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BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie has asked Thailand to permit greater freedom for thousands of refugees stuck in camps after fleeing neighboring Myanmar, according to a U.N. statement released Friday. Angellina Jolie and Brad Pitt visited refugees in northern Thailand on Wednesday. Jolie and actor Brad Pitt traveled to a refugee camp in northern Thailand on Wednesday in effort to draw international attention to what the U.N. has called "restricted" movement of roughly 111,000 refugees housed in nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, the statement said. Jolie has spent several years as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. She said her passion for helping refugees, whom she calls "the most vulnerable people in the world," was sparked in 2001 during visits to Cambodia." The U.N. estimates more than 5,000 people have fled to northern Thailand's Mae Hong Son province between 2006 and 2007. A recent CNN investigation found evidence of the Thai army towing an apparent boatload of 190 Rohingya refugees -- a Muslim minority group from Myanmar -- out to sea, prompting Thai authorities to launch an investigation. CNN's Dan Rivers and Kocha Olarn contributed to this report. | [
"Who fled Myanmar?",
"What city did the refugees flee from?",
"What leaders did Angelina Jolie address?",
"What is Angelina Jolie's title that is mentioned?",
"Jolie is a goowill amabassador for what?",
"Who called on Thai leaders?",
"Number of refugees still stuck in camps?",
"How many refugees are stuck in camps?",
"What country did the refugees leave from?",
"Who is the current goodwill ambassador?"
] | [
[
"thousands of refugees"
],
[
"Myanmar,"
],
[
"Thailand"
],
[
"goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees."
],
[
"U.N. High Commissioner"
],
[
"Angelina Jolie"
],
[
"111,000"
],
[
"roughly 111,000"
],
[
"Myanmar,"
],
[
"Angelina Jolie"
]
] | Angelina Jolie calls on Thai leaders to grant more freedom to refugees .
Thousands of refugees are stuck in camps after fleeing Myanmar .
Jolie is currently goodwill ambassador for U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees . |
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Scores of boat people who fled Myanmar and are now in Thailand are to be sent back despite human rights groups' concerns they could be tortured or killed upon return.
A photograph released by the Thai navy shows a group of men captured on December 12.
"They will have to be sent back, according to our law," Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told CNN. "They are entering the country illegally. We do what they would do."
The 12 boys and 66 men who arrived are among thousands of members of the Rohingya minority who have fled Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, because of persecution and in search of a better life.
Many of them make it across a dangerous sea crossing in crowded boats to Thailand where they are housed in camps. But the Thai navy has been accused of forcing the boats back out to sea.
The 78 people targeted for deportation are being held in Ranong, in southern Thailand. Two remain in hospital and no date has been set for the forced repatriation, an immigration official said.
But human rights groups are concerned about what will happen to the men and boys when they return. Watch how crowded boats were towed out to sea and abandoned »
"We know as a point of fact that there are Rohingya who've been returned to Myanmar who have ended up in prison," Benjamin Zawacki, from Amnesty International, said.
"The Myanmar government has interviewed these 78. Our fear is that if these people are sent back, the government has a record of who they are, where their families are," Zawacki said. "They may be tortured and or they could even be killed. That wouldn't be out of the question -- that is the real fear."
Sunai Phasuk, Thailand-Burma researcher for Human Rights Watch, said that the Rohingya had the "unenviable distinction of being the most blighted" people in Myanmar.
"Denied citizenship, subject to tight restrictions on movement, employment and religious freedoms, this Muslim minority have been the target of abuses by the Burmese military for decades," he said.
"Today they face serious risks of state violence and coercion, in part arising from preparations to build a pipeline through their region that will deliver offshore gas to China. Already reports are emerging of forced relocations and other abuses tied to gas exploitation."
The Myanmar government has not responded to CNN's request for an interview, but the plight of the Rohingya will be discussed at this weekend's ASEAN summit of South-East Asian nations, which the Myanmar prime minister and foreign minister are expected to attend. However, the man that effectively runs the country, Senior General Than Shwe, will not attend.
Thai Prime Minister Vejjajiva has stressed the need for regional cooperation to help solve the problem of the thousands of Rohingya fleeing Myanmar. His government views them as economic migrants rather than political refugees and said it cannot accommodate them in Thailand.
A recent CNN investigation found evidence that the Thai army was towing boatloads of Rohingya out to sea and cutting them adrift. Hundreds are thought to have died as a result.
Vejjajiva said the practice has stopped and insisted the Rohingya were given supplies of food and water. "We regret some of the incidents that have happened in the past. They are now being corrected," he said. | [
"What is the persecution for?",
"Who will Thailand deport?",
"What will they face if they return?",
"Where did they flee from?"
] | [
[
"\"Denied citizenship, subject to tight restrictions on movement, employment and religious freedoms, this Muslim minority have been the target of abuses by the Burmese military"
],
[
"boat people"
],
[
"tortured or killed"
],
[
"Myanmar"
]
] | Thailand to deport nearly 80 men and boys .
They are among thousands of a minority to flee Myanmar amid reports of persecution .
Human rights groups fear the Rohingya will face murder, torture if sent back . |
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, has been hospitalized with fever and fatigue, the royal palace said Sunday. King Bhumibol Adulyadej attends a celebration of his 81st birthday in Bangkok on December 2, 2008. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 81, was admitted to a Bangkok hospital on Saturday night. Doctors are monitoring his condition while administering antibiotics and intravenous fluid, the statement from the Royal Household Bureau said. The statement was carried by Thai News Agency and other local media. The king was formally crowned on May 5, 1950. Watch why king's health is big issue » Thailand abolished absolute monarchy in the 1930s, so the king wields little power although he last month appealed for unity amid Thailand's four-year-long political crisis. He remains a deeply revered figure and enjoys immense popularity. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters on Sunday that the king visited hospital on doctors' advice. "There is no problem with His Majesty's conditions. From my chats with doctors, there is nothing to be concerned about," Abhisit said after signing a visitors' log book at the hospital, according to Reuters.com. | [
"is he ok today",
"Who is Thailand's king?",
"Who enjoys immense popularity?",
"What was the king hospitalized for?",
"Who is the world's longest reigning monarch?",
"Who is the world's longest regning monarch?",
"Thailand's King is hospitalized with what?",
"what was he diagnosed with"
] | [
[
"\"There is no problem with His Majesty's conditions. From my chats with doctors, there is nothing to be concerned about,\" Abhisit said"
],
[
"Bhumibol Adulyadej,"
],
[
"Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej,"
],
[
"fever and fatigue,"
],
[
"Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej,"
],
[
"Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej,"
],
[
"fever and fatigue,"
],
[
"fever and fatigue,"
]
] | Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej is hospitalized with fever and fatigue .
King Bhumibol Adulyadej is world's longest-reigning monarch .
King wields little power but is deeply revered and enjoys immense popularity . |
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Thailand's military has denied abusing refugee boat-people from Myanmar after claims some were whipped on a tourist beach and hundreds more left dead or missing after being towed at to sea without food and water. Photograph released by Thai navy showing a group of illegal immigrants captured on December 12. Photos showing refugees being made to lie face down on a popular beach and media reports claiming refugees been deliberately lost at sea have sparked concerns for their safety. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says it is "concerned" about the fate of the Muslim ethnic minority Rohingya people, who have fled from Myanmar's border with Bangladesh. The agency says it has written a formal note to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking for clarification of what is happening. CNN spoke to one Australian tourist, who declined to be named for fear of being barred from Thailand, who says boat-people were "whipped" by Thai guards on popular diving resort island in the Similan Archipelago last month. Local media also report claims by Rohingya survivors that the Thai military have been detaining hundreds of them an island called Koh Sai Daeng before towing them back out into open water without supplies. The survivors say hundreds of them drowned and only the lucky ones made it to the Indian Andaman Islands or Indonesia's Aceh province. The Thai Navy denies knowledge of the incident. Rear Admiral Naris Pratumsuwan told CNN "as a normal practice, if Navy finds illegal immigrants, we will hand them over to related authorities, e.g. police or immigration police." He said he had not received any information on an island where migrants are being detained. There were reports of another boatload of 46 Rohingya detained by the Thai military Friday, but there was no official confirmation. The Rohingya have been fleeing persecution of the hard-line military regime in Myanmar, formerly Burma, for years and often seek refuge in Malaysia. Boat loads of Rohingya arriving in Thailand is nothing new, but non-governmental organizations are increasingly worried about what they say is an apparent change of government policy. They say the army's Internal Security Operations Command is forcing the Rohingya out to sea rather than deporting them overland back to Myanmar. "The Thai government is taking highly vulnerable people and risking their lives for political gain," says Refugee International's Sean Garcia says. "It should be engaging the Burmese government on improving conditions at home for the Rohingya if it wants to stem these flows. "The Rohingya will continue to make the journey because they have no hope for a better life in Burma. Pushing them back out to sea is not an effective deterrent it just jeopardizes lives." | [
"What is the Thai military denying?",
"Where are the refugees from?",
"What did the witnesses say?",
"Where was Rohingya whipped, according to witnesses?"
] | [
[
"abusing refugee boat-people from Myanmar"
],
[
"Myanmar"
],
[
"boat-people were \"whipped\" by Thai guards"
],
[
"on a tourist beach"
]
] | Thai military denies abusing refugees from Myanmar .
Witnesses say ethnic Rohingya whipped face down on tourist beach .
Reports say hundreds missing after being towed back out to sea . |
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- The wife of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in Thailand Tuesday morning to face corruption charges, promising to fight the accusations, her attorney said. Pojamarn Shinawatra with her husband Thaksin Shinawatra. According to Pichit Chuenban, Pojamarn Shinawatra was presented with an arrest warrant shortly after arriving at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport and was escorted by authorities to the Supreme Court. "She intends to fight all charges through judicial system," Pichit said. Greeted by about 50 well-wishers, Pojamarn arrived at court accompanied by her three children. She faces charges stemming from a Bangkok land deal and a stock concealment plan that could put her in jail for up to eight years, according to the Thai News Agency. The court released her on 5 million baht (about $168,000) bail and ordered her not to leave the country. On Monday, Thaksin's attorney Noppadon Pattama said the former prime minister would return from exile in mid-April to answer to the same charges his wife faces. He was deposed by a military junta in Sept. 2006 and fled to London. He plans to return after Thailand's new government is in place. In December's parliamentary elections, supporters of Thaksin, the People Power Party, won nearly half the seats in the lower house and will lead the ruling coalition. PPP leader Samak Sundaravej said a new parliament controlled by his party would pass an amnesty law to allow Thaksin's return and amend the constitution to let Thaksin get back into politics. Thaksin said he would not re-enter politics when he returned to Thailand. He said that he and his family had "suffered enough" but that he wanted to face the charges against him and prove his innocence. Thaksin is a 58-year-old telecommunications tycoon who owns the English Premier League Manchester City Football Club. Thaksin's party won two landslide victories before he was deposed. E-mail to a friend | [
"could she face many years in prison",
"who faced corruption charges?",
"who is Thaksin?",
"who was handed arrest warant?",
"who faces corruption charges that could imprison her for 20 years?",
"who was involved in the case?",
"what involves Pojamarn's 2003 purchase of some prime Bangkok real estate?"
] | [
[
"put her in jail for up to eight"
],
[
"wife of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra"
],
[
"ousted Prime Minister"
],
[
"Pojamarn Shinawatra"
],
[
"Pojamarn Shinawatra"
],
[
"Thaksin Shinawatra"
],
[
"stock concealment plan"
]
] | Thaksin Shinawatra's wife handed arrest warrant after she returns to Thailand .
Pojamarn Shinawatra faces corruption charges that could imprison her for 20 years .
The case involves Pojamarn's 2003 purchase of some prime Bangkok real estate . |
BARCELONA, Spain (CNN) -- Cell phone makers Tuesday pledged to end one of modern life's chief frustrations --- and introduce a universal charger for handsets by 2012.
An estimated 1.2 billion cell phones were sold in 2008, at least half of which were replacement handsets.
The GSMA (Groupe Speciale Mobile Association), which represents more than 750 of the world's cell phone operators, made the announcement at its annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Tuesday.
Under the scheme, phone makers have pledged that a majority of new handset models will include the universal charger by January 1 2012. The planned device will use a micro USB plug.
Aside from bringing relief to drawers stuffed full of redundant chargers, the GSMA stressed that the new device would reduce raw materials.
"The mobile industry has a pivotal role to play in tackling environmental issues and this programme is an important step that could lead to huge savings in resources, not to mention convenience for consumers," said Rob Conway, CEO and member of the board of the GSMA in a statement.
Last year an estimated 1.2 billion cell phones were sold, according to University of Southern Queensland data reported by the GSMA, of which handsets accounted for between 50 and 80 per cent. That equates to between 51,000 and 82,000 tonnes of chargers.
The GSMA hopes the initiative will slash the greenhouse gases that result from the manufacture and transport of chargers by 13.6 and 21.8 million tonnes each year.
"There is enormous potential in mobile to help people live and work in an eco-friendly way and with the backing of some or the biggest names in the industry, this initiative will lead the way," Conway added.
The GSMA says that companies which have signed up to the plan include 3 Group, AT&T, KTF, LG, mobilkom austria, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone. | [
"When will the new models have micro-USB chargers?",
"How many cell phones sold in 2008?",
"When will micro-USB be the majority?",
"What does the GSMA stand for?",
"What does GSMA represent?",
"What type of company is GSMA?",
"what type of chargers do the phones have now?"
] | [
[
"by January 1 2012."
],
[
"1.2 billion"
],
[
"January 1 2012."
],
[
"(Groupe Speciale Mobile Association),"
],
[
"more than 750 of the world's cell phone operators,"
],
[
"phone makers"
],
[
"universal"
]
] | The GSMA represents more than 750 of the world's cell-phone operators .
Plan is that majority of new models will have micro-USB charger by January 2012 .
An estimated 1.2 billion cell phones sold in 2008, at least half replacement handsets . |
BARCELONA, Spain (CNN) -- Google launched the latest salvo in the cellphone wars Tuesday with the unveiling of the newest handset to carry its Android platform. Google's Android platform goes head to head with Apple's iPhone. Unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Vodafone's HTC Magic smartphone will make its European bow in the UK, Spain, France and Germany in the coming months. In Italy it will be available under a non-exclusive contract. The Google-run handsets are regarded as the chief rivals to Apple's iPhones in the battle for the next generation of mobile devices. Google's latest foray into the cell phone market is seen by many as the beginnings of the Internet giant's attempts to dominate the industry. Some have expressed concerns that cell phone manufacturers, network operators and users will have little control over what data Google will be able to utilise from its software. Among critics is the LiMo Foundation, representing Linux-based operating system LiMo, which has launched its own cell phone platform, according to Congress organizer Groupe Speciale Mobile Association's daily newsletter. "A lot of operators still harbor some questions over whether they will have the control over services and how much of the data that is going out and coming from a Google device goes to Google and how much to you [the operator]," LiMo's Andrew Shikiar told Mobile Business Briefing. Users of both the Apple and Google models can download applications developed by third-parties from open-source software, potentially giving them the capability of small handheld computers. The first Android-capable handset, the G1, was launched last year. It partnered with T-Mobile for its UK launch, its first foray into the European market. The HTC Magic includes a 3.2-inch QVGA touch screen display, navigational buttons and a trackball. It also comes with several Google applications including Google Mail, Google Maps and Google Search as well as YouTube, which is owned by Google. Andy Rubin, Senior Director of Mobile Platforms at Google, said that the launch of the HTC Magic was an important step for Android. "With it, Vodafone is opening up the mobile web for consumers across Europe and giving more third-party developers a platform on which they can build the next wave of killer applications," Rubin said. CNN's Adrian Finighan, who is at the congress, said that as an iPhone user he had spent much of his time at this year's event looking for something to rival his device. "The Magic is, well, magic! I think I've found it. It really is the first device that I could consider swapping my beloved Apple device for." | [
"What is set to launch in a few months?",
"What features does the HTC Magic handset include?",
"What does the new device include?",
"Who makes the HTC Magic handset?",
"What will launch?",
"Where will the HTC Magic handset launch?",
"The TMobile G1 was launched when?",
"The T-Mobile GI is the first what?"
] | [
[
"Vodafone's HTC Magic smartphone"
],
[
"3.2-inch QVGA touch screen display, navigational buttons and a trackball."
],
[
"3.2-inch QVGA touch screen display, navigational buttons and a trackball."
],
[
"Vodafone's"
],
[
"HTC Magic smartphone"
],
[
"Mobile World Congress in Barcelona,"
],
[
"last year."
],
[
"Android-capable handset,"
]
] | Vodafone's HTC Magic handset will launch in western Europe in the next few months .
The first Android-capable handset, T-Mobile's G1, was launched last year .
New device includes a 3.2-inch touch screen display, navigational buttons, trackball . |
BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona are ready for twice world player of the year Ronaldinho to move on, said club president Joan Laporta. Ronaldinho is expected to leave Barcelona this summer after struggling for form last season. Laporta told the Catalan TV3 station that the Brazilian midfielder, who struggled with injuries and poor form last season, needed new challenges in his career. "When the wheel turns, it's normal that the key figures leave," Laporta said. "I would like Ronaldinho to be given a great send-off so that he is remembered for all he has given us and that if he didn't do any more it was because the circumstances wouldn't allow it. "Last year, we thought that it might be the year to sell him, but given his enthusiasm and the appreciation that a club like Barcelona needs to have, we decided to let him stay on. Things haven't turned out the way he wanted them to." Laporta recognized that it might not be easy to sell Ronaldinho, who suffered a series of injury and fitness problems this season and made the starting line-up in only 13 of 38 league matches. Ronaldinho last played for Barcelona in the 2-1 loss at home to Villarreal on March 9, has suffered muscle pain in his right leg been out of action ever since. AC Milan showed an interest in signing him and his brother Robert De Assis said personal terms had been agreed. But the clubs failed to reach agreement over a transfer fee. After a second successive season without a trophy Barcelona announced on May 7 that Rijkaard would leave at the end of the season and be replaced by former player Josep Guardiola. "We decided that if Frank did not continue then we would choose Guardiola because Pep possessed the necessary humility," said Laporta. "We didn't think about coaches like Mourinho or (Rafa) Benitez, who are both great coaches, but aren't right for Barcelona. So we told Rijkaard that when he left Guardiola would take his place." Barca's arch-rivals Real Madrid, who lifted another Spanish title this season, have signed their first newcomer for the next campaign by paying a reported 10 million euros ($15.5 million) for Argentine defender Ezequiel Garay from Racing Santander. Marca newspaper said the 21-year-old Argentine had signed a six-year contract. Meanwhile, reports that Real could be making a move for Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo were dismissed by coach Bernd Schuster. "I prefer to spend my time talking about things that have some bearing to reality," he told a press conference. Marca had reported that Real were still interested in buying Ronaldo who has put off all talk of his future until after the Champions League final. | [
"Who wants to leave the club?",
"Barcelona are ready to let Brazilian international Ronaldinho leave the club",
"What club will it let the Ronaldinho leave?",
"Who needs new challenges?",
"Who has been replaced already?",
"Who are Barcelona ready to let leave the club?",
"Who replaces Frank Rijkaard?"
] | [
[
"Ronaldinho"
],
[
"move on,"
],
[
"Barcelona"
],
[
"Ronaldinho"
],
[
"Rijkaard"
],
[
"Ronaldinho"
],
[
"Josep Guardiola."
]
] | Barcelona are ready to let Brazilian international Ronaldinho leave the club .
Club president Joan Laporta says that Ronaldinho needs new challenges .
Barcelona have already replaced coach Frank Rijkaard with Pep Guardiola . |
BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona's Argentina striker Lionel Messi will be out of action for six weeks after tearing a muscle in his left leg during Tuesday night's 1-0 Champions League victory over Celtic. Messi is helped off the pitch after injuring his left thigh during Tuesday's 1-0 victory over Celtic. The Catalan club confirmed on Wednesday that Messi will miss both legs of Barcelona's Champions League quarterfinal encounter. It will also be a race against time for the 2007 World Player of the Year runner-up to be fit for the semifinals if Barcelona get past an opponent who will be named after the draw on March 14. Messi picked up the injury after 34 minutes during Barcelona's victory over the Scottish side, which booked their spot in the last eight by easing through 4-2 on aggregate. It is third time in the last three years that Messi has had the same injury, the last occasion being on December 15 against Valencia, which ruled him out of the 'El Clasico' derby the following week against Real Madrid. In addition to his chronic problems with his left thigh, Messi has had four other significant injuries in the last two years which have caused him to miss a month or more. Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard has been forced to defend the club's medical services in the wake of Messi's latest injury. "To doubt that they are doing their best is an insult. The medical staff and the club in general are working to prevent these sort of problems. They are working hard but there is always a player that can be injured," said Dutchman Rijkaard. Messi's injury reopens the door for Thierry Henry to claim his place in the starting lineup. The Frenchman has rarely impressed since his big-money move from Arsenal to the Spanish giants last summer. Rijkaard also has other options to replace Messi on the right flank in the shape of Portuguese international Deco or teenage Mexican winger Giovanni Dos Santos. E-mail to a friend | [
"When did the Argentine sustain the injury?",
"When did he sustain the injury?",
"Who was ruled out for six weeks with a thigh injury?",
"Who was ruled out?",
"Who has suffered this injury three times?",
"What is the number of times that Messi has suffered the same injury?",
"When did the injury occur?",
"Where is Messi from?",
"Who is out with a thigh injury?"
] | [
[
"Tuesday night's 1-0 Champions League victory over Celtic."
],
[
"Tuesday night's 1-0 Champions League victory"
],
[
"Lionel Messi"
],
[
"Lionel Messi"
],
[
"Lionel Messi"
],
[
"third"
],
[
"during Tuesday night's 1-0 Champions League victory"
],
[
"Argentina"
],
[
"Barcelona's Argentina striker Lionel Messi"
]
] | Barcelona striker Lionel Messi is ruled out for six weeks with a thigh injury .
The Argentine sustained the injury in Tuesday night's 1-0 victory over Celtic .
It is third time in the last three years that Messi has suffered the same injury . |
BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona's Brazilian forward Ronaldinho will miss most of the rest of the season after damaging a muscle in his right leg during training on Friday. Ronaldinho has had his least impressive season with Barcelona since joining them in 2003. The club announced that the injury would keep him on the sidelines for about six weeks. The 28-year-old Ronaldinho, twice world player of the year, has had his least impressive season with Barcelona since joining them from Paris St Germain in 2003 and has frequently been linked with a possible move away. His contract extends until 2010. Barcelona said that the Brazilian had been hurt in a "training accident", adding: " A scan carried out confirms that he has a torn muscle which will keep him off the pitch for a period of six weeks." Barcelona are third in the Spanish league with 58 points, seven points behind champions and leaders Real Madrid. E-mail to a friend | [
"what did he suffer?",
"What club announced that Ronaldinho had torn a muscle?",
"What type of injury did he sustain?",
"What Brazilian international suffered a leg injury?",
"What timeframe will the star miss?",
"what is expected about ronaldinho?",
"When did he suffer this injury?"
] | [
[
"torn muscle"
],
[
"Barcelona"
],
[
"torn muscle"
],
[
"Ronaldinho"
],
[
"about six weeks."
],
[
"will miss most of the rest of the season"
],
[
"during training on Friday."
]
] | Barcelona ace Ronaldinho is expected to be sidelined for around six weeks .
The Brazilian international forward suffered a leg injury while training this week .
The club announced that Ronaldinho had torn a muscle in a training 'accident' |
BASEL, Switzerland -- Turkey suffered a blow when Emre Belozoglu was ruled out of Wednesday's critical Group A clash against Euro 2008 co-hosts Switzerland after tearing a hamstring in training. Emre misses Turkey's critical Group A clash against Switzerland after tearing a hamstring in training. "Unfortunately, Emre is not going to play tomorrow," said Turkey coach Fatih Terim ahead of the game at Basel's St Jakob-Park Stadium. "He had an MRI and results have shown that there's an edema of two to three centimetres. "Not having Emre is a problem for us because his role is not that simple to cover by another player. But then again Switzerland will not have their injured captain Alexander Frei." Turkey will be sweating on the return of defensive duo Servet Cetin and Gokhan Zan, who will be given until the last minute to prove their fitness. "They have both had a hard time but they are really devoted to the team," said Terim. "We will make a decision on whether they will play tomorrow." Terim, whose side lost 2-0 against Portugal in their opening game, remains confident that his team can still qualify from the group stage. "Everyone is aware of how important this game is," he said. "We are confident in ourselves and I believe we will succeed in this tournament. For us, the game against Portugal wasn't the key but this one is. "Of course, every team wants to begin a competition with a win but it didn't happen but that doesn't mean that we can't do well. In Euro 2004, we started with a defeat and then we did well." Failure is not an option for Switzerland coach Kobi Kuhn, either. "You never consider the possibility of a defeat," he said. "We are aware that if we lost tomorrow, then the tournament for us would be reduced to just one game, against Portugal. "We have a young team that has a future but we are going to win tomorrow." Kuhn, whose side lost 1-0 to the Czech Republic in their first encounter, knows his men will face tough opposition, though. "Turkey are 12th in the world ranking and we are quite a bit away from there," he said. "But you can see that this is a strong team on its merits. We will have to fight hard to beat them." The last time both teams met was in a qualifying play-off for the 2006 World Cup, when Switzerland prevailed on away goals. The game was, however, marred by violent incidents involving players from both sides following the final whistle although Kuhn believes any ill feeling has passed. "This issue is almost three years old now and as in everyday life football evolves very quickly," he said. "This thing is over and done with." Switzerland will have all their players available with the exception of Frei, who has been ruled out for the tournament having sustained a knee injury in his team's opener. "Frei cannot play," said Kuhn. "But he is very important for us and he will remain with the team as he is such a big support for us." | [
"What position does Servet Cetin play?",
"Who is the Swiss captain?",
"Who are the co-hosts?",
"What type of injury did the Swiss captain have?",
"What person was the Swiss captain?",
"What kind of injury does Alexander Frei have?"
] | [
[
"defensive"
],
[
"Alexander Frei.\""
],
[
"Switzerland"
],
[
"knee"
],
[
"Alexander Frei.\""
],
[
"knee"
]
] | Midfielder Emre misses Turkey's Group A tie against co-hosts Switzerland .
Turkey sweating on the return of defensive duo Servet Cetin and Gokhan Zan .
Swiss captain Alexander Frei ruled out of rest of tournament with knee injury . |
BASRA, Iraq (CNN) -- The man, blindfolded and handcuffed, crouches in the corner of the detention center while an Iraqi soldier grills him about rampant crimes being carried out by gangs in the southern city of Basra. Iraqi authorities say this man has confessed to killing 15 girls, including a 9-year-old. "How many girls did you kill and rape?" the soldier asks. "I raped one, sir," the man responds. "What was her name?" "Ahlam," he says. Ahlam was a university student in the predominantly Shiite city of Basra. The detainee said the gang he was in kidnapped her as she was leaving the university, heading home. "They forced me, and I killed her with a machine gun, sir," he says. The suspect, who is unshaven and appears to be in his 20s or 30s, was arrested by Iraq security forces after they retook most of Basra in April. CNN was shown what authorities say was his first confession. On it are the names of 15 girls whom he admitted kidnapping, raping and killing. The youngest girl on the list was just 9 years old. Basra turned into a battleground between warring Shiite factions vying for control of the country's oil-rich south after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Basra's streets teemed with Shiite militias armed with weapons, mostly from Iran, according to the Iraqi forces and the U.S. military. Watch a mom describe her three sons killed » For four years after the invasion, Basra was under the control of British forces, but they were unable to contain the violence and withdrew in September last year. Women bore the brunt of the militias' extremist ideologies. The militants spray-painted threats on walls across Basra, warning women to wear headscarves and not to wear makeup. Women were sometimes executed for the vague charge of doing something "un-Islamic." In the wasteland on the outskirts of Basra, dotted with rundown homes, the stench of death mixes with the sewage. Local residents told the Iraqi army that executions often take place in the area, particularly for women, sometimes killed for something as seemingly innocuous as wearing jeans. Militias implemented their own laws with abandon, threatening stores for displaying mannequins with bare shoulders or for selling Western music. Many store owners are still too frightened to speak publicly. But the horrors of militia rule are now surfacing as some residents begin to feel more comfortable speaking out. Inside her rundown home, Sabriya's watery eyes peer out from under her robe. She points to the first photo of one of her sons on the wall. "This one was killed because he was drinking," she says. She draws her finger across her neck and gestures at the next photo. "This one was slaughtered for his car." "This one the same," she adds, looking at the third. Her three sons, her daughter and her sister were all killed by the hard-line militia. Her sister was slaughtered because she was a single woman living alone, Sabriya says. "They came in at night and put a pillow on her face and shot her in the head," she says. Sabriya lives on what was once dubbed "murder street" for the daily killings that happened there last year. On the day CNN visited, dozens of young men sat where there used to be piles of bodies. Sheik Maktouf al-Maraiyani shudders at the memory. "Every day, we would find 10 or 15 of our men killed," he says, adding sorrowfully "one of them was my son." His son was 25 years old. Now, "murder street" is part of a citywide effort to get Basra back on its feet. In a project funded by U.S. forces, Sheikh Maktouf and others are being paid $20 a day and upwards to clean up trash. Watch the transformation of 'murder street' » Basra may be part of the country's oil | [
"What does the man admit to?",
"Which residents have begun telling stories of militia massacres?",
"What were one moms son killed for?",
"Where are the residents who are telling stories?",
"what did mom say about the son?",
"what was stories told by Basra residents?",
"What was one son killed for?"
] | [
[
"killing 15 girls,"
],
[
"outskirts of Basra,"
],
[
"drinking,\""
],
[
"BASRA, Iraq"
],
[
"\"This one was killed because he was drinking,\""
],
[
"Iraqi army that executions often take place in the area,"
],
[
"drinking,\""
]
] | Residents of Basra have begun telling stories of militia massacres .
Mom says one son was killed for drinking alcohol, two others slain for their car .
Authorities: Man admits to killed 15 girls, including one 9 year old .
Dad in park says, "It's the first time that we have dared to come here in two years" |
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (CNN) -- The case of Mychal Bell, a black teenager accused of beating a white classmate in Jena, Louisiana, will be heard in juvenile court, Louisiana's governor announced Wednesday. Mychal Bell, 17, is accused with five others of beating Justin Barker in a school fight. Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that she discussed Bell's case with LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters on Wednesday, and that Walters agreed not to challenge a state appeals court ruling that dismissed Bell's battery and conspiracy convictions. The court ruled that Bell, who was 16 at the time of the beating, should have been tried in juvenile court instead of having the case transferred to adult court. Blanco made the announcement with civil rights leaders Martin Luther King III and Al Sharpton. Last week, they led about 15,000 marchers to Jena, a town of 3,000, to protest how authorities handled the cases of Bell and five other black teens accused of beating white high school student Justin Barker. Many said they are angry the students, dubbed the "Jena 6," are being treated more harshly than three white students who hung nooses from an oak tree on high school property. The white students were suspended from school but did not face criminal charges. The protesters say they should have been charged with a hate crime. Prosecutors originally charged all six black students with second-degree attempted murder and conspiracy The black students now face charges of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy in the schoolyard beating. The altercation was the culmination of racially tense events in the town, including two fights sparked by the hanging of the nooses. E-mail to a friend CNN's Eric Marrapodi contributed to this report. | [
"when did this happen?",
"Who was beaten?",
"what did the beating follow",
"Where will Bell's case be heard?",
"Whose case will be heard",
"What did she agree to",
"Who agreed to that?"
] | [
[
"Wednesday."
],
[
"Justin Barker"
],
[
"racially tense events in the town,"
],
[
"in juvenile court,"
],
[
"Mychal Bell,"
],
[
"challenge a state appeals court ruling that dismissed Bell's battery and conspiracy convictions."
],
[
"Walters"
]
] | Mychal Bell's case will be heard in juvenile court, Gov. Kathleen Blanco says .
LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters agreed to that, she said .
Bell and five other black teens are accused of beating white student Justin Barker .
Beating followed white students hanging nooses from a tree on school grounds . |
BAUCHI, Nigeria (CNN) -- The truck driver kept his hand on the horn, but resorted to shifting into first gear and used the full weight of his container truck to force his way through the over-crowded and narrow market street. In Nigeria, men burn broken computer equipment to collect reusable metals like copper. But the truck's rattling bulk, over-charged exhaust, and zealous horn only added extra rhythm to the cacophony of hawkers, hagglers, trucks and generators. This was just one of the many deliveries this morning for the big importers of Lagos's second-hand electronics Alaba market. "A lot of people are interested in buying computer -- just to know what is going on in the world," explained Gabriel Okonkwo, as he watched his latest shipment arrive. The doors of his container were thrown open to reveal an Aladdin's cave of second-hand treasures -- computers, stereos, printers and televisions. All were quickly passed down to a mob of eager hands, where they are quickly sold to the local electronic stores. Nigeria is desperate for cheap electronic goods to try and bridge the digital divide with the West. Watch a report showing piles of e-waste in Nigeria » It is estimated five hundred containers of second-hand electronics are imported to Nigeria every month. It is also estimated that three-quarters of these imported products are broken beyond repair. The figures come from a US-based Environmental group -- BASEL Action Network -- who warns that the broken electronics discarded at local dumpsites are a mounting environmental disaster. At one of the local dumpsites, young boys sift through the electronic waste looking for anything of worth. Cables and wires are burnt to get at re-usable metals like copper wire, a practice which releases toxic metals and chemicals harmful to the local population. "If you don't control it, there will be serious contamination and exposure of large populations to heavy metals from e-waste. Because it's a huge volume of waste we're talking about. And it's spreading," explains Oladele Osibanjo, the director for BASEL Nigeria. The irony is that many of these electronics were discarded by their original owners in the West for recycling. But not all second-hand computers shipped to Nigeria end up on the dumpsites. Traveling to northern Nigeria, we visited the Iya Abubakar Resource Center's IT training course -- attended by students, businessmen, and women. The Centre imports computers, but from charities like Computer Aid in the UK, to ensure they are reliable. For Aisha Hussain, the Center's director, it would be a waste not to use the business and education opportunities provided by the second-hand computers. "Once you empower someone you do not consider it as waste," she explained. "You empower the person socially, financially -- that shouldn't be referred to as waste because you've given that person a life." The Nigerian government has ordered a crackdown on the importation of harmful and waste electronics, and is supporting plans to build a recycling plant in the region. Over-seeing the re-sale of his small mountain of televisions and computers, Gabriel Okonkwo is aware of the environmental problems but insists business must be taken into account. "Both of them have to come hand-in-hand so we can live. If I don't do business I will die, and if the environment is bad I can die," he explained. "So I have to do business in a way that will not affect the environment." CNN Business Traveller airs from Wednesday, April 8 at the times below: (ALL TIMES GMT) Wednesday, April 8: 0830, 1730 Saturday, April 10: 0730, 1800 Sunday, April 11: 0430, 1730 Monday, April 12: 0300 | [
"What is sold in local electronic stores in Nigeria?",
"where is E-waste sold?",
"What is the name of the charity distributing working computers?",
"Where is E-waste imported from the West sold?",
"where is E-waste imported from?",
"What is abandoned at dumpsites?"
] | [
[
"computers, stereos, printers and televisions."
],
[
"local electronic stores."
],
[
"Lagos's second-hand electronics Alaba market."
],
[
"local electronic stores."
],
[
"the West"
],
[
"broken electronics"
]
] | E-waste imported from the West is sold in local electronics stores in Nigeria .
Most of the imported hardware doesn't work and is abandoned at dumpsites .
Locals endanger their health by burning cables, dismantling old equipment .
Computer Aid distributes working computers to local villagers, businesses . |
BAYAMON, Puerto Rico (CNN) -- Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama took their campaigns to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico on Saturday in an effort to woo voters before the June 1 primary. There are 55 Democratic delegates up for grabs, though voters cannot take part in the general election in November. Obama campaigned early Saturday at the University of Puerto Rico in Bayamon, where he praised the nation's veterans before Memorial Day. "It's fitting to be here today, not just because Memorial Day is around the corner but because Puerto Ricans are such an important part of the United States military. On this island and in Puerto Rican neighborhoods across America, you can go into almost any home and find a veteran living there or a photograph of a loved one in uniform hanging on the wall," he said. Obama also took aim at Republican Sen. John McCain over his opposition to an update of the GI Bill. The legislation passed the Senate on Thursday afternoon by a 75-22 vote and passed the House this month by a similar margin. It proposes to essentially provide a full scholarship to in-state public universities for members of the military who have served for at least three years. "I don't understand why John McCain would side with George Bush and oppose our plan to make college more affordable for our veterans. ... Putting a college degree within reach for our veterans isn't being too generous; it's the least we can do for our heroes," Obama said. Shortly after Obama's remarks, the McCain campaign hit back. "Barack Obama talks about helping veterans, but when the choice came between delivering for our military men and women and playing partisan politics, he decided politics was more important," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said Saturday. Later Saturday, Obama marched along a street in San Juan, shaking hands with supporters as he walked in front of a banner that said "Puerto Rico Con Obama." This event was referred to as a "caminata," a traditional parade for a candidate. Obama remarked to the crowd, "I will never forget the support and the friendship that I've seen here in Puerto Rico. ... I am absolutely confident that if that we keep on working hard, there's no reason why we can't win here in Puerto Rico, and if we win Puerto Rico, we will win the nomination." Clinton hosted a "Solutions for Puerto Rico's Families" town hall meeting in Aguadilla on Saturday. The former first lady may not have understood the language during her first campaign stop in Puerto Rico, but she certainly understood the politics. Before a crowd of a few hundred Puerto Ricans in a muggy high school gym, Clinton pledged to make it a "personal priority" to resolve the statehood issue before the end of her first term. She also vowed to clean up the former Navy testing ranges on Vieques, fund the famous Arecibo radio telescope, use federal dollars to put more cops on the streets and extend tax breaks to Puerto Rican companies. Clinton made each of those promises in English, abandoning a translator early on, despite the growing din among distracted audience members who couldn't understand the full content of her stump speech. Still, enthusiastic supporters hoisted signs like "Puertorriquenos con Hillary" and "Hillary Presidenta" while chants of "Hillary! Hillary!" filled the room. Despite in the language barrier, Clinton seemed to be on familiar ground. She recalled a visit she made to the island in 1998 on behalf of her husband to inspect damage from Hurricane Georges. She also reminded the audience that she represents more than one million Puerto Ricans in New York; this week in Florida, she jokingly referred to herself as "the senator from Puerto Rico." Clinton has done well among Hispanic voters in this year's primaries, and she is expected to have similar success in Puerto Rico. On Thursday, Clinton sent daughter Chelsea to campaign in Puerto Rico, a sign that she is refusing to give up the race despite the delegate math in | [
"Who did Obama praise?",
"What did Clinton vow to resolve?",
"What is Clinton vowing?",
"What did Obama praise?"
