In an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America, Britney Spears‘ sister Jamie Lynn Spears insists that contrary to what Britney has implied, she did, in fact, support the superstar singer during her conservatorship, which Britney called “abusive.”
“I’ve always been my sister’s biggest supporter,” Jamie Lynn told ABC News’ Juju Chang in an interview to promote her memoir Things I Should Have Said. “So when she needed help, I set up ways to do so. Went out of my way to make sure that she had the contacts she needed to possibly go ahead and end this conservatorship and just end this all for our family. If it’s going to cause this much discord, why continue it?”
“Everyone has a voice, and it should be heard,” she continued, adding that she even spoke to her sister’s previous legal team and it “did not end well” for her. Jamie Lynn said she took the steps to help, but it was up to Britney to “walk through the door.”
In her book, out January 18, Jamie Lynn describes Britney’s behavior before the conservatorship as “erratic,” “paranoid” and “spiraling.” And now? Jamie Lynn says “can’t really speak to anyone else’s state of mind.”
Britney’s conservatorship was put in place in 2008 and ended this past November, which Jamie Lynn says she was “happy” about. However, she told Chang, “When it was put into place, I was 17 years old. I was about to have a baby, so I didn’t understand what was happening. Nor was I focused on that. I was focused on the fact that I was a 17-year-old about to have a baby. I understand just as little about it then as I do now.”
And while Britney currently seems to have issues with Jamie Lynn and the rest of her family, Jamie Lynn told Chang, “That love is still there. 100%. I love my sister.”
She added, “I’ve only ever loved and supported her and done what’s right by her, and she knows that, so I don’t know why we’re in this position right now.”
Meanwhile, Britney is hinting she may write a memoir of her own. On Instagram, she posted a photo of an old-fashioned typewriter and captioned it, “Shall I start from THE BEGINNING???”
Dexter: New Blood has become the most-watched series in Showtime’s history, averaging more than six million viewers a week across its 10-episode run, according to Variety. Additionally, the season finale brought in three million viewers in its Sunday debut, making it the biggest Showtime finale in more than eight years. The final episode of the Dexter sequel, starring Michael C. Hall, also surpassed the previous record-holder, Homeland season three’s finale from 2013, as well as setting a record for Showtime with two million of the finale’s viewers coming from streaming and on-demand platforms…
ABC has picked up Station 19 for a sixth season, the network announced on Tuesday. The news comes just one day after its parent show, Grey’s Anatomy, was renewed for a 19th season. Station 19, which follows a group of heroic Seattle firefighters as they put their lives and hearts on the line, stars Jaina Lee Ortiz, Jason George, Boris Kodjoe, Grey Damon, Barrett Doss, Jay Hayden, Okieriete Onaodowan, Danielle Savre and Miguel Sandoval. Station 19 airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC…
Huzzah! Hulu has renewed The Great for a 10-episode third season. The series, from The Favourite writer Tony McNamara, stars Elle Fanning as the fiercely feminist Catherine the Great, who plots to overthrow her petulant husband, Emperor Peter III of Russia, played by Nicholas Hoult. Season two, which picks up with Catherine about to take her place on the throne, debuted on Hulu this past November…
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Suicide Squad star Viola Davis is in talks to star in the original Amazon drama Two Butterflies, according to Deadline. The plot follows two estranged sisters who are torn apart by tragedy and forced to reunite when one sister must be transported to an Alzheimer’s facility. Davis also serves as a co-producer on the project…
Two men have been taken into police custody in connection with the November shooting death of rapper Young Dolph in Memphis, Tennessee.
Justin Johnson, 23, was captured on Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Marshals Service said, nearly a week after law enforcement announced he was wanted by police in connection with a number of alleged charges, including first-degree murder, criminal attempted first-degree murder and property theft.
A second suspect was indicted by a grand jury on Tuesday on first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of the Memphis rapper, said Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich.
Cornelius Smith, 32, was indicted on additional charges of attempted first-degree murder, convicted felon in possession of a firearm, employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony and property theft. He is being held without bond.
Young Dolph’s brother, who was with the rapper when he was killed, is the victim in the attempted murder count.
Smith was arrested on Dec. 9 in Southaven on an auto-theft warrant involving the white Mercedes Benz vehicle that was used in the killing of Young Dolph, the U.S. Marshals Service said. The vehicle was taken in a carjacking on Nov. 10 at a gas station and was found on Nov. 20 — three days after the murder — behind a home in Orange Mound, where a tipster said it was abandoned.
Young Dolph, whose given name was Adolph Robert Thornton Jr., was shot and killed in Memphis on Nov. 17 while visiting Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies, a bakery in South Memphis that the rapper was known to frequent. He was 36.
(WASHINGTON) — The latest government data on inflation indicates consumer prices are continuing their rapid rise as pandemic-battered supply chains struggle to keep up with rebounding consumer demand.
The consumer price index — a measure of the prices Americans pay for a market basket of everyday goods and services — jumped 7% over the last 12 months, the Labor Department said Wednesday. This marks the largest one-year increase since the period ending in June 1982, the DOL noted.
The so-called core index, or measure for all items except the more volatile food and energy indices, climbed 5.5% over the last year — the largest 12-month change since February 1991. The core index spiked 0.6% in December, building on the 0.5% increase seen in November.
The energy index alone rose a whopping 29.3% over the last year (driven hikes in the gas index), and the food index increased 6.3%.
Steep climbs in the prices for shelter and used cars and trucks were the largest contributors driving up the all items index in December, the DOL said, but the indexes for household furnishings, apparel, new vehicles and medical care also increased in December. The indexes for motor vehicle insurance and recreation were among the few to decline last month.
The index climbed 0.5% in December, a slight reprieve from the 0.8% seen in November.
The fresh data comes as economists and policymakers decide how to respond to inflation as data indicates it isn’t going away. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday the Fed is prepared to raise interest rates faster than originally planned to respond to the climbing prices.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(MELBOURNE) — Tennis world No. 1 Novak Djokovic is apologizing for an “error of judgement” related to an in-person interview he conducted last month after being exposed to COVID-19 as he continues to fight to stay in Australia and compete in the first major of the year.
Djokovic, who is tied for first all time with 20 major wins, released a new statement Wednesday midday local time in Melbourne explaining the timeline of several public appearances around when he tested positive for COVID in December — which he says should allow him to compete in the Australian Open despite apparently not being vaccinated.
“I want to address the continuing misinformation about my activities and attendance at events in December leading up to my positive PCR COVID test result,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “This is information which needs to be corrected, particularly in the interest of alleviating broader concern in the community about my presence in Australia, and to address matters which are very hurtful and concerning to my family.”
Djokovic said he attended a basketball game in his home country of Serbia on Dec. 14, where he later found out several people had tested positive for the virus. He took a rapid test two days later, despite no symptoms, and was found to be negative, he wrote. He took a PCR test — which are generally more accurate than rapid tests — “out of an abundance of caution” on the same day.
The next day he took another rapid test that was negative prior to presenting awards to children at a tennis event. Photos from the event show Djokovic on stage presenting the awards to children while not wearing a mask.
He said he was feeling well and did not find out he had tested positive for COVID-19 on the PCR test until after attending the event.
But Djokovic also admitted in Wednesday’s post that he continued on with an interview and photoshoot with the French outlet L’Equipe despite being aware of his positive PCR result and said his attendance was “an error of judgement.”
“I felt obliged to go ahead and conduct the L’Equipe interview as I didn’t want to let the journalist down, but did ensure I socially distanced and wore a mask except when my photograph was being taken,” he wrote. “When I went home after the interview to isolate for the required period, on reflection, this was an error of judgement and I accept that I should have rescheduled this commitment.”
Djokovic was turned away by officials when trying to enter Australia last week, saying the country’s strict COVID restrictions prevented him from competing. Djokovic has been open previously about not getting vaccinated and officials said he did not submit a valid medical excuse to not receive a shot.
But the tennis star won his case in court on Monday to overturn his visa cancellation and began training for the event even as Australian government officials said they were debating whether to use discretionary powers to revoke the defending champion’s visa.
In Wednesday’s statement, Djokovic said someone from his team had incorrectly filled out the form that claimed he had not left Spain for 14 days prior to traveling to Australia — even though a post on Instagram showed him with Serbian handball player Petar Djordjic in their home country on Christmas.
“My agent sincerely apologises for the administrative mistake in ticking the incorrect box about my previous travel before coming to Australia,” Djokovic wrote. “This was a human error and certainly not deliberate. We are living in challenging times in a global pandemic and sometimes these mistakes can occur.”
He said he’d submitted paperwork to the Australian government to clear up the error, a fact reiterated in a statement from Immigration Minister Alex Hawke.
In a statement given Wednesday local time, Hawke told ABC News: “Mr. Djokovic’s lawyers have recently provided lengthy further submissions and supporting documentation said to be relevant to the possible cancellation of Mr Djokovic’s visa. Naturally, this will affect the timeframe for a decision.”
The Australian Open begins on Jan. 17. Djokovic has won the tournament the last three years and nine times overall.
ABC News’ Britt Clennett contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — When the omicron variant first began sweeping the country, there was some hope that because initial studies indicated it was less severe, it would prove to have less of an impact on the health care system.
However, given its increased transmissibility, the unprecedented explosion of cases is proving otherwise, leaving a record 146,000 coronavirus positive patients hospitalized across the country.
The record-smashing omicron surge, right on the heels of the crushing delta surge of the summer and fall, is pushing many overtaxed hospital systems over the edge — systems facing staffing shortages, patients seeking care for non-COVID-related ailments adding to the burden. The increased pressure also comes despite having 62.6% of the country fully vaccinated and an array of treatments at their disposal.
“Even though they say omicron is probably more mild, I don’t think we’re necessarily seeing that with the unvaccinated,” Dr. Raymond Lee Kiser, a hospitalist and nephrologist at Columbus Regional Health in Indiana, told ABC News. “Here in Indiana, this sort of second wave just superimposed right on top of delta.”
Across the state, a record 3,400 COVID-19-positive patients are currently hospitalized. In mid-November, there were already more than 1,100 patients receiving care.
“There was barely time to breathe before omicron rolled right on over top of us. It really is just like a second surge right on top of the last one.”
On average, more than 18,000 virus-positive Americans are being admitted to the hospital each day, a figure which has more than doubled since early December. In addition, approximately 80% of staffed adult intensive care unit beds are occupied, with more than 23,000 Americans with COVID-19 currently requiring ICU-level care.
Health care workers interviewed by ABC News and officials say the vast majority of those who are severely ill are unvaccinated, leading hospital staff to plead for people to get their shots.
‘Very overwhelming’
Echoing many of her colleagues in numerous health care settings, nurse Becky Bevi, at Columbus Regional Health in Indiana told ABC News she is exhausted.
“Two years later, I’m frustrated,” said Bevi, who has staffed her hospital’s main COVID-19 unit since the beginning of the pandemic. “I feel like this should have been zapped in the first year. Just frustration, tired, exhausted from constantly dealing with it, watching death. It’s just so much and I don’t feel like it’s going to go away anytime soon.”
In Wisconsin, nurse Hilary Krieger, said she often feels overwhelmed, given the constant uncertainty that surrounds the virus.
“It’s hard to explain. It’s lonely. It feels very overwhelming at times,” Krieger said.
In the emergency department at Baystate Health, in western Massachusetts, nurse Thomas Mapplebeck, told ABC News that the staff is burned out.
“We’re working 12- to 14-hour shifts on Sundays up to 16-hour shifts. Breaks are minimal and it’s just that busy, and people are just that sick. Some of us are pushing more than 60 hours a week,” Mapplebeck said.
