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Larijani Resigns from Iran’s Guardian Council

Sadeq Larijani (R) and Ali Larijani (L) (ICANA)
Sadeq Larijani (R) and Ali Larijani (L) (ICANA)
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Larijani Resigns from Iran’s Guardian Council

Sadeq Larijani (R) and Ali Larijani (L) (ICANA)
Sadeq Larijani (R) and Ali Larijani (L) (ICANA)

Iran’s Guardian Council announced the resignation of its prominent member, Sadeq Larijani, a few months after he criticized the 12-member body for excluding the candidacy of his brother, Ali Larijani, from presidential elections later won by Ebrahim Raisi.

Ali Larijani had served as parliament speaker in Iran.

In a decree on Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei assigned a cleric, Hosseini Khorasani, to replace Larijani.

Khorasani is one of the six Guardian Council jurists that Khamenei named. The Chief Justice selects the other six members.

The Guardian Council supervises the laws and decisions issued by the Iranian parliament and vetting the applications of candidates for presidential and parliamentary elections.

Also, it is considered one of Khamenei’s most significant arms in national politics. But the Guardian Council’s interference in legislative and presidential elections usually draws sharp criticism.

In the latest round of presidential elections, it slashed the candidacy of rather popular officials like Larijani’s brother and Eshaq Jahangiri, the former vice president of Iran.

Larijani had protested strongly against the rejection of his brother’s candidacy application and published a series of tweets in which he accused security services of being behind disqualifying the former parliament speaker from the presidential race.

However, he later rolled back from his statements.

Guardian Council spokesperson Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei said that Larijani had received a warning over his controversial tweets.

Today, Larijani chairs the Expediency Discernment Council, an administrative assembly appointed by the Supreme Leader.

More so, Larijani’s tenure as the Chief Justice of Iran ended on March 7, 2019, when Khamenei appointed Ebrahim Raisi to succeed him.

Many observers anticipate what the future holds for the Larijani brothers, especially next year when the new members of the Expediency Council are named.

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World

Truck Breakdown in Niger Strands Passengers, Leaves at Least 49 Dead in the Sahara Desert

African migrants attempt to cross the desert (file photo)
African migrants attempt to cross the desert (file photo)
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Truck Breakdown in Niger Strands Passengers, Leaves at Least 49 Dead in the Sahara Desert

African migrants attempt to cross the desert (file photo)
African migrants attempt to cross the desert (file photo)

At least 49 people died of thirst after a truck broke down and they were stranded for days in the Sahara Desert in northern Niger, authorities said.

The victims, all Nigeriens, were returning home from a religious festival in Mali when the truck stopped running more than 80 kilometers (49 miles) west of Assamaka, near the borders with Mali and Algeria, Niger's Agadez region governorate said in an online post late Thursday, The AP news reported.

Two men survived after trekking more than 50 kilometers (31 miles) to a water source and then continuing to Assamaka, where they alerted authorities, the governorate said.

A delegation sent to the scene by the Agadez Region Governor Gen. Ibra Boulama Issa learned the truck had traveled for several days from the Malian town of Talhandek about 300 kilometers (187 miles) from the Nigerien border.

It was not immediately clear what led to the breakdown or how long the passengers waited.

“On the spot, the findings were particularly disturbing. Dozens of lifeless bodies were found under the immobile truck and in its surroundings,” the Agadez governorate said.

Photos published by the governorate showed bodies in the desert with pieces of clothing and other belongings scattered around.

“Deprived of water and unable to repair the vehicle despite the efforts of the driver, his apprentice and passengers, travelers found themselves trapped in the heart of a hostile environment where extreme temperatures and lack of supply points make survival extremely difficult,” the governorate said.

The 49 victims were buried in mass graves at the scene in what officials called a “particularly delicate and emotionally exhausting task” for the survivors.

World

German Investigators Launch Probe Into Boeing 787 Incident in Frankfurt

04 June 2026, Hesse, Frankfurt: A Lufthansa Dreamliner aircraft rests on its nose in front of a terminal at Frankfurt Airport after the nose landing gear collapsed. Photo: Mike Seeboth/dpa
04 June 2026, Hesse, Frankfurt: A Lufthansa Dreamliner aircraft rests on its nose in front of a terminal at Frankfurt Airport after the nose landing gear collapsed. Photo: Mike Seeboth/dpa
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German Investigators Launch Probe Into Boeing 787 Incident in Frankfurt

04 June 2026, Hesse, Frankfurt: A Lufthansa Dreamliner aircraft rests on its nose in front of a terminal at Frankfurt Airport after the nose landing gear collapsed. Photo: Mike Seeboth/dpa
04 June 2026, Hesse, Frankfurt: A Lufthansa Dreamliner aircraft rests on its nose in front of a terminal at Frankfurt Airport after the nose landing gear collapsed. Photo: Mike Seeboth/dpa

The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) has begun an investigation into the Boeing 787 jetliner whose nose gear collapsed on Thursday at a gate at Frankfurt airport, according to a BFU spokesperson.

