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Tens of thousands of Russians flee Putin’s mobilization

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(RUSSIA) — Tens of thousands of Russians continue to try to flee the country, fearful of being caught up in the military mobilization ordered by president Vladimir Putin last week to replenish his forces in Ukraine.

Miles-long lines of traffic have formed at border crossings with some neighboring countries amid the exodus, as Russians pack exit routes, worried the government might soon impose further restrictions on military age men leaving.

Officials in Kazakhstan, which borders Russia to the south, said 98,000 Russians have crossed into their country since Putin announced the mobilization last Wednesday. Georgia’s interior ministry told ABC News Tuesday that 100,000 had entered its territory in the past few days. Tens of thousands more have left via other countries, including Finland and Mongolia. The European Union’s border service said 66,000 Russians had entered the bloc over the past week, 30% more than the week before.

Russians began fleeing the country within hours of Putin’s ordering what he called a “partial” mobilization to call-up 300,000 men in an effort to reverse the course of his faltering war in Ukraine. In reality, experts say there are little restrictions on who can be drafted and there are widespread reports of men being mobilized regardless of their eligibility.

Although the mobilization for now is officially meant to apply only to those with some military experience, many fear the criteria could be expanded and that the government could block military age men from leaving the country. Men subject to the draft are barred from leaving the country and widespread reports are emerging of men with military experience being turned back from borders.

At the Verkhny Lars crossing where Russia borders Georgia, a line of hundreds of cars has formed, stretching back around 12 miles, according to journalists there, with thousands of people waiting, some sleeping in their cars. The BBC reported 2,500 cars were currently in the line, citing Russia’s customs service.

Russian authorities on Tuesday confirmed that Russian troops with armored vehicles had set up a checkpoint at the crossing to turn back those subject to the call-up and were handing out draft papers there. Officials said a mobile enlistment office had also been set up at the border crossing.

Kazakhstan, which has a nearly 5,000 mile-long border with Russia and a relaxed entry regime, has become a magnet for those leaving, with border crossings swamped. A 37-year-old man who entered Kazakhstan Monday near the Oral-Uralsk crossing said the line of traffic waiting at one checkpoint point now stretched nearly 20 miles.

“There’s simply a hellish line — it’s endless. And moreover at all checkpoints,” the man, a manager from Tver, a city just outside Moscow, said by phone. He asked to remain anonymous for fear of punishment by the Russian authorities.

The man said he had spent 20 hours by road to reach the border from Moscow and was now in the border city of Uralsk, on the Kazakhstan side. Although he is currently not subject to the draft because he has no military experience, he said he had still decided to flee because he feared the borders being closed soon and did not believe in fighting against Ukraine.

“There is a risk that later you will simply find yourself in a cage,” he said.

He said he had chosen to leave despite having only $250 in his pocket and planned to stay with relatives initially, before finding work in Kazakhstan.

“I’m preparing myself for a hard time. I’m preparing myself that I won’t know where to sleep, what I’m going to eat,” he said.

A local journalist writing for the Russian outlet Novaya Gazeta.eu wrote, that hundreds of Russian men with luggage could be seen on the streets in Uralsk. Local authorities have reportedly commandeered a cinema to house some of the influx.

The sudden mobilization has abruptly brought home the war for millions of Russians, after months during which the Kremlin has sought to present it as a distant conflict with little effect on people’s daily lives. Group chats have sprung up on the Telegram social media platform, where Russians anxiously trade information about potential crossing points and look for spots on transport headed over the borders. One chat called Guide to the Free World, has over 100,000 members.

The Kremlin has said for now it has made no decision on whether to close Russia’s borders in response to the mobilization.

Asked by journalists on Monday about reports in independent Russian media that the Kremlin was considering closures in the coming days, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was “not aware of anything about that.”

“At the present moment, no decisions have been taken on that account,” he said.

The branches of the Federal Security Service in the southern Kurgan and Tyumen regions told the TASS state news agency, that border guards were stopping those subject to mobilization, informing them they must appear at their enlistment offices.

South Carolina House rejects bill to ban abortions with few exceptions

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(COLUMBIA, SC) — The South Carolina House rejected a bill Tuesday that would’ve banned nearly all abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected. The proposed ban would have made exceptions for when the mother’s life or health is in danger, for fetuses with fatal anomalies and first-trimester pregnancies that are a result of rape or incest.

The bill was introduced by the state Senate in September after it rejected an abortion ban proposed by the House. The proposed legislation comes as the state Supreme Court blocked a six-week ban on abortion from going into effect amid ongoing litigation.

The bill failed with a vote of 95 to 11, as lawmakers remain at odds over regulating abortion in the state.

The bill would have made it illegal to perform an abortion or administer or distribute drugs that induce an abortion. A person found guilty of providing an abortion would have faced a fine of $10,000 and jail time of up to two years.

The proposed bill would have also required physicians who provide abortion services in line with the exceptions for rape or incest to report the procedure to their county sheriff’s department within 24 hours of performing or inducing the abortion.

Physicians would have been required to report the name and contact information for the woman making the allegation and to preserve a DNA sample from the fetal remains and submit it as evidence to authorities.

The bill required abortion providers to add a note to the patient’s medical records stating that the abortion was performed under one of the exceptions.

Under the bill, Planned Parenthood would’ve also been prevented from utilizing state funds for any purposes related to abortions.

In August, the state House passed a near-total ban on abortion which only provided exceptions for pregnancies that are a result of rape and incest. The state Senate rejected the bill, passing its own abortion bill and sending it back to the House.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster had signaled he would sign an abortion ban into law, telling ABC News in August that he would “carefully consider any legislation that ultimately reaches his desk, but he believes this is a good starting point for the Senate to begin its deliberations,” referring to the first House bill.

McMaster also approved in February 2021 a package of bills banning abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected. The ban took effect after Roe was overturned, but is now blocked by the South Carolina Supreme Court while justices review a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood in July. The lawsuit claims that the ban is an invasion of privacy and violation of equal protection under the state constitution.

Zac Brown Band unveils Jimmy Buffett as final collaborator on ’The Comeback Deluxe’

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Zac Brown Band has revealed the final collaboration on the deluxe edition of The Comeback.

The Grammy-winning group will once again team up with Jimmy Buffett for a new rendition of their chart-topping hit “Same Boat.” ZBB and Buffett famously collaborated on the 2011 single “Knee Deep,” which hit #1 on country radio and reached the top 20 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.

“Same Boat” was originally released in 2021 as the lead single off The Comeback and became their first #1 song since “Beautiful Drug” in 2016.

In addition to Buffett, ZBB has a handful of other multigenre collaborations lined up for the deluxe edition, including the previously released duet with Cody Johnson on “Wild Palomino” and a reimagining of their current top 15 single, “Out in the Middle,” featuring Blake Shelton.

Ingrid Andress appears on “Any Day Now,” legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor lends his voice to “Love and Sunsets,” and Jamey Johnson and Marcus King join the band for “Stubborn Pride.”

The Comeback Deluxe drops on Friday.

Jury selection begins in Oath Keepers’ Jan. 6 conspiracy trial

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Jury selection is underway Tuesday in one of the most complex and crucial cases being brought by the Justice Department in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, as five members of the Oath Keepers anti-government group — including its founder Stewart Rhodes — stand trial on charges that they conspired together to oppose by force the lawful transition of presidential power.

The trial, which is expected to last over a month, could prove to be the toughest test yet for prosecutors in the DOJ’s sprawling investigation of the Jan. 6 attack, which has so far resulted in federal charges against nearly 900 defendants.

Failing to secure convictions against Rhodes or others in the case with the rarely-brought seditious conspiracy statute, experts say, could prove to be a significant setback to the department’s ongoing efforts to target alleged domestic extremist groups driven to carry out acts of violence against the government.

Rhodes, Thomas Caldwell, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson and Jessica Watkins are among the first group of Oath Keepers to go to trial for seditious conspiracy and multiple other felony charges connected to their alleged actions surrounding the Capitol attack. Four other members of the group are scheduled to go to trial in late November.

The government has already secured three guilty pleas for seditious conspiracy from Oath Keepers Joshua James, William Todd Wilson and Brian Ulrich, all of whom admitting they joined the group with the goal of using force to stop the peaceful transfer of power from then-outgoing President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden.

The group is alleged to have stashed firearms and ammunition at hotels surrounding Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, and used encrypted communications to coordinate their actions breaching the Capitol and seeking out lawmakers involved in the certification of Biden’s election win.

Prosecutors say images they have submitted in court filings filings show members of the group, clad in tactical gear, moving through the pro-Trump mob up the Capitol steps in a military-style “stack” formation to enter the building.

Prosecutors allege that multiple members of the group remained back at a Ballston, Virginia, hotel during the attack as part of a “Quick Reaction Force” that was tasked with rapidly transporting weapons to D.C., possibly by ferrying them up the Potomac River, if they were called up by Rhodes.

