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Exclusive: La Liga slams ‘catastrophic’ UEFA proposals, welcomes FIFA Club World Cup plans

FILE PHOTO: La Liga President Javier Tebas smiles during an interview with Reuters at the La Liga headquarters in Madrid
FILE PHOTO: La Liga President Javier Tebas smiles during an interview with Reuters at the La Liga headquarters in Madrid, Spain, October 2, 2018. REUTERS/Paul Hanna/File Photo

March 14, 2019

By Richard Martin

BARCELONA (Reuters) – UEFA proposals to change part of the Champions League format would be “catastrophic” for soccer but FIFA plans to overhaul the Club World Cup will be a boon for the sport, La Liga president Javier Tebas told Reuters on Thursday.

Tebas lashed out at changes he said Europe’s governing body is considering making to the Champions League, saying they would damage domestic competitions.

Accusing UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA) of plotting in secret, Tebas said the body wanted to play European games on weekends rather than in mid-week and expand the group stage to have four groups of eight teams, rather than the current format of eight groups of four sides.

“UEFA and the ECA are negotiating behind closed doors so that the others don’t know about the reforms which put national leagues in danger,” said in an exclusive interview.

“They are making reforms to the Champions League which are very dangerous for football. It’s a model which is very damaging for national leagues and also for them, as they don’t understand business.”

UEFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tebas earlier this year made headlines for attempting to switch a La Liga game between Barcelona and Girona to Miami, a move which was opposed by FIFA.

While he remains committed to taking domestic league games abroad to widen La Liga’s global appeal, Tebas said his priority was stopping UEFA’s proposed changes.

“CATASTROPHIC REFORMS”

“Playing a game in Miami is much less important to La Liga than the catastrophic reforms of UEFA and the ECA,” he said.

“FIFA has been transparent in the last few weeks and changed its position so we support them (in their Club World Cup plans), meanwhile UEFA and ECA are doing the opposite and we are very worried about that and don’t support them.”

FIFA’s ruling council meets on Friday in Miami to discuss and vote on president Gianni Infantino’s plans for the revamped Club World Cup, which would take place in 2021, replacing the Confederations Cup.

The new-look competition would see 24 teams taking part instead of the current, annual tournament between six continental champions and an invited team, which has been dominated by the winners of the Champions League since 2013.

Tebas initially opposed Infantino’s plan for an annual, expanded Club World Cup, calling it “irresponsible” last year. But he said the Spanish league and other major European leagues have radically shifted their position on it.

“In the last year FIFA has made some changes and we are on the path to a good Club World Cup which fits well into the calendar and can be supported by national leagues,” Tebas said.

“It still needs to be polished but they are discussing distributing the money more evenly to smaller leagues and that’s very important. FIFA have also been more transparent about it.

“They’ve also committed to playing it every four years which affects national leagues a lot less.”

The proposed shake up to the tournament has been rejected by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and the ECA chief Andrea Agnelli, who is also the chairman of Juventus.

The FIFA council in Miami will also explore the possibility of expanding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from 32 to 48 teams, which could see the number of host countries also increase.

The tournament will take place between November and December rather than the traditional slot of June and July due to Qatar’s scorching summer temperatures, which is set to disrupt domestic leagues across Europe and around the world.

“We always opposed the change of the dates and now La Liga is preparing ourselves for the break in the season,” Tebas said.

“We also must decide what we do with all the players that are not going to the World Cup, of which there are many, not just in Spain but around the world and who didn’t figure in decisions like this.

“We’ll have to wait and see what FIFA decides but in principle, we at the Spanish league are not in favor of increasing the number of teams at the Qatar World Cup or any World Cup.”

(Editing by Ossian Shine)

Source: OANN

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Lawyer: Britain plans to strip IS teen of UK citizenship

A lawyer for the family of Shamima Begum, who left London four years ago while still a minor to join the Islamic State group, says the U.K. government plans to revoke her British citizenship.

Attorney Tasnime Akunjee tweeted Tuesday that the family is "very disappointed with the Home Office's intention to have an order made depriving Shamima of her citizenship."

He said the family is "considering all legal avenues to challenge this decision."

Begum ran away with two friends in 2015, when she was 15, and traveled to Syria. Now 19, she says she has given birth to a baby and wants to come home.

The case has reignited a debate in the U.K. about how to deal with citizens who joined IS but now want to return.

The Home Office declined to comment.

Source: Fox News World

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China’s Premier Li says it is not realistic to decouple economies of China, U.S.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at a news conference following the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at a news conference following the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee

March 15, 2019

BEIJING (Reuters) – It is not realistic to decouple the economies of the United States and China, Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday, adding that common interests between the world’s two largest economies far outweigh disputes.

China hopes trade talks between the two countries can achieve results, Li told reporters at a news conference at the conclusion of the annual parliament meeting.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Writing by Michael Martina; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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Exclusive: Uber plans to kick off IPO in April – sources

FILE PHOTO: Uber's logo is displayed on a mobile phone
FILE PHOTO: Uber's logo is displayed on a mobile phone, September 14, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

March 14, 2019

By Carl O’Donnell and Heather Somerville

(Reuters) – Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc is planning to kick off its initial public offering in April, putting it close on the heels of its smaller rival Lyft Inc, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Next month, Uber will issue its required public disclosure, known as an S-1, and launch its investor roadshow, the people said.

The timing for Uber’s IPO means it will most likely be hitting the public markets soon after Lyft completes its own public offering, which is expected to happen by the end of March, people familiar with the matter said.

Uber declined to comment.

(Reporting by Carl O’Donnell in New York and Heather Somerville in San Francisco; additional reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

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Nevada seeks to become eighth state to allow physician-assisted suicide

LAS VEGAS -- Donald Strait’s wife, Caren, died last summer after a nearly four-year-long battle with cancer, but he said he’s still fighting on her behalf.

“I'm not certain if she died of starvation, malnutrition or if she died of dehydration – lack of water,” Straight, a resident of Nevada, told Fox News. “But either way she would have much rather have been able to just simply take a pill or several pills, or whatever it takes and just be able to end it.”

Straight is referring to the Death with Dignity laws, which in seven states plus the District of Columbia allow physicians to prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill patients.

Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Hawaii, Colorado, California and Washington D.C. all have assisted dying statutes, in addition to Montana, which became legal after a state Supreme Court ruling in 2009.

Don Strait said hopes to see Senate Bill 165 pass so terminally ill patients don't suffer like his wife, who died last summer of adnominal cancer.

Don Strait said hopes to see Senate Bill 165 pass so terminally ill patients don't suffer like his wife, who died last summer of adnominal cancer.

Nevada is the latest state seeking to allow physician-assisted dying, which is also referred to as “Death with Dignity” or “Medical Aid in Dying,” after a bill was introduced in the legislature earlier this month.  

“Unfortunately, because of the way the laws were written here in this state she was forced to just lay in a bed and slowly waste away,” Straight said about his wife, who was hoping to make the trek to Washington to obtain the necessary prescription to end her life, but was too weak to travel in her final days suffering from Carcinomatosis – a form of abdominal cancer.

NJ CLEARS 1ST HURDLE TO MAKE ASSISTED SUICIDE LEGAL; OPPOSITION CALLS HEARING A 'CHARADE'

Caren eventually became unable to eat and requested no further food or liquids. It took 12 days for her to die, Donald said.

Death with dignity bills have faced strong opposition from Catholic groups, which equate them to suicide. The groups say the bill lack safeguards to protect against abuse.

“Legalizing suicide is not a solution. In the face of these challenges, we should support and accompany our loved ones with genuine compassion, not with the false compassion of assisted suicide,” said Las Vegas Bishop George Leo Thomas said.

The bills have also been questioned by some in the medical community who say it puts “too much power” in the hands of doctors.

“The choice all sounds wonderful until you start to think about that it’s going to become a burden, it’s going to become the duty to do this instead of a choice,” Dr. Kirk Bronander, a medical professor and Nevada director of the American Academy of Medical Ethics. “It’ll be a duty because families may be pushing you to do this, it may be a duty because the insurance companies are pushing you to do this.”

He warns against medical professionals taking the decision lightly.

“It does not take great skill to kill the patient,” he said, “it takes great skill to hold their hand and give them proper end of life care.”

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Nevada Democratic State Sen. David Parks, a primary sponsor of the bill in his state, said the legislation hits home in a personal way as he “made a promise some years ago to a lady who was a co-worker and she ended up succumbing to bladder cancer.”

“She said to me at one point if I was healthy enough I’d move to Oregon, and that was when Oregon was the only state that offered the Death with Dignity legislation,” Parks said, adding that she begged him to introduce a similar bill in Nevada.

