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Video shows jailer kneeing, punching handcuffed black man

Newly released video shows a Minnesota jail officer punching and kneeing a handcuffed black man, prompting the county board to vow Tuesday to do whatever is necessary to prevent it from happening again.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher on Monday released video of the 2016 incident, which happened before his term. In a statement, Fletcher called the video "extremely disturbing," and said he is making changes.

"The conduct captured on the video will not be tolerated under my watch," the sheriff said.

Travis VanDeWiele pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct last month and has resigned. VanDeWiele had been a Ramsey County sheriff's correctional officer since 2014. He has been on paid administrative leave for the last two years.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said the video shows "torture."

"We can't separate the individual actions from the law enforcement culture that allowed him to feel like it was OK to do that and that allowed several deputies to stand around and watch it take place," Carter said.

County commissioners said Tuesday they'll do whatever it takes to prevent a recurrence.

"We do take this seriously — very seriously — and need to do everything that we can to correct this to make sure something like this does not happen again," Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt said.

Source: Fox News National

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Portugal bets on artificial intelligence to boost exports

FILE PHOTO: Containers at Lisbon's port
FILE PHOTO: Containers are seen at Lisbon's port, Portugal, June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante/File Photo

April 15, 2019

By Sergio Goncalves

LISBON (Reuters) – At a time when a slowing global economy is seen as a threat to Portugal’s growth, the country is betting on a new artificial intelligence platform to help companies boost their exports.

Launched by AICEP, the state agency for promotion of exports and investment, the platform uses AI technology, including machine learning, big data and design thinking to deliver customized services to thousands of companies.

“The platform will be a brave new world,” AICEP’s president Luis Castro Henriques told Reuters. “It will allow us to attract more companies to internationalize, serve companies better and be more productive.”

Called “Portugal Exporta”, it offers a range of services to clients, such as matching between companies and investors, information on potential partners and customized internationalization plans for each firm.

“The platform will certainly bring important results to export growth (…) and, therefore, new records in 2019, even though we are seeing a slowdown at the moment,” said Henriques.

An export push and a tourism boom have stoked Portugal’s recovery from its 2011-14 debt crisis and bailout.

In 2017, the economy grew at its strongest pace since the turn of the century but last year export growth slowed down, and the economic expansion cooled slightly.

The weight of exports in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) reached 44 percent last year from 30 percent in 2010 as companies were forced to find overseas markets during the severe downturn during the euro zone debt crisis.

“The goal is for exports to reach 50 percent of GDP by 2025,” Henriques said. “For this to happen Portugal must continue to increase exports, diversify markets but also bring more companies to export on a recurring basis.”

Portugal has 44,000 companies with potential to export but only 23,000 do it regularly, according to data from Portugal’s National Institute of Statistics.

“When the platform is fully working we should be able to serve all Portuguese companies with an exporting profile,” Henriques said.

(Writing by Catarina Demony,; Editing by Axel Bugge and Ed Osmond)

Source: OANN

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Ex-Putin adviser who died under mysterious circumstances in US had broken neck bone, report says

A former key adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin suffered a broken bone in his neck "at or near the time of his death" in a Washington, D.C. hotel room in November 2015, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported Saturday.

RFE acquired the 149-page report by the District's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner into the death of 57-year-old Mikhail Lesin after filing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit nearly two years ago.

The report said that Lesin's hyoid bone, which is located below the jaw bone and above the larynx was completely fractured, an injury that an unidentified official says in the report is "commonly associated with hanging or manual strangulation."

The Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, where Lesin was found dead.

The Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, where Lesin was found dead. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

However, the report noted that the fracture did not constitute clear evidence of foul play since the bone also could have been damaged during the autopsy.

Lesin's death was officially ruled an accident caused by blunt force trauma after investigators said he fell repeatedly in his room while intoxicated. However, circumstantial evidence -- including a gap in security video footage for the hours after Lesin was last seen alive, as well as a heavily redacted police report -- has fueled speculation that the former Kremlin official was killed.

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The report also revealed that an official from the D.C. medical examiner's office was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury investigating Lesin's death in March 2016. The final report into Lesin's death was released seven months later, in October 2016, by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and Washington D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department.

Lesin had amassed a fortune through a company he set up in the 1990s to sell television advertising. He then spent years as Putin's media czar, helping bring national television under Kremlin control during Putin's rise to power. Later he founded the global news network Russia Today, now known as RT. But, he abruptly resigned in December 2014 and was believed by some Moscow-watchers to have fallen out of favor with the Putin government.

