Judge and executive producer Rosario Dawson returns with Jennifer Nettles, Cody Rhodes, and new celebrity judge T-Pain for a new episode of TBS’ Go-Big Show tonight at 9:00 ET.
Each week, the judges and host Bert Kreischer witness contestants performing skillful and/or death-defying stunts, with a $100,000 prize on the line. As Dawson tells ABC Audio, those stunts often employ the stars risking their own necks.
“You know, I’ve had a couple of moments where I’ve definitely been curious as to when I signed whatever contract, but just like forgot all insurance or something,” Dawson says with a laugh. “I’m on a shoulder being spun around in the air with Jennifer Nettles on the other side on a human swing. You know, it was just unbelievable. If he had tripped, if he had coughed, we’d be lost in the rafters. And yet here we are the next season signing up again!”
“You know, we volunteer a lot and we get asked to participate a lot. And we’re down because we’re all fun like that,” she adds.
“I’m constantly just blown away not …by just what people are capable of and their incredible talents, but also our crew,” Dawson enthuses. “I mean, every single thing happens in that same room. So a monster truck to bulls, so shooting flying arrows with flames — I mean, it’s just all those things in one room. It’s like magical. Every time you walk in, it’s just transformed.”
The Mandalorian and Daredevil veteran says even though she was there on the day, she can’t help but watch when the show airs, “…just so I could kind of get that dose of that adrenaline again because you feel it watching it!”
(NEW YORK) — The United States continues to warn that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day” amid escalating tensions in the region, with President Joe Biden telling reporters Thursday that the threat is now “very high.”
More than 150,000 Russian troops are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders, as U.S. officials have urged all Americans to immediately leave Ukraine.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin claim that some Russian forces have begun to withdraw from near Ukraine’s borders, ABC News learned that Putin had told his military forces to be ready to invade by Wednesday. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Biden said more Russian troops have moved in, contrary to Moscow’s claims. It remains unclear whether Putin has made a decision to attack his ex-Soviet neighbor.
Russia has denied it plans to invade and has demanded the U.S. and NATO bar Ukraine from joining the military alliance.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 17, 12:20 pm
Blinken says Moscow will ‘manufacture a pretext’ for invasion as US blames Russia for Donbas shelling
As Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the U.N. Security Council Thursday the U.S. believes Russia plans to “manufacture a pretext” for an invasion of Ukraine, such as with false claims of violence by Ukrainians in the country, the U.S. embassy in Kyiv explicitly blamed Russia for the overnight shelling in Donbas in a series of tweets.
“Russia’s shelling of Stanytsia Luhanska in Ukrainian government-controlled territory in Donbas hit a kindergarten, injured two teachers, and knocked out power in the village,” the Twitter statement said. “The aggressor in Donbas is clear — Russia.”
The statement continued: “This attack, as with so many others, is a heinous Russian violation of the Minsk Agreements and again demonstrates Russia’s disregard for Ukrainian civilians on both sides of the line of contact.”
Ukraine has also blamed Russia-backed separatist forces for shelling the village controlled by Ukrainian government troops and hitting a kindergarten there early Thursday.
Russia-backed separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine have, in turn, accused the Ukrainian military of preparing for a full-scale offensive.
Blinken told world leaders to expect this and more, “claims of mass graves, staged drone strikes, a terrorist bombing, or chemical or biological weapons — even the use of those dangerous weapons,” and said that “Russian media have already begun to spread these false alarms.”
The Russian mission to the U.N. circulated a letter overnight that it said included an investigation of atrocities committed by the Ukrainian government, alleging that Ukraine committed war crimes over the last eight years in the Donbas — alarming U.S. officials, who believe it may be part of the false pretext for a Russian invasion they’ve publicly warned about for weeks.
“It’s hard to draw any conclusion other than Russia plans to use today’s U.N. Security Council meeting as part of an attempt to establish a pretext for a potential invasion, building upon disinformation and incendiary statements we’ve seen over recent weeks,” a senior administration official told reporters Thursday morning. “Each of these allegations are categorically false.”
As U.S. officials expected, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, speaking ahead of Blinken at the U.N., blamed Ukraine for failing to implement the Minsk agreements, he said, and accusing it of atrocities against civilians in its eastern provinces.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler and Conor Finnegan
Feb 17, 11:54 am
Blinken calls on Moscow to commit to not invading, meet next week
Secretary of State Antony Blinken closed his remarks to the U.N. Security Council meeting by challenging the Russian Federation to “announce today — with no qualification of equivocation or deflection — that Russia will not invade Ukraine, stated clearly stated plainly, to the world.”
“And then demonstrate it by sending your troops, your tanks, your planes back to their various can hangars and sending your diplomats to the negotiating table,” he added.
Blinken laid out how the U.S. believes Russia will attack Ukraine — but said he would welcome being wrong and for Russia to withdraw.
“Now, I’m mindful that some have called into question our information, recalling previous instances where intelligence ultimately did not bear out,” he said, apparently referring to a similar address then-Secretary of State Colin Powell famously made to the Security Council presenting U.S. intelligence to justify the Iraq War. “But let me be clear, I am here today not to start a war, but to prevent one,” he said, citing allies that agree with U.S. assessments.
