
United States president Trump declared on Tuesday that a “new chapter of American greatness is now beginning” as he made economic revival the centerpiece of his first address to Congress – issuing a clarion call to “restart the engine of the American economy” through tax cuts, better trade deals, immigration enforcement and a US$1 trillion infrastructure program.

Australia's economy has jumped sharply in the last quarter of 2016, allowing the resource-rich economy to extend its 25-year streak without recession. It brings the country close to breaking the Netherlands' record of modern-era uninterrupted economic growth.

The government of Prime Minister Theresa May is facing a first defeat for its Brexit bill in the House of Lords later. Peers are expected to agree to amend the draft legislation to protect the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.Home Secretary Amber Rudd had sought to reassure members that EU nationals' status would be a priority once Brexit talks begin.

At least fourteen human rights, social, religious and political leaders from Argentina are planning to travel to the Falkland Islands in mid March hoping to meet Islanders with a message of peace and dialogue. The delegation includes Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, 1980 Peace Nobel Prize, Nora Cortiñas, founder of one of the several branches in which the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo are split, and members of the Memory Commission, according to reports from Buenos Aires.

The UN’s new climate chief admits she’s worried about President Donald Trump – but is confident that action to curb climate change is unstoppable. President Trump said he’d withdraw from the UN climate deal and stop funding the UN’s clean energy program. But former Mexican diplomat Patricia Espinosa said that the delay in any firm announcement suggests the issue is still unresolved.

The EU’s negotiators will work to keep the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland “as open as possible” after Brexit, the President of the bloc, Jean-Claude Juncker, said after meeting Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny.

Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez on Saturday was elected chairman of the United States Democratic National Committee, defeating top-rival Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, in their respective bids to chart the direction of the national party. Perez was elected after two rounds of balloting in Atlanta at the party’s annual winter meeting. He received 235 votes, crossing the threshold of 218 ballots.

The first Latin American leader to visit U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House said that he told Trump he prefers bridges to walls and favors the free movement of people across borders. However, Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski declined to comment specifically on Trump's proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking in a press conference following the meeting.

A Mennonite teenager, Franz Weiber who was abducted last July by Paraguayan Marxist inspired guerrillas in the north of the country was released on Saturday, safe and sound, after the family and friends collected the equivalent of US$ 25.000 in food to distribute among fourteen Indian communities in the area.

Argentina's economic activity rose 1.6% in December compared with the previous month, government data showed, a sign the economy likely expanded in the fourth quarter after a long recession. The economy fell 0.1% in December year over year and closed 2016 down 2.3% compared with 2015.