BitGou: Israel and Iran launch more attacks

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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

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