TikTok stars don’t get any bigger than Charli D’Amelio. The teen is the most followed person on the social media platform and she and her sister, Dixie, are the focus of the new Hulu docuseries The D’Amelio Show, which they hope shows a different side of the family.
So, what made Charli let the cameras into her family’s home? She tells ABC Audio, “I feel like it was important to not only me, but the whole family to lead the narrative. Everyone has been telling us who we are, has been telling the world who we are, and we’ve never really been able to tell our story from our perspective and our truth…it’s important for us to really show the ins and outs of, we have no idea how to do this and we’re just trying to figure it out.”
The series follows Charli, 17, and her 20-year-old sister Dixie as they navigate their newfound fame — and the hate that comes with it.
“If we’re going to do this and we’re going to get the negative sides of it, then let’s get the full experience of the positives and every new thing that we get to try, a new opportunity, a new fun activity that we get to do,” she explains. “Like, what’s the point of not doing it? They’re going to hate no matter what.”
However, that’s not going to stop the TikTok stars from posting about their lives, according to Dixie, who says, “This isn’t going to last forever and we know that. So why should we stop ourselves from enjoying the moment?”
“It’s when people stop hating, you should be worried. That’s kind of how I think we’ve both been feeling recently,” she adds.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Pittsburgh 3, Detroit 2
Texas 3, Arizona 1
LA Angels 2, San Diego 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Minnesota 3, Cleveland 0
Baltimore 7, Kansas City 3
Toronto 5, NY Yankees 1
Tampa Bay 12, Boston 7
Houston 5, Seattle 4
Chi White Sox 6, Oakland 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cincinnati 4, Chi Cubs 3
Atlanta 8, Washington 5
NY Mets 9, Miami 4
Milwaukee 10, Philadelphia 0
LA Dodgers 7, St. Louis 2
San Francisco 12, Colorado 3
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Connecticut 83, Dallas 56
Seattle 105, Washington 71
Britney Spears‘ father, Jamie Spears, has filed to end the conservatorship of the pop star’s estate that has been in place since 2008, according to multiple sources.
Jamie Spears filed paperwork in Los Angeles Superior Court to terminate the legal agreement, which gave him control over his daughter’s financial decisions. According to the documents, the elder Spears said his daughter will not need to undergo psychological evaluation in order to terminate the conservatorship — a request Britney made in June.
“The conservatorship has helped Ms. Spears get through a major life crisis, rehabilitate and advance her career, and put her finances and her affairs in order. But recently, things have changed,” the documents state. “Ms. Spears is now outspoken in her frustration with the level of control imposed by a conservatorship, and has pleaded with this Court to ‘let her have her life back.'”
Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny still has to approve Jamie Spears’ filing.
Britney’s lawyer, Matthew Rosengart, responded to last month’s filing by saying he was “pleased” by the turn of events, but noted that he will continue his “vigorous investigation into the conduct of Mr. Spears, and others, over the past 13 years,” and accused Jamie of “reaping millions of dollars from his daughter’s estate.”
Following news of the filing, Rosengart called it “a massive legal victory” and “vindication.”
“Having exposed his misconduct and plan to hold his daughter hostage by trying to extract a multi-million dollar settlement, Mr. Spears has now effectively surrendered,” he said in a statement. “There is no settlement.”
“To the extent Mr. Spears believes he can try to avoid accountability and justice, including sitting for a sworn deposition and answering other discovery under oath, he is incorrect and our investigation into financial mismanagement and other issues will continue,” Rosengart continued.
The move comes almost a month after Jamie Spears filed documents agreeing step down as the “Toxic” singer’s conservator.
In statements to an L.A. Superior Court judge earlier this year, Britney, 39, demanded that her father be removed from her conservatorship and accused him of being “abusive.” During her bombshell testimony, she also told JudgePenny that everyone involved in the conservatorship “should be in jail.”
Jamie Spears has denied any wrongdoing. He has not overseen his daughter’s personal affairs since 2019, when Jodi Montgomery was appointed to that role by the court. He has continued to oversee his daughter’s financial affairs.
Penny had been set to rule on a petition filed by Rosengart to remove Jamie Spears as conservator on September 29.
