Visitors attend a job fair for migrants to provide information about job opportunities all over the country, in Berlin, Germany, January 28, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
March 29, 2019
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s unemployment rate hit a new record low in March and retail sales rose on the month in February, data showed on Friday, in a boon for expectations that private consumption will support growth in Europe’s largest economy this year.
Domestic demand is expected to be the sole driver of growth this year in Germany, traditionally an export-driven economy, as exporters face a global slowdown, trade disputes and uncertainty related to Britain’s expected departure from the European Union.
Data from the Labour Office showed the unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent in March from 5.0 percent, hitting the lowest since German reunification in 1990.
The number of people out of work decreased by 7,000 to 2.231 million, seasonally-adjusted data showed. That compared with the forecast for a drop of 10,000.
Separate data from the Federal Statistics Office showed retail sales – a volatile indicator often subject to revision – rose by 0.9 percent on the month in February, confounding expectations for a drop of 0.9 percent. They increased by 4.7 percent on the year.
Record-high employment, hefty pay hikes, moderate inflation and low borrowing costs have been encouraging Germans to splash their cash.
But a GfK survey earlier this week dampened spirits by showing consumer morale deteriorated unexpectedly heading into April, with propensity to buy dropping to its lowest level in more than two years.
The economy narrowly avoided a recession last year and the Ifo institute earlier this month slashed its 2019 growth forecast for the German economy to 0.6 percent from 1.1 percent due to weaker foreign demand for industrial goods and increased headwinds for exporters.
The Economy Ministry has said the economy had a subdued start to 2019 and probably grew only moderately in the first quarter.
(Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Paul Carrel)
People look at Deere equipment as they attend National Farm Machinery show in Louisville, Kentucky, February 11, 2016. With U.S. farmers bracing for a third year of declining incomes, many have said they cannot afford upgrades.That means tough times for Deere & Co and rivals AGCO Corp, CNH Industrial NV and Claas KGaA mbH. Picture taken February 11, 2016. REUTERS/Meredith Davis
February 21, 2019
WASHINGTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) – New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods unexpectedly fell in December amid declining demand for machinery and primary metals, pointing to a further slowdown in business spending on equipment that could crimp economic growth.
The Commerce Department said on Thursday orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, dropped 0.7 percent. Data for November was revised down to show these so-called core capital goods orders falling 1.0 percent instead of declining 0.6 percent as previously reported.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast core capital goods orders rising 0.2 percent in December. Core capital goods orders increased 6.1 percent on a year-on-year basis.
Shipments of core capital goods rose 0.5 percent in December after an unrevised 0.2 percent drop in the prior month. Core capital goods shipments are used to calculate equipment spending in the government’s gross domestic product measurement.
While the rebound in core capital goods shipments suggests moderate growth in business spending on equipment in the fourth quarter, the surprise drop in orders points to weakness in the months ahead.
The December report was delayed by a 35-day partial shutdown of the federal government that ended on Jan. 25. The Commerce Department said the “processing and data quality were monitored throughout, and response and coverage rates were at or above normal levels for this release.”
The mixed report came on the heels of data last week showing a steep decline in retail sales in December, which prompted economists to slash their GDP growth estimates for the fourth quarter by as much as 1.2 percentage points to a 1.5 percent annualized rate. The economy grew at a 3.4 percent pace in the third quarter.
The slowdown in business spending has been acknowledged by the Federal Reserve, which has attributed it to an uncertain economic outlook amid slowing global growth, trade tensions, fading fiscal stimulus and the government shutdown.
The U.S. central bank in minutes of its Jan. 29-30 policy meeting published on Wednesday said “manufacturing contacts in a number of Districts indicated that such factors were causing them to delay or defer capital expenditures.”
Business spending on equipment has been slowing since the second quarter of 2018, despite the White House’s $1.5 trillion tax cut. Some companies including Apple used their tax windfall to buy back shares on a massive scale. A survey last month showed lower taxes had not caused companies to change hiring or investment plans.
In December, orders for machinery fell 0.4 percent. Primary metals orders dropped 0.9 percent. There were also decreases in orders for electrical equipment, appliances and components. Orders for computers and electronic products were unchanged.
Overall orders for durable goods, items ranging from toasters to aircraft that are meant to last three years or more, increased 1.2 percent in December. That reflected a 3.3 percent rise in demand for transportation equipment.
Durable goods orders gained 1.0 percent in November.
Orders for motor vehicles and parts rose 2.1 percent in December. Orders for defense aircraft fell 30.5 percent and bookings for civilian aircraft surged 28.4 percent. Boeing reported on its website that it had received 218 aircraft orders in December, a more than fourfold jump from the 51 in November.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci) ((Lucia.Mutikani@thomsonreuters.com; 1 202 898 8315; Reuters Messaging: lucia.mutikani.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
This combination of March 2019 booking photos released by the Chicago Police Department shows Menelik Jackson, left, and Jovan Battle. The two men are charged with first-degree murder in the weekend slaying of an off-duty Chicago officer who was repeatedly shot while sitting in a parked car. Chicago police announced Monday, March 25 that Jackson, of South Holland, and Battle, of Chicago, were arrested for allegedly firing at the car in the River North neighborhood, killing John Rivera. They're expected in court Monday. (Chicago Police Department via AP)
CHICAGO – A young Chicago off-duty police officer was gunned down in a parked car by a man who was looking for a Hispanic person to attack after a confrontation at a fast-food restaurant, the city's police chief said Monday.
"I guess he settled for the first Hispanic he saw," Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.
Murder charges were filed in the weekend slaying of John Rivera . The 23-year-old was repeatedly shot while sitting in a car with three friends after visiting a pizza bar early Saturday in Chicago's River North area. Another person was injured.
The alleged gunman, Menelik Jackson, 24, of South Holland, was charged with murder and attempted murder, along with Jovan Battle, 32, of Chicago.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke ordered the two men held without bond.
"Both gentlemen pose a real and present threat to the victims, the live victims in this case, this community and every other human being on the planet that they come into contact with," the judge said.
Assistant Public Defender Christopher Anderson, who is representing Battle, said his client was denied the opportunity to make phone calls at the police station. He added Battle is unemployed and receives Social Security assistance for bipolar disorder and depression.
Attorney Robert Willis said Jackson has an associate's degree and works at a specialty auto parts shop.
Battle met up with Jackson and a third individual to track down the people involved in the altercation at the restaurant, Assistant State's Attorney James Murphy said. He added Battle pointed at the car Rivera was in several times before the suspects approached the vehicle.
Surveillance camera video clearly shows Jackson pulling out a handgun and aim directly at the driver's window of the car Rivera was sitting in, Murphy said.
Johnson said Jackson had tried to become a police officer in 2017, which he described as "disgusting."
He said Jackson, who is black, was looking for revenge after a dispute with Hispanic men on a party bus at a nearby McDonald's. An hour later, around 3:30 a.m., shots were fired into the parked car. No words were spoken, according to police.
Rivera had been a Chicago officer for nearly two years.
"John's a sweetheart. He's an angel," said friend Jennifer Navarro, 23. "Why would someone just want to take his life away like that? He had a whole life ahead of him."
Investigators are searching for the third man who was with Battle and Jackson during the shooting, Johnson said.
With one of our most advanced formulas yet, DNA Force Plus is finally here. Focusing on overhauling your body's cellular engines and protecting them from reactive oxygen species, DNA Force Plus has one of the best combinations of antioxidants on the market.
With one of our most advanced formulas yet, DNA Force Plus is finally here. Focusing on overhauling your body's cellular engines and protecting them from reactive oxygen species, DNA Force Plus has one of the best combinations of antioxidants on the market.
With one of our most advanced formulas yet, DNA Force Plus is finally here. Focusing on overhauling your body's cellular engines and protecting them from reactive oxygen species, DNA Force Plus has one of the best combinations of antioxidants on the market.
Czech Republic's Prime Minister Andrej Babis, left, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a press conference after their meeting in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, Pool)
JERUSALEM – Israel's primary centrist challengers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have announced they are joining forces.
Ex-military chief Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, said early on Thursday they'll present a joint list for the upcoming Israeli elections that "will constitute the new Israeli ruling party." In a joint statement, the two said they were "motivated by national responsibility."
A formal announcement is expected later.
Polls suggest together the two could surpass Netanyahu's ruling Likud to become Israel's largest faction after the April 9 vote.
Under their unity arrangement, the two agreed to a rotation leadership under which Gantz would first serve as prime minister and would be replaced by Lapid later. In contrast to Netanyahu, they say they will "heal the divide within Israeli society."
Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home, as Brexit uncertainty continues, in London, Britain April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Simon Dawson
April 8, 2019
By Guy Faulconbridge and Elizabeth Piper
LONDON (Reuters) – The opposition Labour Party said on Monday that Prime Minister Theresa May had so far failed to convince it to support a divorce deal, two days before a European Union emergency summit where she will try to delay Britain’s April 12 departure.
Brexit has already been delayed once but May is asking the EU for yet more time as she courts veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn, whose Labour Party wants to keep Britain more closely tied to the EU after Brexit.
Nearly three years after the United Kingdom shocked the world by voting by 52 percent to 48 to leave the EU, May warned that Brexit might never happen but said that she would do everything possible to make sure that it did.
Labour’s Brexit point man, Keir Starmer, said May’s government had so far not changed its position on Brexit and so no way forward had been agreed.
“Both us and the government have approached this in the spirit of trying to find a way forward. We haven’t found that yet. We will continue to do that,” Starmer said.
“The ball is the government’s court,” he added. “We need to see what they come back with and, when they do, we will take a collective position on that.”
What Starmer termed exchanges of communication had taken place over the weekend and, while no talks were scheduled for Monday, he said things could develop. He said an agenda had been circulated that included the idea of a confirmatory referendum.
May’s spokesman said she hoped further formal talks could take place later on Monday, and that she wanted to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
The spokeswoman said May wanted Britain to have an independent trading policy – something hard to reconcile with Labour’s demand for membership of a customs union – and that both sides would need to compromise.
The 2016 referendum revealed a United Kingdom divided over much more than EU membership, and has sparked impassioned debate about everything from secession and immigration to capitalism, empire and what it means to be British.
Yet, more than a week after Britain was originally supposed to have left the EU, nothing is resolved as the weakest leader in a generation battles to get a divorce deal ratified by a deadlocked parliament.
BREXIT DELAY?
EU leaders, fatigued by the serpentine Brexit crisis, must decide on Wednesday whether to grant May, who has asked for a postponement until June 30, a further delay. The decision can be vetoed by any of the other 27 member states.
Without an extension, the United Kingdom is due to leave the EU at 2200 GMT on Friday, without a deal to cushion the economic shock.
While the EU is not expected to trigger such a potentially disorderly no-deal exit, diplomats said all options were on the table – from refusing a delay to granting May’s request or pushing for a longer postponement.
May needs to convince EU leaders that she has a viable plan; she will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin and President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday to discuss Brexit.
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, was on Monday meeting Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Ireland, which depends heavily on Britain as both a market and a transit point and would be hit hardest by a no-deal Brexit.
As the crisis grinds on, one survey suggested that voters wanted a strong leader willing to force through broad political reform.
Research by the Hansard Society found that 54 percent of voters wanted a strong leader willing to break the rules, while 72 percent said the political system needed “quite a lot” or “a great deal” of improvement.
Confidence in the system is at the lowest level in the 15-year history of the survey, lower even than after a 2009 scandal when lawmakers were shown to have charged taxpayers expenses for everything from an ornamental duck house to cleaning out a moat.
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
What’s the best way to keep up-to-date on Infowars’ live special broadcasts? Sign up to receive text notifications right to your phone!
As tech giants like Apple, Facebook, Google and others have de-platformed Alex Jones, it’s more important than ever to establish a direct line with Infowars and bypass censorship efforts.
There are currently three different text alerts you can subscribe to.
• Text: NEWS to: 33222 to get breaking news, including articles, videos or live shows covering hardcore info.
• Text: SHOW to: 33222 for daily transmissions. Each time Infowars launches a SPECIAL live video feed you’ll get the direct link to tune in & share!! Currently we only send alerts for The Alex Jones Show, but we’ll soon add alerts for The David Knight Show and War Room with Owen Shroyer.
• Text: WINNING to: 33222 for ultra-rare, super exclusive coupon codes for the Infowars Store.
We’ll never spam you and you can unsubscribe at anytime. There is no charge for this service from Infowars. Message and data rates may apply.
FILE PHOTO – Otto Frederick Warmbier (C), a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea since early January, is taken to North Korea’s top court in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo March 16, 2016. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Kyodo/File Photo
April 26, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said the United States did not pay any money to North Korea as it sought the release of comatose American student Otto Warmbier.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump had approved payment of a $2 million bill from North Korea to cover its care of the college student, who died shortly after he was returned to the United States after 17 months in a North Korean prison.
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)
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.
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)
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)
Click below to consent to the use of the cookie technology provided by vi (video intelligence AG) to personalize content and advertising. For more info please access vi's website.