The guys in *NSYNC are all still friendly with each other, which is why Lance Bass felt comfortable calling all his former band mates and pranking them on TikTok.
Lance pulled the popular “#TooBusy” prank on Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick: He FaceTimed them both, and then when they answered, he claimed that he was way too busy to talk and hung up on his confused pals.
Lance then called JC Chasez and did the same thing, but it turned out that he and JC were sitting right next to each other at the time, so it wasn’t much of a prank.
But when Lance called Justin Timberlake, JT didn’t even take his call, leaving a mock-outraged Lance to exclaim, “What the f…?”
He hashtagged the post #BoybandWars, #NSYNC, #TooBusy and #DidYouJustDenyMe??
(RUSSIA) — Russia is enduring a devastating third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, registering record numbers of daily virus deaths many days for the past month as the virus rages in the country where there are few quarantine restrictions in place and much of the population is reluctant to get vaccinated.
In many parts of the country doctors have said hospitals have been overflowing for almost a month, placing huge strain on medical workers already battered by a year and a half of the pandemic.
Despite surging death tolls, authorities have declined to introduce tough restrictions or even strictly enforce ones in place like mask wearing.
In the late spring, authorities had hailed a supposed end to the worst of the pandemic, following a grim winter that saw Russia reach the highest death toll per capita among developing nations. The few restrictions in place were almost all lifted. President Vladimir Putin at an economic forum in St. Petersburg at the start of June told a large crowd that “life is gradually returning to its normal course.”
But by mid-June, the virus came roaring back, fuelled by the virus’ delta variant, and Russia’s health system is struggling under a wave that many experts estimate is as bad and potentially even worse than this winter’s deadly one. Although there are signs now the wave is now easing in Moscow, it is continuing to batter much of the rest of the country where it arrived later.
“Compared with the second wave, it’s much tougher,” said Viktoria, an ambulance work in the Leningrad region, who asked to withhold her last name because she did not have permission to speak publicly. “The first wave was tough because no one knew anything what to do. And now it’s just on account of a very high infection rate.”
Since the start of July, Russia’s official coronavirus statistics have shown over 700 people dying most days, on many days breaking previous daily records from the winter.
That may be a significant undercount, many experts said. Throughout the pandemic Russia’s official COVID-19 statistics have been criticized for drastically underplaying its real virus numbers.
Calculations of so-called “excess deaths” from publicly available mortality data — considered internationally as the best way of assessing the pandemic’s true toll — show that Russia has recorded nearly 550,000 more deaths than in an average year between June 2021 and the start of the pandemic.
That is nearly four times higher than the official toll of 150,000, provided by Russia’s government coronavirus task force. It also does not take into account June and July, which have been the deadliest months of the third wave for the country.
[We] “are in the heart of a storm, which no one even tried to prevent,” Alexander Dragan, a data analyst who has tracked Russia’s pandemic statistics, wrote in a Medium post this month.
The wave of infections and deaths has hit as Russia had erected few defences to stem it. By June, authorities had lifted most of the limited restrictions that had been in place and spoke of an end to the pandemic in sight. Restaurants, bars and shops were working as usual, most workers had returned to offices, people were packing out events.
As the numbers surged in June, authorities in some regions scrambled to reimpose measures. In Moscow, where the mayor’s office has taken a more pro-active approach, companies were told to make some staff work from home and bars made to shut at 11 p.m. A small number of badly hit regions reimposed lockdowns.
But in most places restrictions have remained light and life is largely unaltered. In St. Petersburg, authorities in June allowed mass events, permitting thousands to throng during a city-wide graduation celebration and to attend Euros 2020 soccer matches. And in most regions, events involving hundreds of people are still permitted.
The result has been the virus — accelerated by the delta variant — has burned through Russia almost unrestricted.
The wave flooded hospitals in many regions from the start of June. In cities across Russia, local authorities warned they had run out of beds and were forced to open emergency reserve hospitals.
In St. Petersburg, medics told ABC News hospitals were packed with COVID patients since mid-June. Dmitry, a doctor at a hospital in the city said its 450 beds had been filled for the last month and that patients had to be kept in corridors, although the situation had improved in the last week.
The numbers were putting a huge strain on medical workers, he said, saying one medic was often having to look after 30 patients.
