Mao Zedong's official plane for sale

For sale

Mao's ride

A shopping mall where the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong's official plane is on display in the southern city of Zhuhai has put the plane up for sale to make room for parking, an executive of the mall's owner said Friday. The British-made Trident jetliner was one of three bought by China in 1969, one of which served as the personal plane of Lin Biao, Mao's heir apparent, who died when it crashed in 1971 in Mongolia after what some say was a failed coup attempt against Mao.

Misdeeds

Youthful indiscretions

A 7-year-old boy broke into a popular Australian zoo, fed animals to the resident crocodile and killed several lizards with a rock in a 30-minute rampage caught on the zoo's security camera, said Alice Springs Reptile Center director Rex Neindorf. Alice Springs police said they are unable to press charges against the boy because children younger than 10 can't be charged with criminal offenses in the Northern Territory. The boy's name was not released because of his age.

Try the patch next time

Relatives at a family gathering in Kuala Lumpur beat a Malaysian couple to death Wednesday in a ritual apparently meant to help the man to stop smoking, said Ku Chin Wah, head of the city's crime-investigations department. A nephew suggested the beating ritual after the man said he could not stop smoking and the woman complained of a liver ailment, Ku said. Local media reported the families are believed to have joined a cult recently, but that could not be confirmed immediately.

People

Tenor causes uproar

A concert by Placido Domingo at the Mayan ruins of Chichén Itza tonight is being billed as "the world's greatest tenor at one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World," but some Mexicans are criticizing the event. "These monuments are not there so that rich people can hold events at them," said Cuauhtemoc Velasco, a leader of the archaeologists' union, which claims the concert violates a law that requires ruins to be preserved to educate Mexicans about ancient cultures. Jorge Esma, who is organizing the concert for the Yucatán state government, says the Mayan temples will be protected. Esma said more than half a dozen concerts have been held at Chichén Itza since Luciano Pavarotti sang there in 1997.

Stern nuptials reported

Howard Stern should be honeymooning right about ... now. The New York Post reported that the shock jock and his second wife-to-be, Beth Ostrosky, planned to wed late Friday. The couple reportedly booked the posh New York restaurant Le Cirque to accommodate their 180 guests, including Donald Trump.

Going, going ...

Elvis museum is dead

The Elvis is Alive! Museum in Hattiesburg, Miss., will not live, at least not for now. Andy Key tried to sell the museum twice on eBay, but he received no legitimate bids by the time the auction ended Friday. Key bought the museum, then in Missouri, on eBay last year for more than $8,000. He said military duties will keep him away from home and he can't operate it. The collection includes photos, books, FBI files, DNA reports and other memorabilia that aim to support the theory that Elvis Presley never died.

Today in History

1777: George Washington's troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, Pa., resulting in heavy American casualties.

1957: The Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit.

1965: Pope Paul VI became the first pontiff to visit the Western Hemisphere as he addressed the U.N. General Assembly.

1970: Rock singer Janis Joplin, 27, was found dead in her Hollywood, Calif., hotel room.

Today's Birthdays

Author Anne Rice, 67. Actor Clifton Davis, 63. Actress Susan Sarandon, 62. Actor Armand Assante, 59. Producer Russell Simmons, 51. Actor Liev Schreiber, 41. Actor Abraham Benrubi, 39. Actress Alicia Silverstone, 32. Actress Rachael Leigh Cook, 29. Figure skater Kimmie Meisner, 19.

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