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Cyclone kills one, leaves trail of destruction across Mozambique

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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Fiat Chrysler Canada’s auto sales fall 11 percent in March

FILE PHOTO: A Fiat Chrysler Automobiles sign is seen at the U.S. headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan,
FILE PHOTO: A Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) sign is seen at the U.S. headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S., May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo

April 2, 2019

(Reuters) – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV on Tuesday reported an 11 percent fall in total March sales in Canada.

The company, which is among the top four carmakers in the country, sold 21,684 vehicles in March, with its Alfa Brand reporting a 56 percent drop in sales.

Sales in the United States fell 7.3 percent, hit by a decline in sales across all of its major brands, except RAM trucks.

(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)

Source: OANN

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After Cyclone Idai, thousands still cut off, many more in need: aid agencies

FILE PHOTO: Survivors of cyclone Idai arrive at Coppa business centre to receive aid in Chipinge
FILE PHOTO: Survivors of cyclone Idai arrive at Coppa business centre to receive aid in Chipinge, Zimbabwe, March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo

April 15, 2019

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – One month after Cyclone Idai tore through southern Africa bringing devastating floods, aid agencies say the situation remains critical with some communities in worst-hit Mozambique only just being reached with aid.

The storm made landfall in Mozambique on March 14, flattening the port city of Beira before moving inland to batter Malawi and Zimbabwe.

It heaped rain on the region’s highlands that then flowed back into Mozambique, leaving an area the size of Luxembourg under water. More than 1,000 people died across the three countries, and the World Bank has estimated more than $2 billion will be needed for them to recover.

Over the weekend, aid agencies said thousands of people were still completely cut off and warned of the potential for a catastrophic hunger crisis to take hold, especially as aid appeals went largely underfunded.

Dorothy Sang, Oxfam’s humanitarian advocacy manager, said an aid drop was being planned for an isolated area where just last week 2,000 people were found for the first time since the storm. They had been surviving on coconuts, dates and small fish they could catch.

Oxfam estimates there are 4,000 people still cut off. Sang added that while often these weren’t the worst-hit by the disaster, they were already living in chronic poverty and now face huge challenges to survive.

“They risk becoming utterly forgotten,” she said.

On Sunday, Care International said the destruction of crops would compound existing food security problems across the region, and called on donors to find additional funds for the response.

Mozambique’s $337 million humanitarian response plan, largely made up of an appeal for $281 million after the cyclone hit, remained only 23 percent funded on Monday.

The United Nations has also requested $294 million for Zimbabwe, an appeal currently 11 percent funded. The government has separately asked for $613 million to help with the humanitarian crisis.

Meanwhile, U.N. children’s agency Unicef warned at least 1.6 million children need some kind of urgent assistance, from healthcare to education, across all three countries. Save the Children also said many are traumatized after witnessing the death and destruction wrought by the storm.

Machiel Pouw, Save the Children’s response team leader, said children and their families needed long-term help to recover.

“After a disaster of this scale, the world must not look away.”

(Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Source: OANN

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3 Bernie Sanders policies now embraced by the Democratic field

Bernie Sanders is one of the front-runners — raising $18 million in the first six weeks of his campaign — among a crowded field of 2020 presidential hopefuls, but the self-described democratic socialist has also been a trend-setter for the field.

Since the Vermont senator mapped out his plans for a "political revolution" in 2016, many members of Congress have embraced his policies and ideas. And now several candidates are using them as talking points as they hit the campaign trail.

BERNIE SANDERS FAST FACTS: 5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE VERMONT SENATOR

Sanders will join Fox News Channel for a town hall co-anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum on Monday, April 15, at 6:30 p.m. ET in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Here's a look at some of the biggest proposals the 77-year-old — the longest-serving independent member of Congress in U.S. history — has championed for years that 2020 Democrats are now touting.

"Medicare for All"

Sanders first introduced the "Medicare for All" bill in 2016. He saw it as a step toward achieving universal health care.

The single-payer health insurance plan would require all U.S. residents to be covered with no copays and deductibles for medical services. The insurance industry would be regulated to play a minor role in the system.

HOW MUCH WOULD 'MEDICARE FOR ALL' COST? DEMOCRATS' HEALTH CARE PLAN EXPLAINED

In August 2017, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., became the first Senate Democrat to support Sanders' bill. During a speech to officially launch her 2020 run, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., declared "health care is a fundamental right" and vowed to serve her constituents by supporting "Medicare for All."

Since then, 2020 candidates Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., have also endorsed the program.

