Obama pledges new EU trade talks and Afghan pull-out in State of Union address

Barack Obama announced plans to withdraw more troops from Afghanistan and take steps to boost the fragile US economy as he delivered a closely-watched State of the Union address today, laying out his priorities for the year ahead and his newly-begun second term in office.

The speech before a joint session of Congress’ two chambers was dominated by domestic issues, as the president challenged deeply-divided politicians to find compromises that would boost job creation and strengthen America’s middle class as he conceded America’s economic revival was an “unfinished task”.