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NewsQA
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Fashion photographer Rankin took time out from his career to take powerful pictures of people from Congo.
One of Rankin's images.
He visited a refugee camp with the charity Oxfam and his work is now being exhibited in London.
The photos are posed like a fashion shoot and different to the regular images coming out of conflict zones.
"I wanted to make the people who saw the photos look at the people and see them as people, not see them as victims," Rankin told CNN.
Oxfam says 10 million people have died in the last 10 years in the Democratic Republic Of Congo. In the last few weeks, a fragile cease-fire has broken down.
The conflict is complicated by outside forces and a variety of armed groups fighting both the government and each other.
Rankin said the people he photographed just "wanted the thing to stop."
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7ff3d22f99b14dbda296d6caae865ab7
|
Photographer name is what?
|
[
"Rankin"
] |
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|
(CNN) -- Accused enemy combatant Ali al-Marri was served with an arrest warrant Tuesday and transferred out of U.S. military custody for the first time since 2003, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri was a student at Bradley University in Illinois when he was arrested in 2001.
Al-Marri's initial court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday. Defense Secretary Robert Gates released the Qatari man to the U.S. Marshals Service in preparation for the hearing.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Obama administration's request to dismiss al-Marri's challenge of the president's unilateral authority to detain him indefinitely and without charges.
The high court ruled that al-Marri's case was rendered moot by a decision to indict him on federal conspiracy charges.
The court's ruling means there is no resolution of the larger constitutional issue of the president's power to detain people accused of terrorism and other crimes in the United States.
The decision by the Obama administration to criminally charge al-Marri after he spent seven years in custody -- more than five years in virtual isolation in a Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina -- is the latest twist in the ongoing legal saga of the only remaining "enemy combatant" held in the United States.
Al-Marri had been accused of being an al Qaeda "sleeper agent," but until the indictment had never been charged with a criminal or terrorism-related offense.
The 43-year-old man will be sent at some point to Peoria, Illinois, to face a criminal trial.
President Obama last month ordered a prompt and thorough review of the "factual and legal basis" for the continued detention of al-Marri. He subsequently issued a presidential memorandum ordering Gates to facilitate al-Marri's transfer, saying it was "in the interest of the United States."
Since his initial arrest on credit card fraud charges in December 2001, al-Marri -- a legal resident of the United States -- had remained in "virtual isolation in the brig," his attorneys said. They were suing the government to improve his jail conditions and were challenging the constitutionality of his detention.
The Pentagon asserts al-Marri had trained at a terror camp in Afghanistan, met al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and "volunteered for a martyr mission," according to a government filing with the Supreme Court.
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a3a1aaad4e094299938001f61978ef0d
|
What is Ali charged with?
|
[
"federal conspiracy charges."
] |
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(CNN) -- The Georgia company whose peanut products have been blamed for a nationwide salmonella outbreak shipped some products even though they had tested positive for the bacteria and no other tests indicated they were safe, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.
The FDA confirmed Friday the Peanut Corp.'s Blakely, Georgia, plant shipped tainted product without retesting.
Previously, Peanut Corporation of America had said it shipped products only after subsequent tests on them came back negative. Items made with its peanut products have been linked to more than 500 cases of illness, including eight deaths.
The agency said the company's management told FDA inspectors last month during an inspection of the plant that they shipped products that first had tested positive for salmonella, but only if they later had tested negative.
But, it said, "FDA determined that certain information provided by PCA management during the inspection was not consistent with the subsequent analysis of the company's records."
As a result, the agency amended its report Thursday.
"In some situations the firm received a positive salmonella test result, followed by a later negative result, and then shipped the products," said the FDA report, which was included in an e-mail to CNN. "In some other situations, the firm shipped the products [which had already tested positive] before it had received the [second] positive test results." Watch Senate hearing on food safety amid peanut recall »
In some cases, it said, "no additional testing appears to have been done."
No one from the company returned a call seeking comment.
Federal authorities have initiated a criminal investigation into the company.
|
7cd486516d334d0bbba4d2aaa6e85c2b
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What did the FDA say?
|
[
"the Peanut Corp.'s Blakely, Georgia, plant shipped tainted product without retesting."
] |
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(CNN) -- Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb has turned down a move to Inter Milan in favor of returning to Bundesliga club Stuttgart on loan for the season.
Alexander Hleb is presented to the media after completing his loan move to former club Stuttgart.
Hleb had been expected to be part of the swap deal that saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto'o switch clubs earlier this week.
But the 28-year-old Belarus international has opted against joining Cameroon striker Eto'o at the San Siro due to the limited prospects of regular football under Jose Mourinho, and instead decided to return to Germany.
Hleb left Stuttgart four years ago to move to English Premier League side Arsenal, where he spent three seasons -- including reaching the Champions League final in 2006, which the Gunners lost to Barcelona.
Top 20 summer transfer targets
Hleb eventually ended up moving to the Nou Camp last summer, but struggled to claim a place in the side and was omitted from the 18-man squad that beat Manchester United in this year's Champions League final.
Hleb told Stuttgart's official Web site he had moved to Markus Babbel's side because of their prospects for the coming season.
"I have opted for Stuttgart because the team has great potential and I am convinced that we can achieve a lot together," the 28-year-old said.
Stuttgart general manager Horst Heldt added: "We have signed a world class player with Alexander Hleb. He will increase the quality of our squad even further."
Stuttgart had seen moves for both Real Madrid's Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Vagner Love of CSKA Moscow break down in recent weeks.
|
79967fec6a75455982a95a22e8b6618e
|
Who did he choose instead?
|
[
"to Bundesliga club Stuttgart"
] |
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|
(CNN) -- Fighting in the volatile Sudanese region of Darfur has sparked another wave of refugees into Chad and left a Red Cross employee dead, according to international agencies.
Refugee camps in eastern Chad house about 300,000 people who fled violence in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said on Monday that more than 12,000 people have fled militia attacks over the last few days from Sudan's Darfur region to neighboring Chad, still recovering from a recent attempt by rebels there to topple the government.
"Most of the new arrivals in Chad had already been displaced in Darfur in recent years. They are really tired of being attacked and having to move," said UNHCR's Jorge Holly. "All the new refugees we talked to said they did not want to go back to Darfur at this point, they wanted to be transferred to a refugee camp in eastern Chad."
This latest influx of refugees in Chad aggravates an already deteriorating security situation across this politically unstable region of Africa.
Before the latest flight into Chad, the UNHCR and its partner groups "were taking care of 240,000 Sudanese refugees in 12 camps in eastern Chad and some 50,000 from Central African Republic in the south of the country." Up to 30,000 people in Chad fled the country for Cameroon during the rebel-government fighting.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday that one of its employees was killed in western Darfur last week during fighting. The victim is a 45-year-old Sudanese national and father of six children.
He was killed in the area of Seleia, one of the three towns where reported government-backed Janjaweed militia attacks on Friday left around 200 people dead.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week deplored the acts, urged all parties to stop hostilities, and said "all parties must adhere to international humanitarian law, which prohibits military attacks against civilians."
The United Nations says "more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.2 million others forced to flee their homes since fighting began in 2003 among government forces, rebel groups and allied militia groups known as the Janjaweed."
The recent fight between Chad's government and rebels is seen as a proxy war over Darfur. Sudan's government believes Chad is supporting rebels in Darfur. Chad's government believes Sudan is supporting the rebels that moved on Chad's capital of N'Djamena. E-mail to a friend
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3b962494eb4d499aa616beec5f28945c
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How many have recently crossed to Chad?
|
[
"12,000"
] |
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(CNN) -- Despite some high-profile bombings in recent days, Iraq's security forces are ready to take over for U.S. forces this week to stabilize the nation's major cities, the U.S. commander in Iraq told CNN on Sunday.
Except for soldiers in advisory roles, all U.S. combat troops will leave Iraqi cities and towns by June 30.
Army Gen. Ray Odierno said he's seen a "constant improvement" in both the security situation and governance in Iraq to prepare for the June 30 deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from major cities.
"They've been working for this for a long time," Odierno said on CNN's "State of the Union."
In a separate interview on "Fox News Sunday," Odierno said all U.S. troops already were out of Iraq's major cities before Tuesday's deadline.
"We have already moved out of the cities," Odierno said. "We've been slowly doing it over the last eight months. And the final units have moved out of the cities over the last several weeks." Watch CNN's Michael Ware on the U.S. withdrawal »
The shift is part of the security agreement that former President George W. Bush's administration signed with Iraq.
In the CNN interview, Odierno blamed the recent violence in Iraq on "extremist elements using the timeframe and date to gain attention to themselves and divert attention from the success of Iraqi security forces."
The 131,000 U.S. troops in Iraq still will "maintain full coordination with Iraqi forces inside the cities" and continue to have intelligence capacity, Odierno said. With approval from the Iraqis, they also will carry out operations in major cities as necessary, he said.
Odierno said his goal is to help provide security that allows Iraq to hold planned national elections leading to the eventual removal of all U.S. troops by the end of 2011.
He said his biggest worry is a breakdown in stability such as a "consistent increase in violence" or a situation that Iraqi forces can't handle.
"I don't see that" happening, Odierno said. "I think we're on the right path."
Odierno also said Iran continues to "interfere" in Iraq, including training insurgents and paying surrogates. But he said his mission is limited to providing security within Iraq, no matter the provocation from Iran or elsewhere.
"I'm not authorized to do anything outside the borders of Iraq," he said.
Iran's government has repeatedly denied fomenting violence inside Iraq.
|
d6c09bae3e694d759df6356a4853d99d
|
Who continues to "interfere" in Iraq?
|
[
"Iran"
] |
NewsQA
|
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- A Swiss diplomat was released from jail Thursday after being arrested on a sex charge, the Iranian media reported.
The first secretary of the U.S. Interests section of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran had been in an "indecent sexual relation" with an Iranian woman in his car, Iran's Press TV reported, citing Iranian police.
Police spotted the car with diplomatic plates in a parking lot and caught the diplomat. The woman was "improperly dressed and in an obscene situation," Press TV said.
The "sexual relation" occurred after the diplomat, who was not named, promised he would marry the woman, Press TV reported. Both were released on bail. It was not clear what charges were filed against the woman.
Press TV said it had contacted the deputy head of the U.S. Interest Section in Tehran, Elizabeth Bucher, but she would not comment on the report.
The suspect is a Swiss diplomat who represents the United States in Iran in the absence of a U.S. presence. The United States and Iran have not had full diplomatic relations since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
|
04a44388edf9479b8fb578d35d51bcab
|
What was the diplomat said to have done?
|
[
"been in an \"indecent sexual relation\" with an Iranian woman in his car,"
] |
NewsQA
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(CNN) -- "A gruesome scene" is how one investigator described the aftermath of five killings in Tennessee. A sixth body was found in Alabama.
Police gather outside one of the scenes of mutliple slayings in Fayetteville, Tennessee, on Saturday.
Kristin Helm of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation told CNN on Saturday that authorities have Jacob Shafer in custody in connection with the deaths. She added that authorities are not looking for additional suspects.
Huntsville, Alabama, Police Sgt. Mickey Allen said Tennessee authorities told him a man confessed to a slaying in Huntsville, Alabama, and to five other killings in Fayetteville, Tennessee. Allen didn't identify the man.
Shafer has been questioned by the TBI and is expected to face murder charges, Helm said.
Sheriff Murray Blackwelder, who held an afternoon news conference, called the slayings "one of the worst crimes Lincoln County has ever seen." He didn't describe how the Lincoln County, Tennessee, victims died.
Dr. Bruce Levy, medical examiner for Tennessee, was working to identify the bodies found in that state, Helm said.
Fayetteville police responded to a call to South Lincoln Road about 10 a.m. (11 a.m. ET), Blackwelder said. Police found three crime scenes and five bodies on that street, he said.
The five victims, some of whom were related, were found in two homes, Helm said. Investigators think the killings occurred either Friday night or early Saturday, she said.
The sixth body was found at a business in Huntsville, Sheriff Allen said. He said he is unsure of the connection between the crime scenes in Tennessee and Alabama. Huntsville is about 30 miles from Fayetteville.
"We have no clue yet as to what unfolded there and how it relates to here," Allen said.
CNN's Mayra Cuevas-Nazario contributed to this report.
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369773a8ab584a58ba4e0f939157b5c6
|
Who took the man into custody?
|
[
"authorities"
] |
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|
(CNN) -- On a scenic Hawaiian beach, a sailor found a message in a bottle that was sent about five years ago by a sixth-grader in Japan.
Petty Officer Jon Moore spotted the bottle Thursday during a beach clean up project near the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai.
Moore was among a group of sailors plucking cigarette butts and food wrappers from the beach when he spotted it.
"I looked over and saw the bottle. I jokingly thought it would have a treasure map inside, but it actually had a message," Moore said.
Inside the bottle were four origami flowers and a letter signed by student Saki Arikawa.
There was also a picture of Arikawa's class from Kagoshima, a city in Japan's southern island of Kyushu.
The letter was dated March 25, 2006 and Arikawa's note asked that whoever found the bottle to write back.
