Galaxy

3 Nov 2014

Idris Elba and Tom Hiddleston to appear in "Avengers: Age of Ultron"

Idris Elba confirmed that he and Tom Hiddleston would appear in "The Avengers" sequel. Elba said in an interview that Heimdall, his gate keeper character in "Thor" films, would join Hiddleston's Loki in "Avengers: Age of Ultron".

"I'm in Avengers," Elba revealed to The Telegraph. "And I'm doing a scene with Chris Hemsworth [Thor] and Tom Hiddleston [Loki], and they're like, [whispers] - 'Aren't you [meant to be] in Ibiza?' " The actor was referring to his summer residency as a DJ at an Ibiza club. He was able to take part in the "Avengers" filming which wrapped up in August.

Both Heimdall and Loki did not appear in the first trailer of "Ultron" or any other press material of the upcoming film. Hemsworth, on the other hand, appeared full and center as the hammer-wielding demi-god in the trailer, lifting up Tony Stark by the neck. "Avengers: Age of Ultron" will hit theaters across the U.S. May 1, 2015.

Awaiting Disaster: Ebola crisis over shadow Lassa fever cases


The peak season for Lassa fever in West Africa is about to begin. The viral haemorrhagic fever has been largely forgotten in the Ebola crisis, and health workers are warning that they may not have the resources to deal with the disease if cases increase.
At first sight the symptoms of Lassa are identical to Ebola. There can be bleeding, vomiting and fever. But whereas Ebola is a new outbreak, Lassa is a constant presence. Every year it infects from 300,000 to 500,000 people, killing up to 20,000.
All of the countries worst hit by Ebola are home to Lassa fever. On Friday, Dr Geraldine O'Hara from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) told the BBC that one of her colleagues had died of Lassa despite all efforts to save her.
Nigeria may also be seeing its first outbreak of the season. Only weeks after successfully containing Ebola, Nigerian media have reported an outbreak of Lassa in Oyo State.
There is one main difference between an outbreak of Ebola and Lassa. A Lassa outbreak is caused by rats. The rodents carry the disease into homes and food stores, especially in the dry season running from November to April.
"We have had literally dozens of cases of Lassa fever already in the eastern part of Sierra Leone," said Prof Robert Garry of Tulane University which has researched Lassa in West Africa for a decade.
Once infected, Lassa can spread from person-to-person. Not everyone who catches it becomes seriously ill, but fatality rates have been known to be as high as 70%. It is less easily transmitted than Ebola, but nonetheless patients must still be treated in complete isolation.
The containment of Lassa fever was a major focus in West Africa until Ebola arrived. It was in a Lassa laboratory that Sierra Leone's first Ebola case was identified.
Dr Sheik Umar Khan, head of the Lassa fever programme at Kenema Government Hospital, had spent a decade building a specialised treatment centre. He died of Ebola in September.
"We lost our head physician and six of our nurses and a lab technician," said Dr John Schieffelin from Tulane University, who worked at the hospital.
Kenema's Lassa ward had been overwhelmed with Ebola patients. "It is essentially abandoned except for the Ebola treatment area," said Dr Schieffelin.
The remaining health workers in West Africa are already overstretched with Ebola. As cases of a second haemorrhagic fever begin to rise, some are worried that Lassa may go undiagnosed and untreated.
"Attention has completely shifted now from Lassa to Ebola. There are cases of Lassa fever being actually considered to be Ebola cases in many places," said Prof Christian Happi of Redeemer's University in Nigeria. "In that regard it is a very complicated situation for us, especially in Liberia and in Sierra Leone."
"This is a hidden disaster," said Dr Matthias Borchert in Liberia from the Charite University of Medicine in Berlin and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "The health system in Liberia has virtually come to a halt for anything but Ebola. Whether it is Lassa, malaria or complicated deliveries - it is difficult to find any treatment."

Lupita Nyong'o grace Glamour's Women of the Year Issue, speaks of her rising to fame


Lupita Nyong'o cover the December cover of Glamour magazine for its annual Women of the Year issue. In an interview with the magazine, the Oscar-winning actress credits Oprah Winfrey as someone whom she looked up to when she was growing up.

The "12 Years a Slave" actress says, "Oprah played a big role in my understanding of what it meant to be female and to really step into your own power. I wouldn't even call her a role model; she was literally a reference point. You have the dictionary, you have the Bible, you have Oprah."

When asked how her life changed after rising to fame, Lupita replies, "This is actually a conversation I look forward to having in 10 years, when all of this is behind me and I have some real perspective on what happened-because right now I'm still adjusting. I guess I feel catapulted into a different place; I have a little whiplash."

She adds, "I did have a dream to be an actress, but I didn't think about being famous. And I haven't yet figured out how to be a celebrity; that's something I'm learning, and I wish there were a course on how to handle it. I have to be aware that my kinesphere may be larger than I want it to be."

Lupita, who reigned PEOPLE's World's Most Beautiful Woman in April, is asked if she was growing up feeling beautiful. She replies, "European standards of beauty are something that plague the entire world-the idea that darker skin is not beautiful, that light skin is the key to success and love. Africa is no exception."

She recalls, "When I was in the second grade, one of my teachers said, 'Where are you going to find a husband? How are you going to find someone darker than you?' I was mortified. I remember seeing a commercial where a woman goes for an interview and doesn't get the job. Then she puts a cream on her face to lighten her skin, and she gets the job!"

"This is the message: that dark skin is unacceptable," she continues, "I definitely wasn't hearing this from my immediate family-my mother never said anything to that effect-but the voices from the television are usually much louder than the voices of your parents."

Lupita's mother was the one who helped her to get over believing it. "I come from a loving, supportive family, and my mother taught me that there are more valuable ways to achieve beauty than just through your external features," she shares, "She was focused on compassion and respect, and those are the things that ended up translating to me as beauty. Beautiful people have many advantages, but so do friendly people.... I think beauty is an expression of love."

Cristiano Ronaldo breaks 79-year record in Madrid 4-0 win over Granada

Cristiano Ronaldo's opener for Real Madrid in the 4-0 defeat of Granada on Saturday saw him break Isidro Langara's 79-year-old record for the most goals scored in the first 10 La Liga games of the season.
Langara set the record in 1935-36 when playing for Real Oviedo after scoring 16 goals in his opening 10 matches of the campaign.
Ronaldo, however, notched his 17th of the season as Madrid secured three points to move top of La Liga, while he reached the target in just nine games, having missed the 4-2 defeat against Real Sociedad in August through injury.
The Portugal captain has not scored as many goals at this stage in La Liga during his last five campaigns at Madrid, having previously managed a best of 11 in 2010-11 and 2012-13.
Ronaldo's strike against Granada was teed up by teammate Karim Benzema, before the former Manchester United man returned the favour, and that turned out to be the 39th and 40th assists between the pair since they started playing together in 2009.
It was the 15th assist that Ronaldo has provided for Benzema, while the France international has proved to be his favoured recipient so far this season with three.
Benzema, meanwhile, has set up 25 goals in total for Ronaldo, with only Mesut Ozil having created more for the forward with 27 during his spell at Madrid.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...