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Exclusive: Saudi Arabia threatens to ditch dollar oil trades to stop ‘NOPEC’ – sources

FILE PHOTO: An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia
FILE PHOTO: An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

April 5, 2019

By Dmitry Zhdannikov, Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler

LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia is threatening to sell its oil in currencies other than the dollar if Washington passes a bill exposing OPEC members to U.S. antitrust lawsuits, three sources familiar with Saudi energy policy said.

They said the option had been discussed internally by senior Saudi energy officials in recent months. Two of the sources said the plan had been discussed with OPEC members and one source briefed on Saudi oil policy said Riyadh had also communicated the threat to senior U.S. energy officials.

The chances of the U.S. bill known as NOPEC coming into force are slim and Saudi Arabia would be unlikely to follow through, but the fact Riyadh is considering such a drastic step is a sign of the kingdom’s annoyance about potential U.S. legal challenges to OPEC.

In the unlikely event Riyadh were to ditch the dollar, it would undermine the its status as the world’s main reserve currency, reduce Washington’s clout in global trade and weaken its ability to enforce sanctions on nation states.

“The Saudis know they have the dollar as the nuclear option,” one of the sources familiar with the matter said.

“The Saudis say: let the Americans pass NOPEC and it would be the U.S. economy that would fall apart,” another source said.

Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

A U.S. state department official said: “as a general matter, we don’t comment on pending legislation.”

The U.S. Energy Department did not respond to a request for comment. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has said that NOPEC could lead to unintended consequences.

DOLLAR HEGEMONY

NOPEC, or the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, was first introduced in 2000 and aims to remove sovereign immunity from U.S. antitrust law, paving the way for OPEC states to be sued for curbing output in a bid to raise oil prices.

While the bill has never made it into law despite numerous attempts, the legislation has gained momentum since U.S. President Donald Trump came to office. Trump said he backed NOPEC in a book published in 2011 before he was elected, though he not has not voiced support for NOPEC as president.

Trump has instead stressed the importance of U.S-Saudi relations, including sales of U.S. military equipment, even after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year.

A move by Saudi Arabia to ditch the dollar would resonate well with big non-OPEC oil producers such as Russia as well as major consumers China and the European Union, which have been calling for moves to diversify global trade away from the dollar to dilute U.S. influence over the world economy.

Russia, which is subject to U.S. sanctions, has tried to sell oil in euros and China’s yuan but the proportion of its sales in those currencies is not significant.

Venezuela and Iran, which are also under U.S. sanctions, sell most of their oil in other currencies but they have done little to challenge the dollar’s hegemony in the oil market.

However, if a long-standing U.S. ally such as Saudi Arabia joined the club of non-dollar oil sellers it would be a far more significant move likely to gain traction within the industry.

WHAT IF?

Saudi Arabia controls a 10th of global oil production, roughly on par with its main rivals – the United States and Russia. Its oil firm Saudi Aramco holds the crown of the world’s biggest oil exporter with sales of $356 billion last year.

Depending on prices, oil is estimated to represent 2 percent to 3 percent of global gross domestic product. At the current price of $70 per barrel, the annual value of global oil output is $2.5 trillion.

Not all of those oil volumes are traded in the U.S. currency but at least 60 percent is traded via tankers and international pipelines with the majority of those deals done in dollars.

Trading in derivatives such as oil futures and options is mainly dollar denominated. The top two global energy exchanges, ICE and CME, traded a billion lots of oil derivatives in 2018 with a nominal value of about $5 trillion.

Just the prospect of NOPEC has already had implications for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Qatar, one of the core Gulf OPEC members, quit the group in December because of the risk NOPEC could harm its U.S. expansion plans.

Two sources said that despite raising the dollar threat, Saudi Arabia did not believe it would need to follow through.

“I don’t think the NOPEC bill will pass but the Saudis have ‘what if’ scenarios,” one of the sources said.

ASSET SALES

In the event of such a drastic Saudi move, the impact would take some time to play out given the industry’s decades-old practices built around the U.S. dollar – from lending to exchange clearing.

Other potential threats raised in Saudi discussions about retaliation against NOPEC included liquidating the kingdom’s holdings in the United States, the sources said.

The kingdom has nearly $1 trillion invested in the United States and holds some $160 billion in U.S. Treasuries.

If it did carry out its threat, Riyadh would also have to ditch the Saudi riyal’s peg to the dollar, which has been exchanged at a fixed rate since 1986, the sources said.

The United States, the world’s largest oil consumer, relied heavily on Saudi and OPEC supplies for decades – while supporting Riyadh militarily against its arch-foe Iran.

But soaring shale oil production at home has made Washington less dependant on OPEC, allowing it to be more forceful in the way it deals with Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations.

