Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am


Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Democrats seek probe of key FAA decisions on 737 MAX approval

FILE PHOTO: Transportation and Infrastructure House Commitee member DeFazio, speaks at U.S. airline customer service hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington
FILE PHOTO: Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) speaks at a committee hearing on "Oversight of U.S. Airline Customer Service," in the aftermath of the recent forced removal of a passenger from a Chicago flight at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 2, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

March 19, 2019

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives transportation committee and another key Democrat asked the Transportation Department’s inspector general on Tuesday to examine key decisions made by the Federal Aviation Administration in certifying Boeing’s 737 MAX jet for use.

The request follows the March 10 crash of a 737 MAX jet in Ethiopia and the crash in Indonesia in October of another 737 MAX jet.

The inspector general’s office said it would open an audit Tuesday into the plane’s approval but has not disclosed what it will examine. Representative Peter DeFazio, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and committee member Rick Larsen said the crashes underscore “the need to take a more proactive approach with safety to protect the traveling public.”

The two Democrats asked in a letter that the probe include a review of what “led to the FAA’s decision not to revise pilot training programs and manuals to reflect changes to flight-critical automation systems.”

The FAA declined to comment on the letter.

Congress plans to hold hearings as early as next week on the two fatal crashes that are expected to include the FAA’s acting chief, Dan Elwell, and other government officials. The Democrats want the review to help improve the “certification process overall and identify improvements to oversight and safety of all new aircraft.”

Boeing said earlier on Tuesday that it would fully cooperate in the inspector general’s audit.

The Democrats want the audit also to include a review of how each of the new features on the Boeing 737 MAX, including positioning of engines on the aircraft and the corresponding changes to automation, angle-of-attack sensors, and how new software “were tested, certified, and integrated into the aircraft.”

They also ask the review to include “how new features of the aircraft, and potential performance differences in this aircraft, were communicated to airline customers, pilots and foreign civil aviation authorities.”

They also want a status report on corrective actions since the fatal Lion Air crash in Indonesia in October “and whether pilots are being adequately trained before the 737 MAX is returned to revenue passenger service throughout the international aviation community.”

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by James Dalgleish and Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

0 0

Explainer: Europe’s money laundering scandal

FILE PHOTO: General view of the Danske Bank building in Copenhagen
FILE PHOTO: General view of the Danske Bank building in Copenhagen, Denmark, September 27, 2018. REUTERS/Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen/File Photo

April 4, 2019

By Francesco Guarascio

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The largest ever money laundering scandal in Europe is rippling through the region’s banks.

It began in the Baltics and has engulfed several Nordic lenders, notably Denmark’s Danske and Sweden’s Swedbank, who had large Baltic operations.

Here are some facts about Europe’s problems.

HOW DID THE CURRENT SCANDAL EMERGE?

The Baltics’ proximity to Russia has traditionally made them vulnerable to illegal financial flows from their neighbor.

U.S. investigators raised concerns about some of the region’s banks early last year, prompting domestic and European watchdogs to investigate.

WHICH BANKS HAVE BEEN AFFECTED SO FAR?

The first to be hit was Latvia’s ABLV, which was liquidated last year after U.S. accusations of money-laundering activities.

The scandal spread to the Estonian branch of Danske Bank, Denmark’s largest lender, which is now facing probes in several countries for handling 200 billion euros ($224 billion) in suspicious transactions of Russian money between 2007 and 2015.

Sweden’s Swedbank has recently been drawn into the scandal, after it was reported it handled some of the same payments that went through Danske, leading to the dismissal of its chief executive last week.

COULD IT SPREAD TO BANKS BEYOND THE BALTICS AND NORDICS?

Other lenders that helped process suspicious payments from the Baltics could also be in the frame. Deutsche Bank, which acted as a correspondent bank to Danske, is under investigation over its links to the money.

IS THE PROBLEM LIMITED TO FLOWS FROM RUSSIA TO THE BALTICS?

Money from Russia and former Soviet Union countries does not only go to the Baltics. Cyprus and Malta are among the EU states that are most welcoming of these flows, data show, with Pilatus Bank in Malta shut down last year following a U.S. probe on its owner and after allegations of suspicious transactions involving Azerbaijan’s ruling elite.

