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Barr Clamps Down on ‘Catch and Release’

US Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday struck down a decision allowing some asylum seekers to request release on bond in front of an immigration judge – a decision that expands ‘indefinite detention’ for migrants, some of whom must wait months or years for their cases to be heard.

US immigration courts overseen by the Justice Department have become overloaded – as the number of pending cases have jumped more than 26% since October 2017 from 655,807 to just under 830,000 according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) of Syracuse University.

Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the average daily population of immigrants in detention topped 46,000 for the 2019 fiscal year – the highest level since the agency was created in 2003.

Even that figure likely understates the backlog because it doesn’t include the impact of the 35-day government shutdown in December and January. Because the system’s roughly 400 immigration judges were furloughed during the shutdown, some 60,000 hearings were canceled. Thousands were rescheduled, adding to the already long wait times.

The administration “has not only failed to reduce the backlog, but has eroded the court’s ability to ensure due process” by pressuring judges to rule “at a breakneck pace” on whether an immigrant should be removed from the United States, the American Immigration Lawyers Assn. — a nonprofit organization of more than 15,000 immigration attorneys and law professors — said in a statement. –LA Times.

Barr’s decision applies to migrants who have illegally entered the United States as well as those apprehended within the country, according to Reuters:

Typically, those migrants are placed in “expedited removal” proceedings – a faster form of deportation reserved for people who illegally entered the country within the last two weeks and are detained within 100 miles (160 km) of a land border. Migrants who present themselves at ports of entry and ask for asylum are not eligible for bond.

But before Barr’s ruling, those who had crossed the border between official entry points and asked for asylum were eligible for bond, once they had proven to asylum officers they had a credible fear of persecution.Reuters.

“I conclude that such aliens remain ineligible for bond, whether they are arriving at the border or are apprehended in the United States,” wrote Barr, who added that such people can be held in immigration detention until their cases are eventually heard, or the Department of Homeland Security decides to release them by granting them “parole.”


The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Catch and Release policy is on track to release roughly 434,000 border crossers and illegal aliens into the country by the end of the year.

Barr is delaying the effective date of the ruling by 90 days “so that DHS may conduct the necessary operational planning for additional detention and parole decisions.”

According to law professor Steve Vladeck of the University of Texas, the full impact of the decision is not yet clear because it will depend on DHS’ ability to expand detention capabilities.

“The number of asylum seekers who will remain in potentially indefinite detention pending disposition of their cases will be almost entirely a question of DHS’s detention capacity, and not whether the individual circumstances of individual cases warrant release or detention,” said Vladeck.

In early March, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the DHS agency responsible for detaining and deporting immigrants in the country illegally, said the average daily population of immigrants in detention topped 46,000 for the 2019 fiscal year, the highest level since the agency was created in 2003. Last year, Reuters reported that ICE had modified a tool officers have been using since 2013 when deciding whether an immigrant should be detained or released on bond, making the process more restrictive.

The decision will have no impact on unaccompanied migrant children, who are exempt from expedited removal. Most families are also paroled because of a lack of facilities to hold parents and children together.Reuters.

(Photo by USCB / Flickr)

Migrant rights groups are predictably livid over Barr’s ruling. The ACLU’s Michael Tan said that the rights group intends to sue the Trump administration over the decision.

Barr’s decision is the result of a review begun under former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in October.


President Trump won election because he used social media to unite his supporters, but now Big Tech has activated widespread censorship and the President has not slowed down this wave of tyranny.

Source: InfoWars

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U.S.-backed Syrian force still battling Islamic State

Fighters from SDF stand together in the village of Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province
Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand together in the village of Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province, Syria March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Rodi Said

March 22, 2019

QAMISHLI, Syria (Reuters) – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battled Islamic State militants holed up in the Baghouz area overnight, supported by U.S.-led coalition air strikes, the SDF said, seeking to defeat the last pockets of jihadist resistance.

The SDF has been battling for weeks to defeat Islamic State at the Baghouz enclave in southeastern Syria at the Iraqi border, all that remained of the territory the militants ruled, which once spanned a third of Syria and Iraq.

While the U.S.-backed SDF has captured most of the area, Mustafa Bali, head of the SDF media office, told Reuters SDF fighters were clashing late on Thursday with IS militants in more than two positions where they were refusing to surrender.

The jihadists were holed up in what appeared to be caves in a rocky shelf overlooking Baghouz, and in trenches by the nearby Euphrates River, he said. U.S.-led coalition war planes had conducted two raids on Thursday evening against IS movements.

“Our forces are trying to force them to surrender, but so far the clashes are continuing,” Bali said.

Though the defeat of Islamic State at Baghouz ends its grip over populated territory, the group remains a threat, with fighters operating in remote territory elsewhere and capable of mounting insurgent attacks.

(Reporting by Rodi Said; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: OANN

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The Latest: Strong storms moving into southeastern US

The Latest on severe weather moving across the United States (all times local):

11:45 a.m.

Forecasters are warning about tornadoes and other violent weather as a storm system moves into the southeastern United States.

The National Weather Service issued a series of tornado warnings about a front pushing eastward from Texas on Thursday. Strong storms covered much of Louisiana.

A tornado watch reached from coastal Louisiana into central Mississippi, and more weather alerts are likely. Flood warnings reached as far north as central Indiana.

The same system produced tornadoes and hail earlier in North Texas, the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas.

___

9:55 a.m.

Severe thunderstorms rumbled across North Texas, the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas, producing several tornadoes and unleashing widespread hail.

Seven tornadoes were reported across the Plains from the northeastern Texas Panhandle to southeastern Kansas. Strong winds hit elsewhere Wednesday evening, toppling utility poles and trees and downing power lines in parts of North Texas. No significant structural damage has been reported.

The National Weather Service received numerous reports of hail pelting the storm-struck areas. Egg-size hail was reported about 60 miles (95 kilometers) northwest of Fort Worth.

The storms were expected to move Thursday into the Deep South. Dozens of schools in Mississippi and Alabama dismissed students early as a precaution.

The threat comes days after dozens of tornadoes from East Texas to Georgia left at least nine dead.

Source: Fox News National

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Ocasio-Cortez raises eyebrows after comparing Trump's border wall to Berlin Wall

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised eyebrows after comparing President Trump’s border wall plans to the Berlin Wall separating communist Germany from the free world.

The New York Democrat made her remarks during a livestream for supporters on Friday, where she spoke out about the scrutiny she received ever since she won the election last year and dethroned top Democrat Joe Crowley.

BILL DE BLASIO CORRECTS OCASIO-CORTEZ'S CLAIM ABOUT SPENDING AMAZON TAX BREAK MONEY

“No matter how you feel about the wall, I think it’s a moral abomination,” Ocasio-Cortez said on the issue of the border wall that Trump has been pushing for since getting into office.

“I think it’s like the Berlin Wall. I think it’s like any other wall designed to separate human beings and block out people who are running away from the humanitarian disasters. I just think it’s wrong,” she added.

The Berlin Wall, which became the most notable border of the “Iron Curtain” during the Cold War, was built following the Soviet Union’s recommendation amid an exodus of Germans living under the communist rule in East Germany following World War II and the partition of the country.

The wall, guarded by soldiers on the East’s side, was a way to block the East Germans from fleeing communism to West Berlin and West Germany, a free and Democratic country. Multiple people were shot by the soldiers in their desperate efforts to escape East Berlin.

“Dear @AOC: Let me serve as your private professor here. The Berlin Wall was meant to keep people inside the socialist/communist utopia and stop them from fleeing to the decadent capitalist west. So as the New Millennial Lenin, you might want to refrain from using this example,” Gad Saad, an evolutionary behavioral scientist at the John Molson School of Business, tweeted.

NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA, 14 OTHER STATES SUE TRUMP IN NINTH CIRCUIT OVER EMERGENCY DECLARATION

“People who compare the US-Mexico border wall to the Berlin wall failed or slept through the easiest history classes in middle school and high school,” wrote another Twitter user.

President Trump’s proposed border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, meanwhile, has been touted as a deterrent against drug and human trafficking, in addition as a way to reduce illegal immigration numbers.

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The White House is planning to move $8 billion in currently appropriated or available funds toward construction of the wall. Of that, $3 billion could be diverted with help from the national emergency declaration.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Bodies of American couple missing in Dominican Republic believed found

Authorities in the Dominican Republic said Tuesday they believe they've found the bodies of an American couple who disappeared late last month after checking out of their hotel -- and officials think the two died in a car crash on their way to the airport.

Orlando Moore, 40, and girlfriend Portia Ravenelle, 52, both of Mount Vernon, N.Y., were supposed to return home March 27, but they never boarded their flight back to Newark Liberty International Airport.

