KENYA - In parts of Kenya, the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic has been so catastrophic that people have started to kill endangered wildlife for food. Last week, The Telegraph trekked with rangers through the Tsavo conservation area, a region larger than Wales in southeastern Kenya, and found a Masai giraffe which had been stripped bare by poachers for bushmeat. “They have really done a hell of a job on this one,” muttered a ranger when we came across the mass of bloodied bones, organs and skinned hide. “They’ve even cut the meat out from in-between his ribs.” In life, just hours earlier, the fully grown bull would have weighed about two and a half tonnes and stood almost 20ft off the ground. Its legs would have been strong enough to kick in a lion’s chest. But now there was almost nothing left.

UNITED NATIONS - The Covid-19 pandemic may lead to a calamity of epic scale, with millions facing starvation worldwide, the head of the UN’s hunger-fighting body has warned. “All the data we have, including WFP forecast that the number of people experiencing malnutrition will grow by 80 percent by the end of the year, … points to a real disaster,” David Beasley, Executive Director of the UN World Food Program (WFP), said. We are risking a famine of biblical proportions.

USA - Economists and deficit hawks have warned for decades that the United States was borrowing too much money. The federal debt was ballooning so fast, they said, that economic ruin was inevitable: Interest rates would skyrocket, taxes would rise and inflation would probably run wild. The death spiral could be triggered once the debt surpassed the size of the US economy — a turning point that was probably still years in the future.

USA - After tapping the bond market at a record-shattering pace in recent months, Corporate America is more indebted today than ever before. And while much of that fresh cash - more than $1.6 trillion in total - helped scores of companies stay afloat during the pandemic lockdown, it now threatens to curb an economic recovery that was already showing signs of sputtering. Many companies will have to divert even more cash to repaying these obligations at the same time that their profits sink, leaving them with less to spend on expanding payrolls or upgrading facilities in months ahead. And there will probably be a hangover. Many companies were groaning under their debt loads even before the Covid-19 pandemic, and now will have to work harder to cut borrowings as earnings remain depressed. Even if companies are hanging on to the money they borrowed, they must still pay interest on it, and could eventually use the cash if the pandemic drags on.

EUROPE - The pandemic rouses a sleeping giant. Europe has been a geopolitical nonentity since the 1990s. With the largest economy in the world, 450 million people, and defense spending comparable to Russia’s, the continent could be a colossus. Yet Europe has never come close to equaling the combined clout of its constituent countries. Beset by chronic economic, political, and institutional limitations and crises, the European Union has for the last three decades exerted remarkably little influence on global affairs. Europe’s most powerful member states, meanwhile, have either seen their sway diminish, as France has, or, like Germany, resisted taking up the mantle of international leadership. Now, suddenly, Europe is stirring…

USA - Celebrated Christian pastor Franklin Graham denounced the total absence of God in this week’s Democratic National Convention, calling on Americans to bring God back into public life. “In watching some of the Democratic National Convention on television this week, it has been interesting to see the absence of God,” Rev Graham wrote on his Facebook page early Friday. “I don’t believe America’s finest hours will be in front of us if we take God out of government and public life.”

PAKISTAN - A Pakistani minister has threatened India with a nuclear attack in "the bloody last war" and says only Muslims will survive. Sheikh Rashid made the threat of nuclear war, claiming that Pakistan has very precise weapons which are “small and perfect” and are able to target specific regions.“If Pakistan gets attacked by India, there is no scope for conventional war. This will be a bloody and nuclear war," he said during an interview with Pakistani media channel Samaa TV on Wednesday. Pakistan has previously threatened nuclear war against India with Prime Minister Imran Khan mentioning such a conflict on several occasions last year.

USA - Weary firefighters in California raced Saturday to slow the spread of wildfires that burned nearly one million acres statewide in a week and destroyed hundreds of homes ahead of an expected weather change that could bring more lightning strikes like the ones that sparked many of the blazes. Responding to the emergency, President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration to provide federal assistance. Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the declaration will also help people in counties affected by the fires with crisis counseling, housing and other social services. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning of high fire danger across the Bay Area and along the Central Coast, beginning from Sunday morning to Monday afternoon. Since thousands of lightning strikes began on August 15, the state reported 585 wildfires that have burned nearly a million acres, or 1,562 square miles, according to Cal Fire.

NORTH KOREA – North Korea could be on the brink of war after Kim Jong-un's sister was handed key powers, a move that risks increased violence with neighbours South Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has delegated some of his authority to his younger sister Kim Yo-jong, allowing her to manage South Korean and US affairs. This is according to South Korea’s spy agency, as the two countries continue to be embroiled in growing tensions. The move appears to be intended to lighten Kim Jong-un’s burden, the National Intelligence Service said, denying that the leader has any serious health issues. It comes after Kim Jong-un went missing twice this year amid rumours that his health had deteriorated. The North Korean leader has placed great trust in his younger sister, who is thought to be pivotal to the country's propaganda and approach to foreign affairs. However, Kim Yo-jong's promotion could lead to an increased danger of violence after her chilling threats to South Korea in June.

USA - Dozens of fires are burning across the Bay Area. The CZU August Lightning Complex has encompassed the entirety of Big Basin Redwoods State Park and rages on across San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. Further north, multiple wildfires are burning in Napa and Sonoma counties, which Cal Fire is referring to collectively as the LNU Lightning Complex. A third lightning complex the "SCU" covers over 20 separate fires that have torched 85,000 acres in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Satellites have sent images back to Earth showing the blazes from space, but on-the-ground footage being shared on social media by those who have come close to the devastation has given us an up-close view of the nightmarish scenes.

VATICAN - This summer, several voices long dissatisfied with Pope Francis have started to beat the drum roll for change. There has been a stream of press articles and social media posts, and last month two books were published, both titled The Next Pope.

ISRAEL - The historic peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates did not include Israel's consent to any arms deal between the US and the UAE. From the outset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has opposed the sale of F-35s and other advanced weaponry to any country in the Middle East, including Arab countries that have peace agreements with Israel. The US has made it clear that it will always take strict care to maintain Israel's qualitative edge.

USA - Six weeks ago, US Postal Service workers in the high desert town of Tehachapi, California, began to notice crates of mail sitting in the post office in the early morning that should have been shipped out for delivery the night before. At a mail processing facility in Santa Clarita in July, workers discovered that their automated sorting machines had been disabled and padlocked.

USA - Dozens of corporations from around the world have collectively donated millions of dollars to left-wing organizations that advocate for defunding America’s police departments, a Daily Caller News Foundation review found. Companies including Microsoft, Intel and Airbnb have donated to Black Lives Matter Global Network and Color of Change, both of which want to defund police departments across the country.

USA - Representative Ayanna Pressley called for “unrest in the streets” while discussing the upcoming election on MSNBC Saturday. “There needs to be unrest in the streets for as long as there’s unrest in our lives, and unfortunately, there’s plenty to go around,” the Massachusetts Democrat and member of the so-called “Squad” told MSNBC’s Tiffany Cross. “This is as much about public outcry and organizing and mobilizing and applying pressure so that this GOP-led Senate and these governors that continue to carry water for this administration, putting the American people in harm’s way, turning a deaf ear to the needs of our families and our communities, hold them accountable. Make the phone calls, send the emails, show up,” she said.