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Eric Holder goes on MAGA attack: 'Exactly when did you think America was great?'

It turns out New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo isn’t the only prominent Democrat who questions whether America was ever that great.

In pointed terms during an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday, Obama-era attorney general Eric Holder posed the question to MAGA-chanting Trump supporters: "Exactly when did you think America was great?"

HOLDER ANNOUNCES HE WON'T RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2020

The comments echoed those of Cuomo, who took heavy criticism for remarking last year that America “was never that great.” Together, both off-the-cuff comments amount to stunning statements from public figures who until recently were considered potential presidential candidates. In both cases, the Democrats took shots at America's past as part of an effort to criticize President Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

After speaking during Wednesday's MSNBC interview with Holder on topics like criminal justice reform and partisan redistricting – which the ex-AG says is now his focus instead of running for the White House in 2020 – host Ari Melber had asked him: “There is a lot of talk about America being a leader as a democracy, quote unquote, in the 1800s when women and African-Americans couldn’t vote. What kind of democracy is that?”

Holder, unprovoked, then used his answer to tear into Trump's campaign rally cry.

I hear these things about 'let’s make America great again' and I think to myself, exactly ‘when did you think America was great’?

— Former Attorney General Eric Holder on MSNBC's "The Beat with Ari Melber"

"That's exactly right. And that's what I hear these things about 'let’s make America great again' and I think to myself, ‘exactly when did you think America was great’?” he said on the show.

“It certainly wasn’t when people were enslaved. It certainly wasn’t when women didn’t have the right to vote. It certainly wasn’t when the LGBT community was denied the rights to which it was entitled."

Melber then asked Holder if he believes Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan had discriminatory undertones.

“Does that phrase echo as discrimination in your ears?” the MSNBC host asked.

TRUMP ASKS HOW CUOMO CAN SURVIVE AFTER SAYING AMERICA 'WAS NEVER THAT GREAT'

“It takes us back to what I think, an American past that never in fact really existed. This notion of greatness,” Holder replied.

“You know, America has done superb things. It has done great things. And it has been a leader in you know, a whole range of things. But we are always a work in process and … looking back, ‘Make America Great Again’ is inconsistent with who we are as Americans at our best where we look at the uncertain future, embrace it and make it our own.”

Holder’s comments Wednesday echo remarks made by Cuomo last year in which he drew gasps and chuckles from an audience by declaring that America “was never that great.”

“We’re not going to make America great again. It was never that great,” Cuomo said during a bill signing event in New York last August. “We have not reached greatness, we will reach greatness when every American is fully engaged, we will reach greatness when discrimination and stereotyping against women, 51 percent of our population, is gone and every woman’s full potential is realized and unleashed and every woman is making her full contribution,” he continued.

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Cuomo’s office later was in damage control mode and said the governor “believes America is great and that her full greatness will be fully realized when every man, woman and child has full equality.”

“America has not yet reached its maximum potential,” it added.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Police in Spain clash with those protesting far-right party

Police in Spain's northern city of Bilbao have clashed with hundreds of protesters outside a rally by a far-right party that is running in Spain's general election this month.

The private news agency Europa Press says two people were arrested Saturday by the regional Basque Country police.

Protesters threw bricks and other objects at police, who used batons and shields to clear the street outside a congress center where Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right, anti-migrant Vox party, was holding a rally.

Vox is trying to win its first seats in the national parliament in Spain's April 28 election.

Vox is promising to crack down on unauthorized immigration and to recentralize the state, taking away powers from regions like the Basque Country.

Source: Fox News World

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Colorado woman awarded $3.6M in excessive force lawsuit

A jury has awarded $3.6 million to a Colorado woman who claimed that deputies used excessive force when they arrested her and later shocked her with a stun gun while she was restrained.

The Denver Post reports the jury awarded the money to Carolyn O'Neal on Wednesday, finding that Fremont County sheriff's deputies violated her right to privacy, used excessive force and retaliated against her.

The sheriff's office did not immediately return the newspaper's call for comment Wednesday.

O'Neal sued the sheriff's office following the May 2014 arrest at the Canon City sober living facility.

Prosecutors later charged O'Neal with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. A judge dismissed the charges, finding that deputies did not have reason to arrest her.

