Milestones

MARRIED. PRINCESS SAYAKO, 36, only daughter of Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, to YOSHIKI KURODA, 40, a city planner and childhood friend; in Tokyo. Sayako loses her royal status by marrying a commoner and will move out of the Imperial Palace to a rented one-bedroom apartment. The former Princess has quit her job as an ornithological researcher to practice her cooking and learn to drive before becoming a housewife. She will pay taxes and no longer receive a royal stipend, although she will be given a lump sum of $1.3 million to start her new life.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATED. By HARRIET, 175, a giant Galpagos tortoise and the world’s oldest known animal; in Canberra, Australia. While there is some dispute over Harriet’s exact age and the claim that she was brought from the Galpagos Islands by Charles Darwin, DNA evidence suggests that she was born before the famed naturalist’s 1835 expedition, which would make her at least 170. Harriet, who for more than a century was believed to be a male and went by the name Harry, marked the occasion with a snack of pink hibiscus flowers.

ARRESTED. LIM DONG WON, 71, and SHIN GUNN, 64, former heads of South Korea’s intelligence agency, on charges of illegal wiretapping during the 1998-2002 presidency of Kim Dae Jung; in Seoul. The spy chiefs allegedly snooped on 1,800 South Koreans, including prominent businessmen, politicians and journalists. They deny the charges. The so-called “x-files” scandal, which first came to light in July, prompted the September resignation of Hong Seok Hyun, South Korea’s ambassador to the U.S., after a transcript emerged of him allegedly discussing illegal campaign financing in the 1997 presidential election. Although prosecutors say he was not involved, the controversy has tarnished the image of former President Kim, who as a dissident championed human rights and vowed to end such practices.

INDICTED. CONRAD BLACK, 61, former media baron; on eight criminal fraud charges; in Chicago. As chairman and chief executive of the Chicago-based newspaper group Hollinger International, owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and one-time controller of Britain’s Daily Telegraph and the Jerusalem Post, Black allegedly helped orchestrate a $32 million fraud. He was forced out in November 2003 when shareholders revolted over the surfacing allegations. Along with three other senior executives, Black is also accused of illegally pocketing $51.8 million from the sale of the company’s Canadian newspaper assets, which he used to bankroll a lavish lifestyle including a $62,000 surprise birthday party for his wife. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Black and the other defendants deny the charges.

PLEADED GUILTY. OMRI SHARON, 41, Israeli member of parliament and son of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon; to illegal campaign fund-raising; in Tel Aviv. Accepting a plea bargain, the younger Sharon admitted to falsifying corporate records, perjury and violating fund-raising laws during his father’s 1999 campaign to lead Israel’s right-wing Likud Party. Sharon’s guilty plea means he must step down as a Likud legislator.

DIED. AENNE BURDA, 96, founder of the Burda-Moden publishing house and one of post-war Germany’s most prominent businesswomen; in Offenburg, Germany. Born Anna Magdalene Lemminger, she married printer Franz Burda in 1931. The first issue of Burda-Moden appeared in 1950, bringing high fashion to the public and later offering clothing patterns so women could make their own fashionable attire. The publishing house, which later expanded to include titles such as entertainment magazine Bunte and the newsweekly Focus, is now one of Germany’s biggest conglomerates; the company has been rechristened Hubert Burda Media after Burda’s son Hubert, the current chairman and CEO.

Numbers
20 days Amount of time it took Apple Computer’s online store to reach one million movie downloads for the new video-playing iPod
7 days Amount of time it took the website SuicideGirls.com, which offers free porn videos for iPods, to reach the same mark

150,000 Deaths caused each year as a result of global climate change, according to World Health Organization estimates. The toll could double by 2030

60 Number of years since the Slinky debuted in stores in 1945
0 Number of reporters and photographers ever allowed inside the Slinky factory, which fiercely guards its trade secrets

203 Number of U.S. soldiers killed in and around Afghanistan since 2001, as of Nov. 18
94 Number of those soldiers who were killed there this year

$52 million Value of outfielder Hideki Matsui’s new four-year contract with the New York Yankees, making him the highest-paid Japanese baseball player in the major leagues