WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is calling for a six-year, $53 billion spending plan for high-speed rail, as he seeks to use infrastructure spending to jumpstart job creation.

Internet company AOL Inc. is buying news hub Huffington Post in a $315 million deal that represents a bold bet on the future of online news.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. labor force has been split into two groups: the relieved and the desperate.
If you have a job, you can exhale; you're less likely to lose it than at any point in at least 14 years.

Michael Jackson's mother can go forward with her civil lawsuit against entertainment giant AEG Live involving the death of the pop superstar, a judge ruled Wednesday.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- A county-level GOP official who refused to cut his ties to a group that calls itself ``pro-white'' resigned from his position with the Republican Party of Arkansas on Wednesday, the state party chairman said.

A couple on Medicare got a rebate check to help with prescription drug costs. A Chicago man with diabetes got health insurance through a new government program. And a Philadelphia businessman is hoping his company will qualify for a tax credit.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- New Orleans is a smaller city than it was before Hurricane Katrina, and much of the loss in population is among blacks who have been unwilling or unable to return, Census figures released Thursday showed.

BOSTON (AP) -- Imagine the East Coast's largest cities mixing a brew of salt, motor oil, trash and grocery carts and dumping it into rivers and harbors.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- The astronaut husband of wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will head to space in April, a stunning decision coming almost one month to the day that his wife was shot through the head.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The unemployment rate is sinking at the fastest pace in half a century because a surprisingly large number of people say they're finding work.