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Trump, South Korea’s leader mull next step in nuclear talks

President Donald Trump's meeting Thursday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in comes amid uncertainty over whether the leader of North Korea is considering backing out of nuclear negotiations or restarting nuclear and missile tests.

It is Moon's first meeting with Trump since his unsuccessful summit with Kim Jong Un in Hanoi. The South Korean leader, who wants to see a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, has been shuttling between Washington and Pyongyang to resolve the nuclear standoff. Moon has worked aggressively to foster better relations between the North and South and doesn't want to see nuclear talks derailed.

Trump walked away from making a deal with Kim at their meeting in late February. Trump said Kim was asking for sanctions relief without wanting to fully dismantle all of his nuclear weapons programs. North Korean experts are debating whether harsh sanctions can pressure Kim to denuclearize or if they will keep him from the negotiating table.

A senior administration official said Thursday that the U.S. and the international community have "clearly defined the scope" of North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, have a shared understanding of what final, fully verified denuclearization entails and what meaningful progress toward that goal looks like. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations, said the North Korean position, so far, has fallen short of that understanding.

Clues about Kim's current stance could be revealed Thursday in the North Korean capital when he is expected to address his country's Supreme People's Assembly. The assembly, the country's version of a parliament without power, is expected to convene to formally approve Kim's latest economic policies and possibly endorse a shift in U.S. strategy following his failed summit with Trump in Hanoi.

North Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said last month that Kim would soon make clear his post-Hanoi position. She said her country might pull out of the nuclear negotiations with the United States, citing a lack corresponding steps to some disarmament measures North Korea took last year. She also hinted Kim was considering whether to continue the talks and his moratorium on nuclear and missile tests.

The Korean Central News Agency on Thursday said that at a party meeting on Wednesday, Kim stressed "self-reliance" in his country to "deal a telling blow to the hostile forces" that "go with bloodshot eyes miscalculating that sanctions can bring" North Korea "to its knees."

Source: Fox News National

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Fingerpointing in battle over Mueller report; Schultz predicts Trump victory if Sanders is Dems’ nominee

Welcome to Fox News First. Not signed up yet? Click here.
 
Developing now, Friday, April 5, 2019

MUELLER REPORT UNDER SCRUTINY: The Mueller report - and everyone involved in its handling, from Attorney General William Barr to Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigators - are under scrutiny as Democrats demand that Barr release the full, unredacted report ... On Thursday, the attorney general - who is expected to release entire Mueller report, with redactions, by mid-April - defended his handling of the 400-page document, saying it contains sensitive grand jury material.

Meanwhile, amid reports that Mueller's findings were more damaging to President Trump than Barr indicated, Fox News has learned Republican lawmakers had concerns about Mueller's investigators before the probe ended. Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., alerted Barr to what they described as the "selective" use of emails in Mueller court filings -- as well as potential “improper political influence, misconduct, and mismanagement” in the FBI's original Russia probe.

EX-TRUMP FIXER MAKES LAST-MINUTE PLEA TO DEMS: With a little more than a month to go until he is slated to report to prison, former Trump fixer Michael Cohen is asking House Democrats to help keep him out of the big house ... In a letter sent to lawmakers Thursday, Cohen's legal team said he was still sorting through documents in his personal files that might be of interest to House Democrats investigating President Trump, including emails, voice recordings, images and other documents on a hard drive. The letter was sent to a who's-who of Trump opponents in the Democratic Party, including Reps. Adam Schiff of California, Jerry Nadler of New York, Maxine Waters of California and Elijah Cummings of Maryland.

HOWARD SCHULTZ: TRUMP WINS RE-ELECTION IF SANDERS IS HIS OPPONENT - Potential independent 2020 White House contender Howard Schultz predicted outright that President Trump will win re-election if Democrats nominate a self-described socialist like Bernie Sanders, during Fox News' "America's Election HQ" Town Hall Thursday night in Kansas City, Mo. ... At the town hall event, co-hosted by Fox News' Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, Schultz separately denied he would play a "spoiler" in the race -- and suggested instead that someone like Sanders could unwittingly play that role. He addressed a variety of topics, such as the immigration crisis at the U.S-Mexico border, allegations of inappropriate conduction leveled by seven women against Joe Biden, Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and more. (Click on the video above for a highlight from the Schultz townhall.)

FILE - In this March 26, 2019, file photo, actor Jussie Smollett smiles and waves to supporters before leaving Cook County Court after his charges were dropped in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty, File)

FILE - In this March 26, 2019, file photo, actor Jussie Smollett smiles and waves to supporters before leaving Cook County Court after his charges were dropped in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty, File)

CHICAGO VERSUS SMOLLETT: Chicago is vowing a civil suit against Jussie Smollett after the "Empire" actor "refused to reimburse" the city for the cost of investigating his controversial case ... In a statement obtained by Fox News, the city's law department said that Smollett, 36, "has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on Jan. 29, 2019." The statement said that the law department "is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County."