(GUANTANAMO BAY) — After over 560 days of delay, the drawn-out pretrial proceedings of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other detainees accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11 attacks got underway again on Tuesday. But it took only a matter of hours for the hearing to run into yet another speed bump.
Mohammed, the alleged architect of the terror plot, along with Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ammar al-Baluchi and Mustafa al Hawsawi, filed into the courtroom of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base’s “Camp Justice,” which hosts the military commissions, for the first time since the pandemic sidelined the military court.
Seated with their defense teams, the men talked amongst each other and appeared engaged in their cases. Mohammed, known in recent years for his vibrantly colored facial hair, sported a bright orange beard along with thick black glasses. Some of the other defendants wore paramilitary attire.
Each detainee spoke out only once during the hearing, affirming that they understood their rights. Mohammed answered “yes,” speaking in English. Bin al-Shibh also responded in English, while the other three men communicated through translators.
While Mohammed has a reputation for courtroom outbursts, in a twist, it was the judge who became the central focus of the day’s hearing.
As part of his debut on the bench in the proceedings, Col. Matthew McCall — who was named to preside over the case last month — conducted a review of his qualifications, opening himself up for questions from the prosecution and the defense.
One of Mohammed’s attorneys, Gary Sowards, latched on to McCall’s circuitous route to his appointment. McCall was initially selected to oversee the trial last year, but withdrew after prosecutors objected, citing his lack of experience. He was reinstated after completing two years as a military judge, meeting the minimum requirement for the war court.
Sowards questioned McCall on whether the prosecution’s complaints had resulted in undue influence over the judiciary, resulting in his temporary removal from the case. The defense argued that this allowed for another judge to step in and — after a prolonged legal fight — authorize the destruction of a CIA black site, a secret international prison where terror suspects were subjected to “enhanced interrogation tactics” like waterboarding, which many human rights organizations consider to be torture.
During the questioning, McCall remained level, describing the situation as legally ambiguous in his estimation, but went along with the withdrawal to avoid complicating an already very complicated case.
“Why create an appellate issue? There are other judges who could do this case,” he said.
But moments later, the prosecution interrupted, informing the bench of a newly issued Military Commission Review on the exact topic of discussion. It determined that McCall could preside, but that all of the decisions he made before clocking two years of experience would be undone — leaving only the ruling on the destruction of the black site in place.
McCall dismissed the court several hours ahead of schedule to allow both sides to regroup and strategize.
But James Connell, a civilian death penalty attorney representing al-Baluchi, needed little time to process the information.
“One of the most important issues in the case is how the torture of these men is going to ultimately affect the trial and trials mean evidence,” Connell told reporters on the base. “The intentional destruction of evidence takes away from the defense and really the American people, information about what actually happened.”
Connell said the defense plans to appeal the order, but lamented yet another delay in a trial that’s dragged on for nearly a decade.
“This order is one more example of why this process takes so long, because each issue has to be separately litigated,” he continued. “Things come up in this military commission that never come up anywhere else. Where else in the world does the Pentagon issue an order telling a judge how to decide a case? It just doesn’t happen anywhere else except here at Guantanamo.”
The Black Crowes will wind down their 30th anniversary Shake Your Money Maker tour later this month, and the veteran rockers will follow the trek with a special two-night Las Vegas engagement on November 18 and 19 at the House of Blues.
The residency shows, dubbed The Black Crowes Present: Shake Your Money Maker, will feature the band playing its 1990 debut album in its entirety, along with select hits and other tunes from the group’s back catalog. The Black Crowes’ other 30th anniversary concerts have featured a similar set list.
Tickets for the Las Vegas shows go on sale to the general public this Friday at 10 a.m. PT. Tickets for a Black Crowes band pre-sale are available now, while a Live Nation pre-sale starts on Wednesday, September 8, at 10 a.m. PT.
Shake Your Money Maker was released in February 1990 and peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200. It featured two top-40 hits — a cover of Otis Redding‘s “Hard to Handle” and the original ballad “She Talks to Angels” — as well as fan favorites “Jealous Again” and “Twice as Hard.” The album has sold more than five million copies in the U.S. A deluxe, expanded reissue of Shake Your Money Maker was released in February.
