While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 28, 2026
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking to the media on March 27, after attending a G-7 meeting in France.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
Rubio says war in Gulf to last ‘weeks not months’
The US expects its operation against Iran to conclude within weeks, not months, and Washington can meet all its objectives without using ground troops, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 27.
Mr Rubio told reporters after meeting G-7 counterparts in France that Washington was “on or ahead of schedule in that operation, and expect to conclude it at the appropriate time here - a matter of weeks, not months.”
While he said Washington could achieve its aims without ground troops, he acknowledged it was deploying some to the region “to give the president maximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust the contingencies, should they emerge.”
Washington has dispatched two contingents of thousands of Marines to the region, the first of which is due to arrive around the end of March aboard a huge amphibious assault ship. The Pentagon is also expected to deploy thousands of elite airborne soldiers.
Rubio urges world to stop Iran imposing tolls in key strait
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 27 he had made progress with allies in opposing Iranian threats to start “tolling” vessels that pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has partially closed the strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil normally transits, in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes launched a month ago.
Mr Rubio, after attending talks of the Group of Seven powers, said he had voiced concern that Iran may impose a permanent tolling system “immediately after” the war ends.
Tiger Woods arrested on DUI charge after car crash
PHOTOS: X/@BREAKING911, IMAGN IMAGES VIA REUTERS CONNECT
Former world number one Tiger Woods was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence after his Land Rover rolled over on a two-lane road near his Jupiter Island home in Florida on the afternoon of March 27, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said.
The 15-times major champion had been overtaking a work truck pulling a trailer at high speed when he clipped the back of the trailer, causing his vehicle to roll onto its driver’s side, Sheriff John Budensiek told a press conference.
Woods, 50, crawled out of the passenger door before law enforcement officers arrived. A breathalyser test at Martin County Jail returned no trace of alcohol, with investigators believing his impairment was drug or medication-related.
Whale filmed giving birth, with help from her friends
PHOTO: AFP
Scientists have managed to film a spectacular event rarely witnessed by humans: a sperm whale giving birth while other females worked together to support the mother and her newborn.
A team from Project CETI, an international effort seeking to understand how whales communicate, were in a boat near a pod of 11 whales off the coast of the Caribbean island of Dominica on July 8, 2023.
A 19-year-old female named Rounder was surrounded by family members and others as she was about to give birth to her second calf.
Germany probes TV star’s ex-husband over deepfakes
PHOTO: FACEBOOK/COLLIEN ULMEN-FERNANDES
German prosecutors said on March 27 they have revived a probe into the ex-husband of a prominent TV personality, after claims that he spread AI-generated pornographic images of her triggered a national outcry.
The allegations from Ms Collien Fernandes, 44, have sparked intense media debate about the “digital violence” increasingly perpetrated on the internet, mostly against women.
News weekly Der Spiegel first reported last week on the case of Ms Fernandes, who spoke of her shock at discovering that hundreds of fake pornographic images of her had been circulating on the internet.
