World Digest: Election delay likely in Iraq, officials say

IRAQ

Election delay likely, officials say

Iraq's scheduled January elections may be postponed by more than a month because of a dispute over an election law, officials said Wednesday, a delay that could threaten the planned U.S. withdrawal of combat troops.

Iraqi lawmakers have worked for months to pass a law needed to reform the election process, seeking to make it more representative of Iraq's ethnic and religious groups. It is unclear what a long delay would mean for the United States, which is slated to end combat missions in August.

Former prime minister Ayad Allawi, who heads a small bloc in parliament, said a preliminary proposal from various political factions calls for moving the vote from Jan. 16 to Feb. 27, but it also could be further pushed to March 1. He told al-Arabiya television that meetings are planned for Thursday to discuss dates.

-- Associated Press

IRAN

State TV broadcaster orders restrictions

Iran's state television will ban makeup for women, "abnormal" music and unruly children, Iran's Ettemaad newspaper reported Wednesday.

IRIB's top manager, Ezzatollah Zarghami, told his managers that female presenters wearing makeup are to be taken off the air, saying that using cosmetics is illegal -- even though millions of women in Iran do. He also said that there "should be no insulting of family elders by children" and that "refining of music is among our plans."

Both supporters and critics of the government have said the state broadcaster's programs are dull and unappealing to the country's urban middle class. Viewers are increasingly turning to foreign-based Farsi-language satellite channels, some funded by the United States and Britain.

A lawmaker said recently that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is using new equipment to block foreign transmissions.