CUBA – Barack Obama urged Cuba to embrace the free market in a landmark speech in Havana that championed economic liberty rather than political reform as the key to unleashing the potential of its people.

Ignoring calls to echo Ronald Reagan’s famous “tear down this wall” speech in Berlin, Obama drew another leaf from the cold war playbook and focused instead on the role of capitalism in transforming society from within. “Many suggested that I came here to Cuba to tear something down, but I am appealing to the young people to lift something up,” Obama told a handpicked audience of 1,000 in the Havana theatre that hosted the last US president to speak in the country, 88 years ago. Although calling for free elections and an end to the detention of dissidents, Obama’s trip has focused heavily on the growth of small business in Cuba as a sign of internal momentum for change that can circumvent political stalemate.(theguardian)…[+]

BELGIUM –M Two of the suicide bombers who blew themselves up in the twin Brussels attacks that killed at least 31 people on Tuesday have been formally named by prosecutors, as police searched for a suspect captured on CCTV at Zaventem airport. The Belgian federal prosecutor, Frédéric van Leeuw, confirmed media reports that Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, 29, detonated one of two devices that exploded at Zaventem airport, killing himself and 11 others and injuring more than 90. His younger brother Khalid, 27, was responsible for a third explosion, just over an hour later in a metro carriage at Maelbeek station on the rue de la Loi, near offices of the European commission, van Leeuw told a news conference. At least 14 people died in that attack, with more than 130 wounded. Van Leeuw said the two airport bombs exploded within seconds of each other at 7.58am, near the check-in desks of rows 11 and two in the main departure hall. Ibrahim el-Bakraoui was identified by his fingerprints.

(theguardian)…[+]

CHINA – — Chinese authorities are determined to increase the international presence of domestic films, with a fresh government circular promising to award those performing well in the overseas market. A Chinese producer or agent authorized to handle the overseas business of a domestic film will be awarded if the film’s overseas box office reaches at least one million yuan (153,400 U.S. dollars), according to a notice published Wednesday by the national film industry development special fund management commission, an institution under the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. The circular did not specify how much money will be given out, although it did say that the award amount will not exceed one percent of the film’s international box office. (Xinhua)…[+]

CUBA – U.S. President Barack Obama was received by Cuban President Raul Castro in Havana on Monday at the start of historic talks where the U.S. leader will press his counterpart for economic and democratic reforms while hearing complaints about U.S. sanctions. Obama arrived in Cuba on Sunday on a trip that comes 15 months after he and Castro agreed to end five decades of Cold War-era animosity and work to normalize relations. On the first full day of his visit, he went amongst other places to the heart of Cuba’s Communist system, laying a wreath in Revolution Square at the memorial to independence hero Jose Marti. A U.S. presidential visit to the inner sanctum of Cuban power would have been unthinkable before Obama and Raul Castro’s rapprochement in December 2014.(Reuters)…[+]

RUSSIA –Investigators working to extract data from flight recorders from a flydubai jet that crashed in Russia say they are “significantly damaged.” Flight FZ981 from the United Arab Emirates was making its second attempt to land in Rostov-on-Don early Saturday when it crashed about 250 meters from a runway, killing all 62 people on board. The flydubai plane had aborted an initial scheduled landing and circled for more than two hours in poor weather conditions above Rostov-on-Don airport. Russian state media reported strong winds and poor visibility at the time. The search operation at the crash site ended Sunday, with investigators moving on to the cause of the accident and identification of bodies, officials said.(CNN)…[+]

BRAZIL – At least seven people were killed when a plane crashed into a house in Brazil’s Sao Paulo city, media reported on Sunday. The accident occurred on Saturday as the plane approached the northern suburb on the outskirts of Campo de Marte airfield, and crashed into the garage of a three-storey house in the Casa Verde neighbourhood, EFE news reported. The single-engine plane was registered in the name of Brazilian businessman Roger Agnelli, the president of Vale mining company, a multinational diversified metals and mining corporation and one of the largest logistics operators in Brazil.(gulfnews)…[+]

BRAZIL – Brazil’s government will appeal the decision by a Supreme Court justice late Friday that prevents former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from assuming the ministerial chief of staff position.

The Attorney General’s office is defining the best strategy to proceed with its appeal at Brazil’s highest court, according to its press office. Meanwhile, the government will also announce a stimulus package on Monday that aims to inject 15 billion reais ($4 billion) into the economy in the second half of 2016, newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported, without saying how it got the information. Pressure is mounting for President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment, with millions turning out nationwide in the past week to call for her removal as the Lower House formed a committee to hear the case on whether to oust her.(Bloomberg)…[+]

CHINA – — Chinese authorities are determined to increase the international presence of domestic films, with a fresh government circular promising to award those performing well in the overseas market. A Chinese producer or agent authorized to handle the overseas business of a domestic film will be awarded if the film’s overseas box office reaches at least one million yuan (153,400 U.S. dollars), according to a notice published Wednesday by the national film industry development special fund management commission, an institution under the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. The circular did not specify how much money will be given out, although it did say that the award amount will not exceed one percent of the film’s international box office.(Xinhua)…[+]

ECUADOR – “Yesterday I was killed.” So begins a Facebook post, now spreading virally, that’s written from the perspective of two Argentinean female backpackers killed in Ecuador. “I refused to be touched, and they smashed my skull with a stick,” the post, written by Paraguayan student Guadalupe Acosta, goes on. “They stabbed me and I was left to bleed to death. Like trash, they put me in a black polythene bag, wrapped with duct tape and threw me on to a beach, where hours later they found me.”

Media reports say Maria Coni, 22, and Marina Menegazzo, 21, were sexually assaulted and killed in February while traveling in Ecuador. The pair were reportedly killed by two men who had offered them a place to stay. The post written in their name has now had more than 730,000 shares over the past two weeks. It’s also sparked a social media debate over victim-blaming and women’s right to safely travel alone.

(CNN)…[+]

NIGERIA – More than 130 people are suspected to have died from a Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria, according to statistics from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The disease can cause fever and hemorrhaging of various parts of the body and can be spread through contact with an infected rat. Person to person transmission is also possible, albeit less common. West Africa as a region is seeing a flare-up of the disease, but Nigeria is experiencing much higher mortality rates than usual. On average, Lassa fever is deadly in 1% of all individuals infected, with higher rates of 15% morbidity among people hospitalized for the illness, but the current outbreak in Nigeria has seen more than 50% of those affected dying from their infection. According to NCDC’s latest report, dated 14 March 2016, the total number of reported cases is 254 and the total number of deaths (suspected, probable and confirmed) is 137, with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 53.9%. Lassa fever outbreaks occur most years in West Africa. Each year, the virus infects an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 and is responsible for 5,000 deaths in the region as a whole.(CNN)…[+]