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Prison activist Mumia Abu-Jamal to get new appeals hearing

A former Black Panther and death row activist convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer will get a new appeals hearing after the city prosecutor dropped his opposition to it.

Sixty-four-year-old Mumia Abu-Jamal is serving a life sentence after spending decades on death row in the 1981 slaying of Officer Daniel Faulkner during a traffic stop.

A city judge granted him a new hearing in December after the U.S. Supreme Court said a former Pennsylvania justice who heard his appeal had a potential conflict of interest in a similar case.

District Attorney Larry Krasner initially fought the hearing, fearing the judge's order could affect a large number of other convictions.

Krasner says Wednesday he's dropped his challenge because Common Pleas Judge Leon Tucker has narrowed the scope of his order.

Source: Fox News National

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Ahold says on course to meet U.S. online sales growth targets

The Ahold Delhaize logo is seen at the company's headquarters in Zaandam
The Ahold Delhaize logo is seen at the company's headquarters in Zaandam, Netherlands August 23, 2018. Picture taken August 23, 2018. REUTERS/Eva Plevier

February 27, 2019

By Anthony Deutsch

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Ahold Delhaize, which operates supermarkets in Europe and the United States, is on track to meet a 20 percent U.S. online sales growth target this year as it opens automated grocery distribution points along the East Coast, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Frans Muller, promoted to the top job last July, said in an interview that Ahold, which makes roughly two-thirds of its sales in the United States, plans to open several more of the automated hubs in 2019.

The comments came after Ahold said on Wednesday that group net consumer online sales rose 25 percent to 1.1 billion euros in the fourth quarter at constant exchange rates.

In the Netherlands, where it also operates the non-food Bol.com retailer, Ahold saw strong online sales growth of 28 percent. In the U.S., online sales rose 12 percent at constant exchange rates to 203 million euros in the three months through Dec. 31.

Overall, Ahold said its core earnings rose 9.5 percent in the fourth quarter, bolstered by strong online sales growth, meeting market expectations.

Muller has said the company hopes to make acquisitions to meet targets of 20 percent online U.S. sales growth in 2019 and 30 percent in 2020.

“We are on track for 2019 to make our 20 percent. That’s all planned for and I am excited about reaching 30 percent,” Muller told Reuters. “I think the market is there.”

Speaking about acquisitions, Muller said, “we see more opportunities in the U.S. The market is consolidating. We have a strong base and strong brands along the East Coast.”

In November, Ahold announced plans to roll out small, automated warehouses to increase order picking and cut delivery times, part of a revamp of its ecommerce business to help fight competitors like Kroger, Walmart and Amazon.

Muller said several new centers will be opened this year, with a higher number in 2020, but gave no specific number.

Ahold’s underlying income increased to 691 million euros ($786 million) in the three months through Dec. 31, in line with forecasts. Ahold shares slipped 1.8 percent by 0835 GMT.

Ahold, which operates the ‘Stop & Shop’ and ‘Food Lion’ chains in the United States, confirmed its 2019 target of 750 million euros in gross synergies from the merger with Delhaize.

(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Keith Weir)

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Golf: Holder Casey and American Cook share Valspar lead

PGA: Valspar Championship - Second Round
Mar 22, 2019; Palm Harbor, FL, USA; Paul Casey plays his shot from the 15th tee during the second round of the Valspar Championship golf tournament at Innisbrook Resort - Copperhead Course. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

March 22, 2019

(Reuters) – Early starters Paul Casey and Austin Cook survived after a costly finish by one-time leader Luke Donald to earn a one-stroke advantage in Florida’s Valspar Championship on Friday.

Englishman Casey, the defending champion, shot 66 and American Cook 67 to hold onto the joint lead on six-under 136 after the second round at Palm Harbor, Florida.

Donald, who played behind compatriot Casey and Cook, had taken a one-shot lead with four holes to play but two bogeys coming home left him in a three-way tie for third after a scrambling one-under 70.

