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

BAGHDAD (AP) ― Iraq’s Shiite-led government issued an arrest warrant Monday for the Sunni vice president, accusing him of running a hit squad that assassinated government and security officials ― extraordinary charges a day after the last U.S. troops left the country.The vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, left Baghdad on Sunday for the semiautonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan, presumably hoping that Kurdish authorities would not turn him in. Investigative judges banned him the same day from trave

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

CAIRO (AP) -- Volunteers in white lab coats, surgical gloves and masks stood on the back of a pickup truck Monday along the banks of the Nile River in Cairo, rummaging through stacks of rare 200-year-old manuscripts that were little more than charcoal debris.The volunteers, ranging from academic experts to appalled citizens, have spent the past two days trying to salvage what’s left of some 192,000 books, journals and writings, casualties of Egypt’s latest bout of violence.Institute d’Egypte, a

North Koreans may think that it was fortunate that their leader, Kim Jong-il, officially anointed his successor more than a year before his death. But Kim died too soon to ensure his third son a smooth takeover as the ruler of the isolated, impoverished country of 24 million people.Pompous funeral ceremonies for the dictator who ruled the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for 17 years after the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, will be held on Dec. 28 in freezing Pyongyang. And no one knows

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Russia urged NATO on Monday to investigate civilian deaths in Libya from its bombing campaign, saying the alliance’s claim that there were no civilian casualties is untrue.Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he has been asking NATO to give “a definitive report” to the U.N. Security Council summing up its activities in Libya. But he said “unfortunately” the alliance only provided “piecemeal, rather perfunctory reports ... (that) were not very informative.”Russia ho

CAIRO (AP) ― Egypt’s ruling military has sought to discredit the pro-democracy movement, portraying a detained protester as a woman of questionable morals, accusing a prominent publisher of incitement and alleging the media is trying to sabotage the country.Monday’s verbal attacks by a member of the ruling military council came hours after troops in riot gear swept through Cairo’s Tahrir Square before daybreak, opening fire on protesters and lobbing tear gas into the crowds. At least three peopl

South Korea‘s economy will likely grow 3.4 percent in 2012, down from 3.8 percent growth projected for this year, as global economic uncertainties affect exports, a private think tank said Tuesday. In its outlook for next year, LG Economic Research Institute said sluggish growth in industrialized economies is expected to hurt demand for durable goods and related parts. Such developments can directly impact the country’s outbound shipments.The institute said there may be some improvements in dome