Nitish kumar agrees to let son Nishant enter politics Eschewing aversion for “dynasty politics”, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday agreed to launch his only son Nishant in politics kochi l wednesday l march 04, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Wboth sides go full blast Asia burns as An explosion in UAE’s Fujairah after drone debris fell on a part of the oil industrial zone | AP/PTI 787 The latest war toll in Iran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent 1,039 Attacks by US, Israel across Iran. Qatar joined the pounding saudi arabia israel qatar US embassy hit by drones Tel Aviv hit injures 7 Loud blasts heard in Doha An attack from two drones on the US Embassy in Riyadh caused a “limited fire”. The embassy urged Americans to avoid the compound At least seven people were seriously wounded after a salvo of missiles fired from Iran hit the capital city Tel Aviv AFP journalists in the Qatari capital of Doha heard more explosions on Tuesday, as Iran carried out a fourth day of attacks in Gulf countries a g en c i e s @ Tehran, Tel Aviv THE West Asia war is showing no signs of abatement. Iran stepped up its attacks on economic targets and US missions across West Asia on Tuesday as President Donald Trump warned it was “too late” for the Islamic republic to seek talks. As drones and missiles crashed into oil facilities and US embassies in the Gulf, Israel bombarded targets in Iran and pushed troops deeper into Lebanon to battle the Tehran-backed militia Hezbollah. “They want to talk. I said: ‘Too late!’,” Trump said on Truth Social. Later, he said “someone from within Iranian regime might be the best choice to take power once US-Israel campaign is finished.” As if to underline Trump’s new stance, loud blasts echoed around downtown Tehran. According to Iranian media, US-Israeli strikes targeted the ‘ ssembly of Experts’ building A in Qom, housing the panel electing Iran’s new supreme leader. Israel’s military said its air force struck industrial sites “throughout Iran” used to produce ballistic missiles, to pre-empt their use. Iran soon struck the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and in Kuwait City with a drone early Tuesday. The strike in Riyadh caused part of its roof to collapse, although there were no deaths or injuries. In Kuwait City the vicinity of the embas, sy was hit by two drone strikes from Iran, with no casualties. With Iran bombing Gulf monarchies on whim, the US ambassador in Israel asked Americans to move out on their own. “The US Embassy is not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel,” Mike Huckabee wrote on X. Earlier Tuesday, IAEA said Iran’s Natanz site sustained “some recent damage”, but “no radioP9 logical consequence was expected.”  Five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar are going to polls and the BJP and JD(U) hold two seats apiece. Nishant, known to be reticent but with a good grasp of public affairs, may replace Harivansh Narayan Singh The announcement came from state Rural Development Minister and senior party leader Shrawon Kumar, who has been a close aide of the JD(U) supremo since the Samata Party days, in the 1990s. Party workers distributed sweets, smeared each other’s faces with ‘gulaal’ and raised slogans to express delight over the political entry of their supremo’s son Thoughts on education enliven TNIE’s conclave E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai West Bengal Governor Dr C V Ananda Bose on Tuesday recalled a quote from the Kothari Commission Report, “destiny of India is being shaped in her classrooms”, to underscore the relationship between education, TNIE Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla and public service, and nation-build- Editor Santwana Bhattacharya presenting ing at the ThinkEdu Conclave a memento to West Bengal Governor 2026 held in Chennai on Dr C V Ananda Bose at ThinkEdu Conclave on Tuesday | P jawahar Tuesday . He was speaking on the second day of the V-C, MGR Medical Unievent presented by the versity also highlighted , Tata Group and Tata the need for value-drivConsultancy Services en education. (TCS) with RajalakshDr Santishree Dhulimi Group of Institupudi Pandit, Vice-Chantions as title sponsor. cellor of JNU, Dr SunaTHINKEDU Bihar Governor Arif ina Singh, former V-C CONCLAVE Mohammed Khan reof Nalanda University, flected on the controversial and Dr Thangam Meganathan, Shah Bano case, and spoke on Chairperson, Rajalakshmi what it means to be a “Liberal Group of Institution, stressed Muslim” in India today . on the importance of responsiSwami Suddhidananda, pres- ble dissent. ident of Advaita Ashrama, iniThinkEdu 2026, with over 30 tiated the day’s discussions with riveting sessions and 45 speaka reminder that education must ers across two days, representalso enrich the spiritual and ed the continuation of a 14-year moral centres within students. legacy of championing the exDr Sudha Seshayyan, former cellence of Indian thought.  P5 Presents CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ EXPRESS READ Former Union minister K P Unnikrishnan dies Kozhikode: Senior Congress leader and former Union minister K P Unnikrishnan, 90, passed away in Kozhikode on Tuesday. He was undergoing treatment for agerelated ailments at a private hospital in the city. P4 Lakhs of women offer Attukal Pongala T’Puram: Lakhs of women from across Kerala and outside the state offered pongala at the Attukal Bhagavathy temple here on Tuesday. Braving hot weather, women from all age groups took part in the event across the capital It’s Shailaja vs Sunny Joseph in Peravoor T’Puram: Peravoor in Kannur is poised to take centre stage in the assembly polls, with a high-voltage contest brewing between KPCC chief Sunny Joseph and CPM’s foremost woman leader K K Shailaja. P4 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express