While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Oct 25 edition

Two US nurses cured of Ebola

Two American nurses were declared cured of Ebola on Friday, and one was healthy enough to leave hospital and make plans to meet President Barack Obama.

The good news for the nurses, who contracted Ebola while caring for a Liberian patient in Texas, came as the city of New York was dealing with its first case of the deadly virus.

Ms Nina Pham smiled and appeared healthy, wearing a turquoise shirt and dark business suit at a news conference outside the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. "I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today," Ms Pham said.

Read more here

'Premature' to talk of US troop cuts in Asia: John Kerry

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday it was too early to discuss cutting the number of US troops stationed in Asia and South Korea, amid increased tensions on the heavily guarded peninsula.

Speaking after talks with his South Korean counterpart Mr Yun Byung-se, Mr Kerry told reporters "it would be way too premature to have any thought of, or even discussion" about troop reductions, saying there first had to be real talks with North Korea over its suspect nuclear program.

He also ruled out any idea of visiting isolated North Korea and meeting leader Kim Jong-un in the near term.

Read more here

Two dead, four wounded after student opens fire in Washington state school

A student opened fire in the cafeteria of his Washington state high school on Friday, killing a classmate and wounding at least four others before taking his own life amid the chaos of students scrambling to safety, authorities said.

All of the victims were young people, and three were in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the head and in surgery, said Ms Joanne Roberts, chief of medicine at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett.

The fourth wounded victim suffered less serious injuries in the gunfire at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, about 30 miles north of Seattle.

Read more here

Egypt declares a state of emergency on Sinai Peninsula

Egypt declared a three-month state of emergency Friday in the north and centre of the Sinai Peninsula after a suicide car bombing killed 30 soldiers, the presidency said.

The measures will begin on Saturday at 0300 GMT "for a duration of three months", the presidency said in a statement in the wake of the deadliest attack on the security forces since the army deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last year.

Read more here

Tennis: Teenager Coric stuns Nadal to reach Basel semis

Croatian wunderkind Borna Coric produced more emphatic proof of his potential when he beat 14-times grand slam champion Rafa Nadal in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoor tournament on Friday.

The 17-year-old, already being called 'Baby Djokovic' because of similarities with world number one Novak Djokovic, gave an off-colour Nadal a torrid time, winning 6-2 7-6 (4).

The Spaniard, who is suffering from appendicitis and earlier in the day pulled out of next week's Paris Masters, was unrecognisable in the first set as he offered no resistance.

Read more here

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.