Click for more from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Trump Is Winning Because of His Pro-Americanism

"America is the greatest fighting force for peace, justice and freedom in the history of the world," the president has said. "We are not going to apologize for America. We are going to stand up for America. No more apologies."

No more apologies. No more groveling. No more self-flagellating ourselves on the world stage, as a certain, previous administration had done.

Trump is different. He goes over to Europe and he says, "Hey, we value our alliance. We love you guys, but it's time for NATO members to stop free-riding on the American taxpayers." Imagine that. An American president in Europe standing up for you, looking out for your hard-earned money.

Of course, the foreign policy elites back home shuddered, and they fumed and sputtered upon hearing all of this, preferring, of course, Obama's approach. Seizing a better future is exactly what President Trump has begun to do for America, but not by marinating in guilt over past wrongs in public, but by growing the economy -- real hope.

The Obama crew said he couldn't do it. But with a crack team of dedicated pros, Trump renegotiated old trade deals to make them more pro-American worker, and he's holding trade cheaters like China accountable. It's about time. Now, can you ever imagine Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg speaking as triumphantly, as unapologetically, about American dominance in manufacturing, as Trump?

Trump is also unapologetic about the government's duty to enforce our borders, and also to tailor immigration to America's needs and values. But by contrast, the Democrats, they recoil from such terms as "American sovereignty," and they push instead for abolishing of ICE and even abolishing the classification of illegals as "illegal." They feel angry about America's past and present. And America acting in America's interest? Oh no, he can't do that.

Now the president was particularly incensed last week when footage circulated of freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar referring to 9/11 as an occasion where "some people did something." So he retweeted Omar's video, and then he included clips of the planes going into the World Trade Center towers.

Well, the left, of course, wasn't upset about Omar's original comments. They were mad at Trump, claiming he's the problem by endangering Omar's life.

In a local interview in Minnesota on Monday, Trump was characteristically unapologetic. When asked if he had second thoughts about criticizing Omar, he replied, "No, not at all. Look, she's been very disrespectful to this country. She's been very disrespectful, frankly, to Israel. She's someone that doesn't really understand, I think, life. Real life, what it's all about. It's unfortunate. She's got a way about her that's very, very bad, I think, for our country. I think she's extremely unpatriotic and extremely disrespectful to our country."

Disrespectful to our country -- well, I think a lot of Americans agree with him. Like Obama before her, Omar reflexively apologizes for even in tone, ridiculing America for being worried about Al Qaeda. Yes, because we actually recoil at evil. America and Britain, we don't believe in evil, congresswoman. So, we bristle at it.

Yes, we have to be clear here that Omar's not alone. The Democratic Party is becoming infected with this self-loathing quality. More of its members today feel guilty about America's past, and they want to turn that guilt into the ultimate expiation for our sins -- the sins of colonialism, racism, misogyny, et cetera, et cetera. And they feel justified in tearing down history, in attacking religious symbols with deep historical roots and even refusing to participate in patriotic displays.

2020 is shaping up to be a showdown between more traditional America and this new kind of twisted vision of America. And no matter who the Democratic nominee is, this is the ideological struggle before us. And it's hard right now at least to imagine that the American people would not again embrace the true audacity that unapologetic nature of Trump -- his unwillingness to bow down to the media and political correctness at the moment, and his determination to protect the honor and the people of this country. His habit of standing up to the political elite and refusing to back down.

Now, there are words for this approach. We used to call it American leadership. Maybe we still do.

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Ringleader in London's Hatton Garden heist gets 10 years

The ringleader of a gang that stole millions in jewelry from a London safe-deposit storehouse has been sentenced to 10 years in prison — four years after the audacious heist.

Alarm specialist Michael Seed, 58, led a gang of mostly elderly men who drilled through a concrete vault wall and ransacked more than 70 safe-deposit boxes in the Hatton Garden jewelry district in April 2015. Prosecutors say they stole cash, jewelry and gold worth more than 14 million pounds ($20 million).

Six men have been convicted. Seed, who was also known as "Basil," was the last of the gang to be sentenced.

Seed, who pays no taxes and rarely uses a bank account, evaded capture for three years before police raided his flat in north London last year.

Source: Fox News World

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MLB spring training roundup: Cabrera continues torrid spring

MLB: Spring Training-Toronto Blue Jays at Detroit Tigers
Mar 24, 2019; Lakeland, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers designated hitter Miguel Cabrera (24) stretches prior to a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

March 25, 2019

Miguel Cabrera continued his resurgent spring Sunday, hitting a two-run homer and two-run double as the Detroit Tigers walloped the Toronto Blue Jays 18-6 in Lakeland, Fla.

