Britney Spears and Selena Gomez can’t stop fawning over each other.
Taking to Instagram on Sunday, Britney shared a glam photo of the “Lose You to Love Me” singer and raved about their friendship.
“She came to my wedding,” the Grammy winner began. “I had no idea !!! I was SO HAPPY !!! She told me ‘I just want you to be happy’ three times.”
Britney continued, “I appreciate ALL the mental health speeches she does for our generation … Two hour specials with representatives … You’re such a special person and I had to share this picture … I thought it would make her happy !!!”
It didn’t take long for Selena to return the kind words, writing in a comment, “I’m speechless.”
“Britney-you are so kind and have the most beautiful soul. I am beyond lucky to know you,” Selena continued. “you deserve all the happiness in the world!”
This isn’t the first time Britney publicly praised Selena. The two first began bonding on Instagram in May 2021 when Selena shared a video of her younger self belting out Britney’s 2000 song “Don’t Go Knockin’ on My Door.”
In July 2021, Britney shared the unexpected gift from her fellow former Disney star — a gorgeous purple tie-dye bikini, along with several offerings from her Rare Beauty makeup line.
The two also bonded over tattoos, with Britney saying the “Wolves” singer’s watercolor rose tattoo on the back of her neck made her want to get one, too.
Selena most recently attended Britney’s wedding to Sam Asghari, and she said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that it was a beautiful ceremony.
(OXFORD, Miss.) — The search continues for 20-year-old Ole Miss student Jimmie “Jay” Lee, who has now been missing for 10 days.
Lee was last seen on the morning of July 8 after leaving the Campus Walk Apartments dressed in “a silver robe or housecoat, gold cap, and gray slippers,” according to authorities.
Three days later, Lee’s vehicle was found at a local towing company after it was removed from the Molly Barr Trails Apartment complex, where he was believed to be visiting someone, according to Oxford, Mississippi, police.
Lee’s family, meanwhile, is desperate for answers as the search drags on without success.
“We’re just holding in strength with faith the size of a mustard seed. That’s all we’re holding onto — that faith in that strength and staying strong. Not only for ourselves, but we’re staying strong for Jay Lee,” Lee’s sister, Tayla Carey, told Meridian, Mississippi ABC affiliate WTOK.
Lee’s father spoke out in a Facebook video on July 13 urging anyone with any new information to reach out to authorities.
“I’m asking that if anyone knows anything, or sees anything, say something,” Lee’s father, Jimmie Lee Sr., said.
Lee’s father described Lee as a hard worker and said his son was working to increase access to baby formula during the current nationwide shortage.
“My son, he’s currently working on an effort to provide infant formula for children that didn’t have it available to them,” Lee’s father said. “It doesn’t matter who you are, he was there to help if he saw the need.”
The Oxford, Mississippi, and University of Mississippi police departments are currently collaborating on the investigation to search for Lee.
“The departments are utilizing all available resources to track tips, potential witnesses, speaking with friends, running search warrants, canvassing areas, and collecting evidence,” the police departments said in a press release.
Crimestoppers has pledged $1,000 to anyone who brings forward information that leads to Lee being found.
The two police departments said on Thursday that “over a dozen search warrants have been executed on both physical and digital entities.”
Lee’s vehicle is now in the Mississippi State Crime Laboratory for processing, police said, but authorities and the Lee family continue to emphasize the need for more information to help locate Lee.
“This is my plea that you help find my child,” Lee’s father said.
(WASHINGTON) — The House is set to vote on a bill Tuesday that would codify same-sex marriage into federal law — the move coming in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last month, after which Justice Clarence Thomas announced the court should “reconsider” its past rulings on rights to contraception access, same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage.
Thomas, in his concurrence to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the decision that struck down Roe v. Wade, wrote that the Supreme Court should reconsider decisions involving a constitutional right to privacy that guarantees fundamental rights — including same-sex marriage and access to contraception.
His opinion sparked alarm among activists and Democratic lawmakers.
In response, bipartisan group of House members and senators introduced the bill, the Respect for Marriage Act on Monday, which would enshrine marriage equality for the purposes of federal law and provide additional legal protections for marriage equality.
