While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 1, 2026
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The body of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been found, a senior Israeli official told Reuters.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Iran leader Khamenei killed in strikes, Israel says
The United States and Israel launched the most ambitious attack on Iran in decades on Feb 28 and Israel said Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed in the operation.
Ayatollah Khamenei’s body has been found, a senior Israeli official told Reuters.
Two Israeli TV networks later reported that a photograph of the Ayatollah’s body had been shown to US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Loud cheers are said to have echoed across parts of Tehran as the news spread and residents took to their windows to applaud and play celebratory music.
One dead as Iran launches strikes on wealthy Gulf
Explosions rocked major cities across the wealthy Gulf on Feb 28 as Iran launched waves of reprisal attacks after US and Israeli strikes, raising fears of a wider conflict.
Smoke and flames rose from Dubai’s luxury Palm development as civilian targets came under fire along with the United States military bases that dot the region.
Missiles streaked across the sky around the Gulf, many of them intercepted. But smoke poured from US bases in Abu Dhabi and Manama, home of the American navy’s Fifth Fleet, witnesses saw.
Kyiv says Russia accepted US plan for security guarantees
PHOTO: AFP
Russia said at recent talks in Geneva it would accept the US proposal for Ukraine’s post-war security guarantees, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said on Feb 28.
“At the last talks, the Russian side said for example that they would accept the security guarantees offered to Ukraine by the United States,” said top aide Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview aired on Ukrainian television.
US President Donald Trump is urging Moscow and Kyiv to strike an agreement to end Europe’s biggest war since 1945, though Mr Zelensky has complained that his country is facing more pressure to make concessions.
Blast at India firecracker factory kills 21
An explosion at a firecracker factory in India killed at least 21 people and injured eight others on Feb 28, officials told local media.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X he was “pained by the loss of lives” and extended his condolences after the blast in Kakinada, in the south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh.
The Press Trust of India news agency quoted state minister Kandula Durgesh as confirming there were 21 deaths, out of around 30 people who were at the factory at the time of the explosion.
City move two points behind Arsenal after 1-0 win
PHOTO: AFP
B Manchester City kept the pressure firmly on Premier League leaders Arsenal with a nervy 1-0 victory at Leeds United on Feb 28, pulling within two points of top spot courtesy of Antoine Semenyo’s strike on the stroke of halftime.
City, who were without league-leading scorer Erling Haaland, were made to work at Elland Road, but the victory put Pep Guardiola’s side on 59 points. Arsenal, who have also played 28 games, host Chelsea on March 1 as the title race tightens.
Leeds had the better first-half chances, including a couple of near-misses by Dominic Calvert-Lewin, before Semenyo scored his sixth goal for City in first-half injury time.
