Mediaboss Marketing

It was in late June when Fox News' Tucker Carlson claimed on the air that the National Security Agency was "monitoring" his electronic communications, as part of a scheme to take his show "off the air." The host offered no proof, but several congressional Republicans rallied behind him -- with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) even asking Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calf.) to launch some kind of probe into the odd allegations.

Weeks later, the GOP's willingness to take the matter seriously hasn't gone away.

The top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee is calling on the director of national intelligence to investigate allegations that the federal government "unmasked" Fox News host Tucker Carlson. In a letter to Avril Haines, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that recent media reports that "Mr. Carlson was unmasked by a government agency" have "only fueled the perception that unmasking is being used as a political hammer or to satisfy curiosity."

In his written request to the DNI, the Republican senator not only referenced the "perception" of political improprieties, Rubio also argued that the public is "attuned to the perception of widespread misconduct." His letter also referenced "public suspicion and distrust."

Or put another way, the Florida Republican -- the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee and the panel's former chairman -- isn't aware of any wrongdoing on the part of the intelligence community, but he is aware of "perceptions."

Of course, those perceptions may very well exist, though that doesn't make them true.

Let's circle back to our earlier coverage to review how we arrived at this point. NBC News reported last month that after Carlson raised the allegations, the NSA took the unusual step of issuing a written statement, explaining that the Fox News personality "has never been an intelligence target of the Agency and the NSA has never had any plans to try to take his program off the air. NSA has a foreign intelligence mission. We target foreign powers to generate insights on foreign activities that could harm the United States."

NBC News' report added, "The conservative host has a history of making false or exaggerated claims."

It was against this backdrop that Axios moved the ball forward with a related report, adding that Carlson was "talking to U.S.-based Kremlin intermediaries about setting up an interview with Vladimir Putin shortly before the Fox News host accused the National Security Agency of spying on him."

Axios added that U.S. officials "learned about Carlson's efforts to secure the Putin interview. Carlson learned that the government was aware of his outreach and that's the basis of his extraordinary accusation."

If Axios' sources were correct, it raised the possibility of a scenario in which the Fox News host may have been in communication with a Kremlin official who was under surveillance. Under such a scenario, the NSA wasn't monitoring Carlson's communications; it was monitoring the communications of the person Carlson was talking to.

If you connected with a member of Vladimir Putin's team, the NSA would probably be aware of that, too. It would not, however, be proof of an NSA plot to derail your professional career.

It also wouldn't warrant a congressional investigation or weird partisan conspiracy theories.

All of this was reminiscent of Donald Trump's insistence that U.S. intelligence agencies "spied on" his 2016 campaign. When pressed for proof, Republicans have pointed to instances in which members of Team Trump were in communication with their Russian allies.

But again, this wasn't because anyone was spying on the Trump campaign, it was because U.S. intelligence agencies were spying on Russians -- whom Team Trump was chatting with before taking office four years ago.

If the reporting is correct, and something similar happened to Carlson, it wouldn't be shocking in the slightest.

So why is Marco Rubio taking an interest in this weeks later? It's possible that the senator, given his powerful position on the Intelligence Committee, has uncovered relevant information that sparked new interest in the story.

And it's also possible that the ambitious Republican is playing a partisan political game, so that he can tell his party's base and conservative media outlets that he played along with their suspicions, indifferent to whether those ideas are rooted in fact.

Read the rest here:
Rubio takes an interest in the right's NSA conspiracy theory - MSNBC

Ukraine makes efforts to establish permanent coordination mechanisms for the Crimea Platform and calls on the most active partners to take the lead in each of its key areas.

As Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said in a comment to Ukrinform, the summit is just a start of great activity. According to him, by launching the Crimea Platform, Ukraine becomes an ideological leader and coordinator of international efforts to liberate Crimea.

"We are working to establish permanent coordination mechanisms for the Platform in all key areas: non-recognition policy, sanctions, security, human rights, environmental and economic issues related to the Russian occupation. We call on the most active partners to take the lead in each of these key areas," Kuleba said.

He added that the Crimea Platform did not seek to replace the huge work on Crimea within the UN or the efforts already being made by the EU, NATO, the United States, and other partners.

"It will supplement, systematize and strengthen them," the minister stressed.

The Crimea Platform is a new consultative and coordination format initiated by Ukraine to step up the efficiency of international response to the occupation of Crimea, respond to growing security challenges, increase international pressure on Russia, prevent further human rights violations, protect victims of the occupation regime, and achieve the main goal: to de-occupy Crimea and restore Ukraines sovereignty over the peninsula.

The Platform is to operate at several levels: heads of state and government, foreign ministers, inter-parliamentary cooperation, expert network.

The activity of the Crimea Platform will be officially launched at the inaugural summit in Kyiv on August 23, 2021.

ol

Link:
FM Kuleba: Ukraine invites partners to take lead in key areas of Crimea Platform - Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news

Over the past day, August 10, Russian-controlled armed groups 16 times opened fire on the Ukrainian Army positions.

Thats according to the Joint Forces Operation HQ press center, Ukrinform reports.

"Over the past 24 hours, on August 10, sixteen ceasefire violations were recorded in the Joint Forces Operation zone," the statement said.

Near Vodiane, in the Sea of Azov littoral, the invaders fired three times at the positions of our defenders, employing 122mm artillery systems, 82mm mortars, and small arms.

Also, Russian mercenaries shelled the settlement of Vodiane from 122mm artillery and 82mm mortars, destroying private households. Fortunately, the attack brought no civilian casualties.

The enemy was also firing toward Nevelske, using heavy automatic grenade launchers, large-calibe machine guns, and small arms.

Near Maryinka, Russian mercenaries fired at Ukrainian positions with anti-tank missiles.

Near New York, the enemy fired twice using 122mm artillery systems and 120caliber mortars.

In the area of Katerynivka, Russian invaders twice fired at Ukrainian positions employing heavy automatic grenade launchers and MANPADs, as well as large-caliber machine guns and small arms.

Toward Pisky, the enemy twice used easel and anti-tank grenade launchers.

Near Novooleksandrivka, Russian-controlled armed groups twice fired on the positions of Ukrainian defenders with heavy automatic grenade launchers and MANPADs, as well as large-caliber machine guns and small arms.

Outside Luhanske, the enemy fired easel anti-tank grenades.

Not far from Novoluhanske, Ukrainian soldiers came under fire of automatic easel grenade launchers.

As a result of enemy shelling, three servicemen sustained shrapnel wounds.

One of the wounded soldiers later died at the hospital. Two other soldiers are undergoing treatment at a medical facility, remaining in satisfactory condition.

As of 7:00 Kyiv time on August 11, a single ceasefire violation has been reported since midnight.

Near Novomyzailivka, the invaders employed 122mm artillery systems.

The attack brought no combat losses.

im

Visit link:
Escalation in Donbas as Ukraine reports 1 KIA, 2 WIAs amid 16 enemy attacks - Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news

The post-Soviet state has increased its climate ambition but campaigners say it could do more to insulate draughty housing and promote clean energy

Ukraine plans to reduce its emissions slightly while growing its economy, reducing poverty and fighting a war with Russia, according to its latest climate plan.

The country, one of the poorest in Europe, aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions from 62% below 1990 levels in 2019 to 65% below 1990 levels in 2030.

Environment and natural resources minister Roman Abramovsky told Climate Home News through a translatorthe target was only possible with huge decarbonisation based on unit of GDP. The governments recent national economic growth strategy projects annual economic growth of up to 7% a year and industrial development.

It is the first ever real ambition from Ukraine, according to government adviser Oleksei Riabchyn, who has represented his country at several UN climate negotiations.

As with many ex-Soviet countries, a 1990 baseline makes Ukraines emissions reductions look impressive. But they largely result from the economic collapse which followed the Soviet Unions disintegration, rather than climate policies.

Ukraines previous nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement, submitted in 2016, had a 2030 target of just 40% below 1990 levels. This would have allowed a large rise in emissions from today and was judged critically insufficient by Climate Action Tracker, aligning with more than 4C of global warming, not the well below 2C goal of the Paris Agreement.

Under all approaches consistent with limiting warming below 2C, [Ukraines] emissions should be steadily decreasing, said Climate Action Tracker.

Acknowledging the criticism, Abramovsky said we are almost sure that, hopefully, the current NDC will be much closer to the 2C scenario.

Want more climate news?Sign up to get updates straight to your inbox

Anna Ackermann, a campaigner from Kiev-based Eco Action said the target was much better than the previous one but of course its also not over-ambitious To keep the world at 1.5C, the emissions should be halved by 2030 globally and every country has to contribute. So the 2% reduction promised by Ukraine does not correspond to this global need.

She added: Taking into consideration the existing huge potential to decrease emissions by introducing energy efficiency measures and developing further energy generation from renewables, the 2030 target is, from my perspective, quite easily achievable. Ukraine has lots of big, draughty old blocks of flats.

Abramovsky said the target was quite ambitious compared to other developed countries on the basis of emissions intensity.

Between 2018 and 2030, Japan plans to reduce emissions by 39%, the EU by 41%, UK by 46% and US by 47%. But their economic growth forecasts are all far lower than Ukraines.

Another aspect is that we have to achieve all that in the context of Russian aggression, Abramovsky said, we have to spend unfortunately a lot of state resources to protect our territory and in peaceful conditions these resources could go for energy efficiency and other social problems in Ukraine.

A Russian occupation of parts of Eastern Ukraine makes it difficult to determine the countrys total emissions levels and impossible for Kiev to implement climate policies in regions it does not control.

When the territories come back, we have to review and reassess the action plans and greenhouse gas emissions for those territories. Of course, theres a question in what kind of condition they will come back and what will have to be done in terms of redevelopment, reconstruction and revitalisation. We dont see any other way of development of these territories other than new technologies, he said.

Hottest games ever: At the Tokyo Olympics, elite sport met the climate crisis

Ukraines emissions reduction target is conditional on access to 102bn ($120bn) of finance. Abramovsky said the government was reforming investors rights and integrity to encourage private investment, including in green projects. It will bid for funding from the EU, US, World Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. As its classified by the UN as a developed country, it is not eligible for funding from the Green Climate Fund.

The climate plan is also conditional on stable and predictable trade policy and the absence of restrictions and barriers from developed countries, a coded reference to the EUs proposed carbon tariff on imports of certain products.

Abramovsky said: Such kind of external mechanism would create more difficult conditions for modernisation and it would complicate achievement of the goals.

Ukraine is trying to negotiate special treatment with the EU, as a member of the energy community. Ukraine is one of the biggest exporters of cement, steel and electricity to the EU and these commodities are all covered by the carbon border tax.

On energy, Abramovsky said Ukraine plans to ramp up renewable energy, keep nuclear generation at more than 50% while gradually phasing out coal in a way that doesnt devastate mining communities.

Read this article:
Ukraine aims to grow economy without increasing carbon emissions - Climate Home

The Prosecutor General's Office will soon file yet another communication on the events in Crimea to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova made a corresponding statement at the first meeting of the International Council of Experts on Crimes Committed in Armed Conflict, the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office informs.

The Councils members are: Ivan Lishchyna, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine, Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights; Yevheniy Yenin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; Anton Korynevych, Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; Oksana Senatorova, Associate Professor of International Law at the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University and Director of the Center for International Humanitarian Law and Transitional Justice; Tymur Korotky, Vice President of the Ukrainian Association of International Law; Mykola Hnatovsky, First Vice President of the Ukrainian Association of International Law; Roman Martynovsky, founder of the Regional Center for Human Rights; Yuri Butusov, editor-in-chief of Censor.net; Olha Reshetylova, journalist and coordinator of the Media Initiative for Human Rights.

The main purpose of the International Council of Experts is to involve foreign and international experts, national experts on international humanitarian and international criminal law, and representatives of non-governmental human rights organizations to study the experience of investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity and developing national standards in this area.

"This international expert platform will allow us drafting a roadmap for the investigation of crimes committed during the armed conflict in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, as well as prosecuting those involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity in all jurisdictions. We work in many vectors at the same time: we continue to investigate and submit cases to national courts, we also actively cooperate with the International Criminal Court, we cooperate with colleagues from other countries who prosecute their citizens for illegal participation in hostilities in Donbas. Therefore, this new platform will ensure inter-institutional coordination and single information field for all stakeholders," Venediktova said.

She noted that the Prosecutor General's Office would soon file yet another communication on the events in Crimea to the International Criminal Court.

ol

Read the original:
Ukraine to file another communication on events in Crimea to ICC - Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news