Kinshasa (EON) – The number of Ebola cases in Congo continue to rise as 4 more cases have been confirmed bringing the total up to 9 according to officials.
The outbreak on Congo is the first huge resurgence of Ebola in many many years. In the region of Kasai over 160 people have died already. The official number which is due to Ebola is not known but it is expected that the disease had a lot to do with it.
500 people in the last four months have gotten ill as well according to officials.
A spokeswoman for the World Health Organization Christiana Salvis atted that the newest cases have come from teh same zone and original samples have been confirmed. This means that it is thus far likely an isolated incident but it could spread easily.
50 samples have been sent for testing and have all come back negative for Ebola. There are many more results from well over 20 more samples which will be coming back. They are yet to be reported on.
Washington (EON) – The Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has come out and stated that the United States cannot continue without a universal healthcare plan.
She stated that “It is a moral imperative that we provide health insurance for the 47 million uninsured Americans.”
She spoke on Fox on Sunday and stated that she thinks we can achieve this goal of a universal health care coverage plan by saving money and raising taxes on the wealthy.
She also stated that it is important to repeal $52 billion in tax breaks Bush offered to people earning over $250,000 per year during his first term.
Better efficiency according to Clinton could also save $55 billion.
Clinton wants every American to have health care insurance with her plan.
New York (EON) – Reports are stating that The New York Times gave a $77,000 price break to liberal MoveOn.org for a full page ad which tore apart Army Gen. David Petraeus.
The newspaper admitted to this on Sunday stating that it was not the right thing to do. The $77,000 price break was unwarranted and there was no reason for it.
The Public Editor for the Times Clark Hoyt denied a special price break for weeks but finally admitted on Sunday that the paper should have charged MoveOn.org a $142,083 fixed date rate instead of just a seven-day standy rate of $64,575.
The executive director of MoveOn.org is Eli Pariser. He stated that they got a standard rate when they paid $65,000 for the ad. He stated though that they would be sending the New York Times the rest of the money on Sunday.
A complaint has been filed by the American Conservation Union with the FCC charging the New York Times as an illegal campaign donor to MoveOn.org.
The advertisement was titled “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?”
United Nations (EON) – The United States is going to invite Syria to a Middle East peace conference coming this fall.
This was confirmed by the Bush administration who made the announcement on Sunday. They stated that the road to peace between Israel and the Arabs has to include Syria.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated that “It’s only natural that we would hope that the participants would include the members of the Arab League Follow Up Committee.” She stated that in regards to the decision to invite Syria to the table.
The Arabe League Follow Up Committee is made up of 12 countries including Algeria, Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, and Morocco.
The invite to Syria has been complicated due to an Israeli airstrike on September 6th. Israeli officials have stated that there were nuclear-related materials in Syria.
The announcement goes along with the continued planning for the Middle East meeting which will be held in November in the United States.
Boston (EON) – NBC and ABC have already made deals for free downloadable shows on NBC Direct and AOL Video and now Fox has follows suit offering free shows on iTunes.
Fox and Apple have reached an agreement to offer free downloads of the shows Fox is trying to promote. The shows which will be available for free will not include already solidified shows such as The Simpsons and Family Guy. Instead the shows which will be offered include the likes of Til Death and K-Ville as well as Back to You. It will be mainly made up of shows which are not mainstream yet.
NBC launched NBC Direct this past week offering all of their shows for free online one week after they aired on television. This meant that for one whole week after the show originally aired, it could be viewed online. NBC and ABC did not restrict which shows they would put on at all as ABC will be putting Desperate Housewives, its biggest show, for free on AOL Video while NBC will be showing the likes of the huge hit Heroes.
Fox may have made a move to offer free shows, but it is not in the same light which NBC and ABC have done so.
Hollywood (EON) – The third installment in the Sony series Resident Evil Extinction managed to take the top spot at the box office over the weekend taking in $24 million.
This was a bit surprising as it managed to beat out a very highly advertised comedy starring Dane Cook and Jessica Alba titled Good Luck Chuck. Good Luck Chuck pulled in just $14 million in second place for Lions Gate Entertainment which was below estimated considering the advertisement and hype put into it.
The Brave One took third place with $7.4 million falling from its opening week win at the number 1 spot.
This is the second number 1 film in just over a month from Sony as they also enjoyed success with Superbad, the comedy which took in $31.2 million in August in its opening week.
3:10 to Yuma landed in 4th with $6.4 million. Rounding out the top 5 was Eastern Promises which took in $5.7 million.
Hollywood (EON) – Hey may be doing decent but George Clooney is in some pain after crashing his motorcycle and breaking a rib.
He and his friend Sarah Larson collided with another vehicle they were trying to pass on the right side according to reports. He was driving his motorcycle in Weehawken, New Jersey.
The accidend took place on Friday and ended up leaving Clooney in a lot of pain as he had a broken rib as well as some serious scrapes. His friend Larson broke her foot as well.
Clooney gained speed to pass the person in the car on the right which is actually against the law. The car beside him crossed into his lane though and collided with him.
A spokesman for the hospital stated that Clooney had “a broken rib.” They stated that it was very painful and would take a long time to heal.
There is no word on whether or not Leatherheads or Burn After Reading, his latest two films, would be delayed due to the injury.
Boston (EON) – Ken Burns has put out an epic documentary called The War which focuses on World War II.
It tells the stories of normal everyday people from around the country in relation to World War II, how they were effected by it, etc. Burns was helped in the filming by co-director and co-producer Lynn Novick.
Burns did a unique documentary as his main focus on World War II was not Hitler, Stalin, Roosevelt, or any other big name. Instead it just focused on those effected most, the normal folk.
He stated “We care about ordinary people, like you and me, people we could have had Thanksgiving with, then experience what they experienced in battle.”
The stories revolve around young boys going off to war and then shows how those at home dealt with the stress, separation, deaths, etc.
Burns called “The War” his greatest achievement so far. “This is better than anything we’ve done.”
The series began on PBS and has been getting rave reviews. It is a must watch.