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NewsQA
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LONDON, England -- Nihat Kahveci sent Turkey into the Euro 2008 finals behind defending champions and Group C winners Greece with the only goal in a narrow 1-0 victory over battling Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Goalscorer Nihat gets a kiss from team-mate Altintop after Turkey sealed their place with a 1-0 win over Bosnia.
The result ended Norway's hopes of snatching qualification despite their 4-1 victory away to Malta with Steffen Iversen scoring a first half hat-trick.
Nihat struck at the end of a first half that Fatih Terim's Turkey dominated, yet the hosts were unable to build on that lead and had to endure some tense moments.
Just a point had separated the third-placed Scandinavians from Terim's men -- and Turkey needed to win to progress.
Nihat led the charge forcing early saves from goalkeeper Adnan Guso and finally making the breakthrough two minutes before half-time.
Hamit Altintop found space down the left and crossed for the Villarreal forward who finished from 12 meters.
Iversen broke the deadlock in Malta after 25 minutes and fired a second from the penalty spot three minutes later -- completing his treble on the stroke of half-time.
Michael Mifsud hit back for Malta after the re-start, but Andre Schembri was red-carded after 67-minutes before Morten Gamst Pedersen's strike wrapped it up all to no avail.
Portugal went through from Group A after a goalless home draw against qualification rivals Finland while group winners Poland completed their program with a 2-2 draw away to Serbia E-mail to a friend
|
7ac33ad6021444bf8783bebf01256f4b
|
what was turkeys score
|
[
"1-0"
] |
NewsQA
|
DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- A police officer was killed Friday morning in a motorcycle accident as Sen. Hillary Clinton's motorcade made its way through downtown Dallas, police said.
The Dallas Police Department said Senior Cpl. Victor Lozada-Tirado was traveling southbound on the Houston Street viaduct when he struck a curb, lost control of the motorcycle and went down.
Lozada-Tirado was transported to Methodist Central Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A Dallas police officer since December 1988, Lozada-Tirado was married with four children, according to police. CNN affiliate WFAA-TV in Dallas/Fort Worth reported he was 49.
There were no other vehicles involved in the accident, police said, and the motorcade was able to continue to the site without further incident.
Clinton said she called the Dallas police chief and would contact the officer's family at an appropriate time.
The Democratic presidential candidate said she is "greatly heartsick over this loss of life in the line of duty."
"I just want to express my deepest condolences to the family and to the Dallas Police Department on this tragic, tragic loss," she said.
"I am certainly grateful for all they do for me and more importantly what they do for the citizens of cities like Dallas." Watch Clinton offer her condolences »
Clinton is attending rallies Friday in Texas and Ohio ahead of those states' primaries on March 4.
In the past 18 months, there have been two fatal accidents involving motorcycle officers escorting President Bush.
On August 27, Germaine Casey, an officer from Rio Rancho, New Mexico, died when his motorcycle crashed as the motorcade approached the airport in Albuquerque. The 40-year-old had been the lead motorcycle in the motorcade when the crash occurred.
On November 21, 2006, Steve Favela, a Honolulu police motorcycle officer, crashed on wet roads in Hawaii while part of the president's motorcade.
Favela, 30, died of his injuries a week later. Two other officers were injured in the crash. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Sasha Johnson and Mike Roselli contributed to this report.
|
76002ba8f854458a8d84d00e94d57fbc
|
Who is heartsick over this loss?
|
[
"The Democratic presidential candidate"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- As the country was sinking into its worst financial crisis in more than 70 years, Security and Exchange Commission employees and contractors cruised porn sites and viewed sexually explicit pictures using government computers, an SEC investigation obtained by CNN showed.
"During the past five years, the SEC OIG (Office of Inspector General) substantiated that 33 SEC employees and or contractors violated Commission rules and policies, as well as the government-wide Standards of Ethical Conduct, by viewing pornographic, sexually explicit or sexually suggestive images using government computer resources and official time," said a summary of the investigation by the inspector general's office.
More than half of the workers made between $99,000 and $223,000. All the cases took place over the past five years.
"It is nothing short of disturbing that high-ranking officials within the SEC were spending more time looking at pornography than taking action to help stave off the events that brought our nation's economy to the brink of collapse," said Rep. Darrell Issa. The Republican is a ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
"This stunning report should make everyone question the wisdom of moving forward with plans to give regulators like the SEC even more widespread authority," he said. "Inexplicably, rather than exercise its existing regulatory enforcement authority, SEC officials were preoccupied with other distractions."
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37af37fbef9d4f4fb17bb189aff49d5a
|
When was the date?
|
[
"past five years,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Suspected Islamic insurgents fired mortar rounds at a plane carrying Somalia's transitional president, but no one -- including Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed -- was harmed, a presidential spokesman said.
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, pictured late last month during a visit to France.
The attack happened while the plane was about to take off from Mogadishu's airport Sunday around 11 a.m. local time, spokesman Hussien Mohammed Huubsireb said.
"Al-Shaabab has actually tried to harm to president, but thank God nobody was hurt," Huubsireb said.
Al-Shaabab is an Islamic militia that is trying to seize control of Somalia. It is a splinter group of the Islamic Courts Union, which ousted Somalia's transitional government in 2006. The ICU was deposed in December of that year following Ethiopia's military invasion.
Bloody battles between Al-Shaabab and the Ethiopian-backed government forces in Mogadishu have forced residents to flee the capital.
More than 40,000 displaced civilians have taken shelter in dozens of makeshift settlements west of Mogadishu, described by the United Nations as "precarious conditions."
Sunday's mortar attack is the second assassination attempt on Ahmed. The president survived a car bombing in September 2006 outside Somalia's parliament in Baidoa that killed at least eight others.
Somalia's Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi has been more frequently targeted by the Islamic insurgents seeking to destabilize the government.
Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and sparked brutal clan infighting. Somalia's current transitional government is trying to maintain control of the capital, with the help of the better-equipped Ethiopian forces.
But the presence of the Ethiopians has united various Islamic militant groups in Somalia, including Al-Shaabab, who are trying to oust the Ethiopian forces and gain control of Mogadishu.
The United States classified Al-Shaabab as a terrorist organization in March, partly because of what Washington says is the group's close ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda militant group.
|
d5f08958d7224638a63ff8e4ec8a95b6
|
Since when is Somalia in chaos?
|
[
"1991,"
] |
NewsQA
|
SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has been making the the rounds of major industrial facilities in the country's north, state-run media reported Thursday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il meets people at a library in the country's north.
It was the second time in as many days that state media reported Kim's activities.
State media reported Wednesday that Kim had visited a steel company and expressed "great satisfaction" with workers' efforts.
The steel factory tour generated no pictures, but his stops at a library and an electronics research facility in Jagang Province the day before did.
Kim was shown bundled up in a parka with matching thick gloves. He was also wearing a fur hat and his signature dark sunglasses. The photos showed Kim engaged in conversation and active.
South Korean media noted it was the first time since Kim reappeared in public October 4 -- after a hiatus of nearly 60 days -- that his activities have been reported two days in a row.
Kim's disappearance during that period raised speculation about the North Korean leader's health.
South Korean analysts said they believe the new reports are an attempt by the North Korean leadership to show Kim is healthy and in control.
Last week, Francois-Xavier Roux, a French neurosurgeon at Saint-Anne Hospital in Paris, told a French newspaper that Kim had suffered a stroke, but is now better. The doctor said he last treated Kim in late October.
The North has denied its leader was ever ill and state media has issued a series of reports portraying Kim as healthy and active.
|
103fca621c714918930700b7f1f6c5f7
|
Who is the leader of North Korea?
|
[
"Kim Jong-Il"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A major sponsor for Tiger Woods announced Sunday that it is dropping the golf star in light of recent controversy swirling around his personal life.
Accenture, a management consulting firm, said on its Web site that "given the circumstances of the last two weeks ... the company has determined that he is no longer the right representative for its advertising."
The move ends a sponsorship arrangement that lasted six years.
Another major sponsor, Gillette, said Saturday it was "limiting" Woods' role in its marketing programs to give him the privacy to work on family relationships.
Woods announced on his own Web site Friday that he is taking an "indefinite break" from professional golf.
The 33-year-old golfer, who tops the sport's world rankings, has been mired in controversy since he crashed his car outside his Florida mansion late last month. In the week following the crash, Woods apologized for "transgressions" that let his family down, and US Weekly magazine published a report alleging that Woods had an affair with a 24-year-old cocktail waitress named Jaimee Grubbs.
US Weekly's report followed a National Enquirer article before the crash that the athlete was having an affair with a New York nightclub hostess -- an assertion the hostess vigorously denied, according to The New York Post.
The statement Friday on Woods' site was the first time he admitted to infidelity; in a previous statement, he referred to his "transgressions."
The golf phenomenon, who has won three U.S. Open titles and the Masters tournament and the PGA tournament each four times, said in the statement that he will spend his hiatus with his family.
"After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father and person," Woods said in his Friday statement.
|
14239c1ad607406d9791605a40e768cd
|
What golfer admitted?
|
[
"infidelity;"
] |
NewsQA
|
LEONE, American Samoa (CNN) -- Another earthquake struck Wednesday near the Samoan islands, an area already devastated by earthquake and tsunami damage which killed more than 130 people.
A traditional Samoan fale is destroyed Wednesday in the devastated village of Leone.
The 5.5-magnitude earthquake occurred at 6:13 p.m. Wednesday evening (1:13 a.m. Thursday ET), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake's epicenter was 10 km (6 miles) deep in the Pacific Ocean about 121 miles (194 km) from the city of Apia, Samoa.
The quake did not trigger a tsunami warning, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
It followed an 8.0-magnitude earthquake which hit the small cluster of Samoan islands early Tuesday triggering a tsunami.
At least 139 people are confirmed dead as a consequence of Tuesday's quake and tsunami. They include 22 people killed in American Samoa, 110 in Samoa and seven in Tonga, according to officials on the islands.
A huge emergency effort was continuing late Wednesday in the Samoan islands and officials warned that the death toll could rise as rescue workers start to reach outlying villages and discover new casualties. Watch the tsunami take over the street »
Survivors like Ropati Opa were trying to find ways to cope. The massive waves had destroyed his home, store and gas station in the village of Leone on the southwest coast of American Samoa.
With tears in his eyes, he said "I don't have a house. I don't have a car. I don't have money. I lost everything yesterday. But thank God I am alive." iReport.com: Witness describes tsunami hitting land
U.S. President Barack Obama addressed the disaster at an event Wednesday in Washington.
"To aid in the response," he said, "I've declared this a major disaster to speed the deployment of resources and FEMA ... is working closely with emergency responders on the ground, and the Coast Guard is working to provide immediate help to those in need.
"We also stand ready to help our friends in neighboring Samoa and throughout the region, and we'll continue to monitor this situation closely as we keep the many people who have been touched by this tragedy in our thoughts and in our prayers," Obama said.
Journalist Jeff DePonte contributed to this report.
|
a91582c4d7fb41d48b02e157ec0643e1
|
where did it happen?
|
[
"near the Samoan islands,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Rescuers in northern California on Thursday found the body of Thomas Bennett, a climber who became trapped on Mount Shasta after falling ill.
A seven-member rescue team flew in by helicopter and found the hiker, who had taken shelter Sunday in a snow cave, the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office said.
According to local reports, Bennett and a climbing partner trekked to the summit of the mountain, and on their way down, Bennett became sick and unresponsive. His partner, Mark Thomas, dug a snow cave for Bennett and hiked down, looking for help.
Poor visibility and weather dashed attempts to fly in the rescue team Wednesday, the sheriff's office said. On Thursday, the team went up in a Chinook helicopter and was off-loaded near Mount Shasta's summit.
They found an avalanche marker that Thomas had left at the snow cave, and the rescuers dug and found that Bennett had died.
Bennett's family was notified, and his body was flown off the mountain, the sheriff's office said.
An autopsy to determine the exact cause of death was scheduled.
|
6496b34ea824490a8aa4884159816bdb
|
Who took ill Sunday?
|
[
"Thomas Bennett,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The U.S. military is distributing pamphlets in eastern Afghanistan in an effort to find a soldier who has been missing for more than two weeks, the military said Thursday.
A soldier mans a weapon at the rear of a U.S. Army helicopter over Afghanistan in May.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for kidnapping the soldier, who has not been identified, along with three Afghan soldiers. All went missing on June 30 in southeastern Afghanistan. The military believes the soldier may have been moved to various locations, including across the border into Pakistan, U.S. military officials said.
There are two versions of the pamphlets, which are in the Pashto language and were made available to CNN by U.S. Forces Afghanistan. One shows the image of an American soldier shaking hands in a group of kids with the message, "One of our American guests is missing. Return the guest to his home. Call us at ..." and lists a phone number.
The other shows a U.S. soldier kicking down a door, and then an outstretched hand with the superimposed image of a soldier, his head and arms drooping, and the words, "If you do not release the U.S. soldier then ... you will be hunted," Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a U.S. military spokeswoman, said Thursday.
Soldiers have posted and handed out the pamphlets across Ghazni and Paktia provinces over the past 24 hours, Mathias said.
Days after the soldier went missing, a senior U.S. military official said, he and the three missing Afghan soldiers were captured by low-level militants and then quickly "sold" to the clan and network led by warlord Siraj Haqqani, who is believed to be deeply involved in the action.
The Haqqani clan operates on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border and is well known to the U.S. military.
The soldier apparently left his small outpost on his own on June 30 with no apparent means of defending himself, the official said.
Taliban commander Mulvi Sangeen said the U.S. soldier visited a military post in the Yousaf Khel district in Paktika province, got drunk, and was ambushed while returning to his car. Sangeen said the soldier was taken to a safe place. Paktika and Paktia provinces are adjacent.
CNN could not independently verify Sangeen's claims. A source with the U.S. military denied the claim that the soldier was drunk.
"The Taliban are known for lying, and what they are claiming [is] not true," the source said.
|
02df41eea49747bb90237f8cd022049f
|
Who went missing?
|
[
"American soldier"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A friend of an elderly Arkansas couple has been charged with forcing the wife to try to rob a bank with a fake explosive device, police said Thursday.
Authorities in Fayetteville arrested 60-year-old Paul Bradley on Thursday, three days after 73-year-old Betty Davis walked into a bank there and told a teller she had a bomb fastened to her ankle.
Her husband, Dean Davis, said he has known Bradley for some time.
"I had coffee with him all last week," said Davis, whom police said had been tied up in the couple's home while his wife was forced to go to the bank by a masked assailant. "One morning he paid for my coffee, and I'd like to see him and pay him that back."
Bradley has been charged with aggravated burglary, theft of property, aggravated robbery and kidnapping, Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder told reporters. He said Bradley strapped the phony bomb onto Betty Davis and took her to the bank to force her to withdraw money from her account. Once inside, she told a teller about the plot and that she had been followed to the Arvest Bank branch.
"I felt like I needed to get out of that bank and get everyone out of danger," Betty Davis said. "If he did what he said he was going to do, he would blow it up and hurt all those people."
After Betty Davis talked to police, they went to the couple's home and found Dean Davis tied up, police said.
The assailant wore a mask and said little, so the couple was unable to identify their attacker at first.
"I would have never imagined that of him and never thought he would do something like that," Dean Davis said.
Helder said that authorities "couldn't have had better victims than the Davises."
"They were very calm and collected, and she helped us identify the vehicle," he said.
The FBI assisted in the investigation, Fayetteville police spokesman Sgt. Craig Stout said. Police expect to bring additional charges against Bradley, including extortion, he said.
In March 2011 Bradley received a suspended sentence for his involvement in a scheme to defraud local residents of thousands of dollars, Helder said.
|
2f82b197aaea4b3781f0e34fe90a11e9
|
What her husband said he had all week?
|
[
"coffee"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A Utah man trapped for more than 26 hours in a crevice of a popular cave tourist attraction died as rescuers struggled to save him, authorities said Thursday.
John Edward Jones, 26, of Stansbury Park was stuck in the Nutty Putty Cave, which sits west of Utah Lake near Cedar Valley, according to the sheriff's office of Utah County.
The cave is 55 to 60 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Sheriff's officials said Jones entered the cave at around 6 p.m. Tuesday with a group of about 11 people and became stuck about 8:45 p.m. in a "tightly confined" feature inside Nutty Putty Cave called "Bob's Push."
Utah County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Spencer Cannon told CNN affiliate KSL that Jones was trapped upside down in a crevice that was about 18 inches wide and about 10 inches high. The crevice is about 150 feet below the surface and about 700 feet from the cave entrance, according to the sheriff's department.
"They had him to a level spot where he wasn't heading downhill with his head below his feet," Cannon said. "During the course of that, they have a raising system to hold him in position, and one of the devices of that system failed, and Mr. Jones actually fell back to the area where he had been stuck for so long."
Shortly before midnight on Wednesday, rescuers got close enough to Jones to conclude that he was not breathing and he had no pulse. Rescue officials were meeting Thursday to determine how to recover Jones' body.
Rescuers had tried to reach Jones for more than 24 hours, but had problems navigating the treacherous terrain, Cannon said.
"Getting people to him is very difficult," Cannon told KSL before Jones died. "It is a tightly confined space. When there is movement, it is literally millimeters at a time."
There are narrow areas of the cave where visitors have to crawl on their bellies to get through, according to the attraction's Web site. Up to 5,000 people visit each year, the site said.
|
ab3cb3f67f584778a1fdef4ddd8106c9
|
who she was caught in the crevice of the cave outside Salt Lake City
|
[
"John Edward Jones,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- What do you do when your 10-year-old son wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, "There's a 'roo in my room!"
Beat Ettlin wrestled a kangaroo out of his house near Canberra after it crashed through a window.
If you're Beat Ettlin, you wrest the marsupial into a headlock, drag it down your hallway and toss it out your front door.
Ettlin and his family were woken early Sunday when a 6-foot-tall kangaroo crashed through a window, landed on their bed and thrashed around their house in the suburb of Garran, south of the capital of Canberra, Australia.
"At first, he (my husband) thought it was a lunatic ninja," said Ettlin's wife, Verity Beman. "It leaped through the window, this martial-arts kind of figure. It was very Jackie Chan."
The family's one-story house is in a suburb that butts against a kangaroo reserve.
About 2 a.m. Sunday, their dog began barking furiously. Possibly possums, they thought.
The family had put up with possums scampering across their roof every night since they moved in three weeks ago.
Moments later, the window was smashed and a black figure landed on their bed.
Ettlin, after gathering his wits about him, exclaimed, "It's OK. It's only a kangaroo," Beman recalled.
"I was cowered under the quilt, thinking, 'No, it's not OK,'" she said.
The kangaroo jumped on top of the blanket that Beman and her 9-year-old daughter were hiding under. It then leaped onto the nightstand, punched holes in the furniture and left blood stains on the wall as it bounced into their son's room.
"That's when his male instinct kicked in," Beman said of her husband.
After putting the 90-pound creature in a choke hold, Ettlin kept it low to the ground and pulled it toward the front door. He knew that kangaroos carry their strength on their hind legs, Beman said.
"He held it by one arm. He opened the front door with the other, then the screen door," she said. "It bounced across our veranda and bounced away."
Ettlin is a chef, originally from the Swiss city of Stans. Beman thinks he would not have tackled the kangaroo so readily were he Australian.
"They would be fully aware of the risk," she said.
The house in shambles -- with blood and shattered glass everywhere -- Ettlin stood surveying the damage in his shredded underpants. Scratch marks ran down his leg, but otherwise he was fine.
"I kept marveling at what he did," Beman said. "I called him my hero. My hero in Bonds undies."
|
9bbcdfcf06c14f60b15147454819588d
|
Who wrestled with a kangaroo?
|
[
"Beat Ettlin"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Four boys ages 9 to 14 have been charged with sexually assaulting an 8-year old girl, police in Phoenix, Arizona, said Wednesday.
The girl was lured into a vacant storage shed by the suspects, who offered her chewing gum, police said at a news conference.
The girl was restrained while the boys -- ages 9, 10, 13 and 14 -- sexually assaulted her, police said of the July 16 incident.
All the suspects except for the 14-year-old live in the same apartment complex, according to Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill. The 14-year-old has been charged as an adult, Hill said.
Detectives said the girl was placed in the custody of Phoenix child protective services after the attack because of her parents' attitude toward her.
The girl and the boys charged are all from families that have come to the United States from the West African nation of Liberia, police said.
|
b7dbe39b846b4203adaeea227fb4cb09
|
What are the ages of those charged?
|
[
"9 to 14"
] |
NewsQA
|
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt (CNN) -- Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, under investigation in the deaths of protesters, remained Saturday in a Sharm el-Sheikh hospital where he has been receiving treatment since Tuesday, officials said.
Earlier, a military official told CNN that Mubarak had been transferred to a military facility in Cairo. However, later in the day, an official with the military in Cairo said the former leader is still in the hospital in the Red Sea resort town.
Hospital and police personnel had insisted that Mubarak was still being treated at the facility and hadn't moved from a heavily guarded section of the building.
"As long as Mr. Mubarak is here, we will stay here," said police Capt. Karim Yusuf, one of the dozens of riot police standing in a human chain outside the Sharm el-Sheikh hospital.
Justice Minister Mohamed Abdel Aziz had earlier said that when the former leader's health improves, he will be imprisoned.
Despite his health issues, Mubarak has been questioned and been under investigation by the Egyptian prosecutor-general's office since Tuesday.
He is being investigated in connection with the deaths of hundreds of activists during the recent uprising that led to his departure from office February 11. He is also under investigation for allegations of corruption and misuse of state funds.
Mubarak has been treated at the hospital since Tuesday for heart palpitations and blood pressure problems and is listed in stable condition, officials said.
He and his sons were taken into 15-day detainment Tuesday, according to a Justice Ministry spokesman. His sons are in custody in Cairo.
Aziz also said Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, will be questioned by the ministry's Office of Illicit Profiteering.
CNN's Ivan Watson, Mohammed Fadel Fahmy and Dina Amer contributed to this report.
|
09b9989a7aaf40bfab0fec60b9780b87
|
Who was moved to a Cairo military facility?
|
[
"Mubarak"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins have won the Stanley Cup for a third time after a pair of second-period goals by Max Talbot gave them a narrow 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in the deciding game of the best-of-seven series.
The Penguins celebrate with the Stanley Cup after claiming a narrow game seven victory at Detroit.
Talbot opened the scoring early in the second period and added a second on a two-on-one break midway through the session to help the Penguins to avenge their defeat to the Red Wings in last year's finals.
Jonathan Ericsson pulled a goal back for the home side with just over six minutes remaining in the game but Detroit were unable to prevent Pittsburgh from becoming the first team in 38 years to claim the Stanley Cup with a game seven victory on the road.
The Penguins, who last won the title in 1992, were depriving the Red Wings of becoming the first team since Detriot themselves (in 1998) to retain the Stanley Cup.
"We're going to enjoy this one. We're going to sit back and relish the moment. We're going to get our names on the Cup, and we'll get our day with it," Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma told their official Web site.
The result proved a difficult pill to swallow for Red Wings winger Marian Hossa.
Last summer, the Slovakian turned down a lucrative long-term contract with the Penguins, thought to be worth in the region of $50 million, to sign a one-year $7.5m deal with Detroit -- thinking they had a better chance of hoisting the Stanley Cup.
However, he failed to score once in the finals and cast a lonely figure watching his former team-mates lift the trophy.
|
1821e34471b145efa64df2435e9c665d
|
Who did the Penguins defeat?
|
[
"Detroit Red Wings"
] |
NewsQA
|
CARDIFF, Wales -- Former Wales and British Lions center Ray Gravell has died of a suspected heart attack aged 56, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has announced.
Gravell won 23 caps for Wales and played on the Lions tour of South Africa in 1980.
Gravell had been on holiday with his family in the Spanish Mediterranean island of Mallorca at the time.
A WRU statement praised Gravell as being "a man who epitomized the passion, flair and dignity of his beloved Welsh nation."
Gravell made his debut for Wales against France in 1975, three years after helping his club side Llanelli to their famous win over the touring All Blacks.
In all he made 23 appearances for what was then a dominant Wales side, winning Grand Slams in 1976 and 1978, and played all four Tests on the Lions' tour of South Africa in 1980.
After retiring as a player in 1985, Gravell became president of Llanelli RFC and the Llanelli Scarlets. He also pursued a career as an actor and a respected rugby broadcaster.
Earlier this year, Gravell had his right leg amputated below the knee following complications linked with his diabetes but he had been recovering well.
WRU chief executive Roger Lewis said: "We are all in total shock because Ray was so full of life even through the difficult health problems he suffered recently.
"He was a wonderful ambassador for rugby and for Wales and a great example of how the game can bring out the best in a man.
"As a player, he always gave a huge amount of respect to his opponents but never gave an inch of ground to anyone he faced on the field of play.
"It is a measure of the man that he forged rugby friendships which lasted long after his playing days up until the present day." E-mail to a friend
|
f7db28ab09af4ba7be0a22d576f9dfa3
|
Where was he on holiday?
|
[
"Spanish Mediterranean island of Mallorca"
] |
NewsQA
|
HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Cash-strapped Zimbabwe revealed plans Saturday to circulate $200 million notes, just days after introducing a $100 million bill, Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi said.
Zimbabwe central bank governor Gideon Gono shows a new $50 million note Thursday.
After the $100 million note began circulating on Thursday, the price of a loaf of bread soared from 2 million to 35 million Zimbabwean dollars.
Amid allegations of illegal foreign currency trading, the government also fired top executives at four major banks Thursday, according to The Herald, a state-owned newspaper.
Many anxious residents of the nation's capital, Harare, have been sleeping outside banks, waiting for them to open so they can make withdrawals before the institutions run out of cash. Watch how Zimbabwe's children are suffering »
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had capped maximum daily withdrawals at 500,000 Zimbabwean dollars: about 25 U.S. cents, or about a quarter of Thursday's price of a loaf of bread.
Last week, restrictions on cash withdrawals -- due to severe money shortages -- triggered riots.
Sixteen soldiers now face possible court-martial due to alleged looting and assaults on civilians and police during the unrest, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena told The Herald on Saturday.
"We are still investigating the case," he said. "But we expect the soldiers to appear before a court-martial once investigations are completed."
After spending several days waiting in bank lines, soldiers rampaged through downtown Harare, destroying shops and attacking riot police sent to disperse the protesters.
Cash shortages are not the only crisis plaguing Zimbabwe.
The United Nations has said that more than half of Zimbabwe's population is in dire need of food and clean water. Watch how a cholera epidemic is affecting Zimbabweans »
Acute shortages of essentials such as fuel, electricity, medicines and food are key indicators of a failed economy, according to economic observers.
"The [Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe] is failing to deliver the demands of market, prices are doubling daily, and that demands more cash," Zimbabwean economist John Robertson said. "The huge price increases are resulting from severe shortages of most goods."
The once-prosperous African nation is facing its worst economic and humanitarian crisis since attaining independence from Great Britain in 1980.
Zimbabwe's official rate of inflation is 231 million percent, the world's highest.
Critics of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe link hyperinflation to his policies on land distribution and unbudgeted payments to war veterans.
Zimbabwe has had no Cabinet since the March presidential election.
Its political troubles have aggravated its humanitarian and economic crisis, including a cholera outbreak that has killed close to 600 people since August.
A CNN journalist in Harare contributed to this report.
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13b1e14cd6854d77a0a8409dc21f7f79
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What does the government accuse?
|
[
"Amid allegations of illegal foreign currency trading,"
] |
NewsQA
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(CNN) -- Ground-to-air missiles at the 2012 Olympic Games? It's not a new sport added to the London line-up, but proof that Britain's government is taking security seriously.
Defense secretary Phillip Hammond has confirmed that such weapons will be at the disposal of those tasked with ensuring public safety at the UK capital's summer showpiece.
He told parliament that a full range of options would be available for protecting the Games, which kick off on July 27.
Hammond was asked by his predecessor, Liam Fox, to confirm if a "full range of multilayered defense and deterrents" would be on hand, including surface-to-air missiles.
"I can assure him that all necessary measures to ensure the security and safety of the London Olympic Games will be taken including -- if the advice of the military is that it is required -- appropriate ground-to-air defenses," Hammond replied.
Earlier on Monday, British newspaper The Guardian had claimed the United States was planning to send 1,000 security personnel, including FBI agents, to the Olympics after developing concerns about arrangements.
The paper said that the UK government is having to field more and more questions on security from its U.S. counterpart, with one source saying of the White House: "They are being very demanding."
It also claimed the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games has decided to more than double the amount of security guards protecting the 32 Olympic sites across the country to 21,000 from 10,000.
The Guardian quoted the UK Home Office, responsible for home security, as saying its Olympic planning was "on track" and that the funding was in place.
"The government is committed to delivering a safe and secure Games that London, the UK and the world can enjoy," a spokesman said.
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3d2d875ce96d4632a3496e3493843d44
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Which country is claimed to be unhappy with the level of security?
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[
"U.S."
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Claudio Marchisio's late double gave Juventus a 2-0 win over reigning champions AC Milan Sunday to go back to the top of the Serie A standings.
The game in Turin looked set to end in a draw until Marchisio scored three minutes from time then added a late second to seal three points which put Juve ahead of Udinese on goal scored.
Defeat continued Milan's poor start to the campaign and they lanquish in 15th, two places and a point ahead of arch-rivals Inter.
Juventus created a number of openings to break the deadlock but with the clock counting down made the breakthrough.
Marchisio went for a one-two with Mirko Vucinic but in trying to intercept Milan's Daniele Bonera only succeeded in slamming the ball onto Marchisio's foot and into the net.
In injury time, Marchisio beat Christian Abbiati with a long range strike which the goalkeeper should have saved.
Earlier, Udinese kept pace with a 2-0 win over Bologna as Mehdi Benatia gave them the lead on 29 minutes.
Captain Antonio Di Natale scored the second from the penalty spot after Pablo Armero had been fouled.
Napoli are a point behind in third following a fine 3-0 win at 10-man Inter Saturday.
Meanwhile in the German Bundesliga Sunday, coach Huub Stevens made a winning start for Schalke as they won 2-1 at Hamburg.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar opened the scoring after 13 minutes only for Mladen Petric to level seven minutes before the break.
Dutch ace Huntelaar grabbed the winner with 17 minutes left.
In the other match played, Werder Bremen failed in their bid to join Bayern Munich at the top of the table as they were beaten 3-2 by Hanover.
Mohammed Abdellaoue scored a hat-trick for Hanover, who held on despite a late Claudio Pizarro goal for Bremen.
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5c10dc02cbdb40129c69f1bc5135e903
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Who scored the goals?
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[
"Marchisio"
] |
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Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- A California doctor has been accused of negligence in the case of a woman who gave birth to octuplets in January 2009, according to a complaint filed by the state medical board.
Michael Kamrava, an obstetrician/gynecologist in Beverly Hills, is accused of gross negligence and repeated negligent acts in the treatment of a patient named in the complaint only by her initials, N.S.
Octuplet mom Nadya Suleman has identified Kamrava as her doctor in interviews. Suleman has six children in addition to the octuplets -- all conceived through in-vitro fertilization.
In filing the complaint in December, the medical board's executive director, Barbara Johnston, says Kamrava, while his patient was undergoing in-vitro, transferred a number of embryos that was "far in excess of [American Society for Reproductive Medicine] recommendations and beyond the reasonable judgment of any treating physician."
The society recommends no more than two embryos for women under 35 years old and no more than five for women over 40, for whom it is harder to get pregnant, according to guidelines published on its Web site. Suleman was 33 when she gave birth to the octuplets. The reproductive society expelled Kamrava from the group in September.
Additionally, the complaint says Kamrava should have referred his patient to a mental health physician after she repeatedly returned to him for additional in-vitro treatments shortly after each of her pregnancies.
"[Kamrava] failed to exercise appropriate judgment and question whether there would be harm to her living children and any future offspring should she continue to conceive," the complaint says.
Efforts to reach Kamrava on Monday were unsuccessful.
No hearing date has been set in the case.
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1472703b5c374bf083c84eb412a46fa6
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what is kamrava's speciality
|
[
"obstetrician/gynecologist"
] |
NewsQA
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SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- A magnitude 4.2 earthquake shook the San Francisco area Friday at 4:42 a.m. PT (7:42 a.m. ET), the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The quake left about 2,000 customers without power, said David Eisenhower, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Light.
Under the USGS classification, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake is considered "light," which it says usually causes minimal damage.
"We had quite a spike in calls, mostly calls of inquiry, none of any injury, none of any damage that was reported," said Capt. Al Casciato of the San Francisco police. "It was fairly mild." Watch police describe concerned calls immediately after the quake »
The quake was centered about two miles east-northeast of Oakland, at a depth of 3.6 miles, the USGS said. Oakland is just east of San Francisco, across San Francisco Bay.
An Oakland police dispatcher told CNN the quake set off alarms at people's homes. The shaking lasted about 50 seconds, said CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.
According to the USGS, magnitude 4.2 quakes are felt indoors and may break dishes and windows and overturn unstable objects. Pendulum clocks may stop. E-mail to a friend
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95228f80101940f0a6e0ab3dbcecfba2
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what did power company say?
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[
"The quake left about 2,000 customers without"
] |
NewsQA
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(PEOPLE.com) -- Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher announced their split on Thursday, but tensions have been building for some time.
"Ashton is unhappy; [Demi]'s unhappy," a source tells PEOPLE. "It just got to a point where they had to end it."
Despite longtime problems, the exes did try to work on their relationship. Unfortunately, their issues -- which went beyond Kutcher's alleged infidelities -- couldn't be resolved.
"The fighting could get pretty intense," an additional source says of Kutcher, 33, and Moore, 49. "Whatever counseling they did was fine for a quick fix but could not get to the heart of the problem."
See the full article at PEOPLE.com.
© 2011 People and Time Inc. All rights reserved.
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2434323c794e4e5c8b083813305f4a51
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How long had the troubles been going on?
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[
"for some time."
] |
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|
Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iran tested an upgraded version of a surface-to-surface missile with a range that makes it capable of reaching parts of Europe, state-run television reported Wednesday.
Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said on Press-TV that the solid-fuel, high-speed Sajil-2 missile has "great maneuverability" and can access targets more than 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) away, making Israel and U.S. military bases in the Gulf reachable.
Vahidi said the missile has a shorter launch time and is intended to boost Iran's deterrent capability.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Defense Secretary Robert Gates had seen the intelligence on the launch, which occurred Tuesday, "and, based on that, is clearly concerned."
"At a time when the international community has offered Iran opportunities to begin to build trust and confidence, Iran's missile tests only undermine Iran's claims of peaceful intentions," he added. "Such actions will increase the seriousness and resolve of the international community to hold Iran accountable for its continued defiance of its international obligations."
But a U.S. intelligence official said the test launch does not represent "a major advancement" in Iran's missile technology. The official added that Iran carries out such tests on a "routine basis ... to attract attention."
Iran tested the initial version of the Sajil-2 in May.
In September, days before a key meeting over nuclear issues with industrialized powers, Iran tested two types of long-range missiles.
Those tests drew condemnation after the Islamic republic revealed the existence of a covert uranium enrichment site near the city of Qom.
Iran shocked the world with that revelation. Since then, it has allowed inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency to visit the plant.
Western powers fear that Iran is intent on developing nuclear weapons. That's a claim Tehran denies, but the latest test-firing of the Sajil-2 could add to existing tensions.
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54ce9240d5324e39b8a87fa856e4eb0f
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what is the west fear?
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[
"Iran is intent on developing nuclear weapons."
] |
NewsQA
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(CNN) -- Space shuttle Discovery launched just before midnight Friday on a mission to the international space station.
Space shuttle Discovery lifts off late Friday from Kennedy Space Center in a photo from iReporter Alan Walters.
The crew of seven astronauts includes one from Mexico and another from Sweden. One of those seven, Nicole Stott, will remain on the station as a flight engineer, while astronaut Timothy Kopra is to return home aboard the shuttle.
Also on board: The Leonardo logistics module, science experiments and the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), named for fake newsman Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report."
Colbert won an online poll conducted by NASA to name the newest space station compartment, but Colbert and the space agency compromised to give the moniker to the treadmill. The new compartment was given the name Tranquility.
NASA astronaut Cady Coleman said the treadmill is an essential addition to the space station. Watch shuttle launch »
"We have the treadmill now to keep them healthy, which is really part of being able to come home in one piece. So it is an essential part," Coleman said. iReport.com: Discovery lights night sky
Discovery's liftoff, originally set for Tuesday, had been postponed three times -- first for bad weather, and twice more while mission managers checked out indications of a faulty valve.
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ce60f88be9b54aa68f16920f0286914b
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Where is the shuttle going?
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[
"space station."
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather Jr claims he will knock out WBO welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao when the two boxing giants lock horns next year.
Speaking on HBO TV's Joe Buck chat show, the 32-year-old Mayweather -- who has an unblemished record from 40 fights -- said: "Pacquiao's a good fighter but I've been around the sport a long time and I've dominated boxing for around 15 years now.
"Nobody has defeated me yet so we'll have to see. The thing is, I don't want the fans to be really shocked by what will happen when we do happen to meet up -- because it's not going to be anything new for them."
"The things is, Manny has been knocked out before and he's taken losses. I'll be victorious."
Filipino Pacquiao will come into the fight following a remarkable 12 months which has seen him defeat de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto.
Meanwhile, Mayweather has fought only once in two years, a unanimous points victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in las Vegas.
Although definitive plans for the mega-money contest are yet to be confirmed, a date of March 13 is widely rumored to be agreed, with three possible venues in the running to stage the contest.
The two fighters are regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world right now and the fight is expected to generate record levels of interest, easily surpassing the previous record of $18.4m for gate receipts, which was generated for Mayweather's bout with Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.
Two NFL stadiums are reported to be bidding to host the fight. Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys, is competing with the Superdome in New Orleans, as well as the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The two stadiums could accommodate up to 100,000 spectators, while the MGM Grand seats about 16,000.
|
2b6badcb2bc04dbda3f637e70f98de2b
|
What is the weight class
|
[
"welterweight"
] |
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(CNN) -- Khloe Kardashian and her new husband, basketball player Lamar Odom, have found themselves a newlywed love nest.