Somehow the bottle had traveled some 4,000 miles and reached Moore.
Moore said he immediately thought of home.
Even though he was born in Guyana, South America, he said Japan feels like home because his wife and son live there. The sailor said he plans to visit Kagoshima on his next trip home to visit his family.
And he also has a letter to write.
"I'll definitely respond. I want to write back to the school and get their thoughts," Moore said.
|
a3645a09419d4f2bbb9625f8ff55746f
|
Who found the bottle?
|
[
"Jon Moore"
] |
NewsQA
|
TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- TV pitchman Billy Mays' death appeared to be from heart disease, not a bump to the head, according to the Hillsborough County medical examiner.
OxiClean pitchman Billy Mays apparently died from heart disease, according to the medical examiner.
The final cause of death will not be known until after toxicology results are available, Dr. Vernard Adams said at a Monday news conference.
Mays, 50, was pronounced dead at his home near Tampa Sunday morning, after his wife Deborah found him unresponsive, Tampa police said.
The autopsy conducted Monday morning revealed Mays suffered from hypertensive heart disease, Adams said.
"It's not uncommon to have a sudden death with this kind of disease," Adams said. Watch medical examiner discuss Mays' autopsy »
"Billy would be overwhelmed to see that his life touched so many people in a positive way," Deborah Mays said in a statement Monday.
"While it provides some closure to learn that heart disease took Billy from us, it certainly doesn't ease the enormous void that his death has created in our lives," she said.
Billy Mays had told a friend before he went to sleep Saturday he was not feeling well.
"He said he was groggy, he wasn't feeling that great. He wanted to get some sleep," Todd Schnitt said. Watch friends remember Billy Mays »
Mays was on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia that had a hard landing Saturday at Tampa International Airport after the front tire of the plane blew out.
After the flight, Mays told a Tampa TV station, "All of a sudden as we hit, you know, it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head." Watch Mays talk about hard landing »
Mays, with his booming voice, was famous for fronting products such as OxiClean and Orange Glo in TV commercials. iReport.com: Mays imitator meets the real thing
No evidence of exterior or interior head trauma was found during Mays' autopsy, Adams said.
The Discovery Channel -- which airs "Pitchmen" co-hosted by Mays -- issued a statement saying, "It is with incredible sadness that we have to report that Billy Mays died in his sleep last night. Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth. Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend."
CNN's John Zarrella, Vivian Kuo and Chuck Johnston contributed to this report.
|
1cad7a42f36f474997b74cbf147dc495
|
What age was the person?
|
[
"50,"
] |
NewsQA
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(CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed to Luanda, Angola, on Sunday on the third leg of a journey that is taking her to seven African nations in 11 days.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton poses with residents of South Africa on Saturday during her 11-day trip to Africa.
The State Department has described Angola as a nation with "enormous economic potential."
The African country is one of the largest energy producers south of the Sahara Desert and is a major supplier of petroleum and liquefied natural gas to the U.S. market.
Clinton flew to Angola after a two-day stop in South Africa, where she met with the country's new leader, President Jacob Zuma, and the foreign minister.
She ended the South African trip Saturday with a visit to a housing project on the outskirts of Cape Town, where she and daughter, Chelsea, laid the first bricks 12 years ago.
Clinton opened her Africa trip in Kenya. She will also travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia and Cape Verde.
"In each nation, she will emphasize Africa as a place of opportunity, built on an ethic of responsibility," said Ian Kelly, state department spokesman.
"She will underline America's commitment to partner with governments, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations and private citizens to build societies where each individual can realize their potential."
|
1bf1db3e47f64924af261d00c03166d9
|
Who is visiting ?
|
[
"Hillary Clinton"
] |
NewsQA
|
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- German federal police seized two suspected terrorists from a Dutch passenger aircraft at Cologne airport Friday shortly before it was due to take off for Amsterdam, officials told CNN.
The arrests were made at Cologne's airport.
A 23-year-old Somali national and a 24-year-old German citizen who had been born in Mogadishu were arrested on a KLM plane at 6.55 am local time (0455 GMT), a police spokesman said.
Police said "farewell" letters had been found from the men that led them to suspect they were intending to carry out terror attacks. It was not revealed where the letters were found or how long the men had been under observation.
Walter Roemer, press spokesman at Cologne-Bonn airport, said that the arrests had been "very unspectacular". He said federal police boarded the plane and arrested the two suspects, "without them showing any resistance."
The two had been among 40 passengers en route to Amsterdam. All those on board were asked to disembark while the suspects' luggage was identified. The plane took off for Amsterdam after a delay of one hour and 20 minutes.
She said everyone was then forced to leave the plane, and there was a "baggage parade" to see whose bags belonged to whom. Watch more details on the incident. »
Amsterdam's Schipol airport Web site listed flight KL 1804, the scheduled morning flight from Cologne to Amsterdam, as having arrived at 9.17 am local time, one hour and two minutes after it was due to arrive.
In September 2007, German authorities arrested three suspected militants planning what were described as "massive" attacks on American targets in Germany.
German media said at the time that potential targets could have included Ramstein Air Base, the U.S. military's main installation in Germany, or the major international hub of Frankfurt Airport.
Terrorism expert Sajjan Gohel told CNN the arrest showed Germany faces a major threat from extremists. Watch Gohel explain details behind the arrests »
"This was a long term operation, there was a couple of individuals that the German intelligence agency was monitoring," he said.
"The feeling was that they had come back specifically with the purpose of planning and plotting a terrorist attack."
CNN's Diana Magnay in Berlin contributed to this report
|
1d2d5597cf8146e680a5c9d4a22333a7
|
How many suspects were there?
|
[
"two"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- At least 40 people died and 20 were injured early Thursday morning when a bus plunged into a ravine in a mountainous region near Cuzco, Peru, authorities said.
The bus crashed about 5:30 a.m. near the town of Espinar, Peru, Lt. Edilberto Tunquipa of the Espinar fire department said.
Interviews with survivors pointed to driver fatigue as one of the possible causes of the crash, Tunquipa said. The bus had left the city of Arequipa about seven hours earlier, heading to the town of Santo Tomas in the mountains, he said.
The poor conditions of the road were another possible factor, he added.
No international tourists were believed to be on the bus, though authorities could not confirm that, Tunquipa said.
The 20 people injured were in hospitals, their injuries ranging from severe head and back injuries to minor scrapes, he said. Most of the victims were believed to be locals who work in Arequipa and were returning home to their small towns for Christmas, he said.
The exact number of people on the bus remained unknown. The bus holds 52 people, Tunquipa said, but it was overcrowded, with people standing in the aisle.
CNN's Mariano Castillo and Esprit Smith contributed to this report.
|
b42b1d60022e4b3a8763481957941c87
|
where is arequipa
|
[
"Peru,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is battling a large grass fire in the marshlands of Jefferson County, Texas, an agency official told CNN on Tuesday.
The fire began Monday afternoon about 12 miles west of Sabine Pass and about 200 yards from the Intracoastal Waterway, Jim Stockie, spokesman for the fish and wildlife service said. He estimated the area burned by Tuesday afternoon to be between 10,000 and 12,000 acres, but he said the fire was not threatening any structures.
Smoke from the blaze was drifting into the Houston/Galveston area more than 100 miles from the fire.
Just a dozen firefighters were working the blaze, Stockie said.
"We don't like to put firefighters out in a sea of grass. We retreat to levies and burn off the fuel," Stockie said.
Texas has suffered its worst fire season in state history with more than 3.5 million acres burned, according to state officials.
In October, the Bastrop Complex Fire torched more than 1,500 homes and 34,000 acres of land north of Austin before officials were able to contain it, the Texas Fire Service said.
An unusual La Nina weather pattern led to a nearly 11-month fire season in the state, fire service spokeswoman April Saginor said.
A survey released last month by the Texas Forest Service estimated between 100 million and 500 million trees, or 2% to 10% of the state's 4.9 billion trees, were killed by the severe drought and consequent fires. The dry spell that began in 2010 was the worst the state has seen since 1895, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has said.
The drought conditions also caused concern for the state's water supply, especially in smaller towns.
CNN's Dave Alsup and Chandler Friedman contributed to this report.
|
bbfd273d61e646a1a855cae2f987a176
|
When did the fire begin
|
[
"Monday afternoon"
] |
NewsQA
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(CNN) -- The recent incident involving Chelsea and England captain John Terry and Queens Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand has seen the issue of racism in football dominate the headlines.
The decision by London's Metropolitan Police to launch an investigation into what occurred during the October 23 match follows allegations made by Manchester United's Patrice Evra of racial abuse from Liverpool striker Luis Suarez during an English Premier League clash.
These two incidents are just the latest in a year which has seen the issue of race and football at the forefront of coverage of both club and international soccer.
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b198fe6d7d10476c91cd28f172771e8f
|
What was Luis Suarez accused of
|
[
"racial abuse"
] |
NewsQA
|
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A meeting between the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan was canceled Friday when bad weather prevented Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari from traveling to the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari (pictured) has met Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai before.
An official in Pakistan's Foreign Office said the meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and top government officials will be rescheduled for the near future.
The visit was to have taken place amid ongoing warfare and tension along the Afghan-Pakistan border and was to have focused on the nations cooperating in the fight against terror.
Some of the Taliban militants conducting attacks in Afghanistan have been based in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province and nearby tribal regions.
The group's resurgence has prompted U.S. commanders and the incoming Barack Obama administration to put more of a focus on confronting militants along the volatile border.
In the past, Afghan and Pakistani leaders have blamed the other for the security problems in the region.
Zardari was to have been accompanied on the trip by the governor of North West Frontier Province, as well as his foreign minister and adviser on internal affairs.
The two presidents also planned to discuss the expansion of bilateral relations and trade.
Both men have met before, when Karzai visited Pakistan in September to attend Zardari's swearing-in ceremony.
|
ba7ef4e3b5e848df905db03df852095c
|
Who is due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai?
|
[
"Asif Ali Zardari"
] |
NewsQA
|
(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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1621c17da3604d79bd1004c17292f370
|
When will access be restored?
|
[
"next year."
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The French spend more time eating and drinking than anyone else among the world's wealthy nations, a new study reveals.
The study, by the Paris-based Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), found that the average French person spends nine hours sleeping every night, and spends two hours a day eating.
On the other end of the spectrum, the average Japanese gets seven hours of sleep and also spends longer at work -- and getting to work -- than on leisure activities.
And when it comes to food, Mexicans spend the least time: just over an hour a day.
The survey looked at 18 countries among the organization's 30 members to see how people use "that most fundamental of resources:" time. The results were released Monday.
Among the organization's findings:
The lowest obesity rates? South Korea and Japan with less than 4 percent of the population exceeding a BMI of more than 30.
|
a21562eff1a347c4ba8c6e9f0330ab71
|
Name two countries which have the lowest obesity rates.
|
[
"South Korea and Japan"
] |
NewsQA
|
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain's coldest winter in almost two decades bared its teeth again Friday, with more snow trapping hundreds of motorists in their cars.
Britain is suffering its coldest winter in almost two decades, with heavy snow falls causing havoc.
Police, the army and civilian rescue teams rushed to help people trapped overnight south of Exeter, Devon, where 200 cars and dozens of trucks were snow-bound, the British Press Association reported.
"Wherever they're gonna go, they're gonna get stuck," said PC Carter of Chudleigh Police, just outside Exeter. "Everything's ground to a halt."
Rescuers needed 4x4s to reach the trapped motorists.
Some drivers abandoned their cars along the road overnight, trudging to nearby hotels to wait for the snow to pass. Watch the snow stall motorists »
"You couldn't drive because it was coming onto your windscreen so thick and fast that it was just impossible to see," one woman staying warm at a hotel told CNN affiliate ITN. "You couldn't see the car in front and your tires were starting to skid, and it was really scary."
One man was stuck in his truck.
"I think I've been fairly lucky -- I managed to do most of what I've got to do, but this has got gradually worse," he told ITN from the cab of his truck. "It's got gradually worse and worse and worse until I got here. I've been here for 2 1/2 hours."
Devon and Cornwall Police urged people to avoid the area altogether and avoid travel whenever possible.
The snow, which has continued to fall across Britain following Monday's huge dump that brought the country to a virtual standstill, forced more airport closures Friday. Watch an iReporter talk about being snowed in »
Luton, about 50 kilometers north of London, cancelled all flights until at least midday, while Bristol said it was closing until mid-morning.
However, London's major airports -- Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick -- were all open for business as normal.
Britain's Met Office issued another severe weather warning, saying snow would be heavy at times with up to 10 cm over high ground.
It said the snow was likely to lead to further travel delays and warned the icy conditions would continue into the weekend.
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59b8a36fdc9e413c881e0b0c2f231c1b
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What type of additional warning was issued?
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[
"severe weather"
] |
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|
(CNN) -- Space shuttle Discovery launched early Monday to deliver spare parts and science experiments to the international space station.
Discovery launched at 6:21 a.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida
Discovery, with its crew of seven astronauts, is carrying supplies and science equipment for the international space station's laboratories. The 13-day mission includes three planned spacewalks, replacing an ammonia tank assembly and retrieving a Japanese experiment from the station's exterior.
