Quotes of the Day

Do oil and Islam mix? Several prominent Iraqi exiles have tentatively endorsed a plan from the U.S. designed to give Iraq's vast oil reserves to "the Iraqi people." The plan defines oil as a government asset, but recommends sharing production with foreign oil companies in exchange for development costs. Now many scholars of Islamic law (Shari'a) say the U.S. plan inadvertently (or perhaps cunningly) delivers a more "Islamic" arrangement than the one followed in supposedly Islamic Saudi Arabia.

Where the U.S. plan intends to give ownership to a democratically elected government, the Saudi royal family collects all revenue and administers it on behalf of the kingdom. Some Islamic critics, following edicts that say buried treasures, like gold and salt, should be shared among the people, claim the Saudi royal family has grabbed too much oil booty for itself. Critics of the U.S. plan, however, say the proposed production-sharing

INDICATORS Worth The Weight? After three years, Rupert Murdoch won his battle for DirecTV, filling a final gap in his media empire by gaining a U.S. satellite broadcaster — pending regulatory approval. But investors balked at the $6.6 billion deal, sending News Corp. shares down 3%. Supermarket Surfing What dotcom bust? According to figures released last week, profits at British online supermarket Tesco.com surged 30-fold last year, to €17.8 million. Sales at the online wonder rose 26%. Will Italy Join The Club? The European Commission warned that Italy may soon join Germany, France and Portugal, violating the stability and growth pact by wracking up debts greater than 3% of GDP.

arrangements don't meet Shari'a edicts requiring compensation to be defined before work is carried out.

The issue is significant, because although strict conformity to Shari'a is not needed, it could help win hearts and minds. But it isn't clear-cut: Shari'a legal opinions regarding oil vary, not only among the four schools of Shari'a jurisprudence, but even within them. — By Steve Zwick

The Dinar Soars
As Saddam's regime fell, the Iraqi currency rallied: a dollar used to buy 3,000 dinars but now buys only about 600. But that's nothing compared to eBay, which has been gripped by Saddamania, driving dinars bearing his picture to parity with the greenback.

Miss Piggy must be outraged
In the words of the two grumpy Muppets that Thomas and Florian Haffa acquired — with the rest of the Jim Henson Company — while building Germany's EMTV empire, it must be "like a kind of torture to have to watch this show." Last week the Haffas were fined €1.4 million for misleading investors and inflating share prices with rosy €300 million profit forecasts while EMTV was actually headed for a €1.4 billion loss. Not a huge fine, but perhaps a huge precedent for the 2,000 EMTV shareholders now filing civil suits, says Theodor Baums, architect of the government's plans to make executives more accountable.

"Germany's regulations are outdated," he says, "and executives can't be held liable in a civil court until they are penalized by a criminal court." That should change soon, as lawmakers catch up to international standards. Meanwhile, if this sentence survives appeal, many titans of Germany's now-defunct Neuer Markt have a new reason for stage fright.

The Bottom Line
Mr. Brown is not really the rather dour person he tries to present to us, but rather a romantic character
BRIDGET ROSEWELL, economist for the Greater London Authority, on the British Chancellor's highly optimistic growth forecasts

• KARIM SAHIB/AFP
• The U.S. plan could be more Islamic than anyone expected