Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Media ID: 55304104
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In this photo released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting on Friday, May 31, 2013, presidential candidates from left, Mohammad Gharazi, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Ali Akbar Velayati, Saeed Jalili, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, Mohammad Reza Aref, Mohsen Rezaei, Hasan Rowhani, attend a TV debate in a state-run TV studio, in Tehran, Iran. (AP)

Iran: Candidates criticize presidential debate format

by Ali M. Pedram | Jun 2, 2013 | Middle East

London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iranian state-run television was accused of intentionally seeking to humiliate the presidential candidates in their first live group debate. The debate took place on Friday afternoon and saw all 8 candidates asked to sit alongside each other...

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Iranians shop at the main old bazaar in Tehran on June 1, 2013. A televised debate on Iran’s sanctions-hit economy failed to introduce a frontrunner as the eight approved presidential candidates echoed each other on the main issues and refrained from making direct attacks. Source: AFP Photo/Atta Kenare

US imposes sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical industry

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jun 1, 2013 | Business

Washington, Reuters—The United States blacklisted on Friday eight companies in Iran’s petrochemical industry, sending a warning to the Islamic Republic’s global customers as Washington strives to cut off funds to the country’s nuclear program....

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Italy’s Prime Minister Enrico Letta addresses the media at the end of an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

Italy’s voters give boost to fragile coalition, shun Grillo

by Asharq Al-Awsat | May 28, 2013 | World

Rome, Reuters—Italian voters gave Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s fragile coalition government a badly needed boost in local elections, shunning Beppe Grillo’s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement three months after its spectacular success in a parliamentary...

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A view of a hospital in Karachi where the body of Zahra Shahid Hussain, a senior female politician from cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party was moved to, in this still image taken from video footage, May 18, 2013. Source: Reuters

Gunmen kill senior woman member of Pakistani party led by Imran Khan

by Asharq Al-Awsat | May 19, 2013 | World

Islamabad, Reuters—Gunmen killed a senior female politician from a reformist party in Pakistan on Saturday night, the latest violent incident in a bloody election campaign and one that set off a war of words between two major opposition parties. Around 150 people were...

Media ID: 55301721
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Pakistan’s incoming prime minister Nawaz Sharif speaks to journalists at his farm house in Raiwind on the outskirts of Lahore on May 13, 2013. Source: AFP Photos/Roberto Schmidt

Pakistan vote count shows big Sharif win

by Asharq Al-Awsat | May 14, 2013 | World

Islamabad, AP—The vote count from last weekend’s nationwide elections in Pakistan on Tuesday indicates a big win for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party. Figures released by the country’s election commission, based on 254 of the 269 races...