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Iranian official: Growing leanings towards immigration among confectionery owners

Iran Confectionery

Ali Bahrehmand noted a shortage of workforce within the field while observing a trend of skilled labor migrating to European countries and Oman.

Regarding unethical practices, Bahrehmand lamented that some bakeries have been using subsidized flour to produce and sell pastries without facing repercussions. He pointed out that despite having 1,150 licensed confectioneries in Tehran and 35,000 nationwide, over 400 licenses had been rendered invalid due to closures.

Bahrehmand emphasized the potential for Iranian confectioners to export their products, citing prospects in Australia, Canada, Europe, Persian Gulf countries, and the Middle East.
However, the lack of governmental support and facilitation hindered their export endeavors, he added.

Lastly, Bahrehmand highlighted the rising quality and innovation within the confectionery sector while expressing discontent with any perceived decline in quality.

Gaza death toll nears 23k, at least 8,000 missing: Ministry

Gaza War

At least 113 Palestinians were killed and 250 wounded by Israeli bombardment over the past 24 hours in Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported on Sunday.

That brought the death toll in the territory since 7 October to 22,835, it said, adding that 58,416 others had been wounded during that time.

Real numbers are believed to be much higher as the authorities in Gaza have been unable to regularly update casualty numbers since last November amid a collapse of the enclave’s health system.

The spokesperson of Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza has also said more than 8,000 Palestinians in Gaza are missing, presumed to be buried under downed buildings, and tens of thousands have been displaced.

The rescue organisation hasn’t received enough fuel, disrupting 70 percent of its operational capabilities, Mahmoud Basal said, adding civil defence is in need of vital equipment to help people stuck under the rubble.

A human rights monitor said Friday more than 90,000 people, about 4% of the population in Gaza, are dead, wounded or missing.

The Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor made the assessment and added Israel’s continuous air, land and sea attacks have destroyed about 70% of the Gaza Strip’s civilian infrastructure since Oct. 7.

The group accused Israel of making the Strip uninhabitable.

Iran’s Persepolis clinches 10 among Asian clubs in FIFA ranking

Iran's Persepolis

While Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal claimed the top position as the continent’s best team with an impressive 97 points, Persepolis made a commendable mark by clinching the 10th spot, marking the highest rank among Iranian teams in this classification.

Persepolis’ consistent display of strength in both domestic leagues and continental competitions has solidified its position as a dominant force in Asian football.

The team’s enduring presence and impressive performances on the continental stage have garnered immense pride among its dedicated fanbase.

The IFFHS acknowledgment of Asia’s best teams serves as a testament to Persepolis’ commitment to achieving excellence in continental competitions, showcasing its unwavering dedication and prowess in the realm of Asian football.

Cutting-edge glass greenhouse, pioneering agricultural innovation opened in Iran’s Zanjan

Iran glass greenhouse

The inauguration marked the grand opening of the region’s second modern glass greenhouse, nestled in the northwest of the country and positioned as the largest greenhouse town within Zanjan province, situated specifically in the city of Hidaj.

This state-of-the-art greenhouse stands as a testament to cutting-edge innovation, boasting the latest global technologies. Encompassing a sprawling 60-hectare land expanse, with 30 hectares dedicated to cultivated areas, this greenhouse is a hub for the cultivation of diverse agricultural products.

Its advanced infrastructure promises a versatile production range, catering to a spectrum of agricultural needs.

With its remarkable capabilities and extensive cultivation space, this greenhouse heralds a new era for agricultural advancement in the region, promising to meet the demands of a burgeoning industry and contribute substantially to local agricultural prosperity.

More in pictures:

8 Palestinians killed by Israel in West Bank

Israel Palestine

A ministry statement said seven Palestinians lost their lives when Israeli forces bombed a public gathering in Martyrs Square near the city of Jenin in the West Bank.

Another Palestinian died of wounds he sustained from Israeli army fire in the town of Abwein near Ramallah, it added.

Earlier, at daybreak Sunday, Israeli troops stormed the city of Jenin – the center of the governorate – including its refugee camp and several neighborhoods. Sounds of gunfire and explosions were heard, according to witnesses.

Witnesses say that a helicopter bombed the camp, but no casualties were reported there.

At least one Israeli police officer was killed due to injuries sustained during the raid.

At least four Israeli officers were injured in an explosion during the raid, and two sustained serious injuries, said a joint Israeli army and police statement.

The wounded border police officers were taken to a hospital in northern Israel, where injured Shay Germay, a woman officer, was reported dead, a later joint statement added.

The casualties came from the explosion of a device on the roadside as an Israeli forces’ vehicle was on site during the raid.

Videos and photos on social media showed a vehicle belonging to Israeli forces overturned due to the impact of the explosion.

Tensions have been high across the West Bank since fighting broke out in Gaza on Oct. 7 between Palestinian groups and Israel.

The number of Palestinian casualties in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is at least 330, according to health ministry data.

2 more journalists killed in Gaza, pushing up death toll to 109 since start of war

Gaza War

In a statement, the office identified the two victims as Hamza Wael Al-Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh, and Mustafa Thuraya, who lost their lives in an Israeli bombing on their car in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The media office denounced “in the strongest terms this heinous crime” committed by the “Israeli occupation army against journalists”.

Israel aims to “intimidate journalists in a failed attempt to obscure the truth and prevent media coverage”, the office added.

The media office called “on all press unions, human rights and legal bodies to condemn this crime and denounce its repeated commission by the occupation.”

It also called for pressuring “the occupation to stop the genocidal war against our defenseless people in the Gaza Strip.”

Since Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, Israel has continued relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 22,722 Palestinians and injuring 58,166, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.

US warns Israel of failure in war with Hezbollah: Report

Hezbollah

Citing the assessment from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), The Washington Post daily reported that Joe Biden administration officials have “privately” warned Israeli leaders against entering into direct conflict with Hezbollah.

It also cited unnamed officials as saying Israel’s military has targeted “US-funded and trained Lebanese Armed Forces” more than 30 times since the Gaza war began.

US officials are concerned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may see an expanded fight in Lebanon as key to his political survival amid domestic criticism, the news report added.

His report came in the wake of the Israeli attack that killed senior Hamas leader Saleh Al-Arouri on Tuesday in southern Beirut.

The secretary general of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has reasserted that the killing of al-Arouri will not go without punishment, warning Israel against attacking Lebanon.

“If the enemy thinks about waging war against Lebanon, then our fighting will be with no ceiling, with no limits, with no rules. And they know what I mean,” Nasrallah said.

“We are not afraid of war. We don’t fear it. We are not hesitant. If we were, we would have stopped at the front,” he added.

“This dangerous crime will not go unanswered and unpunished.”

Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israel since early October when the Israeli regime launched a full-scale military campaign against the Palestinians in Gaza. Hezbollah’s attacks on Israeli targets are aimed at forcing the regime to end the aggression that has left more than 22,700 people dead in Gaza.

The fighting has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands from the northern part of the Israeli-occupied territories, which have been pummeled by rocket fire and shelling carried out by Hezbollah and allied Palestinian groups.

Nearly 150 Hezbollah fighters have lost their lives since the beginning of the conflict, while some 11 Israeli soldiers have also been killed.

Hezbollah has already fought off two Israeli wars against Lebanon in 2000 and 2006, forcing a humiliating retreat upon the Tel Aviv regime’s military in both cases.

The resistance movement has vowed to resolutely defend Lebanon in case of any Israeli-imposed war.

The group announced on Saturday that it hit an Israeli observation post with 62 rockets as a “preliminary response” to the recent killing of al-Arouri in Lebanon.

Assassinated Hamas leader to become Israel’s nightmare: IRGC Quds Force Chief

Saleh Al Arouri

In a message to Head of Hamas’ Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh, Qaani paid tribute to Arouri, who was killed in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh on January 2.

“The enemy and the Zionists seek to downplay their heavy defeat in Gaza and the West Bank by assassinating resistance leaders,” the Iranian commander said.

“The world will see how the brothers of Martyr Arouri will turn into a nightmare for the child-murdering Zionist regime,” he added.

The IRGC Quds Force commander went on to say that Arouri was martyred as the noose has been tightened around the Israeli enemy in the West Bank.

Arouri was a senior official in Hamas’s politburo and was known to be deeply involved in its military affairs. He had previously headed the group’s presence in the occupied West Bank.

Samir Findi Abu Amer and Azzam Al-Aqraa Abu Ammar, leaders of Hamas’ armed wing – the Qassam Brigades – were also killed in the Israeli strike, Hamas said in a message.

It named four other members of the group who were also killed.

Iranian news website blasts ex-president Ahmadinejad for ‘remaining tight-lipped’ over recent terror attack

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

“It is shameless and embarrassing to see someone, who held a high position as Iranian President, and who had sent messages of condolences on the death of an Indian singer and an American rapper and expressed sorrow, and who even did not forget to send congratulatory messages on the United States’ National Basketball League games, has remained tight-lipped and silent over the deaths of his fellow countrymen.” Wrote Asr-e-Iran.

“This is the same Ahmadinejad that spoke of Iran’s determination to destroy Israel following the 33-day war of 2006 between Israel and Lebanon when the world public opinion had turned against Israel, and tipped the balance in favor of Israel and against Iran,” the website added.

“Now, the same political figure who would speak out loud against Israel and strongly express opposition to it, remains tight-lipped in the face of Israel’s crimes in Gaza, which has even caused an outcry from the West,” the site said.

89 people were killed and hundreds injured in twin bomb blasts in Kerman on Wednesday.

PLO: Palestinians should decide Gaza’s future, not Israel

Gaza War

The statement follows debates within Israel over the plan for Gaza when combat is finished.

Responding to these plans for a post-war Gaza, Al-Sheikh said, “All scenarios proposed by the occupation politicians and leaders will only lead to failure. Achieving a comprehensive solution and the departure of the occupation is our choice, our program and our strategy.”

As the main component of the Palestinian Authority, the PLO partially runs the occupied West Bank. It was ousted by Hamas from Gaza in 2007

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant outlined plans for what might follow after the war in a three-page document entitled the “Day After”.

After the war, the Israeli military would maintain “operational freedom of action in the Gaza Strip” and Israel would continue to “carry out the inspection of goods entering” the territory.

Gallant, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s center-right Likud party, stated that once the goals of the war have been achieved there would be “no Israeli civilian presence in the Gaza Strip”, appearing to rule out the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza that Israel unilaterally removed in 2005.

The plan prompted fiery discussion within the Israeli cabinet, according to a source.

Gallant’s plan was criticized Friday by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who along with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has advocated for resettling Gazans outside the enclave. Their comments have drawn condemnation from the United States, United Nations officials and several Arab states.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also stated that the war against Hamas “must not be stopped” until Tel Aviv achieves three main objectives: “eliminate Hamas, return our hostages and ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel”.

In a statement released Saturday by his office, the prime minister said Israel will “not give Hamas immunity anywhere, and we are fighting to restore security in both the south and the north”.

“Until then and for that purpose, you have to put everything aside and continue with joint forces until the complete victory is achieved,” he concluded.

The death toll in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s military operation in the enclave has exceeded 22,700, the Gaza Health Ministry reported on Saturday.