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Kamala Harris' Texas trip, Hickenlooper's 'embarrassment' featured by 'Daily Briefing' on Political Tales from the Trail

"The Daily Briefing" on Thursday featured Tales from the Trail, the best recent anecdotes from the contenders for the Democratic nomination for president.

California Sen. Kamala Harris plans to campaign in Texas, her first trip there since announcing that she was seeking the Democratic nomination. Two Texans, Beto O'Rourke and Julian Castro, are also seeking the presidency.

She's set to travel to Tarrant County, which Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016, before holding a Saturday rally in Houston's Texas Southern University, a historically black school.

ECONOMIC MODELS INDICATE TRUMP ON TRACK TO WIN RE-ELECTION IN 'LANDSLIDE': REPORT 

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, an Episcopalian, spoke Wednesday with MSNBC's "Morning Joe" about religion.

"I think anybody in this process needs to demonstrate how they will represent people of any faith, people of no faith, but I also think the time has come to reclaim faith as a theme," he said. "The idea that the only way a religious person could enter politics is through the prism of the religious right, I just don't think that makes sense."

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who's seeking his party's 2020 presidential nomination, had an awkward moment during a televised town hall Wednesday night when he was asked about the time he took his mother to see the notorious 1972 pornographic film "Deep Throat."

The unusual story is highlighted in an excerpt from Hickenlooper’s 2016 memoir, "The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics." CNN anchor Dana Bash asked the candidate to share the tale.

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“So I took my mother to see ‘Deep Throat,’” Hickenlooper revealed to a big roar from the audience. “But I will tell you: I’m sure my mother was mortified, and I said repeatedly, ‘I think we should leave, I think we should go,” and my mother was the type of person that rarely went to a movie. ... Once she paid, she was going to stay. And at the end, she knew that I was humiliated. And so we drove home… ‘I asked her, ‘Well that was some experience.’ And she goes, she says, ‘Well, I thought the lighting was very good in the movie.’”

Source: Fox News Politics

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One feared dead in Dutch tram shooting, terrorist motive possible: police

The site of a shooting is pictured in Utrecht
The site of a shooting is pictured in Utrecht, Netherlands, March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

March 18, 2019

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Several people were shot, one possibly fatally, on Monday in a tram in the central Dutch city of Utrecht, in an incident police said may have had a “terrorist motive”.

Police said the suspected gunman was at large and authorities raised the terrorism threat to its highest level in Utrecht province. Schools were told to shut their doors and paramilitary police increased security at airports and other vital infrastructure. Security was stepped up at mosques.

“Several shots were fired in a tram and several people were injured. Helicopters are at the scene and no arrests have been made,” said police spokesman Joost Lanshage. He was not immediately able to provide further details.

Local broadcaster RTV Utrecht quoted a witness as saying he had seen a woman lying on the ground amid some kind of confrontation and several men ran away from the scene.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he was deeply concerned about the incident and convened crisis talks.

The incident comes after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, last Friday.

Utrecht, the Netherlands’ fourth largest city, is known for its picturesque canals and large student population. Gun killings are rare in Utrecht, as elsewhere in the Netherlands.

The Utrecht police said The October 21st square, a tram station stop outside the city center, had been cordoned off as emergency services were at the scene.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling and Anthony Deutsch; Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source: OANN

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Amnesty faults electric vehicle batteries as carbon intensive

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Amnesty International is seen next to director of Mujeres En Linea Luisa Kislinger, during a news conference in Caracas
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Amnesty International is seen next to director of Mujeres En Linea Luisa Kislinger, during a news conference to announce the results of an investigation into humans rights abuses committed in Venezuela during protests against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela February 20, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Jass

March 21, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Amnesty International attacked the electric vehicle (EV) industry on Thursday for selling itself as environmentally friendly while producing many of its batteries using polluting fossil fuels and unethically sourced minerals.

Manufacturing batteries can be carbon intensive, while the extraction of minerals used in them has been linked to human rights violations such as child labor, a statement from the rights group said.

“Electric vehicles are key to shifting the motor industry away from fossil fuels, but they are currently not as ethical as some retailers would like us to believe,” it said, announcing the initiative at the Nordic Electric Vehicle Summit in Oslo.

