NEW YORK — A high-drama telecom deal is heading to court.

T-Mobile, in its attempt to buy Sprint for $26.5 billion, has already notched approvals from key federal regulators. Now it must convince a federal judge that the 14 state attorneys general suing to stop the deal are wrong. A trial starts Monday in U.S. District Court in New York and is expected to last several weeks.

If T-Mobile prevails, the number of major U.S. wireless companies would shrink to three from four. A combined T-Mobile-Sprint would become a fiercer competitor to larger Verizon and AT&T. But the states argue that having one fewer mobile carrier would reduce competition and cost Americans billions of dollars in higher phone bills.

T-Mobile and Sprint provide cheaper alternatives to Verizon and AT&T, and T-Mobile has branded itself the “Un-carrier,” one that has made consumer-friendly changes such as bringing back unlimited-data plans and shattering two-year service contracts. There are concerns that less competition would put an end to these types of changes, although T-Mobile says that won’t happen.

Ford recalls big pickups; tailgates open unexpectedly

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is recalling nearly 262,000 heavy-duty pickup trucks in the U.S. and Canada because the tailgates can open unexpectedly.

The recall covers F-250, F-350 and F-450 trucks from the 2017 through 2019 model years. All the trucks have electric tailgate latch release switches in the tailgate handle.

Ford says water can get into the electrical wiring and cause a short circuit, activating the switches and releasing the latches. That could allow loose cargo to fall onto the road.

The company says it has no reports of crashes or injuries. Trucks with mechanical tailgate latches are not affected.

Dealers will fix the tailgate frame wiring harnesses and install a new tailgate handle release switch. Owners will be notified by mail during the week of Jan. 20.

OPEC, Russia to cut oil output, pushing up prices

The OPEC oil-producing countries and ally Russia said Friday they have agreed to cut crude production, prompting a surge in global crude prices that they hope to sustain into next year.

The group decided to cut output by an extra 500,000 barrels a day as they try to support the price of energy and bolster their revenues. But the decision was not easy: they do not want to hand over too much business to the United States, which keeps pumping more oil and flooding the market.

“We have decided to reduce production by 500,000 barrels a day through the first quarter of next year,” said Russian energy minister Alexander Novak.

The cuts come on top of a reduction of 1.2 million barrels a day that they have been observing for the past three years.

The sticking point in the talks, which dragged on over two days, appears to have been how to share the cuts among the 14 OPEC countries and nations like Russia that have been coordinating their production with the cartel in recent years.

Saudi Arabia has been bearing the burden of the largest share of production cuts recently. But some countries including Iraq and Russia have been pumping more than expected, dampening the overall impact on markets.