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Explainer: Pros and cons of a customs union for Brexit Britain

FILE PHOTO: British and EU flags flutter outside the Houses of Parliament in London
FILE PHOTO: British and EU flags flutter outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain January 17, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

April 1, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The British parliament will on Monday hold a second round of indicative votes on various Brexit alternatives, and the customs union could emerge as a preferred solution for lawmakers who have rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal.

A customs union would allow an easier flow of goods, but would not itself guarantee frictionless trade and would limit, but not prevent, Britain’s capacity to strike its own free trade deals.

HOW INDEPENDENT?

The European Union is itself a customs union and is also part of three other customs unions with Andorra, San Marino and Turkey.

In the case of Turkey, the arrangement does not include agricultural or coal and steel products. Other goods can circulate without paying customs duties and the whole zone applies the same import duties for products from third countries – such as the 10 percent rate for imported cars.

Unlike a free trade deal, a customs union removes the need for complex rules to determine whether a good is really from a given partner – such as a machine with multiple imported components. Such “rules of origin” can prove costly and time-consuming for exporters.

Being a member of a customs union limits, but does not prevent the separate participants from striking their own free trade agreements with other countries.

Turkey, the junior partner in the customs union with the EU, does face a challenge. The EU’s recent free trade deal with Japan opens Turkey up to inbound Japanese cars without providing reciprocal access for Turkish products to Japan’s market.

The junior customs union partner, which Britain would likely be, can find itself playing catch-up with a reduced bargaining position, given their own market is already open.

Turkey did for example begin a free trade deal covering goods with South Korea in 2013, two years after an EU-South Korea accord came into effect. It remains in exploratory talks with Canada, whose deal with the EU began in 2017.

However, Turkey is free is in those areas not covered by the customs union. So, following their agreement on goods, Turkey and South Korea also struck in 2015 a bilateral deal covering services and investment.

Depending on the nature of an EU-Britain customs union, Britain would still be able to negotiate with others trade access covering its large financial services market, investment, public procurement, data flows and possibly agricultural quotas.

FRICTIONLESS TRADE

Delays that can even extend beyond 24 hours at the EU-Turkish land border show that a customs union in itself is no guarantee of frictionless trade.

Turkish trucks laden with goods bound for the European Union still need to show documents including export declarations and invoices and transport permits for each EU country through which the truck plans to travel.

So far the EU has limited deals on road transport access to countries that accept free movement of people, such as Norway and Switzerland.

The controls come despite Turkey having aligned its legislation with certain EU internal market rules, such as covering product standards, intellectual property rights and competition controls.

Goods also can be subject to inspections at the border to confirm they comply with EU regulations.

HARD IRISH BORDER

A customs union would ease the flow of goods across the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, but would appear unlikely on its own to prevent a hard border.

It would need to go beyond the EU-Turkey union to cover agricultural produce, notably dairy and beef. Britain would then find itself bound to retain EU measures to prevent diseases, pests and contaminants in plants and animals.

The EU and New Zealand already have such an agreement on sanitary measures without yet having a free trade deal, which for example allows New Zealand to export to the EU more than 200,000 tonnes of lamb.

A customs union, together with requirements to meet EU single market rules on products, which would be subject to European Court of Justice control.

Such an enhanced customs union would not so much replace as resemble the “backstop” agreed between London and Brussels, but rejected by British lawmaker, in which Britain would enter a “single customs territory” with the EU and Northern Ireland would be subject to additional EU single market rules.

(This version of the story was refiled to remove extraneous words in second paragraph)

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: OANN

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Cop poses as dead man to nab Tampa woman, 28, accused of distributing heroin, fentanyl

A 28-year-old Tampa woman was charged with distributing heroin and fentanyl leading to a death, according to investigators -- who said they nabbed her with the help of an undercover officer who posed as a dead man.

United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez said in a statement that Joamary Rosario allegedly “sold 10 plastic bags — each of which contained a substance composed of a mixture of heroin, fentanyl, and acetyl fentanyl” — to a man who died in early November.

The next night an undercover law enforcement officer posed as the dead man to nab Rosario, who “was arrested and found to be in possession of three more bags of the same substance,” the release said.

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If convicted, Rosario faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 20 years, and up to life, in federal prison.

The case, investigators said, was part of the Middle District of Florida’s anti-opioid strategy to combat opioid trafficking and abuse.

Source: Fox News National

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Bouteflika at bay: Why protesters are taking on Algeria’s ruling system

FILE PHOTO: Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika looks at journalists after casting his ballot during the parliamentary election in Algiers
FILE PHOTO: Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika looks at journalists after casting his ballot during the parliamentary election in Algiers, Algeria, May 4, 2017. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo

March 21, 2019

By Lamine Chikhi and Aidan Lewis

ALGIERS/CAIRO (Reuters) – Protests that brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets in Algeria over the past month led President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to scrap plans to run for a fifth term.

He postponed an election originally set for April and announced that experts would oversee a transition to a “new system” in coming months. Protesters say this is not enough.

WHAT CAUSED THE PROTESTS?

The immediate cause was Bouteflika’s candidacy. Calls for protests spread after it was confirmed on Feb. 10. Mass rallies began on Feb. 22, and numbers rose over the following two Fridays. After Bouteflika abandoned plans to stand but stopped short of stepping down — raising the prospect that he would stay in power for the rest of the year — the protests swelled.

More broadly, protests drew on frustration among millions of Algerians who feel politically and economically excluded, and resentment against an aging and secretive elite that has controlled Algeria since independence from France in 1962.

President since 1999, Bouteflika became a symbol of an independence generation that clung to power. He oversaw a return to stability after a civil war in the 1990s but in his second decade in power was incapacitated and mostly absent from public life, fuelling a sense of drift and decline.

Plans to diversify the economy away from oil stalled in a sclerotic system many saw as corrupt and riven with cronyism.

HOW DID BOUTEFLIKA SURVIVE SO LONG?

Major Islamist groups were discredited by the 1990s war and along with a liberal opposition were coopted or excluded when it ended. As the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) reasserted itself, political apathy set in and election turnouts dropped.

When uprisings swept the region in 2011, Algeria used a heavy security and oil money to curtail demonstrations.

There were frequent local protests, but these demanded state resources, not political change. Factional battles played out in the domestic media, relatively free by regional standards. Then, as now, neither ruling elite factions nor Bouteflika and his entourage appeared able to agree on a succession plan.

WHO HAS BEEN RUNNING THE COUNTRY?

Bouteflika has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, but by then he had already sidelined or outlived the generals who brought him to power. General Mohamed “Toufik” Mediene, head of military intelligence and the man widely seen to be the real center of power in Algeria, departed in 2015.

While the army remained Algeria’s most powerful institution, an informal clique around the presidency amassed more influence, including Bouteflika’s younger brother Said. An emerging business elite profiting from surging oil income also benefited.

WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE SCENARIOS NOW?

Bouteflika announced that an “independent and inclusive” national conference would draft and new constitution and set a date for elections, and should conclude its work by the end of the year. An interim, technocratic government is being formed.

But this plan has been cast into doubt as Bouteflika’s position has weakened. Protesters want him to step down when his five-year term ends in April and say their goal is sustain pressure and prevent infiltration from “Bouteflika’s system”.

Chief of staff Gaed Salah has said the army should take responsibility for solving the crisis but so far it has been waiting in the wings. The army is more reluctant to intervene directly than in the past. Its decision to cancel parliamentary elections in 1992 that Islamists were poised to win triggered the conflict that left up to 200,000 people dead.

Islamism is in decline, and a new leader may come from the political mainstream. Ahmed Benbitour, a former prime minister, and Mustapha Bouchachi, a rights activist and lawyer, are among those emerging as protest leaders.

WHAT CHALLENGES DO PROTESTERS FACE?

Protesters are trying to remain peaceful. From the start, they have worried that factions within the security forces may provoke violence to discredit protesters, or that demonstrations could turn violent when protesters’ demands are not met.

Another challenge is to find leaders with enough experience and broad support — those who served under Bouteflika may be discredited in the eyes of protesters.

