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Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russia-backed separatists announce mass evacuations

February 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The United States continues to warn that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day” amid escalating tensions in the region, with President Joe Biden telling reporters Thursday that the threat is now “very high.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, making urgent remarks to the U.N. Security Council, challenged Moscow to commit to no invasion.

More than 150,000 Russian troops are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders, U.S. officials said. While Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin claim that some troops have begun to withdraw, Biden said more Russian forces have moved in, contrary to Moscow’s claims.

It remains unclear whether Putin has made a decision to attack his ex-Soviet neighbor.

Russia has denied it plans to invade and issued new demands Thursday that the U.S. and NATO bar Ukraine from joining the military alliance.

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

Feb 18, 10:52 am
Putin warns of ‘escalation’ in Donbas, urges Ukraine to negotiate with separatists

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Friday that the situation in eastern Ukraine is escalating, amid fears Moscow is seeking a pretext to attack its ex-Soviet neighbor.

“Unfortunately, right now we are seeing, on the contrary, an escalation of the Donbas situation,” Putin said at a joint press conference in Moscow on Friday, following a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Putin reiterated Russia’s demand that the Ukrainian government engage in direct talks with the Russia-backed separatists in Donbas, a breakaway region of southeastern Ukraine.

“All Kyiv has to do is sit down at the negotiating table with Donbas representatives and agree on the political, military, economic and humanitarian measures to end the conflict,” he said. “The sooner it happens the better.”

Russia has demanded for years that Kyiv negotiate with the separatists directly, but Ukraine has always refused because it views them as Kremlin puppets and it would legitimize Moscow’s false narrative that the ongoing conflict is exclusively a civil war and does not involve Russia.

Putin also stated that the United States and other members of NATO “are not disposed to properly accept” Russia’s key demands for security guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the military alliance pull its troops back from Eastern Europe. He said Moscow will not accept talking about the other proposals the U.S. has put forward without discussing these top requests.

“We are prepared to follow a negotiating track, on the condition that all aspects are considered in a package, not separately from Russia’s principal proposals, whose implementation is an unconditional priority for us,” he told reporters.

Putin also said he “paid no attention” to the reports in Western media of Feb. 16 being the alleged date of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine that U.S. officials had given, calling it a “hoax.”

“I honestly just didn’t pay attention to it. There are plenty of hoaxes. Constantly reacting to them is more trouble than it’s worth,” he added. “We do whatever we see fit and will do so further down the road. Of course, we watch what is going on in the world and around us. But we have clear and comprehensible guidelines that correspond with the national interests of the people of Russia and the Russian state.”

Meanwhile, Lukashenko insisted that neither Belarus or Russia want a war and blamed the current tensions on the West. He said the massive joint military exercises currently being held in Belarus with Russia are directed at reinforcing their borders due to “growing military danger,” which he claimed was caused in part by Western countries “pumping Ukraine” with weapons.

“With the military danger growing on our borders and Ukraine being pumped with weapons, Belarus and Russia are forced to look for appropriate ways to repel potential attacks,” Lukashenko told reporters.

But the Belarusian leader also warned that, for the first time in decades, Europe is on the edge of a conflict that could “draw in almost the entire continent.”

“You see that it does not depend even on our neighbors, including Ukraine, anymore. It is also obvious to you who the exacerbation of tensions near our borders depends on,” Lukashenko said. “For the first time in decades, we have ended up on the verge of a conflict, which, unfortunately, is capable of drawing in almost the entire continent, like a vortex.”

“Today, we’re witnessing, in all its glory, irresponsibility and, forgive my frankness, the stupidity of a number of Western politicians,” he added, “and the behavior denying logic and reasonable explanations of the leaders of our neighboring states and their downright morbid desire to walk right on the edge.”

Feb 18, 9:55 am
Blinken: US ‘deeply concerned’ Russia ‘has embarked on’ wrong path

The United States is “deeply concerned” that Russia “has embarked on” the wrong path, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday.

Speaking to reporters at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Blinken said Russia has deployed “additional forces” near neighboring Ukraine, “including leading edge forces that would be part of any aggression.” When asked about the reports of more shelling in eastern Ukraine, Blinken said it’s “part of a scenario that is already in play” for Moscow to claim a pretext for invasion.

