USA - The US president said Washington must respond to rival powers ‘on an equal basis’. Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to immediately begin testing of the US nuclear arsenal on Thursday, hours after Russia announced it had tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone. Mr Trump made the announcement as he travelled to his high-stakes summit with China’s Xi Jinping. “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years. That process will begin immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

RUSSIA - Russia has successfully tested a nuclear-powered super-torpedo designed to create radioactive tsunamis and wipe out coastal cities. On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin confirmed a successful test of the Poseidon days after a trial of the new Burevestnik cruise missile, which was followed by nuclear launch drills. Donald Trump, who has recently toughened his stance towards Russia, said the tests were “not appropriate” and that Putin should focus more on ending the war in Ukraine. But Putin appears to have brushed off the US president’s comments, confirming the test over tea and cakes with Russian soldiers at a hospital in Moscow.

ISRAEL - To understand the context of Israel’s airstrike on Hamas yesterday, you need to understand the most important point about the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which resulted in the return of the remaining living hostages. That point is that the ceasefire is just that and only that: a ceasefire agreement. Although it has the potential to become something more than a ceasefire agreement – a fully-fledged peace deal, and even a roadmap to a new accommodation between Israel and the Palestinians – it is not yet that. Not even remotely so, despite Trump’s remarkable achievement in getting us this far. As of now, Hamas is unwilling even to adhere to the terms of the ceasefire. The same is as true now as it was before the ceasefire agreement: if Hamas hands over the rest of the bodies the Israelis will stop. The future of the ceasefire is in Hamas’ hands.

USA - The US Department of Agriculture has posted a notice on its website saying federal food aid will not go out November 1, raising the stakes for families nationwide as the government shutdown drags on. The shutdown, which began October 1, is now the second-longest on record. While the Republican administration took steps leading up to the shutdown to ensure SNAP benefits were paid this month, the cutoff would expand the impact of the impasse to a wider swath of Americans — and some of those most in need — unless a political resolution is found in just a few days.

USA - Major tech companies launching the huge projects across the country are asking land sellers and public officials to sign NDAs (Non Disclosure Agreements) to limit discussions about details of the projects in exchange for morsels of information and the potential of economic lifelines for their communities. It often leaves neighbors searching for answers about the futures of their communities. The construction of such hyperscale data centers — giant facilities that house servers and computing resources — is booming nationwide. President Donald Trump’s AI action plan and related executive orders have recently facilitated their speedy approval, in part by loosening environmental regulations from clean air and water laws. Hundreds of projects were announced last year, touted by developers and many local officials as economic boosts to local economies. Data centers often draw enormous amounts of water and electricity, causing residents to complain about rising power bills and water shortages.

NIGERIA - For years, Christians have been systemically persecuted in Nigeria, with Muslim terrorist groups and militias periodically raiding, raping, murdering, and enslaving Christian civilians in the northern part of the country. According to a recent article in Catholic Vote, “From 2019 to 2023, a total of 55,910 people were killed,” and “21,621 people were abducted.” President Trump, who has long known about it, is now receiving petitions to call out this violence and again designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” as he did in his first term. So why do Christians and other secular leaders refuse to acknowledge the truth about this? Probably because doing so would mean acknowledging a deeper truth that Christianity and Islam are fundamentally different faiths, that the modern ecumenical project of finding common ground has failed, and that importing third-worlders by the millions is civilizational suicide.

USA - Amazon announced major "organizational changes" across its corporate workforce that will result in the elimination of 14,000 jobs, as the company accelerates investments in artificial intelligence and automation. The 14,000-job reduction still marks one of the company's largest layoffs in years, underscoring its push to reduce pandemic hiring and streamline operations with chatbots and other next-generation technologies. At 14,000 corporate job cuts, that's roughly 4% of Amazon's corporate workforce of about 350,000 employees. Amazon's total workforce is 1.55 million, including warehouse and delivery workers, making the corporate-level restructuring peanuts compared to the overall workforce.

JAMAICA - Hurricane Melissa has wreaked devastation across Jamaica, decimating homes and infrastructure and leaving thousands of tourists stranded. The strongest storm to strike the Caribbean island in modern history, the hurricane sustained winds that peaked at 185 miles (nearly 300 kilometers) per hour while drenching the nation with torrential rain. Apocalyptic new images show hollowed-out buildings, trees torn over and entire towns leveled by the ferocious top-level storm that unleashed flash flooding and mudslides. Three-quarters of the island nation had no electricity overnight while many parts of Jamaica's western side are submerged under water. The category five storm destroyed up to 90 per cent of roofs in the southwest coastal community of Black River, said Prime Minister Andrew Holness, where scores of hospitals, libraries and police stations have been obliterated.

USA - It is already happening. There has been a lot of talk that there will be a surge in demand at America’s overwhelmed food banks once funding for the food stamp program ends in early November, but the truth is that we are already witnessing a surge in demand. So what is going to happen if the current government shutdown persists for an extended period of time? On one recent evening, the line at a food bank in downtown Kansas City “snaked through the parking lot, down a driveway and into the street”… If the line at that food bank is long enough to wrap around a shopping center now, what is it going to look like in a few weeks?

USA - Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who has spent more than a decade warning that the world was on the brink of unimaginable peril due to rising global temperatures, now says climate change “will not lead to humanity’s demise” in a stunning reversal. Gates, 70, who has sunk billions of his vast fortune into initiatives ostensibly meant to combat global warming, penned a lengthy blog post this week urging a shift away from the “doomsday outlook” many climate activists have adopted to terrify nonbelievers into seeing things their way. “Although climate change will have serious consequences — particularly for people in the poorest countries — it will not lead to humanity’s demise,” he wrote. “People will be able to live and thrive in most places on Earth for the foreseeable future.”