Murdoch drops bid for British Sky Broadcasting

In a stunning retreat, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. dropped its bid Wednesday to take full control of British Sky Broadcasting during what the prime minister called a political and media "firestorm" over phone hacking at one of the media baron's UK newspapers.

Murdoch stepped back from making potentially his biggest, most lucrative acquisition, accepting that he could not win British government approval of the takeover since the country's major political parties had united against it. (AP)