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Witness: Car that hit pedestrians zoomed into intersection

A witness to a California crash that injured eight people said Wednesday he was waiting for a traffic light to turn green when a Toyota Corolla plowed through the intersection at a high speed, sending pedestrians flying into the air in the Silicon Valley city of Sunnyvale.

Don Draper, 72, said he was so enraged that he marched over to the car that had stopped after slamming into a tree. He found the driver slumped over the steering wheel as the car hissed steam. The door was open.

"He wasn't hurt apparently, and he was mumbling over and over again, 'thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus' again and again," Draper said. "And at this point I realized I had to call 911."

Police officers went to the apartment complex Wednesday of the driver who authorities say appeared to deliberately plow into a group of people, including a 13-year-old girl. Authorities have not identified the man who was driving Tuesday night in the city located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of San Francisco.

The FBI is assisting California officials in the investigation, said Prentice Danner, a spokesman for the FBI's field office in San Francisco. He said the Sunnyvale Police Department is the lead agency but the bureau will become more involved "if it is determined a federal crime was committed."

Sunnyvale Police Cpt. Jim Choi said the driver was arrested and has been identified but his name is not being made public to avoid compromising the investigation. He said the driver was not injured.

Witness statements matched Draper's recollection that the driver was speeding and drove directly toward the pedestrians without trying to veer away or stop before striking them.

Some of the witness statements "show that the driver did not try to avoid the pedestrians at the cross walk, and there was no attempt to swerve, drive away or brake," Choi said.

Draper said he was stopped at the intersection when the car went barreling into the crosswalk.

"I saw a body flying through the air, and one of them was right in front of me," Draper said. "This woman was about 10 feet (3 meters) off the ground; I can see her feet pointing upward."

He said the woman landed in front of his car, with what appeared to be a bloody head wound.

Draper said he later saw the driver lying face down on the ground, away from his car. He was eventually led away in handcuffs.

Some of the eight people injured were at a corner or on the crosswalk when the car hit them before smashing into a tree, Choi said. The victims were taken to the hospital after the crash near a shopping center in Sunnyvale, Choi said.

An update on their conditions was expected later Wednesday.

___

This story has been corrected to show 13-year-old victim is a girl.

----

Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Australian Cardinal George Pell given 6-year prison sentence for child sex abuse: report

An Australian judge on Wednesday reportedly handed down a six-year prison term to a cardinal found guilty last year of committing child sex abuse more than two decades ago.

Cardinal George Pell was convicted in December of molesting a pair of choirboys in the late 1990s at a cathedral in Melbourne, according to The Associated Press.

PROTESTS ERUPT IN ITALY AFTER FEMALE JUDGES CLEARED MEN OF RAPE CHARGES, CALLED ALLEGED VICTIM ‘TOO MASCULINE’

The 77-year-old – who has denied the accusations and plans to mount an appeal – will not be considered for parole until he spends at least three years and eight months behind bars, the report said.

Victoria state County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd, who sentenced the religious official, indicated that factors such as age and a lack of prior criminal record, led him to believe that Pell would not be a repeat offender.

But he also said he believed Pell’s “conduct was permeated by staggering arrogance,” adding that he had appeared to lack remorse.

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, Cardinal George Pell leaves the County Court in Melbourne, Australia. An Australian judge sentenced Wednesday, March 13, the most senior Catholic, Pell, to be convicted of child sex abuse to 6 years in prison for molesting two choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral more than 20 years ago. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, Cardinal George Pell leaves the County Court in Melbourne, Australia. An Australian judge sentenced Wednesday, March 13, the most senior Catholic, Pell, to be convicted of child sex abuse to 6 years in prison for molesting two choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral more than 20 years ago. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill, File)

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One of the victims released a statement through their lawyer, saying it was difficult to fully digest the sentencing and that Pell’s anticipated appeal clouded the moment.

"It is hard for me to allow myself to feel the gravity of this moment, the moment when the sentence is handed down, the moment when justice is done," the statement from the man said. "It is hard for me, for the time being, to take comfort in this outcome. I appreciate that the court has acknowledged what was inflicted upon me as a child. However, there is no rest for me. Everything is overshadowed by the forthcoming appeal."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn arrested for fourth time: NHK

FILE PHOTO: Former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn sits inside a car as he leaves his lawyer's office after being released on bail from Tokyo Detention House, in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO: Former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn sits inside a car as he leaves his lawyer's office after being released on bail from Tokyo Detention House, in Tokyo, Japan, March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

April 3, 2019

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese prosecutors arrested ousted Nissan Motor Co boss Carlos Ghosn for a fourth time on Thursday, public broadcaster NHK said, after Japanese media reported that authorities were building a new case against him over payments made to an dealer in Oman.