An interim report is expected in about eight weeks, and the final report ⁠in about a ⁠year, said the spokesperson.

Lufthansa, which operated the aircraft, said several crew members and ground staff were lightly injured and hospitalized; two ⁠Lufthansa employees who were briefly hospitalized on Thursday were able to leave the same day.

The affected Boeing 787-9 will be repaired after the investigation, Reuters quoted Lufthansa as saying.

Passengers had not yet boarded the aircraft.

The incident occurred at 12:45 p.m. (1045 GMT) ⁠on Thursday, ⁠and the jet was scheduled to depart for Los Angeles as flight LH450.

The Boeing 787-9 is a relatively new addition for the Lufthansa Group, which is planning to gradually phase out less efficient jets and simplify its fleet.

World

US Domestic Treatment Centers Ready for Ebola Even as Kenya Plans Persist

A health worker stands at a temporary health clinic at the Mpondwe border crossing linking Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP)
A health worker stands at a temporary health clinic at the Mpondwe border crossing linking Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP)
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US Domestic Treatment Centers Ready for Ebola Even as Kenya Plans Persist

A health worker stands at a temporary health clinic at the Mpondwe border crossing linking Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP)
A health worker stands at a temporary health clinic at the Mpondwe border crossing linking Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP)

Most of the 13 US treatment centers in a government-funded hospital network for severe infectious diseases are ready to handle patients, including those with Ebola if needed, representatives from the hospitals said this week.

The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has resulted in 344 confirmed cases of the disease and 60 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. So far, one American confirmed to have Ebola has been treated in Germany.

The US State Department has said that US citizens exposed to the virus but with no symptoms would be quarantined in Kenya at a facility it's building and vowed to keep the US free of travelers with Ebola.

The US Department of Health and Human Services told Reuters on Wednesday the US network is ready if needed for outbreak response.

Public health experts have increased calls for the government ‌to bring any ‌sick Americans home for treatment, with protests at the Kenya site leading ‌to ⁠at least two ⁠deaths. A Kenyan court has also ordered a block to the construction.

The US has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on preparing its health system to be able to handle Ebola patients since the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, including funding the network of 13 treatment centers.

AT LEAST 9 OF 13 CENTERS READY TO GO

Reuters reached out to the 13 hospitals and universities around the country that are part of the program called the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center, nine of which confirmed they are able to receive patients who have been exposed ⁠to Ebola.

The network includes well-known sites such as the University of Nebraska and ‌Emory University in Atlanta, which recently housed Americans exposed to hantavirus on ‌a cruise, as well as others like Bellevue Hospital in New York and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Emory and ‌three other hospitals did not respond to requests for comment.

"The United States’ investment in preparedness... remains a critical ‌component of national health security," Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for HHS, said.

Hospitals "stand ready to safely evaluate, isolate, and treat patients with high-consequence infectious diseases while supporting ongoing response efforts," she said.

INVESTMENT AFTER 2014 OUTBREAK

In the 2014 West Africa outbreak, the US brought several Ebola patients back to be treated domestically. The following year, HHS received around $260 million in funding for Ebola preparedness and ‌response activities in support of the regional treatment network.

Recently, HHS has provided $21 million a year in funding to the group, which has continued in 2026.

The facilities ⁠are required to be ⁠able to take care of at least two patients with exposure to a contagious viral hemorrhagic fever like Ebola. The facilities are required to train their personnel quarterly, and have lab testing capabilities and personal protective equipment on hand.

The US CDC has dozens of employees in the DRC and has said it plans to send members of the Public Health Service Corps to staff the Kenya site. Americans also volunteer there for international relief organizations.

Healthcare officials in the US, including former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials, argued in an open letter earlier this week that building the new facility in Kenya would raise serious health risks compared with medical repatriation to fully staffed and prepared US facilities.

One former CDC official who is familiar with the response effort said the Kenya quarantine plan could hinder recruiting Americans to help with the outbreak.

"People are concerned they will be abandoned by their government, and many see it as a slap in the face to have taken an oath to serve the American public and get repaid that way," the former official said.