Thin Red Line: The White House reports that with “varying degrees of confidence” US intelligence agencies believe Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own people. But a statement said the US needed conclusive proof before taking action. President Obama has declared the use of chemicals a “red line” that, if crossed, the US would act.

Econ 101: The US economy grew at 2.5% in the first quarter, less than the 3% projected. Despite higher consumer spending and movement in the housing market, it could be a sign the economic recovery is slowing.

Bombers: The New York police say the Boston bombers were on their way to New York the night they were caught in a shootout in Watertown, Mass. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “We were informed by the FBI that the surviving attacker revealed that New York City was next on their list of targets.” The bombers had one remaining pressure cooker bomb and several other small homemade bombs. But the Mercedes SUV the Tsarnaev brothers had hijacked was low on gas. When they stopped at a gas station the driver escaped and called the police.

Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who stopped talking to investigators after his arraignment, has been moved to a prison hospital.

World: Fire in a Moscow psychiatric hospital killed 38 people. Firefighters were delayed getting there because a ferry across a canal was closed and they had to take a detour.

➢Police fired rubber bullets and teargas at crowds gathered to protest working conditions at the site of that factory collapse in Bangladesh. Forty-five people have been pulled from the rubble, but the death toll has risen to 300 and hundreds of people are still missing.

National: With flight delays getting worse every day, the Senate made a quick vote yesterday to allow the Transportation Department to move money that will keep air controllers at full strength. Furloughs forced by budget cuts are leaving control towers undermanned.

➢Former President George W. Bush (43) was at times teary-eyed at the dedication of his library in Dallas. He joked, “there was a time in my life when I wasn’t likely to be found in a library, much less found one.”

All five living presidents were there, but they were upstaged by George H.W. Bush (41) who wore hot pink socks.

Gridiron: Offensive tackle Eric Fisher of Central Michigan was picked first in the NFL draft by Kansas City. Fisher is 6-7, 306 pounds. Notre Dame’s star linebacker Manti Te’o, who gained notoriety for a romance with a woman who didn’t exist, was passed over in the first round.

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