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.

USA - US President Donald Trump will finally unveil his ‘great’ plan for peace in the Middle East before Israeli leaders visit Washington next week. While the Palestinians may not like it, it will be good for them, Trump said. Trump has long teased the existence of a plan that would resolve the long-running dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, reportedly developed by his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Its release, however, has been repeatedly delayed. On the way to an event in Florida on Thursday, Trump told reporters on board Air Force One that he intends to make the plan public ahead of next week’s visit to Washington by Israel’s caretaker prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief rival Benny Gantz. "It's a great plan," said Trump, "It's a plan that really would work." The US president noted that Palestinians might react negatively to it at first, but added that the proposal would be to their benefit.

MIDDLE EAST - The new multibillion US investment plan unveiled without the political solution part is beneficial to Israel, but not to Palestine, experts told RT. The so-called “opportunity of the century,” which US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, presented to media on Saturday, is entitled to create a million jobs in the West Bank and Gaza, while doubling Palestine’s GDP in 10 years. It would be achieved through donors, mainly the Gulf States, pouring $50 billion into the West Bank and Gaza as well as into Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon where several million Palestinian refugees are staying. The plan is basically an ultimatum for Palestine, which may be coerced into accepting it due to the lack of other options, former US diplomat Jim Jatras told RT.

ITALY - Italy’s far right leader, Matteo Salvini, is hoping to cause a political shock by winning Sunday’s regional election in Emilia Romagna, a stronghold of the left since the Second World War. That could topple the government and sweep him to national power.

CHINA - China's deadly coronavirus outbreak could have been caused by people eating bat soup - a popular dish in the city at the epicentre of the health crisis. Experts believe fruit bats which feature in the local delicacy could host the flu-like virus which has now spread to humans. Most of the first group of coronavirus patients either worked or shopped at Wuhan seafood wholesale market where live consumable animals including poultry, donkeys, sheep, pigs, camels, foxes, badgers, bamboo rats, hedgehogs, civets, wolf cubs and reptiles were all readily available. The market was shut down in late December at the start of the outbreak and is now under surveillance by security staff. Scientists are also looking into theories the consumption of live baby mice or snakes could be behind the outbreak.

UK - BINGO fans cried foul at moves to replace traditional calls with woke phrases about avocado and gluten. Younger players are said to be tired of much-loved favourites such as “two fat ladies, 88”, now deemed potentially offensive. The wishy-washy “Wills and Kate, 88” has instead been suggested, alongside other snowflake-friendly phrases such as “74, recycle more” and “48, not another Brexit debate”. Health-conscious foodie slogans are also popular, such as “83, gluten-free”, “38, avocado on a plate” and “52, brunch for two”. Foxy Bingo said it was considering redesigning its game later this year after millennials demanded fresh phrases. Blake Robson, 54, who works in South Shields, said his players would end up confused. The 12-time winner of Bingo Caller of the Year went on: “It would be a real shame to see traditional calls disappear.

PHILIPPINES - TAAL volcano threatens to erupt any moment now, geologists have warned, as NASA satellites track ground deformation around the active Philippines volcano. The alert level for Taal volcano is 4, meaning the fiery mountain on Luzon Island could erupt within “hours to days”. The volcano has been steadily rumbling since it erupted twice this month, on January 12 and January 13. The two eruptions coated Luzon Island in a thick blanket of ash but have mostly spared its inhabitants from major destruction. Geologists, however, fear hundreds of localised earthquakes around Taal suggest magma is moving deep underground – a potential processor to an explosive eruption. Using radar data collected by satellites passing over the Philippines volcano, NASA scientists have been able to detect changes in local ground deformation.

SPAIN - The Catalan coast and Balearic Islands have been ravaged by Storm Gloria. The storm brought wind, rain and flooding. Inland, towns in higher altitudes were overcome with heavy snow. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power and at least 13 people have been killed.

EUROPE - For historical reasons, Europe has long resided in the strategic shadow of the United States, which itself has underwritten decades of globalization and rapidly expanding prosperity. But the global balance of power is rapidly shifting, leaving Europe increasingly exposed. The European Union, and particularly Germany, have yet to rise to the challenge posed by the United States’ retreat from global leadership. But, given the new competition from China, together with Russia’s renewed great-power aspirations, Western countries must find a way to cooperate more closely.

USA - Call it a colossal victory for a Pentagon that hasn’t won a war in this century, but not for the rest of us. Congress only recently passed and the president approved one of the largest Pentagon budgets ever. It will surpass spending at the peaks of both the Korean and Vietnam wars. As last year ended, as if to highlight the strangeness of all this, the Washington Post broke a story about a “confidential trove of government documents” — interviews with key figures involved in the Afghan War by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction — revealing the degree to which senior Pentagon leaders and military commanders understood that the war was failing. Yet, year after year, they provided “rosy pronouncements they knew to be false,” while “hiding unmistakable evidence that the war had become unwinnable.”

USA - This is already becoming the worst public health scare that we have seen in many years, and experts are warning that we are still in the very early chapters of this crisis. Officials are fairly certain that the spread of this mysterious new coronavirus began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and as you will see below, measures are now being implemented to try to isolate that city from the rest of China.

USA - In the wake of the Virginia gun rights rally on Monday, Democrats in the Capitol are not slowing down their push for tyranny. They are moving a bill through the legislature that would effectively criminalize dissent against Governor Blackface Northam and other state government officials. House Bill 1627 was introduced by Delegate Jeffrey M Bourne last week. “If any person, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass any person, shall use a computer or computer network to communicate obscene, vulgar, profane, lewd, lascivious, or indecent language, or make any suggestion or proposal of an obscene nature, or threaten any illegal or immoral act, he is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor,” the legislation reads… which means this legislation effectively criminalizes dissent against public officials.

MEXICO - Women in Mexico were paid $1400 to be hyperstimulated so their ovaries released bountiful eggs instead of one during their cycle. They then underwent artificial insemination, resulting in early pregnancy with multiple embryos, which were then flushed out of their bodies for study.