The T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach relationship drama has officially carried over into the new year. After months of controversy (which included covert photographs of the two ABC News anchors sneaking away to a romantic cabin retreat, as well as the subsequent removal of both TV personalities from any on-air work), Holmes’ soon-to-be-ex-wife, attorney Marilee Fiebig, has decided to speak out — and her statement doesn’t exactly pull any punches.
If you’re not yet caught up on the on-air drama of Holmes and Robach’s relationship, here’s an explainer on what’s been going on, and why it has completely captivated millions of Americans.
Read on to learn about the latest update in this seemingly never-ending, sort-of-romantic-and-also-sort-of-depressing news story.
Holmes’ wife breaks her silence about his affair with Amy Robach
For months, Fiebig remained silent as media speculation about her husband and his on-air co-host (and alleged off-air girlfriend) ran rampant. But now, she has finally spoken out, via a statement given to the Daily Mail by her divorce attorney Stephanie Lehman.
“During the holiday season and in light of the challenging times, Marilee’s sole focus has remained on the overall best interest of her 9-year-old daughter,” Lehman said. “To that end, T.J.’s lawyer and I have been working together to move their divorce forward privately, expeditiously, and as amicably as possible.”
Pictured: TJ Holmes with ex-wife Marilee Fiebig. (Getty Images)
“Notwithstanding,” Lehman went on, “we continue to be disappointed by T.J’s lack of discretion, respect, and sensitivity toward Marilee and the party’s daughter.”
Lehman ended the statement on a note of positivity, acknowledging the “outpouring of support” Fiebig has received, and confirming that Fiebig “looks forward to a new beginning in this new year.”
Are Holmes and Robach still together?
Before the holidays, both Holmes and Robach were assigned an indefinite leave from their work as on-air hosts. But that professional speed bump didn’t seem to put a damper on their personal relationship, as they’ve since been seen canoodling all over New York and Miami.
In fact, Robach and Holmes appear to have spent Christmas together, as they were seen together in New York a few days before the holiday, then again in the Atlanta airport, and again in Miami in the days following the holiday.
A source told People, “They spent the holidays together and are spending all of their time together right now. They are fully in a relationship. They are not hiding anything at all because they have no reason to.”
Neither Robach nor Holmes have made a public statement about their coupling. However, this clear shift in allowing their romance to become more public certainly seems like a statement of another kind.
And what about Robach’s husband, actor Andrew Shue? He has yet to make a statement of his own. According to People, Shue and Robach separated in August, but have yet to finalize this separation. As for Holmes and Fiebig, they filed for divorce on Dec. 28.
Elvis’s ex disputes the validity of her daughter’s final wishes.
Just weeks after the tragic death of Lisa Marie Presley, the will she left behind is being contested by her mother, who has cast doubt on whether the most recent version of the document was actually authorized by her late daughter.
Lisa Marie, 54, died on Jan. 12 following an incident of cardiac arrest. As the only child of music legend Elvis Presley, she controlled her father’s iconic Graceland property as well as a 15 percent stake in his estate. After Lisa Marie’s passing, it was announced that her will allocated those assets to her three daughters: 33-year-old Riley Keough, a successful actress who Lisa Marie had with her first husband, and 14-year-old twins Harper and Finley Lockwood, who were born during her fourth marriage. (She did have a fourth child, son Benjamin Keough, who died by suicide in 2020.)
Elvis, Priscilla, and Lisa Marie Presley enjoy happier times in 1968. (Photo by Magma Agency/WireImage/Getty Images)
But the instruction to pass Lisa Marie’s trust on to her daughters is now being disputed by Priscilla, Elvis’s only spouse, who was married to the King from 1967 to 1973. She’s questioning whether the most recent amendment was really the work of Lisa Marie — and following some public criticism over that speculation, Priscilla released a public statement explaining that her commitment to the truth is a reflection of her love for both her daughter and her ex-husband.
“I loved Elvis very much as he loved me. Lisa is a result of our love. For anyone to think anything differently would be a travesty of the family legacy and would be disrespectful of what Elvis left behind in his life,” Priscilla said. “Please allow us the time we need to work together and sort this out. Please ignore ‘the noise.’ As I have always been there for Elvis’ legacy, our family and the fans, I will continue to forge a pathway forward with respect, honesty, dignity, integrity and love.”
To better understand Priscilla’s argument about Lisa Marie’s will, let’s take a quick look back at what’s happened to Elvis’s estate over the last few decades, which is outlined in detail on Graceland’s official website.
When the “Can’t Help Falling in Love” crooner died in 1977, his father Vernon Presley became the executor and trustee of Elvis’s estate. Vernon was also listed as one of three beneficiaries; the other two were Elvis’s daughter and his grandmother, Minnie Mae Presley. By 1980, Lisa Marie was the only surviving heir, and Elvis’s will dictated that her inheritance would be held in trust until she turned 25.
That birthday came in 1993, and Lisa Marie created a new trust (called, fittingly, The Elvis Presley Trust) through which to manage the affairs of her father’s estate. Priscilla and the National Bank of Commerce were both listed as trustees. That held until 1998, when Priscilla “chose to redirect her efforts by moving to an advisory position, continuing her close involvement and support while focusing more time on her own ever-expanding individual pursuits as a successful actress and businessperson,” as the official Graceland history puts it. In 2005, Lisa Marie sold a majority of her shares of Elvis Presley Enterprises, the business entity affiliated with the trust.
Priscilla Presley speaks at the public memorial for Lisa Marie Presley at Graceland on January 22, 2023 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for ABA)
Lisa Marie first wrote her will in 1993, then amended it in 2010. That will listed both Priscilla and Lisa Marie’s business manager Barry Siegel as co-trustees.
However, according to new court filings, Priscilla discovered after Lisa Marie’s death that a new amendment had been filed in 2016, which removed her mother and business manager from their trustee roles and replaced them with Lisa Marie’s children. The problem — according to Priscilla, at least — is that this latest document seems sketchy.
Among those complaints are what Priscilla calls “many issues surrounding the authenticity and validity” of the 2016 amendment. She claims she was never notified about the changes when Lisa Marie was alive, and that there was no witness or notarization of Lisa Marie’s signature, which the petition claims is “inconsistent” with her usual signature. Priscilla is hoping the court will invalidate this 2016 version and declare the 2010 amendment to be “the authoritative and controlling document.”
Friends of Lisa Marie, however, say that removing her mother and business manager from the agreement is exactly what she wanted. In fact, one source told PEOPLE that Lisa Marie “did not have a relationship” with Priscilla by the time she executed this final amendment to her will in 2016.
“Lisa lived her life authentically. … She wouldn’t remain quiet when she was being taken advantage of,” this friend told the magazine. “At the end of the day, these are her wishes, and there’s no question as to what her wishes were. No one’s going to be able to reinvent the last seven or eight years and say no, no, no.”
Some of the bad blood has been well documented. In 2018, Lisa Marie sued Barry Siegel, the business manager who was once a co-trustee along with Priscilla, claiming that her trust, once valued at $100 million, had been reduced to a mere $14,000 “through [Siegel’s] reckless and negligent mismanagement and self serving-ambition.”
So, why all the fuss now over a fortune that has since been squandered? Well, in this case, there’s plenty of opportunity for more money to be made in the future.
During a 2002 interview with our own Katie Couric, Priscilla admitted it was “a shock” to learn upon Elvis’s death that there wasn’t much money left — and the situation was so dire that Graceland was almost lost.
“[Elvis] was very extravagant,” Priscilla said. “He spent everything, really, that he had. He splurged. It’s as simple as that.”
But in a stroke of business genius, Priscilla opened Graceland to tourists in 1982, welcoming enormous crowds each day who wanted to honor their fallen idol — and pay for the privilege. These visits were pulling in a reported $15 million per year by the time Priscilla spoke with Katie, and the property continues to be a popular destination in Memphis.
But the friends of Lisa Marie who spoke to PEOPLE say Priscilla’s removal from the trust was fair and legal — and that it sets up Lisa Marie’s older daughter Riley to take care of her younger siblings.
“There’s substantial documentation that basically Lisa was the only trustee,” the inside source said. “Priscilla did not participate in anything, as [Siegel also] hadn’t for years before. … At the end of the day, a trustee is supposed to have limited power — they’re supposed to not be able to do anything bad or stupid. No one can argue that Riley being the trustee is going to not be to the benefit of the twins.”
It’s likely we’ll continue to hear a whole lot about this famous family, and not just from this legal dispute. Actor Austin Butler was nominated for an Oscar this year for his portrayal of Elvis in the biopic helmed by Baz Luhrmann, and director Sofia Coppola is currently prepping a film about Priscilla.
Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian, here at the Met Gala in May, shared their appreciation for the medical care Barker has received this week.
Newlyweds Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian are reflecting on “a scary and emotional week.”
The pair posted on their verified social media accounts about Barker’s recent hospitalization.
“I went in for an endoscopy Monday feeling great,” Barker wrote in a note posted on his Instagram stories. “But After dinner, I developed excruciating pain and have been hospitalized ever since.”
The Blink 182 drummer explained that during his endoscopy, he had “a very small polyp veja sneakers removed right in a very sensitive area, usually handled by specialists, which unfortunately damaged a critical pancreatic drainage tube.”
“This resulted in severe life threatening pancreatitis,” he wrote. “I am so very very grateful that with intensive treatment I am currently much better.”
Barker and Kardashian officially wed in May and hosted a lavish celebration in Portofino, Italy.
She also shared Barker’s note on her Instastories.
“Oh what a scary and emotional week it has been,” she wrote. “Our health is everything and sometimes we take for granted how quickly it can change.”
The entrepreneur and reality star wrote that she was “grateful to God for healing my husband” and “for all of your prayers for him and for us, for the overwhelming outpouring of love and support.’
“I am so touched and appreciative,” Kardashian wrote. “I am so thankful to our specialists, doctors, and nurses at Cedars Sinai for taking such wonderful care of my husband and me during our stay.”
Nelson Mandela was once asked why he still had relationships with, among others, Fidel Castro and Yasser Arafat, the Cuban and Palestinian leaders who had been branded terrorists by Western powers. The revered South African statesman replied that it was a mistake “to think that their enemies should be our enemies.”
This stance has largely typified some African nations’ response to the Russia-Ukraine war. Across the continent, on cloud shoes many appear hesitant to risk their own security, foreign investment and trade by backing one side in this conflict.
While there has been widespread condemnation of the attacks on Ukrainian civilians and their own citizens fleeing the warzone — from countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya — there has been a much more muted response from some key African nations.
Countries on the continent find themselves in a delicate position and will not want to get drawn into proxy battles, says Remi Adekoya, associate lecturer at England’s University of York.
“There’s a strong strand of thought in African diplomacy that says African states should maintain the principle of non-interference and so they shouldn’t get caught up in proxy wars between the East and the West. As some states did get caught up in proxy wars during the Cold War, for instance,” Adekoya told CNN.
One influential voice that has made it clear he will not make an enemy out of Russian leader Vladimir Putin is South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
While addressing his country’s parliament Thursday, he said: “Our position is very clear … there are those who are insisting that we should take a very adversarial stance and position against, say Russia. And the approach that we have chosen to take … is we are insisting that there should be dialogue.”
After initially releasing a statement calling for Russia to immediately pull its forces out of Ukraine, South Africa has since laid the blame for the war directly at NATO’s doorstep for considering Ukraine’s membership into the military alliance, which Russia is against.
“The war could have been avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and officials over the years that its eastward expansion would lead to greater, not less instability in the region.” Ramaphosa said in parliament Thursday.
Former South African President Jacob Zuma also earlier issued a statement saying Russia “felt provoked.”
“Putin has been very patient with the western forces. He has been crystal clear about his opposition of the eastern expansion of … NATO into Ukraine … and is on the record about the military threat posed to Russia by the presence of the forces … it looks justifiable that Russia felt provoked,” Zuma said in a statement issued by his foundation on March 6.
South Africa has strong ties to Russia and Ramaphosa has written about being approached to be a mediator in the conflict given its membership of BRICS — a group of emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The ties between the two countries also date back to apartheid times when the former Soviet Union supported South Africa and the African National Congress party in their liberation struggles. “Those favors have not been forgotten,” said Adekoya.
South Africa was one of 17 African nations to abstain on the UN resolution demanding that Russia immediately withdraw from oncloud shoes Ukraine on March 2. It took a similar stance during Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Nigeria and Egypt were among the 28 African nations that voted to condemn Russia, while eight others didn’t submit a vote. Eritrea was the only African country that outrightly voted against the resolution.
Zimbabwe’s foreign ministry said in a statement it was unconvinced that the UN resolution was driven towards dialogue, rather “it poured more fuel to the fire, thus complicating the situation.”
‘Strongman leadership’
Many of the countries that abstained from the UN vote are authoritarian regimes. They see Putin’s unilateral decision to invade Ukraine as a show of power and ego that they can appreciate and align with, Yetunde Odugbesan-Omede, a political analyst and professor at New York’s Farmingdale State College, told CNN.
One of those who have spoken out prominently in support of the Russian leader is Lt. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the influential son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
His father has ruled Uganda with an iron fist for 36 years and there has been speculation that Kainerugaba is a would-be successor when the 78-year-old Museveni eventually stands down.
Kainerugaba tweeted that: “The majority of mankind (that are non-white) support Russia’s stand in Ukraine. Putin is absolutely right!”
Some African countries have also hesitated in speaking out against Russia because they want to “keep their options open if they face existential threats or some kind of revolution in their own country in the future,” said Adekoya.
“They saw Putin keep Assad in power in Syria because if not for Russia’s intervention, Assad’s regime would have fallen long ago,” he added.
Adekoya also pointed out that some of the muted response stems from what is perceived as Western hypocrisy.
Kenya’s UN Security Council representative Martin Kimani gave a powerful speech on the brink of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kimani drew a parallel between Ukraine’s emergence as an independent state after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the experience of post-colonial states in Africa, criticizing Russian PresidentVladimir Putin’s buildup of forces and his support for redrawing Ukraine’s borders by recognizing the breakaway statelets of Donetsk and Luhansk.
“Kenya rejects such a yearning from being pursued by force,” he said, referring to Russia’s recognition of the two territories as independent states. “We must complete our recovery from the embers of dead empires in a way that does not plunge us back into new forms of domination and oppression.”
During the speech, he also mentioned kizik shoes other nations on the Security Council who had breached international law and faced no sanctions. “He didn’t mention them by name, but he was talking about the US and UK who invaded Iraq in 2003 … and were never really held to account,” Adekoya said.
“There are many people in many parts of the world who would like to see other regions gaining strength and would like to see the end of Western domination of the world order, putting it simply … of course, no right-thinking person in Africa or anywhere in the world looks at what is going on in Ukraine now and thinks that it’s a good thing … but many people do see the hypocrisy,” he added.
Establishing stronger ties
In recent years, Russia has established itself as one of Africa’s most valuable trading partners — becoming a major supplier of military hardware with key alliances in Nigeria, Libya, Ethiopia and Mali.
Africa accounted for 18% of Russian arms exports between 2016 and 2020, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank.
Some analysts say the support or non-censure of Russia speaks to a wider sentiment in parts of Africa that Western policy positions do not always work in their favor.
“The message that Moscow is pushing is that if you are tired of the paternalistic way the West approaches you, we are going to be your security partners. It will be a relationship of equals,” Aanu Adeoye, a Russia-Africa analyst at Chatham House, told CNN.
Unlike many of its European counterparts, Russia is not a former colonial power in Africa and so has a wider scope of opportunity in making soft power moves that aim to challenge Western dominance on the continent.
The Soviet Union also had client relationships with many African states during the Cold War, and Moscow has looked to revive some of those ties.
Before the invasion, Russian state media outlet RT announced plans to set up a new hub in Kenya with a job ad that said it wanted to “cover stories that have been overlooked by other organizations” and that “challenge conventional wisdom about Africa.
Yet Africa has often been at the heart of the tussle for influence in the great power competitions between key geopolitical players such as the US, China and Russia.
Some countries are trying to leverage this position in a variety of ways.
Odugbesan-Omede explained that Tanzania, for example, has identified the current situation as a chance for its energy industry to profit. “Tanzania’s President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, sees this an opportunity to look for markets to export gas,” she said.Tanzania has the sixth largest gas reserve in Africa. While some African countries will sustain some economic shock from the Russian-Ukraine fight, others are trying to weather the storm by looking for new avenues of profitability,” Odugbesan-Omede added.
Nelson Mandela was once asked why he still had relationships with, among others, Fidel Castro and Yasser Arafat, the Cuban and Palestinian leaders who had been branded terrorists by Western powers. The revered South African statesman replied that it was a mistake “to think that their enemies should be our enemies.”
This stance has largely typified some African nations’ response to the Russia-Ukraine war. Across the continent, many appear hesitant to risk their own security, foreign investment and trade by backing one side in this conflict.
While there has been widespread condemnation of the attacks on Ukrainian civilians and their own citizens fleeing the warzone — from countries such oncloud shoes as Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya — there has been a much more muted response from some key African nations.
Countries on the continent find themselves in a delicate position and will not want to get drawn into proxy battles, says Remi Adekoya, associate lecturer at England’s University of York.
