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Nebraska floods swamp Air Force base, as devastation from 'Bomb Cyclone' seen in satellite photos

The torrent of water from heavy rainfall spawned by last week's "bomb cyclone" and snowmelt has led to devastating flooding across several Midwestern states, including swamping a major Air Force base in Nebraska that's key to the nation’s nuclear attack response.

About one-third of Offutt Air Force Base -- including officers, hangars and nearly 3,000 feet of the base's 11,700-foot runway -- is underwater due to flooding from the Missouri River south of Omaha.

Spokeswoman Tech. Sgt. Rachelle Blake told the Omaha World-Herald that 60 buildings, mostly on the south end of the base, have been damaged, including about 30 that were completely inundated with as much as 8 feet of water.

The runway at Offutt Air Force Base can be seen covered by floodwaters from the Missouri River.

The runway at Offutt Air Force Base can be seen covered by floodwaters from the Missouri River. (55th Wing Commander/Facebook)

Airmen from the 55th Wing had been filling thousands of sandbags in a round-the-clock effort to fortify facilities but were forced to give up after filling 235,000 sandbags and preparing 460 flood barriers.

“It was a lost cause," Blake told the World-Herald. "We gave up."

MIDWEST BRACING FOR MORE 'UNPRECEDENTED' FLOODING THAT HAS SHATTERED RECORD-HIGH RIVER LEVELS

Col. Michael Manion, commander of the 55th Wing, has been providing updates on the flooding on Facebook. As of Tuesday morning, he reported there has been "slow water regression" that's allowed some high points that were underwater to be revealed. Disaster recovery crews are expected to arrive by the end of the week to begin work when floodwaters fully recede.

About 60 buildings, mostly on the south side of Offutt Air Force Base, have been damaged by floodwaters.

About 60 buildings, mostly on the south side of Offutt Air Force Base, have been damaged by floodwaters. (55th Wing Commander/Facebook)

"The wheels are in motion but remember - it will likely take months and months and the SE side of the base will never look the same," he wrote.

Nine aircraft of the 33 reconnaissance jets based at the facility were able to be flown out before the runway was flooded, according to Manion.

One of the planes was a Boeing-made E4-B plane, which is meant to serve as an aerial command center in case of national emergency or destruction of ground bases in an event such as a nuclear attack, Reuters reported.

The base is also the location of the U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees the country’s nuclear arsenal. The Strategic Command headquarters is set on a hill and was not affected by the floods, and neither was its new $1.3 billion building.

Many of the senior leaders from STRATCOM are participating in a worldwide military exercise called Global Lightning, which began Wednesday, according to the World-Herald.

MIDWEST FLOODS DEVASTATE NEBRASKA CITY, LEAVING MANY WITHOUT HOMES

Satellite photos released on Monday by NASA show the extent of the flooding in Nebraska, particularly along the Platte, Missouri and Elkhorn Rivers.

A before and after comparison to show the scope of the flooding in Nebraska.

A before and after comparison to show the scope of the flooding in Nebraska. (NASA)

The effect of the flooding can particularly be seen around Offutt Air Force base.

This photo from March 2018 show the area around Offutt Air Force Base

This photo from March 2018 show the area around Offutt Air Force Base (NASA)

"Several communities west of Omaha (between the Elkhorn and Platte Rivers) either flooded or temporarily became islands as floodwaters encroached from both sides," NASA Earth posted to Facebook.

The flooding in Nebraska can be seen in this satellite photo from March 16.

The flooding in Nebraska can be seen in this satellite photo from March 16. (NASA)

The agency said that a "rare confluence of circumstances" has contributed to the late-winter flood.

"Extreme cold earlier in the winter set the stage by preserving a significant amount of snow; it also created a thick layer of ice on waterways and made the ground less permeable than usual," NASA said. "When an intense storm brought downpours and unusually warm air to the region in March, it rapidly melted much of the snow and ice, producing enormous runoff in a short period."

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At least 3 deaths were blamed on flooding, and two other men have been missing for days.

While river depths were starting to level off in parts of Nebraska on Sunday, the water is so high in many places that serious flooding is expected to remain for several days. And downstream communities in Kansas and Missouri were bracing for likely flooding.

The rising Mississippi River also was creating concern. The Mississippi was already at major flood level along the Iowa-Illinois border, closing roads and highways and swamping thousands of acres of farmland. Moderate Mississippi River flooding was expected at several Missouri cities, including St. Louis.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Turkey’s Erdogan to discuss possible Syria operation with Putin: RIA

Turkish President Erdogan is greeted by his supporters as he leaves a mosque after the Friday prayers in Istanbul
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is greeted by his supporters as he leaves a mosque after the Friday prayers in Istanbul, Turkey April 5, 2019. Cem Oksuz/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

April 8, 2019

Source: OANN

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Trump Budget Proposes Ending Electric Vehicle Tax Credit

 The White House proposed on Monday eliminating a tax credit worth up to $7,500 on the purchase of new electric vehicles, a move it says would save the U.S. government $2.5 billion over a decade.

Major automakers have been lobbying Congress to extend the credit that phases out after companies hit 200,000 vehicles sold. They are hopeful Congress could expand the benefit by including it in a package of extended tax provisions that would otherwise expire that could win approval this year.

Tesla Inc and General Motors Co both hit the 200,000 figure last year, but other major automakers are far from that figure. The credit consumers receive for buying Teslas fell to $3,750 on Jan. 1 and will drop to $1,875 for six months starting July 1.

The credit for GM vehicles will fall to $3,750 on April 1, and then drop to $1,875 in October for six months.

It will completely disappear for Tesla buyers in January 2020 and in April 2020 for GM.

In November, a congressional report said 57,066 taxpayers claimed $375 million in electric vehicle tax credits in 2016. Congress previously estimated the cost of the credit at $7.5 billion between the 2018 and 2022 fiscal years.

The credit enjoys strong support among Democrats in Congress, but Senator John Barrasso, a Republican who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has proposed legislation to end it entirely.

In December, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the administration of President Donald Trump wanted to end subsidies for electric cars and other related items, including renewable energy sources.

"As a matter of our policy, we want to end all of those subsidies," Kudlow said. "And by the way, other subsidies that were imposed during the Obama administration, we are ending, whether it's for renewables and so forth."

Trump last year threatened to eliminate subsidies for GM in retaliation for the company's decision to close five North American plants and cut 15,000 jobs.

The Trump 2020 budget also proposes ending funding for a Energy Department loan program that aided automakers building more fuel-efficient models, including Tesla, Ford Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co. But the program has not funded a new loan since 2011.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is seeking $14.2 million for the deployment and development of self-driving car technologies, including testing and research to address regulatory issues.

Trump's $4.7 trillion budget, which seeks to slash funding for foreign aid and the State Department and increase spending for the military and a border wall, is expected to be rejected by Congress.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Giuliani rips Democrats over Mueller report fallout: ‘These are terrible, terrible people’

President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani ripped into Democrats Saturday over their demands that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation be released next week, accusing them of creating “false impressions” for the American people.

“These are terrible terrible people,” Giuliani said on “Fox & Friends,” before arguing that the report may not be able to be released by an April 2 deadline House Democrats have set.

ON OFFENSE IN RUSSIA PROBE, TRUMP URGED TO CONSIDER NEW SPECIAL COUNSEL, CRIMINAL REFERRALS

“You cannot disclose grand jury material. It is a crime. Now they can say April 2 but [Attorney General] Bill Barr and [Deputy Attorney General] Rod Rosenstein are not going to jail because they have an unrealistic deadline. They may have to go to court and get a court order so they can release it. That’s what they had to do with Watergate.”

Barr submitted a four-page summary to congressional leaders on Sunday reporting Mueller did not find evidence of Trump-Russia collusion, while he did not reach a conclusion on whether President Trump obstructed justice. Trump has touted the conclusions as a “total exoneration.”

Barr has said that the DOJ and the special counsel are identifying and redacting sensitive material, including material that “by law cannot be made public,” and said that they “will be in a position to release the report by mid-April, if not sooner.”

But Democratic chairs of six House committees set a deadline of April 2 to submit the “full report.” They also called on him to start turning over “the underlying evidence and documents that same day.”

“Your four-page summary of the Special Counsel’s review is not sufficient for Congress, as a coequal branch of government, to perform [its] critical work. The release of the full report and the underlying evidence and documents is urgently needed by our committees to perform their duties under the Constitution,” they wrote in a letter to Barr.

