Bad news for ARMY. BTS has scrapped plans for their world tour.
Variety reports the group’s label, Big Hit Music, confirmed the news on its Weverse fan platform.
“Our company has worked hard to resume preparations for the BTS Map of the Soul Tour, knowing that all fans have been waiting eagerly and long for the tour,” the statement reads. “Due to changing circumstances beyond our control, it has become difficult to resume performances at the same scale and timeline as previously planned.”
The tour was originally planned for April 2020, but was put on hold due to the pandemic. The label suggests they are looking into different ways of giving fans a BTS performance experience.
“We are working to prepare a viable schedule and performance format that can meet your expectations, and we will provide updated notices as soon as possible,” the statement says.
Demi Lovato announced recently they are non-binary and changed their pronouns to they/them. However, that doesn’t mean that the “Confident” singer will always identify that way.
Appearing at The 19th Represents Summit, Demi opened up about their gender, sharing that it’s “a journey forever.”
“There might be a time where I identify as trans. I don’t know what this looks like for me,” they candidly stated. “There might be a time where I identify as non-binary and gender nonconforming my entire life. Or maybe there’s a period of time when I get older that I identify as a woman, I don’t know what that looks like, but for me, in this moment right now, this is how I identify.”
“And I have a feeling that it’s not going to ever go back to one way or the other, but… it’s about keeping it open and free,” Demi added. “I’m a very fluid person, and so that goes with how I express myself as well.”
The “Tell Me You Love Me” powerhouse also revealed that the pandemic and the demise of their relationship with Max Ehrich was “probably the best thing that’s happened to me” and acted as a catalyst for them.
“I was able to stand on my own two feet without needing someone else to validate me or to make me feel accepted. And when I said goodbye to that relationship, I also said goodbye to everything that was holding me back from being my most authentic self,” Demi shared.
“I really started to identify with close friends and family as non-binary towards the end of last year,” they continued. “And yeah, it was the dissolvement [sic] of all things that had held me back from identifying as the person I do today.”
Lorde‘s third studio effort, Solar Power, is finally here!
The album dropped Friday, and its timing couldn’t be more perfectly tied to the season. The 24-year-old’s tunes are a medley that channels the beach, the ocean, and just the great outdoors. In other words, it’s the perfect album to kick back, relax, and enjoy on a summer day.
Solar Power boasts 12 tracks including the previously released title track, “Solar Power,” as well as “Mood Ring” and “Stoned at the Nail Salon.”
Of the album itself, Lorde says that it’s “a celebration of the natural world,” and “an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors.”
“In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers,” she adds. “I’ve learned to breathe out, and tune in. This is what came through.”
In addition to a CD, the New Zealand native is releasing Solar Power in a brand-new disc-less format. Dubbed “Music Box,” the format features extra visual content, handwritten notes, photos and a download card that includes the album, two bonus tracks and access to what are described as “special surprises.”
“I decided early on in the process of making this album that I also wanted to create an environmentally kind, forward-thinking alternative to the CD,” Lorde shared in a statement. “I wanted this Music Box product to be similar in size, shape and price to a CD, to live alongside it in a retail environment, but be something which stands apart and that’s committed to the evolving nature of a modern album.”
Lorde also announced that she will be kicking off a world tour in 2022. For full tour dates, visit Lorde.co.nz.
LA Family Housing Home Together 2021/via Getty Images
Sabrina the Teenage Witch alum Melissa Joan Hart is begging fans to “stay vigilant” after she contracted COVID-19, even though she was vaccinated.
Hart, in an emotional video posted to Instagram, explained, “I am vaccinated and I got COVID and it’s bad. It’s weighing on my chest. It’s hard to breathe.”
The actress believes she isn’t the only member of her family who is sick, telling fans, “one of my kids, I think, has it.”
While not revealing who in her family may also be struggling with COVID-19, Hart said she is “praying” that the rest of her family stays healthy.
