Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has begun evacuating its nationals from Iran amid escalating security concerns linked to developments in the region, with 31 Pakistani citizens safely relocated to Azerbaijan, officials said early Monday. In a statement posted on X, the Pakistan Embassy in Azerbaijan said the evacuation was carried out under the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the guidance of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. &ldquo;Under directives of Honorable PM [Shehbaz Sharif] and guidance of Honorable DPM/FM [Ishaq Dar], GoP has designated Baku as the evacuation base for Pakistani nationals seeking safe transit amid the evolving situation in Iran,&rdquo; the embassy said. The embassy confirmed that its team facilitated the safe border crossing of 31 Pakistani nationals at Astara on March 1, ensuring their onward movement to Baku for return to Pakistan. &ldquo;[Pakistan Embassy] team in Azerbaijan on ground in Astara facilitated safe crossing of 31 Pakistani nationals, ensuring onward movement to Baku for return to Pakistan,&rdquo; the statement said. &ldquo;We remain committed to safe and quick relocation of our citizens back to Pakistan.&rdquo; The evacuation comes as Pakistan heightens contingency planning for the safety of its citizens abroad, following recent regional instability and rising tensions affecting Iran and neighboring areas. The embassy also acknowledged the role of Azerbaijani authorities in enabling the operation. &ldquo;Grateful to [Azerbaijan Foreign Office] for its support,&rdquo; the statement added. The development came hours after PM Sharif chaired a high-level security meeting in Islamabad to review regional developments and assess contingency plans for the evacuation of Pakistani nationals, directing authorities to ensure swift, coordinated measures to protect citizens abroad.

Foreign Affairs

Embassy in Azerbaijan says its team on in Astara facilitated safe crossing of 31 Pakistani nationals “ensuring onward movement to Baku for return” to the country; evacuation comes as Pakistan heightens contingency planning for the safety of its citizens abroad.



31 Pakistanis evacuated to Baku as Iran security situation worsens

KATHMANDU: Six months after joining anti-corruption protests that rocked Nepal, 23-year-old Amrita Ban will vote in Thursday&#39;s election, hoping the new government will realise the movement&#39;s demands. Last September&#39;s violence, in which at least 77 people were killed, parliament set on fire and the government ousted, still shadows her today. &quot;It took months to sleep properly again,&quot; she told AFP. &quot;As soon as I closed my eyes, I would hear gunshots, like it was happening right now.&quot; The demonstrations were initially sparked by anger over a brief government ban on social media but were driven by deeper frustration over economic hardship, corruption and entrenched political practices. At least 19 people were killed in a security crackdown on the first day of protests, before the unrest spread across the country. &quot;The candidates I support are those whom I believe will carry forward the spirit of our movement,&quot; said Ban, who worked to encourage young people to vote. Nearly 19 million people have registered to vote in the parliamentary polls, including about 800,000 for the first time. &#39;Political awakening&#39; Young Nepalis largely led the protests, rallying under the loose banner of Gen Z. They do not have a party of their own, but exert pressure and wield significant influence, especially online. &quot;We are not in the election race, but we will still be active in raising our voices from outside, the streets are with us,&quot; said Yujan Rajbhandari, aged 24. &quot;The movement still continues.&quot; Former protesters have backed a surge of new candidates calling for change, and invoking the Gen Z movement. &quot;They cannot forget us if they win,&quot; 22-year-old Astha Basnet told AFP. &quot;There has been a political awakening among younger people,&quot; she added, saying people were &quot;very curious&quot; about the parties, policies and candidates. &quot;There is an excitement &ndash; and also a sense of responsibility &ndash;among the voters of our generation.&quot; Still, some activists warn against equating popularity with competence, or ignoring experience simply because someone is new. &quot;There is a danger to our democracy if we choose populism over capability,&quot; said Riyab Baniya, aged 21. &quot;Right now, those whose voices are louder are getting popular, but we have to be critical &ndash; we have to support people who will take our mandate forward.&quot; &#39;Tired of old leaders&#39; Many who drove the movement remain outside mainstream politics &ndash; raising concerns about whether their demands will be fully represented. &quot;We raised our voices against bad governance and corruption,&quot; said Janak Pokharel, 28. &quot;But the parties and leaders need to have a roadmap on how to address these issues and older existing problems.&quot; More than 3,400 candidates are running for 165 seats in direct elections to the 275-member House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, with 110 more chosen via party lists. Nearly a third of them are under the age of 40, some of whom came to prominence through the protests. &quot;We are not looking just for new faces, we need a change in the culture &ndash; society was tired of the old leaders,&quot; Ban added. &quot;It is a testing period for forces of alternative politics.&quot;