Production of lithium-ion batteries for EVs is power intensive, and factories are concentrated in China, South Korea and Japan, where power generation is largely dependent on coal or other fossil fuels, Amnesty said.

Global automakers are investing billions of dollars to ramp up electric vehicle production. German giant Volkswagen for one plans to raise annual production of electric cars to 3 million by 2025, from 40,000 in 2018.

Amnesty demanded the EV industry come up with an ethical and clean battery within five years and in the meantime that carbon footprints be disclosed and supply chains of key minerals identified.

Last month, a letter seen by Reuters showed that 14 non-governmental organizations including Amnesty and Global Witness had opposed plans by the London Metal Exchange to ban cobalt tainted by human rights abuses.

Instead of banning the cobalt brands, the LME should work with firms that produce them to ensure responsible souring, they said.

(Reporting by Eric Onstad; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Source: OANN

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Ugandan singer and presidential hopeful says he is under house arrest

Ugandan musician turned politician, Robert Kyagulanyi also known as Bobi Wine addresses a news conference at his home in Kampala
Ugandan musician turned politician, Robert Kyagulanyi also known as Bobi Wine addresses a news conference at his home in Kampala, Uganda September 24, 2018. REUTERS/Newton Nambwaya

April 23, 2019

By Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA (Reuters) – A Ugandan pop singer and lawmaker seeking to challenge veteran President Yoweri Museveni at the next election said on Tuesday he had been placed under house arrest, as the U.S. government criticized what it called authorities’ “heavy-handed” use of force against citizens.

Police and military personnel used teargas and water cannon on Monday to disperse a large group of Bobi Wine’s supporters as they gathered for a concert at a lakeside beach resort, footage from local NTV showed.

Before the concert, Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, was removed by police from a vehicle near the beach, the footage showed. Wine said he was taken to his home in a northern suburb of the capital, Kampala.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday the singer said he was blocked from leaving his home by security personnel, who had told him he was under house arrest.

“Police and the military have been deployed at my residence since yesterday, after the violent arrest … They have surrounded my fence and installed barricades on all roads leading to my home,” Wine tweeted.

Police spokesman Fred Enanga did not immediately respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment about the alleged house arrest.

Museveni has ruled the East African country since 1986 and is expected to stand again in 2021 after a court last week cleared the way for him to seek re-election.

The supreme court ruling threw out a legal challenge to 2017 constitutional amendments that removed a 75-year age limit clause, which would have made Museveni, 74, ineligible to stand again.

Wine, 37, has built support since becoming a member of parliament two years ago and has said he intends to run for president. Many young Ugandans have been drawn to him by his criticism of Museveni, often delivered in his lyrics.

In recent months authorities have repeatedly canceled his music shows, citing a range of reasons including alleged failure to comply with public order management laws.

Wine and his supporters accuse security personnel of cancelling his shows as retaliation for his political ambitions.

The U.S. embassy in Kampala criticized the blocking of Wine’s music shows and of access to radio talk shows by other opposition politicians.

“We join the many Ugandans asking why their government has recently blocked musical concerts and radio talk shows, disrupted peaceful demonstrations and rallies, and deployed heavy-handed security forces against peaceful citizens,” the embassy said in a statement on Tuesday.

The government has previously accused opposition politicians of using talk radio shows to encourage people to commit violence.

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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Why Should a Republican Stay in an Immoral Party

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WASHINGTON -- A former Republican officeholder -- who was highly effective at his job -- recently asked me if returning to politics in the current atmosphere was worth the effort. Would being a GOP legislator in the Trump era involve too many sacrifices of principle? Does federal office even matter as much as it used to? Wouldn't writing books or running a charity be a better use of time and talent?

I understand the reluctance. Being a public official in 2019 not only requires constant fundraising and family sacrifice, it involves the possibility of being captured by smartphone camera at nearly every public moment and being subjected to constant internet calumny. And it is not possible in much of the country for a Republican to run and win as an anti-Trump candidate. Even Mitt Romney had to pull back from his criticisms of President Trump to win a Senate seat.

These concerns are a concentrated version of a dilemma faced by many citizens. Is politics too damaged to justify our continued engagement as donors, activists and voters? Wouldn't it be more effective and satisfying to improve the community in nonpolitical ways -- giving to a soup kitchen instead of a politician, volunteering at a senior center instead of knocking on doors in a precinct?

