“100 WORKS, 100 ARTISTS” SELLS 38 ARTWORKS ON OPENING DAY Tehran’s Golestan Gallery, offering an impressive range of paintings, sculptures and calligraphy, sold 38 pieces of artwork on the opening day of the 18th edition of “100 Works, 100 Artists”. Led by Sohrab Sepehri’s pen and ink cock priced at 1.28 billion rials (about $128,000), the expo opened Friday displaying 250 items by 191 artists. The price of Sepehri’s pen and ink artwork was previously reported 1.2 billion rials (about $120,000) in a press release from the Public Relations Office of the gallery last week. tehrantimes.com August, 1 2010
	IRANIAN DUO WIN BRONZES IN ASIAN ALL-STAR ATHLETICS MEET Iranian athletes claimed two bronze medals in the Asian All-Star Athletics Meet on Friday. In the competitions held in Delhi, India Amin Nikfar claimed a bronze medal with a throw of 18.65 meters in the men’s shot put. Indian Om Prakash won gold with 19.74 meters, and his compatriot Saurabh Vij earned silver with 19.09 meters. In women’s 1500 meters, Iranian Leila Ebrahimi won a bronze with a time of 4:34.11 minutes. Indian Sinimol Paulose claimed the gold with an effort of 4:19.00 minutes, nearly three seconds less than her personal best of 4:15.42. Ekaterina Tunguskova from Uzbekistan was second with 4:26.01 minutes. tehrantimes.com August, 1 2010
	FUROR OF GERMAN LAWMAKER’S IRAN TRIP A top German politician has come in for criticism after announcing an official visit to Iran, only days after European leaders agreed on their toughest sanctions yet against the Islamic Republic. Legislator Rainer Stinner, foreign policy spokesperson for the Free Democratic, made the last-minute announcement of his trip July 29, via the Facebook social networking site. The 63-year-old politician said he would leave July 31 on an 11-day trip to Iran, in order to discuss "nuclear [issues] and the regional situation." He is then to visit India before returning to Berlin. Stinner said he would make the trip despite what he termed a protest campaign, and promised to “deal with all the tough questions” in his talks with political leaders and U.N. officials in the country. irannewsdaily.com August, 1 2010
	LARIJANI: IRAN NOT PURSUING DESIGNS OF REGIONAL EMPIRE Majlis Speaker, Ali Larijani, stressed in the city of Larijan, Mazandaran Province, yesterday evening that the growing influence of the Islamic Republic among the people of the region does not mean Iran is pursuing designs of an empire, as alleged by hegemonic powers and their local agents. According to IRIB, addressing a martyrs’ commemoration service in the city where his father, Ayatollah Mirza Hashem Amoli, is also buried, he pointed to the magnetic appeal of the thoughts and teachings of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, the late Imam Khomeini, among the people of several countries, saying “Islamic revolutionary Iran strives for equal relations with all and does not believe in having satellite states around it." english.irib.ir August, 1 2010
	NIKI KARIMI’S THIRD FILM NARRATES DOC DIRECTORS’ DILEMMA Iranian actress-cum-director Niki Karimi is making her third film, which is entitled “Narration”. Starring Shahab Hosseini, Ashkan Khatibi and Hasti Movahhedfar, the social drama narrates the story of a documentarian couple who get involved with the problems of the main character in their production. Asr-e Novin-Bita is a private company investing in this project. This is the first time one of Karimi’s movies is being funded by a private investor. The company will soon release the latest news and photos of the movie on its website. Producer Jahangir Kowsari is also collaborating with Karimi in this project. mehrnews.com August, 1 2010