Iranian women will soon have access to football stadiums, assures FIFA

Gianni Infantino, head of football's world governing body, FIFA, has said that it has given him assurance that it will soon allow its women to attend soccer matches.

Infantino met with Iranian leaders, including President Hassan Rouhani during a visit to Tehran to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Iran's football federation.

He also attended me only football match which drew criticism from rights activists, reports the Voice of America.

The FIFA president, without naming any dignitary, said he was "promised" that Iranian women will soon have access to football stadiums.

Angry Iranians ask Prez Rouhani to control inflation, reboot economy plans

When he was studying in Tehran, Abbas would catch a pre-dawn train in from the provinces. A few scenes glimpsed through the window are etched in his mind: street-sweepers huddled around fires, men curled up under blankets in front of closed shops.
Student life didn’t often take him to the affluent downtown, where glitzy malls sell Western-branded clothes and watches.

On the weekends Abbas would head back to the northwestern city of Zanjan, famous for hand-made knives and elaborately decorated shoes. The extremes of poverty and wealth on display in the capital were much less apparent in his hometown.

But Abbas, now a 36-year-old high-school teacher, sensed something else was wrong there. As a child he used to watch the town’s most skilled bladesmith at work. “He should have opened 10 branches by now,’’ said Abbas, who asked that his surname be withheld so that he could speak freely. “He’s still in a workshop under the stairs, making a handful of knives a day.’’

External interference in Iran's situation unacceptable: Russia

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said Moscow hopes the ongoing mass protests in Iran will not develop into severe violence and that any external interference in the situation is unacceptable.

"It is Iran's internal affairs. We hope that the situation would not develop under the scenario of violence and bloodshed," Xinhua reported, citing the Russian media which quoted the ministry's spokesperson as saying.

External interference destabilizing the situation is inadmissible, the ministry said on Monday.

At least 12 people have been killed in recent rallies across Iran in protest against the regime of President Hassan Rouhani.
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Russia, Iran, Turkey together to end six-yr Syrian civil war: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that his Iranian and Turkish counterparts have agreed to hold a "congress" in Russia in a bid to end the six-year civil war in Syria.

Putin made the announcement after talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

However, no date for the proposed congress has been announced.

The three leaders have issued a joint statement aimed at continuing the Syrian peace talks and finding a sustainable solution for the post-conflict period by convening a "Syrian National Congress of Dialogue," reported CNN, citing Putin as saying.

In a joint statement they urged the Syrian government and opposition to "participate constructively".

"The congress will look at the key questions on Syria's national agenda including working out a political organisation and the endorsement of a new constitution" and "the organisation of the new elections under the auspices of the UN", Putin added.

This came days after he hosted his Syrian ally, President Bashar al-Assad.

Bashar al-Assad, during a visit to Sochi earlier this week, stated that he was "totally committed" to a peaceful solution.

Putin told Assad that the military campaign was "wrapping up", but there was still "a long way to go".
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