TEHRAN TIMES (IRAN): In a tragic helicopter crash, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, alongside other officials, lost their lives en route to the provincial capital city of Tabriz. A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a “tough landing” on Sunday during a visit to the country’s northwest. The incident occurred as a result of dense fog in the region, which is making conditions difficult for rescue teams, the TV said. An informed source reported that the Supreme National Security Council has not held a meeting regarding the accident involving the helicopter carrying the President of Iran and his companions.

THE ECONOMIC TIMES (INDIA): Iran President Raisi dead: How it may impact the region including Israel, oil prices, gold, and stock markets. The death of Iranian President Raisi in a helicopter crash is poised to have significant repercussions, given Iran's longstanding conflicts and alliances in the Middle East. The incident comes amidst escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, raising concerns about regional stability and Iran’0s nuclear ambitions. The uncertainty surrounding Iran’s leadership could lead to volatility in oil markets as investors assess the potential impact on Iran’s oil production and exports. The death of President Ebrahim Raisi could lead to a period of political instability in Iran as the country seeks to select a new leader. Raisi’s death would force the regime to find a new president at a difficult time, as Iran is engaged in a regional war and faces economic challenges.

KOMMERSANT (RUSSIA): Учитывая сложную систему религиозно-светской власти в Иране, на вершине которой над президентом стоит верховный лидер Ирана аятолла Хаменеи, стране на ближайшую перспективу, судя по всему, удастся избежать потрясений. Вероятным преемником Раиси в случае его смерти называют вице-президента Мохаммада Мохбера. Впрочем, по мнению экспертов, в дальнейшем Ирану может грозить кризис преемственности. Дело в том, что президент Раиси считается едва ли не главным возможным преемником 85-летнего аятоллы Хаменеи. Другим вероятным преемником верховного лидера Ирана называют его сына Моджтабу Хаменеи, но последний менее популярен, чем президент Раиси, и его назначение на высший пост в государстве может вызвать серьезное сопротивление.

THE GUARDIAN (GB): The immediate challenge of any new leader would be to control not just internal dissent, but the factional demands within the country to take a tougher line with the west and draw closer to Russia and China. The perennial challenge to Iran remains relations with Israel, which reached a new pitch of danger in April when the two countries exchanged fire, sparked by an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, and more broadly by Iran’s support for proxy groups willing to fight Israel, including Hamas and Hezbollah. But any new president will have to make big decisions over Iran’s nuclear programme.

THE NEW YORK TIMES (USA): The death of Mr. Raisi, a conservative who violently crushed dissent and was widely viewed as a possible successor to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, comes during a particularly tumultuous period for Iran. During Mr. Raisi’s tenure the country had been roiled by protests and economic upheaval and engaged in a long shadow war with Israel, which burst into the open in an exchange of direct strikes last month. Domestically, Iran is also facing widespread anger, with many residents calling for an end to clerical rule. Corruption and sanctions have gutted the economy, stoking frustrations. In the last two years, the country has witnessed a domestic uprising, the Iranian currency plunging to a record low, water shortages intensified by climate change and the deadliest terrorist attack since the 1979 founding of the Islamic Republic. Iran will want to project a sense of control and order in the aftermath of President Raisi’s death, and to emphasize that early elections will happen in an orderly way. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said earlier in remarks about the crash that there would be no disruption to the work of the government. He also said that senior officials would remain in control of national security and border security.

THE JERUSALEM POST (ISRAEL): Should it become clear that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian have died in Sunday’s helicopter crash, those hoping that their sudden demise would lead to a regime change in the Islamic Republic are likely to be disappointed, experts said. This does “nothing” for regime change, said Dr. Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian lecturer at Reichman University, as he explained that the impact would largely be domestic. Nor did experts believe that their deaths could impact Iran’s enmity with Israel, its support of the proxy groups Hamas and Hezbollah, who are at war with Israel, or its push to produce nuclear weapons.

THE WASHINGTON TIMES (USA): Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping take radically different approaches to warfare. Both pursue old-school territorial expansion, but use vastly different strategies. Despite the amity they display, the world’s two leading anti-Western leaders are far from aligned when it comes to war-making. Washington has engaged in multiple expeditionary wars to support allies and overthrow regimes. None of its conflicts for over a century, however, has aimed at actual territorial conquest. Conversely, China’s and Russia’s wars share old-fashioned aims. However, Mr. Xi’s and Mr. Putin’s strategies differ radically. Russian warfare is deadly and destructive; Chinese warfare, not always non-lethal, is non-kinetic.

THE TIMES OF INDIA: Coinciding with Taiwan’s presidential inaguration, China’s ministry of commerce on Monday announced sanctions and two other defence companies for arms sales to Taiwan. The move is the latest in a series of sanctions Beijing has announced in recent years against defence companies for weapons sales to Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China considers part of its own territory.

LES ECHOS (FRANCE): Le gouvernement israélien tangue sérieusement et menace de prendre eau de toutes parts. Benny Gantz, ancien chef d’état-major, et un des quatre ministres du cabinet de guerre, a lancé samedi soir un ultimatum à Benyamin Netanyahou. Si d'ici le 8 juin, le Premier ministre n'a pas présenté et fait adopter un plan post-Hamas, il quittera le gouvernement. Le chef du gouvernement a répliqué très sèchement en affirmant qu'accepter les propositions de Benny Gantz reviendrait pour “Israël à perdre une guerre”, engagée le 7 octobre à la suite de massacres commis par le Hamas dans le sud de la bande de Gaza. Rappel important: l’épreuve de force engagée par Benny Gantz, dirigeant du parti de l'Union Nationale, qui a rallié le gouvernement au début de la guerre en compagnie de Gadi Eisenkot, un autre ex chef d’état-major, survient alors que la semaine dernière, de graves fissures étaient apparues au sein même du Likoud. Yoav Gallant, ministre de la Défense, membre de cette formation de droite dirigée par Benyamin Netanyahou, avait lui aussi défié ouvertement le chef du gouvernement en exigeant qu'il présente un plan d’après-guerre et s'engage à ne pas imposer une administration militaire dans la bande de Gaza, autrement dit une réoccupation permanente dans cette enclave que Tsahal avait évacuée en 2005. Sur le papier, les positions de Benyamin Netanyahou et de Benny Gantz semblent irréconciliables. Toute la question est de savoir si le Premier ministre peut rester à la barre en cas de divorce. Avec ses alliés d’extrême droite et religieux ultra-orthodoxes, il conserverait une majorité de 64 députés sur 120, même après une éventuelle défection de Benny Gantz et des 8 députés de l’Union Nationale.

INDEPENDENT (GB): Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from his own war cabinet and his country’s closest ally over post-war plans for Gaza, even as the war with Hamas shows no sign of ending. On Saturday, Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet and Mr Netanyahu’s main political rival, said he would leave the government on 8 June if it did not formulate a new war plan to include an international, Arab and Palestinian administration to handle civilian affairs in Gaza. Defence minister Yoav Gallant, the third member of the cabinet, has also called for a plan for a Palestinian administration, and said in a speech this week that he wouldn’t agree to Israel governing Gaza itself. The US has meanwhile called for a revitalised Palestinian Authority (PA) to govern Gaza with assistance from Saudi Arabia and other Arab states ahead of eventual statehood. So far, Mr Netanyahu has brushed off these demands. But Mr Gantz’s ultimatum could reduce his margin for manoeuvre.

O GLOBO (BRASIL): Seis meses após a posse de Milei como presidente, argentinos oscilam entre a esperança e a angústia. Dados econômicos mais positivos, como a queda da inflação, convivem com o dinheiro curto e o risco de cortes em setores como a educação, mantendo a divisão do país. O presidente da Argentina, Javier Milei, completou seis meses de governo no último dia 10, num panorama ainda incerto para o país. Passado meio ano no cargo, o chefe de Estado, que na última sexta-feira disse, durante uma palestra em Madri, ser “um liberal num país de esquerdistas”, tem poucas vitórias políticas para comemorar, mas continua contando com um robusto apoio social. Os projetos de lei enviados pela Casa Rosada ao Congresso ainda não foram aprovados, em grande medida, pela resistência de grupos peronistas. Sem poder avançar com suas reformas nas questões trabalhista e de privatizações, entre outras, Milei mantém seus eleitores — os mais e os menos entusiasmados — engajados com as conquistas na área econômica.

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA (RUSSIA): Правительством президента Хавьера Милея нанесен, возможно, самый сильный удар по благосостоянию аргентинцев. Он, преодолев попытки его оппонентов заблокировать его инициативу через суд, все-таки добился разрешения повысить цены на проезд в метро. В Латинской Америке, где доступный общественный транспорт является предметом гордости государства, подобные эксперименты часто заканчиваются взрывом возмущения и массовыми протестами.

