Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am


Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Lives washed away: A mother’s loss in Mozambique

The Wider Image: Lives washed away: A mother's loss in Mozambique
A tear falls down the face of Maria Jofresse, 25, during an interview with Reuters at a camp for the displaced in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, in John Segredo, near Beira, Mozambique, March 31, 2019. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

April 10, 2019

By Stephen Eisenhammer and Zohra Bensemra

CHEIA, Mozambique (Reuters) – Maria Jofresse cannot find her two young daughters’ graves, though she helped dig them herself.  

A single teardrop swells beneath each of her dark eyes as she recalls the moment the girls were snatched away by the fast-flowing floodwaters.

It took four days to find their bodies, which were buried where Cyclone Idai had left them, far from where they lived.

“I cannot recognize it anymore,” the 25-year-old mother said, drying her eyes with a patch of patterned skirt at a makeshift camp of blue tarpaulin, near the riverside village of Cheia. “I cannot find them.”

On the night of the storm, Jofresse took shelter at her mother-in-law’s house with her husband and children, a 6-month-old baby and 4-year-old girl.

The next day, the river beside the village broke its banks and water rushed in. The family fled, trying to reach the main road, which lies on higher ground. 

But the water was too quick. Afraid they’d drown, the family climbed into a single cashew tree.

For 11 hours they clung to its branches, Jofresse cradling the baby while her husband held their eldest girl.

At 10 pm, in total darkness, the flood ripped the tree’s roots from the soaked earth, throwing the family into the fast-flowing water and separating them. 

Jofresse survived by grabbing onto another tree. The next day, wading through the now largely stagnant water, she found her husband. Together they searched for the girls.

On the morning of the fourth day, they found the body of their eldest, and in the afternoon, their lifeless baby.

The children were among more than 800 people killed in the storm and the heavy rains before it struck Mozambique and two other southern African countries, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

After digging two small graves, the couple joined other families at the camp set up just a few kilometers (miles) from their destroyed home.

“We will stay here, because there’s nothing to go back to,” Jofresse said, sitting in a small square of shade at the camp.

“You can come and live with me,” her father, Joao Jofresse Ngira, interjected, distraught at his daughter’s pain.

Jofresse does not answer.

It is not the first time she has lost a home. In 2000, when she was just 5, devastating floods destroyed her nearby village of Mashongo.

The government moved the family to a new community, built for those with nowhere to go after that disaster.

Ngira showed Reuters around the village, located by the River Muda. It became known as Cheia, or “Flood” in Portuguese – “because we were brought here from the water,” he explained.

The spot was chosen because it was on higher ground and less prone to flooding.

“It was meant to be safe,” he said, standing outside the ruins of the four-room house the government helped him build. Five young children played in the pile of broken bricks and cracked cement.

Cheia’s fate shows how climate change is threatening places that just under two decades ago were considered safe.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the catastrophe in Mozambique rings “yet another alarm bell” about the dangers of global warming, which scientists say will make devastating storms like Cyclone Idai more frequent.

“Since this disaster, we haven’t seen anyone from the government, even though they’re the ones that put us here,” Ngira said.

Asked if he would like to move somewhere else, he looks down at his muddy yellow trainers, before replying: “I don’t have any money. It’s best not to dream.”

On the Sunday Reuters visited, the camp bustled with rumors that food would be delivered that afternoon.

It had been a week since the last bit of aid arrived and people were hungry. Jofresse canceled a memorial service for her daughters because she feared the food might arrive while she was gone.

When the aid finally comes, Jofresse unpacks the parcel in her blue tent. There is a set of nappies.

She puts them to one side.   

Click on https://reut.rs/2UHekC4 for a related photo essay.

(Writing by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Alexandra Zavis and Alexandra Hudson)

Source: OANN

0 0

UN extends experts monitoring North Korea sanctions

The U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the U.N. panel of experts monitoring sanctions on North Korea, with Russia urging that panel members "correct" the negative impact of the tough measures on the lives of ordinary citizens.

Adoption of the resolution was delayed until Wednesday over Russia's demands that the committee address the humanitarian impact of sanctions.

Deputy Russian ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said after the vote to extend the experts' mandate until April 24, 2020, that the panel must quickly address "the negative impact of sanctions," especially on women and children.

Britain's deputy political coordinator, David Clay, says North Korea and some countries "seek to blame sanctions for the humanitarian situation." He blames the problems on North Korea's policies, including diverting money to nuclear weapons.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

Huckabee lashes out at Trump critic Romney: ‘Makes me sick’ you could have been POTUS

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee lashed out at Sen. Mitt Romney after the Utah Republican said he was “sickened” by the level of dishonesty from President Trump’s administration in response to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted report into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“Know what makes me sick, Mitt? Not how disingenuous you were to take @realDonaldTrump $$ and then 4 yrs later jealously trash him & then love him again when you begged to be Sec of State, but makes me sick that you got GOP nomination and could have been @POTUS," Huckabee tweeted Friday.

Earlier in the day, Romney tweeted that it was good news that there was insufficient evidence to charge Trump with collusion or obstruction of justice. The former GOP 2012 presidential candidate then blasted Trump and his campaign for having contacts with Russians.

"I am sickened at the extent and pervasiveness of dishonesty and misdirection by individuals in the highest office of the land, including the President," Romney posted.

"I am appalled that, among other things, fellow citizens working in a campaign for president welcomed help from Russia — including information that had been illegally obtained; that none of them acted to inform American law enforcement," he wrote.

Mueller's long-awaited report was released Thursday morning and contains nearly 900 redactions. It showed investigators found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. No conclusion was reached on whether Trump’s actions amounted to obstruction.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Huckabee ran against Romney for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination and is the father of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Romney and Trump’s contentious relationship has been well documented, with both men having exchanged congratulations and insults over the years.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Indonesia to send investigators to Ethiopia to aid crash probes

FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian police officers walk past the debris of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, near Addis Ababa
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian police officers walk past the debris of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo

April 5, 2019

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia will send two investigators to Ethiopia to assist in a probe and exchange data on two fatal crashes of Boeing 737 MAX jets since October, the head of the country’s air safety agency told Reuters on Friday.

Boeing’s top-selling airplane has been grounded worldwide since a March 10 disaster in Ethiopia killed 157 people, five months after a Lion Air 737 MAX crashed in Indonesia, killing 189 people on board.

Indonesian investigators will travel to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on April 15, said Soerjanto Tjahjono, head of the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT).

“They will help in assisting Ethiopia. We will study the data to assess whether there are similarities or whether there is any new information from the accident,” Tjahjono said by telephone.

A preliminary report on the Ethiopian Airlines’ crash showed on Thursday that the doomed jet traveled at an excessive speed and was forced downwards by a wrongly-triggered automation system as pilots wrestled to regain control.

Tjahjono said it was too early to draw any conclusions from the Ethiopian report or determine any links between the crashes because it contained factual data without analysis.

“We have already observed some similarities…but we cannot determine them exactly until after our investigators go to Ethiopia when we will conduct a joint investigation,” he said.

The two Indonesian investigators would sign an agreement on their role under an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) protocol, he said.

A preliminary report into the crash of the Lion Air 737 MAX in Indonesia suggested pilots lost control after grappling with the MCAS software, a new automated anti-stall feature that repeatedly lowered the nose based on a faulty sensor data.

(Reporting by Tabita Diela; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

0 0

WTA roundup: Bertens, Muguruza begin defense of tournament titles

Tennis: Miami Open
FILE PHOTO: Mar 25, 2019; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Kiki Bertens of Belgium hits a forehand against Ashleigh Barty of Australia (not pictured) in the fourth round of the Miami Open at Miami Open Tennis Complex. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

April 3, 2019

No. 2 seed Kiki Bertens kicked off defense of her title at the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday, losing just three games against Italy’s Martina Trevisan in the tournament’s second round.

Bertens, the world No. 6 from the Netherlands, needed just 59 minutes to defeat the Italian qualifier 6-2, 6-1. Bertens had just 11 unforced errors compared to 21 for Trevisan.

“It’s always tough for the first match on clay,” Bertens told WTAtennis.com. “In the beginning, I was searching for the rhythm and not putting too much on the ball. From there, I started playing a little bit more aggressive, and in the end, I was happy with my game.”

It was Bertens’ first match of the season on clay, while Trevisan was playing in her fourth of the week. Bertens will next face either No. 15 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece or former champion Andrea Petkovic of Germany, who each won on Tuesday.

Top seed Sloane Stephens of the United States also moved on after defeating Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) in a hard-fought match that went 2 hours and 37 minutes.

In other seeded action Tuesday, No. 11 seed Danielle Collins shut down Madison Brengle, 6-1, 6-3, in a battle of Americans, while No. 12 Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania needed three sets to defeat Poland’s Magdalena Frech, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Sakkari also went to three sets against Switzerland’s Conny Perrin, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1, and Petra Martic, the 16 seed from Croatia, outlasted Amanda Anisimova, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.

Abierto GNP Seguros

The No. 2 seed in Monterrey, Mexico, had a much more difficult time in the first match of her title defense, as Garbine Muguruza came back from deficits in both sets to defeat Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania.

Muguruza, from Spain, rallied from a double-break deficit in the first set and was twice a break down in the second, saving a total of three set points before prevailing, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

“It was a tough match for the first round. With all the conditions, I just had to fight and never lose the hope,” Muguruza said afterward. “I have five matches in total. Today was the first one, and I’m looking forward (to defending my title) one by one.”

Muguruza will next face Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan, who rolled past Mexican wild-card Victoria Rodriguez, 6-1, 6-0 on Monday.

Also moving on Tuesday were No. 1 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany, who battled Kristina Kucova of Slovakia, 7-6 (4), 6-2; No. 3 seed and four-time winner Anastasia Pavlyuchenko, who lost just three games to fellow Russian Anna Blinkova, 6-0, 6-3; while No. 7 seed Kristina Mladenovic of France got past Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (5).

In other seeded action, Belarus No. 5 Victoria Azarenka defeated Japan’s Miyu Kato 6-4, 6-2, while American No. 4 Alison Riske fell to countrywoman Sachia Vickery 7-6 (6), 6-1.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

0 0

Floods, destruction from cyclone continue in Mozambique

A week after Cyclone Idai hit coastal Mozambique and swept across the country to Zimbabwe, the storm's aftermath of flooding, destruction and death continues in southern Africa, making it one of the most destructive natural disasters in the region's recent history.

Floodwaters are rushing across the plains of central Mozambique, submerging homes, villages and entire towns. The flooding has created a muddy inland ocean 50 kilometers (31 miles) wide where there used to be farms and villages, giving credence to Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi's estimate that 1,000 may have been killed.

Mozambique reports that 200 have died and Zimbabwe reports a similar number but emergency workers say the death toll will continue to rise.

Rains stopped, at least temporarily, Thursday and floodwaters have begun to recede, according to aid groups.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

President Trump could have first 2020 GOP challenger

President Trump could have first 2020 GOP challenger

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 9:46 AM PT — Friday, February 15, 2019

Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld on Nov. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

President Trump may soon have a 2020 challenger on the GOP side. On Friday, former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld announced he is launching an exploratory committee as he eyes a possible White House run.

Weld would be the first Republican candidate to announce a bid against the president as all major polls indicate President Trump would crush any GOP opponent in a hypothetical 2020 primary.

Weld looks to be trying to frame himself as a candidate who moderate Republicans and Independents can get behind, but still maintains the president has skills others will never have.

“He may have great energy and considerable raw talent, but he does not use them in ways that promote democracy, truth, justice and equal opportunity for all,” he stated when referencing President Trump.

Weld decided earlier this month to rejoin the Republican Party after switching to the Libertarian Party in 2016. He served as Massachusetts governor from 1991 to 1997.

Source: OANN Top News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am



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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist