Milestones

DIED. HASHIM SALAMAT, 61, founder and leader of the 25-year-old, 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF); of a heart attack; "somewhere in Mindanao," according to the rebel group. News of Salamat's death remained secret for over three weeks, during which the Philippine government signed a cease-fire with the group to clear the way for peace talks in Kuala Lumpur. Salamat is credited with bridging the nationalist and pan-Islamic elements within the MILF. Three weeks before he died, he formally renounced terrorism, a condition for attending the talks. He is succeeded by former deputy Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim, who headed the group's military wing. "We are still determined to achieve lasting peace and our commitment to resume peace talks has not changed," a MILF spokesman said.

DIED. WANG MINGCHENG, 49, defendant in China's first known euthanasia case, who was acquitted of murder charges after he convinced a doctor to give his dying mother a lethal injection in 1986; in Shaanxi province. Wang, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2000, also sought euthanasia for himself, but his hospital denied his request.

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SENTENCED. BENAZIR BHUTTO, 50, exiled former Pakistan Prime Minister, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, to six-months' suspended jail time and a $500,000 fine each for money laundering; by a Swiss magistrate; in Geneva. The ruling orders the couple to reimburse Pakistan $11 million.

SENTENCED. KIM DAE-HAN, 56, who started a fire on a South Korean subway that killed 198 people in February, to life in prison; in Daegu. The court said Kim, who has a history of mental illness, appeared to be unstable when he ignited a container filled with gasoline in a botched suicide attempt.

ELECTED. GENE ROBINSON, 56, as bishop of New Hampshire, making him the first openly gay bishop in the 2.3 million-member Episcopalian Church; in Minneapolis. Robinson's confirmation sparked outrage and threats of a schism in the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, particularly in Africa and Asia. Two days later, the Episcopalian Church recognized—but did not officially authorize—same-sex unions.

PLEADED GUILTY. MAHER (MIKE) HAWASH, 38, a West Bank-born software engineer, to a single charge of conspiring to help the Taliban, as part of a deal reached with prosecutors to secure his testimony against six other suspects; in Portland, Oregon. Hawash admitted that in October 2001 he traveled with a group to Hong Kong and Kashgar in an attempt to enter Pakistan and Afghanistan to wage war against the U.S. He is expected to be sentenced to 7 to 10 years in prison.

APPOINTED. HENRY TANG and AMBROSE LEE, as Hong Kong's financial and security secretaries, respectively, after a shake-up of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's Cabinet last month; in Hong Kong. The appointments followed the resignation of two officials after large protests against Tung's leadership and proposed security legislation.

UNVEILED. "DANCING BEIJING," the 2008 Beijing Olympics symbol, which is an anthropomorphic Chinese character jing, in midstride; in Beijing.

Numbers

$200,000 Price paid in a private sale for a 1963 G.I. Joe action figure prototype

7 Number of U.S. Marines to arrive in Monrovia, Liberia's war-torn capital

$5,000 Amount Saddam loyalists can earn for killing an American, paid by the fedayeen militia

830 Number of Chinese fireworks plants that have been closed for fear that a heat wave could spark explosions

$50,000 Amount paid by Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports, at a charity auction to learn the subject of Carly Simon's 1972 hit song You're So Vain. (He promised not to make the name public)

$120,800 Price tag for a new luxury public toilet facility, complete with color TV, that opened on Tiananmen Square

56 million Estimated number of rats in New York City

1 million Number of gallons of Jim Beam bourbon that burned when a Kentucky warehouse was struck by lightning

Omen

Galan, one of five hawks intended to cull pigeons in New York City's Bryant Park, exceeded the job description when it swooped down on a stroller's pet Chihuahua. The program has been suspended