TEHRAN — The spokesman

of the Arabeen central headquar-ters has said during the past few days 1.2 million Iranians have left the country for Iraq to attend the Arbaeen mourning rite in Karbala.

Arbaeen, falling on November 20 this year, marks the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), (AS) and third Shia Imam.

Each year, pilgrims, mainly from Iraq and Iran, travel long routes on foot to Karbala, where the holy shrine

of Imam Hussein (AS) is located.Hamid Reza Goudarzi in inter-

view with Fars on Sunday said the Iranian police has devised a six-layer security structure to ensure no one travels to Iraq without a visa.

He said Mehran, Shalamcheh, and Chazzabeh checkpoints as well as the aerial border are the main gateways to Iraq these days.

It is predicted that more than two million people will leave Iran this year to take part in the Arbae-en mourning ceremony which is one of the largest religious gath-erings in the world.

114 15 16Watch out for the supermoon that will set a 68-year record

Iranian, Bulgarian customs sign co-op MOU

Iran’s Zaab claims Asian

Youth Weightlifting

Championships bronze medal

Exground festival screening Iranian films

W W W . T E H R A N T I M E S . C O M I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y Condition in which Iranians asylum seekers held in Australia is inhumane

16 Pages Price 10,000 Rials 38th year No.12697 Monday NOVEMBER 14, 2016 Aban 24, 1395 Safar 14, 1438 P

resi

dent

.ir

By Zahra Khezri and Marjan Golpira INTERVIEW

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TEHRAN TIMESIran’s Leading International Daily

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Confederation of Indian Industry to open office

in Tehran next year:

ambassador

TEHRAN — Confederation of Indi-an Industry (CII) plans to open office in Tehran next year, the Indian am-bassador to Iran says.

“We are now looking forward to this office in Tehran by spring of next year,” Saurabh Kumar said in an exclusive interview with the Tehran Times on Wednesday, November 9.

Ambassador Kumar said it will be CII’s 10th international office.

The Indian envoy also said a “Chabahar specific event” will be held in Iran this year or early next year to familiarize Indian stakehold-ers, people from shipping, industry, trade, commerce, freight forward-ers and others about Chabahar Port.

Below is the entire text of the in-terview.

Iran will boycott

AFC Annual Awards: official

The Football Federa-tion Islamic Republic of

Iran (FFIRI) will not be attending this year’s AFC Annual Awards gala after no Iranian players have been nominated for the award.

The AFC Annual Awards gala will be held in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emir-ates, on December 1, 2016.

The Iranian federation will boycott the ceremony since the Asian Football Confeder-ation (AFC) has disregarded the federation’s achievements in the current year, FFIRI presi-dent Mehdi Taj said.

“We are not going to attend the ceremo-ny after we understood Iran has no nomi-nation in the AFC Annual Awards gala,” Taj wrote a letter to AFC president Sheikh Sal-man Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa

“Iran futsal made history in the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup and finished in third place in Colombia, while Ahmad Esmaeil-pour won the competition’s bronze ball.

“The Iranian U-19 and U-16 football teams qualified for the World Cups as well as second place in the beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup in Dubai. Furthermore, the Iranian referees officiated in the Rio Olympic Games final match,” he said.

“The Iranian national football team sits top of Group A in the 2018 World Cup qualification and Team Melli has moved to 27th place in the recent FIFA rankings as well as first place in Asia. It’s the first time Iran football federation has achieved these successes simultaneously,” Taj concluded.

Zarif says patience on international issues no right policy

TEHRAN — The Iranian foreign poli-

cy point man has said it is not working anymore to hold off on taking the initi-ative to address issues of international relevance, appearing critical of the Eu-ropean Union’s current policy.

Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Hungarian Parliament speaker Laszlo Kover on Sunday.

“In this respect, initiatives should be taken, and international issues of our era can no longer be addressed by pursuing a policy of patience and awaiting,” Zarif said, calling on the EU to get engaged in international challenges more actively.

Zarif had already rapped in an ap-pearance with Slovak President An-drej Kiska the passive approach pursued by the EU in the Middle East region, par-ticularly in connection with the dire hu-manitarian situation in Syria and Yemen.

Also, in a September talk in Tehran with President of French National As-sembly Claude Bartolone, the top Ira-nian diplomat expressed readiness for more consultations with Europeans, including France, about regional cri-ses, particularly the exchange of ideas on the Syrian conflict.

Iran and the EU have recently seen in-creasing consultations on issues of mutual interests, with senior officials from both sides reciprocating formal visits after the nuclear deal reached in July 2015.

Koreans to build $400m neuroscience hospital in Tehran

TEHRAN — South Korea’s G.G Founda-

tion is to invest $400 million in building a neuroscience hospital in Tehran.

On Sunday, the Korean company and the Islamic Republic of Iran Med-ical Council (IRICM) signed an Engi-neering, Procurement, and Construc-tion (EPC) contract, according to which G.G Foundation will invest up to $400 million in the project and the Iranian side will be in charge of its operation and management, IRNA reported.

The project will take about 60 months to be completed and the Or-ganization for Investment Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran will supervise its implementation.

As per the agreement, Korean doc-tors and nurses will aid their Iranian counterparts with providing medi-cal services to patients. The hospi-tal would be the largest of its kind in Western Asia.

Tehran mayor, Hungarian parliament chief review transport cooperation Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, and the Hungarian Parlia-ment speaker Laszlo Kover on Sunday held talks to assess cooperation on transportation system.

Laszlo Kover said since the visit of the Hungarian prime minister to Iran mutual cooperation has increased.

He called for regular contacts be-tween chambers of commerce of the two countries to augment trade and commerce, IRNA reported.

Kover said that the Hungarian aca-demic centers are involved in different researches on cultural affairs, oriental and Iran studies which may make the two nations closer to each other.

Hungary is willing to develop cooper-ation between the Iranian and Hungarian higher education institutes on reciprocal student scholarships, Kover added.

2

1.2 million Iranians already in Iraq for Arbaeen

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has stressed the importance of bolstering cordial relations among Muslim and Arab countries, saying the Islamic Republic seeks a stable and secure Iraq.

“The existence of a secure and stable Iraq with full prosperity for all the country’s people…has always been sought by the au-thorities and nation of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Larijani said in a meeting with former Iraqi vice president, Khazir al-Khazaei, in Teh-ran on Sunday.

He added that Iran is prudently working toward reinforcing amicable relations among Muslim and Arab countries “but some coun-tries in the region must behave constructively.”

The top Iranian parliamentarian emphasized that unity among all Iraqi groups to counter the country’s political, economic and security crises is a “fundamental necessity.”

Larijani expressed hope that prosperity and peace would be established in Iraq through unity and consensus among various political groups and said Tehran is prepared to share its

experience with Baghdad in this regard.The Iraqi official, for his part, said the two

countries have various religious, cultural and geographical commonalities and enjoy strong relations based on mutual respect and obser-vance of common interests.

Khazaei further added that Iraqi army soldiers and pro-government fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units are engaged in a serious and all-out fight against Daesh terrorists inside the country, particularly

in and around the strategic city of Mosul, and hoped terrorism would be eliminated in Iraq soon.

He also commended Iran’s effective role in restoring stability and peace in Iraq.

After months of preparation, Iraqi army sol-diers, backed by pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units and Kurdish Pesh-merga forces, launched an operation on Octo-ber 17 to retake the strategic city of Mosul from the Daesh terrorists.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed that Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, will be fully recaptured by year-end.

Khazaei meets Iran FMThe former Iraqi vice president also on Sun-

day held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mo-hammad Javad Zarif.

Khazaei briefed Zarif on the latest political developments in Iraq, particularly the battle against Daesh terrorists.

The two sides also exchanged views on oth-er issues in the Middle East.

(Source: Press TV)

Iran seeks secure, stable Iraq: Majlis speaker

TEHRAN — Irani-an President Has-

san Rouhani in a one-day trip to the southwestern province of Khuzestan on Sunday inaugurated a number of important development projects in the region, IRIB reported.

When inaugurating the center for

centralized traffic control (CTC) - a form of railway signaling- in Ahwaz, the capital city of Khuzestan, Rouhani un-derlined some projects carried out for development and renovation of railway network in the province such as those implemented in Ahwaz-Bandar Emam and Ahwaz-Andimeshk railways.

See page 4

See page 2

P O L I T I C Sd e s k

“Life+1 Day” crowned best at Geneva film festival

TEHRAN — Saeid Rustai’s “Life+1 Day”

won the best film award at the 22nd Geneva International Film Festival Tous Ecrans, which was held in the Swiss city from November 4 to 12.

The movie is about a young girl, Somayeh, in a poor family who is con-templating whether she should leave her family to marry a rich Afghan or to stay with them and continue her

attempts to mend her broken family. Her older brother, who is a recovering addict, urges her to leave, while her younger brother, who is still a user, asks her to stay and not to give up on her family.

“Park” by Sofia Exarchou, a Greek-Pol-ish joint production, and “Alipato - the Very Brief Life of an Ember” by Khavn De La Cruz from the Philippines re-ceived special mention in this section.

A R Td e s k

Rouhani inaugurates major development plans

L Y Conditionwhich Iraasylum seheld in Auis inhuma

terview.See page 2

P O L I T I C Sd e s k

P O L I T I C Sd e s k

TEHRAN — With the world worried about

President-elect Donald Trump’s leader-ship skills, President Hassan Rouhani has hailed the 2015 nuclear deal a “surprise” to the whole world.

Rouhani was making the remarks as he inaugurated on Sunday oil projects in the southern province of Khuzestan.

“…BARJAM (Persian acronym for the nuclear deal) came as a surprise to the world,” he said.

Iran and six world powers, including the U.S., hammered out an agreement to break the nuclear impasse, on for more than a decade.

Under the deal, Iran started getting re-lief from economic sanctions in exchange for it rolling back its nuclear program.

Rouhani has seen the pact as a unique opportunity to compensate lost opportu-nities to generate jobs for the increasing number of youths joining the workforce.

“We should grab the current opening to attract investment and technology to develop the country and generate jobs for the youth,” he said.

While Rouhani has hailed the nuclear deal as a legacy foreign policy, the elec-tion of Republican Donald Trump as U.S.

president may come as a blow.Walid Phares, one of Donald Trump's

foreign policy advisers, on Thursday said the president-elect is going to demand changes to the Iran nuclear agreement. "Ripping up is maybe a too strong of word, he's gonna take that agreement, it's been done before in international con-text, and then review it," Phares said on BBC radio Thursday.

Other sides to the multi-party deal have reacted to threats to the deal from Trump.

Notably, EU foreign policy chief Feder-ico Mogherini has ruled out the possibility of the deal being violated by Washington, saying it is not a bilateral agreement be-tween Tehran and Washington.

“The Iranian deal, the nuclear deal, is not a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Iran,” she had said in an inter-view with CNN, stressing that she has “a personal, direct responsibility…”

Also, Iran’s Foreign Minister Moham-mad Javad Zarif has expressed hope for the full implementation of the deal, say-ing, "Of course Iran's options are not lim-ited but our hope and our desire and our preference is for the full implementation of the nuclear agreement, which is not bilateral for one side to be able to scrap."

NOVEMBER 14, 2016NOVEMBER 14, 20162I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

N A T I O N

MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

1 Could you please shed light on the latest developments of the long-proposed and ambitious Iran-India undersea gas pipeline project?

A. Let me take a step back and start by telling you that hydrocarbon sector, oil and gas, is a major area of cooperation between the two countries. As you are aware, we buy a lot of crude from your country and after January, after the Implementation Day, we have been sourcing more and more of that crude from Iran.

In December last year, we had a meeting of what we call a working group in the hydrocarbon sector between India and Iran, and what was decided in that working group meeting is that we look forward to enhancing our relationship in this area which would also involve look-ing at Farzad B gas field which was discovered by Indian company ONGC.

As far as transportation of gas is concerned all possi-bilities are on the table. This might include LNG (liquefied natural gas) this may include gas pipeline, overland gas pipeline, subsea gas pipeline. So these are really techno commercial issues. We have to see technological feasi-bility and commercial viability and whichever option is the best option, we’ll be ready and happy to consider it.

The subsea pipeline which you spoke of has been

spoken of in the past. Some work has been done on it and it’s definitely one of the options for transportation of gas from Iran to India. But on a larger plane what we’re looking at is that we want to take our relationship in this very important sector of our cooperation from that of a buyer and seller to a comprehensive partnership.

Just now you’re selling crude to us and we’re buying your crude. We want to evolve this into a more com-prehensive partnership with investments from India out here. Farzad B is a possibility; we look forward to Iranian investments in Indian refinery sector. There is not only the upstream sector but also the downstream sector which we are eager to look at. So we want to take the re-lationship into a more comprehensive partnership in the hydrocarbon sector both upstream and downstream.

Has the implementation of the Joint Compre-hensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) eased the trade be-tween the two countries at all? Has the volume of trade increased following?

A. The JCPOA offers new opportunities to both countries. The restrictions of the past have been re-moved. To give one example, Iran can now receive through banking channels in hard currency payments for the crude it sells to India. Crude, as you know, is the major item in our bilateral trade basket. This is a direct benefit of the JCPOA. As I have mentioned above, we are importing more crude from Iran now. In volume terms, the trade is going up. However, be-cause of depressed crude prices, in dollar terms the trade figures show a decrease. 13

Confederation of Indian Industry to open office in Tehran next year: ambassador

P O L I T I C Sd e s k

TEHRAN — The head of the Ira-nian army’s ideological-political

organization has said the United States sees the post-JCPOA situation as a chance to infiltrate Iran.

“This has been America’s plan to approach and infiltrate the pillars of the system in the post-BARJAM (the Persian acronym for the JCPOA),” said Mohammad Ali Ale Hashem, ISNA reported.

However, he said, it is in the best interest of the U.S. if Iran remains a regional power, consid-ering the huge amount of insecurity that prevails the region.

‘U.S. sees post-JCPOA as chance for infiltration’

P O L I T I C Sd e s k

Trump, Clinton not different: Aref

TEHRAN — Mohammad Reza Aref, head of the Hope parlia-

mentary group, has said Hillary Clinton would have not been different from Donald Trump as the pres-ident of the United States.

Speaking to Mehr on Sunday, Aref said the two would follow the same foreign policy. “We should follow our own national interests. We will not back down on our rights.”

Elsewhere, Aref talked about the Hope faction’s activities, saying the group will not get derailed on side issues.

P O L I T I C Sd e s k

Iranian, Australian police exchange information on Iraq: envoy

TEHRAN — The Australian am-bassador to Tehran has said the

Iranian and Australian police are in close constant to exchange information on Iraq.

Speaking to ISNA in an interview published on Saturday, Jan Biggs said his country is en-gaged in cooperation with the Iraqi Army, pro-viding them with fuel and other backup ma-terial.

“We constantly note Iran’s security forces of our activities there, which is because Iran and Australia pursue shared objectives and the world consensus is to tackle the crisis.”

P O L I T I C Sd e s k

World surprised by nuclear deal, Rouhani says

TEHRAN — Iranian Deputy Foreign Minis-

ter for Consular Affairs Hassan Qashqavi has said the condition in which the Irani-an asylum seekers are held in Australia is “inhumane”.

“The Iranian asylum seekers may leave the country legally and go to In-donesia and then take ‘boats of death’.

I call them boats of death, because 90 percent of them are drowned. Then, the asylum seekers are taken to islands like Christmas or camps in which living con-ditions are really difficult and such treat-ments are definitely inhuman,” he said in an interview with the Tehran Times.

According to the Guardian, there are about 9,000 Iranian asylum seek-

ers in Australia’s immigration system. About 400 are on Nauru and Manus Island, but most are in Australia, in detention or living in the community on bridging visas.

Under Australia’s hardline immigration policy, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for process-ing to camps on Manus or Nauru in the

South Pacific.Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad

Javad Zarif met with Australian Ambassa-dor to Iran Ian Biggs in August and crit-icized inappropriate situation of Iranian refugees.

Zarif called on the Australian govern-ment to take required steps and solve the refugees’ problems.

Condition of Iranians asylum seekers in Australia inhumane

Rouhani sees the nuclear deal a unique opportunity to compensate lost opportunities to generate jobs for the increasing numbers of

youth joining the workforce.

TEHRAN — Iran’s parliament speaker has advised against making prema-

ture remarks about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, stressing it should be left to the Iranian Foreign Ministry to take a clear stance on his presidency.

Ali Larijani made the remarks on Sunday at a session wherein more than 100 legislators had participated.

“Analyses and remarks about the U.S. president-elect should be more mature, and hasty remarks and prema-ture judgments avoided until the Foreign Ministry takes a transparent stance,” ICANA quoted him as saying.

Larijani didn’t cite names. Over the past days, some Friday Prayer leaders have

appeared cynical on Trump’s election as president.Senior religious scholar Ayatollah Alamalhoda had

said in a Friday sermon that it would make no differ-ence a “donkey” or “elephant” would be the U.S.’s next

president. “It makes no difference whether a donkey or

elephant rules the U.S.,” he said.In making the comments, the cleric was refer-

ring to the “the Democrat donkey” and “Re-publican elephant” historical connotations associated with the Democrats and Repub-licans in the U.S.

Also, another cleric Mehdi Qoreishi, top provincial cleric in the province of West Azerbaijan, had branded Trump’s

election as the most disgusting election in the history of the U.S.

“The election of Trump as president is the most shameful election in the history of the U.S. …,” he

has said. Also, Ahmad Khatami, top Friday

prayer preacher in Tehran, laid into Trump for calling the Iranian people terrorists during his campaigns, saying he should know better than to play with “the tail of

the lion.”

Larijani says analyses and remarks about the U.S. president-elect should be more mature, and hasty remarks and

premature judgments avoided until the foreign ministry takes a transparent stance.

Larijani advises against hasty remarks about Trump

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TEHRAN — The Hope parliamentary bloc has released a comprehensive plan which covers five spheres including pro-tection of environment and natural re-soruces, MP Mahmoud Sadeqi says.

“The plan has been made based on sustainable development and covers five areas of politics, economy, social, culture and environment,” Sadeqi told the Tehran Times while visiting the press exhibition

last week.“Exploitation of resources should be in

a way that it would not to be detrimental to the future generations,” he noted.

The member of the Hope faction said the Majlis “should have environmental view” in terms of supervision and of rat-ifying bills.

Sadeqi who represents Tehran in the parliament also said plans should be made to prevent an exacerbation of envi-ronmental damages.

In a separate interview with Tehran Times, Mohammad Reza Aref, head of

the Hope parliamentary faction, said that protection of environment is one of the most important priorities of the sitting parliament.

“Fortunately, an environmental faction has been formed in the Majlis which has a very good interaction with the Depart-ment of Environment,” Aref said.

He expressed hope that environmen-tal challenges would be resolved through cooperation between the parliament and the Department of Environment.

Hope bloc has presented plan with environmental focus, MP saysBy Eshrat Mardi

TEHRAN — Iran’s Foreign Min-istry spokesman Bahram Qas-

semi condemned on Saturday a terrorist blast in Pakistani Balochistan province which left at least 52 people killed.

He offered the Pakistani people and gov-ernment condolences over the tragedy and highlighted the necessity of collective efforts to eradicate terrorism.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the blast in the remote Hub region in Khuzdar district of the prov-ince.

According to Al Jazeera, the Sufi shrine named Shah Noorani attracts a lot of people at this time of the year from other parts of Pakistan.

Iran condemns terrorist blast in Pakistan

P O L I T I C Sd e s k

Full security provided for Iranian pilgrims: Iraqi commander

TEHRAN — Head of Iraq’s Bor-der Forces Command has said

the Iranian pilgrims’ security has fully been ensured in the holy Iraqi cities as well as on the ways to the cities.

Hamid Abdullah Ibrahim made the remarks on Sunday after visiting the Mehran Interna-tional Terminal that is a borderline through which most of the pilgrims enter Iraqi soil to participate in the Arbaeen mourning ceremo-ny, ILNA reported.

P O L I T I C Sd e s k

Five Iranian pilgrims die in Iraq

TEHRAN — Five Iranian pilgrims died in Iraq during the past few

days on different times, IRNA reported.Three elderly died in a crush in Kut, Wasit Prov-

ince, on Saturday, the report said. Measures are un-derway to take their bodies back to Iran, the news agency said.

Two other pilgrims died on Thursday in a car accident. The two were replacing the flat tire of a van parked by the road when a pickup full of LPG cylinders hit their car, killing them.

P O L I T I C Sd e s k

Multiple casualties as ISIL stages chlorine gas attacks in IraqAt least three Iraqis have lost their lives after the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Daesh) terrorists fired mortars containing chemical agents against civilian areas south of Mosul as Iraqi forces press ahead with the large battle to liberate the northern city.

On Saturday night, the Takfiri terrorists fired 15 mortar shells, some of which filled with chlorine gas, at a village in Sharqat district, located on Tigris River banks 100 kilometers south of Mosul.

An unnamed Iraqi security source told Iraq’s War Media Cell that the victims of the incident were all members of a family. Two others were also wounded in the attack.

The attack comes days after New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned against the use of toxic chemi-cals by ISIL terrorists in areas near Mosul as the terrorist outfit is making desperate attempts to keep its last stronghold in Iraq in the face of a large-scale liberation operation there.

“The use of toxic chemicals as a means of warfare is a serious threat to civilians and combatants in and around the embattled city of Mosul, and is a war crime,” HRW said.

Lama Fakih, Deputy Middle East Director at Human Rights Watch said the use of such banned arms show “a brutal dis-regard for human life,” adding that as the terrorists keep flee-ing the areas under their control, “they have been repeatedly attacking and endangering the civilians they left behind.”

In another development, two fighters from the Popu-lar Mobilization Units (al-Hashd al-Sha'abi) were killed at a bombing in a district situated north of the central city of Ramadi, Iraq’s al-Sumaria news website reported.

The victims were trying to defuse improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mines planted in a house, according to the report.

Multiple bomb attacks claim 11 lives across IraqAt least 11 civilians have lost their lives and nearly three

dozen others sustained injuries in a spate of bomb attacks that ripped through residential and commercial neighbor-hoods in and around the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, besides oth-er areas in the country.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said three people were killed and eight others injured when a car bomb went off in the Kamaliya neighborhood of south-eastern Baghdad on Sunday, Arabic-language al-Mawazin news agency reported.

Security forces immediately cordoned off the site of the attack, and ambulance workers ferried the wounded to a nearby hospital.

Two civilians also died and eight others were injured when an improvised explosive device went off near a commercial district in the town of Abu Ghraib, some 25 kilometers west of Baghdad.

Additionally, one civilian lost his life and five others suf-fered injuries when a car bomb struck Baghdad's northeast-ern district of Sadr City.

Also on Sunday, a bomb exploded as a car was travelling along Muhammad Qasim road in eastern Baghdad, leaving one person dead and three others injured. The explosive de-vice had apparently been placed under the vehicle.

Earlier, a civilian was killed and three others injured when a car rigged with explosives was detonated in the al-Obaidi neighborhood of eastern Baghdad.

Separately, four people were injured when a bomb attack struck the capital's northern neighborhood of Sha'ab.

Elsewhere in the town of Hawijah, located about 282 kilometers north of the capital, two civilians were killed and seven others injured in a bomb explosion that targeted dis-placed families.

An improvised explosive device also went off in farming lands southwest of the city of Baqubah, located some 50 kilo-meters northeast of Baghdad, leaving one civilian dead and another injured.

Iraqi army: Ancient Nimrud freedElsewhere, on the Mosul battlefield, Iraqi forces managed

to fully retake the Nimrud area, home to an ancient Assyrian city which had fallen to ISIL two years ago.

“Troops from the Ninth Armored Division liberated Nim-rud … completely and raised the Iraqi flag above its build-ings,” read an Iraqi military statement released on Sunday.

During the operation, the Iraqi troops inflicted heavy damage on ISIL. Nimrud lies some 30 kilometers south of Mosul. The recapture of Nimrud came a few hours after the liberation of the nearby village of Nu’maniyah from ISIL.

The Iraqi government says Nimrud was bulldozed last year as part of ISIL's campaign to destroy symbols it consid-ered to be idolatrous.

Video footage released by ISIL, purportedly from Nimrud, also showed its fighters destroying relics with electric drills and explosives.

Separately, Iraqi army jets carried out airstrikes on a build-ing in Ramadi’s Anah district on Sunday, killing ISIL ringleader Mustafa Mansur al-Ravi along with five other terrorists.

Ravi was said to be among ISIL heads in the western An-bar Province and a direct supervisor of bombings and at-tacks against Iraqi security forces.

The commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Gen-eral Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah, said that armored units at-tacked Mosul’s al-Salam district and targeted ISIL-held posi-tions, killing over 30 terrorists.

Kurdish forces demolishing Arab homes: HRWIn a relevant development on Sunday, Human Rights

Watch accused Iraq’s Kurdish security forces of having illegal-ly destroyed Arab homes in northern Iraq over the past two years in what may amount to a war crime.

The rights group cited in a report the obliteration of homes across 21 towns and villages in Kirkuk and Nineveh provinces between September 2014 and May 2016.

Joe Stork, HRW Deputy Director for Middle East, said the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) security forces “de-stroyed Arab homes - but not those belonging to Kurds - for no legitimate military purpose.”

“KRG leaders’ political goals don’t justify demolishing homes illegally,” he added. The report was based on a number of field visits and interviews with over 120 witnesses and officials.

(Source: agencies)

NOVEMBER 14, 2016NOVEMBER 14, 2016 INTERNATIONAL 3I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

Thousands of demonstrators in cities across the United States filled public squares, parks and streets on Saturday to protest against President-elect Donald J. Trump, part of a wave of national resist-ance not seen in recent election cycles.

They were the children of immi-grants, transgender individuals and parents toting infants on their back. They were families, students, and men and women of all ages and races. Many carried cardboard signs — “Show the world what the popular vote looks like,” read one, “Putin Won,” said another. As throngs marched through city streets, the participants joined in a cry of “Not my president!”

In one of the largest anti-Trump demonstrations since his election on Tuesday, a mass of people marched from Union Square in Manhattan to Trump Tower, the headquarters and home of Trump. Protesters marched around one of Trump’s buildings in Chicago. In Los Angeles, thousands of people marched up Wilshire Boulevard, forming a crowd that stretched for nearly a dozen blocks.

The demonstrations followed a week of protests, as thousands of people have taken to the streets. Demonstrations have taken place in Oakland, Calif., Baltimore; Kansas City, Mo., Milwaukee, Miami and Portland, Ore.

Students have walked out of classes, protesters have blocked highways and demonstrators have clashed with the po-lice. Speakers and protesters have talked about their fears of deportation, having access to birth control curbed, a rollback of same-sex marriage and the potential for racially motivated violence.

The demonstrations have mostly been organized on the fly by local activist

groups, although national organizations like Showing Up for Racial Justice and the National Action Network have supported the protest efforts. The calls to partici-pate have come largely through Face-book and other social media.

Most of the gatherings have remained peaceful, but tempers have flared spo-radically. Demonstrators burned trash cans in Oakland on Wednesday night, and tried to block a highway on Thursday before the police intervened. In Portland, Ore., on Thursday night, one marcher was shot, according to local reports. And after the protest there thinned out, doz-ens of people the police described as an-archists remained in the streets, clashing with officers. Car windows were smashed and smoke filled the air during what the police deemed a riot.

In New York on Saturday, protesters were quick to describe their motivations for marching.

Many protest leaders had supported Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the Democratic primary and either did not vote or chose a third-party candidate in the general election, said Ben Becker, an organizer with the Answer Coalition, an antiwar and antiracism activist group based in New York. Their anger, he said, had been exacerbated by the concilia-tory tone shown to Trump by President Obama and Hillary Clinton after Clinton’s defeat.

More protests are planned for the coming days, and preparations already are underway for a large demonstration at Trump’s inauguration in January.

For many of the people who have turned out for the current protests, it has been a kind of group therapy, and already seem to be cementing new, cross-sectional liberal coalitions. People with “Nasty Women” T-shirts have stood with signs that read “Climate change is

real.” Black Lives Matter protesters have marched alongside those proclaiming themselves “Undocumented and Una-fraid.”

But beyond the commotion in the streets, activists are pursuing strate-gies for what they think will be tumul-tuous times during a Trump adminis-tration.

In Wisconsin, the Latino rights group Voces de la Frontera has scheduled fo-rums to provide emotional support to Latinos and other minorities, and to brainstorm ways to help immigrants fight policies that might hurt them.

Cat Brooks, a co-founder of the An-ti-Police, Terror Project in Oakland, said her group and other leaders in the city were planning to raise money to provide direct services for social programs they feel certain will be cut under a Trump ad-ministration and a Republican-controlled Congress. They were making plans, for example, to find ways to offer diabetes testing and counseling if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.

Ron Gochez, an organizer with Unión del Barrio, an immigrants rights group in Los Angeles, said that it will gather com-munity organizations to discuss what to do if mass deportations occur. It will also train undocumented immigrants to use their cellphone cameras if immigration enforcement agents show up at their door, and help people set up emergency phone lists so they can call neighbors if they are picked up for deportation pro-ceedings.

Leaders from several black civil rights groups like the National Action Network and the N.A.A.C.P. have been holding conference calls to form a legislative strategy, the Rev. Al Sharpton said.

(Source: The New York Times)

Protesters take anti-Trump message to his doorstep, plan next steps

An explosion has reportedly hit the northwestern out-skirts of Syria’s Aleppo Province, leaving at least a dozen people dead and some 50 others injured.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the blast took place at a checkpoint near the town of Afrin on Sunday.

It further noted that most of the wounded were bus drivers, passengers and businessmen, some of them in critical condition.

Later in the day, Syrian media said a car bomb attack hit the city of Azaz, located northwest of Aleppo.

According to the reports, one person has been killed and an unspecified number of people injured in the ex-plosion.

The blasts come as Takfiri militants occupying Aleppo City’s eastern parts have in recent weeks launched fatal assaults against civilians and government forces in the west.

The surge in such attacks comes as the terrorists have been taking heavy blows from Syrian government forces on the Aleppo battle ground.

Late last month, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura warned that the attacks by Takfiri militants could amount to war crimes. He voiced his shock at the indiscriminate use of heavy weapons by the militants during their onslaught on civilian suburbs in western Aleppo.

Syria uncovers terrorists’ arms depot in HamaSeparately on Saturday, Syrian army forces seized a

warehouse used by foreign-backed militants to store weapons in the west-central city of Hama as part of an-ti-terror operations underway across the Arab country.

Syria’s official SANA news agency reported on Friday that arms and military equipment such as rockets and mortars were confiscated from a house in Abi al-Fidaa, a suburb of Hama, while a number of terrorists were ar-rested.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Defense Ministry said sev-eral militants were killed in the districts of Buwaida, Tal

al-Nasseriye, Kafr Zeta, al-Lahaya, al-Latamneh on the outskirts of Hama.

Some armored and military vehicles were de-stroyed in the operations, the ministry said, adding that Mahmud Qadur, a military chief of the so-called Free Syrian Army, succumbed to his injuries sustained during the scuffles with the government soldiers on the northern edge of Hama.

Additionally, there were fierce clashes between the Syrian troopers and terrorists from Ahrar al-Sham (Free People of the Levant?) and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (Front for the Conquest of the Levant), formerly known as al-Nusra Front (Jabhat al-Nusra), on the eastern outskirts of Homs Province.

Similar confrontations were also reported between the army and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Daesh) terrorists in some neighborhoods across the

city of Dayr al-Zawr.ISIL terrorists fired mortars during the clashes and

wounded several civilians. The injured were then taken to hospital.

Furthermore, Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Ahed news website reported scuffles between the Syrian Dem-ocratic Forces (SDF) and ISIL elements in Hasakah.

Since March 2011, Syria has been gripped by deadly militancy blamed on some Western countries and their allies in the Middle East region.

Syrian government texts east Aleppo residents to leave

Meantime, the Syrian government has sent text mes-sages to residents and rebels in eastern Aleppo telling them to leave the area within 24 hours.

Government forces said that they were preparing a major offensive to push opposition fighters out of the besieged eastern half of the city.

“To the armed people in the neighborhoods of east Aleppo, we are giving you 24 hours only to decide if you are leaving. Your leadership abroad is incapable of getting you out. Whoever wants to stay alive must drop his weapons and we will secure his safety. After the 24 hours is up we will implement a strategic attack using highly sophisticated weapons,” the messages read.

“The opposition leadership that stays in hotels and castles enjoying a luxurious life doesn’t care about the poor Syrian citizens in east Aleppo. They are using you for their personal benefit. We are giv-ing you, the sick and the wounded, 24 hours to exit if you want.”

The move comes as Russia continues to build its na-val presence off the coast of Syria, and as major Russian aircraft carriers arrive off the coast.

Messages from the government have been sent to eastern Aleppo residents before, but usually in leaflets dropped from the sky, or on loudspeakers.

(Source: agencies)

Dozen killed, 50 wounded as blast rocks NW Aleppo Province

Hillary Clinton has blamed the United States FBI's (Federal Bureau of Investiga-tion) decision to revive an investigation into her email accounts for her devastat-ing defeat in the U.S. presidential election.

In a call on Saturday with top cam-paign donors, Clinton said her campaign was in the lead until FBI director James Comey sent a letter to Congress on Oc-tober 28 announcing that the FBI had un-covered emails possibly related to its ear-lier probe into her use of a private server as secretary of state.

The new examination was sparked by an unrelated investigation into former New York Representative Anthony Wein-er, the estranged husband of one of her top aides.

The surprise announcement by the FBI came after three debates in which pres-

ident-elect Donald Trump, a Republican, was widely panned for his performance. Clinton told the donors that her cam-paign was leading by large margins in nearly every battleground state and was tied in Arizona, a traditionally Republican stronghold, until Comey released his let-ter.

Trump's campaign and Republican supporters seized on the news, even though it was unclear whether Clin-ton's correspondence was tied up in the probe.

Comey told lawmakers the Sunday before the election that the bureau had found no evidence to warrant criminal charges. His “all clear ” mes-sage only served to further motivate Trump supporters, Clinton told do-nors on the call.

In the nine days between Comey's initial statement and his “all clear” an-nouncement, nearly 24 million people cast early ballots. That was roughly 18 percent of the expected total votes for president.

While Clinton accepted some blame of her loss, said donors who listened to her call, she made little mention of the many other factors political analysts saw as driving Trump's victory.

Clinton told her supporters on Satur-day that her team had drafted a memo that looked at the changing opinion polls leading up to the election and that the letter from Comey proved to be a turning point.

The memo prepared by Clinton's cam-paign, a copy of which was seen by the Reuters news agency, said voters who

decided which candidate to support in the last week were more likely to support Trump than Clinton.

“In the end, late breaking develop-ments in the race proved one hurdle too many for us to overcome,” the memo concluded.

A spokesperson for the FBI could not immediately be reached for comment.

Democrats have spent much of this week reeling for their loss, with many in the party beginning a process of soul-searching designed to figure out what exactly went wrong. Liberals like Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Eliz-abeth Warren say Democrats must em-brace a more aggressive economic mes-sage — one Clinton largely shied away from during her campaign.

(Source: agencies)

Hillary Clinton blames FBI director for election loss

4I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

E C O N O M Y NOVEMBER 14, NOVEMBER 14, 20162016

Russia to attend talks with OPEC on November 26-28: Novak

India central bank says enough cash available as crowds throng banksIndia’s central bank on Sunday urged savers to not hoard money as pub-lic anger mounted over the govern-ment’s shock decision to withdraw large denomination notes in an at-tempt to expose undeclared wealth.

Thousands of people were again standing outside banks across the country trying to change 500 and 1,000 rupee bills the government abolished on Tuesday, in a surprise move to clean up India’s black econ-omy.

The banned rupee notes made up more than 80 percent of the currency in circulation, leaving millions of peo-ple without cash and threatening to bring much of the cash-driven econ-omy to a halt.

As banks struggled to dispense money, the Reserve Bank of India said small denomination currency notes were available with both the central

bank and with other lenders.People “need not be anxious” and

should not hoard bank notes because “cash is available when they need it”, the RBI said in a statement.

The head of a regional group that runs the most populous Uttar Pradesh state demanded the federal govern-ment cancel the decision to demon-etize the notes.

“The government has spread anar-chy in the country, the common man cannot buy daily products,” said Mu-layam Singh Yadav, leader of Sama-jwadi party, as crowds formed outside banks from early on Sunday in the state capital Lucknow.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minis-ter of West Bengal state, said the situ-ation was “nothing short of an emer-gency” and vowed to unite opposition parties against the government’s deci-sion. (Source: Reuters)

YAROSLAVL (TASS) — Russia’s energy officials with attend talks with OPEC coun-tries in Vienna on November 26-28 ahead of the OPEC ordinary meeting, Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak told reporters on Saturday.

“One should move ahead step by step. The next stage is November 26-28 when experts will come together again so as before the OPEC meeting scheduled for November 30 to look through the figures once more,” Novak said, noting that both OPEC countries and non-OPEC countries were due to be engaged in the talks. The dates are being specified.

When asked if Russia would stick to its position of freezing the output, but not curbing it, Novak answered that as of today, proceeding from the companies’ investment plans, in 2017 Russia might increase oil production to 200,000 barrels per day.

“So freezing means for us that we will

not increase it,” he said. “Essentially, it is a contribution that, owing to a growing demand expected to stand between one and 1.2 million barrels per day, we will not seek to cover this demand by increasing our own output and the surplus on the market might be reduced through these mechanisms.”

The Russian energy minister is con-vinced that the issue of oil output freeze could be considered at a meeting of the OPEC countries on November 17. At present, the list of participants is verified. If the meeting envisages the presence of ministers, Russia’s Energy Ministry will hold bilateral talks on its margins.

Besides, Russia’s Energy Ministry is expected to take part in the intergovern-mental commission’s work scheduled for the next week in Japan. A visit to Iran is scheduled for mid-December to hold a meeting of the intergovernmental com-mission there.

Honda Motor Co (7267.T) expects to ramp up pro-duction of business jets as part of its plan to expand in the growing industry, the head of the Japanese automaker’s aircraft operations said in the United States.

The firm hoped to produce 80 business jets annually by March 2019, from up to 36 currently, Honda Aircraft Company CEO Michimasa Fujino told reporters at its plant in Greensboro, North Carolina.

“By the end of the 2018 financial year (in March 2019), we’d like to be near full production of around 80 units,” he said.

The company began deliveries of its $4.5 million jets in December and says it has received around 100 orders so far, mainly from customers in North America and Eu-rope.

In the latest development, German carmaker BMW is making efforts to increase its presence in the country through the launch of intermediate and low-end models. The company’s move to launch the second generation of BMW X1 in Pakistan is a step in that direction.

BMW Group Middle East Managing Director Jo-hannes Seibert said the X series launch in Pakistan is to attract customers currently using other brands. “We have positioned this model pricewise, and it is very competitive,” Seibert told The Express Tribune.

The idea behind launching the model is to facili-tate the access of new customers in our group, and we notice that over 90% are switching from other brands, he added.

Pakistan’s top civilian and military leaders trave-led to the country’s southwest on Sunday to open a new international trade route by seeing off a Chi-nese ship that’s exporting goods to the Middle East and Africa from the newly built Gwadar port.

The first convoy of Chinese trucks carrying goods for sale abroad has arrived in Pakistan amid tight security using a road linking Gwadar to China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, the government said in a statement.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan will provide best possible security to foreign inves-tors to enable them to use the Chinese-funded port for international trade.N

EW

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Honda plans to produce 80 business jets annually by March 2019

BMW keen on introducing lower-end models in Pakistan

Chinese ship opens new trade route via Pakistani port

1 He also said that safety has been promoted in Tehran-

Ahwaz railway through renovating this path.In the inaugural ceremony of the CTC center, Abdol-

karim Darvishzadeh, the director general of Iran’s South Railways, put the cost of establishing this center at three trillion rials (about $82.26 million) and said CTC is one of the most modern signaling systems and this center covers 67 stations in Tehran-Ahwaz and Ahwaz-Bandar Emam-Khorramshahr railways.

The other project inaugurated by the president was the first phase of developing Yadavaran oilfield, one of the five oilfields dubbed the West Karoun oilfields, Iran shares with Iraq at the western part of Iran’s southwestern region of Karoun.

Initial production from the field, which has been planned to be 85,000 barrels per day (bpd), has reached 115,000 bpd and development of the field has cost $3 billion.

Rouhani also inaugurated the first phases of developing North Azadegan and North Yaran oilfields, two other West Karoun oilfields, via video-conferencing.

First development phases of North Azadegan and North Yaran have come on stream at the cost of $2.55 billion and $600 million, respectively, according to Shana news agency.

Another project inaugurated by the president was build-ing a pipeline to transfer 130,000 cubic meters of water per day to the water treatment plant No. 1 of Ahwaz.

The project came on stream at the cost of 2.6 trillion rials

(about $70.84 million), according to Sadeq Haqiqipour, an official with Water and Electricity Department of the prov-ince.

In his trip to Khuzestan, Rouhani also visited the pro-gress of some projects that their implementation had been approved during his visit to the province three years ago.

Rouhani inaugurates major development plans in southwestern provinceECONOMY

d e s k

Iranian, Bulgarian customs sign co-op MOU

TEHRAN — To facilitate mutual trade and expand common transportation ties, Iranian

and Bulgarian customs administrations signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), IRIB news reported on Saturday.

The MOU was penned by the Head of Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Masoud Karbasian and the Head of Bulgaria’s Customs Agency Rozalia Dimitrova.

Accordingly, the two sides will boost cooperation on transpor-tation corridors, ease completion of infrastructure of transporta-tion projects such as Tehran-Armenia-Georgia-Poti-Black Sea-Bulgaria transit corridor and Anzali- Tbilisi- Poti- Bulgaria corridor. They will also cooperate on transferring customs data.

Iran invited Bulgaria to join a new transport corridor between the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea which would connect Iran, Armenia, Georgia and Bulgaria, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov announced during his mid-July visit to Iran, Balkan Insight reported at the time.

“This corridor can be used not only for cargo and goods but also for natural gas,” Borissov told journalists after meeting Iran’s First Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri.

After Trump and Brexit shocks, UK finance minister hopes to ease voters’ frustrationsFive months to the day after Britain voted for Brexit, its finance min-ister will outline how the government plans to cope with the eco-nomic fallout and voters’ frustrations which had echoes in Donald Trump’s U.S. election triumph.

Philip Hammond, the Chan-cellor of the Exchequer, is due on Nov. 23 to announce spend-ing and tax plans until the end of the decade in his first budget update since taking office after the June vote to leave the Euro-pean Union.

His speech to parliament is likely to build on Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May’s pledge to serve families that are “just managing” -- a response to discontent with the political establishment and income dis-parity that was exposed by the

referendum.Her promise leaves Hammond with a difficult challenge: how to

ease the squeeze on living standards and reduce inequality when the public finances are deep in the red and the economy is likely to slow sharply next year, reducing tax revenues.

Hammond has hinted at more spending on infrastructure, building more homes and giving companies incentives to over-come their Brexit nerves and invest.

But after a decade of stagnant incomes the issues of living standards and inequality are at the top of the agenda -- as in the United States and other European countries.

“You ignore the distribution of income at your peril,” said John Llewellyn, a former global chief economist at Lehman Brothers who now runs a consultancy, Llewellyn Consulting and is on the advisory panel of Britain’s independent budget office.

“It doesn’t affect political outcomes one year to the next. But, as we have seen, it can produce very big outcomes. It creates a sense of injustice and we know that always ultimately bites hard,” he said.

Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8 was an illustration of what can happen when voters lose faith in their politicians and feel left out.

A political novice who has not held elected office, Trump rode a wave of anger towards Washington insiders, promising to create jobs, revive the economy and “make America great again”.

Hammond, who was foreign minister under the previous prime minister, David Cameron, will have taken note.

A test for the government Hammond has no shortage of priorities after the vote to quit

the EU, which has increased economic uncertainty in Britain though May has yet to launch the formal process for leaving the 28-nation bloc. She says she will do so by the end of March.

The immediate impact of the Brexit vote has not been as severe as many economists warned.

But inflation is likely to rise to around 3 percent or more next year, outpacing growth in pay, because the pound has slumped since the June 23 referendum.

The Bank of England expects economic growth in 2017 and 2018 of 1.4 and 1.5 percent respectively, half the average pace of the 10 years before the global financial crisis.

But May has made helping the “just managing” families a top priority, and Hammond’s speech will be used by opponents, voters and interest groups to gauge her commitment to her promises.

“While the choices are hard, what appears clear is that the Chan-cellor does have options: the extent to which he utilizes them will go a long way to determining just how serious the government’s focus on the ‘just managing’ is,” the Resolution Foundation, a think tank which works on issues facing lower-earning households, said in a report this month.

The main way that Hammond’s predecessor as finance minister, George Osborne, tried to help households cope with slow earnings growth was to increase the threshold at which workers start to pay income tax, and to raise the minimum wage.

James Dowling, a former British Treasury official who worked on budgets, said Hammond might be tempted to accelerate the pace of raising the threshold for paying income tax.

“I can see how that would fit into the narrative,” Dowling, who is now head of public policy at consultancy Lansons, said.

A less expensive alternative would be to cut fuel duty or “sin taxes” on beer, wine, spirits and tobacco, something the govern-ment could do immediately without having to wait for the new financial year to start in April, he said.

The Resolution Foundation urged Hammond to take a more targeted approach by reversing planned cuts to social security benefits for people who are in work but on low wages.

(Source: Reuters)

PICTURE OF THE DAY SHANA\Reza Rostami

The 2,600-ton platform 20 of Iran’s South Pars gas field (in the Persian Gulf), which was installed on its designated offshore spot on Saturday, is scheduled to go operational by the end of Iranian calendar month of Dey (January 19).

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh (L) accompanying President Rouhani in inauguration of the first phase of developing Yadavaran oilfield in southwestern Khuzestan province

ADVERTISEMENTNOVEMBER 14, 2016NOVEMBER 14, 2016 5I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

By: A.Saeidi

In line with its multi-brand strategy, Iran Khodro Indus-trial Group has put its main focus on developing in-ternational relations with foreign partners and inviting leading car makers to invest in the production of new vehicles in Iran.

To achieve its goals for further development and di-versification of products, IKCO plans to meet its future customers’ expectations through promoting the quality of its current products as well as producing new vehi-cles in joint projects with large car companies across the world.

Iran Khodro exports some types of its products to each target market given the preferences and needs of the customers as well as the competitive advantages of its rivals there.

To this end, the top management of Iran Khodro has developed new policies to establish a continuing pres-ence in the target markets, diversify its product port-folio, protect the national brand and assemble Runna, Dena and Soren in IKCO’s sites abroad.

Iran Khodro Export Markets Expanding presence in foreign markets is carried out

with the main goal of attracting foreign investment. Dur-ing the process, economic and industrial institutions are in-trigued to operate with a performance stronger than what is expected inside the country. They will also put efforts into promoting their products quality. All these will increase the productivity and increase the costs.

To establish cooperation with foreign partners, Iran Khodro has set a main condition that is exporting at least 30 percent of the joint products via the foreign company’s distribution network. For example, in the contract signed between IKCO and Peugeot, the French company is supposed to export 30 percent of the joint vehicles. Based on the deal, the two sides have estab-lished a joint venture called IKAP to make joint products including Peugeot 208, 301 and 2008.

Iraq used to be IKCO’s main export market for a while but given the new strategies set forth by Iraq, the company is now looking for new markets in North Africa including Algeria, Tunisia as well as Commonwealth of Independent States like Azerbaijan, Kirghizstan. It is also planning to re-store its market in Syria.

IKCO’s sites abroad are capable of producing 63,000 units of vehicles. The new export strategy of Iran khodro

is aimed at reactivating the sites. To this end, the company will export only CKD vehicles to the sites.

Over the past years, Iran Khodro has directly invested in launching production lines in certain countries but the trend has changed recently. IKCO is now revising its past investment policy by carrying out indirect investment in dif-ferent countries. Algeria site is a clear example which has

been set up with the indirect investment of Iran Khodro. The company provides the site only with engineering and technical services. With the new strategy, IKCO hopes to avoid possible challenges originated in the target coun-tries’ social and political situation. The measure is aimed at guarantying the future export of IKCO.

CIS Markets The project to establish IKCO’s production line in

Azerbaijan started officially in a ceremony attended by Iranian Minister of Industries and Mines and Azeri Eco-nomic Minister as well as Iran Khodro CEO. The project with the direct 14-million-investment of Azeri side will be accomplished in the next half of next year. The site is expected to produce IKCO’s vehicles like Dena, Runna, Samand and Soren.

IKCO will only provide the site with technical and engineering knowhow. The site’s production capacity stands at 10,000 units of vehicles annually with one sin-gle shift each day. It will create 300 new jobs. Statistics show that increasing competitive advantages as well as shares in the international markets are among the main requisites of success in today’s car industry.

Iran Khodro has also started export of its products to Turkmenistan as part of its plan to increase its share in the CIS markets.

One of the main plans of Iran Khodro is to increase its share in the CIS countries through their region’s Customs Union. To this end, the company is seeking to export its vehicles to Turkmenistan, Belorussia and to establish sites in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

Based on a deal signed earlier between IKCO and Turkmenistan’s Interior Ministry, the company is set to provide the ministry with 200 police vehicles. IKCO is set to provide Turkmenistan’s police with a complete police vehicle fleet if the deal is extended. Turkmenistan is a member of CIS which IKCO has attached a significant importance to it as a target market.

Iran Khodro also plans to activate its export mar-kets in CIS. It has just managed to achieve Russia’s new standards for exporting vehicles to the country. Through Russia, IKCO can export its vehicles to other countries which have signed an economic contract with Russia including Kazakhstan.

Middle Eastern and North African MarketsIraq remains one of the main export markets of Iran

Khodro. Iraqi people are completely familiar with IKCO products like Samand, Runna and Pars. Due to some changes in Iraq’s customs system, Iran Khodro has de-cided to decrease its sites’ operations in Iraq and export its products to the country instead.

Meanwhile other export markets of IKCO in the Mid-dle East and North Africa have been reactivated.

With the reactivation of its site in Syria, IKCO plans to produce some of its latest types of vehicles including Dena, Runna and Soren in the near future. SIAMCO is the larg-est production site of IKCO abroad which produces various types of Samand under the brand name of Sham.

On the other hand, Iran Khodro has restored its export to Algeria. A joint venture between IKCO and an Algerian company has been established with an 80-percent direct investment of the Algerian side. Iran Khodro has just ex-ported the required machinery for a production line as well as 300 units of Dena to the African country.

As the second largest African market, Algeria has al-ways been on the radar of top car manufacturers in the world.

Algerians prefer IKCO’s vehicles to Chinese products, adding Dena is exported to the African country because it meets Algeria’s auto standards and satisfy its people’s preferences.

Talks are underway between Iran Khodro and Tunisia, Lebanon and Ivory Coast to export the companies’ prod-ucts to the countries.

Based on an official document on auto industry de-velopment, one-third of Iran’s car production (one mil-lion units) is set to be exported. Experts maintain that beside their local markets, the automakers are supposed to look for foreign markets despite difficulties. According to them, entering new export markets requires hard ef-forts. Establishing longtime ties with other countries for at least one decade is a basic condition for promoting export.

IKCO to Diversify Export Markets

On the basis of Clause (C ) defined in item 12 of the Operational Regulations of Islamic Republic of Iran ( IRI ) Tendering Laws and Regulations circulars 100/50252 dated 23/08/09 and 100/135946 dated 12/11/2009 issued by the offices of f the Presidential ‘s Deputy of Strategic Planning and Control, The Khuzestan Water and Waste Water Company proposes to tender the project below on an EPCF (Engineering , Procurement , Construction and installation and Finance ) basis to Bidders with the required qualifications and with sufficiently open capacity as follows:

Tender no. Title of Tender

Specialization Required ( Having

at least one of the requirements below)

Location of Document

Sales

Duration For

Procurement of Bidding Documents

Date and Place for

Opening of Tenders

95/1003

The Construction of the Primary

Module for Urban

Wastewater Treatment

Plants in the Cities of Shosh,

Andimeshk, Izeh, Behbehan

and BostanOn an EPCF

Basis

1- Bidders with a number one ranking of EPC in Water, specializing in Water and Waste Water 2. Bidders with a number one ranking in Water, conditional to the introducing of a Consulting Engineer with the same ranking in Water Engineering specializing in Water and Waste water Installations ( in the form of public joint ventures)

Anhar Jonoob

Until 27/Nov/2016

At 10 o’clock in the morning on 03/Jan/2017

Criteria For The Evaluation Of Prequalification BidsIn addition to the criterion defined in the Prequalification documents of the aforementioned tender, and with due regards to the fact that the estimated project costs exceed that of Bidders with a number one ranking in the required specializations, all participants in the Bid must

have the following conditions:1- The Bidder’s company must be registered in the IRI National Tendering Data Base i.e. http://iets.mporg.ir and that of the Presidential deputy for Strategic Planning and Control’s data base i.e. http://tec.mporg.ir2- The having of an Open Capacity in the First Class ranking of the specialization(s) required3- The execution and implementation of at least one similar project within the past five years with a total cost of at least one third of the current project’s estimated project costs updated on the basis of current global inflation indices.Meanwhile the contractors shall provide an agreement with foreign funder to supply 85 percent of the project funding requirements.

Address and Location for Purchasing Of Prequalification Bidding DocumentsAnhar Jonoob Consulting Company no. 1075 -11th floor, Apartment 1103 Vali-e-Asr Ave. Before Sayee Park opposite the Filling Station Shahab Building, Tehran Tel: +98-(0) 21-88701438 and 88727855Anhar Jonoob Consulting Company no. 98th West Mihan Street at the end of Phase II, Kianpars area Ahwaz, Khuzestan Tel: +98-(0)61- 33914548The final date for the submission of completed Prequalification Bid documents will be before nine o’clock in the morning on the day of opening of Tenders.

Address and Location for the Submission of Prequalification Bidding DocumentsSecurity and Confidential Matters Secretariat’s Offices -Fifth Floor -The Khuzestan Water and Waste Water Company – 1st square -Kianpars –Ahwaz

The Prequalification Bids submitted will be opened in the Contractual Department of the Ahvaz Water and Waste Water Company in presence of the Bidders.Electronic Address of Tender: Main Client www.abfakhz.ir and IRI National Tendering Data Base http://iets.mporg.ir

Public Relations and Education Department Of

The Khuzestan Water and Waste Water Company

AMENDMENT OF INVITATION FOR SUBMISSION OF PREQUALIFICATION BIDSTender no. 95/1003

(Project Type EPCF)Khuzestan Water and Waste Water Company

Second announcement

By Nicholas Vinocur

NOVEMBER 14, 2016NOVEMBER 14, 20166I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

INTERNATIONAL

By Klaus Brinkbäumer

By Suman Varandani

Not long ago, the prospect of Donald Trump being elected president of the United States

seemed, to many sensible people, remote, if not laughable. Similar assessments have been made about the election prospects of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who is running to become president next year.

Now that Trump has been elected, will fate make a mockery of polls in the case of Le Pen as it did with Trump? The French and American election systems differ so vastly, particularly in that a French candidate needs to win at least 50 percent of the vote, that direct comparisons make little sense. No matter. The underlying trends that carried Trump to power are also present in France, and they are likely to fuel an inordinately strong performance by Le Pen next May — perhaps even her victory.

In evaluating her chances, the first question to tackle is polling, which currently shows Le Pen losing to a center-right rival, probably Alain Juppé, in a runoff round of the presidential election. Unlike Trump, Le Pen has been tested multiple times at the ballot box over the past two years, and is a career politician with a track record. When her National Front party, which advocates withdrawal from the European Union as well as drastic cuts to immigration, participated in an election, it topped out just under 30 percent of the popular vote.

Withdrawal from the EurozoneWithdrawal from the Eurozone

remains a huge factor of uncertainty for many French voters. This pattern gave rise to a theory espoused by many National Front observers, including this reporter. It goes like this: Le Pen cannot be elected president, because she simply does not have enough reach to gather 50.1 percent of popular vote. The main problem: Her party’s plans to withdraw from the Eurozone remain scary for big chunks of decisive voters, like seniors, executives and the highly educated, who do not want to run the risk of seeing their euro-denominated assets dilapidated in the event of a “Frexit.”

This argument still has a lot of merit. While Trump promised radical change on trade and fiscal policy, he never told Americans he was going to devalue their currency. Had he done so, even the angriest voters might have thought twice about casting a vote that could lead to the value of their homes or their retirement portfolios dropping precipitously.

Withdrawal from the Eurozone remains a huge factor of uncertainty for many French voters — so much so that Le Pen may still have serious trouble winning over the extra 20 percent she would need to get elected president.

However, as online stockbrokers warn, “past performance is no indicator of future results,” and the same holds true for Le Pen in the next election. For one, she may further water down her euro withdrawal proposal to reassure voters (she has already done so twice). Secondly, the presidential election is a very different beast from the regional, departmental, and municipal and European Parliament elections that preceded it, and in which the National Front never won more than 28 percent of the popular vote.

In those elections, voters were

choosing a party — a popular, rebellious one, to be sure, but a party. Next May, they will be voting for Marine Le Pen, a political celebrity. What’s more, they are likely to turn out in vastly greater numbers than for any of the intermediate elections — a fact that, as Brexit and the U.S. presidential result have shown, can easily throw off polling.

A more useful guide to Le Pen’s future is how she did in the 2012 presidential election, one year after she took over the National Front’s leadership from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen. She won 17.9 percent of votes in the first of two rounds, or just over 6.4 million votes. That is a huge number by any standard, especially for a first-time candidate. The National Front only surpassed that vote total, and narrowly, three years later in the regional elections of December 2015, right after the Bataclan attacks.

Next May, bet on this: Marine Le Pen will explode her total-vote record. And this time, whoever ends up challenging her on the Left will not win 28 percent of the vote, as François Hollande did in the first round last time. They will be lucky to get 12 percent, on par with far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Which means that Le Pen is all but guaranteed to be in the runoff (not a wholly original statement: some 40 polls in the past two years have shown her breaking through to the final round).

A moderate conservativeAgainst whom? If polls are any

guide, her rival will be Juppé, who is currently competing to win a presidential nomination in a primary open to centrist and conservative voters. Juppé, a moderate conservative who has been in

politics a long time, is seen beating Le Pen in a runoff. But then again, Hillary Clinton was seen beating Donald Trump, right up until the last minute.

Juppé is not Clinton, to be sure. He is running as a member of the opposition against a deeply unpopular government, not one defending a legacy. He is not so hated by his rivals as Hillary Clinton was by hers.

However, drill down, and you find many similarities between Juppé and Clinton. Both have been active in politics for decades, Juppé having occupied the post of prime minister and foreign minister. Both are assimilated with “mainstream” positions — Atlanticism, defense of globalization, belief in the European Union in Juppé’s case. Both have been accused of political corruption (Juppé was even found guilty and sentenced to a suspended jail sentence albeit many years ago).

In terms of campaign dynamics, they also echo one another. Both were seen as the “default” candidates for right-thinking, proper people who believe their countries should be improved incrementally and who did not hate anyone. Both enjoyed relative supremacy in polls months before the election, without inspiring fits of enthusiasm in their supporters. Neither had the charisma nor the energy to stir crowds emotionally — unlike Donald Trump or Marine Le Pen.

The common wisdom is that, if Juppé faces Le Pen in the final round, he will win with about 60 percent of votes versus 40 for her. This is a rudimentary extrapolation, based on the idea that Marine Le Pen is about 20 percent less toxic than her father, who won about 18 percent of the vote when he reached a

runoff against former president Jacques Chirac in 2002. It’s foolish guesswork. The world really is not the same in 2016 as it was in 2002. After all, Brexit happened. Donald Trump happened.

Can Le Pen, as a political veteran, replicate Trump’s wild ride to the White House? Their campaigns are likely to be very different. Temperamentally, Le Pen is risk-averse, while Trump tended toward recklessness in some of his pronouncements. While she presses the same buttons and seeks out a similar tranche of voters, Le Pen is more timid than Trump when it comes to making polarizing statements that dominate the news. But her campaign teams are pushing her to go much harder from February, when she officially launches her campaign.

Of course, Juppé could lose the conservative primary, which takes place in two rounds on November 20 and 27. And former president Nicolas Sarkozy could win it. In fact, that is precisely what many people in Le Pen’s entourage expect to happen.

Sarkozy would be a younger, possibly more energetic opponent to Le Pen than Juppé. But he’s also got skeletons in the closet, and many more so than Juppé. With Sarkozy in the final round, the presidential election could turn into a yes/no vote focused on him. That’s what happened in 2012, and François Hollande got elected.

None of this is to say that Marine Le Pen has an open, easy road to the French presidency in 2017. But, after Trump’s election, the notion seems less absurd. In fact, it’s starting to look quite plausible.

(Source: The Politico)

The French and American election systems differ so vastly, particularly in that a French candidate needs to win at least 50 percent of the vote, that direct comparisons make little sense.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that “going it alone” is not an option for either Europe or the

United States. Stoltenberg’s comments came as Trump’s victory raised fears of America pulling out of the defense of the High North and Baltic Sea regions.

Stoltenberg reportedly said that the West faced its greatest security challenge in a generation. He conceded that Trump had a point about the need for some members to make a bigger financial contribution. The U.S. currently accounts for almost 70 percent of NATO spending.

“It is all too easy to take the freedoms, security and prosperity we enjoy for granted. In these uncertain times we need strong American leadership, and we need Eu-ropeans to shoulder their fair share of the burden,” the former Norwegian prime minister wrote in Britain’s Ob-server newspaper. “Going it alone is not an option, either for Europe or for the United States. We face the greatest challenges to our security in a generation. This is no time to question the value of the partnership between Europe and the United States.”

Trump has previously described NATO’s present mis-sion and structure as “obsolete.”

During his campaign, the Republican candidate sug-gested that as president he wouldn’t help Baltic States in NATO against Russian if they didn’t pay their fair share. He also said that the U.S. bears a tremendous cost by being a member of NATO and the country has to be prepared to let European allies “defend themselves.”

Stoltenberg also raised concerns over Russia’s increas-ing military presence across its western border and that it should be treated as a genuine threat to which the West must respond. Trump has claimed that he will be able to build a strong relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We have implemented the biggest reinforcement of our collective defense since the cold war. And the United States has significantly strengthened its commitment to European security, deploying a new armored brigade to eastern Europe and delivering equipment and supplies to support future reinforcements if needed. This is de-terrence, not aggression. We do not seek to provoke a conflict, but to prevent a conflict,” Stoltenberg said.

(Source: International Business Times)

NATO Chief reacts to Trump’s threats to quit alliance, says ‘going it alone’ not an option

Trump has previously described NATO’s

present mission and structure as “obsolete.”

Yes, President Marine Le Pen is now more possible

An absurd and dangerous president

The United States has voted for a dangerously inexperienced and racist man -- one who was swept into the White House by an army of disenfranchised

white working- and middle class Americans. It’s a movement that now threatens democracy around the world.

Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering into the United States, he described Mexicans as rapists and announced his intention to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. Trump said Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States, and when it was proven that Trump had lied, he said that Hillary Clinton was the one who created the lie in the first place -- yet another lie. He founded a university and cheated students out of their money. He said he has a plan for the economy, and that this plan is to double growth.

There’s nothing new here -- it’s all information stemming from the election campaign. But it still remains important.

An election that horrified the worldIn the days after an election that horrified the world,

one might be tempted to think all of this isn’t so bad given that Obama and Clinton accepted the defeat with dignity and congratulated Trump. And because Trump said, in the moment of victory, that the time for healing has come. And because the outcome was reached democratically and the people, of course, are always wise.

But that isn’t true. Although Trump will become the democratically elected 45th president of the United States on January 20, he remains a dangerous man. He is dangerously indifferent, unbalanced and inexperienced -- and he is dangerously racist. Trump believes in the superiority of the white race, and if he implements the worst of his campaign promises, he will not be the first elected leader to do so.

In other words, 60 million Americans acted stupidly. They cast their votes for xenophobia, racism and nationalism, the end of equal rights and social conscience, for the end of climate treaties and health insurance. Sixty million people followed a demagogue who will do little for them. And yet ...

... this election goes deeper than that. It says more than that, and all of us, including the media, politicians and civil societies, and unfortunately the entire West, which is now threatened, would be wise to pay far closer attention.

Those who have lived in New York or experienced dinner conversations in Georgetown and debates at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, know how brilliantly intelligent and worldly Americans can be. But these are closed circles -- ones that are unfortunately nowhere near as open as they like to claim, inaccessible as they are to the vast majority of Americans who could never afford access. Once you get outside such circles, such cosmopolitan thinking isn’t nearly as widespread.

Those who have traveled recently from the East Coast to the West Coast, and witnessed the neglect and deterioration of entire towns and cities in states like Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana, have seen with their own eyes that connections have been severed in American society. Those who have seen what the disappearance of the steel industry has done and what the computer chip has wrought is familiar with the widespread frustration among the white working class, a group that has been left behind.

Harvard University and Akron, Ohio, or Wall Street and Birmingham, Alabama, no longer have anything in common when 0.1 percent of society possesses 90 percent of the wealth. This is when the American dream is dead and when hate thrives -- hate for immigrants, women, the media, and hate for anything that seems elitist or is simply different. This doesn’t justify the hate -- it simply explains it.

The tragedy here is that Clinton offered ideas to fight the roots of this hatred, ideas like a higher minimum wage and investments in infrastructure and education. It is tragic because it was too late for credible plans.

Trump had no ideas, but he sensed that the left-behinds yearn for strength. The media should be delving far deeper into social problems and not writing about superficial things. In other words, it needs to stop focusing on lies and angry outbursts, which only serves to inflate the importance of false entertainers. And despite Clinton’s defeat, politicians and anyone involved in education should try to reestablish ties to those who feel left behind and strive to achieve true equal opportunity.

This election was about the impotent and about power. Trump, be it strategically or accidentally, understood that the army of the powerless was so enormous that it could become a movement and carry him into the White House. He knew well what he was risking -- the possibility that, in their rage, they would set fires, break all rules and, as a result, could destroy democracy. In America. And, following the election of this absurd president, potentially around the world.

(Source: Spiegel)

A N A L Y S I SNOVEMBER 14, NOVEMBER 14, 20162016 7I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

The Trump victory was a “stun-ning surprise” to Washington and mainstream media. But

it was very much in line with voter distrust in both Clintons and Wash-ington’s ruling class.

Politically, Americans are fed up. In cooperation with the Democrat-ic National Committee, the Clinton campaign had far too cozy ties with Wall Street, neoconservatives and Pentagon contractors, as well as mainstream media organizations; from CNN and New York Times to Huffington Post and Google.

In turn, House Republicans de-mand a special prosecutor to in-vestigate the Clinton Foundation, which former New York City mayor and Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani has called a “racketeering enter-prise” that should be prosecuted as such. Indeed, Republicans have promised to investigate the role of the State Department, the Depart-ment of Justice and the FBI. In turn, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has promised “aggressive oversight work” of a “quid pro quo” deal be-tween the FBI and the State Depart-ment over emails, while chair of the House Oversight Committee Jason Chaffetz has been pushing for “new hearings.”

It will be interesting to see whether Republicans will walk the talk - unless, of course, the idea of “post-election healing” is under-

stood as a license for collective am-nesia.

The demise of US-EU coop-eration - and NATO?

The Trump triumph is a belated acknowledgment of America’s ma-laise. However, as he vows immedi-ate action on executive orders, it is not entirely clear, whether the Trump medication will alleviate or worsen America’s economic angst. His cam-paign promises have potential to add to rather than reduce America’s $20 trillion sovereign debt burden.

What is certain is that, econom-ically, most Americans’ wages have stagnated since the 1980s. Politically, the Congress enjoys credibility only among 10-20% of Americans. In se-curity matters, most Americans do not believe that US should play the role of “world police” internationally.

Since the postwar Marshall Plan and the creation of the North Amer-ican Treaty Organization (NATO), US-EU relations have been characterized by extraordinarily close economic, political and security cooperation. Nevertheless, the eclipse of the Cold War has given rise to a set of bilateral conflicts in trade and investment that go beyond longstanding economic disagreements.

Typically, President Obama was able to achieve the Trans-Pacific Trade agreement (TPP) in Asia, whereas the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) with Europe has proved far more complicated. Hillary Clinton supported the new “Cold War” against Russia, which has con-tributed to Europe’s economic stag-nation. In contrast, Trump believes he can ‘handle’ President Putin. He pre-fers international stability to imperial democracy promotion.

Bilateral US-EU friction is most evident in Trump’s NATO criticism. As far as Trump is concerned, NATO members have failed to meet the 2% spending target of their GDP on de-fense. When he has criticized NATO for being “obsolete,” he has simply posed questions that many US lead-ers - including nation’s top military chiefs - ask behind the facade.

As Trump puts it, “Either they pay up, including for past deficiencies, or they have to get out. And if it breaks up NATO, it breaks up NATO.”

Trade conflicts - or anti-im-perial realism

In foreign trade, Trump has pledged to tear up or renegotiate the

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would be an embarrassment to Japan and the ASEAN nations that joined the deal after years of talks.

To reduce the US trade deficit with the region, he would raise trade rhet-oric against China, Japan and ASE-AN’s emerging low-cost producers. That would include a 45% tariff on Chinese exports and raising import duties on Japanese cars. In curren-cy policy, he would confront Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Bank of Japan, which he claims are driving the yen down against the dollar. He would also challenge China’s foreign exchange reforms. In each case, the net effect would be aggravated cur-rency friction.

Indeed, Trump’s list of foreign pol-icy advisers - including neoconserv-ative Walid Phares, senator Jeff Ses-sions, former Army lieutenant general Keith Kellogg, Blackwater USA’s Joe Schmitz, and bankers Carter Page

and George Papadopoulos - sug-gests that either he plans to move US foreign policy further to the Reagan-esque right, or that he must under-mine his own agenda in due time.

The key question remains: Will Trump walk the talk? For instance, his goal to re-negotiate defense pacts in Asia would undermine the Abe ad-ministration’s controversial defense reforms.

Uncertainty - or stabilityNevertheless, there is another

and far more realistic side to Trump’s rhetoric. Some of his murmurings – whether NATO is still relevant; that the Middle East would be more sta-ble if Saddam Hussein and Muam-mar Gaddafi were still in power; that he could get along well with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and so on – suggest that, in the final analysis, Trump could focus his attention on renegotiating better deals and undermining bad ones, not regime change and global empire games.

The realists of US foreign policy ex-pect - or at least hope - that Trump could prove America’s first postwar “anti-imperial” president.

In the short term, the Trump tri-umph will mean economic uncer-tainty, market volatility, and strate-gic doubt. That was evident on the Election Day as global markets were rocked by Trump’s victory, which was accompanied by a weakening dollar, drastic declines of the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq, as well as markets in Europe, Asia and else-where.

The real question is whether mar-kets responded dramatically to antic-ipated future realities - or their own misguided expectations. In the com-ing weeks, the power transition in the White House will take place amid extraordinary political animosity and very fragile stability.

After all, Trump’s triumph has en-sured the kind of political consolida-tion that Clinton could only dream about. As Republican majority will prevail in both the Senate and the House, Trump will take over the White House. As a result, he will be able and willing to effect real change in Ameri-ca - for good or bad.

Dr Steinbock is the founder of the Difference Group and has served as the research director at the India, Chi-na, and America Institute (USA) and a visiting fellow at the Shanghai Insti-tutes for International Studies (China) and the EU Center (Singapore).

The American public has spoken and declared the Republican nominee Donald Trump as the

next president of the most powerful nation in the world, in what has un-doubtedly been one of the most tur-bulent and scandalous election races ever.

With such a shock result and with any change in political direction cre-ating uncertainty, the result will un-doubtedly affect world economies and ultimately, the investments of residents in the UAE and the Middle East.

As the saying goes: ‘When the U.S. sneezes, the world catches a cold’. Hamzah Shalchi, Regional Manager at financial planning firm Guardian Wealth Management, reviews the pre-dicted financial impacts.

Stocks In the run-up to the election, when

it became clear that the result was no longer a given, markets had begun to react and thus, both stocks and bonds moved lower. How markets will react in the coming days and weeks is unsure but Barclays predicted that the S&P 500 would nosedive by between 11 to13% in the event of a Trump victory.

However, it is important to remem-ber that investors’ immediate reaction to U.S. elections often don’t last. For instance, when Obama was elected, the S&P 500 Index dropped around 4% in the week following the result, only to rise again by almost 10% some 90 days later.

Bonds The U.S. benchmark 10-year yield

has only recently recovered from the 39 basis points fall inflicted by the Brexit vote. Now experts believe the

benchmark could slip at least 10 basis points again although Trump’s planned tax cuts and infrastructure-spending could, in time drive them back up.

Energy industry bonds are likely to rebound after two years of major loss-es, thanks to Trump’s public support for fossil fuels.

History tells us that the stock market performs better under a Democratic President. Over the past 100 years The Dow Jones Industrial Average has pro-duced average returns of 82.7% under a Democratic president, compared to the 44.8% average returns under a Re-publican government.

Currencies As Trump continued to gain on

Clinton in the election results, the US dollar began to fall against the British pound, euro and Japanese yen and this is expected to continue as uncer-tainty hits the market over fears about his policies.

For example, immediately in the hour following the election results, the US dollar plummeted by around 4% only to recover slightly post-Trump’s victory speech.

By voting for the unpredictable, inexperienced and somewhat uncon-ventional Trump, the US has essentially taken a giant leap into the unknown and historically such moves have a negative impact on the relative value of currencies.

As the UAE Dirham is pegged to the USD, it is likely to be impacted by the fluctuation against other devel-oped currencies such as the British Pound and Swiss Franc.

Emerging MarketsCitigroup sees the MSCI Emerging

Markets Index immediately falling by at least 10 percent.

In Asia, China will bear the brunt of risks if Trump wins whilst Southeast Asia exporters will be severely affect-ed, especially companies in Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Vi-etnam.

India and Indonesia will be least affected by Trump’s victory. The valu-ation premium of India is likely to sus-tain due to positive structural drivers

such as strong growth and improving fiscal deficits.

With Trump’s strong link to Russia, Russian equities will likely rise.

CommoditiesIn times of uncertainty, nothing glit-

ters quite like gold. Investors looking for safe-havens often turn to precious metals such as gold, silver and plati-num when the value of the dollar falls against other currencies.

Additionally, natural gas prices will fall and oil prices could get a lift.

ConclusionWhether it’s a slight ripple or giant

shockwaves, investors can be certain that whatever happens next in the US will impact the whole world.

The US dollar is used in more than

85% of foreign exchange transactions which means that when anything hap-pens to the US economy it usually has a significant impact on global finances.

“With a series of elections and oth-er political decisions fast approaching in Europe, now is a good time to as-sess how protected your investments are in the face of increasing market volatility”, comments Hamzah Shalchi, Regional Manager at Guardian Wealth Management.

“It is incredibly difficult to predict what markets will do next at the best of times, however remaining invested through periods of volatility can pro-vide stronger returns than attempting to second guess what will happen and ultimately missing out on the markets best days.”

“A diverse investment portfolio doesn’t guarantee a profit but it can reduce your exposure to volatility. Under normal investing conditions, when there is an appetite for risk in the market, Stocks go up and Bonds go down. Conversely in periods of uncertainty, investors seek refuge in Bonds as they look for lower risk op-tions. Rather than opting for one or the other and hoping for the best, in-vesting in both allows you to manage your risk while still maximizing your returns throughout periods of volatili-ty”, explains Shalchi.

For expats, investing in tax benefi-cial jurisdictions can allow you to keep more of the wealth. Guardian Wealth Management uses UK Crown De-pendencies or territories with similar protection and the same transparent regulations. This allows us to offer tax efficient investments and savings with high levels of investor protection which gives peace of mind.

By Dan Steinbock

The Trump triumph is a belated acknowledgment of America’s malaise. However, it is not entirely clear, whether the Trump

medication will alleviate or worsen America’s economic angst.

The realists of US foreign policy expect - or at least hope - that Trump could prove America’s first postwar

“anti-imperial” president.As far as Trump is concerned, NATO members have failed to

meet the 2% spending target of their GDP on defense.

When Obama was elected, the S&P 500 Index dropped around 4% in the week

following the result, only to rise again by almost 10% some 90 days later.

Energy industry bonds are likely to rebound after two years of major losses,

thanks to Trump’s public support for fossil fuels.

After The Trump Triumph

How will Trump’s victory affect investments?By Mina Ahmadi

NOVEMBER 14, 2016NOVEMBER 14, 20168I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

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By Jessica Ravitz

A new look at colon cancer screeningDon't be intimidated about screening tests. The latest guidelines suggest you can choose from multiple strategies.

Colon cancer continues to be the country's second leading cause of can-cer-related deaths and the third most common cancer in men, according to the CDC.

It almost always develops from pre-cancerous polyps (abnormal growths). Screening tests, which are recommend-ed for men ages 50 to 75, help find and sometimes aid removal of polyps be-fore they become cancer. (Men older than 75 may still benefit, depending on their health.)

Yet many men avoid them. "The real-ity is that when it comes to colon cancer screening, men only think of a colonosco-py, which is invasive and requires a bowel preparation and intravenous sedation," says Dr. Leigh Simmons, medical director of the Health Decision Sciences Center at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. "But there are other tests that might be a better option, especially for lower-risk men."

The need to be proactiveAs men grow older, they need to be

even more diligent about their health, and that includes being proactive about cancer prevention and early detection. "You have more people dependent on you to stay healthy, like grandkids, fam-ily, and friends, and your risk for colon cancer goes up significantly after age 50," says Dr. Simmons.

To help highlight the urgency for regular colon cancer screenings, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently issued updated guidelines that identified seven ap-proved methods and their efficiency based on the most recent clinical trials. They were divided into two groups: stool-based tests and direct visualization tests.

While the USPSTF did not endorse any specific test, its report does stress the urgency of testing. "The best screening test for colon cancer is the one that gets done," says Dr. Simmons. Consult with your doctor about your potential risk (see "Are you at high risk?") and which screen-ing option might be right for you.

Stool-based testsThese noninvasive tests are inexpen-

sive and easy to perform. If the results show possible signs of colon cancer, you may then need a visualization test. If results are normal, you can be retested every one to three years.

Guaiac-based fecal occult blood test ( gFOBT )

Your doctor gives you the test kit, which you use at home, without any need for bowel preparation. You place a stool sample on a test card coated with a sub-stance called guaiac, which changes color if blood is in the stool (a possible sign of polyps or cancer). You collect three sam-ples in a row, place them in a supplied container, and return them to your doc-tor's office for analysis.

This test requires you to eliminate red meat and vitamin C-rich foods, like citrus fruit, juices, and broccoli, three days before to increase accuracy. You also stop taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin seven days before. The test should be done yearly.

Effectiveness: According to the USP-STF report, when the patient has colon cancer, the test is likely to indicate its presence 62% to 79% of the time.

Fecal immunochemical test (FIT)

As with the gFOBT, you perform at home with no bowel prep. Also, there are no diet or drug restrictions. It tests for hid-den blood by reacting to part of the human hemoglobin protein, which is found in red blood cells. It is also given annually.

Effectiveness: The FIT can be more accurate than a gFOBT because it is less likely to react to bleeding from other parts of the digestive tract, like the stom-ach or a hemorrhoid.

Multitargeted stool DNA test This test combines FIT with testing for

altered DNA biomarkers in cells shed into the stool. It is given every three years.

Effectiveness: Statistically, the stool DNA test results in more false positives than a FIT (that is, it is more likely to signal a problem when there is none) and thus is more likely to lead to unnecessary colo-noscopies. However, it also detects more polyps and cancers than FIT alone.

Direct visualization testsIf you show signs of possible colon

cancer, your doctor may want to perform one or more of the following tests to bet-ter diagnose your condition. These tests also may be an initial choice for screening in people with no evidence of cancer.

Colonoscopy The most familiar colon screening, it re-

quires at least one day of full bowel prep to clean the colon of stool, and many patients have sedation during the procedure.

The doctor uses a thin, flexible tube—about as thick as your finger—with a tiny video camera on the end. The tube is eased inside the colon and sends pictures to a TV screen. The exam takes about 30 minutes, and usually costs more on a one-time basis than other tests. The upside is that it requires less frequent screening (every 10 years) if results are normal.

Effectiveness: The procedure offers the most comprehensive look at the entire colon. If the doctor sees polyps during the test, he or she can biopsy or remove them on the spot.

CT colonography Similar prep is required as with a colonos-

copy, but no sedation is needed. The doctor often can view the entire colon, but cannot re-move polyps (that takes a colonoscopy). The test is often done every five years.

Effectiveness: Studies are limited, but there is a risk for false-positive results. Some studies suggest it can cause more discomfort than a colonoscopy.

Flexible sigmoidoscopySimilar to a colonoscopy, except the

video camera is attached to a shorter and thinner tube (about two feet long and about as thick as your little finger). As with a colonoscopy, the rectum and lower co-lon must be clean of stool. It is performed every five years.

Effectiveness: Studies suggest the screening is less beneficial than a colonos-copy since it examines about one-third of the colon. Also, the doctor can remove pol-yps only from the examined area.

Flexible sigmoidoscopy with FITThis combination test is an option for

people who want an endoscopic screen-ing and possibly lower the need for a co-lonoscopy. A 2014 study in The Journal of the American Medical Association found the combination reduced colon cancer death rates more than a flexible sigmoi-doscopy alone.

Effectiveness: Initial findings suggest it offers a balance between benefits and potential harms like false positives.

(Source: health.harvard.edu)

Calls to crisis and suicide prevention hotlines surge post-election

In the wee hours of November 9, when the U.S. presiden-tial race approached its stunning end, John Draper and those he works with saw a different surprising result. The

phone lines at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline lit up in a way not seen before.

Between 1 and 2 a.m. alone, Draper said, the national net-work fielded 660 calls. The volume was two to three times what it had been, and that was on a night when calls were already on a dramatic upswing, increasing as polls closed and returns came in, the lifeline’s director said.

It’s a trend that’s played out with other services too, and the direct link to the election was “pretty undeniable,” said Draper, who’s spent about 25 years working in the suicide prevention and crisis intervention field. “I can’t say I’ve seen anything like this. … And it’s certainly not something I’ve ever seen in an election.”

He saw a spike in calls after the September 11 terrorist at-tacks, when he ran a New York City hotline. But not since comedian and actor Robin Williams killed himself in 2014 has this national lifeline, established in 2005, seen such a surge. That dramatic uptick (much bigger than after the election) was tied to the media’s steady and pervasive promotion of the lifeline’s number.

In this case, the number wasn’t promoted anywhere in relation to the election, and desperate callers — with pre-existing anxieties that were triggered by this national event, he emphasized — sought out the lifeline. That’s what made the spike in calls so unexpected, though the eventual content was less of a surprise.

“They call and say it’s the election,” Draper said. “But by the end of the call, it’s about their lives, and that’s when we can help them.”

Calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which in-cludes a network of more than 160 crisis centers, have since leveled off. But that’s not the case for other services.

----Ongoing flood of callsLike the national lifeline, the Crisis Text Line — which con-

nects texters with crisis counselors — saw swelling numbers as the election results unfolded. Between midnight and 1 a.m. Wednesday, it saw eight times the normal volume of texts, spokeswoman Liz Eddy said.

On an average day, this crisis line sees about 1,000 texters. From 7 a.m. Tuesday to Wednesday morning, that number jumped to 2,000. Then, from Wednesday morning to Thurs-day morning, it continued to climb to 4,000.

The Crisis Text Line also saw a surge after Williams com-mitted suicide. Its numbers also climbed after the 2015 Paris and San Bernardino terrorist attacks, when texters who identified as Muslim shared fears about how they’d be treated, Eddy said. 1 3

HEALTH & MEDICINENOVEMBER 14, NOVEMBER 14, 20162016 9I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

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I T I R A N

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By Shataw Naseri

10I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

T E C H N O L O G Y NOVEMBER 14, NOVEMBER 14, 20162016

FBI hacked terrorist's iPhone 5c

Should Apple help the FBI unlock a terrorist's phone? Apple said yes, but not at the expense of everyone else's secu-rity and privacy. The FBI brought a case against Apple to compel it to help its agents break into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters, who killed 14 people and injured dozens in the ter-rorist attack in December. Apple refused to help the feds "backdoor" its own prod-uct, arguing that it can't crack the encryp-tion, and lodged a formal appeal. The FBI eventually buckled under public pressure, but not before hiring hackers to break into the phone at the last minute. It set in motion a chain reaction of proposed laws and measures to try to ensure that Apple could never be above the law.

Linux Mint 'backdoored' by hacker

Linux Mint remains one of the most popular Linux distributions. That in part made it the target by one hacker, who inserted a backdoor in the operating system and hacked the project's website to trick users into downloading the mali-cious version. Hundreds of users down-loaded the affected build. The hacker, who goes by the name of Peace (who was instrumental in other hacks) explained how he did it.

SWIFT took numerous hits this year

The global financial messaging system, SWIFT, revealed a new secu-rity plan in the wake of a massive $81 million cyber heist from a Bangladeshi bank earlier this year. After learning how the system worked, the cyberat-tackers took the bank's SWIFT code and made a series of transaction re-quests for cash to be sent from the country's New York-based account to entities across Asia. It was shoddy security at its worst, but lessons were eventually learned.

Trump's organizations were hit again and again

Well, at least something good happened to Trump this year -- for a while, things weren't looking great. The alleged billionaire's hotel chain was attacked twice in as many years -- including once in April. It's not all sur-prising given that his organization was using horribly insecure and unpatched systems that dated back more than a decade. Then, Trump's presidential campaign leaked the resumes of pro-spective interns, including their names, addresses, and in some cases sensitive employment details. Let's hope his cy-bersecurity strategy is better when he's in office.

LinkedIn hack hits the headlines — for a second time

If 2016 was anything, it was the year of the repeatedly broken records. Linke-dIn was the first of many hack records that was met (and later surpassed) this year. The business networking company was first hit in 2012, but the scale of the attack was only realized this year when the number of records stolen shot up by almost twenty-fold to 117 million ac-counts. If that wasn't bad enough, most of the passwords were ridiculously bad -- like "123456" and "linkedin." The al-leged hacker was eventually caught in the Czech Republic.

Tumblr suffers a major hack, leaking 65 million accounts

The social blogging site announced in May that it suffered a security breach, but refused to divulge more. It took in-vestigative journalists to discover that more than 65 million accounts were in the dumped database. Tumblr is owned by Yahoo, which later in the year had its own problems to worry about.

Myspace, long forgotten, but not your account details

It was the world's biggest social net-work at one point. But until recently, not many had heard of Myspace in some time. Sadly, for many, it was bad news. A massive hack led 427 million accounts stolen early in the year. The company, now owned by Time Inc., had at the time of the breach, just 50 million visitors per month -- a significant drop from its hey-day, but nevertheless a reminder that se-curity can come back to haunt.

US accuses Russia of political cyberattacks

With just a month before the US elec-tion, the White House formally accused the Kremlin of politically motivated hacks -- as if things weren't tense enough. US chief spy James Clapper said that the intelligence community believed that "based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's sen-ior-most officials could have authorized" hacking activities, such as email leaks on

the Democratic campaign. Senior Dem-ocrats eventually resigned, and Hillary Clinton's email campaign suffered irrepa-rably -- as the election result proved.

As Russia hacks, Russian businesses suffer, too

Three hacks in almost as many months. Social networking giant VK.com was hit in June with 171 million accounts stolen, then month later its parent com-pany Mail.ru's forums were bitten by a similarly historical hack. Then, Rambler.ru, a separate company but major internet giant, saw almost 100 million accounts taken in a hack that dated back to 2012. Those hacks combined account for dou-ble the population of Russia alone.

NSA hacking tools were stolen, and auctioned

Hacking tools thought to have been used by NSA for carrying out intelligence gathering and surveillance activities were stolen earlier this year in one of the big-gest breaches of classified files since the Edward Snowden affair. These tools, which could break through Fortinet and Cisco firewalls, were later auctioned off by the Shadow Brokers, an unknown seller of the exploits. Thanks to a previous leak of Snowden files, reporters confirmed the exploits belonged to the US government.

Oracle Micros division hit by hackers, throwing payments into disarray

Micros, one of the largest point-of-sale terminal makers, said that hackers had compromised "hundreds of systems" at the company, potentially compromis-ing a portal used by retail clients. Oracle said that the hackers responsible for the breach installed malware on the support portal in an effort to scrape usernames and passwords as they were entered. Those account credentials may be used to remotely administer and access point-of-sale devices located in customers' re-tail outlets. Oracle bought the company in 2014 for $5.3 billion.

Opera reset passwords after sync server hacked

We put so much faith in our brows-ers, we don't even realize it. They store our passwords, bookmarks, and even our browsing history. When Opera's synchro-nization server got hacked, all that faith and trust fell apart. The browser maker, with close to 2 million active users affect-ed by the hack, reset user passwords but was overwhelmingly opaque about the breach, leading to many unhappy cus-tomers.

Another huge breach of NSA data from a staffer, no less

As if the NSA hadn't suffered enough bad publicity in the past year -- let alone the past three -- one former staffer made headlines with a breach of his own. Har-old Martin, a former staffer, stole 50 tera-bytes of data from the agency, most of it classified. The breach vastly eclipsed what Edward Snowden stole -- thought to be a little over 50,000 files. Though Wilson was initially charged with mishandling classified information, the scale of his theft bumped the charges up to espionage. How did he get all that data through the NSA? By sim-ply walking out the door, sources said.

Yahoo hack breaks all existing records, with over 500 million accounts stolen

Thought Myspace was big? Yahoo went even bigger with over 500 million accounts compromised. It couldn't have come at a worse time as Verizon was bidding for the company's assets. Yahoo said a state was behind it, but that was quickly dismissed. An investigation into the breach is ongoing.

Weebly admits it left the door open for hackers

Another day, another hack. Weebly, the web designing giant, put more over 43 million customers at risk thanks to their own shoddy security. The hacker took records including usernames, email addresses, passwords, and IP addresses -- but passwords were scrambled. The company admitted fault in a statement.

Bought a car recently? Anyone might have your personal data

If you bought a car from one of over 100 car dealerships in the past few years, your records may have been taken. Names, addresses, phone numbers, and even social security numbers for both customers and employees for over a hundred car dealerships were left online, all thanks to a centralized records system coupled with shoddy security. Many mil-lions were said to be affected, but the fi-nal number isn't known. (Source: zdnet)

The biggest hacks, leaks and data breaches of 2016

10 hot titles of IT world

Here are high rated IT titles in the world that reviewed by savvy tech users:

Apple decided to launch three new iPads in March 2017.

Apple will launch a trio of new iPad Pro models in March, including refreshed 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch versions and an all-new bezel-free 10.9-inch model, according to Barclays Research analysts citing sources within the company's Asian supply chain.

Tablet version of Google Pixel phone is coming next year.

The Pixel XL has a better display and longer battery life, but the smaller version feels more comfortable in hand and people like to see Google make a tablet that’s as well crafted and smart as the Pixel phones.

Managers of ProtonMail, an Encrypted email ser-vice that has previously touted itself as “NSA-proof,”

says new signups doubled after Trump win.The company claims that, as a Swiss entity that benefits

from support from the Swiss government, it is officially neutral in terms of political leanings

Game industry has a strong opinion on Trump, and they’re worried about the uncertainty.

In fact, it’s hard to see what kind of economic impact Trump’s presidency would have on the game business, as his economic strategies seem vague.

Facebook’s latest acquisition is CrowdTangle, a startup that tracks how links are shared on social

media services like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.Facebook says “publishers around the world turn to

CrowdTangle to surface stories that matter, measure their so-cial performance, and identify influencers.

With the Tizen Mobile App Incentive Program, Samsung is offering developers a substantial

$10,000 prize if they can edge their app(s) into the top 100 most-downloaded apps from the Tizen Store.

Tesla has responded to Germany’s request to stop using the word “autopilot” in its advertising,

due to safety concerns, by carrying out a survey of Tes-la owners in Germany. The company says that the over-whelming majority of customers it surveyed did not find the term confusing.

A federal judge directed Amazon to set up a year-long process to reimburse parents whose

children made in-app purchases without permission, but rejected a U.S. regulator ’s request for a $26.5 million lump-sum payout.

According to a report by Ars Technica, Spotify has reportedly been writing huge amount of junk data

to your computer’s storage for almost five months now.The Spotify app for Windows, macOS, and Linux has been

found to write hundreds of gigabytes of data to your com-puter, whether the app is being used or idle. Unfortunately, Microsoft canceled Nokia Moonrak-

er smartwatch forever.The new video shows the wearable has features

like missed calls, messages, Facebook and steps tracker.

Over two billion records were stolen in 2016 alone -- and the year isn’t over yet.

This was the year when many historical hacks came back to bite millions just as they were least expecting it. The uptick in delayed reporting contributed to almost 3,000 publicly data breaches this year alone -- exposing more than 2.2 billion re-cords. And the year isn’t even over yet.

Even as we approach December 31, there’s no sign of it end-ing. Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest -- and most dangerous -- hacks and leaks so far.

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ICT section produce 6% of Iran’s GDP: ICT Deputy Minister

ICT Deputy Minister Nasrollah Jahangard announced that ICT section produces 6% of Iran’s GDP, Public Relations Center at ICT Ministry reported.

Present at Isfahan International Exhibition of Computer and Office Automation (AUTOCOM 2016), Jahangard said, “in recent years, ICT market’s share in the country has exceeded $8 billion, 85% of which belongs to ICT section.”

This amount is predicted to escalate more than $28.5 bil-lion in the Sixth 5-Year Development Plan (2016-2021), ac-cording to him.

Jahangard, moreover, added that following the Islamic Revolution, ICT average growth has been 19% whereas min-ing and agriculture fields have experienced minus 7% growth.

He also stressed employment in knowledge-based busi-nesses as benefits of ICT.

ICT Deputy Minister, furthermore, highlighted the rapid growth of local aps in the mobile phone market and announced certain parts of the country, including Isfahan, as hubs for con-tent production and distribution of games and animation.

He, finally, emphasized the necessity of developing and strengthening computer games, adding that this field is highly desirable for business development as well as job creation for the youth.

Facebook testing chat rooms feature for MessengerFacebook has been caught testing public chat rooms for its Messenger app in Australia and Canada. Rooms is a bulletin board-style feature designed to let users engage with people outside their Friends circle on the grounds of a dedicated topic.

According to product manager Drew Moxon, the new chat feature was made to prevent you from being annoying to your friends with interests that they don't share. Although Messenger users can already create groups, they are limited to being private conversations between friends.

To the contrary, Rooms is about topic-based conversa-tions where people can talk to others with common interests. But Rooms can be made private as well, so that new users must be approved by an administrator.

It's unclear when the new feature will see a wider rollout, but when Facebook is done testing it with Austrialian and Canadian audiences, it's likely to open it up to other countries as it moves along. (Source: Courier Mail)

Controlling the flow of heat through semiconductor materials is an important challenge in developing smaller and fast-er computer chips, high-performance solar panels and better lasers and bio-medical devices.

For the first time, an international team of scientists led by a researcher at the University of California, Riverside has modified the energy spectrum of acoustic phonons — elemental excita-tions, also referred to as quasi-particles, that spread heat through crystalline materials like a wave — by confining them to nanometer-scale semiconduc-tor structures.

The results have important implica-tions in the thermal management of elec-tronic devices.

Led by Alexander Balandin, distin-guished professor of electrical and com-puting engineering and UC Presidential Chair Professor in UCR’s Bourns College of Engineering, the research is described in a paper published Thursday, Nov. 10, in the journal Nature Communications.

Polarization branchesThe paper is titled “Direct observation

of confined acoustic phonon polarization branches in free-standing nanowires.”

The team used semiconductor na-nowires from Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), synthesized by researchers in Finland,

and an imaging technique called Bril-louin-Mandelstam light scattering spec-troscopy (BMS) to study the movement of phonons through the crystalline nano-structures.

By changing the size and the shape of the GaAs nanostructures, the researchers were able to alter the energy spectrum, or dispersion, of acoustic phonons. The BMS instrument used for this study was

built at UCR’s Phonon Optimized Engi-neered Materials (POEM) Center, which is directed by Balandin.

Controlling phonon dispersion is cru-cial for improving heat removal from nanoscale electronic devices, which has become the major roadblock in allow-ing engineers to continue to reduce their size.

It can also be used to improve the ef-ficiency of thermoelectric energy genera-tion, Balandin said.

Thermal conductivityIn that case, decreasing thermal con-

ductivity by phonons is beneficial for thermoelectric devices that generate en-ergy by applying a temperature gradient to semiconductors.

“For years, the only envisioned meth-od of changing the thermal conductivity of nanostructures was via acoustic phon-on scattering with nanostructure bound-aries and interfaces.

We demonstrated experimentally that by spatially confining acoustic pho-nons in nanowires one can change their velocity, and the way they interact with electrons, magnons, and how they car-ry heat. Our work creates new opportu-nities for tuning thermal and electronic properties of semiconductor materials,” Balandin said.

(Source: Laboratory Equipment)

By changing the size and the shape of the (Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) nanostructures,

the researchers were able to alter the energy spectrum, or dispersion, of acoustic phonons.

Watch out for the supermoon that will set a 68-year recordIf you’re below retirement age, you’ll never have seen it so big or so bright. Amid all the political seismic shocks, the universe is throwing in a stunning natural phenomenon this week, with the appearance of the largest “supermoon” to grace our skies in 68 years.

The moon is coming closer to Earth than is usual on its orbit on Mon-day, and the side facing us will be fully illuminated by the sun. The combi-nation produces what is known as a “super perigee full moon”, and we will witness one of the most impressive examples as it passes closer to Earth on today than at any point since 1948. It should be around a third brighter than the smallest full moon and will be a mere 225,623 miles away, compared with the 252,088 miles at its furthest point from Earth. The average distance of the moon, which keeps an imperfect 27-day oval orbit, is 238,855 miles.

Full moons always rise around sunset which, cloud cover permitting, will be a good time to spot the “supermoon”, said Dr. Chris North, science lecturer at Cardiff University. Writing for the Conversation, he said: “The reason this perigee full moon is quite so ‘super’ is because perigee and full moons happen at almost exactly the same time, so the moon is at its closest possible when it’s also at its fullest.

(Source: The Guardian)

Researchers document ancient and methane-derived carbon in stonefliesNew research by scientists at the University of Montana’s Flat-head Lake Biological Station has documented the first exam-ple of freshwater consumers using ancient methane-derived carbon and the most extensive example of a methane-de-rived carbon contribution to a river ecosystem.

The research - conducted by FLBS researchers Amanda DelVecchia and Jack Stanford, along with Xiaomei Xu from the University of California at Irvine - was recently published in the open access journal, Nature Communications.

