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Sudanese call for renewed protests to pressure military

Sudanese activists are calling for nationwide protests to press the military to hand over power to a civilian authority after the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir earlier this month.

Railway workers and other protesters are gathering in Atbara, the northern transport hub where the uprising began in December, and will travel by train to the capital, Khartoum.

The call by the Sudanese Professionals Association comes amid heightened tensions with the military council that seized power earlier this month. The protesters have called for an immediate move to civilian rule and say they will announce their own transitional council on Thursday.

The SPA has also vowed to maintain a mass sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum, after the military called for the reopening of roads and the removal of barricades.

Source: Fox News World

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Vodafone connects 5G smartphones to its network for first time

FILE PHOTO: The Vodafone logo is seen at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona
FILE PHOTO: The Vodafone logo is seen at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 28, 2018. REUTERS/Sergio Perez/File Photo

February 20, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Mobile phone group Vodafone has conducted a successful trial connecting next-generation 5G smartphones to its network for the first time as it prepares to launch 5G in some European cities later this year, it said on Wednesday.

Vodafone said it had made an ultra-high-resolution 4K video call during trials in Madrid and Barcelona, at speeds 10 times faster than current 4G technology.

Worldwide commercial launch of 5G is expected in 2020, and some countries led by the United States, China and South Korea have already announced or carried out deployments on a small scale.

The technology is likely to be used first for private or industrial networks, with national roll-outs for consumers some way behind.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; editing by Kate Holton)

Source: OANN

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United Airlines Implements Policy Allowing Customers To Identify As ‘Non-Binary’

Jon Brown | Associate Editor

United Airlines announced in a Friday press release that it will be the first U.S. airline to allow customers to identify themselves with a non-binary gender.

“United Airlines today announced it has become the first U.S. airline to offer non-binary gender options throughout all booking channels in addition to providing the option to select the title ‘Mx.’ during booking and in a MileagePlus customer profile,” the release began. “Customers now have the ability to identify themselves as M(male), F(female), U(undisclosed) or X(unspecified), corresponding with what is indicated on their passports or identification.” (RELATED: Catholic Journalist Gets Visit From Police After ‘Misgendering’ A Trans Person)

The company tweeted out the announcement with the slogan “Fly how you identify.”

The statement goes on to explain that United Airlines teamed up with Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and The Trevor Project to compile initiatives by which employees will be trained about “preferred pronouns and the persistence of gender norms, LGBT competency in the workplace and other steps to make United an inclusive space for both customers and employees.” (RELATED: LGBT Group Targets ‘Far-Right’ Brett Kavanaugh As ‘Direct Threat’)

Though United Airlines did not respond to The Daily Caller’s request for specifics of their training initiatives, HRC’s “Diversity Training on Gender Identity and Gender Expression” website explains that “to ensure compliance with employment policies, all employees should at a minimum have clear guidance regarding appropriate workplace behavior and the consequences of failing to comply with anti-discrimination policies that include gender identity.”

United Airlines did not indicate what, if any, disciplinary or legal actions would be taken against any employee who misgendered a passenger.

HRC further stipulates that “supervisory employees should receive diversity training that includes clear examples of discrimination based on gender identity shortly after starting employment and on a regular basis thereafter.” (RELATED: Tucker Interviews Teacher Fired After Refusing To Call Trans Student By Preferred Pronoun)

United Airlines is the first airline to implement the policy after members of the industry trade groups Airlines for America (A4A) and International Air Transport Association “approved a new international standard for non-binary passengers effective June 1,” per CNN.

Source: The Daily Caller

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The Latest: Official: Royal Air Maroc grounds sole Boeing

The Latest on Ethiopian Airlines crash (all times local):

9:05 p.m.

An official at Royal Air Maroc says Morocco has halted the commercial use of its sole operational Boeing 737 Max 8, pending tests and examinations of the airplane after the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday.

The official, who spoke anonymously in line with his department rules, said the plane was scheduled to fly on Monday from Casablanca to London but was replaced.

The official said the plane, in use since December, was undergoing an "inspection and verification" procedure by a Moroccan team and would be operational after tests are done.

The official said Royal Air Maroc received a second Boeing 737 Max 8 airplane a few days ago, part of a deal with Boeing for acquiring a total of four.

A number of airlines have grounded the planes.

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8:10 p.m.

Comair, the operator of British Airways and Kulula flights in South Africa says it has grounded its Boeing 737 Max 8 while it consults with Boeing, other operators and technical experts.

A statement does not say how many planes are affected. It says the decision was made without intervention from regulatory authorities.

Comair joins a number of other airlines in grounding the planes after Sunday's deadly crash in Ethiopia.

Wrenelle Stander, executive director of Comair's airline division, says in the statement that Comair "remains confident in the inherent safety of the aircraft."

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6 p.m.

The United Nations secretary-general says at least 21 U.N. staff members died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday along with an undetermined number of people who had worked closely with the world body.

Antonio Guterres spoke at the opening of the annual meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women, which began with hundreds of delegates standing in silent tribute to the 157 victims.

The U.N. Security Council also began its meeting on Afghanistan with diplomats standing in honor of those who perished.

Guterres said that "a global tragedy has hit close to home and the United Nations is united in grief."

He said the U.N. staff members came from all corners of the globe and that "they all had one thing in common — a spirit to serve the people of the world and to make it a better place for us all."

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5 p.m.

A Greek man who narrowly missed the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed near Addis Ababa on Sunday says he argued with ground staff to try and board after reaching the gate minutes too late.

"I saw the last passengers going through but the gate had already closed. I complained, in the usual way when that kind of thing happens. But they were very kind and placed me on another flight," Antonis Mavropoulos told Greece's private Skai Television, speaking from Nairobi.

Mavropoulos, who runs a recycling company and lives in Athens, was traveling to Kenya to attend an environmental conference.

"I'm slowly coming to terms with what happened and how close it came. On the other hand, I'm also very upset — I'm shattered — for those who were lost," he said in the interview Monday. "To be honest, I didn't get much sleep last night."

Mavropoulos put his survival down to luck.

"I didn't check my suitcase because I knew the gap between connecting flights was tight. If I had checked the bag in, they would have waited for me," he said. "This is a very difficult moment — one that can change your life."

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4:45 p.m.

Ethiopia's state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate cites the United States ambassador as saying a six-member team of U.S. aviation experts are on their way to the site of Sunday's crash.

Ambassador Michael Raynor visited the crash site on Monday. He told the broadcaster that the experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive at the site on Tuesday.

He says that "Boeing and Interpol will also assist the Ethiopian government in the investigation. Interpol will assist in identifying the victims."

The flight data recorder and voice cockpit recorder have been found.

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4:35 p.m.

Ugandan authorities say a senior police officer is among the dead in the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash on Sunday.

Ugandan police say they are mourning Christine Alalo, who served as police commissioner under the banner of the African Union mission in Somalia.

The statement calls her "a highly respected member of the force who loved her job."

Alalo was returning from a trip to Italy. She is the lone Ugandan who died in the crash. All 157 on board were killed.

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4:20 p.m.

A German pastor and an aid worker from Germany are among the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday.

The World Council of Churches says Rev. Norman Tendis was traveling to a U.N. environment summit in Nairobi. The 51-year-old worked in Villach, Austria.

The German development aid organization GIZ confirms that a staffer was on the plane. Spokeswoman Tanja Stumpff tells The Associated Press that the woman was on a business trip.

Germany's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that at least five German citizens died in the crash.

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4:05 p.m.

Catholic Relief Services announces "with heavy hearts" that four of its Ethiopian colleagues died in Sunday's plane crash outside Addis Ababa.

The aid group in a statement says Sara Chalachew, Getnet Alemayehu, Sintayehu Aymeku, and Mulusew Alemu had been traveling to Nairobi for training.

The four had worked with the organization for as long as a decade. They worked in procurement, logistics and finance.

All 157 people on board were killed. They came from 35 countries.

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3:30 p.m.

There are scenes of agony as members of an association of Ethiopian airline pilots cry uncontrollably for colleagues killed in Sunday's crash near Addis Ababa.

Framed photographs of seven crew members sit in chairs at the front of a crowded room.

One pilot says he had planned to watch a soccer game between Manchester and Arsenal with the flight's main pilot, Yared Getachew.

It was Getachew who issued a distress call shortly after takeoff and was told to return. But all contact was lost.

Another pilot says he flew with Yared several times and said they even lived together before becoming senior pilots.

___

3:15 p.m.

Pope Francis has sent his condolences to the families of the victims of the plane crash in Ethiopia.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, said in a statement Monday that the pope was sad to learn about the crash and "offers prayers for the deceased from various countries and commends their souls to the mercy of Almighty God."

The statement said, "Pope Francis sends heartfelt condolences to their families, and upon all who mourn this tragic loss he invokes the divine blessings of consolation and strength."

___

3 p.m.

Shares of Boeing are tumbling before the opening of U.S. markets following the crash in Ethiopia of a Boeing 737 Max 8, the second deadly crash since October.

All 157 people on board were killed on Sunday. A Lion Air model of the same plane crashed in Indonesia last year, killing 189 people.

Shares of Boeing Co. plunged more than 9 percent in premarket trading Monday. If that trend holds, it could be one of the company's worst trading days in about a decade.

Indonesia and China have grounded all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. Ethiopian Airlines and Cayman Airways are doing the same.

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1:35 p.m.

Ethiopia's state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reports that the black box has been found from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines plane.

An airline official, however, tells The Associated Press that the box is partially damaged and that "we will see what we can retrieve from it."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to speak to the media.

The plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa on Sunday en route to Nairobi.

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1:20 p.m.

China says two United Nations workers were among the eight Chinese nationals killed on the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang says the other Chinese passengers included four who were working for a Chinese company and two who had travelled to Ethiopia for "private matters."

All 157 people on board the flight to Nairobi died.

Lu said Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders have sent condolence messages to their Ethiopian counterparts. China has extended condolences to victims' families.

China has ordered its airlines to ground their Boeing 737 Max 8 aircrafts by 6 p.m.

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12:45 p.m.

The United Nations migration agency said that one of its staffers, German citizen Anne-Katrin Feigl, was on the plane en route to a training course in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya and the plane's destination.

Germany's foreign ministry has officially confirmed that five victims of the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash that killed 157 people were German citizens.

The ministry said in a statement Monday that it was in contact with the families of the victims. It did not reveal any information on the identity of those who died in the crash Sunday.

All in all, 35 countries had someone among the 157 people who were killed. All people on board died minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa.

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12 p.m.

The U.N. office in Nairobi is joining Ethiopia in mourning the 157 dead in Sunday's Ethiopian Airlines crash shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa.

A moment of silence and U.N. flags at half-staff marked the deaths that included several workers with U.N. and affiliated organizations.

The U.N. resident coordinator in Nairobi, Siddharth Chatterjee, says that "This has taken us by shock. ... But it also goes to reinforce the mortality of human life and therefore reinforces the need for humanity."

He says U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent "a poignant message of condolences to everybody, not just the U.N. staff but the crew of the flight and all other nationalities which were on the plane."

People from 35 countries died.

___

10 a.m.

A spokesman says Ethiopian Airlines has grounded all its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft as a safety precaution, following the crash of one of its planes in which 157 people were killed.

Asrat Begashaw said Monday that although it is not yet known what caused the crash on Sunday, the airline decided to ground its remaining four 737 Max 8 planes until further notice as "an extra safety precaution." Ethiopian Airlines was using five new 737 Max 8 planes and was awaiting delivery of 25 more.

Begashaw said searching and digging to uncover body parts and aircraft debris will continue. He said forensic experts from Israel have arrived in Ethiopia to help with the investigation.

