Union Pacific Corp. said Thursday its first-quarter profit fell 18 percent as the railroad carried 21 percent fewer carloads, but cost-cutting pushed its results above Wall Street expectations. Its shares rose in morning trading.

Union Pacific Corp. says its first-quarter profit fell 18 percent because the railroad carried 21 percent fewer carloads, but cost-cutting pushed its results past Wall Street expectations.

Federal biologists say three pesticides commonly used by farmers threaten the survival of many Pacific salmon and steelhead listed as threatened or endangered species in the West.

A California-based rocket launching company says it has successfully fired a a communications satellite into orbit for Italy’s armed forces and NATO from its launch platform floating in the Pacific.

The ongoing dispute between Union Pacific Corp. and the federal government about restricting drug smuggling on the railroad’s trains has spawned two more lawsuits over nearly $38 million in fines that Union Pacific has refused to pay.

The Justice Department is suing Union Pacific, seeking more than $37 million in penalties for allegedly allowing rail cars to be used to smuggle drugs across the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

Rapidly growing ties between China and Taiwan are very much in the interest of the United States and do not undercut the American strategic posture in the western Pacific, the top U.S official dealing with Taipei said Wednesday.

Rodrigue Mels scored 23 points and Cal State Northridge earned its first NCAA tournament appearance in eight years with a 71-66 win over Pacific in overtime in the Big West Conference tournament final Saturday night.

Rodrigue Mels scored 23 points and Cal State Northridge earned its first NCAA tournament appearance in eight years with a 71-66 win over Pacific in the Big West Conference tournament final Saturday night.

Gunmen killed six people, including a local police chief, in a series of attacks Monday in mountain towns in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero.