
The United States received a payment of US$ 100 million from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the same day Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Riyadh to discuss the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a State Department official confirmed Wednesday amid global calls for answers in the case.

The United States administration has formally confirmed it intends to pursue a trade deal with the UK “as soon as it is ready” after leaving the EU. Donald Trump’s trade representative Robert Lighthizer notified Congress of plans to open negotiations with the UK, as well as with the EU and Japan.

United States has refrained from labeling China a currency manipulator in a move which may help defuse escalating tension over trade between the two countries. President Trump has previously accused China of keeping its currency weak to make its exports more competitive.

The United States has announced plans to withdraw from a 144-year-old postal treaty, which the White House says lets China ship goods at unfairly low prices. The United Nations treaty sets lower international rates for packages from certain countries, a move originally designed to support poorer nations.

The United States on Tuesday announced a US$ 10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a man accused of leading Mexico’s powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which the Justice Department considers to be one of the five most dangerous criminal organizations in the world.

US Vice President Mike Pence warned Central American nations to be cautious when building relations with China, which has been increasingly active in the region. Amid mounting tensions between the United States and China, Pence brought up ties with Beijing as he met in Washington with leaders of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as well as Mexico's foreign secretary.

Wall Street indexes continued their slide in Thursday’s volatile session as investors worried about rising interest rates and braced for a trade war hit to corporate earnings a day ahead of the quarterly reporting season kickoff.

United States share markets suffered on Wednesday their sharpest one-day falls in months, as fears about rising interest rates, inflation, trade tensions intensified. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the declines, sliding 4%, or 315.9 points, to 7,422. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 also fell by more than 3%, with losses accelerating towards the end of the day. Netflix fell 8%, while Amazon slid 6%.

The most powerful hurricane ever to hit the north-west state of Florida has flooded beach towns, submerging homes and snapping trees like twigs. Hurricane Michael made landfall on Wednesday afternoon as a category three storm with 250km/h winds in the state's Panhandle region. Two people have been reported killed in Florida.

United States Justice Department said on Wednesday it had arrested and indicted a spy for China’s Ministry of State Security on charges of economic espionage and attempting to steal trade secrets from several U.S. aviation and aerospace companies.