TV News LIES

International law professor William Schabas has expressed his concern over the independence of the next prosecutor of the International Criminal Court following the controversial removal of Karim Khan by member states after an 18-month long misconduct probe. 

The Assembly of States Parties (ASP), the ICC’s governing body, voted on 24 July to dismiss Khan after deciding that "the elected official... committed serious misconduct and a serious breach of duty" by engaging in "prohibited conduct against a subordinate staff member".

The opinion was contrary to the conclusion reached by the judicial process established by the bureau - the executive body of the ASP - to make a legal determination on a United Nations fact-finding investigation that outlined the evidence from the complainant, Khan and more than 30 witnesses.

In March, the panel of three judges appointed by the bureau concluded unanimously that the facts presented in the UN probe did not establish any wrongdoing under the relevant legal framework.

The July removal vote was based on the recommendation of the 21-member ASP bureau a month earlier that effectively disregarded the judges' panel opinion, finding instead that Khan committed “serious misconduct” by engaging in a sexual relationship with a subordinate. Khan has denied any wrongdoing.

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Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) struck  102 Russian targets over two days, including six vessels from Moscow’s “shadow fleet” and 10 energy facilities across Russian-occupied territories, according to USF Commander Robert “Magyar” Brovdi.

The Aug. 6-7 strikes reached targets deep behind Russian lines, hitting military positions, logistics networks, air defenses and infrastructure supporting Moscow’s occupation forces.

Among the vessels struck in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov were two tankers and four dry cargo ships, Brovdi reported.

The campaign also hit eight Russian troop deployment sites, two fuel, lubricant and ammunition depots, two radar systems, a Buk surface-to-air missile system, locomotives, fuel tankers, mobile fire groups, three repeaters used to control Shahed/Geran attack drones and five communications towers.

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Tennessee primary voters picked a pair of Memphis-area lawmakers to square off in a dramatically reconfigured US House seat central to Donald Trump’s plan to try to hold on to a slim Republican majority in the midterm congressional elections.

Republicans chose state senator Brent Taylor, who was endorsed by Trump, to be their nominee in the revamped 9th congressional district. Democrats picked state representative Justin Pearson, who gained national prominence three years ago when he was expelled from the Tennessee House for protesting in support of gun control measures.

The previously compact Memphis-based district had a majority Black population, but it was cracked apart by Republican officials this year following a US supreme court ruling that weakened federal Voting Rights Act protection for minorities. Republicans hope the redistricting, which is part of a broader national plan pushed by Trump, could give them a clean sweep of all nine of Tennessee’s seats

The new ninth district stretches about 200 miles (320km) east from Memphis across rural areas before reaching north toward Nashville. It previously favored Democrats but now tilts Republican, with 71% of voters new to the district, according to an Associated Press estimate. Some Memphis voters have raised concerns that their representation has been diminished.

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Senate Democrats introduced a new bill on Thursday to roll back Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s news media restrictions at the Pentagon, stating that those are suppressing independent reporting at the department.

The legislation, called the Protecting Pentagon Press Access Act, was introduced by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) that would restore journalists’ access within the Pentagon that was available before the new measures imposed by Hegseth, including the “Correspondents’ Corridor,” a decades-old workspace inside the building that national security reporters utilized.

The bill, which will have a hard time getting traction in the GOP-controlled Senate, would also restore unescorted access to reporters to areas of the department that were accessible without an escort before the late 2025 Trump administration restriction went into effect.

“At a time of war, transparency and independent, accurate reporting matter more than ever,” Schatz said in a statement. “Our bill will reverse the Pentagon’s effort to shut out the free press and make sure the public gets the information it deserves.”

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Stephanie Grisham, the White House communications director during President Trump’s first term, filed a restraining order against Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) on Monday, amid allegations that Miller abused his ex-wife.

Grisham’s counsel, Mark S. Zaid, announced on social platform X that they filed for a temporary restraining order against Miller as part of an ongoing lawsuit.

The case began with an op-ed Grisham wrote in 2021 in the Washington Post that described an abusive relationship with an unnamed man. Miller filed a defamation suit against her shortly after the article was published, but the case was eventually dropped as both parties signed a nondisclosure agreement to not publicly disparage one another.

Grisham filed her new lawsuit after Miller said in a June interview with Spectrum News that any allegations should be taken seriously and it “should be noted” that an allegation against him “came out on the same day as somebody’s book launch and the other part.”

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Gas prices are up almost a dollar a gallon since the day Donald Trump took office; mortgage rates just hit their highest level in nearly a year, and over the weekend a prominent economist said the Iran war is costing the average US household more than $1,200.

Americans are struggling through a deepening affordability crisis caused largely by Trump’s ill-fated war against Iran. They are in need of a boost, something to lift the spirits. Perhaps the president could give a speech, letting the people know that we are all in this together.

Or, he could give a speech announcing that the White House has just ordered 250 brand new Cadillac Escalades, giant SUVs which have a suggested retail price of more than $90,000 each and cost significantly more to customize for secure uses.

“We ordered 250 Escalades. That’s how we look sharp in those cavalcades, you know,” Trump said during a rambling, hour-long address at a General Motors facility in Michigan.

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One of the nation’s largest broadcasters is accusing the Trump administration of retaliation, alleging the Federal Communications Commission is unfairly policing ABC and ABC-owned stations by conducting an unprecedented early review of its broadcast licenses because the president personally dislikes its programming.

“The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price,” lawyers for the network said in a Wednesday filing.

Disney-owned ABC has found itself a target of the administration’s attacks on the press as President Donald Trump tests his power to weaponize government agencies in an effort to intimidate and deter the media from covering him in a negative light.

During his second term, the president has repeatedly demanded the network have its licenses revoked and called for the firing of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over political remarks he made. The FCC announced the early review of ABC’s broadcast licenses earlier this year, along with a number of other investigations into the network.

Most recently, the president demanded ABC — and any other network that refused to air his July 16 primetime speech — have its licenses revoked.

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The fallout from the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023, Israel's military campaigns across the Middle East and the contentious issue of conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jewish men have reshaped the country's political landscape, eroding support for Netanyahu and his governing coalition.

At the centre of that shift is Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief who has emerged as the prime minister's strongest challenger.

With Israelis due to vote on 27 October, opinion polls consistently suggest that Netanyahu's Likud party and its allies are struggling to secure the 61-seat parliamentary majority needed to form a government.

Eisenkot now leads a broad opposition bloc spanning right-wing, centrist, left-wing Jewish and Palestinian parties, with recent polling suggesting he has the strongest chance yet of ending Netanyahu's long grip on power.

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