USA - With spring in full force and summer on the way, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is raising the alarm on tick bites. The agency says the bites are sending Americans to the emergency room (ER) at the highest rate in nearly 10 years. During the second week of April, 71 out of every 100,000 emergency room visits were for tick bites, according to the CDC. The administration’s data notes that the Northeast region of the country has seen the largest spike in ER visits, followed by the Midwest. To avoid potential tick bites, the CDC recommends steering clear of wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter. They also advise checking animals that go outside every day during warm weather. Ticks can spread bacteria, viruses, and parasites (pathogens) that cause diseases.

USA - Residents across Nevada and parts of California were startled on Wednesday after a series of earthquakes sent shockwaves across hundreds of miles. At least four notable tremors were detected near Carson City, Nevada, ranging from 2.6 to 4.8 magnitude. The swarm struck at 10.23am PT (1.23pm ET) near Silver Springs, Nevada, an area that has experienced an uptick in seismic activity in recent weeks. One local posted on Facebook: 'It's the same area that's been rocking us the past week. It's not stopping; I fear volcanic activity. There are volcanic features in this region, but officials say they are generally considered extinct or dormant rather than active, immediate threats. The US Geological Survey reported that shaking was felt as far west as areas outside Sacramento, California. One Californian shared on Facebook that they felt shaking in Colfax, which is about 140 miles west of the Nevada epicenter. On Thursday, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake occurred in Northern California, sparking concerns of a possible tsunami.

USA - It could worsen heat and humidity in the West this summer, and also boost the risks of Pacific hurricanes as well as wildfires in the region. A massive ocean hot spot is stretching across a 5,000-mile swath of the Pacific — from Micronesia to the coastal waters of California. Across this zone, waters are as much as 6 to 8 degrees above average.

USA - DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer warned Bloomberg TV earlier this morning that a persistent Gulf energy shock could morph into broader trouble for the global economy. "Well we have seen this before, that you have recognized by consumers as having an impact that sparks broader discussion, the real economic implications for people. Now, this hasn't happened yet. We're trying to prevent that from happening. The 10, 12 million barrels of crude oil per day, it will come to that tipping point. Solutions are needed and political momentum is building up to resolve the situation in the Strait of Hormuz," Meyer said. Meyer's reference to the "tipping point" is clear: if Gulf oil losses of 10 to 12 million barrels per day are not offset soon, global energy and product prices will stay elevated, causing significant knock-on effects throughout the world economy.

EUROPE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has turned EU governance into a “super authoritarian” system, former European Council President Charles Michel has said, accusing her of overstepping her mandate. Michel, who worked alongside von der Leyen for five years from 2019 until 2024, has become the latest figure to criticize her leadership style. “There is a super authoritarian governance,” he said in an interview with The Brussels Times on Monday. “[The European] commissioners have absolutely no role anymore.” Under EU treaties, the 27 commissioners collectively propose laws, enforce treaties, and manage the EU budget, while the president sets political guidelines and allocates portfolios. Von der Leyen has been accused of concentrating power in her own office, reducing commissioners to little more than administrators.

IRAN - Iranian officials have struck a defiant tone ahead of a possible new round of talks with Washington, warning that Tehran is prepared to “reveal new cards on the battlefield” while rejecting any negotiations conducted “under the shadow of threats.” Trump warned on Sunday that if Iran doesn’t accept his administration’s “fair and reasonable deal,” the US will “knock out every single power plant, and every single bridge, in Iran.” According to Axios, Iranian negotiators had been stalling amid reported pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to take a harder line and refuse talks unless the US first ends its blockade. The report claimed that Pakistani, Egyptian, and Turkish mediators had urged Tehran to attend, and that Iran’s team reportedly received the green light from the supreme leader on Monday night.

NETHERLANDS - HNLMS Evertsen, a Dutch air-defense frigate, part of the NATO carrier strike group centered on the French carrier Charles de Gaulle, has inadvertently revealed its position after receiving a postcard containing a hidden Bluetooth tracker. According to The Register, the Dutch Ministry of Defense posted instructions online to make it easier for family and friends to communicate with personnel aboard a navy ship, but didn’t fully consider the ramifications for operational security (op-sec). By allowing a potential adversary to track the ship in real-time, it could put the vessel and the entire strike group at risk, as that information can be used for other operations against the fleet. The fact that it was mailed in meant that spies do not even need to go near the ship to place a tracker on the $585 million Navy ship.

UK - In 1946, Winston Churchill first coined a term that would become ubiquitous in British political life – “the special relationship”. In the aftermath of the Second World War and in the presence of US president Harry Truman, Churchill, then leader of the opposition, told a crowd of college students of an incipient relationship between the UK and US, grounded in military cooperation, common threat perceptions and a shared commitment to global governance. Over the last 80 years, both countries have indeed enjoyed a unique period of close collaboration across defence, foreign policy, economic engagement and cultural exchange. However, it is increasingly clear that framing the relationship as somehow “special” is perhaps outdated and unhelpful. The recent actions of the Trump administration have shone a light on the fractures in relations. Its decision not to consult the UK before airstrikes in Iran, the decision to levy widespread tariffs against allies and, most jarringly, the threat of military action against the territory of a fellow NATO member state have exposed a growing divergence between Westminster and Washington.

UK - Cyber attacks are as critical to modern warfare as drones and missiles, the head of the UK’s cyber agency will claim. Richard Horne will outline how foreign states are waging cyber warfare against Britain at the Government’s annual cyber security conference in Glasgow on Wednesday. The chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) will warn that online security is the new “home front” and that “cyber operations are now integral to conflict”. The NCSC, an arm of GCHQ, will reveal it is handling an average of four nationally significant incidents a week.

USA - It seems as though stars have been shooting across the heavens far more than usual lately. In March, fireball after fireball coursed through the skies of North America and Europe. Some of the dazzling apparitions dropped meteorites in their wake. In Ohio, space shards set down in fields and forests. Other rocky visitors smashed through the roofs of people’s homes and ricocheted around their bedrooms. “It’s a shooting gallery,” said Mike Hankey, an amateur astronomer at the American Meteor Society. “There’s stuff flying all over the place.” The number of fireballs over the first three months of 2026 was double what is usually reported to the society in the first quarter of other years. Over the last decade, there has been major growth in the number of cameras out in the world, from those on smartphones to autonomous shutters on doorbells and dashboards. When several fireballs make headlines, it turns plenty of people into meteor-curious skywatchers.

NIGERIA - A recent wave of coordinated attacks against besieged Christians in Nigeria has seen at least 26 people kidnapped in just eight days. According to a Monday report from the platform Truth Nigeria, between April 10 and April 17 in the state of Kaduna, villagers reported armed encounters with Islamic militants in multiple communities. Residents told Truth Nigeria that the attackers stormed seven Christian villages, killing two people and wounding two others during raids. “The militia is moving ward to ward like they own the land,” Alipiri Ado, head of internally displaced persons in Kajuru County, told the outlet. “Our people are sleeping in the bush, and nobody is coming to help them,” Ado added.

JAPAN - A powerful earthquake struck off the northern Japanese coast Monday, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) to issue a tsunami alert for a wide section of coastline, though waves of only about three feet were observed and the emergency appeared to be easing. A tsunami wave of about 2.6 feet was detected at the Kuji port in the Iwate prefecture within one hour of the quake, and a smaller tsunami wave of 1.3 feet was recorded at another port in the prefecture, the agency said. There were initial reports in Japanese media that at least two nuclear power plants in the northeast region were under a tsunami warning on Monday, but were thus far unaffected by the earthquake. Both of the plants are currently offline.

USA - We live at a time when most people don’t know where their food comes from, and so they have no idea that we are facing an agricultural nightmare in 2026. The historic drought is devastating our heartland and the nightmarish fertilizer crisis that has been caused by the war in the Middle East. Today, I am going to talk about the stunning decline of the US cattle herd, concerns about the winter wheat harvest, and the frightening drop that we have witnessed in Florida orange production.

VATICAN - Pope Leo XIV urged Africa’s youth population on Friday to solve the continent’s economic and corruption problems rather than migrate elsewhere. The pope, speaking to a crowd of university students and teachers from the Catholic University of Central Africa in Cameroon’s capital city of Yaounde, said that the continent “must be freed from the scourge of corruption” while urging the young to lead the charge, according to a transcript released by The Holy See. The remarks came as the Pope was embarking on an 11-day pastoral visit to the continent, which includes Angola, Algeria and Equatorial Ghana. “In the face of the understandable tendency to migrate — which may lead one to believe that elsewhere a better future may be more easily found — I invite you, first and foremost, to respond with an ardent desire to serve your country and to apply the knowledge you are acquiring here to the benefit of your fellow citizens,” the pope said.

USA - The event is part of a week-long initiative called “America Reads the Bible”, tied to the broader America 250 anniversary celebrations. Organisers say the biblical passage Mr Trump plans to read on Tuesday has been carefully selected, citing its longstanding role in American religious life as a rallying call to prayer and national reflection. The president will read from the Book of Two Chronicles (7:11-22) via livestream at 6 pm EST (11 pm UK) on Tuesday.