(NEW YORK) — One of two black box recorders was found amidst the wreckage of a China Eastern Airlines flight, giving investigators hope it will shed light on why the passenger jet plummeted from the sky and crashed into a mountainside in southern China, authorities said Wednesday.
None of the 123 passengers and nine crew members aboard Flight 5735 survived when it crashed in the Guangxi region.
An official from the Civil Aviation Administration of China confirmed Wednesday that one of the recording devices was located. The official said the protective exterior of the box was seriously damaged.
During a news conference Wednesday, Chinese authorities said that they believe the recovered device is the cockpit voice recorder. It was found in the main impact point of the crash and has been sent to Beijing for repair and analysis, officials said.
Authorities publicly acknowledged for the first time that human remains were found at the crash site.
Investigators are still searching for the second recorder which stores flight data, including airspeed, altitude and wing flap positions.
Early data shows the Boeing 737-800 plunged from 29,000 feet to 8,000 feet, leveled off and then went into a freefall, exploding into a fireball that was seen and filmed by people nearby. One video showed the plane nose-diving into the ground.
The plane crashed after taking off from Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province. The flight was headed to Guangzhou, a port city northwest of Hong Kong, Chinese officials said.
Air traffic controllers made repeated attempts to radio the flight crew when they noticed the aircraft’s rapid descent but were unable to restore communications with the crew before the crash, Chinese officials said.
U.S. intelligence doesn’t have a clear theory on what led to the plane crashing. A source tells ABC News they aren’t ruling anything out, including a possible intentional downing.
As a precaution, China Eastern Airline grounded its fleet of Boeing 737-800s on Wednesday.
Members of the U.S. National Safety Transportation Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and engine-maker CFM International are all joining the probe.
Ten years ago Wednesday, Lionsgate released The Hunger Games, the adaptation of author Susan Collins‘ 2008 bestselling dystopian novel.
Co-written by Collins, Billy Ray, and director Gary Ross, the film centered on a life-or-death annual competition in which powerless young people are forced to compete to the death, to the delight of the elites in Panem’s Capitol city.
Grossing $155 million in its opening weekend alone — the start of a nearly $695 million worldwide run — the movie spawned three sequels, and turned Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson into young box office superstars.
Lawrence played Katniss Everdeen, one of the “tributes” from Panem’s District 12, a skilled hunter who takes her younger sister’s place in the deadly games. Katniss quickly rises to the top of the field, to the delight of the Capitol’s viewers.
Hemsworth played Gale Hawthorne, Katniss’ best friend, fellow hunter and eventual love interest. Hutcherson, meanwhile, played Peeta Mellark, Katniss’ fellow District 12 competitor, who gets “shipped” with Katniss by the organizers of the Games to goose viewership.
The film also had stand-out supporting performances from a handful of stars. Woody Harrelson played Hamish, a former winner who has become a drunk in retirement, and who advises Katniss; Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, Katniss’ charismatic stylist, who gives her a camera-ready makeover befitting her celebrity status and who becomes a trusted confidante; Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, the Games’ flamboyant escort; and Stanley Tucci as the blue-haired talk show host Caesar Flickerman, who covers the competition.
All the characters returned in the follow-up films — 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, 2014’s The Hunger Games:Mockingjay Part 1, and 2015’s Mockingjay Part 2 — which tracked Katniss quest to overthrow Panem’s autocratic rule and end the Games.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Forget the saddle, Aerosmith is heading back to Sin City.
The rock legends have announced a batch of 2022 dates for their “Deuces Are Wild” Las Vegas residency at the Dolby Live at Park MGM. The performances will take place over three eight-show engagements from June 17 to July 8, September 14 to October 5, and and November 19 to December 11.
“The only rust at Dolby Live is going to be on our van in the lobby!” says frontman Steven Tyler. “We are locked, cocked and loaded!”
The “Deuces Are Wild” shows will mark the first to feature immersive Dolby Atmos audio technology. The music will be augmented by 12 screens featuring never-before-seen visuals.
Tickets go on sale next Thursday, March 31, at 10 a.m. PT, with various pre-sales beginning this Thursday, March 24. For all ticket info, visit ParkMGM.MGMResorts.com.
Between the Vegas dates, Aerosmith will play a 50th anniversary hometown show at Boston’s Fenway Park on September 8.
Olivia Rodrigo has grown up a lot over the past couple of years, but that doesn’t mean the 19-year-old has mastered living on her own just yet.
During an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden Tuesday, the singer says she recently moved into her own apartment with her best friend, but is still adjusting.
“I haven’t acclimated that well, to be honest,” she says. “Last night I had just Peanut M&Ms for dinner because I can’t cook.”
She may not be the best at “adulting” right now, but Olivia’s age does get her some perks overseas. She tells Corden about her experience at a British pub when she was in London for the BRIT Awards earlier this year.
“I actually did get to go to a pub and it was so crazy,” she says. “And they asked for my ID as I was going in and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can show them my real ID, this is amazing.’”
“My friend who was with me was like rifling through all of her fake IDs to like try to find the real one to show the bouncer because she was truly legal there,” Olivia adds with a laugh. “But it was very much fun, yeah.”
Olivia’s up for seven Grammys this year. Her new documentary OLIVIA RODRIGO: driving home 2 u (a SOUR film) debuts on Disney+ Friday. Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
Maren Morris’ next album, Humble Quest, comes on the heels of a global pandemic and the singer’s transition into parenthood. She and her fellow artist husband Ryan Hurd welcomed their son, Hayes, in March 2020.
The pandemic forced Maren to prioritize her mental health. “I’m pretty sure everyone in lockdown and this pandemic has had to do a temperature check on their mental health, and maybe it’ll become a more perpetual practice going forward — I hope it is,” she tells People.
Maren also experienced postpartum depression after giving birth to Hayes, another mental health challenge that caused her to grow as she worked on her new album. Her depression started to ease up when Hayes was about six months old, she explains, and therapy — and the support of Ryan — helped her make her way through it.
“I do check-ins all the time [with] therapy, which I’ve done for years, and my husband was a huge help diagnosing that, too,” she continues.
“Sometimes, it’s just someone really close to you saying, ‘Are you okay?’” the singer adds. “It’s so simple, but it kind of snaps you out of whatever fog you’re in that you think is normal, but isn’t.”
Maren and Ryan have long supported each other both professionally and musically, and they topped the country charts together with their duet, “Chasing After You.”
Maren recently posted a photo of the couple sharing a hug, captioning it ,“this album wouldn’t have happened without you.”
Humble Quest comes out Friday. Fans have already heard a handful of its songs, including lead single “Circles Around This Town.”
Harry Styles fans are convinced that the singer is teasing a new album with a mysterious online campaign.
The subject of the speculation is a website, Youarehome.co, which right now is only showing a door. When you click it, it opens, revealing a bunch of illustrations of different kinds of mushrooms. It just so happens that the new line of products for Harry’s beauty and lifestyle brand, Pleasing, is called “Shroom Bloom.“
There were also ads placed in newspapers around the world, advertising the website. Then, on Tuesday, Harry’s social accounts followed the Youarehome Twitter and Instagram accounts, indicating that there’s a link between them.
Another possible clue: those photos of Harry in London in February filming something that had him reclining on a huge bed. Because bed equals “home,” right?
Harry’a fans think all of this is pointing to new music, because Harry and his team pulled a similar stunt in 2019 to promote his single “Adore You.” In addition, Harry is headlining Coachella and doing a bunch of international tour dates, so having new music to perform and promote then would be pretty good.
Plus, Harry’s new movie Don’t Worry Darling, directed by his girlfriend, Olivia Wilde, is slated to be released this year, so that would increase interest in any new music he might have out.
(NEW YORK) — Two years into the coronavirus pandemic, children under age 6 may be one step closer to being eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Moderna said Wednesday it plans to seek emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its COVID-19 vaccine in young children “in the coming weeks.”
Pfizer’s vaccine is authorized in children 5 and older, but children 4 and younger don’t have access to vaccination.
Moderna released new clinical trial data showing its vaccine generated a strong immune response in children ages 6 months to 6 years old, with no significant risks.
Moderna’s vaccine in children is a two-dose, 25-microgram shot, about a quarter of the dose used for adults, given 28 days apart.
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is currently only available for people ages 18 and older.
Here are nine questions answered about the COVID-19 vaccines and kids as families seek to make the best decisions.
1. What is the science behind the COVID-19 vaccine?
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use mRNA technology, which does not enter the nucleus of the cells and doesn’t alter human DNA. Instead, it sends a genetic “instruction manual” that prompts cells to create proteins that look like the outside of the virus — a way for the body to learn and develop defenses against future infection.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses an inactivated adenovirus vector, Ad26, that cannot replicate. The Ad26 vector carries a piece of DNA with instructions to make the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that triggers an immune response.
This same type of vaccine has been authorized for Ebola and has been studied extensively for other illnesses and for how it affects women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Neither of these vaccine platforms can cause COVID-19.
2. What is the status of vaccine eligibility for kids?
Children ages 5 and older are now eligible to receive Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine.
Children ages 12 and older are also eligible to receive a Pfizer vaccine booster shot.
Pfizer is expected to have more information on the efficacy of a three-dose regimen for kids under age 5 in March or April. The company announced in February that it would postpone its application to the FDA for a vaccine for kids under 5 and instead continue with its study on the three-dose vaccine and seek authorization when that data is available.
The two other vaccines currently available in the U.S., Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, are currently available only for people 18 years and older.
Moderna said on March 23rd it plans to seek emergency use authorization from the FDA for its vaccine in children under age 6 “in the coming weeks.”
3. Why do kids need to be vaccinated against COVID-19?
While there have not been as many deaths from COVID-19 among children as adults, particularly adults in high-risk categories, kids can still get the virus and they can also transmit the virus to adults.
A total of 11.4 million children have tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic. Child COVID-19 cases have “spiked dramatically” during the omicron variant surge, with more than 3.5 million child cases reported in January.
According to the CDC, unvaccinated 12- to 17-year-olds had an 11 times higher risk of hospitalization than fully vaccinated adolescents.
“We know that COVID does not spare kids,” ABC News medical contributor Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, said in December. “Maybe it’s less severe than their adult counterparts but we also know that the virus has had real significant impacts on morbidity and mortality in kids.”
“We also know that kids play an important role as vectors of spread,” he said. “And especially in light of increases we’re seeing right now, with increases of cases in kids in record numbers, infections among kids further perpetuate community transmission and further create risks for those who would be the most vulnerable of the virus.”
4. Do kids experience the same vaccine side effects as adults?
Adolescents experienced a similar range of side effects to Pfizer’s vaccine as seen in older teens and young adults — generally seen as cold-like symptoms in the two to three days after the second dose — and had an “excellent safety profile,” Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in August.
None of the children in Pfizer’s clinical trials of kids ages 5-11 experienced a rare heart inflammation side effect known as myocarditis, which has been associated with the mRNA vaccines in very rare cases, mostly among young men.
5. Is there data showing COVID-19 vaccines are safe for kids?
The CDC released three studies in December showing COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective for children.
One study, which evaluated the safety reports of more than 42,000 children ages 5 to 11 who received a Pfizer shot, found the side effects from the Pfizer vaccine were mostly mild and temporary. It also found that myocarditis, a heart inflammation side effect that has been associated with the mRNA vaccines in very rare cases, does not appear to be a risk.
A second study, which looked at data from 243 children ages 12 to 17 in Arizona, found the Pfizer vaccine was 92% effective at preventing infection. The study, conducted between July and December when delta was the dominant variant in the U.S., also found that adolescents who developed COVID-19 reported a lower percentage of time masked in school and time masked in the community.
The third study, also conducted when delta was dominant, found that among children ages 5 to 17 hospitalized due to COVID-19, less than 1% were fully vaccinated against the virus.
6. How effective are the vaccines in children?
Pfizer announced in late March that its clinical trials showed the vaccine was safe and 100% effective in children ages 12-15, similar to the 95% efficacy among adult clinical trial participants.
Marks confirmed on May 10 that after a trial with more than 2,000 children, Pfizer found no cases of infection among the children who had been given the vaccine and 16 cases of infection among the children who received a placebo.
No cases of COVID occurred in the 1,005 adolescents that received the vaccine, while there were 16 cases of COVID among the 978 kids who received the placebo, “thus indicating the vaccine was 100% effective in preventing COVID-19 In this trial,” said Marks.
7. Do kids get the same dose of the vaccines as adults?
In Pfizer’s clinical trial, children between 6 months and 5-years-old received two doses of 3-microgram shots, a tenth of the dose given to adults, three weeks apart.
Kids ages 5 to 11 are given a 10-micrograms dose of the Pfizer vaccine, one-third of the adolescent and adult dose. Like with adults and adolescents, the pediatric vaccine is delivered in two doses, three weeks apart.
For 12-to-15-year-olds, the FDA has authorized the same dosing as adults with the Pfizer two-dose vaccine.
The FDA and CDC have recommended the Pfizer booster shots now available for kids ages 12 and older be administered five months after the primary vaccine series.
8. Could COVID-19 vaccines impact puberty and menstruation?
There is currently no clinical evidence to suggest any of the COVID-19 vaccines can have long-term effects on puberty or fertility.
9. Where can kids get vaccinated against COVID-19?
Vaccines are accessible at pediatricians’ offices, children’s hospitals, pharmacies like CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid and school and community-based clinics.
ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik, Anne Flaherty, Eric Strauss, Cheyenne Haslett and Jade A. Cobern, MD, a member of the ABC News Medical Unit, contributed to this report.
Tom Hanks has been in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania while he’s shooting the film A Man Called Otto, and he’s apparently spreading smiles wherever he goes.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the two-time Oscar winner spotted a wedding party at the Fairmont Pittsburgh on Saturday, and approached photographer Rachel Rowland, explaining, “My name is Tom Hanks! Can I take a photo with the bride?”
Rowland told the Post-Gazette, “We all started screaming and were pretty much in shock.”
Bride-to-be Grace Gwaltney and her bridesmaids jumped out of their limo and posed for photos with the star. “He was just as wonderful and charming as you’d assume,” Rowland told the paper. “His wife, Rita [Wilson], was there and got in some photos, too.”
The famous couple wished the bride well, and she was whisked away to walk down the aisle.
Hanks is making the rounds, evidently. Days before, stay-at-home mom Ashley Glass saw Hanks and company shooting the film next door to her Pittsburgh home, and started recording the scrum of crew members and production vehicles. To her shock, the star spotted her and her 2-year-old son Charles, and addressed them through their window.
“Hi, buddy boy!” Hanks said, waving enthusiastically at the tyke. “You gotta see the movie when the time comes.”
“I was in shock, honestly,” she told the paper. “I couldn’t even say anything but, ‘Oh my God, oh my God!'”
What’s more, Tom and Rita apparently posed for pictures with employees of a home improvement store on Monday, when shooting moved to the location.
Luke Bryan‘s wife Caroline got the ultimate revenge on her prankster husband.
On this week’s episode of American Idol, Luke got quite the startle when his wife showed up to his place of work, in disguise as a stagehand. It all started when the “stagehand” dressed in a face mask and black sweatshirt came on to the set, causing a ruckus as she wiped down the piano.
“Aggressive on the piano,” Luke comments.
Later on, the mysterious person disrupts the audition of Skylar Dixon when she sets off her phone alarm and obnoxiously opens a bag of chips as Skylar is singing. That’s when fellow judge Katy Perry reaches her boiling point, marching over to the rude employee and rips the bag out of her hands.
“Who is that?” Luke asks.
The situation quickly escalates, with Caroline in disguise approaching the table and taking back the bag of chips, sending the judges into a fury — until Katy takes off the hood to reveal that it’s Caroline.
“Oh my God,” Luke laughs, hugging his wife before throwing the bag of chips at her.
“You’ve been punked!” shouts Lionel Richie. It turns out that Katy was in on the joke all along, too.
“After all the stuff he’s done to me, he deserves it,” Caroline tells the camera backstage with a smile.
The couple has a history of pranking one another, with Caroline saying it started when she and Luke met in college and continues to this day with their annual Pranksmas, where they prank family and friends throughout the holiday season.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers have scheduled three eight-show engagements at the venue, running from June 17 to July 8, from September 14 to October 5, and from November 19 to December 11. According to a press statement, the shows will be the first concert experience presented in immersive Dolby Atmos audio technology.
For their “Deuces Are Wild” show, Aerosmith will deliver a 90-minute performance, accompanied by a 12-screen multimedia presentation that includes previously unseen visuals from the band’s archives.
“The only rust at Dolby Live is going to be on our van in the lobby!” says Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. “We are locked, cocked and loaded!”
Tickets to the new dates go on sale to the general public on Thursday, March 31, at 10 a.m. PT at Ticketmaster.com/Aerosmith. Members of the band’s Aero Force One fan club can purchase pre-sale tickets starting Thursday, March 24, at 9 a.m. PT.
Citi card holders will be able to access pre-sale tickets beginning Friday, Mach 25, at 10 a.m. PT; visit CitiEntertainment.com for more details. Pre-sale opportunites for members of the MGM Rewards loyalty program, as well as Live Nation and Ticketmaster customers, also will be available.
The last shows Aerosmith played before the pandemic began were in February 2020 as part of their residency at the Park MGM resort.
The band’s only other confirmed concert on their 2022 schedule is a previously announced September 8 show at Boston’s Fenway Park with Extreme celebrating Aerosmith’s 50th anniversary.
