Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
After BTS gave fans “Permission to Dance,” they are hoping fans give them permission to take a break.
On Sunday, the popular South Korean boy band announced they are planning to take an “extended period of rest.”
“BTS stayed active in order to engage with fans in 2021 and 2021 amidst the COVID-19 situation, and achieved dazzling results to cement themselves as top global artists,” the announcement, which was attached to a Twitter post, read. “This period of rest will provide the members of BTS who have tirelessly committed themselves to their activities a chance to get re-inspired and recharge with creative energy.”
The “period of rest” will commence after the 2021 Jingle Ball Tour and “BTS Permission to Dance on Stage-LA,” however, fans won’t have to wait too long to see the K-pop group in action again.
The announcement adds that the “Butter” singers are preparing for a concert and the release of a new album in March “that will mark the beginning of a ‘new chapter'” for the group.
The notice concluded by extending their “deepest gratitude” and assured that “they will return as their best, healthiest selves after recharging so they can return all the love from the fans.”
The University of Florida has awarded the late Tom Petty an honorary doctorate of music.
The Tampa Bay Times reports that the school’s board of trustees voted unanimously on Friday to present the special degree to Petty, who was born and grew up in Gainesville, Florida, where the university is located.
According to the newspaper, University of Florida provost Joseph Glover read a motion to award the doctorate to Petty, who died in 2017 at age 67 of an accidental drug overdose.
During his declaration, Glover mentioned a variety of Tom’s career achievements, including induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, three Grammy awards, a MusiCares Person of the Year honor, the ASCAP organization’s Golden Note Award, Billboard magazine’s Century Award, and a U. of Florida Distinguished Achievement Award.
“Petty…is widely considered among the most distinctive and influential musicians of the past 50 years,” Glover said. “His presence remains significant as seen by abundant radio airplay and the popularity of events in his honor, such as the Tom Petty birthday bash held annually in Gainesville.”
The provost also noted that Petty’s solo hit “I Won’t Back Down” “has become a mantra at athletic events” at the university, and that he personally heard the school’s president, Kent Fuchs, sing it.
Later on during the meeting, Fuchs announced that Petty’s music will be played after the university’s fall commencement events later in December.
A video of the University of Florida trustees board meeting can be viewed at Trustees.UFL.edu. Glover’s reading of the motion to honor Petty begins around the 54-minute mark.
Petty never attended the University of Florida, but according to FloridaGators.com, he worked as a groundskeeper at the school while pursuing his music career. He later performed at the university in 1993 and 2006.
After appearing on three seasons of Bachelor-related shows, Colton Underwood only maintains contact with one person from the series — former host Chris Harrison.
“I don’t watch the show. I mean, the only person that I really talked to is Chris [Harrison] still,” the 29-year-old told Us Weekly. “Chris and I stay in touch.”
Colton, whose reality show Coming Out Colton — a show that chronicles his journey of self-discovery and coming out as a gay man — just premiered on Netflix, added that “Chris was about the only one from the franchise who really reached out and sort of let me know that he was there for me, [asking] if there’s anything he can do.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have really any relationships in the franchise anymore,” the former NFL player admitted.
Colton first was introduced to audiences when he vied for Becca Kufrin‘s heart on season 14 of The Bachelorette.He then earned a spot on season five of Bachelor in Paradise, before going on to become the lead on season 23 of The Bachelor, where he handed his final rose to Cassie Randolph. The two dated for a year-and-a-half before breaking up in May 2020.
Almost a year later, in April, Underwood publicly came out as gay on Good Morning America, and just this past weekend introduced fans to his new boyfriend, 39-year-old Jordan C. Brown.
Alongside photos of the couple, E! Online reports that in a series of Instagram Stories on Saturday, Colton gushed, “Happy birthday to my dog loving…family man. Corn fed…love.”
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Utah 109, Cleveland 108
Charlotte 130. Atlanta 127
Toronto 102, Washington 90
Houston 118, New Orleans 108
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Columbus 6, San Jose 4
Tampa Bay 7, Philadelphia 1
Chicago 3, NY Islanders 2 (SO)
Los Angeles 5, Edmonton 1
Winnipeg 6, Toronto 3
Vegas 3, Calgary 2
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Arizona 33, Chicago 22
Detroit 29, Minnesota 27
Indianapolis 31, Houston 0
LA Chargers 41, Cincinnati 22
Miami 20, NY Giants 9
Philadelphia 33, NY Jets 18
Tampa Bay 30, Atlanta 17
LA Rams 37, Jacksonville 7
Washington 17, Las Vegas 15
Pittsburgh 20, Baltimore 19
Seattle 30, San Francisco 23
Kansas City 22, Denver 9
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UCLA 2, Washington 0
Arizona 90, Oregon St. 65
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
New York City FC 2, Philadelphia 1
(FLORIDA) — A Florida Institute of Technology student who was reportedly wielding a knife at students on campus was fatally shot by officers Friday night, authorities said.
Police officers and school security responded shortly before 11 p.m. to reports of a man on the Melbourne campus “armed with a knife and assaulting students,” the Melbourne Police Department said.
The incident began at Roberts Hall, a freshman residence hall, according to school officials.
No one else was seriously injured, with no further threat to campus. As the incident is under active investigation by law enforcement, no additional information is available at this time. (2 of 2)
Officers confronted the man, identified by police as 18-year-old Alhaji Sow, in a campus building “armed with an edged weapon,” the department said.
Sow “lunged” at a police officer with his weapon during the confrontation, and the officer and a school security officer both fired their weapons, striking him, according to Melbourne police.
Officers attempted lifesaving measures but the student died at the scene, police said.
The Melbourne police officer who fired his weapon was injured during the incident, police said. No other injuries were reported.
Shortly after midnight, the school issued a shelter-in-place alert and advised people to avoid the area due to police activity on campus. The order was lifted around 3 a.m., though students were advised to avoid Roberts Hall and Campbell Hall, another residence hall, due to the investigation.
The shooting was an “isolated incident” and there is no further threat to the campus, police and school officials said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting. The officer is a five-year veteran of the force, police said.
Sow, of Riverdale, Georgia, was a sophomore at the university studying aeronautical science, school officials said.
In a statement Saturday morning, Florida Tech said it “continues to collaborate with law enforcement’s ongoing investigation.”
The school said it is arranging support services Saturday for students and others in the community.
(LOUISIANA) — Bryant Purvis was just 17 when he became a part of the “Jena Six.”
He and five other Black teens were accused and later convicted of attacking a white student at a high school in Jena, Louisiana, a town with a large majority of white residents, after a series of racially charged incidents there.
The case against the teens became for many a symbol of racial discrimination in the justice system — attempted murder charges for what supporters called a schoolyard fight. The charges were later dramatically reduced.
Purvis, now 32, maintains he was not involved in the fight. He has since dedicated his time talking to students about racial injustice as a motivational speaker. He also authored the book, “My Story as a Jena 6,” in 2015, but is now focused on his future beyond the “Jena Six” label.
“At the time, it was just so much emotion,” Purvis, who now lives in Dallas and has a 9-year-old son, told ABC News.
“It was more extreme because I knew I didn’t commit the crime. So, once I found out the charges, knowing where I was in Jena, I just didn’t see it coming out good.”
15 years later
Dec. 4 marks the 15th anniversary of the arrest of the Jena Six: Purvis, Carwin Jones, Jesse Ray Beard, Robert Bailey Jr., Theo Shaw and Mychal Bell.
At the beginning of the 2006 school year, several Black students were sitting under a tree at Jena High School where white students usually congregated, according to the ACLU, which advocated on behalf of the Jena Six. A day later, three nooses were left hanging from a branch on the tree, and three white students were temporarily suspended, the ACLU reported, despite the principal’s recommendation to expel them.
Later that year, a white adult at a gas station pulled a shotgun on three Black teens, including Bailey, but the teens were the ones charged in the case — for taking the gun and bringing it to police, according to a 2009 Good Morning America report.
On Dec. 4, 2006, six Black teenagers, now known as the Jena Six were accused of beating up a fellow white student Justin Barker, who was hospitalized and suffered a swollen eye and a concussion, according to Barker’s family.
He said in interviews years later with The Associated Press that he didn’t know why he was attacked.
The Black teens were arrested and charged with second-degree battery, which was later upgraded to second-degree attempted murder and conspiracy to commit attempted murder, despite Barker returning to a school function hours later, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which represented one of the teens and helped arrange the defense for another.
Supporters argued the charges were far too serious for the severity of Barker’s injury, sparking a massive protest and litigation efforts to have the charges reduced, SPLC said.
Bell, then 16, was charged as an adult and pleaded guilty to second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit second-degree battery. However, his conviction was later overturned after a judge ruled he should have been tried as a juvenile. Bell still received an 18-month detention sentence.
The other five pleaded no contest in an agreement that reduced their charges to a misdemeanor simple battery and did not admit guilt or involvement. Each one of them was fined $500 and served a week of unsupervised probation.
“We recognize that the events of the past two and a half years have also caused Justin and his parents tremendous pain and suffering, much of which has gone unrecognized,” the teens said in a prepared statement read in court, according to SPLC. “We hope our actions today help to resolve this matter for Justin, Mr. and Mrs. Barker, and all others affected, including the Town of Jena.”
DA said race not a factor
The district attorney at the time, Reed Walters, claimed race wasn’t a factor in the charges.
“It is not and never has been about race,” Walters said, according to an AP report at the time. “It is about finding justice for an innocent victim and holding people accountable for their actions.”
Local activists disagreed.
“From racial profiling to unequal punishment in school to potential misconduct by authorities, the Jena Six case causes great concern,” Marjorie Esman, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, said in a 2007 statement.
“It is time to fully examine the facts surrounding this case to determine if any racially motivated misdeeds have taken place. Considering the concerns that the Jena Six bring up, we must redouble our commitment to equal protection — not just in Jena, but across Louisiana and the rest of the country.”
Thousands came out to protest during their trials in 2007. Demonstrators were furious with disparities in the criminal justice system, which they said often resulted in harsher, more unjust charges and sentences for Black people compared with white people.
Trying to move on
Following the incident and their convictions, the other men too wanted to move on — some going to college, others entering the labor force. Shaw also maintained his innocence, claiming he was not involved in the fight.
Purvis said racial division and segregation had long been an issue in Jena, for as long as he could remember, but the experiences of the Jena Six shined a national spotlight on the tensions that were building up.
“I would say we kind of put pressure on the officials and everybody that run the town to make a change,” Purvis added. “We brought a lot of attention to the community … A lot of other things that happened leading up to that fight that really weren’t publicized.”
Years later, Purvis has a message for Black men about ongoing injustice in America: “Carry yourself in the right manner, and don’t let one situation define who you are.”
“Things are gonna happen to you,” he added, “but it’s not about what happened — it’s how you respond.”
(NEW YORK) — The latest COVID-19 variant of concern, omicron, first reported to the World Health Organization from South Africa last week — and now detected throughout the U.S. — continues to worry many Americans with still much unknown about the virus.
Health authorities continue to urge calm as scientists across the globe search for answers.
“Right now, we’re really in a state of knowledge acquisition,” said Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Massachusetts. “We really need to know more. We need to know how pathogenic it is. We need to know how transmissible it is and we need to know whether or not it evades antibody responses induced by the vaccines.”
Experts caution that answers to those questions may not come for months.
“What’s going to happen is our band of confidence is going to narrow over time as opposed to saying in this amount of time we will have an answer. And that’s what we have to recognize,” said John Brownstein, epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital. “We just need to have some patience,” Brownstein added.
When will we know about omicron transmission?
Researchers, however, expect to have estimates for transmissibility “probably ahead of some of the other questions that we have,” said Brownstein.
In a press conference Wednesday, WHO COVID technical lead, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, said there is some suggestion omicron may be more transmissible but it’s too early to say definitively. “We expect to have more information on transmission within days, not necessarily weeks,” Van Kerkhove said.
“Based on the data collected through surveillance, we have a rough estimation of the proportion of infections that relate to omicron where you can start to make basic estimates of transmissibility very quickly,” said Brownstein.
During the White House COVID-19 briefing on Friday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, said as more omicron cases are detected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be able to model how the new variant will spread, similar to how quickly CDC predicted the delta variant would spread from the initial 3% to 4% of cases to nearly all cases.
“We really don’t know what’s going to happen, how well it is going to compete or not compete with delta, but we will know as more cases occur and what the doubling time of the relative percentage of omicron versus delta will be,” Fauci said.
When will we know how effective current COVID-19 vaccines are on omicron?
The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement on Tuesday it is working “as quickly as possible” to evaluate the potential impact of omicron on current treatments, vaccines and tests and said it expects to have answers in the next few weeks.
If a modification to current vaccines is necessary, vaccine manufacturers say they are prepared to make those modifications quickly.
In a statement on Sunday, Pfizer and BioNTech said they have been monitoring the effectiveness of their vaccine against emerging variants and if a “vaccine-escape variant emerges” they expect to be able to make a “tailor-made vaccine against that variant in approximately 100 days, subject to regulatory approval.”
Matt Barrows, Moderna’s senior director of manufacturing told ABC News that the company has the capacity to produce an omicron-specific booster vaccine within a month if it becomes necessary. He said experiments testing the efficacy of their current vaccine against omicron are ongoing and will take at least two to three weeks.
“Although we haven’t proven it yet, there’s every reason to believe that if you get vaccinated and boosted that you would have at least some degree of cross protection, very likely against severe disease, even against the Omicron variant,” said Fauci.
When will we know if omicron causes more serious illness?
Learning if this version of the virus is deadlier could take many months, experts say.
“We don’t even know if omicron will have the ability to overtake delta and we’re dealing with a delta surge right now. There’s a lot of ifs and a lot of open questions,” said Brownstein.
Currently, the delta variant is driving nearly all cases across the U.S., with 99.9% of cases in the country from the delta variant.
Health officials are encouraged by the mild symptoms the omicron cases are experiencing so far. According to health officials, the man who tested positive for omicron in Minnesota is fully vaccinated and had been boosted in early November. The woman identified in Colorado is also reported to be experiencing only mild symptoms and was fully vaccinated, however not boosted.
Early cases identified in South Africa have also reported no severe disease according to local officials. “Right now it does not look like there’s a big signal of a high degree of severity, but it’s too early to tell,” said Fauci, in an interview with CNN.
As of today, there are more than 400 confirmed cases of Omicron in over 30 countries across the globe, including in the US. As scientists work on getting more answers, experts are urging to not wait and get vaccinated or boosted if eligible.
“As it stands now with the information we have, you do the best with the information you have in front of you and that information says that you get an incredible advantage by getting that booster,” said Brownstein.
Barouch said that the only way to stop new variants is to vaccinate people across the globe.
On Friday, the White House announced that it’s shipping out 11 million more vaccines worldwide in an effort to increase vaccination around the world. The U.S. has shipped 291 million doses so far and President Joe Biden announced plans Thursday to provide 200 million more doses worldwide in the next 3 months.
“Currently, sub-Saharan Africa has less than a seven percent vaccination rate. And so it’s not a surprise that new variants are emerging in that part of the world,” Barouch said. “The only way to stop these variants is to have a widespread vaccination campaign that really reaches all four corners of the planet.”
Esra Demirel, M.D., is an OB-GYN resident physician at Northwell Health-North Shore University Hospital & LIJ Medical Center and is a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.
(PENNSYLVANIA) — Omicron has been making headlines as cases of the new COVID-19 variant continue to be detected in the United States. While the strain is concerning, health officials are heeding that delta continues to fuel widespread transmission and is a problem now.
That’s the current case in Pennsylvania, where the number of daily confirmed COVID-19 infections crossed 10,000 Friday for the first time since the state’s winter wave.
In the past week, the number of COVID-19 cases, case rates, hospitalizations and patients on ventilators have all gone up, according to state data. Amid its latest surge, Pennsylvania has one of the highest COVID-19 hospitalization rates in the U.S.
“We continue to see a tremendous amount of COVID-19 patients,” Dr. Eugene Curley, the medical director of infectious disease for WellSpan Health, which has six acute care hospitals in south-central Pennsylvania, told ABC News.
One month ago, there were about 250 COVID-19 patients total being treated across the six hospitals; on Friday, that number was 310, Curley said. The peak, during last year’s winter surge, was around 430, he said.
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which operates over 35 hospitals throughout Pennsylvania, has seen its second-highest number of COVID-19 patients since the pandemic began, hospital officials said. As of Friday morning, there were 779 patients with active COVID-19 infections admitted across all UPMC facilities; the peak, in December 2020, was 1,250, UPMC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Donald Yealy told ABC News.
“Across our system, we’re at about two-thirds to three-quarters of what that peak is,” he said. “So it is very, very brisk.”
The state’s current surge has been building since late summer, Yealy said. It reached a peak in late September before “there was the beginning of a pullback in activity,” Yealy said.
“That pullback no longer exists and we are back on essentially an upward trajectory,” he continued.
It’s hard to predict if Thanksgiving gatherings will have an impact on hospitalizations; holidays are a “wild card,” Curley said. But many people in the state have no protection against COVID-19, Yealy noted, which will help fuel transmission.
