Also

* Microsoft Corp. said it would discontinue products that run applications written in its version of Sun Microsystems Inc.’s Java programming language to comply with a 2001 settlement between the companies. Starting Dec. 23, customers will be unable to download Windows 98, SQL Server 7 and a number of Office 2000-related programs.

* A divided European Union failed to agree on lifting its 5-year-old moratorium on new biotech foods. The U.S. alleges that the ban violates world trade rules.

* Beverage companies need to work together to find a solution for obesity problems, Coca-Cola Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Douglas Daft said. “A simplistic government solution will not address the issue,” Daft said at an industry conference in New York.