USA - Donald Trump has threatened to wipe out Iran on Tuesday if it does not agree to a ceasefire. The US president said he could bomb the Islamic Republic back to the “Stone Ages”, destroying all of its power stations and bridges within four hours, if no deal were in place by 1am UK time. “The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Mr Trump told a White House press conference on Monday evening. “I hope I don’t have to do it.” He said any deal must be “acceptable” to him, and must include the free movement of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. “We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night. Where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again,” he said. “I mean complete demolition by 12 o’clock, and it will happen over a period of four hours if we want it to.”

MIDDLE EAST - If the US Navy can’t open the Strait of Hormuz, it’s mad to suggest anyone else can. As the US-Israeli war with Iran enters its sixth week, Tehran has turned the Strait of Hormuz into a weapon. Thirty-five nations – including France, Germany, Italy, Japan and key Gulf partners – gathered in London this week with a clear goal: to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait through diplomatic pressure. It is explicitly not a combat alliance joining the US-Israeli war. Britain has made clear throughout that it will not bomb Iranian targets. One truth remains though: if Iran chooses not to stop shooting and controlling the Strait, there is very little we could do, even collectively. The idea that a disparate collection of well-meaning but medium-capability warships could collectively succeed where the US Navy has so far refused to even try is for the birds. But we should let the diplomatic collective play out – it’s a positive step and we have the lead.

IRAN - Rather than collapsing, the Islamic Republic appears to be undergoing a structural shift. Power is gradually concentrating in the hands of a hardened security elite composed of Revolutionary Guard commanders, intelligence officials, and security institutions that now dominate the political system. What is emerging is not simply a clerical regime under pressure, but something closer to a clerical-military junta. Rather than collapsing, the regime is hardening. Rather than moderating, it is militarizing. And rather than seeking reconciliation with the international community, it is preparing for a prolonged confrontation in which survival – not reform – remains the ultimate objective.

GERMANY - The country’s crisis-stricken car industry is eyeing a military pivot that could boost national growth. Germans had assumed that the US and NATO would handle any security threats. “That’s not necessarily a given any more. If there’s a new threat, then sometimes mindsets change – that’s what is happening now.” It’s not only mindsets that are changing. Germany has handed a huge pot of gold to its military, and the country’s vast but beleaguered industrial machine is pivoting towards it. In the past, much of this spending would have headed offshore, winding up in the hands of big American defence contractors. But Donald Trump’s triggering of a transatlantic rift has changed the game. Berlin now wants to reduce its dependence on the US by building a domestic defence industry. According to Politico, of 178 defence projects tendered recently, 160 have gone to German contractors, with a combined value of €182 billion.

TURKEY - Turkey’s growing regional influence and ties to Hamas challenge NATO and US security. As Iran and its proxies take a beating from American and Israeli forces, observers are questioning whether Turkey is waiting in the wings to emerge as the region’s next “bogeyman.” The answer is likely yes, albeit in its own form. Turkey is not Iran, but depicting Turkey as a nuisance or simply “complicated” only emboldens a maturing adversarial regime with an established track record of undermining its Western allies. One does not need to reach far into the past to find examples. As recently as March 9, Turkey positioned six American-made F-16 fighter jets on the occupied part of Cyprus. The move was a significant escalation in the militarization of contested territory, not to mention a possible violation of US law. The half-dozen combat aircraft were also a visible act of intimidation directed at Israel, which lies less than 300 miles from Cyprus.

SCOTLAND - Leading Scottish Green candidates have launched a revolt against their party leadership by doubling down on their support for the total abolition of prisons. Kate Nevens, who is set to be elected an MSP next month, confirmed that she wanted to see “the complete abolition of the prison system in Scotland” and that she “wanted to live in a Scotland with no prisons”. Pauline McNeill, justice spokesman for Scottish Labour, said Nevens’s position was “as ludicrous as it is reckless”. “This would let murderers and rapists walk our streets free of consequences for their heinous crimes,” she said. “That is not progressive, it is monumentally stupid."

IRAN - Iran has warned of "much more devastating" retaliation just hours after President Donald Trump issued an expletive-laden post on Truth Social. Once again reigniting fears surrounding WW3, the 79-year-old leader appeared to set “Tuesday, 8:00 PM Eastern Time”, 1am Wednesday morning in the UK, as a new deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He threatened to destroy Iran's power plants and bridges if this deadline failed to be met and repeated an earlier threat to unleash "hell" but contradictorily told US media there was a "good chance" of a deal being reached with Tehran. Meanwhile, Iran’s joint military command warned it would intensify attacks on regional oil and civilian infrastructure if the US and Israel target such sites, according to state television.

UK - Ed Miliband’s net zero policies are failing to reduce Britain’s reliance on fossil fuels, the Government has admitted. Since the general election in 2024, the Energy Secretary has introduced and continued a raft of net zero policies, which Labour promised would bring down energy bills. However, figures show that the UK is no less dependent on fossil fuels than it was when Labour took office.

USA - When global supply chains collapse, the pain is not felt immediately. Tankers that left their destinations before the war with Iran began are still arriving at their destinations, products that were manufactured prior to the war still fill our shelves, and we are still eating food that was produced last year. So even though global supply chains are collapsing all around us, most people don’t feel it yet. But if this war with Iran drags on for months, the pain that we will soon experience will be unbelievable. Anyone that thinks that the global economy can continue to function at or near current levels without sufficient supplies of oil, natural gas, plastic and fertilizer is just being delusional. The only way that we can avoid “the everything meltdown” is if this war ends quickly. Even if the Strait of Hormuz is reopened tomorrow, we will not see a return to pre-war conditions any time soon... We need the Strait of Hormuz to be opened immediately, but that simply is not going to happen.

UK - Men have been urged to “step up” and volunteer for sports and youth clubs, in order to tackle a shortage of role models for boys. A lack of male role models is creating a generation of unhappy boys and driving interest in the so-called “manosphere”, where misogynistic material is available on the internet, according to a new report by think tank the Centre for Social Justice. Mr Roberts said: "This report is a clarion call for more men to get involved to provide the roles models thousands of lost boys and young men are desperately crying out for." They also pointed to the challenge of fatherlessness and the resulting lack of role models in their lives. Indeed, more young boys grow up with a smartphone than a father figure in the home.