NEW MEXICO ABORTION BILL CALLED 'MOST EXTREME IN THE NATION'

According to data from the Oregon Health Authority, of the 168 Death With Dignity Act deaths in 2018, the top four end-of-life concerns included losing autonomy, less able to engage in activities, loss of dignity and being a burden on family, friends/caregivers.

While losing autonomy and being less able to engage in activities was a concern for roughly 95 percent of the patients, loss of dignity and being a burden represented 79 percent and 64 percent, respectively.

Oregon’s Death with Dignity law passed in 1997, with a total of 2,217 prescriptions written under the law and 1,459 people actually having died from ingesting the pills, the data showed.

Dr. Thomas Hunt, a professor at Roseman University of Health Sciences, believes the bill has the proper safeguards in place – including being diagnosed with a terminal condition with six months or less to live, being diagnosed by two separate physicians, submitting two written requests and verbal request and the patient has to be deemed competent.

Hunt sees the controversial topic as a personal choice issue.

“If a patient feels that this is in their best interest and they feel like they have they want control over those last days weeks or maybe even a couple of months I think they should have that,” he said.

Ashley Cardenas, police and programs director for Compassion and Choices, an organization that educates the public about end-of-life care, said the “in more than 40 years of combined experience, we've never had an incident that has been substantiated for coercion or abuse or insurance fraud."

Nevada lawmakers heard the bill on Monday in Carson City. It will now head to a working group for discussion before a vote is taken up on the floor.

Source: Fox News National

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European shares fall as tech, auto stocks weigh

The German share price index DAX graph at the stock exchange in Frankfurt
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Staff

April 8, 2019

(Reuters) – European stocks opened broadly lower on Monday following a week of strong gains, as dismal German trade data hurt auto makers and software company SAP dragged the tech sector lower after it announced another departure in its top management.

The pan-region STOXX 600 index was down 0.13 percent at 0723 GMT, having touched eight-month highs last week.

Germany’s trade sensitive DAX index fell 0.3 percent, breaking a seven day winning streak – its longest since October 2017.

Earlier on Monday data showed that German exports and imports fell more than expected in February, the latest sign that Europe’s biggest economy will likely post meager growth in the first quarter.

Auto stocks underperformed after a near 7 percent surge last week.

BMW, Daimler declined, with both facing possibly hefty fines after EU antitrust regulators charged them with colluding to block the rollout of clean emissions technology.

Continental AG fell 1.7 percent as Kepler Cheuvreux downgraded the auto parts maker to “hold” from “buy”.

By contrast Italian-U.S. carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) rose after it agreed to pay electric carmaker Tesla Inc hundreds of millions of euros to allow Tesla vehicles to be counted in its fleet to avoid fines for violating new EU emission rules.

Software company SAP weighed the most on the STOXX 600 index, down 1.5 percent as Europe’s most valuable technology company said the head of its cloud business group had quit, the latest in a string of top departures.

Irish stocks, a barometer of Brexit sentiment, ended a six-day winning run.

Britain’s government held out the possibility of compromise with the opposition Labour Party on Sunday to try to win support in parliament for leaving the European Union with a deal. UK Prime Minister Theresa May heads to Brussels this week to ask for a further delay until June 30.

Banco BPM dropped 1.3 percent as Italy’s third biggest lender said it could be interested in tie-ups with banks close to its home turf in the north of the country, comments that appeared to play down a possible deal with Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank dropped 0.4 percent and 1.5 percent respectively. European bank supervisors demanded a detailed roadmap outlining the pace and scale of staff cuts in the two lenders as they explore a merger, according to German daily Handelsblatt’s report.

The two German lenders favor a straightforward merger over more complex ways to structure a deal, Reuters reported on Friday.

(Reporting by Susan Mathew and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Source: OANN

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Brazil’s Bolsonaro warmly received by Netanyahu in Israel

Israel's prime minister has warmly welcomed Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on his first state visit to Israel.

Bolsonaro touched down Sunday and received red carpet treatment from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is running for re-election in nine days. The Brazilian leader opened his speech after landing with the words "I love Israel" in Hebrew.

The Brazilian president is expected during his three-day trip to decide whether to follow President Donald Trump's lead and move the Brazilian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move he has repeatedly promised.

Netanyahu called Bolsonaro a "good friend" and says Israel and Brazil have entered "a new era" of relations.

Source: Fox News World

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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)

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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)

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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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