Mali severs diplomatic relations with Ukraine for providing intelligence to rebels for Wagner ambush

AnneClaire Stapleton and Mitch McCluskey, CNN
Sun, August 4, 2024



Mali has severed diplomatic ties with Ukraine after the country supplied intelligence to Malian rebels involved in an ambush against Wagner Group forces in July.

“The transitional government of the Republic of Mali condemns the hostility of the authorities of Ukraine who do not observe that Mali has always called for a peaceful settlement of the crisis between the Russian Federation and Ukraine,” government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga said in a televised statement on Sunday.

Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), previously said Kyiv had provided the militants with intelligence for the attack, saying on Ukrainian television in late July that “the rebels received necessary information, which enabled a successful military operation against Russian war criminals.”


The attack was claimed by a Tuareg rebels group along with the al Qaeda affiliate in the Sahel, JNIM (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin). Known for ad hoc cooperation, they appear to have collaborated to trap the Russian convoy.

After the attack, JNIM claimed that a “complex ambush” had wiped out the convoy, killing 50 Russians and several Malian soldiers, and published videos showing several vehicles ablaze as well as dozens of bodies in the area. A Tuareg militant group spokesman said some Malian troops and Russian fighters had also been captured during the battle.

According to some unofficial Russian Telegram channels, as many as 80 Russians were killed. That would make it by far the worst loss for Russian paramilitaries in several years of operating in Africa, as the Kremlin has sought to use proxy forces to challenge Western influence across the Sahel and central Africa and prop up unstable regimes.

Previous reporting contributed by CNN’s Tim Lister, Avery Schmitz and Darya Tarasova.


Russians pay homage to Wagner fighters killed in MaliReuters
Sun, August 4, 2024 







People in Moscow pay tribute to Wagner mercenaries killed in Mali

MOSCOW (Reuters) - In the shadow of the Kremlin, more than 70 Russians paid homage on Sunday to Wagner fighters killed in a major battle with Mali rebels and Islamist fighters, one of the mercenary group's most deadly defeats in Africa.

The Wagner mercenary group said last month its fighters and Malian soldiers had taken losses in heavy fighting against Tuareg rebels and Islamist fighters from an al Qaeda affiliate near Mali's border with Algeria.

Mali's northern Tuareg rebels said they had killed at least 84 Russian Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers during days of fierce fighting in late July.

In Moscow, just a few hundred metres from the Kremlin, dozens of Russians came to mourn the fallen Wagner fighters, a Reuters journalist said.

One man, dressed in military clothing and wearing Wagner badges, kneeled before pictures of the group's fighters killed in Mali.

Beneath flags with the Wagner motto of "Blood, Honor, Motherland, Courage", some lit candles. One woman on knees wept before a picture of a Wagner fighter. Others laid red carnations below pictures of the dead.

None of those asked for comment at the makeshift memorial would speak to Reuters.

Mali, where military authorities seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, is battling a years-long Islamist insurgency. It has said Russian forces there are not Wagner mercenaries but trainers helping local troops with equipment bought from Russia.

(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by David Holmes)

POSTMODERN COLD WAR II

Spanish journalist or Russian spy? 

The mystery around Pablo González's double life

VANESSA GERA
Updated Sun, August 4, 2024 

A man identified as Pablo González, a freelance journalist from Spain who had been based in Poland since 2019, second from left with shaved head, listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin, back to a camera, speaking to released Russian prisoners, part of the biggest prisoner swap between the United States and Russia in post-Soviet history, upon their arrival at the Vnukovo government airport outside Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. Gonzalez had another passport and another name: Pavel Rubtsov. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)More


WARSAW, Poland (AP) — When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, reporters from around the world rushed to the Polish-Ukrainian border to cover an exodus of refugees fleeing Russian bombs.

Among them was Pablo González, a freelance journalist from Spain who had been based in Poland since 2019, working for Spanish news agency EFE, Voice of America and other outlets. Warsaw-based reporters knew him as an outgoing colleague who liked to drink beer and sing karaoke into the wee hours of the morning.

Two and a half years later, he was sent to Moscow as part of a prisoner swap, leaving behind both mysteries about who he really was and concerns about how Poland handled a case in which he was accused of being a Russian agent.

In the first days of the war, González provided stand-up reports to TV viewers in Spain against a backdrop of refugees arriving at the train station in the Polish border town of Przemysl.

But less than week into the war, Polish security agents entered the room he was staying in and arrested him. They accused him of “participating in foreign intelligence activities against Poland” and said he was an agent of the GRU, Russian military intelligence.

Friends were astonished — and, as Poland held González without trial for months that turned into years, some grew skeptical and organized protests in Spain demanding his release. Authorities have never detailed the accusations.

But on Thursday evening, the burly 42-year-old with a shaved head and beard was welcomed home by President Vladimir Putin after being freed in the largest prisoner swap since the Soviet era.

His inclusion in the deal appears to confirm suspicions that González was a Russian operative using his cover as a journalist.

Born Pavel Rubtsov in 1982 in then-Soviet Moscow, González went to Spain with his Spanish mother at age 9, where he became a citizen and received the Spanish name of Pablo González Yagüe. He went into journalism, working for outlets Público, La Sexta and Gara, a Basque nationalist newspaper.

It's not clear what led Poland to arrest him. The investigation remains classified and the spokesman for the secret services told The Associated Press that he could not say anything beyond what was in a brief statement. Poland is on high alert after a string of arrests of espionage suspects and sabotage, part of what the authorities view as hybrid warfare by Russia and Belarus against the West.

Polish security services said Poland included him in the deal due to the close Polish-American alliance and “common security interests.” In their statement, they said that "Pavel Rubtsov, a GRU officer arrested in Poland in 2022, (had been) carrying out intelligence tasks in Europe.”

The head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency MI6, Sir Richard Moore, said at the Aspen Security Forum in 2022 that González was an “illegal” who was arrested in Poland after “masquerading as a Spanish journalist.”

The term “illegal” refers to spies who operate under non-official cover, meaning that they don't benefit from diplomatic immunity.

“He was trying to go into Ukraine to be part of their destabilizing efforts there,” Moore said.

Another hint at his activities came from independent Russian outlet Agentstvo, which reported that in 2016 Rubtsov befriended and spied on Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered in Moscow in 2015.

Poland-based journalists who knew González said he used his base in Poland to travel to former Soviet countries including Ukraine and Georgia. He had a license to operate a drone and used it to film Auschwitz-Birkenau from the air for coverage on the 75th anniversary of the death camp's liberation in 2020.

Voice of America, a U.S.-government funded organization, confirmed that he worked briefly for them, but they have since removed any of his work from their website.

“Pablo González contributed to a few VOA stories as a freelancer over a relatively short period of time starting in late 2020," spokesperson Emily Webb said in reply to an emailed query. "As a freelancer who provided content to a number of media outlets, his services were arranged through a third-party company used by news organizations around the world."

“At no time did he have any access to any VOA systems or VOA credentials,” Webb said. "As soon as VOA learned of the allegations, we removed his material.”

Because Poland's justice system was politicized under a populist government that ruled from 2015-23, some activists worried about whether his rights were respected. Reporters Without Borders was among the groups that called for him to be put on trial or released.

The group stands by its position that he should not have been held that long without trial. “You are innocent until a trial proves you guilty,” Alfonso Bauluz, the head of the group's office in Spain told AP on Friday. He expressed frustration at the silence around the case, and the fact that there will apparently not be a trial at all, saying Poland has not presented the evidence it has against him.

But the group also says it expects González to provide an explanation now that he is free.

Jaap Arriens, a Dutch video journalist based in Warsaw, hung out with the man he knew as Pablo in Warsaw and Kyiv, as well as in Przemysl shortly before his arrest.

Arriens described him as a friendly, funny man with a macho demeanor and a chest covered in tattoos that he once showed off in a bar.

González mostly fit in, but seemed better-off than the average freelance journalist. He always seemed to have the newest and most expensive phones and computers, working at the Poland-Ukraine border with the latest 14-inch MacBook Pro. He had plenty of money to spend in bars.

He recalled González once saying: “Life is good, life is almost too good.”

"And I thought: ‘Man, freelance life is never too good. What are you talking about?’ I don't know any freelancer who talks like this.”

González, whose grandfather emigrated from Spain to the Soviet Union as a child during the Spanish Civil War, was known as a Basque nationalist with ties to the region's independence movement.

Russia is suspected of supporting separatist movements in Spain and elsewhere in an effort to destabilize Europe.

González's wife in Spain had been advocating on his behalf during his detention in Poland, even though they were not living together at the time of his arrest.

Over the past years, supporters ran an account on Twitter, now X, to advocate for his release.

When the Russian government announced that Pavel Rubtsov had arrived in Moscow on Thursday, the @FreePabloGonzález account tweeted: “This is our last tweet: Pablo is finally free. Endless thanks to all.”

Those who have followed the case are now awaiting his next moves.

He has Spanish citizenship — and the right to return to the European Union. His wife was quoted in Spanish media saying she hopes he can return to Spain.

Anti-Netanyahu protests erupt in Israel over delayed hostage deal

Lauren Izso, Jeremy Diamond and Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN
Sat, August 3, 2024 

Anti-government rallies erupted in several cities across Israel this weekend, as tens of thousands of Israelis demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu find a path to a deal with terror group Hamas, in order to free more than 100 hostages still held in Gaza.

The demonstrations – a regular occurrence – were notable for taking place despite urgent security warnings as Israel braces for a possible strike from Iran. Some form of military retaliation has been widely expected in the region following the unclaimed assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday.

Despite the tense security situation, large crowds gathered to Begin Gate in Tel Aviv on Saturday to support the families of the hostages and to call for their release from captivity, according to protest organizers. Videos showed protestors waving Israeli flags and holding up signs with images of the Israeli hostages.


At the Begin gate of the Kirya IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, people were heard chanting, “We’re not letting up; release the hostages.” Others shouted, “Stop the death, stop the bereavement, human lives above all!” Some protestors stood surrounded by barricades, symbolizing hostages who are reported to have been kept in cages.

There are currently 115 total hostages, living and dead, being held in Gaza, according to Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Of that number, 111 hostages were taken during the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, which killed over 1,200 people.

Israeli’s ensuing military offensive in the isolated Palestinian enclave has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly 2 million, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health and the United Nations.

‘Tell the public the truth’

Family members of captives held in Gaza have harshly criticized Netanyahu’s approach to the conflict, and are now demanding a public explanation for his government’s failure so far to negotiate a deal that would see the remaining Israeli hostages liberated.

In a statement released Saturday, an association representing the families accused the Israeli leader of choosing “to escalate the situation instead of securing a deal that would save lives.”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid also posted a statement on Telegram calling on Israel’s security chiefs to “tell the public the truth,” writing: “If the government of Israel has given up on the hostages, it needs to be honest with the families and stop playing games.”

Anger and impatience over the slow pace of hostage releases from Gaza flared this week following a new report that Netanyahu clashed with top advisors on whether to accept a new hostage and ceasefire deal proposal, which the Israeli Prime Minister Office has rejected as “incorrect.”

Supporters and relatives of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip since October lift placards during a rally to demand their release in Tel Aviv on August 3, 2024. - Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that, at a tense meeting of Israel’s security council on Wednesday night, senior officials had urged Netanyahu to take a hostage and ceasefire deal with Gaza militant group Hamas.

The report claimed that Mossad director David Barnea had said “there is a deal ready and that Israel must take it,” while Ronen Bar, the head of Israeli security agency Shin Bet, said it appeared to him the prime minister did not want the outline of the deal on the table.

Netanyahu reportedly banged on the table and said the team “don’t know how to conduct negotiations.”

Channel 12 did not cite its sources, and CNN has not independently confirmed the reporting.

The Prime Minister’s office refuted the characterization of the alleged exchange in a statement, and said that Netanyahu is committed to the hostages’ release. “The head of the Mossad did not say that there was a deal ready and that it should be accepted. The description that Hamas supposedly agreed to the terms of the deal is false…” it said.

Netanyahu’s office on Saturday released another statement accusing “leaks and false briefings in the media” of misleading the public, and blaming Hamas for hindering negotiations. “While Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to the deal outline, Hamas has been trying to introduce dozens of changes that, de facto, nullify the outline,” the statement said.

CNN previously reported that Netanyahu was adding 11th hour demands to Israel’s most recent response to the ceasefire negotiations, including reneging on previous Israeli concessions.

Reporting contributed by CNN’s Eugenia Yosef and Larry Register.

High jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh wins Ukraine's 1st individual gold of the Paris Olympics

andrew dampf
Sun, Aug 4, 2024
 

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — It was a night for war-torn Ukraine to rejoice.

Thousands of Ukrainians watched on YouTube as high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh won gold for the country she was forced to flee, then celebrated with two teammates who also medaled at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.

Iryna Gerashchenko shared bronze in the high jump and Mykhaylo Kokhan then claimed a bronze in the hammer throw, too — doubling Ukraine's Olympic medal haul from three to six in the span of about an hour.

“Medals are very important for Ukraine because the people are having a very happy time, and they can cheer us and they can celebrate this with us and not think about the war for one day,” Kokhan said.

Mahuchikh, who left her home due to the war with Russia, earned Ukraine’s first individual gold of these Summer Games, following a victory in women’s team saber fencing on Saturday.

She is from Dnipro, a city of nearly 1 million located only about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the front lines of the war. When Russia invaded, she piled as much as she could into her car and left town quickly. On her way out, she heard gunfire and could, at times, see shells raining down miles away.

The next time she returns, it will be as an Olympic champion.

Once the medals were assured, Mahuchikh and Gerashchenko ran down the track waiving Ukrainian flags, prompting a standing ovation at the Stade de France.

Then, when the two high jumpers were given special permission to run over and embrace Kokhan, all three Ukrainian medalists posed together with their blue and yellow flags.

It wasn't all about celebrating, though. Mahuchikh also recalled the "almost 500 sportsman (who) died in this war.

“They will never compete. They will never celebrate. They will never feel this atmosphere," she said, adding that her gold medal is "really for all of them.”

Mahuchikh succeeds Tokyo gold medalist Maria Lasitskene, a Russian who — along with everyone else from her country — has been banned from track and field’s international events since the country invaded Ukraine.

Russian rockets and missiles constantly knock out Ukraine's power grid. But Gerashchenko said that the electricity was working on Sunday,

“Today we have internet, we have light and on the YouTube channel, around 160,000 people (watched) online,” she said.

Mahuchikh cleared 2.00 meters to finish ahead of Nicola Olyslagers of Australia, who also cleared 2.00 but then failed all three of her attempts at 2.02.

Eleanor Patterson of Australia and Gerashchenko shared the bronze at 1.95.

Mahuchikh considered jumping again and could have tried to break the world record of 2.10 that she set less than a month ago in another Paris stadium. But then she stopped and started celebrating.

Mahuchikh was asked why she didn't make any further attempts.

“Why not? I was Olympic champion,” she said.

Mahuchikh also gained curiosity for the way she lies down and wraps herself up in a type of sleeping bag between jumps. She said it helps her relax: “Sometimes I can watch the clouds...not think about that I’m at a stadium.”

Mahuchikh claimed the first Olympic gold of her career, adding to the bronze she won in Tokyo. She also won gold at last year’s world championships.

“It’s all medals for our country, Ukraine, for our defenders," she said. "Only thank(s) (to) them we have opportunity to be here.”

Gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, and bronze medalist Iryna Gerashchenko, both of Ukraine, celebrate after the the women's high jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
ASSOCIATED PRESSMore

US struggles to rally international opposition to Venezuelan election fraud

NO EVIDENCE OF FRAUD PRODUCED

Rafael Bernal
Sun, August 4, 2024 



Major global groups are finding it difficult to overtly condemn apparent fraud in Venezuela’s presidential election, with key member states instead playing defense for President Nicolás Maduro.

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union top the list — both organizations were barreling toward full-throated censure of Maduro until the Venezuelan regime’s allies stepped in.

In Europe, Hungary’s authoritarian-friendly government blocked an EU statement expressing concerns about “flaws and irregularities” in the election.


Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, later released the statement under his own name.

Across the pond, Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, the three largest Latin American countries by population, led the push to give Maduro a pass.

“The irony of all this, obviously, is that Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, all those leaders were democratically elected, but yet they fail to somewhat apply those same democratic principles to another country, in this case, Venezuela,” said Eddy Acevedo, chief of staff and senior adviser at the Wilson Center.

The OAS Permanent Council failed to pass a resolution condemning Maduro on Wednesday, though 17 members voted in favor, 11 abstained — including Brazil and Colombia — and five delegations, including Mexico, skipped the session.

Though no members voted against the resolution, it required an absolute majority of 18 votes for approval.

The willingness of democratically elected governments to block or slow an international response highlights the regional influence of the authoritarian model spearheaded by Russia, China and Iran, but also a historical unwillingness to fall in line with the U.S.’s wishes.

“I think that it’s more than anything, not a hug or an embrace of Maduro, but an arm’s-length relationship that they maintain with the United States,” said Carl Meacham, a former senior staffer on Latin America for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Mexico, Brazil and Columbia all interact in different ways with global authoritarian regimes, including Russia, China and Iran.

“The defensive stance adopted by presidents of Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil can be interpreted as a reflection of their caution and the need to carefully manage their diplomatic relations and national interests. These countries are navigating a highly complex environment where statements regarding Venezuela have significant implications not only for their bilateral relations with the neighboring country but also for their positions within the regional and global context,” said political strategist Sergio José Gutiérrez.

Mexico’s closest relationships are commercial two-way streets, whether it’s through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), or through growing direct Chinese investment in the country.

