The United Nations Climate Change Conference is taking place in Glasgow, Scotland through November 12, and some of the world’s top musical artists are using their social platforms to help spread the word about the importance of taking action against the global threat.
The goal is to mobilize half a billion people to urge the leaders to accelerate action against climate change, which can cause flooding, fires, extreme weather and destruction of species, not to mention its impact on poor and marginalized populations.
“We’re grateful for all of the celebrities who are helping promote climate change as a human rights crisis,” says David Clark, founder of Right Here, Right Now. “It is critically important that we humanize the issue through a human rights lens, as people need to understand the choices they make, have real impact on the lives of others.”
Other artists participating in the initiative include Jason Mraz, Pentatonix, Natasha Bedingfield and Camila Cabello.
(WASHINGTON) — China is rapidly increasing the size of its nuclear arsenal and could have as many as 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, according to a new Pentagon report released Wednesday.
The development comes on the heels of China’s recent test of a hypersonic weapon that has raised serious concerns about China’s military buildup and its growing capability.
“The accelerating pace of the PRC’s nuclear expansion may enable the PRC (People’s Republic of China) to have up to 700 deliverable nuclear warheads by 2027,” said this year’s version of the annual Pentagon report formally known as “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China.”
“The PRC likely intends to have at least 1,000 warheads by 2030, exceeding the pace and size the DoD projected in 2020,” it added. That increase is dramatically different than was projected in last year’s version of the report which predicted a doubling of China’s current nuclear arsenal of several hundred warheads.
Even with China’s dramatic increase, it’s larger nuclear arsenal will still be much less than the United States’ declared stockpile of 3,750 warheads capable of being deployed by hundreds of land-based and sea-launched missiles and a strategic bomber fleet.
In recent months, the growth of China’s nuclear force has been captured by commercial satellite images showing the construction of hundreds of missile silos at three locations in northern and western China.
“New developments in 2020 further suggest that the PRC intends to increase the peacetime readiness of its nuclear forces by moving to a launch-on-warning (LOW) posture with an expanded silo-based force,” said the report.
China’s leaders have publicly stated that they want China’s military become a global power by 2050 as they move beyond what is currently assessed to be a military force with only regional capabilities.
The report indicated China’s growth of its military capabilities are in line with that plan noting that they “continue to strengthen the PRC’s ability to “fight and win wars” against a “strong enemy” [a likely euphemism for the United States], coerce Taiwan and rival claimants in territorial disputes, counter an intervention by a third party in a conflict along the PRC’s periphery, and project power globally.”
That growing military capability was demonstrated recently after reports emerged that over the summer China had tested a new hypersonic glide weapon capable of orbiting the earth that could eventually carry a nuclear weapon.
The development of a “fractional orbital bombardment system” raised concerns about how the United States could counter such a system that could conceivably travel at hypersonic speeds, or greater than five times the speed of sound, after reentering the atmosphere.
Like other hypersonic vehicles it would be hard to track because the glide vehicles are maneuverable in the atmosphere, unlike ballistic warheads that follow a fixed trajectory, meaning they could weave their way around American radars and ground-based interceptor missile systems.
“The U.S. does not currently have the ability to even track this weapon, much less defeat it,” said Steve Ganyard, a retired Marine colonel and ABC News contributor who noted that American radars pointing to the Cold War threat of missiles coming over the North Pole would not be in a position to detect a hypersonic weapon coming from the south.
Earlier on Wednesday, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that China’s recent test of an apparent hypersonic weapon capable of delivering a nuclear warhead was “very significant,” but “not a Sputnik moment,” at least in terms of novelty.
That term refers to the 1957 launch of the Sputnik satellite by the Soviet Union that caught Americans off guard and led the United States to play catch up leading to a space and arms race.
“They’re not new, they’ve been around for a while. So, in that limited, narrow sense, it’s not a Sputnik moment, because Sputnik was new at the time,” Milley said in comments at the Aspen Security Forum in Washington, D.C.
Last week, Milley was the first American official to publicly confirm the test labeling it “a very significant technological event” but also said he didn’t know “if it’s quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to that.”
Milley described the test as part of the larger trend by China to be a bigger player on the international stage.
