Gold medal Olympian Suni Lee and pop star JoJo Siwa will be among the new celebrity cast of Dancing with the Stars. ABC made the announcement Thursday during their Television Critics Association presentation.
Lee and Siwa will appear live on Good Morning America Friday, while the remaining celebrity dancers will be revealed on Wednesday, September 8.
The gymnast and the pop star and influencer, and the rest of the TBA stars, will be hoofing it when DWTS returns for its 30th season on Monday, September 20 at 8 p.m.
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for two explosions that erupted near the Kabul airport on Thursday and killed at least 12 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghans.
U.S. officials had warned of an ISIS attack over the past week in wake of the sweeping Taliban takeover. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie of the U.S. Central Command said Thursday that the attackers were two ISIS suicide bombers.
Experts say the group, dubbed the “mortal adversary” of the Taliban, pose the biggest threat to America’s presence in the country.
The U.S. is now racing against time to withdraw by President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline.
Biden warned Tuesday, “Every day we’re on the ground is another day we know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both U.S. and allied forces and innocent civilians.”
What is ISIS-K?
ISIS-Khorasan, also known as ISIS-K, is an affiliate of the Islamic State (ISIS), which established a caliphate in Iraq and Syria that was later destroyed by the American forces. ISIS has geographical branches in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia and ISIS-K is its affiliate based in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.
Elizabeth Neumann, an ABC contributor and former U.S. homeland security official, said the group emerged about six years ago.
ISIS-K is the “mortal adversary” of the Taliban, Colin Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst with security consulting firm Soufan Group, told ABC News.
“It really tracked quite closely with the the evolution of Al-Qaeda and developed a similar kind of decentralized model really in response to U.S. counterterrorism pressure,” he said.
The group has an estimated 1,500 to 2,200 fighters, consisting of Arabs, Middle Easterners, Pakistanis and other South Asians, Clarke said.
He described them as a “transnational group” as opposed to the Taliban, which is predominantly comprised of Pashtuns, according to the Council of Foreign Relations.
There were 77 ISIS-K claimed or attributed attacks from January to April 2021 — three times as many ISIS-K attacks in Afghanistan than that same period last year, according to a June United Nations report. Last year the group attacked a maternity ward in Kabul on May 12 and Kabul University on Nov. 2.
ISIS-K “continues to pose a threat to both the country and the wider region” and is focused on recruitment, with its core base in small areas of the Kunar and Nangarhar Provinces, the UN report said.
Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the group stands against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda as well as the U.S.
“Their objective is to wantonly attack the U.S. because they see the U.S. as their main enemy,” he said. “Also, I think it’s designed to embarrass the Taliban as well. ISIS attempted to move in and establish a base in Afghanistan to compete with the Taliban. Their ideologies are pretty much the same. It’s more of a power struggle than an ideological or religious one.”
Neumann described the group as much more violent than the Taliban.
“When I think of ISIS, I think extremely brutal. It’s not that the Taliban has a good record of not being brutal, but it’s a slightly different type of brutality,” Neumann said. “[ISIS] sounds as if they’re trying to stand up a government and run a country.”
What is their agenda?
The group has an objective to carve out some piece of territory that they can rule, Clarke said, citing ISIS’s motto to “remain and expand.”
“If they were ever to reach the point where they felt like they were governing a sufficient amount of territory, they may very well attempt to declare a caliphate again,” he said.
He went on, “The Taliban is not at risk of being overtaken by ISIS-K, they just don’t have the numbers. ISIS-K is playing more of a spoiler role, where they’ll be able to kind of launch attacks, keep the Taliban off balance. But I don’t ever expect them to get to the point where they’re threatening to take over Afghanistan in the same way the Taliban did.”
Hoffman, with the Council on Foreign Relations, said that any attacks from ISIS-K shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“Over the past year, they’ve spread to an additional seven provinces. So clearly, ISIS-K has become more active and threatening in recent months,” Hoffman said. “The current upheaval and chaos in Afghanistan presents them with a myriad of new opportunities to draw attention to themselves and their cause and basically punish all their enemies — the U.S. but also the Taliban and Al-Qaeda as well.”
What threat do they pose to the U.S.?
