The Globe and Mail: An election will be held on Jan. 30 in Iraq. Later in the year, another will be held next door in Iran. The Iraq election will produce a Shia-led government, because Shiites make up about 60 per cent of the population. The hope must
AFP: A year after one of the worst earthquakes in modern history, residents of the Iranian city of Bam are to pay their final respects Saturday to the 30,000 dead and bring an end to the traditional
Daily Telegraph: A year after surviving an earthquake that destroyed his town, 10-year-old Hossein still cannot sleep indoors. “We’ve tried to persuade him to sleep inside,” said Maryam Ghasemi, who heads the Mahshiz Institution for Boys, located on an arid tract of land a mile south of Bam. “But every time we persuade him to spend the night indoors, we get a tremor that triggers the miserable memories of last year.” 
The Australian: Iran’s historic ambitions to be the dominant regional power mean it will not be dissuaded from its long-
Iran Focus: Tehran, Dec. 23 – A 15-year-old girl who ran away from home because of being forcefully married to a man twice her age was arrested and is currently in a juvenile correctional facility in Tehran. The girl, who is of Afghan origin, ran away from home after she was sold by her father to another 30-year-old Afghan man for 50 million rials (the equivalent of $5,000). Iran Focus: Tehran, Dec. 23 – A 15-year-old girl who ran away from home because of being forcefully married to a man twice her age was arrested and is currently in a juvenile correctional facility in Tehran. The girl, who is of Afghan origin, ran away from home after she was sold by her father to another 30-year-old Afghan man for 50 million rials (the equivalent of $5,000). 
Reuters: British Prime Minister Tony Blair says Europe was “not naive” about Iran’s nuclear plans and would ensure Tehran fulfils an obligation to freeze work that could lead to making nuclear weapons. Blair spoke on Israeli television yesterday after a daylong visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories to help revive peace efforts after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s death Nov. 11.
Malteser Germany: People in Bam are still suffering from the aftermath of the disastrous earthquake that struck the town one year ago. Peter Staudacher, Malteser programme coordinator in Bam states that children in particular remain traumatised. Many lost either one or both parents over night and, in addition, had to realise that their playmates and friends and are no longer alive. 
The Guardian: More than 100 of Iran’s potentially most important but least examined archaeological sites, including fringes of Pasargadae, the city built by King Cyrus the Great, will be flooded in the next two years according to the UN, which appealed yesterday to international scientists to try to record what they can. 
The Guardian: Iran yesterday confirmed that a court has sentenced a 21-year-old woman to death for prostitution, but denied reports that she had a mental age of eight. Leyla Mafi was sentenced to death more than a year ago for having illegal sex. The sentence is being reviewed by the supreme court. Hanging is the usual form of execution in Iran. 
