Is Harry Styles the new king of pop? Michael Jackson‘s nephew Taj Jackson doesn’t think so.
Rolling Stone crowned the “As It Was” singer in its recent cover story, which contained the line “How the new King of Pop set the music world aflame.”
Taj, the son of Tito Jackson, took issue with the label and aired his displeasure on Twitter. “There is no new King of Pop,” he declared while retweeting the cover of Rolling Stone UK, which contained the language in question.
“You don’t own the title @RollingStone, and you didn’t earn it, my uncle did,” continued Taj. “Decades of dedication and sacrifice. The title has been retired.”
The 49-year-old directed his disagreement at the magazine and not at the British singer. “No disrespect to @Harry_Styles,” he continued, “he’s mega talented. Give him his own unique title.”
Taj’s comments were reflected by actress Yvette Nicole Brown, who also took issue with Rolling Stone. “Then they need to find a name for who Harry is in the industry. Like I said, I love the dude but there is ONE #KingOfPop and that is MJ,” the Community actress tweeted.
Other fans have argued Rolling Stone is being racist by choosing a white artist to take over a moniker originated by a Black man. Some noted the late Elvis Presley still maintains his status as the “King of Rock and Roll.”
Taj brought up the same argument and wrote in a new tweet, “This… Notice how they never crown someone ‘The new boss’ or ‘the new king.'”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, pleaded guilty Tuesday to DUI causing injury in connection to a May car crash, prosecutors said.
Based on Paul Pelosi’s guilty plea, the second charge — driving with a .08% blood alcohol level or higher causing injury — was dismissed, the Napa County District Attorney’s Office said.
Among the requirements of Judge Joseph Solga’s sentence are: serving five days in jail; paying victim restitution and a court fine; completing a three-month DUI program; and completing three years of probation.
He received credit for four days served: two for the two days he served in jail following his arrest and two days’ time for good conduct. The fifth day of the sentence will be served on a court work program, so the 82-year-old will not serve any more time in jail.
Paul Pelosi was not present in court for Tuesday’s plea; his attorney appeared on his behalf.
The House Speaker’s husband had a 0.082% blood alcohol content when he was arrested on May 28 in Napa County, California, prosecutors said. He was trying to cross State Route 29 when his Porsche was hit by a driver heading north, the California Highway Patrol in Napa said at the time.
A 33-year-old man is dead after he was fatally struck by a car when he ran into traffic chasing after a dog.
The incident occurred at approximately 1 p.m. on Monday afternoon in Kingsport, Tennessee — about 100 miles northeast of Knoxville — when the Kingsport Police Department Traffic Unit responded to a call regarding a motor vehicle striking a pedestrian as it travelled north on Lynn Garden Drive, authorities said.
“A light blue 2020 Honda Odyssey minivan, driven and solely occupied by [a male driver] of Kingsport, appears to have been traveling lawfully northbound on Lynn Garden Drive, when a pedestrian, Gordon Gale Johnson of Kingsport, suddenly ran into the roadway, directly into its path, chasing after a dog,” read a statement released by the Kingsport Police Department following the incident.
It was initially reported that 33-year-old Gordon Gale Johnson was taken by Sullivan County EMS to a local area hospital to be treated for his injuries but police confirmed that he had died several hours later from injuries sustained in the crash with 49-year-old driver. Police say that the man was unable to avoid a collision and that he was uninjured in the collision with Johnson.
It is unclear if the dog belonged to Johnson or what the circumstances were surrounding the incident and how the dog managed to get loose in the first place.
The accident now remains under open and active investigation by the Kingsport Police Department Traffic Unit and no further details are expected to be released until authorities conclude their investigation.
A K-9 in North Carolina helped locate a missing teenage boy who had run away from home earlier this month.
Maverick, a 2-year-old English Labrador retriever, who is trained in tracking, quickly sought out the child in a wooded area in Union County, North Carolina, which is southeast of Charlotte, according to the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
It took the dog and his handler, Deputy Josh Dye, less than an hour to find the teenager near U.S. Highway 601 on Aug. 1, after the boy’s family reported him missing.
Maverick knows how to put his sense of smell to work when it comes to track work, according to Lt. James M. Maye, a public information officer for the sheriff’s office.
