(NEW YORK) — New charges have been filed against Florence, Alabama, jail employee Vicky White as she allegedly remains on the run with escaped murder suspect Casey White.
The charges — forgery and identity theft — stem from Vicky White allegedly using an alias to buy a Ford Edge used to facilitate the escape, according to the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office.
A warrant was issued earlier for Vicky White charging her with permitting or facilitating escape.
Inmate Casey White, 38, fled the Lauderdale County jail with Lauderdale County Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White, 56, on April 29. The inmate and employee are not related.
The duo fled Alabama in the Ford Edge and ditched the car in Williamson County, Tennessee — about a two-hour drive north of Florence — just hours after thejail break.
On Monday, U.S. Marshals said investigators were in Evansville, Indiana, following up on a tip after a 2006 Ford F-150 believed to have been used by Casey White and Vicky White was found abandoned at a car wash on May 3. Police were alerted to the vehicle on Sunday.
Authorities said they believe Vicky White willingly participated in the escape, which took place on her last day before retirement.
Vicky White was seen shopping for men’s clothes at a Kohl’s before the pair went missing, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told ABC News.
Authorities are also concerned that Casey White could be “extremely violent” without his medication, Singleton said. The sheriff did not provide details as to what the medication is or what Casey White’s being treated for, but said the concern is due to the escapee likely not having the medication with him.
Casey White was facing two counts of capital murder for allegedly stabbing a woman to death in 2015, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
They may be armed with weapons including an AR-15 rifle and a shotgun, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
A $15,000 reward is available for information leading to Casey White’s capture. A $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to Vicky White.
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A critical week in the battle over abortion rights — what activists are calling the “fight of a generation” — kicks off in the U.S. Senate on Monday, with Democrats preparing to force a vote seeking to enshrine abortion rights into federal law, following last week’s bombshell leak showing the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ready to overturn Roe versus Wade.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is expected to file cloture on Monday on the Women’s Health Protection Act, setting up the bill for a roll call vote on Wednesday — but without 60 votes needed to overcome the Senate filibuster, the legislation is poised to fail, as a similar version did in February. Republicans are united against both the bill and lowering the threshold to break the Senate filibuster.
Still, the vote, while largely symbolic, will force every single senator, Democrat and Republican, to go on the record on where they stand on the issue, Schumer said.
Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, more Democrats have also expressed outrage over Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell telling USA Today in an interview published on Saturday that if Republicans take control of Congress, they could pursue a national ban on abortion — which activists on both sides of the aisle will likely use as a rallying cry this midterm election season.
“If the leaked opinion became the final opinion, legislative bodies — not only at the state level but at the federal level — could certainly legislate in that area,” McConnell said, asked if a national abortion ban was “worthy of debate.”
“So yeah, it’s possible,” he added.
Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, pointed out to ABC’s “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday that a national ban on abortion would be “inconsistent” with the long-standing Republican argument that the authority over abortion be returned to the states.
“If you look at a constitutional or a national standard, that goes against that thrust of the states having prerogative,” replied Hutchinson, chair of the National Governors Association. “And secondly, I think there’s some constitutional issues of a national standard as well as to what is the authority of the Constitution to enact that.”
With Democrats seizing McConnell’s message, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., already launched a digital ad linking her GOP opponents to what her campaign calls “McConnell’s decade-long crusade to criminalize abortion.”
“Ultimately, I think this is going to push a lot of people to the polls this November, that may have otherwise stayed home,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Because they see that this fight is coming not just in the state legislatures, but in Washington as well.”
The stunning leak out of the Supreme Court has offered Democrats a chance to focus on the judiciary and argue that Biden’s judicial choices will be obstructed if Republicans regain control of the Senate, but it has also energized opponents of abortion rights, who have been waiting nearly 50 years for the court to strike down Roe.
Over the weekend, thousands of people took to the streets in Washington, rallying to send a message to the conservative-leaning justices on the bench, who appear poised to overturn the 1973 landmark ruling, according to the draft opinion obtained by Politico.
