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(CNN) -- The skeletal remains of two infants were found underneath a rural Texas trailer, police said Monday, in the same area where another set of infant remains was found last year. The skeletal remains of two infants were found near a Texas trailer, police said Monday. Authorities were called about 3:30 p.m. Sunday to the trailer south of Kennedale, about 15 miles southeast of Fort Worth, Texas, in rural Tarrant County, said Terry Grisham, spokesman for the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office. There is a group of about five mobile homes there, he said, that are leased by the property owner. One of the mobile homes had recently become vacant, and the owner was cleaning it up, Grisham said. The owner pulled back the metal "skirt" around the bottom of the mobile home and was "digging around in there," and found a plastic bag, Grisham said. When the man opened it up, he found a box, and inside the box he found the "bones of a very young infant," Grisham told CNN. He continued to look, and found another plastic container with more remains inside, of a "similar-aged infant," before calling 911, Grisham said. In 2008, the same man called police to report that he had found a suitcase in the same area, in an overgrown field a distance away from the mobile homes, while dumping leaves. When he used a knife to cut into the suitcase, a set of infant bones were found, Grisham said. The medical examiner's office was unable to determine a cause of death because the remains were skeletal, although no bones were broken, he said. "We worked the thing as best we could, without any more to go on than we had," but the investigation stalled, Grisham said. Police have contacted the two people -- a brother and sister -- who recently moved out of the trailer, he said. The two have been cooperative with authorities, he said. They were interviewed separately, but both told police they had no idea the remains were there, Grisham said. Authorities and the medical examiner's office remained at the scene Monday, Grisham said, and plan to use cadaver dogs at the site Monday afternoon in an effort to determine whether more remains were present. "This ground is pretty brushy and overgrown," he said. A county work crew was brought in to carefully cut down the brush to aid the search, he said. CNN's Ashley Hayes contributed to this report. | [
"The skeletal remains of how many infants were found?",
"The remains were found in which state?",
"In 2008 what were infant remains in?",
"The man said he found a suitcade with infant remains in which year?",
"What became vacant?",
"The skeletal remains of what was found?"
] | [
[
"two"
],
[
"Texas"
],
[
"underneath a rural Texas trailer,"
],
[
"2008,"
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[
"One of the mobile homes"
],
[
"two infants"
]
] | The skeletal remains of two infants found near Texas trailer police said Monday .
Remains found in area where other infant remains were found last year .
One mobile home recently become vacant, owner was cleaning it up .
In 2008, same man told police he found a suitcase that had infant remains . |
(CNN) -- The slayings of two super-yacht staff within two weeks have shaken the luxury yacht industry and sparked calls for crews to exercise extreme caution. Australian luxury yacht captain Drew Gollan was killed in January in English Harbor, Antigua. Both slayings occurred in popular yachting destinations in the Caribbean and involved violent attacks. Last week, U.S. luxury yacht chef Sara Kuszak, of Savannah, Georgia, was killed after being abducted during a morning run in Puerto Rico. The body of Kuszak, who was five months pregnant, was found with a slashed throat in a field. A local man has been arrested by police in connection with the incident. On January 22, Australian Drew Gollan, captain of Perini Navi yacht Perseus, was shot dead in what was described as a "failed robbery" in English Harbor, Antigua. Gollan, 38, was described as a "widely respected member of the yachting community." His death came less than a year after the double killing of a British couple on the island. Suspects have been arrested and charged with murder in both cases. Antigua, in particular, is highly dependent on the luxury yacht industry to boost its local economy -- and it appears news of the crimes is already having a negative impact. In a press release, the Antigua Charter Yacht Meeting acknowledged that "a number of boats have decided to leave Antigua in the wake of this incident." Further reports from yachting magazine SuperYachtWorld suggest several captains on the island have also decided to leave. Meanwhile, luxury yacht staff who are remaining in the Caribbean have been urged by industry Web site yotcru.com to "exercise vigilant personal safety at all times." After the death of Gollan, local Antigua politicians and yacht industry representatives held an emergency meeting to discuss the problem. At the meeting, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Baldwin Spencer, said: "Antigua is still a safe place to be. It's an unfortunate situation, however we are all hoping that justice will be done," SuperYachtWorld reported. Spencer also pledged new security efforts to help prevent future crimes. An international charter company manager and luxury yacht industry expert, Els Bucknell, said yacht crews and clients were "shocked and saddened" by the deaths, and there would likely be a short-term impact on the Caribbean region. "Most people assumed that this part of Antigua was safe and I think it has come as a shock," she said. "Some boats have already left and I think you will see some of that." However, Bucknell felt the incident would not affect the region in the long term. "People do forget about these things over time ... and the local business people with police and other authorities have made a serious attempt to make it safer. "The economy being the way it is has more to do with how business operates than these kind of things," she said. | [
"What was the age of the man shot dead?",
"What month did the shooting occur?",
"Where was he shot?",
"On waht date did the shooting take place?",
"Some yachts and crew members are leaving where?",
"Who was abducted and killed in Puerto rico last week?",
"Who was abducted and killed?",
"Who was shot dead on January 22?",
"Where did the shooting take place?"
] | [
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"38,"
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"January"
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"English Harbor, Antigua."
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"January 22,"
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[
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"U.S. luxury yacht chef Sara Kuszak, of Savannah, Georgia,"
],
[
"Sara Kuszak,"
],
[
"Australian luxury yacht captain Drew Gollan"
],
[
"English Harbor, Antigua."
]
] | Australian captain Drew Gollan shot dead in Antigua on January 22 .
U.S. yacht chef Sara Kuszak was abducted and killed in Puerto Rico last week .
Reports indicate some yachts and crew members leaving Caribbean . |
(CNN) -- The small, World War II-era plane that crashed Friday during a Reno, Nevada, air race was equipped with data and video recording devices that investigators hope to use to help determine what happened and why.
Seven people, including the pilot, were killed when the plane crashed into spectators at the race, with two others later dying at area hospitals. Close to 70 people were injured.
National Transportation Safety Board member Mark Rosekind on Sunday described this realization, as well as the discovery of information and pieces that may have come from the devices, as "significant new information." It was also not entirely expected, given the size and nature of the P-51 aircraft.
"I'm not aware of a lot of aircraft having it, this is the first one I came across," said Howard Plagens, who is the NTSB official heading the investigation.
Plagens was referring to a "box" that recorded key variables such as altitude, latitude and oil pressure. In addition, there was an outward-facing video camera on the plane, according to Rosekind.
Several memory cards have been found at the wreckage site that may have come from either device, and will be sent to the NTSB laboratory in Washington, D.C., for a full analysis, Rosekind said. They may belong to some of the 200,000 spectators then at the annual National Championship Air Races and Air Show.
Investigators do have a copy of the "box" data, since it was sent in real time by telemetry to sources outside the aircraft.
Besides the cards, Rosekind said parts of a plane's tail, an "elevator trim tab" and video camera fragments have been found.
"There were thousands of pieces of debris," Plagens said, explaining how the site had been laid out in a grid system to help organize the probe.
As with the memory cards, one of the authorities' first goals will be to determine if these came from the plane being piloted by 74-year-old Jimmy Leeward. Countering earlier reports, Rosekind said on Sunday that Leeward did not send a "Mayday call," indicating he was in distress.
Investigators have repeatedly stated that it is not now known why the aircraft nosedived. Some speculation has surrounded the elevator trim tab -- which was breaking apart prior to the crash, a photograph shows.
Besides the plane's trim tab, parts of a tail, the memory cards and already known plane data, investigators also will pore over "a tremendous (amount of) video that was captured" at the scene, according to Rosekind.
While a preliminary report will be available Friday, Rosekind has said the full investigation could take six to nine months.
"It's not just what happened, it's why it happened," he said Sunday. "(We're) trying to make sure this doesn't happen again."
Meanwhile, the crash's toll became clearer Sunday as more of those killed were identified.
Besides Leeward, the dead include Michael Joseph Wogan, a 22-year-old from Phoenix who was attending the event with his father as part of a father-and-son vacation, his family said in a statement. His father, William, was "seriously injured," the statement said.
Wogan was diagnosed at an early age with muscular dystrophy, and was wheelchair-bound his entire life. However, his 19-year-old brother James Wogan said in the family statement, "He was about moving past that and always driven toward independence. Michael liked to get out and travel, and he was so excited about getting on a plane as part of this trip."
Michael Wogan graduated magna cum laude from Arizona State University with a finance degree in May, his family said. He had operated a web development company and was in the process of developing a second business.
Memorial service details were pending, the statement said.
Also identified Sunday were George and Wendy Hewitt, members of Cascade EAA Warbirds Squadron 2. The Hewitts were killed when the plane crashed into the seating area, said R.D. Williams | [
"Were any memory cards found?",
"What did the pilot not send?",
"What number were killed in the crash?",
"When were more people identified?",
"When were the bodies identified?",
"Did the pilot send a mayday call?",
"What did the downed plane have?"
] | [
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"Several"
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"\"Mayday call,\""
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"Seven"
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"Sunday"
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"data and video recording devices"
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] | NEW: The downed plane had video and data recording devices, a NTSB official says .
NEW: Some of the data was transmitted, and several memory cards have been found .
NEW: The pilot did not send a "Mayday" call, as had previously been reported .
More of the 9 people killed in Friday's crash were identified Sunday . |
(CNN) -- The sole survivor of Sunday's shooting rampage in Wisconsin "played dead" after a sheriff's deputy shot him three times, Wisconsin's attorney general said Tuesday.
Tyler Peterson, a sheriff's deputy, shot and killed six people, police said.
After Tyler Peterson shot him once, Charlie Neitzel, 21, begged him to stop. But Peterson fired again. Neitzel fell to the floor, was shot a third time, and didn't move.
"Playing dead until Peterson left, Neitzel survived," Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said.
Neitzel underwent surgery Tuesday and was in stable condition Tuesday night, a hospital employee told CNN.
The families of the six slain young people -- all current or former graduates of Crandon High School in Crandon, Wisconsin, asked that media leave them alone in their grief, Van Hollen told reporters.
But the families of the victims also wanted it known that they had met with Peterson's family.
"They hold no animosity toward them," Van Hollen said, conveying the families' wishes that the Peterson family be allowed space and time to heal.
On Sunday around 2 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) Peterson, a full-time Forest County Sheriff's deputy, went to a party at a home in the small town of Crandon apparently to make amends with an ex-girlfriend, a friend of Peterson's told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Peterson argued with Jordanne Murray, accusing her of dating someone else, said Van Hollen.
Peterson lost control after people called him a "worthless pig," Peterson's friend Mike Kegley told the paper.
Peterson left the party and got a police-style AR-15 rifle from his truck, forced his way back into the apartment and fired about 30 rounds at about 2:45 a.m. (3:45 a.m. ET).
Six people were killed. According to The Associated Press, investigators found three bodies on or next to a couch -- Lindsey Stahl, 14; Aaron Smith, 20; and Bradley Schultz, 20.
Murray, 18, was found in the kitchen. Lianna Thomas, 18, was found in a closet, and Katrina McCorkle, 18, was just outside it. Both had apparently been trying to hide, Van Hollen said, according to AP.
Neitzel was the last person shot, Van Hollen said.
Less than 20 minutes later, a patrolling Crandon police officer, reported hearing gunfire and approached the apartment building to investigate, Van Hollen said. The officer, Greg Carter, 21, said he saw Peterson exit the building with a rifle, and momentarily lost sight of him. Then, Carter "heard multiple rounds of gunfire" and Carter's windshield burst, Van Hollen said.
Van Hollen said Peterson drove "aimlessly" through three Wisconsin counties and made false calls to authorities to "throw police off his tail."
He eventually stopped in Argonne, Wisconsin, where he spoke to friends and confessed, Van Hollen said.
Peterson was killed in a shootout with law officers Sunday after negotiations for his surrender failed. The details of the negotiations are not being released at this time pending an ongoing investigation, Van Hollen said Tuesday. E-mail to a friend | [
"who begged tyler peterson?",
"where did peterson opened fire?",
"What is the age of the guy begged Tyler Peterson to stop shooting?",
"What was the number of victims killed by Peterson?",
"On what day did the shooting occur?",
"What was the name of the shooter",
"What AG told about this shooting?"
] | [
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"Charlie Neitzel,"
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"\"Playing dead until Peterson left, Neitzel survived,\" Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said."
]
] | Charlie Neitzel, 21, begged Tyler Peterson to stop shooting, AG said .
AG: After Peterson fired second time, Neitzel dropped to floor and didn't move .
Peterson was shot three times in the head; once in bicep, AG said .
Peterson opened fire on a party of young people Sunday, killing six . |
(CNN) -- The solution to ending an abusive relationship seems simple: Walk out the door. But for an abused woman, leaving can be a confusing process, complex at every step, said a newly published article in an University of Illinois journal. Co-author and graduate student Lyndal Khaw told CNN that abused women actually go through a five-step process of leaving that involves denial, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance. And the transition from one step to another is hardly seamless, Khaw said. "Some women can skip stages, some repeat a cycle of going back and forth to other steps and others go through the motions -- going from one stage to another", she said. In their study, Khaw and co-author Jennifer Hardesty, an assistant professor of human and community development, applied their model to 25 abused women. The report was published recently in the Journal of Family Theory and Review. Khaw said that moving from step to step can put a strain on those who are being supportive to an abused woman because they can have a hard time understanding why she returns or refuses to leave. Hardesty said that physically leaving a relationship entails more than a woman's decision to embrace change and prioritizing her own safety. The abuser can affect her decisions, as can children, who can motivate her to return to the relationship, Hardesty said. Even though a woman may return to the abuser at some point, practitioners and women themselves need to understand that every time the woman disengages she gains additional resources and support, Hardesty said. "So next time she is contemplating and preparing she'll be stronger and perhaps more likely to stay out of that relationship," she said. Khaw said service providers, family members and other sources of support need to recognize the stages of what can be a lengthy -- and risky -- process. "When trying to leave, abusers may get more violent," Khaw said. Recognition of the five-step process can be helpful to abused women, Hardesty said. "Not all women are ready to leave, but recognizing it's a process can be empowering," she said. | [
"who is jennifer hardesty",
"What does the process incude?",
"What can be a confusing process?",
"What does Jennifer Hardesty say?"
] | [
[
"an assistant professor of human and community development,"
],
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"of leaving that involves denial, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance."
],
[
"leaving"
],
[
"that physically leaving a relationship entails more than a woman's decision to embrace change and prioritizing her own safety. The abuser can affect her decisions, as can children, who can motivate her to return to the relationship,"
]
] | Authors say leaving abuse can be a confusing process, complex at every step .
Process includes denial, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance .
"Not all women are ready to leave," says co-author Jennifer Hardesty . |
(CNN) -- The son of Gabon's former president was declared the winner of the country's presidential elections on Thursday, sparking violent protests in some parts of the West African nation. Two men walk by tyres set on fire by opposition supporters in Libreville, Gabon. Voters went to the polls Sunday to elect a successor to President Omar Bongo, who died in June after more than four decades in office. Bongo, 73, was Africa's longest-serving ruler. In a live announcement Thursday on Gabonese television, Interior Minister Jean Francois Ndongou said Ali Bongo received 41.73 percent of the votes in Sunday's election, with former interior minister Andre Mba Obame getting 25.88 percent and main opposition leader Pierre Mamboundou winning 25.22 percent. Opposition supporters protested the results outside the French consulate in the oil-rich city of Port-Gentil, on the country's coast. A fire broke out at the consulate during the demonstrations, a French official told CNN. The official did not want his name to be used. Some people were seriously injured in the blaze, the official said. In his first address to the nation shortly after the results were announced, Ali Bongo, 50, promised to work to improve living conditions for all Gabonese by a redistribution of the country's riches, according to Gabonese media reports. The country has multiple lucrative natural resources, including oil, timber, minerals and gems. Before the results were made public, all three candidates had previously claimed victory, with the opposition candidates denouncing what they said was fraud in the election and vote-counting. Security forces patrolled the streets in the Gabonese capital of Libreville, where violence broke out in some quarters when the results were released, according to French media reports. Libreville was deserted because residents had fled to villages for fear of post-election violence, Andriankoto Ratozamanana told CNN by phone from the capital. "The citizens won't accept if Ali Bongo wins, because that will mean the government stole the vote," Ratozamanana said. "They want change. They don't want Bongo, because he is his dad's son." The younger Bongo, a former defense minister, was one of 23 politicians originally in the ballot. Several candidates pulled out a few days before the vote to support the opposition, said Archippe Yepmou, a media activist. The elder Bongo took power in 1967, seven years after the country's independence from France. He imposed one-party rule a year after succeeding the country's first president, who died in office. He allowed multiparty elections after a new constitution in 1991, but his party retained its grip on the government despite that. The nation of about 1.5 million has a per capita income four times that of most sub-Saharan African nations, according to the CIA World Factbook. Despite its wealth, which also comes from timber exports, a large percentage of its population lives in poverty because of poor financial management and a huge gap between the rich and the poor. CNN's Alanne Orjoux and Umaro Djau contributed to this report. | [
"where did the election take place",
"when did voters go to the polls?",
"Who is Ali Bongo?",
"who was declared winner of the election",
"who is the winner",
"who was elected?",
"who is Gabon's former president?",
"who is protesting?",
"on what day did the election take place"
] | [
[
"Libreville, Gabon."
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"Thursday,"
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] | Ali Bongo, son of Gabon's former president declared the winner of election .
Opposition supporters protest outside the French consulate in city of Port-Gentil .
Voters went to the polls on Sunday to elect successor to President Omar Bongo . |
(CNN) -- The son of Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin died from "fresh water drowning" and there was no evidence of foul play, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, police said Wednesday.
The body of Michael Philbin, 21, was pulled from a river Monday, a day after he went missing while in Oshkosh to visit friends, police said.
Toxicology results from the autopsy, conducted Tuesday, will not be available for several weeks, according to a police statement.
"We love Michael so much and will miss him dearly," Joe Philbin said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. "He loved his family, friends and life. His memory will live on in the hearts and minds of all who knew him."
Philbin thanked the agencies that assisted in the search and expressed gratitude for "the prayers and the support of our family, friends and the Packers family."
On behalf of the team, Packers general manager Ted Thompson said everyone's thoughts and prayers were with the family.
"This is an emotional and difficult time for them, and we ask that everyone respect their privacy," he said. "All of us in the Packers family share in their grief."
The body was found Monday in the Fox River after Oshkosh police put out an alert asking citizens for help locate Philbin, who lived about 20 miles away in Ripon. His last known communication was at 2 a.m. Sunday, police said.
"He talked to a friend. He didn't sound like he was under duress or he had any medical condition," police spokesman Joe Nichols told CNN affiliate WTMJ on Monday. "The phone conversation ended, and that was the last time someone had voice contact."
Michael Philbin was the second-eldest of six children of Joe Philbin and his wife, Diane, according to the Packers' website. His funeral is set for Friday.
His father coached for 19 years at college football programs before coming to Green Bay in 2003 as an assistant offensive line coach. He became the team's offensive coordinator in 2007 and played a significant part in the Packers' league-best 15-1 regular season record this season.
CNN's Kara Devlin contributed to this report. | [
"Where did they pull his body from?",
"Was there evidence of foul play?",
"When did he go missing?",
"Where did he go missing?",
"When was the body found?",
"When will toxicology reports be available?",
"Were there any suspicious circumstances?"
] | [
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"river"
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"Oshkosh"
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"Monday,"
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"several weeks,"
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"no evidence of foul play,"
]
] | Michael Philbin, 21, went missing Sunday in Oshkosh, Wisconsin .
Searchers pulled his body from a river on Monday .
Toxicology results will be available in several weeks, police say .
There was no evidence of foul play, police say . |
(CNN) -- The son of a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander was found dead in a Dubai hotel room -- with his father's website calling the death "suspicious," though police insisted it was not.
Numerous Iranian media on Sunday reported the death of Ahmad Rezaie inside Hotel Gloria, a four-star hotel in the coastal United Arab Emirates city.
Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, head of the Dubai police's criminal investigations department, said there is no criminal suspicion surrounding the man's death. Al Mansouri, quoting the dead man's brother, added that Ahmad suffered from epilepsy.
Yet Tabnak, a website owned by the dead man's father, Mohsen Rezaie, claimed that Ahmad "was killed under suspicious circumstances."
The same site noted that the death was "concurrent with the martyrdom of Mohsen Rezaie's comrades in arms" on Saturday, referring to an explosion at a military base near Tehran.
At least 17 people were killed in that incident, after a munitions depot accidentally caught fire, lawmaker Hossein Garousi told state media. Lt. Gen. Ramezan Sharif reiterated Sunday that the blaze was accidental and dismissed the possibility of sabotage.
The Tabnak report did not elaborate on what connection, if any, existed between Ahmad Rezaie's death and the deadly explosion.
Shahram Gilabadi -- a spokesman for Iran's Expediency Council, of which Mohsen Rezaie is secretary -- told Tabnak, "The death is currently being investigated."
The semi-official Mehrs News Agency reported that Ahmad Rezaie died from an electric shock.
Mohsen Rezaie served for years as head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard. In 2009, he ran -- unsuccessfully -- as a conservative candidate along with others against incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
He continues to play a leading role with the Expediency Council, which mediates between the parliament and the non-elected Guardian Council led by Ayatollah Khamenei. | [
"Ahmad Rezaie was found",
"A Dubai police official says",
"Who said the death is suspicious?",
"What did his father's website call the death?",
"Who was found dead in his hotel room?",
"Which hotel did this take place at?",
"Who was found dead?"
] | [
[
"dead"
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"there is no criminal suspicion surrounding the man's death."
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[
"son of a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander"
],
[
"Gloria,"
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[
"Ahmad Rezaie"
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] | Ahmad Rezaie was found dead inside his Hotel Gloria hotel room .
His father's website calls the death "suspicious," tying it to a deadly blast near Tehran .
A Dubai police official says that there is no criminal suspicion .
Ahmad's father, Mohsen, is head of Iran's Expediency Council and an ex-presidential hopeful . |
(CNN) -- The son of an infamous CIA double agent who is himself accused of spying was released from jail Friday in Portland, Oregon, pending trial after a federal judge ruled he did not pose a flight risk. Nathaniel Nicholson, son of an infamous CIA double agent, faces his own spying charges. Judge Anna J. Brown ordered that Nathaniel Nicholson, 24, can be freed provided he stay with family, not leave Oregon without permission from authorities and wear a GPS monitoring device. Brown also ordered that he not have any contact with his father, the admitted spy Harold James "Jim" Nicholson. The elder Nicholson pleaded guilty in 1997 to spying for Russia and is the highest ranking CIA officer ever to be sentenced for espionage. While serving a 23-year prison sentence, prosecutors allege, Jim Nicholson, 58, restarted his career as a double agent and enlisted his son Nathaniel in his efforts to collect money owed to him by the Russian spy services and to sell more secrets. Both father and son were charged in January with acting as agents of a foreign government, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They have pleaded not guilty. Court appointed lawyers representing the men did not return CNN's calls for comment According to the indictment, Nathaniel Nicholson made trips to California, Mexico, Peru and Cyprus, where he met with Russian government representatives who gave him payments totaling over $35,000 in cash. At his father's request, Nathaniel Nicholson allegedly shared the money with his sister and grandparents. Nathaniel Nicholson had complained to his father that he and his sister were short of money to pay for college, prosecutors said. Jim Nicholson told his son that his alleged spying activities "were 'risky' but not 'illegal,'" the indictment said. According to court testimony, Nathaniel Nicholson, who is a former U.S. Army paratrooper, initially told authorities that he had traveled overseas to visit "a battle buddy." The FBI agents informed Nicholson that lying to them was a federal crime and offered him a "mulligan," or a chance to change his story, according to the agent's testimony. At that point, FBI special agent John Cooney testified, Nicholson became more "forthcoming" about his meetings with Russians. If convicted, Jim and Nathaniel Nicholson could face up to 20 years in jail. | [
"Who pleaded guilty in 1997 for spying for Russia?",
"Who is Nathaniel Nicholson?",
"who is his father?",
"What did the judge from Portland, Oregon do?",
"who released him from jail?",
"who is facing spying charges?",
"Who is Nathaniel Nicholson's father?",
"Who faces spying charges?"
] | [
[
"The elder Nicholson"
],
[
"son of an infamous CIA double agent,"
],
[
"Harold James \"Jim\" Nicholson."
],
[
"ordered that Nathaniel Nicholson, 24, can be freed"
],
[
"Judge Anna J. Brown"
],
[
"Nathaniel Nicholson,"
],
[
"Harold James \"Jim\""
],
[
"Nathaniel Nicholson,"
]
] | Nathaniel Nicholson, son of a CIA double agent, faces spying charges .
A Portland, Oregon, judge releases him from jail, pending trial .
His father, Jim Nicholson, pleaded guilty in 1997 to spying for Russia .
While in prison, father allegedly enlisted son to help continue spy services . |
(CNN) -- The son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor Sr. was sentenced Friday to 97 years in prison for charges including torture and conspiracy, according to a federal court in Florida. The U.S.-born son of Charles Taylor Sr., pictured, moved to Liberia when his father became president. U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga sentenced Charles "Chuckie" Taylor Jr., 31, in a Friday morning session that lasted four hours, according to a court document. Altonaga cited Taylor's "sadistic, cruel and atrocious past," saying it "constituted unacceptable, universally condemned torture," The Miami Herald reported. "The lengthy prison term handed down today justly reflects the horror and torture that Taylor Jr. visited upon his victims," said Matthew Friedrich, acting assistant attorney general of the criminal division. Taylor, also known as Charles McArthur Emmanuel, was convicted October 30 of torture, conspiracy to commit torture and firearm charges. His case, tried in Miami, was the first brought under a 1994 U.S. law saying those accused of committing torturous acts overseas can be tried in a U.S. federal court, as long as the person is a U.S. national or is present in the United States, regardless of nationality. Calls to Taylor's defense attorneys were not immediately returned. Prosecutors had asked for Taylor to be sentenced to 147 years. Taylor was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but he moved to Liberia when his father was named president. Prosecutors said Taylor became the leader of the Anti-Terrorist Unit and the Liberian National Police while his father was president. The two groups are accused of abducting, torturing and killing people. From 1999 to 2002, Taylor committed torture and allowed others to commit torture, prosecutors said. Taylor and his associated burned victims with molten plastic, lighted cigarettes, candle wax and an iron. Some were severely beaten with firearms, cut and stabbed and shocked with an electric device, prosecutors said in an indictment that superseded the initial indictment from 2006. In the initial indictment, Taylor was charged with one count of torture, one count of conspiracy to torture and one count of using a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. The superseding September 2007 indictment -- which incorporated the initial charges -- included five counts of torture, one count of conspiracy to torture, one count of using a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and one count of conspiracy to use a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. The defense had said the U.S. government had little or no evidence to back up its claims. Also Friday, the World Organization for Human Rights USA filed a civil class action suit against Taylor on behalf of a group of people who are said to have been subjected to torture and other human rights abuses by Taylor or his subordinates, according to the organization. The suit seeks declaratory relief and general, compensatory and punitive damages, the organization said in a written statement. "This civil suit aims to address Defendant Taylor's wrongs on a much greater scale" than the criminal trial, the organization said. Taylor's father, Charles Taylor Sr., is standing trial in The Hague, Netherlands, on war crimes charges. CNN's John Couwels contributed to this report. | [
"When was Taylor convicted?",
"What organization is suing Taylor?",
"When was Charles Taylor Jr. Convicted?",
"What country is Charles Taylor Jr. From?",
"What is Taylor being sentenced for?",
"What is the age of Charles Taylor Jr.",
"What kind of groups are suing Charles Taylor Jr.?",
"Will he be sentenced to Jail for his crimes."
] | [
[
"Friday morning session"
],
[
"for Human Rights USA"
],
[
"Friday"
],
[
"born in Boston, Massachusetts,"
],
[
"charges including torture and conspiracy,"
],
[
"31,"
],
[
"World Organization for Human Rights USA"
],
[
"prison"
]
] | NEW: Sentence reflects "horror and torture" visited upon victims, state official says .
NEW: Human Rights organization sues Taylor on behalf of alleged torture victims .
Charles "Chuckie" Taylor Jr. sentenced for charges including torture and conspiracy .
Son of ex-Liberian president convicted October 30 . |
(CNN) -- The space shuttle Atlantis crew completed its first spacewalk to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope, a daylong act of grueling labor that featured the replacement and installation of key instruments. Spacewalkers remove a camera from the Hubble on Thursday. Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel removed the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 and swapped it out with an updated model, a device that "will allow the telescope to take large-scale, clear and detailed photos over a wide range of colors," NASA said. But they had a tough time removing a bolt in that task, an issue that caused some concern for colleagues on the ground. They eventually released it. "OK, here we go. I think I got it. It turned. It turned. And it's turning easily now," Feustel said. "Very nice." In all, the repair mission took seven hours and 20 minutes, a hard day's work that ended at 4:12 p.m. EDT. "It turned out very well," lead flight director Tony Ceccacci said during a NASA briefing. The team also replaced a Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit, a computer that "sends commands to Hubble's science instruments and formats science data for transmission to the ground," NASA said. The team "installed a soft capture mechanism, a device that will allow future vehicles to attach to the telescope," NASA said. And they installed "a combination of locks and latches that will allow for faster opening and closing of the telescope doors during the third spacewalk." "This is a huge accomplishment," Preston Burch, Hubble Space Telescope program manager, said during a briefing. "Our first EVA day in more than seven years." EVA is the acronym for "extravehicular activity," the phrase for spacewalking. It was the first of five spacewalks scheduled during the 11-day mission in which the crew will work in the shuttle's cargo bay to upgrade and repair Hubble. Astronauts Michael Good and Mike Massimino will perform the next spacewalk on Friday. They will be installing gyroscopes and batteries. Learn more about the Hubble repairs » The mission is one of the most ambitious space repair efforts ever attempted. Atlantis launched Monday afternoon for NASA's fifth and final repair visit to the telescope. Watch Atlantis lift off on Hubble mission » After a two-day chase, the shuttle captured the telescope Wednesday with its robotic arm some 350 miles above Earth and pulled it into Atlantis' cargo bay for service. Watch Atlantis snag the Hubble » It's been seven years since the last space shuttle crew worked on the telescope, which has been latched to a rotating, "lazy Susan"-type device for five days of repairs and remodeling. A camera mounted on the shuttle's robotic arm, 200 feet from the telescope, is taking pictures of it -- the first time the telescope has been seen since March 2002. An umbilical line was connected to provide electricity from Atlantis to the telescope, according to NASA. Mission commander Scott Altman also will position the shuttle to allow Hubble's solar arrays to gather energy from the sun and recharge the telescope's batteries. The timeline for the spacewalks is so tight, there's a chance the astronauts won't get everything done, especially if they hit any snags. And that's a real possibility because some of the repairs they are attempting have never been tried before. NASA canceled an Atlantis mission to extend Hubble's operational life in January 2004 because the trip was considered too risky in the wake of the 2003 space shuttle Columbia disaster, which killed seven astronauts. That accident was blamed on a hole punched in the front of the wing by debris during liftoff. But public pressure and steps taken to increase shuttle safety led the space agency to reconsider. Hubble's "greatest discoveries," NASA says, include determining the age of the universe -- 13.7 billion years, discovering that "virtually all major galaxies have black holes at their center," and "providing evidence that the speed at which the universe is expanding is accelerating -- caused | [
"How long will the mission last?",
"what did astronauts complete",
"What was the length of time of the spacewalk",
"What is the name of the spacecraft?",
"What was the purpose of the spacewalk?",
"when did Atlantis launch",
"What did the two man team replace on Hubble?",
"What was repaired on the spacewalk?"
] | [
[
"11-day"
],
[
"its first spacewalk to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope,"
],
[
"daylong"
],
[
"Atlantis"
],
[
"upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope,"
],
[
"Monday afternoon"
],
[
"Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2"
],
[
"the Hubble Space Telescope,"
]
] | NEW: Astronauts complete 7-hour-plus spacewalk to repair Hubble telescope .
NEW: Two-man team successfully replaced a Hubble camera and computer .
Atlantis launched Monday on 11-day mission to orbiting Hubble observatory .
Flight director deems "dings" on shuttle wing "very minor" |
(CNN) -- The space shuttle Discovery is on pace for a Sunday launch after NASA engineers repaired a leaky gas venting system, officials said Saturday. Space shuttle Discovery readies for launch, which now appears on pace for Sunday. The leak had canceled a planned launch on Wednesday. NASA hopes the seven-member crew can take off around 7:40 p.m. Sunday on a mission to the international space station, where they will deliver supplies needed to expand the station's crew to six people. "The vehicle is looking real good ... ," lead shuttle flight director Mike Moses said. "Basically, I think I can sum this up by just saying we're good to go tomorrow and we're looking forward to getting the count going." A leak in a hydrogen gas vent line forced Wednesday's delay. Repairs went smoothly, Moses said. The line funnels flammable hydrogen away from the launch pad during takeoff. The shuttle crew will be delivering the final parts needed for an expanded solar energy power system that will allow the station to double its crew to six people. The crew also will be dropping off Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will replace NASA's Sandy Magnus on the space station. The shuttle also will carry a replacement for a failed unit in a system that converts urine to drinkable water, NASA said. Watch an explanation of why Wednesday's launch was scrubbed » Kathy Winters, the mission's chief weather officer, said Sunday appears to offer only a 20 percent chance of weather that would scrub the launch. The crew, led by commander Lee Archambault, is expected to board Discovery at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Officials said the crew has been training and resting for the mission since Wednesday. Earlier this week, Magnus, station commander Michael Fincke and Russian engineer Yury Lonchakov had to take shelter in their Soyuz spacecraft -- a lifeboat of sorts -- when a piece of debris from an earlier mission hurtled uncomfortably close to the station. The debris, moving about 20,000 mph, came within three miles of the station but caused no damage. Wednesday's launch postponement was the latest in a series of delays for Discovery as it tries to make the 28th shuttle mission to the space station. The launch had been delayed previously to allow time to check a "flow-control valve in the shuttle's main engines," NASA said last week. That resulted from damage being found in a valve on the shuttle Endeavour during its November 2008 flight. Three valves were cleared and installed on Discovery, it said. CNN's Kim Segal and John Zarella contributed to this report. | [
"what was leaking?",
"Who delivers supplies to the space station?",
"What will the Shuttle do?",
"When is the launch hoped for?",
"What does the shuttle do?",
"What went well according to NASA?",
"What happened with a hydrogen vent?"
] | [
[
"gas venting system,"
],
[
"shuttle Discovery"
],
[
"deliver supplies needed to expand the station's crew to six people."
],
[
"Sunday"
],
[
"deliver supplies"
],
[
"Repairs"
],
[
"leak"
]
] | NEW: Repairs to leaky hydrogen gas vent line went well, NASA says .
NASA hopes launch, scrubbed this week, will happen Sunday evening .
Shuttle launch postponed Wednesday because of leak in a venting system .
Shuttle to deliver supplies to the International Space Station . |
(CNN) -- The space shuttle Discovery landed in California on Friday evening after bad weather near Kennedy Space Center forced it to wave off a landing in Florida. Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base after a 13-day mission to the international space station. "Welcome home Discovery," mission control said after the shuttle landed. "Congratulations on an extremely successful mission, stepping up science to a new level on the international space station." The shuttle touched down at 8:53 p.m. ET at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, where NASA described the weather as "pristine." This may be the last California shuttle landing, because there are only six missions remaining on the NASA schedule, unless Congress gives the space agency more money. Flight controllers prefer landings at Kennedy Space Center because of cost and schedule. A California landing adds a week to the turnaround time before the shuttle can be ready for another mission. NASA has estimated it costs about $1.7 million to bring a shuttle home to Kennedy Space Center from California. It rides cross-country piggy-back on a Boeing 747. Discovery was initially scheduled to return to Earth on Thursday, but poor weather in central Florida forced a delay. Watch the shuttle land in California » Both Florida landing opportunities Friday were canceled by "a very deep moisture system that descended over the Florida spaceport," a NASA spokesman said. The seven astronauts are wrapping up a 13-day mission to the international space station, where the crew made repairs and delivered supplies. The crew executed three spacewalks and dropped off the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, or COLBERT treadmill, named after comedian Stephen Colbert. Colbert won an online poll conducted by NASA to name the newest space station compartment. Instead, Colbert and the space agency worked together to give the moniker to the treadmill. The new compartment was given the name Tranquility. While in space, mission specialists Danny Olivas and Christer Fuglesang installed an ammonia tank on the international space station. The depleted tank assembly is being returned to Earth in the shuttle's cargo bay. The tank is part of a cooling system that cycles 600 pounds of ammonia through the space station to "get rid of excess heat generated by the station's systems," NASA said. Astronaut Nicole Stott remained at the space station as a flight engineer, replacing astronaut Timothy Kopra, who returned home aboard Discovery as a mission specialist, according to NASA's Web site. Another space icon is also coming home aboard the shuttle -- Buzz Lightyear. The 12-inch Disney/Pixar action figure has been aboard the space station for more than a year, according to NASA. The action figure went into space aboard Discovery in May 2008 as part of a joint initiative between Disney and NASA to encourage students to study math, science and technology. Weather and technical problems delayed Discovery's launch three times before the mission began. | [
"what did mission control said?",
"where are the Shuttle lands?",
"What did mission control say about mission?",
"Is there additional cost to land shuttle in California?",
"Where did it land?",
"What was the reason for Florida landing call off?",
"Where was the landing called off for bad weather?"
] | [
[
"\"Welcome home Discovery,\""
],
[
"California"
],
[
"\"Welcome home Discovery,\""
],
[
"$1.7 million"
],
[
"California"
],
[
"bad weather"
],
[
"Florida."
]
] | NEW: Mission control says mission took "science to a new level" on space station .
NEW: Shuttle lands in California, incurring additional cost to bring it home .
Florida landing for space shuttle called off because of bad weather . |
(CNN) -- The space shuttle Discovery was waved off from its first chance to land Friday afternoon because of unstable weather near Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said. The space shuttle's landing in Florida was delayed Thursday, shown. A first attempt Friday was called off, too. The shuttle will make another orbit of Earth, while NASA mission managers watch to see if extreme moisture and lightning threaten a safe landing. The next opportunity to land in Florida would come at 7:23 p.m. ET; however, Mission Control told the shuttle crew the forecast for that time "looks about the same." Crews have been activated at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert in case NASA decides to land the shuttle there, where the weather is not considered an issue. There are two chances to land Friday evening in California. The space agency, however, usually exhausts all landing windows in Florida before sending the spacecraft to California. A landing on the West Coast adds a week to the turnaround time before the shuttle can be ready for another mission and it costs several million dollars. The landing could be delayed until Saturday when there are two more chances to land in Florida or California. Discovery initially was scheduled to return to Earth on Thursday, but poor weather in central Florida also forced a delay. The seven astronauts are wrapping up a 13-day mission to the international space station, where the crew made repairs and delivered supplies. The crew executed three spacewalks and dropped off a Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, or Colbert treadmill. It was named after comedian Stephen Colbert. Weather and technical problems delayed Discovery's launch three times before blastoff. | [
"where is the backup plan landing site",
"When was the landing called off?",
"What is NASA doing?",
"What is the back up blan?",
"Where will the shuttle land?",
"where is the shuttle attempting to land on friday"
] | [
[
"Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert"
],
[
"Friday"
],
[
"watch to see if extreme moisture and lightning threaten a safe landing."