“It’s really a lot,” he said, also requesting anonymity because he was not permitted to comment publicly.
In Moscow and St. Petersburg the wave appears to be finally easing, with space appearing at last in hospitals. But in other regions where the wave arrived later, cases continue to climb. And the peak of deaths, which lag two to three weeks behind infections, in most places has still not arrived.
Alexey Raksha, a demographer who formerly worked at Russia’s state statistics agency Rostat, told ABC News he estimated Russia might see between 70,000-90,000 deaths for July alone.
“We’re yet to see the peak of deaths. And I predict that July could be the worst month” so far, Raksha said.
Some doctors and experts blamed the scale of the third wave on the messaging from authorities that the pandemic was essentially over and abandoning restrictions.
“At the end of the second wave they were telling us that everything is going down, down, down, everything is super. They loosened everything up and basically people cut loose,” said Viktoria.
“Russia is the country where COVID dissidents actually won,” Raksha said. “The result is hundreds of thousands (at least 200-300k) deaths above what could have happened otherwise,” he wrote in a message.
Russian officials had said they hoped to end the pandemic with vaccines developed by the country.
But the level of vaccination in Russia has stalled in mid-spring at around 14%, despite Russia having one of the world’s first COVID-19 vaccines, amid widespread reluctance among Russians to get the jab. Polls have showed around two-thirds of Russians do not intend to get vaccinated.
Experts have in part blamed that reluctance on authorities’ refusal to enforce tough restrictions and mixed messages suggesting that the situation in Russia was not so bad and underplaying the real number of deaths.
“Naturally, if people don’t believe that COVID is serious they have no motivation to get vaccinated,” Irina Yakutenko, a science journalist told the Russian news site, Bumaga.”Crudely speaking, the government did a lot so that so many people haven’t got the jab.”
As the third wave hit, authorities have launched a drive to try to overcome the vaccine hesitancy.
Moscow’s mayor made vaccination mandatory for people working in public-facing roles including restaurant workers, teachers, hairdressers and public transport staff — amounting to around 2 million people. A growing number of other regions followed suit, making Russia one of the few countries in the world to introduce large-scale mandatory vaccination.
In Moscow, authorities also announced unvaccinated people would not be able to access routine medical treatments at hospitals. For three weeks, a new rule required people to get a QR-code showing proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test to dine inside restaurants.
The push appears to have had an effect; the number of those vaccinated has climbed in the few weeks, according to official statistics and independent experts.
However, it’s not clear that pace will be kept up. Moscow has now backtracked over the rule requiring vaccination for indoor dining and the Kremlin has indicated it opposes broadening mandatory vaccination to the population at large. That puts in doubt whether Russia will reach a sufficient level of vaccination by the autumn to head off a deadly fourth wave.
Dmitry, the doctor in St. Petersburg said he did not have much hope a new wave would be avoided, even as the current wave eased.
“I think it’s a sort of calm before the storm,” he told ABC News.
He said both authorities and citizens needed to accept more restrictions to do so, alongside vaccination.
“In my view it’s better to cancel concerts for half a year than over the course of two years bury a large number of people,” he said.
The stream will be available throughout all four days of the Chicago festival, which takes place July 29 to August 1, for Hulu’s on-demand subscribers at no additional cost.
The full streaming lineup and schedule will be announced next week.
The 2021 Lollpalooza lineup includes Foo Fighters, Journey, Limp Bizkit, Modest Mouse, Jimmy Eat World, All Time Low, Black Pumas, Angels & Airwaves, Brittany Howard and Young the Giant, among many others.
In-person festival-goers must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or provide a negative test within 72 hours of attending.
Common and his girlfriend, actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish, have been dating for over a year now, and the rapper-actor says the secret to their sticking together has been his ability to communicate better while “listening better to what she has to say.”
“I think one of the important things about relationships for me has been to really know myself more and love myself and be able to express the things that I want,” Common, 49, tells People. “I’ve evolved and gotten to that place.”
Additionally, Common says, “I listen and take things in and try to do my best to understand.”
“I listen to what Tiffany would have to say about how she feels about something and just try to understand it instead of always having an answer,” he continues.
Common says he and Haddish bring out the best in each other: “It’s about really just being in a relationship where you can grow and you really support each other’s purpose and vision…I’m making you better, you’re making me better and you can have fun.”
Common also credits Haddish, 41, with turning him on to the Netflix teen comedy-drama Never Have I Ever, in which he currently stars as Dr. Chris Jackson.
“Tiffany put it on and I was like, ‘Oh man, I love this show!’ So to get a call and hear ‘They’re potentially looking at you for a role,’ man, I was geeked.”
Former Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum is a proud papa!
Sorum and his wife, Ace Harper, have just announced that Harper gave birth to a baby girl named Lou Ellington Sorum on June 11.
Lou, who is the couple’s first child, was born in Palm Springs, California, and weighed in at 6 pounds, 14 ounces.
“Our Hearts are so full of gratitude that God has brought this angel into our lives,” Matt and Ace say in a statement. “Our baby girl Lou Ellington is pure Love & Joy.”
Sorum and Harper, who’ve been married since 2013, announced the impending birth of their daughter back in March in a People magazine article.
Ace is a singer/songwriter, dancer, artist and fashion designer who previously collaborated musically with her husband in a band called Diamond Baby.
Sorum, meanwhile, co-produced, co-wrote and plays drums on ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons recent solo album, Hardware. In addition, he’s preparing to publish a book called Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ‘n’ Roll Stories on September 7 that will feature him discussing his experiences trying to achieve a successful music career, while reflecting on the challenges of being a rock star.
On his latest podcast episode of Armchair Expert, the Parenthood alum revealed that he bulked up during lockdown as part of a dream he’s been chasing for a decade.
“In quarantine, I said to [my wife Kristen Bell,] ‘I’ve been waiting for 10 years for Marvel to call so that I’d have an excuse to get huge,” he explained. “And they’re not gonna call. That ship sailed. I’m 46, they’re not gonna call. So I just have to do it for my own amusement.”
Revealing that he now works out six days a week, Shepard proudly announced he’s gained 24 pounds in muscle. He also jokingly credited his gains to “lifting heavy, protein shakes, going bananas [and] heavy testosterone injections.”
Shepard , who’s 6’2″, says he now weighs 210 pounds.
“I spent my whole life as a medium boy, and now I’m a big boy and I like it,” he grinned. “Mentally, I love it because it makes me far more on fire to be alive.”
The actor also revealed he was “depressed” after he filmed the 2017 box offiice dud, CHiPs, and at the time thought his only path was “literally retiring.”
“All of a sudden I was on fire to work,” said Shepard of his new hobby. “This is the version I enjoy.”
Dax recently shared an adorable video on Instagram of him on a road trip with his eight-year-old daughter, Lincoln, as the two belt out Adele‘s 2015 hit “Hello.”
“Heaven is a place on a twisty two lane mountain pass where screaming @adele with your daughter is required,” the Bless This Mess star declared.
Shepard shares Lincoln and six-year-old Delta with Kristen Bell.
(WASHINGTON) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sticking with its guidance for now that only unvaccinated people need to wear masks to be safe, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters on Thursday.
Asked about The Washington Post report that administration officials are rethinking its messaging on masks, Walensky said “we are always looking at the data as the data come in.”
But she said the CDC guidance hasn’t changed and suggested that — for now — there’s no need.
“Fully vaccinated people are protected from severe illness, and we’ve always said that communities and individuals to make the decisions that are right for them based on what’s going on in their local areas,” she said.
She later added: “In areas that have high and low amounts of vaccination … if you’re unvaccinated, you should absolutely be wearing a mask. If you’re vaccinated, you have exceptional levels of protection from that vaccine, and you may choose to add an extra layer of protection by putting on your mask and that’s a very individual choice.”
Jeff Zients, the White House coordinator on COVID-19, said any public health guidance is up to the CDC.
Sabrina Elba revealed how she and her husband of three years, Idris Elba, successfully maintain a healthy marriage — by looking back at her own love story.
Sabrina told the Just the Sip! podcast that she and Idris met in 2017, with the former Miss Vancouver revealing that they met at “a jazz bar” when she was out celebrating a friend’s birthday. Sabrina said her friend clocked Idris first and wanted to chat him up, so Sabrina took on “wing man” duties. However, the Luther actor thought Sabrina was hitting on him, not testing the waters for her friend, so he turned on the charm.
