Iran war slips beyond Trump's control

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2026-03-21 12:14

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.

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