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Powell reiterates U.S. Fed's independence

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Sunday that he didn't think President Donald Trump could fire him, re-emphasizing the Fed's monetary policy independence.

"The law is clear that I have a four-year term, and I fully intend to serve it," Powell told the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) news show "60 Minutes." When asked if he thought the president could fire him, he said "no."

Indian, Bangladeshi PMs jointly unveil e-plaques for development projects

NEW DELHI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Monday jointly unveiled e-plaques for development projects in Bangladesh via video conference, said an official statement issued in New Delhi.

Both leaders unveiled e-plaques for the supply of buses and trucks, inauguration of 36 community clinics, 11 water treatment plants and extension of "National Knowledge Network" to Bangladesh, said the external affairs ministry's statement.

Boeing promises to offer technical assistance over Ethiopian Airlines plane crash

SAN FRANCISCO, March 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. aircraft manufacturing giant Boeing Sunday promised to offer technical assistance to Ethiopia over a deadly air crash of Ethiopian Airlines.

"A Boeing technical team will be traveling to the crash site to provide technical assistance under the direction of the Ethiopia Accident Investigation Bureau and U.S. National Transportation Safety Board," Boeing said in a short statement.

It also offered condolences to the families of the passengers and crew on board Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (ET 302).

China suspends use of Boeing 737 Max 8 planes

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's civil aviation regulator Monday ordered domestic airlines to suspend commercial operations of all Boeing 737-8 airplanes by 6 p.m. local time after a crash of one of the planes in Ethiopia.

This came after an Ethiopian Airlines airplane bound for Nairobi, Kenya, crashed minutes after take-off Sunday, killing all 157 people aboard. It was the second crash of the new aircraft after one operated by Indonesia's Lion Air crashed in October.

Government denies ad, Kashmiri dailies leave front pages blank

Srinagar, Mar 10; PTI/GANASHAKTI:  Most of the leading dailies in the Kashmir valley printed a blank front page on Sunday as a mark of protest against the "unexplained denial" of advertisements to two newspapers by the Jammu and Kashmir government.

The Kashmir Editors' Guild (KEG) had claimed last month that the state government had stopped giving advertisements to two major local dailies -- Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Reader.

Delhi govt floats global tenders for 375 e-buses

New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) The Delhi government has issued global tenders for engagement of 375 of the 1,000 electric buses it has decided to procure to combat high levels of air pollution and boost public transport in the national capital.

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the 375 e-buses will form the first phase of the procurement of the 1,000 buses.

Most nations want to acquire technologies for producing defense products — Rostec

WASHINGTON, March 9. /TASS/. Most countries want to acquire technologies instead of just buying defense products, director for international cooperation and regional policy at Russia's Rostec defense and technology company Viktor Kladov told Defense News in an interview published on Friday.

UK official says EU playing games over Brexit

LONDON (AP) — With tensions escalating, Britain’s House of Commons leader said Saturday that European Union officials need to take seriously British proposals for ending the Brexit impasse before a crucial vote in Parliament.

Andrea Leadsom said EU leaders are wrongly accusing Britain of failing to put forward detailed proposals, while offering proposed solutions that Britain had rejected months ago because they would threaten ties to Northern Ireland.

US envoy in Kosovo to push for lifting of tax on Serbia

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — A senior U.S. official on Saturday met with top Kosovo leaders in an attempt to persuade the government to revoke or suspend a tariff on Serb goods so that dialogue with Belgrade can resume.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale is the latest U.S. envoy to take part in shuttle diplomacy between Kosovo and Serbia. He met with Kosovo’s president, speaker and prime minister at the residence of the U.S. ambassador. A day earlier, he was in Belgrade.

China’s Yi affirms pledge to avoid devaluation for trade

BEIJING (AP) — China’s central bank governor on Sunday affirmed an official promise to avoid manipulating its currency to boost exports, an issue he said American and Chinese negotiators discussed in their latest talks aimed at ending a tariff war.

Yi Gang gave no indication the two sides reached agreements beyond previous commitments produced by meetings of the Group of 20 major economies. He spoke at a news conference during the annual meeting of China’s ceremonial legislature.

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