Month: January 2025

Uganda’s ministry of health has confirmed a new outbreak of the Ebola virus in the capital, Kampala, with one reported death.

The victim was a 32-year-old male nurse whose symptoms included “high fever, chest pain, and difficulty in breathing” and “bleeding from multiple body sites”. 

He died of multi-organ failure on Wednesday at Mulango National Hospital, located in the city’s central business district. 

This marks Uganda’s eighth recorded Ebola outbreak since the first infection was documented in 2000.

The Sudan Ebola Virus Disease (SUDV) is a highly infectious haemorrhagic fever which is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissues. It is one of several strains of the Ebola virus known to cause outbreaks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that, on average, the virus claims the lives of five out of every ten infected individuals, though previous outbreaks have seen fatality rates fluctuate between 25% and 90%, depending on response efforts and medical intervention.

Earlier in January, neighboring Tanzania confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in its northwest Kagera region. Uganda recorded three fatalities in 2017 due to this disease.

Nurse dies as Uganda confirms new Ebola outbreak https://t.co/sxnKk30Qij

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 30, 2025

𝔹𝔹ℂ

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Around 3 p.m. it turned out that the air traffic control system that skeyes uses to operate Belgian airspace was “not functioning properly,” says skeyes spokesman Kurt Verwilligen.

All aircraft flying at that time in the airspace controlled by skeyes (up to approximately 7,500 meters altitude) were diverted to surrounding countries.

“This was done safely using a backup system,” the spokesperson added. The cause of the problem is not yet known. Airplanes cannot land or depart at the airports of Zaventem, Antwerp, Ostend, Charleroi and Liège.

JUST IN: Belgium closes airspace after "complete computer failure" at air traffic control pic.twitter.com/lNIKOrV6a8

— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) January 30, 2025

𝔹ℕ𝕆 ℕ𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝕃𝕚𝕧𝕖

Update:

Air traffic over Belgium can resume again: computer system at air traffic controller Skeyes restarted

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A multi-agency search and rescue operation is underway in Washington’s Potomac River following a midair collision

A civilian airliner carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided midair with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night.

Flight 5342, operated by PSA – a subsidiary of American Airlines – was on its final approach to Runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport at around 9 pm local time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), when it struck the helicopter at low altitude.

The US Army Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk was carrying a crew of three and no VIPs, according to defense department officials. The exact number of fatalities remains unclear as emergency personnel from multiple agencies continue the search for possible survivors. 

The US Federal Aviation Authority announced that Reagan Washington National Airport, built on the river Potomac to the south of Washington DC, was temporarily shut down following the incident. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will lead the investigation into the crash.

PHOTO: Wreckage after crash between American Airlines Flight 5342 and US military helicopter pic.twitter.com/vOUSNgDwxS

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) January 30, 2025

𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕣 ℙ𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕣

Emergency crews have recovered over 30 bodies from the Potomac River after an American Airlines jet with 64 persons aboard and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers collided mid-air near Reagan National Airport, NBC4 reports.

Both aircraft crashed into the frigid river, where ongoing search efforts are complicated by near-freezing water temperatures, according to the US Geological Survey.

NEW – Plane carrying 64 collides with helicopter, crashes in Washingtonhttps://t.co/gd6E6H97gZ

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) January 30, 2025

𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕣 ℙ𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕣

Authorities expect no survivors following Washington DC plane crash

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to face the Senate for a two-day confirmation hearing beginning Wednesday in a bid to become the leader of the Department of Health and Human Services.

President-elect Donald Trump‘s pick for secretary of the nation’s top health agency, Kennedy has been a controversial choice to head the HHS, which oversees agencies handling food and drug safety, disease epidemics and health insurance. Kennedy, 71, has faced pushback over his promotion of unfounded claims about vaccines and some have questioned his views on abortion.

Kennedy is set to testify in Senate hearings Wednesday and Thursday, but just one of those committees will vote to determine if his nomination goes before the full Senate for a vote.

𝕊𝕖𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕝 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕕𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣 ℝ𝕠𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕥 𝔽 𝕂𝕖𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕕𝕪 𝕁𝕣

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American service personnel have been told that relying on the Chinese-developed AI model raises security and ethical concerns

The US Navy has barred its sailors from using the artificial intelligence model from the Chinese company DeepSeek, CNBC reported on Tuesday.

In an email sent to service personnel on Friday, the Navy warned that DeepSeek’s R1 model had been forbidden “for any work-related tasks or personal use.”

The Chinese AI should be avoided because of the “potential security and ethical concerns associated with the model’s origin and usage,” the message explained.

The Hangzhou-based start-up DeepSeek released its AI Assistant app earlier this month, and by this week it had become the most downloaded free app on the US Apple App Store, surpassing its American rival, OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Later in the day, a US Navy spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the email to CNBC.

US Navy bans DeepSeek, citing national security concerns.

Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/RqNDZ8PkaU

— AF Post (@AFpost) January 28, 2025

𝔸𝔽 ℙ𝕠𝕤

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The Smolensk Region has come under a mass drone attack, according to the regional leader

Multiple Ukrainian drones have targeted civilian infrastructure in Russia’s Smolensk Region, and at least one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was reportedly intercepted near a nuclear power facility, regional Governor Vasily Anokhin said on Wednesday morning.

Russian air defense and electronic warfare systems engaged several hostile targets during a “mass drone attack” on civilian facilities across different districts of the Smolensk Region, Anokhin wrote on Telegram.

“According to preliminary information, one of the drones was shot down during an attempted attack on a nuclear power facility,” Anokhin stated, without naming the facility. Some reports indicate that debris fell near the Smolenskaya Nuclear Power Plant.

Kiev attempted to target Russian nuclear facility – governor

The Smolensk Region has come under a mass drone attack, according to the regional leader

Multiple Ukrainian drones have targeted civilian infrastructure in Russia’s Smolensk Region, and at least one unmanned aerial… pic.twitter.com/3yJOS19WdL

— Mark Brewer (@theapril29th) January 29, 2025

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝔹𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕖𝕣

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Atomic scientists on Tuesday moved their “Doomsday Clock” closer to midnight than ever before, citing Russian nuclear threats amid its invasion of Ukraine, tensions in other world hot spots, military applications of artificial intelligence and climate change as factors underlying the risks of global catastrophe.

It is set at the closest it’s ever been to apocalypse. 

The terrifying news was revealed Tuesday morning in Washington, DC after deliberation by the organization’s Security Board and Board of Sponsors, which includes nine Nobel Laureates.

“Every second of delay increases the probability of global disaster,” chair Daniel Holz declared. Last year, the clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight. 

For 2025, multiple global threats were considered when deciding the clock’s time, including the proliferation of nuclear weapons, disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas war, the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, bio-threats, and the continued climate crisis.

NOW – Doomsday Clock set to 89 seconds to midnight. pic.twitter.com/KdBce4GKaD

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 28, 2025

𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕋𝕧

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