Ebola outbreak now third largest recorded and "spreading rapidly"

Ebola outbreak now third largest recorded and "spreading rapidly"

fivenewscrypto    mai 25, 2026   

The Ebola outbreak erupting from the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to escalate wildly, with cases nearing 750, deaths reported at 177, and around 1,400 contacts now being traced, the World Health Organization reported in a press briefing Friday. The latest numbers already place the outbreak as the third largest on record, though it was only first reported a week ago, on May 15. And WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak is still "spreading rapidly."

A revised WHO assessment has moved the risk level from "high" to "very high" at the national level, while risk remains "high" at the regional level and "low" at the global level, Tedros added.

WHO officials have acknowledged that a delay in detecting and responding to the outbreak enabled it to balloon, and that they are now racing to get ahead of the virus.

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First-generation Chromecast users stressed by devices suddenly failing

First-generation Chromecast users stressed by devices suddenly failing

fivenewscrypto    mai 25, 2026   

Google’s first Chromecast was a hit. With 10 million units sold in 2014, it excelled as an easy solution for streaming TV and movies from the Internet to a TV. Released at a time when dumb TVs were more common, the first-generation Chromecast has a simplicity you don’t find in streaming devices these days. Press "Cast" in an app, select a TV with a Chromecast, and start watching. Foregoing extras like a UI or ads, the device remains active in some homes today, despite Google ending support for the $35 device in 2023.

However, this week it seemed like those days were over. Numerous people reported that their original Chromecast had suddenly stopped casting from popular apps, including Chrome, YouTube, and Paramount+. This brought concern that the original Chromecast was really dead now. A Reddit thread started by someone who claimed to have two first-gen Chromecasts suddenly stop working at the same time includes various responses from people who suspected that Google bricked the devices in order to force upgrades.

But Sahana Mysore, senior product manager for Google Home, told Ars Technica today that Google didn’t kill the devices, saying:

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Trump FCC asks public to comment on whether ABC's The View is a news show

Trump FCC asks public to comment on whether ABC's The View is a news show

fivenewscrypto    mai 25, 2026   

The Federal Communications Commission is escalating its attack on ABC’s The View with a proceeding that seeks public comment on whether the talk show is a "bona fide news interview program."

The FCC Media Bureau today issued a public notice seeking opinions on whether The View qualifies for the bona fide news exemption to the equal-time rule, which requires equal time for opposing political candidates on non-news programming. The probe of The View is driven by Chairman Brendan Carr, who has embraced President Trump's declaration that the FCC is no longer an independent agency and used his chairmanship to open investigations into broadcasters that Trump dislikes.

"Decades ago, Congress made the decision to prevent covered broadcast television programs from being used to advance certain partisan political purposes," the Media Bureau public notice said. The equal-time rule exists to prevent broadcast television stations "from unfairly putting their thumbs on the scale for one political candidate or set of candidates over another," and "to ensure that no legally qualified candidate for office is unfairly given less access to the public airwaves than their opponent," it said.

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US scrambles to stop Internet users re-creating dead pilots’ voices

US scrambles to stop Internet users re-creating dead pilots’ voices

fivenewscrypto    mai 25, 2026   

Pilots’ voices from the last seconds of a fatal cargo plane crash have been re-created by Internet sleuths using software and AI tools. The spread of reconstructed audio recordings has prompted a US government agency to suspend all public access to its database of civil transportation accidents—because federal law prohibits investigators from publicly releasing audio from cockpit voice recorders.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) usually shares factual reports and evidence gathered from investigations of aircraft crashes and other civil transportation incidents. But on May 21, the NTSB announced that the online docket system containing such information was “temporarily unavailable” as it reviewed the publicly available materials that had enabled people to re-create cockpit audio recordings from aircraft disasters.

“​​The NTSB is aware that advances in image recognition and computational methods have enabled individuals to reconstruct approximations of cockpit voice recorder audio from sound spectrum imagery released as part of NTSB investigations, including the ongoing investigation of the crash last year of UPS flight 2976 in Louisville, Kentucky,” according to an NTSB statement. “The NTSB does not release cockpit audio recordings.”

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The Boys is dead. Long live Vought Rising.

The Boys is dead. Long live Vought Rising.

fivenewscrypto    mai 24, 2026   

Well, that was fast. The Boys series finale only wrapped two days ago, but Prime Video clearly wants to build on that momentum by releasing the first teaser for the prequel series, Vought Rising. With spinoff series Gen V canceled after two seasons, Vought Rising and a planned The Boys: Mexico must carry the franchise banner.

(Spoilers for The Boys series finale below.)

The Boys' fifth season set up the final confrontation between Antony Starr’s Homelander and Karl Urban’s Butcher—the former seeking the original V compound that would make him immortal, the latter seeking to commit genocide with a Supe-specific virus. Homelander succeeded in his quest, but he wasn't quite an invulnerable god. There were heavy losses on both sides of the conflict (RIP Frenchie, in particular), and Homelander was ultimately defeated and killed by a vengeful Butcher. (Starr still hasn't gotten his much-deserved Emmy; his portrayal was simply magnificent.)

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Police boast of hacking VPN where criminals "believed themselves to be safe"

Police boast of hacking VPN where criminals "believed themselves to be safe"

fivenewscrypto    mai 24, 2026   

European law enforcement say they hacked into a VPN (virtual private network) service used for ransomware attacks and other crimes, and identified thousands of users before shutting the VPN down and arresting its administrator.

Europol announced yesterday the results of the operation against the service, First VPN. The First VPN website now displays a message saying the domain was seized by a joint international law enforcement action.

"A VPN service used by cybercriminals to conceal ransomware attacks, data theft, and other serious offenses has been dismantled in an international operation led by France and the Netherlands, with support from Europol and Eurojust," the agency said. "For years, the service, known as ‘First VPN,' was promoted on Russian-speaking cybercrime forums as a trusted tool for remaining beyond the reach of law enforcement. It offered users anonymous payments, hidden infrastructure, and services designed specifically for criminal use."

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Review: The Mandalorian and Grogu is ... fine

Review: The Mandalorian and Grogu is ... fine

fivenewscrypto    mai 24, 2026   

Hopes were arguably high for The Mandalorian and Grogu, director Jon Favreau's big-screen offshoot of the popular Disney+ series The Mandalorian. After all, there hasn't been a new film in the Star Wars franchise since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker wrapped up the three trilogies that make up the so-called "Skywalker Saga."

The new film is ... fine. It's an average Star Wars outing, and it will give families a solid Memorial Day Weekend entertainment option. It's just not the spectacular home run that might have helped launch the flagging franchise into an exciting new era, and diehard Star Wars fans hoping for more are probably going to be disappointed.

(Some spoilers below but no major reveals.)

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