Meghan Trainor isn’t a fan of women feeling pressure to choose between their careers and children.
She recently told the Best Advicepodcast moms can — and should — have both. “For anyone out there who wants to have a baby, and you’re like, ‘Oh no, my career isn’t where I want it to be,’ a baby won’t ruin it, it’ll make it better,” she said. “Babies bring luck … I promise everything will work out.”
She’s currently expecting her second child with husband Daryl Sabara, with whom she shares 1-year-old Riley. The baby is due in July.
Meghan admitted when she found out she was pregnant again, she worried about the timing. “I got all in my head,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘But the album is successful and I have this hit song. How could I possibly get pregnant now?'”
She continued, “I’m finally at a place that’s like, ‘No dude, babies bring luck. Everyone will adjust around me. You’re OK. If you want a baby, have a baby.'”
As for something she thinks is unfair about motherhood, it’s the pregnancy itself. “I wish every day that my husband could carry it,” she said.
Elsewhere in the interview, the singer opened up about the controversy over her 2016 “Me Too” music video. Meghan claimed she was photoshopped to look thinner in it.
“It was bizarre,” she said. “I was screaming in my hotel room. I was freaking out … I had a smaller waist than the skinny dancers next to me [in the video]. It looked ridiculous!”
She demanded the video’s removal and the edits to her body be undone because she did not approve it.
Meghan said she always takes issue when her body is edited, adding, “I’m the ‘Bass’ girl … I literally promote opposite of this.”
he Revivalists have shared a new song called “The Long Con,” a track off the band’s upcoming album, Pour It Out Into the Night.
“‘The Long Con’ is a song for the marginalized, the underrepresented and taken advantage of,” says frontman David Shaw. “It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening in our country. I wanted to write a song that we could all sing together at our concerts, and truly feel connected and aligned. It’s a song for the people.”
You can listen to “The Long Con” now via digital outlets.
“The Long Con” is the second track to be released from Pour It Out Into the Night, following lead single “Kid.” The album arrives in full on June 2.
The Revivalists will launch a U.S. tour in support of Pour It Out Into the Night, including co-headlining dates with The Head and the Heart and Band of Horses, in June.
Atreyu has released a new song called “Watch Me Burn,” which will appear on the band’s upcoming EP, The Hope of a Spark.
The track is available now via digital outlets and is accompanied by a video that takes its title literally. In fact, the clip starts with a disclaimer declaring, “No Atreyu members were harmed in the making of this video.” You can watch that now streaming on YouTube.
The Hope of a Spark, which follows Atreyu’s 2021 album, Baptize, will be released April 14. It also includes the previously released single “Drowning,” as well as two new tunes titled “God/Devil” and “Capital F.”
Atreyu will launch the Hope of a Spark U.S. tour April 27 in Sacramento, California.
The king of Auto-Tune is taking on the Prince of Darkness.
T-Pain has released a cover of the Black Sabbath song “War Pigs.” It appears on his newly released covers album On Top of the Covers, which finds the singer and rapper ditching his signature vocal effects to showcase his natural voice.
For his take on “War Pigs,” T-Pain belts out the iconic lyrics about “Generals gathered in their masses” over appropriately heavy music, with some funk elements added in, as well. While it doesn’t last quite as long as the nearly eight-minute original, the cover does pass the six-minute mark.
Along with “War Pigs,” On Top of the Covers features renditions of songs including Journey‘s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Sam Cooke‘s “A Change Is Gonna Come” and Sam Smith‘s “Stay With Me.”
(NEW YORK) — More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops have liberated nearly 30,000 square miles of their territory from Russian forces since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, but Putin appeared to be preparing for a long and bloody war.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 17, 11:54 AM EDT
ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying in a statement Friday that Putin is “allegedly responsible for the war crime of” unlawfully deporting children from occupied areas of Ukraine and bringing them to Russia.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, alleging she carried out the same war crime.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that the arrest warrants “have no meaning for the Russian Federation” and “are legally null and void.”
Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, tweeted that the arrest warrants are “just the beginning.”
Mar 16, 12:15 PM EDT
Russia has committed ‘wide range of war crimes’ in Ukraine: UN-backed report
Russia has committed a “wide range of war crimes” and possible crimes against humanity in Ukraine, according to a new United Nations-backed investigation.
“The body of evidence collected shows that Russian authorities have committed a wide range of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in many regions of Ukraine and in the Russian Federation,” the human rights report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine stated. “Many of these amount to war crimes and include willful killings, attacks on civilians, unlawful confinement, torture, rape, and forced transfers and deportations of children.”
