United States

• Sunday, January 20th 2013 - 19:40 UTC

  Obama begins his second mandate; the public ceremony and pomp on Monday

  

  Barack Obama has officially been sworn in for his second term as US president in a small ceremony at the White House. Although the US Constitution requires the oath of office to be taken by noon on 20 January, that falls on a Sunday so the public inauguration will take place on Monday.

• Friday, January 18th 2013 - 06:02 UTC

  Venezuela wants best of relations with the US based on ‘mutual absolute respect’

  

  Vice-president Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday that Venezuela is willing to have the ‘best possible relations’ with the US government as long as these are based on respect and equality. He added that it was President Hugo Chavez who instructed the newly named Foreign minister Elias Jaua on the issue.

• Tuesday, January 15th 2013 - 22:00 UTC

  Cuba admits 51 cholera cases in Havana; travel warnings from UK and US

  

  Cuba's Public Health Ministry on Tuesday acknowledged 51 new cases of cholera in the capital Havana amid growing concerns about the illness' spread and disappointment in the diplomatic community over the government's lack of transparency.

• Tuesday, January 15th 2013 - 06:53 UTC

  US waiting for Venezuela situation to ‘clear up’; insists constitution must be complied

  

  United States and other Latinamerican countries wish the situation in Venezuela ‘clears up’, said Roberta S. Jacobson Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, currently in Spain as part of a visit that also includes the UK and Belgium.

• Tuesday, January 15th 2013 - 06:49 UTC

  Battle over the debt ceiling rages; Bernanke warns economy still too weak

  

  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged US lawmakers to lift the country's borrowing limit to avoid a potentially disastrous debt default, warning that the economy was still at risk from political gridlock over the deficit.

• Monday, January 14th 2013 - 06:29 UTC

  Growing number of US states pushing to concentrate fiscal revenue on sales tax

  

  Attempts to overhaul the US federal tax system are fading in a divided congress in Washington, but in some state capitals, tax reform experiments - some far-reaching - are fast taking shape. Across the South and Midwest, Republicans have consolidated control of state legislatures and governorships, giving them the power to test long-debated tax ideas.

• Monday, January 14th 2013 - 06:24 UTC

  Flu outbreak forces New York State to declare a public health emergency

  

  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a public health emergency Sunday, giving pharmacists permission to administer flu vaccinations to more people as officials seek to stem the worst flu outbreak in that state in several years.

• Monday, January 14th 2013 - 06:20 UTC

  Twenty million US children, one in four, received food stamps in 2011

  

  One in four children in the United States participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, in fiscal year 2011, according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture and US Census Bureau.

• Saturday, January 12th 2013 - 18:57 UTC

  P&O cruise line suspends stops in Argentina, confirms calls in the Falklands

  

  British cruise line operator P&O has scrapped stops in Argentina because of continuing tensions with the country over the Falkland Islands. Two of its vessels will no longer dock at three Argentine port destinations on around-the-world cruises. The decision was taken because there was no guarantee they will be able to dock.

• Friday, January 11th 2013 - 08:25 UTC

  Obama nominates budget expert to replace Geithner as Treasury Secretary

  

  US President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated his chief of staff, Jack Lew, as the next Treasury secretary, praising him as a expert on the pressing national issues of spending cuts and deficit reduction.