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Woman arrested after 7 puppies dumped in plastic bag in California, shelter says

The woman allegedly caught on camera dumping a bag of puppies next to a recycling bin in Coachella, California, was arrested Monday.

Deborah Sue Culwell, 55, was taken into custody around 5:30 p.m. on suspicion of felony animal cruelty, Riverside County Animal Services told Fox News.

'DEAD' DOG ESCAPES GRAVE, SHOCKS OWNERS, AFTER BEING ACCIDENTALLY BURIED ALIVE

Security cameras seemingly caught Culwell on Thursday afternoon driving up behind a store and getting out with a plastic bag.

The woman then was seen walking toward the bin and dropping the clear, plastic bag nearby before driving away.

Around an hour later, a man named John who was rummaging through the trash discovered puppies still alive, officials said.

Culwell allegedly dumped seven puppies. All were 3 days old and believed to be terrier mixes. Officials said had it not been for John's actions, the puppies may not have survived much longer since temperatures in Coachella on Thursday were in the mid-90s.

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John Welsh, of Riverside County Animal Services, told Fox News that around 30 dogs were found at Culwell's home on Monday.

The seven puppies Culwell was accused of dumping were doing well in the care of a foster volunteer, Welsh said.

Source: Fox News National

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Petrobras sells rights to two fields to Malaysia’s Petronas for $1.29 billion

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company is seen on a tank in at Petrobras Paulinia refinery in Paulinia
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company is seen on a tank in at Petrobras Paulinia refinery in Paulinia, Brazil July 1, 2017. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker

April 26, 2019

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro said on Thursday it had closed a $1.29 billion deal with Malaysia’s Petronas to sell 50 percent of Petrobas’ exploration and production rights in two of its offshore fields.

The deal related to the Tartaruga Verde field and Module 3 of the Espadarte field.

The deal is part of Petrobras’ divestment program, which seeks to reduce indebtedness. In its statement, the company also announced it had nearly completed the full sale of its TAG pipeline unit to France’s Engie for $8.6 billion.

“Continuous portfolio management contributes to improving the allocation of capital, thereby increasing the generation of value for our shareholders, in addition to enabling the reduction of indebtedness and cost of the company’s capital,” the company’s chief executive, Roberto Castello Branco, said in a statement.

Petrobras said that the total amount of asset divestments so far this year already amounts to $11.3 billion.

Petrobras said the value of the transaction with Petronas will be paid in two installments: $258.7 million on Thursday and $1.03 billion at the close of the transaction.

Petrobras will maintain a 50 percent stake and the operation of the fields, while Petronas will get a bigger toehold in oil production in Brazil, where it already operates in the lubricants segment.

The Tartaruga Verde field began operations on June 22 and currently produces about 103,000 barrels per day of oil and 1.2 million cubic meters per day of gas.

Module 3 is an area of ​​the Espadarte field to be developed in an integrated way with the Tartaruga Verde and is expected to begin producing oil in 2021.

Petrobras also announced the assignment of its total participation in 34 onshore production fields to the company Potiguar E & P S.A., a subsidiary of Petrorecôncavo.

The total value of the transaction is $384.2 million to be paid in three installments.

Petrorecôncavo, which presented the second best offer of the tender process, was selected after the disqualification of the company 3R Petroleum.

(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Source: OANN

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The Latest: Venezuela's Guaido probed over power outage

The Latest on the political and economic crisis in Venezuela (all times local):

12:10 p.m.

Venezuela's chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab says he's launched an investigation into opposition leader Juan Guaido over suspicions he was involved in an attack on the country's power grid.

Tarek William Saab announced the probe Tuesday, saying the electrical failure has sparked violence, robberies and looting.

Venezuela's power grid failed Thursday evening, leaving most of the nation in the dark and with limited phone and internet service.

Venezuelan officials accuse the U.S.-backed opposition of mounting a cyberattack on the system. Guaido and the U.S. blame years of mismanagement and corruption for allowing the once-wealthy country's infrastructure crumble.

Guaido has declared himself interim president and demands new elections, arguing that President Nicolas Maduro's re-election last year was invalid.

___

9:55 a.m.

Spain's Foreign Ministry says it is trying to find out from Venezuelan authorities why a journalist with dual Spanish and Venezuelan nationality has been detained.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday the Spanish embassy in Caracas is in contact with the family of reporter and activist Luis Carlos Diaz.

The spokesman cannot be identified in media reports because of internal ministry rules.

Venezuela's National Union of Press Workers says on its Twitter account that Diaz went missing Monday afternoon. It says that later, in the middle of night, a unit from the feared SEBIN intelligence police turned up at his home and took away computers, mobile phones and money, among other items.

Diaz's wife, Naky Soto, tells the union the police broke in.

___

9:45 a.m.

Nicolas Maduro's government says the U.S. decision to pull its last diplomats out of Venezuela is due to a breakdown in negotiations with Washington — and effectively says "good riddance."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. is withdrawing its remaining embassy staff from the country, citing Venezuela's deteriorating situation and "constraints" on U.S. policy caused by their continued presence.

Maduro's government had already cut ties with the U.S. over its recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's rightful leader. The U.S. decided to ignore the decision but still withdrew most of its staff.

Venezuela's foreign ministry said Tuesday that talks on keeping some representation collapsed due to hostility from Washington.

It said the presence of U.S. diplomats entails risks for peace and stability.

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7:10 a.m.

Russian state oil company Rosneft is rejecting rejected accusations by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that it is violating sanctions on Venezuela.

Pompeo said Monday that Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin — a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin — "continues to throw a lifeline" to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He said Rosneft was buying crude oil from Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA "in defiance of U.S. sanctions."

Rosneft disputes what it calls "groundless accusations" and says any contracts it has for oil purchasing in Venezuela pre-date the introduction of U.S. sanctions.

Rosneft is a major foreign investor in Venezuela as a partner of state-owned PDVSA, which is under U.S. sanctions. Sechin was personally sanctioned by the U.S. in 2014 shortly after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.

Source: Fox News World

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AOC faces backlash for using ‘First they came … ‘ Holocaust poem in defense of Omar

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., continues to ignite outrage while defending freshman colleague Rep. Ilhan Omar, this time by using a poem about the Holocaust to defend the Minnesota Democrat.

Omar most recently stirred up controversy when remarks she made last month, referring to the 9/11 terrorist attacks as “some people did something,” surfaced this week.

Ocasio-Cortez slammed President Donald Trump, who shared a grim video featuring Omar’s remarks alongside footage of the Twin Towers being attacked.

ILHAN OMAR, IN BIZARRE CLIP, JOKES ABOUT PEOPLE SAYING 'AL QAEDA' IN MENACING TONE

“Members of Congress have a duty to respond to the President’s explicit attack today,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Friday. “@IlhanMN’s life is in danger. For our colleagues to be silent is to be complicit in the outright, dangerous targeting of a member of Congress. We must speak out.”

She also shared an image of the words of "First they came ... ," the famous poem by German theologian Martin Niemöller that was inspired by the tragedies of the Holocaust. (The words are mounted on a wall at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.)

The poem reads:

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a socialist.

"Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a trade unionist.

"Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a Jew.

"Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Ocasio-Cortez's tweet sparked major backlash, with critics accusing her of trivializing the Holocaust and slamming her for doing so in defense of Omar, who has repeatedly fought off claims of anti-Semitism.

"There's something deeply disturbing about AOC making Holocaust references to defend an open and unrepentant anti-Semite who is merely being criticized," wrote Ben Shapiro, the conservative author and commentator.

"This is just a shameful attempt to chill speech," wrote David Harasanyi, a senior editor at the Federalist. "It belittles both the real victims of 9/11 and the Holocaust."

"No, @aoc, you do not get to diminish the murder of almost half my family by comparing it to criticism of your antisemitic colleague. You should be ashamed for trying," wrote a Twitter user identified only as @AG_Conservative.

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Ocasio-Cortez landed in hot water earlier this week while attacking U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, a Navy veteran who served in Afghanistan, for his criticism of Omar, telling him he should “go do something” about domestic terrorism. She has also referred to criticism against Omar as “incitement of violence” against women of color.

Another freshman lawmaker, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., declared that taking Omar’s comments out of context was a “pure racist act.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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Acting DHS Secretary McAleenan designates TSA administrator as deputy, in latest DHS shake-up amid Nielsen resignation

Newly-appointed Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan on Thursday designated the current head of the Transportation Security Administration to be his deputy at the department, in the latest shake-up on the heels of Kirstjen Nielsen’s resignation.

McAleenan appointed TSA Administrator David Pekoske to be the senior official to perform duties of the DHS deputy secretary. McAleenan also announced he would replace Pekoske at TSA with Patricia Cogswell, who currently serves as TSA’s acting deputy administrator.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske confirmed the threat from non-metallic explosives targeting passenger jets goes beyond laptops and tablets.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske confirmed the threat from non-metallic explosives targeting passenger jets goes beyond laptops and tablets. (TSA)

SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR TO STEP DOWN,ON HEELS OF NIELSEN RESIGATION

“Administrator Pekoske brings a wealth of experience and leadership to the Department, previously serving as a senior leader within two DHS agencies: the United States Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration,” McAleenan said in a statement Thursday. “Additionally, he has tackled impressive challenges over the course of his career, ranging from acquisition and procurement reform as the Coast Guard’s Vice Commandant to securing America’s traveling public as TSA’s Administrator.”

He added: “I look forward to working with him to meet the homeland security challenges facing our nation.”

McAleenan’s announcement comes after a turbulent week for the Department of Homeland Security.

On Sunday, following a meeting with Nielsen at the White House, President Trump announced that Nielsen had resigned as DHS secretary. Trump also announced that McAleenan, who was serving as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commissioner, would replace Nielsen as acting secretary.

Nielsen’s resignation came amid an influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Nielsen was reportedly frustrated with the difficulty of getting other departments to help deal with the growing number of families crossing the border.

ACTING ICE BOSS RON VITIELLO, PASSED OVER FOR PERMANENT JOB, TO RESIGN IN DAYS

Administration officials, though, told Fox News on Sunday that McAleenan best fits Trump’s requirement of being the “toughest cop” on the frontier, and that Nielsen had been viewed as resistant to some of the immigration measures pushed by the president and his aides.

By Monday, U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph ‘Tex’ Alles stepped down from his post, after he was told to “prepare an exit plan,” in a signal, almost two weeks ago, that a transition in leadership at DHS was imminent.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday that the president had picked career Secret Service member James M. Murray to take over the agency in May. Alles will remain in his role until then.

On Tuesday, DHS acting deputy secretary Claire Grady, who was technically next in line to replace Nielsen, resigned.

By Wednesday, Nielsen announced that Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Ron Vitiello would be stepping down by the end of this week.

NIELSEN MAKES FIRST PUBLIC COMMENTS AFTER RESIGNATION AS DHS BOSS

“For over three decades, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Ron Vitiello has protected our homeland with conviction,” Nielsen said in a statement. “Ron’s knowledge and expertise as a seasoned law enforcement professional has been invaluable to DHS, and he has left a legacy of excellence as our Department has expanded and refined our efforts to curb illegal immigration and secure our borders.”

Last week, Trump confirmed he had withdrawn the nomination of  Vitiello to become the permanent head of ICE, telling reporters that "Ron’s a good man, but we’re going in a tougher direction, we want to go in a tougher direction." Administration sources tell Fox News that the withdrawal of Vitiello's nomination was the first step in Trump's plan to control the border crisis.

This week, reporters asked the president about the shake-up at DHS.

“I never said I’m cleaning house. Who said that? Don’t know who came up with that. We have a lot of great people there,” Trump said this week.

Fox News’ Kristin Brown contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Fla. Bill Makes it Illegal to Leave Pets Behind During Storms

A new bill in the Florida State Legislature would make the practice of leaving animals behind during natural disasters illegal and punishable by a fine and possibly jail time.

According to the Miami Herald, Senate Bill 1738 was introduced by Republican Joe Gruters, a member of Florida's Senate, on March 1. Pet owners in violation of the law could be slapped with a $5,000 fine and up to one year behind bars because of an animal cruelty charge, which is classified as a first-degree misdemeanor.

The Florida Senate is considering the bill, which according to the Herald would go into effect on July 1 if it makes it through the legislative process. It already passed in the Senate Agriculture Committee on Monday by a 5-0 vote.

The law would be applicable during all natural disasters and during both mandatory and voluntary evacuations. Pet owners would be subjected to it if they retrain their animals outside and then leave the property to escape the storm.

"We want to give these dogs a fighting chance," Gruters said during Monday's Agriculture Committee hearing, according to The Palm Beach Post.

Source: NewsMax America

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Dollar firms, sterling falls again on Brexit worries

Illustration photo of British Pound Sterling and U.S. Dollar notes
British Pound Sterling and U.S. Dollar notes are seen in this June 22, 2017 illustration photo. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration

March 11, 2019

By Daniel Leussink

TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar edged up early on Monday, hovering close to a near three-month high as investors took cover in the currency amid global growth concerns, while sterling extended its decline on an uncertain outlook over Britain’s exit from the European Union.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, gained 0.1 percent to 97.426 in early Asian trading.

The index was just shy of its recent peak of 97.710 hit last Thursday, its highest since Dec. 14 last year. It is up 1.3 percent so far this year.

