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16 Pages Price 10,000 Rials 38th year No.13028 Saturday JANUARY 20, 2018 Dey 30, 1396 Jumada Al Awwal 2, 1439

Nasrallah: IAU plans to Iran beat Uzbekistan at Farhad Hassanzadeh Security impossible establish universities Asian Men’s Handball nominated for Hans without martyrs 3 in Iraq, Syria 12 Championships 15 Christian Andersen Award 16

Haniyeh writes to Leader to praise Iran’s stance on Quds POLITICS Ismail Haniyeh, head as the capital of Israel and ordered the Endless suffering desk of the political bureau relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Aviv to al-Quds. Movement (Hamas), on Thursday sent “All the enduring people of Palestine a letter to Leader of the Islamic Rev- appreciate the Islamic Republic’s stand- olution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khame- ing and worthy positions in regards to nei praising Iran’s stance on al-Quds Palestine, Quds, and support of the Pal- in Yemen (Jerusalem). estinian people’s resistance with different See page 7 On December 6 U.S. President Donald types of aid,” Haniyeh wrote, according Trump declared that he recognizes al-Quds to khamenei.ir. 2

HRW says Trump is ‘disaster’ for human rights U.S. President Donald Trump’s record Brexit, and the United States which was on human rights in his first year in office largely absent from the rights’ landscape. has been a “disaster”, the head of Human “Trump has been a disaster for the Rights Watch said in an interview. human rights movement, in part because Kenneth Roth was speaking ahead of he seems to have this insatiable desire HRW’s annual report launch in Paris, to embrace people who have been able where he said French President Emmanuel to govern without the checks and bal- Macron needed to fill a void with coun- ances of democracy.” Roth said in an tries like Britain, which was distracted by interview. 13

CBI files $4.9b complaint against Deutsche Boerse subsidiary Deutsche Boerse AG said Thursday that Clearstream and Italian bank Banca UBAE Iran’s Bank Markazi has filed a complaint SpA at a court in Luxembourg, where the against the German stock-exchange op- subsidiary is based, Deutsche Boerse said. erator’s subsidiary Clearstream, seeking The complaint seeks restitution for restitution of assets worth about $4.9 the Iranian bank’s assets, which are al- billion. legedly held on accounts of UBAE and The Iranian central bank filed the com- Bank Markazi with Clearstream and total AFP plaint against post-trade services provider around $4.9 billion plus interest. 4

ARTICLE Turkey: Operation in Syria’s Afrin has started ‘de facto’ ARTICLE By Martin Love BY staff & agencies Hulusi Akar traveled to Moscow for negotiations. Cavusoglu had earlier said the planned Syria By Maryam Qarehgozlou Political analyst from Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli says no Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Akar’s operation may expand beyond Afrin to the nearby Tehran Times journalist North Carolina troops have gone into Syria’s Kurdish-controlled trip was part of boarder efforts by Ankara to co- city of Manbij. Washington angered Ankara Afrin region but the operation has started “de ordinate the campaign with Russia. earlier this week when it announced a plan facto” with cross-border shelling. He said the presence of Russian observers to work with U.S.-backed militants of the so- Ibn Khaldun’s Canikli said in an interview with broadcast- in Afrin was an issue that has to be discussed called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to set Air pollution: not er AHaber Friday that Turkey was developing ahead of the operation. up a new 30,000-strong “border security” force insight centuries weapons systems against anti-tank missiles used “When we carry out an intervention, we need near the Turkish border. this again by U.S.-backed YPG militants. to coordinate on this, it should not impact the The force would operate along the Turkish ago applies today He said the planned military operations in Russian observers,” said Cavusoglu, adding that border with Iraq and within Syria along the Eu- ou wake up in the morning and set the northwestern Syrian region should be carried the coordination will also cover the situation in phrates River. for another working day. You may r. Franz Rosenthal, was a Jewish out with no delay to purge the territories of what Idlib, a militant-controlled region northwest of Cavusoglu further reiterated Turkish con- take a quick shower, have a breakfast, he called terrorist elements. Syria where Turkey backs an array of anti-Da- cerns over Kurdish militant activities near its Y man and scholar of great wisdom get dressed and head out. D and repute. I happened to take a Amid its rising tensions with the U.S., Turkey mascus groups. borders and said, “Our response to this is our Once you step out of the house you feel couple classes of his at Yale University said Thursday it would seek Russia’s approval “We are meeting the Russians and Iran on the legitimate right to retaliate. We told the United a strong urge to fill your lungs with some in the U.S. in the early 1970s. Though for the operation as the country’s Chief of Staff use of air space,” the top Turkish diplomat added. States this.” 13 fresh air… don’t, it will kill you, maybe deceased now, he was the top Western not right now, but wait, it will. scholar of Islam, Islamic history and According to World Health Or- Semitic languages in his day, and also Killing the Iran nuclear deal will be bad for the U.S. ganization (WHO) more 90 percent one lucky Jew who as a young man By Seyed Hossein Mousavian In the event that Congress or American allies International Atomic Energy Agency’s “Addi- of the population lives in places with before World War 2 managed to exit higher pollution than what’s consid- After months of threatening to undo the Iran in Europe fail to support the so-called supple- tional Protocol” safeguards. As noted by more Nazi Germany, but many of his elder ered healthy. nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Compre- mental agreement, Trump proclaimed, he would than 90 nuclear scientists in an October 2017 relatives who never escaped in the As estimated by Ecology Global Net- hensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Donald Trump unilaterally “terminate” the JCPOA. This is a letter supporting the JCPOA, these represent the 1930s died. work some 55 million die every year once again opted to extend the deal by waiving shocking attitude towards the European Union “strongest set of generally applicable safeguards Rosenthal knew what caused the rise worldwide. And again WHO estimates economic sanctions on Iran. This was the “last member countries, among others. implemented by the IAEA.” and fall of Islamic (or most any) polity. that 4.6 million people die each year chance,” he declared in a Jan. 12 statement, “to The reality is that the JCPOA’s text stipulates Trump’s conditions seemingly seek to make He was a translator in to English, for from causes directly attributable to air either fix the deal’s disastrous flaws, or the United the highest standards on nuclear transparency permanent the JCPOA’s major restrictions on one thing, of Ibn Khaldun’s magnifi- pollution. Worldwide more deaths per States will withdraw.” and inspections ever negotiated and provides Iran’s nuclear program and connect the Iranian cent and groundbreaking 14th century year are linked to air pollution than to The U.S. president provided four conditions verifiable assurances that Iran’s nuclear program nuclear program to its missile program, despite historical theories about the rise and automobile accidents. for a “supplemental agreement” to the JCPOA and cannot be diverted towards developing nuclear the opposition of other world powers to any re- fall of political dynasties summarized The number could be higher or lower, called on Congress to ordain them into law. These weapons. These measures already meet the first negotiation of the deal and the conditions repre- in the famous work called the “Muqa- and no one can easily claim that their include: Iran allowing “immediate” inspections of two of Trump’s conditions and surpass anything senting an egregious violation of the NPT. Indeed, ddimah”. Rosenthal laid out Islamic loved ones are directly died of air pol- “all sites requested by international inspectors,” agreed to by a member of the nuclear non-pro- Iran has a sovereign right to enrich uranium for history and Islam itself for his students lution, deaths can be ‘linked’ to air Iran never coming “close to possessing a nuclear liferation treaty (NPT). peaceful purposes under the treaty, which states at Yale in great detail, and lovingly. pollution. weapon,” that there be “no expiration date” for Furthermore, while the JCPOA’s major re- that there should be no discrimination in the right He considered Islam, as Muslims do, In Iran around 33,000 people die these provisions, and finally, that the legislation strictions are temporary, with expiration dates of signatories to benefit from peaceful nuclear the “final” revelation of the monothe- each year because they are exposed to explicitly state that Iran’s “long-range missile ranging from eight to 25 years, after the deal technologies and in no way limits states’ abilities istic tradition earlier established by unhealthy environment. In Tehran, the and nuclear weapons programs are inseparable.” expires, Iran returns to monitoring under the to develop conventional weapons. 13 Judaism and then Christianity, and capital which suffers the most from air he did indeed consider it an improved pollution, some 4,810 deaths occurred manifestation of the tradition and Ar- in 2016 are attributed to air pollution. abic, the language of the Qu’ran, the The most harmful pollutant to human most expressive of languages. Had he health is called PM 2.5, particulate matter not been born Jewish, I gathered from Tehran smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter that’s knowing him, he’d have been Muslim. found in soot, smoke, and dust. PM 2.5 is He had a profound, enduring respect especially dangerous because it can get for Islam and its achievements over Symphony lodged in the lungs and cause long-term the centuries since Muhammad’s death health problems like asthma and chronic in the seventh century. lung disease. Given the demonization of Islam by Orchestra PM 2.5 starts to become a major health some in the West, and particularly in problem when there is more than 35.5 Washington, for NO other reasons but micrograms (µg) of PM 2.5 per cubic me- that the Islamic Republic,, to cite the gigs at Fajr ter of air, according to the US Environ- prime example, officially abhors and mental Protection Agency. But the WHO The Tehran Symphony Orchestra gives a rejects Western imperialism and its recommends keeping yearly average PM performance under the baton of Shahrdad demands for control and hegemony in 2.5 levels three times lower than that. Rohani (R) during the 33rd Fajr Music the Middle East, as well as Iran’s valid While based on WHO guidelines the Festival at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on Jan- rejection of Zionism and its cruelty to the PM2.5 must stand at 10 micrograms per uary 18, 2016. Holy Land’s natives, the Palestinians, cubic meter air annually in Iran it stands one has to be concerned. The orchestra also reprised the per- Mojtaba Arabzadeh at 31.1 micrograms per cubic meter air formance last night. Another attempt to take down a country which is pretty high. The festival comes to end tonight by by the U.S. and allies, as happened with While on January 19 we marked the announcing the winners during a special Iraq and Libya and Syria especially, could national clean air day, we all very well

Mojtaba/ Mojtaba/ ceremony, which will be organized at the well be catastrophic and lead to a third know that this is just another day put on hall. world war. 7 the calendar. 12 I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y POLITICS JANUARY 20, 2018 MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS Cleric says Muslim Lavrov: JCPOA failure would send alarming world needs more courage and message for ‘international architecture’ solidarity UN chief warns against endangering nuclear deal POLITICS TEHRAN — A Tehran Friday prayer POLITICS Russian Foreign Minis- deskleader has called for boosting solidarity deskter Sergei Lavrov warned in the Muslim world in the face of enemies’ divisive plots. on Thursday that if the 2015 Iran nuclear In an address to worshippers in Tehran on Friday, Aya- deal - or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Ac- tollah Mohammad Emami Kashani warned that the enemies tion (JCPOA) - collapses, it would send an have surrounded Iran with the aim of rooting out Islam. “alarming” message to the world. “They want the destruction of Islam,” he said, cautioning Advising signatories of the deal against Muslims about the U.S. and the Zionist regime’s conspiracies. abandoning it to pursue their own inter- He emphasized that the Muslim world needs more cour- ests, Lavrov told a UN Security Council age and solidarity, adding that Muslims need to break their meeting on weapons of mass destruction silence regarding the situation in Yemen and Palestine. that the deal between Iran and six world powers -- the U.S., the UK, France, Chi- na, Russia and Germany -- is “a genuine Ayatollah achievement of international diplomacy,” RT reported. Alamolhoda rejects Lavrov also denounced the United involvement in States’ stance on the nuclear agreement as politically-motivated, saying the deal protests cannot be abandoned “for the benefit of political agendas of certain countries.” POLITICS TEHRAN — Mashhad Friday prayer leader desk “Clearly the failure of the JCPOA, es- Seyyed Ahmad Alamolhoda has rejected pecially as a result of one of the parties... involvement in igniting the recent widespread protests across would be an alarming message for the entire the country, calling for thorough investigation of the causes international community architecture,” of the unrest. Lavrov said at the Security Council. In a letter to Secretary of the Supreme National Security UN chief warns prejudice Council Ali Shamkhani, Ayatollah Alamolhoda said there is against JCPOA plenty of evidence that the protests were sparked in Tehran, Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Mehr reported. Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urged In protests, which first stared in a few cities late in De- nations not to damage the nuclear agree- cember and then spread to other cities, 25 people were killed. ment because of concerns they may have ternational peace and security,” he said. clearly prohibit ballistic-missile develop- Iran has ruled out any changes in the Security forces were among the dead. The protests lasted with Iran’s nonnuclear military activities. The administration of U.S. President ment, among other changes he is seeking. agreement, maintaining that Trump’s de- for a week. “Issues not directly related to the [nu- Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Trump said he was waiving U.S. nucle- mands violate terms of the deal sealed by clear deal] should be addressed without Iran’s ballistic-missile development as ar-related sanctions for another 120 days, the administration of former U.S. Presi- prejudice to preserving the agreement and well as support for Syria’s government as required under the deal in exchange for dent Barack Obama and signed by Britain, Labor minister its accomplishments,” Guterres said in a in a six-year civil war and its backing of curbs on Iran’s nuclear activities. France, Germany, China, and Russia. lauds China statement. Yemeni Houthi rebels, while demanding But he said he was doing so for the “last Guterres noted that the Internation- The deal is a “major achievement of major changes in the nuclear deal. time” to give U.S. and European negotiators al Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly efforts in tanker nuclear nonproliferation and diplomacy, On January 12, Trump threatened to a “last chance” to enact measures to fix concluded that Iran is fulfilling its side of incident and has contributed to regional and in- pull out of the deal unless it is changed to what he called the deal’s “disastrous flaws.” the agreement. POLITICS TEHRAN — Labor Minister Ali Rabiei deskhas praised the Chinese government for its Tillerson to start European tour amid rising rift over nuclear deal efforts, though unsuccessfully, to save the crew of an Iranian U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert and Europe at large has been shaky ever since Trump oil tanker which went up in flames after it collided with a said on Thursday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson assumed the presidency on Jan. 20, 2017. The two sides Chinese freight ship off east coast of China on January 6. will visit London, Paris, Warsaw and Davos on January have also seen snowballing differences on multiple issues Rabiei, the special envoy of President Rouhani to inves- 21-27, as the trans-Atlantic ties have been challenged by like Trump’s retreat from the Paris climate accord, his tigate the incident, said China spared no efforts to rescue widening division over the U.S. proposed revision of the decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital at the the 32 sailors including two Bangladeshis. Iran nuclear deal, among others. end of 2017 and his refusal to certify Iran’s compliance In a letter to China’s envoy to Tehran Pang Sen, Rabiei According to her announcement, Tillerson will meet with the historic nuclear deal in October. thanked the Chinese rescue team who took risks during with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and National Trump on Jan. 12 said he will extend sanctions relief the operation. He also expressed gratitude to the Chinese Security Advisor Mark Sedwill to discuss bilateral cooper- on Iran under the landmark nuclear deal for the last time, government for its efforts in extinguishing the fire, IRNA ation on such issues as Iran, Syria, Libya, the Democratic threatening a U.S. withdrawal from the pact if the U.S. reported. People’s Republic of Korea and Ukraine. Congress and his European allies cannot fix the alleged While in Paris on January 23, Tillerson is expected to “disastrous flaws.” meet with senior French officials to discuss global issues One day ago, he made a sudden announcement that IRIB budget of mutual concern. He will also attend the launch of the he has canceled his trip to Britain to inaugurate new U.S. International Partnership against Impunity for Use of The last stop will take Tillerson to Warsaw on Jan. 26, embassy due to stated disappointment over the bad spot greatly reduced Chemical Weapons. where he will meet with senior Polish officials to discuss for the embassy, sparking further irritation in London, in proposed bill: He will then travel to Davos, Switzerland, where he will how to promote the U.S.-Poland bilateral relationship in as many people and government officials asked British participate in the 2018 World Economic Forum from Jan. issues regarding global challenges, regional security, and Prime Minister Theresa May to withdraw her invitation MP 24-26. During the forum, he will follow President Donald economic prosperity. to Trump to pay a state visit. Trump’s schedule of meetings. The trans-Atlantic ties between the United States (Source: Xinhua) POLITICS TEHRAN — Ehsan Qazizadeh Hashemi, a deskmember of the Majlis Cultural Committee, says under the proposed national budget bill, the government has reduced the budget for the Islamic Republic of Iran Haniyeh writes to Leader to praise UN chief welcomes second anniversary of Broadcasting (IRIB) by more than 9 trillion rials (nearly Iran’s stance on Quds ‘Implementation Day’ for nuclear deal $200 million). Warning of the consequences of the budget cut, Qaziza- deh Hashemi said according to the sixth development plan, 0.7% of the annual budget should be allocated for the IRIB, adding that the Rouhani administration’s budget bill fails to meet that plan. He called on the administration to immediately find a solution for the issue as it could cause complications, Mehr reported on Friday.

Nephew: Trump hates JCPOA while he doesn’t understand it POLITICS Richard Nephew, program director deskat the Center on Global Energy Policy 1 “With the onset of a massive Intifada He also noted, “I strongly believe in United Nations Secretary-General Antó- the Security Council received the report at Columbia University, told CNBC on Friday that “the in the West Bank and Quds, we will, with the role your Excellency exercises, direct- nio Guterres on Wednesday welcomed the from the International Atomic Energy simple reality is that Trump hates the JCPOA even as he God’s grace, neutralize the conspiracy of ing the Islamic Republic and its devout second anniversary of the day when Iran Agency (IAEA) confirming that Iran has doesn’t understand it.” today’s tyrant (Trump) and the hypocritical commanders in a direction to carry out was confirmed to have taken a series of taken a series of nuclear-related actions Nephew added, “And though his advisors are attempting to rulers in the far and near capitals who seek the project of accomplishing the goals of nuclear-related actions under the nuclear specified in the JCPOA’s annex. get him to think about it more pragmatically, their perennial to end the Palestinian cause,” the Hamas Palestine, and also in your statements for agreement reached with key countries “The secretary-general remains struggles don’t auger well for its survival.” official remarked. mobilizing the Ummah, warning them to in 2015. convinced that the JCPOA is the best way Nephew, who served as the lead sanctions expert for the He said that the conspiracy of rec- avoid the abyss towards which the people “This marks another significant mile- to ensure the exclusively peaceful nature State Department negotiating with Iran from 2013 to 2014, ognizing al-Quds as the capital of Israel are misled by the rulers of hypocrisy and stone” in the historic agreement, said UN of Iran’s nuclear programme and to realize said, “Mr. Trump has set an unreasonable list of demands out was aimed at destroying the basis of conspiracy.” spokesman Stéphane Dujarric in a state- the promised tangible economic benefits that I do not think any realistic European or Congressional resistance. Noting that Iran has been on the side of ment, noting that the Joint Comprehen- for the Iranian people,” Mr. Dujarric said. agreement could satisfy.” “Although these conspiracies were clear Palestine in difficult situations, Haniyeh sive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – reached by “The secretary-general calls for con- to us since long ago, they have become more appreciated Iran’s performance in sup- Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the cerns regarding its implementation to apparent than before, in recent months porting the resistance movement. United Kingdom, the United States and be addressed through the mechanisms U.S. lawmakers and days, with the Riyadh conference and “With great guidance of the Supreme the European Union – constitutes a major established by the agreement,” and “be- pushing bill to the words of Donald Trump in which he Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Iran, achievement of nuclear non-proliferation lieves that issues not directly related to called Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas their undoubtedly, has had and will have a great and diplomacy, and has contributed to re- the JCPOA should be addressed without tighten terms of ‘prepared enemies’, and emphasized his privilege in strengthening the Mujahideen gional and international peace and security. prejudice to preserving the agreement and Zionist attitude by labeling Quds as the (fighters) and reinforcing the option of The day, known as “Implementation its accomplishments,” Mr. Dujarric added. JCPOA ‘Jewish capital’.” resistance and struggle in Palestine.” Day,” occurred on 16 January 2016 when (Source: www.un.org) POLITICS TEHRAN — U.S. lawmakers have put for- deskward a bill at the House of Representatives which they say is to tighten the term of the 2015 Iran deal, Iran, Russia to maintain co-op in terror fight: diplomat aka JCPOA, despite international warnings for Washington POLITICS TEHRAN — Iranian Deputy Foreign make it essential to hold consultations more often,” he said. He also said that the Iranian and Russian diplomats to stop attempts to undermine the accord. deskMinister Hossein Jaberi Ansari said on Jaberi Ansari said Iran-Russia consultations will defi- plan to meet in in the Black Sea resort of Sochi to discuss Named “Iran Freedom Policy and Sanctions Act”, the Friday that Tehran and Moscow will seriously continue nitely help solve problems in the region, because the two arrangements for the Syrian Congress on National Dialogue. bill was tabled on Thursday by Republican representative cooperation in fight against terrorism. countries have many capacities to settle regional problems. The Syria government and opposition groups are expected Peter Roskam and backed by his fellow GOP member Liz During a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Min- For his part, Bogdanov called for more talks on regional to attend the conference. Cheney, the daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, ister Mikhail Bogdanov in Moscow, Jaberi Ansari called developments. Back in November 2017, Bogdanov said, “We hope that according to Cheney’s website. for more consultation and dialogue on developments in Bogdanov said that the two countries’ presidents and everyone who believes that the fate of the country, its unity, The proposed legislation “makes clear what any effective the Middle East. foreign ministers have close cooperation and this indicates its territorial integrity and its sovereignty are important agreement would have to contain,” Cheney said in a statement. “Developments in the Middle East and the Arab world the “strong” and “strategic” between Russia and Iran. will participate.” I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y JANUARY 20, 2018 INTERNATIONAL

