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Dems Blaming Trump’s Immigration Policies on White House Advisor Stephen Miller

A growing number of House Democrats are targeting White House senior adviser Stephen Miller and his influence on the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.

“Steve Miller, who seems to be the boss of everybody on immigration, ought to come before Congress and explain some of these policies,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said Sunday, according to The Washington Post. Nadler, whom President Donald Trump refers to as “fat Jerry,” is one of several House Democrats who have criticized the administration’s latest immigration proposal.

The White House, on more than one occasion, pushed the Department of Homeland Security on an idea that consisted of bussing illegal immigrants and dropping them off in cities that refuse to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — otherwise known as “sanctuary cities.” Miller reportedly pitched the proposal.

The firestorm that followed reports of the proposal has generated more focus on Miller, a close Trump confidant since the 2016 election. The California native has been behind a number of the president’s most notable immigration policies, such as the U.S.-Mexico border wall, the travel ban against numerous Muslim-majority countries and the “zero tolerance policy.”


White House senior advisor Stephen Miller shines light on the need for border security.

House Democrats might call on Miller to testify in a House committee.

Kathleen Rice, the chairwoman of the House Homeland Security subcommittee on border security, facilities and operations, argues the senior adviser must appear at her panel to “make his case for these terrible policies to the American people instead of being this shadow puppeteer.”

“It’s clear that he’s the one pulling the strings,” Rice, a Democratic representative from New York, said. “And if he’s going to continue advocating for these policies and personnel changes, then he needs to come before the American people and explain himself. He has to be held accountable.”

(Photo by Sgt. Gordon Hyde / Wiki)

However, it’s not certain that committee chairmen in the Democratic-controlled House can force Miller to the microphone.

Lawmakers do not typically call on White House advisers to testify before Congress, and presidents are able to cite constitutional separation of powers when declining to allow their executives be made available to committees.


While speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Bernie Sanders attempted to smear the President by accusing him of betraying the working class in America. Alex exposes this fake news from the left.

Source: InfoWars

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Global steel demand slows as China economy falters and trade war hits

Steel pipes to be exported are seen at a port in Lianyungang
FILE PHOTO: Steel pipes to be exported are seen at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China December 8, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

April 16, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Growth in global steel demand will weaken over the next two years because of slowing economies, sluggish manufacturing in China and the Sino-U.S. trade war, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) said on Tuesday.

Demand growth will decline to 1.3 percent in 2019 and 1 percent next year, following 2018’s 2.1 percent, the association said.

China, which consumes about half the world’s steel, has seen its economy decelerate mildly while the government continues to steer the country away from investment-led to consumption-led growth, worldsteel said in a statement.

A damaging and long-standing trade conflict between the United States and China has also hurt investment sentiment.

“In 2019 and 2020, global steel demand is expected to continue to grow, but growth rates will moderate in tandem with a slowing global economy,” said Al Remeithi, chairman of the worldsteel economics committee.

Worldsteel pegged demand this year at 1.735 billion tonnes, followed by 1.752 billion tonnes in 2020.

“Uncertainty over the trade environment and volatility in the financial markets have not yet subsided and could pose downside risks to this forecast,” Remeithi warned.

Demand in 2018 and 2019 was cushioned by mild government stimulus in China, the effects of which will subside next year, worldsteel said.

Expectations that the government will boost stimulus measures to support infrastructure projects pushed China’s Shanghai steel futures to a 7-1/2-year high on Monday.

China’s state planner last week drew up a plan for urbanization, including improvements to infrastructure projects in medium-sized and small cities and an expansion of transportation systems.

Elsewhere, demand growth in developed economies is expected to slow to 0.3 percent this year and 0.7 percent in 2020 after last year’s 1.8 percent, reflecting a deteriorating trade environment, worldsteel said.

Demand from developing economies excluding China will rise 2.9 percent and 4.6 percent in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

(Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by Dale Hudson)

Source: OANN

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Indian consumers face post-election fuel price shock, economy could be hit

A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai
FILE PHOTO: A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai, India, May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

April 26, 2019

By Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Surging global oil prices will pose a first big challenge to India’s new government, whoever wins an election now under way, especially as domestic prices have been allowed to lag, meaning consumers are in for a painful surge as they catch up.

