海角大神

The State Department reportedly moved to cover evacuation flights. It authorized the use of emergency funds to pay for charter flights for Americans to leave the Middle East due to disruptions in transportation caused by the Iran war. That鈥檚 according to two U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press but who aren鈥檛 authorized to comment publicly. The department had approved the use of money from a fund normally reserved for emergencies involving diplomatic and consular staff. The department confirmed the use of the emergency funds but declined to specify the amount. 鈥� The Associated Press
Our coverage: Evacuate? Some Americans living in the Middle East wish they could.

In a rare ruling, a Republican governor granted clemency. On Tuesday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted the death sentence of Charles 鈥淪onny鈥� Burton, who was set to be executed even though he was not in the building during a 1991 robbery when the victim was killed. Governor Ivey reduced his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole, marking the second time she granted clemency to a death row inmate since taking office in 2017.

Chile marks its sharpest shift to the right since dictatorship. Ultraconservative Jos茅 Antonio Kast takes office as president in Chile after a landslide win promising tough action on crime and immigration. Mr. Kast has signaled warmth toward U.S. President Donald Trump and ended the transition with President Gabriel Boric after a dispute over a China-linked submarine cable. 鈥� AP

Russia won its first Winter Paralympic gold medal in 12 years. Varvara Voronchikhina took the top spot in the women鈥檚 super-G standing event, as Russia competed under its own flag again. The victory comes after years of restrictions linked to doping violations and the war in Ukraine. Ms. Voronchikhina is one of six Russian athletes competing at the 2026聽Milan Cortina Winter Paralympic Games after being granted wild-card entries, alongside four athletes from Belarus.

China announced it will resume passenger trains to North Korea. The announcement, made Tuesday, said the move will 鈥渇urther promote people-to-people exchanges, economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges between China and North Korea.鈥� Trains between the two countries halted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when North Korea banned all foreign tourists from entering the country. It has since lifted the ban to allow in Russian tourists, and now Chinese tourists.

鈥� Compiled by Monitor writers around the world

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth鈥檚 statements about the war in Iran are galvanizing to supporters, but critics hear a glorification of violence that runs counter to professional soldiering.

Japan turned off all of its nuclear reactors after the 2011 nuclear disaster at Fukushima. Now, the government 鈥� and the public 鈥� has reversed course. The country is returning to nuclear energy, but there鈥檚 still some skepticism.

With the right-wing Reform UK party dominating polls, Britain鈥檚 Labour Party has been skewing to the center. But that appears to be alienating its traditional leftist base 鈥� and opening the door for the Green Party to potentially supplant it.

More members of Congress are leaving their jobs than they normally do in a midterm election year, and some are leaving public service altogether. It鈥檚 a sign that being a senator or representative may be tougher than it used to be.

In Jordan, a country well-known for its hospitality, locals are inviting stranded foreigners to break-the-fast evening Ramadan meals amid the stress of war.

In addition to identifying and protecting mass graves, the center that Joseph Ben Kaifala founded elicits pledges from young people to never again allow or participate in war. 鈥淭he idea of forgetting that the civil war happened to us is the most appalling statement that I have ever heard in postconflict Sierra Leone,鈥� he says.

On Monday, while visiting Australia to compete in a tournament, five members of the Iranian women鈥檚 soccer team were struggling in a hotel room over whether to defect and escape suppression back home. Their struggle ended when Naghmeh Danai, an Iranian-Australian and a migration agent, told them, 鈥淵ou will have more respect [here].鈥� The five could quickly gain official residency and build a new life 鈥� as athletes, women, and citizens in an egalitarian society.

鈥淎nd they were thrilled,鈥� Ms. Danai later said. The five accepted asylum 鈥� and freedom 鈥� in Australia.

This minor tale of Iranians seeking to be honored on their merits reflects a major theme during the many years of protests in Iran: An authoritarian theocracy purposely set up in 1979 to replace a dynastic monarchy has come to rely on nepotism and crony networks to keep itself in power, denying opportunities for many Iranians and leading to corrupt, ineffective governance.

Within the regime, kinship and marital ties matter more than competence. The gene pool drowns out the talent pool. One 2024 study found that 22% of government ministers were the sons of clerical personalities. Even the largely powerless president, Masoud Pezeshkian, called for meritocracy in government last year and an end to what he described as 鈥渘arrow-mindedness in appointing officials.鈥�

Nothing represents this official favoritism more than the elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the slain supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, as Iran鈥檚 new, all-powerful ruler. If the regime were to fracture and fall someday, it might be because of internal dissent against such dynastic rule and all the inequality this represents.

Long before he even took power, Mojtaba Khamenei, known as the 鈥渟hadow prince鈥� of the Islamic Republic, was the subject of protesters鈥� chants against hereditary rule. Despite that popular sentiment, the regime decided to keep control during the military campaign by Israel and the United States by picking the dictator鈥檚 son rather than seeking legitimacy with the people.

The choice might have defied the wishes of the father. The late Ali Khamenei once stated that one of the Islamic Revolution鈥檚 greatest achievements 鈥渨as the destruction of a structure which was based on a cruel and unreasonable hereditary monarchy.鈥� Today, public resentment of the aghazadeh (Persian for the favored children of the elite) still runs high. Last October, for example, candidates for teaching posts protested outside the Education Ministry over blatant nepotism in hiring.

A second revolution against deep-rooted nepotism seems far off. Yet that鈥檚 not the case in the hearts of everyday Iranians like the five women on Iran鈥檚 soccer team who defected. They chose a life in which individual abilities are allowed to flourish.