(SEOUL, South Korea) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has seemed to have lost 44 pounds in the past two years, according to South Korean lawmakers who were briefed by the country’s intelligence agency in a closed-door meeting.
The massive weight loss has prompted rumors and conspiracies that North Korea was using a Kim Jong Un body double, which South Korea said is untrue.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service conducted the assessment “based on various scientific methods including artificial intelligence” using super-resolution video analysis and a stereometry analysis model that gauges facial fat and weight, Rep. Kim Byung-Kee of the ruling Democratic Party told reporters.
Kim’s often-reported health problems do not pose any serious issues, South Korea said. The analysis also concluded that the conspiracy theories suggesting North Korea may have been exposing a Kim Jong Un look-alike are not credible.
The most noticeable change was the disappearance of the official portraits of his father and grandfather, former leaders Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, from the main walls of official meetings. Instead, the communist regime religiously hung the two portraits in all public areas and individual homes.
“Kim seems to have been working on building a people-friendly image by releasing photos of him drinking beer and smoking together with high-level officials,” Byung-Kee said.
Kim has been more active in public appearances this year compared to the year before. So far, he has been seen through North Korean state media for a total of 70 days in 2021. In contrast, he appeared 49 times during the same time in 2020.
One soon-to-be-wed couple not only enjoyed a nice sunny day for their beachside nuptials — they also received the surprise of their life when actor Tom Hanks crashed their ceremony.
Diciembre and Tashia Farries tell KTTV they were exchanging vows on Santa Monica beach in California when the actor unexpectedly walked up to congratulate the happy couple and their one-year-old son, who was also part of the big moment.
The Farries recall Hanks telling them their nuptials were beautiful and that he had been admiring their ceremony from afar. The actor also asked to take a photo with the couple, telling them he thought they were beautiful.
Tashia, who works as a private celebrity chef, said she was shocked by Hanks’ arrival, even though her job has her working with big-name stars.
However, it was Diciembre who discovered there may have been a special reason why the 65-year-old actor felt compelled to say hello. They told the outlet that their brother had tragically passed away, so they placed his photo on one of the chairs so he could still be part of the moment.
When talking with the actor, Diciembre learned both Hanks and their brother were born on July 9. They told the outlet, “It was like that was a message that he was there!”
Following last Thursday’s deadly accidental shooting involving Alec Baldwin on the set of the film Rust, the actor’s daughter, Ireland Baldwin, has broken her silence.
“Amongst some of the most abhorrent and threatening comments, emails, text messages, and voicemails I’ve been getting… this beautiful comment stands alone. I know my dad, you simply don’t. I love you, Dad,” Ireland shared Wednesday on Instagram, along with a user’s memory of her dad that portrayed him as an unpretentious actor and loving father.
The comment read, “So about a million years ago I was working in the production office in Toronto of the company that was making the Thomas the Tank Engine movie that he did. I’d dealt with typing up some pretty goofy celebrity riders in my day but NOT your dads.”
“He only wanted to make sure he had milk and cereal in his hotel room for when his daughter was visiting. That was it. That was the whole rider. I’ll always remember that,” the woman concluded.
Ireland previously announced that she will be stepping away from social media while her family deals with the tragedy.
Last week, while rehearsing a scene on the set of Rust, Baldwin fired a pistol allegedly containing a live round or other projectile that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. The incident is currently under investigation.
(WASHINGTON) — In a last-minute push before heading overseas, President Joe Biden headed to Capitol Hill Thursday morning to try to get all Democrats behind his social spending and climate policy agenda.
On a call with reporters, senior administration officials laid out the framework of a $1.75 trillion social spending package President Biden will present to House Democrats, including skeptical progressives.
“The president believes this framework will earn the support of all 50 Democratic senators, and pass the House,” an administration official said.
Biden pulled up to the Capitol shortly after 9 a.m., flanked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, responding only with “It’s a good day” to a reporter asking what his message is to House progressives who don’t trust Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema who have been holdouts throughout the extended and often chaotic bargaining.
As he headed to the closed-door meeting, ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott asked, “Mister President, do you have a deal?” but Biden merely waved and said “How are you? Good to see you all.”
When reporters started shouting, “Do you think you have enough of a framework to get progressives to support the infrastructure bill?” Biden responded “Yes.”
The White House said he would give the nation an update on his domestic agenda before his international trip in a speech from the White House East Room at 11:30 a.m., saying he is “delivering” on his promises to rebuild the middle class.
“After hearing input from all sides and negotiating in good faith with Senators Manchin and Sinema, Congressional Leadership, and a broad swath of Members of Congress, President Biden is announcing a framework for the Build Back Better Act,” said a White House statement that notably did not say he had an agreement.
“President Biden is confident this is a framework that can pass both houses of Congress, and he looks forward to signing it into law. He calls on Congress to take up this historic bill – in addition to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – as quickly as possible,” the statement said.
The White House said, “the framework will save most American families more than half of their spending on child care, deliver two years of free preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old in America, give more than 35 million families a major tax cut by extending the expanded Child Tax Credit, and expand access to high-quality home care for older Americans and people with disabilities.”
The Child Tax Credit expansion, which Biden has proposed extending until 2025, would now be only until the end of 2022. Paid family and medical leave, which Biden had originally proposed be 12 weeks and then scaled back to four weeks, appeared to have been dropped altogether after Manchin objected, despite progressives fighting back. Two free years of community college that Biden had promised is not included.
It also claimed it represents “the largest effort to combat climate change in American history” and “the biggest expansion of affordable health care coverage in a decade,” saying it would “reduce premiums for more than 9 million Americans by extending the expanded Premium Tax Credit, deliver health care coverage to up to 4 million uninsured people in states that have locked them out of Medicaid, and help older Americans access affordable hearing care by expanding Medicare.”
An expansion of Medicare to cover dental and vision, a top priority of Sen. Bernie Sanders, is not in the framework.
And, the White House said, “it is fully paid for … by making sure that large, profitable corporations can’t zero out their tax bills, no longer rewarding corporations that shift jobs and profits overseas, asking more from millionaires and billionaires, and stopping rich Americans from cheating on their tax bills.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
After years of stardom, Paul McCartney says he finds giving out autographs “a bit strange,” and he won’t be doing them for fans anymore.
According to Louder Sound, in an interview with Reader’s Digest, the former Beatles legend explained, “It always struck me as a bit strange. ‘Here, can I write your name down on the back of this till receipt please?’ Why? We both know who I am.”
McCartney, 79, feels similarly about taking photos with fans, adding, “What you’ve usually got is a ropey photo with a poor backdrop and me looking a bit miserable.”
So what would he like instead? “Let’s chat, let’s exchange stories,” he shared.
Now, that doesn’t mean McCartney is opposed to greeting fans, he would just simply prefer to focus on actually connecting with them though conversation instead.
After years of stardom, Paul McCartney says he finds giving out autographs “a bit strange.”
According to Louder Sound, in an interview with Reader’s Digest, the Beatles member explained, “It always struck me as a bit strange. ‘Here, can I write your name down on the back of this till receipt please?’ Why? We both know who I am.”
McCartney, 79, feels similarly about taking photos, adding, “What you’ve usually got is a ropey photo with a poor backdrop and me looking a bit miserable.”
So what would he like instead? “Let’s chat, let’s exchange stories,” he shared.
Now, that doesn’t mean McCartney is opposed to greeting fans, he would just simply prefer to focus on actually connecting with them though conversation instead.
(NEW YORK) — Young people everywhere are giving themselves lip filler using DIY methods seen on TikTok, and medical professionals want it to stop.
The popularity of lip filler has been on the rise for years, much thanks to celebrities like Kylie Jenner, who constantly promote the plump lip look. But because the beauty trend has become so common and the procedure so accessible, many people seem to have forgotten that it is, in fact, still a medical procedure that must be taken seriously.
