Nobel Winners, Missouri Clashes, Pig Paradise

NOBEL WINNERS: MALALA AND SATYARTHI
Malala Yousafzai, the now-17-year-old Pakistani activist shot by the Taliban on her way to school in 2012, has won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize alongside Indian children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, the Nobel committee announced this morning. “Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzai has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education … under the most dangerous circumstances,” the Nobel committee said. Read more here.

SPANISH NURSE IN “CRITICAL” CONDITION
Teresa Romero, the Spanish nurse who became the first person to contract Ebola outside of West Africa, is in “critical but stable” condition, medical sources in Madrid said today. Madrid’s regional president Ignacio Gonzalez told parliament Thursday that the 44-year-old nurse was “very ill” and her life was “at serious risk as a consequence of the virus,” Spanish daily El Mundo reports.

The Spanish government has also rejected claims that its methods for dealing with the deadly virus were not working and blamed the nurse’s infection on human error, Reuters reports. Romero told El País Wednesday that she may have “touched her face” while removing her protective clothing. But health workers’ unions claim the government is trying to avoid the blame, saying the training and protective suits provided to the hospital staff were inadequate.

Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a conference at the World Bank Thursday that the Ebola virus could become “the world’s next AIDS,” if sufficient preventive measures were not taken, The Washington Post reports. “In my 30 years in public health, the only thing that has been like this is AIDS,” he said.

In Brazil, authorities are investigating what could be Latin America’s first case of Ebola. The patient, a 47-year-old man who arrived more than two weeks ago from Guinea, checked into a hospital in the southwestern city of Cascavel after experiencing several days of fever, Brazil’s O Globo reports. Hospital staff isolated him, and he is his currently being transferred to a hospital in Rio de Janeiro. Health officials are expected to address the issue in a press conference today.

A British man showing signs of the virus died Thursday in Macedonia. Authorities have sealed off his hotel, keeping another Briton and hotel staff inside. The UK also announced it would start screening passengers entering through London’s two main airports and the Eurostar.

83
From Azerbaijan to Venezuela, from Uruguay to Bulgaria, a record 83 countries have submitted Academy Award entries for the best foreign-language film.

ISIS PUSHES FORWARD IN KOBANI
Intense fighting continued overnight in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, near the Turkish border, between Peshmerga fighters and ISIS jihadists, as U.S.-led forces carried out airstrikes against the terrorist organization. A local official said the strikes had pushed back the ISIS fighters towards the edge of the town, the BBC reports, while earlier reports claimed the jihadists controlled almost a third of Kobani.

Meanwhile, at least 10 people died in eastern Turkey after unidentified gunmen opened fire on police officers in the eastern province of Bingol today, according to the Turkish Dogan News Agency. Security forces had been inspecting shops damaged earlier this week. At least 25 people have been killed in cities across Turkey this week during pro-Kobani demonstrations, Reuters reports.

The U.S. is pushing Turkey to engage in combat against ISIS, saying special presidential envoys have met with Turkish officials about ways to counter the terrorist organization.

In talks with new NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has also renewed calls for the creation of a buffer zone along the Syrian side of the border between the two countries. Such an area would include a no-fly zone, preventing Syrian government aircraft from approaching the Turkish border. According to the BBC, Turkey fears that, in case of an ISIS retreat, Syrian government forces would be the main beneficiaries.

Journalists on site at the Syrian border say Kurdish fighters are demanding more help, including weapons and ammunitions. “ISIS has the most advanced weapons, including tanks and rockets. We are empty-handed. We are giving our lives to protect our homeland.” For more on this, we offer a Die Welt/Worldrunch piece, Kurds Who Fled Kobain Recount The Terror, Plead For Arms.

THE KOREAS EXCHANGE FIRE
The two Koreas exchanged artillery fire across the border Friday, South Korean news agency Yonhap reports. According to Seoul’s military, the incident was sparked after South Korean activists launched balloons containing anti-Pyongyang leaflets. North Korea’s military launched shots against the balloons, and the South fired back. No casualties are currently reported. Today marks the 69th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. The anniversary was marked by dictator Kim Jong-un’s absence, as North Korean state media said Friday his name was not on the list of those visiting a mausoleum. It has now been one month since the leader’s last appearance. State media last month said Kim Jong-un was suffering from an “uncomfortable physical condition,” as the rotund leader was seen limping on television.

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