Kardashian, star of the E! network's reality show "Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami" and Odom, a forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, have purchased a seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom mansion in Tarzana, California, for nearly $4 million.
The pair, who married after a two-month-long courtship, have been looking for a place to call their own since their September 27 wedding.
Finding a home was one of the stipulations Kardashian, 25, wanted met before the couple started thinking about growing a family.
"I would be over the moon if I was having a baby, but right now, our focus is on finding a house. They say it's a buyers' market, but no one is selling, and I think it would be very stressful to have a baby in a condo downtown," Kardashian told CNN earlier this month.
When asked by talk show host Chelsea Handler earlier this month if Khloe is pregnant yet, Odom, 30, responded, "Soon." And when Handler pushed and asked, "You planning on having a baby soon? You want to do that right away?" Odom responded, "I do."
Kardashian was even more candid with CNN, saying, "We are not planning to have a baby, but we're not doing anything to not have a baby right now."
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4f432514af724ddaad6cbe81f379716e
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Who hs purchased a home?
|
[
"Kardashian and her new husband, basketball player Lamar Odom, have found themselves a"
] |
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- A letter penned by George Washington praising the new Constitution sold for $3.2 million at an auction, the highest price for a letter by America's first president.
The four-page letter in Washington's slanting penmanship was written to his nephew Bushrod Washington in November 1787, according to Christie's, the company that auctioned it.
It was in the possession of an unidentified British descendant of his family, Christie's said.
Washington led the Philadelphia Convention, at which the Constitution was drafted in 1787. After the Constitution was produced, a nationwide debate ensued on whether to ratify it.
In the letter written from Washington's Virginia estate, Mount Vernon, he endorses the Constitution and highlights the benefits of compromise and of states merging into one nation.
"The central issues must be consolidated -- and local views as far as the general good will admit, must be attended to," he says in the letter, according to Christie's.
The company said the president confided in his nephew.
"Washington professed neutrality in public, but to Bushrod expressed his unequivocal conviction that the new Constitution must be ratified, in spite of opposition from many special-interest groups," Christie's said.
The buyer was not identified.
Christie's had earlier estimated that the letter would fetch $1.5 million to $2.5 million at Friday's auction.
Washington served from 1789 to 1797, then died of a throat infection two years later. He died at his beloved Mount Vernon at age 67, plunging the nation into months of mourning.
Last year, a 1864 letter in which President Abraham Lincoln replies to the abolitionist pleas of youth sold for $3.4 million.
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012f6d948a4b4779b9885b5583a705cb
|
Who had written the letter?
|
[
"George Washington"
] |
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LONDON, England -- Almost 25,000 people will die this year of HIV/AIDS in Myanmar unless lifesaving treatment is significantly increased, according to a new report.
A Doctors Without Borders worker handing out HIV/AIDS drugs in Myanmar.
The study produced by leading international humanitarian organization, Doctors Without Borders said the failure by the government to provide HIV/AIDS treatment to its people is putting the population at risk.
An estimated 240,000 people are thought to have HIV/AIDS in Myanmar with 76,000 of those people facing death unless they receive antiretroviral (ART) drug, the report published Tuesday said.
Fewer than 20 percent of the people are are able to access ART, according to the organization.
Currently, Doctors Without Borders says it is almost the sole provider of these lifesaving drugs --providing them to more than 11,000 people.
"It is unacceptable that a single NGO is treating the vast majority of HIV patients in a crisis of this magnitude," the charity's Operations Manager Joe Belliveau, said in a press release.
The pressure on its resources means the charity has been forced to turn away patients.
"Sometimes I wake up at midnight and dream of my patients. Women who come in are HIV positive --they have three children at home and the husband has passed away and we cannot provide any treatment for them," a doctor quoted in the research said.
The government and international communities have provided very little to the crisis, Belliveau added.
The government of Myanmar allocated just $200,000 for HIV/AIDS in 2008, which is one of the lowest amount spent worldwide, according to Doctors Without Borders.
Drugs that are not provided by aid organizations or the government cost a patient $29 per month. With most people in Myanmar living on an average of $1.20 per day, the cost of drugs is unaffordable for most.
The charity also appealed for intervention by the international community to avert the crisis. Myanmar currently receives around $3 per person in aid-- one of the lowest rates worldwide.
One reason for this may be that international donor groups are reluctant to send aid to Myanmar, a country run by a strict military junta widely criticized for its atrocious human rights record.
The report states aid agencies may be put off by challenges Myanmar imposes such as strict constraints and difficult bureaucratic procedures.
Earlier this year when a deadly cyclone hit Myanmar that killed almost 100,000 people and left millions homeless, the government turned away international aid to the frustration of many organizations.
Doctors Without Borders has been providing essential healthcare services in Myanmar since 1993 and began an integrated program in 2003 to support people living with HIV/AIDS.
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e6678e1017f14b59bed48a56b22a6876
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how many people will die this year?
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[
"Almost 25,000"
] |
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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A 43-year-old woman convicted in the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on Wednesday ended her hunger strike after authorities agreed to review her demand for early release.
Nalini Sriharan received a death sentence in 1991 for plotting to murder former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Nalini Sriharan, who has been in jail for 18 years, went on a fast Monday, said Jaya Bharathi, superintendent of Vellore prison in southern India.
Convicted of plotting the murder of Gandhi in a suicide bomb attack in 1991, she received a death sentence along with her husband and two others.
Sriharan's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on a mercy petition by Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of the slain former prime minister.
The other three remain on death row.
In India, a lifer becomes eligible for early release after serving 14 years, Bharathi said.
Authorities would consider setting up an advisory board on Sriharan's demand, Bharathi added.
"She ended her fast today and had her breakfast and lunch," Bharathi told CNN.
India accused Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels of ordering the killing of Rajiv Gandhi, who had sent Indian peacekeepers to the restive island nation while in power.
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6c1d60c69a3840f48ca1f74eddc46eba
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Is the case of Sriharan being reviewed?
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[
"authorities agreed to review her demand for early release."
] |
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TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Authorities have arrested a U.S. sailor on suspicion of robbery and murder in the death of a Japanese taxi driver.
The U.S. military handed him over Thursday at Yokosuka Naval Base, south of Tokyo.
A Yokosuka police spokesman identified the sailor as Olatunbosun Ogbogu, a 22-year-old Nigerian national.
Taxi driver Masaaki Takahashi, 61, was found dead March 19 of stab wounds to the neck about a mile from the base in Yokosuka.
The presence of U.S. in Japan has sparked controversy this year amid reports linking service members to crimes.
In March, the U.S. military said it plans to court martial four Marines accused of raping a 19-year-old woman in Hiroshima last year.
Authorities are also investigating allegations that a member of the U.S. military raped a Philippine woman on the island of Okinawa.
And a U.S. Marine was detained in the rape of a 14-year-old girl until the girl dropped the allegations.
As Ogbogu was arrested, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, Thomas Schieffer, met with Japan's foreign minister.
"We're dealing with human beings that do criminal acts from time to time," Schieffer told reporters afterward. "And I think justice is going to be done in this matter because we've been able to work so closely together." Watch the U.S. ambassador to Japan discuss the case »
The U.S. military presence in Japan has at times bred resentment among locals, who have long complained about crime, noise and accidents.
Anti-American sentiments boiled over in 1995 after three American servicemen kidnapped and gang-raped a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl.
Two years ago, a U.S. civilian military employee was jailed for nine years for raping two women. E-mail to a friend
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e3d259fade02496b95fdf167567a85b5
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what is the punishment?
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[
"jailed for nine years"
] |
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(CNN) -- Los Angeles Galaxy reached Major League Soccer's (MLS) championship match on Sunday after a 3-1 defeat of Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference final.
The Galaxy, two-time MLS Cup winners, reached the deciding game for a record seventh time thanks to goals from captain Landon Donovan, American Mike Magee and Ireland striker Robbie Keane in front of their home fans at the Home Depot Center.
Manager Bruce Arena's Galaxy will face Houston Dynamo in the post-season's final match, after Dynamo beat Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference final.
The final, which will take place at the Home Depot Center, could be midfielder David Beckham's last match for Los Angeles, with the former England captain's contract expiring at the end of the season.
But Beckham, 36, is focused only on the upcoming match with Dynamo, after playing in the MLS Cup 2009 when the Galaxy were beaten by Real Salt Lake in a penalty shoot-out.
"We're happy to be winning the Western final, but we know that there is one more game to go so we're not getting carried away," the former Real Madrid and Manchester United star told the league's official website.
"We did that a couple of years ago and we paid for it. We didn't win the MLS Cup final, so hopefully this will be something that we're happy to win [on Sunday], but we know that we've got one more game."
Galaxy went ahead on 23 minutes when Donovan, 29, converted a penalty after Andy Williams' push on Omar Gonzalez.
Dynamo responded almost immediately, striker Alvaro Saborio scoring with a close-range header to equalize after 25 minutes.
Beckham, capped 115 times by England, helped Galaxy regain the lead on 58 minutes, his pin-point cross headed home by Magee.
Former Tottenham and Liverpool forward Keane secured the win for Galaxy with 22 minutes remaining, wriggling free of his marker before firing a low shot beyond Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimandi.
Dynamo needed second half goals from defender Andre Hainault and forward Carlos Costly to see off the challenge of Sporting Kansas City in front of a record crowd at Livestrong Sporting Park.
The 16th MLS Cup final will complete the 2011 season and will be played on Sunday November 20.
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a369c51a74aa4dab9ec2332ec28aad35
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Who has reached the cup?
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[
"Angeles Galaxy"
] |
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(CNN) -- Police said they are pursuing leads in the death of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, whose body was found Monday stuffed into a suitcase in a dairy-farm pond near her Tracy, California, home.
Sandra Cantu, 8, disappeared March 27. Her body was found at a dairy-farm pond near her Calilfornia home.
"We are heading in a direction," Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman told reporters. "To comment on that would compromise the investigation, and I can't do that."
A search warrant was executed at the Tracy mobile home park where the girl lived, and a related search was to be conducted Tuesday at a nearby church, he said.
He implied more than one person may have been involved in the death of Sandra, who had been missing since March 27.
"Investigators are looking at additional information they received since yesterday and, hopefully, that will lead us to Sandra's killers," he said.
Asked if his use of the plural meant police were looking for more than one person, he responded, "We have no specific suspects, ma'am."
Sheneman also implied the killer likely was familiar with the location where the body was found.
He said he himself was unfamiliar with the location where the girl's body was found, despite having lived in the community for nearly 12 years.
"Someone would have to be familiar with that area to know to go there," he said. Watch how the suitcase was found »
Sheneman said police had no one in custody, despite having interviewed hundreds of people regarding the case.
"Everyone that we speak to right now is being considered a person of interest," he said. "We're not eliminating anyone."
The autopsy was being conducted Tuesday, but it was not clear when the report would be available. "It's going to be some time before we hear from the coroner," Sheneman said. "I can't tell you when that's going to be."
More than 10 search warrants have been executed as part of the investigation and "a lot" of evidence has been recovered, Sheneman said.
The day Sandra was last reported seen, she returned home from school, kissed her mother and left to play with a friend who lives nearby. A short time later, wearing a pink Hello Kitty T-shirt and black leggings, she left to go to another friend's home, according to a family spokeswoman.
Police said Monday the girl's clothing helped them identify the body.
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f3e50faa93e748d8aa0f7ccfc81a03bd
|
When did Sandra go missing?
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[
"March 27."
] |
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|
(CNN) -- Rainstorms and flooding in southern China have killed at least 16 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless, according to state-run media.
Residents in Rongcheng, southwest China's Guangxi region on July 4.
Authorities had sent text messages to more than 1 million people to take precautions in southern China, the Xinhua news agency said Saturday.
More than 400,000 residents total were forced from their homes in Fujian, Guangxi Zhuang, Hunan and Jiangxi.
At least two people were missing in southeast Fujian Province after downpours that started Wednesday, according to the news agency.
The financial damage caused by the rain and flooding -- including damaged homes and crops -- was estimated at $35.4 million.
Destruction included a flooded reservoir and damaged dike in Luocheng County, where fears of a dam collapse forced evacuations.
The storms also disrupted traffic, triggered landslides and cut electricity in various parts of southern China.
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37ae94a9ce154131a3b1adb7707d949f
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What cut electricity across southern China?
|
[
"The storms"
] |
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Yasuf, West Bank (CNN) -- Vandals burned a mosque in the West Bank on Friday in an attack a Palestinian official said reflected Israeli settler rage over a government moratorium on settlement construction.
No one knows who set ablaze and vandalized the mosque -- located in the West Bank village of Yasuf.
But the governor of Salfit district, Munir al-Abboushi, told CNN he believes Jewish settlers were responsible for the attack.
"The mosque was completely burned," al-Abboushi said. "They burned the praying carpets and Quran holy books, and set the mosque completely on fire, they even burned the loudspeakers where the Imam preaches inside the mosque."
Al-Abboushi said the culprits had scrawled Hebrew graffiti at the entrance of the mosque that read "price tag -- with regards from Effi."
"Price tag" is the expression radical Israeli settlers have used to denote reprisal attacks against Palestinians in response to moves by the Israeli government to evacuate illegal West Bank outposts.
Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak called on the Israeli military, which occupies the West Bank, to find those responsible for the attack.
"This is an extremist action that is meant to harm any effort by the government to advance political processes for Israel's future," Barak said in a statement released by his office.
Settler leader Dany Dayan -- chairman of the Yesha Council, a group of Jewish municipal councils from the West Bank -- told CNN, "I hope that Israeli police will uncover the perpetrators whoever they are and will bring them to trial. This act is wrong and foolish. If this act was carried out by a Jew it fills me with great shame."
Al-Abboushi said later Friday morning, after word of the mosque attack had spread, residents of the village were prevented by the Israeli army from approaching the area which resulted in minor clashes with exchanges of rocks and tear gas between the residents and Israeli soldiers.
Al-Abboushi expressed doubt that the attack would be investigated properly. "What do the police and Israeli army do when they attack our holy mosques and houses? What do they do to the settlers? But when they attack us they do nothing."
Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a 10-month freeze on new settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
The move has been met with fierce opposition by the politically powerful settler movement and confrontations have erupted almost daily in the West Bank, with groups of settlers forcibly attempting to keep away government inspectors enforcing the ban.
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1beac3744a284485b9fd4fcdabe68701
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What was the Israel orders regarding new settlement construction in West Bank?
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[
"a 10-month freeze"
] |
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(CNN) -- Panama City Beach, Florida, police are looking for a hotel security guard accused of raping an Alabama student and throwing her off a sixth-floor hotel balcony, a police spokesman told CNN.
Police released this photo of Shawn Wuertly, who worked as a hotel security guard in Panama City Beach, Florida.
The 18-year-old woman from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, remains hospitalized, but her injuries are not life-threatening, Lt. Dave Humphreys said.
The incident happened early Monday at the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort in Panama City Beach during spring break.
Police have issued an arrest warrant for Shawn Wuertly, 29, who worked as a security guard at the resort, Humphreys said.
He is wanted for attempted felony murder, sexual battery and false imprisonment.
Wuertly had been questioned by police regarding the attack, but they lacked the evidence to hold him, the spokesman said.
The police investigation has found that the suspect had seen the girl "several times" at the hotel and had "taken a liking to her at some point," Humphreys said.
Around 1 a.m. on Monday, the suspect grabbed the woman and pulled her into an unoccupied room on the sixth floor, using his key to get in, Humphreys said.
She said he sexually assaulted her and, after a brief altercation, threw her over the balcony, the police spokesman said.
She hit two smaller roofs on her way down, which likely saved her from more serious injuries, before she came to rest in a second floor stairwell, Humphreys said.
After his initial questioning, Wuertly told police he was leaving for Tennessee and would return on Wednesday. Wuertly has an outstanding arrest warrant, something that police did not discover until after he was released.
"Obviously no one checked his warrants because he has an outstanding warrant in Indiana," Humphrey said, noting that police are "not happy and will address that."
CNN's calls to the hotel's manager regarding Wuertly's outstanding warrant were not returned. E-mail to a friend
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a0cef22ce5f446c6b6c91a801695f75d
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what are the police doing
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[
"looking for a hotel security guard accused of raping"
] |
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(CNN) -- Floyd Mayweather Jr will have to pay Juan Manuel Marquez a reported $600,000 after weighing in two pounds too heavy ahead of Saturday night's welterweight showdown in Las Vegas.
Floyd Mayweather Jr, left, faces off with Juan Manuel Marquez ahead of Saturday night's fight.
Fight promoters Golden Boy confirmed after Friday's weigh-in that there had been a contractually agreed weight of 144 pounds for Mayweather's comeback bout, and that the American would pay a stipulated -- but undisclosed -- amount for every pound over that amount.
As it was, Mayweather tipped the scales at 146 pounds and Mexican Marquez, whose usual weight is around 135 pounds, was weighed at 142 as he stepped up from lightweight for the fight. The maximum for a welterweight is 147 pounds.
"The fight was contracted as a welterweight fight with an agreed upon weight of 144 pounds. However, there were pre-negotiated weight penalties built in," Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com.
The website also reported sources who stated that each extra pound would cost Mayweather $300,000, thus giving Marquez an additional $600,000 on top of his $3.2 million guarantee for the fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The 32-year-old Mayweather, who returns to the boxing ring for the first time since December 2007 when he beat Ricky Hatton to retain his WBC world welterweight championship, has a reported minimum guarantee of $10 million before pay-per-view TV revenues are added.
Mayweather is undefeated with a career record of 39-0, while the 36-year-old Marquez, who holds the WBA and WBO world lightweight belts, has 50 victories from 55 fights, 37 by knockout.
Meanwhile, Nikolai Valuev will defend his WBA heavyweight title against British boxer David Haye in Germany on November 7.
The fight, originally announced in July, had been in doubt as American John Ruiz lodged a legal challenge claiming that he was the giant Russian's mandatory challenger.
However, the 36-year-old's promoters have clinched a deal with Ruiz, meaning the bout can go ahead as planned at Nuremberg's Arena Nurnberger Versicherung, where Valuev beat Sergei Liakhovich in February 2008.
The 7' 1" Valuev, the tallest and heaviest boxing champion of all time who has a record of 50 wins from 52 fights, will dwarf the 6' 3" Haye, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion.
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a2aa4340ab8e4cb6ae48260092815a7d
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What is the main fighter's weight?
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"146 pounds"
] |
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(CNN) -- A California man convicted of the 2006 arson murders of five U.S. Forest Service firefighters was sentenced to death Friday.
Raymond Lee Oyler was sentenced Friday to die for the arson murders of five firefighters.
Raymond Lee Oyler, 38, of Beaumont was convicted in March of five counts of first-degree murder.
The convictions included two special circumstances: that the murders were committed during an arson and that multiple murders were committed.
Oyler also was convicted of 11 counts of arson and 10 counts of use of an incendiary device in those arsons.
The imposition of the death penalty by a judge was a formality. A jury earlier recommended capital punishment for Oyler. Watch as Oyler's sentence is read »
Firefighters Mark Loutzenhiser, 44; Jess McLean, 27; Jason McKay, 27; and Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20, died October 26, 2006, during the Esperanza fire outside Los Angeles. Fueled by Santa Ana winds, the wildfire enveloped their engine.
The fifth firefighter, Pablo Cerda, 23, died October 31, 2006, at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, where he had been taken after suffering burns over 90 percent of his body.
Days before being charged in Esperanza fire, Oyler had been arrested and charged with two counts of arson in a June 2006 fire in the Banning Pass area.
The 41,173-acre Esperanza fire destroyed 34 homes and 20 outbuildings, mainly in the Twin Pines and Poppet Flats areas, which had been under mandatory evacuations.
The firefighters died trying to protect a partially built house in Twin Pines, a rural mountain community.
CNN's Lynn Lamanivong contributed to this report.
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c3140956cb3b4606be7f2071c33bf830
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when was the fire
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"2006"
] |
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Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Cuba is wrapping up its biggest military exercises in five years, saying it wants to be prepared in the event of a U.S. invasion.
Under the watchful eye of Cuban President Raul Castro, the armed forces is ending four days of extensive maneuvers, war-room strategy sessions and military parades across the island.
"This is a necessity of the first order," Gen. Leonardo Andollo Valdez said on state television.
"The political, military situation, which characterizes the confrontation between our country and the empire, can go from a relatively normal situation to a much more urgent, confrontational, aggressive one in a month, a week, or even in a night," he added.
Cuban television broadcast images of camouflaged troops firing from trenches and fighter aircraft dropping bombs. Many of the images are from exercises in previous years.
The exercises come amid a slight thaw in relations between the Cold War enemies.
President Obama has lifted restrictions on Cuban-American travel and remittances, and the two countries have resumed immigration talks. Obama recently said the United States has no intention of invading the communist island just 90 miles off its coast.
But the fear of an attack has been a constant concern here, and not without reason. In 1961, Washington backed an invasion by Cuban exiles bent on overthrowing Fidel Castro, the brother of Raul Castro and former president of Cuba.
They were defeated at the Bay of Pigs, but the United States has maintained an economic embargo, and Fidel Castro has survived numerous attempts on his life.
The massive military exercises began in 1980 and have been repeated every few years. The latest maneuvers, called "Bastion 2009," are the first since Raul Castro succeeded his brother and Obama assumed the White House.
Preparations for the exercises began in 2004, before either was in office. The exercises end Saturday, and on Sunday, Cuba will celebrate Day of Defense.
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59a6ffd7e77344b2840b37cb85707dbd
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what is being wrapped up
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"its biggest military exercises"
] |
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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- An Indian woman accused of being a witch was tied to a tree and beaten by a mob, with television footage of the incident aired in India on Friday.
Villagers tied the woman to a tree after a man accused her of practicing black magic.
Nishant Tiwari, a police official in northeastern India, said a journalist who filmed the beating called him Thursday to report the incident, which took place in the village of Dumaria in central eastern Bihar state.
He arrived to find the woman tied to a tree, her hair partially cut and her complexion ruddy from being slapped. She had no serious injuries.
"I was appalled at what I saw because people should be more socially responsible than to do this," Tiwari said.
Authorities arrested six people, including the man who admitted to hiring her services as a witch. They were due to appear before a magistrate on Friday.
Ram Ayodhya, who could face up to seven years in prison for his role in the attack, told police he was justified in beating the woman, Tiwari said. Graphic content warning: Villagers beat woman »
Ayodhya said he paid her to use magic and prayer to improve his wife's health.
When his wife's condition deteriorated, Ayodhya accused her of performing black magic, Tiwari said, and a crowd soon gathered and tied her to the tree.
The woman seen being attacked is expected to testify when the suspects appear before the magistrate.
Tiwari said he was disturbed by the fact that a journalist filmed the incident before contacting authorities.
"The media filmed the incident, then called the police -- instead of the police first," Tiwari said.
CNN's partner network, CNN-IBN, reported that the incident took place close to the local police station.
It reported that there had been other such occurrences of mob justice in the state.
In Bhagalpur district in August 2007, a man caught trying to snatch a woman's chain was beaten up, with police looking on, and later tied to a motorcycle and dragged around by a police officer.
In September, in Lucknow's Wazirganj area, an angry mob beat a man to death after a 2½-year old girl was allegedly found sexually assaulted and murdered in his house. E-mail to a friend
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bc76b5cd4ca048d6b3192ac8c8a40b6d
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Who called the police?
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"journalist"
] |
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Beijing, China (CNN) -- In some of the photos, the young children are wearing bibs and slight smiles can be seen on their chubby faces.
But these are not your normal baby pictures.
The Chinese government is trying to find the parents of these 60 homeless children, some of them so young that they had not yet developed the strength to hold their own heads up.
This week the Chinese Ministry of Public Security posted pictures of these rescued children on its Web site.
Many of them had similar stories. They were kidnapped, stolen or sold and somehow had been rescued by authorities.
Police tried to find their parents but could not find them through the national DNA database, state-run China Daily reported.
And for the first time, the Ministry of Public Security posted their pictures.
"Even if I can't find my boy's photo on the Web site today, it's a blessing for desperate parents like us who have nearly lost hope," Tang Weihua, a mother who lost her 5-year-old son in 1999, told China Daily this week.
About 30,000 to 60,000 children are reported missing every year, but it is hard to estimate how many are involved in child trafficking cases, the Ministry of Public Security told China Daily.
Police have rescued 2,000 children this year since China launch a nationwide anti-trafficking campaign, China Daily reported.
But after rescuing the children finding the parents can prove difficult. One issue is that in some cases the parents sold the children.
Earlier this week China's state media reported that police arrested dozens in an alleged child trafficking ring that sold at least 52 babies.
The traffickers bought 19 boys and 33 girls from impoverished rural families in Shanxi and Hebei provinces in the past two years, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
The ring started crumbling after three men were arrested with a baby boy in their van, Xinhua said. The three suspects said they had bought the baby from a woman and her daughter in Hebei, according to Xinhua.
The women had sold 12 other babies to the men, and were arrested, Xinhua said.
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33ba4b592f124ceaa9f58e67fb032c40
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How many children were rescued so far this year?
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[
"2,000"
] |
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(CNN) -- North Korea on Monday proposed replacing the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War with a formal peace treaty, a step it said would pave the way for breaking the international impasse over its nuclear program.
But the communist state said international sanctions imposed after a series of nuclear weapons and missile tests should be lifted before it returns to the negotiating table, a suggestion the United States quickly dismissed.
The cease-fire that ended the three-year Korean War never led to a permanent peace treaty, leaving the North Korean-South Korean border the world's most heavily militarized frontier.
In a statement carried by the official news agency KCNA, North Korea said that a final settlement of the conflict is "essential" to talks aimed at persuading it to dismantle its nuclear program.
"When the parties are in the state of war where they level guns at each other, distrust in the other party can never be wiped out, and the talks themselves can never make smooth progress, much less realizing the denuclearization," it said. "Without settling such [an] essential and fundamental issue as war and peace, no agreement can escape from frustration and failure as now."
Pyongyang has refused to return to the talks, which also involve the United States, Russia, China, South Korea and Japan, insisting that it wants to talk directly with the U.S. government. But Washington says it will not lift sanctions or normalize relations with the North until it takes irreversible steps toward dismantling its nuclear program.
"We're not going to pay North Korea for coming back to the six-party process," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday.
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3809b8f280b141d7b2417577da4e1879
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When was the Korean War ended?
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"1953"
] |
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(CNN) -- Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was sworn in for a second four-year term Saturday, extolling her country's economic stability during a time of global crisis.
"We are a new Argentina, but we are also in a new world with more challenges and more decisions to be made in the best interest of our people and society," she said.
A bulk of her long speech focused on specifics of the Argentine economy that are impressive against the backdrop of a global downturn.
Industrialization has created more than 5 million jobs during her administration and minimum wages are the highest in the region, she said.
Argentina's economy could see growth of 9% in 2011, she said.
Internal growth in the country was one of the main drivers that kept the economy afloat, she said.
"I don't have to read you the consumption statistics. It's enough to go to the streets in any place, in any town ... to know that the domestic market is precisely what permitted us to survive the crisis of 2008 and 2009," she said.
While she talked a lot about specific economic indicators, Fernandez did not abandon her populist side.
"I am not the president of the corporations," she said. "I am the president of the 40 million Argentinians."
Fernandez ranks as one of the most popular candidates in Argentina since its return to democracy. She won re-election with more than 54% of the vote.
Her presidential campaign was also the first she had to wage without her late husband and former president, Nestor Kirchner. He was president from 2003 to 2007, when Fernandez succeeded him. He died in October of 2010.
In an apparent symbol of mourning, Fernandez wore black at her swearing in.
And when she took the oath of office, she asked God, country and "he" -- referring to her husband -- to hold her to account. Her eyes watered as she said those words.
"As everyone can imagine, today is not an easy day for this president," Fernandez said. "Despite the happiness, despite the overwhelming votes, something -- and someone -- is missing."
Her second term as president extends to 2015.
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05c88a0b00b246b5a7348c19d51a39bc
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who did won re-election with 54% ?
|
[
"Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner"
] |
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(EW.com) -- Huge news for "American Chopper" fans: Jesse James is returning to the network that made him famous to compete head-to-head against the Teutuls on "American Chopper."
Marking his first appearance on Discovery Chanel in five years, the former "Monster Garage" star will guest star on "Chopper" across two nights in December. Not only that, but "American Chopper" is going live for the first time -- pitting James, Paul Teutul, Senior and Paul Teutul Jr. in a bike-building battle at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.
The face-off airs December 5 and 6 at 9 p.m. both nights. The first night is the regularly scheduled "American Chopper." You'll see Senior, Junior and James building the bikes, and viewers will vote for their favorite. The second night is a live show from Las Vegas where the winning bike will be revealed.
For "Chopper" fans, this is the stuff of online message-board wish fulfillment. Jesse James' documentary "Motorcycle Mania" helped launch the whole cable reality motorcycle craze back in 2000, whereas relative later-comer "American Chopper" helped bring the genre to a greater level in popularity. James then left Discovery and went on to other ventures, including his short-lived Spike TV series "Jesse James is a Dead Man" (and drawing international headlines for his divorce from Sandra Bullock).
Though James and the Teutuls respective motorcycle garage shows overlapped during James' years at Discovery ("Monster Garage" ran from 2002-06; "Chopper" has aired since 2003), this event marks the first time the combustible personalities have gone head-to-head on one of the programs.
See the full article at EW.com.
CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly
© 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.
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cfaaa93074024d4ba11aae896a2c289e
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What show will the former Monster Garage star appear in?
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[
"\"Chopper\""
] |
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An Air Force F-22A fighter jet crashed Wednesday near Edwards Air Force Base in California, killing the test pilot, the Air Force said.
An F-22A fighter jet similar to this one crashed Wednesday during a test mission in California.
The single-seater crashed about 10:30 a.m. (1:30 p.m. ET) for unknown reasons, Air Force officials said.
Lockheed Martin said the test pilot, David Cooley, 49, of Palmdale, California, joined the company in 2003 and was a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
The fighter was on a test mission when it crashed about 35 miles northeast of Edwards AFB, where it was stationed, the Air Force said in a news release.
At $150 million apiece, the F-22A is the most expensive Air Force fighter.
In 2004, an F-22 Raptor crashed on a training mission in the Nevada desert. The pilot ejected and was not hurt, though the jet was destroyed.
The plane was designed in the 1980s to provide a stealthy method to enter Soviet air space and strike Soviet bombers if the USSR attempted a nuclear strike.
Once the Cold War ended, the Air Force found a new mission for the F-22 as a long-range fighter with a sophisticated stealth design and state-of-the-art equipment that no other plane could rival.
However, the rising cost of the plane and numerous design and software problems threatened the program, which was almost eliminated by Congress.
In the end, the aircraft survived, and most of the problems were fixed -- except for the price tag, which forced the Air Force to buy fewer aircraft.
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d65524d948de46a28b156696e3acb85e
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What crashed 35 miles northeast of Edwards AFB?
|
[
"An Air Force F-22A fighter jet"
] |
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Going to the prom is a highlight in many teenagers' lives. But attending a prom isn't always an option for some young people, including those with special needs.
Alex Gonzales passes under the Marines' sword arch Saturday in Washington as he arrives at the prom.
That's where Helen McCormick comes in.
"We are dreaming for children who are excluded from their proms, and ... you're going to see people walk through the doors who are going to be just absolutely mesmerized," said McCormick, president of a Virginia-based nonprofit called The House, Inc.
For the past four years, McCormick has organized a prom specifically for children with special needs.
This year's prom, dubbed "The Cinderella Ball," was held Saturday night at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington. More than 150 teens attended the gala, where they were greeted by 41 Marines. Each one of the teens went down a red carpet, under a Marine Corps sword arch, before being seated for dinner. Watch scenes from the spectacular prom »
"The children that will be coming are various disabled children with kidney (ailments), children that are literally terminally ill, children with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and autism," McCormick said before the event.
Norman Gonzales brought his 13-year-old son, Alex.
"Their social life is very limited at school and outside school as well, so something like this is very good because they come to a place where they find themselves with people that they can relate to," Gonzales said.
This was Alex Gonzales' first prom and he said he had a great time. "Coming to an event like this -- I think it's a great experience," he said.
The entertainment for the evening was 2007 "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks.
"I think it's so amazing with all the kids that they get to have their prom. They get to dress up and feel really beautiful and have this night dedicated to them," Sparks said.
Most of the teens attending the prom were accompanied by a parent or friend. Some of them brought dates. It was a night many of them said they wouldn't forget anytime soon.
Victor Padgett attended the festivities with his daughter, Dede. He said events like these prove that the human spirit is alive and well.
"There is hope. There is love, and there is compassion for everyone," he said.
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e16965d77ba54dbba9c8990a1e6f20ce
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Who was the organizer who arranged the top talent?
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[
"Helen McCormick"
] |
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(CNN) -- World No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki hopes to be fit for this year's second grand slam tournament, the French Open, despite suffering an ankle injury in an American event.
The Dane had to retire hurt during her semifinal match against Russian seventh seed Vera Zvonareva in Charleston, South Carolina, on Saturday while trailing 5-2 in the first set.
The top seed slipped on the green clay in the sixth game and rolled her ankle, meaning Zvonareva went through to Sunday's final where she will face Australian Samantha Stosur.
Wozniacki, who won the WTA Tour tournament in Ponte Vedra Beach last weekend, told reporters that she hoped to be able to play at Roland Garros when play begins on May 24.
"I certainly hope so. As it looks right now, it's not too bad," said the 19-year-old, who will have a scan on the injury.
"I was surprised that I could stand on my leg, which was very positive, actually. "But as soon as I was moving to the sides, it was impossible, so I couldn't play."
Fourth seed Stosur reached the final of the Family Circle Cup with a 6-3 7-6 (7-2) victory against No. 8 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.
Meanwhile, top seed Francesca Schiavone won the Barcelona Ladies' Open after thrashing fellow Italian Roberta Vinci 6-1 6-1 in just under an hour in Saturday's final.
|
abf8c745026d426abb2a28715f6fe27b
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who hopes to be fit for French Open despite suffering ankle injury?
|
[
"Caroline Wozniacki"
] |
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|
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.
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55c80fd2ac774a0c999fcd3aae35f2b7
|
who are concerned
|
[
"the zoo"
] |
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|
(CNN) -- Ena Zizi was participating in a prayer group at the national cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, when the structure came down on her during the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit the island on January 12.
In New York, meanwhile, her son, Maxim Janvier, had no way of knowing what befell her other than she was missing.
Miraculously, the 70-year-old Zizi survived seven days trapped under the rubble before she was rescued by international search crews this week. A person can, give or take, expect to survive 72 hours trapped without water or food. Zizi managed to hold on for twice as long, something that experts say speaks to the body's resilience in times of danger. It is possible for a healthy person to survive more than 10 days in some cases, experts say.
"I wasn't surprised. I knew she would live through that. She is a tough woman," Janvier said, recalling when he heard the news, via a CNN tip, that his mother had been found. Earlier, he had used CNN's Web site to enter his mother's name, age and approximate location in hope of someone identifying her.
Zizi has since been moved to a medical facility aboard the USS Bataan, and now her son is seeking help moving her to a hospital in Florida for further treatment.
"I haven't given up hope," Janvier told CNN. "It's God's sign to me that I will have another chance to see my mom."
A CNN crew captured video of Tuesday's rescue.
After hours of careful extraction by rescue crews from Germany, South Africa and Mexico, Zizi was carried from the rubble on a wooden board as she grasped the edges, her face covered in dust.
"Thank God! Thank God!" she exclaimed as she was pulled out, the video shows.
"Thanks to teamwork we were able to take this woman that prayed and prayed, and I believe that her faith that is so big was the thing that saved her," one of the Mexican rescuers said. iReport: Search list of the missing and the found
Janvier said he has no doubt that his mother's faith played a role in her survival.
"Definitely, no question. Everyone was praying," he said.
By her side as Zizi was freed, her friends from the church cheered and prayed, Janvier said.
The next step in Zizi's recovery, however, remains unclear. Full coverage l Twitter updates
The life-long Port-au-Prince resident was undergoing surgery aboard the USS Bataan, Janvier said. She was reported to have suffered a fractured femur in the quake.
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d59d87b2a6fe4664bfe8d079cd18f379
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Was the women in injured in any way?
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[
"fractured femur"
] |
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(CNN) -- Paul Schaefer, a former Nazi who fled Germany in 1961 and founded a cult-like commune in Chile, died Saturday in a prison hospital.
He was 88.
Schaefer was serving a 20-year sentence at the national penitentiary in Santiago for sexually abusing children at the notorious commune known as Colonia Dignidad (The Dignity Colony).
The commune in southern Chile, also called Villa Baviera, was created as a place to safeguard Germanic traditions. Under Schaefer's rule, contact with outsiders was largely forbidden.
Some of Schaefer's crimes date to the 1970s and 1980s, during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who had visited the commune.
Former members of the colony have admitted that human rights violations and sexual abuse of children occurred there, saying in a 2006 letter published in a leading Chilean newspaper that they were led by Schaefer's influence.
Schaefer had been in prison since 2006 when he was extradited to Chile from Argentina, where he had been living in hiding.
Schaefer died Saturday morning of cardiopulmonary arrest, the penitentiary said.
CNN Chile's Christian Pino contributed to this report.
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19e5bc542f7c49048326655b17d36ecc
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who is paul schaefer?
|
[
"former Nazi"
] |
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(CNN) -- Veteran Australian paceman Brett Lee has confirmed that he is retiring from Test cricket after being plagued by injuries in recent years.
The 33-year-old, who won 76 Test caps, will still make himself available for one- day cricket once he has fully recovered from an elbow operation he underwent last December.
Lee, who claimed 310 wickets for Australia, missed last year's Ashes series against England after suffering a side strain on the eve of the first Test and has not played for his country since the 2008 Boxing Day Test against South Africa.
"I am extremely proud to have played Test cricket for Australia," Lee told a news conference.
"My reason for retiring from this form of the game is so that I can preserve my body and continue to represent my country in the other forms of the game."
Lee made his debut against India in Melbourne in 1999 and is fourth on Australia's all-time Test wicket-takers list, behind Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee.
"Brett has played a key role in helping the Australian team be one of the most successful Test teams in history," said Cricket Australia chief executive officer James Sutherland.