For oil-import dependent India, higher global prices could lead to a weaker rupee, higher inflation, the ruling out of interest rate cuts and could further weigh on twin current account and budget deficits, economists warned.

But compounding the future pain, state-run fuel suppliers and retailers have held off passing on to consumers the higher prices during a staggered general election, which began on April 11 and ends on May 23, according to sources familiar with the situation.

That delay is expected to be unwound once the election is over. And there could be additional price increases to make up for losses or profits missed during the period of delayed increases, the sources said.

In some major Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, pump prices are adjusted periodically so they move largely in tandem with international crude prices.

That was what was supposed to happen in India but the election means there have been many days when pump prices have been unchanged.

In New Delhi, for example, while crude oil prices have gone up by nearly $9 a barrel, or about 12 percent, in the past six weeks, gasoline prices have only risen by 0.47 rupees a liter, or 0.6 percent.

State-controlled fuel suppliers and retailers declined to say why they had delayed price increases, or discuss whether there has been any pressure from the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A government spokesman declined to comment.

The opposition Congress party said Modi’s government was violating its own policy of daily price revision by advising the state oil companies to hold prices steady.

“The government should cut fuel taxes otherwise consumers will have to pay much higher oil prices once the elections are over,” said Akhilesh Pratap Singh, a senior leader of the Congress party.

(GRAPHIC: India Polls: Fuel price hike lags crude surge – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XLlxik)

Nitin Goyal, treasurer at the All India Petroleum Dealers Association, representing fuel stations in 25 states, said prices were similarly held down for 19 days in the southern state of Karnataka last year, when it held state assembly elections.

Only for them to surge after the vote.

“Consumers should be ready for a rude shock of a massive jump in retail prices, similar to the level we have seen in the Karnataka state election,” Goyal said.

‘CREDIT NEGATIVE’

Sri Paravaikkarasu, director for Asia oil at Singapore-based consultancy FGE, said retail prices of gasoline and gasoil prices would have been up to 6 percent, or about 4 rupee, higher if they had been allowed to rise in line with global prices.

“Indian pump prices have failed to keep up with the recent uptrend in crude prices,” Paravaikkarasu said.

“With the country’s general elections underway, the incumbent government has been keeping pump prices relatively unchanged.”

India had switched to a daily price revision in June 2017 from a revision every two weeks, as the government allowed retailers to set prices.

But the government faced protests last October when retailers raised prices by up to 10 rupees a liter after the crude oil price went above $80 a barrel, forcing it to cut fuel taxes.

Global prices rose to their highest level in 2019 on Thursday, days after the United States announced all Iran sanction waivers would end by May, pressuring importers including India to stop buying Tehran’s oil. [O/R]

Higher oil prices will mean Asia’s third largest economy is likely to see growth of less than 7 percent rate this fiscal year, economists said. Growth slowed to 6.6 percent in the October-December quarter, the slowest in five quarters.

Rating agency CARE has warned that a 10 percent rise in global oil prices could increase demand for dollars, putting pressure on the rupee and widening the current account deficit.

India’s oil import bill rose by nearly one-third in the fiscal year ending March 31 to $140.5 billion, against $108 billion the previous year.

“The increase in international oil prices is a credit negative for the Indian economy,” ICRA, the Indian arm of the Fitch rating agency, said in a note.

“Every $10/ bbl increase in crude oil prices increases the fiscal deficit by about 0.1 percent of GDP.”

Any big price rise would also build a case for the central bank to keep rates steady, or even raise them.

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee, which cut the benchmark policy repo rate by 25 basis points this month, warned that rising oil and food prices could push up inflation.

Policymakers are worried that a sustained increase in the oil price in the range of $70-75/barrel or higher can move the rupee down by 3-4 percent on an annual basis.

The rupee has depreciated by 1.24 percent against the dollar since a year high in mid-March.

($1 = 70.1800 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Martin Howell and Rob Birsel)

Source: OANN

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Gangster who's last surviving link to mysterious $500M art heist nears prison release

An 82-year-old gangster’s imminent release from prison is reigniting interest in the world’s biggest unsolved art heist.

Federal officials believe Robert “The Cook” Gentile has information about the $500 million heist in 1990 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, but the almost-free wiseguy insists he knows nothing. He has been described as the last surviving person of interest in the case.