“There’s a strong strand of thought in African diplomacy that says African states should maintain the principle of non-interference and so they shouldn’t get caught up in proxy wars between the East and the West. As some states did get caught up in proxy wars during the Cold War, for instance,” Adekoya told CNN.
One influential voice that has made it clear he will not make an enemy out of Russian leader Vladimir Putin is South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
While addressing his country’s parliament Thursday, he said: “Our position is very clear … there are those who are insisting that we should take a very adversarial stance and position against, say Russia. And the approach that we have chosen to take … is we are insisting that there should be dialogue.”
After initially releasing a statement calling for Russia to immediately pull its forces out of Ukraine, South Africa has since laid the blame for the war directly at NATO’s doorstep for considering Ukraine’s membership into the military alliance, which Russia is against.
“The war could have been avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and officials over the years that its eastward expansion would lead to greater, not less instability in the region.” Ramaphosa said in parliament Thursday.
Former South African President Jacob Zuma also earlier issued a statement saying Russia “felt provoked.”
“Putin has been very patient with the western forces. He has been crystal clear about his opposition of the eastern expansion of … NATO into Ukraine … and is on the record about the military threat posed to Russia by the presence of the forces … it looks justifiable that Russia felt provoked,” Zuma said in a statement issued by his foundation on March 6.
South Africa has strong ties to Russia and Ramaphosa has written about being approached to be a mediator in the conflict given its membership of BRICS — a group of emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The ties between the two countries also date back to apartheid times when the former Soviet Union supported South Africa and the African National Congress party in their liberation struggles. “Those favors have not been forgotten,” said Adekoya.
South Africa was one of 17 African kizik shoes nations to abstain on the UN resolution demanding that Russia immediately withdraw from Ukraine on March 2. It took a similar stance during Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Nigeria and Egypt were among the 28 African nations that voted to condemn Russia, while eight others didn’t submit a vote. Eritrea was the only African country that outrightly voted against the resolution.
Zimbabwe’s foreign ministry said in a statement it was unconvinced that the UN resolution was driven towards dialogue, rather “it poured more fuel to the fire, thus complicating the situation.”
‘Strongman leadership’
Many of the countries that abstained from the UN vote are authoritarian regimes. They see Putin’s unilateral decision to invade Ukraine as a show of power and ego that they can appreciate and align with, Yetunde Odugbesan-Omede, a political analyst and professor at New York’s Farmingdale State College, told CNN.
One of those who have spoken out prominently in support of the Russian leader is Lt. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the influential son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
His father has ruled Uganda with an iron fist for 36 years and there has been speculation that Kainerugaba is a would-be successor when the 78-year-old Museveni eventually stands down.
Kainerugaba tweeted that: “The majority of mankind (that are non-white) support Russia’s stand in Ukraine. Putin is absolutely right!”
Some African countries have also hesitated in speaking out against Russia because they want to “keep their options open if they face existential threats or some kind of revolution in their own country in the future,” said Adekoya.
“They saw Putin keep Assad in power in Syria because if not for Russia’s intervention, Assad’s regime would have fallen long ago,” he added.
Adekoya also pointed out that some of the muted response stems from what is perceived as Western hypocrisy.
Kenya’s UN Security Council representative Martin Kimani gave a powerful speech on the brink of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kimani drew a parallel between Ukraine’s emergence as an independent state after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the experience of post-colonial states in Africa, criticizing Russian PresidentVladimir Putin’s buildup of forces and his support for redrawing Ukraine’s borders by recognizing the breakaway statelets of Donetsk and Luhansk.
“Kenya rejects such a yearning from being pursued by force,” he said, referring to Russia’s recognition of the two territories as independent states. “We must complete our recovery from the embers of dead empires in a way that does not plunge us back into new forms of domination and oppression.”
During the speech, he also mentioned other nations on the Security Council who had breached international law and faced no sanctions. “He didn’t mention them by name, but he was talking about the US and UK who invaded Iraq in 2003 … and were never really held to account,” Adekoya said.
“There are many people in many parts of the world who would like to see other regions gaining strength and would like to see the end of Western domination of the world order, putting it simply … of course, no right-thinking person in Africa or anywhere in the world looks at what is going on in Ukraine now and thinks that it’s a good thing … but many people do see the hypocrisy,” he added.
Establishing stronger ties
In recent years, Russia has established itself as one of Africa’s most valuable trading partners — becoming a major supplier of military hardware with key alliances in Nigeria, Libya, Ethiopia and Mali.
