On Monday’s The Tonight Show, “Weird Al” Yankovic joined host Jimmy Fallon and his house band The Roots in the Tonight Show Music Room for a medley of his popular song parodies — performed with classroom instruments.
In the recurring segment, Fallon and The Roots back music artists for a version of one of their popular songs, using instruments you would find in a classroom.
In this case, it was Weird Al, naturally rocking a toy accordion, while Fallon pounded a wood block and Roots members played a toy xylophone, a melodica, a toy guitar, tambourines and shakers.
Together, they ran through renditions of “Another One Rides the Bus,” “White and Nerdy,” “I Want a New Duck,” “Eat It,” “I Love Rocky Road,” “My Bologna” and “Yoda.”
Past music room guests have included Madonna, Justin Bieber, Jonas Brothers, Camila Cabello, Ed Sheeran and Adele.
The sketch followed Friday’s premiere of Weird Al’s new biopic, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story on the Roku channel.
(NEW YORK) — An estimated $2.04 billion is up for grabs in Powerball’s latest jackpot as a delayed drawing occurred Tuesday morning.
The winning numbers are 10, 33, 41, 47, 56 and Powerball of 10.
The drawing was delayed about 10 hours as Powerball announced Monday night that the scheduled drawing “has been delayed due to a participating lottery needing extra time to complete the required security protocols.”
“Powerball has strict security requirements that must be met by all 48 lotteries before a drawing can occur,” Powerball said in a statement. “When the required security protocols are complete, the drawing will be performed under the supervision of lottery security officials and independent auditors.”
The winning numbers were drawn at about 9 a.m. Eastern Time Tuesday on the Powerball YouTube channel and posted to its website.
The drawing commenced after Powerball managed to resolve issued with one of its 48 lotteries.
Lottery officials had asked players for patience and to hold onto their tickets “as the required security procedures are completed by the one outstanding lottery.”
Monday’s $1.9 billion jackpot jumped to $2.04 billion Tuesday morning and is the world’s largest lottery prize ever offered, according to a press release from Powerball. The cash value is $929.1 million.
The jackpot grows based on game sales and interest. But the odds of winning the big prize stays the same — 1 in 292.2 million, Powerball said.
Monday’s Powerball drawing marked the 41st since the jackpot was last won on Aug. 3, tying the game record for the number of consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner, according to Powerball.
Despite there being no jackpot winner, more than 10.9 million tickets won cash prizes totaling $102.2 million in the latest drawing on Saturday night. The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9, Powerball said.
Jackpot winners can either take the money as an immediate cash lump sum or in 30 annual payments over 29 years. Both advertised prize options do not include federal and jurisdictional taxes, according to Powerball.
Tickets cost $2 and are sold in 45 U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was purchased, Powerball said.
Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. The drawings are also livestreamed online at Powerball.com.
When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony took place this past weekend in L.A., some wondered where Alanis Morissette was, as she’d been expected to join Olivia Rodrigo for a duet as part of Carly Simon‘s induction. In fact Variety reports that she’d even shown up at rehearsals and ran through the duet of “You’re So Vain” with Olivia. Now, Alanis is shedding light on why she dropped out of the ceremony.
In a lengthy note posted on her Instagram Story, Alanis says she wants to clarify “misinformed rumblings,” but doesn’t give a specific reason for her absence. However, she hints that it was due to sexism that she apparently experienced on set.
“I have spent decades in an industry that is rife with an overarching anti-woman sentiment and have tolerated a lot of condescension and disrespectfulness, reduction, dismissiveness, contract-breaching, unsupportiveness, exploitation and psychological violence (and more) throughout my career,” she explains.
She goes on to note, “Thankfully, I am at a point in my life where there is no need for me to spend time in an environment that reduces women,” intimating that the Rock Hall ceremony’s “environment” did just that.
