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ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities deployed troops and imposed a three-day curfew before dawn Monday in the northern cities of Gilgit and Skardu after several people died and tens were injured in violent protests following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli strikes, officials said. Thousands of Shiite demonstrators attacked on Sunday the offices of the U.N. Military Observer Group, which monitors the ceasefire along the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, and the U.N. Development Programme in Skardu city. Protesters also burned a police station and damaged a school and the offices of a local charity in Gilgit, according to officials. At least 12 people were killed and 80 others injured, police in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday said protesters became violent near the UNMOGIP Field Station, which was vandalized. “The safety and security of U.N. personnel and premises throughout the region remain our top priority, and we continue to closely monitor the situation,” Dujarric said. Meanwhile, Shabir Mir, a Gilgit-Baltistan government spokesman, said Monday the situation was under control and that the curfew would remain in place until Wednesday. Police chief Akbar Nasir Khan urged residents to stay indoors, citing “deteriorating law and order conditions.” Demonstrators in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi stormed the U.S. Consulate on Sunday, smashing windows and attempting to burn the building. Police responded with batons, tear gas, and gunfire, leaving 10 people dead and more than 50 injured. One person was also killed in clashes in Islamabad during an attempted Shiite march toward the U.S. Embassy. The U.S. Embassy and its consulates in Karachi and Lahore canceled visa appointments and American Citizen Services on Monday, citing security concerns. Pakistani authorities have beefed up security at U.S. diplomatic missions across the country, including around the U.S. consulate building in Peshawar, to avoid any further violence. Also Monday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange plunged, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index falling nearly 10% amid rising geopolitical tensions following attacks on Iran. Investors sold off shares across sectors, with analysts citing heightened uncertainty as the main driver behind the sharp decline. Anger has been rising in Pakistan, particularly among members of the Shiite minority, following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Khamenei and other senior officials. While Shiites are a minority nationwide, they form a majority in some northern districts and in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering Afghanistan. Sunday’s unrest came amid ongoing cross-border fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which began Thursday after Afghanistan launched attacks in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes the previous Sunday. Pakistan has since carried out repeated operations along the border. ___ Associated Press writers Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

PARIS, March 2 (Reuters) – France is ready to help Gulf countries targeted by Iranian retaliatory strikes, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday, adding that the Israeli and U.S. initial strikes against Iran should have been debated beforehand at the United Nations. “Regarding more specifically our partners in the region who have been targeted, deliberately aimed at by the Iranian regime, we stand ready to contribute to their defense,” Barrot told reporters after chairing a crisis meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Paris. “Based on their request, in a proportionate manner and in accordance with the principle of collective self-defence provided for under international law,” he added. Referring to Israel and the United States’ initial assault on Iran on Saturday, he said their “unilateral strikes” could have gained the legitimacy needed only by going before the U.N. Security Council. However, he called on Iran to end its attacks and to resign itself to major concessions to achieve a political solution leading to peace in the region. No French victims have been reported despite a drone attack against a French naval base in Abu Dhabi on Sunday that caused limited damage, according to Barrot. (Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Makini Brice and Barbara Lewis) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Leo Marchandon March 2 (Reuters) – European satellite operator SES on Monday reported full-year results in line with market expectations and lowered its 2026 capital spending target, as it prepares to launch up to 13 satellites later this year. The company’s Paris-listed shares dipped up to 7% in early trading, but reversed course to rise 3.7% by 0945 GMT. Analysts from ING said SES’s fourth-quarter earnings looked better than expected, though they noted the company did not provide an outlook beyond 2026 and that the satellite launch was now expected in the second half of the year, implying somewhat delayed revenue growth from the platform. The Luxembourg-based operator, which completed its $3.1 billion acquisition of Intelsat last year, reported annual revenue of 2.63 billion euros ($3.09 billion) and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 1.2 billion euros, both matching analysts’ consensus. Demand for secure communications grew in Europe, offsetting the impact of the U.S. government shutdown and spending cuts implemented by the now-closed Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE), the company said. SES signed 1.8 billion euros worth of new contracts in 2025, lifting its gross backlog to more than 6.6 billion euros, it said. It forecast stable 2026 revenue and core earnings on a like-for-like basis, while cutting expected capital expenditures by 100 million euros to around 700 million, as it balances investments in its medium orbit O3b mPOWER constellation and the European Union’s low orbit IRIS² programme. The company said it was working with the European Commission to validate costs and timelines for IRIS², the bloc’s sovereign connectivity infrastructure designed to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink. ($1 = 0.8503 euros) (Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Yousef Saba March 2 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia shut its biggest domestic oil refinery on Monday after a drone strike, a source said, as Israeli and U.S. strikes and Iranian retaliation forced shutdowns of oil and gas facilities across the Middle East. A wave of attacks on the region stretched into a third day, resulting in the precautionary suspension of most oil production in Iraqi Kurdistan and at several major Israeli gas fields, throttling exports to Egypt. State oil giant Saudi Aramco’s 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) Ras Tanura refinery, which was shut as a precautionary measure, is part of an energy complex on the kingdom’s Gulf coast which also serves as a critical export terminal for Saudi crude oil. In Iraqi Kurdistan, which exported 200,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) via pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port in February, companies including DNO, Gulf Keystone Petroleum,  Dana Gas and HKN Energy have stopped output at their fields as a precaution, with no damage reported. Offshore Israel, the giant Chevron-operated Leviathan gas field was shut on Saturday, according to sources, while Energean shut down its production vessel serving smaller gas fields. DRONES INTERCEPTED IN SAUDI ARABIA The situation at Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery is under control, the source said. Two drones were intercepted at the facility, with debris causing a limited fire, the Saudi defence ministry’s spokesperson said on Al Arabiya TV, adding there were no injuries. Aramco did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Some of the refinery’s units were shut as a precautionary measure but the supply of petroleum and its derivatives to local markets was not affected, Saudi state news agency SPA said, citing an unnamed official at the energy ministry. Still, its shuttering will likely add to supply anxieties as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of global oil consumption flows, grinds to a near-halt after vessels were attacked around it on Sunday. Brent crude futures surged roughly 10% on Monday to over $82 a barrel. [O/R] ATTACK SEEN AS SIGNIFICANT ESCALATION “The attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery marks a significant escalation, with Gulf energy infrastructure now squarely in Iran’s sights,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft. “The attack is also likely to move Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Gulf states closer to joining U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran.” Saudi Arabia’s heavily fortified energy facilities have been targeted previously, most notably in September 2019 when drone and missile attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais plants temporarily knocked out more than half of the kingdom’s crude production. Ras Tanura was attacked by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in 2021. (Reporting by Yousef Saba; additional reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; writing by Shadia Nasralla, Editing by Nadine Awadalla, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Susan Fenton) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

March 2 (Reuters) – Qatar has intercepted Iranian attacks that targeted civilian infrastructure, including the international airport, the Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson told CNN on Monday, adding that such attacks could not remain unanswered. Majed Al Ansari also said that Qatar was not engaging with Iran at the moment. (Reporting by Andrew Mills, Writing by Ahmed ElimamEditing by Gareth Jones) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com