Top G15 officials confirm Tehran trip

Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna and Indonesian Premier Abdullah Bin Ahmad Badawi have accepted Iran's invitation to attend a G15 Summit in Tehran.

Krishna will also hold meetings with top Iranian officials on the sidelines of the Group of 15 Summit on May 17, Mehr New Agency reported.

The summit brings together high-ranking officials 18 developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

During his recent tour of Africa, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki invited Senegal President Abdoulaye wade and Algerian head of state Abdelaziz Bouteflika to attend the summit.

Mottaki also noted at a joint press conference with his visiting Brazilian counterpart last week that President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva would also attend this month's summit.

The office of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has also confirmed the leader's attendance at the meeting.

The membership of the G15 has expanded to 18 countries, but the name has remained unchanged.

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Jamaica, Mexico, Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zimbabwe, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Iran are members of the group.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125312§ionid=351020101.

'Green' exercise improves mental health

Researchers have found that within the first five minutes of exercise in a "green space," like a park, mental health is improved.

Researchers in the UK have studied 1,250 people and reported fast improvement in mood and self-esteem, specially amongst young people, after a short "green" exercise.

The research focused on many different outdoor activities -- such as walking, cycling, horse-riding, gardening, farming and fishing -- and found positive physical and mental effects in the first five minutes of the exercise, the BBC reported.

Jules Pretty, a researcher at the University of Essex, believes those who are generally inactive or often stressed out or mentally ill benefit the most from "green space."

"Employers, for example, could encourage staff in stressful workplaces to take a short walk at lunchtime in the nearest park to improve mental health," Pretty said.

A bigger effect was also seen when the exercise was at an area with water, like a pond, river or lake.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125310§ionid=3510210.

Iran to increase petrochemical products

Iran accounts for 25.8 percent of the Middle East's petrochemicals production, managing director of the National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NIPC) says.

“A 5.2-billion-dollar investment in the petrochemical sector this year will see a 10.5-million-ton increase in the production capacity of agricultural products,” Abdolhossein Bayat said.

He predicted that the volume of petrochemical exports would hit 17.9 million tons this year.

Bayat went on to say that Iran is in a better position compared to other regional countries in terms of investment in its petrochemical sector.

He said that Iran had produced a total of 34 million tons of petrochemical products and that investments stood at USD2.49 billion.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125315§ionid=351020102.

Father of Iran's nomadic schools dies

Veteran Iranian writer, researcher and a pioneer of providing education for nomadic communities, Mohammad Bahmanbeigi has passed away at the age of 90.

Bahmanbeigi died of pneumonia on May 1, 2010, after dedicating his life to educating nomads, especially the nomadic tribes of Fars Province.

Born in 1920 in the Qashqai tribe, Bahmanbeigi moved to Tehran after his father and leader of the tribe was exiled following the riots of the southern tribes.

Bahmanbeigi studied law at Tehran University, where he also learned English, German, and French.

Upon completing his studies, he decided to create a mobile educational system to help nomad children, especially girls, to continue their education despite seasonal migrations.

Iran's first nomadic school was founded in Fars Province in 1951, educating the Qashqai tribesmen, ISNA reported.

Bahmanbeigi wrote his first book The Mores of Fars Nomads when he was 23, sharing his educational experiences and memories with his readers.

He was honored by the Iranian Society of Cultural Works and Luminaries in November and Iranian filmmaker Kamran Heidari made a biopic of his life and works in 2003, titled The White Tents.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125316§ionid=351020105.

Ahmadinejad for 'Disarmament NPT'

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran has accepted a nuclear fuel swap deal which would provide the country with fuel for a nuclear research reactor in Tehran.

Addressing the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday, President Ahmadinejad said nuclear arms are "the most disgusting and shameful kind of weapons in the world."

He also noted that "possessing nuclear weapons is nothing to be proud of," criticizing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for adopting a double standard toward nuclear-armed countries and those seeking nuclear energy.

"Those who used nuclear weapons for the first time in history are the most detested and disgraceful people in the world," he said.

He criticized the United Nations for its inability to establish sustainable security for the world against nuclear weapons.

President Ahmadinejad, who is the only head of state present at the summit, described as "hazardous" the production and stockpiling of nuclear weapons by world powers.

He stressed that nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation have not materialized, saying the US should be blamed for proliferation of nuclear weapons.

World powers, he said, should live up to their obligations under the NPT.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125314§ionid=351020104.

UN chief opens NPT review conference

Opening the nuclear non-proliferation review conference in New York, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the world expected nuclear-armed states to “act” on disarmament.

“This day is of immense importance to human kind. Hopes and expectations are high. The world's people look to you for action. Action to protect them from the destructive power of nuclear weapon,” Ban told delegates at the UN headquarters on the first day of the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The UN secretary general went on to insist that “disarmament and non-proliferation were among his priorities."

Ban went on to insist that "disarmament and non-proliferation were among his priorities," an agenda which he regretted had been ignored for too long.

"That is why I have been sounding the alarm about many sub-nuclear weapons. I have put forward a concrete action plan-convinced that our moment is now."

Evoking the aftermaths of tests in Kazakhstan's former Semipalatinsk Test Site, Ban warned that 65 years after the devastations that resulted from the first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, "the world still lives under the nuclear shadow."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose visit to the world body's headquarters in New York caused a controversy, is expected to deliver a speech later on Monday.

Last month, 14 US senators penned a letter of protest, calling on Washington to refrain from issuing Ahmadinejad a visa.

The president is also expected to highlight the obligation of nuclear-armed powers to comply with the NPT pillars -- especially disarmament and the right to peaceful nuclear energy.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125313§ionid=3510203.

Taliban leader vows revenge on US

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

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Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud has vowed in a new video to attack the United States within a month in revenge for the death of other militant leaders.

"The time is very near when our fedayeen (devotees) will attack the American states in the major cities," SITE quoted Mehsud as saying.

He said Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) would attack the United States "for having martyred many of our great Muslim leaders, including Baitullah Mehsud and many respected brothers from Al-Qaeda".

Mehsud was believed to have been killed in a US drone strike in northwestern Pakistan in January, but very recently Pakistani intelligence officials announced that he had survived the attack.

Officials said at the time that he was killed in a US missile attack along with at least 10 suspected militants. He was seriously wounded when missiles fired by a US drone struck his vehicle in the Shktai area on the border between South and North Waziristan.

Mehsud is the leader of the terrorist group, Tehreek-e-Taliban, which has been involved in attacks across Pakistan and Afghanistan. He has also been blamed for bombing of a Central Intelligence Agency base in eastern Afghanistan in December that killed seven Americans.

Meanwhile, another video allegedly from TTP group also claims that it was behind an attempted car bombing in New York's Times Square at the weekend, but the authorities in New York rejected the claim.

"There is no evidence that this is tied in with Al-Qaeda or any other big terrorist organization," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared.

The Pakistani government has announced cash rewards (about 590,000 dollars) for the arrest or information leading to Mehsud's capture, dead or alive.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125257§ionid=351020401.