Traditionally, it’s been thought that it takes about 21 days to break a bad habit – or for a new behavior to become automatic.
But where did that statistic come from? Well, it originated in a popular book from 1960 called “Psycho-Cybernetics.” It was written by a plastic surgeon who noticed his patients seemed to take about21 days to get used to their new faces.
Well, a new study looked at that long-held belief and found that it takes a lot longer than that! Researchers at the University College London studied hundreds of people and found that the average time it takes for a new habit to stick is actually 66 days! Some people were able to do it as fast as 18 days – others took nearly9 MONTHS for a new habit to form! But 66 days was the average.
Neuroscientist Dr. Elliot Berkman led the research… and he says, if you want to speed up the process, it’s easier if you’ve got another behavior lined up to take its place. That’s why nicotine gum tends to be more effective than the nicotine patch. Because you’re replacing the act of putting a cigarette in your mouth with the behavior of popping a piece of gum!
So, don’t give up if you haven’t changed a habit after 21 days. Because the average person needs 2 MONTHS for new behaviors to stick.
Here are some tips for maximum bonding from Dr. David Niven, a family therapist who wrote the book “The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy Families”
Start by sitting in a circle at mealtime. Studies show that whether you sit in a circle at the table or on a picnic blanket in the backyard, the circle automatically strengthens family ties – or even just friendships. Clinical psychologist Dr. Alexa Foster says it makes everybody feel included and important – rather than the important person sitting at the head of the table.
Another bonding tip: Get some yellow in your life – yellow throw pillows, a yellow blanket, yellow walls. Scientists say the color yellow encourages people to open up and be more talkative. Then, once the conversation is going, talk about your day. Did something embarrassing happen, something funny, something frustrating? One of the best ways to bond is to talk candidly about your life. When parents open up, children feel more comfortable to talk truthfully about their own lives.
If you want to go further, the name of the book again is “The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy Families” by Dr. David Niven.
According to the Institute For Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, some dogs can recognize up to 200 words, and even figure out what new words mean, making them mentally equivalent to a 3 year old child.
Just like people, animals have two kinds of intelligence: Fluid intelligence, which is their natural smarts like they know instinctively how to hunt or to stay away from the street. Then there’s crystallized intelligence, which is how they process everything they’ve learned like when they put two and two together that when the alarm goes off in the morning, they get fed.
But according to the book “How Dogs Think”, you can actually help your pet improve their brain power by teaching them new things that’ll increase their crystallized intelligence. Here’s how:
You can teach your dog new words. Start by speaking to your dog daily, but not just about the weather. Give your dog consistent verbal signals. If you’re going upstairs say “upstairs”. Pretty soon when you say the word, they’ll scamper up the steps automatically.
And your cat can be taught using the same training method you use with your dog.
Animals also need a rich environment to learn. They need the same stimulation that they’d get if they were running free. So when you get home spend at least half an hour playing with your dog. Here’s a good one: hide some treats while the dog is watching then take him out of the room. After a minute, let him back in and see how many of the hiding places he can remember. Also, change the toys they play with often and vary the route you go on when you take walks.
A sharp mind also translates into a healthier pet. With nothing to do but sleep and eat, animals get bored and destructive and are more likely to be obese. Keeping their brain busy means your shoes won’t be chewed, your cat won’t obsessively groom, and your bird won’t pluck their feathers out. If you’d like to know more, check out the book “How Dogs Think” by Stanley Coren.
(NEW YORK) — In emotional testimony on Monday, former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane told a jury that he tried to help George Floyd several times but in each instance was blocked by his senior officer, Derek Chauvin.
Lane is the third former police officer to take the witness stand in his own defense regarding charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights.
The 38-year-old Lane told the U.S. District Court jury in St. Paul, Minnesota, that when paramedics came to take Floyd to a hospital, he volunteered to assist them, testifying that he thought Floyd “didn’t look good.”
He welled up with emotion and his voice cracked when asked by his attorney, Earl Gray, why he decided to go into an ambulance and help try to revive Floyd.
“I felt with the situation, they might need a hand,” Lane testified.
Lane and his former police colleagues, Tou Thao, 35, and J. Alexander Kueng, 28, are charged with using the “color of the law,” or their positions as police officers, to deprive Floyd of his civil rights by allegedly showing deliberate indifference to his medical needs as Chauvin kneeled on the back of the handcuffed man’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds, ultimately killing him.
They have all pleaded not guilty. If convicted, the men face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Closing arguments in the high-profile case are scheduled for Tuesday.
Both Lane and Kueng were rookie police officers at the time of Floyd’s death, and their field training officer was Chauvin, who was convicted of murdering Floyd and sentenced to over 22 years in prison. Chauvin also pleaded guilty to federal civil rights violations.
Lane said he and Kueng were partnered up for the first time when they responded to a call on Memorial Day 2020 of a person possibly under the influence who had allegedly used a fake $20 bill to purchase cigarettes at a Cup Foods store.
He testified that when he confronted Floyd, who was seated in the driver’s seat of a Mercedes-Benz SUV parked outside the store with two passengers, “it looked like he (Floyd) was trying to put something away” and that he couldn’t see the man’s right hand.
Lane told the jury that he initially drew his gun and yelled at Floyd “to let him know how serious I thought it was.”
He said he then lowered his voice to de-escalate the situation and told Floyd, “I’m not going to shoot you.”
A struggle broke out, he testified, when he and Kueng tried to get the handcuffed man into a police cruiser.
Lane testified that he and Kueng were still struggling with Floyd when Chauvin and Thao arrived at the scene.
“Chauvin cut in front of me,” he said, adding that he backed off and deferred to Chauvin, who decided to place Floyd prone on the pavement.
Lane said he was holding and monitoring Floyd’s legs “because of the kicking.” But, he testified, Floyd’s resistance lessened after a few minutes.
Gray asked Lane if he could see where Chauvin’s knee was on Floyd’s body.
“It appeared to be kind of holding at the base of the neck and shoulder,” Lane testified.
Lane said he couldn’t see Floyd’s face until the paramedics arrived and placed him on a stretcher.
He testified that while he, Kueng and Chauvin held Floyd down, he suggested rolling Floyd on his side to help his breathing, but Chauvin told him, “Nope, we’re good like this.” He said that when he asked a second time, Chauvin “deflected” his question.
Lane testified that he also asked Kueng to check Floyd’s pulse and that he also tried to check Floyd’s ankle for a pulse.
He claimed that when paramedics arrived and checked Floyd’s pulse, he was assured he had a pulse. Later, under cross-examination, Lane said paramedics told him Floyd was unresponsive.
Under cross-examination from Assistant U.S. District Attorney Samantha Trepel, Lane agreed that fear of repercussions or angering his field training officer was not an exception to his duty as a police officer to render aid to Floyd.
“Despite your training, you deferred to your colleagues?” Trepel asked.
Lane replied, “It seemed reasonable at the time with an ambulance coming.”
Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones is one of more than 20 musicians from seven different countries featured in a video performing a new version of the blues song “When the Levee Breaks.” It premiered this weekend at PlayingforChange.com and on the Playing for Change YouTube channel.
“When the Levee Breaks,” a song written about about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, was originally recorded by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. Led Zeppelin’s reworked version of the tune appears on the band’s 1971 album, Led Zeppelin IV.
The video, which features various musicians and singers performing their parts in different locations around the world, also includes Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins and ex-Allman Brothers Band guitarist Derek Trucks, as well as Trucks’ wife and current band mate Susan Tedeschi on vocals, Robbie Robertson‘s son Sebastian on guitar, singer/songwriter Ben Lee on harmonica, and many others.
The clip also includes footage such natural disasters as flooding and drought.
“It seems that little has changed since 1927, or even 2005 with [Hurricane] Katrina,” Jones says in a statement regarding “When the Levee Breaks.” “It’s still a really powerful track, both musically and lyrically.”
Those who view the video are encouraged to donate money to the Playing for Change Foundation to aid its efforts raise awareness about and support organizations focused on various environmental issues.
The new recording and video of “When the Levee Breaks” is the latest in a series of covers of famous songs by international musicians that have been put together by Playing for Change organization, which connects people around the world through music.
(ATLANTA) — A jury began deliberations Monday in the federal hate-crime trial of three white Georgia men in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, with a prosecutor calling them “vigilantes” fueled by pent-up anger for Black people and defense attorneys portraying them as vigilant citizens concerned about protecting their neighborhood from crime.
The U.S. District Court jury in Brunswick, Georgia, started weighing the evidence against 64-year-old retired police officer Gregory McMichael, his 36-year-old son, Travis McMichael, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, who were all convicted in state court last year of murdering the 25-year-old Black jogger.
The jury received the case at about 3 p.m. ET after hearing hours of closing arguments.
The McMichaels and Bryan are each charged with one count of interference of Arbery’s civil rights and attempted kidnapping. The McMichaels are also charged with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and Travis McMichael faces an additional count of using a firearm in relation to a violent crime.
They have all pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, the men could be sentenced to life in prison. All three are already serving life sentences, the McMichaels without the possibility of parole, after a state jury convicted them last year of murder.
‘Vigilantes’ motivated by hate
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Perras told the jury the defendants were “vigilantes.”
“When Greg McMichael saw Ahmaud Arbery jogging by his house and Greg suspected that Ahmaud was up to no good, he didn’t grab his phone and call the police. He grabbed his son and his gun and chased after him,” he said.
He said that when the pursuit went by Bryan’s home, Bryan assumed “that the Black guy must be the bad guy and the white guys are the good guys.”
Perras scoffed at defense claims that the McMichaels pursued Arbery because they had previously seen him on surveillance video repeatedly trespassing inside a home under construction in their neighborhood.
“When you peel away the defendants’ excuses and you follow the evidence, it wasn’t about trespassing and it wasn’t about neighborhood crime. It was about race,” Perras said. “Racial assumptions, racial resentment and racial anger.”
Perras added that “all three defendants saw a young Black man in their neighborhood and they thought the worst of him.”
‘This is not a murder trial’
Travis McMichael’s attorney, Amy Lee Copeland, countered that prosecutors failed to prove that racial animus motivated the lethal actions her client took against Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020.
“The government argued about the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in its closing argument,” Copeland told the jury. “This is not a murder case, it’s not an aggravated assault case. You are here today only to determine only the crimes charged in the indictment.”
She said the government must prove four elements of the hate crime statute: that there was a threatened use of force, that the defendants tried to willfully injure Arbery, that the crime happened because of race, and that it happened because Arbery was enjoying the use of a public street.
Copeland told the jury that the government’s prosecutors made a big deal about her client’s history of posting on social media and texting racial slurs to describe Black people.
Copeland noted that the 17 racially charged text messages and Facebook posts she conceded Travis McMichael made between 2013 and 2020 had nothing to do with the Arbery killing. She said the evidence shows that Travis McMichael never made racial statements to Arbery or the police on the day of the fatal shooting.
She said Travis McMichael’s digital footprint only proves he made derogatory statements in mostly private exchanges with “like-minded” people.” In his online posts, Travis McMichael was “playing to his audience,” Copeland said.
“This case is not about the rightness of the beliefs or whether these beliefs should be punished. You can’t use it to judge his character, the case isn’t to punish for beliefs even if you think they’re wrong,” she said.
Copeland told the jury that the government failed to present any evidence of prior circumstances of racial violence on the part of Travis McMichael or any evidence that he was a member of a white supremacist group.
Copeland said prosecutors also did not prove the grounds for the kidnapping charge, arguing Travis McMichael gave Arbery the opportunity to run away only to have Arbery charge toward him and engage in a struggle over McMichael’s pump-action shotgun.
“Mr. Arbery got shot because he tried to take Travis’ shotgun away from him,” Copeland said.
She asked the jury to find Travis McMichael not guilty of all the charges.
Gregory McMichael’s attorney, A.J. Balbo, told the jury that federal prosecutors didn’t present a shred of evidence showing that his client’s text messages or social media posts contained any evidence of racial animus, although he conceded the government’s investigators couldn’t get into his encrypted cellphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this case is hard, hard first of all because it involves the death of a young man,” Balbo told the jury. “It was horrific because it shouldn’t have happened.”
