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(CNN) -- Syria has until Friday to agree to let Arab League observers into the country to monitor the government's response to civil unrest or else face economic sanctions from its neighbors, a senior Arab League diplomat said Thursday.
Syria's membership in the 22-country Arab League was suspended this month after President Bashar al-Assad's regime ignored demands to end its crackdown on citizens.
"If they do not comply, then the league's economic body will file a report to the foreign ministers of the league who will meet on Sunday to vote on the economic sanctions to be implemented," said the diplomat, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the negotiations with Syria.
If Syria agrees by the Friday deadline, then the league will send a delegation to Damascus to discuss details of the observer mission before the team goes, the diplomat said.
At least 35 people died Thursday in clashes with security forces, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC) activist group said.
Another activist group, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported earlier that at least 11 Syrian military defectors were shot dead and four injured during clashes with regular Syrian army units in the area. A further 73 civilians were arrested in Homs province Thursday, the group said.
A campaign of raids and arrests is also taking place in the Damascus suburb of Domeir, the Qalet Mudeeq neighborhood in Hama, and Baniyas, the LCC said.
Funerals were held Thursday for 12 army, police and security forces personnel, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported. The 12 had been targeted by "armed terrorist groups" while on duty in the Damascus, Homs and Hama areas, the news agency said.
The United Nations says more than 3,500 people have been killed in the government's eight-month crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
Al-Assad has resisted mounting calls for his resignation as president in recent weeks as international outcry over the Syrian violence has intensified.
On Tuesday, the humanitarian committee of the U.N. General Assembly voted by a large majority to condemn the violence in Syria and express its support for the Arab League initiative.
It was the first resolution on Syria's crackdown to be approved at the United Nations.
Protesters in Syria are demanding al-Assad's ouster and democratic elections. He has been in power since 2000, following his father, Hafez, who ruled Syria for three decades.
Syria's government has said it is fighting armed terrorists, and it maintains that the death toll is much lower than international observers and opposition groups say.
CNN's Lonzo Cook and Tracy Doueiry contributed to this report. | [
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"what can happen if Syria ignores deadline",
"what number of people have died since the protests began in March",
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] | NEW: At least 35 people have died in violence Thursday, an activist group says .
The Arab League could impose economic sanctions Sunday if Syria ignores deadline .
Syria is under international pressure to halt its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters .
The United Nations says more than 3,500 have died since the protests began in March . |
(CNN) -- Syria's President Bashar al-Assad looks more isolated with each passing day as his regime continues a bloody eight-month crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
His Arab neighbors signaled their displeasure with him this week by suspending Syria from the Arab League, a stinging blow for a nation that sees itself at the heart of Arab concerns. Jordan's King Abdullah went a step further, telling the BBC he would step down if he were al-Assad, an unusually blunt assessment that followed Western calls for al-Assad to go.
And Turkey, formerly an important ally and trading partner, threatened to cut off electricity supplies to Syria as the European Union moved this week to extend sanctions against more members of al-Assad's circle.
This week, the conflict inside Syria entered a new era when army defectors attacked pro-government targets. That ratcheted up the pressure even more -- the Russian foreign minister was widely quoted as saying attacks on government buildings in Syria resembled "civil war."
So can al-Assad cling to power? Or will he become the fourth leader forced from office in the Arab Spring, following in the footsteps of ousted leaders of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia?
Analysts say that the odds are stacked against Syria's president.
Steven A. Cook, Hasib J. Sabbagh senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said it is hard to predict what might come next for al-Assad -- but the pressure is on.
"The kind of traditional support he had externally is clearly crumbling," Cook said. "His prospects this week are worse than they were last week."
Emile Hokayem, senior fellow for regional security at the Bahrain office of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, thinks it highly unlikely al-Assad will hang on to power.
Three main factors will likely contribute to the downfall of Syria's president after 11 years in power, he said.
One is that he has lost legitimacy in the eyes of his own people. "It's hard to see how he would recover his legitimacy after killing almost 4,000 of his countrymen," said Hokayem. The United Nations puts the toll of deaths at well over 3,500 since protests began.
Second is the economy, as sanctions imposed by the West and Turkey start to bite. This matters, said Hokayem, because al-Assad may struggle to keep the support of the country's urban and business elites in Damascus and Aleppo if the economy is failing.
The third factor is security, despite al-Assad's mobilization of the military. Unlike previous challenges to the al-Assad regime, "this time it's the Syrian people leading it and very clearly regime change is their goal and they are not going to accept anything less," Hokayem said.
Shashank Joshi, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), also doubts al-Assad will survive -- but says it is far from clear what might follow.
The Arab League's decision to suspend Syria, after Damascus failed to abide by a peace deal that had been brokered earlier with the 22-nation league, signals a shift in views that would have looked extremely unlikely even a month ago, he says.
The regime's military is also increasingly over-extended as those fighting against it find footholds in Lebanese and Turkish soil, he said.
Turkey might also choose to intervene more directly, perhaps by creating a buffer zone along its long border with Syria or providing weapons to the rebels, he said.
At this point, descent into civil war could be as likely a scenario as a clean change of regime at the top, he said.
Nonetheless, Joshi cautioned against thinking the 46-year-old's grip on power will be loosened immediately, pointing to the example of Iraq's former dictator, Saddam Hussein.
In 1991, he said, Hussein had just lost a major war, had two no-fly zones, U.N. sanctions and an oil embargo imposed on his country, was facing an enormous Shia uprising in the south, and | [
"Who else is criticizing the Syrian leader?",
"Which other leader might be affected by the Arab Spring?",
"Who was the Arab's neighbor?",
"How many leaders have been ousted?",
"Where is there unrest?",
"What has forced three leaders from power?"
] | [
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] | The Arab Spring has forced three leaders from power so far .
Syria's president could go, too, some analysts say .
Unrest that has roiled Syria for months took a turn this week .
Syria's Arab neighbors have joined the West in criticizing the Syrian leader . |
(CNN) -- Syria's major opposition group condemned Bashar al-Assad's regime Wednesday for "brutal massacres" this week and urged the U.N. Security Council to protect civilians against "acts of genocide."
"The regime is using children as human shields so that tanks and armored vehicles can storm residential areas," said the Syrian National Council, which said that about 250 people have died over a 48-hour period.
"Incidents of gruesome murders have been recorded," the council said Wednesday, including the killings of four brothers and the beheading of a sheikh, whose head was hung above a mosque entrance. Both incidents occurred in Idlib, and the council says "acts of genocide" are occurring in Zawiyah Mountain in Idlib province in the northwest and the city of Homs in the west.
It cites "the regime's use of heavy weapons and artillery in shelling civilian neighborhoods, as was the case in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs, as well as in the villages of Kansafra, Kafar Awaid, and Mazrain, where a large number of residents were killed. Other residents were forced to flee under heavy gunfire," the council said. The villages are in Idlib province.
The violence spiked as Syria agreed to an Arab League observer mission Monday aimed at ending the violence between regime forces and protesters that started in mid-March. The United Nations this month estimated that about 5,000 people have died in the bloodshed.
"The SNC directed letters to representatives of the 15 member nations of the U.N. Security Council, including the permanent members, urging them to convene in an emergency session to discuss the brutal and systematic killings, the humanitarian situation, and the displacements forced by the regime and its security and military apparatus," the group said in a news release.
The council also sent "urgent communiques" about the violence to the Arab League; the Organization of Islamic Cooperation; the Gulf Cooperation Council; the General Secretariat of the United Nations; the U.S. Department of State; the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs; representatives from the Chinese Foreign Ministry; and the governments of France, Spain, Germany, Canada, Tunisia, Libya and Sudan.
"The SNC urgently requested that these parties support the Syrian people's and the Syrian Revolution's demands for international protection, the establishment of safe zones for civilians, and the establishment of humanitarian corridors for delivery of relief, medical, and other humanitarian needs. The SNC also demanded a prompt intervention to stop the massacres, which have reached the level of genocide and which coincide with the signing of the Arab League Protocol to send observers into Syria," the council said.
Mohamed Hamdo, a lieutenant colonel in the Free Syrian Army, underscored the ferocity of the assaults.
He said that government forces "used military jet fighters and bombed Jabal Al Zawya, including a mosque that contained around 100 civilians who were praying or using it as a refuge." Jabal Al Zawya is in the Idlib region in northwestern Syria.
Hamdo said the military also "destroyed the town of Idlib completely and bombed a hospital there. The problem is they are using women and children who are mounted on their tanks as they raid, making it impossible for us to hit back."
"We have information that they are preparing an attack to control the border crossing to Turkey. We are dispersing our FSA platoons to counterattack. They are using surface-to-air missiles, mortars, military jet fighters and artillery."
Activist groups also reported a surge in killings this week. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a higher death toll of 111 on Tuesday and 121 on Monday. The Monday figure included 72 soldiers who tried to defect.
The civilian death toll so far Wednesday is at least 16, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition umbrella group.
And, a video surfaced on social media websites of a boy's grisly killing in Homs during a missile attack Tuesday.
This violence comes as an Arab League advance team is headed to Damascus Thursday to prepare for the observer mission. There would be 100 observers in teams of 10 | [
"The United Nations estimates that about"
] | [
[
"250 people have died over a 48-hour period."
]
] | NEW: Syrian opposition reaches out to international powers .
The United Nations estimates that about 5,000 people have died in Syrian violence this year .
The Syrian National Council wants U.N. and Arab League action .
It says nearly 250 civilians died over a two-day period . |
(CNN) -- Syrian activists say opposition forces have wrested control of the town of Zabadani from government troops, but the authorities' tanks remain perched on its outskirts.
"There was massive protests in Zabadani, so the Syrian Army tried to disperse them. But our troops were very organized and aggressive with a counter attack that left them fleeing and they withdrew completely out of the city," said Lt. Col. Mohamed Hamdo of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a group made up of former government soldiers. "Our forces raised the flag of independence in Zabadani."
Hamdo said, though, that the opposition fighters "expect another confrontation" as the government forces regroup outside the town.
The FSA destroyed at least three armored vehicles during the fighting, a Zabadani-based member of the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition umbrella group, told CNN. Cold weather and snow hindered troop movements into the town, located at the head of a mountain valley, said the activist, who identified himself only as Faris.
Faris said Zabadani residents aided the rebel force by providing them with clothing and shelter. No civilians were killed there on Wednesday, he added.
Jordan's king: Don't expect change soon
Another activist in Zabadani told CNN that Syrian government forces had ringed the town and were shelling it from outside.
And a third activist, based in the northern city of Homs, told CNN that about 6,000 people in Zabadani turned out for a demonstration to celebrate Wednesday evening. Video posted on YouTube showed marchers clapping and chanting, waving their fingers in the air in victory signs and voicing thanks to the Free Syrian Army.
Syrian authorities have restricted the activity of journalists during the 10-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, so CNN cannot independently verify events there. But a CNN crew accompanied an Arab League monitoring team during a visit to Zabadani on Sunday, when crowds carried the monitors on their shoulders and urged them to stay to prevent reprisals.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency made no mention Wednesday of events in Zabadani.
Elsewhere, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said 21 more people were killed by government troops on Wednesday. Of those, 13 were killed in Homs, the scene of the worst violence in recent weeks, with the rest scattered around the country, the LCC said.
Four people were killed in Idlib, two in the Damascus suburbs, one in Aleppo and one in Daraa, according to the LCC.
The Syrian Arab News Agency, meanwhile, said 15 police officers and soldiers, including an army colonel, had been killed in recent fighting.
EU plans new sanctions against Syrian regime
The Arab League monitoring mission was scheduled to end Wednesday. But Adnan Al Khudeir, the Cairo-based head of the operation, said the league and the Syrian government were in talks over an extension, and a source close to the mission in Damascus told CNN that all the monitors had been told to remain at their bases on Thursday.
Zabadani is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Damascus, near the border with Lebanon.
Mohamed Fahmy contributed to this report. | [
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] | [
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] | NEW: Opposition official says another confrontation is expected in Zabadani .
The opposition says Syrian troops were driven from Zabadani .
Residents aided defecting soldiers in the fight, an activist says .
Arab League monitors visited Zabadani on Sunday . |
(CNN) -- T-shirts and other official merchandise from what were billed as Michael Jackson's last concerts are up for sale, the shows' promoter told fans by e-mail Thursday. Official merchandise from Michael Jackson's "This Is It" tour is for sale, according to the shows' promoter. The e-mail, which went to people with tickets to London tour dates that were to start in July, reaffirmed an earlier announcement that ticketholders will receive a full refund or, if they chose, a commemorative ticket for the tour. The concert merchandise includes Jackson belt buckles, socks, hats, wallets, music and a myriad of T-shirts. "Early in June, Michael Jackson approved a line of official merchandise for you, his fans," said the e-mail from concert promoter AEG Live. "As we mourn the loss of one of the greatest talents the world has ever seen, we are only beginning to feel the impact that Michael left upon us all. A variety of official merchandise commemorates this incredible talent and preserves the legacy that is Michael Jackson." Fifty sold-out Jackson concerts were scheduled for the O2 Arena in London, starting July 13. The shows were billed as the final concerts of his career and were called "This Is It." Jackson was expected to earn $50 million from the London shows. The singer died with debts estimated at $500 million, and his estate will take years to unravel legally. On Wednesday, Paul McCartney refuted media accounts about the fate of the Beatles song catalog, which Jackson co-owned. "Some time ago, the media came up with the idea that Michael Jackson was going to leave his share in the Beatles songs to me in his will, which was completely made up and something I didn't believe for a second," a statement on McCartney's Web site said. "Now the report is that I am devastated to find that he didn't leave the songs to me. This is completely untrue. I had not thought for one minute that the original report was true and, therefore, the report that I'm devastated is also totally false, so don't believe everything you read folks!" | [
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] | Fans were told by e-mail Thursday that "This Is It" tour merchandise was for sale .
Jackson himself approved a line of official merchandise in early June .
Paul McCartney refuted media accounts about the fate of the Beatles song catalog . |
(CNN) -- Taliban advances in Pakistan are raising concerns in Islamabad and capitals as far away as Washington. CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson looks at how the Taliban spread and what could be done to help Pakistan. Students in burqas in Buner district How is the Taliban extending its influence in Pakistan? It has extended its influence considerably over the last few years moving northwards along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, from South Waziristan to North Waziristan to Bajur and across now to Swat and Buner. But the Taliban has also extended its influence because it is now involved with several Punjab terrorist groups that have affiliated themselves with the border Taliban and have helped commit some attacks such as one on a police station in Lahore. The Pakistan government has been cutting deals with the different elements that were Taliban or became Taliban since 2004-2005. Those deals have enabled the Taliban to extend themselves. Is Pakistan going to fall or fail? The overall answer to that is no. But the Taliban is further destabilizing an incredibly unstable situation. There is a weak government that faces challenges, not only from the Taliban but also from almost every political party in the country. It faces challenges from across the border with its old enemy India, which means a large percentage of the Pakistan army is tied up on that border rather than fighting terrorism. The Taliban is not going to take Islamabad, but its attacks and advances are going to weaken an already unstable government and make an already dangerous situation even more volatile... and that will mean the Taliban will be able to wield more influence in the future than they do today. What options are open to the Pakistan government and other countries? Pakistan could form a broad-based government of national unity and appeal for more international support in terms of encouraging financial aid and having trade restrictions lifted so they can improve the economy. The international community could help Pakistan resolve issues with India. It would help the economy and help the government focus on its own internal problems and better influence the situation in Afghanistan. What the Pakistan government would also need to do is convince its people that outside support and help is in their best interests to deal with terrorism and stabilize the country. To do that the government would also have to win the support of its large Pashtun minority, from whom the Taliban draws a lot of its support ... and that is difficult particularly as the U.S. -- which would need to be a principle supporter of Pakistan -- continues to bomb targets in Pashtun areas leading to civilian casualties. | [
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"attacks and advances"
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] | Taliban influences in Pakistan has developed over years .
Pakistan government weak and could be weakened further .
Pakistan has options to deal with Taliban, but they come with problems . |
(CNN) -- Taliban militants, who implemented Islamic law in Pakistan's violence-plagued Swat Valley last week, have now taken control of a neighboring district. Protests in Karachi against the creation of sharia courts in Swat Valley. Here are some answers about the Swat Valley, its history and what's taking place there. What is Swat Valley? Swat Valley is located in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, near the border with Afghanistan and about 185 miles (300 kilometers) from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. The alpine region once was one of Pakistan's premier tourist destinations, boasting the nation's only ski resort until it was shut down after Taliban militants overran the area. It also was a draw for trout-fishing enthusiasts and those wishing to visit the ancient Buddhist ruins in the area. What's happening in Swat Valley? In recent years Taliban militants unleashed a wave of violence that claimed hundreds of lives in the province. The militants wanted sharia law -- or Islamic law -- imposed in the region. They took over the valley in 2008. The central government of Pakistan, which long exerted little control in the area, launched an intense military offensive in late July to flush out the militants. In retaliation, the Taliban carried out a series of deadly attacks and began gaining ground, setting up checkpoints in the area. Has the government intervened? The militants and the Pakistani government reached a peace deal earlier this year, which was recently signed into law by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. Under the deal, sharia law was imposed in the region. While the peace deal drew criticism for the Pakistani government, some analysts and political observers say the government had little choice but to capitulate, as militants have terrorized the region with beheadings, kidnappings and the destruction of schools. What's happening now? This week, the Taliban moved to seize control of the neighboring Buner district, bringing it closer to Islamabad than it has been since Taliban insurgency began. What is sharia law? Sharia law is Islamic law. While there are different interpretations of it, the Taliban's strict interpretation forbids women from being seen in public without their husbands and fathers, requires veils for women and beards for men, and bans music and television. Consequences are severe; during the Taliban struggle to impose sharia law, anyone found disobeying was pinned to the ground and lashed. Others were beheaded and hung from poles, with notices attached to their bodies that anyone daring to remove the corpse before 48 hours had passed would also be beheaded and hanged. | [
"Militants are now closer to where?",
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"Which it was was one of the tourist attractions of Pakistan?",
"The militants are closer than ever to where?",
"Taliban millitants take control of what district?",
"Militants in which valley took control of neighboring districts?",
"The valley was once known for what?",
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"What made it a top tourist attraction?",
"What was once Pakistan's top tourist attraction?",
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"What was once one of Pakistan's top tourist attractions?",
"Who took control of neighboring Buner district?"
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"militants,"
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] | Taliban militants in Pakistan's Swat Valley take control of neighboring Buner district .
Swat Valley was once one of Pakistan's top tourist attractions .
Militants are now closer to Islamabad than any point since start of insurgency . |
(CNN) -- Taliban official Hakeemullah Mehsud has been selected the new head of the Pakistani Taliban, a local Taliban commander in Pakistan's federally administered tribal areas told CNN Saturday. Baitullah Mehsud, right, former leader of the Pakistani Taliban, and a bodyguard in Pakistan, in 2004. Mehsud was selected Friday by a 42-member Taliban council, or shura, according to Taliban commander Qari Haris. Another Taliban official -- Maulvi Faqir Mohammad -- had been tapped as Mehsud's deputy, Haris said. Mohammad had named himself acting head of the Pakistani Taliban on Wednesday. A third official -- Hazem Tariq -- was named the group's new spokesman, Haris added. The announced selection underscored the contention by Pakistani and U.S. officials that the group's former leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in an August 5 drone attack in Waziristan. Both Mohammad and Haris claim Mehsud is alive but ill. Pakistani officials announced Tuesday that two top figures in the Pakistani Taliban had been arrested. Saif Ullah is believed to have been Baitullah Mehsud's right-hand man, and Maulvi Umar is the well-known spokesman for the militant group. Umar recently declared that Mehsud had not been killed in a drone strike on his father-in-law's house, but a senior Pakistani official said that Umar had admitted under questioning that Mehsud was dead. The top U.S. envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, told CNN that the Pakistani Taliban had not confirmed Mehsud's death because of an ongoing power struggle over his successor. Journalists Janullah Hamizshada and Nazar ur Islam contributed to this report. | [
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[
"council, or shura,"
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[
"Mehsud"
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] | Taliban official Hakeemullah Mehsud was selected Friday by 42-member panel .
Taliban officials say former leader Baitullah Mehsud is alive but ill .
Taliban official Maulvi Faqir Mohammad tapped as new leader's deputy . |
(CNN) -- Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres will join the judges' panel on "American Idol" for the show's ninth season beginning in 2010, a Fox spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday. Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres brings years of experience in front of a live audience to her role. "I'm thrilled to be the new judge on American Idol," DeGeneres said Wednesday. "I've watched since the beginning, and I've always been a huge fan. So getting this job is a dream come true, and think of all the money I'll save from not having to text in my vote." The popular comedian and entertainer will fill a seat left vacant by Paula Abdul, who announced she was leaving the show in August after eight seasons. Was DeGeneres the right replacement? DeGeneres will sit alongside Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi after auditions are completed for the popular talent show, which starts in January. Until then, guest judges including Mary J. Blige, Kristin Chenoweth, Joe Jonas and Neil Patrick Harris will fill the empty slot, Fox said. Watch Jackson discuss what DeGeneres brings to the show » "We are thrilled to have Ellen DeGeneres join the "American Idol" judges' table this season. She is truly one of America's funniest people and a fantastic performer who understands what it's like to stand up in front of audiences and entertain them every day," said Mike Darnell, president of Alternative Entertainment for Fox. "We feel that her vast entertainment experience, combined with her quick wit and passion for music, will add a fresh new energy to the show." DeGeneres brings years of experience in front of a live audience as the host of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," now in its seventh season, and the host of the 79th Annual Academy Awards. In her new role, the Emmy Award-winning talk show host faces the task of winning over Abdul's supporters, who lamented that her departure would irreparably alter the show. The singer-dancer turned "Idol" judge was known for her positive comments to the singers participating in the shows. She was also known for her on-camera run-ins with Cowell and other judges in the show. "With sadness in my heart, I've decided not to return to Idol. I'll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day 1 become an international phenomenon," a statement on Abdul's verified Twitter account said last month. | [
"Who will join the judges?",
"What does Degeneres say about casting her next vote?",
"What will the popular talk show host fill?",
"What will DeGeneres join?",
"Who's leaving the panel?",
"Who left the show?",
"What does DeGeneres say?",
"Who will be joining?"
] | [
[
"Ellen DeGeneres"
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[
"think of all the money I'll save from not having to text in my vote.\""
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[
"the judges' panel on \"American Idol\""
],
[
"judges' panel on \"American Idol\""
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[
"Paula Abdul,"
],
[
"Paula Abdul,"
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[
"\"I'm thrilled to be the new judge on American Idol,\""
],
[
"Ellen DeGeneres"
]
] | The popular talk show host will fill seat on judges' panel left empty by Paula Abdul .
DeGeneres will will join the judges' panel after the auditions, which begin in January .
"Think of all the money I'll save from not having to text in my vote," DeGeneres says . |
(CNN) -- Taping of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" reunion special, scheduled for last week, has been postponed as the cast deals with the death of Kandi Burruss' former fiancé, Ashley "A.J." Jewell, an NBC Universal spokeswoman told CNN Monday. The Atlanta "Housewives" have been touched by tragedy this season with a loved one's death. The show is now winding down its second season on the network, and the two-part episode was expected to air on October 29 and November 5. Cast member and purported "sixth housewife" Dwight Eubanks told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he was "shocked" when he heard of Jewell's passing but does expect the taping to resume eventually. "I don't see them editing [Jewell] out," he told the newspaper. "It's television. It's reality. We just have to prepare and gear up for next year." So far, Bravo hasn't erased Jewell's presence from the series. Although scenes with Jewell weren't a part of last Thursday's episode, "Housewives" viewers did watch as Kandi debated the future of her engagement to Jewell with castmate Kim. Blog: What happened on "Housewives" But commercials for this Thursday's episode showed clips from therapy sessions with Burruss, her mother and Jewell. Eubanks told the Journal-Constitution that he doesn't know if Burruss will continue with the "Housewives" or not. "She's had such a dramatic year," Eubanks said. "She had her uncle die, too. She has her own career to focus on. Now her life has changed with her daughter and taking temporary custody of [A.J.'s] twins." Jewell, who died at 34 after a fight outside of an Atlanta strip club on October 3, was buried on October 9. | [
"What did cast member A.J. Jewell's death cause?",
"Who is the former fiance of Kandi?",
"Who was the former fiance of Kandi Burruss?",
"What show was scheduled to tape its reunion special recently?",
"Whose death caused the postponement of taping?",
"When was the reunion scheduled for?",
"When was the \"Real Housewives of Atlanta\" scheduled to tape their reunion special?"
] | [
[
"of \"The Real Housewives of Atlanta\" reunion special,"
],
[
"Ashley \"A.J.\" Jewell,"
],
[
"Ashley \"A.J.\" Jewell,"
],
[
"\"The Real Housewives of Atlanta\""
],
[
"Kandi Burruss' former fiancé, Ashley \"A.J.\" Jewell,"
],
[
"last week,"
],
[
"last week,"
]
] | "Real Housewives of Atlanta" was scheduled to tape reunion special last week .
Taping has been postponed in aftermath of death of A.J. Jewell .
Jewell was former fiancé of "Housewives" cast member Kandi Burruss .
Jewell's presence still part of show, which was taped weeks ago . |
(CNN) -- Tar balls found on Florida Keys beaches Monday and Tuesday are not from a massive oil spill off the coast of Louisiana, the Coast Guard said Wednesday.
"A sampling of tar balls discovered on beaches at Fort Zachary State Park, Fla., Smathers Beach in Key West, Big Pine Key, Fla., and Loggerhead Key in the Dry Tortugas National Park, Fla., were flown by a Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jet based in Miami, Fla., to New London, Conn., Tuesday for testing and analysis," a Coast Guard statement said.
"The results of those tests conclusively show that the tar balls collected from Florida Keys beaches do not match the type of oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico," the statement said. "The source of the tar balls remains unknown at this time."
However, "the conclusion that these tar balls are not from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill incident in no way diminishes the need to continue to aggressively identify and clean up tar ball-contaminated areas in the Florida Keys," said Coast Guard Capt. Pat DeQuattro, commanding officer of Sector Key West.
DeQuattro authorized the use of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund on Tuesday to begin cleanups of any oil pollution on Florida Keys shores and established a unified command made up of members of the Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of the Interior, and state and local officials to manage the tar ball response, the Coast Guard said.
The tar balls nevertheless have raised fears that oil from the Gulf spill is headed to the coastlines of Florida and beyond.
Researchers and federal officials seem to agree that a plume of oil is being dragged into the Gulf of Mexico's Loop Current. The current flows through the Yucatan Channel between Cuba and Mexico, and then northward, where it loops just south of the Florida Keys and travels to the west side of the western Bahamas, according to meteorologists.
The European Space Agency issued a statement Wednesday saying satellite images show the oil is in the Loop Current.
"With these images from space, we have visible proof that at least oil from the surface of the water has reached the current," Bertrand Chapron of Ifremer, the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, said in the statement.
A new tracking forecast prepared by four experts relying on five computer models shows that part of the oil may reach the Keys in five to six days, and Miami, Florida, five days after that, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, said in a statement Tuesday.
"While I always hope for the best, this is looking like really out-of-control bad," Nelson said.
The forecast cited by Nelson assumes the Loop Current's persistence and does not take into account dispersion and evaporation from the oil spill, CNN meteorologist Sean Morris said. It remains to be seen how much oil has entered the current. In addition, he said, "the Loop Current is much warmer than surrounding water, which would cause oil to evaporate at a greater rate than it is evaporating near the source of the spill."
Also Tuesday, NOAA shut down fishing in a larger part of the Gulf over which the federal government has jurisdiction: a total of 45,728 square miles, which is 19 percent of the Gulf, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said.
An undersea oil well has been gushing an estimated 5,000 barrels of oil a day (210,000 gallons) into the Gulf since late April, when the drill rig Deepwater Horizon blew up and sank about 40 miles off Louisiana. Some estimates have put the amount of oil spewing from the well far higher.
Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after the explosion and sinking, and the cause has not been determined.
Samples taken by scientists offshore have raised concerns that large plumes of oil are settling below the surface. But federal officials said the results have not been fully analyzed.
Some of the oil has washed ashore on the Louisiana coast. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday that the slick was 50 miles off the Mississippi | [
"What does European Space Agency say?",
"What is the group made up of?",
"What was created to manage response to tar balls?"
] | [
[
"satellite images show the oil is in the Loop Current."
],
[
"members of the Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of the Interior, and state and local officials"
],
[
"a unified command made up of members of the Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of the Interior, and state and local officials"
]
] | Coast Guard tested tar balls from Keys, Dry Tortugas; source is unknown, it says .
Group made of federal, state, local officials created to manage response to tar balls .
European Space Agency says satellite images show oil now in Gulf of Mexico's Loop Current .
Researchers headed to the spot where oil meets Loop Current to collect samples today . |
(CNN) -- Tareq Salahi is "greatly hurt and disturbed" by wife's "adulterous affair" with a rock musician and he wants a divorce, according to court documents.
"Real Housewives of D.C." star Michaele Salahi left her husband last week to join Journey guitarist Neal Schon on tour, which Tareq Salahi said "caused me to suffer great harm, humiliation, and embarrassment."
She "was engaged in an adulterous relationship with one Neal Schon, her paramour," the divorce petition said. "I also understand that his rock band Journey paid for her travel, accommodations and other expenses."
The Salahis' split became public last Wednesday when Tareq Salahi told reporters that he thought his wife had been kidnapped when she disappeared on Tuesday.
She told a sheriff's deputy that she was "with a good friend and was where she wanted to be," Warren County, Virginia, Sheriff Danny McEathron said in a statement to CNN Wednesday afternoon.
The reality show personality traveled last Tuesday to Memphis, Tennessee, where Journey was performing, to be with Schon, a representative with Scoop Marketing confirmed to CNN Wednesday. Scoop Marketing represents Schon.
"She stated that she was not returning home and had thus abandoned the marriage and marital home," his divorce petition said.
But what really hurts about his wife's "adulterous friendship" is that she "has flaunted the same throughout the community, the nation and indeed the world, and thus caused me to suffer great harm, humiliation, and embarrassment," his court filing said.
An e-mail Salahi said was sent to him from Schon's e-mail address was included in the filing. It contained a photo of an unidentified penis, he said.
"At no time whatsoever have I condoned or acquiesced to the adulterous affair," Tareq Salahi said.
"There is no hope or possibility of reconciliation," he said.
The couple, married for nearly eight years, has no children.
They gained notoriety when they were photographed with President Barack Obama at a White House state dinner, to which they were not invited, in November 2009.
The "Real Housewives of D.C." TV series was canceled by Bravo earlier this year.
CNN's Rachel Wells contributed to this report. | [
"Who abandoned the marriage?",
"Which band is paying for her travel?",
"What did his wife's affair cause Salahi?"
] | [
[
"Michaele Salahi"
],
[
"Journey"
],
[
"to suffer great harm, humiliation, and embarrassment.\""
]
] | Michaele Salahi "abandoned the marriage," Tareq Salahi's divorce petition says .
His wife's affair causes him "great harm, humiliation, and embarrassment," Salahi says .
An e-mail from her paramour's email address includes a penis photo, the divorce filing says .
The band Journey is paying for Michaele Salahi's travel, her husband alleges . |
(CNN) -- Target Corp. this month will open 27 new stores employing a total of more than 4,300 people, the company said. One of Target's two new Hawaii stores awaits its Sunday grand opening. The stores' openings will come just weeks after the retailer cut 600 people from its headquarters staff amid what it called weaker-than-expected sales. The retailer will hold grand openings for the 21 general merchandise stores and six full-grocery SuperTarget stores on Sunday. The new sites include the company's first two stores in Hawaii. Each general merchandise store employs 150 to 250 people, and each SuperTarget has 200 to 300 workers, the company said. In late January, Minnesota-based Target cut its headquarters staff by 9 percent and eliminated 400 open positions. The company, citing difficult economic conditions and sales that didn't meet expectations, also said it would soon close an Arkansas distribution center that employs 500 people and would cut back on planned new-store openings. "We are clearly operating in an unprecedented economic environment that requires us to make some extremely difficult decisions to ensure Target remains competitive over the long term," Gregg Steinhafel, Target president and CEO, said in a news release that month. Retailers in the United States took a hit last year as a weak economy weighed on consumer spending. Retail sales fell six straight months until January, when sales rose 1 percent, according to the Commerce Department. However, retail experts said they were skeptical a rebound had taken hold. Still, two other retailers also announced plans to expand. Kohl's announced last month that it intends to open 55 stores in 2009, and Dollar General in February said it is looking to open more than 400 stores. Target reported its fourth-quarter net earnings were 40.7 percent lower than the same quarter a year earlier. Same-store sales in January were 3.3 percent lower than a year earlier. December same-store sales fell 4.1 percent. Target's new general merchandise stores are in Rogers, Arkansas; Santa Clarita, California; Pensacola, Florida; Bethlehem, Georgia; Honolulu and Kapolei, Hawaii; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Las Vegas, Nevada; Paramus, New Jersey; Cincinnati, Lebanon and Reynoldsburg, Ohio; Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; Philadelphia and Exton, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; Houston, San Antonio and San Marcos, Texas; Midlothian, Virginia; and Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. The new SuperTarget stores are in Kissimmee, Florida; Canton, Georgia; Hillside, Illinois; and Pflugerville, Allen and Lewisville, Texas. The new locations will increase the number of Target stores to 1,699, the company said. CNNMoney.com's Parija B. Kavilanz contributed to this report. | [
"who is cutting jobs",
"What company has announced headquarters job cuts?",
"Where will the new stores open?",
"who made this announcement",
"How many will be employed at the new locations?"
] | [
[
"Target"
],
[
"Target"
],
[
"Hawaii"
],
[
"Gregg Steinhafel,"
],
[
"more than 4,300 people,"
]
] | Retailer's new stores to open in 16 states .
New locations to employ more than 4,300 .
Target in January announced headquarters job cuts, reduction of expansion plans . |
(CNN) -- Tax day is an annual stress test for millions of Americans, but Wednesday's Internal Revenue Service filing deadline may be the toughest one yet for many who can't pay their mortgages or rent, let alone a big tax bill. Jonathan Hermosa wears a costume this week to beckon customers to a tax service office in New York. "Our message to taxpayers [is] that we're going the extra mile to help those of you in economic distress," IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman told the National Press Club in Washington on Monday. "We want to get you your refunds as quickly as possible. And if you think you can't pay, please come in and let's talk about it. There are steps we can take to help." iReport contributor Crystal Gress will need to follow some of those steps. The Coplay, Pennsylvania, bank call center employee said she doesn't know how she's going to pay the $1,200 she owes the IRS. It's the first time she's had a balance due on April 15. "I'm really scared because I've never had to do it before," said Gress, 23. "I'm used to getting a return, but this past year has been really rough." Watch who's more likely to get audited » Gress adjusted her withholding last year to increase her take-home pay to cover bills; she intended the change to be temporary, but car repairs and other expenses kept coming up, she said. She used an estimating tool on tax preparer H&R Block's Web site and got the bad news. "I was like, 'Oh, crap. I owe money.' And I don't know what to do now," she said. "... I waited until yesterday to do my taxes because I didn't want to submit them." People who know they're getting a refund tend to file as early as possible, while those with a balance due tend to file late in the season, IRS spokesman John Lipold said. Watch last-minute tips from CNN's Gerri Willis » "A lot of people who were getting refunds in the past are not getting them this year," said Brian Joubert, owner of L&B Tax Service with five locations in the Atlanta, Georgia, area and Houston, Texas. Because his clients usually pay their preparation fees out of their refunds, Joubert's company has had to make changes to accommodate them, including cutting fees in select cases, holding checks until payday or taking payments in installments. "We've had more people to pay with a credit card this year than I've ever seen," said Joubert, who has been in the tax preparation business for 12 years. "I feel like a department store in some sense." The IRS has a monthly payment plan, but it comes with an upfront fee, stiff penalties and interest, making it more costly than a commercial loan. But a loan isn't an option for Gress, whose credit rating is hurt by lingering debt from admittedly unwise earlier choices. After her monthly rent, utilities and car payment, "I barely have enough to buy ramen noodles," Gress said. iReport.com: Read more of Gress' story She tried to refinance her $5,000 used car but was turned down, and getting a loan from her family is not an option, she said. Her fiancé doesn't make much at the auto body shop where he works, and she can't work a second job because of long hours at the call center and recent hip surgery. "I've been looking at every option to pay my taxes," she said, acknowledging she'll probably have to go with the costly IRS installment plan. She won't be alone. Between 2 million and 3 million taxpayers a year follow that route, Lipold said. Watch what protesters are planning for tax day » Others in similar situations might consider filing for an extension, but they still have to pay extra on any balance not paid by midnight Wednesday. | [
"What makes it hard to pay?",
"What is making it hard to pay fees?",
"Who is paying fees?"
] | [
[
"economic distress,\""
],
[
"Service filing deadline"
],
[
"his clients"
]
] | NEW: More clients using credit cards to pay fees, tax preparer says .
Tough economic times make it hard for some to pay tax bills .
IRS offers installment payment plans, may be willing to negotiate .
Couple hopes to use refund to save house from foreclosure . |
(CNN) -- Tea Party activists and other conservatives are planning rallies next month in support of Arizona's tough new immigration law, which has come under attack from Democrats, Latino groups and some maverick Republicans.
But a growing chorus of conservative evangelical leaders has broken with their traditional political allies on the right. They're calling the Arizona law misguided and are attempting to use its passage to push for federal immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
The group, which includes influential political activists such as Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy wing, and Mathew Staver, dean of the Liberty University School of Law, will soon begin lobbying Republican leaders in Washington to support comprehensive immigration reform under President Obama.
But a big part of their job is to first persuade rank-and-file evangelicals to get on board.
