RESIGNED. Mari Alkatiri, 57, Prime Minister of East Timor, after clashes between disgruntled soldiers and government loyalists led to the tiny nation's worst violence since its 1999 independence from Indonesia; in Dili. Alkatiri, whom critics allege also hired a hit squad to eliminate his political opponents, agreed to step down after East Timor's widely respected President, Xanana Gusmão, threatened to resign himself if he did not. "They destroyed Dili town, burned, looted and killed our people," railed Alkatiri while announcing his resignation, "and then they accuse me of being a terrorist."
HOSPITALIZED. Gianluca Pessotto, 35, team manager of Italian football club Juventus, after falling 15 meters from a window at the club's headquarters in an apparent suicide attempt; in Turin. He had reportedly been suffering from depression. Formerly a defender with Juventus, Pessotto took up management duties in May in a bid to restore morale at the club amid corruption allegations. Juventus is among 30 defendants in a match-fixing trial that began in Rome last week; Pessotto's name has not been linked with the scandal.
DIED. Moose, 16, Jack Russell terrier who played the watchful, knowing and often mischievous house pet Eddie, Frasier Crane's bête noire on TV's long-running, Emmy Award-winning comedy Frasier; in Los Angeles. Before retiring from films six years ago, Moose played the title role as an older pup in the 2000 film My Dog Skip.
DIED. Johnny Jenkins, 67, acrobatic, left-handed blues guitarist who as a boy jammed with a guitar he made from a cigar box and rubber bands, then went on to deeply influence Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix; after a stroke; in Macon, Ga. As a gofer for the Pinetoppers, Jenkins' college-circuit ensemble, Redding drove the band to Memphis, Tenn., in 1962 to make a record for Stax Records, and during a lull sang These Arms of Mine. When the song became Redding's breakthrough hit, Jenkins, who feared flying, opted not to tour with the rising star. The flamboyant Jenkins impressed fellow lefty Hendrix, who incorporated some of Jenkins' antics into his repertoire after seeing him play in Macon. A few years after recording the 1970 classic Ton-Ton Macoute! for the storied Capricorn label, Jenkins fell out of sight, but he re-emerged in 1996 with the acclaimed album Blessed Blues.
DIED. Ryutaro Hashimoto, 68, controversial former Prime Minister of Japan; of multiple organ failure; in Tokyo. A short-tempered politician and dapper dresser, Hashimoto achieved international fame as Trade Minister in 1995, when he feuded with Washington in an auto-sales dispute. As Prime Minister from January 1996 to July 1998, he launched financial reforms modeled on London's "Big Bang" deregulation and defused a crisis over U.S. bases in Okinawa. An expert swordsman, he quit politics last year after a scandal involving donations to his party.
DIED. Arif Mardin, 74, record producer and arranger who, over an illustrious 40-year career, helped create the famed R&B-pop "Atlantic sound," won a dozen Grammys and artfully guided recordings by musicians who included Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler and, most recently, Norah Jones; of pancreatic cancer; in New York City. After his production Good Lovin' became a No. 1 hit for the Young Rascals in 1966, the Turkish-born jazz lover arranged and co-produced two of the Queen of Soul's defining albums—I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You and Lady Soul—and later suggested that Barry Gibb use the falsetto that came to epitomize the Bee Gees' 1970s disco sound in such hits as Stayin' Alive and You Should Be Dancing.
Numbers
$12,500 Fine Chinese journalists could face for publicizing "sudden events" like riots, strikes and natural disasters without permission, under a proposed law
32 Number of journalists in prison in China as of December 2005, the most in any country
11 liters Amount of alcohol consumed by the average European adult per year, the most worldwide and 2.5 times the global average
27% Proportion of deaths among E.U. males aged 15 to 29 that are alcohol related
30,000 Average number of cigarette lighters the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) confiscates daily at airport checkpoints
80% Percentage of TSA-seized goods that are lighters, one of 68 items passengers are barred from carrying on planes
$5.58 Price of a mid-range cup of coffee in Moscow, the world's most expensive city according to a recent survey
$2.07 Cost of an equivalent drink in Asunción, Paraguay—the least expensive city in the survey