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Bipartisan group of senators meet with Ukraine President Zelenskyy as Russian troops amass on border

January 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A bipartisan group of seven U.S. senators arrived in Ukraine Monday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials in what they say is a show of commitment to the country as an “increasingly belligerent Russia” bears down on its border.

“Today, U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) announced they are traveling to Ukraine this week to meet with President Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials to reaffirm the U.S.’ commitment to Ukraine, which continues to face an increasingly belligerent Russia,” said a statement released by the group Monday.

Shaheen said in a tweet the meeting was productive and made clear that “Putin will not be allowed to target our Eastern European partners and allies w/o consequences.”

ABC News Senior Foreign Correspondent Ian Pannell met up with Sens. Shaheen and Murphy in Kyiv to discuss the purpose of their trip.

“I think the United States is interested, as we’ve heard from the officials we’ve met with today, that deterrence is much preferable to conflict. And so we are going to continue to do everything we can diplomatically to try and keep Russia at the table with Ukraine to see if there isn’t some way to avoid a hot war here,” Shaheen told Pannell. “But again, it can’t come at the expense of the future of this country.”

Shaheen called the situation critical, saying a Russian incursion could come soon.

“We’re talking about weeks, maybe a month or two, but we’re not talking about six months, years. We’re talking about a short timeframe,” she said.

On Friday a U.S. official said an invasion could come between now and mid-February and accused Russia of preparing to set a false pretext to attack.

Later that day, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby also accused Russia of planning a “false-flag” operation to make an invasion of Ukraine appear defensive rather than offensive.

“We have information that they’ve pre-positioned a group of operatives to conduct what we call a false-flag operation – an operation designed to look like an attack on them or their people, or Russian speaking people in Ukraine, as an excuse to go in,” Kirby said.

Murphy told Pannell he would not be surprised by such deception from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Anybody that’s been paying any bit of attention to Vladimir Putin over the course of his career should know that he’s an expert in false-flag operations and that he is willing to do anything and everything in order to avoid culpability for the actions that he undertakes,” Murphy said. “I think we all need to be on the lookout for what may be a Russian instigated attempt to try to start a hot war very soon.”

Murphy said he hopes to convey that despite division in Washington politics, Republicans and Democrats are united in support for “serious, unprecedented crushing sanctions on Russia” if it moves further into Ukraine.

“I think what we need to explain to Russia is that this is not going to be bloodless. This is not going to be without pain,” Murphy said. “The United States people are going to support a Ukrainian population that’s going to continue to fight back.”

He continued, “This is going to be a Ukrainian people every single day scrapping for their very survival, and that is going to be something that the American public will want us as members of the United States Senate to support.”

Teens arrested in England are children of alleged hostage-taker in Texas, sources say

January 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Two teenagers have been arrested in England as part of an ongoing investigation into Saturday’s hostage-taking incident at a synagogue in the United States, British authorities said.

The pair were detained in southern Manchester on Sunday evening and “remain in custody for questioning,” according to a statement from the Greater Manchester Police. Multiple law enforcement sources in the U.S. told ABC News that the teens are the children of the alleged hostage-taker.

The arrests were made in connection with a 10-hour standoff between American authorities and a hostage-taker at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, about 27 miles northwest of Dallas. An armed man claiming to have planted bombs in the synagogue interrupted Shabbat services on Saturday just before 11 a.m. local time, taking a rabbi and three other people hostage, according to Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller.

The suspect, identified by the FBI as 44-year-old British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, died in a “shooting incident,” according to Miller and FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno, neither of whom provided further details.

Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that the initial indication is that Akram was shot and killed by the FBI team. The FBI said in a statement Sunday that its Shooting Incident Review Team “will conduct a thorough, factual, and objective investigation of the events.”

A motive for the incident is under investigation.

Assistant Chief Constable Dominic Scally of the Greater Manchester Police said in a statement Sunday that counterterrorism officers are assisting their U.S. counterparts in the probe. Akram was from the Blackburn area of Lancashire, about 20 miles northwest of Manchester, according to Scally.

During the negotiations with law enforcement, Akram “spoke repeatedly about a convicted terrorist who is serving an 86-year prison sentence in the United States on terrorisms charges,” the FBI said in a statement Sunday.

“This is a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted, and is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force,” the agency added. “Preventing acts of terrorism and violence is the number one priority of the FBI. Due to the continuing investigation we are unable to provide more details at this time.”

Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that the suspect was demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, who is incarcerated at Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth, about 16 miles southwest of Colleyville. Siddiqui, who has alleged ties to al-Qaida, was sentenced to 86 years in prison after being convicted of assault as well as attempted murder of an American soldier in 2010.

