Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Maga First News with Peter Boykin

8:00 am 9:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Ex-Sanders spokesman calls Hillary Clinton team choice words in interview

Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign spokesman unloaded on Hillary Clinton and her team on Monday, calling them the "biggest a--holes in American politics," after former members of Clinton's campaign leaked details this week about Sanders' use of private jets to attend campaign rallies on her behalf.

Speaking to Politico, the spokesman, Michael Briggs, proceeded to call Clinton's staff "total ingrates," given that Sanders claims he billed the Clinton-Kaine campaign for private air travel in order to attend events that he otherwise would have needed to skip.

“You can see why she’s one of the most disliked politicians in America," Briggs said, referring to Clinton. "She’s not nice. Her people are not nice. [Sanders] busted his tail to fly all over the country to talk about why it made sense to elect Hillary Clinton and the thanks that [we] get is this kind of petty stupid sniping a couple years after the fact.”

Briggs added: “It doesn’t make me feel good to feel this way but they’re some of the biggest a--holes in American politics."

"She’s not nice. Her people are not nice."

— Bernie Sanders 2016 spokesman Michael Briggs

FIVE THINGS BERNIE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT SOCIALISM

Several former Clinton staffers, also speaking to Politico, reported that Sanders' frequent requests for private planes from the campaign became “a running joke in the office" -- in part because Sanders is a socialist, and also because he has pushed for the elimination of carbon-generating heavy aircraft in favor of high-speed rail networks. In all, Sanders reportedly billed the Clinton-Kaine campaign approximately $100,000 for air travel.

Some bad blood remains between the Clinton and Sanders camp, according to insiders, in part because of Sanders' harsh criticisms of Clinton during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

Talking to the liberal “Pod Save America” podcast in 2017, Clinton said she "couldn't believe" that, because of Sanders, she was forced into "basically defending President Obama in a Democratic primary." And in her book, the election retrospective "What Happened," Clinton slammed Sanders' ideas as unrealistic and decried him for using “innuendo and impugning my character” such that she suffered “lasting damage" into the general election.

Then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks aggressively at a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina November 8, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Keane - D1BEULPJOPAC

Then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks aggressively at a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina November 8, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Keane - D1BEULPJOPAC

GREEN NEW DEAL WOULD COST UP TO $92 TRILLION, STUDY SAYS -- THAT'S APPROX. $600G PER HOUSEHOLD

Sanders spokesperson Arianna Jones, though, maintained that Sanders put everything he had into helping Clinton once she had secured the Democratic nomination. Jones said it was physically impossible for Sanders to get to all of the Clinton event locations in such a short period of time without chartered flights, especially since the senator was traveling to many smaller markets with limited commercial air travel options.

“That’s why chartered flights were used: to make sure Sen. Sanders could get to as many locations as quickly as possible in the effort to help the Democratic ticket defeat Donald Trump,” Sanders spokeswoman Arianna Jones told Politico. "Sen. Sanders campaigned so aggressively for Secretary Clinton, at such a grueling pace, it became a story unto itself, setting the model for how a former opponent can support a nominee in a general election.”

Jones reported that in the three months prior to the November 2016 election, Sanders supported Clinton by attending 39 rallies in 13 states.

Sanders stunned the Democratic establishment in 2016 with his spirited challenge to Clinton, and his campaign helped lay the groundwork for the leftward lurch that has dominated Democratic politics in the era of President Trump.

Sanders' campaign said earlier this month that he raised more than $4 million in the 12 hours since announcing his 2020 presidential bid. Previously, the biggest first-day fundraiser in the race had been California Sen. Kamala Harris, who raised $1.5 million in the first 24 hours of her campaign. And this week, Sanders announced he has already signed up a historic 1 million volunteers.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The question now for Sanders is whether he can stand out in a crowded field of Democrats who embrace many of his policy ideas and who are newer to the national political stage -- and whether Sanders can survive with the evident lingering resentment from members of the Democratic Party establishment.

This single family house built on 1981 and located in Burlington, Vermont, is listed to Bernard and Jane Sanders. (Google Maps)

This single family house built on 1981 and located in Burlington, Vermont, is listed to Bernard and Jane Sanders. (Google Maps)

"Our campaign is not only about defeating Donald Trump," the 77-year-old self-described democratic socialist said in an email to supporters announcing his srun. "Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice."

As for whether Sanders -- who has pushed for the Green New Deal, which would strive to greatly reduce air travel -- would be flying commercial for upcoming campaign trips this year, Jones told Politico he "will be flying commercial whenever possible," and that the "campaign will consider the use of charter flights based on a variety of factors, including security requirements, logistics, and media interest in traveling with the senator.”

Also causing headaches for Sanders' socialist, penny-pinching image: His high-end income and multiple houses.  Notably, he owns three houses. In 2016, he bought a $575,000 four-bedroom lake-front home in his home state. This is in addition to a row house in Washington D.C., as well as a house in Burlington, Vermont.

“The Bern will keep his home in Burlington and use the new camp seasonally,” Vermont’s Seven Day’s reported in 2016.

Fox News' Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Without papers, Uighurs fear for their future in Turkey

The Wider Image: Without papers, Uighurs fear for their future in Turkey
A masked Uighur boy takes part in a protest against China, at the courtyard of Fatih Mosque, a common meeting place for pro-Islamist demonstrators in Istanbul, Turkey, November 6, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

March 27, 2019

By Murad Sezer

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Without work or residency permits in Turkey and unable to renew their Chinese passports, Qurbanjan Nourmuhammed and his family live in uncertainty in Istanbul, cut off from their son who returned to Xinjiang three years ago.

Nourmuhammed, his wife and five children came to Turkey in 2015, facing increased pressure from China to abandon Islamic practices such as wearing a headscarf, growing a beard and closing their restaurant for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

China has faced growing international criticism for setting up facilities that United Nations experts describe as detention centers holding more than one million Uighurs and other Muslims. Beijing says it needs the measures to stem the threat of Islamist militancy, and calls them vocational training centers.

Ismail Cengiz, founding secretary general of the Istanbul-based East Turkestan National Center, said that some 35,000 Uighurs live in Turkey, which has been a safe haven for them since the 1960s.

Turkey is the only Muslim country that has regularly expressed concern about the situation in Xinjiang, due to its close cultural links with the Uighurs who speak a Turkic language.

While Uighurs had no problems in Turkey until three or four years ago, Ankara’s security concerns and stronger ties with Beijing reversed that trend, said Seyit Tumturk, president of a rights organization called the National Assembly of East Turkestan, the name that Uighur exiles use for Xinjiang.

Perceptions of Uighurs suffered after some went to fight with jihadists against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, because of the Syrian government’s close ties with Beijing, Tumturk said, adding China has ramped up pressure since then.

Nourmuhammed has not heard from his son Pakzat since he went back to Xinjiang in 2016 to visit his grandparents. A friend of Pakzat’s told Nourmuhammed that Pakzat was detained upon arrival at the airport in Urumchi. He believes the government accuses him of having links with extreme Islamists.

The Xinjiang government did not respond to a request for comment.

The family regularly attends protests around Turkey in the hopes of having their voices heard.

“When my son was arrested, he was only a 16-year-old kid. His younger siblings ask us constantly when they’ll be united with their older brother,” Pakzat’s mother Gulgine Mahmut said.

“I don’t believe he was involved in a crime, I think he was falsely accused.”

Nourmuhammed is unemployed as he waits for a residency permit he applied for in 2017 to be approved. Gulgine and their four children have been issued with permits, which risks tearing the family apart if Nourmuhammed is deported.

Nourmuhammed said his family lost touch with relatives in Xinjiang, who asked not to be contacted due to fears that the government will associate them with jihadists.