SUSPECT ARRESTED IN QUADRUPLE SLAYINGS: A "person of interest" who was detained Thursday in connection with four workplace murders in North Dakota earlier this week has now been arrested and charged with the killings, authorities said ... Four people were found shot and stabbed Monday inside family-owned company RJR Maintenance and Management. The suspect, identified as Chad Isaak, 44, of Washburn, N.D., lived in a trailer park managed by RJR Maintenance and Management. Police did not speculate on a motive.

THE SOUNDBITE

'TRUMP IS RIGHT' - "The issue that we have to recognize is this: President Trump is correct, and the Republican leadership is correct that we need fierce, strict levels of control on that border to keep bad people from coming in; illegal immigrants should not come in." – Howard Schultz, addressing the illegal immigration crisis, at Fox News' "America's Election HQ" Town Hall. (Click the image above to watch the full video.)

TODAY'S MUST-READS
Trump reacts to Barbara Bush criticism: 'Look what I did to her sons.'
Report: Court papers show Gillibrand’s father worked for sex cult.
Lawrence Jones responds to critics who mocked him for wearing bulletproof vest at U.S.-Mexico border.

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS
March jobs report: What to expect.
Trump expected to nominate Herman Cain to Federal Reserve.
Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Bezos finalize their divorce: What to know.

STAY TUNED

On Fox News:

Fox & Friends, 6 a.m. ET: Special guests include: Actor Dean Cain on how Hollywood elites are threatening to boycott Georgia over its "heartbeat" abortion bill. Fox Nation host Tomi Lahren gives the inside story on her new book. And country music star John Rich unveils his new whiskey.

Your World with Neil Cavuto, 4 p.m. ET: Guests include: Ken Starr, former Whitewater independent counsel; Manuel Padilla, director of the Department of Homeland Security's Border Emergency Response unit.

Special Report with Bret Baier, 6 p.m. ET: An interview with Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of NATO.

On Fox Business:

Mornings with Maria, 6 a.m. ET: Tune in for live coverage and analysis of the new jobs report.
Varney & Co., 9 a.m. ET: Karry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council.
Countdown to the Closing Bell with Liz Claman, 3 p.m. ET: Tom Vilsack, former U.S. secretary of agriculture.

On Fox News Radio:

The Fox News Rundown podcast: "Ethiopian Crash Report Met with Criticism" - Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox News senior judicial analyst, weighs in on Democrats' request to the IRS to release six years of President Trump's personal and business tax records. Fox News' Doug McKelway and Jim Hall, former NTSB chairman, discuss the Ethiopian government's preliminary report on the Boeing 737 Max plane crash that killed 157 people and grounded Boeing planes worldwide. Don't miss the good news with Fox News' Anna Eliopoulos. Plus, commentary by Fox News Medical Analyst Dr. Marc Siegel.

Want the Fox News Rundown sent straight to your mobile device? Subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher.

The Brian Kilmeade Show, 9 a.m. ET: U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., on the latest in the battles over the Mueller report, health care and the illegal immigration crisis; Adm. James Stavridis, operating executive with the Carlyle Group, on Congress passing a historic resolution to end U.S. support for Saudi-led war in Yemen. Plus, the latest on U.S. talks with Venezuela, China and Russia. Geraldo Rivera, Fox News roaming correspondent-at-large, takes on the top headlines of the day. Gianni Russo discusses his new book, "Hollywood Godfather: My Life in the Movies and the Mob."

On Fox News Weekend:

Cavuto Live, Saturday, 10 a.m. ET: National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd weighs in on President Trump giving Mexico one year’s notice before he shuts down part of the border. The latest on House Democrats ramping up investigations into President Trump. And a look at new privacy concerns for Facebook and the legal trouble the social media giant could potentially face.

Fox News Sunday, Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET: Special guest: Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., assistant speaker of the House.

Life, Liberty & Levin, Sunday, 10 p.m. ET: Mark Levin sits down with former CBS correspondent Lara Logan to talk about her time in Afghanistan and Iraq, reporting on Benghazi, and the state of today’s media.

#TheFlashback
1974: Stephen King's first published novel, "Carrie," is released by Doubleday
1964: Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur dies in Washington, D.C., at age 84.
1955: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill resigns for health reasons.

Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for joining us! Have a good day and weekend! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Monday morning.

Source: Fox News National

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Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Myla Dalbesio Brings The Heat In Bikini Clip

Myla Dalbesio truly brought the heat Friday when Sports Illustrated Swimsuit dropped a clip of her rocking a bikini during her shoot for the upcoming issue.

