National Business

WASHINGTON — U.S. construction spending increased 1.4% in August, led by a surge in single-family homes. The gain was double the 0.

HALIFAX — When Mark Butler needed a new gasket for his coffee maker, he hopped on his bike and rode to the Mountain Equipment Co-op store in Halifax. "The guy just said, 'We don't carry them,'" Butler said.

BRUSSELS — The European Union took legal action against Britain on Thursday over its plans to pass legislation that would breach parts of the legally binding divorce agreement the two sides reached late last year.

HALIFAX — Three Mi'kmaq parliamentarians say Ottawa should create a co-managed Indigenous fishery off Nova Scotia as a long-term solution to conflicts between First Nations and non-Indigenous fishers in the lobster harvest.

CALGARY — TransAlta Corp. and its partner, Tidewater Midstream & Infrastructure Ltd. have signed a new deal to sell the Pioneer Pipeline to Atco Gas and Pipelines Ltd.

The United States will block shipments of palm oil from a major Malaysian producer that feeds into the supply chains of iconic U.S. food and cosmetic brands.

TORONTO — The Medisys Health Group and its affiliate Copeman Healthcare say they paid an unspecified ransom to retrieve personal information for about 60,000 clients after detecting a security breach on Aug. 31.

LAS VEGAS — A court on Wednesday approved a settlement totalling $800 million from casino company MGM Resorts International and its insurers to more than 4,400 relatives and victims of the Las Vegas Strip shooting that was the deadliest in recent U.

TORONTO — Employees in the National Post newsroom are working to unionize, Unifor said Wednesday. Unifor filed an application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board to represent staff at the newspaper, according to Unifor spokesman Stuart Laidlaw.

LONDON — Julian Assange's conversations in the latter part of his 7-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London were systematically bugged, even in the toilet, a London court heard Wednesday.