Uighurs also cannot renew their Chinese passports at the local embassy when they expire and they are only given a document that will allow them to return to China, said Munevver Ozuygur, President of the East Turkestan Nuzugum Culture and Family Foundation.

Some 15 Uighurs who spoke to Reuters said they expect Turkey to pay more attention to their plight and give them the permits to allow them to work and benefit from the healthcare system.

After a gunman, believed to be an Uzbek national, killed 39 people in a popular Istanbul nightclub on New Year’s Day 2017, Turkey took a more careful approach to people from central Asia, tightening the vetting process for new arrivals, Tumturk said.

“Not all of the people whose passports have been labeled as risky… are problematic people,” he said. “People who can’t retrieve a required document from China can experience the same issue.”

Cengiz said many Uighurs had begun to fear they may be sent back to China. “Turkey was seen as the only country that could stand up to China. In the past year, they have been fearing for their existence in Turkey,” he said.

However, some hope has returned after Turkey took a harder stance against China at a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting last month, where Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticized Beijing for the alleged mistreatment of Uighurs and called for authorities to protect the freedom of religion.

“There is a positive development in the favor of East Turkestan,” Ozuygur said. “Turkey started to give China the message that it is aware of the oppressions that Uighurs experience in a proper way with a diplomatic attitude.”

Click on https://reut.rs/2CFGEuf for a related photo essay.

(Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

Source: OANN

0 0

New York mobster, who served jail time age 100 because he didn't rat: 'Jesus suffered. He didn't squeal on nobody'

Longtime Colombo under-boss John “Sonny” Franzese is the living embodiment of the ultimate mob rule — bragging in an interview about refusing to rat despite it making him the oldest federal prisoner at the age of 100.

Wheelchair-bound Franzese, now 102 and living in a nursing home, told Newsday about his life of crime — and how he stuck to the “Goodfellas” adage of “Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut” despite facing 50 years behind bars.

LEGENDARY NYC MAFIA BOSS CARMINE PERSICO DIES BEHIND BARS AT 85

John "Sonny" Franzese, after being released $150,000 bail in 1966

John "Sonny" Franzese, after being released $150,000 bail in 1966 (Photo by Nick Sorrentino/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

“They wanted me to roll all the time,” Franzese insisted. “I couldn’t do that. Because it’s my principle. I could never give a guy up because I knew what jail was. I wouldn’t put a dog in a jail pod.”

Speaking for the first time since his release in June 2017, Franzese bragged to the paper that “no one in history” had done as much, likening it to godliness.

MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING GAMBINO MOB BOSS FRANK CALI FORMALLY CHARGED IN NEW YORK

“Jesus suffered,” he said. “He didn’t squeal on nobody.”

In an age where other mob bosses turned, his commitment also caught the attention of the late John Gotti, who called Franzese “one tough [expletive] guy” for his refusal to rat.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

This story originally appeared in the New York Post. For more from the Post, click here.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Brexit compromise may rest on odd couple Corbyn and May

She is the strait-laced daughter of an Anglican priest who has championed conservative values all her life; he has for decades campaigned on issues dear to left-wingers all round the world.

Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour Party chief Jeremy Corbyn are poles apart, and there have been precious few signs of the two sharing any warmth for one another — but political reality has bound them together as Britain struggles to escape its Brexit agony.

May has infuriated more than 100 of her Conservative Party legislators by turning to Corbyn and the Labour Party for key votes in Parliament, just days before the country is due to leave the European Union.

Her pivot has led many to believe that she is ready to back a much softer version of Brexit — one that would keep Britain closely aligned economically with the EU. Their talks are ongoing, but given their history few think they will be able to find common ground.

May and Corbyn are ideological opponents representing different ends of the political spectrum.

However, they have similar problems: Both party leaders are perilously out of sync with many of their party's legislators.

May is viewed with suspicion by many of her lawmakers in part because she campaigned to remain in the EU during the 2016 referendum and is now reaching out to Corbyn for help getting her Brexit plan passed. Many argued this week that she should just take Britain out of the EU, even without a deal.

For Corbyn, the problem is similar: Many Labour legislators are still determined to keep Britain inside the EU via a second referendum, and they view Corbyn's pursuit of a so-called "soft Brexit" as a betrayal of that cherished goal. And they are angered by his acceptance that Brexit will mean an end to freedom of movement for Britons and EU citizens alike.

But that may be all they have in common.

May served a long apprenticeship in a variety of posts before becoming Conservative Party chairwoman in 2002. She moved into a senior Cabinet position as Home Secretary when the party took power in 2010.

She rose to prime minister not through an election but by outsmarting a number of rivals to emerge as party leader after David Cameron's resignation in 2016 — and she performed badly in an ill-timed general election that cost her party its majority in Parliament.

Corbyn's path to his party's top job was not as traditional. Elected to Parliament in 1983, he didn't take a job in government during the 13 years when Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were prime ministers. He was a serial opponent of many of their policies, notably the 2003 Iraq War.

He seemed destined to remain outside the mainstream, until Labour Party members surged his way in the 2015 leadership contest. He built on this startling triumph by doing unexpectedly well in the 2017 general election. He has taken the party far to the left of where it was in the Blair/Brown governments.

Some of his positions have infuriated the British establishment. He has, for example, ruled out the use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances if he becomes prime minister — a policy that defense chiefs believe ruins the effectiveness of Britain's costly nuclear deterrent.

At times he has also seemed weak on etiquette. Some commentators complained he looked scruffy in a casual hooded raincoat on Remembrance Sunday in November, one of the most solemn events on the British calendar.

May, in contrast, wore an elegant black overcoat and a matching hat, looking every inch the leader as she placed a wreath on the Cenotaph monument to honor Britain's war dead.

Both at times seem wearied by the political combat. May has acknowledged her weakened position by promising to step down once Brexit is delivered — which will open the way for a fierce Conservative Party succession battle. Some allies have suggested that Corbyn, too, is thinking about retirement after 36 years in Parliament.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

The Latest: No French trees big enough to rebuild roof

The Latest on the fire that swept through Paris' Notre Dame cathedral (all times local):

8:45 a.m.

A French cultural heritage expert says France no longer has trees big enough to replace ancient wooden beams that burned in the Notre Dame fire.

Bertrand de Feydeau, vice president of preservation group Fondation du Patrimoine, told France Info radio that the wooden roof that went up in flames was built with beams more than 800 years ago from primal forests.

Speaking Tuesday, he said the cathedral's roof cannot be rebuilt exactly as it was before the fire because "we don't, at the moment, have trees on our territory of the size that were cut in the 13th century."

He said the restoration work will have to use new technologies to rebuild the roof.

___

8:40 a.m.

Experts are assessing the blackened shell of Paris' iconic Notre Dame cathedral to establish next steps to save what remains after a devastating fire destroyed much of the almost 900-year-old building.

With the fire that broke out Monday evening and quickly consumed the cathedral now under control, attention is turning to ensuring the structural integrity of the remaining building.

Junior Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced that architects and other experts would meet at the cathedral early Tuesday "to determine if the structure is stable and if the firefighters can go inside to continue their work."

Officials consider the fire an accident, possibly as a result of restoration work taking place at the global architectural treasure, but that news has done nothing to ease the national mourning.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

German industrial output falls unexpectedly in January

FILE PHOTO: Aerial view of containers at a loading terminal in the port of Hamburg
FILE PHOTO: Aerial view of containers at a loading terminal in the port of Hamburg, Germany August 1, 2018. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo

March 11, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – German industrial output fell unexpectedly in January, marking a weak start to the year for the engine room of Europe’s largest economy, which is suffering from trade friction and Brexit angst after narrowly avoiding recession last year.

Industrial output was down 0.8 percent, compared to a forecast 0.5 percent increase, data from the Statistics Office showed.

