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The 38th edition of the Fajr Film Festival, which features the major productions of the Iranian cinema every year during February, will be dominated by political and social dramas.

A large number of Iranian cineastes announced that they would not take part in the festival in sympathy for the victims of the Ukrainian jetliner, which was unintentionally targeted by Iran.

In any case, the festival kicks off today without an opening ceremony.

tehrantimes.com

India raised taxes on imports of goods such as electronic items, toys and furniture, aiming to give impetus to domestic manufacturing in a move that will hit Sweden’s IKEA and other foreign firms.

IKEA’s India CEO Peter Betzel said the company was disappointed with the increase. “We are further evaluating the impact of the hike on our total business,” he said. IKEA, which has committed more than 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in India investments, imports roughly 75% of goods sold in the country.

reuters.com

Tokyo Electric has collected nearly 1.2 million tons of contaminated water from cooling pipes used to keep fuel cores from melting since the plant was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami which hit eastern Japan in 2011. A panel of experts working for Japan’s economy and industry ministry concluded that letting the water run into the sea was the best option after looking at other proposals.

independent.co.uk

Visitors to the month-long show which opened yesterday at the National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) can relive the past through the 12 vehicles that could be seen plying on Qatar's roads in the 70's, 80's and 90s spread around NMoQ's Baraha Square.

Bouthayna Baltaji, Acting Head of Exhibitions Section at NMoQ said “The whole idea was to show how some things may have changed with modernization, but also some things have stayed very much the same”.

menafn.com

Head with Horns has been exhibited as a major Gauguin work in some of the world’s leading museums. It was taken off display by the Getty last year, and is now expected to remain in storage. Outsiders believe that the sculpture may have cost around $3m-$5m.

theartnewspaper.com

"My dream has officially come true," said Kenin, the eighth first-time women's champion in the past 12 Slams. Kenin won 4-6 6-2 6-2 against two-time major winner Spain's Garbine Muguruza in Melbourne.

U.S tennis player, who turned 21 in November, is the youngest Australian Open champion since Russian Maria Sharapova in 2008.

bbc.com

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi announced his resignation on Friday after a call from Iraq’s top Shi’ite Muslim cleric for the government to step down to end weeks of deadly unrest.

The four-atom intermediate formed upon collision is typically too scarce and short-lived to spot, even using ultrafast techniques. 

Calcutta in the late 1770s was Asia's biggest boom town: known as the City of Palaces, the East India Company's bridgehead in Bengal had doubled in size to 400,000 inhabitants in a decade.

Pope Francis ordered the return of the thumb-sized relic from Rome's Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore as a gift.

Wearing a fake suicide vest and wielding knives, Usman Khan went on the rampage on Friday afternoon at a conference on criminal rehabilitation beside London Bridge. He was wrestled to the ground by bystanders and then shot dead by police.

The people injured were discharged from hospital late on Friday.

Prime Minister Edi Rama said preliminary figures showed more than 1,465 buildings in the capital, Tirana, and about 900 in nearby Durres were seriously damaged in Tuesday’s 6.4-magnitude pre-dawn quake.

The Simpsons is currently in its 31st season on Fox and was renewed in February for a record-setting 32nd season due to air in the 2020-21 television season. If Elfman is right, that means the show could go off air in two years.

Scientists say they've found evidence of an incredibly large stellar black hole, an object they didn't believe could exist.

Judiciary committee chairman said on Friday he looks forward to ‘prompt response’ while president is at his Florida golf club.