“If Russia doesn’t invade Ukraine, then we will be relieved that Russia changed course and proved our predictions wrong. That would be a far better outcome in the course we’re currently on. And we’ll gladly accept any criticism that anyone directs at us,” Blinken said.
He continued, “Russia can still make if there’s any truth to his claim that is committed to diplomacy. Diplomacy is the only responsible way to resolve this crisis”
Blinken also said that he sent a letter to Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier Thursday proposing that they meet next week in Europe following their talks in recent weeks “to discuss the steps that we can take to resolve this crisis without conflict” and that U.S. is also proposing meetings at the NATO Russia Council and the OSC Permanent Council.
“These meetings can pave the way for a summit with key leaders in the context of de-escalation to reach understandings on our mutual security concerns,” he added.
Feb 17, 11:28 am
Blinken to UN Security Council: ‘I am here today not to start war, but to prevent one’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, changing plans at the last minute to speak at a U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday, implored the group to unite to address what he called “Russia’s looming aggression against Ukraine.”
“This crisis directly affects every member of this council and every country in the world because the basic principles that sustain peace and security principles that were enshrined in the wake of two World Wars, in a Cold War, are under threat: The principle that one country cannot change the borders of another by force. The principle that one country cannot dictate another’s choices or policies, or with whom it will associate the principle of national sovereignty,” he said.
Blinken repeated that the U.S. and Western allies do not see Russian troops drawing down on the ground, but that, “Our information indicates clearly that these forces, including ground troops, aircraft ships, are preparing to launch an attack against Ukraine in the coming days,” he said.
He said that Russia is already taking steps “down the path to war,” first with its plans to “manufacture a pretext for its attack.”
“This could be a violent event that Russia will blame on Ukraine, or an outrageous accusation that Russia will level against the Ukrainian government. We don’t know exactly what formula. It could be a fabricated so-called terrorist bombing inside Russia. The invented discovery of the mass grades. A staged drone strike against civilians, or a fake — even a real attack — using chemical weapons,” he said.
He said, then, the would see the “highest levels of the Russian government may theatrically convene emergency meetings to address the so-called crisis.”
“Next, the attack is planned to begin. Russian missiles and bombs will drop across Ukraine. Communications will be jammed. Cyber attacks will shut down key Ukrainian institutions. After that, Russian tanks and soldiers will advance on key targets that have already been identified and mapped out in detailed plans,” he said, reiterating the U.S. belief that Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million people, is a target.
He added that the U.S. has intelligence “Russia will target specific groups of Ukrainians.”
“Let me be clear,” Blinken said, “I am here today not to start a war, but to prevent one.”
Feb 17, 11:08 am
Russia’s response to the US teases ‘military-technical measures’
In a written response on the discussion over Moscow’s demands that NATO not expand, Russia said the U.S. has not given a “constructive reply” to Russia’s demands and that Moscow might resort to “military-technical measures.”
“We can acknowledge that the U.S. side did not give a constructive answer to the basic elements of a draft treaty with the U.S. on security guarantees, drawn up by the Russian side,” the document given to the U.S. on Thursday and translated from Russian by Interfax said. “In the absence of the American side’s willingness to negotiate firm and legally binding guarantees of our security by the U.S. and its allies, Russia will have to respond, including through implementing military-technical measures,” it said.
As the West has warned of Russian misinformation serving as potential for a false flag pretext, the document from the Russian Federation accused the U.S. and allies of spin, instead.
“The package nature of Russian proposals has been ignored, from which ‘convenient’ topics have been deliberately chosen, which, in turn, are ‘twisted’ in the direction of creating advantages for the United States and its allies,” the response said.
“We propose to work together to develop a new ‘security equation,'” it added.
The U.S. government, at Russia’s insistence, sent written responses to two draft treaties Moscow published demanding guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the military alliance pull back its infrastructure from Eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War. Washington rejected those guarantees as non-starters but offered to discuss some confidence-building measures.
-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova
Feb 17, 10:31 am
Zelenskyy visits Ukrainian troops on front line in Donetsk
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday visited Ukrainian troops on the front line of defense in the Donetsk region, where the Ukrainian government says intense shelling continues.
“I am proud of your heroism,” Zelenskyy told the soldiers. “You defend Ukraine’s independence and decently rebuff the enemy. We feel constant pride in our defenders.”
Earlier Thursday, Zelenskyy had an “urgent” telephone conversation with the head of the European Council, during which he emphasized that Ukraine has seen no evidence of withdrawal of Russian troops from its borders, according to a press release from the Ukrainian president’s office.
Zelenskyy also reported a “significant number” of ceasefire violations by Russian-backed separatists forces in eastern Ukraine, including the shelling of a kindergarten in the government-controlled village of Stanytsia Luhansk, which he called a “large provocation,” according to the press release.
Feb 17, 10:10 am
US accuses Russia of using UN meeting as part of invasion pretext
The Russian mission to the United Nations circulated a 49-page letter Wednesday night that it said included an investigation of atrocities committed by the Ukrainian government in its eastern provinces.