“The Supreme Court’s extremist and precedent-ignoring decision in Dobbs v. Jackson has shown us why it is critical to ensure that federal law protects those whose constitutional rights might be threatened by Republican-controlled state legislatures,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said in a statement Monday.
“LGBTQ Americans and those in interracial marriages deserve to have certainty that they will continue to have their right to equal marriage recognized, no matter where they live, should the Court act on Justice Thomas’ draconian suggestion that the 2013 United States v. Windsor and 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges rulings be reconsidered or if it were to overturn Loving v. Virginia,” Hoyer said.
The Respect for Marriage Act also would officially repeal the Defense Against Marriage Act, which specifically defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman and allowed individual states to not recognize same-sex marriage that were recognized under other states’ laws.
The law was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in cases as recently as 2013 and 2015, but it remains “on the books,” Democrats have said. The House will would repeal the statute once and for all.
The bill also requires, for federal law purposes, that an individual be considered married if the marriage was valid in the state where it was performed, which would give same sex and interracial couples additional certainty that they will “continue to enjoy equal treatment under federal law as all other married couples.”
The bill also prohibits any person acting under color of state law from denying full faith and credit to an out of state marriage based on the sex, race, ethnicity or national origin of the individuals in the marriage, provides the Attorney General with the authority to pursue enforcement actions, and creates a private right of action for any individual harmed by a violation of this provision.
“Maine voters legalized same-sex marriages in our state nearly a decade ago, and since Obergefell, all Americans have had the right to marry the person whom they love,” Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said in a statement. “During my time in the Senate, I have been proud to support legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, from strengthening hate crime prevention laws, to repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ to ensuring workplace equality. This bill is another step to promote equality, prevent discrimination, and protect the rights of all Americans.”
The bill is expected to pass along party lines in the House later this week. It’s unclear, at this point, how many Republicans will vote with Democrats on the bill.
Later this week, the House is also set to vote on a bill that would protect a person’s ability to access contraceptives and to engage in contraception, and to protect a health care provider’s ability to provide contraceptives, contraception, and information related to contraception.
The votes this week come after the House passed two bills related to abortion access on Friday.
It’s unclear if the Senate will take any of the bills up for consideration ahead of the planned August recess at the end of this month.
With a photo of the movie’s “clapper” posted to the film’s official social media channels, Dune: Part Two officially got underway Monday.
The follow-up to Denis Villeneuve‘s Oscar-winning sci-fi epic reunites much of the original cast, including Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and Timothée Chalamet, and adds Black Widow‘s Florence Pugh, Elvis‘ Austin Butler, No Man’s Land star Souheila Yacoub, former Bond girl Léa Seydoux and Oscar winner Christopher Walken to the mix.
The anticipated sequel is due in theaters October 20, 2023.
Rob Zombie‘s film adaptation of The Munsters will make its debut this fall on Netflix.
That news comes from the “Dragula” rocker himself, who has announced in an Instagram post that his movie will premiere on the streaming service this fall alongside Wednesday, a live-action series directed by Tim Burton based on the character from the other monster family sitcom of the ’60s, The Addams Family.
“This fall we are gonna spook-out like it’s 1964!” Zombie writes. “Yep, The Munsters and The Addams Family are returning to the boob tube at the same time courtesy of @netflix.”
“It’s been 58 years since this clash of the titans first happened,” he adds. “Perfect entertainment for your pumpkin carving party.”
Zombie’s The Munsters stars Jeff Daniel Phillips, Sheri Moon Zombie and Daniel Roebuck as Herman, Lily and Grandpa Munster, respectively. Its first trailer, which focuses on how Herman and Lily first met, premiered last week.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jul 18, 4:20 PM EDT
Ukraine’s first lady to meet with Jill Biden
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska will meet with first lady Jill Biden in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Biden’s office said, one day before Zelenska addresses Congress.
Jul 18, 1:45 PM EDT
Ukraine’s first lady to address Congress on Wednesday
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska will make remarks Wednesday before members of Congress on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced.
All members of the House and Senate are invited to the event, which is set for 11 a.m ET.
Jul 18, 8:56 AM EDT
Russia orders troops to eliminate Ukraine’s long-range missiles
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has visited the East group of Russian forces involved in the fighting in Ukraine and ordered his troops to eliminate the Ukrainian army’s long-range missiles and artillery ammunition it uses to shell targets in the Donbas region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
Shoigu instructed the group’s commander to give priority to the use of precision-guided weapons to destroy Ukraine’s long-range missile and artillery assets, the ministry added. Russia has accused Ukraine of using its long-range weapons to shell residential neighborhoods in Donbas communities and set fire to wheat fields and grain storage facilities.
Ukrainian officials said Russian missiles struck targets across much of eastern Ukraine on Sunday and early Monday.
Six people were killed in the town of Toretsk in the Donetsk region after Russian shelling, the state emergency service said. Missiles also struck civilian infrastructure, including a school in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions.
Russia also carried out 55 strikes on the Sumy region on Sunday. Around 60 projectiles landed in Nikopol, a dozen residential buildings were damaged and one elderly woman was wounded, local officials said.
The southern city of Mykolaiv was subjected to a massive missile strike in the early hours of Sunday as 10 missiles, presumably launched by an S-300 system, hit various parts of town.
Russian officials said on Monday that no clear timeframes have been set for the war in Ukraine, and priority should be given to its efficiency.
“We have no doubts that the special military operation will be completed after all of its objectives are attained. There are no clear timeframes, what counts most is this operation’s efficiency,” Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said as quoted by Russian media.
Officials from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic claimed on Monday that DPR territory will be liberated from the Ukrainian military this year.
“The liberation of Donbas will be completed this year,” Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the police department of the DPR, said according to Russian media.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Yulia Drozd, and Max Uzol
Jul 17, 6:20 PM EDT
Number of Ukrainian public officials accused of treason, collaborating with Russia: Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the former head of the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, in Crimea, who was dismissed in the beginning of the Russian invasion, has been notified he is being charged with treason.
“Everyone who together with him was part of a criminal group that worked in the interests of the Russian Federation will also be held accountable,” Zelenskyy said during his evening address Sunday. “It is about the transfer of secret information to the enemy and other facts of cooperation with the Russian special services.”
A number of Ukrainian public officials have been notified they will be charged for treason and for collaborating with Russia.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Jul 17, 2:20 PM EDT
‘Evil cannot win’: Priest breaks down at funeral for 4-year-old Ukrainian girl
A funeral service was held Sunday for a 4-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was among two dozen Ukrainian civilian’s killed last week in a Russian missile attack in the west-central Ukrainian town of Vinnytsia.
During the open-casket funeral for Liza Dmytrieva, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest broke down in tears as he told the little girl’s father and other relatives, “evil cannot win,” according to The Associated Press.
Liza was pushing a stroller in a park as she and her mother were headed to a speech therapist appointment when the attack unfolded Thursday afternoon in Vinnytsia, a city close to the front lines in west-central Ukraine, officials said.
The girl and 23 others Ukrainian civilians were killed, including two boys ages 7 and 8. At least 200 other civilians, including Liza’s mother, were injured, officials said.
“Look, my flower! Look how many people came to you,” Liza’s grandmother, Larysa Dmytryshyna, said, as she caressed the child lying in an open casket filled with teddy bears and flowers.
Orthodox priest Vitalii Holoskevych gave the eulogy at Liza’s funeral struggling through tears.
“I didn’t know Liza, but no person can go through this with calm because every burial is grief for each of us,” Holoskevych said. “We are losing our brothers and sisters.”
Jul 15, 10:01 AM EDT
Grandma of 4-year-old girl killed in missile strike: ‘I hate them all’
The grandmother of a 4-year-old girl killed in Thursday’s Russian missile attack in Vinnytsia told ABC News, “They took the most precious [person] I had in my life.”
Four-year-old Liza was among 23 people, including three children, killed in the strike.
