(BELLINGHAM, Wash.) — Devastating flooding in western Canada forced 184 people to evacuate overnight in Abbotsford in British Columbia, Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said.
Bill Blair, a Member of Parliament, tweeted, “In response to extreme flooding across Southern BC, we have approved the deployment of @CanadianForces air support personnel to assist with evacuation efforts, support supply chain routes, and protect residents against floods and landslides.”
At least one person has died in British Columbia from mudslides sparked by the heavy rain, The Associated Press reported.
A fire has also erupted in Abbotsford in British Columbia. Police said the blaze is blowing large plumes of smoke and they urged residents to stay inside “due to the potential of the smoke being toxic.”
Just to the south, in Washington state, over 1 foot of rain fell in five days, flooding neighborhoods, shuttering roads, forcing evacuations and bringing rivers into major flood stage.
ABC News’ Christine Theodorou, Chris Looft and Hilda Estevez contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Nearly 57 years after the assassination of Malcolm X in the New York City neighborhood of Washington Heights, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance is moving to vacate the convictions of two of the men convicted as accomplices, his office said Wednesday.
Muhammad Aziz, now 83 and previously known as Norman Butler, spent 22 years in prison before he was paroled in 1985. A co-defendant who also maintained his innocence, Khalil Islam, died in 2009. Confessed assassin Thomas Hagan had long said neither man participated in killing Malcolm X at the Audubon Ballroom on Feb. 21, 1965.
Vance’s office, along with the Innocence Project and civil rights attorney David Shanies, began reexamining the investigation last year.
There’s a hearing Thursday at which the two convictions are expected to be thrown out.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Catholic bishops on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a controversial teaching document on who should receive Holy Communion that many believe was aimed at President Joe Biden and other Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.
But the document, passed by a vote of 222-8 at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in Baltimore, does not mention Biden or any other politician by name, avoiding a more direct confrontation.
It appeared, however, to empower individual priests to deny Communion to pro-abortion rights politicians should they encounter them.
“It is the special responsibility of the diocesan bishop to work to remedy situations that involve public actions at variance with the visible communion of the Church and the moral law,” the document reportedly said.
The vote is the culmination of year-long debate between America’s largely conservative bishops and the Vatican about whether punitive measures should be taken against public officials who are at odds with the church’s teaching on abortion.
Biden, only the nation’s second Catholic president, who has said his “personal” views were a “private matter,” has openly professed his faith throughout his political career — diligently attending Sunday Mass, infusing speeches with scripture and wearing his late son Beau Biden’s rosary beads.
After his meeting last month with Pope Francis before the G-20 summit, and amid criticism from conservative bishops, Biden said that the pope told him that he should continue receiving Communion and said the pope called him a “good Catholic.”
Some bishops, however, see things differently, citing Biden’s vocal public support of abortion rights as a key reason why clarification on who can receive Communion is necessary.
Prominent Catholic politicians, including Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have typically been careful about where they attend Mass so as to avoid controversy.
While Cardinal Wilton Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington has said that he doesn’t plan to deny Biden Communion, he has publicly questioned whether the president is living up to Catholic Church teachings on controversial issues, including abortion.
“The Catholic Church teaches, and has taught, that life — human life — begins at conception,” Gregory told journalists at the National Press Club in September. “So, the president is not demonstrating Catholic teaching.”
While the document does not mention Biden or other pro-abortion rights Catholic politicians by name, its intent is to issue a stern rebuke of individuals, especially of public officials, who present themselves for Communion after breaking with church teaching on fundamental issues.
In a leaked draft of the document before the conference, the bishops reportedly wrote “there are some sins, however that do rupture the communion we share with God and the Church.”
“As the Church has consistently taught, a person who receives Holy Communion while in a state of mortal sin not only does not receive the grace of the sacrament, he or she commits the sin of sacrilege by failing to show the reverence due to the Body and Blood of Christ,” the document said.
An official at the bishop’s conference insisted that they are staying true to their mission of defending church teachings, pointing to the conference’s outspoken disagreement with the Trump administration’s policies regarding undocumented migrants.
According to a Pew Research Center survey, many American Catholics are divided about whether Biden should be denied Communion over his support of abortion rights.
A majority of U.S. Catholic adults say Biden should be allowed to receive Communion during Mass, while nearly 30% say Biden should not be allowed to receive Communion.
The divide underscores a growing tension amongst American Catholics about who they see as the true authority on matters of faith and what they should believe.
“The U.S. bishops, and Pope Francis see things in very different ways,” said Massimo Faggioli, a theology professor at Villanova University. “American Catholics for the first time in many decades have to decide if they want to follow Pope Francis or U.S. bishops, which is new, because U.S. bishops are traditionally very Roman, loyal to the pope.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate if “illegal conduct” is to blame for surging gas prices hurting Americans’ pocketbooks.
Fuel prices are averaging above $3.40 a gallon, according to the American Automotive Association, which forecasts more than 48 million Americans are likely to hit the road next week to drive to Thanksgiving celebrations.
“The bottom line is this: gasoline prices at the pump remain high, even though oil and gas companies’ costs are declining. The Federal Trade Commission has authority to consider whether illegal conduct is costing families at the pump. I believe you should do so immediately,” Biden wrote in a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan.
High gas prices can pose a big political problem for the president as a new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows 70% of those surveyed rate the economy negatively, including 38 percent who say it is in “poor” condition. About half of Americans overall and political independents blame Biden for fast-rising inflation.
The administration had previously asked the commission to monitor the gasoline market for any illegal conduct earlier this year, leading to the FTC increasing their oversight on mergers of oil companies that result in fewer options for consumers.
Biden argues the math doesn’t add up when it comes to pricing, noting that while the price of unfinished gasoline (for example, before ethanol has been added) has been down more than 5% in the last month, prices at the pump are up 3%. Usually, the prices for unfinished gas correlates with what is used to fill up car tanks, he said.
“The unexplained large gap between the price of unfinished gasoline and the average price at the pump is well above the pre-pandemic average. Meanwhile, the largest oil and gas companies in America are generating significant profits off higher energy prices,” Biden wrote.
“I do not accept hard working Americans are paying more for gas because of anti-competitive or otherwise potentially illegal conduct. I therefore ask the commission to further examine what is happening with oil and gas markets, and that you bring all the commission’s tools to bear if you uncover any wrongdoing,” he added.
Biden’s call for a probe is not likely to lead to any immediate relief at the pump.
The move prompted swift pushback from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, which argued bad administration policy decisions, coupled with a market shift, have caused spiking prices.
“This is a distraction from the fundamental market shift that is taking place and the ill-advised government decisions that are exacerbating this challenging situation. Demand has returned as the economy comes back and is outpacing supply,” said Frank Macchiarola, API’s senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs.
“Rather than launching investigations on markets that are regulated and closely monitored on a daily basis or pleading with OPEC to increase supply, we should be encouraging the safe and responsible development of American-made oil and natural gas,” he added.
The administration has been pressed in recent weeks about how Biden planned to address the soaring costs of fuel Americans are feeling at the pump, with many particularly wondering if the he planned to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to alleviate some of the price spike.
The administration largely stayed mum on specifics, arguing instead there were a range of options they were considering to address the issue.
“The message to Americans is that we’re not just closely and directly monitoring the situation, which of course we’ve been doing, but we’re looking at every tool in our arsenal,” Psaki told reporters Nov. 12. “The president is quite focused on this as is the economic team.”
(WASHINGTON) — Jacob Chansley, the self-described “QAnon Shaman” who infamously marched through the U.S. Capitol with a spear and horned helmet during the Jan. 6 riot, was sentenced Wednesday to 41 months in prison for his role in the attack.
It matches the longest sentence handed down to any Jan. 6 participant, following the 41-month sentence handed down last week to Scott Fairlam, a former mixed martial arts fighter who pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer during the riot.
“The defendant was among the first 30 rioters to penetrate the U.S. Capitol building,” prosecutors said of Chansley in their filing. “The defendant then stalked the hallowed halls of the building, riling up other members of the mob with his screaming obscenities about our nation’s lawmakers, and flouting the ‘opportunity’ to rid our government of those he has long considered to be traitors.”
Chansley — who wasn’t accused of assaulting law enforcement or destroying property — pleaded guilty on Sept. 3 to one felony count of unlawfully obstructing an official proceeding.
On Wednesday, prior to sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Paschall played social media recordings of Chansley in the Senate chamber, chanting what sounded like a bizarre prayer and blowing a bullhorn.
“That is not peaceful,” Paschall said. “That is chilling.”
Chansley, addressing the court, said he was “a good man who broke the law” and implored Judge Royce Lamberth to “judge a tree by its roots” in considering his sentence. “I am in no way, shape, or form a violent criminal. I am not an insurrectionist. I am certainly not a domestic terrorist,” he said. “I hope that you see my heart.”
“I was wrong for entering the Capitol. I have no excuse — no excuse whatsoever,” Chansley said. “In retrospect, I’d do everything differently on January 6 … I would try with all my heart and soul to stop people.”
“I think the hardest part about this is that I know that I’m to blame,” he added. “I hope that you see my remorse is genuine.”
Prosecutors called Chansley a key figure in the Capitol attack.
“The government cannot overstate the seriousness of the defendant’s conduct as one of the most prominent figures of the historic riot on the Capitol on January 6, 2021,” prosecutors said. “His consistent rhetoric before and after the event, and his apparent ability to carry out his intentions of violently removing the ‘traitors’ in our government, is clear from the evidence in this case. Only the valiant efforts of law enforcement kept those upon whom he set his sights out of his path.”
Multiple videos and images showed Chansley carrying his spear into the Senate chamber, where prosecutors say he led a group of rioters in a prayer on the dais and left a menacing note behind for then-Vice President Mike Pence.
“It’s Only A Matter of Time. Justice Is Coming!” the note read.
According to a brief presented to a judge in January, “Chansley is a high-profile leader and the self-professed shaman of QAnon.” In September, Chansley’s attorney said his client had rejected the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Chansley’s attorney, Albert Watkins, had argued that his client suffers from significant mental health vulnerabilities and last week asked for a sentence “significantly below” the 51 months being sought by prosecutors.
“This case is about a remarkable, gentle, kind, smart, spiritual, non-violent young man who has spent his life trying to overcome significant but secreted vulnerabilities, hardships, and societal neglect to self-educate scholastically, self-educate spiritually, self-navigate societally, and self-conclude that he is accountable for his actions, seeks to be held accountable, and wishes nothing short of the Court recognizing same,” Watkins said.
“He seeks not to be seen as a political prisoner,” Watkins said of his client. “He seeks not to blame a former president for his actions. He seeks not to justify his actions with any explanation. He seeks solely to be held accountable.”
(NEW YORK) — A self-portrait by the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was sold for almost $35 million, including fees, at a Sotheby’s auction in New York on Tuesday.
This portrait, titled ‘Diego y yo’ (Diego and me), had been part of a private collection for almost 30 years.
Frida Kahlo was married to Mexican artist Diego Rivera, who previously held the record for the most expensive artwork from Latin America. Rivera’s ‘The Rivals,’ was sold for $9.76 million in a 2019 auction.
“People started unraveling the depth of Frida Kahlo’s art decades after her death,” Gannit Ankori, an art historian, curator and Kahlo expert, told ABC News.
During her lifetime, the Mexican artist was never able to make a living through her paintings, and only had two gallery shows while she was still alive, Ankori said.
The 1949 self-portrait — described by Sotheby’s as a “masterpiece” — depicts the artist gazing at the viewer, with a small portrait of Diego Rivera seen in her forehead as a “third eye.” ‘Diego y yo’ was painted during the same year as Kahlo’s then-husband Rivera started an alleged extramarital affair with actress Maria Felix.
“This painting is very similar and dissimilar to Frida Kahlo’s work during this decade,” Ankori said. It was not the only painting with Rivera seen on her forehead, but “the expression of such raw emotion and grief — seen in the loose swirling hair that almost strangles her and is uncontained by the picture frame, the facial features and the tears — are unique,” Ankori said.
The same painting was sold for the first time in 1990 at Sotheby’s for $1.43 million by a New York collector, the art broker said. Before that,’ Diego y yo’ was owned by a friend of the Mexican couple.
“You could call tonight’s result the ultimate revenge, but in fact, it is the ultimate validation of Kahlo’s extraordinary talent and global appeal,” Anna Di Stasi, Sotheby’s director for Latin American Art, said in a press release.
The buyer is Argentinian real estate businessman and collector Eduardo Costantini.
Costantini, 75, is also the founder of the MALBA, the Latin American Art Museum in Buenos Aires.
(LOS ANGELES) — The iconic Staples Center in Los Angeles will change its name to the Crypto.com Arena this Christmas, marking the end of an era for the stadium and becoming perhaps the latest signpost of cryptocurrency’s push toward the mainstream.
The name change is “recognizing these technologies will be at the forefront of powering the future of culture, creativity and entertainment in Los Angeles,” stadium operators said in a statement Wednesday, as cryptocurrency trading has surged among individual investors throughout the pandemic.
The 20,000-seat venue has been called the Staples Center, after the office supply chain, since opening its doors in 1999.
The venue has gained national prominence after hosting major events such as the 2000 Democratic National Convention, 19 of the last 21 Grammy Awards shows and concerts from global superstars including Beyonce and Taylor Swift. It is also home to the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, as well as the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
Details on how much Crypto.com, a Singapore-based crypto trading platform and non-fungible token marketplace, paid for its new namesake stadium in Los Angeles were not released. The deal was brokered by sports and live entertainment giant AEG Global Partnerships, which owns and operates the arena.
Starting on Christmas Day, when the Lakers host the Brooklyn Nets, the stadium will unveil its new logo and internal signage. All external signage will be replaced by June.
“Known as the Creative Capital of the World, the city of Los Angeles and the people who call it home have always been pioneers, pushing the boundaries and innovating as the undeniable global leaders of culture and entertainment,” Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek, said in a statement Wednesday. “We’re very excited about partnering with AEG and investing long term in this city, starting with Crypto.com Arena in the heart of downtown, and using our platform in new and creative ways so that cryptocurrency can power the future of world class sports, entertainment and technology for fans in LA and around the world.”
Crypto.com also recently added actor Matt Damon as a spokesperson as it seeks to ramp up brand recognition in the U.S.
“This partnership represents the fastest-growing cryptocurrency platform and the biggest sports and live entertainment company in the world converging to drive the future of sports and live entertainment,” said Todd Goldstein, the chief revenue officer at AEG. Goldstein added that it marks “an exciting new chapter in the history of our company and our respective industries.”
The name change echoes trends seen elsewhere in the U.S., as earlier this year Venmo and PayPal announced they would start letting users buy and sell crypto on their apps.
(LOS ANGELES) — The Staples Center is getting a new name before the new year.
Arena owner AEG announced Tuesday a new 20-year partnership with Singapore-based cryptocurrency platform, Crypto.com. Beginning December 25, the Staples Center will be known as Crypto.com Arena.
The arena first opened in 1999 and has been called the Staples Center ever since. It is home to several professional sports teams including the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers, the WNBA’s Sparks, and the NHL’s Kings.
The name change comes just in time for the NBA’s annual Christmas showcase between the Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets.
Crypto.com says the December name change will unveil a new logo and interior signage but fans can expect to see the exterior sings to change by June 2022.
(NEW YORK) — The number of people who were hospitalized for eating disorders in the United States doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research shows.
The increase in in-patient treatment for eating disorders came as early as May 2020, according to researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, whose study was published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Rising cases were seen across anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and unspecified eating disorders, according to the study.
The researchers attributed the increased rates of hospitalization to several factors, including the conditions of the pandemic that may have promoted eating disorder behaviors, such as grocery shopping being a more “fraught” experience and the fact that schools and colleges were closed, which may have led to covert eating disorder symptoms being caught by families in close quarters.
A delay in outpatient care may have also led to increased hospitalizations, according to the researchers.
Data has previously shown the pandemic has brought on a mental health crisis in the U.S., of which eating disorders are a major part.
Throughout the pandemic, the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) said it has seen a spike of more than 70% in the number of calls and online chat inquiries to its hotline compared to the same time period in 2019.
“This has been a time of heightened anxiety for everyone,” NEDA’s CEO Claire Mysko told Good Morning America last year. “For people with eating disorders, either those who are actively struggling or those who are pursuing recovery, there’s an added stressor with the pandemic.”
The Emily Program, a national network of eating disorder treatment centers, has seen inquiries both online and by phone “fly off the charts” during the pandemic, Dr. Jillian Lampert, the Emily Program’s chief strategy officer, also told GMA.
The nature of the pandemic, with its uncertainty and isolation, makes it a situation that “checks every box” for putting people at a higher risk for eating disorders, according to Lampert.
“We’re seeing people calling now in a more acute, intense stage [of an eating disorder],” Lampert said last year. “So we’re seeing not only are more people calling, but more people are calling in a more crisis situation.”
Eating disorders have remained second only to opioid overdose as the deadliest mental illness throughout the pandemic, with eating disorders responsible for one death every 52 minutes in the U.S., according to data shared by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.
Nearly 30 million Americans will have an eating disorder in their lifetime, according to the association.
If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or NationalEatingDisorders.org.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is running headfirst into a number of fires as he makes his first trip to Africa as America’s top diplomat.
Nearly 10 months into his tenure, Blinken will bring U.S. President Joe Biden’s “America’s back” mantra to the world’s youngest continent. But for years now, the United States has been playing catch-up to China in many of Africa’s 54 countries. China has promoted deep business and diplomatic ties and invested in infrastructure, while the U.S. has said next to nothing about the region’s democratic backsliding.
Millions of donated U.S. vaccine doses have helped boost American influence, but Blinken’s visit to promote that generosity and increased U.S. engagement will also be sidetracked by growing crises that have consumed the State Department’s attention — the worsening conflict in Ethiopia and the derailed democratic transition in Sudan.