] | [
[
"nation's veterans"
],
[
"the statehood issue"
],
[
"pledged to make it a \"personal priority\" to resolve the statehood issue before the end of her first term."
],
[
"he praised the nation's veterans"
]
] | NEW: Clinton vows to resolve statehood issue at town hall meeting in Aguadilla .
Puerto Rico holds Democratic primary June 1; 55 delegates at stake .
Obama praises military veterans at the University of Puerto Rico .
Obama holds march in Bayamon . |
BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio (CNN) -- After two years of traveling around the country and criticizing President Bush, President-elect Barack Obama said Friday that he "always thought [Bush] was a good guy."
Barack Obama tells CNN's John King that it was "tough" for him to request the additional bailout funds.
"I mean, I think personally he is a good man who loves his family and loves his country," Obama said in an exclusive interview with CNN's John King.
During the election season, Obama frequently campaigned against what he called Bush's "failed policies" and promised a "clean break" from the past eight years.
Asked if there was anything he wanted to take back, now that he has spent more time with the president, Obama praised Bush's team for helping with a smooth transition and said part of what America is about is being able to have "disagreements politically and yet treat each other civilly."
Obama also said he thought Bush made "the best decisions that he could at times under some very difficult circumstances."
"That does not detract from my assessment that over the last several years, we have made a series of bad choices and we are now going to be inheriting the consequences of a lot of those bad choices," Obama said.
In addition to his relationship with Bush, Obama also discussed some key issues that he will face in the first days of his administration, including national security and the economy.
Even before taking the oath of office, Obama has already faced a showdown with Congress over releasing what remains of the $700 bailout bill that Bush and Congress authorized before the election.
The $350 billion that the Senate approved will come with specific conditions, Obama said.
"There's nothing wrong with us placing some conditions, making sure that the money's not going to executive compensation, making sure you're not seeing big dividend payoffs to shareholders and making sure that money is being left so that we can get credit flowing again, not just for individual homeowners who are losing their homes, but also small businesses who are the lifeblood of this economy.
"If they can't get credit, then they end up having to shutter their doors. And when they shutter their doors, people lose jobs. They then can't pay their mortgage, and you start down the road that we're on. We want to reverse that path, and that means that's the way we use the next $350 billion that Congress voted on, and that was a very tough vote for a lot of people. And it was tough for me to have to request it," he said.
Obama sat down with King after he took a factory tour in Bedford Heights, Ohio. | [
"For what reasons did Obama decide to request bailout funds?",
"What type of things did Obama say to avoid negative comments about Bush?",
"What decision is Obama referring to?",
"Who did Obama request bailout funds from?",
"What did Obama say?",
"Which policies instituted by Bush did Obama campaign against?",
"What country is Obama the president of?"
] | [
[
"we have made a series of bad choices"
],
[
"I think personally he is a good man who loves his family and loves his country,\""
],
[
"$700 bailout bill that Bush and Congress authorized before the election."
],
[
"Senate"
],
[
"\"always thought [Bush] was a good guy.\""
],
[
"\"failed policies\""
],
[
"America"
]
] | Barack Obama says Bush made "the best decisions that he could at times"
Obama campaigned against what he called Bush's "failed policies"
Obama says it was "tough" to have to request bailout funds . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- A 13-year-old Chinese girl tried to commit suicide because she wanted her family to donate her liver to her cancer-stricken father, state media reported Thursday.
The girl, Chen Jin, swallowed more than 200 sleeping pills after she discovered a medical note in her mother's purse that said her father was dying of liver cancer and had three months left to live, the news agency Xinhua said.
Jin's mother returned home after visiting her husband in the hospital to find the front door locked. The mother climbed in through a back window and found two empty bottles of sleeping pills.
"Mom, I'm sorry I couldn't stay with you any longer," read a note that the teen had left next to her. "Please give my liver to dad and save him after my death."
The incident occurred January 24 in Jiangsu province in east China. The teen was taken to the same hospital as her father, where she remains in intensive care, drifting in and out of consciousness, Xinhua said.
Doctors say that even if she pulls through, she will need surgery for burns she suffered from an electric blanket on her bed when she lost consciousness, the China Daily newspaper said.
According to Chinese media reports, the family -- whose monthly income is about 1,000 yuan ($146) -- has already spent nearly 100,000 yuan ($14,600) in medical expenses since the father was diagnosed with cancer more than a month ago. The mother, who is also in poor health, retired early more than eight years ago.
The woman told China Daily she is now trying to keep her husband from learning of their daughter's desperate act of love. | [
"Exactly, how many sleeping pills girl swallowed after discovering about her father`s illness?",
"Who attempted suicide?",
"What a 13-year old Chinese girl to save her dying father?",
"what is the girl name?",
"where the girl is from?",
"What did she ingest?",
"Where is she now?"
] | [
[
"more than 200"
],
[
"13-year-old Chinese girl"
],
[
"commit suicide"
],
[
"Chen Jin,"
],
[
"Jiangsu province in east China."
],
[
"200 sleeping pills"
],
[
"remains in intensive care,"
]
] | A 13-year-old Chinese girl tried to commit suicide to save her cancer-stricken father .
Girl swallowed more than 200 sleeping pills when she learned of father's liver cancer .
The teen remains in intensive care, drifting in and out of consciousness . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China's worst winter in more than half a century showed no signs of abating Wednesday as forecasters warned of three more days of snow and sleet.
Stranded passengers wait to get into the railway station at Wuhan in central China's Hubei province
The weather has paralyzed transportation, frozen the power grid and delivered a $4.5 billion hit to the economy, according to figures released Wednesday by the Civil Affairs Ministry.
The situation is compounding economic problems for China. Destroyed crops have resulted in increased food prices, while the inability to transport goods has further inflated prices and led to shortages at stores.
China's railways and roads are the lifeblood for its manufacturing sector, one of the fastest growing in the world.
"Being a manufacturer, we are so worried," said marketing manager Calvina Chan, who works for a Hong Kong-based firm that relies on a factory in mainland China to produce luggage for brands such as Samsonite.
"Because of the snowstorm, the transportation isn't very good and so there might be a late delivery."
Automakers Toyota and Ford halted their China-based production this week.
The transportation stoppage has had a domino effect, preventing the delivery of coal, which is vital to China's power plants. That is amplifying China's energy problems.
"Most of the coal is produced in the north and northeast, (while) the users are along the coast," said economist Nicholas Kwan.
"This time the snowstorm's problem is not so much freezing the production but freezing the transportation line which makes transportation of coal to those power plants more difficult."
Kwan said some of the power plants have already depleted their coal reserves.
All this comes during the Lunar New Year holiday, the country's busiest shopping season.
In Guangzhou, hundreds of factory workers who had saved money all year to visit their families during China's Lunar New Year filled the city's train station, waiting for trains that were not expected to arrive for days.
Up to half a million people have camped out in the southern city for nearly a week, hoping to get home for the holiday.
Factories in the province of Guangzhou shut down Wednesday ahead of the February 7 holiday with workers joining the masses around the train station -- hoping the government would deliver on its promise of quick action and immediate relief for those trying to make it home.
"I have been sleeping out here for six days. I have spent all my money. I don't know how I will get home," one man said.
Another man told CNN's Hugh Riminton he had tried to get out of Guangzhou every way possible -- by airplane, bus and his own car -- but could not make it because of the weather conditions.
"Now he's in the queue with everyone else trying to get on a train," Riminton said. "And the trains simply aren't going at the moment and it's unlikely they'll be going really in sufficient numbers for days to come"
Security is tight at the railway station as people occasionally stampeded the barricade in an attempt to get closer to the train platforms, to no avail. Armed riot police entered the station on Wednesday to regain control of the situation.
So far, Chinese authorities have managed to persuade nearly 470,000 people to abandon their travel plans and accept a refund for their train tickets.
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao apologized Tuesday to the hundreds of thousands of people stranded in train stations across his country -- a rare move by a Chinese politician.
"First we'll fix the electric grid. After that, the trains will run again. ... Then all of you can go home for the Chinese New Year," the premier said.
President Hu Jintao called an emergency meeting of the policy-making politburo and vowed a quick government response.
More than 177 million Chinese were expected to travel by train, and 22 million more by plane, for Chinese Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.
"Going home every year is an obligation | [
"how many more days of bad weather",
"What is the economic cost?",
"who stopped production",
"Who halted Chinese production?"
] | [
[
"three"
],
[
"$4.5 billion"
],
[
"Automakers Toyota and Ford"
],
[
"Toyota and Ford"
]
] | NEW: Toyota, Ford halt Chinese production; power plants not getting coal deliveries .
Forecasters expect three more days of bad weather in China .
Millions heading home for the Chinese New Year holiday are stranded .
Economic cost of winter storms reaches $4.5 billion, ministry says . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chinese workers and army soldiers were racing to sweep snow-covered highways and unclog railway routes for millions of travelers trapped by cold weather.
Souzhou, China, is blanketed by the most snow the city has had in 25 years, according to I-Reporter Susan Arthur.
More than 67 million people have been affected by the weather and economic losses are expected to reach as much as $3 billion, Chinese officials say.
Blizzards have snapped power lines and destroyed houses and farmland, prompting fears of food and energy shortages. Twenty-four people have died and some 827,000 people have been evacuated in 14 different provinces, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Monday.
In the past week, the snowstorms have hit the provinces in central, eastern and southern China -- places that are used to mild winters, not extreme wintry blasts.
"We've never seen such a cold weather lasting for such long a time," said Tang Shan, a man in his 70s in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. "The last time we had one here was over 50 years ago, and not this bad."
The snow and sleet have paralyzed roads, railways and airports, leaving tens of millions of travelers marooned, officials say. Many of them are bound for home ahead of the traditional Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, which falls on February 7. Watch how the snowstorms have resulted in transit chaos »
For several days before and after that day, an estimated 178 million Chinese will travel by train, and 22 million more by plane, officials say. Millions more will take long-haul vans and buses.
The Lunar New Year travel is China's busiest travel period of the year. But the cold snap is hampering travel plans. Railway and highway routes have been brought to a standstill, several regional airports have been closed and many provinces have imposed power "brownouts" to conserve energy.
On Hunan's major highways, more than 60,000 bus riders were stranded because of icy roads.
In the southern city of Guangzhou, as many as 500,000 train passengers were stranded the past few days when a power failure in neighboring Hunan province crippled the regular train services, local officials said. About 100,000 passengers packed the square in front of the train station while others found shelter in schools and other public buildings while waiting for their trains. Watch travelers packed shoulder to shoulder »
Even the local stock market seems affected by the nasty weather. The Shanghai composite index dropped by more than 7 percent on Monday, dragged in part by investors' concerns over the damage caused by the foul winter weather. Worst hit were transport and power stocks.
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has ordered urgent measures to unclog the transport jam and ensure a steady supply of food and energy.
"Let us mobilize urgently and work as one to wage this tough battle against the disaster," he said in an emergency meeting. "Let's ensure that the people enjoy a joyful and auspicious Spring Festival."
But more miserable weather is expected. China's weather bureau Monday issued a rare "red alert," warning of more severe snowstorms in the coming days. If so, the number of stranded travelers will surely swell.
Tang Shan, the retired official in Hunan, is staying put instead of joining the holiday exodus. Even so, he finds the frigid weather a big nuisance.
"Hospitals now treat children who caught colds and old people who sprained bones after slipping and falling," he says. "Even just walking in the icy street is perilous." E-mail to a friend | [
"How many people were affected by weather?",
"What put the nation in lockdown?",
"How many people are affected by weather according tho the chinese officials?",
"How many deaths?",
"How many deaths and evacuations were there?"
] | [
[
"More than 67 million"
],
[
"snow"
],
[
"67 million"
],
[
"Twenty-four"
],
[
"Twenty-four people have died"
]
] | NEW: Chinese officials say as many as 67 million people affected by weather .
Heavy snowfalls put the nation into lockdown ahead of busiest travel week .
There have been 24 deaths and 827,000 evacuations .
Up to 500,000 stranded at a train station . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Officials on Monday announced the death of a second child who consumed contaminated milk powder. More than 1,200 others have been sickened, according to China's Health Ministry. Of that number, 340 infants are hospitalized and 53 are considered to be in serious condition. Government inspectors are testing baby formula around China and plan to release their results on Tuesday, said Li Changjiang, head of the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, according to the Xinhua news agency. The manufacturer, Sanlu Group, has recalled more than 8,200 tons of the tainted formula following reports of babies developing kidney stones, Xinhua said. Watch what Sanlu has done » Sanlu, one of China's leading dairy producers, has also sealed off more than 2,100 tons of contaminated product, and another 700 tons still need to be recalled, the news agency said. It is not the first time Sanlu has been connected to a scandal involving tainted milk powder, according to China Daily. In 2004, at least 13 infants in the eastern Anhui province died of malnutrition after drinking milk powder that had little to no nutrition. The illegally manufactured milk was falsely labeled with the Sanlu brand, according to the paper. More than 170 other babies were hospitalized as a result of drinking the cheap milk powder. Chinese police have questioned 78 people -- including dairy farmers and milk dealers -- about the most recent contamination, a Chinese official told Xinhua Saturday. Sanlu would not say whether its employees are being investigated, Xinhua said. Testing by Sanlu found tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine, in 700 tons of its product, said Zhao Xinchao, the vice mayor of Shijiazhuang, the news agency reported. Zhao told the news agency that the suspects added water to the milk they sold to Sanlu to make more money, then added the chemical so the diluted milk could still meet standards. Inspectors found the chemical in Sanlu infant formula produced by one of the company's partner producers in northwest Gansu Province, an official said Sunday. Two of 12 samples randomly selected from the Sanlu milk powder produced by the Haoniu Dairy Company in Jiuquan City tested positive for melamine, said Xian Hui, the vice-governor of Gansu. Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. The chemical is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Hundreds of Wal-Mart and Carrefour stores in China are pulling the Sanlu milk powder from their shelves, Xinhua said. This episode marks the latest in a string of tainted products produced in China. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled more than 150 brands of cat and dog food last year after finding that some pets became ill or died after eating food tainted with melamine, the same chemical found in the powdered milk. Two Chinese businesses, a U.S. company and top executives of each were indicted by a federal grand jury in February in connection with tainted pet food, which resulted in deaths and serious illnesses in up to thousands of U.S. pets, federal prosecutors said. In October 2007, regulators and retailers in the United States recalled at least 69,000 Chinese-made toys over concerns of excessive amounts of lead paint, which can cause hazardous lead poisoning. In November, shipments of the popular toy Aqua Dots were found to have been contaminated with a toxic chemical that turned into a powerful "date rape" drug if swallowed, causing some children who ate the craft toys to vomit and lose consciousness. And in February, a Maryland candy distributor pulled Pokemon-brand Valentine lollipops from store shelves after bits of metal were found in the sealed treats, authorities said. Officials on Monday announced the death of a second child who consumed contaminated milk powder. Of the more than 1,200 others who have been sickened, 340 infants were hospitalized, and 53 considered to be in serious condition, according to China's Health Ministry. Government inspectors were testing baby formula around China and plan to release their results on Tuesday, said Li Changjiang | [
"What is one of China's leading dairy producers?",
"Who is on of China's leading dairy producers?",
"What do the government inspectors plan to release?",
"How much melamine was found in Sanlu's product?",
"How many deaths have been announced?",
"What was found in Sanlu products?",
"Who is one of China's leading dairy producers?",
"What can ingesting Melamine lead to?",
"What is found in 700 tons of Sanlu's product?",
"What was found in Sanlu's products?"
] | [
[
"Sanlu Group,"
],
[
"Sanlu,"
],
[
"their results on Tuesday,"
],
[
"700 tons"
],
[
"second child"
],
[
"tripolycyanamide,"
],
[
"Sanlu,"
],
[
"kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation."
],
[
"tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine,"
],
[
"tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine,"
]
] | Government inspectors plan to release test results Tuesday; 2nd death announced .
Sanlu is one of China's leading dairy producers .
Melamine found in 700 tons of Sanlu's product, Xinhua cites mayor as saying .
Ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, eye and skin irritation . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The Chinese women's gymnastics team did not use underage competitors during this year's Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the International Gymnastics Federation said Wednesday. Widespread reports claimed that gold medal winner He Kexin was only 14 years old. The federation said it has concluded its inquiry into the matter after it confirmed the gymnasts' ages through official documents that the Chinese Gymnasts Association provided. The documents included passports, identity cards and household registers. However, the organization intends to further investigate the ages of two gymnasts, Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun, who participated in the 2000 summer games in Sydney, Australia. The federation said it did not consider the explanations and evidence that Chinese authorities provided in regard to those athletes as satisfactory. The International Olympic Committee had asked gymnastics officials to clarify the situation after numerous commentators, bloggers and others questioned whether about half the members of China's team were old enough to compete. Watch tiny gymnasts work out » Athletes must be at least 16 in the year the games take place. In women's gymnastics, younger girls can have an advantage over older competitors on account of their often smaller, lighter and more agile bodies. The Chinese women's gymnastics team won a gold medal in a team competition at the Beijing games, and five members won individual medals. One of the challenges came from a blogger known as "Stryde Hax." The blogger claimed to have uncovered proof that Chinese gymnast He Kexin is only 14. In Internet searches, "Stryde Hax" allegedly uncovered Web pages showing lists complied by China's General Administration of Sport that show a 1994 date of birth for He. CNN was not been able to independently verify the information, but snapshots of the Web pages appeared to back up the claim. Other bloggers joined the search and reported similar results. The New York Times conducted its own investigation, producing similar results that seem to implicate He and two other members of the team. The Times uncovered a 2006 biography on He that lists her birthday as January 1, 1994. The International Gymnastics Federation, however, has said that those gymnasts were eligible and that the ages on their passports were correct. Chinese gymnastics coaches also defended their team. "Asians have different figures than people from the West, so that's what caused their suspicion," said Huang Yubin, head coach of the men's and women's teams, referring to media inquiries. "They shouldn't be suspicious." | [
"Who suspected that some girls were under age according to the rules?",
"What things were examined?",
"The team from China won gold for what sport?",
"What requirements did the athletes meet?",
"What medal did the Chinese team win?",
"Who won a gold medal at Bejiing?",
"What documents were examined?",
"Where were the Summer Olympics held?",
"Who won the gold medal?",
"Where was the Summer Olympics located?",
"What records were examined?",
"Who said that athletes met age requirements?",
"Which team won a gold medal in the Summer Olympics?",
"What type of requirements must athletes meet?",
"Who won the gold medal the the Beijing olympics?"
] | [
[
"The International Olympic Committee"
],
[
"official documents"
],
[
"women's gymnastics"
],
[
"must be at least 16"
],
[
"gold"
],
[
"He Kexin"
],
[
"passports, identity cards and household registers."
],
[
"Beijing,"
],
[
"He Kexin"
],
[
"Beijing,"
],
[
"official documents that the Chinese Gymnasts Association provided."
],
[
"International Gymnastics Federation,"
],
[
"The Chinese women's gymnastics"
],
[
"at least 16"
],
[
"He Kexin"
]
] | Athletes met age requirements, international commission concludes .
Some writers, others suspected girls were younger than rules allowed .
Chinese team won gold medal in Summer Olympics at Beijing .
Passports, identity cards, household records examined . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Travelers to China who display flu-like symptoms may be randomly quarantined over concerns of the swine flu virus, the U.S. State Department warned. A child traveling with his parents wears a face mask after they arrive at the Beijing, China, airport. There have been cases of children being separated from parents after either tested positive for the virus, also known as H1N1, a travel alert said Friday. Chinese officials may give medications to minors in such cases without consulting their parents, according to the alert. "Although the proportion of arriving Americans being quarantined remains low, the random nature of the selection process increases the uncertainty surrounding travel to China," the alert said. Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs transmitted to humans and caused by type A influenza virus. Symptoms include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. There have been about 48,000 confirmed cases worldwide, including 519 in China, according to the World Health Organization. The Chinese government has taken measures to stop the spread of the virus. They include placing passengers who have fever or flu-like symptoms on a seven-day quarantine, the alert said. Others facing quarantine include those sitting close to travelers with symptoms, those with elevated temperatures and those from areas where virus outbreaks have occurred. A 15-year-old from Topeka, Kansas, told CNN on Monday that she was quarantined in Beijing for a week. "Apparently, I was sitting too close to a man who had a fever on the 14-hour plane ride," Kaitlin Hannigan said, adding that she initially thought she had a fever, but her temperature was fine when officials checked it. A day after she arrived in Beijing with an educational group, government officials showed up at her hotel. "They were wearing quarantine suits, goggles and masks and, like, full body suits and gloves, and said I had to be quarantined for seven days because I came in contact with that guy," Hannigan said. Earlier in June, New Orleans, Louisiana, Mayor Ray Nagin was quarantined in Shanghai after possible exposure to the virus. Nagin was headed to Australia on an economic development trip when he was quarantined for four days after sitting beside a passenger who was being treated for suspected swine flu symptoms. Nagin showed no signs of illness. State officials warned Americans traveling to China that they have to follow local quarantines procedures. "The U.S. Embassy will be unable to influence the duration of stay in quarantine for affected travelers," the statement said. The travel alert expires in September. | [
"Who was recently quarantined?",
"who quarantined on China trip?",
"where travelers?",
"What are Chinese government officials trying to control?",
"How long is the quarantine?",
"What is the Chinese government trying to control?"
] | [
[
"A 15-year-old from Topeka, Kansas,"
],
[
"Kaitlin Hannigan"
],
[
"China"
],
[
"stop the spread of the virus."
],
[
"seven-day"
],
[
"swine flu virus,"
]
] | Travelers to China with flu-like symptoms could face 7-day quarantine .
Chinese government officials try to control spread of H1N1 virus .
New Orleans, Louisiana, Mayor Ray Nagin recently quarantined on China trip . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- What's in a name? Westerners are more accustomed to names that describe the ingredients and how they are cooked. Local dishes like "Husband and wife's lung slice" or "Chicken without sexual life" conjure lots of furrowed eyebrows on famished foreigners. So, with the Olympics a few short weeks away, China is giving its cuisine a linguistic makeover. It is proposing that restaurants change the names of exotic, but bizarrely named, delicacies to make them more delectable for the estimated 50,000 visitors arriving in August for the Summer Games. The appetizer "Husband and wife's lung slice" is taking on the more appetizing "Beef and ox tripe in chili sauce." "Chicken without sexual life" has been transformed into "Steamed pullet." The government has put down more than 2,000 proposed names in a 170-page book that it has offered to Beijing hotels, according to state media. "Thanks to the pamphlet, we do not have to struggle to come up with the English translations of dishes any more, which is usually time consuming," a senior manager at the four-star Guangzhou Hotel in downtown Beijing told the Xinhua news agency. The Chinese say the names of their dishes focus more on appearance than taste or smell. But Westerners are more accustomed to names that describe the ingredients and how they are cooked -- such as pot roast. The government realizes local names are a matter of taste, but don't want them to get lost in translation. Hence, the spicy Sichuanese dish "Bean curd made by a pock-marked woman" has been bestowed the more palatable "Mapo tofu." Not everyone is pleased. "The process of standardizing a menu translation is a double-edged sword," wrote columnist Raymond Zhou in the China Daily newspaper. It "removes the ambiguity and unintended humor" and "takes away the fun and the rich connotation. "It turns a menu into the equivalent of plain rice, which has the necessary nutrients but is devoid of flavor." | [
"More than how many names have been proposed?",
"Chicken without what life?",
"How many proposed name have been suggested?",
"what do the names do?",
"how many names proposed?",
"what is steamed pullet?",
"what is the new name for the dish?",
"The chinese say the dishes name focuses more on what than taste or smell?"
] | [
[
"2,000"
],
[
"sexual life\""
],
[
"2,000"
],
[
"make them more delectable"
],
[
"more than 2,000"
],
[
"\"Chicken without sexual life\""
],
[
"\"Beef and ox tripe in chili sauce.\""
],
[
"appearance"
]
] | "Chicken without sexual life" has been transformed into "Steamed pullet"
The Chinese say the dishes' names focus more on appearance than taste or smell .
More than 2,000 proposed names have been offered to Beijing hotels . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- When -- after many visits to doctors and hospitals --- Tian Huiping's son was finally diagnosed with autism, the only advice she was given was to make use of a loophole in China's "one-child" policy that allows parents with disabled children to have one more. Tian Huiping considered suicide when she learned her son was autistic. Instead, she opened an autism school. Alone with her son after her husband divorced her, Tian became depressed and desperate enough to consider killing herself and her son, Yang Tao. "I made a poison for me and my son," she said. But when she saw her boy smiling up at her happily, she says she couldn't do it. "I thought, I have no right to end his life, and I cannot kill myself and leave him." From that horrible moment 18 years ago, there grew an incredible resolve -- the kind of dogged determination borne of a mother protecting her child. At one of the many hospitals she went to for help in Beijing, Tian came across a small brochure printed by the Taiwan Autism Association, explaining a few basic concepts on how to teach kids with autism. Watch mom describe being near suicide with autistic child » She read it over and over again. "I just tried to work a little bit with my son and another boy we lived with," she says. "And it worked -- a little bit -- but I saw hope." She rented space in a kindergarten and opened her own school at first, with just six autistic children. She slept on the floor in a store room to save money. Two months later, the kindergarten closed her down. "We didn't make enough money for them," she says. But the children had shown progress, even though the teaching was based on a few simple concepts in a few pages of a brochure. Soon, the word was out. And more parents with autistic children came to Tian looking for help, all of them with the same fears. "If my son cannot go to school, what will happen with him? As a mother this is such a big worry." Fifteen years later, Tian and her Stars and Rain Education Institute for Autism help more than 3,000 children a day through her school and its outreach program. Eighty children of all ages enroll in her school for an 11-week course with their parents -- many of whom travel hundreds of miles from small villages to get help for their children. The parents then return to their villages to try to educate the local population. Interactive: Autism 101 » The Chinese government says there are only about 100,000 people with autism in the entire country, but unofficial estimates put the number between 1-2 million people, perhaps even more. Tian says her institute has a list of just 60 doctors nationwide who are capable of diagnosing autism. Fifteen years ago, she says there were just three. Because resources are scarce, the focus at her school is on teaching the parents how to educate their children. They first help parents to accept their child's disability and teach basic information about autism awareness. Programs are individualized for each child, with teachers working on verbal communication, managing tantrums and other early intervention methods. One of the parents is a woman named Fu Jing. It took three years and countless wrong diagnoses, before she finally learned why her son Ruoqi wasn't talking or playing with other kids, she said. When Fu leaned Ruoqi was autistic, her world collapsed. "I thought about committing suicide with my son. I could not imagine the pain he would suffer when he grew up. All the unfair treatment from society and schoolmates," she said. "As a mother, I felt so much pain." But now Fu is learning how to communicate with her son, how to raise him, even how to love him. "The training here strengthens the acceptance of your kids. Honestly speaking, as an ordinary | [
"What is the Chinese estimate of the autistic population?",
"Who started the autism school?",
"What, as a mother, did she feel?",
"How many autistic children does the school help each day?",
"How many autistic children does the school serve daily?",
"How many children did the school help?",
"What do some say the real numbers are?",
"How many does China estimate have autism?",
"What is the name of the mother who considered murder-suicide?",
"How many autistic children does the school help?"
] | [
[
"100,000"
],
[
"Tian Huiping"
],
[
"I felt so much pain.\""
],
[
"more than 3,000"
],
[
"3,000"
],
[
"3,000"
],
[
"between 1-2 million people,"
],
[
"about 100,000 people"
],
[
"Tian Huiping"
],
[
"more than 3,000 children a day"
]
] | China estimates 100,000 people with autism; some say real number is 1-2 million .
Mom considered murder-suicide with autistic son; instead started autism school .
The school helps 3,000 children with autism every day despite no government aid .
"As a mother, I felt so much pain" |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- A 19-year-old prostitute working in an apartment that doubles as a brothel said she has up to eight clients a day. A woman awaits customers at a Beijing barber shop in 2008. Sex workers also ply their trade in barber shops. Working in the southern boom city of Shenzhen, a special economic zone just north of Hong Kong, she told CNN she worries about getting AIDS, but has her own prevention measures. "I always use condoms or take an injection. The medicine can prevent sexually transmitted diseases," she said. "Some girls do not use prevention measures, but we don't talk about that in public." This young woman, who would not give her name, is part of a group that Chinese and international health authorities are concerned could potentially spread HIV and AIDS in the world's most populated country, so officials have stepped up efforts to educate them about the virus and dispel misconceptions about so-called "injections" that can prevent infection. "I think sex work is probably one of the most important factors for the potential of HIV spreading in Asia and also in China. There is no doubt about it," said Bernhard Schwartlander, UNAIDS China Country Coordinator. "One of the things that we have seen in China is that knowledge about HIV/AIDS is very low in the general population and certainly also in the sex work industry. That is a big, big problem," Schwartlander said. It is estimated that some 700,000 people are living with HIV in China and there are about 50,000 new infections every year, according to the Chinese government and UNAIDS. The U.N. agency believes a significant number of those new infections include sex workers. Prostitution is officially illegal in China, but very loosely addressed by the government. It is estimated that there are between two and four million sex workers in China. As the country's economy has boomed, so has the sex industry, especially in prosperous cities like Shenzhen. Many clients flock there from Hong Kong which is just an hour away, some of them businessmen with money to spend. Condom use in China can range anywhere from about 20 percent to 80 percent, according to UNAIDS. "There are misconceptions. People think that they can avoid HIV infections by taking a pill. People think that they are not at risk for HIV infections because they don't know anybody (who has it), because you can't see it, you can't touch it. And clearly, this is something that we have to change very rapidly," Schwartlander said. Historically, HIV and AIDS have been taboo topics in China, another reason awareness can be so low. Prevention in the gay community has also been difficult because of traditional stigmas against homosexuality. But the Chinese government is now conducting educational campaigns to inform higher risk groups, including sex workers, about how to prevent the transmission of HIV. "After years of these campaigns, we found out through survey that condom use is constantly increasing, especially in urban areas, the condom use can reach 70 percent or even up to 80 percent," said Hao Yang, Deputy Bureau Chief of the Chinese Health Ministry's Disease Prevention and Control Bureau. But other areas are proving difficult. In rural parts of the country, the proportion of condom use among sex workers is less than 50 percent, Hao said. "When we go to investigate in rural areas, the proportion of people with this knowledge (of AIDS prevention) is still very low," he said. "In addition to that, the proportion of change in their activities is also very low, which means that the condom use rate is still low." About one in 200 sex workers nationwide currently has HIV, Schwartlander said. But in one part of Yunnan province in the country's far southwest, seven percent of the sex workers -- or as many as 14 in every 200 -- have HIV, according to UNAIDS. "The sex workers living in remote areas and rural areas have played an important role in AIDS spreading. We do not | [
"What has also boomed?",
"What number of people in China have HIV?",
"What do Chinese people believe?",
"How many people have HIV?",
"Aside from the economy what else has boomed in China?"
] | [
[
"the sex industry,"
],
[
"700,000"
],
[
"they can avoid HIV infections by taking a pill."
],
[
"700,000"
],
[
"sex industry,"
]
] | Some people in China believe injections or a pill can prevent infection .
Some 700,000 people have HIV in China; about 50,000 new infections yearly .
About one in 200 sex workers nationwide currently has HIV .
As China's economy has boomed, so has the sex industry . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- A magnitude-7.9 earthquake that struck southwestern China last year left 5,335 students dead or missing and disabled an additional 546 children, state media reported. A girl fastens wish cards at a middle school at Qushan township earlier this year in memory of students. The first official tally of students killed in the Sichuan province quake was released Thursday by Tu Wentao, the head of the province's education department, the Xinhua news agency said. As of September, official figures put the death toll at 69,227, with more than 17,923 people missing. The tremor struck May 12 about 2:30 p.m., when many children were in school. The official tally of student deaths and injuries was released a few days after an Amnesty International report accused the government of China of intimidating and unlawfully detaining relatives of children who had died in the earthquake. The 52-page report, published Sunday, documented instances in which relatives said they had been detained for up to 21 days for trying to get answers from officials. "By unlawfully locking up parents of children who died, the government is creating more misery for people who have said in some cases they lost everything in the Sichuan earthquake," said Roseann Rife, deputy program director of Amnesty International Asia-Pacific. The report also accused authorities of preventing relatives from complaining to higher officials about the quality of construction in the buildings that had collapsed. The human-rights organization called on Chinese authorities "to take immediate action to address the grievances of survivors and relatives of those who were killed or injured." CNN was not immediately able to get a response to the report from China's Ministry of Civil Affairs and Ministry of Justice. | [
"What was the official death toll?",
"What was the strength of the tremor?",
"Where was the tremor?",
"What time did the tremor strike?"
] | [
[
"69,227,"
],
[
"magnitude-7.9"
],
[
"southwestern China"
],
[
"2:30 p.m.,"
]
] | In September, officials put death toll at 69,227, with more than 17,923 missing .
The tremor struck May 12 at about 2:30 p.m., when many children were in school .
Amnesty accused China intimidating relatives of children who died in quake . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- A third baby has died and at least 6,200 children have fallen ill after drinking formula tainted with the same chemical involved in a massive pet food recall last year, Chinese officials said Wednesday. China's largest producer of milk, Mengniu Dairy Group, announced the recall of three batches of formula made in January after tests showed they were contaminated with melamine, said Li Changjiang, China's director of quarantine and inspection. Though it should not be added to food ingredients, suppliers in China sometimes put it in food to make a product appear to be protein rich. Melamine has nitrogen, and standard tests for protein in bulk food ingredients measure levels of nitrogen. More than 1,300 infants are hospitalized with illnesses including malnutrition, kidney stones and acute renal failure. On Monday two brothers were arrested who Chinese officials say supplied three tons of milk each day to the Sanlu Group, which makes baby formula. Watch crowds of moms get their babies tested » They could face death if convicted, according to state-run newspaper China Daily. The siblings' raw milk had been watered down and a chemical added to fool quality checks, the newspaper said. Watch who has been arrested » Sanlu Group, one of China's leading dairy producers, has recalled more than 8,200 tons of the tainted formula following reports of sickened babies, news agency Xinhua reported. The manufactured also sealed off more than 2,100 tons of contaminated product, and another 700 tons still need to be recalled, according to Xinhua. Watch angry parents demand answers at Sanlu » Investigators said the brothers confessed to watering down the raw milk and mixing in tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine. The paper reported the siblings did it to recover losses suffered when the factory rejected earlier milk shipments, and that 19 other people have been detained for questioning. Recalls of the products by the Yashili and Suokang companies have been made, and of China's 175 baby milk powder production companies, 66 have already stopped production, Li said. Investigators are testing samples at the remaining factories. Learn more about the chemical melamine » China's Xinhua news agency reported that worried parents started lining up at 5 a.m. Wednesday to see doctors at Renmin Hospital in Shijiazhuang, the capital of the northern Hebei Province. Wang Lifang said she went to the hospital after medics at her local hospital 28 miles (45 kilometers) away in Xingtang County found problems with her two-month-old daughter. "The county hospital found my daughter has kidney stones that are smaller than 4mm [less than a fifth of an inch]," the farmer in her 30s told Xinhua. "My daughter is so young that the doctors worry the stones might not be washed out themselves so they told me to go to the provincial hospital." The report said the girl had drunk a little water. "Doctors said I better not feed her powdered milk," Xinhua quoted a "tearful" Wang as saying. "In the past few days, I fed her fresh milk bought from a neighbor who raises a cow but once I left home I did not know what to do." Other parents told Xinhua they wanted their children scanned for kidney stones as a precaution. Peng Jing, a mother in her 20s, said her 2-month-old son had drunk about two small bags of Sanlu powdered milk. "He seems OK, but we want to be 100 percent sure he is healthy so we came to have the tests," she told Xinhua at Renmin Hospital. The food safety scandal prompted China agricultural officials to start a nationwide inspection of its dairy industry. Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. The chemical is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Chinese investigators have found melamine in nearly 70 milk products from more than 20 companies, Li said Wednesday. Products made by Sanlu had the highest concentration of the chemical. It is not the first time Sanlu has been connected | [
"What is the number of sick babies?",
"What type of chemical was found in the formula?",
"What is China's largest milk?",
"What are concerned parents doing?",
"What is the name of the group?",
"How many babies are ill?",
"How many babies are now known to be ill?",
"What is the name of the chemical tainting the milk?",
"Who recalls batches of formula"
] | [
[
"at least 6,200"
],
[
"melamine,"
],
[
"Mengniu Dairy Group,"
],
[
"started lining up at 5 a.m. Wednesday to see doctors"
],
[
"Mengniu Dairy"
],
[
"at least 6,200"
],
[
"6,200"
],
[
"melamine,"
],
[
"Mengniu Dairy Group,"
]
] | More than 6,200 babies now known to be ill, official says .
China's largest milk, Mengniu Dairy Group, recalls three batches of formula .
Concerned parents line up to get their infants scanned, Xinhua reports .
