Mojtaba Khamenei becomes Iran's new Supreme Leader as war continues

Today's headlines China's key political event, the “Two Sessions”, opens in Beijing in the presence of Xi Jinping; Philippine House Justice Committee declares Sara Duterte's impeachment charges “well-founded”; Tokyo High Court confirms dissolution of the Unification Church. Shocking infanticide case reopens debate on abortion rules in South Korea.

MIDDLE EAST

Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ali Khamenei who was killed on Saturday in US and Israeli air strikes, has been named Iran's new Supreme Leader. The decision was taken yesterday by the Assembly of Experts, the religious body responsible for selecting the country's highest authority. The move is said to have been made under pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is believed to have pushed for this choice. Meanwhile, the war continues on all fronts in the Middle East. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 1,097 civilians have been killed in Iran since the US and Israeli attacks began on Saturday. Yesterday, an Iranian drone struck the US consulate in Dubai, while an Iranian missile struck a US base in Qatar.

CHINA

The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's highest political advisory body, opened its annual session in Beijing this morning. Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with other leaders, attended the inaugural meeting at the Great Hall of the People. Together with the National People's Congress (the legislative body), which begins tomorrow, they constitute the so-called “Two Sessions”, the most important political event of the year, bringing together thousands of delegates in Beijing. This year, it will launch the new five-year plan for the People's Republic of China.

PHILIPPINES

The Justice Committee of the Philippine House of Representatives has declared two impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte to be sufficient on their merits, allowing the proceedings to move forward. During the hearing, 54 deputies voted in favour, only one voted against and none abstained. Now, after a further series of formal steps, the impeachment request will be examined by the plenary session of the chamber: if it obtains the favourable vote of one third of the deputies, the case will be forwarded to the Senate for the opening of the trial.

SOUTH KOREA

A South Korean court has convicted a woman and two doctors of murder for killing the baby she had given birth to. The woman wanted to terminate her pregnancy at 36 weeks, but the baby was born alive and was subsequently killed. The surgeon who operated on her and the hospital director were sentenced to four and six years in prison, respectively, while the woman received a three-year suspended sentence. The case has shaken South Korea, where abortion was decriminalised in 2019, but there is no clear legislation on how far into a pregnancy it can be performed.

JAPAN

The Tokyo High Court has upheld the order to dissolve the Unification Church, the religious sect founded by Reverend Moon that came under the spotlight after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The measure was requested by the Japanese government on the grounds that the organisation had illegally solicited financially ruinous donations from its members.

Although the group can still appeal to the Supreme Court, the Tokyo High Court's order will take effect immediately: the controversial organisation will lose its status as a religious entity with the associated tax benefits, and liquidation proceedings will begin. This is the third case in Japan in which a religious group has been ordered to be dissolved for “violations of laws and regulations”, following cases including that of the apocalyptic sect Aum Shinrikyo, which carried out the deadly nerve gas attack on the Tokyo underground in 1995.

RUSSIA

The authorities in the Sakhalin region in the Russian Far East have cut funding for the region's gasification programme by almost 15 billion roubles (€150 million), and natural gas for domestic use remains inaccessible to a significant portion of the region's inhabitants, despite the fact that tens of billions of cubic metres of gas are extracted daily in Sakhalin, most of which is destined for export abroad.

KYRGYZSTAN

The UN Human Rights Committee has agreed to examine the appeal of journalist Bolot Temirov, founder of the Temirov Live project, which the Kyrgyz court has declared an “extremist organisation”, and will send requests for clarification to the Bishkek government, awaiting a response by 26 August 2026. Temirov's lawyers have submitted a dossier to prove the violation of the journalist's rights, who has been expelled from the country.

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