BBC在线收听下载:美联储调低今年增长预期

BBC news 2012-06-21

BBC News with Sue Montgomery

The election authorities in Egypt say the results of the presidential run-off between the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi and the former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik have been delayed. The results were scheduled to be announced on Thursday, but the election commission said it needed more time to review hundreds of complaints filed by the rival candidates. Both men claim to have won last weekend's poll. Nader Omran of the Muslim Brotherhood spoke to the BBC from Tahrir Square.

"I think it's so clear. It's so obvious, and reports were there two days ago on this. I think there's no need to delay it. This will bring more and more tension to the people, and they'll be more nervous waiting for one or two or three days for that. So I think it's much better for them to end this story tomorrow."

The leader of the party that narrowly won Sunday's general election in Greece has been sworn in as prime minister, raising hopes of an end to the country's political and economic turmoil. Antonis Samaras of the centre-right New Democracy party promised to do everything to overcome the Greek economic crisis. Mark Lowen is in Athens.

In a solemn traditional ceremony Antonis Samaras was sworn in by the archbishop of Greece as the country's new prime minister. He said his goal was to take Greece out of its financial crisis and to restore hope. Mr Samaras will lead a coalition government of three parties. The first task will be to attend a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday, in which Greece will try to re-negotiate some terms of its international bailout.

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 ranchers and farmers.

Militants from Hamas in Gaza say they are ready to stop the latest round of cross-border attacks if Israel agrees to follow suit. The Hamas statement said they were responding to efforts by Egypt to broker a ceasefire. Eight Palestinians have been killed in the last three days in Israeli air strikes in Gaza while militants inside the Palestinian territory have fired rockets into Israel.

A gunman claiming to be inspired by al-Qaeda has given himself up after a siege at a bank in the southern French city of Toulouse. All his four hostages have been freed unharmed. The incident follows a siege in March by an Islamist militant Mohamed Merah, who shot seven people dead. From Paris, Hugh Schofield.

Six hours of siege ended successfully with the controlled use of force by the police. The man was shot as he came out of the bank holding one of his hostages. Overpowered by police, he was treated for gunshot wounds on the spot, but his life is not in danger. Earlier the man had released two of his four hostages. He told police his motives were religious, but they suspect that the main factor is his known history of mental trouble.

The English woman who gave birth to the world's first test tube baby has died at the age of 64. Lesley Brown made history in July 1978 when her daughter Louise was born following IVF treatment. Mrs Brown had been trying for a baby with her husband for nine years before she successfully conceived through what was then still an experimental technique. Speaking later she said she'd been so desperate to have a baby she was willing to put up with anything to give birth.

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