Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has released the first single with his newest band, Dieth.
The track is titled “In the Hall of the Hanging Serpents” and is streaming alongside a video now on YouTube.
Along with Ellefson, Dieth includes guitarist/vocalist Guilherme Miranda of the band Entombed A.D. and former Decapitated drummer Michal Łysejko.
“The three of us have all been recognized in our respective bands and careers but at some point, we had to close the door on those exploits to let something new begin and now we have found it in Dieth,” Ellefson says. “In fact, the name itself is about dying to one’s past so that something new can spring forth to create the next chapter of life. And, that is a connection the three of us hold in common.”
Ellefson was let go from Megadeth in 2021 after a sexually explicit video of him leaked online. He was replaced by Testament bassist Steve Di Giorgio on Megadeth’s upcoming new album The Sick, the Dying…and the Dead!, while returning Megadeth member James LoMenzo has become the band’s new official bassist.
Along with Dieth, Ellefson’s post-Megadeth projects include the band The Lucid, which launched last September.
(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 14, 7:15 AM 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.
The national police said about 90 victims in Vinnytsia sought medical attention, and 50 of them are in serious condition.
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.
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
Meghan Trainor‘s new song “Bad for Me” was inspired by a letter her therapist asked her to write to a toxic family member; In a new interview, the Grammy winner revealed what happened to it.
Speaking to Australia’s 7News, Meghan said, “I got with my therapist and wrote a letter to the family member and I got no response.”
“I still haven’t got a response,” she added. The “Me Too” singer noted that instead of suffering in the radio silence, she turned to her music. “It was really hard and I wrote this song the next day,” Meghan revealed.
“I didn’t know this would be the first single off this album,” she continued, referencing her upcoming album, Takin’ It Back. “I’m usually coming out with an upbeat ‘love myself’ anthem, so this was different for me.”
Meghan said the song isn’t the only thing helping her heal — the overwhelming response from fans and those resonating with the song has lifted her spirits tremendously. “I didn’t know how relatable it would be and it made me feel not alone,” she expressed.
Elsewhere in the interview, Meghan shouted out husband Daryl Sabara and gushed, “He treats me like a queen — he makes me breakfast every day and he opens every door I walk through.”
The Clash of the Cover Bands judge also mentioned their “perfect baby” — one-year-old Riley — and revealed that she and Sabara “want three more” kids!
As for her other future plans, Meghan is keeping an eye on the pandemic and says she will launch a new tour once it is over. She also wants to go on a vacation to Australia so her son can see the wildlife.
“He needs to see kangaroos and koalas in Australia – that would be the coolest place for him,” Meghan raved.
Ashley McBryde is returning to the stage this weekend after taking a couple of weeks off. The singer shared an update with her fans on social media, saying that she’s “so excited” to be reunited with her fans.
The singer announced a short touring hiatus in late June. At the time, a message from her team cited “personal reasons” for the break, without going into specifics.
In her update, Ashley didn’t share exactly what’s been keeping her from touring the past couple of weeks, but she did promise to go into further detail when she’s ready.
“I didn’t anticipate having to take time away,” she reflected. “However, it was something that could not be avoided. More on that someday.”
For now, Ashley’s looking ahead to her busy summer of touring with enthusiasm. “Thank you for the outpouring of love and support. Now back to business, a little spackle, a little sparkle…see you this weekend Trybe!” she concluded.
Ashley is currently part of Dierks Bentley’s Beers on Me Tour. In her absence, Dierks enlisted his “Worth a Shot” duet partner, Elle King,to perform in the direct support slot for a few shows.
Jim Messina and Kenny Loggins in 2008; Rick Diamond/WireImage for Wortman Works Media & Marketing
Jim Messina is set to reunite with his 1970s musical partner Kenny Loggins for a pair of shows this Friday and Saturday at the famed Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
The concerts are billed as “Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin’ In,” a play on the titled of the duo’s 1971 debut album, Sittin’ In, and Messina tells ABC Audio that the shows will begin with Loggins doing an hour of his solo material followed by the duo performing a set of their music.
Messina says he and Loggins will “give people a potpourri” from their catalog, adding that they will focus on “more of the earlier Loggins and Messina, which I think people are most familiar with.”
Among the songs Jim says he and Kenny likely will perform are “House at Pooh Corner,” “Danny’s Song,” “Trilogy,” “Angry Eyes,” “Vahevela” and their biggest hit, “Your Mama Don’t Dance.”
Loggins and Messina only performed together once before at the Hollywood Bowl, in August 1972. The shows also are part the venue’s 100 birthday festivities.
Meanwhil, a recent USA Today article reported that Loggins confirmed these two shows will be the last time that he and Messina will perform together. However, Jim tells ABC Audio that he’d be open to playing more concerts with Kenny, and he suggests this week’s events could help gauge as to whether that’s a good idea.
“[W]e can see if we’re having fun, and if we are, then [we could] do some more,” he notes. “If not, then, you know, we gave it the old college try, right?”
Asked what he’s looking forward to about the concerts, Messina says, “I think most of all is feeling the experience of our two voices working together.”
FX has renewed its summer hit The Bear for another season. The show follows Jeremy Allen White‘s Carmine, a fine dining chef who returns to his native Chicago after a death in the family, and all the drama that occurs as he takes over his family’s sandwich shop.
The network says, “As Carmy fights to transform both The Original Beef of Chicagoland and himself, he works alongside a rough-around-the-edges kitchen crew that ultimately reveal themselves as his chosen family.”
In a statement, the network’s Entertainment President Eric Schrier said the buzzy new show has “exceeded our wildest creative and commercial expectations.”
In reaction to the renewal news, the series’ creator, Christopher Storer, and co-executive producer Joanna Calo noted, “We are so grateful to FX, our insanely talented cast, our crew who worked hard, fast, and in the dead of winter, not to mention everyone who watched. And we can’t wait to bring you all back to The Bear in 2023.”
(WASHINGTON) — The person whom former President Donald Trump was accused of having contacted following the Jan. 6 hearing when former administration aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified was a member of the White House support staff, sources told ABC News.
Trump’s alleged contact with the individual was described on Tuesday by the House Jan. 6 committee’s vice chair, Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who did not name the person.
“After our last hearing, President Trump tried to call a witness in our investigation — a witness you have not yet seen in these hearings,” she said at the close of the most recent committee hearing.
Cheney said the witness did not answer the call.
“Their lawyer alerted us, and this committee has supplied that information to the Department of Justice,” she said.
“Let me say one more time, we will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously,” Cheney added, as the committee continually warns against witness tampering in its ongoing investigation.
This person was not someone Trump would typically call. Many members of the support staff are those who work from administration to administration and would have not necessarily left when Trump left office.
When asked Tuesday night how he knew that the alleged phone call from Trump to a witness amounted to witness tampering, the committee chair, Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson, said “I don’t” and that’s why they alerted the DOJ.
CNN first reported the new details about the witness.
ABC News’ Libby Cathey contributed to this report.
Beyoncé posted her first TikTok video to her official account Thursday, a compilation of user-generated content inspired by her recent hit single, “Break My Soul.”
“Seeing y’all release the wiggle made me so happy!” says Beyoncé in the caption. “Thank you so much for all the love for BREAK MY SOUL! – Love B”
Thousands of fans flocked to the icon’s new social account to express their excitement.
“Can’t believe I’m witnessing Beyoncé’s TikTok era,” one user said.
Another user pointed out that Beyoncé tagged each of the creators included in the mashup video. “The fact that she not only posted these amazing people but she tagged them too?!?” the user wrote. “Another reason why Bey is Queen!!”
Beyoncé’s entire catalog, including “Break My Soul,” is now available to users, according to the social platform.
(BUCHANAN COUNTY, Va.) — Three people remain unaccounted 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.
The declining number of unaccounted for is due to a combination of increased cellphone service and access to previously unreachable areas, Buchanan County Emergency Management Coordinator Bart Chambers told ABC News.
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.
Pink sent a strong message to her haters, the Supreme Court and all abortion rights opponents in her new protest anthem “Irrelevant“: The fight for reproductive rights is far from over.
The Grammy winner previously revealed her new track was born from anger after critics condemned her for speaking out against the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, which had made abortion a constitutionally protected right since 1973. After being told to basically “shut up and sing” one too many times, Pink went and did just that by turning her anger into a war cry.
“You can call me irrelevant, insignificant/ You can try to make me small/ I’ll be your heretic/ you f***in’ hypocrite/ I won’t think of you at all/ Sticks and stones and all that s***/ Does Jesus love the ignorant?/ I like to think he’d gladly take us all,” she belts out before sending a warning on the country’s emotional state.
“The kids are not alright/ None of us are right, I’m tired/ but I won’t sleep tonight/ ‘Cause I still feel alive,” she vows in the chorus. She also dedicates her bridge to protestors by repeating over and over, “Girls just wanna have rights/ So, why do we have to fight?”
Pink also reaffirmed at the end of the song that she isn’t exhausted by the hate directed at her by declaring, “You can call me irrelevant, insignificant/ I won’t call on you at all.”
Despite the song’s frustrated lyrics, the pop-punk song is designed to reinvigorate by infusing an upbeat melody and a punchy drum beat.
Fans are vowing to put Pink’s new song on blast during their upcoming protests, dubbing it the new women’s anthem.
“Irrelevant” is available to stream and download now.
