Netflix has dropped the first full trailer for the second season of its hit series Bridgerton, which as previously reported centers on Jonathan Bailey‘s Anthony Bridgerton and his duty to find a bride.
In its opening moments, and to Jonathan’s embarrassment, his mother, Lady Violet Bridgerton, played by Ruth Gemmell, proudly declares of her son, “This is the season the viscount intends to find a wife!”
This sets off a Bachelor-like scene, where seemingly every single woman in the county pushes hard to the hoop for Anthony’s attention, with Charithra Chandran‘s Edwina Sharma emerging as the “proper” choice.
However, things aren’t so easy: There’s clearly heat between Bridgerton and Edwina’s headstrong sister, Kate, played by Simone Ashley.
“The greatest love of my family that I am to choose a bride with my head, and not with my…heart,” Anthony confesses.
“He seeks a wife only to fulfil his duty,” Kate tells Edwina, “and does not believe in the true love you deserve.”
Julie Andrews again can be heard in the trailer voicing the series’ resident gossip writer, Lady Whistledown, who was revealed last season to be Nicola Coughlan‘s Penelope Featherington.
“What happens when duty is in conflict with the heart’s true desire?” Whistledown asks. “Why then, there is the potential for true scandal indeed!”
As we see Jonathan’s heart is truly desiring Kate, and vice-versa — “My honor is hanging by a thread,” he confesses to her — Golda Rosheuvel‘s Queen Charlotte ups the ante on exposing the gossiper. “Whistledown’s words carry far too much import. We must entrap the scribbler!” she commands.
Bridgerton‘s second season debuts on March 25 on Netflix.
According to posts on the Facebook pages of Todd Rundgren and ex-Wings member Denny Laine, two of the artists taking part in the trek, the new dates are June 16 in Derry, New Hampshire; June 17 in Medford, Massachusetts; June 18 in Westbury, New York; June 20 in Red Bank, New Jersey; and June 21 in Annapolis, Maryland.
As previously reported, the trek features Rundgren, Laine, Christopher Cross, Badfinger‘s Joey Molland and former Chicago singer/bassist Jason Scheff performing songs from The Beatles’ Rubber Soul and Revolver albums, as well as select well-known tunes from their own careers.
The message on Laine’s Facebook page notes that tickets purchased for the shows original dates will be honored for the rescheduled concerts. Those seeking a refund should contact their original point of purchase.
The message also reported, “Everyone is well and looking forward to heading back on the road.” The next stop on the current tour will be St. George’s Theater in Staten Island, New York, this Friday, March 11.
Meanwhile, Cross, who survived a serious case of COVID-19 early in the pandemic, has posted his own note regarding the situation on his Facebook page.
“This is a good time to remind ourselves that we are not out of the woods with COVID, especially omicron,” writes Christopher. “Please get vaccinated and boosted, and wear your mask in public gatherings. We need to protect not only ourselves but those around us.”
He adds, “We are all fine. Everyone is vaccinated which has protected us from severe illness.”
In honor of late rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as Biggie Smalls, OneOf, the Green Web3 company built for music, sports and lifestyle will release limited-edition Notorious B.I.G. NFTs.
According to the press release, a portion of the proceeds from the NFTs, inspired by iconic rapper Biggie Smalls’ legendary hip hop career, will go to the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation Inc., to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his passing.
“We are excited about our partnership with OneOf and their expertise to memorialize my son Christopher with this first official NFT drop to give his fans an opportunity to participate in and honor their love of him and his music,” said the Notorious B.I.G.’s mother, Voletta Wallace.
OneOf has recently announced major partnerships with The Recording Academy to celebrate the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards, as well as with Warner Music Group. OneOf’s recent Whitney Houston Collection made headlines when a never-before-heard Whitney Houston song made when she was 17 was sold at auction on OneOf for $1 million.
“We’re honored to work with The Christopher Wallace Estate to celebrate the incredible legacy of Biggie Smalls,” said OneOf COO & Co-Founder Josh James. “Using NFT technology, Biggie’s legacy and his outsized impact on music and culture will be forever cemented on blockchain, to be honored and shared with fans around the world and for generations to come.”
The new thriller Fresh is streaming now on Hulu and if you’re wondering what it’s all about — well, it’s about a lot of things, according to star Daisy Edgar-Jones.
The movie, which also stars Sebastian Stan, is a little tricky to describe without spoiling one of its big secrets, but the actress tells ABC Audio she’s well practiced at giving a spoiler-free description of the horror comedy.
“I’ve been saying a bold and audacious thriller about the perils of modern dating. That tends to be the way I describe it,” Edgar-Jones says.
“Arguably you could say it’s an allegory for the consumption of women in society,” she adds. “It’s also sort of a celebration of the power of female friendships. It’s kind of observing this consumerist way that we date now with like apps and things like that.”
In Fresh, Edgar-Jones and Stan star as two people seemingly looking for love, with dark results. Edgar-Jones shares that it plays around with an unrealistic version of love we’ve been fed our whole lives.
“I think the kind of diet of rom-coms that we all grow up in does definitely give us the sort of slightly skewed idea of how love works,” she begins.
“You know, at the core kind of the idea that love is one of the most important parts of being a human, and relationships and connection, that I definitely agree with. And, you know, I’m a big lover of those films. But really, you know, so often when you watch them back, you’re like, gosh, that’s really interesting that the premise of this is basically the man is just incredibly persistent until the woman finally goes OK,” she explains with a laugh.
Kesha has a rule when making new music: Dolly Parton has to like it.
Speaking to Rolling Stonefor its Icons & Influences issue, the “TiK ToK” hitmaker explained just how large an impact Dolly Parton had on her life and career. Growing up, she says her mother, Pebe Serbert, hailed the “Jolene” singer as “Queen Dolly” and even wrote a song for her — the 1980 hit “Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You).”
“Dolly didn’t seem like a real human to me. It was almost like when you talk about unicorns. I remember as a little kid, it was like she was this fable, like untouchable, unhuman, just bada**,” Kesha explained. She never lost that point of view and, when creating her Rainbow album, she manifested her life-long dream of recording a song with “the queen.”
Kesha explained she initially didn’t “think I was talented enough” to ask Dolly to sing with her, but she eventually put on her big girl pants.
“I said, ‘You know what? If I don’t ask, the answer’s no.’ So I just thought, ‘[Screw] it, I’m going to ask Dolly Parton to sing a song with me,'” she recalled. “I wept like a baby when she said she would.”
The two re-recorded the song her mom wrote for Dolly over 40 years ago and, from that point forward, Kesha adopted a new music policy. “I don’t ever want to put out any music that Dolly Parton wouldn’t enjoy or listen to, or find some humor in,” Kesha said. “She’s so much of a guiding light, and she has no idea.”
Kesha also has another Dolly-centric goal: “If I ever get married, I want to do it at Dollywood.”
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, don’t appear to have advanced closer to the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 09, 9:08 am
US to send two Patriot anti-missile batteries to Poland
The United States said it’s sending two Patriot anti-missile batteries stationed in Europe to Poland as a “defensive deployment” at the request of the Polish government.
While testifying before Congress Tuesday on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said there were discussions underway with the Polish government about a possible deployment of Patriot batteries. The U.S. military’s European Command (EUCOM) later confirmed that two batteries already in Europe would be deployed to Poland.
“At the direction of the Secretary of Defense and at the invitation of our Polish allies, General Wolters, Commander of U.S. European Command, has directed U.S. Army Europe and Africa to reposition two Patriot Batteries to Poland,” EUCOM spokesman Capt. Adam Miller said in a statement Tuesday. “This defensive deployment is being conducted proactively to counter any potential threat to U.S. and Allied forces and NATO territory. This is a prudent force protection measure that underpins our commitment to Article Five and will in no way support any offensive operations. Every step we take is intended to deter aggression and reassure our Allies.”
The move came hours after the U.S. dismissed Poland’s offer to transfer all of its MiG-26 fighter jets to a U.S. air base in Germany to boost Ukraine’s fight against Russia, with Pentagon press secretary John Kirby saying in a statement Tuesday that “we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one.”
Poland is expecting delivery later this year of two Patriot batteries it had bought in 2018. The air defense systems are intended to shoot down incoming missiles, so their deployment to Poland means there are concerns about dealing with any incoming missile fire into the country, which shares a 330-mile border with Ukraine. It was unclear exactly where in Poland the Patriot batteries would be placed.
Mar 09, 8:40 am
Ukraine warns of radiation risk after power cut at Russia-occupied Chernobyl plant
Ukraine warned Wednesday that electricity has been entirely cut to its Chernobyl nuclear power plant and radioactive substance could be released because its storage facility cannot cool spent nuclear fuel.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a 1,000-square-mile restricted area of deserted land surrounding the shuttered plant, was seized by Russian forces just hours after they launched their invasion on Feb. 24. The plant, situated between the Belarus-Ukraine border and the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986.
Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection announced via Twitter on Wednesday that the “Kyiv high-voltage line is currently disconnected due to the damage caused by the occupiers.”
“As a result, the Chernobyl station and all nuclear facilities in the Exclusion Zone are without electricity,” the agency tweeted.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also confirmed the news on Twitter, saying the only electrical grid supplying Chernobyl and all its nuclear facilities occupied by Russian forces “is damaged,” causing a loss of power supply.
“I call on the international community to urgently demand Russia to cease fire and allow repair units to restore power supply,” Kuleba tweeted.
However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it “sees no critical impact on safety.” The nuclear watchdog of the United Nations tweeted that the “heat load of spent fuel storage pool and volume of cooling water” at Chernobyl is “sufficient for effective heat removal without need for electrical supply.”
Some 20,000 spent nuclear fuel assemblies are stored in Chernobyl’s storage facility and “need constant cooling,” which is only possible if there is electricity, according to Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection.
“If it is not there, the pumps will not cool. As a result, the temperature in the holding pools will increase,” the agency tweeted. “After that evaporation will occur, that will lead to nuclear discharge.”
Kuleba noted that reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power Chernobyl.
“After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent,” he tweeted. “Putin’s barbaric war puts entire Europe in danger. He must stop it immediately!”
Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection warned that “the wind can transfer the radioactive cloud” to other areas of Ukraine as well as Belarus, Russia and elsewhere in Europe. There is also no ventilation inside the Chernobyl storage facility.
“All personnel there will receive a dangerous dose of radiation,” the agency tweeted.
Meanwhile, the facility’s fire extinguishing system is not functioning and the agency warned of “a huge risk of fire caused by shelling.”
“The fight still goes on making it impossible to carry out repairs and restore power,” the agency tweeted.
Mar 09, 8:08 am
Russia responds to Poland offering fighter jets to help Ukraine
Russia warned Wednesday of “an extremely undesirable and potentially dangerous scenario” if other countries use their airfields to support Ukraine.
When asked by reporters during a daily press briefing to comment on Poland’s announcement Tuesday that it’s “ready” to “immediately” hand over all its MIG-29 fighter jets “free of charge” to a U.S. air base in Germany to boost Ukraine’s fight against Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The [Russian] Defense Ministry has already commented on the possibility of using any other airfields for takeoffs of military planes.”
“This is an extremely undesirable and potentially dangerous scenario,” he added.
Mar 09, 6:12 am
Over 2.15 million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
More than 2.15 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency.
The tally from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) amounts to nearly 5% of Ukraine’s population — which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020 — on the move across borders in just two weeks.
More than half of the refugees are in neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.
Mar 09, 5:19 am
Ukraine says humanitarian corridors confirmed with Russia, Red Cross for Wednesday
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said six humanitarian corridors have been agreed with Russian officials and confirmed with the International Committee of the Red Cross to operate during a temporary cease-fire Wednesday.
According to Vereshchuk, the evacuation routes for civilians are open from towns north of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, where there has been heavy fighting, as well as from the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol, where an evacuation failed yesterday. Another route goes from the town of Izium near hard-hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and another from the eastern city of Volnovakha, where civilians have been trying to evacuate for several days. Another route leads from northeastern city of Energodar, where shelling caused a fire at Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant last week.
Vereshchuk said Russian officials had sent a letter to the Red Cross confirming the routes and a cease-fire for Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time. She called on Russia to keep to its commitment and not to violate the cease-fire, as she said it did in Mariupol and Volnovakha on Tuesday.
“We ask Russian forces to commit to their obligations and keep the ceasefire till 9 p.m. as agreed,” Vereshchuk said in a statement Wednesday morning.
Vereshchuk noted that an orphanage with 55 children and 26 staff also needs to be evacuated from Vorzel, a town just north of Kyiv.
“The evacuation of them will be done as a separate special operation,” she said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement Wednesday that it has discussed the interaction on the Ukraine track with the Red Cross.
Mar 08, 9:59 pm
Biden calls family of US Marine detained by Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden called the parents of Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine who has been detained in Russia for nearly three years and whose case has gotten renewed attention amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
The president spoke to Joey and Paula Reed after an event in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday, according to the White House.
On the call, the president reiterated his commitment to doing everything he can to bring their son home, to staying in close touch with them through his national security team and to finding a time to meet in person, the White House said.
A Reed family spokesperson also confirmed to ABC News that Biden called them to apologize for not being able to stop and meet them in person.
The family says they have been asking to meet with the president for several months to help free Reed, a Texan who they say has been denied treatment for suspected tuberculosis, and specifically asked to meet the president in Texas on Tuesday but were denied.
Reed and another former Marine, Paul Whelan, have spent years in Russian custody on charges that their families and American officials say were fabricated by Russia in order to seize them as bargaining chips.
Dua Lipa stars opposite of Henry Cavill in the upcoming spy thriller, Argylle, which comes out next year on Apple TV+. To help tide fans over, the first promotional image has just been released, which shows a blonde Dua with her arms around The Witcher star.
The “Levitating” singer’s hair is done up in a caramel blonde bob and she’s wearing a shimmering gold dress. As for Henry, he’s wearing a green velvet suit. The two appear to be slow dancing as they stare into each other’s eyes.
The streamer also released the synopsis of the upcoming thriller, which is about “the globe-trotting adventures of a super-spy named Argylle across the U.S., London and other exotic locations.” In addition to Dua, the cast includes John Cena, Catherine O’Hara, Bryan Cranston, Samuel L. Jackson, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell and Ariana DeBose.
Director Mathew Vaughn said previously to The Hollywood Reporter, “When I read this early draft manuscript I felt it was the most incredible and original spy franchise since Ian Fleming’s books of the 50s… This is going to reinvent the spy genre.”
An exact release date for Argylle hasn’t been announced, with Apple only telling fans to expect it in 2023.
Kelly Clarkson has finally put her drawn-out and sometimes nasty divorce battle to rest. Peoplereports the “Piece By Piece” singer has settled matters with her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock.
Kelly, who first filed to divorce her husband of seven years in June 2020, has agreed to give Brandon a one-time-payment of $1.3 million in addition to $45,601 every month in child support. That’s not all — the Grammy winner will also have to pay Brandon $115,000 in monthly spousal support until January 31, 2024.
The amount is lower than what Brandon originally sought and was paid since last July, which was $150,000.
The former couple also agreed to share joint-custody of their two children, seven-year-old River and five-year-old Remington. It was also decided that the kids will live with their mom in Los Angeles, California, and will also be vaccinated against COVID-19. In addition, both parents agreed to allow River and Remington to visit their father in Montana, where he continues to live on Kelly’s ranch for $2,000 a month.
In other matters, Kelly will also retain ownership of the family pets and vehicles, the latter of which includes a Porsche Cayenne and a flight simulator. As for Brandon, he was granted the family’s golf simulator, their Patek Philippe watches, several CAT snowmobiles, several vehicles that include a Ford F-350 and Ford F-250 truck, as well as “farm cattle, livestock, stock dogs, and horses,” according to court documents.
Representatives for both Kelly and Brandon have not responded to requests for comment as of Tuesday Wednesday morning.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, don’t appear to have advanced closer to the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 09, 9:08 am
US to send two Patriot anti-missile batteries to Poland
The United States said it’s sending two Patriot anti-missile batteries stationed in Europe to Poland as a “defensive deployment” at the request of the Polish government.
While testifying before Congress Tuesday on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said there were discussions underway with the Polish government about a possible deployment of Patriot batteries. The U.S. military’s European Command (EUCOM) later confirmed that two batteries already in Europe would be deployed to Poland.
“At the direction of the Secretary of Defense and at the invitation of our Polish allies, General Wolters, Commander of U.S. European Command, has directed U.S. Army Europe and Africa to reposition two Patriot Batteries to Poland,” EUCOM spokesman Capt. Adam Miller said in a statement Tuesday. “This defensive deployment is being conducted proactively to counter any potential threat to U.S. and Allied forces and NATO territory. This is a prudent force protection measure that underpins our commitment to Article Five and will in no way support any offensive operations. Every step we take is intended to deter aggression and reassure our Allies.”
The move came hours after the U.S. dismissed Poland’s offer to transfer all of its MiG-26 fighter jets to a U.S. air base in Germany to boost Ukraine’s fight against Russia, with Pentagon press secretary John Kirby saying in a statement Tuesday that “we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one.”
Poland is expecting delivery later this year of two Patriot batteries it had bought in 2018. The air defense systems are intended to shoot down incoming missiles, so their deployment to Poland means there are concerns about dealing with any incoming missile fire into the country, which shares a 330-mile border with Ukraine. It was unclear exactly where in Poland the Patriot batteries would be placed.
Mar 09, 8:40 am
Ukraine warns of radiation risk after power cut at Russia-occupied Chernobyl plant
Ukraine warned Wednesday that electricity has been entirely cut to its Chernobyl nuclear power plant and radioactive substance could be released because its storage facility cannot cool spent nuclear fuel.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a 1,000-square-mile restricted area of deserted land surrounding the shuttered plant, was seized by Russian forces just hours after they launched their invasion on Feb. 24. The plant, situated between the Belarus-Ukraine border and the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986.
Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection announced via Twitter on Wednesday that the “Kyiv high-voltage line is currently disconnected due to the damage caused by the occupiers.”
“As a result, the Chernobyl station and all nuclear facilities in the Exclusion Zone are without electricity,” the agency tweeted.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also confirmed the news on Twitter, saying the only electrical grid supplying Chernobyl and all its nuclear facilities occupied by Russian forces “is damaged,” causing a loss of power supply.
“I call on the international community to urgently demand Russia to cease fire and allow repair units to restore power supply,” Kuleba tweeted.
However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it “sees no critical impact on safety.” The nuclear watchdog of the United Nations tweeted that the “heat load of spent fuel storage pool and volume of cooling water” at Chernobyl is “sufficient for effective heat removal without need for electrical supply.”
Some 20,000 spent nuclear fuel assemblies are stored in Chernobyl’s storage facility and “need constant cooling,” which is only possible if there is electricity, according to Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection.
“If it is not there, the pumps will not cool. As a result, the temperature in the holding pools will increase,” the agency tweeted. “After that evaporation will occur, that will lead to nuclear discharge.”
Kuleba noted that reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power Chernobyl.
“After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent,” he tweeted. “Putin’s barbaric war puts entire Europe in danger. He must stop it immediately!”
Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection warned that “the wind can transfer the radioactive cloud” to other areas of Ukraine as well as Belarus, Russia and elsewhere in Europe. There is also no ventilation inside the Chernobyl storage facility.
“All personnel there will receive a dangerous dose of radiation,” the agency tweeted.
Meanwhile, the facility’s fire extinguishing system is not functioning and the agency warned of “a huge risk of fire caused by shelling.”
“The fight still goes on making it impossible to carry out repairs and restore power,” the agency tweeted.
Mar 09, 8:08 am
Russia responds to Poland offering fighter jets to help Ukraine
Russia warned Wednesday of “an extremely undesirable and potentially dangerous scenario” if other countries use their airfields to support Ukraine.
When asked by reporters during a daily press briefing to comment on Poland’s announcement Tuesday that it’s “ready” to “immediately” hand over all its MIG-29 fighter jets “free of charge” to a U.S. air base in Germany to boost Ukraine’s fight against Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The [Russian] Defense Ministry has already commented on the possibility of using any other airfields for takeoffs of military planes.”
“This is an extremely undesirable and potentially dangerous scenario,” he added.
Mar 09, 6:12 am
Over 2.15 million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
More than 2.15 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency.
The tally from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) amounts to nearly 5% of Ukraine’s population — which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020 — on the move across borders in just two weeks.
More than half of the refugees are in neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.
Mar 09, 5:19 am
Ukraine says humanitarian corridors confirmed with Russia, Red Cross for Wednesday
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said six humanitarian corridors have been agreed with Russian officials and confirmed with the International Committee of the Red Cross to operate during a temporary cease-fire Wednesday.
According to Vereshchuk, the evacuation routes for civilians are open from towns north of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, where there has been heavy fighting, as well as from the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol, where an evacuation failed yesterday. Another route goes from the town of Izium near hard-hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and another from the eastern city of Volnovakha, where civilians have been trying to evacuate for several days. Another route leads from northeastern city of Energodar, where shelling caused a fire at Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant last week.
Vereshchuk said Russian officials had sent a letter to the Red Cross confirming the routes and a cease-fire for Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time. She called on Russia to keep to its commitment and not to violate the cease-fire, as she said it did in Mariupol and Volnovakha on Tuesday.
“We ask Russian forces to commit to their obligations and keep the ceasefire till 9 p.m. as agreed,” Vereshchuk said in a statement Wednesday morning.
Vereshchuk noted that an orphanage with 55 children and 26 staff also needs to be evacuated from Vorzel, a town just north of Kyiv.
“The evacuation of them will be done as a separate special operation,” she said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement Wednesday that it has discussed the interaction on the Ukraine track with the Red Cross.
Mar 08, 9:59 pm
Biden calls family of US Marine detained by Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden called the parents of Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine who has been detained in Russia for nearly three years and whose case has gotten renewed attention amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
The president spoke to Joey and Paula Reed after an event in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday, according to the White House.
On the call, the president reiterated his commitment to doing everything he can to bring their son home, to staying in close touch with them through his national security team and to finding a time to meet in person, the White House said.
A Reed family spokesperson also confirmed to ABC News that Biden called them to apologize for not being able to stop and meet them in person.
The family says they have been asking to meet with the president for several months to help free Reed, a Texan who they say has been denied treatment for suspected tuberculosis, and specifically asked to meet the president in Texas on Tuesday but were denied.
Reed and another former Marine, Paul Whelan, have spent years in Russian custody on charges that their families and American officials say were fabricated by Russia in order to seize them as bargaining chips.
Amanda Bynes has launched an Instagram account, and so far has only one post, but it gets right to the point: She wants out of her conservatorship.
In a brief, selfie-shot message that was posted Monday, the former The Amanda Show star says, “What’s up, Instagram? Amanda Bynes here. My court date is coming up in two weeks. I want to thank you all so much for your love and support. Peace out.”
The court date to which she was referring is what’s known as a “capacity declaration” under California law. As previously reported, Bynes wants her health records updated regarding her mental health, a necessary first step to terminate her mother’s control over her financial and other affairs.
Bynes’ mother, Lynn, was put in charge temporarily following a 2013 incident in which Bynes reportedly started a small fire in a neighbor’s driveway After the driveway incident, Bynes was placed on a temporary psychiatric hold. The conservatorship was reinstated in 2014, the same year Bynes, now 35, revealed she’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Recently, Amanda’s attorney, David A. Esquibias, told People, “She believes her condition is improved and protection of the court is no longer necessary.”
Bynes wears thick-framed glasses during the brief message, which also shows off a ring in her nose and a small black heart she’s apparently had tattooed on her left cheek. Her hair is also dark, turning to silver-grey halfway down its length.
Amanda’s one and only post, tagging several entertainment outlets, has apparently blocked any comments but as of Wednesday morning had over 6,200 views. Her profile page also says “check back for updates on new fragrance!” alluding to a perfume her attorney explained the fashion-minded actress been working on recently.