These questions have a personal relevance. In a variety of public and private posts over the last 30 years, I have done my part to give the center-right party in America an agenda and message of social justice, rooted in ideals of solidarity with the poor and suffering and a concern for the common good. That project is in ruins. The constituency for compassionate conservatism (as a friend put it) is less of a political party than a dinner party. The main messages of today's GOP are demographic panic, ethno-nationalist pride and a nihilistic destruction of norms, institutions and elites.

So why should a Republican run for office, donate to a candidate or even stay in a party that has gone off the moral rails?

My best answers:

Because the moment is perilous. The next two years may see a crisis of democratic legitimacy. It is quite possible that the pressures of investigation could further destabilize the president's personality, causing him to lash out in unpredictable and unconstitutional ways. It is quite possible that Trump will question the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election if he loses. In either scenario, responsible Republican figures would be required to defend the integrity of federal law enforcement or the electoral process. And this may determine a great deal about the country's future.

Because the moment is not permanent. Having left behind a trail of ruin, Donald Trump will one day face his own reckoning -- from federal law enforcement, from the impeachment process or from a disgusted electorate. The essential work beyond that point will be institutional repair. Someone will be charged with restoring honor, integrity and dignity to the office of president of the United States, to the leadership of the House and Senate, and to the Republican Party (if its reputation is not broken beyond repair). Someone will be charged with reaching across jagged divisions and restoring a sense of shared national purpose. Someone will need to reknit the shredded democratic norms of civility, moderation and compromise.

Because the demands of conscience and justice remain pressing. Bluntly: The argument that citizens should take a break from politics because it is so corrupted and corrupting is often made by relatively comfortable white people. If you lived in a neighborhood where the schools are dysfunctional and the foster system is dangerously broken, there would be no vacation from governmental failure. If you lived in a country where young women are routinely infected with HIV or where children die from malaria, America's global role would matter greatly to you. Those who downplay the importance of politics are generally insulated from the consequences when governing goes wrong. The demands of justice do not go away when citizens are disillusioned with the practice of politics. To the contrary, the scale of injustice tends to increase as responsible citizens abandon the political enterprise.

To my Republican friend thinking about running for office: We are headed into a time of political testing, when the right words from a responsible conservative might turn some crucial tide. It is also a time when some form of a center-right party (whatever it is called) will be reconstituted at the national level. And it is always a time when the suffering and vulnerable need allies.

Our nation was fortunate in the quality of its founders. Soon our political culture may require a re-founding. And this is a high calling.

(c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group

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More Joe Biden Stories Are Coming Out: “Anybody Who’s Ever Been Around Joe Biden Has Been Touched By Him – Literally”

For years, conservatives have been pointing out Joe Biden’s extremely inappropriate behavior with women and children, but the mainstream media almost entirely ignored it. 

But now that some victims on the left are coming forward and speaking out, all of a sudden the mainstream media is all over this story.  Could it be possible that the media has been given the green light to destroy “Creepy Uncle Joe” because someone else is slated to get the Democratic nomination?  No new polls have been released since this scandal went viral, but an average of the previous six polls shows Biden with a solid 7.4 point lead over the rest of the field.  And even though he is not the most charismatic politician in the Democratic field, he is still widely loved by many on the left, and many people believed that he had the best chance of beating President Trump in November 2020.

But not now.  Lucy Flores dealt the first blow, and now more women are coming forward with their own stories.

Christian Science Monitor reporter Linda Feldmann recalls her encounter with Biden very vividly.  She was up in Connecticut on a very hot day to report on a political event, and the thing she remembers most about that day is “Mr. Biden’s sweaty arm”

We were at an outdoor event in Glastonbury, the sun blazing overhead, and I noticed the senators standing around chatting. I walked over and introduced myself. Senator Biden greeted me warmly – and then threw a sweaty arm over my shoulder, and gave me a squeeze. I cringed a little internally; I had never met Mr. Biden before. But I chalked the overly friendly gesture up to his personal style, and maybe a generational difference. I proceeded to interview the senators, but the thing I remember most vividly is Mr. Biden’s sweaty arm.

As Gail Russell Chaddock, a longtime congressional reporter for the Monitor put it, “Anybody who’s ever been around Joe Biden has been touched by him – literally.”

