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Poll: 46 Percent Back Plan to Send Immigrants to Sanctuary Cities

Forty-six percent of Americans support President Donald Trump’s proposal to send immigrants to sanctuary cities, while 43% oppose it, according to a new Monmouth University poll.

Here is how the rest of the poll breaks down:

  • 71% say illegal immigration is either very serious or somewhat serious, compared to 28 percent who say it is not too serious or not at all serious.
  • 42% favor building a wall along the southern border, while 56% oppose it.
  • 24% say illegal immigrants take jobs away from Americans, compared to 60% who say they take jobs Americans don’t want.
  • 41% say immigrants seeking political asylum should be allowed into the U.S. while they wait for their claims to be processed, while 51% say they should be made to stay in Mexico.
  • 37% say immigrants who come to the border seeking political asylum are really fleeing violence, while 46% say the immigrants are trying to get around the normal process of apply for entry to the U.S.

The poll, conducted April 11-15, surveyed 801 people. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Mueller team denies leaking Roger Stone indictment to CNN

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team on Friday denied allegations from former Trump adviser Roger Stone that his indictment was leaked to CNN before it was unsealed last month.

“The Special Counsel’s Office is aware of no information indicating that reporters were given any advance knowledge of a possible indictment from the Special Counsel’s office,” the filing states.

Stone’s legal team had filed a motion in federal court claiming his indictment had been leaked after CNN was the only network to stake out Stone's Fort Lauderdale home when he was arrested before dawn last month. CNN later aired video of the arrest that showed a team of FBI agents with guns banging on Stone’s door and demanding that he come outside.

FBI'S SHOW OF FORCE IN ROGER STONE ARREST SPURS CRITICISM OF MUELLER TACTICS

The arrest operation drew scrutiny from President Trump, who questioned on Twitter, “who alerted CNN to be there?”

CNN has denied being tipped off to the arrest, claiming they knew to be there because of “good reporting.” If that is the case, reporters have noted CNN was remarkably lucky in guessing when Stone might be arrested.

“CNN’s ability to capture the arrest of Roger Stone was the result of determined reporting and interpreting clues revealed in the course of events. That’s called journalism,” CNN said.

The filing from Mueller’s team accuses Stone of suggesting “without evidence” that prosecutors publicly released the indictment before the arrest to allow news media to witness Stone’s arrest, claiming the indictment was not “publicly released until after the defendant was arrested.”

JUDGE RIPS INTO ROGER STONE, BARS HIM FROM SPEAKING PUBLICLY ON CASE

The 24-page indictment against the former Trump adviser alleges that Stone worked to obstruct the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election by making false statements to the committee, denying he had records sought by the committee and persuading a witness to provide false testimony. Stone has pleaded not guilty.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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China smartphone maker Xiaomi’s fourth-quarter profit more than triples, beats view

People walk past a Xiaomi store in Shenyang
FILE PHOTO: People walk past a Xiaomi store in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

March 19, 2019

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp said on Tuesday its fourth-quarter net profit more than tripled to 1.85 billion yuan ($275.59 million), on stronger revenue.

That profit exceeded the 1.7 billion yuan average estimate of 10 analysts, according to Refinitiv data.

Revenue for the period increased 27 percent to 44.4 billion yuan, lower than the 47.4 billion yuan average estimate of 13 analysts, according to Refinitiv data.

For the full 2018 calendar year, Xiaomi brought in revenue of 174.9 billion yuan and made a net profit of 8.6 billion yuan.

This marks the third set of financial results for the company since its IPO in Hong Kong. Xiaomi shares have rallied nearly 30 percent since early January, though they remain well below their July listing price.

(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Source: OANN

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Black holes and Congress’ accomplishments at 100 days

Astronomers announced this week they finally observed what Albert Einstein hypothesized decades ago: a black hole.

A black hole is an abyss of oblivion. A concentration of nothingness. Black holes consume everything. Sound. Light. Space. Matter. Even time.

The threshold to a black hole is known as the “event horizon.” A black hole swallows anything which crosses the event horizon precipice forever.

