Person of the Week

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Person of the Week
THE FORCE IS STRONG The comic book epic Spider-Man kicked off the blockbuster season with an amazing $144.2 million take through May 8. But with Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones generating a storm of buzz and set to open May 16, will Spidey get squashed like a, well, bug?

Noted
"For sure."
LUKE HELDER,
21-year-old prime suspect in a string of pipe-bomb attacks that injured six people in the American Midwest, to a judge who asked him if he understood that any statements he made could be used against him

Prime Number
2 percent of babies in Niger are breast-fed exclusively up to the age of six months, one of the lowest rates in the world, according to UNICEF

Omen
The longer infants are breast-fed, the higher they are likely to score on intelligence tests as adults, reports a landmark joint U.S.-Danish study

Winners
RON HOWARD
Director purchases film rights to the entire Playboy archive. We always thought A Beautiful Mind was the wrong direction for him
KHOO SWEE CHIOW
Singaporean reaches North Pole. Once there, he chews gum, litters, spits and speaks rude words with abandon. A cheaper alternative: Manila
GWYNETH PALTROW
Actress debuts well in the West End. It's only a matter of time before she starts speaking in that lame, Madonna-ish, mid-Atlantic accent
Losers
DANIELLE STEEL
Steamy novelist hogs 26 parking permits in cramped San Fran. The city may want to rethink policy of allotting spaces based on fabulousness
ANN WINTERTON
British Tory M.P. sacked from opposition post for telling an Asian joke. If this is a fireable offense, the Queen might need to find a new consort
JASON KIDD
NBA star loses out on league MVP. Let's take a moment and remember that before he became a New Jersey Net, he was a Phoenix Wife Beater

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Milestones
By SARA RAJAN

DIED. OTIS BLACKWELL, 70, prolific songwriter whose compositions have sold more than 185 million records and provided hits for such performers as Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Otis Redding and Billy Joel; in Nashville. Among his greatest songs were rock 'n' roll classics like Presley's All Shook Up and Don't Be Cruel, Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls of Fire and Peggy Lee's signature Fever.
DIED. ANTOINE RIBOUD, 83, founder of Danone, one of the world's largest food manufacturing groups; in Paris. The maverick businessman began his career at his family's glass company before switching his sights to food. Riboud ran Danone, which now has $12.7 billion in sales, until late in his 70s when he handed control to his son Franck.
DIED. KAIFI AZMI, 87, award-winning Urdu poet, lyricist and father of Indian actress Shabana Azmi; in Bombay. A student of the progressive school of poetry, Azmi's writings often mirrored the socio-political scene in India where he was an advocate for a socialist society.
DIED. YEVGENY SVETLANOV, 73, Russian conductor who led Russia's State Symphony Orchestra for more than three decades; in Moscow. Svetlanov appeared as a guest for various orchestras around the world, finally getting fired from the symphony for spending too much time conducting abroad.
DIED. SEATTLE SLEW, 28, the only living winner of the Triple Crown, of old age; in Lexington, Kentucky. Considered the last of the superhorses, Slew won more than a million dollars during his racing career and fathered 99 stakes winners that have earned their owners $75 million in prize money.
DIED. YVES ROBERT, 81, prolific French producer and director of several comedies and literary adaptions such as Le château de ma mère (My Mother's Castle) and La gloire de mon père (My Father's Glory); in Paris. Robert paired his successful commercial directing with a parallel acting career.
DIED. KEVYN AUCOIN, 40, gay-rights activist and makeup artist to the world's prettiest, from Julia Roberts and Winona Ryder to Catherine Deneuve and Isabella Rossellini, of complications arising from a pituitary brain tumor; in New York City.
HONORED. ARTHUR MILLER, 86, American playwright, with Spain's prestigious Principe de Asturias Prize for Literature, making him the first U.S. recipient of the award; in Oveido, Spain. Miller will be presented with $45,500 and a Joan Miro sculpture at a ceremony later this year by Spain's Prince Felipe of Asturias.
SENTENCED. ROBERT HANSSEN, 58, the former fbi agent who doubled as a Russian spy for 20 years, to life in prison without parole; in Alexandria, Virginia. Hanssen, who apologized for his activities, which had led to the deaths of several fbi operatives, managed to escape the death penalty by cooperating with investigators.