Today's Top News

Birds fly as smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran. Tehran. Majid Asgaripour/WANA via REUTERS

War in Iran

Explosions tore through Tehran and Beirut and financial markets around the world slid at the prospect of a prolonged disruption to global energy supplies from the US-Israeli air war against Iran. Follow our live updates.
In the lobby of a tired hotel near Doha airport, stranded travelers wear identical fake Adidas T-shirts bought from a nearby store and swap tips on where to buy underwear. Tens of thousands of travelers across the Middle East are in limbo after escalating conflict between the US, Israel and Iran disrupted flights worldwide.
It’s a tricky time for America’s traditional European allies. Rachel Armstrong tells the Reuters World News podcast that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is walking a tightrope after the UK initially held off on giving military support for initial attacks on Iran before then allowing use of its bases for defensive strikes.

In other news

US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is expected to face tough questions over Trump's immigration crackdown during a Senate hearing, with funding for her department still stalled ‌due to Democratic objections to its aggressive tactics.
A hotly contested US Senate race in Texas headlines the official start of the midterm elections, when voters in Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas cast the first ballots of the campaign to decide which party controls the US Congress.
The US imposed sanctions ‌on the Rwanda Defence Force and top military officials over their role in ongoing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and called for their immediate withdrawal from the mineral-rich region. This as the US struggles to de-risk Congo's 'war zone minerals'.
Pakistani and Afghan troops clashed at multiple points along their expansive border as the United Nations ‌mission for Afghanistan warned that 42 civilians in the country had been killed so far in the six-day conflict.
The killing of a young activist in France - cast by some as the country's "Charlie Kirk moment" - has galvanized Europe's far right, sparking coordinated rallies across the continent that highlight how local groups are building cross-border networks.
Ukraine’s push for a fast track into the European Union as part of any peace deal has hit stiff resistance from EU governments, who do not want to open the Pandora’s box of problems that they fear a quick accession would ‌unleash.

Business & Markets

Global oil and gas shipping rates soared, with supertanker costs in the Middle East hitting all-time highs, as the US - Iran conflict intensified after Tehran targeted ships passing through ‌the Strait of Hormuz, according to shipping data and industry sources.
Amazon said some of its data centers in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were damaged by drone strikes in the Middle East ‌conflict, disrupting cloud services and making a recovery "prolonged".
Toyota's decision to further sweeten its bid for group company Toyota Industries marks a win for activist fund Elliott Investment Management, which had pushed the automaker for months for a heftier bump up in price.
US software companies have stepped up their stock buyback plans during a months-long rout. Investors and strategists are skeptical that it will stem the selling. Investors have been dumping software stocks since the fall on worries that developments in AI will disrupt the competitive landscape for the richly valued sector.
It’s easy to be glum about a continent grappling with US tariffs, cuts to aid, and climate change. Yet Joe Studwell, author of ‘How Africa Works’, says the conditions for development are in place. In this episode of The Big View podcast, he tells Peter Thal Larsen why he’s optimistic.

How Dubai's safe-haven status is being put to the test

A street with Burj Khalifa in the background, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 1, 2026. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky

For decades, Dubai's sales pitch featured gleaming skylines, tax-free salaries, ease of doing business and something far more intangible: the unspoken promise that whatever was happening elsewhere in the Middle East, this city was different. The conflicts that destabilized the region would somehow stop at Dubai's borders.

On Saturday, that all changed. Iran's retaliatory strikes across the Gulf hit across Dubai's key sectors, landing on airports, hotels and ports. They also hit the psychological foundations of a city that had spent four decades constructing that identity ‌as one of the world's most reliable places to do business in an unreliable neighborhood.

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And Finally...

The painting "Vision of Zacharias in the Temple", identified by researchers in Amsterdam as an original work by Rembrandt. Amsterdam. REUTERS/Charlotte van Campenhout

Researchers at the Netherlands' Rijksmuseum have authenticated as genuine a Rembrandt painting that will be on public display for the first time in decades.

Over a two‑year investigation, the researchers compared the "Vision of Zacharias in the Temple" with other Rembrandt works from the same period. It is on a long-term loan to the museum from an anonymous private collector.

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