USA - Americans' membership in houses of worship continued to decline last year, dropping below 50% for the first time in Gallup's eight-decade trend. In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999. US church membership was 73% when Gallup first measured it in 1937 and remained near 70% for the next six decades, before beginning a steady decline around the turn of the 21st century. The decline in church membership is primarily a function of the increasing number of Americans who express no religious preference. Over the past two decades, the percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion has grown from 8% in 1998-2000 to 13% in 2008-2010 and 21% over the past three years.

PAKISTAN - Pakistan has unveiled a new “geo-economic vision” that offers to “bury the past” with neighboring rival India if it reciprocates with a “relaxation” on the two sides’ long-running dispute over Kashmir. Pakistan’s olive branch announcement, made on March 18, comes after last month’s bilateral resolution to revive an 18-year-old ceasefire agreement to end Kashmir’s Line of Control (LoC) skirmishes, which have claimed thousands of lives on both sides of the divide over the years.

CHINA - The second sandstorm to hit China in less than a fortnight has reversed the colours of the sky, turning the sun blue and the heavens yellow. Beijing woke on Sunday morning shrouded in thick dust carrying extremely high levels of hazardous particles. The sandstorm was fuelled by winds from drought-hit Mongolia and north-western China. Visibility in the city was reduced, with the tops of some skyscrapers obscured by the sandstorm. Pedestrians were forced to cover their eyes as gusts of dust swept through the streets. Northern China has long suffered sandstorms as deserts in the region spread further south, with deforestation intensifying the frequency during Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward period from 1958 to 1961.

IRAN - A cooperation deal between Iran and China covering a quarter of a century has been signed in Tehran, furthering Iran’s role in the Chinese global infrastructure initiative. Both nations are being targeted by US sanctions. The landmark document was signed during a televised ceremony by visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif. The document was described by the Iranian side as “a complete roadmap with strategic political and economic clauses covering trade, economic and transportation cooperation.” China is a major trade partner for Iran. Both countries are also targeted by the US, which accuses them of human rights violations and has slapped them with various sanctions.

UK - The University of Oxford is considering proposals that would remove sheet music from its curriculum over woke claims that teaching the Western form of musical notation has roots in “colonialism” and “complicity in white supremacy”. In response to widespread Black Lives Matter protesters and riots last year in the United Kingdom, music educators at Oxford University have joined the wider iconoclastic movement which has been sweeping through British academia.

USA - Nike is suing Brooklyn art collective MSCHF over a controversial pair of "Satan Shoes" that contain a drop of real human blood in the soles. The $1,018 (£740) trainers, which feature an inverted cross, a pentagram and the words "Luke 10:18", were made using modified Nike Air Max 97s. MSCHF released 666 pairs of the shoes on Monday in collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X and says they sold out in less than a minute. Nike claims trademark infringement. It has asked the court to stop MSCHF from selling the shoes and prevent them from using its famous Swoosh design mark. "MSCHF and its unauthorised Satan Shoes are likely to cause confusion and dilution and create an erroneous association between MSCHF's products and Nike," the sports shoe giant says in the lawsuit.

GERMANY - The left-wing candidate to replace Angela Merkel when she steps down as Chancellor of Germany has said he backs the formation of an EU army. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has governed Germany since 2005, has said she will not run for a fifth term this year. Speaking to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on Saturday, Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz, of the Social Democrats, said: “For me, a common army is part of the idea of ​​European sovereignty.”

CHINA - A leading Chinese professor — who is also an adviser to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — laid out a comprehensive plan for the communist regime to overthrow the United States as the world’s superpower. The professor’s multi-pronged strategy involves a range of malign actions to subvert the United States while strengthening the Chinese regime.

CHINA - Beijing FM announces five-point plan to boost its involvement in peacemaking and realize ‘regional peace and stability in the Middle East’. China is set to take a more active role in encouraging negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, offering to host officials from both sides for a summit, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the Saudi news network al-Arabiya Wednesday. Wang said that China will advance a five-point plan to realize “regional peace and stability in the Middle East.” As part of the initiative, Wang also told al-Arabiya that China plans to invite Israeli and Palestinian “notables” to meet for talks in Beijing.

USA - Let me first explain the seriousness of the situation, and then I will describe the latest news and signs about food shortages… Decreasing incomes, record unemployment figures, a collapsed and hopeless American economy, a fake stock market bubble with red flags everywhere, and the US dollar, with a value that decreases day by day… These are just some of the early signs pointing us toward what is to come. Forget the past economic and social disasters we have experienced. If I said that the health crisis was a walk in the park compared to what’s coming, maybe then you’ll really understand the severity of the situation that will unravel over the next few months. The food bank situation in the US is deplorable. In many states, food banks are working above capacity. Officials are talking about the dramatic increase in the number of families requiring food. Every week, new families arrive at the food bank. Although the situation seems sustainable for a while thanks to donations and volunteers, many food banks will soon be unable to respond to this increasing demand. When that occurs, what will these people do?

EGYPT - The world’s largest integrated shipping company has warned that the Suez blockage has already triggered a series of further disruptions and the ramifications on shipping and the global supply chain may take months to unravel.

USA - Even though owned by Facebook, Instagram far exceeds its parent in selling users’ personal information to third parties. As the oil of the 21st Century, Technocrats obsess over data, its collection, its analysis, its distribution and sale. We’ve all experienced this: one second you’re watching a product review on YouTube and the next you see an advert for exactly that product in your Instagram feed. While it still feels like some kind of dark magic is at work there, we’ve pretty much gotten used to this type of thing by now – even though there are instances when it still feels a bit spooky, especially when you’re certain you’ve only talked about a product or mentioned it in a personal message. The truth of the matter is, as Statista’s Felix Richter notes, the apps and websites we’re using collect vast amounts of data about us, and, in many cases, this data is even passed on to third parties. This of course, shouldn’t happen without permission, which is why we usually have to agree to a long list of terms and conditions before using an app.

USA - What’s going on in the stock markets this weekend? A massive sale of nearly $20 billion in stocks by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on Friday are causing market gurus to scratch their heads. The RT.com reported today: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have reportedly sold $19 billion worth of shares in Chinese tech and US media companies. Traders are now wondering what caused the unusually massive move and whether it will continue next week. These are huge transactions at any time. Experts are suspicious because of their size and the companies involved. Will these transactions impact these stocks’ prices on Monday? We think likely.

ISRAEL - A senior Israeli military official has declared on Friday that his country has the ability to "completely destroy Iran's nuclear programme." Tal Kalman, head of the Strategic Division and the Third-Circle Directorate of the Israeli army, told Israel Today that 2020 was a "good" year concerning war against Iran. Kalman added: "I do not want to call it a year of transformation, but it [was] a year of great change. It started with the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and continued with a series of events that I cannot comment on most of the time, which made the balance positive, and very positive."

USA - President Joe Biden has said the US will lead the world by the “power of our example.” California is now making children worship Aztec gods of human sacrifice and there’s a viral campaign for $1,000 custom ‘Satan’ sneakers. For a mere $1,018, some 666 “lucky” Americans will be able to buy “Satan shoes,” a Devil-themed modification of Nike’s 1997 Air Max sneakers, on March 29. The air bubble inside will be filled with red ink and “one drop of human blood,” according to a promotional tweet that went viral on Friday.