Additionally, Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy-related infrastructure and use of torture “may amount to crimes against humanity,” the report concluded.
The commission said it conducted interviews with nearly 600 people, inspected graves, destruction and detention sites and consulted satellite imagery and photographs as part of its investigation.
Mar 16, 11:51 AM EDT
Poland to deliver MiG-29 jets to Ukraine ‘in the coming days’
Poland plans to deliver four MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine “in the coming days,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a press conference on Thursday.
The latest news shortens the timeline announced earlier this week by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who had said they might send the Soviet-designed fighter jets to Ukraine in the next four to six weeks.
Mar 16, 11:08 AM EDT
225 Russians killed in last 24 hours in Bakhmut
Ukrainian forces have killed 225 Russian fighters and injured another 306 in the past 24 hours in the Bakhmut area, according to Serhiy Cherevaty, the spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Ukraine army.
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a brutal battle for the city in eastern Ukraine for months, with both sides seeing high rates of casualties.
Cherevaty said that in the last day, the occupiers in the area of Bakhmut and nearby villages — including Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bohdanivka and Ivanivskoho — tried to attack Ukrainian positions 42 times. There were 24 combat clashes in the Bakhmut area alone.
In total, in the Bakhmut direction, the occupiers shelled Ukrainian positions 256 times with various types of artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, Cherevaty said. Of them, 53 shellings were in the area of Bakhmut itself.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Mar 15, 12:08 PM EDT
Putin says effort underway to increase weapons production
Russia is working to increase its weapons production amid an “urgent” need, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.
“Prosecutors should supervise the modernization of defense industry enterprises, including building up capacities for the production of an additional volume of weapons. A lot of effort is underway here,” Putin said at a meeting of the Collegium of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation.
Putin added that the weapons, equipment and ammunition are “urgently” needed.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Mar 13, 4:04 PM EDT
White House welcomes Xi Jinping speaking to President Zelenskyy
The White House is welcoming reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to soon speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the first time since Russia’s invasion began, while cautioning that after speaking with Ukrainian counterparts, “they have not yet actually gotten any confirmation that there will be a telephone call or a video conference.”
“We hope there will be,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said during a briefing on Air Force One. “That would be a good thing because it would potentially bring more balance and perspective to the way that the new PRC is approaching this, and we hope it will continue to dissuade them from choosing to provide lethal assistance to Russia.”
“We have been encouraging President Xi to reach out to President Zelenskyy because we believe that PRC and President Xi himself should hear directly the Ukrainian perspective and not just the Russian perspective on this,” Sullivan continued. “So, we have in fact, advocated to Beijing that that connection take place. We’ve done so publicly and we’ve done so privately to the PRC.”
Sullivan said the U.S. has “not yet seen the transfer of lethal assistance of weapons from China to Russia,” after previously warning it was being considered.
“It’s something that we’re vigilant about and continuing to watch carefully,” he added.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Mar 13, 12:27 PM EDT
Russia agrees to 60-day extension of Black Sea Grain Initiative
Russia said Monday it will extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative after it expires on March 18, but only for 60 days. The announcement came after consultations between U.N. representatives in Geneva and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin.
“The Russian side, noting the package nature of the Istanbul agreements proposed by UN Secretary General António Guterres, does not object to another extension of the Black Sea initiative after the expiration of the second term on March 18, but only for 60 days,” Vershinin said, according to Russian media reports.
Russia’s consultations in Geneva on the grain deal were not easy, Vershinin said. Russia will rely on the effectiveness of the implementation of the agreement on the export of its agricultural products when deciding on a new extension of the grain deal, according to reports.
Ukraine, which is a key world exporter of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and fertilizer, had its shipments blocked in the months following the invasion by Russia, causing a worldwide spike in food prices. The first deal was brokered last July.
Mar 12, 4:13 PM EDT
More than 1,100 Russians dead in less than a week, Zelenskyy says
Russian forces suffered more than 1,100 dead in less than a week during battles near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the focal point of fighting in eastern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
During his nightly address, Zelenskyy described the battles as “Russia’s irreversible loss.”
Russian forces also sustained about 1,500 “sanitary losses,” meaning soldiers were wounded badly enough to keep them out of further action, Zelenskyy said.
Dozens of pieces of enemy equipment were destroyed, as were more than 10 Russian ammunition depots, Zelenskyy said.
-ABC News’ Edward Seekers
Mar 10, 3:17 PM EST
Russia says Nord Stream explosion investigation should be impartial
The investigation into who was behind the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline explosion should be “objective, impartial and transparent,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian news agency Interfax.
“I do not want to threaten anyone. I do not want to hint at anything either. I just know that this flagrant terror attack will not go uninvestigated,” Lavrov added.
Russia also said it will distribute its correspondence with Germany, Denmark and Sweden on the investigation of the Nord Stream explosion among the members of the United Nations Security Council soon.
Russia claimed the three countries are denying Russia access to information and participation in the investigation, first deputy permanent representative to the U.N. Dmitry Polyansky said in an interview, according to Russian news agency TASS.
-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva and Tanya Stukalova
Mar 10, 3:03 PM EST
Russia says Nord Stream explosion investigation should be impartial
The investigation into who was behind the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline explosion should be “objective, impartial and transparent,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian news agency Interfax.
“I do not want to threaten anyone. I do not want to hint at anything either. I just know that this flagrant terror attack will not go uninvestigated,” Lavrov added.
Russia also said it will distribute its correspondence with Germany, Denmark and Sweden on the investigation of Nord Stream explosion among the members of the United Nations Security Council soon.
Russia claimed the three countries are denying Russia access to information and participation in the investigation, first deputy permanent representative to the U.N. Dmitry Polyansky said in an interview, according to Russian news agency TASS.
Mar 10, 9:46 AM EST
Zelenskyy says Ukraine had nothing to do with Nord Stream explosions
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied that Ukraine had anything to do with the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions last year.
“As for the Nord Stream, we have nothing to do with it,” Zelenskyy said Friday.
The New York Times published a report that U.S. intelligence suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group sabotaged the pipeline.
Zelenskyy also suggested that the information being spread about the involvement of pro-Ukrainian groups in the attack could be done to slow down aid to his country.
-ABC News’ Natalia Shumskaia
Mar 09, 2:45 PM EST
Power returns to Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after attacks
Electricity supply has been fully restored in Kyiv after Russia’s overnight barrage of missile attacks on Ukraine, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said in a Telegram post Thursday.
Also, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is now “receiving electricity for its own needs from the Ukrainian grid after power supply was cut,” Russian news agency Interfax reported.
-ABC News’ Tatiana Rymarenko and Natalia Shumskaia
Mar 09, 7:25 AM EST
Russia ‘brutalizing’ Ukrainian people, White House says
Russia’s overnight barrage of missiles aimed at civilian infrastructure may have knocked heat out to as much as 40% of Ukrainians, the White House said on Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is attempting to “brutalize” the people of Ukraine, John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America on Thursday.
“It also appears, George, that they were definitely targeting civilian infrastructure,” Kirby said. “I would agree with the Ukrainians. He’s just trying to brutalize the Ukrainian people”
Russian forces early on Thursday launched 81 missiles from land and sea, Ukrainian officials said. Eight uncrewed drones were also launched in what officials described as a “massive” attack.
Eleven regions and cities were targeted in an attack that lasted at least seven hours, officials said.
Kirby said on Thursday that the White House expects to see more fighting on the ground in Ukraine for at least the “next four to six months.”
“We know that the Russians are attempting to conduct more offensive operations here when the weather gets better,” he said.
Mar 09, 3:59 AM EST
Zelenskyy decries Russia’s ‘miserable tactics’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said Russian officials had returned “to their miserable tactics” as they launched at least 81 missiles at Ukrainian sites overnight.
“The occupiers can only terrorize civilians. That’s all they can do. But it won’t help them,” he said on Telegram. “They won’t avoid responsibility for everything they have done.”
He added, “We thank the guardians of our skies and everyone who helps to overcome the consequences of the occupiers’ sneaking attacks!”
Mar 09, 3:34 AM EST
81 missiles launched in ‘massive’ Russian attack, Ukraine says
Waves of missiles and a handful of drones were launched overnight by Russia, targeting energy infrastructure and cities across Ukraine, officials said.
The attack on “critical infrastructure” and civilian targets lasted throughout the night, Verkovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, said on Twitter. Energy was being gradually restored on Thursday morning, the body said.
Ukraine’s parliament and military said at least 81 missiles were fired from several bases. Eight Iranian-made drones were also launched, the military said.
Ukraine destroyed 34 cruise missiles and four drones, military officials said on Facebook.
“Russia’s threats only encourage partners to provide long-term assistance to Ukraine,” said Yehor Chernev, deputy chairman of the Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence.
