(BUCHANAN COUNTY, Va.) — Everyone has been accounted for in Buchanan County, Virginia, on Thursday after a severe storm struck the area, bringing heavy rain and flooding, officials said.
At the height of the flooding, 44 people were unaccounted for on Wednesday. Floodwaters are now receding, said authorities in Buchanan County, which sits at the borders of Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky.
There are no reports of deaths or injuries, the sheriff’s office said.
The flooding came after 4 to 6 inches of rain pounded the area within hours Tuesday night. Some spots reported 3 inches of rain in just 90 minutes. A frontal system stalled over the region, which can produce copious amounts of rain in a very short period of time.
The damage spreads across about 10 miles, officials said, adding that the worst impact was downstream of where several streams join together.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has declared a state of emergency.
“I want Virginians in Buchanan County to know that we are making every resource available to help those impacted by this storm. As we continue to assess the situation, I want to thank our first responders and the personnel on the ground for providing assistance with our ongoing operations,” he said in a statement.
L-R: Anthony, Joe Russo — Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Netflix
Joe and Anthony Russo directed four Marvel Studios films: fan-favorite Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014; Captain America: Civil War in 2016, Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and 2019’s Endgame, which is the second highest-grossing film of all time.
After that high water mark, the pair went on to direct and produce their own films, including 2021’s Cherry with Tom Holland and the Netflix thriller The Grey Man starring Ryan Gosling and their Marvel star Chris Evans.
But would they come back to the MCU? The pair tells Deadline they would — for the multiverse-rending, world-ending epic Secret Wars.
“…Our love for Marvel is based on the books we read as kids and the books that we fell in love with,” Joeexplained on the red carpet premiere of The Grey Man. “The one series that we adored growing up was Secret Wars. It’s incredibly ambitious – it would be bigger than Infinity War and Endgame – it’s a massive undertaking and those two movies were really very hard to make. So trying to imagine making another two movies even bigger than those two, we’re gonna have to sleep on it.”
The 2015 comic series to which Joe referred saw the multiverse and our Earth destroyed and many of the comics’ biggest heroes forced to fight each other in a realm known as Battle World.
For fans of the MCU, of course, some of these elements are already in place, including the multiverse, and as introduced in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the dimensional-shredding danger known as an incursion.
Some suspect that the upcoming Disney+ show Secret Invasion could also set the scene for a Secret Wars movie.
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
A visibly frustrated Boosie Badazz exited the passenger seat of what looks to be a black Cadillac SUV Wednesday during a traffic stop in Georgia, which resulted in the rapper being handcuffed.
According to TMZ, Boosie and another man were pulled over for heavy window tint and concealed tags, before cops claimed they smelled marijuana, prompting a car search. The two were then placed in cuffs and asked to stand on the side.
“I can’t be going through this though, bro,” Boosie is heard saying to one of the officers in the body cam footage. “I can’t bro,” he repeats. “I do no wrong.”
Appearing to grow in his frustration, the rapper added, “It’s harassment, it’s every day.”
A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Boosie, 39, born Torence Hatch, says in the body cam footage, he moved to Atlanta to “live,” seemingly referring to his decision to relocate due to past legal woes. He previously told Rolling Stone, ”Police in Atlanta don’t hate me.”
As heard in the footage, Boosie says he needs to consult with the “superiors” of the officers who made the stop and explains multiple reasons why he shouldn’t have been “targeted.”
“Car’s not stolen. Registration is right. The tag is right. I was pulled over ‘cus it’s Boosie’s car,” he says. He later adds that if he were a “white college player,” he would have not been in the situation.
TMZ reports cops found cash and marijuana in the car. The other man claimed ownership, was cited and they both were let go.
Mumford & Sons frontman Marcus Mumford has premiered the first single off his upcoming debut solo album, (self-titled).
The track is called “Cannibal” and is available now via digital outlets. You can watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.
Mumford announced (self-titled) earlier this week. In a note detailing the project, he shared, “In January 2021, facing demons I danced with for a long time in isolation, I wrote a song called ‘Cannibal.'”
He added, “I took it to my friend [producer] Blake Mills, and we began the process of making this album, dear to my heart.”
(self-titled) will be released September 16. It also includes collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers, Clairo, Brandi Carlile and Monica Martin.
Mumford & Sons’ most recent album is 2018’s Delta.
Here’s the (self-titled) track list:
“Cannibal”
“Grace”
“Prior Warning”
“Better Off High”
“Only Child”
“Dangerous Game” feat. Clairo
“Better Angels”
“Go in Light” feat. Monica Martin
“Stonecatcher” feat. Phoebe Bridgers
“How” feat. Brandi Carlile
(WASHINGTON) — While the Biden administration ramped up outreach to Venezuela in the early months of this year, the Maduro regime imprisoned three Americans who are still behind bars, according to the State Department.
“We can confirm the arrest of U.S. citizens in Venezuela in January and March of this year. We take seriously our commitment to assist U.S. citizens abroad. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment,” a department spokesperson told ABC News on Wednesday.
While the spate of detentions initially flew under the radar, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Venezuelan security forces had arrested Eyvin Hernandez, 44, and 52-year-old computer programmer Jerrel Kenemore during separate incidents in late March.
The report added that another American was arrested in January but withheld identifying details at the request of their family.
Venezuela separately released two American prisoners in early March, following a visit to Caracas by a high-level U.S. delegation. One of those freed was oil executive Gustavo Cardenas, part of the “Citgo 6” who had been jailed since 2017, when they were called to the country for a meeting and arrested on corruption charges.
On Wednesday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan was asked about President Joe Biden’s engagement on the newly revealed cases, but Sullivan did not directly answer.
“We did get a couple of Americans out and that was a great thing,” he said, referring to the two Americans freed this year. “But it was bittersweet because there’s a lot of Americans still there, and we’ve got to get them home.”
A spokesperson for White House National Security Council also declined to comment.
The U.S. government has since the Trump administration recognized Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s rightful leader — and has been trying to facilitate talks between his opposition party and President Nicolás Maduro. As part of those efforts, the Biden White House rolled back some energy sanctions targeting the regime in late May, which paved the way for negotiating future economic activity with American companies but stopped short of allowing for oil drilling to resume.
At the time, administration officials said both sides had agreed to swiftly return to the negotiating table.
But Maduro has not agreed to a date, so discussions remain stalled.
At least eight other Americans are considered to be wrongfully detained in Venezuela, including the rest of the “Citgo 6” and two U.S. veterans. One of them is Matthew Heath, who has been jailed in the country since September 2020.
Heath’s family said he attempted suicide in June. At the time, his relatives expressed dissatisfaction with the Biden administration’s efforts to bring him home.
“Matthew’s life is in imminent danger, and we don’t detect any urgency at all from the White House,” his aunt said in a statement. “We are frustrated with the pattern of ‘deciding not to decide’ at the White House, endless policy reviews, and empty platitudes about his case being a priority.”
Following the incident, sources said that U.S. officials believed they were making significant progress on Heath’s case but were ultimately left empty-handed.
Last week, one of the five American oil executives still detained in Venezuela, Jorge Toledo, wrote a letter to Biden calling on the president to work to free them and other wrongfully detained Americans, according to a spokesman for Toledo’s family.
A Biden administration official confirmed to ABC News that the White House had received the letter, although the official declined to say whether Biden had read it.
Buying a t-shirt as a concert souvenir is so 2021 — wouldn’t you rather buy an NFT? Goo Goo Dolls are hoping the answer is yes.
In connection with their 2022 summer tour, the band is rolling out an NFT collection: There are 44 different designs, each commemorating a city they’ll be playing in. Each animated NFT is based on the cover design of their upcoming album Chaos in Bloom, but has the name of the city instead of the title — such as “Chaos in Portland” or “Chaos in Kansas City” — plus the venue.
There are 50 NFTs available per city, and they cost $25 each. You can check them out, or purchase one, at the website Fanaply.
The band’s tour kicks off Friday, July 15 and is scheduled to wrap up September 24 in the band’s hometown of Buffalo, NY. Chaos in Bloom arrives August 12.
Pearl Jam has premiered the video for “Quick Escape,” a track off the band’s latest album, Gigaton.
The clip cuts frenetic performance footage of Eddie Vedder and company, with shots of a car speeding through a desert landscape and a young person in a spacesuit walking through a city.
You can watch the “Quick Escape” video streaming now on YouTube.
Gigaton, the 11th Pearl Jam album, was released in 2020. The Tour Edition of the record, which features live versions of nearly every Gigaton song, just dropped last Friday.
Pearl Jam is currently on tour in Europe in support of Gigaton. They’ll return to North America for a run of U.S. and Canadian dates in September.
(MOSCOW) — WNBA star Brittney Griner appeared in a Russian court on Thursday morning for the third day of her trial, as the Biden administration works to secure her release.
Griner did not testify but several Russian individuals testified as character witnesses about their experiences with the basketball star.
The first witness was Maxim Ryabkov, the director of UMMC — the Russian basketball club in the city of Yekaterinburg for which Griner played in the WNBA offseason. The second witness was team doctor Anatoly Galabin, who said that she never tested positive for doping while playing for the team. And the third witness, Evgenia Belyakova, one of Griner’s Russian teammates, said that Griner was the leader of the team.
Griner pleaded guilty on drug charges in a Russian court last week, saying that the vape cartridges containing hashish oil were in her luggage unintentionally.
Griner, who has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17, said she had no “intention” of breaking Russian law, and was in a rush but did not mean to leave the cartridges in her bag.
The WNBA star’s trial, which is taking place in Khimki — a suburb of Moscow — began on July 1, more than 4 1/2 months after Griner was detained.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was visiting Russia to play basketball in the off-season when she was detained at Sheremetyevo International Airport after being accused of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in the country.
Her legal team told ABC News in a statement last week that her “guilty” plea was informed by a discussion with her Russian attorneys.
“Brittney sets an example of being brave. She decided to take full responsibility for her actions as she knows that she is a role model for many people,” they said in the statement. “Considering the nature of her case, the insignificant amount of the substance and BG’s personality and history of positive contributions to global and Russian sport, the defense hopes that the plea will be considered by the court as a mitigating factor and there will be no severe sentence.”
Griner’s detention was extended repeatedly, most recently through Dec. 20, which was the expected length of her trial. If convicted, Griner, 31, faces up to 10 years in prison and also has a right to an appeal.
The U.S. government classified Griner’s case on May 3 as “wrongfully detained,” meaning the U.S. will more aggressively work to negotiate her release even as the legal case against her plays out, the State Department has said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last week that Griner’s guilty plea will have “no impact” on any of the negotiations to bring her home to the U.S.
Calls to free Griner escalated following the release of U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed last month, who was freed from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner exchange. Former Marine Paul Whelan has also been detained in Russia since 2019.
“We’re going to do everything that we can to bring home Brittney Griner safely, and to also make sure that we bring Paul Whelan back home, as well,” Jean-Pierre said.
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is planning to travel to Russia in the near future for talks aimed at negotiating a deal to free Griner, a source with knowledge of the proposed trip told ABC News.
Richardson, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary in the Clinton administration, played a role in achieving Reed’s release.
ABC News’ Joseph Simonetti, Tanya Stukalova, Patrick Reevell and Henderson Hewes contributed to this report.
On Thursday, Amazon Studios dropped an extended look at what’s said to be the most expensive television series ever made: The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power.
As previously reported, the show, set in author J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, takes place thousands of years before Peter Jackson‘s Oscar-wining LOTR trilogy — in a time known to fans as the Second Age.
The teaser is vague on the plot, but the Elven Queen Galadriel, played by Morfydd Clark, has a vision that something very bad is afoot — and tries to convince Robert Aramayo‘s Elrond of the same.
“The enemy is out there,” she warns him. “The question now is where?”
“You have fought long enough, Galadriel,” Elrond protests. “Put up your sword.” For the uninitiated, Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving play their respective roles in the previous films.
The teaser also shows sprawling vistas of Middle-Earth and some of the settings in which the shows take place: The delicate beauty of the Elven kingdom of Númenór; the rugged, stone-hewed underground kingdom of the dwarves; Khazad-dûm and the fields of Men. Viewers are also introduced to the nomadic Harfoots, the most common form of Hobbits, the small-statured, leather-footed beings that were featured in Jackson’s films.
The series — which also stars Ismael Cruz Córdova, Markella Kavenagh, Charlie Vickers, Maxim Baldry and Owain Arthur — debuts September 2 on Amazon Prime.
Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp has broken his silence on the Doja Cat controversy to let fans know both of them are cool.
Last week, Noah shared the “Say So” singer’s private DM in what was intended to be a funny video about her crush on Joseph Quinn. Doja previously slid into Noah’s DMs in hopes he could be her wingman.
The Grammy winner later revealed she was “disappointed” and “bummed” he had leaked her private messages. “That’s like borderline snake s***,” she said on a fan-recorded TikTok live, adding she chose to give Noah the benefit of the doubt because of his age. She noted of the 17-year-old actor, “When you’re that young, you make mistakes.”
Still, the video was polarizing enough to cause fans to draw lines in the sand. Sympathizers flocked to Noah’s side and slammed the 26-year-old singer for messaging a minor about her romantic interests.
The controversy continued to grow, so Noah took to TikTok to let fans know the situation is all water under the bridge.
“Guys everything is all good I apologized,” he wrote in a comment after posting a funny video of him crushing math problems to a Doja Cat song. “I still follow her and love her music.” He added there are “no hard feelings” between the two.
Despite his assurances, Doja continues to shed followers. So far, she has lost over 200,000 Instagram fans. Noah also now boasts more TikTok and Instagram followers than her.