Nasrallah: Security ‘We will fight’: 9/11 families renew bid to sue Saudi

Saudi Arabia has again defended its government against allega- impossible without martyrs tions of providing support to the perpetrators of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York, as the kingdom’s lawyers faced family members of victims in a Manhattan federal courtroom. Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah Thursday’s hearing marked the third time a group of families gave a televised address at a memorial ceremony Friday of 9/11 victims and survivors have tried to sue the Saudi gov- and addressed regional developments and security. ernment for damages relating to the attack that killed nearly The event was held to commemorate Hezbollah com- 3,000 people. manders killed in the southwestern Syrian town of Quneitra Fifteen of the 19 attackers were Saudi citizens. in 2015 as well as the 40th anniversary of the death of It was the first hearing since Congress passed legislation remov- Fayez Mughniyeh, the father of slain senior Hezbollah ing aspects of sovereign immunity that had prevented previous commander Imad Mughniyeh and the grandfather of the cases against the Saudi government from being heard. Imad’s son, Jihad. Victims’ relatives, survivors and insurance companies have “Today when an official in Lebanon talks about se- claimed that members of the Saudi government supported curity, it should be known that security couldn’t have the al-Qaeda-affiliated men who been established without the martyrs [of Hezbollah],” hijacked and crashed planes Nasrallah said. “When we talk about a huge defeat to into New York’s World Trade the American project [for the region] and the victories Center, the Pentagon outside of the governments and the people of the region, it is due Washington, and a Pennsyl- to those sacrifices and the martyrs.” vania field. Nasrallah praised Fayez Mughniyeh and his family They also accuse Saudi saying they were one of the families that had offered many Arabia of funding charities martyrs. that supported al-Qaeda. Nasrallah called on families in Beirut who left their Terry Strada, national chair ancestral towns to continue to remember their families of 9/11 Families and Survivors and return to their homes in their original hometowns. United for Justice Against Ter- He said that plans by the government and the civil rorism, fought for the legislation society to lift the burden off the capital, in terms of trash, to limit sovereign immunity. traffic and drugs. But he said there is a lot of negative She said her group would impact from the overpopulation of cities in very tiny areas. keep pushing to expose what He said that even Hezbollah was thinking about this. she sees as clear financial ties “[We want] most of those who work in the south, to live between the attack and the royal family. in the south,” “I’ll never be tired of doing this,” Strada told Al Jazeera. “We “If the issue of transportation was resolved...things don’t want to be involved in this.” Hamas official represents the beginning of a dangerous will fight until the end.” would be easier [in the country].” “Hezbollah doesn’t have any money to invest anywhere security phase in Lebanon.” She said her life had not been the same since she lost her U.S. accusations of Narcoterror and isn’t involved in any [such] project.” Regional situation husband, Tom, the father of her three children. Moving on to recent reports by U.S. news website Politico “There are some rich people [in Hezbollah], but this Then Nasrallah turned to the situation in the region. “I don’t have anything else. I’m going to take this as far as I can.” regarding international drug dealing networks and the is an individual thing. Hezbollah didn’t allow anyone to “The Americans under the pretext of Daesh [ISIL] want In 2015, the suspicion that the Saudi attackers had help from recent news that the U.S. Justice Department had formed speak in its name and as for the drugs, this comes within to return and stay in Iraq and the same in Syria.” their government was investigated and dismissed for lack of a special investigative team to investigate Hezbollah drug the war that we are subjected to.” “There is a continuation of the American discrimina- evidence by the 9/11 Commission. networks, Nasrallah denied any involvement. Attack on Hamas official tion from the Trump administration, Trump says Muslim But lawyers for the plaintiffs say the commission’s report was “During the past few weeks, there have been American Turning to Sunday’s bombing that targeted a Hamas terrorism on purpose. He has now come to discriminate inconclusive, and new evidence has since come to light, includ- accusations that aren’t new,” he said. “The Justice Depart- official in south Lebanon’s Sidon, Nasrallah said: “We are against African countries,” Nasrallah said in apparent ing previously classified documents and supporting testimony ment formed a committee and it wanted to investigate following up the investigation and all signs indicate that reference reports that the U.S. president referred to Haiti, from two former FBI agents and former Senator Bob Graham how Hezbollah is related to drugs and there was a story Israel was behind implementing the attack.” El Salvador and nations in Africa as “shithole countries.” of Florida, who served on the 9/11 Commission. [in Politico] about how [former U.S. President Barack] “When the Lebanese security agencies find out that it U.S. cuts to UNRWA ’Hearsay and speculation’ Obama opened the door for Hezbollah in this regard. I was Israel, we hope that it is dealt with as a violation of “Trump will continue to pressure Arab countries as it Lawyers for Saudi Arabia say the accusations are “baseless” want to remind everyone about a position, that these are the Lebanese sovereignty. This is a dangerous beginning. appears to have been pressuring the Palestinians. There and are again trying to get the case dismissed, arguing in court unfair accusations that are baseless. Know we began to understand why they were holding all also appears to be Arab pressure on Palestine for a deal documents that the new evidence is “hearsay and speculation, “Hezbollah, when it comes to this, is not permitted by of these meetings. Is it this [simple] to turn a blind eye to that has been offered to them [by the U.S.] as long as the insufficient to support the findings required for jurisdiction over religion and we say that it is ‘haram.’ Even the “Hallal” Israel’s resumption of attacks in Lebanon? Why are we Palestinians refuse the deal. We have created victories Saudi Arabia”. trade we aren’t being involved in, even if it has to do with saying that there is security here?” and we will protect our country and side.” The families believe the evidence shows that US-based Saudi investments. For Hezbollah, we took the decision that we “I want to sound the alarm - the attack against the (Source: Daily Star) government agents helped the hijackers and that the govern- ment knowingly funded charities that supported “anti-Western, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh rally Japanese hold sit-in Okinawa, try to jihadist ideology”. Lawyer Sean Carter, who represents victims and their family against repatriation to Myanmar obstruct construction of U.S. base members, told the judge that the charities were “the principal source of funding for al-Qaeda leading up to the 9/11 attacks”. Hundreds of Rohingya Muslim refugees in Japanese people have staged a sit-in pro- He argued the judge should allow the case to move forward Bangladesh have protested a joint plan to test, trying to obstruct the construction to the next phase, when the plaintiffs would be able to summon repatriate them to Myanmar, where they of a new American base on the southern prominent members of the Saudi royal family and religious have faced a bloody crackdown by military island of Okinawa, which has been rife with leadership to testify and provide documents. forces and extremist Buddhists. anti-U.S. sentiment for years. Saudi officials are trying to stop that from happening and The refugees, living in overcrowded and On Friday, the protesters tried to block accuse the plaintiffs of equating Islam with “terrorism”. squalid camps in southeastern Bangladesh, 80 trucks carrying building materials “To equate missionary work, building mosques, providing staged the protest on Friday, declaring that on an access road, prompting police to Qurans, with terrorism is not proper in this court,” lawyer Mi- they did not want to be returned. intervene and break up the sit-down chael Kellogg argued in court. Chanting slogans and holding banners, Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. demonstration. to replace the Futenma base. The judge could take up to four months to decide whether or the Muslim refugees demanded citizenship The United Nations says nearly 655,000 “Under the democratic fundamental According to U.S. Forces Japan, nearly not to let the trial proceed. and guarantees of security before they would Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine to principle which is an ‘election,’ the people half of 100,000 U.S. troops in Japan reside If the trial is allowed to continue, it is likely to strain diplo- return to their home state of Rakhine in Bangladesh since the military launched a of Okinawa said we don’t need the base,” on Okinawa. matic and economic relations between the US and Saudi Arabia. Myanmar. new wave of bloody violence last August. The said protester Shinichi Mura. “Unfortu- Multiple cases of misconduct by U.S. (Source: Al Jazeera) One refugee told AFP by phone that UN says any repatriation must be voluntary. nately the Japanese government doesn’t forces, featuring several rape cases and they wanted “a UN peacekeeping force. We A Bangladesh official said the roughly think of Japanese people as the priority.” rape and murder of a 20-year-old woman in want fundamental rights and citizenship. 6,500 Rohingya refugees who are currently The locals are concerned about potential 2016, has raised anti-American sentiment Cross-border clashes We do not want repatriation without life living in a no man’s land between the two noise pollution, and safety and environ- among the pacifist islanders. guarantees.” countries would be among the first group to mental hazards. Also on Friday, Japan criticized the U.S. escalate between India, Bangladesh and Myanmar have reached be repatriated. This is while many Rohing- The Japanese and U.S. governments have military for breaking a pledge to avoid fly- an agreement to send back the refugees to ya people are still waiting to cross the Naf pursued the relocation of the Futenma air ing helicopters over a school next to the Pakistan in Kashmir Rakhine within two years. River into Bangladesh, fleeing continuing base to the less populated Henoko coastal Futenma base. The program, which is expected to launch state-sponsored violence in Myanmar. area in the Okinawa city of Nago, saying The Marines insisted that their heli- Cross-border shelling has continued between Indian and Pakistani on Tuesday, is described by Amnesty Inter- Buddhist-majority Myanmar brands the the plan is “the only solution” to address copters had avoided the school. forces in Kashmir for a third day, reportedly leaving casualties national as “alarmingly premature.” minority Rohingya Muslims in the country noise problems and accident risks. The school has become a focal point on both sides of the disputed border in the Himalayan region. “With memories of rape, killing, and as “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh, Many Okinawans, however, want the for discontent over the U.S. presence on Pakistan’s military said in a statement on Friday that Indian torture still fresh in the minds of Rohingya refusing to accept them as citizens despite base to be relocated outside the prefecture. the island since a window fell from a U.S. troops initiated fire from across the border and targeted Pakistani refugees, plans for their return to Myan- the fact that they have lived in the country According to the relocation plan, the Marines helicopter onto its playground villages along Kashmir, killing two civilians and wounding five mar are alarmingly premature,” said James for many generations. state-of-the-art airbase will be built in the last month. others. The country’s Foreign Ministry later said the fatalities Gomez, Amnesty International’s Regional (Source: al Alam) waters off the island over the next five years (Source: Kyodo) were all women. HRW urges UN sanctions on Saudi crown prince over Yemen war Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on complicity in the war on Yemen, demand- the United Nations to impose sanctions on ing the UN to include Saudi leaders in its Saudi Arabia’s military leaders, including blacklist. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who Meanwhile, Whitson told reporters that also serves as the defense minister, over “the U.S., UK, France and others are risking atrocities committed in the war on Yemen. complicity in unlawful coalition airstrikes The New York-based rights organization by continuing to provide weapons to Saudi said in its World Report 2018 on Thursday Arabia.” that Saudi Arabia, which has been waging a “Faced with the world’s worst humani- military campaign on Yemen since March tarian crisis, governments should be urging 2015, has repeatedly attacked the impov- the UN to enact sanctions against Saudi India rejected the claim, saying Pakistan initiated the fire, erished country’s populated areas. leaders, not selling them more bombs to killing a teenage girl and a soldier on the Indian side of the The kingdom, it added, has deepened use on Yemeni markets, schools, and hos- disputed region. a humanitarian crisis in Yemen through pitals,” she added. An Indian paramilitary officer said soldiers were responding imposing a blockade, destroying infrastruc- More than 13,600 people have been to Pakistani firing and shelling on dozens of border posts, which ture and restricting humanitarian workers’ killed since the onset of the Saudi-led war he called an “unprovoked” violation of a 2003 ceasefire accord. access to the conflict-ridden state. on Yemen. Much of the Arabian Peninsula Indian police officer S.D. Singh said at least six Indian civil- Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East country’s infrastructure has also been re- ians and a soldier were also wounded by Pakistani fire and that director at HRW, denounced war crimes duced to rubble in military strikes. Indian paramilitary. committed in Yemen over the past almost The Saudi aggression was launched in He added that Pakistani soldiers fired mortars and automatic three years, noting, “United Nations Security a bid to reinstate a former Riyadh-friendly gunfire at some 15 posts in the Jammu region. Council sanctions on Houthi leaders should government and to eliminate the Houthi Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned an Indian diplomat be extended to senior [Saudi-led] coalition that have killed thousands of civilians. population,” HRW said in its report. Ansarullah movement, but it has achieved on Thursday, condemning the latest alleged ceasefire violation. military leaders, including Saudi Defense The rights group also noted that it had “These violations, as well as the coalition’s neither of its goals so far. Both India and Pakistan lay claim to the entire Kashmir re- Minister Mohammed bin Salman, for their documented six deadly Saudi air raids since disregard for the reported suffering of the A total of 22.2 million people in Yemen gion and have fought three wars over it. Each controls only parts role in obstructing aid and other abuses.” December 2017. civilian population, suggest that the coalition are in need of humanitarian aid, 8.4 million of the territory, however. In 2003, the two countries reached a The HRW accused Saudi Arabia and its “Coalition military actions have violat- may be violating the prohibition against using at risk of famine, with the country experi- ceasefire over but sporadic clashes continue. allies of using Western-supplied arms and ed laws-of-war prohibitions on restricting starvation as a method of warfare, which is encing one of the worst cholera outbreaks The United Nations Military Observer Group in India and cluster munitions in their “indiscriminate humanitarian assistance and on destroying a war crime,” the report added. on record. Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has been monitoring the border for decades. and disproportionate airstrikes” in Yemen objects essential to the survival of the civilian It further referred to the Western powers’ (Source: Press TV) (Source: Press TV) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 4 ECONOMY JANUARY 20, 2018

STOCK MARKET Iran, Pakistan in accord to revive TEDPIX 98923.6 IFX 1093.05 Sources: tse.ir, Ifb.ir Zahedan-Quetta railway service

ECONOMY TEHRAN — Iran and Pakistan agreed CURRENCIES deskto revive passenger train service between Iran’s Zahedan in south eastern province of Sistan- USD 44,340 rials Baluchestan and Pakistan’s Quetta in Balochistan till EUR 55,780 rials mid-September 2018, IRNA reported on Thursday. During a two-day meeting held to collaborate on Iran- GBP 62,750 rials Pakistan railway transportation joint committee at the place of Pakistan Ministry of Railways, the two sides AED 12,550 rials agreed on revival of the named railway when security Source: Mehrnews.com situations are improved in Pakistan. The meeting was headed by Head of Zahedan Railways Majid Arjouni and Pakistan’s Railways Board Secretary Zubair Shafi Ghauri. COMMODITIES The passenger train service will be developed between Quetta and Iranian cities of Mashhad or Qom, and will Brent $68.68/b largely cater to the needs of pilgrims during Muharram. WTI $63.37/b Earlier, an international mixed passenger and freight service used to be operated twice a month by the Pakistan OPEC Basket $67.07/b Railways between Quetta and Zahedan. The train service, Gold $1,334.45/oz named after the Iranian city, used to run on the first and fifteenth day of every month from Quetta to Zahedan and Silver $17.05/oz the third and seventeenth of each month from Zahedan to Quetta. It used to take 33 hours to cover a distance railway line. Railways and Iranian Railways was also under consideration Platinium $1,015.95/oz of 732km along the entire stretch of the Quetta-Taftan Revision of the 1959 agreement between Pakistan in this meeting, the report confirmed. Sources: Oilprice.com, Moneymetals.com

Iran Central Bank files $4.9b Iran’s oil revenue Sri Lanka to settle $42m complaint against Deutsche jumps near 50% oil dues to Iran by Feb. ENERGY TEHRAN — Iran’s ENERGY TEHRAN — Sri Boerse subsidiary deskrevenues from crude oil deskLanka is going to 1 Alternatively, Bank Markazi seeks damages worth the and oil products exports reached 536.8 pay $42 million of its oil dues to Iran same amount, Deutsche Boerse said. trillion rials (about $12.128 billion) in the this February, Sri Lankan Daily Mir- The sought assets include about $1.9 billion which was turned first eight months of the current Iranian ror reported citing the International over to plaintiffs in the U.S. following a binding 2013 U.S. court calendar year (March 21-November 21, Monetary Fund (IMF). order in a proceeding involving the Iranian bank, Deutsche Bo- 2017) up 49 percent compared to its pre- “Following the establishment of a erse said. ceding year’s same period. payment platform, external arrears The bank›s complaint also addresses around $2 billion in The country’s crude oil sales reached with the Export Development Bank of customer assets which are held at Clearstream and are subject 402.4 trillion rials (about $9.09 billion) in Iran are being paid based on a schedule to litigation in the U.S. and Luxembourg. the mentioned time span while the figure shared with the Iranian authorities and Clearstream believes the complaint against it is without merit stood at 270.4 trillion rials (about $6.1 Iran has exported 2.6 million barrels of will be cleared by February 2018,” the tions imposed on Iran by the U.S. and the subsidiary will take «all necessary and appropriate meas- billion) in the preceding year, IRIB news crude oil and gas condensate on average report quoted IMF as saying. The continued increase in arrears ures to vigorously contest the claims,» Deutsche Boerse said. reported on Wednesday. on a daily basis. Sri Lanka had accumulated $42 mil- over the last two years was a breach of (Source: foxbusiness.com) Iran’s revenues from crude oil and gas China, India, Japan and South Korea lion in arrears by mid-2017 and $13 the continuous performance criterion condensate exports exceeded $23 billion are among the country’s main crude im- million of this were accumulated in 2016 of the $1.5 billion balance of payments since the beginning of current Iranian cal- porters shipping in 60 percent of Iran’s and 2017 due to continued difficulties loan provided to Sri Lanka, linked to Japan government upgrades endar year (March 21, 2017), IRIB news total oil exports. The other 40 percent of in establishing the payment platform. economic reforms. The IMF had pro- reported on Wednesday. the country’s crude exports heads to the The arrears began in 2013 due to vided a waiver for the two breaches in economic view for first time According to the report citing Shana, European buyers. payment barriers arising from the sanc- mid-2017. in seven months

The Japanese government raised its assessment of the economy Ban on rice imports to be waived from Sunday in January for the first time in seven months due to rising con- ECONOMY TEHRAN— Iran waived Republic of Iran Customs Administration market into recession, no further order reg- desk sumer spending, an encouraging sign that inflation could start the ban on rice imports (IRICA) banned any registration for imports istration should be allowed,” Hojjati wrote to pick up this year. for a five-month period starting from Sunday, of rice until further notice, IRNA reported to Shariatmadari on December 20. “Japan’s economy is gradually recovering,” the Cabinet Of- Tasnim news agency reported on Friday. at the time. Accordingly, IRICA announced that fice said in its monthly economic report on Friday. That marked The waiver was announced to Industry, “Regarding the mass imports of rice, registration for imports of rice is forbid- an upgrade from December, when the Cabinet Office said the Mining and Trade Minister Mohammad more than one million tons, during the first den until further notice due to the order economy was on a recovery path. Shariatmadari in a letter by Agriculture five months of the current Iranian calendar of agriculture minister and exports and The government also raised its assessment of consumer spending Minister Mahmoud Hojjati on January 14. year (March 21- August 22, 2017), which imports regulations of Iran Trade Promo- for the first time since June after retail sales, household spending, On December 31, 2017, the Islamic surpassed domestic consumption and pulled tion organization (TPO). and new car sales gained momentum toward the end of 2017. Consumer spending is “recovering,” which is an upgrade Trump is ‘determined to bite somebody, and China is the most likely target,’ trade expert says from the phrase “gradual recovery” used in last month’s report. The assessment increases the chance that the government will A year after President Donald Trump took office, the United National Foreign Trade Council, told CNBC. delegates at The Asian Financial Forum on Monday, accord- declare an end to deflation, which would amount to a declaration States’ trade deficit with China looms larger than ever. Trump himself told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday ing to transcriptions of his comments. of victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ambitious campaign Although both countries calculate the gap differently, the the U.S. was considering a big “fine” as part of a probe into Trump has consistently deemed trade with China unfair to reflate the economy. latest data from Beijing indicates a trade differential at a China’s alleged theft of intellectual property. to America, but he’s indicated that he had held back from “The difference between previous recoveries and the current record high of $275.81 billion in 2017. That figure does not Experts in China are also widely expecting trade tensions further action as he sought Beijing’s help in bringing North recovery is that right now both the corporate sector and the house- bode well for bilateral relations, which many expect to take to ratchet up. Korea’s nuclear ambitions under control. hold sector are steadily improving,” said Japanese Economy a turn for the worse in 2018 after a year of relative inaction Tu Guangshao, vice chairman and president of China In- Any broad-based action could be detrimental for both Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. from Trump. vestment Corporation said he expects “trade friction,” but sides, as trade between the world’s two largest economies Data for November and December showed consumer spend- “The prevailing view in Washington now is that, this year, not a “serious trade war,” between the two major economies. has been growing in spite of differences — China is America’s ing bounced back from a lull caused by bad weather, a Cabinet he is determined to bite somebody, and China is the most “The basic premise is that China-U.S. trade is not just largest single trading partner. Office official told reporters. (Source: Reuters) likely target,” William Reinsch, the former president of the benefits China, but in fact benefits the U.S. as well,” Tu told (Source: cnbc)

SINGLE- STAGE INTERNATIONAL TENDER ONE STEP INTERNATIONAL TENDER Second Announcement Second Announcement GOVERNMENT TRADING CORPORATION OF IRAN GOVERNMENT TRADING CORPORATION OF IRAN The Government Trading Corporation of Iran (hereinafter referred to as GTC), affiliated to the Ministry of Agriculture Government Trading Corporation of Iran (hereinafter referred to as GTC), affiliated to the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad Jihad of the Islamic Republic of Iran, intends to purchase 30,000 M/Ts 10 pct M/L RBD palm olein , through single of the Islamic Republic of Iran, intends to purchase 45,000 M/Ts 10 pct M/L Indian 1121 sella rice,(in 3 separate cargoes stage international tender of 15000 MTs M/L 10% each. cargoes to be shipped in 3 lots at 10 days interval during April, May, June 2018) on CFR All of qualified companies and suppliers that are interested to bid above tender are invited to receive tender documents from basis, through single stage international tender. All qualified companies and suppliers who are interested to bid above tender are invited to receive tender documents from 20/01/2018 until 28/01/2018 20/01/ 2018 until 28/01/ 2018 from Trades & Tenders Committee located on the 4th floor of GTC building no 2 , at No 225 from the secretary of Trades &Tenders committee located on the 4th floor of GTC building no 2 , Iran,Tehran , Fatmei Ave Fatemi Avenue Tehran-Iran. along with an official letter of introduction. . opposite of Water and Wastewater Co. along with an official letter of introduction. The bidders are required to submit stamped and sealed envelopes containing their offers latest by 12:00 on 27/02/2018 to The bid participants are required to submit their stamped and sealed envelopes containing their offers latest on 13:00(Tehran th the Tender secretariat located on the 7 floor. The bid’s envelope will be opened at 27/02/2018 By13:00 In the presents of time) on 27.02.2018 to the secretariat of tenders committee located on the 7th floor. Meanwhile the meeting for the open- the bidder’s representative in GTC’s purchasing committee hall . (9th floor, No 12, Jahad Square, Tehran, Iran). ing of the envelopes will be held on 27.02.2018 at 14:00(Tehran time) with the presence of bidder’s representatives in our Bid bond: bid bond worth EUR 298,913 (IRR 13,750,000,000) for each 15000 MT cargo purchasing committee ( 9th floor, No 12, Jahad Square, Tehran, Iran). Bid bonds may be deposited either cash in Rials or through an unconditional bank guarantee issued in Euros by renowned Iranian bank located in Tehran, with three months validity and extendible for another three months. Bid bond: the bid bond worth EUR 325,313 (IRR. 14,964,400,000) in cash or unconditional bank guarantee with three Note: participates who wish to bid for more than one cargo are obliged to deposit the above mentioned bid bond for each months validity and extendible for another three months. extra shipment. For more information, you may refer to our website WWW.GTC-PORTAL.COM or contact us by phoneNo.00982188957477 For more information, you may refer to our website WWW.GTC-PORTAL.COM or contact us by phoneNo.00982188957477 ( foreign trade department) . ( foreign trade department) . I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y JANUARY 20, 2018 ENERGY 5

