NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo has died from brain cancer at the age of 58.
The eight-time NBA All-Star, who retired in 2009, spent 18 years playing in the league for the Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets.
Dikembe Mutombo began treatment for a brain tumor in October 2022.
Standing 7ft 2in (2.18m) tall, DR Congo-born center Dikembe Mutombo was discovered while studying at Georgetown University and was selected by the Nuggets with the fourth overall pick in the 1991 NBA Draft.
He twice reached the NBA Finals, first for the 76ers in 2001 and then the Nets (now Brooklyn Nets) two years later.
Known for his defensive game, he led the NBA in blocked shots for five consecutive seasons and blocks per game for a record three consecutive seasons.
Following his retirement both the Hawks and Nuggets retired his number 55 shirt, and in 2015 he was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.
Dikembe Mutombo was a global ambassador for the NBA and carried out humanitarian work in his home country.
Among those to pay tribute were the Houston Rockets, where Dikembe Mutombo spent the last five years of his playing career.
Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta added: “Dikembe was beloved by the entire NBA community and his tireless humanitarian efforts left an indelible mark on our league. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Rose, and their children.”
Swedish pop singer, songwriter,
pianist and painter Marie Fredriksson has died aged 61, her
manager has confirmed.
The Roxette singer achieved global success in the 1990s with hits like Joyride, The Look and It Must Have
Been Love, from the film Pretty Woman.
A statement said Marie Fredriksson had died on December 9 “following a
17-year long battle with cancer”.
Her bandmate Per Gessle said: “You
were the most wonderful friend for over 40 years.
“Things will never be the
same.”
Marie Fredriksson was first
diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2002, after collapsing in her kitchen following
a workout.
The tumor cost her the vision in her
right eye – but after three years of treatment, she returned to public life and
toured successfully again with Roxette from 2008 to 2016.
According to Marie Fredriksson’s
family, she had died following a recurrence of “her previous illness”
earlier this week.
Per Gessle said in a heartfelt
statement: “Thank you, Marie, thanks
for everything.
“You were an outstanding musician, a master of the
voice, an amazing performer. Thanks for painting my black and white songs in
the most beautiful colors. You were the most wonderful friend for over 40
years.
“I’m proud, honored and happy to have been able to
share so much of your time, talent, warmth, generosity and sense of humor. All
my love goes out to you and your family.”
Hailing from Halmstad, Sweden, Roxette first met in the late 1970s, when Marie
Fredriksson was a member of the pop outfit Strul & Ma Mas Barn and Gessle
was playing with Gyllene Tider, one of Sweden’s biggest groups.
They teamed up in 1986, becoming huge stars in their homeland with the
single Neverending Love, followed by
a hit album, Pearls of Passion.
Despite their popularity in Scandinavia, Capitol Records declined to release
their records in the US.
It wasn’t until an American student studying in Sweden brought a copy of
their second album home to Minneapolis, and persuaded a local radio DJ to play The Look, that they achieved
international fame.
That song became the first of four US number ones for the band, while its
parent album, Look Sharp!, went
platinum.
They achieved their biggest success when their 1987 Christmas single, It Must Have Been Love, was re-written
for inclusion on the Pretty Woman
soundtrack in 1990.
Roxette continued to tour and release albums throughout the 1990s – eventually
selling more than 80 million records worldwide.
The Vietnam War hero turned senator and presidential candidate John McCain has died aged 81.
Senator McCain died on August 25 in Arizona surrounded by his family, a statement from his office said.
John McCain was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor in July 2017 and had been undergoing medical treatment.
His family announced on August 24 that the senator, who left Washington in December, had decided to stop treatment.
The son and grandson of Navy admirals, John McCain was a fighter pilot during the war in Vietnam. When his plane was shot down, he spent more than five years as a prisoner of war.
While in the custody of his captors, John McCain suffered torture that left him with lasting disabilities.
John McCain’s widow, Cindy, tweeted: “My heart is broken. I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years. He passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the place he loved best.”
His daughter Meghan said the task of her lifetime would now be “to live up to his example, his expectations, and his love.
Following news of John McCain’s death, wellwishers waving flags lined the street as a hearse brought his body from his ranch near Cornville, Arizona, to a funeral home in Phoenix.
The six-term senator for Arizona and 2008 Republican presidential nominee was diagnosed after doctors discovered his tumor during surgery to remove a blood clot from above his left eye last July.
John McCain’s family said he would lie in state in Phoenix, Arizona, and in Washington DC before a funeral at the Washington National Cathedral and his burial in Annapolis, Maryland.
Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama are expected to give eulogies.
According to US scientists, the harmful Zika virus that can cause devastating brain damage in babies could offer up a surprising new treatment for adult brain cancer.
Until now, Zika has been seen only as a global health threat – not a remedy.
However, latest research shows Zika virus can selectively infect and kill hard-to-treat cancerous cells in adult brains.
Zika injections shrank aggressive tumors in fully grown mice, yet left other brain cells unscathed.
Human trials are still a way off, but researchers believe Zika virus could potentially be injected into the brain at the same time as surgery to remove life-threatening tumours, the Journal of Experimental Medicine reports.
The Zika treatment appears to work on human cell samples in the lab.
There are many different types of brain cancer. Glioblastomas are the most common in adults and one of the trickiest to treat.
They are fast growing and diffuse, meaning they spread through the brain, making it difficult to see where the tumor ends and the healthy tissue begins.
Radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery may not be enough to remove these invasive cancers.
However, the latest research, in living mice and donated human brain tissue samples, shows Zika therapy can kill cells that tend to be resistant to current treatments.
It is thought that these glioblastoma stem cells continue to grow and divide, producing new tumor cells even after aggressive medical treatment.
