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London judge dismisses jury in landmark Barclays Qatar case

FILE PHOTO: The Barclays logo is seen in front of displayed stock graph in this illustration
FILE PHOTO: The Barclays logo is seen in front of displayed stock graph in this illustration taken June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo

April 8, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – A London jury has been dismissed in a landmark fraud trial of four former Barclays executives accused of paying Qatar undisclosed fees to help rescue the bank at the height of the credit crisis in 2008.

Judge Robert Jay told the jury at Southwark Crown Court on Monday he was required to discharge them.

(Reporting by Iain Withers; Editing by Rachel Armstrong)

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More than half of Indians satisfied with governance, Pew survey shows

FILE PHOTO: Election staff check Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines and Electronic Voting Machines ahead of India's general election at a warehouse in Ahmedabad
FILE PHOTO: Election staff check Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines and Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) ahead of India's general election at a warehouse in Ahmedabad, India, March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

March 26, 2019

By Sanjeev Miglani

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Most Indians are happy with the direction of the country and economic prospects for the next generation, a Pew survey published weeks ahead of general elections showed, although the level of satisfaction has fallen over time.

Lack of employment opportunities is India’s biggest problem, said more than three-quarters of those polled, and that had not changed through most of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure, the survey found.

The survey published on Monday said concerns about terrorism and Pakistan loomed large even before last month’s crisis triggered by an attack on a security convoy in Indian Kashmir that Pakistan claims as its own.

Three-quarters of Indians believe Pakistan to be a threat and 59 percent said terrorism had become worse.

“But despite these worries, most Indian adults are satisfied with the direction of their country and the economic prospects of the next generation,” Pew said, summing up the survey result.

Of those polled, 54 percent said they were satisfied with the way democracy is working in India. But satisfaction had declined 25 percentage points from 2017, when 79 percent voiced approval.

Men are more likely than women to give Indian democracy a thumbs-up, though one in five women decline to offer an opinion, it said.

There were 2,521 respondents in the Pew Survey run from May 23 to July 23, 2018, the final year of Modi’s term before the election, at which about 900 million people are eligible to vote.

Modi is considered the frontrunner to win the election that begins on April 11, but his lead is narrowing and several polls have suggested his Hindu nationalist-led group may fall short of a clear majority required to rule.

Renewed tension with arch foe Pakistan has shifted attention somewhat from bread-and-butter issues to national security over the past month, to the advantage of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

Critics have accused the BJP of creating a climate of fear among India’s Muslim minority by promoting a Hindu-first agenda and targeting it for the slaughter of cows they consider sacred and have sometimes questioned its allegiance to India.

The BJP denies bias but says it opposes appeasement of any community.

Muslims make up about 14 percent of India’s population of 1.3 billion.

(Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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‘Targeted’ shootings that left 4 dead in Canada may have stemmed from reported neighbor dispute

Four people were shot dead in 3 separate locations across a city in western Canada in a series of "targeted" attacks on Monday that may have all been sparked by a neighborhood dispute, according to a wife of one of the victims.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Supt. Ted De Jager said at a news conference the killing spree began around 10:30 a.m. outside a home in downtown Penticton, British Columbia.

As authorities were responding to the initial shooting, a second call of another incident came in from the south end of the city. When authorities went to the home involved in the second shooting, they discovered the bodies of 3 people in two locations.

By 11:30 a.m., a 60-year-old man turned himself in at the front desk of an RCMP station in the city, CBC News reported.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED IN 5 DEATHS IN MISSOURI, KANSAS FOUND DEAD IN JAIL CELL, SHERIFF SAYS

“We’re still trying to find the motive for this whole incident, so that’s part of the ongoing investigation," De Jager said. "Indications right now are that all four were targeted.”

Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers work outside a scene in Penticton, British Columbia, Monday, April 15, 2019.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers work outside a scene in Penticton, British Columbia, Monday, April 15, 2019. ((Jeff Bassett/The Canadian Press via AP)

The four victims -- two men and two women -- were all killed within a 3-mile radius.

Renate Winter, the wife of the first victim – 71-year-old Rudi Winter – told the Vancouver Sun she believed the shootings were likely linked to a neighborhood dispute.

Winter said that she and her husband lived next to the estranged wife of the alleged gunman and had a contentious relationship.

“We cut a tree down in our yard and she had a fit, so anytime we did anything she had a fit, so we don’t talk to her,” she told the Vancouver Sun. “She called the cops because my husband was putting rocks in between our properties, and maybe his big toe went on her property.”

CANADIAN PROVINCE CONSIDERS MANDATORY ANNUAL MATH TESTS FOR ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS: REPORTS

De Jager, who called the shootings a "deeply troubling incident," offered no additional details on how the victims knew each other or a possible motive. Charges are still pending against the man who turned himself in.

Canadian police said a 60-year-old man is in custody after shootings that left several dead in Penticton, British Columbia on Monday.

Canadian police said a 60-year-old man is in custody after shootings that left several dead in Penticton, British Columbia on Monday. (Jeff Bassett/The Canadian Press via AP)

He did confirm that neither of the female victims was the alleged gunman's ex-wife, the Penticton Western News reported.

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Such gun violence is rare in Canada. The shootings on Monday were the deadliest killings in city history, and the sixth deadliest in modern province history, according to the Penticton Western News.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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UK economy leans on consumers as Brexit drags on business

FILE PHOTO: A river boat cruises down the River Thames as the sun sets behind the Canary Wharf financial district of London
FILE PHOTO: A river boat cruises down the River Thames as the sun sets behind the Canary Wharf financial district of London, Britain, December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

April 15, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Moving slowly in the fog of Brexit and slowing global growth, Britain’s economy is increasingly reliant on consumers and their spending as business investment and exports fade.

The world’s fifth-biggest economy grew 1.4 percent in 2018, the weakest increase in six years, and it looks set to slow further in 2019.

On Wednesday, the European Union delayed Britain’s departure from the bloc until the end of October, but scepticism runs high that lawmakers in London can form a consensus over Brexit.

Below are charts that highlight some of the most notable features of Britain’s economy in early 2019.

CONSUMER SPENDING: HOLDING UP

Household spending grew by the least since 2012 last year. Some of the slowdown was a by-product of the June 2016 Brexit vote, which hammered the value of the pound and pushed up inflation above wage growth through most of 2017.

But pay growth has rebounded in recent months, helping to support consumer spending.

In late 2018, households and the government were the only drivers of Britain’s weak economy. Business investment and net trade dragged on growth.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the world economy was suffering some of the same problems. “Normally when expansions are reliant on the consumer, you start watching the clock, in terms of how much longer it will last,” he said.

Graphic: UK consumer spending: still solid, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2D4Tan9

INVESTMENT? WHAT INVESTMENT?

Businesses have held back on plans for investment ever since it became clear that Britain was going to hold a referendum on its membership of the EU.

The value of business investment lost in Britain’s economy since the June 2016 referendum is roughly 10 billion pounds compared with its simple trend growth from late 2009 to the second quarter of 2016.

Graphic: UK business investment flatlines after Brexit vote, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2D1Ctcs

STOCKPILING

The extent of stockpiling going on among British manufacturers looks likely to limit the extent of any potential rebound in investment.

A survey earlier this month showed manufacturers upped their stocks of materials and parts at a pace never before seen in a Group of Seven advanced economy.

Official data has suggested stockpiling had boosted factories in February, although by how much was unclear.

Economists worry that the recent drive to build inventories has brought forward output, heralding a downturn later.

Graphic: UK factories stockpile at fastest rate in history of G7 PMIs, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2IcsBkr

WILL CONSUMERS KEEP SPENDING?

Public confidence in the economic outlook is weaker in Britain than in any other EU country, according to European Commission data.

Thus far, this has not had a big impact on consumer spending as households’ budgets have benefited from faster wage growth. But it suggests there is a risk that Britons could tighten their belts if the recovery in pay falters.

Graphic: Confidence in UK economy slides, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2I6OyRO

WHAT WILL THE BANK OF ENGLAND DO?

The Bank of England has long signaled that it thinks interest rates should rise in a limited and gradual way, as long as Brexit progresses smoothly.

But with the uncertainty set to last for several more months, the BoE is likely to sit tight, especially with indicators such as the IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index – historically a good marker for interest rate moves – a long way from levels typically consistent with a rate hike. Graphic: UK economy stalling ahead of Brexit – PMI, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2D0y4q4

The BoE’s nine rate-setters might want to avoid adding to economic uncertainty by giving different views on the outlook for borrowing costs.

A survey from the BoE showed a record proportion of Britons – more than a quarter – had no idea where rates were heading.

Graphic: Record share of UK public have no idea where interest rates are heading, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2IeGgap

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by William Schomberg)

Source: OANN

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Nearly 2,000 immigrants to be released in Texas from federal custody this weekend, report says

Immigration officials plan to release nearly 2,000 illegal immigrants from custody in the Texas area over the weekend, according to the local ABC-TV affiliate.

The release of the large number of immigrants comes as Border Patrol agents struggle to manage hundreds of more immigrants waiting along the border to turn themselves in and request political asylum, the news outlet said, citing an unnamed Border Patrol officer.

The release of so many immigrants prompted the El Paso Police Department to send an alert asking for volunteers to help.

"Urgent. Volunteers are needed today and tomorrow to help local Non-Governmental Organizations with the influx of migrants released yesterday and today," the alert stated.

Central American immigrant families. (AP)

Central American immigrant families. (AP)

Churches in Texas and elsewhere along border states have been helping to provide shelter and other services to immigrants who are released pending claims for asylum or other services.

CBP DEFENDS DECISION TO DETAIN GIRL, 9, FOR MORE THAN 30 HOURS DESPITE HER BEING U.S. CITIZEN 

Ruben Garcia, the executive director of Annunciation House, a shelter in El Paso that houses immigrants temporarily in a working partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, expressed concern that his organization cannot keep up with the demand of people arriving at the border in large numbers.

He was reaching out to churches in the area for help in housing the immigrants, according to the ABC report.

"If each one of those faith communities received, if they made the commitment to receive 20 refugees per week, just per week, that would allow us to receive 8,000 refugees per week," said Garcia.

A renewed surge of Central Americans showing up at the border has prompted immigration authorities, who say they are running out of space to hold them, to release them into the U.S.

From Dec. 21 to March 20, ICE released more than 100,000 people into the U.S., reported the Fox affiliate in San Diego.

The U.S. Border Patrol this month released families with notices to appear in court, the news outlet reported, noting the agency has not done such a thing since 1998. It said that the protocol is that the Border Patrol typically hands over migrants requesting asylum to ICE, which handles their petition and assumes custody.

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Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has said the release of migrants does not mark a return to the controversial  “catch-and-release” policy.

“It’s not a protocol and there’s no reintroduction of catch-and-release,” she said. “But we are out of detention space.”

Source: Fox News National

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French police experts start Notre Dame checks after fire

French police scientists and other expert investigators are starting to examine Notre Dame Cathedral for the first time since last week's devastating fire.

A police official said teams from three different police agencies are entering the monument Thursday to take samples and search for clues as to what caused the fire. Police made a preliminary visit last week but weren't able to conduct a thorough examination until the cathedral's structure was secured.

Officials believe the fire was possibly caused by a short circuit linked to renovation work underway before the fire. The Paris prosecutor's office says all potential leads are being pursued.

The cathedral will remain closed to the public for years after the fire destroyed its roof and knocked over its spire.

Source: Fox News World

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NYPD: Man with gas cans tried to enter St. Patrick’s church

A New Jersey man has been arrested outside St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City with two jugs of gasoline.

Police say church personnel stopped the 37-year-old man from entering the landmark cathedral in Manhattan at about 9 p.m. Wednesday. Authorities were investigating whether the unidentified man is emotionally disturbed.

There is currently a heavy police presence outside the cathedral on Fifth Avenue. The incident comes just days after flames ravaged the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was built in 1878, has installed a sprinkler-like system during recent renovations and its wooden roof is coated with fire retardant.

Source: Fox News National

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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)

Source: OANN

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