“Even as we are doing everything we possibly can to make sure that this diplomatic path, that this has to resolved — differences have to be resolved through dialogue, through diplomacy,” Blinken told reporters, “we are deeply concerned that that is not the path that Russia has embarked on and that everything we’re seeing, including what you’ve described in the last 24 to 48 hours, is part of a scenario that is already in play of creating false provocations, of then having to respond to those provocations and then ultimately committing new aggression against Ukraine.”

Still, Blinken said he remains “hopeful” that the threat of sanctions and the supply of military aid to regional allies from the U.S. and others “will have an impact.”

Feb 18, 9:40 am
Russia-backed separatists announce mass evacuations

Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have declared a mass evacuation of civilians, while accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of preparing to launch a full-scale invasion against the breakaway regions in the coming days.

Ukraine has immediately denied the claim, but the mass evacuation order is worrying as it raises the prospect the separatists may allege a Ukrainian offensive in the coming days that Russia would use as a pretext to attack its ex-Soviet neighbor.

Denis Pushilin, leader of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk in a breakaway region of southeastern Ukraine known as Donbas, delivered a public address to residents on Friday saying mass, centralized evacuations were now being organized, with women, children and the elderly going first.

Pushilin said the evacuation would be “temporary” and that Russia has agreed to provide evacuation centers in the neighboring Rostov region to house evacuees. The separatists’ leader also called on all able-bodied men to take up arms.

“I again appeal to all men able to hold a rifle in their hands, to come to the defense of their land,” Pushilin said in a televised address.

The announcement came amid a sharp escalation along the front line between Russia-backed separatist forces and Ukrainian government troops, with Ukraine accusing the separatists of unleashing a major bombardment in the past two days. Heavy firing has been reported since Thursday coming from the separatist areas, while the separatists have accused Ukrainian troops of firing on them.

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell

Feb 18, 8:40 am
US envoy: Russia has up to 190,000 forces, including separatists, menacing Ukraine

The United States believes Russia now has “probably” as many as 190,000 troops, including Russian-backed separatists forces, according to a U.S. envoy, in and around Ukraine amid fears that Russian capabilities of a full-fledged invasion continue to grow.

“We assess that Russia probably has massed between 169,000 to 190,000 personnel in and near Ukraine as compared with about 100,000 on January 30,” Michael Carpenter, U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said in a statement Friday. “This estimate includes military troops along the border, in Belarus, and in occupied Crimea; Russian National Guard and other internal security units deployed to these areas; and Russian-led forces in eastern Ukraine.”

Unlike this latest assessment, previous estimations by U.S. officials did not include separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.

“While Russia has sought to downplay or deceive the world about their ground and air preparations, the Russian military has publicized its large-scale naval exercises in the Black Sea, Baltic Sea and the Arctic,” Carpenter said. “Russia has publicly said the Black Sea exercise alone involves more than 30 ships, and we assess that amphibious landing ships from the Northern and Baltic Fleets were sent to the Black Sea to augment forces there.”

The OSCE is a Cold War-era European security forum that has deployed a war monitor in eastern Ukraine for years and hosted talks on the current crisis with Russia. Its foundational documents have been used selectively by Moscow to paint Ukraine and NATO as a threat to Russia’s security, even as its envoy in Vienna has largely dismissed dialogue there.

Earlier this week, Ukraine requested an emergency OSCE meeting to demand Russia explain its massive military buildup after Moscow ignored Kyiv’s inquiry. Russia skipped Wednesday’s session just as it did Friday’s, where Carpenter delivered these remarks.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told his country’s parliament Friday that they assess Russia has about 149,000 troops near their borders.

-ABC News Conor Finnegan and Cindy Smith

Feb 18, 7:45 am
US to sell Poland $6 billion of tanks, more military aid

The United States announced Friday its plans to sell $6 billion of new military aid to Poland, amid the threat of war between neighboring Ukraine and Russia.

The proposed sale includes 250 Abrams main battle tanks, 250 short-range jamming systems that counter improvised explosive devices, 26 combat recovery vehicles, nearly 800 machines guns and much more, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of State.