But the problem is not limited to Russian flows. EU-based criminal organizations, such as Italian mafias, launder most of their illegal proceeds in the largest EU states, estimates show.

ING, the Netherlands’ largest financial services provider, was forced by the Dutch regulator to pay a $915 million fine last year over money laundering. Its Italian business is also under investigation over similar allegations.

HOW MUCH COULD THIS COST BANKS?

A lot. EU banks payed over $16 billion in fines between 2012 and 2018 because of lax money-laundering checks, rating agency Moody’s said in a report on Tuesday, with U.S. regulators levying more than 75 percent of those fines.

Now the allegations have stepped up, so could the fines.

WHO SUPERVISES THIS AND WHY DID SO MUCH MONEY GET LAUNDERED?

Despite money-laundering being a cross-border crime, it is not tackled at EU level but almost exclusively by national authorities, who often lack the capabilities to counter it.

In some cases domestic supervisors have shown little interest in acting, as reputational damages could hit national economies. Malta’s financial supervisor has been found in breach of EU law over the Pilatus case, and the EU is investigating the Estonian regulator after the Danske scandal.

Many banks do not report all suspicious transactions as their due-diligence units are often understaffed.

Reports are not standardized, often producing irrelevant data and hampering cooperation among national supervisors.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFICULTIES IN DETECTING THESE FLOWS?

EU rules to fight money laundering have been overhauled, but some loopholes have never been closed. They are also applied differently and EU states are often late in executing them.

States, including Luxembourg and Germany, use loopholes in EU rules that allow them not to disclose fines on banks in breach of money-laundering rules. This vastly reduces the effectiveness of sanctions which are mostly feared by lenders for their reputational impact.

In the latest reforms, EU legislators added stricter transparency requirements on companies’ owners, but allowed them to remain hidden in some cases. Money-laundering is often conducted through shell firms whose owners are unknown.

Data that could raise alarm bells, such as the share of non-resident deposits or oversized cross-border flows, are collected at national level, often without details of final beneficiaries. No-one checks them at EU level.

The EU has also failed to agree an updated list of jurisdictions that pose money-laundering risks because of lax rules. This reduces banks’ ability to spot dodgy payments.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio in Brussels; additional reporting by Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

Source: OANN

0 0

U.S.-backed Syria forces say advanced into IS enclave

Families of Islamic state fighters walk as they surrendered in the village of Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province
Families of Islamic state fighters walk as they surrendered in the village of Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province, Syria March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Rodi Said

March 14, 2019

BEIRUT (Reuters) – U.S.-backed fighters besieging Islamic State’s final shred of territory in eastern Syria said they had pushed further into the enclave following clashes and air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition.

“Our fighters advanced deep into areas controlled by the terrorist organization and established a number of new points, following clashes in which terrorists sustained a number of deaths and injuries,” a statement from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) press office said.

It said 15 members of Islamic State had been killed after they tried to attack SDF troops.

(Writing by Lisa Barrington and Tom Perry; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

0 0

NFL notebook: Falcons, Jones close to extension

FILE PHOTO: NFL: Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers
FILE PHOTO: Dec 23, 2018; Charlotte, NC, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) on the sidelines in the third quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports - 11893582

March 23, 2019

The Atlanta Falcons and wide receiver Julio Jones are closing in on an extension that would pay him $20 million per season on a four- or five-year deal, Bleacher Report reported Friday.

According to the report, Jones is expected to get around $50 million-$60 million in new guarantees, though the deal is not done yet.

The league’s highest-paid wideout, recent Cleveland Browns addition Odell Beckham Jr., averages $18 million annually with an additional $1 million per season available via incentives. He got $41 million fully guaranteed at signing and $65 million in injury guarantees.

Jones, 30, has two years and $21 million remaining on his contract. He stayed away from the Falcons throughout the 2018 offseason while seeking further contract guarantees. The team responded by turning $4.4 million of his future salary into a signing bonus while reportedly promising to redo the deal after the 2018 season, a rare concession for a player with multiple years remaining on his deal.

–The attorney of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is firing back against law-enforcement officials in South Florida.

William Burck, who represents Kraft, issued a statement to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Kraft is facing misdemeanor charges of soliciting prostitution at a massage parlor in Jupiter, Fla., but he has pleaded not guilty.

“There was no human trafficking and law enforcement knows it,” Burck told Schefter, who posted the quote on his Twitter account. “The video and the traffic stop were illegal and law enforcement just doesn’t want to admit it. The state attorney needs to step up and do the right thing and investigate how the evidence in this case was obtained.”

–The Houston Texans signed offensive tackle Matt Kalil to a one-year contract, multiple media outlets reported.

Kalil, 29, was released by the Carolina Panthers last week in a salary-cutting move after he missed all of 2018 with a knee injury. He also missed 14 games to injury in 2016, but in his other five NFL seasons, Kalil started all 80 possible games at left tackle.

Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson was sacked 62 times last season, easily most in the NFL and equaling the fifth-highest total in NFL history. The Texans re-signed right tackle Seantrel Henderson — who missed all but one game in 2018 — earlier this offseason.

–The Pittsburgh Steelers will release safety Morgan Burnett by April 1, his agent, Kevin Conner, told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Burnett asked the team in January to release him before free agency.

Burnett indicated he wants to join a team that will use him in a pure safety role, after playing what he believes was out of position at dime linebacker in Pittsburgh, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported in January.

–The Oakland Raiders signed free agent quarterback Mike Glennon and safety Curtis Riley.

The Raiders released AJ McCarron last week, creating a need for a backup quarterback behind Derek Carr. Glennon, 29, was released by the Arizona Cardinals earlier this month after joining the team on a two-year, $8 million deal last spring.

Riley, 26, started all 16 games for the New York Giants in 2018, nabbing four interceptions and totaling 75 tackles.

–The Los Angeles Rams matched an offer by the Detroit Lions to keep running back Malcolm Brown in the fold. The two-year deal gives Brown a $100,000 signing bonus and is worth $3.3 million total, with $1 million guaranteed.

Brown, 25, has rushed for 514 yards in four seasons in a backup role to Todd Gurley, including 43 carries for 212 yards and five catches for 52 yards and a touchdown in 2018.

–Former Broncos first-round pick Shane Ray visited the Indianapolis Colts, according to multiple reports.

Ray, who had eight sacks in 2016 but has battled injuries the last two years, would move from linebacker to defensive end if he joins the Colts. Indianapolis reportedly added pass rusher Justin Houston on Thursday.

–The Buffalo Bills signed former Seahawks safety Maurice Alexander and former Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Jake Fisher, who is making the transition to be a blocking tight end.

Buffalo also reportedly visited with former Titans guard Quinton Spain and former Seahawks defensive back Neiko Thorpe.

–The Lions agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with free agent cornerback Rashaan Melvin, multiple media outlets reported. Detroit also officially re-signed offensive lineman Andrew Donnal.

–Wide receiver Cody Latimer officially re-signed with the New York Giants.

–The Cleveland Browns signed free agent offensive lineman Bryan Witzmann.

–The Kansas City Chiefs re-signed fullback Anthony Sherman, per multiple reports.

–The Bengals signed former Giants defensive end Kerry Wynn, ESPN reported.

–The Texans re-signed special teamer Joe Webb III, who also serves as a backup wide receiver and quarterback.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

0 0

Swedbank sacks CEO after money laundering allegations

FILE PHOTO: A general view Swedbank local headquarters building in Tallinn
FILE PHOTO: A general view Swedbank local headquarters building in Tallinn, Estonia March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo

March 28, 2019

By Esha Vaish and Johan Ahlander

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedbank dismissed Chief Executive Birgitte Bonnesen on Thursday just before its annual shareholder meeting, after mounting investor criticism over allegations the bank was involved in money laundering in the Baltics.

The allegations against Swedbank first came to light in a media report last month and have sparked fears that the largest bank in the Baltic region will become embroiled in a scandal already engulfing rival Danske Bank, and face the threat of lawsuits, fines and other sanctions.

Bonnesen has repeatedly said she has confidence in the bank’s anti-money laundering procedures and that Swebank had reported suspicious transactions to authorities.

But in the past few days, investors have become critical of Swedbank’s handling of the issue, putting them on course for a showdown with management at the annual general meeting later on Thursday.

Investors have criticized Bonnesen over her responses to the allegations. Their discontent came to a head on Wednesday after the Swedish Economic Crime Authority decided to extend its Swedbank probe to include a charge of suspected fraud.

