5 Big News Stories Overnight - Sunday, March 1, 2026

U.S.: Just 21% of Americans Supported an Attack Before

The New York Times reports:

The public’s appetite for a U.S. attack on Iran was low before President Trump and Israel took action on Saturday.

Most Americans said they were either opposed to such action (49 percent) or were not sure (30 percent), according to University of Maryland poll taken two weeks ago.

Among Republicans there were reservations, with 40 percent in favor of a strike, 25 percent opposed and 35 percent who said they did not know.

An AP-NORC poll, conducted last week, showed low confidence in President Trump’s ability to handle military force. Only 27 percent of Americans, and just 14 percent of political independents, said they trusted him to make the right choices when it comes to the use of military force abroad.

Iran: Israel Strikes Two Schools in Iran, Killing More Than 100 People

Al Jazeera reports:

An Israeli strike has hit an elementary girls’ school in Minab, a city in the Hormozgan province of southern Iran, killing 108 people.

Mizan News Agency, the judiciary’s official news agency, reported the death toll from the attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab amid a massive US-Israeli offensive launched Saturday morning.

Workers are continuing to clear wreckage from the site, where 63 others were injured on Saturday, said Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. The strike is part of a wave of joint US-Israeli military attacks across Iran that has triggered an outbreak of regional violence.

Pakistan - Afghanistan: Pakistan Says More Than 300 Afghan Forces Killed

France 24 reports:

Pakistan’s military, backed by artillery and air power, struck more military installations deep inside Afghanistan overnight and into early Saturday, killing more than 300 Afghan forces in days of border clashes, officials said. 

Afghanistan on Saturday said it had downed a Pakistani fighter jet and captured its pilot on Saturday, a claim quickly denied by Islamabad. The Afghan military and police said the aircraft was shot down in the eastern city of Jalalabad, but Pakistan's foreign ministry dismissed the claims. 

PHOTO: Burham Ahmad, Unsplash

Pakistan: At least 9 Killed in Pro-Iran Protest at US consulate in Pakistan

Al Jazeera reports:

At least nine people have been killed near a United States consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi after protests broke out following the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an official has told Al Jazeera.

Several others were injured as security forces opened fire to scatter hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters trying to storm the consulate early on Sunday morning.

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Al Jazeera at least nine bodies were brought to Karachi’s civil hospital.

Saudi Crown Prince 'Secretly Lobbied Trump to Attack Iran'

Telegraph reports:

Saudi Arabia joined Israel in lobbying the US to launch strikes against Iran.

Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, argued in favour of an attack during multiple phone calls with Donald Trump in the past month, sources told the Washington Post.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, also continued his long-standing campaign urging the US to join strikes on Iran, the Post reported.

Iran has continued its retaliation after the US and Israel launched a barrage of strikes on Saturday morning, killing its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.