"There's a misconception among people at the grass roots that the pathway to citizenship is amnesty, and it's not, but we have to overcome that," said Staver, who heads the law school at the university founded by Jerry Falwell. "There's a lot of work to be done."
Staver and Land have partnered with the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, an influential Hispanic evangelical figure, and Rick Tyler -- former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's longtime spokesman and head of Gingrich's new values-based organization -- to try to draft a consensus evangelical position on immigration reform.
"After securing our borders, we must allow the millions of undocumented and otherwise law-abiding persons living in our midst to come out of the shadows," reads a recent draft of the document, which is still being finalized. "The pathway for earned legal citizenship or temporary residency should involve a program of legalization for undocumented persons in the United States. ..."
Many conservatives say illegal immigrants should be forced to return to their home countries and start the process of legally coming to the U.S. from scratch.
Rodriguez, who heads the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference -- which represents about 16 million Latino evangelicals in the U.S. -- says he'll soon start presenting the document to Republican leaders like Gingrich, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio in hopes that they sign on.
"If the conservative evangelical community looks to the Republican Party and says, 'We demand integration reform, we demand a just assimilation strategy,' that may be the tipping point in getting substantial Republican support for comprehensive immigration reform," Rodriguez said.
The conservative evangelicals pushing comprehensive immigration reform say that undocumented workers should have to pay fines, clear background checks, learn English and take a civics class before being granted citizenship.
Many evangelicals say their push for immigration reform is biblically based, citing passages urging respect for civil laws and concern for migrants and the vulnerable.
"Discussion of immigration and government immigration policy must begin with the truth that every human being is made in the image of God," the National Association of Evangelicals said in a recent resolution backing comprehensive immigration reform. "... Jesus exemplifies respect toward others who are different in his treatment of the Samaritans."
But evangelical leaders are also working to convince Republicans that the party will lose Hispanic voters -- a fast-growing bloc -- if they take a strident line on immigration.
The Southern Baptist Convention's Land said that Hispanics, like non-Hispanic white evangelicals, generally take a conservative approach to social issues like abortion and gay marriage, but that they often vote for Democrats because of the immigration issue.
"Hispanics are hard-wired to be like us on sanctity of life, marriage and issues of faith," said Land, describing political similarities between Hispanics and white Southern Baptists. "I'm concerned about being perceived as being unwelcoming to them."
The last time Washington attempted immigration reform, under President George W. Bush in 2007, the project failed, largely because many conservatives and Republicans said the plan's inclusion of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. was tantamount to amnesty.
Most major evangelical groups sat out the 2007 fight over immigration reform, but | [
"What specific reforms do they want?",
"Who calls the new immigration law misguided?",
"What do the evangelical leaders call the law?",
"What do most of the evangelicals want?",
"Who are they trying to persuade to get on board?"
] | [
[
"federal immigration"
],
[
"conservative evangelical leaders"
],
[
"misguided"
],
[
"immigration reform"
],
[
"rank-and-file evangelicals"
]
] | Some conservative evangelical leaders call Arizona's new immigration law misguided .
They want federal reform that includes path to citizenship for illegal immigrants .
They're trying to persuade rank-and-file evangelicals to get on board .
Many evangelicals call push for reform biblically based; some want GOP to woo Hispanics . |
(CNN) -- Team Lotus reserve driver Karun Chandhok has told CNN it would be "magic" to be on the grid when Formula One makes its debut in his home country of India next month.
Chandhok, 27, joined the CNN-sponsored team at the start of the 2011 season, and is currently behind first-choice drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli in the pecking order.
But Lotus team principal Tony Fernandes raised hopes of the former HRT driver taking part in the inaugural Delhi race when he said he would like to see Chandhok take to the track on October 30.
"I'd like him to. It's up to the team to see [whether he will]," AirAsia chief Fernandes told Reuters.
Veteran Trulli signs new deal at Lotus
On the issue of which racer would make way for Chandhok, Fernandes, who recently purchased English soccer team Queens Park Rangers, suggested Trulli would be the one to face the axe.
"Yes, I think Heikki [Kovalainen] is our number one driver, although Jarno's outqualified him [at the Italian Grand Prix]."
In response to Fernandes' admission, Chandhok said: "It's obviously very nice to hear. He's the man who can make it happen. I've just got to wait and see what he decides.
"As a racing driver, the most emotional race is certainly your home grand prix. If I do get the opportunity to do it, it'll be fantastic, but as this moment it's a question only Tony can answer.
"To be an Indian driver on the grid for the first Indian Grand Prix would be magic. I've been very involved in the circuit; I've been visiting the site every month. To have the opportunity to drive would sort of complete that circle."
Chandhok was given a drive ahead of the veteran Italian Trulli, who extended his contract with Lotus last weekend, for the German Grand Prix in July, where he finished in last place.
While Chandhok admitted dropping a driver can create a difficult situation for the team, he insisted his relationship with Trulli has been unaffected.
"It's not ideal, there's no doubt about that ... I experienced it last year [at HRT], my drive was given to Sakon Yamamoto in the second half of the season. It's tough.
"When they put me in the car in Germany ... it's a very difficult situation. It can be awkward. But I have to say Jarno was fantastic. He offered his advice and support all through the weekend. I have to say hats off to him, he was a model professional."
On his own future, Chandhok, who made his Formula One debut at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, made no secret of his desire to earn a full-time seat with Lotus. But he said any decision on his future with the team would be made by Fernandes.
"I need to sit and figure things out with Tony and where we are and where we see the future. I'd like to stay with Tony, with Lotus, and in the future race for them full-time. That's my ambition.
"I'd love to race with these guys and Tony's got a fantastic vision of trying to build an Asian team and I'd love to be a part of that programme." | [
"What would be magic",
"Who is 27 years old?",
"What is the age of the driver?",
"what is the name of the race?",
"What is the name of the driver's team?",
"What did Karun say?",
"Who is racing in the Indian Grand Prix?"
] | [
[
"when Formula One makes its debut in his home country of India"
],
[
"Karun Chandhok"
],
[
"27,"
],
[
"Formula One"
],
[
"Lotus"
],
[
"it would be \"magic\" to be on the grid"
],
[
"Karun Chandhok"
]
] | Karun Chandhok has said it would be 'magic' to race in first Indian Grand Prix .
Chandhok is currently a reserve driver for CNN-sponsored Team Lotus .
The 27-year-old has made just one grand prix appearance so far this season . |
(CNN) -- Ted Haggard, the former megachurch pastor and former National Association of Evangelicals chief whose career was undone by a gay prostitution and drugs scandal in 2006, plans to start a new church.
Standing in front of his barn, Haggard and his family announced Wednesday that they are starting a church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, called Saint James.
The church, which will not be affiliated with any denomination, will have its first gathering Sunday at the Haggard home.
"All are welcome. Whether you're a Democrat, a Republican, gay, straight, bi-[sexual], tall, short, addict, recovering addict. ... I believe Jesus' arms are open to all," he said.
In 2006, Haggard acknowledged having received a massage from a Denver, Colorado, man who said that the prominent pastor had paid him for sex over three years.
Haggard also admitted he had bought methamphetamine but said he threw it away.
Those statements led the Board of Overseers at New Life Church to fire Haggard as senior pastor. The church's independent investigative board said he was guilty of "sexually immoral conduct."
After the allegations were made public, Haggard resigned as president of the influential National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group representing more than 45,000 churches with 30 million members.
As part of his severance package with New Life Church, Haggard was barred from speaking publicly for a year. After that time elapsed, he made various media appearances, including starring in a documentary on HBO about his life.
Sunday's service will mark his first return to the ministry in a full-time capacity.
"This is an emotional morning for me," he told reporters. Flanked by his wife Gayle and their children and grandchildren, he said the family members had prayed long and hard before deciding to start another church.
"While many believe I am not qualified, nor will I ever be because of what we've been through, I may be qualified to help other people in need," Haggard said. "I don't expect to have another megachurch. I'll be so pleased if a handful of people join with us. Something is better than nothing, and helping one is better than helping none."
In response to a question, Haggard said he had no plans to perform gay marriages at the new church; that the only marriages he will perform will be between a man and a woman.
"Those are the marriages we'll do in our church," he said. "As for society, that's a different story."
His wife said she backed the move. "I was not willing to let the scandal be the last chapter in our lives," Gayle Haggard told reporters.
In a statement, New Life Church said it "will always be grateful for the many years of dedicated leadership from Ted and Gayle Haggard and we wish their family only the best." | [
"what job did haggard have",
"When did Ted Haggard's career as pastor went south?",
"How many members are in New Life Church?",
"what happened in 2006"
] | [
[
"former megachurch pastor and former National Association of Evangelicals chief"
],
[
"2006,"
],
[
"30 million"
],
[
"gay prostitution and drugs scandal"
]
] | Ted Haggard's career as a pastor went south after a sex and drugs scandal in 2006 .
Haggard admitted to the sex allegations, but said he tossed the drugs .
He also stepped aside as pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church .
First service to be Sunday at his house; "I don't expect to have another megachurch," he says . |
(CNN) -- Ted Turner appeared Tuesday on CNN, the network he founded, to talk about last week's election results, his business ventures, and his relationship with ex-wife Jane Fonda.
CNN founder Ted Turner tells the network he's "encouraged" by the results of last week's election.
Turner is promoting a new autobiography, "Call Me Ted" (Warner Books), which documents his life, loves, successes and failures.
Probably best known for his 1980 launch of CNN, the first 24-hour all-news cable network, Turner has also made news as a philanthropist and supporter of the United Nations. He won the America's Cup of yachting in 1977, and owned the Atlanta Braves when they won the World Series in 1995.
Turner discussed the book on CNN's "American Morning." The following is an edited transcript.
CNN: Let me ask you first of all, before we get involved in the actual book and the story of your life: What do you make of the results of this presidential election?
Ted Turner: Well, I'm encouraged. I think we needed change that we can believe in. Watch Turner talk about his relationship with ex-wife Jane Fonda »
CNN: Is [President-elect Barack Obama] the guy to pull this economy?
Turner: Well, I don't know. I mean, our country in my lifetime has never been in this shape before. So we'll have to see. I think we are really heading into uncharted territory. But I think the main problem is, I hope he doesn't get blamed if things get tough -- because I think they are going to.
CNN: [Obama] seems to be talking about a lot more government involvement in the business community going forward, more government money for an auto industry bailout, another economic stimulus package. As a person who pulled [himself] up in the business community from his bootstraps, is that the way to do it, with more government involvement?
Turner: Well, I don't think so. It was a struggle financing CNN, but I did it without ever asking the government for a nickel. In fact, I gave the government $32 million when they were a little short and couldn't pay the dues to the U.N.
CNN: A lot of people in this economic community losing an awful lot of money, something you know something about.
Turner: I've lost a lot, too. We all have.
CNN: You lost $7 billion when the dot-com bubble burst after the Time Warner-AOL merger. How did you not see the dot-com bubble bursting? How did you not see that that was all built on air?
Turner: Maybe I did, but I was on a board of directors and a founder, and I was concerned about the AOL merger, but we didn't know that the books were cooked. We didn't do enough due diligence.
CNN: Was that the worst business decision of your life?
Turner: Oh yeah. Absolutely.
CNN: If you could go back and do it again, would you have just completely called the whole thing off?
Turner: Well, I couldn't have. At the time, there was so much momentum to do the deal, everybody was for it -- all of Wall Street and the management of both companies. And I wouldn't -- we could have stopped it if we had known of the accounting irregularities. But we didn't know. So there was no way to stop it.
CNN: At about the same time, you were hemorrhaging money at the rate of about $10 million a day over the course of more than two years, your marriage to Jane Fonda broke up. And many people close to you were concerned -- because your father, who passed off his billboard business to you, committed suicide -- that you may follow him down that road.
Turner: I wouldn't do that to my children and grandchildren.
CNN: But | [
"who expects tough economic times ahead?",
"what did they overlook?",
"who is encouraged by election of Barack Obama?",
"what is name of his ex wife?",
"what makes him encouraged?",
"Ted Turner says he's encouraged by the election of whom?"
] | [
[
"Turner:"
],
[
"the dot-com bubble burst"
],
[
"Ted Turner"
],
[
"Jane Fonda."
],
[
"results of last week's election."
],
[
"Barack Obama]"
]
] | Ted Turner says he's "encouraged" by election of Barack Obama as president .
The CNN founder expects tough economic times ahead .
Turner: Reconciliation with ex-wife Jane Fonda unlikely, "but you never know"
Time Warner didn't do enough "due diligence" before merging with AOL, Turner says . |
(CNN) -- Ted Turner appeared Tuesday on CNN, the network he founded, to talk about last week's election results, his business ventures, and his relationship with ex-wife Jane Fonda. CNN founder Ted Turner tells the network he's "encouraged" by the results of last week's election. Turner is promoting a new autobiography, "Call Me Ted" (Warner Books), which documents his life, loves, successes and failures. Probably best known for his 1980 launch of CNN, the first 24-hour all-news cable network, Turner has also made news as a philanthropist and supporter of the United Nations. He won the America's Cup of yachting in 1977, and owned the Atlanta Braves when they won the World Series in 1995. Turner discussed the book on CNN's "American Morning." The following is an edited transcript. CNN: Let me ask you first of all, before we get involved in the actual book and the story of your life: What do you make of the results of this presidential election? Ted Turner: Well, I'm encouraged. I think we needed change that we can believe in. Watch Turner talk about his relationship with ex-wife Jane Fonda » CNN: Is [President-elect Barack Obama] the guy to pull this economy? Turner: Well, I don't know. I mean, our country in my lifetime has never been in this shape before. So we'll have to see. I think we are really heading into uncharted territory. But I think the main problem is, I hope he doesn't get blamed if things get tough -- because I think they are going to. CNN: [Obama] seems to be talking about a lot more government involvement in the business community going forward, more government money for an auto industry bailout, another economic stimulus package. As a person who pulled [himself] up in the business community from his bootstraps, is that the way to do it, with more government involvement? Turner: Well, I don't think so. It was a struggle financing CNN, but I did it without ever asking the government for a nickel. In fact, I gave the government $32 million when they were a little short and couldn't pay the dues to the U.N. CNN: A lot of people in this economic community losing an awful lot of money, something you know something about. Turner: I've lost a lot, too. We all have. CNN: You lost $7 billion when the dot-com bubble burst after the Time Warner-AOL merger. How did you not see the dot-com bubble bursting? How did you not see that that was all built on air? Turner: Maybe I did, but I was on a board of directors and a founder, and I was concerned about the AOL merger, but we didn't know that the books were cooked. We didn't do enough due diligence. CNN: Was that the worst business decision of your life? Turner: Oh yeah. Absolutely. CNN: If you could go back and do it again, would you have just completely called the whole thing off? Turner: Well, I couldn't have. At the time, there was so much momentum to do the deal, everybody was for it -- all of Wall Street and the management of both companies. And I wouldn't -- we could have stopped it if we had known of the accounting irregularities. But we didn't know. So there was no way to stop it. CNN: At about the same time, you were hemorrhaging money at the rate of about $10 million a day over the course of more than two years, your marriage to Jane Fonda broke up. And many people close to you were concerned -- because your father, who passed off his billboard business to you, committed suicide -- that you may follow him down that road. Turner: I wouldn't do that to my children and grandchildren. CNN: But | [
"What did Ted Turner say?",
"Who is Turner's ex-wife?",
"What merged with AOL?"
] | [
[
"tells the network he's \"encouraged\" by the results of last week's election."
],
[
"Jane Fonda."
],
[
"Time Warner-AOL merger."
]
] | Ted Turner says he's "encouraged" by election of Barack Obama as president .
The CNN founder expects tough economic times ahead .
Turner: Reconciliation with ex-wife Jane Fonda unlikely, "but you never know"
Time Warner didn't do enough "due diligence" before merging with AOL, Turner says . |
(CNN) -- Television pioneer and longtime CBS executive Don Hewitt, the creator of "60 Minutes," has died, the network said Wednesday. He was 86. Don Hewitt joined CBS News in 1948. Hewitt, who had been battling pancreatic cancer, died at his home in Bridgehampton, New York, surrounded by his family, CBS said. The winner of eight Emmy and two Peabody awards, Hewitt began working for CBS News as an associate director in 1948. He was executive producer of "60 Minutes" when it premiered on CBS on September 24, 1968. Hewitt stepped down in June 2004, but the program remains on the air and is the number-one news program, according to CBS News' Web site. "In the history of journalism, there have been few who were as creative, dynamic and versatile as Don Hewitt," said CBS Corp. President Leslie Moonves. "The depth and breadth of his accomplishments are impossible to measure, because since the very beginnings of our business, he quite literally invented so many of the vehicles by which we now communicate the news." Watch how Hewitt innovated television news » "He was bursting with passion for what we do: telling stories," said Jon Klein, president of CNN, who previously worked at CBS and oversaw "60 Minutes." Klein recalled his first day on the job as a 37-year-old, when Hewitt took him to lunch and told him, "Listen, kid. It's very simple. I have 10 ideas a day. Nine of them are terrible. Your job is to tell me which one is great." "Don Hewitt didn't need a boss," Klein said. "What he needed was somebody to bounce ideas off of." "It is a sad and difficult time for all of us who work at '60 Minutes,' " Jeff Fager, the program's current executive producer, said in a CBS statement. "Don was a giant figure in our lives and will always have an impact on this broadcast -- there's a part of him in every one of us, and it affects every decision we make. He will be remembered as a brilliant editor and storyteller, an irrepressible force who changed journalism forever." Born in 1922 in New York, Hewitt started his career in newspapers. "His picture experience prompted a friend in 1948 to tell him about television, where CBS News had a job opening," according to a CBS statement. He told reporters years later his response was: "Whatavision?" He directed the first television network newscast on May 3, 1948, featuring Douglas Edwards, the network said. In 1960, he was named executive producer of "The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite," a position he held for five years. In 1963, the Cronkite broadcast became the first to go to a half-hour format. Hewitt's innovations included the use of cue cards for news readers -- an early version of the electronic teleprompter that is used today, CBS said. In addition, he was the first to use "supers" -- captions and other written information superimposed on the lower third of the television screen, Klein said. And he was the first to use the film "double" -- cutting back and forth between projectors, CBS said. Hewitt also produced and directed coverage for the three main television networks for the first-ever televised presidential debate in 1960 between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. "Critics have long maintained that Kennedy won the debate because he looked better," CBS said. Hewitt recalled that he offered makeup to Kennedy first, but he refused, and Nixon followed suit. "But the suntanned Kennedy was a vigorous contrast to Nixon, whose pasty complexion put his five o'clock shadow in high relief," CBS said. In hindsight, Hewitt recalled the incident as "the first step in the dangerous dance between politicians and the special interests that provide the big money to buy the now-crucial political television advertising," CBS said. Hewitt was removed from his post | [
"What kind of cancer did he have?",
"What age is Heweitt?",
"Who is the executive producer of 60 minutes?",
"What is the age of the news pioneer?",
"What is Hewitt battling?"
] | [
[
"pancreatic"
],
[
"86."
],
[
"Don Hewitt,"
],
[
"86."
],
[
"pancreatic cancer,"
]
] | Television news pioneer, 86, was battling pancreatic cancer .
Hewitt innovated cue cards and captions, created "60 Minutes" in 1968 .
"60 Minutes" executive producer: He was a "force who changed journalism forever"
Award-winning journalist inducted into Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1990 . |
(CNN) -- Ten climbers have died on two mountains in northern Japan, police said Friday. Hokkaido's mountains and scenery are a big drawcard for climbers and tourists. Eight of the climbers who died on Mount Tomuraushi were in a group organized by a tourist company, according to Yuji Kikuchi, a spokesman for Hokkaido police. A ninth man was climbing alone. One more climber died on Mount Biei, Kikuchi said. Another 10 people survived on both mountains in Hokkaido, according to Kikuchi. Except for a 32-year-old survivor, all the climbers were in their late 60s, the spokesman said. The cause of their deaths was not available. The area has experienced heavy rain and gusty winds in the past two weeks due to a persistent area of low pressure, CNN's meteorologist Jennifer Delgado said. The storm system has also brought flooding to North and South Korea, she added. CNN's Junko Ogura and Elizabeth Yuan contributed to this report. | [
"Were there any survivors?",
"How many climbers died?",
"Where did the climbers die?",
"What age is the survivor?",
"What mountain did they die on?"
] | [
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"10 people survived"
],
[
"Ten"
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[
"Mount Biei,"
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"32-year-old"
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] | 10 climbers have died on two mountains in northern Japan, police said Friday .
Eight climbers who died on Mount Tomuraushi were in tourist group .
Except for a 32-year-old survivor, all the climbers were in their late 60s . |
(CNN) -- Ten people were killed Tuesday when a gunman rampaged through a Finnish college, police officials said. Officials say Matti Juhani Saari began firing in a classroom at the college before shooting himself. Over the course of 90 minutes, Saari fired a few shots at police, Finnish broadcaster YLE said. Jukka Forsberg, a maintenance worker at the school, told YLE that the gunman was wearing a ski mask and walked into the building with a large bag. About 150 students were on campus Kauhajoki city's School of Hospitality in southwestern Finland. Forsberg said, "I heard several dozen rounds of shots. In other words, it was an automatic pistol. I saw some female students who were wailing and moaning, and one managed to escape out the back door." Smoke billowed from a building on campus, but officials could not immediately say what caused the fire. Watch pictures from the scene » Tapio Varmola, who was visiting the school at the time, told CNN he was in a building about two blocks away when the shootings occurred. After the shootings, he said, he heard students shouting. Police came about 10 minutes after they were called, Varmola said. "It took two hours to get this situation ended," he said. Saari, 22, died Tuesday afternoon from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at Tampere University Hospital, said medical director Matti Lehto. At least one other person suffered serious injuries in the shooting, he added. Police had interviewed and released Saari on Monday after he posted violent videos on YouTube, authorities said. As Saari did not directly threaten anyone in the videos, there were no grounds for further action, national police Commissioner Mikko Paatero told YLE. Authorities learned about the videos Friday but could not reach Saari until Monday, Paatero told YLE. Police also searched his home, YLE reported. Four videos of a man firing a pistol at a shooting range were posted by a "Mr. Saari" from Kauhajoki, where the college is based, according to his YouTube profile. The profile also included a video tribute to the Columbine High School shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, at the top of the man's favorites list. The videos were posted over a three-week period this month. None was posted in the last week. Watch more about the YouTube videos » The account was suspended within hours of the shooting, which began about 11 a.m. local time (0800 GMT). MTV-3's Foreign Editor Risto Puolimatka told CNN that Saari was also issued with a temporary gun license last month. It was the gunman's first license, Puolimatka said. Finnish President Tarja Halonen expressed her condolences from the United Nations, where she is attending the annual General Assembly. She also commented on the YouTube videos. "We, parents and elderly people, have a little bit of feeling about the Internet," she said at an impromptu TV interview. "It's like a strange planet for us. But it's not so. It's part of our world, so we have to step in." She praised efforts by police, who she said "were already on board" by interviewing Saari. Authorities hoped that was enough to take care of any threat, but "now we see that it was not," she said. The school taught late teens and young adults, Jarkko Sipila of MTV 3 told CNN. "It's more or less like an agricultural or professional school where people teach how to make food or how to cook in big kitchen, in industrial kitchens," he said. Kauhajoki, with a population of about 15,000, is about 290km (180 miles) from the capital, Helsinki. The incident comes almost a year after another school shooting left nine people, including the gunman, dead in the Finnish town of Tuusala. Before that shooting, the gunman, 18-year-old student Pekka-Eric Auvinen, posted a video on YouTube titled "Jokela High School Massacre 11/7/2007," identifying the date and location of | [
"How many people where killed?",
"How many did the gunman kill?",
"What is the number killed during gunman rampage?",
"Where were the videso posted at?",
"In which country did the shooting take place?",
"What did the police say about the shooter?",
"What country did the college shootings take place in?",
"On what website where the police looking at videos?",
"Who posted the Youtube videos?",
"Where did the gunman die?",
"How many were killed?",
"Where did the suspected gunman die?"
] | [
[
"Ten"
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"Ten"
],
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"Ten"
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[
"YouTube,"
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"Finland."
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"Matti Juhani Saari began firing in a classroom at the college before shooting himself."
],
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[
"YouTube,"
],
[
"Saari"
],
[
"Tampere University Hospital,"
],
[
"people"
],
[
"Tampere University Hospital,"
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] | Ten killed as gunman rampages through college in southwestern Finland .
Suspected gunman dies in hospital after turning the gun on himself, officials said .
Police say the shooter was a student, no motive established .
Police probing videos posted on YouTube by alleged gunman . |
(CNN) -- Ten years ago, Al Franken wrote a satirical book detailing his fictitious race for the White House. In "'Why Not Me?" Franken trounces former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to win the election, but after countless scandals, a mental breakdown and a cloning incident, President Franken is forced to resign. Comedian, author and radio host Al Franken can now add "senator" to his resume. Asked how he came up with the idea for the book, Franken said at the time that a number of people had been encouraging him to run for office. "They thought it would be a good idea because I obviously know a lot about politics; I'm comfortable on camera, as you can tell; I've been married once, have two children; very, very good looking. And I told them that I'd be a terrible office-holder, so that was sort of the genesis of this idea," he said. As far-fetched as the plot was, Franken's political aspirations weren't fantasy, and eight months after Election Day, the Democrat will be sworn in as an office-holder, representing Minnesota in the Senate. Soon after, the outspoken comedian and former radio host will take over the desk once occupied by election rival Norm Coleman. For months, Coleman appealed the election results, in which a recount gave Franken a 312-vote lead. But Coleman's case was put to rest last week when Minnesota's Supreme Court ruled in Franken's favor. Franken on the issues » When Franken is sworn in Tuesday, the title "senator" will become just the next line on a lengthy and varied résumé that reflects a man who has built up an illustrious yet controversial name for himself. Franken, born in New York in 1951, moved to Minnesota when he was 4 years old. He grew up in a middle-class family and did well in school. Franken attended Harvard University, where he majored in political science. After graduation, Franken teamed up with his home-state pal Tom Davis, and the two started writing for what became known as "Saturday Night Live." Franken was also a performer -- playing self-help guru Stuart Smalley and impersonating public figures like Henry Kissinger and the Rev. Pat Robertson -- and over the course of two decades, he took home five Emmys for his work on the show. Post-"SNL," Franken dabbled in film and had a successful career as an author, penning several best-sellers, including "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations." Watch CNN's Brianna Keiler report on Franken's plans » In 2004, Franken made a name for himself as someone well-versed in politics through "The Al Franken Show," carried by Air America Radio. During his final show on February 14, 2007, Franken announced his intentions to run for the Senate. But the man who once played Liam the Loose-Boweled Leprechaun wasn't the first unlikely politician to come from Minnesota. Voters there elected former wrestler Jesse Ventura as their governor in 1998. David Schultz, a professor of law at Hamline University in St. Paul, says Franken's win was probably not an affirmation of support for the Democratic candidate but was, for many, a "lesser of two evils vote." Third-party candidate Dean Barkley was chipping into Coleman's support, and "in addition, Coleman threw all his dirt against Franken early, and by the general election, it was old news." "Coleman had little new to campaign on during the general election, and Franken became a better candidate in terms of campaigning during the last two months," he said. In a video posted on his campaign Web site, explaining that he wanted to run, Franken said Minnesotans had "a right to be skeptical" about whether he was ready to take on such a challenge. Watch more on the Franken factor » Franken cited late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone as his political hero. Wellstone, who first won election to the Senate in 1990, died | [
"Who is Al Franken?",
"In what NBC show was Al Franken a fixture?",
"Who defeated Norm Coleman?"
] | [
[
"Comedian, author and radio host"
],
[
"\"Saturday Night Live.\""
],
[
"Al Franken"
]
] | Al Franken defeated Norm Coleman in one of the longest Senate races in history .
Franken was a fixture on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" for years .
He also is a best-selling author and former radio host .
Franken gives Senate Democrats their potentially filibuster-proof 60th vote . |
(CNN) -- Ten years ago, NBC, eager to come up with its own version of the unexpected CBS reality hit, the competition series "Survivor," adapted a Dutch series called "Now or Neverland" and proudly presented it -- with pro-wrestling-style fanfare -- as its newest series: "Fear Factor." Monday night, NBC revived "Fear Factor" in a version best described as "new and unimproved."
The show, which has contestants do disgusting things, is alarmingly gross, no question. But should we worry that its return marks a new and deeper descent into depravity for American TV-watchers? A jump-off into a new binge of revolting reality-show programming?
Never fear. There are other factors at play.
For one thing, the show's earlier version had raised the bar very high for disgusting. We've already gone there.
More important, it's NBC. Only at NBC, where audience levels are well below every broadcast network, save Univision and the CW, would it be considered progress to reach back to a decade-old TV series -- and a horrible one, at that. Then again, NBC is the network that in its most recent attempts to revive old TV series, looked over the entire history of broadcast television and opted to present new versions of ... "The Bionic Woman" and "Knight Rider."
"Fear Factor" is a known entity -- not a good one, but a known one -- and that makes it easier to promote than a series created from scratch. And "Fear Factor," like any reality competition show, is the type of program that can be plugged into any airtime hole, in any order, and it'll get more viewers than whatever it's replacing. For many, even seeing someone smothering on scorpions or immersed in blood (as in its premiere Monday night) beats watching "The Playboy Club."
It didn't have to be, of course. There were other new NBC shows from 2001 that could have been brought back instead. "The Weakest Link," a quiz show based on another series from abroad, premiered that year. So did "Kristin," a sitcom starring Kristin Chenoweth, which I'll bet not even she remembers clearly. And "Emeril"-- the sitcom, not the cooking show. So to be fair, NBC's current management doesn't exactly have a lock on developing bad TV.
But each of those bottom-of-the-barrel NBC shows from a decade ago -- and sadly, as a TV critic, I saw and recall them all -- was better than "Fear Factor." Then and now. I'd say that "Fear Factor," as a programming strategy for the fourth-ranked broadcast network, has an air of desperation. Except that the air is a lot more foul than that. It smells, in fact, a lot like cow's blood.
In Monday's two-hour 2011 revival premiere, returning host Joe Rogan (how proud he must be, to land that job twice) explained to the four pairs of contestants that one of their tasks was to climb inside a tank filled with "3,000 gallons of cow's blood," submerge themselves to locate cow's hearts lying on the bottom of the tank and place them in the mouth of their partners, whose job was to spit them into smaller containers next to the giant tank.
Cow's blood. Cow's hearts. Udderly revolting.
There were other tasks, too, such as chewing and eating live scorpions, which made some of the contestants gag. At home, I wasn't far behind.
The stunts on "Fear Factor," Rogan said helpfully at the start of each hour, were designed and supervised by trained professionals. "They should not be attempted," he added, "by anyone, anywhere, anytime." If you're watching "Fear Factor" to begin with, you just might need that warning. (And if you need it, you probably aren't bright enough to heed it | [
"What is the reason for relaunching a known entity?",
"What is easier to promote?",
"what makes it disgusting"
] | [
[
"makes it easier to promote than a series created from scratch."
],
[
"\"Fear Factor\""
],
[
"Cow's blood. Cow's hearts. Udderly revolting."
]
] | David Bianculli: NBC's "Fear Factor" redux is even more disgusting .
It's not a new wave of gross-out shows, Bianculli says; it's a desperate NBC .
Network is relaunching known entity because it's easier to promote, he says .
Bianculli's advice: "Fear Factor" shouldn't be viewed by anyone, anytime . |
(CNN) -- Ten-man Ghana overcame Brazil 4-3 on penalties in the Under-20 World Cup final in Cairo to become the first African side to win the tournament. Daniel Addo (left) is sent off but Ghana still became the first African side to win the U-20 World Cup. Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu scored the winning penalty after Brazil's Maicon had fired over the bar when a successful spot-kick would have handed Brazil the title for a record fifth time. In a match of few chances, Ghana, who are also African champions, defied the odds to take the trophy out of Europe and South America for the first time ever after Daniel Addo was sent off in the 37th minute for a late tackle on Alex Teixeira. Goalkeeper Daniel Aygei kept Ghana in the game earlier in extra-time with a point-blank save from Maicon, who had been teed-up 10 yards out by Alex Teixeira's cut-back. Douglas Costa twice went close in the additional 30 minutes, while Aygei was also called into action to save from Wellington Junior. Meanwhile, penalties were also needed to separate Hungary and Costa Rica in the third place playoff earlier in the day, but it was the European nation who eventually triumphed after the match ended 1-1 in 90 minutes. Despite being outplayed for the majority of the game, Costa Rica went ahead with nine minutes remaining when Marcos Urena was allowed to run at the Hungarian defence before cutting inside and firing a right-footed shot which left goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi with no chance. However, with the match entering injury time, Hungary were awarded a penalty when Jose Mena fouled Krisztian Nemeth in the box. Vladimir Koman made no mistake from the spot to take the match into a shoot-out. Liverpool's Gulacsi was the hero of the hour -- keeping out efforts from Cristian Gamboa, Esteban Luna and Adam Simon while Nemeth and Roland Varga both scored to hand Hungary a 2-0 victory on penalties. | [
"What country took third place?",
"What was the African country in history to win the U-20 world cup?",
"Who did Ghana beat 4-3?",
"What place did Hungary take?",
"What was winning score?",
"Who took third place after defeating Costa Rica?",
"Ghana beat Brazil in what?",
"Who became the first African country to win the U-20 World Cup?",
"What country beat Brazil in the World Cup?"
] | [
[
"Hungary"
],
[
"Ghana"
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[
"Brazil"
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[
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[
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],
[
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[
"Under-20 World Cup final"
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[
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[
"Ghana"
]
] | Ghana become the first African country in history to win the U-20 World Cup .
They beat Brazil 4-3 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out after the match ends 0-0 .
Hungary take third place after defeating Costa Rica also in a penalty shoot-out . |
(CNN) -- Tens of thousands of Congolese refugees fled camps Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo as rebel troops attacked government forces in the area, the U.N. refugee agency said.
Refugees move along a road Tuesday in Mugunga, near Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A press release from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said it didn't appear rebels had targeted the camps, but it reported some were looted after camp residents, classified as internally displaced persons, fled.
Roads to Goma, about 10 miles from the camps, were crowded with refugees and local residents fleeing the fighting, the UNHCR reported. Torrential rain made the movement even more difficult.
"The main road toward Sake was crowded with people; we had difficulties getting through," UNHCR field safety adviser Pierre Nazroo was quoted as saying in the agency's release. "Internally displaced people are moving from site to site, direction Goma."
UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said, "They have been living in extremely difficult conditions anyway. Now they have nothing but what they can carry."
Redmond added, "These are people in poor health; they are soaking wet because of the torrential downpours. They need shelter, they need water, they need a lot of assistance so we're going to have to move quickly to get that help to them because a lot of them are already in a weakened state."
While the Congolese government accused troops under rebel general Laurent Nkunda of staging the attack, a Nkunda spokesman denied the allegation, according to a report from the Integrated Regional Information Networks, a U.N.-affiliated news service.
The spokesman, Bwambale Kakolele, said Rwandan Hutu rebels who also operate in the area were behind the attack, that report said.
A spokesman for the U.N. military mission in the Congo said it was uncertain which group attacked the Congo army outpost near the village of Kishangazi, according to the U.N.-affiliated news service.
"We think it could have been insurgents close to Nkunda who attacked, but we cannot rule out the [Rwandan rebels]," spokesman Col. Pierre Cherayron was quoted as saying.
The UNHCR identified the affected camps as Mugunga I, Mugunga II, Lac Vert and Bulengo, saying about 28,000 had abandoned the first three camps and about 2,000 had left Bulengo.
The UNHCR said 375,000 Congolese in North Kivu province have been forced from their homes in the past year. In the past two months alone, 160,000 have fled their homes amid the fighting between renegade troops and government forces, the agency said.
North Kivu is in eastern Congo near the borders of Rwanda and Uganda.
Congolese President Joseph Kabila has tried to gain a cease-fire with the rebels in the area under Nkunda, but fighting continues as hard-liners among the rebels and in the government have blocked reconciliation efforts, according to the International Crisis Group, an nongovernmental organization looking for solutions to conflicts. E-mail to a friend | [
"who have congo rebels blamed?",
"who is responsible for attack?",
"what has made refugee movement difficult?",
"Who is attacking government troops?",
"What about rain makes refugee movement difficult?",
"What makes the refugee movement difficutl?",
"congo rebels blame rwandan?",
"Who are the rebels attacking?",
"Where are they fleeing?",
"Who do the Congo rebels blame for the attack?",
"What is the number of refugees?",
"What about the rain makes refugee movement difficult?",
"What is the problem with torrential rain?",
"What is the number of refugees forced from their homes in the past year?",
"what has made refugee movement difficult?",
"who did congo rebels blame for the attack?",
"What makes the refugee movement difficult?",
"Where are the refugees from?",
"Who has been blamed for the attack?"
] | [
[
"Rwandan Hutu"
],
[
"rebel troops"
],
[
"Torrential rain"
],
[
"rebel"
],
[
"Torrential"
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[
"Torrential rain"
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[
"Hutu"
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[
"government forces"
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[
"Democratic Republic of Congo"
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[
"Rwandan Hutu"
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[
"375,000"
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[
"\"These are people in poor health; they are soaking wet because of the torrential downpours."
],
[
"made the movement even more difficult."
],
[
"375,000"
],
[
"Torrential rain"
],
[
"general Laurent Nkunda"
],
[
"Torrential rain"
],
[
"Democratic Republic of Congo"
],
[
"troops under rebel general Laurent Nkunda"
]
] | NEW: Congo rebels blame Rwandan Hutus for attack, report says .
Internally displaced Congolese flee as rebels attack government troops .
Torrential rain makes refugee movement difficult .
