USA - US Attorney General Bill Barr spent the weekend poring over the Special Counsel's report before sending a summary to Congress with his verdict on its main conclusions. As a supplement to the notification provided on Friday, March 22, 2019, I am writing today to advise you of the principal conclusions reached by Special Counsel Robert S Mueller III and to inform you about the status of my initial review of the report he has prepared.

USA - President Donald Trump‘s first reaction to Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s findings, which were revealed in a summary on Sunday by the attorney general, came via tweet. Moments later, he spoke to cable news outlets from tarmac in Palm Beach, Florida. “It began illegally,” Trump said of the investigation. “And hopefully somebody is going to look at the other side, this was an illegal takedown that failed. And hopefully somebody is going to be looking at the other side. So it’s a complete exoneration, no collusion, no obstruction, thank you very much.”

USA - President Donald Trump says his enemies who did "evil" and "treasonous things" will be under scrutiny after he was absolved of colluding with Russia. Speaking in the Oval Office, he said no other president should have to be investigated over "a false narrative". He spoke a day after the attorney general released a summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's completed report. It clears Mr Trump of conspiring with Russia to steal the US 2016 election. "There's a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things," Mr Trump said, "I would say treasonous things, against our country. Those people will certainly be looked at, I've been looking at them for a long time.”

USA - President Donald Trump has officially recognised Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, seized from Syria in 1967, in a move hailed as "historic" by Israel's prime minister. Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an election next month, was by Mr Trump's side as he signed the proclamation. Syria said Mr Trump's decision was "a blatant attack on its sovereignty". Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, in a move that is not recognised internationally. A spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday he was "clear that the status of Golan has not changed". In response, Syria has vowed to recover the area "through all available means".

USA - The United States Air Force is building “game-changing” artificial intelligence technology to be implemented into fighter jets, it has been announced. It is hoped the "computer brain", dubbed “Skyborg”, will be able to operate a prototype “loyal wingman” drone, such as the Kratos XQ-58A, by 2021. The larger goal is to integrate this system into various unmanned planes in the future and eventually turn it into a digital co-pilot to help human aviators in manned platforms. On March 17, Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, publicly disclosed the programme for the first time.  The Air Force also wants the finished product, as well as whatever aircraft the AI flies, to strike the right balance between not being disposable but also not obscenely expensive. 

RUSSIA - At a high-level meeting in Rome this week, it seems that Russia reiterated a grave warning to the US – Moscow will not tolerate American military intervention to topple the Venezuelan government with whom it is allied. Meanwhile, back in Washington DC, President Donald Trump was again bragging that the military option was still on the table, in his press conference with Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro. Trump is bluffing or not yet up to speed with being apprised of Russia’s red line. How the days of American imperialist swagger are numbered. There was a time when it could rampage all over Latin America. Not any more, evidently. Thanks in part to Russia’s global standing and military power.

USA - The flooding that just struck the middle part of the country was the worst blow to US farmers in decades, but now the National Weather Service is telling us that it was just “a preview of what we expect throughout the rest of the spring”.  Can that possibly be true?  After the immense devastation that we have already witnessed, how much worse can the flooding possibly get? 

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.”