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.

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.

IRAN - The ongoing conflict in Iran has focused global attention on surging energy prices caused by supply-chain disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. As devastating as these oil and gas constraints are to both the Middle East and global markets, the war also poses a threat to another critical resource that keeps the Gulf afloat: water. Several limited attacks on desalination plants in both Iran and Bahrain in the past two weeks offer a glimpse at the potential danger if this infrastructure were intentionally and systematically targeted. Either in this war or a future Middle Eastern conflict, water resources could prove an attractive target for anyone seeking to cause harm and destabilize communities.

IRAN - All of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations lining the Gulf’s southern shores critically rely on desalination plants drawing seawater from the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. For the GCC countries, extensive desalination systems constitute indispensable critical infrastructure.

MIDDLE EAST - UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia continue to face Iranian missile and drone attacks, targeting energy and infrastructure sites despite growing defenses. The desalination and energy infrastructure in the Gulf continues to be a vulnerable spot for the region. This is because these large sites must be protected at all times, and damage to one small area can sometimes affect the entire site. This is one reason these countries have all sought to avoid a kind of “tit-for-tat” escalation with Iran regarding key infrastructure.

MIDDLE EAST - Regional instability stemming from the Iran war, and the threat of Iranian missile and drone strikes, disrupted Christian observance of Holy Week across the Middle East, with churches in Iraq, Israel, and the UAE canceling or scaling back Palm Sunday and Easter celebrations. The decisions were driven primarily by security concerns, as Iranian projectiles had struck or threatened areas near major Christian population centers, including Erbil and Dubai’s Jebel Ali district.

USA - Warren Buffett just said live on CNBC: "The current market drop is nothing. A larger decline is ahead." He definitely knows something bad is coming... Buffett did not say "a larger decline is ahead"; he called the current drop "nothing" compared to past declines over 50%... Buffett on private credit contagion: "I don't think I know." So he holds cash and T-bills. No money market funds. No commercial paper. No long bonds. Just one thing that's legal tender, and the Treasury has to sell it every Monday.

USA - Most of the pre-packaged garbage that we are being sold in our local grocery stores is “Frankenstein food”, but even though this is widely known, most of the general population just keeps gobbling it down anyway. The major food companies fully understand that they are destroying our health, and they are going to keep on doing it because nobody is going to stop them. We are talking about a crime against humanity of epic proportions, and they are totally getting away with it. It isn’t just a coincidence that cancer, heart disease and diabetes are exploding in our society today. What we are eating is making us sick, and those responsible are raking in billions of dollars.

UK - Ed Miliband is reportedly set to back the North Sea oil and gasfield project despite insisting that Net Zero is a 'central mission' of the Labour government. The Net Zero secretary has been under increasing pressure to reverse a ban on exploration in the North Sea amid the Iran war's impact on energy supplies. Miliband had been stalling over a decision on the Jackdaw gasfield - 150 miles off the coast of Aberdeen - for around two years, but Whitehall officials have now suggested he is inclined to approve the project. The 51-year-old no longer sees the gasfield as incompatible with the government's carbon reduction commitments, according to The Times, after Rachel Reeves announced she is 'happy' to see drilling in the North Sea. If approved, the Jackdaw project could supply gas to more than a million British homes and produce the equivalent of six per cent of the country's overall supply.