Court hearings in Jefferson County's record-setting bankruptcy filing are scheduled to resume Thursday. The Birmingham News reports that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Bennett is expected to consider a variety of motions.

Jefferson County filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history last year over more than $4 billion in debt. Most of the debt stems from borrowing to pay for upgrades to the county's sewer system.

This week, a group of Alabama lawmakers, Jefferson County commissioners and health care professionals met privately to discuss ways to address the county's general fund crisis and other matters.

The Birmingham News reports the three-hour meeting at Vestavia Hills City Hall included Commission President David Carrington; Republican state Rep. Paul DeMarco of Homewood; and Republican state Sen. Jabo Waggoner of Vestavia Hills.

Participants said Tuesday's meeting was the latest in a series of behind-the-scenes efforts among commissioners, Jefferson County legislators, business leaders and others to find ways to solve the county's massive general fund woes.

Saab Automobile filed for bankruptcy on Monday, giving up a desperate struggle to stay in business after previous owner General Motors Co. blocked takeover attempts by Chinese investors.

Saab CEO Victor Muller personally handed in the bankruptcy application to a court in southwestern Sweden, ending his two-year effort to revive the carmaker that over more than six decades has become known for its rounded sedans and quirky design features.

The Dutch entrepreneur told reporters he had to pull the plug after GM, which still owns some technology licenses for Saab, rejected a last-ditch financing plan involving a Chinese company.

"That basically was the last nail in the coffin of this beautiful company," Muller said in webcast news conference at the Saab plant in Trollhattan, southwestern Sweden.

The Vanersborg District Court was expected to approve the application later Monday.

"This is the most unwelcome Christmas gift I could have imagined," said Fredrik Almqvist, 36, who has worked at Saab's assembly line for nearly 17 years.

While experts say the company is likely to be chopped up and sold in parts, local officials in the town of Trollhattan, where Saab employs more than 3,000 people, were holding out hope that a new buyer would emerge to salvage the brand.

Wall Street creditors asked a federal judge Thursday to throw out the record bankruptcy filed by Alabama's largest county over more than $4 billion in debt, arguing state law doesn't allow it.

Lenders claimed during a hearing and in court documents that Alabama law permits bankruptcy only for bond debt, and Jefferson County has a different type of debt called warrants. The county and creditors could be thrown back into out-of-court settlement talks if the judge agrees.

The county contends bankers are cherry-picking state law in hopes of getting the case dismissed, and that any government in the state can go bankrupt whether its debt is for bonds or warrants.

The Jefferson County Commission president, David Carrington, testified that municipal bankruptcy was the county's sole option after intense negotiations fell apart.

The City Council has appealed a judge's decision to throw out the bankruptcy petition of Pennsylvania's debt-choked capital city, its attorney said.

The appeal was filed Saturday in federal court, City Council attorney Mark Schwartz said in an email.

Last month, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled that Harrisburg may not seek bankruptcy protection, calling such a filing illegal. That ruling cleared the way for the state to take over the city.

The judge said the city had been legally barred by a separate state law, signed June 30 by Gov. Tom Corbett, from seeking bankruptcy protection and, in any case, had no authority to go over the mayor's head to file it.

The parent company of American Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, seeking relief from crushing debt caused by high fuel prices and expensive labor contracts that its competitors shed years ago.

The company also replaced its CEO, and the incoming leader said American would probably cut its flight schedule "modestly" while it reorganizes. He did not give specifics. American said its frequent-flier program would be unaffected.

AMR Corp., which owns American, was the only major U.S. airline company that did not file for bankruptcy protection after the Sept. 11 attacks, which caused a deep slump in the industry.

Bankruptcy filings allowed American's competitors to shed costly labor contracts, unburden themselves of debt and start making money again. American was stuck with higher costs, and had to match its competitors' lower fares or lose money.

Other airlines also grew by pursuing acquisitions and expanding overseas. American was the biggest airline in the world in 2008, but has been surpassed by United, which combined with Continental, and Delta, which combined with Northwest.

Alabama’s most populous county filed what became the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in an effort to retake control of its beleaguered sewer system and wipe away as much of its whopping $4.15 billion in debt as possible.

Jefferson County’s Chapter 9 filing on Wednesday gives it protection from creditors while it develops and negotiates a plan for adjusting its debts. It could accomplish that by extending debt maturities, reducing the amount of principal or interest, or refinancing the debt by obtaining a new loan.

Perhaps the biggest is the potential impact on the county’s 658,000 residents, who could be asked to pay higher sewer rates. Officials say it’s too early to assess the full impact, though bankruptcy filings can lead to layoffs, tax increases, pension reductions for public workers, and spending cuts on things like schools and roads.

Two class-action lawsuits have been filed against bankrupt brokerage MF Global as customers struggle to recover funds from the first major US casualty of the European debt crisis.
On Saturday, Seattle-based Hagens Berman said it was "investigating whether the company used clients' money to offset losses the company had incurred in failed investments."
It filed a lawsuit in the name of investors who bought MF Global shares between May 20 and October 28 or who bought bonds issued in August.

The complaint charged that MF Global "made false and misleading statements to investors, including failing to disclose the company's reported internal control problems in segregating clients' funds."

Attorney Reed Kathrein said Friday's resignation of the company's chief executive Jon Corzine, whose activities in the last weeks of the failing firm have attracted regulator scrutiny, was "not an encouraging sign."

"As we continue our investigation, we hope to uncover whether the company mixed investors' and company money, and if Corzine himself played a part in that decision," he added in a statement.

Boston law firm Block & Leviton said Friday it had also filed a class-action lawsuit in New York federal court on behalf of MF Global clients over the same period.
It charged MF Global made "certain materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's internal financial controls and liquidity levels" through its "most senior" officers and directors.

Investors lost some $585 million in market capitalization in the week that preceded MF Global's bankruptcy filings alone, according to Block & Leviton.