Apartment Garage

Over 15,750 luxury cars, worth around $341 million, have been imported into Iran during the first five months of the current Iranian year, which began on March 20, showing some 30 percent rise year on year.
The average price of each car was $21,648, the ISNA news agency reported.
The cars were mainly imported from the UAE, South Korea, and Oman.
Wealthy Iranians are fuelling an unprecedented luxury car boom despite sanctions hurting their economy, paying up to $360,000 for high-end autos, AFP reported in April.

Iran's automobile market is highly protected against imports, allowing in only 40,000 vehicles last year, despite steadily growing demand mostly met through domestic production of some 1.6 million cars per year.
There are now an estimated 14 million vehicles on Iran's roads, more than double the six million registered in 2005.

Birjand

The first citation of the city in the historical literature returns to the famous book Mojem Alboldan, by Yaqut Homavi (13th century) which introduces the Birjand as the most beautiful town in the Qohestan. Before this Birjand had been probably not as big and important as a municipality but a rural community. However, the Birjand geographical area has had its historical and political importance long before emergence of the city of Birjand. Many citations of the region are available in the original literature like Ehya -ol- Molook of the once important localities in the area. Apart from literature, the oldest evidence on the history of the region is the ancient Lakh-Mazar inscription in the Kooch village some 25 km (16 mi) south east of Birjand.
Numerous fine drawings and inscriptions are carved on an igneous rock surface. The inscriptions include pictograms as well as Arsacid Pahlavi, Sasanian Pahlavi, Arabic and Persian scripts. The former tribe famous for the region of Birjand is called Sagarthian - historically in union with the Parthian.
Birjand has emerged as the centre of Qohestan, following the decline of historical city of Qaen in the Safavid period. Since then the Alam clan had ruled the region till the end of Qajar dynasty. During the semi-autonomous ruling of Alam clan, Great Britain and Russia established consular branches in Birjand, because of the important geographical location of the region in the vicinity of the Indian subcontinent. Amir Shokat Ul-Molk Alam, the father of the Asadollah Alam(once prime minister of Iran) was still ruling the Qohestan's subprovince Qhaenat into the Pahlavi era. And the last tribal leader of Birjand Shah Seyyed Ali Kazemi was related with the Alam clan and the emperor Reza Shah Pahlavi. However Birjand lost its geopolitical importance following the emergence of Reza Shah Pahlavi and his policy of central government.
The entire Qohestan region then became a part of the modern Khorasan province. The local people, however, started a movement to become an independent province at the middle of the second Pahlavi period. The move resulted after about forty years and Quhestan and particularly Birjand regained its historical importance in 2004 after official division of Khorasan to three smaller provinces by the government of Islamic Republic of Iran.

No to Hejab

It is commonly assumed that those involved in the Revolution were a bunch of Islamists whose sole desire was guarding religious values and implementing Islamic ordinances. On the contrary, the Iranian Revolution was a culmination of diverse political ideologies and principles. The reason that Islamists seized power is still a hot subject for both academic and nonacademic roundtables. However, now is the moment to not focus on causes, but to concentrate on effects.
It is a historical fact that the woman question was not part of the revolutionaries' political agenda. Only a few months after the Revolution, in March 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini decreed mandatory hijab. Many Iranian women, who were also active in the Revolution, from diverse social classes, poured into the street protesting what soon became the law of the land. Their male comrades, however, didn't offer them enough support; they believed the time was not appropriate. Instead, they reasoned for solidarity with the new government in order to show a united front before their national and international enemies. Consequently, wearing hijab became obligatory, and the lack of it punishable under the law.

This was not the end of the story. Gradually the government's propaganda, policies, and policing of women's hijab increased. Police harassed women in the streets for" bad-hijabi"-- or not observing a proper hijab, became a routine occurrence. From the Iranian government's perspective, the restrictions were not so effective. Day by day, women were letting more hair fall out of their headscarves; they were dressing in public with tighter manteau (overcoats) and pants -- all the while aware that they might become the prey of Iran's morality police. By these simple, yet consistent acts of defiance, women were disobeying a law they found both unfair and discriminatory. There was no direct political agenda or modus operandi connecting these women. It was a social and political act of defiance, culminating in a nebulous and dynamic movement against compulsory hijab.

Since 1979, the Iranian government has made hijab an emblem of its religious and political identity. Iranian women covered by black chadors became the visual symbol of not only the Islamic government but also as a representation of the ideal type of Iranian women. The government was successful in disseminating distorted images of Iranian women's lifestyles by denying the existence of many others who did not wear chadors or believe in hijab. This state representation has been highly effective. Even today, the chador and hijab are the most common markers of Iranian women broadcast in both Western media and Iran's state-run television, IRIB.

Bread

Iranian authorities increased the price of traditional breads by as much as 33 percent in the capital, Tehran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing a Tehran province official.

A Sangak loaf will now cost 6,000 rials (49 cents), said Nematollah Torki Tehran’s governor deputy for planning. Barbari, Taftoun and Lavash loaves will cost 5,000, 3,000 and 1,600 rials respectively, he said in the report published late yesterday.

The new prices will apply in Tehran bakeries from today, he said, according to the report.

The government previously increased bread prices in April 2011 when the price of a Sangak loaf was fixed at 5,000 rials, Barbari at 3,750 rials and Taftoun and Lavash loaves at 2,500 and 1,250 rials respectively. But it is not just sanctions that are hurting the Iranian people. The president's subsidy reform plan, introduced in December 2010, has also affected the economy.

The reforms were aimed at easing pressure on state finances by cutting tens of billions of dollars from government subsidies on food and fuel, while offsetting the impact on Iran's poorer citizens by giving them monthly cash payments, so they could spend more.

But the policy helped drive up food and energy prices. As a result of increased fuel costs, products became more expensive, which reduced demand, and some firms had to lay off workers and cancel production.

Stunt girl

The youth in Iran are in an awkward transitional phase," writes a teenage Iranian-American who recently returned from his stay in the Islamic Republic.
At 16 I wanted to live in Iran, life in suburban America bored me. I yearned for big city life in a new country. As a child I heard constant talk about the daily trials that come with life in Iran. I would hear my dad’s stories about growing up in Tehran’s south side.

When I proposed moving to Iran, I was met with unanimous disbelief. My friends, family, even my pediatrician doubted my ability to last in Tehran. I went anyway.
Adjusting to Tehran was difficult. The streets are crowded, and headaches induced by the infamous pollution was just one of many small annoyances that took getting used to.

"At 16 I wanted to live in Iran, life in suburban America bored me"
Anger is omnipresent in Tehran. People are angry at seemingly everything, other drivers, rising prices, the government. Taxi drivers openly curse the government while making their rounds, “We are barely getting by these days. Blessings of the Islamic Republic.”

Traffic is chaotic in Tehran. I had to wake up at 5:45am for school every day. Private drivers in sedans are used instead of school buses. The cars are small, uncomfortable, and unsafe by international standards. Our driver would crack jokes to our North Korean classmate on the way home, even with the language barrier we had a good time.

Disregard for laws is common in Iran, on the rare occasion that police enforce traffic laws, it is easy to get away with a bribe. I found this amusing, years of orderly living can become bland.

My school was as Iranian as any other. We conversed in Persian, and an all-male environment ensured that I could experience the same physical altercations and derogatives of my Father’s time. School started with a prayer read from the Qu’ran, and half-hearted morning exercises. Teachers were given respect unlike anything I was used to. We rose when they entered the class, and referred to them as “sir” when asking questions.

The youth in Iran are in an awkward transitional phase. They are trapped between traditional values and modern culture.

