The U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure fell in March, and a key component dropped for the first time in nearly 16 years, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

US congressional leaders have reached a deal on a federal spending bill which if passed by lawmakers this week will avert a government shutdown, a top lawmaker and congressional aides said late Sunday.

The agreement would keep federal operations running through September 30, the end of the fiscal year.

United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Philippe Lazzarini commended initiatives that contribute to maintaining peace and stability in Lebanon especially in areas that have witnessed consecutive rounds of clashes like Tripoli, an OCHA statement said.

“The UN will continue to support vulnerable Lebanese communities and present the youth with opportunities, especially in impoverished areas like Tripoli’s Beb El Tebbaneh,” said Lazzarini during the inauguration of the renovated Souk Beb El Dahab in Tripoli on 2 April.

The first freight train to link China directly to the UK arrived in the eastern Chinese city of Yiwu Saturday after covering over 12,000-kilometres (7,500 miles), making it the second-longest route in the world.

The journey is the latest effort in China's drive to strengthen trade links with western Europe along a modern-day "Silk Road" route. 

U.S. growth slowed to its lowest level in three years in the first quarter as consumer spending and government expenditures tumbled to their lowest levels in years, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Preliminary data showed GDP increased only 0.7 percent in the first three months of the year, down sharply from the 2.1 percent expansion seen in the fourth quarter of 2016. 

Uber has demoted an executive heading its self-driving car operations who has been at the center of a lawsuit filed by Alphabet's Waymo accusing the ride-sharing giant of theft.

An Uber spokesman on Thursday confirmed media reports that Anthony Levandowski would step down from his role.

Major transport networks, schools and banks partially shut down across much of Brazil on Friday in what protesters called a general strike against austerity reforms in Latin America's biggest country.

Spain's economy grew at a steady pace in the first quarter, official figures showed Friday, as the country continues to recover from a damaging crisis marked by sky-high unemployment.

Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.8 percent between January and March from the previous three months, slightly higher than the last quarter's 0.7 percent growth, according to preliminary figures from the national statistics institute INE.

Calls have been growing on social media for Saudi Arabia's jobless to protest on Sunday, after a similar appeal before the government restored benefits to civil servants last weekend.

Europe needs its own European monetary fund that could replace the Washington-based IMF in any future bailouts in the eurozone, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Thursday.

Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister, gave the European Parliament his strongest backing yet to the idea amid an ongoing row between the eurozone and IMF over the level of debt relief needed by Greece in its current bailout.