12 National and International Highlights To Know For Today, August 18, 2014

Graphitti News collates national and international late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

From Left: Minister Of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochepe; Chairman, Mini Bus Utako Park, Abuja, Mr Olugbade Olagunju And FCT Deputy Chairman, National Union Of Road Transport Workers, Alhaji Gabi Ibraham, Washing Their Hands To Commence The National Emergency Hands Washing Campaign To Prevent The Spread Of Ebola Virus In Nigeria At Utako Motor Park In Abuja On Monday (Photo credit: Vanguard)

1. EBOLA LATEST: 3 NEW CASES AS 4 MORE VICTIMS ARE DISCHARGED

Three fresh cases of Ebola were discovered, while four of those earlier admitted to the isolation centre in Lagos were discharged.

2. WHO SAYS EBOLA HAS KILLED MORE THAN 1,200

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 1,200 people since it began in December 2013, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

More than 2,200 have been sickened, according to the U.N. health agency's latest numbers.

Authorities have struggled to contain the outbreak, which started in Guinea and has spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. There are quarantines and travel restrictions for the sick and those in contact with them, sometimes including whole villages and counties, but officials warned that the restrictions have sometimes hampered food deliveries.
3. U.N. MAKES NEW PLEA IN EBOLA FIGHT

The global health agency says African countries hit with the virus should begin exit screening all passengers leaving airports, sea ports and major ground crossings.

4. REDDIT, IMGUR AND TWITCH LAUNCH ‘DERP’ DATA RESEARCH STUDY

Prominent social networks including Imgur, Reddit, and Twitch are joining forces to create a research partnership that will look into the “social dynamics” of the internet.

The Digital Ecologies Research Partnership, or ‘DERP’ for short, describes itself as a “joint initiative by an alliance of community websites to promote open, publicly accessible, and ethical academic inquiry into the vibrant social dynamics of the web.”

The networks will grant major universities access to their data in the hope of furthering research.

DERP says on its website that it hopes to solve “two problems in the academic research space”. One is the creation of a single point of contact for members of the prominent sites and the other is the facilitation and coordination of cross-platform analysis.

5. OBAMA STRUGGLES TO FIND ROLE IN FERGUSON CRISIS

A protester raises his arms following a clash with police Monday, Aug. 18, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo. The Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown by police has touched off rancorous protests in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb where police have used riot gear and tear gas. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Christian Gooden)

The nation's first black president is caught between his obligation to defend government actions and the expectation that he would empathize with African Americans' grievances.

6. REPORT SAYS MILITANTS IN SYRIA HAVE ANTI-AIRCRAFT WEAPONS

New findings come as the FAA forbids American carriers from flying over Syrian airspace for fear of being shot down.

7. CEASEFIRE EXTENSION ALLOWS MIDEAST TALKS TO CONTINUE

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are trying to hammer out a long-term deal in Cairo that may ease the blockade on Gaza.

8. WHAT SOME CHICAGOANS ARE LOOKING FOR

A challenger to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The former White House chief of staff has tackled many problems in his first term but ticked off critics who are seeking a replacement in 2015.

9. VICIOUS CONSEQUENCE OF IVORY DEMAND

Botsawa Has Been Found Safe Haven To Elephant Populations

A study finds that poachers killed an estimated 100,000 elephants across Africa between 2010 and 2012, a huge spike in the mammals' death rate.

10. ISRAEL BARS AMNESTY & HRW FROM ENTERING GAZA, HINDERS INVESTIGATIONS – REPORT

Israel has been preventing Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch workers from entering Gaza to investigate allegations of war crimes and human rights violations, claims a media report backed by group members’ statements.

Both human rights organizations have been unsuccessfully trying to get permission from the regional Civil Administration to enter Gaza since July 7, Israeli outlet Haaretz reports.

Israeli authorities cited two reasons for their refusal to grant appropriate permits: the closure of the Erez border crossing, located between Israel and the Gaza Strip, and that neither group is part of a list of aid groups approved by the Israeli Ministry of Social Affairs.

However, an Israeli newspaper pointed out that the Erez border crossing was in fact opened to “journalists, UN employees and Palestinians in need of medical care” during Operation Protective Edge, which began on July 8.

11. DRAWINGS LINKED TO INTELLIGENCE

A four-year-old's people-drawing ability provides an indicator of his or her intelligence at age 14, scientists have found.

Parents might laugh at their child's quaint crayon scribbles, but the balloon heads and stick-like limbs have a serious hidden meaning, research shows.

They reveal a connection with gene-driven intelligence that has a measurable effect 10 years later.

With the help of parents, psychologists got 15,504 children aged four to take part in a "draw-a-child" test, rating each picture with a score of zero to 12.

A "moderate" association was seen between higher scores and intelligence test results both at the age of four and 14.

Lead scientist Dr Rosalind Arden, from the Medical Research Council Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, said: "The Draw-a-Child test was devised in the 1920s to assess children's intelligence, so the fact that the test correlated with intelligence at age four was expected. What surprised us was that it correlated with intelligence a decade later.

"The correlation is moderate, so our findings are interesting, but it does not mean that parents should worry if their child draws badly. Drawing ability does not determine intelligence, there are countless factors, both genetic and environmental, which affect intelligence in later life."

Drawings were judged on the presence and correct quantity of features such as the head, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, body and arms.

12. 700,000 IMMIGRANTS TO UK CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH – REPORT

Shoppers walk in a market in the Upton Park neighborhood in east London (Reuters / Paul Hackett)

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the UK are unable to get professional help learning English because of government cuts, a think tank says.

While government support for English courses for migrants is falling, the demand for these courses is likely to grow as the number of UK immigrants rises, according to a report released by the think tank Demos on Monday. It has been estimated that ethnic minorities will make up between 25 percent and 43 percent of the population by 2056.