Industrials

Government-controlled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac posted profits for the April-June period as the U.S. housing market continued to recover.

A majority of Americans agree that the cost of good transportation is worthwhile, but they're divided over how to pay for it.

Last week, tens of thousands of Russians sunning themselves on Italian beaches and Turkish resorts received an unpleasant surprise: their tour companies had gone bust, stranding them and forcing them to pay double for a ticket to get home.

For nearly a century, Missouri has taxed drivers to pay for its roads.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation on Monday completed the $75 million sale of nearly 100 miles of railroad track between Sapulpa and Stillwater to Stillwater Central Railroad LLC, which plans to introduce passenger rail service connecting the Tulsa suburb to the Oklahoma City suburb.

___ US airfares on the rise, outpacing inflation NEW YORK (AP) — The average roundtrip ticket within the U.S., including taxes, reached $509.15 in the first six months of this year, up nearly $14 from the same period last year.

The announcement by a major U.S. coal company that it plans to lay off 1,100 coal mine workers has set off a chain reaction of finger pointing in West Virginia.

PPL Corp. said Thursday it wants to spend billions of dollars to build a 725-mile system of electric transmission lines that will bring energy from the booming Marcellus Shale natural gas fields to customers on the heavily populated Eastern Seaboard.

Union miners and others opposed to stricter pollution rules for coal-burning power plants proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency clashed inside and outside the city's federal building on the first of two days of public hearings on the new regulations.

Congress ran full-tilt into election-year gridlock over immigration Thursday and headed toward a five-week summer break with no agreement in sight on legislation to cope with the influx of young immigrants flocking illegally to the United States.

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits rose last week, but they remain close to pre-recession averages.

Alpha Natural Resources said Thursday it expects to lay off 1,100 workers at 11 southern West Virginia surface coal mines by mid-October, citing dismal markets and federal regulation.

Eager to begin a monthlong break, Congress leavened its customary heavy partisanship on Wednesday with a pinch of compromise, advancing legislation to repair the deeply troubled Department of Veterans Affairs and working to clear funds for highway construction at home and missile defense in Israel.

Republican senators have blocked an election-year bill limiting tax breaks for U.S. companies that move operations overseas.

Opponents of expanding a natural gas pipeline through northwestern Massachusetts rallied on Boston Common on Wednesday, asking Gov. Deval Patrick to rescind his support for a new tax on New Englanders' electricity bills to help subsidize it.

Congressional investigators say the government is underestimating the threat of a chemical attack on America's densely populated cities and has failed to inspect virtually all of the chemical facilities that it considers particularly vulnerable to terrorists.

Gov. Tom Corbett is expected in Pittsburgh at a rally of coal industry supporters who oppose stricter Environmental Protection Agency regulations for coal-fired power plants.

The European Union's sanctions against Russia are bound to inflict pain on the country's ailing economy.

The Senate is scheduled to take up legislation Tuesday to keep federal highway money flowing to states, with just three days left before the government plans to start slowing down payments.

European Union ambassadors are meeting to discuss a dramatic toughening of the trade bloc's sanctions against Russia.