Visiting Sweden

Members of the Swedish Royal Family, as well as others from the Gotha, attended the 2014 edition of the Bernadotte Art Awards at the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm last night
Host Countess Marianne Bernadotte af Wisborg, the widow of King Carl XVI Gustaf’s uncle, the former Prince Sigvard, also used the gala to celebrate her upcoming 90th birthday. She arrived to the event with King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. Other royal guests included Crown Princess Victoria, Empress Farah Pahlavi, Prince Alexander of Schaumburg-Lippe, the Duke of Anhalt and his daughter Julia, Prince Alexander of Saxony and Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed al Khalifa.
During the gala, awards in five categories were presented to Tilda Lovell, Rimma Gotskosik, Shima Niavarani, Metinée Wongtrakoon and Leonard Kocic.
The Marianne and Sigvard Bernadotte Art Foundation was established in 1982 to celebrate Count Sigvard’s 75th birthday. The Foundation awards annual grants to young artists working in theatre, music, design and art.
Culture Minister Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa attended this evening the Marianne & Sigvard Bernadotte Arts Award-distribution ceremony at the Grand Hôtel in Stockhlom, Sweden. 
The minister had received an invitation from Countess Marianne Bernadotte who launched the prestigious award thirty-two years ago. The ceremony offers the artists a platform and an opportunity to present themselves to a wide audience. 
Established in 1982 to mark Sigvard Bernadotte’s seventy-fifth birthday, the Marianne and Sigvard Bernadotte Arts Fund awards grants each year to young scholars in music, theatre, design and art. The scholarships provide young artists with the opportunity to develop their talents at an early stage in their careers, many of whom have later become very successful. Marianne and Sigvard Bernadotte Arts Fund has so far awarded grants to over 150 artists in all fields. 

Graduation

Cynthia Germanotta has gone on the record about reports that daughter Lady Gaga’s foundation has spent millions on expenses like its website and publicity instead of charity grants, insisting that the Born This Way Foundation “carries out its work directly.”
“It is important for us to set the record straight regarding Born This Way Foundation’s mission and how the organization allocates its funds. … First and foremost, we are an organization that conducts our charitable activity directly, and we fund our own work,” wrote foundation co-founder and president Germanotta in an op-ed published March 12 by the Huffington Post. “We are not a grant-maker that funds the work of other charities, and were never intended to be.”
The defensive op-ed comes just days after ShowBiz411.com wrote a scathing article about the foundation’s spending, revealing that the foundation spent just $5,000 of its $2.1 million in net assets.
“Despite spending $348,000 in 2012 on their outreach bus tour, the Born this Way Foundation otherwise managed to fritter away around $1.5 million on legal fees, publicity, and a website,” wrote journalist Roger Friedman in the March 11 article. Citing a Form 990 filed by the charity in 2012, the article listed expenses “that had nothing to do with helping anyone.”
The expenses include approximately $362,921 on “Web Design, Consulting,” $348,000 on “Event Production,” and $194,819 on “Legal Services,” EW found in its review of the Form 990. The foundation — which claimed assets of $2.1 million — paid out $5,000 in a single grant.
“Gaga would have been better served just writing a check to the Elton John AIDS Foundation,” Friedman wrote. “It would have done more good, and quickly.”
But the Born This Way Foundation — an anti-bullying organization founded by Lady Gaga in 2011 — conducts its charitable activity “directly,” wrote Germanotta.
“Our activity has included The Born Brave Bus Tour, which has traveled to 23 communities, interacting with more than 19,000 young people and raising awareness to the tune of more than 300 million media impressions,” she explained, noting that the foundation also makes use of its website and social media channels to reach users.
Lady Gaga’s representative did not respond to EW’s request for comment.
The singer did take to her website to explain the situation, telling fans, “We do not raise money and allocate the funds to other charities for them to do the work,” Lady Gaga said in a statement posted March 13.

“My mom is on the ground with the kids, so am I, the whole Born Brave Team is.”