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Uprising’s guest expert Courtney Morris, an assistant professor of African American and women’s Studies at Penn State University, analyzes today’s news headlines:

Tens of thousands of protesters in Hong Kong have set up an encampment in the latest configuration of the so-called “Umbrella revolution.” The mass sit-in, called Occupy Central with Peace and Love, has been weeks in the making, and is led primarily by students. Rejecting the current Chief Executive of Hong Kong, C.Y. Leung, student leaders say they will negotiate with China over their right to elect a leader from candidates of their own choosing. But the fight is broader, reflecting popular anger over the presence of wealthy Chinese in Hong Kong, among other things. Some commentators are invoking comparisons with China’s historic Tiananmen Square protests. Click here for a New York Times article about the story.

The US has confirmed its first case of Ebola. A man being treated at a Dallas, Texas hospital has been confirmed to have the disease. He had arrived recently from Liberia, one of the epicenters of the virus in West Africa. However, during his travel he showed no symptoms, reducing the chances of having spread the virus on the flight to essentially zero. He is in critical condition however, as doctors initially failed to diagnose his symptoms correctly. Ebola-driven fever and nausea are easily mistaken for other illnesses. Click here for a Commondreams article about the story.

President Obama has approved a plan aimed at discouraging Central American children from making the perilous journey to the US, by being able to apply for refugee status from home. The plan will allow for children who may qualify for refugee status, to have their paperwork processed in country. Officials have been quick to point out that this is not a means for those children who simply had undocumented family members in the US to come here. Republican critics felt the plan would make it too easy for children to come to the US. Click here for a New York Times article about the story.