BARR TO RELEASE MUELLER REPORT TO CONGRESS BY 'MID-APRIL, IF NOT SOONER;' WILL NOT TRANSMIT TO WHITE HOUSE FOR PRIVILEGE REVIEW

Giuliani accused Democrats seizing on that delay of creating “false impressions for the American people.”

“They’re like dishonorable salesmen or something, they're shysters," he said. "It’s ridiculous to say to the American people: ‘Barr is delaying because he wants to delay.’ He’s delaying because it is very difficult...to put out 400 pages with all of the legal restrictions and not violate something.”

They’re like dishonorable salesmen or something, they're shysters. It’s ridiculous to say to the American people: ‘Barr is delaying because he wants to delay.’ He’s delaying because it is very difficult...to put out 400 pages with all of the legal restrictions and not violate something.

— Rudy Giuliani

Giuliani’s comments come as part of a growing offensive against Democrats from the White House since the Mueller report was completed.

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On Friday Trump said that “no matter what the Radical Left Democrats get, no matter what we give them, it will never be enough.”

“Just watch, they will Harass & Complain & Resist (the theme of their movement). So maybe we should just take our victory and say NO, we’ve got a Country to run!” he tweeted.

Fox News’ Jake Gibson and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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UK Labour leader Corbyn says he could back a second Brexit referendum

Britain's Labour Party leader Corbyn leaves a meeting with EU Chief Brexit Negotiator Barnier in Brussels
FILE PHOTO: Britain's Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn and Labour Party's Shadow Secretary of State for Departing the European Union Keir Starmer leave a meeting with European Union Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier (not pictured) at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

February 22, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said if his party won power he would renegotiate a Brexit deal with the European Union and could hold another referendum, as he comes under pressure to support giving the public another chance to stay in the bloc.

Parliament is deadlocked over Britain’s departure from the European Union after resoundingly rejecting Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan last month, throwing up several outcomes, including leaving without a deal or a second referendum.

Corbyn, when asked if he would hold a referendum on any deal on any deal he negotiated, told Sky News: “We’d consider putting that to the public.”

Asked to clarify if he was considering calling for another referendum, Corbyn said: “That’s the point we’re discussing now in the party.”

This comes after nine Labour lawmakers quit the party this week over its approach to Brexit and anti-Semitism.

Earlier John McDonnell, the second most powerful man in the Labour Party, gave his strongest indication yet that Labour is close to backing a second public vote and said he would campaign for remain if one is held.

McDonnell said Labour is “moving towards” a second referendum on Brexit. He said an amendment calling for a public vote which is being tabled for debate next week by lawmakers “could be a solution”.

The party’s would-be finance minister said that any referendum would have remaining in the European Union as the alternative to the deal.

“If we were going on a People’s Vote based on a deal that has gone through parliament in some form, if that got voted down then you’d have status quo, and that would be remain,” he told the Evening Standard.

“I’d campaign for remain and I’d vote for remain.”

May has ruled out staging a second vote, saying parliament should respect the 2016 referendum when 52 percent of Britons who cast a vote chose to leave the EU. But supporters of a second referendum say it is the only way to break the deadlock in parliament by asking for the people to decide.

(Reporting By Andrew MacAskill, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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Wall Street analysts cut 737 MAX delivery forecast

FILE PHOTO: Boeing logo at their headquarters in Chicago
FILE PHOTO: The Boeing logo is seen at their headquarters in Chicago, in this April 24, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo/File Photo

April 8, 2019

(Reuters) – Boeing Co is now unlikely to deliver more than 500 of its 737 MAX planes to customers this year, and even that will depend on a swift removal of an effective halt in deliveries after June, Wall Street analysts said on Monday.

Deliveries of Boeing’s best-selling aircraft have been frozen by a global grounding of the jet following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight on March 10, which killed all 157 people onboard.

The company’s delivery numbers for March are due to be published on Tuesday and are expected to show customers took less than half of a previous consensus estimate of 46 planes as the groundings prevented flights. An estimate for March last week from another brokerage, Baird, was as low as 19 planes.

Yet Wall Street has been slow to draw conclusions about what that means for how many 737 MAX aircraft Boeing will deliver to customers this year and how many it will have to keep on its own books – even after announcing on Friday it will cut production by 10 planes a month or roughly 20 percent.

