OCTOBER 2, 2000 VOL. 156 NO. 13

Milestones
BY PENNY CAMPBELL

DIED. GERMAN TITOV, 65, Russian cosmonaut who was the first man to spend more than a day in orbit; in Moscow. Titov narrowly missed being the first person in space, losing out to Yuri Gagarin, whose flight took place four months before Titov's August 1961 trip. Awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal for his work in the space program, Titov later went into politics and in 1995 became a Communist Party deputy in the Russian parliament.

DIED. TADAYO HONMA, 60, president of Nippon Credit Bank, by suicide just three weeks after he took the post; in Osaka. The bank, which collapsed in December 1998 and was temporarily taken over by the government, had recently been bought by a consortium. A former central banker, Honma was considered a key player in Nippon Credit's reconstruction. His death, which follows a spate of similar suicides in recent years, highlights the stress facing top executives in Japan's financial sector.

DIED. PAULA YATES, 41, British television personality and girlfriend of the late INXS singer Michael Hutchence, apparently from a drink and drugs binge; in London. Yates had been depressed since Hutchence committed suicide by hanging himself in a Sydney hotel room in 1996. She leaves four daughters, one from her relationship with Hutchence and three from her earlier marriage to pop singer Bob Geldof.

RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED. OF LLOYD AXWORTHY, 60, Canada's Foreign Minister; in Ottawa. First elected to parliament in 1979, Axworthy served as a cabinet minister in the 1980-84 Liberal government and again when the Liberals regained power in 1993. Appointed Foreign Minister in 1996, he is best known for pushing through the 1997 global treaty banning land mines. He will not be standing in the next parliamentary elections.

RESIGNED. PARK JIE WON, 58, as South Korea's Culture and Tourism Minister, over allegations that he used his position to obtain bank loans for associates; in Seoul. Park, who denies the charges, is a close confidant of President Kim Dae Jung. He is the latest minister to resign amid corruption allegations, causing further embarrassment to Kim, who was elected on a platform of clean government.

ORDERED SEPARATED. "JODIE" AND "MARY," 7 weeks old, conjoined twins now in a British hospital; by the Court of Appeal in London. Doctors want to detach the twins to save the life of "Jodie," although the operation will kill "Mary"; without surgery, both will die. Their Maltese parents object to the operation as contrary to God's will and are considering an appeal.

SACKED. GENERAL RUSDIHARDJO, 55, as Indonesia's national police chief; in Jakarta. President Abdurrahman Wahid dismissed Rusdihardjo after the police failed to solve a wave of bombings in the capital, including one that shook the Jakarta Stock Exchange two weeks ago, killing 15 people.

Symbolic/Metabolic

Sado-Mascotism
Sydney's official trio of cloying mascots will not compete unopposed. A local radio station, teasing the Games for its history of drug-assisted athletes, is sponsoring some alternative mascots. Proceeds from the promo will go to a children's hospital.