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Chile is gearing up for a presidential runoff next Sunday after neither top candidate clinched a definitive win in the first round of voting. Independent candidate Sebastian Pienra, a conservative billionaire, is in the lead at present against former president Eduardo Frei. It is the largest show of support an independent candidate has seen in recent history. The two main cadnidates faced off in a televised debate late on Monday as their campaigns reach the final stretch. At teh cnetre of that debate was Chile’s human rights record. Soem of Pinera’s conservative suppotrers are known to have backed Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship decades ago. Amid this flurry of political activity, a new memorial museum is opening this week in Santiago, the capital, a project led personally by Michelle Bachelet, the current president. The museum is a tribute to tens of thousands of victims, who like herself, suffered under Pinochet’s dicatatorship. Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman has this report (12 Jan 10).

The main headlines on Al Jazeera English, featuring the latest news and rpeorts from around the world.

Residents in southern Afghanisatn are accusing Nato and Afghan troops of killing 13 civilians after opening fire on a group of demonstrators.

Nato insists the only person killed was a sniper.

The shootings happened in Helmand province, where people were protesting against a raid in which troops allegedly destroyed copies of the Quran.

Hashem Ahelbarra reports.

January 10, 2010

An Iranian nuclear physicist has been killed in Tehran – a killing the government is placing squarely on the shouldesr of the US and Israel. The US has denied this calling it absurd. Massoud Ali Mohammadi was leaving for his job at Tehran University, when a bomb placed on a motorcycle near his house went off. Al Jazeera’s Alireza Roneghi reports from Tehran (12 Jan 10).

The recent anti-government demonstrations in Iran have once again highlighted its stark political divisions. The country remains tense after clashes between security forces and tens of thousands of opposition supporters in December. Eight people died on Ashura, one of the holiest days in the Shia Muslim calendar. Iran has been simmering since protests erupted after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the disptued Presidential elections in June. The pro-reformist opposition called the vote fraudulent but Irans government blamed western powers especially the U.S., UK and Israel for orchetsrating those protests.

In this episode of Riz Khan we ask, how far will the Iranian government go in dealing with this ongoing political crisis? And what role, if any, should the international community play? Joining the conservation is Iranian-American journalist and writer Azadeh Moaveni, author of the book "Honeymoon in Tehran" about life under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Also with us is political analyst Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich and former U.S. diplomat Hillary Mann-Leverett, who presently heads Stratega, a politicla risk consultancy that works on Middle East issues.