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Monkeypox now reported in all 50 states

August 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Monkeypox has now been detected in all 50 states, health officials revealed.

Wyoming became the final state to report a case of the disease on Monday.

The Wyoming Department of Health announced the case in an adult male in Laramie County, which includes the capital of Cheyenne.

Public health representatives are currently working with the positive individual, to see if additional residents are at higher risk of contracting monkeypox, because of potential direct contact.

“Because monkeypox spreads through close, intimate contact we do not believe the risk for the virus is now a higher concern for the local community or for most people in Wyoming,” Wyoming Health Department state health officer and state epidemiologist Dr. Alexia Harrist said in a statement. said. “Monkeypox does not spread easily like familiar viruses such as influenza or COVID-19.”

Since the first case was announced in a Massachusetts patient in mid-May, more than 14,100 infections have been reported across the country as of Monday, CDC data shows.

New York currently has the most infections with more than 2,700, followed by California, Florida, Texas and Georgia, respectively, CDC data shows.

Over the last month, the daily number of reported cases has increased exponentially from 97 per day one month ago to more than 1,300 per day as of Aug. 10, according to the federal health agency.

Most of the cases in this outbreak have occurred during intimate skin-to-skin contact among men who have sex with men, a group that includes people who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender and nonbinary.

However, the CDC has stressed there is no evidence monkeypox is a sexually transmitted disease and that anyone can be infected through close prolonged contact.

At least five pediatric cases have been reported and at least one case has been reported among a pregnant woman.

While it is also possible to be infected with monkeypox by touching the clothes, sheets or towels of an infected patient or from prolonged face-to-face contact through respiratory droplets, the CDC says most documented transmission has not occurred from either of these two methods.

Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the outbreak to be a public health emergency, which officials stated will help with the distribution of treatments and vaccines.

Public health officials urge anyone exposed to monkeypox or thinks that they have been exposed to receive the Jynneos vaccine, which is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for both smallpox and monkeypox.

As of Aug. 9, more than 620,000 vaccine doses have been shopped and an additional 1.1 million are available to order, according to the HHS.

The CDC says the best way to lower one’s risk of infection is to limit skin-to-skin contact with people whose monkeypox status is unknown, wipe down “high-touch surfaces” their skin may touch and for people to avoid touching their skin or eyes with their hands after coming into contact with a shared surface.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos and Sony Salzman contributed to this report.

US discourages Dennis Rodman from traveling to Russia to help detained WNBA star Brittney Griner

August 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. government on Monday strongly discouraged former NBA player Dennis Rodman from traveling to Russia to help secure the release of detained WNBA star Brittney Griner.

Rodman, a five-time NBA champion, announced that he plans to travel to Russia in comments he made to NBC News while dining at a restaurant in Washington, D.C.

“I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,” Rodman reportedly told NBC News. “I’m trying to go this week.”

Griner, who has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17, was found guilty on drug charges earlier this month and was sentenced to nine years in prison after vape cartridges containing hashish oil — an illegal substance in Russia — were discovered in her luggage at the airport.

A State Department spokesperson told ABC News during a press briefing on Monday that if Rodman does travel to Russia, “he would not be traveling on behalf of the U.S. government.”

“We believe that anything other than negotiating further through the established channel is likely to complicate and hinder those release efforts,” Price added.

ABC News has reached out to representatives of Rodman for comment.

Rodman has previously sought to make an impact on U.S. foreign policy as an informal diplomat of sorts amid heated U.S. relations with North Korea.

Rodman traveled to Singapore in June 2018 ahead of then-President Donald Trump’s historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who is a big Chicago Bulls fan.

Although Rodman did not meet with the dictator, whom he said he considers a “friend,” he was one of a few westerners who had met with him in Pyongyang in the past.

Rodman doesn’t need permission from the U.S. to travel to Russia but requires a visa from Moscow to travel to the country.

However, the State Department is strongly discouraging American citizens from traveling to Russia amid the war in Ukraine, issuing a “Level 4-Do Not Travel” advisory that was most recently updated on Aug. 15.

“We’ve also provided very clear guidance to American citizens — owing to a number of threats, not the least of which is the threat of wrongful detention — that Americans should not travel to Russia,” Price said on Monday. “That has been our message to private Americans across the board.”

Price’s warning came after a senior Biden administration official discouraged Rodman from traveling to Russia in a statement provided to ABC News on Sunday, referencing the U.S. travel advisory.

At her trial, which began in July, Griner said she was guilty of drug charges and said that she didn’t intend to break Russian law, but that the cartridges were left in her bag by accident.

The U.S. classified Griner’s case as “wrongfully detained” in Russia on May and the Biden administration has been working to negotiate the WNBA star’s release, as well as the release of U.S. citizen Paul Whelan, who has been detained in Russia since 2019.

On July 29, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that he had a “frank and direct conversation” with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about a U.S. proposal to exchange convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout in return for Griner and Whelan.

Earlier this month, Russian officials confirmed that those talks have taken place.

Asked about the status of the negotiations, Price said that U.S. interests are “best served if these discussions take place in private,” but stressed that this “something we continue to work with the utmost urgency.”

“I said last week that we had engaged in discussions with Russian counterparts on this. Those discussions are ongoing,” Price added. “We’ve made very clear, as we have publicly, that we proposed a substantial proposal, we called it, for the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner.”

ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova contributed to this report.

Tourist minibus plunges off cliff in Peru killing 4, injuring 16 others

August 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — A tourist bus fell off a cliff in Peru on Sunday night, killing four people and injuring 16, authorities said.

The bus was traveling in the Abra Málaga sector on the Cusco-Quillabamba road network when it plunged 328 feet around 7 p.m. local time, Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism said.

Three Colombians and one Peruvian were among the dead, according to the ministry. No U.S. citizens were injured in the wreck.

People injured in the crash are from Canada, Israel, France, Argentina, Greece, Peru, Spain and the Netherlands, the ministry said, adding that one Canadian is in the intensive care unit.

Those who were injured were transported to two clinics in Cusco, Peru. Peruvian President Pedro Castillo Terrones said they’re monitoring their condition.

The National Police of Peru is investigating what caused the crash, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism said in a news release.

Grind the lightning: Metallica releases new signature skateboard deck

August 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Metallica has unveiled a new signature skateboard deck.

Created in collaboration with English company Lovenskate, the deck features artwork inspired by the cover of the 1992 documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica, which details the making of the metal legends’ iconic 1991 Black Album and its accompanying tour.

You can order yours now via Metallica.com.

If you’re a skateboarder who’s also a Stranger Things fan, you may want to pick up a Metallica Hellfire Club shirt, which was created in collaboration with the Netflix sci-fi series after it featured “Master of Puppets” in its season 4 finale.

Metallica played a pair of U.S. stadium dates earlier this month and will return to the stage in September to play the Global Citizen Festival in New York City.

Alice Merton releases mini documentary recapping emotional trip to Dublin

August 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Alice Merton has released a new mini documentary recapping a recent trip to Dublin.

The “No Roots” artist traveled to the Irish capital to pay tribute to her late grandmother and stage a concert in her honor. The performance was recorded for a new EP called The Orangery Sessions, which is available now exclusively via Amazon Music.

You can watch the doc, which runs about 13 minutes, streaming now on YouTube.

Merton released her latest album, S.I.D.E.S., in June. Songs from S.I.D.E.S. are included on The Orangery Sessions, as well as “No Roots” and a cover of The Killers‘ “When You Were Young.”

Oklahoma sheriff’s deputy shot, killed while serving order

August 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A sheriff’s deputy has died after being shot while serving a lockout order at a home, the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

One deputy was shot and a second deputy was hit while trying to get the first out of the way of gunfire, an emotional Sheriff Tommie Johnson III said during a press conference.

The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office identified Sgt. Bobby Swartz as the officer who was killed.

“Today, the Oklahoma County Sheriffs Office mourns the loss of a good man. Two of our deputies were shot while serving a lock out order. One deputy succumbed to his injuries; the other is in stable condition. We plan to release more details soon. Until then please keep us in your prayers,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook.

The suspect took off on a pursuit and was taken into custody at the entrance of Tinker Air Force Base.

The other deputy is in the hospital and sustained serious injuries.

ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman and Teddy Grant contributed to this report.

Man charged in three Albuquerque killings has domestic violence history, police say

August 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M) — The man charged in the killings of at least three of the four Muslim men killed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in recent months has a history of arrests for domestic violence, police said.

Muhammad Syed, 51, is charged with murder in the shooting deaths of 25-year-old Naeem Hussain on Aug. 5, 41-year-old Aftab Hussein on July 26 and now the Aug. 1 murder of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, according to the Albuquerque Police Department. Syed denied being involved in the deaths of the men after he was arrested, according to police.

Investigators said they are working with the district attorney’s office on potential charges for the murder of the other man who was killed within months of the others.

Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, was killed last November outside a business he ran with his brother, police said.

The victims of the shootings in August and July were from Pakistan. Ahmadi was from Afghanistan.

Syed moved to the U.S. from Afghanistan several years ago and has since been arrested at least twice on misdemeanor domestic violence charges, police said.

According to a criminal complaint from May 2018, Syed and his wife had an argument that turned physical while in a state Department of Human Services office.

Syed claimed his wife slapped him while they were arguing in the car and kicked him while in the waiting room of the office, the complaint says. His wife told police Syed pulled her by the hair and kicked her out of the vehicle, forcing her to walk for almost two hours to the office. When she arrived, the argument continued and she claimed Syed grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground, according to the complaint.

An employee at the office told police that she found Syed’s wife on the floor with a large piece of hair that had fallen to the ground, the complaint says. Employees stated that Syed arrived about an hour and a half before his wife arrived, according to the complaint.

He was placed under arrest for battery on a household member, but his wife did not want to pursue charges or participate in prosecution, which led to the dismissal of the case, according to a spokesperson from the Office of the Second Judicial District Attorney.

In December 2018, Syed’s son called officers to the home, and claimed that the father was “striking” the mother and son, according to a criminal complaint. The son had locked himself in his room after the son had been hit by his father with a metal spoon, which drew blood on the back of his head, the complaint says.

The son advised officers that Syed had routinely beaten him and his mother in the past. Syed denied any violence, the criminal complaint showed. Victims were again unwilling to pursue charges or cooperate with police.

An attorney for Syed did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

The string of slayings had left Muslim communities across the country shaken.

“I hope that our community can breathe a sigh of relief and be assured about safety and security that our main suspect has been put behind bars and that’s where he belongs,” Nihad Awad, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said at a press conference Aug. 10.

‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ director explains film’s Beatles-inspired title

August 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Netflix announced that the sequel to the Oscar-nominated 2019 hit whodunnit Knives Out will premiere on December 23.

The streaming service made the announcement Monday about the upcoming film, titled Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and debuted a new teaser interview with writer-director Rian Johnson, who reveals that the movie’s title was inspired by a 1968 Beatles song.

Johnson explains that he came up with the title “Glass Onion” while searching for a phrase that the film’s main character, the flamboyant detective Benoit Blanc, might use to describe the murder he’s investigating.

“I’m always fishing for something fun that Blanc can grab onto as an overwrought metaphor that he can beat to death,” Rian maintians. “This is all in plain sight from the very start. So, the idea of glass came to me, something that’s clear.”

