Dua Lipa stars opposite of Henry Cavill in the upcoming spy thriller, Argylle, which comes out next year on Apple TV+. To help tide fans over, the first promotional image has just been released, which shows a blonde Dua with her arms around The Witcher star.
The “Levitating” singer’s hair is done up in a caramel blonde bob and she’s wearing a shimmering gold dress. As for Henry, he’s wearing a green velvet suit. The two appear to be slow dancing as they stare into each other’s eyes.
The streamer also released the synopsis of the upcoming thriller, which is about “the globe-trotting adventures of a super-spy named Argylle across the U.S., London and other exotic locations.” In addition to Dua, the cast includes John Cena, Catherine O’Hara, Bryan Cranston, Samuel L. Jackson, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell and Ariana DeBose.
Director Mathew Vaughn said previously to The Hollywood Reporter, “When I read this early draft manuscript I felt it was the most incredible and original spy franchise since Ian Fleming’s books of the 50s… This is going to reinvent the spy genre.”
An exact release date for Argylle hasn’t been announced, with Apple only telling fans to expect it in 2023.
Kelly Clarkson has finally put her drawn-out and sometimes nasty divorce battle to rest. Peoplereports the “Piece By Piece” singer has settled matters with her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock.
Kelly, who first filed to divorce her husband of seven years in June 2020, has agreed to give Brandon a one-time-payment of $1.3 million in addition to $45,601 every month in child support. That’s not all — the Grammy winner will also have to pay Brandon $115,000 in monthly spousal support until January 31, 2024.
The amount is lower than what Brandon originally sought and was paid since last July, which was $150,000.
The former couple also agreed to share joint-custody of their two children, seven-year-old River and five-year-old Remington. It was also decided that the kids will live with their mom in Los Angeles, California, and will also be vaccinated against COVID-19. In addition, both parents agreed to allow River and Remington to visit their father in Montana, where he continues to live on Kelly’s ranch for $2,000 a month.
In other matters, Kelly will also retain ownership of the family pets and vehicles, the latter of which includes a Porsche Cayenne and a flight simulator. As for Brandon, he was granted the family’s golf simulator, their Patek Philippe watches, several CAT snowmobiles, several vehicles that include a Ford F-350 and Ford F-250 truck, as well as “farm cattle, livestock, stock dogs, and horses,” according to court documents.
Representatives for both Kelly and Brandon have not responded to requests for comment as of Tuesday Wednesday morning.
(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, don’t appear to have advanced closer to the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 09, 9:08 am
US to send two Patriot anti-missile batteries to Poland
The United States said it’s sending two Patriot anti-missile batteries stationed in Europe to Poland as a “defensive deployment” at the request of the Polish government.
While testifying before Congress Tuesday on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said there were discussions underway with the Polish government about a possible deployment of Patriot batteries. The U.S. military’s European Command (EUCOM) later confirmed that two batteries already in Europe would be deployed to Poland.
“At the direction of the Secretary of Defense and at the invitation of our Polish allies, General Wolters, Commander of U.S. European Command, has directed U.S. Army Europe and Africa to reposition two Patriot Batteries to Poland,” EUCOM spokesman Capt. Adam Miller said in a statement Tuesday. “This defensive deployment is being conducted proactively to counter any potential threat to U.S. and Allied forces and NATO territory. This is a prudent force protection measure that underpins our commitment to Article Five and will in no way support any offensive operations. Every step we take is intended to deter aggression and reassure our Allies.”
The move came hours after the U.S. dismissed Poland’s offer to transfer all of its MiG-26 fighter jets to a U.S. air base in Germany to boost Ukraine’s fight against Russia, with Pentagon press secretary John Kirby saying in a statement Tuesday that “we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one.”
Poland is expecting delivery later this year of two Patriot batteries it had bought in 2018. The air defense systems are intended to shoot down incoming missiles, so their deployment to Poland means there are concerns about dealing with any incoming missile fire into the country, which shares a 330-mile border with Ukraine. It was unclear exactly where in Poland the Patriot batteries would be placed.
Mar 09, 8:40 am
Ukraine warns of radiation risk after power cut at Russia-occupied Chernobyl plant
Ukraine warned Wednesday that electricity has been entirely cut to its Chernobyl nuclear power plant and radioactive substance could be released because its storage facility cannot cool spent nuclear fuel.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a 1,000-square-mile restricted area of deserted land surrounding the shuttered plant, was seized by Russian forces just hours after they launched their invasion on Feb. 24. The plant, situated between the Belarus-Ukraine border and the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986.
Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection announced via Twitter on Wednesday that the “Kyiv high-voltage line is currently disconnected due to the damage caused by the occupiers.”
“As a result, the Chernobyl station and all nuclear facilities in the Exclusion Zone are without electricity,” the agency tweeted.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also confirmed the news on Twitter, saying the only electrical grid supplying Chernobyl and all its nuclear facilities occupied by Russian forces “is damaged,” causing a loss of power supply.
“I call on the international community to urgently demand Russia to cease fire and allow repair units to restore power supply,” Kuleba tweeted.
However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it “sees no critical impact on safety.” The nuclear watchdog of the United Nations tweeted that the “heat load of spent fuel storage pool and volume of cooling water” at Chernobyl is “sufficient for effective heat removal without need for electrical supply.”
Some 20,000 spent nuclear fuel assemblies are stored in Chernobyl’s storage facility and “need constant cooling,” which is only possible if there is electricity, according to Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection.
“If it is not there, the pumps will not cool. As a result, the temperature in the holding pools will increase,” the agency tweeted. “After that evaporation will occur, that will lead to nuclear discharge.”
Kuleba noted that reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power Chernobyl.
“After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent,” he tweeted. “Putin’s barbaric war puts entire Europe in danger. He must stop it immediately!”
Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection warned that “the wind can transfer the radioactive cloud” to other areas of Ukraine as well as Belarus, Russia and elsewhere in Europe. There is also no ventilation inside the Chernobyl storage facility.
“All personnel there will receive a dangerous dose of radiation,” the agency tweeted.
Meanwhile, the facility’s fire extinguishing system is not functioning and the agency warned of “a huge risk of fire caused by shelling.”
“The fight still goes on making it impossible to carry out repairs and restore power,” the agency tweeted.
Mar 09, 8:08 am
Russia responds to Poland offering fighter jets to help Ukraine
Russia warned Wednesday of “an extremely undesirable and potentially dangerous scenario” if other countries use their airfields to support Ukraine.
When asked by reporters during a daily press briefing to comment on Poland’s announcement Tuesday that it’s “ready” to “immediately” hand over all its MIG-29 fighter jets “free of charge” to a U.S. air base in Germany to boost Ukraine’s fight against Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The [Russian] Defense Ministry has already commented on the possibility of using any other airfields for takeoffs of military planes.”
“This is an extremely undesirable and potentially dangerous scenario,” he added.
Mar 09, 6:12 am
Over 2.15 million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
More than 2.15 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency.
The tally from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) amounts to nearly 5% of Ukraine’s population — which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020 — on the move across borders in just two weeks.
More than half of the refugees are in neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.
Mar 09, 5:19 am
Ukraine says humanitarian corridors confirmed with Russia, Red Cross for Wednesday
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said six humanitarian corridors have been agreed with Russian officials and confirmed with the International Committee of the Red Cross to operate during a temporary cease-fire Wednesday.
According to Vereshchuk, the evacuation routes for civilians are open from towns north of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, where there has been heavy fighting, as well as from the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol, where an evacuation failed yesterday. Another route goes from the town of Izium near hard-hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and another from the eastern city of Volnovakha, where civilians have been trying to evacuate for several days. Another route leads from northeastern city of Energodar, where shelling caused a fire at Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant last week.
Vereshchuk said Russian officials had sent a letter to the Red Cross confirming the routes and a cease-fire for Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time. She called on Russia to keep to its commitment and not to violate the cease-fire, as she said it did in Mariupol and Volnovakha on Tuesday.
“We ask Russian forces to commit to their obligations and keep the ceasefire till 9 p.m. as agreed,” Vereshchuk said in a statement Wednesday morning.
Vereshchuk noted that an orphanage with 55 children and 26 staff also needs to be evacuated from Vorzel, a town just north of Kyiv.
“The evacuation of them will be done as a separate special operation,” she said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement Wednesday that it has discussed the interaction on the Ukraine track with the Red Cross.
Mar 08, 9:59 pm
Biden calls family of US Marine detained by Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden called the parents of Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine who has been detained in Russia for nearly three years and whose case has gotten renewed attention amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
The president spoke to Joey and Paula Reed after an event in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday, according to the White House.
On the call, the president reiterated his commitment to doing everything he can to bring their son home, to staying in close touch with them through his national security team and to finding a time to meet in person, the White House said.
A Reed family spokesperson also confirmed to ABC News that Biden called them to apologize for not being able to stop and meet them in person.
The family says they have been asking to meet with the president for several months to help free Reed, a Texan who they say has been denied treatment for suspected tuberculosis, and specifically asked to meet the president in Texas on Tuesday but were denied.
Reed and another former Marine, Paul Whelan, have spent years in Russian custody on charges that their families and American officials say were fabricated by Russia in order to seize them as bargaining chips.
Amanda Bynes has launched an Instagram account, and so far has only one post, but it gets right to the point: She wants out of her conservatorship.
In a brief, selfie-shot message that was posted Monday, the former The Amanda Show star says, “What’s up, Instagram? Amanda Bynes here. My court date is coming up in two weeks. I want to thank you all so much for your love and support. Peace out.”
The court date to which she was referring is what’s known as a “capacity declaration” under California law. As previously reported, Bynes wants her health records updated regarding her mental health, a necessary first step to terminate her mother’s control over her financial and other affairs.
Bynes’ mother, Lynn, was put in charge temporarily following a 2013 incident in which Bynes reportedly started a small fire in a neighbor’s driveway After the driveway incident, Bynes was placed on a temporary psychiatric hold. The conservatorship was reinstated in 2014, the same year Bynes, now 35, revealed she’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Recently, Amanda’s attorney, David A. Esquibias, told People, “She believes her condition is improved and protection of the court is no longer necessary.”
Bynes wears thick-framed glasses during the brief message, which also shows off a ring in her nose and a small black heart she’s apparently had tattooed on her left cheek. Her hair is also dark, turning to silver-grey halfway down its length.
Amanda’s one and only post, tagging several entertainment outlets, has apparently blocked any comments but as of Wednesday morning had over 6,200 views. Her profile page also says “check back for updates on new fragrance!” alluding to a perfume her attorney explained the fashion-minded actress been working on recently.
Apple and Major League Baseball on Tuesday announced that Friday Night Baseball, a weekly doubleheader with live pre- and post-game shows, will be available exclusively on Apple TV+ — whenever the regular season begins, that is. Additionally, fans in the U.S. will be treated to MLB Big Inning, a live show featuring highlights and interviews airing every weeknight during the regular season. Subscribers in North America will also have access to a new 24/7 livestream with MLB game replays, news and analysis, highlights, classic games and more, as well as a full complement of on-demand programming, including highlights and MLB-themed original content…
Netflix has renewed Mindy Kaling‘s coming-of-age comedy Never Have I Ever for a fourth and final season, according to Deadline. The series, which follows the life of an Indian American teen, stars Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Poorna Jagannathan, Richa Moorjani, Jaren Lewison, Darren Barnet, Lee Rodriguez and Ramona Young, with narration from John McEnroe. Season three, which just wrapped production, will launch this summer. Production on season four will reportedly kick off in the coming months and launch sometime in 2023…
More Love Is Blind is also coming to Netflix. Season three of the reality series, which was produced back-to-back with season two, is already in the can and took place in Dallas, according to Variety. The show brings together 30 singles who are looking for love — but there’s a catch: the singles won’t be able to see what the other person looks like until they get engaged. If any couples form a connection, they’ll agree to spend four weeks together in Mexico and then tie the knot. Season three will likely air next year…
Travis Scott is not just talking the talk, he’s walking the walk.
