Dave Grohl and company now have a total of 14 top-10 hits on the Rock & Alternative Airplay ranking, which measures radio airplay across rock and alternative formatted stations. That breaks what was previously a three-way tie for the most top-10s on the 12-year-old chart with Twenty One Pilots and Cage the Elephant, who both have 13.
The Foos earned the record thanks to their song “Love Dies Young,” the fourth and current single off the band’s 2021 album, Medicine at Midnight. Each of the record’s previous three singles — “Shame Shame,” “Waiting on a War” and “Making a Fire” — also hit the top 10 on Rock & Alternative Airplay.
In addition to breaking Billboard records, Foo Fighters’ 2022 — or, as one might call it, 202Foo — includes returning to the road in continued support of Medicine at Midnight, as well as the premiere of Studio 666, a new horror-comedy film starring all of the band members.
In related news, it was just announced that the Foos will appear on the upcoming Jim Henson Company series Fraggle Rock: Rock to the Rock, set to premiere January 21 on Apple TV+.
Ronnie Wood, Kenney Jones & Rod Stewart in 2020; Joe Maher/Getty Images for Bauer Media
Founding Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood and drummer Kenney Jones both recently revealed that they and singer Rod Stewart had been working on songs for a new album by the band. Now Stewart also has commented about the project.
“It’s very, very worthy,” Stewart tells ABC Audio about how the new material stands up to classic Faces tunes.
Reflecting on his former band’s music, Rod adds, “When you dig out tracks that [are], like, 40 years old or whatever, you suddenly realize, wow, we were good and we did have a different sound, chaotic as it may have been.”
As for the status of the record, Stewart says, “We’re working on it.” He notes that depending on whether his planned 2022 Australian tour takes place, “we’ll have two or three months to work on it. And it’s gonna be good.”
Wood, who joined The Rolling Stones after the Faces’ 1975 breakup, wrapped up a U.S. Stones trek in November, although it’s not been announced if the band will hit the road again in 2022. Stewart, who released a new solo album called The Tears of Hercules in November, is scheduled to launch his Australian tour in March. However, ongoing issues with COVID-19 could derail those plans.
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Uncut, Jones shared some more details about the Faces reunion project. According to BANG Showbiz, he told the magazine that the album will feature a “mixture of old and new” material.
“What we’ve decided to do is work on some of the original stuff that we didn’t use,” Kenney explained. “Ronnie and I, in particular, have been working on lots of the old stuff together and we’ve rerecorded a couple of those songs with more of a modern feel.”
Tonight on ABC, it’s the debut of Women of the Movement — a limited series that tells the true story of Mamie Till-Mobley, and her fight for justice after her 14 year old son Emmett Till was lynched in Mississippi in 1955.
Adrienne Warren stars, and she hopes the series has a big impact on people.
“You get to hopefully look at this story and it humanizes these incidents for you,” she says. “That when you find out that someone’s son is taken from them, or their child is taken from them, that you realize that is not just a person, a picture on the screen, but that’s an empty seat at your kitchen table. That that’s an empty seat when you’re having holidays. That that is someone’s loved one.”
Warren, who plays Till-Mobley, says it’s an important story for people to know, and it’s not just history, it’s happening.
“We must know our history so that we don’t repeat it,” she explains. “And there are women, and mothers, screaming right now for justice for their sons, for their daughters, for their families, and we don’t talk about those families enough.”
Women of the Movement premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
(WASHINGTON) — The early collection of historical artifacts collected by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History documenting the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 , includes a flak jacket worn by a journalist when she was attacked and signs with violent rhetoric.
“Off with their heads,” one sign reads, echoing the chilling words chanted by rioters who stormed the Capitol and threatened the lives of lawmakers.
“Those are heavy signs. They clearly took some time to repaint, and someone came with bolts and tools to attach them to street poles. So, they were not walking around carrying those. They wanted them to be someplace where people could see them and presumably thought that they would stay there for a long time,” Claire Jerry, curator of political history at the museum told ABC News, describing the sign and others in the collection with words stenciled and spray-painted on large, thick sheets of metal.
On Jan. 6, ABC News Live will provide all-day coverage of events marking one year since the attack on the U.S. Capitol and the continuing fallout for American democracy.
