PRESS REVIEW – Monday, March 9: The new Supreme Leader embodies both continuity with his father’s hardline rule and a move away from what was intended to be a non-hereditary system of government. In other news, Greenpeace has warned of “rogue companies trying to circumvent international law” in the deep seas, while the BBC has published photographs from a recent expedition to the deep waters of the Caribbean. In addition, a Viking-inspired sport experienced a moment of fame in England.
lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar published the headline “The legitimacy of blood”, after Ali Khamenei’s son was appointed to succeed him. While the pro-Hezbollah newspaper cited lineage as a source of legitimacy, L’Orient le Jour criticized what he called a “return to dynastic succession” 40 years after the Iranian revolution. Iran International described the new Supreme Leader as a “shadow prince”, who has largely operated out of public view but close to power for decades, playing a key role in suppressing protests in 2009 and 2022 and influencing appointments of senior Revolutionary Guard officials. The times characterized the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as a challenge to Donald Trump, noting that Ali Khamenei had previously said that his successor should be “hated by the enemy.”
At sea, green peace They believe they have evidence that subsidiaries of the US company TMC may be failing to meet their obligations to the International Seabed Authority. Meanwhile, the BBC brings good news from the deep sea: a recent expedition in the Caribbean, which explored depths of up to six kilometers, has revealed a healthy ecosystem, largely untouched by human activity, with specimens straight out of science fiction.
And finally, in Surrey, The times reports on the little-known Viking-inspired “wife carrying” championships held over the weekend, in which duos compete with one partner carrying the other over a 380-meter course. As expected, the winners were a Finnish couple who took home a keg of beer.
