SAUDI ARABIA - There are growing signs of a potentially destabilising rift between the king of Saudi Arabia and his heir, the Guardian has been told. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are understood to have disagreed over a number of important policy issues in recent weeks, including the war in Yemen. These tensions increased dramatically in late February when the king, 83, visited Egypt and was warned by his advisers he was at risk of a potential move against him, according to a detailed account from a source. His entourage was so alarmed at the possible threat to his authority that a new security team, comprised of more than 30 hand-picked loyalists from the interior ministry, was flown to Egypt to replace the existing team.

GERMANY - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has allegedly stood up to pressure from Washington as she declined a proposal by Vice President Mike Pence to send German Navy ships towards Russia’s Crimea, Bloomberg reports, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. Pence allegedly wanted German ships to sail through the Kerch Strait separating Crimea from mainland Russia. France, which was reportedly also encouraged to take part in a military maneuver off the Russian shores, refused to do it as well, calling the potential drills an “unnecessary provocation.”

GERMANY - What is one to make of Germany’s love affair with Iran? In a recent conversation with senior Trump administration officials, Breitbart News was told that the force behind the European Union’s trenchant support for Iran is Germany. This EU support for Iran is manifested in a series of ways. For example, after President Donald Trump walked away from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal, last May, the EU responded harshly.

HOLLAND - Dutch author and sociologist Ruud Koopmans said this week that Muslims are more difficult to integrate into Western society than other migrant groups because of a literal interpretation of the Quran prevalent among Muslims. Koopmans, a professor at the Berlin Social Science Center and author of several books including Contested Citizenship: Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Europe, told the Danish newspaper Berlingske that whereas most groups of migrants integrate relatively quickly, especially from one generation to the next, Islam stands out as an exception. “Although it’s not completely absent in Muslims, the change is much slower,” he said, noting that a literal interpretation of the Quran prevents them from integrating into Western countries.

USA - A security report from Microsoft detailed in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday described a cyber-espionage campaign of previously unsuspected scope conducted by Iranian hackers over the past two years. The hackers attacked over 200 companies around the world, inflicting hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

MIDDLE EAST - Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad reportedly warned Kristin Lund, head of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), that “Syria will attack Israel if it does not leave the Golan Heights.” “We will not hesitate to confront Israel,” Mekdad said. “We are also not scared away by its [Israel’s] supporters who are helping to perpetuate the occupation of the Golan,” he added. The Syrian official accused Israel of using violence and harming regional stability. The message has been interpreted as a sign that Syria is concerned that the US will recognize Israel’s sovereignty on the Golan Heights.

MIDDLE EAST - Syria faces an open economic war with the new EU and US sanctions, experts contend. A recent analysis of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) notes, the sanctions have a "hugely detrimental impact on the most vulnerable members of Syria's population." The sanctions imposed on Syria have been strongly criticized internationally for many years. Already in 2016, the United Nations noted, that it is the "most complicated and far-reaching sanctions regimes ever imposed." UN officials cite Western sanctions and not the war as the "principal factor" in the erosion of Syria's health care system. Now that Brussels has even extended its sanctions, Washington is about to impose sanctions on all companies and countries lending support to Syrian government projects to rebuild the country.

USA - We have not seen anything like this since the last recession.  Layoff announcements are coming fast and furious now, and the speed at which workers are being laid off is shocking a lot of people.  In this day and age, big companies have absolutely no loyalty to their workers.  The moment it becomes financially advantageous for them to start laying off employees, most of them will do it in a heartbeat. 

USA - Is the consumer debt bubble finally starting to burst? If the latest numbers on delinquent credit card accounts are any indication, that appears to be precisely what is happening. As I noted the other day, Americans currently have 480 million credit cards, and they are carrying 870 billion dollars worth of balances on those cards. That is one giant pile of debt, but there won’t be a problem as long as the vast majority of Americans regularly make their credit card payments. Unfortunately, the number of credit card accounts that are delinquent has been steadily rising, and now we are being told that the number of “seriously delinquent” accounts has shot up to 37 million…

SOUTH AFRICA - In a judgment handed down on Friday, the court found that it was unfair to exclude members of the church from the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms that the church offers.  These included the opportunity to get married in the church.  In 2015, the church decided to allow individual church councils to recognise same-sex marriages, and scrapped a rule that gay ministers of the church had to be celibate.  A year later, in 2016, the church adopted a new policy, scrapping the 2015 decision.  Reverend Laurie Gaum, his father Dr Frits Gaum and eight other members of the Dutch Reformed Church launched the High Court application to have the 2016 decision set aside and declared unconstitutional.

USA - Tuesday on Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” economist and Hoover Institution senior fellow Thomas Sowell offered his thoughts on what appears to be a comeback for the popularity of socialism in the United States. Sowell explained that some of the blame could be put on the media and educational institutions in the country for not doing a better job of putting socialism to the test. “Unfortunately, neither our educational system nor our media encourage people to test ideas against facts,” Sowell said. “Socialism is a wonderful sounding idea. It’s only as a reality, it is disastrous.”

USA - Thomas Sowell, a living legend in the field of economics, says he fears the US may eventually succumb to the siren song of socialism… the US may very well go down a path of financial ruin due to “wonderful-sounding” rhetoric. Mr Sowell, a Marxist in his youth, made the remarks Tuesday while appearing with Fox Business Network’s David Asman. “I do have a great fear that, in the long run, we may not make it,” Mr Sowell said. The author said that time and time again, people adopt willful ignorance regarding socialism’s track record around the world.

USA - US President Donald Trump has announced his intention to end preferential trade treatment for India, accusing New Delhi of failing to convince Washington it will provide “equitable and reasonable” access to its markets. “I am providing notice of my intent to terminate the designation of India as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program,” Trump said in a letter to Congress on Monday. “I am taking this step because, after intensive engagement between the United States and the Government of India, I have determined that India has not assured the United States that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to the markets of India.” Further deterioration of the cozy trade relationship with Washington could prove problematic for India, for which the US serves as its second largest export market with 16 percent.

GERMANY - When the Iranian government celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, few celebrated outside regime rent-a-mobs in Tehran. After all, while the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini promised Iranians and diplomats that he had no interest in personal power and only wanted an Islamic democracy, he instead ushered in a dictatorship more brutal, corrupt, and capricious than the shah’s regime which he demonized.

ISRAEL - The latest confrontation over the “Gate of Mercy” (known as the Golden Gate, or in Hebrew, Sha’ar HaRachamim), which has been disputed in the past, reflects a new pact between the opponents of US President Donald Trump’s upcoming Mideast peace plan. That consists of the Palestinian Authority, Turkey and Jordan, all of whom are concerned about its future status on the Temple Mount. The present conflict is intended to give a clear message to anyone thinking of removing Jordan or the Palestinian Authority from their current or future position on the Temple Mount. The Jordanian-Palestinian concern is that the plan will weaken their position on the Temple Mount.