Clearly Feldmann was not as offended by this encounter as Lucy Flores was, but she did admit that she “cringed a little” when Biden grabbed her.

What former congressional aide Amy Lappos is alleging is much more disturbing.  On Monday, she told the Hartford Courant about the time that Biden inappropriately touched her…

“It wasn’t sexual, but he did grab me by the head,”Amy Lappos told The Courant Monday. “He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth.”

Like so many of Biden’s encounters, it was relatively brief, but Lappos continues to be traumatized by this memory to this day

“I never filed a complaint, to be honest, because he was the vice president. I was a nobody,” Lappos said. “There’s absolutely a line of decency. There’s a line of respect. Crossing that line is not grandfatherly. It’s not cultural. It’s not affection. It’s sexism or misogyny.”

Of course these new allegations are not exactly shocking to those of us that have been following this story for years.

As Vox has noted, Biden has a very long history of touching women in inappropriate ways…

Biden’s been caught on camera embracing a female reporter from behind and gripping her above her waist, just below her bust. At a swearing-in ceremony for Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Biden put his hands on the shoulders of Stephanie Carter, Carter’s wife, and then leaned in and whispered into her ear. (He’s whispered into many women’s ears.) He’s also touched women’s faces and necks during other photo ops. Once at a swearing-in ceremony for a US senator, he held the upper arm of the senator’s preteen daughter, leaned down and whispered into her ear, as she became visibly uncomfortable. Then he kissed the side of her forehead, a gesture that made the girl flinch.

Biden just kept getting away with it, and so he just kept on doing it.

But now his skeletons are starting to catch up with him.

And Biden has always known that he makes women feel uncomfortable.  Just consider this old quote from well before this current uproar

“I’m a tactile politician,” Biden said March 16 during a speech in Dover, Del. “That gets me in trouble, as well, because I think I can feel and taste what is going on.”

I really can’t understand why some on the left are still choosing to defend the guy.

Just think about it.  If some dude went around touching women inappropriately, sniffing their hair and kissing them without permission, how long would that individual last in your workplace?

In no universe is such behavior acceptable, and this is a point that even CNN’s Jake Tapper is making

Discussing former Nevada lawmaker Lucy Flores’ claim he inappropriately touched and kissed her in 2014 at a campaign rally, Tapper said, “I have to say, if any of the men around this table behaved this way at our places of work, we would get reprimanded, we would get potentially even fired. You are not allowed to touch women inappropriately. Again, it doesn’t matter if your intention is sexual or just friendly — you can’t massage a woman’s shoulders and sniff her hair and kiss the back of her head. That’s not appropriate.”

Someone has just put up a fake Biden campaign site that highlights his inappropriate behavior, and I have to admit that it was the best April Fool’s joke that I saw this year.

His campaign is dead now, and he was receiving a very lukewarm reception from potential donors even before this story broke

Don’t just take my word for it; consider this recent AP headline: “Joe Biden faces a challenge winning over progressives. That challenge is affecting Biden’s fundraising efforts.” According to CNBC, “Skeptical Democratic donors tell Joe Biden they will not raise funds for him at the start of the 2020 campaign.”

Major donors admitted that “they’re not yet convinced he can overtake the younger, more diverse and progressive field, and that they are going to wait to see how he competes in the race.”

If America is ever going to move in a positive direction, we must demand moral behavior from our leaders.

And that includes those on both the left and the right.

Joe Biden’s behavior should disqualify him from running for any political office ever again, and anyone that tries to defend him is choosing to become part of the problem.

Source: InfoWars

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Saudis, UAE express support for Sudan military council

Saudi Araba and the United Arab Emirates have issued statements in support of Sudan's transitional military council after mass protests forced longtime President Omar al-Bashir from power.

Saudi Arabia says it "stands by the Sudanese people" and calls on all Sudanese "to give priority to the national interest" of their country. The UAE called on the Sudanese "to work for protecting legitimacy and ensuring a peaceful transfer of power."

Saudi King Salman ordered an unspecified package of aid for Sudan that includes petroleum products, wheat and medicine.

In separate statements issued late Saturday, Saudi Arabia and the UAE specifically expressed support for Sudan's transitional council formed by the military. The UAE said it welcomed the swearing-in of Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan on Friday as head of that council.

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)

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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