Gentile is scheduled to be sprung March 17 at the conclusion of a federal prison sentence for an unrelated weapons possession charge, according to the Associated Press.

AGING MOBSTER STAYS MUM ON POSSIBLE ROLE IN $500M GARDNER ART HEIST

On March 18, 1990, thieves posing as cops cuffed two security guards and made off with 13 valuable works of art by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet and Degas worth more than half a billion dollars.

The paintings, which included Rembrandt’s only known seascape -- Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee -- and Vermeer’s The Concert have never been found.

In 2013, the feds searched Gentile’s home in Connecticut in 2012 and found a handwritten list of the stolen works and their estimated worth on the black market.

Prosecutors said a polygraph showed Gentile was almost certainly lying when he denied knowing where the paintings were.

These sketches, released by the FBI, show the two male suspects who authorities say stole an estimated $500 million in famous paintings from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on March 18, 1990. One was said to be wearing a fake mustache during the heist.

These sketches, released by the FBI, show the two male suspects who authorities say stole an estimated $500 million in famous paintings from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on March 18, 1990. One was said to be wearing a fake mustache during the heist.

Two years ago an independent art investigator told Fox News he was convinced the stolen artwork was in the possession of associates with the Irish Republican Army somewhere in Ireland.

MAN LINKED TO ART HEIST FACES SENTENCING IN WEAPONS CASE

"I have been talking with several former IRA members -- individuals I've built a trust with over the years," investigator Arthur Brand said. "I'm convinced they are there. The Ireland angle has been one of the most promising leads from the beginning."

The painting "Chez Tortoni" by Manet was one of 13 items stolen from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. The artworks have never been recovered.

The painting "Chez Tortoni" by Manet was one of 13 items stolen from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. The artworks have never been recovered.

The museum's website tells the story of the heist.

“Today empty frames remain hanging in the museum as a placeholder for the missing works and as symbols of hope awaiting their return,” says one panel.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

There is also a $10 million reward for information leading directly to the recovery of the art.

Source: Fox News National

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Mercedes Schlapp: 'Strong Legal Grounds' for Border Declaration

President Donald Trump and his administration believe there are "strong legal grounds" behind the decision to declare the border situation a national emergency and that Trump had the presidential authority to take the action, White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp said Monday.

"Congress has the statutes and it has been used before over 50 times since 1976," Schlapp told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "What we're seeing right now at the border is an emergency."

In addition, Border Patrol agents are having difficulty having enough operational support to secure the border, said Schlapp.

Schlapp also commented on Trump's statement at the Rose Garden Friday that he didn't "have to" go the route of a national emergency, saying that he didn't want to choose the route he took.

"He wanted to see if Congress would negotiate a better deal," said Schlapp. "They, of course, fell short with pushing forward $1.375 billion toward the physical barrier. That is better than the zero or less than $1 Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi was willing to offer."

There also are several pots of money the president can start using even while legal challenges mount to his declaration, including from the departments of Treasury and Defense.

"This is an opportunity to really be able to build these physical barriers in much-needed areas," she said. "We can start building immediately and start working with our contractors. The president met last week with the generals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to get the process going. The president wants to move fast."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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UK PM May’s ‘reckless’ Brexit message angers the lawmakers she needs to win over

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement about Brexit in Downing Street in London
FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement about Brexit in Downing Street in London, Britain March 20, 2019. Jonathan Brady/Pool via REUTERS

March 21, 2019

By Kylie MacLellan

LONDON (Reuters) – If British Prime Minister Theresa May hoped a televised address late on Wednesday would help persuade wavering lawmakers to support her Brexit deal, it appears to have backfired, instead alienating the very people she needs to win over.

On Thursday, lawmakers lined up to attack the statement in which May blamed parliament for the need to seek a delay to Britain’s March 29 European Union exit. They branded it dangerous, reckless, toxic and irresponsible.

May’s Brexit deal has twice been crushed by parliament, first in January in the largest government defeat in modern history and again this month by a smaller, yet still sizeable, margin. She needs to win over at least 75 lawmakers to get it through.

“The Prime Minister’s statement was disgraceful,” said opposition Labour lawmaker Lisa Nandy, who represents a Brexit-supporting area. “Pitting parliament against the people in the current environment is dangerous and reckless,” she added on Twitter. “She’s attacking the MPs (Members of Parliament) whose votes she needs. It will have cost her support.”

Nandy had put forward a proposal which backed May’s deal on the condition parliament has a greater say in the next phase of Brexit talks, but told ITV: “I will not support a government that takes such a dangerous, reckless approach to democracy.”

After writing to the EU on Wednesday to request a three-month delay to Brexit, May told Britons parliament had done “everything possible to avoid making a choice”.

“Of this I am absolutely sure: you the public have had enough. You are tired of the infighting. You are tired of the political games and the arcane procedural rows,” she said in the televised statement from her Downing Street office.

“You want this stage of the Brexit process to be over and done with. I agree. I am on your side. It is now time for MPs to decide.”

May’s statement succeeded in uniting both pro-Brexit and pro-EU lawmakers – against her.

“If you are trying to persuade numbers of MPs to back a proposition, you don’t do that by insulting them,” pro-Brexit Conservative lawmaker Mark Francois told Sky News.

Conservative Sam Gyimah, who quit as a government minister over the Brexit deal and now supports a second referendum, said May resorting to a “blame game” was “all part of her strategy to run down the clock and rule out other options. Toxic.”

“DIAL DOWN THE HATE”

Several lawmakers said they had received death threats in recent weeks as Brexit has come to a head in parliament, and warned May’s comments had fueled the flames.

“Last week I received a message saying that my head should be chopped off,” said Labour lawmaker Paula Sherriff, who represents an electoral district neighboring one where Labour lawmaker Jo Cox was killed by a man obsessed with extreme right-wing ideology a week before the 2016 Brexit vote.

“I apprehended the prime minister last Thursday evening and I begged her ‘dial down the hate prime minister,'” she told parliament. “People are frightened … and the prime minister must show some leadership.”

Fellow Labour lawmaker Wes Streeting said May’s speech had been incendiary, warning on Twitter “If any harm comes to any of us, she will have to accept her share of responsibility.”

Asked about the suggestion May’s speech had put lawmakers at risk, her spokeswoman said: “I would flatly reject that.”

“It was a message to the public on a significant decision she has taken,” she said.

In response to the concerns, parliament’s Speaker, John Bercow, told lawmakers: “None of you is a traitor, all of you are doing your best … I believe passionately in the institution of parliament, in the rights of members of this House and in their commitment to their duty.”

“The sole duty of every member of parliament is to do what he or she thinks is right.”

(Editing by Stephen Addison)

Source: OANN

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McCabe: I don't 'hate' Trump despite his attacks on my wife

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was asked during a television interview Tuesday if he “hates” President Trump, specifically regarding the president's repeated verbal attacks on McCabe's wife.

McCabe alleges that during a phone conversation, the president mocked Jill McCabe’s failed run for a Virginia state Senate seat, asking the then-top FBI official what’s it’s like for her to be a “loser.”

Trump denied that he said “anything bad” about Mrs. McCabe aside from her taking money from Clinton allies during her campaign.

McCabe called Trump’s tweet “absolutely false on so many counts.”

“We don’t have to go far to look at the horrendous, slanderous, and defamatory things that this president has said about my wife going back to October of 2016. There’s a long and illustrious history there,” McCabe told MSNBC's "The Last Word" host Lawrence O’Donnell. “He brought her up in his comments to the press conference he gave at the United Nations. I mean, think about it. Imagine you’re my wife driving home from work and that’s what you hear reported on the news. It’s just been utterly horrible.”

“Do you hate this guy?” O’Donnell asked.

“Wow, that’s a really tough question,” McCabe responded. “I’m going to have to say no. I didn’t think about it that way. I really hated the things he said about my wife, I’m not gonna lie to you. That is incredibly hard to hear, that’s incredibly hard not to react to in the way that any man wants to defend his wife. But honestly, in that moment, I couldn’t give myself the luxury in wallowing in that kind of hate. I had a job and 37,000 employees I was responsible for, whose job is to protect America and to uphold the Constitution. I couldn’t afford to get into an insult-trading match with the president of the United States.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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

April 26, 2019

By Rupam Jain and Hameed Farzad

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: NewsMax Politics

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

April 26, 2019

By Ben Blanchard

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Fox News Politics

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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