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USA Today editor-in-chief admits 'horrible' mistake after she's linked to 'blackface' yearbook

The editor-in-chief of USA Today apologized Wednesday after the Arizona newspaper she used to manage uncovered her past role in publishing a college yearbook that included a photo of people in blackface.

The photo in question was published in the 1988-89 Arizona State University yearbook, of which Nicole Carroll was an editor. It shows two people at a Halloween party dressed in makeup as Mike Tyson and his then-wife Robin Givens, according to USA Today, based in McLean, Va.

“Clearly the 21-year-old me who oversaw the book and that page didn’t understand how offensive the photo was. I wish I had,” Carroll said in a statement. “Today’s 51-year-old me of course understands and is crushed by this mistake. It is horrible, and of course the photo should not have been published.”

NORTHAM RIVAL’S CAMPAIGN BLAMES GOP GROUP FOR NOT FINDING RACIST YEARBOOK PHOTO

Carroll said she has no memory of publishing the photo but regretted it nonetheless.

The image was discovered as part of a review of 900 yearbooks at 120 schools across the nation by USA Today and other Gannett-chain newspapers. Reporters collected around 200 examples of racist or offensive material at schools in 25 states, according to the Arizona Republic, where Carroll was editor in chief before heading USA Today.

The uncovered images show students in blackface, dressed in Ku Klux Klan robes or dressed clothing depicting Native American sterotypes.

Blackface has long been viewed as offensive and a racist depiction of black people.

The Gannett review was prompted by recent scandals in Virginia, where Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and state Attorney General Mark Herrings have both been accused of wearing blackface while in medical school and college, respectively.

Joy Behar, co-host of ABC's “The View,” also recently had to explain a photo of herself dressed as a “beautiful African woman” at a Halloween party from years ago. And past blackface images of celebrities such as talk-show hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon also have surfaced.

NORTHAM’S CLASSMATE, A COLORADO DOCTOR, APPEARED IN BLACKFACE IN SAME YEARBOOK: REPORT

The two people pictured in the 1989 Arizona State photo are wearing black makeup – one is shirtless and has boxing gloves strapped around his shoulders and the other is wearing a shirt, bikini and sunglasses. The paper did not publish the photo.

In a statement, Arizona State said the image is a “sad reminder that this kind of insensitivity was all too common in past decades.”

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Carroll graduated from the Arizona State in 1991. The Republic won a 2017 Pulitzer Prize under her leadership of the paper. She was named editor-in-chief of USA Today last year.

In a Wednesday column, she wrote that she has "championed diversity and inclusion in our newsroom and in our news coverage” and “will continue to have, newsroom conversations about how we can further educate ourselves and our readers about race, history and prejudice, as well as the serious issues facing women, the LGBTQ community and all marginalized groups.”

Source: Fox News National

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Golf: Woods quad on 17th hole at Sawgrass not better than most

PGA: THE PLAYERS Championship - Second Round
Mar 15, 2019; Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, USA; Tiger Woods plays his shot from the ninth tee during the second round of THE PLAYERS Championship golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass - Stadium Course. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

March 15, 2019

(Reuters) – Tiger Woods enjoyed one of the most famous moments of his career on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, but on Friday at the Players Championship the same hole exacted its revenge when he made a quadruple bogey.

Woods was sailing along smoothly, within striking distance of the lead when he arrived at the 146-yard par-three hole, where the island green leaves little margin for error.

He pulled his tee shot a touch, but seemed to get lucky when his ball landed on the edge of the green before rolling on to the small sliver of land that serves as a bridge to the putting surface.

However, the 14-times major champion’s ball trickled over the back and into the water as the gallery groaned.

Woods compounded his problems by pulling his next shot from the drop zone, a mere 90-yard pitch that professionals could usually execute with their eyes closed.

His ball took one bounce and disappeared into a watery grave beyond the green, forcing him to reload from the same place.

Woods finally found the heart of the green with what was his fifth shot, and two-putted for seven.

That was the only blemish on his card, as he compiled five birdies for a one-under-par 71.

“The second wedge didn’t really surprise me,” Woods told reporters of his second water ball. “It was too flat. The first one I hit surprised me.

“I was pretty ticked. I was bound and determined to get it all back.”

He posted a three-under 141 halfway total that left him six strokes behind clubhouse leader Jim Furyk.

The 17th is where Woods sank a downhill 50-foot birdie putt from the fringe in the third round en route to victory at the 2001 Players Championship.

“That’s better than most, that is better than most,” television commentator Gary Koch famously said as the ball trundled downhill towards the hole, before diving in the cup as Koch exclaimed one more time “better than most”.

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina, editing by Ed Osmond)

Source: OANN

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Cinema vs. streaming: the battle over when and where you can see movies

FILE PHOTO: The Netflix logo is seen on their office in Hollywood, Los Angeles
FILE PHOTO: The Netflix logo is seen on their office in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

April 10, 2019

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – While superheroes, monsters and aliens battle on the big screen, a real-life fight is raging behind the scenes that will determine what moviegoers will see at their local cinemas.

The off-screen skirmish centers around the theatrical “window,” the time a movie plays exclusively in U.S. theaters before it can be released on DVD or digital. That period averages 90 days, but upheaval across the media business is fueling debate on whether that should shrink.

At stake is the future of movie theaters and small-screen entertainment as new technology giants upend decades of Hollywood tradition.

Netflix Inc has streamed original movies at the same time, or just a few weeks after, their debut in cinemas. Competitor Amazon Studios has said it would like some of its films to play for only two to eight weeks in theaters before hitting the Amazon Prime Video streaming service.

Many theater owners object, citing potential damage to their business. The group that awards the Oscars is weighing whether to respond, and A-list celebrities are taking sides.

Adam Aron, chief executive of AMC Entertainment Holdings, the world’s largest theater operator, said his company would “consider any and all alternatives” but any changes to the current industry standard “would have to be beneficial to us or neutral to us.”

Even the king of the multiplex – Walt Disney Co – is getting into streaming, and is set to unveil details on Thursday of its strategy. That has stoked concern that it, too, might want movies in living rooms sooner.

Disney executives insist they remain rock-solid behind existing windows for big event films. Disney’s franchise fare such as “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War” generated a total $7.3 billion at global box offices in 2018.

At a recent CinemaCon convention for theater owners in Las Vegas, Disney and other studios stressed the special experience of watching a film in a darkened theater.

“A lot more people have had their first kiss in a movie theater than their parents’ living room,” said Toby Emmerich, a senior executive at Warner Bros., part of AT&T Inc’s WarnerMedia, which also plans a streaming push.

Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren was more forthright. “I love Netflix, but fuck Netflix!” she said to cheers and applause. “There’s nothing like sitting in the cinema and the lights go down.”

Netflix is in talks to buy the Egyptian Theatre, a historic movie house in the heart of Hollywood, a source with knowledge of the matter said. Netflix would host premieres and other industry events at the theater, which opened in 1922, the source said.

Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke, meanwhile, declared the company “committed to the theatrical experience.” In June, it is slated to release comedy “Late Night” in theaters, with a traditional window.

Shorter windows would keep some customers at home, said Greg Marcus, chief executive of The Marcus Corporation, owner of the fourth-largest U.S. theater chain.

“If you damage the business and take away 10 percent of our customers, we won’t be able to reinvest in the theatrical experience,” Marcus said. “That would ultimately hurt content providers.”

Others said consumers are happy with the current system. Ticket sales in 2018 reached a record $41 billion globally and $12 billion in the United States and Canada, even as Netflix released about 90 movies for streaming.

“We’re not talking about something that’s broken,” Vue International cinemas CEO Tim Richards said in an interview.

OSCAR SHOWDOWN

“Windowing” is expected to be on the agenda this month at a meeting about rules governing the Academy Awards.

Some members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the group that awards the Oscars, have been debating whether films must play in theaters for a specific length of time to be eligible.

Director Steven Spielberg told Britain’s ITV News last year that movies seen primarily via streaming should compete for Emmys, not Oscars. A representative declined to comment on whether the director will urge the Academy to address the issue.

In February, Netflix won three Oscars for “Roma,” which streamed three weeks after a limited theatrical debut. Netflix tweeted that it “loved cinema” but also supported access for people who cannot afford, or do not live close to, theaters.

The Justice Department has waded in, warning the Academy that some eligibility limits could be anti-competitive.

An Academy spokesperson said any changes would be weighed at the April 23 meeting.

The issue could flare up later this year when Netflix releases “The Irishman,” a mob drama directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.

Filmmakers hope “The Irishman” will play broadly in theaters, De Niro said in an interview, though they realize Netflix’s chief audience is its streaming customers.

“They’re not going to cut their noses to spite their face,” De Niro said. “We get it. This kind of movie has to be presented that way.”

But he added: “We’re working it out so we can have as much theatrical as possible.”

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Additional reporting by Rollo Ross in Las Vegas and Alicia Powell in New York; Editing by Kenneth Li and Rosalba O’Brien)

Source: OANN

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Migrants face ‘culture of hostility’ in El Paso court, lawyers say; claim judge calls it the ‘Bye-Bye Place’

A group of immigration attorneys alleges that judges at an El Paso, Texas, immigration court have fostered a “culture of hostility and contempt towards noncitizens” by making inappropriate comments and weakening due process, according to a complaint filed Wednesday.

The complaint alleges that the court’s immigration judges have made inappropriate comments toward immigrants. It said attorneys heard one judge referring to the court as the “Bye-Bye Place.”

“You know your client is going bye-bye, right?" one judge told a lawyer, according to the complaint.

BORDER AGENTS OVERWHELMED AS TEXAS BEGINS PROCESSING MIGRANT CARAVAN

Another called a mentally ill person “crazy” and openly mocked him, the complaint said.

The joint complaint filed with the Justice Department by the American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association alleges that immigrants appearing at El Paso Service Processing Center court face some of the “highest obstacles in the nation of due process and fair adjudication of claims.”

The complaint is not a lawsuit. The groups are asking the oversight body of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees immigration courts, to investigate.

As evidence of their claims, the attorneys cite the El Paso court's granting of fewer than 4 percent of asylum cases between fiscal years 2013 and 2017, according to the complaint. Nationwide, around 40 percent of asylum seekers are approved.

LARGE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GROUPS CROSSING US-MEXICO BORDER PUSHING AGENTS TO ‘BREAKING POINT’

Kathryn Shepherd, an attorney for the American Immigration Council, called the court dysfunctional and abusive.

As an example, the court limits the amount of evidence asylum seekers can submit in their cases, the complaint said. Others include barring attorneys from representing their clients by phone, which reduces immigrants’ access to representation.

"This is just barely scratching the surface of the devastating impact of this toxic court because we will never know how many lives have been ruined or harmed as the result of this court's practices," Shepherd said.

Central American migrants wait for food in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, March 27, 2019, in a pen erected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to process a surge of migrant families and unaccompanied minors. (Associated Press)

Central American migrants wait for food in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, March 27, 2019, in a pen erected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to process a surge of migrant families and unaccompanied minors. (Associated Press)

A spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review told the Associated Press the agency would not comment on the complaint.

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The allegations come as the number of immigrants crossing the border in El Paso has swelled. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan said the border is at its “breaking point” during a visit to El Paso last month.

Most of the migrants are Central Americans fleeing violence and poverty, and many are seeking asylum. President Trump has threatened to close the southern border, blaming Mexico for not doing enough to stop the flow of illegal immigration into the U.S.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Source: Fox News National

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Who was first to launch 5G? Depends who you ask

FILE PHOTO: People take photographs during a launching ceremony for SK Telecom's 5G service, in Seoul
FILE PHOTO: People take photographs during a launching ceremony for SK Telecom's 5G service, in Seoul, South Korea, April 3, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo

April 5, 2019

By Kenneth Li and Ju-min Park

NEW YORK/SEOUL (Reuters) – When it comes to who triumphed in the multi-billion dollar global race to launch the world’s first 5G next generation wireless network, the winner is clear … depending on who you ask.

