Funeral begins for Iran's late Supreme Leader

Iran has begun several days of public mourning and funeral processions for its former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, more than four months after he was killed in strikes launched by the US and Israel.

Tehran is using the occasion as an opportunity to project to the world an image of power.

Also in the programme: There's a grim warning from the UN that another humanitarian catastrophe is imminent in Sudan; why taking maternity leave as a town mayor is highly controversial in Japan; and we'll hear about the dolphins that are the gauge of marine destruction in the Adriatic Sea.

(Photo shows mourners gathered by the coffin of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran, Iran, on 3 July 2026. Credit: Mohammed Salem/Reuters)