UK - After he picked up an £80,000 prize for an essay on how Britain could leave the European Union, Iain Mansfield was poised to become a new, intellectual voice in the media debate on the issue. The 30-year-old Cambridge graduate was praised by judges of the “Brexit” prize for his “convincing and comprehensive” arguments and the Thatcherite think-tank behind the contest looked forward to him advancing his views in a series of interviews.

UK - In one of his more vitriolic speeches, UKIP MEP Nigel Farage lashes out at the terrible deja vu being 'imposed' on supposedly democratic nations across Europe. "The whole European project is based on a falsehood... and it's a dangerous one... because if you try to impose a new flag, a new anthem, a new president, a new army, a new police force; without first seeking the consent of the people you are creating the very nationalisms and resentment that the project was supposed to snuff out." Farage concludes, he is not against Europe but is "against this Europe," and this year's European elections will mark the turning point.

UK - Britain should be unashamedly “evangelical” about its Christian faith and actively hand churches and other faith groups a greater role in society, David Cameron has insisted. In a declaration of his personal beliefs, he said he had experienced the “healing power” of religion in his own life and insisted that Christianity could transform the “spiritual, physical, and moral” state of Britain and even the world. Writing in the Church Times, the Anglican newspaper, he heaped praise on the Church of England and described the UK as a “Christian country” despite saying we live in an increasingly “secular age”. His comments amount to an olive branch to the churches in the wake of rows over issues such as welfare cuts and gay marriage. His Government has also been accused of failing to stand up for Christians.

EUROPE - Military chiefs have said the Ukraine crisis is a “wake-up call” for EU countries’ defence spending, as the US backed Ukraine’s use of force in eastern regions. Speaking to press after a regular meeting of EU defence ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday (15 April), the deputy chief of the EU’s external action service, Maciej Popowski, said: “We’ve had 70 years of peace now [in Europe], but we see that power politics is back with a vengeance, so it’s a wake-up call and now we need to get serious about defence.” He noted that “this was the feeling around the table” at the Luxembourg event.

EUROPE - MEPs on Tuesday (15 April) overwhelmingly approved the creation of a new authority and fund for failing banks – a missing element to the so-called banking union aimed at minimising the public cost of future financial crises. The final vote on the creation of a €55 billion fund financed by the banks themselves passed with 570 MEPs in favour, 88 against and 13 abstentions, while new rules in cases where public money needs to be used for winding down banks also gathered a similar majority: 584 votes in favour, 80 against and 10 abstentions. The resolution mechanism will be independent, but take advice from the ECB as to when to step in to help or to close down a troubled bank.

TEMPLE MOUNT, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz (Likud-Beytenu) called on his own government to allow Jews to freely ascend to the Temple Mount, and denounced the Muslim rioting on the Mount. “All red lines have been crossed at the Temple Mount,” Katz stated Thursday, and added that Hamas has taken over the Mount, “carried out military parades and planted its flags on the mosques. The entry of Jews to the site, meanwhile, was barred again.” The Israeli policy is not a liberal one, he argued, and does not promote freedom of religion. Rather, it constitutes a surrender to Palestinian terrorism and incitement.

TEMPLE MOUNT, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been accused of hypocrisy after criticizing Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas for incitement, while simultaneously "turning a blind eye" to Hamas-led incitement in the heart of Jerusalem. The past few days have seen renewed activity by Hamas on the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, with Islamists literally taking it over for several hours on the eve of the Jewish festival of Pesach (Passover), in a successful bid to keep Jews from visiting the site.

USA - With a hot summer and wildfire season right around the corner, huge chunks of the western United States are experiencing record droughts. Parts of California, Nevada and Arizona are drier than they have been in 1,200 years, putting at risk millions of acres of farm and forest lands. Every inch of five states — California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Nebraska — are experiencing some level of drought. Much of the northern Texas Panhandle is under extreme or exceptional drought warning, as is most of California and parts of northern Nevada. A weekly snapshot of drought conditions shows 21 percent of the country is experiencing severe drought or worse; all told, 40.9 percent of the country is under some kind of drought watch or warning. California’s plight is particularly bad. Two-thirds of the state are experiencing extreme or exceptional drought. Not a single acre of the state’s land has a normal amount of precipitation.

