GERMANY - Establishment voices in Berlin warn that the EU could disintegrate in the corona crisis and call for economic concessions to Italy and Spain. Both countries would "never forget in a hundred years, if Europe and we, in particular, would forsake them now," former foreign ministers Joseph Fischer and Sigmar Gabriel wrote in an appeal published yesterday. This should not happen because it would endanger the EU. But "our country" is the Union's "biggest economic and financial winner." Studies show, in fact, that with €86 billion annually, Germany profits more from the EU's single market than any other EU member. Since its introduction up until 2017, the single currency has provided Germany nearly €1.9 trillion, whereas it has cost France €3.6 and Italy even €4.3 trillion. Fischer and Gabriel are pushing for an urgent EU aid program to dampen the rapidly growing EU criticism in Rome and Madrid. According to a recent opinion poll, 67 percent of Italy's population thinks that the EU harms their interests.

UNITED NATIONS - Some 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy, representing nearly half of the global labour force, are in immediate danger of losing their livelihoods due to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Wednesday. The UN agency's latest report sharply raised its forecast for the devastating impact on jobs and incomes of the COVID-19 disease, which has infected more than 3.1 million people globally, killed nearly 220,000 and shut down economies.

ISRAEL - Israel’s new minister for Jerusalem affairs, Bezalel Smotrich takes aim at the Holy Sanctuary. Israel’s right-wing poster boy has been slated for the role of Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, giving him both the position and power to carry out his apocalyptic vision of building a Jewish Temple on the site of the Dome of the Rock. Smotrich is part of a group that was once considered on the fringe of Israeli politics and which calls for building a Jewish Temple on the site of the Dome of the Rock. No longer fringe, now this group has people like Smotrich in positions of power that threaten the very existence of Jerusalem’s most important religious and historical space, the Holy Sanctuary.

ISRAEL - Despite the Muslim community working diligently to deny the very existence of an historic link between the modern Jewish state and ancient Judea, work continues toward a Third Temple, including the creation of Temple vessels and the training of the Levites, who are appointed for Temple service, and Kohanim (Priests). According to Chaim Richman, the director of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, whose headquarters is a short distance away from the Western Wall in the Old City, a “Temple in waiting” has essentially already been created. “The Temple Institute is actively engaged in the research and preparation of the resumption of service in the Holy Temple to the extent of actually preparing operational blueprints for the construction of the Temple according to the most modern standards,” Richman told CBN News’ Chris Mitchell.

GERMANY - Chancellor Angela Merkel and Health Minister Jens Spahn have been leading Germany’s national response to the coronavirus pandemic. But Germans would be forgiven for thinking that they were taking direction from a provincial governor: Bavaria’s imposing, straight-talking premier, Markus Söder. Since the pandemic broke out, Söder’s decisive crisis management in his home state — especially his imperious pronouncements on lockdowns, testing, and other public health measures — has captured national attention.

GERMANY - People love to hate Germany — but the country is doing far more than most nations to help its European neighbors fight the coronavirus.

VATICAN - Pope Francis urged obedience to state lockdown measures Tuesday, just 36 hours after Italian bishops reproached the government for refusing to allow public worship. “At this time, as indications emerge for a way out of quarantine, we pray that the Lord will grant us the grace of prudence and obedience to these indications, so that the pandemic does not return,” the pontiff said in a daily tweet. Late Sunday, the Italian Bishops’ Conference issued a sternly worded rebuke to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte over an “arbitrary” decision to exclude public worship from the activities permitted under new COVID-19 lockdown rules.

RUSSIA - The eruption of the Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano in Russia's Kamchatka has created spectacular scenes, producing rivers of lava and massive smoke clouds – but scientists worry that the resulting ash cloud could disrupt air traffic. The latest activity within the steep symmetrical cone of the volcano – the highest in Eurasia – blew ash some 7,000 meters into the air on Monday, the Emergencies Ministry said.

CHINA - China has stepped up its campaign against the EU after it emerged Beijing had threatened to gag Brussels over its criticism of the handling of the coronavirus crisis. Beijing has accelerated its propaganda battle after the Union was accused of pandering to China over a report alleging the superpower was deliberately spreading disinformation about the coronavirus outbreak. It comes after German officials claimed Chinese diplomats had pressured Germany to speak positively about China's handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.

USA - A rancher who raises cattle in Texas and Colorado sounded the alarm that the US government is importing what he considered inferior beef from Namibia while American ranchers are facing the possible “depopulation” of their herds.

USA - More than 26 million Americans have lost their jobs during these coronavirus lockdowns so far, and this has created unprecedented demand at food banks all over the nation. In many cities, vehicles start lining up at the food banks at the crack of dawn, and in some instances the lines have literally stretched for miles.

NORTH KOREA - Kim Jong-un's control of information is so secretive and tight the West will never truly know what is happening in North Korea, a former US intelligence analyst has warned. Kim recently missed the celebration of his grandfather’s birthday on April 15. The North Korean leader has never missed the event which prompted claims he had become unwell or may have even died. Despite the claims, a former CIA analyst who advised both the George Bush and Barack Obama administrations on North Korea, Sue Mi Terry insisted no country will know what is going on in the rogue state.

EGYPT - Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday condemned a new Egyptian TV drama set in the year 2120 that predicts the Jewish state’s destruction, as well as the breakup of the United States. The Foreign Ministry statement said the series “is completely unacceptable especially because the two states have had a peace treaty for the past 41 years.” Israel and Egypt have worked closely on security issues since the 1979 treaty, especially near their shared border in the Sinai Peninsula, in a shared effort against Islamic jihadists. However, public opinion in Egypt has remained largely against normalized relations with Israel.

UK - The death toll from coronavirus may be almost 60 per cent higher than reported in official counts, according to an FT analysis of overall fatalities during the pandemic in 14 countries. Mortality statistics show 122,000 deaths in excess of normal levels across these locations, considerably higher than the 77,000 official Covid-19 deaths reported for the same places and time periods. If the same level of under-reporting observed in these countries was happening worldwide, the global Covid-19 death toll would rise from the current official total of 201,000 to as high as 318,000.

PHILIPPINES - The Chinese embassy in Manila released a propaganda music video this weekend depicting China and the Philippines as working together toward a “shared future” in “one sea” or “Iisang Dagat,” in the Philippine language, referring to the disputed South China Sea.