USA - More than two dozen House Democrats led by Representative Josh Gottheimer told national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday they were “deeply concerned” about President Biden’s decision to withhold military aid from Israel. Gottheimer (Democrat for New Jersey) and 25 of his fellow lawmakers wrote in a letter to Sullivan obtained by The Post that “withholding weapons shipments to Israel … only emboldens our mutual enemies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other Iranian-backed proxies.”

UK - Britain looks set to cave into Brussels over proposed new post-Brexit rules governing Gibraltar in a 'serious diminution of UK sovereignty', MPs warned yesterday. A letter to ministers from the Commons' European Scrutiny Committee raised 'serious concerns' that British negotiators have failed to stand up to Eurocrats during talks. Of particular concern is apparent plans to carry out Schengen border checks required by the EU on British soil at the peninsula's airport rather than at the border with Spain. It means Britons face intrusive checks to enter their own territory, which the committee branded 'seismic' and a move which would render 'Gibraltar's frontier British in all but name'. MPs fear the agreement about to be struck could even mean some Britons being turned away.

BELARUS - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko believes that many countries are losing interest in using the dollar and the euro, and not only Belarus and Russia are abandoning them. "No one needs either the dollar or the euro now. And it is not only in Belarus and Russia. It is happening in many countries," Lukashenko told journalists in Minsk on Thursday. The currencies have lost their relevance, "especially after talk of stealing Russia's gold and foreign currency reserves, assets, which they have been storing in the West," Lukashenko said. The president added that he had spoken to many world leaders and said they questioned: "What would happen to us if it happens to a nuclear power?"

RUSSIA - There is an accelerating trend towards global de-dollarization. What's behind the phenomenon and when did it start? A growing number of countries are fleeing the US dollar in international settlements, forcing Western politicians, business sectors and thought leaders to admit that weaponizing currencies like the US has done is backfiring. For roughly 80 years, the US dollar has played the role of the major international reserve currency and the main means of payment in global trade. However, over the past two decades, the share of global reserves held in US dollars fell from 73% in 2001 to 58% in 2023, according to some estimates. Even though the greenback continues to dominate the world's trade – being on one side of 88% of all trades as of April 2022 – international players have been gradually shifting to alternative currencies.

HUNGARY - China and Hungary signed 18 cooperation agreements on Thursday following an in-person meeting in Budapest between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and visiting dictator Xi Jinping, who is on the last leg of a week-long trip to Europe. The agreements facilitate the spread of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda in Hungary, expand agricultural cooperation, and allow China to expand the footprint of its predatory Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) debt trap project in the country. Following a celebratory welcome to Xi in Budapest, Orbán declared China “one of the pillars of the new world order” and vowed to ensure that Hungary’s foreign policy would remain friendly to the CCP.

USA - The slow and steady push for de-dollarization across the globe has accelerated dramatically in recent weeks as the prospects of victory in November for Donald Trump have globalist elites and BRICS nations worried. Russian IMF Representative Alexey Mozhin said recently that BRICS is ready to offer a blockchain alternative to not only the current international payment systems, but for the US Dollar itself. “Such a proposal is being discussed,” the director told RIA Novosti. “In the event of the collapse of the dollar and the international monetary system, it will be necessary to turn the said BRICS accounting unit into a real currency, backed by exchange goods.”

ISRAEL - Netanyahu pledged to fight Hamas with his fingernails, Biden warns he won’t send arms for use in Rafah operation, hostage talks at standstill. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to fight Hamas with his fingernails as he dismissed US President Joe Biden's warning that he would not provide arms for a major military operation in Rafah. “But we have much more than fingernails and with that same strength of spirit, with G-d's help, together we will win,” he said. He spoke as Biden told CNN Wednesday “I’ve made it clear that if they [Israel] go into Rafah… I’m not supplying the weapons that have historically been used to deal with Rafah,” That statement followed one made earlier that day by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that a shipment of precision munitions designated for Gaza had been paused.

EUROPE - Western Europeans broadly see China as an opportunity, but Washington sees it as a threat. This has major geopolitical consequences. Chinese President Xi Jinping is travelling in Europe for the first time in five years. His choice of capitals is calibrated. First was Paris, where French President Emmanuel Macron – who claims political leadership of the Western side of the continent – was joined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Together with Macron, she was in Beijing last year. Then there was Budapest and Belgrade, two European countries (one in the European Union, the other outside) that are showing an increased willingness to cooperate with Beijing.

USA - Support for Israel has damaged America’s standing in the Middle East. While both China and Russia have improved their standing in the world over the past year, the US has seen its approval rating deteriorate in the Middle East and even in Europe, according to respondents from 53 countries. Dubbed Democracy Perception Index 2024, the survey was compiled by the German company Latana, on behalf of Alliance of Democracies, an NGO headed by former NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

CHINA - EX Robots specializes in crafting realistic humanoids designed for interaction with people and fulfilling public service duties. A short video clip circulating on social media has sparked amusement and concern as it unveils the inner workings of a Chinese humanoid robot factory. The video offers a glimpse of numerous humanoid robots in different stages of development, showcasing the pace at which robotics technology is advancing. The uploaded video on TikTok is known to be from the manufacturing floor of the Chinese robotics firm Ex Robots. At the 2023 World Robot Conference, the company showcased an array of humanoid robots in a preview of its ambitions. Their products surprised attendees with their hyper-realistic appearance and movements, accurately mimicking the people around them.

BELGIUM - Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the sickening gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in a wooded area in Belgium by ten other minors. The girl, who remains unidentified for privacy reasons, was allegedly lured into a wooded area called Kabouterbos in Kortrijk, West Flanders (five miles from the French border), by her teenage boyfriend over the Easter school break. Belgian outlet Nieuwsblad said the suspects were 'believed to be young people of immigrant origin'. It added that six of the suspects had been placed in a closed institution, while the other four were placed under house arrest. Reports said the group filmed the attack on their smartphones and posted clips to social media... The alleged perpetrators showed 'a complete lack of sense of norms. I have never experienced this in my career,' the lawyer for one of the suspects is reported to have told the newspaper.

USA - More than a 150,000 homes and businesses were still in the dark Tuesday night, more than 24 hours after ferocious storms pummeled much of the Eastern US – leaving homes without roofs and drivers stranded for hours. In Westminster, Maryland, dozens of people were trapped in cars for up to five and a half-hours Monday after severe weather toppled power lines onto the vehicles on Route 140, state police said. The fierce storms Monday left neighborhoods littered with debris and hundreds of thousands of people in the dark.

KENYA - Kenya’s wet season began in March, bringing with it the most catastrophic weather seen in years. Over the past two months, rainfall has been near constant, filling up water reservoirs and saturating rivers and flood-prone areas. Against this backdrop, flooding has killed at least 228 people, with President William Ruto last week declaring a public holiday to mourn the victims. More than 23,000 households have meanwhile been displaced and all schools temporarily closed amid the nationwide disruption. Médecins sans frontières (MSF) now worries that water-borne diseases like cholera and mosquito-borne illnesses such as malaria could threaten the vulnerable population even further. “Destruction of latrines leads to poor water and sanitation conditions, as people are still forced to use river water sometimes because there is no safe water available,” Ms Elyas said.

USA - President Biden spoke to CNN's Erin Burnett on Wednesday, and in the interview he issued some of the most significant warnings to America's closest Middle East ally to date, telling Israel that he's ready to halt offensive weapons transfers if its military launches a full invasion of Rafah. "Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," Biden said. "I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone in Rafah yet — if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities — that deal with that problem."

EUROPE - EU elites are growing increasingly disenchanted with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung has claimed. Bloomberg reported last month that French President Emmanuel Macron, widely regarded as a key backer in von der Leyen’s rise, is eyeing a replacement for her. Although she is unelected, von der Leyen’s fate still indirectly depends on the outcome of the European parliamentary elections scheduled for next month. She remains the main candidate for the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), which has the most seats in the European Parliament. Despite an expected right wing surge in the upcoming votes, it is expected to reinforce its dominant position in June.