Discovery is scheduled to arrive at the space station on Wednesday, and return to Earth on April 18 at 8:35 a.m. ET.
After this mission, there are only three shuttle missions remaining before the space shuttle fleet is retired.
iReport: Did you watch the launch? Share your photos and video
NASA said Discovery's mission will mark the first time four women have been in space at one time: Three women -- mission specialists Stephanie Wilson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and Naoko Yamazaki -- comprise part of the Discovery's crew, while NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson is already at the space station.
The launch comes three days after Russian spacecraft Soyuz TMA-18, carrying Dyson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko, blasted off to the International Space Station from a Kazakhstan facility.
The space station, which orbits the Earth at a height of some 250 miles, is due to be finished next year and is about 90 percent complete.
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6a85ee40b33e48138e76d63baf4dfac6
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Shuttle is carrying what to the space station?
|
[
"spare parts and science experiments"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Asian champions Al Sadd have qualified for the semifinals of the Club World Cup after beating African champions Esperance of Tunisia 2-1 in Toyota, Japan, in a match marred by crowd trouble.
Esperance fans repeatedly clashed with police and stewards, with one supporter also running onto the pitch before being dragged to the ground, after their side had two goals disallowed for offside, and penalty appeals rejected, in an enthraling match.
Al Sadd's victory, the fifth successive time the Asian champions have beaten their African equivalent in the tournament, means the Qatari side have secured a dream last four clash with European champions Barcelona on Thursday.
Al Sadd went ahead in the 33rd minute when Khalfan Al Khalfan headed home a rebound after goalkeeper Moez Ben Cherifia failed to deal properly with Abdul Kader Keita's long-range drive.
And they doubeld their advantage four minutes after the break when Lee Jung-Soo headed a free-kick across goal for captain Abdullah Koni to knock in from close range.
Both teams were making their debut in the competition, and Esperance gave themselves hope on the hour mark when Ousama Darragi headed home a set-piece.
But, helped by a couple of contentious decisions, Al Sadd held on and will now pit their wits against tournament favorites Barcelona.
Meanwhile, in the other fixture played on Sunday, Japanese champions Kashiwa Reysol beat CONCACAF champions Monterrey of Mexico on penalties, after their match had ended 1-1.
Ryohei Hayashi netted the winning spot-kick to see Kashiwa through 4-3 on penalties and seal a date with South American champions Santos of Brazil in the other semifinal on Wednesday.
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c048cc5dfa82458d82b32357445f2eca
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Who is the Asian champion?
|
[
"Al Sadd"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Two crew members were taken to a hospital after a FedEx cargo plane crashed on landing Tuesday morning at the Lubbock, Texas, airport, officials said.
A damaged FedEx ATR-42 lies beside a runway early Tuesday at the Lubbock, Texas, airport.
The injuries appeared to be minor, said James Loomis, director of Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport.
There was a small fire on the plane, the Federal Aviation Administration and FedEx spokeswoman Sandra Munoz said. Munoz said she was not sure about the extent of the damage.
The plane is an ATR-42 twin-turboprop aircraft and landed short of the touchdown zone at 4:37 a.m. CT (5:47 ET), Loomis said.
Munoz said the plane had been traveling from Fort Worth Alliance Airport and skidded off the runway amid light freezing rain. iReport.com: Are you there? Send photos, video
Neither official could immediately say what caused the accident, and Munoz didn't know why parts of the plane caught fire.
The plane was operated by Empire Airways, which is under contract with FedEx Corp., based in Memphis, Tennessee.
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e1b978c799ea4575b5f74af166bbda2f
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what kind of plane was it
|
[
"FedEx ATR-42"
] |
NewsQA
|
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CNN) -- Lawmakers in Nepal will vote Saturday to pick the country's first president since it became a republic.
Nepal became a republic after the deposal of King Gyanendra Shah earlier this year.
The country's newly elected Constituent Assembly abolished a 239-year monarchy following elections in April.
But with no one party winning a majority of the seats, it is unclear who may become president.
The position is largely ceremonial. But a president will swear in whoever is picked as the new prime minister.
The three main political parties continued to negotiate over whom to name president.
The Nepali Congress wants outgoing prime minister and party president Girija Prasad Koirala for the position. The Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) wants its leader.
But the Maoists -- which won the largest number of seats but fell short of a majority -- do not favor either of the two men. They want a non-political figure as president.
Journalist Manesh Shrestha contributed to this report
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a0350fdb5dcb4020b80289e1a6835adf
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Where will lawmakers pick the first president?
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[
"Nepal"
] |
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|
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Bishop Earl Paulk, a charismatic preacher brought down by a series of sex scandals, has died. He was 81.
Bishop Earl Paulk died this weekend at 81.
Paulk died near midnight Saturday at the Atlanta Medical Center, a nursing supervisor confirmed to CNN. The bishop had been at the hospital for several days, she said.
Paulk's death came after an "extended and horrible battle with cancer," Paulk's nephew, Bishop Jim Swilley, wrote in a blog post.
Paulk founded the Chapel Hill Harvester Church in Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta. It quickly grew to become one of the first megachurches in the country. Paulk also had his own television show.
But his success as a preacher was overshadowed time and again by allegations of sexual impropriety.
One allegation ended in a civil suit that was settled out of court in 2003. The accuser said Paulk molested her when she was a child.
A second woman claimed the bishop forced her into a 14-year affair. She filed, withdrew and refiled a suit.
Dennis Brewer, an attorney for Paulk, admitted to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Paulk had a brief adulterous relationship with the woman, but said she was the initiator.
During a deposition in the case, the bishop said under oath the woman was the only one he slept with outside of marriage. But a court-ordered paternity test showed that he also fathered a child with his sister-in-law.
Other allegations -- some true, some unfounded -- cost the church membership, as worshippers dwindled from 10,000 to about 1,000.
"As most of you know, my family has been walking through a very long nightmare season in connection with things concerning him," Swilley wrote in his blog post. "Please pray for some much needed healing and closure for us all."
|
b643998a046f493dbaf6f2e1a5a29ce3
|
what was he accused of
|
[
"sexual impropriety."
] |
NewsQA
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. government has charged an international arms dealer with conspiring to sell a rebel group millions of dollars in weapons "to be used to kill Americans in Colombia," federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Viktor Bout is accused of selling missiles, rockets and other weapons to FARC, a Colombian rebel group.
Viktor Bout, who was recently captured in Thailand, had agreed to sell the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) surface-to-air missiles, armor-piercing rocket launchers, "ultralight" airplanes, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other weapons, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
There was no immediate public response from Bout, who remains in custody in Thailand.
Federal authorities unsealed an indictment charging Bout with four terrorism offenses: conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, conspiracy to kill U.S. officers or employees, conspiracy to acquire and use an anti-aircraft missile, and conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
FARC is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.
Justice Department officials said they are seeking Bout's extradition to the United States.
The indictment alleges that Bout made agreements with FARC between November 2007 and March of this year.
In their news release, federal prosecutors said Bout agreed to sell weapons "to two confidential sources" working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, who had "represented that they were acquiring these weapons for the FARC, with the specific understanding that the weapons were to be used to attack United States helicopters in Colombia."
The news release also refers to a "covertly recorded meeting in Thailand on March 6, 2008."
"With the unsealing of this indictment, we are one step closer to ensuring Bout has delivered his last load of high-powered weaponry and armed his final terrorist," DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Loenhart said in the news release.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey last month singled out Bout as a leading example of a new breed of organized crime leaders who operate across international boundaries to amass wealth without regard to political ideology.
"Viktor Bout has long been considered by the international community as one of the world's most prolific arms traffickers," U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said in the news release Tuesday.
Bout's assets in the United States were frozen in 2004 after he allegedly shipped weapons to Liberia in violation of U.S. government restrictions.
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8784b77ac206410c98710a42b250b911
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What did Viktor Bout offer to sell to FARC?
|
[
"selling missiles, rockets and other weapons"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The Marine Corps' top officer says he would want to avoid housing gay and heterosexual Marines in the same rooms on base if the ban on gays openly serving in the military is lifted.
"I would not ask our Marines to live with someone that's homosexual if we can possibly avoid it," Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway told a Web site in an interview posted Friday. "And to me that means we've got to build [barracks] that have single rooms."
Asked about the possibility of gay and straight Marines living together, Conway told the site Military.com that he would "want to preserve the right of a Marine that thinks he or she wouldn't want to do that -- and that's the overwhelming number of people that say they wouldn't like to do so."
Conway said the Marine Corps is the only branch of the armed services that houses two to a room.
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that the Pentagon will start to ease its enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy prohibiting homosexuals from serving openly in the military.
Among other things, Gates said the Pentagon is raising the threshold for what constitutes an appropriate level of information necessary to launch a "credible inquiry" into allegations of homosexual behavior.
The change, which will take effect in 30 days and apply to all current cases, is a reflection of "common sense" and "common decency," Gates said.
"These changes reflect some of the insights we have gained over 17 years of implementing the current law, including the need for consistency, oversight and clear standards," Gates said.
President Obama and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, support a legislative repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," which was first enacted in 1993. Some senior members of the military, however, have expressed concern over the impact of the ban's repeal on unit cohesion and morale, among other things.
|
5368ef5902584a9fa50c0d73fd0302e2
|
how many per room
|
[
"two"
] |
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|
SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- A wildfire threatened to decimate historic Angel Island, the largest in the San Francisco Bay, and a Marin County fire official warned it could take up to four days contain the blaze.
At 9:15 p.m. Sunday the fire was burning only on the southeast side of the island.
The fire, which began about 9 p.m. Sunday, had consumed about 250 acres of vegetation near the top of Mount Livermore's 788-foot peak, Battalion Chief Mike Giannini said Monday.
iReporter Bob Austrian, 45, of Tiburon, said he could see the blaze from his home about 4 or 5 miles from the island.
He noticed the blaze at 9:15 p.m. Sunday. It "started as a little red glow" on the southeast side of the island and worked its way over the top and around the side of Mount Livermore, he said early Monday morning. Watch the island burn »
"It's still ripping right now," Austrian said at 5 a.m., noting that the blaze posed "quite a spectacle" with the town of Belvedere in the foreground and the Bay Bridge that connects Oakland and San Francisco serving as a backdrop.
Fire crews and equipment were being ferried to the island to battle the blaze, Giannini said. About 200 firefighters were already involved in the effort or en route, he said.
None of the blaze is contained, and Giannini said he expects the firefighting effort to last for three to four more days.
Austrian, who has visited the island at least a dozen times, said he's concerned that firefighters won't be able to douse the blaze. The island is mostly vegetation with a few historic buildings, foot trails and access roads. iReport.com: See, share images of the blaze
Even with the necessary manpower and firefighting resources, he said, it will be difficult to reach the actual blaze.
"It's just the saddest thing because there's no way to stop it," Austrian said.
Fire officials said earlier that all of the park workers and campers on the island were safe.
Angel Island -- a hilly grass- and forest-covered island -- is the largest in San Francisco Bay.
The island was used as a quarantine station for immigrants suspected of carrying diseases starting in the late 19th century.
It's now a place for hiking, biking, camping and boating.
|
b6641ee93c444e1996cba713fe88ad70
|
what does fire official say
|
[
"it could take up to four days contain the blaze."
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- An Indonesian fisherman has been killed by Komodo dragons after he was attacked while trespassing on a remote island in search of fruit, officials said Tuesday.
Komodo dragons kill their prey with an extremely toxic bite.
Muhamad Anwar, 32, bled to death on his way to hospital after being mauled by the reptiles at Loh Sriaya, in eastern Indonesia's Komodo National Park, the park's general manager Fransiskus Harum told CNN.
"The fisherman was inside the park when he went looking for sugar-apples. The area was forbidden for people to enter as there are a lot of wild dragons," Harum said.
Other fisherman took Anwar to a clinic on nearby Flores Island, east of Bali, but he was declared dead on arrival, he added.
Komodo dragons, the world's heaviest lizards, can grow up to 3 meters (10 feet) in length and have a toxic bite that they use to kill prey such as buffalo, returning to feast when the animal succumbs to the poison.
Despite their ungainly appearance, the carnivorous reptiles can run as fast as a dog in short bursts, jump up on their hind legs, and kill animals with a blow of their powerful tails.
Attacks on humans are rare, but Monday's incident is the latest in a series in which the monster lizards -- which have forked tongues and fearsome claws --have killed or injured people.
Last month a park ranger survived after a Komodo dragon climbed the ladder into his hut and savaged his hand and foot. In 2007 an eight-year-old boy died after being mauled.
In June last year, a group of divers who were stranded on an island in the national park -- the dragons' only natural habitat -- had to fend off several attacks from the reptiles before they were rescued.
Park rangers also tell the cautionary tale of a Swiss tourist who vanished leaving nothing but a pair of spectacles and a camera after an encounter with the dragons several years ago.
An endangered species, Komodo are believed to number less than 4,000 in the wild. Access to their habitat is restricted, but tourists can get permits to see them in the wild within the National Park.
All visitors are accompanied by rangers, about 70 of whom are deployed across the park's 60,000 hectares of vegetation and 120,000 hectares of ocean.
Despite a threat of poachers, Komodo dragon numbers are believed to have stabilized in recent years, bolstered by successful breeding campaigns in captivity.
On Monday, a zoo in Surabaya on the Indonesian island of Java reported the arrival of 32 newborn Komodos after the babies all hatched in the past two weeks, the Jakarta Post reported.
|
b020e00b5cef41dfab8b1b00bd62affa
|
What did Muhamad Anwar die of?
|
[
"killed by Komodo dragons"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- North Korea accused the United States and South Korea of sending spy planes on about 200 missions near the isolated communist nation ahead of a North Korea rocket launch scheduled for early April.
Pyongyang claims reconnaissance aircraft, including the high-altitude U-2 spy plane, have flown spy missions.
"The U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppet military warmongers perpetrated intensive aerial espionage against the DPRK (North Korea) in March by massively mobilizing strategic and tactical reconnaissance planes with various missions," a military source said, according to a report from North Korea's state-run news service, KCNA, on Tuesday.
Pyongyang said the United States committed 110 cases of "aerial espionage and the South Korean puppet forces at least 80 cases," during March, KCNA reported. The source said the missions utilized six types of reconnaissance aircraft, including the high-altitude U-2 spy plane.
"The U.S. imperialist warmongers had better bear in mind that ... spy planes perpetrating espionage against the DPRK are within the range of its strikes."
The Pentagon was not immediately available to comment on the story.
The North Korean government says it will launch a commercial satellite atop a rocket sometime between April 4 and April 8. Satellite imagery taken on Sunday appears to show a rocket at the Musudan-ri launch site in northeastern North Korea.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday there is little doubt that the planned rocket launch is designed to bolster North Korea's military capability.
He also indicated that the U.S. military could be prepared to shoot down a North Korean missile if the rogue regime develops the capability to reach Hawaii or the western continental United States in a future launch. Watch analysis of Pyongyang's planned rocket launch »
Both the United States and Japan have mobilized missile defense systems ahead of the launch.
North Korea has threatened to start a war if Japan were to shoot down its rocket. Tokyo said the move is aimed at shooting down any debris from the launch that might fall into Japanese territory.
U.S. Navy ships capable of shooting down ballistic missiles have been moved to the Sea of Japan, a Navy spokesman said.
The United States generally has a number of ships equipped with powerful Aegis radar in the Sea of Japan because of North Korean threats to launch rockets. The ships are designed to track and, if needed, shoot down ballistic missiles.
The United States has no plans to shoot down the North Korean rocket, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week, but will raise the issue with the U.N. Security Council if Pyongyang carries out a launch.
|
18c303d3e1f24682926b1201ab6eed93
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Where are the spy planes?
|
[
"North Korea"
] |
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|
Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) -- An American jailer was the target in the shooting deaths of three people with ties to the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexican officials said.
The jailer, Arthur Redelfs, and his wife, Lesley Ann Enriquez, were killed in a drive-by shooting in Juarez earlier this month. Enriquez was an employee of the U.S. Consulate in that city.
Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, 37, the husband of a Mexican employee of the consulate, was also killed at around the same time as Redelfs and Enriquez.
A suspect arrested in the case gave new details on the high-profile killings, Mexican federal authorities said in a statement late Tuesday. Ricardo Valles de la Rosa, a member of the Aztecas gang, was arrested Friday based on military intelligence, the statement said.
According to federal officials, de la Rosa told interrogators that he was a lookout for the operation that killed the two Americans.
He said he got to know many leaders of the Aztecas, a street gang affiliated with the Juarez cartel, while imprisoned in El Paso County, Texas. Although he was born in Juarez, de la Rosa lived in El Paso for 30 years.
One of the Azteca leaders called and ordered him to find where consulate employees were having a children's party and to follow the white sport utility vehicle belonging to Redelfs, a jail guard in El Paso, authorities said.
The call came days in advance of the killings, the statement said.
De la Rosa followed Redelfs' vehicle down a Juarez avenue, until being told to fall back because the shooters had the vehicle in their sights, the statement said. A few moments later, de la Rosa heard shooting.
According to federal authorities, de la Rosa drove by the scene and saw that in addition to Redelfs, his wife, who was four months pregnant, was also dead. An infant in the back seat was uninjured.
De la Rosa also admitted to involvement in four other homicides involving members or rival gangs, authorities said.
No additional arrests have been made in the case. De la Rosa remains imprisoned pending the outcome of the investigation.
Ceniceros' wife was not traveling with him, but two of their children in the car were wounded. His white SUV looked very similar to the one Redelfs drove.
|
2eb293bb37eb47109c87025a4fa3674d
|
How many people were killed?
|
[
"three"
] |
NewsQA
|
Editor's Note: The following story contains spoilers regarding the show "House." If you'd rather not know what happens, stop reading now.
Kal Penn, left, with Peter Jacobson on "House," is joining the Obama White House.
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- When Dr. Lawrence Kutner killed himself on the latest episode of "House: MD," it was the beginning of a new career for actor Kal Penn.
The demise of Penn's character cleared the way for the actor to move on to another "House," the White House.
Penn, 31, will be an associate director for the Obama administration's Office of Public Liaison.
"It seemed like something I would enjoy doing," Penn said. "I figured it was something to do."
He's not retiring from acting, just pursuing a longtime desire for public service that was rekindled when he campaigned for Barack Obama's election, Penn said.
Penn played a teen terrorist on Fox's "24" before joining the network's "House" two years ago. He's also known as Kumar Patel in the "Harold & Kumar" movie series.
The White House job likely ends his Kumar roles, he said. In fact, he will not consider any acting jobs until he leaves the Obama administration, he said.
Penn will take a big pay cut to work for the government, but he has committed to at least one or two years in the job, he said.
His focus will be as a liaison for the arts community and the Asian-American community, he said. He filled a similar role in the Obama presidential campaign, he said.
"We want to make sure that everyone's concerns are heard and they are familiar with the president's plans and proposals," he said.
Penn said he spoke briefly with Obama after the election about "trying to find the right fit" for him in the administration.
He said he has bittersweet emotions as he leaves Hollywood to search for an apartment in Washington next week.
The writers' decision to have Dr. Kutner commit suicide ensures Penn will not return to the show, although he said he leaves on good terms.
He felt "more than a little bit of shock and loss" to learn that his character would die in his final episode.
Even though he spoke no lines in the episode -- and only his legs are seen when his body is found -- he was on the set for the filming, he said.
CNN's KJ Matthews contributed to this story.
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540aa2419c4b488ab5ae55c9e51c8ec7
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What re-ignited his desire for public service?
|
[
"Barack Obama's election,"
] |
NewsQA
|
BABAHOYO, Ecuador (CNN) -- At least 10 people have died and thousands have been left homeless after torrential rains inundated large parts of Ecuador, officials said Thursday.
Authorities said the rains, which began a week ago, were the worst in a quarter century. Civil defense officials said more than 10,000 families have been affected.
Los Ríos -- north of Guayaquil -- was the hardest hit of nine provinces affected, civil defense officials said.
In Los Ríos province, five people died when an ambulance drove into a hole at the side of a street at dawn Thursday. A newborn boy, his parents, a doctor and a driver were killed.
Streets also were flooded in the capital of Quito. Watch the scenes of devastation in Ecuador »
On Wednesday, President Rafael Correa declared a state of emergency and ordered 2,000 members of the army and the police to help rescue workers. Correa increased by $25 million the $10 million he already had allocated for the emergency efforts. He also directed another $88 million to municipalities.
Once the crisis has eased, an emergency fund will give seed and fertilizer to help farmers whose fields were washed away, Ecuador's government said. There also have been reports of livestock drowning.
Cristina Medina, a spokeswoman for the Ecuadorean Red Cross, said provinces most heavily affected were along the Pacific coast, where drinking water was often in short supply.
In some towns, high waters forced entire neighborhoods to evacuate, Medina said. E-mail to a friend
|
54806b07a2fc4d48bd7b55536cd42471
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What is the cause of the deaths?
|
[
"torrential rains"
] |
NewsQA
|
Washington (CNN) -- A trio of congressional Republicans passionately appealed to the Pentagon on Thursday to drop charges against three Navy SEALs accused of assaulting an Iraqi suspected of orchestrating the 2004 killing and mutilation of four U.S. contractors.
Flanked by about a dozen retired Navy SEALs at a news conference near the Capitol, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California; Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indiana; and Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, insisted that the U.S. is sending the wrong message to its troops.
"These Navy SEALs were apprehending a terrorist murderer, and they are being accused of roughing him up? Give me a break! These men should be given medals, not prosecuted. These men are heroes," Rohrabacher said.
Burton agreed, saying, "These people are laying their lives on the line every day, and they can't go into a combat situation with kid gloves on."
The congressmen said they plan to present to Pentagon officials petitions signed by thousands of people supporting the SEALs.
The Iraqi suspect, Ahmed Hashim Abed, complained to investigators he was punched during his detention.
One of the three SEALs, Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe, 24, accused of assault, stood next to his attorney at the event Thursday. McCabe did not speak.
Gohmert said those who bring harm to Americans should not get the same judicial treatment as U.S. citizens.
"They get all their constitutional rights. Well, we've got heroes around who deserve the constitutional rights of an even better caliber. And yes, there are different levels of constitutional rights," he said.
In January, a military judge ruled that the trials of the two other SEALs should be held on a base in Iraq.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe, 25, and Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas, 28, are charged with dereliction of duty and impeding an official investigation surrounding the Iraqi's detention last September. Their trials are set to begin next month.
The case against the Navy SEALs has sparked outrage that the sailors are being tried at all for handling a suspect in the contractors' murders, one of the most notorious incidents in the Iraq war.
The killings got widespread news coverage when the burned bodies of two of the contractors were paraded through the streets of Falluja and hanged from a bridge as their captors cheered.
"In this case, we've turned logic upside down on its head," said Rohrabacher. "Our government is taking the word of a terrorist and attacking our defenders."
|
e136a90bed074aa4b1d54145f2f2cdae
|
what did the petitions support
|
[
"to drop charges against three Navy SEALs accused of assaulting an Iraqi suspected of orchestrating the 2004 killing and mutilation of four U.S. contractors."
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The World Health Organization announced Tuesday it is still considering increasing its pandemic alert level to phase 6 because of growing worldwide cases of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu.
WHO considers raising the pandemic alert level to 6 as cases of H1N1 increase worldwide.
"Globally, we are at phase 5, but we are nearing phase 6," said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO's Assistant Director General. "As this continues to spread internationally, some countries are moving from isolated to sustained community spread."
Phase 6 is a declaration that many member countries have long feared could mean economic disaster. It is the highest on the WHO's pandemic alert system, and is described by the organization as a global pandemic.
Fukuda was quick to remind journalists that the designation does not reflect the severity of the disease, but how widespread it is.
"Our overall assessment of severity is moderate," he said, "because although the overall number of serious and fatal cases is relatively limited ... we really don't have a full handle on the number of people with serious illness."
Fukuda said nearly 19,000 cases of the H1N1 virus have been reported in 64 countries, resulting in 117 deaths.
|
3e23f3e9203a425594cbd253a0477124
|
Is Phase 6 the highest level on the pandemic alert system?
|
[
"It is the"
] |
NewsQA
|
LONDON, England -- Chelsea are waiting on the fitness of John Terry ahead of Wednesday's Champions League match with Valencia, but Frank Lampard has been ruled out.
John Terry tries out his protective mask during training for Chelsea on Tuesday.
Center-back Terry suffered a broken cheekbone during Saturday's 0-0 draw with Fulham, and Chelsea manager Avram Grant will see how he fares during training on Tuesday before making a decision on his availability.
Terry trained at Valencia's Mestalla stadium with a face mask on after surgery on Sunday.
"John Terry wants to play which is very good. Now we need to wait for training and then we will speak with the medical department and decide," said Grant.
Grant has confirmed that Lampard will definitely sit the game out though as the midfielder continues to recover from his thigh injury.
Midfielder Michael Essien, who scored a last-minute winner for Chelsea to knock Valencia out of last season's Champions League, has also been battling a leg injury but he took part in training on Tuesday and is expected to play. E-mail to a friend
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3dfca00a94e048b686dd22d00759040d
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what did terry wear in training?
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[
"protective mask"
] |
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Chicago, Illinois (CNN) -- The four people found dead this week in a suburban Chicago home were the victims of a murder-suicide, a coroner said.
A man, a woman and two boys were found dead Wednesday in a house in Addison, Illinois, west of Chicago, according to the DuPage County coroner's office.
A statement from the coroner's office identified the four as Thomas Mangiantini, 48, his wife Elizabeth, 46, and the couple's two sons, Angelo, 12, and Thomas, 8.
The deaths of Elizabeth Mangiantini and the two children were called homicides in the coroner's report. Thomas Mangiantini's manner of death was ruled a suicide, the report said.
Police received a 911 call from a woman at 6:30 a.m. CT Wednesday, according to CNN affiliate WGN-TV in Chicago. When officers arrived at the scene, they found a female dead downstairs in the house and the bodies of three males upstairs, according to WGN.
A spokesman for the Addison Police Department declined to give more information Friday.
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c767de6dc026401a89baad5751ed608f
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Bodies were found after 911 call in which city?
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"Addison, Illinois,"
] |
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(CNN) -- Richard Roberts, the embattled president of Oral Roberts University and the son of its namesake evangelist founder, stepped down Friday, according to the school's Board of Regents.
Richard Roberts and wife Lindsay appear on CNN's "Larry King Live" in October.
"I love ORU with all my heart. I love the students, faculty, staff and administration, and I want to see God's best for them," Roberts wrote in his resignation letter.
Roberts' decision was effective immediately and came as the school fought a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by three professors who accused him and his wife of misconduct.
John Swails, Tim Brooker and Paulita Brooker said they lost their jobs after reporting information indicating that Roberts and his family lavishly spent school money for personal expenses.
Roberts and his wife, Lindsay, have denied the allegations.
The suit also claimed Oral Roberts University gave a "convicted sexual deviant unrestricted access to students" and evidence in the case had been shredded -- charges the university has denied.
In addition, the suit alleged Lindsay Roberts repeatedly spent time with an "underage male" in various situations. She denied any improper behavior, insisting in a statement that she had "never, ever engaged in any sexual behavior with any man outside of my marriage."
The Board of Regents, which voted to hire an auditor to look into the claims, will meet early next week to discuss a search process for a new president, according to Friday's statement from Chairman George Pearsons.
Roberts announced last month he would step aside temporarily as president, saying he and his family had suffered "heavy damage."
The controversy has drawn international attention to the private Christian university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. E-mail to a friend
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ab6c48a5c3ff4b52bc434de9df711095
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Who does Richard Roberts refer to when he says "I love ORU"?
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"University"
] |
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Washington (CNN) -- An Iranian navy plane that approached a U.S. aircraft carrier last week was flying as low as 300 feet as it neared the USS Eisenhower, U.S. military officials said Wednesday.
The incident, first reported by CNN on Tuesday, came as Iran was beginning a series of military exercises last week meant to show off their military prowess.
The Eisenhower was on duty in the Gulf of Oman in the northern Arabian Sea, in support of the Afghanistan war efforts, when the Iranian maritime patrol aircraft flew within 1,000 yards of the vessel, according to military officials.
While the encounter was not threatening, it was unusual. U.S. navy ships have regularly encountered Iranian aircraft in the Persian Gulf in recent years, but this encounter took place in the Gulf of Oman, in an area where Iranian jets are seen much less frequently, several Navy officials said.
The officials declined to be identified, citing the extremely sensitive nature of any U.S. military interaction with Iranian forces.
Adm. Gary Roughead, the top Navy officer, confirmed the April 21 incident. The Iranians were "not provocative or threatening. As long as they are professional and not threatening or reckless, it's international space," he said.
Radar on the Eisenhower and other U.S. ships in the vicinity closely tracked the Iranian aircraft as it approached the aircraft carrier to ensure it maintained a nonthreatening path, Roughead said. A senior U.S. military official said the Iranian plane was tracked by U.S. units for nearly 100 miles before it reached the Eisenhower.
The Iranian aircraft was a Fokker F27 that was unarmed, officials said. It remained in the vicinity of the Eisenhower for about 20 minutes before leaving the area, according to the senior official. The Eisenhower had just finished a series of carrier aircraft flight operations and a resupply at sea mission.
U.S. officials believe the Iranians wanted a close look at the carrier, but they could not say if the Iranians took photos of the ship.
One of the officials also said Iran may simply have been trying to demonstrate its aerial capabilities to the United States.
U.S. military officials continue to emphasize that recent encounters with Iranian naval forces in the Persian Gulf have been professional and without confrontation or problems. The U.S. Navy takes great care to try to stay out of the way of any Iranian forces in the region, officials said.
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What did U.S. officials believe the Iranians wanted?
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"close look at the carrier,"
] |
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(CNN) -- It's been 30,000 years since Neanderthals walked the earth, but now we can hear what they sounded like, according to a Florida anthropologist.
Neanderthal man apparently sounded like a frog croaking or a human burping when talking.
Robert McCarthy of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton reconstructed Neanderthal vocal tracts to simulate their voice with a computer synthesizer.
The result is a single syllable that sounds strange and unremarkable: part croaking frog, part burping human. But McCarthy says that's because Neanderthals lacked the "quantal vowels" modern humans use.
"They would have spoken a bit differently," McCarthy said at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Ohio this month. "They wouldn't have been able to produce these quantal vowels that form the basis of spoken language."
New Scientist magazine discussed McCarthy's findings and linked to his vocal simulation on its Web site. Listen to Neanderthal man speak
McCarthy used 50,000-year-old fossils from France to make his reconstruction, New Scientist said. He plans to simulate an entire Neanderthal sentence, the magazine reported.
To reconstruct the vocal tracts, McCarthy teamed with linguist Phil Lieberman, who worked in the 1970s to deduce the dimensions of a Neanderthal larynx based on its skull. E-mail to a friend
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2f5a0bca2b764dcc9c738ab236d75585
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What did the Anthropologist do?
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"reconstructed Neanderthal vocal tracts"
] |
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Troubled pop star Amy Winehouse spent the night in a London hospital after suffering a reaction to a medication she was taking at home Monday night, according to her spokeswoman.
Amy Winehouse's husband was recently jailed for 27 months.
Tracey Miller said she could not say what medication was involved.
A statement from University College Hospital said Winehouse had been kept in overnight for observation.
She had a comfortable night and was released Tuesday morning, the statement said.
London Ambulance Service said it transported the singer after being notified of "an adult female taken unwell."
Winehouse's spokesman in London, Chris Goodman, told the British Press Association that he had not been told what was wrong with the 24-year-old singer, who is well known for her song "Rehab," describing the singer's reluctance to enter a clinic.
The pop singer was investigated this year after a London tabloid made public a leaked home video that showed her smoking something in a glass pipe minutes after she was heard saying she had just taken six tablets of the anti-anxiety drug Valium. Police declined to file charges.
The singer has battled drug addiction and spent about two weeks in a rehabilitation clinic in January.
Winehouse won five Grammy awards this year -- three for "Rehab" as well as Album of the Year and Best New Artist.
Winehouse's Grammy winning album, "Back to Black," is still a big seller, recently charting at No. 12 in the UK more than 19 months after its release. Madame Toussaud's London wax museum recently unveiled a wax statue of Winehouse alongside Madonna, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce and other musicians in the museum's "Music Zone" exhibit.
On July 21, Winehouse's husband was jailed for 27 months. He admitted to brawling with a pub manager and then offering him $400,000 to not talk about the incident.
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040a0acc101a42929108cd35adeb2fac
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What did Amy Winehouse do?
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"spent the night in a London hospital"
] |
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(CNN) -- An icy asteroid orbiting the sun between Mars and Saturn is adding credence to theories that Earth's water was delivered from space, according to a report published in the new issue of the science journal Nature.
Two teams of scientists found their evidence when looking at 24 Themis, a asteroid about 479 million kilometers (300 million miles) from the sun, or roughly three times the average distance from Earth to the sun.
Using the infrared telescope at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, they were surprised to find not only water on 24 Themis, but organic compounds as well.
Asteroids were thought to be devoid of water because they sit too close to the sun, while comets have been the water bearers of the universe because they form farther out in space.
"Astronomers have looked at dozens of asteroids with this technique, but this is the first time we've seen ice on the surface and organics," astronomer Andrew Rivkin of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, told Nature.com.
The scientific teams from Johns Hopkins and the University of Central Florida that looked at 24 Themis speculate that the ice may be held in a reservoir under the asteroid's surface. They speculate that the water is brought to the surface as small bodies in the asteroid belt hit the surface of 24 Themis.
The findings on 24 Themis lend weight to the idea that asteroids and comets are the source of Earth's water and organic material.
Geochemists believe that early Earth went through a molten phase that would have removed any organic molecules, meaning any new organic material would have had to come to the planet at a later time, said Humberto Campins at UCF.
"I believe our findings are linked to the origin of life on Earth," he added.
Scientists now plan to scan the asteroid belt for more evidence of water and organic materials, hoping to determine if 24 Themis is just an interloper -- possibly a comet that got caught in the asteroid belt -- or the first of many water-bearing asteroids that will change the way astronomers look at the solar system.
"The old-fashioned picture of the solar system in which asteroids are asteroids and comets are comets is getting harder to sustain," Rivkin said.
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49de346396ca40539ae1c17b918302f5
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Scientists find first evidence of what on asteroid?
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"479 million kilometers (300 million miles) from the sun,"
] |
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A Nigerian politician has been arrested for trying to smuggle almost five pounds of cocaine in his stomach in a scheme to finance his election campaign, authorities said Monday.
Eme Zuru Ayortor, a 52-year-old pharmacist and a hopeful for Nigeria's Edo State House of Assembly, was arrested at the international airport in Lagos, drug officials said.
Officials became suspicious of the politician when a scanning machine in the airport revealed that he was carrying 2.120 kilograms (4.7 pounds) of cocaine in his stomach, according to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
Ayortor was trying to fly to Frankfurt, Germany, the agency said.
"After undergoing observation, the pharmacist turned politician excreted 100 pieces of powdery substance that tested positive to cocaine," the agency said in a statement.
"Preliminary check on him revealed that he was preparing himself financially for the forthcoming election into the Edo State House of Assembly."
The suspect told authorities that he was hoping his status as a politician would help him avoid being arrested.
"We do not look at faces in conducting drug screening and we are not moved by credentials. Whoever is dealing in narcotics shall be exposed and prosecuted," said Ahmadu Giade, chairman of the Nigerian drug agency.
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8172ec00f00544939bed2e4392ae66bd
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What did the politician try to smuggle?
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"five pounds of cocaine"
] |
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Los Angeles (CNN) -- A man wounded Friday when a gunman opened fire at passing vehicles along a downtown street in Hollywood has died, a spokeswoman at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles said Monday.
John Atterberry died shortly before 5 p.m. Monday, according to Simi Singer, the hospital spokeswoman.
The music-industry executive was shot in the jaw at Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street.
The gunman, 26-year-old Tyler Brehm, went on the rampage that ended with his being fatally shot by police, Los Angeles police spokeswoman Sgt. Mitzi Fierro has said.
An amateur video captured the scene of Brehm walking down Sunset Boulevard wielding a handgun and firing at vehicles, seemingly at random. Brehm fired a "significant number" of rounds, police said.
He then returned to an intersection, where he was confronted by a plainclothes police detective and an off-duty police officer working on a nearby movie set, officials said.
"At that point the police ordered him to drop his weapon and he pointed his gun at the police and an officer-involved shooting occurred," Fierro said.
Brehm died later at a nearby hospital, according to a police statement.
Christopher Johns recorded much of the incident from his apartment window and can be heard shouting at Brehm throughout.
"Why don't you come up here?" he yelled, later telling CNN that he intended to distract the gunman.
At one point, Brehm spoke with Johns, asking him for ammunition and to call an ambulance.
Fierro said it appeared Johns could interact with the suspect without jeopardizing his safety.
"It appears from the video that he was able to distract the suspect and keep him from shooting at additional people before the police arrived," she said.
Police have not indicated that they know Brehm's motive.
Two others suffered minor injuries.
Witnesses were stunned by the shooting spree. Amy Torgeson told CNN affiliate KABC that vehicles began "swerving and braking," and she sought cover at a nearby bank.
"A car drove by and he just shot right into the car," Torgeson said. "He was just shooting everywhere."
CNN's Regina Graham contributed to this report.
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8e52a6cea31f47afbc16d05ac0001cb5
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What happened to Brehm?
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[
"fatally shot by police,"
] |
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(CNN) -- R&B legend Teddy Pendergrass died Wednesday evening, his former publicist said. He was 59.
Pendergrass, known for smash love ballads such as "Turn Off the Lights" and "Love TKO," died after a long illness, according to Lisa Barbaris, who described herself as a close friend and his last publicist.
He died at a hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was born.
His family did not reveal details about his illness, but said it was related to complications from a 1982 car accident, Barbaris said.
"His beloved family surrounded him. The world has lost one of its greatest voices and performers," a statement from Barbaris said.
"His family is devastated. He has three children and, even though it was expected, it still hurts," she said. Gallery: The amazing Teddy Pendergrass
The crooner, who many affectionately knew as just "Teddy," started in music with a group called the Cadillacs in the late 1960s and was still with the group when it merged with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, according to his official Web site.
He started as a drummer, but soon began to sing lead after the group heard his powerful voice.
In 1972, Pendergrass's baritone could be heard on the classic Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes song "If You Don't Know Me by Now."
The song became a No. 1 hit across the country and led Pendergrass to many other hits and accolades.
After going solo, Pendergrass received several Grammy nominations, Billboard's 1977 Pop Album New Artist Award and an American Music Award for best R&B performer of 1978, Barbaris said.
In 1982, Pendergrass was involved in a car accident that left him paralyzed. But Pendergrass returned to the studio in 1984 in his wheelchair to record an album.
Before his death, Pendergrass was working on a musical documenting his life, called "I Am Who I Am."
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9e1919ddef6e403997de73f7d710c1c5
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The car accident that left Pendergrass in what condition?
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"died"
] |
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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Angry workers beat to death a human resources vice president after he laid off 42 employees at an auto-parts manufacturing company in southern India, police said Wednesday.
Roy George was vice-president for human resources at Pricol, the auto-parts company.
Some four to five workers, belonging to a union not recognized by the company, barged into his office and beat him up with iron rods, said N. Kannan, a police superintendent of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu state.
George, 47, died from his head injuries Tuesday, Kannan told CNN.
Police have arrested nine people and are expected to round up more.
Last year the Indian head of an Italian company died after allegedly being beaten by a mob of sacked employees.
More than 60 people were charged with the murder of the chief executive of Graziano Transmissioni near New Delhi.
Earlier this month, India's Jet Airways had to cancel hundreds of flights after pilots struck work over the sacking of two of their colleagues in August.
Companies in the South Asian nation, despite its rapid economic growth in recent years, have often been faced with tough labor issues because of archaic laws and company policies on hiring and retrenchment.
Business consultants in India blame such labor standoffs on what they call lack of transparency in retrenchment or layoff policies.
Hiring and firing conditions are often not explained to workers by their companies, said Rajeev Karwal, founding-director of Milagrow Business and Knowledge Solutions.
Issues could spiral out of control if the businesses and bureaucrats are seen in a "corrupt nexus" by the employees seeking reprieve from labor authorities, he said.
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7830798184ce44929b5072be66c467a4
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What was used to beat him?
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[
"iron rods,"
] |
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(CNN) -- Jesse James was cited for vandalism after an incident last week with a photographer near his Long Beach, California, motorcycle shop, police said.
Celebrity photographer Ulises Rios also was cited for stalking James, Long Beach Police Sgt. Dina Zapalski said.
Long Beach detectives were given a copy of the video of the March 25 run-in recorded by Rios, his lawyer said.
James, a motorcycle designer and reality TV star, has been the target of controversy and publicity since his separation with actress Sandra Bullock soon after she won a best actress Oscar earlier this month.
James is at a treatment facility "to deal with personal issues" in a bid to save his marriage to Bullock, a spokeswoman for James said Wednesday.
A citation is the equivalent of an arrest, Sgt. Zapalski said.
The Long Beach city prosecutor will decide if the cases will be prosecuted, she said.
Detectives with the city's violent crimes section met with the lawyer for Rios Thursday morning to obtain a copy of the video, attorney Mark Haushalter said.
The video shows James confronting Rios, who is sitting in a vehicle park across the street from West Coast Choppers, a business owned by James, Haushalter said.
Two tires on the SUV were slashed, a door was dented and a window was scratched, he said.
The lawyer for James did not immediately respond to CNN requests for comment.
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03948c2e4d5a4c02bcb0ee1c1b602e6e
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on what date did Ulises Rios recorded the incident?
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"March 25"
] |
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UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Friday expressing its intent to, eventually, send U.N. peacekeeping forces back to the fractured, unstable nation of Somalia.
Islamist insurgents display their weaponry Friday in Mogadishu during a parade.
The resolution was sponsored by the U.S., in one of the final Bush Administration initiatives at the United Nations.
The passage of the resolution follows the exit of a U.N.-backed, Ethiopian peacekeeping force that completed a two-year deployment in Somalia Thursday.
There is wide-spread concern among diplomats and regional leaders in the Horn of Africa that, with the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces, a power vacuum will be filled in Somalia by regional Islamic extremist groups, some with links to al-Qaeda.
The U.N. resolution sets forth a process that aims to bring stability and sovereignty to Somalia, which has been racked by violence and lawlessness since the government was overthrown in 1991.
First, the resolution expresses renewed support that an African Union force currently deployed in Somalia -- known as AMISOM -- remains on the ground. The A.U. contingent is currently comprised of 2,600 troops. The U.N. resolution calls on the African Union to strengthen those levels to 8,000.
The resolution then requests that U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, submit a report by April 15, 2009 updating the situation in Somalia, and it asks that he develop the mandate for a U.N. peacekeeping force.
Finally, a decision on U.N. peacekeeping is requested by June 1, 2009.
However, the process is off to a rocky start. Last month, Ban said that requests to U.N. member nations for peacekeeping forces for Somalia were received negatively.
Also, throughout, one of the key players in the Somalia decisions will likely be Susan Rice, President-Elect Obama's nominee for new U.S.- U.N. Ambassador, and a specialist on African issues.
At her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington on Thursday, Rice told senators that she is "skeptical about the wisdom of a United Nations peacekeeping force in Somalia at this time."
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fdab9ff4f73d47d2bf1a6de7d498c770
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Who sponsered the resolution?
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"The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a"
] |
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Department of Homeland Security will bypass environmental and land-management laws to build hundreds of miles of border fence between the United States and Mexico, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday.
A border fence stands at Juarez, Mexico. More than 360 miles of fence are supposed to be finished by year's end.
"Criminal activity at the border does not stop for endless debate or protracted litigation," Chertoff said.
"These waivers will enable important security projects to keep moving forward."
Chertoff cited a congressional requirement that 361 miles of fence be completed by the end of the year. He also pointed out that Congress had given him the authority to bypass laws.
But the executive director of the Sierra Club, an environmental group, said the move "threatens the livelihoods and ecology of the entire U.S.-Mexico border region."
"Secretary Chertoff chose to bypass stakeholders and push through this unpopular project on April Fools' Day. We don't think the destruction of the borderlands region is a laughing matter," said Carl Pope.
The Sierra Club says the waivers will affect a range of federally protected lands, including national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, forests and wilderness areas.
The Sierra Club says the waivers themselves are unconstitutional and has asked the Supreme Court to rule on the question.
This is the fourth set of waivers issued by the department, and is the most sweeping.
Chertoff's orders Tuesday affect two areas. First, the department proposes to place fencing, towers, sensors, cameras, detection equipment and roads along a 470-mile stretch of the border in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Second, it plans to integrate a concrete wall into proposed levee reinforcements along a 22-mile section of the Rio Grande in Hidalgo County, Texas.
The department said it is committed to working in an environmentally sensitive manner and cooperating with resource agencies so it does as little damage as possible. E-mail to a friend
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ae72de15bb6a441d87cb41b52b5d9a40
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What will enable security projects to move forward?
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"waivers"
] |
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(CNN) -- It is possible more U.S. troops could be added in Afghanistan if the new U.S. commander there needs them, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he does not expect a significant increase.
U.S. Marines sweep for bombs in Afghanistan this week.
During a visit to troops at Fort Drum, New York, on Thursday, Gates said he is waiting to hear what Gen. Stanley McChrystal recommends after he completes a review of operations in Afghanistan.
McChrystal is expected to complete a classified report for Gates by the end of this month, assessing where the war stands, and what needs to be done.
He will tell Gates whether he needs more U.S. troops to fight the escalating conflict, according to a senior U.S. military official.
Gates asked McChrystal to "state his requirements for resources," said the official -- who did not want to be identified because the report is not completed.
The review is also expected to recommend that the number of Afghan troops be increased beyond the goal of 134,000, other military sources said.
During a speech and question-and-answer session with troops at Fort Drum, Gates acknowledged he would consider a recommendation to boost U.S. troops beyond the level of 68,000 already approved.
"We'll see what Gen. McChrystal recommends," he said. "But I think there will not be a significant increase in troop levels in Afghanistan beyond the 68,000, at least probably through the end of the year. Maybe some increase, but not a lot."
Gates has made clear in the past he is reluctant to approve additional major increases in troop levels, preferring to keep the U.S. at a lower profile in the nation.
About 57,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, with the other 11,000 to arrive by the end of this year. Gates has said he wants to see if that level of troops would be sufficient.
Gates' press secretary, Geoff Morrell, told CNN the Fort Drum comments "are not necessarily a foreshadowing of what's to come."
He said Gates "doesn't want to impose an artificial troop cap on the commander," but does want to see if the strategy can be carried out with the approved troop levels.
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e123bb2d8e5a451ba0f8a77ab5c864c9
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Who's preparing review of operations for Gates?
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"Gen. Stanley McChrystal"
] |
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Editor's note: We asked readers to weigh in on CNN.com Live producer Jarrett Bellini's vacation destination, and you chose South Africa. Check back for a wrap-up of his trip.
Jarrett Bellini explores South Africa's Cape of Good Hope.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNN) -- The very best travel days often happen when good karma and perfect timing collide. And, somehow, on this morning, it also took a bit of tequila. Of course, normally, the latter ingredient tends to be counterintuitive. But not here.
I arrived at the reception desk-slash-bar of my hostel, Long Street Backpackers, at 8:40 in the morning to be picked up for a full day of shark-diving. Fun. Productive. Presumably safe. However, it was then that I learned that the seas were deemed too rough, and the tour was cancelled. Bugger.
Next thing I know, a glass of tequila is slammed in front of me with a bit of sage bartender advice, "Might as well."
Normally, one would simply decline and go about attempting to have a relatively human-like existence on planet Earth. But at this place, there's really no backing out. In fact, unless you like spontaneous hat parties and have a thing for sleeping under tables, it's best not to hang out in the reception room.
Fortunately, I'm a rather strong-willed individual, free-thinking and confident. So, naturally, I buckled under the pressure. What can I say? I like these people. They wear funny hats.
But as I was sitting there with a few other hostel folks who, apparently, also found it completely fit to begin ruining their day before nine, a Dutch kid came into the room and offhandedly mentioned that he and two Dutch girls had a car and were driving out to the Cape of Good Hope. My ears perked up.
"Can I come?"
And just like that, I was rescued from the gates of hell. I love you, Holland!
The Cape of Good Hope is the southwestern-most point of the African continent, and it's an absolute thing of beauty. Panoramic views paint the sky as waves crash against the rocky shore. Here, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans become one. But not really.
A decorative sign in the gift shop boasts: Where Two Oceans Merge. However, the real currents actually come together a little farther east. It's still amazingly beautiful, so, you know ... whatever.
And after a full day of hiking and exploring the Cape with my new friends, we arrived back at the hostel to find our other friends right where we left them. Their heads turned as I entered, and one of them yelled out, "Jarrett! Shots!"
Might as well.
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711178ecef3a4e849c2e5af41a927dcc
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CNN.coms Jarrett Bellini travelled to which country?
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"South Africa's Cape of Good Hope."
] |
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- The regional airline involved in a fatal February plane crash outside Buffalo, New York, contested a report Monday alleging the pilot did not have the training to handle the emergency that brought the plane down, and that he might have been fatigued on the night of the crash.
Debris is cleared from the scene of Flight 3407's crash near Buffalo, New York, in February.
Continental Connection Flight 3407, operated by regional carrier Colgan Air, plunged into a house in Clarence Center, New York, on the night of February 12, killing all 49 on board as well as one man in the house.
In a story Monday, The Wall Street Journal cited investigators as saying the crash resulted from pilot Marvin Renslow's incorrect response to the plane's precarious drop in speed: He overrode an emergency system known as a "stick pusher," which sends the plane into a dive so it can regain speed and avoid a stall.
The Journal's report said Colgan had not provided Renslow with hands-on flight-simulator training for a stick-pusher emergency.
Colgan, in rebuttal, issued a statement saying Renslow had received classroom instruction for such an emergency. Watch a Colgan official respond to questions »
The company also emphasized that the Federal Aviation Administration does not require pilots to receive a stick-pusher demonstration in a flight simulator.
"The FAA generally trains to standards of routine line operations. They don't focus on the edges of the envelope," stall recovery expert Doug Moss told CNN.
Colgan further admitted that during his career, Renslow failed five "check rides" -- occasional tests of pilot proficiency -- including two that Colgan said he did not disclose on his application with the airline. His most recent failed check ride occurred 16 months before the crash.
"In the cases while with Colgan, he received additional training and successfully passed the check rides," the airline said.
Colgan stressed that despite his performance on check rides, Renslow nonetheless ultimately passed his pilot exams and had "all the training and experience to safely operate the Q400," the airplane involved in the crash.
Colgan further insisted that pilot fatigue was not a factor in the crash, noting that Renslow had "nearly 22 consecutive hours of time off before he reported for duty on the day of the accident."
In its statement, Colgan did not specifically address potential illness-related fatigue in 24-year-old co-pilot Rebecca Shaw, who, according to The Wall Street Journal report, said before takeoff that she probably should have called in sick.
The National Transportation Safety Board begins a three-day hearing on the crash on Tuesday. Renslow's history as well as pilot training broadly will be examined.
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56a00ecc72a34992b7def8e24c56429a
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Flight 3407 crashed where?
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"near Buffalo, New York,"
] |
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(Rolling Stone) -- Menace and mirth can cancel each other out. But the combo clicked in 1985's "Fright Night" (banish the 1988 sequel), and it clicks again in this frisky 3D remake.
For that, bow to Colin Farrell. He's hot stuff as a vampire named Jerry (really) who moves next door to teenage Charley (Anton Yelchin) and his single mom (Toni Collette).
Video: Peter Travers Reviews Fright Night in "At the Movies With Peter Travers"
Jerry can do his undead nasty on Charley's buddy (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and glamour Charley's girl (Imogen Poots) and still tickle you with terror. Damn, that Farrell is good. So is David Tennant ("Doctor Who") as Peter Vincent, a tacky Vegas magician Charley enlists to kill Jerry.
The young lovers are "Twilight" bland next to the power punch of Farrell and Tennant.
The Best and Worst Movies of 2011 -- So Far
Director Craig Gillespie ("Lars and the Real Girl") is wise to just turn them loose. Voilà! Black magic.
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f457607870ff49359ee955f9fb7c1fd9
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What is the name of the director?
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[
"Craig Gillespie"
] |
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(CNN) -- Fighting has prompted thousands of people in the southern part of Sudan's Darfur region to seek security and shelter at a refugee camp in the northern part of the war-torn area, according to the United Nations.
A member of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) stands guard near the Sudan-Chad border in 2007.
The U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that fighting in Muhajeria and Shearia between Sudanese government forces, and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), drove over 15,000 people north to the Zam Zam camp.
The water supply to the camp is becoming strained with displaced people arriving there every day, OCHA said Wednesday.
The government of Sudan has waged a brutal counter-insurgency against militias for the past six years, a war that some international critics have characterized as genocide.
An estimated 300,000 people in the western Sudanese region have been killed through combat, disease or malnutrition, according to the United Nations. An additional 2.7 million people have been forced to flee their homes because of fighting among rebels, government forces and the violent Janjaweed militias.
Fighting continues in the region despite the JEM and local government signing a "goodwill and confidence-building" agreement earlier in February, according to the U.N.
The U.N.-African Union allied peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) will begin building a new community police center near Zam Zam in the next two weeks, the U.N. announced Saturday.
The violence in Darfur erupted in 2003 after rebels began an uprising against the Sudanese government. To counter the rebels, Sudanese authorities armed and cooperated with Arab militias that went from village to village in Darfur, killing, torturing and raping residents there, according to the United Nations, Western governments and human rights organizations. The militias targeted civilian members of tribes from which the rebels drew strength.
Last year, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was charged with genocide by the International Criminal Court for the government's campaign of violence in Darfur.
Under pressure to end the fighting, Al-Bashir in November agreed to an immediate and unconditional cease-fire in Darfur. But the rebel Justice and Equality Movement was not included in the case-fire talks.
CNN's Katy Byron contributed to this report.
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7b2a70abceba48f5aa047f487c799234
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What was the uprising against?
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"the Sudanese government."
] |
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Washington (CNN) -- Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas admits he drew guns in the team locker room in a highly publicized December 21 incident, but says he was only kidding around.
"I took the unloaded guns out in a misguided effort to play a joke on a teammate," Arenas said in a statement released Monday. "Contrary to some press accounts, I never threatened or assaulted anyone with the guns and never pointed them at anyone. Joke or not, I now recognize that what I did was a mistake and was wrong."
Citing NBA sources last month, the New York Post reported that Arenas and Javaris Crittenton both brandished firearms in the team's locker room.
Authorities continue to investigate the incident.
Crittenton's agent, Mark Bartelstein, told CNN Monday that his client "hasn't done anything wrong. I'm extremely confident he'll be exonerated."
Asked if Crittenton brought a gun into the Verizon Center that day, Bartelstein said, "I'm not going to get into details." He said Crittenton has not met with authorities, nor has such a meeting been requested or scheduled.
Arenas, a three-time NBA All-Star, spent Monday afternoon in a voluntary meeting with federal prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington and with D.C. metropolitan police about the incident, according to his attorney, Kenneth L. Wainstein.
"From the outset of this incident, Mr. Arenas has been fully cooperative with the investigation," Wainstein said in a statement, noting that Arenas relinquished the guns to Wizards security officers and met with authorities to "tell the full story."
"Over the course of a two-hour interview this afternoon, Mr. Arenas answered every question asked of him," Wainstein said in Monday's statement.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on Arenas' statement, citing the ongoing investigation. Arenas said he told authorities that he stored four unloaded guns in his locker the Verizon Center to keep them away from his children.
Arenas said he told authorities that he stored four unloaded guns in his locker the Verizon Center to keep them away from his children.
"I brought them without any ammunition into the District of Columbia, mistakenly believing that the recent change in the DC gun laws allowed a person to store unloaded guns in the District," he said in the statement.
He offered a public apology to the league, his teammates and his fans, saying, "I promise to do better in the future."
NBA spokesman Tim Frank declined to comment on Arenas' comments, deferring to an earlier statement: "There is an active investigation by DC law enforcement authorities, which we are monitoring closely. We are not taking any independent action at this time."
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5c24d5390dec40a48aa3e687a09cd41a
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Did authorities give any details?
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[
"Bartelstein said, \"I'm not going to get into details.\""
] |
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(CNN) -- Just after 7 a.m. Tuesday in the fifth district of Kabul, Afghanistan, a suicide bomber struck a bus carrying Afghan police and civilians.
Afghan I-Reporter S. Samimi sent this photo of a bus struck by a suicide bomber on Tuesday.
At least 10 people were killed, including four children. I-Reporter S. Samimi was in his car on his way to work, only 100 meters from where the blast went off.
He jumped from his car, unsure of what had happened. Samimi asked people around him what was going on. Finally, the truth dawned on him.
Samimi, 23, grabbed his camera and made his way to the site of the attack.
He said it was difficult taking pictures because his whole body was shaking. It was the first suicide bombing he had ever witnessed.
Hands and limbs were scattered about the ground. Within minutes a crowd of hundreds had gathered around the bus, some of them family members of victims.
"People were screaming and crying," Samimi said. "The situation was so bad. So tragic. I am so sad about it."
Samimi said security guards were quickly on the scene and ordered him to stop taking pictures. He said at that point he was ready to leave.
Samimi, who works as a secretary, said he was too shaken to concentrate on the job. "I couldn't work well, because my condition was so bad after having seen a scene like that for the first time. It was so tragic."
He said he returned home to learn that one of his neighbors, a policeman, had been killed in the bombing. "I saw his family screaming and crying over his death," he said.
He talked about the bombing with his family. "They were so sad when they heard about what had happened and when they saw my pictures. People in the neighborhood are still crying."
Samimi explained why he sent his photographs to CNN.
"The world should see what's happened in Afghanistan. The situation is not good in Afghanistan at the moment." E-mail to a friend
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9598d64b8dfe4688a54e0fd7b88f5394
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Which vehicle did the bomber attack?
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[
"a bus"
] |
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- A court in Dubai has sentenced two Britons to three months in prison for having sex on a public beach in the Muslim country.
File image of one of the co-accused -- Vince Acors -- arriving at court in Dubai in September.
After they complete their sentence, the pair will be deported. They also have to pay a 1,000 dirhams ($367) fine for public indecency.
Police charged Michelle Palmer, 36, and Vincent Acors, 34, with illicit relations, public indecency and public intoxication after their arrest at a beach shortly after midnight on July 5.
Both denied that they had intercourse.
"The public (prosecutor) failed to produce corroborative evidence against my clients concerning having consensual sex and committing indecent gestures in public," said the pair's lawyer, Hasan Mattar.
He said the pair will appeal the verdict. Watch how case stirs up Dubai's bar scene »
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) -- where Dubai is located -- is home to thousands of expatriates and is among the most moderate Gulf states. Still, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom adheres to certain Islamic rules.
More than a million British visitors traveled to the UAE in 2006, and more than 100,000 British nationals live there, according to the British Foreign Office.
The country is in the midst of a building boom to position itself as one of the world's premier tourist destinations. It is already home to the world's largest mall, the world's largest tower, and -- despite being in the Middle East -- boasts the largest indoor snow park in the world.
-- CNN's Caroline Faraj contributed to this report
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2a6fdd04c8af4860ba98b89add5cb2e5
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What were they charged with in Dubai?
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[
"having sex on a public beach"
] |
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Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- International officials arrived in Iran on Sunday to inspect a newly disclosed nuclear facility near the city of Qom, state media reported.
Inspectors from the United Nations' nuclear watchdog -- the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) -- will visit the installation to make sure it is being used for peaceful purposes, said Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
The three-day visit comes after Iran said Friday that it needs more time to decide whether to sign onto a deal that could help end the international showdown over its nuclear activities.
That proposal calls for low-enriched uranium produced in Iran to be sent abroad for further enrichment and then returned for use in medical research and treatment.
Tehran is studying the draft proposal and will have an answer next week, Iranian diplomat Ali Asghar Soltanieh said on state-run Press TV.
Iran informed IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei that it is "considering the proposal in depth and in a favorable light, but it needs until the middle of next week to provide a response," according to an IAEA statement.
Delegations from Iran, France, Russia, the United States and the IAEA met in Vienna this week to work out details of the tentative deal reached in early October. And France, Russia and the United States indicated their approval of the arrangement.
"The Director General hopes that Iran's response will equally be positive, since approval of this agreement will signal a new era of cooperation," the IAEA statement said.
Tehran sent shock waves through the international community by revealing in a letter to the IAEA the existence of a second nuclear enrichment facility near Qom.
"It is important for us to send out inspectors to do comprehensive verification ... to assure ourselves that it is ... fit for peaceful purposes," ElBaradei said earlier this month.
After the inspection, but before the end of the month, Iranian officials are expected to meet with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany to further discuss Tehran's nuclear program.
Iran's leaders maintain that their nation's nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes, but many in the West believe Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons capabilities.
Low-enriched nuclear fuel can be further enriched into weapons-grade material.
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54900ebdf6c2496096cdbfe249b4b006
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Who revealed the existence of a second nuclear enrichment facility?
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[
"Tehran"
] |
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(CNN) -- They wore feathers. They wore fancy hats. And of course, they wore fur.
Never mind the human -- the dog in haute couture was the fashionistas' focus during Pet Fashion Week.
But the models strutting down the runway were of the four-legged variety. The glamorous pooches were accompanied by human models -- but the furry ones were getting all the attention.
It was Pet Fashion Week New York and these canines were not wearing the boring plaid raincoats that have sold for years. They were wearing one-of-kind design creations.
The show last weekend was aimed at owners of sophisticated canines who may be willing to pay for their pup's own stylist.
Booths at the annual event features couture clothing, jewelry and other accessories for the well-dressed doggie -- all part of the $40 billion pet industry. E-mail to a friend
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88d3c11795cc4e3c9b3931b52c34efb1
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Who ruled in New York during Pet Fashion Week>
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[
"the dog in haute couture"
] |
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(CNN) -- Iranian authorities confiscated the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize given to human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, Norway said Thursday.
"The medal and the diploma have been removed from Dr. Ebadi's bank box, together with other personal items. Such an act leaves us feeling shock and disbelief," Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a written statement.
Norway did not explain how it had learned of the alleged confiscation, and there was no immediate reaction from Iran.
Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a written statement that it "has reacted strongly" and summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires on Wednesday afternoon to protest the move.
During the meeting with the Iranian charge d'affaires, State Secretary Gry Larsen also expressed "grave concern" about how Ebadi's husband has allegedly been treated.
"Earlier this autumn, he [Ebadi's husband] was arrested in Tehran and severely beaten. His pension has been stopped and his bank account has been frozen," the statement from Norway said.
Store said in the statement that it marked the "first time a Nobel Peace Prize has been confiscated by national authorities."
The peace prize is one of five awarded annually since 1901 by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. The other four prizes are for physiology or medicine, physics, chemistry and literature. Starting in 1969, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel also has been awarded.
While the other prizes are awarded by committees based in Sweden, the peace prize is determined by a five-member panel appointed by the Norwegian parliament.
Ebadi received the prize for her focus on human rights, especially on the struggle to improve the status of women and children.
A statement from the Nobel committee at the time said, "As a lawyer, judge, lecturer, writer and activist, she has spoken out clearly and strongly in her country, Iran, and far beyond its borders."
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9f297a65d1c64928b630ca34fcfe7836
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What was removed from Dr. Ebadi's box?
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[
"\"The medal and the diploma"
] |
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(CNN) -- Former South African rugby World Cup winner Ruben Kruger has passed away following a long battle with brain cancer.
The ex-Cheetahs and Bulls flanker was first diagnosed with the illness during the early 2000s at the end of a successful career that saw him earn 36 Springboks caps.
Kruger, who was just two months short of his 40th birthday, made his debut against Argentina in Buenos Aires during 1993 and was named South African Rugby Player of the Year in 1995 -- the year the country lifted the World Cup.
"Ruben Kruger was the epitome of the Springbok flanker, tough, indomitable and with an outstanding work ethic," Oregan Hoskins, president of the South African Rugby Union (SARU), told reporters.
"When Ruben was on the field you always knew that the Springboks would not be beaten without a tremendous battle.
