The latest headlines about the Ebola epidemic read like something out of a Hollywood medical thriller. Every day brings more urgent news about new infections, botched protocols, scrambles to disinfect airplanes and, on Friday (October 17) the naming of an “Ebola Czar” and an “Ebola SWAT Team” to handle the U.S. response.

So does that mean now is the time to panic?

Getty Images News/Mike Stone

Healthcare worker in Dallas decontaminates.

The virus has killed more than 4,000 in West Africa, sickened more than twice that number in the region and led to two domestic deaths to date. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention seems to have made some missteps in the wake of the infection of Dallas nurse Amber Vinson.

Still, in the wake of those headlines, according to experts, you should be keeping calm. And here’s why:

The chances you’ll catch Ebola are pretty slim
“The CDC remains confident that Ebola is not a significant public health threat to the United States,” a spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told MTV News. “It is not transmitted easily, and it does not spread from people who are not ill.”

Dr. Glenn Mathisen, the chief of infectious disease services at the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center concurred, added that burial practices in West Africa — which include handling and washing the body and pouring fluids over it — that ...

After Kesha came out with some serious allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse against longtime producer and label head Dr. Luke earlier this week, the 41-year-old Grammy-winning track maker to the stars hit back with his own claims that the singer and her mother were allegedly trying to blackmail him.

Both sides quickly dug in their heels, with Luke’s lawyer saying that Kesha’s “campaign of publishing outrageous and untrue statements” about her client — including allegations that he bullied and sexually and physically assaulted her — were part of a pattern by the 27-year-old singer’s camp to smear Luke’s name (born Lukasz Gottwald) in an effort to get released from a recording contract.

GC Images/SMXRF/Star Max

Related: Kesha’s Shocking Abuse Allegations Against Dr. Luke: A History Of Their Complicated Working Relationship

Why haven’t we heard about the allegations before?
According to a TMZ report, when Kesha went to rehab for an eating disorder in January, she began “spontaneously” telling her doctors about the alleged abuse at Dr. Luke’s hands. A source said the doctors took notes that may become evidence in her lawsuit and they instructed her to stay as far away from the producer as possible.

The unnamed sources also explained that Kesha never went to police about the alleged sexual and physical assaults because she was suffering from a form of Stockholm Syndrome after being connected to Luke for more than eight years and had lost ...

It’s been more than three weeks since 43 Mexican college students mysteriously disappeared after their bus was raided by police. Ever since, their parents and supporters have been marching in the streets and demanding answers amid reports that the students may have been killed by officers after an altercation in the Mexican countryside on September 26.

So, where are they? Nobody knows, but the twisted tale is bizarre — with reports of mass graves, execution-style killings and alleged police collusion with drug cartels. And it’s all the more terrifying in a country that has seen more than its fair share of drug gang-fueled violence over the past decade.

Anadolu Agency

Tension Had Been Building
The students from the radical, all-male teacher training college Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Teachers College of Ayotzinapa were headed to the town of Iguala last month to raise money for protests against what they said were discriminatory hiring practices of teachers that favor urban students over rural ones. While trying to hitchhike back to their college — known for its strident, leftist leanings — police claim the students hijacked three buses from a downtown bus terminal.

Municipal police trailing the bus convoy reportedly shot at the buses during the chase and when they stopped the vehicles, a number of students got out and walked away, but at least 20 were reportedly taken away in patrol cars. Three hours later, some of the students returned to the site of the attack ...

It’s been 29 years since the Kansas City Royals played in the World Series. To put that in perspective, Paul Rudd was 16 (and living in the K.C. suburbs) the last time his team made it to the Big Show. So of course the “Ant-Man” star was on hand at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday night to see his team complete their thrilling sweep of the Baltimore Orioles to advance to the Series for the first time since 1985.

And, of course he planned to celebrate by throwing a massive rager at his mom’s house! “This is amazing, the entire town feels it,” Rudd told local station KMBC 9 News from the stadium field after the win. So, how was Rudd going to honor the team for their amazing 11-0 run through the playoffs? “I’m going to be partying at my mom’s house,” he joked.”Party at my mom’s house, man! She’s out of town, I’ve got a keg. It’s going to be sweet. Five dollar cover!”
(Party starts at 1:20.)

Gil Kaufman

Often guilty, never convicted. Serving 15 years to life at MTV News.

Any megastar can drop by “The Tonight Show,” sit in a chair and tell a charming story about that one time their daughter pooped on daddy’s tuxedo on the way to the Oscars and then cleverly find a way to use it to plug their new WWII movie.

But Brad Pitt? He’d rather throw down some cardboard in a basement and get to windmilling, 2-stepping and toprocking with “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon to de-stress, and, of course, silently plug his WWII drama, “Fury,” while throwing down some bad-ass breakdancing moves.

Gil Kaufman

Often guilty, never convicted. Serving 15 years to life at MTV News.

Coaches for the Northampton Area High School boys’ soccer team were so offended by their players’ chanting “Ebola” at a visiting West African player that they resigned on Wednesday (October 15). And now it’s possible the in Pennsylvania students who did the taunting could be seriously disciplined as well.

The incident in a suburb of northern Philadelphia happened last week when the Konkrete Kids of Northampton played the Nazareth Blue Eagles, whose star player is 16-year-old Ibraham Tounkara, a native of Guinea, one of the West African nations affected by the Ebola crisis. West Africa has been the focal point of a deadly Ebola virus outbreak that has claimed more than 4,000 lives to date and threatens to infect nearly 10,000 more per week if left unchecked.

According to a report from that night on Lehigh Valley Live, the “ugly … brutal” game at Andrew Leh Stadium included plenty of shoving and three yellow cards. But, with 4:15 left, Tounkara was given a red card for violent conduct and had to be restrained by his fellow players after appearing “incensed” at something that happened on the previous play.

A few days later, The Morning Call newspaper revealed that several Northampton players had taunted Tounkara with “Ebola!” chants and other racial slurs. Tounkara’s custodian, Edward Bachert, said he was out of earshot but was told by the teen, who is black, and others about racial taunting that reportedly also included hopes that Tounkara would contract Ebola.

A girl who ...

We know President Obama is a Jay Z fan and has some Jigga on his iPod and that the first couple love some Al Green.

But Lil Jon? Yes, apparently First Lady Michelle Obama is so determined to get kids to eat healthier snacks that during an #AskTheFirstLady event on Tuesday she answered a Barack impersonator’s question: “How many calories do you burn every time you ‘turn up’?!” Her answer? Well, turning up.

Okay, “turnip”-ing up, which is now a thing that has gotten 6.4 million views in 24 hours.


Now, if only she could squash that beef between Snoop Dogg and Iggy Azalea. (See what I did there?)

Gil Kaufman

Often guilty, never convicted. Serving 15 years to life at MTV News.

Police have finally charged the teenagers who pulled the fake ALS Ice Bucket Challenge on an autistic classmate. Cuyahoga County prosecutors in Ohio filed complaints on Tuesday against five teens, aged 14 to 16, who will face the juvenile equivalent of disorderly conduct charges, with three also facing misdemeanor assault charges.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, all the teens accused of dumping a mix of urine, tobacco, spit and water on a 15-year-old classmate are part of a crew of friends who often pull “sophomoric” and “distasteful” pranks.

“However, this incident is clearly different. It crossed a moral and legal line, and even the five alleged perpetrators understand that and have expressed regret,” said Assistant County Prosecutor Duane Deskins. The family of the special needs student who was humiliated in the August 18 incident was consulted on the charges, which Deskins said strike a balance between punishment and rehabilitation.

The case got national attention and elicited a $10,000 bounty from Cleveland native and comedian Drew Carey, who offered the reward to a fund run by the Bay Village police department. It also spawned an online petition that got more than 306,000 signatures urging Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty to prosecute the students. The targeted student’s parents reported the incident on September 3 after a video was uploaded to YouTube showing their son standing in front of a garage while being doused with the putrid contents of the bucket.

A lawyer for one of the students said last month ...

You’ve can have your diva dancing kids, your MJ impersonating teens, your Snuggie dancers and your upscale grocery store shakers.

Me? I’ll kick back and watch Audacious Adi all day long. Why? Because she just uploaded her first two YouTube videos and they’re amazing. Dressed like she’s about to go to cross-country team practice, this kid has just destroyed the world of dubstep dancing. From her “look, I have no bones in my arms and legs” popping, locking and robot-ing to the old “is that a piece of dirt on the ground, let me just get that?” pantomime, Adilyn Malcolm just kills it.

And her moves just keep coming.

Gil Kaufman

Often guilty, never convicted. Serving 15 years to life at MTV News.

While you’re busy complaining about how the new iOS8 QuickText predictive text feature keeps mangling what you’re trying to say (or figuring out that using it on Tinder doesn’t work at all), Jonathan Mann has been busy writing songs with it.

His ‘iOS Autocomplete Song,” part of his six-year “Song a Day” project, sounds a bit like an OK Go B-side, except with lyrics that make zero sense. “A boyfriend is so good to be/A good day for/A few weeks ago I have a lot more,” he sings. “Than one of my life and the best thing to me/That I have no clue who they are the same.”

Please to enjoy the suspense is terrible.

Gil Kaufman

Often guilty, never convicted. Serving 15 years to life at MTV News.