The world’s economy is set to shrink 2.9 percent this year, and the recovery, when it comes, will be less marked than hoped for, states the World Bank’s Global Development Finance 2009: Charting a Global Recovery, which is published today, 22 June. The forecast shows the economy slowing more than the World Bank predicted in March, when it said 1.7 percent. Poor countries especially are affected. With the economic downturn in richer countries, poorer ones depend  more than ever on exports, remittances and foreign direct investment. The funding gap for these countries in 2009 is expected to be between $350 billion and $635b. The bank also revised downwards its predictions for growth in the US to a 3 percent contraction in 2009, while Japan’s economy will shrink 6.8 percent. Bloomberg, World Bank

US President Barack Obama, while maintaining the trade embargo with Cuba, has eased some restrictions that particularly affect Cuban-American families: cell phone companies and television broadcasts to the island will be allowed and US citizens will be allowed to make unlimited family visits to the island and provide unlimited financial aid to their families. NPR