3 US warplanes shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses, pilots bail out in friendly fire incident, CENTCOM says
Three U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles were shot down in a friendly fire incident over Kuwait late Sunday during active combat operations tied to Operation Epic Fury, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said. The aircraft were mistakenly engaged by Kuwaiti air defenses amid a complex battle environment that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones. All six aircrew members safely ejected, were quickly recovered, and are reported to be in stable condition. Kuwaiti officials have acknowledged the incident, and an investigation is underway to determine the cause. KEY MILITARY SITES TARGETED INSIDE IRAN AS PART OF COORDINATED US-ISRAELI STRIKES CENTCOM said additional details are expected as the review progresses. Kuwait’s Ministry of Defense said earlier on Monday that several U.S. military aircraft had crashed, according to a statement carried by the state-run Kuwait News Agency. Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Saud Al-Atwan said Kuwaiti authorities immediately launched search and rescue operations, evacuated the aircrews from the crash sites and transferred them to hospitals to assess their conditions and provide any necessary medical care. Al-Atwan added that Kuwaiti and U.S. forces were coordinating on the circumstances of the incident and implementing joint technical procedures as part of the response. 3 US SERVICE MEMBERS KILLED, 5 SERIOUSLY WOUNDED IN IRAN OPERATION Video from the crash appeared to show one of the jets descending rapidly in a steep dive before disappearing from view. In separate footage, pilots could be seen parachuting toward the ground surrounded by smoke. The Kuwait Army’s official X account said its Air Defense Force confronted a number of “hostile aerial targets” at dawn, intercepting and tracking them as part of operations in the central part of the country. TRUMP OVERSEES US STRIKES ON IRAN FROM MAR-A-LAGO, SPEAKS WITH NETANYAHU: WH The post did not specify how many targets were engaged or detail their nature, but described the response as efficient and conducted under full combat readiness to protect Kuwait’s airspace.
CM Rekha Gupta’s big push for Delhi women: Free bus travel, LPG cylinders, and more; here’s all you need to know
In the gracious presence of the President Droupadi Murmu, CM Gupta dedicated four major welfare schemes, including the Saheli Pink Smart Card for free bus travel, a free LPG cylinder scheme, and the Delhi Lakhpati Bitiya Yojana. Here’s all you need to know.
School districts can set aside prayer time under a new Texas law. Few have done so.
School boards had until March 1 to decide whether to establish a daily period for students and staff to pray or read religious texts.
Dow asks Texas to legalize plastic pollution from its Seadrift complex
Facing multiple lawsuits, North America’s largest chemical manufacturer requests an “unprecedented” permit amendment to authorize its discharge of polyethylene pellets into coastal waters.
Turnover in East Texas politics may jeopardize regional sway at the Legislature
Some advocates for the region worry freshmen lawmakers will start deal-making at a deficit, while other voters see a chance for new blood.
Balen Shah: Rapper, mayor, Nepal’s next prime minister?
Kathmandu, Nepal – Facing thousands of raucous supporters, 35-year-old Balendra Shah lifted his signature black rectangular sunglasses, asked his audience to look him in the eye, and said: “I love you.” It is a sentiment that millions of young Nepalis appear to reciprocate. Balen – as he is popularly known – was a nobody until 2013, when he almost overnight became a rap sensation. Nearly a decade later, in May 2022, he stunned Nepal’s deeply entrenched mainstream political parties by winning the post of mayor of Kathmandu, the country’s capital, while contesting as an independent. When the Himalayan nation of 30 million people erupted in popular protests against the government of then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in September 2025, Balen emerged as a high-profile backer of the protesters. He was the first choice of many Gen Z activists to take over as interim leader after Oli was forced to resign. But he instead supported former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki for the post. It is now that this was a tactical move. As Nepal heads to its first election since the protests last year, and Karki’s brief term ends, Balen is positioning himself as the future prime minister the country needs. And true to style, he is doing it with a bang: He is contesting the parliamentary elections from Jhapa-5, a seat about 300km (186 miles) southeast of Kathmandu, against Oli, the man protesters deposed just five months ago. On the surface, the odds appear stacked against him. The region is a stronghold of Oli and the Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), which the former prime minister heads. Balen is contesting as a candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), a centrist party formed less than four years ago, which won 10 percent of the national vote in the last elections in 2022. Advertisement Balen’s volatile public communication – he has abused mainstream parties, India, China and the United States, and threatened to burn down symbols of power in Nepal – has sparked criticism and questions over whether he is ready for high office. But Balen defied the pundits when he won the Kathmandu mayoralty. And observers and analysts say that for many Nepalis, he represents a breath of fresh air in a country where more than 40 percent of the population is under the age of 35, but where the leadership of all major parties is in its 70s. “Young Nepalis see him as a decisive actor, who is not beholden to traditional political or business interests,” Pranaya Rana, a journalist who writes for the Kalam Weekly newsletter, told Al Jazeera. “Many admire his macho public persona and his willingness to take on entrenched political patronage networks.” Supporters of Balendra Shah, a former Kathmandu mayor popularly known as ‘Balen’, gather for a campaign rally in Janakpur, Nepal, January 19, 2026 [Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters] The craze If young Nepal burned with anger in September, when protesters clashed with security forces and attacked senior politicians after a crackdown by authorities under Oli, Balen was still seething with rage two months later. In a midnight post on Facebook in November, he lashed out: “F*** America, F*** India, F*** China, F*** UML, F*** Congress, F*** RSP, F*** RPP, F*** Maobaadi. You Guys all Combined can do nothing”, venting against the popular political parties and even nations that have close ties to Nepal. Being the Kathmandu mayor at the time, he deleted the post less than half an hour later. Then in January, he quit as mayor and joined the RSP, one of the parties he cursed in the Facebook post. More recently, after Oli called on Facebook for a public debate among prime ministerial candidates of major parties, Balen rejected the suggestion and asked the ex-prime minister to take responsibility for the dozens of civilians killed during the Gen Z protests in September. He asked Oli to acknowledge that he was a “terrorist”. Over the top? Not to many Nepalis. The rapper-turned-politician’s confrontational style and rhetoric appear to have only endeared him to large sections of the youth. His beard and dandy, all-black clothing style – he occasionally wears the traditional Newari dress of the ethnic inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley – coupled with his trademark dark glasses, have become fashion symbols. Kathmandu shops once ran out of the kind of black rectangular glasses he wears. Many online stores, including Daraz, the most popular seller in Nepal, still carry multiple choices of these shades, calling them “Balen Shah glasses”. Advertisement Unlike traditional politicians, Balen mainly stays away from mainstream media. Instead, he communicates with the wider public through podcasts, television shows where he is a judge, or through his favourite platform: social media. His 3.5 million followers on Facebook, 1 million on Instagram, 400,000 on X and nearly 1 million on YouTube give him an online audience unmatched in Nepal. This is valuable capital with a generation constantly on their phones. Yet Balen first made waves not as a politician, but as an upstart musician who shook Nepal. Balendra Shah, a rapper-turned-politician and the prime ministerial candidate for the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), along with Rabi Lamichhane, RSP president, takes part in an election campaign in Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal, February 28, 2026 [Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters] Big cars, bigger songs The youngest of four siblings, Balen was born in 1990 in Kathmandu. Balen’s father, Ram Narayan Shah – who passed away in December – was a government practitioner of ayurveda, the ancient Hindu healing system. In an interview with Al Jazeera in September – three months before his death – Shah recalled Balen as a “bright and simple” child. The father’s work took him away from home frequently, but one clear memory from Balen’s childhood stuck out for Shah: “He wrote poems. I remember that, because I also wrote poems.” Balen graduated with a civil engineering degree from Himalayan Whitehouse International College in Kathmandu and received a postgraduate degree in structural engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) in Karnataka, India. Then, in 2013, he
Israel bombs Beirut after Hezbollah fires rockets in Iran war retaliation
NewsFeed Israel has carried out heavy strikes in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut after Hezbollah launched an attack on northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Published On 2 Mar 20262 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Al Jazeera reports from Beirut as residents flee following Israeli strikes
NewsFeed Tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians are leaving areas in Beirut following Israeli strikes and forced displacement orders. Earlier Hezbollah launched a retaliatory attack on Israel. Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr is amid the heavy traffic. Published On 2 Mar 20262 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
J&K schools to remain closed on March 2 amid Pakistani drone intrusions along LoC
Schools in Jammu and Kashmir will remain closed on March 2-3 amid multiple Pakistani drone intrusion attempts along the LoC.
PM Modi strongly condemns Iranian strikes on UAE, condoles loss of lives: ‘India stands in solidarity’
PM Narendra Modi spoke to UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to condemn the attacks on the country and also condoled the loss of lives in these attacks.