The announcement came as U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with his Polish counterpart in Warsaw to discuss concerns regarding the massive buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine, which U.S. and NATO officials say position Moscow for an imminent invasion. Poland is a key eastern European ally to the U.S. and a fellow member of NATO.

“Some of those forces [are] within 200 miles of the Polish border,” Austin said during a joint press conference in the Polish capital on Friday. “If Russia further invades Ukraine, Poland could see tens of thousands of displaced Ukrainians and others flowing across its border, trying to save themselves and their families from the scourge of war.”

Austin said the U.S. now has an additional 4,700 troops in Poland “who are prepared to respond to a range of contingencies.”

“They will work closely with our State Department and with Polish authorities should there be any need to help American citizens leave Ukraine,” he added.

The planned sale of more military aid to Poland “will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe,” according to the State Department.

“The proposed sale will improve Poland’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing a credible force that is capable of deterring adversaries and participating in NATO operations,” the State Department said in a statement Friday. “Poland will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.”

-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan

Feb 18, 6:21 am
Kremlin expresses concern about escalation in Donbas

Russia is concerned about the ongoing escalation of tensions in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine and believes the events unfolding there post a major potential threat, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

“What is happening in Donbas is very disquieting news, which provokes concern,” Peskov told reporters during a daily call. “It is potentially very dangerous.”

When asked how Putin has been sleeping amid the rising tensions, Peskov said: “Equally well.” He then added after a brief pause: “But with one eye open.”

-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva

Feb 18, 5:56 am
Putin to oversee massive nuclear drills on Saturday

Russian President Vladimir Putin will personally oversee massive drills of his country’s strategic nuclear forces on Saturday, including test launches of ballistic and cruise missiles, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced Friday.

The defense ministry said in a statement that the drills were “planned” as part of large-scale military exercises currently taking place across Russia. Saturday’s drills are meant to check “the preparedness of military commands and crews of missile systems, warships and strategic bombers to accomplish their missions and at verifying the reliability of weapons of strategic nuclear and conventional forces,” according to the defense ministry.

“The exercise will involve forces and hardware belonging to the Aerospace Forces, the Southern Military District, the Strategic Missile Forces, the Northern Fleet, and the Black Sea Fleet,” the defense ministry said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin will be at the defense ministry’s Situational Center during the drills Saturday and that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko might join him.

“Even test launches of this type are impossible without the head of state,” Peskov told reporters during a daily call Friday. “You all know about his famed ‘black briefcase,’ ‘the red button’ and so on.”

Peskov said the drills shouldn’t cause concern among other countries because they were notified of the upcoming exercises in advance.

When asked whether such drills could exacerbate tensions, Peskov replied: “Exercises and training launches of ballistic missiles are quite a regular training process. It is preceded by a whole series of notifications forwarded to different countries via various channels. All this is precisely regulated and no one has any questions or concerns.”

The drills will also coincide with the finale of the major joint military exercises in neighboring Belarus.

U.S. military officials have previously warned that Russia could conduct these drills now, saying the timing might be in order to signal to the West not to interfere in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It’s also another opportunity for posturing as Putin has done many times before, placing himself at the end of demonstrations of military might. In recent years he has repeatedly hailed a range of new Russian nuclear super weapons, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile and hypersonic weapons.

-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva and Patrick Reevell

Feb 18, 4:25 am
Lukashenko to meet Putin in Moscow

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday, as their countries continue to hold massive joint military exercises that Western countries fear could be used to cover up preparations for a possible invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

While Russia and Belarus have said that Russian troops will leave after the drills conclude Sunday, the United States remains concerned they may stay.

Earlier this week, Lukashenko indicated that he and Putin would decide at their meeting Friday how long Russian troops would stay in Belarus. Video released by Belarusian state media showed the authoritarian leader arriving at Moscow’s airport Friday morning.

Russia has moved an unprecedented number of troops into Belarus as part of its wider military build-up near Ukraine. There is an estimated 30,000 Russian troops in Belarus, which is only a few hours drive north of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Concerns have been heightened because Russia has moved most of the troops from its Eastern Military District in Russia’s Far East, some 6,000 miles away. Among them are many units required for an offensive, including long range artillery, fighter bombers, attack helicopters and airborne troops.

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell

Feb 17, 9:28 pm
Biden to host meeting of allied leaders Friday: Canada PM’s office

President Joe Biden will host a closed-door meeting on Ukraine Friday with several U.S. allies, according to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office.

The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, the UK, the EU and NATO will participate in the meeting, Trudeau’s office said while sharing the prime minister’s Friday iterinary.

A White House official confirmed to ABC News that Biden will have a phone call Friday afternoon with transatlantic leaders “about Russia’s buildup of military troops on the border of Ukraine and our continued efforts to pursue deterrence and diplomacy.”

Also on Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and hold a meeting with the leaders of the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as she travels to Germany for the annual Munich Security Conference, the White House said.

Tyler Joseph addresses Twenty One Pilots fan’s experience with racism: “We stand with you”

February 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Twenty One Pilots frontman Tyler Joseph has replied to a teenage fan who’d experienced racism within the band’s community.

In a Twitter thread posted last December, a user with the name Chey shared multiple instances of other Twenty One Pilots fans harassing them with anti-Black racial slurs.

“[I’ve] kept my mouth shut on a lot of things because I don’t like bringing negativity to the timeline but as more and more minorities in the fanbase join, this is really becoming out of hand,” Chey wrote. “A lot of y’all’s hatred towards people in particular is racially charged.”

Thursday night, Joseph replied directly to Chey in his own thread, beginning, “I am so sorry about the racism you have experienced recently.”

“I can’t even imagine what that must feel like,” Joseph wrote. “What’s worse is that it will likely happen again at some point. There are terrible people on this earth. Hurtful people. They will hide behind anonymity, they will make you feel small and less than, because the truth is, they are small and less than you.”

“But know this, we care for you, we stand with you,” he continued. “We think you are invaluable to this fan base…I want you to know that the collective whole of this fan base, [drummer] Josh [Dun], and I are with you.”

“Racism is evil and I want this clique to be the most inclusive clique that ever was,” Joseph concluded. “Stay strong.”

Chey later replied, “I’m so thankful thank you for everything and thank you for being here @tylerrjoseph.”

Parents remember 7-year-old daughter who died after contracting COVID-19

February 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A Tennessee family is speaking out to share memories of their 7-year-old daughter, who died Feb. 7, less than 72 hours after testing positive for COVID-19.

“She was just a happy, healthy, normal, beautiful soul,” Jennifer Graviss said of her daughter, Adalyn. “She was just so sweet, an amazing kid.”

Jennifer Graviss and her husband Adam Graviss, of Knoxville, Tennessee, said Adalyn, whom they described as an active and healthy child, had been feeling fine until early in the morning of Feb. 4, when she complained of feeling hot.

When they took her temperature and saw it was 102 degrees, they said they gave her an at-home COVID-19 test, on which she tested positive.

Adalyn, a second-grade student, stayed home from school that day and appeared to be feeling fine, according to her parents. It was not until the following night, they said, that she started struggling to walk and speak.

“It was right around the nine o’clock hour when we noticed her speech was all but gone, though she was still responding to us,” said Adam Graviss. “By 10 o’clock, I was in the emergency room [with her], and she was unresponsive at that point.”

“It was just so fast,” he continued. “Hours before going to the hospital, she was running in the front yard.”

Adalyn was quickly transported to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, where she was put on an ECMO machine, a lifesaving device that pumps and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body.

“Even while it was happening, it didn’t seem real,” Adam Graviss said of his daughter’s rapid decline. “Her levels were improving and then she just took a turn for the worse.”

In addition to a severe case of COVID-19, doctors diagnosed Adalyn with both severe myocarditis, inflammation of the heart, and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), inflammation of the brain and spinal cord that can quickly cause neurological damage, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

ADEM attacks the body quickly and often follows a viral or bacterial infection, according to the NIH.

Amid the surge of the omicron variant in the U.S., infectious disease experts noticed a pattern of brain inflammation, or encephalomyelitis, following cases of COVID-19, particularly among children, according to Dr. Isaac Thomsen, a pediatric infectious disease expert who helped care for Adalyn at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Thomsen said Adalyn’s case of ADEM was one of the most rapid and severe cases he has seen in his career. He said she was also the first pediatric patient he has treated who presented with both COVID-related ADEM and severe myocarditis at the same time.

“The combination is probably what ultimately cost her her life, “Thomsen said. “That is pretty rare among viruses, this ability of COVID to hit both of those [the heart and the brain] at the same time.”

Adalyn was not yet vaccinated against COVID-19. At age 7, she had just become eligible for the vaccine in November and her parents said they were still considering it. The Gravisses said Adalyn was diligent about following COVID-19 safety protocols, including wearing a face mask at school and washing her hands.

Jennifer Graviss gave birth to the couple’s second child, a baby named Ella, on Jan. 28, and she said the whole family quarantined at home outside of Adalyn going to school in the time before and after the baby’s birth.

“We were just very cautious,” said Jennifer Graviss, adding that Adalyn was particularly cognizant. “If a kid was coughing she would ask to be moved because she didn’t want baby Ella to get it.”

Adalyn also had no known underlying health issues that would cause or predict such severe illness, according to her parents as well as Thomsen.

“This is a big reason of why we don’t roll the dice on a virus like this,” Thomsen said of COVID-19’s unpredictably when it comes to who it affects and how severely. “This is not something to mess around with.”

“The takeaway for parents is this is a virus that we have got to take very seriously and one we have a safe and effective vaccine for,” he said.

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.

Remembering a beloved daughter, big sister

The Gravisses said they are still shocked that they are now planning funeral arrangements for their beloved daughter, who became a big sister to Ella just one week before her death.

“She waited for years to be a big sister,” said Jennifer Graviss. “Every night she would pray for God to give her a baby to be a big sister, and that’s what we’re so thankful for, that she was able to experience that for five days.”

Jennifer Graviss said that Adalyn treated Ella like her own baby doll, dressing her up and waking up an extra 30 minutes before school every day so that she could have more time to hold her.

“She would just sing to her and she would sit there and tell her stories like, ‘I’m going to be your best friend. Sissy’s going to show you so much, how to dance and how to play basketball and as soon as you’re big enough, we’re going to church,'” she said of Adalyn. “She just wanted to be with the baby all the time.”

Adam Graviss said he is comforted knowing Ella will have her big sister as her protector, saying, “She’s going to have the coolest guardian angel looking over her, protecting her.”

The Gravisses said their daughter loved things like playing basketball and dancing, going to church and being around her friends. The family held a celebration of life for Adalyn last week for her school friends, basketball teammates and fellow Girl Scouts and dance classmates.

“All her friends are wearing shirts that say, ‘Love Like Adalyn,'” Jennifer Graviss said. “She just had the biggest heart. She loved her friends. She hugged teachers that weren’t even her teacher every morning. She would stop by the [school] office and give an update every day about baby Ella.”

One of Adalyn’s former teachers started a GoFundMe for the family to help cover Adalyn’s medical and funeral expenses.

Jennifer Graviss and her husband said they are now finding comfort in seeing how vibrant a life Adalyn led and in knowing they have “no regrets” because of the time and attention they gave their daughter.

“We did everything with her, everything she wanted to do, from going to Disney World to playing basketball in the driveway in the dark to playing UNOs tournaments every night,” Jennifer Graviss said. “She was just a happy girl.”

Jennifer Graviss noted that while Adalyn loved everyone, she had a special fondness for her dad.

“She did everything with [her] daddy,” she said, adding that Adalyn encouraged her dad to watch YouTube videos to improve at putting her hair in a bun for dance class. “Every basketball game that she’d make a shot, she’d look back for daddy to be cheering her on. They were best buds.”

“We just never wanted to be without her,” Adam Graviss said. “We would have people all the time asking to babysit her and let us go out for a date night, but we never did. We just wanted to be with her.”

He continued, “She was just really fun, and we just took her everywhere. That’s what makes it so hard. She was our best friend.”

Kanye West to release ‘Donda 2’ exclusively on his own platform, Stem Player

February 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

If you want to listen to Kanye West‘s Donda 2 album, you’re gonna have to use his own technology to do it.

On Thursday, the 44-year-old rapper announced that the sequel to his record-breaking album Donda, which is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 22, won’t be available to stream via the usual channels.

“Donda 2 will only be available on my own platform, the Stem Player. Not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube,” Ye shared in an Instagram post. To listen, you’ll need a Stem Player, which is being sold for $200.

He added, “Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own. Go to stemplayer.com now to order.”

The post included a one-minute video and features one of Ye’s stem players lighting up in sync as a song plays.

In a later post, Ye explained, “You can download new music from stemplayer.com. You can play 4 different elements of the track: vocals, drums, bass and music. It also has a MP3 player available.”

“We currently have 67,000 available and are making 3,000 a day,” he added.

Snapchat adds new feature to keep college students safe on campus

February 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Many college students returned to in-person learning this past fall and for some sophomores, it was their first time on campus since the pandemic began.

This situation is concerning for groups like It’s On Us, an organization dedicated to preventing sexual assaults on college campuses and providing support for assault survivors.

“We have students who are academically sophomores, but socially and culturally freshmen coming to campus. When campuses reopened for the first time to in-person living and learning since March 2020 without strict COVID restrictions, we saw a surge of sexual assaults take place,” Tracey Vitchers, the executive director of It’s On Us, told Good Morning America.

According to It’s On Us, one in four college women will be sexually assaulted during their time on campus and for students of color, with disabilities, undocumented or those who identify as LGBTQ+, those rates are higher.

To help combat the surge and prevent future assaults, It’s On Us partnered with social media app Snapchat to bring awareness to a new feature on the platform called Live Location.

“The new Live Location sharing feature with Snap Map will allow parties to both opt in to sharing their Live Location with one another. If you have an Android, your friend has an iPhone, you’re going to be able to share your Live Location with them through the Snap Map.”

It’s a feature former Dance Moms star and college student Nia Sioux and her mother, Dr. Holly Hatcher-Frazier, are helping to test out for It’s On Us.

“As a parent, it’s comforting to know that there is a tool out there. So for me, it’s just knowing that she can determine when she turns it on, when she turns it off, who has access to it,” Hatcher-Frazier told GMA.

Sioux added: “You have to be friends with that person. You’re not just sharing your location with just anyone. … It’s been really comforting to know that there are these apps that are actually taking action and doing their part in helping making sure that everyone’s safe.”

Aside from its partnership with Snapchat, It’s On Us is also working with the online dating app Tinder to launch what they call the first “online dating safety and sexual assault awareness peer to peer prevention program nationwide.”

According to Vitchers: “This online dating safety peer to peer program is really critical because we found in conversations with students that traditional sexual assault prevention lessons that were being given by their school were not covering online dating safety, when that is really the future of how most young people are meeting and engaging with each other in a dating or other romantic way.”

Shamrock Shakes will be back at McDonald’s later this month

February 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Spring and St. Patrick’s Day are around the corner, which means it’s almost McDonald’s Shamrock Shake and Oreo Shamrock McFlurry season.

The iconic creamy, frozen treats will officially return to McDonald’s menus on Feb. 21 for a limited time.

The Shamrock Shake is made with vanilla soft serve ice cream, blended with McDonald’s proprietary “Shamrock Shake flavor” and finished with whipped topping. The McFlurry version that made its debut in 2020, combines vanilla soft serve spun with Oreo cookie pieces.

“The only thing more refreshing than the delicious taste of a Shamrock Shake is the way that minty green hue makes the ‘will-winter-ever-end’ blues go away,” McDonald’s wrote in a press release.

In over 50 years of the Shamrock Shake’s existence, McDonald’s has “never given away the secret ingredient” of its shake’s color. So this year, the brand dropped it’s official “hex code for the unmistakably minty color of Shamrock SZN.”

“When the Shamrock Shake and Oreo Shamrock McFlurry make their return to U.S. menus later this month, show us how you’re celebrating with #cbf2ac and #ShamrockShakeSZN,” the brand encouraged die-hard fans of the dessert. “Starting Feb. 21, our Shamrock green hex code just might unlock another tasty secret. That is, if you know where to look. Be one of the first to figure out the mystery and you could get a little something special from us.”

Megan Thee Stallion to make film debut in ‘F**king Identical Twins’

February 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Megan Thee Stallion is making some real hot girl moves.

The 27-year-old rapper is set to make her film debut in the movie musical F******* Identical Twins, according to multiple reports, including from Variety, Deadline, and The Hollywood Reporter.

Taking to social media, Megan shared a screenshot of the exciting news and wrote, “HOTTIES THIS IS OUR FIRST MOVIEEEE/ MUSICAL! WITH SOME MOVIE LEGENDS.”

“I’m so excited i feel so blessed i feel anxious lol i feel a bunch of s***,” the Grammy winner continued. “I really have been quietly putting in this work and i just cant wait for the hotties to see everything.”

While it’s unclear what Megan’s role will be, she is set to join Saturday Night Live‘s Bowen Yang, two-time Emmy-winner and Will & Grace alum Megan Mullally and Tony-winner Nathan Lane in the R-rated musical comedy, which will be directed by Seinfeld and Borat veteran Larry Charles.

F******* Identical Twins, as described by THR, “follows two business adversaries who realize they’re identical twin brothers and decide to switch places in order to reunite their divorced parents and become a family again.”

Production is currently underway.

‘Sex and the City’ author Candace Bushnell “really startled” about HBO Max’s follow-up ’And Just Like That…’

February 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Candace Bushnell is sharing how she really feels about And Just Like That….

In an interview with The New Yorker, the author, who wrote the column that inspired the original series Sex and the City, revealed that she was “really startled by a lot of the decisions made in the reboot.”

“You know, it’s a television product, done with [And Just Like That creator] Michael Patrick King and Sarah Jessica Parker, who have both worked with HBO a lot in the past,” Bushnell said. “HBO decided to put this franchise back into their hands for a variety of reasons, and this is what they came up with.”

Bushnell added, “I mean, Carrie Bradshaw ended up being a quirky woman who married a really rich guy. And that’s not my story, or any of my friends’ stories. But TV has its own logic.”

And Just Like That… recently finished its first season on HBO Max and has yet to be renewed for season two.

The reimagined series brought back Parker as Carrie, as well as Cynthia Nixon as Miranda and Kristin Davis as Charlotte. Noticeably missing was Kim Cattrall’s Samantha. While her character has been kept alive on-screen via text messages, it’s not likely she’ll appear on-screen in the flesh.

Aside from Cattrall making it clear she has no interest in returning to the franchise after turning down a third movie, SJP recently told Variety she wouldn’t be okay with her return.

“I don’t think I would, because I think there’s just too much public history of feelings on her part that she’s shared,” she said.

Elana Meyers Taylor elected Team USA Olympic closing ceremony flag bearer

February 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(BEIJING) — After missing the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony due to a positive COVID test, bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor will have her chance to wave the American flag at the closing ceremony on Sunday.

The four-time Olympian was elected by her peers on Team USA to be the closing ceremony flag bearer in Beijing, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee announced Friday.

She had been elected to be the opening ceremony flag bearer, alongside curler John Shuster, but was unable to participate in the ceremony because she tested positive for COVID shortly after arriving in Beijing and went into isolation. Instead, speedskater Brittany Bowe, who earned the second-highest votes among female athletes, served as flag bearer alongside Shuster.

“I was so honored to be named the Opening Ceremony flag bearer, but after not being able to carry the flag, it’s even more humbling to lead the United States at the Closing Ceremony,” Meyers Taylor said in a statement. “Congratulations to my fellow Team USA athletes on all their success in Beijing – I’m looking forward to carrying the flag with my teammates by my side and closing out these Games.”

Now, Meyers Taylor will have her chance to represent the United States — and this time around, she has some new metal to wear.

Earlier this week, she competed in the first Olympic monobob event, wherein athletes compete by themselves, pushing, driving and breaking a bobsled as a team of one.

Americans dominated in that event, with Kallie Humphries winning gold and Meyers Taylor winning silver. Humphries was competing for the United States in the Olympics for the first time after winning two golds for Canada in the two-person bobsled, so as former rivals, this time she and Meyers Taylor could celebrate together.

That silver adds to Meyers Taylor’s stack of Olympic medals, including a silver from 2018, a silver from 2014 and a bronze from 2010, all in the two-woman competition. She has the opportunity to add one more to that list in the two-woman event in Beijing, which concludes Saturday.

This Olympics has been more dramatic than most as Meyers Taylor had to spend about a week in isolation, which she called “rough.” She had traveled to Beijing along with her husband and young son, who is still nursing, and had to separate from them to isolate.