Balbo said Gregory McMichael had no hesitation renting properties to Black people while at the same time acknowledging the elder McMichael used rude language to describe a Black tenant. He said that during his long career in law enforcement, Gregory McMichael never received a complaint against him of being racist.
Balbo, too, asked the jury to acquit Gregory McMichael on all charges.
Bryan’s lawyer, J. Pete Theodocion, told the jury that Bryan would have reacted the same way had he seen the McMichaels chasing a white man, an Asian person or a person of any other race.
Theodocion said Bryan was not trying to be “Johnny Law Enforcement” when he joined the chase of Arbery. He said Bryan’s suspicions of Arbery were “entirely reasonable” considering that he heard the McMichaels yelling at Arbery to stop and that they wanted to talk to him.
“His instincts told him people do not get chased like that unless they’ve done something wrong,” Theodocion said of Bryan.
Theodocian accepted that Bryan did not approve of a relationship his daughter had with a Black man, saying that the racial slurs he used to vent his anger were “ignorant and stupid” but not criminal.
“He did not see the world through the prism of race,” Theodocian said of Bryan.
They “never saw Ahmaud as a fellow human being”
In her rebuttal argument, U.S. Assistant Attorney Tara Lyons asked the jury to carefully review the video Bryan took of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery and the defendants’ statements to police in the aftermath of the shooting that were captured on police body-camera video.
“If you have any doubt, watch the way they react to him (Arbery) on the scene even after there’s no doubt in the world that the young man lying dead or dying in the street is unarmed and has nothing on him but his clothes and a well-worn pair of running shoes,” Lyons said.
Lyons said the defendants walked around Arbery’s body as if he were a “speed bump” or a “pothole.”
“Look for any sign of recognition by these defendants that in the middle of that pool of blood was an actual human being twitching and gasping as he bled out in the street,” Lyons said. “Go watch those videos. You won’t see one sign of sadness or regret or remorse from any of these defendants. And by now, you know why: because the three defendants — Travis, Greg and Roddie — never saw Ahmaud as a fellow human being.”
ABC News’ Janice McDonald contributed to this report.
Britney Spears has been hinting that she might write a tell-all book, and now it’s really happening: People has confirmed that the pop star has signed a $15 million deal for a memoir.
Britney has complained bitterly about her sister Jamie Lynn‘s memoir, which she claims contains false stories about her. Last month, Britney wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post, “The timing of your book was unbelievable Jamie Lynn … especially knowing the whole world had no clue what was really done to me !!!!. My whole family including you is saying YOU DIDN’T KNOW …. Bull**it !!!”
She added, “I wish you would take a lie detector test so all these masses of people see you’re lying through your teeth about me !!!!…You are scum, Jamie Lynn.”
Simon & Schuster, which will publish Britney’s book, has so far not commented on the deal, nor has Britney herself.
Sam Hunt and his wife Hannah Fowler are getting divorced.
On Monday, TMZ broke the news that Fowler had filed for divorce from Hunt after nearly five years of marriage. In the paperwork filed in Tennessee, Fowler reveals that she is pregnant and due in May. She cites “inappropriate marital conduct” and “adultery” as the reasons for the separation.
The documents also state that Fowler is requesting primary custody of their child, alimony and child support, as well as that “the parties be awarded their respective separate property.”
Hunt and Fowler have yet to speak publicly on the matter.
The two met around 2008 and dated on-and-off for several years before getting engaged in 2016. They married on April 15, 2017 in Hunt’s native Cedartown, GA.
Hunt’s breakthrough album, Montevallo, was inspired by Fowler. Numerous songs he’s penned over the years are also about their relationship, including “Downtown’s Dead” and “Drinkin’ Too Much.”
(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 Friday he’s “convinced” Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade.
More diplomacy seemed possible, though, with Biden agreeing “in principle” Sunday to meet with Putin, as long as Russia didn’t invade, but the Kremlin on Monday said talk of a summit was “premature.”
On Monday, Putin said he would decide by the end of the day whether to recognize Russian-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, which the U.S. said he could use as a pretext for an invasion.
While the U.S. says some 190,000 Russian troops and separatist forces are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders, Russia has denied any plans to invade and reiterated its demands that the U.S. and NATO bar Ukraine from joining the military alliance.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 21, 1:47 pm
Putin told France, Germany he intends to sign decree recognizing separatist regions: Kremlin
Shortly before he was set to speak to the Russian people, Russian President Vladimir Putin informed French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz via phone that he intends to sign a decree recognizing the two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin said in a statement to Russian media.
The Kremlin said Putin informed them about the “outcomes” of his security council meeting and noted that the separatist “republic” had sent appeals asking for recognition due to unverified reports of “military aggression by the Ukrainian government, with massive shelling of the territory of Donbas, as a result of which the civilian population is suffering.”
This comes amid a barrage of false reports from Russia and the separatists of supposed Ukrainian attacks. In the last few days, Russia has also made dubious claims of shells falling on Russian territory as Russia builds a pretext for a possible attack on Ukraine, under the guise of coming to the aid of the separatists.
Scholz condemned the plans to recognize the separatist regions, a spokesperson said, calling it a “stark contradiction to the Minsk Agreements for the peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine” and “a unilateral breach of these agreements on the part of Russia.”
“During the talks, the [German] Chancellor called on the President of the Russian Federation to immediately de-escalate and withdraw the amassed forces from the border with Ukraine,” the spokesperson said.
Feb 21, 12:40 pm
Putin to address Russian people
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a national TV address shortly. This comes after Putin said he would decide today whether to recognize Russia-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said, in response to Putin’s possibly recognizing the separatist regions, he has convened his national security council and has held “urgent consultations” with the presidents of France and Germany.
France and Germany are the guarantors of the Minsk agreement and the Normandy Format, which all sides agree Russia will exit if it recognizes the separatist regions.
Feb 21, 10:51 am
Putin says he’ll decide today whether to recognize Russian-controlled separatist regions
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a national security council meeting that he will make a decision today whether to recognize the Russian-controlled separatist regions in Ukraine as independent.
This came after Putin called an unplanned meeting of his national security council and, in an unusual move, broadcast the meeting live on state TV. The security council unanimously advised Putin he should recognize the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk and Lugansk. That would open a path to Russia annexing them, as it did Crimea in 2014.
Feb 21, 10:42 am
Biden meeting with national security team
President Joe Biden is meeting Monday with his national security team, the White House confirmed.
Seen arriving at the White House shortly after 10 a.m. were: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley, Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and CIA director William Burns.
Feb 21, 9:37 am
Russia claims to destroy 2 Ukrainian armored vehicles amid fears of pretext to attack
Russia has claimed to have destroyed two Ukrainian armored vehicles and killed five Ukrainians it claimed crossed into Russian territory, in unverified reports as Russia appears to be intensifying efforts to build a pretext to attack Ukraine.
Russia’s military and its FSB intelligence service claimed a Ukrainian “sabotage and reconnaissance group” was detected Monday morning near a village close to the border in the Rostov region that neighbors the two Russian-controlled separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine has denied the Russian claim and it comes amid a barrage of false reports and staged videos from Russia and the separatists of supposed Ukrainian attacks. In the past three days, Russia has also made dubious claims of shells falling on Russian territory as Russia builds a pretext for a possible attack on Ukraine, under the guise of coming to the aid of the separatists.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytryo Kuleba publicly denied the Russian claims, on Twitter calling Russia a “fake-producing factory.”
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 21, 9:19 am
Leader of Russian-backed separatists calls on Putin to recognize separatist regions as independent: Russian media
The head of the Russian-controlled separatists in eastern Ukraine is calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognize the separatist regions as independent of Ukraine, Russian media is reporting.
Denis Pushilin, the leader of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk, is also asking Putin to consider making a treaty on mutual military defense.
Recognition would open a path to Russia potentially annexing the regions and possibly openly sending troops there.
The Russian parliament last week voted to appeal to Putin to recognize the two separatist self-proclaimed republics, though Putin initially signaled he wouldn’t do so immediately.
The two self-proclaimed separatist People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk were formed after Russia stoked conflict in the Russian-speaking region of Donbas in 2014, sending troops in covertly to help establish the regions.
In the last week Russia and the separatist regions have dramatically escalated tensions, accusing Ukraine of an imminent attack and building a pretext for Russian intervention.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 21, 8:33 am
Likelihood of diplomatic solution ‘diminishing hour by hour’
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” Monday that President Joe Biden is prepared in principle to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin if there is no invasion, but that unfortunately, an invasion still seems likely.
“President Biden made clear all along he’s prepared either way. He’s prepared to engage in high level diplomacy to resolve this peacefully and he’s equally prepared to rally our allies and partners to impose costs and consequences on Russia should they choose to invade,” Sullivan said.
“He indicated to the French president yesterday in principle he would be prepared to meet with Putin if President Putin stood down from his invasion,” Sullivan said. “We can’t say anything other than indications on the ground look like Russia is still moving forward.”
Sullivan indicated the window for diplomacy will remain open until more significant military action is seen, but that the window gets smaller as time goes on.
“We never give up hope on diplomacy until the missiles fly or the tanks roll,” Sullivan said. “We’ve been working hard for months with our allies and partners to get Russia to sit down in a serious way at the table, even as recently as yesterday the president indicated his readiness to do that. Russia has not shown the same kind of willingness on their side. The likelihood there’s a diplomatic solution given the troop movements of the Russians is diminishing hour by hour.”
Asked if sanctions will be enough to stop Russia without sending U.S. forces to Ukraine, Sullivan said the U.S. is determined to impose sanctions in the long-term to strangle Russia’s ambitions without the use of ground forces.
-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky
Feb 21, 5:27 am
Talk of Biden-Putin summit ‘premature,’ Kremlin says
The Kremlin has said it is still “premature” to talk about a summit between President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin, though it didn’t rule out that one could take place.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Sunday said Biden and Putin have agreed “in principle” to meet, provided Russia did not invade Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the possibility of a meeting after speaking with both leaders on Sunday, amid intense diplomatic efforts to try to dissuade Putin from launching an invasion the U.S. fears could come this week.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that for now there’s only an agreement for Russia and the U.S. to speak at a lower level, between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister. That meeting is scheduled for this week.
Peskov seemed to suggest that an agreement on a meeting between Biden and Putin would depend on the outcome of those talks.
“I can say that an understanding has been reached that we need to continue the dialogue at the level of ministers,” Peskov told reporters on Monday. “But to talk about some kind of concrete plans about organizing any summits is for now premature.”
Contacts between Biden and Putin can be arranged quickly, if necessary, he said.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 20, 10:28 pm
US alleges Russia making list of Ukrainians ‘to be killed or sent to camps’
The United States has obtained information of potential Russian operations against Ukrainian targets as part of a potential invasion, including targeted killings, kidnappings, detentions and torture, the U.S. alleged in a letter to the United Nations obtained by ABC News.
“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,” U.S. Ambassador Bathsheba Nell Crocker wrote to Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.
That includes the “likely use” of lethal measures to “disperse peaceful protesters or otherwise counter peaceful exercises of perceived resistance from civilian populations,” Crocker wrote.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken alluded to this during his remarks to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, telling his fellow diplomats, “Conventional attacks are not all that Russia plans to inflict upon the people of Ukraine. We have information that indicates Russia will target specific groups of Ukrainians.”
In addition, sources told ABC News last Tuesday that the U.S. believed Russia aimed to move into Kyiv to decapitate the Ukrainian government and install their own.
But this new letter goes further, saying Russia “would likely target those who opposes 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.”
Ambassador Michele Sison, the top U.S. diplomat for international organizations, is headed to Geneva this week to meet Bachelet at the U.N. headquarters there, the State Department announced Sunday.
“The United States is gravely concerned that a further Russian invasion of Ukraine would produce widespread human suffering. In light of OHCHR’s important mandate and its reporting presence in Ukraine, we wish to share this information with you as an early warning that a further Russian invasion of Ukraine may create a human rights catastrophe,” Crocker added in the letter.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Feb 20, 8:46 pm
Biden, Putin agree to summit
U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to hold a summit proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron. The leaders both accepted the summit “in principle,” with one major condition: that Russia does not invade Ukraine.
“As the president has repeatedly made clear, we are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Sunday evening.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov are set to meet Thursday. During their meeting, they will prepare “the substance” of the summit, according to a statement from the French government. Macron “will work with all stakeholders to prepare the content of these discussions” as well.
Macron spoke with Putin twice Sunday, both before and after he called Biden for a brief 15-minute phone call.
“We are always ready for diplomacy,” Psaki said. “We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war. And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Feb 20, 7:49 pm
US State Department gives more info on Moscow safety alert
A State Department spokesperson said the alert published Sunday warning Americans to avoid crowds and stay alert in places frequented by tourists and Westerners was issued “out of an abundance of caution,” stopping short of tying it directly to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
“In recent days a number of Russian media outlets have reported on a spate of bomb threats being made against Russian public buildings, including metro stations, in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and elsewhere,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“The U.S. Department of State has no greater responsibility than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas,” they said. “Out of an abundance of caution, and in line with our commitment to providing U.S. citizens with clear and timely information so they can make informed travel decisions, we published this alert.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden met with his top national security advisers Monday as U.S. officials continued to warn a Russian invasion of Ukraine appeared imminent — while diplomats considered a possible summit between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, CIA Director William Burns, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, all arrived at the White House on Presidents Day morning.
In Moscow, Putin announced during a Monday meeting with his own national security team that he would decide by the end of the day if he would recognize two breakaway Ukrainian regions as independent, a move that analysts believe could be a precursor to Russia annexing them and possibly sending in troops. The Kremlin said he would deliver an address to Russians late Monday.
While the U.S. and Western allies have said they would be united in imposing severe sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine, they have been more ambiguous about what steps they would take if Russia stopped short of a full-on invasion. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that Russia recognizing the regions’ independence would “necessitate a swift and firm response from the United States in full coordination with our allies and partners.”
The meetings came a day after the White House said Biden was, “in principle,” open to a summit with Putin, brokered by France’s President Emmanuel Macron, on the condition that Russia did not invade. Russian officials were cool to the idea on Monday.
During their meeting with Putin, Russia’s defense minister, foreign minister, chiefs of intelligence agencies, and the heads of parliament and senate, all called on Putin to recognize the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, currently controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
Biden said Friday the U.S. had “reason to believe” that Russia would invade “within days.” On Sunday, U.S. officials told ABC News that lower-level Russian tactical commanders had been making plans on the ground, at the local level, to invade Ukraine.
A senior Biden administration official said Sunday that no plans existed yet for a potential Biden-Putin summit, and that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would discuss the format and timing later this week — as long as Russia did not invade.
The diplomatic proposal emerged from two calls Macron held with Putin and one with Biden Sunday; his second with Putin began around 1 a.m. Moscow time Monday morning, according to the Elysée Palace.
Biden told Macron that, “in principle, he would be prepared to meet with Putin if President Putin stood down from his invasion,” Biden’s top national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said in an interview with ABC News’ Good Morning America on Monday.
But, Sullivan added, “We can’t say anything other than indications on the ground look like Russia is still moving forward.”
Meanwhile, during their meeting in Moscow, Putin and top Russian national security officials bluntly questioned the usefulness of holding any new summit with Biden, suggesting it would be pointless unless the United States had changed its position.
Putin said that Macron suggested there were some “changes” in the U.S. position, although he added he could not see what they would be. Russia’s foreign minister said he would speak to his French counterpart on Monday — but was sure the U.S. would not provide positive responses to Russia’s needs.
Even as U.S. officials warned a Russian invasion appears imminent, they also said they were still open to talking.
“We never give up hope on diplomacy until the missiles fly or the tanks roll,” Sullivan said. “We’ve been working hard for months with our allies and partners to get Russia to sit down in a serious way at the table.”
But, he added, “The likelihood there’s a diplomatic solution, given the troop movements of the Russians, is diminishing hour by hour.”
