(NEW YORK) — A hurricane warning is in effect in Bermuda as Fiona, now a Category 3 hurricane, pummels the island with intense winds Friday morning.
About 70% of Bermuda is waking up without power, according to the local power company.
Conditions on the island will improve later in the morning and tropical storm conditions will be gone by the afternoon.
Next, Fiona takes aim at Canada.
Fiona will make landfall in Nova Scotia Saturday morning bringing strong, gusty winds to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New Brunswick.
Hurricane warnings are in effect for eastern Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland’s west coast. Significant storm surge is expected.
The biggest impact in the United States will be high winds gusting up to 55 mph in Maine on Saturday and an increased threat of rip currents, with 10 feet waves, along the East Coast.
ABC News’ Chris Donato, Riley Winch and Max Golembo contributed to this report.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Taylor Swift‘s “Midnights Mayhem with Me” series on TikTok continued on Thursday night, with the star revealing yet another song title on her upcoming album Midnights.
As with her previous song title reveal, “Mastermind,” Taylor — this time accompanied by her cat Meredith — used a gold bingo ball cage to mix up ping pong balls, each of which represents one of the 13 tracks on the album.
Track eight was the number she pulled out; she then picked up a giant red toy telephone — with the receiver held upside down — and announced that the song is called “Vigilante S***.”
As Billboard notes, this is the first time Taylor’s ever used a curse word in a song title, though she has used profanity in songs before — for example, the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” contains the F-word.
Midnights, which Taylor has described as “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life,” drops October 21.
Apple TV+ has given a straight-to-series order for project that would reunite Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan with Better Call Saul actress Rhea Seehorn, who will star in the untitled series. Details are being kept under wraps, but a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter indicates that, unlike his previous two shows, the new one won’t be an antihero story. “After 15 years, I figured it was time to take a break from writing antiheroes, and who’s more heroic than the brilliant Rhea Seehorn?” Gilligan says in part. “It’s long past time she had her own show, and I feel lucky to get to work on it with her”…
Ammonite and Little Women‘s Saoirse Ronan has been tapped to star in Blitz, filmmaker Steve McQueen‘s World War II epic for Apple TV+, according to Variety. The movie follows “a group of Londoners during the aerial bombing of the British capital during the war, according to the outlet, which also reports McQueen is writing, directing and producing the film. Blitz is set to begin filming later this year. Ronan can currently be seen in the comedy whodunnit film See How They Run, alongside Sam Rockwell…
Netflix’s hit teen show Heartstopper has begun production on season two, with four new cast members boarding the series, according to Deadline. The LGBTQ-themed series follows the love story between two British teens — the shy, nerdy Charlie Spring, played by newcomer Joe Locke, and the popular rugby player Nick Nelson, played by Kit Connor. New additions include Jack Barton as Nick’s brother, Nima Taleghani as a teacher at Nick and Charlie’s grammar school, Leila Khan, a student from the Higgs Girls school attended by Nick and Charlie’s friends Elle, Tara and Darcy — played respectively by Yasmin Finney, Corinna Brown and Kizzy Edgell — and Bradley Riches as James McEwan, a new character on the show…
Nia Long‘s fiancé and Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka has issued an apology after allegedly having an affair with a female staffer.
“I want to apologize to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, and my family for letting them down,” he said in a statement to ESPN.
Udoka, who was suspended from his duties as head coach for the 2022-23 season, added, “I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team’s decision. Out of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment.”
The Boston Celtics suspended the NBA coach “for violations of team policies,” they said in a statement. “A decision about his future with the Celtics beyond this season will be made at a later date.”
Dancing wasn’t the only thing that broke out at Monday’s Dancing with the Stars season 31 premiere: at least four cases of COVID-19 were reported among the show’s crew following its debut on Disney+.
A DWTS spokesperson told Deadline that all four crew members work in “completely different departments that do not have in-person contact with each other, based on our pod system.”
“Contact tracing was immediately conducted,” the spokesperson continued. “All close contacts were notified and put on an increased testing cadence” and that “no close contact of the four positive production employees has since tested positive.”
The spokesperson adds that the “entire set has been disinfected as an extra precaution,” and the majority of the show’s employees — which totals more than 300 — were asked to work from home.”
Earlier reports put the number of positive cases at more than a dozen, but the spokesperson claims that number was incorrect.
The show was cleared by the Department of Public Health to continue production “based on our strict safety protocols,” the spokesperson added.
Dancing with the Stars returns next Monday at 8 p.m. ET on Disney+
BET is giving Trina her flowers by honoring her with the “I Am Hip Hop Award” at the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards.
“I am honored to receive and accept the 2022 I Am Hip Hop Award presented by BET,” Trina said in a statement. “As a legend with over 20 years in the music industry, consistency and unity have contributed to my Rockstarr power as a femcee. I believe when one woman wins, whether it’s in front of the camera or behind the scenes, we all WIN. Let’s keep winning!”
BET’s Connie Orlando, EVP, Specials, Music Programming and Music Strategy, also spoke highly of the rapper.
“Trina is a multi-talented hip hop artist who has set cultural trends and continues to be passionate about giving back to her community,” said Orlando. “She has paved the way for several artists, and we look forward to honoring her impact and legacy on hip hop’s biggest stage, BET Hip Hop Awards 2022.”
Prior recipients of the award include Nelly, Lil’ Kim, Lil Wayne, and Master P.
Hosted by Fat Joe and boasting performances from French Montana, Joey Bada$$, Pusha T, GloRilla, Bleu, Moneybagg Yo and more, the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards will air Tuesday, October 4.
(NEW YORK) — New Jersey public school students will be the first in the country required to learn about climate change while in the classroom starting this school year.
“Climate change is becoming a real reality,” New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy, who spearheaded the initiative, told “ABC News Live” on Thursday.
The new standards were adopted by the state’s board of education in 2020, but because of the pandemic, the roll out was halted, giving educators and districts more time to prepare the lesson plans for all students in grades K-12.
“The districts themselves are able to design whatever it is that the way they want to implement and interpret this new education standard,” said Murphy.
Lessons will focus on how climate change has accelerated in recent decades and how it’s impacted public health, human society, and contributed to natural disasters.
“You can look around the world, whether it’s Pakistan that has a third of the country under water right now, or wildfires raging across the United States, and droughts in Asia,” said Murphy. “Here in our own backyard in New Jersey, we have our own challenges. Whether it’s sea level rise or microburst or algae blooms.”
The program will also introduce students to careers in climate change, as federal and local officials work to combat natural disasters and create a greener economy by adding new jobs and increased funding.
“I want to make sure that the next generation of students and those who come after have the skill set necessary to be able to win and succeed at the incredible jobs that are going to be available as we all shift towards a greener economy,” said Murphy.
Last month, President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act was passed, which aims to tackle climate change and analysts believe that it can create as many as 1.5 to 9 million new jobs in construction, manufacturing and service over the next 10 years.
In his first address to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, the president said we’re “already living in a climate crisis.”
“No one seems to doubt it after this past year,” Biden said. “Choosing which child to feed and wondering whether they will survive. This is the human cost of climate change. And it is growing.”
Over the past few years, many state and local officials have taken action to involve their communities in the fight against climate change. Gov. Phil Murphy allocated $5 million in the fiscal 2023 state budget for climate education in March.
“A top priority of my administration has been to reestablish New Jersey’s role as a leader in the fight against climate change,” the governor said in a statement.
To help educators adapt to this new curriculum, the state launched the New Jersey Climate Change Education Hub, which gives teachers access to lesson plans, educational videos, and professional development.
The first lady said that while creating this program, she traveled to at least 10-15 schools and found that climate change was already being taught to some degree in most classroom settings. She added that having it as a requirement is necessary to ensure all students have the same learning opportunities, as they do with other required subjects.
Murphy added that within just the first month of the school year, teachers have expressed their excitement towards the curriculum, and that the state “has gotten great initial feedback.”
(KYIV, Ukraine) — A so-called “referendum” to join Russia announced by pro-Russian authorities of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine has raised alarm bells globally as experts and leaders see it as a manipulative farce by Russia to force control over parts of Ukraine as Ukrainian forces are pushing back on Russian forces.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink referred to the referendums, as well as increased military mobilization, as “signs of weakness, of Russian failure,” echoing many opinions that Russia is acting out under pressure in response to Ukrainian advances.
“The United States will never recognize Russia’s claim to purportedly annexed Ukrainian territory, and we will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Brink tweeted Tuesday.
The voting is planned for Sept. 23 to 27. Self-appointed Kremlin-backed officials of the occupied parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions also announced they would hold referendums on the same dates.
“We believe it is more timely than ever to make a strong-willed decision on the immediate holding of a referendum on the unification of the Kherson region with the Russian Federation,” the local so-called Public Council said at a meeting Tuesday.
The Russian Central Elections Commission said it would set up polling stations in Russia. Voters would be presented with one question: “Are you in favor of the secession of the Zaporizhia region from Ukraine, the formation of an independent state by the Zaporizhia region and its entry into the Russian Federation as a subject of the Russian Federation?”
This decision of the Kremlin’s proxies to stage sham referendums marked a significant escalation of the conflict and has been widely condemned by world leaders.
The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russian statements a “sedative” for the Russian audience.
“There is global consensus and international law,” Mykhailo Podolyak, the adviser to the head of the office of the president posted on Twitter. “It is unambiguous: Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea are Ukraine. Any attempts to repaint flags are a fiction that will not change anything for us nor for our partners.”
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that any referendum in Russian-occupied territories will not have any legal consequences.
“No matter how much the Russian Federation holds illegal votes in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, the result will be the same: all Ukrainian territories will be freed from Russian occupation, and the Russian leadership will be brought to the strictest responsibility for organized terror, war crimes and crimes against humanity on Ukrainian soil,” the statement said.
U.S. President Joe Biden also criticized what he called Russia’s “outrageous acts” in a speech at the United Nations on Wednesday.
“Just today, President Putin has made overt nuclear threats against Europe and reckless disregard of the responsibilities of a nonproliferation regime,” he said. “Now, Russia is calling up more soldiers to join the fight and the Kremlin is organizing a sham referendum to try to annex parts of Ukraine, an extremely significant violation of the U.N. Charter.”
The eastern part of Ukraine has been occupied by Russian proxies since 2014. In late February 2022, right before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the “independence” of the so-called DPR and LPR. Since then, the leaders of the unrecognized republics have called for integration with Russia, but Moscow has reiterated that such a decision is not timely.
Parts of southern Ukraine were occupied by Russian forces during the 2022 invasion. The occupational authorities there have tried to hold unofficial referendums to proclaim “independence” following Russia’s 2014 invasion of the Donbas region. The efforts have so far failed and the referendums have been postponed several times.
Now, such a possibility looks much more realistic.
In a speech Wednesday, Putin said Russia would support any decision the electorate makes and provide security for the referendums.
Meanwhile, the Russian leader announced partial mobilization across the country that would draft up to 300,000 men to be sent to war in Ukraine, according to the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The timing of the referendums and mobilization, is not a coincidence, experts say. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War believe Ukraine’s ongoing northern counter-offensive is panicking proxy forces and some Kremlin decision-makers.
In early September, the Ukrainian Armed Forces astonished the world with its lightning counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, moving the Russians more than 30 miles east in just a few days. Videos showed Russian soldiers running away, leaving behind vehicles and ammunition.
In all, the Ukrainian Armed Forces says it has liberated more than 3,700 square miles of territory so far, according to the Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar. This also includes some areas in the southern Kherson region, where Ukrainians are moving forward slowly but steadily, liberating village by village.
Russia’s retreat from the Kharkiv region sparked not only praise of the Ukrainian Army in the West, but also criticism of Russian authorities even amid the Russian propagandist media. Some military bloggers expressed the idea of “freezing” the war in Ukraine, which they claim would be beneficial to Russia itself.
(NEW YORK) — As the United States heads into the fall and winter, questions are arising about whether the return of masks is needed to stem a potential COVID-19 surge.
Evidence has shown COVID cases and hospitalizations tend to rise during the colder months when people congregate indoors. Some health officials warn the virus could surge again in December and January.
Currently, cases and hospitalizations are on the decline in the U.S. after having peaked in late July, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Those who are vaccinated and boosted are at much lower risk of falling severely ill and dying from COVID-19. CDC data shows unvaccinated Americans have a five times higher risk of dying compared to those who’ve received just a primary series and a seven times higher risk of dying compared to those who also received at least one booster dose.
Experts told ABC News that while vaccination is the best protection against COVID-19, some people may need to consider masking to protect themselves in case infections rise.
“My recommendation to people would be to mask when in indoor crowded spaces,” Dr. Stuart Ray, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, told ABC News. “I’ve spent a great deal of time with patients who have COVID and have not contracted the infection from what I can tell, both from antibody testing and from a lack of syndrome.”
Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, told ABC News that masks have helped reduce COVID transmission in health care settings.
“I’ve worked in a respiratory infection clinic with COVID patients at the height of their contagiousness and they’re breathing in my face, and I haven’t gotten COVID from patients,” she said. “I really do believe that PPE works, that masks work.”
However, experts admitted it will be hard to convince Americans to wear masks again after so many cities and states have done away with mandates.
Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver remain the three biggest cities in the U.S. where masks are still required on public transit. In most cities, only health care environments still require mask mandates.
Ray said he believes a surge, similar to those caused by the delta and the omicron variants, would be the only thing drum up support of mandates.
“I think that people are really tired of this pandemic and there is, culturally, very little appetite for mandates, for masking,” Ray said. “And so, it’s a steep climb to tell people unless there’s a particular context in which it’s important, like a health care setting when there are many vulnerable people.”
He added, “If we were to come into a highly disruptive surge, then the appetite for a mandate might change, because people realize that a bunch of essential services are being disrupted. If hospitals got stressed by the surge, then I think we might see mandates returned.”
Doron said that although she supports masking, she doesn’t believe that cities and counties should reinstate mask mandates because many people take them off indoors for prolonged periods of time anyway, increasing the risk of transmission.
“In the community, we had mask mandates where you wear masks unless you’re eating or drinking and if you’ve ever traveled in an airport or on an airplane, where there when there was a mask mandate, you know that, you know, people are pretty much eating and drinking the entire time,” Doron said. “And so, it just doesn’t have the ability to do what it’s meant to do.”
In the absence of mask mandates, the experts said people may need to assess their individual risk level and decide if wearing a mask will help protect themselves and those around them.
“You to weigh your own susceptibility, your own tolerance for the risk of the long-term complications, which are still somewhat unknown and the risks that you might pose to people you care for either professionally or personally at home,” Ray said. “Now, some people may decide — and this is the judgment part — that they just don’t care that they don’t think that this is a big deal, and that they’ll just get infected and that they’re likely not to be hospitalized.”
Dr. Thomas Murray, an associate professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, said assessing the risk level also applies to kids in school, where many mask mandates have been lifted.
“Children who have higher risk, like asthma, might be an example of that,” Murray said. “What we’re really trying to balance is having kids enjoy a normal in-person school experience with the risks that go with congregating in classes when we have lots of respiratory viruses circulating.”
He said if schools don’t reimplement masking, other strategies “become critically important” for children, such as screening, testing and keeping them home if they have symptoms.
However, not all masks are created equally. For those who plan to keep wearing masks or choose to start wearing them again heading into the colder months, the experts recommend wearing a high-quality mask.
“I think that single-layer cloth masks really don’t provide much protection,” Ray said.
Doron said if you cannot get a N95 or KN95, or cannot wear one for long periods of time, a surgical mask will provide protection.
“The surgical mask does provide protection, especially if it fits you well,” she said. “And then there are ways to make it fit better, ways to fold it or and tuck it and tie the strap for your ears.”
Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Fiona has pummeled Puerto Rico, an island whose infrastructure struggled to recover from the devastating Hurricane Maria that killed almost 3,000 people in 2017.
Fiona left many without electricity and water, including Pedro Julio Serrano, a resident and human rights activist.
“It’s not a natural disaster. This is a political disaster,” Julio Serrano told ABC News.
Some Puerto Ricans who spoke with ABC News are frustrated with the lack of progress in reconstructing the island so residents no longer have to worry about having running water, electricity, and safe roads, buildings and more.
After Maria, many elderly, sick, and disabled people died because they didn’t have the electricity or access to the care and necessities they required, according to Puerto Rican officials. Following Fiona, hospitals and people in need of care have been left scrambling to find generators to support them, according to Puerto Rico’s Gov. Pedro Pierluisi.
“The vast majority of the people who died [from Maria] was because of incompetence and because people couldn’t get their power back for months,” Julio Serrano said. “What is happening is criminal.”
Some residents said local and federal governments have had several years to fix things.
“We really shouldn’t have to be resilient in the 21st century, when we’re supposed to be a part of the richest nation in the world,” Victor Amauri, referring to Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory, told ABC News. Amauri is a resident and spokesperson for Brigada Solidaria del Oeste, a local activist group.
Puerto Rico’s electric system has long been unstable, even before Hurricane Maria devastated the island. As a result, blackouts have been a regular part of life for many residents for the last five years, according to island residents.
Those who spoke with ABC News say they blame LUMA, a private company that has operated and managed Puerto Rico’s electric power transmission and distribution system since June 2021.
LUMA said it was currently working with customers to restore power and stabilize the grid.
“We will continue to work non-stop until every customer is restored and the entire grid is reenergized” LUMA Public Safety Manager, Abner Gómez, said in a statement. “While these efforts continue over the coming days, we strongly encourage customers to continue to exercise caution and stay away from any downed power lines.”
Much of the federal money allocated to help fix the electric grid has not been spent due to disagreements between Puerto Rican officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency on how to use it.
LUMA, as well as the Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Pierluisi, did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Cynthia Burgos López, resident and executive director of La Maraña, a group dedicated to rebuilding Puerto Rico, told ABC News that residents hadn’t seen the impact of federal dollars on the island.
“Being a colony from the States, we have a lot of money that’s being sent all the time to Puerto Rico, but we have such a corrupt government, that nothing gets to the communities,” she said.
Burgos López recalled the long, but recent history of government officials who have been embroiled in corruption scandals.
At least nine Puerto Rican mayors and several other government officials have been arrested on charges of bribery, extortion, and more in recent years.
Residents said they blame the long-standing corruption, under-resourcing and underfunding for why the island was not ready for Fiona, and why it will not be ready for the next storm.
“We know that without Fiona, we were not having light. So with Fiona, we were going to be monthslong without light,” Burgos López told ABC News.
Some also told ABC News that barriers imposed by the United States — such as the enforcement of the Jones Act, which mandates ships carrying goods between U.S. ports to be built in the United States — have continued to place a financial strain on Puerto Rico and its residents due to increased prices of goods, though it’s a furiously debated topic.
For now, residents are working together to ensure their fellow community members get what they need, and not waiting for outside help to touch down on the island. However, some residents and activists plan to protest, and demand action from officials in the wake of the storm’s damage.
Amauri said there are long lines to get gasoline, people using generators to refrigerate their food, and residents are scrambling to find clean drinking water.
