(WASHINGTON) — The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday indefinitely barred 29 more Americans from entering Russia, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in what it said was retaliation for “ever-expanding anti-Russian sanctions” by the United States.
Addressing the latest Russian sanctions at Thursday’s press briefing, State Department spokesperson Ned Price — who was also targeted — said it was “nothing less than an accolade to have earned the ire of a government that lies to its own people, brutalizes its neighbors, and seeks to create a world where freedom and liberty are put on the run — and if they had their way, extinguished.”
“Similarly, it is a great honor to share that enmity with other truth-tellers,” Price added, naming his counterparts, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby and White House press secretary Jen Psaki, “as well as a number of journalists who have done incredible work, sharing the jarring, bloody truth of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.”
In a release, the Russian Foreign Ministry cited the 29 individuals sanctioned Thursday as people who “form the Russophobic agenda.”
Second gentlemen Doug Emhoff, White House chief of staff Ron Klain, ABC News Anchor George Stephanopoulos, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan were also included on the so-called “stop list.”
Last month, Russia also sanctioned President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and all 398 members of Congress from entering the country.
(WASHINGTON) — The United States Army has announced new policies to expand soldiers’ and their family’s health.
The 12-part directive expands previous policies such as allowing paid medical leave for pregnancies and pregnancy losses for soldiers and/or their spouses. It also creates new policies such as ones addressing soldiers and spouses going through fertilization treatment.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth signed the Army’s Parenthood, Pregnancy and Postpartum directive 2022-06 on Thursday.
“It’s recognizing that in 2022, we have all different kinds of families going through all different kinds of life issues, and we can really take care of our families so we can retain our soldiers,” Maj. Sam Winkler said during a roundtable at the Pentagon on Thursday.
These changes stemmed from a grassroots movement within the Army and a Facebook group called The Army Mom Life, which has 8.2 thousand members.
One of those members is Staff Sgt. Nicole Pierce. Pierce worked with a committee at the Army headquarters to review the branch’s policies on pregnancy, parenthood and postpartum.
Pierce pushed for the Army to acknowledge the need for soldiers to have medical leave for parents who may have a miscarriage or a stillbirth.
Pierce had her first pregnancy in 2016. Unfortunately, it ended in a miscarriage. Pierce was expected to return to work two days later.
“I actually ended up asking my doctor, ‘hey, can I get a little bit more time. I just lost my child. My whole life just changed before my eyes. Can I get a little bit more time?’ And my doctor actually came back and said there were no complications with your surgery, so no you can’t have more time,” Pierce said during a roundtable.
She ended up using her vacation days to take two weeks off “to be able to process and mourn the loss of my family and the future I thought I was going to have,” Pierce explained.
Now, soldiers are allowed paid medical leave when either themselves or their spouse have a baby, a miscarriage or a stillbirth. The Army is the first U.S. branch to allow male soldiers the time to grieve after a pregnancy loss. Soldiers in the Reserve Components are also now given paid parental leave.
In addition, the Army is allowing parents to be excused up to a year after a birth, adoption or long-term foster care placement from working more than a regular shift. This includes deployment, field training, temporary duty assignments, etc.
Pierce also pushed to remove a rule that did not allow expecting soldiers to attend or complete the necessary class to be promoted. Now, the new directive will help prevent soldiers who have children from falling behind in their careers due to pregnancy.
She had her first child in 2019, but it set her back in her classes to be promoted since she was not allowed to be in them. She was back in the field working four months postpartum, and that was when she found out she was pregnant again. She had her second child in 2020 but was not able to get a spot in the class required to get a promotion until March 2021.
“I’m very excited that I can sleep better at night knowing that other moms will not have to go through the same things that I had to go through,” Pierce said.
Some other new policies coming from the directive include pregnant soldiers are now eligible to apply and compete for Active-Duty Operational Support tours (domestic tours). Soldiers also cannot be immediately released from active duty (REFRAD) after becoming pregnant.
Previous policies are being expanded to include allowing lactation breaks for lactating soldiers every 2-3 hours for at least 30 minutes in specific spaces that are not just restrooms. This policy is in place for as long as a soldier is lactating, for up to two years.
Right now, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies drink exclusively breast milk for the first six months and then a mix of breast milk and other foods for at least the first year. The directive takes these new guidelines into consideration.
The directive also extends Postpartum Body Composition (height/weight requirements) Exemptions from 6 months to a year, extends Physical Fitness Testing Exemptions for during and a year after their pregnancy.
Soldiers are also now excused from wearing service uniforms during pregnancy and up to one year postpartum. Before, soldiers had to have their uniforms altered or buy completely new uniforms. Now, soldiers can wear a combination of Army Combat Uniforms and maternity uniforms.
Another new policy now in place impacts soldiers who either themselves or their spouse is undergoing fertility treatment. Now, a soldier will be able to stay at their current base for one year, with the ability to extend for another year while they or their spouse pursues fertility treatment.
Army leaders will receive additional education and training for the following all of the new procedures, family planning and resources available.
The U.S. Army has more than 400,000 parents. That includes 29,000 single fathers, outnumbering the number of single mother soldiers by three-to-one.
To help these families, the Army will now require soldiers with children to be given at least three weeks’ notice ahead of time for duty requirements outside of normal duty hours when they have a Family Care Plan.
“We want to normalize parenthood,” Winkler said. “We really think that normalizing parenthood will not only retain our best soldiers but also really help us in recruiting the best talent out there that is available to the force.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs is hosting and executive-producing this year’s Billboard Music Awards.
His involvement in the ceremony comes 25 years after he won his first Billboard Music Award in 1997 for his album No Way Out. The music mogul last appeared on the BBMAs stage in 2017, when he made a surprise appearance to commemorate The Notorious B.I.G.
“This will be unlike any awards show – I’m bringing the love and setting the frequency at an all-time high,” Diddy says in a statement. “The Billboard Music Awards truly represent the artists and where music is today, so I’m excited to curate the biggest live performances and surprises. The world has to tune in to see.”
The BBMAs air live from Las Vegas Sunday, May 15 at 8 P.M. ET / 5 P.M. PT on NBC. As previously reported, Mary J. Blige will be honored with the Icon Award. Burna Boy, Latto and Megan Thee Stallion are among the performers.
(NEW YORK) — As millions take to the skies each day and airlines forecast what could be the most profitable summer ever, Americans should prepare for higher prices, more cancellations, and smaller airports losing all scheduled flight service.
Never before have U.S. airlines been more desperate for pilots. The massive pilot shortage affects not only the airlines but also the millions who fly each year.
Prepare for higher fares
U.S. airlines hope to add 13,000 pilots just this year, but America produces only between 5000 and 7000 pilots annually, according to United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. With fewer pilots, supply will be limited and ticket prices will continue to climb with demand.
“The pilot shortage for the industry is real and most airlines are simply not going to be able to realize their capacity plan because there simply aren’t enough pilots, at least not for the next five plus years,” Kirby said. “The other really large airlines will also probably be able to attract enough pilots, but for anyone else, I just don’t think it’s mathematically possible to meet the pilot demand for the capacity plans that are out there.”
The U.S. will lose about half of its pilots to retirement in the next 15 years, according to the Regional Airline Association. American Airlines expects more than 5,000 of its 15,000 pilots to retire in the next seven years.
Earlier this month, American Airlines announced it would begin busing passengers from smaller cities to its hub in Philadelphia. JetBlue will cut its spring and summer flight schedule by 10 percent. In an earnings call Thursday, United’s Kirby said its regional partners have grounded 150 planes because of the pilot shortage.
“The airlines are underwater and trying to breathe through a straw,” American 737 Captain and Union spokesperson Dennis Tajer told ABC News. “Airlines are poaching each other’s pilots. It’s stunning the level of aggression.”
Mark Stinson is in flight school in Florida and still at least a year away from being qualified to join an airline, but the 31-year-old already has two job offers with regional airlines. Stinson says despite not having earned his commercial pilots license, one airline has offered to allow him to accrue vacation time the moment he signs a contract.
“The airlines are so hungry that they are taking just about anyone into these programs, and after pilots build enough hours they are applying directly into the majors,” Stinson says referring to the nation’s largest airlines. “Two of our instructors got hired directly with Spirit Airlines and will be going to training here shortly. They only have about 2 years’ experience. It’s insane. They will be airbus pilots in no time.”
American says it’s hiring 50-70 pilots each week in 2022, more than at any time in its history. United plans to hire more than 2000 pilots this year. United, Delta, American and Southwest pay among the highest salaries in the industry with United’s most senior pilots earning roughly $450,000 annually.
“The pilot shortage is real and it is grave. Larger airlines are able to recruit, but midsize and smaller airlines are having problems. Regional airlines, the airlines that operate the 50 to 75 seat airplanes that we see many airlines operate to small towns, they are really struggling and airlines have had to scale back or drop service to a lot of smaller communities,” Henry Harteveldt, president of travel analytics firm Atmosphere Research told ABC news.
Airline recruiters under extreme pressure to find pilots
Envoy Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines, tells applicants they can earn up to $182,000 a year if a candidate promises to stay for at least two years and is certified to fly its Embraer regional jets.
“They’re reaching out to me, sending me emails. They don’t care. They just want to see that, you know, you’re getting your flight hours. They’ll do an interview with you and ask you a few HR questions, but then they just offer you the job automatically. So that’s how much in need they are of pilots,” Stinson said.
Why a shortage?
For several reasons: The FAA mandates pilots retire at 65, fewer pilots leaving the military, high cost and lengthy training times, and thousands of early retirements at the start of the pandemic.
During the second half of the 20th century, the military pumped out far more pilots than it does today; and now many of those pilots are rapidly approaching retirement. Obtaining a commercial pilot’s license today can easily cost between $80,000 and $170,000.
To help offset the shortage, United Airlines recently opened its own flight school, Aviate Academy. United plans to train 5000 pilots by 2030 and will subsidize training costs in return for a commitment to flying for the company.
Pilot fatigue
As travel demand rapidly increased in the months following the release of vaccinations, many airlines scheduled more flights than they could staff. Since last summer, we’ve seen multiple airline meltdowns.
“The airline management teams are trying to fly more than they have pilot staffing for,” American Capt. Dennis Tajer said. “We are seeing more fatigue reports than we’ve ever seen.”
Pilots from all major airlines have complained that their duty days are unpredictable, often running hours longer than scheduled and sometimes not knowing what day they will arrive back home. At Southwest, pilots say it’s not uncommon to arrive in a destination only to find out there is no hotel available.
“We are human beings and this is pressuring the margin of safety,” Tajer said.
Last week, pilots at Southwest wrote a letter to management about the more than 300% increase in pilot fatigue calls. If a pilot tells the airline he or she is fatigued, the pilot is automatically removed from the flight with no questions. This often results in delays and cancellations.
“Fatigue, both acute and cumulative, has become Southwest Airlines’ number-one safety threat,” the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, told airline management in a recent letter.
Delta Air Lines pilots echo that message and have begun picketing at airports.
‘We are being pushed to our limits’
“We’ve flown record amounts of overtime during the pandemic to help Delta operate its schedule and get our passengers safely to their destinations. In many cases, pilots are flying long after their day or trip was supposed to end. Delta cannot continue to operate the schedule at redline with no room for error,” Capt. Jason Ambrosi, chairman of the Delta Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association said in a statement. “We are being pushed to our limits as Delta tries to add back flying and capture revenue.”Delta, Southwest, and American all responded, saying they constantly evaluate their schedules and that safety is their highest concern.
