Associated Press     2/22/2012 12:32 AM   

SAN FRANCISCO -- Construction giant URS Corp. has offered $1.25 billion in cash to buy the Canadian oil and gas contractor Flint Energy Services Ltd. URS, based in San Francisco, said Monday that the deal will significantly expand its presence in t ...

By RAPHAEL SATTER   Associated Press   2/22/2012 12:31 AM   

LONDON (AP) -- Status update: You're sued. Legal authorities said Tuesday that a High Court judge in England has approved the use of Facebook to serve legal claims. Lawyers in a commercial dispute were last week granted permission to serve a suit ...

Associated Press     2/22/2012 12:31 AM   

By The Associated Press App Store Official Charts for the week ending Feb. 20, 2012: Top Paid iPhone Apps: 1. Where's My Water? (Disney) 2. Clear (Realmac Software) 3. Grand Theft Auto 3 (Rockstar Games) 4. Ragdoll Blaster 3 (Backflip Stu ...

Associated Press     2/22/2012 12:31 AM   

1. "Part of Me," Katy Perry 2. "I Will Always Love You," Whitney Houston 3. "Rolling in the Deep," ADELE 4. "Set Fire to the Rain," ADELE 5. "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," Kelly Clarkson 6. "We Are Young (feat. Janelle Monae)," Fun. ...

By CHRISTINA REXRODE   Associated Press   2/21/2012 7:48 PM   

NEW YORK -- It came and went in a flash, a number on a board for seconds at a time, but its symbolic power couldn't be dismissed. The Dow Jones industrial average, powered higher all year by optimism that the economic recovery is finally for real, cr ...

By WAYNE PARRY   Associated Press   2/21/2012 12:30 AM   

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Casino patrons in Atlantic City will soon be Revel-ing in a new burlesque show. When the Revel casino opens in April, one of its attractions will be "Ivan Kane's Royal Jelly," a burlesque show that lends a traditional nightcl ...

By BRADLEY KLAPPER   Associated Press   2/20/2012 9:32 PM   

LAS CABOS, Mexico (AP) -- The United States and Mexico agreed Monday to work together when drilling for oil and gas below their maritime border in the Gulf of Mexico. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mexico's foreign minister signed th ...

Associated Press     2/20/2012 9:32 PM   

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to buy a controlling interest in the fast-growing Chinese online retailer Yihaodian. The big-box chain operator has agreed to increase its stake in Yihaodian's holding company to approximately 51 ...

By SAMANTHA BOMKAMP   Associated Press   2/17/2012 9:07 PM   

NEW YORK (AP) -- United Parcel Service, the world's largest package delivery company, said Friday it is still in talks to acquire TNT Express even after the Dutch package delivery company rejected a $6.43 billion bid. UPS said there is no guarante ...

Associated Press     2/17/2012 9:06 PM   

ATLANTA (AP) -- Caterpillar says it is building a new manufacturing plant in Georgia, which company officials said is expected to employ 1,400 workers in the state. The company, which is based in Peoria, Ill., said in a statement Friday morning tha ...

By RYAN J. FOLEY   Associated Press   2/17/2012 10:26 AM   

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- After years of litigation, a judge will soon decide whether to grant thousands of black employees and job applicants monetary damages for hiring practices used by every agency of Iowa state government that they say has disadvantage ...

By HOPE YEN   Associated Press   2/17/2012 12:33 AM   

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) -- The Postal Service is warning it will lose as much as $18.2 billion each year by 2015 if Congress doesn't give it leeway to eliminate Saturday mail delivery and make other service cuts. In a letter to Congress, Postmaster G ...

By DYLAN LOVAN   Associated Press   2/17/2012 12:33 AM   

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- The group building a Noah's Ark-themed tourism attraction in northern Kentucky said it has purchased the final tract of land for the project but that a sluggish economy has hurt fundraising and the park is still years away fro ...

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO   Associated Press   2/17/2012 12:33 AM   

NEW YORK (AP) -- Upscale department store operator Nordstrom Inc. said Thursday that its affluent shoppers continued to spend in the fourth quarter and its profit rose 1.7 percent from a year earlier. And the important retail metric of revenue at ...

Associated Press     2/17/2012 12:33 AM   

NEW YORK -- Snickers bars may soon satisfy you a bit less. Mars Inc., the makers of popular candy brands including M&M's and Twix, will stop making chocolate products that exceed 250 calories by the end of next year. That means king-sized version ...

Associated Press     2/17/2012 12:31 AM   

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A chemical company plans to expand its operations in Lee County, creating 60 new jobs. Gov. Nikki Haley said Thursday that Martech Research will spend nearly $5 million to expand the operation in Bishopville. Martech has pu ...

Associated Press     2/17/2012 12:31 AM   

NEW YORK (AP) -- Apple has asked online retailer Amazon.com to stop selling the iPad in China, according to a published report. The Wall Street Journal said Thursday that Apple pulled the iPad 2 from websites of some unauthorized merchants in China ...

By PAN PYLAS   Associated Press   2/16/2012 10:46 AM   

LONDON -- Mounting political tensions and frustration at a lack of resolution over whether Greece will get a vital bailout rekindled fears Thursday that Europe's debt crisis could spread to other countries. As stocks and the euro fell on Thursday, b ...

By TOM KRISHER   Associated Press   2/16/2012 10:40 AM   

DETROIT -- General Motors earned its largest profit ever in 2011, two years after it nearly collapsed into financial ruin. Strong sales in the U.S. and China helped the 103-year-old carmaker turn a profit of $7.6 billion, beating its old record of $6 ...

Associated Press     2/16/2012 12:31 AM   

NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation's six biggest credit card companies say they had mixed results for customer payments in January, splitting evenly between those that had lower defaults and those with increased write-off rates. But even with the small u ...