Africa accounted for 18% of Russian arms exports between 2016 and 2020, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank.
Some analysts say the support or non-censure of Russia speaks to a wider sentiment in parts of Africa that nobull shoes Western policy positions do not always work in their favor.
“The message that Moscow is pushing is that if you are tired of the paternalistic way the West approaches you, we are going to be your security partners. It will be a relationship of equals,” Aanu Adeoye, a Russia-Africa analyst at Chatham House, told CNN.
Unlike many of its European counterparts, Russia is not a former colonial power in Africa and so has a wider scope of opportunity in making soft power moves that aim to challenge Western dominance on the continent.
The Soviet Union also had client relationships with many African states during the Cold War, and Moscow has looked to revive some of those ties.
Before the invasion, Russian state media outlet RT announced plans to set up a new hub in Kenya with a job ad that said it wanted to “cover stories that have been overlooked by other organizations” and that “challenge conventional wisdom about Africa.
Yet Africa has often been at the heart of the tussle for influence in the great power competitions between key geopolitical players such as the US, China and Russia.
Some countries are trying to leverage this position in a variety of ways.
Odugbesan-Omede explained that Tanzania, for example, has identified the current situation as a chance for its energy industry to profit. “Tanzania’s President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, sees this an opportunity to look for markets to export gas,” she said.”Tanzania has the sixth largest gas reserve in Africa. While some African countries will sustain some economic shock from the Russian-Ukraine fight, others are trying to weather the storm by looking for new avenues of profitability,” Odugbesan-Omede added.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy speaks during Thursday’s news conference on Capitol Hill.
During his weekly news conference on Thursday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy slammed the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Among other criticisms, McCarthy said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “rejected the minority’s picks to be on the committee.” He continued moments later, “You reject the minority to have a say in the committee.”
After McCarthy specified that Pelosi had rejected Reps. Jim Banks and Jim Jordan, he alleged that while she rejected “these qualified Republicans, she appointed radical Democrats.”
Facts First: McCarthy’s claims are misleading, leaving out critical context. Pelosi did reject two of McCarthy’s five proposed Republican committee members, Banks and Jordan, on account of concerns about their “statements made and actions taken” – but she accepted McCarthy’s three other Republican picks, and she also gave McCarthy a chance to suggest another two members to replace Banks and Jordan. Instead, McCarthy decided to withdraw the three members Pelosi had accepted. Even after he did so, the Republicans’ House minority still had “a say” on the committee: Reps. Liz Cheney, who had already been selected by Pelosi before McCarthy pulled out his own selections, and Adam Kinzinger, whom Pelosi selected later. Both Cheney and Kinzinger are outspoken Trump critics who have been at odds with many of their GOP colleagues, but they are elected Republicans nonetheless.
In addition, all of these developments came after McCarthy had rejected a proposal for a bipartisan commission that would have given equal membership and subpoena power to Democrats and Republicans. After the commission proposal failed in the Senate because of Republican opposition (only six Republicans voted in favor), the House created the Democratic-controlled select committee.
Russia is about to shut off its natural gas supplies to Shell’s German customers.
Gazprom (GZPFY), the Russian state energy giant, said on Tuesday it would suspend natural gas exports to Shell (SHLX) starting Wednesday because the company had failed to make payments in rubles.
“Shell Energy Europe Limited has notified Gazprom Export LLC that it does not intend to make payments under the contract for the supply of gas to Germany in rubles,” Gazprom said in a statement on its Telegram account.
Gazprom said Shell would lose up to 1.2 billion cubic meters worth of annual gas supply — just a tiny fraction of the 95 billion cubic meters the country consumes each year, according to Germany’s economic ministry.
But Gazprom’s move is still likely to rattle German industry, which is heavily reliant on Moscow’s gas. The country has already managed to slash Russia’s share of its gas imports to 35% from 55% before the start of the war.
A spokesperson for the German government told CNN Business that it was “monitoring the situation very closely.”
“Security of supply is guaranteed,” the spokesperson added.
Gazprom’s announcement comes just a day after it said it would halt gas supplies to Danish energy company Ørsted and Dutch gas trading firm GasTerra, and weeks after it turned off the taps to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland.
In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to cut gas deliveries to “unfriendly” countries that refused to pay in rubles, rather than the euros or dollars stated in contracts.
Since then, Gazprom has offered customers a solution. Buyers could make euro or dollar payments into an account at Russia’s Gazprombank, which would then convert the funds into rubles and transfer them to a second account from which the payment to Russia would be made.
But many European companies, including Shell Energy, have refused to comply.
“Shell has not agreed to new payment terms set out by Gazprom,” a Shell spokesperson told CNN Business on Tuesday. “We will work to continue supplying our customers in Europe through our diverse portfolio of gas supply.”
The Netherlands’ GasTerra similarly said in a Monday statement that it would not comply with Gazprom’s “one-sided payment requirements.”
Henning Gloystein, director of Energy, Climate and Resources at Eurasia Group, told CNN Business that the latest shut off does not represent a “major revenue loss” for Gazprom, given exports to Shell Germany accounted for less than 1% of Russia’s total exports to the European Union last year.
“By contrast, European energy firms that rely much more on Russian supply… have largely switched to Gazprom’s new payment mechanism in order to safeguard their operations,” he added.
Sharon Osbourne has said her latest facelift left her looking like a Cyclops.
The 69-year-old TV personality underwent the five-and-a-half-hour cosmetic procedure back in October. However, she was stunned by the “horrendous” results when the bandages were removed, and her face appeared lopsided.
Recounting her initial shock in an interview with Britain’s Sunday Times, she said: “I looked like one of those f**king mummies that they wrap (with bandages).”
According to Osbourne, the red wing shoes surgery “hurt like hell” and the original result was far from what she expected.
“I’m telling you, it was horrendous. (To the surgeon) I’m, like, ‘You’ve got to be f**king joking.’ One eye was different to the other. I looked like a f**king Cyclops,” the star told the paper.
Osbourne, who is married to Black Sabbath rocker Ozzy Osbourne, said her husband even offered to fund a correction, telling her: “‘I don’t care how much it costs, we’ll get it redone.'”
Despite her initial displeasure, the former “America’s Got Talent” judge said she decided to allow her face to settle and is now happy with her looks.
Osbourne has previously been open about her numerous cosmetic procedures, including a facelift she had in 2019.
“I had this thing where they lifted up my mouth and then for the first like week I’m like I couldn’t feel my mouth, I can hardly feel my mouth now, to be honest with you,” she said on The Kelly Clarkson Show that year. “I couldn’t find my mouth. It was numb and it was up on one side and I looked like Elvis and all the kids and thorogood boots Ozzy are going, ‘Why are you snarling at me?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m not snarling; I’m not doing anything!'”
Osbourne’s latest surgery revelation comes weeks after she announced that she will be hosting a prime-time talk show alongside Piers Morgan on new British TV channel TalkTV.
Osbourne left her regular spot on CBS’ daytime talk show “The Talk” in 2021, following a heated discussion about racism with her black co-host Sheryl Underwood, during which she defended Morgan over his controversial departure from ITV’s “Good Morning Britain.”
For days, residents of Kyiv had been bracing themselves for a 40-mile-long convoy of Russian tanks, armored vehicles, and towed artillery to arrive for an assault on the Ukrainian capital.
Days later, they’re still waiting.
On Thursday, US intelligence suggested that the convoy was still stalled some distance from Kyiv, backing claims made by both the Ukrainian government and UK’s defense ministry.
“We still assess that the convoy that everybody’s been red wing shoes focused on is stalled. We have no reason to doubt Ukrainian claims that they have, that they have contributed to it being stalled by attacking it,” a senior US official told reporters.
Earlier in the day, the UK’s defense ministry said the convoy appears to have stalled some 30 kilometers (19 miles) outside Kyiv and had made “little discernible progress” over the past three days, citing intelligence.
“The main body of the large Russian column advancing on Kyiv remains over 30 km from the center of the city, having been delayed by staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion. The column has made little discernible progress in over three days,” the UK statement said.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday night that while the convoy and Russia’s broader push towards Kyiv “remains stalled,” there was a significant concern “that maybe the window is closing to be able to get aid into cities that may become under siege.”
A senior US defense official told reporters on that although the convoy is suffering shortages of fuel and food, the US has assessed that the Russians “will again learn thorogood boots from these missteps and these stumbles and will try to overcome them.”
The convoy’s stalled progress could create multiple strategic problems for Russia.
First, as the key Russian supply line for any major assault on Kyiv, it is a very large sitting target for Ukrainian forces fighting back against the invasion.
