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Trudeau, a champion of political correctness, faces controversy over his own actions

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing controversy over whether his public image as a champion of political correctness matches his private actions, in the wake of a string of resignations, including two high-profile women ministers in Trudeau’s Cabinet, among them Canada’s first indigenous justice minister.

The former justice minister and attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, said Trudeau and senior members of his government pressured her in a case involving a major Canadian engineering company accused of corruption related to its business dealings in Libya. Trudeau reportedly leaned on the attorney general to instruct prosecutors to reach the equivalent of a plea deal, which would avoid a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, because he felt that jobs were at stake.

“I was not aware of that erosion of trust, and as prime minister and head of cabinet, I should have been,” Trudeau, who stopped short of an apology, said of the resignations during a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday. “Ultimately, I believe our government will be stronger for having wrestled with these issues.”

A federal election in Canada is scheduled for later this year.

Trudeau had promised transparency while describing himself as a feminist determined to right the wrongs against Canada’s indigenous people. Women make up half of his cabinet.

“He depicted himself as a feminist, as someone who believes in indigenous reconciliation, and then you have two of his top female Cabinet ministers resign, and they are depicting him in a very different light,” Daniel Beland, a politics professor at McGill University in Montreal, said.

Eddie Goldenberg, a former adviser to former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, said: “There is a political correctness here. Nobody wants to go after an indigenous woman minister. It’s become politically incorrect to question the former minister.”

JUSTIN TRUDEAU’S GOVERNMENT HIT WITH ANOTHER CABINET MINISTER RESIGNATION AS CORRUPTION ROW INTENSIFIES

Trudeau has said he asked Wilson-Raybould to revisit her decision not to instruct prosecutors and said she agreed to consider that. He denied applying any inappropriate pressure, saying he and his officials only were pointing out that prosecution could endanger thousands of jobs.

SNC-Lavalin has pleaded not guilty to fraud and corruption charges related to allegations it paid about $35 million in bribes to public officials in Libya between 2001 and 2011.

“It’s a pseudo-scandal... What the hell? You are doing business in Libya and you are not bribing?” said Robert Bothwell, a professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto. “It does suggest to me that the director of public prosecutions... is also nuts. And so is Wilson-Raybould. These people are delusional.”

Wilson-Raybould was demoted from her role as attorney general and justice minister in January as part of a Cabinet shuffle by Trudeau. She has testified that she believed she lost the justice job because she did not give in to “sustained” pressure to instruct the director of public prosecutions to negotiate a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin.

That solution would have avoided a potential criminal conviction that would bar the company from receiving any federal government business for a decade. The company is a major employer in Quebec, Trudeau’s home province. It has about 9,000 employees in Canada and more than 50,000 worldwide.

The company publicly led the lobbying charge for a law that allows for deferred prosecution agreements as a way to resolve the criminal charges it faces. The new attorney general has not ruled out approving a settlement.

Wilson-Raybould has said herself that the pressure from Trudeau and others was not illegal and that she was not explicitly instructed to do a remediation agreement.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU DODGES CALLS TO RESIGN AMID FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ALLEGATIONS IN BRIBERY SCANDAL

Some Liberal lawmakers have expressed confidence in Trudeau.

Trudeau said he tried to foster an environment where his lawmakers can come to him with concerns, but one of his party colleagues, Celina Caesar-Chavannes, took issue with that, tweeting, “I did come to you recently. Twice. Remember your reactions?”

“When you add women, please do not expect the status quo. Expect us to make correct decisions, stand for what is right and exit when values are compromised,” she also tweeted.

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Caesar-Chavannes, who is not running for re-election, has issued messages of support for Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, a respected Cabinet minister who said she lost confidence in how the government has handled the affair.

“It is a fundamental doctrine of the rule of law that our Attorney General should not be subjected to political pressure or interference regarding the exercise of her prosecutorial discretion in criminal cases,” Philpott wrote in the resignation letter to Trudeau.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Korean Air says chairman Cho Yang-ho dies

FILE PHOTO: Korean Air Lines Chairman Cho Yang-ho arrives at a prosecutor's office in Seoul
FILE PHOTO: Korean Air Lines Chairman Cho Yang-ho arrives at a prosecutor's office in Seoul, South Korea, June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo

April 8, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho has died, the South Korean airline said on Monday.

Cho passed away in the United States early on Monday from a chronic ailment, the company said in a statement.

(Reporting by Joori Roh and Ju-min Park; editing by Richard Pullin)

Source: OANN

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Mueller struggled to find crime that didn’t exist, says legal analyst Colwin

Fox News legal analyst Mercedes Colwin said Thursday that after looking at Robert Mueller’s redacted investigative report,  it looked like the special counsel struggled to find a crime that wasn't there.

“What Mueller struggled with there wasn't an evidence of an underlying crime. Usually, when you have obstruction of justice, the reason someone tampering with the investigation is because they are guilty of a crime. Here, you don't have that,” Colwin said on “Shepard Smith Reporting.

MUELLER REPORT SHOWS PROBE DID NOT FIND COLLUSION EVIDENCE, REVEALS TRUMP EFFORTS TO SIDELINE KEY PLAYERS

“Which is one of the things that Mueller even talks about at the very beginning of the executive summary. Usually, that's not how it plays out. Usually we have a crime that is trying to be covered up but we don't have a crime.”

After two years, Mueller’s report was released Thursday showing investigators did not find evidence of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia but revealed an array of controversial actions by the president that were examined as part of the investigation’s obstruction inquiry.

According to the report, Trump allegedly told his White House counsel in June 2017 to inform the acting attorney general that Mueller had conflicts of interest and "must be removed.”

Trump also fumed over the original appointment -- lamenting it would mean the "end of my presidency" -- first telling then-DOJ leader Jeff Sessions he should resign, and later trying to get Sessions to take back control of the probe.

Colwin said that Thursday’s release is the beginning of the next chapter of the Russia collusion investigation, noting that the Southern District of New York was known to be more aggressive.

RUDY GIULIANI ON THE RELEASE OF THE MUELLER REPORT: 'THIS PRESIDENT HAS BEEN TREATED TOTALLY UNFAIRLY'

The attorney also pointed to what she said was the benefit of the doubt Trump was given in the investigation.

“As defense attorney, I hope that some of my clients that are facing these type of charges get the benefit of the doubt that the president was given. Because frankly, when you see the list of actions that Mueller identified in his executive summary ... all of these overtures to staff members, you almost read it and it was like, 'OK, they're going to conclude there had been something that had been wrong,’” Colwin said.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Sanders team denies pushing Biden accuser story, as Biden backer says former VP is ‘ready to kill Bernie’

Members of Joe Biden's inner circle are becoming increasingly convinced the Bernie Sanders' campaign is behind at least one of the explosive accusations of physical misconduct recently leveled against the former vice president -- and, in the words of one prominent backer, Biden is now "ready to kill Bernie."

In an article on Friday, former Nevada lieutenant governor candidate Lucy Flores accused Biden of inappropriate sexual conduct during a 2014 campaign event, saying Biden "plant[ed] a big slow kiss on the back of my head."

Flores endorsed Sanders in a 2016 Facebook post, served on the board of the Sanders-aligned Our Revolution group, and campaigned publicly on his behalf. She has also appeared at a rally for Democratic presidential contender Beto O'Rourke.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY SECOND BIDEN ACCUSER SHOW VP AT FUNDRAISER WHERE ALLEGED CONTACT OCCURED

Biden has strongly denied acting inappropriately around women. And in a dramatic, tension-raising moment, a top Democratic source openly told The Daily Beast on Tuesday that Biden's team thinks the story, which was followed by another similar account from a Connecticut woman, was "coming out of Bernie world.”

In this Sept. 9, 2012, file photo, Vice President Joe Biden talks to customers, including a woman who pulled up her chair in front of the bench Biden was sitting on, during a stop at Cruisers Diner in Seaman, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

In this Sept. 9, 2012, file photo, Vice President Joe Biden talks to customers, including a woman who pulled up her chair in front of the bench Biden was sitting on, during a stop at Cruisers Diner in Seaman, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

But Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir strongly denied any suggestion that the senator’s team or its allies were behind the Flores story, and directed Fox News to an earlier statement on the matter.

“Neither the Bernie Sanders campaign, nor anyone involved in it, planted, planned, persuaded, cajoled or otherwise urged Lucy Flores or anyone else to tell their story. Full stop, period, end of sentence. I don’t want to hear it. We didn’t play a role,” Shakir said.

“But this is why my blood boils,” he added. “We have heard through innuendo and rumors that somehow this campaign was involved in Lucy Flores telling her story, and it is deeply disrespectful and shameful that any time a woman comes forward to tell her story there has to be some kind of intimation or suggestion that that person is doing so out of some political agenda and or that the person may be lying."

