These three things are going to have an impact on the wider world.

1. Obama says farewell

Barack Obama will make his final speech as president today in his hometown of Chicago, where he formally announced his election victory eight years ago.

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“Chicago was a natural place for him, not just because it’s his hometown,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, “but because it’s where he got his political start, and it’s where he really first learned the lesson … that it’s about the actions of individuals and the actions of people, that’s how real change happens.”

Thousands took to the streets of the city in the early hours of Saturday morning to queue for a ticket to see the president deliver his farewell address. People came from far and wide, braving the freezing conditions.


Obama introduced a variety of new policies during his time in the White House.

His speech is likely to touch on many of them, including Obamacare, a far-reaching healthcare reform package. Since 2010, the number of Americans without health insurance fell by almost half to a record low.

Other successes include a significant reduction in unemployment, which dropped from 7.8 percent at the start of Obama’s presidency to 4.6 percent last November.

The White House will stream the speech live tonight at 8pm CST (2am Wednesday morning London time) on its website and on its official Facebook page. The address will also air live on cable news channels including Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS.

In just 10 days, Obama formally hands over power to president-elect Donald Trump, as well as a much stronger economy than when Obama moved into the White House in 2009.

 

2. Corbyn demands maximum wage cap

back in the UK and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for a maximum wage limit for Britain’s highest earners.

“I would like there to be some kind of high earnings cap, quite honestly,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.

When probed further as to what exact figure would require the cap, he dodged the question, but insisted that it would be “somewhat higher” than his £138,000 salary.

“I can’t put a figure on it and I don’t want to at the moment. The point I’m trying to make is that we have the worst levels of income disparity of most of the OECD countries. It is getting worse. And corporate taxation is a part of it. If we want to live in a more egalitarian society, and fund our public services, we cannot go on creating worse levels of inequality.”

Corbyn’s comments come ahead of his first speech of 2017 . He is expected to argue that Britain can be better off outside the EU and Labour is “not wedded to freedom of movement for EU citizens.”

The suggestion that the party will accept restrictions as part of a Brexit deal is a marked u-turn from the Labour leader’s staunch defence of immigration.

3. Snapchat makes UK its home

Snapchat, formally known as Snap Inc, has chosen to set up its main hub outside the US in Britain, inspiring confidence in the UK market after last June’s vote to quit the European Union.

The Los Angeles-based mobile messaging start-up, valued at $25bn, has more than 150m daily active users worldwide.

“We believe in the UK creative industries. The UK is where our advertising clients are, where more than 10m daily Snapchatters are, and where we’ve already begun to hire talent,” said Claire Valoti, UK general manager of Snap Inc.

Other global tech giants like Apple, Google, and Facebook are based in European countries including the Netherlands and Luxembourg to take advantage of lower taxes.