Melamine in milk is same chemical that killed U.S. pets from tainted pet food . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- African governments have stopped importing Chinese dairy products as the crisis which has seen more than 52,000 Chinese children poisoned by melamine-tainted goods spreads. Burundi, Gabon and Tanzania have joined governments closer to China -- including Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia -- in banning Chinese dairy products. At least 11 countries have banned imports. The precautions come as the number of affected children in China continues to swell. Four babies have died from melamine-tainted infant formula and more than 52,000 children have fallen ill, Chinese authorities say. "I think we will see more cases, but it is, of course, impossible to predict how many cases there finally will be," said Hans Troedsson, the the World Health Organization's China representative. "We have to remember that China is a large country with a population of 1.3 billion people. However, of course, 40- to 50,000 children are affected as reported now. It's a staggering figure, but where we will end up is too early yet to say." On Monday, China's top quality control official, Li Changjiang, resigned as a result of the scandal, which has seen the arrest of at least 18 people. Two brothers arrested last week on charges of selling contaminated milk could face death if convicted, according to China Daily, a state-run newspaper. The raw milk used to produce powdered baby formula had been watered down and the chemical melamine was added to fool quality checks, the newspaper said. Watch CNN visit the company at the center of the scandal » Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Beijing hospitals and a supermarket to show his concern. China's Health Ministry said about 13,000 children were hospitalized, while another 40,000 had undergone outpatient treatment. "What we need to do now is to ensure that nothing like this happens in the future, not only in dairy products, but in all foods," he said. "Manufacturers and owners of dairy companies should show more morality and social responsibility in these cases. They are heartless, so we have to create strict law and legislation. I'm sorry." Watch how Beijing is under pressure over public safety » The repercussions from the scandal were felt as far away as Africa. Burundi imports milk products from two suspect Chinese companies and the government has set up a commission to investigate how much tainted product could remain on store shelves, officials said. "For the moment, nobody knows if the milk is being sold on the Burundi market," Noel Nkurunziza, president of a Burundi consumer association known as ABUCO, is quoted as saying in The Guardian newspaper and other publications. In Asia, Singapore announced a recall of all Chinese milk products on Tuesday. The head of Indonesia's Food Safety Watch said she was instituting a temporary ban of all milk imports from China, although contaminated milk has not been found in the country. In issuing its recall of milk products, Singapore had already suspended the import and sale of milk and dairy products from China on Friday, after it said it has found traces of melamine in three Chinese-made dairy products. The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said "White Rabbit Creamy Candy" was ordered off of shelves after tests showed it was contaminated. White Rabbit is among the best-known candy brands in China and one of the few exported widely. The United States is among 40 nations that import the candy, a man in the administrative office of the Shanghai-based company told CNN Monday. Earlier, Singapore's agri-food agency said it found melamine in two other milk-based Chinese imports: the Yili brand "Choice Dairy Fruit Bar Yoghurt Flavored Ice Confection" and the Dutch Lady brand of strawberry-flavored milk. In Bangladesh, three Chinese powdered milk brands -- Sanlu, Suncare and Yashili -- have been taken off shelves and all milk powder imports at Bangladeshi ports will be inspected. Bangladeshi TV showed the country's Rapid Action Battalion climbing over a fence to raid a storage facility believed to contain tainted milk. In Malaysia, Health Minister Datuk Liow | [
"What number of many children have been reported ill from tainted milk powder?",
"how many infants died?",
"Suspect milk from what country has been banned?",
"wich are the countrys who banned the import from china?",
"what are the reason for the Head of China's quality watchdog give up",
"What have Singapore, Taiwan, and others imposed?",
"How many infants are dead in China?",
"Over what did the head of China's quality watchdog resign over?"
] | [
[
"52,000"
],
[
"Four babies"
],
[
"Chinese dairy"
],
[
"Burundi, Gabon and Tanzania"
],
[
"the scandal, which has seen the arrest of at least 18 people."
],
[
"banned imports."
],
[
"Four babies"
],
[
"Chinese children poisoned by melamine-tainted goods"
]
] | NEW: Burundi, Gabon, Tanzania ban import of suspect milk products from China .
NEW: Singapore, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei impose bans .
Head of China's quality watchdog resigns over tainted baby formula scandal .
Four infants in China dead, over 52,000 reported ill from tainted milk powder . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- An executive of the Chinese dairy company Sanlu Group pleaded guilty Wednesday over her role in the contaminated milk scandal that sickened nearly 300,000 infants, state-run media reported. A salesgirl arranges powdered milk in China's Sichuan province in September. Tian Wenhua, Sanlu's former board chairwoman and general manager, and three other executives are on trial for producing and selling fake or substandard products, according to Xinhua news agency. Wenhua, 66, pleaded guilty on the first day of the trial at a court in Shijiazhuang, the capital of northern Hebei Province, Xinhua reported. She told the court that she first received tainted milk complaints from consumers in mid-May -- four months before the issue became widely known -- according to the report. Wenhua led a working team to investigate the claims, Xinhua reported. The three other executives are former deputy general managers Wang Yuliang and Hang Zhiqi, and Wu Jusheng, a former executive heading Sanlu's milk division. Chinese investigators found melamine in nearly 70 milk products from more than 20 companies, according to quality control official Li Changjiang, who was eventually forced to resign. The Ministry of Health has said the contamination likely caused the deaths of at least six babies. Another 294,000 infants suffered from urinary problems, such as kidney stones. The tainted formula came to light in September after babies who were fed milk powder produced by the Sanlu Group, which recently filed for bankruptcy, had developed kidney stones. Melamine is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Some Chinese dairy plants added the chemical to milk products so they would appear to have a higher protein level. Prior to the four Sanlu executives, at least eight people stood trial over charges of producing, adding melamine-laced "protein powder" to milk or selling the tainted milk to Sanlu or other dairies. Victims of tainted baby formula are expected to be compensated by the 22 Chinese dairy producers that made the milk. "The enterprises offered to shoulder the compensation liability," the country's Dairy Industry Association said Saturday, according to Xinhua. "By doing so, they hope to earn understanding and forgiveness of the families of the sickened children." The group said victims will receive a one-off cash payment, but did not provide the amounts, according to Xinhua. "The money for compensation is in place now and will soon be handed to the people who have custody of the sickened children through various channels," the association said. No date for the payments was given. The dairies also raised money to cover medical bills for any after-effects suffered as a result of the poisoning, the association said. | [
"What are executives accused of?",
"What did the babies develop?",
"What were four sanlu executives accused of?",
"What did Wenhua do?",
"Who pled guilty?",
"What did babies get from tainted milk?",
"How many executives are accused?",
"What does Tian Wenhua plead?",
"What happened to the babies fed milk powder?"
] | [
[
"producing and selling fake or substandard products,"
],
[
"294,000 infants suffered from urinary problems, such as kidney stones."
],
[
"for producing and selling fake or substandard products,"
],
[
"producing and selling fake or substandard products,"
],
[
"Tian Wenhua,"
],
[
"urinary problems, such as kidney stones."
],
[
"three"
],
[
"guilty"
],
[
"the contamination likely caused the deaths of at least six"
]
] | Tian Wenhua, former Sanlu chairwoman and general manager, pleads guilty .
Four Sanlu executives accused of producing and selling substandard products .
Scandal revealed after babies fed milk powder developed kidney stones .
Victims of tainted baby formula to be compensated by 22 Chinese dairy firms . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- At Beijing's East Train Station, some travelers are literally carrying their lives on their back. Passengers crowd a railway platform in Beijing as New Year holiday migrations get underway. "I don't know if I'm going to come back," said one migrant worker on his way to his home province. "I might just end up working on the farm." He was weighed down by a giant pack filled with everything he could call his own. Millions of migrant workers are leaving the cities, returning to their homes in the vast Chinese countryside, for the Chinese New Year holidays. But not all will be celebrating. Many do not have jobs to come back to. They flocked to the urban areas during boom times to earn a better living. Some have not seen their families for years -- the trip home is too expensive. But they have sent money home faithfully every month. When they finally can go home, the journey is long. Watch passengers haul huge bags on journey home » "I will be standing on the train for 24 hours," said one man on his way to Zhejiang province on the country's eastern seaboard. Some will travel much farther. The migrant workers are among 188 million people heading home for the holidays, also known in China as Spring Festival. But the actual numbers might be much higher. Travel is already up significantly compared to last year, when brutal snowstorms stranded passengers for days. Watch this year's snowstorms grip part of China » This year, more people seem to be going home than usual because of the global economic crisis. There are so many passengers trying to get from one place to another that tickets are hard to come by. Planes, trains and buses are fully loaded to destinations across the country. The train is the most popular option, cheaper than a plane and faster than a bus. But tickets are selling out fast. Some people have waited in line for hours, even days to get a ticket. "I started standing in line three days ago," said one man. "There's no way to buy the ticket." Others stood at the entrance to Beijing's East Station with signs. "Need two tickets to Weihan" or "Want to go to Inner Mongolia." Some blame the ticket shortage on scalpers who are hoarding tickets, then re-selling them for a profit. One man said he wanted 100 yuan or $15 more per fare and indicated he had tickets to multiple destinations. The Chinese government has cracked down on scalpers, arresting more than 4,000. But many Chinese think scalpers are more of a solution, than a problem. One woman told us she bought a ticket from a scalper because there was no other way. All the tickets to her hometown were sold out days in advance. The desperate hunt for tickets is a sign this could be China's most massive mass migration ever. And with the Chinese economy slowing down so much, so fast, this may be the last time some people are making the trip. | [
"What are the scalpers able to do?",
"What could downturn could make this year's Chinese new year migration biggest ever?",
"What is scarce?"
] | [
[
"hoarding tickets, then re-selling them for a profit."
],
[
"the global economic crisis."
],
[
"tickets"
]
] | Downturn could make this year's Chinese new year migration biggest ever .
Many will spend several days traveling to see family and friends .
With rail tickets scarce, scalpers are able to charge inflated prices . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- At the Aimin Fat Reduction Hospital in the Chinese city of Tianjin, they have never seen anyone so big. Bland said he misses his family and friends, but his goal is to lose the weight and be "healthier and happier." "Yes this is our record," Dr. Su Zhixin proudly boasted. He's talking about 33-year-old Alonzo Bland of Green Bay, Wisconsin. When Bland stepped off the plane at Beijing Airport in May of this year, he weighed 640 pounds. In fact, he struggled to take more than a few steps, and as he lay flat on his back, exhausted, airport staff called an ambulance. After repeated warnings from his doctor, Bland decided to come to China as a last-ditch effort to shed the pounds. "I needed to take it serious because we were talking about my life." Bland's weight yo-yoed for years, ballooning after he lost his job 12 years ago. "Nobody wanted to hire a guy who couldn't move, you know and so, [I] spent the next ...12 years on the couch and watched my weight constantly going up." Watch more on Alonzo Bland's transformative journey » At one point he needed an emergency tracheotomy because fat around his neck was crushing his windpipe. Earlier this year, while watching TV on the couch, he did an Internet search for weight-loss competitions. He entered one offering a first prize of an all-expense-paid trip to one of China's most famous boot camps for the obese. The weight-loss clinic is housed in a drab building, far from the city center. "It's a beautiful place. It really is," Bland said. "It is difficult though: I am away from home -- all my family and friends. But my goal here -- my goal is to lose the weight, so I think in the end I will be healthier and happier." Being this far from home, Bland said, has been a clean break from his bad habits. He simply doesn't know where the restaurants are, or how to order takeout. "It is away from everything I know, all those things -- even the excuses you make up: 'Oh I have to do this today, I can't work out, I have this do.' So coming here eliminated all the excuses." So far he has lost nearly 240 pounds -- a result of diet, exercise and traditional Chinese medicine such as acupuncture, which doctors say reduces appetite and increases metabolism. He works out at a gym three times a week, he walks every day and plays badminton as well. Bland's doctors are impressed with his determination to shed the weight. When he was in America, he had a different lifestyle, said Su. If he wanted to eat he would just order on the phone and "every day stay on sofa, playing games, watching TV," Su said. Bland has only been home once in the past seven months, for two weeks. His family was amazed at his weight loss, and more importantly, despite the fears of his doctor, Bland did not put on any weight while he was away. In fact, he woke at 4 a.m. most days, he said, to work out at the gym -- an indication, said his doctors, that he has broken the bad eating and living patterns that caused his weight gain. The ultimate goal for Bland is a weight of 220 pounds. To reach that goal, he must lose another 180 pounds. His doctors hope he can do that in the next five months -- a year after he arrived at the hospital. "I know I will get there. Will it happen in the next five months? I don't know, but I will get there." | [
"How much weight has Alonzo Bland lost?",
"Where is Alonzo Bland from?",
"How much weight did Bland lose in China?",
"Who arrived in Beijing?",
"Who has lost 240 ponds in May?",
"Number of pounds Alonzo lost?",
"What did Bland win?",
"Alonzo Bland weighed how much when he arrived in Beijing?",
"What did he win?",
"What event caused Alonzo Bland to become the way he was?"
] | [
[
"nearly 240 pounds"
],
[
"Green Bay, Wisconsin."
],
[
"240 pounds"
],
[
"Alonzo Bland"
],
[
"Alonzo Bland"
],
[
"240"
],
[
"an all-expense-paid trip to one of China's most famous boot camps for the obese."
],
[
"640 pounds."
],
[
"first prize of an all-expense-paid trip to one of China's most famous boot camps for the obese."
],
[
"did an Internet search for weight-loss competitions."
]
] | Alonzo Bland from Green Bay, Wisconsin, arrived in Beijing weighing 640 pounds .
He won all-expense-paid trip to a Chinese boot camp for obese .
Bland said after losing his job, his weight ballooned .
Bland has lost 240 pounds since May in China . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chen Xiao had pretty much given up making her own decisions and so decided to throw open her life to the whims of China's hundreds of millions of Internet users, known in China as netizens.
Beijing resident Chen Xiao decided to put her life up for sale after an unhappy 2008.
"It's your right to arrange Chen Xiao's life, and it's my obligation to serve you," read her online shop.
Since December, Chen has been allowing others to decide what she will do each day, because, for the most part, last year was awful, she said. Her hometown was hit by blizzards, her country rocked by a devastating earthquake, friends divorced and her clothing shop went bankrupt.
"Every time I had a plan for what I wanted my life to be like, nothing would come of it. It was very disappointing. I figured if other people came up with things for me to do, I might stumble upon something new and better," she told CNN.
What she stumbled upon was not only a new life but a new way to make a living. She charges about $3 an hour, and she's been asked to do almost everything from delivering pet food to caring for stray cats to taking a hot lunch to a homeless man.
What surprised her the most was not so much the varied requests but being able to find happiness in the process.
"If somebody asks you to do something, something simple, and you do it, it can make you very happy. You can change from a gloomy person to a very bright one. It can help give you a new sense of self-esteem," she said.
So far, the most meaningful assignment she was given was attending a child's birth -- the father was a complete stranger who just wanted someone to take pictures and share the moment.
There are limits to what she will agree to do. She will not do anything illegal, immoral or violent, but she said that has not stopped some from asking.
"When I first started there was this man who would send me these really disgusting text messages. His words were over the top... nauseating," she said.
There was also a man who wanted to meet her for a few private hours at a ski chalet. When she turned up with a friend to take photographs, he backed out and then demanded a refund, but Chen refused.
In many ways she is just a glorified errand girl, but with a unique China twist. Chen is another example here of how in China the Internet is crossing over from cyberspace to the real world.
Chen does not know how much longer she will keep taking cyberrequests. For now it is a good way to survive the financial crisis when many others are losing their jobs and businesses are going broke.
"When people stop needing me, I'll go back to my original life. But I don't know what will come," she said.
China's netizens will most likely make that decision for her as well. | [
"How much did she charge?",
"What Chen Xiao did?",
"Who is Chen Xiao?",
"what Chen will not do anything illegal?"
] | [
[
"about $3 an hour,"
],
[
"decided to put her life up for sale after an unhappy 2008."
],
[
"Beijing resident"
],
[
"Xiao"
]
] | 26-year-old Chen Xiao put her life online, asking people to fill it with tasks .
Decision came when she discovered she didn't know what to do with her life .
Charging $3 per hour, Chen has attended births, met strangers among other tasks .
Chen will not do anything illegal, immoral or violent . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China has become the world's third-largest economy, surpassing Germany and closing rapidly on Japan, according to government and World Bank figures. Commuters drive along a road in downtown Beijing, China, on Thursday. The Chinese government revised its growth figures for 2007 from 11.9 percent to 13 percent this week, bringing its estimated gross domestic product to $3.4 trillion -- about 3 percent larger than Germany's $3.3 trillion for the same year, based on World Bank estimates. Beijing is expected to release its 2008 GDP figures next week. Although the world's top economies, the United States and Japan, are in recession, the most pessimistic estimates for China's growth in upcoming years runs about 5 percent. That could allow China's GDP to overtake Japan's, currently $4.3 trillion, within a few years. The U.S. economy, the world's largest, was about $13.8 trillion in 2007. The World Bank's estimate of China's economic growth is about 7.5 percent. But China has seen a sharp decline in exports in November and December as other major economies struggle, and the bank's analysts say rates below 6 percent could worsen the rest of the world's slump. Watch how China was able to overtake Germany » And Michael Santoro, author of the 2008 book "China 2020," said China will have other problems to overcome if it is to maintain its rapid expansion. "It's no longer sufficient for China to become a manufacturer of sneakers or toys and the like," Santoro said. "Now they're looking to become players in the area of pharmaceuticals and foods and other high value-added products, where safety and quality are important characteristics for improving in the global economy." China recently announced a $600 billion economic stimulus package, and its State Council on Wednesday laid out a new plan to boost its steel and auto industries -- including about $1.5 billion to develop alternative-fuel vehicles. CNN's John Vause and Judy Kwon contributed to this report. | [
"How much has China's economy grown?",
"What is the approximate level of China's economic growth?",
"What is the estimate of China's economic growth?",
"What country could China overtake in terms of GDP?",
"Who announced a $600 billion economic stimulus package?",
"What was the value of the stimulus package?",
"How large was the recent Chinese economic stimulus package?",
"What is China's economic growth?",
"What could overtake Japan's GDP?",
"What country announced a huge stimulus plan?",
"What country currently has the highest GDP?",
"What country could China overtake in GDP?"
] | [
[
"13 percent"
],
[
"7.5 percent."
],
[
"is about 7.5 percent."
],
[
"Japan's,"
],
[
"China"
],
[
"$600 billion economic"
],
[
"$600 billion"
],
[
"7.5 percent."
],
[
"China's"
],
[
"China"
],
[
"the United States"
],
[
"Germany"
]
] | China's GDP could overtake Japan's within a few years .
World Bank's estimate of China's economic growth is about 7.5 percent .
China announced $600 billion economic stimulus package recently . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China has recalled two tainted leukemia drugs tied to "adverse reactions" in patients, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Sunday.
The factories involved in the production of the tainted drugs have been closed for investigation.
According to Xinhau, the State Food and Drug Administration and the Ministry of Health suspended the production, sale and usage of methotrexate and cytarabin hydrochloride, produced by Shanghai Hualian Pharmaceutical Co., on September 5.
There is no indication the drugs in question were ever exported outside of China.
On Friday, the two agencies issued a notice saying that vincristine sulfate was the culprit -- an anti-cancer medicine which had been mistakenly mixed with the leukemia drugs, causing leg pains and retention of urine -- Xinhua reported. The factories involved have been closed, while the cause is being investigated.
Separately, China returned to U.S. and Canadian exporters 42 tons of pork and turkey products after samples of the pork in the shipments showed traces ractopamine, Xinhua reported.
Ractopamine is a hormone used to promote lean meat growth in some animals and is banned in many parts of the world, including China and the European Union. E-mail to a friend | [
"China has recalled what?",
"What was tainted?",
"How many tons of tainted pork and turkey products were returned to exporters?",
"How many tons of tainted pork and turkey products were mentioned?",
"China returned what to US and Canadian exporters?",
"What did the drugs cause?",
"What kind of company is Shanghai Hualian?",
"What kind of drugs were mentioned as causing negative reactions?",
"What has happened to a drug by Shanghai Hualian Pharmaceutical?",
"Who recalled leukemia drugs?",
"Production and sale of drugs by what company are suspended?",
"What has China recalled?"
] | [
[
"two tainted leukemia drugs"
],
[
"leukemia drugs"
],
[
"42"
],
[
"42"
],
[
"turkey products"
],
[
"\"adverse reactions\""
],
[
"Pharmaceutical"
],
[
"leukemia"
],
[
"recalled"
],
[
"China"
],
[
"Shanghai Hualian Pharmaceutical Co.,"
],
[
"two tainted leukemia drugs"
]
] | China has recalled two tainted leukemia drugs causing "adverse reactions"
Production, sale of drug by Shanghai Hualian Pharmaceutical suspended .
China returned to U.S., Canadian exporters 42 tons tainted pork, turkey products . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China is shutting down a pair of smelting plants suspected of sickening several thousand children with lead poisoning, according to state-run media. A Chinese boy gets treated for blood poisoning in Shaanxi province Aug. 15. At least 851 children living near a plant in northwestern China's Shaanxi province were found to have excessive lead levels in their blood, according to the Xinhua news agency. The Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co. would cease operations no later than Saturday, Xinhua reported Wednesday, citing local authorities. County officials had agreed to relocate residents who live within 1,640 feet (500 meters) of the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co. in three years, but the relocation is behind schedule, Sun Hong, the company's general manager, told Xinhua. The local government has pledged to speed up the relocation, Xinhua reported this month. A second smelter also was closed Wednesday in central China and two of its executives detained, a local official said, according to Xinhua, Initial tests showed more than 1,300 children in the Hunan province town of Wenping have excessive lead in their blood from the Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant. A second round of testing has been ordered to confirm the results. The plant opened in May 2008 without gaining the approval of the local environment protection bureau, said Huang Wenbin, a deputy environment chief in Wugang City, Xinhua reported. The plant was within 500 meters (about a quarter mile) of three schools. The poisonings have occurred against the backdrop of China's rapid industrialization, which has produced economic success and wrought environmental havoc. Hundreds of millions of Chinese lack access to uncontaminated drinking water, and air pollution is blamed for myriad deaths and illnesses every year. Toxic air enshrouds cities across the country, one of the most polluted in the world. The government has stepped up anti-pollution efforts in recent years, but many companies flout such campaigns and laws. | [
"What is suspected of sickening thousands of children?",
"How many children in Shaanxi province had lead poisoning?",
"What sickened thousands of children?",
"Where were the plants located?",
"When did this happen?",
"How many children were poisoned in Shaanxi?",
"How many children were poisoned in Hunan?"
] | [
[
"lead poisoning,"
],
[
"851"
],
[
"lead poisoning,"
],
[
"northwestern China's Shaanxi province"
],
[
"Aug. 15."
],
[
"several"
],
[
"At least 851"
]
] | A pair of plants suspected of sickening thousands of children is closed.
At least 851 children in Shaanxi province found to have lead poisoning.
In Hunan province, 1300 children near another plant were poisoned. |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China surpassed the United States in 2008 as the world's top user of the Internet, according to a government-backed research group.
Nearly 91 percent of China's Internet users are surfing the Web with a broadband connection.
The number of Web surfers in the country grew by nearly 42 percent to 298 million, according to the China Internet Network Information Center's January report. And there's plenty of room for growth, as only about 1 in every 4 Chinese has Internet access.
The rapid growth in China's Internet use can be tied to its swift economic gains and the government's push for the construction of telephone and broadband lines in the country's vast rural areas, the report says.
The Chinese government wants phone and broadband access in each village by 2010.
Nearly 91 percent of China's Internet users are surfing the Web with a broadband connection -- an increase of 100 million from 2007. Mobile phone Internet users totaled 118 million by the end of 2008.
While China's Internet usage has been growing in leaps in bounds, the government limits the Web sites its citizens can visit. Learn more about China's Internet censorship »
Earlier this month, China released a blacklist of 19 major online portals and Web sites, including Google and Baidu, that it claims provide and spread pornographic or obscene content. The move came as several Chinese government agencies, including the Ministry of Public Security, launched a month-long campaign to clean up the Web, according to the state-run Xinhua news service.
China has come under criticism for restricting Web access to ordinary citizens as well as on local and foreign media covering last year's summer Olympics in Beijing. The U.S. State Department noted in a 2008 report that China had increased its efforts to "control and censor the Internet, and the government had tightened restrictions on freedom of speech and the domestic press" and bloggers.
In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria in September 2008, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said, "the freedom of Internet in China is recognized by many, even from the West."
"Nonetheless, to uphold state security, China, like many countries in the world, has also imposed some proper restrictions. That is for the safety, that is for the overall safety of the country and for the freedom of the majority of the people."
CNN's Yuli Yang contributed to this report. | [
"What number of people use the Internet?",
"Which country was the top user?",
"What was the cause of the high percentage of new internet users?",
"Does the Chinesse gorvernment censor their internet?",
"in what year was top user of the internet?"
] | [
[
"298 million,"
],
[
"China"
],
[
"swift economic gains and the government's push for the construction of telephone and broadband lines in the country's vast rural areas,"
],
[
"the government limits the Web sites its citizens can visit."
],
[
"2008"
]
] | China was top user of the Internet in 2008, says government-backed research group .
The number of Web surfers in the country grew by nearly 42 percent to 298 million .
Growth tied to economic gains, new telephone, broadband lines in rural areas .
Chinese government wants phone and broadband access in each village by 2010 . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China's foreign minister Wednesday rejected criticism of its human rights record, accusing the United States of "clinging to a Cold War mentality" and "practicing double standards." Workers at the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Fast Railway, a key project associated with the Beijing Olympics. Yang Jiechi was responding to questions about a State Department report released a day earlier that characterized China's human rights record as one of the most repressive in the world. The report was released five months before the Summer Olympic Games kickoff in Beijing. Although he chided the United States and other critics of its human rights record as "making confrontation," Yang stressed that China is "ready for dialogue with the United States, as long as it is done in an environment of respect and fairness." Despite rapid economic growth and social change in China, the report said the "authoritarian" Chinese government "continues to deny their citizens basic human rights and fundamental freedoms." It also said there was an increase in forced relocations in Beijing, with people being thrown out of their homes to make way for Olympic projects. "China's overall human rights record remained poor in 2007," it stated, citing tightening controls over religious freedom in Tibet and the Uyghur population. China announced Sunday that militants in Xinjiang's Uyghur Autonomous Region had planned to carry out two terror attacks, including one targeting the Olympics set to begin on August 8. China said it successfully thwarted both attacks. The autonomous region is home to about 19 million people, most of whom are Muslims and other minorities. Many of them oppose Beijing's rule. The State Department report also said China has increased its efforts to "control and censor the Internet, and the government tightened restrictions on freedom of speech and the domestic press" and bloggers. It cited a 20 percent increase over 2006 in convictions of citizens under what it called China's overly broad state security law that is often used to silence government critics. "The government continued to monitor, harass, detain, arrest, and imprison journalists, writers, activists, and defense lawyers and their families, many of whom were seeking to exercise their rights under law," the report said. "Individuals and groups, especially those deemed politically sensitive by the government, continued to face tight restrictions on their freedom to assemble, their freedom to practice religion, and their freedom to travel." The report, issued annually, surveys the human rights record of more than 190 countries around the world. In rolling out the report, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "No corner of the Earth is permanently condemned to tyranny. Change may take time, but change will come." E-mail to a friend CNN State Department Producer Elise Labott in Washington and Beijing Bureau Chief Jaime FlorCruz contributed to this report | [
"What did the report emphasize?",
"who was the report aimed at",
"What does China's FM reject?",
"what countries were involved",
"What did the FM reject?",
"What is China ready for?",
"When was the report released?"
] | [
[
"human rights and fundamental freedoms.\""
],
[
"\"authoritarian\" Chinese government"
],
[
"criticism of its human rights record,"
],
[
"China"
],
[
"criticism of its human rights record,"
],
[
"dialogue with the United States,"
],
[
"five months before the Summer Olympic Games kickoff in Beijing."
]
] | China's FM rejects U.S. attack on human rights record, says "double standards."
Yang Jiechi says China ready "for dialogue with the United States"
U.S. State Dept. report comes five months before the Beijing Olympics .
Report emphasized forced relocations, human rights abuses, control of Internet . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China's long simmering battle against corruption has come to a boil, this time in Chongqing, the largest megalopolis in the world. A massive crackdown has implicated millionaires, gangsters, and even police officers. Known as "dahei" (combat triads), the campaign has put the spotlight on organized crime and how it has infested local bureaucracy and businesses through bribery, extortion, blackmail and violence. The anti-triad campaign in Chongqing is being led by Bo Xilai, the city's party chief. Criminal trials are underway following months of police investigation. Details of murky cases are trickling out. Among those on the dock is Xie Caiping, a portly woman believed be the "mama san" of one of Chongqing's notorious triads. Xie is accused of operating gambling dens, drug trafficking, giving and collecting bribes and terrorizing people, including policemen who had tried to investigate her illicit activities. More trials are expected as the city fights at least 14 mafia-style gangs. Given China's opaque political world, it is notable that the ongoing trial is extensively covered by the Chinese media. For years after the Cultural Revolution, Chongqing languished as a decrepit mountain-city in Sichuan province, better known for its spicy food and poor farmers carrying goods on bamboo poles. It became the world's largest city in 1997 when the central government, by administrative edict, incorporated a huge area adjacent to the city into what is now the Chongqing municipality. China's goal was to build up Chongqing into a modern mega-city that will later serve as the new economic engine in central China. Over the years, thanks of the influx of corporate investments and central government funding in infrastructure projects, the city of 31 million has become a center of an economic boom. But the economic boom has also led to the resurgence of local gangs engaged in human and drug trafficking, illegal gambling, prostitution, extortion and protection rackets. Gangsters were blamed for heinous crimes of murder and kidnapping. Local officials were accused of "economic crimes"-- bribery, profiteering and malversation involving public funds and property. Such abuses have prompted popular anger and social unrest. Communist Party officials are under pressure to clean up or perish. "The life or death of the party depends on whether or not we have a strong will to punish and prevent corruption," Chinese President Hu Jintao told a meeting of the party elite last September. Party leaders pledged to attack the "acute problems" of corruption, the gap between the rich and the poor, and the lack of democracy within the party's own ranks. At the meeting, they outlined an anti-corruption directive that would compel officials and their families to disclose their property holdings and investments. "The new transparency rules are meant to curb abuse of power," says political analyst Wenran Jiang. "It's also aimed at appeasing public discontent over corruption." In Chongqing, police operations started in June, leading to the arrest of over 4,800 suspected gangsters and the confiscation of 1,700 illegal firearms. Investigations led to many city officials, including police officers. They include Wen Qiang, Xie Caiping's brother-in-law, who is now accused of colluding with gangsters. Highly regarded as an ace investigator, Wen was the deputy police commissioner and head of the city's justice bureau. Last August, he was stripped of his posts, detained and charged of accepting over 100 million yuan in bribes in exchange for giving gangs a "protective umbrella". Local media reports say Chongqing residents celebrated Wen's arrest by setting off firecrackers. The "dahei" campaign is led by Bo Xilai. 60, the city's party chief who also sits on China's ruling politburo. Son of a revolutionary veteran, Bo had served as Dalian city mayor, Liaoning provincial governor and China's minister of commerce. An outsider in Chongqing, Bo has had to bring in his trusted protégé, Wang Lijun, to replace Wen Qiang as chief of police and clean up the city. Wang made his name as a tough, upright police commissioner in Liaoning province, Bo's former turf. In response, | [
"How many mafia style gangs are the city fighting?",
"What trials are underway?",
"What does the anti-corruption drive implicate?",
"Who was implicated in the anti-corruption drive?",
"What does the campaign spotlight?",
"What city has had an economic boom ?"
] | [
[
"least 14"
],
[
"Criminal"
],
[
"millionaires, gangsters, and even police officers."
],
[
"millionaires, gangsters,"
],
[
"organized crime and how it has infested local bureaucracy and businesses through bribery, extortion, blackmail and violence."
],
[
"Chongqing"
]
] | Anti-corruption drive in Chongqing implicates millionaires, gangsters, police .
Campaign has spotlighted organized crime, how it has infested local bureaucracy .
City's economic boom has led to the resurgence of local gangs .
Criminal trials are underway as the city fights at least 14 mafia-style gangs . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chinese investors want to cash in on the country's NBA fever with a bid to buy a 15 percent stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Chinese superstar Yao Ming has been linked with a switch to Cleveland if Huang's deal goes through.
Chinese-born businessman Kenny Huang is heading the deal, estimated to be worth more than $70 million.
Huang has masterminded previous sports deals, including introducing Mandarin advertisements in the Houston Toyota Center, home of Rockets and Chinese basketball star Yao Ming.
With his U.S.-based partner Marc Ganis, Huang founded SportsCorp China, a company that facilitates sports and sponsorship contracts between the United States and China.
Ganis said that if the deal goes through, it would rank as the largest international sports transaction ever made by Chinese nationals.
"Simply having Chinese ownership will increase significantly the visibility of the team within China," Ganis said. "There will be much more coverage [of the Cavaliers] on the electronic news as well as the printed news. which means the team gets a much broader brand penetration in China for themselves, for their sponsors, and for any other business activities that they may want to engage in."
The news has already sparked excitement among China's massive basketball fan base.
"It makes me proud that the Chinese will be working with my favorite team," said a 14-year-old boy at Beijing's Youth Pro Basketball Training Camp. "It's an honor."
At the training camp, players practice in the shadow of a giant statue of four-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal, who last month moved to losing Eastern Conference finalist Cleveland from Phoenix Suns.
"They're crazy for basketball," said the camp's founder and former Chinese national basketball player Ma Jian. "Basketball has probably become the number one most popular sport in China."
Ma says China's fascination with shooting hoops stems partially from NBA efforts to promote the league in the world's most populous nation.
A minority ownership of an NBA team will take China and the NBA's love-love relationship to the next level.
"It is a natural extension of what the NBA's efforts have been in China," Ganis said in an interview, "for Chinese investors to look not just at sponsoring the NBA, not just getting athletes as endorsers of their products, but also for them to now move into ownership of NBA franchises,"
The move is also expected to bolster the Cavaliers' marketing opportunities in China, where the franchise's merchandise is already a top seller.
Some say that deal may even entice LeBron James, who has claimed he wants to be the first billion-dollar athlete, to re-sign with his hometown team next summer. James, or "Little Emperor" as the Chinese call him, is hugely popular in China.
It seems the feeling's mutual.
Playing for a team with links to China, "should be fun," James told Cleveland newspaper, The Plain Dealer.
"It's a big market; they love the game of basketball .I've been over there the last four or five summers, and I know how much they are inspired about the game."
There's also speculation that if the deal is finalized, the Chinese presence at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena may increase by one.
A move by Yao to the Cavaliers has been at the center of discussion in the Chinese bloggosphere. A Chinese forum post reads: "I think there is around a 60 percent chance that Yao Ming will go to the Cavaliers because now the team is part-owned by Chinese investors and they will want to sign him."
"This is all an unknown," said Yao in the interview with his hometown Shanghai TV station.
Although Yao's recent injury may keep him off the court, it won't keep Chinese fans from watching the NBA -- despite speculation that his broken foot could end his career or, at the very least, keep him out of the next season.
"Despite Yao's injury, many people in | [
"Further Chinese investment expected in what?",
"What does Chinese businessman hope to buy",
"What is deal worth?",
"Who is heading the estimated $70 million deal?",
"Who hopes to buy 15% stake in Cleveland Cavs?"
] | [
[
"Cleveland Cavaliers."
],
[
"a 15 percent stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers."
],
[
"more than $70 million."
],
[
"Kenny Huang"
],
[
"Chinese investors"
]
] | Chinese businessman hopes to buy 15 percent stake in Cleveland Cavaliers .
Kenny Huang is heading the deal, estimated to be worth more than $70 million .
Chinese people fanatical about basketball and national sports hero Yao Ming .
Further Chinese investment in the NBA is expected in the future . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chinese leaders Monday mourned the death of Zhuo Lin, wife of former national leader Deng Xiaoping. Zhuo Lin, center, mourns at husband Deng Xiaoping's funeral in 1997. Zhuo, a former consultant of the Central Military Commission General Office, died July 29 at age 93 and was cremated Monday, state-run news agency Xinhua reported. She was "an excellent Communist Party of China member and time-honored loyal communist fighter," the party said in a written statement. Zhuo stood by Deng through decades of what CNN once described as "amazing comebacks" from "political purges." Though a committed Communist revolutionary, Deng also was a chief architect of some key reforms that reshaped China's economy. Zhuo met Deng in 1939 when they were young revolutionaries. She became his third wife and mother of his two sons and three daughters. When Deng rose to prominence as the most powerful leader of China, the family became China's "first family." Zhuo and Deng remained together until his death in 1997. Part of their story includes time spent together in exile. In 1966, Deng proposed major reforms including free markets for farmers and incentive bonuses. He was quickly denounced as a "capitalist roader," a Maoist term used for people embracing capitalist ideals. He was under house arrest for two years, paraded in a dunce cap through the streets of Beijing and forced to wait tables at a Communist Party school. In 1969, Deng, Zhuo and several of their children were exiled to Jiangxi province in southeastern China. Deng later said only a personal security team supplied by Chinese leader Mao Zedong protected him from being killed. As Xinhua reported, Zhuo was Deng's companion "through thick and thin." When he ascended to power in 1978, Deng argued that "poverty is not socialism" and encouraged the creation of a market economy and capitalist-like enterprises. By the early 1990s his reforms had helped lift an estimated 170 million peasants out of extreme poverty. But he refused to abolish the power of the Communist Party over the lives of China's citizens. And he apparently approved the brutal suppression of unarmed demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in June 1989. The remarkable ups and downs of Deng Xiaoping's long political career took a dramatic toll on Deng and Zhuo's children, CNN reported in 1999, "leaving one son crippled from an attack during the Cultural Revolution but, in more recent years, enabling all five Deng heirs to succeed in business, government or the arts." The Cultural Revolution was initiated by Mao in 1966 to purge reformists and return the country to his style of communism. Zhuo took on various roles in the Chinese government. In 1978, she was appointed a consultant of the Central Military Commission General Office, Xinhua reported. "She served as a deputy to the fourth and fifth National People's Congress and was awarded the Independence Merit Medal from the People's Liberation Army in 1988," the news agency said. "My father and mother did not just share a family, they shared political ideals and life pursuits," said Deng Rong, in a Xinhua report. According to Xinhua, several leaders and former statesmen attended Zhuo's cremation ceremony, including President Hu Jintao, former President Jiang Zemin, legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao. "To complete the last trip with her beloved husband, Zhuo chose to have her ashes scattered at sea as her husband's were," Xinhua reported. | [
"Who calls her \"time-honored loyal communist fighter\"?",
"What did Zhuo Lin do?",
"What does child say?",
"What did the party say?",
"When did she die?",
"Who died at the age of 93?",
"What did child say?",
"Who is the leader of the Chinese Community Party?"
] | [
[
"Zhuo Lin,"
],
[
"a former consultant of the Central Military Commission General Office,"
],
[
"\"My father and mother did not just share a family, they shared political ideals and life pursuits,\""
],
[
"of China member and time-honored loyal communist fighter,\""
],
[
"July 29"
],
[
"Zhuo Lin,"
],
[
"not just share a family, they shared political ideals and life pursuits,\""
],
[
"Deng Xiaoping."
]
] | Chinese Community Party calls her "time-honored loyal communist fighter"
Zhuo Lin, wife of Deng Xiaoping, died July 29 at the age of 93 .