LA NACION (ARGENTINA): Milei en España: crecen las repercusiones por llamar “mujer corrupta” a la esposa del presidente Pedro Sánchez. Milei ha revalidado sus palabras a través de su cuenta en la red social X y dijo que sus palabras “incomodan” y que algunos se “desesperan por ocultar”. “Es impresentable que un presidente en ejercicio en visita a España, insulte a España y al presidente del gobierno de España”, dijo el ministro de Asuntos Exteriores, José Manuel Albares, tras las declaraciones de Javier Milei en la cumbre europea de la derecha, celebrada esta mañana en la capital española. El diplomático anunció en una sala de prensa casi vacía que se llamará a consulta a la embajadora española en Buenos Aires, María Jesús Alonso Jiménez, y le exigió a Milei que pida disculpas por sus declaraciones “inaceptables”. El fervor que causó Milei en España se explica por el rechazo que siente la oposición en España y aquellos que no votan ni socialismo ni a la izquierda, al gobierno, antes que por su entusiasmo por las ideas libertarias.

THE WASHINGTON POST (USA): As India votes, a streetwise pol proves pragmatism often trumps ideology. Ahead of the election, which began April 19 and lasts until June 1, a parade of politicians made the last-minute jump from opposition parties to Modi’s BJP. Nearly 30% of the 444 parliamentary candidates fielded by the BJP are defectors from other parties, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. Opposition parties, struggling with mass defections, have accused the BJP of using bribes and the threat of anticorruption investigations to poach their local leaders.

NIKKEI (JAPAN): Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has postponed his visit to Japan scheduled to begin on Monday due to King Salman’s health, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. The de facto Saudi leader had been scheduled to meet with Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a trip scheduled for May 20-23. Saudi Arabia’s state news agency on Sunday reported that 88-year-old King Salman will undergo treatment for a lung inflammation.

GLOBAL TIMES (CHINA): China’s top diplomat Wang Yi’s visit to Central Asia where he will also attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs will further enhance China’s cooperation with the region, and better coordinate and prepare for the upcoming meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO, Chinese experts said. They believe the SCO’s expansion and anti-terrorism efforts will top the agenda of this year’s meetings, and further highlight the organization’s influence and important role under a complicated international environment.

RENMIN RIBAO (CHINA): Serbia is actively participating in the development of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, Prime Minister Milos Vucevic said on Thursday, emphasizing the ironclad friendship between Serbia and China. Vucevic made these remarks at the fourth forum co-organized by the Belgrade think tank "Belt and Road" Institute and the Center for Sustainable Development of Beijing Jiaotong University in Belgrade. In his speech, Vucevic highlighted that Serbia was among the first countries to sign a “Belt and Road” cooperation agreement with China, underlining a clear plan to remain committed to equal cooperation.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (USA): European investigators increasingly see Russian fingerprints around recent acts of suspected sabotage on strategic infrastructure but are struggling to respond. Reacting to clandestine threats is difficult because evidence around the suspected attacks—including a severed undersea gas pipeline, cuts in a vital internet connection and the disruption of a rail network—often isn’t conclusive. Potential culprits in big cases include commercial shipping or fishing vessels that have been engaged in apparently legitimate maritime transport or trawling for fish near sensitive seabed installations that were destroyed around the same time. They rarely have direct connections to Russian authorities, investigators say.

GULF TIMES (QATAR): A month before the European Parliament elections, many of Europe’s industries are fighting to survive. But rather than make the difficult decisions needed to reverse the European Union’s industrial decline, leaders have often settled for the status quo. Some populist leaders even oppose plans to modernise Europe’s industrial base – effectively deceiving the public in the process.
Europe’s manufacturing sector has faced a series of unprecedented challenges in recent years. The Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war laid bare Europe’s reliance on others for critical goods and dealt serious blows to manufacturing by disrupting supply chains and triggering energy and cost-of-living crises. The embrace of short-termism by corporations – reflected in their preference for dividends and share buybacks over reinvestment of profits – has further undermined the EU manufacturing sector’s dynamism and resilience. Compounding all these challenges is the biggest crisis of them all – climate change – which is generating rapidly increasing financial and human costs.

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN (JAPAN): Japan’s first Arctic research vessel now under construction here will be capable of smashing through sea ice up to 1.2 meters thick to reach the northern polar region to study sea creatures and environmental conditions there.