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On the evening of 8 December 1980, English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot dead in the archway of The Dakota, his residence in New York City. He was 40 years old. He was killed by Mark David Chapman, an American Beatles fan who had travelled from Hawaii. Chapman said he was angered by Lennon's lifestyle and public statements, especially his much-publicised remark about the Beatles being "more popular than Jesus" and the lyrics of his later songs "God" and "Imagine". Chapman also said he was inspired by the fictional character Holden Caulfield from J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye.

Chapman planned the killing over several months and waited for Lennon at the Dakota on the morning of 8 December. During the evening he met Lennon, who signed his copy of the album Double Fantasy. Lennon left with his wife, Yoko Ono, for a recording session at Record Plant Studio. Later that night, Lennon and Ono returned to the Dakota. As they walked towards the entrance of the building, Chapman fired five hollow-point bullets from a .38 special revolver, four of which hit Lennon in the back. Chapman remained at the scene reading The Catcher in the Rye until he was arrested. Lennon was rushed to hospital in a police car where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

A worldwide outpouring of grief ensued on an unprecedented scale. Crowds gathered at Roosevelt Hospital and in front of the Dakota. People in nearby buildings placed lit candles in their windows, and at least three Beatles fans killed themselves. Lennon was cremated at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, on 10 December. The ashes were given to Ono, who requested 10 minutes of silence around the world instead of holding a funeral. Chapman pleaded guilty to murdering Lennon and was given a sentence of 20-years-to-life imprisonment in an Upstate New York prison. He has been denied parole 11 times since becoming eligible in 2000.

In response to: Biggest sandstorm in decade turns Beijing skies yellow
Updated / Monday, 15 Mar 2021 07:26

Beijing was cloaked in thick yellow smog with pollution levels surging off the charts as the worst sandstorm in a decade descended on China's capital.

City residents used goggles, masks and hairnets to protect themselves from the choking air, with landmarks including the Forbidden City and the distinctive headquarters of state broadcaster CCTV partly obscured behind an apocalyptic-looking haze of dust and sand.

The city government ordered all schools to cancel outside sport and events and advised those with respiratory diseases to stay inside, while some highways were partially closed.

The poor air quality was due to a sandstorm from northern Mongolia, where authorities said it had left several dead and dozens missing, before being carried south by winds and reducing visibility in Beijing to less than 500 metres.

Authorities described it as the worst sandstorm in a decade to hit the city, compounding days of hazardous PM 2.5 pollution in the capital.

Under heavy skies, which draped buildings in an eerie glow, Beijing residents fretted over the health risks.

"I feel every breath will give me lung problems," Beijing resident Zhang Yunya told AFP.

Flight tracker Variflight said more than 350 flights had been cancelled at two airports in the city, with dozens more delayed.

"This sandstorm is very fierce," said Pan Xiaochuan, a Beijing-based environmental health expert.

"I remember the sandstorms ten years ago blew away in less than an hour, but I'm afraid that this one will not have passed through the whole day."

Six people were killed by the sandstorms in neighbouring Mongolia, the country's national emergency management agency said, including a five-year-old boy from a herder family.

Another 81 people were still missing as strong winds and duststorms swept the landlocked country, which borders China.

Pollution in the city was at "hazardous" levels, according to air quality monitoring website Aqicn, as the reading soared off the scale for many apps.

Aqicn said levels of PM 10 large particulate matter were nearly 20 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum exposure.

But the state-run Global Times said PM 10 pollution in the six downtown districts was "over 8,100" this morning - a figure which would be 160 times the recommended limit.

Smaller PM 2.5 particles, which seep deep into human lungs and cause respiratory illnesses, were also at a hazardous level of over 560 - more than 20 times the WHO recommended daily limit.

China cut its national average level of airborne PM 2.5 dramatically between 2015 and 2019 and the government has announced an ambitious target to reach carbon neutrality by 2060.

But Li Shuo of Greenpeace China told AFP that "intense" industrial activities have contributed to bad air in Beijing over recent weeks, with the production of steel, cement and aluminium already overtaking pre-pandemic levels.

This was exacerbating the sandstorm conditions, which are "a result of extreme weather conditions and desertification", he said.