Bundibugyo Ebola Spreads West

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the world’s fastest-growing outbreak of the disease on record, has now spread to a seventh province, in the country. 

Local lawmaker and former health minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani reported on X on Thursday a positive case was recorded in Gwaka, a town in Sud-Ubangi province. He said the patient was a 23-year-old man and has died. 

The development makes Sud-Ubangi the latest province affected by the outbreak – and the first in western Congo – a worrisome spread outward from what was previously concentrated in the country’s east. 

As of Wednesday, 6,942 cases and 3,349 deaths have been reported, according to the latest government figures. 

Sud-Ubangi, which borders the Central African Republic, does not border any of the six provinces in eastern Congo where confirmed Ebola cases had previously been reported. They include Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Tshopo and Bas-Uele. 

WHO said last month there is a risk the outbreak could spread from DRC to the Central African Republic and South Sudan, which border the affected provinces. 

Neighboring Uganda, which had reported 20 cases since May, declared itself free of Ebola in July. 

Clinical trials are underway to find a licensed vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus.

Another total collapse from Celtic. The Scottish League Cup quarterfinal match between them and Rangers kicked off today – and the latter sealed a dominant 3-0 victory in the season's first Old Firm derby.

The Ibrox club were the first to breach the Scottish champions' defence. Cameron Carter-Vickers failed to deal with a long ball and the Gers cracked in a lovely shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 23rd minute. 

And Keeper Sam Johnstone failed to deal with a low cross and the Gers slotted in a composed finish from inside the six-yard box in the 59th minute.

Then, the Celtic backline failed to deal with a rapid counter-attack and the Gers swept in a clinical strike from the center of the box in the 76th minute. 

What a bummer!

Fear on the Shelves

You used to make yourself the breakfast of champions: some coffee, eggs, toast, maybe some yogurt and berries, along with some screentime. 

But as soon as you go to take a bite of those scrambled eggs, you stop: you saw a post saying eggs have been recalled for salmonella. Not to worry, you turn to your toast – but now even bread has been recalled for containing metal. Those berries? Recalled for E. coli. 

Your breakfast has now become a wearily-drunk glass of water and doomscrolling about the latest recalled food item. 

If you’re feeling weary about your food, you’re not alone: the majority of Americans have lost confidence in the American food system. And there’s a good reason: in August alone, the Food and Drug Administration announced 26 food recall notices. Add in drug notices, and the agency posted 46 recalls for the month. 

According to a consumer survey commissioned by GS1 US – the nonprofit standards group best known for creating the UPC barcode that’s seen in products in your grocery cart – 94% of US adults say they’re concerned about how frequently food is being recalled. 

And within those warnings lies a growing tension: A recall means a potentially dangerous product has been identified and pulled from the market, one of the mechanisms designed to keep unsafe food away from consumers. 

Yet as the notices pile up, Americans are losing confidence in that system, with the share of adults who believe recalls effectively protect public health and safety fell to 80%, from 85% last year. 

According to the survey, more than two-thirds (67%) of consumers say they’ve avoided an entire food category after a recall, up from 60% last year. Nearly as many, 66%, have hesitated to buy the same product or brand again. And 59% have thrown away recalled food even when their state or region wasn’t affected. 

According to The New Republic’s tally of FDA recall notices, the agency announced 18 food recall notices in August 2025 and 19 in August 2024. But two years later, that number rose to 26, excluding pet food. 

Salmonella accounted for a sizable share of August’s food recall notices, with 12 of the 26 recalls referencing potential Salmonella contamination, as compared to just two in July, and one in August of each of the previous two years, according to The New Republic. 

The affected products were all over the grocery aisle: radishes, mangoes, alfalfa sprouts, granola and jalapeños have all been recalled over potential Salmonella contamination. 

Sometimes the reasons for recalls were due to mislabeled products or foreign substances. With Halloween right around the corner, those looking for a sweet treat might get the trick, too: chocolate eyeballs were recalled for undeclared milk, meaning milk was left off the label. Ready-to-go baked spaghetti instead? Watch out for aluminum slivers. Craving a fruit bar in this summer heat? Careful, glass got your tongue. Vegan frozen dessert sandwiches? Surprise: they may contain egg. An almond and cocoa spread may come with unlisted cashews, pistachios and hazelnuts, too. 

The list has gotten so long that people took to X to keep track. “America, welcome to the wheel of misfortune”, one X user wrote after a Hodo tofu recall. 

But counting recall notices isn’t the same thing as counting outbreaks or illnesses. Recalls can happen for vastly different reasons, from bacterial contamination and undeclared allergens to foreign objects such as glass, metal or plastic. They can also vary dramatically in scale and severity.

A single contamination event can also trigger multiple recall notices as ingredients move through the supply chain. One Salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeños this summer, for example, resulted in several downstream recalls of products containing the recalled peppers, according to the FDA. 