The Black Crowes’ current tour is mapped out through a September 25 show in Bethel, New York. Visit TheBlackCrowes.com for the band’s full schedule.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 649,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 62% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Sep 07, 5:57 pm
Idaho hospital officials plead with public to get vaccinated as they run out of beds
Idaho hospital officials are pleading for the public to get vaccinated and take COVID-19 warnings seriously after the state declared a crisis in its standards of care.
Kootenai Health, a northern Idaho hospital, currently has 113 patients with COVID-19, an increase from the 90 patients they had last week, officials said. Administrators had to set up 22 beds in a conference room to deal with the influx of patients.
Dr. Robert Scoggins the chief of staff at Kootenai Health, said the hospital was not built for a pandemic this size. Currently, 39 patients are in the intensive care units and 19 are on ventilators, all on high levels of oxygen, he said.
The hospital said it could see as many as 140 patients in the coming weeks.
“The message that I’d like to send out to people is that we’re near the limit that we can handle in this facility,” Scoggins said in a news conference. “We’ve done a lot of things to expand our care to take care of more patients, but it keeps growing. If we had everyone in the community vaccinated, we would not be in this position.”
-ABC News’ Flor Tolentino and Nicholas Kerr
Sep 07, 4:00 pm
Louisiana hospital reports significant decline in number of patients
In hard-hit Louisiana, the Ochsner Health System is seeing a significant decline in COVID-19 patients, now down to 530 — dropping by nearly 250 patients in the last week, hospital CEO and president Warner Thomas said.
But in the wake of deadly Hurricane Ida, releasing patients from hospitals has been difficult, as some patients have no homes to return to, he said.
Sep 07, 3:30 pm
Oregon hospitals ‘scrambling’ with cases, hospitalizations ‘hovering at or near pandemic highs’
Hospitals in Oregon are “scrambling” to stay afloat with cases and hospitalizations “hovering at or near pandemic highs,” the state epidemiologist, Dean Sidelinger, said at COVID-19 briefing Tuesday.
Oregon saw 16,252 new cases in its most recent weekly report – which is 13 times higher than the reported cases for the week ending July 4, Sidelinger said.
Hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions are “alarmingly high” and hospitals are at a “saturation point” where they aren’t “able to provide care to everyone arriving at their door,” Sidelinger warned.
Sep 07, 3:08 pm
Former NBA player on 10th day in ICU
Former Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers player Cedric Ceballos, 52, tweeted that he’s on his 10th day in the ICU battling COVID-19.
On my 10th day in ICU, COVID-19 is officially kicking my but, I am asking ALL family, friends , prayer warriors healers for your prayers and well wish for my recovery.
If I have done and anything to you in the past , allow me to publicly apologize.
My fight is not done…..
Thx pic.twitter.com/r9QZBpfmEI
Military medical personnel head to Idaho, Arkansas, Alabama
About 60 military medical personnel are heading in three, 20-person teams to Arkansas, Alabama and Idaho to help treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients following a request from FEMA, the U.S. Army North said.
The personnel, including doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists, were sent to hospitals in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Ozark, Alabama; and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Six teams had previously been dispatched to six other hospitals: three in Louisiana, two in Mississippi and one in Dothan, Alabama.
Sep 07, 1:43 pm
Crisis Standards of Care enacted as ‘last resort’ at 10 Idaho hospital systems
A Crisis Standards of Care plan has been enacted at 10 hospital systems in Idaho, which is only done as a “last resort,” Dave Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said in a statement Tuesday.
The hospitals were chosen due to their “severe” shortages in beds and staffing as a result of a “massive increase” in COVID-19 hospitalizations, state officials said.
Crisis Standards of Care “means we have exhausted our resources to the point that our healthcare systems are unable to provide the treatment and care we expect,” Jeppesen said. “This is a decision I was fervently hoping to avoid.”
“When crisis standards of care are in effect, people who need medical care may experience care that is different from what they expect,” state officials said. “For example, patients admitted to the hospital may find that hospital beds are not available or are in repurposed rooms (such as a conference room) or that needed equipment is not available.”
Sep 07, 12:37 pm
75% of American adults have had at least 1 vaccine dose
Seventy-five percent of U.S. adults have now had at least one vaccine dose, Cyrus Shahpar, the White House’s COVID-19 data director, tweeted Tuesday.