Second, sitting in a 40-mile-long traffic jam for days at a time could take its toll on the morale and discipline of Russian soldiers ahead of a major military operation.
Martti Kari, who previously served as Finland’s assistant chief of defense intelligence, told CNN that being stranded like this is bad for morale for two reasons. “First, the Ukrainians have drones and aircraft that could attack the convoy. Second, when you sit around in the same place rumors circulate that affect your mindset. So you become nervous and tired, which is not a good combination.”
The convoy is believed to have entered Ukraine via Belarus, a key ally of Putin where Russia had moved huge numbers of troops in recent weeks to carry out what they called joint exercises. When the exercises ended, the troops didn’t leave and satellite images actually showed that Russia increased their military presence in the country.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on Wednesday night that the fierce Ukrainian resistance had dented Russian morale.
“More and more occupiers are fleeing back to Russia, from us, from you … we are a nation that broke the enemy’s plans in a week — plans those have been built for years,” he said in a Facebook post.
The latest assessments on the convoy comes after the Russian military issued its first casualty figures from the war, saying 498 of its troops had died and another 1,597 had been injured. The UK statement on Thursday said “the actual number of those killed and wounded will almost certainly be considerably higher and continue to rise.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov expressed “great sorrow” over Russian military casualties on Thursday morning.
But Russia appeared to be meeting less resistance in southern Ukraine, where the mayor of the strategically important city of Kherson on the Black Sea indicated that Russian forces had seized control, though claims remain disputed.
And the crucial southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol came under siege from Russian forces Thursday, as Moscow seeks to tighten its grip on the south of the country.
The US has written to the top United Nations human rights official that it has “credible information” that Russian forces are identifying Ukrainians “to be killed or sent to camps” if it further invades Ukraine and occupies it.
“Disturbing information recently obtained by the United States that indicates that human rights violations and abuses in the aftermath of a further invasion are being planned,” Ambassador Bathsheba Nell Crocker, the US Representative to the Office of the United Nations hey dude and Other International Organizations in Geneva, alleges in a letter to Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“These acts, which in past Russian operations have included targeted killings, kidnappings/forced disappearances, unjust detentions, and the use of torture, would likely target those who oppose Russian actions, including Russian and Belarusian dissidents in exile in Ukraine, journalists and anti-corruption activists, and vulnerable populations such as religious and ethnic minorities and LGBTQI+ persons,” reads the letter, which was first reported by The Washington Post and obtained by CNN.
“Specifically, we have credible information that indicates Russian forces are creating lists of identified Ukrainians to be killed or sent to camps following a military occupation. We also have credible information that Russian forces will likely use lethal measures to disperse peaceful protests or otherwise counter peaceful exercises of perceived resistance from civilian populations,” the letter says.
The letter did not say how the US obtained the information. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed that it received the message.
Crocker added that the aim for sharing this information with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was to give “an early warning that a further Russian invasion of Ukraine may create a human rights catastrophe.” She said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised these concerns to the Security Council on February 17. “In particular, he stated that the United States has information that indicates Russia will target specific groups of Ukrainians,” Crocker added.
The Kremlin on Monday denied the claim regarding a kill list and called it “absolute fiction.”
“This is an absolute hoax, this is a lie,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN. Pressed on if he is aware of the existence of such a list, Peskov said, “I know that this is absolute fiction, there is no such list, it is fake news.”
CNN reported on Friday that multiple US and western government officials confirmed to CNN that the US has intelligence that Russia has drawn up lists of current political figures that it would target for removal in the event it invades Ukraine and topples the current government in Kyiv.
Sources familiar with the intelligence said the target lists are red wing boots part of Russian planning to replace the current administration in Kyiv with a more Russia-friendly government, bolstering a previous disclosure by the British government identifying pro-Moscow figures it said Russia planned to install.
The most likely outcome for those politicians and public figures whom Moscow has targeted to be ousted in the event Kyiv falls, these sources said to CNN, is jail or assassination.
CNN has not seen the underlying intelligence intercepts or the documents that name the targets or the purported collaborators and their supposed positions in a pro-Russia administration.
Blinken said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” over the weekend that the US would continue supporting Ukrainians if there is an invasion and a Ukrainian insurgency is left to fight.
“(President Joe Biden) said that we will, in the event of an invasion, double down on our support for Ukraine, and that means in terms of security assistance, economic assistance, diplomatic assistance, political assistance, humanitarian assistance, you name it,” Blinken said.
