Morning Digest: Ex-V-P Dhankar denies citing illness in resignation; U.S. says it supports Pakistan’s ‘right to defend itself’ against Afghanistan, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest February 28, 2026

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton denied wrongdoing on Friday (February 27, 2026) to a congressional panel probing his links to Jeffrey Epstein, as Democrats seek to shift focus onto U.S. President Donald Trump’s own ties to the notorious sex offender. Mr. Clinton features prominently throughout the Epstein files, but he insists that he broke ties well before the disgraced billionaire’s 2008 conviction for sex offences. “I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Mr. Clinton said in his opening statement, shared on social media.

The United States said on Friday (February 27, 2026) it supported ‌Pakistan’s “right to defend itself” against attacks from ​Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers after Islamabad said earlier ⁠in the day that the neighbouring countries were in “open war.” Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers had said on Friday they ‌were willing to negotiate after Pakistan bombed their forces in major cities. “The United States ‌supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against ‌attacks ⁠from the Taliban, a Specially Designated Global ⁠Terrorist group,” a State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday (February 27, 2026) he’s “not happy” with Iran talks so far, but that he’ll wait to see what happens in additional rounds of negotiations with the West Asian country over its nuclear program. “I’m not happy with the fact that they’re not willing to give us what we have to have. I’m not thrilled with that. We’ll see what happens. We’re talking later,” Mr. Trump told reporters as he left the White House on Friday. “We’re not exactly happy with the way they’re negotiating. They cannot have nuclear weapons,” Mr. Trump said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a nationwide Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign on Saturday (February 28, 2026) from Ajmer. The campaign aims to protect 14-year-old girls across the country from cervical cancer, a disease that remains a significant health concern in India. All States and Union Territories will virtually join the programme that will start at 11.30 a.m., the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar has said he had never claimed that he was ill while resigning from his post. “I only said I was giving priority to my health, which everyone should do,” he said at Sadulpur in Rajasthan’s Churu district on Thursday (February 26, 2026). Mr. Dhankhar made the remarks at a small gathering at the residence of Congress MP Rahul Kaswan. He had visited the town to enquire about the health of Mr. Kaswan’s father and former Churu MP Ram Singh Kaswan.

A day after the Supreme Court banned a Social Science textbook over a section on “corruption” in the judiciary, the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) on Friday (February 27, 2026) asked people to return the book and take down related social media posts. The NCERT reiterated that it had withdrawn the Class 8 textbook. In its advisory issued on Friday (February 27, 2026), the NCERT called for any “individual or organisation” in possession of the book or any material related to it to return it to the Publication Division of the Department of Education in Social Sciences in New Delhi “at the earliest possible”. Anyone who had posted any material related to the controversial section on social media or online should delete it, it said.