Sunday-Tuesday just in: +1.51M doses reported administered over Saturday’s total, including 681K newly vaccinated and 105K additional doses. As usual, lower reporting over the holiday weekend. Just hit 75% of adults with at least one dose!
Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
Sep 07, 10:36 am
Biden to layout administration’s strategy to combat delta
President Joe Biden on Thursday will deliver remarks on his plan to stop the spread of the delta variant and to boost vaccinations, the White House confirmed Tuesday.
Biden “will lay out a six-pronged strategy … working across the public and private sectors,” a White House official said.
On Friday, while addressing August’s disappointing jobs report, Biden said, “there’s no question the delta variant is why today’s jobs report isn’t stronger. … Next week, I’ll lay out the next steps that are going to — we’re going to need to combat the delta variant, to address some of those fears and concerns.”
Part of the strategy Biden referenced Friday is to ask states and local governments to consider using federal funding to extend unemployment benefits in hard-hit areas.
“I want to talk about how we’ll further protect our schools, our businesses, our economy, and our families from the threat of delta,” Biden said Friday. “As we continue to fight the delta variant, the American Rescue Plan we passed continues to support families, businesses and communities. Even as some of the benefits that were provided are set to expire next week, states have the option to extend those benefits and the federal resources from the Rescue Plan to do so.”
Sep 07, 7:05 am
3rd person dies in Japan after receiving contaminated Moderna vaccine
A third person has died in Japan after receiving a dose from one of three batches of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine that have since been recalled due to contamination, according to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The 49-year-old man died on Aug. 12, one day after getting his second shot of the two-dose vaccine. His only known health issue was an allergy to buckwheat, the Japanese health ministry said in a statement Monday.
Two other men, aged 30 and 38, also died in August within days of getting their second Moderna shot. In all three cases, the men received doses from a batch manufactured in the same production line as another lot from which some unused vials were reported to contain foreign substances at multiple inoculation sites in Japan.
The deaths remain under investigation, and the Japanese health ministry said it has yet to establish any casual relationship with the vaccine.
The contaminated lot and two adjacent batches were suspended from use by the Japanese health ministry last month, pending an investigation. Moderna and its Japanese distribution partner Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. ultimately recalled the three lots, containing about 1.63 million doses, after an investigation confirmed the foreign matter to be high-grade stainless steel from manufacturing equipment.
The Japanese health ministry said that, based on the companies’ analysis, it is unlikely the stainless steel contaminants pose any additional health risk.
Moderna and Takeda have yet to release statements on the third fatality, but the companies have previously said there is currently no evidence that the other two deaths were caused by the vaccine.
(PORTLAND, Ore.) — Local lawmakers in Portland, Oregon, are set to vote on an “emergency resolution” on Wednesday to ban the city’s procurement of goods and services from the state of Texas in the wake of its restrictive new abortion law.
The resolution, which will be voted on by the Portland City Council, also seeks to ban city employee business travel to Texas.
“The ban will be in effect until the state of Texas withdraws its unconstitutional ban on abortion or until it is overturned in court,” a statement from Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office said of the resolution.
“City legal counsel is currently evaluating the legal aspects of this proposed resolution,” the statement added. “The Portland City Council stands unified in its belief that all people should have the right to choose if and when they carry a pregnancy and that the decisions they make are complex, difficult and unique to their circumstances.”
Texas’ new abortion law, which went into effect last Wednesday, bans physicians from providing abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected (including embryonic cardiac activity). This can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. While the law prohibits the state from enforcing the ban, it instead authorizes private citizens to bring civil suits against anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion — which can even include a driver taking someone to a clinic.
The Portland City Council added that it stands in solidarity with people who may face “difficult decisions about pregnancy” and affirmed that it respects their rights to make the best decision for themselves.
Finally, the members called on others in office to take similar action.
“We urge other leaders and elected bodies around the nation to join us in condemning the actions of the Texas state government,” the group stated.
A spokesman for the city council declined ABC News’ request for further comment Tuesday on how they will seek to enforce the resolution.
The move comes as public pressure mounts on both the government and the private sector over the Texas abortion law.
Ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft both said last week that they would cover the legal fees if its drivers were sued under the new law while driving for the platforms.
Dating app Bumble, which is headquartered in Austin, announced last week on Twitter that it was setting up a “relief fund” to support those seeking abortions in Texas.
