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In Brexit chaos, UK eurosceptics see dream ticket: new leader, new deal

The British union flag and the EU flag are seen flying near the Houses of Parliament, in London, Britain
The British union flag and the EU flag are seen flying near the Houses of Parliament, in London, Britain, March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville

March 19, 2019

By Elizabeth Piper

LONDON (Reuters) – In a week when Brexit was plunged into deeper uncertainty, eurosceptics in Theresa May’s Conservative Party are eyeing their dream scenario – a new prime minister and a new deal to leave the European Union.

After parliament’s speaker made it even harder for May to get her EU divorce agreement approved by reluctant lawmakers, some pro-Brexit Conservatives have embraced the possibility of a delay, hailing it as a chance to reset talks under a new leader.

It is a risky strategy – a weakened May has been calling members of the so-called European Research Group of eurosceptic lawmakers to warn them that without her deal, they risk losing Brexit to pro-EU lawmakers in the parliament.

And by no means all eurosceptics will back their calls – others fear a long extension could risk Brexit and further destabilize a deeply divided and increasingly angry Britain, which voted 52-48 percent to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum.

But some are vocal in their desires, saying after becoming numb to the warnings, threats and promises directed by an increasingly desperate team at the prime minister’s Downing Street office, they now see only one solution – May, and her Brexit deal, must go.

“From my perspective, I would prefer a lengthy extension to a transitional arrangement because it gives us more leverage,” said a Conservative former minister and Brexit supporter.

“I think that inside the EU we could have much more heft and particularly, as is probably the case, the prime minister isn’t around too much longer and there is a successor … Under a new leader we would say: ‘well, you know that Withdrawal Agreement that we said we were happy with, well we’re not now’.”

According to Brexit supporter Andrew Bridgen, May’s parliamentary enforcers, or whips, have promised some Conservatives that the prime minister would leave office in return for their support for the deal.

But that offer is not good enough.

While his first preference is to leave with no deal on March 29 to avoid further splits in the Conservative Party, he said: “Then I prefer a long extension to a bad deal because at least we’ll be able to get out.”

“As soon as we sign that Withdrawal Agreement we can’t get out, we’re never out, because they’ve got a veto on us getting out,” Bridgen told Reuters.

DEAL, NO DEAL, NO BREXIT

May has been trying to resuscitate her Brexit deal, which sees close economic ties with the EU, after lawmakers crushed it first in January by the largest margin in modern history and then again last week by 149 votes.

Fighting against those who describe the deal – which Brexit supporters fear could trap Britain in the EU’s economic sphere indefinitely – as “dead”, May and other members of her team have been phoning and messaging to try to rally support.

Eurosceptics have been approached, the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, which props up May’s minority government, has been locked in talks with ministers and opposition Labour lawmakers have been enticed with investment offers in an attempt to win over parliament for a third vote.

But Speaker John Bercow raised another barrier on Monday when he ruled that the government could not present the same deal again and it would have to be changed in some way.

Against some expectations, the ruling boosted many eurosceptics. While Downing Street wanted to portray it as a threat to Britain’s departure from the EU, pro-Brexit lawmakers saw it as a potential existential threat to May’s administration.

“All I know for certain are three things: May has got to go, we are going to have a new prime minister and I can’t see us getting out of this issue without a general election,” said Bridgen. “Brexit now depends on who the new prime minister is.”

May has consistently said she does not want a new election, something that can only be triggered by a successful no confidence vote against the government or the government asking for, and securing, parliament’s approval for a new poll.

For some lawmakers, particularly those who won their place in parliament with only a small majority, the prospect of an election is uncomfortable.

“I am very anxious that if we go into a long extension we might have an election, the pressure to revisit the question (of Brexit) increases, the whole thing becomes at risk, and also there’s a massive political price,” said another ex-minister.

“You’re telling 17.4 million people who voted to leave that five years later you’ll still be a member. You can understand the fury. It would do real damage to both parties but in particular the Conservatives, as the government that failed to deliver it.”

(Additional reporting by William James; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source: OANN

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German authorities recover bodies from small plane wreck

German authorities have begun recovering the bodies of three people, believed to include one of Russia's richest women, who were killed in a small plane crash Sunday.

The dpa news agency reported Monday that authorities were unable to recover the bodies or examine the charred wreck earlier due to darkness.

Russian airline S7 Group said co-owner Natalia Fileva was aboard the single-engine, six-seat Epic LT aircraft that crashed and burned in a field as it approached the small airport at Egelsbach near Frankfurt. The business publication Forbes.ru has estimated Fileva's fortune at $600 million.

German police have said there were two Russian citizens on board but haven't provided any positive identification of the occupants yet.

The cause of the crash is still unclear.

Source: Fox News World

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Moldova parliamentary ballot: what's at stake?