“The developments during the past days have created an enormous pressure for the bank. Therefore, the board has decided to dismiss Birgitte Bonnesen from her position,” Swedbank Chairman Lars Idermark said on Thursday.

Reuters was not immediately able to reach Bonnesen to seek comment.

Swedbank’s announcement of Bonnesen’s dismissal came just an hour before the bank holds its annual general meeting.

Ahead of the meeting, three of Swedbank’s top investors, in a rare public expression of discontent, said they would not grant Bonnesen freedom from liability for the 2018 fiscal year, leaving her position all but untenable.

Bonnesen’s career path before she become CEO at Sweden’s biggest retail bank included a role as the bank’s chief audit executive between 2009 and 2011, which encompassed oversight of the bank’s anti-money laundering policy. She then moved on to running the lender’s Baltic operations until 2014.

Swedbank said Chief Financial Officer Anders Karlsson had been appointed on Thursday as acting CEO and would also continue to hold his CFO role until further notice. The bank also said it had begun a process to recruit a new permanent CEO.

(Additional reporting by Johannes Hellstrom and Helena Soderpalm; editing by Niklas Pollard/Keith Weir/Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

0 0

All the world a stage: Rising U.S. oil clout on show in Houston

Attendees at IHS Markit’s CERAWeek conference watch the keynote address by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from the George Brown Convention Center in Houston
Attendees at IHS Markit’s CERAWeek conference watch the keynote address by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from the George Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, U.S. March 12, 2019. Picture taken March 12, 2019. REUTERS/David Gaffen

March 15, 2019

By Ron Bousso and David Gaffen

HOUSTON (Reuters) – A glance at the attendee list at one of the world’s largest energy industry events in Houston this week left little question about the growing influence of the United States over global oil politics.

Present: top U.S. diplomat Mike Pompeo. Absent: leading Saudi and Russian officials, and most OPEC nations.

As the United States weans itself off foreign oil imports – thanks to booming domestic production – the complex web of politics and business interests that have shaped decades of Washington’s energy diplomacy in the Middle East and beyond is changing.

That shift was unmistakable in Houston this week.

In his keynote address, Pompeo spoke of exploiting the power the United States is accruing through rising energy supply in “punishing bad actors”; he laid out a vision of working with energy firms to isolate Iran and Venezuela; and he emphasized the need to protect oil supplies by countering China’s moves to control the South China Sea.

The Secretary of State delivered the half-hour speech to a packed room of energy executives, while dozens more watched via jumbo screens at the adjacent convention center.

It marked the type of reception usually reserved for the Saudis and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. When OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo addressed the conference a day earlier, the auditorium was half empty.

The speech itself was a far cry from past addresses by OPEC heavyweights: Barkindo called for cooperation with the shale industry, which has helped drive U.S. oil output to more than 12 million barrels per day (bpd), making the United States the world’s largest producer. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2VIJTbg)

Just two years ago, Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih delivered a combative keynote speech warning U.S. shale executives that OPEC would not carry “free riders” in its efforts to balance world oil supply and demand.

It turned out to be an empty threat, and a reflection of how OPEC had struggled to deal with the surge in U.S. energy production.

POMPEO MEETS BIG OIL

Beyond his keynote at the Houston conference – the first ever for a sitting Secretary of State at the gathering known as CERAWeek – Pompeo circulated among executives in closed-door meetings, even, according to a source, hosting a group informally at Pappasito’s Cantina, a Mexican restaurant in the Hilton Americas Hotel where the conference took place.

“I’m not used to it, but I think it’s great,” said Vicki Hollub, chief executive of Occidental Petroleum, saying she was impressed by Pompeo and his team’s outreach. Occidental has been one of the biggest winners from the surge of U.S. shale exports.

In one private meeting on Tuesday, Pompeo and his State Department energy adviser Frank Fannon sat down with big oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell, BP plc, Occidental and Chevron Corp.

At that meeting, first reported by Reuters, Pompeo talked about how the government and the world’s top energy companies could work together to encourage U.S. allies to buy more of its oil, according to two sources familiar with the discussion. He also asked for their cooperation on Iran.

The Trump administration has imposed hefty sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, both OPEC members, with growing confidence that there is enough oil from the U.S. and elsewhere to deal with any supply disruptions.

