Friday, June 12, 2009

And, Finally, If You Thought That You Had Problems



Barmak Akram's "Kabuli Kid" is a fictional, seriocomic portrait of an Afghan cab driver in Kabul whose last passenger deliberately abandons her baby son in his vehicle.

Photo credit: (c) Human Rights Watch International Film Festival

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Human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate. [She was the first ever Iranian to have received the prize.]

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A look at Iran's electorate

SIZE: There are 46.2 million eligible voters in a population of about 70 million. About a third of the voters are under 30 -- born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. About 60 percent of the voters are in cities.

WHO VOTES: Voting age is 18, raised from 16 in 2007. Iranians abroad can vote in diplomatic compounds and other polling sites.

PRESIDENTIAL PROCESS: The Guardian Council, controlled by the ruling clerics, vets all candidates for high office. In this election, more than 470 names were submitted and four allowed to run. Simple majority -- 50 percent plus 1 of votes cast -- needed for victory. Otherwise, a two-person runoff will be held June 19. The winner will take office in late August.

Source: Associated Press.

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"A top election official predicted turnout could surpass the nearly 80 percent in the election 12 years ago that brought President Mohammad Khatami to power and began the pro-reform movement." (AP)

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