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday — four months after the Astroworld tragedy that left 10 dead — the rapper announced the launch of Project HEAL, a “multi-tier, long-term series of community-focused philanthropy and investment efforts.”
“Over the past few months I’ve been taking the time and space to grieve, reflect and do my part to heal my community,” Travis began the announcement. “Most importantly, I want to use my resources and platform moving forward towards actionable change.”
“This will be a lifelong journey for me and my family,” added Travis, who has two children — four-year-old daughter Stormi Webster and one-month-old son Wolf Webster — with Kylie Jenner.
Travis went on to state that “as a leader in my community, I need to step up in times of need” and explain that he and his team “created Project HEAL to take much needed action towards supporting real solutions that make all events the safest spaces they can possibly be. I will always honor the victims of the Astroworld tragedy who remain in my heart forever.”
“Giving back and creating opportunities for the youth is something I’ve always done and will continue to do as long as I have the chance. This program will be a catalyst to real change and I can’t wait to introduce the rest of the technology and ideas we’ve been working on. See you all so soon,” he concluded.
The new multi-tier initiative will work in tandem with Travis’ Cactus Jack Foundation and includes a $1 million pledge to college seniors through the Waymon Webster HBCU Scholarship Fund. Other initiatives include making mental health resources more available, as well as the expansion of Houston’s CACT.US Youth Design Center.
(NEW YORK) — More and more American companies are suspending their businesses in Russia as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.
On Tuesday, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola and Pepsi became the latest corporations to add their names to the list.
“The conflict in Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis in Europe has caused unspeakable suffering to innocent people,” McDonald’s chief executive officer, Chris Kempczinski, said in a statement. “As a System, we join the world in condemning aggression and violence and praying for peace.”
The fast food chain, which employs 62,000 people in Russia, said it would be temporarily closing its restaurants and pausing operations in Russia. However, it will continue to pay salaries for all its employees in Russia.
Kempczinski said it is impossible to predict when the company will be reopening its restaurants.
“We are experiencing disruptions to our supply chain along with other operational impacts. We will also closely monitor the humanitarian situation,” he said.
Starbucks, in announcing it will immediately be suspending all its operations in Russia, condemned the “horrific attacks on Ukraine by Russia.”
“We continue to watch the tragic events unfold and, today, we have decided to suspend all business activity in Russia, including shipment of all Starbucks products,” the company’s chief executive officer, Kevin Johnson, said in a statement.
The company said its licensed partner agreed to immediately pause store operations and provide support for its nearly 2,000 workers.
Beverage giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi also announced they were ceasing operations in Russia.
“Our hearts are with the people who are enduring unconscionable effects from these tragic events in Ukraine,” the Coca-Cola Company said in a press release. “We will continue to monitor and assess the situation as circumstances evolve.”
Pepsi, which has been operating in Russia for more than 60 years, “must stay true to the humanitarian aspect of our business,” CEO Ramon Laguarta wrote in a letter to PepsiCo associates.
“Our first priority continues to be the safety and security of our fellow Ukrainian associates,” Laguarta said. “We suspended operations in Ukraine to enable our associates to seek safety for themselves and their families, and our dedicated crisis teams in the sector and region continue to closely monitor developments in real time.”
Pepsi will also continue to provide aid to assist Ukrainians refugees in neighboring countries, including donating milk and refrigerators to relief organizations, and “we’re ramping up production of foods and beverages in neighboring countries to meet the increased need,” Laguarta said.
(NEW YORK) — Sitting in his living room at home in the U.S., Maurice “Mo” Creek holds his mother’s hand days after escaping Ukraine as she holds back tears.
“I still sit here and I cry every day,” Pammy Morgan told ABC News. “Maurice was over there and it was not looking good. It was sickening. I mean, I’ve lost like 10 pounds. We couldn’t sleep. We couldn’t eat — phone’s ringing off the hook.”
Creek, who played for the University of Indiana and George Washington University, spent last Saturday and Sunday in and out of a bomb shelter in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. He said he then traveled 130 miles to Odessa on Monday before arriving at the Moldovan border, where he spent nine hours in the immigration line.
