world

Doctors announce discovery of improved HIV drug

By Mari Slater · Thursday, March 1,2001 11:03 p.m.

At the eighth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections Feb. 4-8 in Chicago, doctors announced new drugs that demonstrate an extraordinary ability to keep HIV from replicating.

Federal reserve might cut rates

By Trevor K. Davis · Monday, Feb. 26,2001 10:41 p.m.

A large amount of economic data will be released this week to the markets. And if this data is weak, investors will be expecting action from the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve will meet March 20 to discuss interest rates. "We have to see weakness to keep the Fed on track for easing in March," Christopher Low, chief economist at First Tennessee Capital Markets, told CNBC.com.

Bush faces difficult path

By Jennifer Kaiser · Thursday, Feb. 22,2001 12:07 a.m.

Democrats and Republicans make up the two largest parties in the United States. Constituents expect party officials to uphold their values and beliefs, which might make President George W. Bush's job harder as he tries to unite both parties.

On the Internet, it isn't business as usual

By Troy Barratt · Tuesday, Feb. 20,2001 12:10 a.m.

Just as the Internet has become ubiquitous in our lives, so have the stories of its darling companies hitting the pavement. The combined value of three of the Internet's most famous names -- Amazon.com, eBay and Yahoo! -- has gone from about $188 billion at the height of the dot-com mania to a dismal $23.5 billion today. Many people are wondering if that means e-commerce is just hype.

U.S. planes attack Iraqi radar sites

By Robert Burns · Saturday, Feb. 17,2001 2:19 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush ordered an airstrike Friday on Iraqi military sites south of Baghdad to destroy five military command sites that threatened American and British aircraft. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the action was "a routine strike" to enforce the no-fly zone in Iraq and protect U.S. personnel. Bush authorized the strike Thursday morning. British and U.S. planes took part in the attack.

SEC to review Lucent accounting practices

By Troy Barratt · Monday, Feb. 12,2001 10:48 p.m.

Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it would formally investigate Lucent Technologies' accounting books for irregularities on how it records revenues. On its own accord, Lucent notified the SEC of these discrepancies and revised its 2000 revenue down in November by approximately $680 million.

Fed chairman to speak

By Trevor Davis · Sunday, Feb. 11,2001 10:51 p.m.

This week, a number of economic reports will be released, including the producer price index report and the retail sales report. Investors will examine the data released and attempt to determine how quickly the economy is slowing. If economic reports in the next few weeks are weaker than expected, fear of a recession might rise.

Middle East nations discuss terms for peace

By Stacy Kess · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2001 11:07 p.m.

They have been fighting for more than 50 years. Since Israel gained independence in 1948, the Middle East has been a region of turmoil, each side hoping for peace. "It's a tough neighborhood," said Mark Regev, a counselor at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Israel made peace with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 after years of war. To the north, in the lush Galilee bordered by Israel and Lebanon, fighting continues.

International forum draws leaders, protesters

By Troy Barratt · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2001 12:56 a.m.

Economic, political and academic luminaries gathered for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last month to discuss, among other issues, the growing divide between First and Third World countries.

Can peace be achieved in the Middle East after so many years of conflict?

By Traci Geffon · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2001 12:55 a.m.

Israeli and Palestinian aggression has created problems for both cultures since the seventh century. Israelis, descendants of the ancient Hebrews, and Palestinians, descendants of the ancient Philistines, have fought over this small but religiously important strip of land. Recently, disputed settlements in Israel's Gaza Strip and West Bank have led to terrorist aggression on both sides.

Investors expect more interest rate cuts

By Trevor Davis and Trevor K. Davis · Sunday, Feb. 4,2001 11:33 p.m.

This week, talk on Wall Street might again revolve around interest rates. Some investors feel the Fed is not done cutting rates and are hoping for another rate cut at or before its March 20 meeting. "The weak economy is causing more layoffs ... and manufacturing continues to be in a recession," Fahnestock's Alan Ackerman told The Wall Street Journal. "All eyes are on the service sector, attempting to measure its strength or weaknesses. The fact for now is the Fed is friendlier, and it may as a result of recent economic data be forced to move before its next meeting."

Texas cattle quarantine raises mad cow concerns

By Durga Raghunath · Sunday, Feb. 4,2001 10:57 p.m.

Until recently, the spread of the brain-destroying illness known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy from Britain to several continental European countries -- and the scare that has turned Europeans off beef en masse -- barely registered on the American radar screen. But with the quarantine of some cattle in Texas last week, mad cow disease is making a splash this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Surplus projections reach $5.6 trillion

By Joseph S. Pete · Friday, Feb. 2,2001 2:26 p.m.

The Congressional Budget Office released a report Thursday forecasting an overall budget surplus of $5.6 trillion during the next decade, $1 trillion more than it predicted six months ago.

City plagued by disasters

By Riddhi Trivedi · Monday, Jan. 29,2001 11:17 p.m.

Ahva Fernandes, a journalist with The Asian Age, has been living on the streets in a car for the last four days. Harnish Panchal, who owns an Internet service providing company, lost one of his two offices and the damage in the other building is yet to be assessed because there are cracks in the walls and pillars and it is too dangerous to venture in to the building even now. Anshul Singh, who works for Hewlett Packard, is living at other people's houses with his family.

Environmentalists critical of Bush appointments for Interior and Energy secretaries

By Durga Raghunath · Monday, Jan. 29,2001 12:02 a.m.

Judging from President George W. Bush's recent cabinet appointments, experts anticipate a dramatic shift in the see-saw between protecting the environment and extracting energy from public land. The movement in energy's favor, environmentalists say, has become apparent with the appointments of Spencer Abraham as Energy Secretary and Gale Norton as Interior Secretary.

Greenspan supports tax cuts

By Troy Barratt · Sunday, Jan. 28,2001 11:27 p.m.

Constant increases in projected future surpluses have caused Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to change his fiscally conservative stance of debt reduction to include the goal of tax cuts. While many in Washington side with his new position, some believe it is irrational.

Interest rate decision to be announced

By Trevor Davis · Sunday, Jan. 28,2001 11:25 p.m.

Tuesday and Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will meet and announce whether it will cut interest rates, a week after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testified before the Senate. Greenspan declined to comment on what Fed policymakers will do when they meet this week. Many investors are looking for the Fed's Open Market Committee to cut short-term interest rates by a half-point.

Earnings reports reveal economy's health

By Trevor Davis · Monday, Jan. 22,2001 11:10 p.m.

Several companies will report their fourth quarter earnings this week. Investors will look to these reports as early indicators of how far the economy has slowed.

Climate discovery troubles researchers

By Durga Raghunath · Monday, Jan. 22,2001 11:08 p.m.

Scientists have encountered another speedbump along their way to understanding how the climate works and how it might change in the new century. Researchers have found a discrepancy in the way ocean water warms compared with the air just above it. In the last 20 years, water temperatures around the globe have risen faster than air temperatures.

Inauguration leaves viewers awed

By Christina Jewett · Monday, Jan. 22,2001 12:24 a.m.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As the power of the presidency transferred between William Jefferson Clinton and George Walker Bush, cameras zoomed in to show tears welling in Bush's eyes. They didn't show the IU students present, standing in rose bushes, sinking in mud, taking in the moment. They didn't show Al Gore, who won the popular vote and 85 percent of the votes in the District of Columbia. And they couldn't show the unity that junior Drew Miller sensed at the ceremony.