President Barack Obama and Pope Francis focused publicly on their mutual respect and shared concern for the poor on Thursday during their meeting in the Vatican, but the lengthy private discussion also highlighted the deep differences between the White House and the Catholic Church on abortion and birth control.
United States Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson said Washington is considering increasing cooperation with Paraguay in combating trans-national crime, particularly Brazilian organizations involved in durgs and arms trafficking.
President Jose Mujica confirmed that Uruguay has agreed with the United States to accept some prisoners held in the much-criticized detention center at the US military base of Guantanamo Bay, but he also cautioned that everything has a bill.
The US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted on Wednesday that interest rates in the US could start to rise in early 2015, that is six months after it halts its monthly bond-buying program. Ms Yellen made the remarks after the Fed said it will scale back bond purchases by a further 10bn dollars per month.
Crimea means more to Russia than the Falklands mean to Britain, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday after holding last-ditch talks on the region with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry.
United States House Speaker John Boehner invited Pope Francis to address a joint session of Congress - an unprecedented event - during an expected visit to the United States next year. Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have quickly sought to invoke the popular pontiff's devotion to the poor.
The US economy added 175,000 new jobs in February, but the unemployment rate rose slightly to 6.7%. The jobs figures, from the US Labor Department, were better than many had been expecting and marked a rebound from two weak months.
The United States has named several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries as major money laundering states whose financial institutions engage in currency transactions involving significant amounts of proceeds from international narcotics trafficking.
The United States ordered three Venezuelan diplomats to leave in reprisal for President Nicolas Maduro's expulsion of three US embassy staff accused of fomenting unrest that has killed at least 13 people.
US President Barack Obama joined the Mexican and Canadian leaders Wednesday for a North American summit focused on trade but marked by friction between the three amigos. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto shook hands with Obama in an ornate state government palace in Toluca, near Mexico City, for private one-on-one talks before Prime Minister Stephen Harper joined them later.