News Today - June 25

* The Federal Reserve refrained from increasing its $1.75 trillion bond-purchase program, said the pace of economic contraction is slowing and predicted inflation will remain “subdued for some time.” Text of FOMC Statement

* Japan’s creditworthiness worsened in the past three years, though not enough for Standard & Poor’s to lower the country’s rating from AA, said Takahira Ogawa, the company’s sovereign rating director.

* Buffett: No Green Shoots At All

* Ireland faces the worst recession in the developed world and a particularly long struggle to bail out its property-crippled banks , the International Monetary Fund forecast on Wednesday.

* The Federal Reserve sought to hide its involvement in Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch as Merrill's financial condition worsened, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said on Wednesday.

Related articles

• US Fed sees 'easing' of recession (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Stocks End Mostly Higher After Fed Assessment (abcnews.go.com)