Four years into the longest bull market in the brief history of investing in emerging markets, investors have shown a willingness to take on risk.

The Fever for Exotic Stocks

Good things come to those who wait. The Treo 700P smartphone is the Windows Treo without the Windows, and it's almost everything you'd wish it to be.

May's Treo Leapfrogs Past January's

With another edition of "American Idol" in the works for next season, the Fox network doesn't need much else to remain a powerhouse in the ratings. 

Fox Schedule Sticks With Tried and True Successes

In the world of YouTube.com, regulated only by obscenity censors and corporate censors, there's no way to tell whether "Groundhog Day" is a smash hit, a slick scheme or a bit of both.

How 'Groundhog Day' Became an Overnight YouTube Sensation

Classified briefings on eavesdropping have smoothed Gen. Michael V. Hayden's path to confirmation as C.I.A. director, officials said.

Wider Briefing for Lawmakers on Spy Efforts

Last week, a two-year-old argument over the preferences of Stephin Merritt for music by white artists mushroomed into a tempest in a digital teapot. 

One Man's Musical Tastes as Fodder for a Flame War

A marriage over and a job downgraded, Kelly Killoren Bensimon is ready for the next act. 

Bikinis, Breakups and the Glam Game

Several large companies plan to bid on a multibillion-dollar contract to build a "virtual fence" along the nation's borders.

Bush Turns to Big Military Contractors for Border Control

This Saturday's season-ending gala will leave us not with a picture of Joseph Volpe's tenure as much as a snapshot of the state of opera today.

Missing Opera's Lost Generation of Stars at a Gala for Volpe

With their arsenal of electronic gadgets, inventive students these days find it easier to cheat. 

Colleges Chase as Cheats Shift to Higher Tech

The new plan would start negotiations on a peace treaty in parallel with efforts to dismantle the country's nuclear program.

U.S. Said to Weigh a New Approach on North Korea

Warren Buffett's $4 billion investment in Iscar Metalworking Company has provided a positive jolt to Israel's financial community.

Giving Galilee a Foothold in Industry

Nevaeh, which is Heaven spelled backward, is now a more popular name for baby girls than Sara and Vanessa.

And if It's a Boy, Will It Be Lleh?

Margaret Thomas's famous collection of bearded irises is now considered endangered.

Can a Legendary Iris Garden Survive?

Behind the market's reversal is a growing concern that inflation may not be firmly under control.

Inflation Rising, Markets Tumble

Only a week ago, the Dow Jones industrial average was on the verge of a record high. Without much fanfare, the Dow -- the best-known indicator of the stock market's performance -- seemed about to regain all that had been lost since the spectacular 1990's boom came to an end.      But nearly every trading day since last week's high-water mark, stocks have fallen, and yesterday they really tumbled on a government report that showed consumer prices rising more than expected.  

Warren E. Buffett, the multibillionaire investor, put up $4 billion to buy 80 percent of the Iscar Metalworking Company without bothering to visit its hilltop headquarters here in the isolated Galilee region of northern Israel. He missed quite a trip.      Since its founding on the Wertheimer family's kitchen porch in 1952, Iscar, which makes precision metal-cutting tools for a wide range of industries, has been led by a fiercely independent father-and-son team, Stef and Eitan Wertheimer, who have always operated well outside the business mainstream.  

College athletes are increasingly turning to Internet to post pictures and accounts of their bad behavior, including binge drinking and hazing, giving universities reason to be nervous that their programs will be subject to scrutiny; photo (M)

On the Web, College Athletes Acting Badly

It seems you can't open a movie these days without provoking some kind of culture war skirmish, at least in the conflict-hungry media. Recent history -- ''The Passion of the Christ,'' ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' -- suggests that such controversy, especially if religion is involved, can be very good business. ''The Da Vinci Code,'' Ron Howard's adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling primer on how not to write an English sentence, arrives trailing more than its share of theological and historical disputation.      The arguments about the movie and the book that inspired it have not been going on for millennia -- it only feels that way -- but part of Columbia Pictures' ingenious marketing strategy has been to encourage months of debate and speculation while not allowing anyone to see the picture until the very last minute. Thus we have had a flood of think pieces on everything from Jesus and Mary Magdalene's prenuptial agreement to the secret recipes of Opus Dei, and vexed, urgent questions have been raised: Is Christianity a conspiracy? Is ''The Da Vinci Code'' a dangerous, anti-Christian hoax? What's up with Tom Hanks's hair?  

A 'Da Vinci Code' That Takes Longer to Watch Than Read

New York Yankees defeat Texas Rangers, 4-3; photos (M)

Posada Does an Encore, and Now May Rest

Fox orders four new dramas and three new comedies for prime-time schedule next season; shows will feature familiar actors Brad Garrett, Victor Garber and Rob Corddry; new network CW unveils its fall schedule, which will be heavily populated by holdover shows from WB and Upn; CBS lineup detailed; photo (M)

Stephin Merrit, New York rock musician and songwriter, is accused of being racist by critic Sasha Frere-Jones; Frere-Jones referred to Merrit as 'rockist cracker' on his personal blog after Merrit wrote playlist article for New York Times that did not include any albums by black artists; Merrit has also been criticized for saying that he liked song Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah from Disney's animated film Song of the South that many consider racist; controversy caught attention of John Cook, contributor to online magazine Slate who wrote article debunking notion of correlation between taste in music and racism; photos (M)

Kelefa Sanneh Critic's Notebook on video for song Groundhog Day by hip-hop duo Mayday!, which became overnight sensation on video site YouTube; video was viewed by over 2 million people in one day, partly because of aggressive online outreach campaign by record label Southbeat; photos (M)

Anne Midgette Critic's Notebook on Metropolitan Opera gala to pay tribute to departing general manager Joseph Volpe; notes that majority of performers for gala are younger singers who still have active careers; holds that it is hard to find tenor and soprano voices that are over 50 and still in their prime; photo (M)

 Questions on Response To Lens Cleaner Crisis  For Bausch & Lomb, a call in March from a cornea specialist was the first sign that a puzzling medical mystery that had surfaced in a few overseas markets might escalate into a safety problem involving one of its most lucrative products, its ReNu brand lens cleaner.     The company says it has moved rapidly to respond to the outbreak of a potentially blinding eye infection among contact lens wearers, including Maria Rosales-Fechino, right. But some experts and lawyers question whether the company reacted fast enough.   BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1    Ethics Deadlock Is Broken  The House ethics committee ended more than a year of partisan deadlock and agreed to open investigations of two lawmakers -- one Democrat, one Republican -- who are the focus of criminal investigations, officials said.    PAGE A25    Hazings for All to See  The appearance on Web sites of photos showing misbehavior at colleges, often at team initiations, has raised concern among administrators.    SPORTSTHURSDAY, PAGE D1    A Later Split From Chimps?  The split between the human and chimpanzee lineages may have occurred millions of years later than fossil bones suggest, and the break may not have been as clean as humans might like.    PAGE A23    Gatlin to Share Sprint Mark  Justin Gatlin, credited with breaking Asafa Powell's world record for the 100-meter sprint on Friday, must share the mark with him after a review of the timing procedure.    SPORTSTHURSDAY, PAGE D5    Cy Feuer Dies at 95  The celebrated theatrical producer was responsible for Broadway musicals like ''Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' and, later, movies including ''Cabaret.''    PAGE A27

INSIDE

Jaan Eilart was an Estonian phytogeographer, landscape ecologist, cultural historian and conservationist.

Jaan Eilart, Estonian geographer, ecologist, and historian (born 1933)

Jaan_Eilart

The 2006 Nepal revolution also known as the Democracy Movement. It was a political movement that was opposed to Nepal's monarchy system under King Gyanendra. The movement was the second protest against the monarchy, following the first revolution.

The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country.

May 18, 2006

Headlines from May 18, 2006

The Fever for Exotic Stocks

May's Treo Leapfrogs Past January's

Fox Schedule Sticks With Tried and True Successes

How 'Groundhog Day' Became an Overnight YouTube Sensation

Wider Briefing for Lawmakers on Spy Efforts

Billboard 200

10;000 Days

Pearl Jam

Blood Money

High School Musical

Me And My Gang

Notable Deaths

Historical Events

Historical Context for May 18, 2006