Liza’s grandmother, Larysa Dmytryshyna, called her a “wonderfully sunny child.”
“She was the most wonderful girl in the world and it is so painful that her mother cannot even bury her,” she said.
Asked how she feels about Russia, Dmytryshyna, replied, “I hate them all.”
“We did not ask them to come here. They have caused so much sorrow,” she said of the Russians. “I would give my own life to extinguish the entire country.”
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge, Ibtissem Guenfoud and Natalya Kushnir
Jul 15, 9:04 AM EDT
Demand for artificial limbs surges in Ukraine
One of Ukraine’s leading medical experts on developing prosthetic limbs for amputees says there has been a dramatic surge in demand for artificial arms and legs since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Dr. Oleksandr Stetsenko told ABC News that financial support or donations of prosthetic parts are needed from abroad to meet the increased demand.
External support, he said, is vital so that people have the chance to continue with their lives.
“With good prosthetics people can come back to life again,” Stetsenko told ABC News.
There is currently no official figure for how many people in Ukraine have undergone surgery to remove limbs because of injuries sustained from the war but Dr. Stetsenko estimates that around 500 people have had limbs amputated since the end of February with the majority of those cases being soldiers and around a fifth being civilians.
While the number of patients in Ukraine needing artificial limbs has increased, the domestic supply of components to make prosthetic arms and legs has reduced.
That is because a third of the companies which were previously producing components in Ukraine are now located in territory which has recently been occupied by Russian forces or in areas near to the frontline, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.
A director at the health ministry, Oleksandra Mashkevych, confirmed that Ukraine is no longer able “to cover all of the demand relating to artificial limbs.”
Mashkevych told ABC News that children who need artificial limbs are sent abroad to Europe or to the United States and that around 20 children in Ukraine are thought to have had limbs amputated since the start of the war in February.
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge, Ibtissem Guenfoud, Natalya Kushnir and Kuba Kaminski
Jul 15, 6:49 AM EDT
Unprecedented rescue operation underway in Vinnytsia
At least 18 people are still missing after a deadly missile strike on downtown Vinnytsia in central Ukraine on Thursday, the Ukrainian National Police said.
Three Russian Kalibr missiles launched from a submarine struck an office building and damaged nearby residential buildings in Vinnytsia, located about 155 miles southwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Thursday morning.
At least 23 people — including 3 children — died in the attack, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said, and more than a 100 were wounded, some critically. The bodies of 2 children and 11 adults were yet to be identified on Friday morning, local authorities said.
The strike in the heart of Vinnytsia is “part of a systematic Russian campaign of attacks on residential areas of cities in Ukraine”, the Institute for the Study of War said.
The search continued on Friday morning for at least 18 people who were still missing after the attack. The ongoing rescue operation has been unprecedented in its scale, local officials said, with more than 1,000 rescuers and 200 pieces of equipment being involved in clearing the rubble and searching for those still missing.
Several dozen people were reportedly detained in Vinnytsia on Thursday for questioning under the suspicion of acting as local spotters or aimers on the ground for the Russian strikes.
The eastern city of Mykolaiv also reported 10 powerful explosions on Friday morning. The city’s two biggest universities were hit in the attack, wounding at least four people, local authorities said. Russia also struck a hotel and a shopping mall in Mykolaiv on Thursday.
Russian shelling also targeted Kharkiv, another eastern city, on Thursday night. Local officials claimed 2 schools were damaged in the attack.
The European Union and the United Nations strongly condemned Russia for what the EU called a “long series of brutal attacks against civilians.”
Russia’s missile strikes hit more than 17,000 facilities of civilian infrastructure as opposed to around 300 military facilities since the start of the war, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Yulia Drozd, Fidel Pavlenko and Yuriy Zaliznyak
Jul 14, 4:02 PM EDT
Russian missile strike kills at least 23 in Vinnytsia
Russian missiles hit the heart of the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Thursday morning, killing at least 23 people and wounding dozens, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
Three children were among the dead, the agency said.