Source: Fox News World

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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

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Could an independent succeed in 2020? Howard Schultz putting question to test

Howard Schultz explains that the reason he’s seriously considering an independent run for the White House is “the two-party system is broken.”

And despite historical headwinds and what would be fierce opposition from the political machines of both those parties, analysts suggest the increasingly polarized climate could give the former Starbucks CEO an opening -- however narrow -- to mount a competitive bid in the 2020 cycle.

WATCH THE HOWARD SCHULTZ TOWN HALL ON FOX NEWS CHANNEL ON THURSDAY AT 6:30 PM ET. 

At the very least, Schultz could soon test the conventional wisdom that third- or no-party bids are lost causes in a modern presidential race.

“We have issues right now that must be solved. They will not be solved by two parties that are in bed every single day to defeat one another as opposed to representing the American people,” the billionaire coffee magnate said this week in an interview on "Fox & Friends."

SCHULTZ TAKES AIM AT HIS OWN PARTY AS HE MULLS INDEPENDENT 2020 BID

Schultz argued that the more than 40 percent of Americans who call themselves independents “are looking for an alternative other than a Republican or a Democrat.”

While it's true that independents nowadays make up the largest bloc of voters, many of them lean toward the Democratic or Republican parties. And the deck remains very much stacked against a White House bid by an independent or third-party candidate.

“An independent could win the presidency, but I don’t think it’s very likely,” said Nate Silver, the founder and editor in chief of FiveThirtyEight, a well-known website that focuses on polling analysis.

George Washington was the first – and last – independent to win the presidency. And he had the support of the Federalists, the most powerful political party at the beginning of the republic.

Alabama’s George Wallace was the last independent or third-party candidate to grab any electoral votes, as he won a bunch of southern states in the 1968 presidential election.

DEMOCRATS FRANTIC SCHULTZ COULD TIP 2020 ELECTION TO TRUMP

Ross Perot illustrated how hard it is for an independent in the modern era to be competitive in the race for the states and their all-important electoral votes. Perot, who ran as a centrist against GOP President George H.W. Bush and Democratic Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, captured nearly 19 percent of the national popular vote in the 1992 election. But he failed to carry a single state and ended up with zero electoral votes.

“Elections in general and the presidential election in particular are structured to ensure that a member of one of the two parties emerges victorious. The path for a third party or true independent is incredibly narrow and bordering the non-existent,” political scientist Wayne Lesperance said.

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg – the billionaire media mogul and environmental and gun safety advocate – weighed running as an independent in the 2016 presidential election before deciding against such a bid.

Earlier this year, after Schultz announced he was considering an independent White House run, Bloomberg wrote that "the data was very clear and very consistent. Given the strong pull of partisanship and the realities of the electoral college system, there is no way an independent can win. That is truer today than ever before."

But Lesperance, the vice president of academic affairs at New England College, highlighted that with the current unpredictable political climate and a displeasure by many in the middle with both the Democrats and Republicans, “the 2020 election represents one of the best opportunities for the right independent candidate to navigate a very narrow path” toward winning the presidency.

“What would be needed is a candidate with virtually unlimited financial resources, a candidate whose position allows for a platform that attracts more centrists voters currently unhappy with the shifts to the right and left of the republican and democratic parties respectively, and a candidate that can overcome one of the greatest hurdles of all -- the notion that a vote for a third party candidate is a wasted vote,” he added.

Schultz – with his money – may have the ability to overcome the questions of resources, organization and name recognition and could possibly make a compelling case to centrist voters.

He’s repeatedly vowed that “I will not seek the presidency unless I believe it is possible to win, and for me to govern well.”

And he’s promised he’d be on the ballot in all 50 states.

But the question remains – can Schultz overcome the deep concerns many people have of wasting their vote?

Democrats are doing all they can to keep him out of the race, worried he could help throw the election to Trump.

American Bridge 21st Century, a leading pro-Democratic opposition research shop, already is mounting an offensive against him.

“We think it’s very clear that Howard Schultz would throw the election to Donald Trump and so we’re treating him as a target of equal standing with Trump,” American Bridge communications director Andrew Bates told Fox News.

