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A new Canada-Ukraine trade deal will help bolster regional security and boost the exchange of clean power and energy efficiency technologies between the two countries, says Ukraine's ambassador.

Andriy Shevchenko said July 28 that the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, signed last year and set to take effect Tuesday, will provide a "security spillover" effect, fostering a more sustainable economy that has a better chance of supporting a lasting peace down the road.

"We see Ukraine as a new frontier of the free world," said the ambassador at a media briefing at his embassy in Ottawa.

The United States recently appointed a special envoy for Ukraine to help end the war between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists, according to Radio Free Europe. Kurt Volker said July 23 that "the level of ceasefire violations on (a) daily basis is astonishing and that "this is not a frozen conflict, this is a hot war.

The American position in the region is especially relevant now that a new round of sanctions driven by the U.S. Congress is "intent on punishing Russia for its meddling in last years [U.S.] presidential election," the New York Times reported.

The sanctions would "almost surely" affect the Russia-Germany pipeline Nord Stream 2 which would carry Russian natural gas under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine, the newspaper wrote. There has long been an interest in Canada in replacing Russia as Europes gas supplier, although the country is still expected to dominate the region for decades.

The Canadian Armed Forces' Operation Unifier, which is deployed to Ukraine until March 2019, has trained more than 4,780 Ukrainian soldiers as of July 1, 2017, according to the Department of National Defence.

Meanwhile, Canada is hoping that the trade deal will help support economic reform and development in Ukraine. We hope it will pave the way for long-term security and stability, said David Usher, director general for trade negotiations at Global Affairs Canada, who sat next to the ambassador at the briefing.

Canada's foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland is of Ukrainian heritage and is considered to be a critic of Russia. Freeland is part of a list of Canadian politicians barred from entering the country that also includes Official Opposition leader Andrew Scheer.

The new trade deal comes into force on Aug. 1, at which point import duties for 72 per cent of Canadian goods will be eliminated, said the ambassador, including for seafood, grain crops, peanuts, chocolates, juices and other products.

Duties on a further 27 per cent will be eliminated over the seven-year period, he said, and both governments expect 98 to 99 per cent of tariffs in either direction to be lifted after seven years.

Paul Darby, program director for the Canada Ukraine Trade and Investment Support project, said at the briefing that four sectors come out as big winners in the deal.

These are: fish, especially frozen and crustaceans like lobster; pharmaceuticals, drugs and chemicals; transportation machinery; and electrical machinery such as aircraft engines.

He also noted the agreement does not yet have an investment chapter, which will be negotiated over the next two to three years.

Asked by National Observer about the deals environmental standards, Shevchenko said the two countries share many pieces of the progressive agenda.

Environment and climate change is where we're on the same page, he said. This is one of the fields where we can learn a lot from Canada, whether we're talking about energy efficiency, how to fight pollution, or new sources of energy."

The environmental chapter assures that neither country will lower their environmental standards to promote trade or investment, said Usher. This is subject to dispute settlement, he said, if Ukraine believes that Canada isn't following this provision, for example.

"In this particular issue, Canada really took a lead during the negotiations," said the ambassador. "This is one of the fields where there are a lot of benefits."

In recent years, Canada and the U.S. have both deployed geological survey teams, including representatives from industry, to evaluate Ukraine's energy resources and its potential for growth in areas such as fracking. This strategy could also allow European countries to diversify their sources of energy and reduce dependence on Russia.

"Oil and gas, and in particular unconventional (shale) extraction, continues to be a sector of interest for Canadian companies who have capacity in exploration, equipment and services," says Global Affairs Canada in its 2015-17 market access plan for Ukraine.

"Opportunity exists for exports of equipment (drilling) and services/technologies, especially horizontal onshore and offshore drilling, technologies for reviving exhausted fields, on-site laboratory services, and investment projects."

Marc-Andr Poirier, who works for Trade Minister Franois-Philippe Champagne and was also present at the briefing, said a formal reception to launch the deal's implementation will occur Aug. 8 in Toronto in partnership with the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce.