While Rhodes is not alleged to have entered the Capitol building itself, prosecutors have singled him out as a lead coordinator in calling on various chapters of the group around the country to come to Washington, and calling on members to ready themselves for a potential “civil war” to keep Trump in office.

The trial, in D.C. district court, is expected to feature testimony from dozens of witnesses, with prosecutors planning to introduce thousands of private messages sent between members of the group leading up to and following the Jan. 6 attack that detail their alleged plans to keep Biden from taking office.

The federal judge overseeing the case, Amit Mehta, recently rejected a last-minute effort from Rhodes to delay the trial and replace the legal team that had represented him since his arrest in January of this year.

Mehta has similarly rejected requests from other members of the group to delay the trial, as they argued that potential public hearings or the release of an interim report by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack would serve to taint any jury impaneled in the case.

Maryland couple pleads guilty to selling nuclear-related secrets

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(ANNAPOLIS, MD) — Jonathan and Diana Toebbe pleaded guilty for a second time on Tuesday to federal charges that they tried to sell secrets about U.S. submarine nuclear propulsion systems to a foreign country.

The couple originally pleaded guilty in February but a judge threw out the plea agreements last month after deciding the sentences called for were too low.

The Toebbes, of Annapolis, Maryland, seemed to neighbors and co-workers to be the typical suburban couple before they were arrested last October for allegedly scheming to sell secrets about Virginia-class nuclear submarines to a foreign country, which was not identified in court papers but was Brazil, a source told ABC News.

At the time of his plea, Toebbe conceded he sent a package to a foreign government, listing a return address in Pittsburgh that contained a sample of restricted data and instructions for establishing relationship to buy additional restricted data.

Toebbe said he began corresponding with someone he thought was a representative of the foreign government who was really an undercover FBI agent.

On June 8, 2021, the undercover agent sent $10,000 in cryptocurrency to Toebbe as “good faith” payment.

A few weeks later, Jonathan and Diana Toebbe traveled to a location in West Virginia, prosecutors said. There, with Diana Toebbe acting as a lookout, Jonathan Toebbe placed an SD card concealed within half a peanut butter sandwich at a pre-arranged “dead drop” location, they said.

After retrieving the SD card, the undercover agent sent Jonathan Toebbe a $20,000 cryptocurrency payment, prosecutors said. In return, Jonathan Toebbe emailed the undercover agent a decryption key for the SD card. A review of the SD card revealed that it contained restricted data related to submarine nuclear reactors, the indictment said.

Diana Toebbe, 46, pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to communicate restricted data, conceding she “knowingly and voluntarily” joined a conspiracy with her husband, a former nuclear engineer for the U.S. Navy, to sell secrets to a foreign country, which ABC News has previously identified as Brazil.

“I acted as lookout for my husband when he serviced three dead drops,” Toebbe said.

According to the charging documents, one of those dead drops included a blue 16GB SanDisk SD “wrapped in plastic and placed between two slices of bread on a half of a peanut butter sandwich.”

The new plea agreement appeared to call for a sentence of about 12 years in prison, four times as long as Diana Toebbe’s prior agreement. Magistrate Judge Robert Trumble accepted her plea but noted a different judge would determine whether the new sentencing terms were sufficient.

Jonathan Toebbe, 43, also pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring to communicate restricted data pursuant to an agreement that calls for a sentence of up to 17 years in prison.

Toebbe sent a letter to the intelligence service of Brazil in April 2020 that “stated a desire to sell documents containing U.S. Navy information marked CONFIDENTIAL that included printouts, digital media files containing technical details, operations manuals, and performance reports,” the charging documents said.

“I apologize for this poor translation into your language. Please forward this letter to your military intelligence agency. I believe this information will be of great value to your nation. This is not a hoax,” the letter said, according to the criminal complaint.

His theft “irreparably compromised” a critical component of national defense, Judge Gina Groh said in August when she rejected the initial plea agreements.

At the hearing, Groh read an impact statement submitted by the Navy that said, in part, the “breadth and depth of Mr. Toebbe’s betrayal for personal gain is extraordinary.”

“Batgirls get lonely, too”: Leslie Grace shares more behind-the-scenes peeks at shelved movie

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Leslie Grace is sharing more behind-the-scenes peeks at Batgirl, the now-scuttled film in which she played Barbara Gordon/Batgirl.

On her Instagram, and set to a song she apparently wrote with singer-songwriter Lauren LaRue that was initially called “Bad Girls Get Lonely, Too,” Grace is seen being put through her paces on and off set.

Grace is shown training for her role as the titular heroine and bearing the bruises her character endures in the course of the movie. One shows her tangling with Firefly, the baddie who was played by Brendan Fraser.

There’s also more lighthearted moments in between shots of time in the make-up chair or at the training gym. One shows Grace showing off a 3D printed ambigram — the model displays “Leslie” or “Batgirl,” depending on how it’s positioned.

Another shows Leslie being offered a cookie in shape of her Batsuit’s chest emblem.

Regarding the song, Grace explained she laughed at the fact that the lyrics sounded like “Batgirls are lonely, too.” She noted, “in any case, over the last couple weeks, the song obviously took on a whole other meaning – as if it were written with all of the recent events in mind!”

What’s behind dramatic drop in monkeypox cases in the US

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — After weeks of rising cases, the monkeypox outbreak appears to be significantly slowing down in the United States.

As of Sept. 21, the latest date for which data is available, the seven-day case average was 197, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is a 50% drop from the seven-day rolling average of 394 recorded one month ago, the data shows.

Similar situations are occurring in cities across the U.S. In New York City — the epicenter of the outbreak — the seven-day average of infections has declined by 85.7% over the course of a month from 35 to five, as of Sept. 23, according to data from the city’s Department of Health & Mental Hygiene.

Additionally, in Los Angeles, the seven-day average has fallen by 80.5% from 36 to seven, as of Sept. 26, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health data shows.

Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told ABC News there are two reasons why monkeypox infections are trending downward.

One reason is that at-risk people have changed their behaviors.

The outbreak has primarily been concentrated in men who have sex with men, a group that includes people who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender and nonbinary, although health officials have said anyone — regardless of sexual orientation — is at risk if they have direct contact with an infected patient.

Schaffner said those at risk have been inundated with information about how to reduce their risk and have followed doctors’ advice.

“There’s been a terrific amount of public health education that’s gone out and it’s gone out particularly to the MSM community and the LBGTQ community that’s been primarily affected,” he said. “So, you have a target population, they’ve been literally flooded, in some instances, with information about monkeypox, and what you as an individual can do to protect yourself against becoming infected.”

Schaffner added, “And so a lot of the communication I think, has been successful. And here’s the inferential part, I think people may have altered some of their behaviors, to reduce their risk.”

A joint survey from the CDC, Emory University and Johns Hopkins University found about one-half of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men reduced their number of sexual partners, one-time anonymous partners, and reduced use of dating apps.

The second reason for the decline is vaccinations, Schaffner said.

As of Sept. 20, more than 684,000 JYNNEOS vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S., CDC data shows. As of the week ending Sept. 10, the number of second doses administered are more than the number of first doses, meaning people are returning to receive full protection.

Last month, to increase the number of doses available, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a new strategy to inject the vaccine intradermally, just below the first layer of skin, rather than subcutaneously, or under all the layers of skin — allowing one vial of vaccine to be administered as five separate doses rather than a single dose.

“We had data that told us it would be as effective and that appears also to be working,” Schaffner said. “[There’s been] acceptance of the vaccine by people in the target population and we’ve developed the capacity to get it out, make it available easily without stigma.”

However, Schaffner said the battle is not over yet and there should be a sustained effort on the part of public health officials, clinicians and community leaders to keep spreading information on the seriousness of monkeypox and how to reduce risk as well as how to get vaccinated.

“This will require sustained attention for some time,” he said. “It’s wonderful that things look as though they’re plateauing and declining, but we have to keep attention on wherever this disease is, and we have to keep our public health and communications efforts out there.”

“It’s not ‘mission accomplished.’ We have to keep being careful and take advantage of the vaccine,” Schaffner added.

“Honorary Gorilla” Stevie Nicks to appear in video for Gorillaz collaboration

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Stevie Nicks is featured on a track called “Oil” on the upcoming album by the virtual alternative-rock group Gorillaz, Cracker Island, and the two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee says she only one “demand” for taking part in the song.

Speaking with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Nicks shares that she requested to be in the video for the track.

“That’s how I know about the Gorillaz, is because of all their crazy cartoon videos,” Nicks says. “I’m going, ‘I want to be in the ‘Oil’ video. I want to be a Gorilla, and I want to have big, false eyelashes, and I want to have blond hair, right?'”

The Fleetwood Mac singer and solo star continues, “I said, ‘This is my one demand that I will make.’ And so, they’re doing it as we speak.”

Nicks adds that she’s “so proud” of the collaboration, which she describes as “somewhere between love and war.”

“I was an honorary Heartbreaker, I was an honorary Foo Fighter,” she says. “And now, I’m an honorary Gorilla. I’m so happy.”

Cracker Island will be released February 24, 2023. It also features collaborations with artists including Beck, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny and Thundercat.

Holiday travel plans? Check that passport first

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The U.S. State Department says it’s already time to start thinking about your winter holiday plans, especially if they include international travel.

“Applying in the fall or winter allows for faster routine processing due to lower seasonal demand,” according to a recent release from the department. “Travelers should plan ahead and apply for their passports early to avoid the stress and extra cost for expedited processing. With timely effort, applicants also avoid the need for last-minute appointments at regional passport agencies, which become increasingly difficult to obtain when demand is high.”

Average wait times, however, are still longer than pre-pandemic averages.

Before March 2020, standard processing times took between five to seven weeks and two to three weeks for expedited applications. Now, the State Department says travelers can expect a wait of eight to 10 weeks for regular service and four to six weeks if they fast-track their request, which requires having a trip planned to a foreign country within 14 days and paying an extra $60 fee.

A valid passport that does not expire within six months is required for entry in most countries. The State Department currently has completed two phases of a pilot program for online renewal, with a third scheduled to open next month.

The online renewal option is expected to be accessible to most Americans beginning in early 2023.

The new program was developed as a result of an executive order issued by President Biden in late 2021 that instructed agencies to cut down on bureaucratic hurdles to access government services, reducing the “time tax” Americans pay while navigating outdated systems.

“Every interaction between the Federal Government and the public, whether it involves renewing a passport or calling for a status update on a farm loan application, should be seen as an opportunity for the Government to save an individual’s time,” the order says.

While it’s still unclear whether the order will reduce total wait times for passport renewals, the online process would save applicants a trip to their local passport office or from having to print, complete and mail hard copies of their documents.

E. Jean Carroll’s suit against Trump complicated with new ruling

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court issued a ruling Tuesday that could delay a former magazine columnist’s defamation lawsuit against former President Donald Trump.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an earlier district court decision that said the United States government could not substitute for Trump as a defendant in the lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll.

Carroll, a former columnist at Elle, has said she kept the dress she wore the day Trump allegedly sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s, a claim he has denied. She sued him in November 2019 after he denied raping her by questioning her credibility and demeaning her personal appearance. Trial had been scheduled for February.

Trump said he was acting in his capacity as president when he denied her claim and therefore was immune from Carroll’s lawsuit under the Westfall Act, which shields federal employees from personal liability.

The district court said Trump was not an employee of the government as defined in the act and, regardless, had not acted within the scope of his employment when he allegedly defamed Carroll.

In reversing and vacating the decision, the appellate court said the president of the United States role “fits comfortably” within the statute, but did not reach the question of whether his public statements denying Carroll’s allegations occurred within the scope of his employment.

“President is a government employee in the most basic sense of the term: He renders service to his employer, the United States government, in exchange for a salary and other job-related benefits,” the opinion said.

In a responding statement, Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, pointed to the dissenting opinion from Judge Denny Chin: “As Judge Chin, the only 2nd Circuit judge to reach the merits, explained in his powerful opinion, Donald Trump was not acting within the scope of his duties as president when he defamed our client, E. Jean Carroll because he was not serving any purpose of the federal government and because the comment ‘she’s not my type’ is not something one would expect the president of the United States to say in the course of his duties.”

Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, said in a statement, “We are extremely pleased with the 2nd Circuit’s decision today in reversing and vacating the District Court’s finding in this matter. This decision will protect the ability of all future presidents to effectively govern without hindrance.”

The 2nd Circuit, however, deferred the question of whether Trump’s statements denying Carroll’s sexual assault allegations occurred within the scope of his employment and whether the government is entitled to substitute for him at trial. Instead, the court asked the D.C. Court of Appeals to render a judgment because the question depends on that court’s interpretation of employment law.

Both Habba and Kaplan said they were “confident” the D.C. Court of Appeals would agree with their respective sides.

Carroll previously announced her intention to sue Trump in state court for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress under New York state’s Adult Survivors Act, a law recently signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul that gives adult accusers a year from Nov. 24 to bring claims regardless of when the alleged sexual misconduct happened.

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