FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) _ Struggling banks snapped up (euro) 489 billion ($639 billion) in cheap loans from the European Central Bank on Wednesday, a sign of just how hard or expensive it has become to borrow from each other.The huge demand for newly available three-year loans comes as fears rise th

Microsoft Corp. won a ruling that Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.’s Android phones violate one of its smartphone patents, while failing to convince a judge that six others are being infringed as well. Motorola Mobility, which is being acquired by Google Inc., violated a patent for generating meeting requests and group scheduling, U.S. International Trade Commission Judge Theodore Essex said in a notice Tuesday. The finding is the second in two days from the ITC that has determined that some feat

LONDON (AFP) ― Moody’s on Tuesday warned Britain that its “AAA” credit rating may not survive future economic shocks, but the country’s structural strengths means its gold-standard rating is safe for now.In its annual update to the markets on Britain’s credit outlook, the U.S. ratings agency highlighted the ongoing euro crisis and rising public debt as potential triggers for a downgrade.The current rating is “predicated on the country’s significant structural strengths” but is threatened by the

Cellphone giant had faced fierce battle with federal regulators AT&T has dropped its controversial $39 billion bid for Deutsche Telekom‘s wireless U.S. unit, bowing to regulatory opposition over the deal that would have made it the largest cellphone operator in the country.AT&T had said it urgently needed to buy T-Mobile USA to help overcome a spectrum shortage, while Deutsche Telekom saw it as a way to exit the U.S. market to focus on its European operations. Once a cash cow, T-Mobile USA has b

STOCKHOLM (AP) ― After six decades of building cars renowned for their teardrop designs and quirky features, cash-strapped Saab Automobile gave up its desperate struggle for a lifeline Monday and filed for bankruptcy.Saab CEO Victor Muller said “the last nail in the coffin’’ was previous owner General Motors Co.’s rejection of a Chinese company’s attempts to gain control of the ailing Swedish brand. Muller personally handed over the bankruptcy petition to a Swedish court, which approved it late

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- AT&T Inc. is bowing out of its $39 billion bid to buy smaller wireless provider T-Mobile USA after the U.S. government tried to block the deal over concerns it would raise prices, reduce innovation and give customers fewer choices.Monday's announcement came as little surpris

Russia’s OAO Tatneft signed an accord valued at $1 billion with Iran to develop the Zagheh oil field in the Persian Gulf nation, where many energy projects face delays due to intensified sanctions by Western countries. A preliminary deal was signed in Tehran earlier Sunday between Tatneft, which is based in Russia’s Tatarstan region, and Iran’s Petroleum and Engineering Development Co., the Iranian Oil Ministry said on its news website Shana Sunday. Russia, which has opposed the latest financial

PSA Peugeot Citroen, Fiat SpA and General Motors Co. led the biggest decline in European car sales in five months as the region’s economy slipped closer toward a recession. Registrations in November dropped 3 percent to 1.07 million vehicles from 1.10 million a year earlier, the biggest decline since June, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers Association, or ACEA, said Friday in a statement. Eleven-month sales declined 1.1 percent to 12.6 million registrations. “This minus figure