Notably, he will skip Ethiopia — once a staple of secretary of state visits because it was one of the continent’s fastest-growing economies and home to the African Union’s headquarters. But amid high concerns about the bloody war there, Ethiopia will still be a major topic, with Blinken expected to focus a fair amount of his time in Nairobi on the issue after warning on Friday the country could “implode.”
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday, pushing again for a ceasefire after a year of fighting that has pitted Abiy’s federal government against the forces in the Tigray region who once dominated national politics. As Abiy’s troops, backed by the neighboring country Eritrea and the neighboring region Amhara, continue to blockade Tigray, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front has been joined by other ethnic-based groups in a march toward the capital, Addis Ababa, possibly to overthrow Abiy’s government.
“Certainly the Ethiopia matter is an important one and takes up a tremendous amount of time and attention by our leadership,” Ervin Massinga, a top U.S. diplomat for Africa, told reporters before the trip.
But while some have called for greater U.S. leadership, including sanctions against the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan leaders fighting on either side, Massinga said the U.S. is committed “to African partnerships and African solutions to African challenges.”
The African Union’s special envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, has been the leading mediator, shepherding quiet but intense diplomacy to achieve a ceasefire and start political negotiations. Obasanjo will return to Addis Ababa “in the coming days,” a senior State Department official said Tuesday, and while the administration may again deploy its special envoy for the region, Jeffrey Feltman, they will continue “supporting [Obasanjo’s] process as much as possible and looking for there to be progress,” they added.
The U.S. also remains engaged across the border in Sudan, where military leaders have derailed a historic transition to democracy that was celebrated around the world. The top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Ambassador Molly Phee, arrived in Khartoum Sunday — the highest-level American official to visit since Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and other military leaders detained their civilian counterparts in a transitional government that was meant to steer the country toward democratic elections next July.
So far, U.S. cuts to economic aid, the suspension of loans from the World Bank and others and mass demonstrations across Sudan have not convinced Burhan to reverse course. As time goes on, some analysts warn it will be more difficult to dislodge Burhan’s newly installed picks in a transitional government.
But Blinken will try to pivot attention to what the Biden administration casts as a reinvigorated U.S. relationship with countries across Africa, after four years of the Trump administration largely ignoring or insulting Africans.
In particular, Blinken will focus on addressing the coronavirus pandemic, combatting climate change, investing in infrastructure and boosting democracy and the rule of law, according to Massinga, who added he would “really talk to the entirety of the continent” through speeches and engagements in the three countries.
It’s that first issue in particular that many hope to hear more about from Blinken. Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal have each vaccinated fewer than 6% of their populations, per the University of Oxford’s Our World in Data, as Americans are increasingly being offered booster shots. In fact, wealthy countries are administering nearly six times more booster shots than low-income countries are offering first shots, according to the ONE Campaign, an advocacy group.
“As the days go without enough vaccines, Africa remains exposed to a virus that has had hard-hitting effects on our health systems, threatened our fragile economic growth and stifled the capacity to provide basic services such as sanitation and education,” said Edwin Ikhuoria, ONE’s Africa executive director, adding that without vaccines, Africa faces “a perpetual pandemic, which has set us back and is reversing the developmental gains of the last 25 years on the continent.”
In addition to vaccines, many countries have been looking to the U.S. for infrastructure investment after years of China’s One Belt, One Road projects. Last week, senior White House official Daleep Singh concluded a tour through Ghana and Senegal, after a similar swing through Latin America, beginning conversations about what developments the U.S. and other Western countries could back — part of Biden’s “Build Back Better World” initiative with G-7 countries meant to raise climate, anti-corruption and labor standards in competition with Beijing.
The U.S. is seeking a partnership “based on increasing democracy and cooperation and that builds on people-to-people connections, fosters new economic engagements and reinforces our shared values grounded in renewed commitment to democracy and human rights,” Massinga said.
But there is much work to do on those issues, especially after six coups — in Mali, Guinea and Chad — or attempted coups across the continent this year. In Nigeria, for example, Africa’s most populous country and a “partly free” democracy, according to the think tank Freedom House, Blinken will have to address a president that has banned Twitter and security forces that were just found responsible for killing protesters.
While renewed U.S. interest is welcome in many capitals, it’s also unclear whether the U.S. and its partners will sustain it, especially after hearing similar rhetoric from U.S. lawmakers of both parties and previous administrations.
As perhaps a telling sign of some critics’ doubts, Blinken was scheduled to make this trip in August, but it was canceled as Afghanistan’s collapse and the massive U.S. evacuation operations consumed he and his team’s attention.
