(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.
Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard‘s Stadium Tour just got a bit bigger.
The two bands have announced an additional five dates to their upcoming joint outing, which will also feature Poison and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts on the bill. The new shows will take place August 8 in Toronto, August 16 in Indianapolis, September 2 in Vancouver, September 4 in Edmonton, and September 9 in Las Vegas, which will mark the final date on the tour.
Tickets go on sale next Friday, February 25, at 10 a.m. local time via Live Nation.
The Stadium Tour was first announced back in 2019, and marked the reunion of Mötley Crüe just four years after they played what was billed as their “final” show, effectively voiding the group’s “cessation of touring agreement.”
Originally planned for 2020, the Stadium Tour has been delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s set to finally launch this year starting June 16 in Atlanta.
For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit Motley.com.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Thursday said he expects 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,” he told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega as he left the White House for a trip to Ohio.
Biden told reporters the threat of an invasion is “very high.”
“They have not moved any of their troops out. They have moved more troops in,” he said. “We have reason to believe that they are engaged in a false flag operation, to have an excuse to go in. Every indication we have is they’re prepared to go into Ukraine and attack Ukraine.”
A senior administration official said Wednesday evening the Kremlin had added about 7,000 troops near the Ukraine border in recent days — “with some arriving as recently as today” — placing the number of Russian forces near Ukraine above the 150,000 figure cited by Biden in an address to the nation Tuesday.
At the same time, Biden repeated there is still a path to diplomacy but said he has no plans to hold a call with Putin.
“That’s why I asked Secretary Blinken to go to the U.N. to make his statement today,” he said, referring to Secretary of State Antony Blinken changing plans at the last minute to address the U.N. Security Council. “He’ll lay out what that path is. I’ve laid out a path to Putin as well … There is a path, there is a way through this.”
Even as Russia delivered its written response Thursday to U.S. and NATO proposals for talks, a senior administration official dismissed Russia’s diplomacy, so far, as disingenuous, to reporters on an earlier call.
“Every indication we have now is that they mean only to pretend to engage in diplomacy, where they publicly offer to talk and make claims about de-escalation — while privately mobilizing for war,” the official said.
For days now, the Kremlin has claimed to be pulling back Russian forces after completing military “exercises,” but U.S. security analysts have said it appears Russian troops are rotating in and growing in number, with the ability to invade Ukraine at any point. Russian leaders, meanwhile, have accused the West of creating “hysteria” over the situation at Ukraine’s border.
The buildup of Russian forces has prompted the biggest concentration of troops in Europe since the Cold War, the NATO secretary-general said Wednesday.
Biden warned Putin in remarks from the White House earlier this week that if Russia invades Ukraine, the U.S. is prepared to respond decisively and in unison with NATO allies.
“If Russia attacks Ukraine, it will be met with overwhelming international condemnation,” Biden said. “The world will not forget that Russia chose needless death and destruction. Invading Ukraine will prove to be a self-inflicted wound. The United States and our allies and partners will respond decisively. The West is united and galvanized.”
Explaining U.S. involvement in the region, Biden told the American people, “this is about more than just Russia and Ukraine.”
“It’s about standing for what we believe in, for the future that we want for our world, for liberty, for liberty, the right of countless countries to choose their own destiny. And the right of people to determine their own futures, or the principle that a country can’t change its neighbor’s borders by force,” Biden said. “If we do not stand for freedom where it is at risk today, we’ll surely pay a steeper price tomorrow.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Thursday said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin will go through with an invasion of Ukraine invasion within days.
“My sense is this will happen in the next several days,” he told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega as he left the White House for a trip to Ohio.
Biden told reporters the threat of an invasion is still “high.”
“They have not moved any of their troops out. They have moved more troops in,” he said. “We have reason to believe that they are engaged in a false flag operation, to have an excuse to go in. Every indication we have is they’re prepared to go into Ukraine and attack Ukraine.”
Biden repeated that there is still a path to diplomacy but said he has no plans for a call with Putin.
“That’s why I asked Secretary Blinken to go to the U.N. to make his statement today,” referring to Secretary of State Antony Blinken changing plans at the last minute to address the U.N. Security Council. “He’ll lay out what that path is. I’ve laid out a path to Putin as well … There is a path, there is a way through this.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Usher will be returning to Las Vegas in a new residency show that launches this July.
After a previous 20-show stint at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace last year, Usher is now moving to Dolby Live at Park MGM for the new show, kicking off July 15. The residency is described as “immersive” and will incorporate audience interaction, as Usher performs his many hits and new music.
Tickets go on sale February 25 at 10 a.m. PT, with fan pre-sale tickets becoming available tomorrow, Friday, at 12 p.m. PT through February 24 at 10 p.m. PT. Get tickets and information via Ticketmaster.com/ushervegas.
Bruno Mars actually informally announced Usher’s new gig in December, when Usher joined him onstage at Dolby Live. After they performing a few of Usher’s hits together, Bruno told the crowd, “Usher is playing here next year, so get your tickets.”
On Valentine’s Day, Mariah Carey‘s ex-husband Nick Cannon dropped a song called “Alone,” which sampled her hit “Love Takes Time” and contained the lyrics “As much as I want you back/ It’s probably better where you at.” But Nick has now denied that the song was an actual attempt to win back the mother of his two eldest children.
On his talk show on Wednesday, Nick told the crowd that he’s got two words for anyone who thinks he’s hoping to get back together with Mariah: “That’s impossible!”
“Music is therapeutic for me,” he explained, adding, “The song is really about reflection…you know you realize, ‘Man, I really messed up! I had probably the greatest situation…I had my dream girl, and I messed it up!'”
“The song wasn’t really about trying to get her back,” he continued. “It was taking ownership of what I did as a man and owning my flaws and expressing it through song.”
Mariah, of course, seemed unbothered by all of this, and posted a photo of herself enjoying Valentine’s Day with her boyfriend Bryan Tanaka.
Nick and Mariah were married from 2008 to 2014 and share 10-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan. In total, he’s had seven children with four women, and is expecting his eighth child, with a fifth, model Bre Tiesi.
(BEIJING) — After making several mistakes, including falling, Russian skater Kamila Valieva missed the podium in the women’s figure skating individual event, amid controversy over her testing positive for a banned drug in December.
Valieva, who placed fourth, was last on the ice. She fell several times and was visibly upset after her performance.
Her teammate, Russian skater Anna Shcherbakova, won the gold medal, earning the highest total score, with 255.95. Russian skater Aleksandra Trusova won the silver medal, with a total score of 251.73 and Japanese skater Kaori Sakamoto won bronze medal with a score of 233.13.
The International Testing Agency revealed last week that Valieva, 15, of the Russian Olympic Committee, the gold medal favorite, tested positive for a banned substance in a sample taken in December during the Russian Figure Skating Championships.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Monday that Valieva could compete, despite the news, saying it was because she was a minor and the full appeal process, including the testing of her B sample, had yet to take place.
The question of what will happen to the ROC’s gold in the team event — won with Valieva leading the way — will be determined by the International Skating Union once a full appeal of the test can be conducted, according to the International Testing Agency.
Valieva leads the competition with the highest score out of Tuesday’s short program, earning 82.16. In second place is Anna Shcherbakova of the ROC, scoring 80.20, followed by Kaori Sakamoto of Japan in third place, scoring 79.84.
The gold medal will be awarded to the skater who scores the highest total score, comprised of the combined scores for the short program and the free skate.
Should Valieva be on the podium, as is expected, the IOC said it will not hold a medal ceremony.
Valieva became the first female skater to land a quadruple jump at the Winter Olympics during the team event, and she did so twice. She’s expected to pack her program in Thursday’s free skate with multiple quads as well.
Russian athletes are competing under the name “Russian Olympic Committee” due to the ban against Russia participating in the games, put in place because of a systemic doping program from the 2014 Sochi Games.
This is the second Olympics in a row that Russia has competed under the ROC name. The country is banned from participating in all international sporting events due to the doping allegations.
Russian athletes who could prove they were clean and unconnected to the cover-up were allowed to compete.
(NEW YORK) — The United States continues to warn that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day” amid escalating tensions in the region, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken telling ABC News Wednesday the U.S. has seen “no meaningful pullback” of Russian forces and that Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin could “pull the trigger” at any point.
More than 150,000 Russian troops are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders, U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday, as U.S. officials have urged all Americans to immediately leave Ukraine.
While Putin and the Kremlin claim that Russia has started to withdraw some troops from near Ukraine’s borders, ABC News has learned Putin had told his military forces to be ready to invade by Wednesday. It remains unclear whether he has made a decision to attack his neighbor. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, celebrated a national “day of unity” Wednesday.
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 Thursday. All times Eastern:
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.
(BEIJING) — After making several mistakes, including falling, Russian skater Kamila Valieva missed the podium in the women’s figure skating individual event, amid controversy over her testing positive for a banned drug in December.
Valieva, who placed fourth, was last on the ice. She fell several times during her performance.
Her teammate, Russian skater Anna Shcherbakova, won the gold medal, earning the highest total score, with 255.95.
The International Testing Agency revealed last week that Valieva, 15, of the Russian Olympic Committee, the gold medal favorite, tested positive for a banned substance in a sample taken in December during the Russian Figure Skating Championships.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Monday that Valieva could compete, despite the news, saying it was because she was a minor and the full appeal process, including the testing of her B sample, had yet to take place.
The question of what will happen to the ROC’s gold in the team event — won with Valieva leading the way — will be determined by the International Skating Union once a full appeal of the test can be conducted, according to the International Testing Agency.
Valieva leads the competition with the highest score out of Tuesday’s short program, earning 82.16. In second place is Anna Shcherbakova of the ROC, scoring 80.20, followed by Kaori Sakamoto of Japan in third place, scoring 79.84.
The gold medal will be awarded to the skater who scores the highest total score, comprised of the combined scores for the short program and the free skate.
Should Valieva be on the podium, as is expected, the IOC said it will not hold a medal ceremony.
Valieva became the first female skater to land a quadruple jump at the Winter Olympics during the team event, and she did so twice. She’s expected to pack her program in Thursday’s free skate with multiple quads as well.
Russian athletes are competing under the name “Russian Olympic Committee” due to the ban against Russia participating in the games, put in place because of a systemic doping program from the 2014 Sochi Games.
This is the second Olympics in a row that Russia has competed under the ROC name. The country is banned from participating in all international sporting events due to the doping allegations.
Russian athletes who could prove they were clean and unconnected to the cover-up were allowed to compete.