The euro was a shade lower at $1.1225. The single currency had fallen to its weakest level since late June 2017 on Thursday, hurt by dovish signals from the European Central Bank (ECB).

“After the ECB’s big downgrade of the growth outlook for the euro area, together with the weaker-than-expected Chinese export and import data, the worry over the global economy is re-surging again,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities.

“That’s pushing down the euro and other currencies,” he said. “The U.S. is not particularly strong, but other areas are weak. That’s why the dollar is relatively strong.”

Data on Friday showed U.S. employment growth almost stalled in February, with the world’s top economy creating a measly 20,000 jobs, far fewer than expected by analysts.

But traders found some hope in figures showing the U.S. employment rate slipped back below 4 percent and average hourly earnings accelerated by 0.4 percent, helping to reduce the greenback’s losses during the previous session.

On Monday, the British pound gave up 0.4 percent to $1.2968 after briefly dipping to a near three-week low on nervousness over Brexit. The currency had already fallen for seven straight sessions.

Sterling has come under renewed pressure after British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said on Sunday Brexit could be reversed if lawmakers reject the government’s exit deal.

His remarks followed a warning from two major eurosceptic factions in parliament that Prime Minister Theresa May was likely to face heavy defeat at a parliamentary vote on Tuesday on whether to approve her EU exit plan.

The British Prime Minister is scrambling – so far unsuccessfully – to secure last-minute changes to an EU exit treaty ahead of the vote, which comes weeks before the United Kingdom is set to leave the European Union on March 29.

Mizuho’s Yamamoto said traders are trimming holdings of sterling as rate-hike expectations by the Bank of England are reduced, making the currency increasingly sensitive to near-term events, such as the parliamentary vote.

“These days, the UK inflation data isn’t as strong as before,” he said. “The rate-hike expectation after the avoidance of the no-deal Brexit is fading away.”

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was down 0.2 percent at 110.99 yen.

(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Source: OANN

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Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London
Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London, Britain, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Gerhard Mey

April 26, 2019

By Hanna Rantala

LONDON (Reuters) – Irish rockers The Cranberries are saying goodbye with their final album released on Friday, a poignant tribute to lead singer Dolores O’Riordan who died last year.

“In the End” is the eighth studio album from the band that rose to fame in the early 1990s with hits likes “Zombie” and “Linger”, and includes the final recordings by O’Riordan, who drowned in a London hotel bath in January 2018 due to alcohol intoxication.

Work on the album began during a 2017 tour and by that winter, O’Riordan and guitarist Neil Hogan had penned and demoed 11 tracks.

With O’Riordan’s vocals recorded, Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler completed the album in tribute to her.

“When we realized how strong the songs were, that was the deciding factor really… There was no point… trying to ruin the legacy of the band,” Noel Hogan said in an interview.

“It was obvious that Dolores wanted this album done because when you hear the album, you hear the songs and how strong they are, and she was very, very excited to get in and record this.”

The Cranberries formed in Limerick in 1989 with another singer. O’Riordan replaced him a year later and the group went on to become Ireland’s best-selling rock band after U2, selling more than 40 million records.

O’Riordan, known for her strong distinctive voice singing about relationships or political violence, was 46 when she died.

“She was actually in quite a good place mentally. She was feeling quite content and strong and looking forward to a new phase of her life,” Lawler said.

“A lot of the lyrics in this album are about things ending… people might read into it differently but it was a phase of her personal life that she was talking about.”

The group previously announced their intention to split after the release of “In The End”.

“We are absolutely gutted we can’t play (the songs) live because that’s something that’s been a massive part of this band from day one,” Noel Hogan said.

“A few people have said to us about maybe even doing a one off where you have different vocalists… as kind of guests of ours. A year ago that’s definitely something we weren’t going to entertain but I don’t know, I think it’s something we need to go away and take time off for the summer and have a think about.”

Critics have generally given positive reviews of the album; NME described it as “(seeing) the band’s career go full-circle” while the Irish Times called it “an unexpected late career high and a remarkable swan song for O’Riordan”.

Their early songs still play on the radio. This week, “Dreams” was performed at the funeral of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead in Londonderry last week as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid.

“We wrote them as kids, as a hobby and 30 years later they are on radio and on TV, like all the time… That’s far more than any of us ever thought we would have,” Noel Hogan said.

“That would make Dolores really happy because she was very precious about those songs. Her babies, she called them and to have that hopefully long after we’re gone… that’s all any band can wish for.”

(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; additoinal reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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)

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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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