Facing its most severe outbreak in history, the densely populated country of Bangladesh is grappling with over 1,500 deaths and overwhelmed hospitals. In the capital, Dhaka, the situation is particularly dire, with the dengue ward at Mugda Hospital witnessing a surge in patients.
For 23-year-old Mosammat Mayna, the hospital cleaner, each visit to the dengue ward is fraught with sorrow and fear. Her sister, Maria Ratna, succumbed to dengue last month while working as a cleaner in the same ward. Mayna, now employed in her sister’s stead, shared the devastating experience: “Our family was devastated by Ratna’s death, but since I was out of work, I took the offer despite being very scared.”
The unprecedented dengue outbreak in Bangladesh has pushed hospitals to their limits. Last Wednesday marked a grim milestone as the country recorded its highest single-day death toll from the mosquito-borne disease, with 24 fatalities. Dengue, transmitted through mosquito bites, poses an increased risk in places with a high concentration of infected patients, intensifying concerns for those yet unaffected.
Health experts express alarm as dengue typically recedes in the South Asian region with the conclusion of the annual monsoon rains by late September. However, the current outbreak defies this pattern, deepening concerns among the medical community.
As of Monday, the death toll stands at 1,549 people, including 156 children, with a total of 301,255 recorded dengue cases this year in Bangladesh, according to the government’s Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS). This staggering figure is nearly five times higher than last year’s tally of 281 fatalities, the highest in Bangladesh’s history until this year’s outbreak. The last record for the highest number of cases in a single year was 101,354 in 2019.
Dr. Mohammed Niatuzzaman, director of Mugda Hospital, expressed his astonishment at the unprecedented scale of the dengue outbreak, noting the influx of patients from all corners of the densely populated country. “It’s very unusual to see such a large number of dengue patients in November,” he remarked. The situation remains critical as Bangladesh grapples with the daunting challenges posed by this relentless outbreak.
On Monday night, the crème de la crème of global television received recognition at the 2023 International Emmy Awards in New York. The awards, presented by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, celebrated 56 nominees from 20 countries across six continents.
Reflecting the growing influence of streaming platforms in the international TV landscape, Amazon and Netflix dominated the best drama category. Netflix contributed two nominees: the South Korean legal drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” featuring Park Eun-bin as an autistic rookie female lawyer with a genius IQ, and the German period drama “The Empress,” recounting the legendary love story between Austrian-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph and Elisabeth von Wittelsbach, aka “Sissi.” Amazon’s entries included the Argentine historical thriller “Yosi, the Regretful Spy,” directed by Daniel Burman, depicting a real-life intelligence scandal with repercussions leading to two major terrorist attacks in Latin America, and the British thriller “The Devil’s Hour,” starring Peter Capaldi.
Netflix also made its mark in the best comedy category with nominations for the Northern Irish hit “Derry Girls” and “Vir Das: Landing,” a stand-up special by one of India’s top comedians. Traditional television secured recognition with nods for the second season of the French reality show satire “Le Flambeau” and the Argentine series “The Boss” from Star+.
In the best actress category, a highly competitive field included Connie Nielsen, known for her role in Wonder Woman, nominated for portraying the real-life Out of Africa author in the Danish biopic “Becoming Karen Blixen.” Other contenders were Billie Piper for “I Hate Suzie Too,” the second season of her cult British HBO Max series; Indian actress Shefali Shah for season two of Netflix’s “Delhi Crime” (the 2020 International Emmy’s best drama winner); and Karla Souza for Amazon’s Mexican sports drama “Dive.”
The best actor category boasted star power with nominations for Martin Freeman, recognized for his role in the BBC drama “The Responder” as a crisis-stricken and morally compromised cop patrolling the night shift in Liverpool. Other nominees included Argentine actor Gustavo Bassani for his performance in “Yosi, the Regretful Spy,” Swedish actor Jonas Karlsson for C4’s Swedish survival thriller “Riding in Darkness,” and Jim Sarbh for the leading role in the Indian aerospace drama “Rocket Boys.”
Jesse Armstrong, creator and showrunner of “Succession,” received the prestigious 2023 Founders Award in recognition of his life’s work. Ektaa R. Kapoor, co-founder of the Indian TV production powerhouse Balaji Telefilms, was honored with the 2023 International Emmy Directorate Award, highlighting excellence among C-suite executives.
The International Academy showcased this year’s nominees at its annual International Emmy World Television Festival in New York from Nov. 17 to 19, with the winners unveiled at a gala event at the New York Hilton Midtown on Monday night.
Emmy2023
2023 International Emmy® Awards Winners
Arts Programming
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On
Eagle Vision / White Pine Pictures / Paquin Entertainment
Canada
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry it On is a challenging account of this cultural and musical icon’s lifelong commitment to music, and sharing the truth. Buffy shares her own story from her early love of music to the activism she continues to this day.
Best Performance by an Actor
Martin Freeman in The Responder
Dancing Ledge Productions
United Kingdom
Chris (Martin Freeman) drives a frontline response vehicle in his fragmented hometown of Liverpool. Night after night he faces crime, violence and addiction on the streets, whilst battling against personal demons that threaten to destabilize his work, his marriage and his mental health.
Best Performance by an Actress
Karla Souza in La Caída [Dive]
Madam / Filmadora / Infinity Hill / Amazon
Mexico
Mariel started diving when she was 8 years old. The pool is her life. She says she has water, not blood flowing through her veins. She has trained with Braulio her entire life and trusts him more than she trusts herself. He sees her like no one else can. He keeps his promises; she’s become a world renown Olympic diver. Mariel is the most recognized Mexican athlete of all time. Introverted, disciplined, and determined, Mariel has to choose between Olympic greatness, or healing her painful past.
Comedy
Derry Girls – Season 3
Hat Trick Productions
United Kingdom
Lisa McGee’s sitcom about a group of working-class teenagers coming of age in the 90’s in Northern Ireland. While theres hope in the air that The Troubles may finally be over, the gang’s troubles are only just getting started as they get ever closer to adulthood.
Vir Das: Landing
Weirdass Comedy / Rotten Science / Netflix
India
Vir Das dives deep into his childhood in India, the perils of outrage and finding his footing in the world for his fourth Netflix stand-up special.
Documentary
Mariupol: The People’s Story
Top Hat Productions / Hayloft Productions / BBC
United Kingdom
Told and mostly filmed by the people of Mariupol, this is the deeply personal account of the destruction of a Ukrainian city. This documentary is a story of war crimes and suffering but also one of startling courage, of the endurance of morality and love in the midst of war, and of undaunted spirit.
Drama Series
The Empress
Sommerhaus Serien GmbH / Netflix
Germany
When rebellious Elisabeth falls for Emperor Franz and becomes his unlikely bride, she enters a world of tensions and intrigue at the Viennese court.
Non-Scripted Entertainment
A Ponte – The Bridge Brasil
Warner Bros. Discovery / Endemol Shine Brasil
Brazil
12 participants isolated in the wilderness have 20 days to get to know each other and build a bridge that will take them to a treasure that awaits on the other side of a river. If they succeed, they will have to choose the winner.
Short-Form Series
Des Gens Bien Ordinaires [A Very Ordinary World]
Magneto / Canal+
France
In a dystopian world where women hold the power, Romain, a sociology student, is attracted to the bright lights of porn film sets, which he sees as a path to emancipation. This story puts a twist on the porn industry to deliver a critique of our world.
Sports Documentary
Harley & Katya
Stranger Than Fiction Films
Australia
A documentary about Indigenous Australian figure skater Harley Windsor and his young Russian pair skating partner Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya. This unlikely duo made history, but at what cost?
Telenovela
Yargi [Family Secrets]
Ay Yapim
Turkey
Prosecutor Ilgaz has to find a highly competent attorney when his brother is accused of murder. He crosses paths with Ceylin, a limitless attorney. Things change when the victim turns out to be Ceylin’s sister. When the war between them turns into a passionate love, everything turns upside down.
TV Movie/Mini-Series
La Caída [Dive]
Madam / Filmadora / Infinity Hill / Amazon
Mexico
Mariel (Karla Souza) is a veteran competitive diver who has one last chance at the Olympics. However, when a terrible truth surfaces, Mariel has to confront her biggest personal dilemma yet: is winning really her ultimate dream?
Kids: Animation
The Smeds and The Smoos
Magic Light Pictures
United Kingdom
On a faraway planet, Janet and Bill meet in the Wurpular Wood and fall in love, but their families, the Smeds and the Smoos, cannot accept the match after generations of division. When the pair elope, the warring families must work together to find the young Smed and Smoo.
Kids: Factual & Entertainment
Built To Survive
Butter Media / Breslin Media / Australian Broadcasting Corporation / Australian Children’s Television Foundation
Australia
Get up close to the world’s most unique creatures to reveal the ultimate survivors of Australia’s most extreme natural habitats. Join Phil Breslin in his quest to answer – who is Built to Survive?
Kids: Live-Action
Heartbreak High
Fremantle / Newbe / Netflix
Australia
An incendiary mural exposes everyone’s secret hook-ups at Hartley High. Its author, Amerie, has to grapple with the messy fallouts as a total outcast.
Amazon is encouraging individuals to explore into the realm of AI, aiming to provide them with the essential skills for AI-related roles. Recently in a blog post, the tech giant unveiled “AI Ready,” a new initiative set to provide free AI skills training to millions of people by 2025. The initiative encompasses eight complimentary classes designed for different experience levels and purposes. Additionally, AI Ready is to introduce a new generative AI courses to over 50,000 high school and university students. In collaboration with Code.org, Amazon is also working to educate students about generative AI.
Focusing on the free classes, Amazon asserts that whether you are a novice in the AI domain or a seasoned professional seeking skill enhancement, AI Ready offers a class tailored to your needs. While Amazon hosts more than 80 other AI classes and resources on AWS, not all of them are offered free of charge.
These classes cater to diverse lengths, experience levels, and topics, covering a range of use cases. One notable example is the “Introduction to Generative Artificial Intelligence” course, which is envisioned to be beneficial for individuals seeking a foundational understanding of generative AI principles.
For those interested in the business and non-technical aspects of AI, Amazon provides three courses:
Generative AI Learning Plan for Decision Makers: Comprising three courses, this class guides participants in planning generative AI projects and preparing their companies for generative AI integration.
Low-Code Machine Learning on AWS: Geared towards those with a basic understanding of coding, this class demonstrates building AI models without extensive technical expertise.
Building Language Models on AWS: Instructs participants on utilizing SageMaker training libraries to construct language models, foundational for generative AI.
While Amazon’s initiative has the potential to empower individuals with valuable AI skills, it remains to be seen how these courses will resonate with the diverse audience they aim to serve.
Google Maps has recently undergone a color palette redesign, drawing parallels with Apple Maps, and a considerable number of its regular users are expressing dissatisfaction with the alterations.
Initially observed in September, the updated color scheme is now widely rolling out to users of Google’s navigation app. Notable changes include the transformation of roads from white or yellow to a gray hue, akin to Apple’s representation. Additionally, forests now exhibit a darker shade of green, while the color denoting water has shifted to a lighter blue.
A significant alteration involves the active route adopting a much darker blue, with alternative routes now depicted in a lighter blue, contrasting with the former gray. A visual comparison between the old (left) and new (right) design can be seen in the image above, providing insight into the revamped color scheme.
While these adjustments may seem minor, they have garnered a notable amount of discontent among users. Feedback on platforms such as Reddit, X (formerly Twitter), and other online forums, as reported by Android Authority, reveals a range of criticisms. Many users express difficulty adapting to the changes, citing a lack of clarity in the new color scheme, particularly when quickly glancing at the display while driving.
One Reddit user succinctly captured this sentiment, stating, “I’m finding it a little hard to read as quickly as I used to. The toned-down look is cute but not practical.”
Another common concern raised by multiple users is the challenge of distinguishing between the main route and alternate routes, both represented in shades of blue. This can pose difficulties, especially when viewing the map on a phone from a distance or contending with factors like sun glare.
While not everyone opposes the changes, a poll conducted by Android Authority indicates that a significant portion of respondents, 44%, dislike the new colors, compared to 28% who approve, with the remainder abstaining. While this poll has its limitations with around 800 participants at the time of writing, it suggests a prevailing sentiment of dissatisfaction among users. As Google continues to receive feedback, it may be prudent to reconsider certain aspects of the redesign, particularly regarding the clarity of alternate routes.
Hi @googlemaps, We don’t like new color palette of Google Maps. It is not only about esthetic, it’s about confort and practicality. pic.twitter.com/x1yHVvVvVw