Child says mother, father "shared political ideals and life pursuits"
News agency: Zhuo wanted her ashes spread at sea, just as Deng's were . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chinese officials in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reported the death of a fourth baby Thursday in the country's expanding contaminated infant formula case. The tainted milk powder has already sickened more than 6,200 babies. Earlier in the day, authorities announced the arrest of 12 more suspects in the investigation, provincial police said. The arrests bring to 18 the number of people detained, according to the Hebei Public Security Bureau. Twelve of those arrested are involved in the collection of milk and the production of milk products, authorities said. Authorities accuse the other six of illegally selling the chemical added to the milk. More than 1,300 infants are hospitalized, said Li Changjiang, China's director of quarantine and inspection, on Wednesday. Their conditions include malnutrition, kidney stones and acute renal failure. Inspectors have been deployed across the country to test producers' inventories. Of China's 175 baby milk powder production companies, 66 have stopped production, Li said. Watch parents scramble for safe milk » Two brothers who sold fresh milk used to produce contaminated baby milk powder were arrested by Chinese investigators Monday. They could face death if convicted, according to China Daily, a state-run newspaper. The raw milk had been watered down and a chemical added to fool quality checks, the newspaper said. Investigators said the brothers confessed to watering down the raw milk and mixing in tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine. They said they did it to recover losses suffered when the factory rejected earlier milk shipments, the paper reported. Learn more about the chemical melamine » The brothers are charged with producing and selling toxic and hazardous food, which carries a possible death penalty, the paper said. Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. The chemical is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Watch CNN visit the company at the center of the scandal » Thousands of tons of the tainted milk powder have been recalled, including pullbacks by Mengniu Dairy Group, China's largest milk producer, and the Sanlu Group. Chinese investigators have found melamine in nearly 70 milk products from more than 20 companies, Li said Wednesday. Products made by Sanlu had the highest concentration of the chemical. It is not the first time Sanlu has been connected to a scandal involving tainted milk powder, according to China Daily. In 2004, at least 13 infants in the eastern Anhui province died of malnutrition after drinking milk powder that had little to no nutrition. The illegally manufactured milk was falsely labeled with the Sanlu brand, according to the paper. The vast majority of the tainted formula was consumed domestically, but it is known to have been exported to Taiwan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Yemen, Chad and Burundi, according to Li. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said no Chinese baby formula has been allowed on the market in the United States. In a statement on its Web site, the FDA said it had reached out to all five companies making formula in the United States and none has used formula or source materials from China. This episode marks the latest in a string of tainted products produced in China: CNN's Yuli Yang contributed to this story. | [
"Who recalled batches of formula?",
"What is China's biggest milk producer?",
"How many babies have died?",
"How many infants are known to be ill?",
"How many infants are ill?",
"What caused the babies' deaths?",
"What were 12 people arrested for?",
"How many arrests?",
"How mnay companies stopped production?",
"How many babies died?"
] | [
[
"Mengniu Dairy Group,"
],
[
"Mengniu Dairy Group,"
],
[
"13"
],
[
"more than 6,200"
],
[
"more than 6,200"
],
[
"tainted milk powder"
],
[
"contaminated infant formula case."
],
[
"18"
],
[
"66"
],
[
"13"
]
] | NEW: 12 new arrests raises total number of people detained to 18 .
4 babies have died; over 6,200 infants now known to be ill .
China's largest milk producer, Mengniu Dairy Group, recalls three batches of formula .
Of China's 175 baby milk powder production companies, 66 have stopped production . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Consumers in Beijing's malls and shops are shunning the milk and poultry sections -- for good reasons. Poultry products, including eggs, may be contaminated with melamine through animal food. They are shocked and scared by the news headlines: some food produced in China is tainted with melamine. "Of course I'm worried," says a woman shopping in Nanxiaojie Market. Stop eating eggs? "That's not possible," she tells CNN. "If there's a problem with eggs, it should be solved fundamentally." Chinese premier Wen Jiabao says China will take steps to win back consumers. "We will use our actions and high quality of our food products to win the trust and confidence of Chinese people and people around the world," he told reporters at the end of a two-day summit of Asian and European leaders in Beijing last weekend. Watch more about the tainted food scandal » "Three minister-level officials have resigned and a government investigation is going on. Whoever is responsible must be brought to justice. We need to protect the Made in China brand," said Chinese analyst Victor Gao. But the problem could be more pervasive. The state-run Nanfang Daily published an investigative story saying that adding melamine into animal feed has become an "open secret." The report said adding melamine into feed started in the aquatic farming industry five years ago, as a way of faking higher protein levels. Learn more about chemical melamine » It then spread into other agro-industries such as poultry. Even more shocking is the allegation that the melamine added is from industrial waste material. CNN contacted the Ministry of Agriculture about the story, but got no immediate response. Two years ago, reports revealed pet food exported from China to the United States was spiked with melamine and had sickened and killed dogs. Several weeks ago, the food scandal spread to milk, biscuits and candies. Now, it is tainted eggs. So far, no illnesses or deaths have been linked to eggs. Tests in Hong Kong last week showed eggs exported by a Chinese company are contaminated with excessive levels of melamine. In recent days three other brands of eggs have also been found to contain the chemical. Small wonder egg sales at the Xinfadi, a wholesale market in Beijing, dropped by 10 percent this week, according to the state-run China Daily. Chinese officials say the source of the problem is melamine, an industrial chemical used to produce plastics and fertilizer. Melamine is high in nitrogen. Unscrupulous milk suppliers would water down milk and spike it with melamine -- but in amounts that allowed it to still pass quality tests. Agriculture experts speculate that eggs tainted with melamine may be the result of tainted feed given to hens. That begs the question: if melamine was in the animal feed, will it make into the meat, and into consumers' bodies? Ingesting melamine in large doses over an extended period of time could cause kidney stones and other illnesses, agriculture and health experts say. But taking in a small amount of melamine poses no such danger. "If it's taken over a long period of time, maybe, but if it's ingested only for short period of time it does not pose harm on animals," says He Jiguo, a professor of food science and nutrition at the China Agriculture University. He says the animals that end up being slaughtered do not live that long and do not actually ingest enough melamine for it to build up in their systems. The dogs and cats that were sickened in the United States were probably eating treats and meals tainted with melamine over a long period of time, he explains. Until the situation is resolved, worried grocery shoppers in Beijing say they'll just have to eat fewer eggs and more bean-products, like soybeans. | [
"What was added to animal food products?",
"What is said to have been added to food products?",
"Who will try to win back consumers?",
"Who is the chinese premier?",
"Which Chinese premier is trying to win back customers?",
"What is supposedly added to animal food products?",
"When did the additions to feed start?",
"When was melamine added to the feed in aquatic farming?",
"What was reportedly added to food products?",
"When was melamine used in aquatic farming?",
"What is China trying to regain?",
"What is the name of the Chinese premier?",
"Who is the Chinese premier?",
"What has been added to animalfood products?",
"What is the name of the Chinese premeir?",
"What was added to animal food products?",
"What is said to have been added to animal food products?",
"What was started in aquatic farming 5 years ago?"
] | [
[
"melamine"
],
[
"melamine"
],
[
"China"
],
[
"Wen Jiabao"
],
[
"Wen Jiabao"
],
[
"melamine"
],
[
"five years ago,"
],
[
"five years ago,"
],
[
"melamine"
],
[
"five years ago,"
],
[
"win back consumers."
],
[
"Wen Jiabao"
],
[
"Wen Jiabao"
],
[
"melamine"
],
[
"Wen Jiabao"
],
[
"melamine"
],
[
"melamine"
],
[
"adding melamine into feed"
]
] | Chinese premier Wen Jiabao says China will try to win back consumers .
Melamine is said to have been added to animal food products .
Report: Adding melamine to feed started in aquatic farming 5 years ago .
Some grocery shoppers say to eat fewer eggs and more bean-products . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Every day, tens of thousands of fertilized hen eggs are delivered to Sinovac laboratories in Beijing. Each egg is infected with the H1N1 virus, then incubated for three days. White-coated employees examine every egg individually before the virus is extracted and used to make a vaccine. Vials of H1N1 vaccine before they are labeled and packaged. Sinovac Biotech Ltd. was the first company in the world to successfully complete clinical trials for an H1N1 vaccine. It was also the first company approved by the Chinese government to produce millions of doses for the public. China is set to become the first country to begin mass inoculations sometime around the beginning of October. According to Sinovac CEO Yin Weidong, the secret lies in years of vaccine research and development. Sinovac was the first and only company ever to create a vaccine for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the worldwide pandemic that left almost 350 people in China dead. The SARS vaccine was never used. By the time it was discovered, the outbreak had subsided. However, the breakthrough has enabled Sinovac to stay ahead of the curve. Watch as the H1N1 vaccine is produced » "The SARS vaccine helped us achieve the H5N1 (bird flu) vaccine, which helped us get the H1N1 vaccine," says CEO Yin Weidong. "That's why we could be so fast and be the first." Since Sinovac's success, at least two other Chinese companies and several around the world have also produced H1N1 vaccines. China has reportedly ordered 3.3 million vaccines from Sinovac, 4 million from Hualan Biological and another 3 million from the Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences. According to Yin, the main challenge for China will be providing enough vaccines for everyone. "A country with 1.3 billion people needs 1.3 billion vaccines," he says. Watch report on China's inoculation preparations » The Chinese government has long warned an outbreak of H1N1 could be catastrophic in a massive country with an underdeveloped health system. In recent weeks, the instances of H1N1 infections have risen dramatically throughout the mainland. There have been more than 9,000 cases of the H1N1 virus in China so far, and more than half of them have happened in the last few weeks alone. "It's basically affected all provinces of China and we're worried because of the sheer number of people involved," says Vivian Tan, communications director for the World Health Organization in China. "It's moving from the urban and coastal areas into more rural remote areas." According to the WHO, the rapid acceleration of H1N1 is occurring in part because flu season is starting, the weather is cooling down and school is back in session. More than 80 percent of China's swine flu cases have occurred in schools or due to school-related activities. China has had perhaps the most extreme and active response to the virus than any other country in the world. For months, masked Chinese officials have boarded international flights upon arrival, checking all passengers' temperatures and administered health surveys before granting entry. Thousands have been quarantined, including entire flights and school groups. Health authorities have heavily publicized the risks posed by the virus and rolled out a Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment plan, as an alternative to the vaccines produced by Sinovac and others. Yet, some Chinese citizens remain skeptical that a vaccine is even necessary in the first place. "It doesn't seem like my baby is going to catch the swine flu," says one mother at a hospital in central Beijing. "And what if it affects his health in the future? I'm just going to avoid crowded areas." Like any vaccine, the WHO has warned the H1N1 vaccine may have negative side effects. Sinovac plans to track and test patients for several years after vaccinations are administered to determine if there are any dangers. Ultimately, in China, the central concern remains that the H1N1 virus itself could expand and spin out of control. According to Tan of the WHO, "I think one of our biggest fears is that (the H1N1 virus) could re-assort with | [
"what company was approved",
"What vaccine has Sinovac already created?",
"what company has approved it",
"what will they produce",
"What will Sinovac Biotech produce?",
"what has been created in the chinese lab",
"how many doses will be produced",
"who created the vaccine"
] | [
[
"Sinovac Biotech Ltd."
],
[
"Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),"
],
[
"Sinovac Biotech Ltd."
],
[
"H1N1 vaccine."
],
[
"Vials of H1N1"
],
[
"H1N1 vaccine"
],
[
"millions"
],
[
"Sinovac Biotech Ltd."
]
] | Inside the Chinese lab that has created world's first H1N1 vaccine .
Sinovac Biotech Ltd is first company approved by the Chinese government .
The company will now produce millions of doses for the public .
Sinovac got headstart after creating a vaccine during SARS pandemic . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- For years, doctors and patients have been using DNA analysis to diagnose anything from paternity to predisposition to inherited disease. Now, Chinese scientists say genetic testing can identify inherent "talents" as well. The results can reveal athletic or musical talents but cannot necessarily identify the next Yao Ming. By examining the DNA from a simple cheek swab, scientists at Shanghai Biochip Co., one of China's largest biotechnology companies, say they can uncover a person's natural strengths and weaknesses with 99 percent accuracy. They test eleven genes that they say correspond to memory, swiftness, thinking, comprehension, emotion, adventure, braveness, focus ability, perseverance, vigor and physical strength. According to the company, specific combinations of the genes can reveal whether someone is genetically predisposed to being highly intelligent, athletic, musical and more. In the case of memory, the scientists examine the gene known as BDNF, the Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor gene. Research by America's National Institute of Health suggests that different variants of the BDNF gene correspond to different competences in episodic memory (the ability to recall recent events) as well as different activity-levels in the hippocampus (the area of the brain that mediates memory). See photos of the children's summer camp in China where such testing occurs » Each person has one of three possible BDNF variants: AA, AG and GG. Each variant or base pair refers to the two gene components that make up each gene on the DNA's double helix. Most people have the GG variant, which indicates "normal" memory. Fewer people have the AG base pair, which corresponds to "above average" memory. AA is the rarest and strongest type of memory gene variant. "The AA genotype is the best in memory. (Someone with an AA pairing) will learn something easy and remember the result longer than others can," said Yang Yanqing, the lab's technical director. Once lab technicians determine the base pairs for each of the eleven talent genes, specialists draw conclusions about a person's broader characteristics and even make career recommendations based a person's talent level in each of the eleven categories. "This child is very thoughtful and focused," Shanghai Biochip's Healthcare Director Huang Xinhua explained while looking over a girl's test results. "I suggest she go into management." Although the results can also reveal athletic or musical talents, genetic testing will not necessarily be able to identify the next Yao Ming or Yo-Yo Ma. DNA analysis only provides an indication of someone's talent potential, not their realized skill-level, the scientists say. "It's not like genes decide everything. Genes just decide 30 to 60 percent. The rest is post-natal. A child's upbringing, nutrition, and education are all very much related," said Huang. Still for many Chinese parents, it is worth knowing that extra 30 to 60 percent more about their child. The lab, which conducts many other types of DNA tests, has seen a surge in the demand for genetic talent tests, most of the requests come from parents on behalf of their children. In a country where, by law, most couples can only have one child, parents seem to be turning to biotechnology to ensure their only child reaches his or her full potential. | [
"What do they collect with a cheek swab?",
"How many genes are tested?",
"Scientists at Shanghai Biochip Co. say what?",
"What is the name of the company?",
"What company do the scientist come from?",
"what do the scientists say"
] | [
[
"DNA"
],
[
"eleven"
],
[
"they can uncover a person's natural strengths and weaknesses with 99 percent accuracy."
],
[
"Shanghai Biochip Co.,"
],
[
"Shanghai Biochip Co.,"
],
[
"genetic testing can identify inherent \"talents\" as well."
]
] | Scientists at Shanghai Biochip Co. say they can uncover a person's natural strengths .
They do so by examining the DNA from a simple cheek swab .
They test eleven genes that they say correspond to certain traits .
Specific combinations of the genes can reveal predispositions for certain skills . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Graphic footage of death and destruction has been shown on China's state-run news networks in the days following the massive earthquake that hit southwest Sichuan province earlier this week. Such telling video has rarely been shown by domestic media so extensively and so quickly after a national disaster. CCTV, China's state-run television network, as well as some local TV stations, have interrupted their regular programming to provide 24-hour coverage of the disaster. Field reporters give live reports of search-and rescue operations. News about China's deadly earthquake is being updated around the clock -- tallying death tolls, the horrendous damage and the government's swift response. Footage shows Premier Wen Jiabao surrounded by grieving villagers, his arms tightly holding two young girls. "Your sorrow is our sorrow," he assures them. "As long as people are still alive, we can start all over again." Premier Wen traveled to the disaster areas within hours of the massive earthquake. Chinese television covered his movements while leading rescue operations and comforting people in distress. Wearing a hard hat, he was shown standing on rubble and consoling trapped survivors through a loud speaker. The message is compelling: This disaster is terrible but the government is doing everything it can. Such swift reaction and extensive news coverage has not been seen in previous disasters. When the Great Tangshan earthquake struck 32 years ago, the Chinese media kept the information secret for a long time, even though over 240,000 people were killed. In the early stages of the 2003 SARS outbreak, domestic media downplayed reports on the deadly epidemic, even as it spiraled out of control and spread globally. More recently, severe snowstorms hit southern China during Spring Festival, the nation's most important holiday. Local media initially downplayed the crisis, following the government's cue; Premier Wen Jiabao was later forced to apologize for the government's slow response. With the Beijing Olympics just three months away, China is in the spotlight. Wenran Jiang, acting director of the Chinese Institute at the University of Alberta, believes the nation has drawn lessons from its past experiences with disaster. "China made mistakes before. They seemed to have learned their lessons from the earlier episodes and this one -- they probably want to manage it as well as they can." Watch latest report on rescue efforts » Why China's new approach? Jiang notes that "the media follow-up is quite transparent," in part because it "is politically less sensitive covering such a natural disaster." Besides, Chinese officials see tangible benefits in allowing media transparency. By showing the leaders helping people and coordinating search and rescue efforts, he explains, "the result is that the whole [of] China is being mobilized. The disaster has now become a rallying point of the country." Experts in the region note the stark contrast between China's open response in the aftermath of the earthquake and Myanmar's defensive, clumsy response in the aftermath of a deadly cyclone earlier this month. Unlike its southern neighbor, China appears open to accepting international help and providing accurate information. Chinese officials say they welcome offers of sympathy and international assistance. Aid groups have been on standby, ready to help as soon as the Chinese government gives the green light. Officials say that will come "when the time is ripe." Today's more open, quick and aggressive reporting is a stark departure from China's poor performance in recent years. | [
"How many hours of coverage did TV stations provide?",
"How many years ago did the earthquake strike?",
"What have the Tv stations done to provide 24 hour coverage?",
"What have TV stations been doing?",
"What has been shown on state run networks?",
"What did Chinese media do 32 years ago?",
"What did state-run networks show?",
"What did the Chinese do when the earthquake struck 32 years ago?",
"What country's media kept information secret?",
"How many hours of coverage are the TV stations providing?",
"What kind of disaster has occured?"
] | [
[
"24-hour"
],
[
"32"
],
[
"interrupted their regular programming"
],
[
"interrupted their regular programming to provide 24-hour coverage of the disaster."
],
[
"Graphic footage of death and destruction"
],
[
"kept the information secret for a long time,"
],
[
"Graphic footage of death and destruction"
],
[
"kept the information secret"
],
[
"China's"
],
[
"24-hour"
],
[
"massive earthquake"
]
] | Graphic footage of death, destruction has been shown on state-run networks .
TV stations have interrupted regular shows to provide 24-hour coverage .
Swift reaction, extensive news coverage not seen in previous disasters .
When earthquake struck 32 years ago, Chinese media kept information secret . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Had the government not delayed its controversial order that all computers be equipped with Green Dam by July 1, the result would have been the same -- Chinese computer retailers were far from ready. The Green Dam's developers say they've received death threats. PC sales representatives at Bainaohui, one of Beijing's largest electronics retailers, say their merchandise is not pre-installed with Green Dam, a Web filtering software the government said was necessary to prevent children from viewing pornography and other harmful content. Some retailers were unclear as to when the software would even be available on new units. Computer experts say manufacturers have not had enough time to pre-install new computers with the software -- which is one reason behind the government's delay. PC companies may also be taking more time to test the software after programming errors, with the potential to make computers susceptible to hackers, were detected by University of Michigan professors. The Chinese government said that these errors have been fixed. The international backlash against the Green Dam directive may be further delaying the pre-instillation process. Twenty-two chambers of commerce and trade groups made an appeal to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urging that he abandon the software mandate. "China is putting companies in an untenable position by requiring them, with virtually no public notice, to pre-install software that appears to have broad-based censorship implications and network security issues," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke in a press-release. With the support of U.S. trade officials, computer-makers including Dell and Hewlett-Packard are threatening to bring the matter to the World Trade Organization. Other computer manufactures, including Sony and Acer, say they are bound to comply with the Chinese policy. Domestically, Chinese Internet users are rallying against the government. Last week an anonymous group of "netizens" posted an open letter on Chinese blogs and forums. "We hereby decide that from July 1 2009, we will start a full-scale global attack on all censorship systems you control," the message said. The Chinese artist, activist, and architect who designed the Olympic "Bird's Nest" stadium, is one of the leaders behind the cyber battle. Ai Weiwei called for his Twitter followers to boycott the Internet on July 1st. The Green Dam's developers say they've even received death threats. The Chinese online community has been in an uproar since the new policy became public, and a "Declaration of Anonymous Internet Users 2009" circulating directly addresses government censors, said Charles Mok, chairman of the Internet Society of Hong Kong. "They are showing altered pictures of their own face using masks like that from 'V for Vendetta'," said Mok, referring to the 2005 film updating the story of Guy Fawkes, who tried to destroy Parliament building in England in the 17th Century. "It says, 'We're behind the mask; if one of us falls down, ten others will join.'" Mok also questions the true intent of the Green Dam software. "On its black list are 2000 words related to pornography and 6000 other types of politically sensitive key words like 'Falun Gong'," he said, referring to the banned Chinese religious group. "That ratio alone makes it obvious what's behind it." Sharp criticism of the software partially stems from fears that the software will simply further strengthen the government's control and censorship of the media. Yet the government said it is simply acting in response to parental complaints about the negative affects of the Internet on children. Responding to reporters' questions, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang acknowledges the controversy over the software in and outside China. "However," he said in a regular press conference last week, "no matter how many different views there are, the Chinese government assumes the responsibility to protect our youth from unhealthy information on the Internet, and so do various social circles and enterprises. This is the essence of this problem." The government said it is simply providing the software free of charge, as a | [
"What is the reason the deadline was extended?",
"what have critics said about the software",
"what China extends deadline for Internet filtering software to?",
"What is the main purpose of the Green dam software?",
"what did the government say about gree dam"
] | [
[
"manufacturers have not had enough time to pre-install new computers with the software"
],
[
"will simply further strengthen the government's control and censorship of the media."
],
[
"prevent children from viewing pornography"
],
[
"Web filtering"
],
[
"was necessary to prevent children from viewing pornography and other harmful content."
]
] | China extends deadline for Internet filtering software to accompany PCs .
International backlash, unreadiness of retailers may be reasons behind the delay .
Government says Green Dam software is designed to block porn .
Critics say software can block all non-government sanctioned content . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Liu Yan, regarded as China's top classical dancer, was to give the performance of a lifetime: She was to dance a solo at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Liu, in red, performs on the 2008 Beijing Television Chinese New Year Festival Show. She was to perform a dance entitled "Silk Road," a piece intended to convey the rich cultural history of China. But it never happened. Twelve days before she was to take the stage at the Olympics, in an event that China hoped would catapult the nation to international glory, she fell while rehearsing the dance -- leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. "When the music stopped, I made my exit as usual. I was dancing on a thin layer of electrical mat, I was standing on that, and there was a platform powered by a vehicle moving underneath," Liu said from the Beijing 306 Military Hospital. "Right when I stepped on the platform, it moved away quickly ... then, like that, I fell." Watch more on Liu » "It was extremely painful." Liu, who was knocked unconscious, was later told she would never walk again. Doctors operated on her for six hours, and the hospital where she was being treated was near the Bird's Nest -- the landmark national stadium built for the Games. The stadium can be seen from Liu's hospital room window. "I could not see it, because I was unable to sit up. But then, I could see the fireworks from the rehearsal," Liu said through tears. She did not watch the opening ceremony. "I was afraid to watch it," she said. "I was listening to Lisa Ono (a bossa nova singer) with the volume up to the highest on the stereo that used to be here in the corner. But, I watched it later." Liu began attending the Beijing Dance Academy in 1993. She spent 10 years studying professional dancing, and classical Chinese dance was her major. She repeatedly received the annual Best Student award and went on to win gold awards in the national dancing competition in 2004, the Lotus Dancing competition and the first Asian Youth Art Festival. She also won many top cultural awards in China for dance plays. "When I was young, I was the kind of child who studied dancing very hard. I never gave up. I love dancing very much. When practicing some dancing movements, which other students considered boring, I saw the practice as very interesting," she said. "People thought that I took dancing very seriously because of my love for it, but I think it's very interesting." Apart from the physical pain, Liu said: "The damage on my dancing career is the most painful part for me." "I think this is very sad. But I am injured and it is a fact that cannot be changed. But I believe I will keep dancing or at least doing work related to that, because that is what I love." Liu said she spends most of her time recovering in the hospital, exercising her legs to help develop her muscles. She said she feels much better now but it is still tough. "I often cry. After I got injured, I feel fragile every time I reflect on the past. But I think of it as a process," she said. "I will learn to face the reality rationally. Human hearts are made of flesh; it is not one flat surface. The important thing is how you adjust yourself." She has since started to return to her normal life. "For example, going back home and staying overnight, going out with friends for dinner, even going to see a show, a movie, drink coffee, drink Champagne, going back to classes." Liu does not blame anyone for the accident, saying that in big events, "accidents happen." "I think you should not blame one person | [
"what awards were won?",
"What country is Liu Yan from?",
"What was Liu Yan rehearsing when she was injured?",
"What nationality is Liu Yan?",
"who is paralyzed?",
"What type of dance is Liu Yan best known for?",
"What was being rehearsed?"
] | [
[
"Best Student"
],
[
"China"
],
[
"to dance a solo at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics."
],
[
"Chinese"
],
[
"Liu Yan,"
],
[
"classical Chinese"
],
[
"\"Silk Road,\""
]
] | Liu Yan is paralyzed while rehearsing her solo dance for the Olympics' opening .
Doctors say she will not walk again .
Liu wins many dance awards; she is considered China's top classical dancer .
She believes she will recover and exercises every day . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- North Korea, formally called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is also known as the Hermit Kingdom for a good reason.
Chinese border guards patrol in Jilin province across from the North Korean border on March 21, 2009.
For decades, it has been shrouded by a veil of secrecy that has prevented us from better understanding this important nation. As journalists we seek out the realities of life there, beyond the myths and hype, but that is difficult because the DPRK is generally inaccessible to journalists. The gap between reality and illusion remains profound.
Journalists, such as the two Americans being detained in North Korea, do travel to the border between China and North Korea to get a sense of what life is like in the isolated nation of 22 million people. The circumstances surrounding the journalists' arrest are still unclear.
"North Korea is such a difficult country to enter for a foreign reporter that the temptation to slip across the frozen river border is considerable," said former CNN correspondent Mike Chinoy, author of "Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis."
"If that's what they did, however, it was extremely foolhardy and really pushing their luck."
China and North Korea share a 1,415-kilometer (880-mile) border that mainly follows two rivers. The Yalu River defines the border on the northwest, the Tumen River on the northeast. By land, the two countries are linked by seven road crossings and four railway points.
Over the years, I have visited three towns on the Chinese side of the border. From a narrow river crossing at the border town of Tumen, Koreans cross on foot and in trucks. Those going back into North Korea carry bags full of food and household wares, even bicycles. Some of those coming into China ferry logs and minerals.
From across the Yalu River in China's Dandong City in October of 2006, I had a glimpse of Sinuiju, a North Korean border town of some 350,000 people. Using a long camera lens, I saw school children learn to roller skate, and residents celebrating what looked like a wedding. Still the city's decrepit appearance hinted at stagnation and isolation. It was a stark contrast from the Chinese city, which was ablaze in neon lights and a bustling commerce and trade.
North Korea's public face is one of smiling children, clean streets, manicured gardens, spectacular scenery and a stoic people united under the aegis of Kim Jong Il, known among Koreans as the "Dear Leader."
I saw it up close twice, in 1996 and 2002, when I had the chance to visit the most reclusive nation on earth. We were typically greeted by polite officials and smiling children and invited to watch spectacular performances with a cast of thousands.
North Korea, however, remains isolated, diplomatically and economically, led by an erratic leadership that behaves out of fear and insecurity.
Diplomatic sources in Beijing suggest that China is getting fed up with North Korea's inability to preserve social stability and with its erratic behavior in the multi-national efforts to deal with North Korea's nuclear program. Publicly, however, China sticks to the official line, often calling the two nations' ties as close as "lips and teeth" -- one cannot function without the other.
In my two visits to North Korea, I have detected conflicting signs -- one, of social instability and another of a tentative desire to experiment with reforms. In 2002, the government tolerated some quasi-private businesses, raised civil servants' salaries and deregulated prices of some commodities. But much of these tentative efforts to change seem to have been aborted and the country remains isolated and poor.
What emerges is a nation, now considered a nuclear threat, desperately seeking respect and economic aid.
That picture is now intertwined with the two detained U.S. journalists, Chinoy said.
"It will be interesting to see how the case is handled. North Korea has been in a generally more bellicose mood lately," said Chinoy, who is currently a senior fellow at the Pacific Council on | [
"What reforms have been tried?",
"What is known as the Hermit Kingdom?",
"who is connected by 7 road crossing and 4 railway points?",
"What is North Korea known as?",
"China and North Korea are linked by how many road crossings and railway points?",
"who is known as Hermit Kingdom?"
] | [
[
"government tolerated some quasi-private businesses, raised civil servants' salaries and deregulated prices of some commodities."
],
[
"North Korea, formally called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea,"
],
[
"North Korea"
],
[
"Hermit Kingdom"
],
[
"four"
],
[
"North Korea,"
]
] | Secretive and closed off for decades, North Korea is known as the Hermit Kingdom .
By land, China and North Korea are linked by 7 road crossings and 4 railway points .
In recent years, N. Korean refugees have fled into China seeking food, jobs, freedom .
Tentative reforms have been aborted and North Korea remains isolated and poor . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- One of the most destructive moments in Chinese history is bringing together -- at least temporarily -- this vast nation of more than a billion people, made up of disparate ethnic groups stretching across five time zones. Thousands chant "China, keep moving" during a rally in Chengdu's Tianfu Square. When millions of Chinese paused for three minutes of silence Monday, they personified the surge in patriotism and charity that has swept this country since a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake leveled large sections of Sichuan province in southwestern China. Moments after the observance ended, chants of "Go, China, Go!" broke out in Tiananmen Square, where a Chinese military crackdown in 1989 left hundreds dead. Sentiments have changed since the days of the anti-government protests. "As Chinese we must be united," said a student. "We Chinese can do it!" Some of Monday's demonstrators waved Chinese flags while others hoisted banners with slogans like "Rebuild Sichuan!" iReport.com: Thousands rally in Chengdu Horrific scenes of death and devastation -- covered heavily by the local media -- have triggered a surge of patriotism and charity. "When one is in trouble," the Chinese say, "help comes from all directions." In Beijing, Chinese officials, entertainers, athletes and artists attended a marathon concert, giving donations and calling on the public to give more. The benefit concert raised more than 1.51 billion yuan, or $216 million. More donations are pouring in through other channels. Watch report on how quake has united Chinese » As of Sunday, Chinese nationals had donated more than 4.9 billion yuan ($700 million) in cash and goods for earthquake relief, according to China's Ministry of Civil Affairs. Live on Chinese TV, local businesses pledged to give money and build free housing for victims -- an unusual display of civic charity. As of last Saturday, Chinese enterprises had donated more than 3.5 billion yuan ($501 million) in cash and relief goods. "Traditionally the Chinese people don't share as much with strangers. They share a great deal among friends and family, but not with strangers," according to China analyst Zhang Daxing. At The Bookworm, a Beijing bookstore, residents drop off relief goods that are promptly shipped to disaster areas. "My guess would be about 350 boxes, which include kid's clothes, adult clothes, a lot of sleeping bags, tents, dried food, shoes, that type of stuff," said store owner Alex Pearson. Students in the Chinese capital have even taken to the street to collect donations. "Although we cannot go to Sichuan to save them, we can still help them with donated money," one student said. Analysts say this unprecedented display of charity is partly in response to the quick action already taken by Chinese officials to the emergency. The Chinese media have repeatedly shown Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao comforting survivors. Many believe this has inspired Chinese residents to do what they can to help. Meantime, a new image of China is emerging around the world. "The earthquake changed China's international image from an oppressor or an authoritarian government to a victim of natural disaster and human tragedy," said Wenfang Tang, professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh. The Chinese, at least for now, are more united as a people and more charitable, as citizens pull together in the wake of a massive earthquake. CNN's Sherisse Pham contributed to this report | [
"How many were killed ?",
"Since when has sentiments changed ?",
"what broke out?",
"What chant broke out after the silence?",
"What happened?"
] | [
[
"hundreds"
],
[
"days of the anti-government protests."
],
[
"in Tiananmen Square,"
],
[
"\"China, keep moving\""
],
[
"a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake leveled large sections of Sichuan province in southwestern China."
]
] | Destructive moment in Chinese history has helped bring people together .
Chants of "Go, China, Go!" broke out after silence tribute to dead on Monday Sentiments have changed since the days of the anti-government protests . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Police in Tibet have arrested 16 Buddhist monks and are seeking three more for their alleged involvement in one bombing and two attempted bombings, authorities in Tibet told state-run media. Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers are shown in the streets of Lhasa, Tibet, on March 14. All three cases occurred in Tibet's Mangkam county during the first half of April, according to the Tibet Autonomous Regional Department of Public Security. The suspects confessed, police said, saying they had listened to foreign radio and were following separatist propaganda from the Dalai Lama, China's Xinhua news agency reported. CNN could not confirm whether the suspects confessed. The Dalai Lama has said he does not advocate violence or a separate and independent Tibet. He has said he wants a genuine autonomy that preserves the cultural heritage of Tibet. Beijing blames the Dalai Lama and his followers for violence that erupted March 14 amid anti-Chinese demonstrations in Tibet. Some protesters advocated independence from China while others demonstrated against the growing influence of ethnic Han Chinese in Tibet and other regions of China with ethnic Tibetan populations. The Chinese authorities cracked down on the protests, which began peacefully on the 49th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising. Widespread violence broke out across China's Tibetan region, especially in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, following a week of protests by hundreds of Buddhist monks. "Real Buddhists should learn Buddhist scriptures by heart, love their country and their religion, abide by the law, and bring happiness to people," said Dainzin Chilai, vice-chairman of the China Buddhist Association and vice-chairman of the People's Political Consultative Conference of Tibet Autonomous Region. "They should not involve themselves in cruel killing and sabotage." Both groups Chilai represents are affiliated with the Chinese government. The unrest resulted in the deaths of at least 18 civilians and one police officer, according to government figures. It also injured 382 civilians and 241 police officers and led to the looting of businesses and home and the burning of shops and vehicles. Tibet's self-proclaimed government-in-exile put the death toll from the protests at 140. At the time of the unrest, roughly 1,000 people hurled rocks and concrete at security forces, demolishing military trucks and pushing back riot police, a witness told CNN, and Tibetans seemed to be targeting shops and vehicles owned by Han Chinese, the predominant ethnic group in China. | [
"What country says suspects confessed?",
"What do police tell Xinhua?",
"What number of bombings were there in April?",
"What city in Tibet was was site of deadly unrest in March?",
"Where was the site of the deadly unrest in March?",
"Who confessed according to China?",
"When was the bombings happened?"
] | [
[
"China's"
],
[
"The suspects confessed,"
],
[
"three"
],
[
"Lhasa,"
],
[
"Lhasa, Tibet,"
],
[
"16 Buddhist monks"
],
[
"March 14."
]
] | Arrests tied to three bombings in April, police tell Xinhua .
China says suspects confessed; CNN could not confirm .
Lhasa, Tibet was site of deadly unrest in March . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Senior North Korean officials say the communist regime has "weaponized" its stockpile of plutonium, according to a U.S. scholar, in a move suggesting that North Korea may have significantly hardened its stance on nuclear negotiations. Selig Harrison said North Korean officials claimed to have enough plutonium for four or five warheads. Selig Harrison, one of the few U.S. scholars granted access to senior North Korean officials, said at a news conference in Beijing that the officials told him they had weaponized 30.8 kilograms of plutonium, enough for four or five warheads. The director of the Asia Program at the Center for International Policy, who just returned from a five-day visit to Pyongyang, said senior North Korean officials told him the warheads will not be open for inspection. If it is true, the news portends a gloomy outlook for the future of the six-party talks that began in 2003 with the goal of getting North Korea to end its nuclear program. "It does change the game," Harrison said. South Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia are participating in the talks. A 2007 agreement calls for scrapping nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula in return for energy aid to the North, normalized relations between the North and the United States and Japan, and a formal peace pact. Watch a report on North Korea's nuclear negotiations » The North Koreans told Harrison they want the rest of the fuel aid that Japan has promised them. North Korea had agreed to disable the reactor that had produced plutonium for nuclear weapons. But the United States and its allies have asked it to give up the plutonium it already has, an estimated 30 kilograms, as well as details of any other bomb-producing programs. Harrison said one possible reason for Pyongyang's tough new stance could be the declining health of leader Kim Jong Il, who reportedly suffered a stroke last year and may no longer be involved in day-to-day decisions. "People I talked to have many indications that some important things are submitted to him, but he is not working in the way he used to," Harrison said. He said military hard-liners have taken the lead in demanding from the United States a full declaration and verification of all nuclear weapons sent to South Korea between 1957 and 1991. The hard-liners also seek full normalization of relations with Washington before more talks about scrapping their nuclear arsenal. On Tuesday, during her Senate confirmation hearing for the secretary of state position, Sen. Hillary Clinton made it clear: de-nuclearization first, then diplomatic normalization. President-elect Barack Obama has stated his willingness to talk to the North Korean leader. Harrison also said the North demanded the completion of the light-water reactors as compensation for the dismantling of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor. The light-water reactor, which is not capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium, was promised to North Korea in the early 1990s for the North giving up its nuclear weapons. Its construction has been suspended. North Korea has long considered its nuclear program integral to its national security. North Korea tested a nuclear weapon in 2006. In June, it acknowledged producing about 40 kilograms of enriched plutonium. CNN's John Vause contributed to this report. | [
"what did the officials tell US",
"What could be one possible reason for the tough stance?",
"what are they seeking",
"What do North Korean officials want?",
"What do officials want?",
"Who seeks normalization of relations with Washington?"
] | [
[
"claimed to have enough plutonium for four or five warheads."
],
[
"declining health of leader Kim Jong Il,"
],
[
"scrapping nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula in return for energy aid to the North,"
],
[
"the rest of the fuel aid that Japan has promised them."
],
[
"the rest of the fuel aid that Japan has promised them."
],
[
"The hard-liners"
]
] | News may bode ill for future of talks to end North Korean nuclear program .
North Korean officials tell U.S. scholar they want rest of promised fuel aid .
One possible reason for tough stance could be declining health of leader Kim Jung Il .
