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Time for Democrats to Stare Down Trump's Red Scare

It's time for Democrats to stand up and stare down the great "red scare" of 2019: President Donald Trump's desperate effort to label Democrats "socialists" and the intraparty hand-wringing over whether Trump's attacks are working.

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U.S. official says Mexico not looking to roll back energy reform

FILE PHOTO: Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy Brouillette attends a meeting of the
FILE PHOTO: Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy Dan Brouillette attends a meeting of the "Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas" (III ECPA) in Vina del Mar, Chile, September 7, 2017 REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido/File Photo

April 12, 2019

MERIDA, Mexico (Reuters) – Mexico’s new government has indicated it does not wish to roll back an energy overhaul passed by the previous administration which opened up oil production and exploration to private capital, a senior U.S. government official said on Friday.

Speaking on the sidelines of meetings between Mexican and U.S. officials in the eastern city of Merida, U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said Mexico’s Energy Minister Rocio Nahle had said her government did not wish to repeal the reform.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had been a staunch critic of the energy overhaul prior to winning election in July 2018. However, he has since said he will give private companies some time to show they can increase oil production.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Dave Graham)

Source: OANN

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EU rejects US recognition of Israeli control over Golan

The European Union says it will not recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, despite the U.S. policy reversal on the disputed territory.

The EU Foreign Affairs Department said in a statement Wednesday that it was the "unanimous position" of all 28 member states not to change their stance in line with U.N. resolutions that identify the Golan Heights as occupied territory and reject the seizure of land by force.

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in 1981.

U.S. President Trump signed the proclamation recognizing Israel's authority on Monday, upending over a half-century of U.S. policy. The U.S. is the first country to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan, which the rest of the international community regards as occupied territory.

Source: Fox News World

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Britain will not take part in EU parliament elections: junior Brexit minister

Members of the European Parliament take part in a voting session in Strasbourg
Members of the European Parliament take part in a voting session in Strasbourg, France, February 13, 2019. Picture taken with a fisheye lens. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

February 19, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Britain will not take part in the elections to the European Parliament in May because it will leave the European Union on March 29th, junior Brexit minister Martin Callanan told reporters on Tuesday.

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said on Monday that although it seemed unlikely, he could not rule out that Britain would participate in the European elections because it could ask for an extension of the deadline to leave the EU.

But asked if Britain could take part in the elections, Callanan said: “No, because we are leaving … on the 29th of March”

Asked if that meant Britain would not ask for an extension of the deadline to get more time to agree a withdrawal agreement, Callanan said:

“The prime minister has been very clear that we intend to leave on the 29th of March — that’s what Art 50 says and that’s what our domestic legislation says.”

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski and Phil Blenkinsop)

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New Zealand PM announces royal commission inquiry into Christchurch attack

People visit a memorial site for victims of Friday's shooting, in front of Christchurch Botanic Gardens in Christchurch
FILE PHOTO: People visit a memorial site for victims of Friday's shooting, in front of Christchurch Botanic Gardens in Christchurch, New Zealand March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

March 25, 2019

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday a royal commission inquiry into the events leading up to a March 15 attack on two mosques in Christchurch that killed 50 people, including into the country’s intelligence services.

“It is important that no stone is left unturned to get to the bottom of how this act of terrorism occurred and what, if any, opportunities we had to stop it,” Ardern told reporters at Parliament House in the capital, Wellington.

She said a royal commission, which are independent inquiries and are usually reserved for matters of the greatest public importance, was an appropriate response to the attack.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield and Praveen Menon; Edotong by Paul Tait)

Source: OANN

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Explainer: How Sisi’s backers are planning to change Egypt’s constitution

FILE PHOTO: Egyptian President al-Sisi attends a signing ceremony following a meeting with Russian President Putin in Sochi
FILE PHOTO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a signing ceremony following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia October 17, 2018. Pavel Golovkin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

February 22, 2019

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s parliament is debating proposed constitutional changes that could allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power until 2034 and tighten his control over the judiciary.

The proposals, submitted by Sisi supporters in parliament, have divided the country of nearly 100 million people, the most populous in the Arab world.

Supporters say the changes will allow the president to finalize economic reforms and major development projects. Opponents argue they will entrench authoritarian rule and further empower Egypt’s military.

WHAT ARE THE KEY CHANGES BEING CONSIDERED?

One central proposal would amend article 140 of the constitution to extend the presidential term to six years from four. It retains a two-term limit but includes a clause that would allow Sisi, whose second term expires in 2022, to seek two new six-year terms.

The president would have more control over the appointment of judges and the public prosecutor.

Lawmakers have also proposed introducing the post of vice president, allowing the head of state to appoint one or more deputies.

A second parliamentary chamber known as the Council of Senators would be added. The president would appoint one-third of its members.

Article 200 of the constitution would be amended to give the military a duty to protect “the constitution and democracy and the fundamental makeup of the country and its civil nature.”

WHO IS BEHIND THE CHANGES?

The amendments were initiated by the pro-government parliamentary bloc Support Egypt. Under the current constitution, which was approved by referendum in 2014, amendments may be introduced to parliament at the request of a fifth of the assembly’s 596 members, or by the president.

Parliament speaker Ali Abdelaal has sought to distance Sisi from the plan, saying it was purely a parliamentary initiative and that Sisi may choose not to run in 2022.

But the proposed changes are widely seen as driven by Sisi, his close entourage, and security and intelligence agencies who hold real power in Egypt. They follow months of speculation that the presidency was preparing to push constitutional changes through a pliant parliament.

WHAT DO SUPPORTERS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES SAY?

Supporters argue that Sisi came to power with a huge mandate after mass protests against Islamist President Mohamed Mursi’s one year in office.

They say Sisi helped stabilize the country after three years of turmoil following the 2011 uprising, and has presided over economic reforms that put the country on the mend.

With macro economic indicators improving, Sisi supporters say he deserves more time to build on the reforms.

WHO OPPOSES THE CHANGES AND WHY?

A handful of leftist and liberal members of parliament in the so-called 25-30 opposition bloc oppose the changes. But thousands of ordinary Egyptians, including lawyers, judges, actors, engineers, doctors and journalists have also signed a petition against them circulating on social media. As of Feb. 18, organizers said more than 21,500 had signed.

Critics say that while article 226 of the constitution stipulates that article 140 can be amended, it clearly states that such changes can only be made to reinforce civic rights rather than weakening them, as critics contend these proposals would.

“This assembly has no right to amend articles related to the presidential election or rights, freedoms and equality except to provide more guarantees,” Ahmed al-Tantawi, a member of the 25-30 bloc, said.

Opponents argue that a central promise of the Jan. 25, 2011 uprising, when mass protests prompted former President Hosni Mubarak to step down, is at risk: the principle of the peaceful handover of power.

Ahmed Galal, a former finance minister, said the amendments represented a return to the system that kept Mubarak in power for three decades.

“Isn’t the principle of the transfer of power a precious goal in itself?” Galal wrote in a column published in Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.

Many Egyptians also worry that the amendments give the president powers to appoint judges and the public prosecutor, thrust the armed forces into political life by formally assigning them a role in protecting democracy, and establish further curbs on freedom of expression.

Opponents say Sisi, first elected president in 2014 and reelected last year in a vote in which the only other candidate was an ardent Sisi supporter, has overseen the worst period of political repression in Egypt’s modern history and that his economic reforms are not benefiting average Egyptians.

HOW DO WESTERN POWERS VIEW THE CHANGES?

The United States and its Western allies have not publicly commented on the changes, which they see as an internal Egyptian matter. But they maintain that the stability of Egypt is crucial for the security and stability of the Middle East.

During a regional tour last month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo showered Sisi with praise as a key ally in the fight against terrorism.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in Cairo last month that “things haven’t gone in the right direction since 2017,” pointing out that bloggers, journalists were in prison.

“Because of that, Egypt’s image can find itself suffering,” he said.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

After two days of heated discussions on Feb. 14, parliament passed the amendments in principle by an overwhelming majority of 485 votes against 14. Nearly 100 MPs were absent.

The head of parliament’s legislative and constitution committee, Bahaa Abu Shaqqa, said proposals and suggestions from outside parliament would be collected for one month, with two weeks of parliamentary discussions to follow, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Then parliament will hold a second, final vote.

If approved, the proposals will be put to a referendum expected by the middle of this year, possibly before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that starts in May.

(Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Robin Pomeroy)

Source: OANN

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Democrats Embracing Trump Team’s Digital Strategy

Democrats had called out President Donald Trump's social media usage and strategies – even suggesting an election meddling campaign conspiring with Russian bots and trolls – but since they could not beat him, now they are joining him, Politico reports.

"It’'s fantastic we are seeing digital natives and digital experts in the highest ranks," Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook told Politico. "Digital leaders in management roles is now the new normal."

"Parscalization" as Political calls it – referring to Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, who led President Trump's 2016 campaign digital strategies – is now being embraced by 2020 Democratic primary candidates: Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas.

"Brad's a guy who was a corporate digital marketer who, let's be honest, ran a very effective digital program," Evan Sutton of the progressive digital grassroots training group New Organizing Institute, told Politico. "They just swamped us.

"They spent a lot of money and spent it effectively, and Trump rightly recognized that and elevated him."

Digital media used to supplement campaigns, but now it can lead them, per the report.

"Now it's just so clear that if you don't have a senior leadership team that really understands how to dominate social media and the ways that news travels around the web, you're just at a huge disadvantage," according to Laura Olin, who was Obama's 2012 digital strategist.

"I think we realized in 2016 that we're at a disadvantage and not doing as good a job on some of that stuff as Republicans are, and that clearly we've got to step it up."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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

April 26, 2019

By Hanna Rantala

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

April 26, 2019

By Joshua Schneyer and M.B. Pell

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Editing by Ronnie Greene)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London
FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London, Britain, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reuters was not immediately able to contact Zhevago.

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

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

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

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

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

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Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba
Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba, Mozambique April 26, 2019 in this still image obtained from social media. SolidarMed via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FLOOD WARNINGS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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)

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