
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.

US ambassador to Argentina Noah B. Mamet held his first meeting with Foreign Minister Hector Timerman at the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday afternoon after he arrived in Buenos Aires on Friday of last week.

US and Cuban officials launched historic talks to shed their Cold War-era hostility on Wednesday, complimenting each other on the first day's progress despite persistent differences over migration policy.

US President Barack Obama has declared an end to the financial crisis and pledged economic policies to benefit all Americans, in his annual State of the Union address to Congress. In a speech devised to appeal to working families, Mr Obama outlined his strategy for middle-class economics.