Guinea-Bissau's two leading politicians are due to meet the Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara over the weekend, after more than two weeks in

detention

. President Ouattara is the current chairman of the West African regional body Ecowas. And on Thursday, the group agreed to send a 600-strong regional force to Bissau to secure a transition to civilian rule. A second round of presidential elections had been scheduled for this weekend. It was expected to see the election of Carlos Gomes Junior, who gained 49% of the vote in the first round in March.

New figures show that growth in the American economy has slowed in the first quarter of this year. The US Commerce Department said it expanded at an annual rate of 2.2%, compared with 3% in the final quarter of last year. Here's Andrew Walker.

This figure is seen by many economists as rather disappointing. It's lower than what most expected and a good deal less than what it would take to make a substantial impact on the country's unemployment problem. The weakest areas were business investment and government spending. But there were some aspects that are seen as more positive. Consumer spending and export grew more quickly than before. Economic news is important politically in a presidential election year, and what the new data suggest is a recovery that is still rather

unconvincing

.

Spanish unemployment figures show that nearly a quarter of the workforce is jobless - the highest level in 18 years. More than 5.5 million people are looking for work, and 370,000 people have lost their jobs since the start of the year. Spain's unemployment rate is now the highest of all 17 countries in the eurozone.