CHARGED. CHEN JIULIN, 44, suspended ceo of China's state-owned jet-fuel importer, China Aviation Oil; with 15 counts including insider trading, forgery and failing to disclose losses, along with four other executives; in Singapore. The company, which enjoys a monopoly on buying fuel on the world market and selling it to customers in mainland China, lost $550 million last year speculating in derivatives linked to oil prices. According to an investigation commissioned by the Singapore stock exchange, Chen and his top executives concealed the losses from investors for much of last year.
RESIGNED. CARLOS MESA, 51, President of Bolivia; after nearly a month of protests by the country's indigenous majority; in La Paz, Bolivia. The demonstrations, which call for the nationalization of the country's natural gas reserves to prevent exploitation by foreign companies, have closed airports in the nation and cut off food and fuel supplies to its major cities. Mesa, whose predecessor resigned in 2003 following protests over the government's energy policy, warned that "the country is on the verge of civil war." He has been succeeded by Supreme Court Chief Justice Eduardo Rodriguez.
SEEKING ASYLUM. CHEN YONGLIN, 37, political-affairs consul at the Chinese consulate in Sydney; in Australia. Chen told Australian immigration authorities last week that he was part of a 1,000-strong Chinese spy network in the country responsible for keeping tabs on Chinese dissidents and members of the Falun Gong religious group, and that he would "rather die" than return home. His request has not yet been granted and he remains in hiding in Australia with his family. Australian Health Minister Tony Abbott said Chen "is at no risk of being sent back to China." A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman dismissed Chen's claims, and those of two other Chinese officials who have sought asylum in Australia, as "fabrications and lies."
DIED. RUI XINGWEN, 78, former aide to ousted Chinese Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang, who died under house arrest earlier this year; in Beijing. As a senior propaganda official under Zhao in the late 1980s, Rui helped usher in a brief period of loosened media controls and a freer environment for ideas that gave rise to 1989's democracy demonstrations. When Zhao was purged in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Rui was demoted and never regained his earlier stature. His death has not been reported by mainland Chinese media.
Numbers
76 Cumulative grade average of former U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry during his four years at Yale University
77 Cumulative grade average of U.S. President George W. Bush during his first three years at Yale; he earned a similar non-numeric average in his final year
316% Rise in the divorce rate for U.S. Army officers since the war on terror began in 2001
8.3 million Number of millionaires worldwide last year, up 600,000 from 2003, according to a study by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini Group
200 Estimated number of female spectators at Iran's 1-0 win over Bahrain last week to qualify for the World Cup finals—the first time women were allowed at a professional soccer match in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution
0 Number of fans at Japan's World Cup finals-qualifying 2-0 defeat of North Korea; the match was played in a closed stadium in Bangkok following riots during March's North Korea-Iran game in Pyongyang