Protesters fear that factions holding power and associated patronage networks will look to survive even as they abandon Bouteflika. Most observers believe that while Bouteflika and his clique will leave power, the system around them will remain.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Algeria is Africa’s biggest country by landmass and has a population of more than 40 million. It is a major oil and gas producer and OPEC member, and a top supplier of gas to Europe.

Western states see Algeria as a counter-terrorism partner. It is a significant military player in North Africa and the Sahel, and diplomatically involved in crises in Mali and Libya.

Algeria also backs the Polisario Front independence movement in Western Sahara, in opposition to its neighbor Morocco.

(Writing by Aidan Lewis, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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UK might have to hold European Parliament elections: Brexit minister

Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Stephen Barclay speaks in the Parliament in London
Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Stephen Barclay speaks in the Parliament in London, Britain April 3, 2019, in this screen grab taken from video. Reuters TV via REUTERS

April 4, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Brexit minister said he could not rule out the possibility of the country taking part in next month’s elections for the European Parliament, despite the damage that could inflict on the British political system.

“To have European parliamentary elections three years after the country voted to leave would be damaging to our politics as a whole,” Stephen Barclay told parliament on Thursday.

But such a prospect could not be ruled out, he said.

“If we are a member of the European Union, then under treaty law we will be required to have European parliamentary elections,” Barclay said.

Prime Minister Theresa May has said she does not want Britain to take part in the elections but that might happen if she has to extend Brexit beyond its latest scheduled date of April 12.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Andy Bruce; Writing by William Schomberg. Editing by Andrew MacAskill)

Source: OANN

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Oil prices dip as U.S. crude output hits record 12 million barrels per day

FILE PHOTO: A Canadian Natural Resources pump jack pumps oil out of the ground near Dorothy
FILE PHOTO: A Canadian Natural Resources pump jack pumps oil out of the ground near Dorothy, Alberta, Canada, June 30, 2009. REUTERS/Todd Korol/File Photo

February 22, 2019

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Friday after the United States reported its crude output hit a record 12 million barrels per day (bpd), undermining efforts by Middle East dominated producer club OPEC to withhold supply and tighten global markets.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $56.85 per barrel at 0010 GMT, down 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last settlement.

International Brent crude futures had yet to trade.

U.S. crude oil production reached 12 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first time last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Thursday in a weekly report.

(GRAPHIC: U.S. oil production & storage levels – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Vanxza)

That means U.S. crude output has soared by almost 2.5 million bpd since the start of 2018, and by a whopping 5 million bpd since 2013. America is the only country to reach 12 million bpd of production.

As output surges, U.S. oil stocks are also rising.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories rose by 3.7 million barrels in the week ending Feb. 15, to 454.5 million barrels, the EIA said.

Analysts say U.S. oil firms will export more oil to sell off surplus stocks.

“The continued surge in U.S. production stands as a bearish dynamic for market prices, especially as increasing volumes get sold abroad in a direct challenge to Saudi Arabia and Russia,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York.

For now, at least, the price dips have halted a rally that pushed crude to 2019 highs this week amid supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

OPEC and some non-affiliated producers such as Russia agreed late last year to cut output by 1.2 million bpd to prevent a large supply overhang from growing.

Another price driver has been U.S. sanctions against oil exporters Iran and Venezuela.

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Joseph Radford)

Source: OANN

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More details promised in deaths of 4 at North Dakota company

Police in North Dakota are planning to release more information in the deaths of four people whose bodies were found Monday at a property management company in Mandan.

Authorities called a midday news conference to discuss the slaying of three men and one woman whose bodies were found at RJR Maintenance and Management. Police haven't identified the victims or said how they were killed.

Chief Jason Ziegler says police don't have a motive and the killer is not among the dead. But he's also said police believe the public isn't in danger.

The business was quiet Tuesday morning, with only one officer visibly on scene and a few people showing up to pay rent.

Apartment renter Henry Wilson says he's saddened by what happened.