USA - The Sunday Express has obtained a memo written by a long serving employee at the US company in which he complains he and other engineers have been given the “run around” over their fears. The engineer was so worried about the risk to passengers on board Boeing’s planes he told bosses he was amazed air safety regulators were not taking stronger action. He said in the email Boeing was fully aware of the issue and some of the events that had been witnessed, including blue clouds of chemical compounds circulating above passengers’ heads, were “significant”. The email was sent in 2007 and campaigners say it shows how much the aviation industry was concerned despite public statements even today that the air is safe. The issue of toxic air, which regularly forces pilots to don oxygen masks, is one of the most serious facing the aviation industry, yet passengers are generally unaware it even exists.

USA - If you listen very carefully, you will still hear absolutely nothing from any talking-heads of the utter collapse that the last few weeks have witnessed in the Baltic Dry shipping index. The Baltic Dry has dropped 12 days in a row and plunged back to $1061 - its lowest since August 2013. This is the worst start to a year on record… must be the weather. The Baltic Dry has dropped 12 days in a row and is now back to its lowest levels since August 2013… and almost post-crisis lows… Which is the worst start to a year since records began 30 years ago… The last time we saw a year start like this was 2012 which saw massive concerted co-ordinated central bank easing in QE3 to save us all… it seems that is not coming anytime soon this time…

UK - An EU Bill of Rights that overrides British laws is becoming a “reality”, the vice-president of the European Commission has said. Viviane Reding said that people in European member states will in future be able to “rely” on the EU charter of “fundamental rights”. The European Commission wants to enforce the charter, which enshrines 54 basic rights in EU law, in all member states.

USA - Buried deep on the website of the US Census Bureau is a number every American citizen, and especially those entrusted with public office, should know. It is 86,429,000. That is the number of Americans who in 2012 got up every morning and went to work — in the private sector — and did it week after week after week.

TEMPLE MOUNT, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) slammed the latest rioting incident on the Temple Mount Wednesday, calling Israel's control over Judaism's holiest site a "failure." "Over the last five days, the Temple Mount has not been occupied by the Jordanian army, but by a division of Hamas," Feiglin said. "The failure of the police to control events on the Temple Mount is, in fact, the failure of political leadership in keeping the heart of Jerusalem intact. Continuing to drag our feet [on the issue] will result in history remembering the Israeli government and its leader as having abandoned the Temple Mount to the Hamas regime," he added.

UK - Between April 2009 and March 2014, level 10 pollution - the highest category - was reached on 25 days. The environment ministry's website advises people to avoid going outside or exercising when this level is reached. The pollution cloud that hit the UK two weeks ago - dubbed 'killer smog' because of the risk it posed to health - was widely publicised. But new figures show that London, Yorkshire and Humberside, Northern Ireland, Merseyside and Manchester have been hit many times by similar levels of pollution. Data reveals that there were also 94 days over the five-year period where smog reached levels 7-9, designated as high. People with breathing difficulties and heart problems are strongly advised not to exercise or travel in this level of pollution.

UK - Interest rates are expected to rise sharply next year, experts have predicted, as official figures heralded the end of the squeeze on wages. A Treasury survey of City economists found that all now expected rates to rise, with some predicting them to more than triple to 1.75 per cent. Higher rates could provide respite to millions of pensioners who have seen the value of their savings shrink due to the impact of inflation and rock-bottom returns. However, it will leave many families paying significantly more on mortgages and debt repayments. David Cameron said that hundreds of thousands of people have been given the “hope of a brighter future” after official figures showed wages are going up faster than prices.