** IRAN DAILY
-- Pezeshkian urges removal of barriers for energy investors
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday urged the removal of barriers to the advancement of investors in producing clean energy and using new technologies in the realm of power generation.
In a meeting, titled ‘Reviewing Solutions to Address Power Shortages and Developing Renewable Power Plants’, he noted that all necessary permits should be issued and made available to the active private sector in energy field before upcoming peak days for electricity.
-- VP highlights Iran’s keenness to implement undersea project with Qatar
First Vice President Mohammadreza Aref highlighted the importance of building the longest undersea tunnel in the world between Iran and Qatar and said both countries are pursuing this giant project, as Iran has tasked a specialized group for preliminary studies that will be deployed in the coming weeks to Doha for negotiations.
During a meeting on Saturday with Saad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud Al-Sharif, the newly-appointed Ambassador of Qatar to Tehran, Aref emphasized that the views of the two sides are very close on regional and international issues, especially political ones.
-- Iranian students shine at Indonesia’s ISIF, winning 5 golds, 2 special awards
Iranian students clinched five gold medals and two special awards at the International Science and Invention Fair (ISIF) 2024, being held in Indonesia from November 5 to 10.
According to Mehdi Rashidi Jahan, head of the Iranian team, the country’s student inventors have made a significant impact at the prestigious event, which drew 1,098 teams from 24 countries competing across eight fields, including technical and engineering, chemistry and nanotechnology, biotechnology and environment, energy engineering, physics and astronomy, artificial intelligence and technology, social sciences, and education and educational technologies.
** KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL
-- Iran, Pakistan mark Day of Allama Iqbal Lahori
Iran and Pakistan on Saturday paid respect to Allama Muhammad Iqbal, famous for composing poems in Urdu and Farsi, who plays a key role in cementing cultural affinity between the two neighbors.
Born on November 9, 1877, Allama Iqbal was a prominent South Asian poet, recognized for his influential poetry and thought. He passed away on April 21, 1938.
The birth anniversary of the prominent figure this year fell on Saturday. His work is celebrated as some of the finest poetry of the 20th century.
-- Former ECB chief: EU needs urgent economic overhaul
The European Union urgently needs a major economic revamp to restore the bloc’s competitiveness, former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has warned.
The official, who previously also served as Italy’s prime minister, originally presented a gloomy report on the state of the EU’s economy back in September.
Speaking to Politico, Draghi argued that while “some of his report’s suggestions... were urgent even before because the European economy was stagnating, they are even more urgent today,” with Donald Trump having been elected U.S. president.
-- Iraq, Iran handball teams share spoils in friendly
Iran’s national handball team was held against Iraq 23-23 in a friendly match Friday night. Team Melli, who have traveled to Najaf for their training camp, had defeated Iraq on Wednesday 24-23 in its first match.
The Iran handball team is headed by Spanish coach Rafael Guijosa Castillo. Guijosa, 55, experiences his second stint in the Iran national team. He helped Team Melli win a bronze medal in the Asian championship in Bahrain in 2014.
** TEHRAN TIMES
-- Iran’s “In the Arms of the Tree” to compete at Asian World Film Festival
“In the Arms of the Tree” by Iranian director Babak Khajepasha will go on screen at the main section of the 10th edition of Asian World Film Festival (AWFF), which will be held in Culver City, California, the U.S.
The film follows the struggles of an entrepreneurial family on the verge of collapse. At the heart of the story is Kimia, a northern mother grappling with the trauma of past abuse and a debilitating fear of distance. Her husband, Farid, an Azeri father with a passion for travel and medicinal plants, adds to the tension as the couple prepares for a separation exercise.
-- Iran’s nominal power generation capacity rises 1.5% in H1
The nominal capacity of Iran’s power plants reached 93,798 megawatts (MW) in the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-September 21), 1406 MW or 1.5 percent more than the figure for the previous year’s same period.
As Tasnim News Agency reported, from the country’s total electricity generation capacity 16.9 percent is the share of thermal power plants, 26.3 percent is the share of gas power plants, combined cycle power plants account for 38.2 percent of the total figure, hydroelectric power plants account for 13 percent, nuclear power plants provide 1.1 percent, distributed generation power plants 2.8 percent, and finally renewable power plants account for 1.4 percent of the country’s power generation capacity.
-- Iranian students win gold medals in ISIF 2024
Iran grabbed five gold medals and two special awards in the International Science and Invention Fair (ISIF) 2024, which was held in Indonesia from November 5 to 10.
The competition brought together 1,980 teams from 24 countries competing in eight fields including technical- engineering, chemistry and nanotechnology, biotechnology and environment, energy engineering, physics and astronomy, artificial intelligence and technology, social sciences, education, and educational technologies.
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