In time for the holiday season, UPS is rolling out to 100 cities a program that requires people in some neighborhoods to fetch packages at nearby locations -- such as a druggist or dry cleaner -- if they weren't home to meet a driver.
Hydraulic fracturing has contaminated some drinking water sources, but the damage is not widespread, according to a landmark U.S. study of water pollution risks that has supporters of the drilling method declaring victory and foes saying it revealed reason for concern.
Airbus SAS, the European maker of commercial aircraft, predicted airlines will buy planes valued at $4.4tr in the next two decades, driven by demand in India and China and global growth among low-fare airlines.
President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil plans to build 11,000 kilometers (6,835 miles) of rail and grant wider access to existing privately operated lines to cut shipping costs by as much as 30 percent in the country. The auction of a concession to build and manage the first of a dozen railways costing a total $42bn will take place as early as October.
Emerging Southeast Asian nations need to pour $300bn into transport links to help ease freight bottlenecks. That just got harder as the prospect of reduced Federal Reserve monetary stimulus pushes up borrowing costs.
Manufacturing expanded in July at the fastest pace in more than two years, sparked by surges in orders and production that signal companies are growing more optimistic about the U.S. economy's prospects.
Bollore SA, an investment company controlled by French billionaire Vincent Bollore, is competing to expand its African unit to operate five more port terminals and is eyeing similar growth in Asia and Latin America.
Increasing annual infrastructure spending in the U.S. by $157bn over the next eight years would save $3.1tr in gross domestic product, $1.1tr in trade and 3.5 million jobs, according to a report from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
U.S. oil production has exceeded 7 million barrels a day for the first time since March 1993 as improved drilling techniques boosted exploration across the country and reinforced a shift toward energy independence.
Manufacturing picked up in December, reflecting growth in orders, employment and exports that indicate the U.S. expansion will be sustained in 2013 following the budget deal.
