December 10, 2004

Federal regulators plan to begin considering rules that woujld end official ban on cellphone use on commercial flights; technical challenges and safety questions remain; if ban is lifted, one of last cocoons of relative social silence would disappear, forcing strangers to work out rough etiquette of involuntary eavesdropping in confined space; diagram; photos (M)

Neelie Kroes, talking tough in her first public appearance since becoming Europe's competition commissioner, blocks merger in Portugal's energy industry and sets fines on three chemical companies for colluding on prices; Kroes, expressing 'zero tolerance' for cartels and speaking out in defense of energy consumers, tries to lay to rest suspicions that her close ties to business before taking office would not compromise her ability to police that world; Kroes recommends blocking acquisition of Gas de Portugal by Energias de Portugal and Italian energy company ENI; recommendation is accepted by her fellow commissioners; commission imposes fine of $88.4 million on Akzo Nobel, BASF and UCB for running cartel in market for vitamin B4, or choline chloride, animal growth stimulant given many to poultry and pigs (M)

OPEC ministers are considering curbing output and taking some oil off market to prevent price slump; light sweet crude for delivery in January rises 59 cents, to $42.53 per barrel, in New York trading as oil traders react to possibility of production cut; OPEC is producing at its highest rate in 25 years to meet record demand; OPEC will seek to prevent oversupply of oil in market as well as anticipate seasonal decline in second quarter as consumption growth is expected to slow in 2005; over last four years, it has been OPEC's policy to act pre-emptively to keep its benchmark price around $25 per barrel; analysts say OPEC now wants to defend higher prices, around $35 per barrel (M)

Article on backcountry guided ski excursions, which are being offered by more ski resorts in Wyoming, California, Utah and Colorado as skiers seek more excitement beyond boundaries of ski lifts; list; photos (M)

Former Helix High School (Calif) teammates Alex Smith, who is now quarterback at undefeated Utah University, and Southern California University running back Reggie Bush are first pair of high school teammates ever nominated as Heisman Trophy finalists; photos (M)