CHINA - You can usually smell the markets before you see them. Especially if you’re downwind. It’s a sickly, almost sweet and nauseating smell of death. Once inside, the fetid stench — made worse by blistering temperatures and zero refrigeration — is overwhelming, and it is places like this where the deadly coronavirus originated.

EUROPE - European Council President Charles Michel has called an emergency summit of EU leaders to decide the bloc's long-term budget, as they face losing over 10 percent of its income after Brexit. The long term budget, that will determine spending from 2021-27, has been a sticking point for well over a year and on Saturday Mr Michel announced “the time has come” to agree the terms of the financial framework. The EU chief urged leaders to strike a compromise and said: “Any postponement would create serious practical and political problems and jeopardise the continuation of current programs and policies as well as the launch of new ones.”

EUROPE - Brussels has finally admitted defeat as a senior official has revealed the EU are now bound by law to finalise a Brexit deal with Britain in 12 months despite relentless attempts to wriggle their way out of an agreement. The EU is now working on the assumption the so-called Brexit transition period after Brexit will terminate at the end in 11 months. A senior official said Boris Johnson’s repeated efforts to rule out an extension to the transition period and Brexit itself has forced the EU into surrender. The bureaucrat, who did not want to be named, said: “We can assume at this point that the transition period will end on December 31, 2020.” The source did however reiterate that if there were ever to be an extension the UK would have to keep paying the membership fee to the EU, which is around £1.2 billion monthly.

USA - The United States has responded to revelations that British Civil Servants have green-lit the involvement of Huawei in the nation’s future 5G data networks with concern, given the widespread and repeated warnings over the company voiced by several top UK allies. The United Kingdom is expected to make the final decision on 5G technology companies next week at a meeting of the UK National Security Council, but the reported decision of unelected UK civil servants that they approve the involvement of controversial Chinese tech giant Huawei gives a clear indication on the direction of travel. This is likely to cause major friction with top British allies at a time when the United Kingdom needs friends in the wider world, as it departs the European Union.

AFRICA - Desert locusts have swarmed into Kenya by the hundreds of millions from Somalia and Ethiopia, countries that haven't seen such numbers in a quarter-century, destroying farmland and threatening an already vulnerable region A single swarm can contain up to 150 million locusts per square kilometer of farmland, an area the size of almost 250 football fields, regional authorities say. One especially large swarm in northeastern Kenya measured 60 kilometers long by 40 kilometers wide (37 miles long by 25 miles wide). Even before this outbreak, nearly 20 million people faced high levels of food insecurity across the East African region long challenged by periodic droughts and floods. The locusts also are moving steadily toward Ethiopia’s Rift Valley, the breadbasket for Africa’s second-most populous country, the UN says.

UK - Boris Johnson signed the Brexit divorce deal today, hailing the 'fantastic moment' that sends the UK officially on a path to quit the EU in a week's time. He put Parker pen to paper on the official copy of the Withdrawal Agreement in Downing Street this afternoon, ending months and months of bitter and divisive politics. The Prime Minister voiced his hope that it 'brings to an end far too many years of argument and division' ahead of Brexit on January 31.

SWITZERLAND - Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU needs “credible military capabilities”, remarking a European army would be “complementary” to the NATO alliance with America. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, the President of the European Commission said that the EU has “set up the building blocks of a European defence union” in the latest signal that the bloc intends to create a full-fledged European army. “It is complementary to NATO and it is different. There is a European way to foreign policy and foreign security policy where hard power is an important tool… but it is never the only one”, von der Leyen said per DW. In her speech at the globalist meeting in Davos, Switzerland, the EU chief said that Europe needs “credible military capabilities” in order to combat crises in the future. In November the European Union announced 13 new joint military projects including new warships and a swath of new electronic warfare systems, bringing the total amount of joint EU army projects to 47.

GERMANY - The German Army's Panzergrenadierbrigade (Armoured Infantry Brigade) 37 is training on off-the-shelf software to prepare for its digitalisation so it can lead the NATO Response Force Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in 2023, the Bundeswehr reported on its website on 16 January. The brigade will be the Germany Army's first major formation to be equipped with a new digital command and information system. Its members are training on a new battle management system (BMS) with Systematic's SitaWare software, on which the BMS will be based, while using their existing SEM radios. Panzergrenadierbrigade 37 commander Brigadier General Gunnar Brügner said, "The rapid and early introduction of the battle management system and its installation in our vehicles are the greatest challenges for my brigade in 2020. This training is a cornerstone for the retrofit to begin soon and for us to adapt our management process with 2023 in mind." "This system is urgently required," he added. "It is a major step forward."