The team’s research focused on the Nyack floodplain on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River in Montana; the main stem of the Flathead River in Kalispell, Montana; the Jocko River floodplain near Arlee, Montana; and the Methow River floodplain in Winthrop, Washington. The work helped helps to explain a decades-old question in groundwater ecology.

(Source: EurekAlert)

S C I E N C ENOVEMBER 14, 2016NOVEMBER 14, 2016 11I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

New method to dissipate heat in electronic devices

Red squirrels are carrying human leprosy and people have been warned to stay away from the animals to minimize the risk of catching the disease.

One of the strains – which is affecting squirrels on Brownsea Island, off the south coast of Dorset – shares close similarities with that responsible for outbreaks of the disease in medieval Europe.

Researchers tested 25 samples from red squirrels on the island and found that all were infected with the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae, though not all showed signs of the disease. Those that did had swelling and hair loss on the

ears, muzzle and feet.Until now it was thought that the an-imals only carried an animal version. Human leprosy has been found in red squirrels in other parts of England, Scot-land and Ireland but of a different strain which has never infected anyone in Britain yet does elsewhere.

Although the risk to humans is small, scientists at the University of Edinburgh say people should avoid physical contact and wash hands thoroughly to minimize the risk.

“Taking sensible precautions such as avoiding phys-ical contact with wild animals and washing your hands before eating will further minimize any risk,” said Pro-

fessor Anna Meredith, of the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.

Conservation perspectiveThe “discovery of leprosy in red squirrels is worrying

from a conservation perspective but shouldn’t raise con-cerns for people in the UK.

The “bacteria that cause leprosy cannot survive out-side the body and evidence shows that 95 per cent of all people are naturally unable to get leprosy, even if they are exposed to the bacteria that causes it.

(Source: The Telegraph)

Red squirrels carrying medieval strain of human leprosy

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No. of sheets in each bundle: 40Quantity: 24,000 MT +/- 2% (seller’s option) Shipment: In partial shipments during 12 months starting from April 2017 onward.Delivery: FOB Bandar Abbas / Iran Price: The price per metric ton of the material shall be the official LME cash settlement price for copper grade 'A' in USD as published in the London Metal Bulletin, price fixed during the quotational period plus premium.Quotational period: On the unknown date in Seller's option during month of contractual shipment, Seller may wish to extend the Q/P by one or two additional months without cost. However Seller must price any unpriced quantity on the last day of the second extension month.Weight: Shipped weights as per Bill of Lading to govern for final settlement at loading port.An International Inspection Company shall be appointed mutually to perform weighing procedure and the cost shall be shared mutually between seller and buyer 50/50.2- Copper Concentrate: Quality : NICICo's Copper Concentrate as per following typical analysis:

Cu 25 +/-3 PCT TiO2 0.21 PCT K2O 0.42 PCTAg 30-45 PPM Zn 0.41 « Mo 0.16 «Au 1-1.5 PPM Bi 160 PPM P2O5 0.22 «Fe 24 +/-3 PCT Cd 50 « H2O 6-8 «

SiO2 4 +/-2 « Cl 180 « Ni 120 PPMS 33 « F 30 « Sb 0.04 «

Al2O3 1.8 « Fe3O4 0.8 « Se 140 «As 0.17 « Hg 1 « Te 42 «

CaO 0.14 « Insol 4 «Pb 0.19 « MgO 0.11 «

Packing: In BulkQuantity: 120,000 WMT +/- 5% (seller’s option) Shipment: In partial shipments During 12 months starting from April 2017 onward.Delivery: FOB Bandar Abbas / IranPrice Terms:Copper: Full final copper content subject to a deduction of one unit shall be paid for at the grade ‘A’ official LME Copper Settlement quotations as published in the London Metal Bulletin averaged over the quotational period.Silver: If the silver content as per final assay is less than or equal to 30 grams/DMT then no payment shall be made. If final silver content is greater than 30 grams/DMT, the final silver content above 30 grams/DMT will be settled less thirty gram / DMT and paid for the balance at the London Spot quotation for silver as published in the London Metal Bulletin averaged over the quotational period.Gold: If the gold content as per final assay is less than or equal to one grams/DMT then no payment shall be made. If final gold content is greater than 1 gram/DMT, the final gold content above one gram/DMT will be settled less one gram/DMT and paid for the balance at the mean of the London am/pm gold quotations as published in the London Metal Bulletin averaged over the quotational period.Deduction: - Treatment charge- Copper Refining charge No refining charge for silver and gold shall apply.

Quotational period:- Quotational period for copper shall be the fourth month following the month of actual shipment from the port of loading as evidenced by B/L date (MOAS+4).- Quotational period for gold and silver shall be the second month following the month of actual shipment from the port of loading as evidenced by B/L date (MOAS +2).Weighing/ Sampling/ Moisture Determination : These operations shall be carried out at the load port in an international recognized customary manner upon and during loading the material to the vessel. These operations shall be supervised by conjointly appointed international inspection company by seller / buyer and the cost of these operations shall be shared equally 50/50 between seller and buyer. The final weight will be determined by draft survey at load port, mentioned on Bill of Lading and shall be final for final invoice settlement. The moisture determined by aforesaid international inspection company at load port shall be final and binding for settlement.Sampling which is done by aforesaid international inspection company at load port shall be final and binding for settlement. Sampling shall be made at the load port in lots of about 500 WMT and each sample must have a minimum weight of 250 grams.Final Assays: Assays shall be made independently by each party and the results of such assays shall be exchanged on a lot-by-lot basis for copper, silver and gold by registered airmail or special courier on a mutually agreed date (Assay Exchange), but in any event not later than 60 (sixty) calendar days after the date on which the assay samples are sealed and sent to the respective parties. Payment Procedure: Shall be done through the following items at sellers option:Provisional payment:A) Buyer shall pay 100% (one hundred percent) of provisional invoice amount in Euro or AED prompt net cash payable by telegraphic transfer to a bank which is nominated by seller within 5 (five) working days after seller's presentation of holding certificate and proforma invoice prior loading of the material onto the vessel which will start promptly after buyer’s presentation of the swift message proofing buyer’s payment. The holding certificate shall be effective once buyer has effected provisional payment as evidenced by the swift massage. (The wording of the holding certificate will be mutually agreed):B) In case insurance by international insurance institute cannot become in place, payment shall be done as follow:Buyer shall pay 100% (one hundred percent) of provisional invoice amount in Euro or AED prompt net cash payable by telegraphic transfer to a bank which is nominated by seller against presentation of copy of shipping documents i.e. BL, Provisional invoice, etc. Note: Release of original documents is only against receipt of 100% of provisional value of the material.Final payment: The final balance, if any, between the provisional payment made by buyer and the final value of the cargo shall be paid by the owing party by telegraphic transfer against seller's presentation of Seller’s final invoice within five working days from the date of the final invoice:*** The above sales package is linked to pre-export financing/Loan with the amount of Euro 50'000'000.00 (Euro Fifty Million point Zero Zero) as follows :- The amount of Loan : Euro 50'000'000.00 for the year 2017(The bank account shall be mutually agreed between Seller and Buyer).- Disbursement date: The whole amount of EURO 50,000,000.00 shall be effected into NICICo’s bank account within two weeks from the date of finalizing & settling the sales contract. The aforesaid sales contract for

24,000 MT copper cathodes and 120,000 WMT for copper concentrates also shall be settled and signed within two weeks from the date of email sent by NICICo indicating the winner of the tender.In case the due amount i.e. EURO 50,000,000.00 won’t be credited into NICICo’s bank account within the specified time i.e. two weeks from contract settlement, NICICo has this right with its full corporate responsibility to consider this bid null & void and to announce another participant as the winner of the tender respectively.- Loan/Interest Repayment: the installments shall be settled with mutually determined percentage of the due value amount of provisional invoices of each monthly shipment which will start from April 2017.Important Notes:* Offers must be presented to NICICo. sales department only through email toSales-Tender@nicico.com till 18th November 2016, 14:00 Tehran time. It is very important that the offers shall be definitly sent to the Sales-Tender@nicico.com and the ones sent to any other email addresses won't be regarded as the tender participants and won't be evaluated. (Offers which will be sent after 14:00 LT won't be considered as participants of our inquiry.)* NICICo reserves the right to reject any one or all offers, cancel, renew or prolong the deadline.* NICICo reserves the right to sell part or all of above mentioned material & tonnage to one or several potential buyers.* Other delivery terms i.e. CIF & CFR are also negotiable provided that freight and Insurance costs shall be borne by buyer.* The other offers for only one of tendered product i.e. 24,000 MT copper cathodes plus pre-export financing/Loan and 120,000 WMT for copper concentrates plus pre-export financing/Loan would be also negotiable.* In case your offer is accepted by NICICo., it will be advised to you via Email. P.S. Your reply must specifically include following items: * Premium for copper cathode * TC / RC for copper concentrate * Interest rate for pre-export financing/Loan.Important Note: The offers shall be definitely sent through company email addresses and the personal email addresses through which the offers are to be sent by participants such as Gmail, yahoo, hotmail or any other personal or general email addresses are not accepted at all.The following information re companies of attendees shall be definitely provided as well:1- Full Company Name (Both Local & English dictation):2- Company national ID.:3- Registered Number:4- Registered Date:5- Company Type : Private or governmental6- Registered Country:7- Registered City:8- Ownership Type: A) public B) Joint Stock, …..9- Company Activity: 10- Company Address:11- Tel:12- Fax:13- Company Website Address: The above mentioned tender is also available on NICICo website as WWW.NICICO.COMLooking forward to the receipt of your best offer in due time.National Iranian Copper IndustriesSales & Marketing DepartmentTel No.: +98 21 8213 8231

Please be advised that National Iranian Copper Industries Company intends to sell Copper Cathode and Copper Concentrate in one package as per following terms & conditions:

second Announcement

Iranian researcher, Fariborz Kargar, is measuring the acoustic phonon dispersion in the semi-conductor nanowires in UCR’s Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (POEM) Center.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

ADVERTISEMENT NOVEMBER 14, 2016NOVEMBER 14, 2016

NOVEMBER 12, 2016

12

Accusing Brussels of wanting Turkey to abandon its bid to join the European Un-ion (EU), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted in an interview published on Sunday he might put the question to a referendum.

“The European Union is trying to compel us to withdraw from this (acces-sion) process. If they don’t want us they should be clear about this, they should make a decision,” Erdogan told the lead-ing daily Hurriyet.

“Our patience is not endless. If need be, later, we could also consult our peo-ple,” he said, alluding to Britain’s Brexit referendum in June.

Turkey’s bid to join the EU dates back to the 1960s with formal talks starting in 2005. But the process has been mired in problems, which current tensions have done nothing to help.

Rocky relations between Ankara and the EU became even more strained in the wake of the failed coup in Turkey in July.

Since then, some 35,000 people have

been arrested and tens of thousands more have lost their jobs -- including military officers, judges, teachers, civil

servants and journalists -- in a sweeping crackdown against alleged supporters of those behind the coup.

More than 100 journalists have been arrested while 170 media outlets includ-ing newspapers and broadcasters have been closed down, according to the Tur-key Journalists’ Association.

“Some people are saying we should lift the state of emergency. Why would we lift it now?” Erdogan told Hurriyet.

On Saturday, the president reiterat-ed that he would support parliament if it voted to restore the death penalty, a move that would further alienate Turkey from its European critics.

On Wednesday, an EU report on can-didate countries warned that Turkey’s “backsliding” on rights since the coup attempt was putting its membership bid at risk.

“Turkey has apparently chosen to move away from Europe,” EU enlarge-ment commissioner Johannes Hahn said as he unveiled the report.

Turkey dismissed the report as “far from objective.”

(Source: AFP)

WORLD IN FOCUS 13I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

Erdogan hints at referendum on Turkey joining EU

One-third of Clinton supporters say Trump election is not legitimate, poll findsA strong majority of Americans accept Donald Trump as the winner of the presidential election last week, but a significant minority of Hillary Clinton supporters say his victory was il-legitimate, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The survey was conducted immediately after Election Day as anti-Trump protests sprang up across major cities, at the end of an acidic campaign in which Trump himself said he may not accept election results if Clinton prevailed.

The Post-ABC poll finds 74 percent of all Americans say they accept the election of Trump as legitimate while 18 per-cent do not. That result parallels a Post-ABC Tracking Poll just before the election, which found 79 percent of likely voters saying they were prepared to accept the outcome of the election regardless of who they support.

But while Trump supporters were more reluctant about accepting results before Tuesday — 22 percent said they were not prepared to do so — an even larger share of Clin-ton supporters now say they do not view Trump’s election as legitimate.

A 58 percent majority of Clinton supporters say they ac-cept Trump’s election, while 33 percent do not. Questions about Trump’s victory are passionate — 27 percent of Clinton supporters feel “strongly” he did not win legitimately.

There are sharp racial and gender differences in Clinton supporters’ acceptance of the results. Only 18 percent of whites who supported Clinton say Trump is not the legitimate winner, identical to the public overall, but fully 51 percent of black, Hispanic and other nonwhite Clinton supporters say Trump’s victory was illegitimate. Women who supported Clin-ton are twice as likely as men to question the legitimacy of Trump’s victory, 42 vs. 21 percent.

A Gallup poll released on Friday asking a slightly different question found a smaller 23 percent of Clinton supporters saying they would not accept Trump as the legitimate presi-dent when he is inaugurated in January.

In the Post-ABC poll, nearly all of Trump’s supporters say he was elected legitimately, 99 percent, also marking a turna-bout in confidence from one week ago when only 69 percent said they were prepared to accept the results of the election.

While voters’ intensely negative views of the major candi-date they opposed may explain their willingness to question the overall result, another factor may be the unexpected na-ture of Trump’s win and a split between which candidate won the Electoral College and popular vote.

(Source: The Washington Post)

U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan closes after attacksThe United States Embassy in Afghanistan has closed follow-ing deadly insurgent attacks on a German Consulate and an American military base.

In a statement late on Saturday, the embassy said it will be “closed for routine services” on Sunday “as a temporary precautionary measure.”

The unusual decision comes after four Americans — two soldiers and two contractors — were killed in a suicide attack on Saturday on the Bagram Airfield near the capital, Kabul.

Two days earlier, insurgents attacked the German Consu-late in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, killing six people and wounding more than 100.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul regularly warns Americans against travel to Afghanistan, where a Taliban-led insurgency is in its 16th year.

The insurgency has become more virulent since most in-ternational combat troops withdrew in 2014.

(Source: AP)

Calls to crisis and suicide prevention hotlines surge post-election

9 But the US election is the first time this new service, founded in 2013, has seen reactions bubble up in response to politics.

In a release Eddy sent out, she said that “election” and “scared” were the top two words mentioned by texters in the 24 hours after the election. And the phrase most commonly associated with “scared” was “LGBTQ.”

The Trevor Project is the national leader in providing cri-sis and suicide prevention support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. Last year, the organiza-tion fielded 54,000 contacts — made by phone, online chat or text — according to Steve Mendelsohn, its deputy exec-utive director.

The normal call volume, Mendelsohn said, doubled as a result of the election and has stayed constant. He said more than 95% of those reaching out have talked about the election.

“It’s been ongoing since Tuesday night,” he explained. “Young people are calling us who’ve never called us before. They’re scared, and they don’t know who to turn to. … Given all the rhetoric that they’ve heard leading up to the election, it makes sense that they’re frightened.”

Mendelsohn wasn’t able to share exact numbers, saying the organization is more concerned with fielding calls than with running statistical analysis. But he was able to provide some context.

The last time the Trevor Project saw such an extreme up-tick in traffic came in 2012, when an episode of the TV show “Glee” included an attempted suicide and featured a Trevor Project PSA. Like the media’s influence on calls to the Na-tional Suicide Prevention Lifeline after Williams’ death, this barrage of contacts was expected.

More recently, Mendelsohn said, there was a spike in un-anticipated calls in June, after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. The post-election volume, he said, is 70% higher than it was then.

(Source: fox2now.com)

NOVEMBER 14, 2016

2 How much of the outstand-ing India’s oil debt to Iran, amounting to 6.4 billion dollars, has been cleared?

A. As you would be aware, we con-tinued our trade relationship with Iran even while the sanctions were there. We, meaning India and Iran together, had put in place a mechanism to facilitate payment for the crude we were buying. We called it the 55-45 mechanism, where 45% of the crude payments were made in Indian rupees and kept in Iranian ac-counts with Indian bank, and 55% was in hard currency in euros. So, as soon as the banking channels opened for crude sales, we started paying back the 55%. I think there was a total of 6.2 billion dol-lars of which close to 4 billion has already been paid. All the Indian government oil companies which were importing from Iran have more or less paid up of what

was due.A little bit remains and that is a matter

of technicality and we will sort it out. As far as 45% was concerned, that was very help-ful because Indian companies utilized that money to export to Iran so that our trade did not suffer. So that was the mechanism that we were using. But now, of course, with the sanctions easing and new opportuni-ties opening, both countries are looking forward to utilizing these.

How is India planning to pay the remaining portion of its debt to Iran?

A. As I told you of the total amount of 6.2 billion dollars some 3.6 billion has already been paid. With the Indian oil companies very little amount remains. The major balance of 2.6 billion or so remains with a private Indian compa-ny. They have been in touch with the authorities out here and they have an understanding on how this money is to be repaid or the time frame over which it would be repaid. We hope that this money would be repaid quickly and the matter is sorted out. The money is yours and it has to come back.

There are regional equations that cannot be overlooked such as terror-ism and extremism which pose the most pressing threat to humanity. In your opinion, how Iran-India relations can help eradicate terrorism?

A. Terrorism is a very serious concern for entire humanity. It is a serious threat in the region in which you are located and equally in the region we are locat-ed. We have to seriously consider as to how to combat this menace. It affects all of us. The Government of India sincere-ly believes and has articulated that there are no good and bad terrorists. Terrorism can affect anybody anytime. So all of us have to be united and have to adopt a comprehensive approach in dealing with terrorism.

What we have done, and the initia-tive that is still on the table, is that in the United Nations some years ago we had moved a draft convention on terrorism called CCIT - Comprehensive Conven-

tion on International Terrorism. There has been some progress, but there are some challenges which remain. We hope that this convention is passed sooner rather than later. It would provide a legal frame-work for addressing this menace.

I think our two countries can cooper-ate in this area. I need to mention here that we have a very good dialogue with your country. It’s a longstanding dialogue between the national security councils of our two countries where we share views as to how to tackle security challenges and terrorism is one of the issues which we discuss.

Can Iran-India ties be affected by the next American president’s policy?

A. Relationship between Iran and In-dia is not dependent upon either your relations with anybody else or our rela-tions with anybody else. That is the short answer. As far as our relations are con-cerned it doesn’t matter. Our relationship will continue to grow.

Do you believe the tension be-tween Pakistan and India requires a me-diator like Iran, which has established friendly and amicable relations with both states, to step in and help resolve the conflicts between the two states?

A. We believe that it is best for India and Pakistan to undertake a bilateral di-alogue to resolve the issues which are there between the two countries. We have elaborated frequently that we are ready to do that, and we are ready to undertake discussions. The short point is that terrorism tends to push dialogue into the background. We would like dia-logue to be in fore-front and through di-alogue resolve whatever issues are there between the two countries.

Back in May of this year, Iran and India held a one-day joint naval drill in waters to the east of the Strait of Hormuz. How significant are such ex-ercises for the states?

A. In May, we had the visit of naval ships to Bandar Abbas. The ports of call by naval ships of Iran to India and India to Iran have been taking place for some time. We attach a lot of importance to these exchanges because both of our countries believe that maritime coopera-tion is an important area for us. So when our naval ships were here in Bandar Ab-bas in May, there was the usual drill which takes place when there are ports of call. While the ships were sailing out PASSEX maneuvers were conducted. The larger point is that we’ve had naval exchanges and we attach importance to these ex-changes with Iran.

The story of an Iranian-British girl Narges Kalbasi Ashtari has made headlines in Iran these days. Ashtari is in India now awaiting her trials for a crime she never committed. What can you and your government do to help solve her case and guarantee her safe return home?