Early Wednesday in South Korea, Reuters published a story quoting South Korean officials declaring victory over the United States and China as the site of the world’s first commercial launch of a fifth generation telecoms network.

They made their assertion on the basis that the new network connected to an actual 5G phone. U.S. carriers disputed South Korea’s claims to be first.

After the piece was published, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc intensified their angry rejections of South Korea’s boast in post-publication communications sent to Reuters on Wednesday.

AT&T said it was the victor because it announced on Dec. 18 that it planned to launch its 5G network in 12 U.S. cities that month. However, its network is available only to consumers using a mobile hotspot device, not on 5G phones.

Verizon, for its part, countered that it had come first. Hours after the Reuters report, it said it had already launched its 5G network and that it would be available on a new Motorola phone – though only in Chicago and Minneapolis.

“We stand by our story,” a Reuters spokeswoman said.

The intensity with which company representatives disputed each other’s claims underscores the high stakes in the battle for supremacy over an industry that is expected to spend $275 billion over seven years in the United States alone, according to Accenture estimates.

The winner is seen playing a central role in helping to generate some $12.3 trillion in annual revenue across a broad range of industries by 2035, according to IHS Markit.

The technology, which can provide data speeds at least 20 times faster than 4G, will also underpin the great advances of the next era, from self-driving cars and augmented reality to smart cities and artificial intelligence.

“Being first is important in our industry and we want that recognition,” an AT&T spokesman said.

Some experts point out that the jockeying will mean little to consumers. “The reason you’re getting that reaction is this is a battle of marketing vaporware rather than real network evolution,” said Craig Moffett, telecoms and communications analyst at MoffettNathanson.

“They’re tripping over themselves to claim they have a 5G network,” he said. “But we’re years away from it having any impact on user experiences.”

Bragging rights aside, being first is a matter of national pride. So excited was U.S. President Donald Trump about dominating the telecoms future, he invented a technology that does not yet exist – 6G – in a Feb. 21 tweet.

“I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible. It is far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind,” he tweeted. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

RACE TO LAUNCH

On Wednesday April 3, South Korea’s carriers announced plans to launch their 5G networks by Friday.

But by 5pm local time, word was spreading that Verizon was planning a surprise debut of its own 5G network around April 4, a full week ahead of its original intended schedule, an official at South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT told Reuters.

To snatch victory from the jaws of Verizon, the South Korean carriers raced against the clock and agreed to collectively light up the country’s 5G networks just six hours after finding out about Verizon’s plans, said the official, who declined to be named.

South Korean carriers including SK Telecom and KT Corp flipped the switch at 11pm local time (1400 GMT/1000 EST), nearly an hour ahead of when Verizon confirmed it had launched in the two markets in the United States at 10:55am EST (1455 GMT).

“It is a pretty big deal for every mobile carrier who can be called the world’s first,” the Ministry of Science official said.

On why Verizon accelerated its launch plan by a week, a Verizon spokesman said its network was ready. “Our customers were enthusiastic and ready to use 5G,” the spokesman added.

(Reporting by Kenneth Li in New York and Ju-Min Park in Seoul; additional reporting by Angela Moon in New York; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

Source: OANN

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Japanese government report to say economy in moderate recovery but warn of overseas risks: Nikkei

FILE PHOTO - A man runs on a crosswalk at a business district in central Tokyo
FILE PHOTO - A man runs on a crosswalk at a business district in central Tokyo, Japan September 29, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

March 19, 2019

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s government is expected to keep its view of the economy as “recovering at a moderate pace” in its monthly report for March but not risks from overseas, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

The government will carefully examine the economic situation over the coming few months, while keeping its view that the economy remains on the recovery path, the report said.

The Nikkei last week reported that the government was considering a slight downgrade to its view of the economy as exports and production fell on slowing demand from China.

In February, the government said the economy was in a moderate recovery but a series of weak data on corporate sentiment, capital expenditure and exports shows the U.S.-China trade war is hurting the outlook for the world’s third-largest economy.

Japan’s exports and factory output have weakened as demand was hit by slowing global growth and the China-U.S. trade war.

