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Iran’s Hardliners Make Gains, Nevada’s Turn: Weekend Reads

(Bloomberg) --

Iranian hardliners won key seats in an election that’s expected to hand control of the legislature to conservatives empowered by the country’s turbulent and economically damaging standoff with the U.S.

Nevada becomes the first state with significant minority populations to hold a presidential nominating contest. Bernie Sanders will try to cement his front-runner status, but today’s caucuses could deal a harsh blow to several other candidates limping toward Super Tuesday on March 3. Dig deeper into these topics — and check out some others that may have missed your radar — with the latest edition of Weekend Reads.

Harry Reid Tells Candidates Hoping to Stop Sanders to ‘Speak Up’Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has a message for the Democratic candidates desperate to stop Bernie Sanders from winning the nomination. “If you don’t like what Bernie’s doing,” he told Joshua Green ahead of today's Nevada caucuses, “speak up.”

A Mother’s Pain Bares the Rifts That Are Tearing Iran ApartWhen Hassan Rouhani was elected president of Iran in 2013, supporters pinned their hopes on him to revive the country’s fortunes and rehabilitate its relationship with the rest of the world. But, as Golnar Motevalli explains, the shooting down a Ukrainian passenger jet full of Iranians has alienated those that swept Rouhani to power.

The U.S.-Iran Pistachio War Is Heating UpForty years of vicious geopolitical competition between the U.S. and Iran came close to open war in January, and it’s still too soon to call a winner — except in one field. American farmers have deposed Iran as king of the global pistachio industry, Marc Champion reports.

Mass Shooting Adds Urgency to Merkel’s Push to Curb Hate SpeechA shooting near Frankfurt this week that left 11 people dead -- by a far-right activist who published a racist screed online before the incident -- has added momentum to Merkel’s long-standing efforts to eliminate hate speech and fake news from websites such as Facebook and Twitter, Stefan Nicola and Sarah Syed report.

Brexit’s New Paradox: How to Build an Economy With Fewer PeopleThe U.K. only wants highly skilled workers now, but, as Olivia Konotey-Ahulu explains, construction companies say that’s not enough to fulfill big infrastructure projects.

U.K. Labour Faces a Long Recovery to Catch Boris JohnsonThe next general election is still four years away, and Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson enjoys a huge parliamentary majority. But who will next lead the Labour Party still matters. With voting set to open Monday, Robert Hutton and Konotey-Ahulu break down why.

A Rising Political Star Aims to Lure Italy Further to the RightGiorgia Meloni went from bartending at a Roman nightclub to leading one of Italy’s main political forces. Just how she has gotten so far was clear one afternoon last year at a rally in central Rome dubbed “Italy pride.” John Follain takes a closer look.

Clouds of Black Smoke Darken South Sudan’s Growing Oil ProfitsGrass is black from oil spills, air is dark from pillars of black smoke and layers of “black gold” cover water supplies. Crude oil, key to boosting South Sudan’s economy, is destroying crucial pasture land, polluting water, and increasing birth defects. Now, Okech Francis reports, it’s finally bad enough for the government to take notice.

And finally ... A desire to bear witness to recent developments along the almost 1,000-mile U.S. border with Mexico — and to the impact of Trump’s policy of separating migrant families and jailing asylum seekers — led James Hertling and his wife to spend part of a recent vacation doing volunteer work in and around Brownsville, a border city at the southeastern tip of Texas.

To contact the author of this story: Kathleen Hunter in London at khunter9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net

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