Credit ratings firm Standard & Poor's will pay 1.5 billion dollars to resolve a series of lawsuits over its ratings on mortgage securities that soured in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, the company announced on Tuesday. The settlement comes after more than two years of litigation as S&P fought allegations it issued overly rosy ratings in order to win more business.
A record 56.4 million tourists visited New York last year, drawn by its diverse culture, low crime and dynamism, and generating 61.3 billion for America's largest city, officials said this week.
President Barack Obama's 2016 budget unveiled Monday sets priorities for the middle class and proposes major infrastructure improvements, to be paid for largely through increased contributions by the wealthy and corporate America.
US economic growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter as weak business spending and a wider trade deficit offset the fastest pace of consumer spending since 2006. GDP expanded at a 2.6% annual pace after the third quarter's spectacular 5%, the Commerce Department said in its first fourth-quarter GDP snapshot.
A former bodyguard of Venezuela’s Socialist Party heavyweight Diosdado Cabello Leamsy Salazar, who fled the country earlier this week and was reportedly collaborating with US authorities investigating allegations of Venezuelan officials' involvement in drugs, said late president Hugo Chavez did not die on 5 March 2013 but on 30 December 2012.
The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday after a two-day meeting reiterated its pledge to be patient and hold off on raising interest rates from the record low levels they’ve been at for the last six years. The Fed also pointed out it was watching “international developments” closely.
Cuban President Raul Castro demanded on Wednesday that the United States return the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, lift the half-century trade embargo on Cuba and compensate his country for damages before the two nations re-establish normal relations.
The United States Monday rolled out a new initiative for Caribbean countries to ensure energy security in a move widely seen as distancing the Caribbean from Venezuela for their oil and energy needs.
The US government has called for a “complete and impartial” investigation on the death of AMIA special prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who had accused President Cristina Fernandez of covering up the 1994 bombing of the Jewish community centre.
The United States and Cuba fell short of setting dates to reopen embassies but agreed to meet again to overcome deep rifts after they wrapped up historic talks aimed at normalizing relations.