Milestones

By Melissa August, Amanda Bower, Matthew Cooper, Steven Frank, Macabe Keliher, Ling Minhua, Ellin Martens, Michele Orecklin, Julie Rawe, Sora Song, Josh Tyrangiel

RELEASED. RAJKUMAR, 72, beloved Indian movie star kidnapped by the bandit Veerappan; after 108 days in jungle captivity; in Bangalore, India. Veerappan, who is accused of 120 murders but has eluded capture for 30 years and is regarded as a hero among Tamil separatists, took a $2.17 million ransom raised by two Indian state governments and retreated to his hideout, forgoing his demand for the release of government prisoners.

DIED. EDOARDO AGNELLI, 46, only son of Gianni Agnelli, head of the Fiat automotive empire; in an apparent leap from a viaduct known as the "bridge of suicides"; in Turin, Italy. This is only the latest tragedy for the Agnellis; three years ago, Edoardo's younger cousin Giovanni, Fiat heir apparent, died of stomach cancer.

DIED. LEAH RABIN, 72, widow of assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and blunt-spoken supporter of the Arab-Israeli peace process; of cancer; in Petach Tikva, Israel. Rabin's last public act was to ask Israeli leader Ehud Barak to send former Prime Minister Shimon Peres to negotiate with the Palestinians.

DIED. HOSEA WILLIAMS, 74, fiery, foghorn-voiced civil rights leader and deputy to Martin Luther King Jr.; of cancer; in Atlanta. Williams joined the civil rights struggle after taking his sons to a drugstore in 1950s Savannah, Ga., and seeing them cry when he told them they couldn't spin on the soda-fountain stools with the white children. He led the 1965 "Bloody Sunday" march in Selma, Ala., and later turned his efforts to the poor and homeless. Though he won election to local and state offices, he said one of his happiest days was in '63--when he returned to that Savannah drugstore with his sons. They all spun on the stools even after the counterman closed the fountain down. Williams told them, "It's been a long time comin', boys, so let's enjoy it."

DIED. ROBERT TROUT, 91, broadcast journalism pioneer who helped create the news anchor position; in New York City (see Eulogy, below).