GERMANY - Germany’s handling of anti-Israel protests was “disproportionate,” and the government’s use of hate-speech laws to counter the demonstrations unfairly restricted freedom of expression, a report by the EU’s human rights commissioner has found. Compiled by the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, Michael O’Flaherty, and published on Wednesday, the report called on the German government to “ensure that the fight against all forms of hatred fully respects the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression for all members of society.”

BANGLADESH - Three weeks of fuel, 170 million people: Inside Bangladesh’s worsening fuel shortage - Dhaka is juggling rationing, early shop closures, and hybrid schooling to manage the nation’s energy use amid the Middle East crisis. Social media is now full of images of long lines at gas pumps across Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and the situation is reportedly even more acute in other parts of the South Asian nation hit by severe energy crisis triggered by the conflict in the Middle East. Thousands of fishermen across Barishal, the country’s southernmost division, have been passing idle days and suffering financial losses as most fishing trawlers remain tied up at the docks amid the ongoing fuel shortage. More than 1,000 seagoing trawlers are stranded in Alipur and Mohipur in Barishal, leaving over 100,000 fishermen and workers out of work.

TURKEY - An extremely alarming “war of words” is happening between Turkish officials and Israeli officials, and tensions are running incredibly high. For years, the Turks have seethed while the IDF has crushed Hamas in Gaza. And now that the IDF is soundly defeating Hezbollah in Lebanon, the animosity has gone to an entirely new level. You see, the truth is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan really do detest one another. When two leaders dislike one another as much as Netanyahu and Erdogan do, it can be really easy for military conflict to erupt. Let us hope that does not actually happen, because the consequences would be catastrophic. It should be unthinkable for anyone to use nuclear weapons. But it is just a matter of time before it happens. And once the first nuke goes off, everything will change.

USA - The problem with an increasing debt burden is that it costs more to maintain it: This is precisely the issue with which the US Treasury is wrangling at present. As total US national debt ticks over $39 trillion, the interest payments on that value are eye-watering: $529 billion for the first six months of the current fiscal year. A new budget update from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released yesterday highlights that the government — according to preliminary estimates — paid out the near $530 billion between October 2025, when the fiscal year starts, and March 2026. This equates to more than $88 billion in interest payments a month, or more than $22 billion a week.

MIDDLE EAST - Global food shortages will hit the world like a freight train in 6 to 9 months because virtually nothing will get through the Strait Of Hormuz NOW. Where do we go from here? Peace talks with Iran have totally failed, and there appears to be no hope that the gaps between the demands that the US is making and the demands that Iran is making can be bridged. There are several key issues that both sides are not willing to compromise on, and that is going to have very serious implications for the entire planet. In the aftermath of the failed peace talks, Iranian officials warned that the status quo in the Strait of Hormuz would continue. Needless to say, that was completely and totally unacceptable to the Trump administration, and in response President Trump has just announced a full naval blockade of the Strait. What this means is that virtually nothing will get through the Strait of Hormuz for an extended period of time. As a result, the spring planting season in the northern hemisphere will be a total disaster, and global food shortages will hit the world like a freight train about 6 to 9 months from now.

SAUDI ARABIA - Pakistan has sent troops and fighter jets to Saudi Arabia to boost security, the Gulf nation has said. Pakistani military personnel and fighter jets arrived at King Abdulaziz Air Base on Saturday, the Saudi Defense Ministry said in a statement. The deployment is aimed at boosting military coordination, improving operational readiness, and supporting security and stability on the regional and international levels, the ministry added. The move comes as part of a defense cooperation agreement signed between the two nations last September. As per the pact between the two nations, any attack on one country would be considered an attack on the other.

IRAN - Iran’s radical Muslim President Masoud Pezeshkian has rushed to praise and defend Pope Leo XIV after the Chicago-born pontiff launched yet another attack on President Donald Trump for standing up to the bloodthirsty Iranian regime. As The Gateway Pundit reported, Trump delivered a blistering takedown of Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff, slamming the Vatican leader as weak on crime, disastrous on foreign policy, and far too cozy with the radical left. Critics, however, note that the pope has remained silent on atrocities committed by the Islamic regime. Now, the leader of a terrorist-sponsoring, nuclear-obsessed Islamic theocracy, one that executes women for defying hijab laws, has killed tens of thousands of its own citizens for protesting, bankrolls Hamas, Hezbollah, and other proxies, and routinely chants “Death to America,” is now sending “glory by Allah” to the Pope for bashing Trump’s America First foreign policy.

TURKEY - Turkey has strongly criticised Benjamin Netanyahu, describing him as the "Hitler of our time". It came after the Israeli Prime Minister shared a post on X criticising Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He wrote: "Under my leadership, Israel will continue to fight against Iran's terrorist regime and its proxies, in contrast to Erdogan who aids them and even slaughters his Kurdish citizens." In response, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement in which it referred to Netanyahu as the "Hitler of our time". It accused Israel of "undermining ongoing peace negotiations" and pursuing "expansionist policies in the region". The ministry said: "Netanyahu, who has been described as the Hitler of our time due to the crimes he has committed, is a well-known figure with a clear track record."

AUSTRALIA - Australia has one of the highest per-capita rates of diesel consumption in the world but it relies almost entirely on imports to meet that demand. There are two domestic refineries producing petrol but up to 90 percent of that is imported, too. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has stifled one fifth of the world’s supply of oil. Much of this goes to the Asian refineries that supply Australia. Now, they’re running short. So the problem in Australia isn’t just the soaring price of fuel. It’s the prospect of not being able to get any at all. The country has 38 days’ worth of petrol left in reserve before reaching critical levels, at which point rationing would need to kick in. For diesel, it’s 31 days and for jet fuel, just 28. In a country that is the fifth-largest producer of wheat and second-largest grower of barley, McIntyre warns that “most farmers will need to decide before Anzac Day [April 25] whether they will plant a crop this year”.

MIDDLE EAST - As the deadline for President Trump’s trade blockade of some traffic through the Strait of Hormuz passed on Monday afternoon, there was debate about whether the policy was now in place and, if so, what it meant for global trade — and whether the severity of the crisis was being reflected in global markets. The US military’s Central Command said the blockade would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations” entering or leaving Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. “The blockade will not impede neutral transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations,” Central Command said in a note to seafarers on Monday that was first reported by Reuters, the news agency. Tehran has been blocking other traffic, however. The strait has been effectively closed since the conflict began about seven weeks ago, because of fears of attacks on commercial shipping by Iran.