Of five well-known brokerages that produce estimates for Boeing’s full-year numbers, Cowen and Jefferies cut their 2019 delivery forecast following Boeing’s decision to lower production.

Cowen now expects full-year deliveries of “around 500”, down from its earlier forecast of 630 737 MAX jets. Jefferies expects Boeing to deliver 497 737 MAX planes, down from 580.

Cowen analysts said in a note that, to deliver even 500 MAX jets this year, Boeing would have to ramp up deliveries to foreign airlines swiftly in the second half.

“It looks like BA won’t deliver its MCAS fix to the FAA until late April and the FAA will have to test the fix before approving it and lifting the grounding,” Cowen and Co analysts said.

“This could delay a resumption of MAX deliveries to U.S. carriers (10% of backlog or ~480 planes) until June … foreign deliveries may not resume until Q3 or possibly Q4,” they added.

The brokerage said while the production rate cut should help resolve the “MAX crisis”, limiting the risk of a massive inventory build-up, it would mean a large 2019 cash hit.

Cowen and Co also reduced its price target on the world’s largest planemaker to $460 from $475 per share.

For a graphic on Boeing shares after second fatal crash, see – https://tmsnrt.rs/2D4i2vp

Analysts have also indicated that Boeing will bear a financial penalty for direct costs such as customers concessions and productivity loss from disruptions associated with the fleet grounding.

Of the 26 analysts covering Boeing, four now have a “hold” rating on the stock, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, while two rate it as “strong sell”.

The grounding on 737’s has so far wiped off nearly $25 billion from Boeing’s market value, making it one of the worst performers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average this year.

Boeing’s decision to cut the production of its 737 aircraft hit the shares of its suppliers on Monday, while its European rival Airbus rose.

For a graphic on Suppliers after second Boeing crash, see – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DeeqXZ

(Reporting by Karina Dsouza and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Source: OANN

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NTSB: Co-pilot in fatal NJ crash shouldn’t have been flying

The crew of a Learjet that crashed into office buildings near a New Jersey airport two years ago committed multiple mistakes during the 25-minute flight from Philadelphia, starting with the pilot’s decision to let the co-pilot fly the aircraft in violation of company policy, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded Tuesday.

Both pilots were killed in the fiery May 15, 2017, crash just south of Teterboro Airport, located about 8 miles (12 kilometers) from New York City that caters to private jets often carrying the rich and famous. No one else was aboard the aircraft.

NTSB investigators painted a picture of a flight beset by incorrect calculations, missed signals and miscommunication between the two pilots and air traffic controllers at Teterboro.

AIRLINES GROUND BOEING JET AFTER PLANE CRASHES IN ETHIOPIA

There was “widespread procedural noncompliance” on the part of the crew, according to NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt, beginning with the pilot’s decision to have the co-pilot take the controls. The co-pilot had had multiple difficulties during training and was designated by Trans-Pacific Jets to perform flight monitoring.

“The pilot had to extensively coach the co-pilot, while performing his own responsibilities,” Sumwalt said. “He did neither well, and both pilots lacked situational awareness.”

The NTSB faulted Trans-Pacific for inadequate safety monitoring of its operations. The Honolulu-based company hasn’t responded to a message left before business hours Tuesday.

The flight’s problems began even before the plane left Philadelphia, investigators concluded. The pilot initially requested to fly at 27,000 feet, an altitude far too high for a roughly 85-mile (136-kilometer) flight, and there was no evidence the two conducted a briefing on the approach procedures at the small Teterboro airport.

“Somebody needed to get together before they even started the engines and talk about this,” NTSB investigator David Lawrence said Tuesday.

A dozen times during the short flight, the co-pilot had trouble controlling the plane’s speed, Sumwalt said, and the crew initially mistook Newark Liberty International Airport’s runways for Teterboro’s as it headed north. After passing Newark, Teterboro’s air traffic controllers instructed the plane to turn east at a point just north of MetLife Stadium in preparation for a northward turn to Teterboro. But the crew, apparently uncertain about the approach procedure, didn’t execute the maneuver or ask for clarification from the tower.

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Now bearing down on the airport, the plane banked sharply to the right. One controller told investigators the turn was so extreme he could see the aircraft’s entire underbelly. The cockpit voice recorder revealed the expletive-filled final moments as the pilot took the controls back 15 seconds before impact.

The plane crashed into office buildings and a parking lot less than a mile from the runway. Employees at a public works building had left the crash site minutes earlier, according to an eyewitness.

Source: Fox News National

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

April 26, 2019

By Rupam Jain and Hameed Farzad

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani encouraged newly-elected lawmakers to participate in the peace process with the Taliban as he opened on Friday the first session of parliament since a controversial election.

Ghani has invited thousands of politicians, religious scholars and rights activists to an assembly known as a loya jirga next week to discuss ways to end the 17-year war.

Several opposition leaders have said they will boycott the four-day assembly in Kabul, saying it was pulled together without their input and is being used by Ghani as he seeks a second term in a September presidential election.

“We have presented the peace plan on a regular basis and we are committed to it,” Ghani said in the first session since parliamentary elections marred by technical problems, militant attacks and accusations of voting fraud last year.

“Based on this plan, there will be no peace deal and negotiation that does not have the green card of the parliament,” he added.

Officials from the United States and the Taliban have held several rounds of talks to end the Afghan war.

U.S. negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, has reported some progress toward an accord on a U.S. troop withdrawal and on how the Taliban would prevent extremists from using Afghanistan to launch attacks as al Qaeda did on Sept. 11, 2001.

The insurgents have so far rejected U.S. demands for a ceasefire and talks on the country’s political future that would include Afghan government officials.

The loya jirga, a centuries-old institution used to build consensus among competing tribes, factions and ethnic groups, is an attempt by Ghani to influence the peace talks and cement his position for a second term, Afghan politicians and Western diplomats say.

Amid growing political divisions in Kabul, opposition politicians have demanded that Ghani step down when his mandate ends next month, and give way to an interim government to oversee peace talks with the Taliban. Ghani has ruled that out.

The country’s top court said last week Ghani can stay in office until the presidential election in September.

(Reporting by Hameed Farzad, Rupam Jain, Editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Thursday defended special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation while slamming former President Barack Obama’s administration for being slow to take action on Russian interference in U.S. elections and ex-FBI Director James Comey for telling Congress the agency was investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“Our nation is safer, elections are more secure, and citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence schemes,” Rosenstein said in a speech to the Armenian Bar Association, marking his first public remarks after the Mueller report was released, reports CBS News.

He also pointed out that the investigation revealed a pattern of computer hacking and the use of social media to undermine elections as “only the tip of the iceberg of a comprehensive Russian strategy to influence elections, promote social discord, and undermine America, just like they do in many other countries,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

The Obama administration also made “critical decisions,” including choosing not to publicize the full story about Russian hackers and social media trolling, “and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America,” said Rosenstein.

He noted that the Mueller probe began after Comey disclosed during a hearing before Congress that President Donald Trump “pressured him to close the investigation and the president denied that the conversation occurred.”

Rosenstein said two years ago, when he was confirmed, he was told by a Republican senator that he would be in charge of the probe and that he’d report the results to the American people.

However, he said he didn’t promise to do that, because it is “not our job to render conclusive factual findings. We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei's factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province
FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei’s factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – Britain must get to the bottom of the leak of confidential discussions during a top-level security meeting about the role of China’s Huawei Technologies in 5G network supply chains, British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday.

News that Britain’s National Security Council, attended by senior ministers and spy chiefs, had agreed on Tuesday to bar Huawei from all core parts of the country’s 5G network and restrict its access to non-core elements was leaked to a national newspaper.

The leak of secret discussions has sparked anger in parliament and amongst Britain’s intelligence community. Britain’s most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill has launched an inquiry and written to ministers who were at the meeting.

“My understanding from London (is) that an investigation has been announced into apparent leaks from the NSC meeting earlier this week,” said Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of a summit on China’s Belt and Road initiative in Beijing.

“To my knowledge there has never been a leak from a National Security Council meeting before and therefore I think it is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened here,” he told Reuters in a pooled interview.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday he could not rule out a criminal investigation. The majority of the ministers at the NSC meeting have said they were not involved, according to media reports.

Hammond said he was unaware of any previous leak from a meeting of the NSC.

“It’s not about the substance of what was apparently leaked. It’s not earth-shattering information. But it is important that we protect the principle that nothing that goes on in national security council meetings must ever be repeated outside the room.”

Allowing Huawei a reduced role in building its 5G network puts Britain at odds with the United States which has told allies not to use its technology at all because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

There have been concerns that the NSC’s conclusion, which sources confirmed to Reuters, could upset other allies in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network – the Five Eyes alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

However, British ministers and intelligence officials have said any final decision on 5G would not put critical national infrastructure at risk. Ciaran Martin, head of the cyber center of Britain’s main eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, played down any threat of a rift in the Five Eyes alliance.

(Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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President Trump on Friday said “no money” was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, after reports that the U.S. received a $2 million hospital bill from Pyongyang for the late American prisoner’s care.

“No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else. This is not the Obama Administration that paid 1.8 Billion Dollars for four hostages, or gave five terroist[sic] hostages plus, who soon went back to battle, for traitor Sgt. Bergdahl!” Trump tweeted Friday.

NORTH KOREA GAVE US $2M HOSPITAL BILL OVER CARE OF AMERICAN OTTO WARMBIER, SOURCES SAY

The Washington Post first reported that North Korean authorities insisted the U.S. envoy sent to retrieve Warmbier, 21, who was a student of the University of Virginia, sign a pledge to pay the bill before allowing Warmbier’s comatose body to return to the United States. Sources confirmed the bill and the amount to Fox News on Thursday.

Sources told the post that the envoy signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions from the president, but a source told Fox News that the U.S. did not ever pay money to North Korea.

The White House declined to comment when asked on the bill, with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying in a statement that: “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration.”

Meanwhile, the president added: “’President[sic] Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.’ Cheif[sic] Hostage Negotiator, USA!”

Warmbier was on tour in North Korea when he allegedly stole a propaganda sign from a hotel. He was arrested in January 2016 and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in March 2016. Warmbier, for unknown reasons, fell into a coma while in custody and was held in that condition for an additional 17 months.

North Korean officials did not tell American officials until June 2017 that Warmbier had been unconscious the entire time. He died less than a week after he returned to the U.S. North Korean officials, though, have repeatedly denied accusations that Warmbier was tortured, instead claiming that he had suffered from botulism and then slipped into a coma after taking a sleeping pill.

AMERICAN PRISONERS HELD IN NORTH KOREA ON THEIR WAY HOME AFTER POMPEO VISIT, TRUMP SAYS

Fred and Cindy Warmbier sued North Korea over their son’s death and in December were awarded $501 million in damages – money that the Hermit Kingdom will probably never pay.

While the Warmbiers blamed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump has said he believes Kim’s claims that he did not know about the student’s treatment.

Trump and Kim have met in two separate summits. The most recent, held in February, ended without an agreement on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told Fox News: “Otto Warmbier was mistreated by North Korea in so many ways, including his wrongful conviction and harsh sentence, and the fact that for 16 months they refused to tell his family or our country about his dire condition they caused.  No, the United States owes them nothing. They owe the Warmbier family everything.”

Last year, the Trump administration was also able to save three American prisoners held by North Korea. Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim, and Kim Hak Song were all detained in North Korea. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brought the three Americans home last May, and said they were all in “good health.”

Fox News’ John Roberts, Rich Edson, Nicholas Kalman, and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon
Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon, South Korea, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

April 26, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – K-pop and drama star Park Yu-chun was arrested on Friday on charges of buying and using illegal drugs, a court said, the latest in a series of scandals to hit the South Korean entertainment business.

Suwon District Court approved the arrest warrant for Park, 32, due to concerns over possible destruction of evidence and flight risk, a court spokesman told Reuters.

Park is suspected of having bought about 1.5 grams of methamphetamine with his former girlfriend earlier this year and using the drug around five times, an official at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said.

Park has denied wrongdoing, saying he had never taken drugs, and he again denied the charges in court, Yonhap news agency said.

Park’s contract with his management agency had been canceled and he would leave the entertainment industry, Park’s management agency, C-JeS Entertainment, said on Wednesday.

Park was a member of boyband TVXQ between 2003 and 2009 before leaving the group with two other members, forming the group JYJ.

A scandal involving sex tapes, prostitutes and secret chat about rape led at least four other K-pop stars to quit the industry earlier this year.

The cases sparked a nationwide drugs bust and investigations into tax evasion and police collusion at night clubs and other nightlife spots.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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