Protests erupt in Iran over high cost of living

Agencies
December 30, 2017

Hundreds of protesters have rallied in several Iranian cities against rising prices, unemployment and economic inequality, according to anti-government activists and Iran's semi-state news agency Fars.

About 300 people protested in Kermanshah, a city in western Iran, on Friday, according to Fars.

Police intervened after protesters damaged public property, the news agency reported.

Protests also broke out in the capital Tehran, according to social media.

The protests came after an earlier demonstration in Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city, on Thursday drew "thousands" of residents, anti-government activists said on social media.

Rallies were also held in a handful of other cities to decry rising food prices and other economic issues.

The prices of several staples, including eggs, have risen by up to 40 percent in recent days, the Associated Press news agency said.

Eshaq Jahangiri, Iran's first vice president, acknowledged that "there is an increase in the prices of some products", but said "the government is working on fixing the causes of the high prices".

Jahangiri also cast doubt on whether the protests were solely motivated by economic issues.

"The people behind what is taking place think they will be able to harm the government, but when social movements and protests start in the street, those who have ignited them are not always able to control them," he said.

High unemployment

In August, the Iranian Central Bank said inflation had reached 10 percent, the Tehran Times newspaper reported at the time.

The unemployment rate reached a three-year high of 12.7 percent last year, according to the World Bank.

Adnan Tabatabai, a political analyst and co-founder of the Germany-based Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient, wrote on Twitter that the protests "are driven by socioeconomic grievances, not political aspiration".

"Peaceful sit-ins, strikes & gatherings in front of ministries & state institutions have happened regularly in various parts of the country, as people continue to have unresolved/unaddressed economic grievances," Tabatabai wrote.

Still, the protests have also been conspicuous for their anti-government slogans.

On social media, anti-government activists said protesters had chanted for the release of political prisoners, while others reportedly shouted, "Death to Rouhani", referring to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, said news agency.

Rouhani, who was re-elected to a second term in May, has been under pressure from his conservative opponents inside Iran over perceived efforts to liberalise the country.

Tabatabai, the political analyst, said he did not believe the protests were the start of a revolutionary movement in Iran.

Instead, he wrote on Twitter that they signal that Rouhani, his government and Iran's political elite as a whole "must finally take [the] socioeconomic grievances" of ordinary Iranians seriously.

Videos of the protests in Mashhad, published by small reformist media group Nazar, showed people shouting "not Gaza, not Lebanon, my life for Iran", AFP reported.

The slogan reflects anger that the Iranian government is focusing on regional politics at the expense of tackling domestic issues.

Iran's semi-official news agency ILNA reported that about 50 people also protested in a public square in the capital, Tehran, on Friday, AP reported.

Mohsen Hamedani, the security deputy for Tehran's governor, said a few people were "temporarily arrested", but did not specify how many, said the news agency report.

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July 10,2020

New Delhi, Jul 10: With the highest single-day spike of 26,506 COVID-19 cases and 475 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the total number of COVID-19 cases in India reached 7,93,802 on Friday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Out of the total number of cases, 2,76,685 are active, 4,95,513 have been cured/discharged/migrated and 21,604 have died so far due to the infection.

With as many as 2,30,599 COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state, followed by Tamil Nadu (1,26,581) and Delhi (1,07,051).

Meanwhile, 2,83,659 samples were tested for coronavirus on Thursday, taking the total number of samples tested up to July 9 to 1,10,24,491, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

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June 15,2020

New Delhi, Jun 15: A total of 1,15,519 samples of COVID-19 have been tested in the last 24 hours taking the total samples tested to 57,74,133 in the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.

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The COVID-19 count includes 1,53,106 active cases while 1,69,798 patients have been cured and discharged or migrated so far, and the toll due to COVID-19 has now reached 9,520.

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News Network
July 20,2020

Abu Dhabi, Jul 20: The United Arab Emirates launched its first-ever interplanetary Hope Probe mission to Mars from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre at 01:58 a.m. (local time) on Monday.

"United Arab Emirates (UAE) launches its first mission to Mars, the 'Hope Mars Mission' from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center," UAE Space Agency said on its Twitter page.

The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars orbit in about 200 days from now and then begin its mission to study the Red Planet's atmosphere, WAM news agency reported.

Once it enters Mars' orbit in the first quarter of 2021, the Hope probe will mark the UAE's 50th anniversary.

The probe will travel 493 million kilometres into space in a journey that will take seven months, and will orbit the Red Planet for one full Martian year of 687 days to provide the first truly global picture of the Martian atmosphere.

The Hope probe will be the first to study the Martian climate throughout daily and seasonal cycles. It will observe the weather phenomena on Mars such as the massive famous dust storms that have been known to engulf the Red Planet, as compared to the short and localised dust storms on Earth.

It will also examine the interaction between the upper and lower layers of the Martian atmosphere and causes of the Red Planet's surface corrosion, as well as study why Mars is losing its upper atmosphere.

Exploring connections between today's Martian weather and the ancient climate of the Red Planet will give deeper insights into the past and future of Earth as well as the potential of life on Mars and other distant planets.

The Hope Mars Mission is considered as the biggest strategic and scientific national initiative announced by UAE's President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2014. The UAE will be the first Arab nation to embark on a space mission to the Red Planet in a journey that contributes to the international science community as a service to human knowledge.

The interplanetary mission is the first by any West Asian, Arab or Muslim majority country.

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