MIDDLE EAST - An armed conflict between Riyadh and Tehran would have a major impact on oil markets and the global economy. RT asked experts what a war between the two Middle East superpowers would mean for crude prices. If a conflict happens, oil prices could increase 500 percent. “Energy prices will seriously depend on the severity of the conflict. Let's remember the unrecognized Iraqi Kurdistan, which in a state of continuous war exported about 550,000 barrels per day through Turkey. In this connection, we can expect a panic rise in oil price to $150-$200 on the first day of the conflict… If Saudis and Iran attack each other's oil facilities, crude prices can skyrocket to $300,” Mikhail Mashchenko, an analyst at the eToro social network for investors told RT.

TURKEY - Leaders of Russia, Turkey, Germany and France have gathered in Istanbul to discuss the Syrian peace process. While the outcome of such tricky talks is hard to predict, the new format appears to be, at least, quite refreshing. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Istanbul on Saturday to talk Syrian reconciliation. The host, Turkey’s leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has put high expectations on the gathering. “The whole world is watching this meeting. I hope, that the hopes will be met,” Erdogan said, while opening the summit. The four leaders are also expected to be joined by UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura. The four-way summit is an entirely new format of talks on the war-torn country, which has endured years-long conflict.

ISRAEL - Solving the Jerusalem problem, the key to Israeli-Palestinian peace, is not impossible. The answer is two cities, two new names. Despite current tensions in Gaza, first son-in-law Jared Kushner insists that the Deal of the Century — an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement — is on the way. A number of thorny disagreements would need to be resolved if that’s to happen; first and foremost, the status of Jerusalem.

USA - Trump said in September he wants to release his peace plan for the Middle East within the next two to four months. The White House's "peace team," led by Jared Kushner, is in the pre-launch phase of the peace plan. The team is spending a lot of time reaching out to different groups in the USand abroad that are relevant to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Israeli officials said Jason Greenblatt, President Trump's special envoy for Middle East peace, will stay in Israel for almost a week and meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials and politicians. Greenblatt's talks in Israel are expected to deal with not only the upcoming peace plan but also with the situation in Gaza and the ongoing Egyptian- and UN-led efforts to reach a stabilization deal between Israel and Hamas.

USA - President Trump told French President Emmanuel Macron last month that he's ready to put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept his upcoming Middle East peace plan, four Western diplomats briefed on the meeting tell me. Trump specifically mentioned the fact the US gives Israel billions of dollars in aid every year. Why it matters: We haven’t previously heard Trump say anything about his willingness to put pressure on Netanyahu, perhaps his staunchest ally around the world. Three days after the meeting with Macron, which happened on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Trump met with Netanyahu in New York and announced for the first time his support for the two state solution. In the same meeting, Trump said he was planning to present his peace plan in two to four months.

GERMANY - Months of drought have left Germany’s Rhine river at a record low, dealing a blow to the economy… hundreds of containers (are) piled up and awaiting their journey north on one of Europe’s busiest commercial arteries. Months of scarce rainfall and hot sunny weather drove water levels on the Rhine to a record low, forcing ship operators to suspend services to keep vessels from running aground. The few barges still chugging along the river have had to drastically reduce their cargo to stay afloat. “This is the lowest level ever measured here,” said Jan Boehme, a hydrologist with the Water and Shipping Authority. Torrid temperatures throughout the summer and only rare rainfall have transformed Germany’s waterways and created a crisis unseen since the start of record keeping in 1881.

GERMANY - Germany's far right is trying to rehabilitate the German Empire and its role in World War I, resuming a decades-old debate ahead of the centenary of the armistice. The magazine Compact, which is close to the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), is publishing a special November issue dedicated to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which held the Reich responsible for the Great War and compelled the country to make colossal reparations. The title recalls the rhetoric used in the 1920s by those nostalgic for Imperial Germany and the Nazis: "The shame of Versailles: how the victorious powers enslaved Germany". Its online story is headlined "Germany in chains". The aim is to reevaluate the German Empire (1871-1918) which for decades has been seen in the collective consciousness as the first of the destructive powers of the 20th century.