National Police spokesman Frank Felix Duran said on Tuesday a man’s body – believed to be Moore''s – was found in the waters of Sans Souci on March 31, while a woman’s body was found where authorities believe a car crash occurred days earlier.

AMERICAN TOURISTS DISAPPEAR AFTER LEAVING HOTEL EN ROUTE TO AIRPORT IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: REPORT

El Diario Libre reported the woman was found unconscious and taken by ambulance March 27 to Dario Contreras hospital with multiple trauma injuries. She reportedly died there April 4.

Duran said the man’s body was found decomposing about 12 to 18 miles away from where they believe the rental vehicle he was in became submerged in the seas. He said treacherous water conditions have kept divers from getting to the submerged vehicle, but they expect it to be the same vehicle the couple rented to drive to the airport.

He said they believe the man’s body is that of Moore because of a tattoo on his right arm that says “Milano,” similar to one that the 40-year-old man had.

PASTOR RICK MCDANIEL: A 5-YEAR-OLD BOY IN POVERTY TAUGHT ME THIS SURPRISING LESSON (AND I WAS SHOCKED)

Police said they believe the couple was in a car crash on Las Americas highway, which leads to a nearby international airport. Duran said local fisherman reported seeing a car in the bottom of the ocean in Sans Souci.

Moore and Ravenelle were reported missing by their families in the U.S. after they did not board their flight home.

Investigators said they confirmed the couple had checked out of the Grand Bahia Principe Cayacoa hotel in Samana on March 27.

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Authorities are awaiting fingerprint and other tests to confirm the identities.

Source: Fox News World

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Greek police clash with migrants, block access to border route

Migrant children hold flowers as they stand in front of riot police officers next to a camp in the town of Diavata in northern Greece
Migrant children hold flowers as they stand in front of riot police officers next to a camp in the town of Diavata in northern Greece, April 6, 2019. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis

April 6, 2019

By Lefteris Papadimas

DIAVATA, Greece (Reuters) – Greek police clashed on Saturday with groups of migrants and refugees camped in a field close to the country’s northern border hoping to cross to neighboring countries and travel onward to northern Europe, witnesses said.

Hundreds of people including children had arrived at the field next to the migrant camp of Diavata near the border with North Macedonia on Thursday and started setting up tents.

They were prompted by reports on social media of plans for an organized movement to cross Greece’s northwest land border with Albania in early April.

Riot police fired teargas at dozens of people – some with children in their arms – who threw stones and bottles as they tried to break a police cordon and reach a road leading to the border.

About 100 tents were pitched in the field which was heavily guarded by police. People refused to leave despite calls by ministers to return to accommodation centers and warnings that onward travel would be impossible.

“It’s a lie that the borders will open,” Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas told Greek state television ERT on Friday.

Tens of thousands of refugees and migrants, mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are stuck in Greece from when Balkan countries shut their borders in 2016, closing the main passage towards northern Europe.

(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by David Holmes)

Source: OANN

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Smollett may still face new legal trouble; Obama connections suspected in dropping of hoax charges

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Developing now, Wednesday, March 27, 2019

SMOLLETT MAY NOT BE IN THE CLEAR YET: Despite the hate crime hoax charges against him being dropped Tuesday, “Empire” star Jussie Smollett still may face new legal trouble ...  An investigation into a death-threat letter the actor supposedly received prior to an alleged Jan. 29 attack against him has been handed over to the FBI, Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told Fox News. Cook County, Ill. First Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Magats told reporters that prosecutors dropped the case because Smollett forfeited a $10,000 bond payment and did community service.

The decision to drop charges against Smollett stunned and outraged Chicago police and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who called the series of events "not on the level" and a "whitewash of justice." Some critics have wondered whether Smollett's high-powered connections led to the dropping of charges. Messages exchanged between Tina Tchen, an attorney and former chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama, and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx are attracting increasing scrutiny.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP.

DOJ SETS TIMETABLE TO RELEASE OF MUELLER REPORT -  A version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election will be available to Capitol Hill lawmakers in “weeks, not months,” Attorney General Bill Barr told Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham during a Monday phone call, Fox News has learned ... According to a senior Department of Justice official, Barr did not tell Graham, R-S.C., that he intends to share the report with the White House in advance of the public release. Still, Graham told "Fox News @ Night" host Shannon Bream, Trump is fine with the DOJ releasing the report without having the White House review it first.

THE GREEN 'NO' DEAL: The Green New Deal, a sweeping Democratic proposal championed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., for dealing with climate change, fell at the first hurdle Tuesday as the Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to begin debate on the non-binding resolution, with 42 Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., voting "present" ... No senator voted to begin debate on the legislation, while 57 lawmakers voted against breaking the filibuster. The vote had been teed up by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a bid to make Democratic senators -- including several 2020 presidential candidates -- go on the record about the measure, which he calls "a radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire U.S. economy." Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, called McConnell's move a "sham vote."

KEY LEGAL VICTORY IN THE OPIOID CRISIS: The state of Oklahoma has reached a $270 million settlement with Purdue Pharma, which makes OxyContin, seen as pivotal in the opioid overdose crisis that has been blamed in part on misleading information the company provided to doctors about the potential for addiction ... Oklahoma sued Purdue Pharma, and its controlling Sackler family, and several other opioid manufacturers in 2017, accusing them of fraudulent marketing practices that led to thousands of overdoses and deaths. State officials have said that since 2009, more Oklahomans have died from opioids than in vehicle crashes.


THE SOUNDBITE

'UNSERIOUS' GREEN -  "The planet does not need us to 'think globally, and act locally' so much as it needs us to think family, and act personally. The solution to climate change is not this unserious resolution, but the serious business of human flourishing – the solution to so many of our problems, at all times and in all places: fall in love, get married, and have some kids." – U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, ridiculing the "Green New Deal" on the Senate floor before the proposal failed in a test vote Tuesday. (Click the image above to watch the full video.)

TODAY'S MUST-READS
Brit Hume slams John Brennan, liberal media mea culpa on Mueller report: 'too little, too late.'
NBC News' Tom Brokaw says 'there's too much duplication' in media's politics coverage.
Geraldo Rivera: Jussie Smollett gets away with a double fraud.

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS
Boeing 'humbled and learning' after Ethiopian Airlines crash, CEO Muilenburg says.
Apple’s new credit card draws skepticism from partner Goldman Sachs
Howard Schultz rips Ocasio-Cortez's
Green New Deal as 'fantasy.'

STAY TUNED

On Fox Nation:

What Made America Great, Season 2
Brian Kilmeade travels to historic places and relives the biggest events that shaped our amazing country on "What Made America Great." Watch a preview of the show here.
Not a subscriber? Click here to join Fox Nation today!
Fox Nation is a subscription streaming service offering daily shows and documentaries that you can’t watch anywhere else. Watch from your phone, computer and select TV devices.

On Fox News:

Fox & Friends, 6 a.m. ET: U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah; U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.; U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala.; Fox Nation host Tomi Lahren.

The Story with Martha MacCallum, 7 p.m. ET: Special guests include: U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas..

Hannity, 9 p.m. ET: Don't miss Sean Hannity's exclusive interview with President Trump!

On Fox Business

Mornings with Maria, 6 a.m. ET: U.S. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga.

Varney & Co., 9 a.m. ET: Ronna McDaniel, RNC chair.

Kennedy, 9 p.m. ET: U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; John Delaney, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate; Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire.

On Fox News Radio:

The Fox News Rundown podcast: "Mueller Report: Breakdown and Reaction" - As Democrats call for the release of the Mueller report in its entirety, the first person indicted in the investigation says that he is focusing on rebuilding his reputation. George Papadopoulos, former adviser to the Trump campaign, shares the story behind his new book, "Deep State Target: How  I Got Caught In the Crosshairs of the Plot to Bring Down President Trump."

Want the Fox News Rundown sent straight to your mobile device? Subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher.

The Brian Kilmeade Show, 9 a.m. ET: Jay Winik on his Wall Street Journal op-ed on whether abolitionists owe reparations. The Green New Deal, the Mueller report and Jussie Smollett case will be debated with the following guests: U.S. Sen. Tim Cotton, R-Ark.; former Rep. Allen West, R-Fla.; Michael Goodwin, New York Post columnist; Martha MacCallum, host of "The Story."

The Todd Starnes Show, Noon ET: Todd speaks with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee about the fallout from the Mueller investigation.

#TheFlashback
1977: In aviation's worst disaster, 583 people are killed when a KLM Boeing 747, attempting to take off in heavy fog, crashes into a Pan Am 747 on an airport runway on the Canary Island of Tenerife.
1933: Japan officially withdraws from the League of Nations.
1513: Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sights present-day Florida.

Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for joining us! Have a good day! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Thursday morning.

Source: Fox News National

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

April 26, 2019

By Hanna Rantala

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

Source: OANN

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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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