Sanders is expected to introduce an updated version of his "Medicare for All" plan on Wednesday.

$15 minimum wage

For years, Sanders has made passionate pushes to increase the minimum wage. He recently reintroduced legislation to increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour by 2024.

"While the official unemployment rate is relatively low, too many workers in America today are making wages that don’t pay enough to make ends meet. Workers and their families cannot make it on $9 an hour or $10 an hour – or even less," Sanders said in a statement in November, claiming it would give 40 million workers a raise. "We have got to raise the minimum wage in this country to a living wage – at least $15 an hour."

At least 20 states increased their minimum wages since the start of the New Year, according to Fox Business.

BERNIE SANDERS' BIGGEST STAR-STUDDED BACKERS: MARK RUFFALO, DANNY DEVITO AND OTHERS

The Raise the Wage Act legislation that was reintroduced in the new Congress by Sanders this year, was cosponsored by several 2020 contenders including Booker, Gillibrand, Harris, Warren and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Tuition-free college

Once again, Sanders has vowed as a presidential candidate that he will aim “to make public colleges and universities tuition free.”

“Higher education in America should be a right for all, not a privilege for the few,” Sanders has said. “If we are to succeed in a highly competitive global economy and have the best-educated workforce in the world, public colleges and universities must become tuition-free for working families and we must substantially reduce student debt.”

Under Sanders' "College for All Act," which he introduced alongside Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., in 2017, the government would be responsible for 67 percent ($47 billion) of the cost of tuition and states would pay for the remaining 33 percent ($23 billion).

"The legislation would eliminate tuition and fees at four-year public colleges and universities for families making up to $125,000 – about 80 percent of the population – and make community college tuition- and fee-free for all," according to a statement released by Sanders' campaign at the time.

The proposal has been backed by Warren, Harris, Gillibrand.

Some candidates, such as Klobuchar, however, have blasted the idea.

“No, I am not for free college for all,” Klobuchar said during a televised town hall in Manchester in February. “I wish if I was a magic genie and could give that to everyone and we could afford it, I would.  I’m just trying to find a mix of incentives and make sure kids are in need- and that’s why I talked about expanding Pell Grants, can go to college and be able to afford it and make sure that people who can’t afford it are able to pay.”

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, too, hasn't fully joined the tuition-free college rallying cry.

“Americans who have a college degree earn more than Americans who don’t,” Buttigieg recently said, per Politico. “As a progressive, I have a hard time getting my head around the idea of a majority who earn less because they didn’t go to college subsidizing a minority who earn more because they did.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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Julius Baer has Credit Suisse wealth manager Khan on list for CEO job: sources

FILE PHOTO - Khan, CEO International Wealth Management of Swiss bank Credit Suisse, speaks during Reuters Global Wealth Management Summit in Zurich
FILE PHOTO - Iqbal Khan, CEO International Wealth Management of Swiss bank Credit Suisse, speaks during "The Wealth Management Industry - Into the next decade" at the Reuters Global Wealth Management Summit, Park Hyatt hotel, Zurich Switzerland, June 13, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

March 29, 2019

By Oliver Hirt and Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss bank Julius Baer is considering Credit Suisse’s international wealth management head Iqbal Khan as a possible successor to its chief executive Bernhard Hodler, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Khan, who was hired by Chairman Urs Rohner in 2013 and promoted to lead the newly created International Wealth Management business in 2015, had also been tipped as a potential future chief executive of Credit Suisse.

Although Hodler has been Julius Baer CEO for less than one-and-a-half years, Baer’s board is already assessing potential successors, the sources said.

Julius Baer has axed jobs and cut growth targets this year after it was hit by challenging markets in 2018, and its shares are down 28 percent since Hodler took over.

Switzerland’s third-largest listed bank declined to comment on whether it or its new chairman are seeking to replace Hodler, while Credit Suisse declined to comment on the situation.

Hodler was chief risk officer at Zurich-based Julius Baer before the departure of his predecessor Boris Collardi, who also rose through the ranks of Credit Suisse, to unlisted Pictet.

Since taking the top job, Hodler has been trying to overhaul Julius Baer’s compliance practices following several inquiries related to bribery and corruption probes involving its clients.

In Khan, Julius Baer would gain a high-profile private banker in his early forties who has helped bring in a new generation of young, entrepreneurial clients for Credit Suisse.

Credit Suisse’s private banking operations outside of Switzerland and Asia Pacific have cut costs and layers of middle management, boosting profits and inflows under Khan, while the bank was undergoing a major restructuring.

If Khan were to leave, there are a handful of Credit Suisse executives who would be in the running to replace him.