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — With the U.S. military and diplomatic withdrawal now complete after 20 years in Afghanistan, the Taliban has taken over the country, including the Kabul airport, the site of an often-desperate evacuation effort the past two weeks.
But even as the last American troops were flown out to meet President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline, other Americans who wanted to flee the country were left behind and the Biden administration is now focused on a “diplomatic mission” to help them leave.
When President Joe Biden sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House on Aug. 18, he said he was committed to keeping the U.S. military in Afghanistan as long as needed. “If there are American citizens left, we’re going to stay until we get them all out,” he said.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Sep 07, 6:16 pm
Taliban leaders release 1st official statement
In its first official statement since announcing a new caretaker government, the Taliban said their previous 20 years of “struggle and Jihad” had two major goals: to end foreign occupation and aggression and to establish “a complete, independent, stable, and central Islamic system in the country.”
“Based on this principle, in the future, all matters of governance and life in Afghanistan will be regulated by the laws of the Holy Sharia,” according to the statement.
The statement said the Taliban wants strong and healthy relations with all other countries and “We are committed to all international laws and treaties, resolutions and commitments that are not in conflict with Islamic law and the country’s national values. We also call on the countries of the world to value building strong and cordial political, diplomatic and good relations with us and to also cooperate with us.”
“The Islamic Emirate will take serious and effective steps towards protecting human rights, the rights of minorities as well as the rights of the underprivileged groups within the framework of the demands of the sacred relation of Islam,” the statement continued.
Despite suggestions the new regime would be more inclusive, the Taliban appointed no women to any of the interim positions, and even disbanded Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
The statement went on to say that media is an important element of the country and the Taliban said it “will work for the freedom, functioning and improvement of the media quality. We consider it our duty to take into account the sacred precepts of Islam, the national interests of the country and impartiality in our broadcasts.”
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Sep 07, 12:19 pm
Biden admin pushes back on reports Taliban blocking US citizens from leaving
The Biden administration has pushed back on reports that the Taliban is stopping American citizens with proper documentation from flying out of Mazar-e-Sharif, a northern city where chartered planes have sat on the tarmac for a week.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Qatar, confirmed for the first time on Tuesday that there are “a small number of Americans” in Mazar-e-Sharif trying to depart, but he told reporters it was his “understanding that the Taliban has not denied access to anyone holding a valid document … but because all of these people are grouped together, that’s meant that flights had not been allowed to go.”
In other words, in his view, the Taliban is blocking the larger group, and the Americans were unfortunately stopped because they’re alongside others who don’t have valid documents.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki, was also asked about Americans stuck in Mazar-e-Sharif on Tuesday and whether the administration views it as a “hostage situation.”
“No, that is not what we would characterize it as,” she told reporters on Air Force One.
“Our secretary of state is in Qatar right now working on a range of options, including getting flights up and operational and going. And what we have seen is that individuals who have documentation are able to depart,” Psaki added.
Sep 07, 11:47 am
Taliban announce new caretaker government
The Taliban have announced a new caretaker government for Afghanistan on Tuesday, naming Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who is on the United Nations sanctions list and described as “one of the most effective Taliban commanders,” as the interim prime minister, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar as deputy prime minister.
The militant group appointed former Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp detainee Mullah Abdul Haq Waseeq as Afghan Intelligence Chief. The new government also includes two Haqqani leaders with $5 million in U.S. bounties on their heads as ministers.
Along with several other ministers, none of which was a woman, the Taliban announced the disbandment of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs from its new caretaker government.
Sep 07, 4:55 am
Around 100 Americans remain in Afghanistan, Blinken says
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Tuesday that “somewhere around 100” Americans remain in Afghanistan.
“We believe the number of those who have American citizenship — many of them dual nationals — who remain in Afghanistan is somewhere around 100,” Blinken said during a press conference in Qatar’s capital. “We’re in direct contact with virtually all of them.”
“For weeks now, we’ve been working very closely with Qatar, with Turkey to see to it that the Kabul airport could get up and running again to civilian air travel as soon as possible,” he continued. “We’re also working to facilitate overland passage for those who wish to depart when it comes to charters.”
Blinken admitted it’s a challenge without personnel on the ground in Afghanistan but one that “we’re determined to work through.”
“Many thousands of U.S. citizens or permanent residents or at-risk Afghans, who successfully evacuated and relocated from Kabul, have left aboard charter flights. Now, others are working to arrange more such flights,” he said. “We are working around-the-clock with NGOs, with members of congress and advocacy groups, providing any and all information and doing all we can to clear any roadblocks that they’ve identified to make sure that charter flights carrying Americans or others to whom we have a special responsibility can depart Afghanistan safely.”
U.S. officials have been engaging with the Taliban on departing flights, according to Blinken.
“They said that they will let people with travel documents freely depart,” he noted. “We will hold them to that, so will dozens of countries. The international community is watching to see if the Taliban will live up to their commitments.”
“It’s my understanding that the Taliban has not denied access to anyone holding a valid document, but they have said that those without valid documents at this point can’t leave,” he added. “Because all of these people are grouped together, that’s meant that flights had not been allowed to go. We’ve been able to identify a small number of Americans who we believe are seeking to depart from Mazar-e-Sharif with their families.”
Sep 06, 3:07 pm
4 US citizens evacuated over land border
The State Department has facilitated the evacuation of four U.S. citizens across one of Afghanistan’s land borders — the first Americans to leave the country with U.S. government help since President Joe Biden ended the massive, chaotic evacuation efforts that closed the country’s longest war.
Four Americans made their way across land with Taliban knowledge, according to a senior State Department official, who told ABC News they evacuated without Taliban interference.
The official declined to say which country they arrived in but added they were in “good condition” and met by U.S. embassy staff from the local embassy.
While the State Department helped these four evacuate, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said Sunday there were approximately 100 U.S. citizens still trying to escape the country, nearly a week after the last U.S. forces departed.
Among those left behind, there are several Americans in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif ready to board charter flights out that are being blocked by the Taliban, according to several sources. The Taliban has not give permission to the airlines, leaving the potential passengers stuck in the city now for days.
A State Department spokesperson told ABC News Sunday that they could not confirm the manifests of these flights because there were no U.S. personnel or assets in Afghanistan anymore, but added, “We will hold the Taliban to its pledge to let people freely depart Afghanistan.”
Sep 06, 4:53 am
Taliban claims victory over Panjshir, last pocket of resistance
The Taliban claimed victory Monday over Afghan opposition forces in Panjshir province, the last pocket of resistance in Afghanistan and the only province that the Taliban had not seized last month.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement saying Panjshir was under full control of Taliban fighters.
“We tried our best to solve the problem through negotiations, and they rejected talks and then we had to send our forces to fight,” Mujahid later told a press conference in Kabul on Monday.
The Taliban posted photos and videos on social media apparently showing fighters standing at the gate of the Panjshir provincial governor’s office and raising the group’s flag in the provincial capital.
A spokesperson for the resistance group, the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), took to Twitter to deny that Panjshir had fallen.
“Taliban’s claim of occupying Panjshir is false,” the spokesperson tweeted. “The NRF forces are present in all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight. We assure the ppl of Afghanistan that the struggle against the Taliban & their partners will continue until justice & freedom prevails.”
Sep 05, 6:31 pm
Some US citizens unable to fly out of Afghanistan due to Taliban interference
The Taliban is blocking efforts to get U.S. citizens out of Afghanistan on flights, according to a non-governmental organization arranging travel for some passengers.
Marina LeGree, the CEO of Ascend, told ABC News that the Taliban has prevented 600 people from leaving Mazar-e-Sharif by charter plane for six days.
The NGO is helping 100 of those passengers, none of whom are American, to try to fly out. LeGree said she is aware of 19 U.S. citizens who are trying to leave but Ascend is not overseeing their departure.
“Ascend, an organization dedicated to empowering young women through athletics, has members trying to leave Afghanistan,” LeGree told ABC News in a statement Sunday. “We call on the Taliban to honor their commitments and allow these charters to depart immediately.”
The affected passengers are either staying at the airport or at nearby hotels, according to LeGree.
The U.S. Department of State did not confirm whether there are Americans on those flights, but said it “will hold the Taliban to its pledge to let people freely depart Afghanistan.”