One hostage was released uninjured at around 5 p.m. CT on Saturday. The standoff ended hours later, when Cytron-Walker and the other two hostages executed an escape plan that included Cytron-Walker throwing a chair at the suspect and bolting to an exit door with his fellow hostages, the rabbi told CBS News.

Law enforcement sources also told ABC News that after arriving in the United States, Akram stayed at homeless shelters at various points and may have portrayed himself as experiencing homelessness in order to gain access to the Texas synagogue during Shabbat services, sources said.

Biden told reporters Sunday that he was briefed on the incident at the Texas synagogue by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Biden confirmed that the suspect had only been in the country for a couple of weeks and spent at least one night in a homeless shelter.

Bide said investigators suspect Akham purchased a gun on the street. While Akham is alleged to have claimed he had bombs, investigators have found no evidence that he was in possession of explosives, according to Biden.

“This was an act of terror,” Biden said.

ABC News’ Luke Barr, Meredith Deliso, Bill Hutchinson, Aaron Katersky and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

Wealth of 10 richest men doubled in pandemic as 99% of incomes dropped: Oxfam

January 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The 10 richest men in the world doubled their fortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic, a report published Monday by advocacy group Oxfam said, highlighting how the global health crisis has deepened the divide between the haves and have-nots as well as the need for policy intervention to address these “deadly” inequities.

While the wealth of the world’s 10 richest men more than doubled — increasing from approximately $700 billion to $1.5 trillion between March 2020 and November 2021 — the incomes of approximately 99% of people around the globe fell during that time, and more than 160 million people have been forced into poverty, the Oxfam report added.

The poverty and economic justice advocacy group calculated the wealth gains of the ultra-elite based on Forbes’ real-time data on billionaires. The richest men were Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault & family, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Ballmer and Warren Buffett.

Information on the falling incomes of the global 99% was taken from World Bank data, Oxfam said in its methodology.

The calculations also indicate that the wealth of the world’s billionaires has increased more since COVID-19 began than it has in the last 14 years.

“Billionaires have had a terrific pandemic. Central banks pumped trillions of dollars into financial markets to save the economy, yet much of that has ended up lining the pockets of billionaires riding a stock market boom,” Oxfam International Executive Director Gabriela Bucher said in a statement Monday accompanying the latest report.

Bucher added that if the 10 richest men in the world were to lose 99% of their wealth, they would still be richer than 99% of all the people on this planet.

The wealth of the world’s billionaires tends to be more tied up in stocks than their less-wealthy counterparts. In the U.S., the wealthiest 1% of households in the U.S. own more than half of all the publicly traded stock in the market, according to Federal Reserve data, and the bottom 50% of households own less than 1%.

While the pandemic recovery in the labor market and economy as a whole is still sputtering, the stock market has rallied sharply since March 2020 in part due to monetary policies enacted by the Federal Reserve — leading to massive, often untaxed, wealth gains for the rich and leaving the poor who don’t own any market shares behind.

Oxfam said this stark inequality is killing people because of lack of access to health care, hunger and more. The group is advocating for a tax on the ultra-rich to address these deadly inequities.

Bucher added that taxation is one of the key ways to start “righting the violent wrongs of this obscene inequality.”

The report calling for a new tax targeting the world’s wealthiest comes after an investigation into the taxes of billionaires, published by the nonprofit news organization ProPublica last year, found that the ultra-wealthy are able to use legal loopholes to avoid paying taxes on wealth gains.

The ProPublica report published tax documents of the wealthy and said that while the median American household paid 14% of their income in federal taxes, the wealthiest 25 Americans had an average so-called “true tax rate” of just 3.4% of the amount their wealth grew each year between 2014 and 2018. This was in large part due to keeping their reported income, and thus reported income tax, to just a fraction to what their net worth actually is and storing most of their wealth in stocks — which are only taxed once they are sold.

The Oxfam report cited these differing tax rates and is advocating for billionaires to pay taxes every year on their wealth increases — whether these gains are realized or not (i.e. whether a billionaire sells the stock after it rises in value or holds onto it to avoid paying taxes on those gains).

While the idea of a billionaires tax has gained momentum in Washington and beyond in recent years, especially over the pandemic, it has faced an uphill battle in implementation. Critics call these type of taxes on unrealized gains unconstitutional based on the definition of income.

The researchers at Oxfam, meanwhile, view a tax on the rich as an imperative and obvious way to address the “deadly inequality” wrought by the pandemic.

“One of the single most powerful tools we have to address this level of egregious and deadly inequality is to tax the rich,” Abby Maxman, the chief of Oxfam America, said in a statement Monday. “Instead of lining the pockets of the ultra-wealthy, we should be investing billions of dollars into our economy, our children and our planet, paving the way for a more equal and sustainable future.”

New Virginia governor signs executive order to end mask mandate in schools

January 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Newly inaugurated Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, signed several executive orders over the weekend, including one removing masking requirements in schools across the state. However, a growing number of school districts have said that their masking policies will remain in place.

“There is no greater priority than the health and welfare of Virginia’s children. Under Virginia law, parents, not the government, have the fundamental right to make decisions concerning the care of their children,” Youngkin’s second executive order read.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki, from her personal Twitter account, weighed in on the issue as a parent in Arlington County, Virginia. Psaki applauded the county where her kids go to school for keeping the mask requirement in place and swiped at the new Republican governor’s order.

“Hi there. Arlington county parent here (don’t believe you are @GlennYoungkin but correct me if I am wrong). Thank you to @APSVirginia for standing up for our kids, teachers and administrators and their safety in the midst of a transmissible variant,” Psaki wrote.

Since Youngkin signed the order Saturday, at least three school districts in Northern Virginia have reminded families that masking policies remain in place, including Arlington Public Schools, Alexandria City Public Schools and Fairfax County Public Schools.

“As we return to school after the holiday weekend, we want to let you know that FCPS will continue universal masking for all students and staff,” FCPS superintendent Scott Brabrand said in a statement Sunday.

The statement also said that FCPS is currently reviewing Youngkin’s executive order and will remain aligned with CDC guidelines for now.

Along with the executive order on masks, Youngkin also signed an executive order ending the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for state employees, one banning Critical Race Theory in public education and another that terminated the Virginia Parole Board, among others, on the same day.

In Brief: ‘Black Panther’ sequel back on track; George Lucas honored, and more

January 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Following Letitia Wright‘s on-set injury and COVID-19 infections, Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is finally restarting production in Atlanta this week, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Last August, Wright suffered an injury while filming a sequence involving a stunt rig on-location in Boston. Production was initially to have restarted last Monday, but was delayed due to several cast and crew, including Lupita Nyong’o, testing positive for COVID-19. Insiders tell THR the restart is not expected to impact the movie’s release date, which is currently November 11, 2022. It had already been moved once before, from July 8, 2022. Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News…

Director George Lucas and Lucasfilm president/producer Kathleen Kennedy will be honored with the Producers Guild’s 2022 Milestone Award, the Guild announced on Friday. The award is being given “for their unparalleled contributions to the film industry both individually and collaboratively through Lucasfilm.” The ceremony, originally scheduled for February 26, will now take place March 19 at the Fairmont Century Plaza hotel. The Milestone Award is the PGA’s most prestigious honor, recognizing historic contributions to the entertainment industry. Past recipients include Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard and James Cameron…

Comedy Central announced on Friday that South Park will return with new weekly episodes beginning February 2, following a COVID-19-forced hiatus, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The last full season of South Park aired in late 2019. Meanwhile, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone produced a couple of hour-long episodes, “The Pandemic Special” which premiered September 30, 2020, and last year’s “South Park Vaccination Special” which premiered March 10. The new season will consist of six episodes. Parker and Stone inked a new deal last August, which runs through 2027 and includes 14 exclusive Paramount+ projects, along with the flagship series, entering its 25th season, being renewed through season 30…

GLOW‘s Alison Brie has been tapped to star opposite Peacemaker‘s John Cena in the action comedy Freelance, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Freelance follows Cena as an ex-special forces operator who takes a job providing security for a journalist — played by Brie — who’s hoping to salvage her career by interviewing a dictator. Things go awry when a military coup breaks out in the middle of the interview, and the mismatched duo, along with the dictator, escape to the jungle where they must survive the military and wild animals, as well as each other…

Web of lies: Andrew Garfield reveals he lied to ex-girlfriend Emma Stone about ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

January 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(SPOILERS FOR SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME) By now, most know that Andrew Garfield lied to a whole bunch of people about his participation in Spider-Man: No Way Home. But he’s just revealed he lied to none other than his Amazing Spider-Man co-star — and ex-girlfriend — Emma Stone.

On the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, Garfield admitted it, laughing, “Emma kept on texting me and she was like, ‘Are you in this new Spider-Man film?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!'”

“She was like, ‘Shut up, just tell me,'” he laughed. “And like, I honestly… I kept it going, even with her, it’s hilarious. And then she saw it and she was like, ‘You’re a jerk!'”

Garfield, a lifelong Spider-Man fan before he got to play him in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man and 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, had said of the secrecy, “It was such a lovely feeling to have a surprise party planned for everyone!”

The tick, tick…Boom star added, “I can’t avoid the fact that it had always been my fantasy to play that part inside the MCU…”

Garfield also reveals he was the one who came up with the No Way Home scene in which all three Spider-Men point at each other — imitating a popular meme.

Garfield said he felt the love that No Way Home fans showered on him, calling it “healing” after the poor reception to The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

“You feel seen, and appreciated…I’m really humbled, man!”

And yes, Garfield says he’d “be open” to playing Spidey again.

The Kid LAROI teases new song: “When y’all want it?”

January 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The Kid LAROI plans to kick off his first headlining tour on January 29, and it looks as though we may have some new music from him before then.

On Monday, the Australian artist posted a snippet of what appears to be a new song featuring Jacksonville, Florida rapper Nardo Wick, which may or may not be called “Rich Boy.” On his Instagram Story, LAROI wrote, “When y’all want it? Lemme know…”

Plus, just a few days ago, LAROI returned to Instagram after a break and wrote “ALBUM IS COMING. BEEN WORKIN DAY AND NIGHT FOR YOU ALL.” In the same post, he also thanked Houston rapper Don Toliver for “joining him.”

“Thank you for sticking with me through this break family,” the Grammy nominee tweeted last week. “I’m beyond blessed to be able to say I have the greatest supporters on planet earth. I love you all eternally, and I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been working on.. it’s almost time.”

LAROI’s debut album, when it arrives, will be the follow-up to his 2021 mixtape F*ck Love 3: Over You, which features his chart-topping Justin Bieber collaboration “Stay.”

T.I. seemingly declares he’s the best rapper

January 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

After Jay-Z boasted two weeks ago, “No one can stand on that stage with me” in a Verzuz battle, now T.I. is claiming that he’s the best MC.

“Ain’t nobody f***in with me, No one,” the three-time Grammy winner said in an Instagram video. “To the point, they don’t want to be on the same record with me because they know they can’t f*** with me.”

Jay-Z’s comments ignited a social media debate about who could challenge him. As previously reported, last week, Kodak Black offered a bet to Hova.

“I’ll do a [Verzuz] wit Jay Z,” the “Zeze” rapper tweeted with a smiling devil emoji. “‘IF’ he win he get 15% of my catalog I win he make me Vice President of roc nation.”

Tip named Jay-Z, as well as Nas, Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Pusha T as stars who can’t compete with him.

“Ain’t nobody do this s*** better than me man. I was doing this s*** since I was 9 years old. You hear me. Nobody f***ing with me.” The “Live Your Life” rapper has been calling out 50 Cent for a Verzuz competition, and also said that he would love to battle Eminem.

T.I. dropped his eleventh and latest solo album, The L.I.B.R.A., in 2020 featuring Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, 21 Savage, Young Thug, John Legend, and more.

Britney Spears was “so sad” following Justin Timberlake breakup, says Jamie Lynn

January 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Jamie Lynn Spears provided an untold story of how her sister Britney Spears handled the highly publicized breakup from Justin Timberlake.

Britney and Justin dated from 1998 to 2002 and their breakup sent shockwaves across the globe. On a two-part episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast debuting Monday night, Jamie Lynn reveals how she and her sister dealt with the heartbreak.

“I think everyone thought it was forever,” she says, according to a preview of the episode obtained by People. “I was so sad, first off because my sister was so sad, but that, too, was the first time I saw [that] maybe I didn’t know everything about the relationship. Perhaps they were protecting me and obviously why would they talk to me about anything.”

Jamie Lynn, who was a pre-teen at the time, confesses she “truly” has no idea why Britney and Justin called it quits. She adds Justin’s 2002 hit “Cry Me a River” further complicated the delicate situation because the track ignited rumors that Britney had cheated on the *NSYNC singer.

Justin publicly apologized for his actions after last year’s Framing Britney Spears documentary revisited the damage his post-breakup behavior had on the “Toxic” singer.

“I thought how heartbreaking it must have been for my sister when ‘Cry Me a River’ came out…,” says Jamie Lynn, adding her sister’s response song made her feel “really sad” about her situation.

“My sister, she wrote that song ‘Everytime‘ and she’s beyond brilliant with anything creative and she picked that song out on the piano and she wrote it,” she says. “It still makes me cry because I think about how heartbroken she was, because that was her song and that was his song.”

Russell Dickerson is “beyond honored” to be featured on Thomas Rhett’s new album

January 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Russell Dickerson is “honored” to be featured on a song on Thomas Rhett‘s new album.

Russell and Florida Georgia Line‘s Tyler Hubbard sing with Thomas on “Death Row,” a tune inspired by their experience visiting inmates in a Tennessee prison. In a vulnerable Instagram post, Russell opens up about how meeting the prisoners impacted him, and explains that he’s humbled the experience was turned into a song co-written by Thomas, Ashley Gorley and Zach Crowell.

“I’ll always remember the day TR, T Hubb and I went to death row. We played a bunch a songs we thought they might know. But by the end we were all singing ‘Amazing Grace’ together. And in that moment you realize…we need that amazing grace just as much as they do,” Russell shares in the caption. “Beyond honored to be a part of this one @thomasrhettakins @tylerhubbard.”

“Death Row” is on Thomas’ new album, Where We Started, out on April 1.

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