In order to compete, she had to test negative two times and she managed to do so before the monobob event began but competed without as many practices as other athletes.

“No words … only gratitude,” she wrote on Instagram after taking the monobob silver.

In addition to her athleticism, Meyers Taylor has been recognized for her efforts off the ice. Her son, Nico, has Down syndrome, and she has been an advocate for families of children with special needs, as well as one of the many athletes who continued competing after becoming mothers.

“I knew I wanted to continue and show that it’s possible to overcome any adversity and continue pursuing your goals,” she previously told Good Morning America about the inspiration she gained after giving birth.

Meyers Taylor, who is biracial, has also been an advocate for Black athletes in winter sports.

“My job now, just like any parent, is to ensure my son has a better life than I do,” she wrote in a 2020 piece for Team USA. “Part of that is to do what I can to make a change, such that hopefully he is never judged by the color of his skin. That’s a lofty goal, but an important one to never give up on.”

COVID-19 live updates: US daily cases drop from 807,000 to 134,000 in one month

February 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 930,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 64.5% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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

Feb 18, 8:40 am
Hawaii is only state without plans to lift mask mandates

Hawaii is the only U.S. state that has not announced intentions to end indoor mask mandates.

States across the country have moved to end masking requirements as cases of COVID-19 continue to drop.

Some governors have ended universal indoor and outdoor masking mandates, while others have lifted statewide face covering requirements for schools.

In a newsletter Wednesday, the Hawaii State Department of Education said there are no current plans to drop mask mandates in classrooms.

Three other states — California, Maryland and New York — as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, have also not announced end dates for their indoor school face covering mandates.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Feb 17, 7:10 pm
New Mexico ends mask mandate

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Thursday that the state’s mask mandate for indoor areas is over, effective immediately.

Masks will still be required for some settings, “including hospitals, long-term care facilities and detention facilities.” School districts were allowed to determine if their mandates for classrooms would remain in effect, according to the governor’s office.

“Given the continued drop in hospitalizations and the lessening of the burden on our hospitals, it’s time to end the mask mandate. With vaccines, boosters and effective treatment options widely available, we have the tools we need to protect ourselves and keep our fellow New Mexicans safe,” Grisham said in a statement.

As of Thursday, 73.5% of eligible New Mexico residents were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Feb 17, 6:55 pm
North Carolina governor urges school districts to drop mask mandates

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper urged local officials and school districts to end their mask mandates next month.

Mask use indoors has not been universally required in North Carolina since last spring, when the Cooper ended statewide requirements. Each school district in the state has made their own masking requirements.

If COVID-19 trends continue to decline, the governor is encouraging all school districts to drop their mandates starting March 7.

“It’s time to focus on getting our children a good education and improving our schools, no matter how you feel about masks,” Cooper said at a news conference.

As of Thursday, 62.7% of eligible North Carolina residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos, Ben Stein and Leonardo Mayorga

Feb 17, 6:23 pm
Washington state to end mask mandate in March

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that based on the state’s COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates, the mandate for masks in indoor settings would end March 21.

“We are approaching a place fairly shortly where we will not have to be wearing masks generally in these in these conditions,” he said during a news conference. “And we think this is both good for our health and our education of our children and the total reopening of our economy.”

Inslee added that businesses and schools would be allowed to issue their own mask mandate after March 21 if they choose to.

The governor also announced that the requirement for vaccine verification at large events will end on March 1.

ABC News’ Zach Ferber and Matt Fuhrman

Feb 17, 5:48 pm
California outlines endemic plan

Gov. Gavin Newsom and California health officials have released a plan to deal with COVID-19 once it becomes an endemic.

The plan, dubbed “SMARTER,” will focus on seven areas: shots, masks, awareness, readiness, testing, education and medicine.

Officials said that clear “on and off ramps” for future restrictions, such as mask mandates, will be created specifically for variants.

California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said case rates could determine future restrictions if the state faces a more deadly variant in the future, while hospital capacity could be the primary indicator if California faces a less virulent variant similar to omicron.

The state will publish a one- to two-page summary of the state’s current recommendations on COVID-19 in the next couple of days, according to Ghaly.

ABC News’ Matt Fuhrman

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