Also sitting in on the briefing was Ukrainian first secretary Zoriana Stsiban, Ukrainian trade commissioner Oleh Khavroniuk, Brooke Davis in Global Affairs Canada's trade negotiations branch and GAC's Daniel Zaharychuk, who works on commercial services for Eastern Europe.

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Ukraine, Canada 'on the same page' on climate change, ambassador says - National Observer

President Trump's decision to dismiss Reince Priebus as his chief of staff on Friday has drawn new attention to apast tweet criticizing former President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaOPINION | Let ObamaCare implode obstructionist Democrats own that failure Trump mocked Obama for three chiefs of staff in three years Priebus forced out; Kelly to replace him as WH chief of staff MORE for going through a number of chiefs of staff.

"3 Chief of Staffs in less than 3 years of being President: Part of the reason why @BarackObama can't manage to pass his agenda," Trump wrote in one 2012 tweet.

3 Chief of Staffs in less than 3 years of being President: Part of the reason why @BarackObama can't manage to pass his agenda.

Rahm Emmanuel, Bill Daley and Jack LewJack LewTrump mocked Obama for three chiefs of staff in three years Mnuchin wants clean debt-ceiling bill Conservative Republicans' bill seeks to take bite out of debt ceiling MORE each served as chief of staff for Obama, between 2009 and 2013, beforeDenis McDonoughDenis McDonoughTrump mocked Obama for three chiefs of staff in three years Former Obama UN ambassador to meet with Senate Intelligence panel: report Trump administration must release Clinton emails State Department tried to hide MORE stepped into the role.McDonough served through the rest of Obama's tenure, through January of this year.

Pete Rouse also served as interim chief of staff under Obama, between Emmanuel and Daley.

Trump announced Friday that he would be replacing Priebus with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

Priebus, who was Trump's first chief of staff, made it only 189 days into the president's first term.

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Trump mocked Obama for three chiefs of staff in three years - The Hill

The myRA program was deemed a conservative way to save and tailored for people who were not accustomed to investing in the markets because account holders could not lose money. The funds were invested in United States Treasury savings bonds, which paid the same variable rate as the Government Securities Fund, available to federal employees through the government retirement plan.

There was not a minimum deposit or a fee. But the maximum workers could save was only $15,000. At that point the balance would be rolled over to a private-sector retirement account, perhaps a more traditional portfolio of stocks and bonds.

Mark Iwry, who built the program over nearly six years while he served as senior adviser to the Treasury secretary during the Obama administration, said it had been designed to have many uses over time. Besides being a safe way to introduce people to saving for retirement, it was expected to serve as a key investment option within some state-run retirement programs geared to the tens of millions of people without access to employer-sponsored plans that are in the process of being created.

The program was also seen as a place to direct a portion of a tax refund, and as a bucket of sorts that could be used to capture the small sums that are automatically rolled over by employers from larger 401(k) plans when workers change jobs.

The decision to cancel the myRA in its introductory phase reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of its purposes and potential as a long-term investment in working families economic security and financial independence, Mr. Iwry said. There are several legitimate ways to assess a programs costs and benefits prematurely is not one of them.

The closing of myRA is the latest step taken by the Trump administration to reverse Obama-era savings initiatives and investor protections. In his first month in office, President Trump requested the review of a rule that requires brokers to put their customers interest first when handling their retirement money. He later signed a joint resolution that reversed a rule that would have made it easier for states to create their own retirement savings programs.

Several states including California, Illinois and Oregon are moving ahead anyway. And while some states had plans to include myRA as a safe investment alternative, that will no longer be an option.

The program offers a really good solution, said Tobias Read, state treasurer of Oregon, which is running a pilot of its retirement savings plan this month and had expected to use myRA as its capital preservation alternative. Without it, we will be forced to look at other options, which frankly arent as good for that purpose.

On July 14, a group of Democrats in Congress wrote a letter to Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, asking that his department demonstrate its support for the myRA program.

Given that this administration has worked to reduce access to retirement plans for millions of Americans, the letter said, it is more critical than ever for the Treasury to strengthen one of their remaining options for retirement savings.

A version of this article appears in print on July 29, 2017, on Page B2 of the New York edition with the headline: Treasury Ends Obama-Era Retirement Savings Program.