Polling officials prepare a polling booth in Kathmandu on March 4, 2026, a day before the country’s parliamentary elections. (AFP)

Asia

Young Nepalis, leaders of deadly anti-corruption protests that ousted the government, rally first-time voters for Thursday's election, backing new candidates to combat graft and economic woes.

Nepal's Gen Z pins hopes on post-uprising elections

ISLAMABAD:&nbsp;Pakistan&rsquo;s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gathered parliamentary leaders for a private briefing on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/usisrael-war-on-iran-day-5" target="_blank">regional tensions.</a>&nbsp;Participants called for unity, stronger diplomacy, and renewed determination to eliminate terrorism, the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office reported Wednesday. In an official statement released by the PMO, a meeting of leaders and representatives of parliamentary parties was chaired by PM Sharif. The participants received an in-camera briefing on the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/67-afghan-taliban-killed-one-fc-soldier-martyred-in-crossborder-attacks-minister" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pakistan-Afghanistan situation</a>, Iran, tensions in the Middle East and the Gulf, and Pakistan&rsquo;s diplomatic efforts. Parliamentary leaders talked about the need for national unity, consensus and solidarity in the current situation. The group welcomed Pakistan&#39;s peace efforts in the region, with the leaders urging more action and sharing&nbsp;suggestions for next steps. They also pledged to eradicate <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/president-zardari-warns-afghanistan-over-militant-sanctuaries-says-pakistan-ready-to-act" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">terrorism</a> in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chairs a meeting of Parliamentary Leaders and Representatives of Political Parties. Islamabad, 4 March 2026. (PMO)

Security

The meeting received an in-camera briefing on the Pakistan-Afghanistan situation, Iran, tensions in the Middle East and the Gulf, and Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts.

Pakistani leaders back anti-terror push, call for national unity

MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hit back on Wednesday at US President Donald Trump&#39;s criticisms of Madrid&#39;s refusal to let US planes use its bases to attack Iran.&nbsp;&quot;The position of the government of Spain can be summed up in four words: no to war,&quot; he said in a televised address, a day after Trump threatened to sever all trade with Spain.&nbsp;&quot;We will not be complicit in something harmful to the world and contrary to our values and interests, simply out of fear of retaliation,&quot; he added.&nbsp;&quot;We oppose this disaster,&quot; Sanchez said, arguing that his stance is shared by &quot;many other governments&quot; and &quot;millions of citizens across Europe, North America and the Middle East who do not want more war or uncertainty tomorrow&quot;.&nbsp;Trump called Spain a &quot;terrible&quot; ally on Tuesday as he met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House.&nbsp;He also pointed to Sanchez&#39;s <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-threatens-spain-ties-over-iran-war-refusal" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">refusal to join NATO allies</a> in a pledge to boost defence spending to 5% of GDP as demanded by Trump, who has frequently argued that the United States shoulders too much of the alliance&#39;s burden.&nbsp;Sanchez&#39;s leftist government has angered Washington with a series of other policies, including his staunch opposition to Israel&#39;s war in Gaza and the military operation to abduct and arrest President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela.&nbsp;US forces use the Rota naval base and Moron air base in Spain. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Spain, then led by conservative prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, staunchly backed the United States.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. (File photo: Screengrab/ X @@sanchezcastejon)

Europe

Trump reacts strongly, calls Spain a "terrible" ally on Tuesday as he met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House.

'No to war,' Spanish PM tells Trump

ISLAMABAD: The US Congress is set to vote this week on a resolution seeking to curb President Donald Trump&rsquo;s authority to conduct military operations against Iran without explicit legislative approval, lawmakers and aides said on Tuesday. The measure, introduced by Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, would direct the president to terminate the use of US armed forces in hostilities against Iran unless authorized by Congress or in response to an imminent threat, according to the text of the resolution and a statement from Kaine&rsquo;s office. &ldquo;We should not be going into a war in the Middle East or anywhere without good, solid reason that has had its tires kicked and that has demonstrated that is of a magnitude sufficient to warrant losses that could reach this scale,&rdquo; Kaine said. &ldquo;This President has asserted no real reason that is clear to the American public, and that&rsquo;s why the American public so far is so against this.&rdquo; The votes are expected midweek in both chambers and would invoke the 1973 War Powers Resolution &mdash; a law passed during the Vietnam War to check a president&#39;s unilateral power to commit the country to armed conflict. In the Senate, the bipartisan resolution is led by Kaine and Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. According to TIME magazine, the president would require explicit congressional authorization to engage in further hostilities against Iran. The US Senate is expected to take up the measure first, Senate aides said, with a parallel resolution likely to be introduced in the US House of Representatives later in the week, according to House Democratic leadership staff. Several Republicans, however, defended Trump&rsquo;s actions as falling within his authority as commander-in-chief, according to floor speeches and party statements. &ldquo;I pray so hard for my colleagues to exercise the judgment that this is not the right time for more war,&rdquo; Kaine concluded. &ldquo;I pray that my colleagues will support the War Powers Resolution.&rdquo; The vote is expected on Wednesday, with the House likely to consider the measure later this week, congressional aides said.

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York, speaks to the press alongside Senator Tim Kaine (L), Democrat from Virginia, following a closed-door lunch meeting with Senate Democrats at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 3, 2026

Americas

Lawmakers move to reassert constitutional authority over military action as bipartisan senators push for the president to require explicit approval for further hostilities against Tehran, arguing the administration has not presented sufficient justification for continued escalation.

Congress to vote on Trump’s war powers as US-Israel strikes on Iran enter fifth day

TEHRAN: Iran will hold a three-day state funeral for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/iranian-embassy-in-pakistan-condemns-ayatollah-khameneis-assassination" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">assassinated in US-Israeli strikes</a>, official news agency IRNA said.&nbsp;&quot;Starting at 10:00 pm (1830 GMT), the faithful will be able to pay a final homage to the body of the martyred guide of the nation, by visiting the Imam Khomenei grand mosque&quot; in Tehran, Irna said, citing a statement from the Islamic Development Coordination Council.&nbsp;Khamenei was 86 years old when he was killed, and will be buried in his home city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran. More to follow.

People mourn the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran (AFP/File)

Middle East

Khamenei was 86 years old when he was assassinated, and will be buried in his home city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran.

State funeral for Ayatollah Khamenei to begin Wednesday evening

LONDON: The British government announced Tuesday that it would stop issuing education visas to nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan and work visas for Afghans as part of its broader clampdown on asylum seekers. The Home Office said there had been a surge in asylum applications by students from those countries, and almost 135,000 asylum seekers in total had entered the UK using legal routes since 2021. &quot;Britain will always provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution, but our visa system must not be abused,&quot; said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood in a statement. &quot;That is why I am taking the unprecedented decision to refuse visas for those nationals seeking to exploit our generosity.&quot; The Home Office said the number of asylum applications by students from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan had &quot;rocketed&quot; by more than 470% between 2021 and 2025. Migration has become a major issue in British politics, with the hard-right Reform UK surging in opinion polls with its anti-migration stance. Successive governments have struggled to contain small boats crossing the Channel from France, which bring large numbers of undocumented migrants. But the authorities also face pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers entering on other routes. The Home Office said the government has &quot;reduced student asylum claims by 20% over the course of 2025, further action is needed as those arriving on study visas still make up 13% of all claims in the system&quot;.

