Sierra Leone’s Vice President Enters Self-Quarantine After Security Personnel Died Of Ebola

The Vice-President of Sierra Leone, Samuel Sam-Suman has voluntarily placed himself under a 3-week quarantine after one of his security personnel died from the Ebola Virus, according to the Associated Press.

It is reported that Sierra Leone recorded 18 new cases of Ebola last week, up from 16 the week before.

Beyond Sad! ISIS Fighters Kill 21 Egyptians For Being Christians

A video released recently showed how ISIS fighters murdered 21 Egyptians for being Christians. The ISIS fighters were dressed head to toe in black marching the captives, all wearing orange jumpsuits, to a beach where they were all executed.

The 21 men, murdered because of their Christian faith, can be seen being forced onto their knees (in the photo above) before they were finally beheaded by the militants standing behind them.

Egyptian government has however vowed last night to avenge the bloodshed and to seek retribution from the killers.

Ebola Update: Liberia Re-Opens Schools Closed for 6 Months due to Crisis

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – President of Liberia

The Liberia Education Ministry has announced the re-opening of schools which had been closed down for more than six months due to Ebola outbreak.

Benjamin Jacobs, National School Superintendent, said on Monday in Monrovia, that the re-opening which was initially planned for February 2, was postponed by two weeks.

He said this was to allow adequate distribution of more than 7,000 health and sanitation kits, including hand-washing buckets and thermometers to public and private schools.

Ramses Kumbuyahm, Deputy Education Minister, said the ministry has trained 15,000 teachers and school administrators on how to implement health and safety protocols to prevent further Ebola infection.

Quebec Ebola Patient Is being Tested For Possible Risk Of Virus Spreading

Medical staff in protective clothing transport a healthcare worker diagnosed with Ebola in a quarantine tent. Danny Lawson/AP

The Canadian Press
A patient at a hospital in Quebec’s Lanaudiere region is being tested for Ebola, but the region’s health authority says the individual is at a low risk of having the virus.

The patient started to have a fever and diarrhea 16 days after returning from an Ebola-stricken part of Africa, a time gap the region’s public health director says considerably reduces the chances of infection.

Muriel Lafarge says all the standard isolation protocols have been put in place to monitor the patient, whose gender and identity have not been released.

Rapper Meek Mill tweets on the BokoHaram crisis in Nigeria

Nicki Minaj's new boyfriend took to twitter this to slam the way foreign media outlets are covering the issue in France when the issue in Nigeria is more serious.

New Haiti protesters urge president’s departure

Protesters have burned tyres and thrown rocks and glass bottles at riot police during another anti-government demonstration in Haiti’s capital amid a political stalemate over long-delayed elections, Al Jazeera reports.

The demonstration of mostly young men reached a peak of about 1,500 in downtown Port-au-Prince as protesters called for the departure of President Michel Martelly.

Police fired tear gas and sprayed water from an armoured vehicle, scattering the crowd at a plaza close to where the National Palace stood before it collapsed in Haiti’s 2010 earthquake.

There has been no let-up in protests since last month’s resignation of Martelly’s prime minister, Laurent Lamothe, and other concessions aimed at resolving the stalemate holding up legislative elections.

Swiss study of Canadian made Ebola vaccine resumes

The Guinean village of Meliandou is widely believed to have been the home of the current Ebola outbreak's Patient Zero. AP

Helen Branswell The Canadian Press A trial in Switzerland of a Canadian-made Ebola vaccine resumed this week after being suspended over concerns about an unexpected side-effect reported by some volunteers.

And while the Geneva-based trial of the rVSV-ZEBOV got back on track, researchers at Oxford University began testing another Ebola vaccine, made by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

The Janssen vaccine joins rVSV-ZEBOV, which is being developed by Merck and NewLink Genetics, and a vaccine being developed by GSK (formerly GlaxoSmithKline) in the race to provide the world with a licensed Ebola preventative.

ISIS seizes Damascus suburb from rivals

Islamist fighters seized a suburb east of Damascus on Sunday after driving out a smaller rival insurgent group in deadly clashes, a monitoring group said, the latest example of rebel infighting in Syria’s nearly four-year conflict, Voice of America reports.

Fighters from the Army of Islam clashed with members of the Army of the Nation group in Douma, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Both groups include Sunni Muslim fighters opposed to President Bashar al-Assad’s government, and the fighting is seen as more of a turf war than a conflict over ideology.

The Observatory, which gathers information from a network of sources in Syria, said several fighters were killed, without giving details. It added that the Army of Islam had detained many of its rival combatants.

Sierra Leone President summons prayer over Ebola

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma asked the country to begin a week of fasting and prayers on Thursday to end the Ebola virus that has killed more than 2,700 of his countrymen, Voice of America reports.

The worst outbreak on record of the virus is still spreading in West Africa, especially in Sierra Leone, and the number of known cases globally has exceeded 20,000, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

In a New Year’s Day broadcast, Koroma said the seven days of prayers and fasting would begin immediately. “Today I ask all to commit our actions to the grace, mercy and protection of God Almighty,” he said.

The death toll from the outbreak, which has been mostly confined to West Africa, has risen to 7,905, the WHO said, following 317 fatalities recorded since it last issued figures on December 24.

Canadian Ebola volunteers to West Africa doubles since call to action

In this Oct. 16, 2014, file photo, a healthcare worker dons protective gear before entering an Ebola treatment center in Freetown, Sierra Leone. CP

CBC

The number of Canadians who have volunteered to take part in the government's efforts to stop the deadly spread of Ebola in West Africa has doubled since Health Minister Rona Ambrose put out a call to action last month.

Ambrose called on health-care workers to join the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea during a press conference on Nov. 27.

​​Nick Ayre, a recruitment officer with the Red Cross’s Ebola response team, said 670 Canadians have applied to help contain the deadly virus in West Africa — 350 since the government's call for more volunteers. Of the 350 who have applied, 100 of those are government workers.​

In an interview with CBC News, Ayre did not sugarcoat the risks and challenges faced by volunteers on this mission.

Ukraine cuts electricity power supply to Crimea

Ukraine briefly severed electricity to the Crimean peninsula, nine months after it was annexed by Russia, in a pointed reminder of the territory’s reliance on Ukrainian energy sources, New York Times reports.

The electricity shut-off came as Moscow threatened a greater rift with the West if Ukraine attempted to make good on its intention to join NATO.

The Russian deputy defense minister, Anatoly Antonov condemned the decision on Tuesday by the Ukrainian Parliament to abandon Ukraine’s nonaligned status and declared that NATO was attempting to use Ukraine as a “forward line for confronting Russia.”

Ukraine’s ambitions to join the Western military alliance have been presented as a direct military threat to Russia by President Vladimir Putin and top security officials.

No Canadians among 162 on board missing AirAsia plane

An electronic sign board instructs relatives and next-of-kin to gather at a holding area at the Changi International Airport where AirAsia Flight 8501 was scheduled to land. AP

The Canadian Press
The Foreign Affairs Department says there’s no indication there are any Canadians on board a missing Air Asia flight.

But a spokesperson says Canadian officials are working to confirm that with local authorities.

The AirAsia jet had 162 people on board for a scheduled two-hour flight from western Indonesia to Singapore when it disappeared on Sunday.

Airline officials have said the majority of the people on the plane were Indonesian, but there were also three South Koreans, a Malaysian, a British national and his two-year-old Singaporean daughter, as well as a French captain.

Scottish Nurse With Ebola To Arrive At London Hospital

 Glasgow Healthcare Worker Diagnosed With Ebola

Sky News

A Scottish nurse who has become the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the UK is being transferred to London for specialist medical care, according to Sky sources.

The woman returned to Scotland after a spell working in Sierra Leone and arrived at Glasgow Airport on a British Airways flight at around 11.30pm on Sunday.

The patient - understood to have been volunteering for Save The Children - was admitted to hospital early on Monday morning after feeling unwell and was placed into isolation at 7.50am. She is in a stable condition.

Update On Ebola Vaccine

Iraq TV show makes ISIS terrorist confront victims

In this photo taken Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014, Haider Ali Motar, right, performs a scene from "In the Grip of the Law," a reality show produced by Iraqi state TV, as a TV cameraman moves his position in Baghdad, Iraq. Hadi Mizban/AP

Vivian Salama The Associated PressHaider Ali Motar was convicted of terrorism charges about a month ago for helping to carry out a string of Baghdad car bombings on behalf of the Islamic State extremist group. Now, the 21-year old is a reluctant cast member in a popular reality TV show.

