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COVID-19 live updates: More universities cancel events, move exams online

December 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 801,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 61% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Dec 16, 6:14 am
France to ban non-essential travel with UK over omicron surge

France announced Thursday that it will ban non-essential travel to and from the United Kingdom due to the country’s surge in cases of the omicron variant.

Starting Saturday, France will require people to have “a compelling reason” to travel between the two countries. Travel for tourism or work will not be allowed. French citizens, however, can return to France, according to a statement from the French prime minister’s office.

All travelers from the U.K. will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken less than 24 hours before departure. Upon arrival in France, they must self-isolate for a week, but that period can be ended after 48 hours if they test negative for COVID-19 again.

The new rules apply to people regardless of their vaccination status.

“Faced with the extremely rapid spread of the Omicron variant in the United Kingdom, the Government has chosen to reinstate the need for an essential reason for travel from and to the United Kingdom, and to strengthen the requirement for tests on departure and arrival,” the French prime minister’s office said in the statement Thursday. “The Government is also calling on travelers who had planned to visit the United Kingdom to postpone their trip.”

Dec 16, 4:24 am
Indonesia confirms 1st case of omicron variant

Indonesia announced Thursday its first confirmed case of the omicron variant.

The case was detected in a janitor who works at the COVID-19 Emergency Hospital of Kemayoran Athletes Village in Jakarta, according to a statement from Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

The hospital’s cleaning staff are routinely tested and the results for three people were positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 10. Those samples were then sent to a genome sequencing lab, which identified the omicron variant in one of the samples on Wednesday, according to the statement.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Health has also identified probable cases of omicron among five travelers who were in quarantine — two Indonesian citizens who had just returned from the United Kingdom and the United States, and three foreigners from China. Their test samples are being sequenced and the results will be known in a few days, according to the statement.

The health minister urged Indonesians “not to panic and to remain calm,” and to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they haven’t already.

“The arrival of new variants from abroad, which we identified in quarantine, shows that our defense system against the arrival of new variants is quite good, we need to strengthen it,” Sadikin said. “So it’s normal to stay 10 days in quarantine. The goal is not to make it difficult for people who came, but to protect the people of Indonesia.”

Dec 15, 4:46 pm
Forecast: US could see up to 845,000 deaths by early January

Forecast models used by the CDC suggest weekly death totals and hospital admissions will rise over the next four weeks.

The U.S. could reach a total of 845,000 deaths by Jan. 8, according to the forecasts from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at UMass Amherst.

The COVID-19 Forecast Hub team monitors and combines forecasting models from the nation’s top researchers. They then create an ensemble, usually with a wide cone of uncertainty. Nicholas Reich, a biostatistician who runs the forecasting model, told ABC News Wednesday that he doesn’t think the forecasts included omicron in their predictions because the majority of data isn’t publicly available yet in a format that can be easily incorporated into a model.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Dec 15, 4:20 pm
US cases up 45% in the last month

The U.S. is now reporting nearly 118,000 new cases each day — up by 45% in the last month, according to federal data.

Daily COVID-19-related hospital admissions have leapt by 46% in the last month.

Maine and New Hampshire are now averaging more new cases than at any other point in the pandemic, according to federal data.

New Hampshire currently holds the nation’s highest case rate, followed by Rhode Island, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Strong storm system sparks rare December tornado in Midwest

December 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A storm system is impacting the Midwest and 29 states are on alert for damaging winds, heavy snow and avalanches.

A tornado threat was issued for Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, with a tornado touching down in Plainview, Minnesota, just outside Rochester, on Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service. This was the first time Minnesota has recorded a tornado in December.

There is already snow on the ground in parts of Minnesota where more tornadoes could occur Wednesday into Thursday.

Heavy rain is expected for Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas on Thursday and Friday. There could be between 2 to 4 inches of rain in the area, which was severely impacted by the deadly storms last weekend.

Forty-four deadly tornadoes tore through nine states last weekend, killing at least 88 people. Kentucky was by far the hardest hit.

Severe storms were impacting Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin Wednesday afternoon and into the evening across the Mid-Missouri Valley to the Upper Mississippi Valley.

“Widespread severe wind gusts of 60-75 mph along with at least a few tornadoes are likely from late afternoon through this evening,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Embedded gusts of 80 to 100 miles per hour and a strong tornado or two are also possible, particularly across western to northern Iowa and southeast Minnesota.

Hundreds of thousands of customers in the area — from Colorado to Kansas and Minnesota — were without power at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Areas from Texas to New York could see very strong winds ahead of the storm. Wind gusts could be between 40 to 70 mph.

There is an avalanche warning in place for the West, where 5 feet of snow was reported in the mountains. More snow is still expected.

This storm system has already brought more than 8 inches of rainfall in Southern California. The state also saw mudslides and debris flow, forcing some people to be rescued. There is also an avalanche warning issued for California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Whiteout weather conditions shut down Interstate 90 from California to Nevada Monday night. Parts of Northern California saw rockslides and mudslides.

‘The Bachelor’ season 26 cast revealed! Meet Clayton Echard’s lovely ladies!

December 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The 31 ladies who will compete for Clayton Echard‘s heart on The Bachelor season 26 have been revealed.

The 28-year-old medical sales rep from Columbia, Missouri will meet a group that includes five nurses, along with couple of other medical professionals, a former Olympian, a spray tanner and a bar mitzvah dancer.

He’ll be helped out by former New York Giants football player, former Bachelor and current ESPN football analyst Jesse Palmer, who will serve as host.

Clayton was first introduced as one of Michelle Young’s suitors in The Bachelorette‘s current 18th season and was sent home in one of the most gut-wrenching eliminations in franchise history. Clayton’s genuine desire to find a partner and start a family won over the hearts of Bachelor Nation and earned him a second shot at finding love.

Echard’s season of The Bachelor premieres Monday, January 3 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Meet the 31 women who will vie for Clayton’s heart:

Cassidy, 26, an executive recruiter from Los Angeles, Calif.
Claire, 28, a spray tanner from Virginia Beach, Va.
Daria, 24, a law student from New Haven, Conn.
Eliza, 25, a marketing manager from Berlin, Germany
Elizabeth, 32, a real estate advisor from Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Ency, 28, a sales manager from Burbank, Calif.
Gabby, 30, an ICU nurse from Denver, Colo.
Genevive, 26, a bartender from Los Angeles, Calif.
Hailey, 26, a pediatric nurse from Orlando, Fla.
Hunter, 28, a human resources specialist from Charlotte, N.C.
Ivana, 31, a bar mitzvah dancer from Queens, N.Y.
Jane, 22, a social media director from Los Angeles, Calif.
Jill, 26, an architectural historian from Scituate, R.I.
Kate, 32, a real estate agent from Lake Hollywood, Calif.
Kira, 32, a physician from Philadelphia, Pa.
Lindsay D., 27, a neonatal nurse from Jacksonville, Fla.
Lyndsey W., 28 an industrial sale representative from Houston, Texas
Mara, 32, an entrepreneur from Collingswood, N.J.
Marlena, 30, a former Olympian from Gainesville, Fla.
Melina, 27, a personal trainer from West Hollywood, Calif.
Rachel, 25, a flight instructor from Clermont, Fla.
Rianna, 26, a registered nurse from Dallas, Texas
Salley, 26, a previously engaged spine surgery robot operator from Charlottesville, Va.
Samantha, 26, an occupational therapist from San Diego, Calif.
Sarah, 23, a wealth management advisor from New York City, N.Y.
Serene, 26, an elementary school teacher from Oklahoma City, Ohio
Shanae, 29, a recruiter from Sycamore, Ohio
Sierra, 26, a yoga instructor from Dallas, Texas
Susie, 28, a wedding videographer from Virginia Beach, Va.
Teddi, 24, a surgical unit nurse from Highland, Calif.
Tessa, 26, a human resources specialist from Brooklyn, N.Y.

Jack Harlow fears the end of his success: “I’m terrified to fall off and lose my spot”

December 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

As the featured artist on one of the biggest hits of the year, Lil Nas X‘s “Industry Baby,” Jack Harlow is riding a wave of success. He received two Grammy nominations for the song, attended the Met Gala, and now sits courtside with household names at basketball games.

However, the Louisville, Kentucky, native knows fame can be fleeting.

“I’m terrified to fall off and lose my spot or lose the ground I’ve covered, or not reach the potential that people see,” Harlow admits to Variety. “Every time I sit courtside at these games or go to the Met Gala or maybe the Grammys, what’s in my head is, ‘I’ve gotta be here next year.’ I don’t want this to be the last time.”

Meanwhile, the “Whats Poppin” rapper says that while he is focused on his creativity, he finds that as his popularity rises, music has become less important.

“Once you become actually famous, it’s only half about the music,” he says. “They’re just showing up to see you in the flesh, put you on their Snap, throw some panties at you, whether they know a single lyric or not.”

Harlow also wishes that, like Kendrick Lamar and Eminem, he had an alter ego to hide behind.

“Sometimes artists will assume characters for a verse or a feature — Kendrick does that, Em had it with Slim Shady, and sometimes in the studio my engineer will even encourage me to ‘get out of Jack Harlow,'” he says. “That’s something I’d have to work on intentionally, and maybe I will.”

Jimmy Eat World releases full video of ‘Phoenix Sessions’ streaming concerts

December 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Jimmy Eat World has released all three of the band’s Phoenix Sessions streaming concerts to watch for free on YouTube.

The virtual shows originally premiered earlier this year and included full album performances of “The Middle” outfit’s latest release, 2019’s Surviving, as well as 1999’s Clarity and 2004’s Futures.

“In a time seemingly more uncertain than now, we wanted to give something to you amazing people, while selfishly fulfilling our need to play music together,” Jimmy Eat World says. “We are eternally grateful for each and every one of you who helped make this happen by purchasing tickets and all the beautiful fans we met during those meet and greets.”

“Here’s to seeing you all IRL in 2022!” the band adds.

Audio recordings of the Phoenix Sessions streams were previously released on digital outlets in November.

Why Elizabeth Chan’s new holiday hit is a “special song” that isn’t new at all

December 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The latest holiday hit by Elizabeth Chan, dubbed “The Queen of Christmas” by The New Yorker, is “A Christmas Song.” It’s the first Christmas song she ever wrote, but she’s re-released it this year to celebrate her 10th anniversary of making Christmas music. It was inspired, she says, by Christmas music itself.

“My earliest memories of Christmas music is me and my sister just listening to the radio 24 hours a day, just being so excited to listen to Christmas music,” Elizabeth tells ABC Audio. “Because I really think, in my life, that’s what makes Christmases.”

The 10th anniversary version of “A Christmas Song” appears on Elizabeth’s new album, Greatest of These Days, which features her holiday hits and some new tracks — and she actually let her family pick the album’s first single.

“They chose ‘A Christmas Song.’ They literally voted for that,” she shares. “There’s always a part of me that’s like, ‘My first song? Really?’ But…I always knew that it was a special song.”

And speaking of family, Elizabeth’s four-year-old Noelle now gets that Mommy’s job is writing Christmas songs and singing them, but she doesn’t quite get the whole picture.

“She actually says to me, ‘Mommy, I just wrote a song. And tomorrow it’ll be on the radio!’ She thinks it’s that easy!!!” Elizabeth laughs. “But that’s the beauty [of it]. She has no limiting beliefs! That’s the same heart that I had when I said to my parents, ‘I love Christmas music. This is what I want to do.'”

“So for me to see it in my own children is both exhilarating…and mortifying at the same time!” she laughs.

To learn how Elizabeth became a full-time Christmas artist, check out her spoken-word album-slash-memoir, The Queen of Christmas, on iTunes.

Warren Haynes discusses Gov’t Mule’s long-planned, chart-topping new blues album, ‘Heavy Load Blues’

December 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Gov’t Mule, the group fronted by ex-Allman Brothers Band singer/guitarist Warren Haynes, recently released a new studio album titled Heavy Load Blues that’s the jam band’s first full project dedicated to the blues.

Haynes and company must have done something right, because the album currently is spending its third week at #1 on Billboard‘s Blues Albums chart.

Heavy Load Blues features a mix of covers of songs by blues legends like Howlin’ Wolf, Bobby Blue Bland, Elmore James and Junior Wells and original tunes Warren wrote that were inspired by some of his blues heroes.

Haynes tells ABC Audio that he’s been planning to make a blues album with Gov’t Mule for years, but kept putting it off because of his busy schedule, that is until the COVID-19 pandemic freed up some time for him.

