Market research firm IDC says sales of personal computers in Asia grew 2.9 percent, to $13.9 billion, in first quarter, slowest growth since Asian financial crisis in 1998 (S)

World Business Briefing | Asia: Asia: PC Sales

Simon Romero article says he spends workday in Manhattan equipped with three devices: Kyocera Smartphone incorporating Palm computer and Web access, BlackBerry 957 e-mail pager and Sanyo Dual-Band phone with Web access; article chronicles his experiences with these mobile tools; photos (M)

Wireless Wanderer: A Field Study

Customers, marketing experts and even some Firestone dealers are wondering whether Firestone tire brand can weather yet another crisis; even in Nashville area, where Bridgestone/Firestone Inc has its American headquarters and employs 850 people, there is mixture of indignation, resignation and concern about company; doubts follow Ford Motor Co's decision to spend $3 billion to replace about 13 million Firestone tires (M)

Widespread Doubts Among Drivers on Firestone's Future

Brazil's Votorantim agrees to buy cement plants and other related assets in US and Canada from Lafarge of France for $712 million (S)

World Business Briefing | Americas: Brazil: Cement Plants Bought

David Pogue State of the Art column describes new line of wrist-worn combination devices from Casio; each melds a timepiece with another device, and is wristwatch-sized; Casio's Wrist Technology line presently includes three models: universal remote control for TV, VCR and stereo, black-and-white camera and global positioning receiver; photos (M)

Wristwear: Zap, Snap Or Zero In

Susannah McCorkle, cabaret singer, commits suicide at age 55, jumping from Manhattan apartment; photos (M)5

A Brave Singer Who Finally Ran Out of Silver Linings

House votes, 384 to 45, for bill that would reshape federal government's role in education by requiring states to conduct annual math and reading tests for students in grades three to eight and holding accountable those schools that fail to make progress; children in troubled schools would be given new options, including transferring to other public schools and using federal money for private tutoring; schools that fail consistently could ultimately be shut down; bill calls for 29 percent increase in spending to $24 billion for next year; measure was written by bipartisan coalition, using Pres Bush's plan as blueprint; its overwhelming passage is major legislative victory for him on one of his chief campaign pledges; photo (M)

House Votes for New Testing To Hold Schools Accountable

Bowman Capital, one of nation's largest hedge fund groups, is shutting $2 billion Bowman Technology fund and returning more than $1 billion in cash to investors; closing of fund, which declined 22 percent in 2001 through May 18, is latest in string of setbacks for technology fund managers during bear market; Bowman Capital says liquidation had been anticipated for weeks and much of fund is already in cash; chief executive Lawrence A Bowman comments; chart (Market Place column) (M)

THE MARKETS: Market Place; Hedge Fund Falls Victim To Tech Bear

South Korea's main financial regulator is investigating whether J P Morgan Chase violated disclosure laws in March when it acquired 6.1 percent of Cheil Communications, publicly traded advertising agency (S)

World Business Briefing | Asia: South Korea: Deal Investigated

Sen James M Jeffords tells aides he plans to leave Republican Party and become independent, move that would vault Democrats into control of Senate and complicate Pres Bush's efforts to enact his legislative agenda and win approval for judicial nominees; Jeffords says he will make official announcement in home state of Vermont on May 24, as fellow Republicans beg him to reconsider; Senators in both parties say they expect Jeffords to vote with Democrats on organizational matters, move that would end 50-50 split that has given Republicans control of Senate through Vice Pres Cheney's tie-breaking vote; Sen Tom Daschle would become majority leader and Democrats would become committee chairmen under power-sharing agreement struck this year; some Republicans threaten to mount filibuster against change in chairmen, and Sen Arlen Specter, one of those trying to convince Jeffords to reconsider, says there will be gridlock; photos (M)

G.O.P. SENATOR PLANS SHIFT, GIVING DEMOCRATS CONTROL IN SETBACK FOR WHITE HOUSE

 12 Illegal Immigrants Die in Arizona Desert  As temperatures soared to more than 110 degrees, a dozen people in a group crossing the border illegally died from heat exhaustion. The deaths are believed to be the most among one group of illegal immigrants since July 1980, when 13 Salvadorans died of exposure in Arizona.   PAGE A14    New Talks on Kashmir  India and Pakistan said they were ready to reopen talks on Kashmir after a two-year hiatus. But India also ended its cease-fire.   PAGE A12

INSIDE

Promising young European designers exhibiting at Intern

From Europe, A Softer Cutting Edge

 Senate Approves Tax Bill With a Cut of $1.3 Trillion  The Senate approved a sweeping $1.3 trillion tax-cut bill with all the main elements President Bush proposed, and a conference committee began meeting to work out the differences between the Senate version and legislation passed by the House of Representatives.    Congressional leaders said chances were good that a final bill with the largest tax reduction in 20 years would be ready for the president to sign by the end of the week. [Page A1.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

New terminal set to open at Kennedy International Airport to replace old International Arrivals Building offers arriving passengers views of three imposing and intriguing works by New York-area artists; art, large, permanent installations by Diller + Scofidio architectural design team, Harry Roseman and Deborah Masters, reflects what New York has to offer; JFK IAT, private international consortium that owns and runs terminal, initially asked 40 artists to compete for commissions; artists comment; photos (M)

Being Met At the Airport By New Art; Big, Bold Installations For a Rebuilt Kennedy Arrivals Terminal

Germany's big car magazines rank Ford Motor Co's renovated Mondeo, midsize sedan that sells for $20,000, as best car in its class, ahead of of home-market favorite, Volkswagen Passat; magazines have never had much use for cars from Ford of Europe; Ford's market share in Europe has inched up in last few months, thank in large part to new Mondeo; Ford earned profit of $88 million in first quarter after losing $1.13 billion last year; David W Thursfield, Ford of Europe's chief executive, comments; charts; photos (M

Standing Out in a Tough Crowd; A Ford Model Wins Rare German Praise

Jacqualyn Fouse, group treasurer for Nestle SA, is named chief financial officer of Swissair Group; Georges Schorderet, current finance chief, will take charge of special audit of company that was approved at recent shareholder meeting (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: Switzerland: Finance Chief At Swissair

Studies find that blacks and Hispanics are far less likely to explore Internet than whites, and that this trend is even stronger in lower economic groups; seeking remedy, Department of Housing and Urban Development and Housing Authority of Baltimore City administer $1.7 million program which gives residents of Edgar Allen Poe Homes, housing project, free Dell computers and instructions for their use; computers are installed in apartments equipped with high-speed Internet connections; photos (M)

Making the Most Of a Gift Horse; In a Housing Project's Free-Computer Experiment, Wariness Yields to Motivation: It's 'for the Kids'

Brazilian government is confronting accusations that Francisco Lopes, former president of central bank, sold information to private bankers just before large currency devaluation in January 1999; news magazine Veja says Lopes received at least $1.6 million from secret arrangement with private bankers; magazine says Salvatore Alberto Cacciola, Italian financier who owned bank that suffered losses when Brazilian real abruptly fell in value, demanded compensation for losses from Lopes, and threatened to release incriminating tapes of telephone conversations in which Lopes is said to have passed on earlier inside tips to Cacciola; Lopes was dismissed as head of central bank after less than one month in post, and shortly afterward police raided his apartment and office in Rio de Janeiro, searching for documents that might link him to irregularities at bank; central bank has never denied that it sold dollars to Cacciola's bank, Banco Marka, and to investment bank FonteCindam on Jan 14, 1999, at rate well below that prevailing on market; total value of that unusual rescue operation was put at $1.35 billion; government has said that bailout was necessary to head off collapse of entire banking system; photo (M)

Accusations Trail Former Banker in Brazil

arts abroad: behold that special face. is it shakespeare's?n

Behold That Special Face. Is It Shakespeare's?

New York lawmakers and health care advocates, day after federal appeals court ruled that illegal immigrant women are not entitled to federally financed prenatal care, begin reviewing ways to help restore coverage using only state money (M)

Legislators Seek Way to Restore Prenatal Care For Immigrants

Monthly minutes of Bank of England's monetary poolicy committee meeting show bank's experts voted 8 to 1 to lower interest rates by quarter-point this month, with sole dissenter arguing for bigger cut; vote is taken as sign that benchmark rate, now 5.25 percent, might fall further quarter-point in midsummer (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Rate Cut Vote

United States Customs Service has returned to China intricately carved marble wall panel looted in 1994 from Chinese tomb and offered for sale at Christie's auction; says Christie's cooperated with probe; China hails return; weekend of performances involving ukulele is set for Joe's Pub in Public Theater; DanceAfrica 2001: Rhythms From the Circle of Life festival will feature African and African-American dance troupes; Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, plans exhibition of works of Jacob Lawrence; photos (M)

Footlights

Article discusses creative fund raising events being held by politicians running for office in New York City; term limits for City Council members and borough presidents has created virtual campaigning free-for-all, with 150 candidates running for dozens of open offices; city, under new campaign financing formula, will quadruple modest contributions; photo (M)

A Dash for Campaign Cash; Creative Fund-Raising Spreads in Year of Term Limits

Morris County, NJ, authorities appeal to Hispanic neighbors of slain 10-year-old Walter Valenzuela to come forward with any information that might aid investigation without worrying about being deported or other penalties if they are illegal aliens; map; chart; photo (M)

A Boy's Slaying Resonates in a Bedroom City of Immigrant Workers

Some hybrid vehicles, which mix gasoline and battery power, are on the market, but their tax status remains vague; not even Internal Revenue Service can say for sure whether tax credit already is in effect, and therein lies warning to Congress and Bush administration about how complicated tax credits can be; hybrid models are produced by Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co; photo (M)

Some Hybrid Vehicles Are Here; Their Tax Status Remains Vague

Emily Austin is an American journalist, social media influencer and independent NBA broadcaster.

May 24, 2001

Headlines from May 24, 2001

World Business Briefing | Asia: Asia: PC Sales

Wireless Wanderer: A Field Study

Widespread Doubts Among Drivers on Firestone's Future

World Business Briefing | Americas: Brazil: Cement Plants Bought

Wristwear: Zap, Snap Or Zero In

Billboard 200

Survivor

Wingspan: Hits And History

All For You

Now 6

Moulin Rouge

Notable Births

Historical Context for May 24, 2001