The letter alarmed U.S. officials, who thought it may be part of the false pretext for a Russian invasion that they’ve been publicly warning about for weeks.
“It’s hard to draw any conclusion other than Russia plans to use today’s U.N. Security Council meeting as part of an attempt to establish a pretext for a potential invasion, building upon disinformation and incendiary statements we’ve seen over recent weeks,” a senior administration official told reporters Thursday morning.
The letter, obtained by ABC News, includes a document labeled “Joint Project of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and RT News Channel,” which alleges that Ukraine committed war crimes over the last eight years in the Donbas.
“Each of these allegations are categorically false,” the senior administration official said. But they’ve seen a marked increase in them in the past few days and overnight, they added.
But the official stopped short of saying that Russia has fully mobilized to create a false pretext or that an invasion would follow shortly: “The kinds of reports that we’re hearing, the kinds of claims that we’re seeing made in Russian media are exactly the kinds of claims that we have indicated could form the basis of a pretext for a further invasion of Ukraine,” they told reporters.
-ABC News’ Conor FInnegan
Feb 17, 9:34 am
Biden says he believes Putin will go through with invasion
President Joe Biden told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega on Thursday morning that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin will go through with an invasion of Ukraine within days.
“My sense is this will happen in the next several days,” Biden said.
The president accused Russia of engaging in a “false flag operation” and said that despite the claims of pulling troops back, the Kremlin has actually moved more troops closer to Ukraine’s border.
Feb 17, 9:22 am
Russia insists some troops are returning to base
Russia insisted again Thursday that some troops massed near Ukraine are returning to base, far from the border.
Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement that units from the Western and Southern Military Districts, which were stationed in western Russia and Crimea, are now moving back to their permanent bases. He said Russian troops taking part in drills in Belarus will also return to base once they finish the exercises this weekend.
Konashenkov noted that the first units have already arrived in Nizhny Novgorod, Chechnya and Dagestan, hundreds of miles from the border with Ukraine.
Feb 17, 9:07 am
US receives Russia’s response on NATO security guarantees
The United States has received a response from Russia regarding the discussion over Moscow’s demands for security guarantees that NATO not expand, a senior official with the U.S. Department of State said Thursday.
“We can confirm that we have received a response from the Russian Federation,” the official said. “It was delivered to Ambassador Sullivan in Moscow today.”
The U.S. government, at Russia’s insistence, sent written responses to two draft treaties Moscow published demanding guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the military alliance pull back its infrastructure from Eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War. Washington rejected those guarantees as non-starters but offered to discuss some confidence-building measures.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier Thursday that Moscow was planning to send its formal response to the Washington soon.
Feb 17, 8:30 am
US ambassador to UN: ‘Russia is moving toward an imminent invasion’
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned Thursday that Russia appears to be readying for an “imminent invasion” of neighboring Ukraine.
“The evidence on the ground is that Russia is moving toward an imminent invasion,” Thomas-Greenfield told reporters during a background briefing call. “This is a crucial moment.”
She said that’s why she asked U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken “to come speak directly to the U.N. Security Council on his way to Munich about the serious situation in Ukraine.”
“Our goal is to convey the gravity of the situation,” she added. “That’s why Secretary Blinken is coming to New York to signal our intense commitment to diplomacy, to offer and emphasize the path toward de-escalation and to make it clear to the world that we are doing everything — everything -– we can to prevent a war.”
Blinken has already boarded his flight to Munich but will be flying to New York City first to address the U.N. Security Council session at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday.
Feb 17, 7:34 am
Lukashenko: Russian troops will stay in Belarus ‘as long as necessary’
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday that Russian troops will be in his country for “as long as necessary.”
“As long as necessary, the Russian Armed Forces will be here. This is our land, our territory,” Lukashenko told Belarusian state media. “We are working here, studying and will continue to study.”
Further joint exercises of the armed forces of Russia and Belarus will be discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, according to Lukashenko.
The Belarusian leader has said that any decision on recognizing the self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics in a breakaway region of southeastern Ukraine known as Donbas will be made jointly with Russia. He added that this decision will be mutually beneficial.
Lukashenko has also noted that, in his view, if neighboring Ukraine had wanted to end the conflict with the Russian-backed separatists in Donbas, it would have already done so.
Feb 17, 6:25 am
Russia to respond to US on NATO security guarantees
Russia will soon formally respond to the written answers that the United States sent earlier to Moscow’s demands for security guarantees that NATO not enlarge, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday.
The U.S. government, at Russia’s insistence, sent written responses to two draft treaties the Kremlin published demanding guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the military alliance pull back its infrastructure from Eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War. Washington rejected those guarantees as non-starters but offered to discuss some confidence-building measures.
Lavrov was quoted by Russian state media on Thursday as saying that Moscow is planning to send its formal response “today” and that it will be published “several hours after.”
However, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told reporters Moscow was “still working on” its response and that the reply would not be sent Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his government will continue to insist on discussing its key demands alongside any of the other issues.
Feb 17, 5:50 am
Ukraine accuses Russia-backed separatists of shelling kindergarten
Ukraine accused Russia-backed separatist forces of shelling a village controlled by Ukrainian government troops and hitting a school there early Thursday.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine said separatists fired upon the southeastern village of Stanytsia Luhanska. The head of the community’s local administration confirmed to ABC News that they were under heavy fire on Thursday morning.
The firing has since ceased, the official told ABC News.
Footage released by Ukrainian media shows a hole blown in the wall of a kindergarten. Meanwhile, pro-Russian accounts on social media posted the footage without context, suggesting it was in a separatist-held area and calling it fake.
Russia-backed separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine have accused the Ukrainian military of a major escalation and of preparing for a full-scale offensive. The reports are headline news in most Russian media.
Feb 17, 5:32 am
Russia-backed separatists claim ‘large-scale’ shelling in Ukraine
Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine claimed a significant deterioration along the front line with Ukrainian government forces on Thursday, accusing Ukraine of launching “large-scale” shelling of civilian areas in the breakaway regions.
Fears that Russia might use such claims as a pretext to launch an invasion remain high, with Thursday’s allegations out of the ordinary. The Ukrainian government has denied any intention to launch an offensive on the separatist-held areas.
Local authorities in the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, in an area of southeastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, accused Ukrainian government forces of shelling nine population centers, using large caliber mortars that are banned by a ceasefire.
The separatists’ military forces issued “emergency statements” Thursday alleging that “the situation along the line of contact has substantially worsened” in recent days. Rodion Leshchenko, a political advisor to the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, accused Ukraine of launching a “massive provocation,” allegedly firing 200 times into Donbas.
For the past few weeks, Russian propaganda and the separatists in Donbas have been laying the groundwork to accuse Ukraine of launching an offensive, claiming that the Ukrainian government has been massing its forces and also alleging to have found evidence of atrocities. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this week that he believes “genocide” has occurred in Ukraine.
Originally released in September of 1992, The Police compilation Greatest Hits is being reissued on vinyl for its 30th anniversary.
The album had a limited vinyl release because of course back in the day, all anybody wanted was CDs. As a result, it’s long been out of print, but it’ll be back on April 15. The two-LP set was remastered at Abbey Road and cut at half speed. It comes as two heavyweight vinyl discs packaged in a gatefold sleeve. You can pre-order it now.
The album includes 16 tracks spanning the band’s five studio albums, from “Roxanne” from Outlandos d’Amour, to “Tea in the Sahara,” from Synchronicity.
Meanwhile, the three members of The Police are keeping busy: Sting resumes his world tour in March and his Las Vegas residency in June, while Andy Summers will tour his latest photo exhibit this July and his one-man multimedia music show in October. Stewart Copeland will be performing with an orchestra in North America and Europe this year, and premiere his latest opera, TheWitches Seed, in Italy in July.
Here’s the Greatest Hits track listing:
Disc One
Side A
“Roxanne”
“Can’t Stand Losing You”
“So Lonely”
“Message in a Bottle”
Side B
“Walking on the Moon”
“The Bed’s Too Big Without You”
“Don’t Stand So Close to Me”
“De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”
Disc Two
Side A
“Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”
“Invisible Sun”
“Spirits in the Material World”
“Synchronicity II”
Side B
“Every Breath You Take”
“King of Pain”
“Wrapped Around Your Finger”
“Tea in the Sahara”
(NEW YORK) — The United States continues to warn that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day” amid escalating tensions in the region, with President Joe Biden telling reporters Thursday that the threat is now “very high.”
More than 150,000 Russian troops are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders, as U.S. officials have urged all Americans to immediately leave Ukraine.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin claim that some Russian forces have begun to withdraw from near Ukraine’s borders, ABC News learned that Putin had told his military forces to be ready to invade by Wednesday. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Biden said more Russian troops have moved in, contrary to Moscow’s claims. It remains unclear whether Putin has made a decision to attack his ex-Soviet neighbor.
Russia has denied it plans to invade and has demanded the U.S. and NATO bar Ukraine from joining the military alliance.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 17, 11:54 am
Blinken calls on Moscow to commit to not invading, meet next week
Secretary of State Antony Blinken closed his remarks to the U.N. Security Council meeting by challenging the Russian Federation to “announce today — with no qualification of equivocation or deflection — that Russia will not invade Ukraine, stated clearly stated plainly, to the world.”
“And then demonstrate it by sending your troops, your tanks, your planes back to their various can hangars and sending your diplomats to the negotiating table,” he added.
Blinken laid out how the U.S. believes Russia will attack Ukraine — but said he would welcome being wrong and for Russia to withdraw.
“Now, I’m mindful that some have called into question our information, recalling previous instances where intelligence ultimately did not bear out,” he said, apparently referring to a similar address then-Secretary of State Colin Powell famously made to the Security Council presenting U.S. intelligence to justify the Iraq War. “But let me be clear, I am here today not to start a war, but to prevent one,” he said, citing allies that agree with U.S. assessments.
“If Russia doesn’t invade Ukraine, then we will be relieved that Russia changed course and proved our predictions wrong. That would be a far better outcome in the course we’re currently on. And we’ll gladly accept any criticism that anyone directs at us,” Blinken said.
