NATION

NATION

Smoke halts stock market

PHILADELPHIA — Trading on the floor of the Nasdaq stock market’s Philadelphia Stock Exchange was halted for an hour because of smoke. The exchange, known as Nasdaq OMX PHLX, handles options trading.

Nasdaq OMX Group said its employees were evacuated. The Philadelphia Fire Department was trying to determine the origin of the smoke.

Trading was halted at 11:05 a.m. Tuesday. All smoke had been cleared from the floor by 12:05 p.m., and trading resumed about 35 minutes later, NASDAQ OMX said in a statement.

Nokia and Apple at odds

NEW YORK — Nokia Corp. is broadening a legal dispute it already has with Apple Inc. over the iPhone, saying almost all of the company’s other products also violate the Finnish phone maker’s patents. Nokia said Tuesday that it has filed a complaint against Apple with the U.S. International Trade Commission, alleging Apple’s iPhone, iPods and computers all violate Nokia’s intellectual property rights.

At issue are key features found in Apple products, including aspects of user interface, cameras, antenna and power management technologies, Nokia said. The company claims that the technologies in question help cut manufacturing costs, reduce gadget size and prolong battery life.

Apple has denied the charges and this month countered with its own lawsuit, saying Nokia has copied aspects of the iPhone in its devices. Apple claims Nokia is violating its patent rights on technology for connecting phones to computers, teleconferencing and touch-screen menus, among other things.

New nuke reactors for US

PARIS — French nuclear engineering company Areva SA said Tuesday that it plans to work with Fresno Nuclear Energy Group on developing one or two new- generation reactors in California’s Central Valley. Areva said FNEG is a group of investors that wants to acquire the so-called EPR, or European Pressurized Reactor, technology for California.

EPR reactors are under construction in France, Finland and China, and the certification process is under way in the United States and Britain. In California, Areva said that next year the two companies will begin a series of studies identifying the most feasible site for a new nuclear power plant, and will work together on the initial development and permitting process.

Areva said that six companies — Constellation, PPL, AmerenUE, Amarillo Power, AEHI and Duke Energy — have chosen the EPR for a total of eight potential reactor construction projects, pending U.S. certification.

Vindicator wire reports