PHILIPPINES - At least four people have died and a million others have been forced to flee their homes as Super Typhoon Goni slammed into the southern part of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon on Sunday. The immensely powerful storm brought “catastrophic” winds and intense downpours of rain as it made two landfalls in the Southeast Asian country. The typhoon is the world’s strongest so far this year, boasting sustained winds of 225 kph (140 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 310 kph (190 mph). The Philippines weather bureau said “catastrophic violent winds and intense to torrential rainfall” were expected to prevail over Bicol and surrounding provinces. The disaster management agency said that up to 31 million people could be affected by the typhoon.

PHILIPPINES - At least ten people have died as a devastating super typhoon has wreaked havoc in the Philippines, bringing 174 mile-per-hour winds triggering volcanic mudflows that engulfed some 150 houses. Typhoon Goni - one of the most powerful typhoons in the world this year - blasted into the eastern island province of Catanduanes at dawn with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour, threatening some provinces still recovering from a deadly typhoon that hit a week ago. Goni - which brought severe gusts of 174 miles per hour at its most extreme - barreled through densely populated regions and threatened to sideswipe Manila, which shut down its main airport in response. But the typhoon shifted southward on Sunday night and spared the capital, the government's weather agency said.

ISRAEL - A second term for US President Donald Trump would threaten the future of NATO, embolden Russia’s role in the Middle East and put Israel in a tough situation, says former US ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, ahead of the 2020 election. Shapiro told Haaretz that “NATO would be unlikely to survive a second Trump term,” noting that the 45th president has expressed interest in the past in withdrawing the United States from the influential alliance, which has served as a deterring force against Russia ever since the days of the Cold War.

USA - A storm is coming in, and soon it will envelop the entire nation. We are accustomed to seeing businesses board up their doors and windows in coastal cities that are about to get hit by a hurricane, but I can’t think of another time when businesses all across America have been boarding up their doors and windows all at the same time. There is widespread fear that this election could be the spark that sets off another round of horrifying civil unrest in cities all over the United States, and business owners are taking measures to protect their businesses from the violence. The fact that we are even talking about the possibility of widespread violence after a presidential election shows just how much our country has fallen already. Our society is literally coming apart at the seams all around us, and at this point even Forbes is urging everyone to prepare for a worst case scenario…

USA - Is this rush for the exits going to turn into a stampede? Stock prices have been plummeting in recent days, and most of the talking heads on television have been blaming the declines on the COVID-19 pandemic. Yes, it is true that the number of confirmed cases in the United States is spiking again, but I don’t think that alone is enough to account for what we have been witnessing. Instead, I believe that the primary reason why stocks have been tumbling is because there is so much uncertainty about what is going to take place next week.

SWITZERLAND - The US has joined a group of largely repressive governments in co-sponsoring an international declaration that challenges the right to an abortion. The Geneva Consensus Declaration, sponsored by Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, and Uganda and signed by more than 30 countries during a virtual international ceremonial on Thursday, aims, among other goals, to affirm the "strength of the family and of a successful and flourishing society" and "to express the essential priority of protecting the right to life," according to the agreement. It also states that countries are committed to reaffirming that there is "no international right to abortion, nor any international obligation on the part of States to finance or facilitate abortion." The signing of the nonbinding declaration comes days ahead of the 2020 presidential election and as the President, who has taken a strong stance against abortion during his time in office, continues to emphasize his support for tighter abortion restrictions.

UK - Boris Johnson told the nation to lockdown once more after being warned "several thousand deaths a day" could happen without action. The PM last night ordered the country to "stay at home" for four weeks from Thursday in a fresh effort to "protect the NHS and save lives". It comes after advisers feared the rampaging virus could be twice as bad as the first wave, with "a peak of mortality far bigger than April".

USA - Time magazine has hailed "The Great Reset" on its front cover, declaring that the global COVID-19 pandemic has created "a unique opportunity" to usher in socialism around the world. The American weekly news magazine has devoted an entire issue to promoting an initiative called “The Great Reset.” The World Economic Forum (WEF) is the primary sponsor of “The Great Reset.”

AEGEAN SEA - A powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake in the Aegean Sea has struck the Turkish town of Izmir, unleashing a 'mini-tsunami' and toppling several buildings. A massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake has struck the Turkish town of Izmir, setting off a mini-tsunami in its wake. The governor of the region has said that the quake destroyed several buildings, while dramatic footage from social media shows houses collapsing in the aftermath of the quake. Following the earthquake, water from the Aegean Sea filled the streets, prompting residents to flee to higher ground. In one clip, a huge wave is seen crashing through the streets of the town. The quake was felt across the eastern Greek islands and as far as the Greek capital Athens.

MIDDLE EAST - Business people, investors and the top echelons of the Emirati economy are rushing to forge promising Israeli connections. Israel and the UAE are forging a different kind of peace, a cordial peace that is growing warmer with every passing day. An Israeli delegation that visited the Emirates this week was led by former Labor Knesset member Erel Margalit, a high-tech entrepreneur. He and the 13 other leading business people were greeted with enthusiasm. Margalit said, "The Emirates are a gateway to markets of 3 billion people."

USA - The US State Department is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of the global terrorist organization Lebanese Hizbullah. The US is seeking information on the activities, networks, and associates of Hizbullah that form a part of its financial support, which includes financiers and facilitators like Muhammad Qasir, Muhammad Qasim al-Bazzal, and Ali Qasir. Since its inception in 1984, the Rewards for Justice program has paid over $150 million to more than 100 people who provided actionable information that helped bring terrorists to justice or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide.

UNITED NATIONS - Israel's Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan told the Security Council on Monday: "Instead of viewing the [normalization] accords as a new opportunity to kick-start negotiations, the Palestinians have attacked the Emirates, Bahrainis and Sudanese… Now everyone can see that the Palestinians incite against any country that seeks peace in the region, even its fellow Arab League members. The fact that the Palestinians attack those who make peace with Israel demonstrates that, for years, the council has been applying pressure to the wrong side."

MIDDLE EAST - If the Palestinian national movement had not been addicted to terrorism and violence and blind to historical processes, they could have had an independent state decades ago. The Palestinian national movement has become addicted to a pattern of behavior that combines failed aggression with serial whining. It's important to remind those who insisted on pitying the Palestinians that this behavior is what has brought most of their misfortunes down upon them. At the end of the British Mandate, the Palestinians were offered independence under the Partition Plan, but they chose to cling to the goal of a Palestinian state on the ruins of Israel. The Palestine Liberation Organization was set up on the same basis: to eliminate Israel through armed resistance.

MIDDLE EAST - For the first time ever, the Palestinian leadership are now feeling that the Arab world is really fed up with them and does not want to wait for them anymore. The Arab world does not like the condemnations coming from the Palestinians and the accusations of treason. They do not like seeing pictures of their leaders being burned at Al-Aqsa Mosque. They also do not like to hear the PA Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, issuing a fatwa banning citizens of any Arab country that normalizes relations with Israel from praying at Al-Aqsa. I follow what is being said in the Arab world. It is unimaginable what Arabs in the Gulf are saying about the Palestinians: "You ungrateful people. We've given you billions of dollars all these years. In the end, you spit in our face and you burn our flag." One prominent Emirati academic tweeted pictures of UAE flags in the Israeli city of Netanya. Next to them, pictures of the UAE flag being burned by Palestinians in Ramallah and Gaza. He wrote: "My flag is being honored in Israel while these Palestinians are burning my flag."

TURKEY - Since a young Muslim beheaded a French schoolteacher on October 16 who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in a class, France - a nation traumatized by 36 Islamic State-inspired terrorist attacks in the last eight years - has conducted dozens of raids against suspected Islamic extremists. In response, criticism of France has been led by Turkish President Erdogan, who said French President "Macron needs mental treatment" and called for a boycott of French goods. In Bangladesh, an estimated 40,000 people took part in an anti-France rally, burning an effigy of Macron. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan accused Macron of encouraging Islamophobia. Jordan's foreign ministry condemned the "continued publication of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad under the pretext of freedom of expression."