Alec Baldwin made his first public appearance Thursday night since the tragic shooting that occurred on the set of his film, Rust.
The actor was the master of ceremonies for the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights’ gala in New York City, a nonprofit that focuses on mass incarceration, gender-based violence, racial justice and more.
“Thank you for all coming out tonight. It’s great to be together in person. It’s great to be with everyone. My wife and I have six kids, anything to get out of the house for 30 minutes,” Baldwin said, according to People.
“He’s there. He’s there in good times and bad, in your good times and bad and his good times and bad, he always shows up,” Robert Kennedy‘s daughter, Kerry Kennedy, remarked of her and Alec’s near 40-year friendship. “I’m so proud.”
This is the first time Alec has appeared at an event since the prop gun he was using on the set of Rustdischarged a live round and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
In a recent interview with ABC News, Baldwin professed he would “go to any lengths to undo what happened,” while adding, “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
(WASHINGTON) — Former Sen. Bob Dole — decorated World War II veteran, longtime lawmaker and former presidential candidate — was honored Friday at Washington National Cathedral before being brought back to his home state of Kansas and eventually laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
Dole died Sunday in his sleep at the age of 98.
President Joe Biden delivered a eulogy at the funeral service, which aired on ABC News and ABC News Live, as well as on video screens at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington for public viewing.
He spoke of how Dole was gravely wounded in Anzio in Italy when hit by enemy fire in World War II, at the age of 21.
“Nearly eight decades on, we’ve gathered here in a world far different from the mountainous battlefield in 1945. But there’s something that connects that past and present, wartime and peace, then and now,” Biden said. “The courage, the grit, the goodness, and the grace of a 2nd lieutenant named Bob Dole, who became congressman Dole, senator Dole, statesman, husband, father, friend, colleague, and a word that’s often overused but not here, a genuine hero.”
Biden also addressed partisan divisions and infighting in the United States — and how Dole sought to bridge that divide.
“In his final days, Bob made it clear that he’s deeply concerned about the threat to American democracy,” he said. “Not from foreign nations but from the division tearing us apart from within. And this soldier reminded us, and I quote, ‘too many of us have sacrificed too much in defending freedom from foreign adversaries to allow our democracy to crumble under a state of infighting that goes more unacceptable day by day.'”
“We’re bidding this great American farewell. But we know that as long as we keep his spirit alive, as long as we see each other not as enemies but as neighbors and colleagues, as long as we remember that we’re here not to tear down but to build up; as long as we remember that, then taps will never sound for Bob Dole. For Bob will be with us always; cracking a joke, moving a bill, finding common ground,” he said.
Biden, who served with Dole in the Senate for 25 years and has praised the late Kansas lawmaker for wit that crossed party lines, gave formal remarks on Dole’s service to the nation on Thursday at a Capitol ceremony as Dole lay in state — an honor reserved for the most revered American officials.
“My fellow Americans, America has lost one of our greatest patriots,” Biden said, looking to Dole’s wife of 46 years, Elizabeth, who also served in the Senate, and his daughter, Robin, who was expected to speak Friday. “We may follow his wisdom, I hope, and his timeless truth — that the truth of the matter is, as divided as we are, the only way forward for democracy is unity, consensus. The only way.”
Also delivering remarks were former Sen. Pat Roberts, a fellow Kansas Republican, and former Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, whose time serving as the Democratic leader overlapped with Dole’s leadership role.
After the funeral, Dole’s motorcade is scheduled to pause at the World War II Memorial for a ceremony paying tribute to his military service. There, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley and actor Tom Hanks are expected to speak about Dole’s life.
His casket will then be flown to Kansas where Dole will be honored at funeral services in his hometown of Russell and at the Capitol in Topeka, where he served in the state legislature for two years before beginning a 36-year career in Congress.
Dole, who nearly died in WWII and was later awarded two Purple Hearts, served as the Senate Republican leader for more than a decade and was instrumental in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He sought the presidency three times, winning the Republican nomination in 1996 before losing to incumbent President Bill Clinton, who later awarded Dole the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Dole announced in February that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and was starting treatment.
In a USA Today op-ed Dole finished on pen and paper less than two weeks before his death, he pushed lawmakers to find common ground in difficult times, writing, “Those who suggest that compromise is a sign of weakness misunderstand the fundamental strength of our democracy.”
The photo shows William, Kate and their three children, Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 3, all smiling while on a trip to Jordan earlier this year.
The family is posing casually in the photo, with William, George and Louis wearing shorts and short-sleeve shirts and Kate and Charlotte each wearing a dress.
The photo was shared on William and Kate’s Instagram page Friday with the caption, “Delighted to share a new image of the family, which features on this year’s Christmas card.”
Their card last year featured the Cambridges sitting on haystacks and posing in front of stacks of firewood at Anmer Hall, the family’s country home in Norfolk, England.
The eighth studio effort from Chris Jericho and company — and their first since their 2017 breakout effort Judas — will arrive April 15. It includes the previously released singles “Sane” and “Nowhere to Run,” both of which hit the top 10 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
“Judas, both the album and the song, was a HUGE breakthrough for Fozzy,” Jericho says. “It took us to the next level and positioned us as legit players at rock radio and as a live draw. As a result, we knew that we had to follow up with the album of a lifetime…Boombox is that album!!”
Fozzy will hit the road in support of Boombox on a headlining tour kicking off March 2020. The outing includes an album release concert taking place April 11 in New York City.
An Eddie Van Halen Funko Pop! is set to be released next year.
The late Van Halen icon is the latest rocker to be turned into one of the toy company’s ever-popular big-headed vinyl figures as part of its Pop! Rocks line. The Eddie Funko finds him jumping in the air while jamming on a mini recreation of his signature Frankenstrat guitar.
You can pre-order your own now ahead of its expected January release.
Other artists who’ve gotten the Funko Pop! treatment include Machine Gun Kelly, Metallica, Pearl Jam, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Green Day and Ozzy Osbourne.
Dr. Mpho Shabangu is a Tshwane district vaccine coordinator. – ABC
(NEW YORK) — The omicron variant has exponentially spread in South Africa in a short time, and now experts are warning that widespread vaccine hesitancy and the lack of basic medical supplies in the region may lead to an explosive outbreak of new cases.
In just two weeks, the number of new COVID-19 cases in South Africa has surged more than 1,600%, according to an ABC News analysis of data from the National Institute for Communicable Disease. The increase coincides with the discovery of the omicron variant in southern Africa and comes as countries around the world institute protective measures against the new strain.
“We were going through a period of actually much lower level transmission of the virus and we were getting optimistic that we might have a bit of respite again from this virus,” said Dr. Richard Lessells at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa. “Unfortunately, that did not turn out to be the case.”
Before the emergence of omicron, Lessells and a team of doctors wrote a paper on the state of COVID-19 in Africa. The last sentence in his team’s abstract warned of what could come.
“Africa must not be left behind in the global pandemic response, otherwise it could become a source for new variants,” said the paper.
Omicron now accounts for the vast majority of new cases in South Africa and has reached at least 10 other African countries and the French territory of Reunion. South Africa’s Gauteng Province — home of the major city of Johannesburg — has become the epicenter, where cases are roughly seven times higher than the nation’s other provinces, according to government data.
“I think people have all lost hope when it comes to protection from COVID-19. I think many of them have developed the mindset that ‘whatever happens, happens.’ They have lost hope and are not worried about this new variant as compared to the one before,” said Busisiwe Vilakazi, a resident of Johannesburg.
Tshwane District Vaccine Coordinator Dr. Mpho Shabangu stressed, now more than ever, the importance of getting shots in arms. She led a vaccination push in Mamelodi, a town about an hour outside of Johannesburg.
“All hands are on the deck. So what we are doing currently, we are trying also to make sure that we take vaccines to the people. We’ll go in and have a pop-up site in an area so that people can come and vaccinate,” said Shabangu.
She said that many residents in Mamelodi need to be convinced to get the vaccine.
“We are actually experiencing a lot of vaccine hesitancy. I think it’s not that people don’t want to be vaccinated. People just need more information on the vaccines, especially on the issue of safety,” said Shabangu.
“We know [there] are a few countries in Africa that have discarded some of the doses and that the simple reason is that these countries received vaccines that are near expiring with a very short shelf life,” said Dr. Richard Mihigo, the coordinator of Immunization & Vaccines Development in the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa.
As it stands, roughly 7% of Africa’s population has been vaccinated, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The benchmark set by the WHO is to have 40% of the continent’s population vaccinated by the end of the year.
Issues like logistic hurdles are hampering efforts to reach that milestone, according to the WHO Regional office for Africa.
In Kenya, where less than 6% of the country is fully inoculated, five million shots have arrived within the past two weeks.
Unvaccinated resident Julius Tuyioto said he traveled miles to a hospital, only to leave without a shot.
“While we were still standing there, we were told that the vaccine was over. So, I was discharged and was not interested in following it up again,” said Tuyioto in a statement translated to English.
Clinical officer Gerald Yiaile said their vaccine supply cannot keep up with demand.
“We’ve run out of stock five days ago. We have already ordered our supply again,” said Yiaile.
In larger cities, like Nairobi, some residents say they are not ready to roll up their sleeves. Salon owner Godfrey Maale telling ABC News he’s still not convinced the vaccine works.
Salon owner Godfrey Maale said he’s still not convinced.
“I don’t want to be vaccinated because it means nothing to me. Two of my friends got vaccinated. After [a] few days… they got [the] virus,” Maale said. “You can be vaccinated and you can get virus again, so it’s nothing.”
Mihigo, the WHO regional coordinator, said social media is aiding the spread of vaccine hesitancy.
“We’ve seen in some countries really where the influence or misinformation that has been spreading through the social media has had some devastating effects in terms of acceptance of vaccination,” said Mihigo.
Continent wide, an estimated 85% of cases in Africa go undetected, according to the WHO.
In October, UNICEF projected that Africa could be short 2.2 billion syringes in 2022.
Despite the shortfalls, Shabangu said she sees hope for the future and that more people are beginning to get vaccinated as case numbers increase.
Lessells said it’s important to remember that the pandemic is global and won’t be stopped by borders.
“This is a global pandemic and it needs a global response,” he said. “We’re all in this together and we need to act responsibly as a global community.”
ABC News’ Bea Wangondu contributed to this report.
Emmy winner Uzo Aduba heads up an all-star cast in Friday’s new release National Champions.
Stephan James plays LeMarcus James, an NFL-bound college athlete who starts a player boycott on the eve of a key game in an effort to score more compensation for college athletes.
Uzo plays Katherine Poe, a fixer of an attorney for the NCAA, who tries to short circuit his efforts.
“She knows her job well, the ins and outs of it,” Uzo tells ABC Audio.
“She’s been called to come in…for the NCAA in their eyes to quarterback this mission. But I think she really ends up being the coach in a lot of ways.”
As the movie plays out, however, we learn there’s more under her apparently icy surface. “[S]he has found herself straddling the life she has created for herself….and the woman she once was, who happens to be perhaps the very person that LeMarcus is fighting for.”
Alexander Ludwig plays Emmett Sunday, LeMarcus’ best friend, who helps him hatch the boycott plan. With sports turning to activism of late, Ludwig tells ABC Audio it’s the best time for this movie.
“I’ve never been a part of something that was shot so quickly and then turned around so quickly, and I think that part of the reason that happened was it’s so topical,” the actor explains.
“It’s a conversation that’s being had right now on every level of sports. And I’m so proud to be a small part of it. It’s incredible, the group of people they got together for it, not to mention pretty much all of the NFL that …wanted to be part of it. So that…spoke a lot to how much people want there to be some form of change.”
Jack White is returning to the road next year in a big way.
The White Stripes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather rocker has announced a huge world solo tour for 2022, dubbed the Supply Chain Issues tour. The first North American leg is set to kick off with a two-night stand in White’s hometown of Detroit on April 8-9, and will conclude June 11 in Broomfield, Colorado.
White will then embark on a trek through Europe in June and July, followed by a return to the States for a second outing, running from August 13 in Minneapolis to August 29 in Kansas City, Missouri.
The size of the tour makes sense, given that White plans to release not one, but two solo albums in 2022: Fear of the Dawn on April 8, and Entering Heaven Alive on July 22.
Tickets go on sale to the general public next Friday, December 17, at 10 a.m. local time. Various pre-sales, including for members of White’s Third Man Records Vault subscription service, will open next week leading up to the general sale.
For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit JackWhiteIII.com.
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Texas’ near-total ban on abortions to stay in effect more than three months after a majority of justices allowed the law, SB8, to be implemented, denying women across the nation’s second most populous state a constitutionally-protected right.
But the court said abortion providers could continue with their challenge to the law.
The mixed decision, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, was at least a temporary victory for abortion providers and civil rights groups that had been challenging the law.
The court said, “the ultimate merits question — whether S.B. 8 is consistent with the Federal Constitution — is not before the Court. Nor is the wisdom of S.B. 8 as a matter of public policy.”
It dismissed a Biden administration request to stay enforcement of the Texas law.
During fast-tracked oral arguments heard earlier, many justices were openly skeptical about the Texas law’s unprecedented enforcement mechanism and what it could mean for other state attempts to limit constitutional rights.
SB8 bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and delegates enforcement to everyday citizens — rather than state officials — who can file civil lawsuits against anyone who “aids or abets” an unlawful procedure. Its state sponsors deliberately intended to circumvent federal court review, knowing that such a ban on its face violates constitutionally-protected abortion rights.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
It’s the perfect holiday gift for the ZZ Top fan in your life: Billy F Gibbons’ boots.
The Texas guitar legend has teamed up with the Austin, Texas-based Alvies boot company for a signature “BFG” cowboy boot, described as combining “a classic style with a rock ‘n’ roll attitude.” The design of the cowhide boots, which cost $450, was inspired by “Billy’s personal infatuation with cars, guitars and making music.”
The boots come in three different ZZ Top-related colors — Sharp-Dressed, El Hombre and 33 Coupe — and the pull strap of each pair comes with a pocket containing several custom BFG guitar picks.
There are only 3,000 pairs of the limited-edition boots available and a percentage of each sale goes to the National Independent Venue Foundation, which offers financial support to music venues around the country that have been impacted by COVID-19.
If you can’t afford the boots, t-shirts and 10-packs of guitar picks are also available on the Alvies website.