With the U.S. leaving Afghanistan, experts say future attacks by ISIS-K are likely to occur.
“There’s nothing they’d love more than to plot an attack on the U.S.,” Clarke said.
An attack on U.S. soil isn’t likely for the “foreseeable future” but may be in the “long term,” according to Hoffman.
As for Afghanistan, with the Taliban takeover and rising terror threats like ISIS-K, its future is murky.
“Afghanistan overall is being re-submerged into a very, very dark period,” Hoffman said.
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Chaos has enveloped Kabul after Afghanistan’s government’s collapsed and the Taliban seized control, all but ending America’s 20-year campaign as it began: under Taliban rule.
Approximately 95,700 people have been evacuated since the effort began on Aug. 14, the White House said Thursday, while the Pentagon said the military will keep the evacuation mission going until the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline.
President Joe Biden sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House last week, the president’s first interview since the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Biden has also addressed the nation several times since.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 26, 3:52 pm
‘Working assumption’ that bomber detonated when being checked by Americans: Pentagon
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said at a Pentagon briefing that it was his “working assumption” that a suicide bomber was going through the Abbey Gate — being searched and checked by U.S. service members — when he detonated his vest.
He said the military thought there was just one suicide bomber at the Abbey Gate and that they didn’t know if it was a man or woman. He said he didn’t know the size of the bomb.
They also didn’t “know much” about the second bomb, which went off in the vicinity of the Baron Hotel.
No bomber actually got onto airport grounds, McKenzie said.
“I know this: he did not get inside — he did not get on the installation,” McKenzie said of the Abbey Gate bomber. “It was at the interface point where they try to come in where this attack occurred. And we just don’t know more right now. We’re gathering that information. As you will understand, we’re investigating that.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Aug 26, 3:51 pm
ISIS-K claims responsibility for attacks
The Islamic State has claimed credit for the attacks near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, confirming a suicide bombing.
According to a translation from SITE intelligence group, the Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency issued a report on the attack and provided a photo of the bomber.
Their message said the Khorasan Province (ISKP) fighter overcame all security fortifications and reached a distance of “no more than five meters from the American forces.” The fighter detonated his explosive belt, killing 60 and wounding over 100 others, the militant group wrote, citing “military sources,” according to SITE.
-ABC News’ Cindy Smith
Aug 26, 3:35 pm
‘Extremely real’ threat of more attacks
Asked about the ongoing threat of ISIS, as officials believed the two suicide bombers in Kabul on Thursday are affiliated with the terror group, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters at the Pentagon it’s one that is “extremely real.”
“We believe it is their desire to continue those attacks, and we expect those attacks to continue,” he said via a videoconference.
He said the U.S. is doing everything it can to prepare for those attacks including reaching out to the Taliban, “who are actually providing the outer security cordon around the airfield, to make sure they know what we expect them to do to protect us.”
McKenzie reiterated that despite the attack, evacuations have continued on the airfield.
“The plan is designed to operate while under stress and under attack, and we will continue to do that,” he said.
The highest-ranking commander in the Middle East was also asked if the U.S. will go after the attackers.
“Yes, if we can find who’s associated with this, we will go after them,” he said. “We’ve been clear all along that we’re going to retain the right to operate against ISIS in Afghanistan. And we’re working very hard right now to determine attribution, to determine who is associated with this cowardly attack, and we’re prepared to take action against them.”
Aug 26, 3:24 pm
Evacuations to continue despite Kabul airport attack: Pentagon
Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command and highest-ranking military official in the Middle East, said evacuations will continue “at best speed” despite the attack in Kabul that has resulted in 27 American casualties, including 12 killed and 15 wounded.
“Let me be clear: While we’re saddened by the life of loss, both U.S. and Afghan, we’ll continue to execute the mission,” McKenzie said via a videoconference. “Our mission is to evacuate U.S. citizens, third-country nationals, Special Immigrant Visa holders, U.S. Embassy staff and Afghans at risk.”
“As of today, we have approximately 5,000 evacuees on a ramp at the Kabul airport”
He said as of Thursday, there are 5,000 evacuees at the airport in Kabul awaiting airlift.
“We believe that there are about a thousand, probably a little more than a thousand American citizens left in Afghanistan at this point,” he said.
Aug 26, 3:15 pm
12 US service members killed, 15 others wounded: Pentagon
Twelve U.S. service members were killed by two suicide bombers believed to have been ISIS fighters in Kabul on Thursday, U.S. officials confirmed at a Pentagon briefing.
“It’s a hard day today,” said Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command and the highest-ranking official in the Middle East, speaking via videoconference.
“As you know, two suicide bombers assessed to have been ISIS fighters detonated in the vicinity of the Abbey Gate and the Baron Hotel. It was followed by a number of ISIS gunmen who opened fire,” he said.
“We know that 12 U.S. service members have been killed in the attack and 15 more have been injured. A number of Afghan civilians were injured,” he said.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby in an earlier statement called the situation a “complex attack” with one explosion at the Abbey Gate outside Hamid Karzai International Airport causing “a number of US and civilian casualties” and another explosion near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from the Abbey Gate.
Aug 26, 2:06 pm
US Marines stationed close to crowds at site of Kabul airport attack
As the Pentagon confirmed that “a number of U.S. service members” were killed in the “complex attack” in Kabul, Senior Foreign Correspondent Ian Pannell recalled reporting from the Abbey Gate on Wednesday right alongside U.S. Marines working to control the crowds desperate to get inside.
“This almost defies words,” Pannell said of the attack. “It’s bewildering. It’s horrifying. It was already a very distressing scene down at the airport yesterday.”
Pannell described seeing thousands of people knee-dip in sewage water outside the airport. He said the evacuation operation at the Abbey Gate “relied on the bravery of individuals, of servicemen, women, going to the very front lines, going out, grabbing people who were eligible and pulling them in.”
“Anyone who got into that crowd and detonated that device was sure to carry out a mass casualty event,” he added.
Pannell pushed back against a statement from the Taliban suggesting U.S. forces securing the area were to blame for the attack.
“That’s totally untrue,” he said. “This bomb happened right outside the gate. The onus also depends on the Taliban for not controlling the crowds, not allowing people through, for creating this climate of fear and dread.”
Aug 26, 1:18 pm
Pentagon confirms ‘number of’ US service members killed
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby has confirmed in a statement that “a number of U.S. service members were killed in today’s complex attack at Kabul airport.”
“A number of others are being treated for wounds. We also know a number of Afghans fell victim to this heinous attack,” he said.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to loved ones and teammates of those killed and injured,” Kirby’s statement read.
An American service member hasn’t been killed in Afghanistan since Feb. 2020.
Aug 26, 12:50 pm
Taliban condemn attack in statement
A Taliban spokesman has released a statement condemning the attack in Kabul and saying that 13 people were killed and 52 were wounded, citing reports.
“I confirm two explosions in the assembly of people in the area managed by US forces have occurred. Initial reports say, 13 persons have been killed and 52 wounded. We strongly condemn this gruesome incident and will take every step to bring the culprits to justice,” the Taliban spokesperson said.
While it’s still unclear who is responsible for the attack, President Biden has warned for days of a security threat from ISIS-K, an ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan whom he called “the sworn enemy of the Taliban.”
Aug 26, 12:20 pm
Biden, top officials monitor Kabul attack in Situation Room
President Biden monitored the Kabul attack in the White House Situation Room with his national security team, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, a White House official confirmed to ABC News.
Biden was already scheduled to meet with his national security team at 9:15 a.m. for an update on Afghanistan before the Pentagon confirmed an explosion outside the airport in Kabul in a tweet, prompting the delay of a 10:30 a.m. Pentagon briefing.
Vice President Kamala Harris, traveling from Vietnam back to Washington, joined the national security team meeting via video teleconference.
Biden’s 11:30 a.m. bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also has been postponed. A virtual meeting with a bipartisan group of governors who have volunteered to temporarily house or help vulnerable Afghans at 3 p.m. has been canceled.
Although it’s not clear who carried out the attack, it comes two days after Biden, in remarks from the White House on Tuesday, warned of threats from a terrorist group known as ISIS-K, an ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan.
“Every day we’re on the ground is another day we know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both U.S. and allied forces and innocent civilians,” he said.
The Pentagon on Thursday called the situation a “complex attack” with one explosion at the Abbey Gate outside Hamid Karzai International Airport causing “a number of US and civilian casualties” and another explosion near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from the Abbey Gate.
At least 60 have been wounded in the attack, including at least three service members, according to Kabul Emergency Hospital and a U.S. official.
Aug 26, 11:46 am
Images show wounded, devastation after explosions near Kabul airport
Some of the first photos of the scene of the explosions in Kabul — one which occurred at or near the Baron Hotel and the other at the Abbey Gate outside Hamid Karzai International Airport — show bloody and wounded people evacuating the area.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed there were “a number of US and Afghan civilian casualties.”
Kabul Emergency Hospital told ABC News in a statement, “Around 60 patients wounded in airport attack have arrived at our EMERGENCY NGO’s Kabul Surgical Centre so far.”
Smoke leftover from the blasts and gunfire was seen rising over the airport on Thursday.
Aug 26, 11:06 am
‘Complex attack,’ second explosion at hotel near airport: Pentagon
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed there was a second explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from Abbey Gate, after earlier confirming an explosion outside the Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
“We can confirm that the explosion at the Abbey Gate was the result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US & civilian casualties. We can also confirm at least one other explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from Abbey Gate. We will continue to update,” he said in a tweet.
The Turkish Defense Ministry, which has had forces helping to secure the airport, also tweeted that two explosions had occurred.
“There were two explosions outside of Kabul Airport. There is no damage or casualty in our unit,” it said, translated from Turkish.
Aug 26, 10:44 am
At least 3 US service members wounded in airport attack: Official
A U.S. official said that at least three U.S. military service members have been wounded in the explosion at the Abbey Gate outside Hamid Karzai International Airport. The official did not know the extent of the injuries. U.S. troops have been stationed near large crowds trying to get inside.
The development comes as the U.S. Embassy in Kabul sent another security alert to Americans, warning, “There has been a large explosion at the airport, and there are reports of gunfire.”
“U.S. citizens should avoid traveling to the airport and avoid airport gates at this time. U.S. citizens who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately,” it said.
The Pentagon has delayed a briefing that was scheduled for 10:30 a.m.
ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz said the explosion at the airport coming days before U.S. forces are set to leave the country has made for, “truly, a nightmare scenario.”
Raddatz, who is in contact with Afghans on the ground, said the explosion “devastates” the evacuation process and described the tone in the country as people try to get out in the coming days as “absolute panic.”
“Now today, they’re facing, either a stampede, the Taliban or ISIS bombers — and that really is what it comes down to for all Afghans,” she said.
Aug 26, 10:15 am
Before explosion, acting US ambassador to Afghanistan spoke on GMA about ‘credible’ security threat
Speaking before the explosion outside the Kabul airport, acting U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson, on the ground in Kabul, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday that the threat that prompted the U.S. Embassy to warn citizens to leave the airport on Wednesday was “clearly regarded as credible, as imminent, as compelling.”
“Being part of these huge crowds that remain around the gates and entrances to the airport is dangerous,” he said, adding the U.S. is working on “other ways on an individualized basis to assist them in getting to the airport in a safe and secure manner.”
“We will do as much as we possibly can, to get as many out as we possibly can for as long as we possibly can, while there is sufficient security that’s provided for us, and no less important, for the travelers themselves, provided by U.S. military forces,” Wilson said.
While the U.S. works to get as many Afghan allies and third-country nationals out of Afghanistan ahead of next Tuesday’s deadline, Wilson acknowledged that the “primary focus” is to evacuate American citizens and said some hopeful evacuees would be left behind.
“There undoubtedly will be people in this country who would like to get out who will be unable to,” he said, adding that the U.S. is talking with the Taliban on how to continue safe evacuations when troops are gone.
Aug 26, 10:05 am
Biden briefed on explosion outside airport in Kabul
A U.S. official confirms the explosion was at Abbey Gate — one of the main entrances to the airport — and that they are assessing casualty numbers right now.
A White House official told ABC News that Biden has been briefed on the situation.
The explosion outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul follows the U.S. Embassy in Kabul warning Americans on Wednesday night to leave the airport gates immediately due to a credible security threat.
