(NEW YORK) — While the mask mandate on public transportation has been lifted, the Federal Aviation Administration’s zero-tolerance policy for unruly passengers is here to stay, the agency said Wednesday.
The FAA instituted its zero-tolerance policy during the pandemic in an effort to curb a surge in disruptive behavior on planes.
The rule, which is now permanent, allows the FAA to fine passengers up to $37,000 per violation for unruly behavior.
The FAA said the program has helped reduce the incident rate by more than 60%.
“Behaving dangerously on a plane will cost you; that’s a promise,” Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said in a news release. “Unsafe behavior simply does not fly and keeping our Zero Tolerance policy will help us continue making progress to prevent and punish this behavior.”
This year alone, the FAA has received 1,233 reports of unruly passengers on flights — 797 of which were mask-related.
The agency has issued over $2 million in fines just in 2022.
As of Feb. 16, 2022, the FAA had referred 80 unruly passenger cases to the FBI for criminal review.
(PITTSBURGH) — As the investigation to identify suspects entered its fourth day in a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh Airbnb house that left two teenagers dead, police amended the number of gunshot survivors from eight to nine.
The Pittsburgh Police Department said in a statement that the new non-fatal gunshot victim was taken to a hospital in a private car and arrived at an emergency room on the morning of the shooting in stable condition.
Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert said another five people suffered cuts and broken bones fleeing the gunfire, some by jumping from second-story windows.
No arrests have been announced in the shooting that occurred early Sunday morning during a party at an Airbnb rental in the East Allegheny neighborhood of North Pittsburgh that police said was attended by more than 200 people.
Schubert said Tuesday that about two hours before the shooting erupted, a police officer responded to a noise complaint at the Airbnb house, but left after issuing a verbal warning to keep the noise down.
“There was nothing unusual to indicate that something was wrong,” Schubert said. “We have some information that shows that a lot of these people didn’t come until after midnight.”
The shooting erupted around 12:40 a.m. Sunday, and investigators collected 90 shell casings from the scene, including 50 from inside the Airbnb home.
Schubert said the shooting broke out after an “altercation” inside the house, but has declined to elaborate.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two 17-year-olds killed in the shooting as Mathew Steffy-Ross and Jaiden Brown. Both teens were scheduled to graduate from high school in June, according to friends and loved ones.
“Matthew was a fun, loving kid that cared so much about everybody. Matthew would give you the shirt off your back,” Steffy-Ross’ great-aunt, Bonnie McLain, told ABC affiliate station WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh.
She described Steffy-Ross, a senior at Grace Non-Traditional Christian Academy in Pittsburgh, as having “the biggest smile in the world.”
“He cared about people and he loved people, and he acted upon it,” McLain said, adding that she last spoke to her nephew on Saturday morning and heard of his death from a neighbor on Sunday.
Pittsburgh community activist Lee Davis of the Greater Valley Coalition Against Violence told WTAE that he was a mentor to both Steffy-Ross and Brown.
“I have been to over 100 funerals in the 17 years I have been doing this work, and I thought I was all cried out, but when I seen what happened to Jaiden and Matt, the tears just came all over again,” Davis said. “It just hurt my heart.”
Davis said he knew Brown, a senior at Woodland Hills High School in Pittsburgh, since he was a child.
“His energy was great,” Davis said of Brown. “Everybody loved him, and he became very well-liked in the community. To see this happen to him was really heartbreaking … because he had a very bright future.”
Cathy Jo Welsh, a member of the youth anti-violence program Helping Out Our People in Pittsburgh, said Brown’s father died from an illness a few years ago and that Steffy-Brown’s mother died recently.
“(Steffy-Brown) was just getting his bearings from losing his own mother and just learning how to live with trauma and grief,” Welsh told WTAE.
(NEW YORK) — The man accused of pushing a New York City woman to her death in front of an oncoming subway train in January was deemed unfit to stand trial at a court hearing Tuesday in accordance with findings from a psychiatric evaluation.