U.N. refugee agency: Some 375,000 have been forced from homes in past year . |
(CNN) -- Tens of thousands of people packed a soccer stadium in Cameroon Thursday, including President Paul Biya and his wife, for the first large-scale mass of Pope Benedict XVI's first visit to Africa. Tens of thousands of people gathered at a football stadium in Cameroon to see the pope. Africa is the last continent that Benedict had left to visit, and one he could not avoid, said David Gibson, a biographer of the pope. "He knows he has to do this. He knows Africa is the future of the (Roman Catholic) Church, as it is for all of Christianity," said Gibson. Christianity, like Islam, is on the rise in Africa and Latin America, even as the northern hemisphere tends to become more secular." One in five of the world's Christians lives in Africa -- up from less than one in fifty in 1900, said Brian Grim, an editor of the World Religion Database. So Benedict is making the visit although travel "is not his cup of tea," Gibson said. "John Paul II loved the travel and loved the different cultures. Benedict is a European through and through." Watch the pope at the soccer stadium » But Benedict understands that travel has become an essential part of a pope's duties, said Gibson, the author of "The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World." Benedict drew cheers at the mass at the 40,000-seat Amadou Ahidjo Stadium when he told worshippers that God had not forgotten orphans, poor and abused children, and those "forced to join paramilitary forces," Cameroon TV reported. He did not mention condoms, a subject which sparked controversy when he reiterated the Vatican's opposition to artificial birth control Monday while flying to Cameroon. Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit harder by AIDS and HIV than any other region of the world, according to the United Nations and World Health Organization. There has been fierce debate between those who advocate the use of condoms to help stop the spread of the epidemic and those who oppose it. The pope's mention of birth control may have been an effort to draw attention to the trip, which "is not getting much of a bounce in the Western media," Gibson speculated. "They are savvy enough to know that if the pope mentions condoms, it is going to be a headline," he said of the pontiff's advisers. The issue did not come up by chance, he pointed out. "These were pre-selected questions for which they had prepared answers," he said. The pope also Thursday met local Muslim leaders in Cameroon, a west African country which is just over one-quarter Roman Catholic and just under one-quarter Muslim. Both religions are expanding rapidly in Africa, said Grim, a senior research fellow in religion and world affairs at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Less than one in ten people in sub-Saharan Africa was Christian in 1900. Today nearly six in ten are, he said. The region was about 14 percent Muslim at the beginning of the 20th century, he said, and about 30 percent Muslim now. Benedict outraged Muslim leaders around the world in 2006 by quoting the 15th-century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus when he said, "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." He repeatedly apologized for the citation, which he said did not reflect his own views. "It was a painful lesson but clearly the pope learned something from that," Gibson said. The pope's meeting Muslim leaders in person can help relations between the Church and Islam, the analyst added. Face-to-face encounters make "the pope a human figure. That's what these trips are really about -- to see that the pope is not the boogeyman, he is someone who is kind and wise and wants to discuss issues. | [
"What kind of stadium di the Pope speak in in Cameroon?",
"What did the pope spark controversy over earlier in the week?",
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"Where was the soccer stadium?",
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"What did he not mention?",
"What did the Pope avoid mentioning, that previously sparked controversy?",
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"did he mention condoms",
"Who told the audience that God has not forgotten orphans, poor, and abused?",
"what did the pope say"
] | [
[
"soccer"
],
[
"condoms,"
],
[
"at a football stadium in Cameroon"
],
[
"Cameroon"
],
[
"soccer stadium in Cameroon"
],
[
"Cameroon"
],
[
"Amadou Ahidjo Stadium"
],
[
"orphans, poor and abused children,"
],
[
"orphans, poor and abused children, and those \"forced to join paramilitary forces,\""
],
[
"condoms,"
],
[
"condoms,"
],
[
"Pope Benedict XVI's"
],
[
"He did not mention condoms,"
],
[
"Pope Benedict XVI"
],
[
"birth control"
]
] | Tens of thousands of people pack soccer stadium in Cameroon for pope's mass .
Pope tells followers that God has not forgotten orphans, poor and abused .
He did not mention condoms after sparking controversy earlier in the week . |
(CNN) -- Tensions between Israel and Turkey spilled into a second day Tuesday when Turkish officials summoned the Israeli ambassador to a meeting, Turkey's Anatolia news agency reported.
Israel criticized Turkey Monday for a Turkish television series that it said depicted Israeli intelligence agents as baby-snatchers.
When asked about Tuesday's meeting between Israeli Ambassador Gabby Levy and Turkish officials, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was pre-planned.
That session came one day after Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned the Turkish ambassador to complain about the television show that Israel found offensive, a spokesman for Ayalon said.
Afterward, Ayalon tweeted that he had "Told Turk Amb that this is an intolerable situation which endangers the Jewish community, the Israel envoys and tourists coming to Turkey."
Several senior Israeli Foreign Ministry sources, who didn't want to be named because it would jeopardize their jobs, criticized Ayalon's treatment of Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol at the start of their meeting Monday. At the session, Celikkol was seated below Ayalon.
With cameras rolling, Ayalon turned to the television crews and said, "The main thing is that you see that he is seated low and that we are high ... that there is one flag on the table (the Israeli flag) and that we are not smiling."
The sources told CNN they were "surprised by Ayalon's undiplomatic behavior."
Ceylon Ozen, spokeswoman for the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv, told CNN that Celikkol felt his treatment was "unacceptable, shocking and primitive," and did not comply with standards for diplomacy. He has contacted the Israeli ambassador to Turkey and requested a formal apology from the Israelis, she said.
There had been media speculation that Ayalon's summons was designed to sabotage a trip to Ankara Sunday by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. A spokesman for Ayalon said that was "completely wide of the mark."
Barak's office said he had no plans to cancel his trip.
Israeli politicians and media outlets roundly condemned an episode of the popular Turkish soap opera, "Valley of the Wolves: Ambush," that depicted the Israeli intelligence service Mossad spying inside Turkey and kidnapping Turkish babies. The program also showed Mossad attacking the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv and taking the ambassador and his family hostage.
In a written statement, "Valley of the Wolves: Ambush" producer Pana Film said the show "will continue to tell the truth and expose the wrongs."
Israel summoned the Turkish ambassador the same day that Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lambasted Israel for air strikes Sunday on Gaza, the Turkish state-run Anatolian News Agency reported.
"Why is it doing this? Because it says 'I possess the power in this region,'" the news agency quoted Erdogan as saying of Israel. "It possesses unproportionate power and it is using this. It is not acting in accordance with U.N. resolutions, it is uncomfortable. It says 'I will do whatever I please.'"
During a joint news conference, held with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Erdogan called for the international community "to warn Israel about its nuclear arsenal just like it did with Iran," ANA reported. Israel is widely believed to have a nuclear arsenal, but has never acknowledged that publicly.
In a written statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned the criticism.
"Erdogan's remarks join the anti-Israel program broadcast on Turkish television and the harsh statements against Israel that have been said consistently and systematically for over a year," the statement said.
"The state of Israel reserves the full right to protect its citizens from missile attacks and from the terror of the Hamas and Hezbollah. Turkey is the last that can preach morality to Israel and the IDF (Israel Defense Forces)."
"Valley of the Wolves: Ambush" is part of a popular franchise in Turkey. The series "Valley of the Wolves" first aired in 2003 on Turkish television, followed by a 2006 movie of the same name that stirred controversy with its portrayal of American soldiers in Iraq and what some described as thinly- | [
"What did the show portray?",
"episode of what?",
"The show portrayed what?",
"what says producer?",
"Israel summons who?",
"What is Israel complaining about?",
"What does producer say?"
] | [
[
"depicted Israeli intelligence agents as baby-snatchers."
],
[
"popular Turkish soap opera, \"Valley of the Wolves: Ambush,\""
],
[
"the Israeli intelligence service Mossad spying inside Turkey and kidnapping Turkish babies. The program also showed Mossad attacking the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv and taking the ambassador and his family hostage."
],
[
"\"will continue to tell the truth and expose the wrongs.\""
],
[
"the Turkish ambassador"
],
[
"a Turkish television series that it said depicted Israeli intelligence agents as baby-snatchers."
],
[
"the show \"will continue to tell the truth and expose the wrongs.\""
]
] | Israel summons Turkey's diplomatic envoy to complain about Turkish TV show .
Episode of "Valley of the Wolves: Ambush" spurred Israeli diplomatic complaint .
Show portrayed Israeli intelligence agents as being inside Turkey, kidnapping babies .
Producer says show "will continue to tell the truth and expose the wrongs" |
(CNN) -- Tensions mounted in Paris, Texas, on Tuesday when about 100 mostly black protesters clashed with white supremacist groups in a verbal confrontation over a black man's death. White supremacists taunt black protesters who marched Tuesday in Paris, Texas. The confrontation stems from the 2008 death of 24-year-old African-American Brandon McClelland. After his body was found mangled on the side of a rural road, investigators concluded he was run over, dragged, and killed. Two white men were initially charged with murder, but the charges were dismissed last month because of a lack of evidence. Black protesters marched through the town Tuesday, hoisting a flag of red, green and black, the colors associated with African liberation movements. They chanted, "No justice, no peace." White demonstrators waved a flag emblazoned with a Nazi swastika and taunted the black marchers, shouting through a megaphone: "White power, white power." Watch the confrontation » Paris, in northeast Texas, has 25,000 people, 70 percent white and 20 percent black. No violence or injuries were reported but two white men were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for trying to incite the protesters, Lt. Danny Huff of the Paris Police Department said. McClelland's mother, Jacqueline McClelland, told CNN the demonstration was not about race but was aimed at achieving justice for her only child. "We come seeking justice, not only for myself, but [for] other people who have been done wrong," she said. "I want for everyone to get equal justice. "I don't know the whole story," she said. "I can't be at peace until I know what happened to my child." CNN's Carolina Sanchez contributed to this report. | [
"Who waved a flag with a Nazi swastika?",
"Where did the march take place?",
"What will the white men be charged with?",
"Where was the body of Brandon McClelland found?",
"Where did people march in protest?",
"What happened to Brandon McClelland?",
"Who is Brandon?",
"What were supremacists waving?"
] | [
[
"White demonstrators"
],
[
"Paris, Texas."
],
[
"disorderly conduct"
],
[
"on the side of a rural road,"
],
[
"in Paris, Texas."
],
[
"he was run over, dragged, and killed."
],
[
"24-year-old African-American"
],
[
"a flag emblazoned with a Nazi swastika"
]
] | People in Paris, Texas, march to protest dismissal of charges in black man's death .
Supremacists wave a flag with a Nazi swastika, shouting "White power"
Two white men charged with disorderly conduct after taunting marchers, police say .
Battered body of Brandon McClelland, 24, was found next to rural road . |
(CNN) -- Terrell Owens, a former San Francisco 49er and a former Philadelphia Eagle, is now a former Dallas Cowboy. The Cowboys released Owens late Wednesday, according to published reports. The Dallas Cowboys have decided to part ways with wide receiver Terrell Owens, according to published reports. Questions surrounding the future of the controversial wide receiver have swirled since the Cowboys' season ended with a 44-6 loss at Philadelphia that kept Dallas out of the playoffs. Owner Jerry Jones had said in recent weeks that he had not decided whether to keep or release Owens. In early February, Jones struck down an ESPN report that Jones' son, Stephen, who is the team's vice president, was lobbying his father to cut the wide receiver. Owens signed a three-year, $25 million contract with Dallas in March 2006. He signed a new four-year, $34 million deal that included a $12 million signing bonus, in June 2008. Owens finished the 2008 season 69 receptions for 1,052 yards and 10 touchdowns. In Owens' three seasons with the team, the Cowboys went 31-17, but 0-2 in the playoffs. While Owens has produced solid numbers on the field, his career has been plagued with controversy. After Owens left the San Francisco 49ers in 2003, he insinuated in an interview with Playboy magazine that his then-quarterback, Jeff Garcia, was homosexual. As a Philadelphia Eagle, Owens made headlines for coming back to play in Super Bowl XXX after suffering a severely sprained ankle and a fractured fibula weeks earlier. The following season, he voiced his displeasure with QB Donovan McNabb and Eagles management, which led to a four-game suspension without pay and his eventual deactivitation from the team. In September 2006, police responded to Owens' home after his publicist found the wide receiver unresponsive with an empty bottle of painkillers. Owens refuted reports that it was a suicide attempt and claimed a combination of painkillers and supplements made him groggy. This past season, Owens was reportedly jealous of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo's relationship with tight end Jason Witten. According to published reports, Owens believed Romo and Witten held private meetings and created plays without including him. Published reports also said Owens had issues with Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett's play-calling. -- CNN.com's Kamal Wallace contributed to this report. | [
"How much is the 4 year deal Terrell Owens signed worth?",
"Who have the Dallas Cowboys released?",
"Which wide receiver did Dallas Cowboys release?",
"Whos career has been plagued by controversy ?",
"How long is the new deal?",
"Who signed new four-year, $34 million deal in June 2008 ?",
"With what has Owen's career been plagued by?",
"Has Terrell Owens career been surrounded by controversy?",
"When did Owens signed new four-year, $34 million deal ?"
] | [
[
"$34 million"
],
[
"Terrell Owens,"
],
[
"Owens."
],
[
"Owens,"
],
[
"four-year,"
],
[
"Owens,"
],
[
"controversy."
],
[
"the controversial wide receiver"
],
[
"in March 2006."
]
] | Sources: Dallas Cowboys release wide receiver Terrell Owens .
Owens signed new four-year, $34 million deal in June 2008 .
Owens' career has been plagued by controversy . |
(CNN) -- Terry Thompson, the Ohio man who authorities say set his exotic animals free just before killing himself, once supplied a lion cub for a photo shoot with supermodel Heidi Klum.
"I wrote a letter to Heidi Klum's people," said Larry Hostetler, the executive director of the Animal Shelter Society of Muskingum County. "I strongly voiced my opinion that if they're going to hire animals for entertainment, they might want to check handlers' backgrounds -- that Terry Thompson had been convicted of animal cruelty.
"Of course, I never heard anything back."
Thompson and his wild animal farm had long been on authorities' radar. Thompson had been kicked out of the local pet fair for bringing exotic animals that snarled at children. He had been convicted in November 2005 of animal cruelty, allowing an animal to roam freely and rendering animal waste without a license.
He had even threatened to let all his animals go when investigators visited after repeated calls of animal abuse or neglect.
But while investigators kept a close eye on him, Thompson professed his love for his animals to most anyone. He would often be seen driving down the road with a wild animal.
"My cats are happier than most people," Thompson once told the Zanesville Times-Recorder. "I feed them every day, and they have a great place to live. How many people can say they have all they can eat and don't have to worry about a place to live?"
In a 2008 video in New York, Thompson is seen smiling, holding a cub and handing it over to model Klum. "We heard about Terry Thompson from all of his work in movies and commercials and felt he had a great track record. The day of our shoot, he was very kind, loving and protective towards his animals," said Christoph Körfer, the head of the German TV-station ProSieben in charge of the shoot. "This is definitely a tragic situation."
Yet on Tuesday, a strained marriage collided with the stress and the expense of caring for so many animals, people close to the investigation told CNN.
"He was so depressed he said, 'That's it. I'm going to let them go,' " said Columbus Zoo director emeritus Jack Hanna, who helped authorities in the search for the wild animals.
The 62-year-old Thompson had been released from prison in recent weeks after serving a year behind bars on an illegal firearms conviction.
Authorities say Thompson unlocked his animal cages, opened the farm's gates and shot himself to death.
Thompson freed dozens of exotic animals -- from Bengal tigers to grizzly bears to baboons -- setting off a frightening scenario outside Zanesville, a town of 25,000 in central Ohio. Authorities killed at least 49 animals, including 18 rare tigers.
"What happened here was one of the largest animal escapes in our country's history," said Hanna.
Sheriff Matt Lutz defended his officers, saying they had no choice but to kill the roaming animals. "I had deputies that had to shoot animals with sidearms at close range. That's how volatile this situation was."
Thompson was known as a flamboyant, volatile man. The sheriff's department had been to the property on dozens of occasions over the last decade to check into reports of animal cruelty or animals on the loose.
Thompson would stare down those who entered his property with his steely blue eyes. He'd cuss and scream.
"I'll be damned," Thompson would shout, according to county Humane Officer David Durst. "I'll let them animals go!"
"He was definitely a different breed," said Durst, who investigates every case of animal cruelty in the county.
"We were just afraid that this was going to happen. It wasn't a matter of if it was going to happen, it was a matter of when."
Durst said Thompson would often buy his exotic animals from people in other states and offer to host them on his property for vacation. "They'd visit and see | [
"What has Terry Thompson been convicted for?",
"Terry Thompson was convicted of what crime?",
"What happened when investigators visited his property?",
"When was Terry Thompson convicted?"
] | [
[
"animal cruelty."
],
[
"animal cruelty."
],
[
"He'd cuss and scream."
],
[
"November 2005"
]
] | Terry Thompson had been convicted of animal cruelty charges in 2005 .
He'd told authorities he would set his animals free if he could no longer care for them .
When investigators visited his property, he would cuss and stare them down .
He got kicked out of annual fair because his animals snarled at children . |
(CNN) -- Tests detected low levels of radioactivity on 17 U.S. Navy helicopter crew members when they returned to the USS Ronald Reagan after conducting disaster relief missions in Japan, the military said Monday.
No further contamination was detected after the crew members washed with soap and water, the Navy said.
In addition, the Navy said the U.S. 7th Fleet has temporarily repositioned its ships and planes away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after detecting low-level contamination in the air and on its planes in the area, the Navy said.
One ship was operating about 100 miles northeast of the power plant when "airborne radioactivity" was detected, the Navy said.
The Navy's statement, however, provided some perspective, noting that the maximum potential radiation dose received by personnel when the ship passed through the area was "less than the radiation exposure received from about one month of exposure to natural background radiation from sources such as rocks, soil, and the sun."
On Sunday, the USS Ronald Reagan started delivering aid in the coastal regions of Japan's Miyagi prefecture.
Crew members, in conjunction with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Forces, conducted 20 sorties delivering aid pallets.
Eight U.S. and Japanese helicopters were used to distribute the pallets, according to Sgt. Maj. Stephen Valley of U.S. Forces Japan.
Workers are scrambling to cool down fuel rods and prevent a full meltdown in three reactors at the earthquake-hit plant. Radioactive steam has been released, intentionally to lessen growing pressure in the reactors. | [
"What is it moves away from the Fukushima Daiichi plant?",
"What fleet moves ships and planes away",
"How many miles away was it plant?",
"What people recieved exposure to the radiation",
"The U.S. 7th Fleet moves ships and planes away from what?",
"\"airborne radioactivity\" was detected how many miles away from the plant?",
"Washing with what removed the radioactivity?",
"What did the navy say the soap and water would do"
] | [
[
"ships and planes"
],
[
"U.S. 7th"
],
[
"100"
],
[
"17 U.S. Navy helicopter crew members"
],
[
"Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant"
],
[
"100"
],
[
"soap and water,"
],
[
"No further contamination was detected after the crew members washed with"
]
] | The Navy says washing with soap and water removed the radioactivity .
The U.S. 7th Fleet moves ships and planes away from the Fukushima Daiichi plant .
The Navy says "airborne radioactivity" was detected 100 miles away from the plant .
The most exposure anyone onboard received is less than a month's normal radiation dose . |
(CNN) -- Texas Rep. Randy Neugebauer says he was the Republican House member who called out "baby killer" during the chamber's debate Sunday night on the health care reform bill.
Neugebauer issued a statement Monday apologizing for the outburst. His statement said he called out, "It's a baby killer," in reference to the last-minute deal between Michigan Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak and the White House that secured the support of Stupak and other anti-abortion Democrats for the health care bill.
"Last night was the climax of weeks and months of debate on a health care bill that my constituents fear and do not support," Neugebauer's statement said.
"In the heat and emotion of the debate, I exclaimed the phrase 'it's a baby killer' in reference to the agreement reached by the Democratic leadership."
The interruption occurred as Stupak was delivering an emotional speech defending the deal with the White House that called for President Obama to issue an executive order guaranteeing that the bill would not change existing limits on federal funding for abortion.
The phrase yelled by Neugebauer was initially believed to have been directed at Stupak personally.
"While I remain heartbroken over the passage of this bill and the tragic consequences it will have for the unborn, I deeply regret that my actions were mistakenly interpreted as a direct reference to Congressman Stupak himself," Neugebauer's statement said.
"I have apologized to Mr. Stupak and also apologize to my colleagues for the manner in which I expressed my disappointment about the bill," the statement concluded.
"The House Chamber is a place of decorum and respect. The timing and tone of my comment last night was inappropriate."
The incident evoked memories of Rep. Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, who yelled "you lie" during Obama's health care speech to a joint session of Congress in September.
Wilson also apologized, and the House formally reprimanded him for the outburst.
CNN's Brianna Keilar contributed to this report. | [
"When did Stupak and other anti-abortion Democrats strike a deal with the president?",
"Who was speaking against a Republican motion?",
"Who said \"my actions were mistakenly interpreted\"?",
"When did Stupak strike a deal with the president?",
"What party is Neugebauer associated with?",
"Who says his actions were mistakenly interpreted?"
] | [
[
"Sunday night"
],
[
"Randy Neugebauer"
],
[
"Randy Neugebauer"
],
[
"Sunday night"
],
[
"Republican"
],
[
"Rep. Randy Neugebauer"
]
] | Rep. Randy Neugebauer sorry "my actions were mistakenly interpreted"
"Baby killer" outburst occurred as Stupak was speaking against a Republican motion .
On Sunday, Stupak and other anti-abortion Democrats struck a deal with the president .
Outburst comes six months after Rep. Joe Wilson's "you lie" incident . |
(CNN) -- Texas authorities are investigating "the safety of children" at a ranch occupied by about 400 followers of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, officials said Friday. An aerial view taken last year shows some living quarters at polygamist leader Warren Jeffs' Texas ranch. Authorities have sealed off the 1,900-acre ranch near Eldorado and no one is allowed to enter or leave, officials with Child Protective Services and the Department of Public Safety said. The people living at the ranch are cooperating, authorities said. Escorted by police, social workers entered the compound in south central Texas at 8 p.m. Thursday after receiving "a referral," said Child Protective Services spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner. Watch police seal off the compound » Child Protective Services "is conducting an investigation into safety issues of the children who live within the compound," she said. Meisner would not provide details about the referral but did say officials responded "within days" of receiving it. As of Friday morning, Meisner added, her agency had "not determined that there is a safety issue with these children." Several law enforcement agencies are assisting with the investigation, said Tela Mange, of the Texas Department of Public Safety. "The people at the ranch have been cooperative and they are providing the investigators with everyone they want to talk to," she said. Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) bought 1,900 acres near Eldorado four years ago and built the ranch, which they call the YFZ Ranch. It is now home to as many as 400 members who relocated from their Arizona and Utah compounds. Jeffs, the 52-year-old leader and "prophet" of the 10,000-member church, was convicted in Utah last year on two counts of being an accomplice to rape, charges related to a marriage he performed in 2001. He still faces trial in Arizona on eight charges of sexual conduct with a minor, incest and conspiracy. State and local law enforcement agencies set up roadblocks around the ranch Thursday evening, preventing journalists from seeing what was happening on the property, according to Randy Mankin, editor of the Eldorado Success weekly newspaper. "This came totally out of the blue," Mankin said. There were no indications of any violence around the ranch, he said. When CNN crews have visited the ranch, it was guarded by armed men equipped with night vision gear and other high-tech surveillance tools to prevent intruders. When CNN flew over the ranch in a small plane last year, the crew saw a massive temple, the three-story housing units where Jeffs' chosen followers live, the water tower, the school and community center, the dairy and cheese factory and a massive concrete mill. The FLDS church openly practices polygamy in two towns straddling the Arizona-Utah state line -- Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona., but members living on their Texas ranch rarely venture into Eldorado, four miles to the south. Critics of the sect say it arranges marriages for girls as young as 13, and that competition for brides may be reduced through exiling young men. If male followers are excommunicated, the critics claim, their wives and children can be reassigned to someone else. Jeffs is now being held in the Mohave County Jail in Kingman, Arizona, where he will be tried on charges of being an accomplice to incest and sex with minors. In November ,Jeffs was sentenced to 10 years in jail after being convicted of two charges of accomplice to rape. E-mail to a friend | [
"When was Jeffs put in jail?",
"What charges did Jeffs face?",
"who is interviewing?",
"where is jeffs",
"What state's agents were interviewing the children?",
"where is the compound",
"who is not permitted?",
"who are awaiting trial?",
"who is talking to the children"
] | [
[
"last year"
],
[
"sexual conduct with a minor, incest and conspiracy."
],
[
"authorities"
],
[
"Mohave County Jail in Kingman, Arizona,"
],
[
"Texas"
],
[
"near Eldorado"
],
[
"no one is allowed to enter or leave,"
],
[
"Warren Jeffs,"
],
[
"Child Protective Services"
]
] | NEW: State Child Protective Services agents interviewing children .
NEW: No one permitted to enter or leave 1,900-acre Texas compound .
Ranch home to hundreds of followers of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs .
Jeffs in Arizona jail awaiting trial; sentenced to 10 years in prison last year . |
(CNN) -- Texas authorities on Sunday were searching for a convicted burglar who escaped from a medical facility by rappelling off the building using a string of bedsheets, officials said. Joshua Duane Barnes, 21, was serving 35 years in prison for several convictions, including two escape charges. Joshua Duane Barnes, 21, was last seen at 8:15 p.m. Saturday on the seventh floor of a Texas Department of Criminal Justice medical facility in Galveston, Texas, said TDCJ spokesman Jason Clark. Fifteen minutes later, Barnes was gone, Clark told CNN. Security officers noticed there was a hole in the wall and a vent had been removed. According to Clark, Barnes busted a hole through a wall in his room and then broke through a thick window. He apparently tied bedsheets together, rappelled down the side of the building to a roof, and then jumped to the ground, Clark said. Barnes was serving 35 years in prison for several felony convictions, including seven burglary charges, two escape charges and an aggravated assault charge in the Texas Panhandle area, according to a TDCJ press release. The inmate was being housed at a prison in Midway, Texas. He was transported to the medical facility in Galveston last week after being hurt in an altercation, TDCJ said. The department of criminal justice has tracking dogs and dozens of officers searching the area, Clark said. Local police officers also joined the search. Barnes began serving his sentence in January. CNN's Chuck Johnston contributed to this report. | [
"Where was Joshua Duane Barnes last seen?",
"Where did the escape happen?",
"who has tracking dogs?",
"what is the age ofJoshua Duane Barnes?",
"What floor of the medical facility was Barnes on?",
"Who has tracking dogs searching the area?",
"where is he last seen?",
"Who is searching the area?"
] | [
[
"at 8:15 p.m. Saturday on the seventh floor of a Texas Department of Criminal Justice medical facility in Galveston, Texas,"
],
[
"Texas Department of Criminal Justice medical facility in Galveston, Texas,"
],
[
"department of criminal justice"
],
[
"21,"
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[
"seventh"
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[
"The department of criminal justice"
],
[
"8:15 p.m. Saturday on the seventh floor of a Texas Department of Criminal Justice medical facility in Galveston, Texas,"
],
[
"authorities"
]
] | Joshua Duane Barnes, 21, was last seen on 7th floor at Texas medical facility .
He apparently tied bedsheets together and exited window, police official says .
Department of criminal justice has tracking dogs, officers searching the area . |
(CNN) -- Texas authorities released court documents Thursday detailing the items seized from the medical office and storage unit of Dr. Conrad Murray, the cardiologist who was with Michael Jackson when he fell ill and died on June 25. Dr. Conrad Murray's office was searched Wednesday for "evidence of the offense of manslaughter." Detectives searched both sites in Houston on Wednesday for "evidence of the offense of manslaughter," according to court documents. Murray's attorney confirmed the search Wednesday. Among the items removed from Murray's office were a computer; 27 tablets of Phentermine, a prescription-strength appetite suppressant; 1 tablet of clonazepam, an anti-anxiety medication; and some Rolodex cards. From Murray's storage unit, authorities removed two computer hard drives; an "important contact list"; a suspension notice from Houston's Doctors Hospital; notices from the Internal Revenue Service; and a list of medical and hospital documents. Jackson's former nurse, Cherilyn Lee, was also approached on Wednesday by investigators who wanted copies of medical files she had on the singer, Lee told CNN's Nancy Grace. Lee said she handed over the files to officials with the coroner's office. Ed Chernoff, a Houston lawyer hired by Murray soon after Jackson's death, confirmed that Los Angeles Police detectives and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents used a search warrant to enter Murray's office in northeast Houston on Wednesday morning. "The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents, they believed constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter," Chernoff said in a written statement Wednesday. Chernoff said members of Murray's legal team were at the medical office during the search, which he said "was conducted by members of the DEA, two robbery-homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department and Houston Police officers." "Law enforcement concluded their search around 12:30 p.m. and left with a forensic image of a business computer hard drive and 21 documents. None of the documents taken had previously been requested by law enforcement or the L.A. coroner's office," Chernoff said. Tammy Kidd, a spokeswoman at Chernoff's office, said the search "was absolutely a surprise to us, because we've had open lines of communication this whole time." "Based on Dr. Murray's minute-by-minute and item-by-item description of Michael Jackson's last days, he should not be a target of criminal charges," Chernoff said Tuesday. "Dr. Murray was the last doctor standing when Michael Jackson died and it seems all the fury is directed toward him." Los Angeles investigators have interviewed Murray twice, Chernoff said. A third interview has not been scheduled, he said. Police impounded his car, which had been parked at Jackson's Holmby Hills home, the night after Jackson's death. It was released to Murray several days later. "Dr. Murray is frustrated by negative and often erroneous media reports. He has to walk around 24-7 with a bodyguard," Chernoff said. "He can't operate his practice. He can't go to work because he is harassed no matter where he goes." At least two investigations are under way into Jackson's death. The Los Angeles County coroner is waiting for toxicology results to determine a cause of death, while the city Police Department, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, is looking at the possibility of criminal charges. A coroner's office spokesman said the autopsy findings could be released in the next week or more. Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton told CNN he would wait for the coroner to determine the exact cause of Jackson's death. "And based on those, we will have an idea of what it is we are dealing (with): Are we dealing with a homicide, or are we dealing with an accidental overdose?" he said. CNN's Alan Duke, Ted Rowlands and Randi Kaye contributed to this report. | [
"What was searched?",
"What did the lawyer say",
"What was seized",
"What kind of items were seized?",
"Who says his client \"should not be a target of criminal charges\"?"
] | [
[
"Dr. Conrad Murray's office"
],
[
"confirmed that Los Angeles Police detectives and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents used a search warrant to enter Murray's office in northeast Houston on Wednesday morning."
],
[
"a computer; 27 tablets of Phentermine, a prescription-strength appetite suppressant; 1 tablet of clonazepam, an anti-anxiety medication; and some Rolodex cards."
],
[
"a computer; 27 tablets of Phentermine, a prescription-strength appetite suppressant; 1 tablet of clonazepam, an anti-anxiety medication; and some Rolodex cards."
],
[
"Ed Chernoff,"
]
] | Texas office and storage unit of Dr. Conrad Murray searched .
Among items seized are pills, computer hard drives, contact lists, officials say .
Jackson's former nurse says she has been asked for copies of records .
Murray's lawyer says his client "should not be a target of criminal charges" |
(CNN) -- Texas child welfare officials have asked a judge to order a teenage member of a polygamous sect to let them take DNA from her infant so they can determine the father's identity, according to court documents filed in the case.
An aerial view taken last year shows some living quarters at polygamist leader Warren Jeffs' Texas ranch.
The teenager, who is younger than 18, is a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
She is believed to have had the baby in June, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services attorneys said in the documents, filed earlier this month.
Child welfare authorities also believe the teenager was married at 14 to an adult male, department attorney John Dolezal writes in the motion.
"In order to determine the identity of the sexual perpetrator who engaged in sexual intercourse with [the girl] while she was a minor, which act consequently led to this pregnancy, the department is required to perform genetic testing on the child so as to determine who that individual is," the motion said.
CNN is not naming the teenager, as authorities allege she is a victim of sexual abuse.
A hearing on the matter was conducted Tuesday. Patrick Crimmins, spokesman for DFPS, said the teenager showed up without the baby. An agreement was reached by both sides during the hearing, Crimmins said, but the judge ordered that the agreement not be made public.
The department has attempted to resolve the issue with the teenager but had not been successful, the motion said.
The FLDS was thrust into the spotlight in April, when child welfare workers removed more than 400 children from the sect's Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, citing allegations of physical and sexual abuse.
Following a court battle, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the children returned, saying there was no evidence they faced imminent danger of abuse on the ranch.
Critics of the FLDS say the sect forces girls into marriage with men. To date, 12 FLDS members have been indicted on charges including sexual assault of a minor, conducting unlawful marriages involving a minor and bigamy as part of an ongoing investigation, according to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office.
They include Warren Jeffs, the FLDS leader and "prophet." Jeffs was already facing charges of sexual assault of a child in Texas, which carries a sentence of up to life upon conviction, when he was indicted earlier this month on a first-degree felony count of aggravated sexual assault.
He is also facing a sentence of up to life in Utah, where he was convicted on accomplice to rape charges for his role in the marriage of a sect member to a 14-year-old. He is awaiting trial in Arizona, where he faces similar charges.
The FLDS is a 10,000-member offshoot of the mainstream Mormon church. It openly practices polygamy on the ranch, as well as in two towns straddling the Utah-Arizona border. | [
"who is trying to determinate father's identity?",
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] | Texas child welfare officials trying to determine father's identity .
Court documents: Authorities believe baby's mother was 14 when married .
Agreement said to have been reached during hearing, but details not released .
More than 400 children removed from FLDS compound in spring . |
(CNN) -- Texas police on Friday released a composite sketch of a man they believe broke into the homes of four former members of the same sorority, then sexually assaulted them.
No name has been given for the suspect in the alleged break-ins and attacks, which took place between November 2010 and October 2011, according to a timeline from the Plano police.
Detectives, however, do have "a definite DNA profile on the suspect" after a crime lab report, the police statement noted.
Plano police in October released a video -- dated in April -- showing a man with a distinctive swagger who they believe is responsible. Snapshots from that video were distributed Friday.
The alleged assaults occurred in the cities of Plano, Coppell and Corinth, all suburbs of Dallas.
The alleged victims -- all females in their mid-50s to mid-60s -- were alumnae of the same predominantly African-American sorority: Delta Sigma Theta, according to police.
They offered similar descriptions of their assailant as being a black male in his late 30s to mid-40s, weighing from 275 to 300 pounds and standing between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall.
"He made it obvious to our victims that he knew information ... about them personally," Plano police spokesman Andre Smith said this fall, adding that none of the women believes they knew their attacker in advance.
According to Corinth Police Capt. Greg Wilkerson, all the assaults occurred in "residential settings" between 9:15 p.m. and 4 a.m. when the victims were alone. The alleged attack in his city, 35 miles northwest of Dallas, took place on October 14.
The late-night setting, the fact the victims were often asleep and the alleged assailant's "attempts to conceal his identity" make it challenging to definitively identify the attacker, said Wilkerson.
Wilkerson said that the nature of the assaults suggest the alleged assailant was "possibly suspecting surveillance, spending some time around the areas ... prior to the attacks."
The police captain said authorities do not know how the suspect learned details of the victims, speculating it may have been over the Internet, by accessing an old directory or noticing would-be victims with Delta Sigma Theta jewelry, placards or other paraphernalia out in public.
Delta Sigma Theta President Cynthia M.A. Butler-McIntyre this fall issued a statement urging members in the Dallas area to take precautions.
"To think that our members are being targeted is disturbing and extremely disheartening," she said. | [
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"What age is the alleged attacker?",
"What was the description of the attacker?",
"Who were attacked in their homes?",
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"How many women were attacked?"
] | [
[
"a video"
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[
"in \"residential settings\""
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[
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[
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[
"Delta Sigma Theta,"
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[
"four"
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] | Plano, Texas, police distribute composite sketch of the sexual assault suspect .
Four women in their 50s and 60s were allegedly attacked while at home alone, police say .
They were all alumnae of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority .
The alleged attacker, black and in his 30s or 40s, knew personal info about his victims . |
(CNN) -- Thai authorities are considering the construction of a super-express waterway through Bangkok to prevent future floods similar to the one that has crippled the Thai capital and brought manufacturing in other parts of the country to a standstill.
A team of disaster experts from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok is now investigating permanent solutions to the disaster that has left hundreds dead.
"One of the urgent solutions is a super-express floodway," Thanawat Jarupongsakul, from the university's Unit for Disaster and Land Information Studies, told the Bangkok Post.
Under the plan, existing natural canals -- some of them more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) long -- would be linked in a 200-km "super-highway" that would divert the course of floodwaters from the north.
The super-canal would hold 1.6 billion cubic meters of water and drain run-off at a rate of 6,000 cubic meters per second -- the equivalent of two and a half Olympic-sized swimming pools a second.
"This idea is much cheaper than digging a new river as a floodway," Thanawat said.
He said the proposed scheme would involve the construction of a kilometer-wide exclusion zone next to the floodway to prevent properties from being inundated, and a raised highway on both side of the canal.
The super-express floodway would then drain upstream run-off directly into the sea.
The university team is also looking at other flood-prevention measures such as a better early-warning system, improved water resource management, a flood tax, the use of a flood-risk map for urban development and groundwater-use controls.
"Now, the government must stop [trying to] solve flood problems with political methods," Thanawat told the Bangkok Post. He said poor water management rather than excess rain had caused this year's severe flooding, adding that natural swamps in the west of Thailand's Central Plains, which once absorbed water flow, had been developed into industrial and residential areas, blocking the natural floodway.
While giant flood tunnels in the Bangkok metropolitan area could drain floodwater from the city, they could not cope with a massive inundation from the north.
"If there is no step forward, foreign investors will eventually disappear from the country and the next generation will be still worried whether flooding will happen or not," he said. | [
"What would it prevent",
"Which country is considering a waterway?",
"What amount of water would the canal hold?",
"What KM is the highway?",
"Super-canal would hold how much cubic of water",
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] | [
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] | Thai authorities consider super-express waterway to prevent future floods .
