July 19, 2000

Labor Department reports Consumer Price Index rose by 0.6 percent in June, led by energy costs; narrower core rate of inflation, which excludes energy and food, was up only 0.2 percent; for 12 months ended in June, rise was 2.4 percent, compared with 1.9 percent in 1999; Labor Sec Alexis M Herman says core consumer prices remain moderate despite pressure from energy prices; gas prices shot up 7.8 percent, biggest one month increase since Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking them in 1952; graph; chart (M)

David Pearson, top executive in France for Robert Mondavi Corp of California, is facing most adventuresome mangement hurdle of his career by trying to win over opponents of plan to buy forested hillside above village of Aniane France, and start a vineyard there; many inhabitants are protesting destruction of acres of their forest, where they have hunted wild boar for hundreds of years; they fear that arrival of multinational company will lead to lowering of standards; charts; photos (M)

Pres Clinton, seeking to finalize Mideast peace accord, delays his trip to Japan for meeting of leaders of seven leading industrial nations by one day and will stay at Camp David with Israeli Prime Min Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat; talks, described as increasingly intense and heated, again continue into night; both sides are playing to their constituents at home and preparing public opinion for possible outcomes; photos (M)

Metropolitan Transportation Authority spends $10 million to place 43 air coolers above platforms at Grand Central and $1 million for 32 ceiling fans in Union Square subway station; pilot program is intended to address a heat problem on platforms that was partly created by MTA's success in air-conditioning subway cars; photo (M)

Aetna, nation's biggest health insurance company, says it will not meet second-quarter earnings forecasts because its health care costs are rising faster than expected; surprised investors drive down Aetna's stock price; announcement raises questions about Aetna's plans to reorganize and sell its nonhealth units to ING Group; chief executive William H Donaldson says operations will be tightened to increase efficiency; photo (M)