HTTP.php line error message with RSS feed (sidebar widget)

Trying to use the basic WP sidebar RSS widget – the list displays fine but I get the following error displayed immediately before the (seemingly correct) widget on load:

Warning: gzinflate() [function.gzinflate]: data error in …/hi/wp-includes/http.php on line 1787

When I open the http.php file and go to this area, I get this:

class WP_Http_Encoding {

	/**
	 * Compress raw string using the deflate format.
	 *
	 * Supports the RFC 1951 standard.
	 *
	 * @since 2.8
	 *
	 * @param string $raw String to compress.
	 * @param int $level Optional, default is 9. Compression level, 9 is highest.
	 * @param string $supports Optional, not used. When implemented it will choose the right compression based on what the server supports.
	 * @return string|bool False on failure.
	 */
	<strong>function compress( $raw, $level = 9, $supports = null ) {
		return gzdeflate( $raw, $level );
	}</strong>

	/**

Will someone please tell me how to handle it?
Much appreciated – Thank you.