Under the plan, existing natural canals would be linked in 200-km "super-highway"
Super-canal would hold 1.6B cubic meters of water and massively speed drain run-off . |
(CNN) -- Thanks to a crop of how-to dating shows, such as Bravo's "The Millionaire Matchmaker" and VH1's "Tough Love," more people are reaching out to matchmakers, making an age-old art fashionable again.
Back in 19th-century Russia -- around the time of "Fiddler on the Roof" -- women dreaded visits from the village matchmaker and longed to choose their own men. Today, real-life dating experts are in high demand.
"Millionaire Matchmaker" star Patti Stanger says her off-screen business, Millionaire's Club International, is growing just as fast as her TV series, which, in its third season premiere, increased viewership by 30 percent, according to Nielsen Media Research.
It's great having more clients, Stanger said, though there's more dross to sort through.
"We're on the map, everyone knows the brand, but it takes 30 to 45 guys until we find a real guy," she said. "Crazy people come in [out of] the woodwork."
And while certain aspects of her club have been sensationalized for TV -- like having millionaires pick their dates out of a room full of men or women looking to date them -- Stanger tells it like it is, whether or not the cameras are rolling.
"I'll tell [clients] off. I'll say, 'You want to be 80 [and alone] in the nursing home?' "
"Tough Love" features Steve Ward, chief executive officer at Master Matchmakers, a matchmaking service his mother JoAnn Ward -- who also appears on the show -- founded more than 20 years ago.
On the show, Ward works closely with single women who he says "need an objective third party to give them constructive feedback that can help them find what they're looking for."
There are many people looking for answers, especially young people with nowhere else to turn, Ward said. About half of the 20,000 people who applied to be on his new spin-off "Tough Love Couples" were younger than 21, he said.
Hiring a matchmaker can be pricey. Some services charge thousands of dollars for one-on-one consultations. However, many matchmakers will list you in their database for a smaller fee.
The success of the shows has rubbed off on the matchmaking industry. Despite her general dislike for "The Millionaire Matchmaker," Janis Spindel said the Bravo hit, which debuted in 2008, is somewhat responsible for spiking interest and boosting her client base. Her company, Janis Spindel Serious Matchmaking, has seen a 41 percent increase since these programs found a place on cable TV.
One client, a former bachelor from Austin, Texas, contacted Spindel after his daughter inadvertently introduced him to "The Millionaire Matchmaker." "His teenage daughter was watching it in the living room, and when he walked in, he heard what the show was about and took interest in the art of matchmaking," Spindel said.
Samantha Daniels of Samantha's Table, a bicoastal matchmaking service, said she has also watched her business boom since matchmaking shows first appeared on TV.
"Miss Match," a romantic dramedy based on Daniels' life as a matrimonial attorney turned matchmaker, aired on NBC in 2003. Whether it aired about six years too soon, or just settled in to an unfortunate time slot, the series was canceled after one season because of disappointing ratings.
Despite "Miss Match's" missed mark, Daniels plans to give TV another shot. She's is in the planning stages of her own reality show to teach women to be better daters.
"Putting that show on the air and going forward with more shows on the air, people are coming to understand what the business is more," Daniels said. "A lot of people will say ... 'You do that in real life? I want someone to do that for me.' "
Jan Yager, author of "125 Ways to Meet the Love of Your Life," said fear is the main reason people are | [
"how many people applied to be on \"Tough Love Couples\"?",
"what is show name?",
"What show did half of the 20,000 people that applied were younger than 21"
] | [
[
"20,000"
],
[
"\"The Millionaire Matchmaker\""
],
[
"\"Tough Love Couples\""
]
] | Nielsen Media Research: "Millionaire Matchmaker" season 3 ratings show up season 2's .
Matchmaker Janis Spindel's business up 41 percent since matchmaking shows hit TV .
About half of the 20,000 who applied to be on "Tough Love Couples" were younger than 21 . |
(CNN) -- Thanks to dedicated people like Bob and Katherine Rude, many homeless animals in Maryland will have a warm home this winter. Bob and Katherine Rude run an animal shelter out of their home in Harwood, Maryland. The Maryland couple currently cares for 116 cats and six dogs at Rude Ranch Animal Rescue, which they run out of their home in Harwood. "We take in a lot of abused and neglected animals; animals that for whatever reason find themselves down on their luck," Katherine said. It all started a decade ago when the couple found a group of cats in an alley behind a restaurant. They began working with other organizations to help place the cats, but quickly realized that they could do more. See how 100 cats live in one house » "The more we got involved, and the more we found out about the world of animal rescue, the more we found out there was a lot more need. ...We felt we could fill a void," Katherine said. A few years later, they bought a ranch house in Harwood and converted it into a shelter. Eventually, Bob and Katherine left their government jobs to work at the shelter full time. They now work seven days a week, morning through night, caring for their cats and dogs. "Now we're doing adoptions, we're doing search and rescue, we're helping people out with spay and neuters, and we're helping out other animal controls with animals that they can't place, but think deserve a shot at a life," Katherine said. The Rudes originally planned on keeping the shelter on one floor, and living in the rest of the house. But they quickly found that many of the cats required full-time care, so they expanded the shelter throughout their home. "We still have a bedroom that's sort of ours, but we share it with a bunch of special-needs animals. We have anywhere from two or three dogs and 10 to 12 cats that share a bed with us," Bob says. The extra space has allowed the Rudes to take in cats that most shelters cannot. Cats that require special attention or medical care -- those that have been abused or are suffering from feline immunodeficiency virus, for example -- all have a place at the ranch. Katherine says this was one reason they started their own shelter. "It was for ... the ones that maybe don't have an alternative, don't have somewhere else to go. We figured they had as much of a chance at a life as someone else," she said. Working with the animals is incredibly rewarding, Bob says, but expanding the shelter has also increased the number of mouths to feed. "For the evening meal, we go through about 25 cans of cat food. For the whole day, we go through about 40-50. ...We go through about 100 pounds of dry food a week for the cats, [and] 10,000 pounds of cat litter a year," Bob said. Even buying in bulk hasn't helped the Rudes escape the financial woes that have begun to plague most business owners. Katherine says that so far, they have been able to support themselves but are concerned about rising costs and falling donations. At the same time, demand for the Rudes' help is increasing. Higher costs of food and supplies, as well as the foreclosure crisis, have affected people's ability to care for their pets, Katherine says. "[Pet] adoptions have pretty much dropped off the face of the earth right now, but people are calling more and more to turn animals in," Bob said. And as more people turn to them to care for their pets, the Rudes have no plans to change their tune. Since 1997, they have helped rescue or place more than 3,000 cats. Katherine estimates that they have helped make 2,500 to 2,700 adoptions to families or individuals. "They're getting a home, they're going to have individual people doting on them, and that | [
"What does the Maryland couple operate?",
"How many animals are cared for?",
"How many animals do Bob and Katherine Rude care for?",
"How many cats do they care for?",
"Where is Rude Ranch Animal Rescue based?",
"Where is the rescue?",
"What are they concerned about?",
"What problems does the Rude Ranch Animal Rescue face?"
] | [
[
"shelter"
],
[
"116 cats and six dogs"
],
[
"116 cats"
],
[
"116"
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[
"Harwood, Maryland."
],
[
"Harwood, Maryland."
],
[
"rising costs and falling donations."
],
[
"concerned about rising costs and falling donations."
]
] | Maryland couple operates Rude Ranch Animal Rescue out of their home .
Bob and Katherine Rude currently care for 116 cats and six dogs .
The pair is concerned about rising costs, falling donations and more pets in need . |
(CNN) -- That's right, I said it. And I mean it. Roland Martin says the GOP is missing its chance to win black voters. The GOP as a whole is completely scared of black voters, and the actions by the front-runners for the party's 2008 nomination show they are continuing the same silly political games the party has played for years. Oh, don't bother tossing out the appointments of Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state by Bush. Yes, they are African-American. But I'm speaking of the party. Ever since Richard Nixon ran for the White House, the GOP has run on a "Southern Strategy," meant to alienate blacks in an effort to garner white voters. They've worked the strategy to perfection. When he was head of the Republican National Committee, Ken Mehlman apologized for that strategy as he sought to make inroads among black voters. Republicans will tell you they are the party of Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, but their outreach efforts to black voters are lacking. Oh, yes, I know. Democrats have a stranglehold on the black vote, receiving upward of 90 percent in national elections. A significant part of that is a result of the party seeing blacks as the backbone of the party. But the reality is that when you have only one party that truly makes a play for those voters, of course you will see such disparities! That's why it's dumb, dumb, and dumber for the leading GOP candidates to skip Thursday's debate hosted by Tavis Smiley and airing on PBS. Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and Sen. John McCain have all cited "scheduling conflicts" as the reason for their lack of attendance to debate at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, even though Smiley personnel tell me they began discussions with then-RNC head Mehlman in February 2006. When the debate was announced earlier this year, along with a Democratic forum held in June at Howard University, the RNC promised their candidates would speak. But those of us who follow politics knew that wasn't going to happen. This summer, all of the Republican candidates, save Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, skipped the NAACP and the National Urban League conventions. OK, I get the former, but the Urban League? President Bush has spoken there several times as president! The GOP keeps blowing a big opportunity by ignoring blacks. And what about the debate sponsored by Spanish language TV station Univision? Only McCain accepted the invite. Today's generation of blacks and Latinos shouldn't be seen as the same as their parents. An increasing number of people are refusing to identify themselves with a party, and looking at issues. Latinos have been a huge part of the Republican outreach, but the immigration debate is turning that in a different direction. Why should the GOP talk to black voters, and what would they talk about? First, I can tell you that immigration is huge in the black community, and gets folks riled up in a hurry (you ought to see my talk show lines when this comes up). Education and health care are also major. And every GOP debate has been about faith in the public square, and we know that plays well with black voters. Now, when it comes to the war in Iraq, the GOP can forget that tune. No one is listening. And they are completely uneven on the issue of civil rights. Here is an example that further explains the GOP's stupidity on this topic. Several years ago, a Republican in the Dallas-Fort Worth area was trying to unseat then-Rep. Martin Frost, a heavily entrenched Democrat. That summer, a series of black churches were being burned. My good friend, Michael Williams, a third-generation black Republican, was planning to hold a fundraiser at his home for the GOP candidate. He called the campaign and said it would be a good idea for the candidate to make a statement on the burnings, condemning them and saying it didn't make | [
"Which categories of GOP appeal to blacks?",
"Can Democrats win the black vote?",
"What republican outreach efforts are lacking?",
"Which party won black voters?"
] | [
[
"immigration"
],
[
"have a stranglehold on the"
],
[
"to black voters"
],
[
"Democrats"
]
] | Martin: Republican outreach efforts to black voters are lacking .
Martin: Democrats win the black vote because they try for it .
Martin: GOP could appeal to blacks on immigration, education, health care . |
(CNN) -- The "King of Pop" had been topping music charts long before he ever pulled on that white-sequined glove, made the moonwalk a household move and sent screaming fans into a frenzy. In spite of all of the rumors and his "Wacko Jacko" persona, Jackson's musical draw remained strong. But the spotlight that followed Michael Jackson, earned him headlines and made him a tabloid favorite as an adult, often had little to do with the artistry. While filming a commercial for Pepsi in 1984, a pyrotechnic accident set his hair ablaze, leaving him with second-degree burns on his scalp and igniting what would eventually became an odyssey of reconstructive work. Rumors about his face, the ever-changing nose and lightening skin fueled the "Wacko Jacko" persona, a moniker he'd be given later and seem to embrace. There was, for instance, Bubbles, a chimpanzee he adopted, befriended and allowed to share his toilet. Jackson didn't fight and even perpetuated claims, even though they weren't true, that he'd bought the remains of The Elephant Man and slept in a hyperbaric chamber -- although he would deny both years later during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. It was then, in that 1993 interview, that he also shot down rumors that he was dying his skin to make it lighter. Instead, he spoke for the first time about having vitiligo, a skin pigmentation disorder. iReport.com: Share your favorite Jackson memory Meantime, he had designed his dream home, the Neverland Ranch in Santa Ynez, California, as if he were the Peter Pan he so admired. Replete with a zoo, his own amusement park and the bevy of children who surrounded, played and sometimes slept over with him, he proudly set out to recapture the childhood he publicly said he'd never had. Allegations of what went on privately, however, landed him in a big-boy pool of legal hot water. He was accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy. Soon after came talk about his addiction to prescription drugs. He settled the civil lawsuit with the accusing family in 1994 and was never charged criminally. Then came the shocking, albeit relatively short-lived, marriage to Lisa Marie Presley -- a move that set off a whole new round of speculations. More facts about Jackson's life » Did he tie the knot to fight the child abuse speculations that dogged him? Was this eccentric "King" aspiring to be the son-in-law of "The King," Elvis Presley? Or could it have been true love? Despite this two-year marriage, and the reported relationships he'd had earlier with Tatum O'Neal, Stephanie Mills and Brooke Shields, Jackson remained sexually ambiguous and, in many people's eyes, sexless altogether. He'd later marry once more for several years, this time a nurse named Debbie Rowe. People debated whether they consummated that marriage or if artificial insemination played a role, but Jackson left in 1999 with custody of two children, a son known as Prince Michael and a daughter named Paris. For years when they appeared in public, the children wore veils or masks. Prince Michael II was born in 2002. An unidentified woman gave birth after reportedly being artificially inseminated with Jackson's sperm. His second son was semi-revealed to the public in Berlin, Germany, when Jackson momentarily dangled the baby, his face hidden beneath a blanket, over a balcony four stories above the ground and a mass of fans. Watch Jackson introduce Prince Michael II » It was yet another move that spawned talk and accusations, and it was one he'd apologize for later. In recent years there was yet another child sexual abuse accusation, one Jackson was acquitted of in May 2005. The trial was a media spectacle, and one where the fashion icon wore his pajama bottoms to court and danced atop a car. He also had enormous financial problems to deal with and narrowly escaped bankruptcy and foreclosure on his Neverland property. But in spite of all of this, Jackson's draw remained | [
"Who was dogged by accusations and whispers?",
"What is his house called?",
"Who made headlines for more than his music?",
"Where is Neverland ranch?",
"Who is called \"King of Pop\"?",
"What were the accusations?",
"What was his chimp called?",
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] | [
[
"Michael Jackson,"
],
[
"Neverland Ranch"
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[
"Michael Jackson,"
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[
"Michael Jackson,"
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[
"child sexual abuse"
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] | Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop," made headlines for more than his music .
"Wacko Jacko" known for Bubbles the chimp, his changing nose and skin tone .
At Neverland Ranch, he played Peter Pan, amid a zoo, rides and lots of kids .
He was dogged by accusations and whispers, but a comeback tour was on tap . |
(CNN) -- The "best job in the world" contest has generated huge interest around the globe, but the jury is out on whether that will translate into more tourism dollars for Queensland, Australia. Ben Southall will move into a three-bedroom beach home overlooking the Great Barrier Reef. "That's the million dollar question," said Anthony Hayes, CEO of Tourism Quensland, which sponsored the contest. "Quite frankly you can have $150 million worth of publicity, but if it doesn't generate sales you've really wasted your time on a pretty story." A British man beat 34,000 other applicants Wednesday to win the right to stroll the white sands of a tropical island in Queensland, Australia, file weekly reports online to a global audience and earn a cool $100,000. Watch as lucky winner is revealed » For the winner, Ben Southall, the six-month assignment is a far cry from his old job as a fundraiser. "I love discovering new places," Southall said in his hyperkinetic minute-long application video for the position. "Last year, I drove all around Africa, I crossed deserts, climbed mountains, run marathons, bungee jump, mountain-bike, scuba-dive and snorkel everywhere because I'm practically a fish myself." Oh, and he rode an ostrich. He will move into a three-bedroom beach home overlooking the tropical island's Great Barrier Reef. For six months, he will feed the fish, clean the pool and send weekly blog and video reports on what is happening on the island. Other benefits include free return airfares from their nearest capital city, transport on the island, computer and camera gear and travel to other islands. The applicants used various attempts to woo their prospective employer, from wandering round a chilly city center in a bikini, to making their application in the form of a street musical, complete with chorus singers. Sixteen finalists were flown in to Hamilton Island on Monday for interviews with a four-person panel. The job starts July 1. The "world's best job" campaign was 18 months in the making as a way to lure more tourism to the 600 islands near the Great Barrier Reef. "The starting point was how do we get the message out there ... that they're open for business and we want people to come and visit," Hayes said. "The idea of this is to protect jobs throughout our regional parts of Queensland." | [
"Who is the winner of the \"best job\" competition?",
"Who won best job competition?",
"What entity was advertising the dream island caretaking job?",
"How much money was the caretaking job?",
"What does the six month stint involve?",
"How much is the caretaker job paying?"
] | [
[
"Ben Southall"
],
[
"Ben Southall"
],
[
"Tourism Quensland,"
],
[
"$100,000."
],
[
"feed the fish, clean the pool and send weekly blog and video reports"
],
[
"$100,000."
]
] | Winner of "best job" competition is British citizen Ben Southall .
Tourism Queensland advertised dream island caretaking job for $100,000 .
Six-month stint involves reporting on the Great Barrier Reef island off Australia . |
(CNN) -- The "pregnant man" who gave birth to a daughter earlier this year says he is expecting a second child. Thomas Beatie, a married man who used to be a woman, has told America's ABC News that after giving birth to Susan on June 29 he did not go back on the male hormone testosterone so he could have another baby. "I feel good," he told ABC News' Barbara Walters. "I had my checkups ... And everything is right on track." Beatie, who lives with his wife Nancy in Bend, Oregon, said the baby is due on June 12. Beatie was born a woman but underwent hormone therapy before he was legally declared a man. He had a mastectomy but kept his female reproductive organs when he underwent a sex change in the late 1990s. He and Nancy decided they wanted to start a family and he underwent artificial insemination late last year. Walters said on her television talkshow, "The View," that Beatie had revealed his second pregnancy to her during an interview for a documentary to air on U.S. television Friday night. Beatie spoke to Walters about Susan's birth, which was not via Caesarean section. Prior to her birth, he released a photo showing his bearded face and pregnant belly. It sparked a worldwide media frenzy. | [
"Who is Thomas Beastie?",
"What reproductive organs did he retain?",
"Who is \"Pregnant man\"?",
"atie is a married man who used to b"
] | [
[
"a married man"
],
[
"female"
],
[
"Thomas Beatie,"
],
[
"woman,"
]
] | "Pregnant man" who gave birth to a daughter is expecting a second child .
Thomas Beatie is a married man who used to be a woman .
He had a mastectomy but kept his female reproductive organs . |
(CNN) -- The $410 billion budget President Obama signed Wednesday will make it easier for U.S. residents to travel to Cuba and to send money to family members on the island. It also could facilitate the sale of agricultural and pharmaceutical products to Cuba.
The residents of Havana, Cuba, often rely on bicycle taxis for transportation.
Three provisions attached to the omnibus spending bill loosened restrictions enacted by then-President George W. Bush after he came to office in 2001.
Analysts see the move as a way for the new Obama administration to start thawing relations with Cuba one month before the Fifth Summit of the Americas brings together the U.S. president and 33 other leaders from the Western Hemisphere in Trinidad and Tobago.
"[Cuba] is the issue of greatest symbolic importance," said Peter Hakim, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue policy institute. "It will be seen as a test of real U.S. readiness to change in the hemisphere. What he says about Cuba will make headlines."
Hakim testified about Latin American policy Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Cuba and the United States have had a troubled relationship since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. The United States broke off diplomatic relations in 1961 and imposed a trade embargo in 1962. Bush tightened some of those restrictions in recent years, most notably limiting travel to the island to once every three years for a limit of 14 days.
Under the new provisions, relatives will be able to go once a year and stay for an unlimited time. In addition, the definition of relatives has been broadened to include uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces. The new measures also increase the amount of money visitors can spend.
Otto Reich, who served presidents Reagan and both Bushes in a number of high-level Latin American posts, also testified Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Reich and Hakim have different perspectives on how far Obama should go on improving relations with Cuba, but they agree that attaching the latest measures to the spending bill was the wrong way to do it.
"It's important to open up Cuba, but it should be done systematically," Hakim told CNN. "This is very important for the Cuban American community. It ought to be done with them at the table. If they're not involved, they're going to push back."
Initial opposition from two Democratic senators with large Cuban American communities in their states put the spending bill in jeopardy. Senators Bill Nelson of Florida and Bob Menendez of New Jersey voted for the budget Tuesday after receiving personal letters from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner assuring them that the new provisions will not alter U.S. policy.
Reich said he did not like the Cuba provisions in the budget because the United States gets nothing in return.
"I'm opposed to it because of the way it was done," he said. "There's a way it can be done to advance the conditions of the people in Cuba. I don't approve of the unilateral way it's being done. The embargo is a negotiating tool. We should not negotiate with ourselves, and that's what we're doing."
Hakim warns that too much should not be read into the new measures, saying, "The fact is that this is very minor."
Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, said in a policy statement Wednesday that the new provision "suffers from being too little and too late."
Similar measures have been attached to previous spending bills in the past eight years but Bush threatened to veto the legislation, so the language was scrapped.
Senators Nelson and Menendez were most concerned with the provision that allows cash advance sales of agricultural and pharmaceutical products to Cuba.
Before Bush, "cash advance" used to mean that money would have to be paid as soon as the goods reached Cuba. But the Bush Administration said "cash advance" had to mean money was sent before the cargo was loaded on ships in the United States for Cuba. The language in the new spending bill reverts the meaning to the previous " | [
"Where do the travel restrictions affect?",
"What is the amount of the spending bill?",
"What could now be easier",
"trashWhat will it be easier to do with cuba",
"What was the value of the spending bill",
"What should not have been attached to spending bill",
"What could sales of be easier from now?"
] | [
[
"Cuba"
],
[
"$410 billion"
],
[
"to travel to Cuba and to send money to family members on the island."
],
[
"send money to family members on the island."
],
[
"$410 billion"
],
[
"Three provisions"
],
[
"agricultural and pharmaceutical products"
]
] | Three provisions are attached to $410 billion spending bill signed by Obama .
Travel restrictions to Cuba from U.S. loosened; it will be easier to send money there .
Sales of U.S. agricultural and pharmaceutical products could be easier now .
Some critics say measures should not have been attached to spending bill . |
(CNN) -- The $410 billion budget President Obama signed Wednesday will make it easier for U.S. residents to travel to Cuba and to send money to family members on the island. It also could facilitate the sale of agricultural and pharmaceutical products to Cuba. The residents of Havana, Cuba, often rely on bicycle taxis for transportation. Three provisions attached to the omnibus spending bill loosened restrictions enacted by then-President George W. Bush after he came to office in 2001. Analysts see the move as a way for the new Obama administration to start thawing relations with Cuba one month before the Fifth Summit of the Americas brings together the U.S. president and 33 other leaders from the Western Hemisphere in Trinidad and Tobago. "[Cuba] is the issue of greatest symbolic importance," said Peter Hakim, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue policy institute. "It will be seen as a test of real U.S. readiness to change in the hemisphere. What he says about Cuba will make headlines." Hakim testified about Latin American policy Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Cuba and the United States have had a troubled relationship since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. The United States broke off diplomatic relations in 1961 and imposed a trade embargo in 1962. Bush tightened some of those restrictions in recent years, most notably limiting travel to the island to once every three years for a limit of 14 days. Under the new provisions, relatives will be able to go once a year and stay for an unlimited time. In addition, the definition of relatives has been broadened to include uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces. The new measures also increase the amount of money visitors can spend. Otto Reich, who served presidents Reagan and both Bushes in a number of high-level Latin American posts, also testified Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Reich and Hakim have different perspectives on how far Obama should go on improving relations with Cuba, but they agree that attaching the latest measures to the spending bill was the wrong way to do it. "It's important to open up Cuba, but it should be done systematically," Hakim told CNN. "This is very important for the Cuban American community. It ought to be done with them at the table. If they're not involved, they're going to push back." Initial opposition from two Democratic senators with large Cuban American communities in their states put the spending bill in jeopardy. Senators Bill Nelson of Florida and Bob Menendez of New Jersey voted for the budget Tuesday after receiving personal letters from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner assuring them that the new provisions will not alter U.S. policy. Reich said he did not like the Cuba provisions in the budget because the United States gets nothing in return. "I'm opposed to it because of the way it was done," he said. "There's a way it can be done to advance the conditions of the people in Cuba. I don't approve of the unilateral way it's being done. The embargo is a negotiating tool. We should not negotiate with ourselves, and that's what we're doing." Hakim warns that too much should not be read into the new measures, saying, "The fact is that this is very minor." Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, said in a policy statement Wednesday that the new provision "suffers from being too little and too late." Similar measures have been attached to previous spending bills in the past eight years but Bush threatened to veto the legislation, so the language was scrapped. Senators Nelson and Menendez were most concerned with the provision that allows cash advance sales of agricultural and pharmaceutical products to Cuba. Before Bush, "cash advance" used to mean that money would have to be paid as soon as the goods reached Cuba. But the Bush Administration said "cash advance" had to mean money was sent before the cargo was loaded on ships in the United States for Cuba. The language in the new spending bill reverts the meaning to the previous " | [
"What do the critics say?",
"What happened to travel restrictions to Cuba ?",
"How much are the provisions worth?",
"How much money was the bill signed by Obama ?",
"What is the bill called?"
] | [
[
"it."
],
[
"loosened"
],
[
"$410 billion"
],
[
"$410 billion"
],
[
"omnibus spending"
]
] | Three provisions are attached to $410 billion spending bill signed by Obama .
Travel restrictions to Cuba from U.S. loosened; it will be easier to send money there .
Sales of U.S. agricultural and pharmaceutical products could be easier now .
Some critics say measures should not have been attached to spending bill . |
(CNN) -- The 19-year-old woman whose hospitalization exposed a shocking Austrian incest case is recovering well and wants to see the ocean and a pop concert, her doctors and a family lawyer said Wednesday. Dr. Albert Reiter, who treated Kerstin, is confident Kerstin will make a full recovery in time. She and other children who were held captive for years are slowly adapting to modern life, they said. Kerstin Fritzl, whom doctors placed in an artificial coma after she was admitted to a hospital in April for multiple organ failure, is now well enough to speak, stand and walk with assistance, her doctors said. Doctors said that "little novelties" such as seeing a cloud go by are now big events for the former captives. Kerstin has said she wants to see the ocean and go to a concert by British singer Robbie Williams, said Dr. Berhold Kepplinger, director of the clinic where the family is living. He described how excited Kerstin was to hear Robbie Williams songs in her hospital room and said she was moving around to the music so much that doctors had to quiet her down. It was then, Kepplinger said, that doctors became confident Kerstin can become fully healthy and develop normally. Her immune system has improved, and she is continuing to have physiotherapy, including strengthening exercises, he said. Watch doctors describe what happened when the teen opened her eyes » The two parts of her family -- those who were locked in a basement, like Kerstin, and those who lived above ground, apparently unaware of the abuse of their mother and siblings -- are getting to know each other again, the doctors and the family's lawyer said. "We are so glad that things have turned out so positively so far," said lawyer Christoph Herbst, who appeared at a news conference at a hotel near Amstetten, west of Vienna, where Kerstin and her family are recovering. Kerstin is the oldest daughter of an incestuous relationship between Elisabeth, 43, and Elisabeth's father, Josef Fritzl, 73, according to police. He is awaiting trial. Police say he confessed to holding Elisabeth captive since 1984 and raping her repeatedly, fathering seven children with her. Six of the children survived. Kerstin fell unconscious in April, and Elisabeth convinced her father that she needed urgent medical attention. Kerstin was admitted to a hospital in Amstetten, where staff grew suspicious and called police, who opened an investigation and uncovered the abuse. Kerstin was suffering from kidney, lung, and liver failure when she arrived at the hospital, said Dr. Albert Reiter, director of the hospital. Doctors were able to turn her health around, but they kept her in a coma with artificial respiration for weeks, he said. Doctors started reducing Kerstin's medication May 12, allowing her to emerge from the coma, he said. Three days later, she opened her eyes and smiled at her carers, he said, and doctors were soon able to take the breathing tube from her throat. Her mother was at Kerstin's bedside regularly, and doctors credited that with helping Kerstin's health improve. On Sunday, Kerstin finally met with other family members and was able to say hello to them, he said. Kerstin and the rest of the family were also able to move into an apartment at a regional clinic nearby. "It was a special moment where, walking, we were able to support her and cross the threshold into a new house and into a new life," Reiter said. Kerstin and two of her brothers, ages 18 and 5, had spent their entire lives trapped in the cellar with their mother, never seeing daylight. A television was their only contact with the outside world. The other three children Josef Fritzl fathered with Elisabeth were taken as infants to live above ground with Fritzl and his wife, who says she had no idea her daughter was being held captive. In recent weeks, the wife and the three children have had several meetings with Kerstin and the others formerly held in the basement. The doctors said that all are receiving therapy and are | [
"What illness does Kerstin have?",
"What happened to Kerstin Fritzl?",
"Who confessed?",
"Who is Kerstin Fritzi's mother?",
"Who has been reunited with her daughter?",
"Who spent her life in a cellar?",
"Where was she taken?",
"Who has allegedly confessed?",
"Who spent her life in cellar?",
"Who is expected to make a full recovery?",
"Who spent her entire life in a cellar?",
"Where was she taken?",
"who is kerstin fritzl",
"who is josef fritzl",
"Who has confessed?",
"where was the dungeon",
"Who is reunited with her family?",
"What is her age?"
] | [
[
"kidney, lung, and liver failure"
],
[
"organ failure,"
],
[
"Josef Fritzl,"
],
[
"Elisabeth,"
],
[
"his wife,"
],
[
"Kerstin Fritzl,"
],
[
"hospital in Amstetten,"
],
[
"Josef Fritzl,"
],
[
"Kerstin"
],
[
"Kerstin"
],
[
"Kerstin Fritzl,"
],
[
"a hospital"
],
[
"19-year-old woman whose hospitalization exposed a shocking Austrian incest case"
],
[
"Elisabeth's father,"
],
[
"Josef Fritzl,"
],
[
"in the cellar"
],
[
"Kerstin Fritzl,"
],
[
"19-year-old"
]
] | Daughter of Austrian incest victim reunited with family, expected to make full recovery .
Kerstin Fritzl, 19, has spent her entire life in cellar .
The dungeon was uncovered after she was taken to hospital with illness .
Josef Fritzl, 73, has allegedly confessed to incestuous relationship with teen's mom . |
(CNN) -- The 2012 presidential race has been dominated by one issue: the economy. Americans are desperately looking for a leader who can steer the country into full recovery; anything else is peripheral at this point.
This past weekend, however, the presidential race was harmfully thrown off course.
I'm referring to the words of Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Jeffress introduced Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the Values Voters Summit in Washington D.C. on Friday and strongly endorsed him, primarily because of his evangelical Christian beliefs.
Shortly after the introduction, Jeffress said to reporters: "Every true, born-again follower of Christ ought to embrace a Christian over a non-Christian." Jeffress called Mormonism a "cult," and asked by a reporter if he believed Gov. Mitt Romney is a Christian, answered, "No." Romney, of course, is Mormon.
Jeffress' words echoed what he said in 2008 about Romney, when he told the Religion Newswriters Association at its annual meeting: "The value of electing a Christian goes beyond public policies ... It is worse to legitimize a faith that would lead people to a separation from God." In essence, Jeffress implied that voting for Mitt Romney would give credibility to a cult.
After hearing Jeffress' remarks, I decided to respond when I spoke at the same summit on Saturday. The Romney campaign contacted me before my speech about another speaker, Bryan Fischer, who has a history of controversial remarks concerning Mormonism. But Romney's campaign had no say in my words to Jeffress.
I said to Jeffress, along with everyone else, "Do not give voice to bigotry. Remember George Washington, his manly advice to us, to despise all forms of racial and religious bigotry. He who was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, counseled, 'We should give to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.'
"Let's follow him. And I would say to Pastor Jeffress, you stepped on and obscured the words of Perry and Santorum and Cain and Bachmann and everyone else who has spoken here. You did Rick Perry no good, sir, in what you had to say."
I agree that there are serious theological differences between evangelical Christianity and Mormonism. But those should be settled in churches, in homes, and in religious gatherings, not in front of a national political event. Pastor Jeffress says his words were merely theological. He, pastor of a successful mega-church, should know full well the fine line between religion and politics. His words were clearly political, as evidenced by the damaging effect it had on the Republican presidential candidates and the national debate.
Gov. Perry immediately had to distance himself from Jeffress' words. Gov. Romney quickly went on the defensive. And the other candidates, instantly grilled by the national media about their view of Mormonism, were thrown into a controversy they wanted no part of. Jeffress' words were an inappropriate and deleterious distraction.
Article Six of the Constitution states that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." The purpose of a political gathering like the Values Voters Summit is to build consensus around a candidate by examining positions and records. Yes, religion plays an essential role in those decisions, but one person's faith should never be a disqualifying factor, whether that person is Jewish, Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Mormon, or of any other faith.
To the right and left alike, we are in the middle of a grueling presidential campaign season. It behooves us to despise and reject all forms of religious, and racial, bigotry. Politics are about policy and deciding whether a candidate shares your views of the founding principles of this country -- life, liberty, and the rule of law -- which men and women of all different faiths can agree upon.
When Abraham Lincoln spoke in 1838 to the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, concerning the "perpetuation of our political institutions," he | [
"What hurt Romney's presidential race by Jeffress' commentsW?",
"When did this happen?",
"What Jeffress said about Mormonism?",
"What politics are about according to Bennett?",
"What did he say?"
] | [
[
"words of Pastor Robert"
],
[
"past weekend,"
],
[
"\"cult,\""
],
[
"policy and deciding whether a candidate shares your views"
],
[
"\"Every true, born-again follower of Christ ought to embrace a Christian over a non-Christian.\""
]
] | William Bennett: Jeffress' comments about Romney's faith hurt presidential race .
Jeffress, a Perry supporter, said Romney is not a Christian and Mormonism is a cult .
Bennett says we must reject religious, and racial, bigotry; politics are about policy .
There is no religious test for public office and it's a matter of political principles, he says . |
(CNN) -- The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will include rugby union sevens, a shortened version of the 15-player game, and golf as sports, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced. The IOC announced Rio's successful bid for the 2016 Olympic Games last week. Two months ago the IOC's executive board voted to include the sports in the program, a proposal that was ratified by the body's members at a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Friday. Rugby sevens, a sport played with exactly the same rules as the regular version -- just with less players, garnered 81 votes in favor while eight were against and one abstained. Golf was voted in with 63 votes to 27, with two abstentions -- it means the number of "Olympic" sports has reached the IOC's stated maximum of 28. Blog: Money, money, money should be new Olympic motto. The vote was delayed as some IOC members cast doubt on the selection process that had seen the two sports put forward, but on announcing the result IOC president Jacques Rogge said: "Time will show your decision was very wise." The two disciplines will be part of the 2016 and 2020 Games as a result of the vote, a move that prompted IRB president Bernard Lapasset to tell reporters: "This is an historic moment for our sport and for the global rugby community, who were united in their support." Rugby's world governing body, the IRB, has promised to end its World Cup Sevens event in order to allow 12 men's and women's teams to take part in the competition. Similarly, the International Golf Federation (IGF) has said that of the 60 players who will compete in the men's and women's tournament over 72 holes, the world's top stars will all be present. The executive director of the IGF's Olympic Golf Committee, Ty Votaw, was equally delighted. After coordinating the successful Olympic bid of his sport, he said: "We are elated the IOC membership has accepted golf as an Olympic sport, and look forward to seeing the world's best golfers compete for gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro." Softball, squash, baseball, karate and roller sports all bid to be accepted as Olympic sports but were turned down by the executive board two months ago. Golf previously featured at the Paris Games of 1900 and in St Louis in 1904, while Olympic medals could be won by rugby players who contested the 15-a-side format from 1900-24. Meanwhile, Rogge has been re-elected unopposed as president. The Belgian will serve his final four years, which takes him through the London 2012 Olympics before stepping down in 2013, after being re-elected by 88 votes to one. | [
"What was voted into the olympics with just two abstentions?",
"What amount of votes were in favor of rugby sevens?",
"Where will the Games be held in 2016?",
"What happened with the IOC?",
"What did they vote into the 2016 olympic games?",
"Where will the 2016 Olympics?",
"where are the 2016 games held?",
"How many votes in favor you have?"
] | [
[
"Golf"
],
[
"81"
],
[
"Rio de Janeiro"
],
[
"announced Rio's successful bid for the 2016 Olympic Games last week."
],
[
"golf"
],
[
"Rio de Janeiro"
],
[
"Rio de Janeiro"
],
[
"81"
]
] | The IOC have voted rugby union sevens and golf into the 2016 Olympic Games .
Rugby sevens garnered 81 votes in favor of their inclusion with eight against .
Golf was voted into the Olympics with 63 votes to 27 with just two abstentions .
The Olympic Games in 2016 will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil . |
(CNN) -- The 32-year-old Texas man who died in a shark attack over the weekend while scuba diving off Western Australia was remembered Sunday by his sisters as "unique" and "one of a kind."
Sharon Wainwright of Panama City, Florida, identified the victim as her son, George Thomas Wainwright.
His sisters, Brenda Wainwright and Wanda Brannon, spoke to CNN affiliate WMBB-TV.
"It's devastating. It's hard to even wrap your head around. I can't believe he's gone. I think it was just wrong place, wrong time because he was very wise. I would trust him with anything to do with being on the water," said Brenda Wainwright.
She described her brother as "unique ... that rare combination of incredibly intelligent, very kind, great sense of humor."
Police said Saturday the man was scuba diving with two friends near Rottnest Island, a popular tourist destination about 15 miles off the Australian mainland, when the attack occurred.
