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DHS announces Ebola outbreak flight arrival restrictions for DRC, Uganda, South Sudan

May 21, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced new arrival restrictions for flights carrying people who were recently in Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan amid the Ebola outbreak in the region.

All flights — excluding those operated by the Pentagon — departing after 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday carrying passengers that were in the named nations within 21 days of attempted entry into the U.S. will be ordered to land at Washington-Dulles Airport in Virginia, the notice said, where “enhanced public health measures are being implemented.”

The Ebola outbreak in the eastern DRC had caused 139 suspected deaths with nearly 600 suspected cases as of Wednesday, according to an update from World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Tedros said cases of Ebola have been reported in several urban areas of the eastern DRC amid the ongoing outbreak, including the major cities of Goma and Bunia, and that at least two cases and one death have been recorded in neighboring Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Cases have also been reported among health workers, according to Ghebreyesus.

At least 51 cases have so far been confirmed in the ongoing outbreak.

The DHS flight restriction notice said that while South Sudan has not reported any confirmed cases in the current outbreak, “It is considered at high risk because of its close border with affected areas in eastern DRC and Uganda, limited healthcare infrastructure and cross-border population movement.”

The outbreak was first detected in the DRC’s northeastern province of Ituri, with cases officially confirmed by the health ministry on May 15. It marked the 17th outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the DRC, which is Africa’s second-largest country and its fourth-most populous nation.

The WHO convened an emergency committee on Tuesday night, following Tedros’ declaration of a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday — one level below a pandemic in the United Nations agency’s alert system.

It was the first time a WHO chief had declared such an emergency before convening the emergency committee. After the meeting, the committee agreed that the outbreak did not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency, which was applied to the global COVID-19 outbreak.

Anais Legand, the WHO’s technical officer for viral hemorrhagic fevers, said on Wednesday that the Ebola outbreak may have started a couple of months ago and that investigations are ongoing.

“Our priority is really to cut the transmission chain by implementing contact tracing, isolating and caring for all suspects and confirmed cases,” she said.

The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of Ebola for which there are no approved vaccines or therapeutics and which requires different diagnostics than other variants. Case fatality rates for previous Bundibugyo outbreaks have ranged from 30% to 50%, according to the WHO.

Among the confirmed cases is an American, Dr. Peter Stafford, who contracted the disease while working in the DRC. Stafford was flown out of the DRC and is now hospitalized in Berlin’s Charité University Hospital.

Matt Allison — the executive director of Serge, the Christian missionary group Stafford works for — told ABC News on Wednesday that the doctor has been receiving monoclonal antibodies during his hospitalization and is “responding quickly.”

Dr. Satish K. Pillai, incident manager for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Ebola response, confirmed at a CDC press conference on Tuesday that genetic testing from this outbreak shows it is similar to the “genetic fingerprints” from outbreaks in 2007 and 2012, meaning there are diagnostic tools available that can detect this strain of Ebola.

Pillai said on Monday that the agency had activated its Emergency Operations Center through its country offices in the DRC and in Uganda, and is deploying technical experts that have been requested from Atlanta headquarters.

The risk to the U.S. general public remains low, Pillai said.

Also on Monday, the CDC introduced entry restrictions on non-U.S. passport holders that had been in Uganda, the DRC or South Sudan in the previous 21 days before attempted entry into the U.S.

ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss, Mary Kekatos and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.

What rising bond yields mean for mortgages and credit card rates

May 21, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — U.S. Treasury yields soared in recent days as the Iran war stoked inflation fears, threatening to drive up borrowing costs for everything from mortgages to credit cards to auto loans.

The yields on 30-year bonds – the amount paid to a bondholder annually – touched their highest point since 2007. Ten-year Treasury yields peaked at about 4.69% on Tuesday, marking a roughly three-quarter percentage point jump from the start of the war on Feb. 28.

The yield on 10-year Treasuries retreated on Wednesday, registering at 4.58%. Still, yields exceed the level reached during a bond selloff in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in April 2025.

Since bonds pay a given investor a fixed amount each year, the specter of inflation risks higher consumer prices that would eat away at those annual payouts. In this case, a global oil shock has pushed up energy prices which in turn has trickled into other costs, such as groceries.

As a result, bonds have become less attractive. When demand falls, bond yields rise.

“It’s really all about the Iran war and its inflationary impact,” Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst at Bankrate, told ABC News.

High bond yields make borrowing more expensive for average Americans because Treasury rates influence the rates offered by lenders.

Long-term Treasury yields help set interest payments for mortgages, credit cards, car loans and just about any other type of borrowing, Patrice Carrington, a professor of real estate at New York University, told ABC News.

The reason for the rise in borrowing costs is that regulated lenders are required to hold reserve assets, often made up in part by U.S. Treasuries, Carrington added. When Treasury yields rise, it raises the costs incurred by banks holding Treasuries on their books. Lenders, in turn, offset those added expenses with higher borrowing costs.

“The bank will pass along that higher cost of capital to any consumer loan,” Carrington said.

The onset of this pain for consumers is exemplified by the housing market, where the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage stands at 6.72% as of Monday, Mortgage News Daily data showed. Mortgage rates have climbed three-quarters of a percentage point from pre-war levels.

“That’s a really big jump,” Rossman said.

Each percentage-point rise in a mortgage rate can impose thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in additional costs each year, depending on the price of the house, according to Rocket Mortgage.

Credit card rates, by contrast, have remained flat over the course of the Iran war, though at heightened levels, Rossman said.

The average credit card interest rate stands at 19.57%, just slightly below where it stood before the war began, Bankrate data showed. At the start of 2026, futures markets expected the Fed to likely cut interest rates at least once by the end of the year, which would put downward pressure on credit card rates.

As the Fed weathers a renewed bout of inflation, however, markets estimate about a 50% chance of interest rates remaining unchanged over the course of the year and a 37% chance of a rate hike, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment. Markets peg the odds of a rate cut this year at less than 2%.

As a result, credit card rates “are staying higher for longer” than many observers anticipated, Rossman said.

Analysts differed in their recommendations for consumers weighing whether to move forward now with securing a loan or wait for a potential decline in interest rates.

Liu Lu, a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, said mortgage rates are unlikely to decline substantially in the near-term, meaning borrowers who can afford a loan at current rates may as well take the plunge.

“I wouldn’t bet on trying to catch the opportune moment,” Lu told ABC News.

Carrington, on the other hand, counseled patience for loan seekers.

Eventually, the economy will falter and the Fed will cut interest rates, pushing down borrowing costs, according to Carrington.

“We’re long overdue for a downturn,” Carrington said. “I absolutely think borrowers should wait.”

In the meantime, the impact of elevated bond yields on consumers isn’t entirely negative. The trend means better returns for investors who place their money into financial instruments such as money market funds or high-interest savings accounts, which are historically safer investments than the stock market.

Democratic power players launch bipartisan effort to ‘sabotage-proof’ elections

May 21, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A group of mostly Democratic strategists and power players are rebuilding a political action committee meant to fortify election-defense infrastructure ahead of 2028 by focusing on often overlooked state offices that control election administration, litigation and certification.

The group, Democracy Defenders, which previously worked to support legal efforts and help with post-election planning in partnership with the Harris presidential campaign, tells ABC News exclusively that they’re re-launching their political arm. It plans to spend upwards of $10 to 15 million by “protecting democracy and rule of law” in races for Attorneys General, Secretaries of State and state Supreme Court in presidential battleground states– places they see critical to safeguarding against escalating threats from Trump and his allies to subvert the 2028 election.

“The goal right now is to sabotage-proof the electoral system for 2028,” former Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair and Democracy Defenders operative Ben Wikler told ABC News.

In the aftermath of his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, Trump and his administration have made moves since the start of his second term to retool future elections.

They seized boxes of 2020 election records from a Fulton County, Georgia, election site in January and Tump called Virginia’s special election on a new congressional map last month “rigged” without evidence.

They’ve also called for Republicans to “nationalize” and “take over” elections.

Focusing on down-ballot races

The down-ballot races the PAC will focus on could determine certification disputes, election litigation, voting rules and redistricting at a time when many voting-related laws are being actively challenged in the courts, Norm Eisen, a top Democratic attorney who was a co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment, told ABC News in an interview. Eisen is pro-bono, outside counsel for the group.

“If it once again, as it did in 2020, comes down to the integrity of a handful of AGs and secretaries standing up for the genuine results, you must have pro-democracy leaders as AGs and secretary of state,” Eisen said.

Jim Messina, who was campaign manager for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign who will now chair the advisory board, told ABC that state office races targeted by the PAC are often “way underfunded,” even though they handle “the block and tackling” of running elections.

Also on the board is former Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock, former Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

The day-to-day operations will be overseen by TJ Ducklo, who worked for Joe Biden in 2020 and 2024, along with Wikler and former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes.

