Milestones

BANNED. RECORDED MUSIC AT PUBLIC EVENTS; by Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov; in Ashgabat. Niyazov, the former Soviet republic's famously autocratic leader—he has named the months of January and April after himself and his mother—said the decree was necessary to stem the tide of foreign influence in Turkmenistan. This follows his similar outlawing of opera and ballet in 2001 (currently, much of the music broadcast on Turkmenistan's airwaves are Niyazov's own words set to music). "Don't kill our talents by lip synching," he warned his cabinet. "Create our new culture."

ANNOUNCED. THE CAMPAIGN OF GEORGE WEAH, 38, former star of soccer teams AC Milan and Chelsea and the 1995 World Footballer of the Year; for President of Liberia; in Monrovia. Known to Liberians as King George, Weah in recent years has focused on bringing peace and healthcare to the impoverished and war-torn country by helping rehabilitate former child soldiers and working with UNICEF to raise aids awareness. One of 13 children raised in a shack by his grandmother, he is the odds-on favorite to win the presidency, thanks to his immense popularity and humble beginnings. "I don't need political experience to give you lights and water, or to see that the roads are bad," Weah said at a recent rally in the Liberian countryside. "I know where you come from."

IDENTIFIED. ANDREAS GRASSL, 20, former volunteer worker with the disabled and the son of a German farmer, as the Piano Man, the mute, suit-clad pianist whose silence stumped health authorities and the British media for months after he was discovered wandering a beach in April; in Kent, England. Grassl spoke for the first time on Aug. 19, telling doctors he had lost his job in Paris and was attempting to commit suicide on the beach when police found him. Recent reports have suggested his piano skills were exaggerated and his muteness faked, but Grassl's lawyer maintains he was suffering from psychotic illness. "I am fine," were Grassl's first words to his family upon being reunited with them in Munich. "I am so happy to be home."

ARRESTED. MOULANA FARIDUDDIN MASUD, 60, one of Bangladesh's leading Islamic clerics; in connection with more than 430 simultaneous bomb attacks across Bangladesh on Aug. 17 that killed two people and injured 125; in Dhaka. Masud, who ran several Islamic charities, including a hospital, was taken into custody as he prepared to board a flight to London. Police say he is suspected of having links to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a banned extremist group which claimed responsibility for the attacks and last week warned of further violence if the government does not agree to introduce Islamic law in Bangladesh. Masud denies any involvement in the bombings.

DIED. ROBERT MOOG, 71, inventor of the Moog synthesizer, credited with ushering in the age of electronica in the 1960s and '70s; in Asheville, North Carolina. As a boy he built gadgets with his engineer father and became intrigued with the theremin, an earlier relative of the synthesizer. His musical instrument first drew attention in 1968 with the release of Switched-On Bach, Walter Carlos' electrified reworking of pieces by the Baroque composer, and was later adopted by artists ranging from the Beatles to Pink Floyd.

DIED. JACK SLIPPER, 81, Scotland Yard detective who, despite his reputation as one of the best, will be remembered for his failed global pursuit of nemesis Ronnie Biggs, one of the masked men who in 1963 robbed a mail train from Glasgow to London of £2.6 million (then $7 million) in what became known as the Great Train Robbery, and later escaped jail; reported in London. Though Slipper nabbed Biggs in Rio de Janeiro in 1974 (greeting him with the words, "Long time no see, Ronnie!"), Brazilian officials refused to deport Biggs—who remained a fugitive until 2001, when he turned himself in.

DIED. FRANCOIS DALLE, 87, longtime CEO of L'Oréal, instrumental in transforming it from a 25-employee company into a global cosmetics giant; in Geneva. In the 1950s, before taking the company's helm, he expanded marketing into the U.S. and Japan, in part by taking the then-radical step of selling products in retail stores, rather than just hair salons. Later he signed licensing deals with designers like Guy Laroche and oversaw the acquisition of such prestige brands as Lancôme, Garnier and Biotherm.

Performance of the Week

One man can take on city hall. Last week, 20-year-old office worker Billy Leung won a landmark case when a High Court judge in Hong Kong ruled that the territory's chastening laws on gay sex—including an age of consent of 21 (it's 16 for straights)—were discriminatory, unconstitutional and "demeaning." (Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1991, but not fully.) This is the first time a Hong Kong court has ruled that homosexuals are "equal under the law." Why did Leung choose to fight this legal battle? He told TIME: "I don't want to be treated as a second-class citizen." —By Chaim Estulin

Numbers
6 hr. 13 min. Time it took Hilary Lister, a 33-year-old Briton paralyzed below the neck, to sail across the English Channel, sucking and blowing into straws to steer the vessel

600 million Number of children in Asia, out of 1.27 billion, who lack access to at least one basic human need—food, potable water, health care or shelter—according to a report by development agency Plan
350 million Number of Asian children without access to two or more basic human needs, twice as many as in sub-Saharan Africa

1,220 m Height of a transparent-floored walkway being constructed over the Grand Canyon, which will allow tourists to peer into the chasm below

29 weeks Gestation period during which a human fetus cannot feel pain, according to a new, controversial study
3 Number of U.S. states that have recently passed laws requiring doctors to inform women seeking abortions after the 20th week of their pregnancies that their fetuses can feel pain