A federal appeals court has upheld as lawful the government's bailout of American International Group in the heat of the financial crisis. It overturned a lower-court decision favoring the insurance giant's former CEO.

The ruling Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said a company controlled by ex-AIG chief Maurice Greenberg didn't have a legal right to pursue its claim against the government. Greenberg had alleged that the $85 billion bailout of the teetering AIG in September 2008 violated the Fifth Amendment by taking control of the company without “just compensation.”

The unusual case raised the issue of limits on the government's power in responding to financial crises. The new ruling handed a victory to the government.

The previous decision by a judge in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims validated Greenberg's allegations in principle, though the judge rejected Greenberg's demand for $40 billion in damages from the government for himself and other AIG shareholders.

Writing the new opinion for a three-judge panel of the appeals court, Chief Judge Sharon Prost said any claims against the government rightfully belong to AIG, not Greenberg's company, Starr International.

A techno-infused opera about the life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has earned the financial backing of opera companies in San Francisco and Seattle, ensuring the meditation on the iconic entrepreneur who died in 2011 will travel to America's high-tech enclave.

The partnerships were announced Tuesday as the Santa Fe Opera prepared for its July world premiere of “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” at its open-air summer stage.

The Seattle Opera and the San Francisco Opera are underwriting both the already completed artistic creation of the opera and its physical stage production. As co-producers, the companies guarantee their right to performances beyond Santa Fe in California and Washington.

NOAA: U.S. fishing declined in '15

The federal government says America's fishing industry declined slightly in 2015 as fishermen contended with environmental and market forces.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday released its “Fisheries Economics of the United States” report for 2015, the most recent year for which data are available.

The report says U.S. fisheries contributed a little less than $208 billion in sales, a decline from nearly $214 billion in 2014, which the government said was a “banner year.” The number of jobs was down to 1.6 million.

The NOAA says the 2015 totals are better than they were four years earlier.