Tag Archives: Ivory

Entertainment

Ivory Aquino asks CEO David Zaslav to release Batgirl

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Ivory Aquino
Photo: Cindy Ord (Getty Images)

Following the news that Warner Bros. has been hosting “funeral screenings” for the Batgirl film that was axed earlier this month despite being 90% completed, Ivory Aquino has spoken out about the HBO Max project’s shelving. Addressing a series of tweets to new CEO David Zaslav, the actor opens up about the emotional past few weeks for the DC project’s cast and crew.

“I’ve found myself not being able to talk about this ordeal with anyone,” she writes. “I realized that no one, apart from those involved with the film, would truly understand what we’re feeling. And talking about it with my castmates, I feel, might be akin to rubbing salt on a still-open wound.”

The Warner Bros. Discovery merger has led to drastic changes within the company, including numerous other projects getting canceled at HBO Max and existing original shows and movies getting pulled from the platform. Significant layoffs have also occurred.

“I can only endeavor to understand how one feels when tasked with tending to the bottom line like you have,” Aquino tells Zaslav. “I can’t even begin to imagine what one in your position goes through having such great responsibility to attend to. I do know and ask, with something like Batgirl that’s a product of our hearts and souls, that the little cogs not simply be seen as widgets whose fates are determined by an equation to benefit the bottom line. More than widgets, we are fellow human beings and artists who, when given the chance, can outperform the equation and multiply the bottom line exponentially.”

Batgirl was reportedly axed because it would have been cheaper to take a tax write-down on the project than to complete postproduction and give it a marketing budget. Aquino goes on to underline how the recent news cycle has increased the movie’s visibility without a flashy campaign, imploring Zaslav to reconsider his decision. Given that Batgirl was set to feature the return of Michael Keaton as Batman, it’s hard to imagine it needing a huge promotional push in the first place.

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If Batgirl ever comes out, it also co-stars Leslie Grace, J.K. Simmons and Brendan Fraser. Read Aquino’s full statement on Twitter.



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World

Ivory Coast TV presenter convicted of glorifying rape

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The court also fined the presenter, Yves de Mbella, 2 million CFA francs ($3,619.91) and banned him from leaving Abidjan, the country’s commercial capital, for one year, a spokesperson for Ivory Coast’s justice system told Reuters.

The man who appeared on the show was sentenced to two years in prison, the spokesperson said.

De Mbella has apologised for the segment in which he asked his guest to demonstrate how he raped women, helped him adjust the female mannequin and asked whether the victims “enjoyed it”.

De Mbella said on Tuesday he had been trying to “raise awareness” in the segment, which aired on the Nouvelle Chaine Ivoirienne (NCI) private television station on Monday, but said he had “made an error”.

NCI also apologised and cancelled the final episode of de Mbella’s show, which had been scheduled for Friday. An online petition calling for de Mbella’s show to be cancelled has received nearly 50,000 signatures.

Ivory Coast’s independent communications council on Tuesday ordered de Mbella suspended for 30 days, saying the segment had condoned rape and attacked the dignity of women.

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Health

Ivory Coast records first case of Ebola in 25 years | Ebola News

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Health minister says an 18-year-old female who travelled to Abidjan from neighbouring Guinea has tested positive for Ebola.

Ivory Coast has recorded its first case of the Ebola hemorrhagic virus in 25 years, according to the country’s health minister.

On Saturday, Pierre N’Gou Dimba said on national television that officials confirmed the case after testing samples from an 18-year-old female who travelled from neighbouring Guinea.

“This is an isolated and imported case,” he said, adding that the patient was currently being treated in intensive care in Abidjan, the commercial capital.

In a separate statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the case was Ivory Coast’s first Ebola infection since 1994.

“This came after the Institut Pasteur in Ivory Coast confirmed the Ebola Virus Disease in samples collected from a patient, who was hospitalized in the commercial capital of Abidjan, after arriving from Guinea,” the WHO said in the statement.

The WHO said initial investigations found the patient had travelled to Ivory Coast by road and arrived in Abidjan on August 12.

“The patient was admitted to a hospital after experiencing a fever and is currently receiving treatment,” it said.

Guinea – site of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record – experienced a four-month Ebola outbreak earlier this year that was declared over on June 19.

Guinea early this week also confirmed a first case of the Marburg virus in West Africa. Marburg virus disease is a highly infectious haemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola.

Transmission of both diseases occurs through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissue, while symptoms include headache, vomiting blood, muscle pains and bleeding.

The WHO said there was no indication the current case in Ivory Coast is linked to the outbreak in Guinea earlier this year. It said further investigation and genomic sequencing will identify the strain and determine if there was a connection.

“It is of immense concern that this outbreak has been declared in Abidjan, a metropolis of more than 4 million people,” Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said in the statement.

“However, much of the world’s expertise in tackling Ebola is here on the continent and Ivory Coast can tap into this experience and bring the response to full speed,” she said.

The WHO said it was helping to coordinate a cross-border response, which included transferring 5,000 doses of the Ebola vaccine from Guinea to Ivory Coast.



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Health

Ivory Coast declares Ebola outbreak after 1st case in 25 years reported in de-facto capital Abidjan, prompting ‘immense concern’ — RT World News

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The West African nation of Côte d’Ivoire has declared an outbreak of Ebola virus after detecting the country’s first case in more than two decades, with the World Health Organization sounding the alarm about its potential spread.

A patient who had recently travelled from Guinea tested positive for Ebola, Côte d’Ivoire’s ministry of health confirmed on Saturday, the WHO reported. The patient was hospitalized with fever after arriving in Abidjan, the country’s de-facto capital and its biggest city, earlier this week.

“It is of immense concern that this outbreak has been declared in Abidjan, a metropolis of more than 4 million people,” Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa said in a statement.



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Guinea reports 1st case of ‘Ebola cousin’ the Marburg virus in West Africa, as 1 person dies of the highly infectious disease


The case became the country’s first since 1994, when an ethnologist got infected with the virus after performing a necropsy on a sick chimpanzee. Côte d’Ivoire was spared during the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic that originated in Guinea and claimed at least 11,325 lives, with cases reported in the US and UK.

Since then an array of Ebola outbreaks have been reported, in particular, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which experienced its fourth outbreak in fewer than three years earlier in May. Guinea, however, reported its first outbreak of the disease since the epidemic only in February this year, sparking renewed fears about a potential repeat of the 2014-2016 scenario. In March the WHO estimated the risk that the Ebola outbreak would spill over to the neighbouring countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, as “very high.” 

It’s not clear if the newly detected case can be traced back to the Guinea outbreak, which was declared officially over in June, with the WHO noting on Saturday that “there is no indication that the current case in Cote d’Ivoire is linked to the earlier outbreak in Guinea.”

As part of its effort to curb the spread of the virus, the WHO said it would transfer some 5,000 Ebola vaccine doses, initially earmarked to Guinea, to Côte d’Ivoire. The jabs will be administered to health workers, first responders and known contacts of the Ebola-positive patients. 

Noting that it would also send a team of experts to assist with contact tracing, treatment and community outreach, the WHO argued that a travel ban should not be imposed on the country, while urging Cote d’Ivoire against shutting down its own borders.

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