“There isn’t one single factor driving the number we’re seeing”, Melanie Nuce-Hilton, Senior Vice President of Customer Success at GS1 US, told Fortune. 

Some recalls carry far greater consequences than others. Midwest Poultry Services recalled nearly 1.6 million dozen eggs – almost 19 million eggs – after detecting a potential Salmonella contamination at two Texas farms. The outbreak sickened at least 98 people across 17 states and hospitalized 26. Nuce-Hilton said recalls can be evidence that food-safety systems are identifying problems and removing affected products from the market. 

However, Vineet Dubey, a Los Angeles-based environmental attorney, told Fortune they can also expose weaknesses in the system. 

“People could argue that numerous recalls mean better detection, but they can also expose weaknesses,” said Dubey. “The real question isn’t simply why we’re recalling more food; it’s why contaminated food is making it far enough through the supply chain to require a recall”. 

Whatever is driving the increase, consumers aren’t always limiting their reaction to the products regulators actually tell them to avoid. 

“Consumers are making a category-level decision about a product-level problem”, Nuce-Hilton said. 

Most recalls are much narrower, affecting certain products, lots, batches or regions during a particular timeframe. But when shoppers respond by avoiding the entire category, Nuce-Hilton said, companies whose products were never involved can lose sales and perfectly safe food can end up in the trash. 

Part of the problem is figuring out whether the food sitting in the refrigerator is actually part of the recall. 

Consumers may have to find the recall alert, inspect the packaging and match a lot code that can itself be difficult to read, Nuce-Hilton said. Faced with that process, some simply throw the food away as a precaution. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed said they’ve discarded recalled food even when their state or region wasn’t affected. 

Tracing the food itself isn’t always simple, either. Nuce-Hilton explained how fresh produce can be particularly difficult to trace because of how many hands it can pass through before reaching consumers. A single shipment may contain produce from multiple fields or growers before moving between packers, distributors, processors and retailers. Along the way, products can be repacked or combined with other lots, making it harder to preserve information about exactly where a particular item came from. 

When that information gets separated from the food, companies can have a harder time isolating exactly what needs to be recalled and may end up pulling more product than necessary, she said. 

GS1 US are reportedly working with brands to transition from traditional UPCs to two-dimensional barcodes capable of carrying more detailed batch- and item-level information. One goal, Nuce-Hilton said, is for shoppers to eventually scan a package and determine whether their particular item is part of a recall instead of guessing.

The bigger risk is that as recall notices pile up, they all start to sound the same. Nuce-Hilton said consumers need to quickly understand how serious a recall is, whether the product they have is affected, and what they should do about it. 

“When a shopper can get those answers quickly, the urgent recalls are perceived as urgent”, she said. “When they can’t, every recall carries the same weight, and eventually it’s possible that none of them do”.  

Bundibugyo Ebola Strain Ravages DRC

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to escalate, with confirmed infections now topping 6,000 and the death toll reaching 2,911, according to government figures. 

The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, has spread to around 60 zones in six provinces, raising fears that the virus is outpacing efforts to contain it. 

As researchers continue trials aimed at developing a licensed vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain, Congolese authorities have rolled out a vaccination campaign focused on front-line health workers. 

The vaccine, Ervebo (rVSV-EBOV-GP) is licensed exclusively for the Zaire strain (Orthoebolavirus zairense) of the Ebola virus. The current outbreak in the DRC is driven by the Bundibugyo strain (Orthoebolavirus bundibugyoense), for which there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment.

Yesterday, Martin O'Neill's side continued their unbeaten start to the domestic campaign with a comfortable 3-0 Scottish Premiership victory at home to Aberdeen. 

Collecting a crisp pass from Benjamin Nygren about 20 yards out, Camilo Durán manufactured a half-yard of breathing room. He then unleashed an unstoppable, minimal-backlift rocket in the 14th minute that clanged into the top-left corner off the underside of the crossbar. 

The Colombian striker appeared to get a touch on the ball twenty minutes later, helping it on to the onrushing Nygren, whose low shot bobbled into the back of the net. 

And during a rapid counter-attack, Durán again turned provider, slipping a precise pass into the path of Yang Hyun-jun. The Korean calmly slotted it home deep into first-half stoppage time, completely killing off the match before the interval.

Meta's $18B Settlement and Their Brilliant Counter-Attack

Meta have reached a landmark $18 billion agreement to resolve massive lawsuits accusing the company of intentionally designing Facebook and Instagram to addict children. 

This legal resolution includes roughly $17.1 billion to a 47-state coalition, alongside a distinct $1 billion arrangement with Texas. 

