
White House officials say they are “extremely disappointed” by Russia’s decision to grant asylum for one year to Edward Snowden, who is accused of leaking U.S. government secrets. Officials are deciding how to respond.

The White House has confirmed that US president Barack Obama has proposed fellow Democratic Party member Noah Mamet as the new ambassador in Buenos Aires, to replace outgoing incumbent Vilma Martínez.

A completely new and unusual antibiotic compound has been extracted from a marine micro-organism found in sediments off the coast of California. The discovery of genuinely novel antibiotics is rare, and experts say resistance to the drugs poses a grave threat to human health.

US stocks extended gains in volatile trading on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve gave no hint that a reduction in the pace of its bond-buying program is imminent. In a statement following its two-day meeting, the Fed said the economy continues to recover but still needs support.

The US economy grew at an annualised pace of 1.7% in the second quarter of the year, the Commerce Department has said. That was a faster pace than expected by economists. It was also up from the growth rate for the first three months of 2013, which was revised lower to 1.1% from 1.8%.

The US power regulator outlined its case of market manipulation against JPMorgan Chase & Co as industry sources said a final settlement on the issue should come on Tuesday. Traders used improper bidding tactics in California and the Midwest to boost profits, officials said in a statement that brought to light some details of an extensive investigation.

New York-based JPMorgan, the largest US bank, said that it’s “pursuing strategic alternatives,” including the sale or spin-off of its commodities business, after an internal review. The statement came three days after a US congressional hearing investigated whether deposit-taking banks should be allowed to trade raw materials such as oil and industrial metals.

The US House of Representatives has narrowly voted to continue collecting data on US phone calls, in the first legislative move on the program. In a 205-217 vote, lawmakers rejected an effort to restrict the National Security Agency's (NSA) ability to collect electronic information.

Argentina’s state-run airline and flag carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas announced this week it will resume its direct flights to New York that were terminated five years ago. On December 15, the company will be offering a daily flight from Ezeiza airport to New York’s John F. Kennedy airport.

The International Monetary Fund no longer plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review Argentina's case in its decade-old legal battle with holdout creditors due to a lack of support from the U.S. government, the IMF said on Tuesday.