Reuters World News - Iran warns against ground attack, 'No Kings' protests and robot umpires

Episode Date: March 29, 2026

Iran warns Washington against a ground attack as regional diplomats push for to end the war. Thousands rally across all 50 states in "No Kings" protests over rising costs and Trump's handling of the Iran war. Major League Baseball introduces a "robot umpire" challenge system for the new season. Plus, pilgrims travel to a remote Taiwan temple in search of divine dreams. Watch the latest On Assignment Podcast Inside Iran: A video diary Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm your weekend host, Sharon Reich Garson. It's Sunday, March 29th. Today. Tehran warns Washington against a ground attack as regional diplomats meet in Pakistan. Thousands of anti-Trump know King's rallies pop up across the U.S. Major League Baseball rolls out robot umpires

and pilgrims travel to a remote Taiwan temple in search of divine dreams. This is where we're going to. Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Iran is warning the United States not to launch a ground invasion as it seeks negotiations. Iran's parliamentary speaker accusing Washington of talking diplomacy while preparing escalation. New contingents of U.S. Marines began arriving in the Middle East on Friday. The Washington Post is quoted U.S. officials saying the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of possible operations involving raids by special ops and conventional infantry troops.

It's still unclear, however, whether President Trump would approve deploying ground forces. On the diplomatic front, Pakistan is hosting urgent talks today with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt to discuss efforts to end the ongoing conflict. Meanwhile, Israel says it's striking deeper into Iran, targeting weapons manufacturing sites around the capital. Iranian state media report five people were killed at a southern port, where a pier and two vessels were destroyed. In Lebanon, funerals are being held for three journalists, killed by Israeli fire during heavy strikes on Hezbollah targets. Israel's military claims one of the journalists belonged to a Hezbollah. intelligence unit. The IDF says one of its soldiers has been killed in combat in Lebanon. The conflict is widening, with Iran's Houthis launching attacks on Israel for a second day,

raising new risks to commercial shipping already strained by the effect of closing of the Strait of Hormuz. Thousands of protesters rallied across the U.S. on Saturday at no King's demonstrations held in all 50 states. Giant floats and handmade signs spelled out frustration over rising costs and President Donald Trump's handling of the war in Iran. Big crowds turned out in major cities, New York, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington. And in Minnesota, performances by Bruce Springsteen and Joan Baez drew 100,000 people. In Los Angeles, retired protester Teresa Gunnell says rising prices and health care costs are made. making life harder for many Americans. Now there's a lot of people that are kicked off their health care,

people can't afford to eat, now gas's gone up. It's just gotten kind of really bad for a lot of people. Organizers say nearly two-thirds of protests took place outside big cities, a sharp rise in smaller and often conservative communities. Reporter Tim Reid sent us this dispatch from Washington, D.C. So leading this march into central Washington, was a giant, becrowned puppet head of Trump and puppets of several members of his cabinet, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Defense Secretary Pete Hexas.

The signs really reflect the multitude of things that the protesters object to. Anti-Trump, anti-ice, anti-the Iran War, anti-what-they-Call Trump's lurch towards autocracy and authoritarianism. It's a whole phalanx of issues that the protesters here today are objecting to and protesting against. The White House has brushed off the protests, calling them, quote, Trump derangement therapy sessions and saying they were really only of interest to journalists. As protesters rally against President Trump, Republicans are already looking ahead to a potential successor. At the conservative political action conference, Vice President J.D. Vance topped a strong

poll for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. More than 1,600 attendees voted. Vance won about 53 percent support. Secretary of State Marco Rubio finished second with 35 percent. No other contender came close, and it's not just party activists gaming out the future. Trump himself has been asking allies and advisors a blunt question. J.D. or Marco? As our White House reporter Nanjee, DiBose explains, the two men are taking notably different approaches to the conflict with Iran. I think a swift end to the war would bolster Rubio in some ways, right? Because he will be seen as a steady hand during a crisis. And despite sort of some opposition from the base, that is sort of the outcome that they want.

And then he will be viewed as somebody who stood by Trump the entire time. Now, if the conflict continues to grow and expand, that. could potentially give Vance more room to argue that he reflected the instincts of Trump's base without really openly breaking with the president. So a longer conflict helps Vance with the MAGA base. A shorter conflict helps Rubio with the same audience. Now, we've spoken to a lot of Republicans who are, of course, watching this dynamic very, very closely, to see which senior aid the president appears to favor as this whole conflict unfolds. Currently, based on our sources, there are signs that the president is leaning towards Rubio more and more, but a few of them also noted

that he could change his mind very quickly. Turning now to baseball as the Major League season begins. And if you're a fan, a lot of it feels comfortably familiar, except for one change. For a century and a half, umpires have been the ones calling pitches in Major League Baseball, but now the MLB is rolling out a new system, one that brings in what are essentially robot umpires. It's giving players a chance to challenge certain calls in real time. Sports reporter Rory Carroll breaks down how it works. We see technology encroaching into sports more and more.

People want fairness in sports. It's reminiscent of what's happened in tennis. It used to be line umpires calling whether balls were in or out. Now it is across the ground slams the standard that all lines are called by the electronic system. And that may be where baseball's head. Earlier this week, we saw it used for the first time. The San Francisco Giants hosted the New York Yankees. And in the fourth inning, there was a batter on the Yankees, didn't swing at a pitch because he thought it was a ball, challenged the call strike.

After the review, the umpire was backed by the system, which found that indeed it was a strike. That must have felt good for the umpire and the empire community. We're ending today's show somewhere quiet. On a small group of islands off Taiwan, people are lying down on a temple floor not to sleep exactly. They're hoping for a dream. Once a year on the 29th day of the Lunar New Year, believers gather at a temple for an ancient ritual known as dream-seeking. They sleep on the floor hoping the deities will send them a vision. For a local restaurant owner Yang Ju-Yuan, that hope once paid off.

She says that during the ritual, she heard someone say hello in English, and then she dreamed of her daughter heading to the United States, where her daughter later went. Participants fast and pray before lying down. They try to stay half awake. And when a dream comes, they toss wooden divination blocks to confirm whether it carries meaning. Honorary Temple Chairman Chen Shi Tian says most people are looking for guidance about marriage or work,

and once a dream arrives, it has to be interpreted right away. The tradition began centuries ago in China's Fujian province. Today, Matsu is the last place in Taiwan where the ritual is still practiced. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com. or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. And if you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week.

We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.