Limp Bizkit announces spring US tour dates

Limp Bizkit announces spring US tour dates
Limp Bizkit announces spring US tour dates
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Limp Bizkit is returning to the road.

The “Break Stuff” rockers have announced a U.S. headlining tour for this spring, kicking off April 28 in Tampa, Florida. The trek will wrap up May 31 in Ontario, California, and will make a stop at New York City’s Madison Square Garden along the way.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 18, at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit LimpBizkit.com.

Limp Bizkit will be touring in support of their new album Still Sucks, which dropped last Halloween after a 10-year wait.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Hardy shows off his hard rock side in turbo-charged new song, “Sold Out”

Hardy shows off his hard rock side in turbo-charged new song, “Sold Out”
Hardy shows off his hard rock side in turbo-charged new song, “Sold Out”
ABC

Fast-rising hitmaker Hardy first made a name for himself as a songwriter who crafts country radio hits for the likes of Florida Georgia Line, Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley and Cole Swindell, but his latest release showcases his rocker edge.

The new song, “Sold Out,” officially arrived on Wednesday after Hardy spent months teasing it and playing it live. Backed by metal-inspired, screeching vocals and hard-charging guitarwork, the song sounds more like a hard rock tune — but the lyrics are the singer’s mission statement of his unapologetically redneck lifestyle.

“I’m still the same ol’ redneck f***, don’t give a damn / Ain’t afraid to throw a dead buck on my Instagram / Grain alcohol in my cup / Got the whole house wall to wall / And I still ain’t sold out,” he sings in the chorus.

Hardy’s been a busy guy over the past couple of years, putting out his studio debut, A Rock, plus two collaborative Hixtape projects featuring the likes of Ronnie Dunn, Jon Pardi, Jimmie Allen, Chris Lane, Brothers Osborne and many more. His newest single, “Give Heaven Some Hell,” is currently in the top-fifteen and rising at country radio.

But that’s not all: As his artist career takes off, Hardy’s continued to write hit songs for other stars, and he picked up the Songwriter of the Year trophy at the ACM Awards earlier this month.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

‘The Pentaverate’: See Mike Myers, Ken Jeong, and Keegan-Michael Key star in the teaser for the Netflix series

‘The Pentaverate’: See Mike Myers, Ken Jeong, and Keegan-Michael Key star in the teaser for the Netflix series
‘The Pentaverate’: See Mike Myers, Ken Jeong, and Keegan-Michael Key star in the teaser for the Netflix series
Netflix

Mike Myers is back — and once again in prosthetic makeup — in the teaser to his new comedy adventure series The Pentaverate [pen-TAH-ver-uht].

In the series, the Austin Powers star Myers plays Ken Scarborough, a washed-up Canadian TV anchor who stumbles upon the existence of the titular secret society that has quietly steered world events for centuries, a la The King’s Man

The zany teaser also showcases The Hangover series star Ken Jeong as a Las Vegas casino mogul, Keegan-Michael Key as a nuclear physicist tapped by the secret group, and Debi Mazar, who acts as the Pentaverate’s secretary and “some would say the brains of the whole operation,” Netflix teases.

The series also stars Absolutely Fabulous‘ Jennifer Saunders, while Oscar winner Jeremy Irons, who narrates the teaser, serves as the show’s narrator. 

The Pentaverate premieres May 5 on Netflix.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Weezer releases new song “A Little Bit of Love” off upcoming ‘SZNZ: Spring’ EP

Weezer releases new song “A Little Bit of Love” off upcoming ‘SZNZ: Spring’ EP
Weezer releases new song “A Little Bit of Love” off upcoming ‘SZNZ: Spring’ EP
Crush Music/Atlantic Records

Weezer is kicking off spring with “A Little Bit of Love.”

The new song, available now via digital outlets, is the lead single off Rivers Cuomo and company’s SZNZ project, a series of four EPs corresponding with the begging of each of the year’s four seasons.

“A Little Bit of Love” will be featured on the first EP, SZNZ: Spring, which drops on March 20, fittingly the first day of the season.

Weezer will celebrate the spring equinox with a performance on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, March 21. They’ve also announced a “seasonal residency” with the show, meaning they’ll be back to perform throughout 2022 to mark the releases of the Summer, Fall and Winter SZNZ EPs.

SZNZ follows Weezer’s two 2021 albums, OK Human and Van Weezer.

Here’s the SZNS: Spring track list:

“Opening Night”
“Angels on Vacation”
“A Little Bit of Love”
“The Garden of Eden”
“The Sound of Drums”
“All This Love”
“Wild at Heart”
“Across the Meadow”*

*Included on vinyl release only.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Biden details US military aid for Ukraine following Zelenskyy’s appeal to Congress

Biden details US military aid for Ukraine following Zelenskyy’s appeal to Congress
Biden details US military aid for Ukraine following Zelenskyy’s appeal to Congress
Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz

(WASHINGTON) — Speaking just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on him to be a “leader for peace,” President Joe Biden on Wednesday thanked Zelenskyy for his “passionate message” and detailed how much military aid the U.S. is already providing — or will provide — to Ukraine.

Biden called Zelenskyy’s speech “convincing and significant” and said he listened to him from the White House private residence.

“He speaks for people who have shown remarkable courage and strength in the face of brutal aggression — courage and strength that’s inspired not only Ukrainians but the entire world,” Biden said. “Putin is inflicting appalling, appalling devastation and harm on Ukraine — bombing apartment buildings, maternity wards, hospitals. I mean, it’s — it’s God awful.”

He did not directly address Zelenskyy’s emotional and direct appeal to lawmakers on Wednesday for the U.S. to back a no-fly zone the administration has repeatedly rejected — but announced an additional $800 million in military assistance as part of the $13.6 billion aid package for Ukraine contained in the government spending bill Biden signed into law Tuesday, which includes weapons the Ukrainians have been requesting, such as anti-armor and anti-air systems.

Ahead of signing an action to approve the $800 million in additional security support, Biden said the U.S. is “fully committed” to getting more weapons to Ukraine.

“What’s at stake here are the principles that the United States and the United Nations and across the world stand for. It’s about freedom. It’s about the right of people to determine their own future. It’s about making sure Ukraine never, will never be a victory for Putin no matter what advances he makes on the battlefield,” he said.

“The American people are answering President Zelenskyy’s call for more help, more weapons for Ukraine to defend itself, more tools to fight Russian aggression. And that’s what we’re doing,” Biden said.

While not addressing Zelenskyy’s request for a humanitarian no-fly zone, Biden said the new package will supply Ukraine with 9,000 anti-armor systems, 7,000 small arms, 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 20 million rounds of ammunition, and 100 drones, “so they can continue to defend their space.”

“At the request of President Zelenskyy, we have identified and are helping Ukraine acquire additional longer-range anti-aircraft systems and ammunitions for those systems,” he said. “And this will include drones which demonstrates our commitment to sending our most cutting-edge systems to Ukraine for its defense.”

“Now, I want to be honest with you. This could be a long and difficult battle, but the American people will be steadfast in our support of the people of Ukraine in the face of Putin’s immoral, unethical attacks on civilian populations,” he added. “We are united in our abhorrence of Putin’s depraved onslaught, and we are going to continue to have their backs as they fight for freedom, their democracy, their very survival — and we are going to give Ukraine the arms to fight and defend themselves through all the difficult days ahead.”

Over the past week, the U.S. has contributed $1 billion in new assistance to Ukraine.

But White House press secretary Jen Psaki also reiterated Tuesday that the administration doesn’t support Zelenskyy’s no-fly zone request because the U.S. has to consider its own national security, and as Biden has repeatedly put it, does not want to enter “World War III.”

“We have the responsibility to do here is to assess what the impact is on the United States and our own national security,” she said.

While the U.S. has imposed a slate of economic and trade sanctions to isolate Putin, the Biden administration has also flatly rejected U.S. troops fighting Russian forces in Ukraine and any help delivering MiG-29 fighter jets that Poland wants to get to the Ukrainians.

Earlier Wednesday, to a packed auditorium of lawmakers and standing ovations, Zelenskyy seized the spotlight to push Biden to contribute more lethal aid, lawmakers to sanction more companies with ties to Russia, and said if the U.S. cannot agree to support a no-fly zone, then to give Ukraine S-300 systems and other similar weapons to defend its skies.

While the White House event allowed Biden to detail what the U.S. is doing in place of a no-fly zone, he was forced to respond to Zelenskyy’s emotional appeal, in which he told Americans to remember Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks when witnessing the terror in Ukraine and closed by calling out Biden by name, in English, to do more.

“It’s not enough to be the leader of the nation. Today it takes to be the leader of the world,” Zelensky said. “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace. Peace in your country doesn’t depend anymore only on you and your people. It depends on those next to you and those who are strong.”

In remarks on the Senate floor following Zelenskyy’s address, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized the Biden administration for what he’s characterized as a sluggish response to the crisis in Ukraine and outlined three steps the administration should take to pick up the pace.

McConnell called on Biden to expand the scope of U.S. lethal aid to Ukraine to include more effective long-range air defense capabilities, to deploy more U.S. forces to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank and use new authorities to harden the defenses of frontline allies, and finally, for Biden to go “beyond Brussels” on his trip next week and to visit Eastern flank, NATO allies like Poland, Romania and Lithuania.

“As the threat to Ukraine gathered whenever an opportunity to act has presented itself, the Biden administration has hesitated until the political pressure became overwhelming, or balked outright,” McConnell said.

Although he made no direct mention of a no-fly zone, McConnell hit hard on the need to help Ukraine shore up its air defense, arguing the administration should quickly get Ukraine air defense systems “that we should have helped Ukraine get weeks ago.”

Biden will travel to Brussels next Thursday to meet with NATO leaders in his first European visit since Russian President Vladimir Putin started invading Ukraine, the White House announced Tuesday, to meet “face-to-face” with his European counterparts to assess Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

ABC News’ Allison Pecorin, Molly Nagle, Conor Finnegan, Luis Martinez and Justin Gomez contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Biden to detail US military aid for Ukraine following Zelenskyy’s appeal to Congress

Biden details US military aid for Ukraine following Zelenskyy’s appeal to Congress
Biden details US military aid for Ukraine following Zelenskyy’s appeal to Congress
Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz

(WASHINGTON) — Speaking just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on him to be a “leader for peace,” President Joe Biden on Wednesday is expected to detail how much military aid the U.S. is already providing — or will provide — to Ukraine.

But it was unclear how much he would directly address Zelenskyy’s emotional and direct appeal to lawmakers on Wednesday and the measures he asked the U.S. to back, including a no-fly zone the administration has repeatedly rejected.

Biden will announce an additional $800 million in military assistance as part of the $13.6 billion aid package for Ukraine contained in the government spending bill Biden signed into law Tuesday, a source familiar told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega, and includes weapons the Ukrainians have been requesting, such as anti-armor and anti-air systems.

But White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated Tuesday that the administration doesn’t support Zelenskyy’s no-fly zone request because the U.S. has to consider its own national security, and as Biden has repeatedly put it, does not want to enter “World War III.”

“We have the responsibility to do here is to assess what the impact is on the United States and our own national security,” she said.

While the U.S. has imposed a slate of economic and trade sanctions to isolate Putin, the Biden administration has also flatly rejected U.S. troops fighting Russian forces in Ukraine and any help delivering MiG-29 fighter jets that Poland wants to get to the Ukrainians.

Psaki also said Biden would watch Zelenskyy’s speech “to the degree” that his schedule allowed.

Earlier Wednesday, to a packed auditorium of lawmakers and standing ovations, Zelenskyy seized the spotlight to push Biden to contribute more lethal aid, lawmakers to sanction more companies with ties to Russia, and said if the U.S. cannot agree to support a no-fly zone, then to give Ukraine S-300 systems and other similar weapons to defend their skies.

While the White House event allows Biden to detail what the U.S. is doing in place of a no-fly zone, he will be forced to respond to Zelenskyy’s emotional appeal, in which he told Americans to remember Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks when witnessing the terror in Ukraine and closed by calling out Biden by name, in English, to do more.

“It’s not enough to be the leader of the nation. Today it takes to be the leader of the world,” Zelensky said. “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace. Peace in your country doesn’t depend anymore only on you and your people. It depends on those next to you and those who are strong.”

In remarks on the Senate floor following Zelenskyy’s address, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized the Biden administration for what he’s characterized as a sluggish response to the crisis in Ukraine and outlined three steps the administration should take to pick up the pace.

McConnell called on Biden to expand the scope of U.S. lethal aid to Ukraine to include more effective long-range air defense capabilities, to deploy more U.S. forces to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank and use new authorities to harden the defenses of frontline allies, and finally, for Biden to go “beyond Brussels” on his trip next week and to visit Eastern flank, NATO allies like Poland, Romania and Lithuania.

“As the threat to Ukraine gathered whenever an opportunity to act has presented itself, the Biden administration has hesitated until the political pressure became overwhelming, or balked outright,” McConnell said.

Although he made no direct mention of a no-fly zone, McConnell hit hard on the need to help Ukraine shore up its air defense, arguing the administration should quickly get Ukraine air defense systems “that we should have helped Ukraine get weeks ago.”
MORE: Biden to head to Brussels next week for show of unity with NATO leaders

Biden will travel to Brussels next Thursday to meet with NATO leaders in his first European visit since Russian President Vladimir Putin started invading Ukraine, the White House announced Tuesday, to meet “face-to-face” with his European counterparts to assess Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

ABC News’ Allison Pecorin and Justin Gomez contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Billie Eilish reflects on ‘No Time to Die’ theme: “I wrote the song from the perspective of somebody I had hurt”

Billie Eilish reflects on ‘No Time to Die’ theme: “I wrote the song from the perspective of somebody I had hurt”
Billie Eilish reflects on ‘No Time to Die’ theme: “I wrote the song from the perspective of somebody I had hurt”
Momodu Mansaray/WireImage

Billie Eilish is up for an Oscar March 27 for her No Time to Die James Bond film title song that she co-wrote with her brother, FINNEAS.  But Billie says she wasn’t thinking about super-spies when she wrote the haunting theme.

“I wrote the song from the perspective of somebody I had hurt,” she explained to Deadline. “We never think about how our own actions are perceived from other people’s point of view. Or, we do, but we don’t do it enough.”

Billie said composing “No Time to Die” was a “really interesting situation” because it challenged her to step out of her comfort zone.

“It taught me a lot, to put myself in somebody else’s shoes, and it was fun, too, because you can create a character and write about something other than yourself,” Billie explained. “You don’t have to expose yourself; you don’t have to be telling your truth.”

“It was actually kind of fun to write… Sometimes writing songs is a horrible experience,” Billie admitted. “What was cool about writing a song from the perspective of the movie itself was that we love writing characters and narratives into our music, and I feel the music we’re most proud of is the music where we’ve come up with a plot for the song ahead of writing it.”

The “bad guy” singer revealed she doesn’t normally enjoy the process of writing music, which is why “No Time to Die” was a singular experience for her.  

“I feel like people always say making music is therapeutic, and I genuinely don’t agree. I don’t really enjoy it. I only enjoy it afterwards, when I play it,” admitted Billie. “I love listening to what I’ve made.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Coach, six members of college golf team among nine killed in head-on Texas crash

Coach, six members of college golf team among nine killed in head-on Texas crash
Coach, six members of college golf team among nine killed in head-on Texas crash
Piccell/Getty Images

(MIDLAND, Texas) — The head coach and six members of the University of the Southwest men’s and women’s golf teams were among nine people killed in a head-on vehicle crash in Texas, authorities said.

The crash occurred Tuesday night near Midland, Texas, and only two people aboard the college team’s van survived, according to a statement from the University of the Southwest in Hobbs, New Mexico.

The college confirmed that Tyler James, the head coach of both the men’s and women’s golf teams, was among those killed. The coach and his teams were returning home from a tournament in Midland when the crash occurred, according to the school’s statement.

“The USW campus community is shocked and saddened today as we mourn the loss of members of our university family,” school officials said in the statement to ABC affiliate station KMID in Midland.

The names of the students killed were not immediately released.

Two passengers in the team van who survived the wreck were in critical condition Wednesday at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, the school’s statement said.

“We would ask for prayers for their recovery and for comfort and strength for all of families and friends and students of those whose lives have been lost,” school officials said in the statement.

Sgt. Steven Blanco of the Texas Department of Public Safety said the crash happened around 8:17 p.m. Tuesday on a two-lane road about nine miles east of Andrews, Texas, when the 17-seat passenger van carrying the golf teams collided with a pickup truck.

Two people in the pickup truck were killed, authorities said.

A preliminary investigation indicates that the driver of the southbound pickup truck for unknown reasons veered into the northbound lanes, colliding with the van, the Department of Public Safety said Wednesday. The agency said both vehicles caught fire following the crash.

Blanco said the cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Texas Highway Patrol’s West Texas Region.

“It’s a very tragic scene. Very very tragic,” said Blanco, describing the crash when officers first arrived.

University officials confirmed that James was driving the vehicle when the collision happened.

James was in his first year as head coach of both the women’s and men’s golf teams, school officials said.

School officials said they were working Wednesday to notify the families of all those involved in the crash and to provide counseling and religious services to all students, faculty and staff on campus.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement Wednesday asking Texans to join in praying for the families of those whose lives were lost and for the recovery of two critically injured students.

“We grieve with the loved ones of the individuals whose lives were horrifically taken too soon in this fatal vehicle crash near Andrews last night,” Abbott said.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russian forces ‘struggling’ with terrain: UK military

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russian forces ‘struggling’ with terrain: UK military
Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russian forces ‘struggling’ with terrain: UK military
FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.

The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”

Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time this week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.

Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.

For previous coverage please click here.

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

Mar 16, 12:38 pm
UN’s top court orders Russia to halt invasion

By a vote of 13-2, the United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice, made a preliminary ruling that Russia “shall immediately suspend military operations.”

The two votes against were from Russia and China.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted on Twitter, writing that “Russia must comply immediately.” But the ruling is mostly symbolic as the ICJ has no direct means to enforce it.

-ABC News’ Cindy Smith

Mar 16, 11:09 am
House and Senate leadership to receive classified briefings

House and Senate leadership, along with ranking members of relevant committees, will receive a classified briefing on the war in Ukraine following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s personal and emotional plea to Congress for more help.

The House briefing will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday and the Senate will follow at 3:30 p.m.

-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Mariam Khan

Mar 16, 10:49 am
Jake Sullivan warns of consequences if Russia uses chemical or biological weapons

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with his Russian counterpart, Nikolay Patrushev, on Wednesday “to reiterate the United States’ firm and clear opposition to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said in a statement.

She said Sullivan told Patrushev that Russia should stop attacking Ukraine if it’s serious about diplomacy and warned “about the consequences and implications of any possible Russian decision to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.”

Horne said Sullivan “clearly laid out” that the U.S. will continue “imposing costs on Russia” as well as support Ukraine and defend NATO’s eastern flank.

This conversation marked the first high-level engagement between the U.S. and Russia since the Kremlin launched its war against Ukraine.

-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez and Conor Finnegan

Mar 16, 10:43 am
Putin justifies invasion, says troops ‘doing everything possible’ to avoid harming civilians

In a speech Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin falsely claimed that Russia’s military tactics have been “completely justified” and that Russian troops are “doing everything possible” to avoid harming Ukrainian civilians.

Putin sought to justify Russia’s invasion, claiming that all “diplomatic possibilities were exhausted” and Russia had “no choice” but to launch its operation. He claimed that the “appearance of Russian troops near Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities” is not connected “with a goal of occupying that country” and that it is about defusing a supposed threat to Russia.

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell

Mar 16, 9:38 am
Zelenskyy asks Congress to back no-fly zone over Ukraine

In a virtual address to members of Congress Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the U.S. to back a no-fly zone over the war-torn country.

If a no-fly zone is not possible, Zelenskyy asked for aircraft “to help Ukraine.”

“Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands” — a “terror” Europe hasn’t seen in 80 years, Zelenskyy said.

In an emotional appeal, Zelenskyy asked members of Congress to put themselves in the shoes of Ukrainians by remembering Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 attacks.

Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude for U.S. involvement, but called on Congress to do more.

“New packages of sanctions are needed constantly … we propose that the United States sanction all politicians in the Russian Federation who remain in their offices and do not cut ties with those who are responsible for the aggression against Ukraine,” he said.

“Members of Congress, please take the lead. If you have companies in your districts who finance the Russian military machine… you should put pressure,” he said.

“The destiny of our country is being decided,” he said. “Russia has attacked not just us… it went on a brutal offensive against our values, basic human values.”

Zelenskyy received a standing ovation before and after his remarks.

But White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that a no-fly zone “is escalatory and could prompt a war with Russia.”

“Providing the planes, our military did an assessment that’s based not just on the risk but whether it would have a huge benefit to them,” Psaki said. “They assessed it would not because they have their own squadron of planes and because the type of military assistance that is working to fight this war effectively is the type of assistance we’re already providing.”

Mar 16, 9:10 am
Fox News correspondent injured in Ukraine is safe, out of the country

Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was reporting in Ukraine when he was injured by incoming fire that killed two colleagues, is now safe and out of the country, according to the network.

Hall “is alert and said to be in good spirits,” Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer reported Wednesday.

Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, was newsgathering with Hall on Monday in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, when their vehicle was hit by incoming fire, the network said. Zakrzewski was killed while Hall was injured and hospitalized in unknown condition.

Ukrainian producer and fixer, 24-year-old Oleksandra Kuvshynova, who was working for Fox News during the war, was also killed in the shelling, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Mar 16, 6:44 am
Russia claims Ukraine willing to give up NATO hopes

Russia’s lead negotiator in peace talks with Ukraine said on Wednesday Ukraine had proposed adopting a “neutral status,” along the lines of Austria or Sweden, that is a country that is not part of NATO but has its own military and close ties to the West, including European Union membership.

There has been no official confirmation from Ukraine, though President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly said in recent days that Ukraine understands it will not be allowed to join NATO.

“The preservation and development of the neutral status of Ukraine, its demilitarization Ukraine — a whole complex of questions connected with the size of the Ukrainian army,” Russia’s negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, was quoted as saying by Russian media. “Ukraine proposes the Austrian, Swedish option of a neutral demilitarised state, but within that a state possessing its own army and navy. All these questions are being discussed at the level of the leaderships of the ministry of defense of Russia and Ukraine.”

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, claimed on Wednesday that the negotiators in the fourth round of talks were discussing “concrete formulations” that are “close to agreement.”

An agreement that Ukraine wouldn’t seek to join NATO raises questions. Ukraine’s constitution includes a pledge to join the alliance that would likely need to be changed, which would be highly controversial.

If the Sweden-style status is acceptable to Russia that would also mean the Kremlin has significantly lowered its war aims. Ukraine was not close to joining NATO before the conflict and a commitment not to would be little more than affirming the status quo before Russia’s invasion.

“The goal pursued by Russia at these negotiations is exactly the same as the goal set by Russia at the very beginning of the special military operation,” Medinsky said. “We need a peaceful, free and independent Ukraine, a neutral one, not a member of some military blocs or a member of NATO, but a country that would be our friend and neighbor, so that we could jointly develop relations and build our future and that would not serve as a bridgehead for a military and economic attack on our country. So, our goal is unchanged.”

This is why “practically every digit or letter in the agreements” is being thoroughly discussed with the Ukrainian side, Medinsky said.

“We want this agreement to last for generations, so that our children live in peace, the foundation of which is laid by this negotiating process,” he said.

Russia is also pursuing other demands in the talks, including the recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and the Russian-controlled separatist regions as independent. They also want changes in laws giving more guarantees for Russian-speakers in Ukraine.

Mar 16, 6:34 am
Russian forces ‘struggling’ with terrain: UK military

Russia’s military forces are “struggling to overcome” Ukraine’s terrain as they attempt to push further into the country, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday.

“Russian forces have remained largely tied to Ukraine’s road network and have demonstrated a reluctance to conduct off-road manoeuvre,” the Ministry said in an update. “The destruction of bridges by Ukrainian forces has also played a key role in stalling Russia’s advance.”

Ukraine’s military has “adeptly exploited” Russia’s difficulty moving through the country, “frustrating the Russian advance and inflicting heavy losses on the invading forces,” the update said.

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Garth Brooks sets a Stadium Tour date for Charlotte

Garth Brooks sets a Stadium Tour date for Charlotte
Garth Brooks sets a Stadium Tour date for Charlotte
Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

Garth Brooks is adding another stop to his Stadium Tour for 2022. The superstar will play at Charlotte, North Carolina’s Bank of America Stadium, which is the home of the Carolina Panthers.

It’ll be Garth’s first time playing the venue, and his first show in Charlotte in more than 20 years. It’s a make-up date of sorts: He first planned a Stadium Tour date in Charlotte in 2021, but that show was one of five that got canceled after a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

Before that show had to be pushed, over 70,000 fans had purchased tickets, selling out the venue. Between all the canceled dates, over 350,000 tickets were refunded to Garth’s pushed 2021 shows; he’s been mounting a return to the dates he wasn’t able to make last year. Recently, Garth also announced 2022 dates at Nashville and Cincinnati, two cities he wasn’t able to hit last year.

Tickets for Garth’s Charlotte show go on sale March 25 at 10 a.m. ET, and the concert itself will take place July 16. As always for Garth’s Stadium shows, the concert will feature in-the-round seating, and tickets retail for $94.95 apiece, all-inclusive.

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