The dollar also dropped to within a cent of its all-time low versus the euro, as rising global interest rates made the currency less attractive to investors. The euro climbed after German industry group VDMA reported that new orders for the country's machinery industry rose by 18 percent in May from a year earlier. The dollar slipped against the yen after a Bank of Japan business confidence survey supported predictions that the country's central bank may raise interest rates as early as August.

June 30, 2007, 12:08 AM EDT PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria -- Europe's great powers once scrambled for dominance across vast, underdeveloped African lands rich in raw resources, including the scarlet palm oil used to grease the first cogs of the industrial revolution. June 30, 2007, 12:08 AM EDT PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria -- Europe's great powers once scrambled for dominance across vast, underdeveloped African lands rich in raw resources, including the scarlet palm oil used to grease the first cogs of...

We don't go on vacation and things," said Anna Bleemel, who cooks the food for their buffets and other events, conducts tours and performs other duties connected to the business. She turned to providing parties and dinners, cooking with vegetables fresh from the garden and following the country recipes that diners seemed to love. The Bleemels decided to expand from agriculture into hospitality soon after moving to the property, which has been in the family since 1816, and realizing that it...

Legislature already has placed four constitutional amendments on November ballot, including a "rainy day" reserve fund and simple majority approval of local school levies. Referenda include challenge of a new insurance consumer law and designation of the Pacific chorus frog as the state amphibian. Lawmakers can refer regular legislation or constitution amendments to voters. DIRECT DEMOCRACY: Washington's constitution allows citizens to propose legislation via initiatives, or to try to...

When the column kept getting longer and longer, the editors suggested breaking it into three parts. Another brother, Bill, is a prominent developer who led the transformation of the family's Florida dairy farm into Miami Lakes, a model of urban planning. Covering about a half block where the post office and city hall now stand, it featured a distinctive cupola, ornate gingerbread trim and a wraparound second-story veranda. On May 12, 1879, the railroad reached a tiny settlement that...