By resolving the case, the tech giant cleverly capped their financial exposure to a fraction of a worst-case jury verdict. Before the trial, state attorneys general argued statutory violations could theoretically expose the company to a staggering $1.4 trillion in penalties. While that maximum was highly improbable, the plaintiffs were realistically pursuing closer to $200 billion. 

The deal was struck on Wednesday morning, exactly one day after Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified and right before CEO Mark Zuckerberg was scheduled to take the stand. Ending the litigation immediately spared Zuckerberg from a highly publicized, potentially damaging cross-examination regarding internal files and executive knowledge of teen psychological harms. 

Furthermore, Meta’s legal team faced immense pressure following recent losses in similar courtroom battles, such as the New Mexico and Los Angeles verdicts. 

Realizing they faced an uphill battle convincing a federal jury, executives strategically structured the terms to drag competitors into the same restrictions. Meta will initially pay about 70% of the fund (~$12 billion). The remaining 30% is only triggered if TikTok and YouTube agree to similar financial penalties and default daily time limits. This allowed the company to position the outcome as an industry standard rather than a solo defeat. 

The state attorneys general accepted the terms because the deal secured immediate, historic product reforms and eliminated the hazards of a prolonged courtroom battle. 

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser noted that the agreement "exceeded what most courts might order", as judges rarely impose such sweeping operational mandates on tech corporations. 

For the plaintiffs, the primary objective was forcing structural changes to protect minors rather than securing a massive cash windfall. 

Had the states rejected the offer and won a larger verdict at trial, Meta would have appealed. This would lock the case in federal appellate courts and the Supreme Court for five to ten years, during which time the safety modifications would be frozen and the funds withheld. 

Ultimately, this $18 billion penalty stands as the largest enforcement fine ever levied against a social media company. It sends a severe warning shot to Silicon Valley without causing corporate insolvency. A bankrupt entity would be unable to pay damages, making a practical multi-billion-dollar distribution over ten years a far more secure guarantee for state budgets. 

However, this monumental resolution only appeases state governments; Meta’s broader legal battles are far from over. They still face thousands of independent civil claims from individual families, school districts, and local municipalities. 

Paradoxically, the state agreement strengthens the position of these private litigants, as the internal corporate documents exposed during the state trial can now be used as leverage to force further multi-billion-dollar payouts.

Mark Zuckerbeg’s Meta in $1.4 Trillion Addiction Showdown

Meta headed to a US court on August 18, 2026 to face accusations that they broke child safety laws and harmed underage users’ mental health. 

It has even been highlighted that a loss could mathematically bankrupt Mark Zuckerberg’s company and force permanent changes to Facebook and Instagram. 

California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are suing Meta in a federal court in Oakland, California. The four states are parties to a wider lawsuit involving a total of 29 states, filed in 2023. The remaining 25 states are expected to have their trials at later dates. 

Attorneys general in all 29 states have consolidated thousands of individual complaints – a practice known as multi-district litigation – all alleging that Meta knowingly harmed their youngest and most vulnerable users. 

All four states argue that the social media giant deliberately engineered their platforms to keep children and teenagers scrolling for as long as possible, while knowingly allowing under-13s to use these platforms without parental consent. 

“Meta have harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens. Their motive is profit, and in seeking to maximize their financial gains”, the lawsuit states. 

These addictive design features – including the infinite scroll feature and algorithms that encourage “compulsive use” – amount to unfair, fraudulent, or deceptive business practices in all four states, the plaintiffs allege. 

Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that Meta know their products are harming users’ mental health, but “prioritize engagement and profits to the detriment of young users’ well-being”, for example by recommending “content related to eating disorders” to young girls. 

On top of these ‘addiction’ allegations, the four plaintiffs claim that Meta violated federal law, namely the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), by collecting personal information from under-13s without obtaining parental consent, and instead fall back on their nominal ban on the said users to skirt their COPPA obligations. 

But Meta’s own records reveal that they have actual knowledge that Instagram and Facebook target and successfully enroll children as users, according to internal documents detailing the company’s efforts to increase “penetration” in the 11- to 13-year-old demographic. 

The Oakland case comes after Meta suffered back-to-back legal losses this year. 

In early March, a state court in New Mexico found the company liable for 75,000 violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act, fining the social media giant $375 million, before branding their platforms a “public nuisance” to teens’ mental health and imposing an additional fine of $567 million. 

Later in March, Los Angeles County Superior Court ordered Meta to pay $3 million in compensation to a 20-year-old California woman identified as ‘Kaley’, who developed anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia after becoming addicted to Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms as a pre-teen. Meta were also ordered to pay $2.1 million in punitive damages. 

The Los Angeles case was a bellwether, in that the jury accepted the plaintiff’s argument that the design features of Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms – and not the content that Kaley was exposed to – caused her harm. 

Kaley’s lawyers presented some of the same internal documents included in the latest case, which show Meta employees discussing plans to bring in more under-13 users and maximize their screen time, and that the company are very much aware that heavy use of their platforms is linked to depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation among teens. 

The Oakland trial marks the first time that these arguments will be heard in a federal courtroom, and the first time that Meta are being tried for breaches of state and federal law in the same case. Should Meta lose, the case could be brought to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and potentially to the US Supreme Court, where any ruling would set a legal precedent. 

The four states are seeking damages of up to $1.4 trillion, a figure that would almost equal Meta’s entire market capitalization and therefore, potentially wipe out the company. However, this figure assumes individual payouts for hundreds of thousands of users affected by Meta’s practices, rather than a single payout for every deceptive practice committed by the company. 

The plaintiffs also want Meta to implement a process of parental verification for teenage users, change their “dopamine-manipulating recommendation algorithms”, remove image filters “designed around beautification”, end the autoplay of video content, and end “ephemeral” video content such as stories. 

Meta have long argued that mental health issues are triggered by far more factors than social media. 

“Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app”, a company spokesperson said after losing the Los Angeles lawsuit in March. “We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online”. 

Ahead of Tuesday's trial, Meta maintained: “These lawsuits misportray our company and the work we do every day to provide young people with safe, valuable experiences online. We have listened to parents, researched the issues that matter most, and made real changes to protect teens online”. 

Meta also pointed to their introduction of restricted teen accounts on Instagram last year, and their use of AI to detect teens attempting to use adult accounts as examples of these changes. 

However, during his testimony in Los Angeles in March, Zuckerberg (left) admitted that it is “very difficult” to prevent under-13s from lying about their age to set up accounts. 

Regarding the potential of a $1.4 trillion fine, Meta wrote in a court filing last month that “a sanction of that size has no analog in the history of consumer protection enforcement”.

Tracking DR Congo's Deadliest Ebola Outbreak on Record

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in DR Congo has reached 5,000 cases, government data showed Wednesday, as responders warn it is spreading at an unprecedented speed outpacing efforts to slow it in one of the country's remotest regions. 

Data from the country's Ministry of Health showed the outbreak had so far recorded 5,021 cases, including 2,378 deaths as of Sunday, as it rages in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable fueled by insecurity, displacement and intense population movements.

And it has become the deadliest in the country’s history, with the number of fatalities surpassing the toll recorded during the last major epidemic in eastern DR Congo.

That outbreak, declared on August 01, 2018 and brought to an end in June 2020, resulted in 3,323 confirmed cases and 2,299 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It was the world’s second-largest Ebola contagion on record. 

The current outbreak has reached that grim milestone far more quickly. The DR Congo declared an Ebola outbreak on May 15, marking the country’s 17th recorded outbreak since the virus was first identified there in 1976. 

A recent genetic study published in Nature Medicine also found that the Bundibugyo virus behind the illness is genetically distinct from variants detected during previous Bundibugyo outbreaks in the region, suggesting it likely emerged through a new animal-to-human transmission. The animal source has not yet been identified. 

The latest government figures show the virus has now spread across 55 health zones in six provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele, and Tshopo. Ituri, the epicenter of the outbreak, remains by far the hardest-hit province. 

Malaysian women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan's hopes of defending their 2026 World Championships silver medal came to an abrupt end after they were knocked out by Indonesia's Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari in New Delhi on Thursday. 

The fifth seeds fell 20-22, 21-18, 21-12 to the 13th seeds in their women's doubles last-16 clash. 

It was only Pearly-Thinaah's second defeat in seven meetings against the Indonesians, having entered the contest with a dominant 5-1 head-to-head record. Their most recent encounter had gone firmly Malaysia's way, with Pearly-Thinaah winning 21-9, 21-18 in the All England quarter-finals in March. 

The result brought a premature end to their attempt to reproduce last year's historic campaign, when they became the first Malaysian women's doubles pair to reach a World Championships final.

A massive letdown! 😖😖😖

Third Strike: Cracked Confidence

In the US, a massive Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak prompted the FDA to issue a critical Class 1 classification on August 12, 2026, for shell eggs distributed by Midwest Poultry Services (now known as MPS Egg Farms). 

A Class 1 designation means consuming these contaminated products carries a reasonable probability of serious adverse health consequences or death. 

This high-risk recall involving 1,589,577 dozen shell eggs (which equals more than 19 million individual eggs in total) is directly linked to an expanding outbreak that has already sickened 98 individuals and caused 26 hospitalizations. 

Texas is the primary epicenter, with confirmed cases spreading across 16 other states. Major regional groceries racing to pull the items from their shelves include Kroger (locations across Texas and Louisiana), Simple Truth (locations across Texas and Louisiana), Brookshire’s (spanning six southern states) and FRESH by Reasor’s (spanning six southern states). 

This contamination marks the third high-profile hit to grocery shelves this month, following a massive Cyclospora parasite outbreak linked to Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce and a widespread Salmonella outbreak from Coast Citrus fresh jalapeños. 

AMERICA IS SICK!!! 🤮🤮🤮

Salmonella Warning Issued for Jalapeños

On the heels of a nationwide surge in cyclosporiasis, US health officials are investigating a multistate outbreak of salmonella linked to jalapeños (medium-sized chili peppers of the species Capsicum annuum), which has sickened 345 people so far. 

Their illnesses began on dates ranging from June 19 to July 20, 2026 and reported in 27 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least 36 people have been hospitalized with the food-borne illness. 

In an August 05 food safety alert, the CDC identified the source of the outbreak: fresh jalapeño peppers distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors to wholesalers and restaurants nationwide. 

After Coast Citrus Distributors initiated a recall of their jalapeño peppers, Taylor Farms followed suit, recalling their prepared foods made with the recalled jalapeños, including salsa and guacamole, per the Food and Drug Administration. The affected products were distributed to Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Target, among other retailers. Some tainted jalapeños were served at Chipotle and Qdoba and have since been removed from stores. 

Salmonella is a type of bacteria found in the intestines of humans and animals that can cause food poisoning known as salmonellosis. People become infected by ingesting contaminating food or water. 

Infection with salmonella causes severe and sometimes bloody diarrhea, vomiting, fever and stomach cramps, per the CDC. In rare cases, salmonella can enter the bloodstream and cause life-threatening complications. 

Most people recover on their own, but some groups are at higher risk of severe illness. These include adults over 65, young children and people with weak immune systems. 

Salmonella is a leading cause of food poisoning in the US, and infections are more common in the summer because the bacteria thrive in warm conditions, per the CDC. 

However, the recent outbreak has stoked fears about the safety of US produce, especially after a summer of dodging the “diarrhea parasite” cyclospora linked to iceberg lettuce.

Following consecutive league wins against Dundee and Kilmarnock, an in-form Celtic launched their Scottish League Cup defense with a dominant 4-0 victory against Dundee United yesterday. 

The opening goal came when Auston Trusty headed the ball directly into the net from a corner kick in the 22nd minute. 

Two minutes afterward, Camilo Durán Marquez doubled the lead with a clinical strike, marking his debut goal for the club. 

Sebastian Tounekti scored Celtic's third goal in the 54th minute by collecting a through-pass from Benjamin Nygren and slotting a low finish into the bottom corner of the net. 

Nine minutes later, Mika Baur produced a lovely wee flick to Tounekti, who quickly fed the ball into Nygren; the Swede then arrowed a sweet shot high into the net from 18 yards.

The Escalating Ebola Emergency

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) is getting out of control, with new cases doubling in some hotspots, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday. 

Response efforts must be “urgently and massively” expanded across all fronts as the disease is “spreading faster than” efforts to contain it, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said after meeting health and humanitarian partners in Kinshasa on Thursday.

The UN health agency described it as the largest Ebola epidemic ever recorded in the African country, surpassing the one in 2018-2020. The outbreak is being caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or targeted treatment. 

Official data from the DR Congo’s Ministry of Health also points to a rapidly worsening situation. Between July 31 and August 04, the number of confirmed Ebola cases rose from 3,674 to 3,973, while the death toll increased from 1,621 to 1,801. The case fatality rate also climbed from 44.1% to 45.3%. 

The affected area has also expanded. The number of health zones reporting Ebola cases increased from 49 to 51 across five provinces, with Ituri remaining the epicenter. 

According to the WHO chief, responders face major challenges, including insecurity and mass displacement, which are hampering efforts to reach affected communities. He called for stronger coordination under the Congolese government’s leadership, better protection and support for healthcare workers, and faster access to treatment, disease surveillance, and safe burials. 

And DR Congo continues to grapple with instability as the M23 rebel group maintains control over parts of the country, fueling clashes and humanitarian emergencies. 

As if this is already not bad enough, dozens of health workers fighting the Ebola outbreak abandoned several medical facilities on Thursday to protest months of unpaid wages. 

The workers rallied outside the governor’s office in Bunia, the capital of eastern Ituri province, news agencies reported. Ituri accounts for nearly 90% of confirmed cases, according to the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). 

The protesters, including nurses treating Ebola patients, said they had not received wages or bonuses since mid-May. AP reported that they left their posts to join Thursday’s demonstration, further disrupting the response. 

The action followed earlier protests in July, when Ebola response workers demonstrated outside three treatment centers in Bunia and accused the authorities of failing to pay them fully. 

The authorities have reportedly blamed logistical difficulties for the delays. However, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said on Thursday that the Congolese government had assured him they had the money to settle the workers’ salaries. 

Africa CDC and WHO have called for health workers to be protected, equipped and paid on time. The continent’s health watchdog also announced plans to scale up the response and go “door to door” looking for patients amid serious gaps in contact tracing. 

The Cool City Blueprint

As cities across the tropics search for ways to cope with rising temperatures, Singapore has turned to a multi-layered urban heat mitigation strategy that combines extensive tree planting, cool building materials, district cooling, and high-tech climate modeling. 

The city is planting one million new trees and expanding parks to provide natural canopy shade, which reduces street-level temperatures by up to 2.6°C. To decrease solar heat absorption, workers apply high-albedo, reflective paints to public housing and building roofs. Urban planners design building layouts with optimal porosity to preserve natural air paths and sea breezes through dense urban canyons. Finally, major districts utilize centralized chilled-water networks for district cooling, which cuts down waste heat from individual air conditioning units. 

Singapore's proactive, tech-driven approach integrates nature with advanced engineering, offering a scalable blueprint for global urban centers balancing rapid growth with surging thermal trends. 

The largest cyclosporiasis outbreak in US history is not expected to end anytime soon. 

[For background info, kindly refer to my earlier posts dated July 23 and 28, 2026]. 

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Monday, the first two deaths linked to a mass Cyclospora surge that is tied to contaminated iceberg lettuce. The multi-state outbreak of the intestinal parasite has affected at least 45 states, with cases originally detailed in reports from AP News.

AI Slop Map of Africa at AIDS Conference

A US State Department map of Africa mislabeled every country they depicted during a presentation at the AIDS 2026 conference (July 26-31, 2026) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

The slide was so egregiously wrong that multiple attendees whipped out their phones to get a shot of it; Emily Bass, a writer and AIDS expert, wrote about it at length. 

"The US government's failure to catch this error before displaying the slide at the top international AIDS conference in the world, in a session that featured the Director General of Nigeria as an invited guest, is not only disrespectful to African collaborators, it's also a significant tell", wrote Bass.

Senior officials from several African governments were reportedly among those present. 

The map shows six countries receiving US health funding and none of them are correctly named or placed. Nigeria has migrated north to become landlocked in the Sahara. Mozambique has roughly replaced Ethiopia. The Ivory Coast was placed in southern Africa, far from any coast, its name an ignored clue. Uganda and Malawi are not so far off, but drawn with wrong borders. Cameroon was named but assigned no territory at all. While one country on the Gulf of Guinea – a hypothetical union of Ghana, Benin and Togo? – went unnamed. Perhaps that is Cameroon now. 

The speaker was Jeff Graham, the US health envoy who oversees PEPFAR (⁠President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), a United States government initiative.

Whoever ⁠created and approved this slide did not know where countries in Africa are and did not care to check their work. And Reuters reviewed video of the presentation and concluded that the map was AI slop. 

A Reuters analysis found the image of the map included in the presentation contained an artificial intelligence watermark that signals it was made with OpenAI tools. 

The company said they were investigating the report. The State Department said they took "full responsibility" and blamed a staffer who changed the slide deck shortly before the event. 

This sort of thing is normal in the Trump administration. Last year, the White House's "Make America Healthy Again" report cited studies that did not exist, with fabricated references and other hallmarks of AI slop.

End of the Talc Legal War

A decade of courtroom warfare culminated Monday as US attorneys cemented a historic $5.5 billion settlement with Johnson & Johnson, delivering a decisive blow in the fight over cancer-linked talc products. 

J&J said the settlement covers about 76,000 claims, including ones consolidated in federal court in New Jersey, and related cases in state court, representing nearly all of the remaining talc claims against the company. J&J previously settled most of the cases alleging that their talc contained asbestos and caused mesothelioma. 

Plaintiffs' legal teams affirmed that the agreement marked a successful conclusion to an enduring legal battle. The deal must be accepted by 95% of the ovarian cancer claimants in state ⁠or federal court before it becomes final. 

J&J's vice president of litigation, Erik Haas, maintained the claims were "meritless" and that the company were willing to settle in order to get closure. 😂😂😂 

J&J have long denied that their ⁠talc products caused cancer, saying that talc was safe and did not contain asbestos. Still, the company stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product. 

Litigation only revived in March 2025 after a three-year standstill. This delay was triggered by Johnson & Johnson's collapsed "Texas two-step" legal strategy, where the corporate giant pushed a shell subsidiary into bankruptcy three distinct times to escape full liability. Each bankruptcy ended in dismissal. 

Before the bankruptcy attempts, J&J had a mixed record in talc trials, with a multibillion verdict in favor of 22 women who said baby powder caused their ovarian cancer. The company won some trials outright and had other verdicts reduced on appeal. 

Unlike ⁠the proposed bankruptcy settlements, Monday's agreement applies only to existing claims and does not address future lawsuits.

The Lettuce Outbreak: 11,000 Sickened Across 41 US States

Remember my post "US Explosive Diarrhoea Outbreak" on Thursday? Well, the foodborne illness is actually a lot worse! 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health officials are tracking a record-breaking outbreak of cyclosporiasis, with total reported illnesses now exceeding 11,000 cases across 41 US states. The bulk of the surge is concentrated in the Midwest, particularly in Michigan (which has reported over 7,100 cases) and Ohio. 

Health officials explicitly warn that the true number of infections is likely much higher. 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are actively investigating five separate clusters of illnesses. One major outbreak has been epidemiologically linked to shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by ⁠Taylor Farms, leading to voluntary product recalls. 

However, the FDA have also launched an investigation into a separate outbreak from an unidentified source, meaning case counts are expected to keep rising.

👇The eighteen oldest languages still spoken today:

US Explosive Diarrhoea Outbreak

Mexico’s Ministry of Health and the National Committee for Epidemiological Surveillance (CONAVE) issued an official preventive travel advisory. 

The advisory warns of an outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic stomach illness, that has infected at least 1,645 people across 34 US states. No deaths have been reported from Cyclospora infection, but at least 94 people have been hospitalised. 

Newsweek was first to report on this alert in English, and highlighting that US health agencies detected a sharp spike in infections since May. 

The parasite (Cyclospora cayetanensis) causes severe intestinal issues and is typically spread by consuming fresh produce or water contaminated with infected feces. 

As at Monday, US investigators had not confirmed a source, though the FDA were examining shredded iceberg lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. capitata) supplied by Taylor Farms. 

Taco Bell, known for meticulous supply chain management, were among the first to identify themselves as using Taylor Farms produce and warn recent diners they may be about to enter the launch cycle. 

Health officials in Mexico are urging citizens traveling north for the summer to carefully monitor their health for up to two weeks upon their return.

Malaysian women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan bounced back from last week’s first-round exit at the Japan Open by advancing to the second round of the China Open yesterday. 

The world No 5 pair were in complete control as they defeated the 29th-ranked Japanese pair Ririna Hiramoto-Kokona Ishikawa 21-16, 21-12 in just 31 minutes. 

Pearly-Thinaah will face Ukraine's Polina Buhrova-Yevheniia Kantemyr, for a place in the quarter-finals today.

Bittersweet Bliss: My Epic Durian Feast

I am savouring every single bite of the Musang King! 😋😋😋

My stomach is riding the "durian tsunami" and for sure, I am happily wiping out on every creamy, bittersweet bite! 😋😋😋

For sure, the durian is dangerously addictive. It's beyond divine. And don't let its tough exterior fool you: durian pairs an unmatched flavour with incredible health benefits.

In fact, I came across an AsiaOne report on June 30 that dietitians at Singapore's Changi General Hospital certify that durian has good monounsaturated fats, otherwise known as "good" fats, that can help lower harmful cholesterol levels and moderate high blood pressure. 

And the principal dietitian at Raffles Medical Group affirms that these can help reduce risks of heart disease and stroke. 

Durian brings other health benefits which include improving muscle strength and skin health, regulating bowel movements, supporting the nervous and immune systems, and enhancing red blood cell formation as it is rich in potassium, dietary fibre, iron, vitamin C and vitamin B complex. 

The fruit belonging to the genus Durio also has polyphenols such as flavonoids and carotenoids – anti-oxidative compounds that may help decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes, contends dietitians from Mount Alvernia Hospital. 

Even more interesting, the claim that eating durians can put you in a great mood is not unfounded. 

Durians contain tryptophan, a food-derived amino acid involved in the production of serotonin – the "feel good" hormone associated with mood regulation. 

"During digestion, tryptophan gets converted into serotonin, which may induce feelings of relaxation and improved mood", a doctor at Raffles Diabetes and Endocrine Centre explains. "Tryptophan is also converted to melatonin, a hormone that controls your sleep cycle and may help you fall asleep easier". 

You should know that I explored this natural mood booster in Chapter 15, "The Happy Hormones", of my public speaking book, "The Pearls of Your Speech" (2025). It's a social chemical that "makes you feel good about yourself, stoking confidence and spurring self-esteem, and nurturing a sense of common bond that stems from status, respect, and loyalty" (page 157). 

Therefore, eating durian absolutely makes sense for a public speaker like me! 😁😁😁

Containment Efforts Race the Clock in the DRC

Health authorities across Africa are struggling to contain an Ebola outbreak, centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). 

There are now more than 1,000 suspected Ebola cases in the DR Congo, and at least 246 deaths. Neighbouring Uganda has reported nine confirmed cases and one death. 

