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World Business Quick Take

■ Asean
Expanded summit mulled
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is studying the possible expansion of an East Asia summit to include other dialogue partners, its foreign ministers said yesterday. But agreement on how to accept new members into the summit will first have to be reached, the ministers said at they gathered in the central Philippine resort island of Mactan in Cebu for an annual retreat. Malaysia will host the first East Asia Summit in December to include ASEAN and its "Plus Three" partners China, Japan and South Korea. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. However Australia, New Zealand and India have also expressed a desire to join the summit.

■ Internet
`Update' contains virus
Users of Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system may be the target of a scam luring them to a phony security update that installs a virus on personal computers, the San Jose Mercury News reported. An e-mail message claiming to be from Microsoft leads users to a Web site where they are asked to download a security update that actually infects their computer with a virus, the newspaper said, citing anti-virus software maker Sophos Plc. The so-called Trojan horse virus allows hackers to take control of the user's computer. The scam may be timed to take coincide with Microsoft's scheduled update for Windows tomorrow, the newspaper said. Microsoft is aware of the problem and said Windows users should only get security updates from its Web site, www.microsoft.com, the newspaper said, citing a company statement.

■ Telecoms
Verizon to buy MCI stake
Telecom operator Verizon announced on Saturday it had reached an agreement to buy Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's 13.7 percent stake in MCI, as it struggles with rival Qwest Communications to take over MCI. Verizon said it paid some US$1.1 billion for the shares, after Slim pushed Verizon and Qwest Communications to shore up their offers for the company. On Wednesday, MCI had rejected a new US$8.9 billion takeover bid by Qwest in favor of a lower US$7.5 billion offer from Verizon. By Friday, Qwest announced that a majority of MCI shareholders now favored its offer over Verizon's. Earlier this week, Qwest instructed its proxy solicitor, The Altman Group, to canvass MCI shareholders.

■ European Union
Euro adoption unchanged
The reform of the EU's stability and growth pact will not enable the bloc's newest members to adopt the euro currency more quickly, European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Saturday. "I think that the situation has not changed as far as entry of the new [EU] countries" into the euro zone, said Trichet, who was attending an international meeting in Warsaw. The ECB said last month it was "seriously concerned" about modifications to the pact which requires EU countries to keep their budget deficits below 3.0 percent of gross national product. The rules also have been loosened to allow for including certain criteria, such as the cost of pension reforms, in calculating the budget deficit. Some analysts said that would make it easier for the new EU members to bring their state budgets below the limit by 2007.

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