US Government to pass $433 Billion economic package

American senator Joe Manchin has reached a deal with democratic leaders on a spending package which aims to lower health-care costs, combat climate change and reduce the federal deficit.

In the DRC, licensing rights for thirty oil and gas blocks have gone up for auction, opening parts of the world's second-biggest rainforest to drilling that could release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

And the Commonwealth Games officially opens in the English city of Birmingham amidst pump and pageantry.

(Joe Manchin says he now backs the bill to raise corporate taxes. Image credit: Reuters)