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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com

Source: Fox News National

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The Latest: Authorities say wounded Texas deputy recovering

The Latest on the shooting of a West Texas sheriff's deputy (all times local):

2:30 p.m.

Authorities say a West Texas sheriff's deputy is recovering after being shot during an early morning traffic stop.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office on Friday identified the wounded deputy as Peter Herrera.

Herrera underwent surgery after he was shot early Friday as he approached a vehicle in San Elizario, southeast of El Paso.

The deputy did not return fire, and the people in the vehicle fled on foot. Two suspects were arrested a few blocks away, and authorities say deputies found the gun likely used in the shooting.

The suspects have not been identified, and officials haven't named the charges pending against them.

Fellow deputies were attending a blood drive that was being held to benefit Herrera.

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12:30 p.m.

Officials in Texas say a sheriff's deputy is in critical condition after being shot during a pre-dawn traffic stop.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office says the shooting happened around 1:50 a.m. Friday after the deputy stopped a vehicle in San Elizario, southeast of El Paso.

The sheriff's office says someone in the vehicle started shooting as the deputy approached the driver. The deputy did not return fire, and occupants of the vehicle fled on foot.

The sheriff's office says two people were arrested a few blocks from where the shooting happened and that deputies found a gun likely used in the shooting.

Officials say the wounded deputy underwent surgery and is in critical but stable condition.

Names of the deputy and those arrested were not immediately released.

Source: Fox News National

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Japan’s Netflix contender bets on youth-driven viral hits

AbemaTV's staffs prepare for filming at its studio in Tokyo
AbemaTV's staffs prepare for filming at its studio in Tokyo, Japan, February 22, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-hoon

March 14, 2019

By Sam Nussey

TOKYO (Reuters) – On a Friday night at a downtown Tokyo television studio, 12 teen models with cutesy nicknames like Ayamin and Kyokyo are waiting nervously to find out who has won coveted spots on the cover of Popteen magazine, a Japanese fashion bible.

The girls, sporting a range of trendy styles, are the stars of “Popteen Cover Girl War,” a hit show from internet upstart AbemaTV that may signal a new direction for Japanese television.

Eschewing the pricy serials and star-studded films that have helped companies like Netflix upend the traditional TV business in the U.S., AbemaTV is betting on low-budget, reality-based fare with colorful graphics, relatable young faces and a relentless focus on generating social media buzz.

The approach has pulled in millions of young viewers, convincing some advertisers and industry analysts that AbemaTV has found a lucrative new model.

“It’s a generation used to rapidly processing information,” Tatsuhiko Taniguchi, head of AbemaTV, said of his young viewers. Dramas are put together “as if we are stuffing in twice the amount of screenplay,” he added.

Japan’s traditional broadcasters, boxed in by government regulations and concerned about upsetting their regional stations, have mostly left the internet field clear for upstarts like AbemaTV and foreign players like Netflix and Amazon.com.

Yet AbemaTV remains an unproven bet for its biggest backer, online ad agency CyberAgent, which launched the network three years ago with TV Asahi. CyberAgent spent 20 billion yen ($179.73 million) on the venture in the fiscal year that ended in September, much of that on programming, against revenues of just 6 billion yen.

CyberAgent’s stock price is down 40 percent from last July’s all time high at a time when its advertising and gaming units are also under pressure.

And the overseas players continue to make inroads: In addition to subtitling their large back catalogues, they are offering a growing library of local-language content such as Netflix’s “Terrace House.”

But CyberAgent founder and CEO Susumu Fujita, who at age 26 became the youngest CEO ever to take a company public in Japan, remains confident.

“We are not rushing to reach profitability,” said Fujita, 45, who estimates that revenue will double this year on the same amount of spending.

AbemaTV has around 8 million viewers each week. Goldman Sachs analyst Masaru Sugiyama sees the venture turning profitable next year and hitting 164 billion yen in revenue in 2024.

With big consumer brands looking for online advertising opportunities, “there’s a huge need for professional content on the internet, but there is a scarcity of that, especially in Japan,” Sugiyama said.

HIT MACHINE

AbemaTV viewers can watch about 25 ad-supported channels showing everything from 24-hour news to anime to Korean dramas to fishing via an app or in a browser.

Along with an ad-supported catch-up service for recently aired shows, for more hardcore fans there is also a 960-yen-per-month service providing access to every show AbemaTV has aired.

Japanese TV shows use lots of explanatory on-screen text, designed to capture viewers zapping between channels, along with wide shots of terraced rows of entertainers.

By contrast, AbemaTV’s smartphone-focused approach features a cleaner look with frequent close-ups.

AbemaTV hits include a variety show featuring former members of Japan’s once-biggest boy band, SMAP, and a dating show in which the female contestants and viewers try to identify which of the male contestants is a “wolf” lying to gain their affections.

During the run of “Popteen,” its stars inspired fierce loyalties among fans on social media as they completed tasks like been photographed while being splattered with goo, with their final ranking partly determined by viewer votes.

“In the end those who revealed their weak side got cheered on more than the girls who were perfectly cute,” said Airi Tsukioka, a producer on the show. Social media reaction informed the direction the show took, she said.

DIGITAL INTERFERENCE

AbemaTV traces its roots to Fujita’s participation from 2013 in discussions on the future of TV Asahi’s programming. One central question was how to meet the threat from foreign players like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Fujita’s answer was AbemaTV.

TV Asahi holds a 37 percent stake, helping reduce the burden on CyberAgent. AbemaTV gained another vote of confidence in October when it won the backing of two of Cyberagent’s rivals, Dentsu and Hakuhodo DY Holdings, which have taken 5 percent and 3 percent stakes respectively.

The investment brings on board two players who between them control a big chunk of Japan’s ad market and could help drive big brands to the platform.

Dentsu figures released last month showed that in 2018 internet spending grew 17 percent compared to a year earlier. TV spending shrank by almost 2 percent.

“We want to support the growth of new media,” said Arinobu Soga, Dentsu’s chief financial officer.

($1 = 111.2800 yen)

(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Gerry Doyle)

Source: OANN

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Pacific typhoon expected to lash Guam with gusty wind, rain

A growing typhoon in the Pacific is heading toward the Mariana Islands and could lash Guam with strong winds, rain and surf this weekend.

The U.S. National Weather Service in Guam reports Typhoon Wutip was packing 100 mph (161 kph) winds and will continue to intensify through Saturday. The storm was about 480 miles (772 kilometers) southeast of Guam Friday.

Typhoon warnings remain in place for parts of the Federated States of Micronesia, and tropical storm warnings are in effect for Guam and other nearby islands. The typhoon is expected to track just south of Guam Saturday into Sunday.

"When it's near Guam, (wind) will be up to 115 mph (185 kph), but we won't see that on the island," said meteorologist Michael Ziobro of the National Weather Service in Guam.

Wutip has typhoon-force winds extending about 35 miles (56 kilometers) from its center and tropical storm-force winds up to 150 miles (241 kilometers) away.

Antoninette Arriola, a 48-year-old school aide, was doing laundry as part of her storm preparations. "After the storm is over, a lot of people are going to be here washing, so we wanted to do it before then."

She said she started her typhoon preparations earlier in the day. "We took off the tarp from outside our house that covers where we park, and we also bought some canned goods like Vienna sausage, Spam, corned beef, batteries, crackers, bread. We recently bought a small freezer so that we can put our ice and frozen meats in there."

Tyrone Quinata, 23, purchased coffee as his first storm preparation. He added batteries for his flashlights and radio. "I think we'll be fine," he said.

Chris Barcinas, 29, a heavy equipment operator, was filling his pickup truck with gasoline. He said he wasn't worried about the typhoon.

"I'm prepared. Guam's strong. We know what typhoons are," Barcinas said. "If it does come, I hope everyone stays safe and they have a good time during the typhoon," Barcinas added.

The peak season for typhoons in the region is late summer into fall, but strong storms in the winter are not uncommon.

"The Western Pacific is the only basin on the planet that has tropical cyclones year-round," said meteorologist Tom Birchard of the National Weather Service in Honolulu. "It's somewhat unusual, but it's not outside the realm of expectation."

Something that was unusual about Wutip, Birchard said, was where it formed.

"It formed at a very low latitude," Birchard said. "When you go to school and they teach you tropical meteorology, they tell you have to be more than 5 degrees from the equator for a tropical cyclone to form. Well this one formed at about 3.5 degrees north."

A westerly wind burst near the equator spun up Wutip shortly after the same winds formed tropical cyclone Oma in the southern hemisphere, Birchard said.

Westerly wind bursts in the area are often associated with El Nino weather patterns and can help create twin storms — one on either side of the equator, he said.

Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that El Nino conditions had formed in January along the equatorial Pacific and were expected to continue into the spring in the northern hemisphere.

Sea surface temperatures near the equator where the storms formed are slightly above average, but ocean temperatures around and ahead of Wutip, where the storm will gain strength over the next two days, are not warmer than normal, Birchard said.

"With climate change, there could be areas where ocean temperatures are warmer than normal, and that could lead to increased storm formation," Birchard said. But "I've seen research on either side of that argument," noting that some studies argue that there could be fewer tropical cyclones in warmer climates because of increased vertical sheer, which can disrupt the rotation of tropical cyclones.

"If I'm looking for the primary formation mechanism in this case, it would be less of the sea surface temperature anomaly and more of the westerly wind bursts along the equator," he said.

___

Associated Press correspondent Caleb Jones reported from Honolulu.

Source: Fox News World

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NBA notebook: Grizzlies fire coach, demote GM

NBA: Houston Rockets at Memphis Grizzlies
FILE PHOTO: Mar 20, 2019; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies head coach J.B. Bickerstaff during the game against the Houston Rockets at FedExForum. Memphis won 126-125. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

April 12, 2019

Speaking to local media around midday Thursday, Memphis Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace said he hadn’t talked with team owner Robert Pera yet, but he could make one declaration: Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff would return for a second season. Two hours later, that decision had changed, and several other moves were made.

The Grizzlies fired Bickerstaff and demoted Wallace to a scouting role.

Memphis also named Jason Wexler as team president with “oversight of both business and basketball operations,” the team said in a statement. The Grizzlies promoted Zach Kleiman to executive vice president of basketball operations, with former VP John Hollinger reassigned to a senior advisory position.

“In order to put our team on the path to sustainable success, it was necessary to change our approach to basketball operations,” Pera said in a statement. “I look forward to a reenergized front office and fresh approach to Memphis Grizzlies basketball under new leadership, while retaining the identity and values that have distinguished our team.”

–Sacramento Kings coach Dave Joerger was fired after three seasons, the team announced.

“After evaluating the season, I determined that we need to move in a different direction in order to take us to the next level,” general manager Vlade Divac said.

Joerger led the Kings to a 39-43 record this season, good for ninth place in the NBA’s Western Conference. It was their best record since 2005-06 — the last time they qualified for the playoffs. The Kings started this season at 30-26 and were in the playoff hunt until a 9-17 finish left them nine games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the final postseason spot in the West.

–Larry Drew will not return for a second season as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers after he and the team mutually agreed to part ways.

“Larry and I had a productive discussion about this past season, the future of the franchise and the search process that we will shortly launch regarding the head coaching role,” general manager Koby Altman said in a statement. “Larry respectfully declined to participate in the search process and will not be returning to coach the Cavaliers.”

The Cavs finished 19-63 in 2018-19 as Drew took over after the firing of Tyronn Lue on Oct. 28 following the team’s 0-6 start. Drew was named interim head coach at first before agreeing to a new deal on Nov. 5.

–Cardiologists have cleared Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen to resume full basketball activities, the team announced.

Markkanen, 21, experienced extreme fatigue and an accelerated heart rate during a game in Toronto on March 26. A battery of tests conducted at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore determined that dehydration and nutrient deficiency caused his symptoms.

The 7-footer missed the rest of the regular season, finishing his second campaign with averages of 18.7 points and 9.0 rebounds in 52 games.

–The Phoenix Suns officially named James Jones as general manager, giving him control over all basketball operations for the team.

The Suns also added Jeff Bower as senior vice president of basketball operations and retained Trevor Bukstein as assistant general manager. Both will report to Jones, the team announced in a statement.

Jones, 38, who played 14 seasons in the league and won three NBA championships, had served as Phoenix’s VP of basketball operations the past two seasons. He shared GM duties this past season with Bukstein.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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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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