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Americas

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RIYADH: Nearly 20 countries on Monday condemned Israel&#39;s recent moves to tighten its control over the occupied West Bank, characterizing them as attempts to annex the territory and undermine Palestinian statehood. Israel has approved a series of initiatives this month backed by far-right ministers, including launching a process to register land in the West Bank as &quot;state property&quot; and allowing Israelis to purchase land there directly. The moves &quot;are part of a clear trajectory that aims to change the reality on the ground and to advance unacceptable de facto annexation,&quot; the 18 mostly European or Muslim-majority countries said, in a joint statement. &quot;Such actions are a deliberate and direct attack on the viability of the Palestinian state and the implementation of the two-state solution.&quot; The statement was signed by regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt, European powers France and Spain, as well as Indonesia, Brazil and Turkey, among others. It was also endorsed by the secretaries general League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as well as the Palestinian Authority. In addition to around three million Palestinians, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law. The current Israeli government has fast-tracked settlement expansion, approving a record 52 settlements in 2025. The West Bank, occupied since 1967, will form the largest part of any future Palestinian state.

Middle East

Israel has approved a series of initiatives this month backed by far-right ministers, including launching a process to register land in the West Bank as "state property" and allowing Israelis to purchase land there directly.

Nearly 20 nations slam Israel's West Bank moves towards 'de facto annexation'

KYIV: Ukraine was on Tuesday marking the fourth anniversary of Russia&#39;s full-scale invasion, with a show of solidarity from its staunchest allies and no immediate end in sight to Europe&#39;s bloodiest conflict since World War II. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost since the Kremlin ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, confident of a quick victory but not expecting the fierce resistance that followed. The worldwide fallout of the war has been immense, with many European countries increasing their own defense spending in anticipation of a possible confrontation of their own with Russia. But diplomatic talks between the two sides, relaunched last year by the United States, have so far failed to halt the fighting, which has devastated Ukraine and left it facing the mammoth task &mdash; and bill &mdash; of reconstruction. Tuesday&#39;s anniversary is expected to see the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, in Kyiv to mark the occasion. Both said they would take part in a &quot;commemoration ceremony&quot; and visit the site of a Ukrainian energy facility damaged by Russian strikes before attending a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky. They are also due to take part in a videoconference meeting with Kyiv&#39;s allies &mdash; the so-called &quot;Coalition of the Willing&quot; which includes Britain, France and Germany. Impasse Russia, which currently occupies nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory, bombs civilian areas and infrastructure on a daily basis. The Russian bombardment has sparked the worst energy crisis since the start of the invasion, during a bitter winter. Kyiv&#39;s Western allies have slapped heavy sanctions on Moscow, forcing it to redirect its key oil exports towards new markets, particularly in Asia. Despite heavy losses, Russian troops have in recent months advanced slowly on the frontline, particularly in the eastern Donbas region, which has been the epicenter of the bloody fighting and which Moscow wants to annex. US-brokered talks are ongoing, with Zelensky unwavering in his demands for security guarantees from Washington before any talk of &quot;compromise,&quot; including on territory, with Russia. Russia, though, has rejected Ukrainian proposals for the deployment of European troops in Ukraine after any ceasefire deal. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that he will pursue his objectives by force if diplomacy fails.&nbsp;Reconstruction The grinding four-year war has devastated Ukraine, which, even before the fighting, was one of the poorest countries in Europe. According to a joint World Bank, European Union, and United Nations report with Kyiv, published on Monday, the cost of post-war reconstruction is estimated at around $558 billion over the next decade. Russia justified sending troops into Ukraine to prevent Ukraine&#39;s ambition to join NATO, arguing that Kyiv&#39;s membership of the transatlantic alliance would threaten its own security. On Monday, during a medal ceremony to mark &quot;Defenders of the Fatherland Day,&quot; Putin insisted that his soldiers were defending Russia&#39;s &quot;borders&quot; in Ukraine, to ensure &quot;strategic parity&quot; between powers and fight for the country&#39;s &quot;future.&quot; Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, for its part, considers the war to be a resurgence of Russian imperialism aimed at subjugating the Ukrainian people. In an interview with the BBC broadcast on Sunday, Zelensky said he believed Putin had &quot;already started&quot; World War III. &quot;Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves,&quot; he told the British public broadcaster.