Nationwide, nearly 30% of hospitals, for which data is available, are reporting that they are experiencing a critical staffing shortage.
Mapplebeck shared his harrowing experiences caring for coronavirus patients over the course of the last two years in the hospital’s 20-bed emergency room.
“We have patients of all age brackets with no medical history, unable to breathe, their bodies unable to compensate and overcome their symptoms. For some, we take over their breathing for them, we transport them to the trauma center where despite all efforts, they die,” Mapplebeck said. “We have 40-year-olds that are trying to walk to the bathroom and get short of breath and collapse and they need resuscitation.”
Sicker, faster
Kaila Sizemore, a nurse at Columbus Regional Health, explained that patients appear to be getting sicker, more quickly, compared to previous surges. While the disease was somewhat “more progressive” during the first wave, Sizemore said, now patients suddenly need oxygen and to be transferred to the ICU.
“It’s just how quickly and unexpectedly I think that people change has kind of been hardest for me,” she added.
At Maine’s Northern Light Health, this state’s latest surge is the “worst” the staff has ever seen.
“The numbers are crazy,” said Melissa Vail, assistant vice president of Ambulatory Care Management. “Our staff is scared. I don’t know that we have ever seen anything like this and I don’t know that we will ever see anything like it.”
Northern Light nurse Allison Leary has also been caring for a growing number of COVID-19-positive children.
“It’s challenging taking care of little people … little kids, and it’s sometimes very emotionally draining and intense,” said Leary.
Nationwide, pediatric hospital admissions have surged to a record high, with an average of 830 children admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 each day.
“I’m saddened by the fact that we’re seeing more kids with it now,” Leary said.
Vast majority of those critically ill are unvaccinated
According to health officials, the vast majority of those who are critically ill in the hospitals continue to be the unvaccinated.
“The sickest of the sick that we are seeing now with the patients that are not vaccinated. COVID patients that come in and go home are the ones typically that are vaccinated. They get fluids, medications if needed, and then go home to recuperate,” said Mapplebeck, the nurse from Baystate. “This vaccine doesn’t put an invisible shield around you like a superhero. It’s meant to jumpstart your immune system. So when and if you do become sick with COVID, your body is ready to fight, which gives you a fighting chance.”
Kiser added that he has witnessed a dichotomy between those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated. The course for the vaccinated patients, is much milder, he said, typically only requiring a few days of medications, and often, they are able to go home without any oxygen therapy. In addition, the patients who end up getting transferred from the medical floor to the critical care unit are “almost exclusively” unvaccinated.
“If it weren’t for that group of people … I don’t think we would feel sort of as physically and emotionally crushed as we do right now,” Kiser said.
Mapplebeck, Kiser, of Columbus Regional Health, and others stressed that people should get vaccinated in order to help decrease the number of people who need hospital beds, and give those who are really sick a chance to get the care they truly need.
“Nobody wants to go get a shot, but you know, do this. If you’re not going to do it for yourself. Do it for your community. All the hospitals are just struggling right now. All the health care providers are struggling. We’re all hurting,” pleaded Kiser.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 842,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.6% 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:
Jan 12, 7:56 am
Russia sounds alarm over imminent wave of omicron infections
Russian officials are warning that an omicron-fueled wave of COVID-19 infections will soon hit, amid fears about how deadly a surge of the highly contagious variant — even if milder — might be in a country with a low vaccination rate.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova, who is overseeing the COVID-19 response, and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Wednesday that the situation could be “more critical” than previous waves of infections in Russia — a worrying prospect since earlier waves led to a high number of deaths.
Russia has reported more than 312,000 fatalities from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, the country registered just under 1 million excess deaths in 2021.
The Russian government has said the country will soon see six-figure daily cases. Less than 50% of Russians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, amid widespread reluctance across the nation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has largely tried to downplay the scale of his country’s COVID-19 outbreak, warned Wednesday of the imminent increase in infections. Putin said Russia is “on the threshold of possible new outbreaks.”
Meanwhile, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said the country is at a “turning point,” which will decide how bad the wave will be. Russian authorities are calling for people to take precautions and observe social distancing measures. However, there are relatively few restrictions in most parts of the country.
Denis Logunov, deputy director of Russia’s Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, said Tuesday that the nationwide number of omicron cases is expected to rise considerably in late January and early February. The World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe, Dr. Hans Kluge, also warned Tuesday that omicron is expected to infect more than half of Europe’s population within the next two months.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Jan 12, 5:00 am
US government to send schools millions more COVID-19 tests
As U.S. President Joe Biden vows to keep all schools safely open for full-time in-person learning amid the pandemic, his administration announced Wednesday that it will provide schools with an additional 10 million COVID-19 tests per month.
The federal government will send 5 million more rapid tests and 5 million more lab-based PCR tests to schools nationwide each month, at no cost. The rapid tests will be delivered starting later this month, while the PCR tests will be available immediately. The additional tests every month will allow the country’s schools to “more than double the volume of testing that took place in schools across the nation in November,” according to a fact sheet from the White House.
Moreover, as the Biden administration continues to surge testing sites to hard-hit and high-risk communities, the federal government will also “consider how these sites can support the safe operations of K-12 schools,” the White House said.
The U.S. Department of Education and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also help connect schools with testing providers so they can use money allocated to them last year through the $1.9-trillion COVID-19 stimulus package. Later this week, the CDC will provide new training, resources and materials to help schools implement “test-to-stay” policies, according to the White House.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Jan 12, 4:21 am
West Virginia’s governor says he feels ‘extremely unwell’ after testing positive for COVID-19
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced Tuesday evening that he tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing moderate symptoms.
Justice, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and has received a booster shot, said he has started a course of monoclonal antibody treatment, as recommended by his physicians. Everyone who has been in close contact with the governor over the past few days is being notified. His wife, Cathy Justice, tested negative for the virus on Tuesday evening, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
The governor was scheduled to deliver his State of the State address that night but was forced to do so via a written statement to the West Virginia Legislature instead.
“I feel extremely unwell at this point, and I have no choice but to postpone my State of the State address to the Legislature,” Justice said in a statement Tuesday evening. “I woke up this morning with congestion and a cough. A little while later, I developed a headache and fever, so I decided to get tested right away.”
“The rapid test that I took came back negative, but by the late afternoon, my symptoms were still getting much worse,” he continued. “My blood pressure and heart rate were extremely elevated, and I had a high fever. Finally, my PCR test results this evening confirmed I was positive. Because of all this, I began receiving my antibody treatment and I hope this will lessen these symptoms.”
Jan 12, 3:53 am
‘Most people are going to get COVID,’ FDA head warns
The acting head of the Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday that most people in the United States will contract COVID-19, as the country grapples with record levels of infections and hospitalizations.
“I think it’s hard to process what’s actually happening right now, which is most people are going to get COVID,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting commissioner of the FDA, said while testifying before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. “What we need to do is make sure the hospitals can still function, [and] transportation, you know, other essential services are not disrupted while this happens.”
Spoon has released a new song called “Wild,” which will appear on the band’s upcoming album, Lucifer of the Sofa.
The track is described as a “full-on rock song just made for walking [with] conviction down highways real or imagined.” You can download “Wild” now via digital outlets, and watch its accompanying Western-styled video streaming now on YouTube.
Along with the new tune, Spoon teases the announcement of “new tour details coming later this week.”
“Wild” is the second track to be released from Lucifer on the Sofa, following lead single “The Hardest Cut.” The whole album arrives February 11.
(WASHINGTON) — Tax season will begin early this year and is already forecast to be an especially “frustrating” one, the Internal Revenue Service has warned, as pandemic-era tax changes and staffing limitations squeeze the nation’s tax agency.