The Bank of Japan last week kept its monetary policy unchanged but cut its view on overseas economies to say they are showing signs of slowdown. It also revised down its view on exports and output. [nL3N2115QE ]

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Sam Holmes)

Source: OANN

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Tennis: Crisis? What crisis? Briton Moore completes amazing comeback

FILE PHOTO: WTA Premier - Nature Valley Classic
FILE PHOTO: Tennis - WTA Premier - Nature Valley Classic - Edgbaston Priory Club, Birmingham, Britain - June 16, 2018 Great Britain's Tara Moore in action during her qualifying match against Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko Action Images via Reuters/Ed Sykes

April 10, 2019

(Reuters) – Britain’s Tara Moore stared the dreaded ‘double bagel’ in the face as she trailed 0-6 0-5 30-40 to French third seed Jessika Ponchet in this week’s ITF World Tour event in Sunderland and could have been excused for wanting the ground to open up.

Instead, she produced a great sporting comeback — recovering to win from a seemingly impossible position.

Languishing at nearly 500 in the WTA rankings, Moore saved the match point with a smash that skimmed the net tape before landing on the line — then set about clawing her way back into contention before winning 0-6 7-6 6-3.

“Never in doubt” the 26-year-old, who reached the second round of Wimbledon in 2016, said on social media.

Tennis has seen many great comebacks in the past.

Andre Agassi won the 1999 French Open final against Andrei Medvedev after winning only three games in the first two sets.

Before that in 1987 his fellow American Jimmy Connors, aged 34, trailed Swede Mikael Pernfors 6-1 6-1 4-1 at Wimbledon before pulling off a remarkable victory.

This year Czech Karolina Pliskova trailed 5-1 in the final set of her Australian Open quarter-final against Serena Williams, but won the last six games to triumph.

While Moore’s snatching of victory from the jaws of defeat perhaps surpasses those, American Lisa Raymond went one better at the 2004 French Open.

She trailed 6-0 5-0 and faced two match points against Czech Ľubomira Kurhajcova before winning 0-6 7-5 6-3.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Ken Ferris)

Source: OANN

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Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London
Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London, Britain, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Gerhard Mey

April 26, 2019

By Hanna Rantala

LONDON (Reuters) – Irish rockers The Cranberries are saying goodbye with their final album released on Friday, a poignant tribute to lead singer Dolores O’Riordan who died last year.

“In the End” is the eighth studio album from the band that rose to fame in the early 1990s with hits likes “Zombie” and “Linger”, and includes the final recordings by O’Riordan, who drowned in a London hotel bath in January 2018 due to alcohol intoxication.

Work on the album began during a 2017 tour and by that winter, O’Riordan and guitarist Neil Hogan had penned and demoed 11 tracks.

With O’Riordan’s vocals recorded, Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler completed the album in tribute to her.

“When we realized how strong the songs were, that was the deciding factor really… There was no point… trying to ruin the legacy of the band,” Noel Hogan said in an interview.

“It was obvious that Dolores wanted this album done because when you hear the album, you hear the songs and how strong they are, and she was very, very excited to get in and record this.”

The Cranberries formed in Limerick in 1989 with another singer. O’Riordan replaced him a year later and the group went on to become Ireland’s best-selling rock band after U2, selling more than 40 million records.

O’Riordan, known for her strong distinctive voice singing about relationships or political violence, was 46 when she died.

“She was actually in quite a good place mentally. She was feeling quite content and strong and looking forward to a new phase of her life,” Lawler said.

“A lot of the lyrics in this album are about things ending… people might read into it differently but it was a phase of her personal life that she was talking about.”

The group previously announced their intention to split after the release of “In The End”.

“We are absolutely gutted we can’t play (the songs) live because that’s something that’s been a massive part of this band from day one,” Noel Hogan said.

“A few people have said to us about maybe even doing a one off where you have different vocalists… as kind of guests of ours. A year ago that’s definitely something we weren’t going to entertain but I don’t know, I think it’s something we need to go away and take time off for the summer and have a think about.”

Critics have generally given positive reviews of the album; NME described it as “(seeing) the band’s career go full-circle” while the Irish Times called it “an unexpected late career high and a remarkable swan song for O’Riordan”.

Their early songs still play on the radio. This week, “Dreams” was performed at the funeral of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead in Londonderry last week as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid.

“We wrote them as kids, as a hobby and 30 years later they are on radio and on TV, like all the time… That’s far more than any of us ever thought we would have,” Noel Hogan said.

“That would make Dolores really happy because she was very precious about those songs. Her babies, she called them and to have that hopefully long after we’re gone… that’s all any band can wish for.”

(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; additoinal reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

April 26, 2019

By Joshua Schneyer and M.B. Pell

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce a bill Friday that offers new protections for U.S. military families facing unsafe housing, following a series of Reuters reports revealing squalid conditions in privately managed base homes.

The Reuters reports and later Congressional hearings detailed widespread hazards including lead paint exposure, vermin infestations, collapsing ceilings, mold and maintenance lapses in privatized base housing communities that serve some 700,000 U.S. military family members.

(View Warren’s military housing bill here. https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dy5aht)

(Read Reuters’ Ambushed at Home series on military housing here. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/usa-military)

The Massachusetts Democrat’s bill would mandate both regular and unannounced spot inspections of base homes by certified, independent inspectors, holding landlords accountable for quickly fixing hazards. The military’s privatization program for years allowed real estate firms to operate base housing with scant oversight, Reuters found, leaving some tenants in unsafe homes with little recourse against landlords.

The bill would also require the Department of Defense and its private housing operators to publish reports annually detailing housing conditions, tenant complaints, maintenance response times and the financial incentives companies receive at each base. The provisions aim to enhance transparency of housing deals whose finances and operations the military had allowed to remain largely confidential under a privatization program since the late 1990s.

The measure would also require private landlords to cover moving costs for at-risk families, and healthcare costs for people with medical conditions resulting from unsafe base housing, ensuring they receive continuing coverage even after they leave the homes or the military.

“This bill will eliminate the kind of corner-cutting and neglect the Defense Department should never have let these private housing partners get away with in the first place,” Warren said in a statement Friday.

The proposed legislation comes after February Senate hearings where Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, slammed private real estate firms for endangering service families, and sought answers about why military branches weren’t providing more oversight.

Her legislation would direct the Defense Department to allow local housing code enforcers onto federal bases, following concerns they were sometimes denied access. Warren’s office said a companion bill in the House of Representatives would be introduced by Rep. Deb Haaland, Democrat of New Mexico.

In response to the housing crisis, military branches are developing a tenant bill of rights and hiring hundreds of new housing staff. The branches recently dispatched commanders to survey base housing worldwide for safety hazards, resulting in thousands of work orders and hundreds of tenants being moved. The Defense Department has pledged to renegotiate its 50-year contracts with private real estate firms.

Congress has been quick to take its own measures. Earlier legislation proposed by senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California, along with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, would compel base commanders to withhold rent payments and incentive fees from the private ventures if they allow home hazards to persist.

(Editing by Ronnie Greene)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London
FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London, Britain, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar

(Reuters) – Deloitte quit as Ferrexpo’s auditor on Friday, knocking its shares by more than 20 percent, days after saying it was unable to conclude whether the iron ore miner’s CEO controlled a charity being investigated over its use of company donations.

Blooming Land, which coordinates Ferrexpo’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, came under scrutiny after auditors found holes in the charity’s statements.

Ferrexpo on Tuesday said findings of an ongoing independent investigation launched in February indicated some Blooming Land funds could have been “misappropriated”. It did not provide any details or publish its findings.

Shares in Ferrexpo, the third largest exporter of pellets to the global steel industry, were 23.4 percent lower at 206.1 pence at 1022 GMT following news of Deloitte’s resignation.

“Ferrexpo’s shares are deeply discounted vs peers … following the resignation of Deloitte, we expect downside risks to dominate Ferrexpo’s shares near term.” JP Morgan analyst Dominic O’Kane said in a note on Friday.

Swiss-headquartered Ferrexpo did not provide a reason for the resignation of Deloitte, which declined to comment, while Blooming Land did not respond to a request for comment.

