Boston

Microsoft reaches $34M settlement

Massachusetts consumers could receive as much as $34 million worth of computer products, while North Dakota consumers could get as much as $9 million in separate, proposed settlements of class-action lawsuits accusing Microsoft Corp. of violating each state’s antitrust laws.

Under settlements approved Tuesday, Massachusetts and North Dakota would become the 11th and 12th states with which the software giant has reached such an agreement.

The Massachusetts settlement, filed in Middlesex Superior Court, won preliminary approval from Superior Court Judge Judith Fabricant on Monday — the same day a judge in Arizona approved a similar settlement there that has a maximum value of $104.6 million.

The agreement will require Microsoft to provide vouchers to all class members in Massachusetts who bought Microsoft operating systems or software from Jan. 3, 1996 to Dec. 31, 2002.

Vatican City

Pope welcomes Orthodox patriarch

Pope John Paul II welcomed the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians on Tuesday, expressing hope the visit would help mend a historic rupture between the Eastern and Western branches of Christianity.

“We are praying that the Lord of history purifies our memories of every prejudice and resentment and allows us to freely proceed on the road of unity,” John Paul said.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople met privately with John Paul hours before joining him for a late afternoon Mass in St. Peter’s Square marking the feast day of St. Peter and St. Paul.

The pope has often appealed for rapprochement, but new strains have developed in recent years over what some Orthodox see as attempts by the Vatican to expand its reach in traditionally Orthodox parts of the former Soviet Union.

John Paul spoke of the visit in remarks at noon from his apartment window, as thousands of tourists and pilgrims gathered in the square below.