AFRICA - The Horn of Africa has been hit by the worst invasion of desert locusts in 25 years, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Friday. The invasion poses an unprecedented threat to food security in the entire sub region, where more than 19 million people in East Africa are already experiencing a high degree of food insecurity, the agency said. In Kenya, it is the worst invasion in 70 years, and the government is spending $5 million to manage the swarms of locust and prevent spreading.

NIGERIA - Nigeria is in a state of unrest, but what happened in Nigeria this week? Nigerian protests this month have gained international attention. Over the past two weeks, support for these protests has been widespread across social media. But what exactly happened in Nigeria this week and what motivated protesters to conduct these demonstrations? The hashtag #EndSARS went global on social media earlier this month after a video of a man allegedly killed by police sparked protests. The movement initially targeted the highly-criticised Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), widely accused of unlawful arrests, torture and murder. SARS was set up in 1992 to tackle the growing problem of theft using force in Nigeria. Protests first began almost two weeks ago when calls to disband the SARS police unit took place. President Muhammadu Buhari dissolved the unit on October 11. Demonstrators have called for more changes in the security forces as well as reforms to the way the country is run. Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said criminals have now hijacked the protests.

GERMANY - Bishops Georg Baetzing, Bertram Meier and Heiner Wilmer; North Rhine-Westphalia governor Armin Laschet; Cardinal Reinhard Marx; former bishop Heinz-Josef Algermissen; ex-President Christian Wulff and the pope’s ambassador to Germany, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic. Pope Francis has received a remarkably long list of guests from Germany in recent weeks, more than from any other country, which is remarkable especially considering restrictions on visits caused by the ongoing pandemic.

USA - Four years after Donald Trump’s election reframed how many nations interacted with the United States, the way that the world’s foremost superpower moves forward after its presidential election stands to impact many geopolitical pressure points — whether the victor turns out to be Trump or his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. From Iran to Cuba, from China to Israel, American involvement and influence on the international stage has evolved sharply since Trump took office in 2017. He swept away agreements with some nations, alienated longstanding allies and pulled out of multilateral obligations that he said didn’t serve the interests of the United States. Here’s a look at some key issues whose direction will be, in part, steered by who wins the US presidency.

USA - The fact that law enforcement officials across the nation are expecting widespread violence following the election should chill every American to the core. As I keep repeating over and over, violence is not going to solve anything, but much of the population is not listening to voices such as mine anymore. As you will see below, authorities have decided to “plan for the worst” because everyone can see what is potentially coming.

SOUTH KOREA - South Korea plans to acquire a dozen types of advanced military hardware, such as suicide unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and gun-shooting drones, by next year to better brace for evolving future battle environments, the arms procurement agency said Monday. Under the second round of the “rapid acquisition” project worth 26 billion won (US$22.75 million), the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) decided to buy 12 military items that employ state-of-the-art technologies, such as remote control and autonomous driving. They include light-weight suicide UAVs, drones that fire guns at ground targets, advanced surveillance plus attack drones, multipurpose unmanned vehicles, intelligent anti-jamming censors and a smartphone-based combat command system, according to DAPA. The agency issued a tender notice Monday and will choose companies within this year to deliver those items to the military in the first half of next year, officials said.

USA - Twitter suspends feminist professor for saying ‘only females get cervical cancer’. With all the hoopla from the 2020 election ramping up for its final, devastating conclusion one way or another, the Cultural Marxists driving what they hope to be a post-truth society are still busy being woke. Twitter is the latest to take traditional feminism and throw it out the window because, according to them, making claims that are backed squarely by biological science is now considered hate speech.

USA - Senator Ted Cruz (Republican for Texas) and Glenn Beck discussed Big Tech and the corporate media’s handling of the New York Post bombshell stories about Hunter Biden, describing the social media Masters of the Universe as crossing a threshold “that’s never been crossed before.” Cruz describes the censorship of the Post as “Silicon Valley oligarchs declaring the authority to determine what the press is allowed to report, and who’s allowed to see it.” Cruz replied by noting that the former vice president has not denied any of the recent allegations. “Joe Biden has not denied this is Hunter Biden’s computer,” said Cruz. “He has not denied the emails are real. He has not denied that he met personally with the Ukrainian oligarch after lying to the American people and saying that he didn’t.” “He has not denied that Communist China offered him personally millions of dollars,” the senator added.