So far, that bet has panned out – global oil prices are currently less than $70 a barrel.

Coming into office, President Donald Trump promised to deregulate the energy industry and assert U.S. oil independence – a sharp turn from an Obama administration that, while placing sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, largely built its energy policy around renewables and reducing emissions.

Aided by rising shale production and new technology that has made pumping U.S. crude less costly, Trump has also been able to publicly lean on OPEC, frequently taking to Twitter to urge members to increase output to keep prices low.

“Under the Trump administration the U.S. feels far more emboldened by our oil-and-gas production and the support and alliance they feel with Saudi Arabia,” said Sarah Ladislaw, who leads energy policy analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Washington’s growing influence, she added, has already started to shift oil politics among allies and adversaries across the world.

Saudi Arabia and Russia in September, for instance, informed the U.S. before speaking to OPEC allies when they reached an agreement to boost production ahead of the official restart of sanctions on Iran. [L8N1WJ5M6]

In addition to the Middle East, the Trump administration is hoping to use U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe to counter the planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would bring gas from Russia.

Germany in February said it would consider building two LNG terminals to import from the United States, bowing to U.S. pressure to diversify supply after Trump termed Nord Stream 2 a “horrific” project that would make Berlin more reliant on Russia.

“We don’t want our European allies hooked on Russian gas through the Nord Stream II project, any more than we ourselves want to be dependent on Venezuelan oil supplies,” Pompeo told the conference.

LESS OPEC

OPEC had its smallest representation for at least five years at the event. Saudi Arabia sent no senior speakers, though that was in part because state-run Saudi Aramco held board meetings in Riyadh this week.

“OPEC is a less important player because the United States is the number-one producer of oil, natural gas and refined products,” said Mike Sommers, president of U.S. industry group the American Petroleum Agency, at the conference.

The U.S. Department of Energy sent its largest contingent ever, it told Reuters, without giving a specific number.

OPEC has responded to the growing influence of U.S. production by forging an alliance with Russia and other non-OPEC producers to curtail supplies from a wider swathe of the global energy industry. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2U9HzK9)

“The most relevant aspect of OPEC now is where it has reached beyond its organization, which is Russia, and whether that can be sustained or formalized,” said Suzanne Maloney, deputy director of the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution.

There have been mixed signals on that front. Russia’s Igor Sechin, head of oil giant Rosneft, has expressed support for ending production cuts, believing OPEC’s deal plays into shale’s hands because it underpins prices.

“They (OPEC) know they cannot do it alone. To swing the pendulum from left to right in terms of production to make sure you get the price that you want, you still need other producers,” said Saidu Muhammad, chief gas and power operating officer at Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.

“Today it is Russia – tomorrow I believe it will be the U.S.” (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2EUmNsT)

(Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal in Dubai, Jennifer Hiller, David French, Florence Tan and Gary McWilliams in Houston; Writing by David Gaffen; Editing by Simon Webb and Paul Thomasch)

Source: OANN

0 0

With budget, Trump throws opening jab in next funding fight with Congress

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a rally at El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a rally at El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., February 11, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

March 11, 2019

By Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Monday will ask lawmakers to hike spending for the military and the wall he wants to build on the U.S.-Mexico border and slash other programs in his 2020 budget, the opening move in his next funding fight with Congress.

The Republican president’s proposal, slated for release at 11:30 a.m., is expected to be rejected by Congress, where Democratic leaders on Sunday warned Trump against what they called a “repeat performance” of last year’s funding war, which led to a five-week partial shutdown of the federal government.

This year, the stakes are higher. The Oct. 1 deadline for a funding deadline to keep the government running coincides with the deadline to lift the debt limit – without which the U.S. government would risk a default, which would shock the world economy.

Trump’s budget will ask for $8.6 billion to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico, officials familiar with the budget told Reuters.

That is more than six times what Congress gave him for border projects in each of the past two fiscal years, and 6 percent more than the president has corralled by invoking emergency powers this year after he failed to get the money he wanted.

Immigration enforcement, veterans’ healthcare and opioid addiction programs will get a boost in the budget. But Trump will propose to cut non-defense spending by an average of 5 percent below caps that Congress had set for fiscal 2019, the White House Office of Management and Budget said on Sunday.

