The Zombies are set to kick off a short run of U.S. dates this week, and according to frontman Colin Blunstone, there will be more than just older folks in the audience.
“We’re really, really fortunate in that our fan base goes right across the ages,” Blunstone tells ABC Audio. “So that when we play, and especially in America, there’ll be people there in their teens and then it goes right through the ages to people who followed us from the ’60s.”
He loves the spectrum of fans that come to the shows. “It really, really, really adds an energy,” he says. “Our fanbase really does lift us.”
The 77-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer says his favorite thing about touring is “the hour and a half, hour and three quarters onstage,” noting “it really lifts your spirits to play with a band that they’re all wonderful musicians.”
And just because The Zombies have been around since ’60s, and he and bandmate RodArgent are in their 70s, doesn’t mean they are taking it easy onstage.
“I know that some bands from the ’60s tend to go through the motions, but we don’t take any prisoners,” he says. “We’ve often said there’s more energy on the stage now than there was in 1964 when we were teenagers.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)
The Zombies tour kicks off Saturday in San Antonio, Texas. A complete list of dates can be found at thezombiesmusic.com.
Jeremy Renner is sharing the adorable note his nephew wrote to him as he continues to recover from a snow plow accident.
Taking to Instagram Stories Wednesday, the actor shared a screenshot of the note which read: “I am very lucky because my uncle is hawk eye (witch is 1 of the Avengers). I am also very lucky that my uncle is alive from his accident.”
The Avengers star, 52, responded, “Love my little man, Bless you Auggie.”
In the next story, he shared a snapshot of two stuffed animals and captioned it, “my inside feelings.”
The posts come just months after Renner was involved in a New Year’s Day snow plow accident where he broke more than 30 bones.
(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration is demanding TikTok’s Chinese owner sell its stake in the app or risk getting banned, the company and a U.S. official told ABC News.
TikTok confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday that it was recently contacted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS). The company said CFIUS prefers for ByteDance to sell its stake in TikTok, rather than reach an agreement with the U.S. government over national security concerns.
This move is an escalation and comes as the administration has been publicly hardening its stance against TikTok. Last week, the White House came out in support of bipartisan legislation that could be used to ban TikTok.
The administration has been negotiating an agreement over data security with TikTok for two years now. This news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
In a statement to ABC News, TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said: “If protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access. The best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, U.S.-based protection of U.S. user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting and verification, which we are already implementing.”
TikTok added that it will continue to move forward with a plan called “Project Texas” to safeguard U.S. user data as it evaluates the Biden administration’s new position.
The White House and Treasury Department, which oversees CFIUS, declined to comment.
TikTok has come under growing pressure in Washington amid concerns that the popular video sharing app’s parent company ByteDance would share U.S. user data with the Chinese government. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is scheduled to testify before Congress for the first time next week.
(ORLANDO, Fla.) — The mother of a Missouri teenager who fell to his death last year while on the world’s tallest tower drop ride has reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit with the Florida amusement park and ride’s operator, her attorney announced Wednesday.
Fourteen-year-old Tyre Sampson died after slipping out of his seat while on the Orlando FreeFall ride at ICON Park on March 24, 2022, falling more than 100 feet to his death, according to the lawsuit. The eighth grader was a star football player who was visiting the theme park with his team during spring break.
Last year, Orlando Eagle Drop Slingshot, the ride’s operator, decided to take down the 430-foot-tall attraction in the wake of Sampson’s death.
“It’s a bittersweet moment,” Nekia Dodd, the mother of Sampson, said during a press conference on Wednesday near ICON Park as the Orlando FreeFall ride continues to be dismantled.
“The ride is coming down, and I’m thankful for that. But my son’s not coming back,” Dodd said.
Wednesday marked the first time Dodd saw the ride where her son died.
“My son took his last breath on this ride. So it’s hard. It’s heartbreaking,” she said.
Her attorney, Michael Haggard, announced during the press briefing that a settlement has been reached between Dodd, ICON Park and Orlando Eagle Drop Slingshot. They declined to discuss the terms of the settlement, though Dodd said she would like to use it to “keep my son’s legacy alive” by giving back to community sports and schools.
Additional steps to hold other companies accountable continue, according to Haggard, who claimed that the ride’s manufacturer — Funtime Handels of Austria — has tried to “evade responsibility.”
In a statement to ABC News on Wednesday, ICON Park deferred questions about the lawsuit to Sampson’s family.
“While the FreeFall ride is not owned and was not controlled or operated by ICON Park, because it is a tenant on the property, we agree with the owner’s decision to dismantle the ride and our hearts are with the family as they witness this important milestone,” the statement said.
Operator error is suspected as the primary cause in Sampson’s death, according to a forensic engineer’s field investigation report released in April. The report showed that the individual operator of the FreeFall ride, who was not identified, “made manual adjustments to the ride resulting in it being unsafe.”
According to the report, manual manipulations were made to the seat Sampson was sitting in to allow the harness restraint opening to be loosened, apparently to accommodate the more than 300-pound teenager. The investigation found Sampson’s harness restraint opening was “almost double that of a normal restraint opening range.”
The Tyre Sampson Act, a Florida bill that aims to protect future amusement park riders with increased safety regulations, advanced after its first hearing on Monday.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SPRING TRAINING
INTERLEAGUE
Chi White Sox at San Francisco (Canceled)
Cleveland at San Diego (Canceled)
Toronto 7, Pittsburgh 1
Houston 9, Atlanta 3
Philadelphia 9, NY Yankees 8
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Seattle at Oakland (Canceled)
Boston 9, Tampa Bay 1
Texas 4, Kansas City 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Washington at Miami (Canceled)
San Francisco at Arizona (Canceled)
Chi Cubs at Cincinnati (Canceled)
Colorado at LA Dodgers (Canceled)
Arizona 2, Milwaukee 0 (Canceled)
St. Louis 4, NY Mets 1
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
LA Clippers 134, Golden State 126
Miami 138, Memphis 119
Philadelphia 118, Cleveland 109
Boston 104, Minnesota 102
Sacramento 117, Chicago 114
Houston 114, LA Lakers 110
Dallas 137, San Antonio 128 (OT)
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Minnesota 8, St. Louis 5
NY Islanders 6, Anaheim 3
Colorado 2, Toronto 1 (SO)
Washington 5, Buffalo 4 (SO)
(ATLANTA) — Two years after the death of eight people at three Atlanta-based Asian-owned or operated spas, Asian Americans are uniting in cities across the nation to demand action against racist hate, violence and to pay tribute to the lives lost.
Co-organized by Stand with Asian Americans in partnership with various other Asian American equity organizations, the rallies don’t plan to only mourn the losses of the 2021 Atlanta shootings, but will mourn the lives lost in other killings, such as the Half Moon Bay and Monterey Park shootings that happened earlier this year.
“This violence is only kind of the latest manifestation of violence against our community,” said Charles Jung, the executive director of APAs vs. Hate and a civil rights attorney. “This event is important to remember because this is about fighting the prejudice in our community while we also heal and build for the future.”
Jung is the coordinator for the March 16 commemoration across the five cities.
On March 16, the “Always With Us: Asian Americans Rise Against Hate” synchronized events will occur in Atlanta, Denver, Detroit, New York and San Francisco.
There will be special appearances at the events ranging from 2022 TIME Woman of the Year Amanda Nguyen to Brandon Tsay, the man who stopped the gunman in Monterey Park. Other appearances will include Asian American leaders, activists, community members and elected officials.
Robert Peterson, son of Atlanta Spa shooting victim Yong Ae Yue, told ABC News that Thursday’s rallies serve as a way for the public to not only support Asian Americans, but hear the stories of those whose lives have been lost due to hate crimes.
“I know the feeling of hearing these events and saying that it’s sad. But it’s important for me to put a face to those stories,” Peterson said emotionally. “This is my mother. This is not just a regular event. This is not another mass shooting, but this was my mother.”
While the events all strive to promote unity across the nation, each city plans to emphasize issues that are going on locally, such as San Francisco’s focus on low-wage workers and New York City’s emphasis on Asian women.
“The idea of it being national, but at the same time, reflective of the constituents and the population and the community and the issues that they’re facing vocally was important to highlight for each one of the cities,” said Wendy Nguyen, co-founder of Stand with Asian Americans.
This will be the second year that the organizations have created synchronized rallies nationwide that are open to the public in person and through livestream, regardless of race.
“I want and hope that we as a community can galvanize the next generation of Asian American activism… so that we can build this cross coalition, so that we can elevate all communities, not just the Asian community.”
Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(AMARILLO, Texas) — A federal judge in Texas said Wednesday that he plans to rule soon on whether to overturn the federal government’s approval of an abortion medication some 23 years ago — a decision that could pull the drug from the market nationwide, even in states where abortion is legal.
The promise by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk followed a daylong hearing in Amarillo, Texas, that attracted local church members lining up before dawn and filling the 19 seats open to the public.
Several media outlets were blocked from getting inside due to a lack of space while demonstrators, both for and against abortion access, marched outside the courtroom steps.
“Let us pray” were the first words spoken in the hearing by a court assistant kicking off four hours of arguments.
Abortion rights supporters said they weren’t optimistic after the hearing, noting the judge appeared open to siding with the conservative plaintiffs in the case, who argued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was wrong to approve the medication mifepristone.
“There are a whole host of reasons why this court should just dismiss [the lawsuit] out of hand … But we’re obviously very concerned that that’s not going to be the case,” said Carrie Flaxman, senior director for public policy litigation and law with Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Erik Baptist, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, the group that filed the lawsuit, said the judge needed to provide a check on the FDA, which he said ignored safety concerns with mifepristone — an allegation the government and most medical doctors refute.
“As we stated in court, the FDA never had the authority to approve these drugs and remove important safeguards, despite the substantial evidence of the harms women and girls who undergo this dangerous drug regimen could suffer,” Baptist said.
In addition to curbing access to a common form of abortion — about half of all abortions rely on mifepristone — the ruling could have sweeping implications for how drugs are approved in the U.S., potentially curbing the regulatory powers of the FDA and emboldening advocacy groups to challenge other medications and vaccines.
In attendance on Wednesday were mostly local church members from Amarillo, including several from the Central Church of Christ.
As the small number of public attendees looked on, the plaintiffs laid out their case: They told the judge that doctors were unfairly burdened by having to treat complications arising from the abortion pill and that it causes harm to women who take the medication. They spoke about how many states are prohibiting abortion, yet their residents are still finding access to this medication.
“Relief must be complete and nationwide,” Baptist told the judge.
Government lawyers defending the FDA said the government has reviewed extensive data and found no safety concerns.
“The public interest would be dramatically harmed” by siding with the plaintiffs, said Julie Straus Harris, an attorney for the Justice Department.
For his part, Judge Kacsmaryk didn’t tip his hand on how he’d rule and an appeal from either side is likely. But he zeroed in on whether it is legal to mail a substance causing an abortion. Under the Comstock Act, a 19th-century law, that remains illegal. But the Justice Department has said that law doesn’t apply in this case because no one can ever know exactly how a drug will be used when it’s mailed.
The judge also asked questions about other fast-tracked medicines and why the FDA would swiftly approve a drug when pregnancy wasn’t an “illness.” Government lawyers said pregnancy was a “condition,” while advocates noted that the drug is still used to treat miscarriages.
Julie Sims, a church member who watched the hearing in the courtroom, said she left in disbelief such a medication is legal in some states and frustration that they didn’t talk more about babies.
“Some people don’t even know how to take an aspirin properly. How can they be expected to take something like this?” she said.
Outside the courtroom was a very different scene, with protestors shouting and one dressed as a kangaroo to suggest an illegitimate “kangaroo court.”
They argued the Trump-appointed judge was biased.
“He’s a lifelong activist,” said Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of the Women’s March.
Streams of Pearl Jam‘s “All or None” jumped higher than a post-apocalyptic giraffe’s neck following its placement on The Last of Us.
According to a new report published by Spotify, “All or None” saw a 5,000% increase in global streams on the platform after it was featured in the seventh episode of the HBO series, which is based on the 2013 video game of the same name.
Spotify streams of other featured The Last of Us songs, such as Linda Ronstadt‘s “Long, Long Time” and Depeche Mode‘s “Never Let Me Down Again,” went up 4,900% and 520%, respectively, following their episodes.
By the way, “All or None” isn’t the only Pearl Jam song that’s intersected with The Last of Us universe. In the 2020 sequel game The Last of Us Part II, Joel teaches Ellie how to play the PJ song “Future Days” on the guitar.
Frontman Eddie Vedder also performed “Future Days” at the 2020 Game Awards, during which The Last of Us Part II won Game of the Year.
(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — A Donald Trump-aligned political group on Wednesday said it filed a complaint with the Florida Commission of Ethics accusing Gov. Ron DeSantis of abusing his office to mount a “shadow presidential campaign” — which DeSantis’ team dismissed as a “frivolous” claim.
DeSantis, the popular and polarizing governor of a former swing state that has shifted bright red, is seen by many as Trump’s biggest potential challenger for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
While DeSantis is publicly playing down the discussion of his White House ambitions, ABC News has confirmed that he’s privately indicated to allies that he intends to launch a campaign.
DeSantis’ team has been working under the assumption that an announcement would come following the end of the Florida legislative session in May or in June, sources told ABC News. However, the exact timing has not been nailed down.
In recent months, DeSantis has also become a major target of Trump and some Trump allies.
The Wednesday complaint, from Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc., asks the state ethics commission to examine DeSantis in light of the political action committees supporting him, his book tour pegged to a new memoir and what the complaint describes as his personal gains, misuse of his office and unacceptable receipt of gifts — which the complaint links to support by outside political groups — among other wrongful benefits.
The letter calls DeSantis a “de facto candidate” for president of the United States.
Make America Great Again Inc., a political action committee that can campaign for Trump but not coordinate with him, is arguing that DeSantis is taking the steps to be a presidential candidate despite not announcing an official presidential run.
The complaint alleges that DeSantis’ political activities and work with the outside groups knowingly influence how he will act under Florida’s resign-to-run law, which would require him to step down from his current office if he seeks an office out of state.
“[H]e is receiving gifts with the understanding that they will influence his official judgment” to ultimately run for president, the complaint claims.
In a statement to ABC News, DeSantis’ communications director, Taryn Fenske, said they are “adding this to the list of frivolous and politically motivated attacks.”
“It’s inappropriate to use state ethics complaints for partisan purposes,” Fenske said.
One of the PACs mentioned in the complaint is the recently formed Never Back Down PAC, created by Ken Cuccinelli, a former Department of Homeland Security official under Trump and a former attorney general of Virginia.
Cuccinelli released a statement following the complaint’s release, saying that “the President Trump [he] knew would never have played these types of establishment games.”
“The overwhelming response we’ve received to building a DeSantis grassroots effort is exciting – and I’m sure intimidating. No wonder the folks on that campaign are nervous. They should be. The MAGA movement is excited to look to its next chapter and future conservative leadership. They are excited at the potential of a President Ron DeSantis,” Cuccinelli said.
Trump has ramped up his attacks on the governor over the past couple of months, recently telling Politico he regrets endorsing DeSantis during DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign.
Although Make America Great Again Inc. said they filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics, Lynn Blais, a spokesperson for the commission, told ABC News they cannot confirm or deny the existence of a complaint.
Blais said there is no set timeframe for a decision being made on a complaint and that the commission meets every six to eight weeks.
“There’s so many variables related to investigations,” Blais said.
Of the nine members of the commission, five were appointed by DeSantis, including Glenton Gilzean, the chair.
(SAN ANTONIO) — Seven people were sent to the hospital after a tree branch fell on them at a zoo in Texas, according to the San Antonio Fire Department.
The tree branch “unexpectedly” broke and fell on guests Monday afternoon at the San Antonio Zoo, the zoo confirmed.
According to the fire department, one of the injured guests was seen as “level 1 priority care,” while the other injured guests were sent to the hospital out of precaution.
The zoo’s security and emergency services staff responded quickly and began treating the injured guests, according to the zoo.
San Antonio Police and fire officials responded to the scene within minutes, zoo officials said.
The conditions of the injured guests are unknown at this time.
Earlier this year, several incidents including a damaged animal enclosure, missing monkeys and an “unusual” death occurred at the Dallas Zoo.
Additionally, Dallas Zoo officials said a clouded leopard named Nova escaped from its enclosure after its fence was “intentionally cut” on Jan. 13.
Zoo officials also discovered an endangered vulture dead inside its habitat on Jan. 21, saying that its death did not occur naturally and was “unusual.”
Two of the Dallas Zoo’s emperor tamarin monkeys were discovered missing from their habitat, which had been “intentionally compromised,” according to the zoo.
Last month, the Dallas Police Department arrested Davion Irvin — a man they were looking to speak with regarding the missing tamarin monkeys — in connection with the theft of the two animals and charged him with six counts of animal cruelty.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