A. Trust the Indian judiciary and Indian institutions. Things will work themselves out. The process is underway. Independ-ence of judiciary is an important pillar of Indian State. Today, if you tell me to do something it would be very difficult, because there is a judicial process under-way. Let that judicial process do the work.

I think justice will be meted out and there won’t be any cause for concern. But for the executive to intervene in the judicial process is not possible within our system. I have conveyed the sentiment here to my government. We will do our best.

Last year, Iranian students stud-ying in India faced difficulties attrib-uted to the Indian laws and academic procedures. Could you elaborate on what the problem was?

A. This is not as big an issue as one perceives it to be. A lot of Iranian students and students from different countries and different parts of the country get ad-mitted for pursuing medical and dental studies in India. The admission process for medical and dental degrees had gone to the Supreme Court of India and the court gave a judgment that all students who join dental and medical studies need to qualify a particular examination. Now, there were certain doubts whether for-eigners are included in this or not. One of the institutions which has foreign stu-dents went to the Supreme Court which gave an affirmative ruling which is now final and it cannot be challenged and the government of India has to abide by it.

So from now on, all the foreign stu-dents who are admitted for medical and dental studies would have to write this examination. This is not from retrospec-tive effect. So the students who are al-ready studying would continue studying. Only those students get affected are who are going this year. So we have some students who are already in India who were given admission or were promised admission but now because of this ruling they will have to write to this exam.

So, this is not typical to Iran, this involves all foreign students who might have gone to India for medical or dental studies. And from next year onwards we would have a system where foreign students would need to write this exam and get admitted to medical or dental schools.

How can the two countries enhance cultural exchanges and academic rela-tions including exchange of journalists, students, visiting professors and such?

A. Our two countries have had histor-ical, cultural and people to people links. There is, however, the need to develop institutional cooperation and have great-er people to people exchanges. The Cultural Exchange Programme signed during the prime minister ’s visit in May provides for this. We are looking forward to implementing this in a comprehensive manner. There are several thousand Ira-nian students studying in India and we know of some students from India study-ing in Iranian universities. This, however, needs to be further increased. The sci-ence and technology dialogue between our two countries would provide for this including exchanges at the academic lev-el. We are trying to schedule the S&T (Science and Technology) dialogue in December.

What are the newest and latest developments between Iran and India?

A. As you know the prime minster vis-ited your country in May. It was a very successful visit. He had good discussions with the Supreme Leader and president, and several important agreements were

signed. One of the important agreements was

the Chabahar Port Contract. Chabahar was something which was discussed for a long time, but during the prime minister ’s visit, we concluded the contract, and now within the time period which is provided in the contact, which is around two years, phase one of Chabahar Port would be completed.

Trilateral transit cooperation between Iran, India and Afghanistan was the other really significant agreement signed. And then of course, we had several other agreements in the economic and other functional areas.

Minister Akhondi was in India in the end of September and the objective of his visit was to look at progress on Chabahar related matters and also dis-cuss other connectivity and infrastructure development issues and collaboration between the two countries.

One of the outcomes of the visit was that we are looking forward to a Chaba-har specific event in Iran later this year or perhaps early next year. The idea is to familiarize Indian stakeholders, peo-ple from shipping, industry, trade, com-merce, freight forwarders and others about the Chabahar Port. So this would be a big event. We are also looking for-ward to officials who would be dealing with connectivity related matters like cus-toms, transportation from the two coun-tries and Afghanistan to meet to discuss these issues.

We are trying to put in place three im-portant agreements in the area of trade and economic cooperation. One, we are discussing a preferential trade agreement or PTA.

Second is a double taxation avoid-ance agreement. The text of double taxation avoidance agreement is almost ready and we need one more round of talks to have the agreed text.

Third is the bilateral investment agree-ment. With investments coming from In-dia and vice-versa we need a bilateral investment treaty or BIT. So we have had one round of talks and we are looking forward to having more talks.

Another significant development is that before the prime minister ’s vis-it, the counterpart of Iran Chamber of Commerce which is CII, Confederation of Indian Industry, sent a delegation led by president of CII or who is a very emi-nent business man of India, Mr. Naushad Forbes. He came here with a group of chief executive officers of companies and they had discussions with various gov-ernment departments. They met Minis-ter Nematzadeh also.

The important point is that CII decid-ed to open its 10th international office in Tehran. They don’t have too many offices. We are now looking forward to this office in Tehran by spring of next year. This would be an important development because you would have an Indian Chamber of Commerce represented in Tehran and that would facilitate industry links.

In the hydrocarbon sector, we are un-dertaking discussions on Farzad B and these are at a crucial stage. In fact, we have a team of our experts from geo-logical and related area that carried out discussions. So technical and commercial discussions are underway.

When the prime minster was here he invited President Rouhani to India and he accepted the invitation. We look forward to a return visit.

Confederation of Indian Industry to open office in Tehran next year: ambassador

As a direct benefit of the JCPOA, Iran can now receive through banking channels in hard currency payments for the crude it sells to

India.

Trust the Indian judiciary and Indian

institutions on Narges Kalbasi Ashtari’s case. I have conveyed the

sentiment here to my government. We will

do our best.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

W O R L D S P O R T NOVEMBER 14, 2016NOVEMBER 14, 201614

Uninspiring Gareth Southgate has not earned England jobDesmond Kane was at Wembley Stadium to watch England overcome old rivals Scotland 3-0 in their World Cup qualifier, a result that is set to secure Gareth Southgate the manager’s position.

It was the sort of evening that would have had Big Sam reaching for a pint of wine to ease the pain of what might have been.

If the former England manager had decided to keep his own counsel and avoid the temptation of careering into potentially lucrative meetings with undercover newspaper hacks, nights like these could have been his. Instead, it very much looks like Gareth Southgate stands to inherit the earth without actually having to do much to prove he is up to the task.

The England manager’s role has been called the Impossible Job, a poisoned chalice, but resembles the cup of eternal life when teams like Scotland darken your door. Dressed in pink, Scotland went up in flames like an overdone haggis and were done for by the end of a harrowing night for the Tartan Army near Harrow.

Gareth Southgate certainly passed what was called his audition, but it is easy to look like Prince Charming in such a Pantomime. “He’s behind you,” is the traditional clarion call in Panto at this time of the year, but Scotland’s wretched defence, if you can call it that, decided to turn a deaf ear to the warnings.

Not once, not twice, but three times a malady. Once is unfortunate, twice is careless and three times is Gordon Strachan’s Scotland. With four points from four matches, Strachan will probably be gone soon. In truth, he does not deserve the flak. His side were decent without being deadly, but for every loser there is a winner. And Southgate realised the significance of the moment as he greeted his side’s goals with as much theatre as the Daniel Sturridge dance by dropping to one knee and pumping a fist.

Sturridge, the agile Adam Lallana and Gary Cahill gorged on the carcass of a joke Scottish defence with three headed goals that more or less buried their oldest foes’ hopes of ending an 20-year wait to qualify for a major finals. According to Saturday morning’s newspapers, winning international football’s oldest fixture has also apparently handed Southgate a mandate to manage his country on a permanent basis. Not that many of the hack pack will remember their endorsements if it all goes horribly wrong for big Gareth.

Scotland’s inability to deal with wide boys is nothing new. Scotland defenders like Grant Hanley are at least becoming masters of the Mannequin Challenge with movement proving beyond them.

The same thing happened to the Scots in Slovakia last month when they shipped three goals, all from failing to properly defend balls into the box. Whatever homework was learned, it dissipated in the chilly autumnal night at Wembley amid the cries of “Cheer up Gordon Strachan“ performed with much relish by the England supporters. It is a ditty laced with industrial language that has an element of truth when you study the defects of a moribund visiting side.

At one point in the second half, when the floodgates opened for Southgate’s England with a 3-0 advantage secured and top spot in Group F consolidated before the hour mark, it looked like he was moving as quickly as his Euro’ 96 prime when his penalty miss against Germany contributed to England missing out on a final spot. Despite battling two poppies, brown brogues and a blue suit combo two decades on, Southgate was in his element.

England could certainly have benefited from a defender in the Southgate mould here. Some of the defending accomplished by John Stones, Gary Cahill, Kyle Walker and Danny Rose was as poor as Scotland’s. The difference lying in the visitors’ glaring inability to punish slipshod marking as four obvious chances were spurned that would have put a whole different sheen on Southgate’s suitability for the role.

England were really clinical in the final third, but their defence is an accident waiting to happen. The quality that separated England and Scotland was not found at the back. The home side look as susceptible when faced by quick passing moves. They are uncomfortable in trying to build from deep because they are technically questionable. The failings at Euro 2016 have not suddenly been banished.

England host Spain in a friendly on Tuesday night before facing a recess until they host Lithuania in March. It looks very much likely that Southgate will be confirmed as the new England manager after the Spanish depart, but can you make a case for his ascension after such a short period of time?

Under this caretaker golden era, England have beaten 178th world-ranked Malta 2-0, drew 0-0 in Slovenia, 52 in the world, and clubbed a mediocre Scotland side, ranked at 57 and dropping, by three. These are hardly reasons to get the bunting out to celebrate Southgate’s rising. Neither is his body of work. He has managed only one club in Middlesbrough, over a three-year period, where he was dismissed after suffering relegation from the Premier League. His highest finish was 12th with Boro in 2007.

He has clamped himself to the FA system, and has coached the U21 side to bottom spot at last year’s European Championship. After Allardyce lasted only 67 days in the role before disgracing himself, it feels like Southgate is viewed as a safe pair of hands. Crucially, he comes from within the FA set-up. He knows how the business of England works, but to say he is an underwhelming choice to be manager is an understatement.

An office once held by Alf Ramsay, Don Revie, Bobby Robson and Terry Venables - and once viewed as the ultimate endorsement of an individual’s career efforts, a reward for success in club management - is suddenly a job deemed to be fit for a bloke with only one proper job behind him.

Premier League managers past and present in Eddie Howe, Roberto Mancini, Alan Pardew and Steve Bruce have been touted for the role, but they are hardly enticing prospects. Yet handing Southgate the role because the competition is poor is not a reason to make a quick appointment. Such decision-making by committee sums up what is wrong about the national game when policy is made on the hoof. Before Allardyce was appointed, Southgate was a 20/1 shot who is suddenly 1/20 for the position. Go figure.

If Big Sam was viewed as a risky choice, Southgate represents another step into the unknown. Captain Wayne Rooney and the squad are said to be behind his appointment, but since when did England’s players know best? As the national side’s history of failure shows, they are only good for getting managers the sack.

(Source: EuroSport)

Novak Djokovic can take the first step on Sunday towards regaining the world number one ranking when he starts the defence of his title at the ATP World Tour Finals in London. The Serb plays Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the first of the singles matches in the Ivan Lendl Group.

The Frenchman Gael Monfils, playing at the season ending championships for the first time, takes on the Canadian Milos Raonic in the other group match on Sunday.

On Monday Andy Murray, Marin Cilic, Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori play their opening matches in the John McEnroe group.

Murray replaced Djokovic as world number one during the Paris Masters tournament. It is the first time the Briton has reached the pinnacle of his sport. Djokovic, 29, had been circuit supremo for 122 weeks.

The 29-year-old Serb held all four Grand Slam titles when he beat Murray to take the French Open in June. But since then he has slumped in form.

“I have only words of praise for what Andy has achieved in the last year or so.

Definitely he is a well deserved

number one at this point. He has been the best player for the last six months without a doubt.

“Whether he can sustain that is not a question for me but looking at his qualities and commitment there is a good chance he can play at this level for a long time.”

Murray has a 405 point lead over Djokovic and must match his performance to retain top spot at the end of the year. However the omens aren’t good for Murray. The 02 Arena has not been the happiest of hunting grounds. He has never been past the semi-finals while Djokovic has won the last five tournaments.

Nevertheless, Murray has enjoyed an impressive 11 months on and off the court. He has won Wimbledon for the second time, claimed a second Olympic singles gold medal and become a father to baby daughter Sophia.

“This year is the best I’ve had on court, the last few months have been the best in terms of my consistency,” Murray said. “Away from the court it’s been by far the best in my life, a big change and a great change. I’ve really enjoyed being a parent.

(Source: RFI)

Manchester United have the highest wag-es in world football according to a global sports salary survey, produced annually by the Sporting Intelligence website.

United’s first-team squad earn £5.77 million-a-year basic salary on average, which is £110,961-per-week. That is re-portedly more than double the average basic first-team pay in England’s top di-vision, which is £2,438,275-a-year or £48,766-a-week.

The club are the fourth highest paid in world sport, behind Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA (£6.54m average), New York Yan-kees of the MLB (£5.81m) and LA Clippers of the NBA (£5.78m). The next highest foot-ball clubs on the list of world sports teams are fifth-placed Barcelona (£5.64m) and ninth-placed Manchester City (£5.42m).

In the Premier League, the two Man-chester clubs were followed on the list of big spenders by Chelsea (£4.51m), Arse-nal (£3.71m), Liverpool (£3.01m) and Tot-tenham Hotspur (£2.68m).

The lowest wages in the Premier League were at Burnley (£0.95m), Bournemouth (£1.1m), Hull City (£1.22m) and Middlesbrough (£1.22m). They were

still higher than the average wages for Scottish champions Celtic (£0.71m).

The findings showed that United have three players in the top 10 of best-paid players in world football. Paul Pogba was fifth (£15.1m per year or £290,000 per week), Wayne Rooney was eighth (£13.5m per year or £260,000 per week) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was 10th (£13m per year or £250,000 per week).

No other Premier League players were in the top 10 of that list, which in-cluded four from La Liga and three from China. The best-paid players were joint-ly Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, who brought in £18.98m per year or £365,000 per week.

The Premier League, though, pays more than double the average sala-ry of their nearest competitors La Liga (£1,239,295) and Serie A (£1,105,633).

Premier League average pay has multi-plied by almost 32 times in 25 seasons, from about £77,000 in 1992-93. United’s first-team salaries have risen from about £140,000 per year in the first Premier League year to more than 40 times that amount.

(Source: ESPN)

Manchester United have biggest wage bill in world football - report

Djokovic begins quest to reclaim top spot

Manchester United and former Germany international Bastian Schweinsteiger is in talks to join Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire, multiple league sources have confirmed to ESPN FC.

Last Friday, The Express released photos of Schwein-steiger meeting with Fire manager Veljko Paunovic, but a league source cautioned that while talks have begun, the have not progressed very far at the moment.

The German international has been frozen out by United manager Jose Mourinho this season and was even humiliated by being sent to train with the re-serves before a reprieve this month, but a fresh start still appears unlikely at Old Trafford.

The pair dined at an Italian restaurant in Cheshire

and the 32-year-old, upon leaving, told photographers that he had “not heard anything about that,” when quizzed about whether the Red Devils would pay him off in January.

A source also confirmed that Chicago has Schwein-steiger’s discovery rights, which give it first priority among MLS sides to sign the Germany and former Bayern Munich legend.

Schweinsteiger joined Manchester United in 2015 as part of Louis van Gaal’s attempt to reconstruct the club’s midfield. But he suffered through an injury-hit campaign, and made only 18 league appearances last season.

(Source: Soccernet)

Bastian Schweinsteiger in talks to join Chicago Fire in MLS - sources

The five best goals of Neymar’s 50 international strikes for Brazil

Fifty up for Neymar.In Brazil’s 3-0 victory over Argentina in World Cup qualifying on

Thursday, Neymar reached the milestone of 50 international goals, and it would be wise to assume that the most important ones are still to come. Neymar is only 24, and of those 50 goals, 35 have come in friendlies. That is not really his fault; as 2014 World Cup hosts, Brazil did not have to qualify, so while other countries were battling for a place in the tournament, Brazil had no option other than to line up a procession of friendlies.

It is also true, though, that Neymar has played four senior international tournaments. And while the star No. 10 has had his moments in all of them, he only truly imposed himself on one, the 2013 Confederations Cup, the least important of the quartet. The really good stuff, then, should be ahead of us.

Here are five highlights of his 50 so far: 1. August 2010 | Friendly | USA 0-2 Brazil

On his international debut, the 18-year-old scored his country’s first goal after the downer of that year’s World Cup, one that highlighted the range of his talent. He opened his account in New Jersey not after some mazy dribble, but with a well-executed header, back across the goal to meet a cross from the left from Andres Santos.

2. August 2011 | Friendly | Germany 3-2 BrazilDespite that introduction, the step up to international football did

not prove an easy one. A year after that goal-scoring debut, there were still plenty of question marks about Neymar. He had disappointed in the 2011 Copa America, and did little in 90 minutes as Brazil were thoroughly dominated by Germany. But in stoppage time he gave the score line some respectability with a stunning shot from outside the area that flew in at the keeper’s near post. Neymar was dangerous even when playing badly.

3. June 2013 | Confederations Cup | Brazil 3-0 SpainThe Confederations Cup was Neymar’s competition. From the second

minute of the opening game against Japan, when he crashed home a magnificent left-footed volley, this was the tournament when he made the transition from promise to reality. There was another superb volley against Mexico, a free-kick special against Gianluigi Buffon’s Italy, and then this one, which clinched the title.

David Luiz had just produced a miraculous goal-line clearance to prevent a Spanish equaliser when Neymar combined with Oscar, made some space outside the opposing right-back and crashed home a finish off his left foot -- theoretically his weaker -- inside the top near corner with breathtaking power and precision, as if he had placed it in there with his hands.

4. June 2014 | World Cup | Brazil 3-1 CroatiaBrazil were behind in the World Cup opener, and Neymar

was lucky still to be on the field after throwing an elbow at an opponent. But he rose to the occasion with the equaliser, finding some space in front of the back four and hitting across goal -- again with his left foot -- that beat the keeper only because it was hit with such precision that it went in off the post.

5. September 2016 | World Cup qualifying | Brazil 2-1 Colombia

The Tite era as Brazil coach could hardly have start-ed better, with five wins in swaggering style. But it could have started differently. With 20 minutes to go in the first game away to Ecuador, the score was 0-0 until Neymar stepped up to convert a high-pressure penalty. A few days later at home to Colombia, Bra-zil looked in trouble, tied at 1-1 and running out of ideas against an opponent so dangerous on the counterattack. Was this really to be the day when Brazil lost a home World Cup qualifier for the first time ever?

The pressure was telling. Again, Neymar was a little lucky to stay on the field after a dreadful studs-high challenge on an opposing defender. And again he came to the rescue. There were less than 20 minutes to go and Brazil had not created a chance since the interval, but then Neymar received the ball on the left edge of the area, and with another superbly placed left-footed finish, beat the keeper with a cross-shot. The Tite era was well and truly underway.

My personal favourite Neymar moment for Brazil is not a goal. It is a pass he played against Peru in the 2015 Copa America.

The score was 1-1, Brazil had been desperately disappointing, and the game was in stoppage time. This, then, was another pressure moment. Neymar advanced down the left channel and, instead of going for goal, played a sublime diagonal pass that cut out seven Peruvian defenders and gave Douglas Costa the chance to win the game, which he did. The execution was brilliant, the vision and the calm even better. It was a moment of pure football.

Might Neymar be inspired to come up with something similar when Brazil take on a rejuvenated Peru on Tuesday?

(Source: ESPN)

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S P O R TNOVEMBER 14, NOVEMBER 14, 20162016 15I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

Lippi: I hope we can achieve a miracleFIFA World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi is arguably fac-ing the most challenging task of his managerial career: guiding China PR to their second global appearance at Russia 2018. With just one point from four outings, Team Dragon are languishing at the bottom of Group A and face a must-win scenario in their next qualifier against Qatar on Tuesday if they are to keep their diminishing hopes alive.

In what proved a disappointing campaign thus far, the team’s confidence seemed to evaporate with each of the past match-es. Under former coach Gao Hongbo, China narrowly lost 3-2 to group favourites Korea Re-public before holding Iran to a goalless draw at home. They then suffered an unexpected 1-0 blow against Syria, how-ever, while a 2-0 loss against Uzbekistan left them bottom without a win. Lippi, familiar with the Chinese game during his three seasons coaching Guangzhou Evergrande, is fo-cused on rebuilding.

“It is important to restore the team’s confidence,” said the 68-year-old Italian, who took over only in October. “We will focus on first dealing with the Qataris and then Korea Republic. Our chief aim is World Cup qualification.

I hope we can achieve a miracle. But even if we fail to make it, we should make sure that the team make good progress in the process and build for the future. Then we will switch our focus to the next Asian Cup.”

MentalityChina have long been considered as one of Asia’s perennial

under-achievers when it comes to FIFA World Cup qualifying; the world’s most-populous nation have failed to make it to Asia’s final qualifying round for the past three World Cups. Supporters have found it difficult to understand why their players, despite twice winning the AFC Champions League and storming into the last eight in the last AFC Asian Cup, have disappointed in World Cup qualifying. For Lippi, though, his answer is to first enhance the players’ pride of playing for the country.

“I don’t know why the same players perform differently with club and country,” he asked. “While they impress in both the league and Asian campaign (the AFC Champions League) with their respective clubs, they under-perform on the international scene. Their performance with the national team is just 40 percent as good as their displays with the clubs. They should be aware what responsibilities they shoulder once donning the national team jersey. It is the top honour for a player to play for their country.”

Team synergy is another area where the team needs to improve, according to the former Juventus manager. “There is no gap in class existing between us and the rivals,” he continued. “But we need to learn to battle as a unit. Our players should help each other on the pitch in difficult times and by doing so, we will feel strong against any opposition.

“Our players were not in peak form (in the past games) but they proved that they are by no means the underdogs,” he said. “(Despite the results), the past matches were no one-way traffic in the favour of the rivals. We produced chances of our own and the opponents were far from being dominant.”

Belief in the winning teamMany coaches believe in not changing a winning squad and Lippi

is no exception. Having successfully taken Guangzhou Evergrande to three consecutive league titles and an Asian championship, he maintains his trust with his former side by selecting as many as seven players from Guangzhou as he aims to forge a competitive side against Qatar in his first game in charge. Most notably, former AFC Player of the Year Zheng Zhi earns his return to the national team and is given back the captain’s armband.

“There will be six to seven players from the same club (Guangzhou Evergrande), with whom we will decide the new line-up,” Lippi explained when addressing the press. “These are the players who have spent years training and playing together so they have telegraphic understanding with each other. This is the key for us to play well against Qatar. Of course, I will use good players from other clubs to provide the fresh drive and thrust to the team.”

Top on his non-Guangzhou players list is, of course, Shanghai SIPG striker Wu Lei who was recently named among the three-man nominees for this year’s AFC Player of the Year award. Despite failing to find the back of the net in third round qualifying, he completed a brace as Lippi’s new-look team comfortably won 5-0 against local Wuhan in a pre-match warm-up.

“Coach Lippi is always encouraging us to believe in ourselves,” said Wu. “He tells us that we are not lacking in abilities but confidence. He urges us to feel strong. He says that we have yet to be written off. We won’t give up as long as we have even a shimmer of hope.”

(Source: AFC)

Olympic gold medalist Iliadis nominated to coach Iran judo

Ilias Iliadis has been nominated to take charge of the Iranian national judo team.

Mohammad Derakhshan, the newly-appointed president of Iran’s judo federation, said that they have reached an initial agreement with the Georgian-born Greek coach.

According to Derakhshan, they negotiated with the 30-year-old trainer in Abu Dhabi, the UAE.

After the Rio Olympics, Iliadis announced his retirement from the sport.

Iliadis won a gold medal in the half-middleweight (81 kg) division at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens at age 17. He also won three gold medals in the world championships.

Iliadis carried Greece’s flag at the Bird’s Nest Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

(Source: Tasnim)

S P O R T Sd e s k

Everton boss Ronald Koeman has confirmed he is in-terested in signing Manchester United forward Mem-phis Depay.

Former United boss Louis van Gaal signed Depay, 22, from PSV Eindhoven in 2015 but the Netherlands interna-tional has struggled to meet expectations at Old Trafford despite glimpses of his potential.

Depay has started only one game in all competitions since Jose Mourinho took over in the summer and he is re-ported to be surplus to requirements, with Everton among the clubs linked.

Asked about the attacker, Koeman told Fox Sports’ “De

Tafel van Kees” programme: “I would like to have him.“I think he is an interesting player. He has great individ-

ual qualities. He just needs to play games.”He added: “At the start of his time at Manchester United,

he showed how good he is.”Depay finished the 2014-15 season with PSV as the Ere-

divisie’s top scorer and he had been linked with a number of elite clubs, including Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain.

Koeman said he had also tried to sign Depay when he was in charge of Southampton but added: “He chose Man-chester United, which was a logical choice.”

The Everton boss also said recently he would be interested in signing United captain Wayne Rooney.

(Source: Soccernet)

Iran’s Eshagh Zaab claimed a bronze medal at the 18th edition of the Asian

Youth Weightlifting Championships on Sunday. Zaab won the bronze medal in the 69kg weight cate-

gory after he lifted an aggregate of 273kg. He lifted 125kg in snatch and 148kg in clean and jerk.Zhakhansha Arystanbek from Kazakhstan won the gold

medal with a total of 283kg.Nguyen Quang Truong from Vietnam won the silver

medal by lifting an aggregate of 281kg.The the 18th edition of the Asian Youth Weightlift-

ing Championships got underway at the Otaku City Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan from November Novem-ber 8 to 16.

Everton boss Ronald Koeman keen on Man United forward Memphis Depay

Iran’s Zaab claims Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships bronze medal

National Iranian Pahlavani wrestling team has been crowned as the champion at the first edition of Pahlavani Wrestling World Championship in Belarus.

The Iranian outfit stood on top of the podium with a total of six (four gold, one silver and one bronze) medals, having collected 57 points. Turkey finished in the second place, and Russia landed in the third spot.

On Saturday, Hamid Elahian won the yellow metal after overcoming Russian competitor Imam Adzhiev in the final bout of 70-kilogram weight category.

Additionally, in the men’s 90-kilogram division, Esmaeil Nejatian got the better of Turkish rival Ahmet Bilici in the final contest to add another gold to the Islamic Republic’s medal tally at the tournament.

Javad Mahjoub and Ahmad Mirzapour also managed to clinch two more gold medals in the 100-kilogram and over 100-kilogram weight divisions, respectively.

Jalal Alizadeh , who had prevailed over Georgian, Belarusian and Kazakh wrestlers in the march to the final contest of 60-kilogram weight category, was downed by technical fall to Azerbaijani opponent Jalal Suleymanov and received the silver medal.

Ahmad Jafakesh also claimed a bronze medal in the 80-kilogram weight section.

The first edition of Pahlavani Wrestling World Championship opened in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on November 10 and finished on November 13, 2016.

The tournament attracted wrestlers from 45 world countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cuba, Estonia, France, Georgia, Hungary, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States and Uzbekistan.

(Source: PressTV)

Iran’s male national kickboxing team has won the World Kickboxing Federation (WKF) World Championship 2016 in Italy.

On Saturday and the final day of the competitions in the southern Italian city of Andria, the Iranian eight-member delegation took the honors with a total of eight medals (7 golds and one bronze).

In the final fight of the minus 60-kilogram low kick style competitions, Mohammad Javad Heidari overwhelmed a representative from Canada and struck the gold medal.

Ali Farahzadeh scooped the second gold for the Islamic Republic of Iran in the minus 63.5-kilogram class.

Abouzar Lorestani also emerged victorious in his final bout and was awarded the gold medal in the minus 71-kilogram weight division.

Sajjad Ghorbani defeated a French com-petitor in the final contest of the 75-kilo-gram class and received the gold medal.

Ali Taklou won another gold medal for Iran in the minus 86-kilogram weight class. Sina Karimian and Ja’far Ahmadi received gold medals in the minus 91-kilogram and over 90-kilogram contests respectively.

Additionally, Javad Shahbazi earned a bronze medal in the minus 81-kilogram class.

The World Kickboxing Federation (WKF) World Championship 2016 started in Andria, Italy, on November 7, and concluded on November 12.

The tournament saw the participation of tens of kickboxers from different countries, including Austria, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Germany, Iran, Ireland, Lebanon, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Uruguay, and the United States.

Argentina’s national kickboxing team finished vice champion, while the French outfit stood on the bronze podium.

(Source: PressTV)

Iranian squad crested at world kickboxing champion

National Iranian Pahlavani wrestling team has been crowned as the champion at the first edition of Pahlavani Wrestling World Championship in Belarus.

The Iranian outfit stood on top of the podium with a total of six (four gold, one silver and one bronze) medals, having collected 57 points. Turkey finished in the second place, and Russia landed in the third spot.

On Saturday, Hamid Elahian won the yellow metal after overcoming Russian competitor Imam Adzhiev in the final bout of 70-kilogram weight category.

Additionally, in the men’s 90-kilogram division, Esmaeil Nejatian got the better of Turkish rival Ahmet Bilici in the final contest to add another gold to the Islamic Republic’s medal tally at the tournament.

Javad Mahjoub and Ahmad Mirzapour also managed to clinch two more gold medals in the 100-kilogram and over 100-kilogram weight

divisions, respectively.Jalal Alizadeh , who had prevailed

over Georgian, Belarusian and Kazakh wrestlers in the march to the final contest of 60-kilogram weight category, was downed by technical fall to Azerbaijani opponent Jalal Suleymanov and received the silver medal.

Ahmad Jafakesh also claimed a bronze medal in the 80-kilogram weight section.

The first edition of Pahlavani Wres-tling World Championship opened in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on No-vember 10 and finished on November 13, 2016.

The tournament attracted wrestlers from 45 world countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cuba, Estonia, France, Georgia, Hungary, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States and Uzbekistan.

(Source: PressTV)

Iran crowned at Pahlavani Wrestling World Championship

Iran crowned at Pahlavani Wrestling World Championship

b

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I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Yh t t p : / / w w w . t e h r a n t i m e s . c o m / c u l t u r e

THE bird of gardens sang unto the rose,New blown in the clear dawn: “Bow down thy head!

Hafez

Poem of the day

SINCE 1979Prayer Times

TEHRAN — Strings of wood beads reflecting the portraits of 100 famous

Iranian cinema and theater figures have been put on display in an exhibition now underway in Aryana Gallery.

Actors Behzad Farahani, Amin Tarokh, Majid Mozaffari and Farhad Aiish were among the participants at the opening ceremony.

A group of one hundred artists under the supervision of Hiva Pashai gathered to make the portraits with assorted colorful wood beads, and the project took about six months to complete, Niavaran Cultural Center announced in a press release on Sunday.

Visiting the exhibit, Tarokh said that he believes the artists have pursued a special objective in creating the portraits and that is highlighting the sanctity of art.

Stage director Qotbeddin Sadeqi regarded the exhibit a significant innovation, and said, “I have not seen such a fine innovation as big as this, and I have great admiration and respect for this exhibit. I hope this type of art concentrates on sports and literary figures as well.”

Film critic Akbar Alami, who is also one of the members of the policymaking council of the exhibit, said that the portraits were selected with extraordinary precision.

Aiish, whose portrait is among those hanging on the wall, called the exhibit very attractive and said the selection of different artists has greatly helped in the success of the exhibit.

The exhibit will be running until Thursday at the gallery located at No.9, Fereshteh St., in the Elahieh neighborhood.

Bowie artworks fetch $30 million in first round of auction

Oscar winner Ennio Morricone honors homeless at Vatican concertVATICAN CITY (Reuters) — Homeless people were the guests of honor on Saturday night at a special benefit concert in the Vatican conducted by Oscar winning composer Ennio Morricone.

Morricone, 88, who won this year’s Academy Award for “The Hateful Eight”, premiered a new, short composition for the event called “God, One of Us”, and also conducted the orchestra in some of his most famous film sound tracks.

They included three tracks from one of his most evocative sound scores, for the 1986 film “The Mission”, by Roland Joffe and one from Sergio Leone’s 1984 film “Once Upon a Time in America”.

Several thousand of Rome’s homeless were given pride of place in the front rows of the large auditorium where Pope Francis holds some of his general audiences. Diplomats, Vatican officials and other VIPs were behind them.

“I live in a tent. It was something else for me to be in the front row here,” said Attila, a 48-year-old Hungarian man who lost his construction job in Rome and was brought to the concert by a Catholic charity.

The pope is due to say a special Mass in honor of homeless people on Sunday as part of the Roman Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy.

TEHRAN — The reading performance section of the 35th

Fajr International Theater Festival opened in Tehran’s City Theater Complex on Sunday.

“Algerian Butterfly” by writer Payam Larian and “Sleepwalker ” by Navid Izadyar were staged on the first day, the organizers of the festival announced in a press release on Sunday.

“Huntington’s Dance” by Mohammadreza Arab Yarmohammadi, and “Don’t Worry, Chew Gum” by Amir Lashgari will be staged today.

On Tuesday, the two reading performances “Have Colorful Dreams Man” by writer Masud Shakarami

and “Bleeding” by Mojtaba Aqa Babai will go on stage.

“The Wheel” by Mohsen Azimi and “3600 Seconds of Dying” by AmirHossein Behbahani-Nia will be the Wednesday reading performances.

The last day is dedicated to “Snow Warms up the Earth” by Maryam Mansuri and “Private Museum” by Tahmineh Mohammadi.

According to the secretary of the festival, Saeid Asadi, the festival’s programs are not fixed until the month of February, that is, the event is now underway and will continue through February, but with an assortment of programs.

LONDON (Reuters) — A first auction of items from late rock star David Bowie’s private art collection has fetched more than $30 million, with some going far above their estimated prices.

In a packed salesroom on Thursday evening, auction house Sotheby’s held its first of three “Bowie/Collector” sales of art owned by the music icon, who died in January at the age of 69, raising 24.3 million pounds ($30.66 million).

“David always enjoyed sharing the works in the collection, loaning to museums and actively supporting the art and artists that were part of his world,” a Sotheby’s statement quoted

the Bowie estate as saying.“While the family have kept certain

pieces of particular significance, now was the time for others to share David’s love for these remarkable works and let them live on.”

Among the works under the hammer was late American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting “Air Power”, which sold for 7.1 million pounds ($8.96 million) including the buyer’s premium - far more than its estimated 2.5 million-3.5 million.

British artist Frank Auerbach’s “Head of Gerda Boehm” went for 3.8 million pounds. Its estimate had been 300,000-500,000.

Noon:11:49 Evening: 17:17 Dawn: 5:14 (tomorrow) Sunrise: 6:40 (tomorrow)

PICTURE OF THE DAY Mehr/Asghar Khamseh

Managing Director: Ali Asgari Editor-in-Chief: Hassan Lasjerdi Editorial Dept.: Fax: (+98(21) 88808214 editor@tehrantimes.com Switchboard Operator: Tel: (+98 21) 43051000 Advertisements Dept.: Telefax: (+98 21) 43051450 ads@tehrantimes.com Public Relations Office: Tel: (+98 21) 88805807 Subscription & Distribution Dept.: Tel: (+98 21) 43051603 www.eshterak.ir Distributor: Padideh Novin Co. Tel: 88911433 Webmaster: webmaster@tehrantimes.comPrinted at: Kayhan - ISSN: 1017-94

Actors Hossein Moheb Ahari (R) and Atila Pesyani exchange greetings during a meeting organized by stage artists at Tehran’s Honar Theater on November 12, 2016 to raise the spirits of Moheb Ahari in his battle with lymphoma.

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NOVEMBER 14, 2016

35th Fajr Intl. Theater Festival kicks off with reading performance section

“Lanturi” named best at Braunschweig Intl.

Film FestivalTEHRAN — Iranian director Reza Dormishian

acclaimed acid attack drama “Lanturi” has won the award for best film at the Braunschweig International Film Festival in Germany.

Dormishian dedicated his award to veteran Iranian makeup artist Abdollah Eskandari and also remembered late renowned filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami at the closing ceremony of the festival that was held at the Braunschweig City Hall on Saturday evening, the Persian service of ISNA reported on Sunday.

“This award is important for me, so I dedicate it to one of Iran’s prominent artists, master Abdollah Eskandari, the makeup designer for ‘Lanturi’,” Dormishian said in his acceptance speech.

He also called Eskandari the “honor and identity of Iranian cinema.”

Starring Navid Mohammadzadeh, Maryam Palizban and Baran Kowsari, the film tells the story of a gang member Pasha who runs amok because Maryam, a socially committed, self-confident journalist, does not reciprocate his feelings. The badly injured young woman demands lex talionis – the law, applicable in Iran, of “an eye for an eye”.

“The Salt Man” wins grand prix at Prvi Kadar filmfest

TEHRAN — Iranian filmmaker Seyyed Sajjad Musavi’s short film

“The Salt Man” won the Grand Prix of the 10th edition of the Prvi Kadar, an international festival for documentary and short films, which was held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina from November 6 to 11.

The 15-miniute drama is about Dr. Saeid Aram, an Iranian artistic genius who is obliged to work in a salt mine with his six-year-old daughter.

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Colorful wood beads form top artists’ portraits

Veteran actor Amin Tarokh poses beside his portrait in an undated photo.

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Exground festival screening Iranian films

TEHRAN — A lineup of Iranian films are currently on screen in the various sections

of the 29th Exground FilmFest, which opened in the German city of Wiesbaden on Friday.

“Starless Dreams” by Mehrdad Oskui will be screened in the documentary competition.

“Pale Mirrors” by Salem Salavati and “The Salt Man” by Seyyed Sajjad Musavi are among the films selected for the official competition of the festival, which will run until November 20.

This year’s festival also spotlights Iranian cinema by organizing a section named “Focus Iran”. Twelve films have been selected to screen in this section.

“A Dragon Arrives” by Mani Haqiqi, “Being Born” by Mohsen Abdolvahab, “Two” by Soheila Golestani and “Valderrama” by Abbas Amini will be shown in this section.

The festival is also organizing “Short Films Iran”, a program that reviews eight short films from Iranian directors.

“Darkened Water” by Alireza Dehqan, “The Gambler” by Karim Lakzadeh and “Ice Water” by Jalal Saedpanah are among the shorts.

Five decades and 200 films later, Jackie Chan ‘finally’ wins OscarLOS ANGELES (Reuters) — When Jackie Chan saw an Oscar at Sylvester Stallone’s house 23 years ago, he said that was the moment he decided he wanted one.

On Saturday at the annual Governors Awards, the Chinese actor and martial arts star finally received his little gold statuette, an honorary Oscar for his decades of work in film.

“After 56 years in the film industry, making more than 200 films, after so many bones, finally,” Chan, 62, quipped at the star-studded gala dinner while holding his Oscar.

The actor recalled watching the ceremony with his parents and his father always asking him why he didn’t have Hollywood’s top accolade despite having made so many movies.

He praised his hometown Hong Kong for making him “proud to be Chinese,” and thanked his fans, saying they were the reason “I continue to make movies, jumping through windows, kicking and punching, breaking my bones.”

The actor was introduced by his “Rush Hour” co-star Chris Tucker, actress Michelle Yeoh and Tom Hanks, who referred to him as “Jackie ‘Chantastic’ Chan.”

Hanks said it was especially gratifying to be able to acknowledge Chan’s work because martial arts and action comedy films were two genres often overlooked during awards season.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, hosts of the annual ceremony, also bestowed honorary Oscars on British film editor Anne V. Coates, casting director Lynn Stalmaster and prolific documentarian Frederick Wiseman.

The evening was attended by Hollywood’s elite, including Denzel Washington, Lupita Nyong’o, Nicole Kidman, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Amy Adams and Dev Patel.

Stalmaster, 88, credited with securing career-defining roles for actors such as Jeff Bridges, Andy Garcia, Christopher Reeve and John Travolta, is the first casting director to receive an Oscar.

Coates, 90, who won the film editing Oscar for 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia” and has edited more than 50 films, said she shared her honorary Oscar “with all the unsung heroes” of filmmaking.

City Theater Complex, Tehran