OPEC frets about new BP returns to northern Iraq’s recaptured oil fields

BP has marked its return to the oilfields of northern Iraq with an ambitious deal to help Iraq more than double crude flows from flood of U.S. oil its “super-giant” oilfield after government troops recaptured the OPEC increased its forecast for rival oil-supply will meet this weekend in Oman to review region from Kurdish forces. growth for a second month running after a their strategy for clearing the global oil glut. The oil major was forced to withdraw from the battle torn recovery in prices sent Brent crude to $70 While soaring prices have prompted warn- region in 2015 but on Thursday signed an agreement with Iraqi a barrel. ings -- from Iran’s oil minister to Goldman government officials to restore the region’s crude production to OPEC’s output cuts -- now entering a second Sachs Group Inc. -- of a fresh surge in U.S. between 700,000 and 750,000 barrels of oil a day. year -- have been successful in eroding bloated production, ministers from the United Arab The Kirkuk oil fields were taken back under government con- stockpiles and lifting prices to a three-year Emirates, Iraq and Kuwait insist there’s no trol in October last year, paving the way for the deal, signed by high. Yet the rally has prompted concern that need to change tack and the cartel will stick BP’s Middle East boss Michael Townshend and Iraqi oil minister competitors in the U.S. will be emboldened with its plan to restrain output for the rest Jabar al-Luaibi at the Kirkuk headquarters of Iraq’s state-owned to expand production. of the year. North Oil Company (NOC). “Higher oil prices are bringing more supply OPEC lowered its forecast for demand for The letter of intent pledges BP’s support in redeveloping the to the market, particularly in North America,” its own crude this year to 33.09 million bar- field by carrying out seismic survey operations and studies to help the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Coun- rels a day from 33.15 million a day. That still overhaul the field’s operations. It also commits BP to helping in tries said Thursday in its monthly report. The exceeds its average daily output last month the longer-term redevelopment of the field. group raised its forecast for 2018 non-OPEC of 32.42 million barrels a day. A BP spokesman said the deal is an extension of the agreement supply growth by 160,000 barrels a day, or 16 The group’s output cuts are aimed at bring- first signed in 2013 but derailed after Kurdish forces took control percent, to 1.15 million barrels a day. ing OECD commercial stockpile levels back to of the Kirkuk field to help fuel their battle against Isis fighters. Expected growth in total U.S. crude supply the five-year average. Levels were 133 million Genel Energy and Gulf Keystone were also among those stung was revised higher by 110,000 barrels a day to barrels above average in November, down by the bitter conflict between Kurdish militants and Isil fighters which has made securing payment for their crude extremely 820,000 a day, led by conventional production. by 1.1 percent from last month’s report, to from 137 million a month earlier. Upward revision difficult in the past. OPEC lowered its forecast for shale-oil output about 5.42 million barrels a day. (Source: Bloomberg) OPEC and partners including Russia But BP’s show of confidence in Baghdad’s government is the latest in a flurry of returning interest to the oil-rich region. Oil prices fall as U.S. output rise China says sunken Iranian tanker Chevron said earlier this week that it would restart drilling in the region, and Russia’s Rosneft has also begun work in Iraqi outweighs crude stock falls may be leaking bunker fuel Kurdistan. The revived co-operation also serves to deepen BP’s relation- Oil prices slid on Friday, putting them on Bunker fuel may now be leaking from the ship with Iraq, where the oil major has a long exploration and course for the biggest weekly falls since Iranian oil tanker that sank in the East Chi- production history after first discovering oil there in the Twenties. October, as a bounce-back in U.S. pro- na Sea last Sunday, China’s State Oceanic BP was also the first major international oil company to return duction outweighed ongoing declines in Administration (SOA) said, underlining to Iraq after 35 years of isolation in 2009 to ramp up production crude inventories. fears for contamination from the world’s of the super-giant Rumaila oil field in the south of Iraq. Brent crude futures were at $68.70 a worst oil ship disaster in decades. Since then BP, and its consortium partners, have managed to barrel at 0949 GMT, down 61 cents from In a statement issued late on Thursday, increase production at the field by 40pc to 1.45 million barrels their last close. On Monday, they hit their the SOA said several previously unreport- of oil a day to become the government’s biggest source of crude highest since December 2014 at $70.37. ed slicks were spotted by planes, vessels exports. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and satellites near the disaster site. The Iraq’s ultra-low-cost oil is an increasingly lucrative export as crude futures were at $63.38 a barrel, down SOA said one, seen 2.5 kilometers (km) the global market recovers from twelve year lows in early 2016. But 57 cents from their last settlement. WTI million barrels per day (bpd) on Jan. 12, east of the wreck site around 0600 local of condensate before the accident, most of it will need to keep a lid production to comply with a deal agreed marked a December-2014 peak of $64.89 data from the Energy Information Admin- time on Thursday, may indicate leakage which evaporated after the stricken shipped between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and a barrel on Tuesday. istration showed. The IEA said it expects of extremely toxic bunker fuel, the heavy burned for days. other major oil producing nations to shore up oil market prices. The International Energy Agency (IEA), this to soon exceed 10 million bpd, over- oil used in ship engines. The SOA said it will continue carrying The group agreed to extend the cuts until the end of the year, in its monthly report, said that global oil taking OPEC behemoth Saudi Arabia and It remain unclear how much bunker out monitoring and environmental impact causing oil prices to climb towards the $70 a barrel mark. But stocks have tightened substantially, aided rivalling Russia. fuel was left aboard the tanker, the Sanchi, assessment works. a monthly report from the Vienna-based oil group warned that by OPEC cuts, demand growth and Vene- Analysts also pointed to an expected when it sank. Experts estimated it may Three slicks covering a combined area higher prices has increased the activity of oil frackers in North zuelan production hitting near 30-year lows. demand slowdown at the end of winter have been carrying about 1,000 tons at of 20.7 square km were spotted by satellite, America which could erode the effectiveness of its supply pact. But it warned that rapidly increasing in the northern hemisphere and excessive the time it collided with the CF Crystal with the largest in size 17.4 square km, the The rise of oil production in North America, as well as Nigeria production in the United States could long positions in financial oil markets as grain freighter. SOA said in its statement. and Libya which are both exempt from the cap, is tempered by threaten market balancing. a likely brake on any upward momentum Bunker fuel is noxious to marine or- That combined area was 80.3 square the steady decline in Venezuela’s output. “Explosive growth in the U.S. and sub- in prices. ganisms and difficult to remove from the km smaller than the total reported a day The OPEC report said oil production from Venezuela has stantial gains in Canada and Brazil will ANZ bank said “an upcoming soft patch sea once spilled, unlike the condensate earlier. But water samples taken at four slipped further to hit its lowest level in decades amid its crippling far outweigh potentially steep declines in in demand and extreme investor position- fuel - an extremely light form of oil - that of the total 22 spill sites detected so far economic crisis. (Source: The Telegraph) Venezuela and Mexico,” the IEA said of ing does open up the possibility of some was being shipped by the Sanchi at the were found to exceed petroleum substance 2018 production. short-term weakness”. time of the collision. standards. U.S. crude oil production stood at 9.75 (Source: Reuters) The Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tons (Source: Reuters) The U.S. and China’s battle over solar may actually benefit $70 oil cripples European refiners the industry worldwide In the latest indication of the strength of the year low, Barclays says, which is particularly margins in the last couple of years — now with prices. Canada and the U.S. were not part American solar manufacturers expect the White House to indicate recovery of global oil prices, European refineries telling. The oil price crash in late 2014 largely lower margins, we could see slightly lower run of this group. whether or not it plans to impose a tariff on imported solar panel are struggling to pay their crude bills as margins shapes the market. Hydroskimming facilities, levels all around,” says Salih Yilmaz, an analyst The agreement states that countries party materials by next week. decline and demand weakens for some of their which refine fuels in a relatively unsophisticated at Bloomberg Intelligence. to the deal will get a chance to “review” the In August 2017, American solar panel manufacturers Suniva and products, Bloomberg reports. process, have it tough because their techniques Though oil markets are gearing up for higher deal come June, though the implications of SolarWorld registered an official complaint with the United States The profit curve for fuel oil, used by ship- do not allow for diesel or gasoline production crude prices in the coming months, high pro- this clause are unclear. Will members be able International Trade Commission, claiming that foreign solar imports pers and power stations, has fallen the most like complex refineries. duction forecasts from the United States and to withdraw early if prices look stronger than hurt American companies. The trade case, which was supported by dramatically. High inflows of diesel in the “Fuel oil cracks are paltry, which is im- foreboding statements from Russia regarding anticipated? the regulatory body, alleged cheaper imports of crystalline silicon Middle East are making that fuel difficult to pacting hydroskimming margins, with Urals a potential withdrawal from the OPEC deal Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak photo voltaic cells and modules, namely those from China, were bank on as well. margins in particular falling,” Ehsan Ul-Haq, threaten to derail the recovery. has suggested a Russian withdrawal could be uninhibited by an undue absence of trade tariffs. As a result of the capital crunch, refinery of the London-based Resource Economist Ltd. Countries in “OPEC are fearful of not only a possibility sooner rather than later, but then Since 2012, the U.S. has imposed tariffs on Chinese solar products, runs could become shorter, KBC Advanced told Bloomberg. Russia’s Urals crude grade is the shale response, but of deep water and of oil reversed the volatility he caused with a simple including a 31 percent import tax, which was a specific response Technologies, a research firm in the sector, more sensitive to the strong markets because sands from Canada,” Citigroup Commodities statement of neutrality: “Right now, I think to Chinese export dumping -- flooding the American market with says, though part of these fluctuations are owed of its high fuel yield, he added. Research head Ed Morse said in an official the agreement must continue and not react discounted goods, which pushed domestic manufacturers to the to normal seasonal tendencies. Data compiled by Bloomberg captures the note. “There could be an agreement on ramp- to momentary, passing changes.” margins. That same year, a report by the Information Technology “Oil demand usually slackens in the first high fuel shipments from the Middle East that ing production back up over the summer.” Novak’s counterparts from OPEC nations & Innovation Foundation accused China, as well as India and Brazil, quarter and into the second quarter, so sooner make it difficult for European refined goods to In November, the Vienna OPEC summit are all still onboard with the deal. Even coun- of taking part in “green mercantilism,” including export dumping, or later refinery intakes will have to slacken compete in domestic markets. January totals produced a pact to continue the 1.2-million- tries like Iraq and Iran, both recovering from currency manipulation, forced technology transfer and intellectual and the usual signal for that is lower margins,” are set to be the highest in a year, tanker tracker barrel-per-day reduction bloc-wide through different kinds of economic ailments over the property theft. KBC chief economist Stephen George said. figures show. 2018. An additional 600,000-bpd in cuts past decade, support continued cuts. European The tariffs decreased imports from China by 45 percent in a The timing of the revised production strategy “Given refiners have been trying to maximize was promised by Russia and a group of allied refiners will not see margins jump anytime soon. year. While the price of solar has continued to drastically decrease, comes just as refinery margins reach a three- runs to take advantage of the especially good countries with a major stake in world oil (Source: oilprice.com) as it has since 2010, the price of the solar modules themselves has remained relatively flat since 2012. In 2016, China exported $14 billion of solar equipment, a 10 U.S. could topple Russia, Saudi Arabia as world’s largest oil producer, IEA says percent decline from 2015. Chinese investment in third-country exporters, however, was a factor in the decline. Suniva and Solar- The U.S. is well-placed to overtake the likes world’s second-largest producer after Russia. World’s suggested a tariff should be levied against solar imports of Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world’s “The stage was set for a strong expansion across the board. leading energy producer over the next 12 last year, when non-OPEC supply, led by the Opposition from other domestic manufacturers months, according to the latest monthly report U.S., returned to growth of 0.7 million barrels But other American solar manufacturers were quick to oppose the from the International Energy Agency (IEA). a day and pushed up world production despite suggestion. The next week, in late August 2017, 27 manufacturers, “This year promises to be a record-setting OPEC and non-OPEC cuts,” the IEA said. spearheaded by Boston-based PanelClaw, published a letter to the one for the U.S.,” the IEA said in its close- “U.S. growth of 0.6 million barrels a day U.S. International Trade Commission warning the tariffs would ly-watched report published Friday. in 2017 beat all expectations, even with a more than double the price of solar panels in the U.S. “Relentless growth should see the U.S. moderate price response to the output deal as “The solar industry is fundamentally different from both consumer hit historic highs above 10 million barrels a the shale industry bounced back — profiting products and other durable goods,” the letter read. “If someone day (in production), overtaking Saudi Ara- from cost cuts, stepped up drilling activity needs to buy tires, they can only put off the decision for so long. Few bia and rivaling Russia during the course and efficiency measures enforced during the homeowners, businesses or utilities need to buy solar, although of 2018 — provided OPEC and non-OPEC downturn,” the group said. millions want to buy solar.” restraints remain in place,” the Paris-based In recent years, America’s unprecedented PanelClaw claims to represent more than 30 percent of the flat- organization added. oil and gas boom has been driven by one roof solar racking in the country, and the 27 companies in the letter ’Unchartered waters’ factor above all others — and that’s shale. noted they represent more than 5,700 domestic manufacturing The latest monthly report from the IEA The so-called shale revolution could help to workers. Suniva and SolarWorld combine to represent less than 500. comes at a time when crude futures have alleviate Washington’s reliance on foreign In 2016, around 260,000 people worked in the U.S. solar industry, climbed to highs not seen since the early oil, including from turbulent Middle Eastern a 26 percent increase from 2015. days of a slump in December 2014. Brent states, while also supporting a bid to export ‘Every country outside the U.S. would benefit’ crude futures hit a peak of $70.37 a barrel to more countries around the world. If solar module prices in the U.S. rise that may push solar man- on Monday, with the global benchmark since The IEA’s estimates of global oil product ufacturers to overcapacity, and global module prices would likely paring some of its recent gains to trade at new production” from the U.S. in the coming propping up prices. demand in 2017 and 2018 were left roughly follow downward. In emerging or underdeveloped markets for solar $68.69 on Friday morning. months. He added OPEC would then need One of the main beneficiaries of these cuts unchanged at 97.8 million barrels a day and energy, overcapacity would catalyze development. “What we are trying to understand is the to “accommodate” for that and make its own is the producers’ major competitor, U.S. shale 99.1 million barrels a day, respectively. Alex Shoer, CEO of Shanghai-based Seeder Clean Energy, says responsiveness of the U.S. shale producers. judgment at its next meeting in June as to oil. U.S. oil producers are staging a dramatic The price of oil collapsed from near $120 that while the tariff would shrink the American market, impact And because of the dynamism of the indus- what its response should be. comeback amid a recovering oil price that has a barrel in June 2014 due to weak demand, non-U.S. solar manufacturers, and hinder solar development, it’s try, the innovation and the vast number of The main price driver has been a supply allowed many of them to restart operations. a strong dollar and booming U.S. shale pro- unlikely to turn back present trends towards renewable energy. players in that space … to some extent, we cut from major oil producing group OPEC U.S. ‘beat all expectations’ in 2017 duction. OPEC’s reluctance to cut output “Right now, solar is a pretty economic choice in almost any market are in unchartered waters,” Neil Atkinson, and Russia, who started to withhold output U.S. crude production stands at 9.9 million was also seen as a key reason behind the in the world,” Shoer said. “The only question is, ‘Are the financing head of the oil industry and markets division in January last year. The production cuts by barrels a day, according to the IEA, which is fall. But, the oil cartel soon moved to curb mechanisms available? Is the utility rate high enough? And is there at the IEA, told CNBC on Friday. OPEC and 10 other allied producers, which the country’s highest level in almost 50 years. production — along with other oil producing some level of contractual enforcement or creditworthiness of the Atkinson said that given the recent rally are scheduled to last throughout 2018, are That level of supply puts the U.S. neck-and- nations — in late 2016. off-takers?’ If you can’t enforce contract, then it’s difficult to finance in oil prices, the IEA was expecting a “wave of aimed at clearing a supply overhang and neck with OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia — the (Source: CNBC) solar development.” (Source: Forbes) ADVERTISEMENTS

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 6 INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 20, 2018

Can Turkey be part of the solution Britain should take inspiration from in Iraq? By Gonul Tol Norway’s principled stance on the UAE Tensions between the central government in Baghdad and the By Joe Odell Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) soared after the latter held an independence referendum at the end of September. Iraqi The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi responded by dislodging Kurdish recently announced it has suspended sales forces from the disputed regions including the oil city of Kirkuk of arms and ammunition to the United and imposed economic measures that could lead to a collapse Arab Emirates. The ministry had expressed of the KRG economy. Swift negotiations between the parties concern that these arms could be used in are needed to prevent further escalation. Many agree that that Yemen resulting in an intensification of might not be possible without external mediation. the humanitarian crisis that has engulfed the country since the outbreak of the war in 2015. According to the UN, which has been investigating war crimes in Yemen following pressure from rights groups, this crisis has claimed over 10,000 lives and has led to an epidemic of cholera, placing seven million people on the brink of famine in one of the poorest countries in the region. A principled stance This action by Norway constitutes one of the most principled stances yet taken by a European country with regards to the war in Yemen and one of its key participants, the UAE. Norway has been selling arms and Turkey sees itself as the master of mediation. Under the ammunition to the UAE since 2010 and ruling Justice and Development Party, Turkey used mediation in according to Statistics Norway, Norwegian regional and global conflicts to exert its influence in international weapon exports to the UAE almost doubled affairs. It even led the “friends of mediation” initiative at the from $5.1m in 2015 to $9.9m in 2016. United Nations along with Finland. Turkey tried tirelessly to There has, however, so far been no signal mediate between Palestinian factions, Iraqi factions, Israel that the British government is set to follow and Syria, Iraq and Syria, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, suit. Alongside France and the U.S., the even in the civil war in Somalia. Ankara’s mediation efforts, UK has been one of the principal exporters however, rarely yielded positive results, which was often due of arms to the Persian Gulf region. British Prime Minister Theresa May (L) shakes hands with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince to Turkey’s lack of leverage over the parties or its image as Since the bombing began in March and Deputy Commander in Chief of the Emirates Armed Forces (R). a country with a neo-Ottoman agenda. 2015, the British government has licensed But Turkey insists on mediating. It recently signaled that it over £4.6bn ($6.3bn) worth of arms to Norway’s recent announcement to suspend arms sales to could step in to act as a go-between in Baghdad’s dispute with Saudi Arabia and over £350m ($483.8m) UAE will no doubt anger a number of British ministers who Erbil. In a recent statement, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut to the UAE, fuelling a conflict that has Cavusoglu said that the KRG “has formally asked Turkey to so far, according to UN estimates, killed would like to keep Britain’s relations with UAE away from contribute to normalization between Erbil and Baghdad.” or injured over 3,500 children and led to public scrutiny. Cavusoglu will discuss Turkey’s role in the negotiations and the internal displacement of over three bilateral issues during his January 21 visit to Baghdad. million people. in the UK economy in relation to stagnant linked to the sponsorship of Arsenal technologies to the Emirati regime. Renewed negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad are In the UK, significant pressure has been GDP growth and low productivity, the UK Football Club. In addition to this, last year BAE important for Turkey. Up until the KRG’s referendum decision, exerted on the British government to stop export economy will become increasingly For holidaymakers, the UAE is the Systems exported surveillance technology Erbil was one of the very few Turkish allies left in the region. selling weapons to Saudi Arabia since the reliant on the much outsourced and luxury and grandeur of Dubai’s golden to the UAE that has been used to clamp It played a critical role in Turkey’s domestic and regional outset of the offensive. So much so that in capital-intensive arms sector. sandy beaches and five-star hotels. Few in down heavily on freedom of speech and calculations. Through its close partnership with Erbil, Ankara July of last year, Campaign Against the It is within this context that one should Britain would associate it with the locking assembly in the country. sought to curb Iranian influence in Iraq. Turkey hedged its Arms Trade (CAAT) took the government understand the comments made by the up of human rights activists or with war Tools of repression bet on Erbil in its efforts to counter the Kurdistan Workers’ to court in an attempt to block weapon former Defense secretary, Michael Fallon, crimes and torture. All this has led to the arrest and Party (PKK) both at home and in the region. Masoud Barzani, sales by British companies to the country. last year in which he bemoaned criticisms Scratch beneath the veneer of detention of scores of people for such former president of the KRG, tolerated Turkey’s cross-border Though the High Court threw out the of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record as modernity on display at the Louvre Abu minor misdemeanors as a negative operations against PKK hideouts inside KRG territory, and case, it placed an unwelcome spotlight on “unhelpful” to UK arms sales. Dhabi or dizzying skyscrapers of Dubai, tweet or Facebook post. It is important even allowed Ankara to build military bases in areas under the UK’s increasingly close relationship The more a state relies on its arms sector and one finds a tightly controlled police to recognize that UK companies, as well his control where Turkey has been training peshmerga forces. with Saudi Arabia. to form a key component of GDP growth, state that now has one of the highest rates as the British government, have provided Turkey also benefited from trade with the autonomous ‘An arms’ dealer’s Brexit’ the more subordinated it becomes to this of political prisoners per capita anywhere the tools for the UAE to repress those region. The KRG has become Turkey’s third biggest export It is no secret that with Brexit on the PR role where human rights abuses are in the world. within its borders and in this sense they market and a supplier of oil and gas. Ankara quietly dropped horizon, the UK’s relationship with the airbrushed from the picture. A report released last week by the Office are complicit. its decades-old opposition to Kurdish control over the oil-rich Persian Gulf has grown in importance. Though the UK’s relationship with Saudi of the United Nations High Commissioner The decision of the Norwegian town of Kirkuk to benefit from the oil pumped from Kirkuk via One of the first opportunities Theresa May Arabia is often in the spotlight, the same for Human Rights (OHCHR) slammed government to suspend arms sales to the a pipeline through southeast Turkey to the Mediterranean. has seized to plug the trade deficit gap has level of public scrutiny is not applied to the UAE authorities’ recent human UAE is a cause for celebration for human Turkey not only collected transit fees, but became reliant on been the strengthening of the relationship its burgeoning ties with the United Arab rights record, citing a prevalence in rights campaigners everywhere. imports to meet its own fast-growing energy needs. with the Arabian peninsula, with states Emirates. The announcement in 2015, that practices of arbitrary detention, enforced As a non-EU member, albeit with single The post-referendum dynamics, however, threaten all across the Persian Gulf Cooperation the UK is set to double bilateral trade with the disappearances and a suppression of market membership, Norway has a solidly of those things. Particularly concerning for Ankara is the Council offering “signature-ready” deals Emirati state to a staggering £25bn by 2020, freedom of speech in the country. diversified economy with one of highest prospect of a stronger PKK in the absence of Barzani acting as a on the table, just as soon as the UK leaves barely raised an eyebrow in the UK press. Moreover, on digging a little deeper, rates of productivity in the world. On leaving counterbalance. The economic measures imposed by Baghdad the EU in March 2019. It is, however, this lack of public scrutiny one begins to identify a hazy network of the European Union, Britain should look threaten a collapse of the Kurdish economy, thus threaten The subsequent £30bn ($41.5bn) that the UK’s continued relationship with relations between UK corporations, the to follow Norway’s model. Turkish interests as well. Turkey supplies Iraqi consumer post-Brexit trade deal that was lined up the UAE relies upon and it is why Norway’s British state and UAE security forces. This Instead of plugging the Brexit trade deficit goods overland through the KRG using Kurdistan-based on May’s visit to the Persian Gulf last recent announcement will no doubt anger was well illustrated a few months ago when by boosting arms sales to regimes around merchants. The KRG owes Turkey billions of dollars, but year is a clear indication that the already a number of British ministers who would UK minister for the armed forces, Mark the world with appalling human rights Erbil is struggling to even to pay its public servants. Ankara heavily subsidized UK arms sector is set like to keep it that way. Lancaster, refused to provide details of records, Britain should seek to diversify is also eyeing investment opportunities in Iraq as well as to receive a significant boost in the post- Veneer of modernity UK military activities in the area. its productive base around the high-tech access to Iraq’s southern oil fields, which produce more oil Brexit UK economy. In recent years, the Emirati authorities It is further illustrated by a War on industries of tomorrow, developing an than the Kirkuk fields. It is this vision of “an arms dealer’s have consciously reconstituted and Want report (2016) that identified British export economy that enriches the world Ankara wants parties to reach a swift consensus so that Brexit” that currently holds sway within marketed the UAE as a sort of consumer involvement with policing, military training rather than helping to plunge it further it can resume security partnership and oil flow. Turkey the halls of Westminster. Rather than brand in the UK. For football fans, the and the encouragement of UK companies into barbarism. hopes that midwifing a workable arrangement between addressing the deep structural problems term “The Emirates” is now inextricably to provide security and surveillance (Source: Middle East Eye) Erbil and Baghdad will provide Turkey a fresh start with both. But Abadi might not be as enthusiastic, not just about Turkish mediation but also about a swift resolution of the conflict with Erbil. The man-child in the White House reels wildly out of control Parliamentary elections will be held in May. Once called By Eugene Robinson and abet this travesty of an administration. They made a “traffic warden” by members of his own party, Abadi now their choices. They elected to trust a man they know to be enjoys wide popularity for reclaiming disputed territories from The rude, petulant man-child in the Oval Office is reeling wholly untrustworthy, and to lie shamelessly to massage the Kurdish forces. Many in Iraq think that being tough on ever more wildly out of control, and those who cynically his swollen ego. At this point, I wouldn’t believe Sarah the Kurds might hand him another term in May. That means or slavishly pretend otherwise are doing a grave disservice Huckabee Sanders if she told me that water is wet and he might not be in the mood to give concessions necessary to the nation — and to themselves. the sky is blue. to negotiate a settlement to the Kurds before the elections. How do you like him now, Senate Majority Leader But the larger impact is something we all must worry Even if he decides to do so, Abadi will not allow Turkey to Mitch McConnell? President Trump convened a made- about: One year into the Trump presidency, we effectively play a role at a time when he is trying to burnish his nationalistic for-television summit at the White House and said he’d do not have a presidency at all. credentials. There is a deep sense of distrust toward Turkey sign any immigration bill Congress passed. “I’ll take the As McConnell noted in frustration Wednesday, he in Iraq. Suggestions in heat,” he boasted. So a bipartisan group of senators came can’t orchestrate passage of an immigration bill unless pro-government circles Turkey sees up with a deal — and he rejected it out of hand, launching he knows what Trump is willing to sign. Likewise, Ryan that Turkey could stake high stakes in into an unhinged rant about “shithole countries.” can’t pass spending legislation unless he knows what a claim to Kirkuk and What about you, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan? You Trump will and will not accept. But the president has Mosul, former Ottoman Baghdad-Erbil came up with a clever way to get Democrats to agree no fixed positions. His word is completely unreliable. lands, has been deeply reconciliation, to a stopgap funding bill, dangling the possibility of How are congressional leaders supposed to do their jobs? disturbing not only to a long-term renewal of the vital Children’s Health Regarding foreign policy, how can other nations take the Iraqi government but but after being Insurance Program. But the president tweeted that seriously anything Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says also to Iraq’s nationalists. part of the “CHIP should be part of a long term solution” and when he is subject to being countermanded on Twitter Turkey’s close energy and problem for so not a short-term measure to keep the government at any moment? What is the point of Jared Kushner’s military partnership with from shutting down. One year into the Trump diplomacy, if you can call it that, in the Middle East? the KRG, its ethnic ties long, it cannot Is this what you signed up for, Chief of Staff John F. presidency, we effectively do Does “America first” really mean anything, or is it just with the Turkmen in be part of the Kelly? In a meeting with members of the Congressional not have a presidency at all. Trumpian hot air? Kirkuk, and its relations Hispanic Caucus, you said that some of Trump’s campaign And why, at this point, do reporters even bother to attend with the major political solution now. positions on immigration were “uninformed” and that there you released, according to many other doctors, indicate Sanders’s briefings, unless perhaps for the entertainment actors in Mosul have will never be a wall along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. that Trump suffers from moderate heart disease and is value? Past press secretaries all delivered pronouncements raised suspicions about the intent of Turkey’s interventions. You reportedly added that whatever partial barrier gets on the borderline between overweight and obese. that were loaded with spin, but Sanders concocts laughable Many Iraqis view Turkey’s involvement with domestic Iraqi built, Mexico won’t pay for it. But the president slapped Having fun, Stephen K. Bannon and Corey Lewandowski? fantasies out of thin air — usually to “justify” crazy things actors as a breach of Iraqi sovereignty. you down with another series of tweets, claiming that his As bigwigs in the Trump campaign, you helped a manifestly Trump has said or tweeted. Ankara’s interventions are not welcome even among promised wall “has never changed or evolved from the unfit blowhard get elected president. This week, you did the The nation has never faced a situation like this: It is Turkmens. Despite their cultural and linguistic links to Turkey, first day I conceived of it” — and that Mexico will, too, White House a favor by stonewalling the House Intelligence unwise to take literally or seriously anything the president many Turkmen feel they are part of Iraq and view Turkey’s pay for the wall, “directly or indirectly.” Committee in a way that angered even the Republicans on the and his official spokesmen say. An administration with intervention on their behalf as counterproductive. Turkey’s How was your week, White House physician Ronny panel, which is hard to do. But you remain in the crosshairs no credibility cannot possibly lead. troop presence in northern Iraq therefore sparked a strong Jackson? You did what is expected of everyone who stands of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation, Trump is incapable of growing into the job; if anything, reaction from Baghdad, which demanded Turkey withdraw at the lectern in the briefing room: lavish the president and the best-case scenario is that you emerge unindicted he is becoming more erratic. I fear the day when a crisis troops immediately. It remains a flashpoint in bilateral ties. with flowery, over-the-top, Dear Leader praise. He is in but saddled with mountainous legal bills. arises and we must face it with a bratty preteen at the helm. (Source: The National Interest) “excellent health,” you announced. But the test results No one should feel sorry for those who choose to aid (Source: Washington Post) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y JANUARY 20, 2018 ANALYSIS & INTERVIEW 7

