Where in the World - Middle East

The fight against ISIS continued to make headlines along with the long running conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Israel & Palestine

Tension continued to rise between Israel and Palestine with prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordering the destruction of houses belonging to Palestinians who carried out attacks on Israel. Just days later further clashes broke out after the funeral of a boy.

ISIS

A plot to sell nuclear material to ISIS was foiled by the FBI and police in Moldova when a Russian linked gang tried to sell bomb-grade uranium and blueprints for a dirty bomb. A hospital run by Doctors Without Borders was hit by US forces killing 22 and with 33 still missing. Lastly, there has been continued destruction of Syrian artifacts by ISIS with the lucky surviving remnants being sold to fund the war.

Technology Far and Near

This week technology allowed man to travel to the outskirts of our world while closer to home it was fighting for it's freedom.

Far

The ESA made history when the Rosetta spacecraft managed to successfully land it's robot craft, Philae, on the surface of Comet 67P. There was a slight hiccup when the anchoring harpoons didn't fire causing the probe to bounce and re-land technically making it both the first and second successful landing. A little further out in space scientists believe they may have figured out how Jupiter's infamous red spot got it's colour.

On the human front of space exploration, investigations into the crash of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo has revealed that the surviving pilot didn't realize his copilot unlocked the space plane's re-entry system early. 3 space station crew, one from Russia one from the United States and one from Germany, returned home after 5 and a half months on board the International Space Station landing their Soyuz capsule in Kazakhstan.

And finally when it comes to orbiting our place in the universe Elon Musk confirmed plans for his company SpaceX to launch satellites in 2-3 months to provide internet access but this was over shadowed when the Chinese revealed plans to create a satellite facility in Antarctica raising concerns of the militarisation of continent.

Near

Closer to home the worlds two largest polluters, the US and China, made progress by agreeing on cutting green house gas emissions and also agreeing to drop tariffs on a wide range of technology products.

But soon it was back to the usual debates with President Obama stepping in to give his support to Net Neutrality but while your access might be free for the time being it's also been revealed that US authorities have been snagging large amounts of data via mobile phones using fake cell towers on planes. But it's not only the American Government as we discovered when Germany's foreign intelligence agency reported that it wants to spend $375 million to spy in real time on social networks outside of Germany.

And lastly the FBI was busy after it managed to uncover and arrest the creator of under world website Silk Road 2.0 causing the TOR project member to figure out where they went wrong but while the FBI may have had success on one front they lost out when a judge said the public had the right to know about the FBI's facial recognition database.

From the Noblest of Minds to the Deadliest of Diseases

The annual Nobel Prize awards were announced with breakthroughs in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine, however, the week was plagued with more bad news as Ebola stretched it's legs spreading beyond it's original confines.

Nobel Prizes

The awards in the technological fields spanned photography, GPS and LED's. Starting with Physic's the Nobel Prize went to scientist's Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and Shuji Nakamura from America for their invention of blue light emitting diodes used in everything from homes to billboards. In the field of Chemistry the Nobel Prize went to Eric Betzig and William Moerner of America and Stefan Hell of Germany for their work on capturing images on the nano scale helping to study individual molecules inside cells.

Lastly the Nobel Prize in Medicine went to British-American scientist John O'Keefe and Norwegian couple May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser who discovered the brains "inner GPS" which helps people orient themselves and navigate the world around them. With the prizes under their belts here's what they can expect in their future as Nobel Prize winners according to past winners.

Ebola

As Ebola rampages through Western Africa a small trickle of the disease made it's way to other parts of the world with the US confirming it's first case of Ebola. Since then President Obama has promised to revamp airport screening to tackle the issue at it's entry point. With Ebola on the world's door step a San Antonio based company has developed a "germ-zapping robot" which may be effective in combating the spread of Ebola.

And finally, outside of Western Africa and the US the husband of a Spanish Nurse has become the first person to contract the disease outside of West Africa and is currently in quarantine.

Nation's Facing Decisions, War and Destruction

The week saw nation's in various forms of evolution taking on the new world, from Scotland deciding it's independence to ISIS' merciless march towards to an Islamic state and Ebola destroying any hope of humanity surviving at all.

Scotland

Scotland decided this week against becoming a separate country with 55% voting no in the referendum. The week had been filled with various campaigns on both sides with celebrities being brought in to sway the masses with the queen commenting on the mater.

The polls opened on Thursday with counting running through the night. With many questions unanswered over things like currency going forward, would Scotland join the European Union and NATO and what would the United Kingdom be called if Scotland goes it's own way, rU.K. (rest of the United Kingdom) was one option.

ISIS

The attempt by ISIS to create a caliphate (an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader) was hampered by the US joining forces with Arab nations and other European groups after the recent beheading of a British citizen David Haines.

While the US stated it would assist in air strikes but there would be no boots on the ground instead the US would supply Syrian rebels with arms. The US' approach was criticized by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who claimed the US was taking on ISIS "without any sacrifice".

Counter terrorism raids took place in Australia after threats of an attack in Australia emerged. Australia has been outspoken against ISIS and are also sending troops for possible use against ISIS.

Ebola

The disease which has already killed thousands of people had new forces to contend with when the US announced it will be sending 3000 troops to West Africa to use military muscle to battle the outbreak.

Sierra Leone implemented a 3 day shut down in hopes of slowing the infection. Meanwhile Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf fired 10 government officials who were "out of the country without an excuse" during the Ebola crisis. Saudi Arabia took steps to began testing 3 million Haj pilgrims traveling from infected areas.

The fight against Ebola became even more worrisome after it was discovered that case workers could become infected while taking off their protective suits along with the fear of being attacked by locals who had killed journalists and doctors in the region.

The spy who read your email

Since the revelations of NSA spying run amok the world has forever been changed with the US seemingly losing more than it gained from the initial spying.

The Snowden cometh

It all started with Edward Snowden leaking top secret documents revealing the extent to which the US was spying on foreign nations. Snowden broke the news while in Hong Kong but was soon on the run.

Eenie, meenie, miney... Moscow

Having blown the whistle Edward Snowden had an elaborate escape plan to avoid US authorities. There were various countries available to avoid extradition but after a few weeks stuck in a Russian airport Snowden ended up with temporary asylum in Russia.

Pen meet sword

Glenn Greenwald, the reporter from The Guardian who broke the initial story didn't get away unscathed with authorities harassing him with smear campaigns. No good deed goes unnoticed/unpunished.

They just want to know what love is

Foreign nations where outraged condemning the US with France and Mexico demanding answers.

Recent allegations of phone tapping of German Chancellor Angela Merkel have added to the existing strain on US foreign relations.

But it hasn't ended there with Germany and Brazil attempting to limit US spying with a UN resolution.

You scratch our back, we won't shut down your business

It was revealed many of the big tech companies (Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Facebook) had been co-operating with NSA providing access to user data.

Some of the aforementioned companies tried to placate the public by providing "transparency reports" on the data requested but the public was not amused.

Ctrl + Alt + Repeat

The original email service, Lavabit, Snowden used was forced to shutdown or face legal action.

But it seems shutting down wasn't enough with the courts ordering Lavabit to hand over it's private encryption key jeopardizing internet privacy as a whole.

With privacy concerns over US based services alternatives have been sought with Brazil creating a secure email alternative.

Surveillance, huh, yeah. What is it good for. 1.6% give or take.

With nations uneasy and people paranoid the NSA revealed it "touched" 1.6% of all internet information with only 0.025% of that information selected for review.

I guess the only information the NSA can't find is whether it was all worth it.

2 Mass Shootings this week alone

This week there have been not one but two mass shootings making headlines in the USA.

Washington Navy Yard

The first took place at a Washington Navy yard where 13 people including the gunmen were killed. The gunmen is reported to have acquired the gun through legal means.

Chicago Park

Later in the week 12 people, including a 3 year old, were shot in a Chicago park. The shooting has been described by witnesses as "gang-banging stuff".