
US Vice President Joe Biden will hold talks with Latin American leaders about protest-hit Venezuela during his trip to Chile from Sunday for the inauguration of President Michelle Bachelet scheduled for Tuesday and which is expected to convene regional leaders.

The US economy added 175,000 new jobs in February, but the unemployment rate rose slightly to 6.7%. The jobs figures, from the US Labor Department, were better than many had been expecting and marked a rebound from two weak months.

The US Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday for British company British Gas Group Plc in its effort to reinstate a 185.3 million dollars arbitration award against Argentina that a US appeals court threw out.

President Barack Obama proposed new tax credits and job-training programs for US workers in a 2015 budget that drew instant condemnation from Republicans, who dismissed the document as an election-year campaign pitch.

The United States has named several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries as major money laundering states whose financial institutions engage in currency transactions involving significant amounts of proceeds from international narcotics trafficking.

The US government slashed its estimate for fourth-quarter growth as consumer spending and exports were less robust than initially thought, leaving the economy on a more sustainable path of modest expansion. GDP expanded at a 2.4% annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday.

The US Congress should look into legal options for regulating virtual currencies such as bitcoin, said Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yelleny. Japan-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox went dark leaving customers unable to access their accounts. Experts have warned they might not have much recourse to recover their money.

The United States ordered three Venezuelan diplomats to leave in reprisal for President Nicolas Maduro's expulsion of three US embassy staff accused of fomenting unrest that has killed at least 13 people.

Argentina announced on Tuesday it had appealed to the US Supreme Court against a lower court order to pay off hedge fund investors in its bonds, arguing that order violated its sovereignty.

The US Federal Reserve adopted tight new rules for foreign banks to shield the US taxpayer from costly bailouts, ceding only minor concessions despite pressure from abroad to weaken the rule.