SWITZERLAND - Left-wing billionaire George Soros on Thursday reportedly warned that the 2020 election will determine the “fate of the world” and lashed out at President Donald Trump during a private dinner event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Soros, the 89-year-old founder of the progressive advocacy organization Open Society Foundations, accused the president of being a “con man” and a “narcissist” who wants the world to “revolve around him,” according to CNBC. Soros, who has yet to endorse a 2020 Democrat candidate, then said that this year’s election will decide the “fate of the world,” CNBC reports.

IRAQ - A massive demonstration – called for by a prominent Shia cleric – has flooded the streets of Iraq's capital Baghdad, with thousands voicing their anger at the US military presence there. Early on Friday morning, throngs of protesters – men and women, young and old – began amassing at al-Hurriya Square in central Baghdad, near the city's main university. The anti-America rally, dubbed the "Million-man March," was called by Moqtada al-Sadr, Iraq's top Shiite cleric. Some were wearing white robes, symbolizing their readiness to die for a religious cause, while others were pictured holding signs that read: "To the families of American soldiers – insist on the withdrawal of [your] sons from our country or prepare their coffins!" The march comes just weeks after Iraq was shaken by an American drone strike near Baghdad airport, which killed Iran's top General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy chief of Iraq's Shia militia, along with other officers.

TURKEY - Earthquakes have hit Turkey, Peru and Papua New Guinea, with one a staggering magnitude-6.9. A powerful earthquake struck eastern Turkey on Friday, killing four people and damaging buildings near the epicentre of the quake. The earthquake was so significant it was also felt in several neighbouring countries. The quake had a magnitude of 6.9 and struck at a depth of 6.2 miles, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).

CHINA - Scientists warned in 2017 that a SARS-like virus could escape a lab set up that year in Wuhan, China, to study some of the most dangerous pathogens in the world. Now, a SARS-like coronavirus has infected more than 800 there, spread to at least 10 other countries and killed 25 in Wuhan and nearby provinces. China installed the first of a planned five to seven biolabs designed for maximum safety in Wuhan in 2017, for the purpose of studying the most high-risk pathogens, including the Ebola and the SARS viruses. Tim Trevan, a Maryland biosafety consultant, told Nature that year, when the lab was on the cusp of opening, that he worried that China's culture could make the institute unsafe because 'structures where everyone feels free to speak up and openness of information are important.' In fact, the SARS virus had 'escaped' multiple times from a lab in Beijing, according to the Nature article.

KENYA - The hum of millions of locusts on the move is broken by the screams of farmers and the clanging of pots and pans. But their noise-making does little to stop the voracious insects from feasting on their crops in this rural community. The worst outbreak of desert locusts in Kenya in 70 years has seen hundreds of millions of the bugs swarm into the East African nation from Somalia and Ethiopia. Those two countries have not had an infestation like this in a quarter-century, destroying farmland and threatening an already vulnerable region with devastating hunger. “Even cows are wondering what is happening,” said Ndunda Makanga, who spent hours Friday trying to chase the locusts from his farm. “Corn, sorghum, cowpeas, they have eaten everything.”

UK - The concept of a close-knit family is quickly becoming an antiquated notion. A recent survey of 1,000 British parents found that the average parent spends a mere five hours per week communicating face-to-face with their children. More than half of surveyed moms and dads with children under the age of 18 said they feel “distant” from their kids. In all, 43% blamed their measly family time on their kids spending too much time in front of the television, with another 51% saying their kids spend too much time in their bedrooms. Another 44% said their familial disconnect is a result of their kids logging inordinate amounts of time on their phones during traditional “family time” in the evening. The study, commissioned by Cadbury Heroes, also found that the average youngster starts to really avoid his or her parents around the age of 13. A significant 73% of respondents said their relationship with their children really changed once their sons and daughters became teenagers.

EUROPE - European Union bosses have signed the Brexit withdrawal treaty confirming the United Kingdom's departure from the bloc. The EU commission's Ursula von der Leyen and Council's Charles Michel put their signature to Boris Johnson's Brexit deal at a sombre ceremony today in Brussels. A copy will now be sent to Downing Street to allow the Prime Minister to complete the process ahead of its ratification in the EU Parliament next week.