Monday, Jun. 16, 2003

Milestones

By Carmen Lee

DIED. Gregory Peck, 87, classically handsome, gravelly voiced Hollywood leading man famed for playing characters who were idealistic, courageous and wise; in Los Angeles. Over a six-decade career, Peck received five Oscar nominations and won the best actor award in 1962 for his portrayal of Atticus Finch, a small-town lawyer battling racism in To Kill a Mockingbird. Although not all his roles were likable—Peck played a mad scientist who clones Hitler in The Boys from Brazil—he once said, "I don't think I could stay interested for a couple of months in a character of mean motivation."

DIED. Donald Regan, 84, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and White House chief of staff; in Williamsburg, Virginia. Forced to resign in 1987 because of the Iran-contra scandal, Regan, who had previously headed Merrill Lynch, was the driving force behind the Ronald Reagan Administration's tax cuts and downsizing of government. After his resignation, Regan wrote an autobiography, which described his frequent clashes with First Lady Nancy Reagan and revealed her consultations with astrologers.

SENTENCED. Samuel Waksal, 55, former CEO of biotech firm ImClone Systems; to seven years in prison for insider trading and tax evasion; in New York City. Waksal, who pleaded guilty to all charges, was also ordered to pay $3 million in fines. He had tipped off family and friends to sell ImClone shares a day before the company announced that its application to market a cancer drug was rejected. Waksal's friend, American lifestyle icon Martha Stewart, who sold her ImClone stock before the announcement, has been charged with securities fraud and obstruction of justice.

SENTENCED. Karel Hoffmann, 79, former director of Czechoslovakia's Central Communications Authority; to four years in jail for helping the Soviet Union crush the 1968 Prague Spring democracy movement; in Prague. Hoffmann ordered a media blackout to prevent news spreading about the Soviet invasion of the country. He is the first high-ranking Czech official to be convicted for involvement in thwarting the Prague Spring.

EXTRADITED. Cheng Chui-ping, 53, Chinese alleged head of a global people-smuggling ring; in Hong Kong to the U.S. Better known by her alias "Big Sister Ping," Cheng is accused of masterminding a 1993 attempt to smuggle 300 Chinese to the U.S. on the ship Golden Venture, which ran aground off New York, killing 10 passengers. The FBI says Cheng has smuggled tens of thousands of Chinese into the U.S. and calls her the "mother of all snakeheads."

SACKED. Shi Yunsheng, Chinese navy commander, and Yang Huaiqing, navy political commissar; over the recent Ming-class No. 361 submarine accident that claimed the lives of all 70 crew members; in Beijing. According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, the admirals were fired for "improper command and action" during the accident, the cause of which is still unknown. The dismissals follow the high-profile sackings of top Chinese officials in April over the mishandling of the SARS outbreak on the mainland.

LAUNCHED. Spirit, the first of two NASA rovers to explore the surface of Mars; in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Scheduled for touchdown next January, Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, set for launch later this month, will study the geology of Mars, looking for evidence that a vast area of water once existed on its surface. Only three NASA spacecraft have successfully landed on Mars, which some scientists label a "spacecraft graveyard."

Numbers

21% of Shanghai's residents are obese, up 7% from three years ago

7,000 people posed nude in central Barcelona for noted photographer Spencer Tunick, breaking his record

83 confirmed or suspected cases of monkey pox have been identified in the U.S.

742 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians since the start of the intifadeh in September 2000. Of them, 243 have died in Hamas attacks

2,377 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the same period

298 elephants have been domesticated by Ama Kong, Vietnam's most famous tamer

$1,316 is the sum the Malaysian government pays to each survivor of an elephant, tiger or wild-boar attack

$2,632 is how much the Malaysian government pays to each family of those killed in such attacks

150 people have been killed in Aceh province, Indonesia, since the collapse of the peace process last month

300 is the number of winning baseball games Roger Clemens has pitched

30 kilos is the amount of cannabis a French fisherman found in a river outside Paris