Aug 26, 9:50 am
Explosion outside airport in Kabul: Pentagon
“We can confirm an explosion outside Kabul airport. Casualties are unclear at this time. We will provide additional details when we can,” the tweet read.
U.S. officials had been warning of a credible security threat to the airport for several days.
Aug 26, 8:12 am
US, allies evacuate 13,400 people from Kabul in past 24 hours
The United States has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of some 95,700 people from Kabul since Aug. 14 when the Taliban closed in on Afghanistan’s capital, according to a White House official.
In a 24-hour period from Wednesday to Thursday, 17 U.S. military flights carried approximately 5,100 evacuees out of Kabul. Another 8,300 people were evacuated via 74 coalition aircraft. Since the end of July, approximately 101,300 people have been relocated from Kabul via U.S. military and coalition flights, the White House official said.
Aug 26, 6:31 am
‘Very credible reporting of an imminent attack” at Kabul airport, UK minister warns
U.K. Armed Forces Minister James Heappey warned Thursday morning that there was “very, very credible reporting of an imminent attack” at the main international airport in Kabul, possibly within hours.
“There is now very, very credible reporting of an imminent attack and hence why the Foreign Office advice was changed last night,” Heappey said in interviews with BBC News. “The credibility of the reporting has now reached the stage where we believe that there is a very imminent, highly lethal attack possible within Kabul.”
As thousands race to evacuate Taliban-ruled Afghanistan before the Aug. 31 deadline for the United States to totally withdraw its troops, Heappey acknowledged that people are “desperate” and “there is an appetite by many in the queue to take their chances, but the reporting of this threat is very credible indeed and there is a real imminence to it.”
“There is every chance that as further reporting comes in, we may be able to change the advice again and process people anew but there’s no guarantee of that,” he added.
When asked in an interview with Sky News whether an attack could occur in the next few hours, Heappey replied: “Yes.”
The U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office released new guidance on Wednesday night telling people not to travel to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
“There is an ongoing and high threat of terrorist attack,” the office said. “If you are in the area of the airport, move away to a safe location and await further advice.”
Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued a security alert warning of “security threats outside the gates of Kabul Airport” and advising Americans “to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates,” unless they “receive individual instructions from a U.S. government representative to do so.”
“U.S. citizens who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately,” the embassy said.
Aug 25, 8:05 pm
US Embassy alert tells people to avoid airport, leave certain gates immediately
The U.S. embassy in Kabul issued another alert, but this one with an urgent warning.
“U.S. citizens who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately,” it said.
The alert says U.S. citizens should avoid traveling to the airport and avoid the airport gates “unless you receive individual instructions from a U.S. government representative to do so” — the same instructions they have given in recent days.
In a statement later Wednesday, a State Department spokesperson said, “As a general rule, we do not speak to intelligence, but this is a dynamic and volatile security situation on the ground. We take seriously the priority we attach to the safety and security of American citizens.”
In a new interview with The New York Times, Kacey Musgraves reflects on the timeline of making her new album, star-crossed. Structured as a three-act tragedy, the project revolves her summer 2020 divorce from fellow artist Ruston Kelly. But she began writing it before then.
Kacey reveals that the first track she wrote for the upcoming album was “Good Wife,” a meditation on the expectations that come with being in a relationship, which she created while she and her now-ex were still together.
Now, she explains, she sees the songs on the album as her way of discovering her feelings about her breakup in real time. Ruston hasn’t heard the album yet, the singer tells the New YorkTimes, which even includes some sentiments she hasn’t worked through with him.
“People have come to know me as someone who really speaks my mind,” Kacey muses. “Why is it easier to tell an entire crowd of people what I think than someone who really knows me?”
Kacey will release star-crossed, along with an accompanying film, on September 10. When she announced the album, she dropped the title track, which is also the first song on the track list.
Fantasia gave birth to her daughter Keziah on May 23, and this week, she debuted the first photos of her new baby.
The one-time American Idol champion posted a pic of Keziah laying on top of a giant purple teddy bear on Instagram, along with a note that reads, “Singing ‘Pretty Brown Eyes’ You Now Are 3 Months. Quit Breaking My Hearrrrrrt Stop Growing Cause It’s Breaking My Heart,” referencing the 1991 Mint Condition single “Pretty Brown Eyes.”