“China is using Mexico as a front because of USMCA, because of the supply chain stuff, [the Inflation Reduction Act], CHIPS Act, all that stuff. Now you have companies that are front companies for China that are popping up in Mexico trying to take advantage of these incentives that the U.S. has built in,” said Acevedo.

“So they’re doing it in a way that they’re masquerading themselves as, ‘No, no, we’re a Mexican company,’ but in reality, what’s behind it is the Chinese government. So they’re — they’re doing it on that end, more for, sort of economic and access perspectives.”

But Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose term ends on Oct. 1, has deeper political motivations to not fall in line behind the United States.

“Some of it has to do with the fact that Mexican foreign policy has just traditionally been one of nonintervention, and his intentions are to return to that type of posture. That’s one aspect of it. The other one is he has one month left in office, and I think his focus, his priorities, are trying to push forth legislative reforms, and he really doesn’t want to — or doesn’t need to — be spending much time on international matters and international affairs,” said Meacham.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are closer to Maduro, both geographically and ideologically.

Yet both South American powers initially rebuked Maduro’s claim of victory last Sunday night, calling for the Venezuelan electoral authority to release the official tallies that were automatically generated by polling machines.

After dealing a major embarrassment to Maduro, days later they joined with Mexico, Bolivia and a grouping of Central American and Caribbean countries to turn the tables on the United States and the OAS itself.

“I think the situation is that the three countries were not ready yet to vote at the OAS resolution, because they still wanted to give diplomacy a chance, that ‘we’re working on this statement,’ right? So they’re trying to play both sides,” said Acevedo.

“I understand that logic. Why we would call for a vote and lose is just shameful. We should have had the vote. I mean, besides those three countries, there’s a lot of other countries on that list that abstained, that should have been with us.”

The State Department late Thursday dismissed the significance of the OAS vote by releasing a strongly worded statement signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying official results were “deeply flawed” and crediting opposition candidate Edmundo González with a win, based on 80 percent of vote tally sheets obtained and published by the opposition.

“We congratulate Edmundo González Urrutia on his successful campaign. Now is the time for the Venezuelan parties to begin discussions on a respectful, peaceful transition in accordance with Venezuelan electoral law and the wishes of the Venezuelan people. We fully support the process of re-establishing democratic norms in Venezuela and stand ready to consider ways to bolster it jointly with our international partners,” wrote Blinken.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been building a bipartisan anti-Maduro coalition since the election, lauded Blinken’s statement, posting that it was “an important step in support of the Venezuelan people’s aspiration for freedom from tyranny.”

Rubio on Thursday paired up with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to lead a resolution condemning Maduro, another show of bipartisan opposition.

Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy (R), in a statement supporting the resolution, made the geopolitical case opposing Venezuela’s antidemocratic ambitions.

“This is a critical moment for our hemisphere. Do we have another 25 years of tyranny and repression just three hours from America? Do we allow the Russians, Chinese Communist Party, and drug cartels to use Venezuela as ground zero planning harm to the U.S. and allies in the hemisphere?” asked Cassidy in his statement.

That analysis is not far-fetched, and international support is part of what’s emboldening Maduro to persecute opposition leaders.

“I’m sure [Venezuelan officials] know that what they’re asking for and calling for is antidemocratic, and these are just — now the masks are off. You know, this guy needs to be referred to as what he is. He’s an autocrat. He’s a dictator. He has no regard for the international system or for democracy. That, I think, is what is starting to happen internationally,” said Meacham.

“But the issue is that this is being mixed into that larger, larger game now, the international power game is really how this is playing itself out now.”

Ironically, the toolkit for the United States and other democracies is at once the best weapon available against the spread of authoritarianism, and a major motivator of that spread.

“Fundamentally, a lot of these folks, they use each other to bypass the sanctions against them from the U.S. and the rest of the international community,” said Acevedo.

“So that’s why, when, for example, a lot of people say, ‘You know, sanctions don’t work.’ Well, what has happened now that we’re living in 2024 is that the bad guys have figured out that they can all sort of operate amongst themselves as a way to mitigate some of the sanctions.”

Maduro’s other ally is timing: The Venezuelan regime has often waited out massive protests, essentially tiring out the opposition to consolidate its power, legitimate or not.

That leaves the Biden administration a short window to impose whatever sanctions it deems most likely to benefit the same opposition that Blinken recognized as winners of Sunday’s election.

“There’s still a lot of leverage the U.S. has … One of the things that we have not been very good at is speed. Sometimes the U.S. does the right thing, but it takes them a lot to get there. And speed, when it comes to this kind of development, [where] things are happening quickly, speed is everything,” said Acevedo.

Former Trump administration official Kellyanne Conway registers as lobbyist for Ukrainian billionaire with past ties to Trump

SOO RIN KIM, LALEE IBSSA and KELSEY WALSH
Sun, August 4, 2024 

PHOTO: Former Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway speaks on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wis.

 (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Former Trump administration official Kellyanne Conway has registered as a foreign agent representing Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk's foundation, new foreign lobbying disclosure reports show.

In 2015, the Ukrainian steel magnate donated $150,000 to former President Donald Trump's charitable organization to book the then-presidential candidate to speak at a conference in Kyiv.

The donation was later reportedly investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller's team in connection with their probe into Trump's and his campaign's alleged role in Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, according to The New York Times. Mueller's final report did not specifically address this donation.

PHOTO: Ukrainian businessman Victor Pinchuk attends the 'Ukraine. Year 2024' forum on Feb. 25, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Serhiy Morgunov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images, FILE)


Conway is representing the U.K. office of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, which the disclosure filings describe as a "registered, private, nonpartisan, philanthropic company limited by guarantee in the United Kingdom primarily focused on advancing artistic, scientific, charitable, benevolent, and philanthropic purposes in Ukraine or related to Ukraine."

According to the disclosure, Conway has been hired to influence American "political leaders," "lawmakers, experts and opinion makers" on a variety of issues related to Ukraine, including "making best efforts to convince" them to "attend the annual Yalta European Strategy meeting in Kiev on September 13 - 14," the disclosure filing states.

MORE: Trump Foundation Took Donations From Controversial Ukrainian Clinton Donor

Yalta European Strategy's annual gathering, also known as YES, is the same conference that Trump virtually attended in 2015 allegedly in exchange for Pinchuk's donation.

Conway's role as an agent for Pinchuk's foundation also includes engaging U.S. political leaders and experts to "explain the importance of Ukraine to the rules-based order and the protection of democratic principles," and contributing to "raising awareness among US decision makers of Ukrainians' fight for freedom and the Russian illegal war of aggression," according to the disclosure filing.

She is also tasked with assisting with organizing meetings between U.S. political leaders and Ukrainian soldiers and veterans, and to keep Pinchuk informed of the process and achievements, per the disclosure filing.

Conway is set to be paid $50,000 a month for her services throughout the contract, which runs from July 25 through Nov. 14, 2024, with an option to extend it, according to their service agreement.

ABC News has reached out to Conway.

MORE: Kellyanne Conway meets with Manhattan prosecutors investigating Trump

The $150,000 donation to Trump's foundation was one of many foreign payments Trump and his associates had received in the years leading up to the 2016 election that had been scrutinized by the special counsel's team, according to the New York Times.

In 2018, the Trump Organization turned over documents related to the $150,000 donation from Pinchuk, after investigators subpoenaed the Trump family business for an array of records about business with foreign nationals.

In 2019, Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen testified before the House Oversight Committee that the $150,000 donation was in lieu of Trump's speaking engagement at the conference.

Trump ended up making a 20-minute virtual appearance at the YES gathering in Kyiv in September 2015, where the then-presidential candidate praised Pinchuk, saying, "Victor is a very, very special man. A special entrepreneur."

During his virtual remarks at the 2015 YES gathering, Trump also attacked then-President Barack Obama for not doing enough to support Ukraine, saying, "Part of the problem we have with the Ukraine is that [Vladimir] Putin does not respect our president whatsoever. Putin does not respect our president."

Pinchuk's contribution to Trump's charity group was disclosed in 2016 as a part of the charity group's annual tax record. The Victor Pinchuk Foundation offices told ABC News at the time that the contribution was made to bolster its efforts to persuade Western governments to help protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine in the face of Russian incursions.

"The sole reason the Victor Pinchuk Foundation has reached out to President-elect Trump -- as well as other world leaders -- has been to promote strengthened and enduring ties between Ukraine and the West," a spokeswoman for the Pinchuk foundation said in an emailed response to questions in November 2016.

"Mr Pinchuk had met Mr Trump some years ago in New York, this is how the invitation for Mr Trump to speak at the YES meeting came about," the spokeswoman said at the time.

Pinchuk has also been a prolific donor to the Clinton Foundation, giving tens of millions of dollars to the group over the years, as well as reportedly lending his private plane to the Clintons.

ECODISASTER

Cambodia PM launches project linking Mekong river to sea via canal

Suy SE
Sun, 4 August 2024


Map showing the projected route of the Funan Techo canal in southern Cambodia. (John SAEKI)


Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet on Monday launched a controversial $1.7 billion canal project that aims to provide a new link from the Mekong River to the sea.

At a launch event in Prek Takeo, southeast of the capital Phnom Penh, Manet called the 180-kilometre (110-mile) project "historic", as fireworks shot into the air and drums sounded.

"We must build this canal at all costs," he said.

Once completed, the Funan Techo canal will run from a spot on the Mekong river, about an hour's drive southeast of Phnom Penh, to the sea in the Gulf of Thailand.

But the project comes shrouded in uncertainty, including its main purpose -- whether for shipping or irrigation -- who will fund it, and how it will affect the flow of the Mekong -- one of the world's longest rivers.

Conservationists have long warned that the river, which supports up to a quarter of the world's freshwater fish catch and half of Vietnam's rice production, is at risk from infrastructure projects, pollution, sand mining, and climate change.

Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand are signatories to the 1995 Mekong River Agreement, which governs the distribution of the river's resources.

Cambodia has notified the Mekong River Commission (MRC) of its plans for the canal, but Vietnam wants more information about the project.

- 'Nose to breath through' -

Phnom Penh argues the project affects only a Mekong tributary and therefore requires only the notification it has already submitted.

The canal, one of former prime minister Hun Sun's signature infrastructure projects, is seen as a galvanising national undertaking to build support for his successor and son, Hun Manet.

Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for over three decades and who celebrated his birthday on Monday, has described the canal as giving the country a "nose to breathe through".

The government says the project will offer an alternative for container ships that currently cross into Vietnam before heading to the sea, allowing Cambodia to keep transport revenue in-country.

It says it is planning riverside economic zones along the route that it says could create tens of thousands of jobs for the country, which is among the poorest in Southeast Asia.

Last year, the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), a Chinese construction giant that has financed other infrastructure in Cambodia, agreed to a feasibility study of the project.

Cambodian officials have suggested the Chinese state-owned company could finance part of the canal, but CRBC has not released its study or made any public commitment.

While Cambodia is a close ally of Beijing, Hun Sen has denied the canal will be part of China's Belt and Road infrastructure plan.

suy-sah/srg/fox

Cambodia breaks ground on China-funded canal and says it will be built 'no matter the cost'

SOPHENG CHEANG and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL
Mon, August 5, 2024

 

PREK TAKEO, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia broke ground Monday on a controversial, China-funded canal to link the capital Phnom Penh to the sea, despite environmental concerns and the risk of straining ties with neighboring Vietnam.

The $1.7 billion, 180-kilometer (111 miles) Funan Techo canal is planned to connect the country’s capital with Kep province on Cambodia’s south coast, giving it access to the Gulf of Thailand. Cambodia hopes the 100-meter (328 feet)-wide, 5.4-meter (17.7 feet)-deep canal will lower the cost of shipping goods to the country's sole deep-sea port, Sihanoukville, and reduce reliance on Vietnamese ports.

The project highlights the outsized role that China plays in Cambodian politics and economy. Meanwhile, concerns remain about the potential environmental impacts of the canal, especially on the flow of the Mekong River, which feeds millions of people across six countries through its fish and the agriculture that it sustains.


The project has Vietnam worried, both about the effect on its Mekong Delta rice-growing and about Cambodia moving out of its orbit, said Nguyen Khac Giang, an analyst at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

“There is a concern that most of the Cambodian exports might be diverted from the current route, crossing the Vietnamese border to Vietnamese ports and moving away from that to Cambodian ports,” he said.

But Hanoi has expressed its concerns quietly, if at all, Giang said. Given the "complex historical legacy" between Cambodia and Vietnam — despite strong bilateral ties, the two nations have a contentious relationship — Vietnam is reticent to openly criticize Cambodia lest it be seen as impinging on its neighbor's sovereignty, he said.

Analysts say that the infrastructure project is in part an effort by Cambodia’s ruling elite to invigorate support for Hun Manet, who last year took over the wheel of government from his father, Hun Sen, who led Cambodia for 38 years.

The government declared Monday — also Hun Sen’s birthday — a holiday so Cambodians could participate in the “celebration in a joyful, crowded and proud manner.” Thousands of people wearing t-shirts with photographs of the father and son began gathering at the canal site, that was covered in Cambodian flags. Billboards promoting the economic benefits of the canal dominated the countryside.

The canal will promote “national prestige, the territorial integrity and the development of Cambodia,” Manet said, adding that the country had built bigger and more expensive infrastructure projects before. But this “historic” canal was different and had nationwide support, he said.

“We will build this canal, no matter the cost,” he said.

He emphasized that while the canal would be jointly built by Chinese and Cambodian companies, the latter would have a 51% majority share and thus maintain control. Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol confirmed that the Chinese state-owned construction giant China Road and Bridge Corporation had landed the contract to build the canal.

The U.S.-based nonprofit Stimson Center has warned that the canal would cause “significant transboundary impacts to water availability and agricultural production in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.” The region is where 90% of rice exported from Vietnam is grown.

The Cambodian government has dismissed these concerns.

Earlier in April, Vietnam had asked Cambodia to share information about the canal. “We have asked Cambodia to collaborate closely with Vietnam and the Mekong River Commission in sharing information and assessing the project’s impacts on water resources and ecosystem in the Mekong Delta region."

Cambodia is a key Chinese diplomatic partner, helping dampen criticism of Beijing within the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, several of whose members, including Vietnam, are engaged in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.

China's outsized presence can be seen in the numerous Chinese-funded projects, hotels and casinos dotting the Cambodian landscape. China’s state banks have financed airports, roads and other infrastructure built with Chinese loans. Nearly 40% of Cambodia’s over $11 billion in foreign debt is owed to China.

In June 2022, China and Cambodia broke ground on a naval port expansion project that has raised concerns from the U.S. and others that it could give Beijing a strategically important military outpost on the Gulf of Thailand. Hun Sen in 2019 reportedly granted China the right to set up a military base at the Ream Naval Base. He has long denied that, saying Cambodia’s Constitution prohibits foreign military facilities.

Cambodia PM launches project linking Mekong river to sea via canal

AFP
Sun, August 4, 2024 a


People attend the ground breaking ceremony of the Funan Techo Canal in Kandal province in Cambodia (TANG CHHIN Sothy)

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet on Monday launched a controversial $1.7 billion canal project that aims to provide a new link from the Mekong River to the sea.

Manet called the 180-kilometre (110-mile) project "historic" and vowed to "finish it at all costs".

"We must build this canal at all costs," Manet said at the project's launch ceremony before fireworks shot into the air and drums sounded after he pressed the launch button for the project.

The Funan Techo canal will run from the Mekong river, about an hour's drive southeast of Phnom Penh, to the sea in the Gulf of Thailand.

The government says the canal will offer an alternative to transit via Vietnam and will reduce dependence on Vietnamese ports, generating economic activity worth 21-30 percent more than its cost.

It would create tens of thousands of jobs in the country, which is among the poorest in Southeast Asia, though it has not provided detailed evidence for those forecasts.

suy/srg/fox

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, front left, accompanied by his wife Pich Chanmony, presses the button during a groundbreaking ceremony of China-funded Funan Techo canal that will connect the country’s capital Phnom Penh with Kep province on the country's south coast, Prek Takeo village, Kendal province, Cambodia, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
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AUSTRALIA

What is makarrata and has Albanese broken an election promise?

Lorena Allam Indigenous affairs editor

THE GUARDIAN AUS
Sun, 4 August 2024 


Anthony Albanese at the Garma festival. He has told ABC TV’s Insiders that consulting Indigenous organisations to address disadvantage fit the definition of makarrata, and that a truth and justice commission is ‘not what we have proposed’.

Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

There was a lot of talk on the weekend about the concept of makarrata and what it means to the future relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Australia.

It came into sharp focus at the annual Garma festival in north-east Arnhem Land, the first to be held since the failed referendum 10 months ago on enshrining an Indigenous voice to parliament in the constitution, where questions were asked about what the government plans to do to address that unfinished business.
What is makarrata?

Yolngu people in north-east Arnhem Land have used the concept of makarrata to maintain social and political harmony for centuries. It can take many forms but is essentially a process to settle disputes.


Related: Albanese endorses ‘principle’ of makarrata but stops short of backing truth and justice commission

The late, revered Gumatj leader Yunupingu eloquently described it this way in The Australian newspaper in 2017:

“First, the disputing parties must be brought together. Then, each party, led by their elders, must speak carefully and calmly about the dispute. They must put the facts on the table and air their grievances. If a person speaks wildly, or out of turn, he or she is sent away and shall not be included any further in the process. Those who come for vengeance, or for other purposes, will also be sent away, for they can only disrupt the process.

“The leaders must always seek a full understanding of the dispute: what lies behind it; who is responsible; what each party wants, and all things that are normal to peacemaking efforts.

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“When that understanding is arrived at, then a settlement can be agreed upon. This settlement is also a symbolic reckoning – an action that says to the world that from now on and forever the dispute is settled; that the dispute no longer exists, it is finished.

“And from the honesty of the process and the submission of both parties to finding the truth, then the dispute is ended,” Yunupingu wrote.
How is makarrata described in the Uluru statement from the heart?

The Uluru statement called for a voice to parliament enshrined in the constitution followed by a makarrata commission to oversee “a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history”.

Presented to the Australian people, the Uluru statement was born from a series of national dialogues involving thousands of Aboriginal people, culminating in a constitutional convention at Uluru in 2017.

Related: ‘We have to make a new path,’ Albanese vows, returning to Garma festival after voice defeat

From election night in 2022, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, repeatedly said his government was committed to the Uluru statement “in full”.

The makarrata commission was dependent on the outcome of the referendum to enshrine the voice in the constitution, which failed in October last year.

Since then, the future of the rest of the Uluru statement has been unclear.
What did the prime minister say about makarrata at Garma on the weekend?

Speaking on ABC TV’s Insiders program in a pre-recorded interview, Albanese suggested that consulting Indigenous organisations to address disadvantage and boost economic development fits the definition of makarrata.

“Obviously, there has been a struggle for First Nations people. That’s why we talk about closing the gap, or what is really a chasm in some areas,” Albanese said. “And coming together is a principle of walking together – that engagement. It’s not a moment in time. It’s a process of coming together after struggle.”

Albanese said engagement was happening with existing bodies, like the Coalition of Peaks and land councils.

“It means engaging with First Nations people right around the country. There are different needs depending upon whether people are in urban communities, like my electorate. The needs of people in Marrickville, that has a sizeable First Nations population, is very different from here of the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu people,” he said.

When asked if his government intends to embark on a truth and justice commission, Albanese said: “That’s not what we have proposed. What we’ve proposed is makarrata just being the idea of coming together.”

“That might take forms as it evolves” but he wouldn’t “pre-empt” it, he said.

“What it means is listening to and respecting First Nations people and then responding.”
What’s been the reaction to Albanese’s comments?

The prime minister’s interpretation of makarrata appears to differ from the one Indigenous leaders have promoted.

Dean Parkin, “yes” campaign director for the referendum, said Albanese’s “election night commitment was to the full implementation of the Uluru statement from the heart and [it] is very, very clear on that point. The first element of the commitment has been carried through, the prime minister has been true to his word on that, and we would say that the remainder of the Uluru statement from the heart is outstanding, and it does involve a commission.”

Related: ‘Completely outrageous’: Indigenous leaders condemn worsening Closing the Gap data

The co-chair of the Uluru dialogues, Pat Anderson, said the prime minister appeared to be abandoning that version of makarrata in favour of “a vague vibe or a series of casual conversations”.

“The prime minister’s comments are confusing,” Anderson said in a statement on Sunday night. “Is he rolling back on the Labor election commitment to the makarrata commission? We understand that a constitutional voice didn’t get up but the Australian people didn’t vote on truth or treaty.”

She suggested Albanese was reducing the idea of makarrata to something less than what was intended.

“The makarrata called for in the Uluru statement was a bricks-and-mortar body and a clear election promise,” she said.
What happens now?

By Monday, the new Indigenous Australians minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, was attempting to settle the “confusion” and hose down speculation that the government was breaking an election commitment.

“I would caution everyone to just calm down, that this has been a significant weekend at Garma. We are not moving away from our commitment to the Uluru statement from the heart in terms of our love and our support for all of those who gathered there in 2017. What I would say to all Australians is that First Nations people need time,” McCarthy told the ABC.

“This was clearly a soul-shattering event, as was said to us in Garma on the weekend. People are still recovering from that. I know in my new role as the minister for Indigenous Australians, I now have to make sure I canvas right across the country where other First Nations people are at.

“The interpretation of what the prime minister said has been taken completely further than what it was meant to,” she told the ABC.

Later, she reiterated: “I’m not sure how many times I can say that the principles of the Uluru statement from the heart are very much supported by our government.”

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said that if he won office, there would be no makarrata, or truth-telling.

Dutton said spending $450m on the voice referendum was “an outrage”.

The prime minister’s speech at Garma was mostly about how Indigenous communities could benefit economically from involvement in renewable energy, critical minerals and rare earths.

“New clean energy projects, new defence and security projects, new processing and refining facilities can all unlock new jobs and prosperity for Indigenous communities,” Albanese said.

Perhaps the most revealing comment on the government’s Indigenous affairs agenda came from the former Labor treasurer for Western Australia Ben Wyatt, who later told The Australian “with innovation in social policy likely to be contentious in light of the referendum result, economic participation should be a non-contentious area of policy space and will, therefore, become a much more significant leg of the Aboriginal empowerment platform”.

Country diary: The night air is thick with bats

Nic Wilson
Sun, 4 August 2024 

THE GUARDIAN


A Daubenton’s bat flies over water while hunting insects.

Photograph: Paul Colley/Getty/iStockphoto


In the pitch-black night, Norway maples blaze orange on the far side of a blood-red lake. White bolts skim the ruddy surface of the water and flicker like St Elmo’s fire round our heads. It’s past 11pm, and we’re observing the scene on Hertfordshire and Middlesex Bat Group’s thermal-imaging cameras. My handheld monitor transforms the darkness into a multicoloured heatscape where common pipistrelles dart after midges and mosquitos, and Daubenton’s bats fly low over the lake – level-headed hovercrafts to the pips’ Hawk T1 jets.

Our bat detectors fill the silent night with a hard rock soundtrack that could have been composed by a morse code enthusiast. Daubenton’s bats rap out a rhythmic bassline with short bursts of staccato clicking. Above them, every pipistrelle has its own ultrasonic riff. With eight or more feeding simultaneously, they’ve adjusted the frequency of their echolocation calls (one proposed theory suggests this is to avoid confusion between individuals), and our detectors emit a syncopated chorus of slaps, crackles and pops.

We’ve heard five species tonight (my favourite is the quietest of all, the brown long-eared or “whispering” bat), but altogether nine of the UK’s 17 breeding bat species have been recorded here in Fairlands Valley Park, including rare species for the county such as barbastelle, Nathusius’ pipistrelle and serotine. One of the main reasons for such batty abundance is that once night falls, the 120-acre park becomes a dark sanctuary in this otherwise-illuminated town. Our aim this evening has been to set up transect surveys to provide data on how bats use the site, after the local council received a petition requesting “eco-friendly, wildlife-conscious lighting” along the park’s main pathways for safety reasons.


Studies show that artificial lighting can cause problems for bats, particularly light-averse species such as Daubenton’s, brown long-eared and barbastelle. Illuminating areas near a roost site can postpone, or even prevent, bats from emerging and, with nocturnal insect activity peaking at and just after dusk, a delay in feeding times can seriously affect bat health. This unlit park might confound our senses, but it enables lucifugous wildlife to feed, socialise and breed. Without the benefit of thermal sight and ultrasonic hearing, it’s easy to underestimate the importance of dark skies in a bat’s world.

• Country diary is on Twitter at @gdncountrydiary

Is the dream of nuclear fusion dead? Why the international experimental reactor is in ‘big trouble’

 SCI-FI-TEK STILL DED AFTER 70 YEARS

Robin McKie, Science Editor

THE GUARDIAN
Sat, 3 August 2024 


The Iter tokamak was supposed to be producing energy by 2020.

Photograph: US Iter


It was a project that promised the sun. Researchers would use the world’s most advanced technology to design a machine that could generate atomic fusion, the process that drives the stars – and so create a source of cheap, non-polluting power.

That was initially the aim of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) which 35 countries – including European states, China, Russia and the US – agreed to build at Saint-Paul-lez-Durance in southern France at a starting cost of $6bn. Work began in 2010, with a commitment that there would be energy-producing reactions by 2020.

Then reality set in. Cost overruns, Covid, corrosion of key parts, last-minute redesigns and confrontations with nuclear safety officials triggered delays that mean Iter is not going to be ready for another decade, it has just been announced. Worse, energy-producing fusion reactions will not be generated until 2039, while Iter’s budget – which has already soared to $20bn – will increase by a further $5bn.

Other estimates suggest the final price tag could rise well above this figure and make Iter “the most delayed and most cost-inflated ­science project in history”, the journal Scientific American has warned. For its part, the journal Science has stated simply that Iter is now in “big trouble”, while Nature has noted that the project has been “plagued by a string of hold-ups, cost overruns and management issues”.

Dozens of private companies now threaten to create fusion reactors on a shorter timescale, warn scientists. These include Tokamak Energy in Oxford and Commonwealth Fusion Systems in the US.

“The trouble is that Iter has been going on for such a long time, and suffered so many delays, that the rest of the world has moved on,” said fusion expert Robbie Scott of the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. “A host of new technologies have emerged since Iter was planned. That has left the project with real problems.”

A question mark now hangs over one of the world’s most ambitious technological projects in its global bid to harness the process that drives the stars. It involves the nuclei of two light atoms being forced to combine to form a single heavier nucleus, while releasing massive amounts of energy. This is nuclear fusion, and it only occurs at colossally high temperatures.

To create such heat, a doughnut-shaped reactor, called a tokamak, will use magnetic fields to contain a plasma of hydrogen nuclei that will then be bombarded by particle beams and microwaves. When temperatures reach millions of degrees Celsius, the mix of two hydrogen isotopes – deuterium and tritium – will fuse to form helium, neutrons and a great deal of excess energy.

Containing plasma at such high temperatures is exceptionally difficult. “It was originally planned to line the tokamak reactor with protective beryllium but that turned out to be very tricky. It is toxic and eventually it was decided to replace it with tungsten,” said David Armstrong, professor of materials science and engineering at Oxford University. “That was a major design change taken very late in the day.”

Then huge sections of tokamak made in Korea were found not to fit together properly, while threats that there could be leaks of radioactive materials led the French nuclear regulators to call a halt on the plant’s construction. More delays in construction were announced as problems piled up.

Then came Covid. “The pandemic shut down factories supplying components, reduced the associated workforce, and triggered impacts – such as backlogs in shipping and challenges in conducting quality-control inspections,” admitted Iter’s director-general, Pietro Barabaschi.

So Iter has again put back its completion – until the next decade. At the same time, researchers using other approaches to fusion have made breakthroughs. In 2022, the US National Ignition Facility in California said it had used lasers to superheat deuterium and tritium and fused them to create helium and excess energy – a goal of Iter.

Other fusion projects claim they too could soon make breakthroughs. “In the last 10 years, there has been a huge growth in private fusion companies promising to do things differently – faster and cheaper – than Iter. Although, to be fair, some are very likely over-promising,” said Brian Appelbe, a physics research fellow at Imperial College London.

It remains to be seen if Iter will survive these crises and its backers will continue to fund it – although most scientists contacted by the Observer argued that it still has promising work to do.

An example is the research into ways to generate tritium, the rare hydrogen isotope that is essential to fusion reactors. This can be made at a fusion reactor site by using the neutrons it generates to bombard lithium samples, a process that makes helium – and tritium. “That is a worthwhile experiment in its own right,” said Appelbe.

For its part, Iter denies that it is “in big trouble” and rejects the idea that it is a record-breaking science project for cost overruns and delays. Just look at the International Space Station or for that matter the UK’s HS2 rail link, said a spokesman.

Others point out that fusion power’s limited carbon emissions would boost the battle against climate change. “However, fusion will arrive too late to help us cut carbon emissions in the short term,” said Aneeqa Khan, a research fellow in nuclear fusion at the University of Manchester. “Only if fusion power plants produce significant amounts of electricity later in the century will they help keep our carbon emissions down – and that will become crucial in the fight against climate change.”