“I hope that tomorrow our countrymen, millions of them will come and vote for country's stability, for the country's peace, for the country's progress...Enemies will do their best, but it won't help.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaking about tomorrow's elections.
”

Deadliest day in Iraq for 18 months

Dozens of people have been killed and more than 500 hundred injured when a series of blasts hit the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

As many as 95 are thought to have been killed in the attacks making it the deadliest day in the country for 18 months. Truck bombs were detonated outside the foreign and finance ministries on the perimeter of the heavily fortified 'Green Zone'.

There were also several other bomb attacks in other districts of Baghdad and a barrage of mortars hit targets within the hitherto safe 'Green Zone'. It is rare for attacks such as these to hit such prominent targets in areas normally considered safe.

The truck bomb which exploded outside the foreign ministry created a 3m deep and 10m wide crater and sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky. A ministry employee said "The windows of the foreign ministry shattered, slaughtering the people inside,". She added "I could see ministry workers, journalists and security guards among the dead,"

Mustapha Muhie, who works close to the 'Green Zone' said ""Everybody on the street was going crazy...Everybody was just trying to get to their cars, just trying to get home - and that's what I did."

The Iraqi President Jalal Talabani released a statement saying "The terrorists are trying to rekindle the cycle of violence of previous years by creating an atmosphere of tension among the Iraqi people,"

The wave of attacks marks the sixth anniversary of the first attack after the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime, where 22 were killed in a suicide truck bombing at the UN headquarters in Baghdad. Following the first attack the UN declared 19th August World Humanitarian Day, to increase support for aid workers.

Pre-election violence increases in Afghanistan

A number of violent attacks by militia have injured and killed across Afghanistan ahead of Thursday's presidential and provincial elections.

Militia including the Taliban have promised to disrupt Thursday's poll and have increased the frequency of their attacks.

In Kabul, seven people were killed and more than 50 injured when a suicide car bomber attacked a convoy of Western troops. Reports indicate that some of the troops from the Nato-led force were among the injured and killed. The UN also said that two of it's employees were killed in the attack.

There have also been other violent incidents across the country including a rocket attack on the presidential compound in Kabul, no injuries were reported. In the East of the country two US soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb and two civilians along with three Afghan soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing in the Southern Afghan province of Uruzgan. Whilst, in Jowzjan province, in the normally peaceful North, one election candidate was shot dead and three poll workers were killed when their car hit a bomb.

There are fears that the increased number of violent attacks will result in a lower turnout in Thursday's poll and there is some evidence that there has been corruption in the electoral process.

Ahmadinejad appoints three female ministers

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad has included three women in his cabinet selections in an attempt to soften his hardline image and appease many reformists.

Fatemeh Ajorlou as been appointed as Social Welfare minister and Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi has been made health minister, the third female's name and position are yet to be announced.

President Ahmadinejad said in a state-tv appearance that his cabinet reflected " a new era" and that he had made "major changes" in the make-up of his government.

Despite Mr Ahmadinejad's intentions to recognise the increased political clout of women in Iran and appease supporters of reformist candidates, his plan is unlikely to be successful. Both women are considered to be hardliners and are generally disliked by reformists. The two women are in support of repressive restrictions on women's rights, including making it more difficult for women to get divorced, have custody of their children and have an abortion.

Fatemeh Ajorlou, Social Welfare minister, is an outspoken advocate of chador, the head-to-toe Islamic cover, and is strongly in favour of strict punishment for women who fail to observe Iran's strict dress code. Ajorlou is well-known for her involvement with the Revolutionary Guard and Basij milita and says that Western societies have lost their morality due to women focusing on careers rather than family. She is also a keen supporter of a draft law proposing positive discrimination for men in attending universities.

Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi is seen by many as a suitable candidate for health minister, spending most of her career in the medical profession and specialising in women's infertility. However, as an MP, she opposed the adoption of a bill facilitating Iran to join the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

New Afghan law removes women's rights

A new law passed in Afghanistan has removed women's rights, effectively legalising rape within marriage and preventing women leaving their homes without permission.

The law permits Shia men to deny their wives food and sustenance if they refuse to meet their husbands' sexual requests. The new legislation also grants guardianship of children exclusively to the father and grandfathers and means that a woman requires her husbands permission to work.

Human Rights Watch says the law "also effectively allows a rapist to avoid prosecution by paying 'blood money' to a girl who was injured when he raped her,". The watchdog's Asia director, Brad Adams, described the legislation as "barbaric" and said that such repressive laws "were supposed to have been relegated to the past with the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, yet Karzai has revived them and given them his stamp of approval."

The legislation says that a woman must be in "readiness...to submit to her husband's reasonable sexual enjoyment," and outlaws a wife "from going out of the house, except in extreme circumstances, without her husband's permission."

The original law was proposed several months ago and was met with international condemnation including criticism from Barack Obama and Gordon Brown. The earlier version legalised rape within marriage but the modified law still contains many repressive measure.

The introduction of this law comes in the run up to the presidential election and it is speculated that Hamid Karzai approved the law in an attempt to gain Shia votes. The election next Thursday is expected to be close and the incumbent president has been appeasing minority leaders in an attempt to gain votes. Hardline Shia cleric, Ayatollah Mohseni, is thought to have influence over many Shia voters and is strongly in favour of the measures set forth in the new law.

"Medieval torture" in Iran's prisons, says opposition leader

Defeated opposition candidate in Iran's disputed presidential elections, Mehdi Karroubi, has accused authorities of torturing arrested protestors.

Mr Karroubi claims that both male and female detainees were raped by prison staff and that some were tortured to death. He also alleged that prisoners were "forced to go naked, crawl on their hands and knees like animals, with prison guards riding on their backs." The statement also said that inmates were forced to lie "naked on top of one another."

His allegations of abuse, and the graphic details he uses, have led many hardline Iranian conservatives to call for Karroubi's arrest.

During Friday prayer's in Tehran, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami denounced the reformist leader's claims of rape and called for him to be prosecuted. Khatami described Mr Karroubi's remarks as "slander" and "full of libel" and said the ellegations would only help their enemies in the West.

However, international human rights organisations say that Mehdi Karroubi's claims may be true. Independent investigator for the UN human rights council, Manfred Nowak, said "I truly believe that these complaints will stand up to scrutiny." and the US group, Humans Rights Watch, also, made claims of harsh interrogations, sleep deprivation and beatings in Iranian prisons.

Whilst authorities have admitted to abuses in some prisons, allegations of rape have been denied. Mr Karroubi says he rejects that it would be possible for a thorough investiagtion to have been conducted in such a short space of time.

On his website Karroubi insisted that he would not be silenced in defending humans rights, saying the government could not "stop my tongue, hand and pen."

UK backlash at NHS criticism

Criticism of the British public healthcare system, the National Health Service, by anti-reform campaigners in the US has triggered a backlash from British citizens.

Twitter users from Britain have posted their comments of support for the NHS to the hashtag '#welovetheNHS' and have added a "we love the NHS" 'twibbon' to their profile pictures. The hashtag has become a trending topic on twitter, one of the most talked about issues.

Several campaigners opposed to President Obama's healthcare reforms have cited the public health systems in the UK, as well as Cannada, France and Germany, as examples of how disastrous changes could be. However, it was an editorial article in Investors Business Daily that triggered the most criticism.

The editorial warns of the problems that would be caused if the US adopted a similar model for public healthcare and says the NHS' record reads "like a horror movie script." The article says "The controlling of medical costs in countries such as Britain through rationing, and the health consequences thereof are legendary,"

The article's author also claimed that the scientist, Stephen Hawking, "wouldn't have a chance in the UK, where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."

Jay Bookman of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was quick to say that Stephen Hawking was, in fact, British and had lived in the country his entire life. Bookman said "Hawking is, you might say, living, breathing proof that these people are first-class fools."

Erza Klien of the Washington Post said that the IBD article shows how conservatives will lie about healthcare. On her blog she said "It's not just that they didn't know that Stephen Hawking was born in England. It's that the underlying point was wrong, as you'll note from the continued existence of Stephen Hawking. They didn't choose an unfortunate example for an accurate point. They simply lied."

The article from Investment Business Daily not only sparked criticism in the US but also angered many in the UK.

The NHS has been in operation since 1948 and is one of the world's largest employers, with aproximaltely 1.33 million employees. Only 8% of Britons have private healthcare insurance and most use this along side NHS care.

One twitter user, posting to #welovetheNHS, said "It's not perfect, has a lot of things that make it annoying, but it's still better than the alternative!". Many other twitter users and British citizens were outraged by the criticism from the US and remain proud of the healthcare system despite its shortcomings. Another 'tweeter described the NHS as "one of this country's best achievements of the past century,".

Despite what the article in the IBD suggests, supporters of Obama's healthcare reform insist that the changes in the US will not create an American NHS. "It's worth emphasizing, for those who remain confused and misled, that Democratic reform proposals would not create a British system." said Steve Benen of Washington Monthly.