The European Parliament in Strasbourg voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to reject a law that would have given software common patent protection across all countries in the European Union.

The decision, by 648 votes to 14, was preceded by a fierce four- year battle between those who supported the idea that companies should be able to own software and the inventions that use it and those who backed the idea that software breakthroughs should be shared widely and freely. That ideological battle will continue, though it will have to be fought separately in each of the 25 member states of the EU.

Terrorists today struck at the London transport system, killing 37 and injuring around 3,000 persons, 45 of them critically.

The attacks took place in the morning rush hour at a number of tube stations. At least four explosive devices were exploded. The underground tube stations involved included some of the busiest in the city, including the Kings Cross, Aldgate, Liverpool, Edgware Road and Russell Square.

Calling him Errol, Apple CEO Steve Jobs asked how Rose was doing, Rose said, and conveyed his sympathies of the death of Rose's son over an iPod. "He told me that he understood my pain," Rose said. "He told me if there is anything, anything, anything he could do, to not be afraid to call him. It really lightened me a bit."