Seat belts will have to be used in all seats in tour buses and vans across the European Union, the European Commission said in a new directive presented today.

Microsoft and Time Warner have made concessions to overcome European anti-trust obstacles to their purchase of ContentGuard Inc., a maker of anti-piracy software, the European Commission said.

The EU criticised Italy today for ordering European airlines to stop undercutting its struggling flag carrier Alitalia on long-haul routes from Rome, but said there was little Brussels could do to restore competition for summer travellers.