Today's Headlines from NYTimes.com Friday, November 16, 2001 NYTimes HTML E-Mail   Â   Search NYTimes.com  Today's News Past Week Past 30 Days Past 90 Days Past Year Since 1996    November 16, 2001  QUOTE OF THE DAY "I saw a family on the   way, a husband, a pregnant   wife, carrying two small children and their belongings.   They could carry them no   longer. They kissed their   children and left them in the   mountains."  TILAWAT SHAHon refugees' fleeing Afghanistan. Holiday Shopping   Take advantage of special offers and discounts -- on gifts, travel and luxury items from NYTimes.com's premium advertisers -- with the Holiday Shopping E-Mail. Sign up now.   NATIONAL A Quick Change in Fortune Dulls the Glimmer of Houston Although the national economic downturn was expected to bypass Houston, current indicators are showing that is not true. Hoffa Claims Victory in Bid to Stay Head of Teamsters With about half the votes counted, James P. Hoffa claimed victory on Thursday in his bid for re-election as Teamsters union president. Investigators Think Yemeni Man Was Meant to Be 20th Hijacker Federal investigators say that they believe a Yemeni citizen may have been meant to be the 20th hijacker on Sept. 11 but that he failed to get into the United States. MORE NATIONAL NEWS Listen To John Grisham's Latest On Your Free MP3 Player! Heard a good book lately?  Now you can download John Grisham's  latest bestseller - Skipping Christmas - and you can listen to  it on your FREE MP3 player.  Become an Audible Listener and start  enjoying books in a whole new way.  Listen to them while you  drive or commute, anywhere, anytime.   INTERNATIONAL Allies Building Force to Keep Order in a Vacuum About 160 British Royal Marines and American Special Operations troops flew to Bagram airfield north of Kabul on Thursday. U.S. Set to Retain Smallpox Stocks The Bush administration, reversing a course set two decades ago, has decided that the world's remaining stocks of smallpox should be retained. Before and After Bush and Putin's Banter, No Agreement on Missile Defense Presidents Bush and Putin ended their three-day summit with warm jokes, but no discernible progress on amending the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty. MORE INTERNATIONAL NEWS BUSINESS Oil Prices Tumble to 2-Year Low Oil prices went into free fall as Russia rejected a challenge from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to stabilize prices by sharply cutting production. A High-Powered Deal Maker Is Named to Lead Lazard Bruce Wasserstein, a Wall Street deal maker who rose to prominence in the 1980's, is taking the top job at Lazard L.L.C., an investment bank adrift after a string of defections. Philip Morris to Change Name to Altria Philip Morris, the owner of one of the world's best-known corporate names, plans to change that name next year to the Altria Group. MORE BUSINESS NEWS TECHNOLOGY Dell Rebounds After a 2nd-Quarter Loss Rebounding from a loss in the July quarter, the Dell Computer Corporation reported a third-quarter profit of $429 million. Executive Bonuses Included in the Hewlett-Compaq Deal Senior executives of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq will receive bonuses totaling more than $55 million if the companies' merger succeeds and they stay on until September 2003. U.S. Filing Supports Microsoft Settlement The Justice Department sought to convince the judge in the antitrust case against Microsoft that its settlement to end the trial will provide "prompt, certain and effective" help for consumers. MORE TECHNOLOGY NEWS POLITICS Congress Agrees to U.S. Takeover for Air Security House and Senate negotiators reached agreement on a major aviation security bill that requires the federal government to hire 28,000 screeners for airport travelers and baggage within one year. Senators Seek $3.2 Billion to Fight Germ Threats, Doubling Bush Plan A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation calling for $3.2 billion to fight bioterrorism. $88 Billion Farm Bill Wins Approval of Senate Panel The Senate Agriculture Committee approved an $88 billion farm bill that  places no limits on subsidies to America's  wealthiest farmers. MORE POLITICS NEWS SPORTS Clemens Wins His 6th Cy Young Roger Clemens won his sixth Cy Young award, dominating the balloting for the A.L.'s best pitcher. No other pitcher has won the award more than four times. Knicks' Surge Holds Off the Heat Pushed to the brink of defeat by a depleted Miami team, the Knicks regrouped just in time, dominating the final minutes to escape with a victory over the Heat. Bidding Charges Dismissed Against 2 Ex-Officials in Salt Lake City A federal judge dismissed all remaining   charges in the bribery scandal involving the two chief organizers of Salt Lake City's bid to win the 2002 Winter Olympics. MORE SPORTS NEWS ARTS Days of War and Wonder in Afghanistan CNN's extraordinary "Unholy Wars" is one of three eye-opening documentaries about Afghanistan, and it's not easy to be eye-opening in the barrage of  recent news. Cosmopolitan Trove on the Road to China The headquarters of the Asia  Society reopen after a renovation that doubles its exhibition space. The exciting headline show is of Silk Road treasures. In Her World, Normalcy Includes the Grotesque Anna Paquin brings quiet centeredness to her stage debut as a disaffected  girl who goes directly from middle school to marriage and murder. MORE ARTS NEWS NY REGION Loss of 79,000 Jobs Adds to City's Economic Woes A staggering 79,000 jobs disappeared from New York City in October, signaling that all the dire forecasts of economic fallout from Sept. 11 may have been understated. Data Shows Jet Shook After Hitting Wake of 747 American Airlines Flight 587 began to shake violently seconds after bumping over the second of two wakes left by a Boeing 747 that had left Kennedy International Airport just ahead of it. Bloomberg Asks for Aid in Washington Pilgrimage Mayor-elect Michael R. Bloomberg urged the White House to reconsider its opposition to a measure that would immediately provide billions of dollars to help New York City rebuild. MORE NY REGION NEWS OP-ED  Breaking the Circle By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Arab-Muslim countries crush or expell extreme Islamists without ever trying to reform the Islamic schools or the political conditions that keep producing angry Islamist waves. Bush by 537; Gore by 537,179 By MARTIN PLISSNER There's been enough talk about fixing the voting machines. It's time to abolish the Electoral College. Writing History to Executive Order By RICHARD REEVES With a stroke of the pen on Nov. 1, President   Bush stabbed history in the back and blocked Americans' right to know how presidents   (and vice presidents) have made decisions. MORE OP-ED  NEWS About This E-Mail You received these headlines because you requested The New York Times Direct e-mail service. 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