Cabrera, who turns 36 on April 18, is coming off an injury-shortened 2018 season in which he hit .299 with only three home runs and 22 RBIs in 38 games. He has only 19 home runs and 82 RBIs in the last two seasons.

But Sunday’s performance now gives the two-time American League MVP five home runs and 15 RBIs this spring, while sporting a .348 batting average and 1.165 OPS.

Cardinals 2, Marlins 1

Paul Goldschmidt homered in the first inning and Evan Mendoza hit a walk-off single as St. Louis edged Miami in Jupiter, Fla. Jack Flaherty pitched four scoreless innings for the Cardinals, giving up only one hit and striking out three.

Mets 8, Nationals (ss) 4

Third baseman Jeff McNeil drove in four runs and Juan Lagares homered as New York topped its divisional rival’s split squad in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Matt Adams hit a three-run homer for Washington.

Astros 5, Nationals (ss) 3

After falling behind 3-0 in the second inning, Houston scored the game’s final five runs to top Washington’s split squad in West Palm Beach, Fla. Right-hander Gerrit Cole gave up three runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings for the Astros.

Yankees 5, Twins 3

Clint Frazier’s bases-clearing double capped a four-run sixth inning and propelled New York to a win over Minnesota at Fort Myers, Fla. Left-hander James Paxton gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings to get the win for the Yankees.

Phillies 11, Orioles (ss) 4

Philadelphia scored in each of the first seven innings, pounding out 18 hits to hammer a Baltimore split squad at Clearwater, Fla. Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr combined for six hits, six RBIs and five runs scored for the Phillies.

Pirates 1, Orioles (ss) 1

Pittsburgh’s Jung Ho Kang homered in the first, Baltimore’s Zach Vincej hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth, and the Pirates and Orioles played to a tie in Sarasota, Fla. Chance Sisco, who scored on the sac fly, was 3 for 3 for Baltimore.

Rockies 4, Reds 3

Second baseman Bret Boswell had three hits and drove in the deciding run as Colorado edged Cincinnati at Goodyear, Ariz. Taylor Sparks hit a two-run homer as the Reds made a game of it, but Cincinnati stranded a runner at third to end it.

White Sox 7, Indians 3

Adam Engel homered and drove in two and 11 different Chicago batters got a hit in a win over Cleveland in Phoenix. The Indians received a scare when All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez was carted off the field after fouling a pitch off his left knee, though the team labeled the injury a contusion.

Cubs 24, Padres 6

Designated hitter Phillip Evans led a Chicago hit parade with four hits (one a home run) and six RBIs as the Cubs blasted San Diego in Peoria, Ariz. David Bote added four hits and Cristhian Adames had three hits and five RBIs for the Cubs.

Brewers 3, Diamondbacks 2

Zack Godley pitched six strong innings but took the loss as Milwaukee topped Arizona in Maricopa County, Ariz. The Diamondbacks right-hander gave up two runs in six innings, giving up only three hits and striking out three with one walk.

Braves 4, Rays 2

Ozzie Albies had two hits and an RBI, and scored on Brian McCann’s two-run double as Atlanta doubled-up Tampa Bay in Kissimmee, Fla. Tampa Bay’s Carl Chester was thrown out at home on an eighth-inning double by Kean Wong to kill a potential Rays rally.

Athletics 5, Giants 0

Stephen Piscotty, Jurickson Profar and Ramon Laureano each homered to propel Oakland to a win over Bay Area neighbor San Francisco at the Oakland Coliseum. Lefty Brett Anderson threw six scoreless innings for the win.

Royals 3, Rangers (ss) 3

Kort Peterson’s solo home run in the top of the ninth off Jairo Beras allowed Kansas City to tie Texas’ split squad, and that is how the game ended in Surprise, Ariz. Cam Gallagher also homered for the Royals; Tyreque Reed homered for the Rangers.

Nashville Sounds 4, Rangers (ss) 3

Second baseman Chase d’Arnaud doubled and designated hitter Hunter Pence drove in a run as Texas’ split squad fell to its Triple-A affiliate at First Tennessee Park, the Sounders’ home field in Nashville.

Angels 8, Dodgers 4

Mike Trout doubled in a run, Albert Pujols homered and the Angels took the first game of the Freeway Series against their Los Angeles rivals. Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, working a non-save situation, gave up two hits and three runs (two earned) in 2/3 of an inning.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Will Anyone Believe the Dem Media Again?

The opening scene of the Big Reveal of Robert Mueller’s special counsel report went according to the script: Conservatives “pounced,” the left “pushed back” and the media turned to each other for comfort and reassurance.

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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)

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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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