Seasonally adjusted exports were flat month-on-month – compared to a forecast 0.5 percent contraction – while imports rose 1.5 percent. That meant the trade surplus narrowed to 18.5 billion euros.

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Michelle Martin)

Source: OANN

0 0

Ex-Clinton official leads ‘dark money’ effort to boot Kavanaugh from teaching gig

A top aide to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign -- now leading a liberal “dark money” group -- is backing a student effort at George Mason University to get Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh fired from teaching a summer course over misconduct allegations.

A student group calling itself “Mason For Survivors” began circulating a petition last month, so far attracting nearly 5,000 signatures, urging to “terminate AND void ALL contracts and affiliation with Brett Kavanaugh at George Mason University” on the grounds that the justice was accused of misconduct.

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY ACTIVISTS CALL FOR KAVANAUGH'S FIRING OVER ALLEGATIONS, SCHOOL STANDS BEHIND THE JUSTICE

But the campaign is being given a partisan boost thanks to Brian Fallon, former press secretary for Clinton's 2016 campaign, who’s now in charge of Demand Justice, a liberal advocacy group that doesn’t disclose its funding.

Fallon and his group are paying for Facebook ads that target anyone linked with George Mason University, urging them to sign the petition, in addition to signing a separate petition that calls upon the Democrats in Congress to investigate Kavanaugh, the HuffPost reported.

“Brett Kavanaugh’s performance during his testimony in front of the Senate was a disgrace. His blatant partisan attacks and hostile behavior towards senators calls into question his ability to serve as a fair and impartial judge. His conduct undermines the legitimacy of his decisions and the entire Supreme Court,” read the ad on Facebook on Friday. “We’re calling on Congress to open an investigation into Kavanaugh right now.”

Fallon justified the move in a news release, saying the allegations raised during the confirmation hearing last year, in his view, were credible.

“Brett Kavanaugh has been credibly accused of sexual assault by multiple women whose allegations have not been thoroughly investigated,” Fallon said. “His confirmation to the Supreme Court does not absolve him of guilt, and he should not be given a platform to teach. We stand with survivors and urge the George Mason University administration to fire Kavanaugh.”

“Brett Kavanaugh has been credibly accused of sexual assault by multiple women whose allegations have not been thoroughly investigated. His confirmation to the Supreme Court does not absolve him of guilt, and he should not be given a platform to teach."

— Brian Fallon, former aide to Hillary Clinton

BRETT KAVANAUGH SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED, LIBERAL GROUPS TELL HOUSE OVERSIGHT, JUDICIARY PANELS

Kavanaugh is set to teach students of the university’s Antonin Scalia Law School next summer in the United Kingdom as a distinguished visiting professor, with the class reportedly having no more spaces left due to overwhelming interest.

The Mason For Survivors group, claiming to be a “student-led advocacy group in solidarity with survivors,” also urges the university to release “any and all documents” concerning the hiring of Kavanaugh, in addition to holding a town hall and a formal apology by university officials.

The school’s top officials are expected at a town hall next Tuesday, where they will face questions over the hiring of Kavanaugh.

But the school has so far rebuffed the activists’ demands and issued a statement affirming the hiring of Kavanaugh on the grounds that the university seeks to have students being taught by the “most influential legal experts in the nation.”

"I respect the views of people who disagreed with Justice Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation due to questions raised about his sexual conduct in high school. But he was confirmed and is now a sitting Justice."

— George Mason University President Angel Cabrera

“I respect the views of people who disagreed with Justice Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation due to questions raised about his sexual conduct in high school. But he was confirmed and is now a sitting Justice,” Angel Cabrera, the university’s president, said last month.

“The law school has determined that the involvement of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice contributes to making our law program uniquely valuable for our students. And I accept their judgment,” he added.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“This decision, controversial as it may be, in no way affects the university’s ongoing efforts to eradicate sexual violence from our campuses.”

Source: Fox News Politics

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Maga First News with Peter Boykin

8:00 am 9:00 am



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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist