Quotes of the Day

DECLARED. STATE OF EMERGENCY, in the Maldives; after a violent police crackdown on thousands of demonstrators on Friday; in the capital, Malé. The administration of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom imposed a curfew following the incident, which was sparked by demands for the release of five political detainees. Gayoom, who has ruled these islands off the Indian coast for 26 years, is accused by human-rights groups of condoning political repression and torture.

RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED. JAMES MCGREEVEY, 47, New Jersey Governor; in a televised address in which he disclosed that he had an extramarital affair with a man, later alleged to be a former aide; in Trenton, New Jersey. "My truth is that I am a gay American," said McGreevey, a married father of two. The announcement and subsequent allegations of sexual harassment by his ex-lover sent ripples through New Jersey's political establishment, where rumors of McGreevey's sexuality had circulated despite strong denials.

SENTENCED. CHARLES SOBHRAJ, 60, to life in prison for the murder of an American tourist in 1975; in Kathmandu, Nepal. Also known as the "Serpent" and the "Bikini Killer," the half-Indian, half-Vietnamese Sobhraj is alleged to be one of Asia's deadliest serial killers, preying on Western backpackers on the hippie circuit in the 1970s. Brilliant, charming and fluent in seven languages, he taunted police with their inability to catch or keep him, breaking out of jail four times. He is accused of killing another backpacker in Nepal, as well as five more in Thailand, two in India and one in Pakistan. Sobhraj vowed to appeal, claiming he was "found guilty without witnesses and evidence."

DIED. PAUL "RED" ADAIR, 89, heroic oil-well firefighter immortalized by John Wayne in the 1968 movie The Hellfighters; in Houston, Texas. Adair began his career putting out oil-well fires during the Great Depression, and as his expertise grew, his name became virtually synonymous with the profession. At age 76, he and his Texas-based Red Adair Co. capped hundreds of Kuwaiti oil wells left burning at the end of the Gulf War. Adair's exploits earned him a daredevil reputation, to which he once remarked: "A daredevil's reckless, and that ain't me. The devil's down in that hole, and I've seen what he can do and I'm not darin' him at all."

DIED. FAY WRAY, 96, "scream queen" and star of more than 100 movies, including Erich von Stroheim's The Wedding March; in New York City. Despite her lengthy résumé, the sultry Wray is mostly remembered for her legendary role as Ann Darrow in King Kong—and for the scene in which she is carried to the top of the Empire State Building in the beast's fist. At the film's premiere she commented, "I wasn't too impressed. I thought there was too much screaming."

DIED. JULIA CHILD, 91, cookbook author and television star who, as The French Chef, introduced fine French cuisine to American homes.

Performance Of The Week
Executives from UFJ HOLDINGS and MITSUBISHI TOKYO FINANCIAL GROUP finalized their merger agreement after a three-week legal battle over the details of the deal. Barring a hostile takeover bid by rival SMFG, the marriage of the two giants will create the world's largest bank, with more than $1.7 trillion in assets. Now the tough part: fixing UFJ's long-beleaguered business

Numbers

3.9 BILLION Projected number of live-television viewers for the Olympic Games

0 Terrestrial-TV viewers in Indonesia, the only competing country in which broadcasters, citing costs and timing, have declined to air the Games

140 Distance in kilometers from Seoul to South Korea's new capital, Gongju, where the government will relocate in 2012

3 Number of deaths from avian flu in Vietnam since July 30, dashing hopes that the country had contained the disease

4 Number killed in an accident at a Kansai Electric Power plant, reviving fears about Japan's nuclear industry

28 Number of years since the cooling pipe that burst in the accident had been properly checked for corrosion

2.1 kg Average amount of weight that a Tyrannosaurus rex is estimated to have gained per day during its four teenage years of most-rapid growth

• Sarah M. Broom
• Events of the Week