Tehran: A member of Iran's constitutional watchdog group insists that women cannot be presidential candidates, a report said Thursday, effectively killing the largely symbolic bids by about 30 women seeking to run in the June 14 election. Even before the comments by Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, chances for a woman candidate in Iran's presidential election were considered nearly impossible.
Women also have registered as potential candidates in past presidential elections, but the group that vets hopefuls appears to follow interpretations of the constitution that suggest only a man may hold Iran's highest elected office. Women, however, are cleared to run for Iran's parliament and have served as lawmakers.
The semiofficial Mehr news agency quotes Yazdi as saying the "law does not approve" of a woman in the presidency and a woman on the ballot is "not allowed." The Guardian Council, where Yazdi is a member, vets all candidates for the presidency and parliament.
A total of 686 people have registered to replace President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cannot run for a third mandate because of term limits. The final list will be announced Tuesday, with only a handful of names expected on the ballot....
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08:13 PM, May 17, 2013
Dubai: Iran's best known political grandee, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, looms large in the history of the Islamic Republic - now registered to run in Iran's presidential election June 2013 he may also get the chance to carve out its future. Few have wielded such influence in modern Iran as the 78-year-old but since 2009 he and his family have faced political isolation over their support for the opposition...
06:29 AM, May 12, 2013
Rome: Italy's Parliament re-elected Giorgio Napolitano to an unprecedented second term as president, after party leaders persuaded the 87-year-old to serve again in hopes of easing the hostility that has thwarted formation of a new government. Napolitano easily surpassed the simple majority required to be elected on Saturday afternoon. He garnered 738 votes, far more than the 504 needed for victory for another seven-year mandate. Parliament had a much harder...
06:34 AM, Apr 21, 2013
Caracas: Venezuela's chief prosecutor said on Tuesday seven people have been killed and 61 injured in protests following presidential elections in which the opposition candidate is demanding a recount. Prosecutor Luisa Ortega did not provide any details about the deaths or injuries or how they occurred. But she said the seven killed were humble members of the working class, a suggestion that the opposition might be to blame. Chavez's chosen...
11:29 PM, Apr 16, 2013
As political experts assess Republican Mitt Romney's failed US presidential bid, an analysis of how his campaign and President Barack Obama's winning team used cable TV to target ads at specific groups of voters may offer some valuable tips for the future. ...
10:40 AM, Jan 06, 2013
The daughter of a former military ruler won South Korea's presidential election on Wednesday and will become the country's first female leader, saying she would work to heal a divided society. ...
02:07 AM, Dec 20, 2012
Campaign finance filings with the government now show that the cost of the 2012 US presidential race has surpassed $2 billion, a new record. ...
07:42 AM, Dec 07, 2012
Sorry, fellas, but President Barack Obama's re-election makes it official: Women can overrule men at the ballot box. For the first time in research dating to 1952, a presidential candidate whom men chose decisively - Republican Mitt Romney - lost. More women voted for the other guy. ...
11:04 AM, Nov 25, 2012
Washington: Democrats in the US Senate increased their voting edge to 10 with a newly elected independent saying on Wednesday he will align with them. Senator-elect Angus King says he has decided to caucus with Democrats, ending months of speculation about which party he would vote with. The former Maine governor was elected last week to replace retiring Republican Sen Olympia Snowe, a prominent centrist. Republican and conservative groups spent...
10:42 PM, Nov 14, 2012
Gilbert: Police in Arizona say a Mesa woman injured her husband by running over him with an SUV because he didn't vote in last week's US presidential election. Authorities say Holly Solomon opposed President Barack Obama and was upset her husband didn't go to the polls. The husband told investigators Solomon believed her family was going to face hardship if Obama were re-elected. Police say Solomon chased her husband through...
08:52 PM, Nov 14, 2012
On World View this week, Obama gets 4 more years: What to expect of Obama's second-term and new Chinese leadership. ...
12:35 PM, Nov 09, 2012
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday called up US President Barack Obama to congratulate him on his re-election and said this had given the opportunity to the two countries to carry forward and build on the "enormous successes" achieved in bilateral ties in the last few years. While thanking Singh, Obama described him as "a wonderful partner" whose leadership at the world stage he appreciated and said he...
10:39 AM, Nov 09, 2012
Washington: US President Barack Obama has called more than a dozen key world leaders including the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to thank them on their congratulatory messages on his re-election and assured them of addressing the serious challenges being faced by the world today. "Since Tuesday evening, the President has been receiving messages from his counterparts around the world congratulating him on winning re-election to a second term in...
04:13 AM, Nov 09, 2012
Chicago: On the day after the 2010 midterm election that swept Republicans into control of the House of Representatives and decreased Democrats' majority in the Senate, senior White House adviser David Axelrod had a message for President Barack Obama. "I think they just planted the seeds of your re-election," he told his boss. "The most strident voices had seized control of the Republican Party and you knew that the nominee...
03:30 AM, Nov 09, 2012
Bali: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday ridiculed the expense of the US election a day after voters kept President Barack Obama for another four years, mocking the American process as a "battleground for capitalists" while speaking at a democracy forum. Ahmadinejad, whose government has been criticised for human rights abuses and is subject to sanctions for its nuclear programs, told the forum in Indonesia that democracy has become a...
12:20 AM, Nov 09, 2012
The Republicans have offered newly re-elected US President Barack Obama a short-term fix to the so called fiscal cliff, but insisted they would not cave in to tax increases to boost revenues. ...
11:15 AM, Nov 08, 2012
As US President Barack Obama returns to Washington, he has little time to savour his re-election to the White House. The fiscal cliff is among some of the biggest challenges ahead for the re-elected President. Here is a look at the five old challenges that Obama faces as the US President. ...
11:05 AM, Nov 08, 2012
Washington: Millions of dollars were raised and spent, swing states reeled from endless political ads, and now that President Barack Obama has been re-elected, the soul searching begins. What happened to the powerful Republican "Super PACs" and advocacy groups that staked all in a failed attempt to ensure the Democrat's defeat? The 2012 campaign was the first real test for "super" political action committees (PACs) - in part spawned by...
06:44 AM, Nov 08, 2012
New Delhi: India's outsourcing chiefs crossed their fingers that Barack Obama would take a less hawkish stance on the industry during his second term, as they cheered his re-election as a possible boost to the US economy. Obama sharpened his rhetoric against industries that move jobs out of America during his re-election campaign, and his administration has been criticised by outsourcing industry bodies in India for tightening visa rules. "Not...
05:30 AM, Nov 08, 2012
New York: For years, foes of same-sex marriage had a potent talking point: They'd won every time the issue went to a popular vote. That winning streak has now been shattered in a multi-state electoral sweep by gay marriage supporters " a historic tipping point likely to influence other states and possibly even the Supreme Court. "It's an astounding day," said Kevin Cathcart of the gay-rights group Lambda Legal, recalling...
05:04 AM, Nov 08, 2012
