On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
In 2000, the world population was approximately 6,171,702,993 people[†]
2000Kurt Schork, American journalist and scholar (born 1947)[†]
Kurt Erich Schork was an American reporter and war correspondent. He was killed in an ambush while on an assignment for Reuters in Sierra Leone together with cameraman Miguel Gil Moreno de Mora of Spain, who worked for Associated Press Television. Two other Reuters journalists, South African cameraman Mark Chisholm and Greek photographer Yannis Behrakis, were also injured in the attack.
2000Majrooh Sultanpuri, Indian poet and songwriter (born 1919)[†]
Asrar ul Hassan Khan, better known as Majrooh Sultanpuri, was an Indian Urdu poet and lyricist in the Hindi language film industry. He wrote lyrics for numerous Hindi film soundtracks.
2000Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.[†]
Southern Lebanon is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa districts, the southernmost districts of the Beqaa Governorate.
Portrait 1080 × 1920 PNG · created on your device
Japan's official economic statistics became suspect recently when government omitted important piece of information on quarterly growth, apparently for first time; that information reflected startling weakness, suggesting that Japan's financial institutions were spending little or nothing on upgrading their businesses; inclusion of information would have pushed gross domestic product for October-December 1999 quarter signficantly lower than what had been announced; conscious omission of data has been acknowledged by Economic Planning Agency, though it has not been reported by Japanese press; its omission has invigorated critics, who have long contended that ruling Liberal Democratic Party manipulates economic data for political reasons, papering over harsh realities to create impression that economy is recovering from its prolonged malaise; criticism of data omission comes at particularly awkward time for government of Prime Min Yoshiro Miro, who is calling elections in a month; photo (M)
House opens spirited debate over bill to grant China permanent normal trading relations; undecided members demand wide range of favors for districts, leaving bill's supporters confident they will eke out victory; opponents hold vote is still too close to call; some dozen Democrats announce their support for bill; focus shifts to undeclared Republicans; photos (M)
Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column on Indiana Pacers winning first game of NBA Eastern Conference championship playoff series against New York Knickerbockers; photo (M)
Nasdaq at a Six-Month Low Concerns about the economy's strength sent the Nasdaq index plunging 6 percent, to its lowest level in six months. PAGE C1
Some big airports in Northeast face changes if United Airlines acquires US Airways; some experts say any merger that makes weaker carrier like US Airways stronger could improve competition; few big airports in Northeast will be subject to significant changes, raising issue of whether certain hubs will be so thoroughly dominated by one airline that they could dictate prices by scaring off potential competitors; possible changes at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Washington Dulles airport, Reagan National, La Guardia, Logan International, Newark International and Kennedy International discussed; chart; photos (M)
Gov George W Bush, holding nation's security no longer requires 'nuclear balance of terror,' calls for new and possibly unilateral cut in American nuclear arms coupled with robust antimissile defense system, news conference; is flanked by foreign policy experts from four Republican administrations; shies away from specifics, but calls for cutting nuclear arsenal below levels called for under Start II accord with Russia; calls for study of whether space-based missile defense system can work; holds missile defenses should be designed to protect all 50 states, allies and deployed forces abroad from attacks by rogue nations or accidental launches; photo (M)
Recruiting jewel thief. Self-destructive sequel.
Irving S Hamer Jr, New York City Board of Education member who is leading its effort to integrate Internet into classroom, is also co-chairman and significant stockholder in TestU, new company trying out an Internet test-coaching program in more than two dozen city public schools; board officials say that no laws have been broken and there is no conflict of interest in Hamer's two roles because TestU does not have any contracts with board (M)
Michael J Fox discusses his fight against Parkinson's Disease, which has forced him to withdraw from regular cast of the TV series Spin City; will remain producer and may appear in one or two episode's next season; is now focusing on Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research; photo (M)
Fastest growing trend in home schooling, sometimes called 'unschooling,' is for parents to respond to child's talents and interests in guiding their learning, rather than impose conventional curriculum; home schooling, which earlier took hold among fundamentalists and religious conservatives fleeing liberal public education, is being adopted more broadly by parents disenchanted with school regimentation and idea that child's age marks thresholds of learning; National Home Education Research Institute holds about 3 percent of all school-age children now attend school at home; says their numbers are growing 7 to 15 percent a year, far faster than school population; photo (M)
Article discusses internal battle in Milstein family real estate empire that is pitting brother against brother and cousin against cousin; while not one of combatants is willing to talk publicly about dispute, picture of infighting between billionaires has emerged from court records and from friends and supporters of factions who spoke only on condition of anonymity; photo; chart (M)
Cultural events coming up include Lower East Side Festival of the Ars, performance of Leonard Bernstein's Mass at the Vatican, premiere of Lowell Liebermann's Trumpet Concerto by New York Philharmonic and an evening of flamenco music, dance and song at City University Graduate Center; photos (M)