By Tuesday, Creek was in Iasi, a city in eastern Romania, miles away from the madness with plans of catching the first flight to the United States. He was reunited with his family last Thursday.
“When he made it here, it was a breath of fresh air. I knew he was safe” his mom said.
“The thing that kept me together was my spiritual glue,” Morgan said. “I had to keep it strong for him and I was telling people please pray, fast pray. You know, I know media doesn’t like to hear that a lot. I didn’t care. I needed my son home.”
Creek, who moved to Mykolaiv in December to play basketball for MBC Mykolaiv, a professional basketball team in Ukraine, said he is grateful that he got to escape. However, he still thinks about his teammates and friends who remain at war.
“I just pray for them every day and their families,” Creek told ABC News. “Because when I saw them for the last time, I shedded some tears because it’s like not only will I maybe not ever see you again on the basketball level. I may not never see you on the livelihood level because of what’s going on right now.”
While in Ukraine, Creek said what he saw reminded him of the popular military combat video game, Call of Duty. Hearing sirens, seeing pilot jets dart above his head, and having to stay at a bomb shelter himself, Creek said being terrified was an understatement.
“You start really feeling the actual effects of the war. Like, I was getting jets going across my building, then I have to go to the bomb shelter and I look on social media, you see one jet hit one lady’s house like with a bomb like you know, with a missile,” Creek said. “And it’s like, dude, I’m not sleeping today. I’m not doing that. I’m paranoid, terrified.”
But Creek said that wasn’t the scariest part of being an American trapped in Ukraine. He said he was scared every night since the city was pitch black due to Marshall law.
“The scariest moments for me that I felt was when it hit at nighttime and it’s no light; it is no lights,” he said. “I’m talking about it looked like if you had a plug, and you could plug every light to the city like somebody just took the plug out and the whole city was black.”
“So now you can’t feel nothing and you can’t see nothing. I’m like, ‘Yo, I can’t even see if a Russian is coming up in my building trying to shoot,'” he said
“Because they have night vision,” his mom said.
“Exactly,” he echoed. “They are going to see everything and you ain’t going to see them because they have dark suits on because they are trying to figure out where are the Ukrainians and shoot them and Ukrainians are trying to do that back.”
Creek said what got him through his time in Ukraine was the phone calls, emails, texts, social media outreach and most importantly, the prayers from people. Creek said his biggest advice for anyone who is currently stuck in Ukraine and is losing hope as he once felt, is to keep your hope alive.
“Don’t lose faith and keep hope,” said Creek. “My motto is strive or starve. You either strive and do what you need to do or you are going to starve by not doing what you need to do, but always keep hope, anything is possible at the end of the day.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Since then, more than two million refugees have fled the country, including more than 1.2 million children, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund. About half of those who have fled the country have gone to bordering Poland.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.K. Parliament Tuesday that his country will not give up the fight.
“We will not give up. We will continue fighting for our land whatever the costs. We will fight in the fields, in the seas, in the streets. We will fight on the banks of different rivers,” Zelenskyy said.
(NEW YORK) — A police retired officer who was acquitted last month for shooting and killing a fellow moviegoer who threw popcorn in his face during an argument said he stands by his actions, saying he was defending himself.
Curtis Reeves, 79, told ABC News’ Nightline that he wished the fatal fight between him and Chad Oulson didn’t happen and he feels sadness for the 43-year-old’s family. However, the former SWAT captain contended he had no choice but to use deadly force in what he called “a vicious attack.”
“I wish that none of this would have happened at all, but I don’t feel like an instigator,” Reeves told ABC News.
Reeves and his wife, Vivian, and Oulson and his wife, Nicole, had attended a showing of Lone Survivor at the Cobb Theater near Tampa, Florida, on Jan. 13, 2014.
Oulson was checking text messages from his 22-month-old daughter’s daycare during previews, according to investigators.
Reeves said he was bothered by Oulson’s phone and asked him to turn it off, which led to an argument. Reeves left the theater to alert a manager, but the argument escalated when he returned to his seat.
Surveillance footage showed Oulson throwing popcorn at Reeves’ face, and then the former SWAT captain took out a .380 semi-automatic handgun and opened fire. Oulson was killed, and his wife was shot in a finger as she had her hand on her husband’s chest to hold him back during the confrontation.
Nicole Oulson told ABC News shortly after the 2014 shooting that her husband did not threaten Reeves before the gun was drawn.
“It was a couple of words. No threats. No harm. No nothing,” Nicole Oulson said.
Reeves told ABC News he was unaware that popcorn had hit him until after he opened fire.
“What was in my mind was he was either trying to hit me or he was trying to come over the seat,” he said.
Reeves was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. He was held under house arrest as his case made its way through criminal court.
Reeves tried to use Florida’s “stand your ground” law as his defense, but a judge denied his request in 2017.
The case went to trial earlier this year, and a jury acquitted Reeves on his charges on Feb. 25. Even without the “stand your ground” defense, Reeves’ attorneys successfully argued self-defense. They emphasized that an attack on someone over 65 is considered a felony in Florida and argued that Reeves actions were a “justifiable use of force.”
After the verdict, Nicole Oulson said in a statement to ABC News that the jury “got it wrong.”
“I want everyone to know that even though they tried to make Chad out to be a monster and the aggressor, he was an amazing man, husband, son, brother, friend and father,” she said.
“I will not just accept this result lying down,” Nicole Oulson said. “Chad may be gone, but he will never be forgotten, and I will use my voice to try and make sure no one has to experience what myself and my family had to go through.”
Reeves said he hasn’t had contact with the Oulson family but said he feels the same sadness for them as he does his own family. However, he said Oulson could have prevented the incident.
“It was something that was, I had no control over. He’s the only one that could have kept it from happening,” he said. “Certainly none of us, and I’m sure on both sides of the families, none of us wish it had happened like it did.”
(NEW YORK) — Officials in every U.S. state and jurisdiction have now ended, or announced an end, to their indoor universal masking requirements.
Over the last month, states from coast to coast have moved to end mask mandates as coronavirus cases have plummeted. By the end of March, there will be no more statewide or school mask mandates in effect.
Although some districts may opt to still mandate mask use, many schools have already decided to drop the requirement.
On Tuesday, Hawaii, the nation’s lone indoor mask holdout, became the last state to end its universal mask mandate, effective March 25 at 11:59 p.m.
“We’re committed to moving the state forward and learning to live with COVID,” Gov. David Ige said during a press conference.
Although the Hawaii Department of Education wrote in a press release that face coverings will still be required indoors in Hawaii schools, State Epidemiologist Sarah Kemble later clarified in a press conference that the department’s recommendations are “guidance” for schools to take into consideration, as they create their own policies and requirements.
Officials in Washington, D.C., also announced on Tuesday that they are recommending that most people no longer wear masks indoors or outdoors at educational facilities, unless COVID-19 community levels are high.
If COVID-19 community levels are medium, people who are immunocompromised or at higher risk for severe COVID-19 are encouraged to wear a mask, or respirator, indoors, the new guidance states.
However, for many students, the change will not go into effect immediately, as D.C. public school officials said on Tuesday that they are still considering next steps.
“For the immediate future, masks are still required indoors at all DC Public Schools for students, staff, and visitors. We will engage our union partners on next steps and continue to communicate with the DCPS community about any decisions that are made,” Lewis Ferebee, chancellor of D.C. public schools, wrote in a tweet following the announcement.
The moves came shortly after Puerto Rico announced that it too would drop its universal requirement on Monday.
In addition, on March 11, Oregon and Washington will end their universal and school mask mandates, while California will also drop its school mask requirement.
The mass ending of mask requirements comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its recommendations for mask use and unveiled their new plan for determining COVID-19 risk in communities.
Under the new risk levels, approximately 90% of the U.S. population now lives in areas deemed to have low or medium threats to their local hospitals, and thus can stop wearing masks.
“Americans in most of the country can now be mask-free,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said in a briefing on the plan last week.
Many health officials have cautioned, however, that should there be a viral resurgence, mask requirements may have to return.
