Preview -- World News Tonight 06/27/01

June 27 -- Good Afternoon.

The chairman of the Federal Reserve has spoken. The United Nations has reached agreement. The smugglers have been arrested. And the movie without actors is complete.

That's a snapshot of the newsroom, in midafternoon.

At 2:15 p.m. (the traditional time for such announcements) the word came from the Federal Reserve Board: Interest rates had been reduced yet again. The sixth time in six months. An unprecedented wave of interventions to revive a sagging economy. There is all manner of analysis of this today; as always we'll talk to the pros on Wall Street and in other parts of the country — and we'll have a full report from business correspondent Betsy Stark.

In Washington today, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has announced the results of what it calls the largest multinational operation in its history. The arrests were made in Mexico — but the story involves a complex new network that brings people from all over the world to the United States. For a very steep price. This is part of our occasional series on the New Frontier. Our reporter is Deborah Amos.

At the United Nations today, a landmark agreement to fight AIDS — but not without some controversy. That's the headline as the international conference on the disease draws to a close. I spent some time at the United Nations today, and got a pretty frank assessment of where things stand from the man who heads the UNAIDS organization. Among other things he talks about nations in denial; it's a thought that brings us to the last in our series about the worldwide epidemic: Mark Litke's report from China — a giant nation, in near-total denial.

In Houston today, a father buried five children, the children his wife allegedly killed a week ago. In about three weeks prosecutors will have to decide how to proceed in this dreadful case; there are already suggestions from the woman's lawyer that she will plead not guilty by reason of insanity. In tonight's Closer Look, we take up the complicated questions surrounding the insanity defense. Our reporter is Michele Norris.