Nine of Federal Reserve directors thought continued deterioration in financial markets and weakened economic conditions in the housing and labor markets needed the half percentage point cut to the discount rate last month.
An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale shook England early on Wednesday morning.
Venezuela has said it is ready to recover four hostages held by Colombian rebels, in the second release deal brokered by the government of Hugo Chavez this year.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone met with newly-affirmed Cuban leader Raul Castro just two days after the ageing dictator Fidel Castro relinquished power.
By the end of this year, half of the world's 6.7 billion people will live in urban areas, according to a report unveiled by the United Nations on Tuesday, which also predicts that future growth of the world's urban population will be concentrated in Asia and Africa.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) should not interfere with production quotas at its meeting on March 5 if prices remain at their current levels, said Rilwanu Lukman, oil adviser to the President of Nigeria. Oil prices this week hovered in the range of 100 US dollars a barrel.