Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Maga First News with Peter Boykin

8:00 am 9:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Trump’s deputy press secretary: Designating Iran’s government as foreign terrorist organization is an effort to improve the country

President Trump's principal deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley believes the White House's decision to designate Iran's Revolutionary guard as "foreign terrorist organization" is part of a plan to put pressure on the country to "change its behavior."

While speaking to "America's Newsroom" on Monday morning, Gidley defended the president's decision and said it illustrates Trump's ability to do what other administrations have threatened but not acted on.

"This is the first time the United States has recognized another government as a foreign terrorist organization," Gidley said. "A lot of other administrations have threatened it, but this President, again, came to the table and did it. It's an important move for the administration and for safety and security around the globe."

He went on to argue that there was no specific "tipping point" that catalyzed the decision, but that Iran's reputation as a "state sponsor of terrorism" has long been known.

The move is a part of an ongoing "maximum pressure campaign," Gidley said, that is intended to motivate Iran to "do something different than what they have been, which is wreaking havoc across the globe and sponsoring those who do."

NIELSEN OUT AT HOMELAND SECURITY AS TRUMP FOCUSES ON BORDER

President Donald Trump announced the decision to label the IRGC as a "foreign terrorist organization" on Monday, which holds the potential to have a ripple effect on military, diplomatic and ecomonic relations throughout Iran and the Middle East at large

President Donald Trump announced the decision to label the IRGC as a "foreign terrorist organization" on Monday, which holds the potential to have a ripple effect on military, diplomatic and ecomonic relations throughout Iran and the Middle East at large (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

DESPITE CRUMBLED CALIPHATE, HUNT FOR BAGHDADI CONTINUES IN SYRIA

President Trump announced the decision on Monday, which holds the potential to have a ripple effect on military, diplomatic and economic relations throughout Iran and the Middle East at large.

"This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a state sponsor of terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft," President Donald Trump said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Iran has yet to respond, but it's possible that they could retaliate, or impose travel bans prohibiting executives and companies from dealings with the United States.

Fox News' Matthew Lee and the Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Michigan man receives congratulatory telegram 50 years later

A man who graduated from the University of Michigan in 1969 has finally received a congratulatory telegram from family friends that was sent more than 50 years ago.

The Ann Arbor News reports that Robert Fink received the Western Union telegram this year.

The telegram originally arrived in 1969 at an Ann Arbor apartment Fink shared with three classmates a day after he'd left to attend graduate school in New York.

It ended up in an old filing cabinet now owned by a digital marketing company based in Ann Arbor. Christina Zaske found the telegram in December after removing the bottom drawer to retrieve a piece of paper that had fallen inside.

Zaske used the internet to find Fink in southeast Michigan and return the note to him.

Fink says the letter has made him reflect on his old connections.

___

Information from: The Ann Arbor News, http://www.mlive.com/ann-arbor

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Daimler to seek 6 billion euros in cost savings at Mercedes: Manager Magazin

The Daimler logo is seen before the Daimler annual shareholder meeting in Berlin,
FILE PHOTO: The Daimler logo is seen before the Daimler annual shareholder meeting in Berlin, Germany, April 5, 2018. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

April 18, 2019

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Daimler is seeking 6 billion euros ($6.75 billion) in cost savings and efficiency gains by 2021 at Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and a further 2 billion euros at Daimler Trucks division, Manager Magazin said on Thursday.

Daimler declined to comment on the cost savings figure and on the Manager Magazin report.

The cost savings are being sought by Daimler’s Ola Kaellenius, who will become Chief Executive in May, Manager Magazin said, without citing sources.

In February Daimler said it would pursue cost savings measures after fourth-quarter operating profit plunged by 22 percent, hit by trade wars, rising costs for developing electric cars and an industry downturn.

Around 30,000 Mercedes-Benz cars with faulty vehicle electronics were produced at its plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, requiring expensive reworking and delays, Manager Magazin said.

The delayed production at Tuscaloosa has led to a revenue shortfall of around 2 billion euros, and could depress first quarter earnings by up to half a billion euros, Manager Magazin said.

Daimler is due to release first quarter earnings on April 26.

Daimler also plans to become a carbon neutral company by 2040, ensuring that all new cars, production methods, and suppliers will work in a way which do not produce carbon dioxide emissions, Manager Magazin said.