More than three million Moldovans are eligible to vote in parliamentary elections Sunday in this former Soviet republic wedged between Romania and Ukraine. They will choose representatives for the next four-year term of the 101-seat legislature. No outright winner is expected and the ballot will likely deepen a rift between pro-Western and pro-Russian forces, amid concerns about endemic corruption and crumbling democracy.

REJIGGED VOTING SYSTEM

The voting system has been changed in what critics say is a ploy to help the two main parties — the broadly pro-Russian Socialists and the nominally pro-European Democratic Party — carve up influence. Democratic leader Vladimir Plahotniuc, one of the country's wealthiest men, is the country's de-facto leader as the Democrats are the main party in the ruling coalition. Voters will directly pick 51 lawmakers, while the remaining 50 lawmakers will be elected via party lists, a method which favors the two bigger parties. Another factor to consider is that there are up to one million voters— almost a third of the electorate— working and living abroad, mainly in the EU and Russia.

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WHO'S RUNNING?

There are three main parties: The Democratic Party, which heads the ruling coalition together with its junior partner the Popular European Party, the Socialists, who favor closer ties to Russia, and the pro-European ACUM which opposes both major parties and signed a pledge Thursday not to enter into a coalition with them if no party wins an outright majority. Parties need to win six percent of the overall vote to enter Parliament.

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POTENTIAL FOR CRISIS

In an interview this week with The Associated Press, Moldovan President Igor Dodon warned of unrest if elections are rigged. While no major fraud is expected on polling day, with 340 international observers from 38 countries monitoring the ballot, there are concerns the elections may be less than free or fair. Facebook recently dismantled 168 fake accounts and 28 pages allegedly attempting to influence voters.

Moreover, the election threatens to keep the country stuck in limbo between the West and Russia, at a time when allegations of government corruption and concerns over erosion of democracy have strained relations with the EU. Moldova signed an association agreement with the EU in 2014, a move seen as a step toward joining the bloc.

Last year, the European Parliament called Moldova "a state captured by oligarchic interests." The EU also froze aid to Moldova after a local court invalidated the 2018 Chisinau mayoral election on a technicality, a move seen as a bid to thwart the apparent victory of a pro-European candidate.

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WHAT ELSE?

ACUM leaders Maia Sandu and Andrei Nastase have accused the Democratic Party leadership of corruption and claimed they had been poisoned. The Democratic Party strenuously denied the allegations.

Source: Fox News World

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Trump to give Israel’s Netanyahu an election boost

FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a Likud election campaign billboard depicting U.S. President Trump shaking hands with Israeli PM Netanyahu, in Jerusalem
FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a Likud election campaign billboard, depicting U.S. President Donald Trump shaking hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem February 4, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo

March 25, 2019

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump was set to give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a boost for his re-election campaign on Monday as Netanyahu’s chief political opponent sought to position himself as a better alternative to lead Israel.

During a White House visit by Netanyahu, Trump was expected to sign a proclamation officially granting U.S. recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory. Israel seized the strategic land from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.

The recognition, which Trump had announced in a tweet last Thursday, appeared to be the most overt gesture by the Republican president to help Netanyahu, who had been pressing Trump for the move.

The Israeli prime minister, who faces an election on April 9, on Monday cut short his U.S. visit after a rocket fired from Gaza injured seven people near Tel Aviv. He arrived in Washington on Sunday, originally for a four-day visit.

The attack in central Israel came as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel group, held its annual meeting in Washington with speaker after speaker expressing U.S. support for strong ties with Israel.

“We stand with Israel because her cause is our cause, her values are our values, and her fight is our fight,” Vice President Mike Pence said on Monday.

Pence also talked tough against Iran, saying that under Trump, “America will never allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.”

Netanyahu’s strongest election challenger, Benny Gantz, appeared before the gathering on Monday, and vowed to protect Israel against threats from Iran and Syria. He called for unity in Israel.

“We must remember if that we want hope, we must have unity,” he said.

With election day approaching, opinion polls put Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party neck and neck.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Philadelphia man, 19, arrested in killing of police official’s 20-year-old son

The Pennsylvania man accused of fatally shooting the son of a prominent Philadelphia Police official at a baseball game tailgate over the weekend was arrested Wednesday, police said.

Tyquan “Fats” Atkinson, 19, was arrested in Chester, Penn., after Philadelphia Police said he had been on the run for several days for the murder of 20-year-old Nicholas Flacco on Saturday.

2 GEORGIA POLICE OFFICERS SHOT, SUSPECT BARRICADED WITH 16-YEAR-OLD HOSTAGE, OFFICIALS SAY

Flacco was reportedly tailgating with friends in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park after a Phillies game when he tried to break up a fight between two women, FOX 29 reported. An unidentified woman was overheard threatening that she was going to “call her man” and that Flacco should be afraid.

