IBT Staff Reporter

Prospects for the $39 billion sale of Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA unit to AT&T darkened after the U.S. telecoms giant said it would take a $4 billion charge in case of failure and the pair gave up on one avenue of regulatory approval.

Growth in China's factory output is likely to fall slightly to 12-13 percent in 2012 due to weakening global demand, the industry ministry said on Thursday, but that level probably still implies a comfortable GDP growth rate of 8-9 percent next year.

China has been forced into self-help mode after a series of international crises have hollowed out its export markets and left it feeling like the only man standing.

Knee-deep in foul-smelling water, workers are piling office equipment, documents and food onto fiber boats that ferry them from one building on Hana Microelectronics' 12-acre company site to another with more space on higher floors.

Former Olympus CEO Michael Woodford said on Thursday he was confident Japanese authorities would fully investigate an accounting scandal engulfing the disgraced camera maker, as he prepared for a showdown with the directors who sacked him.

Former Olympus CEO Michael Woodford said that after meeting with Tokyo police, prosecutors and regulators on Thursday he was confident they would do a thorough job in investigating an accounting scandal engulfing the disgraced camera maker.

A consortium led by private equity firm KKR & Co clinched a deal to buy oil and gas group Samson Investment Co for $7.2 billion, KKR said on Wednesday.

For weeks, Asian banks and businesses have seen their borrowing costs climb as cash-strapped European banks repatriate funds and cut back on loans, knowing full well this is merely a down-payment on a long and painful shrinking of funding markets.

Deutsche Telekom and AT&T withdrew their application for approval by the Federal Communications Commission of a planned $39 billion deal for T-Mobile USA to focus on obtaining the green light from the Department of Justice.

German government bond yields hit their highest in nearly a month on Thursday and world stocks held near 7-week lows as a weak debt sale the previous day fanned fears the euro zone debt crisis may finally begin to threaten its biggest economy.

Knee-deep in foul-smelling water, workers are piling office equipment, documents and food onto fiber boats that ferry them from one building on Hana Microelectronics' 12-acre company site to another with more space on higher floors.

In November 1986, shaken by traders' losses after a brokerage went bust, the U.S. futures industry considered, and then rejected, the notion of insuring customer funds in a broker default.

Japanese stocks hit a two-and-a-half-year low and the euro struggled on Thursday after a disappointing German bond sale raised alarm that Europe's ever-worsening sovereign debt crisis is starting to affect even the continent's economic powerhouse.

The euro fell to a six-week low against the yen on Thursday and Asian stocks were subdued after an unsuccessful German bond sale raised alarm that Europe's ever-worsening sovereign debt crisis is starting to affect even the continent's economic powerhouse.

It might be too soon for Justin Bieber to wash his hands off Mariah Yeater, whose lawyer insisted Wednesday that the crooner head to California to subject himself to a second paternity test after taking one a few days earlier to confront the allegation that he fathered her baby.

Former Olympus CEO Michael Woodford met on Thursday with Tokyo prosecutors, who are investigating an accounting scandal at the once venerable camera maker, a day before attending a board meeting for a showdown with the directors who fired him.

Brazil's government suspended Chevron Corp's drilling rights until Chevron clarifies the causes of an offshore oil spill, the latest twist in a political firestorm threatening the U.S. company's role in Brazil's oil bonanza.

A U.S. court has awarded $920.3 million in damages to Wilmington, Delaware-based chemical giant DuPont (NYSE:DD) after ruling that South Korea's Kolon Industries Inc. had violated trade secrets relating to DuPont's Kevlar fiber, Reuters reported Nov. 23.

The leaders of France and Germany will voice their support for new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti at a tripartite meeting on Thursday, seeking to stem the risk of the debt crisis gripping the heart of the euro zone.

Former Olympus Corp CEO Michael Woodford was set on Thursday to meet Tokyo police who are investigating an accounting scandal at the company, a day before attending a board meeting for a showdown with the directors who fired him.

JetBlue Airways Corp won an auction for eight new takeoff and landing slots at both LaGuardia in New York and Reagan National in Washington, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Authorities have yet to file charges after the accident that killed Stanley Case from CNN Radio, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. Case was 59. His car was involved in a head-on collision with a truck that crossed a median in the rain Tuesday.

Taiwan's HTC Corp cut its revenue forecast for the fourth quarter to no growth over the same period a year earlier from around 20 percent to 30 percent year on year growth previously, surprising the market and sending its shares tumbling 7 percent.

Embattled Olympus Corp jumped more than 11 percent on Thursday for its third day of gains, with investors appearing less worried that the stock would be delisted by the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Taiwan's HTC Corp cut its revenue forecast for the fourth quarter to no growth over the same period a year earlier from around 20 percent to 30 percent year on year growth previously, but forecast a pick up in the first half of 2012.

When gamers take the wraps off the new BioShock video game next year, they should not be surprised if parts of the game remind them of the Occupy Wall Street protests.

U.S. chemical giant DuPont on Wednesday announced a multi-year partnership with Israel-based biotechnology company Evogene Ltd. to develop a strain of soybeans that carry improved resistance to rust, a fungal disease devastating to the crop.

For many states, a law intended to root out corruption also has been good for the bottom line.

Fidelity Investments gives a select group of employees an unusual perk. It lets them make unsecured loans to the company at annual interest rates that have paid them nearly 20 percent in recent years.