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Shakir continued: "We went through the Donald Trump campaign in which a number of women came forward to tell their stories and they were dismissed and criticized and ripped by the president of the United States on the highest stage of the land. We saw it with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, that she must be a Dianne Feinstein plant. It is dismissive and disrespectful that whenever a woman comes forward the first suggestion is that there has to be a political agenda driving them.”

In his own fiery statement on Monday, a Biden spokesman pushed back on the accusations made against the vice president, saying many photos of Biden have been misinterpreted -- even according to some of the women who appear in them -- while others were blatant "smears and forgeries."

But the spokesman, Bill Russo, specifically criticizied "right-wing trolls," and left no hint he was referring to Sanders.

In response, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled that Biden's issues weren't disqualifing -- even as she offered some unsolicited advice for how he can avoid ending up in any other "inappropriate" situations.

"Just pretend you have a cold," Pelosi said during a Politico event on Tuesday morning. "I’m a member of the straight-arm club. … I just pretend that you have a cold and I have a cold. Join the straight-arm club with me."

The episode wasn't the first time Sanders' team has publicly quarreled with other Democrats. Earlier this year, a top Sanders adviser called Hillary Clinton's team members among the "biggest a--holes in American politics" and said neither Clinton nor her staff were "nice people."

Fox News' Peter Doocy contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Apple launches new AirPods ahead of March 25 event

Apple AirPods are displayed during a media event in San Francisco
FILE PHOTO: Apple AirPods are displayed during a media event in San Francisco, California, U.S. September 7, 2016. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach/File Photo

March 20, 2019

(Reuters) – Apple Inc on Wednesday launched an updated version of its wireless “AirPods” headphones, ahead of a March 25 event where it is expected to unveil a television and video service.

Earlier this week, Apple also launched a new 10.5-inch iPad Air and updated its iPad Mini as well as iMac PCs.

Apple said its new AirPods will be available on its website and the Apple Store app starting Wednesday, and in Apple Stores from next week.

The new AirPods with a standard charging case are priced at $159, while those with wireless charging case are available for $199, the iPhone maker said in a statement.

(Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

Source: OANN

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California’s early primary poised to pull 2020 Democrats further left

A Democratic presidential primary field that already embraces the Green New Deal and has floated ideas like reparations and guaranteed jobs could drift even further left thanks to a quirk in this year’s primary calendar.

Unlike past elections, California will hold its primary early in the season – on March 3, 2020. That means the West Coast state, and its famously liberal voters, will hold extra influence this cycle. And while the 2020 candidates still have to connect with supporters in earliest-voting Iowa and New Hampshire – with their more moderate-leaning electorates – California’s combination of an early primary and massive delegate count could motivate the field to run decisively in the progressive lane from the start.

DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO DEBATE IN FORUM FOCUSED ON LGBTQ ISSUES

“The Democratic electorate is much more progressive than almost any state,” said Roger Salazar, spokesman for the California Democratic Party. “All of that is going to help bring up some of the core issues Californians care about.”

He listed the environment, health care, immigration and economic injustice as top issues among California Democrats – incidentally, issues that many 2020 candidates are already talking about. Climate change, in particular, has been a rallying cry for candidates, with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee making it the centerpiece of his campaign. Salazar said he’s already seen an ad from Inslee – the earliest primary ad he’s ever witnessed in the state.

“I think Californians are ready for 2020,” he said. “It’s already begun.”

In another sign of California’s emerging influence this cycle, putative front-runner Sen. Bernie Sanders plans to visit the state this week.

Back in 2016, California’s primary was June 7, making it a virtual afterthought for the primary field.

Not only is California’s primary now slated for Super Tuesday in March, but early voting is set to start around the time of the Iowa caucuses. With that in mind, Sanders’ visit this week is likely the start of a political gold rush of sorts, as the 2020 candidates look west for electoral gold.

California currently is worth nearly 500 delegates in the primary. By comparison, Iowa yields roughly 50 delegates, while New Hampshire has close to 30.

Sanders already has put in some face time in California, campaigning for candidates there during the 2018 midterms, and also in 2016 during a last-ditch attempt to defeat Hillary Clinton in the presidential primary. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has not made his official 2020 plans public, also spent much of the midterms campaigning and fundraising with candidates out west. Other candidates, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have made stops to the Golden State already this cycle.

Another top candidate, Kamala Harris, has a built-in advantage on the California battleground as the state is her home turf. Now a U.S. senator, Harris used to serve as California attorney general – and kicked off her campaign in Oakland, highlighting those roots.

BERNIE SANDERS AND BETO RESONATING STRONGLY WITH DEMS, WARREN NOT SO MUCH: RESEARCHER

How much California voters are able to refocus the field’s agenda remains to be seen. But some strategists argue that what those voters want to see most is someone capable of beating President Trump.

“California voters want to see a candidate who can beat Donald Trump,” said Nathan Ballard, a Democratic strategist in the state and longtime friend and adviser to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. “California will not be home for an ideological purity test.”

Brian Brokaw, a Democratic strategist who worked on Harris’ Senate race, agreed, saying while California Democrats are more liberal on certain issues, they are determined to beat Trump above all else.

“This is California,” said Brokaw. “The heart of the resistance to President Trump and the administration.”

Still, he said issues like immigration will probably be discussed more given the state’s demographics.

“We have a very different view of immigration than the Trump administration likes to put out,” said Brokaw. Issues like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – which made headlines during much of Trump’s first year in office – remain prominent in California. “Without a doubt, candidates will need to weigh in on their views with DACA.”

California will also shake up the race in another way: by forcing candidates to spend big, and early.

Not only is the media market among the most expensive in the country, but the size of the state presents challenges for candidates limited on time and resources.

Here, too, Harris enjoys an advantage, with built-in name identification and a donor network already in place. She’s the only one in the field who has competed statewide.

“The fact that California is an early state is something going to be very advantageous to her,” said Brokaw, who remains unaffiliated but said he’ll likely support Harris. “The Bay Area always plays an important role in the statewide primary ... [and] that’s her backyard. The stars are aligning quite well.”

Fox News reached out to several of the declared candidates’ campaigns to ask about competing in California. Few returned requests for comment. A spokesperson for Andrew Yang – one of the lesser-known candidates – told Fox News that their team is excited to run in such a large state early in the process and added the campaign has over 10,000 donors in California.

Harris and Sanders’ campaigns did not return requests for comment.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Polish Church says 382 minors abused by clergy from 1990-2018

Bishop Mizinski, Archbishops Jedraszewski Gadecki, Polak, priests Zak and Sadlon attend a news conference in Warsaw
Bishop Artur Mizinski, secretary general of the Episcopal Conference of Poland, Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski deputy head of the Episcopal Conference of Poland, Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, head of the Episcopal Conference of Poland, Archbishop Wojciech Polak, primate of Poland, priests Adam Zak and Wojciech Sadlon attend a news conference in Warsaw, Poland, March 14, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Adam Stepien via REUTERS

March 14, 2019

By Marcin Goclowski

WARSAW (Reuters) – As many as 382 children were sexually abused by clergy in Poland between 1990 and 2018, according to findings presented on Thursday by the Polish Catholic Church in one of the most devout countries in Europe.

The report follows investigations into widespread abuse of minors by clergy in other countries – notably in Chile, the United States, Australia and Ireland – that have shaken the Roman Catholic Church to its foundations.

“This is an especially painful, tragic issue as it is connected with consecrated people, who devoted themselves to serving the church, other human beings. They have social trust and this social trust was so tragically violated,” Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski said at a news conference.

Polish bishops last year asked victims of past clerical abuse for forgiveness and began collecting data to “identify the causes of these deeds and assess their scale”.

The report said as many as 198 of the victims were below the age of 15.

Last month the Polish charity “Have no fear”, which supports abuse victims, delivered its own report to Pope Francis in which it calculated – purely on the basis of media reports collated since the mid-1950s – that at least 384 minors had been sexually abused by clergy in Poland.

Activists say the real figure is probably much greater.

The charity has called for the creation of a panel to investigate the real scale of the problem, securing access to Church documents regarding the abuse of minors, and dismissing bishops found responsible for covering up sexual crimes.

In Poland, Catholic priests enjoy high social prestige and victims of sexual abuse by clergy are often suspected by devout Poles of making up false accusations, even long after the offender in question has been jailed.

Poland remains one of Europe’s most devout countries. Nearly 85 percent of Poland’s 38 million-strong population identify as Roman Catholics and around 12 million attend mass every Sunday.

But Polish Church authorities have yet to reach a consensus on how to address the issue of sexual abuse.

An arm of the Church has filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court seeking to annul a 1 million zloty ($263,000) payment ordered by a lower court to a woman who, as a 13-year old child, was repeatedly raped by her local priest.

The case was a landmark ruling in granting compensation and an annuity to a victim of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest in Poland.

(Reporting by Marcin Goclowski; Editing by Gareth Jones and Toby Chopra)

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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