Milestones

Sunday, Nov. 26, 2006 By HARRIET BAROVICK, BRUCE CRUMLEY, TIM KINDSETH, ELLIN MARTENS, CLAYTON NEUMAN AND PETER RITTER

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RETIRED. Ian Thorpe, 24, fashion-conscious, philanthropic Australian freestyle swimmer who dominated the 400-m race, winning nine Olympic medals—five of them gold—as well as a record 11 world titles; in an announcement to a stunned press corps in Sydney. Nicknamed the Thorpedo, he explained that, though still at the top of his game, he had met his swimming goals and wanted to begin the rest of his life. "You can swim lap after lap, staring at a black line, and all of a sudden you look up and see what's around," he said. "That's what it feels like to me."

ASSASSINATED. Pierre Gemayel, 34, outspoken anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister of Industry and son of former President Amin Gemayel; after three gunmen shot him at point-blank range as he was driving on a busy street; in Beirut. A rising political star in the Christian Phalange Party, founded by his grandfather and namesake, he was the fifth anti-Syrian leader in the past two years to be murdered. Parliament member Saad Hariri, son of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who was killed last year, vowed to find and prosecute those responsible.

KILLED. Walid Hassan, 47, popular Iraqi comedian who managed to elicit laughs about the war with his darkly satirical weekly TV show Caricature, which mocked U.S. troops, Shi'ite militias, corrupt police officers and government chaos; by gunmen, as the Iraqi civilian death toll reached record highs; in Baghdad.

DIED. Philippe Noiret, 76, one of France's most esteemed actors, who lent an earthy, avuncular charm to more than 125 movies over a half century; in Paris. A two-time winner of the César award (France's Oscar), he gained global fans as a weary film projectionist in 1988's Cinema Paradiso and as the poet Pablo Neruda in the 1994 hit Il Postino.

DIED. Anita O'Day, 87, edgy vocalist of the '40s and '50s, dubbed the Jezebel of Jazz for her ability to scat new energy into old standards and for her long struggle with drug addiction, for which she served jail time; in Los Angeles. Born Anita Colton (O'Day was pig Latin for dough—"what I hoped to make," she said), she brought early hits to bandleaders Gene Krupa (Let Me Off Uptown) and Stan Kenton (And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine) and cemented her hipster reputation by performing in low-key jackets and skirts instead of gowns. Of her career—highlighted by signatures Sweet Georgia Brown and Honeysuckle Rose and a stunning performance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival—she said, "When I'm singing, I'm happy."

DIED. Hong Xuezhi, 94, long-serving Chinese military officer who, as a vice commander of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, helped direct the fight against U.S.-led coalition forces during the Korean War; in Beijing. Promoted to general for his role in aiding North Korea, Hong was purged in 1959 for his ties to opponents of Chairman Mao Zedong. Rehabilitated in the 1970s, he was pushed out again in 1989 for reportedly opposing the use of force during the bloody Tiananmen crackdown. Numbers
1,348 days Length of U.S. involvement in World War II, a milestone the U.S. involvement in Iraq passed on Nov. 26
406,000 Number of U.S. soldiers killed during World War II. More than 2,860 American soldiers have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion

130 Number of reptiles, including poisonous cobras, found stuffed into two suitcases by airport security officials in Manila
3 Number of live Siamese crocodiles a Filipino man allegedly tried to smuggle before being arrested by Manila airport authorities last week

500 Minimum number of people arrested in New Orleans who went free because of missing evidence or witnesses due to Hurricane Katrina
2,000 Minimum number of people arrested before the hurricane who are still waiting for their cases to be heard

5,000 liters Amount of Coca-Cola consumed over five years by Russian Natalya Kashuba, 27, who sued the firm for causing her heartburn and insomnia
$118 Amount awarded to Kashuba by a Russian court last week. She is seeking an additional $113,000 in "moral damages"