Endless suffering in Yemen Europe’s crisis in 2018 By Ramin Hossein Abadian tantly ‘cluster bombs’. By Hanif Ghaffari Many international human rights organi- TEHRAN — Nearly 3 years have passed zations have confirmed the usage of weapons TEHRAN — 2018 is here. The last year ended while security, since the Saudi invasions of the defenseless of mass destruction by the Saudis and their political, social, and economic crises remained strong in the Unit- people of Yemen. This is while the war crimes allies particularly cluster bombs. ed Europe. In other words, the United Europe started 2018 in a committed in this country are barely seen In this regard, Amnesty International on situation that lots of money should be expended to deal with the elsewhere throughout history. October 30, 2015, explicitly reported that crises ahead. This issue is going to affect the maneuver power of On March 25, 2015, Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi aggressors used the banned cluster many European authorities this year. No doubt this year again, cooperation of a number of regional allies, bombs in residential areas in Yemen. Since we’re going to witness social, economic, security and political began a clear military invasion against the that date, Amnesty International has also crises in Europe. The national and federal elections in 2017 and innocent Yemenis. published numerous reports on the use of the political knots in Berlin and Vienna showed that this year The Saudis along with their regional allies banned weapons by Riyadh against Sana’a. we should be waiting for many events in European countries. made this blatant aggression against Yemen Meanwhile, the United Nations Human There are some points that need to be mentioned in this regard: under the pretext of ‘restoring legitimacy’ Rights Watch has also released reports on and targeted Yemeni civilians and the coun- violation of humanitarian law by the Saudis try’s infrastructure in the first hours of the in Yemen. According to these international military attack. human rights organizations and institutions, Many hospitals, schools, universities, the prohibited weapons that the Saudis use shopping malls, even beaches, agricultural against the Yemeni people will have devas- fields, fishing boat - many of which are sources tating and long-term effects on the country of livelihood for people - bridges, strategic and its future generations. Currently, many communication centers, power plants, water children born in Yemen have been affect- supplies, and others have become targeted ed by these weapons, and as a result, they Press on June 23 documented the existence will continue. The missiles will be fired from by their heavy attacks. are faced with disabilities and other severe of at least 18 secret prisons in southern now on and may even target the residence The aggressive fighters of the Arab-led physical problems. Yemen which are run by the United Arab of princes in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.” coalition, steered by Saudi Arabia, began These aggressive attacks have brought Emirates and by Yemeni forces it created. The Yemeni official continued to say: “If their hostile military operations against the about humanitarian crisis in Yemen, and These prisons are located in military bases, the Saudis and the aggressors were able to Yemenis. In the attacks, civilians were re- consequently many international organ- ports, some airports and villas, and even stop the rocket attacks of the Yemeni forces, portedly targeted directly, while the world izations have voiced objections to the de- night clubs. they would have done it in the first days or kept silent. teriorating conditions of the state. In this The UAE also operates at least two ‘illegal months of the attack. Thus, Yemeni mis- The intensification of political crises in Europe Although Saudi officials have claimed that regard, the UN Office for the Coordination detention facilities’ in Yemen, and reports sile attacks continue to target the Saudi and Firstly, political crises in the European Union and the Eurozone these attacks targeted only military sites, all of Humanitarian Affairs has said that 22.2 indicate that detainees have been transferred Emirati sites.” will be intensified in 2018. The scope of these crises would be the evidence, including the high number of million Yemeni people (76 percent of the to a base in Eritrea. Earlier, Senior U.S. De- “We say to them that they should stop even wider than before as Europeans face the need for “strong civilian deaths, proves the contrary. population) need humanitarian aid, and fense Forces confirmed that U.S. forces have trying to halt the Yemeni incursions.” The and stable” governments to deal with a variety of social and On the other hand, damages to residential that figure has risen by 1.5 million over participated in interrogations of detainees in remarks came after Saudi Arabia demanded security crises. The increasing popularity of extreme right-wing areas, available on thousands of video files, the past six months. Yemen, but have not accepted any interference that the Yemeni people should surrender. parties in different European countries has led to a reduction in are yet another proof of the Saudi outright The risk of hunger is increasing in the in the violation of human rights. In any case, Yemen is faced with a full- the vote of many traditional currents, including the moderate lies in targeting sheer military sites. country, 8.4 million people are suffering So far, more than 400 people have disap- blown human disaster today. right and the moderate left groups. This is despite the fact that international from starvation, up from 6.8 million last peared in these prisons. It has been reported So far, more than 13,000 civilians have For example, in Germany, Social Democrats and Christian laws all emphasize the need to avoid targeting year. The United Nations has announced that numerous torture methods have been been martyred in Yemen, and thousands Democrats are still trying to hold talks on the formation of a coa- civilians and the infrastructure of countries that hunger accounts for more than half of the employed in these prisons, including the more have sustained severe injuries. Many lition government. Meanwhile, the extremists of Alternative for in the event of a war. The Saudis’ attacks on country’s provinces, with 72 out of 95 areas terrible torture technique of the “furnace”, residential areas and infrastructure in Yemen Germany (AFD) gained about 13 percent of the vote in the run-up the Yemeni infrastructure have caused so more exposed to hunger. The UN Office for in which the victim is locked up and thrown have been destroyed. to the German parliament, becoming the third strongest party many problems for the people of the country the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs around a circle of fire. The number of cholera victims in the in the country. Many analysts believe that, even if the German and have prevented them from dealing with also reported that more than 1,500 schools in These disasters are happening while the country has exceeded 2,000 and now about coalition government is formed, it won’t be a strong government, their ordinary affairs and continuing their Yemen were partially or completely destroyed. international community expects the Yemeni hundreds more are at risk of being infected because Merkel will lose her power to a great extent. daily lives. However, the crimes of the Saudis and their army and committees to refrain from defensive with the continuing suicide attacks. This is while Merkel, as the Chancellor of Germany, plays an The use of international ‘prohibited weap- allies, including the United Arab Emirates, and deterrent actions against the Saudis. Millions of Yemenis are displaced and important role in managing the crises in Europe. The increasing ons’ is one of the other crimes committed by have been surpassed by the media outlets. In line with that, Sadegh Al-Sharafi, a many more are in need of food and medical popularity of right-wing extremists in European countries will Saudi Arabia and its supporters over the past Many reports indicate the UAE maintains member of Ansarallah movement told Mehr care. definitely undermine the traditional parties and their governments. three years against the defenseless Yemeni a network of secret prisons in the southern news agency, “Why should stop the attacks Undoubtedly, the silence of the inter- Even in some cases, political parties are forced into a coalition with people. provinces of Yemen, especially in Aden, where against the Saudis? The perpetrators know national community against these human extreme right-wing parties. We saw this in Austria. In Austria, From the very early days of the attacks on Yemeni revolutionaries are being brutally that today there is decisive determination to disasters, which are less common in the the “Freedom” which is a radical party, formed a coalition with Yemen, intruders exploited various types of tortured. confront their military aggression in Yemen. history of mankind, will be another scum the moderate-right party of “People”. This has led to the coming weapons of mass destruction, most impor- The report published by the Associated From now on, the Yemeni missile attacks on their foreheads. of the anti-immigration, anti-Islamist, and nationalist party of “Freedom” into power. It is noteworthy that in the second half of this year, Austria will have the rotating presidency of the European Union. Un- doubtedly, over the course of the second half of 2018, we will U.S. has “destroyed” Afghanistan, says former Afghan president see the intensification of the conflicts between Austria and other By Syed Zafar Mehdi European countries over managing the United Europe, an issue Minister Igor Morgulov dismissed speculations about Russia’s that could aggravate the crises of the United Europe. NEW DELHI — Addressing the Raisina Dialogue in New links with the Taliban. “We are offering to create conditions The growth of extremist movements in Europe- Delhi on Thursday, India’s flagship foreign policy confer- for talks (with the Taliban), but there is no evidence of Rus- an countries sian assistance to the Taliban, he stressed. ence held annually, the former Afghan President Hamid In other European countries, far-right parties, and populist On Asia being a new power hub, Morgulov said it is no Karzai lashed out at the United States, claiming that it had movements in general, have been able to grow their results in longer a geographical entity but “a dynamic political and “destroyed” Afghanistan. polls. For example, in Sweden, which its national elections are economic concept”. Participating in ‘The Afghan Poser’ panel session, Karzai scheduled to take place in 2018, the Democratic Party, which is a Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Kazem Sajjadpour said he had invited the U.S. to Afghanistan to bring peace nationalist and anti-Islamist party, has won the first place in the also spoke at the conference and hailed Chabahar Port as and stability and defeat extremism, but after coming to the polls. Although traditional parties, through forming coalitions, an example of win-win cooperation, echoing what India’s country, they destroyed it. would be able to prevent the Democratic Party enter the power, Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said last week during his Karzai, who served as the president of Afghanistan be- but in that case, we’ll see a weak state in Stockholm. meeting with Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Devel- tween 2001 and 2014, fell out of favor with the US after On the other hand, the Swedish Democratic Party can play opment Abbas Akhoundi. he rejected the controversial bilateral security agreement an important role in confronting the coalition government with “Chabahar is a major example of success in connectivity between Washington and Kabul in the run up to 2014 Af- up to 25 percent of the seats in parliament. In Italy, The Five Star between Iran, Afghanistan and India. There is no compe- ghan presidential elections. Since then, he has repeatedly administration’s latest diatribe against Islamabad, Karzai Movement has won a large number of votes and became the first tition between these orders. It’s a win-win (situation) for and vigorously criticized Washington’s Afghanistan policy. said the U.S. knew it all along and how terrorism was being party in the polls. In this case, The Five Star Movement could all stakeholders”, he said. India has pledged to invest $500 Slamming the U.S., Karzai said its Afghanistan policy “used as an instrument of state policy”, but little action was become the most determining political movement in Italy (the million into the ambitious project in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan has been a complete failure, which has given rise to dreaded taken. “Now that the U.S. has admitted terror sanctuaries third-largest economy in Europe), and it will affect the presence province, besides an additional $16 billion investment in militant groups like ISIS. “It is up to the United States and exist (in Pakistan), I hope they act,” he said, in a sardonic tone. of the European Union and the Eurozone in future. Pakistan to explain the rise of ISIS,” the former Afghan On the issue of growing religious extremism in the re- Chabahar free trade zone. Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj in her ad- The Social Consequences of the Far-Right Par- President said. He said the militant group which has gained gion, without mincing words Karzai called it the “product ties Coming into Power in Europe strong foothold in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent of US-Pakistan collaboration against Soviet Union”. It is dress denounced the use of terrorism as state policy. With no doubt, the presence of extremist movements in power years sprouted in full presence of the U.S. forces. pertinent to note that the militant groups like Afghan Tali- She said that it is high time world wakes up to this can lead to many social and security crises in the Green Continent. A few months ago, Karzai had accused the U.S. of aiding ban and Haqqani Network were born from the U.S.-led war “global menace”. As noted above, the growth of extremist parties in multicultural ISIS in Afghanistan. “How did ISIS emerge in Afghanistan against Soviet Union in Afghanistan in 1980s. Indian Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat downplayed the societies is going to lead to increased attacks on Muslims and under the watch of US intelligence and military officials,” he Karzai said the West is more corrupt than countries in border tension between India and China, saying the bonho- immigrants in general. In this case, we will witness the occur- said in an interview on RT. “We have the right to ask these the South-West Asia region. “I don’t believe in western indi- mie between New Delhi and Beijing has returned to where rence of continuous security crises in the United Europe. The questions and the US government must answer.” He also ces. They represent us as savages. We are a deeply cultured it was prior to the Doklam incident. “I don’t visualize a very social and economic crises of Europe are now tied to each other. spoke of how the U.S. bases in Afghanistan are “used” and society,” adding that the word “mafia” had western roots. serious trouble,” he said. It means that as social crises in Europe are strengthened, the how “unmarked, non-military coloured helicopters” supply He also said that “others” (the West) get the money from Designed on the lines of Shangrila Dialogue in Singapore, security crises would increase. ISIS in many parts of the country. opium production while Afghans get the bad name. more than 150 speakers and over 550 delegates from around The common denominator of the Europe’s security and social Commenting on terror sanctuaries in Pakistan and Trump Speaking on the same panel, Russian Deputy Foreign 90 countries are participating in the Raisina Dialogue. crises will be the creation of social insecurity in this continent. This is what many experts of political and security affairs in Eu- rope have seriously warned about. If this trend continues, we’ll see not only the collapse of the Eurozone, but also the fading of Ibn Khaldun’s insight centuries ago applies today EU’s existence. It is not without a reason that some political and security experts believe in the collapse of the European Union 1 Given this potential threat, anyone cosmic anecdote: At a local school board instability can be expected and at some point in the near future. sympathetic with Iran’s posture and empathet- meeting a teacher in a mid-sized city in events might spiral out of control. The economic crisis in European continues ic about the difficulties of economic sanctions the U.S. engages in a conversation with a It was Ibn Khaldun’s genius in the The other crisis that still persists in Europe is the economic and other hostile moves, as one such as Dr. school broad member, but the conversation 14th century (that Franz Rosenthal at crisis. The European economic crisis began in 2007, and over Rosenthal (I am reminded here) certainly is interrupted by a policeman. The young Yale recognized), that identified what the past ten years, has affected many of the European countries. would be if he were alive, suggests a desire, teacher wants to know why the board mem- Ibn Khaldun called “‘asabiyya”, an Arabic Although austerity policies in Europe have been effective in some anyway, that whatever internal discontent bers are voting themselves a huge pay raise would that roughly translates into the cases over the last decade, they have not completely eliminated there may be in Iran be minimized as much but nothing for teachers? Then the police term “group solidarity” as the defining the financial and commercial crises. In some countries like Greece as possible, and NOT by forced suppression. show up, the young woman is slammed to foundation of a strong, unified socie- and Spain, the economic crisis still remains strong. If in fact there are reasons for internal the floor and put in handcuffs and then ty. Every Islamic regime Ibn Khaldun Furthermore, one of the main reasons for European citizens’ discord in Iran, those of us in the West who carted off to jail. The teacher did nothing studied that had fallen apart (and there turn to Far-Right movements, is the economic reasons and the admire Iranians and the country’s accom- wrong and broke no laws, but someone did were several in the North Africa of his inability of the moderate Right and Left currents to resolve these plishments over many centuries, feel obliged not want her challenging the school board day centuries ago) or become weak, had financial problems. In such a situation, European citizens look to hope fervently that the current Iranian at all. This in fact is an accurate picture of maybe 30 percent, among young people. This lost its “group solidarity” because leaders for a “return to pre-EU time” as a way to “escape the existing sit- government will correct whatever matters what is widespread in the U.S. today: it is is also true in the U.S., where the percentage failed to address the needs of the governed uation.” It seems that the austerity policies are going to continue that exist that may be causing discontent, corruption, obviously, backed by force. It of the population is not so skewed to young and the society had become fragmented, for this year in Europe, especially in the Eurozone. especially among young Iranians, who are involves entrenched authorities serving people as in Iran. In the U.S., real reform is even though it remained Islamic to the The cuts in general budget of the governments, strikes and Iran’s future. themselves rather than their constituencies. badly needed. This is also probably true in core. One only needs to reduce this to economic protests, the entry of trade unions into the scene One big reason for this hope is that the U.S. And these are the seeds of mass discontent Iran. Can the current government leaders families: families are strong only to the of confrontation with European governments, etc. are issues or any country supportive of U.S., hostility and maybe, eventually, revolution, which in either the U.S. or Iran be flexible enough, extent that members support one another that the European citizens will face this year. Nevertheless, be deprived of reasons to condemn Iran’s under the right circumstances can happen and unselfish enough, to permit real reform, and cohesion among members remains the weakening of European governments will certainly affect governing authorities, even as Iran rightly in the U.S., just as it did in Iran in 1979. and even to allow protest as a normal occur- strong, because fair dealing exists and the economic equations of the Eurozone and will affect the maintains its rejection of imperialism and Having never been in Iran, I do still know rence in a more open society? No one knows internal corruption has been reduced or European countries’ joint economic and commercial policy. In Zionism. that there is wide gap between the haves and yet. But one thing is certain: by failing to eliminated. Proper ongoing reform, as such a situation, the willingness of some countries to conduct Consider, for example, how bad things the have-nots. I know that the economy has allow evolution and reform in either country, evolving circumstances warrant, is a vital a referendum on exit from Europe (such as Brexit) would be have become in the U.S. with this micro- been weak and there is high unemployment, however different the two cultures may be, task in virtually any country on earth. predictable. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 8 ADVERTISEMENTS JANUARY 20, 2018

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An Iranian native well-adjusted Signs your aging loved ones need more care ASAP—and what to do about it in Japanese world By Helaina Hovitz When an elderly parent begins dropping pounds, you need By Marjan Golpira to act quickly. Do they have mouth or tooth pain? Challenges Koroush Gilani is an Iranian man who migrated to Japan in chewing or swallowing? Feelings of nausea or fullness? Are the 1990s. Over the years he has managed to fully integrate they simply not enjoying food—or reluctant to drive to the and adjust himself in to a completely different Asian culture, grocery store due to declining vision? Any issues with the however, as is in such cases, assimilating to the culture of physical act of eating mean the two of you should get to a Japan has not been an easy task. doctor right away. Having spent almost three decades of his life in Japan, If they simply don’t enjoy eating as much, suggest small Gilani, now 51 years old, has lived longer in his adopted nutrient-dense snacks they can eat throughout the day—high- country than in Iran. One could argue that at this point he calorie options like peanut butter, cheese, Greek yogurt, or has become more Japanese than Iranian. cottage cheese are good. Focus on foods your loved one likes Gilani is among the faction of Iranian men who set out and will eat: If oatmeal is a favorite, add butter, brown sugar, on a journey to Japan in the 1980s and 90s in the hopes of and raisins, dried cranberries, or nuts like almonds or wal- finding employment opportunities that offered better pay. nuts for more calories and nutrition. Remind your parent that Most of the jobs made available to Iranian immigrants at they’re at an age when they should not be limiting calories. that time involved manual labor that offered better com- “Also consider protein drinks,” says Roth Maguire. “There pensation than similar jobs that existed in Iran. are plenty on the market that offer good nutritional value in Many Iranian men who ventured off to Japan have since small amounts that taste great over ice or poured into coffee as returned, but Gilani is among the very few who persevered a higher value creamer substitute.” Protein powders can also and gained Japanese residency since leaving 27 years ago. be added to favorite food or beverages or even to recipes like Gilani was born in 1967 in the town of Sari located in those for pancakes, dessert breads, potato dishes, and soups. the north of Iran. His family eventually moved to Karaj, a city in the outskirts of Tehran, where he got through his primary school education. His junior high and high school studies were all completed in Tehran and then came his mandatory military service. His two-year military service coincided with end of the Iran- Iraq war, a very difficult time for Iranians. Facing many hardships and struggles throughout his He moved to Kanagawa Prefecture, a coastal community Undoubtedly, Gilani has settled well in to his life in Japan, conscription, which he refused to discuss, Gilani eventu- just south of Tokyo, to excavate land for groundwater wells but to be where he is today he had to work very hard. When ally completed his military service. At age 23, his burning in residential and commercial areas, where there was a need he first arrived in Japan, he had no prior knowledge of the desire was to leave his homeland. to augment water supplies. language and culture. However, he knew all too well that the “I decided to leave Iran, because I couldn’t stand it any With the help of various machinery and industrial drills, only way to realize his dreams was to learn Japanese, for one longer. I wanted to be anywhere but Iran.” they would dig down 100 meters to reach ground water. The thing, which can be a challenge, for it is nothing like Farsi Back then, it was very difficult for Iranians to obtain a work would take an average of one week to three months to and is considered one of the most difficult languages to learn. visa to any of the developed countries, and to some extent, complete, depending on the soil’s density. Additionally, Gilani had to familiarize himself with Ja- it still is. However, Japan was accepting foreign workers After this work experience, it took Gilani six months to pan’s unique culture and ways of life. He managed over time from Iran without a visa for blue collar work. land another job which tied in closely with his interests. to interact well with Japanese society. The Asian country’s Except for one acquaintance in Tokyo, Gilani knew no “A friend of mine who was returning to Iran offered me unique heritage and history was a source of inspiration and If driving or transportation is an issue, explore “Meals on one in Japan. Still, he was not deterred by the isolation he his job at a woodcutting company.” He moved to Ibaraki fascination for Gilani. Wheels” or senior centers that offer meal programs in the initially endured so far away. Prefecture northeast of Tokyo, where he has been chopping He applauds the people of Japan for being honest, sin- community. You might even find a grocer who will deliver It was in 1991 when Gilani finally got his plane ticket to wood for the same company for the past 26 years. cere and hardworking, and appreciates their orderly and groceries. Depending on how severe the issue is, you may want Tokyo for 120,000 rials ($3 at today’s rate) and braved the Today, Gilani is happily married to his long-term Japanese well-disciplined system. to hire a home care agency to prepare meals and assist your new chapter in his life. partner and he has a three-year-old biological son and an Gilani returned home in 2012 after two decades of being parent with eating; the companionship will be a nice bonus. Finding a job was easier than he thought, as it took him adopted teenage son from his wife’s previous relationship. an ex-patriot, and since then he has been making annual Poor balance only two days after arriving in Tokyo to find work. An Ira- visits to the motherland. While in Iran, he likes to indulge in Falls can be deadly for the elderly, so watch that your par- nian headhunter who located jobs for Iranian immigrants homemade Persian food, revisit his old stomping grounds, ents are still able to get around safely. Make sure their home found work for Gilani as a construction worker, charging Gilani applauds the people and his friends, and reminisce about his past life as a youth is safe: You can cut the risk of falls by improving lighting, him $400 onetime fee for the service. of Japan for being honest, in his native country. getting rid of throw rugs and unsteady furniture, and making The young man was pleased to find himself earning around sincere and hardworking, Notwithstanding the fact that Gilani has perfectly as- sure appliance and lamp cords are out of harm’s way. Here 8,000 Yen a day. “That was equivalent to a month’s work similated himself to the Japanese lifestyle, he has never lost are some more ideas for keeping your parents’ home safe. in Iran,” he explains, and a substantial boost to his income and appreciates their the love and appreciation for his family, and Iranian food. If the balance issues came on suddenly or recently, schedule even though living costs in Japan were higher. orderly and well-disciplined Note: a doctor’s visit: Potential culprits could be new medications, Gilani worked in construction for a year, until a new job system. The name of the main character has been changed to changes to existing medications, dehydration, inner ear infec- opportunity was offered to him. protect his privacy. tion, blood pressure alterations, and for diabetics, fluctuations in blood sugar. Your parent may need a cane or a walker—another option you can discuss with a doctor or physical therapist. If their Can your smartphone tell you if you have depression? balance isn’t too bad, suggest Tai chi, which research suggests can do wonders for balance in the elderly. “It’s very important By Carina Storrs especially about the data they collect not that unsteadiness is investigated quickly as it can lead to falls being secure and private, Monteith said. and for those that drive it could contribute to accidents. In Getting a diagnosis of depression usually “The data from these types of apps could addition, the older adult may limit activity and become socially involves filling out questionnaires about potentially end up in anyone’s hands, if the isolated due to the dizzy spells,” says Roth Maguire. your mood and undergoing lengthy inter- data are moved offshore, which a lot are,” A declining mood views with a psychiatrist. But smartphone said Monteith, who co-wrote a recent article A sudden mood shift downwards can be a dangerous sign, apps might be able to handle some of that on health care data privacy. Another way warns Roth Maguire. It could signal hormonal imbalance, a work, and at least tell you if you are at risk data security could be compromised is that problem with medication, loss of friends, or just plain lone- of depression, simply by collecting GPS and when a company is bought, the buyer may liness. If the issue persists or is particularly bleak, you may other data, according to a new study. not have to adhere to the original terms and want to look into psychotherapy or counseling sessions—and Researchers at Northwestern University conditions about how the data are used, be sure to look for someone who specializes in aging. “Depres- in Illinois tested an app they developed called he added. sion can be serious—the rate of suicide in older adult males, Purple Robot. It uses data from a number Experts including Monteith worry that in particular, is very high,” says Roth Maguire. “Declines in of sensors in the smartphone that detect once data get into the wrong hands, that could mood or function should be taken very seriously,” says Roth location, movement, phone usage and other potentially jeopardize a person’s ability to Maguire. “I would not hesitate to ask about thoughts of self- activities to assess if a user is likely to have get a job, get life insurance or get a loan. harm or suicide and to take steps, especially with older adult depression. The best way to keep data secure, at males, to remove guns from the home.” “The main reason for the development least from hackers and thieves, would be Make sure your parents are staying socially engaged—most of the app is to see if we can objectively and to make sure the users control their data, senior communities offer lots of social opportunities. Does the passively identify if people are depressed,” such as by keeping it stored encrypted on local church, synagogue, or temple have programs for older said Sohrob Saeb, a postdoctoral research their phone, and have apps analyze the data as being at risk of depression who were not, two of the apps on the market that track your adults? Is there a senior center in the community that offers fellow at the Feinberg School of Medicine on phones, and never have it sent back to he added. mood. Ginger.io goes further and analyzes meals or programs, or social events? at Northwestern University who is one of the app developers or other companies, ac- To get a better idea of the effectiveness data such as how much users move around If your parents can get around on their own and are physi- the developers of Purple Robot. cording to Dr. Deborah C. Peel, leader of of Purple Robot, the researchers are going on the weekends and how long they talk on cally capable, check into volunteering opportunities at a venue In the study of Purple Robot, Saeb and his Patient Privacy Rights, a nonprofit advocacy to do a study involving more participants the phone, as well as users’ reports of their older adults tend to enjoy—church, performing arts center, colleagues at Northwestern and Michigan organization. Monteith is on the advisory over a longer period to see if the app can health, to alert them and their health care school, library, museum, humane society, or food pantry, for State University looked at GPS or phone board of Patient Privacy Rights. detect changes in behavior over time, Saeb providers about concerns with their behavior example. usage data among 28 participants for two As for Purple Robot, some of these said. In addition, the group will see if they and mental health. Ginger.io, which is in They’re missing their meds weeks. concerns may not apply for now. Saeb and can improve Purple Robot’s ability to spot use at about 30 medical centers, is available When the daily organizer is still full on Thursday, ask your They found that Purple Robot could iden- his colleagues work with encrypted data. depression by including additional data, through health care providers and as part parent or relative if they forgot or they just don’t want to take tify 87% of the participants in the group who However if they eventually make the app such as how long people talk on the phone of research studies. their pills. Either way, you’ll need to seek help. “If there are were determined to be at risk of depression public, if they can demonstrate its effective- and who they talk to. However the problem with all the apps issues related to dementia or memory loss, the use of an outside according to PHQ-9, a nine-question test for ness, they would have all the data on secure Depression is a debilitating illness that that are designed to warn about depression home care agency may be your best bet,” says Roth Maguire. depression, based only on GPS data on how servers at Northwestern. This type of data affects about 17% of people at some point risk is that their effectiveness has not been They can assist not only with taking medications, she says, but much users moved between their regular centralization, even on secure servers, is a in their lives. Meanwhile, it is estimated demonstrated, Monteith said. they can watch for side effects and medication interactions. locations. The more users moved around, “honeypot” for hackers, Peel said. that by 2025 more than 5 billion people It is not clear how good these apps are There are apps for smartphones to remind your parents the less likely they were to fall into the at- So far, the analyses that Purple Robot is in the world will have a smartphone, and at picking out people who have depression, whether they’ve taken medications, and some can even be risk category. doing are really only for research purposes, their sensing capability will be above and Monteith said. What’s more, it is not clear programmed to send an alert to you to let you know they’re In addition, by identifying the participants Saeb stressed. In addition to the work he is beyond that of today’s iPhones, Androids how these apps would be “embedded into a keeping up. who used their phone the most, including involved in, there is also research on whether and Blackberries. broader continuum of care” to ensure that “If sleep is the issue, explore current sleep patterns and everything from texting and playing games the app can pick up signs of bipolar disorder There are probably hundreds of apps that a person or their doctor went from getting practices,” says Roth Maguire. Is pain the reason they’re not but not talking on the phone, Purple Ro- among users. bot could detect 74% of those in the at-risk promise to improve your mental health, from an alert from the app, for example, to that sleeping? “Talk with the pharmacist or healthcare provider offering tests to gauge your depression risk person getting a diagnosis of depression The app gets its name because the color group. Data on both GPS and phone usage of Northwestern University is purple, and for options, but something as simple as acetaminophen prior were not available for enough participants to providing information about depression and getting proper care, he added. to bed may help” advises Roth Maguire. If they’re turning to treatments. Others, like Purple Robot, are Even if researchers can get a better handle because the developers hope the app can to let the researchers see how well Purple act like a robot and automatically alert a alcohol to fall asleep or relax, she suggests relaxing drinks Robot performed when both data sets were in the development stage. on the effectiveness of these apps, there are like herbal tea with honey instead, or listening to soft music, Optimism and DBSA Wellness Tracker are still numerous questions regarding risks, user of his or her mental health risk and available, Saeb said. also make recommendations to possibly taking a warm bath, or soaking the feet to help create a good However, PHQ-9 is only a screening mitigate the risk, such as using the phone sleep environment. tool that tells you if you have an above- Depression is a debilitating illness that less or getting out of the house, Saeb said. If your elderly parent can’t relax, have a chat to brainstorm average chance of having depression and is affects about 17% of people at some point Despite concerns surrounding these about solutions. The knowledge that they are not alone and have someone to talk with to problem-solve goes a long way not enough to diagnose depression, said Dr. in their lives. Meanwhile, it is estimated apps, Monteith said he is “totally in favor Scott Monteith, clinical assistant professor of research [on them], that’s what we need to reducing stress. Suggest massage therapy, as well, which is of psychiatry at Michigan State University, that by 2025 more than 5 billion people to do.” However, he urged that research- often available at athletic clubs or senior centers. who has not been involved in developing or in the world will have a smartphone, and ers consider both effectiveness and risks “For some, reading books is the answer. If reading is dif- researching Purple Robot or other smart- in their studies. “We need to look at what ficult, there are many options on audio books and of course, phone apps. their sensing capability will be above and the FDA looks at” when deciding whether podcasts,” Roth Maguire says. The way the test was used in the study, beyond that of today’s iPhones, Androids to approve medical treatments and devices, If they’re still struggling, take a look for the nine signs that with a low cutoff score, it probably incor- Monteith said. an elderly parent shouldn’t be living alone. rectly identified many of the participants and Blackberries. (Source: CNN) (Source: rd.com) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 10 TECHNOLOGY JANUARY 20, 2018

10 hot titles of IT world Digital technology must empower By Alireza Khorasani Here are high rated IT titles in the world that reviewed by savvy tech users: workers, not alienate them Software developer Abraham Masri found the bug, By Sundar Pichai 1 called “chaiOS,” and posted it on GitHub. Masri told BuzzFeed News that he found the vulnerability while “fuzzing It’s clear that people need more options to with the operating system.” thrive in the digital world. The next generation This vulnerability can freeze your iPhone, and, in some cases, of workers will depend on how we evolve crash it, if someone sends you a link containing malicious code education and tech in the coming years. on iMessage. When you think of how to help our work- force thrive and find opportunities in the China’s innovation patents surge in number and qual- digital world, the first word that often comes 2 ity in 2017. to mind is “code.” Nearly every digital-skills New patent filings numbered 1.38 million last year, up 14.2 program over the past decade has focused percent. About 420,000 have been accepted, said Hu Wenhui, on computer science, with a lot of emphasis spokesperson for the State Intellectual Property Office. on young students. Coding, of course, is vi- “As of the end of 2017, the number of patents in China hit 1.35 tal and a core skill for America to invest in. million. That is nearly 1 patent per 1,000 people,” Hu said. Google has focused resources and employee time helping people from all backgrounds France and Germany will make joint proposals to reg- to code — from helping introduce students 3 ulate the bitcoin cryptocurrency at the next summit to the basics, to offering 10,000 free Udac- of the G20 group of major economies in Argentina in March, ity courses in coding for apps, to training French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. other businesses in how to become experts The world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency has fallen in programming artificial intelligence. All to half its record peak of almost $20,000 in recent days on fears of this will help meet the growing need for that regulators could seek to curb speculation. workers who can write the software that will power everyone’s businesses. And it will help Italy’s antitrust body said on Thursday it had opened countless people more move into in-demand, 4 a probe into allegations that Apple Inc. and Samsung high paying careers. Electronics Co Ltd used software updates to slow their mobile But the focus on code has left a potentially phones and push clients into buying new handsets. bigger opportunity largely unexplored. In The watchdog said in a statement that the two companies had the past, people were educated and learned not told clients that the updates might have a negative impact job skills, and that was enough for a lifetime. on the performance of their phones. Now, with technology changing rapidly and new job areas emerging and transforming job seekers. One trainee spoke of the value of IT-support apprenticeship program we of- You can imagine this lightweight, focused A group of investors led by SoftBank Group Corp closed constantly, that’s no longer the case. We need her own experiences. “Before I learned digital fered, with the Bay Area’s Year Up job-train- model being applied to other tech-related 5 a deal with Uber Technologies Inc, making SoftBank to focus on making lightweight, continuous skills, I felt unsure of myself,” she says. “Now ing program. Over 90 percent of the young jobs of the future: Robust certification pro- the largest stakeholder in the ride-services firm and providing education widely available. This is just as I feel confident. You have to feel confident adults met or exceed Google’s expectations grams for project management, delivery a much-needed boost to controversy-ridden Uber. crucial to making sure that everyone can in what you do in order to be successful and as apprentices, but we noticed they didn’t fleet operation, and other jobs no one can The deal includes a large purchase of shares from existing Uber find opportunities in the future workplace. move on in life.” return to apply for full-time jobs. It turned imagine today, but that will be obvious — and investors and employees at a discounted valuation for the company There are two areas that are relevant here. Through these trainings, people learn out that the standard, two-year computer ubiquitous — in five years’ time. of $48 billion, a 30 percent drop from Uber’s most recent valuation The first is around basic digital skills training. about using technology to research, to science degree cost too much time and money, Moving beyond code and intensive de- of $68 billion. These secondary stock sales will be completed by An office admin, for example, now needs to plan events, analyze data and more. They teaching skills that those former apprentices grees to these constant, lightweight and the end of the day Thursday on the Nasdaq Private Market, an use online programs to run budgets, sched- don’t require a formal degree or certificate. simply didn’t need to start their careers. ubiquitous forms of education will take Uber spokesman said. uling, accounting and more. While digital We think there’s great scope to expand this So we developed, and just announced, a resources and experimentation. But that technology should be empowering people, it model, and teach hard and soft skills that new IT certificate program alongside Coursera effort should help close today’s skills gaps, Amazon.com Inc’s inclusion of Canada’s largest city can often alienate them from their own jobs. can empower a workforce that has access to that’s far more focused and flexible. We believe while making sure future skills gaps don’t 6 on a list of 20 finalists for a massive new campus could Some of these skills didn’t exist five years constant, accredited learning opportunities in just 8 to 12 months, it teaches everything open. That’s part of the reason Google has escalate tensions between the tech giant and U.S. President Don- ago, yet workers are today expected to have as job requirements change. you need to be an IT support technician. invested $1 billion over five years to help ald Trump. them. A recent report by the Brookings In- Second, we have a huge opportunity to IT support jobs are predicted to grow by 10 find new approaches to connect people to Amazon said that Toronto and 19 U.S. locales made the first cut stitute says that jobs in the US requiring rethink training for jobs that are core to the percent from 2016 to 2026, faster than most opportunities at work and help small and in a contest to find a second headquarters where it promises to “medium-digital” skills in America have digital economy, but that don’t require coding. other occupations the government tracks. medium businesses everywhere grow in invest $5 billion and create 50,000 jobs. grown from 40 percent of jobs in 2002 to IT support is a clear opportunity, here. Just We’re giving 10,000 people free access to the digital economy. Trump has already criticized Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos, 48 percent of jobs in 2016. as anyone has a clear path to becoming an the course and will connect graduates to job We should make sure that the next who owns the Washington Post, in tweets suggesting the U.S. The digital skills necessary to do these auto mechanic, we need a similar path to opportunities at places like Bank of America, generation of jobs are good jobs, in every Postal Service ought to raise shipping rates for the online retailer jobs are far easier to learn than code, and the 150,000 open positions for IT support, Walmart, Sprint, GE Digital, Infosys, TEK- sense. Rather than thinking of education as and describing the newspaper as a purveyor of fake news. should be easier to deliver at scale. For ex- in which people maintain the machines and Systems, and the University of Pittsburgh the opening act, we need to make sure it’s a ample, we rolled out a “Grow with Google” software that underpin technology services. Medical Center — as well as Google. If the constant, natural and simple act across life A South Korean consumer group has filed a criminal program, and partnered with Goodwill last Yet no training today efficiently connects program works, the payoff will be substantial. — with lightweight, flexible courses, skills 7 complaint against Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook over slower year to incorporate digital skills training into people to that opportunity. The median annual wage for IT support is and programs available to everyone. iPhone devices, after probes in Europe into allegations the firm its already amazing training infrastructure for We learned this ourselves through an close to the median salary in America. (Source: Recode) had deliberately shortened the life of its handsets. Apple is already facing lawsuits in the United States and elsewhere over accusations of having defrauded iPhone users by slowing Next wireless speaker will listen to your every word down devices without warning to compensate for poor battery Speakers with integrated voice assistants like Alexa and Google -- for example, the Polk Command Bar brings a fully formed performance and to push clients into buying new phones. Assistant will soon become the norm, not the exception. Echo Dot to a sound bar. There will come a day, and probably pretty soon, where For clarification here, we’re specifically talking about Intel has released two ready-to-use RealSense depth pretty much every standalone speaker will have a voice-op- bringing voice assistants to Wi-Fi-connected speakers -- the cameras, the D415 and the D435, that can add 3D 8 erated assistant inside of it. In the same way way that most kind that let you stream Spotify Connect, for example -- and capabilities to any device or machine. They both come in a TVs today have integrated “smarts” in the form of streaming see this feature as an evolution of the hands-free microphone USB-powered form factor and are capable of processing depth apps for video, “smart speakers” will simply be the default, now available in most Bluetooth speakers. But there’s no in real time, thanks to the chipmaker’s new RealSense vision offering streaming audio apps and music at your voice’s reason Bluetooth speakers themselves can’t get assistants processor D4. The models work indoors and outdoors in any beck and call. and microphones too, provided they’re high-end enough lighting environment, so they can be used for almost any machine Even for people who crave good audio, the convenience to justify the (falling) cost. that needs a depth camera. Those include drones meant to soar of being able to ask for a song or artist by name is powerful. While smart toilets are also a thing for some reason, smart the skies and robots with AR/VR features. It’s enough, for example, to force just about every speaker speakers are far more useful because of where they sit at the maker to follow Sonos’ lead, and sign on with one of the two intersection of music replay and voice control. These devices Facebook is testing the ability for users to upload major digital assistants. But what does having Alexa and bring the user experience back to the fore, something that images and videos via desktop, reports TechCrunch. 9 Google inside everything really mean? has suffered since wireless speakers started ditching user Soon, users will be able to select an upload button for photos Much like Smart TV, a big reason voice assistants will If you want to see where we see the future of wireless speakers interfaces for smartphone control. and videos similar to the way they would for news feeds, or add be so widespread is that they aren’t prohibitively expensive heading, look at the humble headphone. The microphone in Smart speakers are so much more than on-demand juke- a video to their story from a webcam. to add. We spoke to one manufacturer recently who told us a set of portable headphones has become so ubiquitous that boxes though. They control your lights, help organize your that it costs around 10 dollars to add a “smart” microphone most people simply forget about them. You buy a portable calendar, dictate recipes while you cook or help you load The Senate has voted to reauthorize a controversial to each speaker. headphone and the mic is built right into the cable. up the latest season of “Black Mirror.” They’re a lot more legal authority that enables vast government surveil- 10 As the technology improves and price comes down, having The same thing is likely going to happen with portable “fun” than a simple remote control, and not only that but lance programs, including spying operations used by the NSA. an assistant onboard shouldn’t pass much extra cost on to and tabletop speakers -- they’ll all get microphones even- they’re also more featured and getting better all the time. The bill allows for continued spying operations under Section 702 the consumer. tually. It’s not just table speakers that will get mics either (Source: Cnet) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Critics charge that the bill, which renews 702 and powers National Security Agency spying, is nominally for foreign targets, but allows the government to sweep up American communications with few safeguards. Lebanese security agency turns smartphone into selfie spycam Lebanon’s intelligence service may have or near the building. They cannot say for turned the smartphones of thousands of sure whether the evidence proves GDGS targeted individuals into cyber-spying ma- is responsible or is the work of a rogue Android Wear 2.8 app chines in one of the first known examples of employee. large-scale state hacking of phones rather The malware, once installed, could do update adds darker than computers, researchers say. things like remotely take photos with front Lebanon’s General Directorate of Gen- or back camera and silently activate the background eral Security (GDGS) has run more than phone’s microphone to record conserva- 10 campaigns since at least 2012 aimed tions, researchers said. Gone are the days when OTA updates were necessary to add mainly at Android phone users in at least 21 Responding to a question from Reuters new features to your Android Wear watch. Now, Google can add countries, according to a report by mobile about the claims made in the report, Major new features via the Android Wear app. A new version of the security firm Lookout and digital rights General Abbas Ibrahim, director general Wear app is rolling out with a group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). of GDGS, said he wanted to see the report few notable changes. The theme The cyber attacks, which seized control of before commenting on its contents. He add- is darker, and notifications are Android smartphones, allowed the hackers ed: “General Security does not have these getting some potentially inter- to turn them into victim-monitoring devices type of capabilities. We wish we had these esting changes. and steal any data from them undetected, capabilities.” The new version is staged, so the researchers said on Thursday. No evi- The EFF/Lookout team said they un- we don’t have it to test yet. From dence was found that Apple (AAPL.O) phone covered spy tools and a massive trove of the language in the changelog, users were targeted, something that may hundreds of gigabytes of data stolen from it sounds like notifications will simply reflect the popularity of Android the phones of thousands of victims that have less unused space when in the Middle East. included text messages, contacts, encrypted you read them. I would like des- The state-backed hackers, dubbed “Dark EFF and Lookout took advantage of the said in a phone interview. conversations, documents, audio and photos. perately to believe this change Caracal” by the report’s authors - after a Lebanon cyber spying group’s failure to Dark Caracal has focused their attacks Targets were located mainly in Leba- involves re-bundling notifica- wild cat native to the Middle East - used secure their own command and control on government officials, military targets, non and the surrounding region, including tions like they were prior to Wear phishing attacks and other tricks to lure servers, creating an opening to connect utilities, financial institutions, manufac- Syria and Saudi Arabia, but not Iran or 2.0, but it doesn’t seem likely. victims into downloading fake versions them back to the GDGS. turing companies, and defense contractors, Israel, two frequent targets of government The darker background appears to be as dark as they come—it’s of encrypted messaging apps, giving the “Looking at the servers, who had reg- according to the report. cyber spy attacks. Victims also lived in five black. See the above pic from a tipster. The black background attackers full control over the devices of istered it when, in conjunction with being The researchers found technical evidence European countries, Russia, the United might improve battery life a bit on OLED watches, which is most unwitting users. able to identify the stolen content of victims: linking servers used to control the attacks States, China, Vietnam and South Korea, of them now. Google says it’ll improve readability. Michael Flossman, the group’s lead That gave us a pretty good indication of how to a GDGS office in Beirut by locating wi-fi researchers said. (Source: androidpolice) security researcher, told Reuters that long they had been operating,” Flossman networks and internet protocol address in (Source: Reuters) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y JANUARY 20, 2018 SCIENCE 11

Researchers find human impact on Microwave ovens are cooking the environment: study forest still evident after 500 years Small electrical appliances such as microwave ovens, kettles and hair dryers harm the environment in a dozen different ways, and consumers can do far more to reduce the impacts, researchers Tropical forests span a huge area, har- In their study, recently published in said Thursday. bor a wide diversity of species, and are the journal Ecosphere, the researchers In the European Union, the electricity used by 130 million important to water and nutrient cycling used imagery from NASA’s terra satellite, microwaves puts 7.7 million tons of carbon dioxide into the at- on a planet scale. But in ancient Amazo- MODIS, and geospatial modeling to predict mosphere each year, equivalent to the annual emissions of nearly nia, over 500 years ago, clearing tropical the ADE probability across six million eight million cars, they reported in the journal Science of the forests was a way of survival to provide square kilometers of the Amazonia. They Total Environment. land for families to farm and villages to found that biomass (primarily weight of “Electricity consumption has the biggest impact,” said lead prosper. trees in forests), tree height, and tree cover author Alejandro Gallego-Schmid, a research associate at the Researchers at the University of New were all lower at ADE sites than adjacent University of Manchester. Hampshire (UNH) used high-tech tools to random non-ADE locations. The ADE sites more precisely view where these cleared were also more susceptible to drought. sites were and how much lasting impact Intensity of dry seasons they had on the rainforest in the Amazon Indigenous people most likely used Basin in South America. slash-and-burn techniques to clear the “One of the key mysteries in this area forests so the ADE sites may have been of the world is that no one knows how pre-selected due to the propensity for many people lived in Amazonia before drought or intensity of dry seasons. European contact,” said Michael Palace, an Researchers also observed differenc- associate professor in the Earth Sciences es in spectral properties (reflective light) Department and Earth Systems Research between ADE and non-ADE sites that are Center at UNH. likely driven by forest structure and tree Determining lasting impact species, indicating that remnant forests “Once the Europeans arrived, indig- are still showing impacts from past human enous populations were devastated due settlement patterns. to disease, slavery and displacement so Researchers further explain that the it’s often hard to determine lasting im- It is important to understand the high spatial heterogeneity in ADE sites “This is because of the fuels used to generate the electricity.” pact. It is important to understand the resilience or fragility of these forests to across the Amazon suggests that pre-Co- Add 150 million vacuum cleaners, 144 million kettles and more resilience or fragility of these forests to lumbian occupation by indigenous peo- than 100 million hair dryers in Europe alone, and the carbon past human disturbance, which allows past human disturbance, which allows ple was complex and varied substantially footprint becomes significant. for appropriate planning on the use of for appropriate planning on the use of across this ecologically diverse region. Clearly, banishing fossil fuels from the energy mix would slash natural resources.” natural resources.” But they speculate that because of their emissions ascribed to small household appliances. One of the few indicators of human proximity to the rivers, ADEs may have But that isn’t going to happen overnight: coal and gas still settlements are the terra preta, or Am- societies, pottery remnants, charcoal and that part of the world (a former ocean become areas of interest for other groups to account for more than 40 percent of electricity generation in azonian Dark Earths (ADEs). These are other artifacts frequently associated with bottom), and wood, bone and other settle and reoccupy, further impacting the the EU. For the rest of the world, that figure is about 70 percent. black, human-made soils that are en- human origin. organic materials decay quickly in the forests and vegetation in the ADE areas. Until that changes, there are other ways to limit the environ- riched by materials left behind from past There is very little rock and metal in humid tropics. (Source: eurekalert.org) mental damage caused by the energy-hungry devices that have become part of everyday life, Gallego-Schmid said. To start with, consumers can be less wasteful. Neutron star merger that produced gravitational waves are getting brighter: study “On average, kettles boil 50 percent more water than people need,” he told AFP. Following the merger of two neutron stars, to the sun. new paper, said in a statement Thursday. The high-energy jets that would flow “There are about 144 million kettles in the European Union. the gamma-ray burst that is produced would Various theoretical methods Graphic shows the X-ray counterpart to outward from the black hole’s poles, and The environmental impacts -- and the margin for improvement get brighter for a short period of time, and In a paper published Thursday, research- the gravitational wave source GW170817, would be observed as short gamma-ray -- is huge.” then fade away, according to other obser- ers led by a team from Canada’s McGill Uni- produced by the merger of two neutron stars. bursts, got trapped by the debris, and the An analysis by other researchers of 100 cast-off microwaves vations of short gamma-ray bursts. But versity considered the various theoretical The left image is the sum of observations with interaction shaped the debris into a cocoon at a recycling point in Britain showed that half still worked, and that is not what happened in the case of models that would allow for the afterglow NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory taken that absorbed all that energy, making the most of the rest could be easily repaired, Gallego-Schmid said. GW170817, the first neutron star merger of the merger to keep getting brighter (it in late August and early September 2017, object glow brighter in X-ray and radio (Source: AFP) observed by scientists in August last year, has become about four times brighter since and the right image is the sum of Chandra wavelengths. an event that also sent gravitational waves the merger). They used data collected by observations taken in early December 2017. “Usually when we see a short gamma-ray rippling through the universe. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Cocoon formation theory burst, the jet emission generated gets bright If anything, the X-ray emission from “When the source emerged from that One of the models they considered was for a short time as it smashes into the sur- James Webb Space the merged object has continued to grow blind spot in the sky in early December, our the cocoon formation theory, which was rounding medium — then fades as the system Telescope completes in intensity, as have radio emissions from it. Chandra team jumped at the chance to see posited by another team of researchers in stops injecting energy into the outflow. This Radio wave data from the merger was what was going on. Sure enough, the after- December. In brief, the theory suggests that one is different; it’s definitely not a simple, deep-freeze testing tracked since the event occurred, but X-ray glow turned out to be brighter in the X-ray the black hole which likely formed as a result plain-Jane narrow jet,” McGill astrophysicist observations had to be suspended just over wavelengths, just as it was in the radio,” of the merger was surrounded by debris Daryl Haggard, whose research group led NASA’s long-running James Webb Space Telescope project is two weeks after it happened because the John Ruan, a postdoctoral researcher at the that resulted from the collision between the new study, said. nearing completion, but it needs a lot of testing before the agency object’s location in the sky was too close McGill Space Institute and lead author of the the neutron stars. (Source: IBT) sends it up into space where any undetected issues could prove disastrous. Several months ago, the completed telescope optical hardware was loaded into a vacuum chamber and cooled to ex- Nuclear reactors the size of wastebaskets Ocean waters prevent ancient methane tremely low temperatures. After removing Webb from the deep freeze, NASA now reports that all systems are go. could power our Martian settlements from reaching the atmosphere About $10 billion has been spent building the James Webb Space Telescope, but the construction phase was finished way back in late 2016. Since then, NASA has been conducting tests on the hardware to ensure it will operate correctly once in space. It would obviously like to avoid a repeat of Hubble’s launch, which required a Space Shuttle mission to correct its blurry vision in the early 90s. Webb will be subjected to frigid temperatures at the L2 La- grangian point, so the deep freeze test is a necessary step before launch. Engineers loaded the telescope into Chamber A at Johnson Space Center, which was depressurized and cooled to almost absolute zero (20-40 Kelvin). First on the agenda, NASA tested to make sure the 18 individual mirror segments would move and operate as a single unit in a cold vacuum — they worked perfectly. This phase of testing ended in late 2017 as the telescope was removed from the vacuum chamber, but the results give NASA confidence all the optical systems will work correctly in space. However, there’s still more testing to do. While construction of the Webb is complete, the hardware isn’t all integrated yet. The telescope’s next stop is Northrop Grumman’s facilities in Los Angeles. (Source: extremetech.com) The cylinder of uranium is the size of a or even 10,000 watts is a big step up from Scientists have found that ancient reservoirs certain regions of the Arctic Ocean might coffee can. Even with its shielding and what those power sources could pack, of methane do not reach the atmosphere due be one of the environments where warming detectors, the device is still no larger even if it’s small compared to our power to a role played by ocean waters. The study processes have been breaking down methane Mushrooms could solve than a wastepaper basket. But this little needs here on Earth. Unlike those nuclear was conducted to understand the origin of hydrates for the last 15,000 years. America’s crumbling prototype, soon to be tested in the Ne- batteries, Kilopower’s system creates a methane in the Arctic Ocean. Along with the ancient methane reser- vada desert, fuels a dream of an off-world fission reaction, splitting uranium atoms There are ancient methane reservoirs, voirs, carbon-rich permafrost, which dates infrastructure future for humanity. to release energy that is then converted referred to as methane hydrates, which lie back to thousands of years and found all The Kilopower project, a joint venture into electricity by attached engines. near continents. The methane hydrates are over the land and seafloor sediments in Mushrooms could solve America’s crumbling infrastructure. Yes, between NASA and the Department of Cooled reactor trapped in ocean sediments, which are a huge the Arctic, can generate methane once it mushrooms — or at least a type of fungus scientifically known as Energy, is set to be the first nuclear fission A “traditional light water cooled reac- storehouse for the powerful greenhouse gas. thaws due to warming. Trichoderma reesei. A new technique uses fungi to fill the cracks reactor to reach space since the SNAP tor makes a gigawatt in electricity. It’s a Researchers have given a warning that The mix of the incessant warming tak- in concrete — creating a self-healing concrete. The self-healing 10A project in the 1960s. A prototype million times bigger, it’s very complicated, even if a bit of the massive reservoir is re- ing place in the Arctic and the shallow concrete would be low-cost, pollution-free and sustainable, ac- is in testing, which makes it closer to and it’s designed so it utilizes the fuel leased, it could significantly aggravate the depths of water means that any methane cording to the researchers. launch than any of the other projects that very well,” McClure says. At the size of current state of climate change. The waters released has a small area to travel, from The “idea was originally inspired by the miraculous ability of popped up in the intervening decades. the little Martian reactor, things get a of the ocean help in preventing the ancient being emitted from the seafloor to getting the human body to heal itself of cuts, bruises and broken bones,” The Kilopower reactor is designed to lot less fuel-efficient. methane from reaching the atmosphere released into the atmosphere. Congrui Jin, mechanical engineering professor at Binghamton operate at two sizes, a one kilowatt (1,000 “Melting fuel would be difficult if not but the warming waters could release the Increasing methane amounts University—State University of New York, said in a statement. watt) model and a 10 kilowatt model. impossible for the applications that we’re methane gas. The team, however, noticed that even if The human body repairs its damaged skins and tissues with Hundreds of watts doing,” McClure says. “The way we’ve Katy Sparrow, who is an environmental increasing methane amounts are released nutrients — and similarly, Jin and her colleagues have developed “Your toaster uses about a kilowatt,” got the physics designed, the reactor will scientist from the University of Rochester, from degrading hydrates as a result of cli- a way for concrete to heal itself with some fungi and nutrients to Pat McClure, Kilopower project lead at basically put out as much heat as is being studied methane’s origin in the Arctic Ocean to mate change, catastrophic emission to the help it grow. The fungi homes in on micro-cracks, which are often Los Alamos, says with a laugh. “In your asked of it. So if we lose cooling and are see if the ancient methane was being released atmosphere is not an inherent outcome. the start of much larger structural issues in buildings and bridges. average household, you use about 5 KW on just radiating a little bit of heat energy and if it would travel to the atmosphere. Although the research team did not “If micro-cracks expand and reach the steel reinforcement, average a day, at any given time. Realize, away, the reactor will drop in power to The Arctic Ocean analyze what prevented the released seafloor not only the concrete will be attacked, but the reinforcement will though, that this is a lot of energy for match that.” “Our goal was to fingerprint the source of methane from going into the atmosphere, be corroded,” Jin said. The steel is exposed to outside elements NASA. At NASA they’re used to tens to It’s also designed to operate in the methane in the Arctic Ocean to determine if they think that microorganisms could be — like oxygen, water, carbon dioxide and chlorides — which hundreds of watts. So to have a kilowatt odd environment of space. We think ancient methane was being liberated from biodegrading the methane in the ocean causes the reinforcement to rust and break down more quickly. or 10 kilowatts is a lot of electricity.” of space as cold, but keeping a reactor the seafloor and if it survives to be emitted before it reached the surface waters. The process works by mixing T. reesei into the concrete along NASA’s New Horizons mission has a cool in a vacuum isn’t so easy. There’s to the atmosphere,” Sparrow said. Kessler explained that the emission of with nutrients that help the fungus grow. When structures be- maximum power of 240 watts, and the no material like air or water flowing by Sparrow and her team chose a spot just ancient methane to the atmosphere, in gin to break down, the micro-cracks leave room for water and power source on the Curiosity rover only that can transfer heat away from your off the shore of Alaska’s North Slope, close the region which is going through some of oxygen to seep their way into the concrete. The once-sleeping provides 120 watts of electricity. Both generators. Instead, the system relies on to Prudhoe Bay, to conduct their fieldwork. the greatest present-day warming activi- fungal spores can then sprout and grow throughout the cracks, of these are so-called nuclear batteries, eight heat pipes, each filled with about The researchers referred to this area as the ties, is relatively quite small especially in filling the gaps. converting heat from naturally decaying one tablespoon of sodium, which has a ground zero for ocean warming that resulted comparison to emissions that come from “When the cracks are completely filled and ultimately no more plutonium directly into electricity. But high boiling point. in methane emissions from the ocean. human activities. water or oxygen can enter inside, the fungi will again form spores,” plutonium is in short supply, and 1,000 (Source: Popular Science) The shallow areas near continents in (Source: Tech Times) Jin said. (Source: Newsweek) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 12 SOCIETY JANUARY 20, 2018

German ambassador enjoys IAU plans to establish ‘Ab Gusht cooking lesson’

SOCIETY TEHRAN — Michael Klor-Berchtold, the Ger- deskman ambassador to Tehran, posted a photo on his Twitter account on Thursday depicting him stirring Ab Gusht (Iranian stew made with lamb, chickpeas, white beans, onion, universities in Iraq, Syria potatoes, and tomatoes, and dried lime) in a big pot. SOCIETY TEHRAN — The Islamic deskAzad University (IAU) is planning on expanding overseas branches through setting up units in Iraq and Syria, Khabaronline reported on Tuesday. Having great cultural and historical ca- pacities allows Iran to have a strong presence in different fields, including the academic realm, said Ali Akbar Velayati, the head of the university’s board of founders. Praising the growing capacity of IAU, Velayati went on to say that around 10,000 foreign students are studying at different branches of IAU across the country. Plans for branches in Iraq He went on to say that Humam Hamou- di, head of Iraq’s Islamic Supreme Council, has expressed interest in establishing Azad “Ab Gusht cooking lesson for me by real experts! Delicious!” University branches in “all cities” of Iraq, add- he wrote on his twitter account. ing, as per memorandums of understanding The ambassador didn’t include the time and place of his cooking signed with Ammar Hakim [previous chief of lesson, but seems quite enjoying himself. the Islamic Supreme Council], Islamic Azad University will set up branches in Karbala, Najaf, Baghdad, Basra and Erbil in near future. The project of constructing the first branch Air pollution: not this again of Islamic Azad University (IAU) in Iraq with the name of ‘Al-Mustafa Al-Amin’ kicked off Islamic Azad University in Dubai 1 In fact every year the onset of cold seasons and rise of in the Kadhimiya district [in northern Bagh- polluted days only rekindle the old debates on methods to miti- dad] on August 14, 2017. The university will called for establishing IAU branches in all in different levels of studies. Mere presence not enough gate air pollution and organizations start fighting over who is the be built in an area of 22,500 square meters cities of Syria. Another branch is in UAE founded in 1995. Although the chair of the board of trustees most responsible and placing the blame on one another which and is expected to host 3,000 students in- Other active international branch- IAU-UAE Branch can be regarded as the most of the Islamic Azad University Velayati de- constitute no impressive achievement. The best they could do itially, Donya-e Eqtesad Persian language es of IAU active international branch of the Islamic scribed the activities of foreign IAU branches so far was adopting clean air law and it is still too soon to decide daily newspaper reported on August 14, 2017. According to IAU international affairs Azad University, offering a host of programs as “successful,” surely, the mere presence of its effectiveness. New branches in Syria website, the Lebanon IAU branch officially at bachelor’s, master’s as well as doctoral international branches is not enough and We all know what we should do: developing greener auto Velayati further noted that after corre- started its activities in 1990 and is now offer- levels in several disciplines of engineering, IAU should focus on attracting the brightest industry, improving fuel quality, relocating pollutant industries, spondences with the Syrian President ex- ing 22 courses, including Islamic education, law, humanities, arts and management. students of the regions through enhancing its promoting public transit, and limiting high-rise buildings. pressing the readiness of Azad University educational sciences, political sciences, and Also there are two other branches active academic standards and performance in order So what went wrong that we are surrounded by the thick for setting up branches, Bashar al-Assad has computer engineering through 5 campuses in Kabul and Oxford as well. to have a stronger influence on this arena. smog all winter long and have to pray for wind or rain to come to rescue us? Who’s benefiting the current situation? Most cer- tainly not the public. Health Ministry to promote traditional foods, limit fast food SOCIETY TEHRAN — The Ministry of Health is One of the reasons as to why people are taking more deskplanning schemes to encourage con- fast food and junk foods is that fast food restaurants are Donald Trump is hampering sumption of traditional foods and is seriously reconsid- increasing by leaps and bounds, even the number of fast food ering issuance of license for fast food restaurants, Mehr restaurants are shooting up in rural areas, she regretted. fight against climate change, reported on Thursday. If by issuing fast food restaurants license the in- WEF warns Zahra Abdollahi, director general for the ministry’s dustry ministry is planning to create more jobs they nutrition improvement department, said the ministry had better do it by advocating opening restaurants is implementing schemes to promote consumption of offering local and traditional foods which are healthier, The World Economic Forum delivered a strong warning about traditional foods as they are being forgotten. she suggested. Donald Trump’s go-it-alone approach to tackling climate change Over the past two years, in a collective collaboration with She went on to say that Iranians love traditional as it highlighted the growing threat of environmental collapse in its nutrition experts in all provinces of Iran various kinds of and local foods and such foods have higher nutritional annual assessment of the risks facing the international community. traditional and local foods were recognized and analyzed values compared to fast food. “They are lower in food In the run-up to the U.S. president’s speech to its annual meeting regarding their salt, fat, and hydrocarbon content as well contents which increase the risks of non-communicable in Davos, Switzerland, next week, the WEF avoided mention- as their calories, Abdollahi said, adding, so using the data diseases,” she added. ing Trump by name but said “nation-state unilateralism” would collected on the traditional foods in addition to some food Iranian fast foods such as kuku sabzi (made with make it harder to tackle global warming and ecological damage. advices a book titled “Iran’s local food” was published. a various vegetables mixed with eggs and fried) and The WEF’s global risks perception survey showed Trump’s “Another measure that we are taking is to convince kotlet (meat and potato mixed with eggs cooked in arrival in the White House in 2017 had coincided with a marked Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade to reconsider im- restaurants and instead encourage granting license for hot oil) are easy to make and can replaces sausage increase in concern about the environment among experts methodical and irregular issuance of license for fast food restaurants serving local and traditional food,” she noted. and deli meat, she added. polled by the Swiss-based organization. It said all five environmental risks covered by the survey – ex- treme weather events, natural disasters, failure of climate-change Long-term warming trend continued in 2017: NASA, NOAA mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, and human-made natural disasters – had become more prominent. Earth’s global surface temperatures in 2017 in strong agreement. Both analyses show last century or so, a change driven largely recent El Niño and La Niña patterns were “This follows a year characterized by high-impact hurricanes, ranked as the second warmest since 1880, that the five warmest years on record all have by increased carbon dioxide and other hu- statistically removed from the record, 2017 extreme temperatures and the first rise in CO2 emissions for according to an analysis by NASA. taken place since 2010. man-made emissions into the atmosphere. would have been the warmest year on record. four years. We have been pushing our planet to the brink and Continuing the planet’s long-term warm- Because weather station locations and Last year was the third consecutive year in Weather dynamics often affect regional the damage is becoming increasingly clear. ing trend, globally averaged temperatures measurement practices change over time, which global temperatures were more than temperatures, so not every region on Earth “Biodiversity is being lost at mass-extinction rates, agricul- in 2017 were 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.90 there are uncertainties in the interpretation of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) experienced similar amounts of warming. tural systems are under strain, and pollution of the air and sea degrees Celsius) warmer than the 1951 to specific year-to-year global mean temperature above late nineteenth-century levels. NOAA found the 2017 annual mean tem- has become an increasingly pressing threat to human health.” 1980 mean, according to scientists at NASA’s differences. Taking this into account, NASA Phenomena such as El Niño or La Niña, perature for the contiguous 48 United States Trump has threatened to withdraw the US from the 2015 Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) estimates that 2017’s global mean change is which warm or cool the upper tropical Pacific was the third warmest on record. Paris agreement under which nations agreed to take steps in New York. That is second only to global accurate to within 0.1 degree Fahrenheit, Ocean and cause corresponding variations in Warming trends are strongest in the Arctic to limit the increase in global temperature. He has said the temperatures in 2016. with a 95 percent certainty level. global wind and weather patterns, contribute regions, where 2017 saw the continued loss commitments made by his predecessor, Barack Obama, would In a separate, independent analysis, scien- “Despite colder than average temperatures to short-term variations in global average of sea ice. damage the American economy. tists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric in any one part of the world, temperatures temperature. A warming El Niño event was NASA’s temperature analyses incorporate (Source: The Guardian) Administration (NOAA) concluded that 2017 over the planet as a whole continue the rapid in effect for most of 2015 and the first third of surface temperature measurements from was the third-warmest year in their record. warming trend we’ve seen over the last 40 2016. Even without an El Niño event – and 6,300 weather stations, ship- and buoy-based The minor difference in rankings is due to the years,” said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt. with a La Niña starting in the later months observations of sea surface temperatures, and LEARN ENGLISH different methods used by the two agencies to The planet’s average surface temperature of 2017 – last year’s temperatures ranked temperature measurements from Antarctic analyze global temperatures, although over has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (a lit- between 2015 and 2016 in NASA’s records. research stations. Bowling the long-term the agencies’ records remain tle more than 1 degree Celsius) during the In an analysis where the effects of the (Source: NASA) A: Alright, so the first thing that you need to know about ENGLISH IN USE bowling is that you should never cross that line where the lane begins. LEARN NEWS TRANSLATION B: Why not? A: Because they polish and oil it to make the ball slide down. If you step there you will slip and fall. INOTEX hosting 40 overseas A: OK, so I got my bowling shoes, my ball, our names on 40 شرکت ایرانی خارج از کشور به نمایشگاه نوآوری اینوتکس آمدهاند the scorecard, so now, how the heck do I play this? Iranian companies A: You throw the ball down the lane and try to knock ۴۰ شــرکت ایرانــی خــارج از کشــور از روز چهارشــنبه همزمــان بــا آغــاز بــه کار ششــمین down all the pins. If you do, that is called a strike. If you About 40 Iranian companies, which are active abroad, are participating نمایشــگاه بینالمللــی فنــاوری و نــوآوری اینوتکــس در محــل دائمــی نمایشــگاههای بیــن (don’t knock them all down on the first try, then you get a in the 6th International Innovation and Technology Exhibition (INOTEX chance to get the spare. After ten frames, we add up the which opened on Wednesday at the Tehran Permanent International المللــی تهــران حضــور دارنــد. .points and see who has the most. Three hundred is a perfect Fairgrounds بــه گــزارش خبرگــزاری تســنیم ســورنا ســتاری معــاون علمــی و فنــاوری رئیــس جمهــور score, but very hard to get. The goal of INOTEX is in line with the government’s plan for encouraging B: Got it! OK, I’m gonna give it a go. Oh no! My ball went Iranian experts abroad to come back to the country, the vice president گفــت: در راســتای برنامــه حمایــت از بازگشــت متخصصــان ایرانــی خــارج از کشــور، امســال .in the gutter! for science and technology affairs Sorena Sattari said, Tasnim reported در ششــمین نمایشــگاه فنــاوری و نــوآوری شــاهد حضــور ۴۰ شــرکت از این بخش هســتیم. A: I told you, its harder than you think. Now let a pro INOTEX is the premier regional event for professionals engaged in show you how it’s done. technology and innovation. ایــن نمایشــگاه کــه تــا 6 خــرداد مــاه ادامــه خواهــد داشــت بــا همــت معاونــت علمــی و Key vocabulary Cosponsored by the presidential office for science and technology, the bowling: a game where you try to knock pins down with a ball فنــاوری ریاســت جمهــوری، مرکــز همــکاری هــای فنــاوری و نــوآوری ریاســت جمهــوری، و presidential center for innovation and technology cooperation, and the polish: to make smooth and glossy, esp. by rubbing or friction صنــدوق نــوآوری راه انــدازی شــده اســت. .lane: any narrow or well-defined passage, track, channel, national innovation fund, the exhibition runs until May 26 or course knock: to strike in collision gutter: a sunken channel on each side of the lane PREFIX/SUFFIX PHRASAL VERB IDIOM pro: an expert player Supplementary vocabulary split: separate or apart “chloro-, chlor-” Filter something out Blow a fuse perfect game: a game in bowling of 12 consecutive strikes. Meaning: green or chlorine Meaning: to remove words, information etc. that Explanation: if you blow a fuse, you suddenly lose pin: a small, slender, often pointed piece of wood, metal For example: Breathing chloroform can cause you do not need or want: your temper and become very angry strike: to hit, collide dizziness, fatigue, and headaches. For example: Net users can filter out unwanted For example: Charlie blew a fuse yesterday when gutter ball: A ball that goes into the gutter emails with software. he discovered that his iPod had been stolen. (Source: irlanguage.com) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y JANUARY 20, 2018 WORLD IN FOCUS 13 Turkey: Operation in Syria’s Afrin HRW says Trump is ‘disaster’ has started ‘de facto’ for human rights 1 The White House later denied Faisal al-Mikdad was quoted as saying by 1 “Trump seems to wish he could do that himself. That the plan, with Secretary of State Tillerson the official SANA news agency. makes it much harder for the human rights movement to uphold saying that the issue, which has incensed its “We warn the Turkish leaders that if they human rights, because we gain our power from our ability to NATO ally Ankara, had been “misportrayed, start fighting in the region of Afrin, it will be shame abusive governments.” misdescribed. Some people misspoke.” seen as an aggression by the Turkish army Roth singled out Russia and China for conducting an “intense Turkey said the denial was “important,” against the sovereignty of Syria.” crackdown” on opponents and, after Trump was reported to but that it “cannot remain silent in the face of Al-Mekdad added a military incursion have described African countries as “shitholes”, said the U.S. any formation which will threaten its borders.” into Afrin would be “no picnic” for Turkey. president had “found political advantage in acting as a racist”. Ankara views the Kurdish People’s Pro- The YPG has been a favoured military force The New York-based group had issued its report in Paris to tection Units (YPG), an offshoot of SDF, a ter- on the ground in Syria for the United States, underline Macron’s role in curbing the rise of the far-right in rorist organization linked to the homegrown which has trained, armed, and supplied the Europe, Roth said, but also to send the French leader a signal Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, militia as it battled the Islamic State of Iraq that the world was expecting more from him on rights. which has been fighting for independence and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). Since he came to power in May, Macron has been criticised for inside Turkey. The Kurdish militia now controls nearly only raising human rights with countries when there was little Wary of the YPG’s activities at its doorstep, 25 percent of Syrian territory. at stake for France, but shying away when its national interests Turkey has repeatedly called on the U.S to Russia ‘moving’ military ob- could be hurt. stop supporting the Kurdish militants and servers in Syria’s Afrin While Macron has been forceful with Russian President Vlad- take back the arms it has supplied to them Russia has started moving military ob- imir Putin, Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan and Venezuela’s Nicolas under the pretext of fighting the Daesh ter- servers away from an area in northwestern Maduro, he has shown weaknesses elsewhere, Roth said. ror group. Syria where Turkey is planning an offensive He cited Macron’s visit to China, where he barely spoke of However, Syria has censured both the against Kurdish fighters, a Turkish official rights, his failure to support an investigation of Saudi actions in American and Turkish plans for a fresh wave told Al Jazeera. Yemen, and his telling Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of unilateral military operations on its soil. Moving the observers comes as Turkey’s that he would not lecture him on human rights. Damascus views such measures as an assault defence minister on Friday said his country “It’s easy to defend human rights when it’s free, when there’s on the country’s sovereignty. would go ahead with the offensive in the no real cost in doing so. But when you’re dealing with Chinese The Syrian government has also indicated enclave of Afrin, saying Syrian Kurdish fight- or Saudi (business) contracts, or you’re dealing with Egypt’s that it would shoot down any Turkish planes significantly, while giving Turkey a breath to The move comes after the United States ers there pose a “real” threat to his country. potential assistance in fighting terrorism ... Macron has been entering its skies. beef up security along its southern borders. announced this week it would train the Ahmet Berat Conkar, a ruling party MP more resistant to standing up for human rights.” Turkey, Iran and Russia are the guaran- Syria threatens to ‘destroy’ YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces and head of the Turkish delegation to the (Source: Reuters) tors of a countrywide ceasefire in Syria. The Turkish warplanes (SDF) to be part of a 30,000-strong “border NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said: “Russia three have been mediating a peace process Syria threatened on Thursday to “de- force” - a statement US Secretary of State is taking steps to move its forces in Afrin since January 2016 among Syria’s warring stroy” any Turkish warplanes that fly into Rex Tillerson said on Thursday was “mis- away from the areas where there might be Ukraine declares Russian sides in Astana, Kazakhstan. its territory as Ankara prepares to launch a portrayed”. clashes [during Turkey’s operation].” As part of the Astana format, four de-es- cross-border military operation to wipe out Syria’s government warned Turkey it Earlier this week, the Turkish government ‘occupation’ in eastern region calation zones have been established across Kurdish fighters it calls “terrorists”. would shoot down Turkish fighter jets and announced the offensive into Kurdish-held Ukraine’s far eastern region is “occupied” by Russia, the parlia- Syria amid ongoing political efforts to find Turkish officials have repeatedly vowed bombers that flew into its airspace. areas in northern Syria, starting with Afrin, ment announced on Thursday, as Moscow warned the declaration a peaceful solution to the conflict gripping to attack the Syrian-Kurd militia known as “We warn that the Syrian Air Force is after reports that the US plans to create a could reignite a new war. the Arab country since 2011. the YPG at any moment in the Afrin region in ready to destroy Turkish air targets in the 30,000-strong border army predominantly Ukraine’s parliament adopted the “Donbass reintegration The zones have helped reduce fighting northern Syria, near the border with Turkey. skies of Syria,” Deputy Foreign Minister made up of Kurdish militias. law” with 280 lawmakers voting in favor in the 450-seat body. The bill was submitted by Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko. The law outlines the legal responsibilities of Russia after it backed Israel army considers taking over security African UN envoys ask Trump to separatist forces in the country’s Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, known as the Donbass region, four years ago, the Kyiv Post reported. in East Jerusalem al-Quds meet leaders after vulgar remark It declares Russia to be an “aggressor” state and that parts of the Donbass are under “temporary occupation”. The law also gives Ukrainian citizens the right to sue Moscow for damaging their property. “We will continue to pave the way for reintegration of the occupied Ukrainian lands through political and diplomatic steps,” Poroshenko said on Twitter. The law creates a legal framework to “remove the Russian army from Ukrainian territory” through a peacekeeping force sanc- tioned by the United Nations, politician Arseniy Yatseniuk said. The move drew quick condemnation from Russia. (Source: Al Jazeera)

Killing the Iran nuclear deal will be bad for the U.S.

1 Iran also has a sovereign right to possess missiles to defend itself. There are no international treaties banning conven- The Israeli military is reportedly control the situation in the neighbor- African UN envoys have suggested that The letter, signed by 78 former Ameri- tional missiles. “President Trump has no right to dictate limits considering a plan to take over from hoods of Jerusalem al-Quds, according U.S. President Donald Trump meet with can envoys, urges Trump to have positive or restrictions over and beyond those just described,” said Peter police the control of the situation at to Haaretz. African leaders in Ethiopia this month after interactions with African countries. Jenkins, a former UK ambassador to the IAEA. a Palestinian refugee camp and an Israeli authorities have indicated that he was reported to have described some The letter, dated Tuesday, asks Trump If Trump follows through with his ultimatum and chooses to Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem if the army takes control, the municipal- immigrants from Africa and Central Amer- to “reassess” his views on the 54-nation leave the JCPOA, his decision will have long-term consequences al-Quds amid ongoing tensions there ity of occupied Jerusalem al-Quds may ica as coming from “sh*thole” countries. continent, which it calls blessed with “almost not only for the United States but also for global attempts to over a controversial U.S. policy shift no longer have a jurisdiction, and local African envoys met with U.S. Ambassador unparalleled natural resources” and with control nuclear proliferation. on the occupied city. councils will take over. to the UN Nikki Haley on Thursday, telling which the U.S. has deep historical ties. First, in the domestic arena, all vital political organs from Citing unnamed sources, Haaretz said Some 150,000 people, most of them her that “it could be useful” for Trump to On Thursday, several dozen Haitians Congress to Trump’s own national security agencies, including the Israeli ministry for military affairs Arabs, live in Shuafat and in Kafr Aqeb address African leaders directly when they protested outside the U.S. Embassy in Port- the National Security Council, Pentagon, State Department, and has confirmed the army is studying the and all have ID cards and residency meet in Addis Ababa at the African Union. au-Prince against the offensive comments. Department of Energy, oppose unilateral American withdrawal plan to assume responsibility for the status. That meeting is due to take place on “We are here today to let President Donald because they believe the agreement prevents Iran from develop- situation in the Shuafat refugee camp The East Jerusalem al-Quds is home to January 28-29, according to the African Trump know that we declare him persona ing nuclear weapons and that withdrawal will isolate the United and the Kafr Aqab district in East Je- the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third Union website. non grata in Haiti,” said protest leader Mario States internationally. rusalem al-Quds. holiest site in the Muslim world and a focus The African diplomats said that South Joseph, a prominent human rights lawyer Second, scuttling the JCPOA will increase global mistrust of Those areas are in the jurisdiction of of decades of Palestinian uprising against African UN Ambassador Jerry Matjila spoke and activist in the Caribbean island nation. the United States and remove any incentive for North Korea to Jerusalem al-Quds, but are cut off from the Israeli occupation. on behalf of the group. Another demonstration was planned negotiate a deal to curtail its own nuclear program. Washington the rest of the occupied city by Israel’s US embassy relocation accelerates Haley said she regretted the political for next week. could also find it harder to win support for any military campaign Apartheid Wall, which has been under Meanwhile, new reports suggest the drama around Trump’s reported vulgar Trump’s alleged remarks have sparked it may launch against Pyongyang if U.S. allies hold it responsible construction since 2002. Trump administration is moving faster than remarks at a White House meeting on widespread criticism in the U.S. and abroad. for re-igniting the Iranian nuclear crisis. The International community designates expected to relocate the American embassy immigration, according to diplomats at He was widely condemned by many Afri- Third, the JCPOA was endorsed by the UN Security Council Israel’s administrative control over East from Tel Aviv to a facility in West Jerusalem the UN meeting. can countries and by international rights – which includes the United States -- and its other members Jerusalem al-Quds as occupation since the al-Quds that has been providing visa and Trump referred to Haiti, El Salvador organizations for the comments. continue to support the deal. Based on the UN charter, it is the regime invaded the area during the 1967 other consular services. and African nations as “sh*thole countries” The Haitian government said it was obligation of all members to enact Security Council resolutions. Arab War and then annexed it. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during a White House meeting last week, shocked by the reported remarks, which came Outright U.S. violation of UNSC Resolution 2231 will damage Clashes have intensified in the area insisted last month that the move would dismissing a congressional immigration on the eve of the anniversary of the country’s the credibility of other Security Council resolutions and be seen since last month, when US President Don- not happen until the end of Trump’s proposal, according to those at the meeting. devastating January 2010 earthquake. by other member states as hurting its consensus-driven model. ald Trump ignored a consensus about the term. During the meeting, Trump also alleg- The Trump administration has said that Fourth, the IAEA has on numerous occasions confirmed Iran’s fate of the city, which many say should The fresh reports, however, said the US edly expressed preference for accepting about 60,000 Haitians who have been allowed adherence to the deal and has emphasized that U.S. withdrawal be decided in talks with Palestinians, State Department is working on a plan to European immigrants from countries such to stay and work in the U.S. since the earth- will foment a crisis in the agency’s ability to carry out its inspec- and declared that Washington was rec- retrofit an existing U.S. diplomatic facility as Norway. quake must leave the country by July 2019. tion duties. The JCPOA represents a major achievement for the ognizing the entire Jerusalem al-Quds in Arnona in instead of constructing a The president has denied using that Protesters across the United States IAEA because it is the most comprehensive non-proliferation as Israel’s “capital.” completely new embassy in the Jerusa- language, but others present insist he did. staged anti-racism rallies on Monday in agreement in history. It is a new standard for resolving nuclear Report say there has been almost daily lem al-Quds as proposed last month by Dozens of former U.S. ambassadors to response to Trump’s vulgar phrase. crises and its tenets may even have prevented countries such as clashes between Israeli forces and the Tillerson. African countries have written to Trump Many immigration advocates have crit- North Korea from developing nuclear weapons in the first place. Palestinian protesters, especially the The top U.S. diplomat had said the con- expressing “deep concern” over his com- icized Trump as a demagogue who has un- Fifth, the majority of Washington’s allies, including the EU, youths from the Shuafat refugee camp struction would take at least three years ments about the continent and warning fairly portrayed non-European immigrants Japan, Australia, Canada, and South Korea, strongly oppose the and the district of Kafr Aqeb. That has to complete. that respectful engagement is crucial to as criminals and inherently suspicious. United States abandoning the JCPOA. This represents a signif- prompted the Israeli army intervene and (Source: agencies) protecting American interests. (Source: agencies) icant break in America’s alliance system and, going forward, could affect future collaboration on issues such as Russia’s an- nexation of Crimea. These factors are presumably the reason Trump has again Lavrov slams Western ‘resistance’ on action against chemical terrorism waived sanctions on Iran. But they will still exist in mid-May – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has “Unfortunately, all our proposals have This is while Damascus has handed over Shaykhun as a pretext to fire some 60 cruise the next deadline for Trump’s sanctions decision – and for every accused the West of “resisting” Moscow’s been always met with tough resistance from its entire stockpile of chemical weapons un- missile at a key Syrian airbase. 120 days after that. efforts to take away the ability of Syrian ter- a number of our Western colleagues, who der a 2013 deal negotiated by Russia and Damascus condemned the Khan Trump’s quest to sabotage the Iran deal is in line with his rorists to develop and use chemical weapons. prefer to turn a blind eye to the facts of use the U.S. The operation was overseen by the Shaykhun attack and blamed it on terror- broader antipathy for Barack Obama’s policies. However, rather Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting and even production of chemical weapons by Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical ists. A few months later, the Syrian army than challenging his predecessor’s legacy Trump should endeav- on non-proliferation of weapons of mass terrorists, and come forward with unfounded Weapons (OPCW). backed up the claim by discovering a large or to use it as a model to bolster multilateral diplomacy and destruction on Thursday, Lavrov warned accusations against Damascus,” he said. Russia has dismissed Washington’s stash of chemical weapons and explosive resolve crises in places such as Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan. that foreign militants in Syria were spreading Lavrov called for a “new mechanism” claims against Syria as “attempts to polit- devices during mop-up operations against Today more than ever, the world needs a balanced and rational “the very real danger of chemical terrorism” to objectively investigate chemical attacks icize the situation” in the conflict-ridden the Daesh terror group in the country’s White House to promote peace and security rather than to flout beyond the Middle East while some Western in Syria by taking into account “the provi- Arab country. It has also vetoed a number eastern city of Dayr al-Zawr. international norms. countries looked the other way. sions of the convention on the prohibition of U.S.-drafted resolutions in this regard at The Russian military’s branch for protec- If Trump’s mantra of “America first” means undermining the “We have repeatedly suggested passing of chemical weapons.” the Security Council. tion against chemical weapons also announced rules and will of the international community, it will ultimately a resolution of the UN Security Council or The United States and its allies have re- In April last year, the administration of last year that it had dismantled a number of result in American interests being taken into account last in at least a statement by its chair denouncing peatedly accused Syrian government forces of U.S. President Donald Trump used a sus- chemical weapons facilities in the formerly global decision-making bodies. On the other hand, Trump still concrete incidents of chemical terrorism in carrying out chemical attacks in civilian areas pected chemical attack that killed dozens of militant-held areas across Syria. has the opportunity to recognize that facilitating the JCPOA is Syria and Iraq,” the top Russian diplomat said. without providing any substantial evidence. people in the western Syrian town of Khan (Source: TASS) a chance to help burnish his own legacy too. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 14 WORLD SPORTS JANUARY 20, 2018

WADA welcomes rejection Pele collapses: Brazil football legend of legal challenge to whereabouts rule hospitalised due to ‘severe exhaustion’ Football legend Pele is in hospital after he collapsed on The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has welcomed the re- Thursday with severe exhaustion. jection of a legal challenge to the whereabouts rule which it says The 77-year-old was due to travel to London this is a key element in the fight against doping. weekend for a dinner held in his honour by the Football French unions representing rugby, football, basketball and Writers’ Association (FWA). handball players had filed a complaint against the rule at the However the three-time Fifa World Cup winner col- European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), saying it violated lapsed before his journey and was taken to a hospital in the right to respect for private and family life. his native Brazil. The complaint was rejected on Thursday, the ECHR said in a “In the early hours of Thursday morning, Pele collapsed statement. t said that the judges accepted the rule had an impact and was taken to hospital in Brazil where he has undergone on the athletes’ private lives but “took the view that the public a series of tests which appear to point to severe exhaustion,” interest grounds which made it necessary were of particular a FWA statement read. “He remains on fluids while doctors importance and justified the restrictions” on their freedom. monitor his recovery. The rule requires targeted athletes to file information on where “Thankfully, there is no suggestion of anything more they will be for at least one hour of every day to allow drug testers serious than exhaustion and everybody at the Football to locate them for random out-of-competition tests. Writers’ Association wishes Pele a swift and full recovery.” WADA director Olivier Niggli said in a statement that out-of-com- Pele has been taken to hospital for kidney and prostate petition tests were “one of the most powerful means of deterrence problems in recent years, and in November 2014 was treated and detection of doping.” for a urinary infection after having kidney stones removed. “Accurate whereabouts information is crucial to the success In a glittering 21-year career, he scored 1,281 goals in of anti-doping programs,” he said. 1,363 appearances for club and country and was named by “The only way to perform out-of-competition testing is by Fifa as their Player of the Century. knowing where athletes are, and the way to make it most effective The FWA statement continued: “Understandably, his is to be able to test athletes at times when cheats are most likely medical situation prevents him from travelling to London for to use prohibited substances or methods.” the Football Writers’ Association Tribute Night on Sunday He said that the inconvenience caused to athletes was “entirely evening at The Savoy. But after discussions with Pele and his proportionate to the wider benefits for global sport.” team, he has insisted the event should continue, not least (Source: Reuters) because many of Pele’s friends are travelling from overseas to be with us on Sunday. “While it is incredibly sad Pele cannot attend the function, “Pele’s team have also asked that we film the event and “It goes without saying, Pele has an open invitation Schalke’s Goretzka signs the FWA are grateful that all those who have been asked send a copy to Brazil in the knowledge it will lift the great to any of our functions once he regains his health and to pay tribute on the night - Gareth Southgate, Cliff Jones, man’s spirits to see his friends are thinking of him and send- we are already discussing the possibility of him joining contract to join Bayern Gordon Banks and Steve Hunt - are determined to help ing their best wishes. With that in mind, we want to do Pele us in May for the Footballer of the Year dinner.” next season make the evening a memorable one. proud and make Sunday night as memorable as possible. (Source: Independent)

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have signed a contract Ruthless Rafael Nadal storms Sanchez to United not done at all, with talented Germany international Leon Goretzka, who will join them in July, the two clubs said on Friday. past Damir Dzumhur insists Mourinho The 22-year-old midfielder, who won the Confederations Cup with Germany last year and is set to be part of their World Cup Top seed Rafael Nadal stormed into the Normal service was quickly resumed Manchester United manager Jose Mour- “I know that the club is happy and the squad in June, is considered among the finest talents in Germany. fourth round of the Australian Open with a though and Nadal hammered home inho has confirmed talks are ongoing owners, the board are happy, they know “We are delighted that Leon Goretzka, a Germany interna- bludgeoning 6-1 6-3 6-1 defeat of Bosnia’s a backhand winner to end a superb over a swap deal involving Alexis Sanchez that I am happy. When that’s the case, tional with great prospects, decided for Bayern Munich despite Damir Dzumhur on Friday. 26-stroke rally on his way to breaking and Henrikh Mkhitaryan but insists an the day we decide to do something, we competition from big-name clubs from abroad,” Bayern CEO Melbourne’s heatwave had relent- again in the next game. agreement has not been reached. will do it easily. There’s plenty of time.” Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in a club statement. ed by the time the 31-year-old Nadal Nadal scrapped his way through a Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger claimed Mourinho, who confirmed Daley “This means Leon Goretzka will remain in the Bundesliga.” walked on Margaret Court Arena, but 10-minute game at the start of the third on Thursday that the clubs were “close” Blind will miss the Burnley game with a The versatile player is out of contract with Schalke at the end the Spaniard was on fire as he battered and rolled on to victory, sealing it with to a breakthrough in negotiations, with minor injury picked up in training, also of the season and will be a free transfer. the 28th seed into submission. an ace before belting a ball high into United reportedly prepared to offer a praised the form of full-back Luke Shaw “Leon Goretzka informed us at the start of this week that he The sole blemish was a dropped service the night sky. transfer fee and Mkhitaryan in order since his return to the team in December. wanted to leave the club and join Bayern,” Schalke sports director game early in the second set but it only (Source: Reuters) to secure Sanchez’s signature. (Source: Four Four Two) Christian Heidel told reporters. briefly slowed his charge. Mourinho says there is little point Heidel said the player had passed a medical at Bayern on “I am in the fourth round. That’s because denying United’s interest in the Chile Thursday and Rummenigge had called to let Schalke know. I am doing the right things. Let’s see how star after Wenger spoke openly about “We are losing a very, very good player,” Heidel said. far I can go,” Nadal, beaten in the final by the discussions but he maintains he is Roger Federer last year, told reporters. waiting “calmly” for updates. (Source: Mirror) Nadal arrived in Australia with question “I think clearly everybody knows marks over the state of his knees after he that we are there and especially when was forced to withdraw mid-tournament the Arsenal manager speaks so clearly from the ATP Finals in November. like he did, there is no point in trying to Team Sky should suspend Yet back in the kind of sleeveless top in hide or deny,” he told a news conference. which he launched his spectacular assault “But it is not done at all, so in this Froome, says UCI chief on the grand slams in 2005, and wielding moment Mkhitaryan [is] our player, his trusty forehand like a lethal weapon, Sanchez [is] an Arsenal player and with Team Sky should suspend Chris Froome until an investigation into doubts about Nadal’s title prospects have a match tomorrow I want to switch off his failed drugs test for an asthma medication is over, according to quickly been cast aside. and focus on the most important thing, International Cycling Union (UCI) president David Lappartient. “I needed hours on court, hours of prac- which is the match. The four-time Tour de France winner, who denies breaking tice, hours of playing sets with different “Sometimes people think trans- any rules, could potentially be stripped of his Vuelta a Espana title players,” Nadal said of his build-up to fers involve the managers a lot in after a urine test he took during the race in September showed the year’s first grand slam. the negotiations. I think it depends excessive levels of Salbutamol. “I think I did a good preparation. on the profile of the clubs, the way Salbutamol is permitted as a legal asthma drug by the World I feel I‘m playing well.” we establish our jobs. In my case, Anti-Doping Agency and the UCI said Froome’s failed urine test Argentina’s 24th seeded Diego when it goes to the table of ne- did not necessitate a mandatory provisional suspension even if Schwartzman, who Nadal plays next, gotiations, I like to be out. I will analysis of his urine sample showed a concentration of 2,000 might prove a tougher obstacle than just be calmly waiting for news. nanograms per millilitre (ng/ml), double WADA’s threshold. Dzumhur. “I will speak if one day we sign “Team Sky should suspend Froome,” Lappartient told daily The 25-year-old from Sarajevo had him. I will speak about him and Le Telegramme. actually walked off court a winner against what he can bring to our team. At “However, it is not up to me to interfere. Without going into Nadal in 2016 when the Mallorcan retired this moment, there is no point, he the question of guilt, it would be simpler for everyone,” said the from their match at the Miami Masters is an Arsenal player and not my Frenchman, who was elected last September. with an illness. player.” “It’s up to (team manager Dave) Brailsford to take his re- This time it was Dzumhur who might Mourinho did confirm Mkhitary- sponsibilities. Apart from that I think that it is what the other have sought a quick way out after being an will not be involved against Burn- riders wish.” allowed two points in the first four games ley on Saturday, however, despite Lappartient, who said he was notified of Froome’s test result as Nadal started like the scorching wind being at full fitness. an hour after being elected in Bergen, Norway, on Sept. 21 last that had blown through Melbourne Park “No, not selected,” he said. year, believes that “in the eyes of the wider public (the Briton) earlier in the day. “But [he is] in very good condi- is already guilty.” Nadal was 5-0 up in no time before tion, training really well and in Dzumhur managed to hold serve, prompt- perfect condition like the others.” (Source: Reuters) ing a sympathetic cheer from the crowd. Reports have also claimed Mour- Another flurry of forehand winners inho is on the verge of signing a helped Nadal into a 2-0 lead in the second contract extension at Old Trafford set but Dzumhur, who became the first but the former Chelsea boss says there Emery refuses to indulge Bosnian to win a Tour level title last year, is no need to rush through a renewal. broke back with a dipping backhand that “My contract ends July 2019, Neymar-Cavani penalty debate was too good for Nadal. so plenty of time to speak,” he said.

