The u. S. Federal reserve says it is Holding Interest rate steady with the u. S. Economy now expanding at a moderate pace. Said chairwoman janet yellen says two Interest Rate increases look likely later in the year. Anchor my name is christopher, thank you for joining us. President barack obama has nominated Merrick Garland to be the next Supreme Court justice. The vacancy on the Supreme Court follows the death of the conservative justice, Antonin Scalia, last month. But republicans controlling the senate say they will block a vote on anyone obama nominates. They want to prevent him from moving the court to the left before he leaves office. For many, it would be a crowning moment in a judicial career, standing at the president s side as a Supreme Court nominee. Less so, for Merrick Garland. His a is as good as block. President obama has laid out his case, anyway. I have selected a nominee widely recognized as one of americas sharpest legal minds, and someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, evenhandedness, and excellence. But Top Republican lawmakers are adamant. They will not hold votes on oh palm obamas picks for the highest court. It is the senates constitutional right to act as a check on the president , and withhold its consent. Reporter but the president has warned a Senate Republicans of failing to at least consider this nominee to the court. If you do not, it is an abdication of the senates constitutional duty, and will indicate a process for nominating and confirming judges that is beyond repair. It will mean everything is subject to the most partisan of politics, everything. Reporter the evident hurdles have not diminished in emotional moment for Merrick Garland. Thank you mr. President. This is the greatest honor of my life. R than wife agreeing to marry 28 ye reporter next, obama says garland is set to meet senators one on one in the days ahead. But filling the seat left by conservative Antonin Scalia will not be easy. Anchor lets talk to one of our correspondents in washington about this. Tell us more about the reaction from the republicans. How are they planning to block this nominatioby president obama . Reporter right after president obama made the announcement, mitch mcconnell, the republican majority leader of the senate, went public, saying that we will not conduct any hearing regarding his nomination. So this is basically not new. It reaffirms what he said in the past. They do not want to make this decision with president obama being in office. They want to wait until the American Public has elected a new president , hoping that it will be a republican, and the pic would be a more conservative judge in the Supreme Court. Anchor the question of course, can the senate do that . Dont they have a constitutional duty to at least conduct a hearing . Reporter yes it does. It it has a constitutional duty, just like the president does to make the pick. And they have a duty to hold the hearings. But, there is no timeframe. There is no law that says you have to do this after two weeks of time or whatever timeframe. Therefore, legally, they can do this and say lets wait until the American Public has voted for a new president of the united states, and then we will make this decision. Anchor give us an idea of what is at stake here. Why it has become such a partisan battle. How pivotal is this appointment for the shaping of u. S. Legislation and laws over the next few years . Reporter it is very pivotal. Because as we have seen in the past, a lot of the law that come out of congress or the states have ended up at the Supreme Court. At the end, the Supreme Court is really making the decision whether this country is more liberal or more conservative. At the moment, we have eight judges after the death of justice Antonin Scalia. The new pic will make the difference, whether the court in the future will be more liberal or more conservative. And there are a lot of cases at stake that they have to just discussed. Abortion, immigration, climate change. It makes a big difference, it is a very political decision. It shapes the future of the country, whoever gets the nomination and this job of justice of the Supreme Court. Which, mind you, is a position for life. Anchor thank you for that. We are going to stay in the u. S. The state department has called for the Immediate Release of American Students sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in north korea for crimes across the state. Also, a propaganda sign it taken from pyongyang, a prank that could cost him his future. Reporter 21yearold was handed a hefty sentence. Stealing a sign might seem like a childish prank, but to north korea, it is seen as an attack on the nation and the regime. He was detained in january as he tried to leave the country after visiting with a relative. After his arrest, north korean state tv launched eight are full Public Convention confession. The Korean People and government, i ask for my forgiveness. Reporter the statement included praise for the north Korean Justice system, and an emotional plea to return home. Please. I have made the worst mistake of my life. Reporter it is unclear whether he made his confession under duress. In similar cases, or in our is arrested in north korea have retracted their confessions after release. Experts say north korea could be using this situation to exert pressure on the u. S. , which plays a leading role in securing sanctions against the country after north korea conducted another nuclear test in january. Anchor u. S. Secretary of state john kerry has a spoken with his russian counterpart after a planned trip to moscow. They will discuss the fiveyearold conflict in syria. This as a Syrian Government delegation met with the u. N. Envoy. Their second meeting sense peace talks resumed in geneva. That United Nations envoy, saying he sees momentum in the current talks. A prorussian opposition group. They are pulling out military aircraft from an air base in syria. To germany, where chancellor Angela Merkel addressed parliament in berlin, repeating her call for the countrys borders to remain open as part of their migration policies. Many voters are skeptical, as our eu partners. Some think turkey should be given large responsibility concerning the eus external orders. They will meet in brussels to hammer out a deal on that. Head of that, the chancellor appealed for support. Thousands of refugees languishing in a greek village near the macedonian border. They are holding out hope that the eu will allow them to travel further north. In berlin, chancellor merkel explained that eight europewide approach would include turkey. Turkey would take back migrants entering the eu illegally. In principle, turkey would be obligated to take back all migraine migrants who have crossed the aegean sea. The turkish Prime Minister has suggested that whenever a syrian migrant is sent back to turkey, a refugee would be sent back to europe in a safe, and legal matter. Manner. Chancellor merkel sister party has opposed the plan, for once, the Opposition Left Party agrees with the conservatives on this issue. You are trying to win points with a man who has turned turkey into a player in the syrian war, and his country into a target for terrorists. Merkel sees turkey as a viable partner. The fact that turkey has taken in well over 2 Million People already, has taken in 2. 7 Million People for years, cannot be praised enough. It is a no credit to europe, when you consider that a union of 28 countries with over 500 million citizens has found it so hard to share the burden. Merkel now faces a tough sell at the u. N. s summit. Once again, she will appeal for a europewhy the solution to the migration crisis. Anchor just to get out, that is the simple aim of many young refugees who have left their wartorn countries for new life in germany. They have particularly harrowing tales to tell, especially when traveling alone. There is a new book recording some of those harrowing stories. To just to get out of syria, only when we set out across the belkin road. Only 16, fearing we could end up rob, raped, or dead. The idea of spending the night here in the park did not worry him, he told us. I could just sleep here, you just put your legs out here and it blocks the wind. There is grass and you can lay your head on it. You can block the wind. And everything will be fine. But he learned how to survive alone from his big sister, when she was killed in an air raid in damascus with their father, two years ago. Their mother and baby sister are still in turkey. Two just to get out, that is what many young refugees wants. A wish shared by many. At the book launch, she describes the harrowing journeys from afghanistan, syria, and amalia. It is never just poverty that makes children want to flee their country. It is from existential insecurity. They cannot go to school, theyre forced to marry somne they do not know, they dont have families to support them. Germany accepts almost all requests made for asylum from minors. Over 50 of them have voiced that they would like to bring their families to germany, but it is a timeconsuming process. The young refugees are concerned, all of them. They are covered by our fundamental law, the right for asylum by the geneva convention. They will be entitled to bring their families now and in the future. Most of all, like many, he misses his home. If it stops i will go back. But the war is destroying my country. He is under no illusions that a return to syria would be possible anytime soon. He is hoping to make the most of the opportunities he has been given in germany. Anchor we are going to take a very short break. Coming up for you, all the latest business news, including this story. The u. S. Federal was her says it is keeping Interest Rates unchanged for the time being. We will find out how that decision is playing out on wall street. All that and plenty more in just one minute from now. Do stay with us. Anchor welcome back here with dw news in berlin. President obama has nominated judge Merrick Garland to be the next u. S. Supreme court justice. A Supreme CourtAgency Follows the death of Antonin Scalia last month. But the Republican Senate wants to block any vote on a nominee put forward by president obama. Time for the latest business news, including a closer look at the u. S. Federal reserve policy. Anchor will they, or wont they . They have now announced they will keep Interest Rates unchanged from where they stand currently, between 0. 25 and 0. 2 5 0. 5 . This happened at a meeting earlier. The fed had a lot to chew over in the meeting. Oil prices have been core inflation rising, Home Construction stronger, and factory outlets have improved. It was not enough to bring up rates this time, but a another hike as early as the next fed meeting. The chairwoman, janet yellen, has set up her vision to come. The median projection for the fund rates rises only gradually, to. 9 later this year, and 1. 9 next year. As the factors restraining Economic Growth are projected to fade further over time, the median rate rises to 3 by the end of 2018, closer to its normal level. Anchor i should say that janet yellen it says that those planned set in stone and could change according to the recovery of the economy. Lets get more on this story with our man on wall street. Thank you for being with us. Firstly, why do you think there was hesitancy from the fed mark said fed . Reporter it is because of the global turbulence. That actually did start debates here on wall street. The Monetary Policy of the Federal Reserve will be dictated by global events, not necessarily what is going on in the u. S. That is the debate we are seeing on wall street. Also, the turbulence in the Financial Markets played a role. The stronger dollar is a factor. Lets look at how the markets are taking that decision. What do you see on wall street . Reporter we saw the strongest reaction on the currency markets. The dollar lost about 1 in comparison to the euro and the lower dollar. We saw a boost for commodity prices. They were up by about 6 in the wednesday session. The stock market responded positively, an increase of about. 5 . Market expectations were that we would see only one rate increase this year. The Federal Reserve brings their predictions down to where the market already stands. We still have to wait and see if the economy does better than expected, we still could see more increases in Interest Rates. If the economy does worse, we might not see any increase in the next couple of months. It still remains said fed mee ting to fed meeting. The Federal Reserve could act again. Well noted. Thank you very much. To argentina. The country has its eyes on a return to the global credit markets. That is after the lower house of congress issued a repayment deal, aimed to put an end to a 14 year battle with creditors. The government of the previous president refused to negotiate with u. S. Creditors. But the president struck a deal after his election win in november. They are getting their struggling economy back on track. Thousands came to protest the mercury deal outside the buenos aires parliament. It is considered an act of high treason by many argentinians. We have already been through this situation and we know what we pay, it means taking on new debt to pay off the old. It is prioritizing a small group of International Creditors over the domestic debts government owes to retirees, education workers, students, and people in general. It took long contentious hours in the meeting. In february, the president had agreed to pay creditors 6. 5 billion. That is around 75 of their original claim. The deal goes through both houses of congress, if it does, they would be able to raise funding on Financial Markets again and start investing in its ongoing infrastructure. It needs to be understood that the people suffering from a lack of public credit are in particular, those who have the least. Those who need infrastructure products to improve their quality of life, skills, child care centers, which we need hundreds more of throughout the country. There is still one hurdle to take. Argentina also has to give its approval. Observers say the deal will face former resistance there. Many on the streets will discover the deal before a penny is paid. Thats a merger of equals, that is what they are calling a decision to join forces, creating a new joint european super stock exchange. Shareholders still have to give their goahead to the deal, but the potential savings make them merger a rather attractive prospect. The two leading European Exchange operators say he would bring a cost savings of 450 million euros. But many stockbrokers are questioning the timing of the merger. Considering the upcoming referendum on whether britain should remain in the european union. If there is a brexit, i dont think a merger would make any sense. London would want to have its own way again, and that would be the end of frankfurt. It is not the first time the two exchanges have tried to march. The last attempt failed, adding uncertainty to the current agreement. And, the deal is subject to antitrust clearances and other regulatory approval. Anchor and that is your latest business news. Anchor now, football world governing body fee fast, says it was seeking tens of millions of dollars seized by the u. S. , alleged to have been paid in bribes and other money making schemes. May the 22nd last year, six fifa officials arrested at this hotel. Just ahead of a fifa conference, on racketeering charges. The ensuing scandal has sent shockwaves through world soccer. Fifa is now trying to set its house in order. The new president issued a statement outlining why it is seeking compensation. The convicted defendants abused, and created serious and lasting damage to fifa. Some have entered guilty pleas, u. S. Authorities say they have to forfeit 190 million. Fifa, as the world governing body of futbol, once that money back, no matter look it takes. There were accusations that the former Vice President , jack warner, took a 1 million bride and facilitated a 10 million bride from south africa. They also one another 2 million a 10 million bribe from south africa. Anchor some news from the 2020 cricket cup. Led to their side to an easy win over bangladesh, after smashing 49 runs, to help pakistan reach bangladesh struggled to reach. Also, the seventh highest and turner in history. A quick reminder of our top stories for you. German chancellor Angela Merkel has laid out her migration policy to lawmakers in berlin, ahead of a eu summit with turkey tomorrow. She set a longterm solution she reiterated her support. President obama has nominated veteran Appeals Court judge Merrick Garland to be the next Supreme Court justice. That they can see follows the death of justice Antonin Scalia last month. But the Republicancontrolled Senate says they will block any vote put forward by the resident. We are going to take a short break. You are watching dw news. Stay with us. Boracay, a small island in the central philippines, sent to be blessed with the most beautiful beach resort in asia. Its most stunning location, white beach, stretches for four kill