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TURKEY EXPECTED TO JOIN ANTI-ISIS COALITION
Today could see the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition expand, as the Turkish Parliament is expected to vote on whether to send Turkish troops into Iraq and Syria to fight against the terrorists and whether to allow foreign troops to use Turkish military bases, newspaper Today’s Zaman reports. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is under growing pressure, as the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Abdullah Ocalan, said that peace talks between his group and the Turkish government would end if Turkey lets ISIS “massacre” Kurds on the Syrian border town of Kobani. But Ankara’s recent support of anti-ISIS strikes and its possible participation in the coalition will raise questions because of previous reports that it helped arm, finance and treat ISIS fighters.
CHINA WARNS HONG KONG PROTESTERS
China has warned Hong Kong protesters of “unimaginable consequences” if they don’t end the “illegal” pro-democracy demonstrations that have brought a halt to the finance hub for five consecutive days, The Washington Post reports. In a similar move, the Hong Kong police said there would be serious consequences if protesters act on their threat to occupy government buildings unless Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying resigns by the end of the day. British journalist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard wrote in The Daily Telegraph that China’s Xi Jinping “will surely play for time, hoping the protests will fizzle … or try to buy them off quietly” because yielding would likely encourage a similar movement on the mainland.
REBELS GO FOR DONETSK AIRPORT
Rebel fighters have launched a new attack on the Donetsk airport, which is held by Ukrainian government forces, the latest of many attempts in recent weeks, the BBC reports. According to a military official, seven rebels were killed as Kiev forces repelled the attacks. This comes after two shells, including one that hit a school, killed 11 people yesterday, an attack that both sides blamed on the other. In a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel “emphasized the responsibility Russia has to exert a moderating influence on pro-Russian separatists.” Read more from Reuters.
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The rate of Ebola infections in Sierra Leone has now reached five new cases per hour, according to Save the Children, a leading charity in the region. This means demands for health care are by far outstripping demand. Reporting from a hospital in the city of Makeni, The New York Times depicts the horrific conditions in which the patients are kept.
NORTH KOREA UPGRADES ROCKET LAUNCH
Despite heavy UN sanctions after a rocket launch and a third nuclear test almost two years ago, North Korea has completed a major upgrade of a rocket launch site that enables Pyongyang to fire longer-range missiles, the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said. The report, based on satellite imagery, explains that although there is no evidence it will happen, “a rocket could be launched by the end of 2014.” Read more from The New York Times.
VERBATIM
“If something should happen to me, don’t look to the Middle East, look to the North,” Argentina President Cristina Kirchner said this week, suggesting there’s a U.S. plot to overthrow her government and kill her.
THE SQUARE SIDE OF THE MOON
Scientists have discovered that a rocky ridge on the moon they believed was the edge of an asteroid impact is in fact a giant square rift valley that acted as a “magma plumbing system” for volcanoes billions of years ago.
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