The museum collected several artifacts in the days immediately following the attack. As they often do, especially in the nation’s capital city, they sent out a rapid response team to pick up and preserve discarded material on the National Mall and around the Capitol buildings. Jerry said in some cases, her staff tried to stay ahead of cleaning crews to gather significant material that otherwise might have been lost.
Museum staff says it’s been a challenge to bring in new artifacts this last year, because of COVID-19 restrictions and extensive, ongoing law enforcement investigations. But the team was quick to talk about the historical significance of that day as it related to the nation’s politics, and the 2020 campaign and election.
“This peaceful transfer of presidential authority, the mainstay of the American democracy since 1800, was intentionally interrupted as thousands of rioters, many carrying Trump banners and signs, violently broke through police security and entered the Capitol. This was the first time that the Capitol had been breached on a large scale since the War of 1812 when British troops attacked the city,” museum staff wrote in a press release this week.
Over 700 criminal cases have been brought against rioters and nearly 200 individuals have already pleaded guilty. Dozens of law enforcements officials were injured during the attack, many of them hospitalized and out of work for months.
“The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and on the foundation of the United States’ democratic republic, revealed the fragility of our political system,” said Anthea M. Hartig, the museum’s Elizabeth MacMillan director. “As the nation’s flagship history museum, our staff is committed to documenting and, most importantly, preserving this history for future generations to understand how the events of that fraught day unfolded and to track their ongoing impacts.”
Included in the collection is a group of National Guard insignia from units from around the country who responded in days after the attack, as well as a flak jacket worn by a freelance photographer when she was attacked by a female rioter on the Capitol ground the evening of Jan. 6.
The attacker’s knife blade pierced straight through the heavy material of journalist Madeleine Kelly’s jacket. The attack was clearly violent and forceful. Kelly credits the jacket with keeping her safe, if not saving her life.
“We know from video and from photographs that the press was literally attacked. There were stashed cameras, and this is an important story to tell,” Shannon Perich, photography curator, told ABC at the museum. The vest is displayed on a mannequin that is designed to be close to Kelly’s size.
“Her physicality was not threatening, but she was taking photographs and that was threatening. And this is an interesting story to think about the power of photography in that way,” Perich added.
(MANCHESTER, N.H.) — The father of a missing New Hampshire girl who was last seen over two years ago has been arrested in connection to the case, police said.
The Manchester Police Department first reached out to the public for tips on the whereabouts of 7-year-old Harmony Montgomery last week, after it learned she had not been seen since late 2019.
Adam Montgomery, 31, was arrested Tuesday on charges including felony second-degree assault “arising from 2019 conduct against Harmony Montgomery,” police said.
Montgomery also was charged with interference with custody and two charges of endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors. Montgomery has legal custody of Harmony but has not had her in his physical custody since approximately November 2019, according to the complaint.
Montgomery waived his right to an arraignment hearing at the Hillsborough Superior Court Wednesday and agreed to be placed in preventive detention, according to court records. ABC News reached out to his attorney for comment.
According to an affidavit released Wednesday, family members told police they were concerned Montgomery was putting Harmony in physical harm. Montgomery allegedly told his brother that he gave Harmony a black eye and “bashed her around his house,” the affidavit stated. The brother notified the state’s Division of Children, Youth and Families about the injury after he saw Harmony with a black eye in July 2019, according to the affidavit.
Harmony’s mother told authorities she believes she last saw her daughter around Easter 2019 in a FaceTime video call, during which the girl “seemed frightened,” according to the affidavit.
Her mother lost custody of Harmony in July 2018 in part due to a substance abuse issue and has since regained sobriety, according to the affidavit. She contacted Manchester police in November after she was repeatedly unable to find Harmony or her father, the affidavit said. The department launched an investigation after the state’s Division of Children, Youth and Families notified police on Dec. 27 that the agency had been unable to find Harmony, according to the affidavit.
Police interviewed several family members to try to determine the last time Harmony was last seen. Montgomery’s current wife told police she last saw the girl in November or December 2019 with her father, who allegedly told her he was driving Harmony to her mother’s in Massachusetts, according to the affidavit. His wife “never saw, or heard about [Harmony] after that day,” and last saw Montgomery in October, the affidavit stated.
Police located Montgomery sleeping in a car in Manchester on Dec. 31, at which point he “made some contradictory comments during our interaction which raised our suspicion and concern for [Harmony’s] well-being,” the affidavit stated. Montgomery allegedly told police he had seen Harmony “somewhat recently,” then said he hadn’t seen her since her mother picked her up in Manchester in November 2019, according to the affidavit.
His girlfriend, who was with him at the time, told police she did not know where Harmony was, according to the affidavit.
The search for Harmony continues, as police are urging anyone with information to contact its dedicated tip line. Manchester Chief Allen Aldenberg told reporters Monday police are assuming she is “alive and well somewhere,” and that he hasn’t seen anything to suggest otherwise yet.
“This is not a recovery,” Aldenberg said during a press briefing. “All efforts are focused on that Harmony is alive, and we are going to do everything we can to find her in that condition.”
Part of the investigation will involve determining why it took over two years for Harmony to be reported missing, he said.
“I want to focus on locating her now and dedicating all of our efforts to that,” the chief said. “If there was some flaw in the system, I’m not saying there was, but if there was, where was it and how’s it going to be addressed?”
Harmony was reunited with her father after spending time in foster care in Massachusetts, ABC Manchester affiliate WMUR reported, citing a source close to the child. New Hampshire Division of Children, Youth and Families officials told WMUR that contact with the family is gradually reduced after reunification.
“It’s difficult to account for what happened when we are not engaged with the family,” Joe Ribsam, the agency’s director, told WMUR. “What’s important to figure out right now is what has been happening with this young girl for the past few years.”
A reward for information leading to Harmony has reached $43,000.
“More than two years have passed since Harmony was last seen,” Aldenberg said. “That puts us at a disadvantage, and the public’s help is greatly needed.”
Pete Bannan/MediaNews Group/Daily Times via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 827,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62% 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 05, 9:02 pm
CDC signs off on Pfizer boosters for 12- to 15-year-olds
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has given the final go-ahead for children ages 12 to 15 to get Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster.
“It is critical that we protect our children and teens from COVID-19 infection and the complications of severe disease,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement endorsing the CDC advisory panel’s recommendation to expand booster eligibility.
The CDC recommends that adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 get a Pfizer booster five months after their second dose.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jan 05, 8:03 pm
Every cruise ship operating in US with passengers has COVID-19 cases: CDC
COVID-19 cases have been reported on every cruise ship operating or planning to operate in U.S. waters with passengers, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 90 ships are currently being investigated by the CDC or have been investigated and are still being observed by the agency.
In order to meet the threshold for a CDC investigation, a ship must report COVID-19 cases in more than 0.10% of passengers or have a single crew member test positive in the previous seven days.
The only ships in U.S. waters that have not met this criteria, according to the CDC, only have crew members on board.
-ABC News’ Mina Kaji
Jan 05, 7:48 pm
LA County requires businesses to provide N95, KN95 masks to indoor employees
The Los Angeles County Department of Health updated its COVID-19 safety measures Wednesday and mandated that all of the county’s businesses must provide N95 or KN95 masks to employees who work indoors.
“Well-fitting medical grade masks, and surgical masks,” are also acceptable under the order.
“Everyone needs to be sensible about how to protect themselves and those they love by layering on protections whenever around non-household members,” LA County’s health director, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, said in a statement. “At work, this means upgrading your mask if you work indoors and you are in contact with other workers or members of the public.”
Jan 05, 5:41 pm
CDC panel votes yes on boosters for 12- to 15-year-olds
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel voted Wednesday to approve COVID-19 boosters for 12- to 15-year-olds.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky will likely to sign off on the move later Wednesday night.
Shots could go into arms as soon as Thursday morning. The Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer boosters on Monday, paving the way for the CDC’s final green light.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jan 05, 5:14 pm
2022 Grammy Awards postponed due to omicron variant
The 2022 Grammy Awards have been postponed due to the surge in COVID-19 cases linked to the omicron variant.
“After careful consideration and analysis with city and state officials, health and safety experts, the artist community and our many partners, thx have postponed the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards Show,” CBS and the Recording Academy said in a joint statement.
The statement continued, “The health and safety of those in our music community, the live audience, and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly to produce our show remains our top priority. Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31 simply contains too many risks.”
A future date for the Grammys has yet to be announced.
The awards show was scheduled to be held at the Arena in Los Angeles and hosted by “The Daily Show’s” Trevor Noah.
This is the second year in a row that the Grammys has been postponed. Last year, the show was held in March after its original date was canceled in January.
Jan 05, 4:05 pm
COVID vaccinations in US drop 42% over last three weeks
The number of COVID-19 vaccinations in the U.S. has declined over the last three weeks despite the surging number of cases due to the omicron variant.
In the past, surges have driven Americans to get vaccinated. However, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the average number of total doses administered has fallen 42% since Dec. 14.
An average of 304,000 Americans are currently receiving their first dose every day and 165,000 are reaching “full vaccination” status.
This is a drop from three weeks prior, when 455,000 were getting their first dose every day and 402,000 were reaching “full vaccination” status.
Additionally, the average number of people receiving booster shots every day has declined to 623,000 from more than one million.
A total of 67.4 million eligible Americans — aged five and older — remain completely unvaccinated.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 05, 3:17 pm
Testing company detects 1st case of ‘flurona’ in California
A testing company confirmed Wednesday the first known case in Southern California of “flurona,” in which someone is infected with COVID-19 and the flu at the same time.
911 COVID Testing told KABC the case was detected at the Getty Center in Brentwood — a suburban neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles — in a teenage boy.
The minor was returning from vacation with his family in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Steve Farzam, the testing company’s chief operating officer, said the patient has symptoms but was not hospitalized. Since his test, one of his parents has also tested positive for COVID-19, but not the flu.
Jan 05, 1:32 pm
White House confident it can deliver 500 million COVID tests this month
The White House said Wednesday it is confident it can deliver millions of rapid COVID-19 tests to Americans in January.
Last month, the administration announced it was planning to distribute 500 million free at-home rapid tests across the country to combat the surging omicron variant.
However, a website has yet to be launched where people can order the tests and the U.S. is currently producing less than half of the tests needed — 200 million a month.
During a virtual briefing, Jeff Zients, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, said the government not only has the capacity to deliver 500 million tests, but it also won’t dip into the current supply on pharmacy shelves.
“With all the companies that now have been authorized, there’s the capacity for the U.S. government to purchase the 500 million now and not disrupt, or in any way cannibalize, the tests that are on pharmacy shelves and on websites and used and other settings,” he said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jan 05, 12:31 pm
CDC says it’s not changing definition of ‘fully vaccinated’
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday the definition of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is not changing to include booster shots.
“Individuals are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 if they’ve received their primary series. That definition is not changing,” she said during a virtual briefing of the White House COVID-19 Response Team.
This means Americans are considered fully vaccinated if they have gotten two shots of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna vaccine or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
However, Walensky did urge those who have been fully vaccinated to stay “up to date” on additional doses they may be eligible for based on their age and which vaccine they received.
Jan 05, 12:30 pm
NY COVID hospitalizations surpass 10,000 for 1st time in 20 months
COVID-19-related hospitalizations in New York surpassed 10,000 for the first time since the early days of the pandemic.
As of Tuesday, there are 10,411 people hospitalized statewide with the virus, which is the highest figure seen since May 2020.
About 1,300 patients are currently in intensive care units.
Unvaccinated New Yorkers are more likely to be hospitalized than those who are fully vaccinated. During the week ending Dec. 20, unvaccinated people were hospitalized at a rate of 30.01 per 100,000 compared to a rate of 2.08 per 100,000 for fully vaccinated people, according to state data.
Jan 05, 11:29 am
1 in 15 people in England tested positive for COVID last week
About 1 in 15 people in England tested positive for COVID-19 in the week ending Dec. 31, 2021, according to new data published Wednesday by the UK’s Office of National Statistics — a jump from 1 in 25 the week before.
This means that an estimated 3,270,800 people in the country caught the virus last week, with the most infections occurring among those between ages 17 and 24, the ONS said.
Additionally, 1 in 20 people contracted COVID last week in Scotland and Wales as did 1 in 25 people in Northern Ireland.
The ONS noted that these estimates do not include people who tested positive in “hospitals, care homes and/or other communal establishments.”
Jan 05, 10:37 am
NY COVID hospitalizations surpass 10,000 for 1st time in 20 months
COVID-19-related hospitalizations in New York surpassed 10,000 for the first time since the early days of the pandemic.
As of Tuesday, there are 10,411 people hospitalized statewide with the virus, which is the highest figure seen since May 2020.
About 1,300 patients are currently in intensive care units.
Unvaccinated New Yorkers are more likely to be hospitalized than those who are fully vaccinated. During the week ending Dec. 20, unvaccinated people were hospitalized at a rate of 30.01 per 100,000 compared to a rate of 2.08 per 100,000 for fully vaccinated people, according to state data.
Jan 05, 9:41 am
Poland’s president tests positive for COVID for 2nd time
Polish President Andrzej Duda tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday.
This is the second time Duda has contracted the virus. He previously tested positive in October 2020.
“The president is fine, has no severe symptoms and is under constant medical care,” Pawel Szrot, Head of the Cabinet, tweeted Wednesday.
Szrot said Duda is fully vaccinated and received a booster shot last month.
Jan 05, 6:55 am
Michigan governor isolating after husband’s positive test
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was isolating after her husband, Dr. Marc Mallory, tested positive for COVID-19, her office said in a statement.
Whitmer’s office said the governor tested negative on Tuesday using a rapid test. She was awaiting the results of a PCR test.
“Thankfully, the entire family is fully vaccinated and boosted, so the governor has not tested positive and is not experiencing symptoms,” Whitmer’s office said in a statement. “Until the PCR test comes back, the governor is isolating in a separate area of the house and has taken steps to complete contact tracing to keep others safe.”
Jan 05, 2:43 am
Chicago cancels classes after teachers vote for remote learning
Chicago Public Schools canceled its Wednesday classes after the Chicago Teachers Union voted against in-person learning amid a wave of COVID-19 cases.
All classes, both in-person and virtual, and all after-school activities have been cancelled.
“I understand your frustration and deeply regret this interruption to your child’s learning,” said Pedro Martinez, chief executive of the schools. “We want out children back in their classrooms as soon as possible and will continue working with the CTU to reach an agreement that addressed their concerns and that is in the best interest of all in our CPS community, especially our children.”
About 88% of the union’s leadership and 73% of members voted on Tuesday to return to remote education, the union said in a statement.
“To the parents and guardians of this city, we want you to know that when you put your children in our care we put their well-being and safety first,” the union said in a statement. “We fight for your children like they are our own, because they are. As this pandemic continues, we will do everything in our power to ensure that our classrooms are the safest and healthiest places for your children to learn, thrive and grow.”
Teachers were being locked out of their Google Classrooms, the union said on Twitter.
Jan 05, 1:49 am
Mayo Clinic lays off 1% of staff for vaccine noncompliance
Mayo Clinic said it will lay off about 1% of its staff for failing to get at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by a company deadline.
“While Mayo Clinic is saddened to lose valuable employees, we need to take all steps necessary to keep our patients, workforce, visitors and communities safe. If individuals released from employment choose to get vaccinated at a later date, the opportunity exists for them to apply and return to Mayo Clinic for future job openings,” Mayo Clinic said in a statement to ABC.
Last October, Mayo Clinic had set a Jan. 3 deadline for all employees to get at least their first vaccine dose or face dismissal.
The health care organization said the number of staffers being let go was “comparable to what other health care organizations have experienced in implementing similar vaccine requirement programs.”
Mayo Clinic employs about 73,000 people, according to its website.
Jan 04, 7:53 pm
FDA: Do not swab your throat with at-home COVID-19 tests
The FDA is warning people not to swab their throats as part of an at-home COVID-19 test.
In a statement obtained by ABC News, the FDA said that is not how the tests were designed and it could pose a safety concern.
“The FDA advises that COVID-19 tests should be used as authorized, including following their instructions for use regarding obtaining the sample for testing,” the statement said.
Social media posts promoting at-home COVID-19 rapid test swabbing techniques claim that throat swabs collect a better sample. However, this hasn’t been proven for currently authorized tests.
TV seems to be in repeats: That is, a repeat of 2020. TV Line is reporting the ABC dramas The Rookie, Grey’s Anatomy, and Station 19 have paused their planned upcoming post-holiday restart of production over concerns of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Grey’s and Station 19 were both set to start shooting on January 10, and as of today, that start date has been moved to January 12. It’s not yet known when The Rookie will walk the beat again.
The pauses were out of “an abundance of caution,” not because anyone involved in the shows had tested positive. That said, the move is reminiscent of the height of the pandemic in 2020, where Hollywood productions were forced to shutter over COVID concerns.