Europe

Tens of thousands of lives have been lost since the Kremlin ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, confident of a quick victory but not expecting the fierce resistance that followed.

Ukraine marks four years since Russian invasion

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan&#39;s vitals were stable, and he was discharged after a follow-up procedure for his eye at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), a statement issued by the hospital early on Tuesday said.&nbsp; In an earlier visit, PIMS Executive Director (ED) Professor Dr Rana Imran Sikander had said the PTI chairman had &ldquo;reduced vision in the right eye&rdquo; after a complete eye assessment was done in Adiala Jail. Subsequently, Khan was brought to PIMS early on Tuesday morning for his &ldquo;follow-up eye-treatment, i.e., second dose of anti-VEGF intravitreal injection on 24 February, 2026.&rdquo; Prior to the procedure, Khan was examined by a board of specialists who performed Echocardiography and an ECG [electrocardiogram]. The result for the tests returned as &ldquo;Normal.&rdquo; A consultant physician also said that Khan&rsquo;s condition was &ldquo;clinically stable.&rdquo; &ldquo;After obtaining informed consent, and under standard monitoring, precautionary measures and protocols in the operation theatre, he was injected with (a) second dose of intravitreal injection of Anti-VEGF under (the) guidance of (a) microscopy by Consultant Ophthalmologist, and Consultant Vitreo-Retinal Surgeon of PIMS and Al Shifa Eye Hospital,&rdquo; the statement said.&nbsp; &ldquo;The procedure was performed as a day care surgery,&rdquo; it added.&nbsp; The statement, issued by the ED Sikander, during the course of his stay, he remained &ldquo;vitally stable before, during, and after the procedure, and was discharged along with instructions for care, follow-up advice, and the documents.&rdquo;

Politics

PIMS Executive Director Sikander says Khan remained “vitally stable before, during and after the procedure, and was discharged along with instructions for care, follow up advice, and the documents.”

Imran Khan vitals stable, discharged after eye procedure: PIMS executive director 

LONDON: London police on Monday arrested Britain&#39;s former ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, amid <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/police-assessing-claims-uk-flights-trafficked-epstein-victims" style="color:#0073e6;">allegations</a> over his ties to disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein. &quot;Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office,&quot; the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. Images on UK television appeared to show Mandelson being driven away from his north London home, accompanied by a man and a woman, after police raided his properties earlier this month. &quot;He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview,&quot; the Met added. The arrest comes days after ex-prince Andrew, King Charles III&#39;s younger brother, was <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uk-police-say-exprince-andrew-released-under-investigation" style="color:#0073e6;">arrested</a> in a misconduct in public office probe also related to the latest release of documents related to Epstein. Mandelson, a pivotal figure in British politics, is being probed over allegations that he sent sensitive documents to the late US sex offender Epstein when he was a government minister, including during the 2008 financial crash. The ex-politician was <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uk-pms-top-aide-quits-in-scandal-over-mandelson-links-to-epstein" style="color:#0073e6;">sacked</a> by Prime Minister Keir Starmer as envoy to Washington last year when an earlier release of documents linked to Epstein showed the extent of their friendship. The latest Epstein files released by the United States on January 30 have resulted in high-profile UK investigations. Starmer has apologized to Epstein&#39;s victims and accused Mandelson of lying about the extent of his ties to the financier during the vetting process for his appointment to Washington. But Mandelson&#39;s appointment has unleashed a political storm with two of Starmer&#39;s top aides resigning over the row. The government is to release tens of thousands of emails, messages, and documents on Mandelson&#39;s vetting procedure, which could ramp up the pressure on the prime minister and other senior ministers. Mandelson, also a former European Union trade commissioner, stood down from parliament&#39;s unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords, earlier this month. Officers from the Met&#39;s specialist crime team were also deployed earlier this month to search two of his addresses, one in the western English county of Wiltshire and the other in London, according to the police.

Images on UK television appeared to show Mandelson being driven away from his north London home, accompanied by a man and a woman, after police raided his properties earlier this month.



