A new stage of restoration work on the historical windmills located in Tabas-e Masina in South Khorasan province has begun, funded by the national budget, a local cultural heritage official reported on Saturday.
A new stage of restoration work on the historical windmills located in Tabas-e Masina in South Khorasan province has begun, funded by the national budget, a local cultural heritage official reported on Saturday.
These vertical-axis windmills, which local residents call Asbads, are presumed to be among the earliest industrial machines in the world and are over a thousand years old. South Khorasan, considered their main center, has more than 310 preserved structures, accounting for about 79% of the total in the country.
Shahsavari added that the Asbads served as a symbol of Iranian ingenuity in using clean energy. He noted that strong seasonal winds in the region contributed to the concentration of Asbads in eastern Iran, particularly in South Khorasan.
The official representative specified that within the new phase, restoration work will focus on the Asbads in the Hayrabad area of Tabas-e Masina.
Shahsavari reported that the windmills of Tabas-e Masina are included in Iran's list of proposals for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List. He emphasized that their restoration, rehabilitation, and the elimination of illegal occupations on protected territories are priorities for the application process.
Most Asbads in Tabas-e Masina date back to the Qajar period and were entered into the National Heritage List of Iran under number 4661 in 2001. In addition to their historical and architectural significance, these structures reflect local knowledge and the ability of previous generations to adapt to the region's climatic conditions.
Unlike horizontal-axis windmills, which became widespread in Europe later, Asbads use a vertical-axis mechanism designed to utilize strong seasonal winds. Traditionally, they were used for grinding grain, pumping water, and processing agricultural products, making them an early example of renewable energy technology.
The website uses a security service to protect against cyberattacks. The action you performed triggered this protective system.
There are several actions that can lead to such a block, including entering a specific word or phrase, executing an SQL command, or submitting incorrect data.
Users are advised to contact the website owner to report the block. When contacting them, they should specify what actions were being performed when this page appeared, and also provide the Cloudflare Ray ID, which is located at the bottom of the page.
The film Spider-Man: Brand New Day has achieved significant global success, surpassing the $2 billion mark in worldwide box office revenue in just three weekends in theaters. This allowed the movie to enter the elite group of highest-grossing films in cinematic history.
The blockbuster from Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios crossed the $2 billion threshold during its third weekend, becoming only the eighth film to reach this milestone. Furthermore, it ranked second among films that reached this amount, trailing only Avengers: Endgame.
This success was achieved just 19 days after the film's premiere, highlighting the incredibly fast pace of its theatrical run. The film, starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, is his fourth solo project within the Marvel version of this character.
Brand New Day attracted a massive audience and continued to dominate theaters throughout the first three weekends. In North America alone, the film brought in an estimated $70 million during the third weekend, bringing the domestic total to approximately $785.8 million. Meanwhile, the total worldwide revenue exceeded the $2 billion mark.
Before reaching this latest milestone, the film had already established itself as one of the fastest-returning releases of the year. It earned over $1 billion worldwide in the first week, and the second weekend significantly increased its box office receipts.
The premiere was also outstanding: reports indicate that the box office for the first worldwide weekend was around $927 million, making it one of the biggest global openings in history.
Crossing the $2 billion mark places Spider-Man: Brand New Day in an exclusive company. Among the films that have previously reached this figure are Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way of Water, Titanic, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avengers: Infinity War, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
This achievement is particularly important for the Spider-Man franchise, as the previous installment, Spider-Man: No Way Home, concluded its run at approximately $1.9 billion, narrowly missing the $2 billion threshold. Brand New Day has now surpassed this amount in less than a month.
According to current box office reporting, the new film has also surpassed its predecessor, becoming the highest-grossing film in the Spider-Man franchise worldwide.
The success of Brand New Day coincides with an unusually strong summer for Hollywood. The film became one of several major releases that brought audiences back to theaters, alongside Christopher Nolan's film The Odyssey, which also surpassed the $1 billion mark globally. The combined performance of major blockbusters contributed to a significant increase in box office revenue in 2026 compared to the previous year.
Despite new competition during the third weekend, Brand New Day continues to hold the top spot in North American box office.
The plot of the film unfolds after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Doctor Strange's spell caused the world to forget Peter Parker's identity. In Brand New Day, Peter lives anonymously and operates as Spider-Man, facing a new threat in New York. Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, John Bernthal, and Mark Ruffalo also star in the film.
For Marvel and Sony, reaching the $2 billion mark signifies another exceptional success of their collaboration on this character. For Holland, Brand New Day reinforced the status of his Spider-Man films as some of the most commercially successful works in the superhero genre.
Since the film is still playing in theaters, its final worldwide gross remains unknown. However, by reaching $2 billion in just 19 days, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has already secured its place among the most successful film releases in history.
The latest novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, titled 'The Tale of KAHO,' has recently been translated into Persian and is now available in Iranian bookstores.
Aras Barsekian served as the translator, and Milkan Publications is the publisher in Tehran. The novel, which was first published in Japan in July 2026, spans 352 pages and marks Murakami's first major work where a woman plays the central role.
The plot revolves around Kaho, a 26-year-old children's book author. She presents herself as an ordinary young woman, lacking outstanding beauty or brilliant intellect, but possessing greater curiosity than most people. Kaho's life takes an unexpected turn after her editor arranges a blind date for her.
During this meeting, the man directly tells Kaho that she is the least attractive woman he has ever met. Instead of becoming angry or offended, Kaho feels deep bewilderment and curiosity about the true meaning of his words. Her attempts to understand the stranger's motives become the starting point for a series of increasingly strange and mysterious events.
As Kaho tries to make sense of this encounter, her surrounding reality gradually acquires surreal and dreamlike qualities characteristic of Murakami's works. Various unusual characters and situations appear in the story, including a platypus, a jaguar, a queen termite, a guardian angel, an elephant egg, and Scarlett Johansson. Four chapters of the novel are titled: 'Kaho and the Motorcyclist,' 'The Platypus from Musashi-Sakai,' 'Kaho and the Queen Termite,' and 'The Guardian Angel, the Elephant Egg, and Scarlett Johansson.'
However, the novel is not merely a surreal adventure. Kaho's strange journey also serves as an exploration of identity, self-perception, and how women are perceived by others. The initial insult forces Kaho, who previously paid little attention to her appearance, to confront questions about how she sees herself and how society, especially men, sees her.
Interestingly, Murakami stated that he wrote this novel imagining himself in Kaho's shoes. It developed from a short story called 'Kaho,' which was published in the magazine 'Shincho' in 2024, and was subsequently expanded into a four-part series before being edited and compiled into a novel.
Haruki Murakami is one of the world's most recognized contemporary Japanese authors, known for his ability to blend surrealism, dreamlike narratives, and elements of Western popular culture with themes of loneliness, memory, love, and alienation. Among his most famous works are 'Norwegian Wood,' 'Kafka on the Shore,' 'The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle,' '1Q84,' and 'The Wind-Up Killer.' His novels have been translated into numerous languages and have gained a global audience, while his unique literary style makes him a constant contender for major international literary prizes.
