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World Business Quick Take

■ Fast food
McDonald's is on a diet
Say goodbye to those super-sized fries -- McDonald's is slimming down its menu. The hamburger giant said on Wednesday that it was getting rid of the supersize portions of French fries and soft drinks from its 13,000 restaurants in the US. The decision, which will be implemented across the chain by the end of the year, followed the launch of the company's "Eat Smart, Be Active" initiative, which introduced healthy fare such as salads, fruit and yoghurt. McDonald's denied that the move was a response to a growing outcry against its high-calorie, high-fat foods.

■ Aerospace
Boeing picks engine maker
The Boeing Co said Wednesday that it had selected Pratt and Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp, to supply the engines for its 767 air-refueling tanker program. Pratt and Whitney's PW4062 engine will be standard equipment on all future 767 tankers, the Chicago-based defense contractor and aviation giant said in a statement. The 767 Tanker Transport program was commercially launched in February 2001.

■ Net security
Virus war feared
A "war" between authors of different computer worms has erupted in cyberspace, opening up the potential for a growing wave of e-mails clogging computer networks, experts said Wednesday. Analysts said one reason for the proliferation of computer worms and viruses over the past week was a spat between the authors of at least two of these bugs. The software firm Sophos said that a "state of war exists between the creators of the Netsky and Bagle worms, both of which have spread widely across the internet in a number of different guises." Sophos said the latest version of Netsky is designed to remove infections of the Bagle.

■ Japan
Economic signs good
Japan's corporate activity improved further in the October-December quarter from a year ago, as brisk exports drove up profits and capital investment, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The combined parent-level pretax profits of non-financial Japanese companies rose 16.9 percent from a year earlier, marking the sixth straight quarterly rise, the ministry said. Among manufacturers, combined pretax profits increased 2.4 percent, led by the strength of the general machinery sector, it said. The combined pretax profit of non-manufacturers jumped 29.4 percent, driven mainly by the utility sector, it said.

■ Linux
SCO sues two companies
Software maker SCO Group on Wednesday stepped up its legal campaign against Linux, suing two companies and claiming their use of the free, open-source operating system violates SCO's proprietary rights of the UNIX system. The suits against DaimlerChrysler and Autozone were the first against corporate users of the Linux system, but just the latest twist in a legal battle over UNIX and Linux "open source" software created by Linus Torvalds as an alternative to Microsoft Windows and other operating systems. Utah-based SCO said it was suing Autozone for "its alleged violations of SCO's UNIX copyrights through its use of Linux," adding that the company used "versions of the Linux operating system that contain code, structure, sequence and/or organization from SCO's proprietary UNIX System V code in violation of SCO's copyrights."

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