Netflix has announced a host of creepy new shows and movies that will keep you leaving your lights on during the spooky season. Here’s a just-released list of creepy content coming to the streaming giant from this month into Halloween-time:
September
9/8 — Into the Night
9/10 – Lucifer: Season 6
9/10 — Prey
9/15 — Nightbooks
9/17 — Squid Game
9/22 — Intrusion
9/24 — Midnight Mass
9/29 — The Chestnut Man
9/29 — No One Gets Out Alive
October
10/1 — Scaredy Cats
10/5 — Escape The Undertaker
10/6 — There’s Someone Inside Your House
10/8 — A Tale Dark & Grimm
10/13 — Fever Dream
10/15 — Sharkdog’s Fintastic Halloween
10/15 — You: Season 3
10/20 — Night Teeth
10/27 — Hypnotic
Additionally, Locke & Key: Season 2 and Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight Part 2 will also both be released in October, but a date has yet to be announced.
(NEW YORK) — Jury selection for the trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes began last week and was completed over a three-day process, with the prosecution and the defense agreeing on seven men and five women.
Holmes was charged by the Department of Justice with 12 counts of fraud more than three years ago, accused of defrauding investors, patients and doctors. She potentially faces decades in prison if convicted. She has pleaded not guilty.
Three weeks ago, a panel of 240 potential jurors were summoned to complete a 28-page questionnaire that focused heavily on their media consumption and knowledge of those involved with the case, as well as their own medical history. The defense had originally submitted a more extensive questionnaire with 112 pages and 45 questions that presiding United States District Judge Edward Davila then trimmed.
Of the 240 potential jurors, Davila and attorneys from both the prosecution and defense called in 132 to the Robert F. Peckham Federal Courthouse for questioning. Holmes was present in the courtroom alongside her team of lawyers, who watched and took notes as potential jurors entered for voir dire.
One of Davila’s first questions to the potential jurors was related to whether any of them had seen the media coverage surrounding Holmes. About half raised their hands, including now-dismissed potential juror Michael Roccaforte.
Roccaforte spoke exclusively to ABC News’ Rebecca Jarvis on “The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial” podcast, where he described his experience throughout the process. He recalled seeing Holmes standing in front of the courthouse while he and other potential jurors were walking in.
“She was kind of staring at all the jurors as they walked in … almost looking as if she was about to greet us or something,” Roccaforte told ABC News.
Once in the courtroom, he described Holmes as “confident, poised” and “a little bit intense.”
Roccaforte, who is a radio producer in San Francisco, told Davila it would be difficult for him to do his job and avoid seeing the breaking news around the trial.
“I’m looking at my computer and it’s just Theranos, Theranos, Theranos,” he told ABC News, recalling his conversation in court.
Ultimately, Roccaforte was dismissed, and the banter between him and Davila caused some in the crowd to laugh, including Holmes.
“Elizabeth Holmes looked back at me and chuckled herself and we made eye contact for a second,” Roccaforte said.
Other potential jurors were released for a range of reasons, from their own health issues to financial hardships to biases they couldn’t put aside.
“The ideal juror for Elizabeth Holmes would be someone who would … find her to be a likable kind of person … or has either personally or knows someone close to them who believes they have been wrongfully prosecuted in a case, so they just have a general mistrust of government or authority figures,” James McGarity, a partner at the jury consulting firm R&D Strategic Solutions, told Jarvis on “The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial.”
Defense attorney Jose Baez said the defense would benefit if the jury included a small business owner or entrepreneur.
“You want people who have the audacity to take a chance, to risk their livelihood on something that’s unproven and, at the same time, they could relate to having bad people working for you or sometimes things that are outside of your control,” Baez said.
As for the prosecution’s ideal juror, defense attorney Dick DeGuerin, who is currently representing accused murderer Robert Durst, said they would like somebody “that wants to enforce the law no matter what.”
McGarity agreed, saying the prosecution would likely seek “people who are what we call ‘law and order’ types, who invest a lot of faith in the law and law enforcement, people who believe that charges against someone like Ms. Holmes would not be brought unless there is solid evidence.”
The jury now ranges in age from 19 to about 60 years old. Of the 12 jurors, six are white, four are Hispanic, and two are Asian. There are also two jurors who said that English was not their first language, with one saying that she had to use a translation device on her phone to understand some of the words in the questionnaire.