The baby also has her own Instagram account with more than 30 photos, and over 60,000 followers.
Keziah joins her older siblings Dallas, 9, and Zion, 20, from the singer’s past relationships, and step-brother Trey — the son of Fantasia’s husband, Kendall — who is in his mid-20s.
After hoping for a baby for several years, Keziah is Fantasia and Kendall’s first child together. The couple married in 2015.
Thursday night, Debbie Gibson and Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block start their joint limited engagement at the Sands Showroom in the The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, performing eight shows between now and September 19. Debbie gave ABC Audio a hint of what fans can expect from the former teen idols.
“We’re probably going to do like a couple of songs to open, a couple of sets of our own, a couple of songs in the middle and at the end,” Debbie explained. “So we’ll duet in between our own sets….it’ll be a mixture, but we’ll vary..our own sets will very much be our own.”
“I mean, we have a lot of respect for each other and both of us have a great combo of being open-minded, but also we know who we are and we know our audience,” noted Debbie.
In addition to her classic hits like “Foolish Beat” and “Only In My Dreams,” Debbie has a new album of songs to perform. But that album, The Body Remembers, also includes a new duet version of “Lost In Your Eyes,” featuring Joey, so you can be sure you’ll hear that song in the show.
“Y’know, when it’s Joey’s time, it’s Joey’s time, he can, y’know, bring out a trapeze artist if he wants,” Debbie jokes. “I doubt he is, but you know what I’m saying. He’s going to do this thing. I’m going to do my thing. And we’re having a lot of fun putting together the duet portion.”
Debbie Gibson & Joey McIntyre Live from Las Vegas runs August 26, 27, 28 and 29, and September 16, 17, 18 and 19.
(NEW YORK) — At least two children have died in hot cars this week as a heat wave blasted the U.S.
On Tuesday afternoon, a 4-year-old boy died in East Manchester Township, Pennsylvania, the York County Coroner’s Office said.
After the family wasn’t able to find the boy around the home, they discovered him dead outside in their closed, parked car, the coroner’s office said.
An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday morning.
On Sunday afternoon in Cullman County, Alabama, a 3-year-old boy was found in a car and then taken to a hospital where he died, Cullman County coroner Jeremy Kilpatrick told ABC News on Thursday. The boy’s cause of death has not yet been determined, the coroner said.
The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office declined to provide specifics, only confirming there was an incident involving a small child on Sunday that appeared to be a tragic accident. A sheriff’s office spokesman said Thursday the investigation remains in the early stages and said no arrests have been made.
If autopsies confirm these deaths to be due to the heat, they would be the 16th and 17th hot-car deaths this year, according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org.
“Hot car deaths continue to take place because nobody believes this could happen to them,” KidsAndCars.org president Janette Fennell said in a statement. “The unfortunate reality is that this has happened to even the most loving, responsible, and attentive parents.”
A record 54 children died in hot cars in 2018, followed by 53 fatalities in 2019, according to KidsAndCars.org. Last year, 25 children died in hot cars, a drop that KidsAndCars.org director Amber Rollins attributed to the pandemic.
The professor at the Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics School at Cornell University had been looking for a kidney transplant for two years, testing every friend and family in hopes of finding a potential donor.
With no one meeting the requirements, Ehrenberg, who was living with end-stage renal disease, began dialysis to give him more time with his family. As a result, his life was tethered to the hospital because a dialysis machine and supplies would fill up his entire car for a two-day supply. He was also not allowed to travel during a five-year period because if a call came in saying that a kidney was available, he would have to go to the hospital almost immediately.
“I was so fatigued and had so little energy,” said Ehrenberg. “We were so worried.”
Ehrenberg resigned himself to waiting for a kidney from a deceased donor, knowing that those kidneys tend to wear out sooner and are more rare.
A kidney from a live donor can start functioning immediately rather than taking a few days to kick in as with a deceased donor, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. What’s more, relatives’ kidneys tend to have less risk of rejection and a potential donor can be tested ahead of time, making the process more convenient, according to the National Kidney Foundation.
Along with finding a donor, Ehrenberg, 75, worried about contracting a disease from an unknown deceased donor and not being healthy enough for a transplant, along with any complications from cancer to heart conditions that could disqualify him from being a recipient.
Finding a hero and finding hope
Five years after being placed on the transplant list, Ehrenberg got a call from the nurse that a live donor had come forward. The donor asked to remain anonymous, but Ehrenberg begged the hospital to tell the donor he wanted to know who they were.
The nurse passed along Ehrenberg’s request. That’s when his co-worker of seven years, Adam Seth Litwin, an associate professor at the school, sent an email revealing his life-saving gift.
Litwin said he got serious about donating after his mother-in-law died.
“She and I were very close and she was actually the same exact age as Ron,” explained Litwin. “She was not a candidate for a transplant, but it brought home to me how little time she was able to spend with her grandchildren, my children, and that there is something I could do for someone else that would kind of prevent that from happening again.”
“I’m kind of grumpy and curmudgeon on the outside, so this is definitely not consistent with whatever images that I have created to those around me,” he added.
Initially, Litwin was not allowed to donate his kidney, but he spent two years secretly improving his health. He improved his diet, stabilized his blood sugar and lost around 25 pounds. He kept it off for a year and got approved to donate on April 20, which happens to be Ehrenberg’s birthday.
Ehrenberg said that Litwin initially wanted to remain an anonymous donor, but Ehrenberg convinced his friend to come forward to help potentially save more lives. Litwin said that he donated his kidney not just to give more years to his friend, but also to teach a lesson of love to his two children.
“I keep joking that I don’t want people to think just because I did this that I’m not still a miserable b——,” said Litwin.
While Litwin may not think of himself as a particularly generous person, Ehrenberg disagreed.
“Adam was the real hero,” said Ehrenberg. “I am deeply indebted to Adam and I will spend the rest of my life trying to think about how I can repay him.”
“We hope we could encourage more people to be donors either alive or deceased kidney donors,” said Ehrenberg.
Ehrenberg said he plans to spend his new retirement making up for years lost to illness. Litwin plans to spend more time with his family. Both are excited to see Ehrenberg spend many more years with his grandchildren.
Metallica has announced a $50,000 donation toward Haitian earthquake relief through the band’s All Within My Hands charity foundation.
The funds will be used by to help those impacted by the 7.2 magnitude quake, which hit Haiti on August 14. More than 2,200 people have died and over 12,200 have been injured, according to Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency. Additionally, over 50,000 homes have been destroyed.
All Within My Hands has previously donated money to causes including COVID-19 relief and recovery efforts for disasters including the West Coast wildfires, and this year’s Texas winter storm.
Meanwhile, Metallica has released two more previews of the upcoming Metallica Blacklist compilation, a 53-artist tribute to the group’s iconic 1991 self-titled record, aka The Black Album. The newly released covers include Japanese-British musician Rina Sawayama‘s version of “Enter Sandman,” and British rock band IDLES‘ rendition of “The God that Failed.”
The Metallica Blacklist will be released September 10. Proceeds will benefit a charity of each contributing artist’s choosing, as well as All Within My Hands.
In an interview with SNL’s Bowen Yang for the mag, the 18-year-old talks about everything form fangirling over Taylor Swift and Dr. Anthony Fauci to being a role model for young Filipino-Americans.
“I sometimes get DMs from little girls being like, ‘I’ve never seen someone who looked like me in your position,’” Olivia says. “And I’m literally going to cry. Like just thinking about it. I feel like I grew up never seeing that. Also it was always like, ‘Pop star,’ that’s a white girl.”
Olivia also discussed the pressures young women in pop music face.
“[It’s] like this thing where you’re only successful if you’re under 30,” she says. “I’ve always resented that because I think I’m just going to get better with age.”
But at the moment, the “good 4 u” singer says she’s enjoying where she is in life.
“Honestly, I literally just turned 18, so there are so many normal teenage things that I’m really excited to do,” she says. “There’s so much in life that I have to learn and so many experiences to be had. So I’m honestly most excited for that. I love growing up. I feel like I get happier with age, so hopefully that’s a trend that continues.”
