Afghanistan – Pakistan
(Frud Bezhan and Daud Khattak – RFE RL) Pakistan has carried out its biggest-ever attacks on Afghanistan, including targeting two of the country’s largest cities, heightening fears of an all-out war between the two neighbors. Pakistani jets on February 27 bombed military targets in Afghan capital, Kabul, the southern city of Kandahar, home to the Taliban’s spiritual leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, and in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar, Paktia, Paktika, and Laghman, the Pakistani Army said. In retaliation, Afghanistan’s Taliban government said it launched drone and rocket attacks targeting military installations and security forces in northwestern Pakistan. – Pakistan’s Biggest-Ever Attacks On Afghanistan Fuel Fears Of All-Out War
(Hafsa Khalil – BBC) Pakistan’s defence minister has said the country is in “open war” with Afghanistan, after Islamabad launched airstrikes on Kabul as part of a wave of attacks across the country. “Our patience has now run out,” said Khawaja Muhammad Asif following the attacks. The strikes came after the Afghan Taliban announced a major offensive against Pakistani military posts near the border on Thursday night. The latest attacks follow months of clashes between the two neighbouring nations, despite agreeing to a fragile ceasefire in October. Last year’s negotiations failed to reach a broader agreement for a complete end to hostilities, with both side blaming each other for not engaging seriously with talks. – Pakistan defence minister says country in ‘open war’ with Afghanistan after strikes
(Yogita Limaye – BBC) Residents of Kabul’s District 6 were awakened abruptly on Thursday night by the sound of an explosion that shook their homes. They rushed out in the street and heard jets flying overhead. It was a night that saw a serious escalation in violence between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Pakistan launching airstrikes in Afghanistan – including its capital city, Kabul. Other places struck were in Paktia and Kandahar provinces, the latter a stronghold and the birthplace of the Taliban movement. Hostilities between the two sides have been ongoing for months, yet the answer to who started the aggression depends on who you ask. – Why are Afghanistan and Pakistan fighting?
Algeria
(Amnesty International) The Algerian authorities must ensure the upcoming retrial of 94 people in connection with the August 2021 events in the Kabylie region, in northeastern Algeria, adheres strictly to international fair trial standards without recourse to the death penalty and excluding any torture-tainted statements, Amnesty International said today. On 1 March 2026, 94 individuals will face trial again by the Algiers Court of Appeals after the Supreme Court overturned a previous appeal ruling related to the lynching of an activist, devastating wildfires and other violence in the Kabylie region in August 2021. On 24 November 2022, 56 people were convicted of involvement in acts including membership in an organisation committing acts of sabotage, premeditated murder, torture and arson. They were sentenced to death in proceedings marred by uninvestigated torture claims and politically motivated charges. – Algeria: Ensure fair trial without resort to the death penalty
Canada – India
(Vikas Pandey, Nadine Yousif – BBC) Prime Minister Mark Carney is in India for a pivotal trip aimed at repairing ties with the world’s largest democracy, as both countries seek to reduce their trade reliance on the US. Carney began his visit in Mumbai, where he is meeting with business leaders. He will then travel to New Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The trip marks a remarkable turnaround in relations, which had collapsed when Canada accused India of carrying out an extrajudicial killing of a Canadian Sikh separatist on Canadian soil — an allegation India strongly denied. Both sides now appear ready to move forward. Here’s what has changed, and what each country hopes to gain as Carney’s trip gets underway. – A ‘delicate’ balance for Canada and a ‘win-win’ for Modi as Carney visits India
Epstein files
(Ana Faguy, Nada Tawfik, Cai Pigliucci – BBC) Former President Bill Clinton told a congressional panel he “saw nothing,” and “did nothing wrong” in relation to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The all-day hearing behind closed doors in New York featured the former president being asked about his inclusion in newly released files related to the financier, including in a photo with an unidentified person in a hot tub. His testimony came one day after his wife, ex-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, told the committee she also “had no idea” of Epstein’s crimes. Appearing in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing, and neither Clinton has been accused of misconduct by Epstein survivors who have come forward so far. – Bill Clinton asked about hot tub photo and testifies he knew ‘nothing’ of Epstein crimes
Europe – Mercosur
(Camille Gijs – Politico) The EU will provisionally implement its trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Friday, triggering a backlash from opponents of the deal who said the step short-circuited its formal approval by EU lawmakers. The deal, to create a free-trade area spanning 720 million people, is controversial because it hasn’t yet been officially blessed by the European Parliament. Lawmakers voted last month to send it for review by the Court of Justice of the European Union, effectively freezing its final ratification for up to two years. Von der Leyen said that, after consulting widely with both EU member countries and lawmakers, she had acted to secure “a strategic first-mover advantage in a world of sharp competition and short horizons. But a first-mover advantage has to materialize.” – Von der Leyen clashes with Macron by pushing through EU-Mercosur trade deal – POLITICO
France – Europe
(Laura Kayali – Politico) Far-right leader Jordan Bardella pushed back Friday against President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to make France’s nuclear doctrine more European. “What I dispute in this dialogue [with European countries] is that we are wrong to think that deterrence is only nuclear; it is primarily conventional, and here again we have missions in Eastern Europe that must be maintained,” the National Rally’s president told TV news channel LCI, referring to French troop presence in Romania and Estonia and air policing missions in the Baltics. “As members of NATO and the EU, we have a duty to provide mutual assistance,” he added. – Far-right leader Bardella criticizes Macron’s pan-European nuclear push – POLITICO
Germany
(Milena Wälde – Politico) The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is celebrating a “major victory” in courts after judges in Cologne banned Germany’s domestic intelligence agency from treating the party as a “right-wing extremist group.”. The temporary ruling issued Thursday prevents the BfV agency from using the label it slapped on the AfD in May 2025 — a mostly symbolic decision that nevertheless complicated the party’s efforts to broaden its appeal at home and polish its reputation abroad. AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla hailed a “great day for democracy,” while his co-head Alice Weidel wrote on X that the ruling “indirectly put a stop to censorship fanatics.”. Weidel has seized on the ruling as evidence the party was unfairly stigmatized and is now using the court’s intervention to support her party’s broader rebranding. – Far-right AfD eyes court win as springboard for state elections in Germany – POLITICO
Iran
(Al Arabiya) Oman’s top diplomat said Friday that Iran has agreed it would “never, ever” possess nuclear material capable of producing a bomb, as part of an eleventh-hour diplomatic push to avert possible US strikes. “This is something that is not in the old deal that was negotiated during President Obama’s time. This is something completely new,” Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said. – Iran agreed to ‘never, ever’ have nuclear material needed for a bomb: Omani FM
(Al Arabiya) The US designated Iran as a “State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention” on Friday, slamming the country’s regime for continuing to detain innocent American citizens. “When the Iranian regime seized power 47 years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini consolidated his control of power by endorsing the hostage taking of US embassy staff,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. – US designates Iran as a ‘state sponsor of wrongful detention’
(Maia Davies – BBC) The UK has temporarily withdrawn staff from its embassy in Tehran, as the threat of US strikes against Iran prompts warnings from a number of countries to their citizens in the Middle East. The UK Foreign Office said it was a “precautionary measure” and that its embassy in Iran’s capital continued to operate remotely. It also updated its travel guidance to advise against “all but essential travel” to Israel. Meanwhile, the US embassy in Israel told some non-emergency staff and their families on Friday that they could leave the country. It comes a day after Washington and Tehran held talks widely seen as a last ditch effort to avoid a war over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. – UK withdraws Tehran embassy staff as threat of US strikes spark concern across region
(Martin Fornusek – The Kyiv Independent) As U.S.-Iran tensions mount, President Volodymyr Zelensky voiced support for action targeting Iran’s regime but not its people, according to a Sky News interview published Feb. 27. The Ukrainian leader said he believes the Iranian people are seeking help in overthrowing the current regime, which behaves aggressively toward other countries and is a source of harm. He added that diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Iran remain the better way forward. – Ahead of possible US strikes, Zelensky backs action against Iran’s regime, ‘not against the people’
Japan – Uyghurs
(HRW) Japanese lawmakers and Uyghur activists gathered on February 25 at an event hosted by the Japan Uyghur Association in Tokyo to address the Chinese government’s atrocity crimes in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. “It’s important to send a big message to the world” about the Chinese government’s rights abuses against Uyghurs, said Keiji Furuya, a senior lawmaker for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in his opening remarks. Furuya, chairperson of the Japan Uyghur Parliamentary Association, said last November that his caucus would draft a Japanese version of the United States Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. – Japan Should Adopt Regulation to Counter Uyghur Forced Labor | Human Rights Watch
OpenAI – Pentagon
(Maria Curi – Axios) Sam Altman said late Friday night that his company reached an agreement with the Pentagon to use its AI models, after the Defense Department agreed to its safety red lines that were similar to rival Anthropic’s. Why it matters: The Pentagon has blasted Anthropic for days, contending its red lines for AI use in the military — mass surveillance and autonomous weapons — are philosophical and “woke.” – Pentagon approves OpenAI safety red lines after dumping Anthropic
UK
(Andrew McDonald – Politico) Routed by insurgents to his left and right Friday, Keir Starmer tried to strike a defiant tone. The U.K. prime minister on Friday morning vowed to “keep on fighting … for as long as I’ve got breath in my body” in the wake of a by-election thumping in Gorton and Denton that saw Labour finish an uncomfortable third behind both the victorious left-wing Greens and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Vanishingly few people in his party think that, politically speaking, that will be very long. – Starmer’s premiership is dying. Nobody knows how to save it. – POLITICO
Ukraine
(The Kyiv Independent) As peace talks continue and the U.S. pushes for compromise, one proposal keeps returning: Ukraine should withdraw from the remainder of Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk Oblast to end the war. The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell explains why the Battle of Donbas remains at the center of the peace process. – Video
(Luca Léry Moffat – The Kyiv Independent) Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak will advise Ukraine on its economic recovery, the latest in a string of star appointments as Kyiv eyes future reconstruction and European integration. Sunak has taken up an unpaid role as a member of Ukraine’s International Advisory Council for the Economic Renewal of Ukraine, according to documents released on Feb. 27 by the U.K.’s independent advisor on ministerial standards. – Former British PM Rishi Sunak joins star studded team for Ukraine’s recovery