“We continuously evaluate our staffing models and plan ahead so that we can recover quickly when unforeseen circumstances arise, and the resilience of the Delta people is unmatched in that regard. Pilot schedules remain in line with all requirements set by the FAA as well as those outlined in our pilot contract,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News.
Southwest told ABC News it has revised its flight schedule to better match pilot supply.
“The increase is expected, as it’s common to experience an elevated level of fatigue calls during irregular operations and in March, the industry faced weather and airspace delays that resulted in disruptions across the network. The March increase in Pilot fatigue calls is a result of the system working as designed, allowing Crew to determine if they are too fatigued to fly,” Southwest wrote in a statement.
Solutions?
There are no quick fixes. Scott Kirby told investors that United plans to hire at least half the 5000 new pilots each year, adding it will be at least five or six years before there might be relief for the mid-size and regional airlines.
“Pilots salaries are higher than ever, and there’s never been a better time to be a commercial airline pilot,” Faye Malarkey Black, the President and CEO of the Regional Airline Association said in an interview with ABC News. “I will say we’ve made the grass on the other side of the fence very, very green. This is an attractive career with a really high ROI on the training dollar. The problem is, if you can’t get over the fence, it doesn’t matter how green the grass is on the other side, you can’t access it.”
Student loans can be difficult to obtain and expensive, making it impossible for some aspiring pilots. “You’re allowed to use a student loan to cover flight training, but it’s not enough. Student loan is capped in an undergraduate environment, and it doesn’t come close to covering the actual cost of a flight training degree,” Malarkey Black explained. Airline trade groups are lobbying for fundamental policy changes to ensure any aspiring pilot has the ability to attend flight school. For now there is no legislation on the table.
Bottom line
Consumers should expect higher fares, fewer flights, and more cancellations in the coming years.
However, If you are looking for a lucrative career and ready to put in the time and money, you likely won’t have a problem finding a job as an airline pilot.
Joe Maher/Disasters Emergency Committee/Getty Images for Livewire Pictures Ltd
As promised, Ed Sheeran‘s brand-new remix and music video for for his single “2step,” featuring rapper Lil Baby, dropped at the stroke of midnight.
A graphic at the beginning of the video explains that it was filmed in the city of Kyiv, Ukraine before the Russian invasion. Ed goes on to declare his support for Ukraine and notes that the royalties from YouTube streams of the video over the next 12 months will benefit the DEC’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
DEC charities and their local partners in Ukraine and in neighboring countries are working to provide food, water, shelter and medical assistance to those in need.
The clip shows Ed and a large group of people dancing in the streets, along with various aerial shots of the city.
Lil Baby shows up midway through the video and provides a rap to complement Ed’s wish for his lover to two-step with him all night long.
The original version of “2Step” appears on Ed’s latest album, = (Equals).
Season two of The Flight Attendant took off Thursday on HBO Max. Kaley Cuoco, Rosie Perez, and the rest of the gang are back, doing double duty as flight attendants who moonlight as government spies or double agents.
Griffin Matthews plays one of those doing double duty, joking with ABC Audio he now thinks all flight attendants he meets also work for the CIA.
“I’m not wondering. I’m sure of it,” he teases. “No, you think of them as different people now, you know, like now I really think about their lives back in that galley. They’re talking about passengers. Maybe there are some interpersonal dramas. I have a great respect for flight attendants these days.”
Perez also has a whole new respect for those who take care of us in the sky and the knowledge they have, including “having to know how a plane operates, having to be the people to keep calm just in case something goes wrong, having to deal with unruly passengers, you know, my heart just goes out to them.”
“It’s very, very different,” she adds. “Even when they come in and say ‘Ms. Perez we’re so happy’ and I say, ‘OK, thank you, I don’t want to bother you.’ And they’re like, ‘what?’ You know, because they have a lot to deal with.”
Although Perez’s character is a CIA agent, in real life, the spy life might not be for her.
“I think what would make me a good CIA agent is that I would, you would never assume that I’m a CIA agent. And what would make me a lousy CIA agent, I think, is that I’m just too much of a nervous wreck,” she says. “But I can keep a secret.”
(PHILADELPHIA) — Health officials in Philadelphia voted Thursday evening to drop the city’s indoor mask mandate, just days after the requirement officially went back into effect on Monday.
“Due to decreasing hospitalizations and a leveling of case counts, the city will move to strongly recommending masks in indoor public spaces as opposed to a mask mandate. Given the latest data, the Board of Health voted tonight to rescind the mandate,” a representative from Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s office told ABC News on Thursday.
It is still unclear exactly when the mandate will officially be lifted.
Philadelphia first ended its mask mandate in the beginning of March before reinstating it a little over a month later. The new mask mandate that went into effect Monday required masks in all indoor public spaces, including schools, childcare settings, businesses, restaurants, and government buildings.
“I sincerely wish we didn’t have to do this again. I wish this pandemic was over just as much as any of you but I am very worried about our vulnerable neighbors and loved ones,” Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said during a press conference when the new mandate was first announced April 11. “My hope that our actions today will slow the spread of COVID and help us avoid seeing our ERs, once again, gets so crowded, that people can’t get timely care when they need it.”
The abrupt shift comes just hours after Kenney had defended the decision to reinstate the city’s mask mandate during a Thursday interview with Washington Post Live.
“Our health professionals recommended that we do a mandate again, because their data have shown that mandates get people to wear them more than just highly recommended,” Kenney said in the interview. “Our case counts were 240% higher than they were when we got rid of the mask mandate a month ago. … Our belief is that wearing masks again will tamp down the case counts and hospitalizations … and allow us … to get back to more normalcy.”
The city’s mask mandate had drawn sharp criticism from some residents, with some local business owners going as far as to file a lawsuit against the city in an effort to overturn the requirement.
When asked about the pushback, Kenney insisted that he believes wearing a mask is the “simplest” action someone can take to keep their community safe.
“The mask issue … has become such a politicized issue. It’s the most simplest thing you can do to keep yourself safe and to keep people safe. And the politicization of this issue … has just made everyone crazy about it. It’s not a big burden to wear a mask,” Kenney told Washington Post Live. “I’m sad to say that this nation has devolved into a selfish bunch who want what they want for themselves and are sometimes not willing to help each other out as Americans.”
Warner Bros. Discovery has pulled the plug on CNN+, just a month after its launch. “As we become Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN will be strongest as part of WBD’s streaming strategy which envisions news as an important part of a compelling broader offering along with sports, entertainment, and nonfiction content,” Chris Licht, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement on Thursday. “We have therefore made the decision to cease operations of CNN+ and focus our investment on CNN’s core news-gathering operations and in further building CNN Digital. Licht said the move was “not a decision about quality,” but that their customers and CNN would “be best served with a simpler streaming choice”…
Paramount has announced the title of its forthcoming movie based on the beloved role playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will star Chris Pine, Hugh Grant, Michelle Rodriguez, Bridgerton vet Regé-Jean Page, Sophia Lillis, Justice Smith, Chloe Coleman, and Daisy Head, and will debut March 3, 2023. Pine previously called the movie’s tone a cross between Game of Thrones and The Princess Bride, with a little of Monty Python and the Holy Grail thrown in for good measure…
In a post on social media, 90 Day Fiancé stars Robert Springs and Anny Francisco confirmed their seven-month-old son Adriel has died. “I am devastated and [so is] my family,” Anny wrote, adding, “I never thought I would lose my son. He was a fighter… his heart couldn’t take it… my heart is broken it’s a big pain…so difficult.” The pair, whose courtship was followed by the reality series, also have a 20-month-old daughter, Brenda Aliyah…
Robert Morse, who played Bertram Cooper on AMC’s Emmy-winning series Mad Men, has died at the age of 90,The Hollywood Reporter notes. A two-time Tony winner, Morse was remembered by screenwriter Larry Karaszewski on Twitter as a “good pal,” and “a huge talent and a beautiful spirit”…
Freeform’s Cruel Summer is returning as an anthology series, the cable outlet announced on Thursday. The second season will feature a new mystery, along with a new cast, including Sadie Stanley, Eloise Payet, Griffin Gluck and KaDee Strickland, Lisa Yamada and Sean Blakemore. Additionally, Power Book IV: Force co-exec producer Elle Triedman is the new showrunner, replacing Tia Napolitano. Napolitano replaced creator Bert V. Royal after disagreements with the network. Set in an idyllic waterfront town in the Pacific Northwest, the next chapter of Cruel Summer “follows the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship,” approached from “three different timelines surrounding Y2K,” according to press materials…
(WASHINGTON) — GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Friday will become the first member of Congress to publicly testify under oath about the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Monday night, a federal judge allowed a legal challenge by a group of Georgia voters to move forward as they seek to disqualify Greene from running for reelection, citing her alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
The voters argue a provision of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment known as the “disqualification clause” prevents Greene from holding federal office.
Passed shortly after the Civil War, the Disqualification Clause bars any person from holding federal office who has previously taken an oath to protect the Constitution — including a member of Congress — who has “engaged in insurrection” against the United States or “given aid or comfort” to its “enemies.”
An avid supporter of former President Donald Trump, Greene has denied any involvement in the attack and said she is appealing.
Judge Charles Beaudrot will preside over Friday’s hearing and witnesses will also be called to testify.
The time frame for the judge to render his decision on whether or not Greene should remain on the ballot is tight. Early voting for the Georgia primary begins May 2 and the primary itself is on May 17.
In an interview Tuesday with ABC News affiliate WTVC, Greene called the legal challenge a “scam.”
“All I did was what I’m legally and allowed to do by the Constitution as a member of Congress, and that was I objected to Joe Biden’s Electoral College votes from a few states,” Greene said.
Greene also said she was a “victim” on Jan. 6.
Mike Rasbury, one of the voters challenging Greene’s eligibility to run for reelection, said in a statement that Greene “took an oath of office to protect democracy from all enemies foreign and domestic … However, she has flippantly ignored this oath and, based on her role in the January 6 insurrection, is disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution from holding any future public office.”
Rasbury will be in the courtroom when Greene testifies.
Ron Fein, a lawyer representing the voters and legal director of Free Speech For People, told ABC News in an email that the Georgia “voters who filed this lawsuit have a right to have their challenge heard” and that he looks forward to questioning Greene under oath.
James Bopp, Greene’s attorney, told ABC News Tuesday that the challenge to Greene is “absurd” and that it shouldn’t be up to judges to decide who represents Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.
Bopp also represents GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who is facing a similar challenge against his reelection from a group of voters in North Carolina.
Cawthorn’s lawsuit to dismiss the challenge to his reelection is set for oral arguments May 3 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia.
Speaking on Fox News Monday night, Greene told host Tucker Carlson that Democrats are trying to keep her name off the ballot, maintaining she had nothing to do with the attack on the Capitol.
“I have to go to court on Friday and actually be questioned about something I’ve never been charged with and something I was completely against,” Greene said.
The challenges against Greene and Cawthorn are part of a larger legal effort to prevent anyone allegedly involved in the events surrounding Jan. 6 — or who supported it — from running for reelection.
Similar challenges are being brought against GOP Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona and theoretically could be brought against Trump if he decides to run for office again in 2024.
According to the CPSC, Best Buy has received 68 reports from U.S. consumers and 36 reports from Canadian consumers of the air fryer or air fryer ovens catching fire, burning or melting.
These include seven reports of minor property damage and two reports of injuries, including an injury to a child’s leg.
Consumers are advised to immediately stop using the recalled product and return it to Best Buy for a refund in the form of a store credit, Best Buy said. The company said it is also contacting known purchasers directly to arrange returns.
