EUROPE - A chemical found in the world’s most widely used weedkiller can have disrupting effects on sexual development, genes and beneficial gut bacteria in doses considered safe, according to a wide-ranging pilot study in rats. Glyphosate is the core ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide and levels found in the human bloodstream have spiked by more than a 1,000% in the last two decades. The substance was recently relicensed for a shortened five-year lease by the EU. But scientists involved in the new glyphosate study say their results show that it poses “a significant public health concern”. One of the report’s authors, Daniele Mandrioli, at the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna, Italy, said significant and potentially detrimental effects from glyphosate had been detected in the gut bacteria of rat pups born to mothers, who appeared to have been unaffected themselves.

GERMANY - Germans have never liked US President Donald Trump, and the backlash against his actions is stronger than ever after he pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal last week. But there’s a growing gap between the German establishment and German voters: The former may be anti-Trump, but the latter are increasingly anti-American.

USA - Comedian Lee Camp on his show Redacted Tonight recalls the first-ever audit of the Pentagon, which is taking 2,400 auditors to do the job, trying to understand where $21 trillion in unsupported adjustments went. In his show, Camp recalled that a couple of years ago professor Mark Skidmore of Michigan State University heard Catherine Austin Fitts, former Assistant Secretary in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, say that the Department of Defense Inspector General had found $6.5 trillion worth of unaccounted for spending by the Army in 2015.

GIBRALTAR - Negotiations over the post-Brexit future of Gibraltar are deadlocked on the issue of security at the territory’s airport, raising fears of a deepening stand-off between Britain and Spain on the contentious issue of The Rock. Sources on the UK and Gibraltar side of the negotiations said that Spain had touched a “red line” with its demands to have police stationed at the airport which is partially situated on a disputed isthmus that links the territory with mainland Spain. “The Spanish crossed a red line,” said a source with knowledge of the talks which started this year in a bid to avoid a last-minute stand-off over Gibraltar. “They want to get their Guardia Civil and police into Gibraltar…"

USA - US National Security Advisor John Bolton has said the US could sanction European companies that continue to trade with Iran following the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Iran deal. Bolton made the remarks during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union Sunday. Asked if Trump would hit the EU with sanctions for continuing to deal with Iran, Bolton said: ”It's possible. It depends on the conduct of other governments.” “The rationale for getting out of the deal is it was contrary to American national security interests when we got into it and it hadn't gotten any better with age.” Bolton suggested that US sanctions could put pressure on the EU to pull out of the agreement as well. "I think the Europeans will see that it's in their interest ultimately to come along with us... I think that will sink in, and we'll see what happens then,” he said.

USA - China was transformed into a technocracy at the hands of the Trilateral Commission elite starting in the 1970s. In short, American was purposely plundered. The next wave of destruction will come from robots displacing jobs. ⁃ TN Editor

UK - It's probably happened to you in a supermarket aisle, or maybe at home while making a favourite family recipe. You'll notice something odd – a can of tomato soup seems to hold less than it did, or the tuna used to be enough for three sandwiches, not two. It might dawn on you in the bathroom, where last month the household went through twelve rolls of toilet paper, up from the usual 9 or 10. You aren't imagining things. If you look closely at the fine print on the packaging, you may see it has changed ever so slightly, the numbers ticked down by a few ounces, the sheets on those rolls have grown shorter. And there have probably been many, many times that you just haven't noticed. All around you, all the time, many consumer products are growing lighter, thinner, less substantial – all while maintaining the same price.

MIDDLE EAST - While predictions of doom in Israeli-Palestinian relations tend to come easy, the worst doesn’t always come to pass. But thanks to a pair of major upcoming anniversaries, the vagaries of the Jewish and Muslim calendars, and the whimsy of President Donald Trump, the coming week could be different. The confluence of numerous events set to take place over a few days in May has felt, as it approaches, like a perfect storm gathering.

ISRAEL - Israel has launched airstrikes targeting Hamas in Gaza as over 50 protesters have been killed at the border by the IDF. It said it was responding to terrorist activity and killed at least three terrorists. The Israeli Defence Forces tweeted on Monday that one of its Air Force fighter jets struck 5 Hamas terror organization targets in a military training facility in northern Gaza. It explained that the strike was carried out in response to the violent acts carried out by Hamas over the last few hours along the security fence. Israel has insisted that the protests were a cover for Hamas to attack Israel since before they began.

MIDDLE EAST - Palestinians will never be defeated and “will not accept” the US embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the Lebanon-based deputy chief of Iran’s narco-terrorist proxy Hezbollah declared hours before the dedication of the new American consulate building on Monday. Echoing the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Sheikh Naim Qassem also vowed a “full-fledged and unrestricted battle” against what Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency described as “occupiers” in Israel. Qassem’s comments came at a meeting of the International Union of Resistance Scholars in Beirut marking the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding - what the Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or “catastrophe.” “God willing, the nakba that happened 70 years ago will be a motive for change and liberation,” Qassem said.

ISRAEL - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended the use of force on the Gaza border after Israeli snipers killed scores of Palestinians and wounded thousands more. More than 35,000 protesters rallied against the US Embassy opening in Jerusalem on Monday as tear gas and sniper fire rained down. 'Every country has the obligation to defend its borders,' Netanyahu said on Twitter. 'The Hamas terror organisation declares its intention to destroy Israel and send thousands to break through the border fence in order to achieve this aim. We will continue to act firmly in order to defend our sovereignty and our citizens.' 

USA - Americans are facing an "epidemic of dishonesty" in Washington that's more dangerous than terrorism or communism. That's according to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who warned in a commencement speech on Saturday at Texas' Rice University that "an endless barrage of lies" and a trend toward "alternate realities" in national politics pose a dire threat to US democracy.

CANADA - In an age where most politicians have very little support for their campaigns and causes, they have been known to resort to desperate measures to improve their public image. While this practice is disregarded by some as a “conspiracy theory,” many politicians have been caught hiring actors to fill the crowds of their campaign speeches — corporations too. In fact, just this week in Ontario, Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford’s campaign was forced to admit that they hired actors for at least one of their events. Ford’s staff acted like this was not authorized by them, but instead blamed a local candidate for arranging their actors. Artist and performer Devanshu Narang told The Star that he was offered $75 to appear at the rally between 2 pm and 8 pm wearing the candidate’s t-shirt, but he turned down the gig.

HUNGARY - The EU should give up “nightmares” of United States of Europe, said Hungarian nationalist leader Viktor Orban while starting his fourth term as prime minister. He won a landslide victory in a recent parliamentary vote. Kicking off his fourth term as prime minister on Thursday, Hungary’s Viktor Orban declared the era of liberal democracy to be over.

USA - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly warned Tehran in the follow-up to President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, that if it harms Israel, the American military will respond. The news was first reported by Israeli news site Walla on Thursday and picked up by the Times of Israel. According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned, “I repeat: Whoever hurts us – we will hurt them sevenfold, and whoever is preparing to hurt us – we will act to hit them first.” Following a deadly exchange between Iran’s Quds Forces and Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) in Syria on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reportedly said Iran does not want “new tensions” in the region.