Simon Martial, 61, will now be sent to a psychiatric facility under the custody of the city’s Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Briggs’ office.
The DA’s office did not contest the determination, but told ABC News that the office will continue to review the case and pursue Martial’s conviction.
Michelle Alyssa Go had been standing on the southbound N/Q/W/R platform at Times Square station on Jan. 15, looking at her phone, when she was suddenly shoved, unprovoked, onto the tracks, police say. She was pronounced dead at the scene just weeks after celebrating her 40th birthday.
Martial, who is homeless, fled the station but turned himself in later that day, according to police. He was charged with second degree murder.
New York County Defender Services, which is representing Martial, declined to comment Wednesday when reached by ABC News.
Though police have not classified the tragic attack as a hate crime, Go’s death heightened anxiety around a rise in anti-Asian sentiments and violence, weighing heavily on many as they came together for vigils in Times Square and San Francisco’s Chinatown in honor and remembrance of the Fremont, California, native and several other Asian crime victims back in January.
Go was a consultant for Deloitte and a longtime volunteer and advocate for the homeless, according to ABC affiliate WABC-TV.
Her family released a statement describing her as a “beautiful, brilliant, kind, and intelligent woman who loved her family and friends, loved to travel the world and help others.”
(NEW YORK) — After undergoing a major brand revamp, Victoria’s Secret has continued to roll out new, inclusive launches including it’s recent venture: Happy Nation.
The lingerie retailer announced the new brand on Tuesday and revealed that it is a fully digital brand for tweens ages 8-13.
This new release includes a large assortment of genderless, size-inclusive undergarments, swimwear, apparel and body care.
Happy Nation was inspired and developed by a mix of the company’s internal leaders, many of which are parents to tweens, as well as external experts who had an aim to ensure everything from its creative to photography and social media communications foster a safe, inclusive and supportive environment.
Throughout the lineup of items, shoppers will notice standard sizing ranging from S – XL to extended sizes that include SM+ – XL+.
“We heard from tweens and their parents that they felt like there isn’t an apparel or beauty brand that celebrates and lends a helping hand in their personal evolution,” said Claudine Rankin, GM at Happy Nation, in a statement. “As a mother, I feel a deep responsibility to be intentional about every decision behind this brand. The tween years can be a time of immense change and challenges yet excitement for both tweens and their parents, and we hope Happy Nation can provide the authenticity that younger generations crave, while offering comfy clothing and body care products that kids and their parents can feel good about.”
There are currently no plans to bring the kid-friendly brand to physical retail stores, but the brand does plan to engage with those interested on its social media platforms. There are also plans to activate in the metaverse — which is a first for any of Victoria’s Secret & Co.’s brands.
(BETHANY, Conn.) — A Connecticut State Police trooper was arrested on a felony manslaughter charge after a report by the state inspector general alleged his use of deadly force was not justified in the January 2020 shooting of a 19-year-old Black man.
Trooper Brian North, 31, surrendered Tuesday at the state police barracks in Bethany, Connecticut, after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with the fatal shooting of Mubarak Soulemane, state police said.
State Inspector General Robert Devlin Jr.’s investigation found that although Soulemane was allegedly armed with a steak knife, had stolen a Lyft rideshare vehicle and was apparently off his medication for schizophrenia, he was not a threat to North and other officers when he was shot multiple times, according to the report released Wednesday.
Soulemane was killed when North allegedly fired seven times at him through the closed driver’s side window of a stolen Lyft vehicle after troopers stopped him and pinned him in on Interstate 95 in West Haven following a chase that reached speeds of 100 mph, according to the report.
Delvin’s investigation found that Soulemane was sitting behind the wheel of the car surrounded by troopers and officers from other agencies and was trapped inside because North’s cruiser was blocking the driver’s side door.
An officer from the West Haven Police Department was bashing in the passenger-side window with a baton and another trooper was poised to deploy a stun gun on Soulemane when North opened fire as Soulemane reached into his pocket and pulled a knife, according to the report.
“Stated briefly, the investigation establishes that, at the time Trooper North fired his weapon, neither he nor any other person was in imminent danger of serious injury or death from a knife attack at the hands of Soulemane,” Devlin concluded in his report. “Further, any belief that persons were in such danger was not reasonable. I therefore find that North’s use of deadly force was not justified under Connecticut law.”
North, a seven-year veteran of the Connecticut State Police, was booked on a charge of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm, Devlin said in a statement. North was released on $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Milford on May 3.
‘A good day’
North was placed on administrative leave and his police powers have been suspended pending criminal proceedings, according to state police.
Mark Arons, the attorney for Soulemane’s family, said the arrest marked “a good day” for the family.
“This is the first step in the journey for justice for the wrongful killing of a 19-year-old Black youth in Connecticut…The family looks forward on this matter being tried and this state trooper being convicted,” Arons said in a statement.
The incident unfolded on Jan. 15, 2020, in Norwalk, Connecticut, after police received a complaint that Soulemane was armed with a knife and acting erratically at an AT&T store, according to Devlin’s report.
Police were called to the store, but Soulemane left in a Lyft vehicle as they arrived. The Lyft driver told police that Soulemane ordered him to “drive, drive, drive” when he got into the car, according to the report.
The driver alleged that Soulemane demanded his cellphone and slapped him on the side of the head when he refused, the report says. The driver told police he drove to a gas station and got out of the car, pulling a gun on Soulemane and flagging down a police officer, according to the report.
Soulemane allegedly jumped into the driver seat and fled, prompting the police chase.
Trooper claims he was protecting officers
North told investigators, according to the report, that he opened fire because he was concerned that the officers on the passenger-side of the car were in “imminent risk of serious physical injury or death.”
“As a result, I discharged my duty firearm to eliminate the threat,” North told investigators, according to the report.
North’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
Connecticut State Police Union officials released a statement to ABC affiliate station WTNH-TV in New Haven, saying they are “disappointed” in the inspector general’s decision to prosecute North.
The union added that North “was forced to make a split-second decision during these dangerous and rapidly evolving circumstances.”
The union asked the public to reserve judgment “until all facts are known in this case.”
“Trooper North was risking his own life while trying to fulfill his oath of office to protect the lives of others,” the union’s statement said. “Regardless of the Inspector General’s decision, we will respect the judicial process while we vigorously defend Trooper North and his actions. It is our obligation to protect Trooper North’s constitutional right to due process of law and a fair trial.”
Lady Gaga may not have received an Oscar nomination for her most recent film, House of Gucci, but at least one legendary, Oscar-winning star is totally down to make a movie with her.
Dame Helen Mirren was seen tightly hugging Gaga at the Screen Actors Guild Awards earlier this year, and even appeared to be wiping away the star’s tears. Asked by W magazine what the two talked about at the event, Mirren explained, “We didn’t really talk — we just emotionally engaged. She’s a beautiful person. She’s very, very, very special.”
Mirren revealed that she’d previously met Gaga and her parents at an event at which the “Rain on Me” star was performing, and noted, “What an amazing performer she is on every level. She’s also very, very vulnerable, and very sweet. I think we were just having a little girl love fest.”
When W magazine suggested that one day the two might-co-star in a movie together, Mirren liked the idea, responding, “Yeah, wouldn’t that be wonderful? I’d love that. That would be brilliant.” She also predicted that she and Gaga would have “good chemistry.”
Mirren is the only person to have achieved the so-called ‘triple crown of acting’ in both the U.S. and the U.K. In the States, she’s won an Oscar, a Tony and four Emmys; in the U.K., she’s won the equivalent honors: a British Academy Film Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and three British Academy Television Awards.
National Geographic and Disney+ have announced that the fourth installment of its Emmy-nominated series Genius will tell the story of the iconic civil-rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and MalcolmX.
The announcement names A Different World writer Reggie Rock Bythewood and his wife, Gina Prince-Bythewood, as the show’s executive producers, and they say in a join statement, “Malcolm and Martin are staggering icons, and we have been eager to explore the genius of these two very real men in a way that has not yet been seen. We are excited to team up with Imagine Entertainment and 20th Television to reflect their amazing lives and contributions to civil rights and the urgency of today.”
In a first for the franchise, the new season will focus on both leaders’ pioneering accomplishments, their formative years, their contributions during the civil rights era and each of their different, yet necessary, approaches to the fight for the advancement for Black people in America.
Nat Geo premiered the series’ first installment, Genius: Einstein starring Geoffrey Rush, in 2017. That was followed by Genius: Picasso, featuring Antonio Banderas‘ portrayal of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso. The third installment, Genius: Aretha, starred Cynthia Erivo as Aretha Franklin, and its premiere was the most-watched telecast for National Geographic in two years.
The fourth installment, Genius: MLK/X, and subsequent seasons,will move from Nat Geo to the series’ new home on Disney+.
Earlier this month, Police drummer Stewart Copeland was honored with a Grammy for Best New Age Album for Divine Tides, a 2021 collaborative project he recorded with Indian-music composer Ricky Kej.
It was Copeland’s sixth career Grammy, but his first for a recording project not involving his famous band.
“I am the boss of New Age!” the 69-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer jokingly boasts to ABC Audio.
“I can finally tick that box,” he declares. “I mean, how many rock drummers…in fact, technically, it could be argued that I am a punk rock drummer, since that story started out in ’77…[So,] punk rock drummer wins New Age Grammy…That’s cool.”
Copeland notes that he’d first worked with Kej a few years ago on another project, and Ricky then reached out and asked if he’d like to play percussion on his new album.
“[H]e started sending me these…tracks that he was…assembling,” Stewart recalls. “And I just was immediately inflamed by the beauty of his melodies and the mix that he was creating, so I started miking up all my crotales, timbales, whatchamacallits and thingamajigs, and started aggressing upon inanimate objects here [in my studio]…and kind of created a rhythmic envelope for all of the beautiful melodies that he was assembling.”
Divine Tides is just one of Copeland’s many recent non-rock projects. This Saturday, Satan’s Fall, an oratorio Stewart composed based on John Milton‘s Paradise Lost that first debuted in 2020, will get its West Coast premiere at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.
A Satan’s Fall also is scheduled for May 8 in Minneapolis with VocalEssence, which, Copeland notes, are “one of the premier choirs in the nation.”
Visit StewartCopeland.net to check out what else is on Copeland’s upcoming schedule.
The new Starz series Gaslit, debuting Sunday, hopes to shine a lot more light on the lives of the major players in the Watergate scandal. Series creator Robbie Pickering tells ABC Audio he wanted to explore the humanity, and motivations, of those who were involved in the break-in that brought down Richard Nixon.
“The villains were a lot more relatable and warm and kind of bumbling than you think. And the heroes were also, they were more complex and bumbling and selfish than they’ve been portrayed,” says Pickerling. “And I really wasn’t interested in telling a story about the events of Watergate, as much as the emotional messes that went into this scandal and that actually go into all these scandals.”
Gaslit‘s cast of characters include Nixon’s Attorney General John Mitchell and his wife Martha, played respectively by Sean Penn and Julia Roberts. British actor Dan Stevens plays former White House lawyer John Dean and tells ABC Audio he learned a lot from the series.
“I didn’t know who Martha Mitchell was, didn’t know much about [Dean’s wife Mo], didn’t know much about Frank Wills, the guard to who uncovered it all,” he admits. “And so a lot of these characters are given the chance to shine in this version. And yeah, it was a real education.”
The Downton Abbey star says even though the film deals with something that happened 50 years ago, the massage still rings true today.
“This kind of level of corruption on any scale and the spectrum of personality types that are kind of drawn to this kind of misdemeanor in an effort to gain power, to stay with power, you know, to creep ever closer to the inner circle kind of applies to any administration in any era,” he explains.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
Russian forces have since retreated from northern Ukraine, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. The United States and many European countries accused Russia of committing war crimes after graphic images emerged of dead civilians in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv. The Russian military has now launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, as it attempts to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 21, 5:13 am
Putin cancels Mariupol plant attack, orders site blocked off
Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled his military’s attack on a Mariupol steel plant, one of the last areas in the port city held by Ukrainian forces, ordering his troops to instead seal all exit routes from the sprawling plant.
“I consider the proposed assault on the industrial zone impractical,” Putin told Sergei Shoigu, his defense minister, during a meeting televised on Thursday by Russian state media, according to a translation of the Kremlin’s official transcript.
The Mariupol city council claimed Tuesday that there are at least 1,000 civilians, mostly women with children and the elderly, seeking shelter in the Azovstal Steel and Iron Works plant. It was unclear how many Ukrainian troops were defending the site.
Putin in the televised meeting ordered his troops to “block” the industrial zone. He repeated the claim that Moscow would let troops leave unharmed if they lay down their weapons and surrender.
“There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground on these industrial facilities,” Putin said. “Block this industrial area so that the fly does not fly.”
Apr 20, 4:37 pm
Delegations walk out on Russian official
During a G20 meeting of economic and finance ministers on Wednesday, delegations from several countries, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, walked out of the room while Russia’s delegate began his remarks, the White House confirmed.
Canada’s Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, tweeted a photo of several officials, including herself, Yellen, U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde, outside of the meeting room, standing in solidarity with Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
“It’s an indication of the fact that President Putin and Russia has become a pariah on the global stage,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
The Treasury also unveiled new sanctions Wednesday against dozens of Russian and Belarusian people and institutions, including a key commercial bank and a virtual currency mining company.
“This is part of our stepped-up effort to crack down on those attempting to evade our unprecedented sanctions,” Psaki said.
The State Department has also imposed visa restrictions on over 600 Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainian separatists backed by the Kremlin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Apr 20, 3:59 pm
UN chief seeks peace talks with Putin, Zelenskyy
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres wrote separate letters to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday asking to meet “to discuss urgent steps to bring about peace in Ukraine,” a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the head of the president’s office, tweeted that Ukraine is ready to hold a special round of negotiations in Mariupol.
Apr 20, 3:25 pm
Thousands more Russians enter Donbas: US official
Four more Russian battalions, each made up of roughly 800 to 1,000 troops, have crossed into Ukraine over the last 24 hours, a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday. Three of those battalions — or up to 3,000 troops — moved to the disputed Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, the official said.
Four flights carrying military aid, including artillery, from the Biden administration’s most recent $800 million package arrived in Ukraine over the last 24 hours, the official said. More supplies are set to arrive over the next day, the official said.
When ABC News asked why the U.S. decided to send artillery, the official responded: “We’re mindful of the importance of artillery in the fight that they’re in right now and in the fighting in the days to come because of the terrain, and because of what we think they’re going to be up against with Russian forces.”
Another reason was “the fact that it wouldn’t require an onerous amount of training for the Ukrainians to know how to use them” and the ability to ship them quickly, according to the official.
Apr 20, 2:12 pm
Humanitarian corridor from Mariupol didn’t work as planned Wednesday
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Wednesday’s humanitarian corridor from Mariupol didn’t work as planned but evacuation efforts will continue Thursday morning.
“Due to the lack of control over their own military on the ground, the occupiers were unable to ensure a proper ceasefire,” Vereshchuk said in a statement.
There also wasn’t “timely transportation of people to the point where dozens of our buses and ambulances were waiting,” Vereshchuk said.
![The Police’s Stewart Copeland says he thinks it’s cool that a “punk rock drummer [won a] New Age Grammy”](https://s3.amazonaws.com/syndication.abcaudio.com/files/2022-04-20/Getty_StewartCopeland630_atGrammy_042022.jpg "The Police’s Stewart Copeland says he thinks it’s cool that a “punk rock drummer [won a] New Age Grammy”")
