UK - Sir Keir Starmer said Britain would not support a US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as he insisted the UK would not be getting “dragged into” a wider conflict. The price of oil rose above $100 a barrel as the US announced it would be blocking “all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports” from 10am ET (3pm BST). President Trump attacked Pope Leo as “weak” after the pontiff denounced the “delusion of omnipotence” that he claimed had motivated the war in Iran. The president also said he did not care if negotiations with Tehran restarted, as reports suggest he is considering resuming some military strikes on the country.

USA - President Trump has posted an AI-generated image seemingly depicting himself as Jesus Christ, after attacking Pope Leo for not supporting his war in Iran. In the image, posted at the same time as the US president attacked Leo for being “weak” on crime and “terrible” for foreign policy, Trump appears dressed in red and white robes as he seemingly cures a man. The American flag is shown over his shoulder. The image was shared on the president’s Truth Social site. Speaking to reporters on Sunday at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump said: “I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime.” He also accused the pontiff of “toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon.”

VATICAN - Massimo Faggioli, an Italian expert on the papacy, has told Reuters that Trump’s comments went beyond criticisms of the papacy made by leaders of Germany and Italy during the Second World War to try and draw Pope Pius XII to support their causes. “Not even Hitler or Mussolini attacked the pope so directly and publicly,” said Faggioli. Paul Coakley, the Archbishop of Oklahoma City and the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was disheartened by Trump’s comments. “Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He ...speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls,” he said in a statement.

UK - In two weeks’ time, King Charles will be in the White House meeting Donald Trump. He has met ten US presidents in his lifetime but this state visit is the most controversial following Trump’s recent criticism of Britain. Charles will be able to draw on a well of goodwill from the US president, plus the experience of almost two dozen visits to America over the course of his royal career in his mission to restore amicable relations between the nations. Charles nurtured the relationship by writing a private letter to Trump after the assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally during the 2024 election, and another to congratulate him on his victory in November. Neither has been made public.

ETHIOPIA - Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian prime minister, has reignited tensions with Eritrea with renewed calls for access to the Red Sea. His push comes after the collapse of his alliance with Isaias Afwerki, the leader of Eritrea, following the fallout from the Tigray war. As instability grows in neighbouring Sudan amid an ongoing civil war, a complex web of regional alliances is forming — drawing in Gulf powers and reshaping the balance across the Horn of Africa. Has this set the stage for a renewed conflict between the two nations?

USA - Farmers all over America are on edge right now, and I certainly can’t blame them. The war in the Middle East has created a fertilizer crisis at the worst time possible. If nitrogen fertilizer is not applied to wheat, corn and rice at the proper time, there is no hope of recovery later. Since it does not appear that the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened any time soon, there will be serious crop losses in the United States, and in poorer countries throughout the world it will be even worse. Meanwhile, most of the country is experiencing at least some level of drought right now. If you check out the latest map from the US Drought Monitor, it looks like a horror show. Even if there was no war going on in the Middle East, farmers in the US would still be facing a nightmarish drought that never seems to end. A real life nightmare is playing out right in front of our eyes, and it appears that we are still only in the very early stages.

USA - The oil trade has changed since the War with Iran started, and the US is benefiting from it. Oil tankers are now reportedly racing to the US for oil. President Trump shared this early this morning: Massive numbers of completely empty oil tankers, some of the largest anywhere in the World, are heading, right now, to the United States to load up with the best and “sweetest” oil (and gas!) anywhere in the World. We have more oil than the next two largest oil economies combined – and higher quality. We are waiting for you. Quick turnaround! President DJT

USA - The Fake News Media has lost total credibility, not that they had any to begin with. Because of their massive Trump Derangement Syndrome (Sometimes referred to as TDS!), they love saying that Iran is “winning” when, in fact, everyone knows that they are LOSING, and LOSING BIG! Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft apparatus is nonexistent, Radar is dead, their Missile and Drone Factories have been largely obliterated along with the Missiles and Drones themselves and, most importantly, their longtime “Leaders” are no longer with us, praise be to Allah! The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may “bunk” into one of their sea mines which, by the way, all 28 of their mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea. We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others. Incredibly, they don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves. Very interestingly, however, empty Oil carrying ships from many Nations are all heading to the United States of America to LOAD UP with Oil. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

UK - The Royal Navy will be forced to ask the French for help intercepting Russian vessels in British waters because the UK fleet is struggling to meet 'operational commitments', senior defence sources have revealed. With Vladimir Putin putting on increasingly brazen displays of Russian military might around the UK, naval planners have told The Mail on Sunday they 'need help' from Paris to deal with the threat. It was revealed last week that the Kremlin had sent three submarines into waters north of the UK as part of a plot to sabotage British undersea cables while HMS Dragon, Britain's only available destroyer, was in the eastern Mediterranean. The Russian President also defied Sir Keir Starmer's threat to seize sanctioned Russian vessels by sending the Admiral Grigorovich warship to escort a pair of his 'ghost fleet' ships through the Channel. The Navy is understood to have just one submarine and two frigates available for immediate operations.

UK - Keir Starmer faced a chorus of mockery for abandoning the surrender of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in the face of deteriorating relations with the Trump administration. The controversial handover, which had been expected to feature in May's King's Speech, has been delayed indefinitely because the US has withdrawn its backing. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called it 'another humiliating U-turn from a government that has no strategic direction', while Nigel Farage described the capitulation as 'very good news for global security' – as the islands include the strategic UK-US military base of Diego Garcia, and Mauritius is an ally of China.