Russia “will be sentenced as a terrorist state” for its attacks, Ruslan Stefanchuk, Rada’s chairperson, said on Twitter.
Mar 09, 12:35 AM EST
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant now running on diesel generators, energy minister says
The last line that fed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been damaged following missile strikes, and the plant is now working on diesel generators, according to the Ukrainian energy minister, Herman Galushchenko.
Mar 09, 12:16 AM EST
Emergency power outages nationwide due to missile attacks, provider says
DTEK, the largest private grid operator in Ukraine, said emergency power outages are in effect due to the missile attacks in the Kyiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv and Dnipro regions.
Mar 09, 12:27 AM EST
Multiple missile strikes reported across Ukraine
Multiple explosions have been reported in city centers all over the country, including Dnipro, Odesa, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi and Kharkiv.
Residents in multiple areas are being asked to shelter in place, and communication and electricity has been impacted.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said multiple explosions were reported in the Holosiiv district.
The governor of Kharkiv, Oleh Syniehubov, said Russia struck the city at least 15 times overnight.
The head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration said there had been no casualties and that the power supply is being restricted.
Mar 08, 2:05 PM EST
Ukraine says it was not involved in Nord Stream Pipeline bombings
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov denied Ukraine was involved in the bombing of the Nord Stream pipeline, which carries natural gas from Russia to Germany. While the pipeline was not active at the time of the bombing last September, it was filled with fuel.
The denial comes after The New York Times reported that intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggests a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the Nord Stream bombings last year.
After the story broke, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned against “jumping to conclusions” about who carried out the explosion, suggesting it could have been a “false flag” operation to blame Ukraine.
German authorities were reportedly able to identify the boat used for the sabotage operation, saying a group of five men and one woman using forged passports rented a yacht from a Poland-based company owned by Ukrainian citizens. The nationalities of the perpetrators are unclear, according to a separate report by Germany’s ARD broadcaster and Zeit newspaper.
“We have to make a clear distinction whether it was a Ukrainian group, whether it may have happened at Ukrainian orders, or a pro-Ukrainian group [acting] without knowledge of the government. But I am warning against jumping to conclusions,” Pistorius said on the sidelines of a summit in Stockholm.
A Russian diplomat said Russia has no faith in the U.S.‘s “impartiality” in the conclusions made from intelligence.
(NEW YORK) — A string of bank collapses in recent days sent panic rippling through the financial sector, prompting an extraordinary U.S. government intervention to save depositors and a sharp drop for bank stocks in the U.S. and Europe.
Some people and institutions, however, made money amid the turmoil.
Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker sold $3.6 million worth of the company’s shares less than two weeks before the bank’s collapse, drawing scrutiny from lawmakers like Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who called on the bank to claw back the compensation.
Meanwhile, as panic mounted and bank stocks plummeted over a three-day period before the Silicon Valley Bank failure, $2.3 billion in profit flowed to short sellers, traders who bet that the shares would fall, data firm S3 partners said.
Finally, in the aftermath of the bank collapse, a wave of new depositors opened up accounts at some of the nation’s largest banks, such as JPMorgan Chase.
Here’s what you need to know who benefited from the banking crisis and why:
Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker
Financial filings showed millions worth of shares sold by Becker’s trust late last month, raising questions about what he knew about the imminent financial trouble faced by the bank.
Khanna, who represents the district in which Silicon Valley Bank was headquartered, called for the return of the money to depositors.
“I have said that there should be a clawback of that money,” Khanna said on Monday. “Whatever his motives, and we should find out, that $3.6 million should go to depositors.”
Silicon Valley Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kevin Murphy, a professor of finance and business economics at the University of Southern California who specializes in executive compensation, said the stock sale has elicited valid concern.
“There’s no question that this raises eyebrows,” Murphy said. “The optics are bad.”
However, the conduct may be “less problematic” than it appears, he added.
After the exercise price and taxes associated with the sale, Becker stood to gain roughly $1 million, Murphy said, noting that the amount makes up a fraction of the $9.9 million in total compensation received by Becker last year.
Becker’s stock options were set to expire in May, leaving him just a few months shy of the deadline, Murphy added. The stock sale falls within conduct permitted by law.
“It raises red flags,” Murphy said. “But I wouldn’t put as much weight on it as the layman.”
Still, the company could ultimately claw back some or all of the money from Becker, he added, citing financial documents filed by the company earlier this month.
“They do have a policy in place,” he said. “There is scope here for the board to initiate a recoupment but it’s somewhat limited.”
Short sellers
Another set of individuals who profited amid the distress at Silicon Valley Bank is short sellers, investors who make money when a stock drops.
As shares of banks plummeted before and after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, short sellers have generated massive profits.
On a single day last week, shares of Silicon Valley Bank plummeted 60%. The stock price of First Republic Bank, another regional lender under stress, fell 30% on Thursday to a low last seen 13 years ago. It later rallied after big banks announced $30 billion in combined deposits in the bank.
Over a nine-day period in early March, short sellers raked in $7.1 billion on $50 billion worth of investments, a staggering return of about 14%, Ihor Dusaniwsky, a managing director at S3 partners, told ABC News.
“That’s a phenomenal return,” Dusaniwsky said. “You’re catching lightning in a bottle.”
The success of short sellers in recent days has stoked concern over the possible role such traders play in depressing the price of Silicon Valley Bank shares, heightening panic on social media and exacerbating the ensuing bank run.
The influence of short sellers deserves scrutiny in the case of Silicon Bank, since its depositors were made up of a relatively small group of venture capital firms, tech startups and other large investors, Connel Fullenkamp, an economics professor at Duke University who studies short selling, told ABC News.
“That’s something we have to take seriously in the case of Silicon Valley Bank because the community of depositors is so internet savvy and tech savvy,” Fullenkamp said. “A big part of the story is how much communication there was among the depositors and certainly this feedback loop of short sellers and depositors can make things worse.”
However, fears about the negative consequences of short selling in a banking crisis overlook the useful role played by such traders, he added.
“Without the short sellers, we get this really strong positive bias that prices keep going up and up — it’s too easy to create stock price bubbles,” he said. “Short sellers are skeptics who put their money where their mouth is.”
Big banks
In the aftermath of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, as uncertainty spread through the financial system, a flood of depositors opened new accounts at large U.S. banks.
JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank, received a huge wave of customers and deposits, amounting to hundreds of accounts and billions of dollars, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The bank is telling employees to forego targeting customers amid the financial turmoil but the inflow of customers has arrived regardless, the source said.
JPMorgan Chase declined to respond to a request for comment.
Other top banks, including Bank of America and Citi, have benefited from a similar flood of customers and deposits, the Financial Times reported.
Bank of America declined to comment; and Citi did not respond to a request for comment.
While some big banks gained depositors, the nation’s largest financial institutions took action on Monday in an effort to stabilize the financial sector, placing $30 billion in First Republic bank, one of the embattled regional lenders.
Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs were among a slew of big banks that participated in the effort.
“This action by America’s largest banks reflects their confidence in First Republic and in banks of all sizes, and it demonstrates their overall commitment to helping banks serve their customers and communities,” the banks said in a press statement on Thursday.
“Regional, midsize and small banks are critical to the health and functioning of our financial system,” the statement added.
JVKE is thrilled his song “Golden Hour” has taken a life of its own, but he appears ready to start a new chapter in his music career.
Speaking with NME, the singer said of his breakout hit, “It’s been sick. I feel like there’s been so many different, cool versions and iterations of the song. It’s something you dream about as an artist, just to be able to see all your different ideas come to light [when] I was only able to put out one official version.”
“Now we can drop all these cool remixes,” he added. One remix saw him working with producer Max Martin. “[We] just went crazy with it,” said JVKE. “I had so much fun.”
JVKE also touched upon performing with his childhood hero Alicia Keys and inviting his childhood piano teacher to the show so she could watch them play together.
“I love being able to take my family, friends and all these people [on] the ride with me. I love to enjoy these moments but it doesn’t really mean much unless the people I love are there,” JVKE said.
Looking ahead, JVKE teased, “I’m just focused on getting ready for this tour and also been in the studio a ton. So, I’m looking to release a lot more music and I’m really excited to share what I’ve got.”
“Loss is universal,” he shared. “I intentionally didn’t specify the relationship that I wrote this song about. It’s meant to be open ended and interpreted by the listener. We’ve all lost someone somehow, and it’s time we start processing that loss together.”
He has since partnered with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
If you are in crisis or know someone in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or by visiting 988lifeline.org. You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
Yes will not be bringing their Relayer tour overseas as planned. The band just announced they are postponing their European and U.K. tour “due to unforeseen circumstances beyond the band’s control.”
“Yes and their management have explored every possible avenue to arrange insurance cover for the tour in the event of COVID-related exemption or Act of War exclusion,” reads a statement on their website. “The insurance industry has withdrawn all such insurances which made touring possible pre-COVID and before the Ukraine conflict.”
They add that “the band simply cannot undertake such a large-scale tour with so many risks being uninsured.”
Yes plan to reschedule the tour for 2024 and will announce new dates soon. One show, their concert at London’s Eventim Apollo, has been canceled and fans will be getting refunds.
“Yes wish to express their sincere regrets to their faithful fans and ask for their understanding,” the statement adds. “The band has now received the necessary assurances for 2024 and are committed to returning to the stage then.”
(WASHINGTON) — Former Vice President Mike Pence doubled down Thursday on his controversial remarks aimed at Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s decision to take parental leave.
The former vice president, thought to be a contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, refused to apologize after he mocked Buttigieg’s “maternity leave” at the annual Gridiron Dinner in Washington for journalists and politicians last Saturday.
“The Gridiron Dinner is a roast,” he told WMUR-TV’s Arielle Mitropoulos at a GOP dinner in New Hampshire when asked for his response to the criticism. “I had a lot of jokes directed to me, and I directed a lot of jokes to Republicans and Democrats. The only thing I can figure is Pete Buttigieg not only can’t do his job, but he can’t take a joke.”
On Monday, the White House publicly asked Pence to apologize, calling the joke “offensive and inappropriate, all the more so because he treated women suffering from postpartum depression as a punchline.” Buttigieg’s husband, Chasten, then went on ABC’s The View on Thursday to denounce the “attempted joke.”
Marc Short, Pence’s former chief of staff and co-chair of his political advocacy group, called the White House reaction to Pence’s set “faux outrage.”
“The White House would be wise to focus less on placating the woke police and focus more on bank failures, planes nearly colliding in mid-air, train derailments, and the continued supply chain crisis,” Short said in a statement earlier this week.
ABC News’ Gio Benitez asked the transportation secretary himself on Monday whether he thought Pence owed him an apology, to which he responded, “I’ll let others speak to that.”
“It’s a strange thing to me because the last time I saw him, he asked me about my kids like a normal person would. I guess, you know, at a political event in white tie, it’s a little different,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg’s twins, now 18 months old, were born prematurely and developed Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV). One was hospitalized and put on a ventilator — a “terrifying” experience that the couple documented on Medium — and a point Chasten Buttigieg raised in a tweet this week to Pence.
“I spoke up because we all have an obligation to hold people accountable for when they say something wrong, especially when it’s misogynistic, especially when it’s homophobic, and I just don’t take that when it’s towards my family, and I don’t think anyone else would, especially when you bring a very small, medically-fragile child into it,” he told co-hosts of The View.
Chasten Buttigieg also said Pence’s comments were “part of a much bigger trend attacking families.”
“The thing about what he said is it flies in the face of what he says he is. He says he’s a family values Republican. So I don’t think he’s practicing what he preaches here,” he said.
“Someone wrote this, and he checked it and purposely said maternity leave rather than paternity leave — but also, it’s a bigger conversation about the work that women do in families — taking a swipe at all women and all families and expecting that women would stay home and raise children is a misogynistic view, especially from a man who said just last year that we should be supporting more people that adopt,” he added.
Model, entrepreneur and Dancing with the Stars host Tyra Banks revealed she’s ready to “graduate from the ballroom floor to the stock market floor.”
Tyra, who has co-hosted the reality competition show since 2020, was caught by TMZ cameras on a shopping trip in Santa Monica, California, Thursday, and had a “mic drop” moment when she explained she was ready to move on.
As it turns out, Banks was picking up some sundae supplies as “research and development” for her ice cream brand Smize and Dreams, proof the brand is on her mind.
“I’m really focused on business, like crazy, crazy focused,” she explained, noting her ice cream brand is “global” and coming to the U.S.
“I feel it’s time for me to really focus on my business and entrepreneurship, but also producing more TV, but behind the scenes,” she told the gossip site, adding, “So, you know what? I think it’s time to graduate from the dance floor to the stock market floor.”
When she was asked if that meant she was stepping away from DWTS, Tyra said she thinks it’s time, describing herself as an entrepreneur at heart.
“I really, really want to focus on my business and you can’t do that hosting a show,” she expressed, noting she is producing new television projects, including a “business show.”
“You’ll see me creating things, not just hosting things,” she added. “From the ballroom to the boardroom, baby!” Tyra exclaimed.
So far, there has been no official reaction from ABC.
Dancing with the Stars currently streams on Disney+, the streaming service from ABC News’ parent company, Disney.