Ramping up fundraising

Democracy Defenders is ramping up its fundraising efforts, too, with planned events with former President Joe Biden and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ 2024 running mate.

Their work is starting in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina, according to the group, and likely expand to other states. They’re also focused on some off-year elections in 2027, including another Wisconsin Supreme Court race. They put “several hundred thousand dollars” into the Georgia Supreme Court race on Tuesday, though those candidates were unsuccessful, PAC organizers said.

Last year, Elon Musk dumped $20 million into the high-stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race through his own PAC. Democracy Defenders is attempting similar work on a smaller scale. Ahead of the Georgia Supreme Court race on Tuesday, the group placed money behind former state Sen. Jen Jordan and attorney Miracle Rankin. Both lost their races, though Rankin came within 2 percentage points of beating the incumbent, according an Associated Press projection.

PAC organizers say election denialism in the Republican Party has become more sophisticated, highlighting that down-ballot candidates in key states are no longer always running on “Stop the Steal” messaging like in the aftermath of the 2020 election. But they still support voting restrictions and even law-enforcement involvement around voting.

‘Different shades of authoritarians’

“You’ve seen here Donald Trump and Burt Jones, who is running for governor [in Georgia], who is a fake elector and actually traveled to Washington, D.C., with a letter in his pocket for Mike Pence the night before the insurrection … he’s literally on the ballot today,” Georgia Democratic Party Chair Charlie Baker said in an interview with ABC News on Tuesday.

Baker continued: “Donald Trump will leave office at some point, but what he has left in his wake in the Republican Party are different shades of authoritarians, and so even when he leaves, we’re not like we can’t say we are safely done with those kinds of actions being perpetrated.”

Jones, who did not face charges in the alleged fake elector plot, did not win his primary outright on Tuesday — he is headed for a June runoff.

Messina said that despite the party soul-searching that came after Harris’ election loss, the PAC is not trying to become another presidential super PAC or rival Democratic power centers separate from bodies like the Democratic National Committee, which is largely focused on congressional and gubernatorial races. It is not coordinating directly with the DNC, however. Instead, the group said it’s working directly with state parties and candidates.

“I don’t think it’s at all a condemnation of anything,” Messina said about the re-launch of the PAC. “What we’re trying to do is bring a large checkbook and a bunch of federal money.”

Messina also said the group is still trying to “figure out” its donor base. Top Democratic donors are already in the mix, but Messina highlighted that additional — even Republican or non-partisan donors — are interested in its efforts.

“There are new donors that I’ve, some of these people I’ve never met, and I’ve been in national politics for 30 years, and people are kind of rising to the top,” Messina said.

Former Epstein assistant to appear before House committee

May 21, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The House Oversight Committee on Thursday is scheduled to conduct a closed-door interview with Sarah Kellen, a former personal assistant to Jeffrey Epstein, as part of the panel’s ongoing inquiry into the federal government’s handling of investigations into the late sex offender.

Kellen, 46, was previously a subject of criminal investigations but has never been charged — due, in part, to her own allegations of persistent sexual abuse at the hands of the disgraced financier, according to court documents and records released earlier this year by the Justice Department.

“Every aspect of her life was controlled by Epstein. He dominated her psychologically. [Kellen] was constantly emotionally bullied and coerced by Epstein, including being required to submit to his constant sexual abuse,” her attorneys wrote in a civil complaint against Epstein’s estate in 2020.

Kellen’s appearance at the Capitol comes as the committee ramps up for a busy stretch of its investigation, which was officially launched in February of last year. Other notable witnesses scheduled in the coming months include Epstein’s longtime executive assistant Leslie Groff, former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, former Goldman Sachs chief counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, and billionaires Bill Gates and Leon Black.

The committee’s chairman, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), has indicated that a report on its findings will be produced before the end of the year.

Following Epstein’s death in custody in July 2019, federal prosecutors in New York investigating possible collaborators engaged in discussions with Kellen and her attorneys that spanned more than a year. Documents released by the DOJ earlier this year included prosecutors’ internal assessments of a potential case against Kellen and emails from her attorneys trying to dissuade the government from filing charges.

“We feel that given [Kellen’s] abuse, and given the fact that we see her basically as a cog in Epstein’s wheel, acting entirely at his direction and doing what she did at a time that she herself was a very vulnerable victim, a [non-prosecution] would be the appropriate disposition,” an attorney for Kellen wrote in the spring of 2020.

According to DOJ records, the government did not dispute that Kellen “was herself a victim of abuse by Epstein,” noting that her account was consistent with others who worked for Epstein and allegedly experienced sexual exploitation.

Prosecutors detailed in a proposed “statement of facts” sent to Kellen’s attorneys in late 2020 that several “minor victims reported to federal agents that Epstein paid them for sexualized massages while they were underage girls, including during massages that [Kellen] scheduled.”

Kellen conceded that Epstein directed her to schedule his daily massages in the early 2000s when he was staying in his Palm Beach, Florida, residence, according to the DOJ records. She claimed she was provided a directory of names and instructed on who to call, and denied having knowledge that some who came to the house were underage.

She told prosecutors she viewed the “masseuses as her peers — i.e. young adults in their early 20s — and it never [crossed] her mind that any of them were minors,” government lawyers wrote in a December 2019 memo summarizing their investigation for Geoffrey Berman, then the top federal prosecutor in New York.

Kellen said she “only learned that Epstein was sexually abusing minors when news articles started coming out about it” in the mid-2000s, according to the records. “She recalled being shocked, angry, and disappointed. She was particularly angry with Epstein for manipulating her to help orchestrate the abuse of other women,” the records said.

Federal prosecutors ultimately decided against charging Kellen, though the internal deliberations that led to that outcome are unclear. Much of the legal analysis in the prosecution memos remains redacted in the publicly available versions of the DOJ records.

Epstein’s former associate Ghislaine Maxwell remains the only other person charged in connection with Epstein’s crimes. She is serving a 20-year sentence in a federal prison camp in Texas. Maxwell is presently seeking to have her conviction vacated or her sentence reduced.

Kellen — who has largely avoided public comment surrounding the Epstein investigation — told a reporter from a British paper who approached her on the street in New York in 2020 that she was “raped and abused weekly.”

“I have been made out to be such a monster — but it’s not true. I’m a victim of Jeffrey Epstein,” Kellen said, according to the U.K. Sun report.

An attorney who represented Kellen during discussions with federal prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment ahead of Kellen’s appearance in Washington, D.C.

Scoreboard roundup — 5/20/26

May 21, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Spurs 113, Thunder 122

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Golden Knights 4, Avalanche 2

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Reds 9, Phillies 4
Orioles 3, Rays 5
Astros 1, Twins 4
Rangers 5, Rockies 4
Giants 3, Diamondbacks 6
White Sox 4, Mariners 5
Braves 9, Marlins 1
Guardians 3, Tigers 2
Mets 4, Nationals 8
Blue Jays 2, Yankees 1
Red Sox 4, Royals 3
Brewers 5, Cubs 0
Pirates 7, Cardinals 0
Dodgers 4, Padres 0
Athletics 6, Angels 5

In brief: ‘Michael Jackson: The Verdict’ trailer and more

May 21, 2026 by WDNY Radio

A Rick and Morty movie is on the way. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. is in early development on the film, which franchise veteran Jacob Hair is in talks to direct. The news arrives as the ninth season of the animated adult TV series is set to launch on Sunday …

Francesca Scorsese, the daughter of legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese, is set to star in Mr. and Mrs. Smith season 2. Variety reports that she joins previously announced cast members Mark Eydelshteyn and Talia Ryder in the new season of the Prime Video series …

Netflix has announced a three-part docuseries titled Michael Jackson: The Verdict is heading to the streaming service. It has also released a trailer for the show, which premieres on June 3. It dissects the trial of Michael Jackson and his complex legacy as told by key players who were inside the courtroom …

‘Don’t Mind If I Do’ make you audition: Ella Langley wasn’t a lock for second Riley Green duet

May 21, 2026 by WDNY Radio

With the runaway success of “you look like you love me,” you’d assume Ella Langley was a shoo-in for subsequent Riley Green duets, especially since the two were on tour together at the time.

But it turns out, Riley kind of made her audition for the part on “Don’t Mind If I Do.”

“I think I got her to come in the day I wrote it and just kinda hum to see what key I needed to write it in, ’cause I wrote it as a duet,” he explains. “And when I was in the studio recording it, I just called her to come by to put a vocal on it so I could play it for whoever I was gonna pitch it to as far as the female.”

Of course, Riley changed his mind as soon as he heard Ella sing.

“She just crushed it,” he recalls. “I remember sittin’ there and she was like in a sweatsuit. She came by from the house and sang it and … I couldn’t imagine anybody doing it better than she did.”

Of course, “Don’t Mind If I Do” went on to become Riley’s sixth #1 in December.