],
[
"Edwards Air Force Base in California's"
],
[
"in Florida"
],
[
"in Florida"
]
] | Landing attempt for space shuttle called off because of bad weather .
The shuttle may attempt a landing in Florida later Friday .
Attempts to land on Thursday also were called off because of bad weather .
NASA is readying crews in the California desert as a backup plan . |
(CNN) -- The space shuttle Endeavour docked with the international space station early Wednesday, completing a three-day orbital chase. "Capture confirmed," the Johnson Space Center in Houston said at 12:06 a.m. ET. The delicate docking maneuver took place while both spacecraft were circling the globe at about 17,500 mph (28,165 km/h). Endeavour lifted off from Kennedy Space Center early Monday. During the two-week mission, the six-member crew will deliver an Italian-built Tranquility node and a seven-windowed cupola to the station, which will be used as a control room for robotics. The mission also will include three spacewalks. The space station will be about 90 percent complete once the node and cupola are added, NASA said. | [
"How long is the mission?",
"Where is the Johnson space center",
"When did the shuttle dock?",
"Where is the Johnson Space Center located?",
"When did Endeacour lift off?",
"What is the name of the shuttle"
] | [
[
"two-week"
],
[
"Houston"
],
[
"early Wednesday,"
],
[
"Houston"
],
[
"early Monday."
],
[
"Endeavour"
]
] | Shuttle docked at 12:06 a.m. ET, according to the Johnson Space Center in Houston .
Endeavour lifted off from Kennedy Space Center early Monday .
The two-week mission will include three spacewalks . |
(CNN) -- The sport of polo needs new oversight to protect its prized horses, the nation's largest animal protection organization said after reports that a pharmacy's mistake with medication may have killed 21 animals.
People attend a memorial ceremony Thursday for 21 polo horses that died Sunday in Wellington, Florida.
"This tragedy has brought to light the absence of drug policies and regulation within the sport of polo," said Keith Dane, director of equine protection for the Humane Society of the United States.
"There are no prohibitions or testing requirements for the use of drugs or other performance-enhancing substances," Dane said in a statement.
The HSUS statement called on the polo community "to use this tragedy as a catalyst to begin implementing reforms to ensure that policies are enacted and enforced that will ensure better protection for the horses in its care."
But a veteran Florida polo player is urging would-be reformers to take it slow.
"If you step back and look at the reality of the situation, it was a misformulation of a vitamin and mineral supplement that killed the horses, not performance-enhancing drugs," said Don Dufresne, who describes himself as an equine legal expert and horse lover. Watch what a pharmacy says happened »
"If this were a pervasive problem in polo, and if this were to happen twice in the last year or something ... then yes, I think that (regulation) would be appropriate," said Dufresne, who is a member of the sport's equine welfare committee but emphasized he was not speaking for the panel.
"I don't see this as a pervasive problem," he said. "We have no reports to my knowledge of anyone using performance-enhancing drugs other than vitamins and mineral supplements."
The sport's governing body, the U.S. Polo Association, has been considering taking up such testing for several years, John Wash, operations president of the club where the horses fell ill Sunday, said this week.
"People are calling for reform, and maybe that needs to happen," he said.
A tearful memorial ceremony for the horses was held Thursday evening at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida. As part of the service, bagpipers played and people tossed flowers into a pond on the grounds. Watch scenes from the memorial »
Play resumed in the U.S. Open Polo Championship after matches were postponed by the horse disaster Sunday and rain Wednesday.
A veterinary pharmacy in Florida acknowledged Thursday that it incorrectly prepared medication used to treat the 21 horses that died.
An internal investigation by Franck's Pharmacy in Ocala, Florida, "concluded that the strength of an ingredient in the medication was incorrect. We will cooperate fully with the authorities as they continue their investigations," the company said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon.
"We extend our most sincere condolences to the horses' owners, the Lechuza Polo team and the members of the United States Polo Association. We share their grief and sadness," the pharmacy's chief operations officer, Jennifer Beckett, said in the statement.
The pharmacy said it prepared medication for the horses on orders from a veterinarian.
Many teams commonly give horses injections of vitamin B12 and other nutritional supplements before competitions to prevent muscle cramps and help them recover after the match, Dufresne said.
"When you talk about polo ponies, we consider them equine athletes," he said. "A horse is so important to your game as a player, you want the horses to be as healthy as they can be, to last as long as they can. ...
"You don't want to overexert a horse. A tired horse is an unsafe horse."
The pharmacy that made the error is likely to be sued, which should put all pharmacies on sufficient notice to prevent future errors, he said.
"Everybody wants to ensure that what their horses are getting is correct and is not going to harm their horse. I thing everybody is going to become more aware of this and more cautious."
Liz Compton, a | [
"Where was the pharmacy located?",
"What types of animals died?",
"where did this occur",
"what caused the pony deaths",
"What does the pharmacy say?",
"How many ponies died",
"What does the polo veteran say?",
"What does the legal expert say?"
] | [
[
"Ocala, Florida,"
],
[
"horses"
],
[
"Wellington, Florida."
],
[
"a pharmacy's mistake with medication"
],
[
"it prepared medication for the horses on orders from a veterinarian."
],
[
"21"
],
[
"is urging would-be reformers to take it slow."
],
[
"you step back and look at the reality of the situation, it was a misformulation of a vitamin and mineral supplement that killed the horses, not performance-enhancing drugs,\""
]
] | NEW: Regulation not necessary after simple mistake, polo veteran says .
NEW: Likely lawsuit should prevent similar errors, equine legal expert says .
Ponies' deaths demand reform, head of organization's equine unit says .
Pharmacy in Ocala, Florida, says it made mistake with dosage . |
(CNN) -- The spotlight will soon shine on three granddaughters of South African and global icon Nelson Mandela, as the women become focal points of a new reality TV show.
The program possibly will air in the United States starting in January, said David Manaway, who is married to one of Mandela's granddaughters involved in the production. It hasn't been announced on what channel it will appear, with Manaway saying only "negotiations" are ongoing.
The show came about after Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway -- 34 and the oldest granddaughter being featured -- managed to arrange a meeting with Dr. Robert Rey, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who is the subject on an E! reality show, when he came to South Africa.
Dlamini-Manaway, her sister and a cousin met Rey's executive producer, Rick Leed, according to information provided Thursday by Cutting Edge Communications, which is working with two South Africa-based production companies on the program. Leed also is known for feature films including "Where the Heart Is" and "Company Man."
The sisters and cousin -- all granddaughters of Mandela and all raised in Boston -- set up Leed with two South African companies, New Vision Pictures and Out of Africa Entertainment. They discussed crafting a reality show following the trio's personal and professional lives.
"The pieces of the puzzle just fitted, the decision was fast, one Skype call and the rest, as they say, is history," said Leed.
Dlamini-Manaway, described as the "mother figure," is the child of Mandela's daughter, Zenani, who was born to Mandela's second wife, Winnie.
Dlamini-Manaway is married to David Manaway, an American businessman she met while studying psychology at Clark Atlanta University, and has a 10-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter. Her third child is due in January.
Her 32-year-old sister Swati Dlamini is a single mother with a 3-year-old daughter. She works in the communications field, as well as in setting up a charitable foundation focused on housing, education and health, according to show producers.
The youngest granddaughter to be showcased on the show is Dorothy Adjoa Amuah, 27, whose grandmother was the South African leader's first wife, Evelyn. She has a law degree and recently earned her master's in business administration -- specializing in luxury management -- from a school in Monaco, according to show producers. Described as sociable and fun, she lives with her brother and dog, Pan.
The description of the show describes all three women as "refreshingly authentic" and "positive role models to women all over the world." The Mandela family supports "the right for their children to choose their own destiny and their own path," the Cutting Edge release said.
CNN's Nadia Bilchik contributed to this report. | [
"what are the ages of Two sisters and a cousin?",
"What prompted the meeting?",
"when One of their husbands says it will air on an unspecified U.S. channel in January?",
"whats Two sisters and a cousin, ages 27 to 34, will be showcased on the program?",
"who did the meeting ?"
] | [
[
"27,"
],
[
"The show"
],
[
"David Manaway,"
],
[
"granddaughters of Mandela"
],
[
"Dlamini-Manaway, her sister and a cousin met"
]
] | Two sisters and a cousin, ages 27 to 34, will be showcased on the program .
One of their husbands says it will air on an unspecified U.S. channel in January .
It came after a meeting involving the women and reality TV star Dr. Robert Rey . |
(CNN) -- The state of Pennsylvania gave us Joe Montana, Broadway Joe Namath and Smokin' Joe Frazier. That's a lot of big-time Joes. But added together their moral authority would total a tiny fraction of that established over a half-century by Joe Paterno.
If I didn't know Joe Paterno was a real person, I would swear he was invented, a character in a sports adventure novel written for boys in the 1950s. There he'd stand on the sidelines, hands behind his back, squinting in the sunlight, Joe Paterno, legendary coach at State College, the beacon of moral and physical courage, the shepherd of lost boys, pater familias in a place called Happy Valley.
An author could not invent a better name: Joe Paterno. St. Joe, father of a holy family of student athletes. JoePa. Papa Joe. Pater, as in Latin for father. Eternal paternal Paterno.
Our father, who art in trouble, hollow be thy name.
You hear it all the time: "Football is a religion in Pennsylvania" (Or Texas or Florida). To the Penn State students rioting in the streets Wednesday night, Joe Paterno was pope, a word that also means father. Not only does pope denote the Catholic bishop of Rome, it now can describe, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, any "person considered to have unquestioned authority."
The sacred role of the father as protector of the family is central to many cultures, including the Italian-American. This is not just a theory for me. Above my desk are three photographs: one of my grandfather, Peter Marino, as a young political candidate in New York City; another of the ship that carried his family from Italy to Ellis Island; a third, a copy of the ship's manifest, which lists him, at the age of 4, with his mother, father and two older sisters. They have 12 cents to their name.
When in 1972 I called my grandfather (our name for him was Papa!) to announce the birth of his first great-grandchild, I could hear his tears, and then his words: "Remember, Roy, the most important thing in life is family."
How many of us as children have invested our hopes and dreams in the patriarch? "The father is head of the family," goes the familiar theological injunction, "as God is head of the church."
What happens, then, when little Tony Soprano discovers that his beloved father is also the head of a Mafia family? La famiglia. What happens when a beloved father abandons a family, or shames it? Most of us can remember with exquisite regret the moment that our faith in a father or father figure was shattered, a loss that can carry dark consequences.
Most institutions, even the Mafia, want to avoid scandal. The lower or higher the moral authority of that institution, the more that avoidance of scandal takes priority. Princes of the Catholic Church hid knowledge of sexual predation within their ranks, not because they wished harm to children, but because knowledge of that scandal would stain the soul of the Church -- and undermine its good works -- forever.
Consider the Penn State scandal in the same light. Why didn't "leaders of men" call the police on Jerry Sandusky, now accused of sexual assault, one of their own? Not because they wanted boys to be raped in locker rooms. Silence and inaction ruled because exposure of abuse threatened to tear down everything that JoePa had built up, not just a team or athletic program, but a story he had written for the university: that honor, sportsmanship, academic achievement and traditional Christian American values could attach themselves to a multimillion dollar sports enterprise.
Joe Paterno as BMOC: Big Man On Campus. Forever and ever. Amen.
The word "fan" comes from "fanatic." The "enthusiasm" that rocks a stadium derives from the Greek word meaning "to have God in you," a word that once carried the negative connotation of zealotry | [
"who did says perhaps Sandusky sex abuse hushed for fear it would stain soul of Penn State \"church\"?",
"What does he say?",
"What is legendary Penn State coach Paterno like?",
"what is Legendary Penn State coach Paterno?"
] | [
[
"\"leaders of men\""
],
[
"\"Remember, Roy, the most important thing in life is family.\""
],
[
"the beacon of moral and physical courage, the shepherd of lost boys, pater familias in a place called Happy Valley."
],
[
"the beacon of moral and physical courage, the shepherd of lost boys, pater familias in a place called Happy Valley."
]
] | Roy Peter Clark: Legendary Penn State coach Paterno is like a mythical paternal figure .
He says loyalty to him holds echoes of Catholic, Italian-American reverence for pope .
He says perhaps Sandusky sex abuse hushed for fear it would stain soul of Penn State "church"
Clark: Time to dismantle this "church" and stop protecting its fathers from their sins . |
(CNN) -- The stepdaughter of Jesse Browning, the star of a reality show about loggers, was attacked and killed by the family's dog in Astoria, Oregon, an investigator said.
Her mother found 4-year-old Ashlynn Anderson in the yard of their home after the attack Sunday afternoon, Clatsop County Sheriff Chief Deputy Paul Williams said Tuesday.
The child was pronounced dead on arrival after she was flown by helicopter to a Portland hospital, Williams said.
The family's two Rottweilers were placed in quarantine, he said.
The dog believed to have bitten the child was 2½ years old, he added.
Ashlynn's stepfather, Jesse Browning, is a logger who appears on the reality show the History Channel describes as a series about "the treacherous life of Pacific Northwest timber cutters." | [
"What was the age of the girl killed by the dog?",
"What was the victim's name?",
"What is \"Ax Men\" about?",
"Who was placed in quarantine?",
"Who was killed by a dog?",
"Who is 4 years old?"
] | [
[
"4-year-old"
],
[
"Ashlynn Anderson"
],
[
"loggers,"
],
[
"two Rottweilers"
],
[
"Ashlynn Anderson"
],
[
"Ashlynn Anderson"
]
] | "Ax Men" star Jesse Browning's stepdaughter was attacked, killed by dog .
Girl was 4 years old; family's Rottweilers placed in quarantine .
"Ax Men" is about loggers in Pacific Northwest . |
(CNN) -- The stock market crashed. Wall Street panicked. People stashed silver and gold under mattresses while businesses shut doors across America. People in Detroit, Michigan, line up for food at the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. We're talking, of course, about the Great Depression ... of 1873. That's the event that Scott Reynolds Nelson cites when asked to give an historical perspective on today's sputtering economy. The historian says the economic panic of 1873 started with the same toxic mix as today's crisis: risky mortgages, a stock market dive and the use of complex financial instruments that few understood. "Until 1929, when people used the word[s] Great Depression they referred to 1873," says Nelson, a professor of history at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. "That was a worldwide international depression that started with the banks. That's what we're seeing now. This looks like 1873." The nation's economic crisis is not only causing people to look more closely at their 401(k) account statements. They're also turning to their history books. Politicians and commentators routinely invoke the Great Depression and other historical events to describe today's economic crisis. Watch the debate over 'Depression' talk » But how fair is that historical analogy? Why Great Depression comparisons may be unfair James Kolari, an economist at Texas A&M University, says the nation experienced two "rough" recessions in the mid-1970s and the early 1980s. A recession is generally defined as a decline in the Gross Domestic Product for two or more consecutive quarters. He says it's not fair to compare the current economic crisis to the Great Depression, because the federal government was far more passive in the 1920s. "We let 15,000 out of 30,000 banks fail," he says. "Government efforts to jump-start the economy were slow and relatively weak until President [Franklin] Roosevelt came along with the New Deal." Kolari says people can learn more by looking at Japan. He says the U.S. economy is facing the same crisis as Japan in the 1990s when the Japanese economy collapsed from a real estate bubble and never fully recovered. "The Japanese government moved too slowly and not aggressively enough," he says. "The problems festered." David George, a professor of economics at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says the federal government better protects ordinary people from financial ruin today than during the first stages of the Great Depression. Today we reap the benefits of policies created during that era, George says. Roosevelt helped create New Deal legislation to insure bank deposits and enacted other modern relief efforts like unemployment compensation to help those in distress. "By any measure, incomes were lower then than now, and the worst imaginable loss of output today would still keep the nation well above where we were back then," George says. Marjorye Heeney is not an economist, but she definitely knows something about the Great Depression. Heeney, 83, grew up on an Oklahoma farm during the Great Depression and lived through the 1930s Dust Bowl storms. For much of that decade, "black blizzards" -- formed by a prolonged drought and poor farming techniques -- ravaged the southern Plains. Heeney, who now lives in Topeka, Kansas, snorted when told that today's conditions remind some of the Great Depression. During the Depression, crops failed, and few had a job, car or clothes, she says. "Everyone had one nail for themselves in the clothes closet," Henney says. Henney says the Great Depression toughened people up. People grew and canned their own food, sewed their own clothes and learned how to make possessions last. "No one really came from wealth, and nothing was easy," she says. "But people got by because they had a wonderful spirit of survival. We're not as gutsy. I don't know if we have that today." Why this economic period is still frightening Victor Matheson, an economist at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts | [
"What did the Nation have another of?",
"Did the Nation remember another Great Depression?",
"What did a depression survivor say about the Great Depression?",
"What type of spirit did people have?",
"What is being compared to the Great Depression?",
"Who says the nation had another great depression?",
"When was the Great Depression?",
"Who says the comparison is ovreblown?"
] | [
[
"Great Depression"
],
[
"the Great Depression ... of 1873."
],
[
"the"
],
[
"of survival."
],
[
"today's economic crisis."
],
[
"Scott Reynolds Nelson"
],
[
"1873."
],
[
"James Kolari,"
]
] | Is it fair to invoke Great Depression?
Some economists say comparison overblown .
Nation had another Great Depression few remember, scholar says .
Depression survivor: "People had a wonderful spirit of survival" |
(CNN) -- The struggle for women's rights against the backdrops of the Arab Spring and democratic progress in Africa will be recognized by this year's Nobel Peace Prize on Saturday, at a ceremony unlikely to repeat controversy seen last year.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Leymah Gbowee, a social worker and peace campaigner from the same country, will share the prize with Tawakkul Karman, an activist and journalist who this year played a key opposition role in Yemen.
The three, chosen "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work," will be honored in Oslo, Norway, during a program of events that culminates on Sunday in a star-studded concert.
All three will be interviewed by CNN's Jonathan Mann, a veteran of Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies, shortly after they receive their medals and $1.5 million in cash. The interviews and concert, hosted by actors Helen Mirren and Rosario Dawson, will be broadcast live online and mobile on CNN.com.
Acts performing at the concert include David Gray, Jill Scott, rock band Evanescence and country duo Sugarland.
Johnson Sirleaf, a 73-year-old Harvard graduate whose political resilience has earned her the nickname "Iron Lady," became Africa's first democratically-elected female president in 2006, three years after decades of civil war ended.
Crediting women with ending the conflict and challenging the dictatorship of former President Charles Taylor, she declared a zero-tolerance policy against corruption and made education compulsory and free for all primary-age children.
Gbowee, 39, led a women's movement that protested the use of rape and child soldiers in Liberia's civil war. She mobilized hundreds of women to force delegates at 2003 peace talks to sign a treaty - at one point calling for a "sex strike" until demands were met.
Read more about this year's Nobel Peace Prize winners
Although Karman, 32, emerged as an icon of change as Yemen was swept up in the tumult of the Arab Spring, the mother-of-three has long been active in campaigning for women and human rights.
Karman, the first Arab woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize -- and one of its youngest recipients -- founded the rights group Women Journalists without Chains, and emerged as a key figure in protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime.
While Johnson Sirleaf's Nobel achievement has stirred anger among Liberian political opponents who claim recent elections were rigged in her favour, this year's Nobel Peace Price is unlikely to attract the level of controversy seen in 2010.
China and more than a dozen other countries, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran, boycotted the event over the decision to award the prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, a key figure in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
Read more about the Nobel Peace Prize
Liu, who is serving an 11-year-sentence in a Chinese prison for what the government called "inciting subversion of state power," was not allowed to travel to Norway to accept the prize, which China denounced as a "political farce."
Awarded almost every year since 1901 (it has been halted during times of major international conflict) the Peace Prize has a history of contentious laureates.
Previous winners include former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who won alongside Vietnamese revolutionary Le Duc Tho (who declined the award), and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who won jointly with Israeli President Shimon Peres and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
In 2009, the prize was awarded to U.S. President Barack Obama despite the fact he had spent less than one year in office. Two years earlier, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore was a joint recipient in recognition of work highlighting climate change.
• Just hours after officially receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, this year's three co-laureates sit down with Jonathan Mann for an hour-long special interview. The interview will broadcast live on CNN International and CNN.com on Saturday at 1600 GMT (11 am ET) and repeated on Sunday at 0300 GMT (10 pm ET Saturday | [
"What did the prize recognize?",
"Who will host the concert on Sunday?",
"What will the three women receive?",
"who is playing at the concert",
"What does the prize recognize?",
"what did they do to win the prize",
"What will they be honored with?"
] | [
[
"struggle for women's rights against the backdrops of the Arab Spring and democratic progress"
],
[
"Helen Mirren and Rosario Dawson,"
],
[
"medals and $1.5 million in cash."
],
[
"Sugarland."
],
[
"women's rights"
],
[
"\"for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work,\""
],
[
"Nobel Peace Prize"
]
] | Three women to jointly receive the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize .
Prize recognizes non-violent struggle of safety of women and women's rights .
Prize winners to be honored with a concert on Sunday hosted by Helen Mirren . |
(CNN) -- The sun had not risen yet on that February day in 1986 when Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier's eight-vehicle motorcade of luxury cars and jeeps arrived at the Port-au-Prince airport, then named for his father.
Surrounded by soldiers and about 100 journalists who came to witness the end of an era in Haiti, the dictator boarded a United States Air Force C-141 jet along with his glamorous wife, Michele Bennet, their two children and 20 friends and servants.
Also on the plane that day were trunks of designer clothes, gold, jewels and priceless art. What could not be seen was the hundreds of millions of dollars Haitian officials accused the Duvalier clan of stealing from state coffers.
The pillaging of Haiti's national treasury now lies at the heart of legal action against Duvalier, who stunned the world by returning to Haiti this week from some 25 years of quiet exile in France.
Some lawyers who have been following the Duvalier money trail for years were flabbergasted that such a man was able to enter Haiti legally, that he was not arrested right away.
"I don't know how a criminal like him goes free," said Enrico Monfrini, a Switzerland-based lawyer who has been representing the Haitian government in a long and drawn out legal battle over Duvalier's cash.
Duvalier reportedly lost a chunk of his wealth when he and Bennet divorced, but the family still has $5.7 million in assets in a frozen bank account in Switzerland that belongs to a family foundation.
Now, a Swiss law enacted specifically to help repatriate stolen funds from failing states may help return the Duvalier money to Haiti, said Daniel Thelesklaf, executive director of the International Centre for Asset Recovery in Switzerland.
"I am optimistic there will be a decision by the end of the year," he said.
The law, which goes into effect February 1, was enacted to help Switzerland overcome existing hurdles with states that have no mutual legal assistance partnership with Switzerland or with troubled nations that are incapable of dealing with such issues, according to the Swiss Foreign Ministry.
For a judge order restitution, a government must prove a discrepancy between the wealth of a "politically exposed person" and his or her earnings, along with high levels of corruption in that country.
"They managed to draft this law very quickly," Monfrini said, adding that legal proceedings in Haiti would not affect efforts at restitution.
He said $5.7 million is not a large amount compared to what Duvalier allegedly stole, but morally, repatriation of the money would be a huge victory.
But not a complete one until Duvalier is made to stand trial for his alleged crimes, said human rights lawyer Mario Joseph, who has worked in Haiti on building the legal case against Duvalier.
Joseph said no one in Haiti ever imagined that Duvalier would return to face charges. His presence in the country has enabled the court to reopen a 2008 case against the strongman, he said.
But Duvalier's lawyer, Reynold Georges, expressed confidence Wednesday that Haitian authorities have little evidence to press charges. Duvalier, said Georges, would not only remain a free man but he could decide to return to politics.
Georges later told CNN that Duvalier had given "all that money" to charity for Haitian relief after the earthquake.
"I don't know if the Swiss bank transferred that money already, so I don't have any details on that," Georges said, "but I guarantee you that that has been done."
Dismayed by the thought of the return of a brutal dictator, Monfrini pressed upon Haiti's justice system to prevail, and for the courts not to forget what Duvalier pledged in the aftermath of Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake.
He expressed "complete solidarity" with those who were suffering in "these hours of great national distress" and called on Swiss authorities to transfer all of the money from his foundation to the American Red Cross for the relief effort.
Monfrini doubted Duvalier's sincerity but not the new Swiss law.
"This money will go back | [
"What is the new Swiss Law?",
"Who may be charged for pillaging state coffers?",
"What will ease repatriation of funds?",
"Who in Haiti said the money will never go back to Duvalier?",
"Where may Jean-Claude Duvalier be charged?",
"Who is Jean-Claude Duvalier?"
] | [
[
"to help repatriate stolen funds from failing states may help return the Duvalier money to Haiti,"
],
[
"Jean-Claude \"Baby Doc\" Duvalier's"
],
[
"a Swiss law enacted specifically to help repatriate stolen"
],
[
"Monfrini"
],
[
"Haiti"
],
[
"dictator"
]
] | NEW: Duvalier's lawyer says "all that money" has been given for Haitian relief .
A new Swiss law will ease repatriation of funds .
A government lawyer in Haiti says the money will never go back to Duvalier .
Jean-Claude Duvalier may be charged in Haiti for pillaging state coffers . |
(CNN) -- The surgeon who operated Wednesday on cyclist Lance Armstrong after he fractured his collarbone declared the procedure a success, but one that will require two to three months of healing.
Lance Armstrong's doctor says he used a plate and 12 inch-long screws to stabilize the fractured bone.
"Surgery was tough, but went well," said Dr. Douglas Elenz, an orthopedic surgeon in Austin, Texas, who performed the three-hour procedure two days after Armstrong fractured his collarbone into four pieces during a race in Spain.
The multiple breaks "made treatment more challenging, but we're confident that the treatment performed today is going to be successful," he said.
Elenz said he used a 4- to 5-inch plate that he attached with 12 inch-long screws to stabilize the fractured bone.
Armstrong, 37, was to be released later in the day.
On a scale of one to 10 rating the difficulty of the operation, Elenz said he would pin it down at eight.
Elenz was noncommittal regarding when Armstrong can return to racing. Watch more about the crash »
"We are just taking it day by day, week by week, month by month. Every fracture is unique. Each time I go to treat one, something is different."
During the next week, Armstrong "will need to take it easy" to ensure the wound does not become infected, the doctor said.
After his wound has healed, Armstrong will begin using an exercise bike to train his lower body, "but we won't let him do a whole lot with his upper extremities," Elenz said.
"After several weeks, we can take his training to the street, but we will need to take that day by day and week by week."
Over the longer term, Elenz will be looking for evidence that Armstrong is laying down new bone, that the plate is stable, that the athlete's arm is strong and that his motion is fluid, he said.
"His pain will give us insight on how well he is healing," the sports specialist said. "It will take eight to 12 weeks to heal completely. But we are going to have to push the envelope a bit to have him train before he is completely healed."
Armstrong was riding for Team Astana when he crashed about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the end of the first stage of the five-day Vuelta Ciclista a Castilla y Leon race. Watch how Armstrong 'tweets' about his crash »
He has never before broken a collarbone in his 17 years as a professional.
The crash took down several riders, but only Armstrong was hurt.
As they came within a few miles of the finish, Armstrong said, racers started picking up speed and jockeying for position.
"It happens quick when it happens," he said. "It could have been worse."
Armstrong announced last year that he was returning to competitive biking and would use the Spanish race as a warm-up for the Tour de France, which he won seven times before announcing his retirement in 2005.
He also had planned to race May 9-31 in the Giro d'Italia, one of Europe's most prestigious and grueling stage races.
This would have been the second comeback of his career. His first came in 1998, two years after he was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. Doctors gave him a less than 50 percent chance of survival.
CNN's Danielle Dellorto contributed to this story. | [
"Where were the multiple breaks?",
"Who will use an exercise bike after the wound heals?",
"What part of the body did Armstrong break?",
"What will Armstrong use to train his lower body?",
"What does the doctor say?",
"Is Armstrong's doctor certain when he can start racing again?"
] | [
[
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[
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[
"exercise bike"
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"he used a plate and 12 inch-long screws to stabilize the fractured bone."
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[
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] | Multiple breaks in collarbone "made treatment more challenging," doctor says .
After wound heals, Armstrong will use exercise bike to train lower body .
Doctor noncommittal on when Armstrong can return to racing .
Armstrong fractures collarbone in crash at race that was to mark second comeback . |
(CNN) -- The surgeon who performed heart surgery Wednesday on former first lady Barbara Bush said Thursday that she is recovering well from the 2 1/2-hour surgery in which her aortic valve was replaced with a pig valve. Former first lady Barbara Bush had heart surgery Wednesday in Houston, Texas. "From our perspective, this was a very routine procedure, and we expect her to make an excellent recovery," Dr. Gerald Lawrie told reporters at Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center in Houston. Bush had experienced "severe narrowing of the main valve that lets the blood come out of the heart into the circulation," Lawrie said. "This valve, instead of being a soft, flexible structure that opens and closes, breaks down," he said, adding that calcium deposits cause it to stiffen, which can result in fluid in the lungs and progressive deterioration. He said an echocardiogram showed her condition was "extremely severe." Typical symptoms of problems with an aortic valve include shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness and swelling, he said. Though his patient is 83, "she's a very fit lady," which helped make the operation a "relatively straightforward" procedure," he said. Diagnosed with the condition less than a week before the surgery, Bush entered the operating room at 7 a.m. and, after an hour of preparation during which lines were attached to her and anesthesia was administered, the main work began, Lawrie said. In all, she was on a heart-lung machine for 55 minutes; the implantation of the valve took 45 minutes, he said. She required no blood transfusion. Bush was back in the intensive care unit by 10:45 a.m., where she awoke "quicker than most" patients of her age, he said. He described her as "very lucid." "She recognized all of us immediately and actually started tearing us up with some humorous comments just as soon as we took that tube out." He predicted she would remain in the ICU until Friday or Saturday, and then be transferred to a standard hospital floor for another five to seven days. But already, he said, she is "walking around the room a little bit." Bush's husband of 64 years, former President George H. W. Bush, visited her shortly after the operation. "I've been a nervous wreck about it," said the former president, who said he had received telephone calls of support from President Obama and all the other surviving former presidents. "I think there is a lot of interest because of who she is," he said, his voice cracking. "She looks well. I just came from her room and she's doing well. I keep saying, 'You look great.' [She says] 'Don't tell me that.' But you know, she does ... she looks well to me -- and beautiful." Bush added, "She's in command. She's in control of our whole family." Asked to describe what occurred between the two when he saw her, he said, "I don't remember any words. I'm not the anecdotal one in the family. It was just a reunion of two people who love each other." Afterward, the former president turned to a hospital administrator and said, "I'm sorry I get emotional, but I can't help it." The Bush family matriarch is the mother of former President George W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. | [
"how many hours did surgeons spend doing the surgery",
"what is her age?",
"do surgeons expect here to make a full recovery or not",
"when was the surger?"
] | [
[
"2 1/2-hour"
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[
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[
"her"
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[
"Wednesday"
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] | Surgeon: "We expect her to make an excellent recovery"
Surgeons spent 2 1/2 hours replacing Barbara Bush's aortic valve with a pig valve .
Echocardiogram showed her condition was "extremely severe"
Doctors think the former first lady will be in ICU until Friday or Saturday . |
(CNN) -- The suspect accused of killing a minister at an Illinois church had marked the day of the attack as a "day of death" or "death day" in a planning book, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Terry J. Sedlacek, shown in a family photo, has been charged with first-degree murder.
There were "words to those effect," written in a day planner belonging to Terry J. Sedlacek, the man accused in Sunday's attack at the First Baptist Church in Maryville, Illinois, said William Mudge, the Madison County state's attorney.
Mudge said he hadn't seen the planner and could not recall the exact wording that police described to him. He said police found the book in Sedlacek's home.
Lt. Scott Compton of the Illinois State Police said he hadn't seen the planner and could not confirm Mudge's account.
Authorities have charged Sedlacek, 27, with first-degree murder in the killing of the Rev. Fred Winters. He also was charged with two counts of aggravated battery related to the stabbing of church members Terry Bullard and Keith Melton.
Sedlacek was seriously wounded in the melee, authorities said.
Melton, one of the two church members stabbed in the attack, described the scene that erupted during Sunday service.
Winters had been preaching for a while when the gunman approached him, Melton told CNN.
"It just seemed a lot out of place for someone to be walking to the front to take a seat at that point in the service," Melton said. Watch Melton say they're "still very stunned" »
Winters stopped his sermon and asked the man what he could do for him, Melton said.
The assailant fired a weapon and hit the pastor's Bible, causing "confetti" to fly into the air, Melton recalled.
"It was a bit confusing just at first," Melton said, adding that he could see from the pastor's reaction that what happened was not part of the service. Watch the aftermath of the church shooting »
Melton was one of two men who first jumped the assailant, he said.
"By the time the second shot rang out, there were a number of us who sprang into action," Melton said.
Winters jumped off the stage, Melton said, and was met by the gunman. The two wrestled and more shots rang out.
The attacker's .45-caliber weapon jammed at that point, authorities said.
The assailant tried to get away but was subdued by church members, some of whom blocked the entrances while others grappled with the gunman.
"There were men everywhere," Melton said.
It was minutes before Melton realized he had been stabbed, he said, attributing the delay to adrenaline.
He was treated and released from a local hospital. Bullard, another church member, also was stabbed in the attempt to subdue the gunman.
Sedlacek is being treated at a hospital after suffering serious knife wounds.
"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," said Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent. Watch police describe the church members' "heroic action" »
Trent said police are trying to determine a motive, noting that church members did not recognize the gunman.
In August, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch profiled Sedlacek in an article on Lyme disease, and quoted his mother, Ruth Abernathy, as saying he began acting strangely during his junior year in high school. He seemed confused and stopped participating in activities that had interested him, she told the newspaper. She said a doctor had diagnosed Sedlacek as mentally ill before a battery of tests revealed that he had Lyme disease, according to the paper.
The newspaper reported that even years later, Sedlacek, then 26, had lesions on his brain and was taking several medications, including an anti-seizure drug.
The Post-Dispatch identified him as a resident | [
"What is the accused charged with?",
"What is the age of the accused?",
"What is the occupation of the victim",
"What is the name of the murder suspect?",
"What is the suspect charged with?"
] | [
[
"first-degree murder."
],
[
"27,"
],
[
"minister"
],
[
"Terry J. Sedlacek,"
],
[
"first-degree murder."
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] | NEW: Prosecutor: "Words to those effect" found in planner inside suspect's home .
Assailant's approach to pulpit "seemed ... out of place," Keith Melton says .
Terry J. Sedlacek, 27, charged with first-degree murder .
Police still looking for motive in Illinois church attack that killed pastor . |
(CNN) -- The suspect in the September attack on a woman that led to the discovery of 11 bodies at his Ohio home pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he raped and choked the woman.
Bail for registered sex offender Anthony Sowell was set at $1 million on the rape charges. Bail had already been set at $5 million on five murder charges related to the grisly discovery of the bodies at his home in Cleveland.
"I don't think a $1 million bond is unfair under the circumstances," Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John O'Donnell said at Friday's hearing.
Sowell was arraigned Friday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on multiple charges, -- including attempted murder, rape and kidnapping -- connected to the September 22 assault on the 36-year-old woman.
Sowell said he could not afford a lawyer, and O'Donnell appointed one.
The victim encountered Sowell while walking in his Cleveland neighborhood, and he took her back to his home, where he became violent and raped her, Cuyahoga County prosecutors said.
"While raping her, he strangled her with a cord until she lost consciousness," the prosecutors said in a written statement. "When she regained consciousness, he led her out of the house."
Police investigating that case searched Sowell's home and yard, finding the 11 bodies.
Sowell, 50, is charged with five counts of aggravated murder, rape, felonious assault and kidnapping in connection with those deaths.
He served 15 years in prison for a 1989 attempted rape. He was released in 2005.
Neighbors and police have told CNN that other women were seen at Sowell's home from time to time, and that he would offer them beer and other alcohol. Police say he also might have offered them drugs.
Neighbors on October 20 reported seeing a naked woman fall from the second floor of the home. Firefighters and police responded and later notified police. But the woman told officers she fell off the roof while she was at the home "partying," and no charges were filed.
CNN's Susan Candiotti contributed to this report. | [
"How much is bail set at?",
"What was bail set at for the rape charge?",
"What has he been charged with?",
"What is Sowell's age?",
"What was the bail set at for for the discovery of bodies at his home?",
"Sowell is a registered what?",
"What was discovered at Sowells home?",
"What charges were related to the bail set?"
] | [
[
"$1 million"
],
[
"$1 million"
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[
"attempted murder, rape and kidnapping"
],
[
"50,"
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[
"$5 million"
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[
"sex offender"
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[
"11 bodies"
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[
"rape"
]
] | Bail for Anthony Sowell set at $1 million on rape charges .
Bail already set at $5 million on charges related to discovery of bodies at his home .
Sowell, 50, is a registered sex offender . |
(CNN) -- The suspect in the killing of Yale pharmacology graduate student Annie Le appeared in court in New Haven, Connecticut, Tuesday, but did not enter a plea, his attorney told CNN. Raymond J. Clark III appears in court Tuesday in New Haven, Connecticut, where he is charged with murder. Raymond Clark III, 24, a lab technician at Yale, is charged with murder in Le's death. Tuesday's scheduled hearing was continued until October 20. It is standard procedure for defendants in murder cases not to enter a plea until a later stage in the case, public defender Beth Merkin told CNN. Clark eventually will plead not guilty, she said. Clark, of Branford, Connecticut, is being held in lieu of $3 million bail. The body of Le, 24, was found inside a wall of a Yale lab building on September 12 -- the day she was to be married. She had been strangled, the Connecticut medical examiner's office determined. Clark is not a Yale student, but has worked as a lab technician at the university since 2004. He lived with his girlfriend, who also is a Yale lab technician, according to New Haven police. Follow a timeline of the case » A Yale faculty member described Clark's job as maintaining colonies for animals used in research. The lab is in the basement of the building where Le's body was found. A motive in Le's killing was unclear, but police said they were treating the case as workplace violence. Yale has announced a memorial service for Le on October 12. The university is also establishing a scholarship in her memory. Le was buried in California on September 26. "You were born in my loving embrace," said Le's mother, Vivian Van Le, reading a poem she'd written in Vietnamese to those gathered for the funeral at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in El Dorado Hills. Her son and Annie Le's brother, Chris Le, provided a translation. "The most wonderful gift that God had sent to me. ... You left life at too young an age, at the beginning of many great things. All the dreams and hopes of your future gone with you to your resting place," Vivian Van Le said, according to her son. | [
"What was the location the body was found?",
"Who defers the plea?",
"who was clarks co-worker",
"Whose body was found?",
"What is a common practice?",
"where was the body found",
"What is the name of the Yale employee?"
