Almost 3,500 people have died in outbreak and experts say more must be done to ensure Bundibugyo is under control
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have announced that the Ebola outbreak ravaging parts of the country has reached its peak.
For the first time since the epidemic was declared in May, the numbers of people becoming infected is slowing down, according to officials.
Continue reading...Chirag Bahri was working on board a tanker when six men seized it. For almost eight months, he and his colleagues were held captive, an experience that would change his life for ever
It was at noon on 8 May 2010 when the pirates came. Chirag Bahri remembers the exact time and date because it marked the start of the seven months and 20 days he was held hostage by a gang of Somali pirates. Bahri was 28 at the time, and working as second engineer on a chemical tanker, Marida Marguerite. It was his 12th journey through the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean. It had been a good job for a young man from landlocked Uttar Pradesh in India, and Bahri was about to be promoted. “But then, piracy,” he says.
The ship had been 120 miles off the coast of Oman, partway through a run taking benzene – a raw material used in petrochemicals – from Kandla Port in India to Antwerp in Belgium. The piracy problem in the Indian Ocean was well known; Somalis armed with AK-47s were setting out in fast skiffs and taking ships hostage. Yet commercial vessels, including the Marida Marguerite, remained undefended.
Continue reading...It was the fastest-growing emoji in 2025 – but if you’re older than 16, it has probably passed you by. Now, just as twentysomethings are catching up, it’s over
In the 2025 hit Netflix show Adolescence, DI Luke Bascombe’s 13-year-old son, Adam, has to explain to his father the way his generation use heart emojis. “Red means love, purple: horny, yellow: ‘I’m interested, are you interested?’, pink: ‘I’m interested but not in sex,’ orange: ‘You’re going to be fine,’” he explains. “It all has a meaning. Everything has a meaning.”
And those meanings are constantly evolving. Take the skull (), for example, which has come to be used as a reaction for finding something funny – a visual shorthand for the slang phrase: “I’m dead.” Or the wilting rose () which was, according to Google data analysed by the New York Times, the fastest-growing emoji in terms of popularity in 2025 – and was the 93rd most used. That the previously obscure wilting rose is now in the top 100 emojis is thanks to generation Alpha (those born between 2010 and 2024), who use it in place of the broken heart emoji () to signify sadness, or ironically, to suggest mock-heartbreak.
Continue reading...From Obama’s chef to a big cat obsessive, the actor has gathered experts from Alaska, the Amazon and beyond for a film about how to heal our besieged planet. He talks about naysayers, elephant tusks – and the wonders of venison
Benedict Cumberbatch is dreading stepping outside. He’s speaking to me from his air-conditioned hotel room in Soho at the peak of the summer heat. Few doubt that climate breakdown was a major cause of those scorchers, with nature, farming and water supplies all placed under huge strain. By midsummer, according to a report co-authored by the Met Office, there were 2,700 excess deaths in England and Wales due to the searing heat.
But for Cumberbatch, in a bittersweet way, the record-breaking temperatures have come at a good time. The actor has been on a tour to promote his new documentary, How to Live on Earth. “The irony is not lost on anyone,” he says. “We’re living in the results of climate breakdown so stepping outside is – literally – a call to action.”
Continue reading...Capitals star is long-time supporter of Russian leader
Ovechkin is NHL’s all-time leading goalscorer
Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s all-time leading goalscorer, has appeared in a campaign ad for the United Russia party, which supports Vladimir Putin, as he prepares for the new hockey season.
The Russian business newspaper Vedomosti published images of the Washington Capitals star alongside pro-Putin figures such as Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, the leading parliamentary candidate on United Russia’s list, and Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the propaganda network RT.
Continue reading...The drone, which reportedly entered from Belarus, was shot down near Pratkunai village in central-southern Lithuania
Nato fighter jets shot down a drone over Lithuania after an alert was issued in the capital, Vilnius, and surrounding region, while Poland scrambled fighter jets less than a day after retrieving a suspected Russian drone adrift in its waters.
The Lithuania drone was shot down near the central-southern village of Pratkunai outside the city of Kaunas, said emergency authorities early on Tuesday. The drone came from neighbouring Belarus and was heading west, according to information from Lithuania’s crisis management centre that was reported by national radio LRT.
Continue reading...Rhys becomes first actor to win lead acting awards for different shows in the same night, while Hacks’ Smart is the first woman to win for every season of a show
Matthew Rhys has become the first actor in 78 years of Emmys history to win multiple lead actor awards for performances in different shows in the same year, for Widow’s Bay and The Beast in Me.
The 51-year-old Welsh actor won outstanding lead actor in a comedy for Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay and outstanding lead actor in a limited series for his role in Netflix’s The Beast in Me at the ceremony on Monday night. With his 2018 win of outstanding lead actor in a drama for The Americans, he is the first male performer to win all three lead acting categories.
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LOS ANGELES (ANP/RTR) - Jean Smart won haar vijfde Emmy Award voor haar vertolking van een vasthoudende stand-upcomedian in Hacks, terwijl Matthew Rhys de eerste werd die tijdens één ceremonie twee prijzen voor beste hoofdrol in de wacht sleepte. De Hollywoodsterren waren maandagavond in Los Angeles, waar de beste televisieproducties van het afgelopen seizoen werden bekroond.
Dankzij deze nieuwe trofee is Smart de eerste actrice die de Emmy voor beste actrice in een komedieserie won voor elk seizoen van de serie. Het laatste seizoen van Hacks was dit jaar te zien op HBO Max. "Wat een geweldig avontuur is dit geweest!" zei Smart op het podium, nadat ze de makers van de serie had bedankt.
Rhys won de prijs voor beste acteur in een komedieserie voor de horrorkomedie Widow's Bay, te zien bij Apple TV, en de prijs voor beste acteur in een miniserie voor de psychologische Netflix-thriller The Beast in Me.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