Those demonstrators — some gathering outside of the homes of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts — are part of the majority of Americans who believe Roe versus Wade should be upheld, but across the country, if Roe is overturned, at least 26 states would either ban abortion or severely restrict access to it.
“We need to make sure that every single voter understands that the Republican Party and Mitch McConnell does not believe that their daughters, that their mothers, that their sisters have rights to make fundamental life and death decisions,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
While the House of Representatives had already voted to codify Roe, Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated in a new “Dear Colleague” letter on Monday that more measures would come.
“We know we must carry forward this fight in the weeks and months ahead. Our proud pro-choice House Majority must continue this fight in the public arena so that the American people know that their rights are on the ballot this November,” she said.
Last week, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found a majority of Americans support upholding Roe, say abortion should be legal in all or most cases and — by a wide margin — see abortion as a decision to be made by a woman and her doctor, not by lawmakers.
(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration’s stark warning last week that as many as 100 million Americans could be infected during a COVID-19 wave in the fall and winter came as a shock to many in the country.
After all, 70.5% of the eligible U.S. population aged 5 and older are fully vaccinated and 47.8% of those aged 12 and older are boosted, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What’s more, a recent CDC analysis estimated at least three out of every five Americans have antibodies that indicate being previously infected with COVID-19, meaning most people in the U.S. have natural immunity.
So with such high levels of protection, why would up to 30% of the population be infected during a potential new wave?
Scientists and public health experts said the 100 million estimate — based on mathematical models — does not surprise them and that as immunity wanes and people move indoors due to cold weather, cases will inevitably rise.
“Certainly we’re capable of sustaining 100 million infections this winter,” Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, told ABC News. “The model doesn’t mean that there will be 100 million cases, but there is the potential for a lot of infections. It doesn’t mean everyone should panic.”
Doron explained that even with the high rates of vaccination in the U.S., immunity diminishes over time and COVID-19’s ability to mutate has helped it evade — at least partially — the protection offered by vaccines.
“Being vaccinated does protect you from serious illness, but it does not [fully] protect you from infection,” she said.
She said when the vaccines first rolled out in the winter of 2020-21, they were based on the original strain of the virus. Because of this, they were protective against infection, severe disease and death.
However, as the virus mutated, those vaccines became less effective at preventing infection while still being highly effective at protecting against the most serious effects of the disease.
“These vaccines are great, but they’re not perfect,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, told ABC News. “They can’t prevent widespread, mild infections. We haven’t got a vaccine that could turn off COVID like a light switch.”
This means it’s possible for Americans who are fully vaccinated and boosted to test positive for COVID-19, but it’s unlikely this group will get severely ill or die.
Another reason the U.S. could see such a high number of infections is because as temperatures drop, people will move indoors, which increases the risk of transmission.
“The weather will get colder, and we’ll start to go indoors again, and we had increased transmission during the last winter season and we may have increases again on the basis of seasonality,” Schaffner said.
The prediction comes as the Biden administration asks Congress for $22.5 billion in funding for testing, vaccines and treatments.
If the funding is secured, a senior administration official told reporters Friday that the country will be better prepared to blunt the effects of the surge and keep hospitalization and death rates low.
If Congress rejects the funding, “the consequences of those 100 million being infected will be higher,” Doron said.
Cuts to funding will decrease testing, leading to COVID-19 infections being spread undetected, and fewer treatments for those at high risk of severe disease, which could lead to hospitalization, she said.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, added this will also limit the number of people who access vaccines, treatments or tests.
“Some vulnerable folks who probably need additional doses will not get it if they have to pay out of pocket for a vaccine or not have it covered,” he told ABC News. “When people are not sure if they will be saddled with a bill, they’ll stay away from accessing care.”
The experts said the best way people can protect themselves ahead of a surge is to make sure they are up to date on their booster shots, whether they are eligible for one or two doses and to follow the advice of public health experts.
“There may be a call to get another dose of vaccine or in specific locations, people may have to wear masks again,” Schaffner said. “Please be open to this. … Be prepared, keep listening and reading updates on the virus in your area.”
(WASHINGTON) — The United States is bringing back a World War II-era program to bolster Ukraine’s war supplies.
Sitting at his desk in the Oval Office on Monday, President Joe Biden signed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 into law. The legislation gives Biden the authority to lend or lease defense equipment to Ukraine and other Eastern European nations as Russia’s aggression in the region continues.
“It matters, it really matters,” Biden said as he signed the bill.
A similar lend-lease program was enacted in 1941 to provide pivotal aid to Allied nations in the battle against Nazi Germany. President Franklin Roosevelt said at the time that the U.S. should serve as a “great arsenal of democracy” to defeat Adolf Hitler.
The Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 was a bipartisan undertaking, passing the Senate by unanimous consent and the House of Representatives with 417 votes.
Rep. John Katko, a cosponsor of the bill, said the law will “expand our nation’s ability to expeditiously deliver additional defense articles to the Government of Ukraine as they fight back against Vladimir Putin’s barbaric and unlawful invasion.”
“This is a necessary step to protect the future of Ukraine and the safety of its people,” Katko, R-N.Y., added.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, also cosponsor of the lend-lease legislation, said Congress “cannot let up” on providing assistance to Ukraine.
“As Ukraine fights for its future — and the future of liberal democracies around the globe — delivering military equipment to the frontlines is paramount,” Shaheen, D-N.H., told ABC News in a statement.
Biden signed the bill just hours after Russia’s commemoration of Victory Day, a holiday celebrating the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany. Russian President Vladimir Putin used the occasion to defend his invasion of Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24.
“You are fighting for the motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War,” Putin said in a speech on Monday.
Putin notably did not make any declaration of war or victory during his remarks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, remained defiant, stating there will soon be “two Victory Days in Ukraine.”
“On the Day of Victory over Nazism, we are fighting for a new victory,” Zelenskyy said in a video message. “The road to it is difficult, but we have no doubt that we will win.”
(NEW YORK) — Authorities are concerned that escaped Florence, Alabama, murder suspect Casey White could be “extremely violent” without his medication, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told ABC News on Monday.
The sheriff did not provide details as to what the medication is or what Casey White’s being treated for, but said the concern is due to the escapee likely not having the medication with him.
Casey White, 38, fled the Lauderdale County jail with Lauderdale County Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White, 56, on April 29. The inmate and employee are not related.
Casey White was facing two counts of capital murder for allegedly stabbing a woman to death in 2015, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Singleton said that Vicky White was seen shopping for men’s clothes at a Kohl’s before the pair went missing.
Authorities said they believe Vicky White willingly participated in the escape, which took place on her last day before retirement.
The duo fled Alabama in a Ford Edge and ditched the car in Williamson County, Tennessee — about a two-hour drive north of Florence — just hours after the jail break.
They may be armed with weapons including an AR-15 rifle and a shotgun, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
A warrant was issued for Vicky White charging her with permitting or facilitating escape.
A $15,000 reward is available for information leading to Casey White’s capture. A $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to Vicky White.
(NEW YORK) — A 22-year-old Michigan woman was found dead from an apparent suicide after authorities alleged she fatally shot her boyfriend and brother in what appeared to be a premeditated act of gun violence.
The body of Ruby Taverner was discovered in a wooded area in Independence Township, Michigan, near her apartment, where deputies found her brother and boyfriend dead early Sunday, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said Monday. Taverner apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Bouchard said.
“It’s a terrible situation. It always seems to be magnified when you get someone who commits something horrible like that — a homicide — and then kills themselves,” Bouchard said. “You almost wonder what was the point to this whole thing? You never get any answers that satisfy those questions because, now, all parties are deceased.”
Bouchard said deputies were called to the Independence Square Apartments in Independence Township, about 16 miles north of Pontiac, after a neighbor reported being awakened by gunshots coming from Taverner’s apartment around 3:20 a.m. Sunday.
Deputies entered the apartment and discovered the bodies of Taverner’s brother, 25-year-old Bishop Taverner, in the living room and her boyfriend, 26-year-old Ray Muscat in a rear bedroom, according to a sheriff’s officials. Ruby Taverner and Muscat lived together, Bouchard said.
Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene from gunshot wounds, Bouchard said. He said Bishop Taverner was shot once in the head.
He said investigators suspect that after allegedly committing the homicides, Taverner fled the apartment on foot, leaving behind her cellphone and car.
Bouchard said detectives are trying to determine a motive for the double slaying, and a preliminary investigation indicates the killings were premeditated.
“You don’t typically find someone shot in the head one time unless they just kind of coolly and calmly walked up and did it,” Bouchard said.
Sheriff’s deputies combed the area around the apartment complex for evidence and were searching a nearby lake on Sunday, but Bouchard did not immediately say if that was where Taverner’s body was located.
He said records show Taverner had three registered firearms, including two 9mm handguns and a .38 caliber pistol. One of the weapons was legally purchased last week, according to the sheriff. Bouchard had warned local residents on Sunday that investigators suspected Taverner was armed and dangerous.
(WASHINGTON) — As he seeks to close the nation’s digital divide, President Joe Biden will announce on Monday new commitments from 20 internet service providers to expand discounted, high-speed internet access to tens of millions of low-income Americans under an existing federal program.
According to a senior administration official, 20 internet providers have agreed to either increase speeds or cut prices, and to offer enrollees of the Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP, with high-speed internet plans for no more than $30 a month. The new participation from the private sector, in conjunction with the ACP subsidy covering up to $30 a month (or $75 a month on Tribal lands), essentially makes the program free.
“For example,” the White House said in a fact sheet, “as part of this initiative, Verizon lowered the price for its Fios service from $39.99/month to $30/month for a plan that delivers download and upload speeds of at least 200 Megabits per second, and Spectrum doubled the speed of the $30/month plan it makes available to ACP participants from 50 to 100 Megabits per second.”
More than $14 billion in funding for the subsidy program was included in the $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which Biden signed into law last November. So far, more than 11 million households have already signed up to receive the benefit — but the White House has said 48 million households are eligible.
Participating companies unveiled Monday include AT&T, Verizon, Spectrum and Comcast, as well as several regional companies, which altogether cover more than 80% of the U.S. population, the White House said, or nearly 40% of households in the country.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is grateful for the efforts of these companies, and encourages additional internet service providers to join this effort to close the digital divide by offering high-speed, low-cost plans,” the White House said in a statement.
As he continues to push his infrastructure agenda, Biden has repeatedly recalled stories of families driving to McDonalds’ parking lots during the pandemic to connect to Wi-Fi.
“How many people did you see out in McDonald’s parking lots with their kids in their cars because they get access to the internet?” Biden said in a speech in Scranton, Pennsylvania last October.
Households with an income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, or with a family member participating in one of several federal programs, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Pell Grants, Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income, are eligible for the discount.
Americans can see if they qualify at Getinternet.gov.
The administration’s effort to lower internet costs for families comes ahead of a dire inflation report expected Tuesday, as Biden struggles to keep prices down for Americans ahead of the midterm election season.
*EDITOR’S NOTE: This picture was taken during a trip organized by the Russian military.* – Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military last month launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, attempting to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and to secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
May 09, 8:10 am
Zelenskyy: ‘Very soon there will be 2 Victory Days in Ukraine’
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy released a video message from Kyiv early Monday to mark the World War II victory over Nazi Germany, telling his country that “very soon there will be two Victory Days in Ukraine.”
“Today, we celebrate the Day of Victory over Nazism. And we will not give anyone a single piece of our history,” Zelenskyy said. “We are proud of our ancestors who, together with other nations in the anti-Hitler coalition, defeated Nazism. And we will not allow anyone to annex this victory, we will not allow it to be appropriated.”
“On the Day of Victory over Nazism, we are fighting for a new victory,” he added. “The road to it is difficult, but we have no doubt that we will win.”
Zelenskyy’s remarks came just hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a patriotic speech in Moscow’s Red Square on Monday morning during a military parade for Victory Day, a national holiday in Russia commemorating the Soviet Union’s defeat of the Nazis in 1945. Putin defended his invasion of neighboring Ukraine, telling Russian troops: “You are fighting for the motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War.”
May 09, 7:47 am
Putin defends Ukraine invasion while marking WWII victory
During a military parade in Moscow on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed his troops fighting in neighboring Ukraine but offered little insight into his next steps.
“You are fighting for the motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War,” Putin said in a patriotic speech for Victory Day, a national holiday in Russia commemorating the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Columns of Russian soldiers marched through Moscow’s Red Square, alongside tanks and other military vehicles boasting huge intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“Now here, on the Red Square, soldiers and officers from many regions of our vast homeland stand shoulder to shoulder, including those who came directly from Donbas, directly from the combat zone,” Putin said.
Although he showed no signs of backing down, the Russian leader did not make any declarations of war, peace or victory during his remarks on Monday. He drew parallels between Soviet soldiers battling Nazi troops and the Russian forces fighting now in Ukraine, as he has vowed to “de-Nazify” the former Soviet republic. He also spoke of the disputed Donbas region of eastern Ukraine as if it was already part of Russia.
“These days, you are fighting for our people in the Donbas. For the security of our homeland, Russia,” he said. “You are defending what fathers and grandfathers, great-grandfathers fought for.”
Putin accused Ukraine of seeking to attain nuclear weapons and planning a “punitive operation in the Donbas, for an invasion of our historical lands, including Crimea.” He also laid blame on the West for refusing to have “an honest dialogue” about Russia’s demands for formal guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the alliance will pull back its forces from countries in eastern Europe that joined after the Cold War.
“Thus, an absolutely unacceptable threat was systematically created for us and directly at our borders,” Putin added. “The danger was growing everyday.”
He claimed that attacking Ukraine “was a forced, timely and only right decision — the decision of a sovereign, strong, independent country.”
“Russia has given a preemptive rebuff to aggression,” he said.
May 09, 5:49 am
‘No reason to celebrate’ evacuations from besieged plant, commander says
As news spread of a successful evacuation operation from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the deputy commander of the Azov battalion, Svyatoslav Palamar, said there was little reason to celebrate.
“Not enough is being done to try and evacuate wounded soldiers,” Palamar said, speaking at a press conference at the plant, which is surrounded by Russian forces.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday the first stage of the rescue operation had concluded and all civilians had been evacuated from the steel plant. Another 173 people were rescued Sunday from Azovstal and surrounding Mariupol, according to the local city council.
But Palamar said some civilians might still be trapped under the rubble of ruined shelters and that many bodies of deceased troops and civilians remain uncollected on the plant’s territory.
More than 25,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Mariupol, according to Azov commanders. Half of all Russian bombardment and shelling in Ukraine was aimed at Mariupol, the battalion commanders said, adding that the city was shelled 150 times a day on average.
Russia has lost about 2,500 troops, with a further 500 wounded and over 60 destroyed tanks, in the city, Azov officials claimed. Yet the unblocking of Mariupol by military means remains difficult due to the lack of heavy weapons, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kyiv on Sunday.
Russia continued over the weekend to shell Ukrainian cities. Zelenskyy said Russians have “celebrated” the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation on May 8 by launching nine missile strikes against Odessa. Zelenskyy spoke at a press briefing in Kyiv held after his talks with visiting Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. The Ukrainian President also met the head of the German parliament, Baerbel Bas, on Sunday. The two leaders spoke about how “German leadership in the European Union” can help Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Sunday.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Sunday that Berlin made a mistake by prohibiting Ukrainian symbols and flags at rallies during events on May 8-9.
“It’s deeply false to treat them equally with Russian symbols,” Kuleba wrote, adding that “taking the Ukrainian flag away from peaceful protestors is an attack on everyone who now defends Europe and Germany from Russian aggression with a flag in their hands.”
On Monday, as Ukraine celebrated the Day of Victory over Nazism in World War II, Zelenskyy said that the ongoing conflict was “not a war of two armies. This is a war of two worldviews.”
Russian missiles are trying to destroy Ukrainian philosophy, Zelenskyy said, because it “scares them.”
“We are free people who have their own path,” the president said. “Today we are waging war on this path and we will not give anyone a single piece of our land.”
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Fidel Pavlenko, Irene Hnatiuk, Max Uzol and Uliana Lototska
May 08, 4:51 pm
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau visits Ukraine, announces new support
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine on Sunday and toured devastated areas in and around Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
During a joint news conference, Trudeau pledged Canada’s continuing support for Ukraine and condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for atrocities he alleged Russian forces are responsible for in Ukraine.
“It is clear that Vladimir Putin is responsible for heinous war crimes,” Trudeau said. “We will continue to do the work of being there for you with whatever we can, whatever you need.”
Trudeau announced that Canada is sending additional military support to Ukraine, including drone cameras, satellite imagery, small arms and ammunition.
The prime minister also said Canada will impose new sanctions on 40 Russian individuals he alleged are complicit in Putin’s war.
“And we’re bringing forward new sanctions on 40 Russian individuals and five entities, oligarchs and close associates of the regime in the defense sector, all of them complicit in Putin’s war,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau also announced that all trade tariffs on Ukrainian imports to Canada will be lifted for the next year and that Canada is donating CA$25 million, or about US$19.3 million, to the U.N. World Food Program, which is providing emergency food assistance to people in Ukraine.
Trudeau said that he and Larissa Galadza, Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine, raised the Canadian flag at the country’s embassy in Kyiv on Sunday to signal its reopening. He called the move an “important symbol not just of Canada’s steadfast friendship with Ukraine, but of the incredible resilience and heroism of the Ukrainian people, who ensured that this city did not fall.”
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
May 08, 3:46 pm
Pope Francis asks for daily prayer for peace in Ukraine
Pope Francis on Sunday prayed for peace in Ukraine, entrusting to the Virgin Mary the ”sufferings and tears of the Ukrainian people.”
”In front of the war’s madness, let us please continue to pray the rosary for peace every day,” the pope told thousands of people gathered in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square for his weekly address and blessing.
For several Sundays in a row the pope has led prayers for peace in Ukraine and has condemned the Russian invasion of the country, calling the act of war “senseless” during an Easter Sunday Mass last month.
The pontiff also prayed for the victims of an apparent gas explosion on Friday at the Hotel Saratoga in Havana, Cuba. At least 26 people were killed in the blast at the popular hotel and around 70 people were injured.
May 08, 3:11 pm
U2’s Bono, The Edge perform surprise concert in Kyiv
U2’s frontman Bono and lead-guitarist The Edge surprised fans in Kyiv on Sunday by performing an impromptu concert in the Ukrainian capital’s central metro station.
The two Irish rockers delivered a nearly hour-long set at the Khreshchatyk Metro Station, Kyiv’s busiest metro station, as several dozen fans watched.
“The people of Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you’re fighting for all of us who love freedom,” Bono told the crowd between songs.
The musicians were joined on one of the station’s platforms by Taras Topolia, frontman of Ukrainian pop rock band Antytila. Topolia presented Bono with a piece of shrapnel he said was the remains of a missile that struck near the base in Kyiv where he is currently serving in the Ukrainian Army.
Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The nationwide formula shortage is causing stress for many families, with some beginning to lean on the online community, from Instagram to eBay, to find supply.
The shortage is due to several factors, experts say, including supply chain issues, rising inflation and previous recalls of baby formula products.
As of April 24, 40% of popular formula brands may be sold out at stores nationwide, up from 31% in early April, according to Datasembly, a firm that tracks products stocked on store shelves. Six states in particular also saw up to or over 50% of baby formula sold out in stores, including Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.
In response, some retailers are limiting the amount of formula customers can buy, leaving parents desperate to find the products their babies need.
(NEW YORK) — Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness kicked off the summer blockbuster season this weekend, raking in an estimated $185 million in its domestic debut. And with more blockbuster films expected over the next couple of weeks, more Americans may be headed to theaters soon — but it may cost them.
In an effort to offset inflation and losses stemming from the pandemic and streaming services, some movie theaters are hiking up prices.
ABC News’ Becky Worley appeared on Good Morning America Monday to break down what surge pricing could mean for moviegoers:
