Briefing From Reuters

 By Kate Turton

Reuters

Hello. In the Middle East, the US weighs military reinforcementsas the Iran war enters possible new phase, and the complexities of refueling the war in the sky.  Elsewhere,  EU leaders pile pressure on Hungary's Orban to lift a block on a Ukraine loan and our graphics team looks at the fragile economies at the heart of rural hospitals

Today's Top News   A US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft flies during a mission in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran. US Air Force/Handout via REUTERS  War in the Middle East President Donald Trump's administration is considering deploying thousands of US troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East, as the US military prepares for possible next steps in its campaign against Iran. Iran has retaliated against energy targets in the Gulf following Israel's attack on its major South Pars gas field. Reuters Jerusalem bureau chief, Rami Ayyub tells the Reuters World News podcastthat Israel is willing to embrace regional chaos that the White House is desperate to avoid. An aging US fleet of KC‑135 refueling aircraft underpins airstrikes on Iran, highlighting the risks, mechanics and strain of aerial refueling in crowded skies. View our graphics. In other news Voters grappling with unprecedented turmoil head to the polls in more than 50 countries this year, with the opportunity to make clear their views on their governments' strategies for wars, tariffs and economic strife. US Senator Rand Paul, the Republican chairman of a Senate panel weighing the nomination of Trump's pick for homeland security Markwayne Mullin, said he would oppose Trump's nominee over "anger issues" and inflammatory remarks. Trump may use a White House meeting with Japan’s prime minister to press for help in the war on Iran, placing Sanae Takaichi in an awkward position as Tokyo weighs how much support it can provide. European Union leaders piled pressure on Hungarian ‌Prime Minister Viktor Orban to lift his blockade on a vital $103 billion EU loan to Ukraine to keep up its fight against Russia's invasion. As a boom in online gambling across Africa gathers pace, governments are hiking taxes to contain addiction risks and fill depleted state coffers. In by far the biggest market of South Africa, the industry is pushing back.

Business & Markets   People visit the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, March 18, 2026. REUTERS/Alaa Al Marjani  Nearly three weeks of war on Iran have hit the usually teeming alleys of Tehran's grand bazaar, shutting many of the shops and driving up prices for Iranians already suffering from years of sanctions that have throttled the economy. Investors are facing a cloudier view of US monetary policy in the coming months, with a war in the Middle East muddying the outlook for a Federal Reserve that already was grappling with above-target inflation and an uneven labor market. The Iran war has made bottled ‌water in India 11% more expensiveafter prices of plastic bottles and caps surged, a change that has also erased the benefit of a lower water tax rate Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a few months ago. As Emirates flight EK10 from London cruised over Saudi Arabia on Monday, news broke of a drone strike at its destination, Dubai. The aircraft turned back to Gatwick, flight ‌data show, completing a  6,150 miles round trip,  one of dozens of "flights to nowhere" triggered by the Middle East war. Pentagon staffers, former officials and IT contractors who work closely with the US military say they are reluctant to give up Anthropic’s AI tools, which they view as superior to alternatives, despite orders to remove them. OpenAI and Anthropic, together valued at over $1 trillion, have raised vast sums from a panoply of backers in the thus-far unprofitable quest to perfect silicon intelligence. In this week’s Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discern the signs that this enthusiasm is hard to sustain.