Source: Fox News National

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Tokyo’s drive to expel zombie stocks hits small caps

FILE PHOTO: Attendees take pictures of a stock quotation board after a ceremony marking the end of trading in 2018 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO: Attendees take pictures of a stock quotation board after a ceremony marking the end of trading in 2018 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Tokyo, Japan December 28, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

February 20, 2019

By Hideyuki Sano and Tomo Uetake

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s push to weed out small and weak firms from its main board could take years, but some fund managers are already ditching small-caps for fear they could be excluded from benchmarks.

Asia’s second largest stock exchange is expected to unveil a plan in coming months to revamp its stock market structure, in part a response to criticism that it has too many listed firms on the main board, seen as the blue ribbon segment of the bourse, and its Topix index.

“It’s good that the TSE wants to do something about the Topix index, which appears to be making Japan look full of zombie companies,” said Toru Ohara, chief investment officer at Okasan Asset Management.

“A stock market benchmark is a strategic product for a country. Having a strong stock index is one of the cheapest ways to boost the economy,” he said.

In November, there were 2,119 firms on the TSE’s first section – that compares with 292 in Euronext’s compartment A and 500 in London Stock Exchange’s Premium Listing.

And it’s not far off the 2,434 in the New York Stock Exchange in the United States, whose economy is almost four times bigger than Japan’s.

Unlike the main bourses of Wall Street and elsewhere – where the numbers of listings have shrunk due to mergers, failures to meet listing standards and bankruptcies – Tokyo’s list of counters has risen over the last three decades.

Additionally, there has been less shareholder pressure in Japan for companies to boost profits while the exchange’s exit rules are considered relatively lax.

As a result, about a third of main board’s counters are now valued at below the 25 billion yen ($226 million) mark the exchange itself sets as a minimum for new listings. Many of them also trade below their book value.

SMALL CAP WHACK

Some fund managers have already started to take the TSE’s reform drive into consideration.

“That is something investors keep in some corner of their mind,” said Yas Iwanaga, chief investment officer at Amundi Japan.

Indeed, small caps have underperformed the overall market since November, when an external panel set up by TSE to look into the issue proposed the exchange should consider having stricter rules for companies to stay on the main board.

The Topix Small, an index of all listed firms excluding top 500 companies, has fallen 5.4 percent, compared with a 2.6 percent fall in the Topix.

The Topix Small Value fared worse, falling 5.6 percent.

“I wouldn’t say small cap shares will be deserted forever. If they become cheaper, there will be some buying,” said Amundi’s Iwanaga.

Japan small cap shares: https://tmsnrt.rs/2BAcF6k

While some analysts attribute the small cap underperformance to global demand for bigger stocks, most agree a major change at the TSE would have a huge impact on markets.

“It would be such an easy, tradable idea. Small, value shares would come under major pressure,” said Masahiro Suzuki, senior quantitative analyst at Daiwa Securities.

At the same time, many investors believe attempts to trim the main board would meet corporate opposition given the prestige such listings hold in Japan.

Main board firms have better access to bank loans and are seen attracting top talent more easily.

“It even affects staff at those companies, because it is easier for people working for the main board companies to get housing loans for instance,” said an executive at asset management firm, who declined to be identified as he is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. “You should expect very strong resistance.”

It would also be difficult to get consensus on criteria for the main board. Many investors worry that market capitalization thresholds would exclude some promising companies.

Given likely resistance, some market participants think a better solution for the TSE would be to create a new elite market above the first section, rather than kicking out existing companies.

Akiya Kiyota, CEO of Japan Exchange Group, which runs TSE, has said he personally thinks there are too many markets now, noting the current four: the first and second sections and two start-up markets.

But he has so far steered clear of saying how he wants to streamline and when he plans to make changes, citing ongoing discussion at the panel.

(Reporting by Hideyuki Sano & Tomo Uetake; Editing by Sam Holmes)

Source: OANN

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

April 26, 2019

By Rupam Jain and Hameed Farzad

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani encouraged newly-elected lawmakers to participate in the peace process with the Taliban as he opened on Friday the first session of parliament since a controversial election.

