ITALY - Italy’s anti-migration Interior Minister Matteo Salvini led a rally of right-wing populist leaders Saturday seeking historic results in next week’s European Parliament elections in their bid to transform European politics. Salvini, the head of Italy’s right-wing League party, has positioned himself at the forefront of a growing movement of nationalist leaders seeking to free the European Union’s 28 nations from what he called Brussels’ “illegal occupation.” He pledged to close Europe’s borders to migrants if the League wins not just the most votes of any party in Italy, but also of Europe. Salvini was joined by 10 other nationalist leaders, including Marine Le Pen of France’s National Rally party and Joerg Meuthen of the Alternative for Germany party. It was a major tour de force for the expanding movement ahead of the May 23-26 vote that will take place in all 28 EU nations.

USA - Texas is asserting its sovereign immunity against Congress, telling Democrats on two congressional committees this week that the state has no obligation to comply with their investigative demands. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office says that as a state with sovereign powers under the Constitution, Texas can’t be treated like a federal agency or Cabinet secretary who can be compelled to comply. “Texas does not draw its authority from the United States or the United States Constitution, but from its status as a dual sovereign within the union,” Jeffrey C Mateer, first assistant attorney general, wrote in a letter Monday to the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Mr Mateer fired off a similar letter Wednesday to the House Ways and Means Committee rebuffing its attempts, saying the state wouldn’t stand to be treated like a “subdivision of the federal government or a private citizen.” The clash could break new legal ground.

GERMANY - Relations between the two allies, the US and the EU, particularly with Germany, have deteriorated since Washington withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, threatening the European firms there with sanctions and imposing higher import tariffs. Angela Merkel’s latest call to close ranks comes just ahead of Donald Trump’s decision on new duties. In an interview with the German daily Zueddeutche Zeitung ahead of the European elections Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Europe to unite and stand up to the US, Russia, and China. Amid the ongoing tussle with Washington over higher import tariffs and the US pulling out of the Iran deal, one of Europe’s most powerful politicians stated that “the old certainties of the postwar order no longer apply” expressing confidence that “Europe needs to reposition itself in a changed world”.

USA - The US military industrial complex has grown into a self-sustaining organism with an immune system that attacks and smothers any threat to its food supply – the taxpayers' money, writes renowned defense analyst Andrew Cockburn. Cockburn outlines the process that allows US defense contractors to thrive despite repeatedly missing deadlines and producing overpriced, subpar equipment. The system has evolved to be very good at defending itself – while leaving the country, “in reality so poorly defended,” he writes in his latest think piece for Harper's Magazine….

USA - The escalation of the trade fight with China appears to have bought the European Union and Japan some time to negotiate with the US in an effort to avoid tariff hikes on cars and auto parts. The Trump administration said Friday it would delay tariffs on cars and auto parts imports for up to six months. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who is leading trade talks with China alongside Treasury Secretary Robert Lighthizer, will take the lead in trade negotiations with the EU and Japan.

SAUDI ARABIA - Riyadh will confront Tehran with “all strength and determination” if need be, the Kingdom’s FM warned after the crown prince received a call from Washington in which the sides discussed ways to ensure regional “security.” Tehran seeks to destabilize the entire region, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir stated, urging the international community to intervene and stop it before it is too late. Claiming that Riyadh wants nothing but peace, the minister announced that the Kingdom stands ready to respond with full force against its arch rival if "the other side chooses war." Four commercial ships were damaged off the coast of the United Arab Emirates last Sunday, while several days later oil installations in Saudi Arabia were allegedly targeted by drones. The US used the incident as a convenient pretext to deploy warships and strategic bombers in the region, citing an imminent threat from Tehran to American interests.

USA - The Federal Aviation Administration has warned US airlines flying over the Gulf to exercise caution "due to heightened military activities and increased political tensions in the region." The advisory, which also covers airspace over the Gulf of Oman, comes amid rising tensions between the US and Iran. Increased tensions in the region "present an increasing inadvertent risk to US civil aviation operations due to the potential for miscalculation or miss-identification, said the FAA advisory released late Thursday. The regulator also warned that aircraft flying in the area could encounter "inadvertent GPS interference and communications jamming, which could occur with little to no warning." Washington has deployed an aircraft carrier group and B-52 bombers to the region against what it claims is an imminent threat from Tehran.

IRAN - Iran's top diplomat dismissed the possibility of war erupting in the region at a time of escalating confrontation with the United States, saying Tehran did not want conflict and no country had the "illusion it can confront Iran". Tensions between Washington and Tehran have increased in recent days, raising concerns about a potential US-Iran conflict. Earlier this week the United States pulled some diplomatic staff from its embassy in neighboring Iraq following attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf. Trump has said publicly he wants to pursue a diplomatic route with Iran after ratcheting pressure on Tehran.

MIDDLE EAST - Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad in Gaza have arsenals of rockets aimed into Israel, while tens of thousands of Shiite Muslim fighters across the region are beholden to Tehran. In the event of war with the United States, Iran “will not be alone.” “If America launches war on Iran, it will not be alone in the confrontation, because the fate of our region is tied to the Islamic Republic,” Hassan Nasrallah said. From Lebanon and Syria to Iraq, Yemen, and the Gaza Strip, Tehran has significantly expanded its footprint over the past decade, finding and developing powerful allies in conflict-ravaged countries across the Middle East. Hezbollah is one of the most prominent members of the self-styled “axis of resistance,” armed groups with tens of thousands of Shiite Muslim fighters beholden to Tehran.

GERMANY - Germany's highest court ordered public broadcaster ARD to air a small neo-Nazi party's election campaign clip, overturning a ban on the advertisement imposed on grounds that it amounted to incitement against foreigners. Last month ARD refused an advert by the National Democratic Party (NDP) for its European Parliament election campaign in which it calls for the creation of "safe zones" for Germans who have become "victims" of mass immigration. A Berlin court rejected an NPD appeal against ARD's decision. The Federal Constitutional Court overturned that decision, saying it infringed on the NPD's right to campaign and put it at a disadvantage against other parties. "A constitutional complaint (by the NPD) is therefore at the moment neither inadmissible nor unfounded," the court ruled. The NPD is hoping to make gains in the European Parliament, where it has one lawmaker, in elections later this month.

TURKEY - Donald Trump has terminated the preferential trade agreement which provided Turkey with partial tax-free access to US markets, in a move some see as Washington’s retaliation for the NATO ally’s increasingly independent policies. More than two months after the United States threatened to end Turkey’s participation in the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, President Donald Trump on Thursday cut off Ankara’s access to the program, noting that the country is no longer a developing state. It came amid heightened tensions which, in addition to a number of contentious points, have recently soured over Turkey’s refusal to give up the purchase of Russian S-400 missile air-defense systems, which the US apparently sees as a direct threat to its own national security and interests.

EUROPE - Five banks have been fined €1.07 billion (£935 million) by the European Commission after traders clubbed together to rig the foreign exchange market. Four banks in the "Banana Split" cartel - Barclays, RBS, Citigroup and JP Morgan - were fined €811 million in all. Three banks in the "Essex Express" cartel - Barclays and RBS again, plus MUFG - were fined €258 million. A sixth bank, UBS, was excused financial penalties for revealing the cartels' existence. The European Commission said the market-rigging took place from 2007 to 2013.

USA - 2019 is turning out to be a nightmare that never ends for the agriculture industry. Thanks to endless rain and unprecedented flooding, fields all over the middle part of the country are absolutely soaked right now, and this has prevented many farmers from getting their crops in the ground. I knew that this was a problem, but when I heard that only 30 percent of US corn fields had been planted as of Sunday, I had a really hard time believing it. But it turns out that number is 100 percent accurate. And at this point corn farmers are up against a wall because crop insurance final planting dates have either already passed or are coming up very quickly. In addition, for every day after May 15th that corn is not in the ground, farmers lose approximately 2 percent of their yield. Unfortunately, more rain is on the way, and it looks like thousands of corn farmers will not be able to plant corn at all this year. It is no exaggeration to say that what we are facing is a true national catastrophe.

CANADA - As Big League Politics reports, lawmakers in the province of Ontario are considering a piece of legislation that would have the same effect as criminalizing the public practice of Christianity. The bill, “Prohibiting Hate-Promoting Demonstrations at Queen’s Park Act, 2019,” would criminalize public displays erected by Christians that some could claim are hateful to Muslims (as though the Muslim religion isn’t hateful of Christians), the LGBTQRSXYX community, and any other group deemed “victims” by the intolerant Left. What’s more, it’s always the Left that gets to decide what “hate” is and what it means; conservatives have no say in the matter. Further, the actions the Left prescribes when ‘dealing’ with hate is most often authoritarian, intolerant, and itself hateful — like bans of Christian displays or even censoring Christians from speaking.

USA - Along the way to becoming the richest person on earth, Jeff Bezos has certifiably lost touch with reality. After dominating earth, his latest vision is to put one trillion humans in space in floating cylinders. According to WebMD, “Schizophrenia is a psychosis, a type of mental illness in which a person cannot tell what is real from what is imagined. At times, people with psychotic disorders lose touch with reality.” TN Editor