“In the Grip of the Law,” brings convicted terrorists face-to-face with victims in surreal encounters and celebrates the country’s beleaguered security forces. The show, produced by state-run Iraqiyya TV, is among dozens of programs, cartoons and musical public service announcements aimed at shoring up support for the troops after their humiliating defeat last summer at the hands of the Islamic State group, which now controls about a third of the country.

On a chilly, overcast day last week, the crew arrived at the scene of one of the attacks for which Motar was convicted, with a heavily armed escort in eight military pick-up trucks and Humvees. Passing cars clogged the road to watch the drama unfold, but were quickly shooed away by soldiers.

Ebola Outbreak Now Tops 7000

In this photo released by the United Nations, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, meets with Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Monrovia, Liberia, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2014. AP

 Boubacar Diallo | The Associated Press
The worst Ebola outbreak on record has now killed more than 7,000 people, with many of the latest deaths reported in Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization said as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon continued his tour of Ebola-affected countries in West Africa on Saturday.

The three countries hit hardest by Ebola have now recorded 7,373 deaths, up from 6,900 on Wednesday, according to WHO figures posted online late Friday. A total of 392 of the new deaths were in Sierra Leone, where Ebola is spreading the fastest.

The new totals include confirmed, probable and suspected Ebola deaths. The WHO says there have also been six Ebola deaths in Mali, eight in Nigeria and one in the United States.

Sony Hires Life Real Olivia Pope To Salvage The Hack Crisis

Founder and President of Smith & Company, Judy Smith speaks on stage at the 2014 Massachusetts Conference for Women at Boston Convention & Exhibition Center on December 4, 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts.  Lisa Lake/Getty Images

Ryan Kristobak | Huff
After the premiere of "The Interview" was canceled, Sony received serious criticism from moviegoers, Hollywood's hottest names and even President Obama. With all eyes on them, Sony did the only logical thing: hire Olivia Pope. At least, they hired Judy Smith, the inspiration behind Kerry Washington's "Scandal" lead, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Hired to assist Sony with the ensuing aftermath of "The Interview" and the hack, Smith previously served as President George H.W. Bush's deputy press secretary and started her own crisis management firm, Smith & Company. Smith has worked with high-profile clients like Monica Lewinsky, Wesley Snipes and Michael Vick.

Following President Obama's remarks, Sony released a statement on Friday, explaining that much of the decision was in the hands of theater owners:

British and Canadian troops join Ebola fight in Sierra Leone

A local resident awaits the landing of a British Navy helicopter as it drops food aid on Sherbro Island, Sierra Leone, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014. AP

The Associated Press
Reservists and troops from Britain and Canada have left for Sierra Leone to help in the battle to contain the Ebola virus outbreak.

British officials said Saturday that 16 reservists and 100 regular military personnel left on a morning flight from the Brize Norton military airbase.

Officials say Canadian military personnel are on the same flight.

Sierra Leone braces for more Ebola health crisis

A few people seen during a three-day lockdown to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in September, 2014

Sierra Leone, caught in the grip of the Ebola crisis, is bracing itself for a sharp increase in cases of the killer disease over the Christmas period, Sky News reports.

The Government is so worried about the situation it has outlawed any seasonal public celebrations and soldiers are being put on the streets to make sure no one disobeys the directive.

The outbreak of the virus, which began a year ago in neighbouring Guinea and quickly spread to Liberia, is now dominating the lives of everyone in Sierra Leone.

The western part of the country, including the capital Freetown where around a third of the population of more than six million lives, is bearing the brunt of the current upturn in cases.

Authorities have instigated what they call the “Western Surge” to redouble efforts to try to keep the virus at bay.

Russia President Putin Comments On The Ruble Collapse And The Ukraine Crisis

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Russian economy will rebound and the ruble will stabilize, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday at his annual press conference, he also said Ukraine must remain one political entity, voicing hope that the crisis could be solved through peace talks. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

 A fact-checking look at some of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements on the ruble collapse and the Ukrainian crisis from his annual news conference Thursday:
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ON THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY:

PUTIN: “We will rely on these reserves. And I’m sure we will be able to confidently solve major social issues, will be diversifying the economy and, inevitably, I repeat, the situation will go back to normal.”

THE FACTS: With the ruble losing about half its value since January, a staggering capital outflow and flagging investment, experts are predicting the Russian economy will plunge into recession next year. Despite Putin’s repeated pledges to steer Russia’s economy away from oil and gas, those two industries still account for more than half of government revenues.