A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Livedoor soars on hope of takeover

Livedoor shares yesterday rose for the first time since the Japanese internet services group was raided by prosecutors on January 16th, soaring 23 per cent on hopes of a possible takeover.

The share rise came as Fuji TV, Livedoor's second- biggest shareholder, said executives had met Livedoor's new president.

That triggered speculation that the TV broadcaster might consider buying Livedoor.

Fuji TV said Hisashi Hieda, its chairman and chief executive, and Koichi Murakami, its president, met Kozo Hiramatsu, Livedoor's new president, to exchange greetings.

Mr Hiramatsu replaced Takafumi Horie, the Livedoor founder who was dismissed this week after he and other senior executives were arrested on suspicion of breaking securities laws. - (Financial Times Service)

Wrong water put into 'Ulysses'

Maintenance workers on Irish Ferries' craft, the Ulysses, accidentally pumped the wrong water into its fresh water systems while in dry dock at Birkenhead this week.

Its fresh water systems are meant to contain water that is suitable for drinking, but the grade that was pumped through the system was either seawater or impure water, a spokesman said yesterday.

He said that the fault was rectified with no delay to the ship's scheduled return to service this week, and that the problem did not result in a loss of service or revenue at the shipping line.

Quinlan promises $1.35m to charity

Quinlan Private, the investment vehicle controlled by financier Derek Quinlan, has pledged $1.35 million (€1.12 million) to help fund the US-Ireland Alliance, an Irish-American charity.

The company will help raise an endowment fund to establish permanent support for the scholarship programme named after Senator George Mitchell, chairman of the talks that led to the Belfast Agreement.

Griffiths to chair Net committee

Tim Griffiths, the managing director of advertising company OMD Ireland, has been appointed chairman of the board of the Joint National Internet Research committee (JNIR).

Mr Griffiths said the advertising community needed to engage with consumers' changing habits in a more fragmented advertising world.

Set up in 2003, the JNIR aims to provide figures on internet audiences in the Republic, mainly for the purpose of advertising.

Wal-Mart pledges on sustainable fish

Wal-Mart has committed itself to taking most of the fish it sells in North America from environmentally sound sources, in its latest initiative to improve its record on environmental and social issues.

The world's largest retailer has pledged that all of its US fresh and frozen fish, excluding farmed fish, will eventually come from fisheries certified as being "sustainable" by the Marine Stewardship Council, meaning that the sea areas they come from are not being over-fished.

Lee Scott, chief executive of Wal-Mart, set out ambitious targets for improving Wal-Mart's environmental performance in October, saying that Wal-Mart's role as the world's largest retailer gave it "unique" opportunities to raise industry standards.

Since then, the retailer has announced it will only source its shrimp from farms meeting industry standards established by the Global Aquaculture Alliance. - (Financial Times Service)