The second BlackBerry outage in less than a week disrupted service for millions of users on two continents, frustrating people so reliant on the messaging devices that they peck at their keyboards all day and keep the gadgets on their nightstands while they sleep. The company behind the service, Canada's Research in Motion Ltd., blamed a software upgrade for the problem, which was confined to North and South America. RIM said BlackBerry users were unable to send or receive e-mails and instant messages but did not lose phone service. RIM said the disruptions began around 1:45 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, worsened around 6:30 p.m. and began to be fixed around 11:30 p.m. Service appeared restored by yesterday afternoon. RIM would not disclose how many subscribers were affected. The glitch came after another outage last Thursday and at least three breakdowns in 2008.

Ford Motor Co. said yesterday it was moving closer to selling its Swedish Volvo brand, even though the U.S. automaker is in far better financial shape than it was when it put the brand up for sale last year. The Dearborn, Mich., automaker said it expected to finalize the sale of Volvo to China's Geely Group early next year if financing and government approvals fall into place. Ford did not reveal the amount of Geely's offer. Auto analyst Matts Carlson estimated the price tag for Volvo at between $2 billion and $2.3 billion. Ford officially put Volvo on the market in December 2008, at the close of a year in which Ford was in desperate need of cash.

WesBanco Inc. said yesterday it paid $950,000 to the U.S. government to repurchase a warrant issued as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Wheeling, W.Va.-based bank said it used funds from "internal sources" to make the payment. In September, the bank repaid the $75 million it received under TARP.

Billionaire Warren Buffett's company is continuing to reduce its stake in credit ratings firm Moody's Corp., but Berkshire Hathaway Inc. still controls about 13 percent of Moody's stock. Berkshire sold 87,992 Moody's shares on Friday. The Omaha-based company revealed the latest sale in documents filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Switzerland-based drug company Novartis AG agreed to pay $120 million to buy closely held San Mateo, California-based Corthera Inc., gaining a heart medicine that is in the final stage of clinical testing. Corthera's shareholders are eligible for additional payments of as much as $500 million if certain drug development and commercialization targets are reached.

Mylan Inc. said it received tentative regulatory approval to market pediatric dosages of Efavirenz tablets for treating HIV infection. The product will only be sold outside the United States. ... United Airlines, Continental, and All Nippon Airways applied for antitrust approval yesterday so they can work together more closely on flights across the Pacific. The three carriers want to form a joint venture that would strengthen their financial ties.

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