Israel says Iran's security chief killed

Reuters Daily Briefing <dailybriefing@thomsonreuters.com>
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2026-03-17 12:04

Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

Hello. In the latest from the Middle East, Israel says Iran's security chief Larijani is killed and Trump was warned of likely Iranian retaliation on Gulf allies, and Elsewhere, Trump's long-shot voting bill could hurt his own supporters and US pediatricians win round 1 in vaccine fight.

Plus, a molten alien planet with its sulfur-choked atmosphere displays a unique hellscape.

Today's Top News

Ali Larijani, former chairman of the parliament of Iran in Beirut, Lebanon. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/File Photo

War in the Middle East

Israel's Minister of Defense said the Israeli military had killed Iran's security chief and the head of its Basij militia in airstrikes overnight, and Tehran kept up attacks against Gulf neighbors that have pushed up energy prices.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has rejected proposals for reducing tensions or for a ceasefire with ‌the US that were conveyed to Tehran by two intermediary countries, a senior Iranian official said.
President Donald Trump was warned that attacking Iran could trigger retaliation against US Gulf allies despite his claims that Tehran's reaction came as a surprise, said a US official and two sources familiar with US intelligence reports.
The Reuters graphics team investigates how the US is fighting a war without sending ground troops to Iran, and the inexpensive drones making it harder.

In other news

Trump escalated his rhetoric against Cuba, saying ‌he expected to have the "honor" of "taking Cuba in some form" and that "I can do anything I want" with the neighboring country. This as Cuba's national electric grid collapsed leaving millions without power.
El Salvador has subjected some nationals deported from the US to enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention without bringing them before a judge, a report by Human Rights Watch said.
Trump's request to delay the planned summit in Beijing with Chinese leader Xi Jinping casts a shadow over mutual ties that have been stable since their last meeting in October, but is unlikely to cause a major setback, analysts ‌said.
Trump has demanded that Republicans pass legislation requiring Americans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote, ahead of November’s midterm elections. The legislation faces long odds in the Senate thanks to Democratic opposition. But if it is enacted, it could end ‌up hurting Trump's own supporters.
Over 400 people were killed and 250 injured in an air strike by Pakistan on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban government said, a sharp escalation in the conflict between the neighbors.

Business & Markets

The Callisto tanker sits anchored in Port Sultan Qaboos as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz. Muscat, Oman. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

The disruption of the Strait of Hormuz has left the Gulf region scrambling for other options. But as our energy editor Simon Webb explains on the Reuters World News podcast, rerouting oil on that scale doesn't happen overnight. Listen now.
Die-hard fans of a niche Japanese potato chip brand took to the internet to lament a production halt the snack maker Yamayoshi Seika blamed on a shortage of ‌cooking oil caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
Nvidia said the revenue opportunity for its artificial intelligence chips may reach at least $1 trillion through 2027, as the company outlined a strategy to compete more aggressively in the fast-growing market for ‌running AI systems in real time.
The worst US inflation outbreak in a generation turns five years old this month, a defining economic shock that is still driving policy debates, influencing national politics, and frustrating Federal Reserve officials trying to restore the pace of price increases to their 2% target after a monumental miss.
Amazon is ramping up its speedy delivery service by offering 1-hour and 3-hour shipping in markets across the US, including Los Angeles and Chicago, in its latest efforts to ‌stave off e-commerce competition from its biggest rival Walmart.

Pediatricians win Round 1 in vaccine fight, but damage has been done

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivers remarks while Trump listens at the White House in Washington. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

A federal court injunction put a check on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s rapid assault on US vaccine recommendations, but months of turmoil and misinformation have sown doubt about vaccines that will be hard to reverse.

“The genie is out of the bottle. We’re going to have to live with that,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease ‌Research and Policy.

Read more

And Finally...

An artist’s impression of the exoplanet named L 98-59 d, shown with a cutaway to reveal its interior, orbiting a red dwarf star. Mark A. Garlick/Handout via REUTERS

Astronomers have spotted a planet orbiting a star in our neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy that presents a unique hellscape - covered with a perpetual ocean of magma and enveloped by a noxious and fiercely hot sulfur-rich atmosphere.

Its thick atmosphere is composed primarily of hydrogen, but has a very high sulfur content. About 10% of the atmosphere is the toxic gas hydrogen sulfide, which gives off the stench of rotten eggs.

Read more

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