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Treasury Ends Obama-Era Retirement Savings Plan - New York Times

Barack Obama on Friday credited supporters of the Affordable Care Act for saving his signature legislation from Republican-led efforts to dismantle it, while the former president acknowledged that the law can be improved.

Obamacare remains the law "because of everyone who mobilized, organized and made their voices heard," a spokesman for Obama said in a statement following the GOPs failed attempt to repeal parts of the legislation.

"President Obama has always said we should build on this law, just as members of both parties worked together to improve Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid over the years," Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said. "President Obama still believes that it is possible for Congress to demonstrate the necessary bipartisanship and political courage to keep delivering on the promise of quality, affordable health insurance for every American."

GOP efforts to repeal parts of Obamacare fell short early Friday morning when three Republican senators, along with all Democrats, voted against it.

Democratic groups flooded the halls of the Capitol and GOP town hall events around the country to protest the GOPs repeal efforts.

"The Affordable Care Act has always been about something bigger than politics," Obama's statement said. "It's about the character of our country.... It's about the dreams protected, and the untold misery and ruin prevented."

Obama had remained largely on the sidelines during the debate over Obamacare this year.

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Obama Credits Supporters For Thwarting Health Care Repeal - NBCNews.com

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is accusing top political aides of President Obama of making hundreds of requests during the 2016 presidential raceto unmask the names of Americans in intelligence reports, including Trump transition officials.

Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), in a letter to Director of National Intelligence Dan CoatsDan CoatsIntelligence chairman accuses Obama aides of hundreds of unmasking requests Overnight Cybersecurity: Kushner says no collusion, improper contacts with Russia | House poised to vote on Russia sanctions | U.S., Japan to beef up cyber cooperation Trump intel chief: No agencies dispute Russian election meddling MORE, said the requests were made without specific justifications on why the information was needed.

The letter was provided to The Hill from a source in the intelligence community.

In March, Nunes disclosed that he had seen data suggesting Trump campaign and transition officials were having their names unmasked by departing officials in the Obama White House.

National Security Adviser Susan Rice and CIA Director John Brennan have acknowledged making such requests though they insisted the requests were for legitimate work reasons.

Nunes recused himself from his committees work on its investigation over Russias meddling in the 2016 campaignafter a controversy over his charges about Obama-era unmasking.

The chairman had reviewed intelligence reports on White House grounds that he said showed unmasking of Trump officials by Obama aides. Democrats accused him of working with the White House to make the disclosures.

InThursdaysletter, Nunes said the total requests for Americans names by Obama political aides numbered in the hundreds during Obamas last year in office and often lacked a specific intelligence community justification. He called the lack of proper justifications a serious deficiency.

His letter noted requests from senior government officials, unlike career intelligence analysts, made remarkably few individualized justifications for access to the U.S. names.

The committee has learned that one official, whose position had no apparent intelligence related function, made hundreds of unmasking requests during the final year of the Obama administration, Nunes wrote. Of those requests, only one offered a justification that was not boilerplate.

Sources familiar with the Nunes letter identified the official as then-U.N. Ambassador Samantha PowerSamantha PowerIntelligence chairman accuses Obama aides of hundreds of unmasking requests Overnight Cybersecurity: Facebook invests in group fighting election hacking | House panel advances DHS cyber revamp bill | Lawmakers mull cyber insurance for small businesses Former Obama UN ambassador to meet with Senate Intelligence panel: report MORE.

Power did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nunes also wrote that Obama-era officials sought the identities of Trump transition officials within intelligence reports.

Nunes said he intends to introduce legislation to address concerns about the unmasking process impacting Americans' privacy.

Ordinarily, Americans whose email or phone dataor conversations are intercepted by the National Security Agency without a warrant overseas are legally required to have their names redacted or masked with descriptions like U.S. person 1 to protect their identities in intelligence reports.

But beginning in 2011, Obama loosened the rules to make it easier for intelligence officials and his own political aides to request that the names be unmasked so they could better understand raw intelligence being gathered overseas.

The change has been criticized by liberal groups like the ACLU and conservatives like Nunes because of the privacy implications.

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Intelligence chairman accuses Obama aides of hundreds of unmasking requests - The Hill