The tail fins of British Airways planes are pictured at Heathrow Airport in west London on February 27, 2026. (AFP)

United Kingdom

London says asylum applications from students of the affected countries surged more than 470% between 2021 and 2025, with 135,000 people entering via legal routes since 2021.

UK halts study visas for Afghanistan, three other countries

WASHINGTON: The US State Department said on Wednesday it had ordered non-emergency personnel from US consulates in Karachi and Lahore, along with their families, to leave Pakistan due to security concerns.&nbsp;&quot;The Department of State ordered non-emergency US government employees and the family members of US government personnel from US Consulates Lahore and Karachi to leave Pakistan due to safety risks,&quot; the US embassy in Pakistan said in a statement.&nbsp;It said there was no change to the status of its embassy in the capital, Islamabad.&nbsp;On Tuesday, the US extended the closure of visa services at its embassies and consulates across Pakistan until Friday, March 6, citing the current security situation following nationwide protests.&nbsp;The suspension comes after demonstrations erupted in several cities over the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei during Israeli and American attacks in Iran.&nbsp;The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-cancels-all-visa-citizen-services-appointments-in-pakistan" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">US Embassy in Islamabad</a> confirmed that all visa appointments have been canceled until March 6 due to security concerns.&nbsp;Visa services have also been suspended at US consulates in Lahore and Karachi. According to the embassy, all scheduled appointments have been cancelled until further notice, with fresh dates to be communicated soon.&nbsp;

The development comes after demonstrations erupted in several cities over the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei during US-Israeli attacks in Iran.

US orders non-emergency consular staff in Karachi, Lahore to leave Pakistan

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to sever all trade with Spain after it refused to let US planes use its bases to attack Iran, while also lashing out at Britain for not cooperating more. Spain&#39;s left-wing government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of Europe&#39;s most defiant leaders against Trump, has said that bases long used by US forces could only be allowed for activities consistent with the United Nations Charter. &quot;Spain has been terrible,&quot; Trump told reporters as he met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House. He also pointed to Sanchez&#39;s refusal to join NATO allies in a pledge to boost defense spending to 5% of GDP, a level pushed by Trump, who says the United States bears too much of a burden. &quot;So, we&#39;re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don&#39;t want anything to do with Spain,&quot; Trump said, adding that he had asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to &quot;cut off all dealings with Spain.&quot; It remains unclear what power Trump would have to &quot;end&quot; trade with Spain, after the Supreme Court struck down his use of emergency powers to impose arbitrary tariffs. Musing on the legalities, the 79-year-old property tycoon turned president said, &quot;I could tomorrow stop &mdash; or today, even better &mdash; stop everything having to do with Spain, all business.&quot; &quot;I have the right to ... do anything I want with it,&quot; he said. The Spanish government quickly responded that it had a &quot;mutually beneficial&quot; trading relationship with the United States and other countries. &quot;If the US administration wishes to review this relationship, it must do so while respecting the autonomy of private companies, international law and bilateral agreements between the European Union and the US,&quot; it said. &quot;Our country has the necessary resources to contain possible impacts, help sectors that may be affected, and diversify supply chains.&quot; Sanchez has called for dialogue to end the war on Iran, saying that &quot;one can oppose a hateful regime and at the same time oppose an unjustified and dangerous military intervention.&quot; Sanchez is also an outspoken critic of Israel, accusing it of carrying out genocide in its massive military operation in Gaza, an assertion Israel denies. US forces use the Rota naval base and Moron air base in Spain. During the 2003 Iraq invasion, Spain, then under conservative prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, staunchly backed the United States. &#39;Not happy&#39; with Britain Britain, a steadfast ally of the United States throughout the two World Wars and in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, also decided not to join the assault on Iran. &quot;I&#39;m not happy with the UK,&quot; Trump said, as he added of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer: &quot;This is not Winston Churchill that we&#39;re dealing with.&quot; Starmer said US fighter jets could use two UK air bases &mdash; one in Gloucestershire in western England and the other at the joint UK-US Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean &mdash; for a &quot;specific and limited defensive purpose.&quot; But Starmer said the United States was not authorized to use UK bases in Cyprus, one of which was struck by an Iranian-made drone. &quot;It&#39;s taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land,&quot; Trump said in apparent reference to Diego Garcia. &quot;There would have been much more convenient landing there, as opposed to flying many extra hours.&quot; Trump, after a series of flip-flops, has denounced Starmer for agreeing to return the Chagos Islands, home to the Diego Garcia base and whose people were expelled by Britain, to Mauritius, and instead to lease the base. &quot;I will say the UK has been very, very uncooperative with that stupid island that they have,&quot; Trump said.

