Other stories in the international business press worth a moment of your time today:

The US Fed has left interest rates on hold and “downplayed weak first-quarter economicgrowth while emphasizing the strength of the labor market, in a sign it was still on track for two more rate rises this year,” Reuters reports. It’s the Fed’s first tightening cycle in more than a decade, the news service notes, after slashing rates to near zero to try to bring the economy back after the Great Recession of 2007-09.

Donald Trump plans to live forever. That’s all we can surmise from his declaration to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he plans to “start a process which hopefully will lead to peace [with Israel] over the course of my lifetime.” Reuters has the story and the White House briefing room carries the full transcript of Trump’s remarks as he welcomed Abbas to the White House.

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