Tyla is ready to take over the world: “There's no way to stop me”

ABC/John Argueta

Tyla‘s goal is to become Africa’s first pop star, and she’s well on her way with a Grammy for Best African Music Performance, her global smash “Water” and her self-titled debut album. Though she had to postpone her planned tour due to an injury, she still has plans for world domination.

In addition to music, Tyla tells Billboard that she’d like to branch out into fashion, beauty and acting. “People are going to see me everywhere,” she says. “So if you don’t like me, I’m sorry.”

Even her injury isn’t going stop her from bringing her music to fans. “I’m really confident in what I’ve created. Now’s a time where I can showcase a performance style where I’m not really dancing as much,” she tells Billboard. “Maybe I strip back a little bit more and I’m just serving vocals.”

“But there’s no way to stop me,” she continues. “I’m always going to find a way.”

Right now, you can see Tyla showing off her dance moves in the spring campaign for GAP.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Say Yes To The Ex: Say Yes To The Trio

We’re doing our best to reunite a listener with one of their previous romances… only if we don’t screw it up first. Catch an all new “Say Yes To The Ex!”

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TikTok Click Shock (03/28/24)

There’s a mystery going on in high school’s across the nation right now… but one teacher shared what she finally figured out… Plus, and 8 year-old from the Midwest id going viral for what he did at a reccent tractor show… You’ll see why when you hear the audio of it in a brand new TikTok Click Shock!

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Win Brooke’s Bucks (3/28/24)

Have a knack for trivia? Well, so does Brooke… Try to answer as many questions right as you can in 30 seconds. If you answer more correctly than Brooke, you win 100 bucks! Good luck!

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Phone Tap: Motel Cheater

One of our listeners asked us to prank his wife who runs the front desk at the motel they own! She hates awkward confrontation so we’re gonna make our personal issues her business in a brand new Phone Tap!

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Baltimore bridge collapse timeline: Inside the cargo ship collision

Via NTSB

(BALTIMORE) — Just after midnight on Tuesday, the fully loaded container ship Dali lifted anchor and prepared to depart the Port of Baltimore with 23 crew members aboard, destined for Sri Lanka nearly 9,000 miles away.

There was no apparent indication of the catastrophe awaiting the vessel. Authorities said the bridge was undergoing maintenance at the time and that one lane in each direction remained open.

Here is how the incident unfolded:

12:39 a.m. — The 984-foot-long, Singapore-flagged cargo ship pulls out of its berth at a marine terminal southeast of downtown Baltimore, according to ship’s voyage data recorder (VDR) reviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board investigators.

1 a.m. A livestream camera captures light traffic, including a tractor-trailer rig, moving across the 1.6-mile Key Bridge.

1:07 a.m. — The cargo ship enters the Fort McHenry channel and begins to head down the Patapsco River toward the Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to the VDR.

1:24 a.m. — The livestream camera shows the cargo ship’s lights suddenly going off and then coming back on.

1:24:59 a.m. — Numerous audible alarms go off on the bridge of the container ship. The VDR temporarily goes off.

1:26 a.m. — The Dali appears to lose its lights again as it drifts slightly to the right in the direction of one of the bridge’s main center columns supporting the arched steel trusses of the span. At the time, vehicles can still be seen crossing the bridge. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said that about this time a mayday call was made from the vessel, giving transportation officials just enough time to order a halt to traffic approaching both ends of the bridge, likely saving lives.

1:27:39 a.m. — The pilot aboard the ship makes a general VHF radio call for tugboats in the area to assist. At the same time, a Pilot Association dispatcher phones Maryland Transportation Authority duty officers regarding a blackout on the Dali.

1:27:04 a.m. — The pilot aboard the Dali orders the vessel’s port anchor be dropped, according to the VDR.

1:27:25 a.m. — The pilot aboard the cargo ship issues a VHF radio call reporting the Dali has lost all power and was approaching the bridge. Around the same time, a Maryland Transportation Authority duty officer radios the agency’s units, informing them to hold traffic at the south and north ends of the bridge, saying, “There’s a ship approaching it [that] just lost their steering,” according to a recording of the dispatch from Broadcastify.com. The livestream camera shows the cargo ship lights suddenly going off as the vessel appears to drift to the right in the direction of one of the main center columns supporting the arched steel trusses of the span.

1:28 a.m. — Dark smoke appears to be coming from the cargo ship, which is moving at 7 knots, or 8 mph.

1:29:33 a.m.– The VDR on the cargo ship records sounds consistent with the vessel hitting the bridge. Officials said at the time of the collision no traffic was crossing the bridge, but parked vehicles, apparently belonging to the maintenance crew filling potholes, were still on the span. Two maintenance workers survive, one by running from the bridge and the other by going into the water and swimming to shore. Six other maintenance workers remain unaccounted for. A law enforcement officer makes a desperate radio transmission to dispatch, saying, “The whole bridge just fell down. Start whoever, everybody. The whole bridge just collapsed.”

1:39:39 a.m. — The pilot on the Dali tells the Coast Guard over the VHF radio that the Key Bridge is down.

1:40 a.m. — The Baltimore City Fire Department’s 911 center dispatch receives a call about a water rescue in the Patapsco River near the Key Bridge. As fire crews race to the bridge, they receive numerous calls indicating multiple people in the water.

1:50 a.m. — Fire crews arrive at the scene and report a complete collapse of the Key Bridge and that multiple people were likely on the span when it occurred.

6:26 a.m. — At an early morning news conference Tuesday, Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said sonar detected the presence of vehicles submerged in the water and that an all-out search-and-rescue operation involving police, firefighters and U.S. Coast Guard crews was underway to locate survivors.

FBI officials said agents were immediately sent to the bridge, arriving an hour after the collapse. At the White House, President Joe Biden held an early morning meeting with his advisors and ordered the use of resources to help in the rescue operation.

10 a.m. — At a mid-morning news conference Tuesday, the governor announced that the preliminary investigation showed the incident appeared to be a tragic accident.

“The preliminary investigation points toward an accident,” Moore said. “We haven’t seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack.”

12:46 p.m. — During a press conference Tuesday afternoon from the White House, Biden addressed the bridge collapse. “We’re going to send all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency,” he said, referring to his conversation with Baltimore officials.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the brave rescuers who immediately rushed to the scene. And to the people of Baltimore, we want to say, we’re with you, we’re going to stay with you for as long as it takes,” said Biden.

The president echoed local, state and federal officials who said investigators have found no evidence linking the incident to terrorism. Biden called it a “terrible incident and accident.”

2:30 p.m. — Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, says at a news conference that the agency’s investigators arrived at the scene at 6 a.m. Tuesday and were launching their probe of the bridge collapse.

7:30 p.m. — On Tuesday night, the U.S. Coast Guard said it would be suspending search and rescue efforts and began recovery efforts at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

“Based on the length of time that we’ve gone in the search, the extensive search efforts that we put into it, the water temperature — at this point, we do not believe that we’re going to find any of these individuals still alive,” Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath told reporters.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

'Twilight' vet Kristen Stewart says she would have broken up with Edward “immediately”

Dominique Charriau/WireImage

Kristen Stewart obviously still has some feelings for her Twilight character, Bella — just not her taste in men.

That’s what fans learned on a new installment of the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, when host Amanda Hirsch asked the actress and activist of Bella, “Do we not like her in retrospect?”

Stewart replied, “‘Do we not like her?’ Whoa. Hey, you better be careful. I don’t know if you can tell who you’re talking to right now,” she joked.

The Love Lies Bleeding star disagreed with Hirsch’s assessment that Bella was “a little desperate” to be with Robert Pattinson‘s vampire, Edward, noting, “Yeah, but he was trying to sort of control whether or not she made choices for herself.”

That said, Stewart offered, “I would have broken up with him immediately.”

In the bestselling books, and the movies starring Stewart, Bella wanted Edward to turn her into a vampire, but he refused. 

Stewart says in real life that would have been a deal-breaker for her. “I mean, if I was like, ‘Hey, I want to try that,’ and he was like, ‘No, this is just for me,’ I would be like, ‘Well, this is also just for me: My whole life. Without you.'”

She added of his motivations, “I get the sort of protection thing, but you gotta let a girl make her own choices.”

 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson feature on Beyoncé's new album 'Cowboy Carter'

Parkwood/Columbia

Beyoncé‘s new album, Cowboy Carter, is already out in some parts of the world, so the featured artists on the album have now been revealed.  

Sorry, there are no Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga duets to be found, but Miley Cyrus sings on a song called “II Most Wanted.” Meanwhile, Post Malone is on the track “Levii’s Jeans.” 

The album also includes several interludes, which see additional guest stars serving as DJs on a fictional radio station called KNTRY. Country music icon Dolly Parton is included on an interlude called “Dolly P,” and she introduces Bey’s version of her classic song “Jolene” — for which Beyoncé has changed the lyrics. She also briefly appears in the intro of the song “Tyrant.”

Fellow country music icon Willie Nelson is also featured on two interludes: “Smoke Hour Willie Nelson” and “Smoke Hour II.”

Also of note: Beyoncé has recorded a version of The Beatles‘ 1968 classic “Blackbird,” and in the song “Ya Ya,” she interpolates The Beach Boys‘ classic song “Good Vibrations.” That song is introduced by the voice of Linda Martell, a major Black female country star.

Cowboy Carter, which arrives Thursday at midnight, also includes Bey’s #1 hit “Texas Hold ‘Em.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

ICE singles out 'sanctuary cities' after Laken Riley's killing as they announce separate migrant arrests

Via ICE

(NEW YORK) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 216 noncitizens who faced criminal charges and convictions as part of the agency’s latest nationwide operation, officials said on Thursday as they also singled out what are known as “sanctuary cities” in the wake of a Georgia college student’s killing.

Over a period of 12 days earlier this month, agents across the country moved in on the at-large immigration offenders, ICE officials said at a news conference.

The operation was part of the ICE mission to target those in the country illegally who pose a risk to public safety, officials said.

All 216 arrested migrants have connections to drug crimes, according to ICE’s allegations, and nearly half of those arrested had been previously deported.

“We’re on a mission to protect the American public by containing and removing people who contribute to this horrible drug crisis,” Acting ICE Director Patrick J. Lechleitner told reporters.

The operation also highlighted a divide between the goals of federal and local law enforcement agencies. As a federal agency, ICE is responsible for enforcing the nation’s immigration law — local law enforcement is not.

As a result, ICE officials said, some convicted criminals who are migrants — such as those caught in the operation this month — have previously been set free by local authorities despite being eligible for deportation.

“And to be frank — in some areas — there are laws that affect the ability for state and local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE,” Lechleitner said. “So we’re trying to make progress in areas that are a little less ICE friendly.”

Those municipalities, commonly referred to as “sanctuary cities,” restrict communication between local law enforcement and ICE because of what migrant and some civil liberties’ advocates say is a concern about the abuse of federal deportation and enforcement policies.

The issue came to a head last month when Venezuelan national Jose Antonio Ibarra was arrested on murder charges in the killing of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley at the University of Georgia. Ibarra has not yet entered a plea.

Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally and had been previously arrested on suspicion of an unrelated crime but was subsequently released before ICE could move to deport him, ICE has said.

“I can’t speak to individual jurisdictions that do this,” Lechleitner said on Thursday, referring to sanctuary cities. “All we want to say is that we want to talk to them and we want to try and work through on any way we can cooperate with our law enforcement partners.”

As part of the agency’s latest investigative work tied to the March operation, officials identified more than 400 noncitizens who are subject to arrest.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Masked Speaker: Prank Queen

20 years ago an immature prank went so horribly wrong, that it made the news and today’s Masked Speaker has lived with that regret ever since. We’re the first people she’s ever told about it and you can hear it all in the podcast!

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Tom Holland's Romeo gets his Juliet for West End theater production

Good Morning America

On Thursday, The Jamie Lloyd Company announced the full cast for Tom Holland‘s West End return with William Shakespeare‘s Romeo & Juliet, including his star-crossed titular other half: Francesca Amewudah-Rivers.

The actress has a handful of theater credits under her belt, but only appeared on the fourth and fifth seasons of the BBC’s Bad Education on TV.

Also starring in the play are theater vets Tomiwa Edun, recently seen in Argylle, playing Capulet; Freema Agyeman, who appeared in The Matrix Revolutions, as Nurse; and as Friar, Michael Balogun from 2019’s TV adaptation of War of the Worlds.

As reported, the production about the tragic lovers will be staged at The Duke of York’s Theatre in London. According to the theater’s website, it promises to be “a pulsating new vision of Shakespeare’s immortal tale of wordsmiths, rhymers, lovers and fighters.”

Holland will start his run on Saturday, May 11, and the play is slated to run through August 3.

Tickets are already sold out.

 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Billie Eilish takes issue with the “biggest artists in the world” selling “wasteful” vinyl variants

Disney/Chris Willard

When Billie Eilish‘s most recent album, Happier Than Ever, came out, she offered it in eight different vinyl versions, but all the vinyl was recycled, and the shrink wrap was made from sugarcane. That’s why Billie, who’s all about sustainability, has a problem with artists who go crazy with vinyl variants without thinking about the environmental impact.

Speaking to Billboard, Billie says, “We live in this day and age where, for some reason, it’s very important to some artists to make all sorts of different vinyl and packaging… which ups the sales and ups the numbers and gets them more money … I can’t even express to you how wasteful it is.”

“It is right in front of our faces and people are just getting away with it left and right, and I find it really frustrating as somebody who really goes out of my way to be sustainable and do the best that I can and try to involve everybody in my team in being sustainable,” she continues. 

“And then it’s some of the biggest artists in the world making f****** 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more,” Billie adds. “It’s so wasteful, and it’s irritating to me that we’re still at a point where you care that much about your numbers and you care that much about making money — and it’s all your favorite artists doing that s***.

Billie’s mom, Maggie Baird, even tells Billboard that she would like the publication to have “limits, like no more than four colors” of vinyl for each release.

Among the artists who most recently offered or are offering different vinyl versions of their albums: Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Shakira, Olivia Rodrigo, Pearl Jam and Justin Timberlake.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

MyPillow facing eviction from warehouse, but election denier Mike Lindell says company is in 'great shape'

Education Images/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Election denier Mike Lindell’s company MyPillow is facing a court-ordered eviction from a warehouse in Minnesota amid his ongoing legal battles related to his claims about the 2020 election and voting machines, Lindell confirmed to ABC News.

But Lindell claims the eviction does not stem from financial difficulties, and rather is just a formality related to a mutual agreement between himself and the owner of the warehouse to vacate the property, which he says has not been used by MyPillow since the spring of 2023.

Lindell said MyPillow had subleased the space to a candy company last year and was planning on subleasing it to a sugar beet company this year — but the sugar beet company backed out of the contract at the last minute, leaving himself and the warehouse owner “stranded.”

He said he considered finding another subleaser, but he and the warehouse’s owner, First Industrial, eventually decided to officially end their contract through the eviction process.

“And I said that’s fine,” Lindell told ABC News.

MyPillow does owe the owner of the warehouse $217,489 in past-due rent, according to court records.

“Plaintiff seeks to have Defendant evicted from the Premises for failing to pay Rent and other payments and charges due under the Lease Agreement in the amount of Two Hundred Seventeen Thousand, Four Hundred Eighty-Nine and 74/100 Dollars,” a complaint from First Industrial says.

But Lindell insisted that his pillow company is doing fine financially.

“MyPillow is in great shape,” Lindell said. “We have our best commercial out right now that launched on Monday, the most successful one in five years. It’s amazing.”

First International did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

Over the years, MyPillow has lost numerous advertising opportunities due to Lindell’s pushing of false and unsubstantiated claims about the 2020 election and election systems around the country.

Last month, a federal judge in Minnesota affirmed a $5 million arbitration award against Lindell, siding with a software engineer who challenged data that Lindell said proves China interfered in the 2020 election in favor of President Joe Biden. Lindell had offered a $5 million reward to anyone who could prove that “packet captures” he provided were not valid data “from the November 2020 election,” leading software engineer Robert Zeidman to file for arbitration when a panel of contest judges failed to declare him the winner after he concluded the data contained no such information.

Lindell again said on Thursday that he’s appealing this decision, and that the case will “go into next year.”

