Milestones

By Melissa August; Daniel Eisenberg; William Han; Nadia Mustafa; Rebecca Winters

ARRESTED. U.S. citizen JAMES EL SHAFAY, 19, and Pakistani national SHAHAWAR MATIN SIRAJ, 21; in an alleged plot to bomb a subway station and possibly other locations; in New York City. The men were not believed to be linked to al-Qaeda.

CHARGED. MARK THATCHER, 51, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; with helping finance a foiled coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea; in Cape Town, South Africa. The ex--race car driver, whose business career has been dogged by accusations of questionable arms deals and other shady ventures, was placed under house arrest in Cape Town, where he moved two years ago.

STRIPPED. AUGUSTO PINOCHET, 88, Chilean President from 1973 to 1990; of immunity from prosecution, in a 9-8 vote by Chile's Supreme Court; in Santiago. The decision opens the way for a possible trial on charges of human-rights abuses for Pinochet's crackdown on dissidents in the 1970s and '80s in which at least 19 Chileans are believed to have died.

SETTLED. A class action against RAY MARSH, operator of the Tri-State Crematory in rural Georgia, where the uncremated remains of 334 people were found in storage buildings and surrounding forests in 2002; for $80 million; in Rome, Ga. Marsh, 31, faces an October trial on 787 criminal charges.

REVOKED. The work visa of TARIQ RAMADAN, a Muslim scholar scheduled to teach at Notre Dame this fall; by the Department of Homeland Security, which called him a public safety risk. The university and Ramadan, 42, deny the allegation.

DIED. ELISABETH KUBLER-ROSS, 78, Swiss-born psychiatrist whose incisive research in the 1960s demolished medical taboos against discussing death with the dying and helped establish hospice care in the U.S.; in Scottsdale, Ariz. (See Appreciation.)

DIED. NOBLE (THIN MAN) WATTS, 78, blues and jazz saxophonist whose booming tenor influenced music legends from King Curtis to Bruce Springsteen sideman Clarence Clemons; in Deland, Fla. In the 1950s he led the house band at boxer Sugar Ray Robinson's New York City lounge and went on rock-'n'-roll tours with Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis. He also released a string of hit singles, including Hard Times (the Slop) in 1957.

DIED. AL DVORIN, 81, concert announcer whose signature punch line turned pop-culture catchphrase, "Elvis has left the building," capped many a recording of the King's performances; in a car accident; near Ivanpah, Calif. Dvorin initially used the phrase to disperse fans who lingered hoping for an encore.

DIED. DANIEL PETRIE, 83, prolific television director who also made such memorable motion pictures as A Raisin in the Sun (1961), starring Sidney Poitier, and Resurrection (1980), with Ellen Burstyn; in Los Angeles. The Canadian native and former Broadway actor made his mark in the 1960s directing such gritty TV series as The Defenders and East Side/West Side and then began making TV films, including Sybil, starring Sally Field. He won a 1976 Emmy for a TV mini-series about the Roosevelts, Eleanor and Franklin, and another the next year for Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years.

DIED. FRANK SANACHE, 86, the last of eight Meskwaki Indians who used elements of their native language to encrypt walkie-talkie communications between American officers during World War II; in Tama, Iowa. Five months after being sent overseas, Sanache was captured by the Germans in Tunisia and spent 29 months in a Polish labor camp. The 2002 film Windtalkers focused on Navajo "code talkers" widely known for formulating the U.S. military code that remained classified and unbroken until 1968. But the Meskwaki were among 18 Native American tribes that served.

DIED. ROBERT LINN, 95, the nation's longest-serving mayor; in Beaver, Pa., where he took office in 1946 and completed nearly 15 consecutive terms in the next 58 years.