The Federal Reserve today raised the key lending rate for the first time this year to its highest level in a decade, citing a stronger outlook for US economic growth.
Newly installed Fed Chairman Jerome Powell presided over his first meeting, which raised the federal funds rate to 1.5-1.75 percent, a move that will affect all types of loans, from homes to cars to student debt.
In his first press conference as Fed chief, Powell pointed to the factors that have boosted the economic outlook in recent months, including "more stimulative" fiscal policy, in the wake of the massive tax cuts Congress passed in December.
In addition, he said "ongoing job gains are boosting incomes and confidence (and) foreign growth is on a firm trajectory."
That likely caused Fed officials to signal they expect a slightly more aggressive path for rate increases next year.
Still, Powell told reporters that even with rising interest rates, the world's largest economy is "healthier than it has been since before .

US Fed raises key interest rate amid stronger growth outlook

PTI Automatic

An air strike hit near a school in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib today, killing at least 16 children, a monitoring organisation said.
"Twenty civilians, including 16 children, were killed in an air strike in Kafr Batikh in Idlib province," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based monitor, said the strike hit near a checkpoint held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist group that consists largely of ex-members of a former Al-Qaeda affiliate.
It was not clear whether the air strike was carried out by the Syrian regime or its Russian ally.
Abdel Rahman said the strike hit children coming out of a nearby school.
"The oldest among them is 11," he said.
In Kafr Batikh, the children's devastated families wrapped the tiny bodies of their children in thick wool blankets.
They adorned their makeshift shrouds with olive branches and other greenery from trees in the village orchard before lowering them into graves deep in the red ...

Strike near school in Syria's Idlib kills 16 children: monitor

Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski announced his resignation today in an address to the nation, the day before he was to face an impeachment vote in Congress.
The 79-year-old former Wall Street banker, under fire over his links to Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, denied allegations of bribe-taking but said his resignation was "the best thing for the country."
"Faced with this difficult situation that unfairly makes me appear guilty, I think the best thing for the country is for me to resign the presidency of the republic," he said in the televised address, which showed him seated at a polished conference table with his cabinet standing grim-faced behind him.
"I do not want to be an obstacle, for the country to continue suffering with the uncertainty of these recent times," said the president, who survived a previous impeachment vote in December.
Vice President Martin Vizcarra, who is currently serving as Peru's ambassador to Canada, is likely to replace Kuczynski to avoid ..

Peru's embattled president Kuczynski announces resignation

Two astronauts, a cosmonaut and a ball set to be used in the forthcoming football World Cup in Russia blasted off today for a two-day flight to the International Space Station.
NASA's Drew Feustel and Richard Arnold lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a five month mission in a Soyuz MS-08 under the command of Russian colleague Oleg Artemyev at the expected time of 1744 GMT.
All three crew members have been in space before although NASA duo Feustel, 52, and Arnold, 54, have never served on a long-duration spaceflight and have just 40 days in orbit between them.
Artemyev, who is commanding a Soyuz craft for the first time, spent 169 days at the International Space Station during his previous mission in 2014.
In the build up to the launch, Russian media coverage homed in on Artemyev taking to the orbital laboratory a football that is expected to kick off the 2018 World Cup the country is hosting this summer.
"We are taking a ball with us," Artemyev told a pre-flight 

Two Americans, one Russian blast off for ISS from Kazakhstan

The White House fumed today about an embarrassing leak of Donald Trump's shock decision to congratulate Vladimir Putin on his re-election, with one official describing the disclosure as illegal.
A hunt is underway to find the person who leaked Trump's prepared notes for the call, which included a warning "DO NOT CONGRATULATE," which he ignored.
Trump had shunned the advice of some aides in making the call Putin at all.
He then went a step further to congratulate the Russian leader on winning a fourth presidential term, despite the election being plagued by evidence of ballot stuffing, media censorship and the jailing of political opponents.
The Washington Post and others reported that staff explicitly advised Trump not to congratulate Putin and that he should condemn the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain.
According to accounts from the White House and the Kremlin, Trump did neither.
The leak of such sensitive information about Oval Office deliberations points to deep ...

