Iran war slips beyond Trump's control

In search of Banksy: the podcast edition

Get full access to Reuters.com for just $1/week. Subscribe now. Weekend Briefing Weekend Briefing From Reuters Daily Briefing   By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor Thanks for joining us on the weekend shift. The Iran war is escalating beyond Donald Trump's control. Our dedicated Banksy hunters discuss their intrepid identity itinerary in this episode of On Assignment. Watch the video on YouTube. We peer into Jeffrey Epstein's relationships with New Mexico's Democratic leaders. And the latest edition of City Memo welcomes us to Belfast. Trump considers 'winding down' Iran war   REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun The latest: Trump said the U.S. was close to meeting its goals in attacking Iran even as more troops deploy to the region. The U.S. allowed the sale of Iranian oil at sea for 30 days to try to reduce oil prices following attacks on regional energy infrastructure. Ukraine sent military units to five Middle East countries to protect infrastructure against drones. Trump called NATO members cowards over their lack of support for the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. And Europe has spoken: "It's not our war." Who hurts the most: The war risks creating a crisis will hit every corner of the global economy from the price of gasoline to the availability of fertilizers and therefore food. Reducing fossil-fuel dependence looks attractive again. In Iran, authorities detained dozens of people and its rescue workers are struggling under relentless bombardment. And Dubai real estate presents opportunities to the heartier speculators among us. Israel masses more troops on Lebanon's border Displacement: Hundreds of thousands of people have fled southern Lebanon and warplanes bombed Beirut as Israel kept up its assault on Hezbollah. The U.S. encouraged Syria to send forces into eastern Lebanon to help. Damascus doesn't want to get sucked in, sources said. Israel's military apologized for hitting a U.N. position in Lebanon with tank fire. Learn how Iran patched up Hezbollah after Israel mauled it in 2024. West Bank: Israeli settlers beat and stripped a Bedouin man, then bound his genitalia with zip ties and paraded him naked in front of his family, the victim and witnesses said. More than 36,000 Palestinians were displaced in the West Bank over a year, the U.N. human-rights office said. An Iranian missile killed three women southwest of Hebron. Israel killed nearly a dozen Gaza police officers this week. The U.S. handed Hamas a disarmament proposal. Russia, Ukraine and U.S. pause war talks Until when? Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said talks would resume once "our American partners" could pay more attention. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said a Ukrainian negotiating team expects to meet U.S. officials today. Money: The EU will find a way to pay out its promised 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine despite resistance from Hungary, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. Vice President JD Vance will visit Hungary in early April to show support for Viktor Orbán as polls show him falling behind his main challenger in upcoming elections. Vaccine demand rises in England meningitis outbreak Rush: Young people in Kent and beyond are seeking the meningitis B vaccine after an outbreak killed two people. Pharmacy chains warned of shortages. From Reuters Fact Check: The bacterial strain is in fact contagious, contrary to a Facebook post that said meningitis is a "toxin" and cannot be passed on. No rush: Cannabis-based medicines show little evidence of effectiveness in treating most mental-health and substance-abuse disorders, a review of past studies published in the Lancet shows. From caffeine high to caffeine low Bean counters: Some experts say prices will fall in coming months. David Zaslav will be able to afford a large cup no matter what after a filing showed the Warner Bros Discover CEO could receive up to $887 million after the company's sale to Paramount Skydance. McCormick made a Frank's RedHot believer out of me, but buying Unilever's food business? That's a somewhat more ambitious task. Fully loaded: Researchers discovered a software exploit planted on websites in Ukraine in recent weeks that could penetrate and steal information from hundreds of millions of iPhones. Two minors and a third person sued xAI, saying it knowingly designed its Grok image generator to let people create sexually explicit content by using real photos of others. Before I forget… Three men who sued Gerry Adams, seeking to hold the former Sinn Fein leader liable for IRA bombings in Britain in 1973 and 1996, withdrew their case. A Brussels court ordered a former Belgian diplomat to stand trial over the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. King Felipe VI acknowledged colonial abuses by the Spanish Empire. This was a rare admission by the crown, which has never issued a formal apology to its former colonies. King Charles came in for criticism after he posed with Caribbean officials under the portrait of his antecedent and slavery profiteer King George IV. Dolores Huerta accused the late and legendary agriculture labor leader Cesar Chavez of sexual assault. Other women said he molested and raped them when they were minors. The U.S. is not preparing to take the country by military force, a U.S. general said. A Cuban official said its political system and the term of its president were not up for negotiation with Washington. Scottish lawmakers voted against assisted dying while similar proposals in England and Wales likely will fail. Did you know that ghosts sit around the fire and tell Chuck Norris stories? Send me your favorite "facts" about your favorite action hero, who died this week at the age of 86. Note: I sent a version of the briefing last weekend with a number of incorrect links. I could get into why, but it boils down to sloppiness on my part. Apologies.   Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website   Weekend Briefing is sent once a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you’ve engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036

Israel and Iran launch more attacks

Plus, Russia's internet crackdown.