These include Benjamin Cavalli, head of private banking in South Asia, Yves Sommerhalder, co-head of the bank’s International Trading Solutions, Serge Fehr, head of private banking and wealth management in the Swiss division, Eric Varvel, head of Asset Management in IWM, and Felix Baumgartner, head of premium clients in Switzerland, one source said.

Swiss Universal Bank head Thomas Gottstein and Investment Banking & Capital Markets boss Jim Amine would also be in the mix, the source added.

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Oliver Hirt; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Alexander Smith)

Source: OANN

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Jewish graves desecrated in France as people hit streets to combat 'poison' of anti-Semitism

About 80 graves have been desecrated at a Jewish cemetery in France, the latest anti-Semitic attack in a string of hateful incidents this year that sparked an all-out protest on Tuesday.

A Jewish cemetery in a small Alsace town was vandalized overnight, with the damage discovered Tuesday. Officials said swastikas were painted on multiple graves.

The desecration comes as the French marched on the streets Tuesday in the wake of other anti-Semitics attacks in recent months, with former French presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy joining the protesters.

‘SPREADING LIKE A POISON’: ANTI-SEMITIC ACTS INCREASE IN FRANCE

French government revealed that there was a big rise in incidents of anti-Semitism last year – 541 registered incidents, up 74 percent from the 311 registered in 2017.

A poster reading "Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Racism, Not in Our Name" during a gathering decrying anti-Semitism at Place de la Republique in Paris, Monday, Feb. 18, 2019 amid an upsurge in anti-Semitism in France. 

A poster reading "Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Racism, Not in Our Name" during a gathering decrying anti-Semitism at Place de la Republique in Paris, Monday, Feb. 18, 2019 amid an upsurge in anti-Semitism in France.  (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Last weekend, police had to step in to protect the philosopher, Alain Finkielkraut, after the so-called “Yellow Vests” taunted the academic using anti-Jewish slurs.

Two teens were arrested on Friday after they allegedly fired shots at a synagogue with an air rifle in Paris and injured one Jewish man. Prosecutors reportedly said the motive was anti-Semitism.

A swastika was also found on street portraits of Simone Veil — a survivor of Nazi death camps and a European Parliament president who died in 2017.

ANTI-SEMITIC GRAFFITI SPRAYED ON PARIS BAGEL SHOP COMPARED TO SIMILAR ACTS IN NAZI GERMANY

Multiple officials have condemned the recent attacks. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said that anti-Semitism is "spreading like poison" in France, according to the BBC.

French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the prevalence of anti-Semitism within the country.

A man holds a poster reading "Racists, Don't Touch to Our Jewish Friends" during a gathering decrying anti-Semitism at Place de la Republique in Paris, Monday, Feb. 18, 2019 amid an upsurge in anti-Semitism in France. 

A man holds a poster reading "Racists, Don't Touch to Our Jewish Friends" during a gathering decrying anti-Semitism at Place de la Republique in Paris, Monday, Feb. 18, 2019 amid an upsurge in anti-Semitism in France.  (AP)

“Every time a French person, because he or she is Jewish, is insulted, threatened — or worse, injured or killed — the whole Republic” is attacked, Macron said at a press conference in Paris.

Most mainstream parties are attending the protest against anti-Semitism, while Macron is set to deliver a speech at Wednesday’s annual dinner by leading Jewish group CRIF.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Marine Le Pen’s far-right party, meanwhile, is holding a separate event to combat anti-Semitism.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Trump: 'Hostile, Corrupt' Media Ignores Our Progress

President Donald Trump continued two of his most common mantra's of his presidency via Twitter on Sunday: The media is "hostile and corrupt" because it is failing to recognize the accomplishments of his administration.

"Despite the most hostile and corrupt media in the history of American politics, the Trump Administration has accomplished more in its first two years than any other Administration. Judges, biggest Tax & Regulation Cuts, V.A. Choice, Best Economy, Lowest Unemployment & much more!"

And, because he could not fit all of his boasting of accomplishment in Twitter's 280 characters – which expanded from 140 during his presidency, perhaps to accommodate his trademark tweetstorms – President Trump added an ensuing tweet for historical strong jobs numbers.

"More people are working today in the United States, 158,000,000, than at any time in our Country's history. That is a Big Deal!"

His Sunday morning tweets came one day after WhiteHouse.gov issued clips of positive administrative news, including a 56 percent approval rating on the economy and "public optimism in their personal economy has hit a 16-year high under President Trump," according to the latest Gallup Poll.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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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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