Newsmakers: A Spice Girl makes good and our tennis star

Malala Yousafzai

The 17-year-old Nobel Peace Prize-winning advocate of girls’ rights to education picked up yet another award this week, the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child, voted on by more than 36 million students from around the world. She said she’d channel the $50,000 prize to 65 schools in the Gaza Strip, damaged in the recent conflict with Israel. That’s not a lot per school, but, as Malala said: “More than half of Gaza’s population is under 18 years of age. Without education, there will never be peace.”

Kaci Hickox

The nurse with Médecins Sans Frontières who treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone was threatened with arrest by Maine Gov. Paul LePage after she went out for a bike ride and ordered pizza to her home. But a judge rejected LePage’s request to keep her under quarantine, citing the fact that she’s tested negative for the virus and is not showing any symptoms—not to mention the fact that, even if she did have Ebola, it would take an exchange of bodily fluids in order for her to infect anyone else. However, the judge did request she continue to monitor her health, not leave town, and to keep three feet away from people when outdoors. The virus’s 21-day incubation period—and Hickox’s isolation—ends on Nov. 10.

Victoria Beckham

A decade ago, she was the Spice Girl married to soccer star David Beckham. Now, her second career as a $100-million-a-year designer is eclipsing that of her retired husband. Days after being named Britain’s top entrepreneur, she snagged a British Fashion Awards nomination for designer brand of the year. It’s all because of her rigorously elegant clothes, showcased in a newly opened store in London. Indeed, fellow brand nominees Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney have only one kudo yet to be bestowed on Beckham: the patronage of Kate, duchess of Cambridge.

Milos Raonic

The “maple-leaf missile,” so-named for his booming serve, continued to chip away at the elite ranks of men’s tennis in Paris this week. Though Raonic ultimately lost his final round match to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, one of the game’s best returners, the lanky Canadian nevertheless left with two important victories under his elastic waistband: a first-ever win over Swiss ace Roger Federer (who unceremoniously bounced Raonic from the semifinals at Wimbledon back in June) and one of eight coveted spots at the ATP World Tour Finals in London this month.

The getaway canoe

Only in Canada? Halifax Regional Police received a call about a midday break-in and, when they arrived at the scene, found the suspect making a hasty exit with the stolen goods—in a red canoe. Officers commandeered a citizen’s boat with intent to pursue, but, by that time, the suspect had returned to land, only to be caught with the assistance of a K9 unit. The suspect faces charges of break-and-enter, possession of housebreaking tools, theft under $5,000—and resisting arrest.