The Democratic Republic of Congo's constitutional court approved a referendum law on July 28, clearing a legal route to amend a constitution that currently bars Presidents from serving more than two terms; President Felix Tshisekedi, 63, is due to end his second and constitutionally final term in late 2028; opposition lawmakers and civil society groups condemned the ruling as an attack on constitutional safeguards
A structural vulnerability in personalist autocracies globally: concentrated power leaves no organic succession mechanism, generating crises when leaders die, fall ill, or are forcibly removed.
full dossier ›Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly since February 28; his three brothers prayed at the coffin in Tehran as Israeli threats and reported injuries kept him away from the largest state funeral in Iran's history
India confirmed on June 29 that Bihar Governor Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain and Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita will represent New Delhi at the state funeral of assassinated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, scheduled across Tehran, Qom, Mashhad and Iraq from July 4-9; Pakistan PM Sharif and delegations from Russia, China and several Central Asian states are expected to attend.
Iran's second Supreme Leader from 1989 to 2026, Khamenei commanded the IRGC, Iran's nuclear program, and regional proxy networks until his death in US-Israeli airstrikes on 28 February 2026.
How military coups and mass civilian pressure end governments outside elections, reshaping power across Africa, Europe and Asia in the 2020s.
Parliament restores a post scrapped in 1972; reports that Biya named son Franck VP are claimed by some outlets and denied by the government
Iran's first hereditary succession installs a mid-ranking cleric the Guards pushed through; a third of the Assembly never signed on
Sworn in under Article 233 following the January US raid, she extends a hand to Trump while insisting Maduro is still the only president