Level with the former world number one at 137 were American Scott Stallings (68) and South Korea’s Im Sung-jae (67).

Lurking another shot back was top-ranked Dustin Johnson, whose second consecutive 69 left the American in a three-way tie for sixth with Australian Curtis Luck (68) and first-round co-leader Joel Dahmen (72).

Casey put together an eagle, four birdies and a bogey at his last hole, the ninth, before the Florida breezes kicked up and the greens became more tricky.

“I’ve never (successfully) defended a professional event,” he told Golf Channel.

“I think mentally last year I was sort of hoping, obviously hoping, I would win, wanting to win. This year, knowing that I have won around here, I have just a slightly different approach to it.”

Cook turned to a new putter and liked the results as he recorded five birdies and a bogey.

“Something as simple as changing a putter can make a big difference sometimes,” he told PGA Tour Radio.

Scot Russell Knox, tied for third after the first round, barely made the cut after soaring from a 67 on Thursday to a 76 in windy conditions on Friday.

Australian Jason Day did fall over the cut line of plus one as the world number 12’s 71 was not enough to overcome an opening 74 as he ended play at three-over par.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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@TheMagaNetwork Issues the #TrumpChallenge to EVERYONE on the #TrumpTrain to Wear your #MAGA Swag Proudly in Public! By #ComingOutForTrump you can show the #LEFT this is OUR #America

@TheMagaNetwork & http://MagaOneRadio.net  Issues the #TrumpChallenge to Everyone on the #TrumpTrain to wear your #MAGA Swag Proudly in Public! By #ComingOutForTrump to show the #Left this is OUR #America & #WeThePeopleAreAwake & #WontBackDown via @peterboykin Since #Liberals Think they can attack “45” #Supporters because @RepMaxineWaters said so. I issue the #TrumpChallenge to Everyone on the […]

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The Latest: Mormon scholar: LGBTQ policy repeal marks reset

The Latest on Mormons repealing rules banning baptisms for children of gay parents (all times local):

10:55 a.m.

A religious scholar says the decision by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to repeal rules banning baptisms for children of gay parents and making gay marriage a sin eligible for expulsion marks a complete reset for the faith on LGBTQ issues.

Patrick Mason of Claremont Graduate University in California says the policy unveiled in 2015 was deeply unpopular among members of the faith, triggering displeasure and protests from many liberal and conservative members.

He says the policy hurt the church's image and relationship with many members.

Mason says the repeal erases the one major detour from a decade-long path by the faith to carve out a more open and compassionate position on LGBTQ issues while sticking to doctrinal opposition of gay marriage and intimacy between people in same-sex relationships.

___

9:50 a.m.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is repealing rules unveiled in 2015 that banned baptisms for children of gay parents and made gay marriage a sin worthy of expulsion.

The surprise announcement Thursday by the faith widely known as the Mormon church reverses rules that triggered widespread condemnations from LGBTQ members and their allies.

The church in a statement says it isn't changing its doctrinal opposition to gay marriage and still considers same-sex relationships to be a "serious transgression."

But people in same-sex relationships will no longer be considered "apostates" who must be kicked out of the religion.

The change also marks the biggest move yet by church President Russell M. Nelson, who has made a flurry of changes since taking over the faith in January 2018.

Source: Fox News National

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Rafi Eitan, leader of Israeli spy mission to capture Nazi Adolph Eichmann, dies at 92

Rafi Eitan, the leader of the Israeli spy team that captured Holocaust mastermind Adolph Eichmann in a daring operation 59 years ago, died on Saturday. He was 92.

A Tel Aviv hospital announced Eitan’s death, the Times of Israel reported.

"Rafi was one of the heroes of the State of Israel's intelligence service in countless acts for Israel's security," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, according to the Jerusalem Post. "There was no match for his wisdom, wit and endless commitment to the people of Israel and our country."

Eichman escaped Europe after World War II and was living in Argentina under an assumed name when Israeli agents got wind of his whereabouts.