The 32-year-old Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model looked incredible as she showed off her stuff while being photographed wearing an animal print string two-piece suit during the shoot in Kangaroo Island for the 2019 issue. (SLIDESHOW: 71 Times Samantha Hoopes Stripped Down)

The magazine didn’t explain much about the great video and only captioned it, “SOUND ON.” Solid advice, that’s all I am going to say. (SLIDESHOW: 142 Times Josephine Skriver Barely Wore Anything)

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The swimsuit model’s social media account is can’t miss with some incredible photos she’s shared from her past fashion photo shoots to her swimsuit-clad trips around the world.

Here are a few that really stood out, including a clips of her rocking a colorful string bikini and looking amazing. (SLIDESHOW: These Women On Instagram Hate Wearing Clothes)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by MYLA DALBESIO (@myladalbesio) on

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A post shared by MYLA DALBESIO (@myladalbesio) on

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A post shared by MYLA DALBESIO (@myladalbesio) on

Not to mention, a handful from her stunning appearances and photo shoots for the annual swimsuit issue.

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A post shared by MYLA DALBESIO (@myladalbesio) on

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A post shared by MYLA DALBESIO (@myladalbesio) on

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A post shared by MYLA DALBESIO (@myladalbesio) on

Source: The Daily Caller

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One British soldier to face murder charges over 1972 ‘Bloody Sunday’

Families of the victims walk through the Bogside before the announcement of the decision whether to charge soldiers involved in the Bloody Sunday events, in Londonderry
Families of the victims walk through the Bogside before the announcement of the decision whether to charge soldiers involved in the Bloody Sunday events, in Londonderry, Northern Ireland March 14, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

March 14, 2019

By Amanda Ferguson

LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland (Reuters) – One former British soldier will be prosecuted for two murders in the 1972 “Bloody Sunday” killings of 13 unarmed Catholic civil rights marchers in Londonderry by British paratroopers – one of the most notorious incidents of the Northern Ireland conflict.

The evidence was insufficient to charge 16 other former soldiers, Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service said on Thursday.

British troops opened fire on Sunday, Jan. 30, 1972, during an unauthorized march in the Bogside, a nationalist area of Londonderry. They killed 13 people and wounded 14 others, one of whom died later.

The prosecutor found that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute “Soldier F” for the murder of James Wray and William McKinney and for the attempted murders of Joseph Friel, Michael Quinn, Joe Mahon and Patrick O’Donnell.

A judicial inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday, which took place at the height of Northern Ireland’s 30-year sectarian conflict, were innocent and had posed no threat to the military.

A statement for several victim’s families said they were disappointed by the decision.

(Reporting by Graham Fahy, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: OANN

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Massachusetts won’t score students on slavery essay question

Massachusetts education officials have decided on the unusual step of not scoring 10th grade students on a statewide exam question that some considered racially insensitive.

The Boston Globe reports that the essay question on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam was based on a passage from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Underground Railroad." Students were asked to write an essay from the perspective of a white woman who's conflicted about helping an escaped slave and uses derogatory language toward her.

Students complained that they were put in the uncomfortable position of either using racist language or sacrificing historical accuracy. The Massachusetts Teachers Association objected to the MCAS question. The organization says answering it could be especially traumatic for African American students.

State Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley says the question was intended to challenge students, but he fully understands the concerns.

Source: Fox News National

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MLB roundup: Sanchez hits 3 of Yanks’ 7 homers in walloping Orioles

MLB: New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles
Apr 7, 2019; Baltimore, MD, USA; New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (24) hits two run home run in the eighth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

April 8, 2019

Gary Sanchez homered three times while Clint Frazier homered twice as the visiting New York Yankees belted seven homers in defeating the Baltimore Orioles 15-3 Sunday afternoon.

Sanchez finished with six RBIs in his first career three-homer game, while Frazier drove in four runs. The victory completed a sweep of the three-game series. New York also got homers from Gleyber Torres and Austin Romine and finished with 14 overall during this sweep.

The first 18 runs the Yankees scored in this series came via the long ball.

Domingo German (2-0) carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and gave up two runs on two hits in six innings plus two batters.

Angels 7, Rangers 2

Mike Trout homered in his fourth consecutive game, and host Los Angeles scored seven unanswered runs defeating Texas in Anaheim, Calif.

It was the Angels’ third win in a row after dropping the first game of the four-game series to the Rangers.

In the series, Trout hit five home runs, drove in nine, and reached base in 13 of 18 plate appearances (6-for-11, six walks). For the season, Trout is hitting .393 with a .581 on-base percentage and 1.000 slugging percentage.

