(WASHINGTON) — California Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been hospitalized in her home state with shingles.
A spokesperson for her office on Thursday confirmed her hospitalization, which was first reported by The San Francisco Chronicle.
“I was diagnosed over the February recess with a case of shingles. I have been hospitalized and am receiving treatment in San Francisco and expect to make a full recovery,” Feinstein said in a statement. “I hope to return to the Senate later this month.”
Shingles is caused by the same virus, varicella-zoster virus, that causes chickenpox and is characterized by a painful rash that develops on the face or body. A person sickened by chickenpox and who recovers can later get shingles when the virus reactivates.
While about one in every three people in the U.S. develops shingles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 1-4% need to be hospitalized.
At 89, Feinstein is the oldest serving member of the Senate. She has not been on Capitol Hill this week.
Her absence is a further blow to the narrow Democratic majority, with Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman out for an indefinite amount of time being treated for depression.
If all Republicans are present and voting next week when the chamber returns, they’ll have a one-vote majority, though Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer controls the floor.
Last month, Feinstein announced that she would not run for reelection after her term is up in early 2025 but will continue serving until then and “intend[s] to accomplish as much for California as I can.”
She said then that she remains focused on passing legislation important to Democrats through the end of her term, including curbing gun violence in the face of a string of mass shootings and ameliorating homelessness and wildfires.
After announcing her retirement to her colleagues during a closed-door lunch, Feinstein spoke briefly to reporters, saying, “The time has come.”
California Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff have all announced bids to succeed her.
ABC News’ Tal Axelrod, Trish Turner and Nicole Wetsman contributed to this report.
Dimitris Lampropoulos/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(TEMPI, Greece) — A station manager faces manslaughter charges following a deadly high-speed train collision that killed dozens of people in central Greece, his attorney said Thursday.
At least 57 people have been confirmed dead and more than 80 others injured in the head-on collision between a freight train and a passenger train Tuesday night in Tempi, near the city of Larissa, officials said, as the death toll has continued to rise in the wake of the fiery crash.
About 350 people were on board the passenger train, which was traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki, according to the Greek rail operator Hellenic Train.
The passenger train was traveling at a speed of about 103 mph when it collided with the freight train, according to the Hellenic Fire Service. Greek state TV reported that the two trains were running on the same line for 12 minutes, or a distance of about 11 miles.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday that the incident was “mainly due to tragic human error.”
The 59-year-old Larissa station manager was arrested following the deadly crash and has since been charged with disruption of public transport safety, manslaughter and bodily injuries by negligence, his lawyer told reporters outside the courthouse Thursday.
The station manager, who could face up to life in prison for the manslaughter charge, has not been publicly identified. He has until Saturday to prepare his defense, his lawyer told reporters.
The station manager reportedly took some responsibility for the disaster but other factors were at play, his lawyer said, according to Reuters. The man was assigned his role a few months ago, according to Greek state media reports.
Supreme Court Prosecutor Isidoros Dogiakos on Wednesday called on the investigating Larissa prosecutor to broaden his search in all directions and collect all available evidence to identify everyone responsible for the deadly rail collision, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported.
Greek Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis announced his resignation Wednesday after visiting the crash site in Tempi, saying he felt it was his “duty” to do so “as a minimum sign of respect” to the victims.
The heads of the Hellenic Railways Association and national railway subsidiary ERGOSE also resigned in the wake of the crash, according to Prime Minister Mitsotakis.
Trains were not running anywhere in Greece on Thursday after members of the Federation of Railway Employees decided to strike for 24 hours following the train crash.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Daphne Tolis contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As investigators in the U.S. Virgin Islands await results of an autopsy on former American championship swimmer Jamie Cail, who died after being found unresponsive at her home last month, friends and loved ones are paying tribute to her online, describing her as a “beautiful” person and a “sweet soul.”
In a post on his Facebook page, the 42-year-old Cail’s father, Gary Cail of Maine, issued a two-word statement, writing, “So devastating.”
The U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Bureau has opened an investigation into Cail’s death, but have released little information on the progress of the probe.
“The VIPD Criminal Investigations Bureau, Major Crimes Unit, is awaiting the autopsy report to determine the cause of death,” Glen Dratte, a spokesman for the department, said in a statement.
Cail’s boyfriend, whose name was not released by authorities, told detectives he found her just after midnight on Feb. 21 unresponsive on the floor of a residence they shared in St. Johns, according to police. He said he found her after leaving a local bar to go back to the residence to check on her, police said.
The boyfriend said he and a friend took Cail in a private car to the Myrah Keating-Smith Clinic, where efforts to save her life failed, according to police.
Police were notified of the death about 2:39 a.m. on the day she was brought to the hospital, authorities said.
“We are all devastated as a family,” Jessica DeVries, who identified herself as Cail’s cousin, said on a Facebook tribute page for Cail.
DeVries wrote that Cail’s parents “are absolutely shook to the core.”
“We are all mourning together and are unbelievably grateful and blessed by the outpouring of love and uplifting experiences you are sharing with us,” DeVries wrote on the tribute page.
Nicole Thibodeau, who also described herself as Cail’s cousin, added in a Facebook post, “Our hearts are broken. Hard to imagine it’s real.”
Cail was originally from Claremont, New Hampshire, and was a star swimmer for much of her youth, her family told ABC affiliate station WMUR in Manchester.
She was also a member of the University of Maine women’s swim team in the 2000-2001 academic year, according to the school’s alumni association.
As a teenager, Cail was a member of a women’s relay team that won a gold medal at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships, according to SwimSwam.com, an online swimming news site.
Lindsay Mintenko, director of USA Swimming, the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United State, released a statement, saying, she and her entire organization “is saddened to hear of Jamie Cail’s passing.”
“Jamie was a proud member of our National Teams in the late 1990s and was a cherished teammate,” Mintenko said. “We extend our condolences to Jamie’s friends and family.”
Other friends and acquaintances of Cail posted tributes to her on the Facebook, describing her as being “a truly a sweet soul” and “a bright light.”
One friend wrote, “Her smile made you feel good even when you weren’t at your best.”
All Time Low‘s Alex Gaskarth and X Ambassadors‘ Sam Harris are covering KISS songs for the soundtrack to the upcoming film Spinning Gold.
As previously reported, Spinning Gold tells the story of Neil Bogart, who founded the label Casablanca Records and helped launch the careers of artists including KISS, Donna Summer, Parliament and Village People. Gaskarth and Harris play KISS members Peter Criss and Paul Stanley, respectively.
On the soundtrack, Gaskarth performs the Criss-sung “Beth,” while Harris takes on “Rock and Roll All Nite” alongside Casey Likes, who’s playing Gene Simmons in the film.
Spinning Gold and its soundtrack will be released March 31.
(WALTERBORO, S.C.) — A jury has found disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh guilty of brutally murdering his wife and younger son at the family’s property in 2021.
The jury reached the verdict after deliberating for nearly three hours Thursday after hearing five weeks of testimony from more than 70 witnesses — including Alex Murdaugh himself, who denied the murders but admitted to lying to investigators and cheating his clients.
He was found guilty on all four counts — two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon in the commitment of a violent crime.
The jury visited the family’s estate, Moselle, on Wednesday to see the crime scene ahead of deliberations. The bodies of Margaret Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family’s estate in June 2021, authorities said.
Alex Murdaugh, 54, who called 911 to report the discovery, was charged with their murders more than a year later. He faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors claim that Alex Murdaugh, who comes from a legacy of prominent attorneys in the region, killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract from his financial wrongdoings.
Meanwhile, the defense has portrayed him as a loving husband and father, and argued that police ignored the possibility that anyone else could have killed them. While testifying, Alex Murdaugh blamed lying to investigators on his addiction to painkillers, which he said caused “paranoid thinking.”
During his nearly four-hour closing argument on Wednesday, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters declared that Alex Murdaugh was the only person “who had the motive, who had the means, who had the opportunity to commit these crimes” and that his “guilty conduct after these crimes betrays him.”
Waters told the jurors that credibility is important and painted Murdaugh as someone good at lying who was used to anticipating how jurors read things.
“This is an individual who was trained to understand how to put together cases, complex cases. He’s been a prosecutor,” said Waters. “He’s given closing arguments to juries before. So, when you have a defendant like that, be thinking about whether or not this individual is constructing defenses and alibis.”
Waters recounted a timeline investigators put together of the three Murdaughs’ cell phones the day of the murders, including a video from Paul Murdaugh’s phone that placed Alex Murdaugh at the kennels minutes before authorities believe the shootings occurred — contradicting earlier statements in which he said he was never at the kennels.
Waters said the last time Alex Murdaugh saw his wife and child alive was the “most important thing” he could have told law enforcement.
“Why in the world would an innocent, reasonable father and husband lie about that and lie about it so early?” Waters said.
The defense argued that the state had failed to meet its burden to prove guilt and that investigators “failed miserably” in the case, deciding immediately that Alex Murdaugh was responsible for killing his wife and son and never looking elsewhere.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin recounted to jurors during his closing argument on Thursday the multiple missed opportunities, pointing out evidence that investigators did not collect including foot imprints, fingerprints and DNA. He also replayed videos in which prosecution witnesses testified about how much Alex Murdaugh loved his wife and son.
“Which brings us to the question, why?” said Griffin, discounting the state’s proposed motive that years of lies and theft were about to catch up to Alex Murdaugh and the murders were a way to divert attention.
“Even if the financial day of reckoning was impending, if it was right there, he would not have killed the people he loved the most in the world,” he said. “There’s no evidence that he would do that.”
Griffin also addressed that Alex Murdaugh admitted to lying to investigators about his alibi the evening of the shootings.
“I probably wouldn’t be sitting over there right now if he did not lie. But he did lie, and he told you he lied,” Griffin told the jurors.”He lied because that’s what addicts do. He lied because he had a closet full of skeletons and he didn’t want any more scrutiny on him.”
In the months following his wife’s and son’s murders, Alex Murdaugh resigned from his law firm, which sued him for allegedly funneling stolen money from clients and the law firm into a fake bank account for years. He also said he entered a rehab facility for opioid addiction.
Alex Murdaugh faces about 100 other charges for allegations ranging from money laundering to staging his own death so his surviving son could cash in on his $10 million life insurance policy. He was also charged for allegedly misappropriating settlement funds in the death of his housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who reportedly died after a falling accident at the Murdaugh family home in February 2018.
ABC News’ Janice McDonald contributed to this report.
(WALTERBORO, S.C.) — The jury has reached a verdict in the double murder trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is accused of killing his wife and younger son at the family’s property in 2021.
The jury deliberated for about three hours Thursday after hearing five weeks of testimony from more than 70 witnesses — including Alex Murdaugh himself, who denied the murders but admitted to lying to investigators and cheating his clients.
The jury visited the family’s estate, Moselle, on Wednesday to see the crime scene ahead of deliberations. The bodies of Margaret Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family’s estate in June 2021, authorities said.
Alex Murdaugh, 54, who called 911 to report the discovery, was charged with their murders more than a year later. He faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors claim that Alex Murdaugh, who comes from a legacy of prominent attorneys in the region, killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract from his financial wrongdoings.
Meanwhile, the defense has portrayed him as a loving husband and father, and argued that police ignored the possibility that anyone else could have killed them. While testifying, Alex Murdaugh blamed lying to investigators on his addiction to painkillers, which he said caused “paranoid thinking.”
During his nearly four-hour closing argument on Wednesday, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters declared that Alex Murdaugh was the only person “who had the motive, who had the means, who had the opportunity to commit these crimes” and that his “guilty conduct after these crimes betrays him.”
Waters told the jurors that credibility is important and painted Murdaugh as someone good at lying who was use to anticipating how jurors read things.
“This is an individual who was trained to understand how to put together cases, complex cases. He’s been a prosecutor,” said Waters. “He’s given closing arguments to juries before. So, when you have a defendant like that, be thinking about whether or not this individual is constructing defenses and alibis.”
Waters recounted a timeline investigators put together of the three Murdaughs’ cell phones the day of the murders, including a video from Paul Murdaugh’s phone that placed Alex Murdaugh at the kennels minutes before authorities believe the shootings occurred — contradicting earlier statements in which he said he was never at the kennels.
Waters said the last time Alex Murdaugh saw his wife and child alive was the “most important thing” he could have told law enforcement.
“Why in the world would an innocent, reasonable father and husband lie about that and lie about it so early?” Waters said.
The defense argued that the state had failed to meet its burden to prove guilt and that investigators “failed miserably” in the case, deciding immediately that Alex Murdaugh was responsible for killing his wife and son and never looking elsewhere.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin recounted to jurors during his closing argument on Thursday the multiple missed opportunities, pointing out evidence that investigators did not collect including foot imprints, fingerprints and DNA. He also replayed videos in which prosecution witnesses testified about how much Alex Murdaugh loved his wife and son.
“Which brings us to the question, why?” said Griffin, discounting the state’s proposed motive that years of lies and theft were about to catch up to Alex Murdaugh and the murders were a way to divert attention.
“Even if the financial day of reckoning was impending, if it was right there, he would not have killed the people he loved the most in the world,” he said. “There’s no evidence that he would do that.”
Griffin also addressed that Alex Murdaugh admitted to lying to investigators about his alibi the evening of the shootings.
“I probably wouldn’t be sitting over there right now if he did not lie. But he did lie, and he told you he lied,” Griffin told the jurors.”He lied because that’s what addicts do. He lied because he had a closet full of skeletons and he didn’t want any more scrutiny on him.”
In the months following his wife’s and son’s murders, Alex Murdaugh resigned from his law firm, which sued him for allegedly funneling stolen money from clients and the law firm into a fake bank account for years. He also said he entered a rehab facility for opioid addiction.
Alex Murdaugh faces about 100 other charges for allegations ranging from money laundering to staging his own death so his surviving son could cash in on his $10 million life insurance policy. He was also charged for allegedly misappropriating settlement funds in the death of his housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who reportedly died after a falling accident at the Murdaugh family home in February 2018.
(WASHINGTON) — The White House on Thursday said the Biden administration does not know what is causing the apparent poisoning of schoolgirls in Iran and called for the Iranian government to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation.
“It’s deeply concerning news coming out of Iran. These — what, what could be the poisoning of young girls that are just going to school,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said. “Truth is, we don’t know right now what caused those ailments. We see reports that the Iranian government are investigating it, that’s the right course of action.
“We want those investigations to be thorough and complete, and we want them to be transparent. Little girls going to school should only have to worry about learning. They shouldn’t have to worry about their own physical safety, but we just don’t know enough right now,” he added.
Kirby wouldn’t say if the U.S. would consider sanctions in reaction to any intentional poisoning. He also wouldn’t say if the U.S. would take the Iranian investigation at face value.
“Let’s see what the results are here first, before we make some kind of snap-judgment,” he said. “We need to know, the world needs to know, certainly the families of those little girls need to know.”
Over the past three months, hundreds of young girls attending different schools in Iran appeared to have been overpowered by what are believed to be noxious fumes wafting into their classrooms, with some ending up weakened on hospital beds, state media and the Associated Press reported.
Officials in Iran’s theocracy initially dismissed these incidents but now describe them as intentional attacks involving some 30 schools identified in local media reports, with some speculating they could be aimed at trying to close schools for girls in this country of over 80 million people, according to sate media.
On Sunday, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency filed multiple stories that included officials acknowledging the scope of the crisis.
“After several poisonings of students in Qom schools, it was found that some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed,” IRNA quoted Younes Panahi, a deputy health minister, as saying.
A health ministry spokesman, Pedram Pakaieen, said the poisoning didn’t come from a virus or a microbe, but neither elaborated.
Ali Reza Monadi, a national parliament member who sits on its education committee, described the poisonings as “intentional.”
The “existence of the devil’s will to prevent girls from education is a serious danger and it is considered a very bad news,” he said, according to IRNA. “We have to try to find roots” of this.
The music video for Twenty One Pilots‘ “Heathens,” the song from the 2016 movie Suicide Squad, has surpassed 2 billion views on YouTube. This is their second video to pass that threshold, the first being their 2015 breakout hit, “Stressed Out.”
Bad Bunny also scored a YouTube milestone: the music video for his 2016 trap anthem “Soy Peor” has passed 1 billion views, becoming his 10th overall to do so.
Selena Gomez is spending time with her family, revealing she went on a fishing trip with her stepfather, Brian Teefey, and little sister, Gracie. She captioned the post, “Texas girl at heart. Cali girl for fun and NY gal for the real. Grateful, thankful and blessed lady!” Images show the fish she and her sister reeled in and how they relaxed on the lake.
The beautiful earrings Taylor Swift wore to the 2023 Grammy Awards are heading to the auction block. The Hollywood Reporterfinds the kite-shaped Lorraine Schwarz earrings will be auctioned by Joopiter, an auction house founded by Pharrell Williams. The earrings have over 136 carats in gemstones, including sapphires, tourmalines and diamonds. The gems are set in 18-karat white gold. The earrings are valued at $3 million.
The Weeknd released the stripped down, a cappella version of his “Die For You” remix that features Ariana Grande. The song is available to purchase now.
Christina Aguilera shared a rare peek of her 8-year-old daughter, Summer, by posting the adorable picture Summer drew, titled, “Mama’s audience and show in Chile.” The audience is drawn in colorful silhouettes. “It’s moments like these that truly make what I do worthwhile,” Christina wrote. “Making new memories around the world with my family and seeing my daughter capture her experiences in her own creative way has been the greatest reward.”
Journey band members Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain have been at odds for a while now, with dueling lawsuits, cease-and-desist letters and more. But in a new article, Billboarddelves into their very public feud.
Amidst the details of their conflict, the mag reveals things have gotten so bad that the bandmates have hired security guards to watch over their dressing rooms in order to keep each other out.
A source tells Billboard Schon first hired two police officers to watch his room during the band’s 2022 tour because he thought “people were out to get him.” Then at a Florida show last spring, Cain caught an assistant, sent by Schon and his wife, Michaele, snooping around his dressing room. There’s no word on what they were looking for, but that prompted Cain to hire security to guard his room during the tour, as well.
The insider says the rest of the tour was filled with fights over whose guard outranked whose. The source notes of the Schons, “That’s just the level of pettiness and control and conspiracy they came to believe in.”
Journey is currently on their 50th anniversary Freedom tour; Billboard notes things are so bad between Schon and Cain that at their January 27 show they stood “at least 20 yards apart at all times, on opposite sides of the stage.” The tour hits University Park, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