“I’m like, ‘Nope, excuse me, that’s wrong! I’m trying to be a good friend,” she laughed, but admitted she was taken by her future husband’s advances.
“We had the best conversation,” she dished. “We talked all night, all the next day. We were inseparable after that.”
A year later, Idris proposed and they tied the knot in April 2019.
As for the secret of maintaining a strong relationship, said Sabrina, “Me and Idris just get along so well… Our values are connected, we have the same interests, we have the same comedy sense. Just so many things aligned.”
It also helps that her mother approves of her son-in-law. “Actually, my mom and Idris really get along” Sabrina grinned. “She loves him to bits!”
During the interview, the model also spilled about adding a new member to the family, hinting to the podcast, “Not yet, but I’m almost there.”
It would be her and Idris’ first child together. Idris has two children from two prior relationships: Isan, 19, and Winston, seven.
(NEW YORK) — Daimler has announced its brand Mercedes-Benz will go all-electric by 2030, where market conditions allow, and the company will invest over $45 billion between 2022 and 2030 for research and development into battery electric vehicle technology.
“The EV shift is picking up speed – especially in the luxury segment, where Mercedes-Benz belongs. The tipping point is getting closer and we will be ready as markets switch to electric-only by the end of this decade,” said Ola Källenius, CEO of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, in a statement.
The company announced Mercedes-Benz will sell BEVs in all segments they serve by 2022. By 2025, all new cars will be all-electric in markets that have charging technology and customers will be able to purchase an electric version of every model the company makes.
In markets that cannot sustain a charging network, Mercedes-Benz could still sell internal combustion engines.
Daimler says they will launch three new Mercedes-Benz electric-vehicle architectures in 2025; the MB.EA, which will cover medium to full-sized passenger cars; the AMG.EA, which will cover performance cars, and the VAN.EA, which will cover vans and light commercial vehicles.
In addition, the company says it is developing the Vision EQXX, an electric vehicle, that will have a range of over 600 miles, which would be the longest range for an EV.
The announcement comes a week after the European Union adopted new climate proposals to limit greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. One of the proposals was reducing car emissions by 55% by 2030 and 100% by 2035, meaning all new cars purchased will have to be zero-emission.
(CALHOUN, Ga.) — A Georgia family is mourning the loss of their 5-year-old son who they say died after contracting COVID-19.
Wyatt Gibson, 5, died on July 16 after suffering a stroke, according to a statement written by his grandmother, Andrea Mitchell, and shared with ABC News.
Mitchell described Wyatt, of Calhoun, Georgia, as a “typical healthy, happy boy” who became sick last week with what the family originally thought was food poisoning.
After two days of symptoms, including vomiting, no appetite and lethargy, Wyatt’s parents took him to a local hospital. He was then transferred to a children’s hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he was diagnosed with strep and staph infections and COVID-19, according to Mitchell. Viral respiratory infection, such as COVID-19, can pre-dispose a person to secondary bacterial infections such as bacterial pneumonia or meningitis.
Days later, Wyatt suffered a stroke and died, according to Mitchell. It is unclear which infection caused the stroke. The official cause of death is unknown and hospital officials declined to comment citing federal privacy laws.
“All we know is a bright light has left. He left rainbows everywhere for us to see. We’ll be constantly reminded, saddened, then maybe in time, make peace with it,” she wrote. “For there was so much life in this 5-year-old boy. So much joy. So maybe it’s not the quantity of life that we will miss. But the quality of life. That was pure bliss.”
Wyatt’s father, Wes Gibson, was also diagnosed with COVID-19 at the same time as his son, according to Mitchell. It is unclear whether any of Wyatt’s family members were fully vaccinated.
Gibson, a local law enforcement officer, and his wife Alexis, who also share a daughter, declined to be interviewed.
The number of young children diagnosed with COVID-19 is also increasing. There were more than 23,000 new pediatric cases diagnosed in the U.S. last week, twice as many as the end of June, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
Children under the age of 12 are currently not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Public health experts have stressed the importance of parents and caregivers being fully vaccinated to help protect those who are not yet eligible for the vaccine.
People who are fully vaccinated, a term used to describe a person two weeks after their last shot, are still considered safe from serious illness or death, even if they are exposed to the delta variant, which is quickly becoming the dominant variant spread in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 99.5% of hospitalizations are people who weren’t immunized.