“The omnipresence of medically-enhanced and Instagram filter-enhanced lips and other body parts on social media has led to a false perception that the procedures are easy to perform and carry no risk at all,” said Dr. Dmitry Schwarzburg, M.D., of New York City-based clinic Skinly Aesthetics.
Over the past two years, as people — possibly bored in quarantine during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — spent more time on TikTok and Instagram, interest in and conversation around DIY filler and Botox treatments spiked. The hyaluron pen, for example, which can be purchased on Amazon or Etsy, has become one of the most popular tools to self-administer filler, thanks to social media. TikTok even has a #hyaluronpen hashtag where one can find over 65 million videos of people using or speaking about the pen.
Though at first glance, the tool does seem to work, Schwarzburg said it can cause life-threatening issues, or at the very least long-term damage to the lips. Unlike many other cosmetic procedures, it is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
“The hyaluron pen device essentially forces hyaluronic acid into the lips through the skin with very intense pressure,” he said. “This results in severe bruising, uneven distribution, lumping, and can cause severe and permanent tissue damage and potential for tissue infarction, secondary to obstruction of the blood vessels.”
He added that dermal filler, if desired, should only be applied with a needle, by a trained medical professional, using an approved substance.
Schwarzburg said he believes TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are responsible for the recent popularity of the hyaluron pen, and that unfortunately, many millennial and Gen Z users have bought into it, as they believe it means they can get their cosmetic procedure done at home, without a doctor, for a much lower price. At a reputable clinic, lip filler can cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, whereas a hyaluron pen goes for as little as $40 through an online vendor — a fact that matters greatly to many, especially those who’ve lost financial stability during the pandemic and are looking to take the cheaper route when it comes to their cosmetic procedures.
But medical professionals are advising people not to take a more dangerous, though inexpensive, route when it comes to fillers.
Stephanie Magana, 26, visited Skinly Aesthetics to get her lip filler dissolved after a different clinic used the hyaluron pen on her and left her with what she described as “white bumps all over my lips.”
She said she found the clinic on Instagram, and though “some of the results didn’t look so bad,” but as soon as the aesthetician administered the filler through the pen, she said she saw her lips swell up, bruise and develop strange bumps.
The clinic she went to did not answer ABC News’ request for comment.
“You don’t really think about it as being as scary, because it’s a pen,” she said, explaining that she chose to try out the pen because she initially thought it was safer and less invasive than a syringe.
After more than a week, with the bumps still not gone, Magana went to Schwarzburg, who dissolved the existing filler and injected her with FDA-approved Juvederm, to give her her desired results.
Schwarzburg said Magana is just one of many patients who’ve come to him this year with “botched filler” caused by unexperienced injectors.
What exactly is filler, and is it safe?
Fillers are often biodegradable substances that can be injected into or just below the skin. Hyaluronic acid — which is what most lip fillers are made up of — is a polysaccharide that is naturally produced by the body, and the filler works because when injected into the lip, it absorbs water from the body, “like a dry sponge thrown into water, which then creates volume and focal sterile inflammation,” Schwarzburg said.
Juvederm Ultra, Juvederm Voluma, Restylane Lyft and Revanesse tend to give more volume to the injected area, according to Schwarzburg, while Juvederm Volbella, Restylane Kysse, RHA fillers and Belotero are more subtle in their volume creation. These types of FDA-approved fillers are all often used by trained professionals to achieve volume in the lips and face.
“If injected properly, they essentially have a 100% safety profile,” Schwarzburg said, adding that some people can develop an allergy to the product, but that is rare and true of any injectable. Correctly administered fillers tend to last 6-15 months.
“As far as the technical aspect is concerned, the most dreaded complication is vascular occlusion, if the filler is inadvertently injected into one of the smaller branches of the facial artery, which if left unnoticed would lead to tissue necrosis, scarring and deformation,” Schwarzburg said, that’s why it’s so important that if a person is looking to get lip filler, they go to a trained expert who understands the human anatomy and the depths of the injections.