Military hard-liners seek normalization of relations with Washington before more talks . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Soon after I first came to visit China in the autumn of 1971, I saw a contingent of militia soldiers doing marching drills in Tiananmen Square. I was told they were rehearsing for the annual National Day parade on October 1, which people eagerly awaited. Mao Zedong proclaims the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing on October 1, 1949. Weeks later, however, I was informed that the civilian and military parade had been cancelled in the spirit of "simple-living and hard struggle," as Chairman Mao decreed. The real reason: Lin Biao, then defense minister and Mao's anointed successor, had reportedly died in a plane crash while attempting to flee the country after a failed coup attempt. China's achievements in the last 60 years have come in zigs and zags. The best place to look back at what China went through in the past six decades is Tiananmen, or the Gate of Heavenly Peace. Behind it lies the Imperial Palace, or Forbidden City, where China's Emperors used to live. The emperor is now history, but Tiananmen remains Beijing's political center. It was on the Tiananmen rostrum where Chairman Mao formally proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic. "The Chinese people have stood up!" he declared in a shrill Hunanese accent. For decades, the whole nation followed Mao loyally. He emphasized political mobilization of the common man, especially the peasantry. In Mao's ideology, the Chinese people found hope in a New China, wherein citizens would always have a bowl of rice to eat and clothes to wear. Mao proved to be good at fighting but poor at governing. He pushed sweeping socio-economic initiatives and strident ideological campaigns, often with disastrous results. During two political campaigns in the late 1950s, over 550,000 "rightist" intellectuals were persecuted and imprisoned. The Great Leap Forward led to widespread famine and the deaths of an estimated 30 million Chinese. In the late 1960s, Mao would again stand in the Tiananmen rostrum to launch the Cultural Revolution. There, he rallied hundreds of thousands of young Chinese -- the radical Red Guards -- who lionized him like a demi-god. "To rebel is justified!" they proclaimed. They rebelled against everything and wreaked havoc everywhere. For ten years, China was condemned to political turmoil and economic malaise. Perhaps the only factor that kept the country from total collapse was the people's incomparable resilience and their ability to "chi ku" (eat bitterness, or bear hardship). Mao's reign is also credited for positive changes. He banned child brides and polygamy, built Beijing's first subway line and started a space program with China's first satellite launch. In 1972, the People's Republic of China replaced the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the United Nations. Still, for three decades under Mao, China tried to break out of its backwardness and isolation but only met modest success. Mao died in 1976 and his remains are kept in a mausoleum in Tiananmen Square. Take an audiovisual tour of Mao's hometown » Soon enough, Deng Xiaoping emerged as the new paramount leader. Deng overturned most of Mao's policies and embarked upon reforming the economy and opening up the country to the outside world. His quest for stability and prosperity took off in the early 1990s, propelled by his pragmatic policies to entice foreign investments and build China's private sector. Just south of Tiananmen, one landmark stands as a symbol of Deng's bold open-door policy. In the early 1980s, the first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet opened in Beijing, just a stone's throw away from Mao's mausoleum. Today, the fast food chain still does brisk business, with a large portrait of founder Colonel Sanders hanging on the three-story building. Not every Chinese embraced Deng's reform and open-door policy. Old Guards and conservatives in and outside the communist party accepted Deng's reform policies, but with a great deal of misgiving. The backlash came to a boil in 1989, when Tiananmen witnessed an outpouring of support for | [
"Who proved to be poor at governing?",
"Who was Mao's successor?",
"Who is Mao's successor?",
"What did Mao prove to be good at?",
"what kind of mess did his successor step into"
] | [
[
"Mao"
],
[
"Lin Biao,"
],
[
"Lin Biao,"
],
[
"fighting"
],
[
"political turmoil and economic malaise."
]
] | Mao proved to be good at fighting but poor at governing .
Mao pushed sweeping socio-economic initiatives, strident ideological campaigns .
His successor Deng Xiaoping embarks upon reforming the economy, opening China .
China gains world prominence via 20-year economic boom, but has consequences . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The International Olympic Committee has asked gymnastics officials to look into whether China's women's gymnastics team used underaged competitors, an IOC spokeswoman said Friday. China's He Kexin kisses her gold medal last week after winning the Olympic women's uneven bars. The committee asked the International Gymnastics Federation to clarify the situation, said spokeswoman Giselle Davis. She said she wouldn't call it a formal investigation. The Chinese women's gymnastics team won a gold medal in a team competition at the Summer Olympics Games. Five members won medals in individual competitions. Yet commentators, bloggers and others have raised questions about whether about half the members of China's team were old enough to compete -- athletes must be at least 16 in the year the games take place. In women's gymnastics, younger teenage girls can have an advantage over older competitors due to their often smaller, more agile bodies and lighter frames. "We have asked the gymnastics federation to look into what have been a number questions and apparent discrepancies on this case," Davis said. A top Chinese Olympic official said questions regarding the ages of the athletes have been dealt with previously. "The eligibility of the athletes has already been investigated and authorized by the international federation and, if they hadn't been cleared, they wouldn't have participated in the games," said Wang Wei, executive vice president of the Beijing Olympic Committee. Chinese officials provided the Olympic committee with passports, showing that team members were of legal age, but numerous challenges have been made. The latest came from a blogger known as "Stryde Hax." The blogger claims to have uncovered proof that Chinese gymnast He Kexin is only 14. Watch bloggers question China's gymnasts » In Internet searches, "Stryde Hax" allegedly uncovered Web pages showing lists complied by China's General Administration of Sport that show a 1994 date of birth for He. That would make her 14 -- too young to compete in the Olympic Games. CNN has not been able to independently verify the information, but snapshots of the Web pages appear to back up the claim. Other bloggers have joined the search and reported similar results. The New York Times conducted its own investigation, producing similar results that seem to implicate He and two other members of the team. The Times uncovered a 2006 biography on He that lists her birthday as January 1, 1994. "According to online sports registration lists in China, half the team - He Kexin, Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan - would be under age," the Times reported in July. The International Gymnastics Federation, however, has said that those gymnasts were eligible and that the ages on their passports were correct. Chinese gymnastics coaches defended their team Friday. "Our athletes participating in these games all conform to the age regulations of the Olympics," said Huang Yubin, head coach of the men's and women's teams. "Asians have different figures than people from the West, so that's what caused their suspicion," Huang said, referring to media inquiries. "They shouldn't be suspicious." CNN's John Vause contributed to this story | [
"What is the required age for gymnasts to compete in Olympics?",
"What proof did Chinese officials provide?",
"What is the minimum age for Olympic gymnasts?",
"What did Chinese officials do?",
"Who is investigating the age of the Chinese gymnast?",
"Who sought the probe?",
"What was the probe looking at?",
"Who defended the team?",
"How old must gymnasts be to compete?",
"What medal did the Chinese women's team win?"
] | [
[
"at least 16"
],
[
"committee with passports, showing that team members were of legal age,"
],
[
"athletes must be at least 16 in the year the games take place."
],
[
"provided the Olympic committee with passports, showing that team members were of legal age,"
],
[
"International Olympic Committee"
],
[
"The International Olympic Committee"
],
[
"whether China's women's gymnastics team used underaged competitors,"
],
[
"Chinese gymnastics coaches"
],
[
"at least 16 in the year the games take place."
],
[
"gold"
]
] | Probe into Chinese gymnasts' age sought by International Olympic Committee .
Gymnasts must be at least 16 years of age to compete in Olympics .
Chinese officials defend team, have shown passports proving athletes are eligible .
Speculation intensified following team gold medal won by China's women . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The head of China's quality watchdog is reported to have resigned over the tainted baby milk scandal that has killed four children and sickened nearly 53,000 others. The official Xinhua News Agency said Li Changjiang had quit with the approval of China's State Council. Li's agency is responsible for ensuring that China's food supply chain is safe. Monday's resignation came hours after the World Health Organization said the scandal had highlighted flaws in the country's entire food supply chain. The chemical melamine blamed for causing kidney stones and kidney failure has been detected in formula milk powder from 22 dairies across China. The crisis was initially thought to have been confined to baby milk powder, but tests have found melamine in samples of liquid milk taken from China's two largest dairy producers, Mengniu Dairy Group and Yili Industrial Group, as well as Shanghai-based Bright Dairy. WHO China representative Hans Troedsson said on Monday quality issues could occur anywhere from the farm to the retail outlet. He said "it's clearly something that is not acceptable and needs to be rectified and corrected," according to The Associated Press. Troedsson said the WHO was discussing with officials how to strengthen China's food quality system. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has called milk manufacturers "heartless" and promised stricter laws to protect the public. China's Health Ministry said Sunday that about 13,000 children were hospitalized, while another 40,000 had undergone outpatient treatment for illnesses related to suspected melamine-tainted milk products. The scandal has spread beyond the mainland with melamine being found in three Chinese-made dairy products in Singapore. The country's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said tests on "White Rabbit Creamy Candy" showed that it was contaminated with melamine and it ordered stores to remove the product from shelves. Taiwan announced Monday it was banning the importation of all dairy products from China because of melamine contamination in milk supplies on the mainland, Taiwan's Health Ministry said Monday. And a second child in Hong Kong has been diagnosed with a kidney stones after drinking the tainted milk as worried parents continued to take their children for health checkups, the government said Monday, AP reported. The 4-year-old boy was in hospital in a stable condition, the Hong Kong government said in a statement. A three-year-old girl was sickened by a suspected melamine-tainted milk over the weekend -- the first known illness outside of mainland China. The Chinese premier visited Beijing hospitals and a supermarket Sunday to show his concern for the crisis. "What we need to do now is to ensure that nothing like this happens in the future, not only in dairy products, but in all foods," he said. "Manufacturers and owners of dairy companies should show more morality and social responsibility in these cases. They are heartless, so we have to create strict law and legislation. I'm sorry." Investigators arrested two brothers who sold milk used to produce the contaminated baby milk powder last week. They could face death if convicted, according to China Daily, a state-run newspaper. The raw milk had been watered down and the chemical added to fool quality checks, the newspaper said. Melamine is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Watch CNN visit the company at the center of the scandal » But anger has been directed not just at the producers accused of adulterating their milk to increase profits, but also at government regulators, Time magazine reported. "Xinhua was quick to blame the dairy industry for their skewed rules, but what it didn't say was that the government also played a part in that ugly game," the magazine quoted a blogger, identified as sadmoon109, as saying. Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. It also robs infants of much-needed nutrition. Thousands of tons of the tainted milk powder have been recalled. Melamine is the same industrial contaminant from China that poisoned and killed thousands of U.S. dogs | [
"How many infants are dead?",
"What did the head of China's quality watchdog resign over?",
"What was tainted?",
"What showed flaws in the supply chain?",
"Who resigned over the tainted baby forumla?",
"How many were reported ill?",
"What did the WHO representative say?",
"Who resigned over the scandal?",
"How many infants in China are reported ill from the tainted milk powder?",
"What caused watchdog to resign?",
"What did the scandal show?",
"How many babies died?",
"What did WHO reps say?",
"Why did the head resign?",
"Who resigned over the scandal?",
"Who resigned amid the contaminated formula incident?",
"Who resigned due to the baby formula scandal?",
"What did the scandal show flaws in?",
"How many infants are ill?",
"How many infants died due to the formula?",
"What organization's agent commented on food supply chain flaws?",
"How many infants are dead?",
"How many babies fell ill due to a contaminated milk product?"
] | [
[
"four"
],
[
"tainted"
],
[
"baby milk"
],
[
"the scandal had highlighted"
],
[
"Li Changjiang"
],
[
"nearly 53,000"
],
[
"World Health Organization said the scandal had highlighted flaws in the country's entire food supply chain."
],
[
"Li Changjiang"
],
[
"nearly 53,000"
],
[
"baby milk scandal"
],
[
"flaws in the country's entire food supply chain."
],
[
"four"
],
[
"the scandal had highlighted flaws in the country's entire food supply chain."
],
[
"baby milk scandal that has killed four children and sickened nearly 53,000 others."
],
[
"Li Changjiang"
],
[
"The head of China's quality watchdog"
],
[
"Li Changjiang"
],
[
"country's entire food supply chain."
],
[
"53,000"
],
[
"killed four children"
],
[
"World Health"
],
[
"four"
],
[
"nearly 53,000"
]
] | Head of China's quality watchdog resigns over tainted baby formula scandal .
WHO representative said scandal shows up flaws in China's food supply chain .
Four infants in China dead, 53,000 reported ill from tainted milk powder . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The world will soon see an "explosion" of swine flu cases as the H1N1 virus spreads rapidly around the world, a top World Health Organization official said Friday. Spread of the H1N1 virus is entering an "acceleration period," WHO official says. Spread of the virus is entering an "acceleration period" and it is certain that there will be more cases and more deaths, said Dr. Shin Young-soo, the organization's regional director for the Western Pacific. "Most countries may see a doubling of cases every three to four days for two months until peak transmission is reached," he said at a symposium in Beijing, China. "At a certain point, there will seem to be an explosion in case numbers. I believe it is very likely that all countries will see community-level transmission by the end of the year." More than 1,490 people around the world have died from the virus since it emerged this spring, Shin said. Swine flu is the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years. So far, it has caused mostly mild illness, but Shin warned "the virus has a sting in its tail" because it is very infectious and "has the potential to cause more serious disease." Any widespread resistance to antiviral drugs, expected to be available this fall, could make the situation worse, he said. The virus so far has shown itself to be unpredictable, Shin said, so the public needs to be prepared. He called for accurate and timely public health messages and early treatment of severe cases. The public needs to comply with these health messages, and everyone needs to be able to recognize symptoms early and get timely medical care, he said. "We will only be safe when we have applied these lessons in every country dealing with this virus," Shin said. "We need to learn quickly since, as I believe, it appears that this pandemic will get worse before the situation gets better." | [
"What period is the virus entering?",
"What is the first influenza pandemic in 40 years?",
"What is considered to be the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years?",
"What will the countries see a doubling of?",
"How many people have died from the virus since last spring?",
"How many people died from the virus since last spring?",
"Where did this spread"
] | [
[
"\"acceleration period,\""
],
[
"Swine flu"
],
[
"Swine flu"
],
[
"swine flu cases"
],
[
"More than 1,490"
],
[
"More than 1,490"
],
[
"around the world,"
]
] | Spread of the virus is entering an "acceleration period," official says .
Countries may see a doubling of cases every three to four days, he says .
More than 1,490 people have died from the virus since last spring .
H1N1 is the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Walking through a maze of narrow streets south of Tiananmen Square, Nick Frisch appeared unfazed by the sight of drastic changes -- traditional courtyard houses that once lined up these hutongs, or alleys, now in different stages of being knocked down. Nick Frisch's underground exploration in Beijing has attracted the attention of a Singapore TV crew. While the Qianmen area is going through an extreme makeover -- a restoration of its Qing dynasty flavor ahead of the Olympics -- Frisch's destination is safe from the city's ubiquitous wrecking balls. Upon reaching the entrance to the Underground City, however, he was told it was closed for "renovation," just like the surrounding neighborhood. "It's like they're trying to literally bury this place before the Games," said Frisch, a recent graduate of Columbia University in the United States, with a major in history and Chinese language. This place is a vast network of tunnels built beneath Beijing's city center during the 1970s in anticipation of a nuclear war with the Soviets. Covering an area of 85 square kilometers and containing 1,000 anti-air raid structures, the subterranean complex was said to have been mostly hand-dug by 300,000 local residents. "The plan was to move half of Beijing's population underground and the other half to western hills in the event of a nuclear attack," Frisch explained. The 22-year-old New York native has lived in China on and off for a year and is fascinated by the bomb shelter and its history. After the authorities opened part of the Underground City as a tourist attraction to woo foreigners, he turned a routine visit to an adventure in 2006. Armed with a flashlight, Frisch veered off from the mandatory guided tour. Moving sandbags and unchaining doors, he explored the off-limit area and found rooms with bunk beds and decayed cardboard boxes of water purifiers. "It's more than just propaganda posters down there -- it really is a parallel universe, with street signs stenciled on the wall," Frisch said. Since then, Frisch has discovered other shelters linked to the network -- many of them turned to cheap hostels -- on busy streets. Not surprisingly, the time-warped part of the Underground City remains his favorite. "I sometimes wish I was born earlier to witness the Cold War unfold -- and the tunnels have given me a unique vantage point to look into that period of history," Frisch said. "While Beijing is transforming itself for the Olympics, it's just amazing to see this space in such a sharp contrast to the city aboveground." E-mail to a friend Steven Jiang is a Beijing-based freelance writer and former CNN producer. | [
"what is now open",
"What was built in the 1970's as a giant bomb shelter?",
"who is the student",
"What is now open to tourists?",
"What did the student find?",
"Who is exploring Beijing's underground tunnels?",
"where is the student from"
] | [
[
"part of the Underground City as a tourist attraction to woo foreigners,"
],
[
"Underground City,"
],
[
"Nick Frisch"
],
[
"Underground City"
],
[
"rooms with bunk beds and decayed cardboard boxes of water purifiers."
],
[
"Nick Frisch's"
],
[
"New York"
]
] | American university student exploring Beijing's underground tunnels .
Part of capital's "Underground City" now open to tourists .
Beijing's underground tunnel network was built in 1970s as giant bomb shelter . |
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- When we requested an interview with members of the Communist Youth League, I expected an army of suits with well-rehearsed answers. Instead, we met three students casually dressed in jeans, just 18 to 23 years old. Christina Zhang wants to be a linguistics teacher or professor. She plans to attend graduate school. The interview was arranged by the State Council Information Office, in advance of the upcoming 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Unlike many government-sanctioned shoots, it was not carefully choreographed or closely monitored. The students did arrive with a "minder" of sorts, but he was no older than them and didn't interrupt the conversation. We sat down for tea at Ritan Park in downtown Beijing. My questions seemed to be more sensitive than they expected, but the students remained poised and answered every one. All of the students are members of the Chinese Communist Party and the Communist Youth League, the same organization that launched the successful careers of Chinese President Hu Jintao and many of China's other top leaders. "I think Communism is an ideal state of society that everyone should pursue," said Natalie Chen, an 18-year-old freshman and finance major at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management. "In the Communist society, everything is fair in economics, in politics, in education. Everybody has equal opportunity and that's a great society." "Do you think everything is fair in China?" I asked Natalie. "At present I have to say no," she said. "But, we are of course making progress towards it." Watch Chang's interview with the students » Young students like Chen are the future of the Chinese Communist Party, which now is the largest political party in the world with 75 million members. It has come a long way. In 1949, the Communist Party was a group of mostly revolutionary farmers, who came to power on the heels of civil war. See how China has changed over 60 years » "The party was a rag tag organization you might say," said David Shambaugh, a visiting fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and political science professor at George Washington University. "They had no experience in ruling, but a lot of experience in fighting and they were faced with a number of problems of how to set up a government and run the country." The first three decades of Communist rule were tumultuous, marred by backward isolation and a destructive Cultural Revolution. However, the next 30 years transformed China from the inside out, with the implementation of new economic goals and gradual openness to the outside world. The Communist Party now is largely credited with delivering the country from isolation to economic prosperity. Despite this achievement, perhaps the party's most astounding achievement in 60 years is, quite simply, surviving as the one and only political party in a massive country. "To be adaptable and flexible is a path to survival," said Shambaugh. "So this has been a very adaptable, and I would argue, eclectic party, borrowing bits and pieces from different political systems all around the world and studying other political systems." Yet, in being so adaptable, analysts say the party has run the risk of having a lot of slogans and little substance. Slogans such as "the scientific mode of development," "socialism with Chinese characteristics," and "harmonious society" often cannot be explained by the average Chinese citizen. "These are all current slogans, but people are not really sure what they mean," Shambaugh said. Indeed some of the party's youngest members provided vague answers when asked for what exactly the Communist Party stands. "I think we have a goal," said 23-year-old Christina Zhang, an undergraduate in linguistics at Beijing Normal University. "That is to reach a harmonious society. That is our dream ... I believe we are sure to realize our dream." "We discuss science, we discuss thought, | [
"Who is the future of the Chinese Communist Party?"
] | [
[
"Young students like Chen"
]
] | Unlike many government-sanctioned shoots, this one was not closely monitored .
Young students are the future of the Chinese Communist Party .
Youth have been criticized for caring too much about securing good jobs .
Analysts say the party runs the risk of having many slogans but little substance . |
BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- A Chinese couple tried to name their baby "@," claiming the character used in e-mail addresses echoed their love for the child, an official trying to whip the national language into line said on Thursday. The unusual name stands out especially in Chinese, which has no alphabet and instead uses tens of thousands of multi-stroke characters to represent words. "The whole world uses it to write e-mail, and translated into Chinese it means 'love him'," the father explained, according to the deputy chief of the State Language Commission Li Yuming. While the "@" symbol is familiar to Chinese e-mail users, they often use the English word "at" to sound it out -- which with a drawn out "T" sounds something like "ai ta," or "love him," to Mandarin speakers. Li told a news conference on the state of the language that the name was an extreme example of people's increasingly adventurous approach to Chinese, as commercialisation and the Internet break down conventions. Another couple tried to give their child a name that rendered into English sounds like "King Osrina." Li did not say if officials accepted the "@" name. But earlier this year the government announced a ban on names using Arabic numerals, foreign languages and symbols that do not belong to Chinese minority languages. Sixty million Chinese faced the problem that their names use ancient characters so obscure that computers cannot recognize them and even fluent speakers were left scratching their heads, said Li, according to a transcript of the briefing on the government Web site (www.gov.cn). One of them was the former Premier Zhu Rongji, whose name had a rare "rong" character that gave newspaper editors headaches. E-mail to a friend | [
"Who have not revealed if the name has been allowed?",
"What are Chinese couple trying to name their baby?",
"Have officials allowed the name?",
"What was the Father's claimed translation?",
"What does the father claim it translates as?",
"What did a couple try to name their baby?",
"What rules are there regarding names?"
] | [
[
"Li"
],
[
"\"@,\""
],
[
"accepted the \"@\""
],
[
"'love him',\""
],
[
"'love him',\""
],
[
"\"@,\""
],
[
"using Arabic numerals, foreign languages and symbols that do not belong to Chinese minority languages."
]
] | Chinese couple try to name baby "@"
Father claims character translates as "love him"
Officials have not revealed if the name has been allowed . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A crowd in southern Lebanon threw rocks at U.N. peacekeepers over the weekend, wounding 14 of them in an effort to prevent the investigation of an explosion in the area, the United Nations said. U.N. peacekeepers were investigating reports of an explosion in a Hezbollah stronghold. The troops with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were lightly wounded, and some vehicles were damaged including a UNIFIL ambulance, officials said. The explosion took place Tuesday in Khirbet Salim, in what Lebanese authorities said was an uninhabited house. Ammunition stored there caused the blast due to the high temperature and humidity, Lebanese officials said. The region is a stronghold for Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group and political party that fought a war with Israel in 2006. Hezbollah has carried out attacks against civilians, and the United States and Israel list the group as a terrorist organization. Hezbollah officials had no comment Monday. UNIFIL called last week's explosion "a serious violation of Security Council resolution 1701," which was aimed at ending the 2006 conflict, "notably the provision that there should be no presence of unauthorized assets or weapons in the area of operation between the Litani River and the Blue Line." Israel said the blast indicated that Hezbollah continued to store weapons near the Israeli border. Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev argued that the Lebanese Army had assisted Hezbollah in preventing U.N. personnel from investigating the scene. UNIFIL, in a statement Monday, said it was conducting a joint investigation with the Lebanese military. When troops Saturday night arrived "at a location 1 km from the site in order to verify elements related to the explosion, approximately 100 persons gathered and attempted to hamper the activity. "The amassed population threw stones and confronted the UNIFIL personnel on the ground. As the gathering grew both UNIFIL and LAF deployed additional personnel on the ground in order to contain the situation and prevent any further escalation. "As UNIFIL troops were leaving the area, one patrol, surrounded by a group of persons, fired warning shots in the air to clear its exit path." During the incident, the 14 peacekeepers were injured and the vehicles were damaged, the UNIFIL statement said. CNN's Cal Perry and Kevin Flower contributed to this report. | [
"What caused the stored ammunition to blast?",
"Where was the ammunition stored?",
"What did the crowd in southern Lebanon do?",
"How many were injured?",
"What was thrown at U.N. peacekeepers?",
"What caused the blast?",
"What did the crowd in Lebanon throw at U. N.peacekeepers?",
"How many U. N. peacekeepers were injured?"
] | [
[
"the high temperature and humidity,"
],
[
"an uninhabited house."
],
[
"threw rocks at U.N. peacekeepers"
],
[
"14"
],
[
"rocks"
],
[
"Ammunition stored there"
],
[
"rocks"
],
[
"14"
]
] | Crowd in southern Lebanon throw rocks at U.N. peacekeepers injuring 14 .
Peacekeepers were trying to check an explosion in the area .
Ammunition stored in house caused blast due to temperature and humidity . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Lebanese voters were heading to the polls on Sunday with their main choices to lead the next government a Hezbollah-backed alliance or a U.S.-backed coalition. Hezbollah party workers in the southern town of Nabatiyah hope for an election victory. Analysts say the race will be tight, with the Hezbollah-dominated "March 8 alliance" possibly winning a majority of seats in parliament. The polls opened at 1200 GMT and will close 12 hours later. Turnout is expected to be high among the country's 3 million registered voters. About 50,000 troops were on the streets, but the run-up to the balloting had been free of violence. The vote comes at a critical time for Lebanon as it sits amid a power struggle between a weakened pro-Western government and a stronger pro-Syrian Hezbollah political bloc that has gained political momentum in recent years. The United States considers Hezbollah -- which is supported by both Syria and Iran -- to be a terrorist organization. The group grew in popularity after its militant wing claimed victory over Israel after a 34-day military conflict in 2006. Since then, it has been more widely perceived by its supporters to be the "defenders" of Lebanon. Though U.S. President Barack Obama didn't mention the Lebanese general election in his address on Thursday, he did call for religious tolerance in the Muslim world, noting sectarian clashes between Sunnis and Shiites and the struggles faced by religious minorities. "The richness of religious diversity must be upheld -- whether it is for Maronites in Lebanon or the Copts in Egypt," he said, referring to Christian groups in those countries. "And if we are being honest, fault lines must be closed among Muslims as well, as the divisions between Sunni and Shia have led to tragic violence, particularly in Iraq." In Lebanon's unique power-sharing government, the presidency is reserved for Maronite Christians, the speaker of parliament is always a Shia Muslim, and the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim. The law was created to balance power among Lebanon's three main religious groups. Analysts say the Hezbollah-dominated "March 8 alliance" may win a parliamentary majority with the support of Christian opposition leader Gen. Michel Aoun -- the only prominent Christian politician to back the bloc. "They keep trying to scare the Christian voters with their stories about Hezbollah's weapons, so to all of those who complain about Hezbollah, can they tell us how they will disarm the party," Aoun told supporters Friday. "Hezbollah's weapons will no longer be a problem when the causes behind its existence disappear, including the borders' issues." A close look at Lebanon's political landscape reveals that the country's Christian voters are split on how they will cast their ballots. Some Christian voters want their representatives to step out of the shadows of Hezbollah and Saad Hariri, who leads the Sunni-dominated "March 14 coalition." Christian voters are divided between supporting Aoun and other Christian leaders who want Hezbollah to disarm. "In these elections, Christians look more divided than ever while others seem more unified than ever," said Shibley Telhami, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. For the Obama administration, the elections could be indicative of the president's odds of pushing stability in the region. Former U.S. President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Jimmy Carter said the United States should work with whichever coalition wins. Carter was in Beirut as part of more than 200 international observers monitoring the election. He also oversaw balloting in Gaza during the elections in the Palestinian territory in January 2006. The Palestinian militant group Hamas won that race "fairly and squarely" by a huge margin, Carter said. The United States and Israel later refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Hamas win. "And it's resulted in a split in the Palestinians and a very difficult situation there," Carter added. "I think they (the United States) learned a hard lesson that they should accept the results of an election." Two senior Obama administration officials -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice | [
"Which country is this?",
"What did analysts say?",
"How many troops deplayed?",
"What is the turnout?",
"What do analysts say about the race?",
"How many troops are deployed?",
"Who dominates the alliance?",
"How many troops are deployed?",
"Who says the race will be tight ?",
"What party is expected to win teh parliamentary majority?",
"How many registered voters does the country have?",
"Where is it that turnout is expected to be high ?",
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"Who may win a majority?",
"Who says that the race will be tight?"
] | [
[
"Lebanon"
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[
"the race will be tight,"
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[
"50,000"
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[
"expected to be high"
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[
"will be tight, with the Hezbollah-dominated \"March 8 alliance\" possibly winning a majority of seats in parliament."
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[
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[
"About 50,000"
],
[
"Analysts"
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[
"Hezbollah-dominated \"March 8 alliance\""
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[
"3 million"
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[
"among the country's 3 million registered voters."
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[
"\"March 8 alliance\""
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[
"About 50,000"
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[
"\"March 8 alliance\""
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[
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] | Analysts say the race will be tight .
Some say the Hezbollah-dominated alliance may win a parliamentary majority .
Turnout is expected to be high among the country's 3 million registered voters .
About 50,000 troops deploy to the streets . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Saad Hariri, the leader of Lebanon's Sunni-dominated "March 14 coalition," claimed victory hours after the polls closed in Sunday's crucial election. "March 14" coalition leader Saad Hariri claims victory after polls close Sunday. Results were not expected until midday Monday. "What happened today proved again that Lebanon is doing well," said Hariri in a televised victory speech. "The Lebanese proved again that they are holding on to their freedom and the democratic system, so congratulations to Lebanon, congratulations to freedom and to every voter who participated in this election. In this election, there is no winner or loser, democracy won today and the biggest winner is Lebanon." Hezbollah officials did not challenge Hariri's speech. Al-Arabiya television network cited Hezbollah sources as predicting Hariri's March 14 coalition would win 70 seats, and that the Hezbollah-dominated "March 8 alliance" would win 58 seats. The election -- with 128 seats in parliament at stake -- was crucial in determining whether the Arab nation, scarred by war and political instability, picked the coalition led by Hariri or an alliance backed by the militant group Hezbollah. Watch Hariri's victory speech » Turnout was high among the country's 3 million registered voters during the 12 hours that polls were open Sunday. About 50,000 troops were on the streets, but the run-up to the balloting had been free of violence. Former U.S. President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Jimmy Carter on Sunday said the United States should work with whichever coalition wins -- even though it considers Hezbollah, supported by both Syria and Iran, to be a terrorist organization. Carter was in Beirut as part of more than 200 international observers monitoring the election. Two senior Obama administration officials -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden -- have visited Lebanon in recent months, signaling concerns over a possible Hezbollah victory. Hezbollah grew in popularity after its militant wing claimed victory over Israel after a 34-day military conflict in 2006. Since then, it has been more widely perceived by its supporters to be the "defenders" of Lebanon. In Lebanon's unique power-sharing government, the presidency is reserved for Maronite Christians, the speaker of parliament is always a Shia Muslim, and the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim. The law was created to balance power among Lebanon's three main religious groups. Resident Georges Azzi, who cast his ballot early Sunday morning, hoped the elections bring about a smooth and healthy transition to a new government and the continued support of the West -- whatever the results. "I think it would be seen as a punishment to everybody if it doesn't," Azzi said. "We should accept the results whatever they are. That's how democracy works." CNN's Cal Perry and Saad Abedine contributed to this report | [
"Where is Carter at?",
"Who gave a victory speech?",
"When are results expected?",
"What did officials not challenge?",
"What is at stake?",
"When are the results expected?",
"What is Carter in Beirut part of?",
"What did Hezbollah not challenge?"
] | [
[
"Beirut"
],
[
"Saad Hariri,"
],
[
"midday Monday."
],
[
"Hariri's speech."
],
[
"128 seats in parliament"
],
[
"midday Monday."
],
[
"more than 200 international observers monitoring the election."
],
[
"Hariri's speech."
]
] | NEW: Hezbollah officials did not challenge Hariri's victory speech .
Results not expected until midday Monday .
At stake were 128 seats in parliament .
Carter in Beirut as part of more than 200 international election observers . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Lebanon on Sunday to pledge U.S. support for the country and its push for free elections. Lebanon President Michel Sleiman greets U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday. "The people of Lebanon must be able to choose their own representatives in open and fair elections, without the specter of violence or intimidation, and free of outside interference," Clinton said during an unannounced visit to Beirut. It was Clinton's first time visiting the country since taking office. Lebanon is preparing for legislative elections in June that analysts say could bring the militant group, Hezbollah, to power. The Obama administration backs the unity government of Sleiman, while Syria is allied with Hezbollah. "Both of us are committed to supporting President (Michel) Sleiman's efforts to build a peaceful, prosperous, sovereign and democratic Lebanon." Clinton is expected to meet with Sleiman and lay a wreath at the tomb of former Lebanon Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a bomb attack in 2005. Many Lebanese, as well as the United States, accused Syria of orchestrating the assassination of Hariri, an outspoken opponent of Syria. Damascus denied responsibility. But massive popular protests after Hariri's death led to the pullout of thousands of troops that Syria maintained in Lebanon from the 1970s. A senior state department official said Clinton's visit is intended to reassure Lebanon that the United States will not forgo its support of the country as it opens dialogues with Syria and Iran. "Beyond the election, we will continue to support the voices of moderation in Lebanon, and the responsible institutions of the Lebanese state they are working hard to build," Clinton said. CNN's Jill Dougherty contributed to this report. | [
"What did Clinton say people of Lebanon should vote ?",
"What did Hillary Clinton say about the people of Lbanon?",
"What country did Clinton visit?",
"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton makes unannounced visit to what country /",
"Where did Hillary Clinton visit unannounced?",
"What should the Lebanon people do?",
"What did Clinton offer Lebanon?",
"What did she ressure people about?",
"Clinton also reassures U.S. support of what country ?"
] | [
[
"must be able to choose their own representatives in open and fair elections, without the specter of violence or intimidation, and free of outside interference,\""
],
[
"\"The"
],
[
"Lebanon"
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],
[
"U.S. support for the country and its push for free elections."
],
[
"the United States will not forgo its support of the country"
],
[
"Lebanon"
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] | Secretary of State Hillary Clinton makes unannounced visit to Lebanon .
Clinton says people of Lebanon should vote "without the specter of violence"
Clinton also reassures U.S. support of Lebanon in ongoing talks with Syria, Iran . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A car bomb struck a U.S. Embassy vehicle Tuesday as it traveled along a coastal highway north of Beirut, killing at least three Lebanese civilian bystanders, according to American and Lebanese officials.
Lebanese soldiers and Red Cross workers stand near charred cars at the site of the explosion in Beirut.
The driver of the embassy vehicle suffered minor injuries, and the sole passenger walked away unscathed, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Both were Lebanese nationals, he said. An American citizen who happened to be in the area suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the spokesman said.
Lebanese internal security forces said three Lebanese civilian bystanders were killed in the explosion in Beirut's Dora area, contradicting earlier reports of four.
Twenty-one others -- including the American bystander -- were wounded in the explosion, which was caused by a 15-kilogram (33-pound) bomb placed in a car before the explosion, the security forces said.
The United States is outraged by the terrorist attack, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is traveling with President Bush in Saudi Arabia.
"I want on behalf of our country to say to those who were wounded, and certainly to the families of those who were killed, that our condolences are with them," she added.
It was not clear whether the blast was caused by a suicide attack or by a remotely detonated car bomb.
A communique issued by the U.S. Embassy in Beirut said the embassy vehicle was apparently the intended target of the attack, and identified the driver and passenger as Lebanese security personnel for the embassy.
But McCormack cautioned against jumping to any conclusions on the intended target.
"We don't yet have a full picture of exactly what happened, who is responsible, who is exactly being targeted," he told reporters during the State Department's daily briefing.
"We will see over the next day or two ... where the facts lead us."
Citing security concerns, McCormack would also not address unconfirmed reports that the vehicle was part of a convoy for departing U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman.
A U.S. Embassy statement said Feltman canceled a farewell ceremony that he was to host Tuesday night "out of respect to the victims of today's terrorist explosion."
In addition to the American, an Iraqi and at least three Lebanese were among those wounded in the blast, according to a Western diplomatic source.
Video of the scene showed several damaged cars, including at least one that was left a pile of twisted metal. A nearby high-rise building also sustained damage.
Mohammed Chatah, senior adviser to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, pointed out that the attack happened during "a major political crisis" in Lebanon, which has been without a president for nearly eight weeks amid a bitter political feud.
"This explosion just exacerbates a difficult situation," Chatah told CNN.
Tuesday's blast appears to be the latest in a series of attacks against pro-Western, anti-Syrian targets in the Lebanese capital.
Most recently, an explosion in Beirut's Christian suburb of Baabda killed Brig. Gen. Francois Al-Hajj, the head of operations for the Lebanese army, and his bodyguard on December 12.
Al-Hajj was believed to be a top candidate to take over as army commander in the event current commander Gen. Michel Suleiman was elected to replace Emile Lahoud as president.
Lebanon has been in the midst of a political crisis as pro- and anti-Syrian lawmakers in parliament are locked in a battle to elect a new president.
The nation has been without a president since November 23, when the pro-Syrian Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term.
In February 2005, the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut sparked widespread protests that led to the ouster of Syrian forces from Lebanon. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Anthony Mills in Beirut and Elise Labott in Washington contributed to this report | [
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] | NEW: The United States is outraged by the attack, Secretary of State Rice says .
Car bomb strikes U.S. Embassy vehicle north of Beirut .
Three Lebanese civilians dead, American and Lebanese officials confirm .
Driver of the vehicle was slightly injured, and the only passenger was not hurt . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Amid high emotions and tight security, thousands lined the streets of Beirut Friday to honor Antoine Ghanem, the anti-Syrian Lebanese MP killed in a powerful bomb blast along with four others. Amin Gemayel (R), Phalange party head, carries the coffin of assassinated deputy Antoine Ghamen. Against an atmosphere of intense political and patriotic fervor, the flag-draped coffins of the politician and two bodyguards also killed in Wednesday's rush hour blast made its way through the city's Christian district to the Sacred Heart church on what the government had declared as a day of national mourning. The procession was accompanied by thousands waving flags, as well as a brass band playing the anthem of Ghanem's Phalange Party, The Associated Press reported TV pictures showed distraught mourners crowding and reaching out to the coffins as they were carried aloft. Several people were seen to collapse and had to be carried away. Mourners also carried photographs, threw rose petals and unfurled banners, some of which read "We Won't Kneel," AP said. The coffins were greeted at the Christian Maronite church with applause from the gathered mourners, the agency said, including majority leaders and the Lebanese cabinet as well as Ghanem's family and friends. Ghanem was later buried in the city's Christian district. Ghanem's death is the latest in a series of attacks targeting prominent anti-Syrian figures, with the most notorious being the February 2005 assassination in Beirut of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which sparked widespread protests that led to the ouster of Syrian forces from Lebanon. Hariri also died in a massive explosion. The incident threatens to cast the country into political uncertainty ahead of a key presidential vote in a tightly divided parliament, almost evenly split between anti- and pro-Syrian camps. Watch how Ghanem's death disrupts Lebanese politics » CNN's Beirut bureau chief Brent Sadler said that many Lebanese now feared for the future, especially given other events in the region including the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, recent political differences in Iraq and Iran's bid to become a super power. "There continues to be among a great deal of people here a sense of foreboding that perhaps the worst is yet to come," he said. U.S. President George W. Bush, in a written statement, joined other world leaders in condemning the "horrific assassination." "Since October 2004, there has been a tragic pattern of political assassinations and attempted assassinations designed to silence those Lebanese who courageously defend their vision of an independent and democratic Lebanon," Bush said Wednesday. Also in a written statement, a spokesperson for Ban Ki-moon said the U.N. secretary-general "condemns in the strongest terms this terrorist attack." "The secretary general urges all Lebanese to exercise utmost calm and restraint at this very critical time and to allow judicial procedures to take their course," the spokesperson said. Bush's statement added: "The United States opposes any attempts to intimidate the Lebanese people as they seek to exercise their democratic right to select a president without foreign interference. We will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Lebanese people as they resist attempts by the Syrian and Iranian regimes and their allies to destabilize Lebanon and undermine its sovereignty." The U.S. Embassy in Beirut issued a statement saying: "It is not a coincidence that these attacks target those figures who have been working to secure Lebanon's independence from renewed Syrian hegemony. We note with concern that many Lebanese politicians allied with Syria have in fact warned that murder and violence would be the results of any effort to exercise genuine parliamentary democracy." And U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a written statement, said: "The bombing that claimed these lives was another act in a campaign of terror by those who want to turn back the clock on Lebanon's hard-won democratic gains." "The world should speak with one voice in calling for an end to violence in Lebanon intended to subvert democratic processes in that country," Rice said. "Lebanese elections, scheduled to begin in just days, | [
"Who was honored for the bomb blast?",
"What will be paraded through the streets?",
"What was the number who lined Beirut?",
"Who was killed in the blast?",
"What was closed to honor the dead?"
] | [
[
"Antoine Ghanem,"
],
[
"the coffin of assassinated deputy Antoine Ghamen."
],
[
"thousands"
],
[
"Antoine Ghanem,"
],
[
"streets of Beirut"
]
] | Thousands lined Beirut streets to honor anti-Syrian MP, killed in car bomb blast .
Noted parliamentarian killed along with four others during Wednesday rush hour .
Flag-draped coffin paraded through streets before burial in Christian district .
Day of national mourning called, with schools, universities, public offices shut . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Lebanon's prime minister condemned the firing of rockets into northern Israel after an attack wounded two Israelis on Thursday. He said his government is trying to determine who was responsible.
U.N. soldiers on Thursday inspect the site in Lebanon thought to be the source of rockets fired into Israel.
Israel's military warned Israeli civilians to stick close to shelters after police said at least four rockets hit near the city of Nahariya, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) south of the Lebanese border. The Israeli military said it returned fire across the border with mortars.
Schools and kindergartens were closed in Nahariya and the nearby town of Shlomi, the Israel Defense Forces reported.
"What happened in the south [of Lebanon] is a violation of Resolution 1701 and is rejected by Lebanon," Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said, referring to the U.N. resolution that ended the 2006 conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia.
In a statement issued by his office, Siniora said he has asked Lebanese authorities to investigate the attack alongside troops from the U.N. peacekeeping force deployed along the border. He also condemned the Israeli retaliatory strikes, which the Lebanese military said inflicted no casualties. Watch CNN's Christiane Amanpour discuss rocket attack »
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, which came as Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, to the south, entered a 13th day.
The Israeli campaign in Gaza is aimed at halting rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory. Israel fought a similar battle against the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah in 2006, during which Hezbollah rained rockets on cities in Israeli's north for a month before a cease-fire was reached.
But Hezbollah has kept a tight rein on its forces in southern Lebanon since the cease-fire, and a number of Palestinian factions operate in southern Lebanon as well.
Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, said the rockets appear to have been fired from a point about 4.5 miles east of Naqoura, where the peacekeepers are headquartered.
"We've been intensifying our patrols on the ground in order to prevent any further incident," Tenenti said.
He said UNIFIL's commander, Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano, is in "constant and close contact" with both sides "and has urged maximum restraint in order to prevent any escalation of the situation."
CNN's Michal Zippori in Jerusalem and Cal Perry and Nada Husseini in Beirut contributed to this report. | [
"What did the Prime Minister say?",
"Who called the attack a violation of U.N resolution?",
"What is the UN and Lebanon investigating?",
"Number of Lebanon based rockets that struck northern Israel?",
"Which UN resolution was violated?",
"Who fired these rockets?",
"What struck northern Israel?",
"What government along with the U.N. is investigating?",
"What is being investigated?",
"What is Fouad Siniora's political office?",
"What country does Siniora lead?"
] | [
[
"\"What happened in the south [of Lebanon] is a violation of Resolution 1701 and is rejected by Lebanon,\""
],
[
"Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora"
],
[
"the firing of rockets into northern Israel"
],
[
"four"
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[
"1701"
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[
"Lebanon"
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[
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[
"Lebanon's"
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[
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[
"Lebanese Prime Minister"
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[
"Lebanon,\""
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] | NEW: Prime Minister Fouad Siniora calls attack a violation of U.N. resolution .
NEW: Lebanese government, United Nations investigating, Siniora says .
Four Lebanon-based rockets strike northern Israel, authorities say .
Israeli military returns fire toward source of rocket attack . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Saad Hariri is poised to follow in his father's footsteps and become Lebanon's next prime minister, a position he said he "will not shy away from."
Saad Hariri said he will discuss taking the position of Lebanon's prime minister with his allies.
"I will discuss it with my allies," the pro-U.S. Sunni lawmaker told CNN. "You know, I didn't win this election by myself. My allies had a big role to play in winning for the 14th of March (coalition). And I think it will only be fair and obvious that we talk, me and my allies ... and then after that, if I have to do it, I will not shy away from it."
Hariri is the head of the "March 14" coalition, which retained its control over Lebanon's government this week despite a strong challenge from a Hezbollah-dominated alliance.
Hariri said he hopes to accomplish what his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, never had a chance to do before he was killed in 2005.
"He accomplished in his assassination the sovereignty of Lebanon, the independence of Lebanon," Hariri said. "And I want to accomplish what he always dreamt of Lebanon being.
"I think he would want me to do what's good for Lebanon, do what would unite the Lebanese people, and ... concentrate on the economy and the security and stability of Lebanon."
The elder Hariri was killed in a massive bombing in February 2005 that also left 22 others dead. An ongoing United Nations investigation has found indications of Syrian involvement in the assassination of the popular statesman, but Syria has denied any role.
His death triggered massive protests that eventually led to the withdrawal of Syrian forces, ending Syria's occupation of Lebanon.
Saad Hariri said Sunday's vote "was about Lebanon" and not its precarious position between its alliances with Western countries and its Arab neighbors.
"The people who went on the 7th of June voted for Lebanon first," he said. "It's not about the West; it's not about Iran; it's not about Syria. It's about we as Lebanese, what we want from this new parliament and from this new government that's going to come."
Hariri ruled out an independent peace track with Israel, sticking by his previous assessment that Lebanon will be the last country to sign a peace deal with the Jewish state.
"We will follow after the Arab initiative," he said. "You see, the Arab initiative includes many countries for the peace process, and Lebanon will come as we see fit."
Israel fought a war against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon three years ago that is widely regarded as having empowered the Shiite militia, which claimed victory in the six-week conflict.
Some analysts had feared that a Hezbollah victory in this week's parliamentary elections would have heightened tensions in the Middle East, particularly because of the estimated 30,000 rockets pointed at Israel from southern Lebanon, all under the control of Hezbollah militants.
Hariri met Tuesday with President Carter, who is in Beirut with more than 200 international observers monitoring the election. Shortly before that meeting, Hariri said the United States will play a key role in the effort to attain peace in the Middle East.
"I think the biggest turning point in this peace process is what the United States will do," he said. "The United States has a big role to play, and if it plays it in the right way, if it plays its role like it should play it, then we will have peace in the region. They should pressure both sides to move forward -- whether the Palestinians and the Israelis, whether the Syrians and the Israelis -- and I'm sure we'll get there."
After the victory of Hariri's coalition, the next step for Lebanese lawmakers will be to elect a speaker of the parliament. Then, Lebanese President Michel Sleiman will ask someone -- presumably Hariri -- to form a government.
In Lebanon, the presidency is reserved | [
"Who challenged Harir's coalition this week?",
"who is saad hariri",
"Who will play a key role?",
"what says hariri",
"What country will play a key role in efforts to attain peace in the Middle East?",
"who is rafik hariri",
"Who retained the control?"
] | [
[
"Hezbollah-dominated alliance."
],
[
"head of the \"March 14\" coalition,"
],
[
"United States"
],
[
"he will discuss taking the position of Lebanon's prime minister with his allies."
],
[
"United States"
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[
"former Prime Minister"
],
[
"the \"March 14\" coalition,"
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] | Saad Hariri hopes to finish what his father, Rafik Hariri, never had a chance to do .
Hariri's coalition retained control this week despite challenge from Hezbollah alliance .
Hariri: U.S. will play a key role in efforts to attain peace in the Middle East . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Supporters and opponents of Lebanon's pro-Western government appeared to split seats on Sunday as Lebanese voters went to the polls to replace two ruling-party lawmakers assassinated in recent months. Lebanese women wait in line to cast their votes in Beirut. Voters in Beirut sent pro-government candidate Mohammed al-Amin Itani to parliament to replace Walid Eido, who was killed in a June bombing. Both Eido, a Sunni Muslim, and Itani are members of the bloc led by Saad Hariri -- the son of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, whose 2005 killing triggered Lebanon's current wave of political upheaval. But in Metn, a Maronite Christian suburb east of the capital, anti-government candidate Camille Khouri upset former President Amin Gemayel by a few hundred votes, Lebanese television network LBC reported. Khouri is a member of the Free Patriotic Movement, the anti-government party led by former Lebanese Army Gen. Michel Aoun. Aoun has said he will run for president of Lebanon -- and since the post is chosen by members of parliament, Sunday's results were closely watched. Gemayel was seeking the seat held by his son Pierre, who served as industry minister in the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora before being gunned down in his car in November 2006. He served as president from 1982 to 1988, during the civil war in Lebanon. His brother, Bashir Gemayel, was elected president in 1982 but was assassinated before he could take office. Eido and Gemayel were among several Lebanese political figures killed since the February 2005 killing of the elder Hariri. All were critical of Syria's influence in Lebanon, and their supporters blamed Damascus for their deaths -- allegations the Syrians and their allies in Lebanon denied. Hariri's killing triggered a wave of protests against Syria known as the "Cedar Revolution," which brought Siniora's government to power and forced Syria to withdraw the garrison it kept in Lebanon for three decades. E-mail to a friend CNN's Nada Husseini contributed to this report. | [
"Who has been replaced?",
"Who will candidates replace?",
"What country is the election?",
"Who is the former lebanese president?",
"Who were they opponents of?",
"Who lost the election?"
] | [
[
"Walid Eido,"
],
[
"two ruling-party lawmakers assassinated in recent months."
],
[
"Lebanon"
],
[
"Amin Gemayel"
],
[
"Lebanon's pro-Western government"
],
[
"Amin Gemayel"
]
] | Former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel loses by a few hundred votes .
Candidates will replace legislator Pierre Gemayel and lawmaker Walid Eido .
Both were allies of U.S.-backed Lebanese government and opponents of Syria . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- The Lebanese army has arrested 10 suspected members of a terrorist network who the military believes were planning to attack targets abroad, the army said. The army claims suspects planned to create cells to monitor and attack UNIFIL troops, among other things. Most of the suspects are not from Lebanon, said the army, which does not identify the network in the statement it released. Officials also don't say when or where the suspects were captured. "As a result of intensive investigation by the Lebanese army intelligence directorate in following up on radical terrorist networks, the directorate was able to arrest ten persons of one of these networks, belonging to different Arab nationalities," the statement said. According to a military probe, some of those arrested had used their jobs in private companies as a cover for surveillance and monitoring operations. The army urged private employers to verify the legal status of their employees or job seekers and report any suspicious information. The army claims the terrorists in custody were planning to: • Smuggle wanted terrorists from the Palestinian refugee camp Ein el-Hilweh, located south of Beirut, to other countries. One of the network's members was to bring them fake documents and money for their trip. • "Harbor radical elements" from the terrorist group Fatah al-Islam and give them fake documents to help them enter the Ein el-Hilweh camp. • Create terror cells to monitor the Lebanese army and UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, to carry out attacks against them. • Carry out surveillance of money exchange centers and jewelry stores as possible robbery targets to help finance their operations. | [
"What weren't most of the suspects?",
"What didn't the statement identify?",
"Who said the suspects were not Lebanese",
"Who did the suspects target?",
"Which troops were targeted",
"What did the military probe show?"
] | [
[
"not from Lebanon,"
],
[
"the network"
],
[
"the army,"
],
[
"UNIFIL troops,"
],
[
"UNIFIL"
],
[
"some of those arrested had used their jobs in private companies as a cover for surveillance and monitoring operations."
]
] | Most of the suspects were not Lebanese, according to statement from the army .
Statement doesn't identify the terror network it claims the suspects belong to .
Military probe: Some had used private-sector jobs as cover for operations .
Plots to aid "radical elements," target UNIFIL troops and commit robbery alleged . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- The United Nations Sunday launched a special tribunal to prosecute the assassins of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A statue of slain former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri stands in Beirut. The tribunal convened at The Hague more than four years after Hariri was killed in a massive car bombing in Beirut on February 14, 2005. The bomb, detonated as Hariri's armored motorcade passed through Beirut's fashionable seaside Corniche district, contained hundreds of pounds of explosives. It left buildings shattered and streets littered with the mangled wreckage of vehicles. The blast also killed 22 other people. The Lebanese army was out in force on the streets of Beirut Sunday as people turned out to pay their respects to Hariri, who is buried downtown in the Lebanese capital. The U.N. tribunal will have 11 judges, whose identities are being kept secret for their safety. Four will be Lebanese. The prosecution could take as long as 10 years, sources close to the tribunal said. Four senior Lebanese generals are being held over the bombing, which also killed 22 other people. But many Lebanese -- as well as the United States and U.N. investigators -- believe Syria ordered the assassination. Syria denies it. The tribunal's prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare, refused to commit when asked at a news conference Sunday if Syrians would be charged. He said the public would have to wait and see. The U.S. State Department pledged its continued support of Lebanese judicial authorities and the tribunal's operations. The United States has promised to contribute $14 million; a request for an additional $6 million is pending approval from Congress. In a statement issued Sunday, acting State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said Hariri's death "was an unsuccessful attempt to undermine Lebanon's sovereignty." He added: "The Lebanese people answered his assassination with the Cedar Revolution, leading to the withdrawal of Syrian troops and the most democratic Lebanese elections in decades." At the time of Hariri's death, neighboring Syria had immense political influence in the country, and had maintained troops in its smaller neighbor since the 1980s, after the fighting between Israel and the PLO in Lebanon. Hariri was admired for spearheading the rebuilding of Beirut after the country's civil war, from 1975 to 1990, and many Lebanese blamed Syria for the killing, citing Hariri's patriotism and strong sense of Lebanese independence. The killing sparked widespread protests that led to the eventual withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and the election of an anti-Syrian bloc in parliament. The anti-Syrian movement is known as the March 14 Alliance, named after the day millions of supporters of Hariri took to the streets, and its actions have been dubbed the Cedar Revolution, for the nation's iconic cedar trees. Huge counter-protests also were staged by Lebanese supporters of Syria. Along the way, U.N. investigators tasked to probe the attack found links between Syria's government and Hariri's assassination. The Lebanese hope the tribunal will settle the case, but there are also fears it could further divide the nation and open up older wounds in the country. The special tribunal takes over from the Beirut-based International Independent Investigation Commission, which looked into 20 other attacks and found elements linking some of them to a criminal network behind the Hariri killing, the United Nations said. The trial will take place in a converted gymnasium in a suburb of The Hague. The U.N. says the case is expected to be ready for trial by 2010. --CNN's Cal Perry contributed to this report. | [
"how many judges are there?",
"when was he killed?",
"who was killed in a car bomb?",
"How many judges are in Tribunal?",
"Where did car bomb occur?",
"Who was killed in car bomb in Beirut?"
] | [
[
"11"
],
[
"February 14, 2005."
],
[
"Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri."
],
[
"11"
],
[
"Beirut's fashionable seaside Corniche district,"
],
[
"Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri."
]
] | U.N. tribunal for killing of former Lebanon prime minister to convenes .
Tribunal has 11 judges, whose identities are being kept secret for their safety .
Rafik Hariri killed in car bomb in Beirut in February 2005 .
Death led to protests and reduction of Syrian influence in Lebanon . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- The fiery leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant movement assured Lebanon on Monday that his movement will cooperate in the country's political life. Supporters carry posters of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. Hassan Nasrallah said: "We don't want to have control over Lebanon, or to have governance over Lebanon or to impose our ideas over the people of Lebanon, because we believe Lebanon to be a special and diverse country that needs the collaboration of everyone." Nasrallah spoke a day after Lebanon's parliament elected Michel Sleiman the country's president after a six-month vacancy in the position. Nasrallah, speaking at a packed stadium, told his followers: "I renew my appeal and invitation for a true national partnership with no eliminations or impositions. The national unity government is not the victory of the opposition against the pro-government. It is the victory of all Lebanese." He said Sleiman's election "renews the hope amongst the Lebanese people to a new era and a new start." "I must say that there are deep wounds from our side and theirs, we are both in front of two choices; either to expand the wounds and add salt to them or try to cure them for the sake of Lebanon and we prefer the second choice." The parliament had tried 19 times to vote on a new president, but failed because of disagreements over how to share power in a new Cabinet. Lebanon's Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition reached a deal last week aimed at ending an 18-month political crisis that pushed the country to the brink of civil war, and paved the way for Sleiman's election. The agreement, reached in Doha, Qatar, calls for a consensus government in which the Cabinet would be comprised of 30 posts -- 16 for the majority, 11 for the Hezbollah-led opposition and three set aside for the president to nominate. The seat allocation had been a key sticking point for the opposition, which wanted to ensure it had the power to veto major decisions. With 11 Cabinet posts, it will have that power. In exchange for the veto power and a redistricting plan ahead of next year's elections, Hezbollah agreed to end its sit-in protest that has paralyzed downtown Beirut since late 2006. In his speech, Sleiman expressed gratitude to Qatar and to the Arab League for helping broker the deal. Sleiman was the consensus candidate, and is viewed as a neutral party by Lebanon's political factions. The nation's previous presidents have been seen as either pro-Syrian or pro-Western. In his 10 years as chief of the army, Sleiman also is believed to have unified the splintered military. However, he inherits a nation grappling with divisions. Lebanon's elected, pro-Western government has long been locked in a power struggle with Hezbollah. In public statements and demonstrations in recent years, Hezbollah threatened to use its power and popularity to oust the Sunni-led government, triggering fears of a new civil war that could further destabilize the volatile region. The election helped end a political crisis that deteriorated into violence this month. That crisis was defused when the Lebanese government gave in to two key Hezbollah demands -- lifting a government ban of Hezbollah's telecommunications system and reinstating the chief of security at Beirut's airport. "The performance of the opposition proved that it did not organize a coup, but only wanted the illegal government to withdraw its two decisions," Nasrallah said. "I promise that the opposition's representation in the government will not be monopolized by Hezbollah, Amal and the Change and Reform bloc. We will give other opposition parties shares - and unfortunately we must speak of shares - even if it is at the expense of Hezbollah's shares." Hezbollah has been linked to numerous terrorist attacks against U.S., Israeli, and other Western targets and the United States lists it as a terrorist organization. But many in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East -- particularly Shiites -- view Hezbollah militants as freedom fighters. | [
"Who is the Hezbollah leader?",
"Who is considered a consensus president?",
"Who is considered a consensus president in the divided country?",
"What does the election come after?",
"What does Nasraliah say about Lebanon?",
"what Sleiman is considered?",
"Who praises the election of Michel Sleiman?"
] | [
[
"Hassan Nasrallah"
],
[
"Michel Sleiman"
],
[
"Sleiman"
],
[
"six-month vacancy"
],
[
"\"We don't want to have control over"
],
[
"neutral party"
],
[
"Hassan Nasrallah"
]
] | Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says Lebanon needs collaboration of everyone .
Nasrallah praises election of Michel Sleiman as president after six months .
Election comes after Hezbollah and government agreed power-sharing deal .
Sleiman is considered a consensus president in the divided country . |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- The tribunal established to prosecute people allegedly responsible for the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others will officially convene at The Hague in Netherlands on Sunday. White wreaths with photos of Rafik Hariri at his tomb. The car bomb in Beirut in February 2005 transformed the turbulent nation's politics and sent shock waves across the Middle East and the world. "All the necessary measures have been taken for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to commence functioning," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote in his latest report to the U.N. Security Council. Daniel Bellemare, a Canadian, will be the U.N. tribunal's prosecutor. The trial judges and appeals chambers will take on their responsibilities on a date determined by Ban and the tribunal's president. The United Nations says the case is expected to be ready for trial by 2010. At the time of Hariri's death, neighboring Syria had immense political influence Lebanon, where it had had a troop presence from the 1980s, after the fighting between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon. Hariri was admired for spearheading the rebuilding of Beirut after the country's civil war, from 1975 to 1990, and many Lebanese blamed Syria for the killing, citing Hariri's patriotism and strong sense of Lebanese independence. The killing sparked widespread protests that led to the eventual withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and the election of an anti-Syrian bloc in parliament. The anti-Syrian movement is known as the March 14 Alliance, named after the day millions of supporters of Hariri took to the streets, and its actions have been dubbed the Cedar Revolution, for the nation's iconic cedar trees. Huge counterprotests also were staged by Lebanese supporters of Syria. Watch how Lebanon changed after Hariri's death » Along the way, U.N. investigators tasked to probe the attack found links between Syria's government and Hariri's assassination. Three people detained for three years in connection with the case were released Wednesday by a Lebanese judge. Four Lebanese generals who have been held for nearly four years in connection with the attack remain in custody. The Lebanese hope the tribunal will settle the case, but there are also fears it could further divide the nation and open up older wounds in the country. Rami Khoury, a political analyst and a professor at the American University of Beirut, said the tribunal could serve as a political flashpoint, but he said the existence of the tribunal is important. "It's an extraordinary symbol of the whole world coming in here, to the Arab world, and saying this has to stop, we're going to find who did it and hold them accountable," he said. "So it's tremendously important, I think, in what it represents." The special tribunal takes over from the Beirut-based International Independent Investigation Commission, which looked into 20 other attacks and found elements linking some of them to a criminal network behind the Hariri killing, the United Nations said. | [
"A U.N. tribunal was held for the deceased prime minster of which country?",
"Rafik Hariri was killed a car bomb in which country in Feb 2005?",
"When does the U.N say the case is expected to be ready?"
] | [
[
"Lebanon"
],
[
"Lebanon"
],
[
"by 2010."
]
] | U.N. tribunal for killing of former Lebanon prime minister to convene Sunday .
Rafik Hariri killed in car bomb in Beirut in February 2005 .
U.N. says the case is expected to be ready for trial by 2010 .
Death led to protests and reduction of Syrian influence in Lebanon . |
BELGRADE, Montana (CNN) -- President Obama on Friday took his push for a health care overhaul to traditionally conservative Montana, saying a bill to extend coverage to the uninsured while helping those already with coverage will pass this year. President Obama discusses his health care plans Friday at a meeting in Belgrade, Montana. However, an influential Democratic representative said the House would only pass a health care bill in January or later, signaling continuing rifts within Obama's party on his domestic priority for 2009. "We're taking some time to make sure it's done right," said Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania. "I don't know that we'll get something done before January, and even then we may not get it done. We're going to do it right when it's finally done." Obama told a largely supportive Montana audience at his second of three town hall meetings this week that fixing the health care system requires improving health insurance practices and reducing the costs of treatment. He sought questions from skeptics of his proposed health care overhaul, seeking to confront some misconceptions fueled by opponents Democrats say are undermining the debate. One man who identified himself as a proud National Rifle Association supporter and believer in the Constitution asked how the government would pay to expand health insurance coverage to 46 million uninsured people. "You can't tell us how you're going to pay for this," said the questioner, Randy Rathie, a welder from Ekalaka, Montana. "The only way you're going to get the money is to raise our taxes. That's the only way you can do that." Obama responded with his oft-repeated explanation that two-thirds of the cost of overhauling health care -- estimated at about $900 billion over 10 years -- would come from eliminating waste and improving efficiency in the current system, which includes the government-run Medicare and Medicaid programs for the elderly and impoverished. The rest would have to come from new revenue, he agreed with the questioner, and he called for reducing the amount of deductions that people making more than $250,000 a year can make on their income taxes. "If we did that alone, just that change alone ... that would raise enough to pay for health care reform," Obama said, noting that would meet his election campaign pledge to avoid any tax increase on people earning less than $250,000 a year. However, Obama said some taxes would have to be raised, and the crowd applauded when he said he believes people with more money, like himself, ought to pay a heavier burden. "We've got to get over this notion that we can have something for nothing," Obama said. "That's how we got into this deficit and this debt in the first place." In reference to emotional and heated debate at some other town hall meetings across the country in recent weeks, Obama told Rathie, "I appreciate your question, the respectful way you asked it, and by the way, I also believe in the Constitution." Afterward, Rathie said he was impressed by Obama's performance but remained skeptical. "I don't think he knows where that money's going to come from," he said. "If he does, he's not saying." Obama noted there is more work to be done, with Congress seeking to merge at least four bills, along with a possible compromise agreement being negotiated by Democratic Sen. Max Baucus and five other members of his Senate Finance Committee, into a single bill in September. Another questioner chosen when Obama asked for a skeptic identified himself as an insurance provider who wanted to know why Obama and Democrats are vilifying the insurance industry in the health care debate. Earlier in the meeting, Obama described what he called discriminatory practices by insurance companies that dropped coverage of people who became sick or refused to cover those with pre-existing medical conditions. Obama noted some insurance companies are contributing to the reform debate, but said others are spending millions of dollars to try to defeat any health care legislation. For a health care overhaul | [
"What does Obama say?",
"When will president hold another meeting?",
"Who says bill won't pass before January?",
"What does fixing health care require?",
"who is John Murtha?",
"Where will Obama hold a meeting?"
] | [
[
"that fixing the health care system requires improving health insurance practices and reducing the costs"
],
[
"Friday"
],
[
"Democratic representative"
],
[
"of treatment."
],
[
"Rep."
],
[
"Belgrade, Montana."
]
] | NEW: Rep. John Murtha says bill won't pass before January .
Fixing health care requires improving insurance, cutting costs, Obama says .
Insurance companies need incentive to participate, Obama says .
President will hold another meeting Saturday in Colorado . |
BELGRADE, Serbia (CNN) -- The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade is evacuating all nonessential personnel following Thursday's attack on the building by a crowd of protesters, a spokesman for the embassy told CNN Friday. Serbian riot police stand in front of the damaged U.S. Embassy in Belgrade on Friday. The U.S. ambassador, Cameron Munter, is staying, officials said. The embassy was closed Friday, and a handful of riot police holding shields stood outside the building, its outer walls blackened from fires set the night before and some of its windows smashed. It will remain closed until Monday or Tuesday so officials can assess the damage, said Bill Wanlund, the embassy's spokesman. He said embassy staff were still in a heightened state of alert but there were no specific threats against any staff members. The United States has warned the Serbian government that it has a responsibility to protect its assets. A top U.S. diplomat was asked during an interview on CNN if the Serbian government "gets" the warning. "They'd better get it, because they have a fundamental responsibility to protect our diplomats and our embassy and to protect American citizens," said Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns. "What happened yesterday in Belgrade was absolutely reprehensible." Watch Burns' angry comments on Belgrade attack » Thursday's violence erupted after demonstrations by thousands of Serbs against Kosovo's declaration of independence. The anger directed against the United States and other countries for recognizing the breakaway province as a nation sparked attacks on Western embassies and shops by hundreds of people. Burns said there was an "insufficient" number of security people guarding the U.S. Embassy at a demonstration everyone knew would take place. He said security "melted away" as "the mob attacked our embassy." "This kind of thing should not happen in a civilized country. It doesn't happen in the United States of America. It doesn't happen in most world capitals. So the Serb government needs to reflect seriously about the responsibility it has under the Vienna Convention," he said. Burns, the third highest ranking diplomat in the State Department, said he told the Serbian prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, and his government that the U.S. "would hold them personally responsible for the safety of our people." "They assured me that they would have adequate security on the ground today and for every day to come. We will hold them to that commitment," Burns said. Demonstrators only managed to break into one U.S. embassy building, which Wanlund said was rarely used by staff. He said the protesters didn't manage to get any documents or embassy materials. Only Marines and security guards were present at the embassy when the angry mob of about 100 approached the walls. In addition to the U.S. Embassy, the protesters attacked other Western interests including the embassies of Britain and Germany, as well as a McDonald's restaurant and a Nike shop. "One might understand the emotion, but not the violence, and that's what the Serb government needs to remember," Burns said. Burns, who is stepping down in March, has long been involved in trying to resolve tensions in the former Yugoslavia. The situation was complicated by Sunday's unilateral declaration of independence by Serbia's predominantly Albanian region of Kosovo. Kosovo is revered historically by Orthodox Christian Serbs but also is claimed as separate and distinct by its ethnic Muslim Albanians. The wisdom of recognizing Kosovo independence has been questioned by many observers, who say the United States won't recognize other unilateral declarations of independence. Some opponents of Kosovo's independence say recognition is a bad precedent if it's unilateral and not done in a bilateral, diplomatic setting. They say it will give others the incentive to stage their own breakaway nations. Burns said every situation has its unique set of circumstances, as does Kosovo, which was the victim of ethnic cleansing policies by the Slobodan Milosevic regime in 1999. NATO troops fought Serbia in an air war then and pushed Serbian forces out of the region. Since then Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and | [
"Where will the US ambassador remain?",
"Who does the US warn of their responsibilities?",
"Where will the ambassador stay?",
"Who does U.S. warn?",
"what is the embassy evacuating?",
"what did the us say",
"Where shouldn't an event like embassy attack happen?",
"what did us warn serbia about",
"When was the attack and fire?",
"What does US mean?",
"will the ambassador stay in belgrade",
"what should not happen in a civilized country?",
"what was the warning provided by US to Serbia?",
"Who did the US warn to protect diplomats",
"who is going to stay in the embasy after the evacuation?",
"what country do they warn",
"who is being evacuated by embassy?",
"which country was warned by the USA?"
] | [
[
"Belgrade"
],
[
"Serbian government"
],
[
"U.S. Embassy in Belgrade"
],
[
"Serbian government"
],
[
"all nonessential personnel"
],
[
"The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade is evacuating all nonessential personnel following"
],
[
"in a civilized country."
],
[
"responsibility to protect its assets."
],
[
"Thursday's"
],
[
"United States"
],
[
"Cameron Munter, is staying,"
],
[
"security \"melted away\""
],
[
"protect its assets."
],
[
"Serbian government"
],
[
"U.S. ambassador, Cameron Munter,"
],
[
"Serbia"
],
[
"all nonessential personnel"
],
[
"Serbia"
]
] | U.S.: An event like embassy attack "should not happen in a civilized country"
U.S. warns Serbia of responsibility to protect U.S. diplomats, building .
Embassy evacuating nonessential personnel; ambassador will stay in Belgrade .
No embassy documents taken during Thursday attack and fire, spokesman says . |
BELLEVUE, Nebraska (CNN) -- If LeRoy Carhart's abortion clinic had a terror alert scale, it would be at Code Red this weekend. Anti-abortion protesters plan demonstrations this weekend outside Dr. LeRoy Carhart's clinic in Bellevue, Nebraska. "I feel safer on an airplane than I do in my clinic," Carhart said, sitting at his desk in his windowless office in Bellevue, Nebraska. "You try to think about every way an attack could happen. You try to do all you can to prevent it, but obviously Dr. [George] Tiller thought he was safe in church." It's been nearly three months since Tiller, one of the world's most well-known doctors performing abortions, was shot in the head at point-blank range on May 31 as services began at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas. Anti-abortion groups, led by Operation Rescue, plan to launch protests outside Carhart's clinic this weekend in Bellevue, just south of Omaha. They will be the first major anti-abortion protests since the Tiller killing. The demonstrations are set to culminate Saturday with so-called Truth Trucks -- delivery trucks with giant rolling billboards of dismembered fetuses on the sides -- parking outside Carhart's clinic and canvassing area neighborhoods. Protesters carrying anti-abortion signs also are expected. Operation Rescue President Troy Newman has vowed a peaceful demonstration and said that any hints of possible violence are ginned up by what he calls left-wing groups and the liberal media. His group scaled down plans to protest at Carhart's facility Friday when it learned women's rights groups, including the National Organization for Women, would be there. Operation Rescue will hold a rally at a church instead Friday. "Operation Rescue has said Dr. Carhart is the next target ...," said Katherine Spillar, executive vice president with the Feminist Majority Foundation. "We fear that these kinds of activities can eventually erupt in violence, and I urge the community to make sure violence doesn't happen." Abortion rights supporters were predominant in the 50 to 75 people gathered outside the clinic Friday morning. "Welcome, welcome, this clinic stays open," some shouted when cars pulled into the clinic's driveway. Newman said earlier, "I'm not interested in putting our folks in any situation where the other side might flare up. I'm very confident about our side. They're very peaceful moms and dads and families that will be showing up with signs." He said he abhorred the killing of Tiller. "Shooting someone in the head in a church," he said, "is not a pro-life act. Sorry, it doesn't qualify." Scott Roeder, a 51-year-old anti-abortion activist, is charged in Tiller's killing. He has pleaded not guilty. Newman said he wants Carhart shut down -- through legal means. He said he was confident his organization would have shut down Tiller this summer through a legal battle. "I vehemently disagreed with what Mr. Tiller did, as well as all abortionists for what they do. But they're still human beings, and they deserve due process," Newman said. Tiller was one of about a dozen U.S. doctors who performed late-term abortions. In the wake of his death, his family decided to close his clinic permanently. Carhart was a close friend and understudy of Tiller's. He performed abortions at Tiller's clinic for a week every month, including late-term procedures. Carhart has vowed to open an office in Kansas and said he'll keep doing abortions as long as he's healthy. He said he's performed more than 60,000 abortions in the past two decades. About 400 of those were after 24 weeks, he said. Staring across the room at a poster of Tiller, he said, "I don't want his death to be in vain. He spent his whole life trying to ensure better health care for women." Carhart was performing an abortion in his clinic when Tiller was killed that Sunday morning. | [
"What happened in Nebraska?",
"First major abortion protests set since killing of who?",
"George Tiller is who?",
"Who was the understudy of TIllers?",
"where is Dr. LeRoy Carhart from",
"Who was an understudy of Dr. George Tille?",
"What kind of protests are set?",
"what were they protesting",
"on what day the abortion right supporters were outside the clinic?",
"who was outsied the clinic",
"what does Carhart says about abortion?"
] | [
[
"Anti-abortion protesters plan demonstrations"
],
[
"Dr. [George] Tiller"
],
[
"one of the world's most well-known doctors performing abortions,"
],
[
"Carhart"
],
[
"Bellevue, Nebraska."
],
[
"Carhart"
],
[
"Anti-abortion"
],
[
"abortion"
],
[
"Friday"
],
[
"Anti-abortion protesters"
],
[
"he's performed more than 60,000"
]
] | NEW: Abortion rights supporters dominant outside clinic on Friday .
First major abortion protests set since killing of Dr. George Tiller in May .
Dr. LeRoy Carhart of Nebraska was understudy of Tiller's .
Carhart says he takes pride in the term abortionist . |
BELLINGHAM, Washington (CNN) -- After 11 years of living illegally in the United States, it was not until Gerardo Arreola Gonzalez was nearly deported that he finally received permission to work here. No longer illegal: Gerardo Arreola Gonzalez holds up the card authorizing his employment in the United States. Arreola was one of 28 illegal immigrant workers arrested in February after agents from U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement raided a car engine repair business. According to the immigrants, a small army of federal agents surrounded Yamato Engine Specialists in Bellingham Washington, and began searching for workers who could not show they had authorization to work in the United States. "My blood ran cold," Arreola said in Spanish. "We went to the back door, but they were waiting for us. There was a bus already there, and they put us on it." As he was being taken to an immigration detention center, Arreola said he thought of his wife and the five children they have had while living here and who are U.S. citizens by birth. He expected to be deported back to Mexico, Arreola said, and he was doubtful about when he would see his family again. "I would have been there and they would have been here," he said. "I would have had to come back. I couldn't take them there. My children don't know anything about Mexico. They go to school here." Watch Arreola and others discuss the raid » Typically, cases like Arreola's end in deportation. According to ICE, some 5,173 people were arrested last year in similar worksite raids. However, the Bellingham raid was the first of its kind to take place during the Obama administration. During the presidential campaign, then-candidate Obama's criticism of government immigration policies that split up families had given some people in immigrant communities hope that the raids would end if he were elected. "Under the Obama administration, we didn't expect it to happen that people would be dragged out in handcuffs," said Rosalinda Guillen, a Bellingham immigrant rights advocate. Many in the area strongly opposed the raid, Guillen said. "This is a really heavy Obama-supporting county," she said. "So a lot of folks here had been in involved in the election." Immediately after the raid, she said, "the calls, the e-mails started and networks were activated." Guillen said the controversy over the raid was featured heavily on Hispanic radio stations and that a charity called Los Niños Fund was created to help the children of the jailed immigrants. During a hearing before the House Committee on Homeland Security the day after the Bellingham raid, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano distanced herself from the action. Worksite enforcements, she said, should focus "on employers who intentionally and knowingly exploit the illegal labor market." Napolitano promised lawmakers that she would "get to the bottom" of what happened in Bellingham. Napolitano's comments turned the heat up on the already boiling debate over how immigration policies should be reformed. "Get to the bottom of what? Law enforcement officers enforcing the law?" asked Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nonprofit group that advocates more border security and decreasing the number of illegal immigrants entering the country. "The message is if you are hiring illegal aliens, 'no problem.' If you are in the country illegally, unless you commit a serious felony we are not going to bother you, so it's a de facto amnesty," Mehlman said. "Even if the administration cannot get an amnesty through Congress this year, what they are going to do is through administrative decisions allow everybody to remain here and send the signal that more people are welcome." Amy Kudwa, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said there was no policy shift and that other worksite immigration inspections had taken place since the Bellingham raid. But Rosalinda Guillen said people in the pro-immigrant rights community were heartened by the fact that shortly after Napolitano ordered a review of the Bellingham case the | [
"Under which administration was it first of its kind?",
"What are foes of illegal immigration angry about?",
"Where was the raid?",
"What caused the raid?",
"The immigration raid led to how many people's detention?",
"What country were they from?",
"How many people were found?"