“It was cool for her to be on the song, [and] also having her out with all the success on the other song,” he reflects. “And also lyrically, it kinda feels like the song after ‘you like you love me.’ So it’s kinda cool to have that accidentally work out.”

“Don’t Mind If I Do” picked up the music event of the year trophy at Sunday’s 61st Academy of Country Music Awards, after “you look like you love me” won the same award the year prior.

The Smashing Pumpkins reunite with producer Butch Vig for new single

May 21, 2026 by WDNY Radio

The Smashing Pumpkins have reunited with Butch Vig.

Billy Corgan has announced that the band recorded a new song with the producer and Garbage drummer for the first time since working with him on their 1993 album, Siamese Dream.

“Back in the studio with Butch Vig for the first time in 32 years!” Corgan writes in an Instagram post. “[Guitarist] James [Iha], [drummer] Jimmy [Chamberlin], and I had an awesome time recording this new single.”

Corgan speaks about the song further in a video posted to his Substack, in which he says the unnamed song will be released later in 2026 and was recorded for a “specific purpose.”

Vig produced Siamese Dream and the Pumpkins’ 1991 debut album, Gish. In between, he became known as the producer for Nirvana’s gigantic 1991 album Nevermind.

Along with reuniting with a figure from their past, the Pumpkins are looking back on their 1995 album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, which they’re performing in full during their U.S. Rats in a Cage tour. The tour, which kicks off in September, will also feature a second, career-spanning set.

Night Ranger to release new ‘Best Of’ compilation

May 21, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Night Ranger is looking back on their career with a new compilation album.

The rockers are set to release Best Of on Aug. 28, an album featuring newly remixed and remastered versions of their classic tunes. It will include “Sister Christian,” “When You Close Your Eyes” and “(You Can Still) Rock in America,” as well as bonus tracks, including a live performance of the holiday classic “Feliz Navidad.”

As a preview of the record, the band has released the remastered version of 1982’s top-40 hit “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me.”

“The new Best Of is a celebration of not only our classic hits but also what we’ve created over the last 20 years,” says Night Ranger’s Jack Blades. “And we’re just gonna keep cranking it cause we’re having too much fun to stop! So enjoy the ride and see ya on the road!”

Best Of will be released on CD and vinyl, with a double-LP version available in black, gold and orange splatter. All are available for preorder now.

Night Ranger is set to play Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Friday. A complete list of dates can be found at NightRanger.com.

Here is the track list for Best of:
“Don’t Tell Me You Love Me (2026)”
“(You Can Still) Rock in America (2026)”
“Sister Christian (2026)”
“When You Close Your Eyes (2026)”
“Four in the Morning (2026)”
“Breakout”
“Tomorrow”
“Growin’ Up in California”
“Time of Our Lives”
“High Road”
“No Time to Lose”
“Somehow Someway”
“Truth”
“Don’t Let Up”
“Only for You Only”
“Wasted Time (Sweetwater Studios)” (Bonus Track)
“Feliz Navidad (Live)” (Bonus Track)
“Hole In The Sun” (Bonus Track Japan)

Vivica A. Fox says prosthetics were hardest, funniest part of filming ‘Is God Is’

May 21, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Vivica A. Fox stars in the film Is God Is, a story about twin sisters, played Kara Young and Mallori Johnson, who have severe burn scars after surviving their father’s attempt to murder them, along with their mother. Her character, Ruby, sets them on a revenge mission to kill their dad, shaping the film’s central storyline — a role Vivica said she appreciated.

“Ruby was the catalyst of basically setting off the revenge mission for the girls. So I loved it,” she said, noting she also enjoyed “working with the girls, Kara and Mallori.”

“They were so, so phenomenally prepared, so phenomenally talented that it just really made the experience easy,” she continued.

The challenge came when it was time to dress for the part of a fire survivor.

“The hardest part was the prosthetics,” Vivica said, noting it took four hours to complete the look. “The funniest part, just to add a little bit of humor to it, was when people would come to set wanting to meet Vivica Fox, and I turned around and I was like, ‘Hey,’ and it was like, ‘Oh my God.'”

She credited director Aleshea Harris for putting together a team that helped make it all possible.

“She hired the best people to work with us to make it believable,” Vivica said, “and I appreciate that I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to play Ruby a way that my audience has never seen me.”

Through her character, Vivica hopes women can learn “to be strong, to know that you can be a survivor and a thriver, and to be honest.”

Is God Is is now in theaters.

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