He continues, “I’ll be very honest. I literally got out my iPhone and searched my music library with the word glass. ‘There’s got to be some good glass songs.’ I was like, ‘Oh, is it a glass fortress? Is it a glass castle? Is it a glass man?’ The first thing that came up, because I’m a huge Beatles fan, is ‘Glass Onion.'”

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will feature Daniel Craig reprising his role as Blanc, who travels to Greece to solve a case with a whole new set of colorful suspects.

While the original Knives Out also starred Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ana de Armas, Don Johnson and Christopher Plummer, the follow-up features another impressive cast, including Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista.

Norton plays a tech billionaire who invites a group of friends to his island getaway — where one of them ends up murdered.

Jerry Allison, drummer of Buddy Holly’s band The Crickets, dead at 82

August 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Jerry Allison, the longtime drummer and last surviving original member of the late Buddy Holly‘s backing group The Crickets, died Monday at the age of 82.

Allison’s death was announced in a post on Holly’s official Facebook page.

“Our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Jerry ‘JI’ Allison, drummer in The Crickets, one of Buddy’s very closest friends, and the inspiration to drummers for decades since, who passed away today,” the note read.

The message continues, “JI was a musician ahead of his time, and undoubtedly his energy, ideas and exceptional skill contributed to both The Crickets, and rock n’ roll itself, becoming such a success. Buddy is often heralded as the original singer-songwriter, but JI, too, wrote and inspired so many of the songs that would go on to be eternal classics.”

Holly formed The Crickets in early 1957 with Allison, Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar and Joe B. Mauldin on bass. Allison is credited with co-writing two of Holly’s most enduring tunes, “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue,” which peaked at #1 and #3, respectively, on the Billboard pop singles chart.

After Holly’s February 1959 death in the tragic plane crash that also took the lives of The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, Allison played with various lineups of The Crickets for decades.

Allison also co-wrote the song “More than I Can Say,” which The Crickets recorded after Holly’s death in 1959, and later became a hit for Bobby Vee in 1961 and Leo Sayer in 1980.

Allison also became an in-demand session musician who lent his talents to recordings by The Everly Brothers, Vee, Johnny Burnette, Eddie Cochran, Johnny Rivers, Paul McCartney, Waylon Jennings, Nanci Griffith and many others.

Allison was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Crickets in 2012. Holly had been inducted separately in 1986.

Live ‘House of the Dragon’ IRL, with room service

August 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

If Sunday night’s premiere of HBO’s new Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon has you wishing you could visit King’s Landing for real, you’re in luck.

IHG Hotels & Resorts is advertising that three of their English hotels are a stone’s throw from various shooting locations for the heavily hyped HBO show.

Aldershot, in Hampshire, England, is home to Caesar’s Camp, an Iron Age hill fort, where a tournament set was built for the show. In addition to getting to trod upon the shooting locations, the “historically significant area … is surrounded by natural woodlands, river-side meadows and charming country houses” that are close to the historic Holiday Inn Farnborough, according to IHG. The hotel itself is less than 10 minutes from where the tournament scenes were shot.

North of there is the Peak District, a national park where some of House of the Dragon‘s sprawling, rolling hills were captured; that natural beauty is some 30 minutes from the Crowne Plaza Royal Victoria Sheffield. The property itself dates back to the 19th century, has been fully refurbished and boasts “an elegant restaurant known for its seasonal menu and luxurious amenities.”

Hey, maybe that’s the place to get some Downton Abbey vibes going, while you’re at it.

The House of the Dragon crew also filmed in Holywell Bay in Cornwall, “a classic north Cornish beach with golden sands and towering dunes.”

There’s the Holywell Cave to spelunk, and ample opportunities for selfies at a 70-year-old shipwreck that is exposed during low tide.

Incidentally, 1950’s classic Treasure Island and Tim Burton‘s 2010 Alice in Wonderland also shot in Cornwall. The Holiday Inn Express Bodmin in Victoria Junction is only 30 minutes from Holywell Bay, according to the hoteliers.

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