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7146a9894ed840d7a4982e0598e74bc9
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Lee has won how many international caps?
|
[
"76"
] |
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|
(CNN) -- Eddie Murphy announced Wednesday he would not host next year's Academy Awards, one day after colleague and show producer Brett Ratner quit over an anti-gay remark he made over the weekend.
"I appreciate how Eddie feels about losing his creative partner, Brett Ratner, and we all wish him well," said Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The 84th Academy Awards program is scheduled for February 26.
Murphy worked with Ratner, a director, in the newly released action comedy "Tower Heist."
"First and foremost I want to say that I completely understand and support each party's decision with regard to a change of producers for this year's Academy Awards ceremony," Murphy said in a statement. "I was truly looking forward to being a part of the show that our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I'm sure that the new production team and host will do an equally great job."
Ratner met with the representatives of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation before announcing his resignation, GLAAD said in a news release Tuesday.
When asked during a question-and-answer session whether he rehearses with his actors before shooting a scene, Ratner replied, "Rehearsing is for f*gs," GLAAD said in its release, citing New York Magazine's Vulture blog.
"Over the last few days, I've gotten a well-deserved earful from many of the people I admire most in this industry expressing their outrage and disappointment over the hurtful and stupid things I said in a number of recent media appearances," Ratner said in a letter about this resignation, which was given to CNN by his representative, Allan Mayer. "To them, and to everyone I've hurt and offended, I'd like to apologize publicly and unreservedly."
|
0ec4ad77704a41068663ccd987ed405b
|
What has Eddie Murphy decided?
|
[
"he would not host next year's Academy Awards,"
] |
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Three professors and a former professor at Columbia University's Teachers College received hate mail this week, the New York Police Department said. It's the campus that was shaken by several bias crimes directed at black and Jewish professors in 2007.
Columbia University's Teachers College is once again the target of a hate campaign.
Three professors received manila envelopes Tuesday with images of swastikas in them.
The fourth, a former professor who is an African-American, was sent a manila envelope containing an image of a noose, according to NYPD deputy commissioner Paul Browne.
Among those receiving a swastika image was Elizabeth Midlarsky, a Jewish psychologist who has studied psychological principles in the context of the Holocaust, police said.
In 2007, her office door was spray-painted with a swastika. (A swastika is the right-angles cross symbol used on Nazi Germany flags).
The NYPD Hate Crimes Unit is leading the investigation into the incident. No arrests have been made.
"The TC community deplores these hateful acts, which violate every Teachers College and societal norm," said an e-mail Wednesday to faculty and students from the college's president, Susan Fuhrman; and dean, Tom James.
No arrests were been made in the 2007 incidents. Police declined to say if they believe there is a connection between those cases and the mailings this week.
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0701389279c34b858c553bf9729e8e49
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What agency is in charge of the investigation?
|
[
"The NYPD Hate Crimes Unit"
] |
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(CNN) -- Italian giants Juventus and Roma have suffered blows with the news that star strikers Vincenzo Iaquinta and Francesco Totti have both undergone knee surgery.
Junventus revealed that tests on 29-year-old Iaquinta's left knee have revealed damage to his meniscus.
"The tests done have indicated the need for the player to undergo surgery," read a statement on the club's official Web site.
Iaquinta sustained the injury during training on Saturday and was forced to sit out Sunday's 1-0 victory at Siena.
The Italy international, who has scored four goals in eight appearances for the Bianconeri this season, could be sidelined until next year.
Meanwhile, Roma captain Francesco Totti has undergone surgery on his right knee.
The 33-year-old missed Roma's last two Serie A matches and also their draw with Fulham in the Europa League last week.
The club confirmed Totti will start his rehabilitation on Tuesday, but it is not yet known when he will be ready to return to action.
A statement on Roma's official Web site read: "The surgery was necessary after the player had problems during training.
"In the course of the surgery, no problems of any other nature were found. The player will be discharged and will now begin his rehabilitation. A return date will be determined depending on the player's condition."
Roma currently lie 12th in the Serie A table with 11 points from their opening nine matches.
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e5042430de99433e99a8d62362f011a8
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What knee does Totti undergo surgery on?
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[
"right"
] |
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|
(WIRED) -- The U.S. Marine Corps has banned Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social media sites from its networks, effective immediately.
The Marine Corps fears that social media sites such as Facebook could pose a security risk.
"These internet sites in general are a proven haven for malicious actors and content and are particularly high risk due to information exposure, user generated content and targeting by adversaries," reads a Marine Corps order, issued Monday.
"The very nature of SNS [social network sites] creates a larger attack and exploitation window, exposes unnecessary information to adversaries and provides an easy conduit for information leakage that puts OPSEC [operational security], COMSEC [communications security], [and] personnel... at an elevated risk of compromise."
The Marines' ban will last a year. It was drawn up in response to a late July warning from U.S. Strategic Command, which told the rest of the military it was considering a Defense Department-wide ban on the Web 2.0 sites, due to network security concerns.
Scams, worms, and Trojans often spread unchecked throughout social media sites, passed along from one online friend to the next.
"The mechanisms for social networking were never designed for security and filtering. They make it way too easy for people with bad intentions to push malicious code to unsuspecting users," a Stratcom source told Wired.com.
Yet many within the Pentagon's highest ranks find value in the Web 2.0 tools. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has 4,000 followers on Twitter. The Department of Defense is getting ready to unveil a new home page, packed with social media tools. The Army recently ordered all U.S. bases to provide access to Facebook. Top generals now blog from the battlefield.
"OPSEC is paramount. We will have procedures in place to deal with that," Price Floyd, the Pentagon's newly-appointed social media czar, said.
"What we can't do is let security concerns trump doing business. We have to do business... We need to be everywhere men and women in uniform are and the public is. If that's MySpace and YouTube, that's where we need to be, too," Floyd said.
The Marines say they will issue waivers to the Web 2.0 blockade, if a "mission critical need" can be proven. And they will continue to allow access to the military's internal "SNS-like services." But for most members of the Corps, access to the real, public social networks is now shut off for the next year.
Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT! Click here!
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8fee64ca0aa04eff9d580d81cacd5152
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who banned twitter
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[
"The U.S. Marine Corps"
] |
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|
(CNN) -- The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first of a new class of HIV drugs that attacks the virus in a different way.
A woman wears an AIDS ribbon at a Cape Town, South Africa, hospital where HIV patients are treated.
Isentress, developed by Merck & Co., is designed for patients who have shown resistance to current treatments.
The drug has been approved for adults who already have been receiving treatment, but more testing is necessary before it is approved for new HIV patients or children, the company said in a statement.
Isentress belongs to a class of drugs called integrase inhibitors. These drugs work by blocking the integrase enzyme, which helps HIV replicate by inserting its DNA into new cells. Isentress is the first drug in the class to win FDA approval.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a noted HIV expert and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said the FDA's approval "will be most welcome in the community of physicians taking care of HIV-infected patients."
"Its mechanism of action is particularly important in that it blocks the ability of the virus to integrate itself into the genes of cells," Fauci said. "This property of the virus to integrate is important in establishing the reservoir of virus in the body that has made it extremely difficult to eradicate HIV, even with prolonged treatment."
Two earlier classes of anti-HIV drugs -- protease and reverse transcriptase inhibitors -- also work by blocking different enzymes involved in HIV replication. Friday's decision by the FDA will give doctors a new tool to help patients who have developed resistance to existing drugs or who are infected with drug-resistant strains of HIV.
Like protease and reverse transcriptase inhibitors, Isentress will also be prescribed for patients in combination with other drugs to maximize the number of ways the virus is being attacked.
The cost of the recommended daily regimen of Isentress -- a 400 mg tablet taken twice a day -- will be comparable to protease inhibitors, with a wholesale price of $27, Merck said. E-mail to a friend
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7b4295dc8b224c64b26a9ca5cdbc0967
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What is needed before it is approvevd for new patients & children?
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[
"more testing is necessary"
] |
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Washington (CNN) -- The White House on Friday began releasing the names of visitors as part of a Barack Obama campaign promise to run a more transparent administration.
Last month, Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, said records of White House visitors would be made available to the public on an ongoing basis beginning in December.
"We will achieve our goal of making this administration the most open and transparent administration in history not only by opening the doors of the White House to more Americans, but by shining a light on the business conducted inside it," he said. "Americans have a right to know whose voices are being heard in the policymaking process."
As part of that initiative, he offered to look back at records from before the announcement.
Eisen said Friday that 110 disclosure requests from September have been processed, yielding nearly 500 visitor records that have been posted on the White House Web site. Since the release covers only those records that are at least 90 days old, the first records cover January 20 to July 31.
"This first release is only the latest in a series of unprecedented steps by the president to increase openness in government," Eisen said.
Given that up to 100,000 people visit the White House each month, the names published Friday included people with some very familiar names -- including William Ayers, Michael Jordan, Michael Moore, Jeremiah Wright and R. Kelly -- that did not belong to their more famous counterparts, he said.
"The well-known individuals with those names never actually came to the White House," Eisen said.
The names can be seen at www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/disclosures/visitor-records
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92c7665497a34183a535236d1953eef4
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How many people will visit White House each month?
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[
"100,000"
] |
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(CNN) -- Actor Larry Hagman said Friday that he has been diagnosed with cancer, but noted "it is a very common and treatable form" of the disease.
Hagman, who turned 80 last month, is best known for his role as J.R. Ewing, the son of a Texas oil tycoon on the primetime television series "Dallas," and as a dashing Florida astronaut living with a 2,000-year-old genie on the sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie."
In recent days he has been preparing for a stint on the remake of "Dallas" later this month.
"As J.R I could get away with anything -- bribery, blackmail and adultery," Hagman said. "But I got caught by cancer."
Hagman said he will receive treatment for his cancer -- the type of which was not disclosed -- while working on the new "Dallas."
This isn't the first health scare Hagman has faced. In 2003, he talked to CNN about his fight with cirrhosis and the 16-hour liver transplant in 1995 that saved his life.
Warner Horizon Television, TNT's television production branch, which is producing the "Dallas" remake, issued a statement Friday expressing support for Hagman.
"We look forward to watching Larry once again work his magic by bringing one of television's most interesting, complex and controversial characters back to the screen in the new Dallas series," the statement said.
The original "Dallas" series ran from 1978 to 1991.
"I could not think of a better place to be than working on a show I love, with people I love. Besides, as we all know, you can't keep J.R. down!" Hagman said.
CNN's KJ Matthews contributed to this report.
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6c8cecc2ed134174bca8d474eeef8df9
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Will there be a Dallas remake?
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[
"later this month."
] |
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(CNN) -- Severe turbulence shook a Continental Airlines flight Monday, injuring dozens of passengers and forcing the aircraft to divert to Miami, Florida, according to the airline and a fire official.
Oxygen masks hang from a damaged part of the plane Monday, in a photo by passenger Camila Machado.
There were 168 passengers and 11 crew members on Flight 128, which was heading from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Houston, Texas, according to a statement from Continental Airlines.
"I've never seen turbulence like that, so I really thought we wouldn't make it," passenger Giovani Loss told CNN affiliate WSVN-TV. Loss, who is originally from Brazil, said he is a lawyer in the United States and frequently travels between the two countries.
He said passengers were afraid the turbulence may have been the result of mechanical problems with the plane.
"People [were] screaming, then there was a huge silence for like 30 minutes," Loss said.
Ambulances and other vehicles were lined up on the runway to treat and transport the injured passengers when the plane landed at Miami International Airport at 5:35 a.m. Watch passengers describe what happened »
"People that weren't seat belted in flew up and hit the ceilings," passenger John Norwood told WSVN. "So their faces, their heads hit the plastics and broke all the plastics up top."
Continental said seven passengers were transported to nearby hospitals, and approximately 28 other passengers were treated at the scene. Lt. Elkin Sierra of the Miami-Dade Fire Department said 26 passengers were injured, including four seriously.
The Boeing 767-200 hit turbulence about 50 miles north of the Dominican Republic at about 38,000 feet, according to an official with the Federal Aviation Administration. It landed in Miami an hour later with its seat belt signs illuminated, the airline said.
Many of the passengers said they did not hear any warning before the turbulence hit.
Injuries received included bumps, bruises, neck pain and back pain, Sierra said.
Passengers said they saw several people bleeding from their heads, including one woman who sustained a serious gash to her head.
The flight is scheduled to depart Miami for Houston later in the morning, according to Continental's Web site. It had been scheduled to arrive in Houston at 6 a.m. local time.
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e360f13a0b56439d914b0d080a6fd5a5
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In which state is Miami?
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[
"Florida,"
] |
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(CNN) -- Retired basketball icon Michael Jordan bought a majority share of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, officials said Saturday.
Jordan, who was already a minority owner of the team, headed a group that bought a majority share of the team from businessman Robert Johnson, Johnson said in a statement.
Johnson said he has signed a "definitive agreement" to sell majority interest of Bobcats Sports and Entertainment to Michael Jordan and MJ Basketball Holdings, LLC. The deal is subject to NBA approval. Details on the purchase price were not available.
Jordan has overseen the team's basketball operations in recent years. He won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls.
Johnson, who founded BET and sold it to Viacom for $3 billion in 2001, announced that he had been looking for someone to buy earlier this year.
His fortune was depleted by an expensive divorce, but in a 2009 interview with CNN, Johnson estimated his net worth was still $1.1 billion.
Johnson's resume is full of firsts: BET was the first African-American owned company traded on the NYSE. He was the first African-American billionaire in the United States. And, in 2002, he became the first African-American majority owner of a professional sports franchise.
|
449a76814bb54f8e998283ba86405452
|
Who sold the team to him?
|
[
"Robert Johnson,"
] |
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Paris (CNN) -- A judge placed France's richest woman, L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, under the guardianship of her grandson on Monday, her lawyer said.
Bertrand Favreau, one of Bettencourt's lawyers, said Jean-Victor Meyers, the eldest grandson of the 88 year-old woman, has been designated her guardian.
"It is a very disappointing decision that's for sure. It will be hard for me to tell her this decision because it will be unbearable for her," Favreau said.
Last year, Bettencourt's daughter, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, declared in court that her mother was not mentally competent to handle her own affairs.
Bettencourt-Meyers accused a photographer of bilking her mother out of a billion euros. Bettencourt was friends with the photographer, Francois-Marie Banier, and allegedly gave him the money. The daughter took the case to court in an effort to recover the funds. She later dropped the suit.
In a statement Monday, Bettencourt-Meyers and her two sons, Jean-Victor and Nicolas, acknowledged the ruling.
"Their action has always been guided by the sole wish to see their mother and grandmother truly protected," the statement said of the three. "It is a great relief for them today that (the judge) has recognized their position."
In an interview published Sunday in France's Journal du Dimanche, Bettencourt said she was worried about the judge's decision on Monday.
"I'm trembling, all I can do is pray. Do you think the judge will agree with my daughter?" said Bettencourt in the interview. "I'm not going to sleep well tonight. I have a feeling I'm going to be squashed."
Favreau plans to consult with Bettencourt on appealing the ruling and ask that its enforcement be suspended.
CNN's James Partington contributed to this report.
|
6d22cded07034fc0ba823cd240451949
|
What the plans has been made by her lawyer?
|
[
"to consult with Bettencourt on appealing the ruling and ask that its enforcement be suspended."
] |
NewsQA
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PARIS, France -- AC Milan's Brazilian midfielder Kaka has been named European player of the year, lifting France Football's Ballon d'Or award.
Kaka has already claimed all of the game's major prizes.
His success comes two years after his fellow countryman, Barcelona's Ronaldinho, claimed the award
The 25-year-old Kaka was a major factor in AC Milan's triumphant Champions League campaign.
The runner-up was Manchester United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo with Barcelona's Argentinian midfielder Lionel Messi finishing third.
"This is very special for me - it culminates an astonishing year for me," Kaka said.
"It's the top prize around and the only way to win something like this is to play for a team like AC Milan. It's great to be part of a team that wins."
At 25 years old, he has already won all the game's major prizes, individually and collectively.
He was part of Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning squad, although he was limited to just 19 minutes as a substitute against Costa Rica.
He was top scorer in last season's Champions League, helping Milan to avenge their loss to Liverpool in the 2005 final.
He won the Italian domestic title in his first season at Milan having joined from Brazilians Sao Paulo for$ 8.5 million, a sum that Milan president Silvio Berlusconi then described as peanuts. E-mail to a friend
|
c57976f9f27b4d2593de163b349bbbfa
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Who is European player of the year?
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[
"Kaka"
] |
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London, England (CNN) -- A woman's body was found in a river in Wales, police said Tuesday, the second death from severe flooding that has hit England and Wales since late last week.
The body of the woman, who was not named, was found in the River Usk near the village of Talybont, in mid Wales close to the coast, Brecon police said. Search teams had been looking for her since Sunday.
Talybont is about 250 miles south of Cockermouth, England, which has experienced some of the worst flooding seen in decades.
Friday, parts of Cockermouth were under several feet of water after heavy rainfall the night before. The town sits at the intersection of two rivers, the Cocker and the Derwent, both of which burst their banks and raged through the town.
By Tuesday, the flood waters had receded and the clean-up and damage assessment was well under way. But rain was still falling over the entire region, raising fears of further flooding in some areas.
Britain's Environment Agency said river levels across the county of Cumbria remained high but are unlikely to rise to levels seen last week.
Twenty road bridges in Cumbria were closed Tuesday, including seven that collapsed in the floods, Cumbria County Council spokesman Gareth Cosslett told CNN. Also shut were eight footbridges, which are an essential means of connecting residents in riverside towns.
In Workington, where Cumbria Police Constable Bill Barker died in the floods last week, the two sides of the town are cut off from each other because all bridges were either washed away or closed for safety reasons.
"We're hoping to get a temporary road bridge installed in Workington," Cosslett said, describing it as the council's first priority. "We haven't yet confirmed what we're going to do or when that's going to happen, but in all likelihood we're looking at a single-lane temporary bridge with traffic lights on either side."
Cosslett had no estimate on when the bridge could be complete, but he said such a project may take more than a month.
The worst weather Tuesday was in Cumbria, where the Met Office, the UK's weather service, predicted heavy and persistent rain and accumulations of 1.2 to 2.4 inches (30 to 60 millimeters).
Rain and strong gusts were also forecast for Wales on Tuesday, the Met Office said.
The rain was expected to move through the region by Wednesday, but more was set to return by Thursday, according to Met Office forecasts.
Sixty-eight flood watches and warnings were in place across England and Wales on Wednesday, the Environment Agency said.
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f19d313ede02493c9e91a03169d68429
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how many watches were there
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[
"Sixty-eight"
] |
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq awarded a lucrative oil contract to BP and China National Petroleum Corp., government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Wednesday, while rejecting other companies' offers for other oil fields.
BP and China National Petroleum Corporation have won a lucrative oil contract in Iraq.
The joint BP-CNPC bid was for the al-Rumeila oil field, one of the largest in the world. The energy companies are expected to increase production at the oil field by 50 percent, to 285,000 barrels a day, for a service charge of $2 for each additional barrel produced, al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
The Iraqi government rejected bids for five other oil fields and a natural gas field because the bidders did not agree to the service charge set by the Ministry of Oil, he said.
The Ministry of Oil rejected the idea that the failure to award more than one contract made the much-anticipated auction a flop.