Lindell says he has spent more than $45 million of his own money on claims about the security of voting machines and his push for the use of paper ballots in the 2024 election.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Biden teaming up with Obama, Clinton in New York City for major campaign fundraiser

Alex Wong/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — President Joe Biden is teaming up with two of his Democratic predecessors — former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton — to ramp up enthusiasm for his reelection campaign at a star-studded fundraiser Thursday night in New York City.

The evening is expected to rake in more than $25 million, a “historic” sum for a single event, according to the campaign. It will begin with a virtual pre-program featuring Biden, Obama and Clinton, and hosted by Biden’s campaign manager.

Afterward, actress Mindy Kaling will host the program inside Radio City Music Hall featuring musical guests Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele. They will make appearances in front of a sold-out audience of 5,000 people. The campaign sent fundraising emails to supporters offering a link to tune in virtually in exchange for a donation.

First lady Jill Biden is scheduled to kick off the evening of performances that culminate with the main event: an armchair conversation with Biden, Obama and Clinton moderated by late-night comedian Stephen Colbert.

Tickets for the event ranged from $225 to $500,000. It could shape up to be the most lucrative event for Democrats in history.

Democrats are unified and energized behind President Biden’s reelection campaign — and that will be on full display this Thursday in New York City,” Biden-Harris spokesperson Kevin Munoz said. Munoz, in the statement, attacked Donald Trump, on the other hand, as lacking money and energy and facing challenges like reluctance from some GOP primary voters and criticism from his former vice president, Mike Pence.

The fundraiser is part of a major push by the campaign to raise a large sum of money before the end-of-month Federal Election Commission deadline to continue to show the president’s fundraising strength. The campaign said it and the Democratic National Committee, along with their joint fundraising committees, raised $53 million in February.

The event also comes as Biden continues to see protests while campaigning over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war, with a rally at a Virginia theater in January seeing at least 14 disruptions.

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, helped to spearhead the Thursday event along with movie mogul and Biden campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg, campaign finance chair Rufus Gifford and Biden Victory Fund finance chair Chris Korge, according to the campaign.

Select guests will have the opportunity to have their portrait taken with the three presidents by the famed photographer Annie Leibovitz. There will also be a virtual conversation with the three presidents and campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, ahead of an after-party hosted by the first lady and featuring DJ D-Nice.

The star-studded evening comes as Biden ramps up campaigning for the general election with seven months to go. Since his State of the Union address, Biden has crisscrossed the country to visit battleground states in what the campaign is calling a “month of action.”

Last week, during a visit to the White House, Obama taped videos with Biden highlighting the 14th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act and for future fundraising. The former president has been featured in two of the campaign’s digital ads so far this cycle, with more recorded and ready to roll out soon, according to the campaign.

The former president, who remains popular among Democrats’ base, has already proved to be a lucrative asset.

Grassroots fundraising content signed by or featuring Obama has generated more than $15.4 million for Biden’s reelection this cycle, according to the campaign, with a “Meet the Presidents” event featuring Obama and Biden in December raising close to $3 million.

The Thursday fundraiser is the first joint public campaign event for Biden and Obama. The former president is expected to participate in major fundraising events and travel the country on behalf of Biden leading into November.

Given the stakes of this election, President Obama will do all he can to support President Biden’s reelection,” Obama senior adviser Eric Schultz said. “In fact, he looks forward to helping Democrats up and down the ballot make the case to voters this fall. Our strategy will be based on driving impact, especially where and when his voice can help move the needle.”

Trump, meanwhile, is also fundraising off of the event, sending several emails as the Biden event was being planned with the subject line, “Obama is back!”

“I have something better,” he said in a pitch last month. “I HAVE YOU & MILLIONS OF PATRIOTIC AMERICANS WHO WANT TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Katzenberg called Thursday’s event a “testament to the unprecedented fundraising machine we’ve built.”

“Unlike our opponent, every dollar we’re raising is going to reach the voters who will decide this election — communicating the President’s historic record, his vision for the future and laying plain the stakes of this election,” his statement continued. “The numbers don’t lie: today’s event is a massive show of force and a true reflection of the momentum to reelect the Biden-Harris ticket.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.