Over the past year, Trump has regularly called on OPEC to pump more oil to lower global oil prices, and linked his demands to political support for Riyadh – something previous U.S. administrations have refrained from doing, at least publicly.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Alex Lawler in London and Rania El Gamal in Dubai; additional reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington; editing by David Clarke)

Source: OANN

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Press groups condemn killing of Honduras journalist

Press groups are condemning the weekend slaying of a Honduran television journalist.

The InterAmerican Press Association says Gabriel Hernandez was shot to death Sunday in the southern province of Valle.

The 54-yer-old Hernandez hosted the "The People Speak" program on Canal Valle TV and he frequently criticized local government and local politicians. He also reported for the Radio Globo station.

Hernandez reportedly had asked for protection because of threats against him, but the request was not granted.

Source: Fox News World

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Watches of Switzerland has further U.S. acquisitions in its sights

Rolex Datejust watches are displayed at the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show in Basel
FILE PHOTO: Rolex Datejust watches are displayed at the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show in Basel, Switzerland March 22, 2017. Picture taken March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

March 22, 2019

By Silke Koltrowitz

BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) – Watches of Switzerland expects to make further acquisitions in the United States, which it first entered in 2017 with the purchase of jeweler Mayors, its chief executive told Reuters.

Owned by U.S.-based private equity firm Apollo Global Management, Watches of Switzerland has since opened several stores, including in Las Vegas and New York.

“Could we add other businesses? Very easily,” Brian Duffy said in an interview at this week’s Baselworld watch fair.

The Watches of Switzerland Group, which sells brands such as Rolex, Richemont’s Cartier and Swatch Group’s Omega and has more than 130 showrooms, is the biggest watch retailer in Britain and a candidate for a stock market listing.

Luxury watch distribution is undergoing major changes, with many small, family-owned businesses unable to keep up with the challenges of e-commerce, while watch brands are shutting down shops which do not meet their standards.

“If it’s a quality business, the right location of stores and support from the brands, it would be obvious that we’d be open to it. Probably over the couple of years ahead, we’ll do some deals in the area,” Duffy said of his U.S. plans.

Watches of Switzerland, which spans its eponymous stores as well as Mappin & Webb, Goldsmiths, Mayors, Watchshop and Watch Lab competes with rivals such as Lucerne-based Bucherer, which last year bought U.S. jeweler Tourneau.

Last year the company, which has been under Apollo’s control for more than six years, flagged that its owners were working with advisers on strategic options, including a potential initial public offering (IPO).

Duffy said that an IPO, if it happened, would most likely be on the London Stock Exchange.

“It would be good for our group with its size and scale to have public ownership, reduced leverage and great governance and accountability, sources of capital if that’s ever necessary,” he said, without giving further detail.

Apollo declined to comment.

The group’s revenue grew 21 percent to 685 million pounds ($902 million) in 2017/2018, and its operating profit rose by more than a third to 37 million pounds, about twice the levels when Apollo bought it in 2013.

(Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Source: OANN

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More than half of Americans believe Mueller probe was fair, are satisfied with results: Poll

More than half of Americans believe Special Counsel Robert Mueller conducted a fair investigation and were satisfied with the results -- including a majority of independents, according to a poll released Friday.

A new NPR/PBS New Hour/ Marist poll said 56 percent of those polled thought Mueller conducted a fair investigation, while 51 percent of respondents overall -- and 52 percent of independents -- said they were satisfied with the probe and its results, NPR reported.

MUELLER REPORT MORE THAN 300 PAGES LONG: DOJ 

According to NPR, the question of whether Americans were “satisfied” with the investigation was one of the only questions polled during the Trump administration in which a majority of independents voted alongside Republicans, rather than Democrats.

The poll also revealed that while Americans were “satisfied,” an overwhelming majority want the special counsel’s full report to be made public.

Mueller transmitted his report to Attorney General Bill Barr last Friday. Barr released his summary of the special counsel’s more than 300-page report on Sunday, announcing that Mueller found no evidence members of the Trump campaign -- or anyone associated with it -- colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election, despite numerous offers from Kremlin-linked sources.

Another line of inquiry the special counsel’s office was probing was whether President Trump obstructed justice during the investigation. Mueller, after reviewing the evidence, decided not to come to a conclusion on the matter, and instead, kicked the decision to the Justice Department.

NELLIE OHR, WIFE OF DOJ OFFICIAL, DID EXTENSIVE OPPO RESEARCH ON TRUMP FAMILY, AIDES

Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller and conducted oversight of the investigation after former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself due to his involvement in the Trump campaign, effectively cleared Trump on obstruction, saying evidence was not sufficient to establish the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.

The Justice Department is expected to release Mueller’s full report, with redactions, in the coming weeks. Congressional Democrats blasted Barr’s short, four-page summary of Mueller’s findings and have called for full transparency, urging the release of the full report to Congress and the public by April 2.

Barr has employed the help of Mueller, along with federal prosecutors in the special counsel's office, to help to determine which portions of the report can be made public, and which portions need to remain under seal due to sensitive grand jury materials and investigative methods.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Renault pushes back decision over Ghosn’s 2018 pay

Former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn arrives at his place of residence in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO: Former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn arrives at his place of residence in Tokyo, Japan, March 8, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato

March 15, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – French carmaker Renault said on Friday that it had decided to push back a decision regarding the 2018 pay package for ousted boss Carlos Ghosn.

“The board of directors will meet again in April to make its conclusions,” said Renault.

Earlier this week, Japan’s Nissan and Renault said they would retool the world’s top car-making alliance to put themselves on a more equal footing, breaking up the all-powerful chairmanship previously wielded by Ghosn.

Ghosn is facing trial in Japan for failing to disclose some $82 million in income he had arranged to be paid later, as well as transferring personal investment losses to Nissan when he was chief executive. He denies any wrongdoing.

Ghosn is credited for rescuing Nissan from near-bankruptcy in 1999.

Renault bought 43 percent of Nissan ahead of the 1999 rescue. Nissan holds a 15 percent, non-voting stake in Renault, while Renault’s top shareholder is the French government.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

Source: OANN

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Strong storms again threatening the South

Forecasters say strong storms are again threatening the South days after dozens of tornadoes plowed through the region.

The Storm Prediction Center says a front stretching from southern Texas to central Kansas will create a risk of bad weather as far east as Louisiana on Wednesday.

The threat moves into the Deep South on Thursday. The weather service says there will be an enhanced risk of storms including twisters from the Louisiana Gulf Coast as far north as northern Mississippi and Alabama.

Some 40 million people could see storms.

The National Weather service says at least 41 tornadoes struck from eastern Texas to Georgia just days ago. Forecasters say Mississippi was hardest hit, with 15 tornadoes confirmed there.

At least eight people died in the South.

Source: Fox News National

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Australian teen who cracked raw egg over lawmaker's head donating GoFundMe money to mosque massacre victims

An Australian teenager who gained notoriety for cracking an egg on the head of a senator from his homeland who disparaged Muslims after the massacre at two New Zealand mosques Friday said he is donating most of the more than $50,000 in his GoFundMe page to victims of the tragedy, according to published reports.

Will Connolly, who is 17, made global headlines after he broke the raw egg on the head of Australian Senator Fraser Anning, who blamed the mass killing by Australian suspect Brenton Harrison Tarrant on New Zealand's immigration policies.

After the massacre, Anning, known for his controversial comments about immigration, immediately began tweeting and releasing statements disparaging Muslims.

He tweeted: "Does anyone still dispute the link between Muslim immigration and violence?”

And in a statement, Anning said: “The real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place.”

Anning was in Melbourne speaking to reporters on Saturday when Connolly walked up behind him and cracked the egg on the politician’s head.

Anning punched Connolly and the politician’s supporters grabbed the teenager, holding him down on the floor until the police arrived.

The video of the incident went viral on social media, with many people hailing the “Egg Boy” a hero, and some saying that violence at the massacre was not to be addressed with more violence. An artist painted a mural of the incident to honor the teen, and musicians have offered Connolly free concert tickets. T-shirts bearing the image of Connolly’s face are for sale.

Others say that to praise Connolly is to support violence.

Actor Dean Cain, who played Superman in the TV show “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” denounced Connolly on Twitter.

“I would have knocked that kid cold,” he wrote.

Police released Connolly without charge. But a GoFundMe page with a goal of $50,000 had been set up to cover any legal fees Connolly might have faced.

By Monday morning, more than $51,000 had been raised.

After his release, Connolly tweeted: “Don't egg politicians. You get tackled by 30 bogans at the same time. I learnt the hard way.”

And he noted: “This was the moment I felt so proud to exist as a human being. Let me inform all you guys, Muslims are not terrorists and terrorism has no religion. All those who consider Muslims a terrorist community have empty heads like Anning.”

On Sunday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that Anning's comments were "a disgrace.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

And Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Anning should feel “the full force of the law” for assaulting Connolly after being egged.

On Sunday, Anning remained defiant, saying he would not apologize for his comments or actions.

"I don't regret anything I do," he said regarding striking Connolly, according to the New Zealand Herald. "I defended myself, that's what Australians do, usually, they defend themselves."

Anning added: "He got a slap across the face which is what his mother should have given him a long time ago because he's been misbehaving badly."

The police released a statement saying the entire matter, including the actions by Connolly and Anning, is under investigation.

“The incident is being actively investigated by Victoria Police in its entirety,” the statement said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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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