Middle Orient

TEHRAN — Left in a state of shock by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s surprise election success, young professional women in Tehran fear they could lose all their hard-won new freedoms if the ultra-conservative wins the presidency. “We are always worried. We have never been working at ease. But now, with Ahmadinejad as …

TEHRAN (Reuters) — Electoral officials said on Tuesday they were guarding against fresh attempts to manipulate voters in Iran’s presidential election run-off after charges that military bodies rallied support for a hardline candidate. Friday’s run-off, after an inconclusive first round, pits pragmatic cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani against ultra-conservative Tehran Mayor …

A bomb killed an anti-Syrian politician Tuesday in the second such assassination in three weeks, fuelling opposition fears that Damascus and its Lebanese allies are hitting their enemies in a bid to restore their fading authority. Former Communist Party leader George Hawi, 67, was killed by an explosion under his …

TEHRAN (AP) — Tehran’s arch-conservative mayor capped a stunning political rise Saturday to claim second place in Iran’s presidential race and face one of the nation’s most famous statesmen in a head-to-head vote. Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — a 49-year-old former student radical backed by Iran’s ruling clerics and their military …

BAGHDAD — Donny George of the Iraq Museum is more concerned about security than most museum directors. Books on George’s shelves summarise his struggle: “Institutional Trauma: Major Change in Museums and its Effect on Staff,” “Museum Security and Protection” and “Moving the Mountain: A Guide to Moving Collections.”

ABUJA (AFP) — African Union mediators continued informal negotiations on Saturday to break the deadlock over Chad’s participation in the ongoing peace talks to end the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region, an AU spokesman said, while playing down the problem. “Negotiations are continuing at the highest levels to reach a …

CAIRO (AFP) — Khartoum and Sudan’s largest opposition bloc on Saturday signed a landmark reconciliation agreement that officials said would boost efforts to bring peace back to Africa’s largest country. But an opposition leader told AFP that despite the signing, all issues had not been resolved and negotiators would remain …

BEIRUT (AP) — UN investigators said a truck bomb probably was used to kill former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, but they are not sure whether the bomber died as well. “We are talking here about a probability of 99.9 per cent” that the explosion was above ground, chief UN investigator …

BRUSSELS (Reuters) — The European Union was plunged deeper into crisis on Saturday after its leaders failed to agree on a long-term budget, two weeks after French and Dutch voters rejected a proposed EU constitution. The summit breakdown threatens the enlarged 25-nation bloc with financial paralysis on top of the …

RAMALLAH (AFP) — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Saturday that time was running short to nail down details of Israel’s pullout from the Gaza Strip and prodded the Palestinians to do much more to boost security. Israeli military radio also reported that she pressed the Jewish state for “substantial” …