The missiles struck an office building and damaged nearby residential buildings in Vinnytsia, located about 155 miles southwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The strike also ignited a massive fire that engulfed 50 cars in an adjacent parking lot, according to the National Police of Ukraine. Burned-out vehicles are peppered with holes from the missiles.
The State Emergency Service said about 115 victims in Vinnytsia needed medical attention, with 64 people hospitalized — including 34 in severe condition and five in critical.
Forty-two people are listed as missing, the agency said.
Many Ukrainians moved to Vinnytsia, a city southwest of Kyiv, to get away from the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Until now, Vinnytsia had been seen as a city of relative safety.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack “an open act of terrorism” on civilians.
“Every day Russia is destroying the civilian population, killing Ukrainian children, directing missiles at civilian objects. Where there is no military (targets). What is it if not an open act of terrorism?” Zelenskyy said in a statement via Telegram on Thursday.
War crimes investigators are at the scene studying missile fragments.
Russian missile strikes targeted several other Ukrainian cities on Wednesday and early Thursday, including Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and Mykolaiv.
At least 12 people died in the Zaporizhia strike, which hit two industrial workshops on Wednesday, according to local authorities.
At least five civilians were killed and 30 others injured in Mykolaiv on Wednesday after Russian missiles destroyed a hotel and a shopping mall, the local mayor said. The southern Ukrainian city was shelled again on Thursday morning, but no casualties were immediately reported.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Fidel Pavlenko, Max Uzol, and Yulia Drozd
Jul 14, 1:49 PM EDT
At least 18 Russian filtration camps along Russia-Ukraine border
Michael Carpenter, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, is calling the forcible relocation of Ukrainians to Russian filtration camps is “a war crime.”
In an interview with ABC News Live on Thursday, Carpenter said the Russians are “trying to take away Ukrainians who might have Ukrainian civic impulses, who are patriots, who want to defend their country.” Carpenter said the Russians want to “erase Ukrainian identity” and “the Ukrainian nation state, as the entity that governs people’s lives in these regions.”
Carpenter said there are at least 18 filtration camps along the Russia-Ukraine border, adding that it’s impossible to get an exact total because many are located in Russia’s far east.
-ABC News’ Malka Abramoff
Jul 14, 12:04 PM EDT
Russian missile strike kills at least 17 in Vinnytsia
Russian missiles hit the heart of the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Thursday morning, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 30 others, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine.
Two children were among the dead, the prosecutor’s office said.
The missiles struck an office building and damaged nearby residential buildings in Vinnytsia, located about 155 miles southwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The strike also ignited a massive fire that engulfed 50 cars in an adjacent parking lot, according to the National Police of Ukraine. Burned-out vehicles are peppered with holes from the missiles.
The national police said about 90 victims in Vinnytsia sought medical attention, and 50 of them are in serious condition.
Many Ukrainians moved to Vinnytsia, a city southwest of Kyiv, to get away from the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Until now, Vinnytsia had been seen as a city of relative safety.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack “an open act of terrorism” on civilians.
“Every day Russia is destroying the civilian population, killing Ukrainian children, directing missiles at civilian objects. Where there is no military (targets). What is it if not an open act of terrorism?” Zelenskyy said in a statement via Telegram on Thursday.
War crimes investigators are at the scene studying missile fragments.
Russian missile strikes targeted several other Ukrainian cities on Wednesday and early Thursday, including Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and Mykolaiv.
At least 12 people died in the Zaporizhia strike, which hit two industrial workshops on Wednesday, according to local authorities.
At least five civilians were killed and 30 others injured in Mykolaiv on Wednesday after Russian missiles destroyed a hotel and a shopping mall, the local mayor said. The southern Ukrainian city was shelled again on Thursday morning, but no casualties were immediately reported.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Fidel Pavlenko, Max Uzol, and Yulia Drozd
Jul 13, 6:30 PM EDT
State Department aware of reports on another American detained by Russian proxies
The State Department said Wednesday it is aware of unconfirmed reports that another American has been detained by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
The statement follows a [report from the Guardian] () on 35-year-old Suedi Murekezi, who is believed to have gone missing in Ukraine in early June.
According to the Guardian, Murekezi was able to make contact with a family member on July 7 and told them he was being held in the same prison as Alexander Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, two American veterans captured while volunteering for Ukrainian forces. Murekezi has lived in Ukraine since 2020 and was falsely accused of participating in pro-Ukraine protests, according to the report.
“We have been in contact with the Ukrainian and Russian authorities regarding U.S. citizens who may have been captured by Russia’s forces or proxies while fighting in Ukraine,” a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday. “We call on Russia to live up to its international obligations to treat all individuals captured fighting with Ukraine’s armed forces as prisoners of war.”
Another American — Grady Kurpasi — is also missing in Ukraine. A family spokesperson said the veteran was last seen fighting with Ukrainian forces in late April and is feared to have been either killed or captured.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Jul 13, 8:27 AM EDT
Shelling continues throughout Donbas region
Shelling from both Russian and Ukrainian forces caused damage to the landscape and destroyed structures throughout the Donbas region on Tuesday and Wednesday, local officials said.
Russian strikes reportedly targeted the eastern town of Bakhmut, killing one person and wounding 5 others, the local governor said. Explosions were heard in several nearby towns too, with one missile falling near a kindergarten.
Shelling also continued in Izyum, Mykolayiv and Kharkiv on Tuesday. Russian troops reportedly conducted unsuccessful attacks north of Slovyansk and the town of Siversk on Tuesday, despite repeated rhetoric of an “operational pause” that Russia allegedly maintains, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest report.
Russian forces continue to bomb critical areas in preparation for future ground offensive, with air and artillery strikes reported along the majority of the frontline, the experts added.
Ukrainian forces on Tuesday responded to the Russian attacks and claimed to have destroyed six Russian military facilities on occupied Ukrainian territories. Ukrainian officials claimed to have destroyed several ammunition depots, as well as a larger military unit.
Russian media reported on Tuesday that Ukrainian troops launched a “massive attack” on an air defense unit in the Luhansk region.
Ukrainian military officials also claimed to have killed at least 30 Russian troops on Tuesday, along with destroying a howitzer and a multiple rocket launcher, among other weaponry.
But the U.K. Defense Ministry in its latest intelligence update said it still expects Russian forces to “focus on taking several small towns during the coming weeks” in the Donbas region.
These towns are on the approaches to the larger cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk that likely remain the principal objectives for this phase of the Russian military operation, the ministry said.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Max Uzol, Yulia Drozd and Yuriy Zaliznyak
Jul 12, 10:27 PM EDT
US transfers $1.7 billion in economic assistance to Ukrainian government
The United States transferred $1.7 billion to Ukraine’s government Tuesday, the Treasury Department announced.
It’s the second tranche of money the Treasury transferred to Ukraine’s government as part of $7.5 billion approved for this purpose in the $40 billion Ukraine aid package Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law in May.
It’ll go, in part, to helping Ukraine’s government provide “essential health care services” and health care workers’ salaries, the Treasury Department said.
The U.S. transferred the first tranche, $1.3 billion, to Ukraine’s government two weeks ago.
-ABC News Benjamin Gittleson
Jul 12, 1:59 AM EDT
Ukraine destroys Russian ammo depot in occupied Kherson region
Ukrainian forces hit and likely destroyed a Russian ammunition depot in the Russian-occupied town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region on Monday night, local officials said.
The strike resulted in a massive blast, videos of which soon circulated online. According to local reports, more than 40 trucks filled with gasoline were destroyed. Russian media didn’t verify the claims, saying instead that pro-Russian forces had destroyed a series of saltpeter warehouses.
“People’s windows are blown out, but they are still happy … because this means that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are close,” Sergey Khlan, from the Kherson Regional Military Administration, said in the aftermath of the attack.
Monday’s strike marked at least the fourth time Ukrainian forces destroyed ammunition depots in Nova Kakhovka, local media reported.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Tatiana Rymarenko, Max Uzol and Yulia Drozd
July 4th may be behind us, but in country music, American pride is a year-round thing: Just ask Brian Kelley, who celebrates patriotism in his new release, “American Spirit.”
His love of country is personal, and he chose to document a close-to-his-heart tradition from his home state in the music video for the song. The country star went home to Florida to film clips from the annual Grayton Beach Parade while he was making the video.
“We wanted to capture the energy and spirit of Fourth of July at home in Florida,” says Brian, who is formerly one half of the currently-defunct duo Florida Georgia Line.
“Our friends always set up a huge flag in front of their driveway, so during the afternoon when the everyone was at the beach, we did one quick performance shot for this music video to tie it all in with the great footage we captured of families and friends celebrating, soaking up the Florida sun, and giving thanks to our service members.”
For BK, the song and its music video aren’t just a celebration of country — It’s a celebration of the community that built him, too.
“I just love our town,” he continues. “Good times, good vibez and good people.”
Zac Brown Band were bestowed with a high honor following their recent headlining show at Fenway Park in Boston.
Playing their 13th sold-out show at the historic venue on Friday as part of their Out in the Middle Tour, ZBB made history as the music act with the most sold-out shows in the park’s 110-year history. The band was also inducted into the Fenway Music Hall of Fame, which honors artists who have had multiple successful shows at the venue. They are one of three artists to receive this designation, joining Paul McCartney and Billy Joel.
The show was made even more special when they invited Cody Johnson onstage to debut their new collaboration on “Wild Palomino,” which originally appeared on ZBB’s 2021 album, The Comeback. “We’ll never forget singing this one live together for the first time. Thank you, @fenwaypark!” the band writes on Instagram.
The rendition featuring Cody will be on The Comeback (Deluxe) out September 30.
Texas State University may be taking a page out of New York University’s book by offering a course about a pop star — and has chosen Harry Styles as the focus.
SWT’s associate professor of digital history, Louie Dean Valencia, unveiled plans to teach the course “Harry Styles And The Cult Of Celebrity: Identity, The Internet, And European Pop Culture,” in spring 2023. He tweeted out his plans for the course.
“It’s official, official. I’m teaching the world’s first ever university course on the work of #HarryStyles is happening,” he announced.
Valencia also shared the official brochure for the course, which says it “focuses on British musician Harry Styles and popular European culture to understand the cultural and political development of the modern celebrity as related to questions of gender and sexuality, race, class, nation, and globalism, media, fashion, fan culture, internet culture and consumerism.”
The professor later posted a TikTok to explain the course further, saying it studies how Harry evolved since stepping into the limelight; what influenced his art, passions and presence; and youth culture over the years.
If you need a refresher, NYU offered a course on Taylor Swift. That year, she spoke at their graduation ceremony. Will Harry do the same? Only time will tell.
In other Harry news, his hit “As It Was” has notched its 10th week atop the Billboard Hot 100. This is the Grammy winner’s first song to accumulate 10 weeks on top of the chart — and the 42nd song overall in the chart’s history to achieve this feat.
Over the past week, the song was streamed an additional 18.1 million times and downloaded 5,000 times.
Police arrested a man who threatened to kill people who attended Yo Gotti’s birthday concert featuring surprise guests Boosie Badazz, Lil Durk and Lil Uzi Vert Friday night in Memphis. No one was injured.
“We were informed of a potential threat regarding an individual seeking to harm attendees leaving Birthday Bash that occurred 3 hours after our show ended,” Gotti tweeted Saturday.
“I would also like to thank the Memphis Police Department for their swift and proactive action in ensuring that all attendees returned home safely,” the “Rake it Up” rapper added. “Thank you to the fans, artists and everyone involved behind the scenes for making Birthday Bash a smooth, secure and successful event.”
The birthday concert at the FedEx Forum, titled Yo Gotti and Friends, was streamed live on Twitch TV.
Elijah Hyman, 28, was charged with commission of the act of terrorism early Saturday morning, police told ABC Memphis affiliate WATN-TV.
Police say that Hyman had broken up with his girlfriend, and he wanted to kill himself and “everyone he saw coming from an event being held at the FedEx Forum.” Several weapons were found at his apartment.
