The 10 most important things in the world right now

Hello! Here's what you need to know on Wednesday.

1. South Korea's presidential office named a new prime minister and finance minister, the highest-level shake-up yet since President Park Geun-hye's administration was rocked by a scandal involving a friend accused of meddling in state affairs.

2. Hundreds of prominent economists denounced US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in an open letter to voters. "Donald Trump is a dangerous, destructive choice for the country," the letter said.

3. Facebook has set its sights on the $500 billion telecom equipment market. Its plans include a new computer-network product invented at Facebook that it will freely share with the world, as well as a plan to design an open source cellular wireless network.

4. Pope Francis, who has repeatedly called on Europe to open its doors to more migrants, said that governments have the right to carefully assess their capacity to effectively integrate those arriving from abroad. "Governments must be open to receive them, but also do the calculations regarding their reception," he said.

5. South Korea's coast guard opened fire at Chinese boats illegally fishing within its territorial waters. No one was hurt and nothing was damaged after the coast guard vessel fired it's M60 as the boats fled, despite being ordered to stop.

6. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that former colonial powers should not lecture countries they once exploited on their internal affairs, in a veiled attack on the West as he looks to strengthen ties with China.

7. Surveys indicate Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo are more than likely to emerge the winners of elections this weekend, which will hand Ortega a fourth mandate and Murillo her first as his vice president.

8. Elon Musk may single-handedly revive a business practice that's gone out of style. Vertical integration allows a visionary CEO influence over numerous aspects of his products.

9. No matter who wins the US election, it will be bullish for the gold price, according to HSBC.

10. A single company will demolish all of America's Black Friday and Cyber Monday online sales in just one day. Alibaba - China's largest e-commerce company - has turned Singles' Day into the biggest 24-hour cyberspending blitz in the world.

And finally ...

Stunning satellite images show just how much people have changed the Earth.