USA - In Washington DC alone, an estimated 500,000 people packed out Pennsylvania Avenue for the march. They watched speeches from Parkland shooting survivors and heard performances from celebrities. Another 800 events were held in cities around the US and world in a coordinated protest against guns. 

VATICAN - Pope Francis on Palm Sunday urged young people not to be silent and let their voices be heard, even in the face of corrupt or silent elders. The Pope's message yesterday came on the heels of a meeting of young Catholics who told the Vatican they want a more transparent and authentic church, and a day after hundreds of thousands marched in youth-led rallies across the United States to demand greater gun control. He told youths in his homily that "you have it in you to shout," even if "we older people and leaders, very often corrupt, keep quiet."

UK - Medical students say they currently learn almost nothing about the way diet and lifestyle affect health - and they should be taught more. They say what they are taught is not practical or relevant to most of the medical problems they see in GP surgeries, clinics and hospitals. A leading GP estimated that up to 80% of his patients had conditions linked to lifestyle and diet. These included obesity, type 2 diabetes and depression. Why does this lack of training matter? This year the NHS will spend more than £11 billion on diabetes alone - social care costs, time off work etc, will almost double that bill. Type 2 diabetes - the most common kind - is linked to obesity. And right now Britain is the fat man of Europe.

GERMANY - Europe doesn’t need any more lofty speeches. What it needs is a stiff dose of pragmatism. It’s important to remember that in a time of growing mistrust toward the European Union and its institutions, the basic idea of Europe as a Western community of shared values enjoys enduring support.

USA - Facebook ended the week $58 billion lower in value after its handling of a historic data breach. Its founder Mark Zuckerberg apologised for data breaches that affected 50 million users. The apology did not stop investors from selling shares in Facebook, with many wondering just how bad the damage would be for the social network. All the negative headlines led to some advertisers saying "enough is enough". Shares in the social media company fell from $176.80 on Monday to around $159.30 by Friday night. "This week feels to me like a real light bulb moment where people are understanding that it's not just clicking 'like' on Facebook, it's giving your data away".

ISRAEL - The two terror attacks in the past seven days in Mevo Dotan and Jerusalem’s Old City, which claimed the lives of three Israelis in total, naturally put defense forces across the country on high alert ahead of the coming Passover holiday, but doubly so in the capital.

UNITED NATIONS - Global food and water supplies are under threat because of the way the planet’s natural riches are in stark decline, according to a landmark UN-backed report. Human wellbeing is at risk as biodiversity – the plants and animals essential for Earth to function – dwindle across every region of the world.

AUSTRALIA - Last year nurses were asked to call women “persons”. Now there’s another furore as they’re told to acknowledge “white privilege”. Australian nurses are pushing back against a change that requires them to “acknowledge white privilege” before treating patients. “We’re calling for the resignation of the chairman of the board (Associate Professor Lynette Cusack) because she’s put her name to it and it’s unacceptable.” Credlin called it “almost too hard to believe”. “Before (a midwife) delivers a baby to an indigenous woman she’s supposed to put her hands up and say: ‘I need to talk to you about my white privilege’, not about my infection control, my qualifications or my training as a midwife?” she asked Mr Haycroft.

USA - Senator Toni Atkins became the first woman and first LGBT person to lead the California Senate on Wednesday, pledging to work toward changing the Capitol culture amid a reckoning over sexual misconduct. A rainbow flag representing gay pride hung next to the California and US flags in the Capitol rotunda as the San Diego Democrat was formally elected Senate pro tempore and took the oath of office, administered by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. “It’s the first time. And it’s about time,” said Atkins, who is a lesbian. But, she said, “I came to the Senate to make progress, not history.”

NETHERLANDS - The world's largest collection of ocean garbage is growing. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a collection of plastic, floating trash halfway between Hawaii and California, has grown to more than 600,000 square miles, a study published Thursday found. That's twice the size of Texas. Winds and converging ocean currents funnel the garbage into a central location, said study lead author Laurent Lebreton of the Ocean Cleanup Foundation, a non-profit organization that spearheaded the research. Sadly, the Pacific patch isn't alone. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest of five such trash collections in the ocean, Lebreton said.

USA - President Donald Trump is planning to launch as much as $60 billion in tariffs against China. The new tariffs will be a response from the United States to China’s intellectual property theft, according to the report from Bloomberg News. The president continues to signal aggressive trade actions in response to the growing trade deficit with China. “We have a trade deficit with China of $500 billion a year,” Trump said during a political rally in Pennsylvania. “It’s no good. But we are changing it.” China signaled concern about Trump’s proposed tariffs, warning of a trade war. “No one will emerge a winner from a trade war,” China’s premier Li Keqiang said. “What we hope is for us to act rationally instead of being led by emotions.”

CHINA - Beijing has announced a series of measures that it plans to implement as a response to President Trump’s new import tariffs, in an escalating trade war between the US and China. Despite repeated warnings from Beijing, on Thursday Donald Trump instructed US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer to levy tariffs on at least $50 billion of Chinese imports, accusing it of stealing American technology.

AFRICA - Ethiopia and 43 other African countries have signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement in Kigali, Rwanda, today.  The agreement, which was signed during the 10th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly on AfCFTA, will set up a massive free trade area to improve regional integration and boost economic growth across the continent. 

RUSSIA - The presidents of Russia and the US discussed a possible arms race involving the two nations, and agreed that such an outcome was not desired by either, the Kremlin has confirmed. The subject was discussed by Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in a phone call on Tuesday, a Kremlin spokesman told journalists on Wednesday. “There was an agreement between the two leaders during their conversation that an arms race would be undesirable,” Dmitry Peskov said. He added that no potential arms-reduction agreements were discussed by the two leaders. Moscow said it was not seeking to engage in a new arms race with the US, but needed new weapons to dissuade American military planners and politicians from presuming that a nuclear strike against Russia could succeed in preventing a retaliatory strike against America.

ISRAEL - It is the sum of all fears of Israel's ruling right. It is a weapon against which one of the world's most powerful, advanced militaries is at a loss. It could succeed where suicide bombings, ballistic missile barrages, and sophisticated attack tunnels have failed. And it's coming on Passover, just over a week away. It's non-violence.