United States

• Tuesday, December 20th 2016 - 06:51 UTC

  US labor market “the strongest in more than a decade”, Yellen tells graduating class

  

  The United States labor market is in the best condition in last decade said the chairman of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen during a speech to the graduating class at the University of Baltimore. Fed chairman said that the signs of healthy labor market are abundant, among which stand out the stable rate of creation of new jobs and lower share of cuts.

• Tuesday, December 20th 2016 - 06:40 UTC

  Trump easily confirmed by the Electoral College: promises “to work hard to unite the country”

  

  Billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump was officially elected as the 45th U.S. president Monday, his victory confirmed by the required vote in the Electoral College. Republican Trump prevailed comfortably in the Electoral College easily dashing a long-shot push by a small movement of detractors to try to block him from gaining the White House.

• Monday, December 19th 2016 - 10:13 UTC

  US ups reward to $25 million for the capture of ISIS' so-called caliph

  

  The United States raised the previous offer for information on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The reward is now worth US$ 25 million for information that would help locate, arrest or convict him, it was announced in a statement. In October 2011, the State Department offered $10 million for information on Baghdadi through its Rewards for Justice program.

• Monday, December 19th 2016 - 09:31 UTC

  Russian cyber-attacks: top US Senators from both parties call for a Select Committee

  

  Pressure mounted on Sunday for a broader congressional investigation of Russian cyber-attacks aimed at influencing the United States election, even as President-elect Donald J Trump team says there was no conclusive evidence of foreign interference.

• Monday, December 19th 2016 - 08:58 UTC

  Street protests in California against president-elect Trump and announced policies

  

  A coalition of activist groups took on Sunday the streets of downtown Los Angeles to protest against some of the labor and immigration policies proposed by President-elect Donald Trump, a day before he is expected to officially claim victory in the nation’s presidential contest.

• Monday, December 19th 2016 - 08:50 UTC

  China ready to return US submarine drone: Trump accuses Beijing of “stealing”, tells them, “keep it!”

  

  China says it will hand over an underwater U.S. drone it seized in the international waters of the South China Sea, prompting President-elect Donald Trump to say the United States should tell China to keep the device. Trump does not assume power for another month, but weighed in on the maritime incident in which Chinese naval forces seized the unmanned submersible while it was collecting unclassified scientific data on Thursday.

• Monday, December 19th 2016 - 07:42 UTC

  US Electoral College 538 ballots set to confirm Trump as president despite controversial campaign

  

  The next chapter in the tumultuous U.S. presidential election takes place on Monday at the Electoral College which is expected to officially confirm that billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump as the US 45th president.

• Thursday, December 15th 2016 - 14:02 UTC

  Israel welcomes Donald Trump’s plan to move US embassy to Jerusalem

  

  Israel's officials have welcome Donald Trump’s campaign promise to switch the US embassy from Tel Aviv, saying it would be as easy as changing a sign on a building. But other Middle East countries fear such a move will not help the overall situation.

• Thursday, December 15th 2016 - 13:03 UTC

  Temer talks to Trump and they agree to promote trade and investments

  

  Brazil's President Michel Temer called U.S. President-elect Donald Trump agreeing to work together to improve business relations between the two largest economies in the Americas, a statement from Temer's office said. Brazil is keen to explore business opportunities that could open up if Trump follows through on campaign promises to rewrite a trade deal with Mexico.

• Thursday, December 15th 2016 - 00:18 UTC

  Fed raises rate 25 points to 0.75%, anticipates further increases while US dollar jumps in Asian markets

  

  The U.S. Federal Reserve increased its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of between 0.5 and 0.75%. The higher rate will affect the what savers and borrowers get on their variable rate products from banks, and the fine print of the bank's policy decision shows that a majority of Fed members expect more rate hikes to come, as many as three in the next 12 months, after previously signaling it was expecting only two.