CMA Awards, Prince Charles turns 70, Cy Young Awards: 5 things to know Wednesday
CMA Awards: Paisley, Underwood host Country Music's biggest night
Who else were you expecting? Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will co-host the CMA Awards for the 11th consecutive year Wednesday night. As in years past, the duo will do a monologue drawn from current events – a tricky task, with headlines full of wildfires, mass shootings and political unrest. "This is an escape and that’s what people need right now. You're not up there to do anything too biting," Paisley said. "Broken Halos" singer Chris Stapleton leads in nominations with five. Dan + Shay, Chris Janson, Midland, Thomas Rhett, Dierks Bentley, Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban and Florida Georgia Line all have three each. The show will air live from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on ABC (8 p.m. ET/PT).
Prince Charles, Britain's future king, turns 70
Prince Charles, the longest-serving heir to the British crown in history, turns 70 on Wednesday. When the prince one day becomes King Charles III of Great Britain, he'll be the oldest ever to be crowned and the one who waited the longest – 66 years and counting. It's been quite a year for the Prince of Wales, whose son, Prince Harry, married American actress Meghan Markle in May. Take a look at Charles in pictures over the years.
Interior Secretary to visit California fire zones
Firefighters are still fighting to contain the deadly and destructive wildfires in California on Wednesday as stiff winds are forecast in Southern California. The historic Northern California blaze raging 90 miles north of Sacramento has claimed at least 48 lives, and dozens of people remain unaccounted for. Efforts are underway to bring in mobile morgues, cadaver dogs, a rapid DNA analysis system for identifying victims. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he canceled a trip to Asia and will visit the fire zones Wednesday and Thursday. Relief in the form of precipitation remains a week away, and the winds probably will stay a force into Wednesday, AccuWeather warned.
MLB's Cy Young Award winners revealed
MLB's awards season rolls Wednesday with the reveal of the Cy Young winners for the American and National leagues. The candidates for best pitcher in the AL are: Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays; Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians; and Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros. While Kluber and Verlander are both former winners of the award, Snell, 25, led the AL in wins with 21 and ERA at 1.89. On the NL side, Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets, Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies; and Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer are up for the award. Nola and deGrom, who both posted eye-popping stats this past season, are looking to unseat the Nationals star — Scherzer has won the last two NL Cy Young Awards. The winners will be announced starting at 6 p.m. ET on the MLB Network.
And the 2018 National Book Awards winners are ...
The National Book Foundation will announce the 2018 National Book Award winners Wednesday at a ceremony in New York City. The awards have been "one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the country since 1950." Last month, the foundation released the 20 finalists in fiction, nonfiction, young people's literature and in poetry. Past winners of the awards have included literary giants such as William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, Adrienne Rich, and Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Contributing: Associated Press