Spain's left-wing government has said that bases long used by US forces could only be allowed for activities consistent with the United Nations Charter; Spanish government says it had a "mutually beneficial" trading relationship with the United States and other countries.

Trump threatens Spain ties over Iran war refusal

WASHINGTON: Bill Clinton has offered an explanation for viral photos released as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files that show the former US president in a hot tub and a pool with a woman whose face is redacted. Clinton and his wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, testified last week before a Republican-led congressional panel investigating convicted sex offender Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Clinton told the House Oversight Committee he had no knowledge of the sex crimes of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. During the deposition, the 79-year-old former president was asked about a photo that shows him in a hot tub with a woman whose face is covered with a black square and another picture of him in a swimming pool with Maxwell and an unidentified woman. Clinton said the photos were taken at a hotel during a visit he made to Brunei at the invitation of the Sultan, who was interested in helping with the Clinton Foundation&#39;s AIDS initiative. &quot;He invited me to stay there and he said, &#39;I want you to stay at this hotel and I hope you&#39;ll use the pool,&#39;&quot; Clinton said. &quot;I swam around. I sat in the hot tub for five minutes or whatever it was and I got up and went to bed,&quot; he said. &quot;I also believe that there was a Secret Service agent there at the other end of the pool.&quot; Clinton said he did not know the identity of the unidentified woman in the photos but he believed she was a member of the traveling party. &quot;I don&#39;t know who that is,&quot; he said. Asked if he had &quot;engaged in any sexual activities&quot; with the woman in the photos, Clinton replied: &quot;No.&quot; Hillary Clinton told the congressional panel that she did not know Epstein, and Bill Clinton said he broke ties with him before the financier&#39;s sex crimes came to light in 2008. Bill Clinton acknowledged during his testimony that he flew on Epstein&#39;s private plane several times in the early 2000s for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work. The depositions were held behind closed doors in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons reside, and the committee released videos of their testimony on Monday. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking minor girls to Epstein. Both Bill Clinton and President Donald Trump figure prominently in the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice but neither has been formally accused of any wrongdoing. Clinton told the committee that Trump, a one-time close friend of Epstein, &quot;never said anything to me to make me think he was involved in anything improper with regard to Epstein either.&quot;

Hillary says she did not know Epstein, Bill says he broke ties with him before the financier's sex crimes came to light in 2008, acknowledges that he flew on Epstein's private plane several times in the early 2000s for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work.



Ex-US president Clinton explains hot tub, pool photos from Epstein files

Web Desk/AFP

This photograph shows a banner bearing a portrait of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and reading in Persian "His God is still alive" in Tehran on March 3, 2026. (AFP)

Iran postpones Khamenei state funeral expecting unprecedented Tehran turnout Wednesday; Canada PM, France's Macron: US-Israel Iran strikes violate international law; Iran Guards claim complete control of Strait of Hormuz; France sends aircraft carrier to Mediterranean amid Iran war fears 
•	US hit nearly 2,000 Iran targets in largest Mideast buildup ever

31 Pakistanis evacuated to Baku as Iran security situation worsens

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