Paris Saint-Germain’s penalty taker remains an issue for within the dressing room according to Unai Emery, following the latest controversy involving Neymar and Edinson Cavani. World-record signing Neymar turned in a dazzling display Fatigue & Pressure could see Zidane quit Real Madrid against Dijon in midweek, hitting a hat-trick as the Ligue 1 leaders Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane is under increasing Barcelona at the end of last season. established a 7-0 lead in the second half. pressure at the Bernabeu after a disastrous defence of the Marca claims Germany coach Joachim Low and Tot- Cavani was also on target, bringing him level with Zlatan Spanish title Los Blancos won last season, with suggestions tenham boss Mauricio Pochettino are early favourites for Ibrahimovic’s all-time mark of 156 goals in PSG colours, but the Frenchman could walk away from the club by the end the potentially vacant Bernabeu hot-seat. Neymar grasped the ball when the Uruguay striker was brought of the campaign. Speaking after a narrow 1-0 win over Leganes in the down to win an 83rd-minute penalty. Real have only won two of their last seven La Liga games, Copa del Rey on Thursday night, Zidane expressed hope Neymar dispatched his fourth goal of the game to whistles even losing twice in successive home fixtures. It means they that the positive result may now act as a catalyst for the from the Parc des Princes crowd that continued after full-time. are 19 points behind fierce rivals Barcelona, while their coming weeks. This weekend sees PSG face Lyon, the opponents when Neymar biggest challenge is to stay in the top four amid pressure “We’ve got a long way to go. We need to get our confi- and Cavani had an on-field spat over a spot-kick back in Septem- from Villarreal and Sevilla. dence back, score goals and stop conceding,” he explained ber, but Emery sees no need to bring public clarity to the issue. But it is not simply that Zidane, who delivered two Cham- (via RealMadrid.com). “In the locker room, it is not about individual statistics,” he pions League titles in his first 18 months in charge, could “We cannot sit here and say we played well but we told a pre-match news conference when asked about Neymar be sacked by demanding president Florentino Perez for a got an important result for the tie and that is positive. denying Cavani his record tilt. sub-par season. There are moments when the going gets tough, but we “I don’t have to say who the penalty takers are. We talk about According to Marca, there is a belief at Real that the former need to have a little patience and know that together we it in the locker room, not on the outside. three-time FIFA World Player of the Year and 1998 Ballon suggesting that the 45-year-old is ‹struggling to cope’ as can move forward. “[Cavani] is one of the experienced players. All players are d’Or winner is increasingly likely to quit of his own accord. a result of fatigue and having to deal with having the lofty “This win could well be a turning point for us and we may important. Each have their own personality and all are very The Spanish report notes that Zidane has already achieved expectations on his shoulders. well go on to get three or four positive results.” involved in the locker room.” (Source: Goal) everything he can hope to since taking over, while also It is reminiscent of Luis Enrique walking away from (Source: Sports Illustrated) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y JANUARY 20, 2018 SPORTS 15

Iran drop two place at Persepolis, Esteghlal held in Iran Professional League

SPORTS Iranian popular football teams Persepolis and deskEsteghlal were held by their opponents in Iran FIFA ranking Professional League (IPL). SPORTS Iran national football team Siamak Nemati’s 94th-minute equalizer rescued a point for deskstarted the New Year as the Persepolis in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on Thursday. world’s 34th placed football team in the Esmaeil Farhadi had scored a goal in the 74th minute. FIFA ranking. Esteghlal also played out a goalless draw with Padided in Team Melli, who have been drawn along with Mashhad on Friday. Spain, Portugal and Morocco in the 2018 World Esteghlal captain Omid Ebrahimi failed to convert his penalty Cup Group B, are still the best Asian team. with two minutes remaining. Portugal and Spain are third and sixth respec- “We were held by Padideh but it doesn’t matter. I am satisfied tively in the ranking and Morocco have moved with the way we played in this match,” Winfried Schaefer said one place up to 39th. in the post-match news conference. Australia (36), Japan (56) and South Korea Here are IPL results in full: (39) follow Iran in the ranking. Tractor Sazi 1 – 2 Saipa With just 22 matches played, all friendlies, Zob Ahan 2 – 1 Sanat Naft since the December edition, it is no surprise Pars Jonoubi 1 – 1 Esteghlal Khuzestan to see few significant changes in the first FIFA Naft Tehran 4 – 1 Siahjamegan World Ranking of 2018. Sepidrood Rasht 2 – 1 Sepahan Germany remain at the summit of a static Foolad - Paykan (Postponed) top ten, while Iceland (20, up 2) are the only Persepolis are IPL pacesetters with 45 points. Pars Jonoubi team to enter the top 20, with the Netherlands sit second with 33 points. (21, down 1) dropping out. Croatia (15th, up 2) also made some ground, and there were more substantial rises further down Mkhitaryan would suit the order. Tunisia (23rd, up 4), for example, built on the gains made during their successful FIFA Arsenal way of playing - Xhaka World Cup qualifying campaign, while Kuwait (174, up 15), Sudan (124, up 12), and El Salvador Granit Xhaka has backed Manchester United midfielder Henrikh (90, up 10) all registered double-digit jumps. Mkhitaryan to be a success at Arsenal if he joins in exchange for The next FIFA World Ranking will be pub- Alexis Sanchez. lished on 15 February 2018. Mkhitaryan has struggled to make an impact at United since joining in 2016 and is set to move to the Emirates Stadium with Sanchez going the other way. Iran beat Uzbekistan at Asian Men’s Tractor Sazi deserve better place: Xhaka, who played against Mkhitaryan during his time in the Bundesliga with Borussia Monchengladbach, said: “I read that Handball Championships Ertugrul Saglam in 2009 he said that he likes Arsenal. “I’m sure the style of play here would suit him. Every player has their own qualities. He is a great footballer, so let’s just see what happens. “It was tough to play against him. To be honest, I would rather have played alongside him. He is a player who is obviously very good and has lots of good qualities as well.” Xhaka was referring to a UEFA interview with Mkhitaryan during his spell at Armenian side Pyunik in which he praised Wenger and said Arsenal were his “favourite team” and he would “want to play there one day.” Speaking ahead of Saturday’s clash against Crystal Palace, Wenger said Mkhitaryan, who turns 29 on Monday, saw how good Arsenal were during their Champions League clashes. “We played many times against him when he was at Dort- mund,’’ Wenger said. “He certainly appreciated the quality of our game and the way we play football. That’s why certainly he loves the club as well.” Speaking to Sky Sports, Xhaka also praised the attitude shown by Sanchez, saying: “We all see that he always gives everything on SPORTS Iran defeated Uzbeki- a record nine times, defeated India 35-23 in SPORTS Ertugrul Saglam says hammadi, Tractor Sazi are in 11th place the pitch. “He wants to win all the time and obviously last season he desk desk stan 37-18 in their first Group C, and defending champions Qatar Tractor Sazi football on 21 points, eight points above the rel- scored well over 20 goals and this season he is scoring goals as well. match of the 2018 Asian Men’s Handball beat China 34-19 in Group D. team deserve a better place in the Iran egation zone. (Source: ESPN) Championships at the Seo-Suwon Chilbo The top two in the four groups will qualify Professional League (IPL) on Friday. “I had heard about Tractor Sazi in Istan- Gymnasium in Suwon. for the second set of group games, due to Saglam has traveled to Tabriz to ne- bul. For me, it’s a great honor to work at such Japan had also defeated Uzbekistan 38- start on Monday. gotiate with the club to take charge of a big club. Also, I feel a great responsibility 27 in Group A. Iran, headed by Slovenian The championship is being held at the Iranian team. to the Tractor Sazi’s fans,” Saglam said. I would reject such players coach Borut Macek, have been scheduled Suwon, South Korea from January 18 to According to Iranian media, the for- “We have to do our best to move up to meet Japan on Saturday. On Friday, 28, 2018. It acts as the Asian qualifying mer Besiktas coach has reached an initial in the table and I am optimistic about – Heynckes slams ´selfish´ Australia lost to Oman 33-19 in Group B, hosts tournament for the 2019 World Men’s agreement with Tractor Sazi. moving up in the table,” the 48-year-old Aubameyang South Korea, winners of the Championships Handball Championship. Under leadership of Yahya Golmo- Turkish coach added.

Jupp Heynckes slammed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for being “selfish” at Borussia Dortmund and insisted he would refuse the Physically extraordinary Djokovic is battle ready, says Agassi chance to sign players who only want to follow their own goals. MELBOURNE (Reuters) — Novak Djokovic is “phys- the big match and not playing in a while, that was the Aubameyang’s relationship with the Dortmund hierarchy ically extraordinary” and can emulate Roger Federer time for it to get tested and, getting through it, he’ll be appears to be at breaking point, with the Gabon international by winning the Australian Open in his first tournament a lot better for it moving forward.” being strongly linked with a move to Arsenal. for six months, mentor Andre Agassi said on Friday. Djokovic had not played a competitive match for The striker incurred the wrath of club officials by missing a The Serb arrived in Australia with question marks six months before his first round clash with American team meeting before last weekend’s 0-0 Bundesliga draw with over his elbow injury and has played two rounds in Mel- Donald Young and while that was a breeze, his clash Wolfsburg, resulting in head coach Peter Stoger dropping him bourne wearing a compression sleeve on his serving arm. with Monfils in 40 degrees heat proved to Agassi that from the squad. The 12-times grand slam champion has re-modelled the 30-year-old is battle ready. When asked at his news conference about football’s decline his serving action to take the pressure off the joint but “Recovery is not something I worry about with him,” in terms of morality, Heynckes said: “That exists all along, but at it held up during a four-set win over Gael Monfils in said Agassi, who added he is not working with Djokovic the moment there are totally different dimensions, I see that very brutal heat on Thursday. for ‘personal gain’. critically. “I think footballers are very privileged, all the more if “If you haven’t played for a long time, anything that ”Novak is physically extraordinary and he has a recov- you see how hard many people have to work for their salary. So, isn’t quite the centerpiece of your game, can go through ery ability that is unlike mine, probably just because the I think professional ethics and morals belong to this. You have a bit of a challenge,” former world number one Agassi, nature of how his body is made and how efficient he is. to see what’s going on in the society. who flew in to be in Djokovic’s corner, told AAP on Friday. “The guy has a capacity for pushing himself that “Things which happened with Aubameyang and [Ousmane] “With a new service motion and the pressure and is unique.” Dembele I see very critically. The clubs which sign those players have to be aware; they [Aubameyang and Dembele] could do the same to them. “I would refuse to sign such players. Football is a team sport; Liverpool still open to transfers after Virgil van Dijk capture - Klopp you can’t just be selfish and follow your own goals. You have to Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool are still open a disaster. If any other goalkeeper makes a think about the fans as well. “We have to pay attention so that to making signings in the January transfer mistake then he’s still a fantastic goalkeeper the fans don’t turn their backs on us and football. market, but stressed that he will continue and we should still buy him. “If I see that Arsenal was not really successfully in the last to focus on the players currently at the club. “I’m really fine with our goalkeeper situ- years but their tickets became more and more expensive, that’s Liverpool broke their transfer record in ation. Loris Karius could have made a save a problem. In Anderlecht our fans protested against the ticket signing Virgil van Dijk from Southampton around the first goal, even though I think prices - and they were totally right.” for £75 million earlier this month, but went it was a world-class finish in this moment. (Source: Guardian) on to lose Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in It’s always makes sense to say the truth. a deal that could reach £142m with add-ons. “We changed a lot of positions during Speaking at a news conference to preview the year, but only with the goalkeeper it Monday night’s trip to Swansea City, Klopp looks like we have to stick to our opinion IOC tests over 14,000 athletes said: “If something jumped in my face then for 20 years if we made a decision one time. ahead of Winter Olympics we think about it. I changed not my opinion, but the situation “First of all, we have to use the high qual- now. That’s all. ity players we have. [Adam] Lallana isn’t “But of course, Loris has to deliver. He The taskforce, which was set up to monitor and optimize the the replacement for Coutinho, but he’s a knows that. Now he is the No. 1 and that testing, has placed extra scrutiny on Russian athletes. fantastic player.” means he can play again and he can concede Twice the number of Russian athletes were tested in November In terms of outgoings, sources have told a goal like he conceded against Manches- and December, as compared to those from any other country. ESPN FC that Inter Milan and Sevilla have “What I can say is we have a long, very No. 1 jersey for the win over Premier League ter [City]. It’s not like we want that, but it’s The IOC last month banned Russia from the Pyeongchang both expressed an interest in signing Liv- decisive part of the season still to play. In leaders Manchester City last weekend, al- still possible. All the good things, I like to Games as a result of its “unprecedented systematic manipula- erpool’s Daniel Sturridge in this window. this transfer window, it always looks like the though he was criticised for conceding Leroy see again. I saw a lot of good things in the tion” of the anti-doping system, though individual athletes will Sources have told ESPN FC that Liverpool season is already over and everybody who Sane’s equaliser at his near post in the first games he played in the last few weeks. That’s be able to compete effectively as neutrals if they can prove their would be willing to let the striker depart this didn’t play often enough wants to leave. But half of the 4-3 victory. why he’s in.” anti-doping credentials. month if the offer is right, but Klopp refused we still have games to play and we need all “Do you really think that I change my Liverpool expect to have Virgil van Dijk Widespread doping by Russian athletes at the 2014 Sochi to specifically address the speculation sur- the players for this. We will see how it will mind that quick?” Klopp said. “How I said, (hamstring) available for the game at the Winter Games was exposed by an independent report for the rounding the 28-year-old. be on the 31st.” it’s a very difficult job to be a goalkeeper or Liberty Stadium, in addition to Mohamed World Anti-Doping Agency. “We don’t discuss the transfer market Meanwhile, Liverpool will head to Swansea a centre-half at Liverpool because no one Salah and Ragnar Klavan, who have both Apart from increased testing, the IOC is also aiming to im- here,” he said. “If there are any rumours, I’m City on Monday night with Loris Karius con- forgives you [after] one mistake. been unwell, while Dejan Lovren is doubt prove testing methods by focusing on factors such as high-risk not aware of that, but it’s not too important. tinuing as the team’s first-choice goalkeeper. “Obviously, since I’m in, it feels like ‘wow’ for the trip to Wales because of illness. disciplines and nationalities, suspicious changes in performance We’ll see what happens until the 31st. Karius took permanent command of the if our goalkeeper makes a mistake and it’s (Source: ESPN) and adverse testing history. (Source: Reuters) Prayer Times Noon:12:15 Evening: 17:39 Dawn: 5:44 (tomorrow) Sunrise: 7:11 (tomorrow) JANUARY 20, 2018 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 Malaysia’s “Ola Bola” Editorial Dept.: Fax: (+98 21) 88808214 — 88808895 [email protected] Switchboard Operator: Tel: (+98 21) 43051000 Advertisements Dept.: Telefax: (+98 21) 43051450 Public Relations Office: Tel: (+98 21) 88805807 Subscription & Distribution Dept.: Tel: (+98 21) 43051603 tops at Tehran sports film festival www.eshterak.ir Distributor: Padideh Novin Co. Tel: 88911433 Webmaster: [email protected] ARTTEHRAN — “Ola Bola” by Chiu Keng Printed at: Rooztab - ISSN: 1017-94 deskGuan from Malaysia won the award for No. 18, Bimeh Alley, Nejatollahi St., Tehran, Iran best film at the 11th Tehran International FICTS Festival, P.o. Box: 14155-4843 the organizers announced on Thursday. Zip Code: 1599814713 Najwa Abu Bakar, Tung Yow Kong, and Datuk Steven Lim are the producers of the drama, whose story is set in the 1980s. The film was inspired by the glories of the Ma- laysia national football team, which successfully entered the 1980 Summer Olympics. The winners were announced during the closing cer- emony of the event, which was held at Tehran’s Olympic Hotel on Thursday. Turgay Sahin, the producer of “One Day One Child” by Turkish director/writer Sinan Sertel, won the special jury award. Sertel was presented with the award for best screenwriter. “One Day, One Child” focuses on Mete, a rich, success- Farhad Hassanzadeh ful pedagogue who cannot find true happiness despite having everything financially. The film follows Mete as he nominated for Hans experiences a drastic change in life and perspective after Christian Andersen Award he visits an orphanage. Anushka Sharma and Salman Khan won the awards ARTTEHRAN – Iranian author Farhad for best actress and actor respectively for their roles in deskHassanzadeh has received a nomination “Sultan” by Ali Abbas Zafar from India. for the 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award as the In the documentary section, “Sachin: A Billion Dreams” International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) by James Erskine from India was selected as the best fea- announced nominees last week. ture-length documentary. The film also received the special Marie-Aude Murail from jury award in this category. France, Eiko Kadono from “K2 and the Invisible Footmen” by director and pro- Japan, Joy Cowley from ducer Iara Lee from Pakistan and “Adventure Not War” by New Zealand and Ulf Stark director Max Lowe and producer Lindsey Hagen from the from Sweden are the other U.S. shared the award for best mid-length documentary. A scene from “Ola Bola” by Chiu Keng Guan from Malaysia. nominees for the award that A lineup of feature-length, short and documentary films is the highest international from around the world went on screen during the 4-day which opened on the sidelines of the festival. around the world. recognition given to an event which opened at Felestin Cinema on Monday. The festival is organized by the Federation Interna- The festival is held in collaboration with the National author and an illustrator In addition, a collection of sports photos by photogra- tionale Cinema Television Sportifs (FICTS) and is a part Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the Ministry of Sports of children’s books. phers from around the world were showcased in the exhibit, of the World FICTS Challenge that runs in 16 countries and Youth, IRIB and the Tehran Municipality. Hassanzadeh has authored over 80 books, including “The Backyard”, More films from Iran to compete in Berlin festival “The 7th Bench by the Lake”, “Bambak’s Scorpions”, ARTTEHRAN – Two more film from Iranian pressure on Golsa. “Watermelon with Love” deskcinema will be screened at the 68th Berlin “Hendi & Hormoz”, a co-production between Iran and and “Call Me Ziba”. International Film Festival, the organizers announced on the Czech Republic, portrays the existential struggle of two IBBY presents the Farhad Hassanzadeh in an Wednesday. young people who must abandon their carefree youth in a Andersen award to a living undated photo “Dressage” by Puya Badkubeh and “Hendi & Hormoz” harsh world. author and illustrator whose by Abbas Amini will go on screen in the Generation 14plus It takes place on Iran’s Hormuz Island in the Persian complete works have made a lasting contribution to children’s competition. Gulf, where hematite deposits in the soil turn the ocean literature. The festival calls “Dressage” a “radically staged story about waves blood-red. 16-year-old Hormoz is married to Hendi, The two winners will be announced at the IBBY press control, blackmail and the power of money” that “holds an three years his junior, after he promises that he can work as conference at the Bologna International Children’s Book uncompromising mirror up to Iranian society.” a miner. But the young man finds closed doors instead of a Fair on March 26. Motivated primarily by boredom rather than greed, Golsa job. When Hendi becomes pregnant unexpectedly, Hormoz The medals and diplomas will be presented to the and her friends rob a corner shop. But while evaluating is forced to make an ill-advised pact with a smuggler. winners during the 36th IBBY Congress in Athens, Greece the booty, they are dismayed to realize that they forgot to A total of 65 full-length and short films have been invited on August 31. take the security camera footage. One of them must return to compete in the Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus to the crime scene and retrieve it. The vote falls on Golsa, competitions. who bravely completes the mission. Her friends’ behavior Earlier last week, the organizers of the Berlin festival WHAT’S IN ART GALLERIES makes her think, and she hides the hard drive somewhere announced that “Pig” by Iranian director Mani Haqiqi will Illustration in secret. But her accomplices and their well-to-do families, screen in the official competition of the festival, which will An exhibition of illustrations worried about their social standing, put more and more be held from February 15 to 25. A poster for “Dressage” by Puya Badkubeh by a group of artists is currently underway at Farda Gallery. Sara Atash-hoosh is the curator of the exhibition entitled “My Rotterdam festival to screen films from Iran Imaginary Friend”, which will ARTTEHRAN — The 47th edition of International Film Festival will go on screen in the run until January 26 at the gallery deskthe Rotterdam International Film Voices, a section dedicated to films with powerful located at 2 Araabi Alley, Hosseini Festival will screen several films from Iran, the stories, captivating subjects and important themes. St., off Karim Khan Ave. organizers announced last week. Maryam Tafakkori’s “Absent Wound” will be Mohsen Qarai’s debut feature “Blockage”, which screened in the Bright Future Short, and her “I Photo won an award at the 22nd Busan International Film Have Sinned a Rapturous Sin” will go on screen in Photos by Kimia Najjariun Festival in South Korea, will go on screen in the the Ammodo Tiger Short Competition. are on display in an exhibition at Bright Future section dedicated to first feature- Iranian director Alireza Khatami’s film “Los Persian Idea Gallery. length films. versos del Olvido” (“Oblivion Verses”) co-produced The exhibit titled “Forgotten Director Mohammad Rasoulof’s drama “A Man by France, Germany, the Netherlands and Chile will Green” will run until January 24 of Integrity”, the winner in the Un Certain Regard also compete in the Perspectives section. at the gallery, which can be found category of the 70th Cannes Film Festival, and The Rotterdam International Film Festival will at 28 Azar Alley, Kolahduz St., Vahid Jalilvand’s acclaimed movie “No Date, No Hamed Behdad acts in a scene from “Blockage” that will be running in the Dutch city from January 24 to Shariati Ave. Signature” that won two top awards at the 74th Venice screen at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. February 4. Photographer Jila Mokhtari is currently showcasing one of her collections named “Insanity minus The Eagles settle lawsuit Buyers jockey for indie films at a Second” in an exhibit at Shirin Gallery. against Hotel California Sundance without Weinstein The exhibition will run until NEW YORK (Reuters) — There can PARK CITY, Utah / LOS ANGELES January 31 at the gallery located evidently be only one Hotel California. (Reuters) — For the first time in three at No. 5, 13th St., Karim Khan Ave. The Eagles have settled a lawsuit decades, producer Harvey Weinstein did to stop a Mexico hotel from using the not trudge down Park City’s snowy Main Painting/calligraphic painting name “Hotel California”, arguably the Street when the Sundance Film Festival Mojdeh Gallery is displaying country-rock band’s most famous song, opened Thursday, leaving the independent in an exhibition a collection of after the hotel’s owners withdrew their movie festival marketplace without its paintings and calligraphic paintings application to trademark the name in most-watched tastemaker. by a large group of artists, including the United States. His absence will be filled by stream- Ali Shirazi, Keykhosto Khorush, A joint dismissal of the band’s lawsuit ing services, upstart studios and veteran Shahin Arvin, Abbas Katuzian against Hotel California Baja LLC, which production houses scrambling to buy the and Sedaqat Jabbari. runs the Todos Santos hotel in Baja most buzzed-about films at the festival in The exhibit will continue until California Sur, was filed on Wednesday an industry undergoing dramatic change. January 24 at the gallery, which can with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. American rock group The Eagles, shown “Some of the old guard, the usual sus- The marque on the Egyptian Theatre is be found at 27 North Allameh Blvd., “This case has been settled by mutual performing in 1998 in London, Britain. pects at Sundance, have stepped aside or pictured before the opening day of the in the Saadatabad neighborhood. agreement of the parties,” Thomas Jirgal, a (Reuters/David McNew) have fallen back a bit,” said Ian Bricke, Sundance Film Festival in Park City, lawyer for the Eagles, said in an interview wrongly encouraging guests to believe director of content acquisition for Netflix Utah, U.S. January 21, 2015. (Reuters/ Watercolor on Thursday. the Eagles authorized using the song’s Inc (NFLX.O). Jim Urquhart) Watercolors by Saeideh The dismissal came on the same day name, such as by playing the band’s songs “There’s a whole range of new players,” Sundance, founded by Robert Red- Soruri are on display in an the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office throughout its property. he added. “It creates excitement and some ford’s Sundance Institute and now in its exhibition at Golestan Gallery. accepted Hotel California Baja’s request The Eagles said this was done in part to degree of chaos in the marketplace.” 33rd year, has become the independent The exhibition will be running to permanently abandon its trademark spur sales of T-shirts, posters, refrigerator Weinstein was an unmissable pres- film industry’s premiere U.S. gathering. until January 24 at the gallery application. magnets and other merchandise for guests ence in previous years, at times loudly Evolving movie-watching habits have located at 34 Kamasai St. in the Neither the hotel nor its lawyer to take home after they check out and leave. negotiating deals in the foyers of theaters brought new buyers in recent years, with Darus neighborhood. immediately responded to requests for In court papers, Hotel California Baja just after movie premieres. The producer Netflix and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) comment. denied it was trying to mislead guests, and built a career on finding awards-worthy leading the march of digital outlets to Drawing/painting “Hotel California” is the title track said they were unlikely to be confused. gems at Sundance. Competitors watched Sundance. Arte Gallery is playing host from the 1976 Eagles album of the same Located about 1,000 miles (1,609 his picks closely, often launching bidding The streaming services had started to to an exhibition of drawing and name, and won the 1977 Grammy award km) south of San Diego and 48 miles (77 wars and driving up prices. outbid Weinstein Co for standout films. paintings by Kasra Sharifi and for record of the year. km) north of Cabo San Lucas, the hotel This year, Weinstein is out of the mix, Filmmakers prospered as Amazon paid Elnaz Alizadeh. It is known for a long guitar outro by had been called Hotel California when it fired as chief executive of the Weinstein $12 million for “The Big Sick” and Net- The exhibit entitled “Calvary” Don Felder and Joe Walsh, and abstract opened in 1950. Co after more than 70 women accused flix paid $12.5 million for “Mudbound” runs until January 28 at the gallery lyrics that lead singer Don Henley told CBS It underwent some name changes, but him of harassment or assault, allega- in 2017. that can be found on Molla Sadra News in 2016 depict “the dark underbelly the original name was revived after John tions that spanned three decades. He This year, it was unclear whether St. near Vanak Square. of the American dream.” and Debbie Stewart, a Canadian couple, has denied having non-consensual sex those outlets will replace Weinstein as Hotel California Baja was accused of bought the property in 2001. with anyone. the pacesetters.