“I’m mad, really mad,” expressed Hart, 45. “We took precautions and we cut our exposure by a lot, but we got a little lazy and I think as a country we got lazy.”
“I’m really mad that my kids didn’t have to wear masks at school and I’m pretty sure that’s where this came from,” she sighed, adding that her youngest, Tucker, who is eight, chose to wear a mask in school “because he’s used to it from last year.”
“Now, if he does get [COVID-19], I can at least tell him he was a superhero… because he protected his teacher and classmates,” Hart said as her voice swelled with emotion before admitting she is “scared” for her family.
“If someone has to be taken to the hospital, I can’t go with them,” Hart tearfully explained, noting how she is “disappointed” in herself and in “our leaders.”
“I just wish I’d done better, so I’m asking you guys to do better,” she closed. “Protect your families, protect your kids, it’s not over yet. I hoped it was, but it’s not. So, stay vigilant and stay safe. Okay?”
Mike Richards, who was recently announced as the new host of Jeopardy!, has issued an apology about his past controversial behavior.
Following the announcement that he will serve as host of the beloved game show, replacing the late Alex Trebek, allegedly sexist comments Richards made between 2013 and 2014 came to light.
E! News reports the remarks were made on a podcast, but also that the episodes in question have since been deleted. The outlet reports that some remarks included Richards, who also produces Jeopardy!, saying one-piece swimsuits make women look “really frumpy and overweight,” and mocking celebrities affected by the 2014 hack that exposed their nude photos.
In response to the growing backlash, Richards addressed his past behavior on Thursday and issued an apology.
“It is humbling to confront a terribly embarrassing moment of misjudgment, thoughtlessness, and insensitivity from nearly a decade ago,” he told E! News. “Looking back now, there is no excuse, of course, for the comments I made on this podcast and I am deeply sorry.”
“The podcast was intended to be a series of irreverent conversations between longtime friends who had a history of joking around,” Richards continued. “Even with the passage of time, it’s more than clear that my attempts to be funny and provocative were not acceptable, and I have removed the episodes. My responsibilities today as a father, husband, and a public personality who speaks to many people through my role on television means I have substantial and serious obligations as a role model, and I intend to live up to them.”
Richards, as well as former The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik, were recently announced as Trebek’s replacements. Richards will host the syndicated Jeopardy! show and will remain executive producer, while Bialik will host Jeopardy!’s primetime and spinoff series, including the upcoming Jeopardy! National College Championship.
(NEW YORK) — Southwest Airlines pilots are preparing to picket as front-line employees at the airline complain of mismanagement, low staffing, scheduling chaos and a lack of food and hotels for pilots and flight attendants.
Unions representing Southwest’s front-line employees say the airline is severely understaffed, but continues to pack its flight schedule as air travel rebounds, forcing pilots and flight attendants to regularly work the maximum number of hours permitted by federal law. Staffing and weather issues have forced Southwest to cancel thousands of flights this summer.
On Thursday, by late afternoon, Southwest had canceled 170 flights and delayed 852 others, the most of any U.S. airline. At the same time, United had 31 cancellations, while Delta had four.
“We are united on this issue. Our flight attendants are weary, exhausted, and they can take no more,” Lyn Montgomery, Southwest flight attendant and union president, told ABC News. “We’re asking that additional flights not be added to the schedule until the company can handle the flight schedules that we currently have. We all want to get back to the pre-pandemic days, but we have to be able to handle things the way they are right now, the way things are still with the pandemic.”
Crews say they routinely arrive in destination cities only to learn they have no hotel or food availability and cannot reach the company for help.
“We’re being asked to work longer hours, more shifts and extended duty days. We get to the curb and at the end of the day, and we have no idea what hotel we’re supposed to go to,” Montgomery said. “We have to wait for hours to call crew scheduling. There’s no food in the hotel, so we’re unable to get food. We’re not able to get food with the long lines at the airport. So food is the major issue. And we’re also being told that if we call in sick, we have to go see a company doctor to verify the illness.”
In July, Southwest offered its flight attendants double time to pick up extra shifts. The company is now offering its employees referral bonuses to try and fill vacancies.
“The safety of our Employees and Customers comes first, at all times, and that continues to be the priority in everything that we do, Sonya Lacore, Southwest vice president of inflight operations, told ABC News in a statement. “We are aware of the concerns the TWU 556 raised in their letter, and there is much work already underway to address many of the issues this summer.”
Casey Murray, a Southwest captain and pilot’s union president, said issues raised with the company have largely been ignored.
“Management’s refusal to even attempt any of our solutions, or have any real discussion has led us to this point, we must accept that our efforts to improve efficiency and make Southwest Airlines more competitive have fallen on deaf ears, time and time again, because the company has made it clear that they are comfortable with the operation as managed,” Murray said in a video to Southwest pilots Thursday morning.
Southwest Vice President Bob Waltz acknowledged some of the airlines’ challenges, telling ABC News in a statement: “The airline and travel industry have seen a multitude of operational challenges as we navigate the effects of the pandemic. We have teams across the airline working diligently to adapt to the current environment and support our employees during this peak travel season, including efforts focused on providing support to our pilots.”
“We routinely work with the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association on a variety of matters that affect our pilots, but we also have a responsibility to consider a number of factors before implementation of suggestions. We remain committed to listening to feedback and proactively working to address issues as we navigate the months ahead,” Waltz explained.
Southwest is not the only airline facing staffing challenges. American Airlines has had to cancel thousands of flights this summer due pilot and flight attendant shortages.
While airlines received billions of dollars in government aid to keep employees on the payroll, many front-line workers took early retirement or severance packages at the height of the pandemic, leaving airlines desperate to fill openings as air travel rebounded.
Southwest pilots say they will picket during the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas rush if their demands are ignored.
(ATLANTA) — Georgia businesses won’t have to comply with local COVID-19 measures like mask or vaccine mandates under a new executive order, as the state’s hospitals continue to be stretched to their limit.
Gov. Brian Kemp issued an executive order Thursday that will keep businesses from being forced to follow COVID-19 ordinances put in place by local jurisdictions. The Republican governor said the order was issued to protect recovering businesses from “another round of shutdowns.” It doesn’t prevent businesses from complying with local orders, but the ordinances won’t be enforced, he said.
“Local governments will not be able to force businesses to be the city’s mask police, the vaccine police or any other burdensome restriction that will only lead to employees being let go, revenue tanking and businesses closing their doors,” Kemp said during a press briefing announcing the order.
Several cities in Georgia have reinstated mask mandates amid rising COVID-19 cases. Last month, Atlanta issued a mandate requiring mask use in public indoor spaces, including private businesses. Nearby, Decatur issued a similar mandate, though businesses can opt out. Savannah has issued a mask mandate for some indoor public spaces, though it doesn’t include businesses.
The order comes as there is “substantial case incidence” of COVID-19 throughout counties in Georgia, according to the latest COVID-19 forecast from PolicyLab researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The number of available intensive care unit beds is also dwindling in the state. According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ICU capacity in Georgia is at 94%.
Northeast Georgia Health System’s hospital in Gainesville is overflowing with COVID-19 patients. Hospital officials confirmed with ABC News Thursday that as COVID-19 patients fill up beds, doctors have been treating some patients needing emergency care inside their ambulance while waiting for a bed to open up. The hospital has also set up a tent behind the emergency department for overflow patients.
Some hospitals in the Atlanta metro area are on diversion and are turning away ambulances when their emergency departments are full, hospital officials said.
On Thursday, doctors from some of the state’s largest hospital systems pleaded with people to get vaccinated as they’re being inundated with COVID-19 patients.
“Our hospitals are once again filling up, and they’re filling up with young people and old people and those with comorbidities who have not been vaccinated,” Dr. Danny Branstetter of Wellstar Health System said during a press briefing with doctors and officials from several metro Atlanta health systems. “We’re seeing this peak rise very, very quickly, and rising to match or exceed the peaks we saw in the winter.”
Over 92% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, Branstetter said.
Dr. James Fortenberry, the chief medical officer at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, told reporters the hospital is seeing a “significantly greater impact” on children during the surge of the highly contagious delta variant.
“Our teams are seeing more COVID-19-positive patients in our emergency departments, urgent care centers and hospitals than at any time in the pandemic,” Fortenberry said, noting that there were 31 patients across the system’s three hospitals with COVID-19 on Thursday. “Thankfully, only a small fraction of children who test positive for COVID-19 need to be hospitalized to treat their infection, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t experience illness, and what can be significant illness, and miss out on normal activities like school and sports.”
Fortenberry implored all teachers, staff, students and visitors at schools to follow recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics and wear masks regardless of vaccination status.
“We owe it to our kids to do everything that we can to protect them,” he said.
In Georgia, 47.4% of residents ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated, compared to 59.8% nationwide, according to CDC data.
Kemp has not issued any vaccine mandates for state employees, though he has closed state offices on Sept. 3 to encourage public employees to get the shot.
“We have three lifesaving vaccines widely available,” he said Thursday while urging people to speak with someone they trust about getting vaccinated.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 623,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.3 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 59.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Friday. All times Eastern:
Aug 20, 10:48 am
Unvaccinated Black people ‘biggest group’ driving COVID spike: Texas Lt Gov
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham that “African-Americans who have not been vaccinated” are the “the biggest group in most states” driving the spike in COVID-19 cases, during a Thursday interview.
Patrick doubled down on his comment, adding that “over 90% of them vote for Democrats and their major cities and major counties.”
“It’s up to the Democrats to get — just as it’s up to Republicans to try to get as many people vaccinated,” he said. “In terms of criticizing the Republicans for this, we are encouraging people who want to take it to take it, but they are doing nothing for the African-American community that has significant high number of unvaccinated.”
NAACP President Derrick Johnson pushed back in a statement: “Lt. Governor Dan Patrick lives in an alternate reality, where facts don’t matter,” Johnson said.
“He’s delusional. Black Texans are not the driving force behind the surge of COVID cases in Texas. His statement is not only baseless, it’s racist. Falsely casting blame on the Black community is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and we expect better from an elected official.”
Aug 19, 5:57 pm
Mississippi’s only pediatric hospital sees record COVID-19 patients
Children’s of Mississippi, the state’s only pediatric hospital, reported a record number of patients Thursday.
There are 28 children, all unvaccinated, with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, the highest since the start of the pandemic, the hospital said on Facebook. Among those, eight children are in the intensive care unit, including five not yet old enough to receive the vaccine, the hospital said.
“The best way to protect ALL of Mississippi’s kids from COVID-19 is for everyone age 12 and up to get vaccinated,” said the hospital, which is part of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Nearly 43% of Mississippi residents ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data, one of the lowest rates in the country.
Shawn Mendes provided fans a sweet look at how he spent quarantine with girlfriend Camila Cabello in his new single “Summer of Love,” which he released Friday.
The dreamy new track and its accompanying beachy music video arrived just as the sun is beginning to set on summer.
The song opens with Mendes musing about how he and his love would spend the day “tangled in the sheets until the evening” because “there was nowhere to go” before launching into the bouncy chorus that described how those months of solitude enriched him.
“It was the summer of love/ A delicate daydream/ And for a couple of months/ It felt like we were 18/ It was the summer of/ La-la-love,” the three-time Grammy nominee croons over the playful beat.
Mendes, 23, also revealed in the track that he filled his days with “meditation and tequila” and “calling you my señorita” — a throwback to his and Cabello’s steamy 2019 track.
In the sun-kissed music video, Mendes bumps up the nostalgia by palling around Mallorca, Spain, with his group of friends where activities include lounging on a boat, splashing around in the ocean and dancing in a night club.
“Summer of Love” also features reggaetón producer Tainy, whose resume includes producing hits for well-known Latin singers such as Bad Bunny and J Balvin.
Mendes is promoting “Summer of Love” as a non-album single. His last effort, Wonder, arrived last December. Plans for a fifth album have yet to be announced.
(NEW YORK) — The Taliban’s swift move to control Afghanistan has plunged the country into chaos with many fearing for their lives and trying to find any means to escape.
ABC News obtained audio recordings from English-speaking Afghans, including Afghan Air Force pilots, translators and teachers, still trapped inside Afghanistan. They’re pleading to get out and looking to the United States for help. Several Afghans who had worked with the U.S. military said they would be killed if the Taliban found them. They said they felt abandoned by the Americans.
All of them were given pseudonyms below due to concerns for their safety. The recordings were obtained from human rights attorney Kim Motley.
“Why have the American soldiers forgotten about us after everything we did? The sacrifices we did, why are they leaving us behind?” said Abdul, who worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military, and recorded the audio on Aug. 17. “I don’t want to be killed by the Taliban. They are going to cut our heads off if they find my location. Please help.”
“The Taliban is trying to find us and they [are] searching for us,” said Khalil, who had worked with U.S. special forces, and recorded the audio on Aug. 18. “They told me that anywhere I should go, they will find me and kill me. I asked the Americans, ‘Please help us.’”
Idriss, an Afghan pilot, said in a recording from Aug. 18 that he worked for U.S. special forces and that he and his family had been stuck in their home for three days, terrified that the Taliban was hunting them.
“We are very scared, and the Taliban are looking for us 24/7. … This is the time the U.S. should help Afghan pilots, get them out of the country to a safe place. We don’t care where that safe place [is], we need to move. Our family is in danger. We are at high risk now. We can’t live like this for the rest of our lives, being scared and [escaping the] Taliban,” Idriss said. “We have no safe place in Afghanistan.”
There’s an entire generation of Afghans who didn’t grow up under Taliban rule, but that all has changed in a matter of weeks. Now in power, new images from the capital city of Kabul showed Taliban fighters carrying out armed patrols where Afghan men and women protested.
The previous Taliban regime enforced severe restrictions on women, who were largely confined to their homes. They also held public executions and banned television and music prior to the U.S.-led military invasion in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
“My wife was beaten by the Taliban,” Abdul said. “My kids, they are young kids … they were all beaten by the Taliban. The Taliban have no mercy on anybody. So we are really left behind. We really need immediate evacuation from here.”
People desperate to escape have continued to fill Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul as the U.S. military races to evacuate people out of the country. Ali, an English teacher who claimed to have ties to the U.S., said she was in “huge danger” in a recording from Aug. 19.
“I’m so afraid to be out in that area of the airport,” Ali said. “It is insane. There are people holding their American passports, there are people that work with the Americans and they aren’t letting anyone in. … There is chaos everywhere. At least for the people who have citizenship, please let them in. I don’t understand.”
Laila, another teacher who said she was close to the airport, described in recordings made within the last week a “big mob” scene that included armed Taliban fighters and looters attacking citizens.
“They are coming up from everywhere,” she said. “We stay here for one more hour, there is going to be a massacre. I’m telling you there is going to be a massacre. Everyone will be killed here, I’m telling you, because I see a lot of armed people here. They are attacking us from every possible corner.”
President Joe Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday that his administration is sticking by its decision to withdraw troops from the country. However, Biden said troops might stay beyond the original Aug. 31 date if it takes longer to get all of the Americans out of the country.
For some Afghans still waiting for help inside the country, many believe that they’ll have to remain in hiding until they could find a way out.
“I don’t know how much more we can handle this situation, I have already lost my mind,” said Abdul. “The situation is not good. They can find me anytime.”