Alanis notes that she “adores” Carly Simon, as well as the female artists who took part in the show as either inductees or performers: Olivia, Dolly Parton, Janet Jackson, Pink, Pat Benatar, Sheryl Crow, Sara Bareilles and Brandi Carlile, as well as “all the amazing people and artists who were there.”
She concluded, “I have had countless incredible experiences with production teams with all genders throughout my life. So many, and so fun. There is nothing better than a team of diverse people coming together with one mission. I’ll continue to show up in those environments with bells on.”
Taylor Swift‘s “Anti-Hero” remains at number one for a second week on the Billboard Hot 100, but the real story this week is the triumphant return of Rihanna.
The Fenty Beauty mogul comes in hot with “Lift Me Up,” her ballad from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. The song debuts at number two on the Hot 100, giving Rihanna her first top 10 hit since 2017. As Billboard notes, Rihanna has now had 32 top 10 hits: Only Drake, Taylor Swift, Madonna and The Beatles have had more.
The last time Rihanna was in the top 10 was as part of DJ Khaled‘s “Wild Thoughts,” which featured her and Bryson Tiller. That one made it to number two.
Surprisingly, Rihanna has never had a song debut at number one. “Lift Me Up” is her second to debut at number two, following 2010’s Eminem duet, “Love the Way You Lie.”
Taylor Swift‘s “Anti-Hero” remains at number one for a second week on the Billboard Hot 100, but she no longer has complete control of the Top 10, as she did last week.
Of the 10 that dominated the chart last week, only four remain: “Anti-Hero,” “Lavender Haze” at number six, “Midnight Rain” at number seven and “Bejeweled” at number nine. As previously reported, the songs’ parent album Midnights is number one for a second week on the Billboard Top 200.
Meanwhile, Rihanna comes in hot with “Lift Me Up,” her ballad from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. The song debuts at number two on the Hot 100, giving the Fenty Beauty mogul her first top 10 hit since 2017. As Billboard notes, Rihanna has now had 32 top ten hits: Only Drake, Taylor Swift, Madonna and The Beatles have had more.
The last time Rihanna was in the top 10 was as part of DJ Khaled‘s “Wild Thoughts,” which featured her and Bryson Tiller. That one made it to number two.
Surprisingly, Rihanna has never had a song debut at number one. “Lift Me Up” is her second to debut at number two, following 2010’s Eminem duet, “Love the Way You Lie.”
In anticipation of the November 11 release of the sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, ABC Audio is doing a deep dive into the lore of the Marvel favorite — and here, the man who played him, Chadwick Boseman.
The Oscar nominee died in 2020 at the age of 43, following a years-long, private battle with colon cancer.
After Boseman’s passing, some of his Marvel movie co-stars appeared on a special ABC tribute in his honor. Robert Downey Jr., who played Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, noted, “Always, always humble, always working, always a smile on his face. And then now, looking back, all the more I realized just what an incredibly graceful human being he was.”
Speaking to Whoopi Goldberg, his widow, Simone Ledward Boseman, recalled how his health took a turn for the worse during the pandemic — but it made it easier to hide his condition from the public.
“It was COVID when things were really starting to spiral. And that meant that everybody was in their house and there was no pressure for anybody to go outside.” She added, “It seemed like, ‘Is this a crazy coincidence that we get to actually be inside?’ We get to be here with family, with, you know, together. And everybody in the world is also experiencing this togetherness in the midst of this awful, scary, unpredictable time. We kept that circle real [small] — the circle was basically a dot.”
The interview, part of ABC’s recent Black Panther: In Search of Wakanda, also saw Simone talking about her grief in losing the actor. “Some days I’m doing worse than I’m really willing to acknowledge, and other days I’m doing better than I feel comfortable admitting,” she expressed.
Simone explained, “I can’t believe that I was so lucky. I can’t believe that I got to love this person. And I also got them to love me, too.”
(NEW YORK) — More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin in September announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 08, 8:09 AM EST
Ukraine asks US for new capabilities in fighting Iranian drones
ABC News has obtained a letter sent by a top Ukrainian official to senior members of Congress, asking them to assist Ukraine’s calls for additional air defense systems to counter the attack drones built and supplied by Iran to bolster Russia’s war effort.
Russia has launched waves of deadly attacks in recent weeks, using Iranian-made drones that explode on impact to strike power plants, killing civilians and causing rolling blackouts, plunging millions of Ukrainian homes into darkness.
In the letter, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, calls on the U.S. to provide Ukraine with highly mobile air defense systems known as C-RAMs, saying they would help protect “important objects, especially crucial power plants.”
Nov 08, 6:37 AM EST
US ambassador to UN travels to Ukraine
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield is traveling to Ukraine on Tuesday “to reiterate the United States’ unwavering support as Ukraine defends its freedom and territorial integrity amidst Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion,” according to a statement from the U.S. Mission to the U.N.
While in the country’s capital, Kyiv, Thomas-Greenfield “will meet with Ukrainian government leaders to discuss the ironclad American commitment to the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” and she “will observe efforts to document and preserve evidence of atrocities committed by Russian forces and will hear first-hand accounts of survivors,” according to the U.S. mission.
“Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will also discuss the global food insecurity crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion and will underscore the critical need for an extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative into the coming year,” the U.S. mission said. “She will also meet with humanitarian organizations working to meet winterization needs for vulnerable people impacted by Russia’s attacks on energy and other civilian infrastructure.”
Nov 06, 1:57 PM EST
Biden, German chancellor call Russian nuclear threats ‘irresponsible’
President Joe Biden spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday and both agreed Russia’s nuclear threats stemming the war in Ukraine are “irresponsible,” according to the White House.
Both leaders said they would continue to “provide Ukraine with the economic, humanitarian, and security support it needs to defend against Russia,” the White House said in a statement.
Biden and Scholz also spoke of the chancellor’s recent trip to the People’s Republic of China and, according to White House officials “affirmed their shared commitment to upholding the rules-based international order, human rights, and fair trade practices.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Nov 03, 12:02 PM EDT
Western officials believe Russia is planning ‘orderly, well-planned and deliberate’ military withdrawal from Kherson
Western officials are “confident” Russia’s military is “setting the conditions” for withdrawal from the Ukrainian city of Kherson, the only regional capital that has been occupied by Russian forces since the February.
The Russian military is preparing to make a “strategic” withdrawal and move its forces east across the Dnipro river, officials said.
“It looks like an orderly, well-planned and deliberate military process is taking place,” a Western official told ABC News.
The officials would not put a timeframe on when the withdrawal would happen and added that it is not guaranteed to take place. They downplayed, however, any speculation that the Russians are using the withdrawal to mask a more “nefarious” action in that area.
The officials said their assessment was that the Russians believe Kherson “is not worth fighting for.”
The advance of Ukrainian forces in Kherson has slowed over the past three weeks.
In mid-October, the newly appointed commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, General Surovikin, said “difficult decisions” may be necessary in Kherson.
Senior Ukrainian officials have suggested more recently that Russian forces are preparing to fight for Kherson and a source on the ground told ABC News that the Russian military is still moving in and out of the city.
-ABC News’ Tom Burridge
Nov 02, 12:14 PM EDT
North Korea covertly shipping ammunition to Russia for war in Ukraine, US says
North Korea was secreting sending ammunition to Russia to use in its invasion of Ukraine and is disguising the shipments as appearing to be destined to the Middle East or North Africa, the White House said Wednesday.
“Our information indicates that [North Korea] is covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells, while obfuscating the real destination of the arms shipments by trying to make it appear as though they’re being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby said North Korea was sending “a significant number of artillery shells.” He did not specify an exact number but said it was more than “dozens.”
“But we don’t believe that they are in such a quantity that they would tangibly change the direction of this war or tangibly change the momentum either in the east or in the south” of Ukraine, he said.
Kirby added, “We’re gonna continue to monitor whether these shipments are received.”
In September, the U.S. had said Russia is looking to purchase millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea, saying at the time that this indicated the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Nov 02, 12:01 PM EDT
Russia waives veiled threat on use of nuclear weapons
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a warning to nations with nuclear capabilities, calling on them to abandon attempts to infringe on each other’s vital interests, warning that direct armed conflict and provocations with weapons of mass destruction can lead to catastrophic consequences.
Russia claimed it believes there can be no winners of nuclear war and said it refarrims its commitment to the prevention of nuclear warm.
“A reaction with the use of nuclear weapons is hypothetically allowed by Russia only in response to aggression using weapons of mass destruction or aggression using conventional weapons, when the existence of the state is threatened,” the ministry said in a statement.
The White House has said it will not confirm or deny New York Times reporting that senior Russian military officials had recently discussed when and how Russia might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine. The intelligence about the conversations was reportedly circulated inside the U.S. government in mid-October.
But, Russian President Vladimir Putin was not a part of these alleged conversations, according to the New York Times.
The White House on Wednesday said it still sees “no indications that Russia is making preparations” to use nuclear weapons.
-ABC News’ Natalia Shumskaia and Ben Gittleson
Nov 02, 12:14 PM EDT
North Korea covertly shipping ammunition to Russia for war in Ukraine, US says
North Korea was secretly sending ammunition to Russia to use in its invasion of Ukraine and is disguising the shipments as appearing to be destined to the Middle East or North Africa, the White House said Wednesday.
“Our information indicates that [North Korea] is covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells, while obfuscating the real destination of the arms shipments by trying to make it appear as though they’re being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby said North Korea was sending “a significant number of artillery shells.” He did not specify an exact number but said it was more than “dozens.”
“But we don’t believe that they are in such a quantity that they would tangibly change the direction of this war or tangibly change the momentum either in the east or in the south” of Ukraine, he said.
Kirby added, “We’re gonna continue to monitor whether these shipments are received.”
In September, the U.S. had said Russia is looking to purchase millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea, saying at the time that this indicated the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine.
Nov 02, 12:01 PM EDT
Russia waives veiled threat on use of nuclear weapons
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a warning to nations with nuclear capabilities, calling on them to abandon attempts to infringe on each other’s vital interests, warning that direct armed conflict and provocations with weapons of mass destruction can lead to catastrophic consequences.
Russia claimed it believes there can be no winners of nuclear war and said it reaffirms its commitment to the prevention of nuclear warm.
“A reaction with the use of nuclear weapons is hypothetically allowed by Russia only in response to aggression using weapons of mass destruction or aggression using conventional weapons, when the existence of the state is threatened,” the ministry said in a statement.
The White House has said it will not confirm or deny New York Times reporting that senior Russian military officials had recently discussed when and how Russia might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine. The intelligence about the conversations was reportedly circulated inside the U.S. government in mid-October.
But, Russian President Vladimir Putin was not a part of these alleged conversations, according to the New York Times.
The White House on Wednesday said it still sees “no indications that Russia is making preparations” to use nuclear weapons.
Nov 02, 8:40 AM EDT
Russia rejoins wartime deal on Ukrainian grain exports
Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday that Russia has agreed to resume its participation in a deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations to keep grain and other commodities shipping out of Ukraine’s ports amid the ongoing war.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, that the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative would “continue in the same way as before” as of noon Wednesday, according to Erdogan.
The renewed agreement, first reached over the summer, will prioritize shipments to African countries, including drought-ravaged Somalia, after Russia expressed concerns that most of the grain was ending up in richer nations.
Moscow agreed to return to the deal after receiving written guarantees from Kyiv that Ukraine would not use the safe shipping corridors through the Black Sea for military actions against Russian forces, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Russia had suspended its role in the deal over the weekend, after accusing Ukrainian forces of carrying out a “massive” drone attack on its Black Sea fleet on Saturday.
Turkey and the U.N. brokered separate deals with Russia and Ukraine in July to allow Ukraine to resume its shipment of grain from the Black Sea to world markets and for Russia to export grain and fertilizers.
Since Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, the cost of grain, fertilizer and fuel has skyrocketed worldwide. Russia and Ukraine — often referred to collectively as Europe’s breadbasket — produce a third of the global supply of wheat and barley, but a Russian blockade in the Black Sea combined with Ukrainian naval mines have made exporting siloed grain and other foodstuffs virtually impossible. As a result, millions of people around the world — particularly in Africa and the Middle East — are now on the brink of famine.
Nov 01, 3:01 PM EDT
Ukraine does not have effective defenses against Iranian ballistic missiles, air force official claims
Iranian ballistic missiles, which Russia plans to purchase from Iran, will probably be placed on the northern border of Ukraine, the spokesman of the Ukrainian Airborne Forces Yuri Ignat said Tuesday.
Ignat claimed the ballistic missiles’ range was 300 km for one and 700 km for another.
“We have no effective defense against these missiles. It is theoretically possible to shoot them down, but in fact it is very difficult to do it with the means we have at our disposal. We have air defense, not missile defense,” he said.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd
Nov 01, 3:01 PM EDT
Russia announces wider evacuation of occupied southern Ukraine
As Ukrainian forces advance to capture the city of Kherson, Russian forces are ordering civilians out of parts of the now-occupied city. Some 70,000 people along a 15 kilometer (10 mile) stretch of the left bank of the Dnipro River will be evacuated deeper into the Kherson region or to Russia, according to the Russian-installed leader of the occupied Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo.
Russia had previously ordered civilians out of an area it controls on the west bank of the river.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 31, 7:07 PM EDT
Russia’s withdrawal from grain deal ‘collective punishment’ for world: State Department
State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Monday lambasted Russia’s recent decision to withdraw from the U.N.-brokered deal that allowed for grain to be exported through the Black Sea — likely to be a chief focus of this week’s G-7 ministerial meeting and potentially the G-20 Leaders’ Summit next month.
“We deeply regret Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is having immediate, harmful impacts on global food security,” Price said during a press briefing. “Russia should return to full participation in the initiative, and we urge all parties to swiftly agree to sustain this crucial program through the months to come.”
“Any disruption to the initiative risks spiking food prices, lowering the confidence of insurers and commercial shippers who have returned to Black Sea routes, and further imposing hardships on low-income countries already reeling from dire humanitarian crises and global food insecurity,” he added.
Price said Russia’s reneging had already caused future contracts for foodstuff to rise, even though some ships appear to have been allowed to pass through the water routes with their cargo following Moscow’s announcement.
“We’ve seen Russia engage in what appears to be collective punishment for the people of Ukraine,” he said. “But Moscow’s suspension of the initiative would be tantamount to collective punishment for the rest of the world — but especially lower- and middle-income countries that so desperately needed this grain.”
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 31, 3:32 PM EDT
Ukraine energy company warns about attacks on energy infrastructure
Following a series of coordinated strikes across Ukraine this Monday morning, Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK says it’s running out of equipment and spare parts needed for repairs of the damaged infrastructure facilities.
“Unfortunately, we have already used up the stock of equipment that we had in our warehouses after the first two waves of attacks that have been taking place since Oct. 10,” said DTEK Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk. “We were able to purchase some equipment. But unfortunately, the cost of the equipment is now measured in hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Most parts have been already used for repairs following previous Russian strikes, he added.
Oct 31, 4:54 AM EDT
Russia launches waves of missiles at energy targets
Russia on Monday morning again launched a series of coordinated strikes across Ukraine, targeting energy infrastructure, including in the Kyiv region.
Ukraine’s military said it shot down 44 cruise missiles as the Russians launched “several waves of missile attacks on critical infrastructure facilities” across the country.
About five distant booms could be heard in central Kyiv at about 8 a.m. local time.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, confirmed that a power plant has been hit, meaning mid-morning around 350,000 homes in the capital were left without power. Kyiv’s water supply has also been compromised, according to a water company.
A local official said “critical infrastructure” had also been hit in the Chernivtsi region in southwestern Ukraine.
Critical infrastructure has also been hit and damaged in Zaporizhzhia in the south, according to another local official.
Other regions of Ukraine appear to have been targeted, including Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Poltava and Lviv.
There are currently no reports of significant casualties.
ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge
Oct 30, 10:02 AM EDT
Blinken accuses Russia of ‘weaponizing food’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed Russia’s decision to pull out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative as a statement from the Kremlin that “people and families around the world should pay more for food or go hungry.”
Russia announced it is withdrawing from the U.N.-brokered grain deal in response to a drone attack Saturday in the waters of the Sevastopol Bay, in the Black Sea near Crimea.
Russia’s decision, Blinken said, is jeopardizing grain shipments he described as “life-saving.”
“In suspending this arrangement, Russia is again weaponizing food in the war it started, directly impacting low- and middle-income countries and global food prices, and exacerbating already dire humanitarian crises and food insecurity,” Blinken said in a statement released Saturday night.
He said 9 million metric tons of food has been shipped under the agreement, which was signed and launched in July. He said the shipments have reduced food prices around the world.
“We urge the Government of Russia to resume its participation in the Initiative, fully comply with the arrangement, and work to ensure that people around the world continue to be able to receive the benefits facilitated by the Initiative,” Blinken said.
Blinken’s statement echoed what President Joe Biden said earlier Saturday, calling Russia’s withdrawal from the initiative, “purely outrageous.”
“It’s going to increase starvation. There’s no reason for them to do that, but they’re always looking for some rationale to be able to say the reason they’re doing something outrageous is because the West made them do it. And it’s just not,” Biden said. “There’s no merit to what they’re doing. The UN negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.”
The ABC drama A Million Little Things will end with its upcoming fifth season. “We can’t believe this incredible journey is coming to an end. But as we’ve always said from the beginning, we would end this journey when the time was right. And as hard as it is to say it, now feels like the right time to say goodbye,” the show’s stars, Grace Park, David Giuntoli, Christina Moses, James Roday Rodriguez, Stephanie Szostak and Romany Malco shared in a video released on Monday. The show, which debuted in 2018, follows a tight-knit group of friends who become motivated to live fuller lives after the unexpected death of a close friend. A Million Little Things returns for its fifth and final season February 8…
Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya has joined the voice cast of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — a sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, according to Entertainment Weekly. The Oscar-winning actor will be voicing Hobart “Hobie” Brown, a.k.a. Spider-Punk, who “gains spider powers and declares himself Spider-Punk, fighting for freedom and defeating his enemies with the power of punk-rock.” He joins Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 and Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy. Across the Spider-Verse is set to hit theaters in June 2023, with a second, Beyond the Spider-Verse, slated for a March 2024 release. Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News…
Jimmy Kimmel‘s ABC late night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! will literally air live on Election night, Tuesday Novemeber 8. He’ll be joined by Bill Maher, host of HBO’s Real Time, and George Conway, a lawyer, co-founder of anti-Donald Trump activist group The Lincoln Project and husband of Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway. Kimmel joins Stephen Colbert, who’ll also be hosting CBS’ Late Show live. Kimmel’s show, which airs at 11:35am ET on ABC, will be sandwiched between ABC News coverage of the midterm elections. The last time the show went live was for the 2018 midterm elections. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Late Show with James Corden will be pre-empted for news coverage…
There’s bad and good news for The Wonder Years fans. The ABC comedy has been left off of the network’s fall schedule, but will air in the summer of 2023. Season two of The Wonder Years, starring Dulé Hill and and narrated by Don Cheadle, will feature guest stars including Patti LaBelle, Wayne Brady, Tituss Burgess, Donald Faison, Phoebe Robinson and Bradley Whitford. A premiere date has yet to be announced…
(NEW YORK) — ABC News has obtained a letter sent by a top Ukrainian official to senior members of Congress, asking them to assist Ukraine’s calls for additional air defense systems to counter the attack drones built and supplied by Iran to bolster Russia’s war effort.
Russia has launched waves of deadly attacks in recent weeks, using Iranian-made drones that explode on impact to strike power plants, killing civilians and causing rolling blackouts, plunging millions of Ukrainian homes into darkness.
In the letter, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, calls on the U.S. to provide Ukraine with highly mobile air defense systems known as C-RAMs, saying they would help protect “important objects, especially crucial power plants.”
C-RAMs have a built-in radar to track incoming threats and a giant rapid-fire gun to shoot them down, with NATO saying the “most effective” systems are able to fire 4,500 rounds per minute.
A senior Ukrainian politician told ABC News that the Ukrainian government has also made an official request to the Biden administration for the C-RAMs systems.
ABC contacted the Ukranian Ministry of Defense for comment. The Pentagon does not comment on specific Ukrainian requests for weaponry.
However, Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Garron Garn told ABC News this week that U.S. support “focuses on equipment that is relevant for the current fight.”
“We are working around the clock to fulfill Ukraine’s priority security assistance requests, delivering weapons from U.S. stocks when they are available,” he added.
As things stand, Ukrainian officials say they are using an array of methods to shoot down the drones.
Ukrainian fighter jets are being used to track them and, in some instances, shoot them down, according to the Ukrainian politician who has been briefed on the matter.
“We are using all kinds of different stuff [to destroy the Iranian drones],” the source told ABC News, adding that the Ukrainian military even sometimes resorts to shoulder-launched anti-tank weapons to counter the threat.
The White House last month indicated that Russia is launching Iranian-supplied drones from Crimea, a peninsula to the south of mainland Ukraine that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
The White House National Security Council spokesperson, John Kirby, also said at the time that a “relatively small number” of Iranian personnel had been on the ground in Crimea to assist the Russians in how to operate the drones.
The drones fly slowly, giving the Ukrainian military a matter of hours from the moment they are launched from Crimea, through to when they reach their targets, Ukrainian officials said.
However, Ukrainian officials said the drones are able to change trajectory mid-flight, making it harder for the military to position assets that could shoot them down.
In his letter, Stefanchuk also asks senior U.S. lawmakers to assist him in asking the Biden administration to provide longer-range missiles so that the Ukrainian military could destroy targets such as “stocks of Iranian drones, deep behind the enemy lines on the occupied territory of Ukraine.”
On Monday, Ukraine’s defense minister announced that advanced air defense systems for countering Russian missiles and rockets, called NASAMS, had arrived in Ukraine. A senior U.S. official confirmed that two systems were delivered to Ukraine.
The U.S. announced in August that it promised another six NASAMS launchers to Ukraine, but it could be some time until they arrive in the country.
A Ukrainian government source said the Ukrainian government was talking to all of its partners, including the U.S., about creating a “comprehensive and wide” air defense system “all across Ukraine.”
“We’re not talking about a few systems near the front lines,” the official added. “If we have this [comprehensive air defense] system, this war can end sooner and that’s in all of our interests.”
Last month, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley called the project a priority.
At a NATO meeting, he stressed that air defense systems would have to be provided to Ukraine by a number of countries.
“The task is then to bring those together, get them deployed, get them [the Ukrainians] trained, because each of these systems is different,” Milley said.
Last weekend, after weeks of denials, Iran finally acknowledged that it has supplied Russia with drones.
However, Iran’s foreign minister claimed Tehran only sold a relatively small number of drones to Russia and did so before President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.