The current outbreak, a rare strain of Ebola known as Bundibugyo, has no proven vaccine and kills about a third of those infected.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said response efforts are being hampered by delays in identifying cases, warning that health authorities are effectively being forced to “play catch-up” as the outbreak expands. Suspected deaths linked to the virus have already surpassed 220. 

Although the WHO continue to assess the international threat level as low, they have raised the risk assessment inside the DR Congo from “high” to “very high”. The latest outbreak has primarily affected eastern regions of the DR Congo, where healthcare systems already face pressure from armed violence, mass displacement, and limited infrastructure. 

The WHO have classified the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern, reviving memories of past Ebola epidemics that overwhelmed fragile healthcare systems and triggered international alarm. 

The current epidemic, officially declared on May 15, is the DR Congo’s 17th recorded Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976. 

Governments across Africa and beyond have introduced measures aimed at preventing the virus from spreading across borders. Rwanda has temporarily closed its border with the DR Congo, while Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, and Burkina Faso tightened health screening and sanitary monitoring procedures. Uganda also suspended flights to neighboring DR Congo following the outbreak. 

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have also expanded their Ebola response operations in eastern DR Congo and neighboring countries, deploying 200 volunteers. They are going door-to-door in communities to explain how the virus spreads, counter misinformation, and encourage early treatment. 

The UN allocated $60 million from their emergency response fund to help contain the outbreak. The WHO have reported the delivery of eleven tonnes of emergency medical supplies to support Ebola response operations in the DR Congo and have already allocated $3.9 million from their Contingency Fund for Emergencies.

Monkeys Eat Soil to Settle Upset Stomachs

Troops of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) living on Gibraltar – the only free-ranging monkey population in Europe – have been scientifically observed for the first time regularly engaging in "geophagy", the practice of intentionally ingesting soil to settle their stomachs from all the junk food they consume. 

Scientists believe the dirt helps the monkeys line the gut to stop irritation from foods which are "extremely rich in calories, sugar, salt and dairy". 

The soil also provides bacteria and minerals missing from junk food. The snacks have negative digestive effects for the macaques and can cause symptoms from nausea to diarrhoea, but the food is "as delicious for them" as it is for humans, according to the Cambridge University study. 

Observations between summer 2022 and spring 2024 found that nearly a fifth of all food consumed by the macaques was junk food from tourists. Macaques that lived on the Rock of Gibraltar, which is particularly popular with tourists, were more than twice as likely to eat junk food than others. They also consumed the most soil. 

Dr Sylvain Lemoine (left), a biological anthropologist from Cambridge's Department of Archaeology, said the monkeys were fed junk food by locals as well as visiting tourists, who have offered salted peanuts, chocolate bars, crisps, dried pasta, bread, Coca-Cola, orange juice, M&M’s, ice-cream and more. “There’s a lot of ice-cream. They love Magnums and Cornettos. What they don’t like very much is sorbet”. 

In total, the researchers recorded 44 monkeys eating dirt on 46 occasions. In three instances, the macaques ate soil shortly after being fed ice-cream, biscuits or bread. When visitor numbers fell in the winter, the monkeys were 40% less likely to eat tourist food and more than 30% less likely to eat soil. 

Writing in Scientific Reports, Vol. 16, Article number: 13139 (2026), "Geophagy in Gibraltar Barbary macaques is a primate tradition anthropogenically induced", the researchers describe how the monkeys appear to learn the habit from others, with macaques favouring different types of soil depending on their troop. Most monkeys search out the terra rossa, or red clay, found across Gibraltar, but the Ape’s Den troop, which occupies the lower western slopes, favours tar-clogged soil from potholes in asphalt roads. 

Humans around the world eat soil, particularly pregnant women in parts of Africa, Asia and South America, where it is consumed to help with nausea or to provide critical minerals. But the researchers saw no rise in soil-eating among pregnant or lactating monkeys, suggesting the behaviour is not driven by a need to supplement their diets.

And, Lemoine added that the macaques seemed to eat the soil to “buffer their digestive system” against high-energy, low-fibre snacks and junk foods that are known to cause stomach upsets in some primates. 

Tourists are told not to touch or feed the monkeys on Gibraltar, but the rule is not well enforced. While the junk food may be harmful to the macaques, so might the soil, as much of it is found close to busy roads on the rock. “There are a lot of vehicles passing every day, and most are not electric yet”, Lemoine said. “We want to analyse the soil. We’re very interested in seeing the levels of pollutants”. 

The junk diet was "completely unlike" foods normally eaten by the species, such as herbs, leaves, seeds and the occasional insect – with the behaviour being "driven entirely by proximity to humans". 

Lemoine posited: "Humans evolved to seek out and store energy-dense fats and sugars to survive periods of scarcity, leading us to crave high-calorie junk food. Availability of human junk food could trigger this same evolutionary mechanism in macaques".