White House hunts leaker after Trump congratulates Putin

The United States has dropped a controversial demand in NAFTA trade talks for more American auto parts in cars and trucks sold in North America, a Canadian newspaper reported today.
The proposal to raise the US content requirement to 50 percent had been flatly rejected by Canada and Mexico in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks. The North American content requirement would also have risen from 62.5 per cent to 85 per cent.
Dropping the US demand would remove a key roadblock to a deal - which all three parties said they hope to reach by the end of April, ahead of US and Mexican elections.
A spokesman for Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is overseeing the negotiations on Canada's behalf, declined to comment.
"We are aware of the time pressures in both the United States and Mexico, regarding the (US) midterm elections and (Mexico presidential) elections," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
"We are working hard to get to a deal," he added.
The daily Globe .

US drops controversial auto parts demands in NAFTA talks: report

Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson agreed with a suggestion Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would exploit hosting the 2018 football World Cup as Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler did the Berlin Games.
Put to him by an MP that "Putin is going to use it in the way Hitler used the 1936 Olympics", as a propaganda exercise, Johnson replied: "I think the comparison with 1936 is certainly right," envisaging Putin "glorying in this sporting event".
His comments came amid an escalating war of words between Russia and Britain over the poisoning by a former Russian double agent on British soil earlier this month.
Hitler wanted the 1936 Games to be a symbol of Aryan supremacy and famously refused to shake hands with American star Jesse Owens, the black track and field athlete who won four gold medals in Berlin.

UK's Johnson likens Putin's World Cup to 1936 Berlin Olympics

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israel will prevent enemies from obtaining nuclear weapons after its military admitted it carried out a 2007 air raid against a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor.
"The Israeli government, the (Israeli military), and the Mossad (intelligence agency) have prevented Syria from developing nuclear capability, and they deserve every credit for this," Netanyahu said on Twitter.
"Israel's policy has been and remains consistent -- to prevent our enemies from acquiring nuclear weapons."
It was Netanyahu's first comments related to Israel's admission early today that broke a more than 10-year official silence surrounding the raid, though it had always been widely assumed of being responsible for the strike.
The admission along with the release of newly declassified material related to the raid comes as Israel intensifies its warnings over the presence of its main enemy Iran in neighbouring Syria.
Netanyahu has also repeatedly called for a landmark 

Netanyahu says Israel will prevent enemies from obtaining nuclear weapons

The United States and Europe are launching a fresh round of talks to reach a "mutually acceptable" solution on trade disputes including steel and aluminium tariffs, officials from Washington and Brussels said today.
The announcement comes with steep new US import duties on steel and aluminium due to take effect later this week.
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and visiting EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said in a joint statement that they had "agreed to launch immediately a process of discussion... on trade issues of common concern, including steel and aluminium, with a view to identifying mutually acceptable outcomes as rapidly as possible.

US, EU pledge to find 'acceptable outcomes' on metal tariffs

A Palestinian teenager arrested after a viral video showed her hit two Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank has reached a plea deal with prosecutors to serve eight months in jail, her lawyer said today.
The Israeli military court where Ahed Tamimi is being tried had not yet decided on whether to accept the agreement reached with prosecutors, lawyer Gaby Lasky told AFP.
Tamimi was 16 at the time of the December incident. She has since turned 17.
Her sentence would include time served and a fine of 5,000 shekels (USD 1,430), said Lasky, meaning she could be released in the summer.
She would plead guilty to only four of the 12 charges against her under the agreement, including assault, incitement and two counts of obstructing soldiers, Lasky said.
Lasky however said she only planned to present the plea bargain to the military court if it first accepts an agreement with Tamimi's mother, Nariman Tamimi.
A plea deal for Nariman Tamimi would also be for eight months in jail including ..

Palestinian teen in 'slap video' reaches plea deal for 8 months jail: lawyer

The Vatican's communications chief resigned today amid a controversy over the alleged manipulation of a letter written by retired pope Benedict XVI about his successor Pope Francis.
Monsignor Dario Vigano -- who has carried out sweeping reforms of the Vatican's media operations -- stepped down over the row that has become known as "lettergate".
The 55-year-old was accused of manipulating a private letter by Benedict XVI to help publicise part of the celebrations marking Francis' five years as pope.
At a presentation on March 12 of a collection of books on Francis' theology, Vigano read a letter from Benedict XVI praising the "deep philosophical and theological training" of his successor.
While Benedict XVI's tenure as pope was perceived to be more doctrine-focussed, Francis' more pastoral approach has riled some of the more conservative factions within the Catholic Church.
Nevertheless, in his letter, Benedict hit out at what he saw as the "foolish prejudice" of those who suggested ...

Vatican communications chief quits over 'lettergate' row

Concussion substitutes and penalty runs for on-field disciplinary offences will be introduced into county cricket this coming season, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced today.
The rule changes, which also include restrictions on bat sizes and punishments for 'mock fielding' will apply across all men's county competitions and the Women's Super League.
Last season, Nottinghamshire bowler Luke Fletcher was struck a sickening blow by a ball hit back down the ground by Warwickshire's Sam Hain in a Twenty20 Blast match and left the field.
Under the standard Laws of Cricket, substitutes for injured players are only permitted to field, not bat or bowl.
But under the ECB plan "like for like" replacements will be allowed if approved by the match liaison officer, who will act on medical advice.
"We appreciate that the phrase 'like for like' leaves a need for some flexibility and interpretation," said Alan Fordham, the ECB's head of cricket operations.
"We will take into account .

Concussion subs introduced to county cricket

South African captain Faf du Plessis today hit back at his Australian counterpart Steve Smith's criticism of the decision to overturn a ban on South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada.
Rabada's punishment of three demerit points for deliberate physical contact with Smith in the second Test in Port Elizabeth was reduced to one point, overturning a two-match ban that would have seen him ruled out of the series.
Smith claimed in an overnight interview with Australian journalists that the contact with Rabada in the second Test in Port Elizabeth had been "a little bit harder than it actually looked on the footage".
The Australian captain said he was surprised he had not been asked his opinion before the ruling was made and also claimed that a "line in the sand" had been drawn regarding physical contact.
"The ICC have set the standard, haven't they? There was clearly contact out in the middle," said Smith.
"I certainly won't be telling my bowlers to go out there and after you take a wicket ..

Captains Du Plessis and Smith clash over Rabada decision

As Facebook reels from the scandal over hijacked personal data, a movement to quit the social network has gathered momentum, getting a boost from a high-profile co-founder of the WhatsApp messaging service acquired by the huge social network in 2014.
"It is time. #deletefacebook," Brian Acton said in a tweet, using the hashtag protesting the handling of the crisis by the world's biggest social network.
The WhatsApp co-founder, who now works at the rival messaging application Signal, posted the comment amid a growing uproar over revelations that Facebook data was harvested by a British political consulting firm linked to Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
"Delete and forget. It's time to care about privacy," he said.
Several websites offered tips on how to quit Facebook, while noting that the process is more complicated than it appears.
Facebook offers users the option to "deactivate" an account for users who want to take a break and return later, or to "delete" the account and its .

#DeleteFacebook movement gains prominent backer

One of Nepal's last known dancing bears that was recently rescued has died after being transferred to a zoo, an animal rights activist said today, blaming the death on "negligence".
The two sloth bears were rescued in southern Nepal in December last year from a pair of itinerant street performers who used the animals for entertainment.
Shortly after their rescue, the bears -- 19-year-old male Rangila and Sridevi, a 17-year-old female -- were transferred to a zoo near the capital Kathmandu where they were put in cages on display.
A few weeks later, the female bear died.
"(We) were told that she had some problem in her liver and that it was jaundice," said Niraj Gautam of Jane Goodall Institute Nepal, who was involved in the rescue of the bears.
"These animals should have been thoroughly checked. There was nothing. That's the negligence we want to point out."
Gautam said that the bears should have been given special care and medical attention to help them rehabilitate after years of ...

One of Nepal's last dancing bears dies after rescue

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged Egyptians today to vote in next week's election to show they are in charge, a day after he denied any role in excluding his rivals.
The incumbent will stand in the March 26-28 vote against a sole candidate whose half-hearted campaign poses no threat, after more heavyweight rivals were sidelined or detained.
"I need you because the journey is not over," Sisi told a mostly female audience in a speech. "I need every lady and mother and sister, please, I need the entire world to see us in the street" voting.
"Even if they vote 'no'. It's still a big deal and a respectable thing which will be implemented... We should affirm to the world that this country is ruled by its people."
The former army chief was first elected in 2014, a year after ousting his predecessor Mohamed Morsi following mass protests against the Islamist.
Critics accuse him of cracking down on dissent, and in the run up to the election a rival, former army chief of staff Sami Anan, was .

Egypt's Sisi urges big voter turnout, denies sidelining rivals

Forty-four African countries have signed an agreement establishing a free trade area seen as vital to the continent's economic development, the head of the African Union said today.
"The agreement establishing the CFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) was signed by 44 countries," said Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the AU commission.
The creation of a free trade area -- billed as the world's largest -- comes after two years of negotiations, and is one of the AU's flagship projects for greater African integration.
However, the agreement will still have to be ratified at a national level, and is only due to come into force in 180 days.
The full list of countries which did not sign the agreement is not yet available, however Nigeria is a notable absentee after President Muhammadu Buhari pulled out of this week's launch in Rwanda saying he needed more time for consultations at home.
Nigeria, one of Africa's largest markets, hesitated after objections from business leaders and ...

44 African nations sign pact establishing free trade area: AU

Members of the #BringBackOurGirls (#BBOG) campaign react on the presentation of a banner which shows "218", instead of the previous "219", referring to kidnapped Chibok school girls, during a sit-out in Abuja, Nigeria. Photo: Reuters

Boko Haram is increasingly using kidnapping as a means to fund their operations in Nigeria and the remote Lake Chad region

Boko Haram free scores of abducted Dapchi schoolgirls in Nigeria

Press Trust of India

China today announced a series of changes aimed at strengthening its global influence, including the creation of a centralised news service to better communicate the ruling Communist Party's message at home and abroad.
The changes are part of a larger overhaul of government functions that will also see an increased role for the United Front Work Department, a shadowy organisation that has been accused of trying to manipulate politics abroad.
Under the new arrangement, the party's Central Propaganda Department will take direct responsibility for print, news and movies away from the central government, according to an announcement published by the official Xinhua news agency.
The move to put these branches of the media directly under the party's control comes as China has been tightening censorship and efforts to dictate the outlook and "positivity" of content.
Control of radio and television will be placed under a separate government-run organisation tasked with "carrying out the ...

China to reorganise propaganda efforts at home and abroad

Saudi Arabia is seeking to purge its school curriculum of any influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and dismiss employees who sympathise with the banned group, the education minister said.
The government will "fight extremist ideologies by reviewing school curricula and books to ensure they are free of the banned Muslim Brotherhood's agenda", Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Issa said in a statement yesterday.
It also seeks to "ban books attributed to the Muslim Brotherhood from all schools and universities and remove all those who sympathise with the group", he added.
The statement comes after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told CBS television in an interview Sunday that elements of the Muslim Brotherhood, designated as a "terror group" by the kingdom, had infiltrated Saudi schools.
The prince, who has vowed to return the country to "moderate Islam", has cut back the political role of hardline clerics in a historic reordering of the Saudi state.
Many members of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood -- who 

Saudis revamp school curriculum to combat Muslim Brotherhood

In the US, her children could have "played under the sun". But trapped in Syria's Eastern Ghouta, Michigan native Deana Lynn and her eight children are living out a nightmare underground.
At 44, US-born Lynn has spent nearly half of her life in Douma, a sprawling town at the heart of the now-infamous Ghouta suburbs, east of the Syrian capital.
Air raids and rocket and artillery fire have pounded Ghouta for more than a month as Syrian troops, their Russian ally and loyalist militia battle to capture the last rebel bastion on the doorstep of Damascus.
Douma, where Lynn lives with her Syrian husband, children, and grandchildren, has been hit hard.
"Now, we're living under bombardment daily, every day. My children are in a state of hysteria," she tells AFP in her living room, where thick green curtains block out sunlight and the boom of bombardment can be heard.
"The children are screaming. The parents are screaming. When the bomb comes close, it's just terrible," says Lynn, in a ...

AFP

AFP

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