Your customized headlines for Fri, Aug 3, 2012

MADRID — The newest Apple store in Spain, like its counterparts in other parts of the world, is designed to draw you in. Stone floors, glass doors, and rows of blond wood tables stocked with scores of gleaming iPhones, iPads and MacBooks as far as the eye can see.

A drop in the number of jobless claims since June has raised hopes that the U.S. jobs situation is showing modest signs of improvement.

But with the government's monthly unemployment report due Friday, many economists believe that the unemployment rate of 8.2 percent is unlikely to change much.

The company that distributes Buckyballs magnets unleashed an advertising blitz Thursday aimed at Washington policymakers — including President Obama — as it tries to save itself from what it describes as the antics of overzealous regulators.

It was supposed to be a first step toward tax reform. But as lawmakers tackled a list of 75 special-interest tax breaks, the special interests repeatedly won.

An accelerated write-off for owners of NASCAR tracks: That has to stay.

Mortgage rates edged up this week, breaking their streak of record lows, according to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac.

After falling below 3.5 percent for the first time ever last week, the 30-year fixed-rate average climbed to 3.55 percent, up from 3.49 percent a week ago. It was 4.39 percent a year ago.

Yes, Mitt Romney made an array of exciting mistakes during his recent European opposite-of-an-apology tour, the most puzzling being his eagerness to portray himself as a worse husband than anyone believes him to be.

As Loudoun County goes, so goes the 2012 election?

That's how President Obama sees it.

Capping two days of campaigning through key battleground states with a rally at Loudoun County High School in Leesburg, Obama fired up a crowd of hundreds by telling them that their home was the key to his chances.

John Gage is a happy man.

You'd think he'd be tired, too.

The president of the American Federation of Government Employees personally participated in the lengthy negotiations that concluded after 3 a.m. Thursday for the first-ever labor contract for 45,000 transportation security officers (TSOs).

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin — though derided on the left and recently dismissed by former vice president Dick Cheney as a poor pick in 2008 — is nevertheless proving her enduring power within the Republican Party in the most concrete of ways: She keeps picking winners.