Business news in brief

The operator of a small Pennsylvania coal mine was fined $900,000 over a 2006 explosion that killed a miner and resulted in criminal charges against three others. A federal judge ordered R&D Coal Co. to pay the fines handed down by the U.S. Department of Labor for safety violations in the death of 43-year-old Dale Reightler. Reightler died in a methane explosion at Buck Mountain Mine on Oct. 23, 2006. - AP

Exton-based WPCS International Inc. and DirecTV installer Multiband Corp. said they had agreed to "accelerate" part of a merger deal they reached in June. Multiband will buy WPCS's operations centers in St. Louis and Sarasota, Fla., for $2 million. The two centers produce about $13 million of WPCS's $100 million in annual revenue. In June, WPCS agreed to be acquired by Multiband in exchange for $3.20 a share. - Mike Armstrong

Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. said it was adding hundreds of jobs to a central Pennsylvania distribution center. The firm said it would add an unspecified number of full-time jobs at the warehouse in Carlisle. Amazon officials say hourly jobs in packing and shipping will be available, along with management positions. - AP

AstraZeneca P.L.C., which has U.S. headquarters in Wilmington, agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle Idaho's claims related to the reported average wholesale prices paid for drugs by the state's Medicaid program. The settlement is intended to reimburse taxpayers for excessive prices that the state paid for prescription drugs as a result of inflated average wholesale price reporting, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said. AstraZeneca denied any wrongdoing. - Bloomberg News

Greece, which is set to receive its second multibillion bailout, remains mired in a deep economic recession, official figures showed. The country's statistics agency said the economy contracted 6.9 percent in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, down from the 8.1 percent recorded in the first quarter. - AP

Exxon Mobil Corp. ended the week holding the title of the most valuable company in America after earlier being passed by Apple Inc. Exxon closed with a market capitalization of $350.1 billion, compared with Apple's $349.5 billion. Apple first surpassed Exxon on Tuesday afternoon, and again Wednesday. Exxon, which had held the top spot since 2005, regained it Thursday and held on. - AP