Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was pictured rejoicing in the passing of a controversial bill that would allow the execution of Palestinian prisoners.

The far-right minister, who has largely championed the legislation, was seen celebrating its approval by drinking and serving alcohol to members of the Israeli parliament. 

London: US President Donald Trump has sparked a furore by mocking French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte during a speech about the war with Iran, adding a new personal barb to his deepening dispute with European allies.

Trump joked that Brigitte Macron treated her husband “extremely badly” and the French leader was still recovering from a “right to the jaw” from his wife, drawing laughs from the audience at a White House lunch.

The remarks infuriated French politicians including Macron’s biggest rivals, with left-wing leader Manuel Bompard declaring it was “absolutely unacceptable” for Trump to speak of Brigitte Macron in this way.

American lawmakers have denounced US President Donald Trump’s address to the nation for being a bizarre mixture of delusions and lies about objectives and alleged accomplishments in Washington’s ongoing war of aggression against Iran.

In posts on social media, legislators attacked “delusional” Trump for what he delivered as his first address to the nation on Wednesday night on the illegal war against the Islamic Republic that began late in February.

Speaking during a televised address from the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 1, 2026, Trump's 20-minute primetime speech was - despite some speculation beforehand - largely a rehash of what he has been saying for days about the Iran war.

Gulf states have called for the UN Security Council to authorise the use of force to secure the Strait of Hormuz against Iranian attacks, after the vital shipping lane was effectively shut by Iran, disrupting global energy supplies. Iran has warned of “more destructive” attacks on Israel and the US following US President Donald Trump’s remarks in a televised address Wednesday that dimmed hopes of a swift end to the Mideast war. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.

SUMMARY

The Butcher’s Doctrine: How Netanyahu Shed the Mask of Morality and Became the West’s Most Dangerous Warlord

Muhammad Hamid ad-Din

The ideological manifesto of a man who realized the mask of morality is no longer needed because the leash has been removed.

While the world's attention was focused on the US-Israel with Iran, Ukraine has quietly recaptured territory and significantly weakened Russia's energy infrastructure — hampering the windfall that Vladimir Putin was predicted to receive from soaring crude oil prices amid the crisis in the Middle East. So why aren't we hearing more about these gains? DW talks to Ukraine correspondent Nick Connolly about why this is.

Anthony Howard talks to DW's Nick Connolly in Ukraine

The war gains Ukraine keeps under wraps

Ukraine's war has quietly shifted. Deep‑strike drones, hidden territorial gains, and a faltering Russian offensive. We break down the big changes you probably didn't see happening.

What’s the scam with the carbon credits middlemen? Correspondence obtained by MWM claims brokers are taking fees equivalent to half the value of the project’s credits, even more.

The energy and carbon consultants that mediate between the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) and project owners are taking up to 70% of the value of the Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCU), according to industry sources.

In a note from Martin Energy Group’s Andrew Boughton to Dairy Australia, he says, “It beggars belief that 20% to 50% of the value of a national carbon credit scheme designed to help farmers and builders is being used to benefit office-bound intermediaries in a wildly disproportionate way relative to their services and assumed risks.”

"History Repeats Itself". "This is the U.S. in the Hands of the Jews". Anti-Semitic USA political cartoon in 1896. Portrays Uncle Sam being crucified like Jesus. Two figures labeled "Wall Street Pirates" with caricatured Jewish features poke him with a spear and raise a poisoned sponge to his lips.

The tub of poison is labeled "Debt", the poisoned sponge "Interest on Bonds", and the spear "Single Gold Standard". Below, figures labeled "Republicanism" (Caricature of James G. Blaine) and "Democracy" (Caricature of Grover Cleveland) pick Uncle Sam's pockets.

THE CARTOON ABOVE SEEMS TO STILL BE RELEVANT TODAY, DESPITE “ANTISEMITISM” HAVING BECOME A CRIME.

The economic shocks from the war in the Middle East will remain for months, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared in a rare prime-time address to the nation, suggesting Australians should try to save fuel where possible.

So the world’s greatest military power went to war against a fourth rate nation whose military budget would be rounding error in our defense spending. And it appears that we lost. 

Hi, Paul Krugman with a late night, well, evening update, which I don’t usually do, but I wanted to get this in before who knows what happens in the news tomorrow. 

The Psychology of Military Incompetence

How the Iran War was lost

BY PAUL KRUGMAN

Australia was quick to back US action in Iran. But as questions mount over strategy and legality, the risks – and consequences for allies – are coming into sharper focus.

It is just a month since America and Israel unleashed their air assault on Iran. Prime Minister Albanese rushed to be the first global leader to support it. But he just appeared on ABC TV complaining about “uncertainty in US objectives”. What he is saying is that he regrets his vulgar haste and wants the US to stop.

Mike Gilligan

The United States Department of Defense has demanded the retraction of a newspaper report alleging that a broker for defence chief Pete Hegseth attempted to make a large investment in weapons companies in the run-up to the war on Iran.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell demanded the “immediate” retraction on Monday after the Financial Times reported that a wealth manager for the defence secretary contacted BlackRock about making a multimillion-dollar investment in a defence-related fund in the weeks leading up to the war.

Hegseth’s broker at Morgan Stanley ultimately did not go ahead with the investment in the exchange-traded fund, whose holdings include Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, because it was not yet available for purchase at the time, the Financial Times reported, citing three unnamed sources.

The United States has deployed its third nuclear aircraft carrier to the Middle East. The USS George H.W. Bush departed Naval Station Norfolk on March 31, 2026, heading into a theater where the USS Abraham Lincoln has been repositioned away from Iranian strike range and the USS Gerald R. Ford spent weeks in a European repair facility after a fire.

Cost-of-living pressure will not automatically shift votes to the Coalition, as culturally aligned voters begin drifting toward alternatives that project conviction and stability.

Every political cycle, someone rediscovers the old rule: when household budgets are hurting, voters punish the government of the day. It’s a tidy theory. It’s also increasingly wrong and under Angus Taylor, the Coalition is about to find out the hard way.

Kos Samaras