JULY 31, 2000 VOL. 156 NO. 4

Milestones
BY PENNY CAMPBELL

DIED. JOSE ANGEL VALENTE, 71, metaphysical poet considered one of the principal figures of contemporary Spanish verse; in Geneva. Valente, a former history teacher who also worked for the Spanish government and the United Nations, won dozens of prizes, including Spain's prestigious Queen Sofia Poetry Award in 1998.

DIED. BARBOSA LIMA SOBRINHO, 103, Brazilian journalist and former politician who played a leading role in the 1992 impeachment proceedings that led to the resignation of President Fernando Collor de Mello; in Rio de Janeiro. Previously a congressman and state governor, Lima wrote more than 70 books and 5,000 articles, the last of which was published on the day he died.

DIED. ALIGI SASSU, 88, Milanese pioneer of Italian contemporary art; in Mallorca, Spain. A painter, sculptor and engraver, Sassu was most famous for his futurist paintings such as Uomini Rossi (Red Men). After studying the Impressionists in Paris in the 1930s, he abandoned futurism for post-impressionism.

CHARGED. THOMAS WELCH, 55, AND DAVID JOHNSON, 41, former president and vice president of Salt Lake City's Olympic bid committee, with conspiracy and racketeering; in Washington. Welch and Johnson allegedly paid $1 million to influence the votes of International Olympic Committee delegates during their successful bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. Nine delegates resigned or were expelled after the scandal broke in late 1998.

CHARGED. ANANDA WEERASEKERA, 57, retired Sri Lankan major general, in the deaths and disappearances of thousands of members of a Marxist group more than a decade ago; in a court in Anuradhapura. He has been accused of the murder, abduction and unlawful detention of members of the People's Liberation Front in retaliation for an unsuccessful armed revolt it staged in 1987-89.

RESIGNED. ALEX SALMOND, 45, as head of the Scottish National Party; in Edinburgh. Frequently voted Scotland's most popular politician, the charismatic Salmond increased his party's share of the vote from 14% to 29% during his 10 years in office, but he was criticized by hardliners for favoring a gradual rather than outright move to independence.

RESIGNED. MIROSLAW HANDKE, as Poland's Education Minister, after his ministry made a $184 million calculation error that threatens to leave the country's poorly paid teachers without a promised pay raise; in Warsaw.

RELEASED. CHHOUK RIN, 46, former Khmer Rouge commander charged with the murder of three Western backpackers; in Phnomh Penh. The judge argued that Chhouk Rin, who defected from the Khmer Rouge to become a colonel in the Cambodian army, was immune from prosecution because of an amnesty. Following vociferous international protests, the Cambodian government announced it would appeal the ruling.