Milestones

APPOINTED. FRANK HSIEH, 58, Kaohsiung's Mayor, as Taiwan's new Premier, following the resignation of former Premier Yu Shyi-kun and his cabinet; in Taipei. A one-time civil-rights lawyer who previously served as chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Hsieh is known as a moderate who could help smooth rocky relations with Taiwan's opposition majority.

COMMUTED. The death sentence of TENZIN DELEK RINPOCHE, 54, prominent Tibetan monk jailed by Chinese authorities; to life in prison, by the Higher People's Court of Sichuan province; in Chengdu, China. In 2002, Delek was convicted of participating in terrorist bombings and secessionist activities in a closed-door trial widely criticized by international human-rights groups, who made numerous appeals on his behalf.

SENTENCED. CHRISTOPHER PIERSON, 40, for emailing fake death notices to people whose relatives went missing in the Dec. 26 tsunami; to six months in jail; in London. Pierson, who pleaded guilty to charges of sending malicious communication and causing a public nuisance, obtained the e-mail addresses from a news website and claimed to represent the U.K.'s Foreign & Commonwealth Office in Thailand. Presiding Judge Daphne Wickham said the hoax caused "indescribable" pain. Pierson's lawyer claimed the father of three was attempting to give families closure.

CHARGED. NINA WANG, 67, chairperson of Hong Kong developer Chinachem Group, with forging her husband's will; in Hong Kong. Famous for her eccentric attire and hairstyles, Wang took control of her husband Teddy Wang's multibillion dollar company and estate after he was kidnapped in 1990 (and declared dead nine years later). In a lurid 172-day civil case brought by her father-in-law in 2001, a court ruled that the will she based her claim on was in fact a fake. Wang, who maintains her innocence, could lose her claim to her husband's estate and company.

KILLED. SHAH AMS KIRIA, 73, Bangladeshi opposition figure and former Finance Minister, along with four others; in a grenade blast at a rally for the Awami League party; in Laskarpur, northeast Bangladesh. The party whose leader, Sheikh Hasina, narrowly escaped a similar bombing in the capital Dhaka last August, called a nationwide general strike over the weekend to protest the killings. Subsequent riots in Dhaka and other areas led to more than 100 arrests.

DIED. PHILIP JOHNSON, 98, one of America's most innovative architects; in New Canaan, Connecticut. In the 1930s, Johnson helped introduce America to the European glass-and-steel Modernism that would come to dominate its skylines, and developed seminal works of the style such as the Seagram Building and his Glass House. "All that a nervous sensibility, lively intelligence and a stored mind can do, he does," said architectural historian Vincent Scully.

DIED. JOHNNY CARSON, 79, elegant, unrivaled king of late night television; in Malibu, California. (See Appreciation.)

DIED. ROSE MARY WOODS, 87, doggedly loyal secretary to U.S. President Richard Nixon, who famously shared blame for an 18 1/2-minute gap in a tape recording of a conversation between Nixon and his chief of staff made three days after the Watergate break-in; in Alliance, Ohio. The recording was considered critical because it might have shown that Nixon knew about the break-in or its ensuing cover-up. Woods said that she may have erased part of the tape accidentally while reaching for her telephone, an improbable maneuver which fueled speculation about Nixon's possible complicity.

DIED. PARVEEN BABI, 49, Bollywood siren touted in a TIME cover story as the face of the modern Indian woman in 1977, of unspecified natural causes; in Bombay. After debuting in 1973's Charitrna while still a college student, Babi quickly became a favorite of Indian audiences dazzled by her striking beauty. She appeared in more than 50 movies, pushing the boundaries of conservative Hindi films by wearing bikinis and smoking and drinking on screen. Reportedly suffering from schizophrenia, Babi spent several years abroad, returning to India in 2002. She spent much of her later years in seclusion in her Bombay home.

DIED. CONSUELO VELAZQUEZ, 84, classically trained Mexican pianist-turned-pop composer, whose sultry World War II-era ballad Besame Mucho became one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, covered by artists including Sammy Davis Jr., Celine Dion, Jose Carreras and The Beatles; in Mexico City. In a 2003 interview, Velazquez revealed that when she wrote the famous lyrics at age 17—"Kiss me over and over, as if this night were the last time"—she had never been kissed.