UK police arrest ex-envoy Peter Mandelson in Epstein case

ISLAMABAD: A rare and critically endangered Bowhead Guitarfish (Rhina ancylostomus) was caught in the East Bay of Gwadar on Sunday, confirmed the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Pakistan). The fish, which is locally known as &lsquo;Koh Baradari&rsquo; or &lsquo;Bhuth-khair&rsquo;, was caught at a depth of approximately 30 metres, according to the WWF. The specimen measured over 140 cm in length and weighed more than 65 kg. The organization highlighted that this species is listed as &quot;critically endangered&quot; on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, with its global population plummeting by nearly 80% over the last 45 years.&nbsp; The primary cause for this decline is intense overfishing and habitat loss. While international trade of the Bowhead Guitarfish is strictly regulated under CITES Appendix II, illegal fishing and accidental bycatch continue to push the species toward extinction.&nbsp; WWF-Pakistan noted that a significant decline in sightings has also been recorded within Pakistani waters. Experts explain that the species is particularly vulnerable because females produce very few offspring at a time, resulting in a slow reproductive rate. Since 2013, WWF-Pakistan has been working with local fishing communities to encourage the safe release of entangled guitarfish. Conservationists and marine experts are now calling on the Government of Pakistan and maritime authorities to implement immediate, effective measures to protect this rare marine life and ensure the survival of its remaining population.

Climate & Environment

A rare, critically endangered Bowhead Guitarfish is caught near Gwadar’s East Bay, WWF-Pakistan confirms. With global numbers down nearly 80%, experts warn overfishing and habitat loss threaten its survival, urging stronger government action and marine protection measures.

Critically endangered bowhead guitarfish caught near Gwadar coast

WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday ordered non-emergency personnel to leave its embassy in Beirut as President Donald Trump threatens strikes on Iran, which has close relations with Lebanese Hezbollah. &quot;This is a temporary measure intended to ensure the safety of our personnel while maintaining our ability to operate and assist US citizens,&quot; a senior State Department official said on customary condition of anonymity. Around 40 embassy personnel left through Beirut&#39;s international airport on Monday, a Lebanese security source told AFP. The order applies to non-emergency employees and their family members, but the embassy will remain open. &quot;We continuously assess the security environment, and based on our latest review, we determined it prudent to reduce our footprint to essential personnel,&quot; the US official said. Trump has ordered a major buildup of American forces in the region as he threatens to attack Iran, saying it must accept an onerous deal on concerns starting with its nuclear program. Iran&#39;s cleric-run government&mdash;which last month ruthlessly suppressed mass protests&mdash;says it expects talks Thursday with the United States in what could be a last-ditch attempt at diplomacy. Since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Iranian-backed Hamas, Israel has carried out strikes in Lebanon that have devastated Hezbollah, including killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah had been expected in the past to form another front against Israel in a war with Iran. The militant group on Saturday vowed &quot;resistance&quot; after a new Israeli strike killed eight of its operatives.

The United States ordered non-essential embassy staff to leave Beirut amid rising tensions with Iran, citing security concerns, while maintaining operations as Washington increases regional military presence and diplomatic pressure

US orders exit of Beirut embassy personnel amid Iran tension

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio may push back a trip to Israel in which he is expected to speak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about potential strikes on Iran, a US official said Monday. &quot;Secretary Rubio is still planning to travel to Israel, but the schedule remains subject to change,&quot; the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Rubio had earlier been expected to meet Netanyahu on Saturday, but Israeli media reports said he was now expected in the country on Monday. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier told CBS News that he expected new talks on Thursday with the United States and held out hope for progress. President Donald Trump has sent a major deployment of air and sea power to the Middle East and has threatened to strike Iran if it does not reach a deal on key concerns starting with its nuclear program. Netanyahu has long advocated a hard line on Iran&#39;s clerical state and last June ordered a 12-day bombing campaign inside the country, which the United States briefly joined. Netanyahu visited Washington on February 11 to speak with Trump, who said afterward that he &quot;insisted&quot; on giving time for diplomacy. Iran has publicly insisted that it has a right to uranium enrichment.

