Milestones

• Share

RETIRED. SMARTY JONES, 3, from horse racing; after sustaining bone bruises in all four shins during his only loss, an upset at the 2004 Belmont Stakes, where a win would have made him the second undefeated Triple Crown winner in history alongside Seattle Slew, who won in 1977; to a breeding farm in Midway, Kentucky. The injury was not career ending, but owners reined in the heroic Philadelphia-bred colt to avoid risk of further damage. "If anything else went wrong, it would break our heart," said owner Patricia Chapman.

RECOVERING. STEVE JOBS, 49, tireless CEO of Apple Computer; from surgery for pancreatic cancer; in Cupertino, California. He announced the details of his condition—a rare but treatable form of pancreatic cancer—in a companywide e-mail in which he noted, "I'm sending this from my hospital bed using my 17-inch PowerBook and an Airport Express."

ANNOUNCED. NATIONWIDE ELECTIONS in Saudi Arabia, the first in the kingdom in four decades; to choose half the members of 178 municipal councils; in Riyadh. The vote will take place in three stages, starting in November after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and finishing in January 2005. The elections are part of a campaign to introduce political reform to the tradition-bound country, although Saudi women's rights activists complain that suffrage will not be extended to women.

ANNOUNCED. OVERTURNED CONVICTIONS for four members of Indonesia's security forces, for alleged crimes against humanity during East Timor's violent 1999 independence referendum in which as many as 1,500 were killed; by an Indonesian appeals court in Jakarta. The decision, made last month but announced on Aug. 6, leaves standing the convictions of just two (both East Timorese civilians) of the 18 originally indicted.

DIED. RICK JAMES, 56, early '80s funk icon known for his outrageous fashion sense and a sordid personal life that included a five-year prison sentence for assault; of undetermined causes; in Los Angeles. His infectious 1981 single Super Freak launched him to superstardom, but his career was soon derailed by a decade-long cocaine addiction. Comeback efforts in the '90s were sidelined by a stroke and hip-replacement surgery.

DIED. GLORIA EMERSON, 75, New York Times veteran war correspondent known for poignantly chronicling the effect of war on ordinary people in such places as Vietnam, Nigeria and Gaza; of apparent suicide; in New York City. Her book on the aftereffects of the Vietnam War, Winners and Losers, won a National Book Award in 1978. One of the few female journalists to cover the war, Emerson told an interviewer later that she went to Vietnam because "they ran out of men."

DIED. ARTURO TOLENTINO, 94, vice-presidential running mate to late dictator Ferdinand Marcos during the Philippines' fraud-riddled 1986 snap elections; in Quezon City, Philippines. The vote led to the famous "people power" revolt against the Marcos regime and eventually to the dictator's ouster and exile. Months afterward, Tolentino declared himself President, and soldiers loyal to him took over the Manila Hotel. The Tolentino regime lasted only two days.

DIED. HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON, 95, legendary photographer known for capturing the "decisive moment" like none other; in Céreste, France.

NUMBERS

0.11% Japan's population-growth rate in the year ending March 31, its lowest ever

600 Number of American troops who left South Korea for Iraq last week, reducing the U.S. military presence on the peninsula by about 10%

21,000 Number of undelivered letters—some up to four years old—found in the home of a Malaysian mail carrier

3,148 Number of undelivered pieces of mail found in the home of former British mail carrier Michael Glenn Bowes earlier this year

74 Age of James Barney Hubbard, the oldest man executed in the U.S. since 1941, put to death in Alabama for a 1977 murder-robbery

426 Death toll so far in last Wednesday's supermarket fire in Asuncion, Paraguay

5 Number of employees charged with manslaughter for allegedly locking the burning building's exits to prevent looting