USA - Lying can be complicated and difficult, especially if you don’t do it very often. Beginner liars must learn a few basics about what makes a good lie, such as sticking with a simple lie and making sure the lie is believable. If you plan the lie ahead of time, it helps to spend some time memorizing the details of the lie by writing it down and practicing it until it sounds convincing. Possibly the most important part is telling the lie convincingly. You’ll need to avoid some of the most common things that give away a lie, such as fidgeting, changing your voice, and not making eye contact.

USA - Parents in cities across the US as well as Canada, Australia, and now, the UK are pulling their children out of schools Monday to protest what they view as “pornographic,” “gender-bending” sex ed curricula conducted and promoted by taxpayer-funded Planned Parenthood.

ISRAEL - The Times of Israel reports: The Palestinians will not allow US President Donald Trump or anyone else to say that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday. The Palestinians, Abbas said, will continue to fight Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as they have been doing for the past few months. “The Palestinians will not allow any country to move its embassy to Jerusalem before there’s a solution [to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict],” Abbas said.

IRAN - Iran’s military head said Saturday that forces are preparing to “annihilate” Israel’s Zionist regime within 25 years after recent threats between the foes. The threat from Commander of Iran’s Army Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi comes while tension has escalated with an Israeli strike on an Iranian base in Syria earlier this month. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired back at Salami on Friday. “We hear the threats from Iran. IDF fighters and the security branches are ready for any development. We will fight anyone who tries to harm us… We will not be deterred by the price and we will exact a price from those who seek our souls. The IDF is ready for its mission and the nation will stand,” he added.

UK - Inequality around the world has reached an irreversible tipping point. The UK-based House of Commons Library said this month that, if current trends continue, the richest 1% will control nearly 66% of the world’s money by 2030. Based on 6% annual growth in wealth, they would hold assets worth approximately $305 trillion, up from $140 trillion today, the Guardian reported. This follows a report released earlier this year by Oxfam, which said that just eight billionaires have as much wealth as 3.6 billion people — the poorest half of the world.

USA - Even if you don’t have any unhealthy habits, something that you do every day could be killing you: breathing. A new report from the Health Effects Institute shows that more than 95 percent of the people on our planet are breathing in air that is unsafe. The Health Effects Institute reached their conclusions using satellite data and other types of monitoring. These high levels of exposure have pushed air pollution into the fourth position when it comes to the top causes of death around the world, following killers like high blood pressure, diet and smoking. More than six million people died last year of causes linked to air pollution, such as heart attack, stroke, chronic lung disease and lung cancer. Not surprisingly, people from countries like India and China made up more than half of these deaths.

SYRIA - On Sunday, the Independent published an on-the-spot report by well-known veteran journalist Robert Fisk, an expert on Middle East policy, who visited Douma, the town in Ghouta where a gas attack supposedly occurred. Fisk spoke with Dr Assim Rahaibani, who works at the medical clinic where the widely publicized videos were filmed showing children being hosed down with water, ostensibly to relieve poison gas inhalation.

TURKEY - This week, the relationship between the US and Turkey has taken another gigantic hit. It appears Turkey has joined the other powerhouses of the Eastern world (Russia and China) by preparing for economic warfare against the US in the near future. At the very least, it strongly symbolizes the end of the 70-year alliance between Turkey and the US.

ISRAEL - On Wednesday, Israel marks seventy years of statehood. When David Ben Gurion declared independence on May 14th, 1948—the anniversary floats about according to the Hebrew calendar—the new state’s population was 872,000. Just over 7000,000, or 80% of the new Israelis were Jewish, and they constituted about a tenth of the global Jewish population. Today, Israel’s population of nearly nine million is 75% Jewish, and contains about half of the world’s Jews. The numbers alone reflect an improbable fulfilment of the ‘Ingathering of the Exiles’, a possibility first voiced by Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy, and subsequently given modern political form by Theodor Herzl. Nothing like this has happened in recorded history.

JAPAN - Iwo-yama volcano also known as Mount Io and Mount Ioyama, located on the Ebino Highland and a part of Kirishimayama volcano group in Japan's Kyushu, erupted at 06:39 UTC (15:39 JST) on April 19, 2018 for the first time since 1768. The volcano ejected ash high into the air, forcing the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) to raise the alert level from 2 to 3 (of 5), restricting access to the volcano. Today marks the first time JMA has raised the alert level to 3 for this volcano.

USA - If you want to know how teens today feel about gender and sexuality, look no further than the spectacle of prom coronations. In Mississippi, a lesbian couple lobbied to become prom king and queen. In Georgia, the class president, who is gay, started a petition to change prom court titles to the more inclusive “Prom Royalty." Some transgender students are pushing schools to re-imagine what teen nobility looks like. 

IRAN - Iran’s feud with the US is set to get worse after Tehran announced yesterday that it will start reporting foreign currency amounts in euros rather than US dollars, as part of the country’s effort to reduce its reliance on the American currency due to political tension with Washington. Central bank governor Valiollah Seif said last week that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had welcomed his suggestion of replacing the dollar with the euro in foreign trade, as the “dollar has no place in our transactions today”.

GERMANY - The German government, after having applauded the bombing of Syria, is now demanding participation in the country's reorganization, once the war has ended. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced her intentions to have a meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin "in the foreseeable future," to discuss particularly the development in Syria. The enormous costs for Syria's reconstruction, which can hardly be covered by Russia alone, are viewed as a means of leverage on Moscow. Berlin also sees itself in a position to mediate between Russia and the USA in view of Washington's threat to attack Russian positions in Syria. While the German government is going on the offensive to win influence, new foreign policy controversies are developing among the EU member states.

USA -  The US defense industry continues to dominate on a global scale. According to numbers from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, America accounted for 34 percent of total arms exports from 2013–17, with 98 countries buying American goods. The second largest exporter in the world, Russia, accounted for 22 percent of weapon exports during that same period, with 47 countries as clients; China, the fifth-ranked exporter, represented only 5.7 percent of global exports, with 48 countries. And while it is an imperfect measurement, the State Department cleared $75.9 billion in potential arms sales in fiscal year 2017, setting a new record. So far in FY18, State has ok’d over $55 billion in potential future sales.

UK - A study published in Ecology and Evolution Monday shows that the big changes humans make to the land can have important consequences for some tiny microorganisms honeybees rely on to stay healthy. Honeybees depend on a diverse mix of bacteria — called a microbiome — to turn fresh pollen into bee bread, which is stored in the hive as food for young bees. A diverse bee-bread microbiome helps bees fight infection and preserves the bread longer; a less diverse bacterial mix can leave the bread susceptible to mold and the bees in the hive vulnerable to starvation. But research by the Lancaster University's Environment Center and the Center for Ecology and Hydrology suggests that to get a diverse microbiome, bees need to feed on a diverse array of plants. And human alterations that reduce biodiversity in the landscape can make this more difficult.