He continued, “Russia can still make if there’s any truth to his claim that is committed to diplomacy. Diplomacy is the only responsible way to resolve this crisis”
Blinken also said that he sent a letter to Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier Thursday proposing that they meet next week in Europe following their talks in recent weeks “to discuss the steps that we can take to resolve this crisis without conflict” and that U.S. is also proposing meetings at the NATO Russia Council and the OSC Permanent Council.
“These meetings can pave the way for a summit with key leaders in the context of de-escalation to reach understandings on our mutual security concerns,” he added.
Feb 17, 11:28 am
Blinken to UN Security Council: ‘I am here today not to start war, but to prevent one’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, changing plans at the last minute to speak at a U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday, implored the group to unite to address what he called “Russia’s looming aggression against Ukraine.”
“This crisis directly affects every member of this council and every country in the world because the basic principles that sustain peace and security principles that were enshrined in the wake of two World Wars, in a Cold War, are under threat: The principle that one country cannot change the borders of another by force. The principle that one country cannot dictate another’s choices or policies, or with whom it will associate the principle of national sovereignty,” he said.
Blinken repeated that the U.S. and Western allies do not see Russian troops drawing down on the ground, but that, “Our information indicates clearly that these forces, including ground troops, aircraft ships, are preparing to launch an attack against Ukraine in the coming days,” he said.
He said that Russia is already taking steps “down the path to war,” first with its plans to “manufacture a pretext for its attack.”
“This could be a violent event that Russia will blame on Ukraine, or an outrageous accusation that Russia will level against the Ukrainian government. We don’t know exactly what formula. It could be a fabricated so-called terrorist bombing inside Russia. The invented discovery of the mass grades. A staged drone strike against civilians, or a fake — even a real attack — using chemical weapons,” he said.
He said, then, the would see the “highest levels of the Russian government may theatrically convene emergency meetings to address the so-called crisis.”
“Next, the attack is planned to begin. Russian missiles and bombs will drop across Ukraine. Communications will be jammed. Cyber attacks will shut down key Ukrainian institutions. After that, Russian tanks and soldiers will advance on key targets that have already been identified and mapped out in detailed plans,” he said, reiterating the U.S. belief that Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million people, is a target.
He added that the U.S. has intelligence “Russia will target specific groups of Ukrainians.”
“Let me be clear,” Blinken said, “I am here today not to start a war, but to prevent one.”
Feb 17, 11:08 am
Russia’s response to the US teases ‘military-technical measures’
In a written response on the discussion over Moscow’s demands that NATO not expand, Russia said the U.S. has not given a “constructive reply” to Russia’s demands and that Moscow might resort to “military-technical measures.”
“We can acknowledge that the U.S. side did not give a constructive answer to the basic elements of a draft treaty with the U.S. on security guarantees, drawn up by the Russian side,” the document given to the U.S. on Thursday and translated from Russian by Interfax said. “In the absence of the American side’s willingness to negotiate firm and legally binding guarantees of our security by the U.S. and its allies, Russia will have to respond, including through implementing military-technical measures,” it said.
As the West has warned of Russian misinformation serving as potential for a false flag pretext, the document from the Russian Federation accused the U.S. and allies of spin, instead.
“The package nature of Russian proposals has been ignored, from which ‘convenient’ topics have been deliberately chosen, which, in turn, are ‘twisted’ in the direction of creating advantages for the United States and its allies,” the response said.
“We propose to work together to develop a new ‘security equation,'” it added.
The U.S. government, at Russia’s insistence, sent written responses to two draft treaties Moscow published demanding guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the military alliance pull back its infrastructure from Eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War. Washington rejected those guarantees as non-starters but offered to discuss some confidence-building measures.
-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova
Feb 17, 10:31 am
Zelenskyy visits Ukrainian troops on front line in Donetsk
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday visited Ukrainian troops on the front line of defense in the Donetsk region, where the Ukrainian government says intense shelling continues.
“I am proud of your heroism,” Zelenskyy told the soldiers. “You defend Ukraine’s independence and decently rebuff the enemy. We feel constant pride in our defenders.”
Earlier Thursday, Zelenskyy had an “urgent” telephone conversation with the head of the European Council, during which he emphasized that Ukraine has seen no evidence of withdrawal of Russian troops from its borders, according to a press release from the Ukrainian president’s office.
Zelenskyy also reported a “significant number” of ceasefire violations by Russian-backed separatists forces in eastern Ukraine, including the shelling of a kindergarten in the government-controlled village of Stanytsia Luhansk, which he called a “large provocation,” according to the press release.
Feb 17, 10:10 am
US accuses Russia of using UN meeting as part of invasion pretext
The Russian mission to the United Nations circulated a 49-page letter Wednesday night that it said included an investigation of atrocities committed by the Ukrainian government in its eastern provinces.
The letter alarmed U.S. officials, who thought it may be part of the false pretext for a Russian invasion that they’ve been publicly warning about for weeks.
“It’s hard to draw any conclusion other than Russia plans to use today’s U.N. Security Council meeting as part of an attempt to establish a pretext for a potential invasion, building upon disinformation and incendiary statements we’ve seen over recent weeks,” a senior administration official told reporters Thursday morning.
The letter, obtained by ABC News, includes a document labeled “Joint Project of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and RT News Channel,” which alleges that Ukraine committed war crimes over the last eight years in the Donbas.
“Each of these allegations are categorically false,” the senior administration official said. But they’ve seen a marked increase in them in the past few days and overnight, they added.
But the official stopped short of saying that Russia has fully mobilized to create a false pretext or that an invasion would follow shortly: “The kinds of reports that we’re hearing, the kinds of claims that we’re seeing made in Russian media are exactly the kinds of claims that we have indicated could form the basis of a pretext for a further invasion of Ukraine,” they told reporters.
-ABC News’ Conor FInnegan
Feb 17, 9:34 am
Biden says he believes Putin will go through with invasion
President Joe Biden told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega on Thursday morning that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin will go through with an invasion of Ukraine within days.
“My sense is this will happen in the next several days,” Biden said.
The president accused Russia of engaging in a “false flag operation” and said that despite the claims of pulling troops back, the Kremlin has actually moved more troops closer to Ukraine’s border.
Feb 17, 9:22 am
Russia insists some troops are returning to base
Russia insisted again Thursday that some troops massed near Ukraine are returning to base, far from the border.
Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement that units from the Western and Southern Military Districts, which were stationed in western Russia and Crimea, are now moving back to their permanent bases. He said Russian troops taking part in drills in Belarus will also return to base once they finish the exercises this weekend.
Konashenkov noted that the first units have already arrived in Nizhny Novgorod, Chechnya and Dagestan, hundreds of miles from the border with Ukraine.
Feb 17, 9:07 am
US receives Russia’s response on NATO security guarantees
The United States has received a response from Russia regarding the discussion over Moscow’s demands for security guarantees that NATO not expand, a senior official with the U.S. Department of State said Thursday.
“We can confirm that we have received a response from the Russian Federation,” the official said. “It was delivered to Ambassador Sullivan in Moscow today.”
The U.S. government, at Russia’s insistence, sent written responses to two draft treaties Moscow published demanding guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the military alliance pull back its infrastructure from Eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War. Washington rejected those guarantees as non-starters but offered to discuss some confidence-building measures.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier Thursday that Moscow was planning to send its formal response to the Washington soon.
Feb 17, 8:30 am
US ambassador to UN: ‘Russia is moving toward an imminent invasion’
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned Thursday that Russia appears to be readying for an “imminent invasion” of neighboring Ukraine.
“The evidence on the ground is that Russia is moving toward an imminent invasion,” Thomas-Greenfield told reporters during a background briefing call. “This is a crucial moment.”
She said that’s why she asked U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken “to come speak directly to the U.N. Security Council on his way to Munich about the serious situation in Ukraine.”
“Our goal is to convey the gravity of the situation,” she added. “That’s why Secretary Blinken is coming to New York to signal our intense commitment to diplomacy, to offer and emphasize the path toward de-escalation and to make it clear to the world that we are doing everything — everything -– we can to prevent a war.”
Blinken has already boarded his flight to Munich but will be flying to New York City first to address the U.N. Security Council session at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday.
Feb 17, 7:34 am
Lukashenko: Russian troops will stay in Belarus ‘as long as necessary’
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday that Russian troops will be in his country for “as long as necessary.”
“As long as necessary, the Russian Armed Forces will be here. This is our land, our territory,” Lukashenko told Belarusian state media. “We are working here, studying and will continue to study.”
Further joint exercises of the armed forces of Russia and Belarus will be discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, according to Lukashenko.
The Belarusian leader has said that any decision on recognizing the self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics in a breakaway region of southeastern Ukraine known as Donbas will be made jointly with Russia. He added that this decision will be mutually beneficial.
Lukashenko has also noted that, in his view, if neighboring Ukraine had wanted to end the conflict with the Russian-backed separatists in Donbas, it would have already done so.
Feb 17, 6:25 am
Russia to respond to US on NATO security guarantees
Russia will soon formally respond to the written answers that the United States sent earlier to Moscow’s demands for security guarantees that NATO not enlarge, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday.
The U.S. government, at Russia’s insistence, sent written responses to two draft treaties the Kremlin published demanding guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the military alliance pull back its infrastructure from Eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War. Washington rejected those guarantees as non-starters but offered to discuss some confidence-building measures.
Lavrov was quoted by Russian state media on Thursday as saying that Moscow is planning to send its formal response “today” and that it will be published “several hours after.”
However, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told reporters Moscow was “still working on” its response and that the reply would not be sent Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his government will continue to insist on discussing its key demands alongside any of the other issues.
Feb 17, 5:50 am
Ukraine accuses Russia-backed separatists of shelling kindergarten
Ukraine accused Russia-backed separatist forces of shelling a village controlled by Ukrainian government troops and hitting a school there early Thursday.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine said separatists fired upon the southeastern village of Stanytsia Luhanska. The head of the community’s local administration confirmed to ABC News that they were under heavy fire on Thursday morning.
The firing has since ceased, the official told ABC News.
Footage released by Ukrainian media shows a hole blown in the wall of a kindergarten. Meanwhile, pro-Russian accounts on social media posted the footage without context, suggesting it was in a separatist-held area and calling it fake.
Russia-backed separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine have accused the Ukrainian military of a major escalation and of preparing for a full-scale offensive. The reports are headline news in most Russian media.
Feb 17, 5:32 am
Russia-backed separatists claim ‘large-scale’ shelling in Ukraine
Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine claimed a significant deterioration along the front line with Ukrainian government forces on Thursday, accusing Ukraine of launching “large-scale” shelling of civilian areas in the breakaway regions.
Fears that Russia might use such claims as a pretext to launch an invasion remain high, with Thursday’s allegations out of the ordinary. The Ukrainian government has denied any intention to launch an offensive on the separatist-held areas.
Local authorities in the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, in an area of southeastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, accused Ukrainian government forces of shelling nine population centers, using large caliber mortars that are banned by a ceasefire.
The separatists’ military forces issued “emergency statements” Thursday alleging that “the situation along the line of contact has substantially worsened” in recent days. Rodion Leshchenko, a political advisor to the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, accused Ukraine of launching a “massive provocation,” allegedly firing 200 times into Donbas.
For the past few weeks, Russian propaganda and the separatists in Donbas have been laying the groundwork to accuse Ukraine of launching an offensive, claiming that the Ukrainian government has been massing its forces and also alleging to have found evidence of atrocities. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this week that he believes “genocide” has occurred in Ukraine.
(MINNEAPOLIS) — Grieving family and friends are gathering Thursday at the funeral of Amir Locke, a 22-year-old who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police officers executing a “no-knock” search warrant.
Locke, who was fatally shot on Feb. 2, was not named in the no-knock warrant.
Body camera video showed officers executing the warrant and finding Locke, who had been sleeping under a blanket on the couch and holding a gun. Locke was seen holding a gun as he sat up; he was shot less than 10 seconds after officers entered the room, still covered in the blanket.
“My son Amir was a law-abiding citizen who did not have a criminal history,” his father, Andre Locke, said at a news conference. “My son Amir was loved by many of us, by our family and many people, everyone that he came in touch with. My son Amir did what was right. He did all the things that he was supposed to do.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy and officiate the funeral at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis.
Locke’s funeral is at the same church where a funeral was held last year for 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Wright was shot dead a traffic stop by a Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer who claimed she mistook her gun for a Taser. The officer was found guilty of both first- and second-degree manslaughter and is set to be sentenced on Friday.
ABC News’ Adia Robinson and Kendall Ross contributed to this report.
Lamb of God has released a new song called “Cold Blood” in collaboration with the noise rock band HEALTH.
The track is available now via digital outlets, and will also appear on the upcoming HEALTH album DISCO4 :: Part II, due out April 8.
DISCO4 :: Part II also includes HEALTH’s previously released song “Isn’t Everyone” with Nine Inch Nails.
Lamb of God, meanwhile, released their latest album, self-titled, in 2020. They’ll return to the road with Megadeth, Trivium and In Flames for the 2022 leg of the Metal Tour of the Year beginning in April.
(HONG KONG) — Hong Kong recorded another record daily high of 6,116 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, as the city battles its worst outbreak since the pandemic began.
Hospitals are overstretched and running out of beds. There are shocking scenes at some of the city’s public hospitals, with dozens of elderly patients out in the cold and wet weather, waiting for hospital beds in makeshift triage areas.
Microbiologist Siddharth Sridhar described Hong Kong’s hospitals as “sandcastles in a tsunami.”
Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Thursday that the government will consider rolling out COVID-19 testing for all 7.5 million residents, as soon as enough rapid antigen tests are received from mainland authorities.
Lam was speaking with reporters after welcoming mainland experts who have come to Hong Kong to assist with COVID-containment efforts.
Up until now the city has been a poster child for COVID containment. Hong Kong went without any local cases for months last year. And now — two years into the pandemic — Hong Kongers are questioning why the city wasn’t more prepared for this day to come.
Under a “dynamic zero-infection” strategy, people who test positive cannot currently isolate themselves at home, even if they have mild or no symptoms. As a result, thousands are waiting to be admitted to hospitals or quarantine facilities.
The government is looking at ways to cater for the bottleneck, including the possibility of turning hotels, housing estates and student housing into isolation facilities. There are also talks of building a makeshift mass hospital to cope with the surge, much like the one constructed in 10 days in Wuhan at the very start of the pandemic.
Despite escalating infections in the densely populated city, Lam is doubling down on the city’s no-tolerance approach to the virus.
And the message from Beijing is clear: sort it out.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has told Hong Kong officials to “take all necessary steps” to contain the outbreak — Hong Kong’s social stability, Xi said, is at stake.
Hong Kong is meant to be holding a leadership election next month, and with the covid situation worsening, it’s not clear whether Lam will survive politically. Some lawmakers have suggested that the small-circle election be postponed.
Currently, only about 64% of Hong Kong’s population has received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Rates among the elderly population are less than 30%.
But with temperatures dropping over the weekend and more rain on the way, the outlook is bleak for the city’s most vulnerable residents waiting for hospital space.
Taylor Swift‘s fans have long believed her song “All Too Well” is about Jake Gyllenhaal, her ex whom she dated for about three months in 2010 — a rumor Taylor’s neither confirmed nor denied. Jake also has remained silent, but in the wake of Taylor releasing the 10-minute version of the heartbreak anthem, he’s finally speaking out.
“It has nothing to do with me,” Gyllenhall tells Esquire. It’s about her relationship with her fans. It is her expression. Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge anyone that.”
The actor also had some words for Taylor’s fans when it comes to how they’ve treated him online.
“At some point, I think it’s important when supporters get unruly that we feel a responsibility to have them be civil and not allow for cyberbullying in one’s name,” Jake declared. “That begs for a deeper philosophical question. Not about any individual, per se, but a conversation that allows us to examine how we can — or should, even — take responsibility for what we put into the world, our contributions into the world.”
Despite needing to shut off comments on his Instagram posts, Jake says his life wasn’t made harder when “All Too Well” was released. And if you’re wondering if he’s listened to Red (Taylor’s Version), the answer is “No” — the same answer he has when asked if there’s any lingering resentment about his famous ex, or the song.
“My life is wonderful,” says Jake, 41. “I have a relationship that is truly wonderful, and I have a family I love so much. And this whole period of time has made me realize that.”
Gyllenhaal’s currently dating Jeanne Cadieu, a 26-year-old French model.
(NEW YORK) — Mosquitoes may be smarter than we think, and that could make getting rid of them and the diseases they carry even more difficult, according to new research.
Scientists who studied two species of mosquitoes that spread diseases such as dengue, Zika and West Nile fever — Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus — found that the females learned to avoid pesticides after a single non-lethal exposure, a study published Thursday in Nature found.
The researchers exposed the female mosquitoes to non-lethal doses of common anti-mosquito pesticides and found that mosquitoes that had been pre-exposed to a pesticide avoided passing through a pesticide-treated net in order to reach a food source at a higher rate than those who had not been pre-exposed, according to the paper.
In addition, the survival rate of pre-exposed mosquitoes was more than double that of mosquitoes that had not been pre-exposed.
The findings suggest that mosquitoes that have been exposed to non-lethal doses of pesticides learn to avoid these pesticides and, as a result, may seek out safer food sources and resting sites, allowing them to survive to reproduce.
Pre-exposed mosquitoes were also more likely to rest in a container that smelled of a control substance, rather than in a container that smelled of a pesticide, the researchers found.
Pesticide resistance has increased among mosquitoes in recent decades, but the extent to which has been unclear until now.
“Mosquitoes have been learning,” Frederic Tripet, a behavioral ecologist and director at the Centre for Applied Entomology and Parasitology at Keele University in the U.K., told ABC News. “We just didn’t know about it.”
In 2012, Tripet co-authored another study that showed mosquitoes were capable of learning — that they could associate different patterns, visual cues, or smells with a positive or negative experience. Those findings suggested that the learning may be relevant to their relationship with pesticides, Tripet said.
“So they’re there. They get this first bad experience,” Tripet said. “And if we don’t kill them at first instance, then they learn to avoid that.”
The learning, combined with the physiological resistance to the pesticides, compounds the difficulties in ridding the mosquitoes with pesticides, said Tripet, who collaborated on the research for this study with the Vector Control Unit of University Sains Malaysia in Penang, Malaysia.
New solutions will be necessary to better control mosquito populations, Tripet added. One way may be to devise a chemical compound that has a delayed reaction, therefore if it does not kill a mosquito the first time, the insect will not associate the smell with a negative experience, he said.
Learning can also be disrupted by adding an attractive smell to the mix, Tripet said.
After announcing on his socials earlier this month that he’d be touring North America this summer with Cheap Trick, Rod Stewart has now revealed the full list of dates for the trek, as well as the on-sale dates. But Rod says when it comes to his set list, it’ll pretty much be the hits and nothing but the hits.
The 38-date tour, which officially kicks off June 10 in Vancouver, Canada, is Rod’s first in four years. And while his new album, The Tears of Hercules, came out last year, he says fans may not hear much more beyond its first single at his shows.
“Yeah, ‘One More Time‘ will be in there,” he says of the song he released last year. “But, you know, I give people what they want: They all want to hear the same songs.”
Rod adds, “As much as I’ll try and say, ‘Look, please let me play a few new songs!’ they want to hear the old ones. As would I!”
That’s right: Rod knows what it’s like to want to hear your favorite artist play your favorite songs, because that’s what he’d want to hear…if he could.
“If my idols were alive today, I would want to hear Sam Cooke sing ‘Cupid,’ Otis [Redding] sing ‘Dock of the Bay,’ David Ruffin sing ‘My Girl,'” he admits. “I’m a give-[’em]-what-they-wanter type of bloke.”
Right now, Rod’s tour is scheduled to wrap up September 17 in Edmonton, Canada. Tickets for most dates go on sale to the public on February 25 at 10 a.m. local time; Canadian dates go on sale March 4 via LiveNation.com. Details on pre-sales, which start on Monday, can be found at RodStewart.com.
