Consumerism knows no bounds when it comes to taste

Halloween is just days away and you're probably scrambling to figure out your costume. Take our advice, though, and rule this particular costume out.

According to a report from Mother Jones, the online site Brands on Sale is selling a "Sexy Ebola Nurse" costume, for people who have no sense of shame or taste. We won't link to the costume; Google it if you must. The costume retails for $59.99.

As Mother Jones points out, the costume includes a face shield, latex gloves and eye goggles — all things that could be helpful to people actually dealing with the outbreak and, at least in the case of the latex gloves, are in short supply in West Africa. Thoughtfully, the retailer points out that this costume will not actually protect you from getting Ebola — something that should have been obvious when you saw the short "lab coat-looking costume dress."

(Editor's note: The Global Scan can be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday. Just register and sign up today.)

Despite a court ruling against it, Japan keeps killing whales in the name of 'science'

In 1986, most of the world's countries agreed to a global moratorium on whaling — an effort to boost the flagging populations of some of the world's largest mammals. And in some places, that effort is slowly succeeding. But one country, Japan, has resisted the ban. It has killed at least 14,000 whales since 1987 as part of what it deems a scientific program. An international judge has ruled the killings are "not for the purpose of scientific research."

According to PRI's Living on Earth, the judge ordered Japan to stop whaling in the waters off Antarctica. Activists hoped that would lead Japan to suspend its whaling in the North Pacific, as well. But no dice. In fact, Japan is poised to submit a new "scientific proposal" so it can resume whaling off Antarctica in late 2015.

China considers dropping counterfeiting from its list of 55 crimes punishable by death

Each year, China puts as many people to death as the rest of the world combined. At least, that's what experts think based on piecing together evidence. The actual number of executions in China is a closely-guarded state secret. Recently, though, China has taken steps to rein in its use of capital punishment.

In 2011, it removed 13 economic-related crimes from the list of those punishable by death, leaving 55 crimes as death penalty eligible. Now, China seems poised to reduce that number further. According to VICE News, weapons smuggling, counterfeiting and forcing someone into prostitution are among nine crimes being considered for reduction from death to life imprisonment as the maximum punishment. Outside experts estimate 2,400 people were executed in China last year — a decline of at least one-third since 2007.

Bad luck strikes a burglar at a Chinese bank

Feng Wan was recently the victim of a burglary. And, like burglary victims all over the world, he went to his bank to report that his account had been compromised. That's where things took a dramatic turn. While Feng Wan was at the bank, the man who stole his credit card showed up to make a withdrawal.

According to the Independent, it was a teller who realized that the burglar was trying to make a withdrawal from the account that Feng Wan had just reported as burgled. The criminal was wrestled to the ground and arrested after he tried to take out more than $1600. The incident took place in Shangrao, in eastern China's Jiangxi Province.

Meet the 'fixers' who make foreign reporting possible

When reporters head to less-visited foreign countries to cover the news, the often don't know the language or the customs. So they hire locals known as "fixers." So when PRI's The World sent Aaron Schachter to Iraq in 2003, he used a "fixer" to help him navigate everyday life in Iraq during the US occupation and to translate from Arabic.

And it wasn't his first time using a fixer — they have helped him report all over the Middle East in a variety of languages and cultures. The latest  installment of PRI's podcast The World in Words explains how fixers — including Iraqi Ayub Nuri, who worked with Schachter — play a critical role in bringing foreign stories to news outlets around the globe.

What we're seeing on social

This Man Has Been Plastering #Texas With #ISIS Stickers pic.twitter.com/6ff8Ej11tb @mlnestel @vocativ http://t.co/515qj2vIRz

— Gilad Shiloach (@gilshil) October 27, 2014

Weather around the world

A tropical cyclone is brewing over the Arabian Sea, poised to bring heavy rain to an area stretching from Oman to Pakistan to India. According to AccuWeather, the storm is expected to strengthen to a category 2 hurricane, with winds up to 110 mph (177 kph.) The greatest threat, however, is from the potential for devastating floods, which could follow the storm as it makes landfall on Friday.