Police said a man, later identified as Atkinson, arrived with a revolver and fired two shots - one into the air and the other off to the side, WPVI reported.

An armed Atkinson returned 15 minutes later and allegedly shot Flacco in his chest after police said he was “dared” to fire his gun after the group surrounding the victim did not believe it was a real firearm.

Flacco, the son of Chris Flacco, the head of the Philadelphia Police Department's Internal Affairs Unit, was rushed to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

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Atkinson was charged with murder and criminal conspiracy in addition to several other charges.

Flacco, a student at Penn State who was home to celebrate his birthday, was laid to rest Thursday morning.

Source: Fox News National

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How to create connections at work in the age of isolation

FILE PHOTO: Workers are seen in an office tower in the Canary Wharf financial district at dusk in London
FILE PHOTO: Workers are seen in an office tower in the Canary Wharf financial district at dusk in London, Britain, November 17, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

April 12, 2019

By Lauren Young

NEW YORK (Reuters) – If an overflowing inbox is killing your productivity at the office, you are not alone.

Well, maybe you are, but not in the way you think.

A recent survey of more than 2,000 managers and employees in 10 different countries found that employees increasingly depend on technology to communicate with their colleagues, including email (45 percent), text messaging (15 percent) and instant messaging (12 percent).

Of those who cited email, more than 40 percent said they felt lonely always or often, were not engaged and had a high need for social connection.

Dan Schawbel, author of “Back to Human: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation,” offered Reuters these tips on working remotely, managing technology and building a collaborative workplace.

Q. Is there a dark side of working remotely?

A. One-third of workers in the U.S. often work remotely. The number of remote workers is up 115 percent in the past decade. But just 5 percent of these workers see themselves staying at the same company for their entire career.

While we want flexibility so much, there is a tradeoff. Our research shows that remote workers are more likely to quit because of loneliness as well as low engagement. The reason why (co-working space) WeWork exists is because people want the human connection. Otherwise, people would just work from home.

Q. Is there a “right way” to work offsite and keep remote workers engaged?

A. These employees will work harder if they have a sense of connection. For managers, it is important to let a remote worker lead the meeting. It’s so simple and brilliant at the same time. It also makes sense to fly remote workers in once a year for an offsite or social event.

And be sure to use video conferencing often for meetings – you get to see and hear someone, which is much better than an email. It also forces you to dress like you are in the office. If you dress the part, you act the part.

Q. How can we maximize our time when we are in the office?

A. When you are working, you need time to focus, think deeply and pay attention to your words, thoughts and ideas. You also need collaborative time to share those ideas.

The actual work is important. But it’s also crucial to cultivate friendships. The workplace survey I led, which was conducted by my company Future Workplace, an HR advisory firm, and Virgin Pulse, a digital health company, found that 7 percent of all employees globally have no friends at work and over half have five or fewer total friends.

The majority of people (60 percent) said they would be more likely stay with their company longer if they had more friends.

This was especially true for younger employees. Gen Z (74 percent) and millennials (69 percent) say they would be inclined to stay with their company longer if they had more friends than Gen X (59 percent) and baby boomers (40 percent).

You will never be able to replace face-to-face interactions at work. Once you are in a room – at a meeting, event, or even celebrating a birthday at work – be present. Put down your phone and actually talk to people.

Q. People spend so much time at work. What is the best way to avoid burnout?

A. Even if you love your job, everyone needs a break. That is why some interesting things are happening around the world to combat burnout. For example, in Finland and in the United Kingdom, they are looking at a four-day work week. In France, you actually have the right to disconnect – workers there don’t have to answer email on the weekends or after work hours.

In Japan, every Japanese citizen gets the right to take Monday mornings off.

Overall, it is about what you do, and who you do it with. The people you choose to work with are more important than the work you do. Even if you love your work, and it gives you purpose, toxic co-workers will make it unbearable.

(Editing by Beth Pinkser and Bernadette Baum)

Source: OANN

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Philippines: US DNA tests confirm death of IS-linked leader

Philippine officials say U.S. DNA tests have confirmed the death of a Muslim militant leader who helped lead the 2017 siege of southern Marawi city and was regarded as crucial to helping the Islamic State group gain a foothold in the region.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said Sunday that the tests confirmed that Owaida Marohombsar, who was also known by his nom de guerre Abu Dar, was one of four militants killed in a March 14 gunbattle that also left four soldiers dead near southern Tubaran town in Lanao del Sur province. The Philippine military asked U.S. authorities to confirm Marohombsar's death through DNA tests.

Marohombsar helped lead the May 23, 2017, siege, which troops quelled after five months. Most leaders of the attack were killed, but Marohombsar survived.

Source: Fox News World

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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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