Source: Fox News Politics

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In second stint as U.S. attorney general, Barr faces toughest call on Mueller report

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Attorney General William Barr leaves his house after Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 election in McClean, Virginia
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Attorney General William Barr leaves his house after Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 election in McClean, Virginia, U.S., March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

April 9, 2019

By Andy Sullivan and Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – On Aug. 29, 1991, William Barr had a decision to make.

Cuban inmates had seized hostages inside an Alabama prison in a bid to avoid deportation, and now they were threatening to kill them. Only 19 days into his job as acting attorney general, Barr ordered the FBI to mount a rescue mission.

Before dawn broke the next day, the hostages were freed and the prisoners subdued. Barr’s gamble had paid off. Three months later, he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate to serve as nation’s youngest attorney general, the top U.S. law enforcement official.

Barr, now 68, is “not afraid to make decisions that fall into his areas of responsibility,” said George Terwilliger, who served as Barr’s deputy during his first stint as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush.

Barr is back atop the Justice Department, appointed by Donald Trump after the Republican president fired Jeff Sessions as attorney general in November.

Barr is facing a different type of high-pressure situation as he determines how much of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s role in the 2016 election and contacts between Moscow and Trump’s campaign should be made public. Department regulations give Barr broad authority to decide what to disclose and what to withhold.

So far, all Barr has released since Mueller submitted the nearly 400-page report on March 22 is a four-page letter, made public two days later, describing the special counsel’s main conclusions.

Barr wrote that Mueller had not concluded that Trump’s campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Moscow. Barr also said he personally decided after reviewing the report that Mueller did not find enough evidence to show that Trump committed the crime of obstruction of justice.

That assessment has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats. In addition, some members of Mueller’s team are spreading the word that they are unhappy with the way Barr characterized their work, according to media reports.

The public is likely to get a greater look at the factors behind Barr’s decision to clear Trump of obstruction of justice – Mueller had not exonerated Trump – and other investigative details when the attorney general releases a redacted version of the report, which he has promised by mid-April.

For some, that will be too late, considering that all the public knows about the findings in a 22-month inquiry that cast a cloud over Trump’s presidency is the little that Barr has already disclosed.

“It is like fundamentally rigging the game before we know what the actual score is,” said Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe, who worked with Barr on a telecommunications case in the 1990s. “His integrity, his history, his reputation is shattered by what he has done. I have no idea what could have motivated him.”

‘AN IMPRESSIVE EFFORT’

Others have said Barr made the right decision on the obstruction question, noting that it is difficult to prove that Trump committed criminal obstruction if Mueller did not find that he destroyed evidence or directly interfered with the investigation – even though he assailed the inquiry as a “witch hunt” and called the investigators partisan zealots.

“Trump made an impressive effort at creating an obstruction case against himself, but it’s no easy task to obstruct an investigation where prosecutors do not believe there’s an underlying crime,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said.

Parts of the report are expected to be blacked out to protect information deemed sensitive. Barr, with Mueller’s assistance, has spent weeks redacting material that might compromise ongoing investigations or intelligence-gathering sources and methods. Barr has said he is also removing material from grand-jury proceedings that by law can be made public only through a court order.

Barr also may opt to redact portions that discuss people who were investigated but not charged such as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. That would fit with longstanding Justice Department policy, but could draw criticism from Democrats who have said the public should know as much as possible about Trump campaign contacts with Russia during and after the 2016 election.

Trump has said he will not use a legal doctrine called executive privilege, which allows a president to withhold information about internal executive branch deliberations from other branches of government, to block portions of the report. Barr has said he does not plan to submit the report to the White House for review.

“Bill Barr is going to call it like he sees it,” said Wayne Budd, who served as the Justice Department’s third-ranking official during Barr’s first stint as attorney general.

“I think he understands the role of the attorney general is not as a lawyer for the president,” Budd added, “but as a lawyer for the people of the United States.”

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Will Dunham)

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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