He also claimed that Iran had no knowledge that the drones were being used to attack Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Iran of “lying.”
(NEW YORK) — A number of severe weather alerts are now in effect along Florida’s east coast as Subtropical Storm Nicole makes its way toward the Sunshine State.
The National Weather Service has warned that Nicole could be as strong as a hurricane when it arrives in eastern Florida late Wednesday.
The storm could impact election week in the southeastern U.S. state, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is running against Democratic rival Charlie Crist and Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., is trying to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 34 of Florida’s 67 counties.
“While this storm does not, at this time, appear that it will become much stronger, I urge all Floridians to be prepared,” the governor said in a statement Monday. “We will continue to monitor the trajectory and strength of this storm as it moves towards Florida.”
Meanwhile, Florida Power & Light has urged customers to prepare for power outages and activated its emergency response plan ahead of Nicole’s potential impact on the state this week.
“[Hurricane] Ian saturated soil and weakened trees in many parts of the state, so Nicole could cause trees to topple over and other vegetation and debris to blow into overhead power lines and equipment, which may cause outages,” Florida Power & Light chairman and CEO Eric Silagy said in a statement Monday.
Nicole formed in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean on Monday, becoming the 14th named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends this month. Nicole’s center is expected to approach the northwestern Bahamas on Tuesday, move near or over those islands on Wednesday, then approach the east coast of Florida and make landfall there late Wednesday night. It will move across central and northern Florida into southern Georgia on Thursday, according to the latest forecast from the National Weather Service.
Currently, Nicole wields maximum sustained winds of about 50 miles per hour, with higher gusts. Winds of 40 mph extend outward up to 380 miles from the storm’s center.
“Nicole is expected to make a transition to a tropical storm later today and begin strengthening, and it is forecast to be near or at hurricane strength by Wednesday and Wednesday night while it is moving near the northwestern Bahamas and approaching the east coast of Florida,” the National Weather Service said in a public advisory on Tuesday morning.
The National Weather Service has issued hurricane and tropical storm warnings for parts of the northwestern Bahamas. Tropical storm and storm surge warnings, tropical storm and storm surge watches as well as hurricane watches were issued for portions of southern and central Florida as well as coastal southeastern Georgia.
“Interests in the central Bahamas, the remainder of Florida, and along the southeastern coast of the United States should monitor the progress of Nicole,” the National Weather Service said in a public advisory on Tuesday morning. “Additional watches or warnings may be required later today.”
Hurricane conditions are expected in the northwestern Bahamas, within the hurricane warning area, on Wednesday, with tropical storm conditions beginning across the entire area by Tuesday night. A storm surge could raise water levels by as much as 4 to 6 feet above normal tide levels along the coast in areas of onshore winds, according to the National Weather Service.
Hurricane conditions are possible along Florida’s east coast, within the hurricane watch area, by Wednesday night, with tropical storm conditions expected to begin Tuesday night or early Wednesday. Tropical storm conditions are also possible along Florida’s west coast, within the watch area, by Wednesday night.
Through Friday, Nicole is expected to produce between 3 and 5 inches of rainfall across the northwestern Bahamas into the eastern, central and northern part of the Florida Peninsula, with a maximum of 7 inches for localized rain. Southeastern Georgia into portions of South Carolina could see 1 to 4 inches of rain. The storm’s “heavy rainfall” will spread north farther up the Eastern Seaboard late Thursday into Friday, the National Weather Service said.
Large swell waves generated by Nicole will affect the northwestern Bahamas, the east coast of Florida and much of the southeastern U.S. coast over the next several days.
“These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the National Weather Service warned.
Tropical weather systems have the potential to quickly grow into hurricanes, while subtropical ones do not. A subtropical storm typically generates more rain and heavy thunderstorms. If a subtropical storm intensifies enough to have hurricane-force winds, then it has become fully tropical. There is no such thing as a subtropical hurricane, according to the National Weather Service.
