Deadly virus without a cure has emerged in India and it has killed a lot of people

A newly emerging deadly virus known as the Nipah virus has killed at least nine people in southern India.

Scientists found that the rare and extremely deadly Nipah virus could jump from bats to other species, including humans. The disease is currently incurable and can be transmitted from person to person. It has killed between 40 percent and 75 percent of infected people in most outbreaks.

These statistics indicate that Nipah has the potential to cause a deadly pandemic, which is why the World Health Organisation lists Nipah as an urgent research priority, alongside diseases like Ebola and SARS.

Meanwhile, a nurse is being hailed as a hero for helping to battle the Nipah virus and dying in the process. Lini Puthussery, a 28-year-old nurse, wrote a heartbreaking note to her husband as she was dying from the deadly Nipah virus on Monday in India's southern state of Kerala.

The note reads in part: "I don't think I will be able to see you again. Sorry. Please raise our children well."

Lini Puthussery has two sons, aged five and two.

At least nine other people have died in the outbreak in Kozhikode, formerly Calicut in Kerala. Of the nine people who have died so far, three cases of Nipah have been confirmed. Results from the other six are still being tested. Two others who have tested positive for the virus are critically ill. Some 40 people have been put into quarantine following the deaths.

Health authorities across Kerala have been on alert, setting up medical camps and a control room to tackle the situation.

According to Science Alert, Nipah first appeared in Malaysia in 1998, when 265 people became infected with a strange illness that caused encephalitis, or brain inflammation, after they came into contact with pigs or sick people. In that outbreak, 105 people died, a fatality rate of 40 percent. Since then, there have been a number of smaller outbreaks in India and Bangladesh, with about 280 infections and 211 deaths – an average fatality rate of 75 percent.

When the first infections jumped from pigs to humans, authorities killed more than a million pigs to try to stop the spread of the disease. Since then, however, researchers have identified several fruit bat species as the natural hosts of the virus. In some cases, humans have been infected after drinking sap from date palms that bats may have contaminated.

The BBC reported that in the most recent outbreak, mangoes bitten by bats were found in a home where three of the deceased patients lived. 

Symptoms for Nipah have varied depending on the outbreak. Many patients first experienced fever and headache, followed by drowsiness and confusion. Some patients have also shown respiratory flu-like symptoms while infected. In other cases, symptoms progressed to a coma within a day or two. 

People who survive the initial infection can have lasting health issues, including personality changes and persistent convulsions. In some cases, the virus has re-activated in patients months or years after exposure, causing illness and death

Linda Ikeji finally reveals the father of her unborn baby. You wont believe who....

Celebrity blogger, Linda Ikeji seems to be enjoying the cloud surrounding the man in her life. She has made her followers curious over the suspense when, first, she conceded to an engagement rumour in late March, and two days ago, made public her pregnancy in a baby bump photo show with a lengthy online post on her love for kids.

Putting paid to the engagement rumour in March, Linda’s younger sister, Sandra had joined other celebrities to congratulate the blogger, lending credence to the news that she was affianced to a man described as a long-lost friend.

She said: “Congratulations @officialLindaIkeji So happy for you sweet sis! This tells me that sometimes the wait is worth it. Can’t wait to plan…”

A buildup to the blogger’s gradual transition into a family life happened on Sunday in a viral show of her baby bump.

“…Imagine that in a few months, I will look down at a baby, and it won’t be a neighbor’s child, a friend’s child, a sister’s child, but my own child, my own flesh and blood, carried in my womb. My own son. It’s surreal. I can’t get over it,” she said in the post.

According to Ikeji, “2018 started with me finding out I was pregnant. When I missed my period and my friend and I did a home pregnancy test and it read positive, my friend began to cry with happiness but I was just there staring at the stick like, you’re not messing with me, are you? This is real and not a joke on me, right? I refused to believe it and asked my friend to drive me to a lab for another test. And there it was confirmed, I was pregnant. Me, Linda, I am going to have my own child. Please don’t wake me up from this lovely dream..lol”

Ikeji who disclosed she is in her Trimester, announced she will be having a baby shower in a few weeks.

There are indications the suspense will linger until a marriage ceremony in a few months, where the man in her life will be unveiled.

Why is Bitcoin falling TODAY? Will it go back above 10k?

BITCOIN prices suffered an overnight blow, plunging by more than $1,000 on Wednesday evening to strike out below the $10,000 mark. But why are bitcoin prices falling today?

Bitcoin took a hit last night after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it will require digital asset exchanges to register with the federal agency.

Prices plunged by more than $1,000 in the space of an hour, falling from $10,673.03 at 4.40pm GMT to $9,481.45 by 5.22pm GMT on Wednesday, according to CoinDesk.

So far on Thursday the token has attempted to claw back its losses, kickstarting trading at $9,906.80 and peaking at $10,030.63 after 1am.

As of 8.33am bitcoin is exchanging hands for $9,865.37 – down 0.42 percent.The SEC announcement last night sparked fears of tighter cryptocurrency regulation, forcing traders to pull back.

According to the agency, digital assets moving through exchanges need to abide by federal laws, to protect investors’ best interests.

The SEC said in a statement: “If a platform offers trading of digital assets that are securities and operates as an 'exchange,' as defined by the federal securities laws, then the platform must register with the SEC as a national securities exchange or be exempt from registration.

“The SEC staff has concerns that many online trading platforms appear to investors as SEC-registered and regulated marketplaces when they are not.

COINDESK

Bitcoin price: traders pulled back after the SEC announced tighter regulation of exchanges

“Many platforms refer to themselves as 'exchanges', which can give the misimpression to investors that they are regulated or meet the regulatory standards of a national securities exchange.”

The SEC staff has concerns that many online trading platforms appear to investors as SEC-registered and regulated marketplaces when they are not

US Securities and Exchange Commission

The decision came in the wake of news hackers have caused “irregular trades” on Binance, one of the word’s biggest and most popular cryptocurrency exchanges.

Though Binance said no traders had their tokens stolen, the hack highlighted security issues that are present in the crypto sphere.

Some have now welcomed the SEC’s move in the wake of recent events, seeing it as a step in the right direction towards protecting customers.

Twitter suspends actress Rose McGowan's account after speaking out against Harvey Weinstein's sex abuse

Actress Rose McGowan, who was one of the first to speak out about Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual assaults, has been temporarily blocked by Twitter after she took to the social platform to rant on those who have been quiet on the issue.

This morning, McGowan shared a screen-shot on Instagram she received from Twitter Inc. claiming that they’ve “temporarily limited some of” her Twitter account features, including the ability to tweet.
According to the Twitter rules, harassment and hateful conduct are grounds for being suspended.
It emerged last week that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein raped three women and sexually assaulted and harassed numerous others, using his influence in the industry to threaten and silence his victims.
The Times reported that McGowan herself reached a settlement with Weinstein over undisclosed claims in 1997.
Following reports of the numerous sexual assaults, McGowan emerged as one of the most vocal denouncers of Weinstein. She took to her Twitter page to call out numerous Hollywood figures that allegedly knew of his crimes and said nothing.
She tweeted at Matt Damon asking, “what’s it like to be a spineless profiteer who stays silent?” and she told her fellow celeb Ben Affleck  “Fuck off.” McGowan also called for the board of the Weinstein Company to be dissolved following the allegations.
Harvey Weinstein who has been accused by 28 women of sexual harassment and assault, was recently checked into a rehab center in Arizona, where he will deal with his sex addiction and other behavioral issues.

Bitcoin price soars above $5,000 to record high

Rising price of the cryptocurrency, now worth four times as much as an ounce of gold, has sparked warnings of a bubble

Thursday 12 October 2017 10.49 BST First published on Thursday 12 October 2017 10.12 BThe price of bitcoin, the world’s best-known cryptocurrency, has smashed through $5,000 to a new all-time high.

Bitcoin is now trading at $5,186 compared with $966 at the start of the year. The digital currency has soared 750% in the past year, and is now worth four times as much as an ounce of gold.
But the price has been volatile. Bitcoin plummeted below $3,000 in mid-September after Chinese authorities announced a crackdown on the digital currency. Beijing ordered cryptocurrency exchanges to stop trading and block new registrations, due to fears that increasing number of consumers piling into the market could prompt wider financial problems.
Using bitcoin allows people to bypass banks and traditional payment processes to pay for goods and services directly. Banks and other financial institutions have been concerned about bitcoin’s associations with money laundering and online crime.
The soaring value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies comes despite growing warnings over a price bubble.

The starkest warning came from JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon, who said bitcoin was a fraud that will ultimately blow up. He said last month there was only a limited market for the digital currency, arguing it was only fit for use by drug dealers, murderers and people living in countries such as North Korea.

Kenneth Rogoff, professor of economics and public policy at Harvard University and a former IMF chief economist, has predicted that the technology behind cryptocurrencies will thrive but that the price of bitcoin will collapse.

Rogoff wrote in the Guardian this week: “It is folly to think that bitcoin will ever be allowed to supplant central-bank-issued money.
“It is one thing for governments to allow small anonymous transactions with virtual currencies; indeed, this would be desirable. But it is an entirely different matter for governments to allow large-scale anonymous payments, which would make it extremely difficult to collect taxes or counter criminal activity.”
Despite the warnings, Japan’s government has implemented rules that recognise bitcoin as a payment method, and India and Sweden are considering their own virtual currencies. Celebrities have also got involved, with the boxer Floyd Mayweather, the socialite Paris Hilton and the actor Jamie Foxx promoting coin offerings.

Australia jet and navy data stolen in 'extensive' hack

 

Sensitive information about Australia's defence programmes has been stolen in an "extensive" cyber hack.

About 30GB of data was compromised in the hack on a government contractor, including details about new fighter planes and navy vessels.
The data was commercially sensitive but not classified, the government said. It did not know if a state was involved.
Australian cyber security officials dubbed the mystery hacker "Alf", after a character on TV soap Home and Away.
The breach began in July last year, but the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) was not alerted until November. The hacker's identity is not known.
"It could be one of a number of different actors," Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Thursday.
"It could be a state actor, [or] a non-state actor. It could be someone who was working for another company."
Mr Pyne said he had been assured the theft was not a risk to national security.
The hack was described as "extensive and extreme" by ASD incident response manager Mitchell Clarke.
It included information about Australia's new A$17bn (£10bn; $13bn) F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme, C130 transport plane and P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft, as well as "a few" naval vessels, he said.
Mr Clarke told a Sydney security conference that the hacker had exploited a weakness in software being used by the government contractor. The software had not been updated for 12 months.
The aerospace engineering firm was also using default password.

Viral photos of a mum climbing the fence to withdraw her child from school following fake news that officers were injecting pupils with Monkeypox virus

Pandemonium broke in some parts of Anambra state yesterday after IPOB members alleged that military officers had invaded some primary schools in Ozubulu in Ekwusigo local government area of the state to inject students with Monkeypox virus.

Parents ran with fear to the schools in the area to pick their wards. These photos show one of the mothers climbing the fence of a school so she can withdraw her child.
The state government has however clarified that the military officers in the schools were in their for a medical outreach. The school authority and residents of the community were however not informed hence the apprehension, Calm has however returned to the area. The military medical outreach has also been put on hold.