While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 2, 2026
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Smoke rises after coordinated US and Israeli airstrikes in Tehran, Iran, on March 1, 2026, as joint military operations hit targets in the capital.
PHOTO: ARASH KHAMOOSHI/NYTIMES
Israel hits Tehran again after killing Khamenei, leadership council takes over
Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran on March 1 and Iran responded with more missile barrages, a day after the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei pitched the Middle East and the global economy into deepening uncertainty.
US and Israeli strikes - and Iranian retaliation - sent shockwaves through sectors from shipping to air travel to oil, amid warnings of rising energy costs and disruption to business in the Gulf, a strategic waterway and global trade hub.
US President Donald Trump has said the attack was intended to ensure Iran could not have a nuclear weapon, to contain its missile programme and to eliminate threats to the United States and its allies.
In an interview with the Atlantic magazine on March 1, Mr Trump, who has encouraged the Iranian people to topple their government, said Iran’s leadership wanted to talk to him and he had agreed.
Trump says 48 Iranian ‘leaders’ killed in US attack, new leadership wants to talk
PHOTO: AFP
US President Donald Trump said March 1 that 48 Iranian leaders have been killed in the US-Israeli bombardments of the country and that the offensive is “very positive.”
“Nobody can believe the success we’re having, 48 leaders are gone in one shot. And it’s moving along rapidly,” Mr Trump was quoted as saying in an interview by Fox News.
The US president also said on March 1 that Iran's new leadership wants to talk to him and that he has agreed, according to an interview with the Atlantic magazine.
UAE closes embassy in Iran after four killed in attacks across the Gulf
PHOTO: AFP
The UAE said on March 1 it was closing its embassy in Tehran and recalling the Emirates’ ambassador after Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone campaign in the Gulf killed four people and wounded dozens more.
The move marks the strongest condemnation yet by a Gulf state since Tehran began targeting the region with a barrage of strikes after the US and Israel launched a massive air campaign against Iran that killed its supreme leader and other top officials.
“These hostile attacks against civilian sites, including residential areas, airports, ports, and service facilities, endangered innocent civilians in a serious and irresponsible escalation,” the UAE foreign ministry said in a statement.
Texas bar shooting leaves three dead; gunman expresses ‘pro-Iranian’ sentiment
The gunman who killed two people and wounded 14 overnight in Austin, the capital of the US state of Texas, had expressed “pro-Iranian regime sentiment” on social media, the SITE Intelligence Group said March 1.
The organisation, which monitors jihadist groups, identified the assailant, who was shot dead by police, as Ndiaga Diagne, a US citizen of Senegalese origin.
Representative Chip Roy, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives, published a picture on X of the purported gunman showing him holding a rifle and wearing a sweatshirt that says “Property of Allah.”
Arsenal claim nervy EPL win over Chelsea
PHOTO: AFP
Arsenal kept their Premier League title destiny in their own hands as they eked out a nervy 2-1 derby win against Chelsea on March 1 with their corner routines again coming to the rescue.
Jurrien Timber's second-half header ensured Arsenal restored their five-point lead over Manchester City who had upped the ante with victory over Leeds United the day before.
Manchester United returned to the Premier League's top three for the first time since May 2023 as they came from a goal down to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Old Trafford.
