UK - A Tory MP has exploded in fury after Labour chose to put out a message celebrating "Transgender day of Visibility" on Easter Sunday. Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith described Keir Starmer's party as clowns for the post on X (formerly Twitter) marking the woke celebration on the holiest day in the Christian calendar. It came after his former party colleague Lee Anderson, who has defected to Reform UK, wrote for Express.co.uk that politicians need to remember that Britain "is a Christian country."

USA - The Biden administration’s decision to honor “Transgender Awareness Day” on Easter Sunday has caused widespread controversy. However, many Americans may be unaware that there are more than 50 LGBTQIA2S+-themed holidays. Transgender Day of Visibility was already on the calendar before this week. The Biden White House doubled down in its embrace of Transgender Day of Visibility, despite some vocal criticisms.

USA - A cargo vessel damaged the supports of a bridge over the Arkansas River less than a week after a deadly incident in Baltimore. The Oklahoma State Patrol has completely closed a highway after a barge struck the US-59 Bridge over the Arkansas River on Saturday. Law enforcement is diverting traffic away from the area, to the south of Sallisaw, until inspections of the structure can be made, the state highway service wrote on X (formerly Twitter). There were no reports of injuries on the road or the barge, AP news agency quoted patrol spokesperson Sarah Stewart as saying. It was not immediately known what led to the collision.

EUROPE - Catalonia region is currently suffering its worst drought on record. And, as Statista's Anna Fleck reports, it’s not just Spain afflicted with this problem: The EU Commission’s Joint Research Center sounded the alarm earlier this year over how prolonged drought events have affected Europe for more than two years already and northern Africa for as many as six, which is “causing water shortages and hampering vegetation growth.” Food and water supplies were not considered a particular issue among Europeans for a long time. But new data illustrates how that is starting to change.

MIDDLE EAST - Hamas cites the arrival of red heifers as one of the reasons the terrorist group invaded Israel. In addition to listing Hamas’ accomplishments in the war, Obeida also discussed the reasons for Hamas’ brutal invasion of Israel and specifically cited the red heifers. This claim was made by Abu Obeida, a Hamas military leader, in a televised appearance marking the 100th day of the terrorist group’s war with Israel.

USA - A prestigious university has been branded a 'disgrace' after it awarded the world's oldest photojournalism prize for a picture of a mutilated and murdered October 7 victim. Photo agency AP won the world's oldest photojournalism award for its picture of Shani Louk's dead body on the morning of the October 7 attack. The agency has denied claims its photographers collaborated with Hamas to get the winning shots. Shani Louk, 22, became a symbol of the brutal Hamas attack after the world saw the picture of gunmen rushing her half-naked corpse back to Gaza on the back of a pick-up.

EUROPE - The EU never enforced its Growth and Stability Pact or Maastricht Treaty rules. The crisis is coming to a head with France and Italy in the spotlight. The first casualty will be Green policy. France and Italy are major disasters right now on the budget deficit rule. France has a budget deficit of 7 percent and Italy 5 percent. France needs to reduce its deficit by a whopping 4 percent of GDP! Neither Italy nor Greece should ever have been allowed in the EMU (European Monetary Union – Eurozone) in the first place. Greece has a debt-to-GDP ratio of 170 percent. The target is 60 percent. Only the Scandinavian countries are in compliance.

UK - Around 300 children charged through the building, with Thames Valley Police issuing a dispersal order following the ‘antisocial chaos’ ahead of the bank holiday. Witness Janey Chandler called 999 after she heard screaming and saw young people running as she visited a Boots store. In one clip, a police officer can be seen grappling with a schoolboy before his colleagues and security guards force the crowd back. As the video pans around the large group, with most of the children in school uniform, the officer disappears into the melee. ‘All the youngsters I saw were rude, swearing and aggressive to anyone who wasn’t a teen involved in the chaos. But when the police arrived they all ran off scared.’

USA - Mass migration exposes the United States’ food supply to diseases and parasites that could ultimately affect national security, animal health experts told The Epoch Times. With unfettered illegal immigration — some 9 million encounters since 2021 — the normal guardrails for inspection are ignored, raising the likelihood of unwanted diseases being brought across the border. Dr Michael Vickers has been a veterinarian for about 50 years and served on the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC),

USA - What’s going on with our youth? A recent Wall Street Journal article about so-called Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, identifies members of Gen Z who are 18 and up as “America’s Most Disillusioned Voters.” The headline continues, “Young adults are now more skeptical of government and pessimistic about the future than any other living generation before them.” Per Wall Street Journal polling reported in the article, “More than three-quarters of voters under 30 think the country is moving in the wrong direction — a greater share than any other age group.” We’re talking here about our nation’s future, and this dismal picture should trouble us all.

USA - Adeel Abdullah Mangi is a Biden administration judicial nominee to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. They have been trying to push him through the senate confirmation process for months, but Republicans have blocked the nominee because he has ties to people who were in the domestic terror group the Weather Underground and other radicals, including cop killers. Now even senate Democrats are objecting to Mangi’s nomination, meaning that the Biden administration should probably stop wasting everyone’s time with this. The Washington Free Beacon reports: "Senator Jacky Rosen (Democrat for Nevada) on Wednesday became the third Democrat in the Senate to come out against Adeel Mangi, President Joe Biden’s controversial nominee to serve as a federal appeals court judge."

EUROPE - The EU must increase its military strength and internal cooperation, but that does not mean it should aspire to a single army, the bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said. In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Monday, the foreign policy chief insisted there is a “strong consensus” among EU members on boosting the bloc’s defense capabilities, both in terms of its military industry and armed forces.

USA - When I awoke early on Tuesday morning, I was stunned to learn that the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore had collapsed. We are being told that it was a tragic “accident” and that there is no evidence that any foul play was involved. Hopefully that is true. But no matter how it was caused, this tragedy is going to have an enormous impact on US supply chains. And of course this comes at a really bad time, because Houthi missile strikes in the Red Sea and low water levels in the Panama Canal have been putting a tremendous amount of strain on global supply chains recently.

ISRAEL - The United Nations Security Council has emboldened Palestinian militants to make unacceptable demands, jeopardizing the prospects of a hostage release deal and Gaza ceasefire, Israel claimed on Tuesday. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of demonstrating “utter disinterest in a negotiated deal,” after a UNSC resolution on Monday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and unconditional release of the remaining Israeli hostages being held by the Palestinian militant group. According to Israel, Hamas demanded an “immediate halt to the war, the complete withdrawal of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] from the Gaza Strip and leaving in place its administration.” “Israel will not address Hamas’s delusional demands. Israel will pursue and achieve its just war objectives: Destroying Hamas’s military and governmental capacities, release of all the hostages, and ensuring Gaza will not pose a threat to the people of Israel in the future,” Netanyahu’s office said.

ISRAEL - Israel canceled the planned visit of a high-level delegation to the US as a message to Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday. The snub came after Washington refused to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday. Meeting in Jerusalem with US Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, Netanyahu explained his reasons. “I thought the US decision in the Security Council was a very, very bad move,” the Israeli prime minister said. “The worst part about it… was that it encouraged Hamas to take a hard line and to believe that international pressure will prevent Israel from freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas.” The decision not to send the delegation to Washington was a message to the Palestinian militant group, he explained. “It was a message first and foremost to Hamas: ‘Don’t bet on this pressure, it’s not going to work’. I hope they got the message,” Netanyahu said.