The Venice Architecture Biennale this year gives top billing to U.K. architects, starting with David Chipperfield.

Southwest Airlines Co. has seen nearly-full planes, but weakness in average pricing during August, which will limit the increase in a key revenue figure.

Darden Restaurants violated federal labor laws by underpaying thousands of servers across the country at Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Red Lobster and other eateries, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of the workers.

Drunk on power. That’s the best way to describe two new cars from BMW, the M5 and M6. Both are variants of the already potent 5 Series sedan and 6 Series coupe and convertible.

Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages changed little this week and remained slightly above record lows reached earlier this year. The low rates have aided a modest housing recovery.

Claims for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in a month and American companies added more workers than forecast, easing concern the labor market may be stagnating.

Amazon.com Inc. is updating its line of Kindle e-books and media devices in a bid to stoke consumer demand as Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. crowd the tablet market with competing machines.

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. reported an unexpected profit for its fiscal third quarter as orders jumped and it recorded a tax benefit.

Ford Motor Co. on Thursday unveiled 15 new or restyled vehicles for the European market that it will launch over five years to revive slumping sales.

Amazon.com Inc. refreshed its Kindle line of gadgets on Thursday. It updated its Kindle Fire tablet computer and announced new stand-alone e-reader models.

The last time the stock market was this high, the Great Recession was turning a month old, and stocks were pointed toward a headlong descent.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Oil rose after the European Central Bank announced a bond-buying plan to ease the region’s debt crisis and U.S. crude supplies fell to a five-month low.

At last week’s conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo., the main topic of conversation was off the program.

I hate to bring up abortion during the Democrats’ festivities, which are going so swimmingly, but I have a question.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Realty Income Corp. agreed to buy American Realty Capital Trust Inc. for $1.9 billion in stock, the second-largest acquisition of a U.S. real estate investment trust announced this year.

A private survey shows U.S. businesses stepped up hiring in August, an encouraging sign ahead of Friday's government employment report.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Employers in the U.S. announced fewer job cuts in August than the same month last year as government agencies and retailers pared reductions.

The European Central Bank unveiled its most ambitious plan yet to halt Europe's financial crisis on Thursday with a pledge to buy unlimited amounts of the government bonds of countries struggling to manage their debts.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy refused to be drawn Thursday on whether his government would tap a new European Central Bank program designed to keep a lid on the borrowing costs of the euro's more indebted countries.

Real estate investment trust Realty Income is buying American Realty Capital Trust Inc. for about $1.9 billion in stock.

Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, and a private survey showed businesses stepped up hiring in August. The data sketched a brighter outlook for the job market one day before the government reports on August employment.

China's government has approved construction of 25 subway projects in a new move to stimulate its slowing economy.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Vadnais Heights, a Minneapolis suburb, had its general-obligation rating cut to junk by Moody’s Investors Service after the City Council voted to stop allocating payments to a sports center financed by bonds.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Men’s Wearhouse Inc., a Houston- based clothing chain, rose the most in nine months after raising its full-year earnings forecast amid demand for its slim-cut suits and tuxedo rentals.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Navistar International Corp., which ousted its chief executive officer amid an inquiry from regulators, climbed the most in almost three months after reporting third-quarter results that the company said topped analysts’ estimates.

Harry Winston Diamond Corp.'s fiscal second-quarter net income dropped 52 percent as the company said it held back some of its rough diamond inventory because it didn't want to sell them while prices are weak.

Facebook has closed its purchase of Instagram, the wildly popular photo-sharing app that it agreed to buy before its initial public offering in May.

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. on Thursday posted a surprise fiscal third-quarter profit, reversing a loss in the same quarter last year, boosted by a hefty tax gain and a jump in revenue.

Laboratory tests show that globs of oil found on two Louisiana beaches after Hurricane Isaac came from the 2010 BP spill.

Heavy truck and engine company Navistar International says that its third-quarter earnings tumbled from results a year ago that included a large tax benefit.

Shares of Sears Holdings Corp. rose on Friday after Chairman Eddie Lampert made a sizeable purchase of shares.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. lost a bid to delay Samsung Electronics Co.’s request to lift a preliminary ban on U.S. sales of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 computer until after a judge considers Apple’s request to bar some products permanently.

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- As Nokia Oyj prepares for a crucial push to resuscitate its smartphone business, it’s calling in some heavyweights from across the Atlantic: Batman, Lady Gaga, and Perry the Platypus.

UTi Worldwide Inc. reported Thursday that net income fell 17 percent in its fiscal second quarter as a weak economy hurt demand for freight services.

The Irish drugmaker Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC is selling its women's health business to specialty pharmaceutical company Meda for $95 million in cash so that it can concentrate on its core products.

Industrial orders in Germany rebounded slightly in July as higher demand at home offset another decline in orders from the debt-stricken eurozone, but the overall picture underlined mounting doubts over growth in Europe's biggest economy.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Companies added more workers than forecast in August, easing concern the U.S. job market may be stalling, a private report based on payrolls showed.

Insurance giant American International Group Inc. says it's begun the sale of part of its stake in Asian insurer AIA Group Ltd. and will use the funds raised to help pay off loans from the U.S. government.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries extended losses after a private report showed U.S. employers added more jobs in August than economists forecast.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Soybeans fell to a one-week low in Chicago on signs the drought-hit crop in the U.S., the world’s largest grower last year, may exceed a government forecast. Wheat rose.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The euro strengthened to a two-month high against the dollar on speculation the European Central Bank will today announce unlimited, sterilized bond buying to help contain the region’s debt crisis.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Gold prices pared gains after ADP Employer Services reported that U.S. companies added 201,000 workers in August.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The euro stayed higher against the dollar and the yen after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said policy makers decided on the modalities of its asset purchase program.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, easing concern the labor market may weaken in the second half.

A new report released Wednesday by the state controller's office found that the nation's largest teacher pension fund has been so lax about detecting pension spiking at California school districts that it is on pace to audit each district once every 48 years.

Amazon.com is expected to update its Kindle Fire tablet computer on Thursday.

Walgreen, the largest U.S. drugstore chain, said Thursday that its August sales fell 4.5 percent to $5.85 billion, partly because it was not a part of the Express Scripts pharmacy network. Its fourth-quarter revenue also missed Wall Street's view.

U.S. service companies expanded at a faster pace in August than July, helped by stronger hiring. The growth at firms that employ roughly 90 percent of the work force suggests the economy is slowly improving.

Markets rallied Thursday as investors cheered a package of measures from the European Central Bank that is designed to ease Europe's debt crisis and secure the future of the euro currency.

Europe's debt crisis is pushing the 17-country eurozone toward recession and dragging down the global economy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Thursday.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cheered her husband’s nominating speech for President Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention from 10,000 miles away, in the tiny Southeast Asian nation of East Timor.

One of the most influential owners in the history of the NFL, Art Modell helped mold the foundation of the league.

Some key farm states punished by the nation's worst drought in decades caught a break with several inches of rainfall from Hurricane Isaac's remnants as other parts of the Midwest weren't as lucky.

President Barack Obama goes before the Democratic National Convention and the nation on Thursday for a capstone speech designed not just to persuade undecided voters to swing his way in a tight election but to put fire in the belly of his supporters.

The Boise Co-op eliminated thousands of slow-selling items, sweeping away the claustrophobic effect that accompanied too many offerings. The Wheatsvile Food Co-op in Texas is opening its second store after 40 years.

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- As long as the Washington Nationals are playing baseball -- and Baseball Prospectus puts the team’s odds of making the playoffs at 100 percent -- the arguments will continue about whether Stephen Strasburg should still be on the mound.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ Former President Bill Clinton's speech to the Democratic convention served as a high-energy validation of President Barack Obama's policies -- and may also have started setting the stage for another White House bid by his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

A jury has convicted former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson of murdering his third wife.