Dodgers 12, Rockies 6

Cody Bellinger had three hits, including a homer, Max Muncy also homered, and Los Angeles pounded host Colorado.

Justin Turner and Corey Seager had two hits apiece to help L.A. sweep the weekend series from Colorado. The two home runs give the Dodgers 24 on the season, and they have hit at least one in all 10 games.

Joe Kelly (1-1) got the win in relief, and Bellinger scored four times. He has an 11-game hitting streak going back to last season.

Brewers 4, Cubs 2

Christian Yelich went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs, and host Milwaukee held on to beat Chicago.

Travis Shaw also drove in a run for Milwaukee, which earned a 2-1 series victory over its divisional rival. The Brewers have won eight of 10 games to start the season. Right-hander Zach Davies (1-0) picked up the victory after limiting the Cubs to two runs (both unearned) on five hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Willson Contreras hit a two-run home run in a losing effort for the Cubs. Ben Zobrist added three singles for Chicago, which dropped its third series in a row. Right-hander Kyle Hendricks (0-2) gave up four runs on eight hits in four innings.

Astros 9, Athletics 8

Jose Altuve worked a four-pitch walk with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, and host Houston completed a three-game series sweep of Oakland.

Altuve forced in Aledmys Diaz, who finished 2-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs. Roberto Osuna (1-0) earned the win for Houston with a perfect top of the ninth.

Josh Phegley, Chad Pinder and Robbie Grossman homered for Oakland. The Astros tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against right-hander Lou Trivino before recording four walks against Athletics closer Blake Treinen (0-1), who surrendered the tying run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Alex Bregman.

Red Sox 1, Diamondbacks 0

Mitch Moreland homered on the first pitch of the seventh inning and five pitchers combined on a three-hitter as Boston salvaged the finale of their season-opening 11-game road trip with a victory over Arizona in Phoenix.

The Red Sox finished their trip at 3-8. Boston avoided its fifth 2-9 start and first since 2011.

Moreland hit his third homer of the trip when he got just enough of a first-pitch cutter from Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly (1-1). He lifted the pitch just high enough to clear the right field fence as right fielder Adam Jones attempted to make a leaping catch.

Braves 4, Marlins 3

Shortstop Dansby Swanson lined the game-winning single into left field with the bases loaded to give host Atlanta a walk-off win against Miami.

Swanson had given the team a 3-2 lead with a homer in the fourth inning. He became the first Atlanta shortstop to have three homers in the first nine games of a season.

Miami’s Curtis Granderson tied the game at 3 with one out in the ninth with a pinch-hit solo homer to straightaway center field against closer Arodys Vizcaino. Granderson had struck out five times in the first two games of the series. Vizcaino (1-0) got the win, while Adam Conley (0-2) took the loss.

Nationals 12, Mets 9

Anthony Rendon and Victor Robles each scored three runs as Washington raced to an 11-run lead before hanging on to beat host New York.

Washington took advantage of 12 walks issued by two Mets pitchers. Every player in the Nationals’ starting lineup walked at least once, except winning pitcher Max Scherzer (1-2). Mets starter Zack Wheeler (0-1) walked seven, while Tim Peterson, who relieved Wheeler in the fifth, walked five.

The Nationals batted around during a five-run second inning, when Wheeler walked two and gave up RBI singles to Scherzer and Robles, a two-run double to Adam Eaton and a sacrifice fly to Howie Kendrick.

Cardinals 4, Padres 1

Right-hander Adam Wainwright struck out nine while holding San Diego to one run over six innings and Paul DeJong hit a go-ahead two-run double in the fourth to allow host St. Louis to avoid being swept in its first series of the season at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals added single runs in the seventh and eighth, respectively, on Matt Carpenter’s sacrifice fly and Kolten Wong’s squeeze-bunt single, to end the Padres’ three-game winning streak.

Wainwright (1-0), who gave up four runs in four innings in his first 2019 start after making only eight starts last year due to elbow and hamstring injuries, allowed five hits and no walks while throwing 100 pitches. Jordan Hicks, hitting triple digits with his fastball, got a four-out save with three strikeouts.

Rays 3, Giants 0

Tampa Bay got a second-pitch home run from Yandy Diaz and then dizzied host San Francisco with a variety of unusual strategies in its interleague victory and a series win.

Christian Arroyo had an RBI single against his old team and five pitchers, led by starter Yonny Chirinos (2-0), combined on a five-hitter, sending the Rays to their third series win of the young season. The Giants lost their third straight series.

Rays reliever Adam Kolarek moved from the mound to first base after allowing a leadoff single to open the bottom of the seventh. Chaz Roe came on to strike out Evan Longoria, before Kolarek returned to the mound and got the next two hitters to retain a 2-0 lead. The Rays also used four outfielders on occasion against Brandon Belt, who went 0-for-3.

