Milestones

RESIGNED. Ted Haggard, 50, as president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals; amid allegations that he paid a male prostitute for sex and drugs; in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Escort Michael Jones told a Denver radio station that he had a three-year relationship with Haggard—whom Time named one of America’s 25 most influential Evangelicals last year—saying he wanted to expose the “hypocrisy” of the pastor, who has led the battle against gay marriage in Colorado. Haggard first denied knowing Jones. Then he admitted buying a massage and methamphetamine from him, but said he did not take the drugs. He staunchly denied having sex with Jones—who in turn denied selling the pastor drugs—and insisted he had been “steady with my wife.” But an investigation by the board of Haggard’s 14,000-member New Life Church found him guilty of “sexually immoral conduct” and forced his resignation as senior pastor.

RETRIAL ORDERED. For Chen Guangcheng, 34, blind human-rights advocate who exposed forced sterilizations and abortions by family-planning authorities in China’s Shandong province and was sentenced to four years and three months in prison for property destruction and public disturbance; after an appeals court ruled that his August conviction was marred by procedural violations, including the barring of his lawyers from the courtroom; in Linyi, China. Although the outcome of a future trial is still in doubt, Chen’s supporters considered the ruling a rare victory. Said his lawyer, Li Jingsong, “At this stage, we could not have hoped for a better result.”

RELEASED. Hutomo Mandala Putra, 44, youngest son of former Indonesian President Suharto, better known as Tommy Suharto; after serving four years of a 10-year sentence for ordering the execution of a judge; in Jakarta. Tommy, a multimillionaire playboy who enjoyed a lavish lifestyle under the patronage of his powerful father, was convicted in 2002 of hiring two hit men to kill judge Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who had ruled against him in a 2000 graft trial. His early release for good behavior, while the men who carried out the hit are still serving life terms, has prompted criticism that Indonesia’s wealthy still benefit from special treatment under the country’s justice system.

DIED. Pieter Willem “P.W.” Botha, 90, hawkish South African politician who led the country during the height of the antiapartheid struggle in the 1980s; at his home in Wilderness, South Africa. As Prime Minister and then President, Botha made reforms at the edges of the apartheid system but refused to release political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela or countenance majority black rule. In 1986, with violence spiraling, he declared a state of emergency. Three years later he was forced to step down by his own party. In a recent interview, Botha said he had no regrets about the way he led the country.

Numbers
60% Estimated proportion of Afghan women forced to marry against their will, according to a recent survey conducted by the NGO Womenkind Worldwide
57% Percentage of women in Afghanistan who married under the age of 16

17% Percentage of French voters who say they support Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, in a recent poll gauging attitudes in the run-up to the April 2007 presidential elections
9% Le Pen’s popularity in the same period before France’s 2002 elections, when he shocked Europe by coming in second to President Jacques Chirac

$50 million Value of gifts, according to one estimate, at the lavish wedding of the daughter of Burmese junta leader General Than Shwe, a leaked video of which was released last week
$18 million Estimate of Burma’s total annual health-care budget in 2003, the latest reliable data available. The country of 53 million people is one of the poorest in the world

1,770 Number of people known to have been executed in China last year—81% of the world’s total. The true number is a state secret, but is thought to be much higher because executions are not always disclosed. To reduce capital punishment, China’s government last week said the Supreme Court would review all death sentences
68 Crimes that carry the death penalty in China, including tax evasion and drug smuggling