ELECTED. MA YING-JEOU, 55, mayor of Taipei; as chairman of Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang (KMT), in the first leadership election in the party's 93-year history; in Taipei. The Hong Kong-born, Harvard-educated Ma beat out the speaker of the legislature, Wang Jin-pyng, in a contest to take the reins of the once dominant KMT, which has lost two consecutive elections to President Chen Shui-bian's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. The KMT, buoyed by outgoing chairman Lien Chan's recent high-profile tour of mainland China, hopes that Ma will steer the party back to power in 2008, when many expect he will run for President himself.
MARRIED. CARLOS BATURN, 69, and EMILIO MENNDEZ, 50; in Spain's first gay marriage since its parliament legalized same-sex unions last month; in Madrid. The couple applied to be wed after the new law, which does not distinguish between homosexual and heterosexual marriages, came into effect on July 3. Baturn, a psychiatrist, and Menndez, a store-window decorator, first met 30 years ago when homosexuality was illegal in Spain; now, the country is the fourth in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.
SENTENCED. BERNIE EBBERS, 63, former CEO of WorldCom, convicted in March of orchestrating the $11 billion accounting fraud that toppled the telecommunications giant; to 25 years in prison, the latest and harshest in a string of recent sentences for white-collar executives; in New York City. Under federal guidelines, Ebbers, who maintained his innocence, must serve at least 85%, or 21 years, of the termalmost a life sentence because of his age.
ON TRIAL. KHIN NYUNT, 65, former Burmese Prime Minister; on charges of corruption and bribery; in a secret tribunal at the infamous Insein prison; in Rangoon. Once considered a comparatively moderate member of Burma's ruling military junta, Khin Nyunt has been under house arrest since being purged in October by Senior General Than Shwe. If convicted, he is expected to receive a long prison sentence; his two sons have already been tried and found guilty on similar charges.
DIED. KARIM EMAMI, 75, Iranian translator and devoted supporter of Persian literature and art; in Tehran. Born in Calcutta, Emami studied English at the University of Minnesota before returning to Iran, where he founded a publishing house and a popular Tehran bookstore. Among the best known of his numerous works are his translations of The Great Gatsby into Persian and the poems of Omar Khayyam into English.
DIED. JOHN KING, 87, pugnacious Thatcherite tycoon who in 1981 masterminded the transformation of the foundering state-run British Airways (nicknamed "Bloody Awful" by suffering Brits) into a profitable international powerhouse; in Leicestershire, England. After slashing 30% of the jobs and revamping BA's image, he sparred with arch rival Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic, who accused him of such "dirty tricks" as computer hacking and poaching passengers. King ultimately was ordered to publicly apologize and pay libel judgments to Branson and Virgin.
Numbers
73% Percentage of Americans who oppose the bid by China's CNOOC to acquire U.S. oil company Unocal, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll
$27.7 million Winning bid for a 14th century porcelain jar at Christie's auction house in London, a new record for an Asian work of art
133 Number of people killed last week in a three-train collision near Ghotki, Pakistan, caused when a conductor allegedly failed to read a railroad-track signal correctly
2.38 m Height of Xi Shun, 54, a herdsman from Inner Mongolia, surpassing Tunisia's Radhouane Charbib as the world's tallest living man
$93,600 Damages sought by a group of French-language teachers and translators from Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara for calling French a "failed international language"
15 million Number of Americans who abuse prescription drugs, according to a recent studymore than the combined total of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine users With bureau reports. Numbers Sources: Wall Street Journal; International Herald Tribune; A.P.; Guinness World Records; NBC