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The economic outlook for nine U.S. Midwest and South-Central states slumped for a third consecutive month in August, pointing to slower growth as the potential for a double-dip recession rises, according to a survey of supply managers released on Wednesday.   Creighton University's Business Conditions Index fell to 55.8 in August from 60.8 in July. A reading of 50 is considered growth neutral, while readings above that signal expansion over the next three to six months.   Just over a third of the survey's respondents said it was likely or very likely the U.S. economy will slip back into a recession in 2011, while 44 percent said there was a 50 percent chance of that happening. Still, the Mid-America region looks stronger than the national economy, said Creighton University Economics Professor Ernie Goss. "Over the past several months, for example, the region has been adding jobs at a very healthy pace while U.S. job growth has been nil," he said in a statement. ...

    DSE NEWS News:    Today's (02.09.2010) Total Trades: 204,517; Volume: 85,041,845 and Turnover: Tk. 15,217.66 million. IMAMBUTTON News:    The Company has informed that the Management of the company has decided to Demate the share of the company subject to the approval of SEC. UNITEDINS News:    In response to a DSE query, the company has informed that there is no undisclosed price sensitive information of the company for recent unusual price hike. POPULARLIF News:    Mr. Md. Rukunuddin Mollah, one of the Sponsors/Directors of the company, has reported his intention to sell 2,500 shares out of his total holdings of 10,955 shares of the company at prevailing market price through Stock Exchange within next 30 working days. FIRSTSBANK News:    The Bank has informed that the share division of the Bank has been shifted at 23 Dilkusha Commercial Area (2nd floor), Dhaka-1000 from Bengal C...

US President Barack Obama has urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders not to let the chance of a permanent peace deal "slip away". "This moment of opportunity may not soon come again," he said, pledging US support for the new negotiations. Mr Obama spoke the day before a new round of direct talks between Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was due to begin. Mr Obama spoke at the White House on Wednesday evening after meetings with Mr Netanyahu, Mr Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. His remarks came on the eve of the first direct negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in 20 months, which he said were "intended to resolve all final status issues". Mr Obama said the goal of the talks, which are expected to last a year, was a permanent settlement that ended the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and resulted in an independent, democratic  Palestinian state existing peace...

The yen rose and was on track for its fourth consecutive monthly advance against the dollar on Tuesday, its longest winning streak in 19 months, as investors shrugged off Japan's latest easing move. Demand for the safe-haven currency rose in the past month as U.S. Treasury yields tumbled amid mounting signs the economic recovery in the United States was faltering. The rapid advance, which pushed the yen to a 15-year high this month, prompted Japanese authorities to announce measures on Monday to curb the yen's strength to protect the country's exports. Traders and analysts saw the central bank's moves as a symbolic gesture that will do little to halt the climb. They said that short of direct intervention in the foreign exchange markets, the yen is bound to test its all-time high of 79.75 yen set in April 1995, according to Reuters data. "The policy action by the BoJ isn't going to change the market's mood. It would probably take intervention to shake things...

Residential area submerged due to Hurricane Earl in USA U.S. residents urged to prepare for possible evacuations as powerful Hurricane Earl howled over open seas running toward the East Coast of the U.S.A. The Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 135 mph (215 kilometers), was expected to remain over the open ocean before turning north and running parallel to the U.S. coast, potentially reaching the North Carolina coastal region by late Thursday or early Friday. It was projected then to curve back out to sea, perhaps swiping New England or far-eastern Canada. "We can't totally rule out a very close approach to either of the Cape Hatteras areas or Cape Cod and southern New England as the storm progresses further," said Bill Read, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Earl delivered a glancing blow to several small Caribbean islands Monday, tearing roofs off of homes and cutting electricity to people in Anguilla, Antigua, and St. Maarten. Cruise ships were ...

More than $5 billion in American taxpayer funds has been wasted which is more than 10 percent of the some $50 billion the U.S. has spent on reconstruction in Iraq, according to audits from a U.S. watchdog agency. As the U.S. draws down in Iraq, it is leaving behind hundreds of abandoned or incomplete projects. A $40 million prison sits in the desert north of Baghdad, empty. A $165 million children's hospital goes unused in the south. A $100 million waste water treatment system in Fallujah has cost three times more than projected, yet sewage still runs through the streets. That amount is likely an underestimate, based on an analysis of more than 300 reports by auditors with the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. And it does not take into account security costs, which have run almost 17 percent for some projects. There are success stories. Hundreds of police stations, border forts and government buildings have been built, Iraqi security forces have improved after year...

The US economy grew 1.6% in the second quarter, revised down from a first estimate of 2.4%.The figures were better than most analysts had expected. Recent data on the US economy had raised worries that the US was entering a double-dip recession, dragging the rest of the world with it. The revised figure was mostly due to the largest surge in imports in 26 years, and a slower build-up of stocks by companies. Economists had estimated the revision would be sharper for the April-to-June period, down to about 1.3%. Nevertheless, it still marks a big drop on the growth figure for the previous three months, which stood at 3.7%. The US economy has now grown for four straight quarters, although that annualised growth rate averaged only 2.9%. Experts say that the economy needs to grow at about 3% just to keep the unemployment rate, currently 9.5%, from rising. Business investment in new machinery, computers and software drove much of the growth last quarter, increasing nearly 25%. But much of th...

JAKARTA: A volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra erupted for the first time in 400 years Sunday, spewing a vast cloud of smoke and ash into the air and sending thousands of people fleeing from their homes. Indonesia issued a red alert after the Sinabung volcano erupted, blanketing the area in thick and acrid black smoke, disaster officials said, although no casualties have yet been reported. "It's clearly dangerous so we've raised the warning to the highest level, or red level," said Surono, head of the nation's volcano disaster alert centre. "From the crater, it shot smoke and volcanic ash 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) into the sky," he told AFP. "Initially we thought the ash and smoke were triggered by rain but now we know the driving pressure was from magma." The 2,460-metre (8,100 feet) Sinabung in northern Sumatra has not erupted for more than 400 years b...