EUROPE - In view of the conflict between Brussels and Rome over Italy's national budget, the German establishment is increasing its demands to resolutely fight the "internal enemies" of the EU. The Union must "now be vigorously defended," wrote a leading German daily. The Italian government coalition is "not worth risking the country's fate." The Italian government is being put into question, because it refuses to continue to submit to German austerity dictates. Berlin's dominance over the EU is also being met with mounting protests in other member countries. Poland and Hungary are not the only countries, where controversies are intensifying. Anger at Berlin is also growing in France. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the founder of "La France insoumise," who, with almost 20 percent, barely missed making the run-offs in the 2017 presidential elections, has now called for "France to withdraw from all EU treaties." The German elite's reaction is becoming more hostile.

EUROPE - A Europe without internal borders has become reality: Every EU citizen can look for a job in any EU country. Entrepreneurs are free to set up a business anywhere they like. We can buy and sell goods across the bloc without any tariffs. Services may be offered everywhere. And there’s more. Young Europeans can get their education at any university in Europe. And, like all of us, they can experience Europe’s cultural diversity and the common values and traditions that underpin it. And let’s be clear: Our continent had never before experienced 73 years of peace throughout its long history. These are great achievements of the European Union.

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS - Super typhoon Yutu has smashed the Northern Mariana Islands with 180mph winds causing catastrophic devastation - the monster storm, which is now headed towards the Philippines and Taiwan, was said to be the strongest one on record to hit the region. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGSA) said Yutu has “maintained its strength” as it continues west northwest towards Taiwan and the Philippines. Yutu will close in on the Philippines and Taiwan next Tuesday but is forecast to weaken over the next 24 hours.

USA - Apple CEO Tim Cook blasted Silicon Valley tech companies and their abuse of user privacy in a keynote address at a privacy conference in Brussels Wednesday, saying personal information is being “weaponized against us with military efficiency.”

USA - The modern tradition of wearing costumes on Halloween can be traced back more than 2000 years to the Celts of ancient Britain.  During a Druidic festival known as Samhain, which is still celebrated by Wiccans and other modern pagans, revelers would often wear masks or costumes.  In modern times wearing costumes is considered to be “innocent fun”, but in those times the masks and costumes were worn for very specific spiritual purposes.  For some, the goal was to ward off evil spirits, but for others the purpose of the mask or costume was to help the participant communicate with the spirit world. 

GERMANY - Germany will be forced to pay an extra £13.2 billion a year to the EU after Brexit, in a move that has sparked fury among Germans who are already the bloc’s biggest contributors. Germany must find the extra cash to make up the EU’s budget shortfall after the UK leaves the bloc. The amount will increase Germany’s gross annual contribution to Brussels to a massive £40 billion. The huge sum will help to fill the massive hole in the EU’s budget after Brexit Britain pulls out of Europe. The payment, revealed in a report published by the EU’s finance ministry, has provoked anger among Germans. Speaking to German newspaper Bild, Eckhardt Rehberg, an MP from Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, said: “Europe is not suffering from too little money.”

ISRAEL - Israel and Hamas are already essentially in a state of war, and yet the mainstream media in the United States has been virtually silent about this conflict. For the past 6 months, Hamas has been conducting violent demonstrations along the border with Israel, and last Friday 130 protesters got shot as the violence escalated wildly out of control.

VATICAN - An African bishop in Rome for the synod of bishops has decried the lethargy of European Christianity, saying that it opens the door to an “Islamic invasion.” In an interview Tuesday with the US-based National Catholic Register, Andrew Nkea Fuanya, the bishop of Mamfe, Cameroon, said that the synod has been ignoring Europe’s low birth rates to its own peril. The synod fathers have not discussed Europe’s demographic implosion, which is “a very big thing” for youth, Fuanya said.