Milestones

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STEPPING DOWN. MOMOFUKU ANDO, 95, culinary entrepreneur who in 1958 invented instant ramen noodles, a convenience-store staple and a $10 billion industry worldwide; as chairman of Nissin Food Products Co.; in Osaka. Ando was inspired to start his food business by the privations of the country's post-World War II depression. "I was sure the world could be peaceful only after having enough food," he said last week. He will continue to advise the company as founding chairman once his resignation is effective June 29.

SURRENDERED. 172 ETHNIC HMONG, who have lived on the run from Laotian troops for the past 30 years; to government authorities; in Xieng Khouang province, Laos. Recruited to fight alongside the CIA during the Vietnam War, the Hmong fled into the jungles or across the border into Thailand to escape persecution by the country's Communist regime when the war ended. Saturday's peaceful surrender of women, children and the elderly, mediated in part by U.S. Embassy officials in Vientiane, is expected to be followed by those of thousands more, possibly including Hmong commander Moua Toua Ther—one of Laos' most wanted men.

CONVICTED. MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY, 41, former chief of Russian oil giant Yukos, who became the country's wealthiest oligarch as state industries were privatized after the collapse of the Soviet Union; on charges including tax evasion and fraud; in Moscow. The conviction ended a long trial that critics claimed was part of a politically motivated campaign by the Kremlin to deter the billionaire from financing opposition to Vladimir Putin and discourage independent business. Khodorkovsky, whose now-dwindled fortune was once estimated at $15 billion, was sentenced to nine years in prison, which will remove him from the scene well past Russia's 2008 national election.

ARRESTED. CHHUN YASITH, 48, Cambodian-American accountant and leader of the U.S.-based Cambodian Freedom Fighters; on federal charges of conspiracy to kill in a foreign country and engaging in a military expedition against a friendly nation, for allegedly orchestrating a failed 2000 coup against Cambodian leader Hun Sen; in Long Beach, California. In the attack, code named Operation Volcano, some 70 rebels unsuccessfully stormed government buildings in Phnom Penh, leaving dozens injured and eight people killed. Chhun, who has called Hun Sen's regime a puppet of Communist Vietnam, claimed at the time that the attack was a coup attempt and vowed to strike again. He and his wife also face fraud charges relating to their tax-preparation business.

ASSASSINATED. SAMIR KASSIR, 45, prominent, outspoken Lebanese journalist and frequent critic of Syrian control in Lebanon; in a car bombing attack in Beirut. The first attack on a prominent Lebanese opposition figure since the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February, it came less than a week after the anti-Syrian opposition won a clear victory in the first round of Lebanon's four-part parliamentary elections. Syria, still influential despite its April withdrawal of troops under intense international pressure, denied involvement in the murder, which reignited national outrage and prompted calls for the resignation of Lebanese President and Syria ally Emile Lahoud.

DIED. MITSURU HANADA, 55, slight but skillful grappler hailed as the "Prince of Sumo" for his courageous style and good looks; from oral cancer; in Tokyo. A trim 100 kg, Hanada—who fought as Ozeki Takanohana I—followed his grand-champion elder brother Wakanohana I into the dohyo (ring), reaching the sport's élite division at age 18 and attracting a spirited fan base over his 16-year career. After retiring in 1981, Hanada became director of the Japan Sumo Association; he is the father of two grand champions of the 1990s, Wakanohana III and Takanohana II.

DIED. GEORGE MIKAN, 80, pro basketball's first powerful "big man," whose aggressive play and graceful, ambidextrous hook shots elevated the sport's profile during the 1940s and '50s and led the Minneapolis Lakers to five championships in the team's first six years; in Scottsdale, Arizona. At a time when towering players were thought to be insufficiently nimble, the bespectacled, 2.08 m DePaul graduate single-handedly dominated the newly formed National Basketball Association, drawing crowds, forcing the league to establish new rules (the original 1.83 m key was expanded to thwart his offensive dominance), and once prompting New York's Madison Garden officials to promote a 1949 game on its marquee as GEO. MIKAN VS. KNICKS.

DIED. ISRAEL EPSTEIN, 90, Polish journalist who became a passionate supporter of the Chinese Communist Party and comrade to many of its leaders; in Beijing. The son of socialist Jewish emigres who settled in Tianjin, Epstein was drawn to the Communist cause after a meeting with Chairman Mao Zedong in 1944. Often the country's only English-language booster during its years of isolation, he edited the magazine China Today and wrote books like 1947's The Unfinished Revolution in China, becoming a Chinese citizen and remaining a loyal Party member even after his imprisonment during the Cultural Revolution. On the eve of his 90th birthday in April, Premier Hu Jintao praised Epstein for his "sincere affection for China and the Chinese people."

Numbers

$2.32 million Amount paid for Zao Wou-ki's Juin-Octobre 1985 in Hong Kong last week—the most ever for an auctioned Chinese oil painting

4.4% Japan's April unemployment rate, according to figures released last week—the lowest since Dec. 1998
7,947 Number of suicides in Japan last year related to financial difficulties, down 950 from the previous year, according to a report by the National Police Agency

15 Number of times Nepalese climber Apa Sherpa has reached the summit of Mount Everest—a world record he achieved last week

80 years Length of time Percy and Florence Arrowsmith of Hereford, England, have been married—the longest of any living couple

$4.6 billion Amount a Thai court last week ordered former Central Bank governor Rerngchai Marakanond to pay for foreign currency reserves he expended on unsuccessfully defending the Thai Baht from speculators during the 1997 financial crisis