Iraq did not say how much the BP-CNPC bid was worth. It runs for 20 years.
Oil Minister Hussein Shahrastani chaired the government-sponsored auction for the oil and natural gas field contracts Tuesday, after a day's delay due to a sandstorm.
Much of the auction was broadcast live on state television, which Ministry of Oil spokesman Assem Jihad told CNN was a sign of the transparency of the process.
He said the government was satisfied with the auction, even though only one contract was awarded, because the contract was for Iraq's largest oil field.
Iraq plans to open bidding this year on 10 more oil fields and one natural gas field, all of which are undeveloped, Jihad said.
The companies whose bids were rejected Tuesday have been given time to review their offers, he said.
Iraq has some of the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 115 billion barrels -- tying Iran for second place, behind Saudi Arabia's 264 billion barrels, according to estimates from the Energy Information Administration in the United States.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh in Baghdad contributed to this report.
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52b46fdbac8546bf947ffe9676dba8fc
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who awards lucrative oil contracts Iraq?
|
[
"The Iraqi government"
] |
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(CNN) -- Prince Harry paraded alongside his fellow British servicemen in Scotland Wednesday, as he attended a memorial to service members who have died in Afghanistan.
Prince Harry takes part in a memorial parade and service for troops killed during his tour of Afghanistan.
Harry, 23, serves in the British Army and spent 10 weeks in Afghanistan earlier this year. He was withdrawn unexpectedly in March after news leaked out about his low-key deployment.
The prince appeared in uniform alongside around 200 other sailors, soldiers, marines and airmen at the parade, which took place on Edinburgh's famous Royal Mile. They made their way to St. Giles' Cathedral for a private memorial and thanksgiving service for the fallen service members.
Also attending the service was British Defense Secretary Des Browne, families of the fallen troops, and recovering wounded military personnel.
Harry holds the rank of cornet, equivalent to a second lieutenant. He was deployed to Afghanistan's Helmand province where he served as a forward air controller.
His duties included calling in airstrikes and air support when necessary, guaranteeing the accuracy of bombing on the ground and guarding against incidents of friendly fire.
The parade and memorial service took place on the same day Britain's Ministry of Defense announced the deaths of four British soldiers in Afghanistan, and two days after Browne announced Britain will increase its presence in Afghanistan from 7,800 troops to 8,030 by next spring. Watch Prince Harry at the memorial »
Prince Harry is the younger son of Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, and the late Princess Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997.
Last year, the military ruled he could not be sent to Iraq because publicity about the deployment could put him and his unit at risk.
Shortly after the news of the prince's deployment broke, several Islamist Web sites posted messages alerting their "brethren" in Afghanistan to be on the lookout for the royal soldier.
Several members of the British royal family saw combat in the past century. Prince Harry's grandfather, Prince Phillip, served aboard warships in World War II; his great-grandfather -- the future King George VI -- took part in the World War I naval battle of Jutland; and Prince Andrew, Prince Harry's uncle, flew Royal Navy helicopters during Britain's 1982 war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.
Prince Harry's brother, Prince William, is also an army officer. But as second in line for the throne, he is specifically barred from combat.
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a83c8ae11af042b1816e54e888012776
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What did Harry do?
|
[
"paraded alongside his fellow British servicemen"
] |
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(CNN) -- Jury selection in the case of a deadly 2007 Connecticut home invasion was postponed Monday because the suspect was hospitalized, his defense attorney said.
Steven Hayes was in intensive care, attorney Thomas Ullmann said.
Jury selection in Hayes' murder trial was delayed. A status conference was scheduled for Wednesday, Ullmann said.
"We have no idea how long this is going to take," the attorney added.
Hayes, 46, is one of two men charged with offenses including felony murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and arson in the July 2007 home invasion in Cheshire, Connecticut.
Prosecutors allege that Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky, 29, broke into the home of the Petit family. They say the two beat up Dr. William Petit; strangled his 48-year-old wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit; and set the home ablaze. The couple's two daughters, 17-year-old Hayley Petit and 11-year-old Michaela Petit, died from smoke inhalation.
Trial's start stirs painful memories in Cheshire
Ullmann said he did not know why Hayes was hospitalized, but the Hartford Courant, citing unnamed sources, said he apparently overdosed on medication he receives daily. Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue said in court Monday that Ullmann told him Hayes was found unconscious in his cell and may be in a medically induced coma.
The University of Connecticut Medical Center referred questions Monday to the Connecticut Department of Correction. The department declined comment, citing a court-imposed gag order in the case.
Authorities allege that during the Petit home invasion, one of the attackers drove Hawke-Petit to a bank to withdraw money. She was able to alert a bank teller that the family was being held captive, and the teller alerted police, authorities said.
Media reports said that Hawke-Petit and Michaela Petit were sexually assaulted during the seven-hour ordeal. Prosecutors have declined to confirm details because of the gag order.
The motive in the case remains unclear. Hayes and Komisarjevsky, who is set to be tried separately, could face the death penalty if convicted.
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82edf017e00c49849ab2f38999b3bfa0
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Who is the defendant in the home invasion case?
|
[
"Steven Hayes"
] |
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HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- An imperial "dragon" throne owned by a Chinese emperor set the world auction record for Chinese furniture Thursday, selling for about US $11 million.
Nicolas Chow of Sotheby's, pictured, said mainland Chinese buyers were "ready to pay the premium."
There was frenzied bidding among mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan collectors at the Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong.
Thirty-six bids came in 10 minutes, with tension building as a new telephone bidder jumped into the competition.
"These mainland (China) buyers, mainland collectors are ready to pay the premium it takes to secure an object of this quality," said Nicolas Chow, international head of Chinese ceramics and art at Sotheby's.
The winning bid of US $11,068,193 (HK $85,780,000) was by a private Shanghai businessman. It was nearly triple the estimate of US $3.9 million (HK $30 million), Sotheby's said. Watch why the throne is so prized »
"This is the place from which the emperor conducted his stately affairs and received foreign envoys and basically, this is a seat of power," Chow said. "No one else should have sat down in this place."
The throne belonged to Emperor Qianlong, who ruled from 1736-1795.
The 4.6 foot-long (140 centimeters) piece is considered rare and prized because of the zitan wood from which it was carved. It also features carved panels, curved legs and an elaborate "Five Dragon" carving on the front and back. The number five represents the "five blessings" of old age, wealth, health, virtue and peaceful death, according to Sotheby's.
Other pieces that sold Thursday included a celadon ground butterfly vase. The Qianlong period piece sold for US $2.74 million (HK $21.3 million).
CNN's Pauline Chiou contributed to this report.
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d7e8abfcd19c4d86b1227f9402c03567
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What does the throne have?
|
[
"carved panels, curved legs and an elaborate \"Five Dragon\" carving on the front and back."
] |
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(CNN) -- South Korean star Park Ji-sung has signed a two-year contract extension at English Premier League champions Manchester United.
The 28-year-old Park has been handed a contract extension at Manchester United.
The attacking midfielder is now tied to Old Trafford until 2012 as reward for his dogged displays for United since joining from PSV Eindhoven in 2005.
"I am so pleased to have a new contract," Park told www.manutd.com.
"We have achieved great success over the last four years and won many trophies."
Park has had to work hard to establish himself as a regular member of United's starting line-up and was devastated to be left out of the squad for their 2008 Champions League final success against Chelsea.
But last season he was a key figure as United completed a hat-trick of Premier League titles.
Park also gained selection for the Champions League final against Barcelona, becoming the first player from Asia to play in the European club showpiece.
His popularity in his home region is undoubted and United have been able to capitalize with two highly-profitable visits to the continent with Park a key draw.
Park, who will be a driving force in South Korea's World Cup challenge in South Africa next year, has played 127 times for United, scoring 12 goals.
"We are always pleased to secure the future of our star players and Ji-Sung has proved himself to be a fantastic professional as well as an important versatile player in our squad," said manager Alex Ferguson.
Park has been rewarded with an improved deal worth a reported $5.9 million per year.
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de1511de55374f36b6c92f587f6f0579
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Who was given a two-year extension to his contract at Manchester United?
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[
"South Korean star Park Ji-sung"
] |
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(CNN) -- Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for former Dallas Cowboys player Terrell Owens after he failed to show up for a child support hearing last month.
The free-agent wide receiver tried to reschedule the October 24 hearing in order to attend an NFL workout to help secure a contract, his spokeswoman said Saturday night.
He is "deeply upset that anyone would misconstrue his nonappearance in court," Diana Bianchini said.
At the time, Owens did not have representation, but his new attorneys are working to resolve the "no show" court date, she said.
Owens has been nursing a knee injury after surgery, and currently has no income, according to the spokeswoman.
He supports his four children based on his 2007 income of $11 million to $12 million when he was playing for the Dallas Cowboys, which has not been modified to reflect his current situation, she said.
"In addition to this, his attorneys have just filed a lawsuit on his behalf for $2 million in a case where advisers who had access to his accounts were seriously mishandling fund," she said.
The player is in "serious financial shape" but is working to resolve the issue, according to the spokeswoman.
The wide receiver has played for the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals.
CNN's Stephanie Gallman contributed to this report.
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eef9cb276360433da36e94855c9ec1ee
|
what teams did he play for
|
[
"San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals."
] |
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Miami, Florida (CNN) -- Tropical Storm Paula pushed across western Cuba Thursday evening with wind gusts just under hurricane strength in some places, bringing heavy rain and high winds to the island nation, forecasters said.
The storm is gradually weakening and is expected to become a tropical depression Friday, the Miami, Florida-based National Hurricane Center said
As of 8 p.m. ET, the center of Paula was about 25 miles (45 kilometers) east of Havana, the center said. It was moving east at 14 mph (22 kph).
Paula passed just south of the Cuban capital around 6 p.m. Thursday -- with sustained winds of 41 mph (67 kph) and a gust of 54 mph (87 kph) recorded in Havana -- after making landfall at about noon near Puerto Esperanza.
The storm's maximum sustained winds have weakened to 55 mph (90 kph), the center said Thursday night, but wind gusts of 68 mph had been recorded earlier near Puerto Esperanza. Stronger gusts were confined to a small area near the storm's center, the center said.
Paula's tropical storm-force winds have expanded to 70 miles (110 km) outward from the center, altering the landscape of a storm that has been roughly half that size for most of its duration.
Forecasters said the storm was likely to stick to an east to east-northeast track, moving across western and central Cuba Thursday night and Friday.
The hurricane center said that tropical storm force winds should continue to spread eastward across western and central Cuba Thursday night, primarily along the north coast.
The center discontinued an earlier tropical storm watch also was for the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas.
Emergency management officials in the Keys said Wednesday they were keeping an eye on the progress of Paula and expected some gusty winds and rain, but no protective actions had been initiated. Forecasters predict the center of Paula will remain south of the Keys.
Paula is likely to dump an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain over portions of western and central Cuba over the next two days, the National Hurricane Center said. Total maximum amounts could be 10 inches in some areas. Heavy rain could trigger flash floods and mudslides, forecasters said. The Florida Keys could see between 1 and 2 inches of rain.
In addition, a storm surge is forecast to raise water levels by 2 to 4 feet above normal tide levels along the coast of western Cuba, accompanied by "large and destructive waves," the hurricane center said.
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7ade29e5ac7d40b2879388699c614747
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What are the maximum sustained winds?
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[
"55 mph"
] |
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi government says it has banned all organized visits to Saddam Hussein's grave amid concern over support for the late dictator's former party.
An Iraqi poet, left, gives a recital while children carry pictures of Saddam Hussein over his grave.
A Cabinet statement on Monday said it had directed authorities in Salaheddin province and the Education Ministry to "take all necessary measures" to prevent such outings.
The former dictator, along with his two sons and other relatives, is buried in his hometown of al-Ouja near Tikrit in Salaheddin north of Baghdad. And, Hussein supporters and schoolchildren have made visits there on the late dictator's birthday and hanging date.
There have been videos on sites such as YouTube of people at the site.
One video shows schoolchildren at the grave in December; they carried banners at Hussein's grave that said "We won't forget you father" and they read pro-Hussein poetry.
The government move was made after a recent visit by schoolchildren to the grave, but no reason was given for the decision.
However, the move reflects the concern of Iraq's government over the presence of the Baath Party in Iraq, Saddam Hussein's political movement.
The party and its symbols have been banned in Iraq.
On Saturday, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters that while there can be government reconciliation with individual Baathists who have not committed crimes such as killing Iraqis, there can never be national reconciliation with the party itself.
Salaheddin Gov. Mutasher Hussein Alaiwi, said he had not received any official directives yet, but said he would implement Cabinet orders when he receives them.
The governor said that would apply to organized group visits, but they would not stop individual ones.
A resident of al-Ouja told CNN the government had no right to stop visitors from going to their former president's tomb.
"Even if they put police and army outside the door, they will not stop us from visiting our president, our leader and our father," said Mohammed al- Nasiri.
Hussein was executed in 2006 after an Iraqi court sentenced him to death for crimes against humanity.
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47dab71766894e1dad4851552f94c4ce
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Who recently visited the grave?
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[
"schoolchildren"
] |
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(CNN) -- Juventus came from behind to defeat Bologna 4-1 on Saturday to put pressure on Inter Milan at the top of the Serie A table.
Alessandro Del Piero celebrates the first of his two goals in Juventus' 4-1 victory over Bologna.
Massimo Mutarelli put Bologna ahead in the 24th minute, but a dominant second half display from the Bianconeri gave them all three points.
Hasan Salihimidzic equalised in the 49th minute before Sebastian Giovinco put the home side ahead in the 71st minute.
A brace from Alessandro Del Piero in the 75th and 88th minutes sealed a win which takes Juve to within four points of leaders Inter, who face a tricky home match against Fiorentina on Sunday.
In Saturday's other match, Genoa boosted their hopes of playing in the Champions League next season thanks to a 1-0 win at 10-man Cagliari to move above Fiorentina into fourth place.
Cagliari lost Andrea Cossu to a red card in the 39th minute but held out until five minutes from the end when Ruben Olivera grabbed the decisive goal.
Meanwhile, veteran striker Filippo Inzaghi scored his 300th career goal to help Milan crush Siena 5-1 on Sunday to consolidate third place in the table.
The 35-year-old scored twice, while Alexander Pato also netted a brace and Andrea Pirlo scored the opener from the penalty spot, as Milan proved too strong for their opponents -- for whom Massimo Maccarone was on target.
Roma lost further ground in the race for the fourth Champions League place as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Sampdoria.
Julio Baptista gave the visitors a seventh-minute lead but Giampaolo Pazzini headed home an equalizer before the same player put the home side ahead after a mistake from goalkeeper Doni.
But Baptista levelled from the spot after Marco Padalino was penalized for fouling Max Tonetto -- the player who missed the decisive spot-kick in the midweek Champions League defeat by Arsenal.
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287471772930434bbec3dc5eacf56db5
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What was the score of the Juventus - Bologna game?
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"4-1"
] |
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(CNN) -- Two graduate students were found shot to death Thursday night in an apartment a block off the Louisiana State University campus, officials said.
LSU Chancellor Sean O'Keefe briefs reporters on the fatal shootings of two international graduate students.
No suspects have been identified in what police are investigating as a double homicide. Neighbors told police three strange men were seen in the area.
The bodies of Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam, both Ph.D. candidates from India, were found inside Allam's apartment at the Edward Gay complex near the LSU band's practice field.
The complex houses graduate and married students.
A task force of LSU campus police and the Baton Rouge Police Department is investigating, university Chancellor Sean O'Keefe said.
"If anybody can find them, they can," O'Keefe told reporters Friday. Watch O'Keefe discuss "a tragic situation" »
O'Keefe said campus police responded to a 911 call at 10:37 p.m. and encountered "a very, very tragic scene." Both men had been shot in the head. One was bound with phone cable and the other was lying near the door.
The apartment was cluttered and items were strewn about, so it has been difficult to determine whether anything was taken, O'Keefe said.
Emergency text messages were sent to students and faculty across the LSU campus late Thursday, but the campus remained open on Friday.
O'Keefe said officials decided against a campus lockdown after police determined that the slayings were not part "an escalating pattern."
People were warned in the text messages to use caution, but not all of the 8,000 students who had signed up for them received them, O'Keefe said. Officials are looking into what went wrong.
The Associated Press reported that Allam's pregnant wife found the bodies and called 911.
Although police have indicated they suspect the slayings occurred during a home invasion robbery, O'Keefe told reporters no motive has been determined. E-mail to a friend
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dbb965250ee24d31b1a1fa6754bd7def
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where is the apartment
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[
"Louisiana State University campus,"
] |
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Burberry, the 150-year-old British luxury brand most famous for its distinctive check pattern, has recently experienced a resurgence.
Christopher Bailey, Burberry's creative director, has been credited with the brand's resurgence.
The brand credits much of its new a la mode image to creative director Christopher Bailey.
The unassuming 37-year-old British designer has successfully reconnected Burberry with a trendy young audience -- using the likes of British super model Agyness Deyn, whom he has propelled to international stardom -- in ad campaigns.
But times are hard for luxury brands, with a recession that has turned many high-end consumers toward cheaper alternatives.
So how is Bailey handling the current economic climate?
With stylish new headquarters in the heart of London and the recent opening of a Burberry Children's wear store in the capital, it seems the brand has kept its wheels rolling. Watch Burberry's creative director speak to CNN »
Bailey believes the new headquarters were an important extension of Burberry's image, telling CNN "the building is the brand beacon."
"It's so important that everyone lives and breathes the aesthetic of what Burberry is. We have to do what feels right for the company," Bailey added.
But that does not mean that Burberry is ignoring the recession. "It's all about the balance between functionality and emotion. You have to be instinctive about what's going on," said Bailey.
"We think about the world recession, but it helps us focus and make sure that the brand purity and integrity is there in everything we do.
"We've just opened our first [children's wear] store in London and the first signs are pretty wonderful."
But Bailey agrees that "there has been incredible excess in the last five to 10 years, so it's a good moment to re-balance."
So how will that translate to the catwalk? "The [clothes] will be investment pieces for the long-term. It's not just about fashion for a season."
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dc920ecb83674eb7a964b9b9c3e747b2
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What does Bailey say helps us focus?
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"the world recession,"
] |
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BIRMINGHAM, England -- Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele broke the two-mile world record at an international indoor meeting in Birmingham on Saturday.
Bekele shaved 0.34 seconds off the record held by Gebrselassie.
The reigning Olympic 10,000 meters champion, on the same track where compatriot Haile Gebrselassie achieved the previous fastest time, shaved 0.34 seconds off his fellow Ethiopian's mark with a time of 8 minutes 04.35 seconds.
The women's 3,000 meters was won by another Ethiopian, front-running Gelete Burka, in 8:31.94 - the third-fastest time in history.
Britain's Commonwealth champion Phillips Idowu warmed-up for next month's World Indoor Championships in Valencia by winning the triple jump with 17.21 meters.
Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia set a world indoor record in the women's pole vault by clearing 4 meters 95 centimeters in Donetsk.
She beat her own mark of 4.93m which she set last year at the same venue.
It is the third consecutive year in which 25-year-old Isinbayeva, who has leaped 5.02 outdoors, broke the indoor mark in Donetsk. E-mail to a friend
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1ae85941dc964915aaff145c0876d003
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Who broke the two mile record?
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"Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele"
] |
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(CNN) -- One FAA safety inspector was killed and another injured Tuesday when a helicopter they were on crashed into an apparently unoccupied house in Jackson, Mississippi, authorities said.
The Robinson R44 helicopter that crashed is similar to the one pictured here.
The Robinson R44 helicopter crashed into the duplex-style house about half a mile east of Hawkins Field airport, according to Kathleen Bergen of the Federal Aviation Administration. The two people on the aircraft were from the agency's Flight Standards District Office in Jackson, Bergen said.
Names of the two were not released.
Both victims were taken to the Mississippi Medical Center where one of them died shortly after arriving, according to medical center spokesman Jack Masurak.
Lee Vance, Jackson assistant police chief, said the rear roof of the house sustained most of the damage from the crash, and no one answered the door when emergency personnel arrived, leading him to believe the house was unoccupied at the time.
The helicopter, which was registered to a local company and operated out of the airport, was demolished in the crash, authorities said. No further details about the crash were available.
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5f3f139c27764b65a1e5741241695a49
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What demolished in crash?
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[
"The helicopter,"
] |
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MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia declared an end Thursday to its 10-year anti-terror "operation" in the autonomous republic of Chechnya.
Russian forces have been operating in Chechnya since Boris Yeltsin's order in 1999.
The end to the offensive could see the withdrawal of thousands of troops from the Muslim-majority region, where Russia has fought two wars since the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991.
The head of the Federal Security Service "canceled the decree declaring a counterterrorist operation in the territory of the republic as of midnight of April 16," Russia's anti-terror committee said.
It said it did so to create "the conditions for the future normalization of the situation in the republic, its reconstruction and development of its socio-economic sphere," it said in a statement.
The late president Boris Yeltsin ordered the counter-terrorist operation in 1999. Since then, the region has been relatively stable.
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3ef5233cab974c75ad6d18389e86c081
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How long has the anti-terror operation been going on?
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"10-year"
] |
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Criminal charges will not be filed against the 18-year-old college freshman who falsely accused five men of raping her in a dormitory bathroom at Hofstra University, an official said Friday.
Instead, Danmell Ndonye must participate in a year-long psychiatric program and spend 250 hours in community service for lying to police about what was a consensual sexual encounter with four of the five accused men, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a written statement.
Ndonye said she did not engage in sexual activity with Rondell Bedward, the only one of the men who attends Hofstra University. He has returned to classes.
Rice said she retains the option of filing criminal charges against Ndonye if she fails to complete the course of therapy or community service.
Rice added that filing criminal charges might have made any future false accuser reluctant to recant and tell the truth, possibly leading to an innocent person serving a lengthy prison sentence.
Authorities dropped charges and freed the four men they had taken into custody after their accuser changed her story about having been tied up and sexually assaulted in a dormitory bathroom.
The woman recanted after authorities told her that part of the incident was recorded on a cell phone video, Rice said.
"That was when she began to tell the truth," she said.
It is against the law to report a crime when there was not one, the district attorney said.
"Her actions and her demeanor depict a very troubled young woman in need of much help," Rice said.
Hofstra University has suspended Ndonye.
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b5036042f73f4c14afe0b372e82e12f6
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Who must participate in yearlong psychiatric program?
|
[
"Danmell Ndonye"
] |
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(CNN) -- Iran tested a missile-launching system and several types of short- and medium-range missiles Sunday, the state-run Press TV said.
A short-range missile is test-launched during war games in Qom, Iran, south of Tehran, on Sunday.
Earlier, the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had said it would stage missile exercises beginning Sunday to promote the armed forces' defense capabilities.
The tests, which are expected to last until Monday, are code-named "Payghambar-e Azam 4" or "The Great Prophet 4," Press TV said.
The missiles, fired at targets around the country Sunday, included the Fateh-110, a short-range ground-to-ground missile, and Tondar-69, a short-range naval missile, the station said. Several models of medium-range Shahab missiles were tested at night, Press TV reported. Watch Iranian missile tests »
The final stage of the tests will be held Monday morning, when Iran plans to test the long-range Shahab missile, the station said.
In May, Iran said it tested a surface-to-surface missile that is capable of reaching parts of Europe.
At the time, a White House official said actions in Iran were noteworthy.
"Of course, this is just a test, and obviously there is much work to be done before it can be built and deployed. But I see it as a significant step forward in terms of Iran's capacity to deliver weapons," said Gary Samore, special assistant to the president on nonproliferation.
The latest test follows Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disclosure Friday that Iran was building a second uranium enrichment facility. Watch analyst's view on missile tests, nuclear tensions »
The United States and Israel believe that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear energy program.
Iran has denied the allegation.
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2327c169aa004b7a8adbff351ae8a9fe
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Which country are the surface-to-surface missiles capable of reaching?
|
[
"parts of Europe."
] |
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(CNN) -- A timeline of events leading to the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, according to documents from congressional investigators and testimony from witnesses to the disaster:
^12:35 a.m.
Oilfield services contractor Halliburton completes cementing on BP's Mississippi Canyon 252 well. In the hours leading up to midafternoon, crews conduct three positive pressure tests, in which fluid weight is placed on the seal.
^11 a.m.
BP and Transocean executives argue over changes in the drill plan for the well at a meeting aboard the rig.
^5:05 p.m.
An unexpected loss of fluid is observed in the riser pipe, suggesting there are leaks in the blowout preventer, a critical piece of equipment designed to shut down the well in the event of an emergency.
^5-7 p.m.
Negative pressure tests, in which crews reduce fluid pressure to test for leaks through the cement or well casing, show unexpected results. One draws 15 barrels of liquid out of the well instead of the expected five, raising more concerns about leaks. In a second, pressure on the rig's "kill line" -- a high-pressure pipe used to cut off the flow of oil -- falls to zero, while rising to 1,400 pounds per square inch in the drill line, indicating a buildup of natural gas.
^8 p.m.
BP ends testing and proceeds to replace remaining drill fluids with seawater. A BP investigator later suggests this is a "fundamental mistake."
^9:00 p.m.
More fluid is reported flowing out of the well than is being pumped in.
^9:10 p.m.
Well pump is shut down for a "sheen" test, but the well continues to flow. Drill pipe pressure unexpectedly increases.
^9:30 p.m.
Abnormal pressures and more fluid returns are observed. The well pump is abruptly shut down.
^9:50 p.m.
Gas surges from the well and up the riser. The supply ship Damon B. Bankston, which is tied up alongside Deepwater Horizon, reports drilling fluid spilling onto its deck and is told to move back 500 meters from the rig. Seconds later, the first explosion occurs.
^9:52 p.m.
Deepwater Horizon issues distress call. The order is given to abandon the rig. Eleven of the 126 on board are lost at sea when the platform sinks two days later.
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2e129a7a47084fa5876db56957911a68
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What suggested leaks?
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[
"An unexpected loss of fluid is observed in the riser pipe,"
] |
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(CNN) -- The entire population of Taloga, Oklahoma, was evacuated Thursday because of a raging fire that has burned tens of thousands of acres, officials said Friday.
Wildfire threatens a house in Edmond, Oklahoma, on Friday.
All of the residents, about 400, left the Dewey County town, but have been allowed back in, said Bill Challis with the fire department in Clinton, Oklahoma, south of Taloga. Clinton is among dozens of fire departments helping battle the blaze.
Wildfires have been burning in northwest and central Oklahoma since Thursday, according to the state Department of Emergency Management.
A large wildfire also came within inches of homes north of Edmond late Friday morning and was still burning during the noon hour, CNN affiliate KOCO reported.
Oklahoma Department of Public Safey officials also report that one to two city blocks of Weleetka, in Okfuskee County, were on fire, according to KOCO.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved the state's request for federal assistance for fighting the wildfire in Dewey County, where Taloga is located.
The original call about the Taloga fire came in Thursday at about 12:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. ET), Challis said. Officials don't know how the fire started.
Brett Russell, also with the Clinton Fire Department, said about 60,000 acres have burned. There are no reports of anyone injured.
As of about 11 a.m. Friday (12 p.m. ET), the Taloga fire was about 50 to 60 percent contained. About 80 fire departments helping battle the blaze, Russell told CNN.
An Oklahoma Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter was helping with aerial fire suppression, according to the state.
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d7988efb933344938ceb607754387c23
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Where are the fires burning?
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[
"in northwest and central Oklahoma"
] |
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TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Even before one reaches the front door of Canon's headquarters in Tokyo, one can sense the virtual stampede of employees pouring out of the building exactly at 5:30 p.m.
Japan's birth rate of 1.34 is below the level needed to maintain the country's population.
In a country where 12-hour workdays are common, the electronics giant has taken to letting its employees leave early twice a week for a rather unusual reason: to encourage them to have more babies.
Japan is in the midst of an unprecedented recession, so corporations are being asked to work toward fixing another major problem: the country's low birthrate. Tell us what you think
At 1.34, the birthrate is well below the 2.0 needed to maintain Japan's population, according to the country's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Keidanren, Japan's largest business group, with 1,300 major international corporations as members, has issued a plea to its members to let workers go home early to spend time with their families and help Japan with its pressing social problem. Watch more on this story
One reason for the low birth rate is the 12-hour workday. But there are several other factors compounding the problem -- among them, the high cost of living, and social rigidity toward women and parenting.
In addition, Japan's population is aging at a faster pace than any other country in the world.
Analysts say the world's second-largest economy faces its greatest threat from its own social problems, rather than outside forces. And the country desperately needs to make some fixes to its current social and work structures, sociologists say.
The 5:30 p.m. lights-out program is one simple step toward helping address the population problem. It also has an added benefit: Amid the global economic downturn the company can slash overtime across the board twice a week.
"It's great that we can go home early and not feel ashamed," said employee Miwa Iwasaki.
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84564228be974799b206827efb2b8509
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What are the workers encouraged to do?
|
[
"have more babies."
] |
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KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The number of people killed in a car bombing in Afghanistan's capital rose to 26, including six Italian soldiers, Afghan authorities said Saturday.
The coffins of six Italian soldiers killed in a suicide attack in Kabul return to Rome.
Sixteen people died in the blast Thursday, and at least 55 Afghan civilians were wounded. Ten have died from their injuries since the bombing.
The explosion Thursday targeted a mostly residential area near the Supreme Court in Kabul, a witness said.
The bodies of the Italian soldiers killed in the blast returned to Italy Sunday, their coffins draped in the red, green and white Italian flag.
Dignitaries, relatives and row upon row of uniformed troops stood on the airport tarmac as the coffins were carried off the plane, television pictures from the scene showed. Watch more about Italy in mourning »
Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano gently touched the caskets perched on the shoulders of grim-faced soldiers at Rome's Ciampino military airport. Nearby, a woman shook uncontrollably as a baby sported a maroon beret -- the kind worn by the paratroopers killed in the Kabul attack.
The six deaths marked largest number of Italians killed in a single day in Afghanistan. Watch more about Italy's Afghan mission »
Before the remains left for Rome, the Italian military, international troops and dignitaries held a service in the Afghan capital.
"It's a tragedy for us," Lt. Col. Renato Vaira of the Italian military said at the Kabul service. "But this is a point to continue our mission."
"We'll miss them. They're not the first. I hope it will be the last," said Maj. Gen. Tommaso Ferro of the Italian military.
The arrival of the soldiers' remains was televised nationally in Italy. The bodies were taken for an autopsy. A day of mourning is scheduled in Italy on Monday, the same day as the burial service.
After the attack, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said it would be "best" for the country's troops to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible. Berlusconi gave no timeline for a withdrawal, but said any pullout would have to be coordinated with allies.
The 500 troops Italy sent to Afghanistan this summer will be home by Christmas, Ignazio La Russa, Italy's defense minister said.
The troops were sent ahead of the Afghan presidential election August 20. The rest of Italy's 2,800 troops in Afghanistan will withdraw only when NATO calls for it, La Russa said.
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d5d2a36b017d441f8f286dd19c16778e
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HOw many bodies of italian soldiers were there?
|
[
"six"
] |
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(CNN) -- A motorcycle competitor has died the first stage of this year's Dakar Rally in Argentina Sunday.
Jorge Martinez Boero was only two kilometers from the finish of the 57km special from Mar del Plata to Santa Rosa when he came off his Beta bike with tragic results.
Organizers said the 38-year-old from Argentina, who was taking part in the annual event for the second time, suffered a cardiac arrest after his fall.
He was treated by medical staff within five minutes of the accident, but died on the way to hospital.
In a statement on the official website of the endurance rally, organizers sent their "heartfelt condolences to his family and loved one's."
Boero's death was the 21st involving a competitor during the event, which was started in 1979 as the Paris-Dakar rally.
It finished in the Senegal capital for 29 times until the organizers brought the event to South America in 2009.
This year's event covers 9,000 kilometers and takes in Argentina, Peru and Chile.
Cars, motorcycles and trucks compete in their various categories over a series of grueling special stages on difficult terrain.
Chilean Francisco Lopez won the opening stage of the motorbike section as the Aprilia rider covered the 57km course in 32 minutes 37seconds.
Russia's Leonid Novitzkiy took first in the cars section in a Mini, with NASCAR star Robby Gordon in fifth place in his Hummer.
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61cc67532a9841f380a310b3ca73cf76
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Who was killed in Dakar?
|
[
"Jorge Martinez Boero"
] |
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San Juan, Puerto Rico (CNN) -- The father of a 7-year-old girl abducted and killed near her north Georgia home this month said Sunday he is "relieved" to have his daughter back in Puerto Rico, where she will be buried this week.
A funeral for Jorelys Rivera will be held Monday in Penuelas, her father, Ricardo Galarza, said. The burial will take place Tuesday, he said.
Services were held Saturday for mourners in Georgia before her body was flown to Puerto Rico.
Galarza told CNN last week that he last saw his daughter two years ago, when she visited for the summer. She was supposed to visit for Christmas this year, Galarza said.
Jorelys disappeared December 2 near a playground at a Canton, Georgia, apartment complex. Searchers found her body in a trash bin three days later. Authorities have accused 20-year-old Ryan Brunn -- a maintenance worker at the complex -- of killing her.
Jorelys died of blunt force trauma to the head and was stabbed and sexually assaulted, according to authorities.
A date for Brunn's arraignment has not been set. David Cannon Sr., one of Brunn's court-appointed attorneys, has said that his client will plead not guilty.
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9fc819521d0149669c82bd093ed00da6
|
Who has been accused of killing her?
|
[
"20-year-old Ryan Brunn"
] |
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|
(CNN) -- The wife of a Colorado father at the center of the "balloon boy" saga told authorities that the giant helium balloon was specifically created for a hoax to draw media attention, according to court documents released Friday.
The Heene family -- including Falcon, second from right -- on CNN's "Larry King Live" last week.
Mayumi Heene told Larimer County investigators that she and her husband, Richard Heene, knew that their 6-year-old son Falcon was hiding at their Fort Collins home the entire time, even as police and military scrambled to search for the boy, according to the documents.
The admission by Mayumi Heene was made October 17, just two days after the balloon was released, according to the documents.
The Heenes initially told authorities that they believed their child had flown away on the balloon, and when the balloon landed without him, they expressed concern that he may have fallen out of the device.
The couple hatched the plan about two weeks before the incident and "instructed their three children to lie to authorities as well as the media regarding this hoax," according to the documents.
Their motive? To "make the Heene family more marketable for future media interests."
Calls to David Lane, Richard Heene's attorney, and Lee Christian, Mayumi Heene's attorney, were not immediately returned Friday.
Richard and Mayumi Heene are each facing a number of local charges, including conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and attempting to influence a public servant, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said Sunday.
Lane told CNN earlier that the sheriff was overreaching and that the family deserve the presumption of innocence.
The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the incident.
Richard and Mayumi Heene met in a Hollywood acting school and pursued fame for their family in the world of reality TV, Alderden has said.
The Heenes have appeared on the ABC program "Wife Swap." Richard Heene also chases storms, brings his family along and takes videos. TLC, which produces the show "Jon & Kate Plus 8," said the Heenes had "approached us months ago" about a possible show, "and we passed."
|
bf71328e9cbb4c209ad22fb7ce26d2cb
|
What did the parents say?
|
[
"they believed their child had flown away on the balloon, and when the balloon landed without him, they expressed concern that he may have fallen out of the device."
] |
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|
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- The longest and most visible lines in Haiti's capital are not for food, water or gas. They are for money.
Earthquake survivors need cash and are waiting hours outside wire transfer businesses, including Western Union, that are starting to reopen.
"I have no money," 32-year-old Anderson Bellegarde said Thursday, in his sixth hour standing outside a UniBank money wire branch.
The business in Carrefour, near the epicenter of the earthquake and about eight miles from the capital of Port-au-Prince, was operating at a crawl. A line of Haitians loudly pleaded with guards, putting their hands around the blue iron gate and urging to be let in more quickly to access funds wired to them from beyond the disaster zone.
Full coverage | Twitter updates
Very little currency trickled into Haitian hands Thursday. There was little financial movement in the disaster zone, with most banks remaining shut.
Bellegarde looked at the closed bank next to the money transfer station and squinted his eyes. "That's where our money's at, and they're holding it," he told CNN Radio. "We need it so we can buy food."
Basic groceries are relatively easy to find for sale throughout the streets of Port-au-Prince. Those with canned goods, some produce and even ice and bread have formed a massive, impromptu market. But most quake survivors do not have the cash to buy any of it.
iReport: List of missing, found | Impact Your World
"I have not eaten for two days," Bellegarde said, "I'm only drinking water."
Banks have been closed since the January 12 earthquake. There were widespread rumors that the Haitian government would force them to open Thursday, but that didn't happen.
Now, officials say provincial banks will likely open Friday, and branches in Port-au-Prince will restart business Saturday.
|
7d3d81ac5e934ab4b8575b9e0a1a50fe
|
Where are the survivors of the earthquake?
|
[
"outside wire transfer businesses,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- More than 150 students at the University of California at Berkeley took over a campus building Thursday to protest a proposed 81% increase in tuition fees, university officials said.
UC-Berkeley spokeswoman Callie Maidhof described the scene as "an open occupation with people coming and going" at Tolman Hall on the campus that has been known for decades as a hotbed of student activism and protests.
The tuition increase proposed by the board of regents would be phased in over a four-year period.
Maidhof added that when the protest began Thursday afternoon, campus police initially resisted the demonstrators and used pepper spray at one point. The university maintained a hands-off approach after that, but according to Maidhof the situation could change at the building's scheduled closing time of 9 p.m. (midnight ET).
As evening fell, there were between 60 and 70 students occupying one of the classrooms and another group was participating in a teach-in outside on the lawn.
Helicopter aerials of the scene from CNN affiliate KTVU showed a few protest banners hung from windows of the classroom building.
|
6d5bce682cb14e7a9cb2ccb5663f80d2
|
when is A university spokeswoman says the building is scheduled to be closed ?
|
[
"9 p.m. (midnight ET)."
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Russia will begin the construction of a new naval base this year in Georgia's pro-Russian separatist region of Abkhazia, according to a Russian media report Monday.
Russia's Black Sea fleet is based in Sevastopol under a lease agreement with Ukraine that expires in 2017.
Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted an unnamed official at Russian naval headquarters as saying it wanted to station vessels at the Abkhaz port of Ochamchire on the Black Sea, Reuters.com reported.
"The fundamental decision on creating a Black Sea Fleet base in Ochamchire has been taken," the official told Tass, in quotes carried by Reuters.com. "This year we will begin practical work, including dredging, along Abkhazia's coast.
"It will take more than a year to implement all works." The official added that the deployment was to protect the breakaway region from Georgian attacks.
Georgia launched a campaign against South Ossetia, a Russian-backed separatist territory, on August 7 last year. The following day, Russian tanks, troops and armored vehicles poured into South Ossetia and Abkhazia, advancing into Georgian cities outside the rebel regions.
The two sides blamed each other for starting the conflict and have made accusations of ethnic cleansing.
Moscow has since recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent regions -- a move which angered many Western governments who suspect Russia of acting to thwart Georgia's ambitions of joining NATO.
This latest development comes despite comments made last year by Abkhazia's leader that his territory would not be hosting Russian military bases.
"There will be no new bases," Sergei Bagapsh told Russia's Novosti news agency, adding that Russia's Black Sea Fleet will not be based in the republic either.
"Only units of Russia's ground forces that have always been based here will continue to be stationed in Abkhazia," he said.
Russia's Black Sea Fleet is currently based in the port of Sevastopol which belongs to Ukraine -- another former Soviet state which, like Georgia, aspires to NATO membership.
The fleet is due to leave Ukraine for good in 2017, in line with a 20-year lease deal signed in 1997. However, Russia's diplomats and military have said they want the fleet to stay at its traditional home base after the expiry of the deadline, Reuters.com reported.
|
f5e214ef9bdb4bb9a05a011fd0d8265d
|
where is Georgia located?
|
[
"Abkhazia,"
] |
NewsQA
|
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.
|
57148316ad7946e9beb5bd1bba77a399
|
What does Germany's richest woman say?
|
[
"of them together if she"
] |
NewsQA
|
LONDON, England (CNN) -- The head of Britain's intelligence services has warned that children as young as 15 are becoming involved in terrorist-related activity.
Jonathan Evans, the chief of MI5, also said that at least 2,000 people in Britain pose a threat to the country's security because of their support for al Qaeda-inspired terrorism.
"As I speak, terrorists are methodically and intentionally targeting young people and children in this country. They are radicalising, indoctrinating and grooming young, vulnerable people to carry out acts of terrorism," he told a gathering of newspaper editors in Manchester.
Evans said the figure of 2,000 -- an increase of 400 since November 2006 -- only included those the intelligence services knew about and that the actual number could be double.
He said there had been 200 terrorist convictions in Britain since the September 11 attacks.
The MI5 head added that over recent years much of the command and inspiration for attack planning in the UK had come from al Qaeda's remaining core leadership in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
However, he said in the last 12 months terrorist plots on British soil were increasingly inspired by al Qaeda cadres in other countries, including in Iraq and East Africa.
"There is no doubt now that al Qaeda in Iraq aspires to promote terrorist attacks outside Iraq. There is no doubt that there is training activity and terrorist planning in East Africa -- particularly in Somalia -- which is focused on the UK," he told the Society of Editors meeting.
According to Evans, there had been "no decrease" in the number of Russian covert intelligence officers operating in Britain since the end of the Cold War.
He said that resources that could be devoted to counter-terrorism were instead being used to protect Britain against spying by Russia, China and others.
"A number of countries continue to devote considerable time and energy trying to steal our sensitive technology on civilian and military projects and trying to obtain political and economic intelligence at our expense," he said. E-mail to a friend
|
f3e2c24a592d4473bed15528524c7f48
|
What's the number of people in Britain who post a threat?
|
[
"2,000"
] |
NewsQA
|
Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Felony fraud charges against actor Randy Quaid and his wife, Evi, were dropped Wednesday after she accepted a deal on a misdemeanor offense, a California prosecutor said.
The Quaids were facing felony charges of defrauding an innkeeper and skipping out on a $10,000 hotel bill in Santa Barbara, California, in September 2009.
The couple have paid the bill in full, according to Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Arnie Tolks.
After Evi Quaid entered a plea of no contest to one misdemeanor count of defrauding an innkeeper, she was sentenced to three years probation and 240 hours of community service, Tolks said.
The Quaids were first arrested in Texas in September on a warrant issued by a Santa Barbara judge. They missed several court dates since then, prompting the judge to order them to jail on Monday unless they posted $100,000 bail each, which they did.
After the couple showed up for a court hearing on Monday, their lawyer negotiated a plea deal.
While investigators had circumstantial evidence against Randy Quaid, they could not prove his direct involvement in dealing with the hotel or the credit card transaction, Tolks said.
Evidence showed it was Evi Quaid who handled the business with the hotel, he said.
Quaid, 56, is known for his roles in several films, including the "National Lampoon's Vacation" movies, "Kingpin" and "Brokeback Mountain." His younger brother is actor Dennis Quaid.
CNN's Brittany Kaplan contributed to this report.
|
9d80737accbb41338ba5270525045805
|
What charges did it drop against them?
|
[
"Felony fraud"
] |
NewsQA
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- United States accident investigators are probing two recent failures of airspeed and altitude indications aboard Airbus A330s -- the same type of plane that crashed into the Atlantic nearly a month ago.
Investigators are looking into incidents aboard two other Airbus A330s.
The planes landed safely and there were no injuries or damage, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday. One flight was between the United States and Brazil in May and the other between Hong Kong and Japan in June.
The probes were launched in the aftermath of the June 1 crash in the Atlantic Ocean -- when Air France Flight 447 was flying to Paris, France, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All 228 people on board the plane, an A330, were killed.
Investigators are looking at the possible role of airspeed sensors known as pitot tubes, among other factors, as a possible cause of the Flight 447 crash.
That flight sent 24 automated error messages in the four minutes before it crashed, the head of the French accident investigation board, Paul-Louis Arslanian, has said. The error messages all indicate there were problems with on-board information about the plane's speed, which can cause some of the plane's instruments to stop functioning, Arslanian said.
Search teams are looking for the bulk of the plane's wreckage and for its flight data recorders.
The first of the two incidents being investigated by the NTSB happened May 21, when a TAM Airlines flight from Miami, Florida, to Sao Paulo, Brazil, experienced a loss of primary speed and altitude information while in flight, the NTSB said.
"Initial reports indicate that the flight crew noted an abrupt drop in indicated outside air temperature, followed by the loss of the Air Data Reference System and disconnections of the autopilot and autothrust, along with the loss of speed and altitude information," the NTSB said.
The flight crew used backup instruments and the primary data was restored in about five minutes, the NTSB said.
Another "possibly similar" incident happened June 23 on a Northwest Airlines flight between Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan, the NTSB said.
Investigators from the NTSB are gathering data recorder information, monitoring system messages, crew statements and weather information, the NTSB said.
|
2c18d81dedbc425e81a926993d17d130
|
What crashed into the sea?
|
[
"Airbus A330s"
] |
NewsQA
|
LONDON, England (CNN) -- British singer Amy Winehouse has been charged with "common assault" in connection with an incident last September, and will appear in court later this month, Scotland Yard said Friday.
Amy Winehouse performs at last year's V Festival in Chelmsford, England.
In the incident, on September 26, the singer allegedly hit a fan at a charity ball, British media reported.
A spokesman for the 25-year-old Winehouse said in a statement that she "voluntarily attended a police station in London yesterday morning.
"She was questioned by appointment in relation to an accusation made after the Berkeley Ball last year.
"She was charged with common assault and will attend a court hearing in the coming weeks."
Winehouse is facing the possibility of another potentially damaging court case after husband Blake Fielder-Civil last month asked his lawyer "to commence divorce proceedings on the grounds of Amy's adultery," his lawyer, Henri Brandman, said.
That came after Fielder-Civil saw photos of her cavorting with another man during her recent holiday in the Caribbean, while he sat in a British jail.
|
e8913ceb242c4233997ef23dc3bf036e
|
What did Winehouse allegedly do?
|
[
"hit a fan at a charity ball,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck near Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on Friday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The center of the earthquake was approximately 175 miles west of the city of Vancouver and nearly 50 miles underground.
Many people on Vancouver Island felt the quake, especially those in high-rises, which swayed back and forth, said John Cassidy of the Geological Survey in Victoria, British Columbia. He described the quake as originating 30 miles offshore.
The shaking lasted 10 to 20 seconds, Cassidy said, and there were no reports of damage or injuries Friday afternoon.
Earthquakes of such magnitude happen every decade or so, he said.
There was no immediate danger of a tsunami as a result of the earthquake, authorities at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
CNN's Deanna Proeller and Michael Martinez contributed to this report.
|
11faa9a450d143d6b349d81a20dd8f5a
|
What sways on Vancouver Island?
|
[
"high-rises,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, has been quarantined in China after possible exposure to the H1N1 virus, his office said Sunday.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin flew to China as part of an economic development trip, his office said.
Mayor Ray Nagin, who traveled to China on an economic development trip, flew on a plane that carried a passenger being treated for symptoms suspected to be from the virus, commonly known as the swine flu virus, the mayor's office said in a statement.
Nagin, his wife and a member of his security detail have been quarantined in Shanghai, China, though all three are symptom free, the statement said.
"The mayor is being treated with utmost courtesy by Chinese officials," the statement said.
Ceeon Quiett, the mayor's director of communications, told CNN that Nagin had been sitting beside a passenger who "exhibited the symptoms of H1N1," but Nagin showed no signs of illness.
"We have talked with him and he is in good spirits," Quiett said, adding that there was no indication how long the quarantine would last.
While not confirming identities, the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention said three Americans are being quarantined in a hotel called the Jinjiang Inn in the Nanhui district of Shanghai.
|
c4f81b76ed04447a910b45fae4ad4b14
|
Who has H1N1 symptoms?
|
[
"a passenger"
] |
NewsQA
|
Karachi, Pakistan (CNN) -- Do not mistake eight-year-old Bilal Ahmed's skin-and-bones body, his beguiling smile and his big beaming eyes for weakness.
Bilal changes when he steps into a boxing ring.
When the pint-sized Pakistani fighter climbed into a shabby old ring at an outdoor youth center, his smile turned into a stone cold scowl.
At the sound of the bell that marked the start of round one, his tiny fists at the end of his stick-like arms turned into pain-inflicting projectiles, pounding away at his opponent.
"I want to hit my opponent," says Bilal, minutes before the fight. "All I think about is winning."
Bilal is obsessed with winning because, to him, boxing is more than a sport. It's the one chance he has to escape Lyari, one of the poorest, toughest and most dangerous neighborhoods in the sprawling southern port city of Karachi.
Drug and gang violence is rampant here, killing nearly 100 people this year alone.
"There is shooting at night," Bilal says. "I wake up and go to my mom. When I grow up I'm going to take my family away from here."
But for Lyari's boys, the future is often bleak. Many here blame the government for failing to keep neighborhoods safe and a broken school system for robbing children of the chance to succeed.
For decades boxing has given thousands of Lyari's kids what the government has not -- a safe place to grow, learn and chase a dream.
African immigrants brought boxing to Lyari in the 1940s, when Karachi was still part of British-ruled India. More than 70 years later, 22 boxing clubs, run by volunteers and private donations, have made this neighborhood Pakistan's boxing factory.
"This is the second Cuba," says the head of the local boxing association, Asghar Baloch, referring to the Caribbean nation that has produced some of the best boxers in the world.
"If these kids weren't here, they would be with guns and arms," he says. "If we continue our positive activities, we will get positive results."
Positive results at Lyari's boxing clubs aren't necessarily trophies and victories in the ring. They're polite, healthy children who laugh and play, children who finish school.
But on this night it's all about winning for Bilal, who's taking on a bigger and taller opponent at an important tournament.
His opponent overpowers him in the opening round but Bilal stands his ground.
Round two is too close to call but Bilal wins the third and final round with lightning quick combinations and powerful right hooks.
The referee raises Bilal's arm in victory and back comes the big smile on the skinny little kid whose dream for a better life lives on.
|
ca3410746755498a9394689b08690452
|
Where is Bilal Ahmed from?
|
[
"Lyari,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- These satellite photos taken before and after recent floods in Thailand show how the landscape has been transformed.
The first slide contrasts two identical areas of Southeast Asia taken on November 12 2008 and November 1 2011.
Captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA's Terra satellite, the images show Thailand (left), Cambodia (middle) and Vietnam (far right).
One hundred kilometers north of the Thai capital, Bangkok lies the historic city of Ayutthaya.
Founded in the 14th century on the confluence of three rivers -- the Chao Phraya, the Lopburi and the Pasak -- it was an important trade center, once known as the "Venice of the East."
After the rains, baby elephant brings hope
Today, that old moniker takes on a new meaning. Streets have become small rivers with surrounding farmland and floodplains submerged as images taken in July and October this year by NASA's Advanced Land Imager graphically illustrate.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that around 200,000 hectares of farmland have been affected by the floods across the country.
The urban economy has also been thrown into flux with an estimated 1,000 factories affected.
The country is a manufacturing hub for hundreds of electronics companies; the IUCN expects total economic losses from the disaster to exceed $3 billion.
Thailand floods could create laptop shortage
On the northern outskirts of Bangkok, the Don Muang Airport -- the city's old international airport which now handles mostly domestic flights -- closed at the end of October after its runways became inundated with water.
Perversely, Bangkok's new international Suvarnabhumi Airport (opened in 2006) occupies an area called Nong Ngu Hao (meaning Cobra Swamp) which used to be a floodplain. It is protected by a dike and remains open.
The IUCN says natural floodplains are important in storing water during floods and in combination with wetlands and natural river channels can limit the impact of flooding.
"It's a classic case of urbanization being done blindly," says Ganesh Pangare, head of IUCN's water program in Asia.
"The drains have gone, the floodplains have gone, the plants that soak up the water have gone. This is a wake-up call to unplanned growth," he said.
|
269d01d57f5144ecae8733b99768c0ca
|
Which airport did they close due to the runway being submerged?
|
[
"the Don Muang"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A U.N. official said Monday that the global economic crisis is hurting efforts to clear land mines in Afghanistan, one of the world's most heavily mined countries.
An Afghan soldier inspects a land mine in Herat, western Afghanistan.
Haider Reza, program director of the U.N. Mine Action Center for Afghanistan, said more than 82,000 anti-personnel mines were cleared in Afghanistan last year.
But he said the $500 million needed to meet the goal of clearing all mines by 2013 is under threat.
"We are at a very critical point, and this country and people cannot afford to see a devastating situation where not much money will come," Reza said, in remarks included in a U.N. news release.
More than 4 million people live in "mine-contaminated" areas in Afghanistan, the U.N. says.
The clearance of explosives is considered of key importance for the country's development.
The anti-personnel mines and 900 anti-tank mines cleared this past year constitute more than 20 percent of mines cleared from the country since 1989, the United Nations said.
The Ottawa Convention on land mines specifies that Afghanistan must be completely cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance by 2013.
The Afghanistan Compact, the partnership between the Afghan government and the international community, is calling for "70 percent of explosive-infested land to be cleared by 2011."
"If the resources flow into the program, we have the technical capacity and we can do the job," said Reza, who is reaching out to new donors, such as Persian Gulf nations.
"God forbid that the security situation throughout the country, especially in areas where we have to do the job, deteriorates to the extent that would not allow our de-miners to do their job. Otherwise, I am very confident we will make it," he said.
|
4785a6b4fa7f40649e62c2812bd81e1a
|
How many people live in this country in areas with mines?
|
[
"More than 4 million"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A Nigerian militant group released pictures Sunday of two Britons identified as captive oil workers, saying the men were "alive and well" and that more such Western workers would be taken hostage if the country does not stop exporting its oil wealth.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta released this image of two men it claims are British hostages.
The photos, sent in an e-mail by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), show the men, identified as Robin Barry Hughes and Matthew John Maguire, standing on a dirt path wearing dirty shorts and flip flops.
The pictures were "recent," MEND said in a written statement, but it is unclear when they were taken.
MEND, formed in 2005, has taken American and European oil workers hostages in the past. The group is calling for more of the African nation's oil wealth to be pumped into the region -- instead of going to foreign investors -- and the release of political prisoners.
The United States Agency for International Development says more than 70 percent of Nigeria lives on less than a dollar a day -- the population is among the 20 poorest in the world.
Nigeria's federal government and oil companies split oil profits roughly 60-40. The money is then supposed to make its way down to the local governments to fund various projects, but little money actually reaches its intended destination.
The country's anti-corruption agency estimates between $300 billion to $400 billion has been stolen or wasted over the last 50 years.
"Our policy on kidnapping high value oil workers from Western Europe and North America remains unchanged and will continue to form an integral part of our pressure strategy in the emancipation struggle in 2009," MEND said in its statement. Watch special correspondent Lisa Ling meet militant group in a secret location
A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said the government was aware of the pictures.
"We call for their immediate and unconditional release and will remain in close contact with their families," the spokeswoman said, though she declined to elaborate on whether the families had seen the photos. "Our thoughts are with them on this deeply distressful time."
Violence in oil-rich Nigeria has been limiting crude supplies out of the country. MEND has been attacking oil pipelines in retaliation against government forces, limiting the amount of crude oil that can be exported.
MEND also repeated its threat that the men would be held hostage until the Nigerian government releases one of the group's members, Henry Okah, who was taken into custody last year and, according to local reports, is charged with treason.
|
affa6361f6104c40a8ba1acf151cf1e0
|
What does MEND demand?
|
[
"more of the African nation's oil wealth to be pumped into the region"
] |
NewsQA
|
Washington (CNN) -- The Democratic-controlled Senate on Wednesday rejected two proposed versions for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution -- a setback to GOP leaders and conservative activists who say the measure is necessary to end the federal government's spiraling deficit spending.
A Democratic version opposed by Republicans fell on a 21-79 vote. Then a Republican version also failed to get the two-thirds majority required with a 47-53 vote.
Last month, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives failed to pass a GOP-proposed amendment, falling 23 votes shy of the two-thirds majority required for passage.
The congressional votes on the amendment were agreed to by both parties in August as part of the agreement raising Washington's debt ceiling.
Democratic leaders, however, are vehemently opposed to the idea, arguing that it would force the government into an economically destructive cycle of massive spending cuts.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said Wednesday that a step as historically significant as a constitutional amendment was unnecessary.
Getting government spending under control "takes political will, even political courage," Durbin said, but "it doesn't take a constitutional amendment.''
Conservative Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah disagreed, saying Congress has repeatedly proved it's unable to control itself on spending.
"We are taxing and spending this country into bankruptcy," Hatch said, later adding, "We don't have any restraint around here."
Despite the proposal's defeat, it has been favored by the public. Nearly three in four Americans favored passage of the amendment in a July 18-20 CNN/ORC International Poll, while 24% were opposed.
Sixty percent of Americans say they believe a balanced budget amendment is necessary to get the deficit under control, according to the poll.
The House passed a balanced budget amendment in 1995, but the measure fell one vote short in the Senate in both 1995 and 1997.
|
a3d98af3c36041b4bf88a9ec836169fd
|
Did the Republican version pass?
|
[
"failed to get the two-thirds majority required"
] |
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