July 31, 2002

Federal and state law enforcement authorities said Tuesday they had taken action against 19 Internet-based scams that they say collectively bilked consumers out of millions of dollars. Work-at home schemes, auction fraud, deceptive use of junk e-mail, securities fraud and other schemes were targeted by a broad Internet law-enforcement effort including state attorneys general, local law enforcement authorities and a passel of federal agencies. 11:38:07 AM

In an apparently deliberate denial-of-service attack, an onslaught of traffic crippled the Web site for the Recording Industry Association of America over the weekend. The disruptions began Friday, a day after Rep. Howard L. Berman, D-Calif., formally proposed giving the entertainment industry broad new powers -- including deliberately interfering with file-sharing programs -- to try to stop people from downloading pirated music and movies. 11:24:36 AM

A man opened fire Wednesday on a Beirut university campus, killing eight people before he was apprehended by police, police officials said. Police said the gunman, identified as Ahmed Mansour, began firing in the air and then turned his gun on people in the offices of the teachers' compensation fund in the literature department of Lebanese University. It was not immediately known whether Mansour was a student, a teacher or an employee or what his motives were. [ Washintonpost.com ] 11:21:51 AM

A bombing in a crowded cafeteria at the Mount Scopus campus of Jerusalem's Hebrew University killed at least seven people Wednesday afternoon and injured at least 86, 14 seriously. Some of those in the cafeteria were foreign students taking summer school classes, including two South Korean students in critical condition at Shaare Zedek Medical Center. Although the identities of those killed were not released, Fox News reported, citing hospital sources, that one American was among the dead. 11:07:47 AM

I.B.M. to Purchase Consulting Group for $3.5 Billion. Accelerating its shift toward selling information technology, I.B.M. plans to buy PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting for $3.5 billion. By Steve Lohr and Jonathan D. Glater. [New York Times: Technology] 10:56:44 AM

The Afghan capital's chaotic traffic and a tip from foreign intelligence foiled would-be suicide car-bombers who were planning a blast "beyond comprehension," an Afghan intelligence official said Tuesday. [ Canoe.ca ] 9:06:39 AM