FIRST-EVER BLACK HOLE PICTURE PROVES THE POWER OF SCIENCE, SAYS FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT

We are just now hitting the 100-day mark for the 116th Congress. It’s natural for House Democrats to tout their achievements at the 100-day mile post. Democrats hold a big majority, punctuated by an influx of diverse freshman. But House Republicans question exactly what the Democratic majority accomplished.

Republicans have controlled the Senate since 2015. Republicans added to their slim majority in the midterms. But the Senate is at the 100 day way station, too. Senate GOPers are busy touting how they’ve confirmed many of President Trump’s nominees. And Democrats are scratching their heads.

So what has Congress accomplished this year? The 116th Congress began as none before, amid a government shutdown – which started on the watch of the old Congress. It wasn’t until mid-February that all shutdown concerns were resolved and lawmakers could finally put their stamp on the 116th Congress.

Do the major issues of the day stand at the escarpment of a Congressional event horizon, ready to be siphoned into a political black hole? Unclear.

Fixing health care? Congressional Republicans discuss it all the time. They still want to ditch Obamacare. They’re rooting for the Justice Department to prevail in a court challenge to the law. Yet Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wouldn’t directly answer an inquiry by Fox’s Bret Baier about what was the GOP plan. McConnell observed that the House was under Democratic control. He said that previous GOP efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare “didn’t work.”

“We’re not going to spend time in the Senate on issues that literally have no chance of becoming law,” said McConnell.

Democrats talk a lot about a permanent DACA fix and the plight of DREAMers. Yet nothing’s on the schedule from Democrats on that score. In some respects, the problems Democrats have addressing DACA/DREAMers resembles the obstacle which bedevils Republicans when it comes to health care. It sounds great on paper and in soundbites. But it’s a legislative quandary to pass something.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS CO-SPONSORING BILL TO LET DREAMERS BE CAPITOL HILL INTERNS

Infrastructure? Nothing yet. Although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are meeting with the President on infrastructure soon. A measure to lower the price of prescription drugs? Nothing yet. Republicans assailed Democrats this past week when they failed to muster the votes to adopt a non-binding budget blueprint for fiscal year 2020.

“It was reported as somehow we lost control,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) of the decision by Democratic leaders to yank the budget package off the floor. The caucus splintered over spending priorities. “We never lost a vote that we wanted to win. And very frankly, we wouldn’t have lost a vote this week if we wanted to win. And we did win.”

To be fair, Democrats have tackled multiple agenda items they promised to deliver if voters awarded them the majority – even if most of those bills are going nowhere in the Senate.

House Democrats approved a sweeping measure advocating for political transparency and making it easier for people to vote. They passed a bill to tighten up firearms restrictions. House Democrats voted multiple times to re-open the government during the shutdown. They okayed a measure to rebuke the FCC on net neutrality. They moved a bill to terminate President Trump’s national emergency declaration. But they were 38 ballots shy of the votes required to override Mr. Trump’s first veto.

But again, there’s little buy-in from Senate Republicans on these bills, let alone the White House.

So, it’s no surprise that Republicans say they see a blank canvas in the House.

“It’s 100 days of nothing,” carped House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) about the Democrats. “It’s the U.S. House of resolutions.”

McCarthy argued Democrats passed various resolutions lacking teeth.

“I’ve had enough. I’m tired of voting on resolutions,” groused freshman Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH). “I will be voting ‘present’ from now on.”

Of course, Democratic investigations of the Trump Administration and the release of the Mueller report threaten to eclipse any policy achievements the Democrats may pursue.

On Tuesday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and others summoned reporters for a press conference about the administration’s attempt to terminate Obamacare. But after a few health care-related questions, the interrogatives naturally turned to Attorney General William Barr and the Mueller report.

The Barr/Mueller questions frustrated freshman Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA).

“We’re here to have a press conference about a historical challenge to a law that protects millions of people,” said Hill. “We got elected to Congress is the reason (the House) flipped to Democrats in a huge, historic way. And instead, we’re getting questions about the issue that has nothing to do with the topic that we had the press conference about.”

Hill scolded reporters that they should “focus on what the American people sent us here for. It’s not to talk about the Mueller report. It’s to talk about their health care.”

Hill’s right. Democrats didn’t win the House in battleground districts talking about Special Counsel Robert Mueller, investigations and issues facing the President. Democrats captured many swing districts by discussing challenges to Obamacare by Republicans. But so far, there’s little movement on health policy in Congress.

