Tabatabaei

An academic of a Turkish university has swum for 15 hours in the 34-kilometer Catalina Channel, which stretches between Santa Catalina Island and Los Angeles in the United States.

Raha Akhavan Tabatabaei, an academic from Sabancı University, successfully reached her goal by swimming the track, known as the world's one of the most dangerous open-water swim routes.

For book lovers at a recent exhibition in Tehran the "Buy Direct From Amazon" poster summed up their plight: if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

Iranian consumers, unlike millions who use the U.S. online retail giant's global websites every day, cannot click and buy. Besides lacking credit cards, they are sealed off from international banking because of sanctions.