The man's friends, who were not in the water at the time, noticed an abnormal amount of air bubbles rising to the surface in the area where he was diving, followed by a plume of blood, said police spokesman Michael Wear.
Moments later, the man's body rose to the surface. Police said he succumbed to his injuries not long after the incident. Following a preliminary review of bite marks on the body, authorities said he is believed to have been killed by a great white shark.
"He was in the water by himself, I believe," Sgt. Greg True of Western Australia police told CNN affiliate Channel Nine. "There's been some pretty massive injuries inflicted."
Sharon Wainwright told CNN her family was notified of the incident Saturday morning. Authorities said the man had been living in Western Australia.
Wainright's relatives expect his body to arrive in Florida in about four days, Sharon Wainwright said.
Saturday's attack was the second fatal shark attack in the past two weeks near the city of Perth, capital of the state of Western Australia.
"He was one of a kind," the victim's sister, Brannon, told WMBB.
"He's more than just a quick news spot. He was our brother and we loved him. He will be missed."
CNN's Jeremy Ryan and Kara Devlin contributed to this report. | [
"what does the victim sister say",
"who died in scuba diving",
"What did the authorities believe happened to Thomas?",
"what is expected in florida",
"Who died while scuba diving?",
"that way George Thomas died?"
] | [
[
"\"It's devastating."
],
[
"George Thomas Wainwright."
],
[
"been killed by a great white shark."
],
[
"his body to arrive"
],
[
"George Thomas Wainwright."
],
[
"shark attack"
]
] | NEW: "I think it was just wrong place, wrong time," the victim's sister says .
George Thomas Wainwright died while scuba diving .
His mother says his body is expected in Florida in about four days .
Authorities believe the man was killed by a great white off the Australian coast . |
(CNN) -- The 5-year-old girl found the note tucked inside a plastic bag and left in a basket used as a flower pot. April Tinsley, 8, abducted in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was raped and killed 21 years ago. The case was not solved. "Hi Honey I Been watching you," it said. "I am the same person that kidnapped an Rape an kill Aproil tinsely here is a present foR yo you are my next vitem." A used condom was stuffed in the bag alongside the note. It was March 2004 -- nearly 16 years after 8-year-old April Tinsley was abducted from a Fort Wayne, Indiana, neighborhood, raped and killed. Her killer remains at large, and police believe he has surfaced several times, scrawling a message in crayon on a barn in 1990, then leaving four chilling notes for children in the Fort Wayne area years later. Indiana authorities are now asking an FBI task force -- the Child Abduction Response Deployment (CARD) team -- to help take a fresh look at the case. "Investigators believe the case is 'highly solvable,' and after 21 years, their desire to bring April Tinsley's killer to justice is stronger than ever," the FBI said. CARD teams were created three years ago, aimed at bringing together "a variety of experts in child abduction cases who could quickly respond on the ground to help local authorities with time-sensitive investigations," the FBI said. While CARD responds to abductions and disappearances, the team also works cold cases, like April's, the agency said. "As team members discovered, there is enough evidence -- including notes, pictures, and DNA left by the killer years after the murder -- to make investigators hopeful they can break the case." The team includes behavioral profilers, agents and analysts from the FBI's Crimes Against Children Unit and coordinators and representatives from the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime and the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program. April Marie Tinsley was playing outside with friends on Good Friday, April 1, 1988. As the three girls were moving from one friend's home to another's, the first-grader realized she had left her umbrella behind and went back to get it. She never returned. Her body was found three days later, in a ditch some 20 miles northeast of the Tinsley home. April's body was clothed, but an autopsy showed she had been raped and suffocated. Two years later, a teenage boy called police to report a message scrawled in crayon and black marker on the front doors of a barn about 10 miles from April's home. He never saw the writer, according to the TV program "America's Most Wanted," which profiled the case in May, but each day noticed the print was getting darker and more pronounced. Although the message was hard to read, the person wrote he had killed April, and that he would kill again. Crayons were left behind at the scene, "America's Most Wanted" said on its Web site. Police attempted to conduct forensic analysis on them, but came up empty. Then, in spring 2004, the four notes appeared at various Fort Wayne homes, several of them placed on bicycles that young girls had left in their yards. All the notes were written on lined yellow paper and placed inside plastic bags along with used condoms or Polaroids of the killer's body, the FBI said. Several notes referred to April. Authorities have reason to believe the writer of the 1990 note also left the notes 14 years later, Fort Wayne police said. "That tells us that the person's still around, still out there," said Fort Wayne police Capt. Paul Shrawder. "It's definitely very odd," he added. "Even the FBI is puzzled by the behavior, that the letters would come out so many years later and then nothing again." DNA evidence was recovered from April's body and from the condoms, Shrawder said. While police have no one to match it with | [
"Where was the confession found?",
"How many notes believed to be by the killer surfaced in 2004?",
"In what year did the writer claim responsibility for the slaying in a barn door message?",
"How many notes, believed to be from the killer, have surfaced in 2004?",
"What did the fbi say?",
"What year was April Tinsley abducted?",
"In what year was April Tinsey abducted?"
] | [
[
"tucked inside a plastic bag and left in a basket"
],
[
"four"
],
[
"1990,"
],
[
"four"
],
[
"\"Investigators believe the case is 'highly"
],
[
"1988."
],
[
"1988."
]
] | FBI task force considers girl's slaying "highly solvable"
April Tinsley, 8, was abducted in 1988 while walking home from a friend's house .
Writer claimed responsibility for slaying in barn-door message in 1990 .
Four more notes, believed to have been written by the killer, surfaced in 2004 . |
(CNN) -- The 54 men and 14 boys rescued after being found chained this week at an Islamic religious school in Pakistan have been reunited with their families or placed in shelters, authorities said.
The group was discovered in an underground room with heavy chains linking them together.
The school, Al-Arabiya Aloom Jamia Masjid Zikirya, which also was a drug rehab clinic, is in Sohrab Goth, a suburb of Gadap in Karachi.
All 14 boys were returned to their families, senior police official Ahsanullah Marwat told CNN.
Of the adults, 47 had been released to their families, and seven were handed over to a shelter for the homeless, he said.
Three people who worked at the facility were arrested, but the four men who ran the place were still at large, Marwat said.
Officials said the facility was part madrassa and part drug-rehab facility, and the captives were chained at night apparently to prevent their escape.
"The operation was successful, and we plan on continuing our work to ensure that places like this are shut down," Marwat said.
Many of the captives told police their families sent them there because they were recovering drug addicts. During the day, they worked and did religious studies.
But the future of the rescued children was unclear.
One woman told a local television station that she was willing to pay the police to keep her troublesome child. She said she would rather have the facility remain open, regardless of how it treated the children.
Many others, however, said they were in shock and disbelief over the allegations.
One man complained he was deep in debt after paying the school a large amount of money to board his son. | [
"Who had been holding them?",
"Where were the boys and men rescued from?",
"Where the captives rescued?",
"Authorities arrested how many at the facility?",
"Which country did this happen in?"
] | [
[
"Three people"
],
[
"school in Pakistan"
],
[
"school in Pakistan"
],
[
"Three people"
],
[
"Pakistan"
]
] | Captive boys and men were rescued from an Islamic religious school in Pakistan .
They were reunited with their families this week .
The facility was a school and drug rehab clinic .
Authorities say they're searching for the owners; three others arrested at the facility . |
(CNN) -- The 63-year-old bearded fireplug of a man erupted in tears, pulled a white handkerchief from his back pocket, carefully unfolded it and pressed it into his eyes, pulled it away, pressed it again to his eyes, this time with more force, pulled it away again just long enough to take a sip of water, then rubbed them again. Lula da Silva gets a kiss from bid committee president Carlos Arthur Nuzman after the announcement Friday. "I've never won a gift before," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told reporters. "The first gift I ever had in my life I had to buy. It was an old bike with a broken belt and I had to fix it. Today, people who don't even know me gave me the greatest gift that a president could have: to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Rio deserves this because Rio is a city that has suffered." For Lula da Silva, Friday's announcement in Copenhagen, Denmark, that Rio de Janeiro will host the 31st Olympiad in 2016 signified a major achievement not only for his hemisphere (no city in South America has ever before hosted the games) but for him -- a former autoworker and union organizer who defied dizzying odds to become president. Lula da Silva was born to a peasant family in one of northeastern Brazil's most impoverished areas and migrated as a young man to a city near São Paulo, where he worked as a metalworker, losing his left pinky finger in the process. In the 1970s, he became a union leader, said Luiz Valente, chairman of the department of Portuguese and Brazilian studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. During the years of military rule from 1964 until 1985, the government cracked down on unions. But Lula da Silva acquired a reputation as a public figure by leading a successful strike in São Paulo, Valente told CNN in a telephone interview. "He was able to negotiate a favorable contract for his union but, from a political standpoint, he demonstrated that worker strikes were possible again in Brazil," Valente said. During the early 1980s, as the military rulers' grip on control loosened, Lula da Silva helped found the leftist Workers' Party. In the late 1980s, he ran for Congress and won, but he chose not to run for re-election. Instead, he set his sights on the top job, waging a losing presidential campaign in 1989, the country's first presidential election since 1960. Successive tries in 1993 and 1997 were unsuccessful, but in 2001, he won and quickly surprised many observers. "When he began, he was perceived as someone very much on the left," said Valente. "He was perceived as being a socialist. However, he has not governed as a socialist. Instead, his economic policies were a continuation of the previous administration's." In fact, Brazil's economic policy has been "pretty much middle of the road, some people would say pretty conservative," said Valente, who added that he has never voted for Lula da Silva. But Lula da Silva has worked to help the country's poor, introducing populist measures intended to lower the incidence of poverty and making other moves, Valente said. "As a union leader during the military dictatorship, he learned how to negotiate with the so-called enemy," Valente said. "So Lula is going to try to reach some kind of consensus, and he did. What he did was not a product of ideology but of a pragmatist attitude of the government of Brazil." Lula da Silva's moderate modus operandi has gained him popularity at home, where he has made no moves toward abolishing the term limits that preclude his running for a third term next year, Valente said. That pragmatism has served him well on the international front, where he is on good terms with the leftist governments of Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador as well as with the United States and the European Union. "Lula knows how to play the game," Valente said | [
"What was Rio hosting?",
"When was Silva elected president?",
"Who rose to be a politician?",
"Silva is president of what country?",
"What did Lula da Silva say?",
"What were Silva's previous occupations?",
"which party the president belongs",
"who says \"the greatest gift that a president could have\"?"
] | [
[
"Olympic Games"
],
[
"2001, he won"
],
[
"Lula da Silva"
],
[
"Brazilian"
],
[
"\"I've never won a gift before,\""
],
[
"metalworker,"
],
[
"Workers'"
],
[
"to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro."
]
] | Lula da Silva calls announcement "the greatest gift that a president could have"
Brazil's president rose from metalworker to union organizer to politician .
His election to the presidency in 2001 came after three unsuccessful tries .
Rio's hosting the Pan-American Games was seen as a trial run for the Olympics . |
(CNN) -- The 9-year-old boy who was the lone survivor of a plane crash that killed 103 people in Libya plans to return to the Netherlands on Saturday, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said Friday.
He is scheduled to leave Tripoli, Libya, at 10 a.m. Saturday and fly home with an aunt and uncle, as well as a doctor, the ministry said in a statement.
Ruben van Assouw suffered multiple fractures to his legs and underwent surgery at Al Khadra Hospital, said a doctor who declined to give her name.
Both of Ruben's parents and a brother were killed in the crash, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
Acting on a request from the boy's relatives, authorities do not plan to say where the plane will land, and the media will not be present when it does, the ministry statement said.
"His relatives have appealed to the media to exercise restraint and to leave Ruben and his family in peace at this difficult time," it said.
Authorities said Ruben was the only survivor after an Afriqiyah Airways plane crashed at 6 a.m. Wednesday.
The boy's aunt and uncle arrived in Tripoli to visit him Thursday.
Saif al Islam Gadhafi, the second eldest son of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, visited the boy in the hospital along with airline chairman Capt. Sabri Shadi, according to a statement on Afriqiyah Airways' website.
More than two thirds of the passengers killed in the plane crash were Dutch, the foreign ministry said. Passengers from Libya, South Africa, Belgium, Austria, Germany, France, Zimbabwe and Britain were also among the victims, the airline said on its website.
The plane, an Airbus A330-200, departed Johannesburg, South Africa, and was at the end of its nearly nine-hour flight when it crashed.
Officials recovered the plane's flight data recorder, but investigators are still trying to determine what caused the crash.
CNN's Stephanie Halasz contributed to this report. | [
"What are investigators trying to determine?",
"where is the boy from?",
"what is the age of the child?",
"Where will Ruben van Assouw fly to?"
] | [
[
"caused the crash."
],
[
"Netherlands"
],
[
"9-year-old"
],
[
"Netherlands"
]
] | NEW: Ruben van Assouw, 9, will fly home to the Netherlands on Saturday .
Dutch medical team consisting of nurse, psychologist and social worker have arrived in Libya .
Plane's flight data recorder recovered; investigators trying to determine cause of crash . |
(CNN) -- The AMC series "Mad Men" has been honored for its sharp writing, polished acting and engaging portrayal of life at a New York advertising agency in the early 1960s. "Mad Men" has gotten attention from fashion designers and clothing merchandisers. It has also been much noticed for something else: its fashion sense. The series, which features all the looks of that era -- thin-lapeled suits and skinny ties, crinoline-puffed dresses and pencil skirts, Peter Pan collars and subdued pinks and greens -- has attracted attention from fashion designers and clothing merchandisers. Banana Republic, which has placed "Mad Men"-inspired clothes in its window displays, is even offering a walk-on role for the winner of a contest. "Mad Men," which returns for its third season Sunday, isn't the first Hollywood creation to influence fashion trends. For decades, movies and television shows have played a primary role in dictating people's fashion choices, whether they've been aware of it or not. Here are a few examples. 1. In the 1934 film "It Happened One Night," star Clark Gable took off his shirt and showed his bare chest, instead of the standard white undershirt. For decades, an urban legend has maintained that undershirt sales dropped up to 75 percent, not to recover until World War II. Though the mythbusting site Snopes.com says the truth is uncertain, it's testimony to the legend's strength that we're still talking about it 75 years later. 2. The 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde," with its (somewhat idealized) Depression-era fashion, continues to inspire today's designers. Faye Dunaway's berets, scarves, trench coats, fitted cardigans and long pencil skirts were a hit at the time and remain so today. 3. "Annie Hall" boldly showed women that the masculine preppy look was attractive. Star Diane Keaton wore baggy pants, dress shirts, a vest and tie in the 1977 Woody Allen film. The film is said to have influenced a spike in tie sales for women. 4. "Saturday Night Fever" rejuvenated a fading disco craze in 1977 and told men it's OK to wear crotch-hugging pants, wide-open, chest-baring shirts and large medallion jewelry. John Travolta's white polyester suit -- later bought by film critic Gene Siskel at auction -- became a disco-era icon. 5. The 1983 film "Flashdance" made active wear -- like a ripped sweatshirt off one shoulder, tight leggings and leg warmers -- sexy for women in the early 1980s. Actor Jennifer Beals is said to have cut the collar off a sweatshirt that had shrunk in order to get it over her head, according to the Internet Movie Database. 6. The 1980s TV series "Miami Vice," with its lightweight fabrics and pastel colors, proved a hit on television and in menswear departments. Star Don Johnson's signature look -- T-shirt, suit jacket, linen pants and shoes worn sockless -- could be seen all over the country. (He also popularized the unshaven, stubble-bearded look.) 7. "Sex and the City" trendsetter Sarah Jessica Parker, who played Carrie, talked about her shoe addiction constantly during the HBO series, which ran from 1998 to 2004 and spawned a 2008 movie. Soon, stilettos -- paired with a thrown-together look -- became something the cool crowd of viewers would follow, along with brands such as Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo. 8. A game show starting a fashion trend? It happened with "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," which featured host Regis Philbin sporting a monochromatic shirt-and-tie look. Later, he launched a line of shirts and ties in the Regis by Van Heusen collection. | [
"Sex and the what?",
"Have other programmes had this impact?",
"which movie has influenced fasion design",
"\"Mad Men\" has influenced who?",
"which other movies has impact"
] | [
[
"City\""
],
[
"\"Flashdance\""
],
[
"\"Mad Men\""
],
[
"fashion designers and clothing merchandisers."
],
[
"\"It Happened One Night,\""
]
] | "Mad Men" has influenced fashion designers; looks filter into public view .
Many movies, TV shows have had similar impact .
"Miami Vice," "Sex and the City" are among names on the list . |
(CNN) -- The Academy-Award winning British producer and (briefly) Columbia Pictures head David Puttnam used to have a placard on the wall of his office. It read: "Hello, he lied." In "The Invention of Lying," Ricky Gervais plays a "loser" in a society that tells only the truth. Lies are second nature in Hollywood, or maybe even first nature, so it's not surprising that the breathtakingly simple but bewilderingly original idea underpinning the new movie from "The Office" creator Ricky Gervais came from an industry neophyte, Gervais's co-writer and co-director, Matthew Robinson. The idea? In a world in which everyone always speaks the truth -- in which no one has ever so much as considered deceit, flattery, hyperbole, hiring an illegal maid or under-declaring their taxable returns -- what status, fame and fortune would fall to the first man to realize the power of fabrication? Appropriately, Gervais' character, Mark Bellison, works in the film biz as a screenwriter. But this being a society in which fiction has yet to be invented, his job consists of penning historical lectures that will then be read aloud to the moviegoing public by the on-screen narrator. Mark has drawn the short straw with the 14th century (no one wants to hear about the Black Death), and he's about to be fired, as his secretary (Tina Fey) is eager to tell him. She's never liked him anyway; she tells him that, too. An honest world can be a brutal place for a short, fat loser, which is all that Mark is. After all, everybody says so. The movie never surpasses the gleeful hilarity of the first 25 minutes, when it allows us to imagine just how crushing and soulless this nakedly Darwinian universe would be. The high point comes early, with Mark's dispiriting blind date with the beautiful Anna (Jennifer Garner), who is scrupulously frank about her first impressions and his long-term prospects, which are nil. She's searching for a fiscally well-endowed, genetically attractive mate, and Mark ain't him. Watch Gervais explain why Garner came cheap » Gervais has made similar, self-deprecating remarks about the chances of a chubby Brit like him making it in Hollywood -- a line he repeated at the Emmys recently -- though it must be said, so far, Hollywood seems to be welcoming him with open arms. "The Invention of Lying" is loaded with celebrity cameos from the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton and Christopher Guest. Gervais should relax: Clowns don't have to be Cary Grant. Funny-looking is fine for a funny man. Meanwhile Mark's obsession with the unfairness of it all smacks of self-pity. It doesn't seem to have occurred to the filmmakers that his attraction to Anna is based entirely on her looks. Garner's role cries out for grace notes -- a kind word, a quip, an insight, some flash of warmth -- Garner can only hint at. Provocatively, the big lie that changes everything is the promise of an afterlife Mark gives to his mother on her deathbed. The word soon gets out, and Mark is forced to spell out the tenets of the world's first religion, as dictated to him by "the man in the sky." Or so he says, and who should doubt it? You have to admire the audacity of such sacrilegious mischief-making, but truth be told, the movie loses its way the longer Gervais spins out this anti-parable. His false prophet acquires fame and fortune but still struggles to convince the girl that he's a better bet than Rob Lowe in the genes department. The ending's uncertain mixture of cynicism and sentimentality doesn't feel entirely plausible, and between them, Gervais and Robinson can't smooth over the story's bumpy patches. At times, the energy just seeps out of the film. But that doesn't mean "The Invention of Lying" isn't the funniest movie around right | [
"What movie has moments of inspired comedy?",
"who is the actor",
"Who stars in the movie?"
] | [
[
"\"The Invention of Lying,\""
],
[
"Ricky Gervais"
],
[
"Ricky Gervais"
]
] | "The Invention of Lying" has moments of inspired comedy, says Tom Charity .
Movie is about man who learns to lie in truth-telling society .
Film is flat at times, but star Ricky Gervais helps carry it over weak spots . |
(CNN) -- The Amazon rainforest is so vast and full of life that even its defenders don't know exactly what it is they are protecting. In the past 40 years, roughly 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest has been wiped out. "The wealth of biodiversity is so immense, we cannot even estimate the amount we don't know," says Cláudio C. Maretti, Brazil-based director for conservation for the World Wildlife Fund. "Every new expedition you do to the Amazon, you might find one new species of fish. Every other, you might find some new bird or frog." The Amazon rainforest, which encompasses an area nearly as large as the continental United States and stretches across nine countries, is considered the world's richest and most varied natural habitat, with several million species of insects, plants, birds and fish calling it home. It also plays an important role in regulating Earth's temperature as its dense vegetation absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen into the air. But the Amazon has been under pressure from outside forces for decades. In the past 40 years, roughly 20 percent of the rainforest has been wiped out. Maretti says an additional 17 percent has been degraded to varying degrees. "We have been deforesting at enormous rates," Maretti says. The chief drivers of this deforestation are large-scale business interests involved in logging, mining, agriculture and, especially, cattle ranching. Some of this activity is sanctioned by the government; much of it is not. Greenpeace estimates as much as 80 percent of the logging is illegal. The Amazon rainforest is just one of many habitats around the world threatened by encroaching development or natural resource extraction. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates that 50,000 square miles of forest -- more than three times the size of Switzerland -- are lost each year because of clearing and degradation. The threat is particularly acute in the more tropical areas of South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Cambodia, for example, lost nearly 30 percent of its primary forests from 2000 to 2005, according to FAO. Vietnam lost close to 55 percent of its primary forests, FAO found. And Nigeria lost nearly 56 percent of its primary forests over the same period, the worst rate of forest loss in the world, according to FAO. The destruction of the Earth's oldest and richest forests is not a new phenomenon, but the rate of destruction has increased in recent decades. "Worldwide, one-half of all forests we've lost in the last 10,000 years has occurred in the last 80 years. Half of that was destroyed in the last 30 years," says Scott Paul, Forest Campaign Coordinator for Greenpeace. Paul says the chief driver of forest destruction is the buying and selling of forest products and farm products in the international market, not to meet local needs. "The timber market, and also for agriculture, mining: When it plugs into the international economic system, that's when you've got to watch it," he says. Paul would like to see a certification system so that consumers know the source and conditions under which the product they're consuming was harvested. "If you buy wine and cheese, we can tell the region and the year. But forest products have always been cut in remote and distant areas and thrown in a pipe and spit out on the other side. There is no way to determine if something came from a well-managed forest or an illegal forest where there is slavery, murder, drug trade, etc.," he says. While the story of the world's old-growth forests would appear to be one of unremitting destruction, forests lost to logging and agriculture are actually growing back in some areas, such as the northeast region of the United States and parts of Europe. This thrills some wildlife advocates who would like to see the restoration of exiled or decimated species. "Northern New England is the only place in the eastern United States where you have the potential for large-scale wilderness where wolves, lynxes | [
"What is the reason most trees are cut down?",
"For what are most trees cut down?",
"what is the count of forest lost each year?",
"What is lost each year?",
"What are some forests doing in U.S. and Europe?",
"what is coming back in US and Europe?",
"What is the number of square miles of forest lost each year?",
"Where some forests are making a comeback?"
] | [
[
"large-scale business interests involved in logging, mining, agriculture and,"
],
[
"large-scale business interests involved in logging, mining, agriculture and, especially, cattle ranching."
],
[
"50,000 square miles"
],
[
"50,000 square miles of forest"
],
[
"growing back"
],
[
"forests lost to logging"
],
[
"50,000"
],
[
"the northeast region of the United States and parts of Europe."
]
] | UN: More than 50,000 square miles of forest lost each year .
Most trees cut down for international sale .
Some forests making comeback in U.S., Europe . |
(CNN) -- The America's Cup is the oldest sporting trophy in the world, first held in 1851, forty-five years before the incarnation of the modern Olympic Games. The "Auld Mug" as it is known in the sport of sailing has attracted some of the world's most powerful men to create teams and invest millions to try and get their hands on the trophy. This month on MainSail, Shirley Robertson takes the viewer inside the world of the America's Cup, looking back to when it all started and meeting some of the major names associated with the Cup. This includes the two most successful skippers ever to compete, America's Dennis Connor and New Zealand's Russell Coutts. She also has an exclusive one to one with U.S. billionaire Larry Ellison, the man in charge of the American team, BMW Oracle Racing, who is plotting and planning how to bring the Cup back to the U.S., the nation that won every edition of the Cup from 1851 to 1983. The next America's Cup final is scheduled to be held in 2010, with Ellison and his team taking on the Defenders of the Cup, European team Alinghi. But this Cup has been a battle in the New York courts and all teams who want to compete have been locked out of the game until the head-to-head between the U.S. and Europe has been settled -- a compelling story even before the first match between the two teams has been held. When the first match takes place, it will be in the two fastest, most extreme boats ever to have competed in the America's Cup. Having already sailed the European Alinghi entry, Shirley Robertson becomes the first person in the world to have sailed both boats, as she joins the BMW Oracle Racing team in San Diego on board their spectacular multihull, and heads out for a Pacific Ocean training session. | [
"Who sailed on the team's mulihull yacht?",
"What company is Larry Ellison of?",
"Where is Dennis Connor from?",
"Where is Russell Coutts from?",
"What country is Coutts from?",
"What is the name of Ellison's team?",
"Who is the presenter"
] | [
[
"Shirley Robertson"
],
[
"BMW Oracle Racing,"
],
[
"America's"
],
[
"New Zealand's"
],
[
"New Zealand's"
],
[
"BMW Oracle Racing,"
],
[
"Shirley Robertson"
]
] | This month, the America's Cup -- the oldest sporting trophy in the world .
Interviews with America's Dennis Connor and New Zealand's Russell Coutts .
An exclusive one-to-one with U.S. billionaire Larry Ellison of BMW Oracle Racing .
Presenter Shirley Robertson sails on BMW Oracle Racing team's multihull yacht . |
(CNN) -- The American Psychological Association concluded Wednesday that there is little evidence that efforts to change a person's sexual orientation from gay or lesbian to heterosexual are effective. The report looks at 87 studies conducted between 1960 and 2007. In addition, the 138-page report -- covering 87 peer-reviewed studies -- said that such efforts may cause harm. "Contrary to claims of sexual orientation change advocates and practitioners, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation," said Judith M. Glassgold, chairwoman of the task force that presented the report at the group's annual meeting in Toronto, Canada. The Washington-based association represents more than 150,000 members. "At most, certain studies suggested that some individuals learned how to ignore or not act on their homosexual attractions. Yet, these studies did not indicate for whom this was possible, how long it lasted or its long-term mental health effects. Also, this result was much less likely to be true for people who started out only attracted to people of the same sex." In response, the group's governing Council of Representatives passed a resolution Wednesday urging mental health professionals not to recommend to their clients that they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or any other methods. The group's Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation reached its conclusion after its review of 87 studies conducted between 1960 and 2007 and finding "serious methodological problems" in the vast majority of them. Those few studies that did have "high-quality" evidence "show that enduring change to an individual's sexual orientation is uncommon," it said. In addition, the report cited evidence that efforts to switch a person's sexual orientation through aversive treatments might cause harm, including loss of sexual feeling, suicidality, depression and anxiety. Many who tried to change and failed "described their experiences as a significant cause of emotional and spiritual distress and negative self-image," it said. The six-member task force was appointed two years ago to address concerns about "efforts to promote the notion that sexual orientation can be changed through psychotherapy or approaches that mischaracterize homosexuality as a mental disorder." The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1975. The task force noted that some people attempt to change their sexual orientation because it conflicts with their religious beliefs, and recommended that their mental health care providers help them "explore possible life paths that address the reality of their sexual orientation, reduce the stigma associated with homosexuality, respect the client's religious beliefs, and consider possibilities for a religiously and spiritually meaningful and rewarding life." "In other words," said Glassgold, "we recommend that psychologists be completely honest about the likelihood of sexual orientation change, and that they help clients explore their assumptions and goals with respect to both religion and sexuality." Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, a network of more than 250 ministries that he said "reach out to men and women and families that are affected by what we call 'unwanted same-sex attraction'" disagrees. He offered himself as proof that such efforts can work. "The fact is that there are tens of thousands of men and women just like me who once identified as gay," Chambers said in a telephone interview. "For me and for these people, the truth is change is possible." Chambers said his transformation from gay man began more than 18 years ago, when he attended a support group at the organization he now leads. Chambers, who said he married a woman nearly 12 years ago, has written a book, "Leaving Homosexuality," which was published last month. "You can't refute a personal story," he said, adding that about a third of those who try to switch their sexual orientation through the group's ministries wind up doing so. "We're not talking a light switch that you turn on and off, we're talking about very deep and complex issues that, I think, take years to resolve | [
"When has homosexuality de-listed as a mental disorder?",
"What is the effect of trying to change orientation?"
] | [
[
"1975."
],
[
"may cause harm."
]
] | American Psychological Association: Trying to change orientation can be harmful .
Group urges mental health professionals not to advocate changing orientation .
Homosexuality de-listed as mental disorder in '75, but some programs still treat it .
Official with one such program says, "Change is possible" |
(CNN) -- The American man who swam to Aung San Suu Kyi's home in Myanmar said Thursday he still believes he did the right thing, even though his visit led to an extension of the pro-democracy leader's house arrest. John Yettaw told Aung San Suu Kyi he had a vision she would be murdered. John Yettaw, 53, swam across a lake to Suu Kyi's home in May and stayed for two days before authorities arrested him along with Suu Kyi and two of her staff. His presence violated the terms of Suu Kyi's house arrest -- which was about to expire -- leading a judge to extend it by another 18 months. But Yettaw said he made the trip to Yangon to save Suu Kyi from assassination, and that it was successful. What critics have described as a "stunt" brought enough attention to her plight, he said, to ensure that Suu Kyi could not be killed by the country's ruling military junta. Yettaw said on CNN's "American Morning" that he is "grateful that she's alive, grateful that the entire world is watching and there's no way these generals are ever going to try to assassinate her." To many, however, his visit did more harm than good. Some thought he might be mentally ill to attempt what he did -- an idea he rejects, though he says he can understand why people believe it. But Yettaw said he had no idea that Suu Kyi would be arrested and put on trial for something that he would do. "I wept every day and I've suffered every day" because of the punishment she received, he told CNN. He called her sentence "heartbreaking." The case of Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been the symbol of the country's opposition for two decades, first came to Yettaw's attention when he was in Thailand and saw her photograph. "I instantly had a premonition, or a vision, that I saw myself going through a lake and over a fence and was at a back door of a house," he told CNN. "Then (I) Googled from there and realized she lived next to Inya Lake and I got a visa to get into Yangon. And I thought, since this has been presented to me, I'm going to make this happen." The retired bus driver and Vietnam veteran from Missouri told his wife only that he had a premonition he would become a political prisoner in Myanmar. She told her husband not to go, but he went anyway. In November 2008, Yettaw said, he managed to swim across the lake and leave scriptures from the Book of Mormon for Suu Kyi. But later he had a vision that Suu Kyi would be assassinated, so he decided to make another trip. That was the fateful trip on May 3. "The second time that I came was the same route, in through the sewer tunnel and into the water," he said. "But this time of year the water level was much lower and I had two bags filled with a lot of stuff, and so I had to military-crawl with these two bags and I got caught. Two soldiers spotted me. "Fortunately, by the time they got close to me, I rolled over into the water with my bags which were tied together, and I literally was walking through the water and they were frightened. They, I don't think, saw me -- they saw this bag floating through the water and moving at a consistent rate, so they started throwing rocks at it. And inside I prayed, 'What do I do?' and the only response that I felt, inspiration, was 'keep walking.' And that's what I did." Yettaw managed to reach Suu Kyi's house and was able to explain that he had a vision she would be murdered. He said Suu Kyi didn't think he was crazy, and she was "absolutely" happy to see him. Yettaw was arrested and convicted of violating immigration laws, municipal | [
"Where did Yettaw travel to?",
"Who is the pro-democracy leader?",
"Who was saved from assassination?",
"what was the reason behind John Yettaw's trip to Yangon?",
"What did he say?",
"What violated her house arrest terms?",
"what did he said about?",
"How long did he stay in her house?"
] | [
[
"Suu Kyi's home"
],
[
"Aung San Suu Kyi's"
],
[
"Suu Kyi"
],
[
"save Suu Kyi from assassination,"
],
[
"\"grateful that she's alive, grateful that the entire world is watching"
],
[
"His presence"
],
[
"\"grateful that she's alive, grateful that the entire world is watching"
],
[
"two days"
]
] | John Yettaw: Made the trip to Yangon to save Suu Kyi from assassination .
Said he had no idea pro-democracy leader would be arrested and put on trial .
Yettaw had swam uninvited to Suu Kyi's house and stayed for three days .
The visit to her home violated her house arrest terms, Myanmar government says . |
(CNN) -- The Archdiocese of Dublin and other Catholic Church authorities in Ireland covered up clerical child abuse until the mid-1990s, according to a government-commissioned report released Thursday. The Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation's 720-page report said that it has "no doubt that clerical child sexual abuse was covered up" from January 1975 to May 2004, the time covered by the report. "The Dublin Archdiocese's pre-occupations in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse, at least until the mid 1990s, were the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the Church, and the preservation of its assets," the report said. "The welfare of children, which should have been the first priority, was not even a factor to be considered in the early stages," it said. "Instead the focus was on the avoidance of scandal and the preservation of the good name, status and assets of the institution and of what the institution regarded as its most important members -- the priests." Archbishop Diarmuid Martin apologized Thursday in a news conference. "No words of apology can ever be sufficient," he said. And Dermot Ahern, Ireland's justice minister, said he felt a "a growing sense of revulsion and anger" as he read the report. "Bottom line is this: A collar will protect no villain," he said. The commission was set up in March 2006 to look into allegations of child sexual abuse made against clergy in the Irish capital. Its report was completed in July. Although the commission said it was not its place to "establish whether or not abuse occurred ... it is abundantly clear ... that child sexual abuse by clerics was widespread throughout the period." One victim, Marie Collins, said those who covered up the abuse were just as guilty as the perpetrators of the crimes. "How many people accused of abuse are still sitting in parishes today?" she asked in a Thursday news conference. The commission examined the histories of 46 priests, who were picked as a sample from 102 who had had complaints or suspicions of child abuse raised against them. Complaints from more than 320 children were leveled against the 46, the report said. But it said that the number of children abused likely exceeded that. "One priest admitted to sexually abusing over 100 children, while another accepted that he had abused on a fortnightly basis during the currency of his ministry which lasted for over 25 years," the report said. "The total number of documented complaints recorded against those two priests is only just over 70." In its analysis of the 46 priests, the commission said that all four archbishops -- Archbishops John Charles McQuaid, Dermot Ryan, Kevin McNamara, and Desmond Connell -- who served during the time period covered by the report handled the child sexual abuse complaints "badly." "Not one of them reported his knowledge of child sexual abuse to the Gardai (the Irish police force) throughout the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s," the report said. The commission did credit Connell, who took over the archdiocese in 1988, with giving Irish authorities in 1995 the names of 17 priests against whom complaints had been made -- although it called the number incomplete, saying that there was "knowledge within the Archdiocese of at least 28 priests against whom there had been complaints." They said he was "slow to recognize the seriousness of the situation." Connell also gave authorities permission to access the archdiocesan files in 2002. Connell, a cardinal, apologized in a written statement. "I wish to express without reservation my bitter regret that failures on my part contributed to the suffering of victims in any form," he said. "Although I am all too aware that such apologies and expressions of regret can never be adequate as a response to so much hurt and violation and, in any case, lose their value through repetition, I apologize again now from my heart and ask the forgiveness of those who have been so shamefully harmed." The | [
"what does the report say",
"what does Archbishop Diarmuid Martin say?",
"Are religious those who abuse minors?",
"what were some of the institutions linked to?",
"in what country did this happen",
"when did abuse take place?"
] | [
[
"\"no doubt that clerical child sexual abuse was covered up\""
],
[
"\"No words of apology can ever be sufficient,\""
],
[
"Catholic Church authorities"
],
[
"child abuse"
],
[
"Ireland"
],
[
"from January 1975 to May 2004,"
]
] | New report examines abuse abuse between January 1975 and May 2004 .
Earlier report detailed allegations of child abuse in institutions across Ireland .
Some of those institutions were linked to religious orders .
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin: "No words of apology can be sufficient" |
(CNN) -- The Arctic as we know it may soon be a thing of the past. Musk ox in the Arctic check the spread of shrubs to the High Arctic, but promote grass growth. That's the message from Eric Post, lead scientist of a new report into the effects of climate change on life in the Arctic. Published in "Science" magazine, Post and his team of international scientist conducted the study during the fourth International Polar Year that ended in 2008. "It seems no matter where you look -- on the ground, in the air, or in the water -- we're seeing signs of rapid change," said Post in a press statement. The report found that flora and fauna of the Arctic are responding in various ways to the region's changes in climate over the last 150 years, and more recently the 20 to 30 years where seasonal minimal sea ice coverage has declined by 45,000 square kilometers per year. With the decline in sea ice and snow, animals usually seen at lower latitudes are being found in more northerly regions, including red foxes that have been displacing native Arctic foxes. View the gallery of Arctic life affected by climate change » The report found that some native Arctic species have also benefited from climate change, including wild reindeer on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. With less snow cover and a longer growing season, these non-migratory reindeer have taken advantage of the increased plant abundance, with the result that reindeer populations and their ability to reproduce are up, while mortality is down. But other animals are not adapting well to rising temperatures and the effect on delicate ecosystems. Migratory caribou in low Arctic Greenland and elsewhere are declining in number as they have not been able to keep their calving season in synch with changes in plant growth. With the decline in caribou comes a knock-on effect to native Inuit hunters, according to the report's authors. Hotter summers could result in more insects and parasites that prey on the caribou, which could then also reduce the annual caribou harvest by local indigenous peoples. "Inuit hunters at my study site in Greenland have all but given up on hunting caribou there. What will be the next component to disappear from their traditional lifestyle, a lifestyle that has worked for thousands of years?" said Post. Iconic Arctic animals dependent sea ice, including Pacific walrus, ringed seal, hooded seal, ivory gull, narwhal and polar bear, are faring especially badly, said the report. The researchers found that polar bears and ringed seals, both of which give birth in lairs or caves under the snow, lose many newborn pups when the lairs collapse in unusually early spring rains. These species may be headed for extinction, said the report. | [
"What did the study on Arctic find about temperatures?",
"What species are threatened by declining sea ice?",
"What is benefiting from rising temperatures?",
"When did the Fourth International Polar Year take place?",
"What has a new study found?",
"What species are being threatened?"
] | [
[
"rising"
],
[
"Pacific walrus, ringed seal, hooded seal, ivory gull, narwhal and polar bear,"
],
[
"reindeer populations and their ability to reproduce are up, while mortality is down."
],
[
"2008."
],
[
"flora and fauna of the Arctic are responding in various ways to the region's changes in climate over the last 150 years,"
],
[
"Pacific walrus, ringed seal, hooded seal, ivory gull, narwhal"
]
] | New study on Arctic changing temperatures finds dramatic changes to region .
Conducted during Fourth International Polar Year that ended in 2008 .
Some animals and plant life benefiting from rising temperatures .
Dramatic decline in sea ice threatening iconic species like polar bear . |
(CNN) -- The Arkansas weatherman found last week in a hot tub alongside a man's lifeless, naked body is hoping autopsy results and other evidence will soon clear his name, his lawyer said Monday.
Mark Hampton said his client, Brett Cummins, resigned Friday from his position as a meteorologist at KARK, which is based in Little Rock.
"The station was getting continuing inquiries, and Brett thought it would be best if he resigned," Hampton said, adding that the resignation was done orally after his client contacted the station.
In a statement on its website, KARK confirmed that Cummins' tenure at the station ended Friday afternoon.
Authorities have not charged him, or anyone else, in the death of Dexter Paul Williams, 24.
Christopher Barbour, 36, said he awoke Monday morning in his home outside Little Rock to find Williams' body at the bottom of an empty tub, his face blue and purple and a chain around his neck, a Maumelle Police Department report said.
Cummins, 33, was asleep next to the corpse, whose head was lying behind the meteorologist's shoulder, Barbour told police, according to a report by Officer Gregory Roussie. The witness said he awakened Cummins, who screamed and ran to the living room, where he vomited next to the couch after noticing Williams' discolored face and cold skin.
The previous night, Williams and Cummins arrived together at Barbour's house, Barbour told police. Once there, the three had drunk alcohol and snorted illegal narcotics, though Barbour could not identify the drugs, according to the report.
Last week, Williams' family issued a statement through their lawyer Thomas Nichols that said, "Dex had a very loving but trusting heart. Anyone who knew him would agree that he was easily influenced."
Hampton had identified Williams as Cummins' friend, but on Monday the lawyer said that -- heeding his advice -- the weatherman had not contacted the dead man's family.
No arrests had been made, but an investigation is under way, Lt. Jim Hansard said last week. "We don't have a crime -- yet," he said. "That's part of the investigation."
Arkansas State Crime Laboratory Director Kermit Channell said Monday that Williams' autopsy examination "should be finished up," anticipating that a final report will be ready "in the next week or so." After that, it will up to the local law enforcement agency overseeing the case -- the Maumelle Police Department -- to decide whether the autopsy results will remain confidential or be released to the public, Channell said.
CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report. | [
"What was Cummins found alongside in a tub?",
"Who received all the inquiries?",
"What was found in the tub a week ago?",
"what job did Brett Cummins resign from",
"what was Brett Cummins found alongside",
"Who resigned as a meteorologist?",
"Who resigned on Friday",
"Which day did Brett Cummins resign?",
"What is the name of the meterologist who resigned at KARK?"
] | [
[
"man's lifeless, naked body"
],
[
"\"The station"
],
[
"a man's lifeless, naked body"
],
[
"meteorologist at KARK,"
],
[
"man's lifeless, naked body"
],
[
"Brett Cummins,"
],
[
"Brett Cummins,"
],
[
"Friday"
],
[
"Brett Cummins,"
]
] | Brett Cummins resigned Friday from his job as a meteorologist at KARK, his lawyer says .
Given all the inquiries to KARK, Cummins "thought it ... best" if he quit, adds the attorney .
He was found in a tub one week ago alongside a dead body, according to a police report .
No one has been arrested, and lawyer says he hopes inquiry will clear his client . |
(CNN) -- The Australian cruiser met the disguised German vessel in the waters off western Australia two years after the two became enemies in World War II. The gun turret of the Sydney II was discovered with the rest of the vessel in March 2008. The Australian ship approached, trying to determine whether the vessel was friendly. It wasn't. What resulted was Australia's worst naval disaster: the sinking of the Australian ship and the loss of its entire crew of 645. The wreckage wasn't found until last year, leading to decades of conspiracy theories about what actually happened. On Wednesday a long-awaited report on the sinking of the Sydney II ended the mystery that began when it met its fate, November 19, 1941. Made to look like a cargo ship, the German vessel was in fact a military raider that fired on the Australians when they got close. The Sydney fired back and, in the end, both ships went down. More than 300 of the sailors on board the German vessel, the Kormoran, survived. But because they were the only witnesses to the disaster, some doubted their accounts, leading to various theories about the real fate of the Sydney. After the wrecks of both ships were located in March 2008, an Australian commission began an inquiry to formally close the book on the loss of the Sydney. The results confirm the accounts provided by the German sailors. They said the Sydney closed in on the Kormoran until it was parallel with the German ship, little more than 1,000 yards away. "Sydney obviously thought the ship was friendly and was taken by surprise when, after she asked what she believed to be (a friendly ship) to give her secret call sign, the response was a number of salvos that destroyed Sydney's bridge and amidships superstructure and a torpedo strike that crippled the ship and her forward guns," the report said. The Sydney had given up its tactical advantage of speed and armaments by getting so close to an unknown vessel, the report said. While that may have been an error of judgment by the Australian captain, Joseph Burnett, the report accepted that other factors -- which may never be known -- influenced his decision. "It can never be known what matters were, in fact, operating in Capt. Burnett's mind when he decided to take the Sydney to the position described. Nor can it be known what advice, if any, he sought from or was given by other officers on the bridge," the report says. "What is known, however, is that, in trying to identify the sighted ship, Capt. Burnett was performing his duty as a commanding officer." The German ship inflicted "enormous damage" on the Sydney during a battle that is believed to have lasted about 35 minutes and left 70 percent of the Sydney's crew dead or incapacitated, said Cmdr. Jack Rush, the lawyer who presented the evidence gathered by investigators to a commission of inquiry led by a retired judge. It is likely that Burnett, the navigator, and all of the Sydney's senior officers were taken out on the first salvo, Rush said. A torpedo tore into the Sydney's bow, flooding the forward end of the ship, while the Kormoran fired an estimated 87 rounds from its 15-cm (5.9-inch) guns into the Australian cruiser. The Sydney limped away and sank sometime between 2 hours to 4 1/2 hours later, Rush said. During the battle, however, the Kormoran itself was hit by an Australian shell that damaged its engines and set the vessel ablaze. With hundreds of mines aboard, its captain ordered the crew to abandon ship, fearing the fire would set those off. Charges were set and the ship was scuttled. About 80 of the Kormoran's crew of nearly 400 were lost. A search began only five days after the battle, when the Sydney failed to return to port in Fremantle. And an 11-day delay by Australia's government in announcing the ship's loss fueled what a 1999 parliamentary report called "a proliferation of theories" about the | [
"What has been described as Australia's worst naval disaster?",
"How many crew died?",
"When were the deaths likely to have taken place?",
"When was the wreckage found?",
"What was the name of the German vessel",
"How many people survived on kormoran?",
"How many died in the cruise sinking",
"What was the German ship made look like?",
"how many died in sinking os sydney?",
"how many survived on the kormoran?",
"what german vessel was made to look like cargo ship?",
"How many people were lost in the worst naval disaster?",
"What German vessel was made to look like a cargo ship?"
] | [
[
"sinking of the Australian ship and the loss of its entire crew of 645."
],
[
"645."
],
[
"November 19, 1941."
],
[
"last year,"
],
[
"Kormoran"
],
[
"300"
],
[
"645."
],
[
"a cargo"
],
[
"the loss of its entire crew of 645."
],
[
"More than 300 of the sailors"
],
[
"Kormoran,"
],
[
"645."
],
[
"Kormoran,"
]
] | Finding: Sydney's captain, senior officers likely to have died in first salvo .
Sinking of Sydney II and loss of crew of 645 was Australia's worst naval disaster .
German vessel, the Kormoran, was made to look like a cargo ship .
Both ships went down; more than 300 on Kormoran survived; wrecks found last year . |
(CNN) -- The Australian government apologized Wednesday for years of "mistreatment" that inflicted "profound grief, suffering and loss" on the country's Aboriginal people.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes the apology on Wednesday from inside Parliament.
New Prime Minister Kevin Rudd read the apology Wednesday to Aborigines and the "Stolen Generations" of children who were taken from their families.
"To the mothers and fathers, to the brothers and sisters we say sorry. And for the indignity and degradation on a proud people and a proud culture we say sorry."
For 60 years, until 1970, the Australian government took mixed-race Aboriginal children from their families and put them in dormitories or industrial schools, claiming it was protecting them.
As a result of the policy, "stolen" children lost contact with their families and heritage, received poor education, lived in harsh conditions, and often endured abuse. Watch one of these "stolen" children discuss this legacy »
"There is nothing I can say today that will take away the pain... Words are not that powerful," Rudd said in the Australian Parliament.
He said that the apology was the start of a new approach towards Aborigines which included helping them find their lost families, closing pay gaps and a 17-year difference in life expectancy between Aborigines and white Australians. Watch Rudd make the apology »
He said new policies would be introduced to provide better healthcare and education to Aborigines.
"The mood of the nation is for reconciliation now," Rudd said. Watch why this apology is considered significant »
The policy was largely a secret until a decade ago, when a government inquiry and high-profile movie exposed it. That sparked a mass movement, supported by many white Australians, demanding an apology.
Former Prime Minister John Howard refused to offer an apology, saying the current generation should not be held accountable for past misdeeds. He instead issued a statement of regret.
Rudd, who defeated Howard last November, made an apology part of his election campaign. Howard's successor as leader of the Liberal Party, Brendan Nelson, supported the apology Wednesday.
"The apology ... is ... very much just the first step," said a spokeswoman for Jenny Macklin, the minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
"We have serious inequalities between indigenous and nonindigenous Australians. The apology is symbolic, but there's a lot of hard work to be done to reverse those inequalities."
Mary Farrell-Hooker counts herself among the Stolen Generations and is now a spokeswoman for an Aboriginal activist group.
She is of mixed race and was one of 12 children of alcoholic parents. Her father was in jail for raping her sister when her mother was hospitalized after a suicide attempt.
"The police came to the school and told me they were taking me to the hospital to see my mom," Farrell-Hooker told CNN. "We never went to the hospital."
Instead, Mary, then 12, was taken to a series of foster centers. At one of them, she said, she was repeatedly raped by a white "house father."
"He would actually come into the room and force himself onto me, rape me, molest me," she said. "If I didn't do what he wanted, he would threaten to do the same to my sister and (threaten to) split us up."
Her parents came to find her, she said, but were repeatedly turned away. She tried to run away but said the police always returned her to her tormentor.
Aboriginal people have been waiting decades for an apology, and the Australian public appear to welcome the government's move, according to CNN's Jacqueline Head in Sydney.
Head said many Australians believe saying sorry is long overdue, but some doubts remain over what it will achieve in the long term -- whether it will help open doors for Aboriginal people seeking rights and compensation or whether it will fail to secure indigenous people a better future.
Some white Australians don't believe | [
"What did Rudd say?",
"¿To those who Rudd apologizes?",
"Kevin Rudd made?",
"Who apologises to thousands of aborigines?",
"What does the apology envision?"
] | [
[
"sorry. And for the indignity and degradation on a proud people and a proud culture we"
],
[
"Aboriginal people."
],
[
"the apology"
],
[
"Australian government"
],
[
"to Aborigines and the \"Stolen Generations\" of children who were taken from their families."
]
] | NEW: PM Kevin Rudd apologizes to thousands of Aborigines .
NEW: Rudd: "For the indignity and degradation ... on a proud people ... we say sorry"
NEW: Apology envisions future where gaps among "all Australians" are closed . |
(CNN) -- The Baptist minister who was fatally shot Sunday as he led services at a church in suburban Saint Louis, Missouri, was carrying out work he believed in fervently, a church official said Monday.
The Web site for First Baptist Church of Maryville includes a photo of slain Pastor Fred Winters.
"I believe that he would want us to know that he died doing exactly what he believed passionately about," Worship and Music Pastor Mark Jones told reporters outside First Baptist Church in Maryville, Illinois, about Pastor Fred Winters, who was killed the day before.
Jones expressed gratitude for an overwhelming response from the public that has included more than 1,000 e-mails of support.
They will be compiled "into a huge book of love" to be given to Winters' widow, he said.
Investigators have charged Terry J. Sedlacek, 27, with first-degree murder in the killing.
Sedlacek was further charged with two counts of aggravated battery related to the stabbing of parishioners Terry Bullard and Keith Melton. Their wounds were not life-threatening, said Illinois State Police spokesman Ralph Timmins.
Sedlacek himself was seriously wounded in the melee, Timmins said Sunday.
Asked what led Sedlacek to the church, Jones said, "We're scratching our heads on that one." Watch response of grieving church »
Jones said another church official visited Sedlacek's family on Monday. "We wanted them to know that we're praying for them, we're praying for the attacker," Jones said.
Speaking of Sedlacek, Jones added, "Maybe he, too, needs to go back to the Bible and read the book and ask the question, 'Is this really God's word? Do I need to reconsider some things?' " Watch aftermath of shooting in church »
Winters and the gunman exchanged words before the gunman fired four shots during Sunday morning services, hitting the minister's Bible and then hitting Winters himself, said Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent.
"The only thing we know is that the suspect said something to the pastor, and the pastor said something back to him -- we don't know what that was," Trent told reporters Sunday. "It was almost as if the pastor may have recognized him, but we're not sure about that at all."
Trent said the gunman's .45-caliber pistol jammed after he shot Winters. The man then pulled out a knife before being subdued by some of the approximately 150 worshippers attending the church in southern Illinois.
"When he was tackled by two of the members, we don't know whether he fell on the knife, injuring himself at the time, or whether [his injury] was self-inflicted during the struggle," Trent said. Watch police describe "heroic action" of parishioners »
Trent said police were trying to determine a motive in the shooting, noting that church members did not recognize the gunman.
Last August, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch profiled Sedlacek in a story it did about Lyme disease.
His mother, Ruth Abernathy, told the newspaper he began acting strangely during his junior year in high school; he seemed confused and stopped participating in activities that had interested him. The newspaper identified him as a resident of the Troy, Illinois, in suburban St. Louis.
Abernathy told the paper her son was initially diagnosed with mental illness and then later diagnosed with Lyme disease.
Lyme disease diagnosis, effects and treatment has caused disagreement in the medical community.
A spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that mental illness associated with Lyme disease is highly unusual, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America said Lyme disease "is not known to cause violent behavior."
But a study published in 2002 in the American Journal of Psychiatry and carried out in the Czech Republic found that 36 percent of 900 psychiatric subjects had antibodies to the bacterium linked to Lyme disease, versus 18 percent of 900 healthy control subjects.
The Illinois shooting is believed to be the nation's first in a church since July, when a 58-year-old | [
"In what manner did Winters die?",
"when Police: Attacker, two worshippers?",
"Who is charged with murder?",
"who was charged"
] | [
[
"fatally shot"
],
[
"church in suburban"
],
[
"Terry J. Sedlacek,"
],
[
"Terry J. Sedlacek,"
]
] | NEW: Fred Winters "died doing exactly what he believed passionately about"
What led to attack? "We're scratching our heads," says Music Pastor Mark Jones .
Terry J. Sedlacek , 27, charged with murder in Winters' death, aggravated battery .
Police: Attacker, two worshippers who tried to subdue him suffered knife wounds . |
(CNN) -- The Beatles first appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" 44 years ago. It's also been 44 years since the Beatles held the five top positions of the Billboard pop chart, a feat never achieved before -- or since.
Ringo Starr wishes peace and love to everyone following Larry King singing "Happy Birthday" to him.
But no time has passed since one of the Beatles, Ringo Starr, was playing up on stage.
The drummer's 68th birthday Monday coincided with his 10th "Ringo Starr and his All Stars" tour. In honor of the day, he asked people to take a moment at noon for peace and love. Thousands joined him in Chicago to do just that.
He also celebrated his birthday on "Larry King Live," talking with King about Beatlemania, his new album and the tour. The following is an edited version of the interview:
KING: How did you come up with the idea [of peace and love]?
RINGO STARR: Oh it came in a dream -- flaming pie.
It's just -- I just thought it would be a nice thing when, you know, because it's my birthday and I'm on tour, everybody is saying what do you want for your birthday? So I thought well, why not at noon doesn't everybody go "peace and love"? Watch people celebrate Starr's birthday in London »
KING: That was something the Beatles were always concerned with, weren't they, those kind of themes?
STARR: Well, yes. It was part of our generation, of the '60s -- middle '60s, of course and, you know, with flower power and peace and love and that -- I'm just keeping it rolling. That's what I'm doing.
KING: Why do you perform?
STARR: I perform because that's what I do. When I was 13, the dream was to be a drummer. I didn't want to be a guitarist or anything else. I wanted to be a drummer. That happened.
I started playing with local musicians and I always wanted to play with the best musicians around. I ended up in the biggest band in the world with the best musicians. I'm still doing it now. The dream unfolds all the time. I love to play. I love to perform. It's a lot of fun, and it just happens to be what I do.
KING: But it's never a grind?
STARR: No. Hotels are a grind. The traveling's always a grind. The good things that come out of that is that for ... two hours and 15 minutes a night, you get a chance to just have a great time.
KING: How is the all-star band picked?
STARR: I picked them because the first rule is that you have to have had a hit in the '60s, which I had, '70s, which I had, '80s or '90s. We're the best 1-800-band that goes live.
You know, Colin Hay from Men at Work, Edgar Winter, Billy Squier, Gary Wright [with] "Dream Weaver," Hamish [Stuart] from the Average White Band. Everybody on stage has had hits. The thing is, for the summer collectively, we all get together and support each other. I play on all their songs. They play on mine. Some of them I do from the front. I have this other drummer, Greg Bissonette, who is great. He does those and then I get up and play the drums. I win both ways.
KING: Your latest CD is "Liverpool 8," and it is probably -- not probably, it's definitely the most personal of your albums. Why did you do it?
STARR: You're a writer, I write with friends. People are talking about the actual title track, "Liverpool 8," which was about my life. The first verse, I was a sailor first; I | [
"Ringo Starr is how old on Monday?",
"What did Ringo Starr celebrate on Monday",
"What is the name of the tour?",
"Where was Ringo when the celebration happened",
"What is the name of the new CD?",
"what is the name of Ringo Starr's new CD"
] | [
[
"68th"
],
[
"68th birthday"
],
[
"\"Ringo Starr and his All Stars\""
],
[
"Chicago"
],
[
"\"Liverpool 8,\""
],
[
"\"Liverpool 8,\""
]
] | Ringo Starr's 68th birthday on Monday prompted him to ask for peace and love .
Starr was in Chicago on his 10th "Ringo Starr and his All Stars" tour .
King says Starr's new CD "Liverpool 8" is the most personal of his albums .
"It was incredible," Starr says of his Beatles days . |
(CNN) -- The Billings, Montana, City Council will take up the issue of regulating medical marijuana on Monday night in a meeting expected to be intense in the wake of the firebombings of two of the city's medical marijuana storefronts in the last two days.
The southern Montana city's dispensaries legally provide marijuana to medical patients who use it for maladies from glaucoma to nausea to lack of appetite. In the latest incidents, the phrase "Not in our town" was spray-painted on the businesses, police say.
Police Sgt. Kevin Iffland said Big Sky Patient Care was hit early Sunday morning and Montana Therapeutics was the target early Monday. Both had a rock thrown through the front door, followed by a Molotov cocktail. In both cases, Iffland said, the fire was put out swiftly and damage was not extensive.
Iffland said Billings police are working with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and that the two firebombs are being handled as felony arsons carrying sentences of up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
The attacks on the storefronts come as the Billings City Council considers a moratorium on licensing new dispensaries while it works up a regulatory ordinance.
Sixty-two percent of Montanans voted in 2004 to allow caregivers to grow marijuana for qualified patients, but the state law said nothing about distribution. In that absence, municipalities and county governments began licensing the establishments on their own.
But, Iffland said, Billings was ill-prepared for the number of applications and has very little regulation in place. Billings, he said, is a town of about 100,000 and has had nearly 90 applications for medical marijuana storefronts -- and some residents are angry. He fully expected a heated council meeting.
Meanwhile, investigators are still reviewing evidence in the firebombings and are working with one of the businesses that has surveillance video but is reluctant to hand over the tape because of privacy concerns.
While the investigation is ongoing, police have stepped up patrols in the areas where the medical marijuana storefronts are located, Iffland said. | [
"how many of Montanans voted?",
"What was allowed after the vote in 04?",
"What was spray-painted on the businesses?",
"When did they vote?",
"What percentage of Montanans voted in favor of the law?",
"What percentage of Montanans voted?",
"What was sprayed on the businesses?",
"What did the police say?",
"which city council is working on a regular?"
] | [
[
"Sixty-two percent"
],
[
"caregivers to grow marijuana for qualified patients,"
],
[
"\"Not in our town\""
],
[
"Monday night"
],
[
"Sixty-two"
],
[
"Sixty-two percent"
],
[
"\"Not in our town\""
],
[
"\"Not in our town\" was spray-painted on the businesses,"
],
[
"Billings, Montana,"
]
] | "Not in our town" was spray-painted on the businesses, police say .
62 percent of Montanans voted in '04 to allow caregivers to grow marijuana .
Billings City Council is working on a regulatory ordinance . |
(CNN) -- The Boeing 777 is the mainstay of many airlines' long-haul fleets and has never been involved in a fatal accident during its service history. British Airways aircrew fly the Royal Standard from the flight deck of the Boeing 777 aircraft. The aircraft first entered service on June 7, 1995, with more than 900 suppliers from 17 countries coming together to provide the more than three million parts needed in its construction, according to the Boeing Web site. Since its inaugural flight, Boeing has extended the 777 family to five commercial passenger models and a freighter version, collectively making more than two million flights. The aircraft seats between 301 and 368 passengers in a three-class configuration and can fly distances up to 17,500 kilometers. The 777 has also won a number of design awards, as well as setting a number of records and firsts. On November 9 and 10, 2005, a Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner set a new world record for distance traveled non-stop by a commercial jetliner. The 777-200LR set a record distance of 21,601 km on a route traveling eastbound from Hong Kong to London Heathrow. The flight lasted 22 hours and 42 minutes. The achievements was recognized by the U.S. National Aeronautics Association, The Federation Aeronautique Internationale and the Guinness Book of Records. The Federation eéronautique Internationale recognized the Boeing 777 in April 1997 for achieving a speed and distance record for airplanes in its size and class. The Boeing Web site claims the 777 set the "Great Circle Distance Without Landing" record, traveling 20,044 km, and it set the record for "Speed Around the World, Eastbound," traveling at an average speed of 889 km per hour. According to Boeing the aircraft reached 500 deliveries by 2005 -- faster than any other twin-aisle commercial airplane in history. Boeing prides itself on the 777's landing gear, which it claims is the largest ever incorporated into a commercial aircraft. Each main landing gear is fitted with six wheels, while the nose gear has two. E-mail to a friend | [
"When did the Boeing 777 enter service?",
"What record was set in 2005?",
"What world record did the Boeing 777 set in 2005?",
"When did the Boeing 777 aircraft first enter service?",
"What world record did a Boeing 777 set in 2005?",
"When did the Boeing 777 first enter service?",
"When did a 777 set a new world record for distance traveled non-stop?"
] | [
[
"June 7, 1995,"
],
[
"by a commercial jetliner."
],
[
"distance traveled non-stop"
],
[
"June 7, 1995,"
],
[
"by a commercial jetliner."
],
[
"June 7, 1995,"
],
[
"November 9 and 10, 2005,"
]
] | The Boeing 777 aircraft first entered service on June 7, 1995 .
First airplane U.S. (FAA) approved for extended-range twin-engine operations .
Engineers designed, electronically pre-assembled the 777 using computers .
In 2005, a Boeing 777 set a new world record for distance traveled non-stop . |
(CNN) -- The California Highway Patrol officer who responded last week to an emergency call about a runaway Toyota Prius described the driver as visibly shaking and said he "appeared to be in shock" once the car came to a stop, according to the police report released Wednesday.
The Prius' driver, Jim Sikes, called 911 on March 8 after he said his accelerator became stuck as he tried to pass a slower vehicle. For about 20 minutes, Sikes said, he was unable to gain control of the car as it reached speeds in excess of 90 mph on a winding, hilly portion of Interstate 8 outside of San Diego. He said he repeatedly pressing down on the brakes and trying to lift the gas pedal to no avail.
In the police report, responding Officer Todd Neibert said he "could smell the heated brakes which indicated they had been used extensively" and said he saw the brake lights periodically illuminate as he came upon the car.
When he pulled alongside the car, "I could see the driver sat up off his seat indicating that he was possibly applying the brake pedal using his body weight." He said the Prius slowed slightly -- down to about 85 mph -- before accelerating again to 95 mph, according to the report.
"The driver looked over at me briefly and appeared to be in a panicked state," Neibert's report said.
Eventually, Neibert used the patrol car's public address system to instruct Sikes to apply the brakes and the emergency brake at the same time. That tactic worked, and he was able to stop the car.
"The driver ... was visibly shaking and breathing deeply," the report said. "He appeared to be in shock."
Upon searching the car, Neibert found "a large amount of brake dust and brake pad material in and around the wheels," the report said.
Toyota technicians investigating the incident were unable to recreate the same condition, according to a draft congressional memo obtained earlier this week by CNN.
In addition, Sikes' claims that he slammed on the brake while his gas pedal was stuck to the floor do "not appear to be feasibly possible," the memo said.
David Justo of Toyota Motor Sales headquarters, described in the memo as Toyota's residential hybrid expert, said that if the gas pedal of the car was stuck to the floor, and the driver applied the brake, the engine would shut down.
The memo said before Sikes' vehicle could be tested, technicians had to replace rotors, brakes and pads, as the pads and rotors were worn down.
Contacted by CNN on Sunday, Sikes said he stands by his story. He declined to comment further. | [
"Who responded last week to emergency call?",
"Who was visibly shaken?",
"What were Toyota technicians unable to do?",
"who is jim sikes"
] | [
[
"California Highway Patrol officer"
],
[
"the driver"
],
[
"recreate the same condition,"
],
[
"Prius' driver,"
]
] | CHP officer responded last week to emergency call about runaway Toyota Prius .
He said driver of car was visibly shaking and appeared to be in shock after car stopped .
Toyota technicians investigating incident unable to recreate circumstances .
Driver Jim Sikes stands by his recollection of runaway incident . |
(CNN) -- The California runner who was lost in a forest for three days without water had barely a few hours to go before she would have died, her doctor said Thursday. Runner Maria "Gina" Natero-Armenta, 36, survived for three days without water in a California forest. Maria "Gina" Natero-Armento, 36, not only survived 72 hours with only a slice of apple in her stomach and a little bit of water for nourishment, she also has only one functioning kidney, Dr. Derrick Hong said. He spoke with CNN on Thursday afternoon, along with Natero-Armento and her husband, Armando Armento, in a conference call interview from her room at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California. Natero-Armento is no amateur when it comes to distance or mountain running. She's one of the top female finishers in a San Diego 100-mile race and an experienced ultrarunner with top times in other 100-mile and 50-mile races. Her body was unusually strong to begin with, but she also has one kidney -- the other doesn't function because of a congenital disorder. "This is extraordinary," Hung said. She said she had planned a simple eight-mile run, a small fraction of what the ultrarunner usually tackles in a sport that challenges competitors to run at least farther than a 26.2-mile marathon. She is among the majority of ultrarunners who like doing 100-mile races. She set out from her Oceanside home at 5:30 a.m. Sunday to meet Fidel Diaz, her running partner and brother-in-law, who is also a serious ultrarunner. They planned to run along a trail in the the Cleveland National Forest near San Diego. She brought along two water bottles and wore a Camelpak, a backpack that can be filled with water. That was plenty of water for an eight-mile outing. She didn't bring food with her, but Natero-Armento said she ate a piece of apple before she started, and that was the only food in her stomach. Natero-Armento said she did several things that were out of character that day, and she wishes she had been more prepared. "I am very careful usually, but that particular day, I was not," she said. "I normally, the night before the long runs, I have everything ready. And this night, I had nothing ready, and it was just a mistake." She usually wears a Garmin GPS watch, a sophisticated device that runners use to find out where they are, the distance they have traveled, calories burned and altitude. "I didn't have my Garmin and wasn't wearing a watch," she said. "I don't know. I always carry food with me, and I didn't have nearly enough." "I always carry my phone with me, and I didn't have my phone with me, and that really was a big mistake," she said. Feeling antsy to just get on the trail and run, she wasn't thinking deliberately. "I just wanted to get going that day; get some fresh air and go for a run. I hurried up." Natero-Armento and Diaz began running about 6:30 a.m. Sunday, she said. She lost track of as much as eight hours, she said, as she and Diaz became lost. By then, she was dehydrated and disoriented. And Natero-Armento said she also made another, more serious bad decision. At some point in the run, Diaz had become ill. Ultrarunning is a sport in which some participants sometimes push themselves way too hard. "[He was] pretty much beside me or in front of me, but I do know that I was insisting on keeping going since I was OK," she said. "He doesn't eat or drink much ever [when out on runs], so I know he can handle that." She said that she kept going because she'd seen him run hard while sick -- also not uncommon in 50- and 100-mile races -- and that she figured | [
"What age is Maria \"Gina\" Natero-Armento?",
"She and her running partner say they got lost where?",
"who is natero - armento",
"who he was lost in the forest"
] | [
[
"36,"
],
[
"in a California forest."
],
[
"California runner"
],
[
"Maria \"Gina\" Natero-Armenta,"
]
] | Maria "Gina" Natero-Armento, 36, had no food or water for days .
She and her running partner say they got lost in Cleveland National Forest .
She was found in a ravine Wednesday by a rescue helicopter . |
(CNN) -- The Canadian government hopes to overturn a decision granting refugee status to a white South African who says he would face persecution at home, a spokesman for Canada's immigration minister said Friday.
The Immigration and Refugee Board recently granted refugee status to Brandon Huntley, 31, a South African native who has been living illegally in Canada.
The board decided to let him live and work legally in Canada after Huntley argued he had been the victim of racial violence and discrimination in South Africa. The board operates independently of the Canadian government.
The ruling African National Congress in South Africa blasted the decision as racist and said it would "only serve to perpetuate racism." Watch how the South African government has condemned the ruling »
Now the Canadian government plans to ask federal courts to overturn the decision, said Alykhan Velshi, a spokesman for Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
"It's important to stress that this isn't the minister's decision nor that of the government," Velshi said in a statement Friday. "It was a decision taken by the quasi-judicial, independent Immigration and Refugee Board. I will leave it to them to defend the quality of their decisions."
He declined further comment "because the matter is now before the courts."
A spokesman for the Immigration and Refugee Board earlier also had declined to comment on the grounds that refugee claims are confidential.
However, a member of the board's Refugee Protection Division, William Davis, has written in The Toronto Star that the board found that Huntley's case demonstrated "a picture of indifference and inability or unwillingness" by South Africa to protect "white South Africans from persecution by African South Africans."
About 79 percent of South Africans are black; 9.6 percent are white.
Huntley's attorney, Russell Kaplan, said his client had been attacked seven times by black South Africans who called him a "settler" and a "white dog."
"In each instance, there were racially motivated remarks that were made -- that's what distinguishes this case from ordinary criminality," Kaplan said.
The African National Congress has a different view.
"We find the claim by Huntley to have been attacked seven times by Africans due to his skin color -- without any police intervention -- sensational and alarming," the ANC said in a statement this week.
Kaplan is a human rights lawyer in Canada who left South Africa 20 years ago to escape the apartheid government's discrimination against black South Africans.
"Twenty years later, we have this case that involves the exact opposite," he said this week.
Newspaper clippings were presented as evidence of life in South Africa during the August 18 hearing, South Africa's The Times reported.
Kaplan's sister, who came to Canada last year, testified about "the torture and murder" of their brother, who was killed by robbers in 1997, the newspaper reported.
The ANC said the current government under President Jacob Zuma is committed to fighting crime "regardless of color or creed."
The South African government would have preferred Canada seek its view "before such a decision was made," South African Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa told The Times.
"Quite clearly, the allegations are as preposterous as they are laughable -- which they would be if they were not serious," he told the newspaper. | [
"Who asked courts to overturn the decision?",
"What has authorized the Canadian immigration?",
"Who faced violence and discrimination in south africa?",
"What Brandon Huntley says?",
"Who blasted decision as racist?",
"What did Brandon Huntley say?",
"Who granted refugee status to Huntley?"
] | [
[
"Canadian government"
],
[
"Immigration and Refugee Board"
],
[
"Brandon Huntley,"
],
[
"he had been the victim of racial violence and discrimination in South Africa."
],
[
"African National Congress in South Africa"
],
[
"he had been the victim of racial violence and discrimination in South Africa."
],
[
"Immigration and"
]
] | Brandon Huntley says he faced racial violence and discrimination in South Africa .
Canadian immigration board recently granted refugee status to Huntley .
South African government blasted decision as racist .
Canadian government asks courts to overturn independent board's decision . |
(CNN) -- The Cannes Film Festival entrusted its opening to a Pixar film, and the animation studio did not disappoint. An adventurous boy and a cranky man travel by unusual means in the new Pixar film "Up." Pixar, which has produced such gems as "Toy Story," "The Incredibles" and "WALL-E," introduced its latest feature, "Up," on Wednesday night at the French movie celebration. By critics' reckonings, Pixar has never released a bad film, and those who saw "Up," its 10th feature, say the studio's perfect record is still intact. The film is a "captivating odd-couple adventure that becomes funnier and more exciting as it flies along," wrote Variety's Todd McCarthy. "The two leading men are 78 and 8 years old, and the age range of those who will appreciate the picture is even a bit wider than that." Gallery: Pixar in pictures » "It's a terrific family adventure," wrote Peter Bradshaw of Britain's The Guardian. "The 3-D presentation gives it a real boost, but this film is airborne because of the traditional strengths: story, characterization and inventive animation with the old-fashioned values of clarity and simplicity." See the excitement of Cannes' opening » "Up" concerns Carl Fredericksen, a balloon seller voiced by Ed Asner. Faced with eviction after his wife dies, Fredericksen decides to uproot himself -- literally -- by attaching hundreds of balloons to his house and flying it to South America. However, it turns out he's not alone. A stowaway -- a Junior Wilderness Explorer named Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai) -- is in the house as well, and the two of them become mutually dependent after landing a continent away. The film opens May 29 in the United States. Cannes audiences are notoriously vocal. They'll whistle if they're unhappy -- a French version of a boo -- and a movie that doesn't meet the audience's high standards will be treated to the repeated "whop" sounds of theater seats banging shut as patrons leave. "Up," on the other hand, received little but cheers. CNN's Natasha Curry, who's at the festival, reports a morning screening concluded with applause. It's an unlikely film to be opening Cannes. Not only is it animated, it's animated by computer -- and, in some theaters, it will be shown in 3-D. Those are all firsts for a Cannes curtain raiser. But the Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan told CNN that "Up" fits in with Cannes' aspirations. "Cannes likes to be seen as innovative, likes to be seen as embracing something new," Turan observed. "But really the reason 'Up' is opening the festival is not because it's animated, not because it's 3-D, it's ... because it's a wonderful film. [Festival organizers] saw that, and I'm sure they liked the fact that they could do something avant-garde in terms of technique, but really it's a wonderful story, it's a terrific film and that's why it's opening." Turan said he sees Pixar's work, and its recognition by Cannes, as another sign that animated features are among the best films being produced right now. "The Pixar films, the Hayao Miyazaki films from Japan, the Wallace and Gromit films from Britain -- we're really living in the golden age of animation, one of the great ages of animation in the whole history of film," he said. "And Cannes is happy to be part of that. Cannes is happy to recognize that." CNN's Matthew Carey contributed to this report. | [
"what is the new pixar's movie?",
"Who says \"It's a wonderful story\"?",
"What did critics widely praise?",
"What film opened the Cannes film festival?",
"Who praises the film?",
"What is the name of the new film opening at the Cannes Film Festival?",
"wich movie open up the festival?",
"What did Kenneth Turan say about it?"
] | [
[
"\"Up.\""
],
[
"Turan"
],
[
"\"Up,\""
],
[
"\"Up.\""
],
[
"Todd McCarthy."
],
[
"\"Up.\""
],
[
"\"Up.\""
],
[
"\"Up\" fits in with Cannes' aspirations."
]
] | "Up," new film from Pixar, opens Cannes Film Festival .
Critics widely praise animated film -- the usual reaction to Pixar movies .
Why the opener? "It's a wonderful story, it's a terrific film," critic Kenneth Turan says . |
(CNN) -- The Catholic bishop of South Bend, Indiana, will not attend graduation ceremonies at the University of Notre Dame because he disagrees with the stem-cell research and abortion views of the commencement speaker -- President Obama.
The University of Notre Dame says its invitation doesn't mean the university agrees with all of Obama's positions.
Bishop John D'Arcy, whose diocese includes Fort Wayne, Indiana, as well as the university town, said Tuesday in a written statement that "after much prayer" he has decided not to attend the ceremony.
"President Obama has recently reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred," D'Arcy said. "While claiming to separate politics from science, he has in fact separated science from ethics and has brought the American government, for the first time in history, into supporting direct destruction of innocent human life."
Earlier this month, Obama reversed a federal ban on embryonic stem-cell research. Many scientists say the research could lead to advances in treating conditions like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, while some abortion opponents believe destroying embryos in the research amounts to ending a human life. Watch Obama called "premier promoter of baby-killing" »
In January, Obama lifted a Bush administration restriction on funding for organizations that provide or promote abortion overseas.
D'Arcy's announcement comes as anti-abortion groups have launched campaigns attempting to persuade the Catholic university to rescind Obama's invitation. In a letter to Notre Dame, Anthony J. Lauinger, National Right to Life Committee vice president, called Obama "the abortion president" and said his invitation "is a betrayal of the university's mission and an affront to all who believe in the sanctity and dignity of human life."
The conservative Cardinal Newman Society has launched a Web site -- notredamescandal.com -- that, according to the site, has drawn 50,000 signatures to a petition opposing Obama's appearance at the May 17 ceremony, at which Obama also is to receive an honorary degree.
A White House statement released Tuesday said Obama is honored to be speaking at the university and welcomes the exchange of ideas on the hot-button topics.
"While he is honored to have the support of millions of people of all faiths, including Catholics with their rich tradition of recognizing the dignity of people, he does not govern with the expectation that everyone sees eye to eye with him on every position," the White House said. "[T]he spirit of debate and healthy disagreement on important issues is part of what he loves about this country."
Obama will become the ninth sitting president to give the commencement speech at Notre Dame. Most recently, presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush have spoken there.
In a written statement on Tuesday, Notre Dame President John I. Jenkins noted that the university has been host to Democratic and Republican presidents and said the invitation does not mean the university agrees with all of Obama's positions.
"We will honor Mr. Obama as an inspiring leader who faces many challenges -- the economy, two wars, and health care, immigration and education reform -- and is addressing them with intelligence, courage and honesty," he said. "It is of special significance that we will hear from our first African-American president, a person who has spoken eloquently and movingly about race in this nation.
"Racial prejudice has been a deep wound in America, and Mr. Obama has been a healer."
On abortion and stem-cell research, Jenkins said he views the invitation as "a basis for further positive engagement." | [
"who says \"separated science from ethics\"?",
"What is Obama being given?",
"What does bishop say on Obama?",
"who says Obama invitation \"a basis for further positive engagement\"?",
"What is Obama scheduled for?",
"What did the university president say?"
] | [
[
"Bishop John D'Arcy,"
],
[
"an honorary degree."
],
[
"disagrees with the stem-cell research and abortion views"
],
[
"Jenkins"
],
[
"appearance at the May 17 ceremony,"
],
[
"the invitation does not mean the"
]
] | Bishop John D'Arcy cites Obama's views about stem-cell research, abortion .
Obama has "separated science from ethics," bishop says .
Obama scheduled to be commencement speaker, get honorary degree .
University president: Obama invitation "a basis for further positive engagement" |
(CNN) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received a candidate vaccine virus for swine flu from one institution Friday, spokesman Thomas Skinner said in an e-mail.
The CDC estimates more than 100,000 people have had swine flu in the United States.
The CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have also created a candidate vaccine virus for swine flu, also known as 2009 H1N1, using reverse genetics, he said.
"Suitable viruses will hopefully be sent to manufacturers by end of next week," Skinner wrote. Once that happens, vaccine makers will tweak the virus and have "pilot lots" of vaccine ready to be tested by mid- to late June.
Several thousand cases have been reported nationally, but the CDC estimates more than 100,000 people have had swine flu in the United States, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for science and public health program at the CDC, in a news conference Friday. Most of these people probably have not been officially tested.
The first sample virus came from a lab run by virologist Doris Bucher at New York Medical College, in Valhalla, New York.
Bucher told CNN Thursday that she had just packaged four viruses that she considers vaccine candidates and sent the samples to the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, via courier.
Earlier this week, a Korean scientist, Dr. Seo Sang-heui, also claimed to have produced a virus that might be used in a swine flu vaccine. But Skinner said the methods Sang-heui used were not suitable and that his virus was not considered a viable candidate.
Bucher's samples will likely get more attention. For the past five years her lab in Valhalla has produced elements of the seasonal vaccine that's given to tens of millions of Americans each year. She says the process she's using with the H1N1 virus is virtually identical to the process her lab uses when working on that seasonal vaccine.
The virus used in vaccines is not the actual virus that infects people, but rather a hybrid that's been genetically modified to make it safer, and to give it the ability to multiply more quickly -- a crucial factor when it comes to manufacturing large quantities.
Bucher's method of achieving this has a decidedly old-fashioned feel. She first injects a sample of "wild virus"-- in this case, H1N1 virus she got from the CDC, originally culled from a child who was infected in California this spring -- and then injects a sample of another flu strain that's known for its ability to rapidly multiply in eggs. For that, Bucher is using a strain with the exotic sounding name of NYMC X-157. (That's NYMC as in "New York Medical Center;" it's a hybrid of an H3N2 seasonal virus and the so-called "Puerto Rico strain," A/PR/8/34, that's used to speed the growth of seasonal flu vaccine).
Together in the egg, the viruses swap genes. In a laborious series of steps, Bucher's team guides the changes by adding antibodies that eliminate the surface proteins of the H3N2 virus. The end result is a virus with the exterior proteins of the H1N1 swine flu -- so the immune system recognizes it -- but with the inner mechanics -- the fast-growth ability -- of X-157.
Another method of creating a candidate virus also mixes wild virus with a second, fast-growing strain, but instead of growing them in eggs, lets the viruses mingle in a special solution while scientists manipulate them through a complex technique called reverse genetics.
In 2005, Dr. Richard Webby and Dr. Robert Webster at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, used reverse genetics to produce a vaccine against the H5N1 avian flu virus. Webby has been working to produce a candidate virus against H1N1 as well, but told CNN the virus is growing slower than expected, and that it would likely be a few weeks before a suitable strain is ready to be sent to the CDC.
With any candidate strain, CDC virologists will perform tests to see if the new virus can induce an immune response against the wild H1N1 strain. That's done by using | [
"who received a candidate vaccine virus for swine flu Friday",
"What did the CDC receive on Friday?",
"When will suitable viruses be sent to the manufacturers?",
"when was the vaccine received"
] | [
[
"Centers"
],
[
"candidate vaccine virus for swine"
],
[
"end of next week,\""
],
[
"Friday,"
]
] | The CDC received a candidate vaccine virus for swine flu Friday .
CDC: Suitable viruses will hopefully be sent to manufacturers by end of next week .
In one vaccine method, viruses swap genes in egg .
Another technique uses reverse genetics instead of growing viruses in eggs . |
(CNN) -- The Chinese government has lifted a 20-year-old rule that banned foreigners with HIV and AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and leprosy from entering the country, according to the country's state news agency.
State-run news agency Xinhua reported Tuesday that China's State Council decided to repeal the ban after realizing it did little to prevent the spread of disease and caused problems when the country was hosting international events.
The revision came days before the opening of the six-month Shanghai World Expo, which organizers expect will draw 70 million people. The government had previously lifted the ban temporarily for other large-scale events, including the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Xinhua said the health ministry estimates the number of people living with HIV in China had reached 740,000 by October 2009, with deaths caused by AIDS totaling 49,845 since the first case was reported in 1985.
China's decision comes several months after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed HIV infection from the list of diseases that prevent non-U.S. citizens from entering the country.
Until January, the U.S. was one of seven countries with laws barring entry of people with HIV, according to amfAR, an AIDS research organization. | [
"What amount of people were living with HIV in China?",
"In what way did the Ban cause problems?",
"Which country lifted its ban on foreigners with HIV when it realized that the ban did little to prevent disease spread?",
"Has the ban China imposed of foreigners with leprosy and sexually transmitted diseases causes problems for China when hosting international events?",
"How many people were estimated to be living in China with HIV according to the health ministry since October 2009?",
"What did China lift a ban on?",
"Who lifted the ban on foreigners?"
] | [
[
"740,000"
],
[
"when the country was hosting international events."
],
[
"China"
],
[
"caused"
],
[
"740,000"
],
[
"20-year-old rule that banned foreigners with HIV and AIDS,"
],
[
"Chinese government"
]
] | China lifts ban on foreigners with HIV, AIDs, sexually transmitted diseases, leprosy .
Entry ban lifted after it was realized it did little to prevent the spread of disease .
Ban also caused problems when hosting international events in the country .
Health ministry estimated by October 2009, 740,000 people were living with HIV in China . |
(CNN) -- The Chinese government is bracing itself for a rush of people wishing to marry when the summer Olympics kick off on August 8 -- because the number carries a special significance in Chinese culture, the state news agency said Sunday. A traditional Ming-style wedding is held in Nanjing, China, last December. The number "eight" (ba) is considered auspicious by many in China because it sounds like the word for "wealth" and "fortune," the news agency Xinhua said. "We've long been prepared for a stampede of newly-wed couples this year," Guo Xusheng, spokesman with the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, told Xinhua. Every year, many couples choose the 8th of August -- the eighth month of the year -- hoping "eighth of the eighth" luck will rub off on them, the news agency said. Nearly 3,400 couples got hitched on the day last year, some waiting all night outside the marriage registration office in Beijing. This year, the civil affairs bureau is accepting online reservations for marriage registrations for the day. The significance that numbers carry in Chinese culture often dictate various aspects of the people's lives there. And of all the numbers, eight is considered one of the luckiest. Beijing, itself, opted to kick off the Olympic Games at 8 p.m. on 8/8/08. E-mail to a friend | [
"Who is bracing for a rush of weddings?",
"what did china do?",
"What number is considered lucky by many Chinese?",
"when was beijing olympics?",
"Which number is considered to carry good fortune?",
"When do the Beijing Olympics begin?",
"When is the opening day?",
"What number is considered to carry good fortune?",
"what was the number 8?"
] | [
[
"Chinese government"
],
[
"bracing itself for a rush of people wishing to marry"
],
[
"\"eight\""
],
[
"8 p.m. on 8/8/08."
],
[
"\"eight\""
],
[
"August 8"
],
[
"August 8"
],
[
"\"eight\""
],
[
"\"eight\" (ba) is considered auspicious by many in China because it sounds like the word for \"wealth\" and \"fortune,\""
]
] | China braces for rush of weddings on opening day of Olympics .
Opening day of Beijing Olympics is August 8, 2008 .
The number "8" is considered by many Chinese to carry good fortune . |
(CNN) -- The City of Brotherly Love isn't exactly embracing the news that one-time quarterback phenom and convicted dogfighter Michael Vick is joining their Philadelphia Eagles. Former Atlanta Falcon Michael Vick, right, was known more for his elusiveness than his throwing prowess. Vick's agent announced Thursday that the former Atlanta Falcon signed a two-year deal with the Eagles, which reportedly could be worth more than $6 million. He won't be able to play a regular season game until week six in October, and then, only if the National Football League fully reinstates him. "Too bad they don't have him for the whole year," Eagles fan Charles James told CNN affiliate philly.com. The NFL indefinitely suspended Vick in August 2007 after he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation in Virginia. Vick, 29, left a Kansas prison in May to serve the last two months of his 23-month sentence in home confinement. Some Eagles fans don't think Vick's punishment was sufficient and were trying to unload their game and season tickets on craigslist.com, making it clear they were less than eager to see Vick in Philly green. iReport.com: What do you think of Vick's return? A post from one irked fan looking to peddle two lower-level season tickets said: "The last thing my son and I want to see is Michael Vick in an Eagles jersey. We made up our mind to sell the tickets ... $3000 cash gets the tickets. Any info feel free to ask, serious buyers only, I want the deal done fast." Lower-level season tickets were selling on an unrelated auction site for as much as $10,000 a pair. Bob Jenkins of northeast Philadelphia predicted most Eagles fans -- known to be some of the nation's most demanding -- won't be badmouthing the decision. "The only people who won't be quiet are the people who don't like the Eagles," Jenkins told philly.com. "Of course, they're going to be talking because he's going to be throwing some touchdowns." Despite Jenkins' assumption, it's unclear what role Vick will play on the team. A gifted athlete known more for his dazzling runs than his pinpoint throws, Vick's last season in 2006 was a bit of a disappointment to Atlanta fans. The Falcons finished 7-9, and Vick had a completion percentage of 52.6. He also threw for 2,474 yards, more than 1,000 fewer yards than the Patriots' Tom Brady, who completed 62 percent of his passes, and almost 2,000 yards behind the Colts' Peyton Manning, who completed 65 percent of his tosses. However, Vick also ran for 1,039 yards, the most ever by a quarterback. Mike Giunta of Tabernacle, New Jersey, told CNN affiliate WPVI-TV in Philadelphia that signing Vick would spawn "dissension" among the Eagles, who made it to their conference championship last season, losing to the Arizona Cardinals. Giunta predicted the move would create consternation between Vick and five-time Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb. "McNabb's going to be looking over his shoulder constantly now," Giunta said. McNabb said in a Thursday news conference that he welcomed the addition of Vick and he "pretty much lobbied to get him here because everybody deserves a second chance." Several Eagles fans concur. One of them, Leroy Emerson of north Philadelphia, told philly.com, "That was the best move the Eagles ever made, one of the best." Some fans, however, were licking their wounds and pointing to the most severe dogfighting allegations leveled against Vick: that he hanged dogs from trees, electrocuted and drowned them. The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have both skewered Vick. The latter alluded to Vick being a "psychopath" earlier this year and released a statement Friday saying, "Millions of decent football fans around the world are disappointed" in the Eagles. "PETA certainly hopes that Vick has learned his lesson and feels truly remorseful for his | [
"Who did Vick sign with?",
"What was the length of Vick's prison term?",
"Who doesn't want to see \"Vick in Eagles jersey\"?",
"Animal lovers are still reluctant to give Vick what?",
"Several Eagles fans tell CNN?",
"Michael Vick signs deal with what team?",
"When could Vick play?"
] | [
[
"Philadelphia Eagles."
],
[
"23-month"
],
[
"fans"
],
[
"a second chance.\""
],
[
"\"Too bad they don't have him for the whole year,\""
],
[
"Philadelphia Eagles."
],
[
"week six in October,"
]
] | Michael Vick signs deal with Philadelphia Eagles, could play in October .
Craigslist ticket seller says he, son don't want to see "Vick in an Eagles jersey"
Several Eagles fans tell CNN affiliates they are excited by prospect of Vick's arrival .
Animal lovers still reluctant to give Vick a chance after almost two years in prison . |
(CNN) -- The Colorado couple who said their 6-year-old son was aboard an escaped balloon pleaded guilty Friday to charges related to the well-publicized "balloon boy" case. Richard Heene pleaded guilty in Larimer County Court to a felony charge of attempting to influence a public servant. His wife, Mayumi Heene, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of false reporting to authorities. The Heenes' attorneys said prosecutors had agreed to a sentence of probation with the possibility of up to 90 days in jail for Richard Heene and up to 60 days in jail for his wife. The incident occurred in October, when a large silver balloon came loose from its moorings in the Heenes' yard and drifted over eastern Colorado. Mayumi Heene called 911 and said the couple's 6-year-old son, Falcon, was inside the craft. Millions of people across the country watched the saga on television for nearly two hours as military aircraft tracked the balloon in the air and rescuers chased it below. Mayumi Heene later admitted the whole thing was a hoax and that Falcon was safe in their home the whole time, authorities said. Watch the moment the hoax was revealed The couple's attorneys have said that the threat of Mayumi Heene's deportation was a factor in the plea deal negotiations. Mayumi Heene is a Japanese citizen but is in the United States legally. "Even though Mr. Heene would have a triable case, I believe, to avoid the risk that his wife is deported ... we have decided that the best course of action is to proceed as we are proceeding," Richard Heene's lawyer, David Lane, said Friday. The judge is allowing the Heenes to leave the state while they remain on bond. Lane said Richard Heene is going to seek employment in New York and also has plans to go to California. Mayumi Heene's attorney said she may accompany him on those trips. Sentencing will be next month. Court documents released last month said the couple hatched the plan about two weeks before the incident and "instructed their three children to lie to authorities as well as the media regarding this hoax." Their motive? To "make the Heene family more marketable for future media interests," the documents said. | [
"Who has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge?",
"How long did the TV saga last?",
"What did Richard Heene plead guilty to?",
"How many watched on TV?",
"Who has pleaded guilty to false reporting?",
"What have prosecutors agreed to?",
"Who pleads guilty?"
] | [
[
"Mayumi Heene,"
],
[
"nearly two hours"
],
[
"a felony charge of attempting"
],
[
"Millions of people"
],
[
"Mayumi Heene,"
],
[
"a sentence of probation with the possibility of up"
],
[
"Mayumi Heene,"
]
] | NEW: Mayumi Heene pleads guilty to misdemeanor charge of false reporting to authorities .
Richard Heene pleads guilty to charge of attempting to influence a public servant .
Prosecutors agree to probation with possibility of jail time, attorneys say .
Millions of people watched the saga on television for nearly two hours . |
(CNN) -- The Continental Airlines plane that crashed in Clarence Center, New York, late Thursday is one of several major incidents over the past two months.
The wreckage of a Continental Airlines 737 sits off a runway at Denver International Airport in December.
• On February 12, Continental Flight 3407 crashed en route to Buffalo, New York, killing 49 people.
• On January 27, Empire Airlines Flight 8284 crashed 300 feet short while on approach to a runway at Lubbock International Airport in Texas. The plane was arriving from Fort Worth, Texas.
The aircraft was destroyed by the crash and a post-impact fire. Two crew members suffered minor injuries.
• On January 15, U.S. Airways Flight 1549 ditched in the Hudson River while en route from LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte, North Carolina. All 155 passengers survived, with few injuries.
• On December 20, 2008, Continental Flight 1404 departed the left side of the runway during takeoff from Denver International Airport in Denver. The flight was en route to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas.
A total of 38 passengers and crew were taken to hospitals, and five were admitted. There were no fatalities. The airplane was substantially damaged and experienced a post-crash fire, which was located on the right side of the aircraft.
CNN's Mike Ahlers contributed to this report. | [
"What city did the plan crash take place?",
"How many people died in the Buffalo crash?",
"Where was the deadly plane crash?",
"Where did US Airways Flight 1549 land?",
"Where did flight 1404 slide off the runway?",
"What Continental Flight had issues?",
"Number of the flight involved in the incident?",
"Where did the U.S. Airways Flight crash?",
"What airport did the plan slide off the runway",
"Where did flight 1549 land?"
] | [
[
"Clarence Center, New York,"
],
[
"49"
],
[
"Clarence Center, New York,"
],
[
"Hudson River"
],
[
"Denver International Airport in Denver."
],
[
"1404"
],
[
"Continental Airlines 737"
],
[
"Clarence Center, New York,"
],
[
"Denver International"
],
[
"Hudson River"
]
] | Thursday's deadly plane crash in Buffalo is part of a spate of recent incidents .
U.S. Airways Flight 1549 landed in Hudson River on January 15 .
Continental Flight 1404 slides off runway during takeoff at Denver International Airport . |
(CNN) -- The Czech Republic's practice of surgically castrating convicted sex offenders is "invasive, irreversible and mutilating" and should stop immediately, the Council of Europe's Anti-Torture Committee said in a report made public Thursday.
The central European country castrated at least 94 prisoners in the 10 years up to April 2008, when investigators from the Council of Europe, a human-rights forum, visited the Czech Republic.
The Council of Europe condemned the practice as "degrading."
The procedure is being performed even on first-time, non-violent offenders, such as exhibitionists, its investigation revealed.
Prisoners have to request castration under Czech law, but many fear they will be jailed for life if they do not, the investigation found.
"In practically all the cases, these patients indicated that their application was at least partially instigated by fear of long-term detention," the report said.
"Some patients claimed that the treating sexologist had explicitly told them that surgical castration was the only available option to them and that refusal would mean lifelong detention."
And it warned that some "significantly" mentally retarded people had been castrated.
"In at least five cases, legally incapacitated offenders were surgically castrated," the report said. "In all of these instances, the court-appointed guardian had signed the consent form; in two cases, the guardians were mayors."
The investigators found only two convicts who had spontaneously volunteered for castration, while others they interviewed said mental health staff specializing in sexuality had recommended it.
"The other patients interviewed indicated that the treating sexologist had suggested surgical castration, in several cases within a week of the patient's admission to hospital," the report said.
"Some of the sexologists interviewed by the delegation themselves affirmed that for certain patients there was no alternative treatment to surgical castration."
The Czech Republic defends the practice as voluntary, saying castration aims permanently to reduce testosterone levels in order to diminish the offender's sexual urges.
The process, officially called "therapeutic testicular pulpectomies ... are performed upon a written request of an adult man," the Czech government responded. It said the operation had to be approved by a committee of experts.
"Prior to the performance of such intervention, the patient must express his consent with its performance. Castration is considered with respect to men who cannot manage their sexual instincts and are sexually aggressive," the Czech government said, saying the Council of Europe had not proven its case sufficiently for the country to abandon castration.
It argues the procedure is effective in reducing repeat offenses.
But the Council of Europe questioned the statistics on repeat offenses and said even if they were correct, castration was not an appropriate way to reduce recidivism.
"The committee's delegation came across three cases in which sex offenders had committed serious sex-related crimes, including serial rape and attempted murder, after they had been surgically castrated," the human-rights group said.
"Surgical castration is no longer a generally accepted medical intervention in the treatment of sex-offenders," the report said.
It said candidates for castration often received information about the procedure which was too technical to understand -- or no information at all.
"Several patients who had undergone surgical castration told the delegation that they would never have applied for surgical castration had they been properly informed," the report warned.
It condemned the practice as "an irreversible intervention that always leads to infertility and, in the long run, a significantly increased risk of osteoporosis," also warning of possible depression and changes in appearance.
It said it was impossible to determine how many people had been castrated in keeping with a 1966 law.
The Council of Europe delegation visited the Czech Republic from March 25 to April 2, 2008. It issued its report and the Czech response on July 23, 2008. It made them public on Thursday at the request of the Czech government, it said. | [
"What does Czech republic defend?",
"What did the council of Europe say?",
"What is the group alleging?",
"what did the council saty",
"What kind of punishment will offenders get?",
"What should Czech abolish?",
"what did the Czech Republic defend"
] | [
[
"surgically castrating convicted sex offenders"
],
[
"Czech Republic's practice of surgically castrating convicted sex offenders is \"invasive,"
],
[
"\"The committee's delegation came across three cases in which sex offenders had committed serious sex-related crimes, including serial rape and attempted murder, after they had been surgically castrated,\""
],
[
"Republic's practice of surgically castrating convicted sex offenders is \"invasive,"
],
[
"surgically castrated,\""
],
[
"surgically castrating convicted sex offenders"
],
[
"practice of surgically castrating convicted sex offenders"
]
] | Council of Europe says Czechs should abolish it castration law for sex offenders .
CoE says some choose castration fearing refusal means long jail sentences .
Group alleges some choosing castration include non-violent and first offenders .
Czech Republic defends procedure as voluntary and effective . |
(CNN) -- The Dalai Lama Friday rejected a series of allegations from the Chinese government, saying he does not seek the separation of Tibet and has no desire to "sabotage" the Olympic games. Chinese authorities have blamed followers of the Dalai Lama for instigating the unrest that has swept Tibet. Issuing a statement while traveling in New Delhi, India, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists called on China "to exercise wisdom and to initiate a meaningful dialogue with the Tibetan people." Beijing has blamed the Dalai Lama and his followers for violence that erupted amid protests for Tibetan independence earlier this month, but China has drawn international criticism for its crackdown on the protests that began peacefully. President Bush said Friday he "urged restraint" during a phone conversation with Chinese President Hu Jintao earlier this week, and noted "that it's in his country's interest" for the government to have representatives "sit down again with representatives of the Dalai Lama." Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, appearing with Bush at the White House, also called for meetings between the two sides. "It's absolutely clear that there are human rights abuses in Tibet. That's clear-cut. We need to be up-front and absolutely straight about what's going on. Shouldn't shilly-shally about it," Rudd said. Tibet's government in exile has said the death toll from the protests has reached about 140 over the past two weeks, but China's government restrictions have made it difficult to confirm that number. Chinese authorities put the death toll at 19 and said most of those killed were "innocent victims" -- Han Chinese targeted by Tibetans. "I am deeply saddened by the loss of life in the recent tragic events. I am aware that some Chinese have also died. I feel for the victims and their families and pray for them," the Dalai Lama said in his written statement Friday. He added that there is an "urgent need to seek a peaceful and mutually beneficial solution through dialogue. Even at this juncture I have expressed my willingness to the Chinese authorities to work together to bring about peace and stability." He noted repeatedly that he is not a "separatist." "Chinese brothers and sisters, I assure you I have no desire to seek Tibet's separation. Nor do I have any wish to drive a wedge between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples," he wrote. Instead, protesters seek "meaningful self-rule" while remaining a part of China, he added. And, he said, "despite my repeated support for the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese authorities, with the intention of creating a rift between the Chinese people and myself, the Chinese authorities assert that I am trying to sabotage the games." The protests -- which began on the 49th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising -- have threatened to overshadow Beijing's role as host of the Summer Olympic Games in August. In his statement, the Dalai Lama complained the Chinese state-run media's coverage "of the recent events in Tibet, using deceit and distorted images, could sow the seeds of racial tension with unpredictable long-term consequences. This is of grave concern to me." China's state-run media, however, have accused some Western news agencies -- including CNN -- of distorting coverage of the riots to make China look bad and the protesters look like innocent victims. A headline Friday on the English Web site of China's official Xinhua news agency read "'Anti-CNN' Web site reflects Chinese people's condemnation." The article offered a link to a site in which Chinese bloggers criticize CNN's coverage. In a statement, CNN said, "We have provided comprehensive coverage of all sides of this story," adding that the network's "reputation is based on reporting global news accurately and impartially." Read the full statement Earlier this week, China offered some media organizations -- not including CNN -- a carefully managed tour of Tibet's capital, but ran into a public-relations roadblock when a group of Buddhist | [
"Who urged restraint during with phone call?",
"what does dalai lama mention about protesters?",
"What erupted amid protests for Tibetan independence?",
"Who said, \"I have no desire to seek Tibet's separation\"?",
"What do protesters seek while remaining a part of China?",
"What has errupted amid protests for Tibetan independence?",
"Who has to desire to seek independence?",
"For what did the violence erupt for?"
] | [
[
"President Bush"
],
[
"seek \"meaningful self-rule\""
],
[
"unrest"
],
[
"Dalai Lama"
],
[
"Tibetan independence"
],
[
"violence"
],
[
"Tibetan"
],
[
"Tibetan independence"
]
] | Dalai Lama: "I have no desire to seek Tibet's separation"
Dalai Lama: Protesters seek "meaningful self-rule" while remaining a part of China .
Violence erupted amid protests for Tibetan independence earlier this month .
Bush says he "urged restraint" during a phone call with China's president . |
(CNN) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday it will apologize to veterans who were mistakenly told they'd been diagnosed with a fatal neurological condition. Brent Casey said went into a "meltdown" when he got a letter from the VA saying, erroneously, that he had ALS. Letters were sent August 13 to 1,864 veterans and survivors, the VA said in a written statement. They were supposed to be sent to veterans with ALS -- also known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- to keep them apprised of expanding benefits eligibility. "According to the records of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), you have a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)," said the letter, according to the National Gulf War Resource Center. "This letter tells you about VA disability compensation benefits that may be available to you." But some who received the letters, like Brent Casey, do not have ALS. Casey, a disabled Army veteran from the first Gulf War, told CNN that when he received the letter, he was "just completely beside myself. Just floored. Went into a complete and total meltdown. I couldn't speak, couldn't -- I guess I was, truthfully, speechless." The VA said issued a statement saying it made "a coding error, and a number of veterans who should not have received this letter did." An estimated one-third of the letters -- more than 600 -- were sent erroneously, a department official familiar with the program told CNN. After hearing from veterans who received the letter but do not have ALS, the VA immediately began reviewing individual claims files for all the recipients to determine who received the letter by mistake, agency spokeswoman Katie Roberts said in the statement. "VA employees are personally contacting these individuals to ensure they understand the letter should not be confused with a medical diagnosis of ALS, explain why they mistakenly received the letter and express VA's sincere apologies for the distress caused by this unfortunate and regrettable error." "It's not right for it to happen this way," Casey said. "Regardless if it was the case that I was diagnosed with ALS, that would be the worst possible way for an organization to let an individual know." Upon receiving the letter, some veterans sought a second opinion outside the VA, according to veterans' service organizations, paying for doctors' consultations out of their own pockets. The VA said it will reimburse those veterans for the costs. In addition, the VA said it is reviewing its notification process to make sure a similar error doesn't happen again. The AmVets service organization is "encouraged" by the VA's response to the situation, and pleased to see they caught the error, said spokesman Ryan Gallucci. CNN Radio's John Lorinc contributed to this report. | [
"Letters were received by how many people in error?",
"What is the agency reviewing?",
"How many veterans were informed?",
"What were the veterans and survivors diagnosised of?",
"The agency is reviewing what process to ensure no such errors in the future?"
] | [
[
"600"
],
[
"individual claims files for all the recipients to determine who received the letter by mistake,"
],
[
"1,864"
],
[
"with a fatal neurological condition."
],
[
"notification"
]
] | NEW: VA says some 600 people got letters in error due to a "coding error"
Letters sent last week informed 1,864 veterans and survivors of ALS diagnosis .
VA: "Employees are personally contacting" those who don't have disease .
Agency is reviewing notification process to ensure no such error is repeated . |
(CNN) -- The Episcopal Church has moved decisively closer to full acceptance of gay men and lesbians, taking steps toward recognizing same-sex marriage and gay bishops. Gene Robinson is the Episcopal Church's first -- and so far only -- openly gay bishop. A key committee voted overwhelmingly Monday to start putting together blessings to be used in same-sex marriages, the church's official newspaper reported. Separately, the House of Bishops voted by a wide margin to allow gays and lesbians to become bishops, Episcopal Life reported. Both measures must be approved by the church's General Convention before taking effect, but expert Mark Silk said there is "little reason" to think the changes will not "sail through." "They basically decided to move forward on all fronts with regularizing the status of gays and lesbians within the church," said Silk, director of the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College in Connecticut. A leading campaigner for gay rights within the Episcopal Church welcomed the vote on bishops. "There is no question that today's vote in the House of Bishops was an historic move forward and a great day for all who support the full inclusion of all the baptized in the Body of Christ," said Susan Russell, president of Integrity USA. The vote shows the Episcopal Church "striving to actually become the church former Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning called us to be nearly 20 years ago now ... a church where there are no outcasts," she said in a statement on the group's Web site. The Episcopal Church created controversy in 2003 with its decision to ordain Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, as a bishop. The move raised the possibility of a split within the worldwide Anglican Church, the third-largest Christian denomination, with about 70 million members around the world. The Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the Anglican Church, has not ordained another openly gay bishop since Robinson. "The decision has been to kind of chill out on a bunch of things," Silk said. But Monday's vote ends what had been, in effect, a moratorium, he said. It was the Episcopal Church saying that "this wasn't an anomaly when we elected Gene Robinson. We affirm that partnered gay people do have callings [to be clergy], and we have to recognize them." "It is bringing the church's position in line with the civil society's," Silk said. The head of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, declined Tuesday through a spokesman to comment on Monday's moves. But on Monday, he expressed "regret" at the vote on gay and lesbian bishops, according to Episcopal Life. "I regret the fact that the will to observe a moratorium is not the will of such a significant part of the church in North America," the paper quoted him as saying. A number of Episcopal dioceses have broken with the official church structure over gay and lesbian issues, forming the breakaway Anglican Church in North America. They say the mainstream Episcopal Church and the aligned Anglican Church in Canada "have increasingly accommodated and incorporated un-Biblical, un-Anglican practices and teaching." | [
"What Archbishop expressed regrets?",
"US denomination takes steps to what?",
"Who must approve changes?",
"What did churches do in 2003 to spark contrversy?",
"Archbisop of Canterbury expressed regret over what?",
"What sparked a controversy in 2003?"
] | [
[
"Rowan Williams,"
],
[
"toward recognizing same-sex marriage and gay bishops."
],
[
"the church's General Convention"
],
[
"ordain Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, as a bishop."
],
[
"the vote on gay and lesbian bishops,"
],
[
"with its decision to ordain Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, as a bishop."
]
] | U.S. denomination takes steps to bless same-sex unions, accept gay clergy .
Changes must be approved by church's General Convention .
Church sparked controversy in 2003 by ordaining a gay man as a bishop .
Archbishop of Canterbury expresses regret over decision on clergy . |
(CNN) -- The European Commission handed down its ruling in a landmark anti-trust case against Intel Wednesday, fining the computer chip giant a record $1.45 billion for abusing its dominant position in the computer processing unit (CPU) market. On Wednesday the European Commission fined Intel a record $1.45 billion for violating anti-trust laws. The ruling, which Intel plans to appeal, may have future implications for American companies accused of "jurisdiction shopping" to avoid anti-trust verdicts against them, says CNN's Jim Boulden, who explains the basics of the Intel case. The commission has hit Intel with the biggest fine ever -- what were its reasons? The European Commission says Intel has been abusing its dominant market position in semiconductors for years. The EC says Intel has systematically given PC makers and stores rebates to keep computers with AMD chips off the shelves. AMD (another American company and Intel's only competitor) first raised the red flag in 2000. Why does the commission have the power to impose such fines? EU law does not regard market dominance as illegal, but it is allowed to fine a company that abuses its position as the biggest in any given market. It has a guideline of fining a company based on a percentage of profits. EU law is set up to "protect consumers," and the anti-trust office says consumers were hurt. Yet as Intel likes to point out, consumers did not launch this case -- AMD, a competitor, launched this in Europe (and in Japan and South Korea) as the U.S. antitrust officials under George W. Bush were unlikely to pursue a case on these merits. The EU could fine Intel (or any company) based on 10% of global annual revenues, but chose to fine it on a smaller percentage made in the EU. Can Intel afford to pay this fine? What state is the company in at the moment? Intel reported first quarter revenue of $7 billion. It can easily afford this. Interestingly, it lost 4 percent of its market share to AMD so far this year. The company says it will appeal -- when is that likely to be heard? Another appeal will take months. Intel already appealed a preliminary part of this ruling last year and lost. Meanwhile, the EC can argue that Intel is still abusing its position and increase the fine during the appeals process, as it did to Microsoft. Intel is not the first tech company to be hit by the European Commission. What about Microsoft? The anti-trust unit has launched another round of investigations against Microsoft. It has already paid its fine and the EU continues to watch the company's behavior on the previous matters. What kind of precedent does the Intel case set? The EU has fined all kinds of cartels and market abusers, but rarely does it fine big American companies based on complaints from American competitors -- so the case catches the eye, especially with critics who accuse American companies of "jurisdiction shopping" to get a favorable outcome. | [
"what is happening with microsoft",
"Who else is under investigation of the EC?",
"what EC says Intel has been abusing its dominant market position?",
"What was Intel fined for?",
"how much was the fine",
"What company initiated the investigation into Intel?",
"what has the EC said about Intel"
] | [
[
"round of investigations"
],
[
"Microsoft."
],
[
"anti-trust laws."
],
[
"violating anti-trust laws."
],
[
"$1.45 billion"
],
[
"AMD, a competitor, launched this in Europe (and in Japan and South Korea)"
],
[
"been abusing its dominant market position in semiconductors"
]
] | European Commission fines Intel a record $1.45 billion for anti-trust violation .
EC says Intel has been abusing its dominant market position .
Competitor AMD brought the case to the attention of European officials .
EC anti-trust has commenced another round of investigations into Microsoft . |
(CNN) -- The European Union has launched a fact-finding mission to determine the causes of the August war between Georgia and Russia, an EU spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Heidi Tagliavini, a Swiss dipomat, will head the investigation into what started the Georgian conflict.
The eight-month inquiry will examine the facts of the conflict in regard to international law, humanitarian issues and human rights, said the spokeswoman, who did not give her name because she was not allowed to speak publicly. Investigators will also assess the basis for all accusations made regarding the conflict, the spokeswoman said.
Heidi Tagliavini, a Swiss diplomat and former United Nations special representative for Georgia, will head the mission, the spokeswoman said.
The mission began its work Monday and was due to finish July 31, 2009, ending with a report to the EU, the U.N. and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the spokeswoman said.
Georgia launched a campaign against South Ossetia, a Russian-backed separatist territory, on August 7. The following day, Russian tanks, troops and armored vehicles poured into South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian territory, Abkhazia, advancing into Georgian cities outside the rebel regions.
The two sides blamed each other for starting the conflict and have made accusations of ethnic cleansing.
Moscow has since recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent regions. | [
"What did the European Union launch a mission to determine causes of?of",
"Who is heading the probe?",
"Who blame each other for starting the conflict?",
"Name of the former U.N. special representative?",
"What country was Georgia having issues with?",
"What position did Heidi Tagliavini have?",
"Who launched the mission to determine cause of Georgian conflict?",
"Countries who are blaming each other?",
"What was Heidi Tagliavini formerly?",
"What is Georgia and Russia blaming each other for?",
"What European regulatory body (not the UN) was also investigating the situation?"
] | [
[
"war between Georgia and Russia,"
],
[
"Heidi Tagliavini,"
],
[
"Georgia and Russia,"
],
[
"Heidi Tagliavini,"
],
[
"Russia,"
],
[
"a Swiss diplomat and former United Nations special representative for Georgia,"
],
[
"European Union"
],
[
"Georgia and Russia,"
],
[
"United Nations special representative for Georgia,"
],
[
"starting the conflict"
],
[
"Union"
]
] | European Union launches mission to determine causes of Georgian conflict .