CHINA - China has reported more cases of the bacterial brucellosis disease as the outbreak continues to spread in the country. Chinese authorities said the initial outbreak began in July last year following a leak at a biopharmaceutical company. Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease that affects animals including livestock and dogs but can be transmitted to humans through direct contact. Last month, the Health Commission of Lanzhou, capital city of Gansu province, reported that 3,245 people had contracted the disease. Symptoms of the disease include profuse sweating as well as joint and muscular pain. The brucellosis disease can last a few weeks, months or even years. While some symptoms subside, others can become chronic or never go away, according to the US’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the NHS, there is currently no human vaccine that fights against brucellosis.

ISRAEL - The recent deals spearheaded by US President Donald Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to normalise relations between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel offered something for everyone. The two Gulf states formalised secret relations going back years, in their mutual fight against arch-rival Iran. After signing the Abraham Accords, Israel, one of the largest arms exporters in the world, may now sell billions in weapons and cyber-surveillance technology openly in the Gulf. No longer will Israeli firms have to create foreign shell companies to conceal their dealings with the Arab world. Israel, in turn, will earn the legitimacy it has craved for generations. Instead of a decades-long boycott and Israel being a dirty word in the Arab world, it has broken through previously impenetrable barriers. Israel now basks in the glow of Arab recognition. It finds itself an indispensable ally of nations that once hated it.

CHINA - New hypersonic missiles could evade Taiwan's Patriot batteries during future invasion. China has reportedly deployed new hypersonic missiles across from Taiwan as it marshals forces in preparation for a future invasion. On Sunday (October 18), the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba Group, cited an anonymous military source as saying that China's most advanced hypersonic missile, the DF-17, is being deployed to People's Liberation Army (PLA) bases in the provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang, which sit right across from Taiwan. The deployment of the missiles is part of a PLA pattern of a beefing up of its forces along the coast of China in what some analysts are saying are preparations for an invasion of Taiwan.

USA - While most Americans remain completely fixated on the upcoming presidential election, large earthquakes continue to rattle the Ring of Fire at an alarming rate. On Monday, a magnitude 7.5 quake struck near the little town of Sand Point, Alaska, and it was felt over a very large area. In fact, it is being reported that shaking could be felt “as far away as Chugiak, Anchorage and Bethel”. Following the initial earthquake, there was a series of very large aftershocks.

ICELAND - Iceland has been rocked by a major 5.7 magnitude earthquake as tremors were felt in Reykjavik. The earthquake hit Iceland's capital at about 2.10pm GMT. An initial measurement by the German Research Center for Geosciences, GEOFON, said the quake that hit the Atlantic island was of magnitude 5.7, but that number was later revised to 5.5. Due to the location of the epicentre and the depth of the quake, it is expected to have been felt by almost everyone in the surrounding area. The amount of damage is yet to be confirmed, but the quake is expected to have caused light to moderate damage.

EUROPE - A horror scenario is making the rounds these days in both Berlin and Brussels: Should the outcome of the US presidential election on November 3 be close, incumbent Donald Trump could declare himself the winner when polls close, even if he is behind in the vote count. He could prematurely and unlawfully claim the presidency.

FRANCE - Emmanuel Macron confirmed that the EU would launch a devastating energy embargo against the UK if Boris Johnson refuses to give in on fisheries. Emmanuel Macron reacted furiously to Boris Johnson's claims that trade talks are "over" between the UK and EU. Mr Macron has played hardball in the talks on fisheries, insisting on Thursday that French fishermen would "not be sacrificed" for the sake of a deal. However, if the UK leaves the EU without a deal then French fishermen could faced being banned from British waters. Following the EU summit in Brussels on Friday, Mr Macron told French radio that if the UK does not allow French fishermen in its waters, the EU would have to block the UK's energy supplies to the European market. He suggested the right to fish in British waters was worth 650 million euros to EU fishermen, but that access to European energy markets was worth up to £2.3 billion (€2.5 billion) to the UK.