Get full access to Reuters.com for just $1/week. Subscribe now. Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Kate Turton Hello. Israel and Iran launch more attacks as crisis deepens, Russia tightens the screws on internet access, and Amazon is planning a smartphone comeback. Plus, Correspondent Jihoon Lee speaks to the Reuters World News podcast about BTS's reunion concert. Today's Top News    The tail fin of a large missile protrudes from a field, following barrages of missiles from Iran towards Israel, Golan Heights. March 19, 2026. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu  War in the Middle East Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other, a day after Tehran struck an Israeli oil refinery and after US President Donald Trump warned Israel against further attacks on an Iranian offshore gas field shared with Qatar. If the US-Israeli war on Iran ended tomorrow, one verdict is already clear: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would walk away stronger, while Trump would be left to manage the shock to global markets and to Gulf allies who have borne the heaviest costs. Disrupted fertiliser shipments and soaring energy prices from the war in Iran are threatening to unleash a fresh food-price surge across vulnerable nations, risking a years-long setback just as many were recovering from successive global shocks. In other news Trump drew a parallel between US strikes on Iran and Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, as he ‌defended the war he launched against Tehran while meeting Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Washington. Office workers toiling with blocked internet. Teenagers continually forced to switch VPNs. Taxi drivers struggling to find their way around Moscow without online navigation.The Kremlin is flexing its muscles over the internet. Britain's health authorities said that early laboratory analysis had showed the vaccine being offered to students should ‌protect against the strain of meningitis behind an outbreak in southeast England that has killed two people. Reuters Fact Check spoke with George Georgiou, a London man who has received phone calls up to 30 times a day after being mistaken online for Robin Gunningham. This after a Reuters ‌special report made public for the first time documents that confirm Banksy is Robin Gunningham. Business & Markets   Rising gasoline prices are already starting to bite US household finances and Americans overwhelmingly expect fuel costs will keep climbing as Trump's war with Iran crimps ‌global oil supplies, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's upcoming decision on whether to keep his seat on the US central bank's Board of Governors after his leadership term ends is now a key factor in how the tenure of his would-be successor Kevin Warsh evolves. Investors reassessing the potential for deeper economic pain from the war in Iran are selling assets across the globe, from government bonds to stocks and gold, reigniting fears that markets may become vulnerable to a bigger dislocation. In 2014, Amazon introduced its first smartphone, hoping to take on Apple and Samsung. Instead, the Fire Phone - overseen directly by founder Jeff Bezos - was scrapped in barely over a year, one of Amazon's highest-profile flops. Now, Amazon is dialing up a new phone. Unilever is in talks to ‌sell its foods business to smaller rival McCormick & Company, a potential deal that would unite the British company's Hellmann's and Knorr brands with the US spice maker's Cholula hot sauce. The Week Ahead Slovenia holds a parliamentary election on Sunday in which liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob will face off against pro-Donald Trump populist Janez Jansa. Italy holds a justice referendum on Sunday, on a proposal to separate the careers of judges and public prosecutors. The same day will see a second round of voting in France's municipal elections. Denmark will hold a national election on Tuesday as it grapples with Trump's repeated threats to seize Greenland. Plus, everything you need to know about the coming week in financial markets. Security concerns grow around World Cup in US after stalled funding   A member of staff with a giant ball on a pitch outside the stadium ahead of the Club World Cup. East Rutherford, New Jersey. REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo  Intelligence briefings reviewed by Reuters have warned of the potential for extremists and criminals to target the World Cup at a time when hundreds of millions of dollars of approved security funds have been delayed, causing US preparations to fall behind. The previously unreported briefings from US federal and state officials and FIFA, the international federation overseeing the World Cup, outlined the risk of extremist attacks, including attacks on transportation infrastructure and civil unrest related to ‌Trump's immigration crackdown. Read more And Finally... BTS fans photograph portraits of the members at a pop-up exhibition in Seoul, South Korea, March 20, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon  Netflix anticipates more opportunities for live events in South Korea, a company official said, as it prepares for its biggest livestream this year: a highly anticipated BTS comeback concert in Seoul. Read more   Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website   Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you’ve engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036