“If you look at the totality, this test that occurred a couple weeks ago is only one of a much, much broader picture of a military capability with respect to the Chinese,” said Milley. “That is very, very significant. We’re witnessing, in my view, we’re witnessing one of the largest shifts in global geostrategic power at the world has witnessed.”
Recent flight activity near Taiwan has once again raised concerns about whether China is poising to launch military action against the island it considers to be a breakaway province.
Asked if he believed that China is likely to invade Taiwan, Milley replied, “Based on my analysis of China, I don’t think that is likely in the next near future,” a time period he defined as meaning over the next six to 24 months.
“Having said that, though, the Chinese are clearly and unambiguously building the capability to provide those options to the national leadership if they so choose at some point in the future,” he said.
After being off the road since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carl Palmer and his current band ELP Legacy launches a new U.S. tour tonight in Warrendale, Pennsylvania.
The trek, which currently features 14 dates on the East Coast and Midwest, is mapped out through a November 21 concert in Wayne, New Jersey. More shows will be added to the schedule soon.
The tour will feature Palmer’s ELP Legacy marking the 50th anniversary of Carl’s old band, the legendary prog-rock trio Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
“Finally! The band and I are very eager to get back on stages in America, and around the rest of world, where possible,” says Palmer in a statement. “The show will have some material we have not played in years, as well as ELP’s best loved material. Visually, we will include footage in the show that reflects the highlights of ELP’s career.”
ELP Legacy is a power trio that also features guitarist/singer Paul Bielatowicz and bassist/Chapman stick player Simon Fitzpatrick.
Palmer is the sole surviving member of ELP, as keyboardist Keith Emerson and singer/bassist Greg Lake both died in 2016.
Meanwhile, Carl notes that the ELP Legacy tour marks the launch of a three-year series of events and releases celebrating the music and history of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
Future plans include a limited-edition biography about the group, a new Palmer art collection focusing on ELP’s five main studio albums, a documentary, a film based on the band’s classic song “Karn Evil 9,” and a special trek that will feature Carl performing alongside archival footage of his late band mates.
Visit CarlPalmer.com to check out ELP Legacy’s full list of upcoming tour dates.
(WASHINGTON) — Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program will resume on Nov. 29, Iran’s top negotiator and the European Union’s senior diplomat coordinating previous rounds announced Wednesday.
The announcement comes amid high tensions over Tehran’s growing nuclear stockpile and advancing capabilities, with pressure growing on President Joe Biden to consider a “Plan B.”
If they go ahead as scheduled, the indirect talks will be the first meetings in over five months and the first under the new government of the more hard-line conservative president, Ebrahim Raisi, who was elected in June.
The U.S. and Iran have still not met directly but instead held six previous rounds of negotiations through intermediaries, the remaining parties to the Obama-era nuclear deal — China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom.
While there’s finally a date on the books, critics still contend that Iran is simply buying time as it continues to build out its nuclear program.
Key questions about negotiations remain. In particular, where they will start — from the beginning again, or from where the previous rounds with the last Iranian government left off? And will Iran continue to demand the U.S. acts first by granting sanctions relief — citing former President Donald Trump’s exit from the original agreement?
The Biden administration has said repeatedly it wants a “mutual return to compliance,” in which the U.S. lifts sanctions as Iran scales back the steps it took in violation of the deal. Starting one year after Trump’s exit, Iran began its own violations, such as enriching more uranium to higher levels, using more advanced centrifuges and more of them.
European allies have joined the U.S. in expressing growing concern about those steps and the months of delay since Iran’s presidential election in June.
In a joint statement Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined Biden in condemning the “accelerated… pace of provocative nuclear steps” by Iran, including enriching uranium metal and enriching uranium to 60%.
“Iran has no credible civilian need for either measure, but both are important to nuclear weapons programs,” they warned.
But they added they continue to hope for a diplomatic solution, saying, “We are convinced that it is possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on return to full compliance and to ensure for the long term that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.”
It’s unclear if Raisi’s government is on the same page. Iran’s new top negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, tweeted Wednesday that Iran “agreed to start the negotiations aiming at removal of unlawful & inhumane sanctions” — perhaps a sign that talks will have to start over instead of resume where they left off.
But the State Department was quick to reject that. Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Wednesday if talks “are to succeed, if we are to close the remaining areas of disagreement, they should start precisely where the sixth round of talks left off… It would be neither productive nor wise to take up from any other position.”
Critics say Iran’s nuclear program is already too far advanced to keep the nuclear deal alive. But Price added again that the Biden administration still believes “there is a window in which we can achieve a mutual return to compliance” — in part, he said, because there’s a “relatively small number of issues that remained outstanding” when talks were last held in June.
The in-person meetings will again be coordinated by the EU’s senior diplomat, Enrique Mora, in Vienna, the Austrian capital. U.S. special envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, will lead the U.S. delegation, according to Price — meeting all the parties except Iran, which refuses to sit down with the Americans.
(MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.) — Minneapolis voters on Tuesday rejected a charter amendment that would have replaced the Minneapolis Police Department with a Department of Public Safety.
About 56% of voters voted “no” on the charter amendment, which was pitched as a “public health approach” to policing in response to the anti-police brutality movement of 2020.
Corenia Smith, campaign manager for Yes 4 Minneapolis, the group behind the charter proposal, released a statement on the proposal’s loss.
“This campaign began with working-class Black and brown residents marching together to demand a higher standard of public safety in the city,” Smith said. “It grew into a citywide movement that spanned race, income and neighborhoods, to give residents a say in their future and to advocate for the resources that they need.”
The amendment would have removed the police department from the city’s charter, removed the requirement to employ 1.7 officers for every 1,000 residents and would have replaced the police chief with a commissioner, who would be nominated by the mayor and approved by the city council.
Police reform has been a powder keg issue following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. His death prompted national divisions over whether to “defund” policing systems across the country in order to change the way departments operate.
“While this is not the result that we hoped for, the story of our movement must be told,” Smith wrote.
Yes 4 Minneapolis collected over 22,000 signatures, knocked on over 100,000 doors, made almost 200,000 phone calls and sent 300,000 text messages to Minneapolis residents about expanding public safety in the city, according to Smith.
The movement, which also included the work of partnering organizations, faced several challenges, including a lawsuit by several Minneapolis residents who sued the city council for promoting a “misleading ballot question.”
Those residents claimed in the lawsuit that the council “approved an incomplete and misleading ballot question regarding an amendment to the City Charter that would eliminate the Minneapolis Police Department without any plan for replacing that department’s critical public safety functions.”
The proposal language was challenged several times and vetoed by Mayor Jacob Frey until the city council finally passed the official language that appeared on the ballot.
Frey, a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, denounced the efforts.
“My primary reason for opposing this charter amendment comes down to accountability,” Frey previously said in a statement to ABC News. “If passed, this proposal will dilute accountability by diffusing responsibility for public safety across 14 policymakers. The result would likely leave voters — and the department — uncertain of who among the 13 council members and mayor’s office is actually directing, and responsible for, the department’s activity.”
Frey said he believes that a change in department leadership would lead to a major setback for “accountability and good governance.”
Smith claims the proposal was misrepresented throughout the campaign season by Frey and others who oppose the changes to policing.
“We spoke the truth, while the opposition, Democrats and Republicans alike, spread lies and mischaracterized our measure to create confusion, distrust and fear,” Smith alleged.
Some voters also said the charter change was confusing and lacked specifics and a clear message of how the transition would affect the city.
“I knew it wasn’t gonna pass,” said Tallaya Byers, a North Minneapolis resident who was in favor of the amendment. “There’s a lot of people that don’t understand. It was all confusing. People didn’t understand the plan behind replacing it with the Public Safety Department. So I knew that it was going to end up like that.”
Some voters say a lack of resident input helped lead the proposal to its downfall.
“[Voters] want to take an approach that is well thought out, well researched and includes the voices and perspectives of community members who are normally marginalized in our society,” said Minneapolis resident Nekima Levy Armstrong, who was against the charter amendment.
Teto Wilson, a North Minneapolis resident who was also against the charter amendment, said he rejected the amendment because it seemed “arbitrarily” put together and hopes the council works on a more thorough plan for the city in the upcoming legislative periods.
Leili Fatehi, the campaign manager of All of Mpls, an advocacy group against the charter, said she hopes Mayor Jacob Frey and the city council commit to addressing the issues of policing.
“Minneapolis voters have made clear that they want a planful approach to transforming policing and public safety in our city that includes meaningful consultation with the communities most impacted by violence and over-policing, and a real conversation about how to ensure every resident is protected from crime and from police brutality,” Fatehi said in a statement to ABC News.
Despite the loss, activists say that their efforts won’t stop, as roughly 43% of people voted “yes” for the charter amendment.
“Even though ballot question #2 wasn’t approved this year, we will continue to fight to expand what safety looks like for Black and brown communities,” Rashad Robinson, the spokesperson for Color of Change, said. “In doing so, we will challenge how our society views safety and the resources attached to addressing public safety, in hopes of providing a more just and equitable future for all.”
(GLYNN COUNTY, Ga.) — A jury was impaneled on Wednesday to decide the fate of three white Georgia men accused of chasing down and killing Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who prosecutors allege was just out for a Sunday jog in 2020 when he was attacked.
Opening statements in the murder trial will likely begin Friday in Brunswick, Georgia, the judge said.
The jury panel in the Glynn County Superior Court case was picked after an arduous selection process that lasted nearly three weeks and started with a pool of 1,000 potential jurors. The 12 selected include 11 white people and one Black person, which caused an objection based on racial bias. Each juror was revisited and the court felt that it did seem there was discrimination, but was limited as to what could be done.
“This is the most complicated jury selection that I have ever been part of and that includes death penalty cases,” Kevin Gough, the attorney for defendant William “Roddie” Bryan, said during a court hearing Thursday morning.
The 16 jurors, including four alternates, were selected from a smaller pool of 64 qualified would-be candidates. All 16 jurors will be sworn in to hear evidence in the case.
Before the final stage of jury selection commenced, one of the potential jurors in the qualified pool was dismissed for cause after Gough alerted the court to a series of TikTok videos brought to his attention overnight of the 44-year-old woman performing what he described as a “dance tribute” to Arbery. Gough noted that at least one of the videos posted by the prospective juror included a heart emoji and the hashtag RunWithMaud.
“Clearly this juror has an emotional connection to Mr. Arbery,” Gough said.
The pool of 48 from which they were drawn included 36 whites and 12 African Americans, a makeup that is more in line with the population of Glynn County, which is 30% Black.
The three defendants are Gregory McMichael, 65, a retired police officer, his son, Travis McMichael, 35, and their neighbor, Bryan, 52.
The men have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, aggravated assault and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
The McMichaels and Bryan were also indicted on federal hate crime charges in April and have all pleaded not guilty.
Arbery was out jogging on Feb. 23, 2020, through the Satilla Shores neighborhood near Brunswick when he stopped and went into a house under construction, according to evidence presented at the preliminary hearing. A surveillance video showed Arbery, who lived in another neighborhood of Brunswick, inside the unsecured house looking around and leaving empty-handed.
Arbery continued running past the McMichaels’ home, where Gregory McMichael spotted him and believed he matched the description of a neighborhood burglary suspect, according to his lawyer.
Investigators allege that Gregory McMichael and his son armed themselves and chased after Arbery in a pickup truck bearing a vanity plate of a Confederate flag. Bryan allegedly joined the pursuit and, according to prosecutors, attempted to use his truck to block Arbery’s path.
Travis McMichael is also expected to claim self-defense, arguing the use of deadly force was justified when Arbery violently resisted a citizens’ arrest under a law that existed at the time. The pre-Civil War-era law that was repealed in May primarily due to the Arbery killing gave civilians the power to arrest someone they “reasonably suspected” of trying to escape from a felony.
Bryan recorded a cellphone video of the confrontation that partly caught Travis McMichael shooting Arbery during a struggle and is expected to be the key evidence prosecutors plan to present at trial.
Bryan’s lawyer claims he was just a witness to the incident, but prosecutors alleged he was an active participant. Prosecutors also allege that Bryan told investigators he overheard Travis McMichael yell a racial slur at Arbery as he lay dying in the street, an allegation the younger McMichael denies.
Since Arbery’s killing, the case has frequently been in the national spotlight as protesters took to the streets for weeks to demand the suspects be arrested and as two district attorneys recused themselves.
Former Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson, the first prosecutor to get the case and who once had a working relationship with Gregory McMichael, was indicted in September on a felony count of violating her oath of office by allegedly “showing favor and affection” to Gregory McMichael and a misdemeanor count of hindering a law enforcement officer. Johnson, who lost a reelection bid in November 2020, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Patti LaBelle, who has suffered from diabetes for over 25 years, is speaking to Congress on Thursday in conjunction with National Diabetes Awareness Month to advocate for better access to care for people with Type 2 diabetes.
“Diabetes is often invisible to everyone except those living with it, so we need to make it visible and help people access the care and technology they deserve,” the “On My Own” singer says in a statement.
LaBelle is joining the Diabetes Leadership Council for a virtual event that will convene policymakers, advocates and healthcare professionals to explore how disparities in diabetes caregiving and technology access impact vulnerable communities, especially in communities of color.
In an Instagram video, the 77-year-old icon revealed she discovered she had diabetes after falling during a concert in the 1990s in Albany, New York. “The stage was moving around, so I passed out, but I thought was I dizzy,” Patti recalls. “I was rushed to the hospital and the doctor came and said you’re type 2 diabetic.”
For those who try to hide the illness, the two-time Grammy winner says, “My advice to those who are shamed of saying they’re diabetic is that you’re crazy. Say it and live with it and smile. I have diabetes, but diabetes does not have me.”
The “Diabetes Technology: Disparities, Access, Equity” event with Congress, featuring Patti, can be viewed this Thursday, November 4, at 12 p.m ET/ 90 a.m. PT, on The Hill website.
On December 1 at 10 p.m. Eastern time, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia returns on FXX after a two-year hiatus, and with it comes a trip into the history books.
The episode will make the bawdy, beloved comedy series the longest-running live-action comedy series in television history, bypassing — most ironically — the genteel sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet.
According to the network, the debut will see the gang from Paddy’s Pub “at a crossroads in this strange, new world.”
The announcement continues, “In the seismic wake of Covid-19 and all things 2020…the rules are changing quicker than anyone can keep up with, despite herculean efforts from Mac (Rob McElhenney), Charlie (Charlie Day), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Dee (Kaitlin Olson) and Frank (Danny DeVito) to continue business as usual.”
FXX teases, “Now, they must face the music and decide who they’ll become in the cultural upheaval that is 2021. Across the span of eight episodes — and the Atlantic Ocean — we find them answer in a way only they could think to.”
(NEW YORK) — Voters in New Jersey headed to the polls on Tuesday to weigh in on Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s reelection bid. New Jersey and Virginia were the only two states with a gubernatorial election in an off year, and all eyes were on them as the first official test for President Joe Biden at the ballot box.
But as of 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the New Jersey governor’s race was still too close to call.
Murphy and former member of the state assembly Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee, were swapping leads in early vote totals, but as heavily-Democratic counties processed mail-in ballots Wednesday afternoon, Murphy widened his lead over Ciattarelli. Still, vote totals remained outstanding.
Leading up to the election, Murphy comfortably led in public polling, but the race was still seen as a referendum on Biden’s agenda.
Democrats nationwide have attempted to equate all Republicans with former President Donald Trump, but Republicans deployed that same tactic as they tied Democrats to Biden, whose poll numbers began to sink over the summer with the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the spread of the delta variant and congressional negotiations over his agenda.
National Democrats, while more concerned with Virginia, swung through New Jersey to stump for Murphy, as well. He’s hosted former President Barack Obama, First lady Jill Biden and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Although New Jersey is reliable for Democrats when it comes to presidential and Senate elections, if he wins, Murphy would be the first Democratic governor reelected by New Jerseyans in more than 40 years.
Counties are colored red or blue when the % expected vote reporting reaches a set threshold. This threshold varies by state and is based on patterns of past vote reporting and expectations about how the vote will report this year.
Maynard James Keenan has announced the premiere of a previously unreleased film called A Curmudgeon’s Guide to Divine Collisions and Pythagorean Oenology.
The ornately titled special captures a 2016 live event during the Tool/A Perfect Circle/Puscifer frontman’s tour in support of his book A Perfect Union of Contrary Things, which was released that year.
A Curmudgeon’s Guide is set to premiere November 12 alongside the launch of Puscifer TV, an online library of the band’s filmed performances and projects available for on-demand rent and purchase.
Other titles so far announced for Puscifer TV include the group’s 2020 and 2021 streaming concerts, as well as their 2013 live release What Is…Puscifer.
You can check out a trailer for the film at the band’s official YouTube channel.
