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Super Bowl LIII referee Parry retires, joins ESPN

Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak talks with Referee John Parry before challenging a Tampa Bay Buccaneers interception in Tampa
Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak talks with Referee John Parry before challenging a Tampa Bay Buccaneers interception during their NFL football game in Tampa, Florida November 13, 2011. REUTERS/Pierre DuCharme(UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

April 1, 2019

Super Bowl LIII referee John Parry has retired and is joining ESPN as an officiating analyst.

He will provide analysis from the broadcast booth on “Monday Night Football” and also will work on NFL studio shows and SportsCenter, the network announced Monday.

“John’s role will be a first for ESPN’s NFL coverage. He will educate our commentators, staff, and, most importantly, millions of fans,” said Jay Rothman, producer of the Monday night telecast, in a network statement. “John will appear on our array of studio shows throughout the season and be part of the Monday Night Football team. With the attention to replay and rules at an all-time high, he is uniquely qualified to teach, add perspective and bring clarity to fans.”

Former NFL officials Gerry Austin and Jeff Triplette previously worked for ESPN.

Parry, who became an NFL official in 2000, worked as a back judge and side judge until his promotion to referee for the 2007 season.

He officiated in the Super Bowls in 2007, 2012 and 2019.

“I will fully embrace this new position,” Parry said in the statement. “We hope to leverage 20 years of NFL officiating experience to our talent and to our great fans. Bringing clarity to a complicated game will be both challenging and rewarding. ESPN is a perfect fit based on their dedication to educating and entertaining fans.”

Al Riveron, the league’s head of officiating, wished Parry well on a league-sanctioned Twitter account on Monday.

“Referee John Parry has announced his retirement after 19 seasons & 3 Super Bowls. Thank you, John, for your dedication to the game. We wish you all the best!” Riveron wrote.

Parry’s retirement follows those of referees Triplette, Walt Coleman, Ed Hochuli, Terry McAulay, Pete Morelli and Gene Steratore over the past few years.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Hyundai Motor, Tencent tie up to develop self-driving cars software: report

The logo of Hyundai Motor is seen during the 2017 Seoul Motor Show in Goyang
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Hyundai Motor is seen during the 2017 Seoul Motor Show in Goyang, South Korea, March 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

April 6, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co and Chinese technology firm Tencent Holdings have signed a preliminary deal to develop software for driverless vehicles, South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper reported on Saturday.

Both companies plan to conduct joint research and development on safety and security systems for self-driving cars, which Hyundai seeks to roll out commercially by 2030, the report, which cited unnamed industry sources, said.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of a business forum held in Seoul on Thursday by the South Korean government and China’s Guangdong province, it said.

Hyundai and Tencent did not offer any immediate comments on the report.

The two companies are also exploring ways to utilize Tencent’s popular WeChat messaging app in developing China-targeted car models, the newspaper said.

Hyundai, the world’s 5th largest automaker together with affiliate Kia Motors, has been fostering partnerships with self-driving tech and social media firms as it aims to introduce highly automated vehicles by 2020 and fully autonomous vehicles by 2030.

Hyundai Mobis, another affiliate of the car maker, clinched an agreement last month with Russia’s largest internet search engine Yandex to jointly develop control systems for driverless vehicles.

Shenzhen-based and Hong Kong-listed Tencent has also ventured into self-driving tech and had advertised to recruit engineers in Silicon Valley last year.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in SEOUL and Norihiko Shirouzu in BEIJING; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Source: OANN

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Spring snowstorm buries Midwest, tornadoes possible in South

Strong winds and more snow hit the Midwest on Friday following a spring storm that buried several states in snow, while forecasters warned churches in the South to prepare for strong thunderstorms and potential weekend tornadoes.

The storm hovering over parts of Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota was the second "bomb cyclone" storm system to hit the region in a month. The blizzard was blamed for hundreds of vehicle crashes in Minnesota and left behind 25 inches of snow (63.5 centimeters) in northeast South Dakota.

Authorities in central Minnesota said lightning struck a tree and a shed in the city of Isanti during a rare "thunder snow" storm, sending the building up in flames.

Flood warnings were issued Friday for the Red River along the Minnesota-North Dakota border, but the river wasn't expected to swell to levels seen during last month's severe Midwest flooding, said National Weather Service forecaster Greg Gust.

Forecasters warned that unseasonably low temperatures would remain through the weekend in the region following a low pressure system in the southwest U.S. that created two separate "chunks of energy," one in the Midwest and one in the South, Gust said.

"It is part of the same one-two punch that has accompanied the storms over the past few months," Gust said. "An upper cut followed by a hook."

Gusty wind, hail and potential tornadoes were forecast Saturday in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, eastern Texas and western Alabama. Similar weather was forecast Sunday in Georgia and the rest of Alabama, said Adam Baker, a weather service forecaster.

"Even a weak tornado that hits the right location can still be pretty devastating," Baker said.

The National Weather Service office in Birmingham, Alabama, warned churches to have someone monitor the weather during Sunday services amid heightened risk for damaging tornadoes.

The agency advised pastors to figure out the safest location for their congregations in case of severe weather, noting that large open rooms such as sanctuaries and auditoriums weren't safe.

A series of tornadoes on Palm Sunday in 1994 killed 40 people in Georgia and Alabama, and injured hundreds more. Half the deaths occurred when a tornado struck a rural Alabama church during services, causing the roof to collapse, according to a report about the damage by U.S. weather officials.

___

Associated Press writer Sudhuin Thanawala contributed to this report from Atlanta.

Source: Fox News National

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Booker tweets that he 'broke up with sleep,' then dates 'smoldering love' coffee

At least if he's president he'll be awake for that 3 a.m. phone call.

It seems as if 2020 presidential candidate Cory Booker and coffee are more than just friends.

Toronto-based writer Anna Fitzpatrick chronicled Booker's long-running "relationship" with coffee dating back to tweets from 2009, while he was still mayor of Newark, N.J. Through a series of retweets, she told Booker's love story with "coffee" and his on-and-off-again relationship with "sleep."

Fitzpatrick admitted that digging up decades-old tweets is a "low blow," but apparently Booker's past posts need help. She said "every tweet from 2009 is "bad."

Sshe began the Tweet-story by pointing out Booker's 2009 tweets and said, "this is what I'm talking about."

"'Sleep' and I broke up a few nights ago. I'm dating 'Coffee' now. She's Hot!" Booker tweeted on May 28, 2009.

But she also noted that Booker tweeted the same joke in 2017, so "its fair game," she said.

"I broke up with sleep last night and I'm dating coffee this morning," Booker tweeted on December 2, 2017. "I appreciate her warmth and stimulating company."

He also tweeted the same joke again in 2015, this time on New Year's Day.

Then in 2012, he tweeted three times about his intimate relationship with coffee and contentious one with sleep.

In 2010, he tweeted, "Mean 'ole 'Sleep' left me for another dude / I'm with 'Coffee' now she's got a stimulating attitude."

Then again in 2010, he tweeted "'Sleep' and I broke up again tonight. I'm finding comfort with my new special friend 'coffee' - she is hot."

Again in 2009, which Fitzpatrick says is "off limits," Booker tweeted that he had "another fight" with "sleep."

"...I left her & I'm hanging out with my smoldering love 'coffee' - & tonight she is smoking hot," he tweeted.

Fitzgerald ended her string of retweets with "2012. 'nu friend.' the end," with Booker's 2012 tweet about coffee and sleep.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

"Sleep & I have irreconcilable differences. We separated. I'm dating my tall, hot, sweet nu friend coffee," he tweeted.

Source: Fox News Politics

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‘Russia has invaded Estonia, NATO is on the way’: German TV plumbs depths with fake war broadcast

A respected German analytical TV program opened its latest edition by informing viewers that Russian forces intruded into the Baltics. Was this “fantasy” just juvenile attention-seeking, or crude pro-NATO propaganda?

“Together with European and German allies, the US army is currently moving through land, air and sea to Estonia to expel Russian forces, which have once again invaded, as in Crimea before,” announced a worried Claus Kleber, host of heute journal, on the national public broadcaster ZDF Thursday night.

As millions of viewers tensed up, the veteran host announced that it was a “gotcha!”

“Do not worry. It is not true. This is just a fantasy scenario – but a realistic one,” said Kleber.

One of the biggest names in German journalism, Kleber explained that the fake-out was designed to make it clear that a war may be imminent, that it is likely to be a surprise, and that Germany will have to defend even its smallest allies, including Estonia.

“The problem today is that NATO seems more fragile today on its 70th birthday than during any time in its history. During which it has been an unprecedented success story,” said the host, before introducing a piece that gave a potted history of the alliance, from its post-WWII founding, to supposed revanchism from Russia, to its current bête noire Donald Trump.

Unless one believes there is truly some valid insight that is achieved by the entire episode, there are two ways of looking at these sub-Orson Welles shenanigans.

