not good for your mental health. 2. Pack a snack. balsamic vinegar may help says Metzgar. The same goes for the low-fat or fat-free And nearly everybody accepts that,” said Tarani Chandola, lead Sure, making a reservation is always a good idea lower blood pressure and keep versions, which often contain just as much (if not more) author of the International Journal of Epidemiology study and when you’re trying to stick to an eating schedule, but cholesterol in check. added sugars to improve the flavor. Your safest bet? professor of medical sociology at the University of Manchester. there’s no guarantee you’ll be seated on time — or that Oil and vinegar. Not only will you know exactly what’s “But there is some backward ‹Oh, at least you have a job. your food will show up promptly. To avoid a blood sugar she adds, “If you are taking short-acting insulin, do not in your dressing ( just two tasty ingredients!), research Any job has got to be better than not having a job -- so low if your meal is delayed, Zanini recommends having take your insulin until your meal has arrived.” suggests that balsamic vinegar may help lower blood being unemployed must be the worst thing for your health a snack on hand. Try a quarter-cup of almonds with two 3. Read between the lines. pressure and keep cholesterol in check. there can be.’ It’s an assumption that people make, but not tablespoons of unsweetened dried fruit like raisins. And, “’Au gratin,’ ‘breaded,’ ‘bisque,’ ‘crunchy’ and ‘crispy’ (Source: livestrong.com) many people actually test this assumption.” He and co-author Nan Zhang, also of the University of Manchester, decided to test it. They surveyed 1,116 people ‘Loneliness epidemic’ called a major public health threat in the UK aged 35 to 75 years and found that those who transitioned from unemployment to a poor-quality job By Robert Preidt isolation regularly,” she added during equal to or greater than well-known risk the effect on public health is only a presentation Saturday at the annual factors such as obesity. anticipated to increase. Indeed, many had higher biological indicators of stress than people who Loneliness may be more hazardous meeting of the American Psychological More than one in four Americans lives nations around the world now suggest remained unemployed. to your health than obesity -- and a Association (APA) in Washington, D.C. alone, more than half are unmarried, we are facing a ‘loneliness epidemic.’ The These biological indicators are an issue because they growing number of Americans are at risk, Holt-Lunstad presented results of and marriage rates and the number of challenge we face now is what can be show that the individual could develop metabolic- or researchers report. two large analyses. In one, researchers children per household are declining, done about it,” Holt-Lunstad said. cardiovascular-related diseases, according to the study. About 42.6 million American adults analyzed 148 studies that included a according to U.S. Census data. Possible solutions, she said, include The individuals who transitioned into good-quality jobs over age 45 are believed to suffer from total of more than 300,000 people. Those “These trends suggest that Americans getting doctors to screen patients for social had the lowest amounts of stress indicators seen from chronic loneliness, according to AARP. studies linked greater social connection are becoming less socially connected isolation, and training schoolchildren in measurements across the cardiovascular, metabolic and “Being connected to others socially is to a 50 percent lower risk of early death. and experiencing more loneliness,” Holt- social skills. Older people should prepare immune systems, the study said. widely considered a fundamental human The researchers also reviewed 70 Lunstad said in an APA news release. for retirement socially as well as financially, Chandola said they did not find any mental health need -- crucial to both well-being and studies involving more than 3.4 million She said there is strong evidence that she added, noting that many social ties are improvement in either the people who stayed unemployed or survival. Extreme examples show infants people to gauge the impact of social social isolation and loneliness increase related to the workplace. those who went on to poor-quality jobs, which also counters in custodial care who lack human contact isolation, loneliness and living alone the risk of early death more than many Holt-Lunstad also suggested that the assumption that a bad job is better than no job. fail to thrive and often die, and indeed, on the risk of premature death. The other factors. community planners include spaces that George Mason University’s Kaplan said “it would be nice social isolation or solitary confinement conclusion: The effect of the three was “With an increasing aging population, encourage people to gather together, such as if they were able at some point to collect data on objective has been used as a form of punishment,” recreation centers and community gardens. health outcomes.” As the study suggests that the biological said Julianne Holt-Lunstad. She is a Research presented at medical markers are indicators of eventual illness, a followup report With an increasing aging population, the effect on health outcomes would be advantageous, he said. But professor of psychology at Brigham on public health is only anticipated to increase. meetings should be viewed as Young University in Provo, Utah. preliminary until published in a peer- overall, he thought the study provided a clever new look at “Yet an increasing portion of the Indeed, many nations around the world now reviewed journal. the effects of poor-quality employment. U.S. population now experiences suggest we are facing a ‘loneliness epidemic’. (Source: webmd.com) (Source: CNN) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 10 HERITAGE & TOURISM AUGUST 24, 2017

CHTHO chief names deputy Healthcare city aims to boost director for tourism Iran’s medical tourism prospects TOURISM TEHRAN — The newly-appointed direc- desktor of the Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization Ali-Asghar Mounesan has selected Mohammad Moheb-Khodai as his deputy for tourism affairs.

Mohammad Moheb-Khodai speaks in an undated photo Moheb-Khodai replaced Mirhadi Qareseyyed-Romiani who served in the post since July, CHTN reported on Tuesday. Mounesan, who doubles as vice president, assumed the position on August 13, replacing Zahra Ahmadipour who held the post since November 2016. Under its 2025 Tourism Vision Plan, Iran is expecting to soar foreign tourist arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2025.

U.S. warns citizens about The picture shows an artist’s rendition of the Isfahan Healthcare City in central Iran, whenever the massive project is fully completed. TOURISM TEHRAN — The first total of 19.65 trillion rials (about $260 area, has been projected for the third be considered as the main advantage traveling to Cancun deskphase of an enormous million) which will be secured by the phase under a budget of 12 trillion rials of medical tourism in Iran, the minister healthcare city was officially inaugurat- private sector, YJC reported on Monday. (about $315 million). said in an address to a Tehran confer- The U.S. State Department warned its citizens about traveling ed in the city of Isfahan, central Iran, Ground was broken for the health- The final phase will be capped by ence to which business representatives to parts of Mexico including Cancun and Playa del Carmen, on Monday as the country avidly seeks care center in 2012 and it is projected constructing a 12-story four-star ho- from over 30 courtiers attended. as homicides rise at resorts popular with American tourists. to surge its global share of the medical to become fully operational by the next tel measuring 33,000 square meters in Moreover, the state-run Tourism The advisory issued on Tuesday upgraded the warnings tourism market. three years. area, to which 1.65 trillion rials (about Holding Company, affiliated with the for two states, Quintana Roo and Baja California Sur, saying Health Minister Hassan Qaziza- The first phase covers 84,000 square $44 million) has been allotted. Social Security Organization, is to un- turf wars between crime gangs have led to a surge in vio- deh-Hashemi accompanied by several meters of superstructure costing 4 tril- Isfahan Healthcare City is aimed to veil a comprehensive plan, which will lence. The only warning for Quintana Roo in a December provincial officials cut the ribbon on lion rials (about $108 million) to be built. become a widely-known international be implemented with the participation statement was about lack of cellular and Internet service in Isfahan Healthcare City which is com- Some 2 trillion rials (about $54 mil- medical complex for offering quality of 22 hospitals and over 200 physicians, some areas. prised of orthopedic, obstetrics and lion) has been allocated to the second clinical, health, and education services. specialists, and surgeons. The expanded travel advisory hits at the heart of a tour- gynecology clinics, as well as medical phase of the complex that will be com- Earlier this month, Ali Rabiei, the The Ministry of Health registered ism industry that brings in $20 billion a year for Mexico. The offices. prised of a comprehensive radiation minister of cooperatives, labor and some 105,000 inbound patients over state of Quintana Roo, where the resorts of Tulum and Coz- Once the complex becomes fully hub, a conference hall and vast labo- social welfare said the country has a the past Iranian calendar year (March umel are also located, gets 10 million tourists a year, a third operational, it will create around four ratory center for PET scan, CT scan and potential to earn $7 billion in revenues 2016-March 2017), a majority of them of the national total. thousand direct jobs in the province, MRI amongst others. through attracting one million health came from neighboring countries in- The warnings come as homicides in Mexico are set to rise according to project managers. The A hospital with one thousand beds, tourists on a yearly basis. cluding Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia and to their highest since at least the turn of the century. Quin- whole project is estimated to cost a measuring 124,000 square meters in Relative wallet-friendly services can the Persian Gulf littoral states. tana Roo alone has seen 169 murders this year. “Shooting incidents, in which innocent bystanders have been injured or killed, have occurred” in both states, the U.S. warned. “While most of these homicides appeared to be tar- Northern cities gear up for intl. tribal culture festival geted criminal organization assassinations, turf battles be- HERITAGE TEHRAN – The cities of Gorgan and (black tent) are among the main programs of the fes- tween criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas deskGonbad-e Kavus in northern Go- tival, the official added. frequented by U.S. citizens.” lestan province will successively host the 11th Inter- Diplomats, cultural officials, as well as regional per- While Quintana Roo’s advisory is now stricter, it isn’t in- national Festival of Tribes Culture in early September, formers, craftspeople, and artists from Iran and the cluded among the most dangerous spots in Mexico, where ISNA reported on Monday. neighboring countries such as Armenia, Turkmenistan, U.S. government personnel are told to defer non-essential The first event will be held at Gorgan Internation- Tajikistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan have been invited to travel. That restriction is reserved for parts of Chihuahua, Co- al Exhibition Center from September 4 to 7 and the participate in the festival. ahuila and Colima states, among others. U.S. travel warnings second at Gonbad-e Kavus’ Olympic Sports Complex The province is home to the UNESCO-registered of differing levels exist for most Mexican states. from September 9 to 11, said Ebrahim Karimi who Gonbad-e Qabus, a one-millennium-old brick tow- Business group Coparmex, which represents more than presides over Golestan province’s Cultural Heritage, er that is of high architectural importance as an ex- 200 hotels, restaurants and other companies in Cancun, Tourism, and Handicrafts Department. emplar design of the early-Islamic-era architecture. said the advisory will likely affect bookings this winter, when Holding exhibits on handicrafts and souvenirs as The 53-meter-high tomb-tower is where Qabus Ibn An undated photo depicts Turkmen nomads performing Americans head to the beaches. Adrian Lopez Sanchez, who well as rituals and traditional music performances, Voshmgir, the 11th-century Ziyarid ruler and literati a traditional dance at the foot of Gonbad-e Qabus, a heads Coparmex in Cancun, says security is beginning to im- and setting up massive ethnic tents called siah chador is laid to rest. UNESCO-inscribed tower in northern Iran. prove after deteriorating earlier this year and last year. (Source: Bloomberg) Tunisia’s tourism revenues up 19 percent this year as more Europeans return TUNIS (Reuters) — Tunisia’s tourism revenues have Tunisian officials expect the number of foreign tour- city of Sousse. ROUND THE GLOBE risen 19 percent so far this year, reflecting a recovery ists to rise to 6.5 million this year, up about 30 percent Last month, however, Britain’s foreign office said in a vital sector crippled two years ago by attacks on from 2016, due to an improving security situation and it was no longer advising against travel to most of the Ephesus foreign holidaymakers. interest from new markets including Russia. North African country including the capital Tunis and Located within what was once the estuary of the River Tourism Minister Salma Loumi said 4.58 million for- That would mark a return to normal, although below major tourist destinations. Kaystros in Turkey, Ephesus comprises successive Hellen- eign tourists visited the North African country between a record 6.9 million visitors seen in 2010. Tour operator Thomas Cook has said it will resume istic and Roman settlements founded on new locations, Jan. 1 and Aug. 10. Arrivals from neighboring Algeria Tourism accounts for about 8 percent of Tunisia’s offering holidays in Tunisia following the change. which followed the coastline as it retreated westward. were up 60 percent, helped by a promotional cam- gross domestic product, provides thousands of jobs Tunisia’s tourism ministry said it expected the com- Excavations have revealed grand monuments of the paign by Tunisia, while visits by European tourists rose and is a key source of foreign currency, but it has strug- pany to start offering flights to Tunisia from February Roman Imperial period including the Library of Celsus and 16 percent. gled since two major attacks in 2015. 2018. the Great Theatre. Little remains of the famous Temple of “There are good indicators, revenues rose by 19 The first at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis left The government expects rising tourism to help Tu- Artemis, one of the “Seven Wonders of the World,” which percent to 1.5 billion Tunisian dinars ($613 million)”, 21 tourists dead, while 39 mostly British holidaymakers nisia’s economy grow 2.5 percent this year, after a 1 drew pilgrims from all around the Mediterranean. Loumi told reporters on Tuesday. were killed in the second attack on a beach in the resort percent expansion last year. Since the 5th century, the House of the Virgin Mary, a domed cruciform chapel seven kilometers from Ephe- sus, became a major place of Christian pilgrimage. The Paris revels in tourism surge, but cautious after Barcelona Ancient City of Ephesus is an outstanding example of a PARIS (Reuters) — Paris is on track to for marketing campaigns abroad and en- Roman port city, with sea channel and harbor basin. welcome more tourists this year than ever hanced security measures in Paris. before after a bumper first half, a senior Tourism generates over 7 percent of official said, though some would-be visi- France’s national income. In the Ile de tors might think again after the Barcelona France region, which includes Paris - one attack. of the world’s most visited cities - about The Paris region registered 16.4 mil- half a million people have jobs linked to lion arrivals in the six months to June, its tourism. tourist board said on Tuesday. The French revival is not confined to That was the most in any first half of Paris. Visitor numbers nationwide are the year since current records began in seen rising to 89 million in 2017 from 83 2008, confirming a strong recovery from million last year. France targets 100 mil- a lull that followed Islamist attacks in the lion visitors annually by 2020. French capital in November 2015 that Valletoux said it was likely that Barcelo- killed 130 people. na’s tourism sector would now take a hit, Frederic Valletoux, president of the but the experience of Paris and New York The Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Turkey Paris region tourist board, said a strong showed the Spanish city would recover. July and August, and good bookings for “One can expect Barcelona to ex- Founded by the 2nd millennium BCE, the sanctuary September meant the region could see perience some slowdown. It took three of the Ephesian Artemis, originally an Anatolian mother 32-34 million tourist arrivals this year years for New York to bounce back after goddess, became one of the largest and most powerful compared with 30 million in 2016 and 32 the Sept 11 attacks, for Madrid it was sanctuaries of the ancient world. million in 2015. a year (after the 2004 commuter train When Asia Minor was incorporated into the Roman It was too early to say if Thursday’s at- Tourists and local residents enjoy a long holiday weekend on the lawns of the Champ bombings) and for Paris also a year,” Empire in 133 BCE, Ephesus was designated as the capital tacks in the Catalan capital and the coast- de Mars near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, June 4, 2017. Valletoux said. of the new province Asia. al resort of Cambrils would weigh on that on other destinations like Paris? It’s hard percent rise in foreign tourists, led by The Barcelona attack was the latest Excavations and conservation over the past 150 years forecast. to say. It’s Europe. The international sit- Americans and Chinese. Fewer Britons of a spate across Europe in the past 13 have revealed grand monuments of the Roman Imperial “(This) could be a record year but let’s uation remains turbulent and terrorism a visited as the pound lost value amid un- months in which militants have used period lining the old processional way through the ancient not get carried away,” he told a news con- daily threat.” certainties over Brexit. vehicles as weapons, killing nearly 130 city including the Library of Celsus and terrace houses. ference. The 10.2 percent year-on-year bounce Among reasons for the upturn, tour- people in France, Germany, Britain, (Source: UNESCO) “Now will Barcelona have an impact in first half arrivals was driven by a 14.9 ism officials cited government financing Sweden and Spain. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 24, 2017 SCIENCE 11 NASA powers up spacecraft that Toothless, dwarf dolphin, could one day carry humans to Mars a case study in evolution Scientists on Wednesday unveiled an extinct species of tooth- NASA just got one step closer to its most ambitious space- less, whiskered and objectively cute mini-dolphin that plied craft ever: One that can carry humans to the moon, Mars Earth’s oceans some 30 million years ago. and perhaps beyond. With only a fossilized cranium -- found in a river near It’s called Orion. And Lockheed Martin (LMT), NASA’s Charleston, South Carolina -- to work with, the researchers contractor for the project, said the latest version of the vessel were able to reconstruct the snub-nosed mammal’s evolu- was powered on for the first time Tuesday morning, lighting tionary saga, describe its facial features and figure out what up the intricate on-board computers that will one day help it snacked on. guide Orion through the vacuum of space. Just over a meter (three feet) from snout to tail, Inermo- “This is the brains and heart of the spacecraft,” said Lock- rostrum xenops was half the size of the common heed spokesperson Gary Napier. He added that the inaugu- bottlenose dolphin. ral power-up appeared to go “very well.” Ironically, the pint-size Flipper was an early offshoot from For the next one or two months NASA will add even one of the two main groupings of cetaceans called Odonto- more computer systems and continue testing its hardware ceti, or “toothed whale” that includes sperm whales and orca. and software, Napier told CNNMoney. This group also developed a radar-like capacity to navigate Important milestone and detect objects by emitting sounds, called echolocation. It’s an important milestone for Orion, which NASA has The other branch, baleen whales, are filter feeders that been working on ever since the Space Shuttle program was strain huge volumes of ocean water to net tiny, shrimp-like krill retired in 2011. or plankton -- think humpback or the gargantuan blue. The hope is to one day launch the spacecraft on the “Inermorostrum took only four million years to evolve from Space Launch System (SLS), a truly massive rocket that is ancestral whales with precisely occluding teeth” -- matching also currently under development by NASA and a handful top and bottom -- “into a toothless, suction feeding specialist,” of private-sector contractors. explained Robert Boessenecker, a professor at the College of When it’s up and running, SLS could be the most pow- Charleston and lead author of a study in the British Royal Soci- erful rocket ever built. The current record holder is NASA’s ety journal Proceedings B. Saturn V rocket, which was used in NASA’s Apollo missions, It’s not clear when the first humans will actually climb aboard During those four million years -- a brief interlude on the including the 1969 moon landing, and has long been re- Orion. NASA originally slated the first manned mission for evolutionary clock -- I. xenops lost its pearly whites, saw its tired. sometime in 2021, but the timeline has since shifted and NASA snout and mouth shrink and developed super muscular lips. Orion and SLS are seen as NASA’s next great step for- “This last feature is perhaps the most critical,” said Boess- ward. has yet to set a new target date. enecker, who deduced the dolphin’s powerful smackers from Orion is tentatively scheduled to fly on SLS for an un- a series of deep artery channels clearly designed to nourish Space exploration into developing SLS and Orion, and it’s already pushed back manned test flight around the moon in 2019. extensive soft tissue. (Source: AFP) “Although astronauts will not fly in this capsule on this Several private-sector companies are investing big mon- several deadlines. flight, a large majority of the [tech is] the same design that ey in space exploration. But cheerleaders for NASA’s Orion program say the pri- astronauts will rely on during following missions with Orion Elon Musk’s SpaceX is known for its Mars ambitions, and vate sector is far behind NASA in developing something that Cyborg bacteria could into the solar system,” Lockheed said in a statement. the firm is expected to announce a major update to its Mars would have SLS and Orion’s capabilities. It’s not clear when the first humans will actually climb travel plan in the coming weeks. And Jeff Bezos, head of And, of course, NASA put the very first humans on the turn CO2 into fuel aboard Orion. NASA originally slated the first manned mis- Blue Origin, is underway on his own spacecraft capable of moon -- so the agency knows a thing or two about the perils sion for sometime in 2021, but the timeline has since shift- making cargo trips to the moon. and complications of spaceflight. If we want to fix our climate problem, it’s not enough to sim- ed and NASA has yet to set a new target date. Meanwhile, NASA has poured tens of billions of dollars (Source: CNNMONEY) ply stop burning fossil fuels. At this point, we have to ac- tively take CO2 out of the air. There are a few technologies ‘Electronic skin’ takes wearable The deep seas are designed to remove CO2 from the air, but many of them are inefficient or expensive. But new research from Harvard health monitors to the next level alive with light might provide a low-cost, effective way to convert CO2 into something useful: The researchers discovered that adding A new, electronic skin microsystem piration, as well as electrical activity in In 1932, William Beebe wedged his neering dive, scientists have succeeded compounds like cadmium or mercury to bacteria will trig- tracks heart rate, respiration, muscle the heart, muscles, eyes and brain to a lanky body into a cramped submers- in gauging the actual extent of biolumi- ger them to grow tiny semiconductors, converting CO2 into movement and other health data, and smartphone application. ible and became the first scientist to nescence in the deep ocean. acetic acid. wirelessly transmits it to a smartphone. Unlike flat sensors descend into the sea’s inky darkness. During 240 research dives in the Pa- Many heavy metals like cadmium, mercury, and lead are The electronic skin offers several im- Unlike flat sensors, the tiny wires A tiny window let him gaze out. Lat- cific, they recorded every occurrence toxic to both large and small creatures alike, and some bac- provements over existing trackers, in- coils in this device are three-dimen- er, he described an unfamiliar world of and kind of glowing sea creature — teria have evolved a defense. When exposed to these heavy cluding greater flexibility, smaller size, sional, which maximizes flexibility. The dancing lights, pale glows and beguiling more than 500 types living down as metals, the bacteria use them to build semiconductor crystals and the ability to stick the self-adhesive coils can stretch and contract like a shimmers. deep as two miles. Then, the research- on their surfaces, effectively neutralizing them. The Harvard patch -- which is a very soft silicone spring without breaking. The coils and “It seemed to explode,” he said of one ers merged the results into a compre- researchers realized these crystals could be used as a sort of about four centimeters (1.5 inches) in sensor components are also configured luminous creature. Nothing, he added hensive survey. artificial photosynthesis. diameter -- just about anywhere on the in an unusual spider web pattern that in his book, “Half Mile Down,” had pre- The result? Most of the creatures — a When exposed to water, light, and carbon dioxide, the body. ensures “uniform and extreme levels of pared him for the spectacular displays. stunning 76 percent — made their own crystals on these bacteria make acetic acid-vinegar, basically. The microsystem was developed by stretchability and bendability in any di- The colors included pale greens, blues, light, vastly outnumbering the ranks of This reaction is around 80 percent efficient, more than six an international team led by Kyung-In rection.” It also enables tighter packing reds and especially blue-greens, which the unlit, such as dolphins. times as efficient as regular photosynthesis. More important- Jang, a professor of robotics engineer- of components, minimizing size. by nature can travel far in seawater. Depths of the ocean ly, all it takes is bacteria and some cadmium for the reaction ing at South Korea’s Daegu Gyeongbuk The researchers liken the design to a Over the decades, biologists learned The depths of the ocean are a lot to start taking place. Institute of Science and Technology, winding, curling vine, connecting sen- that the creatures of the deep sea use brighter than you might think. New re- “You grow them in their liquid broth and you just add and John A. Rogers, the director of sors, circuits and radios like individual light much as animals on land use search from the Monterey Bay Aquari- small aliquots of cadmium solution and you wait a couple Northwestern University’s Center for leaves on the vine. sound — to lure, intimidate, stun, mis- um Research Institute shows that nearly of days and out pops these photosynthetic organisms,” says Bio-Integrated Electronics. The team The key to creating this novel mi- lead and find mates. three quarters of deep sea creatures researcher Kelsey Sakimoto. “It’s all very simple, mix-in-a-pot- described the new device in the journal crosystem is stretching the elastic sil- The living lights emit their own light using biolumines- chemistry.” (Source: Popular Mechanics) Nature Communications. icone base while the tiny wire arcs, The living lights emanated from tiny cence. The electronic skin contains about made of gold, chromium and phos- fish with needlelike fangs, and gelati- “People think bioluminescence is 50 components connected by a net- phate, are laid flat onto it. The arcs are nous brutes with thousands of feeding some kind of exotic characteristic,” said work of 250 tiny wire coils embedded firmly connected to the base only at tentacles. The sheer variety suggested Séverine Martini, a marine biologist and Ancient Earth’s hot interior in protective silicone. The soft materi- one end of each arc. When the base that bioluminescence was fairly com- lead author of the study, published this created ‘graveyard’ of al enables it to conform to body, un- is allowed to contract, the arcs pop up, mon, but no scientist came up with a year in Scientific Reports. “Even ocean- like other hard monitors. It wirelessly forming three-dimensional coils. measurement of the phenomenon. ographers don’t realize that it’s com- continental slabs transmits data on movement and res- (Source: EurekAlert) Now, 85 years after Dr. Beebe’s pio- mon.” (Source: The NYT) 2nd Phase of Shiraz Subway Opens in Presence of Interior Minster The second phase of Subway Line No. free of charge transport services for two Construction of subway with such 1, as long as 10.5 km, was inaugurated months.” specifications will require sufficient time in Shiraz in the presence of Interior Min- As long as 24.5 km, Shiraz subway is between six to eight years in case of ex- ister Rahmani Fazli, the Public Relations the longest subway line in the country istence of necessary financial resources, Dept. of Shiraz Urban and Suburban after Tehran Subway, he said, adding: he said, adding: “Shiraz Urban Railway Railway Company reported. “It is hoped that one or two stations will Company has been put into operation Managing Director of Shiraz Urban be put into operation every 1.5 to two with approx. five years delay due to the Railway Organization Asadollah Ha- months.” shortage of financial facilities.” mans have been provided out of distri- jzamani was the first speaker who said: He went on to say that Imam Hussein In the end, Managing Director of bution of participation bonds, National “The second phase of Metro Line 1 is (AS) Station will be put into operation Shiraz Urban Railway Organization As- Development Fund of Iran (NDFI) and ready for operational with four stations. during the current Ten-Day Dawn cele- adollah Hajzamani added: “700 billion banking loans respectively for the con- Plate tectonics has shaped the Earth’s surface for billions of Under the law, the company will offer brations, he maintained. tomans, $30 million and 100 billion to- struction of Subway Line No. 1 in Shiraz.” years: Continents and oceanic crust have pushed and pulled on each other, continually rearranging the planet’s façade. As two massive plates collide, one can give way and slide under the other in a process called subduction. The subducted slab Official Reveals Enhanced Banking Ties between Iran and Oman then slips down through the Earth’s viscous mantle, like a flat The banking ties between Iran and Oman is on the verge of so that suitable ways have been paved for the issuance of Development Bank of Iran (EDBI), Saman Bank and Mid- stone through a pool of honey. considerable development. guarantee for technical and engineering companies and dle East Bank, constructive agreements were made in the For the most part, today’s subducting slabs can only sink Mohsen Zarrabi Chairman of Iran and Oman Joint also issuance of Letter of Credit (L/C) for importing and ex- field of boosting mutual cooperation, he said, adding: “It is so far, to about 670 kilometers below the surface, before the Chamber of Commerce announced the above statement porting goods especially for Iranian merchants and traders. hoped that the two countries will cooperate and collabo- mantle’s makeup turns from a honey-like consistency, to that and said: “Fortunately, two banks of “Muscat” and “Sehar” In a meeting held in the past month between senior rate with one another in order to materialize most of their of paste -- too dense for most slabs to penetrate further. have established good relationship with the Iranian banks, managers of Sehar Bank and chief executives of Export objectives.” Scientists have suspected that this density filter existed in the mantle for most of Earth’s history. Now, however, geologists at MIT have found that this density boundary was much less pronounced in the ancient Bank Shahr, Pioneer in Construction of Knowledge-Based Projects Earth’s mantle, 3 billion years ago. In a paper published in Giant steps have been taken by Bank pioneer and leader in the field of con- giant stride in the field of completion of Earth and Planetary Science Letters, the researchers note Shahr in the field of completion of con- struction of knowledge-based projects many knowledge-based projects up to that the ancient Earth harbored a mantle that was as much struction of knowledge-based projects. in the country.” the present time, he reiterated. as 200 degrees Celsius hotter than it is today -- temperatures Technology Commercialization and In this regard, agreement has been In the end, he referred to this issue that may have brewed up more uniform, less dense material Innovation Deputy President for Scien- signed and sealed with banks, he said, that knowledge-based economy and throughout the entire mantle layer. tific Affairs Mahmoud Sheikh Zeynaddin adding: “Special funds have been set up development based on knowledge and The researchers also found that, compared with today’s announced the above statement and both in public and private banks in order creativity is one of the most important rocky material, the ancient crust was composed of much pointed to the economic woes of coun- to offering financial facilities to the target subjects reiterated in the field of resist- denser stuff, enriched in iron and magnesium. The combina- try and necessity of paying due atten- companies.” ance economy and said: “Banks play tion of a hotter mantle and denser rocks likely caused sub- tion to the knowledge-based economy Bank Shahr is among the active important role in this field, so that both rolled up their sleeves in order to back ducting plates to sink all the way to the bottom of the mantle, and said: “Bank Shahr has always been banks in the country which has taken public and private banks have thus far knowledge-based projects.” 2,800 kilometers below the surface, forming a “graveyard” of slabs atop the Earth’s core . .(Source: eurekalert.org) ساعت: 14:10 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 12 LIFE&SOCIETY AUGUST 24, 2017

Trump’s decision to allow Pivotal concerns about feral plastic bottle sales in national parks condemned and free roaming dogs The Trump administration’s decision to reverse a ban on the sale of plastic water bottles in some of America’s most fa- By Farnaz Heidari as reservoirs of infection for threatened mous national parks, including the Grand Canyon, shows “the populations (Gilbert, 2016), he said, corporate agenda is king and people and the environment Our susceptible wildlife is closing in on adding, “we have a plan to combine as- are left behind”, campaigners have said. the extinction by human-wildlife con- sessments of host demography, serology Trump’s day of doom for national monuments approaches flicts. The resultant negative of human and viral phylogeny to establish the rel- interferences on wild animals and their ative contribution of domestic dogs and habitats is widespread. Now dogs are wild mesocarnivores to the maintenance often the most abundant terrestrial car- of CDV as the sources of infection for nivore as Julie Young and her colleagues leopards.” told the Bio-Science in 2011. Huge number of feral dogs (Canis “Dogs can significantly disrupt or lupus familiaris), herd dogs and guard modify intact ecosystems well beyond dogs in natural habitats could be a the areas occupied by people. Few potential of reserving and spreading studies have directly quantified the en- CDV and CPV; there isn’t any vaccina- vironmental or economic effects of tion program and veterinary consult free-roaming and feral dogs. Our case routine checkups available even for study in Mongolia suggests that efforts the herd dogs and the guard dogs, he to conserve threatened and endangered highlighted. species that do not include management “The focus of our research at the first The comments come after the administration ended a actions aimed to reduce dog-wildlife in- phase would be on herd dogs’ vaccina- policy that allowed parks to ban the sale of plastic bottled teractions may be ineffective in areas tion, prevalence, strains detecting and water in an effort to curb pollution. where feral and free-roaming dogs oc- virulence of the diseases; in parallel prev- That policy “was a win-win for everyone except the bot- cur. Man’s best friend may not be wild- alence, strains detecting and virulence of tled water industry, which is only interested in its bottom line”, life’s best steward!” the diseases will check in Common fox said Lauren DeRusha Florez, a campaign director for Cor- Serengeti disaster were also affected. of inducing declines in wildlife popu- (Vulpus vulpus), Golden jackal (Canis porate Accountability International, a group that campaigns The increased transmission of disease Dr. Mafalda Viana from Veterinary and lations, and occasionally result in their aureus), Grey wolf (Canis lupus), Stone against corporate abuses. as a result of human activities and inter- life Science Section of Glasgow University extinction.” marten (Martes foina), Eurasian badger The change means national parks will no longer be allowed action with humans is a major threat to and her colleagues have been focused Threatened populations are at greater (Meles meles), Brown bear (Ursus arctus), to ban plastic bottled water, after Trump administration officials many endangered species and ecosys- on dynamics of Canine Distemper Virus risk from pathogens that are transmitted Persian leopard (Panthra pardus saxi- ended a six-year-old policy put in place to curb pollution. tems. Human activities may increase the in domestic dogs and lions. The results through density independent processes, color) and Northern raccoon (Procyon The National Park Service, responsible for America’s incidence of disease carrying vectors. In of their study seem to indicate that the including those contracted during social lotor ); the Invasive mesocarnivore of the most celebrated wilderness areas, announced the change addition, interaction with humans and wider dog population and other wildlife interaction (frequency dependent trans- Hyrcanian rainforests,” Memarian said. in a press release that closely echoed lobbyists’ arguments their domestic animals exposes wild an- species drive CDV dynamics. Hence, al- mission), vector-borne diseases, or those Wildlife management and feral against the ban. imals to diseases never previously en- though widespread dog vaccination re- that spillover from reservoirs of infec- dogs “It should be up to our visitors to decide how best to keep countered that can reduce the size and duced the infection in dogs, transmission tion. With small, often fragmented pop- In addition to known as reservoirs of themselves and their families hydrated during a visit to a na- density of wild populations. During the to lion populations still occurred, war- ulations, large carnivores are particularly epidemic-causing infectious pathogens tional park, particularly during hot summer visitation periods,” early 1990s, in Tanzania’s Serengeti Na- ranting further investigation into effec- vulnerable to the effects of infectious of many wild carnivores, stray dogs pose said the acting National Park Service director, Michael Reyn- tional Park about 25% of lions were killed tive management options of CDV in this disease, especially multi-host pathogens as competitor to wild carnivores. Feral/ olds. He said parks would continue to encourage people to by canine distemper, apparently con- species-rich ecosystem. This is the latest like Canine Parvo Virus (CPV) and Ca- stray dogs, herd and even guard dogs use free bottle filling stations, “as appropriate”. tracted from the 30,000 domestic dogs data after 3 decades of CDV exposure in nine Distemper Virus (CDV), Memarian entails subtle changes on ecosystem The same argument was used by the bottled water indus- living near the park as Kissui and Parker dogs and lions of the Serengeti. pointed. then that rule of thumb doesn’t always try’s main mouthpiece, the International Bottled Water Asso- mentioned on their article in 2004. Lack of information about CDV The chief vet went on to say that the hold up. Feral dogs are thriving in re- ciation, last year. Members of the lobbying organization in- But the disaster became more fre- in Iran endangered population of Persian leop- mote and natural habitats thanks to in- clude representatives of bottled water giants such as Nestlé, quent, and the number of wildlife af- By raising the profile of a particular ard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) in north- correct disposal of garbage and pose a which sells brands including Poland Springs, Perrier and San fected also increased. This greater mor- disease such as Canine Distemper Virus east part of Iran could face an increasing severe threat to the vulnerable wildlife. Pellegrino in North America. bidity was attributable not only to lions (CDV), it can leverage more attention risk of extinction due to infection with ca- Wildlife management resources point to Six years ago, the parks service encouraged America’s but also to silver-backed jackals (Canis for biodiversity conservation at large in nine distemper virus (CDV). Short-lasting tackling the garbage problem and con- 417 federal parks to end bottled water sales where practical, mesomelas) and bat-eared foxes (Oto- a particular context. CDV in Iran is un- CDV infections are unlikely to be main- sider it as a key to reducing the feral dog arguing that the system needed to be “an exemplar of sus- cyon megalotis). By August 1994, 85% known because dead bodies of wildlife in tained in small populations of species menace. Maintaining a discreet silence tainability”. Parks that did ban bottled water only did so after of the Serengeti lion population had our country get buried without detailed with limited connectivity like leopards, against feral dogs may end in biodiversi- installation of water bottle filling stations and a campaign to anti-CDV antibodies, and the epidemic necropsy. where viruses fade out as susceptible ty depletion as conservationists say. Un- inform visitors where those filling stations were. spread north to lions in the Maasai Mara Chief vet of Pardisan Rehabilitation hosts are depleted. fortunately, wildlife population data are Since 2011, 23 of America’s most famous parks had ended National reserve, Kenya, and uncounted Center Dr. Iman Memarian explained “Multi-host pathogens can persist in much scarcer in Iran while such prob- bottled water sales. Those included the Grand Canyon and Zion hyaenas, bat-eared foxes, and leopards that “an infectious disease is capable more abundant host species that can act lems need stiff prevention approaches. national park, which together drew 10.2 million visitors in 2016. Last year, 331 million people visited America’s national parks. Plastic bottles at the Grand Canyon alone comprised 20% How to survive a bear encounter of waste, and 30% of the park’s recyclable waste. “Help the bear identify you as human,” says John young woman fell to the ground and lay perfectly still Plastic bottles were also a major contributor to trash that Hechtel, a retired wildlife biologist for Alaska’s De- even after a black bear began chewing on her leg. “If ended up along walkways and “below the rim” of the land- partment of Fish and Game. Talk to it in a calm but a bear is eating you,” he says, “don’t play dead.” mark canyon. firm voice. Put your hands above your heads and A defensive bear is a different story; you need to Already, the world consumes more than 1m plastic water wave them slowly. Avoid reacting to a confrontation convince it that you’re not a threat to its food or its bottles per minute, or roughly 20,000 per second. Environ- in a way that makes you look like prey: no screaming, young. If one does attack, drop to the ground with mentalists fear the impact of the growth in plastic water bot- flailing or running. your belly down to protect your soft vital organs. In- tle sales could rival the effect of climate change, as recycling Biologists put attacks, which are exceedingly rare, terlock your fingers behind your neck. Don’t fight or efforts fail to keep up with demand, and plastic ends up lit- in two broad categories: defensive and non-defen- scream. If the bear flips you over, roll back onto your tering coastlines in particular. sive. The best strategy for fending off a bear depends stomach. When it senses it has nullified the menace, (Source: The Gaurdian) greatly on correctly diagnosing the bear’s state of it will leave. Stay still until the bear is gone. mind. A defensive bear tends to look agitated. It Occasionally, you hear about some gruesome might paw at the ground, roar or salivate. This bear knife. Aim for the face and ears. mauling, but the vast majority of the time, humans LEARN ENGLISH attacks because it is usually trying to protect its cubs Hechtel spent nearly his entire 40-year career stumble into bears, or vice versa, and both parties or food. The non-defensive bear wants to eat you. studying black bears and grizzlies in Alaska. He loves leave unscathed. “People who have run-ins with Daily Life - I’m sorry Such a bear tends to look coolheaded and confi- bears. Among his hardest tasks has been distilling bears generally don’t know what they’re doing,” dent — what Hechtel calls “pushy” — with its head complicated animals down to simple safety instruc- Hechtel says. “And they still come out O.K. most of A: Whoa, whoa, what’s going on? Watch out! held high and ears erect. In a non-defensive attack, tions for humans. Often, people only seem to re- the time.” B: Hey, watch where you’re going! fight for your life. Use anything you can — stone, log, member to play dead. During one Alaskan mauling, a (Source: The New York Times) A: Oh, no! I’m so sorry! Are you all right? B: Oh...I don’t know. A: I feel terrible, I really didn’t mean to knock you over. My tire, just exploded, and I lost control of my bike. Really, it was ENGLISH IN USE an accident. Please accept my apologies. B: Just let me try to stand up. LEARN NEWS TRANSLATION SONG: Why do birds suddenly appear, every time you are near? A: Are you okay? Flood leaves 2 dead, 2 missing سیل و طوفان در استان گلستان/ 2 کشته و 2 مفقودی B: Oh, wait a second, you seem really familiar, I think I know you from somewhere. in Iran A: Yeah, I think we have met somewhere before. That’s Severe flood in Golestan Province in northeastern part of Iran has so far 2 کشته و 2 مفقود به دلیل وقوع سیل و طوفان در استان گلستان به جا ماند. right! We met at Aaron’s place last weekend! What بــه گــزارش خبرنــگار خبرگــزاری صــدا و ســیما، معــاون فنــی و عملیــات ســازمان اورژانــس .a coincidence! But anyway, I’m glad to see that you’re claimed two lives and left 2 missing کشــور :حســن نــوری درخصــوص خســارت و تلفــات ناشــی از حادثــه ســیل و طوفــان در اســتان ,not too badly hurt, and I should probably get going. Heavy rain and storm happened on Thursday evening across Aliabad گلســتان افــزود: 2 کشــته و 2 مفقــود بــه دلیــل وقــوع ســیل و طوفــان در ایــن اســتان بجــای .I have a nine o’clock meeting. Kalaleh, Gonbad-e Kavus and Azadshahr countries, Fars reported مانــده وشهرســتانهای علیآبــاد ، کاللــه ، گنبــدکاووس و آزادشــهر متأثــر ایــن حادثــه شــدند و B: Ouch! My ankle! I think it’s broken! You can’t just leave me One individual died after falling from the roof of a house due to heavy like this! Are you calling an ambulance? wind in Gonbad-e Kavus, Iran’s Emergency Medical Services official متأســفانه ایــن 2نفــر بــر اثــر گیــر افتــادن خــودروی پرایــد در مســیر ســیالب علیآبــاد مفقــود A: Nope, I’m canceling my appointment so that I can stay شــدهاند. .here with you. Hassan Nouri announced معــاون فنــی و عملیــات ســازمان اورژانــس کشــور افــزود: همچنــان بــه دلیــل بــارش شــدید باران Key Vocabulary Two individuals onboard a car in Aliabad are still missing and one found در شــهر کاللــه یــک نفــر در مســیر ســیالب گرفتــار شــده اســت کــه تیمهــای امــدادی در حــال .feel terrible: sorry dead, however the car has been found, he noted انجــام عملیــات نجات آن هســتند. .mean: intend, plan Search and rescue is still going on in the region, he concluded knock over: make something fall over explode: suddenly break apart accident: an event that is not planed or intended familiar: probably known, but not clearly remembered ENGLISH PROVERB PHRASAL VERB ENGLISH IDIOM place: house coincidence: situation when two or more things happen at Union is strength Work out Waiting for a raindrop in the same time in an unplanned way the drought Supplementary Vocabulary Explanation: A group has more force than an in- meaning: End nicely regret: feel sad or sorry about something dividual For example: Things were going wrong for them apologetic: feeling or showing regret, showing an apology For example: We cannot allow our opponents to but fortunately it all worked out in the end. Explanation: waiting and hoping for something feel guilty: feel responsible for doing something bad divide us. Union is strength. that has little chance of happening. unfamiliar: not familiar For example: For many people, finding a job these (Source: irlanguage.com) days is like waiting for a raindrop in the drought. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 24, 2017 WORLD IN FOCUS 13

Phoenix police fire tear gas ‘New Trump strategy for Afghanistan to prove abortive’ at anti-Trump protesters 1 The official further warned that increased military presence of Americans could trigger off violent reactions on The United States Police have fired tear “Most of that tension has now left the the part of their rivals inside the region. Leader of Islamic gas and stun grenades at crowds of streets. However, there continues to be Movement of Afghanistan said the issue would also raise an- protesters in Phoenix, Arizona, as they a heavy riot police presence here.” ger of countries who hold close political and geographical demonstrated against the U.S. Presi- Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton had ties with Afghans. dent Donald Trump, who held a cam- unsuccessfully called on the president Mufleh emphasized that the US, by increased military paign-style rally nearby for supporters. to not hold the rally so soon after the presence, never aimed at eliminating the Taliban movement A haze enveloped the night sky trouble in Charlottesville. as evidenced by documents on Tuesday as protesters and police A few scuffles and shouting matches released by the media indi- clashed outside the downtown Phoenix were also reported earlier in the day as cating that Americans have Convention Center, where Trump had Trump supporters lined up to attend the assisted the opposition forc- just wrapped up his speech. rally. But those events were generally es in Afghanistan. People fled coughing as an- of peaceful. “We have been informed ficer in a helicopter above bellowed “Toxic Trump,” read one protest sign that external forces have through a speaker, urging protesters held up to the president’s supporters provided military support for to leave the area. streaming into the Phoenix Convention those opposing the Afghan Police claimed protesters threw rocks Center downtown. government,” said the politi- and bottles at shielded officers, who “Lock Him Up!” read another, a ref- cian stressing that instead of were armed with batons. erence to earlier campaign chants by uprooting terrorists, Ameri- “They also dispersed some gas in the Trump and his backers about his Demo- cans seek to exacerbate war area,” said Jonathan Howard, Phoenix cratic election rival Hillary Clinton. and insecurity in northern police spokesman. About six members of an an- Afghanistan as a gateway to The officers responded with pepper ti-Trump group, Redneck Revolt, ar- Central Asia. spray to “disperse the crowd and stop rived with guns. John Brown, who Advisor to the Afghan the assaults,” he said. ground after being hit. Toxic Trump wore military fatigues and carried an president pointed to the stance taken by Afghan National Three people were arrested, Police Police did not estimate how many Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, re- AK-47, said he was there to protect Unity Government’s Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdul- Chief Jeri Williams said. protesters had gathered, but Arizona porting from Phoenix, described anti-Trump protesters. lah against the new Trump strategy asserting “US forces seem However, several people on social media said thousands turned out. tense scenes as skirmishes broke out Arizona allows people to carry weap- to be in charge of everything inside Afghanistan as they are media disputed the police account. Authorities were on high alert for between protesters and Trump sup- ons openly. freely taking actions there without forming an agreement “I witnessed no gas being thrown at the gathering - the president’s first porters at the end of the president’s A number of opposition signs with the Afghan government.” police prior to police firing upon pro- political rally since deadly violence in campaign-style rally. showed drawings or photos of Trump Mohammad Mukhtar Mufleh urged US President Donald testers,” reporter Andrew Kimmel said, Charlottesville, Virginia. There, on Au- “There were some scuffles, instances with a small, Hitler-style moustache. Trump to take side of people and to clearly condemn killing writing on Twitter. gust 12, a white supremacist mowed of people yelling back and forth at each Three Trump supporters taunted of innocent people as a result of American bombardments. Local television station 3TV showed down anti-racist protesters who were other. Then, as the anti-Trump group Latino protesters with offensive com- He criticized certain neighboring countries whose actions footage of police shooting an object at countering a far-right rally, killing started to break up, police used tear gas ments about immigrants and held an- have given way to presence of Americans inside Afghanistan a protester who had kicked back a tear 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injur- to disperse the crowds and open up the ti-Muslim and Black Lives Matter signs. saying “had the neighboring states remained beside Afghans gas canister. The protester fell to the ing dozens. streets,” he said. (Source: Al Jazeera) with honesty, current problems would have never appeared.” At the end of his remarks, the Afghan politician invited all 22 million Americans support neo-Nazis, new poll indicates Islamic states to form a coalition in a bid to bolster regional cooperation. Nine per cent of Americans say holding neo-Nazi or car ploughed into a crowd of anti-fascist protesters, has such as: “You call it terrorism. I call it patriotism” and white supremacist views is acceptable, according to led to him being condemned by members of Congress, could also be heard shouting “Death to the enemies a new poll. leading business executives and military leaders. of America”. The Washington Post ABC poll was carried out in President Trump pointed blame at “both sides” for “Leave this country if you hate our freedom, death Egypt cancels Kushner the wake of the deadly racially-charged violence which the violence, drawing a moral equivalence between to Antifa,” he also said, referring to the commonly used meeting with minister after erupted at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville white supremacists and anti-fascists. shorthand for the anti-fascist movement. earlier this month. If extrapolated to the entire United While the problem of white supremacy has gained The so-called “alt-right” movement has gained denial of aid States population, nine per cent would equate to 22 increasing attention in the wake of Charlottesville, it has increasing attention since Donald Trump’s presidential million people. of course been an ongoing and persistent problem in bid and his time in the White House. While President Egypt called off a scheduled meeting between its foreign According to the survey, 83 per cent of Americans the states. The murder of Heyer, the 32-year-old anti- Trump has sought to distance himself from the minister and top United States presidential adviser Jared think holding neo-Nazi views is unacceptable. fascist protester who was killed, is the most recent in a movement - which has been accused of racism, anti- Kushner on Wednesday after the United States decided to Thirty-nine per cent said they believe the “alt-right” spate of killings which have raised the specter of far- semitism and misogyny - its members have rallied withhold millions of dollars in aid. holds white supremacist or neo-Nazi views whereas right violence. behind him and hailed him as their leader. But President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi would meet the U.S. delega- 21 per cent believe they do not. On the other hand, In February, an Indian-born engineer was shot Steve Bannon, the former executive chair of far-right tion led by Kushner later in the day as scheduled, Sisi’s office said. thirty-nine per cent of those surveyed said they had no dead in a Kansas bar, with witnesses telling reporters online publication Breitbart News which he described Two U.S. sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on opinion on the matter. the gunman shouted “go back to your country” before as “the platform for the alt-right” last year, was fired as Tuesday that Washington had decided to deny Egypt $95.7 The survey, which found President Donald Trump’s opening fire. President Trump’s White House Chief Strategist at the million in aid and to delay a further $195 million because of overall approval rating of 37 per cent was not In May, Jeremy Joseph Christian spewed anti-Muslim end of last week. its failure to make progress on respecting human rights and substantially different to his 36 per cent mark in July, “hate speech” to a young woman wearing a hijab on a Since becoming the latest top Trump aide to leave democratic norms. was conducted from 16-20 August and from speaking train and her friend. After other passengers intervened, their post, Bannon has returned straight to be the “Egypt sees this measure as reflecting poor judgment of to 1,014 adults across the United States. he pulled out a knife and slashed their throats, with two head of Breitbart. In the hours after his departure from the strategic relationship that ties the two countries over long President Trump’s response to the ugly clashes people left killed and a third seriously injured. the Trump administration became public, Breitbart decades and as adopting a view that lacks an accurate un- between Neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members and He was charged with murder, attempted murder, proclaimed the return of their “populist hero” on its derstanding of the importance of supporting Egypt’s stability,” “alt-right” supporters and anti-fascists at Charlottesville, possession of a weapon and intimidation but sought homepage. the foreign ministry said in a statement. which culminated in Heather Heyer being killed after a to defend his actions in court. He shouted slogans (Source: The Independent) The decision could have “negative implications” on achieving common goals and interests between the two countries, it added. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had been scheduled to Russia, China slam new unilateral U.S. sanctions meet the U.S. delegation led by Kushner, a son-in-law to the U.S. President Donald Trump and a close adviser, on Wednes- Russia and China have reacted strongly Russia preparing response counteraction. day in Cairo to discuss the Middle East. to new United States sanctions targeting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Saying that the only sanctions recog- But the meeting was canceled immediately after the min- Chinese and Russian companies and in- Sergey Ryabkov reacted to the new U.S. nized by international law are the ones istry released its statement, a copy of Shoukry’s schedule sent dividuals for allegedly “supporting” North sanctions by expressing disappointment approved by the United Nations Security out to journalists showed. Korea’s weapons program by doing busi- and warning Washington that Moscow Council, he said, “We must react in prin- A foreign ministry official told Reuters the meeting had ness with the country. was preparing a response. ciple to this insane and confrontational been canceled but did not give a reason. A U.S. embassy of- The U.S. Treasury Department on “The lip service from American repre- policy. The toolbox is rich; let’s hope that ficial in Cairo said Kushner’s meeting with Shoukry had never Tuesday imposed sanctions on six Chi- sentatives about the desire to stabilize bi- we will act consistently, reasonably, pro- been set in stone because “the schedule was never fixed.” nese-owned firms, and one Russian, one lateral relations [with Russia] is extremely fessionally and effectively.” (Source: Reuters) North Korean, and two Singapore-based unconvincing,” Ryabkov said in a statement. China: bilateral cooperation at entities as well as six individuals —four “In recent years, Washington in theory stake Russians, one Chinese and one North should have learned that for us, the lan- China, for its part, said that Washing- sia had voted in favor of a U.S.-drafted Korean — for facilitating trade ties with guage of sanctions is unacceptable, and ton should “immediately correct its mis- sanctions resolution against North Korea Floods kill almost 1,000 Pyongyang. the solutions to real problems are only take” of imposing unilateral sanctions on in a rare move that signaled willingness The targeted firms and figures are hindered by such actions. So far, howev- Chinese firms and individuals to avoid to cooperate with Washington. in India, Nepal and accused of working with blacklisted in- er, there doesn’t seem to be an under- denting bilateral cooperation. Among the Chinese names targeted Bangladesh dividuals, assisting the development of standing of such obvious truths,” he said. Beijing “opposes unilateral sanctions with the new sanctions are three coal the North Korean energy sector, helping “In the meantime,” he added, “we are out [side] of the UN Security Council companies, including one of the country’s Almost 1,000 people have been killed over a period of two weeks it place workers abroad, or move mon- beginning to work out the inevitable re- framework,” said a Chinese government largest importers, Dandong Zhicheng. in some of the worst flooding to hit South Aisa in decades, with ey from abroad. Their U.S. assets were sponse to this situation.” spokesperson. “We strongly urge the U.S. The three firms are collectively respon- residents running out of food and clean water, officials said. frozen and Americans were barred from The Russian official also expressed to immediately correct its mistake, so as sible for having imported nearly half a Bangladesh, India and Nepal have put the combined conducting business with them. hope that “our American colleagues will not to impact bilateral cooperation on billion dollars’ worth of North Korean death toll at least 800 since August 10. The U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven be aware of the futility and detrimental relevant issues.” coal between 2013 and 2016, the U.S. The Red Cross said on Tuesday that 24 million people Mnuchin said in a statement that it was nature of further sliding down the spiral The U.S. is opposed to the North Treasury Department claimed. have been affected by the floods, with large areas of land “unacceptable” for the designated enti- of sanctions.” Korean missile and military nuclear pro- Moscow-based company Gefest-M submerged in water. ties to “enable North Korea to generate Russian Senator Andrey Klimov also grams. Pyongyang says it needs them to was among the Russian entities singled “The situation is going from bad to worse,” said Jagan income used to develop weapons of reacted to the unilateral U.S. sanctions by deter potential U.S. aggression. out by the Treasury Department. Chapagain, Red Cross undersecretary-general, as he con- mass destruction.” calling them illegitimate and urging due Earlier this month, China and Rus- (Source: agencies) firmed the death toll given by regional authorities. “This is the worst flooding that parts of South Asia have seen in decades.” Tillerson: U.S. won’t win ‘battlefield victory’ in Afghanistan Flood waters in the three countries have killed hundreds The United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has Afghanistan. billions of dollars” of U.S. aid. of people who were stranded and cut off from road access. undermined President Donald Trump’s promise to win He pointed to the fact that the U.S. is a key ally of The U.S. president announced that he would send Many villages are now only accessible by boat. the Afghan war and defeating the Taliban, saying Wash- Pakistan and that Islamabad enjoys a special status as a more troops to the country’s longest war, which he once The Red Cross says it needs more than $3.5m to help peo- ington might not succeed in the war. non-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) partner described as a “complete waste.” ple in Nepal. “I think the president was clear this entire effort was which receives billions of dollars in aid. The United States -- under Republican George W. The charity is planning to launch a separate campaign to intended to put pressure on the Taliban, to have the Tal- These, however, “could be on the table for discussion Bush’s presidency -- and its allies invaded Afghanistan raise funds to help people in Bangladesh. iban understand that you will not win a battlefield vic- if in fact they are unwilling to change their posture or on October 7, 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called But the organization said India has the resources needed tory,” Tillerson said during a press conference Tuesday change their approach to how they are dealing with the war on terror. to respond, without foreign help. afternoon. “We may not win one, but neither will you.” numerous terrorist organizations that find safe haven in Trump who had previously called for withdraw- Victims in India blame the government’s inability to re- His remarks came one day after Trump said he would Pakistan,” Tillerson added. al of American troops from Afghanistan argued that spond adequately. prolong the military intervention in the South Asian “It is in Pakistan’s interest to take those actions.” his “original instinct was to pull out,” but that he was Almost one-third of Nepal and Bangladesh is flooded, country, which he once described as a “complete waste.” Trump also said on Monday that Washington can no convinced by his national security team to take on the leaving residents vulnerable to waterborne diseases such as Tillerson also stepped up pressure on the neighbor- longer remain silent towards Pakistan’s “safe havens for Taliban militants. diarrhea, malaria, dengue fever and encephalitis. ing Pakistan over its perceived support for the Taliban in terrorists,” threatening Islamabad to cut the “billions and (Source: Press TV) (Source: Al Jazeera) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 14 WORLD SPORTS AUGUST 24, 2017 Wayne Rooney retires from England duty Mayweather claims McGregor is struggling to after rejecting recall from Southgate make weight England’s record goal scorer Wayne Roon- individual displays at a major competition, Floyd Mayweather has claimed Conor McGregor is struggling to ey has announced his retirement from in- despite going onto play in three World make weight ahead of their highly-anticipated showdown in Las ternational football with immediate effect. Cups and two further European Champi- Vegas this weekend, live on Sky Sports Box Office. Rooney said in a statement: “It was onships. The undefeated 40-year-old said McGregor is “extremely great that Gareth Southgate called me this He has, though, left an indelible mark heavy” and could risk facing a fine should he fail to make the week to tell me he wanted me back in the on the national game. Rooney usurped 154lbs light-middleweight limit at Friday’s weigh-in. England squad for the upcoming matches Sir Bobby Charlton as England’s top scor- The Irishman, who has previously fought at 145lbs, is accus- [against Malta and Slovakia]. I really ap- er with his penalty against Switzerland in tomed to losing a large percentage of weight on the week of a preciated that. However, having already September 2015. fight, though Mayweather suggests the UFC star may be facing thought long and hard, I told Gareth that Rooney replaced David Beckham as the a tough cut this time around. I had now decided to retire for good from country’s most capped outfield player the “Conor McGregor is extremely heavy right now, I think he’s international football.” following September in Slovakia having 164lbs, he still has 10lbs to go,” Mayweather told FightHype.com. No outfield player has won more Eng- announced his intention to retire after the “He’s got to get that weight down, a true champion is disci- land caps than the 31-year-old Rooney, 2018 World Cup. plined and very responsible but we’ll see. who scored a record 53 goals in 119 ap- That decision looked to be taken out of “If he doesn’t make the weight we’ll still fight but it’s going to pearances for his country. Rooney’s hands when England manager be a heavy fine.” Southgate phoned Rooney on Tuesday Southgate dropped his captain in his first However, McGregor vowed his weight is “phenomenal” as he to say he wanted to include the forward in matches as permanent manager in March. and Mayweather arrived in Las Vegas on Tuesday for their super his upcoming squad following a fine start But leaving United for Everton has led fight at the T-Mobile Arena this Saturday night. to life back at his boyhood club Everton. to an immediate upturn in form and for- The two-weight UFC champion has been training at the UFC The former Manchester United captain in- tunes, making Southgate ready to recall Performance Institute in the world’s fight capital for August 26, formed England’s manager of his decision the long-serving forward for the upcom- and is adamant it’s been the best camp of his career. to quit international football in the same ing World Cup qualifiers against Malta “He knows nothing,” McGregor told reporters at the grand conversation. and Slovakia. arrivals. “Let him keep praying. Praying for weight, praying for “It is a really tough decision and one I Yet despite being within touching dis- fatigue, praying for me to take a back-step - all he’s doing is have discussed with my family, my man- tance of Peter Shilton’s record 125-cap praying to the new god of boxing. ager at Everton and those closest to me,” them be successful. It is 14 and a half years since the haul for England, Rooney has decided to “My weight is absolutely phenomenal. Tell me one time I have Rooney added in his statement. “Playing “I will always remain a passionate Eng- then 17-year-old striker burst on to the walk away. ever missed weight or not performed? Let him think what he wants.” for England has always been special to land fan. One of my very few regrets is not scene for England, making his debut in a Captaining his country to a 3-0 World (Source: Sky Sports) me. Every time I was selected as a player to have been part of a successful England friendly against Australia at Upton Park in Cup qualifying win over Scotland last No- or captain was a real privilege and I thank tournament side. February 2003. vember proved his final appearance. everyone who helped me. But I believe “Hopefully the exciting players Gareth Rooney’s first international goal fol- The subject of Rooney’s retirement now is the time to bow out. is bringing through can take that ambi- lowed against Macedonia that September is sure to dominate the agenda when Barcelona confirm “Leaving Manchester United was a tion further and I hope everyone will get and the following summer his outstanding Southgate announces his squad for the hacking after Di Maria tough call but I know I made the right de- behind the team. One day the dream will performances led to a place in the Euro upcoming matches at St George’s Park cision in coming home to Everton. Now I come true and I look forward to being 2004 team of the tournament. on Thursday. ´announcement´ want to focus all my energies on helping there as a fan – or in any capacity.” The forward was unable to match those (Source: Guardian) Barcelona confirmed their social media accounts had been hacked after the LaLiga giants appeared to announce the sign- FIFA investigating Neymar complaint Sharapova passionate ahead of US ing of Angel Di Maria. The Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain attacker has been over unpaid Barcelona loyalty bonus Open after ‘tough’ suspension linked to Barca, who are still seeking reinforcements following Neymar’s exit to the Ligue 1 outfit. A bizarrely timed tweet in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Spanish time, appeared to confirm the 29-year-old’s arrival at Camp Nou. “Welcome Angel Di Maria to FC Barcelona! #DiMariaFCB,” the tweet read. However, hackers quickly followed up their transfer ‘announcement’, although a series of tweets remained published for more than half an hour before Barca seemingly intervened. Later, the club tweeted: “Our accounts have been hacked to- night. We’re working to solve the problem as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience.” Barca are still seemingly looking to be active in the transfer market, with reports on Wednesday claiming the club had sub- mitted yet another bid – this time £101million plus add-ons – for Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho. (Source: Telegraph) FIFA is investigating a complaint made by last three months before July 31. Former world No 1 Maria Sharapova says thing, it has only grown stronger.” Neymar in relation to an unpaid loyalty “Two, that he will express publicly his her passion for tennis has never been Sharapova, who is ranked 148th in the Mario Balotelli blasted by bonus from his time at Barcelona. commitment to fulfil his contract. stronger. world, made her return in April at Stutt- Barca are refusing to pay €26million, “Three, the collection was to be made The 30-year-old Russian will make her gart reaching the semi-finals as a wild- Nice boss Lucien Favre which was included in the contract exten- on September 1, to ensure that he did not first Grand Slam appearance since serv- card but such invitations have attracted sion he signed with the club last October, go to another club. ing a 15-month suspension for doping criticism from some rivals. Mario Balotelli was jeered by his own fans – and then blasted by his to the Brazil star and his father. “Now that we know that none of these offences as a wildcard at the US Open “I’m aware of what many of my peers boss – after his Nice side crashed out of the Champions League. The club say that Neymar was in three conditions were met, we will not next week. have said about me and how critical of The French side lost 2-0 to Napoli in the last qualifying round breach of the terms of that contract when honour that bonus.” She was originally suspended for two me some of them have been.” she added. at the Allianz Arena to go out 4-0 on aggregate. he negotiated with Paris Saint-Germain The complaint is a separate case to years after testing positive for the banned “If you’re a human being with a normal Balotelli, made only four successful passes and was pulled af- prior to his world-record €222m transfer, Barca’s lawsuit against Neymar, which was heart and blood-boosting drug Meldoni- beating heart, I don’t think that sort of ter 77 minutes. New signing Wesley Sneijder was also ineffective meaning the clause in the deal stipulating announced on Tuesday. um at the 2016 Australian Open, but the thing will ever be possible to ignore.” in his first game of the season. the bonus is null and void. The Catalans are suing the 25-year- Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced The US Tennis Association defended But Nice boss Lucien Favre said: “This came too soon for Neymar’s father, who also acts as his old for an alleged breach of contract in the ban on appeal. its decision to offer Sharapova a wildcard Wesley Sneijder but Mario Balotelli was not in the game. agent, accused Barca of “blackmail” in the wake of his PSG move, demanding he She said she had taken the drug for saying: “Her suspension under the terms “When you have one or two who do nothing on the pitch, it their refusal to pay and FIFA is now look- pay back a bonus he was given for sign- several years and did not know it had of the tennis anti-doping programme was is impossible to beat anyone, even in Ligue 1. ing into the matter. ing his new contract last year, as well as been placed on the banned list at the completed and therefore was not one of “You have to be honest. I should have taken him (Balotelli) off A spokesperson from world football’s €8.5m in damages and an additional 10 start of 2016. the factors weighed in our wildcard selec- sooner. He didn’t run enough. He didn’t give enough. We played governing body told Omnisport: “The per cent in arrears. Writing on the Players’ Tribune website, tion process.” better when we put in his place a youngster [Knepe Ganago] matter ... is pending and being investigat- In response PSG said they were “sur- Sharapova said: “When it comes to tennis, The five-time Grand Slam champi- who nobody knows.” ed. As a result, we are not in a position to prised” by Barcelona’s statement, adding: good or bad - there’s only one thing that I on was refused a wildcard at the French Balotelli was off the pitch arguing with the fourth official when comment on it.” “The club repeats that, along with Ney- know for certain - I’ve missed it. Open and missed Wimbledon with a Napoli took the lead after 48 minutes. Barca spokesperson Jordi Vives has pre- mar Jr, it strictly respected all applicable “Though these last two years have thigh injury. Not only is she looking for- “First it was his shoelace, then it was his bracelet,” sighed Favre. viously stated: “There were three conditions laws and rules and can only regret, once been tougher, so much tougher than I ward to proving her doubters wrong, but The Italian impressed on the Cote d’Azur during his debut [to the loyalty bonus]: one, that the player again, the attitude of FC Barcelona.” ever could have anticipated, my passion competing on the big stage as well. season, scoring 17 times in 28 games. does not negotiate with another club in the (Source: FourFourTwo) for the game has never wavered. If any- (Source: Sky Sports) But his second year at the club is already threatening to turn sour. (Source: Mirror) Lewis Hamilton needs to step up in his 200th race Lewis Hamilton will start the 200th grand prix of his For- and rain could be a boon for Red Bull’s Belgian-born Dutch Liverpool ‘to reject mula One career in Belgium this weekend but the triple teenager Max Verstappen, who can count on plenty of lo- Barcelona’s fresh £138m world champion has smaller but more significant num- cal support in what amounts to a home race. bers on his mind. “I just love the track and it’ll be nice seeing so many offer for Coutinho’ Refreshed from an August break in the Caribbean, in- orange (Dutch) fans in the grandstands,” he said. cluding a trip to Cuba in his role as UNICEF ambassador, “Spa is my favorite track of the year. You have to get Liverpool will reportedly turn down Barcelona’s fourth bid for the Mercedes driver is 14 points behind championship everything right but when you get a good lap it’s very re- Philippe Coutinho as they plan to stand firm on their stance that leader Sebastian Vettel as he revs up for the second half warding.” the playmaker is not for sale. of the season. Belgium could also be good for Ferrari’s Kimi Raikko- So far, the Reds’ resilience has not wavered having rejected A fifth victory of 2017 for the Briton would put the pres- nen, who arrives with a new contract for 2018 in his pocket. three offers, thought to be worth £72m, £80m and £113m from sure back on Ferrari’s Vettel and Hamilton can celebrate The fearless Finnish ‘Iceman’ has won four times at Spa the Catalan giants. Despite Coutinho handing in a transfer re- another milestone by bagging pole position on Saturday at but will need to be beyond the reach of Ferrari ‘team or- quest, the Anfield club reportedly informed Barcelona that they the long and fast Spa-Francorchamps circuit. ders’ if he is to do it again. do not want any more contact from them after rebuffing a third That would see Hamilton, who sportingly relinquished “For sure there are some circuits that fit us better,” Rai- offer, said to include unrealistic add-ons. third place to team mate Valtteri Bottas in Hungary before kkonen, whose last Belgian win in 2009 was also Ferrari’s The warning has not stopped the La Liga club, though, as ru- the summer shutdown, match the record of 68 poles set by many times already this season that the form book can most recent at Spa, said in Hungary. mours have emerged that they intend to table a fourth offer worth Michael Schumacher with Ferrari in 2006. be rewritten from one weekend to the next. So we will be “The Mercedes has better horsepower but it depends £138m, which would include £101m cash and £37m in bonuses. Mercedes have won the last two Belgian Grands Prix, making no assumptions.” on so many things. According to The Mirror, Liverpool officials believe that the with now-retired 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg tri- Hamilton has won twice before at Spa, as has Vettel, but “If you purely look now, you would say it’s not going to Spanish club do not have the funds to pay a huge fee up front, umphant from pole last year after Hamilton won in 2015. the track — a classic blast from the past — has not been be as easy for us as here (Hungary) but obviously we try to even though they recently sold Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain Nobody will be taking anything for granted, however, particularly kind to him. improve and we are going to do our best.” for a world record £196m. after Ferrari’s one-two win in Budapest at the end of July. In 2008, when he won his first title, the Briton was de- Sunday’s race, the 50th world championship Grand Prix The report adds that Coutinho has his heart set on a move to “On paper, people will assume that Spa should suit our moted from first to third after the race for cutting a chi- held at Spa, will also see a Belgian competing — McLaren Barcelona, but is beginning to accept that he will not get his wish car because it is a circuit where aerodynamic efficiency is cane, with then Ferrari rival Felipe Massa savoring victory rookie Stoffel Vandoorne — for the first time since Jerome before the transfer window shuts in eight days’ time. extremely important,” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said. instead. d’Ambrosio in 2012. (Source: Goal) “But assumptions are dangerous — we have seen too Spa can often be a lottery, with its capricious weather, (Source: Reuters) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y AUGUST 24, 2017 SPORTS 15

Persepolis storm back to draw Iran seize fourth straight win with 3-0 match against Czech with Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia Republic SPORTS A late equalizer by substi- desktute Godwin Mensha saw Is- Iran raced to a straight-sets win against Czech Republic (25- lamic Republic of Iran’s Persepolis come from 22, 25-12, 25-19) to claim top spot in Pool D of the 2017 two goals down to draw 2-2 with Saudi Ara- FIVB Volleyball Boy’s U19 World Championship on Tuesday at bia’s Al Ahli in the first leg of their 2017 AFC Isa City Sports Hall. The Asian side conclude the Preliminary Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday. Round with a record of four Al Ahli took the lead after just two minutes wins in as many matches. at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex when Iran’s Porya Yali charted a Omar Al Soma slotted home the rebound total of 17 points scored off after Persepolis keeper Alireza Beiranvand purely on attacks, while Amir parried a shot from Saleh Al Jamaan into the Hossein Toukteh contributed Syrian striker’s path. another 11 points. Shortly before the hour, recent signing Iran completely domi- Leonardo da Silva made it 2-0 for the Jed- nated in offence, posting 38 dah-based side by finishing off a pass from Al attacks, while Czech Repub- Jamaan with aplomb, before Persepolis pulled lic managed to connect with one back in the 72nd minute after Shojae 23 spikes. The Asian side Khalilzadeh headed home from close in, the- gave much difficulty for the afc reported. opponents to pass the ball With just six minutes remaining, Nigerian successfully. The usual hitters Mensha fired past Mohammed Al Owais in of the Czech side could not the Al Ahli goal to cap an excellent comeback seem to find their known tempo. Every Czech player needed for Persepolis and leave the tie firmly in the to work hard on defence, leaving minimal momentum to run balance ahead of the second leg in Abu Dhabi the offence precisely. The European side saved several match in three weeks’ time. points from opponent errors, but Iran’s lead proved difficult to surmount. Branko Ivankovic happy with draw against Al Ahli (Source: FIVB) Iran’s Persepolis football team’s “I am happy because we came “As I’ve already said, Al Ahli “I would like to thank my players coach Branko Ivankovic says back from two goals down. Now, we is a dangerous team and takes because they didn’t lost their that he is content with his team’s have a chance to book a place in the advantage of players like Omar Al concentration after receiving two goals. U19 volleyball team need performance against Al Ahli of competition’s semis,” Branko said in Soma and Leonardo da Silva,” the I hope we defeat Al Ahli in the second Saudi Arabia. the post-match news conference. Croat added. leg,” Branko concluded. experience: Coach

Iran U19 volleyball coach Mohammad Vakili says that he is 80 Zlatko Dalic hits out at Iran’s Esteghlal link percent satisfied with his team’s performance. SPORTS Zlatko Dalic has denied that he has hlal. I am having my summer vacation at this moment,” tion zone. Iran fueled their momentum going into the next phase deskbeen offered a contract by Iranian the former Al Hilal coach said. Mansourian led the Blues to Iran Professional League of the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Boy’s U19 World Championship football club Esteghlal. Most recently, Dalic was head coach of Al Ain of the runner-up last season but he has won just one match as they won a straight-sets match against Czech Republic to The Iranian media suggest that the 50-year-old is UAE but stepped down in January. after five weeks in the new IPL season. top Pool D of competition on Tuesday at Isa City Sports Hall. a candidate to replace Alireza Mansourian at the Teh- Former South Korea coach Uli Stielike is reportedly a The former Iran national team midfielder resigned “I would say I am about 80 per cent satisfied with the per- ran-based team. nominee to take charge of the Iranian giant. after Esteghlal suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Padideh formance of the team so far,” Vakili told fivb.com. “It’s not true. I have not had any contact with Esteg- Esteghlal currently sit two places above the relega- but the team’s managerial board didn’t accept it. “I think it has something to do with the age, that they can be prone to too many mistakes.” “We do not have any solution to this except time itself. We need experience,” he added. S. Korea football coach says Iran similar to European teams (Source: FIVB) South Korea football coach Shin Tae-yong said Wednes- bled next week. And, of course, I could change my plan day he thinks Iran are similar to European teams as his depending on the players’ fitness.” squad was gearing up for the World Cup qualifier at With the arrival of Guangzhou Evergrande defender home later this month. Kim Young-gwon, there are now 17 players at the NFC. Iran Greco-Roman team Shin’s side has been training at the National Football Nine other players, including Europe-based Son Heu- runners-up at World Center (NFC) in Paju, north of Seoul, since Monday for ng-min and Hwang Hee-chan, will join training next week. South Korea’s last two matches in the final Asian qual- The national team didn’t have outdoor training on Wrestling Championships ifying round for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Taeguk Wednesday, as Shin explained that the players needed Warriors, currently second in Group A, the last automat- some rest after their club duties. The players have been Iran’s Greco-Roman team finished in second place at the ic qualification spot, are scheduled to host already-qual- training with GPS metrics to track their movements and Wrestling World Championships in Paris, France on Tuesday. ified Iran on Aug. 31, and will take on third-placed Uz- monitor their fitness level. The Iranian wrestlers won three bronze medals and came bekistan five days later. “These players are motivated and even if they’re second with 36 points. For their first opponents Iran, currently the top- tired, they train hard with intensity because they came “We can’t allow an opening goal to Iran,” he said. “We Mohammadali Geraei at ranked Asian team in FIFA rankings at No. 24, Shin said to the national team after a coaching change,” Shin said. 71kg, Saeid Abdvali at 75kg he doesn’t think Iran are a typical Middle Eastern team. must score first, so that we can prevent the opponents “I thought keeping up our training today could be actu- from messing with our mind.” and Hossein Nouri at 85kg “I must say Iran are not the same as other teams in ally harmful to the players, so I decided to have indoor won three bronze medals in the Middle East,” Shin said to reporters at the NFC. “They Iran are scheduled to land in Seoul on Saturday, training with a focus on recovering their energy.” which is earlier than the usual arrival time for interna- the competition. have their unique power and speed. They’re much more If South Korea qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the Russia won the title with like European teams.” tional matches. Shin said he doesn’t care about Iran’s Korea Football Association said they will try to schedule early arrival and said he has been analyzing Team Melli 46 points after claiming South Korea, ranked No. 49 in the world, have not friendly matches in Europe in October. Shin said if it hap- two silver and two bronze beaten Iran since 2011, suffering 1-0 losses to Iran in since he took the helm of the national team last month. pens he wants to meet stronger teams than his side. “I “I’ve already finished setting up my defense plan medals. their last four meetings. The national team also has an don’t want to meet a team that is at the same level with Turkey came third with 34 inferior overall head-to-head record with nine wins, sev- against Iran,” he said. “I just have to work with my players us,” he said. “Through friendly matches, we need to know (to execute the plan) when our full squad gets assem- points. It finished day two at en draws and 13 losses. where we are. It should be a learning process.” the summit of the medals table with two golds and a Jon Jones failed drugs test Vandoorne staying at McLaren in 2018 bronze. Team Rankings (Top Six) Jon Jones failed a US Anti-Doping LONDON (Reuters) — Belgian driver 1.Russia, 46 points (0 gold medal, 2 silver, 2 bronze), 2. Agency test ahead of his light-heavy- Stoffel Vandoorne will continue to race Iran, 36 (0-0-3), 3. Turkey, 34 (2-0-1), 4. Georgia, 30 (0-0-2), weight title fight with Daniel Cormier at for struggling former world champions 5. Germany, 29 (1-1-1), 6. Armenia, 28 (2-0-0) UFC 214, it has been revealed. McLaren next season, the Formula (Source: unitedworldwrestling) In the early hours of Wednesday One team announced on Wednesday morning, the UFC released a statement ahead of his home race at Spa- confirming a story broken on TMZ that Francorchamps. Jones, 30, had failed a USADA test for The newcomer has scored just one Chelsea line up Tuchel to the second time in his career. point so far this season, with McLaren “The UFC organization was notified struggling to get strong performances replace Conte that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USA- from their Honda engine. DA) has informed Jon Jones of a potential “I’m delighted that the team has Reports in Germany claim Chelsea have met with Thomas Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming now formally announced that I will Tuchel about replacing Antonio Conte as their manager. from an in-competition sample collected continue to race for them next year, With relations said to be strained between Conte and following his weigh-in on July 28, 2017,” because I’ll be able to approach the Chelsea’s board following a summer of unrest regarding a the UFC confirmed in a short statement. second half of my rookie season with lack of transfers, the Diego Costa situation and more for the “USADA, the independent administrator “The California State Athletic Com- total focus on the job in hand,” he said “Like all rookies, he’s had to learn a reigning Premier League champions, losing to Arsenal in the of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle mission (CSAC) also retains jurisdiction in a statement. lot in the first half of his first Formula Community Shield and then their Premier League opening to the results management and appropriate over this matter as the sample collec- McLaren Racing Director Eric One season, but we have great Burnley was far from an ideal start. adjudication of this case involving Jones, as tion was performed the day before Boullier said the plan had always been confidence in him, and he’s getting Still, Conte led Chelsea to the PL title last season, his it relates to the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and Jones’ bout at UFC 214 in Anaheim, CA, for Vandoorne to continue as part of a better and better all the time.” first in England, with a record 30 wins from 38 games. future UFC participation. and USADA will work to ensure that the multi-year deal. McLaren’s other driver, Spain’s How is he the bookies favorite to be the next PL man- “Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, CSAC has the necessary information “That plan hasn’t changed, and I’m double world champion Fernando ager to leave his job? there is a full and fair legal process that to determine its proper judgment of very happy therefore to be able to Alonso, has yet to decide his future and Tuchel, 43, has been out of work since leaving Borussia is afforded to all athletes before any Jones’ potential anti-doping violation.” confirm that he’ll continue to race for wants to be assured of a competitive Dortmund at the end of last season and Sport Bild is re- sanctions are imposed. (Source: Independent) us next season,” said the Frenchman. car before committing to McLaren. porting that Chelsea’s director Marina Granovskaia has ap- proached Tuchel about replacing Conte, while it is also stated that former Barca boss Luis Enrique is a contender. Chelsea fans have, understandably, not reacted too kind- Russia’s World Cup stadium in Samara behind schedule ly to reports that a successor is being lined up for Conte. SAMARA, Russia (Reuters) — Construction work on contractor PSO Kazan, told reporters. “We have The governor of the Samara region, Nikolai The Italian coach is adored by the Blues faithful after leading the World Cup stadium in the Russian city of Samara is calculated that we are behind by about 30 days.” Merkushkin, blamed the delay on unfavorable weather, a rapid rebuild of their squad in his famed 3-4-3 formation about 30 days behind schedule, the company building Ponomaryov said all major construction work at the including heavy rain in the Spring. last season. His passion on the sidelines is now a hallmark of the venue said on Wednesday, adding it would make up venue would be finished by the end of the year, the “In September we will be back on track,” he said. Chelsea matchdays and if he does leave anytime soon due the lost time. initial deadline for its completion. Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko said last month to issues behind-the-scenes, expect a mutiny from the fans. Work on the new 45,000-seat stadium, one of 12 that But on Wednesday cranes dominated the skyline there was “no doubt” the venue would be ready by the Yes, managers have come and gone and frequently and will host World Cup matches next summer, has been above the venue and towering metal structures were end of the year, TASS news agency reported. success has remained under Roman Abramovich but hook- plagued by delays over the past months. supporting its roof. The Samara Arena will host four group stage ing Conte may even be a step too far for the notoriously “We would have liked a faster construction pace,” The pitch also not been laid, unlike at some other matches, a match in the round-of-16 and a quarter expectant owner. Sergei Ponomaryov, the deputy head of general venues being built for the tournament. final. (Source: Daily Star) Prayer Times Noon:13:07 Evening: 20:01 Dawn: 5:02 tomorrow) Sunrise: 6:31 (tomorrow) AUGUST 24, 2017 ART&CULTURE I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y www.tehrantimes.com Managing Director: Ali Asgari Editor-in-Chief: Mohammad Ghaderi Editorial Dept.: Fax: (+98 21) 88808214 — 88808895 Iranian theaters get box [email protected] Switchboard Operator: Tel: (+98 21) 43051000 Advertisements Dept.: Telefax: (+98 21) 43051450 Public Relations Office: Tel: (+98 21) 88805807 Subscription & Distribution Dept.: Tel: (+98 21) 43051603 office boost www.eshterak.ir Distributor: Padideh Novin Co. Tel: 88911433 ARTTEHRAN – Iranian cinema has seen Webmaster: [email protected] desk Printed at: Kayhan - ISSN: 1017-94 over a 100-percent growth in box office receipts over the past five months compared No. 18, Bimeh Alley, Nejatollahi St., Tehran, Iran to a similar period a year earlier. P.o. Box: 14155-4843 Zip Code: 1599814713 About 30 movies hit the Iranian theaters over the past five months, grossing over 1,740 billion rials (over $45.5 million), while the theaters earned 1,560 billion rials (about $41 million) from the screening of 60 films during 12 months from March 20, 2016 to March 20, 2017, the Persian service of ILNA reported. Saman Moqaddam’s comedy “Sperm Whale 2: Roya’s Selection” was the top-grossing movie of the past five months with over $5.2 million, followed by two other comedies “Guidance Patrol 2” by Saeid Soheili at over $5.1 million and “Good, Bad, Garish” Shiraz to host Tehran by Peyman Qasemkhani at over $4.2 million. Symphony Orchestra The lowest-grossing movie of the past five month was “The White Heart of the Dandelions”, a drama ARTTEHRAN – The Tehran Symphony Or- directed by Afshin Mahmudi, with about $22. deskchestra is scheduled to give an open-air Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-winning movie “The concert at Afif Abad Garden in Shiraz next week. Salesman” was the top-grossing movie of the last Iranian calendar year with over $4 million, followed by director Manuchehr Hadi’s comedy “I Am Not Salvador” at $3.7 million and Qorban Mohammadpur’s melodrama “Salam Mumbai” at over $3.5 million. Mostafa Almasi’s low-brow comedy “Good Friends” was the lowest-grossing movie of the last Reza Attaran acts in a scene from Saman Moqaddam’s comedy “Sperm Whale 2: Roya’s Selection”, which was the Iranian calendar year with over $4,000. top-grossing movie of the past five months in Iran.

“Swan Lake” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and “Slavonic Danc- Naqsh to perform at Uzbek festival Tehran Inter-Orchestra to give es” by Antonin Dvorak at the concert, which is scheduled of Eastern songs concert at Rudaki Hall to be held on August 31, the orchestra announced on Tuesday. The concert will also be enriched with “Danzon No. 2” by Arturo Marquez and “Gone with the Wind” by Max Steiner. The orchestra will also perform “Epic” and “Empty Cry”, both composed by conductor Shahrdad Rohani, and some pieces by other Iranian musicians such as Ru- hollah Khaleqi, Ali-Akbar Qorbani and Babak Zarrin.

Thomas Meehan, Tony- winning story writer of ‘Annie,’ dies NEW YORK (AP) — Three-time Tony Award-winning book writer Thomas Meehan, best known for transforming the Little ARTTEHRAN — The organizers have announced. ARTTEHRAN — The The concert is the first part of the Orphan Annie cartoon strip into the smash Broadway musical deskIranian ensemble Vocalist Mojtaba Asgari will deskTehran Inter-Orchestra, orchestra’s annual plan to perform “Annie,” has died at age 88. Naqsh will perform at the 11th Sharq accompany Naghsh, which also a private ensemble established by musician German composer Johann Sebastian Meehan, who had been ill for about five months and had Taronalari International Music Festival, features Mohammad Eshqi on santur, Vahid Eftekhar-Hosseini, will perform at Bach’s religious pieces, Mashayekhi said in undergone surgery, died at his home in Manhattan late Monday an Uzbek event dedicated to songs from Elmira Mardaneh on kamancheh, Tehran’s Rudaki Hall on Thursday. a press release on Tuesday. or early Tuesday, longtime friend and “Annie” collaborator Martin the Orient. Marjan Mehraban on qanun and Soheil Nader Mashayekhi, a former conductor Some bricolage pieces by Mashayekhi Charnin said. Charnin visited his old friend about 10 days ago. The band led by tar player Amir Sharifi Allahdadian on tonbak. of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, will will also be played by the orchestra, which “There’s a hole in my heart,” Charnin said. “It’s a gigantic loss, will perform pieces from the Qajar period The biennial festival will come to an conduct the concert entitled “Love and No is composed of 80 musicians and a choir not only to the industry but also to us. We’ve been together and (1794-1925) in Samarkand on Friday, the end on August 30. More”. group. so close since the 1950s.” Meehan wrote the books for three shows that ran over 2,000 performances on Broadway: “Annie” with 2,377 performances, Sydney Persian film festival unveils official lineup “The Producers” with Mel Brooks at 2,502 performances and ARTTEHRAN — The 6th Persian “Take Me Home” by Abbas Kiarostami, “The Servant” by “Hairspray,” which he wrote with Mark O’Donnell and which deskInternational Film Festival, which is held Farnush Abedi and “Not Yet” by Arian Vazirdaftari. reached 2,642 performances. annually in the Australian city of Sydney, has announced its The organizers also plan to review New York-based “I wrote stories that were official lineup. Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi’s movies “The Runner” and serious, very somber, trying Eight films will compete in the festival, which will open “Monte” in a special program. to be in the style of William on September 7 with “Window Horses”, an animated movie In collaboration with Art Gallery NSW and the Faulkner,” Meehan told the directed by Japan-born Canadian filmmaker Ann Marie Association of Iranica in Australasia, they will also organize Observer newspaper in 1999. Fleming. a seminar on the renowned Iranian filmmaker Abbas “My career has always been The lineup also includes “Breath” by Narges Abyar, “Being Kiarostami on October 8. that every time I try something Born” by Mohsen Abdolvahab and “Monte” by Amir Naderi. Seifollah Samadi’s documentary “76 Minutes and 15 really serious, it’s no good, “Parting” by Navid Mahmudi, “Under the Smokey Roof” Seconds with Abbas Kiarostami” and Kiarostami’s short but if I try to be funny, then by Puran Derkhshandeh, “They” by Anahita Ghazvinizadeh film “Take Me Home” will be screened, and academic it works.” and “Bridge of Sleep” by Oktay Baraheni will also be Sareh Nur-Musavi acts in a scene from “Breath” that will figures including Negar Mottahedeh from Duke University Tributes poured in on screened in the main competition of the four-day event. be screened at the 6th Persian International Film Festival and Michelle Langford from the University of NSW are social media, including from The short competition will screen eight films such as in Sydney, Australia. scheduled to give lectures. “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who called Meehan “one of the best around,” and George and Amal Clooney give $1 Morgan Freeman to get Screen from actress Kate Shindle, In this June 8, 2003 file pho- head of the Actors’ Equity million to combat U.S. hate groups Actors lifetime award to, Thomas Meehan, left, and Association, who called his LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — Actor “What happened in Charlottesville, LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — Morgan performer brings to the part,” SAG-AFTRA Mark O’Donnell pose with their death a “great loss.” George Clooney and his humanitarian and what is happening in communi- Freeman, the versatile actor known for president Gabrielle Carteris said in a state- Tony awards for best book of a Meehan’s other shows lawyer wife, Amal Clooney, have do- ties across our country, demands our playing gods and presidents, will be hon- ment. Musical for “Hairspray” during include “Young Frankenstein” nated $1 million to the Southern Pov- collective engagement to stand up to ored with the 2017 lifetime achievement “He is innovative, fearless and com- the 57th Annual Tony Awards with Brooks, “Cry-Baby” erty Law Center, a U.S. non-profit that hate,” the Clooneys said in a joint state- award by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) at pletely unbound by expectations,” she at New York’s Radio City Music with O’Donnell, “Elf” with monitors extremists and domestic hate ment. its annual ceremony in January. added. Hall. Bob Martin, “Chaplin” with groups, in response to protests in Char- The donation comes from the Freeman, 80, whose prolific career The award is given annually to the (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File) Christopher Curtis, “Bombay lottesville, Virginia earlier this month. Clooney Foundation for Justice, which spans 50 years and more than 100 mov- actor who fosters the finest ideals of the Dreams” with Meera Syal and the musical “Rocky” with Sylvester An Aug. 12 rally in the town or- the couple established in 2016 to pro- ies, will join the likes of past recipients Lily acting profession. Stallone. ganized by neo-Nazis and other white mote justice in classrooms and court- Tomlin, Debbie Reynolds and Dick Van Freeman’s calm demeanor and au- Meehan began his career as a writer with The New Yorker’s supremacists led to counter-protests rooms around the world. Dyke when he gets the honor at a Los thoritative voice has seen him cast as God, “Talk of the Town” section and later earned an Emmy Award and the death of a woman when a car Southern Poverty Law Center Pres- Angeles ceremony on Jan. 21. SAG an- or the voice of God, in movies including nomination in 1964 as one of the writers of the TV series “That plowed into the crowd. The street bat- ident Richard Cohen thanked the nounced the award on Tuesday. “Bruce Almighty,” and he played the role of Was the Week That Was.” tles triggered a political crisis for Presi- Clooneys for “standing with us at this “Some actors spend their entire ca- president in “Invictus” and “Deep Impact.” Charnin said Meehan was “really very unique.” dent Donald Trump, who praised “very critical moment in our country’s fight reers waiting for the perfect role. Morgan In 2005 he won an Oscar for playing a for- “He was somebody who you could literally call a wit,” Charnin fine people” on both sides of the fight. against hate.” showed us that true perfection is what a mer boxer in “Million Dollar Baby.” said. “There are not a lot of wits left in comedy, and Tom was a wit. I have no problem calling him that.” Meehan made his Broadway debut with “Annie,” alongside Comedian Jerry Lewis died of end-stage heart disease: coroner Charnin and songwriter Charles Strouse. The 1977 original LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — Comedian Jerry Lewis edy into a long-running movie and stage career. He won the Tony as best musical and ran for 2,300 performances, died of end-stage heart disease when he passed away also became a fund-raising powerhouse with his annual inspiring tours and revivals that never went out of style. at his home at age 91 in Las Vegas on Sunday, Clark Labor Day telethon. “Annie” almost died at the Goodspeed Opera House in County Coroner John Fudenberg said on Monday. He partnered with Dean Martin as a comedy duo in Connecticut in 1976. But Charnin brought in noted stage and The determination was made by a hospice care doc- the 1940s and 1950s. At their height, the pair set off the film director Mike Nichols, who signed on as a producer, and tor and given to the Coroner’s Office, and no further kind of fan hysteria that once surrounded Frank Sinatra helped him revise the show. inquiry is required, Fudenberg told Reuters by tele- and the Beatles. With actress Andrea McArdle replacing Kristen Vigard as the phone. Lewis’ best known films include 1963’s “The Nutty A makeshift memorial appears for late comedian, actor red-haired moppet Annie and Dorothy Loudon added as Miss Lewis was receiving in-home hospice care before his Professor,” 1960’s “The Bellboy” and 1982 comedy-dra- and entertainer Jerry Lewis around his star on the Hannigan, the production went on to open in New York in April death, Fudengerg said. ma “The King of Comedy,” which was directed by Martin Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, U.S. 1977 with a bang. Lewis parlayed his distinctive style of low-brow com- Scorsese. August 20, 2017.(Reuters/Kyle Grillot)