Different, healthy stem cells are found in abundance in baby brains, which probably explains why regular Zika can be so damaging to infants, say the researchers.
Adult brains, however, have very few stem cells. This means Zika treatment should destroy only the cancer-causing brain stem cells without causing much collateral damage.
As an extra safety precaution, the research team from Washington University School of Medicine and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine has already begun modifying the virus to make it more tame than regular Zika.
Using viruses to fight cancer is not a new idea, but using Zika as the weapon of choice is.
UK scientists at the University of Cambridge are beginning similar trials with Zika.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services John McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer and is reviewing treatment options, his office said.
According to the veteran Republican’s doctors, the options may include chemotherapy and radiation.
John McCain, 80, is in “good spirits” recovering at home.
The brain tumor was discovered during a surgery to remove a blood clot from above his left eye last week.
A Vietnam veteran, John McCain spent more than five years as a prisoner of war.
On July 14, the six-term senator and 2008 Republican presidential candidate underwent surgery at a clinic in Phoenix, Arizona.
Image source Flickr
Tissue analysis revealed that a primary brain tumor known as glioblastoma was associated with the clot, a statement from the Mayo Clinic said.
“The senator’s doctors say he is recovering from his surgery <amazingly well> and his underlying health is excellent,” the statement added.
“Treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.”
Glioblastoma is a particularly aggressive brain tumor, and increases in frequency with age, affecting more men than women.
John McCain was in “good spirits as he continues to recover at home with his family”, his office said.
The senator’s family reacted with “shock” to the news, his 32-year-old daughter Meghan said.
She tweeted: “It won’t surprise you to learn that in all of this, the one of us who is most confident and calm is my father.
“So he is meeting this challenge as he has every other. Cancer may afflict him in many ways: but it will not make him surrender. Nothing ever has.”
President Trump said John McCain has “always been a fighter” and, in a statement, said: “Get well soon.”
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said John McCain was a “hero to our country”.
Former President Barack Obama said on Twitter: “John McCain is an American hero and one of the bravest fighters I’ve ever known. Cancer doesn’t know what it’s up against. Give it hell, John.”
The Charlatans drummer Jon Brookes has died aged 44.
Jon Brookes had suffered a seizure on tour with the band in 2010 and had been receiving treatment for a brain tumor.
He had undergone several operations, but had still been working on new material with the band over the summer.
Jon Brookes died in hospital on Tuesday morning with his family at his bedside.
The Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess tweeted that the band was “torn apart” at the news and sent love to Jon Brookes’s family.
“Jon Brookes, my friend, our drummer and inspiration to so many, passed away this morning. We are torn apart. Love & thoughts to Jon’s family,” he said.
Tim Burgess also thanked “everyone for their messages and memories of Jon Brookes. So much love on such a sad day”.
Jon Brookes had suffered a seizure on tour with the band in 2010 and had been receiving treatment for a brain tumor
A further statement from the band read: “Jon was a brilliant drummer, an inspiration, a founding member of The Charlatans, part of our family and a friend to everyone in and around the band.
“Losing someone who was always so full of life is a tragedy that will be shared by so many. Our thoughts are with Debbie and all of Jon’s family.”
Jon Brookes was diagnosed with a brain tumor after collapsing during a Charlatans gig in Philadelphia, in the United States in 2010.
He briefly stopped breathing and was helped by a doctor attending the show, before being taken to hospital for emergency treatment.
The rest of their US tour was cancelled as Jon Brookes was flown to the UK for treatment.
Speaking afterwards Jon Brookes described how he “saw lights” in the corner of his eyes before collapsing at the concert and said he was at the “start of the long road of treatment for cancer” but was “feeling fit and positive”.
In July this year the band revealed that Jon Brookes had undergone further surgery for the brain tumor.
They said he had recovered well from the operation but would remain in hospital for additional treatment.
Jon Brookes, of Burntwood, Staffordshire, was a founding member of the band that formed in the West Midlands in 1989.
Another original band member, keyboardist Rob Collins, died in a car accident in 1996.
The Charlatans have had 22 UK top 40 hits, including The Only One I Know, Can’t Get Out Of Bed and One To Another.
Elida-Marie Caraballo, the niece of sadistic Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro, has revealed how she innocently played in his “house of horrors” while his three torture victims were chained up in the cellar beneath her.
Elida-Marie Caraballo, 19, said she would visit “Uncle Ariel” with her cousin Arlene – Ariel Castro’s daughter – but he would demand they wait outside the back door until he “fixed things” inside.
“He would play the radio real loud and told me never to leave the kitchen,” she said.
“I thought he was weird but I had no idea he was a monster. It gives me chills to think I was playing with my toys on the kitchen floor while those poor girls were locked in the basement.
“My uncle and aunt were separated so I would go round with Arlene to visit her daddy.”
Elida-Marie Caraballo, 19, said she would visit “Uncle Ariel” with her cousin Arlene
Elida-Marie Caraballo’s mother, Elida, 44, is the sister of Ariel Castro’s common-law-wife Grimilda Figueroa who died last year of a brain tumor the family say was brought on by vicious beatings by Castro.
The couple bought the house where the three women were held captive, built in 1950, in 1992 and raised their four young children there until they split in 1996.
Elida-Marie Caraballo says her uncle’s behavior “became weirder” after he split from her aunt and that he may have abducted his victims to replace the family he lost.
“He was a bully and used to beat my aunt badly but when she finally got the courage to leave and come live with us he cried and begged her to come home.”
Recalling her visits there, Elida-Marie said: “I had no idea those poor girls were chained up in the basement.
“Now I wonder what would have happened if I’d heard something. Would he have locked me in the basement too? I was only a kid but the house gave me the creeps.”
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