MUELLER REPORT SUMMARY RELEASED, SHOWING NO PROOF TRUMP TEAM CONSPIRED WITH RUSSIA

In the Senate, McConnell’s made a lot of noise about confirming many of President Trump’s nominees. He always touts the fact that senators are in “the personnel business.” McConnell even executed a sophisticated procedural gambit recently to make it easier to confirm lower-tier nominees. But other than confirmations and votes to re-open the government, the most-consequential Senate vote this year dealt with the Green New Deal. McConnell wanted to get Senate Democrats running for President on the record as supporting or opposing the Green New Deal. The Senate couldn’t even command the votes just to start debate on the Green New Deal. McConnell conceded on Fox that his effort to debate the Green New Deal was a show vote.

“Once in a while, people ought to go on the record and decide whether they’re willing to vote for what they say they’re for,” said McConnell.

But the Senate doesn’t have much legislation on its docket.

Schumer says McConnell has “turned the Senate into a legislative graveyard.”

McConnell doubts the Senate can accomplish much with a Democratic House. So he and other Republicans are attempting to cast Democrats in the poorest possible light.

“What’s going to be on display next year is a debate on whether we want to turn America into a socialist country,” said McConnell to Bret Baier.

“You’ve seen this far-left agenda,” echoed House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA). “All you see is an attempt to harass the President.”

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The Mueller report is coming soon. That’s sure to commandeer most news oxygen in Washington. House and Senate leaders are already talking about forging an agreement to potentially sidestep government shutdowns for the next two years. But few can see a pathway on major legislative items soon – let alone bills President Trump would sign into law.

If that’s the case, Congress may have arrived at a legislative event horizon. And voters may wonder if Capitol Hill is where the major issues are swallowed into nothingness.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Chiefs acquire Seahawks’ Clark, agree on $105 million deal: reports

FILE PHOTO: NFL: NFC Wild Card-Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys
FILE PHOTO: Jan 5, 2019; Arlington, TX, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark (55) warms up before a NFC Wild Card playoff football game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo

April 23, 2019

The Seattle Seahawks agreed to trade franchise-tagged defensive end Frank Clark to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2019 first-round pick, a 2020 second-round pick and a swap of 2019 third-round picks, according to multiple reports on Tuesday.

Clark, who must pass a physical for the trade to become official, has also agreed in principle with the Chiefs on a five-year, $105.5 million contract with $63.5 million guaranteed, according to multiple reports.

The Seahawks tagged Clark earlier this offseason, and both sides expressed a desire to keep him in Seattle long-term, but multiple outlets reported over the weekend that he could be dealt before the draft was set to begin Thursday.

Seattle now has two first-round picks — its own at No. 21 and the Chiefs’ at No. 29.

“They had other plans,” Clark told ESPN of the Seahawks’ position. “It got to a point where Seattle had used me for everything I had for them already. At the end of the day it’s a business.

.”.. It just sucks that we weren’t able to get something done, because they knew how I felt about being in Seattle and how I felt about my future, and I feel like at the end of the day it was all ignored. But it is part of the business.”

Clark added, “I wanted to be somewhere where I’m wanted, where I’m appreciated.”

He also told ESPN it was understood that any trade would require the acquiring team to sign him to an extension topping the one Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (five years, $105 million, $65 million guaranteed), signed earlier this month. Clark’s annual average now trails only Chicago’s Khalil Mack ($23.5 million) among defensive ends.

Clark, who turns 26 in June, was set to make $17.1 million on the franchise tag in 2019. He posted career highs of 13 sacks and 27 quarterback hits last season while starting all 16 games for the first time in his career.

The Chiefs traded their own franchise-tagged edge rusher, Dee Ford, to the San Francisco 49ers earlier this offseason, receiving a 2020 second-round pick in return. Ford, deemed an imperfect fit as Kansas City switches from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 under new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, signed a five-year, $85.5 million extension with the 49ers after the trade.

Kansas City also released long-time edge rusher Justin Houston this offseason, before signing former New Orleans Saints defensive end Alex Okafor in free agency and trading for Cleveland Browns defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah.

Clark has 35 sacks and 72 QB hits through 62 games (33 starts) over four seasons since being drafted in the second round by Seattle in 2015.

Once considered a top prospect, he slipped to the second round after being dismissed by the Michigan football team following his 2014 arrest on misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and assault. Clark later pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of disturbing the peace.

The Chiefs have dealt with multiple players with incidents of domestic violence recently.

They drafted receiver Tyreek Hill in the fifth round in 2016, a year and a half after he was dismissed from Oklahoma State following his pleading guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation of his then-pregnant girlfriend. Overland Park (Kan.) Police are currently investigating two March incidents, one for child abuse and neglect and one for battery, involving a juvenile at Hill’s home.

In November, the Chiefs released Pro Bowl running back Kareem Hunt after video surfaced of him shoving and kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel during a January 2018 incident.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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US existing-home sales jumped 11.8 percent in February

U.S. home sales soared 11.8 percent in February, aided by accelerating wages and falling mortgage rates that are improving affordability.

The National Association of Realtors said Friday that existing homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.51 million last month, a decisively sharp rebound from a pace of 4.94 million in January.

The burst in sales points to the housing market regaining the momentum that it lost in the middle of 2018, after a spike in rates for home loans caused sales to slow. The February sales figures point toward growth in sales of homes priced between $250,000 and $500,000, a range that is generally affordable to middle-class families.

Still, existing-home sales are down 1.8 percent from a year ago because of the severity of last year's slowdown. But 30-year mortgage rates have since tumbled after peaking in early November at roughly 5 percent, helping sales to recover as that average has fallen to 4.28 percent this week, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.

The median sales price in January was $247,500, a slight increase of 3.6 percent from last year. Home price growth has been converging with average hourly wage gains in recent months.

However, February's sales bust caused the months' supply of homes on the market to tumble to 3.5 months from 4.4 months in September.

Sales climbed in the Midwest, South and West in February but were unchanged in the Northeast.

Source: Fox News National

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People want higher taxes on rich, better welfare: 21-country OECD survey

FILE PHOTO: Protesters wearing yellow vests walk down the Champs Elysees during a demonstration by the
FILE PHOTO: Protesters wearing yellow vests walk down the Champs Elysees during a demonstration by the "yellow vests" movement in Paris, France, March 9, 2019. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo

March 19, 2019

By Leigh Thomas

PARIS (Reuters) – A strong majority of people in wealthy countries want to tax the rich more and there is broad support for building up the welfare state in most countries, a survey conducted for the OECD showed on Tuesday.

In all of the 21 countries surveyed, more than half of those people polled said they were in favor when asked: “Should the government tax the rich more than they currently do in order to support the poor?” The OECD gave no definition of rich.

Higher taxation of the rich has emerged as a political lightning rod in many wealthy countries, with U.S Democrats proposing hikes and “yellow vest” protesters in France demanding the wealthy bear a bigger tax burden.

Support was highest in Portugal and Greece, both emerging from years of economic crisis, at nearly 80 percent compared with an average of 68 percent, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said.

The Paris-based forum’s survey of 22,000 people about perceived social and economic risks also found deep discontent with governments’ social welfare polices, which many people said were insufficient, the OECD said.

On average, only 20 percent said they could easily receive public benefits if needed while 56 percent thought it would be difficult to get benefits, the survey found.

People were on average particularly concerned about access to good quality, affordable long-term care for the elderly, housing and health services.

Not only did people say they were not getting their fair share given what they paid into the system, people in all countries except Canada, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands did not think that their governments were heeding their views.

“These feelings spread across most social groups, and are not limited just to those deemed ‘left behind’,” the OECD said in an analysis of the survey’s results.

The feeling of injustice was even higher among the highly educated and high-income households, it added.

In light of the high level of discontent, a majority of people wanted their government to do more in all countries except France and Denmark, whose welfare systems are among the most generous in the world.

Most people said the top priority should be better pensions with 54 percent saying that would make them feel more economically secure.

Healthcare followed in second place at 48 percent while nearly 37 percent were in favor of a guaranteed basic income benefit, which has attracted international interest from policymakers but has yet to be tried at the national level.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Richard Lough and Janet Lawrence)

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)

Source: OANN

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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)

Source: OANN

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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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