Prosecutors arrest Ghosn for suspicion of aggravated breach of trust, NHK said.

(Reporting by Tokyo bureau; editing by David Dolan and G Crosse)

Source: OANN

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WTA roundup: Anisimova, Sharma into final at Bogota

FILE PHOTO: Tennis: Miami Open
FILE PHOTO: Mar 20, 2019; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Amanda Anisimova of the United States reaches for a backhand against Andrea Petkovic of Germany (not pictured) in the first round of the Miami Open at Miami Open Tennis Complex. Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

April 14, 2019

Sixth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova overcame a slow start to rally past Brazilian qualifier Beatriz Haddad Maia 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 on Saturday and reach the Claro Open Colsanitas final in Bogota, Colombia.

It will be the second career final appearance for the 17-year-old Anisimova, who hadn’t won on clay in two years before entering the tournament. She had 13 chances to break Haddad Maia through the first two sets but converted only one, then converted three of four in the final set to wrap up victory in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

In the final, Anisimova will face Australia’s Astra Sharma, who downed former Bogata champion Lara Arruabarrena of Spain 7-5, 6-1 to also reach her first career final. Sharma, 23, completed the victory in just 66 minutes, breaking Arruabarrena — the 11th seed, who reached the final in 2017 and 2018 after winning it in 2012 — four times in five chances.

Anisimova and Sharma have never faced each other in WTA play.

Samsung Open

Polish 17-year-old Iga Swiatek was nearly flawless in her semifinal against the Czech Republic’s Kristyna Pliskova, cruising to a 6-0, 6-1 victory in Lugano, Switzerland, to reach her first career final.

Swiatek needed just 54 minutes to claim victory, despite having to save seven break points on her own serve, including two in the final game before two match points. She converted five of eight opportunities on Pliskova’s serve, winning the first nine games of the match overall.

Opposing Swiatek in the final will be Slovenia’s Polona Hercog, who dispatched France’s Fiona Ferro 7-5, 6-4 in 92 minutes. Hercog is seeking the third title of her career and her first since July of 2012 (Swedish Open). Her only final appearance since that victory came last April at the Istanbul Cup.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Malaysian state palm oil firm Felda seeks $1.5 billion government bailout: Bloomberg

FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past a logo of Felda in Kuala Lumpur
FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past a logo of Felda in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia February 7, 2018. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin/File Photo

April 9, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s state palm oil plantation agency, the Federal Land Development Authority, is seeking 6 billion ringgit ($1.5 billion) from the government to help turn itself around, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

The request will be included in a white paper on the company scheduled to be introduced in parliament on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported, citing a source. If approved, the funds would be paid out in stages, the report said.

Felda, as the state-owned company is known, has been struggling to pay down debt amid financial losses and corruption allegations.

The government of Mahathir Mohamad, who came to power last year after defeating Malaysia’s longtime ruling coalition, had vowed to look into Felda’s financial troubles and alleged graft.

Felda and Malaysia’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is preparing the white paper, did not respond to requests for comment on the Bloomberg report.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng told reporters on Tuesday the government had to support Felda as the previous government had caused “huge losses”. He did not elaborate.

Felda was set up to help palm oil farmers, who work for the agency, and also has a one-third stake in FGV Holdings Bhd, the world’s largest crude palm oil producer.

Palm oil farmers on Felda land have been grappling with rising costs of living and high debt due to insufficient income.

Felda has diversified in recent years into property, including hotels, both locally and overseas, but has been plagued by issues of poor management.

Last year, Felda said it would sell assets including property in London, restructure some loans, and try to boost cash flow to trim nearly $2 billion in debt.

A former Felda chairman was charged in December with breach of trust and receiving bribes over the purchase of a Malaysian hotel while he was in charge of Felda.

The Mahathir government has said it would investigate several “highly suspicious” deals done by the previous administration, including the $500 million acquisition of a non-controlling stake in Indonesia’s Eagle High Plantations. The deal had drawn criticism as it was seen as overpriced.