Phillies 2, Twins 1

Rhys Hoskins hit a two-run home run and Zach Eflin allowed one run over seven innings to pick up his second win of the season and lead host Philadelphia past Minnesota.

Eflin, who pitched five shutout innings in his first start of the season on Tuesday, an 8-2 win at Washington, gave up six hits and no walks while striking out five. He has allowed nine hits and a walk over 12 innings this season while striking out 14 to go with a 0.75 ERA.

Hoskins also doubled and Bryce Harper walked twice as Philadelphia won despite finishing with just four hits. Hector Neris pitched a 1-2-3 ninth and ended the game with back-to-back strikeouts of Jonathan Schoop and Nelson Cruz to pick up his first save.

Tigers 3, Royals 1

Christin Stewart drove in two runs and scored another as streaking Detroit won its fifth straight game by sweeping a three-game series from visiting Kansas City.

Stewart, who hit a grand slam on Saturday, had two hits. Nicholas Castellanos and Jeimer Candelario scored the other runs for Detroit.

Tyson Ross (1-1) recorded his first win with the Tigers, tossing seven strong innings. He allowed one run on five hits while walking one and striking out eight. Shane Greene struck out two in the ninth while recording his seventh save.

Mariners 12, White Sox 5

Daniel Vogelbach and Edwin Encarnacion combined for six hits, three home runs and 10 RBIs to back a solid outing from Wade LeBlanc and lead Seattle past host Chicago.

Vogelbach was 3-for-4 with two home runs and a career-best six RBIs, while Encarnacion had one home run among his three hits and four RBIs as the Mariners won for the ninth time in 11 games to open the season.

LeBlanc (2-0) held the White Sox to two runs on six hits in six innings, walking one and striking out six. White Sox right-hander Ivan Nova struggled in his home debut, allowing seven runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings while scattering two strikeouts and one walk.

Indians 3, Blue Jays 1

Mike Clevinger allowed one hit and struck out 10 over five scoreless innings as host Cleveland completed a four-game series sweep of Toronto.

Cleveland’s Tyler Naquin highlighted his three-hit performance with an RBI single in the first inning that plated Carlos Santana, who had a run-scoring double in the previous at-bat to extend his hitting streak to eight games.

Jose Ramirez added an RBI single with two outs in the fifth inning for the Indians, whose pitching staff recorded 57 strikeouts in the four-game series.

Pirates 7, Reds 5

Josh Bell hit a 474-foot solo blast and added an RBI double as host Pittsburgh topped Cincinnati to sweep their four-game series and hand the visitors their eighth straight defeat.

There were five homers and a benches-clearing incident that led to five ejections in the game. Bell was 2-for-3 with a walk and has two homers and three doubles in the past two games. Derek Dietrich homered twice for the Reds.

Pittsburgh starter Chris Archer (1-0) lasted six innings, allowing three runs and five hits, with seven strikeouts and two walks. Richard Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his first career save.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Harvard Poll: Trump Approval Unchanged in February

President Donald Trump saw his approval remain at 45 percent in a new poll released Tuesday.

Key figures in the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll, the results of which were sent to The Hill:

  • 45 percent approved of the job Trump is doing, the same number from the January survey.
  • 55 percent said they disapprove of the job Trump is doing.
  • 84 percent of Republicans approve of Trump's job performance, while just 14 percent of Democrats said the same.
  • 57 percent of white male voters approve of Trump's job performance.
  • 57 percent approved of the way Trump is handling job creation.
  • 56 percent approved of the way he is handling the economy.
  • In the wake of the government shutdown, however, just 42 percent approved of Trump's handling of administering the government.

"The president's approval has remained steady, pushed up by strong economic performance and weighted down by the clash over immigration and continued controversies," Harvard CAPS/Harris poll co-director Mark Penn said.

Trump is in Vietnam this week for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as the two heads of state continue their discussions around denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.

Source: NewsMax America

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FILE PHOTO: Sri Lankan Special Task Force soldiers stand guard in front of a mosque as a Muslim man walks past him during the Friday prayers at a mosque, days after a string of suicide bomb attacks on Easter Sunday, in Colombo
FILE PHOTO: Sri Lankan Special Task Force soldiers stand guard in front of a mosque as a Muslim man walks past him during the Friday prayers at a mosque, five days after a string of suicide bomb attacks on Catholic churches and luxury hotels across the island on Easter Sunday, in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Tom Lasseter and Shri Navaratnam

KATTANKUDY, Sri Lanka (Reuters) – Mohamed Hashim Mohamed Zahran was 12 years old when he began his studies at the Jamiathul Falah Arabic College. He was a nobody, with no claim to scholarship other than ambition.

