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The Latest: Pittsburgh takes up gun legislation

The Latest on gun control legislation moving through Pittsburgh City Council in response to the synagogue attack (all times local):

11 a.m.

Pittsburgh City Council is meeting to consider gun-control legislation introduced in the wake of the synagogue massacre.

The council began hearing public comment on the bills Wednesday morning, with a vote to take place afterward. The legislation would place restrictions on military-style assault weapons like the AR-15 rifle that authorities say was used in the attack that killed 11 and wounded seven.

Tim Stevens is with the Black Political Empowerment Project and Greater Pittsburgh Coalition Against Violence. He's speaking out in support of the legislation, telling the council that he's "never understood why anyone needs an assault weapon unless they are on the field of war."

Gun-rights supporters are promising to file suit if Council passes the legislation. They say state law prohibits municipalities from regulating guns.

___

1:05 a.m.

The Pittsburgh City Council is planning to vote on gun-control legislation introduced in wake of the synagogue massacre, but Second Amendment advocates are promising a swift legal challenge if the bills are approved.

The legislation would place restrictions on military-style assault weapons like the AR-15 rifle that authorities say was used in the attack that killed 11 and wounded seven. It would also ban most uses of armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines, and would allow the temporary seizure of guns from people who are determined to be a danger to themselves or others.

An initial committee vote is planned for Wednesday.

The legislation was watered down last week in an effort to make it more likely to survive a court challenge. State law prohibits municipalities from regulating the ownership or possession of guns or ammunition.

Source: Fox News National

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European officials reject SpaceX complaints over launch subsidies

FILE PHOTO: SpaceX headquarters is shown in Hawthorne, California.
FILE PHOTO: The SpaceX headquarters is shown in Hawthorne, California, U.S. September 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

February 26, 2019

By Andrea Shalal

LAMPOLDSHAUSEN, Germany (Reuters) – European space officials on Tuesday rejected complaints by U.S. rocket builder SpaceX that subsidies are hampering its access to the European market, arguing the much larger U.S. market is virtually closed to Europe’s Ariane satellite launch vehicle.

Daniel Neuenschwander, head of space transportation for the European Space Agency (ESA), said efforts were under way to cut costs and stay competitive in a market increasingly dominated by U.S. and Chinese players, but the playing field was not level.

“It’s a tough competition but we should make sure that it is done in a way that is fair,” Neuenschwander told Reuters at the opening of a new German Aerospace Center rocket test site in Lampoldshausen, near Stuttgart. “I think that you better clean your own house before you start to complain about someone else’s.”

SpaceX told the U.S. Trade Representative in a letter dated Dec. 10 and first reported last week that European subsidies to Arianespace, Europe’s primary space launch provider, created an “imbalanced competitive advantage that threatens fair trade”.

ArianeGroup, a joint venture of Airbus and Safran and majority owner of Arianespace, is developing Ariane 6 rocket at a cost of nearly 4 billion euros ($4.55 billion).

SpaceX urged the U.S. government to seek remedies in upcoming U.S.-European Union Free Trade Agreement talks – an appeal that U.S. officials say they are taking very seriously given the growing importance of the commercial space market.

The SpaceX letter, first reported by France’s Les Echos newspaper last week, flagged another potential conflict between Washington and Brussels, already at odds in the trade arena over car and steel exports.

The European Union had no immediate comment but the German Economy Ministry said the EU viewed aid to ESA as fully allowed under World Trade Organisation rules.

Neuenschwander said European officials were focused on completing the Ariane 6 rocket, due to have its maiden flight in 2020 at 40 percent less cost than the current Ariane 5.

“Buy America” laws prevent Arianespace from competing for U.S. government launches, cutting off a huge market at a time when commercial launches are down sharply. European officials also see hidden aid in the fact that SpaceX gets twice as much for U.S. government launches than it seeks in European tenders.

European officials are pushing Berlin to favor Ariane 6 in a competition with SpaceX to launch a German spy satellite called GEORG, said conservative German lawmaker Alexander Throm.

Thomas Jarzombek, the German government’s aerospace and space policy coordinator, told Throm in a letter in January “it really would not make sense to use public funds to develop a new rocket and then not use it for public purposes.”

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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New Mexico declares state of emergency over influx of migrants: report

A New Mexico county on Wednesday declared a state of emergency over an influx of immigrants crossing the border in recent months and asked the governor to send in the National Guard for protection, according to a report.

Otero County, which touches neighboring El Paso, issued a declaration Wednesday that urged Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to deploy National Guard Troops and reopen Customs and Border Patrol checkpoints to stem the flow of drugs and other illegal activity at the border, The Alamogordo Daily News reported.

Grisham’s predecessor, Gov. Susana Martinez, deployed 200 National Guard troops to New Mexico’s border with Mexico in April 2018. But Grisham removed the guardsmen from the border ahead of President Trump’s State of the Union, in a rejection of “the federal contention that there exists an overwhelming national security crisis at the southern border, along which are some of the safest communities in the country.”

YUMA, ARIZONA MAYOR DECLARES EMERGENCY OVER MIGRANT SITUATION

Otero County Commissioners have threatened legal action if their demands were not met in one week.

“If this demand is not met by the State of New Mexico in one week’s time, the County of Otero will take action itself to provide security and safety and well-being for the people in this county,” Otero County Commission Chairman Couy Griffin said.

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The county’s board of commissioners voted unanimously on the declaration. In response, Grisham’s office said the “National Guard does not and would not operate federal checkpoints,” and instead directed Otero County officials to the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for assistance.

Source: Fox News National

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Baez homers twice as Cubs rough up Rangers

MLB: Chicago Cubs at Texas Rangers
Mar 28, 2019; Arlington, TX, USA; Chicago Cubs shortstop Javier Baez (9) circles the bases after hitting a three-run home run in the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

March 28, 2019

Javier Baez hit two homers and drove in four runs to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 12-4, season-opening win against the Texas Rangers on Thursday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.

Baez became the first Cubs player with a multi-homer game in the season opener since Corey Patterson in 2003.

David Bote, Jason Heyward and Albert Almora Jr. had two hits each, and Kris Bryant drove in two of his three runs with an eighth-inning homer for Chicago.

Cubs left-hander Jon Lester (1-0) went six innings, allowing two runs and four hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

Elvis Andrus and Nomar Mazara each hit two-run homers for the Rangers.

Texas left-hander Mike Minor (0-1) pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs and five hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

Minor breezed through the first 3 2/3 innings before giving up a solo home run to Baez with two outs in the fourth to cut Texas’ lead to 2-1.

Minor started Chicago’s six-run fifth by hitting Bote with a pitch. He then gave up a single to Ben Zobrist, moving the runner to third. Heyward drove in Bote with an infield single to second base to tie the score, and No. 9 hitter Mark Zagunis followed with a double to center, scoring Zobrist and putting runners on second and third.

After Almora fanned, Bryant’s groundout to short made it 4-2. Anthony Rizzo then walked to end Minor’s day. Jesse Chavez entered and gave up a three-run homer to Baez on his first pitch for a 7-2 lead.

The Cubs tacked on two more runs in the sixth, another in the seventh and two more in the eighth on the home run by Bryant.

Lester, who went 11-2 with a 2.87 ERA in road games last season to tie a career high for away wins, only faced trouble in the first and third innings, both after two were out.

After Texas’ Rougned Odor doubled down the right field line with two outs in the third, Andrus hit a two-run homer for a 2-0 lead.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Huge Reversal in Abortion Support one Month after Dems’ Plan to Legalize Murdering Born Babies Backfires

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A Marist poll released Monday reveals recent legislation to make abortion a fundamental right and allow the procedure even moments before birth has led to a “sudden and dramatic shift” toward the pro-life position.

The poll finds a double-digit shift, with Americans now as likely to identify as pro-life (47 percent) as pro-choice (47 percent) since a similar Marist poll conducted in January. In addition, pro-life Democrats alone have shifted from 20 to 34 percent, an outcome that shows more than one-third of Democrats now identify as pro-life.

“Current proposals that promote late-term abortion have reset the landscape and language on abortion in a pronounced – and very measurable – way,” Marist Poll Director Barbara Carvalho said in a press release, adding:

The recent legal changes to late-term abortion and the debate which followed have not gone unnoticed by the general public…there has been a significant increase in the proportion of Americans who see themselves as pro-life and an equally notable decline in those who describe themselves as pro-choice.

The Marist Poll joined with the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic charitable organization, to conduct both last month’s poll and the current one.

Regarding the “dramatic shift” in Democrats’ stance on abortion, the Knights of Columbus said:

Among Democrats, the gap between pro-life and pro-choice identifiers was cut in half from 55 percent to 27 percent. The number of Democrats now identifying as pro-life is 34 percent, up from 20 percent last month, while the number identifying as pro-choice fell from 75 percent to 61 percent.

Younger Americans also moved dramatically, now dividing 47 percent pro-life to 48 percent pro-choice. One month ago, the gap was almost 40 percentage points with only 28 percent identifying as pro-life and 65 percent identifying as pro-choice.

The survey finds Americans largely oppose later-term abortions, with 71 percent saying abortion should be generally illegal during the third trimester and 25 percent saying it should be legal. The 71 percent outcome includes 60 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of independents, and 85 percent of Republicans.

According to the poll, Americans strongly oppose abortion past 20 weeks of pregnancy by an even wider margin: 71 to 18 percent.

The survey shows that only 18 percent of Americans support abortion at any time up until birth.

Additionally, the poll reveals that 80 percent of Americans would like abortion limited to – at most – the first three months of pregnancy, which is an increase of five points since the January poll. This outcome includes 65 percent of those who identify as pro-choice and strong majorities of Democrats (64 percent), Republicans (92 percent) and independents (83 percent).

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said Americans by and large have not accepted the arguments behind recent legislation to make abortion a fundamental right up until birth.

“Arguments in favor of late-term abortion are simply not convincing the American people,” he said. “If anything, since these proposals have been unveiled, people are moving noticeably in the pro-life direction. It is now clear that these radical policies are being pursued despite the opposition of the majority of Americans of both parties.”

The survey of 1,008 adults was conducted February 12 through February 17, 2019. Live interviewers interviewed respondents in English or Spanish via landline or mobile numbers. Results are statistically significant within plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

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Federer beats Anderson to set up generation clash with Shapovalov

Tennis: Miami Open
Mar 28, 2019; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates after defeating Kevin Anderson of South Africa (not pictured) during the men’s quarter-finals at Miami Open Tennis Complex. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

March 29, 2019

(Reuters) – Roger Federer gained a measure of revenge against Wimbledon nemesis Kevin Anderson, beating the South African 6-0 6-4 at the Miami Open on Thursday to set up a mouthwatering semi-final against a player barely half his age.

Federer will have little time to rest his 37-year-old legs before his clash against 19-year-old Denis Shapovalov, the highly regarded Canadian talent tipped for future Grand Slam success.

Twentieth seed Shapovalov won his battle of ‘Next Gen’ hustlers 6-7(5) 6-4 6-2 against American Frances Tiafoe.

Shapovalov is one of two Canadian teenagers in the semis, with 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime to play defending champion John Isner in the other.

Federer has won 100 career titles, 100 more than Shapovalov, and was looking forward to the pair’s first match-up.

“He’s one of the big shotmakers in the game. I love his forehand,” Federer said.

The Swiss raced through the first set against Anderson, the man who beat him in a quarter-final marathon at Wimbledon last year.

Anderson took nine games to get on the board but eventually found his groove and broke back with a series of return winners to level at 3-3 in the second set.

Federer struck the decisive blow at 4-4, however, winning a marathon game of 22 points and clinching the break with a fortuitous backhand return down the line.

“I hit it late and that’s why it went short,” he said of the shot. “That’s not what I wanted to do but maybe what it took. I got a bit lucky there at the end.”

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Ian Ransom)

Source: OANN

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‘Peace Cross’ memorial at center of landmark Supreme Court fight over religious displays

BLADENSBURG, Md. -- The war memorial has seen better days. Sitting in a traffic circle in the Washington suburbs, the Bladensburg Peace Cross as it is known has large cracks in its tan concrete and pink granite. Water damage has stained the 40-foot structure, covered partially by a tarp to prevent more decay.

But this worn-down, century-old monument is now at the center of a fiery Supreme Court fight – one where the newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh, once again could play a decisive role.

SUPREME COURT SAYS VOTE OF DEAD ‘PROGRESSIVE ICON’ JUDGE DOES NOT COUNT

The memorial’s supporters say the structure was erected solely to honor those who died in battle during World War I – and, despite its shape, is secular in nature. Opponents call it an impermissible overlap of church and state, since the Latin cross design sits on public land.

"There is an unfairness of suggesting that a cross could represent all veterans when clearly not all veterans are Christians," said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association, which opposes the cross on public land.

Justices Wednesday will hold 70 minutes of oral arguments and hear from both sides over an issue that has divided the courts and the public for decades. It presents another opportunity for consistent, clear markers to be created on when such "passive" religious displays and speech, if ever, can occur the public arena.

Hundreds of similar cross-shaped war memorials across the country, as well as other religious displays, could be affected. Those include permanent Ten Commandments monuments and seasonal Nativity scenes in local parks.

The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and the American Jewish Committee are among those backing the memorial's removal. But 109 members of Congress and 28 states are among those filing briefs in support of the veterans.

SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE IF WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL 'PEACE CROSS' CAN STAND

“The Supreme Court should honor the way Gold-Star mothers chose to remember the service and sacrifice of their sons who died defending our freedom,” said Kelly Shackelford, president of First Liberty Institute, which is leading the legal fight to preserve the cross. “If this gravestone is bulldozed to the ground, it’s only a matter of time before the wrecking ball turns on Arlington National Cemetery and the hundreds of memorials like this one across the country.”

The Trump administration also will be given argument time before the justices to make its case for the memorial.

Honoring the Fallen

Fundraising for the Peace Cross began soon after the "war to end all wars" concluded. Spearheaded by Gold Star mothers of Prince George's County, Md., who lost their sons to battle, it honors 49 men, including four African-American soldiers and a Medal of Honor recipient. It was completed in 1925, built by members of local American Legion posts with private donations. It was later rededicated as a memorial to honor all American veterans.

Inscribed at the base of the monument are four words: Valor, Endurance, Courage, and Devotion. There are no written references to God, Christianity, or religion.

Complicating matters, however, a Maryland parks commission in 1961 gained control of the cross and land around the busy intersection. The government now pays for maintenance and upkeep, though veterans groups regularly hold memorial services there. The structure includes the embedded symbol of the American Legion.

Among the names listed is Pvt. Thomas Notley Fenwick, who died of pneumonia in 1918 after being gassed while on the French front. His niece Mary Ann Fenwick Laquay grew up hearing stories about her uncle and regularly visits the memorial.

"I know he's not buried there but I feel like he is, it's like going to the cemetery," the 80-year-old said. "It needs to stay right where it is. It's not hurting anybody ... Why are [those opposed] so determined to destroy something that means so much to so many people?"

Similar cross displays on federal land to honor war dead can be found at nearby Arlington National Cemetery. A simple cross dedicated to World War I veterans was located for decades in California's Mojave National Preserve, but was transferred in 2012 to private hands in a land swap, with the Supreme Court's blessing.

In Bladensburg, three area residents and the American Humanist Association filed suit in 2014, saying in court papers the memorial sends a "callous message to non-Christians."

"I think it was intended to be a Christian symbol from the beginning," Roy Speckhardt, the group’s executive director, told Fox News. "Unfortunately the cross can't be a symbol for all. It doesn't represent our veterans who've served honorably who are Muslim, Buddhist, and Jewish. And of course those of no faith at all."

AHA and other groups point out the original contributors to the memorial signed a pledge, stating, "With our motto, ‘One God, one Country and one Flag,’ we contribute to this memorial cross commemorating the memory of those who have not died in vain."

The association has suggested the memorial either be moved to private property or redesigned.

A divided federal appeals court in 2017 agreed, ruling the Bladensburg memorial cross was a "core symbol of Christianity” and concluded "the purported war memorial breaches the wall of separation between Church and State."

"The sectarian elements easily overwhelm the secular ones," Judge Stephanie Thacker wrote for the 2-1 majority.

In lower court arguments, one judge said the dispute could be resolved by replacing the memorial. Another suggested stripping the horizontal arms from the cross, something its supporters liken to desecration.

Faith Fractures

The Supreme Court has a mixed record on disputes concerning religious freedom and the separation of church and state, with the justices often using a case-by-case determination.

The high court has allowed some religious-themed displays on public property, while banning others. In 1971, the court established its three-prong "Lemon" test, named for one of the parties in the case, for the relationship between church and state.

Under those standards, the government can assist a religious interest only if the primary purpose of the assistance is secular, the assistance neither promotes nor inhibits religion, and there is no excessive entanglement between church and state.

But the approach has had its critics. The late Justice Antonin Scalia in 1993 tweaked his colleagues for their "wavering" application of precedent.

"Like some ghoul in a late-night horror movie that repeatedly sits up in its grave and shuffles abroad, after being repeatedly killed and buried, Lemon stalks our Establishment Clause jurisprudence once again," he wrote. "It is there to scare us (and our audience) when we wish it to do so, but we can command it to return to the tomb at will."

Justice Clarence Thomas was more succinct in 2011, saying the court's jurisprudence on the matter was "anyone's guess."

Yet a court majority in recent years has sought a more nuanced position, recognizing perhaps how divisive the issue has become. In his narrowly drawn 2018 majority opinion, just weeks before announcing his retirement, Justice Anthony Kennedy was in the 7-2 majority favoring a Colorado baker who refused to create a customized cake for a gay couple's union, claiming a sincere faith-based exemption to the state's anti-discrimination law.

With Kennedy now replaced by Kavanaugh on the court, some observers believe the 5-4 conservative majority will be more sympathetic to religious liberty claims. And Kavanaugh could prove the decisive vote in the current fight, where history and context of the Bladensburg memorial are sure to be presented at argument.

‘We can't back down’

The American Legion's Colmar Manor Post 131 is less than a mile from the Bladensburg Peace Cross. Nearby are other smaller monuments to those lost from other American conflicts and the 9/11 terror attacks. The group sponsors the annual Memorial Day ceremony of remembrance on the site, and is one of the case litigants.

On a recent Friday, three local Vietnam-era veterans gathered to talk about their service, and support for the Peace Cross.

"The 49 men over there, we don't know what religion they are," said Stan Shaw. "Because the military never asked them that, when they were over there fighting."

"When I came of age, 13 years old, my father took me by the Peace Cross, and said, 'Son, this is what the people of this county think of military service,'" said Mike Moore. "Having that memorial torn down, defaced, or bulldozed, I can't conceive of it. It would be an insult to all those who served."

"We can't back down, we have got to win this," added Phillip Holdcraft. "We can't desecrate all these memorials across the United States. They're not for Christians, they're for the veterans."

But some Jewish and Muslim veterans groups are among those opposing the memorial's design, saying it is not inclusive or respectful of their faiths.

"Veterans of all stripes are united by their love of country, but they are not united by the cross," the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, Inc., told the high court in a brief. "It does a disservice to both Jewish veterans and Christian veterans to suggest otherwise."

A ruling is expected by late June.

Fox News’ Caleb Parke contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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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)

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