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Senior officials in Turkmenistan say the energy-rich Central Asian nation plans to sign a natural gas sales agreement with Afghanistan, Pakistan and India later this month.
The deal would mark a decisive move toward construction of a landmark pipeline crossing the four nations that backers hope will meet energy demands across the region.
Two high-ranking officials, who […]

McKendree University has acquired the 18-hole Locust Hills Golf Course in Lebanon for $1.4 million, nearly doubling the size of the school’s campus. 
McKendree bought the public golf course for its future development needs but plans to keep the course open for now, the school said in a statement. The golf course is located at 1015 […]

A spokesman for international Syria envoy Kofi Annan says the United Nations hopes to have 30 cease-fire monitors in the country next week.
Ahmad Fawzi says seven observers are already on the ground and another two will arrive on Monday.
Fawzi told reporters in Geneva on Friday that the preliminary agreement signed with the Syrian government this […]

Isle of Capri Casinos’ board of directors have elected the gaming company’s Chief Executive Virginia McDowell to the board.
The election, which was effective on April 12, was the result of a decision to increase the board by one member.
McDowell took the helm of the Creve Coeur-based casino operator in April 2011 free business cards.
Source

U.S. wholesale businesses stepped up restocking in February, while more expensive gasoline drove sales higher.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that stockpiles at the wholesale level rose a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent in February to $478.9 billion. The government also revised January wholesale inventory growth to show a 0.6 percent increase, up from the initial reading […]

Witnesses close to MF Global’s collapse will offer details Wednesday about customer money that vanished days before the firm failed. Their testimony could challenge statements by former CEO Jon Corzine.
A JPMorgan Chase executive will testify at a congressional hearing that the bank asked Corzine if an Oct. 28 transfer of $200 million from a customer […]

The following recall has been announced:
PLAY THEATER TOYS
DETAILS: Four-in-one dramatic play theater toys imported by Guidecraft Inc., of Winthrop, Minn., and manufactured by Mega Profit Trading Ltd., of China. The toys were sold at various catalogs, Guidecraft.com and other Internet retailers nationwide from July 2010 through April 2011.
WHY: The toy theaters can unexpectedly tip over […]

U.S. manufacturers are hiring at the fastest pace in more than a decade to keep up with new orders but sweeping technological advances could cost thousands of factory workers their jobs in years to come.
At a new factory in upstate New York, which is due to churn out its first computer chips this year, […]

A third round of large-scale asset purchases by the Federal Reserve is not needed and would compound the difficulties of tightening monetary policy when the time finally comes, a top Fed official said on Thursday.
“Personally I don’t see how you can justify it given the state of the current economy,” Dallas Federal Reserve President […]

Officials say talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country’s privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close.
A statement from creditor representatives Charles Dallara and Jean Lemierre says the two sides are “close to the finalization of a voluntary (private sector involvement) … We expect to conclude next week […]