“These tracking canines – primarily bloodhounds and Maverick – they use what we call a scent article and it’s something that a person has lived with, such as clothing that has their scent on that,” Maye said in an interview with “Good Morning America.” “In this case, this article that was used was a blanket that this juvenile had used, slept with, laid around the house with, so it was obviously saturated with the scent most associated with him.”
“When you’re walking down the road or walking down a path, you leave scent behind. And so Maverick picked up on that scent and was able to track it,” Maye told “GMA.”
The sheriff’s office celebrated Maverick’s quick work in a Facebook post, calling the dog a “huge asset” to the sheriff’s office.
“We’re just really thankful that this situation turned out great and that all the training that they do every day was put into use and then it worked just like it was supposed to,” Maye said.
Maverick was donated to the Union County Sheriff’s Office last December and, according to Maye, has quickly become an “office favorite.”
“He brightens up the mood every time he’s in the office. We’re just extremely proud of him,” Maye said.
Maverick is also trained in narcotics detection and often works with children at local schools, according to Maye. He is one of 13 K-9s with the department and the other sheriff’s dogs include a Black lab, some German shepherds, bloodhounds and Malinois.
Dye, who lives with Maverick and has been his handler since March, told “GMA” that the English lab in particular is “very friendly [and] very goofy at times.”
The teen’s family declined to comment for this story, according to Maye.
Wednesday marks six months since Russia invaded Ukraine.
In the months since Russia’s blitzkrieg attack from the north and east, which was met with a stronger-than-expected resistance from the outmanned and outgunned Ukrainians, the evolving conflict has become more of a “static war” with no clear winners, according to ABC News contributor retired Col. Steve Ganyard.
“At this stage, both countries, both Ukraine and Russia, seem to be losing,” Ganyard said. “And now the fight is obviously who can lose first and who will have to lose last.”
It’s impossible to predict how much longer the war will last — it could be months or even years, Ganyard said.
“This is a war that’s unfolding at this point very, very slowly,” he said. “Neither side has the ability to conduct significant offensive operations.”
How long the fighting continues until one side “loses first” will likely depend on a few factors.
For Russia, getting troops on the ground to maintain the territory it’s taken is one, as recruiting personnel has been a challenge, Ganyard said.
The Russian military hasn’t given an official update on casualties since late March, when it reported around 1,350. One U.S. Department of Defense official estimated earlier this month that at least 70,000 Russians have been killed or wounded since the start of the war.
“There’s a lot of fog in war, but, you know, I think it’s safe to suggest that the Russians have probably taken 70 or 80,000 casualties in less than six months,” Colin Kahl, the undersecretary for defense for policy at the Department of Defense, told reporters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has a “very difficult chore” to recruit qualified military personnel to fight in Ukraine, Ganyard said.
“The Russians are basically recruiting out of prisons at this point,” he said. “They have not mobilized the whole nation.”
The number of Ukrainian soldiers killed since Feb. 24 is classified, but deputy minister of defense Hanna Maliar has said there are “thousands.” There have also been thousands of civilian casualties; the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights estimates that over 5,500 have been killed and over 7,600 injured in Ukraine since Feb. 24.
For Ukraine, continued support from the West will be key, Ganyard said, including supplies of precision weapons such as the long-range High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARs, which Ukrainian forces have used to wear down Russians in rear areas.
“The ability for the Ukrainians to target very precise locations — command posts, supply depots — this allows the Ukrainians to begin to attrite and wear down the Russians in their rear areas, take away the supplies that they’re using to conduct this war,” Ganyard said.
This development is “unprecedented” so far in the conflict, he said.
“Up to this point, the war had been basically a slugfest — artillery against artillery,” he said. “But now that the Ukrainians have this long-range capability where they can hit very precise coordinates, it gives them an offensive advantage.”
Though as the conflict continues, there is a risk for Ukraine that Western support could wane as the impacts of the war, such as from energy supplies in Europe, are felt in the months ahead, he said.
How much more of a beating their contracted economies can withstand will be a factor for both countries, Ganyard said.
“As we see both economies get drawn down, as we see both militaries being punished and diminished, it’s going to be a question of who can survive and who can lose last,” he said.
Morale also continues to be crucial, with Ukraine buoyed by its offensive advantage while Russia looks to hold ground in hostile territory, he said.
For Kahl, “Ukrainian morale and will to fight is unquestioned and much higher, I think, than the average morale and will to fight on the Russian side,” he told reporters. “I think that gives the Ukrainians a significant advantage.”
With those factors in consideration, there are several ways the conflict could potentially play out:
Russia holds ground in Donbas, Ukraine relinquishes territory
In a “best-case scenario” for Russia, its troops will continue to gain incrementally in the Donbas and hold their ground against Ukrainian forces, Ganyard said. If Ukraine doesn’t have the arsenal to push back or can’t hold out amid a downhill economy, that could put them in a position to sue for peace, he said.
“Where the Russians are pushing in from the east toward the west, that is the bread basket of Ukraine,” Ganyard said. “That is where not only most of the industry is, but it’s where most of the agriculture, very rich agricultural area, all of that gets transported down the Dnipro River.
“If Russia would be able to hang on to that, it would almost cut Ukraine in half, and certainly cut the Ukrainian economy by more than half,” he continued.
Ukraine regains territory in the Donbas, Russia cuts its losses
If Ukraine manages to recapture some of the territory in the Donbas claimed by Russian forces since the invasion started, that could pressure Putin to end the invasion to stave off further embarrassment, Ganyard said.
“If he began to lose, if he began to take even heavier losses, if the Ukrainians were able to recapture parts of Ukraine that the Russians have taken, at some point Putin may decide to cut his losses and declare victory and take whatever’s left on the table in terms of the territory that he’s taken thus far,” Ganyard said.
Ukraine regains territory in the Donbas, Russia escalates
Alternately, Putin may push back against the political embarrassment of losing territory it had gained since the start of the invasion, Ganyard said.
“The more gains that the Ukrainians make, it’s actually going to make the whole situation more dangerous because Putin may react in a way that escalates to de-escalate,” Ganyard said. “We’ve heard that term in the past, and usually that refers to the use of tactical battlefield nuclear weapons.
“The danger here is if the Ukrainians continue to do better, what does Putin do to save himself to save his beloved, domestic political position?” he continued. “Does he do something that would shock the whole world and try to scare the Ukrainians into an early surrender?”
Ukraine pushes south, putting pressure on Putin
Kherson, a port city on the north of the Crimean Peninsula, was the first major city to fall after Russia launched its invasion. The city is key to Ukraine for its access to the Black Sea and ability to move goods. If Ukraine manages to make ground and pushes past Kherson and threatens Russia-annexed Crimea, that could give Ukraine a negotiating advantage, Ganyard said.
“[Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy will continue to try to threaten Crimea to be able to pressure Putin,” he said.
That could look like threatening to turn off the freshwater supplies into Crimea, he said.
“There’s all sorts of unknowns here about what happens,” Ganyard said. “As they go into the fall and into the winter, there may be some movement in terms of the negotiations. But at this point, neither side can afford to give up the kinds of military actions that we see on the ground to this point.”
Ahead of the December 16 release of the long-developed sequel to James Cameron‘s Avatar, the 2009 original is headed back to theaters.
According to a new trailer, the release will only run for a limited time in both 3D and traditional formats. It will take advantage of “stunning 4K High Dynamic Range,” meaning the movie’s then-bleeding edge digital effects will appear as they were “meant to be seen” on the big screen.
Given the time passed since the original film’s debut, the rerelease would give some fans their first taste of the movie in theaters. Avatar was briefly brought back to theaters in 2019 so it could regain the all-time box office crown from Avengers: Endgame.
2009’s Avatar has made more than $2.8 billion in theaters worldwide to date; Endgame was briefly the highest-grossing movie of all time with a $2.79 billion take.
The Academy Award-winning movie stars Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldaña and Stephen Lang, who will return for Avatar: The Way of Water in December. Joining them for the sequel will be Cameron’s Titanic star Kate Winslet, big-screen legend Michelle Yeoh and Emmy winner Edie Falco, among others.
A third Avatar film, which finished shooting in April, will arrive in 2024; the fourth and fifth chapters are scheduled for 2026 and 2028.
Jinjer has announced a U.S. headlining tour with support from P.O.D.
The fall outing kicks off Halloween night in San Diego and will travel the country before returning back to California to wrap up December 22 in Los Angeles. The band Vended, which features the sons of Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor and M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan, is also on the bill for select dates.
Tickets go on sale this Friday, August 26, at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit Jinjer-Metal.com.
The news follows June’s announcement that Jinjer would be allowed to leave Ukraine, and tour in an effort to raise money and awareness for their home country’s continued fight against Russia’s invasion. The band members had been in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in February, forcing Jinjer to cancel their spring North American tour dates, which included a spot opening for Slipknot‘s Knotfest Roadshow.
An unidentified illness has killed over a dozen dogs in northern Michigan, according to officials.
The Otsego County Animal Shelter said in a statement Friday that over 20 dogs in the county have died due to an illness similar to parvovirus, a highly contagious and often-deadly gastrointestinal disease in dogs.
The shelter’s director, Melissa Fitzgerald, released a statement on Aug. 9 saying that most of the dogs who died were less than 2 years old and died within three days of showing symptoms.
Fitzgerald said the symptoms included bloody diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy and a loss of appetite.
However, when the dogs were taken to be tested for parvovirus, the statement said, the tests came back negative.
Fitzgerald said the “best guess” for the cause of the deaths is an unknown strain of parvovirus.
According to the shelter, the illness is not affecting one breed over another, but appears to be more common in puppies and elderly dogs.
The shelter’s statement added that no dogs that have been properly vaccinated have been among those to die in recent weeks.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is investigating the recent deaths.
“We are still in the early stages of this investigation, but some of the first samples submitted to the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory were positive for canine parvovirus. However, there are more results pending and more to be learned,” state veterinarian Nora Wineland said in a statement.
“When MDARD first learned of these cases in northern Michigan, we immediately reached out to the veterinarians and animal shelters involved and began our response efforts,” Wineland added. “Protecting animal and public health is one of the department’s key pillars, but it is a team effort. Dog owners need to ensure their pet is up to date on routine vaccinations as it’s the first step in keeping your pet healthy.”
Jennifer Holton, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, told ABC News that because parvovirus is not a reportable disease, officials are mostly working with anecdotal information.
“Parvo is an incredibly hardy virus,” Holton said. “And by that, I mean it can survive various temperatures and all kinds of things.”
Holton said it’s essential for pet owners to get their dogs vaccinated and alert their veterinarian if they see signs of illness in their dogs.
She added that proper cleanup, to halt the spread of the disease through fecal matter, is also essential, particularly in high-capacity areas like shelters, doggy daycares and other animal-friendly places.
While the mystery surrounding the current death rates is concerning, Holton said officials have the investigation under control.
“The word ‘panic’ has been used a lot; that is certainly not what we’re doing here,” Holton said. “Prioritizing animal health is one of the key fundamentals of what our animal industry division in this department does on the daily.”
Luke Combs has noticed a major shift in his worldview since the birth of his son in June. “Your whole perspective changes,” the singer told Kelleigh Bannen during an interview on Apple Music Country.
“There’s stuff that used to matter as far as the things that you worry about, you just don’t really worry about that stuff anymore,” the star continues. “… almost instantly. You’re just kind of like, ‘Don’t care about that. Don’t care about that.’ And I was fine before, but I did tend to have pretty tremendous anxiety at times in my life.”
Luke has previously opened up about his experience with obsessive compulsive disorder, which often centers around health anxiety. Now, he describes the symptoms he felt — particularly before his son was born — as “crippling.”
“I look at things now in ways that I never would’ve been able to before,” he reflects. “And even before the kid. After getting married and then spending a lot of time at home during COVID. Just a bunch of stuff happened. It was time to process all of this craziness that’s happened in my career, too. I mean, that’s important.”
After spending the bulk of his summer at home with his wife and infant son, Luke will embark on his Middle of Somewhere Tour this fall.
Rihanna has finally handed over the keys to her Hollywood Hills home for a cushy $6.6 million payout, Architectural Digest reports.
The “Umbrella” singer bought the Mediterranean-style property in 2017. A year later, she listed it for little under $7.5 million. Since then, the property was taken off and put back on the market until she finally found a buyer.
During that period of flux, Rihanna tried renting out the abode for $35,000 a month. She then tried selling the home again in September 2021 and asked for $7.8 million.
Rihanna is taking a direct hit to the wallet after parting ways with her home for $6.6 million because she paid $250,000 more for it back in 2017.
So, what does this property offer? The new owner gets to enjoy 7,130 square feet of space overlooking the Sunset Strip. The six-bedroom home also comes with a home theater, billiards room, a guest house, two-car garage and an infinity pool with accompanying spa.
