WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — An increase in research funding and a sluggish economy are being cited as reasons Purdue University has more students enrolled than at any time in the school's history.

Putting residents to work in high-paying jobs and rescuing the state from chronic high unemployment will require better coordination between research, industry and government, legislative and business leaders said Tuesday.

BUSINESS confidence slipped to a new seven-year low in the second quarter of this year, knocked by higher interest rates, rising food and fuel prices and attacks on foreign workers, a key survey showed yesterday.

The Royal Bank of Scotland announced the biggest stock sale in British corporate history Tuesday, asking shareholders for $23.9 billion to shore up finances after revealing new and extensive losses from exposure to bad U.S. mortgages.

Sen. Barack Obama paid tribute Monday to the black leadership in the civil rights battles of the '60s and '70s, but reminded members of the NAACP that those leaders "were not much older than many of you when they made their mark on history."