The first is to regard the modern news media as entertainers, who are not to be taken at face value. For all his PhD qualifications and long history as a top foreign correspondent, Kleber leads a moribund broadcast format – a scheduled news magazine show on terrestrial TV – and is trying to stay relevant by turning ever-more shrill. In the bland world of Germany’s news media, the more provocative approach has led to higher ratings for the esteemed heute-journal.

In this case, this stunt is merely borderline trolling that simply trivializes the very real concerns in the region, and among NATO allies through hyperbole. Estonia is not just some made-up country to be used as a storytelling prop.

But there is a less charitable interpretation: what if people are taking this seriously?

Imagine reading in the Western media that a Russian state channel was now putting out fake news bulletins about NATO invading Kaliningrad. Would you think this is provocative journalism or would you reckon that the Kremlin is irresponsibly stoking tensions, and preparing Russians for a confrontation with the West?

And for all the silliness, telling people “there will be a war with Russia, so you must love NATO” is not some irreverent journalistic opinion, it is the government line, beamed into homes across Germany as scaremongering, hysterical propaganda. Is this the  media really want to play?

Source: InfoWars

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UK Denies Asylum To Christian Convert From Iran Because “Christianity Is Not Peaceful”

The UK has denied asylum to an Iranian man because he said on his application that he converted from Islam to the “peaceful” religion of Christianity, according to The Independent

The Home Office quoted excerpts from the bible in the man’s rejection letter – saying the book of Revelations is “filled with imagery of revenge, destruction, death and violence,” and concluded that “These examples are inconsistent with your claim that you converted to Christianity after discovering it is a ‘peaceful’ religion, as opposed to Islam which contains violence, rage and revenge.”


Modern churches have been prevented from political speech by the 501(c)3 tax status they have been granted. Alex explains this allows the left to silence Christians from promoting true biblical values.

When contacted by The Independent, the Home Office essentially said “our bad” – claiming that the letter was “not in accordance” with proper policies for claims based on religious persecution, and that it was working to improve employee training.

Lawyers and campaigners said the case demonstrated a “distortion of logic” and a “reckless” approach to asylum seekers’ lives, stemming from a tendency by the department to “come up with any reason they can to refuse” cases. –The Independent

The asylum seeker’s caseworker, Nathan Stevens, tweeted “I’ve seen a lot over the years, but even I was genuinely shocked to read this unbelievably offensive diatribe being used to justify a refusal of asylum.”

According to the latest immigration statistics, there has been a marked increase in incorrect asylum refusals – with successful appeals up 5% since 2015-2016.

“You can see from the text of the letter that the writer is trying to pick holes in the asylum seeker’s account of their conversion to Christianity and using the Bible verses as a tool to do that,” said legal expert Conor James McKinney – deputy editor of the website Free Movement. McKinney said the case was a symptom of the Home Office’s reputation to “come up with any reason they can to refuse asylum.”

“The Home Office is notorious for coming up with any reason they can to refuse asylum and this looks like a particularly creative example, but not necessarily a systemic outbreak of anti-Christian sentiment in the department.” -Conor James McKinney

The case is a “particularly outrageous example of the reckless and facetious approach of the Home Office to determining life and death asylum cases,” said Sarah Teather, director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in the UK. Teather added that JRS frequently encounters cases where asylum has been refused on “spurious grounds,” adding “Some of these cases require more legal knowledge to recognise than this bizarre misquoting of the Bible, but as this instance gains public attention, we need to remember it reflects a systematic problem and a deeper mindset of disbelief, and is not just an anomaly that can be explained away.”

Source: InfoWars

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U.S. Senators introduce bill to stop transfer of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey

FILE PHOTO - A real-size mock of F-35 fighter jet is displayed at Japan International Aerospace Exhibition in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO - A real-size mock of F-35 fighter jet is displayed at Japan International Aerospace Exhibition in Tokyo, Japan November 28, 2018. REUTERS/Tim Kelly

March 28, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senators on Thursday introduced a bipartisan bill to prohibit the transfer of F-35 fighter aircraft to Turkey until the U.S. government certifies that Ankara will not take delivery of a Russian S-400 air defense system, a statement on the move said.

“The prospect of Russia having access to U.S. aircraft and technology in a NATO country, Turkey, is a serious national and global security risk,” said Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, one of the four co-authors of the bill.

Turkey is a production partner in the trillion-dollar F-35 fighter jet program but Ankara also wants to purchase a Russian missile defense system, which the United States says would compromise the security of F-35 aircraft.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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)

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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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