Government And Institutions

Last week, tens of thousands of Russians sunning themselves on Italian beaches and Turkish resorts received an unpleasant surprise: their tour companies had gone bust, stranding them and forcing them to pay double for a ticket to get home.

For nearly a century, Missouri has taxed drivers to pay for its roads.

A water ban is entering its third day in northwest Ohio after tests show some toxins still contaminating Lake Erie.

Star Networks USA LLC is recalling all Magnicube Spheres and Magnicube Cubes magnetic sets because of the possibility for injury from swallowing the small, powerful magnets.

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills declined in Monday's auction with rates on three-month bills falling to their lowest level since late April.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation on Monday completed the $75 million sale of nearly 100 miles of railroad track between Sapulpa and Stillwater to Stillwater Central Railroad LLC, which plans to introduce passenger rail service connecting the Tulsa suburb to the Oklahoma City suburb.

New York's top financial regulator is investigating whether the nation's largest overseer of troubled mortgages, Ocwen Financial Corp., is overcharging struggling homeowners on insurance.

A bill approved Monday by the Legislature would increase penalties for health insurance companies that provide substandard benefits for mental health care.

Walgreen's top financial officer is leaving the nation's largest drugstore chain as it nears a key decision about its future that could involve a politically touchy overseas reorganization.

Figures on government spending and debt (last six digits are eliminated).

Federal mediators urged the Philadelphia-area transit authority and two of its unions Monday to continue working to reach a settlement in a salary dispute that led earlier to a one-day transit strike, according to the agency.

___ US airfares on the rise, outpacing inflation NEW YORK (AP) — The average roundtrip ticket within the U.S., including taxes, reached $509.15 in the first six months of this year, up nearly $14 from the same period last year.

More tests are needed to ensure that toxins are out of Toledo's water supply, the mayor said Sunday, instructing the 400,000 people in the region to avoid drinking tap water for a second day.

A growing gulf in the retirement savings of the wealthy and people with lower incomes threatens to exacerbate an already widening wealth gap.

The soon-to-close Vermont Yankee nuclear plant wants to stop paying for emergency services in the region, but a watchdog group opposes that, saying nuclear waste on-site will create continuing risks.

The World Trade Organization is regrouping to see whether it is still possible to finalize a major deal to boost global trade after a deadline passed to formally adopt it.

One of the country's largest overseers of troubled home loans, Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc., is quietly trying to sell a $100 million insurance agency that doesn't appear to exist.

The announcement by a major U.S. coal company that it plans to lay off 1,100 coal mine workers has set off a chain reaction of finger pointing in West Virginia.

Keeping Alaska's new oil tax structure in place would be a "devastating step backwards" in the state's development, Gov. Sarah Palin said.

Oregon will see a much tighter range of premium prices in 2015 for individual and small employer health insurance plans, according to new rates announced Friday by state regulators.