Marco Rubio may push back a trip to Israel in which he is expected to speak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about potential strikes on Iran

Rubio trip to Israel on Iran tensions 'subject to change'

PARIS: Iran said Monday that a US attack of any scale would spur the Islamic republic to respond &quot;ferociously&quot;, after President Donald Trump said he was considering&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-says-considering-limited-military-strike-on-iran" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">limited strikes against</a>&nbsp;the country.&nbsp;The United States has built up forces in the Middle East to pile pressure on Iran to make a deal at negotiations due to restart on Thursday, with Trump weighing a limited strike if no agreement is reached.&nbsp;On Monday Iran&#39;s foreign ministry reiterated that any strike, even limited, would be &quot;would be regarded as an act of aggression. Period&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;And any state would react to an act of aggression as part of its inherent right of self-defence ferociously so that&#39;s what we would do,&quot; ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a briefing in Tehran attended by an AFP journalist.&nbsp;The two countries concluded a second round of indirect talks in Switzerland on Tuesday under Omani mediation.&nbsp;Further talks, confirmed by Iran and Oman but not by the United States, are scheduled for Thursday.&nbsp;The European Union, which has been sidelined in mediation on Iran, called for a diplomatic solution ahead of the talks.&nbsp;&quot;We don&#39;t need another war in this region. We already have a lot,&quot; EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.&nbsp;&quot;It is true that Iran is at its weakest point that they have been. We should be really using this time to find a diplomatic solution.&quot;&nbsp;Iran&#39;s clerical authorities have faced recent steep challenges, including a wave of mass protests that peaked in January, last year&#39;s 12-day war with Israel, and the weakening of Iran&#39;s regional proxies.&nbsp;Fears of conflictIran has, however, insisted only discussions on the country&#39;s nuclear programme are on the table at mediated talks. The West believes the programme is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies.&nbsp;Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading the negotiations for Iran, while the United States is represented by envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump&#39;s son-in-law Jared Kushner.&nbsp;Trump is wondering why Iran has not &quot;capitulated&quot; in the face of Washington&#39;s military deployment, Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News broadcast over the weekend.&nbsp;Baqaei responded Monday by saying that Iranians had never capitulated at any point in their history.&nbsp;Trump had initially threatened military action over the violent crackdown on the protests that rights groups say saw thousands of people killed by security forces, but his attention soon shifted to Iran&#39;s nuclear programme.&nbsp;Scattered anti-government protests have continued in the country, despite the threat of suppression and arrests.&nbsp;Students rallied to commemorate those killed in competing pro- and anti-government demonstrations as the university semester restarted over the weekend.&nbsp;Iranians&#39; fears of a new conflict have grown and the concerns have also prompted several foreign countries to urge their citizens to leave Iran.&nbsp;India on Monday joined Sweden, Serbia, Poland and Australia in calling for its citizens -- estimated at 10,000 in the country by the foreign ministry -- to leave Iran.

Central Asia

Iran says that US attack of any scale would spur the Islamic republic to respond "ferociously", after President Donald Trump said he was considering limited strikes against the country

Iran says would respond 'ferociously' to any US attack, even limited strikes

PALLEKELE: Pakistan on Monday warned England&#39;s inconsistent batting line-up to expect a trial by spin when the teams clash in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/south-africa-thrash-india-to-end-12match-t20-world-cup-win-streak" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">T20 World Cup</a>&nbsp;Super Eights. Pakistan batsman Sahibzada Farhan told reporters that England struggled to 146-9 against Sri Lanka&#39;s spinners on Sunday. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/tonup-farhan-helps-pakistan-seal-super-eight-spot-with-namibia-rout" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Farhan</a>&nbsp;said that England can expect more of the same from Pakistan&#39;s spinners when they meet on the same Pallekele ground in Kandy on Tuesday night. Pakistan need a win after their first match against New Zealand was washed out. A defeat would put England, who skittled Sri Lanka for 95 to win by 51 runs, through to the semi-finals with a game to spare. Pakistan would then need to beat Sri Lanka in their final Super Eights match and hope other results go their way to reach the last four. &quot;What we saw in the Sri Lanka-England game was that the ball was gripping and England struggled against spin,&quot; said the in-form opener Farhan on Monday. &quot;Sri Lanka have one or two spinners but we have five in all so we will give England a tough time on a pitch that looks good and will grip,&quot; said Farhan. Pakistan&#39;s spinners have taken 26 wickets in the four matches so far. Their seamers have dismissed only seven batsmen. History will be against Pakistan as they have never beaten England in three previous Twenty20 World Cup clashes. &quot;We are confident and our morale is high,&quot; said Farhan, who scored an unbeaten 100 against&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/pakistan-opt-to-bat-first-against-namibia-in-do-or-die-match" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Namibia</a>&nbsp;in Pakistan&#39;s final group match. &quot;We are focused on this match to win and progress.&quot; Farhan, who tops the T20 World Cup run-scoring chart with 220, said he was ready for the threat of England&#39;s express pace bowler Jofra Archer. &quot;Facing Archer will not be difficult because I have faced similar bowlers in Pakistan,&quot; said Farhan. &quot;So if he has plans against me, I also have plans against him.&quot; Pakistan are likely to bring in spinner Abrar Ahmed in place of seaming all-rounder&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/pakistan-opt-to-bat-first-against-namibia-in-do-or-die-match" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Faheem Ashraf</a>. England may name an unchanged side for the fifth match in succession with Liam Dawson, Will Jacks, Adil Rashid and Jacob Bethell providing their spin options. Sri Lanka and New Zealand are the two other teams in Pakistan and England&#39;s Super Eights group. They face each other in Colombo on Wednesday. The top two teams will qualify for the semi-finals.

England's Joe Root plays a shot during the ICC Champions Trophy one-day international (ODI) cricket match between England and Afghanistan at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on February 26, 2025. (AFP)

Cricket

Pakistan warned England to expect a spin-heavy challenge in Tuesday’s T20 World Cup Super Eights clash at Pallekele, with Sahibzada Farhan confident as Pakistan seeks a crucial win to advance.

Pakistan warn England's flaky batting to expect a trial by spin

QAMISHLI: US forces that led a coalition against&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-kills-alleged-isis-militant-as-syrian-fm-visits-washington" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">ISIS</a>&nbsp;in Syria started leaving a major base in the northeast on Monday and should complete their withdrawal from the country within a month, sources told AFP. The move comes after Kurdish forces, long backed by Washington in the fight against the ISIS group, ceded territory to Damascus and agreed to integrate into the state. American forces have already withdrawn from two other bases in the past two weeks, Al-Tanf in the southeast and Shadadi in the northeast. &quot;Within a month, they will have withdrawn from Syria and there will no longer be any military presence in the bases,&quot; a Syrian government official said, with a Kurdish source confirming the timeline. A third source, a diplomat, said the withdrawal should be completed within 20 days. The United States has about 1,000 troops still deployed in Syria. It began withdrawing on Monday from the Qasrak base in the northeast, which is still under the control of <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/kurdish-sdf-fighters-leave-north-syria-prison-under-govt-deal-report" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kurdish forces</a>, a Kurdish official who requested anonymity told AFP. An AFP team saw a convoy of dozens of trucks, loaded with armoured vehicles and prefabricated structures, on a road linking the Qasrak base in Hasakeh province to the border with Iraq. Syria&#39;s government recently extended its control into the country&#39;s northeast. Washington has drawn close to Syria&#39;s new authorities since the fall of <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/syria-selects-members-of-first-postassad-parliament-in-contested-process" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bashar al-Assad</a>&nbsp;in late 2024.

Men watch as a US military mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) armored fighting vehicle moves in a convoy along a highway outside Qamishli in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on February 23, 2026. (AFP)

The move comes after Kurdish forces, long backed by Washington in the fight against ISIS group, ceded territory to Damascus and agreed to integrate into the state.

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Latest News

Nearly 20 nations slam Israel's West Bank moves towards 'de facto annexation'

Ukraine marks four years since Russian invasion

Imran Khan vitals stable, discharged after eye procedure: PIMS executive director

UK police arrest ex-envoy Peter Mandelson in Epstein case

Critically endangered bowhead guitarfish caught near Gwadar coast