The United States central bank, the Federal Reserve, has cut its forecast for growth this year, saying the pace of recovery in the US has slowed. Mark Mardell is in Washington.
The Federal Reserve has cut its growth forecast for this year from 2.9% to 2.4%. The central bankers' report says there's still a recovery in the United States, but it's just slowed down, and what's happening in the rest of the world poses significant risks. The Fed says the US economy is expanding
moderately
, but unemployment is high, job creation has slowed, and so has household spending. The housing market is still depressed. Also the Fed is extending Operation Twist until the end of the year. That's a plan to swap short-term bonds for long-term ones at a cost of around $267bn.
The Red Cross says its teams are still waiting to enter the Syrian city of Homs, where hundreds of civilians are in desperate need of help. On Wednesday government forces and opposition fighters agreed to a two-hour ceasefire to allow aid through, but it's still unclear if the heavy shelling and gunfire has died out completely. The International Committee of the Red Cross called the situation in Homs critical with hundreds of people in need of food, water and medical care.
World News from the BBC
A Brazilian prosecutor has requested that the government pay an
indigenous
tribe evicted from its ancestral lands $83m in damages. The prosecutor says the Guyraroka community in western Brazil will need the money to make their environment sustainable again after decades of destruction by cattle