Ghani has invited thousands of politicians, religious scholars and rights activists to an assembly known as a loya jirga next week to discuss ways to end the 17-year war.

Several opposition leaders have said they will boycott the four-day assembly in Kabul, saying it was pulled together without their input and is being used by Ghani as he seeks a second term in a September presidential election.

“We have presented the peace plan on a regular basis and we are committed to it,” Ghani said in the first session since parliamentary elections marred by technical problems, militant attacks and accusations of voting fraud last year.

“Based on this plan, there will be no peace deal and negotiation that does not have the green card of the parliament,” he added.

Officials from the United States and the Taliban have held several rounds of talks to end the Afghan war.

U.S. negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, has reported some progress toward an accord on a U.S. troop withdrawal and on how the Taliban would prevent extremists from using Afghanistan to launch attacks as al Qaeda did on Sept. 11, 2001.

The insurgents have so far rejected U.S. demands for a ceasefire and talks on the country’s political future that would include Afghan government officials.

The loya jirga, a centuries-old institution used to build consensus among competing tribes, factions and ethnic groups, is an attempt by Ghani to influence the peace talks and cement his position for a second term, Afghan politicians and Western diplomats say.

Amid growing political divisions in Kabul, opposition politicians have demanded that Ghani step down when his mandate ends next month, and give way to an interim government to oversee peace talks with the Taliban. Ghani has ruled that out.

The country’s top court said last week Ghani can stay in office until the presidential election in September.

(Reporting by Hameed Farzad, Rupam Jain, Editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Thursday defended special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation while slamming former President Barack Obama’s administration for being slow to take action on Russian interference in U.S. elections and ex-FBI Director James Comey for telling Congress the agency was investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“Our nation is safer, elections are more secure, and citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence schemes,” Rosenstein said in a speech to the Armenian Bar Association, marking his first public remarks after the Mueller report was released, reports CBS News.

He also pointed out that the investigation revealed a pattern of computer hacking and the use of social media to undermine elections as “only the tip of the iceberg of a comprehensive Russian strategy to influence elections, promote social discord, and undermine America, just like they do in many other countries,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

The Obama administration also made “critical decisions,” including choosing not to publicize the full story about Russian hackers and social media trolling, “and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America,” said Rosenstein.

He noted that the Mueller probe began after Comey disclosed during a hearing before Congress that President Donald Trump “pressured him to close the investigation and the president denied that the conversation occurred.”

Rosenstein said two years ago, when he was confirmed, he was told by a Republican senator that he would be in charge of the probe and that he’d report the results to the American people.

However, he said he didn’t promise to do that, because it is “not our job to render conclusive factual findings. We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei's factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province
FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei’s factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – Britain must get to the bottom of the leak of confidential discussions during a top-level security meeting about the role of China’s Huawei Technologies in 5G network supply chains, British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday.

News that Britain’s National Security Council, attended by senior ministers and spy chiefs, had agreed on Tuesday to bar Huawei from all core parts of the country’s 5G network and restrict its access to non-core elements was leaked to a national newspaper.

The leak of secret discussions has sparked anger in parliament and amongst Britain’s intelligence community. Britain’s most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill has launched an inquiry and written to ministers who were at the meeting.

“My understanding from London (is) that an investigation has been announced into apparent leaks from the NSC meeting earlier this week,” said Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of a summit on China’s Belt and Road initiative in Beijing.

“To my knowledge there has never been a leak from a National Security Council meeting before and therefore I think it is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened here,” he told Reuters in a pooled interview.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday he could not rule out a criminal investigation. The majority of the ministers at the NSC meeting have said they were not involved, according to media reports.

Hammond said he was unaware of any previous leak from a meeting of the NSC.

“It’s not about the substance of what was apparently leaked. It’s not earth-shattering information. But it is important that we protect the principle that nothing that goes on in national security council meetings must ever be repeated outside the room.”

