Subject: Morning Brief: Islamic State Fighters Widen Attack on Kobane
From: "Foreign Policy" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2014 09:15:26 -0400 (EDT)

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Foreign Policy <http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/UlMc6uYQJxFs8sWzE8ad0>

MORNING BRIEF

Today's Global News from Foreign Policy <http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/UlMc6uYQJxFs8sWzF4a25>

TOP NEWS

Islamic State Fighters Widen Attack on Kobane

Islamic State Fighters Widen Attack on Kobane

<p><b>Top News</b>: Fighting between Islamic State militants and Syrian Kurds is reported to have spread to a southern district of the town of Kobane on the Turkish border. The clashes come one day after Islamic State fighters took control of three districts in the east. At least 400 people have been killed in three weeks of fighting for Kobane, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>A Kurdish official in Kobane, Idriss Nassan, told AFP news agency that Kurdish fighters had halted the IS advance in the east of the town. But he also appealed to Western government to supply weapons, and called for coalition aircraft to "strike more effectively.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the town was on the verge of falling and "co-operation" on a ground offensive was necessary. Yet Ankara has come under criticism for not intervening to defend Kobane, which is now being besieged on three sides. Kurds in Turkey, angered at the government's inaction, clashed with police&nbsp;in several cities, including Istanbul. If militants capture Kobane, the Islamic State will control a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><b>Spain: </b>A Spanish nurse, who treated two victims of Ebola in Madrid, <a style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;"  href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb4gA0f17>tested</a> positive for the virus, becoming the first individual in the current outbreak to contract the disease outside of Africa. Three other people, including the nurse's husband, are now quarantined. At the urging of the European Commission, Spain began an investigation into the circumstances that led the nurse to become infected.</p>
 
Middle East

<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;Vice President Joe Biden <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb4lA8b5a>apologized</a> to United Arab Emirates officials after suggesting the country had buoyed extremist groups in Syria.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;A British court <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb4qAfee4>ruled</a> that Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who has been accused of torture in Bahrain, is not immune from prosecution in Britain.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;Two people <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb4vA8c56>died</a> in a fire at a military explosives facility near the Iranian capital Tehran.</p>     
Europe

<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ukraine's government <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb40Ac442>took</a> an initial step to securing new anti-corruption laws.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;The United Kingdom&rsquo;s European Commission nominee, Lord Hill, was <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb45Ad710>recalled</a> to answer further questions at the European Parlaiment.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;Just weeks before a presidential election, thousands of Romanian laborers <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb4-Af895>demonstrated</a> in front of the offices of the leftist government to demand better living standards and wages.</p>     
Asia

<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;Representatives of Hong Kong's pro-democracy demonstrations <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb5DA1360>agreed</a> to hold formal talks with the government.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;A court in India <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb5IAcc26>rejected</a> a plea for bail by the imprisoned former Tamil Nadu chief, Jayaram Jayalalitha, who was jailed last month on corruption charges.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Myanmar government <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb5NAf549>pardoned</a> more than 3,000 prisoners, likely including some former military intelligence officers who were jailed under the military regime.</p>     
Africa

<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;A container of aid materials designed to help fight the Ebola outbreak has been <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb5SAf5f7>stranded</a> for unknown reasons at the port of Sierra Leone&rsquo;s capital Freetown for weeks.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;The International Criminal Court in The Hague is set to <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb5XA76ca>hold</a> preliminary hearings in the case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;Somali government and African Union troops <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb5cA01a8>retook</a> control of Barawe, a port city previously held by al-Shabab.</p>     
Americas

<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb5hAa2ae>pledged</a> to punish those responsible for the recent disappearance of 43 students in the town of Iguala.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;Eleven members of Colombia&rsquo;s Wiwa indigenous group were <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb5mA21b8>killed</a> by lightning during a religious ceremony.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;Incumbent Dilma Rousseff and centrist Aecio Neves are <a style='font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414;' href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71vrlr.1el0/VDPmrsPoJ9r0Pb5rA519a>vying</a> to win over supporters of Marina Silva after she was knocked out of the presidential election.</p>     
- By Jake Scobey-Thal 

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