] | [
[
"Obama"
],
[
"authorization to work in the United States."
],
[
"Yamato Engine Specialists in Bellingham Washington,"
],
[
"Law enforcement officers enforcing the law?\""
],
[
"28"
],
[
"Mexico,"
],
[
"28"
]
] | Immigration raid led to detention of 28 people in Washington state .
Raid was first of its kind under the new Obama administration .
Homeland security chief says she was unaware of raid, ordered investigation .
Foes of illegal immigration angry about "de facto amnesty" for freed detainees . |
BENTON HARBOR, Michigan (CNN) -- Former President Bush said that if Laura Bush hadn't been his wife, he isn't sure he could have counted on her vote. Laura Bush's "patience and her enthusiasm ... made our marriage a really good marriage," President Bush said. "I can promise you that her life dream when she was growing up was not to be first lady of the United States," he told a Michigan audience in one of his first major domestic speeches since leaving the White House. "Frankly, I am not so sure that if we hadn't married, she'd have voted for me," he joked of his wife, who was raised in a Democratic family. The high-tension atmosphere of the presidency strengthened his marriage, Bush said. "There's a lot of pressure in the White House, as I'm sure you can imagine. Pressure sometimes can make a marriage stronger or weaker. In my case because of her patience and her enthusiasm, it made our marriage a really good marriage," Bush said. The pressure of the presidency, he said, weighs most on family members. "It's much harder to be the son of the president than to be the president. And it's much harder to be the father of the president than to be the president," he said in a reference to his dad, former President George H.W. Bush. "And I used to have to admonish him not pay attention to what they were writing on the editorial pages about his son. I had gone through the same agony myself. And so I am confident that the end of the presidency is a great relief because of our strong love." Something else Bush called a great relief: having a vice president, Dick Cheney, who had no plans to run for the top spot. "I was pleased to have someone serve as my vice president who was not running for president, because someone who is running for president, at times, will try to distance themselves," Bush said. "If things got tough, [he] could be one of the first persons off the ship, and that would be really unpleasant in the White House." Bush said he wasn't surprised to lose public support for some of the main elements of his national security agenda. "I was frustrated because the stakes were so high in some of the decisions that I had to make. I wasn't surprised that people would forget the feeling of how they felt after September 11. I was grateful that people were moving beyond September 11. As a president, you don't want your nation to be so worried about an attack that people don't go about their lives. ... The psychology of the nation concerned me. Which then made it harder to get people to listen to you, to some of the decisions I made." The fact that Americans tuned out media coverage of the risk of terrorism wasn't surprising to him either, he said; he ignored most news coverage himself. "The truth of the matter is, I never watched the nightly news, because it was predictable, I thought. Nor did I ever pay attention to the editorial pages, good editorials or bad," he said. "I knew what was in the news. When you're president, you can get so obsessed with this stuff that I felt it would cloud your vision. "The truth of the matter is, there is so much attention paid to you, I thought it was important even in the toughest moments to be upbeat and not to be so worried about myself that I couldn't convey a sense of confidence." He mused on the transition to a far calmer existence after the presidency. "People ask, what is it like? Well, I have never stopped at a traffic light for eight years," he said. "The neighborhood we live in is nice. You know, Laura bought this house sight unseen. At least she saw. I didn't. It | [
"What did Bush say his wife wouldn't have done if they hadn't married?",
"What did Bush say?",
"Who says\"I am not so sure that if we hadn't married, she'd have voted for me\"?",
"What was Bush not surprised about?",
"What did Bush discuss in his first major speech after leaving the White House?"
] | [
[
"voted for me,\""
],
[
"\"I can promise you that her life dream when she was growing up was not to be first lady of the United States,\""
],
[
"Former President Bush"
],
[
"to lose public support for some of the main elements of his national security agenda."
],
[
"really good marriage,\""
]
] | Ex-President Bush gives one of first major domestic speeches after White House .
Bush discusses his marriage and life after presidency .
"I am not so sure that if we hadn't married, she'd have voted for me," Bush says .
Bush also says he wasn't surprised to lose public support on security issues . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Women's boxing will be included at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the president of the International Olympic Committee announced Thursday. Germany's Ina Menzer, left, fights American Franchesca Alcanter during a WIBF and WBC featherweight bout in May. The decision came during a two-day IOC Executive Board meeting in Berlin, at which board members also decided to propose golf and rugby for inclusion in the 2016 Olympic Games. "I can only rejoice about the decision of inclusion of women's boxing," IOC President Jacques Rogge told reporters. "I think it's a great decision. Boxing was the sole (Olympic) sport with no women involved. "The sport of women's boxing has progressed a lot, a tremendous amount, in the last five years and it was about time to include them in the Games." Have your say - should women's boxing be included? A men's class will likely be axed to make room for three women's weight categories at London 2012, the UK Press Association reported. Women will compete in the flyweight 48-51kg class, lightweight 56-60kg and middleweight 69-75kg, the agency said. When the IOC dropped baseball and softball from the 2012 Olympic program several years ago, it said it would consider adding new sports that had a clean reputation and a wide appeal. Rogge pointed out that women's boxing has around 200 athletes who could potentially compete in 2012, while softball has only around 120. As a result, he said, the IOC considered women's boxing to be more popular. Women's boxing has boomed in Britain since 2005, with the number of registered female fighters rising from 50 to 600, PA reported. Softball and baseball were considered for inclusion in the 2016 Games along with squash, karate, roller sports, golf and rugby, but the board decided to consider only the last two. Blog: IOC has picked the wrong sports, says CNN's Paul Gittings The IOC has not yet selected the host city for 2016, but its board members will submit golf and rugby to the full IOC session for a final decision at its meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in October. "Golf and rugby scored high on all the criteria," Rogge told the IOC's official Web site. "They have global appeal, a geographically diverse line-up of top iconic athletes and an ethic that stresses fair play." The International Golf Federation has proposed two four-day strokeplay tournaments for men and women, with 18 holes per round and medals awarded to the three players in each with the lowest scores. The International Rugby Board has proposed men's and women's Sevens tournaments, with 12 teams in each being divided into two pools before semifinals and finals. | [
"Is golf an olympic sport?",
"When will women's boxing be included?",
"Where was the 2012 Olympics held?",
"Which sport will be included in the games?",
"Which city will the olympics host in 2012?",
"Where were the games being held in 2012?",
"Which sport will be included in 2012 olympics?"
] | [
[
"for inclusion in the 2016"
],
[
"at the 2012 Olympic Games in London,"
],
[
"London,"
],
[
"Women's boxing"
],
[
"London,"
],
[
"London,"
],
[
"Women's boxing"
]
] | Women's boxing will be included in the 2012 Olympic Games in London .
Boxing had been the only Olympic event without any female participants .
Golf and rugby will be considered for inclusion at the 2016 Summer Games .
Softball, squash, baseball, karate and roller sports did not make the cut . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- A Canadian auto parts supplier has come to the rescue of German carmaker Opel, negotiating a deal with the German government that will save the company from insolvency. German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck talks to reporters early Saturday morning following talks on Opel. Officials from all sides announced the agreement after talks lasting into the early hours of Saturday. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called it a "responsible solution" that would preserve the highest number of jobs. Under the terms of the deal, supplier Magna will have a 20 percent stake in GM Europe, an arm of General Motors, which owns the Opel brand. Russia's Sberbank will own a 35 percent share, Opel employees will have 10 percent, and General Motors will retain a 35-percent stake, according to GM spokesman Joerg Schrott. The German government will provide a bridge loan to keep GM Europe operating in the short term. The deal ensures that General Motors' European assets -- which also include the Vauxhall car brand in Britain -- will be unaffected by GM's expected bankruptcy filing. Magna warned during negotiations that it would have to cut about 10,000 jobs. General Motors has around 55,000 employees in Europe. About 2,000 of the job cuts would be in Germany, Magna has said, but a top company official tried to reassure the Germans that it would try to protect the company as much as possible. "We will, and I want to stress that again, preserve all the German Opel locations," said Magna co-Chief Executive Siegfried Wolf. "We're keen to have talks with all the states where Opel has factories in the next few weeks and are confident to be able to find solutions to preserve jobs, because every job that is lost is one too many. We will work with Opel management to try to avoid those job losses." Steinmeier told reporters that such risks can't be avoided. "But," he said. "I think we have found a responsible solution with private investors and interim funding from the state. It is a solution which preserves Opel's location in Germany and also preserves the highest possible number of jobs." German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said early Saturday that the country has guaranteed transitional credit for Opel of 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion). In addition, a trust will be created where Opel's stock will be parked prior to the division of shares. Along with Sberbank, Russia's biggest bank, Russian automaker GAZ Group will provide some financing, said Andrzej Kasperek, director of corporate business development with GAZ. "I think the whole arrangement with Magna and the Russian partners made this a very attractive deal for GM," Kasperek said. "Opel is very well regarded as a brand. But we think we can increase sales in the next five years." Financially strapped General Motors is expected to announce as soon as Monday that it is filing for bankruptcy. "Opel has received a perspective for the future," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the agreement was reached. "That is a chance for the employees, who have earned it, as I find, because they are not to blame for the situation but instead big mismanagement in the United States of America at GM." Merkel said the German government did "what it had to do" in rescuing Opel. "I had an open exchange in a phone call with the American president, and we agreed that we do everything to bring this complex task to a good conclusion. And this clearly set the tone for the negotiations," Merkel said. | [
"Who are Magna hoping to bring into the deal?",
"Who did Germany pick to buy Opel?",
"When is General Motors going to declare bankruptcy?",
"How much is the loan?",
"Who funded a bridge loan?"
] | [
[
"German government"
],
[
"Magna"
],
[
"Monday"
],
[
"1.5 billion euros"
],
[
"The German government"
]
] | Germany picks Magna to buy majority stake in Opel, news reports say .
German government agrees to fund bridging loan to keep Opel in business .
Magna also seeking to bring Russian partners into Opel deal .
Opel's parent company General Motors set to declare bankruptcy as soon as Monday . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- A German cruise liner said Tuesday it plans to fly its passengers over the Gulf of Aden, instead of sailing them through, out of fear of pirate attacks in the region.
U.S. Navy image of pirates operating off coast of Somalia in October this year.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises said all 246 passengers and most of the crew aboard the MS Columbus, currently at the start of an around-the-world cruise, will disembark at an undisclosed port, then fly to Dubai to continue their journey.
The company called the move a precautionary measure.
Pirate attacks in the waters off Somalia have shot up this year, with pirates staging increasingly bolder attacks on ever-bigger targets. So far this year, pirates have attacked almost 100 vessels off Somalia's coast and successfully hijacked nearly 40, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Freight and cargo ships, cruise liners, and private yachts have all come under attack. In many hijackings, pirates take the crew and passengers hostage while they demand a ransom.
The problem has forced companies like Hapag-Lloyd, that use the Gulf of Aden, to make new plans, including stepping up security or changing their routes.
One shipping company announced last month it would bypass the region altogether, sailing instead around the Cape of Good Hope and adding thousands of kilometers to its voyages.
Read more about how to solve the pirate problem here.
Hapag-Lloyd said a general travel warning for the area, issued by the German Foreign Ministry, played a part in the decision. But the company also said it had asked the German government for naval protection and the request was turned down.
Representatives of Hapag-Lloyd and the German Defense Ministry could not immediately be reached for further comment.
The passengers on board the Columbus began the first leg of their world cruise November 28 in Genoa, Italy and are due in Dubai on December 17, according to Hapag-Lloyd's Web site. Further stops include Singapore, Bali, Indonesia and Sydney, Australia.
Hapag-Lloyd said that after the passengers and most of the crew disembark, the Columbus will sail through the Gulf of Aden with a skeleton staff. The passengers will stay in a five-star hotel in Dubai for three days until the Columbus arrives to take them back onboard, the company said.
Both the crew and passengers approve of the safety measure, Hapag-Lloyd said.
The U.S. State Department and British Foreign Office advise those traveling near the Somali coast to use extreme caution because of the recent pirate attacks.
Last week, the Australian government issued a similar warning about travel to the region. The advice also urged Australian ships "to apply a robust and layered protective security regime" when traveling through the area.
-- CNN's Frederik Pleitgen contributed to this report. | [
"Where should travellers use extreme caution?",
"Who will fly to Dubai to continue their journey?",
"What country owns the MS Columbus?",
"What did Hapag-Lloyd say about the MS Columbus?",
"What did the UK say about the Somali coast?",
"Where will the passeners fly to?",
"Those traveling near what coast will have to be careful?",
"Amount of passengers aboard the MS Columbus?",
"Where will passengers fly to continue their journey?",
"How many people need to travel to Dubai?",
"What id the US and UK advise?",
"Who needs to use caution?",
"Where will passengers fly?",
"Where do passengers have to fly to continue their journey?",
"Who issued a travel warning?",
"How many passengers were mentioned as travelling in this situation?",
"Which countries advise extreme caution while traveling near the Somali coast?",
"Where will passengers fly to continue their journey?",
"How many passengers does it involve?",
"Which ship was the incident aboard?",
"Where did the US and UK say that people should avoid?"
] | [
[
"Somali coast"
],
[
"all 246 passengers and most of the crew aboard the MS Columbus,"
],
[
"German"
],
[
"will sail through the Gulf of Aden with a skeleton staff."
],
[
"use extreme caution because of the recent pirate attacks."
],
[
"Dubai"
],
[
"the Somali"
],
[
"246"
],
[
"Dubai"
],
[
"246"
],
[
"those traveling near the Somali coast to use extreme caution because of the recent pirate attacks."
],
[
"those traveling near the Somali coast"
],
[
"over the"
],
[
"Dubai"
],
[
"German Foreign Ministry,"
],
[
"246"
],
[
"U.S. State Department and British Foreign Office"
],
[
"Dubai"
],
[
"246"
],
[
"MS Columbus,"
],
[
"the Somali coast"
]
] | Passengers will fly to Dubai to continue their journey .
Hapag-Lloyd: Involves 246 passengers, most of crew aboard MS Columbus .
Prompted by travel warning for the area issued by German Foreign Ministry .
United States, UK advise those traveling near Somali coast to use extreme caution . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- A black politician campaigning in eastern Germany has become the victim of a racist campaign by a far-right party. Zeca Schall says he is not thinking of leaving Germany despite the threats. The National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) says it is trying to persuade Zeca Schall, a German citizen who came from Angola 21 years ago, to leave the country. Schall is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, the party led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and has been named as a CDU expert for the integration of minorities. The NPD's Web site calls Schall the CDU's "quota negro" and urges him to leave the country. "The CDU seems to be realizing that even after years of re-education, negroes cannot be accepted as permanent guests in our state," said the NPD, which goes by its German initials. Watch more about the campaign against Schall » Schall told CNN he had never before been subjected to such a level of racial hatred. "I am shocked," he said Thursday at a campaign event in Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. "I simply cannot believe that people would do this to fellow humans." Schall, who appears on a CDU election poster, said he is scared. "I have police patrolling at my house day and night, and some officers stay in my house overnight," he said. But Schall said he is not thinking of leaving Germany and the CDU said he has the party's full support. Schall and the CDU said they have filed a lawsuit against the NPD. The situation escalated Wednesday when the NPD's national leadership held a rally in Schall's adopted hometown of Hildburghausen. Party Chairman Udo Voigt tried to speak with Schall "and persuade Mr. Schall that he is needed more in Angola than in Germany," the NPD said in a news release. Police sent to protect Schall stopped the NPD's representatives from accessing Schall's premises. He is campaigning for the CDU for a state election in Thuringia, which is in the former communist East Germany. Right-wing extremism is generally a bigger problem in eastern Germany than in the west of the country, and citizens of Hildburghausen told CNN that, though most people support the politician, fascism is a problem in the area. "Of course we have a base of right-wingers here," a passer-by said at the market in the town's center. But most of those questioned by CNN denounced the campaign against Schall and said he is a respected member of the community. "I am not only a member of the CDU, I am also a voluntary firefighter at the local department," Schall said. Frank Schwerdt, the NPD's leader in Erfurt, tried to downplay the events. "This is not a personal campaign against Mr. Schall," Schwerdt said. "We simply feel that many citizens don't want foreigners to have a say in our politics." The NPD has been under surveillance by Germany's Office for the Protection of the Constitution for alleged contacts with illegal neo-Nazi groups. However, past efforts to ban the party have failed on technical grounds. The NPD denies ties to illegal groups. But members of the Christian Democratic Union told CNN that, since the racist campaign started against Schall, he has received several death threats and the party will no longer allow him to do media interviews because of the risks. At Thursday's campaign event in central Erfurt, increased police presence was noticeable and CDU members said plainclothes officers had been dispatched among the crowd. | [
"What country is Schall citizen to?",
"Where is Schall originally from?",
"What is Schall a member of?",
"Who did the National Democratic Party of Germany try to persuade to leave the country?"
] | [
[
"Germany"
],
[
"Angola"
],
[
"the Christian Democratic Union,"
],
[
"Zeca Schall,"
]
] | National Democratic Party of Germany trying to persuade Zeca Schall to leave country .
Schall is a German citizen who came from Angola 21 years ago .
Schall is a member of the ruling Christian Democratic Union .
Has received death threats and his party will no longer allow him to do interviews . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- A hoax video purporting to show Michael Jackson hopping out of a coroner's van alive was produced by a German television station as an experiment, the broadcaster told CNN Monday. Michael Jackson was found dead on June 25. He had been preparing for a comeback. It was made to show how easy it is to spread rumors online, said Heike Schultz, a spokeswoman for RTL, the leading private broadcaster in Germany. "We sent out a press release before we did the video to alert everyone that it was fake, but once posted it spread really fast," she said. More than 880,000 people have clicked on the most popular version of the video on YouTube, posted by a user using the name "michaeljacksonhoax" under the title "Michael Jackson alive?! Seen coming out of coroner's van!" Nearly 3,600 people have commented on the video. "All the moves, his posture, the stepping out of the van, looks like MJ. He steps out very cautious, like a moonwalk. Also the slowly walking is just like Michael did," one user wrote. "I really hope he's still alive....I could never forgive him for scaring me like that, but I could never hate him... :)," another said. Watch video of the hoax » Not everyone was fooled. "I would forgive Michael for anything because he is so super sexy but seriously guys he has passed," one user wrote. "MJ has passed so leave him alone this movie is fake. R.I.P. Michael I love and miss u." A second version of the video, posted and annotated by "MUZIKfactory2" to show inconsistencies, has been seen more than 329,000 times. Both versions were posted on August 25. RTL produced the video for its daily magazine "Explosive" to tell people not to take information at face value, the station's representative said. "This was so obviously fake, in the case of Michael Jackson, it just was not possible," Schultz said. According to Schultz, some viewers have been happy that the magazine showed them how easy it was to fake information online. Others who were Michael Jackson fans have told RTL that this was the wrong topic to do this kind of experiment on. "It was not a bad thing, since it was so obviously a fake. But it is now in our poison wardrobe and it won't be revived again," Schultz said. RTL said it removed the video from the Internet, but it can still be seen on YouTube. News of Jackson's death on June 25 sparked something of a feeding frenzy on the Web, as many news Web sites struggled to cope with the sheer volume of traffic. With that came rumors that dragged in other celebrities completely unconnected to the "King of Pop's" death. One Wikipedia prankster wrote that Jackson had been "savagely murdered" by his brother Tito, who had strangled him "with a microphone cord." Soon rumors spread online that movie star Jeff Goldblum had fallen from the Kauri Cliffs in New Zealand while filming his latest movie. On several search engines, "Jeff Goldblum" soon became the only non-Jackson-related term to crop up in the top 10. The rumors forced Goldblum's publicist to issue a statement to media outlets, saying: "Reports that Jeff Goldblum has passed away are completely untrue. He is fine and in Los Angeles." At the same time, Harrison Ford was also rumored to have fallen from a yacht off the south of France. CNN's Per Nyberg in London, England and Frederik Pleitgen in Berlin, Germany, contributed to this report. | [
"Who is in the video?",
"What does the video supposedly show?",
"What is the number of people who clicked the video?",
"How many people clicked like?",
"What does the video show?",
"What is the message behind the video?"
] | [
[
"Michael Jackson"
],
[
"van alive"
],
[
"More than 880,000"
],
[
"880,000"
],
[
"Michael Jackson hopping out of a coroner's"
],
[
"to show how easy it is to spread rumors online,"
]
] | Video purportedly showed Michael Jackson hopping out of a coroner's van .
RTL spokesperson: Video made to show how easy it is to spread rumors online .
880,000 people clicked on the most popular version of the video on YouTube .
RTL: Video intended to tell people not to take information at face value . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- As voting was taking place in the German general election Sunday, attention was already turning to what coalition will rule the country. Social Democrats handing out flowers hope their party will stay in the ruling coalition. Few doubt that Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, CDU, will win most votes. So, will Merkel continue the current center right-center left "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats or will the votes suffice for a coalition with the business liberal but centrist Liberal Democrats or the FDP, a constellation Germans refer to as "Black-Yellow." At a press conference ostensibly to outline Germany's position at this week's G-20 summit Merkel apparently let the cat out of the bag. "We are in a time of crisis," she said, "and I believe we can pull out of the crisis faster with a Black-Yellow government." But some political analysts believe she would prefer to keep the Social Democrats as the junior coalition partner. Polls indicate the CDU and FDP could gain a razor thin majority to form a governing coalition. Recent polls put their combined tally at around 48 percent. That is not exactly a large majority, but it's two percent more than the left of center parties, the Social Democrats, the Green Party, and the left wing "Die Linke," who would reach about 46 percent if polls are accurate. The Liberal Democrats have been in opposition since 1998 and at a rally in Berlin, their leader Guido Westerwelle was sure his time has come. "I think the voters won't allow a coalition of the left to be in power. I think they want a conservative government and they will vote to put us in power," he said. Westerwelle is eyeing the post of foreign minister under a future Merkel government. What's at stake in the German election » A government of CDU and FDP, conservatives and liberal would probably be more business friendly than the current grand coalition. Both the CDU and FDP want to cut taxes to further jumpstart Europe's largest economy which emerged from its deepest recession only a few months ago. But even optimistic economists believe cutting taxes will be all but impossible for a government which will inherit the largest public deficit in German history after the current government was forced to ruin in its public finances to bail out banks and industrial companies in the wake of the international financial crisis. And it appears more trouble lies ahead. "After the economic crisis we will see a social crisis," says Henrik Enderlein an economics professor at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. Enderlein believes a coalition with the liberals would put Merkel under pressure to implement wider ranging tax breaks than she feels are sustainable. That is why some believe Merkel would not mind continuing her coalition with the Social Democrats who oppose tax cuts and call them irresponsible in a time of disastrous public deficits. The Social Democratic contender running against Merkel, Frank Walter Steinmeier, however, has all but given up any hopes of winning. "We want to prevent a "black--yellow" coalition," he keeps repeating at rallies. Confidence sounds different. Polls currently have the Social Democrats at around 26 percent of the vote, a disastrous figure for a party that in 1998 gained more than 40 percent. But the Social Democrat ranks were decimated in the seven years they ruled the country under Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Many traditional left wing SPD voters felt Schroeder betrayed the powerful labor wing of the party by cutting social benefits while making it easier for companies to fire employees in times of crisis. The SPD was further hit when many loyal members splintered off and joined the left wing party die Linke which also incorporates remnants of the former communist party that rules East Germany. Now Steinmeier is trying to lead the Social Democrats out of the impasse and he realizes his real chance to stay in power would be as the junior partner to Merkel. Steinmeier would keep his post as foreign minister and many political experts in Berlin think this might be what both Merkel and Steinmeier are | [
"What is the name of the current partner?",
"What arty is Merkel's preferred choice for a coalition?",
"What was Merkel named?",
"What is the CDU's choice for a coalition partner?",
"Who is predicted to win the election?",
"Who is the favorite to win the election?"
] | [
[
"Social Democrats"
],
[
"Black-Yellow government.\""
],
[
"Angela"
],
[
"Social Democrats"
],
[
"Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union,"
],
[
"Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, CDU,"
]
] | Angela Merkel's CDU are favorites to win the election .
But they will need a coalition partner to rule .
Merkel has publicly named the Liberal Democrats as her preferred choice .
But the current partner, the Social Democrats, may be the end result . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Concerns were growing Wednesday for a polar bear born last month at a German zoo after its twin died and was possibly eaten by its mother. One year ago Vera gave birth to Flocke, pictured here playing in her enclosure in April. The young polar bear died Monday, less than two weeks after it was born, Nuremberg Zoo said. The surviving twin was doing well, the zoo said, but added that it was concerned the mother may not be able to care for it properly. Zookeepers watching a video feed from the bears' enclosure said they had noticed the baby bear looking thinner and weaker. They saw the bears' mother, Vera, nudging the dead bear with her nose and observing it -- and as of Wednesday, they said, the dead bear was nowhere to be seen. "It is very, very sad," said zoo director Dag Encke. "it is unfortunately frequently the case that with twins, one of the animals doesn't survive." Zookeepers had kept their distance from Vera and her babies, watching them only on camera so as not to make the mother feel threatened. Polar bears are known to eat their young if they sense any danger or interference. "We have to worry more about the surviving young animal and take care that the polar bear with her baby is not disturbed," Encke said. "So far, Vera is caring for the surviving baby in an exemplary way." One year ago Vera gave birth to Flocke, who became an instant celebrity across Germany. Flocke's first birthday is Thursday. | [
"when did the bear die",
"who died in germany",
"What do mothers often eat if they sense danger?",
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"who are concerned",
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"How old was the cub that died on Monday?",
"What is the name of the zoo where the polar bears live?",
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"When did the young polar bear die?",
"Who died less than two weeks after it was born?",
"What type of bear was the animal?",
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"Where is the zoo located?",
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] | [
[
"Monday,"
],
[
"The young polar bear"
],
[
"their young"
],
[
"Monday,"
],
[
"One year ago"
],
[
"polar bear"
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[
"the zoo"
],
[
"polar bear"
],
[
"less than two weeks"
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[
"Nuremberg"
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[
"a polar bear"
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[
"Nuremberg Zoo"
],
[
"died Monday,"
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[
"young polar bear"
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[
"polar"
],
[
"eat"
],
[
"any"
],
[
"Nuremberg"
],
[
"Nuremberg"
]
] | German zookeepers concerned for baby polar bear after its twin died .
Young polar bear died Monday, less than two weeks after it was born .
Baby nowhere to be found in enclosure; mothers often eat young if sense danger . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel defeated her foreign minister Sunday to win another four-year term, according to exit polls reported by German television network NTV. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband, Joachim Sauer, vote Sunday in Berlin. NTV reported Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party received 33.7 percent of the vote, based on exit poll projections. The polls show Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier's center-left Social Democrats received 23.4 percent, the network reported. "Not only are you happy, I am very happy as well," Merkel told cheering supporters at her headquarters. "We've accomplished something great. We've done it. We've reached our election goal, to retain a stable majority in Germany and a new government with a new coalition." The crowd chanted, "Angie, Angie, Angie." Steinmeier, meanwhile, conceded what he called "a bitter defeat" for the Social Democrats. "The voters have decided, and the result is a bad day," Steinmeier said in a speech to supporters. He thanked those who helped lead his campaign and those who supported him. The two parties currently are in a coalition, with Steinmeier as foreign minister. Few doubted that Merkel's party would receive the most votes. The question was what kind of coalition will be formed -- another broad centrist one, across the political divide, or a more right-leaning one. Merkel favors cutting taxes to spur growth, while Steinmeier opposes tax breaks. The country is deep in debt. What's at stake in the German election » Voters chose members of the lower house of parliament, or Bundestag, who will pick the head of government. Each German had two votes -- one for a member of parliament representing a district and another for a political party. The election Sunday followed release of a threatening videos from al Qaeda and the Taliban warning Germans not to vote for leaders who want to keep the country's troops in Afghanistan. Security was tightened at airports and train stations, and authorities on Saturday banned all flights over the Oktoberfest beer festival until it ends on October 4. The annual event attracts about 6 million people. About 62 million people were eligible to vote, out of Germany's population of 82 million. CNN's Fred Pleitgen contributed to this report. | [
"How much of the vote did the Christian Democratic Union get?",
"Who said \"This is a bitter defeat\"?",
"how many % of votes get CDU",
"What share of the vote did Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union get?",
"Who did Chancellor Angela Merkel defeat?",
"What have exit polls indicated?",
"who is angela merkel"
] | [
[
"33.7 percent"
],
[
"Steinmeier,"
],
[
"33.7"
],
[
"33.7 percent"
],
[
"Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier's"
],
[
"Angela Merkel defeated her foreign minister"
],
[
"German Chancellor"
]
] | Chancellor Angela Merkel defeats her foreign minister, exit polls indicate .
"This is a bitter defeat," says challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier .
Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union got 33.7% of vote, TV reports .
Steinmeier's center-left Social Democrats received 23.4 percent, network says . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- German federal police seized two suspected terrorists from a Dutch passenger aircraft at Cologne airport Friday shortly before it was due to take off for Amsterdam, officials told CNN. The arrests were made at Cologne's airport. A 23-year-old Somali national and a 24-year-old German citizen who had been born in Mogadishu were arrested on a KLM plane at 6.55 am local time (0455 GMT), a police spokesman said. Police said "farewell" letters had been found from the men that led them to suspect they were intending to carry out terror attacks. It was not revealed where the letters were found or how long the men had been under observation. Walter Roemer, press spokesman at Cologne-Bonn airport, said that the arrests had been "very unspectacular". He said federal police boarded the plane and arrested the two suspects, "without them showing any resistance." The two had been among 40 passengers en route to Amsterdam. All those on board were asked to disembark while the suspects' luggage was identified. The plane took off for Amsterdam after a delay of one hour and 20 minutes. She said everyone was then forced to leave the plane, and there was a "baggage parade" to see whose bags belonged to whom. Watch more details on the incident. » Amsterdam's Schipol airport Web site listed flight KL 1804, the scheduled morning flight from Cologne to Amsterdam, as having arrived at 9.17 am local time, one hour and two minutes after it was due to arrive. In September 2007, German authorities arrested three suspected militants planning what were described as "massive" attacks on American targets in Germany. German media said at the time that potential targets could have included Ramstein Air Base, the U.S. military's main installation in Germany, or the major international hub of Frankfurt Airport. Terrorism expert Sajjan Gohel told CNN the arrest showed Germany faces a major threat from extremists. Watch Gohel explain details behind the arrests » "This was a long term operation, there was a couple of individuals that the German intelligence agency was monitoring," he said. "The feeling was that they had come back specifically with the purpose of planning and plotting a terrorist attack." CNN's Diana Magnay in Berlin contributed to this report | [
"Which flight did police board on Friday?",
"What did the police board?",
"How old were the suspects?",
"What type of letter did police find?",
"Where was the flight when police boarded?",
"Where did police board the flight?",
"How many suspects were there?",
"What kind of letters were found?",
"What kind of letters did the men write?",
"What flight did police board on Friday?",
"What nationality are the two suspects?",
"What did police say were found from the men?",
"Who were the two suspects?",
"How old are the two suspects?",
"What did the police find?",
"What items did police find from the men?",
"What did police board?",
"How many suspects are there?",
"How many suspects were there?",
"What flight did police board?",
"What kind of letters were discovered?",
"Where did police board the flight?",
"Where was the KLM flight headed?"
] | [
[
"KL 1804,"
],
[
"Dutch passenger"
],
[
"23-year-old"
],
[
"\"farewell\""
],
[
"Cologne airport"
],
[
"Cologne-Bonn airport,"
],
[
"two"
],
[
"\"farewell\""
],
[
"\"farewell\""
],
[
"KL 1804,"
],
[
"German citizen"
],
[
"\"farewell\" letters"
],
[
"A 23-year-old Somali national"
],
[
"23-year-old"
],
[
"\"farewell\" letters"
],
[
"\"farewell\" letters"
],
[
"the plane"
],
[
"two suspected terrorists"
],
[
"two"
],
[
"KL 1804,"
],
[
"\"farewell\""
],
[
"at Cologne airport"
],
[
"Amsterdam,"
]
] | Police board KLM flight in Cologne early Friday to arrest suspects .
Two suspects said to be Somali man, 23 and German born in Somalia, 24 .
Police say "farewell" letters found from the men . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- German investigators Thursday acknowledged "credible information" indicating that one of the world's most wanted Nazi war criminals died almost 20 years ago in Egypt. The former the hotel in Cairo where Heim spent his final days. The announcement from the Baden-Wuerttemberg State Criminal Investigations Office came a day after German public broadcaster ZDF reported similar findings about Aribert Heim, wanted since 1962. ZDF said research it conducted with the New York Times showed that Heim died in Cairo in 1992 of intestinal cancer. Witness accounts and documents, including a passport, prove that Heim lived under the false name of Tarek Farid Hussein, ZDF said. CNN spoke to Heim's son, Ruediger Heim, who said his father fled Germany to Egypt via France, Spain and Morocco. Ruediger Heim told CNN he visited his father in Cairo several times, including in the final weeks of his life when the terminal cancer was discovered. The German investigators said they were was checking the new information. "This information has not yet been verified due to time constraints," the office said in a statement. But German authorities said they already had hints that Heim was living and working in Egypt. The office said it received information in 1965 and 1967 indicating Heim was working in the country, but Egyptian authorities at the time, acting on a German request, did not find any conclusive evidence. "Our main goal now is, in cooperation with the Egyptian authorities, (to) identify the remains of Aribert Heim," the office said. The chief Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Efraim Zuroff, said the news about Heim's death, if true, is deeply disappointing. "I personally feel a tremendous sense of disappointment that he escaped justice," Zuroff told CNN. But he emphasized that he had not seen the evidence that Heim was dead. "There is no body and no grave, so we can't do a DNA test," he said, adding that "there are people who have a vested interest in convincing us that he is no longer alive." He said he expects to see the documentary evidence of Heim's death on Thursday. Heim would be 94 years old if he were still alive. Zuroff described Heim as "the most wanted Nazi war criminal," and said the Simon Wiesenthal Center was about to raise the reward for information about him from €315,000 ($405,000) to €1 million ($1.3 million) when it heard the reports of his death. During World War II Heim was a doctor at the Mauthausen concentration camp, where he was known to inmates as "Dr. Death" for performing often-fatal experiments on prisoners. After the war, he was initially cleared of wrongdoing, but in 1962 German authorities issued an arrest warrant for him. CNN Berlin Bureau Chief Frederik Pleitgen contributed to this report | [
"When did the Nazi hiding in Eqypt Die?",
"What was Heim known as to inmates?",
"What did German broadcasters say?",
"Who was known as \"Dr. Death\" ?",
"What did ZDF report?",
"What name did Dr. Death go by?",
"Who was known as Dr. Death?",
"What was Heim's fake name while living in Cairo?",
"What Nazi dies in 1992?",
"When did the Nazi hiding in Egypt die?",
"What was Heim's alias?",
"What was Aribert Heim's nicknamed by the prisoners?"
] | [
[
"in 1992"
],
[
"\"Dr. Death\""
],
[
"one of the world's most wanted Nazi war criminals died almost 20 years ago in Egypt."
],
[
"Heim"
],
[
"research it conducted with the New York Times showed that Heim died in Cairo in 1992 of intestinal cancer. Witness accounts and documents, including a passport, prove that Heim lived under the false name of Tarek Farid Hussein,"
],
[
"Tarek Farid Hussein,"
],
[
"Heim"
],
[
"Tarek Farid Hussein,"
],
[
"Aribert Heim,"
],
[
"almost 20 years ago"
],
[
"Tarek Farid Hussein,"
],
[
"\"Dr. Death\""
]
] | German broadcaster reports Nazi hiding in Egypt died in 1992 .
Aribert Heim known to inmates as "Dr. Death" performed experiments on prisoners .
ZDF reports he lived lived in Cairo as Tarek Farid Hussein; died of cancer .
Nazi hunter groups says it expects to see documentary evidence Thursday . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- German investigators raided the Frankfurt offices of KFW bank Wednesday in an investigation into a payment of more than $400 million made in error to failed U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.
Investigators from Germany's Federal Criminal Office and the state prosecutor's office conducted the raid and searches at Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (Credit Agency for Reconstruction), or KFW, spokesman Wolfram Schweickhardt said.
The government-owned KFW bank group transferred €319 million ($412 million) to Lehman Brothers on September 15, after the U.S. bank filed for bankruptcy, the state prosecutor's office in Frankfurt said in a statement.
Authorities are investigating KFW board members and bosses on suspicion of embezzlement, the prosecutor's office said.
They want to know whether KFW officials were criminally negligent by failing to prevent the money transfer despite knowing about Lehman's liquidity problems and the impending international banking crisis.
"We are fully cooperating with the authorities and will provide them any documents they wish to see," Schweickhardt said.
Schweickhardt said the money was transferred to Lehman on the morning of Monday, September 15, as part of a long-standing two-part transaction that had been in motion since July. The transaction was among about 1,000 automated transactions set up for that morning -- a normal volume for the agency, he said.
Although "people had discussed over the weekend the fact that Lehman Brothers was in trouble, no one thought to check the actual transfers in the system," Schweickhardt said.
The mistake was spotted only a couple of hours later and the agency's chief executive was informed, he said. The following Thursday, the company suspended three directors; they were fired on September 29, he said.
The firing of the three directors was widely reported in Germany, with the tabloid Bild showing a picture of them with the headline, "Germany's dumbest bankers." News headlines have since referred to KFW as "Germany's dumbest bank."
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen contributed to this report. | [
"how much was transferred to Lehman?",
"for what reason were the offices raided?",
"What bank was raided?",
"WHta caused the raid to occur?",
"what bank offices were raided?",
"How much money was transferred?"
] | [
[
"€319 million ($412 million)"
],
[
"investigation into a payment of more than $400 million made in error to failed U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers."
],
[
"KFW"
],
[
"an investigation into a payment of more than $400 million made in error to failed U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers."
],
[
"Frankfurt"
],
[
"€319 million ($412 million)"
]
] | Investigators raid KFW bank offices over payments made to Lehman Brothers .
KFW transferred $412M to Lehman after the U.S. bank filed for bankruptcy .
Authorities investigate board members, bosses on suspicion of embezzlement . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Germany's richest woman has said a former lover has threatened to release pictures of them together if she does not pay him millions of euros (dollars), according to her spokesman.
Susanne Klatten holds a 12.5-percent stake in BMW.
Susanne Klatten's spokesman Joerg Appelhans told CNN Tuesday that the BMW heiress alerted police in January this year that she was the victim of fraud and blackmail by a man he identified as Mr. S.
Appelhans said the man had been threatening since autumn 2007 to release pictures of their "meetings" together.
Klatten "came to the conclusion that the relationship with Mr. S. was of a solely criminal nature," Appelhans said. Some German media reports say Klatten is one of four rich German women who have been preyed on by the same gang.
"His goal was from the beginning to con her and to blackmail her into giving him money. She rigorously notified authorities even in light of the uncomfortable public repercussions this would have for her. The ensuing criminal investigation led to the arrest of the perpetrator," Appelhans added.
"The blackmailing with pictures of the meetings they had began in the fall of 2007. First, the blackmailer demanded a loan of several million euros. Later, he attempted to solicit a much larger sum."
Anton Winkler, from the Munich state prosecutor's office, confirmed that an investigation has been opened and that a man called Helg Scarbi was arrested in January and is in custody in Munich. He declined to give further details.
Rome daily La Repubblica, quoting documents German investigators sent to Italian prosecutors, has reported that the suspect allegedly tried to obtain €40 million ($51 million) from Klatten, according to The Associated Press.
Klatten, the daughter of the late BMW chief Herbert Quandt, holds a 12.5-percent stake in the German carmaker and a 51.1-percent share of chemical company Altana.
In 2007 Forbes magazine listed her as the world's 68th richest person, with a personal fortune of $9.6 billion.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen contributed to this report. | [
"Who is the BMW heiress?",
"Who is being threatened by a man?",
"Who is being blackmailed?",
"Who does the Munich state prosecutor say was arrested in January?",
"What did Munich state prosecutor say?",
"What is she being blackmailed for?",
"Who is being blackmailed for millions of euros?",
"What does Germany's richest woman say?",
"What is Germany's richest woman's name?",
"When was the blackmailer arrested?",
"What was the name of the man who was arrested?",
"What company is Germany's richest woman associated with?"
] | [
[
"Susanne Klatten"
],
[
"Susanne Klatten"
],
[
"Susanne Klatten"
],
[
"Helg Scarbi"
],
[
"confirmed that an investigation has been opened and that a man called Helg Scarbi was arrested"
],
[
"($51 million)"
],
[
"Susanne Klatten"
],
[
"of them together if she"
],
[
"Susanne Klatten"
],
[
"January"
],
[
"Helg Scarbi"
],
[
"BMW."
]
] | Germany's richest woman says she is being blackmailed for millions of euros .
BMW heiress says man threatening to release pictures of their "meetings"
Munich state prosecutor says man was arrested in January . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Jeffrey Jamaleldine took a bullet to his chin that blew out much of his jaw and nearly killed him while deployed in Iraq last year. The sacrifice is just part of his job, he says, and he'd go back to Iraq in a second if asked. Jeffrey Jamaleldine left Germany for college in America. In 2006, he joined the U.S. Army. That is something that troubles his family, especially his father. Jamaleldine served in the U.S. Army as a German citizen, one of an estimated 20,500 "green-card warriors" in the military. Last month, Jamaleldine was awarded U.S. citizenship, but he's keeping his German passport. Bashir Jamaleldine says his son is fighting an unjust war for an America that went too far when it invaded Iraq five years ago -- a sentiment shared by the majority of Germans. He wishes his son would get back to his "German roots." "It would satisfy me more. Why he's more American than a German, I don't know," he says. Of his son's time in Iraq, the father says, "He went there to receive this bullet. If he would not have gone there, he wouldn't have been wounded; he wouldn't be in the hospital; he wouldn't be treated by a doctor. He would be living in peace with his family." Shaking his head with his son at his side, he adds, "He is more American than German." Jeffrey Jamaleldine, a 31-year-old U.S. Army scout who proudly wears a Stetson hat and spurs on his boots, laughs. He says he and his dad have had countless arguments over his decision to join the U.S. military, but the two never budge from their positions. See his shattered jaw and debate with his dad » "He hears what I'm saying, but there's just no coming through," he says. The father came to Germany from Africa years ago. He says his son should be devoting his energy to fighting hunger and poverty in Africa, not fighting in Iraq. The son agrees with his father on one thing: His love for America is unwavering. Jeffrey Jamaleldine moved to the United States to go to college in Missouri at the age of 18 and immediately fell in love with the United States and its culture. "You can go from rags to riches there. People still believe in that. It is not something that has gotten lost," he says. And when the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, happened, he felt it was time for him to do something. "A small group of people [terrorists] -- I felt -- had a big influence on our way of life and that literally pissed me off," he says. By accident, he says he found out that with his green card, he could join the U.S. military. And in 2006, he did just that. Read why a "green-card" Marine would die for America Last year, he paid a heavy price for his patriotism. Pinned down in a firefight with insurgents in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, Jamaleldine was shot in the face. "I felt like I got hit by Mike Tyson," he says, pointing to a two-inch long scar on his left cheek. The left side his jaw was shattered and now doctors at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany are reconstructing his facial bones. "Part of the projectile is still stuck in the right cheekbone," Dr. Edward Vanisky says. "But if it doesn't cause you any problems, we'll just leave it in there." While many Americans would consider Jamaleldine a hero, most in his home country don't. Germans largely oppose the Iraq war. The criticism doesn't bother him. Watch why a German would fight for U.S. » He says even after getting wounded on the battlefield, he would go fight for America again if ordered back to Iraq. "I still don't want to die, | [
"What is his name?",
"Where did he go to college?",
"Soldier was one of more than 20,000 \"green-card warriors\"",
"What do people still believe?",
"What type of soldier is this?",
"What does his dad wonder?"
] | [
[
"Jeffrey Jamaleldine"
],
[
"in Missouri"
],
[
"Jamaleldine"
],
[
"\"You can go from rags to riches"
],
[
"U.S. Army scout"
],
[
"Why he's more American than a German,"
]
] | Soldier was one of more than 20,000 "green-card warriors"
Jeffrey Jamaleldine's dad wonders why his son is more "American than German"
Jamaleldine went to college in the U.S. and fell in love with the American dream .
"You can go from rags to riches there. People still believe in that," he says . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Madame Tussauds says it will repair the wax figure of Adolf Hitler beheaded by a visitor over the weekend and return it to its Berlin exhibition space as soon as possible. A wax likeness of Adolf Hitler sits in Berlin's Madame Tussaud's wax museum before Saturday's attack. German police said that a 41-year-old man entered the exhibit shortly after the museum doors opened Saturday and "made for the Hitler figure," scuffling with a guard and the manager before tearing the head off the life-size statue. A police spokesman confirmed to CNN that the man was a former policeman, having spent three years in police training between 1984 and 1987. He did not finish that police training, for personal reasons. The man was released from police custody late afternoon on Saturday. Watch a museum official describe the attack » Despite the incident, Madame Tussauds officials said they will show the waxwork of Adolf Hitler in the exhibition again. In a statement the Museum said: "Madame Tussauds is non-political and makes no comment or value-judgement either on the persons who are exhibited in the Museum or on what they have done during their lifetime. "Figures are chosen for their popularity or for their influence on the path of history -- for better or for worse. Adolf Hitler stands for a decisive part of Berlin's history, which cannot be denied." Saturday was the opening day of the Berlin branch of the famous Madame Tussauds wax museum. The presence of the waxwork, which depicted the Nazi dictator sitting at his desk in his bunker shortly before he committed suicide in 1945, in the new museum led to criticism in German media over recent weeks. But the museum's defenders argued Hitler's role in German history must not be ignored. Hitler was shown with a sullen expression, his head slightly down, and one hand on the desk. Berlin is the eighth wax museum for London-based Madame Tussauds, known for its lifelike waxworks depicting famous people including celebrities, politicians, sports stars, artists, and scientists. Famous Germans included in the exhibits are Chancellor Angela Merkel, scientist Albert Einstein, composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and tennis champion Boris Becker. CNN's Diana Magnay contributed to this report. | [
"What was the subject of the waxwork?",
"What age was the man in question?"
] | [
[
"Adolf Hitler"
],
[
"41-year-old"
]
] | Hitler waxwork damaged by a man in Berlin's Madame Tussauds to be repaired .
Museum: "Hitler stands for decisive part of Berlin's history, which cannot be denied"
41-year-old said he wanted to protest the figure being included among exhibits .
Police said man being investigated for causing damages and injury to a guard . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Six Italian men were shot dead in the German city of Duisburg on Wednesday in an execution-style killing linked to a mafia feud. Police remove a body from the scene. Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said the shootings appeared to be linked to a feud between two mafia clans in the southern region of Calabria, home to the 'Ndrangheta organized crime group. Here are some key facts about the group: ORIGINS: -- The Calabrian "Honored Society", known as "'Ndrangheta", in the Calabria region of south Italy is the equivalent of the Sicilian Mafia. -- 'Ndrangheta began as a defense network for impoverished rural peasants against aristocratic landlords. Members emigrated to Canada and the United States, and were discovered running an intimidation scheme in Pennsylvania mining towns in 1906. HOW DOES IT WORK? -- They are known as "The Honored Society", Fibbia or Calabrian mafia. Instead of the pyramid structure of bosses used by other mafia, The 'Ndrangheta" uses families based on blood relationships, inter-marriages, or being a Godfather. Each group is named after their village, or after the family leader. TWENTIETH CENTURY EXPANSION: -- When Calabria began the process of industrialization and urbanization in the late 20th century, the 'Ndrangheta became interested in drug trafficking, weapons sales and public works and construction. THE PRESENT: -- In 2004, authorities uncovered an international drugs trafficking network involving gangs in South America, Australia, and Europe. Drugs from Colombia were destined for countries such as Greece and Bulgaria. -- Italian officials estimated at the time that 80 percent of Europe's cocaine had arrived from Colombia via Gioia Tauro's docks in Reggio Calabria. -- Italian anti-organized crime agencies have estimated that the 'NDrangheta earns about $30 billion annually, mostly from illegal drugs, but also from ostensibly legal businesses such as construction, restaurants and supermarkets. -- There are believed to be about 100 'Ndrangheta families in Calabria, who have become more successful than their Sicilian counterparts because their family ties are closer. E-mail to a friend | [
"what about the italians",
"what happened to them",
"What part of the city were they found?",
"Were the six Italians from the same family?",
"Were the six shot involved in organized crime?"
] | [
[
"men were shot dead"
],
[
"shot dead"
],
[
"Duisburg"
],
[
"the shootings appeared to be linked to a feud between two mafia clans"
],
[
"Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said the shootings appeared to be linked to a feud between two mafia clans"
]
] | Six young Italians found shot in the head in western German city of Duisburg .
Five were dead when authorities arrived, one died later .
The victims were between 16 and 39 years old, police say .
Police believe the killings may be linked to organized crime in Italy . |
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- U.S. officials urged American citizens in Germany to keep a low profile and remain wary of their surroundings after the terrorist organization al Qaeda posted a video message threatening attacks in the country. German special police patrol in Berlin last month during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu. A State Department travel alert, issued Wednesday, remains in effect until November 11 -- two weeks after Germany holds its federal elections on Sunday. Al Qaeda posted its video threat on the Internet on September 18, vowing attacks if the elections do not come out the way it wants. The same day, the German government reacted to the video by raising its own alert level and heightening security. The British Foreign Office has also issued an advisory to its citizens living and traveling to Germany. The State Department travel alert asks Americans to keep abreast of news reports and consider the security procedures in place when they visit public places or pick hotels and restaurants. Germany's interior ministry said earlier this month that the country has noted an increase in threats by al Qaeda and other Islamist groups since the beginning of the year. In the nearly 26-minute video statement, a man identified as Bekay Harrach, using the pseudonym Abu Talha and speaking in German, said that, if the September 27 elections vote into power parties that do not pledge to pull German troops from Afghanistan, there will be a "rude awakening." The speaker called on Muslims living in Germany to stay away from public life during the first two weeks after the elections, implying that any attacks would take place then. The speaker repeatedly criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also criticized Merkel's rivals, the Social Democrats, but offered the possibility of a "peace offer." "If the German people vote for peace, then the Mujahedeen will choose peace with Germany as well," he said. "And with the withdrawal of the last German soldier from Afghanistan, the last Mujahed will also leave Germany. Al Qaeda gives you their word." | [
"Who is being criticized in the message?",
"What did Al Qaeda terror group post online?",
"What group has been posting video threats?",
"What was the message from Al Qaeda video?",
"What does Germany's interior ministry report increase in?",
"Who does the message criticize?",
"What are U.S. officials urging their citizens in Germany?",
"Who was criticized?",
"What have officials urged citizens in Germany to do?",
"What US officials said the Germans?",
"who urges their citizens in Germany to keep low profile and be wary?",
"who posted a video message threatening attacks in Germany?",
"Who was Al Qaeda threatening?"
] | [
[
"German Chancellor Angela Merkel"
],
[
"a video message threatening attacks in the country."
],
[
"al Qaeda"
],
[
"vowing attacks if the elections do not come out the way it wants."
],
[
"threats by al Qaeda and other Islamist groups"
],
[
"German Chancellor Angela Merkel"
],
[
"keep a low profile and"
],
[
"Angela Merkel"
],
[
"remain wary of their surroundings"
],
[
"keep a low profile and"
],
[
"U.S. officials"
],
[
"Al Qaeda"
],
[
"attacks in the country."
]
] | Al Qaeda terror group posts video message threatening attacks in Germany .
U.S. officials urge their citizens in Germany to keep low profile and be wary .
Germany's interior ministry report increase in threats by al Qaeda this year .
Message criticizes Chancellor Merkel over wars in Iraq and Afghanistan . |
BERLIN. Germany -- Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi fired Schalke up to joint second in the Bundesliga, while Bayern Munich have a golden chance to put one hand on the league title if they beat Stuttgart on Sunday. Kuranyi's early goal was enough to give Schalke a vital victory over Champions League rivals Hamburg. Kuranyi's 15th league goal of the season -- after just two minutes -- gave Schalke the three points with a 1-0 win in Hamburg to go level on 54 points with Werder Bremen, who shared a thrilling 3-3 draw at Karlsruhe. After Schalke sacked coach Mirko Slomka a fortnight ago, caretaker coach Mike Bueskens was delighted with the victory over their rivals. "I am very, very pleased with the win," he said. "We beat a direct competitor for a Champions League place and the early goal worked very well for us. Hamburg played well, but they didn't take their chances." Schalke and Bremen, who remain second on goal difference, are now nine points behind Bayern with four games left. A Bayern win will send them 12-points clear with a vastly superior goal difference and only a mathematical miracle would prevent them being crowned German champions for the 21st time. But Bayern are without internationals Miroslav Klose and Philipp Lahm against Stuttgart, while Oliver Kahn is a huge injury doubt for the clash against Stuttgart who welcome back Mario Gomez back from injury. The draw in Karlsruhe was a blow to Bremen, who were shocked by an early goal when home striker Sebastian Freis drilled home his 15th minute shot. Werder hit back when midfielder Diego equalised eight minutes later and former Schalke midfielder Mesut Oezil scored his first goal of the season to put Bremen 2-1 ahead on 29 minutes. But Freis added his second on 59 minutes before Kapllani put Karlsruhe ahead only for Bremen striker Boubacar Sanogo to level the scores in the 86th minute. "It was a very entertaining game and the fans got their money's worth," said Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf. "But we can't be happy with the result, because it was possible for us to keep the pressure on." Further down the table, striker Mike Hanke gave Hanover an early goal at home to Hertha Berlin before Czech striker Jiri Stajner enjoyed the simplest of tap-ins to make it 2-0 after 26 minutes. But Berlin clawed a goal back with a second-half penalty to make it 2-1 before Lukasz Piszczek equalised in the 66th minute to make it 2-2. At the bottom of the table, Slovakian striker Marek Mintal netted a first-half goal for Nuremberg and Russian striker Ivan Saenko made it 2-0 against Arminia Bielefeld after 39 minutes with a superb strike. But Bielefeld hit back as Artur Wichniarek and Markus Bollmann scored second-half goals to make it 2-2. Energie Cottbus pulled themselves further from the relegation battle with a 2-1 win over Hansa Rostock, while Duisburg have gone bottom of the table with a 1-1 draw against Bochum. On Friday night, mid-table sides Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund drew 1-1 while on Sunday Bayer Leverkusen can break into the top five if they beat Wolfsburg at home. E-mail to a friend | [
"What was the score at Bremen?",
"Which team won against Hamburg?",
"Who scored against Hamburg?",
"Which position is Schalke now level in?",
"Who scored an early goal for Schalke?",
"Who does Bayern have to beat in Sunday?",
"Who are Schalke now in second position with?",
"What position are Schalke in?",
"When is the next game?",
"Who won the game?",
"When will Bayern Munich play Stuttgart to all but clinch the title?"
] | [
[
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[
"Kevin Kuranyi"
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[
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"Kevin Kuranyi"
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[
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[
"Bayern Munich"
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[
"joint second"
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[
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],
[
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] | Kevin Kuranyi's early goal gives Schalke a 1-0 home victory against Hamburg .
Schalke now level in second position with Bremen, who draw 3-3 at Karlsruhe .
Bayern Munich will all but clinch the title with a win over Stuttgart in Sunday . |
BETHESDA, Maryland (CNN) -- Josh Winston is a self-described problem solver. From his spacious office on the seventh floor of a high-rise building in Bethesda, Maryland, he fills out tax returns and keeps the books balanced for a number of his accounting clients. Josh Winston stands outside the 1983 RV he was converting to run on vegetable oil. "Everything on the left always equals everything on the right. For math-oriented people and musicians like me, that's very satisfying," he says. Four years ago, Winston was watching a late-night news program and saw a segment about converting diesel vehicles to run on alternative fuels. That night, Winston was hooked. He ordered a conversion kit for $900 and proceeded to convert a truck to run on used vegetable oil -- just to see if he could. Soon after, he converted his 1998 Jetta and affixed a sticker to the rear bumper that said, "This vehicle runs on straight vegetable oil." "For a single bumper sticker, I was surprised at how many people stopped me and said, 'Hey, how do you do that?' " Before taking on his first conversion, he hadn't worked on a car since his 1978 Plymouth Volare -- which he drove in college. By Winston's estimate, there are fewer than 10,000 vehicles on the road that have undergone these diesel conversions. Now, he sells and installs his own kits -- and he's the only person in the Washington, D.C., area to offer the service. Though his side business, named "Feed My Wheels dot com," has only converted a handful of vehicles, he recently took on his largest project by far -- a 1983 Itasca RV. "There's a lot of trial and error," says Winston. Watch the "problem solver" at work » Over the course of two days, Winston ran into many a problem. First, the batteries kept dying. Later, there was an issue with the alternator. By the end of Day 2, as Winston was preparing to fill a 40-gallon veggie-oil tank in the RV with recycled oil from a Chinese food restaurant, a neighbor watching him tipped over an 80-gallon holding tank, spilling tens of gallons of brown, smelly oil down his street. "It's OK," Winston quipped, "earthworms love this stuff." After nearly 50 hours of cutting and reattaching hoses, Winston managed to get the RV running and successfully switched over to the vegetable oil tank. He claims that veggie-oil emissions are about half of those of petroleum-based diesel fuel. "If you're emitting half the carbon dioxide that our neighbor is, that means one of two things: Either your neighbor can drive twice as much, or you're having a significant positive impact on the environment," Winston says. "In some small way, we're contributing to saving the environment. It's going to save a glacier somewhere." | [
"What was this converter's largest project?",
"What will vehicles run on?",
"What is the largest project so far?",
"Where did the recycled oil come from?",
"What does the 'problem solver' do?"
] | [
[
"a 1983 Itasca RV."
],
[
"vegetable oil."
],
[
"a 1983 Itasca RV."
],
[
"a Chinese food restaurant,"
],
[
"fills out tax returns and keeps the books balanced"
]
] | "Problem solver" converts vehicles to run on vegetable oil, not diesel .
A 1983 RV recently became this converter's largest project .
Recycled vegetable oil for RV came from Chinese food restaurant .
Small steps can add up: "It's going to save a glacier somewhere" |
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNN) -- Hundreds of Christians packed the Church of the Nativity on Thursday for a midnight Mass in what is thought to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
A worshipper touches a star at the point where tradition says Jesus Christ was born in the Church of Nativity.
The standing-room-only service included singing and organ music.
There were also large crowds outside the church, one of the most sacred places in Christianity.
So many people had flocked to the area this Christmas season that there were no rooms left at the inns and hotels in Bethlehem.
Some took this as a sign that tourism in Bethlehem was on the upswing.
Christmas is the one time of year when the West Bank's small, shrinking Christian communities show everyone else that they are still there.
Before the midnight Mass, Palestinian scout groups representing Christians throughout the West Bank did as they always do on this day -- they marched, banging their drums loudly and, in a way, trying to make a point. Watch Bethlehem's Christmas celebrations »
The drumbeat has been heard by more and more people, locals say, as tourism has skyrocketed this year.
"This year, tourism is much better than last year -- we reached 1,250,000," said Victor Batarseh, the mayor of Bethlehem. "All our hotels are full around Christmastime. We have 30,000 tourists coming in."
Tourists in record numbers were on hand this year, braving an unusually cold, gray and windy day to watch the parade of drums and holiday songs.
"It's kind of neat to see it in the Middle East, and they're playing Christmas carols and the songs we know," said one American tourist.
"I'm loving it, it's just been an incredible atmosphere and just a wonderful learning experience," said another.
The Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem also came to the birthplace of Jesus, as he does every Christmas Eve, allowed through normally tightly shut gates by Israeli troops.
The heavy security is a testament to ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
"My Christmas wish is that we will have real peace, based on justice and freedom," said Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian parliament member. "My Christmas wish is that the justice that Jesus Christ gave his life for will happen sometime in his birthplace in Palestine."
CNN's Ben Wedeman contributed to this report. | [
"Where did hundreds go?",
"What did Christians do?",
"Where did Christians pack?",
"Where did the crowds gather?",
"Where is Jesus thought to have been born?",
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"What is so special about the church?"
] | [
[
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[
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],
[
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[
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[
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],
[
"the birthplace of Jesus Christ."
],
[
"in what is thought to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ."
],
[
"thought to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ."
]
] | Hundreds of Christians pack Church of the Nativity Thursday for midnight Mass .
The church is thought to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ .
Large crowds gathered outside the church -- one of Christianity's most sacred places . |
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNN) -- Hundreds of Christians packed the Church of the Nativity on Thursday for a midnight Mass in what is thought to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ. A worshipper touches a star at the point where tradition says Jesus Christ was born in the Church of Nativity. The standing-room-only service included singing and organ music. There were also large crowds outside the church, one of the most sacred places in Christianity. So many people had flocked to the area this Christmas season that there were no rooms left at the inns and hotels in Bethlehem. Some took this as a sign that tourism in Bethlehem was on the upswing. Christmas is the one time of year when the West Bank's small, shrinking Christian communities show everyone else that they are still there. Before the midnight Mass, Palestinian scout groups representing Christians throughout the West Bank did as they always do on this day -- they marched, banging their drums loudly and, in a way, trying to make a point. Watch Bethlehem's Christmas celebrations » The drumbeat has been heard by more and more people, locals say, as tourism has skyrocketed this year. "This year, tourism is much better than last year -- we reached 1,250,000," said Victor Batarseh, the mayor of Bethlehem. "All our hotels are full around Christmastime. We have 30,000 tourists coming in." Tourists in record numbers were on hand this year, braving an unusually cold, gray and windy day to watch the parade of drums and holiday songs. "It's kind of neat to see it in the Middle East, and they're playing Christmas carols and the songs we know," said one American tourist. "I'm loving it, it's just been an incredible atmosphere and just a wonderful learning experience," said another. The Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem also came to the birthplace of Jesus, as he does every Christmas Eve, allowed through normally tightly shut gates by Israeli troops. The heavy security is a testament to ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. "My Christmas wish is that we will have real peace, based on justice and freedom," said Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian parliament member. "My Christmas wish is that the justice that Jesus Christ gave his life for will happen sometime in his birthplace in Palestine." CNN's Ben Wedeman contributed to this report. | [
"what is thought about the church",
"where did they gather",
"When did this happen",
"when did Hundreds of Christians pack Church of the Nativity",
"What did the Christians do?",
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] | [
[
"to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ."
],
[
"Church of the Nativity"
],
[
"Thursday"
],
[
"Thursday"
],
[
"packed the Church of the Nativity"
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] | Hundreds of Christians pack Church of the Nativity Thursday for midnight Mass .
The church is thought to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ .
Large crowds gathered outside the church -- one of Christianity's most sacred places . |
BEVERLY HILLS, California (CNN) -- Here's what happens when you go to interview Aretha Franklin: Her publicist will e-mail the cell phone number of her security man to your BlackBerry. Once you reach the lobby of the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, you call the cell phone. Someone will come down to get you and bring you up to her suite, where you'll be greeted by Carlton, her longtime makeup artist. Aretha Franklin was voted the No. 1 singer of all time in a Rolling Stone survey. Then you look around, and you notice Aretha -- the Queen of Soul and recipient of 18 Grammys -- is quietly padding around the room in jeans, a turquoise T-shirt and flip-flops. She'll offer you "a seat and Cokes" -- then proceed to shoot the breeze, while you and your camera crew invade her room to set up for the interview. Then it hits you. You may be an Aretha Franklin groupie, but Aretha is a groupie of CNN. She loves to talk politics, and she's up-to-the-minute in terms of information. President-elect Barack Obama is her man. After seeing his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, she invited him to be her honored guest at an event in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan. He couldn't come, but she's been a loyal supporter since then. She'll sing at his inauguration in January. In the meantime, Rolling Stone magazine, in a poll of music industry heavyweights, just named her the No. 1 singer of all time. And there's her new holiday album, "This Christmas, Aretha." In a career that's spanned more than 50 years, it's the first seasonal CD she's ever made. Aretha helps us set the stage for Santa (eggnog optional). Aretha Franklin: The snow is lightly falling -- you get the picture -- you're by the fireside with your sweetie, and no Aretha! There's no Aretha in the music! What's going on?! So I had to do an album. CNN: You've been wanting to do a holiday album for a long time. Franklin: For many years, I've wanted to do one, and I've always mentioned it to the chieftains, and they would say things like, "Oh well. Christmas albums don't sell," and things like that. But that's not the point. Christmas albums are important. The music is important. The season is important. CNN: On "This Christmas, Aretha," there are some traditional songs and some more contemporary tunes. Franklin: We did "Silent Night," "Angels We Have Heard on High," "14 Angels" -- which comes from the classic "Hansel and Gretel," the opera. What else did we do? "This Christmas" by Donny Hathaway and "Christmas Ain't Christmas (Without The One You Love)" by the O'Jays. Those two are my favorites. They're the first two records that are going to play in the Franklin household every Christmas. CNN: What was Christmas like for you growing up? Franklin: Christmases past, my sister, Carolyn, and I -- we'd been waiting for Santa all night. Nothing! Where is this man? And we're looking all up in the sky all night long, until I guess about 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning. Finally, we just fell out. We couldn't take it anymore. [We'd wake up in the morning and] come downstairs, and everything was under the tree! We couldn't believe it! Where did these things come from? You know, we just couldn't believe it. CNN: Did you believe in Santa Claus for a long time? Franklin: For a while, I did. And then I started getting the idea that it wasn't Santa -- it was Dad. CNN: What's Christmas like now? Do you cook, or do you have | [
"What did Franklin think of doing a Christmas album?",
"What is Aretha Franklin's new album?",
"What had Franklin never done before?",
"Who will Aretha be performing for?",
"What is the name of Aretha's new album?"
] | [
[
"are important. The music is important. The season is important."
],
[
"\"This Christmas, Aretha.\""
],
[
"seasonal CD"
],
[
"Barack Obama"
],
[
"\"This Christmas, Aretha.\""
]
] | Aretha Franklin's new holiday album is "This Christmas, Aretha"
Franklin had never done a Christmas album, thought it was about time .
Famed singer will be performing at Barack Obama's inauguration . |
BIG SUR, California (CNN) -- Thousands of people living in Paradise are fleeing their small northern California town Wednesday as wildfires charge into the area, officials said. A fire captain looks at the fire burning in southern Santa Barbara, California, on Tuesday. More than half the town's 26,000 residents have been evacuated as firefighters struggled to battle growing wildfires in the area, authorities said. Residents of the nearby town of Concow had already been told to leave their homes. As of 10 a.m. about 14,000 people had been evacuated from Paradise, said Chuck Rough, director of the emergency operations center in the town. "We don't have much containment," said Rough, who said thick smoke in the area had made it impossible to fight the fire by air Tuesday. "Today we are holding our breath literally and figuratively." The blaze -- one of several in Butte County -- has already torched 40 homes. It's just one of the 1,780 wildfires that have scorched more than 614,000 acres in the state in the last few weeks. Most of the fires have been caused by lightning strikes. There were still 323 active fires Wednesday that were being battled by about 20,000 federal, state and local firefighters, authorities said. The fires near Paradise, which is about 90 miles north of Sacramento, California, threatened thousands of homes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire. Residents streamed to shelters in the area, some not knowing if their homes had been destroyed, said Jeannine Olson, a volunteer nurse at Neighborhood Church in the nearby city of Chico. Olson said the church shelter was filled to capacity with about 150 people, and 20 more were living in their cars in the church parking lot. "People are a little scared and are wondering what is going on," she said. "But people here are trying to handle this the best they can." Wind gusts of more than 40 mph pushed the fire dangerously close to many residential communities in the area, said Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant. Watch TV crew driven into fire » "We were lucky that the winds did not pick up last night as it was predicted," he said. "But there are still some immediate threats." Watch what's left of burned home in Big Sur » Conditions seemed to be getting a little bit better in the fight against a wildfire near the central California coastal community of Big Sur. iReport.com: Share your photos, videos of the fires The mandatory evacuations in that area had been downgraded to an advisory Tuesday, according to local and federal fire officials. But the Basin Complex Fire was only 27 percent contained Wednesday, according to federal fire authorities. It has torched more than 86,700 acres, and containment is not expected until the end of the month. Watch why fires could be related to global warming » The nearby Indians Fire, in the Ventana Wilderness, was 97 percent contained after burning more than 81,000 acres, the U.S. Forest Service said. Further south, in coastal Santa Barbara County, the Gap Fire, which has burned 9,710 acres, was 55 percent contained, the Forest Service said. | [
"What percentage of Paradise residents had to evacuate?",
"who was forced to evacuate?",
"what has blaze toched in the area?",
"Where did the evacuees come from?",
"What number of houses were torched?",
"Where is this fire?",
"What caused them to be evacuated?",
"Where did 614,000 acres burn?",
"what makes task harder for firefighters?"
] | [
[
"More than half"
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[
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],
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[
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[
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[
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]
] | NEW: Half of Paradise's 26,000 residents have been forced to evacuate .
NEW: The blaze has torched 40 homes in the area, officials say .
Wind gusts, high temperatures make task harder for firefighters .
More than 614,000 acres have burned in California in past few weeks . |
BIHAR, India (CNN) -- Extreme flooding has displaced millions of people on either side of the India-Nepal border after a river burst its banks, authorities said Thursday. People walk along a flooded railway track in Madhepura, India. In India's northeastern state of Bihar, almost 3 million people have been affected by the worst flooding in decades, and more than 100,000 people have been displaced in southeastern Nepal after the breach last week. The Saptakoshi River in Nepal is the same one that flooded neighboring India's poorest state, although the Indians call it the Kosi River. In some stretches, it is three miles (5 km) wide. Nepalese Home Secretary Umesh Mainali said that of those displaced in Nepal, "more than 40,000 are living in government run camps." Many victims are taking shelter in schools and colleges. Residents were forced from their homes after an aged and damaged embankment on the river burst August 18 in Nepal. Water flowed so forcefully through the breach that it actually changed the course of the river, which now flows 75 miles (120 km) east of its original bed. Bad weather and washed-out roads -- including the region's main highway -- have hampered relief efforts, officials said. The heavy rains have also made repairing the breach difficult. Nepalese and Indian teams have been working separately to try to stem the flow of water, Mainali said. State-run Nepal Television reported Thursday that many Indian citizens are coming through the open border because of the availability of food and shelter. The Indian government said that about 50 people have been killed, revising the figure down from 87 deaths reported Wednesday. The Disaster Management Department in Bihar released a death toll of 12, an increase of two since Wednesday. There was no immediate explanation for the variance in numbers. "Flood is understatement," Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said. "It's a disaster." Watch how India is struggling to cope » Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party, flew over the four most flooded districts of Supaul, Saharsa, Araria and Madhepura, the news agency Press Trust of India reported. Singh announced immediate aid of about $238 million and promised the delivery of 125,000 metric tons of grain to the region. CNN's Sara Sidner traveled by boat Thursday with some of the soldiers and called the mayhem "enormous." "We have seen panic, we've seen sorrow, we've seen despair. ... Hundreds of people screamed to us from rooftops as we floated by." The soldiers were trying to pull people to safety, Sidner said, "but there are simply too many people to rescue and too few boats to do so. People were literally screaming, waving, running with suitcases in water trying to get to us." The Home Ministry said that nearly 153,000 people have been evacuated, and 31,000 are staying in 155 relief camps. About 228,000 homes have been damaged. There was no number provided Thursday on the number of homes destroyed. Madhepura district, where 1 million people live in 378 villages, is the worst hit, officials said. There are 900,000 residents in Supaul and 250,000 in Araria. More than 2.7 million people in 1,600 villages have been affected, thousands of them marooned on thin strips of dry land peeking out from cloudy brown waters of the swollen Kosi River. With heavy rainfall forecast for the next two days, officials worry that the situation will get much worse. Indians call it the River of Sorrow. Every summer, from June to September, the relentless monsoon rains cause the Kosi to overflow, bringing untold misery. This year, though, it swallowed entire villages in areas unaccustomed to water that deep -- with the worst flooding in 80 years in the landlocked rural state. Government agencies, nongovernmental organizations and good Samaritans have begun doing what they can: using motorboats to rescue stranded residents, for example, or dropping thousands of food packets from the sky. Watch as boats deliver supplies, provide rescue » The scale of | [
"How many in India are affected by flooding?",
"Where is the worst flooding for decades?",
"how many are affected in the northeast",
"how many miles east does the burst flow",
"how much aid is announced",
"How far does the river now flow from its course?",
"Who has toured the area?",
"How many people are affected?"
] | [
[
"3 million people"
],
[
"India's northeastern state of Bihar,"
],
[
"almost 3 million people"
],
[
"75"
],
[
"$238 million"
],
[
"75 miles (120 km)"
],
[
"Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi,"
],
[
"3 million"
]
] | India and Nepal battle worst flooding for decades .
India says 3 million affected in northeast; Nepal says 100,000 displaced .
River burst bank and now flows 75 miles east of its original course .
Indian prime minister tours area and announces $238 million aid package . |
BILOXI, Mississippi (CNN) -- It's been almost three years since Hurricane Katrina cut a merciless path of destruction across the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,800 people and displacing tens of thousands more.
Cameron Sinclair on site in Biloxi, Mississippi -- one of many rebuilding projects that Architecture for Humanity is overseeing.
The coastal resort of Biloxi was among the hardest hit; hurricane-force winds leveled homes, stripped branches from trees and created a trail of devastation that rendered the popular Casino town virtually uninhabitable.
Three years on, homes are still being rebuilt to house people who were forced to seek shelter wherever they could. For some, that's meant spending years living in cramped conditions in caravans until they could afford to rebuild.
Cameron Sinclair, Co-founder of Architecture for Humanity, is leading a project to rehouse residents of Biloxi affected by the storm. On July 9, he'll be taking part in a Principal Voices debate on Design for Good: How can clever design conserve precious resources and lead to a greener way of life?
CNN caught up with Cameron Sinclair in Biloxi and started by asking him what the difference is between design and design for good?
Cameron Sinclair: Design is about creating spaces for people to enjoy and of course, creating moments where you elevate the spirit, but design for good is figuring out a program that not only creates better spaces, but creates jobs, creates new industry and really kind of raises the conversation about how we rebuild.
CNN: How many countries are you working in and what are you doing?
CS: We are currently in about 26 countries and we have around about 4000 volunteer architects and designers globally. We are working on a whole range of projects whether it be bringing health services into remote Nepal or working on a chocolate factory in the Amazon which is actually a conservation project, or doing low income housing in Cape town, South Africa, so we're pretty global in our reach.
CNN: You have worked all over the world, Iran, Africa, and Asia. When you think of people's living conditions, are you surprised that Americans don't realize how tough people have it in their own country? Have you seen things in the U.S., for example, that are worse than in so-called developing countries?
CS: Yeah, I mean people find it kind of shocking when I talk about this. You know, there are places in rural America, especially in places like the reservations, we've done a lot of work with Hopi and Navajo and we're about to start work with the Iroquois where I look at the housing stock and it is far worse then I've seen in somewhere like South Africa or you know, in Ghana.
You know, Americans are unbelievably open, welcoming and helpful, they donate to everybody. But quite often we don't look at the reality of our own lives. The fact that we have a crumbling school system, that our healthcare in this country is just diabolical, the support for nurses and teachers is just out of control and I look at all these facilities that are happening in the U.S. and I begin to question. This is supposed to be the most powerful place in the world but we can't build a decent school for our kids so you know there is a reality check that needs to happen.
CNN: When you look at the big picture of the problems the world is facing, what solutions can you see that cities and their designs can offer when it comes to global issues such as global warming?
CS: What worries me the most is you have all these global issues that are out there, whether its lack of education or lack of healthcare or climate change, and people think they are separate compartmentalized issues, but they're all interweaved so that when we're working on structures, we're thinking about how can we make the building energy efficient. How can we make the design open, allowing access to everybody so that you're hitting on all these things.
We're working in neighborhoods where sustainability is a matter of life | [
"Which hurricane ravaged Sinclair",
"What is sinclair helping rebuild",
"What is cameron sinclair taking part in",
"How many countries does architecture for humanity operate",
"Who is taking part in Principles Voices?",
"What operated in twenty-six countries?",
"What opperates in 26 countries",
"When is Cameron Sinclair taking part in Principles Voices",
"What was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina?"
] | [
[
"Katrina"
],
[
"projects that Architecture for Humanity is overseeing."
],
[
"debate on Design for Good:"
],
[
"26"
],
[
"Cameron Sinclair,"
],
[
"Architecture for Humanity"
],
[
"Architecture for Humanity,"
],
[
"July 9,"
],
[
"U.S. Gulf Coast,"
]
] | Cameron Sinclair is taking part in Principles Voices debate on July 9 .
Sinclair helping rebuild Biloxi three years after it was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina .
Architecture for Humanity operates in 26 countries and has about 4000 volunteers . |
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