] | [
[
"inside a wall of a Yale lab building"
],
[
"Raymond J. Clark III"
],
[
"Annie Le"
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[
"Yale pharmacology graduate student Annie Le"
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[
"standard procedure for defendants in murder cases not to enter a plea until a later stage in the case,"
],
[
"inside a wall of a Yale lab building"
],
[
"Raymond J. Clark III"
]
] | NEW: Yale employee Raymond Clark defers plea, attorney says .
NEW: Deferring plea is common practice in similar cases, lawyer says .
Clark and victim Annie Le were co-workers at university laboratory .
Le's body was found in wall of lab building on day she was to be married . |
(CNN) -- The suspect in the killing of a University of Virginia student was arrested in a 2008 incident in which he threatened a police officer and was shocked with a stun gun, according to a police statement.
George Huguely, 22, was arrested on suspicion of murder Monday, hours after a roommate found Yeardley Love's body in her off-campus apartment in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Huguely, who was also a UVA student until resigning after his arrest, and Love played on the men's and women's lacrosse teams, respectively.
CNN affiliate WDBJ got a police statement recounting an encounter between an intoxicated Huguely and Lexington, Virginia, Police Officer R.L. Moss.
Affidavit: Lacrosse player killed in fight after breakup
According to the statement, Moss came across Huguely as he stumbled into traffic outside of a fraternity house at Washington and Lee University in Lexington.
After ignoring the officer's calls to stop, Huguely was approached by Moss who, after speaking with Huguely, decided to arrest him for public drunkenness, the statement says.
At that point, Huguely started making threats, including death threats, against the officer, according to the statement.
"He became more aggressive, more physical towards me, started to calling me several other terms that I'm not going to state now," she told WDBJ.
Moss got into a brief "tussle" with Huguely before resorting to her stun gun to get him under control, the statement says.
At a court hearing the next month, Moss wrote she was surprised to learn that Huguely was so intoxicated that he didn't remember being shocked with the stun gun or threatening the police officer.
Court records show that Huguely pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and public intoxication, WDBJ reported. He was given a suspended jail sentence and a fine. | [
"on whom she was forced to use stun gun?",
"what is the age of George Huguely?",
"When was the criminal first arrested?",
"who threatened a police officer?",
"When was Huguely previously arrested?",
"What did the criminal plead guilty to before?",
"Who was arrested?",
"Where did both play?"
] | [
[
"George Huguely,"
],
[
"22,"
],
[
"2008"
],
[
"George Huguely,"
],
[
"2008"
],
[
"resisting arrest and public intoxication,"
],
[
"George Huguely,"
],
[
"lacrosse teams,"
]
] | George Huguely, 22, arrested in death of Yeardley Love; both played lacrosse at UVA .
Huguely previously arrested in 2008 incident in which he threatened a police officer .
Officer from 2008 incident said she was forced to use stun gun on Huguely .
Court records show Huguely pleaded guilty to resisting arrest, public intoxication . |
(CNN) -- The suspected killer of a 20-year-old pregnant Camp Lejeune Marine is in a North Carolina jail late Friday after being extradited from Mexico, law enforcement sources said. Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean, 22, was extradited Friday to the United States and held on a murder charge. Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean, 22, was arrested in Mexico in April 2008. He has been indicted on charges that include financial card transaction fraud, obtaining property by false pretenses and first-degree murder in the death of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach. Laurean, who is being held without bond, was booked into the Onslow County Detention Center about 9 p.m. ET, according to a police statement obtained by CNN. An arraignment is scheduled for Monday, the statement read. Lauterbach was eight months pregnant when she disappeared in December 2007; her charred body and that of her fetus were found beneath a fire pit in Laurean's backyard near Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where both were stationed, in January 2008. Investigators accompanied Laurean, who fled to Mexico, back to the United States on Friday morning, two law enforcement sources said. Laurean will stand trial in Onslow County, North Carolina, for Lauterbach's killing. North Carolina prosecutors allege Laurean killed Lauterbach on December 14 and used her ATM card 10 days later before fleeing to Mexico. He was arrested in San Juan Vina in the Mexican state of Michoacan. Because he holds dual citizenship in the United States and Mexico, he could not be immediately deported and had to go through the extradition process, authorities have said. Before Laurean's extradition to the United States, Camp Lejeune spokesman Maj. Cliff Gilmore said the slaying suspect would go into the civilian jail in Onslow County and stand trial in a civilian court. He was listed as a deserter shortly after he disappeared following Lauterbach's death. He remains on deserter status, but is still considered an active-duty Marine, Gilmore said. "[Laurean] will be treated like any other inmate in our detention center, and he will be prosecuted by the district attorney's office," Rick Sutherland, inspector general of the Onslow County Sheriff's Office, said in a written statement. The FBI said in a news release Thursday the sheriff's office asked for help in finding Laurean after he disappeared January 12, 2008. If convicted, Laurean would face a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. Mexico's extradition policy prohibits U.S. authorities from seeking the death penalty against fugitives it hands over. Asked by a Mexican reporter at the time of his arrest whether he killed Lauterbach, Laurean replied, "I loved her." Authorities found Lauterbach's body after Laurean's wife, Christina, produced a note her husband had written claiming the 20-year-old woman slit her own throat during an argument, according to officials. Although a gaping 4-inch wound was found on the left side of Lauterbach's neck, autopsy results indicated that the wound would not have been fatal and may have occurred after death. Lauterbach died from blunt-force trauma to the head, according to the autopsy. Prosecutors have said there was no evidence that Christina Laurean was involved in or aware of Lauterbach's slaying before she gave the note to authorities. As part of the effort to apprehend Laurean, authorities had seized a computer belonging to his sister-in-law that Christina Laurean was using to communicate with her husband, a law enforcement official had told CNN. Lauterbach had accused Laurean of raping her, and it is unclear whether he was the father of her unborn child. Her relatives have said they believe he was. Laurean had denied the rape allegation and said he had had no sexual contact with Lauterbach. Mary Lauterbach, the slain woman's mother, has said she's unconvinced that the Marine Corps took her daughter's rape allegation and other allegations of harassment seriously. Relatives said that Lauterbach's car was keyed and that an anonymous person had punched her in the face. "Those particular actions should have been taken much more seriously because the Marines were aware of them," she has | [
"who was killed in 2007?",
"Where was he booked?",
"What year did Laurean do the accused killing?",
"Where was he tried?",
"Who was Laurean accused of killing?",
"who will be tried in civilian court?",
"Who did he kill?"
] | [
[
"Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach."
],
[
"Onslow County Detention Center"
],
[
"2007;"
],
[
"Onslow County, North Carolina,"
],
[
"Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach."
],
[
"Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean,"
],
[
"Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach."
]
] | NEW: Cpl. Cesar Laurean, 22, booked in North Carolina jail about 9 p.m.
Camp Lejeune spokesman: Laurean to be tried in civilian court in North Carolina .
Laurean accused of killing Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, in 2007 . |
(CNN) -- The suspected link between Chinese drywall and toxic effects reported by thousands of U.S. homeowners was strengthened Monday by three preliminary reports issued by the federal government. The strongest link came from an analysis of air sampled inside dozens of homes containing drywall made in China. "While the study of 51 homes detected hydrogen sulfide and formaldehyde ... at concentrations below irritant levels, it is possible that the additive or synergistic effects of these and other compounds in the subject homes could cause irritant effects," the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in its executive summary of the study. Two other preliminary studies found copper sulfide corrosion in metal components taken from homes containing the Chinese drywall. The drywall in question was imported from 2005 through 2007, when a housing boom and two active hurricane seasons created a shortage of building materials in the southern United States. Since then, the product safety agency has received nearly 2,100 reports from 32 states -- but mostly from Florida, Louisiana and Virginia -- of homeowners complaining of a rotten-egg smell, sickness, failed appliances, and corroded wires and pipes. Many have moved out of their homes. In some cases, insurers have refused to reimburse them. The air study tested 41 houses containing Chinese drywall and compared those findings with air from inside 10 homes in the same geographical areas whose homeowners had not complained, said Jack McCarthy, president of Environmental Health & Engineering Inc., which carried out the work. The investigators also examined materials such as copper pipes and wiring for corrosion, and looked at indoor air humidity, temperature and air exchange, he said. Copper and silver strips were left in the homes for two weeks and then examined for corrosion, he said. The result: in the 41 homes containing the problem drywall, there was a "strong association" between the high levels of hydrogen sulfide and the corrosion of the metals, he said. "Temperature, humidity and air-exchange rates also appear to be contributing factors," McCarthy told reporters on a conference call, noting that higher moisture and temperature levels and lower air-exchange rates were connected with more corrosion. Formaldehyde, also a potential source of irritation, was found in both complaint and noncomplaint homes, he said. Though McCarthy cautioned that the study was not intended to examine health effects, "we can say that the levels of the pollutants we found, particularly the hydrogen sulfide and formaldehyde, could possibly contribute to some of the health problems that have been reported to the CPSC." McCarthy also said that not all Chinese drywall may be alike. Its risk "depends on what it is made of, not necessarily what country it's from," he said. The next step is to determine how to identify homes with the corrosive materials and how to fix them, said Scott Wolfson, the product safety agency's director of information and public affairs, who noted that the investigation is the largest in the agency's history. He said none of the tainted drywall entered the United States this year. Hundreds of thousands of suspect boards have been stockpiled in warehouses; their owners have been told it will not be sold, he added. Several weeks ago, agency representatives traveled to China, where they visited mines, factories and government officials to determine the scope of the problem, which is still not clear, Wolfson said. "The CPSC is working hard to determine how many homes in how many states are affected," he said, adding that the data do not support the widely reported figure of 100,000 homes. Wolfson said the Chinese helped investigate. "They're committed to helping us with the technical side of this investigation," he said. Though the study raises suspicions that the drywall is responsible for the health effects reported by some families, Wolfson said a causal association has not been proved. "The work continues," he said. "The work toward an exact nexus between drywall and effects is still ongoing." Wolfson called on the news media to help alert homeowners in affected houses to report the problem. Some may be hesitant to report because they are afraid | [
"Where did the drywall come from?",
"What are being analyzed?",
"How many homes were tested?",
"What was imported during U.S. housing boom?",
"What do nearly 2,100 reports detail?"
] | [
[
"China."
],
[
"suspected link between Chinese drywall and toxic effects"
],
[
"51"
],
[
"drywall"
],
[
"homeowners complaining of a rotten-egg smell, sickness, failed appliances, and corroded wires and pipes."
]
] | Air samples from 41 homes containing drywall made in China are analyzed .
"Strong association" found between high hydrogen sulfide levels, corrosion in the homes .
Nearly 2,100 reports detail smell, sickness, failed appliances, corrosion in homes .
Drywall in question was imported during U.S. housing boom, from 2005 through 2007 . |
(CNN) -- The teenage niece of golf superstar Tiger Woods has failed to make the cut in her first professional tournament. Cheyenne Woods was handed entry into the Wegmans tournament on a sponsor's invite. Cheyenne Woods was four strokes shy of qualifying for the weekend rounds of the LPGA Tour's Wegmans event at Locust Hill in Rochester, New York. The 18-year-old had to complete her second round on Saturday along with half of the 140-player field due to delays of almost five hours following thunderstorms in the area. Competing on a sponsor's invite, the college amateur followed up her opening 75 with a two-over-par 74 to be well down the field. She had been two-under for the round after 10 holes on Friday, but fell back again with a triple-bogey at the par-four 12th before finishing strongly with a birdie. Cheyenne is the daughter of world No. 1 Tiger's half-brother, Earl Jnr. Defending champion Eun-Hee Ji also missed the cut after completing a 71 which saw her seven over the card. South Korean Shin Jiyai had led by three strokes overnight after posting a 68 which gave her a 36-hole total of 11-under-par 133. However, Morgan Pressel reduced that advantage to just a single stroke when she picked up two birdies to complete a 66, leaving her one shot ahead of third-placed fellow American Stacy Lewis. | [
"What golf event is being played?",
"what relation is she to tiger woods",
"Who is she the daughter of?",
"What was Cheyenne Woods' second round score?",
"how many strokes shy is Woods"
] | [
[
"LPGA Tour's Wegmans"
],
[
"teenage niece"
],
[
"No. 1 Tiger's half-brother, Earl Jnr."
],
[
"74"
],
[
"four"
]
] | Cheyenne Woods four strokes shy of qualifying for final rounds of Wegmans event .
The 18-year-old completed a weather-delayed second round of 74 on Saturday .
The college amateur opened her debut LPGA Tour tournament with a 75 .
Playing on sponsor's invite, she is daughter of Tiger Woods' half-brother . |
(CNN) -- The text messages address various issues and come from all over the African continent. President Obama greets people Saturday during breakfast at Osu Castle in Accra, Ghana. From the personal: "Obama, as a young lady I dream of being the president. U r a huge encouragement." To cries for help: "Dear president, Darfur firing again...waiting for peace through the change u promised." To calls for intervention: "Encourage African leaders to improve the quality and access to education for citizens." The messages, from Ghana, Sudan and South Africa respectively, were among more than 5,000 sent to Barack Obama during his first visit as president to sub-Saharan Africa. Obama, accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters arrived in Ghana on Friday night, sparking excitement in the west African nation. Watch how Ghana is celebrating Obama's visit » Despite being home to some of the world's poorest nations, Africa has a vibrant cell phone market, considered by industry analysts as among the fastest-growing worldwide. Administration officials said they set up different numbers across the continent for citizens to communicate with Obama, whose father was from the east African nation of Kenya. "Over the past week, we have been collecting questions, comments and words of welcome for President Obama via SMS, Twitter, Facebook and from newspapers across Africa," the White House said on its Web site. Three journalists from South Africa, Senegal and Kenya will vet the questions and provide a few to Obama, who will address them on African radio stations and via a Web video Monday, the White House said. Peter Kimani, a senior associate editor for a Kenyan daily, The Standard, is one of the three. "The U.S. Embassy picked and vetted the journalists, and we are getting the questions, then it is up to us to determine what questions we will forward to the president," Kimani said. "It is our judgment call on what to pick." Most of the text messages were coming from South Africa, according to a log on the White House Web site. Obama's one-nation visit has generated envy among Ghana's neighbors, who considered it a message from the White House to governments that have poor records of stability. Citizens of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nations, and Kenya were the most vocal in their concerns over the choice of Ghana. "We r disappointed that you have not chosen Nigeria as your first African point of call," one text said. | [
"What type of market is vibrant in Africa?",
"Where did obama visit?",
"Where will Obama address the questions?",
"Who will vet questions?",
"How many messages were sent to Obama?",
"How many messages were sent?"
] | [
[
"cell phone"
],
[
"Accra, Ghana."
],
[
"on African radio stations and via a Web video"
],
[
"Three journalists from South Africa, Senegal and Kenya"
],
[
"5,000"
],
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"more than 5,000"
]
] | More than 5,000 messages sent to Obama during his visit to Ghana .
Despite widespread poverty, Africa has a vibrant cell phone market .
Three African journalists from South Africa, Senegal, Kenya will vet questions .
Obama will address the questions on African radio stations and via Web video . |
(CNN) -- The three mothers hail from the same province in China, but they'd never met until a reckless driver in central Ohio killed their only children.
From left, Sun "Zoe" Yan, Bian "Jack" Jin and Xue "Jo" Bing were students at Urbana University in Ohio.
Two years later, the women wade through a cultural morass, struggling with American laws and language as they work to recoup the tens of thousands of dollars they borrowed to educate, and bury, their children.
They've also lost their pride and possibly their future. In China, a family's future often rides on the education of its youngest member, and parents routinely mortgage the present for a brighter retirement.
The three mothers have no good news for friends and relatives who stop by their homes in northeast China, sometimes for hours, asking for their money. The mothers face the cultural shame of not being able to repay them, and many of their creditors don't believe them when they explain they've received little compensation for their losses.
"Even after I die, I could not close my eyes," Cai Tie Juan said, describing her stress and exhaustion through a translator.
On March 8, 2007, Cai's son, Bian Jin, 27, better known to his American counterparts as Jack, was returning from a spring break shopping trip with Sun Yan and Xue Bing, both 24. Learn more about students »
According to the Dayton Daily News, Bian was driving. Sun, aka Zoe, and Bian's girlfriend, Xue -- whose friends called her Jo -- were in the backseat of Bian's Ford Taurus. They were trying to get back in time for Sun's 6:30 p.m. shift at a local Chinese restaurant in Urbana, Ohio, where the three attended graduate school.
Witnesses told the newspaper that several cars were waiting at a traffic light when Jason Skaggs, then 34, approached the intersection of Urbana and Moorefield roads. Skaggs crashed his blue Chevy Tahoe into a Buick Skylark at 98 mph (about 158 kph), went airborne and sandwiched Bian's Taurus between the Tahoe and a gold Chrysler, witnesses and police told the paper.
The Taurus was reduced to a ball of crumpled metal with tires. Bian, Sun and Xue were killed instantly. Four others, including Skaggs, were injured. See photos of wreck, trial from Dayton Daily News
Skaggs said he had had a seizure before barreling into the intersection, but the jury didn't buy the defense and found him guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide. During the trial, the media uncovered a litany of driving violations committed by Skaggs, including a speeding ticket he received for driving 91 mph in a 65-mph zone just weeks before the wreck.
Skaggs also had been jailed for aggravated vehicular homicide in the past, after he had passed a car in a blind curve in 1994, killing a 79-year-old mother and her son, the Daily News reported.
A judge in August sentenced Skaggs to the maximum 34 years in prison.
The students' parents wonder how Skaggs had a license to begin with. He'd already killed two people and had no insurance. And if epilepsy played a role in the wreck, it only bolsters their belief he shouldn't have been driving in the first place.
"Why could somebody let this happen?" Xue's mother, Sun Chun Zhi, asked through a translator. "Obviously, he had a history of driving recklessly and had violated many traffic laws."
Chinese laws would've never let someone like Skaggs drive, and more frustratingly, they say, the Chinese government would've stepped in with financial help if this had happened in their homeland.
Conversely, it is a Chinese law that has been most devastating. Because the world's most populous nation has for 30 years enforced a one-child-per-couple policy, Bian, Xue and Sun Yan had no siblings, so the families' prospects for the future were crushed in a Ford Taurus at the intersection of Urbana and Moorefield roads.
"When you raise a child in | [
"Where were the children originally from?",
"Who had a vehicular homicide conviction?",
"What conviction did Skaggs have?"
] | [
[
"China,"
],
[
"Jason Skaggs,"
],
[
"aggravated vehicular homicide."
]
] | Jason Skaggs had vehicular homicide conviction before he killed students .
Mothers plead for help paying off thousands they borrowed to send kids to U.S.
Mother: "When you raise a child in China, you are basically insuring your old age"
Families earn between $102 and $702 a month in pay, pensions in China . |
(CNN) -- The toddler whose body washed ashore in Texas last month has been tentatively identified as a 2-year-old girl, and her mother and a man identified as her boyfriend were arrested Saturday, the Galveston County Sheriff's office said Sunday. Police believe two-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers may be "Baby Grace." Investigators believe the child they dubbed "Baby Grace" is actually 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers, the Galveston County Sheriff's office said Sunday. DNA analysis is still in progress to confirm that identification. The child's mother, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 19, and a man identified as Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 24, were arrested Saturday on charges of injuring a child and tampering with physical evidence, the sheriff's department said. The couple lives in Spring, Texas, a Houston suburb about 75 miles north of Galveston. Their bonds were set at $350,000 each. The arrests followed searches conducted Saturday after a November 7 tip, the sheriff's department said. Deputies and FBI agents plan to release more information at a news conference Monday, Galveston County Sheriff's Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said. The girl's grandmother, Sheryl Sawyers, of Cleveland, Ohio, told CNN affiliate WKYC that Riley Ann has been missing since June. Watch Sawyers family describe their fears before child was identified » On October 29, a fisherman discovered the body in a blue Sterilite plastic container on an uninhabited island in Galveston's West Bay. Police dubbed the dead girl "Baby Grace," and asked the public for help in identifying her. A medical examiner said the child's skull was fractured, and a forensic dentist estimated her age at 2 to 3 years. In composite sketches, the girl is wearing a pink skirt and matching top -- clothing authorities said she was wearing when she was found. The other sketch, a close-up rendering of the child's face, shows a fair-skinned toddler with long blond hair. "She is more to us than just a case number, more to us than just an unidentified body. She is very much a human being," Tutoilmondo said last month. "She is someone's child, someone's grandchild, someone's cousin, someone's best friend, and to us, that is the most important part about this case." "We have adopted the name of Baby Grace because, there again, that is part of the emotional part of this case for us," he said, holding a tiny sneaker identical to one of those the child was wearing when she was found. E-mail to a friend CNN's Hank Bishop contributed to this story. | [
"Who asked for help identifying a girl?",
"What age was Riley Ann Sawyers?",
"Who was the child found dead?",
"Who was arrested?",
"Who is the child?",
"What is the age of the child found dead?",
"Where was the box found?",
"What was the body dubbed?",
"What is the name of the dead girl?",
"Who has been arrested?",
"Where was it found?"
] | [
[
"Police"
],
[
"2-year-old"
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[
"Riley Ann Sawyers"
],
[
"her mother and a man identified as her boyfriend"
],
[
"Riley Ann Sawyers may be \"Baby Grace.\""
],
[
"2-year-old"
],
[
"on an uninhabited island in Galveston's West Bay."
],
[
"\"Baby Grace.\""
],
[
"Riley Ann Sawyers"
],
[
"her mother and a man identified as her boyfriend"
],
[
"Texas"
]
] | Woman, boyfriend arrested after a tip led to search .
Police believe child found dead in box is Riley Ann Sawyers, 2 .
Body of little girl was found in box that washed ashore last month .
Police asked public for help identifying girl they dubbed "Baby Grace" |
(CNN) -- The tone of tweets on Twitter and posts on Facebook in reaction to President Obama's State of the Union speech Wednesday night were in contrast to the optimistic comments on his speeches to Congress in September and during his inauguration.
Social media users showed more frustration compared with the more hopeful tones in the past, with many saying they hoped the president's rhetoric would lead to more action.
Their frustrations with the lingering economic doldrums, high jobless rates and the battle over health care are reflected in Obama's approval ratings. They have dropped from 76 percent to 49 percent since February. Social media comments echoed those sentiments.
Some users, including members of Congress, continued to find hope in Obama's words, which they said moved them to believe the country can turn around. Others saw the speech as simply political rhetoric and sometimes contradictory.
CNN.com monitored Facebook posts and tweets during Obama's speech. Here is a sampling of how users felt about the speech, divided by topic and issue.
Inspirational words or all talk, no action?
"i love my obama but i hope he cuts the euphemisms and get to the point tonight... people r broke and mad." -- Twitter user parlorwest
"yes, give us the reality, we've heard the inspiring speeches #SOTU" -- Twitter user Wise_Diva
"No, Mr. President. Our Union is not strong - it's more divided than ever. #SOTU" -- Twitter user josephgruber
"I don't want a tax cut per se I want CASH NOW!! And real health care! #sotu" -- Twitter user ActsofFaithblog
"It's just more words from Obama. He can't keep his campaign promises and he wont keep these either." -- Twitter user scpolitico
"Voted for Obama and support him, but we need to see some results. Remember when health care was supposed to be done over the summer? Yeah..." -- Heather Wade on Facebook
"SOTU not inspiring. People are asking "where's the beef". Talk is cheap. Need more than rhetoriic" -- Twitter user, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina)
"Obama just promised comprehensive energy reform! And free pony rides for me and all of my friends! #sotu" -- Twitter user PUNTE
"A year ago, I believed in Obama's to-do list. With his 1st #SOTU, I know he's just empty rhetoric and I've gone nothing but skepticism." -- Twitter user MattGoldberg
Overall thoughts on the speech
"Americans have made clear that bigger government is not the answer to our challenges and conservatives are listening," "Despite his resistance, we will not relent until we get this message across to the President" -- Twitter user, Rep. Tom Price (R-Georgia)
"Obama moves me to make this country better. Bush moved me off the couch to change the channel" -- Twitter user russpalmer
"Obama -Second place not good enuff. Oh dear lord... it's not a competition.. and we shouldn't be cheerleaders" -- Teresa Boze on Facebook, discussing Obama's comments that the U.S. shouldn't be in second place.
"Good, solid speech, important focus on Senate action!" -- Twitter user, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon)
"My reaction to the SOTU? I'm moving to Canada. They may be socialist but they are more conservative than Obama could ever dream of." -- Twitter user RayLevesque
"Obama thinks he can change the tone of our politics. Yeah. Your resignation would be a good start. #justsayin #sotu" -- Twitter user JennLRyan
"Thank you, Obama, for making me slightly less terrified about the future of this country, if only for one night. Good dude. #stateoftheunion" -- Twitter user otokoyaku
"What keeps us going, Mr. President, is that a term is only 4 years. #SOTU #TCOT" -- Twitter user scrappleface
"Obama is making an awful lot of promises tonight. Who's holding him accountable? #SOTU | [
"Who is being monitored?",
"what did cnn do",
"who monitored tweets"
] | [
[
"Facebook posts and tweets"
],
[
"monitored Facebook posts and tweets during Obama's speech."
],
[
"CNN.com"
]
] | CNN monitored Tweets, Facebook posts by Americans, politicians during speech .
Users divided over whether Obama's words will amount to action or remain just rhetoric .
Some questioned talk of curbing spending while announcing new initiatives .
Others wondered if Obama spent too much time insinuating blame on past administration . |
(CNN) -- The top U.N. human rights official deplored the "devastatingly remorseless toll of human lives" in Syria and exhorted the world community on Friday "to take immediate measures" to protect citizens.
"The onus is on all members of the international community to take protective action in a collective and decisive manner, before the continual ruthless repression and killings drive the country into a full-blown civil war," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, in a written statement describing a dire human rights situation in Syria.
Her remarks came as protesters took to the streets Friday in various Syrian cities, a nationwide outpouring supporting the "free army," a reference to personnel who have defected from President Bashar al-Assad's military and to the recently formed Syrian Free Army. At least 12 people were reported dead in the latest protests, according to Syrian Observatory, an activist group.
Pillay said the government has "manifestly failed to protect its population" and has "ignored the international community's calls to cooperate with international investigations," she said.
"At stake are the universal rights to life, liberty and security of person which must never be brushed aside in the interests of realpolitik. The international community must speak with one voice and act to protect the Syrian people."
Protests erupted in Syria seven months ago, with demonstrators demanding changes to regime policies and/or an end to the regime. Opposition activists have accused officials of killing protesters, but the government has said it is going after armed groups.
The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights, a London-based activist group with a network of informants across Syria, estimates that more than 3,100 people have died since the uprising began in mid-March. Most of them are civilians but some are military personnel as well.
Pillay also said the death toll has exceeded 3,000 people and at least 187 of them were children. She said more than 100 people have been reported killed in the past 10 days.
The government "has consistently used excessive force to crush peaceful protests," she said.
"Sniping from rooftops, and indiscriminate use of force against peaceful protesters -- including the use of live ammunition and the shelling of residential neighborhoods -- have become routine occurrences in many Syrian cities," she said.
"In addition, thousands have been arrested, detained, forcibly disappeared and tortured. Family members inside and outside the country have been targeted for harassment, intimidation, threats and beatings. As more members of the military refuse to attack civilians and change sides, the crisis is already showing worrying signs of descending into an armed struggle."
Two months ago, she said there had been "credible allegations of crimes against humanity in Syria" and urged the U.N. Security Council to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court.
Countries across the globe have expressed outrage over the instability in Syria. The European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions against the regime.
The Gulf Cooperation Council, six Gulf Arab states, urged an immediate meeting of Arab League states to discuss the country's violence. The meeting should be at the foreign ministers level, the council said in a statement Thursday without providing details. Syria is a member of the Arab League.
Two Obama administration officials provided testimony about U.S. efforts to deal with Syria for a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Friday.
Wendy Sherman, undersecretary of state for political affairs, cited "targeted financial measures to increase pressure on the Syrian regime and its enablers." She added the administration "remains committed to pursuing multilateral sanctions at the Security Council."
She said the United States is working to "ensure expeditious, unfettered and sustained access for international human rights monitors and journalists," Also, she said it is working with "international partners" to keep Syria from circumventing American and European sanctions."
Noting that Iran has "long used Syria as a strategic and logistical connection" to terror groups, she said the United States is working to break those ties with the sanctions.
David Cohen, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said, " | [
"How many children does the death total in Syria include?",
"How many children are included in the death total?",
"How many did the activist group say were dead?",
"Did Obama administration testify?",
"Where did Obama administration officials testify?",
"How many died on Friday?",
"How many people died Friday?"
] | [
[
"187"
],
[
"at least 187"
],
[
"At least 12 people"
],
[
"officials provided testimony"
],
[
"House Foreign Affairs Committee"
],
[
"12"
],
[
"12"
]
] | NEW: Activist group says at least 12 dead on Friday .
The death total in Syria includes at least 187 children, the United Nations says .
Activist reports clashes between military defectors and security .
Obama administration officials testify before a House panel . |
(CNN) -- The tragedy of Ireland's violent past seemed close to the surface this week as an Irish presidential candidate was confronted about his former role as an IRA commander, and Britain's prime minister talked with a family about a Catholic victim of "the troubles."
Irish presidential candidate Martin McGuinness was confronted Monday by a man claiming to be the son of a soldier killed by the Irish Republican Army in the 1980s, as McGuinness campaigned ahead of Election Day, October 27.
David Kelly confronted McGuinness in Athlone, Ireland, demanding answers about his father, Patrick Kelly, who he said had been shot dead with a trainee police officer as they attempted to rescue a kidnapped businessman in the Republic of Ireland in 1983.
As shoppers and the media looked on, Kelly demanded that McGuinness name the killers, to which McGuinness replied, "I don't know who was responsible for the killing of your father."
Kelly then accused McGuinness of having been a member of the IRA's ruling Army Council at the time of the killing -- which McGuinness denied. "You are a liar. I want justice for my father," Kelly said.
McGuinness, a former IRA commander and now a leader of the political party Sinn Fein, stepped down from his position as Northern Ireland's deputy first minister to run for president of the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, while the Republic of Ireland is an independent state.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday the widow of murdered Catholic Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane and other family members will hold talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron about their demand for a public inquiry into his 1989 killing. The family says they suspect the British government sanctioned the killing.
Finucane, 39, had represented IRA members in many high-profile cases, but he had also represented pro-British, or loyalist, terrorists. He was gunned down by a loyalist gang at his Belfast home, in front of his wife and three children. His family has long believed the security forces cooperated with the killers. The man convicted of Finucane's murder was a police informer.
John Finucane was the youngest at the family dinner table on the day of the killing, just 8 years old. Now a lawyer himself, he will also attend Tuesday's meeting at Downing Street.
"The meeting is at the request of the prime minister and we expect to be told what his intentions are," he told CNN. "We are optimistic and hopeful he will announce there is an inquiry and the inquiry is one we can engage with. We are cautiously optimistic, but there have been let-downs over the past 22 years."
Finucane says he has "absolutely no doubt" the state was involved in his father's murder.
"That's not just my opinion, that's the opinion of Sir John Stevens, the most senior policeman in England, when he examined it. It's also the opinion of Peter Cory," a retired Canadian judge, "who was tasked with looking at the evidence in the case to decide whether an inquiry was necessary. So it's not just my family that believe there was collusion.
"I think it's pretty much accepted that there was collusion in my father's killing." The question, he said, is "how high up the chain of command that went."
Finucane added that, "in the absence of a transparent examination of all the relevant evidence, I believe it went as high as the office where I'm going to meet the prime minister." The British prime minister at the time was Margaret Thatcher.
While the almost daily violence of the 1970s and 1980s is a thing of the past in Northern Ireland, remnants of "the troubles" remain. Some terrorist splinter groups remain active and even have the capacity to kill. Still, the current campaign is on a much smaller scale than in the past.
Sinn Fein, viewed as the IRA's political wing, is now a key player in the peace process and shares power with its former bitter enemies, pro-British lawmakers | [
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] | Man confronts Republic candidate demanding answers for his father's killing .
Patrick Kelly was shot dead attempting to rescue a kidnap victim in 1983 .
Family of murdered lawyer Pat Finucane will talk with British Prime Minister Cameron .
Finucane's family wants inquiry, and says British government was complicit . |
(CNN) -- The tragic death of English driver Dan Wheldon after a horror race crash in the U.S. should lead to changes in the IndyCar division, according to Formula One legend Jackie Stewart.
Two-time Indy 500 winner Wheldon lost his life on Sunday after a multi-car collision on the 11th lap of the 2011 IndyCar World Championship's final race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Stewart, who won Rookie of the Year at the 1966 Indy 500 before becoming a three-time F1 champion, told CNN that such a tragedy will prompt the sport to re-evaluate the current safety measures.
"Unfortunately, when accidents occur, it's then that the more creative minds get moving on changing things," said the 72-year-old, who successfully campaigned for better safety precautions during his career. "Some of them may be simple to change, some of them may be more complicated, but surely change occurs.
Wheldon's death a watershed moment for IndyCar?
"A lot of people will be thinking, 'What are we going to have to do to avoid the Dan Wheldon accident?'
"Is the track big enough to accommodate 34 racing cars? Is the track too fast to have 34 racing cars within a mile-and-a-half racing circuit? Will that change?"
Stewart also questioned the wisdom of mixing drivers with varying levels of IndyCar experience in such a high-speed environment.
"Will the caliber of driver be high enough to be able to control those cars at those kinds of speeds? In yesterday's race there were a good many drivers in there who were not regulars and were not fulltime IndyCar drivers. I think that's a consideration that has to be looked at."
Motorsport reacts to Wheldon tragedy
During Stewart's eight years in F1 racing for the BRM and Tyrrell teams from 1965-73, the Scot witnessed 11 driver deaths.
But the elite motorsport's last casualty was in 1994 when the legendary Brazilian Ayrton Senna crashed at the San Marino Grand Prix, while IndyCar has seen four deaths in the last 15 years.
"In the period that I was racing, there was a two out of three chance you were going to die if you lived for five years, and only one out of three you were going to live. In those days, motor racing truly was dangerous," Stewart said.
"In these last years it's been incredibly safe by comparison ... but that doesn't mean to say it's safe when you're traveling at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour."
Stewart said governing bodies cannot do enough to protect racers.
"If you're in motorsport, whether you're an administrator, a track owner, a governing body, a racing driver or a team owner, you've got to be thinking about safety. There are always improvements able to be made," he said.
"Modern technology, modern materials, it is available. It's just a question of being able to think out of the box and have preventative medicine rather than just corrective medicine." | [
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] | Jackie Stewart tells CNN that Dan Wheldon's death should prompt change .
English driver Wheldon was killed in a crash in Las Vegas on Sunday .
Stewart questioned whether drivers of varying experience should race together .
The three-time F1 champion has been a longtime safety campaigner . |
(CNN) -- The trouble with boxing is, people get hurt. Some time soon, according to "Real Steel," the sport will get a radical technological upgrade and human pugilists will be replaced by robots; combatants who will fight to the death every time they climb into the ring.
In a sport like that the machines might get the glory, but you will still find human interest in the corner, where trainers have been replaced by computer programmers, engineers, welders, and if you go down far enough, old fashioned managers like Charlie (Hugh Jackman), an ex-boxer so deep in debt he's nearly out for the count.
Reunited with the 11-year-old son he's practically forgotten, Charlie promptly sells him to the boy's aunt and uncle. But the boy won't be sidelined quite so easily. He's a fight fan himself, and he means to go on the road with his old man and more importantly with the junkyard sparring bot "Atom" he rescues from scrap.
This is "Transformers" for kids, basically -- and yes, I appreciate you might think "Transformers" would have that demographic covered, but apparently nobody told Michael Bay, who pitched his three movies at teens and up.
"Night at the Museum" director Shawn Levy does not make the same mistake. Although it's rated PG-13 for some mildly adult language and robot-on-robot violence (and I think we can be sure that no robots were harmed in the course of this film), "Real Steel" is fundamentally about a son reconnecting with his dad, something Levy never lets us forget for long.
It's as corny as Kansas, but the mix of old fashioned heart and new fangled animatronic cyber tech will make this picture a winner for fathers and sons (Levy has squeezed in a cameo for his three young daughters, but the female characters are mostly relegated to cheering from the stands).
Hugh Jackman is doing a minor variation on his Logan signature tune, but for the best part of the movie he lets the obnoxiously talented Dakota Goyo as his son runs rings around him, stealing one scene after another. It's an uneven fight -- rigged by screenwriter John Gatins, aided and abetted by Levy -- but it's fun to see the kid make a chump of the champ.
Surprisingly, Levy resists turning Atom into an autonomous character. He does have some neat features though. He's smaller and weaker than most of his competition, with pale blue bulbs for eyes beneath what looks like a fencing mask. But he can take a beating and in "shadow mode" he mimics his coach's movements with lightning speed. He can dance too -- like a six-foot, three-ton butterfly.
Robots aside, Levy doesn't go in for futurism really.
The locations are steeped in the heartland: a cavernous boxing gym that smacks of the 1920s. Charlie's truck looks like something out of a 1940s film. Neon motel signs, back-country roads, and an old Detroit auto plant repurposed as a post-industrial sports arena. There's a broader nostalgia at work here, as if the fight's gone out of the whole country and one plucky kid and his pet robot could galvanize the whole show.
Did they really need to fall back on xenophobic shorthand to pump up the climactic bout, when Atom takes on Zeus, a robot combining Asian know-how and Russian money? And couldn't someone have called time on the over-the-top product placement that clogs up the finale?
In the end, "Real Steel" won't win any prizes for innovation, but it works -- it's a technical knockout. | [
"the future will be robot boxer?",
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"When is the film set?",
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] | [
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] | "Real Steel" stars Hugh Jackman as a struggling boxing promoter .
The film is set in the future during a time when robots can box .
Reviewer says the movie is a "technical knockout" |
(CNN) -- The two people who died Thursday night when their helicopter crashed into a mountain in the Dominican Republic were friends who had left their homes and family in Florida this week to help deliver aid to the people of Haiti, a son of one of the victims said Friday. The accident occurred about 7 p.m. in Dajabon, just east of the border with Haiti, said Rosani Zapata, a spokeswoman for the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute. The helicopter had filed a flight plan from Santiago to Jimani in the Dominican Republic, then on to Port-au-Prince in Haiti. It was en route back to Santiago when the crash occurred, she said. Aboard were pilot John Ward of Fort Myers, Florida, and James Jalovec, a 53-year-old Naples, Florida, businessman who owned Sweetwater Environmental Inc., a sewage company based in Sebring. Mark Jalovec, 21, told CNN in a telephone interview that his father began discussing the prospect of helping out a couple of days after the January 12 earthquake that devastated Haiti. "It kind of caught everybody off guard," he said, noting that his father had never done anything similar. Still, he said, his father saw a fit. "I got a helicopter; these people are in desperate need -- he kind of decided it with Mr. Ward that they were going to do it, and that's what they did." He said his father last called him Monday, after he and Ward had flown doctors from an orphanage outside Port-au-Prince to the Dominican Republic. Spencer Steadman, vice president and general manager of Sweetwater Environmental, described Ward as an experienced pilot who had long flown Jalovec to his business interests, which spanned the state. "They had an engine failure on one here about three months ago," he told CNN in a telephone interview. "He done a reverse autorotation and set that thing down. No injuries. Four people, they walked away. He was a very good pilot." The helicopter that crashed Thursday, a Robinson R44, was two weeks old, he said. Steadman said he was not surprised when Jalovec called him Saturday night and said he was planning to depart Sunday morning for a week in the region. "He seen a need, and it was a challenge, and that's Jim," Steadman said. "He was hard-core business. When he done business, he done business. That's what he liked doing. He was very aggressive. ... If it was worth doing, he'd do it." The cause of the crash is under investigation. | [
"Is the cause of the crash under investigation?",
"What did the helicopter hit east of the Haiti border?",
"What was the number of people on board?",
"Who were aboard the Helicopter that hit the mountain?",
"When did the Helicopter hit the mountain?",
"What side of the Haiti border did the Helicopter hit?",
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] | [
[
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[
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]
] | Victims described as friends who had left their homes, family in Florida to help Haitians .
Helicopter hit mountain about 7 p.m. Thursday east of Haiti border, aviation official says .
Pilot, Florida businessman were aboard; cause of crash is under investigation . |
(CNN) -- The two people who died and the 19 others who fell ill at a central Arizona resort after spending time in a sauna-like "sweatbox" were attending a program by self-help expert James Arthur Ray, authorities said Saturday. Two people died and were 19 injured after spending up to two hours inside this "sweatbox" at an Arizona resort. The dead were identified as James Shore of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Kirby Brown of Westtown, New York, Sheriff Lloyd Waugh told reporters. They were among the 50 or so visitors at the Angel Valley Resort near Sedona attending Ray's "Spiritual Warrior" program. Nineteen others were treated for injuries sustained in the sweatbox, a dome-like structure covered with tarps and blankets. Hot rocks and water are used to create steam in the enclosed environment. Waugh said investigators are looking into evidence that "may turn this into a criminal prosecution." Investigators are looking into similar events held previously in other locations by Ray, who refused to speak with officers at the scene, Waugh said. A follow-up interview is expected to happen. Ray's publicist, Howard Bragman, did not immediately return calls from CNN on Saturday. Ray posted a noted late Friday on his Twitter page, saying: "I'm shocked & saddened by the tragedy occurring in Sedona. My deep heartfelt condolences to family & friends of those who lost their lives." On Saturday he posted another message, saying he's "spending the weekend in prayer and meditation for all involved in this difficult time; and I ask you to join me in doing the same." The self-help guru is widely known for his programs that claim to teach individuals to create wealth through all aspects of their lives -- financially, mentally, physically and spiritually. Ray, whose company is based in Carlsbad, California, has appeared on a variety of national programs, including CNN's "Larry King Live." In that appearance, Ray was about to address 3,000 people in Phoenix, Arizona. Asked what he thinks about critics of his teachings, Ray told King: "Well, you know, it's interesting, Larry, because any time a new idea comes to the fore, it goes through three phases. It's first ridiculed. Then it's violently opposed. And then it's finally accepted as self-evident, normally after the opposition dies." Angel Valley Resort advertises itself as "a place to relax and heal ... where powerful earth energies are present and active." It was founded in April 2002 by Michael and Amayra Hamilton, both of whom are teachers and counselors there. The resort is on 70 secluded valley acres 20 minutes from Sedona, surrounded by thousands of acres of national forest, according to the Web site. It has Internal Revenue Service nonprofit status as a religious organization, its Web site says. "There are twenty marked vortexes and angel sites to experience connection with Earth and spirit, deep relaxation, and balancing," an online brochure says. "Angel Valley offers two labyrinths and an Angel Wheel for going inward, finding answers and getting insights." No information about the sweat lodge could be found on the Web site Saturday morning, and numerous internal links were not functioning. The use of sweat lodges for spiritual and physical cleansing is a part of several Native American tribes' cultures. A traditional Native American sweat lodge is a small dome-like structure made up of willow branches carefully tied together and covered in canvas. Rocks are heated in a nearby fire pit and placed inside the lodge, and water is poured over them to create steam. "We are curious to find out what happened there," Richard Moreno, a member of Pira Manso Pueblo tribe, told KPHO-TV. "I've been participating in the sweat lodge since the age of 3 and I've never recalled being sick from being in the sweat lodge." Moreno told the station he has never been to a lodge that held more than 20 people. | [
"What is the sheriff reported as saying?",
"Who was leading the event where illnesses occurred?",
"How many people spend time inside the \"sweatbox\"?",
"What type of organization is the resort?",
"Who led the event were people got ill in a sweatbox?"
] | [
[
"The dead were identified as James Shore of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Kirby Brown of Westtown, New York,"
],
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] | NEW: Illnesses occur during event led by author James Arthur Ray, reports say .
NEW: Evidence "may turn this into a criminal prosecution," sheriff says .
About 50 people had spent up to two hours inside the "sweatbox," officials said .
Resort is nonprofit religious organization, Web site says . |
(CNN) -- The two people who died and the 19 others who fell ill at a central Arizona resort after spending time in a sauna-like "sweatbox" were attending a program by self-help expert James Arthur Ray, authorities said Saturday. Two people died and were 19 injured after spending up to two hours inside this "sweatbox" at an Arizona resort. The dead were identified as James Shore of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Kirby Brown of Westtown, New York, Sheriff Lloyd Waugh told reporters. They were among the 50 or so visitors at the Angel Valley Resort near Sedona attending Ray's "Spiritual Warrior" program. Nineteen others were treated for injuries sustained in the sweatbox, a dome-like structure covered with tarps and blankets. Hot rocks and water are used to create steam in the enclosed environment. Waugh said investigators are looking into evidence that "may turn this into a criminal prosecution." Investigators are looking into similar events held previously in other locations by Ray, who refused to speak with officers at the scene, Waugh said. A follow-up interview is expected to happen. Ray's publicist, Howard Bragman, did not immediately return calls from CNN on Saturday. Ray posted a noted late Friday on his Twitter page, saying: "I'm shocked & saddened by the tragedy occurring in Sedona. My deep heartfelt condolences to family & friends of those who lost their lives." On Saturday he posted another message, saying he's "spending the weekend in prayer and meditation for all involved in this difficult time; and I ask you to join me in doing the same." The self-help guru is widely known for his programs that claim to teach individuals to create wealth through all aspects of their lives -- financially, mentally, physically and spiritually. Ray, whose company is based in Carlsbad, California, has appeared on a variety of national programs, including CNN's "Larry King Live." In that appearance, Ray was about to address 3,000 people in Phoenix, Arizona. Asked what he thinks about critics of his teachings, Ray told King: "Well, you know, it's interesting, Larry, because any time a new idea comes to the fore, it goes through three phases. It's first ridiculed. Then it's violently opposed. And then it's finally accepted as self-evident, normally after the opposition dies." Angel Valley Resort advertises itself as "a place to relax and heal ... where powerful earth energies are present and active." It was founded in April 2002 by Michael and Amayra Hamilton, both of whom are teachers and counselors there. The resort is on 70 secluded valley acres 20 minutes from Sedona, surrounded by thousands of acres of national forest, according to the Web site. It has Internal Revenue Service nonprofit status as a religious organization, its Web site says. "There are twenty marked vortexes and angel sites to experience connection with Earth and spirit, deep relaxation, and balancing," an online brochure says. "Angel Valley offers two labyrinths and an Angel Wheel for going inward, finding answers and getting insights." No information about the sweat lodge could be found on the Web site Saturday morning, and numerous internal links were not functioning. The use of sweat lodges for spiritual and physical cleansing is a part of several Native American tribes' cultures. A traditional Native American sweat lodge is a small dome-like structure made up of willow branches carefully tied together and covered in canvas. Rocks are heated in a nearby fire pit and placed inside the lodge, and water is poured over them to create steam. "We are curious to find out what happened there," Richard Moreno, a member of Pira Manso Pueblo tribe, told KPHO-TV. "I've been participating in the sweat lodge since the age of 3 and I've never recalled being sick from being in the sweat lodge." Moreno told the station he has never been to a lodge that held more than 20 people. CNN's Nick Valencia contributed to | [
"Illnesses occuring duing an event le dby which author?",
"What may this turn into?",
"Who led the event where illnesses occured?",
"What kind of prosecution did the sheriff say evidence may lead to?",
"what does the sheriff says about the Evidence?",
"How many people spent time in the sweatbox?",
"How many people spent 2 hours in the sweatbox?",
"according to the news: the Illnesses occur during what?"
] | [
[
"James Arthur Ray,"
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"19"
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] | NEW: Illnesses occur during event led by author James Arthur Ray, reports say .
NEW: Evidence "may turn this into a criminal prosecution," sheriff says .
About 50 people had spent up to two hours inside the "sweatbox," officials said .
Resort is nonprofit religious organization, Web site says . |
(CNN) -- The uncertainty of the economy is making almost everyone nervous about money. Some are wondering what will happen to their homes while others are terrified about never getting out of debt.
Ali Velshi responds to CNN viewers' questions about personal finance on "The Help Line with Ali Velshi."
CNN's Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi answers viewers' money questions on "The Help Line with Ali Velshi."
The following is an edited version of the program.
Linda in Kentucky: We have two different adjustable rate mortgages on our house and we're starting to get threatening letters about the smaller mortgage. Can the smaller mortgage start foreclosure procedures before the larger one?
Ali Velshi: The first mortgage is the first lien against your house. They can actually start foreclosure procedures on the smaller mortgage but it's not typical because the first mortgage holder is going to want to protect its assets. E-mail your own questions to Ali
If you're getting threatening letters, the first thing you need to do is be in constant contact with them. Letters that don't get responded to escalate and once they've started foreclosure procedures it's much harder to get out of it.
Judy in Warren, Michigan: I am trying to pay off my four credit cards and I want to totally shut down the three of them that [charge] annual fees. ... What will this do to my credit rating?
Velshi: If you close a credit card account, you need to make it clear on your credit report -- you may have to write a letter to them -- that it was closed by you, not that it was closed by someone else.
A closed credit card account, particularly when you have a lot of debt, could look like somebody closed it on you and that could be read incorrectly.
Typically, if you've closed a credit card account and you've paid off that balance, your amount of available credit has reduced. This means that the amount that you actually owe could be larger in proportion to the amount of your available credit and that could hurt your credit score.
The bottom line is you can eliminate the balances on those credit cards if you have the discipline not to spend. This keeps your available credit there and doesn't hurt your credit score. But some people need to literally cut up that card and have the account closed so they don't run up balances on it.
It's better to pay off your credit card debt regardless of what you're planning to do with the credit card.
Terae in North Carolina: My wife and I are thinking about taking advantage of the economy and investing in a property. I'm a risk-taker and want to buy two properties but my wife doesn't want to buy any. We don't have any debt, so should we take advantage of this opportunity or do something more conservative?
Velshi: You're in a great situation. Properties tend to be a good investment over time. It kind of depends on where you're buying and what kind of property. But you have to be prepared to handle the nuances of owning a property: the upkeep it's going to take and the fact that you could sit around without renting it for some time. Watch Ali Velshi talk about money »
I'm not sure I'm a big fan of money being invested in something that's not getting you some returns. I don't see the point of buying a property and keeping it vacant unless you absolutely know it's going to skyrocket in value -- and remember what happened the last few years with people who absolutely knew it was going to skyrocket in value.
I would read a good book on it. Buying a property is a good option but there are many other forms of investments that will satisfy your need for risk and perhaps make your wife feel less exposed. | [
"What did Velshi say about mortgage holders?",
"What is a fairly risky but good investment?",
"What could benefit your credit score more than closing them?",
"What is a less risky investment?",
"Who is Velshi?",
"What is considered a good option?",
"What should you do if your mortgage holder sends you threatening letters?"
] | [
[
"The first mortgage is the first lien against your house. They can actually start foreclosure procedures on the smaller mortgage but it's not typical because the first mortgage holder is going to want to protect its assets."
],
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]
] | Velshi: If your mortgage holder sends threatening letters, stay in contact with them .
Not using credit card accounts may benefit your credit score more than closing them .
Buying property is a good option but other investments may be less risky, he says . |
(CNN) -- The unlikely alchemy of a hard-rock legend and a bluegrass superstar created Grammy gold Sunday night, as Robert Plant and Alison Krauss picked up five awards -- including album and record of the year -- for their work, "Raising Sand." Alison Krauss and Robert Plant's song "Please Read the Letter" won record of the year. "Sand" won album of the year honor, while a song from the set, "Please Read the Letter," won record of the year. "I'm bewildered. In the old days we would have called this selling out. But it's a good way to spend a Sunday," said Plant, the legendary Led Zeppelin front man. "Raising Sand" was produced by T Bone Burnett, whose production and oversight of the "O Brother, Where Art Thou" soundtrack won three awards -- including album of the year -- in 2002. For "Sand," Burnett selected several songs, mostly obscurities such as Gene Clark's "Polly Come Home" and Sam Phillips' "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," and let Plant and Krauss mix it up in stark, often subdued fashion. The result was widely praised and reached No. 2 on the album charts. Watch Plant and Krauss talk about their win » The win adds to Krauss' eye-popping Grammy total of 26 awards -- more than any female artist in history and third only to conductor Sir Georg Solti (31) and producer-arranger-mogul Quincy Jones (27). The awards were overshadowed by news that performer Chris Brown, who had been up for two Grammys, had become the focus of a domestic-violence allegation. Brown turned himself in to Los Angeles police Sunday evening. Watch a report on the latest developments in the Brown case » He was released on $50,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Authorities said Brown and a woman were involved in an argument in a vehicle. Read more about Brown The argument escalated when Brown stopped the car and the woman got out, the LAPD said, citing the victim's account. A representative for Brown at the ICM agency in Los Angeles could not immediately be reached for comment. Coldplay took home one of the Grammys' big three honors, song of the year, for the title track of their album "Viva La Vida." The group also won best rock album. "Thank you and sorry to Sir Paul McCartney for blatantly recycling the 'Sgt. Pepper' outfits," the band's Will Champion said, noting the group's colorful attire. See the stars on the red carpet » Adele won best new artist. The Grammys are often better remembered for the colorful performances than the winners, and this year's 3½-hour telecast seemed determined to showcase nominees, often in unusual combinations and settings. Watch Tia Carrere discuss the best Hawaiian music album » Jennifer Hudson brought the house down with an emotional performance of a new ballad, "You Pulled Me Through," and won best R&B album -- an award presented by another big-voiced vocalist, Whitney Houston. Hudson was equally emotional in her acceptance speech. "I'd like to thank my family in heaven and those who are with me today," she said, her voice catching. "Everybody, thank you all," she concluded. Hudson's mother, brother and nephew were murdered last October. Watch Carrie Underwood talk about her meeting with Hudson » Jamie Foxx took a star turn with a quartet of singers -- including Smokey Robinson -- in a medley of Four Tops songs in tribute to the group's late lead singer, Levi Stubbs. The University of Southern California marching band backed Radiohead's performance. Paul McCartney, backed by powerhouse Dave Grohl on drums, did "I Saw Her Standing There" -- the first track from the Beatles' first album, "Please Please Me," in 1963. Four famed rappers -- T.I., Kanye West, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne -- were called the " | [
"Which song coldplay wins?",
"What was the song of the year?",
"What album is the album of the year?",
"Who wins best R&B album?",
"Who won song of the year?",
"how many Grammys winned Plant, Krauss?",
"What is the album of year?",
"Who won five grammys?",
"Who is the owner of raising sand album?"
] | [
[
"\"Viva La Vida.\""
],
[
"\"Please Read the Letter\""
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[
"\"Sand\""
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[
"Jennifer Hudson"
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"Alison Krauss and Robert Plant's"
],
[
"five"
],
[
"\"Raising Sand.\""
],
[
"Robert Plant and Alison Krauss"
],
[
"Robert Plant and Alison Krauss"
]
] | Robert Plant, Alison Krauss "Raising Sand" is album of year .
Plant, Krauss' work wins five Grammys total .
Coldplay wins song of the year for "Viva La Vida," best rock album .
Jennifer Hudson wins best R&B album . |
(CNN) -- The vast sums of money made by football's middle men continues to soar, with English Premier League clubs this week detailing huge amounts paid to agents for helping to seal multi-million-dollar deals during the last 12 months.
Big-spending table-toppers Manchester City predictably had the highest outlay, paying agents to the tune of $15.2 million between October 1, 2010 and September 30, 2011 for aiding the transfer of players such as Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri and Edin Dzeko.
Immediately behind City were Tottenham Hotspur ($12 million) and Liverpool ($11 million).
These figures beg the question, what do England's biggest clubs gain from the use of agents and why are the payments made to them so large? The total £71.87 million ($112.8 million) spent in that period is a rise of almost $7.5 million.
"It's very hard to know, to be honest -- clubs need to give us some answers," World Soccer Magazine editor Gavin Hamilton told CNN. "There's no reason that they should be that high, because most of those clubs have very good scouting networks."
Poland and Ukraine primed for Euro 2012 kick-off
Hamilton believes that with clubs now possessing wide-ranging global scouting networks, the need to pay such large sums to agents should be lessened.
"They discover and scout players themselves, and the clubs that aren't scouting players are relying on agents. They don't need to be doing that. They've got their own scouting network," he said.
With agents primarily employed to negotiate deals on behalf of players with their respective clubs, Hamilton argues it is the footballers themselves who should foot the bill for their services.
"It's the player that hires the agent to secure them a transfer, a new contract, so the players really should be paying the fees," he said.
"It's a big surprise to me that clubs continue to cover agents' fees, rather than insist the players, who are so well paid, reward their agents for the work they've done."
While the spending on agents could be considered as an unnecessary expense, Hamilton praised England's top division for showing the sort of transparency lacking in other top European leagues.
"I think it's a positive that the Premier League actually publishes the information," he explained. "The Premier League has to be applauded for publishing the figures.
"It's a good thing that they're published, it's a bad thing that they're so high."
Hamilton also outlined the danger of having agents who represent managers and players employed by the same club, such as when manager Mark Hughes and Argentina striker Carlos Tevez were both at Manchester City while being represented by Israeli Kia Joorabchian.
"I think certain clubs rely on particular agents who are not just representing players, but also representing managers," he said.
"Managers now have agents. The Sunderland appointment, replacing Steve Bruce, there are a number of managers in the frame for the job who are with agents who also have high-profile players.
"There's a clear conflict of interest there and clubs tend to rely on managers who share an agent with players, and I think that is a dangerous situation to get into."
Hamilton wants stronger regulations placed upon agents, and hopes that financial fair-play regulations set to be introduced by European football's governing body UEFA will help improve the situation.
The new rules are aimed at preventing clubs across Europe spending beyond their means in pursuit of on-field success.
"It's the nature of the modern game at the moment, it's unregulated and the money is going out of the game into the bank accounts of agents," Hamilton said. "I think over the next few years we are going to see more regulation with UEFA's financial fair play.
"What they're trying to do with financial fair play is have a system in place where clubs regulate their own spending, and clubs are aware that they | [
"who says players should pay for their representation",
"who revealed the amount spent",
"What does hamilton argue",
"how much money did manchester city shell out",
"Who has argued?",
"How much did Manchester spend?"
] | [
[
"Hamilton"
],
[
"Gavin Hamilton"
],
[
"it is the footballers themselves who should foot the bill for their services."
],
[
"$15.2 million"
],
[
"Hamilton"
],
[
"$15.2 million"
]
] | The English Premier League has revealed the amount spent by its clubs on agents .
Big-spending Manchester City lead the way, splashing out $15.2 million on agents .
World Soccer's Gavin Hamilton argues players should pay for their representation .
He also argues against players and managers at the same club sharing an agent . |
(CNN) -- The video of four U.S. Marines urinating on three dead Taliban fighters has ricocheted around the world with viral speed, rightly provoking moral outrage abroad and shame at home. The act is a violation of professional military conduct and the fundamental moral requirement in war of showing dignity and respect to the dead.
But the desecration shocks, not because it involves any sadistic mutilation of body for prize or trophy, but because the act is so primitive and regressed: Urinating marks territory. The sigh heard in the video is the vanquisher's exuberance in being top dog.
Perhaps the Marines felt a need to do something with the enemy bodies that lay at their feet-- to kick them, to spit on them, to urinate on them while they waited for the proper authorities to collect them. But vengeful impulses need to be checked. Command culture, especially in small units like this sniper platoon, sets the tone and helps prevent these lapses of character and the awful consequences that ensue.
Desecration of bodies in war is nothing new nor is the public condemnation of it. In Homer's Iliad, Achilles' raging grief at the death of his beloved Patroclus leads to an ugly enactment of revenge. Achilles vanquishes Hector, Patroclus' killer, and then lashing the body behind a chariot, drags his corpse face down three times around Patroclus' tomb.
The act transgresses fundamental Greek decorum in war. Homer leaves no doubt about this: "That man without a shred of decency in his heart." He outrages "even the senseless clay in all his fury." The desecration offends the gods, too, and they intervene to insure that Hector's body remains intact despite Achilles' brutality. And all this comes after Hector pleads to Achilles with his last breath: "I beg you, beg you by your life, your parents, don't let the dogs devour me... give my body to friends to carry home again" for "honor with fitting rites."
The soldier's fear that his body may be despoiled by the enemy or never repatriated is universal and is at the heart of the Geneva conventions and customary international law that prohibit "outrages against personal dignity." Anyone who has watched over the body of a loved one knows that humanitarian treatment has a proper place both toward the living and the dead.
Yet we have not always respected that dignity toward our own war dead. Consider the recent reports that the Air Force, in charge of the military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, shipped and incinerated remains from hundreds of troops over the past decade and dumped them in a Virginia landfill.
In one report from The Washington Post, Gari-Lynn Smith was, in her words, "appalled and disgusted" when she learned the fate of her husband's remains: "My only peace of mind in losing my husband was that he was taken to Dover and that he was handled with dignity, love, respect and honor," she said. "That was completely shattered for me when I was told that he was thrown in the trash."
Why worry about remains? I suspect it is simply because the living return to us -- however war-torn their bodies and souls -- and we want something of that for our dead, so that we can mark an honorable passage from this world. We demand that respect both from others who find our dead and from those explicitly entrusted to the care of their bodies. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is emblematic of that very need for a return home.
Urinating on fresh corpses is repulsive mockery of the dead. This case is one of collective behavior, the act of a foursome or fivesome, where someone should have known better, among them and higher up.
The incident brings to mind one that Tim O'Brien recounts in "The Things They Carried," his fictionalized memoir of his Vietnam years. His platoon took sniper fire and ordered an airstrike in response. Shortly after, the unit went to the scene of the strike and found an old man, lying face-up with flies already buzzing around his corpse. They propped the body up against | [
"What violated military conduct?",
"What was deemed as nothing new?",
"What did the Marines do to the corpses?"
] | [
[
"four U.S. Marines urinating on three dead Taliban fighters"
],
[
"Desecration of bodies in war"
],
[
"urinating on three dead Taliban fighters"
]
] | Nancy Sherman: Marines urinating on Taliban corpses shames the U.S., outrages world .
It violates military conduct, she said, also the moral duty to show respect toward the dead .
Sherman: Desecration of bodies in war is nothing new, but was disdained even in antiquity .
Military leaders must cultivate empathy in troops for families of the slain, she writes . |
(CNN) -- The weather can affect your travel, your mood and apparently the size of your family. Edie is a proud blizzard baby, and her parents have already bought her a snowsuit for this year. Denver hospitals are reporting a baby boom, which is arriving about nine months after two blizzards walloped Colorado's capital city. With roads shut down for days, couples were stuck at home and apparently cuddled up to stay warm. Marjorie Silva told the Rocky Mountain News that she has a new baby because she didn't want her husband to play in the snow during the blizzard. "It was cold, and we took a bath together," she told the newspaper, referring to husband Hansell. "And one thing led to another. He wanted to go outside and play with the snow, and I didn't want to. ... We just ate and stayed in bed." Hospital staffers are working extra hours and using an overflow unit to take care of all the new babies and moms at Avista Adventist Hospital in suburban Louisville, according to Lynne Snyder, the director of women's services. One baby couldn't wait to get to the second-floor delivery room. The doctors had to go to Mom at the bottom of the stairs, and everyone went into the emergency room to help the infant into into the world. The infants are going home with T-shirts pronouncing them proud to be a blizzard baby. Dad: We waited nine months for our Christmas present » Edie Coddington is wearing one of those shirts, even though her parents, Odele and Ian, were out of town when the storms hit. They were visiting family in Calgary and had to wait until the two blizzards cleared before they could get back to Colorado. Edie was a very happy surprise, Odele Coddington said. Their joy is shared by co-workers who are having an "enormous rash" of blizzard babies, Ian Coddington said, adding that company picnics will be very entertaining in about five years, when the babies are older and running around. For now, more babies may be on the way. Sky Ridge Medical Center, just south of Denver, expects a 20 percent increase in deliveries in October. One doctor at the hospital told CNN affiliate KMGH that he expects the baby boom to last for couple of more months. "The snow stayed on the ground throughout December, January, and into February. My theory is that the cabin fever didn't set in until a little bit later," Dr. Steve Grover said. Although the new parents and hospitals are having fun with the term blizzard babies, officials say it will be months before it can be determined whether there is any connection between the blizzards and the new arrivals. And previous purported baby booms have been discounted after experts studied the numbers, according to The Associated Press. University of North Carolina and Duke University researchers found there were no booms after the New York City blackouts in 1965 and 1977. But already, Denver-area businesses say they are benefiting from a boom in sales. "We've also been selling a lot of diaper bags and blankets. I'm completely wiped out of blankets. I can't keep up with the blankets," Linde Schlumbohm, the owner of Studio Bini, told the TV station. E-mail to a friend | [
"which hospital is reporting baby deliveries?",
"What did one couple get caught in?",
"Staff at one hospital is working overtime doing what?",
"What does the denver hospitals report increase in?",
"Which hospital has a lot of baby deliveries?",
"who is working overtime to handle deliveries?"
] | [
[
"Denver"
],
[
"two blizzards"
],
[
"to take care of all the new babies and moms"
],
[
"a baby boom,"
],
[
"Denver"
],
[
"Hospital staffers"
]
] | Denver hospitals reporting increase in baby deliveries .
Staff at one hospital working overtime to handle deliveries .
One couple escaped snow but got caught in baby blizzard . |
(CNN) -- The wedding of a Boston, Massachusetts, medical student accused of killing a woman he met through Craigslist has been called off, his fiancee's lawyer said.
The wedding of accused "Craigslist killer" Phillip Markoff and his fiancee, Megan McAllister, has been called off.
Megan McAllister, who was accompanied by her mother, met Phillip Markoff for about 25 minutes in a Boston jail earlier this week, her lawyer Robert Honecker told CNN affiliate WCVB.
"It was an emotional conversation on both sides," Honecker said, adding that McAllister is planning to move back to her home state of New Jersey.
"There is still a love and commitment to that person, and I think that obviously realizing what has now happened, that she has to take steps to do what she has to do on her life," Honecker told WCVB. She plans to move on, he said.
"There are things that she has to do, and I think the process begins today," Honecker told WCVB.
Honecker told ABC on Thursday that the wedding "will not occur." Watch lawyer tell reporters that Megan McAllister is ready to move on »
McAllister maintained her fiance's innocence in an e-mail sent to ABC News in early April. In the e-mail, McAllister said police have the wrong man and Markoff "was set up."
McAllister's visit was her first since Markoff was arraigned last week on murder charges in the killing of a woman whom authorities say he met through Craigslist, a popular online classifieds service.
Markoff, 23, a second-year student at Boston University's School of Medicine, is charged with killing Julissa Brisman on April 14 at a Boston hotel. Police said Brisman, a model from New York, advertised as a masseuse on Craigslist.
Prosecutors say Brisman was shot three times at close range and suffered blunt head trauma. Markoff is also charged in connection with an April 10 robbery of Trisha Leffler, 29, at another hotel in Boston. Leffler also met Brisman on Craigslist.
Leffler was robbed of $800 in cash and $250 in American Express gift cards, according to police reports.
Markoff has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. | [
"Who is accused of killing Julissa Brisman?",
"Who is charged in connection with an April 10 robbery?",
"who call off ?",
"Who is planning to move to New Jersey?",
"who is accused of killing"
] | [
[
"Phillip Markoff"
],
[
"Markoff"
],
[
"Megan McAllister,"
],
[
"McAllister"
],
[
"medical student"
]
] | Phillip Markoff, fiancee call off wedding, according to fiancee's lawyer .
Lawyer: Fiancee Megan McAllister planning to move to New Jersey .
Markoff accused of killing Julissa Brisman after police say she met her on Craigslist .
Markoff also charged in connection with an April 10 robbery . |
(CNN) -- The wife of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid underwent neck surgery Friday after being injured with their daughter in a four-vehicle wreck in suburban Washington a day earlier, her surgeon said. Since the surgery, Landra Reid, 69, has been able "to get out of bed, her pain is well-controlled and she's able to swallow some," said Dr. Elizabeth Franco of Inova Fairfax Hospital. She can move her arms and legs, but is expected to go through physical therapy before being released in a few days, Franco said. Reid's wife broke her neck, a vertebra in her lower back and her nose, the doctor said. The couple's adult daughter, Lana Reid Barringer of McLean, Virginia, suffered a neck injury and facial lacerations, the senator's spokesman, Jon Summers, said Thursday. Lana Reid was released from the hospital Thursday night. The wreck occurred in the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 in Fairfax County at 1:10 p.m., when the 2005 Honda Odyssey driven by the daughter began braking in stop-and-go traffic and was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer, according to a Virginia State Police report. "The impact forced the Honda Odyssey to rear-end the vehicle in front of it, a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee," it says. "The Jeep Grand Cherokee was then forced into the next lane over where it struck a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt." The drivers of the Jeep and the Chevrolet also were taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening. The driver of the truck, Allan W. Snader, 59, of Ohio, was charged with reckless driving, the police report said. He was not injured in the crash. The tractor-trailer was carrying rolls of plastic. The 70-year-old senator visited his wife and daughter shortly after hearing of the accident at 2:15 p.m., then returned to his office in the Capitol to work on health care legislation, said Reid spokesman Jim Manley. He was back at the hospital later in the afternoon and stayed until midnight, then returned early Friday to be there for his wife's surgery, Summers said. Summers told reporters Landra Reid's recovery is the senator's top priority, but "his plans have not changed at all" in Congress. "Landra and I have been married for 50 years -- she is the love of my life," Reid said in a statement read by Summers at a news conference. "And I look forward to her making a quick recovery as soon as possible." Reid met his wife at Basic High School in Henderson, Nevada, during the mid-1950s. They married in 1959 and had their first child, Lana, two years later. Three boys followed. The couple has 16 grandchildren. CNN Congressional Producer Ted Barrett and Brianna Keilar contributed to this report. | [
"What age is Landra Reid?",
"What can she do since having surgery?",
"What do the doctor's say she is able to do since surgery?",
"What was the Chicago man accused of?",
"Which bones dod the doctor say she had broken?",
"what she can move?",
"What bones did she break?"
] | [
[
"69,"
],
[
"move her arms and legs,"
],
[
"\"to get out of bed,"
],
[
"reckless driving,"
],
[
"neck, a vertebra in her lower back and her nose,"
],
[
"her arms and legs,"
],
[
"neck, a vertebra in her lower back and her nose,"
]
] | Landra Reid, 69, was involved in a car accident on Thursday .
Since surgery, she is able "to get out of bed ... and she's able to swallow some," doctor says .
She can move arms and legs; expected to go through physical therapy before release .
She broke her neck, a vertebra and her nose in the accident, the doctor said . |
(CNN) -- The wife of a Colorado father at the center of the "balloon boy" saga told authorities that the giant helium balloon was specifically created for a hoax to draw media attention, according to court documents released Friday. The Heene family -- including Falcon, second from right -- on CNN's "Larry King Live" last week. Mayumi Heene told Larimer County investigators that she and her husband, Richard Heene, knew that their 6-year-old son Falcon was hiding at their Fort Collins home the entire time, even as police and military scrambled to search for the boy, according to the documents. The admission by Mayumi Heene was made October 17, just two days after the balloon was released, according to the documents. The Heenes initially told authorities that they believed their child had flown away on the balloon, and when the balloon landed without him, they expressed concern that he may have fallen out of the device. 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," according to the documents. Their motive? To "make the Heene family more marketable for future media interests." Calls to David Lane, Richard Heene's attorney, and Lee Christian, Mayumi Heene's attorney, were not immediately returned Friday. Richard and Mayumi Heene are each facing a number of local charges, including conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and attempting to influence a public servant, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said Sunday. Lane told CNN earlier that the sheriff was overreaching and that the family deserve the presumption of innocence. The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the incident. Richard and Mayumi Heene met in a Hollywood acting school and pursued fame for their family in the world of reality TV, Alderden has said. The Heenes have appeared on the ABC program "Wife Swap." Richard Heene also chases storms, brings his family along and takes videos. TLC, which produces the show "Jon & Kate Plus 8," said the Heenes had "approached us months ago" about a possible show, "and we passed." | [
"What was the child told by the couple ?",
"Who told the children to lie to authorities?",
"What Mayumi told to the authorities about the kid ?",
"What did the parents say?",
"Who asked the children to lie?",
"What did Mayumi Heene said about the child ?",
"Who is Mayumi Heene?",
"Where did the parent's say the child was?",
"What age is the child?"
] | [
[
"to lie to authorities as well as the media regarding this hoax,\""
],
[
"couple"
],
[
"the giant helium balloon was specifically created for a hoax"
],
[
"they believed their child had flown away on the balloon, and when the balloon landed without him, they expressed concern that he may have fallen out of the device."
],
[
"The couple"
],
[
"knew that their 6-year-old son Falcon was hiding at their Fort Collins home the entire time,"
],
[
"wife of a Colorado father"
],
[
"had flown away on the balloon,"
],
[
"6-year-old"
]
] | Mayumi Heene says she and husband knew 6-year-old was safe during scare .
They told authorities child might have blown away inside giant balloon .
Couple told children to lie to authorities and media, document says . |
(CNN) -- The wife of a man suspected of killing five people in Tennessee and one in Alabama was among the victims found in southern Tennessee, along with her son, father and brother, police said Sunday. Jacob Shaffer was arrested in connection with the slayings of six people in Tennessee, police said. Jacob Shaffer, 30, of Fayetteville, Tennessee, was arrested Saturday after three people were found dead at a home in Fayetteville, 90 miles south of Nashville, Tennessee. Two other people were found at another home on the same street. The three found in one home were Shaffer's wife, Traci Shaffer, 38; her son Devin Brooks, 16; and the youth's friend and neighbor, 16-year-old Robert Berber, according to a statement Sunday from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The two people found at the other home were Traci Shaffer's father, Billy Hall, 57, and her brother Chris Hall, 34, authorities said. Autopsies were being conducted Sunday on the five, and causes of death would be released by medical examiners, the bureau said. A sixth person was found dead at a business about 30 miles away in Huntsville, Alabama, the Tennessee authorities said. The person's name was not released Sunday. Jacob Shaffer was in one of the Fayetteville homes when Lincoln County sheriff's deputies arrived Saturday, authorities said. Police believe the deaths happened either Friday night or Saturday, according to Kristin Helm of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Officials said they believe the deaths were related to a domestic dispute. It was unclear when or how the Huntsville victim died. "We have no clue yet as to what unfolded there and how it relates to here," Huntsville Police Sgt. Mickey Allen said Saturday. Without naming Shaffer, Allen said Tennessee authorities told him a man confessed to a slaying in Huntsville and to five other killings in Fayetteville. Shaffer faces five counts of criminal homicide in the Tennessee deaths, the TBI statement said. He was in the Lincoln County Jail without bond Sunday. CNN's Mayra Cuevas-Nazario contributed to this report. | [
"When was Jacob Shaffer arrested?",
"what is the name of the suspect",
"what charges does Shaffer face",
"who did suspect kill"
] | [
[
"Saturday"
],
[
"Jacob Shaffer"
],
[
"five counts of criminal homicide"
],
[
"five people in Tennessee and one in Alabama"
]
] | NEW: Suspect's wife and her son, brother and father among the dead, police say .
30-year-old Jacob Shaffer was arrested Saturday, police said .
Shaffer faces murder charges, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says .
Five bodies were found at two homes in Tennessee; one victim in Alabama . |
(CNN) -- The wife of al Qaeda's second-in-command has purportedly issued a message urging women to raise their children to love holy war and defend Muslim lands. The message from Omaima Hassan Ahmad Mohammad Hassad, wife of Osama bin Laden advisor Ayman al-Zawahiri, said that since women could not fight, they should dedicate themselves to so-called holy warriors, or mujahedeen. "I ask you to raise your children to obey Allah and love jihad [holy war] and to defend the Muslim lands," she said, in a message released by As-Sahab Media -- al Qaeda's production company. "Fighting is not easy for women because they need a male guardian by their side. ... But we can place ourselves in service of the mujahedeen and do what they ask of us. We can help by supporting warriors with money or information or even by a martyrdom operation." CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the document, which appeared on multiple radical Islamist Web sites. Hassan also asked that Allah grant her and her Muslim sisters "patience and persistence until death," especially in the Palestinian Authority, and in Iraq, Chechnya, Afghanistan and Somalia. CNN's senior editor for Middle East affairs, Octavia Nasr, said it is not a usual practice for women linked to al Qaeda to release messages. "It signals that al Qaeda seems to be aggressively reaching out to the female population, whereas in the past their focus was mainly on men," she said. | [
"What should children be encouraged to do?",
"What should the women do according the message?",
"who is Omaima Hassan Ahmad Mohammad Hassad?",
"What the CNN analyst said?",
"What did the purported message say?",
"What would be a strange move for al Qaeda?",
"What does the CNN analyst say?",
"Who is Ayman al-Zawahiri's wife?",
"Who is the wife of Ayman al-Zawahiri?"
] | [
[
"love holy war and defend Muslim lands."
],
[
"defend Muslim lands."
],
[
"wife of Osama bin Laden"
],
[
"it is not a usual practice for women linked to al Qaeda to release messages."
],
[
"their children to love holy war and defend Muslim lands."
],
[
"to release messages."
],
[
"\"It signals that al Qaeda seems to be aggressively reaching out to the female population, whereas in the past their focus was mainly on men,\""
],
[
"Omaima Hassan Ahmad Mohammad Hassad,"
],
[
"Omaima Hassan Ahmad Mohammad Hassad,"
]
] | Omaima Hassan Ahmad Mohammad Hassad is wife of Ayman al-Zawahiri .
Purported message says women should not fight, but encourage their children .
Message from woman would be unusual move for al Qaeda, CNN analyst says . |
(CNN) -- The wife of former New Life Church pastor Ted Haggard said Thursday that she never considered divorce after she discovered her husband had sexual encounters with men.
"I knew that he was more than this struggle," Gayle Haggard said on CNN's "Larry King Live" while promoting her new book "Why I Stayed."
"I knew that we spent almost 30 years together, and I knew there was so much to salvage in our relationship that was worth fighting for," she said.
Ted Haggard, the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and the head pastor at the 14,000-member New Life, was outed publicly in 2006 by a former prostitute, Mike Jones, who said Haggard had paid him for sex over three years and had used methamphetamine in his presence.
Haggard also later admitted to an inappropriate relationship with a 20-year-old male church volunteer.
Haggard said Thursday night that he no longer has same-sex urges, attributing the change to therapy. He blamed his homosexual experiences on a sexual encounter with an adult man when he was in second grade, which "formed the way my mind processes things."
"Certainly on many levels it was devastating to me," Gayle Haggard said of her husband's encounters. "But I started on a path to real education on the subject and I learned so much about the diversity of our human makeup and that all of us are the way we are for a reason. And I learned that things happen in our life that condition us in our sexuality."
Both Haggard and his wife say they have a normal physical relationship -- one that "never stopped" even in the wake of the public scandal.
"What is so wonderful is the intimacy we have on all levels in our marriage," Gayle Haggard said.
The couple said they currently don't belong to a church. Both agreed to leave New Life and the Colorado Springs, Colorado, area in a settlement following the scandal, but make a living by speaking about their story to church congregations around the country.
"I haven't doubted my faith in this process but I have redefined it," Gayle Haggard said. "Early on, I was so satisfied with my faith walk and I felt as though my life was just wonderful.
"But then I went through this very dark time where I felt like there was nothing good. ... But I held on by a thread because I trusted God was going to show me the way through that and he did." | [
"Who did Ted admit to having sex with?",
"What is Ted's wife's name?",
"What did Gayle not doubt?"
] | [
[
"men."
],
[
"Gayle Haggard"
],
[
"my faith in this process"
]
] | Ted Haggard's wife, Gayle, reveals why she stayed in wake of public scandal .
Ted Haggard, who admitted having sex with men, claims he no longer has same-sex urges .
Gayle Haggard: "I haven't doubted my faith in this process but I have redefined it" |
(CNN) -- The wife of missing adventurer Steve Fossett has asked a court to declare him dead. Steve Fossett and wife Peggy in a February 2006 photograph. Fossett was last seen in early September, flying a single-engine plane on a pleasure flight from a Nevada ranch. A month-long search for the plane was unsuccessful. "As difficult as it is for me to reach this conclusion, I no longer hold out any hope that Steve has survived," wrote Peggy V. Fossett in court documents filed Monday with the Cook County [Illinois] Circuit Court. She asked that the will of her husband of 38 years be admitted to probate. At about 8:45 a.m. on September 3, the millionaire took off on what he said was to be a solo pleasure flight over the Sierra Nevada mountain range. He had planned to fly over the Nevada desert for two to three hours, and was expecting to return for lunch to the Nevada ranch, from which he departed. He was carrying a single bottle of water and had no parachute, lawyers for Mrs. Fossett said in the court documents. At 3 p.m., when he had not returned, a search began that ultimately included thousands of volunteers. It continued until October 2. "No one involved in the search holds out any hope that Fossett is still alive," the petition said. Rick Rains, a sheriff's supervisor of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, said Fossett's plane was last spotted at 11 a.m. less than 20 miles from the ranch's airport. "Given the timeline and the sighting of Fossett's plane, I believe he was within 20 to 25 miles of the ranch when he crashed," Rains said. But, he noted, "the terrain is very difficult to search, with many areas where the crevices, deep ravines and closely grown trees make it impossible to see from the air what is on the ground." "If Fossett was physically able to find water to survive on in the Nevada desert, he would have been physically capable of signaling searchers, by doing something as simple as crafting a large X of sticks or rocks, or by starting a signal fire," Rains said. In affidavits supporting his wife's petition, Fossett's doctor described the 63-year-old man as physically and mentally fit. Robert Keilholtz, a captain in the California Civil Air Patrol who was involved in the search, noted that the difficulty in finding wreckage was underscored by the fact that World War II-era plane wreckage was discovered last spring in the mountain range. In the search for Fossett, wreckage from eight other crashes was discovered, one of them from the 1960s, the lawyers said. Fossett made his money in the financial services industry, but is renowned for his daredevil exploits, which include nonstop, round-the-world trips aboard a balloon, a fixed-wing plane and a boat. At the time of his disappearance, Fossett was working on a project to build a single-man submarine and to build a vehicle capable of breaking land speed records by traveling at up to 800 mph, lawyers for his wife said. E-mail to a friend | [
"Who went missing on a solo flight?",
"How long have they been searching?",
"Where was the small plane last sighted?",
"Who is missing?",
"How long was the search?",
"Where was the single-engine plane last seen?",
"When did Stephen Fossett go missing?",
"How long has the search been going on?",
"How long has Fosset been missing?"
] | [
[
"Steve Fossett"
],
[
"September,"
],
[
"spotted at 11 a.m. less than 20 miles from the ranch's airport."
],
[
"Steve Fossett"
],
[
"month-long"
],
[
"Nevada ranch."
],
[
"early September,"
],
[
"A month-long"
],
[
"last seen in early September,"
]
] | Steve Fossett missing since September solo flight over Nevada mountains .
Single-engine plane last seen 20 to 25 miles from departure point, sheriff says .
Plane not found after month of searching .
Experienced aviator would have signaled rescuers if alive, sheriff says . |
(CNN) -- The winner of the 82nd annual Scripps National Spelling Bee said Friday she is "pretty excited" but a little tired. Kavya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas, reacts to winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night. "This has been my dream for so long; I've always wanted to win the bee," Kavya Shivashankar, 13, of Olathe, Kansas, told CNN. "I was just really excited when I was able to go up and spell the last word." The eighth-grader won $40,000 in cash and prizes for nailing the final word, "Laodicean," which means lukewarm or indifferent, particularly in matters of politics or religion. This year's bee -- an event that has skyrocketed in popularity thanks to exposure on television and in movies -- started Tuesday in Washington with a record 293 spellers. Kavya endured 15 rounds. In an event that has seen contestants crack under the strain of the national spotlight, Kavya -- competing in her fourth national finals -- appeared composed throughout. Watch the poised winner describe the thrill » As she spelled words such as "phoresy," "hydrargyrum" and "huisache," she calmly went through the routine of asking each word's pronunciation, origin and roots before ticking their spellings off for the judges. "I focus so much on my word; I don't really pay attention to all the cameras and photographers and all the media in front of me," she said Friday. Kavya's father, who is her spelling coach, would tap his foot in time as she spelled the words, and at one point he appeared so confident that he waved to someone while his daughter was in the middle of spelling a word. Second-place finisher Tim Ruiter of Reston, Virginia, bowed out after misspelling "Maecenas," meaning a generous patron of the arts. Kavya said she would miss competing in the spelling bee, as the rules do not permit her to enter next year. "It was such a big part of my life, and I love doing it," she said. However, she may someday have a new role in the competition. "If my [little] sister gets to D.C. sometime soon, I'd really love to help and coach her," she said. Kavya attends California Trail Junior High School in the Kansas City suburb. Her hobbies include swimming, cycling and traditional Indian dance, according to the contest's Web site. She plans on becoming a neurosurgeon. The first National Spelling Bee took place in 1925, with five contestants. CNN's Devon Sayers contributed to this report. | [
"Where is Kavya Shivashankar from?",
"Who wins in fourth trip to national finals?",
"Who will receive $40,000 in cash and prizes?",
"What keeps cameras and media from distracting her?",
"How much will she receive in cash and prizes?"
] | [
[
"Olathe, Kansas,"
],
[
"Kavya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas,"
],
[
"Kavya Shivashankar"
],
[
"focus so much on my word;"
],
[
"$40,000"
]
] | Kavya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas, wins in fourth trip to national finals .
The 13-year-old eighth-grader will receive $40,000 in cash and prizes .
Focus on task keeps cameras and media from distracting her, Kavya says .
Girl may return to scene if younger sister does well in future competitions . |
(CNN) -- The woman who accused Herman Cain of groping her after a 1997 dinner says the Republican presidential candidate is "still in denial" about his conduct.
Sharon Bialek is the first woman to publicly accuse Cain of sexual harassment after last week's disclosure that the National Restaurant Association -- which Cain led in the late 1990s -- made payments to two other women who complained about his conduct. Cain has vehemently denied any allegation of misconduct.
Bialek told CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" that she came forward Monday "for the other women who couldn't or wouldn't."
"I really hope that what I did will enable other women to come forward in similar situations," Bialek said. "Unfortunately for Herman, he's still in denial."
Bialek told reporters Monday that she sought Cain's help finding a job after being laid off from the trade association's education foundation in 1997. She said Cain suggested meeting over dinner, then tried to reach up her skirt after the meal -- and when she protested, he told her, "You want a job, right?"
Read more about Bialek's allegation
Her attorney, Gloria Allred, told CNN her client described Cain's behavior at the time to her then-boyfriend and a longtime mentor, and both have given sworn statements supporting her account. Allred said her client is a registered Republican.
And Bialek said she expects to face public scrutiny following her accusations.
"I know that in the next two days is when everything is going to hit the fan, so to speak, and I'm prepared for it," she said.
She added, "I'm willing to handle it. I'm a tough girl." | [
"who is she speaking out for?",
"Who appeared on CNN's \"Piers Morgan Tonight\"?",
"Who appeared on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight?",
"Who has denied the allegation?",
"What did Bialek say she was doing?",
"What network is this show on?",
"What television show did Sharon Bialek appear on?",
"Who has denied any allegation of sexual harassment?"
] | [
[
"the other women who couldn't or wouldn't.\""
],
[
"Sharon Bialek"
],
[
"Sharon Bialek"
],
[
"Cain"
],
[
"came forward Monday \"for the other women who couldn't or wouldn't.\""
],
[
"CNN's"
],
[
"\"Piers Morgan Tonight\""
],
[
"Herman Cain"
]
] | Sharon Bialek appeared on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight"
She says she's speaking out for "other women who couldn't or wouldn't"
Cain has denied any allegation of sexual harassment . |
(CNN) -- The woman who made the 911 call that led to Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates' controversial arrest wasn't present at the so-called beer summit. Lucia Whalen, who called 911 to report a possible break-in, speaks to reporters Wednesday. But she got a shot of kindness and a taste of gratitude from Gates himself. Lucia Whalen received a bouquet of flowers at her office from Gates, according to Whalen's attorney, Wendy Murphy. "She described them as amazing, and appreciated them very much," Murphy said of the bouquet. The attorney described the flowers as being a beautiful assortment of what she believed were different colored roses. There was a note included from Gates, the details of which Murphy would not divulge. She said the note characterized Gates's "expression of gratitude" for Whalen's action. An officer responding to a report of a possible break-in at Gates' Cambridge, Massachusetts, home arrested the professor on July 16 for disorderly conduct. The charge was later dropped. The arrest sparked a national debate about race and police relations. Whalen said an older woman with no cell phone told her that she was worried someone was trying to break into the home, and decided to call 911. Whalen never referred to black suspects when she called authorities about the suspected break-in. On Thursday, President Barack Obama -- who had weighed in on the controversy, saying initially that police acted "stupidly" -- sat down for a beer at the White House with Gates and the officer who arrested him. The meeting has been called the "beer summit." After the meeting, Obama said in a statement he was thankful to Gates and Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley for joining him at for "a friendly, thoughtful conversation. "Even before we sat down for the beer, I learned that the two gentlemen spent some time together listening to one another, which is a testament to them," the president's statement said Obama's initial comments on the incident drew criticism and later he softened his stance, saying, "I could've calibrated those words differently." Murphy told CNN that Whalen has been receiving other apologies and accolades from people all over the world, but so far, no beer. | [
"What is the name of the women who called 911?",
"To whom did Henry Gates send flowers?",
"What did Gates send?",
"what did henry gates send",
"what did whalen do",
"Who did Whalen call?"
] | [
[
"Lucia Whalen,"
],
[
"Lucia Whalen"
],
[
"bouquet of flowers"
],
[
"bouquet of flowers"
],
[
"called 911 to report a possible break-in,"
],
[
"called 911"
]
] | Henry Gates sends flowers to office of woman who accidentally called police on him .
Lucia Whalen "appreciated them very much," her secretary says .
Whalen called 911 after woman told her she suspected break-in at Gates' home .
Whalen drew criticism for making call; says she'd do it again . |
(CNN) -- The woman who was denied a marriage license by a Louisiana justice of the peace because he refused to marry interracial couples said the official should lose his job. Beth McKay says a Louisiana justice of the peace denied her a marriage license since it was an interracial union. Beth McKay said she never could have expected what she heard from Tangipahoa Parish's 8th Ward Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell when she called his office a week ago to officiate her marriage to her African-American fiance, Terence. McKay spoke with Bardwell's wife to make arrangements for the ceremony. "At the end of the conversation, she said that she had to ask me a question. She asked if this was an interracial marriage." When McKay replied yes, she was told, "Well, we don't do interracial weddings or marriages." McKay said she was beyond shock. "We are used to the closet racism, but we're not going to tolerate that overt racism from an elected official." Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is calling to have Bardwell's license revoked, and Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu is calling for his dismissal -- a notion shared by McKay. "He's not representing all the people that he is supposed to be representing," McKay said. "He's only representing the people with his same opinions." McKay later married Terence with the help of another justice of the peace in the same parish. Bardwell has not returned repeated calls from CNN, but he told a local newspaper in a story published Thursday that he was not a racist and he was concerned for the children who might be born of the relationship. Bardwell also said, in his experience, that most interracial marriages don't last. "We're just kind of hurt, you know?" McKay told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Friday. "This doesn't take care of the problem. He's been in his position for 34 years. So, it doesn't take care of the problems that we have to deal with on a daily basis." Watch why justice nixed interracial marriage » McKay said her friends and family have been extremely supportive and she believes this situation occurred for a reason. "I just think that God puts you in the right positions at the right time in order to stand up to people who -- who choose to live their lives with hate," she said. The Supreme Court struck down laws against interracial marriage in the landmark 1967 Loving v. Virginia case. Richard and Mildred Loving, who got married in Washington, D.C., were arrested in their Virginia home with their marriage license framed and hanging on the wall, for the simple fact of being husband and wife. Watch Bardwell explain his decision » In the unanimous decision, the Supreme Court said that "Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the state." The number of interracial marriages have skyrocketed, nearly quadrupling between 1970 and 2005, the most recent year for which there is census data. As of 2005, nearly 8.5 Americans are living in interracial marriages. | [
"Who won't wed interracial couples?",
"What did Beth McKay say?",
"who denied marriage licence",
"What have state officials called for?"
] | [
[
"Beth McKay"
],
[
"a Louisiana justice of the peace denied her a marriage license since it was an interracial union."
],
[
"Louisiana justice of the peace"
],
[
"Bardwell's license revoked, and Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu is calling"
]
] | Beth McKay says she's hurt after Louisiana justice of peace denied marriage license .
Keith Bardwell says he won't wed interracial couples, but denies he's racist .
State officials have called for Bardwell's dismissal . |
(CNN) -- The women hockey players gathered at the center of the rink and prayed. Tears wet their cheeks and most held hands. Then they lit 10 candles, the number on the jersey of the missing teammate, the one with the huge smile and even bigger heart, who died in last week's plane crash. Madeline Loftus, 24, was killed aboard Flight 3407. She was returning to Buffalo for a reunion hockey game. Madeline Loftus, known as Maddy, was one of 49 people to die aboard Continental Connection Flight 3407 last Thursday. She was returning to Buffalo State College to play in a reunion hockey game on Saturday, to meet up with her old classmates to play the game she loved so dearly. "She popped into my head every time I got back to the bench," said former teammate Emma Wadsworth. Breaking down in tears, she said the game was filled with sadness because "Maddy wasn't here." She described Loftus as an "awesome teammate, a beautiful person always smiling, and always upbeat, and ready to cheer you up if you were having a bad day." Watch a promising life cut short » "She was just amazing," Wadsworth said. Her teammates said they decided to play the game out, because Loftus would've wanted them to play on. Loftus' No. 10 jersey hung from the bench near her friends and former players. "It's a really hard time for her teammates, for her friends, for her family," said teammate Janelle Junior. Loftus, 24, of Parsippany, New Jersey, played two seasons at Buffalo State from 2002 to 2004 before transferring to St. Mary's University in Minnesota after her sophomore year. At St. Mary's, she was a marketing major who starred on the hockey team from 2004 to 2006. While there, Loftus helped form the Cardinal Athletic Council, a student-athlete outreach program to help with community service projects. "Madeline was an important part of the university and athletic communities. Our thoughts and prayers now turn to Madeline's family, friends and teammates as they cope with this sudden loss," St. Mary's athletic director Nikki Fennern said in a statement. "Maddy was the first senior to graduate from my program. She will always hold a special place in my heart," said Terry Mannor, St. Mary's women's hockey coach. "Everyone who knew her will remember someone full of life and compassion. She was loved by everyone and will be greatly missed." Officials in Buffalo have said that it may take several days before all the bodies are recovered from the crash site, as investigators work through freezing temperatures and piles of wreckage. See photos of the crash site » About 1,000 people gathered at a church in western New York Monday to remember the crash victims. The community memorialized the 50 victims, with religious leaders from Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu communities offering words of sympathy to the community. "We've gathered today because western New York has entered a season of grieving," said Pastor Karl Eastlack of the Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church. Each speaker emphasized that everyone in the community is connected by the tragedy. One leader said we "gather in our common desire to console one another." All 49 passengers and crew members aboard the 74-seat turboprop were killed when the plane crashed into a home in Clarence Center, New York, on Thursday night. A 61-year-old man in the house was also killed. While investigators try to piece together the cause of the crash, portraits of those who died aboard the flight have emerged: • Alison Des Forges spent four years in Rwanda documenting the 1994 genocide and had testified about that atrocity and the current situation in central Africa before U.N. and congressional panels. • Beverly Eckert was the widow of Sean Rooney, who died in the World Trade Center in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. After Sean's death, Eckert co-founded Voices of September 11, an advocacy group for survivors of the attacks and families of those | [
"What did Madeline Loftus' former team say?",
"Who was returning to Buffalo?",
"where The 24-year-old was returning to Buffalo to play?",
"Where did Madeline Loftus die?",
"Who was Madeline Loftus?"
] | [
[
"\"It's a really hard time for her teammates, for her friends, for her family,\""
],
[
"Madeline Loftus,"
],
[
"State College"
],
[
"aboard Continental Connection Flight 3407"
],
[
"one of 49 people to die aboard Continental Connection Flight 3407"
]
] | Madeline Loftus was a beloved student, hockey player who died aboard Flight 3407 .
The 24-year-old was returning to Buffalo to play in a collegiate reunion game .
Her former teammates played the game Saturday with a heavy heart .
"She popped into my head every time I got back to the bench," former teammate says . |
(CNN) -- The women's draw at the Indian Wells Masters event has been thrown wide open after second seed Jelena Jankovic and third-seeded Elena Dementieva were both beaten on Saturday. Pavlyuchenkova celebrates her victory over Jelena Jankovic in the Indian Wells Masters. Serb Jankovic, who ended 2008 as number one in the world but has now dropped to third in the rankings, slumped 6-4 6-4 to Russian 17-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Meanwhile, Russian Dementieva ran out of steam in the final set to go down 7-6 2-6 6-1 to Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska -- ensuring only 17 of the 32 seeded women failed to make it out of the second round. Fifth seed Ana Ivanovic, the defending champion defeated Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 6-4 6-3 and now joins top-seeded Russian Dinara Safina as the tournament favorite. Also through is seventh-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska, who fought back from dropping the opening set to beat Australian Samantha Stosur 3-6 6-3 7-5. | [
"What did Jankovic and Dementieva crash out of?",
"Who went down to Petra Cetkovska?",
"Where is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from?",
"Who was Serb Jankovic beaten by?",
"Who defeated the second-seeded player?",
"What nationality is Dementieva?"
] | [
[
"Indian Wells Masters event"
],
[
"Russian Dementieva"
],
[
"Russian"
],
[
"Pavlyuchenkova"
],
[
"Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova."
],
[
"Russian"
]
] | Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva both crash out of Indian Wells Masters .
Second-seeded Serb Jankovic beaten by Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova .
Russian Dementieva goes down 7-6 2-6 6-1 to Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska . |
(CNN) -- The wooden sculptures lining the median of U.S. 90 are among the top tourist attractions on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Marlin Miller's live oak sculpture in Biloxi's Town Green will be dedicated Saturday. They are also a creative tribute to the live oaks that lined the scenic highway before the saltwater surge of Hurricane Katrina killed them at their very roots. After the storm, the Mississippi Department of Transportation began bulldozing the dead trees, much to the chagrin of area residents. Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway, one of the coast's longtime civic leaders, intervened. He contracted to have some of the live oak trunks turned into sculptures. But it would have proved to be a costly venture. Enter Marlin Miller, a wood sculptor from Fort Walton Beach, Florida, who volunteered to create a few live oak sculptures for free -- in part to leave his artistic mark on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, but also as a service to the community. A tree sculpture begins with the transportation department removing all the branches, leaving just the core of the tree. "I get an idea of what that carving is going to look like, and I go after it with a wide variety of steel chain saws." Miller said. He works his way down to high speed grinders, sanders and chisels to add the final detail work. "They're live oaks, so it's like carving stone. Sparks fly off my chain saw blades when I go after one of the trees," Miller said. Some of the trees, which are as much a part of south Mississippi's heritage as the antebellum homes scattered along the coastline, are estimated to be as much as 500 or 600 years old. Miller's sculptures along U.S. 90 range from eagles and herons to seahorses and dolphins. He said local governments have never dictated how his carvings should look. In Pass Christian, Miller created what he believes to be the world's largest eagle wood carving, at 25 feet tall. "That sculpture is dedicated to Col. Lawrence Roberts, one of the original Tuskegee Airmen," he said. A recent survey of area tourist attractions by the Harrison County Tourism Commission listed the beaches as the third-most popular attraction and the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino second. Miller's tree sculptures are first. "We've had a lot of traffic diverting off of Interstate 10, down to U.S. 90 just to see these carvings," Miller said. On Saturday, one of Miller's sculptures will be dedicated on the Biloxi Town Green: a 24-foot-tall marlin flying into the sky, three mahi fish jumping to the left, and a sea turtle and a blue crab at the base. It is the only painted tree sculpture of all those lining U.S. 90. Next on Marlin's to-do list: an oak tree in the center of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and one in Gulfport, Mississippi. He also plans to expand the project to downtown New Orleans and parts of North Carolina. "Instead of just cutting these trees down," Marlin said, "we're going to put new life into them by adding a sculpture." | [
"who is the wood sculptor",
"what did hurricane katrina destroy",
"What is the name of the Florida wood sculptor who has turned tree trunks into carvings?",
"Where will one of the sculptures be dedicated on Saturday?",
"what are the topics for his sculptures",
"What sculptures will be dedicated?",
"What lined scenic U.S.90 before Hurricane Katrina destroyed them?"
] | [
[
"Marlin Miller,"
],
[
"live oaks that lined the scenic highway"
],
[
"Marlin Miller,"
],
[
"Marlin Miller's live oak"
],
[
"a creative tribute to the live oaks that lined the scenic highway before the saltwater surge of Hurricane Katrina killed them at their very roots."
],
[
"Marlin Miller's live oak"
],
[
"wooden sculptures"
]
] | Live oaks lined scenic U.S. 90 before Hurricane Katrina destroyed them .
Florida wood sculptor Marlin Miller has been turning the tree trunks into carvings .
Miller's sculptures range from eagles and herons to seahorses and dolphins .
One of his sculptures will be dedicated on the Biloxi Town Green on Saturday . |
(CNN) -- The world has a new alliance to save vanishing frogs, toads and salamanders. A frog swims in a pond in Munich, Germany, in June. A coalition of organizations established the Amphibian Survival Alliance this month to conserve species threatened by deadly fungus, habitat loss, pollution, pesticides and climate change. The scientists said amphibians are the world's most threatened group of animals. Though they thrived on Earth for more than 360 million years, one in three of the 6,000 recognized amphibian species are now at risk of extinction and as many as 122 species have gone extinct since 1980, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's amphibian specialist group. "The world's amphibians are facing an uphill battle for survival," said James Collins of Arizona State University, co-chairman of the group. He said the new alliance, formed at the Amphibian Mini Summit at the Zoological Society of London, will focus efforts on the biggest threat to amphibians: infectious disease and habitat destruction. The group includes amphibian specialists working in the wild as well as those in zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens worldwide. "Amphibians have so much to offer humans," said amphibian specialist Simon Stuart. "Many have an arsenal of compounds stored in their skin that have the potential to address a multitude of human diseases." But as amphibians die out, so do opportunities to develop new medicines, he said. The southern gastric brooding frog, for instance, could have led to the development of a treatment for human peptic ulcers had it not gone extinct, Stuart said. "We simply cannot afford to let this current amphibian extinction crisis go unchecked," he said. Andrew Blaustein, who began documenting amphibian declines two decades ago, said the loss of species was part of an overall biodiversity crisis. "Amphibians seem to have been hit the hardest of all vertebrate species," said Blaustein, a professor of zoology at Oregon State University. "The long-term ecological repercussions of their decline could be profound, and we have to do something about it." | [
"what is the aim of Amphibian Survival Alliance?",
"What are at risk of extinction?",
"how many amphibians species are at risk?",
"What is the aim of the Amphibian Survival Alliance?",
"how many species have gone extinct?",
"What have gone extinct since 1980?",
"Who aims to save threatened frogs?"
] | [
[
"to conserve species threatened by deadly fungus, habitat loss, pollution, pesticides and climate change."
],
[
"one in three of the 6,000 recognized amphibian species"
],
[
"one in three of the 6,000 recognized"
],
[
"to conserve species threatened by deadly fungus, habitat loss, pollution, pesticides and climate change."
],
[
"122"
],
[
"122 species"
],
[
"Amphibian Survival Alliance"
]
] | Amphibian Survival Alliance aims to save threatened frogs, toads, salamanders .
One in three of 6,000 recognized amphibian species at risk of extinction, group says .
122 amphibian species have gone extinct since 1980, group says .
Amphibian species could help in development of medicines, scientist says . |
(CNN) -- The world has certainly changed since Michael Jackson last staged a concert tour in 1997 to promote the "HIStory" album. Fans clamor in London as Michael Jackson announces his return to performing. Since then, other performers have gained prominence -- some who have even been tagged as heir-apparents to Jackson, such as Usher and the currently legally troubled Chris Brown. Now the original is back. Jackson announced Thursday that he'll perform 10 concerts in London in July. But is the world ready to receive Jackson, who has had his share of financial and legal woes, with open arms? Watch Jackson make his announcement » Publicist and writer Howard Bragman said it's up to the public. "He's playing off the fact that people have the wonderful ability to have short memories," Bragman said. It was only a few years ago that Jackson was acquitted of several charges, including child molestation, in a California trial. The case, coupled with the singer's eccentric behavior, had seriously damaged his reputation. See a timeline of Jackson's life » Bragman said Jackson, who is slated to play the 20,000-capacity O2 Arena, is better off playing smaller venues rather than booking huge stadiums that may not sell out, an embarrassment a returning veteran can't afford to risk. "It's sort of like the political thing, how you always want to get a small room and make it look full," Bragman said. "Have reasonably priced tickets and do some of your classics. I certainly think that at one point there were tens of millions of Michael Jackson fans worldwide and I think there have to be still some Michael Jackson fans." Culture critic, filmmaker and former Billboard music editor Nelson George said British fans are much more forgiving of Jackson's troubles than are Americans, who expect celebrities to be "saints and heroes," George said. "The love for Michael Jackson in the UK is undiluted by any of the stuff that's been talked about here in the states," said George, whose soon-to-be-released book "City Kid: A Writer's Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success" offers some insight into the era in which Jackson's popularity exploded. "He's a huge star there still and he will sell out all of those shows," George added. George recently returned from London, where he witnessed firsthand the adoration that European fans have for the singer. While there, he said he attended "Thriller," a sold-out tribute to Jackson in London's West End. George points out that Jackson is pursing a similar path to the one the musical artist Prince took in 2007 when he played 21 nights at the O2 Arena. Given its London location, George observed the venue has the potential to attract fans from across Europe. Moreover, George said, the British have long been admirers of black music and culture. "It's the perfect place for [Jackson] to play," George said. "There will be fans there from all over the world, including the United States." | [
"Which magazine's critic stated \"He's a huge star there still\"?",
"Where is Jackson set to play?",
"Jackson is set to play which venue in the UK?",
"A publicist said Jackson was smart to play in which sized venues?",
"Who is set to play?",
"What has a former Billboard music critc said about Jackson?",
"What has a renowned publicist said about Jackson?",
"Who is a huge star?"
] | [
[
"Nelson George"
],
[
"London"
],
[
"O2 Arena,"
],
[
"smaller"
],
[
"Michael Jackson"
],
[
"British fans are much more forgiving"
],
[
"\"He's playing off the fact that people have the wonderful ability to have short memories,\""
],
[
"Michael Jackson"
]
] | Jackson set to play O2 Arena in the United Kingdom .
Renowned publicist says Jackson smart to tackle smaller venue .
Former Billboard music critic: "He's a huge star there still" |
(CNN) -- The world produces enough food to meet the needs of its population, yet nearly one in six people suffers from chronic hunger according to the United Nations' Committee on World Food Security.
There are ways to change this statistic. Here are five creative ways to make an impact on hunger in your community and around the globe.
Create
The Empty Bowls Project, the brainchild of artists John Hartom and Lisa Blackburn, uses ceramic arts to fight hunger.
At each event potters and other artisans donate handcrafted bowls. Guests select one of the bowls and are served a meal of soup and bread. They take home their bowl as a reminder of how many go empty around the world.
Money raised is donated to organizations fighting hunger locally, like soup kitchens and food banks, or globally, like Oxfam and Feed the Children.
Empty Bowls started as a classroom project, but the movement has spread across the United States and to at least 14 other countries. Events vary between locations because they are independently organized, but all share the Empty Bowls name and mission.
To find an Empty Bowls event near your or learn how to host your own, visit the website.
Dine
What if fighting world hunger were as easy as eating lunch? That's the goal of the One World Everybody Eats Foundation (OWEE).
The foundation began with a single cafe in Salt Lake City where the menu has no prices. Customers who can afford it are asked to pay a little extra for their meals to help those who can't.
Those in need can volunteer and earn a meal or enjoy the "community dish" free of charge. Dishes are prepared fresh daily and use many local, organic ingredients.
"I think we have to rethink how we feed people in their time of need," says OWEE founder Denise Cerreta. "What sets this apart from other restaurants is that truly anyone can walk through the door and afford to eat here, and it's good, organic, wholesome food."
Through the foundation, Cerreta now mentors a network of these cafes around the country. For more information about the foundation and a list of current locations visit the website.
Tweet
The #AfricaNeedsYou project is harnessing the power of the Twitterverse to help famine victims in East Africa, asking dozens of celebrities who get paid to tweet about products to donate their endorsement money to UNICEF.
All twitter users can log on to send a prewritten tweet to one of these celebrities encouraging them to get involved.
"Usually, it's the celebrities who have influence over the crowd; we're trying to shift the balance of power and give the crowd influence over the celebrities," says co-founder Paul Calway in a statement announcing the project.
To learn more about UNICEF's work in East Africa or to make a personal donation go online.
Build
You don't have to work for a nonprofit or NGO to fight hunger with your professional skills. Canstruction is proof.
Canstruction hosts design competitions for architects, engineers, contractors and students where teams construct fantastic sculptures out of canned foods. At the end of the competitions, the cans are donated to local food banks.
The organization says it raised more than 2 million pounds of food last year at 103 competitions around the world.
If you're not a designer or architect, don't worry. You can still participate by attending one of the competitions and voting for your favorite design. Cost of admission varies but is often a can of food.
For more information and a list of upcoming Canstruction competitions, go to the organization's website.
Learn
Test your knowledge and feed the world by playing Freerice, a free online trivia game benefiting the World Food Programme (WFP).
Players pick subjects ranging from literature to chemistry, and for every correct answer ten grains of rice are donated through WFP to end hunger. Sponsor ads on the site fund rice donations.
WFP estimates it takes 9,700 grains of rice to feed one person one meal. Players donated over 13 billion grains last year, totaling over | [
"How many suffer from chronic hunger?",
"How many people suffer?",
"What is fighting hunger as easy as?",
"How many people suffer from chronic hunger?"
] | [
[
"one in six people"
],
[
"one in six"
],
[
"eating lunch?"
],
[
"one in six"
]
] | Nearly one in six people suffers from chronic hunger, according to the U.N.
Fighting hunger can be as easy as dining out, playing a game, or sending a tweet .
Artists and architects use their skills to fight hunger and raise awareness . |
(CNN) -- The world's top pound-for-pound fighter, Manny Pacquiao, will attempt to win a world title in a fourth division by taking on three-time world champion Miguel Cotto in his next bout. Manny Pacquiao will take on Miguel Cotto in his next fight scheduled for Novermber 18. The Filipino boxer will fight the 28-year-old Puerto Rican for the WBO welterweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, America on November 14 it has been confirmed. Promoter Bob Arum, who represents both fighters, announced that although contracts still need to be signed, verbal agreements have been given: "I'm very excited about this because it's a good fight for boxing [and] it wasn't difficult to do, because they both wanted the fight," Arum told the Los Angeles Times. Pacquiao is a national hero in the Philippines but has seen his popularity grow around the world since his comprehensive victory over British fighter Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas. The man dubbed the "National Fist" is currently rated by The Ring, the sport's most respected trade magazine, as the best boxer in the world. His career earnings stand at an estimated $50M and he stands to bank further millions with the Cotto fee, however, Arum has yet to announce how the purse will be split. Pacquiao has been in devastating form in recent times, racking up a string of victories in four different weight divisions. Mexico's super-featherweight Juan Manuel Marquez was dispatched by the "Pac Man" before the 30-year-old secured further wins against America's David Diaz (lightweight) and Oscar de la Hoya (welterweight) before a devastating show of force against British light-welterweight Ricky Hatton. Cotto survived a recent split decision result against Ghana's Joshua Clottey despite suffering a bad cut over one of his eyes during the bout and has only lost once in his career thus far to 31-year-old Mexican Antonio Margarito. Arum said a press tour with the fighters will start Sept. 9 in Los Angeles. | [
"What title is on the line?",
"Who will fight Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto in his next fight?",
"was is the weight class?"
] | [
[
"the WBO welterweight"
],
[
"Manny Pacquiao,"
],
[
"welterweight"
]
] | Manny Pacquiao will fight Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto in his next fight .
The Filipino will be aiming to win the WBO welterweight title .
The bout will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on November 14 .
The "Pac Man" is currently rated the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world . |
(CNN) -- The world's wildlife has declined by 27 percent since 1970 because of the human impact on the environment, the World Wildlife Fund said Friday. These two adult frilled-neck lizards are threatened species and are bred in captivity in Australia. The WWF's latest Living Planet Index shows terrestrial, freshwater and marine species all suffered declines in their populations between 1970 and 2005, with freshwater species experiencing the biggest drop. The index is included in a report called "2010 and Beyond: Rising to the Biodiversity Challenge," which the WWF prepared for an international biodiversity conference in Germany later this month. "No one can escape the impact of biodiversity loss because reduced global diversity translates quite clearly into fewer new medicines, greater vulnerability to natural disasters, and greater effects from global warming," said James Leape, director-general of WWF International. The Living Planet Index measured 4,000 populations of 1,477 vertebrate species, which the WWF says is a good indicator of overall biodiversity trends. Terrestrial species in both temperate and tropical areas fell by an average of 25 percent during the 35-year period, the WWF said. Marine species fell by 28 percent in the same period, with a dramatic decline between 1995 and 2005, the WWF said. "Many marine ecosystems are changing rapidly under human influence, and one recent study estimates that more than 40 percent of the world's ocean area is strongly affected by human activities while few areas remain untouched," the WWF report said. Freshwater species in both temperate and tropical regions fell by 29 percent between 1970 and 2003. The WWF said that is especially significant because despite covering only about 1 percent of the total land surface of the planet, inland waters are home to more than 40,000 vertebrate species. In tropical regions, freshwater species were especially hard-hit; the index shows they suffered a 35-percent drop between 1970 and 2000. The WWF said it had insufficient data to chart tropical freshwater species beyond 2000 and temperate freshwater species beyond 2003. The causes of the declines are varied but ultimately stem from human demands on the biosphere, such as consumption of natural resources or the displacement of ecosystems, the WWF said. The dominant threat to marine life is overexploitation -- harvesting or killing animals or plants beyond the species' capacity to replace itself, the WWF said. Overfishing is one example. Overexploitation is also a threat to terrestrial species, according to the report, which cites the hunting of tropical forest mammals. Overharvesting of timber is also a major factor, it said. Invasive species, whether introduced deliberately or not, are another threat, especially in freshwater ecosystems, where they are thought to be the main cause of extinction among endemic species, the WWF said. Pollution and overall climate change are other factors causing a loss of biodiversity, it said. The WWF called on governments attending this month's conference to take urgent action to reduce the rate of loss by 2010. It wants governments to establish protected areas, particularly those areas important for food security, water supply, medicine, and disaster mitigation, and to commit to zero deforestation by 2020. | [
"who is threatened",
"What are other factors causing the loss?",
"what species are under threat?",
"What are pollution and climate change doing?",
"what is the problem",
"what pollution and overall climate change are causing?",
"What has the world's wildlife declined by?"
] | [
[
"frilled-neck lizards"
],
[
"Pollution and overall climate change"
],
[
"frilled-neck lizards"
],
[
"causing a loss of biodiversity,"
],
[
"world's wildlife has declined by 27 percent since 1970"
],
[
"a loss of biodiversity,"
],
[
"27 percent since 1970"
]
] | The world's wildlife has declined by 27 percent since 1970 because of humans .
WWF: Terrestrial, freshwater, marine species all under threat .
Pollution and overall climate change are other factors causing loss of wildlife . |
(CNN) -- The wreckage of a C-130 cargo plane that disappeared shortly after takeoff in the southern Philippines Monday night was found Tuesday about two miles (3km) offshore, the Philippines News Agency reported. Searchers have recovered items from the wreckage of the cargo plane. The bodies of two of the nine crew members on board were recovered, the report said. The Philippines Air Force plane was declared missing after the control tower at Davao International Airport lost radio contact with the pilot halfway between Manila and Davao, an Air Force official said. The plane, with two pilots and seven crew members on board, was to have picked up members of the Presidential Security Group for transport to Manila. The wreckage was found at 6am Tuesday by a search team just off the coast of Barangay, San Pedro Extension, Davao City, the news agency said. | [
"What happened to a C-130 cargo plane near the Philippine coastline?",
"How many bodies were recovered?",
"Where was the wreckage of the C-130 cargo plane found?",
"Who was the cargo plane going to pickup?",
"Where was the C-130 cargo plane found?"
] | [
[
"disappeared"
],
[
"two"
],
[
"just off the coast of Barangay, San Pedro Extension, Davao City,"
],
[
"members of the Presidential Security Group"
],
[
"Barangay, San Pedro Extension, Davao City,"
]
] | The wreckage of a C-130 cargo plane is found close to Philippine coastline .
The bodies of two of the nine crew members on board were recovered .
C-130 cargo plane was was going to pick up the Presidential Security Group . |
(CNN) -- The young girl whispered in a hushed tone. She looked down as she spoke, only glancing up from her dark round eyes every now and then. She wanted to tell more, but she was too ashamed. She was just 9 years old when, she says, Congolese soldiers gang-raped her on her way to school. The young girl on the right says she was raped by Congolese soldiers. She was just 9 when it happened. "These two soldiers nabbed her, put a bag over her head and pulled her into the bushes. She explains it as, 'They got me,' " says Sherrlyn Borkgren, who spent a month in the Democratic Republic of the Congo late last year. Borkgren, a wedding photographer and freelance journalist, traveled to the war-torn region of eastern Congo after being awarded the ShootQ Grant, a $10,000 award to free photographers from everyday life to pursue a project that raises awareness of an important global issue. Borkgren pauses when she speaks of meeting the girl. "She was obviously very traumatized to repeat this out loud, and I don't think she had repeated it to anyone." The young girl lied to her about her age when they first spoke. "She said she was 15 when she was raped," Borkgren says. "I figured she probably wanted to say she was 15 because it's more acceptable than to say, 'I was 9 when they raped me.' " The United Nations estimates 200,000 women and girls have been raped in Congo over the last 12 years, when war broke out with Rwanda and Uganda backing Congolese rebels seeking to oust then-Congo President Laurent Kabila. Rape became a weapon of war, aid groups say. "It is one of the worst places in the world to be a woman or girl," says Anneke Van Woudenberg, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch who has spent the last 10 years focusing on Congo. "These are often soldiers and combatants deliberately targeting women and raping them as a strategy of war, either to punish a community, to terrorize a community or to humiliate them." Most times, the women are raped by at least two perpetrators. "Sometimes, that is done in front of the family, in front of the children," Van Woudenberg says. She sighs, "What causes men to rape -- I wish I had an answer to that." Against this backdrop, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, one of the world's strongest voices for women's rights, traveled to Congo as part of her whirlwind trip to Africa. Watch Clinton detail expectations for Africa » Clinton arrived in Goma in eastern Congo Tuesday where she is to meet with rape victims during her visit. "I hope that here in the [Congo] there will be a concerted effort to demand justice for women who are violently attacked, and to make sure that their attackers are punished," Clinton said Monday after a tour of a Kinshasa hospital. Human rights groups are eager to see if Clinton pressures Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the son of Laurent Kabila, to do more to pursue charges against top army commanders accused of rape. "Soldiers have committed gang rapes, rapes leading to injury and death, and abductions of girls and women," a report released last month by Human Rights Watch says. "Their crimes are serious violations of international humanitarian law. Commanders have frequently failed to stop sexual violence and may themselves be guilty of war crimes or crimes against humanity as a consequence." Van Woudenberg says punishment, unfortunately, is all too rare for sex crimes. "If you rape, you get away with it," she says. According to the United Nations, there were 15,996 new cases of sexual violence registered throughout Congo in 2008. Nearly two out of every three rapes were carried out against children, most of them adolescent girls, the Human Rights Watch report says. A paltry 27 soldiers were convicted in military courts last year. Under the current court system, | [
"who met a girl?",
"how many soldiers nabbed?",
"What is the Congo the worst place for?",
"How many were raped in Democratic Republic of Congo?"
] | [
[
"Sherrlyn Borkgren,"
],
[
"two"
],
[
"to be a woman or girl,\""
],
[
"200,000"
]
] | UN: 200,000 women, girls raped in Democratic Republic of Congo in last 12 years .
Photographer Sherrlyn Borkgren met a girl who detailed being raped by soldiers .
"Two soldiers nabbed her, put a bag over her head and pulled her into the bushes"
Aid worker: Congo "is one of the worst places in the world to be a woman or girl" |
(CNN) -- The young man's call echoed throughout the remote village in northern Nigeria -- the marriage ceremony was about to begin. Umar Ahmed and his wife wait for anti-HIV drugs at a hospital in Nigeria. Under the dusty sun, the fathers of the bride and groom agreed to the marriage and this ancient Muslim tradition proceeded as it has for hundreds of years. But unknown to the gathered villagers, the couple is hiding a modern secret. Both bride and groom are HIV-positive and marrying with the support of a local government program that encourages such "HIV-marriages" in the hope of preventing the virus from spreading. After the ceremony and away from the village, the husband agreed to speak with CNN as long as he was not identified. "The woman I marry loves me -- I love her," he said. "And we promised that we can keep ourselves healthy and clean." According to the United Nations, Nigeria has the third-largest HIV population in the world, with about 3.1 percent of its 148 million people infected. Officials working for the Bauchi State Agency for the Control of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, known as BACATMA, hope to put a dent in those numbers -- not just by treating HIV-positive people with free antiretroviral drugs but, they say, by helping more than 100 HIV-positive couples marry. The agency offers to pay for the dowry, provide counseling and even employment within the agency. BACATMA officials hope that, by keeping HIV-positive couples together, they will keep AIDS from spreading to anyone not infected. "If someone having HIV marries another HIV-AIDS person, that means there will be no HIV transmission to another negative person," said Rilwanu Mohammed, the BACATMA chairman. However, UNAIDS, the UN agency tackling HIV and AIDS, has its doubts, arguing such marriages do not prevent the spread of AIDS. "There are better methods to address the prevention of HIV and AIDS rather than encouraging that kind of union," said Warren Naamara, the UNAIDS Nigeria coordinator. "We have made it very clear from UNAIDS that the best way to address HIV infection is universal access to prevention, treatment and care." There is no evidence that such marriages stop the spread of AIDS. However, for many of the couples, the marriages support their personal fight against AIDS and the stigmatization it often brings from society, friends and family. That stigmatization can lead HIV-positive people to become outcasts, discriminated against and sometimes physically abused. Queuing for their antiretroviral drugs at a local hospital, Umar Ahmed and his wife said they married last year and have since had a child. "Before, I was lonely," Umar said. "Being with my wife, I feel great -- because we stay together, we discuss different issues together." For those couples who decide to have children, BACATMA tries to reduce the odds that the child will be born infected with HIV by ensuring that the parents have antiretroviral agents and medical advice. Still, the decision to have a child is a controversial one when the parents who decide to do so are sick and unlikely to be able to raise the child. | [
"What local agency will pay dowry?",
"What will a local agency pay",
"What did the Un agency say",
"What will the local agency pay for?",
"What does marriage reduce stigma for?",
"What is the goal to keep HIV from spreading ?"
] | [
[
"BACATMA"
],
[
"for the dowry, provide counseling and even employment within the"
],
[
"\"There are better methods to address the prevention of HIV and AIDS rather than encouraging that kind of union,\""
],
[
"the dowry, provide counseling and even employment within the"
],
[
"HIV-AIDS"
],
[
"\"HIV-marriages\" in the hope of preventing the virus"
]
] | Local agency will pay dowry, offer counseling, to get HIV-positive couples to wed .
The goal is to keep HIV from spreading to people not already infected .
UN agency says marriage doesn't stop AIDS, prevention and treatment needed .
For some couples, the marriages reduce stigma of being HIV-positive . |
(CNN) -- Theological conservatives estranged from the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church in Canada formed a rival North American "province" Wednesday.
The consecration of Rev. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire left many conservatives disaffected.
Leaders of the new Anglican Church in North America unveiled a draft constitution and a set of canons for the province -- or ecclesiastical territorial division -- at an evening service at the Wheaton Evangelical Free Church in Wheaton, Illinois, the group said in a written statement.
"Some of us have been praying for this for decades," said Michael W. Howell, who attended the service, according to the statement. "Instead of focusing on things that divide us, we as orthodox Anglicans are focusing on the things that unite us."
"The public release of our draft constitution is an important concrete step toward the goal of a biblical, missionary and united Anglican Church in North America," Bishop Robert Duncan of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, diocese said in a statement released Wednesday ahead of the service.
The move comes after years of debate over several issues, ranging from interpretation of the Bible to homosexuality. Tensions reached a boiling point in 2003, when the Episcopal Church consecrated an openly gay man, Rev. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire.
The decision rankled traditionalists, and since then, four dioceses and several parishes have left the Episcopalian Church, including the diocese in Pittsburgh. The others are in Quincy, Illinois; Fort Worth, Texas; and San Joaquin, California.
Not all parishes in those dioceses have left the Episcopalian Church.
In all, the Anglican Church in North America will take in about 100,000 members, including those from the secessionist dioceses and parishes, said Robert Lundy, a spokesman for the group.
"This constitution brings them back together under one church, all aligned together," Lundy said. "This is all these folks coming back together."
The preamble to the provisional constitution says the leaders are "grieved by the current state of brokenness within the Anglican Communion prompted by those who have embraced erroneous teaching and who have rejected a repeated call to repentance," the group said.
Lundy said Wednesday the draft constitution states the province's core beliefs and doctrine. He said it will not lay out definite policies for issues the leaders disagree on, such as ordaining women.
He said it is "safe to say" Duncan will lead the nascent province. An assembly is likely to be called next year to determine additional leadership, he said.
A spokesman for the archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement noting the lengthy process of creating a province, adding that in the case of Wednesday's service, the process has not yet begun.
"There are clear guidelines set out in the Anglican Consultative Council Reports ... detailing the steps necessary for the amendments of existing provincial constitutions and the creation of new provinces," said James M. Rosenthal, canon to Archbishop Rowan Williams.
"Once begun, any of these processes will take years to complete. In relation to the recent announcement from the meeting ... the process has not yet begun."
The Rev. Dr. Charles K. Robertson, canon to the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, issued a statement Wednesday ahead of the meeting, saying the church would not hazard a guess as to the consequences of the breakaway group's action.
"We will not predict what will or will not come out of this meeting, but simply continue to be clear that the Episcopal Church, along with the Anglican Church of Canada and the La Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico, comprise the official, recognized presence of the Anglican Communion in North America."
He added, "We reiterate what has been true of Anglicanism for centuries: that there is room within the Episcopal Church for people with different views, and we regret that some have felt the need to depart from the diversity of our common life in Christ."
The Episcopal Church is part of the Anglican Communion, which is composed of 38 provinces around the world. It was not immediately clear which of the | [
"Why did a lot of followers leave the Episcopal Church?",
"How many is the new division expected to take in?",
"What are the Orthodox Anglicans focusing on?",
"What state had a gay bishop?",
"What comes after years of dispute?",
"State the gay bishop operated out of?",
"What are Orthodox Anglicans focusing on?",
"What was the tipping point?"
] | [
[
"consecrated an openly gay man, Rev. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire."
],
[
"about 100,000 members,"
],
[
"the things that unite us.\""
],
[
"New Hampshire"
],
[
"several issues, ranging from interpretation of the Bible to homosexuality."
],
[
"New Hampshire."
],
[
"the things that unite us.\""
],
[
"when the Episcopal Church consecrated an openly gay man, Rev. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire."
]
] | "Orthodox Anglicans are focusing on the things that unite us," man says .
Move comes after years of dispute over progressive direction of Episcopal Church .
Tipping point for many was consecration of gay man as bishop of New Hampshire .
New division expected to take in 100,000 from parishes that left Episcopal Church . |
(CNN) -- There are few cities in the world blessed with a more beautiful setting than Seattle. It is surrounded by rugged green wilderness; to the west the Olympic Mountains, to the east the volcanoes and glaciers of the Cascade Range, and all around the brisk waters of the Northwest. The Space Needle dominates the Seattle skyline. Over the years, Seattle has inspired a number of nicknames. It's not hard to understand why some refer to it as "Rain City," but visit when the sun is shining, when lakes Union and Washington are sparkling under a blue sky and majestic Mount Rainier is visible in the distance, and you'll realize that "Emerald City" is the most appropriate of its monikers. Seattle started out as a logging town, grew as a stop-off point for gold prospectors at the end of the 19th century, and earned another nickname, "Jet City", when plane manufacturer Boeing rose to prominence in the 1950s and 60s. At the height of its powers, Boeing employed some 100,000 locals and the Jet City remained a solidly working-class town until the 80s, when local startup Microsoft started making a name for itself. As Microsoft grew into the behemoth it is today, other tech firms such as Amazon.com and Nintendo were drawn to the city, bringing with them a wave of young, educated and affluent workers. Seattle began to shake off its blue-collar roots and in recent years its cultural credentials have been boosted by the addition of the Olympic Sculpture Park and a showpiece public library, while the acclaimed Seattle Symphony, Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet have all moved into impressive new buildings in the last decade. Some resent Seattle's gentrification, bemoaning the near-gridlocked traffic and arguing that the city's most interesting neighborhoods have lost their individuality to the property developers. But if you spend some time in neighborhoods like Capitol Hill or Fremont, the self-proclaimed "Center of the Universe," you'll find there's still plenty of the native free spirit in evidence. It was that free spirit that gave birth to Grunge, the post-punk guitar noise that came out of the city in the early 90s, when local bands Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Nirvana became international stars. Now Grunge is just a memory, but in popular culture it remains as much of a symbol of the city as the Space Needle, the persistent drizzle and the excellent, ubiquitous, coffee shops. Despite its rapid growth, Seattle has kept its trees and parks and many areas maintain an almost suburban feel. The city and its residents are laidback and liberal, and that famous free spirit is as at home in the great outdoors as in Seattle's boho neighborhoods. As a modern, civilized outpost among outstanding natural spectacle, the place once known as the "Queen City of the Northwest" still reigns supreme. | [
"What does the city boast?",
"What is Seattle best known as?",
"What names is Seattle known as?",
"What is Seattle surrounded by?",
"What city has been known as The Emerald City?",
"What is surrounding Seattle?",
"What is Seattle famous for?"
] | [
[
"The Space Needle"
],
[
"\"Rain City,\""
],
[
"\"Rain City,\""
],
[
"rugged green wilderness;"
],
[
"Seattle"
],
[
"rugged green wilderness;"
],
[
"free spirit is as at home in the great outdoors"
]
] | Seattle has been known as "Jet City," "Rain City," and "The Emerald City"
It has a great location, surrounded by mountains, lakes and fantastic scenery .
The city boasts a symphony orchestra, and ballet and opera companies . |
(CNN) -- There are few sports that are so dominated by a single person like the way the women's pole vault is ruled by 26-year Russian Yelena Isinbayeva.
Eyes on the prize: Yelena Isinbayeva has often complained about a lack of real competition in her event.
Every time the world and Olympic champion competes it is expected that she will spring to new heights and push women's pole-vaulting to new levels.
She has broken the world record 16 times, almost equaling the feat of the great Sergey Bubka, who broke the men's outdoor pole vault record 17 times between 1984 and 1994.
Since jumping to her first world record in 2003 and becoming the first woman to jump over 5-meters in 2005 she as also become something of a glamorous sporting celebrity.
After setting five new world records in 2005, it took almost three years for her to set a new mark of 5.04m in July 2008, a fallow period that made her pursuit of world records a personal matter.
After setting her world record mark in July this year at a competition in Monte Carlo, she told press: "I wanted to improve my personal best and that's what I did. I see this world record as a personal one."
A driven and focused competitor, she has also become famous for her coolness under pressure.
Before her latest world record jump she was driving around the track in the back of a vintage car with sprinter Asafa Powell, while her fellow competitors had already started the competition.
Not shy of media and publicity, her sporting achievements, athleticism and looks have made her a pin-up for women's athletics and attracted a number of big-name sponsors.
While her achievements can be allied to that of Bubka it has been noted that her media- and sponsor-friendly attitude makes her more akin to compatriot Maria Sharapova.
Her celebrity status is a world away from her modest background. Born in Volgograd in 1982 it was only until a couple of years ago that she lived with her parents and younger sister in the city of her birth, before moving to Monte Carlo.
She trained first of all as a gymnast until the age of 15 when her coach decided she was too tall. Commentators and fellow competitors have noted that her gymnastic training has helped give her an extra edge in the event.
After defending her title in Beijing, her place in the sporting pantheon of great female athletes seems secure.
While emulating Bubka, Isinbayeva has said before that closing the gap between the heights the men and women can jump is another of her personal challenges, and with her own talent and the help of Bubka's former coach she may go a long way towards achieving that. | [
"Who has broken the world record?",
"who broke record?",
"Who looks and talent have made her very bankable sports start?",
"Who was champion?",
"Yelena Isinbayeva is the first woman who broke record on what?",
"how many times has she broken the record since 2003?",
"what is the name of the Olympic pole vault champion?",
"Who dominates her sport?",
"World and Olympic pole vault champion ?",
"What has made her a very bankable sports star?",
"Yelena has broken the world record 15 times since?",
"Media-friendly looks and talent have made her very what?",
"Who is a world and Olympic pole vault champion?"
] | [
[
"Yelena Isinbayeva."
],
[
"Yelena Isinbayeva."
],
[
"Yelena Isinbayeva."
],
[
"Yelena Isinbayeva."
],
[
"pole"
],
[
"16"
],
[
"Yelena Isinbayeva."
],
[
"Yelena Isinbayeva."
],
[
"Yelena Isinbayeva."
],
[
"sporting achievements, athleticism and looks"
],
[
"2003"
],
[
"a pin-up for women's athletics"
],
[
"Yelena Isinbayeva."
]
] | World and Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva dominates her sport .
Has broken the world record 15 times since 2003; first woman to clear 5m .
Media-friendly looks and talent have made her very bankable sports start . |
(CNN) -- There are many reasons why Roz Savage is an extraordinary woman -- she has rowed single-handed across the Atlantic and is now tackling the Pacific, after all. Life changer: From successful career to ocean rower, Savage has been an inspiration for many. But her response to everyday commuter ennui is perhaps of the most remarkable things about her. Back in 2000 a 33-year-old Roz was facing another dreary journey by train to the office. She had a great job as a management consultant, money and a husband; but deep down she knew something was missing. So, instead of just burying her feelings, she wrote two obituaries of herself. In one she kept going with life as it was. In the other she took a jump into the unknown and did the things she'd always wanted to. From that moment on her life has never been the same. "One-by-one, I shed the trappings of my old life," she writes on her web site. "The job, the husband, the home, the little red sports car. I moved house with increasing regularity, wherever I could find cheap or preferably free accommodation. "Little by little I began to realign my life, to put myself on track for the obituary I really wanted." Eventually she settled on the challenge that would in many ways define her: rowing the Atlantic single handed. It was, of course, incredibly hard, both physically and mentally. She had done some rowing while at the University of Oxford -- but the open ocean was a different challenge altogether. But she emerged a tougher, happier person on the other side, and is now deep into her new attempt to row the Pacific, a journey she hopes to use to raise awareness of environmental issues. The courage she has found, both to take on the might of the open ocean and give up safe, conventional notions of success to pursue her dreams has made Roz a hero to many people that hope to find inspiration in her life -- including a large number of CNN.com readers who have nominated her as a "Green Inspiration". "I feel a little embarrassed about it -- that must be the British in me!" she told CNN from the middle of the Pacific Ocean. "I certainly don't see myself as any kind of hero, just a human being trying to be the best human she can be. But at the same time I want to reach out to as many people as I can, because I wish I'd had more positive role models to show me how good life can be, and if I can inspire just a few people to change their lives for the better, I'll feel I've lived a very blessed life." Rowing across the Pacific Ocean On her journey she keeps the many people following her up to date with regular blog posts on her website. Posts range from the personal to the global, the reality of life on the open waves to plastic pollution, the North Pacific Garbage Patch, and how people could reduce the amount of waste they generate. "I try to offer my life as an example of what can be done when a very ordinary person decides to do something out of the ordinary," she said. "I love my life, and want to show people how much fun it can be when you get out there and grab life by the horns. It would be very selfish of me to keep this fantastic discovery to myself! "Every time I get a comment on my blog from someone who says they have changed their life as a result of reading about me and my adventures -- anything from composting their kitchen scraps to quitting their job to start out on an adventure of their own -- it gives me a huge warm glow of accomplishment. And it makes me feel even better when they tell me how much fun they are having doing it. Because that is what life is all about." But adventure doesn't have to involve months alone in a rowing boat, with only | [
"What does she now wish to accomplish?",
"Which ocean has the woman successfully rowed across?",
"What is the woman's nationality?",
"Which ocean has she rowed solo across?",
"The British woman changed her career in order to raise awareness for what?",
"What does the woman see herself as?"
] | [
[
"raise awareness of environmental issues."
],
[
"Atlantic"
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[
"British"
],
[
"Atlantic"
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[
"environmental issues."
],
[
"myself as any kind of hero, just a human being trying to be the best human she can be."
]
] | British woman swapped career for adventurous life and raising eco awareness .
Rowed solo across Atlantic; now attempting same feat across the Pacific Ocean .
Her positive message has been inspirational to many across the world .
"I don't see myself as a hero, just a human being trying to be the best she can be" |
(CNN) -- There are several definitions of where the Northwest Passage begins and ends, but using the Arctic Circle is certainly the most encompassing, so we've been holding our breath until we crossed this line. The crew has negotiated some stunning and treacherous waters to sail the Northwest Passage. The Arctic Circle (66 30N) marks the lowest latitude at which the midnight sun is ever seen. We've had some stormy weather along the Baffin Island coast. We had waves up to 8m high and winds over 40 knots. Silent Sound was being tossed around a lot, and I was thrown clear across the cabin on one occasion, suffering a minor concussion that kept me in my bunk for several days. Now that we're out of the Arctic Archipelago and into the open sea, we are seeing more icebergs, instead of ice floes. Ice floes are frozen seawater while icebergs are chunks of ice broken off glaciers in the High Arctic. Bergs begin as snow falling on land, which is then compressed into ice. Even though the icebergs we see are easily 20 or 30 meters high, most of their volume is below water. Only about one third of their entire volume is visible above water. This means you have to stay well clear of them because they may spread out under water, like an upside down mushroom. We've also started thinking about what we've experienced and learned this summer. By far the most impressive feature of the Arctic has been its people. In every town we visited we met complete strangers who offered us help, welcomed us into their homes and provided us with hot showers and food. So many people showed genuine interest in our journey and generously told us about their lives, and we left nearly every town with a few fish or other wild game in our fridge. Our mission when we left Victoria, British Columbia in June was to find out how climate change is impacting Arctic communities. We saw and heard about the impacts, from slumping land due to the melting of permafrost to hunter stories about the northward migration of species and the challenge that early ice break up poses for transportation. But more importantly, I'm leaving the Arctic with a sense that its communities are at a crossroads. They underwent a rapid change in the 1950s and 60s when people moved off the land and into settlements. Now, those settlements are bracing themselves for unprecedented change due to resource exploration, economic development, political wrangling and an influx of new wealth, people and social forces. They're all tied to climate change in one way or another, and they leave Arctic community leaders with a big job ahead of them. Climate change is turning the spotlight on the Arctic, and hopefully that will mean federal government help where it is needed to aid the Inuit in making wise choices for their future. I've been struck by how although the Arctic is very different place than the urban habitat most of us occupy, it is not in a different time. To maintain a romantic notion of the Arctic as a place time has forgotten where life is simple and basic would be an insult to the people that call it home and be a mistake. Many of the challenges brought to the Arctic by climate change and economic development are the same as those faced around the world. It's just a little colder, and a little more remote. While we've begun mulling over our experiences this summer, it's too soon for the crew of Silent Sound to relax. We are still about three weeks from our final port. And the sailing is getting cold and tiring. The nights are very dark at sea, and temperatures are hovering just above zero degrees Celsius. On many days we are sailing in snow, rain and sleet. Our onboard heater has broken down, so we have to wear extra layers in our sleeping bags to keep warm. This also means that the condensation builds up in the boat and it gets pretty damp, making it hard to dry our socks and gloves. But Halifax is in sight, and we can get some comfort from our accomplishment | [
"What dangers that have faced?",
"What did the crew face?"
] | [
[
"stunning and treacherous waters"
],
[
"stunning and treacherous waters"
]
] | Crew of Silent Sound complete the Northwest Passage, heading for Halifax .
Crew have faced dangerous ice bergs and waves up to 8 meters high .
Arctic communities at a crossroads, directly and indirectly from climate change . |
(CNN) -- There is a general consensus that women's tennis needs a new name to ignite some excitement into it and, at this week's Wimbledon, it does appear likely that the Williams sisters will once again be the ones to beat at the grass-court grand slam. The Williams sisters have dominated Wimbledon this century and contested last year's final. Defending champion Venus (five wins) and younger sibling Serena (two wins) have dominated the tournament since 2000, with only Maria Sharapova (2004) and Amelie Mauresmo (2006) breaking that monopoly. In fact, the Williams domination has been so great this century that the 2006 final -- when Mauresmo beat Justine Henin -- is the only final when one of the American duo has not been involved. Both Sharapova and Mauresmo are back this year, although their participation had seemed in doubt in the early part of 2009. Sharapova certainly has the powerful game to claim another Wimbledon title, but a persistent shoulder injury has plagued her all year and she comes into the competition poorly prepared. At nearly 30, Mauresmo is now a veteran of the WTA Tour. She had looked a spent force last year, but has enjoyed some better results this year and comes into the tournament as the 17th seed. A potential third round showdown with top seed Dinara Safina will test her to the limit, although she would undoubtedly have the fans' support should that encounter materialize. Safina's standing as world number one has divided opinion. The Russian is yet to win a grand slam and wasted another opportunity to end that particular hoodoo when losing to compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova in the French Open final last month. The 23-year-old comes into the tournament with a niggling knee injury and has not impressed in her pre-tournament displays. The feeling remains that should the Williams sisters decided to play more WTA events then one of them, and not Safina, would be topping the world rankings. Russians Elena Dementieva and Kuznetsova are seeded fourth and fifth and both have chances should they bring their top game to SW19, although again it is hard to see one of them defeating an in-form Williams sister. Former world number one Jelena Jankovic has slipped down the world rankings this year and she too has yet to win a major, while 13th-seed Ana Ivanovic has not shown anything like the form that saw her win last year's French Open. Last year's semifinalist Jie Zheng of China loves the surface and could figure again. Unfortunately for her, she is due to face Serena Williams in the fourth round. | [
"How many of the last nine Wimbledon tournaments have they won?",
"Who is expected to dominate women's singles?",
"What will williams dominate?",
"Who is the top seed?",
"Who heads the rankings?",
"Who has won seven out of nine Wimbledon tournaments?"
] | [
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"(five wins)"
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[
"Wimbledon"
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"Dinara Safina"
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[
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[
"The Williams sisters"
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] | The Williams sisters are expected to dominate women's singles once again .
The American have won seven out of the last nine Wimbledon tournaments .
Top seed Dinara Safina heads the rankings despite not winning a grand slam . |
(CNN) -- There is a lot of excitement around the potential of "stereoscopic" movies ("3-D" to you and me). Much of it has been drummed up by director James Cameron's forthcoming blockbuster "Avatar" and Dreamworks boss Jeffery Katzenberg, who is releasing more than a dozen 3-D pictures this year.
The title character looks over a note from her "other parents" in "Coraline."
After seeing "Beowulf" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth," two recent entries in the 3-D sweepstakes, it was easy to conclude that this fad wouldn't last any longer than it did last time around, in the 1950s. But after seeing the captivating "Coraline," the first stereoscopic stop-motion animated feature, I've changed my mind.
Maybe this really is the next phase for motion pictures -- and what's more, maybe that's not such a bad thing.
In the hands of "Nightmare Before Christmas" director Henry Selick, 3-D isn't a gimmick or the ocular equivalent of an obstacle course. It's an aesthetic enhancement, layering the story and literally bringing depth and texture to the visuals.
Adapted by Selick from Neil Gaiman's novella (the same Neil Gaiman who co-scripted "Beowulf," incidentally), "Coraline" is a contemporary fairy tale about a bored, blue-haired 11-year-old kicking around a big old house in rainy, empty Oregon. Her parents are writers. They basically leave her to her own devices, so when Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning) discovers a diminutive door hidden behind the wallpaper, her mom (Teri Hatcher) agrees to fish out the key, revealing ... a brick wall.
It's only at night, when she dreams, that the door magically opens to a tunnel, and Coraline passes through to the house next door: a fabulous mirror image of her own home, right down to an identical mom and dad. Identical, except that these parents give her pancakes, presents and their full attention. That, and the buttons stitched into their skulls where their eyes should be.
Any parent will immediately recognize that this "other mother" and "other father" are too good to be true (they're prettier and more talented, and they obviously don't work for a living), but Coraline is entranced by the dazzling, super-saturated night-world, with its garden of snapping dragons, a circus of performing mice and all the treats she can eat. In her dreams, the grass isn't just greener -- it's emerald.
In one of Selick's embellishments on the novel, there's a facsimile of the only other child in the valley. He's an irritating boy named Wybie, who's very much improved in his all-smiling, mute incarnation, in Coraline's opinion. At least until he musters up a scowl ...
Selick's movie can be intense and even disturbing; it could easily freak out impressionable adults, let alone their offspring. But I prefer to think of it as a feel-good movie for overworked parents. There's also a redoubtable talking cat (voiced by Keith David) to ensure that everything will come out all right.
Tapping into primal fantasies and fears, the film also echoes classic fantasy stories from the Brothers Grimm, Lewis Carroll and L. Frank Baum. The tunnel suggests the rabbit hole Alice fell down, and the crazy mirror manner in which the "other" world reflects back on reality reminds us of the doubling of actors in the film version of Oz.
"Coraline" isn't perfect. I could have done without either the downstairs neighbors -- two elderly showgirls -- or the acrobatic Russian barker upstairs (a little carny goes a long way).
But the whimsy is always offset with comic mischief and the menace of Hatcher's genuinely creepy Other Mother. The model work is extraordinary in its eccentric, jury-rigged genius. A shower spouts rusty water -- fabricated from plastic, apparently. And if you examine the blooms in Other Father's garden too closely, you might see they have | [
"What is it based on>",
"What was the story on Neil Gaiman based on?",
"Is the story of Coraline intense but also whimsical and wonderful?"
] | [
[
"Neil Gaiman's novella"
],
[
"\"Coraline\""
],
[
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] | "Coraline" makes the most of its 3-D -- and its clever, creative storytelling .
Movie is based on Neil Gaiman story about girl who finds new set of parents .
"Coraline" is intense but also whimsical and wonderful . |
(CNN) -- There is a region of the world where the weather is always hot and humid and it rains almost every day of the year. Sounds predictable, right? But weather in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ, can be volatile and dangerous. Air France Flight 447 went down in a volatile zone along the equator between South America and Africa. The Intertropical Convergence Zone, which circles the Earth near the equator, is where officials say Air France Flight 447 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean. While weather has not been cited as a reason for the plane's crash, the tragedy does call attention to the region. The ITCZ is a belt of low pressure that wraps around the planet. Clouds and storms form along it because it is literally where the winds of the world's hemispheres meet. High pressure in the Northern Hemisphere churns air from the northeast toward the equator. On the flip side, air is steered from the southeast by high pressure in the Southern Hemisphere. The winds that move this air toward the equator are also known as "trade winds" and converge in the middle of the tropics. That's where the Intertropical Convergence Zone name comes from. Here, air and water temperatures are typically in the mid-80s. The warm, moist air is heated further by the blazing tropical sun. Steamy air, coming off the ocean, rises until it hits cooler, drier air aloft, forming clouds and thunderstorms. These gigantic storms contain volatile updrafts and downdrafts that can move at speeds of 100 mph. The height of these storms also can tower to more than 10 miles in the air. Even if you stacked two dozen of the world's tallest skyscrapers on top of each other, they still wouldn't reach the tops of the biggest thunderstorms of the ITCZ. Former Air Force meteorologist Tim Vasquez wrote about thunderstorms over the Atlantic at the time of the Air France plane's disappearance on his Web site, weathergraphics.com. "Based on the infrared satellite imagery, I was able to. . .estimate the altitude of the thunderstorms at around 51,000 feet," he told CNN in a phone interview. Vasquez himself has flown through the ITCZ at least half a dozen times. "I remember flying from Guam to the Philippines, constantly weaving around the thunderstorms. Sometimes, though, pilots are forced to fly through them," he said. That's because commercial airliners cannot fly above 50,000 feet. In addition, ITCZ thunderstorms can merge with one another to stretch far and wide, covering hundreds of miles. The crew of Air France Flight 447 reported severe turbulence shortly before the plane disappeared. How did the plane break into pieces? » When it's not storming in the ITCZ, the weather can be completely calm, with little to no wind. This stretch of ocean was particularly dreaded by sailors of the 19th century, who named it "The Doldrums," because its lack of wind could leave them stuck at sea, unable to propel forward. Despite these challenges and dangers, planes and ships successfully cross the ITZC every day, thanks in part to technology that has made it easier to see where the thunderstorms are. Here are some commonly asked questions: Can hurricanes form in the ITCZ? It's extremely rare for a hurricane to form near the equator. However, the ITCZ doesn't stay in one place all year long. In the summer, for example, it drifts more northward, where it's possible for tropical cyclones to develop from the thunderstorms there. What does the ITCZ have to do with the "monsoon season" in Asia? Since the position of the ITCZ fluctuates, the location of the heaviest rainfalls varies depending on the time of year. When the zone drifts more northward in May and June, it brings the rainy season to places like Southeast Asia and India. The term "monsoon" refers to a seasonal reversal of winds. | [
"What is the weather like in the ITCZ?",
"Where did the plane crash?",
"Which airlines plane was involved?",
"Where is the ITCZ?",
"Where did the Air France plane go down?",
"What is the name of the airline?",
"Where is the zone located?"
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[
"volatile"
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] | Weather in the ITCZ, where the Air France plane went down, is volatile .
The zone circles the Earth near the equator and can produce violent thunderstorms .
These storms contain updrafts and downdrafts that can move at speeds of 100 mph .
Because the storms are so huge, it can be difficult for airliners to avoid them . |
(CNN) -- There is no doubt that the three recent fatal shark attacks in Western Australia involve great white sharks. This species is known to inhabit the shallow waters along this coast and are known to migrate south around this time of the year to the seal colonies on the southwest coast.
While they may stay around seal colonies -- their natural prey -- for months, they are not noted for sitting off a beach waiting for food to turn up. They are mostly individual, transient, inquisitive animals that will investigate objects in the water.
Swimming, surfing or diving alone near aquatic animals (including seals and dolphins) far from the beach early in the morning or late in the evening may well attract a curious shark and increase the risk of encountering one.
As the population increases and water-related activities become more popular, the number of people who go into the water every day also increases. But the chance of encountering a shark still remains very low.
American killed in shark attack off Western Australia
Most Australians understand the risk when they enter the ocean.
Over the past 50 years, only one person has been killed by a shark each year in Australia on average, compared to the 87 people who drown at Australian beaches on average each year, according to Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA). Therefore, the hysteria in the media surrounding a shark attack seems disproportional to other fatal incidents.
Historically human-shark interactions predominantly occurred in the summer months. But in recent decades, swimmers, surfers and divers are continuing to pursue these activities outside of the traditional summer season because of improvements in wetsuit technology.
This is reflected in the occurrence of shark attacks throughout the year since the 1950s; particularly for surfers, snorkelers and SCUBA divers who can enter the water at any time of the year and extend the time they spend in the water in areas that, in earlier decades, were likely to be too cold for recreational purposes. In the past 20 years, 49% of all shark-attack victims were wearing a wetsuit.
There have been 26 attacks recorded in the cooler months (May-August) during the past two decades, resulting in six fatalities compared with 15 incidents -- resulting in four fatalities -- during the same months in the previous 20-year period.
There is no suggestion that wetsuits in themselves are the cause of an attack, but rather that their use has allowed people to extend their time in the water, increasing the risk of encountering a shark.
The frequency of attacks also reflects the popularity of water-based activities in harbors, estuarine areas and rivers, with people more likely to encounter species such as bull sharks, which have a propensity to inhabit shallow nearshore coastal areas, bays, harbors and rivers in summer months.
In the vast majority of cases, sharks involved in an attack on humans do not stay around the area and can swim 80 to 100 km away by the next day. Unfortunately other sharks may later swim into the area and may be blamed for the attack. Hunting down and killing sharks on suspicion of being responsible is unjustifiable.
However, if the animal can be identified and has not left the area, it would be appropriate to remove it. But once the animal swims away it would be almost impossible to know which shark was responsible.
Shark attacks are a reality of entering the ocean, but it is worth emphasizing that they are very rare events.
Even If you do encounter a shark, the chances of being attacked are very small. | [
"Where was the attack?",
"What type of shark was involved",
"Where did the attack occur",
"how many fatalities have there been in the last few weeks?"
] | [
[
"Western Australia"
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[
"Western Australia"
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[
"three"
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] | A scuba diver became the third fatality from a shark attack in as many weeks .
Authorities believe the man was killed by a great white off the Australian coast .
West: Shark encounters more likely, as water-based activities become more popular .
But he says many more people drown on average off Australian beaches . |
(CNN) -- There is no reason to believe that Norway mass murder suspect Anders Behring Breivik is insane, District Court Judge Torkjel Nesheim said Monday.
There is also no evidence he had accomplices in the bomb and gun rampage in which he is accused of killing 77 people this summer, the judge said.
The judge ordered him held in custody for a further 12 weeks, with visits and correspondence controlled by the authorities for the first eight, and a ban on media for the first four.
More than 500 people packed into a court in Oslo, Norway, to see the suspect's first public appearance, said Irene Ramm, head of press for the Oslo court.
A woman whose daughter was killed in the massacre said she could not understand "how a human being could do something like that."
"That's why I had to be here today. I don't understand, so I had to see, had to be here," said the woman, who was identified only as "Carina" on Norway's TV2. "He looked cold, completely cold," she said.
He was not allowed to deliver a speech he had prepared, the station reported.
Breivik said he did not recognize the authority of the court on the grounds that he opposes the multi-cultural society it is part of, TV2 said.
He was stopped on several occasions when he started referring to himself as Commander of the Knights Templar, a title he used in his 1,500-page manifesto, the station reported.
"I interrupted Breivik during today's hearing because I only wanted to hear him about matters relating to today's hearing," Judge Nesheim said. "This was not the main trial where he gets to explain himself. I did not want to give him the opportunity to use this hearing as a platform for him to express his views."
Until now, the proceedings for Breivik have been held behind closed doors.
The hearing was to determine whether to keep Breivik in jail until his trial in the spring. Prosecutors expect it to begin in March or April, the judge said.
Survivors return to scene of island rampage
He is accused of killing dozens of people in a bomb attack in Oslo followed by a shooting rampage on nearby Utoya island. Eight people were killed in a bombing in Oslo; 69 young people were killed on Utoya island, in the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II.
The young people were attending a Labour Party youth camp. Most of the 700 campers ranged in age from 16-22, with some as young as 13.
Breivik has pleaded not guilty but admits carrying out the attacks, the judge said.
"The accused is still suspected on probable cause of criminal acts, as described in the charges. He has admitted the bombing in central Oslo and also the shooting on Utoya. The investigation has also confirmed this," Nesheim said.
He is described by authorities as a right-wing Christian extremist. The 1,500-page manifesto attributed to Breivik was posted on the Internet and is critical of Muslim immigration and European liberalism. | [
"How many people is he being charged for killing?",
"What did the judge say?",
"Who has been ordered held in custody?",
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"Who cut him off?",
"When were the attacks?",
"How long is Breivik being held for?",
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] | NEW: The judge cut him off because this was not the time to justify his actions, he says .
Anders Behring Breivik is ordered held in custody for another 12 weeks .
There is no reason to doubt his sanity, the judge says .
He is charged in the July 22 attacks that killed 77 people . |
(CNN) -- There is one holiday destination that should shake the faith of even the most vehement climate change skeptic: the Carteret Islands, part of Papua New Guinea, located northeast of Bougainville.
The Carteret Islands are just one of a number of places already feeling the effects of climate change.
The palm trees sway gently under a balmy sun, the beaches are perfect, and stretched out as far as the eye can see is the wide blue of the Pacific Ocean.
The only problem with this idyllic scene is that the water is getting closer; slowly but surely, as global warming bites and sea levels rise, the islands are being swallowed up, leaving the few hundred inhabitants pondering an uncertain future.
"King tides and sea surges are floodling the island to a knee high and it is difficult for the salt water to dry up," says Ursula Rakova, a Carteret islander and campaigner.
"Fruit trees and nut trees have lost their leaves and only skeleton branches are left standing. The only greenery is from coconut and sago palms... People have no garden food to feed on... We have lost more than 60 percent of our land already."
The problem is that on the Carteret Islands, a horseshoe shaped scatter of small islands around a central lagoon, nowhere is more than 1.2 meters above sea level.
If anywhere was the canary in the mine forewarning us of the disaster predicted in low lying areas of the world if runaway climate change takes hold, it's right here.
Rakova says there is a growing dependency culture on the island as people rely on international aid for food, which is destroying the social and cultural fabric of the Carterets.
"This is a state of emergency," she says. "Why are the rich nations ignoring the fate of the Carterets Islanders? Are the rich nations waiting for the islanders to float before they can act and put money where their mouths are in terms of human rights?"
It's a cruel irony that the people with some of the lowest carbon footprints are already paying the price for the emissions of far richer countries, and are forced to leave their homes for an uncertain future. But the Carteret Islanders aren't alone.
Environmentalists point to Inuit communities threatened by melting ice in Greenland, and those living around the fast-shrinking Lake Chad in Africa, as among many already feeling the effects. Watch the effects of warming temperatures on Arctic ice »
"The issue of environmental refugees promises to rank as one of the foremost human crises or our time," says British environmentalist and Oxford University professor Norman Myers, who has published extensively on the subject.
A report by Friends of the Earth in 2007 identified communities all over the world, from Brazil and Honduras, to Malaysia, Mali, Peru and even the UK, that were directly under threat from a mix of drought, rising sea levels, other extreme weather and disease.
Climate refugees: Causing controversy
As much of the primary research on our future climate looks increasingly gloomy -- and privately some scientists will make far blacker predictions than they publish - the world seems faced with a growing challenge.
Experts at the climate change conference in Copenhagen in March issued a stark warning when they revised up the scale of projected sea level rises, saying many coastal areas around the world could be completely inundated by 2100.
"It is now clear that there are going to be massive flooding disasters around the globe," said Dr David Vaughan, of the British Antarctic Survey, in Copenhagen.
As well as low-lying areas of Bangladesh and the Maldives, the scientists warned that the Netherlands could face catastrophic floods, and large areas of Florida and the UK, including the Thames Estuary, may disappear under the waves.
But despite the threat of widespread future problems -- and the reality of life for the Carteret Islanders now - the term "environmental refugees" remains controversial.
Some NGOs, such as Greenpeace, have spoken in terms of 150 million displaced people being driven from their homes by 2050 as climate change makes their lives impossible. Their figures are backed by | [
"What is predicted to rise?",
"What do the Carteret Islands lose land to?",
"What number of islanders need to be evacuated?",
"Where is Carteret Islands?",
"Where is pressure from climate change most intense?",
"What negative effects do many areas feel?"
] | [
[
"sea levels"
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[
"\"King tides and sea surges"
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[
"150 million"
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[
"Papua New Guinea,"
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[
"Carteret Islands"
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[
"water is getting closer; slowly but surely, as global warming bites and sea levels rise, the islands are being swallowed up, leaving the few hundred inhabitants pondering an uncertain future."
]
] | Carteret Islands of Papua New Guinea losing land to rising sea levels .
Evacuation of islanders planned; number of environmental refugees predicted to rise .
From Greenland to Lake Chad many areas feeling negative effects of climate change .
Many groups warn of caution when using term 'climate refugee' |
(CNN) -- There was a time when singer-actress LeAnn Rimes was considered as clean cut as they come. LeAnn Rimes, at the 2009 Lollapalooza Music Festival, is being spotted with Eddie Cibrian. Once hailed as a country music ingénue, she first captivated fans as a 13-year-old with a mature-beyond-her-years voice and a poised stage presence. After selling millions of records and amassing Billboard Music Awards and Grammys, Rimes was often held up as an example of a child star who managed to avoid the pitfalls of fame and emerge with a successful career and a happy marriage. Then rumors surfaced that she was allegedly having an affair with actor Eddie Cibrian. Now the two have both separated from their respective spouses and the ensuing scandal has cast a shadow over Rimes' wholesome, good-girl image. "I kind of feel like the public's perception is changing towards her," said Lindsay Powers, staff editor for Us Weekly. "She hadn't even announced [her] divorce yet and here she was on a beach in Cabo [San Lucas], wearing a little bikini with Eddie Cibrian rubbing suntan lotion all over her. She's like flaunting their relationship while her husband is piecing together his life in New York City on his own." Such relationship woes among celebrities are as old as Hollywood itself. Stories of celebrity hookups on movie sets, be it Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the 1960s or Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the 21st century, are the stuff of which tabloid dreams are made. But Rimes, who married former dancer Dean Sheremet in 2002 when she was 19 and he 21, seemed an unlikely candidate to star in such a drama. Unlike other young celebrity couples, Rimes and Sheremet were unlikely tabloid targets, choosing to live quietly and often being captured smiling and embracing on the red carpet. The pair appeared devoted to each other and seemed to take a swipe at critics of their young love when they reportedly held a "seven year itch" party to toast their union. In her book, "What I Cannot Change," Rimes wrote glowingly of her spouse. "My husband, Dean, has changed my heart -- and life -- in more ways than I can ever imagine," she wrote. "We met in Los Angeles when I was hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards. It was almost an instant attraction." Rumors began swirling about the singer and "CSI: Miami" actor Eddie Cibrian after they co-starred in the Lifetime movie "Northern Lights." During an interview with Matt Lauer in April on the "Today" show, Rimes sidestepped questioning about her relationship with Cibrian. "I refuse to discuss tabloid rumors," Rimes said. "I've grown up in the press my entire life. I think people are fascinated by my personal life, and I totally get it." Soon after, Cibrian's wife and mother of his two young sons, Brandi Glanville, was quoted as demanding Rimes leave her husband alone. Now, Glanville is being as vocal about the breakup of her and Cibrian's marriage. She told PEOPLE in August that she sensed her husband was attracted to Rimes after double-dating with the singer and Sheremet. Rimes and Cibrian have been seen publicly golfing, vacationing and attending a concert. She announced on her Web site that she and Sheremet were ending their marriage. Jonathan L. Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management Inc., said fans are often very forgiving of stars for their bad behavior. "The public is very tolerant of a wide range of behaviors from celebrities," said Bernstein. "To the extent the public truly expected her to be someone with a clean-cut image, she may lose some fans there." "On the other hand, there are some people who like celebrities who lead racy, unpredictable lives, so she could gain fans at the same time." Bernstein, the author of "Keeping the Wolves at Bay; A Media Training Manual," | [
"Who has Rimes been photographed with?",
"Which actor has been photographed with LeAnn Rimes?",
"Who is divorcing their husband?",
"LeeAnn Rimes is who?"
] | [
[
"Eddie Cibrian."
],
[
"Eddie Cibrian."
],
[
"LeAnn Rimes"
],
[
"singer-actress"
]
] | LeAnn Rimes is divorcing her husband and has been spotted with co-star .
Rimes and actor Eddie Cibrian have been photographed on vacation .
A former child star, Rimes had enjoyed an image as a happily married celeb .
Magazine editor says Rimes' spouse gathering sympathy for being wronged . |
(CNN) -- There was no space on the Inca Trail. "Estás seguro?" I pleaded with dormant Spanish, or "Are you sure?" in English. I was sitting face to face with the ninth Peruvian salesman that day to offer the same answer. He was positive. No space on the Inca Trail, entering Machu Picchu via the Sun Gate, but his alternative trek was the real deal, he said.
Machu Picchu was rediscovered in 1911 by Yale University professor Hiram Bingham.
I said, "Gracias," grabbed my bag and went trudging out the door and back into the rain.
At this point, I could not remember the smile I wore just hours before as I boarded my New Year's Eve flight and watched Atlanta grow smaller below me -- four days trekking in the Andes, a new adventure! That smile had vanished, the woman who grinned it, gone. In its place, a miserable downtrodden troll with fiercely angled brows, standing in the middle of the Plaza de Armas in Cusco, Peru -- with no Inca Trail booked.
As a wind-follower, I always try to make travel arrangements as I go. I lay out rough plans, cities and dates, and see what adventures may come. The Inca Trail, however, does not afford such luxury.
Over the years, the Inca Trail has become more a sales feature for adventure companies than a tranquil or mystical journey. The frat party of historic treks, it often comes fully equipped with booze, crowds and disgusting bathrooms. Similarly, the Inca Trail also has a maximum capacity before doors to the public close. Years of feet trampling Inca steps led the government to institute a 500 person per day limit in 2002 on the historic trail -- including trekkers, guides and porters -- to prevent over-saturation of the trail and to maintain the sanctity of the sites.
As I entered company after company, each promising slight variations of alternate treks for drastically different prices, I nearly hung up my poncho and headed home. That is, until I finally swallowed my wind-follower pride, opened a guidebook and tracked down some of the recommended operators. This proved a worthwhile endeavor, as Cusco is a maze of adventure agencies among a few trek operators. Agencies sell customers to operators, collecting profits and, oftentimes, unsatisfied travelers.
Once I learned I couldn't have the journey, I grew even more set on keeping the destination. Determined to stay Machu Picchu-bound and only able to squeeze in a short trek by this point, I opted for an alternate-Inca hybrid trek. The two-day Inca joins the traditional Inca Trail a short distance from the Sun Gate, the path the Incas took into Machu Picchu. Though it carries the Inca name - -and the 500-person regulation -- it arrives at the Sun Gate in the evening, sacrificing the most sought after sunrise view. It also does not include camping or any of that delicious, trek-cooked food. My two-person group ate bag lunches, spent the one night in Aguas Calientes, the base city to Machu Picchu, and looked on enviously at Inca Trail trekkers sharing beer, some grilled alpaca and a game of cards at the final rest stop where the trails unite.
If I had looked beyond my Inca-only vision, I would have discovered that the Inca Trail is just the tip of the Peru trekking iceberg -- literally iceberg if you go during low season. Several alternate treks land right in Aguas Calientes that can be booked mere days in advance. Though these treks do not enter Machu Picchu through the Sun Gate, many locals and travelers prefer alternate routes through quiet villages and isolated peaks, as they offer an often less expensive, more serene, untouched vision of Peru. See a map of the area around Machu Picchu »
Salkantay is the most frequented Inca Trail alternative. This trek is usually recommended for people who can't get on the Inca Trail, but still want a similar experience. Traditionally five days/four nights, it leads trekkers up Salkantay Mountain (one of the highest peaks in the Andes | [
"how many days in advance can you book?",
"What is the limit?",
"Where is the ideal trek?",
"What is booked in advance",
"What is there a 500 person a day limit on?",
"How many people are the limit?",
"What is the person limit"
] | [
[
"mere"
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[
"500 person per day"
],
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"Machu Picchu via the Sun Gate,"
],
[
"alternate treks land right in Aguas Calientes"
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[
"the Inca Trail."
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[
"500"
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[
"500"
]
] | There's a 500 person per day limit on the historic Inca Trail .
Several more serene alternate treks can be booked mere days in advance .
For those seeking more of an adventure, Choquequirao is the ideal trek . |
(CNN) -- There wasn't a cloud in the sky early Friday when Dave Samuels trained his telescopes at the moon, hoping to catch a glimpse of a NASA rocket striking the lunar landscape. The moon, shown shortly before NASA's rockets hit on Friday morning. "We saw nothing," he said. Samuels is vice president of the Fremont Peak Observatory near Monterey, California, which had invited members of the public to watch Friday's NASA mission through its telescopes. The lunar strike happened shortly after 4:30 a.m. on the West Coast (7:30 a.m. ET). NASA had encouraged everyone around the country to host "impact parties," saying the plume of dust generated by the lunar impact would be visible through "mid-sized backyard" telescopes 10 inches or larger. It said the chances of seeing the plume were greater for people living in areas that were still dark. The space agency even posted an interactive map on its Web site so people could find "a public event near you." NASA officials had said the impact of the Centaur upper-stage rocket would result in plumes of dust of more than 250 metric tons. After it hit, the debris was analyzed by a satellite -- launched along with the rocket -- that traveled through the dust cloud before its own impact on the moon. The goal of the $79 million mission was to determine whether there is water on the moon. After the impact, NASA officials called the mission a success, saying the satellite sent back a good amount of data that now will be analyzed. Jennifer Stracener of Vilonia, Arkansas, said she got up early to watch NASA's live telecast of the impact. She was disappointed, and posted her reaction on CNN's iReport.com. "These was no plume, no nothing," she said by phone. "It just kind of blacked out." She said the telecast did not show the rocket's impact clearly. "I was looking for some action -- something happening," she said. "I think a lot of people were, because they [NASA] hyped it up, you know. ... No one saw anything." Stracener woke up her husband and two children to see the lunar crash. She said she wishes she hadn't. Darrick Gray, a high school science teacher near Kansas City, Missouri, had planned to take some of his students to the nearby Powell Observatory to watch the lunar impact through their telescopes -- but they decided to skip the field trip because of bad weather. "This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Gray had said beforehand. Gray -- who is also the director of the Astronomical Society of Kansas City -- said he had hoped the mission would influence his students to think about pursuing careers in science. "Being as we do live here in Missouri, we're away from the hub [of astronomy]," he explained. "We're not in Florida, we're not in Texas, we're not in Silicon Valley -- it's not something they're used to seeing. "So any time you can show them something that's never been done, and they say, 'Oh this is pretty cool,' I think they buy into that." NASA held an all-night party at Ames Research Center -- located just outside San Francisco -- which was directing the mission. There were movies, music, food and guest speakers, and it culminated with a live transmission of the lunar impact. "I would have loved to see, you know, huge amounts of dust flying up and ejecta, but we didn't," said Liza Coe, who attended the Ames event. "I thought it was so neat being able to see just as we got closer and closer to the moon and realizing that that was really happening right now. "It wasn't just a picture of the moon that somebody was putting up." Back at Fremont Peak Observatory, even though most of the 50 people who attended the | [
"What time did NASA ask people to wake up at?",
"When did NASA crash a rocked into the moon?",
"What time did the event occur?",
"When did the rocket crash into the moon?",
"Who crashed a rocket into the moon?",
"When did the NASA rockets crash into the moon?"
] | [
[
"4:30 a.m."
],
[
"4:30 a.m. on the West Coast"
],
[
"shortly after 4:30 a.m."
],
[
"Friday morning."
],
[
"NASA"
],
[
"Friday morning."
]
] | NASA crashes rockets into the moon on Friday to test for lunar water .
The space agency touts the event as an opportunity for amateur astronomers .
Many say the event was a dud; a woman says she saw nothing on NASA TV .
Man says NASA should be more careful before asking people to wake at 4:30 a.m. |
(CNN) -- There's a post-9/11 atmosphere in Kingston, Jamaica, local residents say, after a failed police assault on the stronghold of a suspected drug kingpin wanted by the United States.
"The daytime really isn't a problem, but the night can be. Your rights are reduced after 6 p.m. The police can stop you for virtually any reason. It's a similar situation to after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States," one Kingston florist told CNN.
"I wouldn't say I'm afraid," said the woman, who asked that neither she nor her shop be named. But, she said, "You don't know exactly what is happening."
"You are more cautious because you know what's going on, but it's not like you can't come out of your home. ... It's not like you can't go out, but it could be more of a hassle if you do," she said.
Police moved earlier this week to arrest Christopher "Dudus" Coke, a suspected drug lord. They were met with violence that has left at least 29 people dead, including police, a soldier and many civilians. The government said Wednesday that more than 500 people were in custody.
Some people, however, were attempting to get back to business on Wednesday.
"I think by now most people have started to get over the initial shock," iReporter Jason Alliman told CNN in an e-mail. "Most schools are in session, exams are still being held, businesses have started to reopen. People are still a little tense about the whole situation, but I think that's due more to uncertainty about what will happen next than [the] actual threat of violence."
But the florist believes the violence could go on for weeks.
"That's unnerving because everything's being drawn to a standstill. Business was already bad before this because of the recession. Now it's come to a standstill," she told CNN by phone from Kingston.
The florist said she thinks the government could have moved sooner against Coke, possibly avoiding the situation it now finds itself in.
"The government's trying to fix the problem, but it didn't have to reach this point. They could have dealt with this earlier," she said.
At the moment, the violence seems mostly to have passed, but many people still do not dare to go out, they said.
One resident of nearby Port Royal said by telephone that people are staying out of Kingston -- even failing to show up for work or school -- because they do not want to get caught in violence.
"I can't venture to town. I have business that I need to take care of," said the man, adding that there are no banks in Port Royal.
The man said that at the restaurant where he works, business is down "99 percent for the past four days," since the violence began.
People can get essentials in Port Royal, but many go into Kingston to shop, he said, declining to give his name.
At St. Andrews High School for Girls in Kingston, a spokeswoman said the school was open, but that most teachers and students had not showed up.
Alliman, who lives in Red Hills, St. Andrew, outside the city, wrote that he went out to give blood Tuesday, and "even well into the evening when I was returning home, I wasn't overly anxious about being on Red Hills Road, where a lot of shooting had been taking place only a couple days ago."
Some restaurants on the road were still open as he was driving past about 6:30 or 7 p.m., he said.
Alliman on Monday submitted an iReport photo taken from his balcony showing smoke rising from a fire in Kingston. He said he hadn't left home on Wednesday, but "at the very least I haven't heard any more gunshots from here."
Violet Dias, an American citizen from New York, said Tuesday she | [
"What did Kingston resident say?",
"What does one Kingston resident say?",
"What can't they do because for fear of violence?"
] | [
[
"\"The daytime really isn't a problem, but the night can be. Your rights are reduced after 6 p.m. The police can stop you for virtually any reason. It's a similar situation to after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States,\""
],
[
"\"The daytime really isn't a problem, but the night can be. Your rights are reduced after 6 p.m. The police can stop you for virtually any reason. It's a similar situation to after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States,\""
],
[
"even failing to show up"
]
] | Situation similar to after 9/11 attacks on U.S. one Kingston resident says .
"You don't know what's happening," local woman says .
People unable to get to banks, shops, for fear of violence .
Situation calming, but residents still taking precautions . |
(CNN) -- There's always been something about Margaret Thatcher that makes grown men go weak at the knees, particularly members of the Conservative Party. Perhaps she revives memories of stern schoolmistresses; perhaps they just grudgingly admired a strong woman telling them what to do.
I suspect the same will be true of Meryl Streep's portrayal of the former British Prime Minister in the new biopic, "The Iron Lady," which the consensus appears to view as a pitch-perfect performance, accurately capturing the look, sound and general aura of the United Kingdom's first female premier.
For many, the movie will be a nostalgia trip, whisking viewers back to happier times when politics was politics, there were heated ideological battles and elected leaders actually believed in something. "The Iron Lady" plays on all of those things, although without explicitly taking sides. There's no real attempt to analyze whether she was right or wrong during any highlighted episode.
So we witness Mrs Thatcher taking on striking miners in the mid-1980s, taking on the Argentinians to recover the Falkland Islands early in her premiership, and -- the most consistent theme of all -- taking on the British Establishment to reach to top of what Disraeli called "the greasy pole" of politics in the first place.
Review: "The Iron Lady"
Biopics naturally simplify -- how else could an eventful career be crammed into just over 100 minutes of celluloid? But the essence of the Thatcher years are certainly there and besides, the collective memory of that turbulent decade is also simplistic and broad brush. A nuanced analysis of Thatcher's economic record would hardly have kept the box office busy.
That said the screenplay takes few serious liberties with historical fact. Mrs Thatcher's political love-in with the then US President Ronald Reagan is covered, albeit briefly, as is her attempted assassination by the IRA in 1984. The leadership crisis that ended her premiership in 1990 also features, as one might expect in a biopic.
Thatcher, of course, remains a deeply divisive figure in the UK -- not least in parts of northern England and Scotland -- so movie audiences, like the country at large, will be divided. Maggie fans will glean reassuring glimpses of what made her great in their eyes, while those who remember her less fondly will no doubt come away with their prejudices safely intact.
Gallery: "The Iron Lady" and other political biopics
But for the generation or so of moviegoers who have no direct memory of the events covered in the film, their perception of Mrs Thatcher -- her legacy and beliefs -- will undoubtedly be highly informed by "The Iron Lady." Although not really "political" in that it offers few judgments, Streep's performance is nevertheless useful historical propaganda for a Conservative Party grappling with many of the same issues today.
More interesting will be the reaction to the depiction of Baroness Thatcher's dementia, first (publicly) revealed by her daughter Carol a few years ago. Although it has often been mentioned in the press, few in the UK are directly aware of its extent and will probably be shocked at Streep's nuanced portrait of the Iron Lady displaying more than a little mental rust.
It's almost a taboo subject, looking back on Mrs Thatcher's political career through the eyes of an obviously frail old lady. How would an American audience have reacted to such a portrayal of Ronald Reagan in his dotage? I suspect not at all well. Political activists prefer to remember their heroes -- and heroines -- in their prime.
Older members of the Conservative Party often indulge in the wistful refrain: "If only Maggie was still leader of the party." They do so because they find the thought comforting, secure in the knowledge that with a click of her heel and a firm handbagging she would sort out all the old enemies. In that respect, "The Iron Lady" will probably bring tears to some veteran Tory eyes. | [
"Who suffers from dementia?",
"What Torrance said about Thatchers movie?",
"What might prove 'useful propaganda\" for the conservative party?",
"What was Margaret Thatcher called?",
"What is the movie about?",
"\"The Iron Lady\" may be useful propaganda for whom?"
] | [
[
"Baroness Thatcher's"
],
[
"a pitch-perfect performance, accurately capturing the look, sound and general aura of the United Kingdom's first female premier."
],
[
"Streep's performance"
],
[
"\"The Iron Lady,\""
],
[
"Margaret Thatcher"
],
[
"Conservative Party"
]
] | David Torrance: Margaret Thatcher biopic "The Iron Lady" a nostalgia trip .
The movie shows Thatcher as PM in the 1980s, and as a frail elderly woman, suffering from dementia .
Torrance: 1980s were a time "when politics was politics and elected leaders actually believed in something"
He says "The Iron Lady" may prove "useful propaganda" for the Conservative Party . |
(CNN) -- There's great potential in the field of regenerative medicine, but doctors caution against seeking experimental treatments in an unregulated environment.
Having had three surgeries for a neck injury already, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning reportedly took a private jet to Europe to get a stem cell treatment that is not approved in the United States. The therapy involved injecting fat cells from Manning's body into his neck, according to Fox Sports.
Colts head coach Jim Caldwell declined to discuss Manning's health situation when asked about the stem cell treatment at a press conference Monday. Further details of Manning's treatment are not available.
Discussing the choice to go abroad for stem cell treatments puts researchers in an awkward position, because the therapies offered abroad are unregulated and not confirmed to work, but they are based on concepts that the American medical community believes have potential. Generally, however, the consensus is that patients should not try to seek experimental stem cell treatments elsewhere, as there's no telling if they will work or have serious side effects.
"We believe that there is merit to this approach, we just want to see it (carried out) well, ethically and rigorously," said Dr. Joshua Hare, director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine. Scientists like Hare are trying to gather medical evidence through clinical trials to ensure that these treatments are safe and effective.
Leaving the country to seek experimental treatments abroad is common, experts say, although no one has exact numbers for how many people seek stem cell treatments in other countries. Medical tourism as an industry is projected to grow 35% annually, and could reach 1.6 million American patients going elsewhere for treatments by 2012, according to the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. (The agency had previously predicted 6 million by 2010, but those numbers have not panned out.)
Besides orthopedic injuries like Manning's, there are stem cell therapies available elsewhere aimed at heart disease and neurological conditions, even autism. Germany, Panama and Thailand are all popular countries for seeking these kinds of treatments, Hare said.
The basic idea is that stem cells have regenerative potential, and can even form new tissues. Mesenchymal stem cells are a particular kind that can become a variety of cell types, including bone cells and cartilage cells.
While there is a lot of exciting research going on in the field of stem cells, the results aren't all good. A 2009 study in the journal PLoS Medicine documented the case of an Israeli boy who had gone to Russia to get fetal stem cells injected into his brain and spinal cord. He developed a brain tumor, apparently as a result of the treatment, although the tumor was slow-growing and benign.
And earlier this year, authorities closed down a large stem cell clinic in Germany called the XCell-Center, which had operated through a loophole in the country's regulations regarding unapproved experimental treatments. The clinic had been implicated in the death of an 18-month-old boy after a stem cell treatment; a 10-year-old almost died after receiving something similar.
One problem with going abroad for these unapproved treatments is that there's no follow-up; you won't have anyone back home to take care of any complications that might result, Hare said. In cardiac stem cell trials conducted in this country in people with advanced heart disease, medical professionals do follow up with patients and treat any complications that may arise.
Another concern is that, without proper regulation, any given stem cell therapy abroad may actually be different every time you receive a treatment, said Jeffrey Karp, director of the Laboratory for Advanced Biomaterials and Stem-Cell-Based Therapeutics at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
There also may not be any regulations on the quality of the treatment, so you really don't know what you're getting, he said.
"Regulatory agencies such as the FDA can ensure that cell therapy that reaches patients is safe, effective, and that quality control is established for isolating the cells, manipulating them outside of the body, and delivering them, | [
"what do experts say?",
"What is dangerous?",
"What is to grow by 35%?",
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"What do experts say about treatments that are not approved and are unregulated?",
"Is medical tourism a growth industry?",
"Who reportedly sought a stem cell therapy in Europe?",
"What is the projected growth of medical tourism?",
"Whou sought therapy?"
] | [
[
"Leaving the country to seek experimental treatments abroad is common,"
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[
"an unregulated environment."
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[
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[
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[
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],
[
"projected to grow 35% annually,"
],
[
"Peyton Manning"
],
[
"35% annually,"
],
[
"Peyton Manning"
]
] | Colts quarterback Peyton Manning reportedly sought a stem cell therapy in Europe .
Medical tourism as an industry is projected to grow 35% annually .
Experts say it's dangerous to try treatments that haven't been approved and regulated . |
(CNN) -- There's never a bad time for a toga party, right? The story of Perseus -- the bastard son of Zeus who takes on the mighty Kraken -- will endure long after Louis Leterrier's enjoyably cheesy movie has been forgotten (or, inevitably, remade in 4D).
But for now, and for young men especially, Leterrier's version is the one that counts, and it will just have to do.
It's a mixed bag: Three credited screenwriters have labored in the footsteps laid down by the 1981 Ray Harryhausen "classic" (hardly his finest hour) -- that is, they've taken the myth as an excuse to showcase as many special effects sequences as they can muster. That's not a bad strategy when it's clear from the laughably clumsy opening that they haven't a clue how the ancient Greeks spoke to one another.
The clunky dialogue is delivered in various shades of tone deaf Antipodean, English, Irish and European by the likes of Sam Worthington (Perseus), Gemma Arterton (as his spiritual guru/love interest) and Liam Neeson (Zeus). Neeson's old "Schindler" nemesis Ralph Fiennes brings a touch of class to Zeus's brother Hades, while the great, growly, scene-stealing Mads Mikkelsen (Le Chiffre in "Casino Royale") makes the strongest impression among the mortals.
Mikkelsen's only serious competition in the scenery-chewing stakes comes from the Kraken itself, a toothy sea monster who is built up for an hour and three quarters, then comes on for five minutes -- wisely doesn't say a word -- and walks away with the picture.
In Harryhausen's day, effects meant stop-motion photography of artfully modeled monsters, including a three-headed dog (excised here) and a golden mechanical owl (who makes a cameo appearance for old time's sake).
Today's CGI creatures may not have the same charm, but they're considerably more agile and fluid, and the action scenes have tremendous dynamism.
Leterrier comes from "The Incredible Hulk" and "The Transporter," and he's evidently more comfortable running than walking. A showdown with gigantic angry scorpions is the movie's first big set-piece, and it's exciting enough to make you forget you've seen these critters before -- or something very similar, in "Transformers."
The three Graeae are ghastly, touchy-feely crones with one eye between them, and Medusa is a giant snake who slithers around her lair like a heat-seeking missile - though I preferred the aplomb Uma Thurman brought to the role in "The Lightning Thief."
Like his namesake Percy Jackson, Perseus has daddy issues -- he's a demi-god who wants to prove he's all man. After "Avatar" and "Terminator Salvation" Worthington has cast-iron credentials on that score. We can see why Perseus would resist invitations to join the Immortals. Mount Olympus looks like a colossal bore, a resting home for eternity. You wonder what they find to talk about all day. At least on Earth there are monsters to mash and quests to be quested.
iReport: Critic says "Avoid at any cost"
If it's bad enough to be good in places, there's no excuse for the film's abominable retro-fitted 3D, a process that perversely flattens out the images into two planes, foreground and background, and renders this one of the ugliest epics in history.
It's a shame to see filmmakers jumping on a bandwagon like this, and missing. You'd be well advised to seek out the picture's 2D venues -- or wait for the DVD. | [
"Perseus is the son of who?",
"Who takes on the mighty Kraken?",
"Who is Perseus's father?",
"What is Worthington's role?",
"Who plays the role of Perseus?",
"Who is Perseus the bastard son of?",
"What about he film is abominable?",
"Who plays the role of Perseus in \"Clash of the Titans\"?"
] | [
[
"Zeus"
],
[
"Perseus"
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[
"Zeus"
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[
"(Perseus),"
],
[
"Sam Worthington"
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[
"Zeus"
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[
"retro-fitted 3D,"
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[
"Sam Worthington"
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] | Sam Worthington plays the role of Perseus in "Clash of the Titans."
The story of Perseus, the bastard son of Zeus who takes on the mighty Kraken .
There's no excuse for the film's abominable retro-fitted 3D . |
(CNN) -- They are everywhere, Haiti's precious and beautiful children. They make up more than a third of the country's 10 million-plus population. You see them on rooftops -- where there are rooftops -- flying kites. You see them gathered in small circles on the ground --where the ground is not muddy -- playing marbles. You see them skip around where the ground is muddy, sometimes bathing in water from manholes.
You see them link hands and run in a circle while singing a song associated with the won, the Haitian equivalent of "Ring Around the Rosie." You see them fight for a turn at jumping rope. You see them twirl a bicycle wheel with a bent rope hanger and in that act you can see the dream of one day actually driving the rest of the bike, or a motorcycle, a car or an airplane.
You see them carry gallons and buckets of water on tiny heads that have no place to rest. You see them suddenly appear in the middle of Port-au-Prince's impenetrable traffic and, dressed in dirty rags, plop an even dirtier rag on the hood of your car. You see them file in and out of the same traffic wearing striking school uniforms with different color plaid tops. Sometimes you see them wearing their Sunday best in the middle of the week.
For more about CNN's "Rescued" documentary, read here
You see them packed into tents made of sticks and bedsheets -- and if they're lucky, tarp or plastic -- and some of them appear listless, their bloated bellies and reddened hair competing for your attention. If you say hello, some will answer you but they will avoid your gaze, both out of respect for you and shame at their condition.
You see them stand in lines, backs straight even while the sun beats down on their heads and sweat rolls down their faces, as they wait for a bottle of water or a plate of food. You see them wobble on makeshift crutches for their newly amputated limbs even as they wince from pain that even some adults would find difficult to bear. Nevertheless they are children, Haiti's future.
The January 12, 2010, earthquake changed their lives. Many watched loved ones die, lost family members and other caretakers, one or both of their parents, siblings. Many were stuck in the rubble of their homes and were rescued several days later. Yet in spite of everything, they dream, they laugh, they live, they love.
Like most other children, they adore seeing their faces reflected in the back of a digital camera.
"Madame, Madame," they will say respectfully if they want to ask or tell you something.
During such a conversation, I tell a little girl who is the same age as my eldest daughter, Mira, "At home I have one exactly like you."
"There is no one exactly like me," she replies.
She's right. No child is exactly like any other, but all children want and need some basic things: food, shelter, safety, education, love.
Ti moun se richès, says the Haitian proverb. Our children are our treasures.
Some of them are diamonds in the rough. Some of them are brilliant, nearly illuminated beings. Now some are also scarred, both physically and psychologically.
In one large tent city, I find the 7-year-old son of a man I knew growing up. The boy is in the camp with his mother while his father is in Miami, Florida, with his baby sister, whose hip was broken during the earthquake.
"I sleep during the day," he says, "because the thieves come at night."
The child he plays with most often is an orphan who was taken in by a neighbor.
After the earthquake, people kept asking me, "Why don't we see Haitians adopting Haitian kids? Why is it always the blan, the foreigners, the missionaries?"
Many Haitians adopt informally. If they didn't you would see many more | [
"What did Danticat say about Haiti's children?"
] | [
[
"precious and beautiful"
]
] | Edwidge Danticat says Haiti's children are brave and resilient .
She says they have endured great hardship since the earthquake .
Danticat: The survival of Haiti rests on the childrens' shoulders .
CNN report on Haiti's children, "Rescued," airs Saturday, May 8 at 8 pm ET . |
(CNN) -- They are four American friends and seasoned travelers who were hiking through Iraq's Kurdistan region before three of them crossed the unmarked border with Iran, where they were detained by Iranian authorities. Ahmed Awa, on the border of Iraq and Iran, is where police saw and warned the American hikers Friday. Kurdish officials identified the detained hikers as Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal, CNN confirmed Sunday. The fourth hiker, Shon Meckfessel, stayed behind in Iraq. "My husband and I are eager for the best welfare and conditions for our son, Josh, and for the other two companions he's with," Laura Fattal of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, told CNN Radio. "And that is our only concern, his welfare and the best conditions for him." Meckfessel was identified by his grandmother, who told CNN that he stayed behind because he felt sick. Meckfessel is at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. "My grandson has asked me not to talk to the media," said the grandmother, Irene Meckfessel of Carmichael, California, before hanging up Saturday. Iran's state-run media reported that Iranian security forces arrested the three Americans Friday for illegally entering the country from Iraq's Kurdistan region and that the matter is under investigation. U.S. State Department officials say the Swiss ambassador to Tehran is seeking information about the case on behalf of Washington. The United States and Iran do not have diplomatic relations and Switzerland represents U.S. diplomatic interests in Iran. Friends of the travelers told CNN that the three who were detained have spent time or have lived in Western Europe and the Middle East. Sandy Close, executive director of the nonprofit Pacific News Service, described Bauer -- a photographer whose material was occasionally posted on her Web site in the past -- as a "gifted linguist and photographer with wanderlust for travel and a student of Arab cultures. He's a remarkably talented guy." Shourd described herself as a "teacher-activist-writer from California currently based in the Middle East" on a profile listed on a travel Web site. Fattal shared his friends' love of travel and learning, and was described as "fiercely intellectual" by his friend, Chris Foraker, who spoke to CNN affiliate KVAL in Eugene, Oregon. Foraker said he met Fattal during a study abroad program in 2003, and the two worked together at the Aprovecho sustainable living research center in Cottage Grove. The four travelers spent the night at the Nirwan Hotel in Sulaimaniya on Thursday, said Mudhafer Mohammed, the owner of the hotel. Bauer, Shourd and Fattal left early Friday in a taxi for Ahmed Awa, a Kurdish town near Iraq's border with Iran, planning to hike in the mountains there, according to Peshrow Ahmed, spokesman for the security manager of Sulaimaniya. Ahmed Awa police spotted the hikers at one point Friday, Ahmed said, and warned them that they were near the border with Iran -- which is not marked in the area -- and that they should be careful. The group was in contact with Meckfessel in Sulaimaniya until about 1:30 p.m. Friday, when they reported they were "surrounded by Iranian soldiers," Ahmed said. No further communication was received. Mohammed, of the Nirwan Hotel, told CNN that the hikers said they had come to the area because they heard it was safe, saying they were considering a trip to Ahmed Awa. But, he said, he advised them against it. "I warned them many times," Mohammed told CNN. "When they told me that they are planning to go to Ahmed Awa, I told them, 'Don't go there because it is unsafe for you because you're American and Ahmed Awa is very close to the Iranian border,'" he said. Meckfessel left the hotel about 4:30 p.m., Mohammed said, asking him to take care of their luggage and saying he would not return. Later, he said, Sulaimaniya security forces took the luggage from the hotel. CNN's Arwa Damon and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report. | [
"Who stayed behind in Iraq because they felt sick?",
"what were the Americans accused of?",
"Who was detained in Iran?",
"Who were detained by Iranians?",
"Who felt sick and stayed behind?",
"Who was detained by Iranians?",
"Who blundered over the border?"
] | [
[
"Shon Meckfessel,"
],
[
"illegally entering the country from Iraq's Kurdistan region"
],
[
"Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal,"
],
[
"four American friends"
],
[
"Meckfessel"
],
[
"four American friends"
],
[
"Ahmed Awa,"
]
] | NEW: Joshua Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd detained by Iranians .
Fellow travel companion Shon Meckfessel felt sick, stayed behind in Iraq .
Americans accused of illegally entering Iran from Iraq's Kurdish region, state TV says .
Detainees were backpackers who blundered over border, hotel owner says . |
(CNN) -- They kept their bodies alive with rationed crackers, bubble gum, beer and three gallons of water. But spiritually, the three men lost at sea for eight days had something else to keep them going. The family of the missing boaters put these photos on flyers shortly after they went missing. "We just kept praying, and we kept hope alive," rescued boater Tressel Hawkins told CNN on Monday. "Even though hope had managed to thread down to a little bitty string, I mean, that little bitty string could be just as strong as the rope you hung on to the first time you got started." What was supposed to be a fishing expedition to catch swordfish and marlin became instead a test of survival. Hawkins, 43, and his fellow boaters, Curtis Hall, 28, and James Phillips, 30, set out on August 21 from Matagorda Bay in Texas and went about 100 miles south. Their first night in the Gulf of Mexico almost proved fatal. While Hawkins was sleeping, he said, he felt the bean bag he was resting on floating. He awoke to find water in the 23-foot catamaran knee-high. The water extractor had malfunctioned. He woke up Hall and Phillips and they tried to stop the flooding but it was too late, Hawkins said. Watch CNN's Fredricka Whitfield talk to Hawkins » As Hall had the radio in his hand to call for help, the boat capsized, Phillips told CNN affiliate KHOU-TV. They were "shocked," Phillips said. Hall was responsible for rationing the food they had on board and the fresh water that sat in a tank on the boat, Hawkins said. They didn't like it, but they had to follow his rules to survive, he said. "And being that you don't really know when you're going to get rescued, you have to ration it down to the bare essentials, and he stuck to his guns on that," Hawkins said. And with only those bare essentials, they waited and they prayed but they didn't give up. The three had lifejackets, flares and handmade flags. They used T-shirts and railing they ripped off the boat to create the flags, Hawkins said. They waved at boats and helicopters they saw, but the pilots didn't see them, Hall said. Watch two other fishermen describe ordeal » "We tried flaggin' everybody we could, but I guess it was not our time to go home yet. They'd come straight at us, we'd be like 'Hey,' and there they'd go," Hall told KHOU. "I was like, well, you know the good man above, either he's teaching us a lesson or showing us something. And finally, when that boat came, it was just ... I don't know." "It was a miracle," Phillips said, finishing Hall's sentence. One day after the Coast Guard called off a weeklong search for the men, the trio spotted a private vessel in the distance. They waved their flags and this time they were seen, Hawkins said. The Coast Guard said it combed more than 86,000 square miles looking for the men . When the crew of the private boat found the three sitting on top of their capsized catamaran, they were about 180 miles from Port Aransas, Texas, which is at the entrance to Corpus Christi Bay. None of the men suffered serious injuries despite all they had endured. In fact, Hawkins said he wouldn't be against going fishing again very soon. "I would love to do it this weekend, but we made a pact when we made it back to the house that we're going to put the poles down for the rest of the year and try to do something else, maybe go deer hunting or something like that." | [
"Where were the fisherman found?",
"The men rationed on what to live?",
"when were they found",
"what did they do to survive",
"The fisherman spent a week on a boat where?"
] | [
[
"180 miles from Port Aransas, Texas,"
],
[
"crackers, bubble gum, beer"
],
[
"One day after the Coast Guard called off a weeklong search"
],
[
"kept their bodies alive with rationed crackers, bubble gum, beer and three gallons of"
],
[
"180 miles from Port Aransas, Texas,"
]
] | Three fishermen spent week on on capsized boat in Gulf of Mexico .
Men rationed water, crackers, beer to live .
Boater spotted fishermen about 180 miles from coast of Port Aransas, Texas .
Coast Guard had called off search for men on Friday . |
(CNN) -- They lined up hundreds strong to touch the dirt. Some fell to their knees, clutching the gritty stuff as though it were a long-lost child. Others lifted it to their lips to savor a taste of the home they left behind decades ago.
Exiles -- who face never returning to Tibet as long as it is under Chinese rule -- stood on Tibetan soil this week, fulfilling a desire that has burned within since they fled westward across the Himalayas. Only, this week, they were able to do it in Dharamsala, the Indian hilltown that functions as the de facto capital of the refugee community.
The display was the work of New York artist Tenzing Rigdol, 29, who clandestinely trucked in sacks containing 22 tons of dirt from Tibet to Dharamsala to construct his installation. He did not want to disclose details of the soil's journey, fearful of the repercussions of the act of smuggling. All he would say is that it was a "complicated process that took 17 months."
Rigdol then spread the dirt over a stage the size of a basketball court and called it "Our Land, Our People."
He invited Tibetans to walk on his dirt, write on it or pick up a microphone to express themselves. He knew it could never be the same as actually returning to Tibet, but perhaps, he thought, it would spark a sliver of that feeling.
He thought of his father on Wednesday when the installation opened and people lined up, many overwhelmed with emotion.
The only wish his father had was to see Tibet one more time. But he fell ill in 2007 and died.
A father's unfulfilled wish drove his artist son to create something that would allow the displaced to be able to "return" home again. And others like him, who were born outside of Tibet, to finally feel native earth they have never had under their feet.
"There are so many like my father who wanted to return," Rigdol said. "And many more who have never been to Tibet."
Tenzin Dorjee, 31, remembers receiving cell phone texts at 4:30 in the morning when his excited friend first came up with his idea. The message was so long that it got broken into three.
"He was saying he had this idea to transport a large amount of soil from Tibet," Dorjee said. "I was blown away. My first reaction was: how is that possible?"
But then Dorjee began visualizing the project and how much of an impact it was sure to have on Tibetan exiles.
"The implications," he said, "seemed historic."
Known as the "roof of the world," Tibet is a remote Buddhist region governed by Communist China. Beijing claims its sovereignty over Tibet goes back centuries and views the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, as a separatist.
About 150,000 Tibetans live in exile, a majority of them in Dharamsala, according to their governing body. The Dalai Lama set up residence there after Chinese forces crushed a 1959 Tibetan uprising.
The Dalai Lama summoned Rigdol to his residence after the opening of the installation Wednesday, Rigdol said.
Rigdol carried with him some of the Tibetan dirt. Using his index finger, the Dalai Lama, wrote Tibet in the dirt and blessed the soil.
Meanwhile, monks in their flowing maroon and saffron robes queued up, as did parents holding babies.
"It was very exciting," said Tenzing Geche, 22, a monk who was a baby when his family left Tibet. He touched the dirt and felt a connection like no other.
"I felt I was back in my own country," he said.
Tenzing Tfuengue, 17, has never been to Tibet -- he was born and raised in India. He has longed to go to Tibet, feel the air there, drink the water, see the land that possesses his soul.
"Today, (Rigdol) made it a little bit possible," Tfuengue said.
For Lhadon Tethong, 35, a Canadian visiting family | [
"Who smuggled the soil in sacks from Tibet to India?",
"What do Tibetans long for?",
"Who long to see their homeland?"
] | [
[
"Tenzing Rigdol,"
],
[
"returning to Tibet"
],
[
"Exiles"
]
] | Tibetans who long to see their homeland were able to touch native soil again .
Artist Tenzing Rigdol smuggled the soil in sacks from Tibet to India .
The dirt was spread on a stage so Tibetans could walk on it .
Rigdol's father died without ever seeing Tibet again . |
(CNN) -- They might make you punch the air or bring a tear to your eye: this month on the Screening Room, we've picked our top ten life-affirming moments from the movies. Our number one: Jimmy Stewart discovers life is sweet in "It's A Wonderful Life" From heartwarming classics to instant blockbusters, these are the on-screen scenes that never fail to fill you with joie de vivre. Don't agree? Think we've missed one? Post your comments to the Screening Room blog and we'll publish the best. Read other CNN viewers' favorite life-affirming movie moments, and tell us yours >> 1. It's A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) "Remember, no man is a failure who has friends." Perennial Christmas favorite "It's A Wonderful Life" sees habitual do-gooder George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) pulled back from the brink of despair by wannabe angel Clarence. As Bailey embraces his life with joy, it's his friend's final sign-off that draws a sentimental tear from even the most stone-hearted viewer. 2. Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick, 1960) After the battle, Crassus (Laurence Olivier) promises to spare the rebel slaves' lives if they give up Spartacus (Kirk Douglas). In a stirring response, knowing that they are condemning themselves to death by crucifixion, they each rise with a cry of "I am Spartacus!" One moment's freedom has never tasted so sweet. 3. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) A tense frisson of resentment ripples through Rick's Bar as the boorish Nazi officers strike up in patriotic song. But a command from Lazlo (Paul Henreid), a nod from Rick (Humphrey Bogart), and a rousing chorus of the Marseillaise sees the hated occupiers put firmly back in their place. 4. The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994) In the harsh conditions of Shawshank Penitentiary, Andy (Tim Robbins) seizes an opportunity to lock himself in an office and broadcast a Mozart aria over the PA system. The heavenly voices shine light into the darkest depths of despair, bringing humanity to a place where there is none. 5. Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998) "James -- earn this. Earn it." As the gunfire pauses, Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) implores Private Ryan (Matt Damon) -- and, by proxy, us -- not to waste a drop of life: the greatest of gifts is too precious to be frittered away. 6. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) Roy the replicant's deep humanity comes to the fore as his last moments slip away. Rutger Hauer's lines on life's fleeting nature -- "lost in time like tears in the rain" -- are both provocative and poignant: has he become more human than the people who seek to hunt him down? 7. American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999) "It's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world." Kevin Spacey's closing speech inspires us to look at the world around us with fresh eyes, from the flaws in our loved ones to plastic bags caught in the wind. 8. Silent Running (Douglas Trumbull, 1972) "Take good care of the forest, Huey." Renegade botanist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) blasts the world's last remaining plant life into deep space, with only a robot to tend to it. A timely reminder of how one man's actions can preserve life and hope. 9. Dead Poets' Society (Peter Weir, 1989) Mr Keating (Robin Williams) inspires his young charges to seize the day and throw off the shackles of their privileged yet stuffy school. We challenge you not to feel a lump in your throat when Todd (played by a young Ethan Hawke) and his classmates stand on the desk in spirited tribute to their disgraced teacher. 10. Victory (John Huston, 1981) "Come on lads, we can win this one!" Ludicrous yet rousing, "Victory | [
"Which film is a top list film?",
"What film tops list from \"The Screening Room\"?",
"What films have life affirming moments?",
"What film tops the list?",
"What films are full of life-affirming moments?",
"Where do you send your lists?",
"Can you give some examples of full of life's film?"
] | [
[
"\"It's A Wonderful Life\""
],
[
"\"It's A Wonderful Life\""
],
[
"\"It's A Wonderful Life\""
],
[
"\"It's A Wonderful Life\""
],
[
"\"It's A Wonderful Life\""
],
[
"the Screening Room blog"
],
[
"\"It's A Wonderful Life\""
]
] | Films full of life-affirming moments include "Casablanca," "Silent Running"
"It's a Wonderful Life" tops list from "The Screening Room"
List by no means complete; send us yours . |
(CNN) -- They say that breaking up is hard to do, especially when millions of eyes are there to witness every caustic comment and verbal volley. Kate and Jon Gosselin are going through a very public and contentious divorce. No one knows that better than Jon and Kate Gosselin, whose divorce is playing out on a world stage, complete with tabloid covers, he-said-she-said television appearances and court orders. Such public spats can do a great deal of harm, said divorce attorney Randall M. Kessler, who's handled several celebrity cases. "I just gave a presentation where I said, 'When can press hurt you? It's when clients start talking,'" Kessler said. "The hard thing for [famous people] to do is to not speak out, because they are so used to everything they say being quoted and helping them, but this is the opposite. Talking about a divorce is never good." The Gosselins join a growing list of celebrities whose marital woes have been well-documented by the media and paparazzi. See a gallery of celebrity custody battles » Kessler has represented quite a few clients involved in celebrity divorce cases, including Tameka Foster Raymond (who is in the midst of a divorce with superstar singer Usher) and rapper Mack 10 (ex-husband of TLC member Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins), as well as some high-profile paternity and child support lawsuits. Celebrities often want to protect their reputations and the wrong sound bite can ruin that, Kessler said. Yet, at the same time, it can be difficult for the famous to take direction, he said. "They are so used to being in charge of their own destiny and being able to decide what's best for them that it's very hard for them to listen to attorneys, accountants or anyone that is trying to advise them," Kessler said. Viewers have questioned who, if anyone, Jon and Kate Gosselin are taking cues from in their very public marital battle. In May, Kate defended her husband against rumors that he had been cheating on her and stepping out while she stayed home with their twins and sextuplets. Weeks later they used their enormously popular TLC reality show, "Jon & Kate Plus 8", to admit what fans had begun to suspect: Their marriage was on the rocks. Soon they announced that they were divorcing, but would continue filming -- albeit separately -- their series, which for four seasons had chronicled the highs and lows of their family life. It all appeared to be relatively civil until Jon began stepping out with his new girlfriend, moved to a bachelor pad in New York and appeared to be living the high life with shopping sprees and designer duds. Jon took to the airwaves to reveal that he "despised Kate." Kate lamented that she missed "the Jon I knew." TLC announced in October that the reality show would continue as "Kate Plus 8" and Jon immediately called a halt to filming, claiming the series was doing damage to their children. Within days, Kate accused Jon of making off with more than $200,000 from their joint bank account. A judge ordered him to return $180,000 to the account. Watch a discussion about the Gosselin's money madness » Through it all, both have maintained they each have the best interests of their children at heart. Child psychologist Joanne Pedro-Carroll said the Gosselins are in a precarious position. "It's very concerning, especially given how public this is and the children's young ages, which makes them especially vulnerable," Pedro-Carroll said. "One of the things we know with really young children is that they are prone to misconceptions about the reasons for the breakup." While Jon and Kate haven't so far added a bitter custody dispute to their matrimonial melee, Pedro-Carroll said she worries about the long-term effect on the young Gosselins. "Sadly, the things that are happening now, with all of this conflict and having it be so public | [
"Whose divorce is playing out before the public?",
"Who were divorce?",
"Who join a growing list of celebs?",
"Who said sometimes it is hard for stars to listen to advisers?",
"Who's marital woes are being currently played out in the public?"
] | [
[
"Kate and Jon Gosselin"
],
[
"Kate and Jon Gosselin"
],
[
"The Gosselins"
],
[
"Kessler"
],
[
"Kate and Jon Gosselin"
]
] | Jon and Kate Gosselin's divorce is playing out before the public .
They join a growing list of celebs whose marital woes have been documented .
Celebrity lawyer says it is sometimes hard for stars to listen to advisers .
Professor: Gosselins can be a cautionary tale for viewers . |
(CNN) -- They scream germs: Used gum. A flock of pigeons. A tomb covered with kisses. The Blarney Stone in Ireland received more than 400,000 visitors in 2008, many who kissed the lucky stone. These bacteria-infested attractions have topped an unusual list compiled by editors at TripAdvisor.com, a travel advice Web site. This summer, editors at the site named the five "germiest" tourist spots in the world. Despite the H1N1 scare that went global this spring, tourists haven't stopped spitting out their gum and sticking it onto a wall already saturated with millions of gooey pieces, editors say. Nor do germ fears stop travelers from journeying to the pigeon-infested St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy, where the birds often bestow droppings. "These places are great attractions regardless of the fact that they are 'germy'," said Brooke Ferencsik, a travel expert at TripAdvisor. "Venice is lovely, and it's a great spot, but with all the pigeons, I'd bring an umbrella just in case the birds drop some gifts from above." Though it is unlikely to get sick from visiting one of these places, health experts say germs are always a gamble. The more people who touch and visit a spot, the more germs there are in the mix, they say. Their traveling advice? Travelers should load up on hand sanitizers and wash their hands often on their trips. Blarney Stone in Blarney, Ireland Where the Blarney Stone came from and how it got to Ireland is a matter of debate. One old tale goes: Once upon a time, the king of Ireland saved a woman drowning in Blarney Lake. The woman told the king that if he kissed the stone, he would receive the gift of eloquence. Thus, the tradition of kissing the Blarney stone was born. Watch where you can find germ hotspots » Last year, about 400,000 people kissed the stone, says a spokesman for Blarney Castle & Gardens. To do so, the person must be hung upside down to kiss the rock. Some people prefer watching to smooching. Chuck Gerba, a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, visited the Blarney Stone in Ireland last year and refused to kiss the same spot where millions of tourists had put their lips. "My wife did it," he added. "And I wiped her lips before I kissed her." Market Theater Gum Wall in Seattle, Washington There is a distinct fruity aroma that welcomes visitors when they pass the giant wall of gum housing millions of chewed pieces in Seattle. The gum -- pink, blue, yellow and green -- is piled several inches thick, spanning an area 15 feet high and 50 feet wide. Watch the wall of gum » The Gum Wall, also dubbed the Wall of Gum, is one of the strangest attractions in Pike Place Market, where visitors can go to watch fish throwers and see the original Starbucks. "People will do artwork with the gum," said Jay Hitt, the marketing director of the Market Theater. "They write words on the wall, stick posters and business cards." The gum-sticking tradition began by accident in 1993 when patrons, mostly college students waiting in line for a show, would stick gum to the wall. Theater company workers say they scraped the gum routinely, but eventually gave up. Slowly the gum amassed. Today, there aren't any rules at the Gum Wall. Visitors from all over the world snap photos next to it and leave as many pieces of their own gum as they want. St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy In the heart of Venice, Italy, lies St. Mark's Square, also known as Piazza San Marco, where both tourists and pigeons flock. Each year, more than 2 million visitors venture to St. Mark's Square to see the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica. Thousands of the dirty birds crowd the square sometimes leaving their droppings or attacking visitors. Some fearless visitors who aren't worried about germs snap | [
"What is covered with an aeeat of lipstick kisses?",
"Where is the Blarney Stone?",
"What will tourist try to make?",
"What do more than 400000 visitors kiss in Ireland?",
"What is the tomb of Oscar Wilde covered with in France?"
] | [
[
"tomb"
],
[
"Ireland"
],
[
"sometimes"
],
[
"The Blarney"
],
[
"kisses."
]
] | More than 400,000 visitors kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland in 2008 .
Tourists will try to make artwork with their chewed gum on Seattle's Gum Wall .
Oscar Wilde's tomb in Paris, France is covered with an array of lipstick kisses .
The Grauman Chinese Theatre that houses celebrity hand prints is washed daily . |
(CNN) -- They share a deep sorrow: an idealistic American who tried to protect the Kurds of Iraq, a Canadian general who refused to follow orders in Rwanda, a French priest who fought for the soul of Cambodia.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour traveled to the killing fields of Europe, Africa and Asia for "Scream Bloody Murder."
Each one tried to focus the world's attention on the world's most heinous crime: genocide. Each time, they were shunned, ignored or told it was someone else's problem.
To understand why, CNN's Christiane Amanpour traveled to the killing fields of Europe, Africa and Asia for a two-hour documentary, "Scream Bloody Murder."
Having reported on mass atrocities around the world, this time Amanpour traced the personal accounts of those who tried to stop the slaughter.
The yearlong CNN investigation found that instead of using a U.N. treaty outlawing genocide as a springboard to action, political leaders have invoked reason after reason to make intervention seem unnecessary, pointless and even counter-productive. Map: See the locations featured in the documentary »
December marks the 60th anniversary of the U.N.'s Genocide Convention, when -- in the aftermath of the Holocaust -- the nations of the world pledged to prevent and punish future attempts to eliminate ethnic, religious and national groups. Read the 1948 Genocide Convention (pdf)
"The Genocide Convention should have stopped genocide, but it didn't," said Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel. Intervention is a daunting challenge, he believes, because of a tendency to minimize accounts from refugees and victims. "It's better not to believe, because if you believe, you don't sleep nights. And how can you eat? How can you drink a glass of wine when you know?" See images from locations in the documentary »
1970s: Cambodia
Father François Ponchaud was a Catholic missionary in Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge guerillas -- communist revolutionaries -- seized power in 1975. They expelled all foreigners from the country.
But working from France, Ponchaud gathered refugee accounts and monitored radio broadcasts to document the slave labor, torture and executions the Khmer Rouge were using to kill one-fourth of Cambodia's population.
He published his findings in a major French newspaper and wrote a book, "Year Zero." But even so, Ponchaud tells Amanpour, "No one believed us." Watch a behind-the-scenes look at the making of 'Scream Bloody Murder' »
1980s: Iraq
CNN found that intervention is often weighed against political and economic costs.
Declassified U.S. government documents show that while Saddam Hussein was gassing Iraqi Kurds, the U.S. opposed punishing Iraq with a trade embargo because it was cultivating Iraq as an ally against Iran and as a market for U.S. farm exports.
According to Peter Galbraith, then an idealistic Senate staffer determined to stop Hussein from committing genocide, the Reagan administration "got carried away with their own propaganda. They began to believe that Saddam Hussein could be a reliable partner." Read once-secret U.S. documents
1990s: Bosnia
Even extensive news coverage may not lead to intervention.
During the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the media reported on the Bosnian Serbs' ethnic cleansing of Muslims: the siege of Sarajevo, the concentration camps, the use of rape as a weapon of war.
It was like watching "a color remake of the black-and-white scenes we'd seen in World War II," said U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, whose Jewish grandfather fled Germany when Adolf Hitler came to power.
Holbrooke was an early advocate for a U.S.-led military operation against the Bosnian Serbs.
"I took a stand that I believed was correct," he told Amanpour. "I didn't think it was so controversial."
But it would take three years -- and the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica -- for Holbrooke to make his case within the Clinton administration.
1994: Rwanda
In Rwanda, where Hutu soldiers and militias massacred their Tutsi countrymen, the Clinton administration | [
"December marks what anniversary?",
"Who has tried to focus on the world's genocide?",
"What network does Christiane Amanpour work for",
"who traveled to the world's killing fields?",
"when is the aniversary?",
"What will happen in December?",
"What does December mark?",
"What have voices tried to focus on",
"Who traveled to the world's killing fields?"
] | [
[
"60th"
],
[
"Each one"
],
[
"CNN's"
],
[
"Christiane Amanpour"
],
[
"December"
],
[
"marks the 60th anniversary of the U.N.'s Genocide Convention,"
],
[
"the 60th anniversary of the U.N.'s Genocide Convention,"
],
[
"genocide."
],
[
"Christiane Amanpour"
]
] | December marks the 60th anniversary of the U.N.'s Genocide Convention .
A few strong voices have since tried to focus the world's attention on genocide .
Each time they were shunned, ignored or told it was someone else's problem .
CNN's Christiane Amanpour traveled to the world's killing fields to understand why . |
(CNN) -- They were fathers and daughters, tycoons and spiritualists, Westerners and Asians, who were in Mumbai for different reasons. But they met the same fate in the indiscriminate path of gunfire and explosions in a string of terror attacks across the Indian city this week. Kia Scherr, left, has told CNN that her husband, Alan Scherr, and daughter Naomi were killed in Mumbai. At least 183 people were killed this week in attacks on several high-traffic landmarks, many of which tourists frequent. Their deaths have torn families and communities apart, and many more have yet to be confirmed. Small snapshots of the victims have begun to emerge, most of them pertaining to foreigners. Limited reports have circulated about victims from India. A father and daughter from a Virginia meditation group were among five Americans confirmed dead, the U.S. State Department said Friday. Kia Scherr told CNN on Friday that her husband, Alan, 58, and daughter, Naomi, 13, were killed. She said she knew her husband and daughter were dining at the Oberoi, a Mumbai hotel, when gunfire broke out Wednesday night. Scherr said she last spoke to them Thursday. Watch friends tell the story of the Scherrs' visit to Mumbai » The father and daughter had been in India since November 17 and were due to leave Monday, Scherr said. A spokeswoman for The Synchronicity Foundation, a meditation group based near Charlottesville, Virginia, said the two were among 25 members of the group who were visiting India. The other Synchronicity people who were staying at the Oberoi "are accounted for and safe," the group's Web site said. Hemant Karkare, Anti-Terrorism Squad chief for Maharashtra state, was among at least 16 members of Indian law enforcement officers killed in the attacks. Mumbai is in Maharashtra. Karkare was leading an offensive against gunmen late Wednesday when he was shot three times in the chest, CNN sister network CNN-IBN reported. Karkare, who joined the Indian Police Service in 1982, became ATS chief in January after spending seven years in Austria at the Research and Analysis Wing, Indian's external foreign intelligence agency, according to CNN-IBN. Five hostages, including a rabbi and his wife, were killed in a standoff at the Chabad House, said Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, a spokesman for Chabad-Lubavitch International in the United States. Watch: Rabbi and wife killed in Mumbai » Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, the city's envoy for the community, and his wife, Rivka, had been held hostage at the Chabad House, known as the Nariman House in Mumbai. The building houses the Mumbai headquarters of the Chabad community, a Hasidic Jewish movement. Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, was born in Israel and moved to Brooklyn, New York, with his parents when he was 9. Rivka, 28, was a native of Afula, Israel, the organization said. Watch the Chabad community in New York react » The Holtzbergs arrived in Mumbai in 2003 to serve the Jewish community there, Chabad-Lubavitch International said. "As emissaries to Mumbai, Gabi and Rivky gave up the comforts of the West in order to spread Jewish pride in a corner of the world that was a frequent stop for throngs of Israeli tourists," said Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, in a statement. Gavriel Holtzberg made a phone call to the Israeli Consulate to report that gunmen were in his house, the organization said. "In the middle of the conversation, the line went dead," the organization said. It did not say when the phone call took place. A cook at the center, who had barricaded herself in a room, grabbed the couple's son and escaped with another person, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported. The boy's 2nd birthday is Saturday, said Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of the Educational and Social Services arms of the Chabad-Lubavitch Movement. "Today, he became an orphan," Krinsky said at a news conference in | [
"What is the first name of the rabbi's wife?",
"How was Naomi related to Alan Scherr?",
"Where were Alan and Naomi Scherr from?",
"Where was the squad chief killed?",
"What state are Alan Scher and his daughter from?",
"What country are two of the dead from?",
"What is the name of the deceased Anti-Terrorism Squad chief?",
"What Rabbi was killed?",
"Who is CNN's sister network?",
"What is the name of the wife?",
"What squad did the chief work for?",
"Where was Alan Scherr from?",
"Where were Alan and Naomi Scherr from?",
"What caused the death of a yachting tycoon?",
"How is Naomi related to Alan Scherr?"
] | [
[
"Rivka,"
],
[
"daughter"
],
[
"Virginia"
],
[
"Mumbai"
],
[
"Virginia"
],
[
"Americans"
],
[
"Hemant Karkare,"
],
[
"Gavriel Noach Holtzberg,"
],
[
"CNN-IBN"
],
[
"Kia Scherr,"
],
[
"Anti-Terrorism"
],
[
"a Virginia meditation group"
],
[
"Virginia"
],
[
"terror attacks"
],
[
"daughter"
]
] | NEW: Two Canadians, yachting tycoon, sister of Bollywood actor among dead .
Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, wife Rivka confirmed dead at Chabad House in Mumbai .
Virginians Alan Scherr and daughter Naomi Scherr killed, family member says .
Anti-Terrorism Squad chief killed in offensive, CNN sister network CNN-IBN says . |
(CNN) -- They were taken before Marilyn Monroe became branded as the voluptuous blonde who oozed sex appeal in dozens of Hollywood films. A 24-year-old Marilyn Monroe poses for Life magazine in August 1950. They were taken before rumors of an affair with President John F. Kennedy swirled and her mental breakdowns became public. They were taken before the beautiful actress's mysterious overdose that resulted in her death at the age of 36. In a collection discovered by Life.com last month, unpublished photographs of Monroe reveal a softer, more innocent 24-year-old budding starlet in a more peaceful time, before her fame peaked. Her flawless face bears a natural look with minimal makeup, unusual for the star, who was often glamorized in photo shoots with lipstick, designer dresses and expensive jewelry. Monday would have been Monroe's 83rd birthday. In one photo, the young Monroe lies in bliss, reading on a park bench, which editors at Life.com believe was shot at Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California. In another, her face is serene as she is perched over a bridge barefoot. The shoot, which dates to 1950, was conducted by Life photographer Ed Clark. It's a side of Monroe that the American public has rarely seen. "She hasn't really exploded as a star, yet she was on the brink of something big," says Dawnie Walton, deputy editor at Life.com, a Web site harboring more than 7 million Life magazine photographs. The site was launched in March. "I was amazed looking at her face. Although she looks very innocent, there is something very ... sexy." Last month, Walton stumbled upon the rare photographs while combing through the company's digital photo archives. Apparently, no one at Life.com even knew they were ever taken. Upon investigating the photos, Walton says, she found there were few notes left on the negatives. She says the photos were probably taken for a cover shoot that was never used. Monroe appeared on her first Life magazine cover in 1952. See some of the previously unpublished photos of Monroe » "It just got lost and stowed away," Walton said. "It was just ... somewhere in a warehouse in New Jersey." At the time the photos were shot, Monroe had her first small breakout role as a mistress in "The Asphalt Jungle." The star was better known as a model at the time, though she'd had a handful of cameos in films. Photographer Ed Clark told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune a friend from 20th Century Fox alerted him that the studio had just signed "a hot tomato." "She was unknown then, so I was able to spend a lot of time shooting her," Clark said. "We'd go out to Griffith Park and she'd read poetry. I sent several rolls to Life in New York, but they wired back, 'Who the hell is Marilyn Monroe?' " Photographs later in the 1950s and early 1960s would display a much more confident and sexual Monroe -- images that would become iconic in popular culture. There is the famous photograph of a busty Monroe in a white halter dress, standing with her skirt blowing up in 1955 for her role in "The Seven Year Itch." In 1962, American photographer Bert Stern shot a tipsy, sometimes nude Monroe in a series of delicate shots that would be known as "The Last Sitting." Monroe died about six weeks later, on August 5, 1962. Life.com staff members say there are 15 million photographs in the Life archive dating back to the late 1850s, even before Life officially began publishing in 1936. Two years ago, the publication began slowly transferring the photographs into a digital archive. From time to time, unpublished photographs will be found that the company doesn't know existed. Other times, the photographs may have been taken but never selected to be used for publication. Last March, to commemorate the 11th anniversary of Frank Sinatra's death, Life.com released a series of unpublished photographs of the singer. In April, Life.com | [
"where were the pictures found?",
"where photos were taken",
"What did the photos taken in Los Angeles show?",
"who took photos",
"Which website has more than 7 million images?",
"where were the monrow photos taken?",
"How many images does Life.com have?",
"Where was the Monroe pictures located?",
"Where the photos of Monroe taken in California?",
"Where in New Jersey were the pictures found?",
"Who shot the unpublished photos of Monroe that surfaced Monday?"
] | [
[
"somewhere in a warehouse in New Jersey.\""
],
[
"Griffith"
],
[
"a softer, more innocent 24-year-old budding starlet in a more peaceful time,"
],
[
"Ed Clark."
],
[
"Life.com,"
],
[
"Griffith"
],
[
"7 million"
],
[
"Life magazine"
],
[
"Park in Los Angeles, California."
],
[
"somewhere in a warehouse in"
],
[
"Life photographer Ed Clark."
]
] | Unpublished photos of Monroe shot by a Life photographer surfaced in May .
The photos, taken in Los Angeles, California, show a more innocent Monroe .
Life.com has over 7 million images, and lost images are occasionally recovered .
The Monroe pictures were "in a warehouse in New Jersey" |
(CNN) -- They were there for the view -- spectators awed by a vista of massive waves smashing against the rocky shore. A U.S. Coast Guard rescue boat reaches a man swept out to sea Sunday at Acadia National Park in Maine. But then one wave struck violently, sweeping three people into the churning ocean, one of them a 7-year-old girl. What spectator Mary Ellen Martel saw next were bodies bobbing along in the frothy waters. And in a heartbeat, a day of spectacular surf turned tragic. Watch a dramatic rescue at sea » Thousands of people flocked to the jagged shoreline of Maine's Acadia National Park on Sunday as Hurricane Bill weakened offshore on its trajectory north and delivered dramatic waves to the New England seaboard. "People were clapping and laughing when the wind would bring the spray over. It was a very festive atmosphere," Martel told CNN in a telephone interview. "It was a warm, sunny day, and everyone was just enjoying the show that Mother Nature was offering, but not everybody knows to stay away from the edge -- or way away from the edge." A section of the shore is known as Thunder Hole, a popular tourist attraction where waves crashing against the shore mimic the sound of thunder. But Sunday, conditions were such that even the walkway to Thunder Hole was closed for the safety of spectators. On a rock cliff about 20 feet above the sea, a wave struck about 11:50 a.m., pushing water onto the ankles of some of the people standing on "top of what we think would be a safe area," Acadia Chief Ranger Stuart West told CNN. People started to turn back, to get farther away from the edge, and then a second, monstrous wave hit them. The unrelenting sea dragged in seven onlookers, forcing four to claw their way back to shore but sweeping three others out into the chilly waters. Two were rescued, but 7-year-old Clio Axlerod of New York perished, West said. Watch preparations for the storm » Martel, a resident of Maine's Southwest Harbor for more than 35 years and a frequent park visitor, had come there with her husband, and she said she feels "pretty certain" she had been on the same ledge as the three victims swept out to sea. Martel had stood far enough back that the first wave did not affect her much, but when she saw the second coming, she turned her back to protect the camera she used to photograph the surf. She was doused from her shoulders down, she said. She said she knew then she had to get back to the road that led to the area. "When I looked [back], everybody was scrambling to get off the ledge," she said. Her husband, a volunteer firefighter, ran back to offer his help and overheard a woman say that her husband and daughter were swept away from the spot where the Martels and maybe 30 others had been, she said. U.S. Coast Guard rescuers arrived about 20 minutes after the first call and had the tough task of finding the three drifting in the rough seas. "Of course, trying to locate a head in frothy, agitated water like it was is a very difficult operation," West said. "But the rangers on the shore could still spot them." Martel saw bobbing buoys out in the distance, but not until she used a zoom lens on her camera could she tell the buoys from the bodies, she said. At 12:52 p.m., the Coast Guard picked up Simone Pelletier, 12, of Belfast, Maine, and Peter Axlerod, 55, Clio's father. The 7-year-old was found at 3:32 p.m., West said in a statement. Petty Officer Dayton Trubee of the Coast Guard said he was not present during the rescue effort, but heard from his colleagues what happened when they grabbed Peter Axlerod out of the sea's grip. "They told me when they pulled them on board he was exhausted," Trubee said. "He really didn't have any idea | [
"How many were swept out to sea?",
"What did enormous waves do?",
"What age was the girl killed?",
"How many people died?",
"Where did people flock to?",
"How many people were rescued?",
"To which seashore do they flock?",
"Who flocked to Maine?"
] | [
[
"three people"
],
[
"sweeping three people into the churning ocean,"
],
[
"7-year-old"
],
[
"three"
],
[
"Maine's Acadia National Park"
],
[
"Two"
],
[
"jagged shoreline of Maine's Acadia National Park"
],
[
"Thousands of people"
]
] | People flock to Maine seashore to watch waves stirred up by Hurricane Bill .
Enormous wave takes spectators by surprise, sweeps three out to sea .
Two are rescued from pounding surf, but 7-year-old girl dies . |
(CNN) -- They wore feathers. They wore fancy hats. And of course, they wore fur. Never mind the human -- the dog in haute couture was the fashionistas' focus during Pet Fashion Week. But the models strutting down the runway were of the four-legged variety. The glamorous pooches were accompanied by human models -- but the furry ones were getting all the attention. It was Pet Fashion Week New York and these canines were not wearing the boring plaid raincoats that have sold for years. They were wearing one-of-kind design creations. The show last weekend was aimed at owners of sophisticated canines who may be willing to pay for their pup's own stylist. Booths at the annual event features couture clothing, jewelry and other accessories for the well-dressed doggie -- all part of the $40 billion pet industry. E-mail to a friend | [
"What encourages pushing the envelope in style?",
"What were on display?",
"Who ruled in New York during Pet Fashion Week>",
"What kind of designs were there?",
"Who trotted down the runway?",
"Who ruled during the week?",
"What items were on display?",
"What trotted down the runway?"
] | [
[
"Pet Fashion Week New York"
],
[
"dog in haute couture"
],
[
"the dog in haute couture"
],
[
"couture clothing, jewelry and other accessories for the well-dressed doggie"
],
[
"glamorous pooches"
],
[
"the dog"
],
[
"couture clothing, jewelry and other accessories for the well-dressed doggie"
],
[
"glamorous pooches"
]
] | Dogs ruled in New York during Pet Fashion Week .
Dazzling couture designs trotted down the runway .
Upscale pet accessories, apparel, and lifestyle items on display .
Design awards encourage pushing the envelope in style . |
(CNN) -- They're big, strong, and fierce -- and they wear little blue booties. The police dogs in Duesseldorf, Germany are now patrolling the pavement in protective shoes that their police-officer handlers strap onto their paws. The reason? Too many glass shards left by beer drinkers in the city center, said Andre Hartwich, a spokesman for police in Duesseldorf. "We wondered how can we protect our dogs' feet against glass," said Hartwich. "We looked on the Internet and found these shoes." Beer drinkers along the Rhine River and in the city's Altstadt, or Old Town, often discard beer bottles on pebbled walkways. Broken glass poses a problem for the police force's 20 German Shepherds and Belgian Shepherds, Hartwich said. In addition, hooligans and vandals leave behind glass shards around New Year's Eve and during the city's famous Carnival celebrations. So what's a dog to do? Their handlers shelled out 60 euros -- $89 -- for shoes that are also worn by dogs who walk on ice in Alaska. Dogs need a month of training to get used to wearing the shoes, Hartwich said. "We have to condition the dogs to the shoes," he said. E-mail to a friend | [
"Where police dogs are now wearing protective shoes?",
"What has been left by beer drinkers?",
"Who else wears protective shoes?",
"What have beer drinkers left?",
"What kind of dogs are wearing protective shoes?",
"What do dog shoes cost?",
"What are police dogs now wearing?",
"What was the reason that the dogs wear protective shoes?",
"What is the reason for giving them shoes?",
"What do the shoes cost?",
"What are police dogs wearing?",
"Who also wore dog shoes?"
] | [
[
"Duesseldorf, Germany"
],
[
"glass shards"
],
[
"Duesseldorf, Germany"
],
[
"glass shards"
],
[
"police"
],
[
"60 euros"
],
[
"protective shoes"
],
[
"Too many glass shards left by beer drinkers in the city center,"
],
[
"Too many glass shards left by beer drinkers in the city center,"
],
[
"$89"
],
[
"protective shoes"
],
[
"walk"
]
] | Police dogs in Duesseldorf, Germany are now wearing protective shoes .
Glass shards left by beer drinkers in the city center are the reason .
Duesseldorf police force has 20 German and Belgian Shepherds .
Dogs shoes cost €60 ($89) and are also worn by dogs who walk on ice in Alaska . |
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