Zahran and his four brothers and sisters squeezed into a two-room house with their parents in a small seaside town in eastern Sri Lanka; their father was a poor man who sold packets of food on the street and had a reputation for being a petty thief.

“His father didn’t do much,” recalled the school’s vice principal, S.M. Aliyar, laughing out loud.

The boy surprised the school with his sharp mind. For three years, Zahran practiced memorizing the Koran. Next came his studies in Islamic law. But the more he learned, the more Zahran argued that his teachers were too liberal in their reading of the holy book.

“He was against our teaching and the way we interpreted the Koran – he wanted his radical Islam,” said Aliyar. “So we kicked him out.”

Aliyar, now 73 with a long white beard, remembers the day Zahran left in 2005. “His father came and asked, ‘Where can he go?’.”

The school would hear again of Mohamed Zahran. And the world now knows his name. The Sri Lankan government has identified him as the ringleader of a group that carried out a series of Easter Sunday suicide bombings in the country on April 21.

The blasts killed more than 250 people in churches and luxury hotels, one of the deadliest-ever such attacks in South Asia. There were nine suicide bombers who blew apart men, women and children as they sat to pray or ate breakfast.

Most of the attackers were well-educated and from wealthy families, with some having been abroad to study, according to Sri Lankan officials.

That description does not, however, fit their alleged leader, a man said to be in his early 30s, who authorities say died in the slaughter. Zahran was different.

INTELLIGENCE FAILINGS

Sri Lanka’s national leadership has come under heavy criticism for failing to heed warnings from Indian intelligence services – at least three in April alone – that an attack was pending. But Zahran’s path from provincial troublemaker to alleged jihadist mastermind was marked by years of missed or ignored signals that the man with a thick beard and paunch was dangerous.

His increasingly militant brand of Islam was allowed to grow inside a marginalized minority community – barely 10 percent of the country’s roughly 20 million people are Muslim – against a backdrop of a dysfunctional developing nation.

The top official at the nation’s defense ministry resigned on Thursday, saying that some institutions under his charge had failed.

For much of his adult life, Zahran, 33, courted controversy inside the Muslim community itself.

In the internet age, that problem did not stay local. Zahran released online videos calling for jihad and threatening bloodshed.

After the blasts, Islamic State claimed credit and posted a video of Zahran, clutching an assault rifle, standing before the group’s black flag and pledging allegiance to its leader.

The precise relationship between Zahran and Islamic State is not yet known. An official with India’s security services, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that during a raid on a suspected Islamic State cell by the National Investigation Agency earlier this year officers found copies of Zahran’s videos. The operation was in the state of Tamil Nadu, just across a thin strait of ocean from Sri Lanka.

“LIKE A SPOILED CHILD”

Back in 2005, Zahran was looking to make his way in the world. His hometown of Kattankudy is some seven hours’ drive from Colombo on the other side of the island nation, past the countless palm trees, roadside Buddha statues, cashew hawkers and an occasional lumbering elephant in the bush. It is a town of about 40,000 people, a dot on the eastern coast with no clear future for an impoverished young man who’d just been expelled.

Zahran joined a mosque in 2006, the Dharul Athar, and gained a place on its management committee. But within three years they’d had a falling out.

“He wanted to speak more independently, without taking advice from elders,” said the mosque’s imam, or spiritual leader, M.T.M. Fawaz.

Also, the young man was more conservative, Fawaz said, objecting, for instance, to women wearing bangles or earrings.

“The rest of us come together as community leaders but Zahran wanted to speak for himself,” said Fawaz, a man with broad shoulders lounging with a group of friends in a back office of the mosque after evening prayers. “He was a black sheep who broke free.”

Mohamed Yusuf Mohamed Thaufeek, a friend who met Zahran at school and later became an adherent of his, said the problems revolved around Zahran’s habit of misquoting Islamic scriptures.

The mosque’s committee banned him from preaching for three months in 2009. Zahran stormed off.

“We treated him like a spoiled child, a very narrow-minded person who was always causing some trouble,” said the head of the committee, Mohamed Ismail Mohamed Naushad, a timber supplier who shook his head at the memory.

Now on his own, Zahran began to collect a group of followers who met in what Fawaz described as “a hut”.

At about that time, Zahran, then 23, married a young girl from a small town outside the capital of Colombo and brought his bride back to Kattankudy, according to his sister, Mathaniya.

“I didn’t have much of a connection with her – she was 14,” she said.

Despite being “a bit rough-edged”, Zahran was a skilled speaker and others his age were drawn to his speeches and Koranic lessons, said Thaufeek. He traveled the countryside at times, giving his version of religious instruction as he went.

Also, Zahran had found a popular target: the town’s Sufi population, who practice a form of Islam often described a mystical, but which to conservatives is heresy.

Tensions in the area went back some years. In 2004, there was a grenade attack on a Sufi mosque and in 2006 several homes of Sufis were set afire. Announcements boomed from surrounding mosques at the time calling for a Sufi spiritual leader to be killed, said Sahlan Khalil Rahman, secretary of a trust that oversees a group of Sufi mosques.

He blamed followers of the fundamentalist Wahhabi strain of Islam that some locals say became more popular after funding from Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Wahhabism, flowed to mosques in Kattankudy.

It was, Rahman said, an effort “to convert Sufis into Wahhabis through this terrorism”. Rahman handed over a photograph album showing charred homes, bullet holes sprayed across an office wall and a shrine’s casket upended.

ONLINE RADICAL

It was an ideal backdrop for Zahran’s bellicose delivery and apparent sense of religious destiny.

He began holding rallies, bellowing insults through loudspeakers that reverberated inside the Sufis’ house of worship as they tried to pray.

In 2012, Zahran started a mosque of his own. The Sufis were alarmed and, Rahman said, passed on complaints to both local law enforcement and eventually national government offices. No action was taken.

The then-officer in charge of Kattankudy police, Ariyabandhu Wedagedara, said in a telephone interview that he couldn’t arrest people simply because of theological differences.

     “The problem at the time was between followers of different Islamic sects – Zahran was not a major troublemaker, but he and followers of other sects, including the Sufis, were at loggerheads,” Wedagedara said.

Zahran found another megaphone: the internet. His Facebook page was taken down after the bombings, but Muslims in the area said his video clips had previously achieved notoriety.

His speeches went from denouncing Sufis to “kafirs”, or non-believers, in general. Zahran’s sister, Mathaniya, said in an interview that she thought “his ideas became more radical from listening to Islamic State views on the Internet”.

In one undated video, Zahran, in a white tunic and standing in front of an image of flames, boomed in a loud voice: “You will not have time to pick up the remains of blown-up bodies. We’ll keep sending those insulting Allah to hell.”

“HARD TO TAKE”

Zahran spoke in Tamil, making his words available to young Muslims clicking on their cellphones in Kattankudy and other towns like it during a period when, in both 2014 and 2018, reports and images spread of Sinhalese Buddhists rioting against Muslims in Sri Lanka.

In 2017, Zahran’s confrontations boiled over. At a rally near a Sufi community, his followers came wielding swords. At least one man was hacked and hospitalized. The police arrested several people connected to Zahran, including his father and one of his brothers. Zahran slipped away from public view.

That December, the mosque Zahran founded released a public notice disowning him. Thaufeek, his friend from school, is now the head. He counted the places that Zahran had been driven away from – his school, the Dharul Athar mosque and then, “we ourselves kicked him out, which would have been hard for him to take”.

The next year, a group of Buddha statues was vandalized in the town of Mawanella, about five hours drive from Kattankudy. There, in the lush mountains of Sri Lanka’s interior, Zahran had taken up temporary residence.

“He was preaching to kill people,” said A.G.M. Anees, who has served as an imam at a small mosque in the area for a decade. “This is not Islam, this is violence.”

Zahran went into hiding once more.

On the Thursday morning before the Easter Sunday bombings, Zahran’s sister-in-law knocked on the door of a neighbor who did seamstress work near Kattankudy. She handed over a parcel of fabric and asked for it to be sewn into a tunic by the end of the day.

“She said she was going on a family trip,” said the neighbor, M.H. Sithi Nazlya.

Zahran’s sister says that her parents turned off their cellphones on the Friday. On Sunday, when she visited their home, they were gone.

She does not know if Zahran arranged for them to be taken somewhere safe. Or why he would have carried out the bombing.

But now in Kattankudy, and in many other places, people are talking about Mohamed Hashim Mohamed Zahran.

(Reporting by Tom Lasseter and Shri Navaratnam; Additional reporting by Sanjeev Miglani, Shihar Aneez and Alasdair Pal; Editing by John Chalmers and Alex Richardson)

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A Wells Fargo logo is seen in New York City
FILE PHOTO: A Wells Fargo logo is seen in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith

April 26, 2019

By Jessica DiNapoli and Imani Moise

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co’s board has retained executive search firm Spencer Stuart to hunt for a new chief executive, ideally a woman who can tackle its regulatory and public perception issues, two people familiar with the matter said.

Wells Fargo’s ambition to become the only major U.S. bank with a female CEO underscores the need to restore its image with a wide range of constituents, including customers, shareholders, regulators and politicians, after it became mired in a scandal in 2016 for opening potentially millions of unauthorized accounts.

Former CEO Tim Sloan left abruptly last month, becoming the second CEO to leave the bank in the scandal’s fallout.

The board plans to approach Citigroup Inc’s Latin America chief Jane Fraser, one of the sources said. During Fraser’s 15-year tenure at Citigroup, she has gained experience running consumer and commercial businesses as well as its private bank.

Fraser could not be immediately reached for comment.

The board also discussed approaching JPMorgan Chase & Co’s Marianne Lake, but after the bank named her to run JPMorgan’s consumer lending business last week, that option became less viable, the source added. The board wants someone who can convince regulators, employees, investors and customers that the bank has fixed problems underpinning the sales scandal, the sources said.

The bank’s board feels that choosing a woman might please lawmakers in Washington who have been critical not only of Wells Fargo’s misbehavior, but of the broader banking industry for a lack of diversity and gender equality, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

It also believes that such a move could bolster Wells Fargo’s image with the households of customers where women play a leading role in managing finances, one of the sources added.

The new CEO will also have to resolve litigation and regulatory matters. There are 14 outstanding consent orders with government entities, as well as probes by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Labor and the Department of Justice.

To be sure, Spencer Stuart will approach and consider several male candidates for the CEO job as well, one of the sources said. The top priority is to find an external candidate who can navigate the bank’s regulatory issues, the source added.

Finding an outsider who meets all those qualifications and wants the job will be difficult, the sources said. There are few people with the necessary experience, even fewer of those who are women, and it is not clear if any of the obvious candidates would be open to taking the role.

The sources asked not to be identified because Wells Fargo’s board deliberations are confidential.

Spokespeople for Wells Fargo and Spencer Stuart declined to comment.

Wells Fargo’s board has not made any public statements about its requirements for a new CEO, beyond Chair Betsy Duke saying the job should attract the “top talent in banking.”

The board wants to complete the search within the next three to six months, one of the sources said.

STALLED SHARES

After Sloan’s ouster, Wells Fargo’s board appointed Allen Parker, who had been general counsel, as interim CEO. The board has said it is looking for an external candidate as a permanent replacement. It is not clear whether Parker will stay at the bank.

Others whose names have been mentioned by analysts, recruiters and industry sources as perspective CEO candidates include Alphabet Inc finance chief Ruth Porat and Bank of America Corp’s chief technology officer Cathy Bessant.

Wells Fargo shares have stalled since Sloan’s departure on March 29th, while the KBW Bank index has rallied more than 7 percent.

Wells Fargo would be “the best stock on earth to buy” if it had the right CEO, said Greg Donaldson, chairman of Donaldson Capital Management in Indiana.

Donaldson held about 50,000 Wells Fargo shares, but sold the stake last year as problems mounted. The CEO change could convince him to re-invest, depending on who it is, he told Reuters.

“It would be very smart for them to get a woman,” he said.

(Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli and Imani Moise in New York; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra, Greg Roumeliotis and Susan Thomas)

Source: OANN

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A worker walks on the roof of a new home under construction in Carlsbad
FILE PHOTO: A worker walks on the roof of a new home under construction in Carlsbad, California September 22, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 26, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. economy is growing at a 2.08% annualized pace in the second quarter based on upbeat data on durable goods orders and new home sales in March, the New York Federal Reserve’s Nowcast model showed on Friday.

This was faster than the 1.92% growth rate calculated by the N.Y. Fed model the week before.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Extraordinary European Union leaders summit in Brussels
FILE PHOTO: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte arrives at an extraordinary European Union leaders summit to discuss Brexit, in Brussels, Belgium April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday he had assured China’s Huawei Technologies that it would not face discrimination in the rollout of Italy’s 5G telecoms network.

Conte was speaking on a visit to China where he said he met Huawei’s chief executive, Ren Zhengfei. The prime minister’s comments were carried in Italy by TV broadcaster Sky Italia.

“I told him that we have adopted some precautions, some measures to protect our interests that demand very high levels of security … not only from Huawei but any company entering into the 5G arena,” he said.

Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is under intense scrutiny after the United States told allies not to use its technology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

(Writing by by Mark Bendeich; Editing by Angelo Amante)

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U.S. President Trump departs for travel to Indianapolis from the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Indianapolis, Indiana from the White House in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Friday was expected to announce his intention to revoke the United States’ status as a signatory of the Arms Trade Treaty, which was signed in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama but never ratified by Congress, two U.S. officials said.

Trump was expected to announce the decision in a speech in Indianapolis, to the National Rifle Association, the officials said. The NRA, a powerful gun lobby group, has long been opposed to the treaty, which was negotiated at the United Nations.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: OANN

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