Separately, Kaellenius will not renew common projects with French carmaker Renault and Nissan, letting an alliance between the carmakers lapse, the magazine said.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Michelle Martin)

Source: OANN

0 0

Japan father, son win release before US trial in Ponzi case

A father and son from Japan can be freed from federal custody to live with relatives in a rented Las Vegas apartment pending trial on fraud charges in what prosecutors call a $1.5 billion international Ponzi scheme, a judge decided Wednesday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Cam Ferenbach acknowledged a federal prosecutor's argument that former MRI International Inc. executives Junzo Suzuki and his son, Paul Suzuki, had the money to flee the country before trial and could be motivated to avoid trial and the possibility of spending the rest of their lives in prison.

Ferenbach also was told U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could deport the two men if they're freed.

But the judge said that wouldn't make sense after the 70-year-old father and 40-year-old son were extradited from Japan to the U.S. They arrived in custody in Las Vegas last week and pleaded not guilty to charges against them.

Prosecutor Danny Nguyen told Ferenbach the Suzukis reaped a combined $22.5 million in four years of a scheme that led a jury to find company chief Edwin Fujinaga guilty in November of 20 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

In court documents, U.S. attorneys compare Fujinaga to the biggest-ever U.S. Ponzi schemers: Bernard Madoff in New York, Allen Stanford in Houston, Scott Rothstein in Miami and Thomas Petters in Minnesota. Prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence the 72-year-old Fujinaga to 50 years in prison. He's due for sentencing May 23.

Prosecutors said that from about 2009 to early 2013, more than $1 billion from more than 10,000 Japanese investors was wired to bank accounts in Las Vegas under Fujinaga's control. Investors were told they were buying claims from a medical collection business.

Fujinaga was found guilty of using new investors' money to pay off previous investors while he lived a lavish lifestyle in Las Vegas, California and Hawaii.

Nguyen said the Suzukis could face a theoretical sentence of up to 300 years in prison if they're convicted of all charges.

Defense attorney Junji Suzuki, representing Junzo and Paul Suzuki, told Ferenbach they were in Japan and "didn't have an idea what Fujinaga was doing here in the United States."

Paul Suzuki also spent several years living and working in Hawaii, his lawyer said.

Junji Suzuki is not related to his clients. He said they have few financial assets remaining after settling a civil lawsuit related to the MRI International scheme.

"We are sincerely trying to make a resolution before this case reaches trial," the attorney said.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Exclusive: Uber plans to sell around $10 billion worth of stock in IPO – sources

FILE PHOTO: The Uber Hub is seen in Redondo Beach
FILE PHOTO: The Uber Hub is seen in Redondo Beach, California, U.S., March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

April 10, 2019

(Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc has decided it will seek to sell around $10 billion worth of stock in its initial public offering (IPO), and will make public the registration of this offering on Thursday, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Most of the shares sold would be issued by the company, while a smaller portion would be owned by investors cashing out, one of the sources said.

Uber plans to make its IPO registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission publicly available later this week, and will kick of its investor roadshow during the week of April 29, putting it on track to price its IPO and begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange in early May, the sources said.

The company is seeking a valuation of between $90 billion and $100 billion, influenced by the stock performance of smaller rival Lyft Inc following its IPO last month, the sources said. Investment bankers had previously told Uber it could be worth as much as $120 billion.

The sources cautioned that the plans are still subject to change and market conditions, and asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.

A representative for Uber declined to comment.

(Reporting by Joshua Franklin and Carl O’Donnell in New York; Additional reporting by Liana B. Baker in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Source: OANN

0 0

U.S. housing outlook stuck in a lull as economy dulls: Reuters poll

Homes are seen for sale in the northwest area of Portland
FILE PHOTO: Homes are seen for sale in the northwest area of Portland, Oregon, in this file photo taken March 20, 2014. REUTERS/Steve Dipaola/Files

February 26, 2019

By Hari Kishan

BENGALURU (Reuters) – U.S. house prices are forecast to rise this year at the slowest pace in more than half a decade, as a dearth of single-family homes and higher mortgage rates restrain activity in an already-expensive market, a Reuters poll of housing analysts found.

The latest Reuters survey of nearly 40 housing analysts and economists polled Feb. 13-25 suggests a turn in Federal Reserve rate guidance – where rates look set to remain on hold indefinitely – has given no boost to the outlook.

That implies the housing market will make no major positive contribution to extending an economic expansion that is already nearly the longest on record since World War Two, and if anything, is more likely to be a drag.

According to the poll, average U.S. property prices in the United States will rise 4 percent this year, slowing to rises of around 3 percent in the following two years. That is broadly unchanged from a poll taken in November 2018.

“We have had 10 years of home prices rising faster than income growth and because of that, it has hit affordability, homes have become unaffordable,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.

“I think we have reached a point where home prices can no longer shoot up high. So, you’re going to see a more moderate pace of growth.”

When analysts were asked what was most likely to reverse this trend and boost demand for housing, a majority, 15 of 25, chose no further Fed rate hikes from a list of options.

The remaining one-third of analysts had a range of views, including increased spending on infrastructure and more tax cuts.

After the Fed dramatically altered its policy outlook late last year, 30-year mortgage rates have declined from a 7-1/2 year high in 2018 and are not expected to average above 5.0 percent over the next three years.

The Fed reiterated the message in minutes from its January meeting, published last week, saying it would be ‘patient’ before hiking interest rates again.

But the abrupt change in outlook on interest rates hasn’t necessarily translated into a better outlook for housing.

“It’s not going to make a huge difference, because even if rates fall back that’s just reflecting that the economy is slowing down,” said Matthew Pointon, property economist at Capital Economics.

AFFORDABILITY PROBLEMS

After slumping by over a third during the last recession some 10 years ago, home values have recovered all of those losses.

In its near decade-long expansion, the U.S. economy, has generated decent demand for housing but lately, home builders haven’t built enough homes, especially affordable single-family ones.

“Overall the builders are building more, but what is needed is moderately priced homes – medium-price and slightly below is where we have housing shortages. So, the lack of inventory is holding back some of the buying possibility at the lower end,” added NAR’s Yun.

Indeed, nearly 85 percent of 26 housing analysts who answered an extra question expected housing turnover this year to either stay the same or fall. Only four said it would rise.

When asked to rate affordability where 1 is the cheapest and 10 the most expensive, the median response was 7, where it has remained since 2018.

Existing home sales, which make up about 90 percent of U.S. home sales, are forecast to average around 5.3 million annualized units for the rest of the year. That is well below the 7 million at the peak of the last housing market boom in 2005.

Recent data suggest the housing market is not likely to strengthen any time soon. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of U.S. home prices in 20 metropolitan areas shows average prices have declined on a monthly basis for eight months in a row.

“The U.S. housing market has been cooling for the better part of a year in response to higher interest rates, and in some cases diminished affordability because of the previous run-up in prices,” said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

“We will get a near-term boost in sales because of the recent decline in mortgage rates, but I think the longer-term trend is towards stability in the U.S. housing market given the slowing economy.”

(Polling by Sujith Pai and Tushar Goenka; Editing by Ross Finley and Andrea Ricci)

Source: OANN

0 0

China auto sales drop at smallest pace in seven months, tax cuts help

Workers walk among the newly arrived imported Toyota cars at the Shenzhen Dachan Bay Terminals in Guangdong
Workers walk among the newly arrived imported Toyota cars at the Shenzhen Dachan Bay Terminals in Guangdong province, China April 10, 2019. Picture taken April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

April 12, 2019

By Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s auto sales fell again in March but the pace of decline was the smallest in seven months, industry data showed, as car makers reduced retail prices to boost business after Beijing handed out tax cuts to spur consumer spending.

Sales fell 5.2 percent from a year ago to 2.52 million vehicles, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said on Friday, marking the ninth straight month of decline in the world’s largest auto market.

But this was the smallest drop since August 2018.

“We saw a warmer recovery in March. We are optimistic and hope to see the turning point appear in around July and August” said Xu Haidong, assistant secretary general at CAAM, the country’s biggest auto industry association.

Recent government cuts to value-added tax (VAT) are expected to further benefit car sales, Xu added. “The VAT cut can drive production and employment, so an effective implementation of the policy can bring warmth to the market.”

China has cut VAT for the manufacturing sector to 13 percent from 16 percent, prompting some car makers such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz to lower prices.

“We expect China’s auto market to see positive growth in the third quarter and a relatively large increase in the fourth,” said Alan Kang, Shanghai-based analyst at LMC Automotive.

In 2018, China’s car market hit reverse for the first time since the 1990s against a backdrop of slowing economic growth and a crippling Sino-U.S. trade war.

However, new energy vehicle (NEV) sales have remained a bright spot, jumping almost 62 percent last year even as the broader auto market contracted.

Last month, NEV sales rose 85.4 percent to 126,000 units, the CAAM said.

China has been a keen supporter of NEV – pure battery electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrids – and has started implementing NEV sales quota requirements for automakers.

After rolling out a generous 5-year NEV subsidy program in 2016 to support sales and encourage innovation, Beijing recently pledged to phase it out by 2020 and raise standards for vehicles eligible for subsidies amid criticism some firms have become too reliant on the funds.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom, Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Maga First News with Peter Boykin

8:00 am 9:00 am



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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist