Former Tory Becomes First UKIP MP

Last Friday, UKIP candidate Douglas Carswell won the party’s first parliamentary seat. Carswell, who won the same Clacton seat as a Conservative candidate in 2010, eased to victory with 59.66% of the vote – 12,404 votes ahead of the second placed Conservatives. Friday’s second by-election result was also a positive one for UKIP, with Nigel Farage’s party coming within 617 votes of capturing the traditional Labour stronghold of Heywood and Middleton. On a big day for UKIP, party leader Nigel Farage said, ‘If UKIP can keep this momentum going, we could find ourselves next May in a position where we hold the balance of power’.

Greg Whitaker

Malala becomes youngest ever Nobel Peace prize winner

17-year-old Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai received the 2014 Nobel Peace prize, a recognition she shares with Kailash Satyarthi, a 60-year-old Indian children’s rights activist. After gaining worldwide recognition for fighting for women’s rights to education in Pakistan, Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012. After she recovered at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Malala addressed the UN General Assembly. ‘Through her struggle she has become a leading spokesperson for girls’ rights to education’, The Nobel committee said.

Valeria Popa

Nurses strike

All last week, NHS workers in England took part in industrial action for better pay, including participating in a four-hour strike on Monday – the first by NHS workers in 32 years. They were responding to the Government’s decision not to enact a 1% pay rise recommended by the independent NHS Pay Review Body, which union members argue constitutes a real terms pay cut. Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust said they were working with unions to ensure that essential emergency services were not disrupted. Unions warn that their members may take action again next month if their demands remain unmet.

Robert Cohen

Texas man contracts Ebola in USA

A Nurse has become the second person diagnosed with Ebola in Texas. Amber Vinson cared for Thomas Duncan, the first person diagnosed in America, who passed away on Wednesday 8th October. Amber was the first person in the US to contract the virus person-to-person. All other sufferers developed it in high-risk states in West Africa. The nurse has been flown to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia after being transferred from Texas Presbyterian Hospital. She is reported to be in a ‘stable condition’.

Suhail Dhanji