AUSTRALIA - People in Western Austarlia’s far north are being warned to not get drunk tonight as a red alert has been issued for those along the Pilbara coast. Cyclone Veronica is still a category 4 system with sustained winds near the centre measuring 165km/h. “Very destructive wind gusts over 165km/h are expected near the cyclone’s centre as it approaches the coast,” Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster James Ashley said on Saturday.

UK - Theresa May is considering giving MPs a vote on seven Brexit options, including revoking Article 50, over fears her Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union will not pass in the House of Commons, according to Sky News sources.

EUROPE - European leaders meeting late into the evening Thursday rejected the British Prime Minister’s request for a three month Brexit delay, agreeing to give her three weeks instead. While the extension to April 12th — three weeks from today, and two weeks from the original and frequently guaranteed original March 29th departure date — is “unconditional”, European leaders expect Theresa May to use the time to get the withdrawal deal the EU agreed over the line. “April 12 is a key date in terms of the UK wondering whether to hold European parliament elections. If it has not decided to do so by then the option of a long extension will immediately become impossible.”

UK - Theresa May now appears to believe that crashing out might be acceptable. MPs have to work together to stop her. The cliff-edge has moved a tiny bit further away, but it’s still there. Britain will not crash out of the European Union next Friday, thanks to a last act of clemency by the 27 nations we’re about to leave behind. But crashing out remains a possibility, even a likelihood. It might not be a deliberate choice made by the people of these islands, but rather an accident – the product of a series of decisions that were taken and, more often, not taken. Just as the imperial powers stumbled into a war no one wanted in 1914, so the risk remains that we will not jump off the cliff that looms ahead of us, but stumble over it.

HOLLAND - The EU establishment have been plunged into yet another crisis after a shock victory for an anti-EU Dutch party in crunch elections this week. A populist eurosceptic party has stunned the political establishment in the Netherlands and sent shockwaves across the European Union after a stunning election victory. The Forum for Democracy (FvD), which campaigns for a Dutch exit from the EU, won the most votes in elections for the upper house of parliament earlier this week. This has plunged the country and EU leadership into crisis, just as Brussels struggles with more deadlock over Brexit. The party is on course to win 12 seats in the upper house which will place the FvD as the largest party in the senate along with VVD, the party of the prime minister, Mark Rutte. The shock victory has robbed the governing coalition of its majority - forcing it to seek new alliances on the left since the other parties have pledged not to work with the FvD.

HUNGARY - Joined by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and a large crowd gathered in front of the Hungarian National Museum, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that it was the Hungarian people who held out the longest in 1848. They were also the ones who dared to rise up against the world’s largest army in 1956.

“And it was also us who stopped at our southern borders, the migrant invasion directed at Europe. And we are also those who want a strong Europe, strong nation states and new, strong leaders at Europe’s helm, who won’t bring the trouble here, but take the help there,” PM Orbán said. According to the PM, one of the key takeaways of 1848 is that “in Hungary, if there is freedom, there is everything.” But without Christian culture, he added, there is neither Hungarian freedom, nor a free Hungary. “We wish for the peoples of Europe that their night blindness heals,” PM Orbán said, “so they realize that in a liberal European empire, we would all lose our freedom.”

GERMANY - Germany’s manufacturing sector has contracted for the third month in a row, falling to its lowest level since 2012. Car manufacturing has also taken a hit from stricter emission standards that have jammed new car registrations. Phil Smith, principle economist at IHS Markit, said: “While strong fundamentals in the domestic market are driving growth in services business activity, falling exports continue to weigh on the performance of the manufacturing sector. Earlier this week saw the German economic growth forecast slahed by nearly half with forecasters casting a shadow on the European powerhouse.”

UK - The Home Office has rejected the asylum application of a Christian convert from Iran who said they had been drawn to the faith by its peaceful nature, due to a Government official ruling that Christianity is not peaceful. The applicant indicated that they had converted to Christianity from Islam because of its peaceful nature, stating that “In Islam there is violence, rage and revenge. In Christianity on the contrary it is talking about peace, forgiveness and kindness.”

USA - The average US college freshman reads at a seventh grade level, according to an educational assessment report. “We are spending billions of dollars trying to send students to college and maintain them there when, on average, they read at about the grade 6 or 7 level, according to Renaissance Learning’s latest report on what American students in grades 9-12 read, whether assigned or chosen,” education expert Dr Sandra Stotsky told Breitbart Texas.

UK - Theresa May’s time as Prime Minister is “all over”, rivals have warned, with a number of her Cabinet preparing a coup after finally losing patience with her botched Brexit negotiations. Chair of the No10 Policy Board and MP George Freeman this evening posted a scathing tweet, accusing embattled Mrs May of “betraying” the country after it emerged she caved in to demands for a second referendum vote, the result of which sparked fury from Brexiteers. Mr Freeman said: “I’m afraid it’s all over for the PM. She’s done her best. But across the country you can see the anger. Everyone feels betrayed. Government’s gridlocked. Trust in democracy collapsing. This cant go on. We need a new PM who can reach out and build some sort of coalition for a Plan B.”

UK - Prime Minister Theresa May is under fire from all sides after writing to the European Union to request a three-month delay to Brexit, and blaming Parliament for the impasse. “Why are we on bended knee to the EU begging for things we don’t need? Next week should be a simple choice between her deal and no deal,” demanded Iain Duncan Smith, a former party leader and influential eurosceptic. “If it isn’t then it will be a national humiliation, we will have placed ourselves in the position of a supplicant,” he warned.

EUROPE - A NO DEAL Brexit would “very significantly” harm the European Union, Barclays’ chairman said in a chilling warning to Brussels just hours before Theresa May issues her request to extend Article 50 for three months to the EU27. He said: "In the end there is going to be a deal, however it transpires." The EU and euro zone appear as if they are becoming a "closed system" in financial services, Mr McFarlane continued, while London has developed as a global financial centre by being open, which makes it easier for the city to "evolve". The warning from the banking chief comes as a shock report was issued saying Germany faces losing €10 billion a year under a no deal Brexit.

UK - Markets in the UK and US have tumbled with analysts attributing the drop to growing fears of a global slowdown. The FTSE 100 saw its worst day of trading this year, closing 2% lower. In the US, the three main indexes ended between 1.9% and 2.5% lower. The falls came after figures showed eurozone manufacturing growing at its weakest pace in five years in March. Combined with the Federal Reserve's cautious tone on interest rates earlier this week, investors took fright. The Dow Jones Index fell 1.8%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.9% and the Nasdaq lost 2.5%, marking the worst performance for all three indexes in over three months. "The problem right now is that investors are willing to be paid less to wait longer - an indication that they don't have much confidence in the long term outlook for the US economy," says BBC New York business correspondent Michelle Fleury.

USA - Vast areas of the United States are at risk of flooding this spring, even as Nebraska and other Midwestern states are already reeling from record-breaking late-winter floods, federal scientists said on Thursday. Nearly two-thirds of the lower 48 states will have an elevated risk of some flooding from now until May, and 25 states could experience “major or moderate flooding,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some 13 million people could be exposed to major flooding, making this a “potentially unprecedented” flood season, said Edward Clark, director of NOAA’s National Water Center.

USA - “Floods and hurricanes happen. The hazard itself is not the disaster — it’s our habits, our building codes.” According to Craig Fugate, a former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, “Floods and hurricanes happen. The hazard itself is not the disaster—it’s our habits, our building codes. It’s how we build and live in those areas — that’s the disaster.” This is not a call for blame, but a call to arms to learn from the past to keep ourselves out of harm’s way.”