News In Brief
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is expected to announce another cut in interest rates of anywhere from a half- point to three-quarters of a point tomorrow. The move would attempt to jump-start the economy, which has been showing increasing signs of slowing. The Fed made two trims of a half-point each in January, bringing short-term interest rates to 5.5 percent.
President Bush plans to discuss problems of the world's two largest economies when he meets with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori today. Bush is expected to offer support for Japan in the latter's efforts to revive its economy and talk about reform possibilities. He and Mori also are likely discuss Asian issues and frayed security ties between the US and Tokyo, aides said.
The Bush administration has proposed suspending ex-President Clinton's ban on road-building and logging in one-third of federal forestland. Government lawyers made the proposal in a filing in federal court in Boise, Idaho, where state officials and timber interests seek to keep the ban from going into effect. It would shield 58 million acres against development, but opponents argue it would both fence off resources and limit tree clearings that protect against fires.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission directed six California electricity producers to justify $55 million worth of wholesale power transactions made in February. The companies have been accused of overcharging by billions of dollars, forcing some of the state's largest utilities to the brink of bankruptcy. The companies are required to provide justification for charges by March 23.
An Amtrak train derailed about 70 miles southwest of Des Moines, Iowa, resulting in the death of at least one passenger. At least 90 others were injured. A spokeswoman for the carrier gave no reason for the crash on a section of track that is owned by Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad. The train was carrying 195 passengers and was headed from Chicago to Emeryville, Calif.
Brown University students stole the entire press run of an issue of the student-run Daily Herald newspaper in protest against a controversial ad denouncing the concept of paying reparations for slavery that appeared in an earlier edition. The Herald was the first Ivy League newspaper to print the ad paid for by conservative theorist David Horowitz, which had been rejected by 18 other college papers. Of those that ran it, four quickly apologized. Students at the Providence, R.I., school replaced Friday's edition in distribution bins with fliers accusing the paper of insensitivity.
(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor
