The House of Representatives last Thursday passed the first major U.S. bill related to the Gulf of Mexico oil rig explosion, voting to allow families of those killed and injured workers to be compensated far more generously than current law ... [full story]

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood criticized a fledgling lobbying campaign on Wednesday which he said would undermine his work to limit drivers' use of cell phones and other electronic devices while behind the wheel. LaHood responded to a document prepared ... [full story]

Everyone knows driving drunk is illegal. But drinking and then getting behind the wheel is not, a state appeals court pointed out in an opinion Wednesday overturning a drunken driving conviction against an Oshkosh woman. Brittany Meye, 22, ... [full story]

 TEHACHAPI, Calif. — Hundreds of firefighters gained ground Wednesday against the most destructive of two big wildfires that have burned homes and forced 2,300 people to evacuate mountain communities on the edge of the Mojave Desert and in the southern ... [full story]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Insurer American International Group Inc. declined to comment Sunday on a published report indicating it is hiring former Prudential PLC executive Mark Tucker to lead its Asian life insurance business, AIA Group Ltd. Citing unnamed ... [full story]

A federal plan to use ash waste from coal-fired power plants to shore up some Mississippi River levees drew objections Thursday from environmentalists who are worried that toxins in the ash might seep into the river and public water systems ... [full story]

(Bloomberg) -- Another week, another bad idea. With the markets still jumpy about Greece, the sovereign-debt crisis and the banking system, the European Union’s leaders have come up with a way to reassure us that everything is just fine in ... [full story]

July 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. car insurance premiums climbed at least 12 percent in the second quarter, the fastest rate on record, after rising claim costs and low investment returns squeezed insurers’ profits, the Automobile Association Ltd. said. Comprehensive ... [full story]

Wells Fargo & Co., the U.S. bank with the largest branch network, eliminated free checking accounts for new customers as firms prepare for stricter consumer- protection measures. New basic checking accounts carry a $5 monthly fee as of July ... [full story]

NEW YORK (Bloomberg)—Robert Benmosche, the American International Group Inc. CEO who replaced the head of the insurer's main Asia unit, said the change was needed to prepare for the division's initial public offering. Mark Tucker was named head of ... [full story]