Statewide, around 41% of residents have still not gotten fully vaccinated, according to federal data. Within some counties, that percentage is in the 60s, state data shows.
Unvaccinated people continue to represent the vast majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, including those who are in intensive care units, state and hospital data shows.
For the 30 days ending Nov. 2, nearly 75% of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 were unvaccinated, according to state data.
Across WellSpan’s six acute-care hospitals, over 90% of COVID-19 patients in the ICU and on ventilators since early September have been unvaccinated, the health system said this week.
“Those numbers just reinforce what we already know — is these vaccinations are safe and effective,” Curley said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has urged people to get vaccinated if they haven’t already.
“In Pennsylvania and around the country, the vaccine is still our strategy, so get your shot,” the governor said last week on KDKA-AM radio, according to The Associated Press.
A renewed push for vaccination and boosters has come amid the spread of omicron, which has concerned scientists due to its large number of mutations. The variant has been detected in at least 11 states — including Pennsylvania, where the state’s first case was identified Friday in a man from northwest Philadelphia, health officials said.
For Curley, if concerns around the omicron variant encourage people to get vaccinated, that’s a good thing. But he warned that delta “is here now.”
“People need to get vaccinated for that reason,” he said. “If you’re out there and you’re eligible to be vaccinated, get vaccinated now because of delta.”
Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, echoed that sentiment on Friday in an interview on CNN.
“We now have about 86,000 cases of COVID right now in the United States being diagnosed daily and 99.9% of them, the vast majority of them, continue to be delta,” she said. “And we know what we need to do against delta. And that is get vaccinated. Get boosted if you’re eligible and continue all of those prevention measures, including masking.”
It is too soon to tell if omicron will overtake delta as the predominant variant in the U.S., she said. Though either way, the actions will likely remain the same, experts say.
“The truth of the matter is, both delta, which is the predominant variant now, and omicron are easily transmitted. And so the concerns are really not changed all that much, and the actions that we all need to take remain exactly the same,” Yealy said. “Get vaccinated, wear a mask indoors and in crowds, keep a little distance and if you get sick, don’t go out with others and get tested as quickly as possible.”
Imagine Dragons will be performing during the 2021 Game Awards, which celebrate the year’s best in video games.
It wasn’t announced what Dan Reynolds and company will be playing, but it seems likely we’ll hear a rendition of “Enemy,” a song ID recorded for the Netflix animated series Arcane, which was inspired by the League of Legends video game.
A tweet from the Game Awards also promises that Imagine Dragons will be joined by “very special surprise guests.”
The 2021 Game Awards will be held December 9 in Los Angeles. For more info, visit TheGameAwards.com.
Longtime Elton John guitarist Davey Johnstone will release his first solo album in nearly 50 years, Deeper than My Roots, on February 4.
The project was a true family affair, as Johnstone’s youngest son, Elliott, sings lead vocals on most of the album, his son Charlie recorded many of the basic tracks at his home in California and contributed keyboard and backing vocals, and his son Jesse played drums on some of the songs.
In addition, Davey collaborated with his oldest son, Tam, and Jesse to write, record and produce the two instrumental tracks that are featured on the album: “Black Scotland” and “Walt Dizney.”
Johnstone has premiered the lead single from Deeper than My Roots, the melancholy “Melting Snow,” which is sung by his son Elliott and features Davey’s longtime Elton John band mate Nigel Olsson on drums. The song is accompanied by a lyric video that debuted at the Spirit of Unicorn Music label’s official YouTube channel.
Former Paul McCartney and Wings drummer Denny Seiwell also lent his talents to three songs. The album includes a pair of bonus tracks, including a cover of The Beatles‘ “Here, There and Everywhere.”
Johnstone recorded Deeper than My Roots while Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour was forced off the road because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trek is scheduled to relaunch on January 19 in New Orleans.
Davey’s only other solo album, Smiling Face, was released in 1973. You can pre-order Deeper than My Roots on CD now at CherryRed.co.uk.
Here’s the album’s full track list:
“Go Easy on My Heart”
“One Look in Your Eyes”
“Meh Amour”
“Walt Dizney”
“Melting Snow”
“You Lied to Me”
“Deeper”
“Boxer in the Corner”
“Black Scotland”
“The Final Quarter”
Bonus Tracks
“Here, There and Everywhere”
“All the Time in the World”