Eitan's Mossad team flew in and snatched Eichmann off the street on May 11, 1960, throwing him into a car and speeding away.

1962: Adolf Eichmann stands in his glass cage, flanked by guards, in the Jerusalem courtroom where he was tried for war crimes committed during World War II. The basics of Adolf Eichmann's story are well-documented. He was commonly known as the "architect of the Holocaust" for his role in coordinating the Nazis' policy of genocide. He fled Germany only to be captured in Argentina by the Mossad, taken to Israel for trial, and hanged.

1962: Adolf Eichmann stands in his glass cage, flanked by guards, in the Jerusalem courtroom where he was tried for war crimes committed during World War II. The basics of Adolf Eichmann's story are well-documented. He was commonly known as the "architect of the Holocaust" for his role in coordinating the Nazis' policy of genocide. He fled Germany only to be captured in Argentina by the Mossad, taken to Israel for trial, and hanged. (AP)

In the vehicle, Eitan confirmed Eichmann's identity by ripping off the captured man's sleeve to check for a scar on his left arm, and pulling up his shirt to feel for a scar on his stomach, Fox News’ Leland Vittert wrote in 2011.

CRITICS SLAM UN FOR POINTING FINGERS AT ISRAEL IN NEW REPORT WHILE NOT ALSO CONDEMNING HAMAS' USE OF HUMAN SHIELDS

"The moment I have Eichmann, on my knees I am, saying to myself the song of the Jewish partisans which says at the end, ‘We are here and we shall return,’" Eitan told Vittert.

Eventually, the man admitted he was Eichmann.

With more derring-do, Eitan and his fellow commandoes spirited Eichmann out of Argentina and brought him back to Israel where he was tried, convicted and sentenced to death by hanging.

ANCIENT CLAY JAR FRAGMENT DEPICTING 'GROTESQUE' DEITY DISCOVERED IN JERUSALEM'S CITY OF DAVID

At a reunion for those involved in Eichmann’s capture and trial some years ago, Eitan recalled Eichmann's capture with a twinkle in his eye.

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“I was 51 years younger (then)," he said. "But I am able and ready to do the same thing again."

Source: Fox News World

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Wawrinka comes from behind to advance at Indian Wells

FILE PHOTO: Tennis: BNP Paribas Open-Day 2
FILE PHOTO: Mar 5, 2019; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Stan Wawrinka (SUI) on the practice court in preparation for the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

March 9, 2019

By Rory Carroll

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (Reuters) – Stan Wawrinka battled back to defeat British qualifier Dan Evans 6-7(4) 6-3 6-3 at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday as the Swiss continued his slow climb back up the world rankings after a disappointing 2018.

The world number 40’s powerful serve was the difference on a sunny and windy day in Indian Wells as he won 83 percent of his first service points and fired down seven aces to beat Briton Evans, losing finalist at Delray Beach last month.

Three-times Grand Slam champion Wawrinka saw his ranking go into freefall following knee surgery in late 2017 and he finished last year as number 66 in the world.

The Swiss said he was feeling more confident after reaching the title-decider at last month’s Rotterdam Open, his first final since the operation.

“It was great to make the final there and win those matches against the top players,” the former world number three told reporters after the match.

“But every tournament is a new tournament. You need to start from the beginning,” he added. “Today was a tough match against a tough player in tough conditions.”

Next up for Wawrinka is Hungarian 29th-seed Marton Fucsovics, who the 33-year-old has defeated in two of their three career meetings.

Feliciano Lopez came out on the winning side of two tie breakers for a 7-6(3) 7-6(2) victory over Tomas Berdych in his first round match.

In a battle of two tour veterans, Lopez’s 15 aces and sharper execution in the tie-breakers gave him the edge. The Spaniard will next play 12th seed Karen Khachanov.

American Steve Johnson, German Peter Gojowczyk and 19-year-old Australian Alexei Popyrin were among the other first-round winners on Friday.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll, editing by Nick Mulvenney)

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)

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2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

April 26, 2019

By Joshua Schneyer and M.B. Pell

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce a bill Friday that offers new protections for U.S. military families facing unsafe housing, following a series of Reuters reports revealing squalid conditions in privately managed base homes.

The Reuters reports and later Congressional hearings detailed widespread hazards including lead paint exposure, vermin infestations, collapsing ceilings, mold and maintenance lapses in privatized base housing communities that serve some 700,000 U.S. military family members.

(View Warren’s military housing bill here. https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dy5aht)

(Read Reuters’ Ambushed at Home series on military housing here. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/usa-military)

The Massachusetts Democrat’s bill would mandate both regular and unannounced spot inspections of base homes by certified, independent inspectors, holding landlords accountable for quickly fixing hazards. The military’s privatization program for years allowed real estate firms to operate base housing with scant oversight, Reuters found, leaving some tenants in unsafe homes with little recourse against landlords.

The bill would also require the Department of Defense and its private housing operators to publish reports annually detailing housing conditions, tenant complaints, maintenance response times and the financial incentives companies receive at each base. The provisions aim to enhance transparency of housing deals whose finances and operations the military had allowed to remain largely confidential under a privatization program since the late 1990s.

The measure would also require private landlords to cover moving costs for at-risk families, and healthcare costs for people with medical conditions resulting from unsafe base housing, ensuring they receive continuing coverage even after they leave the homes or the military.

“This bill will eliminate the kind of corner-cutting and neglect the Defense Department should never have let these private housing partners get away with in the first place,” Warren said in a statement Friday.

The proposed legislation comes after February Senate hearings where Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, slammed private real estate firms for endangering service families, and sought answers about why military branches weren’t providing more oversight.

Her legislation would direct the Defense Department to allow local housing code enforcers onto federal bases, following concerns they were sometimes denied access. Warren’s office said a companion bill in the House of Representatives would be introduced by Rep. Deb Haaland, Democrat of New Mexico.

In response to the housing crisis, military branches are developing a tenant bill of rights and hiring hundreds of new housing staff. The branches recently dispatched commanders to survey base housing worldwide for safety hazards, resulting in thousands of work orders and hundreds of tenants being moved. The Defense Department has pledged to renegotiate its 50-year contracts with private real estate firms.

Congress has been quick to take its own measures. Earlier legislation proposed by senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California, along with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, would compel base commanders to withhold rent payments and incentive fees from the private ventures if they allow home hazards to persist.

(Editing by Ronnie Greene)

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FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London
FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London, Britain, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar

(Reuters) – Deloitte quit as Ferrexpo’s auditor on Friday, knocking its shares by more than 20 percent, days after saying it was unable to conclude whether the iron ore miner’s CEO controlled a charity being investigated over its use of company donations.

Blooming Land, which coordinates Ferrexpo’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, came under scrutiny after auditors found holes in the charity’s statements.

Ferrexpo on Tuesday said findings of an ongoing independent investigation launched in February indicated some Blooming Land funds could have been “misappropriated”. It did not provide any details or publish its findings.

Shares in Ferrexpo, the third largest exporter of pellets to the global steel industry, were 23.4 percent lower at 206.1 pence at 1022 GMT following news of Deloitte’s resignation.

“Ferrexpo’s shares are deeply discounted vs peers … following the resignation of Deloitte, we expect downside risks to dominate Ferrexpo’s shares near term.” JP Morgan analyst Dominic O’Kane said in a note on Friday.

Swiss-headquartered Ferrexpo did not provide a reason for the resignation of Deloitte, which declined to comment, while Blooming Land did not respond to a request for comment.

Funding for Blooming Land’s CSR activities is provided by one of Ferrexpo’s units in Ukraine and Khimreaktiv LLC, an entity ultimately controlled by Ferrexpo’s CEO and majority owner Kostyantin Zhevago, Ferrexpo said on Tuesday.

Ferrexpo’s board has found that Zhevago did not have significant influence or control over the charity, but Deloitte said it was unable reach a conclusion on this.

Reuters was not immediately able to contact Zhevago.

In a qualified opinion, a statement addressing an incomplete audit, Deloitte said it had been unable to conclude whether $33.5 million of CSR donations to Blooming Land between 2017 and 2018 was used for “legitimate business payments for charitable purposes”.

Deloitte said on Tuesday that total CSR payments made to Blooming Land by Ferrexpo since 2013 total about $110 million.

Ferrexpo, whose major mines are in Ukraine, has said that the investigation was ongoing and new evidence pointed to potential discrepancies.

Zhevago, 45, who ranked 1,511 on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires for 2019 with a net worth of $1.4 billion, owns the FC Vorskla soccer club and has been a member of Ukraine’s parliament since 1998.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev; editing by Gopakumar Warrier, Bernard Orr)

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Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba
Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba, Mozambique April 26, 2019 in this still image obtained from social media. SolidarMed via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer

JOHANNESBURG/LUANDA (Reuters) – Cyclone Kenneth killed at least one person and left a trail of destruction in northern Mozambique, destroying houses, ripping up trees and knocking out power, authorities said on Friday.

The cyclone brought storm surges and wind gusts of up to 280 km per hour (174 mph) when it made landfall on Thursday evening, after killing three people in the island nation of Comoros.

It was the most powerful storm on record to hit Mozambique’s northern coast and came just six weeks after Cyclone Idai battered the impoverished nation, causing devastating floods and killing more than 1,000 people across a swathe of southern Africa.

The World Food Programme warned that Kenneth could dump as much as 600 millimeters of rain on the region over the next 10 days – twice that brought by Cyclone Idai.

One woman in the port town of Pemba died after being hit by a falling tree, the Emergency Operations Committee for Cabo Delgado (COE) said in a statement, while another person was injured.

In rural areas outside Pemba, many homes are made of mud. In the main town on the island of Ibo, 90 percent of the houses were destroyed, officials said. Around 15,000 people were out in the open or in “overcrowded” shelters and there was a need for tents, food and water, they said.

There were also reports of a large number of homes and some infrastructure destroyed in Macomia district, a mainland district adjacent to Ibo.

A local group, the Friends of Pemba Association, had earlier reported that they could not reach people in Muidumbe, a district further inland.

Mark Lowcock, United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, warned the storm could require another major humanitarian operation in Mozambique.

“Cyclone Kenneth marks the first time two cyclones have made landfall in Mozambique during the same season, further stressing the government’s limited resources,” he said in a statement.

FLOOD WARNINGS

Shaquila Alberto, owner of the beach-front Messano Flower Lodge in Macomia, said there were many fallen trees there, and in rural areas people’s homes had been damaged. Some areas of nearby Pemba had no power.

“Even my workers, they said the roof and all the things fell down,” she said by phone.

Further south, in Pemba, Elton Ernesto, a receptionist at Raphael’s Hotel, said there were fallen trees but not too much damage. The hotel had power and water, he said, while phones rang in the background. “The rain has stopped,” he added.

However Michael Charles, an official for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said heavy rains over the next few days were likely to bring a “second wave of destruction” in the form of flooding.

“The houses are not all solid, and the topography is very sandy,” Charles said.

In the days after Cyclone Idai, heavy inland rains prompted rivers to burst their banks, submerging entire villages, cutting areas off from aid and ruining crops. There were concerns the same could happen again in northern Mozambique.

Before Kenneth hit, the government and aid workers moved around 30,000 people to safer buildings such as schools, however authorities said that around 680,000 people were in the path of the storm.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer; Writing by Emma Rumney; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Alexandra Zavis)

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A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai
FILE PHOTO: A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai, India, May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

April 26, 2019

By Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Surging global oil prices will pose a first big challenge to India’s new government, whoever wins an election now under way, especially as domestic prices have been allowed to lag, meaning consumers are in for a painful surge as they catch up.

For oil-import dependent India, higher global prices could lead to a weaker rupee, higher inflation, the ruling out of interest rate cuts and could further weigh on twin current account and budget deficits, economists warned.

But compounding the future pain, state-run fuel suppliers and retailers have held off passing on to consumers the higher prices during a staggered general election, which began on April 11 and ends on May 23, according to sources familiar with the situation.

That delay is expected to be unwound once the election is over. And there could be additional price increases to make up for losses or profits missed during the period of delayed increases, the sources said.

In some major Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, pump prices are adjusted periodically so they move largely in tandem with international crude prices.

That was what was supposed to happen in India but the election means there have been many days when pump prices have been unchanged.

In New Delhi, for example, while crude oil prices have gone up by nearly $9 a barrel, or about 12 percent, in the past six weeks, gasoline prices have only risen by 0.47 rupees a liter, or 0.6 percent.

State-controlled fuel suppliers and retailers declined to say why they had delayed price increases, or discuss whether there has been any pressure from the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A government spokesman declined to comment.

The opposition Congress party said Modi’s government was violating its own policy of daily price revision by advising the state oil companies to hold prices steady.

“The government should cut fuel taxes otherwise consumers will have to pay much higher oil prices once the elections are over,” said Akhilesh Pratap Singh, a senior leader of the Congress party.

(GRAPHIC: India Polls: Fuel price hike lags crude surge – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XLlxik)

Nitin Goyal, treasurer at the All India Petroleum Dealers Association, representing fuel stations in 25 states, said prices were similarly held down for 19 days in the southern state of Karnataka last year, when it held state assembly elections.

Only for them to surge after the vote.

“Consumers should be ready for a rude shock of a massive jump in retail prices, similar to the level we have seen in the Karnataka state election,” Goyal said.

‘CREDIT NEGATIVE’

Sri Paravaikkarasu, director for Asia oil at Singapore-based consultancy FGE, said retail prices of gasoline and gasoil prices would have been up to 6 percent, or about 4 rupee, higher if they had been allowed to rise in line with global prices.

“Indian pump prices have failed to keep up with the recent uptrend in crude prices,” Paravaikkarasu said.

“With the country’s general elections underway, the incumbent government has been keeping pump prices relatively unchanged.”

India had switched to a daily price revision in June 2017 from a revision every two weeks, as the government allowed retailers to set prices.

But the government faced protests last October when retailers raised prices by up to 10 rupees a liter after the crude oil price went above $80 a barrel, forcing it to cut fuel taxes.

Global prices rose to their highest level in 2019 on Thursday, days after the United States announced all Iran sanction waivers would end by May, pressuring importers including India to stop buying Tehran’s oil. [O/R]

Higher oil prices will mean Asia’s third largest economy is likely to see growth of less than 7 percent rate this fiscal year, economists said. Growth slowed to 6.6 percent in the October-December quarter, the slowest in five quarters.

Rating agency CARE has warned that a 10 percent rise in global oil prices could increase demand for dollars, putting pressure on the rupee and widening the current account deficit.

India’s oil import bill rose by nearly one-third in the fiscal year ending March 31 to $140.5 billion, against $108 billion the previous year.

“The increase in international oil prices is a credit negative for the Indian economy,” ICRA, the Indian arm of the Fitch rating agency, said in a note.

“Every $10/ bbl increase in crude oil prices increases the fiscal deficit by about 0.1 percent of GDP.”

Any big price rise would also build a case for the central bank to keep rates steady, or even raise them.

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee, which cut the benchmark policy repo rate by 25 basis points this month, warned that rising oil and food prices could push up inflation.

Policymakers are worried that a sustained increase in the oil price in the range of $70-75/barrel or higher can move the rupee down by 3-4 percent on an annual basis.

The rupee has depreciated by 1.24 percent against the dollar since a year high in mid-March.

($1 = 70.1800 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Martin Howell and Rob Birsel)

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