The IRS announced that it will begin accepting and processing 2021 tax year returns on Monday, Jan. 24. This date is more than two weeks earlier than the start of last year’s tax season, which the IRS said will allow more time to ensure everything runs smoothly amid the ongoing pandemic and programming changes introduced over the past year, including the Child Tax Credit.
Meanwhile, the deadline to file or request an extension this year is April 18.
“Planning for the nation’s filing season process is a massive undertaking, and IRS teams have been working non-stop these past several months to prepare,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a statement.
“The pandemic continues to create challenges, but the IRS reminds people there are important steps they can take to help ensure their tax return and refund don’t face processing delays,” Rettig added.
Some of the steps Americans can take include filing electronically and receiving their refund via direct deposit, Rettig said, and he also urged those who received an Economic Impact Payment or advance Child Tax Credit last year to pay extra attention when filing to ensure all forms are accurate in order to avoid delays. The IRS said that people who received these tax credits for children or stimulus payments in 2021 will need the amounts of these payments when preparing their tax returns. The IRS is mailing letters to recipients and they can also check amounts received on the IRS website.
People can still file 2021 returns even if they are awaiting the processing of previous tax returns, the IRS added.
Finally, Rettig urged that filers “should make sure they report the correct amount on their tax return to avoid delays.”
The tax agency encouraged people to seek out online resources (such as information available on IRS.gov) before calling the IRS, saying that as a result of pandemic-era tax changes and challenges, the IRS phone systems received more than 145 million calls between Jan. 1 and May 17 of last year — representing over four times more calls than in an average year.
The IRS commissioner warned Americans to expect some snags or delays this year, saying the understaffed and underfunded agency is doing the best it can given the challenges of processing over 160 million individual tax returns.
“In many areas, we are unable to deliver the amount of service and enforcement that our taxpayers and tax system deserves and needs. This is frustrating for taxpayers, for IRS employees and for me,” Rettig stated. “IRS employees want to do more, and we will continue in 2022 to do everything possible with the resources available to us. And we will continue to look for ways to improve. We want to deliver as much as possible while also protecting the health and safety of our employees and taxpayers. Additional resources are essential to helping our employees do more in 2022 — and beyond.”
Overall, the IRS said it anticipates most taxpayers will receive their refunds within 21 days of when they file electronically — if they choose the direct deposit option and there are no issues with their return. The agency recommends against filing paper returns whenever possible to avoid delays and to get refunds faster, adding that the average refund last year was some $2,800.
Trey Songz is denying allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman by the name of Dylan Gonzalez.
A rep for the R&B crooner tells TMZ, “Trey and his team are confident in the legal process and that there will be an abundance of exonerating information to come over the next few weeks.”
The response comes after Gonzalez, an artist and former University of Nevada Las Vegas basketball player, accused Trey of rape, and follows two separate previous allegations of sexual assault against the “Bottoms Up” singer that emerged in November and December of last year.
Taking to Twitter Tuesday, Gonzalez issued a statement showing support for other victims alongside the hashtag “BeStrongNotSilent.”
“With what seems like endlessly reoccurring news of the alleged sexual assaults committed by Trey Songz, I am forced to repeatedly relive in my mind, and suffer anew, the long-suppressed horror and unbearable PTSD of my rape by his very hands at a well known Las Vegas hotel,” she wrote.
“I want to send my love, strength, and hope to all who are victims of sexual assault and its fatal nature. You are not alone,” the athlete continued. “I stand with you and encourage all those who have suffered abuse to speak out and come forward. Suppression of our voices only emboldens our oppressors, and you cannot heal what you do not reveal.”
Gonzalez then requested “privacy, consideration and compassion while I fully commit to pursue the best course of action and all of my legal options” and directed all further inquiries to her attorney George Vrabeck.
Gonzalez’s statement comes after she sent a New Year’s Eve tweet with the initial accusation, “Trey Songz is a rapist. Lord forgive me I Couldn’t hold that in another year. “See you in 2022.”
Details regarding when the incident occurred were not disclosed.
