The New York-Based Conference Board reports that its consumer confidence index stands at 54.1, up from a revised 47.4 reading in July.

VOA: standard.2009.08.25

Fears of a wider-ranging debt default affecting other banks drove Japan's Nikkei index down two percent.

VOA: standard.2009.11.27

Dr.Kausalya Pendyal tells her patients in Richmond, Virginia before they go outside to check the Air Quality Index - a U.S.government assessment of pollutants in the air.

VOA: standard.2010.08.04