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MLB roundup: Mariners blow 8-run lead, win in 9th

MLB: Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Angels
Apr 18, 2019; Anaheim, CA, USA; Seattle Mariners first baseman Ryon Healy (27) rounds the bases after his second home run of the night in the sixth inning of the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

April 19, 2019

Ryon Healy homered twice and drove in five runs, and the Seattle Mariners ended a six-game losing streak with an 11-10 win against the Los Angeles Angels in the opener of the four-game series on Thursday in Anaheim, Calif.

After the Mariners squandered a 10-2 lead with the Angels scoring seven runs in the seventh and tying the game in the eighth, Jay Bruce moved Seattle ahead 11-10 with a pinch-hit single in the ninth off Cody Allen (0-1).

Omar Narvaez had three hits, including a three-run homer, and a career-high four RBIs, and Daniel Vogelbach reached base all five times with two hits and three walks for the Mariners. Kole Calhoun and David Fletcher homered during the rally for the Angels.

Seattle starter Felix Hernandez went six innings and allowed four runs and nine hits. The six-time AL All Star struck out three and walked one. Roenis Elias pitched the ninth for his third save.

Dodgers 3, Brewers 1

Julio Urias gave up just one hit over six innings, while Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy hit home runs as visiting Los Angeles extended its winning streak to five games by beating Milwaukee.

In what was likely his final start before moving to the bullpen with Hyun-Jin Ryu and Rich Hill about to come off the injured list, Urias (1-1) did not give up a hit until Orlando Arcia singled to center field with two outs in the fifth inning. The left-hander had a career-high nine strikeouts.

The Brewers’ Christian Yelich hit a home run to lead off the ninth inning against Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, his 10th of the season and fifth of the week. It was also his 12th RBI of the week. The Dodgers extended their National League lead in home runs to 40. The Brewers are second with 36.

Nationals 4, Giants 2

Behind Patrick Corbin’s strong start and a home run by Wilmer Difo, Washington beat San Francisco to win its first home series of the season.

Corbin (1-0) got a nice ovation as he left the mound with two outs in the eighth after an RBI double by Erik Kratz trimmed the margin to 4-1. Corbin allowed one run on two hits, striking out nine and walking one.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy was ejected in the fifth inning by plate umpire Ryan Additon after Brandon Belt was called out on strikes. Belt was later ejected by Additon after being called out on strikes in the seventh. Seven of the 11 Giants who struck out did so taking the third strike.

Orioles 6, Rays 5 (11 innings)

Joey Rickard delivered a tiebreaking, two-out double in the top of the 11th inning, giving visiting Baltimore a victory over first-place Tampa Bay.

The double capped a 4-for-5 night for Rickard, who drove in two runs. Trey Mancini went 3-for-5 with a run, and Pedro Severino hit his first homer of the season and the fifth of his career.

The Rays’ Avisail Garcia had tied the score in the bottom of the ninth when he hit a solo homer off Mychal Givens. Tommy Pham also homered for Tampa Bay.

Royals 6, Yankees 1

Homer Bailey won consecutive starts for the first time in nearly two years as Kansas City won at New York.

Bailey (2-1) held the Yankees to one run on three hits in six innings, walking one and striking out six. He won consecutive starts for the first time since July 4-9, 2017, when he earned victories at Colorado and Arizona while pitching for the Cincinnati Reds. He had gone 6-22 since then before Thursday.

Jorge Soler and Ryan O’Hearn hit solo homers off Yankees starter Domingo German (3-1) as the Royals won for the fifth time in seven games since losing 10 in a row. The Yankees were unable to reach .500 after sweeping a two-game series against the Boston Red Sox, dropping to 8-10.

Tigers 9, White Sox 7

Nicholas Castellanos and Grayson Greiner each had three hits, scored a run and drove in two more and host Detroit snapped a five-game losing streak by defeating Chicago.

Castellanos brought in the go-ahead run in the eighth. Miguel Cabrera supplied two hits and drove in two runs on his 36th birthday. Drew VerHagen (1-0) struck out a batter to end the eighth inning and picked up the victory. Shane Greene notched his ninth save.

Eloy Jimenez, Welington Castillo and Ryan Cordell homered for White Sox.

Diamondbacks 4, Braves 1

Christian Walker continued his late-inning magic, belting a two-run homer in the seventh inning as visiting Arizona completed a three-game sweep of Atlanta.

Walker has six homers, all of them coming in the seventh inning or later. He also hit a ninth-inning blast in the first game of the series. He is batting .619 (13-for-21) with two doubles and 11 RBIs in the seventh inning or later.

Atlanta scored its only run when Freddie Freeman hit a homer, his second, in the eighth inning off reliever Matt Andriese. Freeman was hit by a pitch in the sixth and has reached base in 18 consecutive games. Ronald Acuna Jr. extended his hitting streak to nine games for the Braves.

Blue Jays 7, Twins 4

Eric Sogard had a three-run double to highlight a five-run fourth inning, and Justin Smoak, Randal Grichuk and Teoscar Hernandez each homered to lead Toronto over Minnesota in Minneapolis.

The win was the third in four games for the Blue Jays, who got their first series victory of the season. Joe Biagini (1-1) picked up the win in relief of starter Clay Buchholz, who gave up three runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out four.

Eddie Rosario hit two home runs and Willians Astudillo and Jonathan Schoop each had two hits for Minnesota. Michael Pineda (2-1) took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits with a walk and a strikeout in 3 2/3 innings.

Rockies 6, Phillies 2

Ryan McMahon, in his first game back from the injured list, hit two home runs and drove in five as Colorado beat Philadelphia in Denver.

Kyle Freeland (2-3) gave up just two hits over six scoreless innings to get his first win since Opening Day, and Tony Wolters had three hits for Colorado. The Rockies have won four straight following an eight-game slide, and they earned their first home victory in six tries this season.

J.T. Realmuto homered, and Cesar Hernandez singled three times for the Phillies. Zach Eflin (2-2) allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks while striking out two over six innings.

Reds 4, Padres 1

A game-opening homer by Joey Votto and home runs by Tucker Barnhart and Jesse Winker led visiting Cincinnati over San Diego in the opener of a four-game series.

The Reds snapped a four-game losing streak while handing the Padres a fourth straight loss. The Votto and Barnhart homers were among the three hits allowed by Padres rookie starter Chris Paddack (0-1), whose only walk came in front of Barnhart’s first homer of the season in the fifth inning.

Cincinnati’s final run came on a ninth-inning homer by Winker off reliever Phil Maton. Reds right-hander Tanner Roark (1-0) allowed one run on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Manny Machado’s RBI double accounted for the Padres’ only run.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Chicago mayor demands answers after Smollett hoax charges dropped

FILE PHOTO: Actor Jussie Smollett leaves court after charges against him were dropped by state prosecutors in Chicago
FILE PHOTO: Actor Jussie Smollett leaves court after charges against him were dropped by state prosecutors in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski/File Photo

March 27, 2019

(Reuters) – Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday said he wanted to “find out what happened” that caused prosecutors to abruptly drop charges that had accused “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett of staging a hoax hate crime to boost his career.

The Smollett saga began in January when the actor, who is black and gay, said two men had attacked him on a Chicago street, putting a noose around his neck and shouting racist and homophobic slurs. Prosecutors later accused him of paying two men to carry out an attack they called a hoax but abruptly dropped the charges on Tuesday.

“Let’s get to the bottom of this,” Emanuel said in an ABC News interview. “Let’s find out what happened.”

Emanuel said Smollett had “abused” the city of Chicago, a day after the actor walked out of court saying he had been vindicated in insisting he had not staged a racist assault against him in January.

Smollett had been charged with 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct alleging he gave false accounts of an attack on him to police investigators.

On Tuesday, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said it stood by its accusation against Smollett but was dropping all the charges, saying the actor’s prior community service and his agreeing to forfeit his $10,000 bond was a just outcome.

“The state’s attorney’s office is saying he’s not exonerated, he actually did commit this hoax. He’s saying he’s innocent and his words are true,” Emanuel said in the ABC interview. “They better get their stories straight, because this is making fools of all us.”

Emanuel said he would like to see records from the police investigation into the alleged attack made public. “Let’s get to the bottom of this,” he said. “Let’s find out what happened.”

Smollett earned widespread sympathy from celebrities and some Democratic presidential candidates over his account of the alleged assault.

But police arrested Smollett on Feb. 21, accusing the actor of paying two brothers $3,500 to stage the attack in an effort to use the notoriety to advance his career.

On Tuesday, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson also criticized the prosecutor’s decision, saying it did not serve justice.

Smollett had pleaded not guilty to the charges, and told reporters on Tuesday he had been “truthful and consistent” in maintaining his innocence.

His lawyers said he hopes to move on with his acting career, but it remains unclear whether he will return to “Empire” after being written out of the last two episodes of the most recent season.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Source: OANN

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Widows, ace guide to climb Everest to honor Sherpas

Five years after one of the deadliest disasters on Mount Everest, three people from Nepal's ethnic Sherpa community are preparing an ascent to raise awareness about the Nepalese mountain guides who make it possible for hundreds of foreign climbers to scale the mountain and survive.

Renowned climber Kami Rita lived through the 2014 ice avalanche on Everest's western shoulder that killed 16 fellow Sherpa guides. He aims to break his own record this spring by reaching the mountaintop a 23rd time as a guide for foreign climbers.

Furdiki Sherpa lost her husband in a mountaineering accident, and Nima Doma lost hers in the 2014 avalanche. They are also attempting to scale Everest, to bring attention to the plight of Sherpa families living in the shadow of the world's highest peak.

Source: Fox News World

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Mississippi man gets prison for drugging, trafficking kids

A Mississippi man has been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for drugging children and then trafficking them for sex.

News outlets report 37-year-old Willie Charles Blackmon Jr. was sentenced Monday after being convicted in November of sex trafficking minors and promoting a prostitution business. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender and sentenced to a lifetime of supervised released.

Prosecutors say an investigation into the prostitution ring led by Blackmon started in 2014. Authorities say he bought a runaway minor for $500 and then recruited other runaways for prostitution. U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst says Blackmon would rent hotel rooms in Jackson and Vicksburg where the children would be prostituted. Prosecutors say Blackmon also harmed the children if they refused to perform sex acts.

Source: Fox News National

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Trey Gowdy: Mueller report release ‘resolved nothing;’ 2020 will deliver ‘verdict’

Former South Carolina congressman Trey Gowdy believes the release of the Mueller report has not resolved the partisan debate over the Trump campaign’s dealings with Russia in 2016, and that the real “verdict” on the situation will be rendered by the 2020 presidential election.

“I was within in a really smart universe of people that did not think this report should be made public. I didn't think it was going to change anyone's mind and resolve anything and for once in my life, I was right. It's resolved nothing,” Gowdy said Friday on “Your World with Neil Cavuto.

TRUMP CAMPAIGN GOES ON POST-MUELLER ATTACK AGAINST 'OBAMA-ERA DOJ AND FBI,' WARNS 'JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED'

“You're going to have two more years of investigations. They're not going to go forward with impeachment because that's dicey. But they are going to go forward with investigations on four or five difference House committees. The verdict will be rendered in November of 2020.”

On Thursday, Attorney General William Barr released a version of the Mueller report with redactions that showed investigators did not find evidence of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. It did not come to a conclusion on the topic of obstruction of justice.

Gowdy was not surprised by any information that came to light from the report’s release and criticized Barr for sharing the report in the first place.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, AFTER MUELLER REPORT'S RELEASE, SAYS PRESS APOLOGIES ARE IN ORDER

“I was not surprised because this report was not written for the public. It was written for the attorney general and it was the attorney general and a whole bunch of my Republican former colleagues that thought it would be a neat idea to share an oppo (sic) research piece on someone who is not indicted. The department of justice doesn't do research papers. They either issue indictments or they do not,” Gowdy told Cavuto.

“Clearly he didn't have enough evidence on collusion and what I would say with respect to Mueller is if you have enough on obstruction, then charge him and let a jury of 12 decide whether or not your evidence carries the burden of persuasion.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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Soccer: American Marsch to coach Salzburg from next season

FILE PHOTO: Montreal Impact's head coach Marsch celebrates win following the second half of their MLS soccer match against Toronto FC in Montreal
FILE PHOTO: Montreal Impact's head coach Jesse Marsch celebrates win against Toronto FC following second half of their MLS soccer match in Montreal, Quebec, April 7, 2012. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi/File Photo

April 15, 2019

VIENNA (Reuters) – Former New York Red Bulls and Montreal Impact coach Jesse Marsch will coach Salzburg from next season, the Austrian champions said on Monday.

Marsch, currently assistant coach at RB Leipzig, will replace Marco Rose who will leave at the end of this campaign to take over at Bundesliga side Borussia Moenchengladbach.

“Jesse Marsch is a coach who allows us to determinedly continue the path we have taken,” Salzburg sporting director Christoph Freund said. “He knows our philosophy and way of playing soccer very well.”

Salzburg, sponsored by the Red Bull energy drinks manufacturer, have a nine-point lead at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga which they look poised to win for the sixth year in a row.

Marsch’s first job will be to try to end Salzburg’s Champions League jinx. Despite dominating Austrian soccer for over a decade and reaching the Europa League semi-finals last season, they have failed to get past the Champions League qualifiers 11 times in a row.

The 45-year-old coached Montreal Impact in 2012 and New York Red Bulls from 2015 to 2018. He was MLS coach of the year in 2015.

(Reporting by Brian Homewood, editing by Ed Osmond)

Source: OANN

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New poll finds Palestinians deeply distrust their leaders

A new public opinion survey shows the overwhelming majority of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are disillusioned with their leaders and desperate for presidential elections.

The poll, conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center and released Tuesday, shows that only 11% of Palestinians trust Fatah leader President Mahmoud Abbas and 6% trust rival Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh. Around 48% say they don't trust any political figure, and 87% are demanding elections.

The survey, which has a margin of error of 3%, is based on the responses of 1,200 people.

The Palestinian leadership hasn't held elections since 2005 due to a bitter split between the West Bank's governing Fatah movement and Gaza's Hamas rulers.

Abbas' 14-year rule has been marked by corruption and deepening Palestinian division.

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)

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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