“During the whole COVID lockdown thing, I wrote five or six blues songs…and I had also for several years been compiling a list of blues covers that eventually I would want to tackle,” Warren explains. “And I think the whole lockdown thing just forced that to the forefront…[I]t seemed like the right time to do this.”

Haynes says some of his goals for the record was to include songs by artists that Gov’t Mule hadn’t covered live before, to explore various blues subgenres, and to make the album sound like a vintage recording.

A deluxe version of Heavy Load Blues features several bonus tracks, including, interestingly, a heavy blues interpretation of the 1973 Elton John song “Have Mercy on the Criminal.”

Haynes notes, “[O]ur version is a little heavier and darker [than Elton’s], but it’s perfect that way. It’s a great song and a great story.”

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Blues Before Sunrise”
“Hole in My Soul”
“Wake Up Dead”
“Love Is a Mean Old World”
“Snatch It Back and Hold It”/”Hold It Back”/”Snatch It Back and Hold It”
“Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City”
“(Brother Bill) Last Clean Shirt”
“Make It Rain”
“Heavy Load”
“Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home”
“If Heartaches Were Nickels”
“I Asked Her for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)”
“Black Horizon”

Deluxe Version — Bonus Tracks:
“Hiding Place”
“You Know My Love”
“Street Corner Talking”
“Have Mercy on the Criminal”
“Long Distance Call”
“Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” (Extended Version)
“Need Your Love So Bad” (Live)
“Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” (Live) — with Hook Herrera

Byrds photo book featuring contributions from band’s three surviving members due out in 2022

December 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The Byrds‘ three surviving original members, Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hillman, have come together to collaborate on a new deluxe photo book focusing on the influential band’s early years that will be published next year.

The 400-page tome, titled The Byrds: 1964-1967, features over 500 images taken by such lauded photographers as Henry Diltz, Jim Marshall, Linda McCartney and Barry Feinstein, as well as restored pics from the Columbia Records archives and from the personal archives of the group’s original manager.

The book also features commentary penned by McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman, who share their recollections about the group, which pioneered folk rock, psychedelic rock and country rock, as well as about their late band mates Gene Clark and Michael Clarke.

The Byrds: 1964-1967 is the first in-depth photo book about the group, and the book on which the surviving founding members have collaborated. The project also marks the first time that Roger, David and Chris have all worked together since recording a few new songs for The Byrds’ 1990 retrospective box set.

Four versions of the book will be published: a Standard Version, a Deluxe Limited Edition, a Super Deluxe Limited Edition, and a Super Deluxe Limited Edition that comes with a fine art print.

The Super Deluxe Limited Editions, which will be released in October 2022, can be pre-ordered now at ByrdsBook.com, and are the only configurations signed by all three surviving founding Byrds members. When copies of the Super Deluxe versions sell out, they will not be reprinted.

Those purchasing the Super Deluxe Limited Edition with a print will be able to choose one of three images — McGuinn photographed by Diltz in 1967, Crosby photographed by Marshall in 1965 or Hillman photographed by Feinstein in ’65.

Scoreboard roundup — 12/15/21

December 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Atlanta 111, Orlando 99
Cleveland 124, Houston 89
Miami 101, Philadelphia 96
Milwaukee 114, Indiana 99
LA Lakers 107, Dallas 104 (OT)
New Orleans 113, Oklahoma City 110
Charlotte 131, San Antonio 115
Minnesota 124, Denver 107
Utah 124, L.A. Clippers 103
Sacramento 119, Washington 105
Memphis 113, Portland 103

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Chicago 5, Washington 4 (OT)
NY Rangers 3, Arizona 2
Anaheim 4, Seattle 1

TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Arizona 101, N. Colorado 76
Southern Cal 66, UC Irvine 61
Xavier 86, Morehead St. 63
Alabama St. at UCLA (Postponed)

State Dept. suggests Afghan Fulbright hopefuls seek other options as program stalls

December 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A group of 100 or so potential scholars in the State Department’s prestigious Fulbright Foreign Student Program will have to continue waiting for a final answer on whether their cohort — not shielded from disruption following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan and withdrawal of an American presence there four months ago — will continue.

Maryam Jami, 23, an attorney in Herat who called the program the “venue to her dreams” of earning her Masters of Law in the U.S. next year before returning to help refugees in her native Afghanistan, opened an email update expected from the State Department early Wednesday morning.

Jami says she rose from her bed to read the message on her phone, before sharing it with her three sisters, who were standing by to comfort her.

“We continue to explore options for proceeding with the Program, but we have not yet identified a safe and viable way forward,” the email signed by a State Department official read. “We recognize the impact of this uncertainty about the future of the Program, and we are continuing our efforts to look for pathways forward. By January 31, 2022, we will provide further communication regarding if we are able to proceed with the selection process, including interviews.”

The note went on to remind that not all semifinalists would be finalists chosen for the program, was it to continue, and suggested hopeful scholars consider other evacuation routes and opportunities.

“The safety and well-being of you and your family will always be our highest priority, and our decision-framework is guided by this steadfast principle. Due to the uncertainty of the process and the limited number of semi-finalists who become recipients if the program continues, we recommend that you carefully considering all options and opportunities available to you on a continuing basis, keeping safety as the paramount consideration,” it continued.

“We know the challenging situation you are facing and the fortitude you have shown, and we reiterate our commitment to the future of the Afghan people,” the email said in closing.

The update from the State Department to the potential 2022 cohort, which has seen its in-person interviews delayed twice this year, came two months after the last update on Oct. 18, which some semifinalists believe their email and social media campaign — #SupportAfgFulbrightSemiFinalists2022 — targetting officials in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal triggered.

Jami says she brushed off her sisters’ efforts to comfort her, telling them she was fine, closed her phone went back to bed.

“After seeing that email, I didn’t really feel anything,” Jami recalled in a phone call with ABC News from her home in Herat on Wednesday evening. “Nowadays, we Afghans, any door that we are running to closes to our faces. So this is the story of our life. It’s just something we have just gotten used to.”

After having left a WhatsApp group with other potential scholars, Jami said some friends asked her and others who had left to rejoin it on Wednesday, as the emails from the U.S. official trickled into their phones and computers. Though Jami said some in the group of 63 and counting believe they should now ramp up their efforts, Jami said she’s looking at other options.

“I have given up because I no longer have hope,” she said. “Because they indirectly have told us in this email that we should look for other opportunities. They also say that they couldn’t figure out or find any other way to continue with this — but I’m sure if the U.S. really wants to grant us this opportunity, there are ways.”

She also advised other semifinalists to follow her lead, saying she’s “80% sure” the program will cease for them.

“Everyone should think on other opportunities as well because they indirectly have told us that they are they are not actually willing to continue this program for us,” she said. “It will determine our future if we keep waiting for something which is uncertain and most likely will not happen. It will devastate our futures. It will devastate the future of our communities which we are working for.”

The program, established by Congress in 1946 with a goal of international relationship building by offering both grants to U.S. citizens to study or teach abroad and to non-U.S. citizens to study in the states, of which Secretary of State Antony Blinken is an alum, was disrupted for Jami’s cohort — a group hoping to gain their master’s degrees in the U.S. — first by COVID-19 and then, again, with the end of America’s longest war and diplomatic presence in the country now on the brink of economic collapse and famine.

Still, some of the group, Jami says, are pushing for the State Department to have their interviews proceed virtually instead of at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul — where applicants were to report for the interviews over the summer before the delays — which was evacuated in the middle of August.

“We are reviewing the significant safety, logistical, and programmatic constraints which must be overcome to successfully implement the 2022-23 Fulbright Program,” a State Department spokesperson told ABC News last week. “We are committed to remaining in communication with the semifinalist group about the status of the program, understanding they must pursue the choices that make the most sense for themselves and their families.”

Although Jami gushed earlier this month about how the prestigious program was a “venue to her dreams,” she said she won’t allow its potential suspension, as well as the thought that her test scores will soon expire, to stop her from the real work of helping her people.

“Of course, I had chosen the Fulbright Program as my future path, but my biggest dreams were not just conditioned to the Fulbright Program,” she said. “I will still continue my efforts for Afghanistan.”

“At the end of the day, we are trying to be what we always dreamt of being — not just being a Fulbright Scholar or just studying in the U.S. — but what we expected to do after when we return to our country,” added Jami, who hopes to work for the United Nations or Afghanistan government one day. “This is what really matters.”

ABC News’ Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.

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