Funding for Blooming Land’s CSR activities is provided by one of Ferrexpo’s units in Ukraine and Khimreaktiv LLC, an entity ultimately controlled by Ferrexpo’s CEO and majority owner Kostyantin Zhevago, Ferrexpo said on Tuesday.

Ferrexpo’s board has found that Zhevago did not have significant influence or control over the charity, but Deloitte said it was unable reach a conclusion on this.

Reuters was not immediately able to contact Zhevago.

In a qualified opinion, a statement addressing an incomplete audit, Deloitte said it had been unable to conclude whether $33.5 million of CSR donations to Blooming Land between 2017 and 2018 was used for “legitimate business payments for charitable purposes”.

Deloitte said on Tuesday that total CSR payments made to Blooming Land by Ferrexpo since 2013 total about $110 million.

Ferrexpo, whose major mines are in Ukraine, has said that the investigation was ongoing and new evidence pointed to potential discrepancies.

Zhevago, 45, who ranked 1,511 on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires for 2019 with a net worth of $1.4 billion, owns the FC Vorskla soccer club and has been a member of Ukraine’s parliament since 1998.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev; editing by Gopakumar Warrier, Bernard Orr)

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Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba
Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba, Mozambique April 26, 2019 in this still image obtained from social media. SolidarMed via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer

JOHANNESBURG/LUANDA (Reuters) – Cyclone Kenneth killed at least one person and left a trail of destruction in northern Mozambique, destroying houses, ripping up trees and knocking out power, authorities said on Friday.

The cyclone brought storm surges and wind gusts of up to 280 km per hour (174 mph) when it made landfall on Thursday evening, after killing three people in the island nation of Comoros.

It was the most powerful storm on record to hit Mozambique’s northern coast and came just six weeks after Cyclone Idai battered the impoverished nation, causing devastating floods and killing more than 1,000 people across a swathe of southern Africa.

The World Food Programme warned that Kenneth could dump as much as 600 millimeters of rain on the region over the next 10 days – twice that brought by Cyclone Idai.

One woman in the port town of Pemba died after being hit by a falling tree, the Emergency Operations Committee for Cabo Delgado (COE) said in a statement, while another person was injured.

In rural areas outside Pemba, many homes are made of mud. In the main town on the island of Ibo, 90 percent of the houses were destroyed, officials said. Around 15,000 people were out in the open or in “overcrowded” shelters and there was a need for tents, food and water, they said.

There were also reports of a large number of homes and some infrastructure destroyed in Macomia district, a mainland district adjacent to Ibo.

A local group, the Friends of Pemba Association, had earlier reported that they could not reach people in Muidumbe, a district further inland.

Mark Lowcock, United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, warned the storm could require another major humanitarian operation in Mozambique.

“Cyclone Kenneth marks the first time two cyclones have made landfall in Mozambique during the same season, further stressing the government’s limited resources,” he said in a statement.

FLOOD WARNINGS

Shaquila Alberto, owner of the beach-front Messano Flower Lodge in Macomia, said there were many fallen trees there, and in rural areas people’s homes had been damaged. Some areas of nearby Pemba had no power.

“Even my workers, they said the roof and all the things fell down,” she said by phone.

Further south, in Pemba, Elton Ernesto, a receptionist at Raphael’s Hotel, said there were fallen trees but not too much damage. The hotel had power and water, he said, while phones rang in the background. “The rain has stopped,” he added.

However Michael Charles, an official for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said heavy rains over the next few days were likely to bring a “second wave of destruction” in the form of flooding.

“The houses are not all solid, and the topography is very sandy,” Charles said.

In the days after Cyclone Idai, heavy inland rains prompted rivers to burst their banks, submerging entire villages, cutting areas off from aid and ruining crops. There were concerns the same could happen again in northern Mozambique.

Before Kenneth hit, the government and aid workers moved around 30,000 people to safer buildings such as schools, however authorities said that around 680,000 people were in the path of the storm.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer; Writing by Emma Rumney; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Alexandra Zavis)

Source: OANN

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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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