World

The war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran has entered its second week, yet US President Donald Trump's statements about the conflict's ultimate objectives remain fluid and at times contradictory. Despite the killing of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and strikes on nearly 2,000 targets, the Trump administration has failed to articulate a clear endgame for the military campaign.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned in a statement on Monday that recent Israeli attacks on oil facilities in Iran could have negative effects on public health, with Iranian children and the elderly among the most vulnerable. He stated that damage to Iranian petroleum facilities “risks contaminating food, water and air”.

Iran's 88-member Assembly of Experts, composed of religious leaders, has elected Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as the country's new Supreme Leader. This decision follows the killing of Ali Khamenei on February 28, the first day of the ongoing conflict. State television announced that Mojtaba Khamenei has been tasked with steering the "holy establishment of the Islamic Republic."

The Turkish Ministry of National Defence announced that NATO air defense systems intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran towards Turkey. The incident occurred on Monday over the Sahinbey district of Gaziantep province in southern Turkey. According to the ministry's statement, no casualties or material damage were reported.

Pressure is mounting on Australia to offer asylum to members of the Iranian national football team following the Asian Cup, with reports indicating that five players have escaped Iranian supervision due to safety concerns. After Iran's campaign ended in Australia, their team bus was surrounded by hundreds of protesters chanting "save our girls," and players onboard were reportedly seen making SOS signs and photographing the scene. Although the bus returned to the team hotel in Gold Coast, widespread accounts emerged on Monday of five players fleeing the premises.

The Green Party has narrowly won the state election in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, according to provisional results, securing 30.2% of the vote compared to the Christian Democratic Union's (CDU) 29.7%. This outcome casts uncertainty over the future of the coalition that has governed the southwestern state for the past decade, with both parties now facing complex negotiations to form a new government.

Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), the country's oldest political force, is facing an existential crisis as it grapples with historically poor electoral performances. In the recent state election in Baden-Württemberg, the SPD barely crossed the 5% threshold for parliamentary representation with just 5.5% of the vote, marking its worst result in post-war history. This setback is part of a broader trend: since 2021, the party has recorded single-digit results in four other federal states, while at the federal level, its support has languished between 13% and 16%.

The price of oil surged to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday following Israeli strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure over the weekend and Tehran's de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz. This escalation in the 10-day-old conflict sent fresh shockwaves through global energy markets, with Brent crude reaching $119.50 before retreating to around $100.

Israeli strikes on fuel depots and petroleum logistic sites in Tehran on Sunday resulted in apocalyptic scenes: a river of fire from spilled oil and thick black smoke blanketed the capital of 10 million people, leaving streets and vehicles covered with soot.

On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran without prior warning or United Nations approval, targeting and killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This aggressive move risks escalating into a wider regional conflagration, potentially drawing in Gulf states, disrupting global energy supplies, and pushing fragile economies into recession, highlighting the urgent need for a robust international response.

The government of Uzbekistan is planning to sell non-liquid assets of the corporate group comprising Enter Engineering, Eriell Group, and Sanoat Energetika Guruhi (Saneg) to settle debts owed to employees, the budget, and banks. This follows a Cabinet of Ministers resolution dated January 22, whose informational note circulated on social media and was confirmed by government sources. According to the document, the group's wage arrears for 38,700 employees amount to $131 million, highlighting a significant corporate debt issue in the country.

Walid Khalidi, the esteemed Palestinian historian and diplomat renowned for his meticulous documentation of the Nakba and his contributions to Palestinian scholarship, has died at the age of 100 in Massachusetts, United States. His death was announced in an obituary issued by the Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS), a research center he co-founded in 1963.