The entertainment industry has since employed strict pandemic protocols for all motion picture and television sets, which minimizes contact, and employs testing and swift isolation for any positive cases.
The news comes on the same day the Grammy Awards announced this year’s festivities have been postponed over Omicron, and the Sundance Film Festival said it will cancel its planned in-person events.
Alt-J has released a new song called “Hard Drive Gold.”
The track is available now for digital download and via streaming services, while an accompanying music video has debuted on YouTube. The clip, which was co-directed by frontman Joe Newman, follows a determined pole vaulter, and ends with an apocalyptic twist.
“Hard Drive Gold” will appear on Alt-J’s upcoming album The Dream, which is due out on February 11 and can be pre-ordered now. It’s the third song to be released from the record, following “U&ME” and “Get Better.”
Alt-J will hit the road in support of The Dream on a tour with Portugal. the Man that kicks off February 25 in Pittsburgh.
This Saturday, January 8, marks what would’ve been David Bowie‘s 75th birthday, and to mark the milestone, several special releases and events are planned in the coming days.
Most of the events will take place at one or both of the Bowie 75 commemorative pop-up stores that opened in New York City and London this past October.
On Thursday, January 6, the two shops will host the premiere of a new Sony 360 Reality Audio mix of David’s final studio album, 2016’s ★ — aka Blackstar — which was supervised by frequent Bowie studio collaborator Tony Visconti.
Also on January 6, a special livestream event beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Bowie’s YouTube channel will feature songs from David’s A Reality Tour presented in 360 Reality Audio.
Friday, January 7, will see the previously announced release of the TOY (TOY:BOX) box set focusing on Bowie’s previously unreleased 2000 TOY album. An exclusive, limited-edition cassette version of TOY will be sold at the New York and London Bowie 75 stores, as will vinyl and CD editions of the box set.
On January 8, David’s birthday, the New York Bowie 75 store will feature a special Q&A with one-time Bowie band member and TOY producer Mark Plati at 5 p.m. ET.
On Sunday, January 9, the New York and London shops will host screenings of the Selections from A Reality Tour concert film in HD with a SONY 360 Reality Audio soundtrack.
Then, on Friday, January 14, at the New York Bowie 75 store, sax player Donny McCaslin, who collaborated with David on Blackstar, will take part in an interview event that begins at 6 p.m. ET.
Visit Bowie75.com for more details about the events and releases.
(WASHINGTON) — With Sudan’s fragile transition to democracy derailed, the United States and Europe have issued a stark warning to the Sudanese military against appointing a new government “without the involvement of a broad range of civilian stakeholders.”
“Unilateral action to appoint a new Prime Minister and Cabinet would undermine those institutions’ credibility and risks plunging the nation into conflict,” Norway, the United Kingdom, the U.S. and the European Union said in a joint statement Tuesday. “In the absence of progress, we would look to accelerate efforts to hold those actors impeding the democratic process accountable.”
Sudan has been seen as a powerful example of democratic hope after a 2019 revolution forced the military’s overthrow of the Islamist regime of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, an alleged war criminal and former military officer who seized power of the North African nation in 1989. The popular uprising was marked by iconic images of protesters, especially women, going viral on social media and garnering support from celebrities around the world. After al-Bashir was ousted, Sudanese military and civilian leaders came together to form a transitional government and agreed on a 39-month process to return to democratic, civilian rule.
That progress came to a grinding halt on Oct. 25, 2021, when the military took power, dissolved the transitional government and expelled the civilian members. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was appointed by the transitional government in 2019, was placed under house arrest along with a number of other senior politicians. Mass protests as well as pressure from the international community, including the U.S. government withholding $700 million in economic aid, ushered in a deal that reinstated Hamdok as prime minister on Nov. 21, 2021.
But Hamdok resigned on Sunday, after the military refused to loosen its grip on power.
“I tried as much as I could to avoid our country slipping into a catastrophe, and now our country is going through a dangerous turning point that may threaten its entire survival if it is not remedied soon,” Hamdok said in a televised national address. “The major crisis today in the homeland is primarily a political crisis, but it is gradually changing to include all aspects of economic and social life and is on its way to becoming a comprehensive crisis.”
“The key word towards a solution to this dilemma that has persisted for more than six decades in the history of the country is to rely on dialogue at a round table in which all groups of Sudanese society and the state are represented to agree on a national charter and to draw a roadmap to complete the civil democratic transformation,” he added.
Thousands of pro-democracy protesters have taken to the streets of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and other cities across the country to denounce the military takeover and demand civilian rule. Sudanese security forces have used violent means to disperse protesters, killing at least 57 of them and injuring hundreds of others since October, according to the Sudan Doctors Committee, which is part of the pro-democracy movement.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has expressed grave concern about reports of sexual violence and sexual harassment against women and girls by Sudanese security forces during protests in December.
The U.S. government has repeatedly called for accountability in the wake of the reported atrocities but has yet to penalize the Sudanese military. When asked why the Sudanese military hasn’t been sanctioned, U.S. Department of State spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Tuesday: “We don’t preview sanctions designations, but we are exploring all available options to support Sudan’s transition.”
However, some analysts argued that now is the time for action, not more warnings and threats.
Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, a think-tank in Washington, D.C., said the U.S. government “must move beyond tired bromides claiming to ‘stand with the people of Sudan’ and unabashedly throw its weight behind the country’s pro-democracy movement in tangible and meaningful ways that will begin to swing the balance of power more in the protesters’ favor.”
“Sudan’s formal transition to democracy is over, even though its revolution lives on in the hearts of millions of peaceful pro-democracy protesters,” Hudson wrote Monday in a post for the Atlantic Council’s blog. “Washington and its international partners have now lost the final pretense of what allowed them — for too long — to frame their engagement in terms of supporting a ‘civilian-led transitional government.'”
“With no political agreement or civilian leader left to undermine, Washington and its allies should now pursue a more hardline approach toward the military that holds it accountable for the October coup and the deadly response to peaceful protests since then,” he added before noting “that should mean sanctions.”
It remains unclear whether freezing the assets of Sudanese military leaders would have any impact, especially since allies like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates continue to back them and Sudan previously found a way to manage under nearly 20 years of U.S. sanctions.
Some analysts argued that regional allies have little to gain from an unstable Sudan. Camille Lons, a Bahrain-based research associate for the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank in London, said the “spill-over effects — such as economic repercussions, refugee flows, terrorism threats and arms smuggling — are perceived as highly problematic.”
“Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as Egypt, continue to favour the military in Sudan. But that does not mean that they view the coup positively,” Lons wrote in an analysis posted on Nov. 16. “Several Gulf and Egyptian diplomats and officials have privately expressed their surprise and concern over what they see as a reckless move.”
“But as the US shows growing signs of disengagement in the region,” she added, “Arab Gulf countries will increasingly have to take care of their own regional security and stability, albeit with more pragmatism.”
In the absence of assertive pressure from the international community, the situation in Sudan is becoming dark and uncertain. In the war-torn Darfur region, where a genocide sparked global outrage, escalating violence has displaced thousands of people since November. There have also been “alarming reports” of villages being destroyed, sexual violence and livestock rustling, according to the United Nations.
Moreover, Sudan under al-Bashir had concerning ties to terrorism that include giving safe haven to al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and being implicated in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, for which al-Qaida claimed responsibility. But Hudson said the Sudanese military “appears intent” to keep the country off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. After being added in 1993 over its links to al-Qaida, Sudan was officially removed from the list in 2020.
“The military, for all its faults and abuses, has been a reasonably reliable ally in the fight against terrorism and has its own reasons to be concerned by jihadists taking up residence in Sudan,” Hudson told ABC News on Wednesday.
But diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and others to pressure Sudanese military leadership may be complicated by the departure of a senior U.S. diplomat.
Reuters, citing sources, reported Wednesday that the U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, is leaving his post at the end of the month amid the growing chaos in Sudan and neighboring Ethiopia, and that he will be replaced by David Satterfield, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Turkey. The U.S. Department of State declined ABC News’ request for comment.
Hudson told ABC News that Feltman’s departure would not be “particularly surprising, as he was only there as a stopgap to help the administration respond early on to the unfolding crises in Ethiopia and Sudan.”
“Most critical now is that the U.S. maintain a strong and consistent level of diplomatic engagement in the region at this critical moment,” he added, noting that an announcement of a replacement for Feltman would suggest that “this will be the case and should be welcomed.”
