Hi Global Recap readers,
Ever wonder how a government gets people to “ethnically unite”?
Easy. Make not doing it legally problematic.
Xi’s a genius. 👇🏼
👀 This Week So Far
Quick Catch-Up
🇮🇷🇺🇸 Iran-US: The US and Iran pause attacks after ~4 days of strikes around Hormuz, then US envoys hold indirect Doha talks through Qatar.
🇮🇷🇮🇶 Iran-Iraq: Iraq arrests 47 people in a Baghdad corruption sweep that appears to hit Iran-aligned power networks.
🇷🇺🇺🇦 Russia-Ukraine: Russian President Putin admits Ukraine's refinery strikes are creating fuel shortages inside Russia, and Russia is now trying to import gasoline from unnamed countries.
🇻🇪 Venezuela: Opposition leader María Corina Machado says she will return to Venezuela following the earthquake disaster.
🇨🇳 CHINA
Unity Means Control
China's new ethnic unity law took effect July 1, giving Chinese President Xi Jinping's "shared national identity" push a firmer legal justification.
Some critics are calling this "forced assimilation."
Schools. The law strengthens Mandarin as the default language for education, official business and public spaces, while minority languages such as Uyghur, Tibetan, and Mongolian lose more room.
Reach. It also says people and groups outside China can face legal responsibility for acts Beijing says undermine ethnic unity or create ethnic division.
Pushback. UN rights chief Volker Turk called for repeal. Meanwhile, Taiwan warned the law could target foreigners, and US senators said it helps legitimize transnational repression.
Denial. Beijing denies abusing ethnic minorities and says its policies bring security and development. Rights groups see a cleaner legal wrapper for forced assimilation.
📌 Context. The law builds on years of assimilation policies in Xinjiang, where critics say Uyghurs have faced mass detention, coercive birth-control policies, forced labor, and restrictions on their language, religion, and culture. China rejects these allegations, saying its policies combat extremism and promote stability and development.
🇷🇺🇺🇦 RUSSIA & UKRAINE
Warning Came True
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy cut short his Dublin visit after intelligence warned Russia was preparing a major overnight strike. The warning did not sit around for long.
Ireland. Zelenskyy was in Dublin for the first day of Ireland's EU Council presidency, thanked Irish PM Micheál Martin for steady support, then said he was leaving immediately.
Attack. Russia hit Kyiv overnight with missiles and drones, killing at least 13 people and injuring 86, with residential damage reported across the capital.
Here’s President Zelenskyy’s post about the ongoing Russian attack:
📌 Context. A new Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimate says the war has caused more than 2 million military casualties: about 1.4 million Russian casualties and 525,000 to 625,000 Ukrainian casualties.
🇮🇷🇷🇺 IRAN & RUSSIA
Khamenei's Delayed Goodbye
Iran’s late Supreme Ali Khamenei
Russian Security Council deputy chair Dmitry Medvedev will attend the funeral of Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in Tehran as President Vladimir Putin’s envoy.
Tehran is expected to impose tight controls, with airspace closures over Tehran and Mashhad reported during the events.
Schedule
July 4. Mourning ceremonies begin in Tehran, with delegations from at least 30 countries expected.
July 4-5. Khamenei's body is set to lie at the Mosalla of Tehran, giving the public 2 days to pay respects.
July 6-7. A Tehran funeral procession, followed by ceremonies in Qom on July 7.
July 9. The final burial in Mashhad, his home city.
Storage
Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, and his funeral was postponed in March while Iran was still under attack. That makes this a 4-month-delayed farewell in a political system that normally prizes fast Islamic burial.
Reports suggest Khamenei’s body was likely kept in refrigerated cold storage while Iran waited until it could stage the burial as a national mobilization instead of a wartime scramble.
The Biggest Question
The “cardboard Mojtaba” meme was born from his complete absence from public view since his father’s death, with only old still photos of him circulating.
Now everyone’s watching one thing: whether Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s current Supreme Leader, actually shows up. If he doesn’t, speculation will explode.
The main theories making the rounds are:
He died in the same strike that killed his father.
He survived but was badly disfigured and can’t appear in public.
The IRGC is effectively running the country in his name while keeping him out of sight.
We'll find out soon enough.
🇮🇱 ISRAEL
UNRWA Gets Frozen Out
The US-led Board of Peace says The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has "no place" in a postwar "new Gaza," drawing outrage from the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Board. This appears to be the Board's first public line on UNRWA. The PA rejected the wording as an attempt to separate Gaza from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Palestinian diaspora.
Problem. Critics (including Israel, the US, and several other governments) say UNRWA has been compromised by Hamas, citing a growing body of evidence. In fact, an internal UN investigation found that 9 UNRWA employees may have participated in the October 7 attacks, and they were later dismissed.
Caveat. However, supporters of UNRWA say that claims of mass Hamas infiltration and routine UN aid theft are merely allegations.
Leverage. The fight now is who gets trusted with Gaza if/when Hamas is pushed out. The PA wants UNRWA protected, while the Board is standing firm against it.
📌 Context. The US-led Board of Peace is the body overseeing President Trump’s postwar Gaza plan. It is tasked with reconstruction, security, and establishing a new Palestinian administration after Hamas, though its legitimacy and governance model remain controversial and lacks universal international backing.
