Transportation

___ 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.

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.

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.

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.

It's a battle pitting the nation's airlines against their passengers, and the first round has gone to the industry.

European Union ambassadors have reached a preliminary deal on stepped-up sanctions against Russia, targeting its access to European capital markets and trade in the defense sector, dual-use goods and sensitive technologies.

United Airlines will be the first U.S. carrier to resume flights to Israel after a two-day hiatus caused by combat in the Gaza Strip.

The Federal Aviation Administration has lifted its ban on U.S. flights in and out of Israel, which the agency had imposed out of concern for the risk of planes being hit by Hamas rockets.

Delta Air Lines is canceling all flights to Israel until further notice, citing reports that a rocket landed near Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport.

Fewer people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, evidence that recent job gains should continue.

If there's anything that can unite Democrats and Republicans in the partisan swamp of Capitol Hill, it's free money.

The House is poised to act on a bill that would temporarily patch over a multibillion-dollar pothole in federal highway and transit programs while ducking the issue of how to put the programs on sound financial footing.

Two environmental groups are asking the U.S. Department of Transportation to immediately ban shipments of volatile crude oil in older railroad tank cars, citing recent explosive oil train wrecks and the department's own findings that those accidents pose an "imminent hazard." The petition filed Tuesday by the Sierra Club and ForestEthics seeks an emergency order within 30 days to prohibit crude from the Northern Plains' Bakken region and elsewhere from being carried in the older tank cars, known as DOT-111s.

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Truck drivers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach agreed Saturday to a cooling-off period following five days of striking that briefly shut the massive ports.

Fewer people sought U.S. unemployment benefits last week, driving down the level of applications to nearly the lowest in seven years.

A House committee took a step Thursday toward keeping highway and transit aid flowing to states just three weeks before transportation programs are forecast to go broke.

Second-quarter earnings for SanDisk exceeded estimates, coming in $1.21 per share. Meanwhile, gas prices continue to creep up.