North Korea nuclear threat: Defiance on display in Pyongyang

Amid new reports the North might be preparing for another nuclear test or missile launch to mark the anniversary Saturday of the birth of the country’s founder Kim il Sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un, the regime organized a mass turn-out of residents and soldiers to mark the opening of a new government-backed building complex in the capital.
North Korean Prime Minister Pak Pong Ju said the project was a sign North Korea would not be cowed by America and international sanctions adding the achievement had the symbolic impact of a 100 thermonuclear bombs
Kim Jong Un, in fact, happily officiated at the ribbon-cutting for the new complex, but he no doubt has other things on his mind. Like President Trump and his talk about ally China helping in the dispute, as well as that still-possible U.S. military option, and reports of the Trump administration planning more sanctions.
One resident angrily rejected those.
“We really don’t care,” one man told me. “We’ve lived under the sanctions of the U.S. since the very first day. We don’t give a damn.”
As for that new building complex? Despite the fact that no one lives or works there yet, and the shops looked decidedly “un-shopped,” this addition to the showcase capital seemed to please at least one person:
“Our future looks bright,” a woman told me, “thanks to Kim Jong Un.”
And what do the officials think about all the tough talk coming from the Trump administration? To sum up the reaction of one?  Bring it on.

Carter Page: 'All of the lies ... are finally coming out into the open'

Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page decried what he called "false allegations" against him on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Thursday.
Page reportedly was the target of a so-called FISA order issued last summer that permitted investigators to monitor his communications as part of an ongoing investigation into ties between Russia and Trump campaign officials. He told Fox News Wednesday that the warrant would have been based on "false evidence" and has denied any wrongdoing.
CARTER PAGE SAYS SURVEILLANCE ORDER WOULD HAVE BEEN BASED ON 'FALSE EVIDENCE'
"I’m very encouraged by all this new information that’s coming out about some of these unethical practices and potentially illegal practices," Page told host Eric Bolling Thursday. "When you introduce false evidence in a court of law, including the FISA court, that is illegal."
"Do you think there was some false evidence about you introduced to the FISA court to obtain that warrant so they could surveil you?" Bolling asked.
"Well, there's certainly a lot of indications," answered Page, who referred to information about him in the so-called "dodgy dossier," which contained salacious allegations about Trump and members of his campaign team and was compiled by a former British intelligence officer.
CONGRESS EXPANDS 'UNMASKING' PROBE AMID QUESTIONS OVER RICE ROLE
Page told Bolling the information about him in the dossier was "completely false [and] based on a private investigator people associated with the [Hillary ]Clinton campaign hired."
"I’m very encouraged that all of the lies that have been a drag on this administration are finally coming out into the open," Page added. "So many people have lied against me from the Clinton campaign and many of their surrogates ... let's see what actually comes out."

'Mother of all bombs' kills 36 Islamic State militants, Afghanistan officials say

Afghanistan officials said 36 Islamic State militants were killed when the U.S. dropped the “mother of all bombs” on a tunnel complex Thursday.
The Afghanistan Ministry of Defense added in a statement Friday that there were no civilian casualties and that several Islamic State caves and ammunition caches were destroyed.
The GBU-43B, a 21,000-pound conventional bomb, was deployed in Nangarhar Province close to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border. The MOAB -- Massive Ordnance Air Blast -- is also known as the “Mother Of All Bombs.” It was first tested in 2003, but hadn't been used in combat before Thursday.
President Trump told media Thursday afternoon that "this was another successful mission" and he gave the military total authorization.
Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said the bomb had been brought to Afghanistan "some time ago" for potential use. The bomb explodes in the air, creating air pressure that can make tunnels and other structures collapse. It can be used at the start of an offensive to soften up the enemy, weakening both its infrastructure and morale.
"As [ISIS'] losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense," Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement. "This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against [ISIS]."
The MOAB had to be dropped out of the back of a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane due to its massive size.
"We kicked it out the back door," one U.S. official told Fox News.
Ismail Shinwari, the governor of Achin district, said the U.S. attack was carried out in a remote mountainous area with no civilian homes nearby. He said there has been heavy fighting in the area in recent weeks between Afghan forces and ISIS militants.
 Hakim Khan, 50, a resident of Achin district where the attack took place, welcomed the attack on ISIS, saying: "I want 100 times more bombings on this group."
The strike came just days after a Green Beret was killed fighting ISIS in Nangarhar, however, a U.S. defense official told Fox News the bombing had nothing to do with that casualty.
“It was the right weapon for the right target, and not in retaliation,” the official said.
The U.S. estimates that between 600 to 800 ISIS fighters are present in Afghanistan, mostly in Nangarhar. The U.S. has concentrated heavily on combatting them while also supporting Afghan forces battling the Taliban.
In August, a company of nearly 150 Army Rangers killed "hundreds" of ISIS fighters in Nangarhar, though five of the Rangers were shot. Some weapons and equipment, including communications gear and a rocket launcher, were also left behind following the operation.

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Fast and Furious scandal: Suspected triggerman in border agent's murder arrested

Agent Brian A. Terry, 40, was killed on Dec. 14 near Rio Rico, Ariz., according to a statement released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. (FNC)

The cartel member suspected of shooting and killing Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in 2010 with a gun supplied by the U.S. government was arrested in Mexico Wednesday, senior law enforcement, Border Patrol, and congressional sources told Fox News. 
The suspect, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, was apprehended by a joint U.S.-Mexico law enforcement task force that included the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals and the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC).
A $250,000 reward had been sought for information leading to the arrest of Osorio-Arellanes, who was captured at a ranch on the border of the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua. U.S. authorities have said they will seek his extradition.
Terry was killed on Dec. 14, 2010 in a gunfight between Border Patrol agents and members of a five-man cartel "rip crew," which regularly patrolled the desert along the U.S.-Mexico border looking for drug dealers to rob.
The agent's death exposed Operation Fast and Furious, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) operation in which the federal government allowed criminals to buy guns in Phoenix-area shops with the intention of tracking them once they made their way into Mexico. But the agency lost track of more than 1,400 of the 2,000 guns they allowed smugglers to buy. Two of those guns were found at the scene of Terry's killing.
The operation set off a political firestorm, and then-Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress after he refused to divulge documents for a congressional investigation.
Four members of the "rip crew" already been sentenced to jail time in the U.S. Manual Osorio-Arellanes was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in February 2014.
In October 2015, Ivan Soto-Barraza and Jesus Sanchez-Meza were convicted by a federal jury of nine different charges, including first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery.
Rosario Rafael Burboa-Alvarez, accused of assembling the "rip crew," was sentenced to 27 years in prison after striking a plea agreement with prosecutors.
The last remaining member of the "rip crew," Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, is believed to still be at large.

Lansing, Michigan rescinds 'sanctuary' status after criticism from businesses

The city council in Lansing, Mich. voted Wednesday to rescind its decsion to deem itself a "sanctuary" city for illegal immigrants after concerns from the businesses that the status would draw unwelcome attention to the city.
The term "sanctuary city" generally refers to jurisdictions that do not cooperate with U.S. immigration officials. Under Lansing city policy, police don't ask for people's immigration status, except as required by U.S. or Michigan law or a court order.
Council members voted 5-2 to reverse last week's 6-0 vote to give the city "sanctuary" status. Immigration advocates in the crowd called called council members "spineless" and said "you're all losing your seats."
The dispute comes as several cities are battling President Donald Trump's promised crackdown on places that block cooperation between their police departments and U.S. immigration authorities. The Trump administration has warned that sanctuary cities could lose federal money for refusing to cooperate with immigration authorities.
After last week's vote, council members received a letter from the Lansing Regional Chamber and Michigan Chamber of Commerce urging them to remove references to "sanctuary city" from its resolution.
"Lansing is a diverse community, rich with history and culture. It's what makes our city a welcoming destination to live, work and thrive," the business groups' letter says. "Recent actions of City Council, whether intended or not, have placed an unnecessary target on the City of Lansing while jeopardizing millions of dollars in federal funding that impacts the city budget."
"The term 'sanctuary' in the resolution has become very problematic and distracting — so distracting in my opinion that's it's taken away from the intent of our resolution, which is to protect individuals," said Councilwoman Judi Brown Clarke. "It's basically a 'don't ask' policy, which was outlined by the mayor's executive order and what we had in our policy complements that."
That was already the policy in Lansing before last week's vote, but Lansing called itself a "welcoming city," rather than a "sanctuary city." Neither the welcoming city resolution nor the sanctuary city resolution called for Lansing to prohibit workers from providing information on a person's immigration status with U.S. immigration officials — a ban that's at the heart of some urban sanctuary cities disagreements with the Trump administration.
Mayor Virg Bernero has said he is confident Lansing's policies don't violate federal law, but "we are also prepared to take legal action to protect the prerogatives and powers of local government and local law enforcement."
Michigan Chamber President and CEO Richard Studley said the group's members want city officials "to stop wasting time on costly political statements and focus on real economic issues."
"I have no problem with the earlier resolution that affirmed the city's status as a welcoming city," Studley said. "The challenge is with the language declaring the city a 'sanctuary city' — adopted hastily with little debate. I think that it is easily misinterpreted or misunderstood."
The issue also has touched off debate in the Republican-controlled Michigan Legislature, which is considering banning local governments from enacting or enforcing rules that limit communication and cooperation with federal officials concerning people's immigration status. Similar legislation died in the last session.
Clarke believes that the term "sanctuary" could be getting in the way of helping constituents.
"I think ultimately what we learned is ... we thought we could define what 'sanctuary city' meant, and in actuality it has its own negative connotation," she said. "The only way to take that away is to take that word away."

Trump says China took 'big step' in sending coal ships back to North Korea

President Trump: I will work to enhance NATO

President Trump said Wednesday that China took a “big step” in easing tensions between the two nations by turning away North Korean coal ships the day before and returning them to their home port of Nampo.
At a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday, Trump described his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as one with “good chemistry” and praised China’s apparent commitment to banning coal imports from North Korea.
“We have a very big problem in North Korea and as I said, I really think that China is going to try very hard, and has already started—a lot of the coal boats have already been turned back—you saw that yesterday and today—they’ve been turned back,” Trump said.
“The vast amount of coal coming out of North Korea going to China, they’ve turned back the boats—that’s a big step and there are many other steps I know about so we’ll see what happens, it may be effective, it may not be effective—if it’s not effective, we will be effective—I can promise you that.”
Reuters first reported the North Korean ship movement Tuesday. According to Reuters, China banned all imports of North Korean coal on February 26—cutting off the country’s most important export product—after repeated missile tests from the isolated nation that drew criticism from around the globe.
A senior defense official told Fox News on Wednesday that the Reuters report was “credible.”
While the White House said it would not comment on the Reuters report, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told Fox News that all UN Member States are required to implement sanctions resolutions in good faith, and that the U.S. “expects them to do so.”
“Full implementation of this resolution will demonstrate global consensus in imposing stronger sanctions on North Korea’s sources of revenue for its UN-proscribed nuclear, ballistic missile, and proliferation programs,” Toner said in an email to Fox News.
The report also suggested that China’s ban of North Korean coal could be beneficial to the U.S. economy, if the U.S. makes up the difference and considers selling coal to China.
According to Reuters data, there was no U.S. coking coal exported to China between late 2014 and 2016, but shipments rose to over 400,000 tons by late February, amid Trump’s repeated commitment to restoring the U.S. coal industry and rolling back Obama-era coal regulations.
Under the Obama administration, the coal mining industry lost approximately 36,400 jobs, and between 2009 and 2015, the number of coal mines in the U.S. declined by 554, leaving 853 mines in the U.S.  by 2015, down from the 1,407 in 2009.
Last month, the president signed an executive order to “end the war on coal” and lift the ban on federal leasing for coal production, as well as the “job-killing restrictions” on the production of clean coal and other energy sources.
“We’re going to have clean coal—really clean coal,” Trump said at the signing of the Executive Order to Create Energy Independence.”

North Korea preparing for sixth nuclear test, monitoring group says

North Korea may soon conduct its sixth nuclear test in the face of the United States' decision to move a carrier group toward the region.
Satellite imagery shows activity at the Punggye-ri testing site, analysts from 38 North, a U.S. research institute that monitors North Korea, wrote on its website Wednesday.
Foreign journalists inside the country were told to prepare for a "big and important event" Thursday, Reuters reported.
The analysts added that there was movement around one of the portals and in the main administrative area of the site as well as personnel seen at the command center.
South Korean officials downplayed any news signs that a test was coming, Bloomberg reported. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Roh Jae-cheon told reporters that Seoul saw no signs that North Korea was preparing any sort of provocative actions. Officials added that Pyongyang has maintained such readiness that it could conduct a missile test without warning, according to Reuters.
Chinese President Xi Jingping told Trump in a phone call Wednesday that he wants a peaceful solution to ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and would be willing to work with Washington on the matter.
"China insists on realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula ... and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with the American side over the issue on the peninsula," Xi was quoted as saying by state media.
Trump had warned North Korea Tuesday that he vowed to get Kim Jong –Un’s regime under control with or without China’s help.
Meanwhile, North Korea said Monday it would “hold the U.S. wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences” if there was any further military action after the USS Carl Vinson arrives in the area of the Korean Peninsula.