(Reporting by Emily Chow, with additional reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by A. Ananthalakshmi and Tom Hogue)

Source: OANN

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China says Muslim 'training' centers will slowly disappear

China says heavily guarded internment camps for Muslims which it calls vocational training centers will "gradually disappear" if there comes a day that "society does not need" them.

The camps in the far-west Xinjiang region have elicited an international outcry, with former inmates describing harsh conditions where Muslim minorities are subject to political indoctrination and psychological torture.

Human rights groups, researchers and the U.S. government estimate that around 1 million people from the predominantly Muslim Uighur and Kazakh ethnic groups are held in the vast network of compounds.

Xinjiang Gov. Shohrat Zakir declined at a news conference Tuesday to disclose the number of what he called "trainees." However, he said the figure is far less than 1 million.

Zakir said religious activities are banned in the camps.

Source: Fox News World

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Final Four: Izzo set for 8th, Texas Tech, Auburn debut

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-East Regional-Michigan State vs Duke
Mar 31, 2019; Washington, DC, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo celebrates by cutting the nets after beating the Duke Blue Devils in the championship game of the east regional of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

April 1, 2019

Virginia is the lone No. 1 seed remaining in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, and Auburn is the long shot, coming out of the Midwest Region as a No. 5 seed.

Tom Izzo is back for the eighth time with Michigan State, and Chris Beard guided Texas Tech into the national semifinals for the first time ever.

The teams converge on Minneapolis on Thursday, two days before games begin Saturday night at US Bank Stadium.

“I think it’s a great city,” Izzo said Monday. “The facility is off the charts. This is going to be a tremendous setting. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Beard spent plenty of time on the horn on Monday, talking to anyone he felt could help his team get an edge, from Dick Vitale to common opponents. He also decided to reach out to Izzo to make sure their first conversation wasn’t an informal intro in the hallway this week.

“Coach Izzo is one of my idols,” Beard said. “He’s someone I look up to. He’s been great to coaches. We have terminology in our program — Tom Izzo rebounding — so it’s a little bit surreal. I did have a chance to talk to him one time, at Peach Jam when recruiting started, and he was really nice to me.

“I reached out to him this morning just to congratulate him on another Final Four.”

PREP FOR LANDING

The road to the program’s first ever Final Four was unexpected for Auburn.

The Tigers ousted North Carolina in the regional semifinal, sandwiched by wins over Kansas and Kentucky. In the win over the Tar Heels, most valuable player Chuma Okeke was lost to a season-ending knee injury.

“We said this is all for Chuma,” Auburn junior Jared Harper said. “Going to the Final Four and trying to compete for a national championship is all for Chuma. He put so much on the line for us this year.”

Tigers coach Bruce Pearl knows Virginia’s Tony Bennett well. When he was head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Pearl said he first bought a Dick Bennett defense video focused on not allowing ball reversals — well before he established the pack-line defense.

“He taught me a lot about how we try to guard even to this day,” Pearl said.

To that end, Tony Bennett said he has chastised his father for being “an open book,” but noted Dick Bennett has openly influenced a lot of people in the game.

Virginia is in the Final Four for the third time, the first since 1984. Tony Bennett said he will reach out to his father, plus former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan and others to be as prepared as possible.

“It still always comes down to preparing well with the right kind of focus and enjoying it,” Bennett said. “That’s the advice I’ve always gotten from those people and I think would be common sense in these situations.”

EXPERIENCE: COMMON WINNING INGREDIENT

In the era of one-and-done, Pearl is in Minneapolis with a backcourt featuring senior Bryce Brown, who Pearl recalled was ranked in the 300s on most recruiting services. Brown agreed to wait for a scholarship to open — Pearl offered it to Jacob Evans, who went to Cincinnati — and his patience eventually paid off. Another small guard, Harper, was not offered scholarships by bigger schools.

“The biggest impact as far as our roster is concerned, before Chuma went down we were playing 10 guys double-digit minutes,” Pearl said. “When Chuma went down — he was and still is our most valuable player — we went down to nine. I’ve always played 10 guys double-digit guys. … If Bryce Brown and Jared Harper don’t step up and have two great games, we don’t have a chance to get by a really good Kentucky team. Their experience.

“Last year, when we got down to seven scholarship players, we got destroyed by Clemson in the second round. … From that moment forward, our motive was unfinished business. The reason the freshmen and a lot of these teams (don’t make) the Final Four is they don’t have the experience of having not gotten there.”

Izzo agreed Monday with that sentiment. He also said he’s rooting for Bennett because of their history together. Izzo worked at camps run by Dick Bennett, and has known Tony for decades. Izzo said he became an even bigger fan of Tony Bennett last season when the Cavaliers were the first team ever to lose to a No. 16 seed as a No. 1.

“It teaches you that it’s not just about being really good,” Izzo said. “I kind of have that feeling. We were really good in, I don’t know, ’13 or ’14 with that team and didn’t make it. We were really good in ’16 and didn’t make it. We were really good in ’18 and didn’t make it. So I kind of have that feeling, and yet when you go a four-year stretch, you thought you would in ’16. You thought you might in ’18, and you didn’t even get close. You’ve got to be good and you’ve got to be lucky. With that being said, I know one thing, I look at it now as ‘who knows if you’ll ever get back.'”

Beard and Texas Tech lost to Villanova in the Elite Eight last year and said the plan as a coach is to “stay old,” referencing the fact that his lineup led by four seniors was very much by design.

He also credited the Big 12 schedule for prepping the Red Raiders for this moment.

“The coaching is great in this league. Everybody has NBA players,” Beard said. “For sure, no doubt about it, I’ve always grown up studying this stuff and a student of the game. You always hear about the grind helping you. And it does. … As good as Michigan State is, we’ve played Kansas, Kansas State, we played Duke in the nonconference.”

NEXT STEP PREP

Izzo said he shared with Beard earlier Monday one piece of advice: Get your tickets set today.

“I’m going to hope experience helps me on the (peripheral) things,” Izzo said, noting his seven previous trips to the Final Four. “The experience helps. We’re going to have a big meeting on hotels and tickets … that’s pressure that builds on these kids as the week goes.”

The celebratory lather from advancing to the Final Four by beating Kentucky will soon rinse clean, but Pearl didn’t want to put players on the spot so soon after that overtime victory.

“We just had a little time this morning to begin to look at Virginia,” Pearl said, noting his team’s reliance on the 3-point shot (14 made per game this season). “They allow just 29 percent shooting from 3. They’ve got big guards, they’re able to extend enough defensively to challenge shots.”

Bennett said he was into film watching Monday and getting a feel for the Tigers.

“Seeing the years he’s had at Auburn, you understand their quickness, how scrappy they are,” Bennett said. “Because of their depth, they can really absorb different types of things — foul trouble — they have a different range of guys.”

WEEKEND FORECAST

Temperatures are expected to be in the 60s this weekend outdoors, but coaches are spending the early part of the week unpacking as much game film as possible of their on-court opponents.

Pearl noted Virginia is second nationally in offensive efficiency, and the Cavaliers average fewer than 10 turnovers per game.

Pearl’s team thrives on causing havoc, and turnovers, with pressure defense and had plenty of praise for Bennett’s bunch on Monday.

“They’ve got some great balance. They have a number of guys that can and will shoot the 3-ball at great percentages,” Pearl said. “They do a really good job of getting to the free throw line, they value possessions. We are a defense, or a team, that relies on being able to turn our opponents over to get some offense out of our defense.”

Pearl said the team will attempt to maintain a routine this week while admitting Auburn knows the schedule at the Final Four is a major grind, as has been the case since the team arrived in Utah for the first round. After winning in the opening round, Pearl described his team and staff as “tired.”

Pearl gave the team a day off Monday and won’t bring up Virginia until Tuesday.

“We don’t play until Saturday,” Pearl said. “If I tried to give them anything on Virginia today, it’d be lost by Saturday.”

Bennett said his team is working quickly to reset for Minneapolis.

“It is the same formula — try to balance both, get your rest and prepare well,” Bennett said. “When you have a thankful heart with things and a strong desire to do well — they’re passionately wanting to do well in this setting.”

Beard said he goes to the Final Four every year, but this year gets to coach in it. Among those he’s leaning on this week are his own assistants, including Sean Sutton, and his Big 12 peers.

“The Big 12 family. I’ve gotten a text from probably every coach in the league. I’ve had a chance to talk to coach (Bill) Self and coach (Bruce) Weber,” Beard said. “Just trying to give my guys all the information they need.”

–By Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media

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)

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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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