While You Watched Carlton Dance, These 5 Things Were Happening Around The World
It's definitely safe to say that "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" is one of the most treasured television series of all time.
Will Smith's character was endearingly obnoxious, Uncle Phil continuously killed it with the poignant life advice, Geoffrey always had impeccable one-liners and, of course, you can't forget Carlton's amazing dance moves.
This past week, we found ourselves infinitely blessed when Alfonso Ribeiro, whom we know affectionately know as Carlton, busted out his signature dance moves on "DWTS." He did it for the fans, and it was magical.
On behalf of the world, thank you Mr. Ribeiro, you definitely brightened up a lot of people's weeks. But just in case you were a bit too distracted by his stupendous dancing, these five major events also went down this week:
1. ISIS has taken over nearly half of a Syrian town bordering Turkey.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) made major advances into the Syrian town of Kobani over the course of the week. Kobani sits along the border of Syria and Turkey. Turkish tanks and troops are sitting at the border.
As a consequence of the town's heavily Kurdish population, however, the Turkish military has done little to stop ISIS. Turkey has a very complicated and often hostile relationship with the Kurds. Thus, Turkey's inaction is being met with heavy criticism and violent protests.
Kurds say Turkey didn't do enough to help Kobani (a kurdish city), but is helping ISIS. Turkey convinced Kurdish militants against them. — Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) October 7, 2014
Meanwhile, the United States has continued with heavy airstrikes in the area, which haven't been very effective. Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has stated that only ground troops will stop ISIS.
#Erdogan wants ground troops vs IS, as airstrikes aren't enough. Is this the same guy whose tanks are lined up only yards away from Kobani? — Geoffrey Smith (@Geoffreytsmith) October 7, 2014
2. The first person diagnosed with Ebola in the US died.
Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national who was being treated for Ebola in Dallas, Texas, died on October 8. He was the first person diagnosed with Ebola within the US. Now, he's also the first person to have died from Ebola within the US.
It's apparent that there is widespread fear surrounding Ebola within the United States. Yet, it seems that a lot of this is a product of misinformation. If people knew the facts about Ebola, they would probably feel a lot better.
For example, it's not as contagious as one might think, and there are a number of more deadly diseases.
3. Twitter sued the US government.
Twitter is suing the US government for violating its First Amendment rights. The government often issues surveillance requests to Twitter, but it is limiting what the site can tell the public about this.
Hence, it seems that the popular social media platform feels that it has the right to tell the public about the government's surveillance activities.
4. North Korea's Leader Has Gone Missing.
Kim Jong-un, North Korea's supreme leader, has not been seen in public for a very long time. This is extremely irregular in terms of North Korean politics and culture.
Accordingly, there is a great deal of speculation about this. Some people have attributed this lengthy absence to health issues, but no one really knows.
“Where is Kim Jong Un? We don't know.” -every news outlet — Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) October 10, 2014
5. Malala Yousafzai Won The Nobel Peace Prize.
Malala Yousafzai, education activist and feminist, just became the youngest person in history to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
She's only 17 years old, but she's already shown the world what it means to stand up in the face of oppression without fear. In 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the face by the Taliban for campaigning for women's right to an education.
Thankfully, she survived, and this did not deter her from continuing the fight for a more egalitarian and enlightened world.
Malala has been an inspiration to people around the world due to her indefatigable dedication to the notion that all people have the right to an education.
The most pressing issues we face as a global community are a product of ignorance. Yousafzai is a testament to the notion that knowledge will set us free. Thank you Malala, and congratulations!
