United States

• Tuesday, March 31st 2009 - 07:21 UTC

  Restructuring deadline for GM & Chrysler; Wall Street plunges

  

  President Barack Obama has given US carmakers General Motors (GM) and Chrysler strict deadlines to restructure before getting more aid. General Motors will be given 60 days and Chrysler just 30 days to submit new plans for recovery.

• Monday, March 30th 2009 - 15:24 UTC

  US will no longer “dictate unilaterally”, but Cuban embargo remains

  

  United States Vice President Joe Biden said that Washington would no longer “dictate unilaterally” to Latin America, and that it had entered a new era in the historically troubled relationship.

• Monday, March 30th 2009 - 15:01 UTC

  CEO of GM steps down following suggestions from Obama

  

  The chief executive of struggling US car company General Motors, Rick Wagoner, has agreed to step down. He will leave his post immediately at the request of the White House, a government official confirmed.

• Monday, March 30th 2009 - 14:32 UTC

  Central America will ask Biden to slow flood of deportations

  

  Central American leaders are expected to push United States to slow a flood of deportations when Vice-President Joe Biden meets with them Monday, promising a “new day for relations” with a region that has felt ignored.

• Saturday, March 28th 2009 - 08:01 UTC

  Biden advances President Obama’s Latinamerican approach

  

  United States Vice President Joe Biden is on a four-day trip to Central and South America for meetings he said represent a “new day” for partnerships in the Americas.

• Saturday, March 28th 2009 - 03:34 UTC

  US economy at its worst in fourth quarter but could be bottoming out

  

  The United States economy contracted at a stunning pace of 6.3% in the fourth quarter of 2008, the most in 26 years, as consumers cut down on spending and exports weakened.

• Friday, March 27th 2009 - 08:02 UTC

  Obama administration unveils regulatory framework for financial system

  

  United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has outlined far-reaching plans to strengthen government authority over the US financial system. The measures are designed to prevent the kind of systemic risk-taking among banks that has contributed to the current financial crisis.

• Thursday, March 26th 2009 - 17:54 UTC

  Obama defends dollar and “extraordinary strong” US economy

  

  Calls from China and other emerging economies for the creation of a new global currency to replace the US dollar are unnecessary because confidence in the dollar is “extraordinarily strong” said US president Barack Obama.

• Wednesday, March 25th 2009 - 07:54 UTC

  Geithner, Bernanke reject suggestions to replace the US dollar as global currency

  

  Unites States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke dismissed on Tuesday suggestions by leading emerging economies that the global economy move away from using the dollar as the main reserve currency.

• Monday, March 23rd 2009 - 22:44 UTC

  Positive reaction to US plan to buy one trillion USD in toxic assets

  

  United States announced Monday details of a plan to buy up to one trillion US dollars worth of toxic assets to help repair banks' balance sheets. The “Public-Private Investment Programme” will purchase the troubled mortgages and securities that have been at the root of the credit crunch.