Heidi Tagliavini, former U.N. special representative for Georgia, heads probe .
Georgia and Russia blame each other for starting the conflict . |
(CNN) -- The European Union on Monday removed the People's Mujajedeen of Iran from its list of terrorist organizations. Forty-seven groups remain on the EU's list. Iranian police guard French embassy in Tehran on January 25 during protest against EU decision. Here are some of the main ones. -- Aum Shinri Kyo: Doomsday cult in Japan. Responsible for the 1995 sarin gas attacks on the Toyko subway that killed 12 and wounded some 5,000. -- Real IRA: Separatists in Northern Ireland. Responsible for the Omagh bombing in 1998 that killed 28 people. -- Jemaah Islamiyah: Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in Indonesia and one of the largest terrorist organizations in the world. Carried out the Bali nightclub bombings in 2002 that killed more than 200 tourists, most of them Westerners. -- PKK, or Kurdish Workers' Party: Marxist group fighting for an independent state for Turkish Kurds. -- Palestinian Islamic Jihad: Militant group dedicated to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel. -- Hamas: Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist organization that rules Gaza. Its military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, has admitted responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and the Israeli military. -- Tamil Tigers, or LTTE: Ethnic separatists fighting the Sri Lankan government. Responsible for fatal attacks against soldiers and civilians since conflict with the government began in 1983. -- ETA: Basque separatists in northern Spain. Blamed for more than 800 deaths and thousands of injuries during a 40-year campaign. -- FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia: Marxist insurgents who have been fighting the government since the 1960s. -- CNN's Tom Boltman contributed to this list. | [
"what are in order by european?"
] | [
[
"Union on Monday removed the People's Mujajedeen of Iran from its list of terrorist"
]
] | PMoI, or Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, opposed Iran govt. for decades .
EU delisted group because of an order by the European Court of Justice .
Iran has accused the European Union of acting against international law . |
(CNN) -- The European Union will launch its first naval operation Tuesday, protecting vessels from pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia, EU policy chief Javier Solana announced Monday.
A French army helicopter taking off from French frigate Nivose, on patrol in the Gulf of Aden.
EU foreign ministers approved the mission during their regular meeting in Brussels on Monday. Solana said the operation is "very important" because EU vessels will be operating "in a place in the world that everybody's looking at because of the new problems related to piracy."
"It's very important that we have taken that decision to launch it tomorrow," he added.
The EU naval force will take over the role of escorting United Nations World Food Program vessels carrying food and relief supplies to war-torn Somalia, an EU news release said.
Its mandate, which is spelled out in several U.N. Security Council resolutions, also will include "the protection of vulnerable vessels cruising off the Somali coast, and the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast," the news release stated.
The deployment follows a decision by the European Council in September that established a coordination cell that supported surveillance and protection operations by several member states off the Somali coast.
Piracy has become increasingly common in that area this year, particularly in the Gulf of Aden. So far, pirates have attacked almost 100 vessels off Somalia's coast and successfully hijacked nearly 40, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Those hijacked vessels include an enormous oil tanker, a chemical tanker, and a ship laden with Soviet-era arms, including tanks. The pirates normally hold the ships for ransom.
The Somali-based pirates have extended their reach beyond Somalia's coastline. On Saturday, a Dutch-operated container ship outran pirates off the coast of Tanzania, an IMB official told CNN.
A luxury cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 passengers and crew successfully outran pirates off the coast of Yemen last weekend.
A multinational fleet -- including vessels from the United States, NATO member states, Russia and India -- has been patrolling the Indian Ocean waters near the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. Around 20,000 oil tankers, freighters and merchant vessels pass along the crucial shipping route each year.
In a recent interview provided to CNN, a pirate leader claimed attacks on shipping would continue so long as life in Somalia remained desperate.
"The pirates are living between life and death," said the pirate leader, identified by only one name, Boyah. "Who can stop them? Americans and British all put together cannot do anything." | [
"How many vessels have pirates attacked?",
"What will the EU force take over?",
"Who threatens ships near Somalia?",
"What does the role include?",
"Who is responsible for the World Food Program?",
"Where are the warships from?",
"What role will EU forces take now?",
"Who will take over the role of escorting U.N. World Food Program vessels?",
"What will take over the role of escorting?",
"What country are the pirates from?",
"Warships from what areas also patrol the region?",
"Where are the warships from?",
"Who has attacked almost 100 vessels off Somalia's coast this year?",
"What countries have warships patrol the region?",
"Who wil take over the role of escorting U.N. vessels?",
"How many ships have pirates attacked?",
"What North American country sent warships to this region?",
"Pirates have attacked how many vessels?"
] | [
[
"almost 100"
],
[
"the role of escorting United Nations World Food Program vessels carrying food and relief supplies to war-torn Somalia, an"
],
[
"attacks"
],
[
"escorting United Nations World Food Program vessels"
],
[
"EU naval force"
],
[
"United States, NATO member states, Russia and India"
],
[
"escorting United Nations World Food Program vessels"
],
[
"EU naval force"
],
[
"The EU naval force"
],
[
"Somali-based"
],
[
"United States, NATO member states, Russia and India"
],
[
"United States, NATO member states, Russia and India"
],
[
"pirates"
],
[
"United States, NATO member states, Russia"
],
[
"EU naval force"
],
[
"almost 100 vessels"
],
[
"United States,"
],
[
"almost 100"
]
] | EU force will take over the role of escorting U.N. World Food Program vessels .
Role includes "protection of vulnerable vessels cruising off the Somali coast"
Pirates have attacked almost 100 vessels off Somalia's coast this year .
Warships from U.S., India, Russia and Malaysia also patrol region . |
(CNN) -- The FBI is investigating as a possible hate crime an incident in which a woman was beaten to the ground in front of her child at the entrance to a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Morrow, Georgia, south of Atlanta. Troy Dale West, of Poulan, Georgia, is facing battery and cruelty to children charges after the incident. Troy Dale West Jr., of Poulan, Georgia, is facing charges including misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct after allegedly beating Army reservist Tashawnea Hill, 35, after the two had words at the entrance of the Morrow, Georgia, restaurant the evening of September 9. Hill, an African-American, told police that West, 47, yelled racial epithets at her as the attack took place. "He did punch me with a closed fist repeated times. My head is still hurting today. I have knots on my head," Hill told CNN Wednesday night, adding she also was kicked. Police said witnesses confirmed her account. The FBI has "initiated an investigation in the matter to determine if a civil rights violation occurred," the agency said in a statement. Because the alleged incident happened in full view of Hill's 7-year-old daughter, the Clayton County district attorney's office added a felony charge of cruelty to children. "[The woman's daughter] was visibly upset the night of the attack," according to Capt. James Callaway of the Morrow Police Department, who said he was on the scene shortly after the alleged attack. A police report of the incident said Hill's daughter was "crying uncontrollably and her body [was] shaking/trembling" from witnessing the attack. Watch Hill discuss ordeal with CNN's Rick Sanchez » Hill told police the incident started when she and her daughter were entering the restaurant at the same time West and his wife were exiting. "The man slung open the door pretty hard and fast and I had to push my daughter out of the way," Hill told CNN affiliate WSB-TV. "I turned to the man and I just said, 'Excuse me sir, you need to watch yourself; you almost hit my daughter in the face.' And from there it just went downhill." West, according to the police report, admitted striking Hill "after she spit on me and accused me of trying to hit her daughter with a door." Appearing on CNN Wednesday night, Hill and her attorney, Kip Jones, denied that she spat on West. Jones said he saw surveillance video of the incident. "At no point did Ms. Hill do anything to provoke the attack. She did not spit on Mr. West. She spoke to him. He attacked her," Jones said. Police say Hill stated that "West punched her in the left cheek, forehead, kicked her body in several places, and punched her head in many areas several times." The Cracker Barrel's manager told police he stepped between West and Hill to stop the alleged assault. Cracker Barrel spokeswoman Julie Davis said Wednesday that the restaurant was cooperating fully in the police investigation. "It's just terrible when something like this happens anywhere, let alone in one of our stores," Davis said. "It's worth noting that Cracker Barrel employees did their best to assist Hill as soon as they became aware of the situation." Jones said he was "convinced this was a hateful, racist attack ... based on the N-word, the B-word, etc." "The language was vile. It was racist. It was sexist. It was completely offensive, completely unprovoked," Jones said. CNN's efforts to reach West at his home and business were unsuccessful. Police said they had no indication West had an attorney. He is free on bond awaiting a hearing in the incident, the Clayton County jail said. Hill was treated at a hospital after the attack and released. The Clayton County district attorney has forwarded surveillance video of the incident to the FBI. Edward DuBose, president | [
"What say Troy Dale West?",
"Who says \"I'm still in pain\"?",
"Who is investigating to see whether a civil rights violation occurred",
"What is FBI investigating?",
"Whosereport said, \"West punched (Hill) in the left cheek, forehead.\"?",
"Who claimed they were spat at?",
"What happened to the woman?",
"Who is investigating to see if \"a civil rights violation uccurred\"?"
] | [
[
"admitted striking Hill"
],
[
"Tashawnea Hill,"
],
[
"FBI"
],
[
"a possible hate crime"
],
[
"Police"
],
[
"West,"
],
[
"beaten"
],
[
"The FBI"
]
] | Woman: I'm still in pain a week after attack .
The FBI is investigating to see whether "a civil rights violation occurred"
Police report says "West punched [Hill] in the left cheek, forehead"
Troy Dale West said Tashawnea Hill spit upon him; Hill denies it . |
(CNN) -- The Federal Aviation Administration has suspended two air traffic controllers over last week's collision of two aircraft over the Hudson River that killed nine people, a spokeswoman said. The wreckage of a plane that collided with a helicopter is lifted this week from the Hudson River. A controller at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport handling the flight of a Piper airplane carrying three people "was involved in apparently inappropriate conversations on the telephone at the time of the accident," FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said in a statement Thursday. A source with knowledge of the investigation said the controller was on the phone with his girlfriend "after he cleared the pilot for takeoff; he was still on the phone at the time of the crash." In addition, "the supervisor was not present in the building as required," Brown said. "While we have no reason to believe at this time that these actions contributed to the accident, this kind of conduct is unacceptable, and we have placed the employees on administrative leave and have begun disciplinary proceedings," she said. Watch amateur video of the moment of impact » "These are serious violations of the FAA regulations," said Mary Schiavo, former inspector general for the Transportation Department. The union for air traffic controllers urged caution. "We support that any such allegation is fully investigated before there is a rush to judgment about the behavior of any controller," said a statement from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. The National Transportation Safety Board is working with the FAA in investigating Saturday's collision of the Piper, which had taken off from Teterboro, with a sightseeing helicopter that was carrying five Italian tourists and a pilot. No one aboard either aircraft survived the crash. The NTSB has said the pilot of the small plane was cleared electronically and handed off to Newark, New Jersey, air traffic controllers, a standard procedure. However, Newark's control tower never got a verbal response from the pilot of the small plane. The controller put on leave was described as a longtime employee, the source said. He and the supervisor face disciplinary action that could include their firing. Also Thursday, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said the agency may reissue advisories to pilots using the busy airspace over the Hudson. Pilots are urged to use a radio frequency dedicated to traffic in that corridor, fly no faster than 140 knots and turn on their lights as they enter that airspace. Babbitt made the comments at an event at the agency's research facility in Atlantic City, New Jersey. CNN's Susan Candiotti contributed to this report. | [
"How many people take the plane?",
"Where was the Controller's supervisor?",
"Was the controller's supervisor present in building?",
"How many people died in the collision ?",
"How many people died?",
"Who was the Controller talking too?",
"How many people died in the collision?",
"How many people were on the plane?",
"Who was the controller talking to?",
"What number was killed in the collision?",
"What was controller doing during the accident?",
"What collided with helicopter"
] | [
[
"three"
],
[
"not present in the building"
],
[
"not"
],
[
"nine"
],
[
"nine"
],
[
"his girlfriend"
],
[
"nine"
],
[
"three"
],
[
"his girlfriend"
],
[
"nine people,"
],
[
"on the phone with his girlfriend"
],
[
"a plane"
]
] | Spokeswoman: Controller was talking to girlfriend on phone during accident .
Controller's supervisor also not present in building as required, spokeswoman says .
Controller was handling plane carrying three people that collided with helicopter .
Nine people died in collision of tourist helicopter and plane over Hudson River . |
(CNN) -- The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first of a new class of HIV drugs that attacks the virus in a different way. A woman wears an AIDS ribbon at a Cape Town, South Africa, hospital where HIV patients are treated. Isentress, developed by Merck & Co., is designed for patients who have shown resistance to current treatments. The drug has been approved for adults who already have been receiving treatment, but more testing is necessary before it is approved for new HIV patients or children, the company said in a statement. Isentress belongs to a class of drugs called integrase inhibitors. These drugs work by blocking the integrase enzyme, which helps HIV replicate by inserting its DNA into new cells. Isentress is the first drug in the class to win FDA approval. Dr. Anthony Fauci, a noted HIV expert and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said the FDA's approval "will be most welcome in the community of physicians taking care of HIV-infected patients." "Its mechanism of action is particularly important in that it blocks the ability of the virus to integrate itself into the genes of cells," Fauci said. "This property of the virus to integrate is important in establishing the reservoir of virus in the body that has made it extremely difficult to eradicate HIV, even with prolonged treatment." Two earlier classes of anti-HIV drugs -- protease and reverse transcriptase inhibitors -- also work by blocking different enzymes involved in HIV replication. Friday's decision by the FDA will give doctors a new tool to help patients who have developed resistance to existing drugs or who are infected with drug-resistant strains of HIV. Like protease and reverse transcriptase inhibitors, Isentress will also be prescribed for patients in combination with other drugs to maximize the number of ways the virus is being attacked. The cost of the recommended daily regimen of Isentress -- a 400 mg tablet taken twice a day -- will be comparable to protease inhibitors, with a wholesale price of $27, Merck said. E-mail to a friend | [
"What is needed before it is approvevd for new patients & children?",
"What does the drug block ?",
"Is more testing necessary?",
"Who makes the drug Isentress?",
"How does the drug work?",
"What did the FDA approve?",
"What disease does the drug that FDA approved of treat?",
"How does the new drug work?",
"Who makes Isentress?"
] | [
[
"more testing is necessary"
],
[
"the ability of the virus to integrate itself into the genes of cells,\""
],
[
"is"
],
[
"Merck & Co.,"
],
[
"by blocking the integrase enzyme,"
],
[
"first of a new class of HIV drugs"
],
[
"HIV"
],
[
"by blocking the integrase enzyme,"
],
[
"Merck & Co.,"
]
] | FDA approves HIV drug for use in adults with resistance to existing treatments .
Isentress, by Merck & Co., is the first of new class of drugs to get approval .
More testing necessary before it is approved for new HIV patients, children .
Drug works by blocking different enzymes involved in HIV replication . |
(CNN) -- The French spend more time eating and drinking than anyone else among the world's wealthy nations, a new study reveals. The study, by the Paris-based Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), found that the average French person spends nine hours sleeping every night, and spends two hours a day eating. On the other end of the spectrum, the average Japanese gets seven hours of sleep and also spends longer at work -- and getting to work -- than on leisure activities. And when it comes to food, Mexicans spend the least time: just over an hour a day. The survey looked at 18 countries among the organization's 30 members to see how people use "that most fundamental of resources:" time. The results were released Monday. Among the organization's findings: The lowest obesity rates? South Korea and Japan with less than 4 percent of the population exceeding a BMI of more than 30. | [
"How many countries does the survey look at?",
"Name two countries which have the lowest obesity rates.",
"What does the average Japanese spend more time on than leisure?",
"How many members does the OECD have?",
"How many countries were surveyed?",
"How many countries were looked at to gauge use of time?",
"Which countries have the lowest obesity rates?"
] | [
[
"18"
],
[
"South Korea and Japan"
],
[
"at work"
],
[
"30"
],
[
"18"
],
[
"18"
],
[
"South Korea and Japan"
]
] | Average Japanese spends longer at work and getting to work than on leisure .
South Korea and Japan have the lowest obesity rates .
Survey looks at 18 countries among OECD's 30 members to gauge use of time . |
(CNN) -- The Georgia company whose peanut products have been blamed for a nationwide salmonella outbreak shipped some products even though they had tested positive for the bacteria and no other tests indicated they were safe, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.
The FDA confirmed Friday the Peanut Corp.'s Blakely, Georgia, plant shipped tainted product without retesting.
Previously, Peanut Corporation of America had said it shipped products only after subsequent tests on them came back negative. Items made with its peanut products have been linked to more than 500 cases of illness, including eight deaths.
The agency said the company's management told FDA inspectors last month during an inspection of the plant that they shipped products that first had tested positive for salmonella, but only if they later had tested negative.
But, it said, "FDA determined that certain information provided by PCA management during the inspection was not consistent with the subsequent analysis of the company's records."
As a result, the agency amended its report Thursday.
"In some situations the firm received a positive salmonella test result, followed by a later negative result, and then shipped the products," said the FDA report, which was included in an e-mail to CNN. "In some other situations, the firm shipped the products [which had already tested positive] before it had received the [second] positive test results." Watch Senate hearing on food safety amid peanut recall »
In some cases, it said, "no additional testing appears to have been done."
No one from the company returned a call seeking comment.
Federal authorities have initiated a criminal investigation into the company. | [
"What was the product tainted with?",
"What was it tainted with?",
"What was PCAs test results?",
"when did the products ship",
"What were the results of the tests?",
"What did the FDA say?",
"what has the PCA said"
] | [
[
"salmonella"
],
[
"salmonella"
],
[
"negative."
],
[
"only after subsequent tests on them came back negative."
],
[
"positive for the bacteria"
],
[
"the Peanut Corp.'s Blakely, Georgia, plant shipped tainted product without retesting."
],
[
"it shipped products only after subsequent tests on them came back negative."
]
] | Government confirms PCA shipped salmonella-tainted product without further testing .
PCA had said it shipped products only after subsequent tests returned negative .
FDA: Data provided by company "not consistent with the subsequent analysis" |
(CNN) -- The Grand Ole Opry House is closed for repairs after record amounts of rain sent water 2 feet above its historic stage, damaging instruments, memorabilia and archival tapes at the country music landmark.
Gaylord Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Colin Reed said he did not know how long the facility will be closed. The neighboring Gaylord Opryland Resort, a 2,881-room hotel, also is closed for restoration but will be open before the end of 2010, he said.
"We're going to do everything in our power to restore the stuff that's been damaged by water," Reed said Friday.
He said that quick thinking by Opry management Sunday saved much of the memorabilia there.
Shows scheduled at the facility will move to other Nashville venues during repairs, he said.
Massive flooding has caused more than $1.5 billion in property damage in the Nashville area, city officials said Friday. Investigators were still searching for two people reported missing and surveying the damage in the city and surrounding Davidson County.
The flooding damaged at least 1,952 residential properties, city officials said in a statement. Cleanup crews have collected about 80 truckloads of debris from flooded neighborhoods.
Most of the water that inundated several neighborhoods in Nashville receded by Friday, seven days after heavy rain swelled the Cumberland River.
One of the city's main water treatment plants remained closed because of the flooding Friday, prompting officials to tell residents to put off washing dishes and to limit toilet flushing.
Last weekend's storm system devastated Tennessee and neighboring states, leaving at least 31 people dead in three states, authorities say.
Twenty-one people have been confirmed dead in hard-hit Tennessee. One person died in a tornado in Hardeman County that was spawned by the storms, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
The same storm system killed six people in Mississippi and four in Kentucky, emergency management officials said.
The death toll could rise as rescue crews continue to search for several people who have been reported missing, including two kayakers in Kentucky and several people in Tennessee, officials said.
"Nashville has obviously been hard-hit, and it's a well-known city, but there are so many other counties in the state and areas ... that have been hit very hard as well," Gov. Phil Bredesen said Thursday morning.
"A lot of people who didn't have flood insurance, because they never thought floodwaters would ever come anywhere near their home, are really looking at a total loss of their home," he said. "It's very tough on a lot of people right now."
The federal government has declared 27 Tennessee counties disaster areas.
CNN's Martin Savidge contributed to this report. | [
"How many dead they left by the floods?",
"what did the ceo say",
"Gaylord Entertainment says what?",
"What records were broken?"
] | [
[
"31"
],
[
"not know how long the facility will be closed."
],
[
"he did not know how long the facility will be closed."
],
[
"amounts of rain sent water 2 feet"
]
] | Unclear when country music landmark will reopen, Gaylord Entertainment CEO says .
Record amount of flooding drenches stage, damages instruments and memorabilia .
Massive rainfall in Nashville area causes more than $1.5 billion in property damage .
Floods leave 31 dead, others missing in three states as waters recede . |
(CNN) -- The Guatemalan army stole at least 333 children and sold them for adoption in other countries during the Central American nation's 36-year civil war, a government report has concluded.
Around 45,000 people are believed to have disappeared during Guatemala's civil war, 5,000 of them children.
Many of those children ended up in the United States, as well as Sweden, Italy and France, said the report's author and lead investigator, Marco Tulio Alvarez.
In some cases, the report said, parents were killed so the children could be taken and given to government-operated agencies to be adopted abroad. In other instances, the children were abducted without physical harm to the parents.
"This was a great abuse by the state," Alvarez told CNN on Friday.
Investigators started examining records in May 2008 for a period that spanned from 1977-89, said Alvarez, the director of the Guatemalan Peace Archive, a commission established by President Alvaro Colom.
Of 672 records investigators looked at, Alvarez said, they determined that 333 children had been stolen. The children were taken for financial and political reasons, he said.
Alvarez acknowledges that many more children possibly were taken. Investigators zeroed in on the 1977-89 period because peak adoptions occurred during that time frame, particularly in 1986. They will investigate through 1995 and hope to have another report ready by early next year, he said.
A presidential ministry has determined that about 45,000 people disappeared during the nation's civil war, which lasted from 1960 to 1996. About 5,000 of those were children, the ministry said. Another 200,000 people died in the conflict between the leftist guerrillas and right-wing governments.
The nation's public ministry and attorney general's office will determine whether anyone is prosecuted over the abductions, Alvarez said.
Asked if he would like to see prosecutions, Alvarez answered, "I hope so."
Alvarez said he has attended several reunions of abducted children -- now adults -- and family members.
"I can't tell you how happy that makes me," he said.
Adoption has served as a source of income in Guatemala for decades. The war just made it easier for abuses at the hands of soldiers to occur.
Guatemala has the world's highest per capita rate of adoption and is one of the leading providers of adoptive children for the United States. Nearly one in 100 babies born in Guatemala end up with adoptive parents in the United States, according to the U.S. consulate in Guatemala.
Adoptions can cost up to $30,000, providing a large financial incentive in a country where the World Bank says about 75 percent of the people live below the poverty level. Officials fear that often times mothers are paid -- or coerced -- into giving up their children.
Some unscrupulous lawyers and notaries, who have greater power in Guatemala than they do in the United States, have taken advantage of the extreme poverty and limited government oversight over adoptions to enrich themselves. Alvarez said corrupt lawyers and notaries were the driving force behind many of the army abductions of children.
The problem is confounded because many Guatemalan parents can't provide for their children. The United Nations' World Food Programme says Guatemala has the fourth highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world and the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean. Chronic undernutrition affects about half of the nation's children under the age of 5, the U.N. agency said.
Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom Caballeros declared a state of national calamity this week because so many citizens do not have food or proper nutrition.
Despite the nation's problems, Alvarez hopes some good will come of the report, which was released Thursday.
"We have to tell the truth about what happened," he said. "Guatemalan society must know what happened and must never allow it to happen again."
CNN's Arthur Brice contributed to this report | [
"What are children stolen for?",
"what is the period examined?",
"What do reports say?",
"Who was stolen for adoption?",
"When was the 'peak' adoption period?"
] | [
[
"adoption"
],
[
"1977-89,"
],
[
"army stole at least 333 children and sold them for adoption in other countries"
],
[
"333 children"
],
[
"1977-89"
]
] | Children stolen for adoption in the U.S., Sweden, Italy and France, report says .
Some parents were killed, others were unharmed when soldiers came calling .
Investigators examined period between 1977 and 1989, 'peak' adoption period .
Reports says many more could have been taken, investigation underway . |
(CNN) -- The Guatemalan army stole at least 333 children and sold them for adoption in other countries during the Central American nation's 36-year civil war, a government report has concluded. Around 45,000 people are believed to have disappeared during Guatemala's civil war, 5,000 of them children. Many of those children ended up in the United States, as well as Sweden, Italy and France, said the report's author and lead investigator, Marco Tulio Alvarez. In some cases, the report said, parents were killed so the children could be taken and given to government-operated agencies to be adopted abroad. In other instances, the children were abducted without physical harm to the parents. "This was a great abuse by the state," Alvarez told CNN on Friday. Investigators started examining records in May 2008 for a period that spanned from 1977-89, said Alvarez, the director of the Guatemalan Peace Archive, a commission established by President Alvaro Colom. Of 672 records investigators looked at, Alvarez said, they determined that 333 children had been stolen. The children were taken for financial and political reasons, he said. Alvarez acknowledges that many more children possibly were taken. Investigators zeroed in on the 1977-89 period because peak adoptions occurred during that time frame, particularly in 1986. They will investigate through 1995 and hope to have another report ready by early next year, he said. A presidential ministry has determined that about 45,000 people disappeared during the nation's civil war, which lasted from 1960 to 1996. About 5,000 of those were children, the ministry said. Another 200,000 people died in the conflict between the leftist guerrillas and right-wing governments. The nation's public ministry and attorney general's office will determine whether anyone is prosecuted over the abductions, Alvarez said. Asked if he would like to see prosecutions, Alvarez answered, "I hope so." Alvarez said he has attended several reunions of abducted children -- now adults -- and family members. "I can't tell you how happy that makes me," he said. Adoption has served as a source of income in Guatemala for decades. The war just made it easier for abuses at the hands of soldiers to occur. Guatemala has the world's highest per capita rate of adoption and is one of the leading providers of adoptive children for the United States. Nearly one in 100 babies born in Guatemala end up with adoptive parents in the United States, according to the U.S. consulate in Guatemala. Adoptions can cost up to $30,000, providing a large financial incentive in a country where the World Bank says about 75 percent of the people live below the poverty level. Officials fear that often times mothers are paid -- or coerced -- into giving up their children. Some unscrupulous lawyers and notaries, who have greater power in Guatemala than they do in the United States, have taken advantage of the extreme poverty and limited government oversight over adoptions to enrich themselves. Alvarez said corrupt lawyers and notaries were the driving force behind many of the army abductions of children. The problem is confounded because many Guatemalan parents can't provide for their children. The United Nations' World Food Programme says Guatemala has the fourth highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world and the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean. Chronic undernutrition affects about half of the nation's children under the age of 5, the U.N. agency said. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom Caballeros declared a state of national calamity this week because so many citizens do not have food or proper nutrition. Despite the nation's problems, Alvarez hopes some good will come of the report, which was released Thursday. "We have to tell the truth about what happened," he said. "Guatemalan society must know what happened and must never allow it to happen again." CNN's Arthur Brice contributed to this report | [
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"Who was stolen?",
"what happened to their parents",
"What happened to parents when soldiers called?",
"In which countries where the children adopted"
] | [
[
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"1977-89,"
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"at least 333 children"
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"were killed"
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"Sweden, Italy"
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] | Children stolen for adoption in the U.S., Sweden, Italy and France, report says .
Some parents were killed, others were unharmed when soldiers came calling .
Investigators examined period between 1977 and 1989, 'peak' adoption period .
Reports says many more could have been taken, investigation underway . |
(CNN) -- The Gulf of Mexico undersea gusher is the largest oil spill in United States history -- possibly already more than twice as big as the Exxon Valdez spill, government estimates suggested Thursday.
Scientists observed 130,000 to 270,000 barrels of oil on the water's surface on May 17, and think a similar amount had already been burned, skimmed, dispersed or evaporated.
That would mean 260,000 to 540,000 barrels had leaked as of 10 days ago. The Exxon Valdez leaked about 250,000 barrels into Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989.
The busted well is spewing oil at a rate of at least 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day, U.S. Geological Survey chief Marcia McNutt told reporters Thursday.
A barrel of oil has 42 gallons, so that's 504,000 to 798,000 gallons a day.
That's more than twice as much as previous estimates, which put the rate at 5,000 barrels, or 210,000 gallons, per day.
It's also the more conservative estimate of two reached by two separate teams of government scientists who used two different methods, McNutt told reporters Thursday.
One team looked at the oil on the surface and came up with the estimate of 12,000 to 19,000 barrels per day.
A second team used a different method and came up with a range of 12,000 to 25,000 barrels per day, McNutt said. The official estimate uses the range where the estimates overlap.
The lower end of the government estimate -- 12,000 barrels per day -- would mean that about 18.6 million gallons of oil has been spilled since the April 20 oil rig explosion that started the leak.
The higher end -- 19,000 barrels per day -- would mean 29.5 million gallons has been spilled.
The Exxon Valdez spilled about 11 million gallons of oil.
Worldwide, there have been more than a dozen bigger oil spills than the Gulf spill. The worst was the destruction of Kuwaiti terminals and tankers by Saddam Hussein's forces during the 1991 Gulf war, which spilled 240 million gallons, according to the Oil Spill Intelligence Report.
The amount of oil spilled could have very specific financial ramifications for BP.
If the government finds the company negligent or the leak avoidable, BP will owe royalties on the lost oil, Minerals Management Service spokesman Nicholas Pardi told CNN.
"Now we know the true scale of the monster we are fighting in the Gulf," said Jeremy Symons, senior vice president of the National Wildlife Federation. "BP has unleashed an unstoppable force of appalling proportions. It's as if two Exxon Valdez tankers have already run aground, and more are on the way if they don't get this hole plugged.
"This independent government estimate shows what we expected all along -- BP cannot be trusted, because every gallon of oil that is spilled means they will pay more in fines and liability," Symons said.
The estimates are preliminary and based on new methodologies, McNutt said in a teleconference.
The first team, which got the lower estimate, analyzed how much oil was on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico on a given date, using aerial imaging. They estimated that "130,000 to 270,000 barrels (were) on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico on May 17," McNutt said.
"We estimate that, in addition, as of May 17 a similar volume of oil had already been burned, skimmed, dispersed or evaporated," she said.
That led those scientists to the range of 12,000 to 19,000 barrels per day.
The second group used video observations to arrive at the higher figure.
The scientific teams were composed of federal scientists, independent experts and representatives from universities around the country, McNutt said. BP, which owns the well, was not involved except to provide raw data, she said.
CNN's Richard Allen Greene, David Mattingly and Courtney Yager, and CNN Radio's Lisa Desjardins contributed to this report. | [
"What is the oil spill considered to be significantly larger than",
"What could have ramifications?",
"The Gulf spill is larger than what?",
"How many teams studied the spill?",
"when did the spill happen"
] | [
[
"the Exxon Valdez"
],
[
"amount of oil spilled"
],
[
"the Exxon Valdez"
],
[
"two"
],
[
"May 17,"
]
] | Gulf spill significantly larger than Exxon Valdez accident of 1989, estimates indicate .
Government scientists estimate oil gushing much faster than previously thought .
Two teams used different methods to estimate flow .
NEW: Amount of oil spilled could have ramifications if BP is found negligent . |
(CNN) -- The H1N1 virus has been confirmed in a sample taken from a pig that was displayed at the Minnesota State Fair, the first time the virus has been found in a U.S. pig, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday. The Department of Agriculture quickly issued a statement saying the food supply is safe. "We have fully engaged our trading partners to remind them that several international organizations, including the World Organization for Animal Health, have advised that there is no scientific basis to restrict trade in pork and pork products," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the statement. "People cannot get this flu from eating pork or pork products. Pork is safe to eat." The announcement came three days after health officials announced that three pigs that were displayed during the fair had tested positive in a preliminary test for the H1N1 flu virus. Final results on the other two pigs have not been announced. "This, of course, may be the first indication that it is present in some swine here in the United States," Gene Hugoson, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, told reporters in a conference call on Friday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture National veterinary services laboratories conducted the confirmatory testing on the sample collected at the fair, held in Saint Paul, Minnesota, between August 26 and September 1. Further testing is ongoing. The pigs sampled showed no signs of sickness and were apparently healthy, the officials said. The samples collected were part of a joint University of Iowa and University of Minnesota research project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine whether animals at such events had the infection. "Like people, swine routinely get sick or contract influenza viruses," Vilsack said. The misconception that the virus, sometimes called the swine flu, could be contracted through eating pork has hurt sales of the meat in the wake of the expanding pandemic. This year's crowd of 1.79 million attendees was a record. Though an outbreak of H1N1 was reported among a group of 4-H'ers who had attended the fair, officials said it was unlikely they contracted the virus from the animals, since few of them had contact with the pigs. The report came as no surprise to experts, since herds in other countries, including Argentina, Canada, Ireland and Norway, have been infected with H1N1. Pigs that do get sick with H1N1 typically recover from it, the officials said. The officials said the display animals likely were sent to slaughter. Even if they were slaughtered while still infected, that would not be an issue for anyone eating the meat, said Dr. Jeff Bender, co-director of the University of Minnesota Center for Animal Health and Food Safety. "This virus is not in muscle tissue, so if these animals were slaughtered or processed there would be no risk to the public." A vaccine to protect swine from H1N1 is under development but is not yet commercially available, one official said. | [
"Which virus has been detected",
"Are pork and pork products still safe to eat?",
"How many pigs on display at the fair tested positive in the preliminary H1N1 test?",
"What is still safe to eat?",
"Where was the fair located?",
"In which state was the fair",
"What happened for the first time?",
"Where are three pigs on display at?"
] | [
[
"H1N1"
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[
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[
"three"
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[
"Minnesota"
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[
"Minnesota"
],
[
"the virus has been found in a U.S. pig,"
],
[
"State Fair,"
]
] | First time the virus has been found in a U.S. pig, Department of Agriculture says .
Pork and pork products still safe to eat, Agriculture Secretary says .
Three pigs on display at Minnesota fair tested positive in preliminary H1N1 test . |
(CNN) -- The H1N1 virus has now become the dominant influenza virus around the globe, with high levels and an increase of activity in many regions, the World Health Organization said Thursday.
In a weekly update, the WHO's point person on the H1N1 virus, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, also warned the public not to treat the virus like just another flu.
Like seasonal flu, H1N1 is more active in the winter than in the summer, and a majority of infected people get better on their own, Fukuda said. H1N1 also is as transmissible and infectious as seasonal flu, he said.
But unusually for influenza, Fukuda said, H1N1 continues at high levels over the summer months, and many of the serious illnesses and deaths are concentrated in people younger than 65.
Seven months into the pandemic, the virus commonly known as swine flu remains at high levels and continues to increase in North America, Fukuda said. Mexico, for example, has seen more cases from September to November than they saw in the preceding months from April, when the virus emerged, he said.
The virus is also becoming more active in Europe and Central and Western Asia, Fukuda said.
Health officials this week reported an outbreak of cases in Ukraine, which now has more than 250,000 cases of influenza-like illness, with 235 patients requiring intensive care, the WHO said.
Activity is picking up in East Asia, Fukuda said. Mongolia reported "a number" of cases over the past week, he said.
"East Asia is one of the parts of the world where seasonal influenza viruses have remained in reasonably high circulation," Fukuda said. "But even in that part of the world, the pandemic virus is becoming dominant."
More cases are being reported from a number of Caribbean countries such as Cuba and Haiti, he said.
In Central America and the Southern Hemisphere, however, activity levels have dropped as those regions enter the summer season, Fukuda said.
"There are several regions in the world -- North America, Europe, Northern and Central Asia -- where we are clearly seeing pandemic influenza activity increase," he said, but "there is no one single place in the world where we are focused on."
Disease activity has been difficult to predict, Fukuda said.
"We really are not going to know what the future is going to bring, and so the main focus of our effort here is ... what steps are needed to make sure countries are as prepared as possible to deal with disease levels," he said.
H1N1 poses different challenges in different countries, but it does seem to be affecting indigenous groups more heavily than nonindigenous groups, he said.
In Australia, for example, "aboriginal groups are disproportionately represented in people who end up in hospitals from diseases related to the pandemic," Fukuda said.
The WHO still doesn't know whether the effect on indigenous groups is because of the pandemic itself or because of underlying factors.
Because most people infected with swine flu tend to recover on their own and don't suffer major problems afterwards, some people are tempted to dismiss the infection and think it's not serious. But Fukuda said that's a dangerous mind-set.
"At WHO, we remain quite concerned about the patterns we are seeing, particularly because a sizable number of people develop complications [that lead to death]," he said. "We do see that the serious complications are concentrated in the younger age groups rather than the older age groups."
While the complications are most often seen in people who have chronic, underlying health conditions and in pregnant women, they also can develop in people "who are currently healthy and young."
But contrary to some reports, Fukuda said, the WHO has not seen big mutations in the virus since it first emerged. He said viruses being isolated now are "generally similar" to those isolated over the past several months, indicating they haven't changed much.
The WHO also has no evidence of widespread resistance to antiviral medication, Fukuda said. There | [
"When does H1N1 continue?",
"What group is affected more?",
"what affect more indigenous groups more heavily than nonindigenous groups?",
"What level does H1N1 continues over the summer months?"
] | [
[
"over the summer months,"
],
[
"people younger than 65."
],
[
"H1N1"
],
[
"high"
]
] | H1N1 continues at high levels over the summer months, unlike seasonal flu .
The flu seems to affect indigenous groups more heavily than nonindigenous groups .
The only side effects of the vaccine are swelling and pain at the injection site .
WHO has not seen big mutations in the virus since it first emerged . |
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