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Futures edge lower as growth worries linger

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shortly after the opening bell in New York
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

March 27, 2019

By Shreyashi Sanyal

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Wednesday, as investors continued to be gripped by global growth fears and an inverted yield curve that weighed on appetite for risk.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields fell to their lowest levels since December 2017 on Wednesday, a day after showing signs of stabilization that boosted financials and helped lift Wall Street’s main indexes. [US/]

Adding to the worries over global growth, Chinese data on Wednesday showed industrial profits shrank the most since late-2011 in the first two months of the year.

Wall Street has been hit by concerns of slowing global economic growth since last week with investors digesting dour factory data from the United States, Europe and Japan, as well as weak consumer confidence numbers for March this week.

The European Central Bank said on Wednesday it could further delay a planned increase in interest rates as it faces rising threats to growth, a week after the Federal Reserve abandoned any interest rate hikes this year.

At 7:12 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 86 points, or 0.33 percent. S&P 500 e-minis were down 7.5 points, or 0.27 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 12 points, or 0.16 percent.

Markets also awaited new developments on trade talks between the United States and China with a new round of high-level negotiations scheduled to start on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a report from the U.S. Commerce Department at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to say trade deficit likely narrowed to $57 billion in January from $59.8 billion in December.

Among stocks trading premarket, Boeing Co fell 0.6 percent ahead of a scheduled briefing on its 737 MAX airliners for pilots and airline representatives in Washington later in the day.

Centene Corp’s shares slipped 6.3 percent after the health insurer said it would buy smaller rival WellCare Health Plans Inc for $15.27 billion. Shares of WellCare jumped 13.5 percent.

Southwest Airlines Co dropped 1.2 percent after the company said the recent groundings of Boeing 737 MAX planes would lead to its first-quarter revenue per available seat mile coming in below its previous forecast.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Source: OANN

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2020 Democratic candidates address accusations of misconduct against Biden

A number of Democratic presidential candidates weighed in on Sunday on the allegations made by a former Nevada political candidate that former Vice President Joe Biden kissed her on the back of the head in 2014.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told ABC's “This Week” that she has no reason not to believe the allegations made by Lucky Flores that Biden kissed the former Nevada state assemblywoman on the back of her head during a 2014 campaign rally supporting her bid for lieutenant governor.

“I have no reason not to believe her,” Klobuchar said. “I think we know from campaigns and politics that people raise issues and they have to address them, and that’s what he will have to do with the voters if he gets into the race.”

Flores made the accusations in a piece in New York magazine in which she accused the former vice president of approaching her from behind, putting his hands on her shoulders, sniffing her hair and kissing her on the back of the head.

BIDEN REPORTEDLY DEBATES TAPPING STACEY ABRAMS AS RUNNING MATE FROM THE START – COULD IT BACKFIRE?

"The vice president of the United States of America had just touched me in an intimate way reserved for close friends, family, or romantic partners — and I felt powerless to do anything about it," she wrote.

Flores also addressed the allegations on Sunday during an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying that while she is glad that Biden has addressed the claims, she wants him to “acknowledge that it was wrong.”

"If he is saying he never believed that was inappropriate, then frankly I believe that's a little bit of a disconnection. And ... a sense of not being aware," Flores said. "I want him to change his behavior and I want him to acknowledge that it was wrong.”

Biden – who is expected to soon launch his 2020 presidential bid – has denied ever acting inappropriately toward Flores.

"In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort," Biden said in his own statement Sunday. "And not once -- never -- did I believe I acted inappropriately.  If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention."

Biden added: "I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is running for the Democratic nomination, said during an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation” that while he has no reason not to believe Flores, he doesn’t believe that “one incident alone” would disqualify Biden from running for the White House.

“That’s a decision for the vice president to make," Sanders said. "I’m not sure that one incident alone disqualifies anybody."

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On NBC’s “Meet The Press, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper – who is also running for president – called the allegations against Biden “very disconcerting.”

“Certainly, I think it’s very disconcerting and I think that women have to be heard and we should start by believing them,” Hickenlooper said.

He added: “I think the more important issue to recognize is that we're at an inflection point, really a moment of transformation of the entire country where women, in many cases for the first time, are having the courage to come forward and speak about things that happened to them that make them intensely uncomfortable.

Earlier in the weekend, while speaking to reporters in Iowa, two other Democratic candidates – Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro said they believed Flores.

Warren and Castro said it's up to Biden to decide whether he should join the race.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Suspect formally charged in Nipsey Hussle murder, due in court

Andre Ward v Paul Smith
FILE PHOTO: Rapper Nipsey Hussle performs before a boxing match between Andre Ward and Paul Smith at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, on 20/6/15. Action Images via Reuters / Andrew Couldridge

April 4, 2019

By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A 33-year-old Los Angeles man accused of killing Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle was formally charged with murder and attempted murder on Thursday, prosecutors said.

Eric Ronald Holder, who was arrested earlier this week in connection with the fatal shooting, was expected to make his first court appearance in the case later on Thursday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a written statement.

Hussle, 33, whose real name was Ermias Asghedom, was shot multiple times on March 31 outside his Marathon Clothing store, in south Los Angeles. Two other people were wounded in the gunfire, according to police.

Holder, 29, was taken into custody on Tuesday in the Los Angeles suburb of Bellflower after a tipster called to report seeing the man police had named as a suspect. Investigators have said that the killing was motivated by a personal dispute between the two men.

Holder faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted at trial. It was not immediately clear if he had retained a criminal defense attorney.

Holder is accused of walking up to Hussle and two other men outside the store and opening fire, before fleeing in a Chevy Cruze driven by a woman, police have said. The woman has not been identified publicly or arrested.

On Monday, a crowd gathered for a vigil outside Hussle’s clothing store. A disturbance set off a stampede and at least two people were critically injured, officials and media reports said.

Hussle’s debut studio album, “Victory Lap,” was nominated for Best Rap Album at this year’s Grammy Awards. His death rattled the entertainment and hip-hop world, with celebrities posting memories of him on social media.

The rapper, who was of Eritrean descent and grew up in south Los Angeles, has said that he once belonged to a street gang, but more recently had become a community organizer and activist.

The day he died, Hussle wrote on his Twitter page, “Having strong enemies is a blessing.”

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Source: OANN

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Spring training roundup: Cabrera continues torrid spring

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

March 25, 2019

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

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

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

Cardinals 2, Marlins 1

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

Mets 8, Nationals (ss) 4

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

Astros 5, Nationals (ss) 3

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

Yankees 5, Twins 3

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

Phillies 11, Orioles (ss) 4

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

Pirates 1, Orioles (ss) 1

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

Rockies 4, Reds 3

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

White Sox 7, Indians 3

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

Cubs 24, Padres 6

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

Brewers 3, Diamondbacks 2

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

Braves 4, Rays 2

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

Athletics 5, Giants 0

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

Royals 3, Rangers (ss) 3

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

Nashville Sounds 4, Rangers (ss) 3

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

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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South Africa's president endorses Zimbabwe leader

South Africa's president says he supports Zimbabwe's government, ignoring reports of human right abuses to crush persistent dissent in the neighboring country.

On a visit to Zimbabwe Tuesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa endorsed President Emmerson Mnangagwa, repeating calls for an end to Western sanctions and urging the international community to assist the once-prosperous country.

He described the sanctions against Mnangagwa and dozens of other top Zimbabwean officials as "unfair" and "unjust." He promised South Africa will assist Zimbabwe's economic recovery "within our means."

Ramaphosa's comments came as Human Rights Watch issued a report urging him and other southern African leaders to push Zimbabwe's president "to put an end to security force abuses."

Source: Fox News World

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Bond market dog fight: An upstart takes on China’s official rating agencies

FILE PHOTO: An investor looks at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai
FILE PHOTO: An investor looks at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai, China September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

March 14, 2019

By Andrew Galbraith

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – By day, Yao Yu heads up risk control for an investment firm in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen. By night, he goes on the prowl for his own business, Ratingdog, sniffing out data that could bring clarity to China’s notoriously opaque bond market.

Yao and a team of about a dozen part-time analysts scour information from China’s exchanges and clearing houses to produce ratings, analyses and pricing models for new bonds. Their findings are then posted to a public WeChat account that bears Ratingdog’s logo – a smiling, sunglasses-wearing border collie.

Since Yao founded the service in 2017, Ratingdog’s free YY Rating, YY Valuation and YY Pricing products have become widely used points of reference for investors and analysts wary of unreliable credit ratings provided by official agencies in the world’s third-largest bond market.

“In China, for fixed income, we need these kinds of services,” said Shen Yi, chief executive officer of Shanghai ShenYi Investment Co, referring to companies such as Ratingdog. “There’s a lot of space in the market for good information.”

Two defaults this year highlight the gap between official ratings and the Shenzhen upstart, which investors say is the country’s leading provider of free, independent credit research.

(For a graphic on ‘China corporate bond defaults’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2ChVjf7)

On Jan. 29, China’s state-backed Minsheng Investment Group, a private investment conglomerate, missed a deadline for a maturing 3 billion yuan onshore bond, belying its rock-solid AAA rating from Shanghai Brilliance Credit Rating, one of China’s four big agencies.

Ratingdog, however, had flagged Minsheng’s heavy debt burden and limited profit potential as early as 2017.

Then on Feb. 22, Qinghai Provincial Investment Group (QPIG), rated AA by three agencies including Dagong Global Credit Rating Co Ltd, became the first state-owned enterprise in decades to miss a deadline for an offshore bond coupon payment.

Ratingdog, however, had warned in 2017 of QPIG’s “very large susceptibility” to a downturn, giving it a speculative-grade rating of 7 out of 10.

Both Minsheng and QPIG subsequently made delayed payments.

(For a graphic on ‘Investors demand more from riskier debt’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2ChWLOB)

IMPLICIT SUPPORT

While quantifying Ratingdog’s reach is difficult, Josh Sheng, chief investment officer at Shanghai Tongshengtonghui Asset Management, said a “large proportion” of domestic mutual funds and securities companies refer to its ratings and pricing. In contrast, many investors all but ignore official ratings, which rank most issuers as AA or higher, implying little default risk and giving little guidance on pricing.

That is despite efforts by Beijing to improve the quality of ratings and strengthen oversight, including freezing Dagong’s core ratings business last August for violating industry rules.

One reason for the preponderance of highly rated firms in China is an implicit assumption of state backing.

Jean-Charles Sambor, deputy head of emerging market debt at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said analysis of issuing companies has tended to focus on the likelihood of government support, rather than balance sheets.

“We basically don’t use official ratings for our investment decisions, and they’re not even very meaningful as a reference,” said Liu Xiaofang, head of investment research at Shanghai Fengshi Asset Management Ltd.

More than a month after Minsheng Investment’s technical default, and with the yield on a Shanghai-traded 4.88 percent Minsheng bond hovering above 13 percent, the company continues to boast an untarnished AAA issuer rating.

Ratingdog has rated Minsheng bonds at 7/10 since December, a level indicating “many credit issues” and a recommendation to avoid.

Shanghai Brilliance and Dagong did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

ISSUER-PAY

Drawn in part by the imminent inclusion of Chinese bonds in global indexes, foreign rating agencies have been racing to set up shop in China.

S&P Global Ratings recently became the first global agency to receive a license to rate Chinese onshore bonds. Fitch Ratings, which has established a domestic entity, and Moody’s Investors Service have also applied for licenses.

Some investors hope that the international agencies will encourage greater ratings transparency.

However, S&P Global will follow an “issuer-pay” model in China, similar to the one that domestic agencies currently use. Many investors in China have been wary of the practice, whereby ratings are given to issuers enlisting the agency’s services.

S&P provides issuer-pay ratings in other markets and says it has measures in place to guard against potential conflicts of interest. Its ratings of some Chinese issuers of both onshore and offshore debt, including QPIG, are notably different from those of domestic agencies.

But, says Ratingdog’s Yao: “There’s a problem here, and it’s a problem with overseas agencies, too, and that is: In the end, who are you serving? Is it investors or issuers?”

‘DIFFERENT ROAD’

While interest is high for Ratingdog’s products, monetizing that demand may prove difficult.

Only companies officially licensed to rate securities are permitted to charge for rating services in China.

But Yao plans to press ahead anyway, by introducing investor-paid customised research alongside its free analysis.

“Charging for services is meant to help speed up our development and expansion, but it’s also to understand real market demand,” he said. “After all, the only real demand is demand that’s willing to pay.”

Ratingdog’s growth could pose problems for it in what Hayden Briscoe, head of Asia Pacific fixed income at UBS Asset Management, calls “a very licensed regime”.

“I would suspect that he wouldn’t last for very long unless he had a proper license,” Briscoe said of Yao.

A senior rating industry source, who follows Ratingdog on WeChat, said that regulatory requirements are “very strict”, including annual audits with on-site checks conducted by regulators.

“If you give a rating, you also need to bear responsibility for it,” he said.

Yao said he is following a “different road” and not seeking a rating license, but how to operate legally is “a long-term consideration.”

BOTTOM-UP SHIFT

Ratingdog is not alone in looking to feed the market’s hunger for information. Domestic brokerages and investment banks offer sell-side credit research, often bundled for free alongside equity research.

One bank even uses a Ratingdog-like canine theme for bond analysis in its proprietary app.

BNP’s Sambor said the rise of these alternatives indicates a broader shift.

“What policymakers are trying to achieve is to make sure that investors are looking at credit research from a bottom-up perspective rather than a top-down perspective,” he said.

A “massive repricing” of onshore corporate bonds in the past 18 months has followed attempts to introduce more credit risk into the market, encouraging differentiation and better price discovery, Sambor said.

The spread of riskier 5-year AA corporate debt over AAA debt of the same tenor was 101 basis points on March 12, 56 basis points wider than at the end of 2017.

Still, even after 2018 saw a record level of corporate defaults, Chinese issuers remain relatively unlikely to default.

The marginal default rate – the proportion of the value of defaulting bonds to that of total outstanding credit bonds – was just 0.07 percent in December, according to China Central Depository and Clearing Co.

With defaults comparatively rare, developing reliable ratings will take time, said Yao, noting that global agencies and markets have had more than a century of competition and experience.

(Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Additional reporting by Samuel Shen; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Philip McClellan)

Source: OANN

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Clashes break out in Yemen's key port city after cease-fire

Yemeni security officials and eyewitnesses say that fighting has erupted in the key port city of Hodeida, the first significant clashes since warring sides agreed to a U.N.-brokered cease-fire deal in December.

They say the combat began overnight into Sunday, leaving fires burning on the main front lines in the city's east and south, while exchanges of artillery fire shook the beleaguered city.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren't authorized to brief journalists, while witnesses did so for fear of their safety.

The fighting comes days after the internationally recognized Yemeni government, along with allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, accused the Houthi rebel foes of breaking the cease-fire and refusing to withdraw their forces from the city in line with the December agreement.

Source: Fox News World

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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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