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Rep. Jeffries: House Dems United on Call for Healthcare Reform

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries Friday said that despite divided opinions among his party's members strides have been made during Democrats' first 100 days as the majority party in the House this year, adding that lawmakers are united on healthcare reform.

"We were elected in part to be a check-and-balance on an out-of-control executive branch, and we're going to continue to take that oversight responsibility seriously," the New York Democrat told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "Primarily, we've been focused on kitchen-table pocketbook issues trying to get things done on behalf of the American people and to bring our democracy to life." 

The first 35 days as a majority party, Democrats faced a "reckless" government shutdown, said Jeffries, but were able to end that successfully without giving President Donald Trump "a dime of taxpayer dollars to do it."

In addition, Democrats were able to enact a bipartisan border security agreement, and also to increase pay for federal employees, said Jeffries.

There are differences of opinion, said Jeffries, but "we embrace that diversity."

"We've consistently come together to get 218 votes to move legislation onto the floor of the House of Representatives," said Jeffries. "We'll continue to do that, and we'll continue to focus on the two primary things over the next 100 days that we said we wanted to get done for the American people, lowering healthcare costs, with an emphasis on driving down the high cost of life-saving prescription drugs, and moving closer toward and enacting a real infrastructure plan."

He also said he believes the Democratic caucus is united under Speaker Nancy Pelosi's leadership.

"There's a singular principle on health care that brings us all together," said Jeffries. "In the wealthiest country in the history of the world, every single American should have access to high-quality affordable healthcare."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Syria, Iran say US is waging ‘economic terrorism’

Syria and Iran say the United States is waging "economic terrorism" against countries that have different opinions and should pursue its aims through diplomacy instead.

Syrian state news agency SANA quoted President Bashar Assad as saying that the Trump administration's decision to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization was an "irresponsible move." Assad spoke at a meeting Tuesday with Iran's visiting Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who said the U.S. move was "stupid."

Syria is in the grip of a severe fuel crisis aggravated by sanctions on the Assad government and Iran, its close ally.

Zarif resigned in February after being kept in the dark about a surprise visit by Assad to Tehran, but Iran's President Hassan Rouhani rejected his resignation and he remained in his post.

Source: Fox News World

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Israeli forces kill Palestinian in West Bank: Palestinian medics; Israel reviewing

Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during clashes near the Jewish settlement of Beit El, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank
Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during clashes near the Jewish settlement of Beit El, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

March 21, 2019

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian medics said, and the military announced on Thursday that a soldier had discharged his weapon and it was reviewing the incident.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said one of its crews treated a man with two bullet wounds at an Israeli military roadblock near the city of Bethlehem on Wednesday and that Israeli forces had shot him.

It gave no details about the circumstances of the night-time shooting. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man as a 26-year-old from Bethlehem and said another Palestinian had also been shot and critically wounded.

Hours later, the Israeli military issued a statement saying that a soldier stationed at a post near Bethlehem had “identified rocks being thrown at Israeli vehicles (and) in response, he fired his weapon”.

The statement did not identify the soldier’s intended target and some Israeli media reports said warning shots were fired in the air, suggesting the two Palestinians may have been hit unintentionally.

“A report was received regarding injured Palestinians,” the military said. “Details regarding the incident are being reviewed and the incident will be examined.”

Tensions have been high in the West Bank since a Palestinian killed an Israeli soldier and a rabbi in a stabbing and shooting attack in the territory on Sunday.

Israeli forces on Tuesday killed the alleged assailant near the West Bank city of Ramallah after he opened fire at troops who had come to arrest him, Israel’s Shin Bet security service said.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, two other Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during clashes near the West Bank city of Nablus.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek to establish a state there and in the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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Turkish cities could become ‘graveyards’ with building amnesty, engineers say

General view shows the area of Karakoy in Istanbul
A general view shows the area of Karakoy in Istanbul, Turkey, February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

February 26, 2019

By Birsen Altayli and Ceyda Caglayan

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A Turkish government amnesty on unregistered construction work is endangering lives, engineers and architects warned after an illegally extended residential building collapsed in Istanbul and killed 21 people.

Three floors of the eight-story building had been built illegally, but owners of the property were able to register it under the amnesty that has brought in billions of dollars of revenue for the government.

Experts say the ruins of the building, which crumpled two weeks ago in Istanbul’s Asian district of Kartal, highlight the dangers of approving unregulated construction work in a city of 15 million people that is prone to earthquakes.

Some work has started to address safety concerns, but they say it is concentrated in wealthier neighborhoods, rather than highest risk areas, and the amnesty has exacerbated the peril.

“It will mean transforming our cities, notably Istanbul, into graveyards and result in coffins emerging from our homes,” said Cemal Gokce, the chairman of the Chamber of Civil Engineers.

“Whether it is completely unlicensed, or has more floors than the original plan, they gave an amnesty to all buildings. This is very dangerous,” he said.

Some 10 million people applied to benefit from the amnesty and 1.8 million of the applications were accepted.

Property owners pay to register the buildings, which are then subject to various taxes and levies. The amnesty had brought 16.5 billion lira ($3.1 billion) in property taxes and registration fees into government coffers, the urbanization minister said in December.

His ministry did not respond to Reuters questions about criticism of the property amnesty, which was set to expire at the end of 2018 but has been extended until June.

The government says it was needed to remove disagreements between the state and citizens, as well as to “give legality to these structures by registering them”.

PAYING WITH LIVES

Istanbul Chamber of Architects head Esin Koymen said the chamber had warned the government about the consequences of the amnesty bill when it was debated in parliament.

“We told them to withdraw it. We said people will pay for this with their lives. But they did not listen,” she said, adding that the focus had been on the revenues it would generate rather than architectural, planning or engineering issues.

President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party has put great emphasis on construction, which has helped drive growth during its 16 years in power.

But more than half of Turkey’s building stock, or 13 million buildings, contravenes housing regulations, according to Environment and Urbanisation Ministry data, and many Istanbul residents worry about potential damage from a major earthquake.

A quake in the Izmit region, some 70 km (45 miles) east of the city, killed more than 17,000 people in August 1999.

Erdogan said on Saturday he was “scared” by the prospect of another big earthquake. In an interview with CNN Turk, he blamed the Istanbul building collapse on illegal construction, which he said constituted a threat in all major cities.

According to figures from TSKB Real Estate Appraiser general manager Makbule Yonel Maya, around 32 percent of buildings in Turkey since 2002 were not built in line with legal regulations.

(Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Daren Butler and Alison Williams)

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California woman, 74, receives $150G in back child support — 50 years after divorce

A 74-year-old woman in Carlsbad, California, was reportedly awarded $150,000 in a child support settlement Wednesday -- 50 years after her ex-husband left the country and left her to raise their young daughter on her own.

Toni Anderson split from her husband, Don Lenhert, in 1968 after just two years of marriage. During their divorce proceedings, a judge ordered Lenhert to pay child support for the care of the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Lane. Instead, he skipped town.

“The first check bounced, and then he went off to Canada with his girlfriend and had two more kids. He completely disappeared,” Anderson told FOX5 San Diego.

ANNA FARIS RELUCTANT TO EVER GET MARRIED AGAIN AFTER CHRIS PRATT DIVORCE

Starting Jan. 1, 1971, Lenhert was supposed to pay $210 a month for the first two and half years and then $160 until Lane’s 18th birthday, reported CNN.

Lenhert would have owed $35,000 total in child support if he had paid as ordered, but, with more than four decades worth of interest and penalties, he now owes Anderson roughly $160,000, lawyers on both sides told NBC News. In a settlement Wednesday, Lenhert agreed to pay Anderson $150,000 over the next two years.

"I realized in the middle of the night one night last year, 'Hey, there's no statute of limitations on child support,'" Anderson told 10 News, adding she “put it on the back burner and just kind of forgot about it over the years” while working as an interior designer to make ends meet as a single parent.

"I'm not negating the fact I was able to send my daughter to college, Paris. We traveled and had a good time. But the money runs out," Anderson told 10 News.

When she got word her ex-husband might have moved back to the U.S. last year, the 74-year-old took her 1970 court order for child support to the San Diego County Child Support Services office, where federal tax records confirmed Lenhert was residing in Oregon, Anderson’s lawyer told NBC News.

A now 53-year-old Lane Lenhert, who runs the same Los Angeles-based interior design firm her mother retired from, said there are lasting effects of her father skipping out on child support.

"Not having a mother around because she was so busy working, you can't put a price on a lost childhood. There's no amount of money that can replace it,” Lane said.

Anderson’s ex-husband appeared in court last week instead of letting lawyers handle the matter. According to Anderson, Lenhert came to ask for her forgiveness.

“It was just a big-time closure for both of us,” Anderson told NBC News. “The forgiveness was big on both of our parts.”

“I was glad to pay Ms. Anderson the child support that was owed and I wish her only the best in the future," Lenhart said in a statement released by his lawyer. "I hired a private investigator to locate her so I could offer her payment. I am pleased we were able to reach an agreement.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Anderson said she hopes this case inspires parents going through similar situations to go after the money that is owed to them.

"I don't think enough women get this. And I think they're afraid," Anderson told 10 News.

Source: Fox News National

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UK PM May will give parliament a ‘meaningful’ Brexit vote on Tuesday: spokesman

Prime Minister Theresa May speaks on Brexit ahead of next week's vote in Parliament on her revised Brexit deal in Grimsby
FILE PHOTO: British Prime Minister Theresa May delivers a speech during her visit in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, Britain March 8, 2019. Christopher Furlong/Pool via REUTERS

March 11, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May will hold the so-called a meaningful vote on her Brexit deal on Tuesday as planned, her spokesman said after media reports that she could downgrade the status of the vote.

The spokesman said the government’s motion which will be debated and voted on would be published later on Monday.

“It will be a meaningful vote,” the spokesman told reporters after being asked what the vote on Tuesday would entail – whether it would be on the Brexit deal as it stands or on a hoped-for deal that includes limitations to the so-called Irish backstop that have not as yet been agreed in Brussels.

“It’s important to note the PM spoke to (European Commision President) Jean-Claude Juncker by phone yesterday evening and talks are continuing. The PM and negotiating teams are focused on making progress so we can secure parliament’s support for the deal.”

(Reporting By Elizabeth Piper. Writing by Andrew MacAskill; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

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Gillibrand, pumped for return to Iowa, gets slammed for ‘cringeworthy’ workout video

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., a 2020 presidential candidate, is facing blowback on social media for sharing a video of herself working out during a return campaign visit to Iowa.

The clip shows Gillibrand lifting weights at a gym in the Hawkeye State, wearing a shirt that reads, “Just trying to get some ranch.”

GILLIBRAND, CHAMPION OF #METOO MOVEMENT, SAW AIDE RESIGN IN PROTEST OVER SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASE

“Good to be back in Iowa. Do you like my new workout shirt?” Gillibrand asked.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The shirt's message refers to a moment on the campaign trail that went viral last month, in which a restaurant patron in Iowa walked past Gillibrand in search of salad dressing while the senator was speaking to a group of voters.

On Wednesday, Gillibrand’s tweet was the subject of mockery on social media, with some Twitter users accusing her of trying too hard to “relate to the average American.”

Source: Fox News 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)

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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)

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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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