BUSINESS BRIEFS
New wireless ventures slated

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Say goodbye to one national cell phone company, and hello to two more.

While the industry is hopeful that the buyout of AT&T Wireless by Cingular Wireless will ease competition by eliminating one national rival — and possibly more if the merger prompts more deals — two other telephone companies are poised to crowd the market with their own national wireless offerings.

Qwest Communications, the local phone company across the Rocky Mountains and Northwest, is expanding its regional cell service today with the introduction of national coverage and calling plans.

The services will be provided over Sprint Corp.'s wireless network under the Qwest Wireless brand.

Iraqi oil to flow through Kuwait

Kuwait has agreed to export Iraqi oil from its ports and is considering a deal to import natural gas from Iraq, a senior official said yesterday.

This oil deal would be the first of its kind between the neighbors since the fall of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who invaded Kuwait and occupied it for seven months until it was liberated in the 1991 Gulf War.

Stewart trial focus shifts

Their most serious charge cast aside by a federal judge, prosecutors will zero in today on their accusation that Martha Stewart and her stockbroker cooked up a cover story for a 2001 stock sale.

The government will present its closing argument in the five-week trial, hoping to persuade a jury of eight men and four women to convict the domestic-style maven of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.

The charges spring from Stewart's sale of 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems stock.