1 US Fed hikes rates (BBC) The US Federal Reserve
has said it would raise its key interest rate by 0.25%, the second rise this
year. The central bank voted to raise its key rate target to a range of 1% to
1.25%. That's the highest level since 2008, when policymakers cut rates to
encourage borrowing and spending after the financial crisis.
The bank also said it would begin cutting its bond
holdings and other securities this year. It cited continued US economic growth
and job market strength as reasons for raising its benchmark interest rate. "Our
decision ... reflects the progress the economy has made and is expected to
make," said Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
The rise was widely anticipated after a low
unemployment rate, but other economic indicators, including inflation, have
been weaker. The Fed's statement noted that price rises have slowed recently. Inflation
is below the target of 2%. But then Fed Chair Janet Yellen thinks a large part
of that is down to falls in specific prices.
2 Mini helicopters to challenge flying cars (Khaleej
Times) As global automakers compete to bring the first flying car to market,
Czech pilot Pavel Brezina is trying a different tack: instead of creating a car
that flies, he has made a "GyroDrive" -- a mini helicopter you can
drive.
The engineer and owner of Nirvana Systems, a company
producing motors for small flying machines, insists his vehicle is the first in
the world authorised to operate both on roads and in the air. "Everyone is
trying to make a high-speed car that can fly, but this is a different
thing," said the tall, bespectacled 51-year-old, who has 30 years'
experience as a pilot under his belt.
His GyroDrive vehicle is based on a gyroplane -- a
mini-helicopter -- that uses a copter-style rotor to move up and down, and an
aeroplane-type "pusher propeller" to go forward. Brezina's company
buys gyroplane kits from a German firm, and then assembles and equips them with
a system allowing the pilot-driver to switch between a petrol engine propelling
the rotors and an electric engine that drives the wheels.
The two-seat GyroDrive has a maximum driving speed
of just 40 kmph (25 mph) and can take its crew of two on short drives to a
petrol station or a hotel. It needs less than 100 metres (110 yars) to take off
and reaches a top speed of 180 kmph in the air. Its flying range is 600
kilometres.
After landing, the pilot only has to fix the main
rotor blades along the axis of the GyroDrive and pull out a built-in licence
plate to transform it into a road vehicle. Prices start at $63,500.
3 Qatar pulls out troops from Africa (San Francisco
Chronicle) Qatar said Wednesday it has pulled all of its troops from the border
of Djibouti and Eritrea, east African nations that have a long-running
territorial dispute which Doha had helped mediate.
Qatar offered no explanation for the move, though it
comes amid a diplomatic dispute with other Arab nations that have cut
diplomatic ties and now are trying to isolate Qatar from the rest of the world.
While the dispute hasn't escalated to a military confrontation, Qatar's
military is dwarfed by neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,
two of its biggest opponents in the crisis.
The 450 Qatari troops controlled a mountainous
border crossing between Eritrea and Djibouti, said Nasredin Ali, a spokesman
for Eritrea's biggest armed group, known as the Red Sea Afar Democratic
Organization. Eritrean forces moved in after the troops departed, Ali said.
Doha mediated the conflict between the two countries
in 2010. Gulf nations have stationed troops in both African countries, using
that as a jumping-off point for the ongoing Saudi-led war in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and
Bahrain have accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and severed ties with Doha
last week. Qatar denies the allegations, but its ties to Iran and embrace of
various Islamist groups have put the country under intense scrutiny.
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