The qualifications of who can inject a patient with lip filler vary by country and by state, but in New York, doctors, physician assistants and nurses under the supervision of a doctor can legally administer it, Schwarzburg said.
Earlier this month, the FDA issued a warning about the use of the hyaluron pens.
“Today, the FDA is warning the public and health care professionals not to use needle-free devices such as hyaluron pens for injection of hyaluronic acid or other lip and facial fillers, collectively and commonly referred to as dermal fillers or fillers,” their statement, published on their website, reads. “Patients and healthcare providers should know that FDA has not approved any dermal fillers for over-the-counter sale for at-home use or for use with needle-free injection devices. These unapproved needle-free devices and fillers are often sold directly to customers online, bypassing consultation with a licensed health care provider, a critical safety measure for patients to make informed decisions about their personal health.”
It also said it is monitoring online platforms promoting these devices.
“We also want patients and providers to be vigilant by understanding which products have been approved by the FDA and the dangers of using unapproved products, some of which may be irreversible,” they said. “The FDA will continue to alert the public and take additional actions as necessary in order to protect public health.”
How to put a stop to this trend
Schwarzburg said that while he and other medical professionals are glad millennials are helping destigmatize safe cosmetic medicine by opening up about their experiences and procedures on social media, that openness has unfortunately also helped spread misinformation about the field as a whole, and essentially caused this potentially risky DIY filler trend.
The solution? Do your research, read the FDA guidelines, don’t take the cheap route when it comes to altering your appearance and don’t fall for the fake doctors who make these kinds of procedures appear safer and easier than an actual medical procedure, Schwarzburg said.
“I don’t think that this trend will last very long, as eventually people will come to realize that the whole thing is a dangerous scam, similar to the suction lip enhancements or suction butt enhancements that were trendy a few years ago, that are now joked about on the internet due to the ridiculous results that people were getting,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — A woman from New York is suing The Kellogg Company for $5 million because she says the company’s Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts product doesn’t have enough strawberries in its filling.
Elizabeth Russett filed a class-action lawsuit on Oct. 19 with lawyer Spencer Sheehan against Kellogg’s for falsely advertising the contents of its pastry.
“The strawberry representations are misleading because the Product has less strawberries than consumers expect based on the labeling,” the lawsuit says.
“The amount of strawberry ingredients is insufficient not merely to provide the nutrient benefits of strawberries but to provide a strawberry taste.”
The lawsuit asks for $5 million in damages under the Class Action Fairness Act and a jury trial, claiming that customers wouldn’t have purchased the treats repeatedly had they known it had fewer strawberries than expected. Russett is joined by three other plaintiffs — Illinois’ Stacy Chiappetta and Anita Harris and New York’s Kelvin Brown — who are also represented by Sheehan.
Despite its name, the Whole Grain Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts’ box states the pastries have less than 2% of pears, apples and strawberries with dried pears and dried apples listed before dried strawberries. The product is described on the company’s website as having “sweet frosting decorated with rainbow sprinkles and filled with strawberry-flavored goodness.”
“The Product’s common or usual name of ‘ Whole Grain Frosted Strawberry Toaster Pastries,’ is false, deceptive, and misleading, because it contains mostly non-strawberry fruit ingredients,” Russett’s lawsuit says.
The plaintiff also takes issue with the absence of information regarding artificial flavoring and added coloring on the front label and marketing materials.
Kellogg’s said in a statement to ABC News: “While we don’t comment on pending litigation, we can tell you the ingredients in and labeling of all of our Pop-Tart products fully comply with all legal requirements.”
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 4.9 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 740,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 67.3% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Oct 27, 6:43 pm
New York City braces for possible mandate-related reduction in fire, EMS service
New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said Wednesday he’s preparing to make major operational changes next week as significant portion of the city’s firefighters and EMS personnel haven’t complied with the city’s vaccine mandate.
“We will use all means at our disposal, including mandatory overtime, mutual aid from other EMS providers, and significant changes to the schedules of our members,” he said in a statement.
The mandate for all New York City public employees will go into effect at the end of day Friday. The FDNY said that 65% of its members were vaccinated as of Wednesday.
An FDNY official told ABC News that by Monday fire and ambulance services could be reduced by as much as 20%.
FDNY leadership has held virtual meetings with uniformed staff explaining the vaccine mandate and imploring them to comply, and will continue doing so throughout the week, the official said.
Oct 27, 3:29 pm
CDC advisers to vote Nov. 2 on pediatric vaccines
The CDC’s independent advisors plan to discuss and hold a non-binding vote on the recommendations for the pediatric vaccine on Nov. 2.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky will likely endorse those recommendations for 5 to 11-year-olds following the vote that day.
Vaccinations can start as soon as Walensky sends out final recommendations.
Meanwhile, the FDA’s decision to authorize the pediatric vaccine is expected in the coming days.
Oct 27, 10:22 am
Nearly two-thirds of Americans have had at least 1 vaccine dose
Nearly two-thirds of all Americans — 220 million people — have had at least one vaccine dose, according to federal data.
But 111 million Americans remain completely unvaccinated, including about 48 million children under the age of 12, who are not yet eligible to get the shot.
National metrics continue to fall, according to federal data. About 51,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, down from 104,000 patients at the end of August
Deaths are are trending down, though numbers remain quite high at over 1,100 fatalities each day.
(WASHINGTON) — A proposal to levy a new tax code on America’s ultra-wealthy has sent shockwaves through the nation’s capital and beyond on Wednesday, as lawmakers struggle to reach an agreement over how to pay for President Joe Biden’s trillion-dollar Build Back Better initiative.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Wednesday morning unveiled a scheme dubbed the “Billionaires Income Tax,” which would tax capital gains on the unsold assets of billionaires — such as stocks — and significantly impact some of the nation’s wealthiest people, such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Musk, whose net worth is currently $287 billion per Bloomberg’s real-time data on billionaires, signaled on Twitter that he opposes the proposal.
“Eventually, they run out of other people’s money and then they come for you,” Musk wrote in response to a tweet featuring a templated letter opponents can send to their congressperson. The letter says that although holdings in 401(k) plans are excluded, the proposal takes tax hikes “a step closer to imposing unrealized capital gains tax on the average investor.”
As the wealthiest man in the world, however, Musk is far from the average investor, and has seen his net worth increase by some $117 billion in 2021 alone, per Bloomberg’s count.
While the proposal has garnered backing from the White House, it has already divided Washington, with some critics calling it unconstitutional, convoluted or unfairly targeting a specific group of people who have contributed to America’s economic growth.
Wyden and proponents, meanwhile, say it will help ensure the billionaires pay their fair share of taxes after reports that some of the richest 1% of Americans have legally avoided paying taxes on their wealth gains despite their net worths increasing dramatically — and at a time of massive wealth inequality in the U.S. that experts have said is exacerbated by America’s tax codes being tilted in favor of the wealthy.
Though it currently faces an uphill battle in implementation, here is what to know about the proposed billionaires’ income tax.
Who would be hit with the new tax?
The new tax would apply to roughly 700 taxpayers, according to a statement from Wyden’s office, or those with more than $100 million in annual income or more than $1 billion in assets for three consecutive years. With a population of 328 million, this means the new tax would impact less than 0.001% of Americans.
The wealth of billionaires tends to be more tied up in stocks compared to working-class Americans. The wealthiest 1% of households in the U.S. own more than half of all the publicly traded stock in the market, according to Federal Reserve data, and the bottom 50% own less than 1%.
Recent investigative reports, including a bombshell leak of tax documents to the nonprofit news organization ProPublica earlier this year, have found that the ultra-wealthy use legal loopholes to avoid paying taxes on their wealth gains — such as keeping their reported income, and thus income taxes, to just a fraction of what their net worth actually is. Musk, for example, earned a base salary of $0 at Tesla in 2020, according to SEC filings.
The ProPublica report found that while the median American household paid 14% of their income in federal taxes, the wealthiest 25 Americans had an average so-called “true tax rate” of 3.4% of the amount their wealth grew each year between 2014 and 2018.
Wyden alluded to this divide, saying that the Billionaires Income Tax would ensure “billionaires pay tax every year, just like working Americans.”
“There are two tax codes in America,” Wyden said in a statement accompanying his proposal on Wednesday. “The first is mandatory for workers who pay taxes out of every pay check. The second is voluntary for billionaires who defer paying taxes for years, if not indefinitely.”
How does it work?
Under current tax codes, if the value of stocks rises it can lead to swift, multimillion dollar gains in the net worth of the nation’s wealthiest individuals — but they don’t have to pay taxes on these wealth gains unless they sell the stocks.
Wyden’s proposal would ask billionaires to pay an annual tax on gains or take deductions for losses whether they sell the stocks or not.
“The way the system works today is that if you make a profit on assets that you hold, they’re worth more at the end of the year than the beginning. You don’t pay tax unless you sell those assets,” Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told ABC News on Wednesday.
“There are trillions of dollars in increased value of assets that simply go untaxed,” Gleckman added. “And that is one big reason for the income inequality, and the fact that the rich have gotten so much richer.”
Non-tradable assets like real estate or business interests would not be taxed annually, but when billionaires sell or transfer these non-tradable assets, they would pay a capital gains tax in addition to an interest charge that Wyden’s office labels as akin to interest charged on deferred tax.
The interest charge — or “deferral recapture amount,” as Wyden is calling it, would be the amount of interest that would be due on tax owed if the asset had been marked to market each year and the tax had been deferred until sale. The interest rate applied would be 1.22%, per Wyden’s office, or the applicable federal short term rate (currently 0.22%) plus one percentage point.
The proposal contains rules to help smooth the transition, such as being able to treat up to $1 billion of tradable stock in a single corporation as a non-tradable asset. It would also let billionaires elect to pay tax over five years the first time the billionaires’ tradable assets are marked to market.
The full, 107-page text of the tax proposal can be found here.
Gleckman said he sees potential issues arising if a major asset goes down in value and are calculated as losses by billionaires, and because of the potential for confusion over the valuation of privately held, non-tradable assets.
“The bottom line, the 30,000-foot level, this is a very interesting idea but it is very hard to administer,” Gleckman said. “This is not a wealth tax, but it has some of the common administrative problems of a wealth tax — the biggest being it’s hard to value the assets of rich people.”
Is it constitutional?
A legal challenge likely looms if the proposal is enacted, and critics have already questioned the constitutionality of taxing unrealized or unsold capital gains.
Under current law, the government has the power to tax “income” due to the 16th Amendment, but new wealth gains are only classified as income when they are realized or sold, not simply held. The Supreme Court in 1920 ruled that stock dividends did not become taxable as income until they were sold or converted.
This definition of income has benefits to working- and middle-class Americans, as they do not have to pay taxes on retirement savings such as their 401(k)s when they increase in value until they cash out.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki, however, signaled that they believe the new tax has legal footing.
When asked about the questionable constitutionality of the tax, Psaki said, “We’re not going to support anything we don’t think is legal.”
“The president supports the billionaire tax,” she added. “He looks forward to working with Congress and Chairman Wyden to make sure the highest income Americans pay their fair share.”
In a statement to ABC News, Wyden defended his proposal from critics, saying, “Entire sections of the tax code are unconstitutional if this is unconstitutional.”
“I can’t imagine the Supreme Court wants to give the wealthiest people on earth billions in tax cuts, particularly at a time when so many Americans are losing faith in the Supreme Court,” he added.