Some programs will be targeted for cancellation altogether to push total non-defense discretionary spending below a cap of $542 billion established in a 2011 fiscal restraint law, an administration official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Tax cuts have been a priority for the Republican White House and Congress in recent years, rather than deficit reduction. The deficit ran to $900 billion in 2019, and the national debt has ballooned to $22 trillion.

Trump’s budget would propose $2.7 trillion in spending cuts over a decade – but even that would not be enough to balance the budget. The OMB said the budget was designed to balance by 2034, exceeding the traditional 10-year budget outlook.

Trump will propose to boost defense spending by an as-yet-unspecified amount in fiscal 2020. But to get around the spending caps, those increases will be funneled through the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) fund, more traditionally used for emergencies.

The tactic has already drawn criticism from fiscal hawks. “We’ve long argued that OCO is a gimmick,” said Romina Boccia, who specializes in fiscal and economic policy at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

Boccia said she saw the move as an opening bid to try to break the pattern of making increases in defense spending contingent on hikes in non-defense programs.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am



Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London
Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London, Britain, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Gerhard Mey

April 26, 2019

By Hanna Rantala

LONDON (Reuters) – Irish rockers The Cranberries are saying goodbye with their final album released on Friday, a poignant tribute to lead singer Dolores O’Riordan who died last year.

“In the End” is the eighth studio album from the band that rose to fame in the early 1990s with hits likes “Zombie” and “Linger”, and includes the final recordings by O’Riordan, who drowned in a London hotel bath in January 2018 due to alcohol intoxication.

Work on the album began during a 2017 tour and by that winter, O’Riordan and guitarist Neil Hogan had penned and demoed 11 tracks.

With O’Riordan’s vocals recorded, Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler completed the album in tribute to her.

“When we realized how strong the songs were, that was the deciding factor really… There was no point… trying to ruin the legacy of the band,” Noel Hogan said in an interview.

“It was obvious that Dolores wanted this album done because when you hear the album, you hear the songs and how strong they are, and she was very, very excited to get in and record this.”

The Cranberries formed in Limerick in 1989 with another singer. O’Riordan replaced him a year later and the group went on to become Ireland’s best-selling rock band after U2, selling more than 40 million records.

O’Riordan, known for her strong distinctive voice singing about relationships or political violence, was 46 when she died.

“She was actually in quite a good place mentally. She was feeling quite content and strong and looking forward to a new phase of her life,” Lawler said.

“A lot of the lyrics in this album are about things ending… people might read into it differently but it was a phase of her personal life that she was talking about.”

The group previously announced their intention to split after the release of “In The End”.

“We are absolutely gutted we can’t play (the songs) live because that’s something that’s been a massive part of this band from day one,” Noel Hogan said.

“A few people have said to us about maybe even doing a one off where you have different vocalists… as kind of guests of ours. A year ago that’s definitely something we weren’t going to entertain but I don’t know, I think it’s something we need to go away and take time off for the summer and have a think about.”

Critics have generally given positive reviews of the album; NME described it as “(seeing) the band’s career go full-circle” while the Irish Times called it “an unexpected late career high and a remarkable swan song for O’Riordan”.

Their early songs still play on the radio. This week, “Dreams” was performed at the funeral of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead in Londonderry last week as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid.

“We wrote them as kids, as a hobby and 30 years later they are on radio and on TV, like all the time… That’s far more than any of us ever thought we would have,” Noel Hogan said.

“That would make Dolores really happy because she was very precious about those songs. Her babies, she called them and to have that hopefully long after we’re gone… that’s all any band can wish for.”

(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; additoinal reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

April 26, 2019

By Joshua Schneyer and M.B. Pell

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Editing by Ronnie Greene)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London
FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London, Britain, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reuters was not immediately able to contact Zhevago.

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba
Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba, Mozambique April 26, 2019 in this still image obtained from social media. SolidarMed via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FLOOD WARNINGS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai
FILE PHOTO: A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai, India, May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

April 26, 2019

By Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A government spokesman declined to comment.

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

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

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

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

Only for them to surge after the vote.

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

‘CREDIT NEGATIVE’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

($1 = 70.1800 Indian rupees)

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

Source: OANN

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

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

Title

Artist