Allowing Huawei a reduced role in building its 5G network puts Britain at odds with the United States which has told allies not to use its technology at all because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

There have been concerns that the NSC’s conclusion, which sources confirmed to Reuters, could upset other allies in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network – the Five Eyes alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

However, British ministers and intelligence officials have said any final decision on 5G would not put critical national infrastructure at risk. Ciaran Martin, head of the cyber center of Britain’s main eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, played down any threat of a rift in the Five Eyes alliance.

(Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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President Trump on Friday said “no money” was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, after reports that the U.S. received a $2 million hospital bill from Pyongyang for the late American prisoner’s care.

“No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else. This is not the Obama Administration that paid 1.8 Billion Dollars for four hostages, or gave five terroist[sic] hostages plus, who soon went back to battle, for traitor Sgt. Bergdahl!” Trump tweeted Friday.

NORTH KOREA GAVE US $2M HOSPITAL BILL OVER CARE OF AMERICAN OTTO WARMBIER, SOURCES SAY

The Washington Post first reported that North Korean authorities insisted the U.S. envoy sent to retrieve Warmbier, 21, who was a student of the University of Virginia, sign a pledge to pay the bill before allowing Warmbier’s comatose body to return to the United States. Sources confirmed the bill and the amount to Fox News on Thursday.

Sources told the post that the envoy signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions from the president, but a source told Fox News that the U.S. did not ever pay money to North Korea.

The White House declined to comment when asked on the bill, with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying in a statement that: “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration.”

Meanwhile, the president added: “’President[sic] Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.’ Cheif[sic] Hostage Negotiator, USA!”

Warmbier was on tour in North Korea when he allegedly stole a propaganda sign from a hotel. He was arrested in January 2016 and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in March 2016. Warmbier, for unknown reasons, fell into a coma while in custody and was held in that condition for an additional 17 months.

North Korean officials did not tell American officials until June 2017 that Warmbier had been unconscious the entire time. He died less than a week after he returned to the U.S. North Korean officials, though, have repeatedly denied accusations that Warmbier was tortured, instead claiming that he had suffered from botulism and then slipped into a coma after taking a sleeping pill.

AMERICAN PRISONERS HELD IN NORTH KOREA ON THEIR WAY HOME AFTER POMPEO VISIT, TRUMP SAYS

Fred and Cindy Warmbier sued North Korea over their son’s death and in December were awarded $501 million in damages – money that the Hermit Kingdom will probably never pay.

While the Warmbiers blamed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump has said he believes Kim’s claims that he did not know about the student’s treatment.

Trump and Kim have met in two separate summits. The most recent, held in February, ended without an agreement on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told Fox News: “Otto Warmbier was mistreated by North Korea in so many ways, including his wrongful conviction and harsh sentence, and the fact that for 16 months they refused to tell his family or our country about his dire condition they caused.  No, the United States owes them nothing. They owe the Warmbier family everything.”

Last year, the Trump administration was also able to save three American prisoners held by North Korea. Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim, and Kim Hak Song were all detained in North Korea. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brought the three Americans home last May, and said they were all in “good health.”

Fox News’ John Roberts, Rich Edson, Nicholas Kalman, and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon
Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon, South Korea, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

April 26, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – K-pop and drama star Park Yu-chun was arrested on Friday on charges of buying and using illegal drugs, a court said, the latest in a series of scandals to hit the South Korean entertainment business.

Suwon District Court approved the arrest warrant for Park, 32, due to concerns over possible destruction of evidence and flight risk, a court spokesman told Reuters.

Park is suspected of having bought about 1.5 grams of methamphetamine with his former girlfriend earlier this year and using the drug around five times, an official at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said.

Park has denied wrongdoing, saying he had never taken drugs, and he again denied the charges in court, Yonhap news agency said.

Park’s contract with his management agency had been canceled and he would leave the entertainment industry, Park’s management agency, C-JeS Entertainment, said on Wednesday.

Park was a member of boyband TVXQ between 2003 and 2009 before leaving the group with two other members, forming the group JYJ.

A scandal involving sex tapes, prostitutes and secret chat about rape led at least four other K-pop stars to quit the industry earlier this year.

The cases sparked a nationwide drugs bust and investigations into tax evasion and police collusion at night clubs and other nightlife spots.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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