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(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.
The U.S. has evacuated approximately 83,000 people since the effort began on Aug. 14, the White House said Wednesday, 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, 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.”
(DETROIT) — A federal judge in Michigan has ordered sanctions against former Trump attorney Sidney Powell, attorney Lin Wood, and several other lawyers who brought a legal challenge seeking to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in the state.
In her ruling Wednesday, Judge Linda Parker described the suit as an “historic and profound abuse of the judicial process.”
“It is one thing to take on the charge of vindicating rights associated with an allegedly fraudulent election,” Parker wrote in a scathing 110-page filing. “It is another to take on the charge of deceiving a federal court and the American people into believing that rights were infringed, without regard to whether any laws or rights were in fact violated. This is what happened here.”
Parker ordered the group of nine attorneys involved in the lawsuit to pay all legal fees incurred by the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit’s attorneys, and mandated that they take legal education courses.
She also referred all nine to the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission for investigation, which could possibly lead to potential suspension or disbarment.
Attorneys representing Powell and the other lawyers in the election suit did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
In her ruling, Parker made note of the oath attorneys must take “to uphold and honor our legal system,” which she accused Powell, Wood and the others of flagrantly violating with their baseless and conspiracy-tinged challenge.
“Despite the haze of confusion, commotion, and chaos counsel intentionally attempted to create by filing this lawsuit, one thing is perfectly clear: Plaintiffs’ attorneys have scorned their oath, flouted the rules, and attempted to undermine the integrity of the judiciary along the way,” Parker wrote.
Parker also took direct aim at the defense offered by Powell that “reasonable people would not accept” her statements about the election until they were tested in the courts.
“It is not acceptable to support a lawsuit with opinions, which counsel herself claims no reasonable person would accept as fact and which were ‘inexact,’ ‘exaggerate[d],’ and ‘hyperbole,’ Parker said. “Nor is it acceptable to use the federal judiciary as a political forum to satisfy one’s political agenda. Such behavior by an attorney in a court of law has consequences.”
Parker also criticized statements made by the attorneys claiming they would still file the same complaints even given the events of Jan. 6, when a mob of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol incited by false claims of a “stolen” election.
“An attorney who willingly continues to assert claims doomed to fail, and which have incited violence before, must be deemed to be acting with an improper motive,” Parker said.
(ST. LOUIS) — A Missouri mom whose newborn son passed away after she gave birth to him while battling COVID-19 is speaking out in order to urge pregnant women to get vaccinated.
Vanessa Alfermann, a registered nurse from Franklin County, says she was 22 weeks pregnant with her second child when she contracted COVID-19 in November, before the first COVID-19 vaccine received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“My husband had symptoms and he tested positive and the next day I also tested positive,” Alfermann, 33, told Good Morning America. “I never had shortness of breath but was just really tired.”
Alfermann said she had more symptoms of COVID-19, like a loss of taste and smell and headaches, but never experienced the more serious complications she sees COVID-infected patients suffer from at the hospital, Missouri Baptist Sullivan, where she works.
Around 10 days after she first tested positive for COVID-19 though, Alfermann began experiencing back pain and cramps and went to see her OBGYN.
“The baby was fine [in an ultrasound] but my white blood cells were really high and they said I had an infection from COVID and gave me an antibiotic and some muscle relaxers to go home with,” she recalled. “The next morning at about 1:30 I got up and realized I was in labor.”
Because her husband was still isolating due to his own COVID-19 diagnosis, Alfermann’s mother-in-law drove her to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, where she would quickly give birth to her son, whom she named Axel.
“Within a half hour from me getting there and getting up to the [labor and delivery] floor, Axel was born,” said Alfermann. “I didn’t even get to hold him. The NICU people held him and he took his breath with them and then he passed away.”
Alfermann said doctors told her she suffered a placental abruption, a pregnancy complication that happens when the placenta separates from the uterus. In her case, the abruption was caused by blood clots in the placenta due to COVID-19.
“It was mind-blowing because don’t think you’re going to get a blood clot on your placenta. [You think] you’re going to be put on a ventilator because you can’t breathe,” Alfermann said, referring to respiratory problems that were the most well-known COVID-19 complication at the time. “I went through all of these emotions but I also thought if this is what’s coming, what COVID does, it just scared me.”
Placental abruption can be a deadly complication for the mother. Alfermann said she is thankful she survived and is able to still be here for her family, including her husband, son and stepdaughter.
As she continues to walk through the grief of losing a child, Alfermann said she is sharing her story to help encourage pregnant people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“There’s so much misinformation out there that’s killing people and it’s frustrating,” she said. “I speak out about this for Axel’s legacy … because there shouldn’t be another Vanessa or Axel.”
Alfermann, who was vaccinated against COVID-19 in December, said she thinks about how her life may be different if the vaccine had been available during her pregnancy.
Describing the moment she received her first vaccine shot in December, Alfermann said, “I was so happy because I was protecting everybody else but I went upstairs to our bathroom and just cried because I thought ‘what if.’ What if five or six weeks earlier I could have gotten the shot? I could still be waiting to have my baby boy.”
“It’s very bittersweet,” she said.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strengthened its recommendation for COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, stating that all women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to get pregnant now or might become pregnant in the future should get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Still, 3 out of 4 four pregnant women in the U.S. have not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to new data from the CDC.
The low vaccination rate among pregnant women combined with the more infectious delta variant spreading in the U.S. has led to an increase in hospitalizations among pregnant women, including in the St. Louis-based healthcare system where Alfermann works.
“We’re getting pretty desperate,” said Dr. Jeannie Kelly, a Washington University obstetrician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, part of the BJC HealthCare system. “We have had to say no to transfers because we are completely full and that in my eyes is just unacceptable for American medicine in 2021 and it’s infuriating that we’re here at this point.”
“I think all of us who are taking care of pregnant patients at this point are really worried, are really concerned and are really scared,” she said. “It’s a really hard situation for a pregnant person who is in the ICU with a baby who is also sick because mom is so sick.”
Dr. Laura Vricella, a maternal fetal medicine physician at Mercy Hospital, where Alfermann was treated, said the hospital is also seeing record number of COVID-positive pregnant patients.
“In the past month we have seen the largest amount of pregnant people being hospitalized with COVID, and be critically ill with COVID, than we did at any time last year, said Vricella. “We have eight [pregnant people with COVID-19] in the hospital now, five are critically ill and virtually all are unvaccinated.”
Vricella, who was not involved in Alfermann’s care, said doctors and researchers are learning more and more now, as the pandemic continues, about the negative effects COVID may have on pregnant people.
“What we’re seeing right now is that COVID-19 seems to be much more dangerous for pregnant people than what we were seeing in the spring,” she said. “This is why the three national bodies [the CDC, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM)] are now recommending the vaccine in pregnancy regardless of timing.”
COVID-19 is especially dangerous in pregnant people because their immune systems are already less active in order to support their growing fetus and their hearts and kidneys are already working harder during pregnancy to support the fetus, according to Vricella.
Pregnant people must also keep their oxygen levels higher in general to support their fetus, which can be a herculean task to do when COVID-19 is in the body, according to Vricella.
And in addition to pregnant people with COVID-19 being more likely to deliver prematurely, Vricella said her hospital is also seeing more COVID-positive pregnant patients deliver stillbirths, even with mild COVID cases.
“COVID-19 begins as a respiratory illness but can affect the entire body and also seems to increase the risk of thrombosis or blood clots,” she said. “We suspect that this decreased oxygen to the fetus may be responsible for the stillbirths that we are seeing, though we need further research.”
Just as doctors are learning more about the complications of COVID-19 in pregnant women, they are also seeing more data about the safety of the vaccines, according to Vricella.
“The risks of COVID are much, much greater than the theoretical risks of the vaccine,” she said. “The overwhelming evidence indicates that the vaccine is safe.”
When the CDC strengthened its recommendation for COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy this month, it did so citing new evidence of safety with the vaccines, a point that Kelly also stressed.
“I tell my patients that at this point, the [COVID-19] vaccine is one of the most studied medications, or interventions, during pregnancy,” said Kelly, noting that over 140,000 pregnant people have been vaccinated and doctors now have nearly nine months of data pointing to the vaccine’s success. “During pregnancy, we’re pretty excited when we see a study come out with a couple thousand women enrolled in it, and now we’re talking so many more numbers than we typically see for any other type of research in pregnancy.”
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines also use mRNA technology, which doesn’t enter the nucleus of the cells and doesn’t alter human DNA. The two COVID-19 vaccines are the first mRNA vaccines, which are theoretically safe during pregnancy, because they do not contain a live virus.
“It’s never too late and it’s never too early,” Vricella said of when pregnant women should get vaccinated. “I think the fall could be a really terrifying time for pregnant people if we don’t increase their vaccination rates quickly.”
(NEW YORK) — Dozens of wildfires blazing through the Western U.S. are continuing to shroud surrounding areas in smoke and haze.
At least 92 large wildfires are continuing to burn in the West, mostly in California, Oregon and Washington. Evacuation orders are in effect for 17 of the active fires.
The Caldor Fire in Grizzly Flats, California, about 100 miles east of Sacramento, continues to spread, having burned through 126,566 acres by Wednesday evening and remains just 12% contained.
Smoke from the wildfires is continuing to bring poor air quality to much of the West, especially across the Northwest and northern Rockies. Seven states, from California to Colorado, are under air quality alerts on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Nevada recorded its worst air quality in history due to the wildfires. The air quality is so bad in some areas that it prompted school closures.
Scorching temperatures could possibly fuel the flames. Twenty-two states in the U.S. — from California to New York — are under heat alerts Wednesday.
Excessive heat warnings are in effect for the Southwest, where temperatures will top 110 degrees in some regions. And heat is expected to spread north to Central and Northern California through the end of the week — with temperatures expected to surpass 100 degrees in Sacramento, making it difficult for firefighters to contain the blazes.
Red flag warnings have also been issued for Colorado and Wyoming, where strong, erratic and gusty winds, along with low humidity, could present dangerous fire conditions.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
St. Louis 3, Detroit 2
Tampa Bay 7, Philadelphia 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Houston 6, Kansas City 5
Cleveland 7, Texas 2
Toronto 3, Chi White Sox 1
Baltimore 10, L.A. Angels 6
Minnesota 9, Boston 6
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Chi Cubs 5, Colorado 2
San Francisco 3, NY Mets 2
Arizona 5, Pittsburgh 2
Miami 4, Washington 3
Colorado 13, Chi Cubs 10
Milwaukee 4, Cincinnati 1
LA Dodgers 5, San Diego 3
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Phoenix 106, New York 79
Wednesday night at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, Carly Pearce got to fulfill another lifelong dream: helming a major awards show.
“I am so excited,” the new Opry member commented before the ACM Honors. “Hosting is something that I really take seriously, and want to tap into as an artist.”
“It’s always been a goal of mine to take that as part of, just, my brand and who I am,” she confessed. “So I’m so thankful that the ACMs felt like I could handle it.”
Typically the home for the Academy of Country Music’s non-televised awards, it’ll air this year as a special on Circle TV.
Ashley McBryde got the chance to sing for Luke Combs, and honor him with the Gene Weed Milestone Award.
“I’m performing ‘She Got The Best of Me’… one of my favorite Luke Combs songs…” she revealed prior to the show. “I’ve been touring with Luke for… seems like two or three years now… So he’s a great guy.”
“He’s done a lot as far as teaching me how to treat people,” Ashley continued, “and helping us learn how to put on a bigger and bigger show.”
Chris Janson bemoaned missing the chance to connect with legendary writers like honoree Curly Putman, before the momentous task of performing what’s widely considered country’s greatest composition at the Mother Church.
“Full circle, here we are in 2021, and here I am with this awesome, blessed career,” Chris reflected. “And I’m getting to repay that hopefully in song, and I hope I do it justice tonight.”
“It’s a big step to sing ‘He Stopped Loving Her Today” in a honky tonk,” he added. “It’s also a big step to sing it in front of your country music… family.”
Watch the complete ACM Honors November 23 on Circle.
Yungblud had released the video for his new song, “Fleabag.”
The black-and-white clip finds the U.K. rocker snarling his way through of a number of less-than-ideal scenarios, ranging from street fights to being burned alive. You can watch it now streaming on YouTube.
“I wrote “Fleabag” in a really dark time of my life, when a lot of people around me had an expectation about what I should be,” Yungblud said when the song premiered last week. “To tell you the truth it’s about being f***ing gutted about people judging me and trying to tear me down.”
“Fleabag” follows Yungblud’s sophomore album, Weird!, which dropped last December.
Anne-Marie and Niall Horan‘s hit duet “Our Song” is about two former lovers who think they’re doing OK — until their song comes on the radio. Anne-Marie says she got the idea for the song when she heard Jason Mraz‘s hit “I’m Yours” on the way to the songwriting session — but not for the reason you might think.
“On the way to the studio, I always try and see what inspires me on the way,” Anne-Marie tells ABC Audio. “I look out the window and I see someone talking to someone and I try and imagine their conversation…it’s always constantly, you know, trying to get inspired by something.”
She recalls that on that particular journey, on the way to her recording session, the song ‘I’m Yours’ came on the radio. “It’s weird, it never used to be mine and my ex’s song. It was my ex’s and his ex’s song together, Anne-Marie notes. “So every time it came on the radio, I would be like, ‘You’re thinking about her!!!’ And so it was that song that reminded me of that time.”
The “FRIENDS” singer marvels, “It was so long ago…it just surprised me how many memories it brought back whilst listening to it. So I went to the session, [and] I was like, ‘Imagine just how many people have that one song with someone?’ and it went from there, really.”
“Our Song” is on Anne-Marie’s new album Therapy, which also features collaborations with her friend Ed Sheeran and the British girl group Little Mix, among others.
Slipknot‘s beloved sophomore album Iowa turns 20 this Saturday.
Originally released August 28, 2001, Iowa arrived two years after Slipknot’s self-titled debut. Drawing inspiration from their lives growing up in their home state, along with their struggles with issues including addiction and mental health, the masked metallers created what is now considered the Knot’s darkest, heaviest and most intense album of their career.
Iowa debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 — then a Slipknot career high — and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. It spawned future Knot staples “Disasterpiece,” “The Heretic Anthem” and “People=S***,” plus the Grammy-nominated singles “Left Behind” and “My Plague.”
Sadly, not every Slipknot member who recorded Iowa is still here to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Bassist Paul Gray died in 2010, while drummer Joey Jordison, whom Halestorm‘s Arejay Hale calls “one of the most influential drummers of his generation,” just passed away this past July.
“I always appreciated [Jordison’s] style because it was straight from the heart,” Hale tells ABC Audio. “I always appreciated that about him, and I was always really intrigued by his playing.”
Hale adds that he’s always been particularly inspired by Jordison’s “raw energy” and “aggression.”
“You could feel what he played,” Hale says. “You could definitely feel that he beat himself up. He put his entire body into his playing.”
Christopher Polk/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
The Weeknd was the star of this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, however he regrets that he had to postpone his After Hours tour — named after double-platinum album — until next year due to the pandemic.
“Oh my God, I really miss performing in general, especially this album,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I really didn’t get to perform it for my fans. There’s just something about going on tour, and even going on festival runs, and just experiencing new music with the crowd. Hopefully we get to do that.”
The three-time Grammy winner was shut out at the Grammy nominations this year, but he received a surprise Emmy nomination for his Super Bowl performance: Outstanding Variety Special.
“It was definitely unexpected,” he says of the nod. “I had no idea that it was even possible to get nominated for an Emmy for the Super Bowl, so I was very grateful.”
In 2019, the 31-year-old entertainer made his acting debut in Uncut Gems starring Adam Sandler. Now he’s on a team creating a new HBO TV series, while also recording his fifth studio album.
“It’s been really cool because I’m working on this album this summer simultaneously with the writer’s room for the new TV show,” he says. “So I’ve been kind of going back and forth finishing the album and pending up the show that we’re going to start shooting soon. It’s been quite a summer.”
