
The growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in China stabilized 6.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, despite falling global demand and the trade war with the United States. The figure was announced on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (BNS), along with other rather optimistic indicators on the health of the world's second largest economy.

The Trump administration on Wednesday intensified its crackdown on Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, rolling back Obama administration policy and announcing new restrictions and sanctions against the three countries whose leaders national security adviser John Bolton dubbed the three stooges of socialism.

US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has begun an official visit to the Republic of Ireland. Speaking on the eve of her visit, she said there would be no chance whatsoever of a post-Brexit trade deal between the US and UK if there were any weakening of the Good Friday Agreement.

President Donald Trump and the head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, agreed last year that they wanted to reduce trade barriers. The decision by EU ministers gives the Commission authorization to conduct formal talks.

The American Museum of Natural History in New York said on Monday that it will not host a planned gala dinner that was set to honor Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro as Person of the Year.

The world’s largest airplane made its first test flight on Saturday in California. Stratolaunch Systems Corporation, founded by Paul G. Allen, on Sunday successfully completed the first flight of the world’s largest all-composite aircraft, the Stratolaunch.

The assassination squad created by Argentina’s military dictatorship to target dissidents during the 1970s had, like other state programs, its own bureaucratic rules: Employees punched in at 9:30 a.m. and were entitled to a two-hour lunch. They received a US$ 1,000 clothing allowance during their first overseas mission. And they were required to submit expense reports.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ended a visit to Peru on Sunday and travelled to the Colombian border city of Cucuta, crossed through by thousands of Venezuelans fleeing crisis under President Nicolas Maduro.

American Airlines is extending the cancellation of its Boeing 737 Max 8 flights from June until mid-August. The move is to provide confidence to customers during the peak summer travel season, the airline said in a letter. Last month, 737 Max aircraft were grounded worldwide following fatal crashes involving Ethiopian Airlines and Indonesia's Lion Air.

One of the world's most endangered whale species is experiencing a mini baby boom off the US state of Massachusetts. Researchers at the Center for Coastal Studies have announced they have seen three North Atlantic right whale mother and calf pairs in Cape Cod Bay.