Ebola: How a killer disease was stopped in its tracks
One of the world's deadliest viruses, Ebola kills up to half of those it infects. But despite appearing to have all the hallmarks of a potential epidemic, the latest outbreak developed in a very different way.
It was the ninth Ebola outbreak to hit the Democratic Republic of Congo in a decade, killing 29 people and leaving at least 60 children orphaned.
While one death is too many, the West Africa epidemic of 2014-16 claimed more than 11,000 lives and it is hoped that later this week the most recent outbreak will be declared officially over by the World Health Organization.
The relatively small number of deaths follows the use of an experimental vaccine, which may have saved hundreds, or even thousands of lives.
Although the outbreak began in a remote area, there was a real danger that large numbers could be infected.
The vaccine used, known as rVSV-ZEBOV was already in development during the 2014-16 epidemic. But by the time its effectiveness had been proven, the outbreak was already waning.
When the virus returned in 2018, it could be quickly deployed, once the DRC government had approved its experimental use. This vaccine is designed for use against the Zaire strain of Ebola, which caused both this outbreak and the previous one.
The 13-year-old who built a best-selling lemonade brand
Mikaila Ulmer's lemonade is now stocked in more than 500 stores across the US, but unfortunately she has slipped to a "C" in her maths class.
Running a successful business is very much a full-time job, but Mikaila - the founder and boss of Me & The Bees Lemonade - also has to make time for her school work. Just 13 years old, one day she will be in class, the next she could be speaking at an entrepreneurship conference.
"Sometimes I have to miss classes to do an interview, or travel for a TV show. Or I'll miss a big show or presentation because I have a large project or test at school."
Now selling 360,000 bottles of her lemonade a year, with stockists including upmarket supermarket chain Whole Foods Market, Mikaila is one of the youngest business owners in the US.
With the continuing help of her parents, Mikaila first started selling her lemonade in 2009. That year she set up a table in front of the family home, and began selling lemonade based on a 1940s recipe from her great-grandmother.
The recipe contains honey, and around the same time Mikaila got stung by two bees in two weeks. Her mother and father advised her that rather than freaking out at the sight of every bee, she should do some research to better understand them, and the crucial role they play in pollination, and the wider ecosystem.
This inspired Mikaila to give some of the money she raised from the sale of the lemonade to organisations that protect honey bees.
Waymo’s autonomous vehicles are driving 25,000 miles every day
Waymo, the former Google self-driving project that spun out to become a business under Alphabet, has driven 8 million miles on public roads using its autonomous vehicles.
Waymo CEO John Krafcik shared the company's milestone Friday while onstage with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval at the National Governor's Association conference in Santa Fe, N.M. The figure is notable when compared to where Waymo was less than a year ago. In November, the company announced it had reached 4 million miles, meaning the company has been able to double the number of autonomous miles driven on public roads in just eight months.
Waymo's fleet of self-driving vehicles is now logging 25,000 miles every day on public roads, Krafcik said. He later tweeted out the stats along with a graphic. Waymo has 600 self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans on the road in 25 cities. It's also adding 20,000 Jaguars I-Pace crossovers and has plans for another 62, 000 Pacificas.
The company also relies on simulation as it works to build an AI-based self-driving system that performs better than a human. In the past nine years, Waymo has "driven" more than 5 billion miles in its simulation, according to the company. That's the equivalent to 25,000 virtual cars driving all day, everyday, the company says.
This newly shared goal signals Waymo is getting closer to launching a commercial driverless transportation service later this year. More than 400 residents in Phoenix have been trialing Waymo's technology by using an app to hail self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans.
The company says it plans to launch its service later this year.
Migos Rapper Offset Arrested In Georgia On Felony Gun Charges
Migos rapper Offset was arrested in Georgia on Friday after being pulled over outside Atlanta.
It's reported that Offset, real name Kiari Cephus, was pulled over for an improper lane change. According to People, citing a police report, officers allegedly detected the smell of marijuana, which prompted them to search the vehicle.
Police found three guns and less than an ounce of marijuana in the car. The rapper was taken in four separate charges, including two felony charges: possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a weapon during a crime. He was also charged with possession of marijuana (one ounce or less) and an improper lane change. He was held at Clayton County Jail on bond, which was later posted.
The 26-year-old has been incarcerated before for violating his probation after felony convictions for burglary and theft.
Most recently, Offset had a brush with the law in April when Migos' tour bus was pulled over. Police found marijuana, codeine and Xanax on the bus. None of the group members were arrested, but some members in the group’s entourage were.
Uber driver streamed hidden camera videos on Twitch
An Uber and Lyft driver who broadcast videos of his passengers online has been suspended from both car-sharing services.
Jason Gargac live-streamed passengers' journeys on video-sharing site Twitch, where viewers would comment on their behaviour and appearance. Local newspaper the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said passengers were seen kissing, vomiting and gossiping about relatives and work colleagues. His Twitch channel has now been suspended.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, passengers did not always know he was live-streaming their journey from a camera mounted on the windscreen.
The practice is not typically illegal in Missouri as long as one party - in this case Mr Gargac - has given consent for the recording to take place.
However, there are additional rules about broadcasting footage where a person might have a "reasonable expectation of privacy".
Many viewers of Mr Gargac's videos left derogatory comments on the videos, rating passengers for their attractiveness.
"The blonde is a seven, the brunette a five," one wrote. "She doesn't sit like a lady," another added. Some of the videos also revealed passengers' names and addresses.
Following questions from the newspaper, Uber said it had suspended Mr Gargac."The troubling behaviour in the videos is not in line with our community guidelines," it said in a statement.
"The driver's access to the app has been removed while we evaluate his partnership with Uber."Lyft also suspended Mr Gargac.
UK may not oppose US death penalty for ISIS 'Beatles', official says in letter
The UK has indicated it may not be opposed to two members of a British ISIS cell known as "the Beatles" being executed in the US.
In a letter to US Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month, disclosed in Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper Monday, British Home Secretary Sajid Javid said that Britain would not demand "assurances" that two members of the terror cell would not receive the death penalty.
However, Downing Street on Monday insisted that UK policy is to "oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle" and that discussions were ongoing with the US about the case.
The letter, dated June 22, refers to the case of Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh -- part of a four-man ISIS cell nicknamed "the Beatles" for their British accents -- who are believed to be responsible for beheading high-profile Western hostages in Syria and Iraq.
It is understood that the leaked letter is accurate but that the focus is on federal prosecution in the US, not Kotey and Elsheikh ending up in the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
Capital punishment is illegal in the UK, and Javid's letter contradicts previous policy on seeking assurances about the death penalty.
In the letter, Javid said he was willing to make an exception in the case of Kotey and Elsheikh: "I am of the view that there are strong reasons for not requiring a death penalty assurance in this specific case, so no such assurances will be sought."
"As you are aware, it is the long held position of the UK to seek death penalty assurances, and our decision in this case does not reflect a change in our policy on assistance in US death penalty cases generally, nor the UK Government's stance on the global abolition of the death penalty," the letter continued.
The two ISIS fighters, whose cell was fronted by Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John, were captured in January and are now being held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. Emwazi was killed in a drone strike in 2015.
The pair are believed to have been stripped of their British citizenship and are among dozens of foreign-born ISIS fighters in the region seemingly left in limbo as their countries of origin wrangle over responsibility -- often refusing to sanction their return to their countries of origin to stand trial.
Indeed, while Javid's letter says the UK is "committed to assisting the US with a federal prosecution of Kotey and El-Sheikh," it also says the UK does not intend to request their transfer home for prosecution.
The Home Secretary added that given the high profile of the fighters, they could also be "held up as an example of how we treat and deal with alleged ISIS fighters."
SOURCE - BBC
Trump tweets explosive threat to Iran
President Donald Trump issued a furious, all-caps challenge to the Iranian regime late Sunday night, warning that any threats to the US would be met with unspecified dire consequences.
The tirade signaled an immediate escalation of tensions between Washington and Tehran, and capped a weekend of angry tweets by the President on the Russia investigation and the legal problems facing his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
"To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE," Trump tweeted after returning to the White House from a weekend at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey. "WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!"
Trump's comments were apparently a response to earlier remarks by Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, who warned the US that war with Tehran would be the "mother of all wars."
Rouhani warned Trump not to "play with the lion's tail, because you will regret it eternally." He also held out the possibility of a peaceful relationship with the US, in remarks reported by Iranian state media.
On Monday, a senior officer in Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Commander General Gholam Hossein Gheibparvar, described Trump's remarks as "psychological warfare," the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
Coral reef disease on the rise in the region, experts warn!
A report by the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) earlier this month warned divers and other marine researchers in the Caribbean area to be on the lookout for sites with an unusually high percentage of diseased and recently dead corals.
The report, produced by AGRRA, working in continuing conjunction with The University of the West Indies (UWI) Discovery Bay Marine Lab, stated that sick and decaying corals was first noted offshore of the Miami-Dade County area in September, 2014.
The outbreak area has since progressed 175 km (108 miles) to the northern limit of the Florida reef tract and southwest to Looe Key in the Lower Florida Keys and that numerous coral species have been afflicted, disease prevalence has reached 80 percent of all colonies present at a site, and a number of coral diseases have been observed.
In addition, the prevalence of sick and dying corals on north Jamaican reefs has increased dramatically since this area experienced a severe bleaching event in the autumn of 2017. The species of affected corals and their signs of disease show considerable overlap with the reports from Florida.AGRRA also stated that, on July 3, researchers in Mexico discovered a reef near Puerto Morelos, Mexico to have a severe outbreak of coral disease affecting similar species and exhibiting similar patters as those in Florida.
The Florida Disease Advisory Committee (FDAC) is now referring to all affected Floridian corals as having “tissue-loss disease” and is advising divers and all persons that come into contact with coral or marine life to take the necessary sanitary precautions to ensure that the disease does not spread.
The diseases observed include what appear to be “White Plague”, the unknown white disease “White Blotch”, and other indistinguishable white diseases. In light of this, the FDAC is advising people to rinse their diving gear in chlorine anti-septic and continue to be as distant to the coral reefs as possible and avoid touching the reefs that have become infected.
CIBC First Caribbean Wins Most Innovative Bank Award
Less than two months after releasing enhancements to its Mobile App and Online Banking, CIBC First Caribbean has been named the Most Innovative Bank in the region at the prestigious World Finance Banking Awards presented by UK-based World Finance Magazine.
The bank is the only Caribbean-based bank to have been recognized at this year’s event.
Earlier this year, CIBC First Caribbean revamped its mobile banking app to include services that are built on Visa technology – namely, mobile location confirmation and “Freeze My card” service. These features were the first of their kind to be introduced within the Caribbean by a bank. Through the app, clients can also easily check their account balances, transfer funds between accounts or to other CIBC First Caribbean clients and pay bills, all from their mobile device.
“Our success could not have been possible without our investment in technology. Technology remains one of our top priorities as a bank and it has allowed us to deliver on our promise of “banking that fits your life” by responding to client feedback and creating solutions that allow them to bank when and how they want.
CDB and Partners Kick off Project to Support Micro and Small Enterprises in Haiti
A project has been launched to give female and male entrepreneurs in Haiti better opportunities to grow their businesses.
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Inter-American Development Bank, Global Affairs Canada and Desjardins International (DID) of Canada have partnered to increase access to business loans, saving products, and services for micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Haiti.
The project, launched this week, will support Le Levier Fédération—a network of savings and credit cooperatives—in establishing a specialized MSE Finance Unit.
The Project titled, ‘Support for the Establishment of a Specialised Micro and Small Business Financing Assessment Unit, within the Le Levier Fédération’ has an investment of US$3.04 million, which includes a loan component of US$500,000 for onlending to first-tier savings and credit cooperatives within the Le Levier network that utilise the CFE model for the financing of MSEs.