Regional
Iranians vote in run-off presidential race amid widespread apathy
According to Reuters only 48% of voters participated in the 2021 election that brought Raisi to power, and turnout was 41% in a parliamentary election in March.
Polls opened in Iran on Friday for a run-off presidential election that will test the clerical rulers' popularity amid voter apathy at a time of regional tensions and a standoff with the West over Tehran's nuclear programme, Reuters reported.
State TV said polling stations opened their doors to voters at 8 a.m. local time (0430 GMT). Polling will end at 6 p.m. (1430 GMT), but are usually extended until as late as midnight. The final result will be announced on Saturday, although initial figures may come out sooner.
The run-off follows a June 28 ballot with historic low turnout, when over 60% of Iranian voters abstained from the snap election for a successor to Ebrahim Raisi, following his death in a helicopter crash. The low participation is seen by critics as a vote of no confidence in the Islamic Republic.
The vote is a tight race between low-key lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian, the sole moderate in the original field of four candidates, and hardline former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.
While the poll will have little impact on the Islamic Republic's policies, the president will be closely involved in selecting the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's 85-year-old supreme leader who calls all the shots on top state matters, read the report.
"I have heard that people's zeal and interest is higher than in the first round. May God make it this way as this will be gratifying news," Khamenei told state TV after casting his vote.
Khamenei acknowledged on Wednesday "a lower than expected turnout" in earlier voting, but said "it is wrong to assume those who abstained in the first round are opposed to the Islamic rule".
Voter turnout has plunged over the past four years, which critics say shows support for the system has eroded amid growing public discontent over economic hardship and curbs on political and social freedoms.
According to Reuters only 48% of voters participated in the 2021 election that brought Raisi to power, and turnout was 41% in a parliamentary election in March.
The election coincides with escalating regional tension due to the war between Israel and Iranian allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as increased Western pressure on Iran over its fast-advancing nuclear programme.
"Voting gives power ...even if there are criticisms, people should vote as each vote is like a missile launch (against enemies)," Iran's Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Commander Amirali Hajizadeh told state media.
The next president is not expected to produce any major policy shift on Iran's nuclear programme or change in support for militia groups across the Middle East, but he runs the government day-to-day and can influence the tone of Iran's foreign and domestic policy.
The rivals are establishment men loyal to Iran's theocratic rule, but analysts said a win by anti-Westerner Jalili would signal a potentially even more antagonistic domestic and foreign policy.
A triumph by Pezeshkian might promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive the nuclear pact, and improve prospects for social liberalisation and political pluralism.
However, many voters are sceptical about Pezeshkian's ability to fulfil his campaign promises as the former health minister has publicly stated that he had no intention of confronting the powerful security hawks and clerical rulers.
Many Iranians still have painful memories of the handling of nationwide unrest sparked by the death in custody of a young Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in 2022, which was quelled by a violent state crackdown involving mass detentions and even executions.
"I will not vote. This is a big NO to the Islamic Republic because of Mahsa (Amini). I want a free country, I want a free life," said university student Sepideh, 19, in Tehran.
The hashtag #ElectionCircus has been widely posted on social media platform X since last week, with some activists at home and abroad calling for an election boycott, arguing that a high turnout would legitimise the Islamic Republic.
Both candidates have vowed to revive the flagging economy, beset by mismanagement, state corruption and sanctions reimposed since 2018 after the U.S. ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers, Reuters reported.
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Regional
At least 21 killed, over 50 injured in Pakistan railway station bomb blast
At least 21 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, local media reported.
The blast occurred on the platform as passengers gathered for the departure of the Jaffar Express, scheduled to depart for Peshawar at 9am, Express News reported.
"The blast took place inside the railway station when the Peshawar-bound express was about to leave for its destination," said the senior superintendent of police operations, Muhammad Baloch, Reuters reported.
Among the victims are women and children, according to the Medical Superintendent at Civil Hospital, who reported that 46 of the wounded were brought to the hospital for urgent treatment.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack, ordering an immediate investigation and labeling the incident as "a horrific act targeting innocent civilians."
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.
Regional
Pakistan bans entry to parks, zoos as air pollution worsens
Pakistan's Punjab banned entry to many public spaces from Friday, including parks and zoos, as it sought to protect people from severe air pollution in parts of the eastern province.
The provincial capital Lahore has been engulfed in a thick, smoky haze this week and was consistently rated the world's most polluted city by Swiss group IQAir in its live rankings, prompting the closure of schools and work-from-home mandates, Reuters reported.
The Punjab government's Friday order placed a "complete ban on public entry in all parks ... zoos, play grounds, historical places, monuments, museums and joy/play lands" until Nov. 17 in areas including Lahore.
Many parts of South Asia suffer severe pollution as temperatures drop each winter and cold, heavy air traps dust, emissions, and smoke from stubble burning - the illegal practice of burning crop waste to quickly clear fields.
Punjab last week blamed toxic air wafting in from neighbouring India - where air quality has also reached hazardous levels - for the particularly high pollution this year.
IQAir rated the Indian capital New Delhi the world's second most polluted city on Friday, with government data indicating that farm fires in the neighbouring farming states of Punjab and Haryana were among the major contributors.
To discourage the practice which has been lower this year, India's federal government doubled fines imposed on violators on Wednesday.
Farmers with less than two acres of land will now have to pay 5,000 rupees ($60) for violations. Those owning between two and five acres will pay 10,000 rupees and farmers with more than five acres will pay 30,000 rupees, the environment ministry said.
Regional
Pakistan amends law to extend powerful army chief’s service tenure
Under the new law, General Munir, who took office in November 2022 with a timeline to retire in 2025, will serve until 2027 irrespective of a retirement age of 64 for a general
Pakistan on Monday passed an amendment to a law that will extend the terms of the heads of the armed forces to five years from three, in a rowdy parliamentary session opposed by jailed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan's party, Reuters reported.
Extending the term of commanders including Army Chief General Asim Munir would deal another blow to the embattled Khan and his party, which blames the military for his downfall.
The measure from the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who leads a coalition of parties opposed to Khan that took power after an election in February, could be aimed at shoring up support from powerful military figures.
The bill to amend the Pakistan Army Act of 1952 was moved by Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif. House Speaker Ayaz Sadiq announced in a live telecast of the proceedings that the bill had passed.
Geo TV reported that it took 16 minutes for the senate to pass the amendment into law, which Khan's party lawmaker Omar Ayub termed as bulldozing the legislation by the ruling alliance without any debate in either house.
"It is neither good for the country nor for the armed forces," Ayub said.
Khan's party's lawmakers opposed the bill during the sessions and some tore apart copies of it.
Under the new law, General Munir, who took office in November 2022 with a timeline to retire in 2025, will serve until 2027 irrespective of a retirement age of 64 for a general.
The former prime minister, who has been in jail since August last year, has been at odds with generals he blames for his 2022 ousting, after he fell out with then-army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa.
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