SYRIA - On Sunday, the Independent published an on-the-spot report by well-known veteran journalist Robert Fisk, an expert on Middle East policy, who visited Douma, the town in Ghouta where a gas attack supposedly occurred. Fisk spoke with Dr Assim Rahaibani, who works at the medical clinic where the widely publicized videos were filmed showing children being hosed down with water, ostensibly to relieve poison gas inhalation.

TURKEY - This week, the relationship between the US and Turkey has taken another gigantic hit. It appears Turkey has joined the other powerhouses of the Eastern world (Russia and China) by preparing for economic warfare against the US in the near future. At the very least, it strongly symbolizes the end of the 70-year alliance between Turkey and the US.

ISRAEL - On Wednesday, Israel marks seventy years of statehood. When David Ben Gurion declared independence on May 14th, 1948—the anniversary floats about according to the Hebrew calendar—the new state’s population was 872,000. Just over 7000,000, or 80% of the new Israelis were Jewish, and they constituted about a tenth of the global Jewish population. Today, Israel’s population of nearly nine million is 75% Jewish, and contains about half of the world’s Jews. The numbers alone reflect an improbable fulfilment of the ‘Ingathering of the Exiles’, a possibility first voiced by Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy, and subsequently given modern political form by Theodor Herzl. Nothing like this has happened in recorded history.

JAPAN - Iwo-yama volcano also known as Mount Io and Mount Ioyama, located on the Ebino Highland and a part of Kirishimayama volcano group in Japan's Kyushu, erupted at 06:39 UTC (15:39 JST) on April 19, 2018 for the first time since 1768. The volcano ejected ash high into the air, forcing the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) to raise the alert level from 2 to 3 (of 5), restricting access to the volcano. Today marks the first time JMA has raised the alert level to 3 for this volcano.

UK - Fifty years ago today, on 20 April 1968, the austere shadow defence secretary Enoch Powell MP made a speech in Birmingham. He told his friend, the editor of his local paper, the Wolverhampton Express and Star, that it would send a rocket into the air and light up the sky. British politics has been cloaked in that rocket's shadow ever since. Powell's River of Blood speech was a first and that's why it was so electric. It was the first time that a major politician had spoken out against the cosy establishment consensus on immigration which had prevailed between both parties since the war.

USA - If you want to know how teens today feel about gender and sexuality, look no further than the spectacle of prom coronations. In Mississippi, a lesbian couple lobbied to become prom king and queen. In Georgia, the class president, who is gay, started a petition to change prom court titles to the more inclusive “Prom Royalty." Some transgender students are pushing schools to re-imagine what teen nobility looks like. 

IRAN - Iran’s feud with the US is set to get worse after Tehran announced yesterday that it will start reporting foreign currency amounts in euros rather than US dollars, as part of the country’s effort to reduce its reliance on the American currency due to political tension with Washington. Central bank governor Valiollah Seif said last week that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had welcomed his suggestion of replacing the dollar with the euro in foreign trade, as the “dollar has no place in our transactions today”.

GERMANY - The German government, after having applauded the bombing of Syria, is now demanding participation in the country's reorganization, once the war has ended. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced her intentions to have a meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin "in the foreseeable future," to discuss particularly the development in Syria. The enormous costs for Syria's reconstruction, which can hardly be covered by Russia alone, are viewed as a means of leverage on Moscow. Berlin also sees itself in a position to mediate between Russia and the USA in view of Washington's threat to attack Russian positions in Syria. While the German government is going on the offensive to win influence, new foreign policy controversies are developing among the EU member states.

USA -  The US defense industry continues to dominate on a global scale. According to numbers from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, America accounted for 34 percent of total arms exports from 2013–17, with 98 countries buying American goods. The second largest exporter in the world, Russia, accounted for 22 percent of weapon exports during that same period, with 47 countries as clients; China, the fifth-ranked exporter, represented only 5.7 percent of global exports, with 48 countries. And while it is an imperfect measurement, the State Department cleared $75.9 billion in potential arms sales in fiscal year 2017, setting a new record. So far in FY18, State has ok’d over $55 billion in potential future sales.

UK - A study published in Ecology and Evolution Monday shows that the big changes humans make to the land can have important consequences for some tiny microorganisms honeybees rely on to stay healthy. Honeybees depend on a diverse mix of bacteria — called a microbiome — to turn fresh pollen into bee bread, which is stored in the hive as food for young bees. A diverse bee-bread microbiome helps bees fight infection and preserves the bread longer; a less diverse bacterial mix can leave the bread susceptible to mold and the bees in the hive vulnerable to starvation. But research by the Lancaster University's Environment Center and the Center for Ecology and Hydrology suggests that to get a diverse microbiome, bees need to feed on a diverse array of plants. And human alterations that reduce biodiversity in the landscape can make this more difficult.

USA - Today reporters no longer have to check sources, because there is no longer journalism in America. When the Clinton regime in compliance with the Deep State that made the Clintons super-rich permitted 90% of the independent and diverse US media to be concentrated in the hands of six political companies, that was the end of journalism in America. [Paul Craig Roberts]

KOREA - North and South Korea are in talks to announce a permanent end to the officially declared military conflict between the two countries, daily newspaper Munhwa Ilbo reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed South Korean official. Pyongyang and Seoul have technically been at war since the 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended with a truce — and not a peace treaty. A successful summit between the Koreas later this month could help pave the way for a meeting between Kim and President Donald Trump.

SYRIA - On April 7th, an attack was carried out in the town of Douma, just a few kilometers out of Syria’s capital, Damascus, which was occupied by radical terrorist forces. The attack was peddled as a chemical weapons attack using chlorine gas, and it was additionally reported to have included some unknown nerve agent (which apparently the White Helmet guys who were filming the incident were somehow immune to), which was then said to have killed at least 75 people.

GERMANY - The 1st Panzer Division is preparing to lead the NATO Response Force (NRF) Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in 2019, when Germany becomes the framework nation for its land component (VJTF-L).  The VJTF-L comprises a multinational combat brigade with three to five combat battalions, plus support troops and air and naval forces. In Germany's case, it will be reinforced by the Bundeswehr's logistics command, central medical service, and the new Cyber and Information Domain Command (Kommando Cyber- und Informationsraum).  The German Army will lead the VJTF-L based "on the already established and proven co-operation with the Netherlands and Norway for VJTF 2015", said Major General Markus Laubenthal, commander of the 1st Panzer Division.

UK - Peers have been accused of “playing with fire” and trying to block Brexit after they inflicted a crushing defeat on the Government in a bid to keep the UK in a customs union with the European Union. Remain-backing lords succeeded in their bid to amend the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill to force ministers to set out the steps taken during negotiations with Brussels to enable the UK to stay in a customs union with the bloc. Peers backed the amendment by 348 votes to 225, with 24 Conservatives, including former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine and former health secretary Lord Lansley, rebelling against the Government.