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Marine shot, killed while on guard duty at California base

The Navy is investigating after a Marine from Colorado was found shot to death while on guard duty at Southern California's Camp Pendleton, according to a report Tuesday.

Lance Cpl. Riley Schultz was discovered dead around 4 a.m. March 15 with a gunshot wound to the head, the Orange County Register reported.

His mother, Misty Schultz-McCoy, said she begged one of the Marines who broke the news to "'unofficially' tell us what they thought" led up to the shooting.

"She said, they thought it was suicide. The next day they acted differently and said there would be an official memorial because they did not believe he committed suicide," Schultz-McCoy told the newspaper from her home in Longmont, Colorado.

Officials from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force would not discuss details of the death or the investigation.

The Marine Corps presented Schultz-McCoy with a Gold Star and a citation that said her 19-year-old son died while in the service of his country.

Schultz-McCoy said both her son's grandfathers served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, and he had wanted to become a Marine since he was a boy.

Schultz enlisted after high school and went to boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in the summer of 2017.

"All he wanted to do was protect people," his mother said.

Schultz's body will be flown this week to Colorado for services scheduled for April 6. A memorial service is planned for April 3 at Camp Pendleton.

___

Information from: The Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com

Source: Fox News National

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France and Germany launch alliance to back multilateralism

France and Germany have announced the launch of an Alliance for Multilateralism to promote global cooperation at a time of rising nationalism in Europe, the United States and elsewhere.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a joint news conference with Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Tuesday that their first objective is to show that states that "support multilateralism and support the United Nations remain the majority in the world."

The second objective, he said, is to create a network of countries ready to support multilateralism and cooperate, including to fight inequality, tackle climate change and address the consequences of new technologies.

Le Drian said the alliance also wants "to show the world what could be the consequences of unilateralism and isolationism enabling nationalism and extremist speeches to flourish."

He said the alliance is a response to the risk of shattering the post-World War II world order that established the United Nations and other international institutions.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened last September's annual gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly declaring that global cooperation is the world's best hope and warning that "multilateralism is under fire precisely when we need it most."

U.S. President Donald Trump's speech, soon after Guterres.' poured scorn on multilateralism, touted his "America First" policy, and rejected "the ideology of globalism."

Nonetheless, General Assembly President Maria Espinosa Garces said at the end of the week-long meeting during which all 193 U.N. member nations spoke that one of its major achievements was strong global backing for the U.N. and multilateralism.

Le Drian said cooperation is never easy but it is key to security "because there is security only if it is collective, and it is the best guarantee for long-lasting peace."

He said France and Germany will pursue the initiative in the coming months and try to convince as many countries as possible to join before leaders gather this September.

Le Drian noted that he and Maas discussed the alliance with Canada and Japan, but he made no mention of the United States.

Asked about possible support from the Trump administration, and whether it had been contacted, Le Drian said: "Whoever wants to join us can join us — It is against nobody."

Maas said he hasn't talked to Trump about it yet.

"This alliance is an inclusive alliance," he said. "So we don't want a situation where countries are left out. We don't lock out anyone. But, of course, we see multilateralism is under threat ... and all of those who want to join such an initiative (should) also declare themselves to be multilateralists."

"We would be happy, of course, if the United States were to join such an initiative, but this initiative has the aim to promote and strengthen the rules-based order and strengthen the international order," Maas said. "In the end, everyone will have to decide on which side they're on."

Source: Fox News World

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Florida mom accused when daughter, 2, dies in hot car

Authorities say a 36-year-old Florida woman slept as her 2-year-old daughter died in a car parked outside her apartment.

The Pensacola News Journal reports Jessica Monell faces charges of homicide-neglect manslaughter, child neglect and possession of a controlled substance.

Escambia County Sheriff's Maj. Andrew Hobbs says Monell arrived at the Aqua Porta Apartments around 6 a.m. Wednesday and went inside. She left Joy Monell in the car until she woke up shortly before 4 p.m.

Hobbs says investigators found three bags containing suspected crystal meth and other drugs in Monell's home.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recorded a heat index of 82 degrees in Pensacola on Wednesday.

A lawyer wasn't listed for Morell.

___

Information from: Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com

Source: Fox News National

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Mozambique confirms 138 cholera cases after cyclone strikes Beira

A motorcyclist rides through pools of water in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai in Beira
A motorcyclist rides through pools of water in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

March 29, 2019

BEIRA, Mozambique (Reuters) – There have been 138 cases of cholera confirmed in two neighborhoods of the wrecked Mozambican port city of Beira in the wake of Cyclone Idai, the government said on Friday.

“We expected this, we were prepared for this, we’ve doctors in place,” Land and Environment Minister Celso Correia said.

Although there have been no confirmed cholera deaths in medical centers yet, at least two people died outside hospitals with symptoms including dehydration and diarrhea, Correia said.

(Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; Writing Alexander Winning; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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ATP roundup: Johnson, McDonald make Delray quarters

Tennis - Australian Open - Second Round
Tennis - Australian Open - Second Round - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, January 16, 2019. Mackenzie McDonald of the U.S. reacts during the match against Croatia's Marin Cilic. REUTERS/Aly Song

February 22, 2019

Two Americans charged into the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach (Fla.) Open with straight-set wins Thursday.

Fourth-seeded Steve Johnson defeated Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi 7-5, 7-5, and Mackenzie McDonald beat Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 6-4.

Moldova’s Radu Albot endured a tougher second-round match, getting past Australia’s Nick Krygios 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Johnson and Albot will meet in the quarterfinals. Other Friday matches include sixth-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi vs. British qualifier Daniel Evans, and eighth-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino vs. second-seeded John Isner.

McDonald’s quarterfinal foe will be the winner of the Thursday night match featuring top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina and American Reilly Opelka.

Rio Open

No seeds will take part in the quarterfinals at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after the last remaining seeded player fell in the second round.

Norway’s Casper Ruud knocked out fifth-seeded Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 despite serving nine double faults and just five aces. Ruud particularly struggled with his serve in the final set, putting just 48 percent of his first serves in play, but he closed out the win with a service break in the last game.

Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas advanced with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Argentina’s Federico Delbonis, and Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas got past Argentinian qualifier Juan Ignacio Londero 6-1, 6-4. Serbia’s Laslo Djere topped Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-4, 6-2.

Open 13 Provence

France’s Ugo Humbert gave the home-nation fans a reason for enthusiasm with a 6-3, 6-3 upset of second-seeded Borna Coric of Croatia in Marseille.

Humbert, ranked 75th in the world, saved both of the break points in the 1-hour, 21-minute match.

Third-seeded David Goffin of Belgium defeated France’s Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-3, but fifth-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain fell 6-4, 6-3 to Germany’s Matthias Bachinger.

Also moving into the quarterfinals were Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky and Russia’s Andrey Rublev.

–Field Level Media

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US forces say 2 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Two American service members were killed during an operation in Afghanistan on Friday, the U.S. and NATO forces said without providing any other details on the combat deaths.

The fatalities underscore the difficulties in bringing peace to Afghanistan even as Washington has stepped up efforts to find a way to end the 17-year war, America's longest.

The U.S. and NATO Resolute Support mission said the names of the service members killed in action were being withheld until after notification of the next of kin, in accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy. The statement also did not specify the location of the combat or say who the soldiers were fighting.

There are about 14,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan, supporting embattled Afghan forces as they struggle on two fronts — facing a resurgent Taliban who now hold sway over almost half the country and also the Islamic State affiliate, which has sought to expand its footprint in Afghanistan even as its self-proclaimed "caliphate" has crumbled in Syria and Iraq.

In 2001, after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and ousted the ruling Taliban regime in a matter of weeks. But the Taliban subsequently regrouped while Washington shifted its attention to Iraq's Saddam Hussein, and by 2009, the war had become a stalemate.

The Pentagon has recently been developing plans to withdraw up to half of the American forces still in the country while at the same time stepping up efforts and having the U.S. negotiate with the Taliban.

U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, the Trump administration's main negotiator with the Taliban, concluded earlier this month a 13-day marathon session with leaders of the insurgent group.

Following the talks, held in Qatar where the Taliban maintain an office, Khalilzad said the two sides reached two "draft agreements" covering the withdrawal of U.S. troops and guarantees that Afghanistan would not revert to a haven for terrorists.

But he was unable to persuade the Taliban to launch talks with the Afghan government. The Taliban have consistently refused to talk with the government in Kabul, describing it as a U.S. puppet.

The two sides seem to be in agreement about the withdrawal of American forces, but divided over the timeline and whether a residual American force would remain.

Source: Fox News National

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Russian court sides with transgender woman who sued employer

A court in St. Petersburg has sided with a transgender woman who has sued her employer over discrimination.

The ruling marks the first time that a Russian court has recognized workplace discrimination against a transgender person.

The court on Tuesday ordered a printing company to hire back the woman, whom it fired after she changed her ID from male to female in 2017, and pay her damages.

Her lawyer Maks Olenichev said the woman has been reinstated at her job and awarded 10,000 rubles ($155) for emotional distress and 1.85 million rubles ($28,500) for lost income. Olenichev said the verdict "will give a confidence boost to transgender people to defend their rights in Russia."

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)

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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)

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