Iranian Male and Female Kumite Senior Teams claimed the titles of the 14th Asian Karate Federation (AKF) Senior Championships on Sunday.

Kumite Male Senior Team consists of Bahman Asgari Ghoncheh, Aliasghat Asiabari, Sajjad Ganjzadeh, Ebrahim Hassanbeigi, Saman Heydari, Mehdi Khodabakhshi and Zabihollah Poorshab won the title after defeating Saudi Arabia 3-0 in the final match.

The Iranian team also defeated India, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. The Iranian Kumite Female Senior team also won the title, beating Chinese Taipei 3-2 in the final match.

The Iranian woman team previously beat Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan on the way to the final match.

The competitions were held in Astana, Kazakhstan. / Tehran times /

Iranian animated piece ‘The Servant’ by Farnoosh Abedi has won the second Best Animation Award at the 20th San Francisco Black Film Festival (SFBFF).

The 20th edition of San Francisco Black Film Festival (SFBFF) announced Farnoosh Abedi’s highly-acclaimed animation ‘The Servant’ as runner up in the best animation category of the American film festival. The first prize went to ‘Abina and the Important Men’ by Soumyaa Behrens.

According to Abedi, ‘The Servant’ narrates the familiar story of a master and his servant, the story of a writer’s encounter with a gigantic insect: a cockroach. The cockroach becomes a servant but gradually begins to realize that it deserves better conditions, so it tries to turn the table and change the game in its own favor. The man, however, attempts to preserve the current situation but soon realizes that the game has no rules.

‘Servant’ has recently won Best Short Animation award at Querétaro International Film Festival in Mexico, as well as the 2017 Silver Scream Festival in California and the Audience award at 13th International Fantastic Film Festival of Porto Alegre (Fantaspoa) in Brazil.

San Francisco Black Film Festival was founded to celebrate African American cinema and provide a platform for Black filmmakers, screenwriters, and actors to present their art. It was later expanded to include a global perspective, accepting films worldwide from filmmakers and screenwriters who are of African descent and others.

The 20th edition of San Francisco Black Film Festival (SFBFF) was held on 15-18 June 2017 in California, US.  / Meher news /

Iranian short film ‘Lunch Time’ won three awards at The Porto Alegre Screenwriting Festival – FRAPA, in Brazil.

Lunch Time, directed by Alireza Ghasemi, narrates the story of a 16-year-old girl who has come to the hospital to identify the body of her mother. The people in charge at the hospital – due to her young age – won’t let her into the morgue.

Earlier, Lunch Time had become the official selection of Cannes Court Metrage (Cannes Short Film Corner) with the selection committee receiving 4843 short films from which 9 films from Finland, France, United Kingdom, Denmark, Greece, Iran, the US, Poland, China, Colombia, and Sweden were shortlisted.

Khorshid Cheraghipour, Rooya Bakhtiari, Amir Taghdiri, Peyman Naemi, Siavash Cheraghipour, Bahram Emrani, Pouria Akhavan, Mohammad Hadadi, Alireza Ghasemi, Mahdi Yegane, Arash Ghasemi are among the cast members of Lunch Time.

The Porto Alegre Screenwriting Festival – FRAPA is the first Latin American screenwriting festival focused in film and television. Since its first year, the festival has become a powerful space to think and debate screenwriting in Latin America, bringing hundreds of professionals from all over the continent to the South Brazilian capital of Porto Alegre and contributing for the exchange of experiences, the qualification of professionals and the celebration of new partnerships in Brazilian TV and film production. / Meher news /

Iran’s exports of dairy products rose by 92 percent in the first 2 months of the current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21, 2017, compared to the same period last year.

According to statistics released by the Iran Customs Administration, some 198,000 tons of dairies were exported in the 2-month timespan in comparison with 103,000 tons the year before, ISNA quoted Deputy Agriculture Minister Hassan Rokni as saying.

The products have been exported mainly to the neighboring countries, Central Asia, Europe, and Russia, he said.

Iran exported 850,000 tons of dairy products in the past Iranian calendar year (which ended on March 20), while the figure was 600,000 tons in its preceding year, Fars news agency reported in late March quoting Rokni as saying.

The official announced that Russia jointed the importers of Iran’s dairy products in the past year.

While putting emphasis on supporting milk producers in the country, he expressed hope for an improvement in the production and export of dairy products. / Tehran times /

In line with the guidelines of Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, educational facilities have been provided to more than 80,000 children of both legal and illegal foreign refugees during 2014 and 2015, said director general of Interior Ministry’s Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs.

Ahmad Mohammadifar said, “We established one class for every 30 foreign pupils during the period, thus the total of 2,600 classes have been added to the country’s educational capacity.”

The official noted that 250 schools should be constructed nationwide to meet the educational requirements of foreign refugees, adding 30 schools have so far been established in cooperation with the UN in 2016.

He added that more than 330 children of foreign nationals received education in Iranian schools before 2014.

Mohammadifar said immigrants made up four percent of Iran’s population, adding based on figures released by the UN, Iran is the world’s fourth destination for foreign refugees.

“About 11 percent of Afghan population, which is roughly three million legal and illegal refugees, are living in Iran”, he said, underlining that healthcare facilities are also available to all refugees.

He said free health insurance coverage has been extended for 114,000 foreign nationals residing in Iran, adding ground has been prepared to increase the figure to 800,000.

/ Iran Daily /

Iran’s athletics squad collected one bronze and four gold medals to occupy the fourth position overall in the 22nd edition of Asian Athletics Championships.

Host India won the title at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships which was held from 6 July to 9 July 2017 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar state.

Of the 14 athletes who represented Iran in the prestigious sportive event, Ehsan Haddadi, Ali Samari, Hassan Taftian and Hossein Keyhani claimed gold medals in discus throw, hammer throw, 100m spring and 3000m steeplechase events, respectively.

The only bronze medal of the Iranian outfit was bagged by Mohsen Niadoost who took part in the 1500meter race.

Persian athletes ranked fourth in the final table of medals and achieved their best ever performance in the history of the Asian competitions.

Indians collected 12 gold, five silver and 12 bronze medals to stand on top of the podium with a total of 29 trophies. China came second with 20 medals including eight gold, seven silver and five bronze medals. The third position was taken by Kazakh athletes who earned four golds, two silvers and two bronzes. Iran, Vietnam and South Korea ranked fourth to sixth with five, four and four medals respectively. / Meher news /

Iranian director Ebrahim Hatamikia’s political drama “The Bodyguard” won three awards at the Vienna Independent Film Festival, the organizers announced on Friday.

The films brought Hatamikia the awards for best director and best art direction and its star Babak Hamidian received the award for best supporting actor during the closing ceremony of the event.

The film tells the story of a middle-aged bodyguard who protects a politician from a suicide bomber, and then begins to question his dedication to his job.

The grand prix of the event went to “Million Loves in Me” directed by Sampson Yuen from Hong Kong, while “Platonov” by German director Andreas Morell was named best film.

John Yiu was crowned best actor for his role in “Million Loves in Me”, which also won the award for best original screenplay by Yiu, Tiong Wooi Lim and Jeremy Tan.

“Forgiveness” by Lebanese director Rima Irani won the best short film award and “Chasing Stars” directed by Markus Eichenberger from Switzerland and “The Writer with No Hands” by British filmmaker William Westaway shared the award for best documentary film.

/ Tehran times /

Iran’s Wrestling Federation says that the United World Wrestling (UWW) has accepted its proposal to allow the women wrestlers to participate in the competition with Islamic dress code.

Iran offered the suggestion in December last year in the center of United World Wrestling Committee of Associated Styles in Istanbul, Turkey.

According to media reports, Iran is set to host a three-a-side women wrestling tournament with Iranian and foreign countries.

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has already agreed a new rule to come into force in October this year that will allow players to wear a headgear that minimizes the risk of injury and is the same color as a team’s kit. / Tehran times /

Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice, used to give a golden yellow color to food and its distinct flavor.

A National Geographic report surveyed the crocus fields of Iran, where more than 90% of the world’s saffron are produced.

Saffron is known as the most valuable plant in the world and has been growing in Iran for thousands of years. It stems from Iran’s history. Before it’s bottled and sold in western grocery stores, saffron begins its life cycle in the Middle East as a delicate purple flower.

The sweetly floral substance is derived from the crocus flower’s dried stamen and the flower only blooms for about a week every year. But harvesting these pollen-producing parts is neither easy, nor cheap for farmers. It takes them 40 hours to handpick enough stamens to produce a single pound of saffron, and a football field’s worth of flowers to boot. For this reason, pound for pound, saffron is more expensive than gold.

Knowledge and experience about saffron have been developed and passed from generation to generation. Since saffron does not need too much water to grow, it suits Iran’s climate.

Iran is currently the biggest producer of this delicacy in the world. Its production of 360 tons of dry saffron per year has accorded the country more than 90% share of the global production.

FAO’s representative recently acknowledged that Iranian saffron is undoubtedly the best in the world.

Saffron is used in traditional medicine for improving the cardiovascular system and creating joy. It has been found to help fight cancer, improve memory and impart many other medical benefit.

It is interesting to know that 170,000 flowers weigh 100 kilograms, from which only 1 kilogram of dry saffron can be produced.

“More than 172 tons of saffron worth $246.7 million were exported from Iran to 47 countries, including the US, in the last Iranian year that ended March 20, 2017, up 32.3% in weight compared to the previous year,” said the chairman of Iran’s National Saffron Center, Gholamreza Miri, who expects exports to see a further 20% rise this year.

Last year, the area under saffron cultivation increased from 88,000 to 95,000 hectares.

Close to 95% of Iranian saffron are produced in the two provinces of South Khorasan and Khorasan Razavi both in the country’s northeast. / Financial tribune /

‘What’s in Your Head?’ is the name of a solo exhibit by Iranian painter, video artist, filmmaker and photographer Samira Eskandarfar which is currently underway at Azad Art Gallery in Tehran.

“Most of the time I know what’s in my head. I look at them, sort them out and organize them. But sometimes I don’t know what’s going on in my head or what exactly is in there. I like it when it happens,” Eskandarfar, 37, said in an introduction to her exhibit, according to galleryinfo.ir.

“It was at such wonderful times that I created the drawings. I put the soft and slippery tip of the marker on the glossy surface of the cardboard and let it slide, freely and quickly. I did it when I had no idea what was in my head,” she said.

“I let it happen. I let all those unknown things on my mind to slide on the cardboard to see what’s going on in my head,” Eskandari added.

The exhibition features a collection of drawings and paintings through which visitors may be able to watch the inner processes of the artist’s mind.

‘What’s in Your Head’ will run through July 25. Visiting hours are from 4-8 pm. Azad Art Gallery is located at No. 5, Salmas Sq., Golha Sq., Fatemi St.

Born in Tehran, Eskandarfar, 37, started painting in 1998 and since 2003 she has held 17 solo exhibitions and made 16 short films and video arts.

She has participated in over hundred group exhibitions and screening events worldwide. Her works are focused on human relations and inner worlds. Portrait is her special interest. /  Financial tribune /