MIDDLE EAST - If the US Navy can’t open the Strait of Hormuz, it’s mad to suggest anyone else can. As the US-Israeli war with Iran enters its sixth week, Tehran has turned the Strait of Hormuz into a weapon. Thirty-five nations – including France, Germany, Italy, Japan and key Gulf partners – gathered in London this week with a clear goal: to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait through diplomatic pressure. It is explicitly not a combat alliance joining the US-Israeli war. Britain has made clear throughout that it will not bomb Iranian targets. One truth remains though: if Iran chooses not to stop shooting and controlling the Strait, there is very little we could do, even collectively. The idea that a disparate collection of well-meaning but medium-capability warships could collectively succeed where the US Navy has so far refused to even try is for the birds. But we should let the diplomatic collective play out – it’s a positive step and we have the lead.

USA - A strange reading of the Bible by some evangelical Protestants is worryingly influential on this administration’s foreign policy. Holy Week coincided with a Holy War: America v Iran, the clash of the fundamentalisms. At a Pentagon prayer meeting, Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Divine Vengeance, whose rippling body is tattooed with an AR-15 and a Jerusalem cross, asked God to “let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation”. It probably sounded better in the original Persian. And at a White House Easter lunch, pastors compared Donald Trump to Jesus – “betrayed and arrested and falsely accused” – or an Old Testament monarch who saved the Jews from ancient Persia.

IRAN - Rather than collapsing, the Islamic Republic appears to be undergoing a structural shift. Power is gradually concentrating in the hands of a hardened security elite composed of Revolutionary Guard commanders, intelligence officials, and security institutions that now dominate the political system. What is emerging is not simply a clerical regime under pressure, but something closer to a clerical-military junta. Rather than collapsing, the regime is hardening. Rather than moderating, it is militarizing. And rather than seeking reconciliation with the international community, it is preparing for a prolonged confrontation in which survival – not reform – remains the ultimate objective.

GERMANY - The country’s crisis-stricken car industry is eyeing a military pivot that could boost national growth. Germans had assumed that the US and NATO would handle any security threats. “That’s not necessarily a given any more. If there’s a new threat, then sometimes mindsets change – that’s what is happening now.” It’s not only mindsets that are changing. Germany has handed a huge pot of gold to its military, and the country’s vast but beleaguered industrial machine is pivoting towards it. In the past, much of this spending would have headed offshore, winding up in the hands of big American defence contractors. But Donald Trump’s triggering of a transatlantic rift has changed the game. Berlin now wants to reduce its dependence on the US by building a domestic defence industry. According to Politico, of 178 defence projects tendered recently, 160 have gone to German contractors, with a combined value of €182 billion.

TURKEY - Turkey’s growing regional influence and ties to Hamas challenge NATO and US security. As Iran and its proxies take a beating from American and Israeli forces, observers are questioning whether Turkey is waiting in the wings to emerge as the region’s next “bogeyman.” The answer is likely yes, albeit in its own form. Turkey is not Iran, but depicting Turkey as a nuisance or simply “complicated” only emboldens a maturing adversarial regime with an established track record of undermining its Western allies. One does not need to reach far into the past to find examples. As recently as March 9, Turkey positioned six American-made F-16 fighter jets on the occupied part of Cyprus. The move was a significant escalation in the militarization of contested territory, not to mention a possible violation of US law. The half-dozen combat aircraft were also a visible act of intimidation directed at Israel, which lies less than 300 miles from Cyprus.

SCOTLAND - Leading Scottish Green candidates have launched a revolt against their party leadership by doubling down on their support for the total abolition of prisons. Kate Nevens, who is set to be elected an MSP next month, confirmed that she wanted to see “the complete abolition of the prison system in Scotland” and that she “wanted to live in a Scotland with no prisons”. Pauline McNeill, justice spokesman for Scottish Labour, said Nevens’s position was “as ludicrous as it is reckless”. “This would let murderers and rapists walk our streets free of consequences for their heinous crimes,” she said. “That is not progressive, it is monumentally stupid."

IRAN - Iran has warned of "much more devastating" retaliation just hours after President Donald Trump issued an expletive-laden post on Truth Social. Once again reigniting fears surrounding WW3, the 79-year-old leader appeared to set “Tuesday, 8:00 PM Eastern Time”, 1am Wednesday morning in the UK, as a new deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He threatened to destroy Iran's power plants and bridges if this deadline failed to be met and repeated an earlier threat to unleash "hell" but contradictorily told US media there was a "good chance" of a deal being reached with Tehran. Meanwhile, Iran’s joint military command warned it would intensify attacks on regional oil and civilian infrastructure if the US and Israel target such sites, according to state television.

MIDDLE EAST - Donald Trump’s threats against Iranian water infrastructure could have catastrophic consequences for the Gulf. Donald Trump has threatened to destroy Iran’s water infrastructure – an act experts say would constitute a war crime that could plunge tens of millions of people into crisis. If the Strait of Hormuz is not opened “immediately,” the United States “will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island – and possibly all desalination plants,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Monday.

USA - It is not often that I find myself at a loss for words. The events of the past 48 hours have been absolutely shocking. We have never seen Donald Trump talk like this, and the Iranians are pledging to respond to any escalation with extreme fury. If both sides follow through with their threats, any hope for a rapid conclusion to this war will be completely gone. While most people living in the western world continue to party, we really are about to cross a point of no return. Needless to say, the vast majority of the population is not ready for what is about to take place. The Iranians have not been moved by any of Trump’s previous threats. So why would they give in now? If the Iranians are able to carry out their threats, the consequences will be apocalyptic.

UK - Ed Miliband’s net zero policies are failing to reduce Britain’s reliance on fossil fuels, the Government has admitted. Since the general election in 2024, the Energy Secretary has introduced and continued a raft of net zero policies, which Labour promised would bring down energy bills. However, figures show that the UK is no less dependent on fossil fuels than it was when Labour took office.

USA - When global supply chains collapse, the pain is not felt immediately. Tankers that left their destinations before the war with Iran began are still arriving at their destinations, products that were manufactured prior to the war still fill our shelves, and we are still eating food that was produced last year. So even though global supply chains are collapsing all around us, most people don’t feel it yet. But if this war with Iran drags on for months, the pain that we will soon experience will be unbelievable. Anyone that thinks that the global economy can continue to function at or near current levels without sufficient supplies of oil, natural gas, plastic and fertilizer is just being delusional. The only way that we can avoid “the everything meltdown” is if this war ends quickly. Even if the Strait of Hormuz is reopened tomorrow, we will not see a return to pre-war conditions any time soon... We need the Strait of Hormuz to be opened immediately, but that simply is not going to happen.

UK - Men have been urged to “step up” and volunteer for sports and youth clubs, in order to tackle a shortage of role models for boys. A lack of male role models is creating a generation of unhappy boys and driving interest in the so-called “manosphere”, where misogynistic material is available on the internet, according to a new report by think tank the Centre for Social Justice. Mr Roberts said: "This report is a clarion call for more men to get involved to provide the role models thousands of lost boys and young men are desperately crying out for." They also pointed to the challenge of fatherlessness and the resulting lack of role models in their lives. Indeed, more young boys grow up with a smartphone than a father figure in the home.

IRAN - The ongoing conflict in Iran has focused global attention on surging energy prices caused by supply-chain disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. As devastating as these oil and gas constraints are to both the Middle East and global markets, the war also poses a threat to another critical resource that keeps the Gulf afloat: water. Several limited attacks on desalination plants in both Iran and Bahrain in the past two weeks offer a glimpse at the potential danger if this infrastructure were intentionally and systematically targeted. Either in this war or a future Middle Eastern conflict, water resources could prove an attractive target for anyone seeking to cause harm and destabilize communities.

IRAN - All of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations lining the Gulf’s southern shores critically rely on desalination plants drawing seawater from the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. For the GCC countries, extensive desalination systems constitute indispensable critical infrastructure.

MIDDLE EAST - UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia continue to face Iranian missile and drone attacks, targeting energy and infrastructure sites despite growing defenses. The desalination and energy infrastructure in the Gulf continues to be a vulnerable spot for the region. This is because these large sites must be protected at all times, and damage to one small area can sometimes affect the entire site. This is one reason these countries have all sought to avoid a kind of “tit-for-tat” escalation with Iran regarding key infrastructure.