"Our prayers have been with him through his battles against illness and it is very sad to hear of his early passing. Our thoughts are with his young family and we extend to them our sincerest condolences."
Kruger made his final appearance in the green and gold against New Zealand in 1999.
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4d8d80c11f364a7db9aee49a7f8e7d42
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Who passed away?
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[
"Ruben Kruger"
] |
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Police say they are investigating the disappearance of more than $400,000 worth of jewelry from a photo shoot involving Lindsay Lohan in London on June 6.
Jewels are missing from an Elle magazine photo shoot of Lindsay Lohan.
"Items of jewelry went missing from an Elle photoshoot ... and the matter is now being investigated by the police," the fashion magazine said in a statement to CNN. "Elle has no reason to believe that Lindsay Lohan was in any way responsible and has no further comment to make."
Lohan's representative told CNN the actress was "happy to cooperate," and that "No one has contacted Lindsay" about the investigation.
The magazine would not say whether the 22-year-old actress wore the jewelry in the photo shoot, and could not say when the photos would be published.
"The theft was reported to a central London police station on 8 June 2009 after earrings and a necklace, believed to be diamond and estimated to be worth in the region of £250,000 [$410,000], were found to be missing approximately two days earlier," London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
No arrests have been made, the police said.
Big Sky Studios in London, where the shoot took place, refused to comment.
CNN's Nicola Goulding, Max Foster, Laura Perez Maestro and Jonathan Wald contributed to this report.
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728ee873b5aa4005986d9e1d39cd98cd
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Where did the jewelry disappear from?
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[
"an Elle magazine photo shoot of Lindsay Lohan."
] |
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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- The Mexican navy said Wednesday that it rescued five Ecuadorians who had been adrift without supplies in a fishing boat for more than two weeks off the coast of the southern state of Chiapas.
Mexican medical personel examine two of five Ecuadorians rescued at sea.
Mexican authorities initiated the rescue, which occurred Tuesday, after the U.S. Coast Guard alerted them that sailors aboard a fishing boat located 45 nautical miles (83 km) southeast of Port Chiapas had signaled to a passing plane that they needed help.
The Mexican navy dispatched a helicopter, which located the 15-meter-long (49-foot-long) vessel and carried out the rescue by air, the navy said in a news release.
The five aboard identified themselves as Jaime Arturo Alaba Chavez, the 35-year-old captain; Víctor Hugo Alaba Chavez, the 32-year-old cook; Edison Prado Alaba, a 27-year-old sailor; Carlos Cheme Vazquez, a 37-year-old sailor; and Raul Contreras Vera, a 64-year-old machinist.
The sailors were taken to the Naval Sanatorium of Puerto Chiapas, where doctors determined they were dehydrated.
They said they had departed Costa Rica's on May 6 but, five days later, their motor stopped working and, unable to repair it, they had been adrift and without food since.
A naval patrol boat towed the boat to Puerto Chiapas, arriving there Wednesday morning. It will be inspected to rule out the possibility that it may have been used for illicit activities, the navy said.
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f3ac3d8e1a50492e8bdadea383417f54
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How many Ecuadorians were rescued?
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[
"five"
] |
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Rome (CNN) -- Seven people have died and seven others are missing after rains triggered severe flooding in northern Italy, civil protection officials said Friday.
Especially hard hit was the tourist-popular Cinque Terre region on Italy's northwest coast.
The Italian Council of Ministers declared a state of emergency in the flood region, which means 65 million euros ($91 million) will be put aside to deal with the disaster, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.
A special cabinet meeting was called Friday to discuss the situation, the Italian government said.
Heavy rains continued to fall Thursday night in Milan and other spots across the southern European nation, according to the Servizio Meteorologico, Italy's official weather agency. The agency gave an alert about intense, widespread rainfall -- potentially with strong wind gusts and hail -- in the regions of Calabria and Basilicata in southern Italy, as well as the eastern part of Sicily.
Meanwhile, Monterosso al Mare -- between Genoa and Pisa in the Cinque Terre region of Liguria -- has been "isolated, accessible only by sea" because of earlier rains and floods, Mayor Angelo Betta told the news agency ANSA.
So, too, is the nearby town of Vernazza, with even bulldozers and cranes still not able to reach it.
That said, Betta reported some progress Thursday thanks to round-the-clock efforts by emergency workers and volunteers to clean up the town. One volunteer in that community died in the flood Wednesday.
"The situation is much better compared to yesterday," Betta said.
Italy's Defense Ministry noted Thursday on its website that 348 military personnel have deployed to the provinces of Massa Carrara and La Spezia to assist in the wake of flooding here.
Three people were killed after a house collapsed in La Spezia, an ANSA report said.
ANSA also reported that prosecutors have opened a manslaughter investigation related to the deaths of two people from flood-related injuries in Aulla. Authorities are assessing whether their deaths had anything to do with faulty work that may have caused the Magra River to overflow.
The weather has also caused major travel headaches throughout the region. A mudslide that trapped a truck driver, who was eventually freed, has caused the A12 highway in Liguria to be blocked since Tuesday. Train services in Liguria have been halted, too, due to mud and debris on the tracks.
CNN's Hada Messia and Marilia Brochetto contributed to this report.
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7b0feebc120a49a0b7370b7258443f6e
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How many military personnel were dispatched?
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[
"348"
] |
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SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) -- An outbreak of flu at Washington State University showed few signs of slowing down as more students continued to report symptoms suspected of being from the H1N1 virus, school officials said Wednesday.
WSU Web page gives information, advice to students who suspect they may have H1N1 virus.
About 2,500 students have come down with possible cases of H1N1 since classes began August 24, said James Tinney, WSU director of media relations.
He added, "It takes about three to four days to get over the virus, so many of the people who have had it are already feeling better and are back in class."
On Wednesday, 169 new suspected cases of the virus, also known as swine flu, were reported among the nearly 18,000 students that make up the school's Pullman, Washington campus, according to a university news release.
The university said while it is no longer testing sick students to confirm H1N1, it is following guidelines from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the local health department by "treating all patients with influenza-like symptoms as if they have H1N1."
Students who contact the school health services department complaining of symptoms of swine flu are urged to stay at home and drink fluids. None of the suspected H1N1 cases have required hospitalization so far, said a university news release. Watch report on what to look for with H1N1 »
Despite the high number of possible cases, media director Tinney said the students and faculty are not alarmed.
"The symptoms are fairly mild; some people have said milder than a regular case of the flu. I don't see people walking around the campus wearing masks," he said. Read about H1N1 facts »
But Tinney said officials were surprised that the long Labor Day weekend, when most students left campus, did not do more to interrupt the virus' spread.
"I guess we are an early test case of how this virus will spread over the population," Tinney said.
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b1d7eff526664ac6b9959f60a3fac149
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How many people are suspected of having swine flu in Washington State University?
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[
"About 2,500 students"
] |
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ARLINGTON, Virginia (CNN) -- The hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery took on a different tone Monday -- the usually quiet and reverent resting place of fallen heroes was buzzing with volunteers, professional landscapers and their equipment during the annual "Renewal and Remembrance" project.
Monday was the annual "Renewal and Remembrance" day at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Renewal" was started more than 10 years ago by an Ohio lawn-care group that wanted to give a day of service to the cemetery outside Washington, according to Bill Hildebolt, spokesman for the Professional Landcare Network.
"It's grown fantastically from a few lawn-care operators to today we had over 400 individual PLANET members," he said Monday.
Each year, volunteers take on several projects during the service day, including spreading lime over nearly 300 acres of the cemetery and installing irrigation systems, Hildebolt said.
While the 95 companies participating Monday may normally compete for business in the lawn-care market, during Renewal the crews work together to honor the service members buried at Arlington.
"It's just a day of remembrance," said Jeff Dietrich of Pennsylvania-based Joshua Tree, who has been volunteering for four years.
A crew of arborists from the Joshua Tree company took on one the most expensive projects -- protecting Arlington's biggest trees from lightning.
According to Dietrich, the process of lightning protection is important for protecting a valuable part of history. Watch how trees are protected »
"Lightning, electricity is unpredictable at best. ... It'll blow a tree apart."
To protect a tree from lightning strikes, Dietrich and his crew climb up to the top of a tree and run copper wires down the trunk with anchors that resemble rifle cartridges. The wire is then grounded by a copper pole entrenched at the base of the tree.
If lightning strikes, the electricity runs down the wire and dissipates into the ground instead of harming the tree.
Even though it took the Joshua Tree crew longer to reach Arlington from Pennsylvania than the four hours needed to complete their work, the workers seemed eager for their chance to volunteer, cheering each other on while working and sharing some trade secrets with other crews.
"How many people can say they get to come down to Arlington, especially if they're not from around here, and climb some of these trees?" said Deitrich.
For Hildebolt, providing a service for the national cemetery is a way to make a national contribution.
"It's a privilege," he said. "It's a very humbling experience that I'm very proud of."
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218c0efc52c1441185d7ec5e8fc4e032
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How many companies participated Monday at Arlington National Cemetery?
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[
"95"
] |
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(CNN) -- Hungary awoke Monday to a new political landscape after the center-right opposition Fidesz party took decisive election victory, ending eight years of Socialist rule.
Fidesz won two-thirds of the votes in Sunday's second round of parliamentary elections, gaining 263 of the 386 seats -- enough to allow it to govern without forming alliances.
Fidesz leader Viktor Orban characterized the vote -- which also saw gains by the far-right -- as a "revolution" in the Eastern European country that was under Soviet control from 1945 to 1991.
"Today there was revolution in the polling booths," Fidesz leader Viktor Orban told a crowd of supporters, according to Hungary's MTI news agency.
"Hungarians have overthrown the system and created a new one. The old system of leaders misusing their power was replaced by one of national unity."
While the Socialist party took second place with 59 seats, it was closely followed by the far-right Jobbik party, making its parliamentary debut.
Jobbik has come under international criticism for what many perceive as anti-Semitic statements and for its verbal attacks on the country's gypsy, or Roma, minority.
Ahead of the vote, the Socialists has seen their support dwindle as they struggled to push through a broad reform program, tackling the country's education and health care systems.
Their problems were compounded when the global recession hit Hungary hard. In late 2008, it had to borrow $27 billion from the International Monetary Fund as unemployment climbed into the double digits and the economy shrunk.
The party was also derailed by scandals and accusations of corruption.
In 2006, Hungarian radio played a leaked tape where former Prime Minister and Socialist Party member Ferenc Gyurcsany admitted that his party lied to the public to win that year's general election.
Journalist Fanny Facsar contributed to this report.
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8a34288b4f55441497ffae53a6d2b905
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what does the win mean
|
[
"ending eight years of Socialist rule."
] |
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(CNN) -- A diamond unearthed in the southern African nation of Lesotho could yield one of the largest and highest quality round polished diamonds, according to a statement Monday from company that found it.
A mining company unearthed this 478-carat diamond in the southern African nation of Lesotho.
Experts in Antwerp, Belgium who analyzed the 478-carat stone determined it to be of the highest color grading available for a white diamond, said a statement from Gem Diamonds Ltd., the company that found the stone.
"What makes it more remarkable is the color and quality of this stone," said diamond consultant Neil Buxton.
"It's a D color, which is the highest possible graded color you can get, and we believe there is a chance -- a very good chance -- of getting a 100-carat plus" round stone with the highest color and clarity rankings.
The company said such a stone would "to the best of our knowledge" be "the first one in history." Watch more on the diamond »
The diamond, which was found in September, ranks as the 20th largest rough diamond ever found, but is not the biggest ever taken from the Letseng Mine, which is co-owned by Gem Diamonds Ltd. and the Kingdom of Lesotho, a country of 2.1 million that is surrounded by South Africa.
Two bigger stones -- 603 and 493 carats -- were found in the mine in 2006 and 2007, respectively, the company said. A 601-carat diamond was mined there in 1960, it said.
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2cbd2c6a68e3435f9c97784f6c0f9896
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How many carats was the stone?
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[
"478-carat"
] |
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(CNN) -- Former first lady Barbara Bush was admitted Saturday to a hospital in Texas for routine tests, a spokeswoman said.
"Mrs Bush is in for some routine tests, not an emergency of any kind," said Jim Appleby, spokesman for former President George H.W. Bush.
The former first lady was taken to Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. She had not been feeling well for about a week, said Jean Becker, the chief of staff for Bush's husband.
Bush, 84, is expected to stay at the hospital for a day or two, Becker said. Details on the testing were not immediately available.
Becker, the chief of staff for former President George H.W. Bush, said her hospitalization is "not serious at all."
Last year, Bush underwent open-heart surgery during which doctors replaced her aortic valve with a biologic valve. She spent nine days in the hospital afterward.
Her recent hospitalization is "not related" to the surgery, Becker said.
In November 2008, Bush underwent surgery for a perforated ulcer.
CNN's Leslie Tripp and Ed Henry contributed to this report.
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c7f0b5b394cb490e90d5913883222ce6
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Where has Barbara Bush been hospitalized ?
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[
"Texas"
] |
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(CNN) -- A man authorities want to question in the slaying of a 7-year-old girl, whose body was dumped in a landfill, appeared in a Florida court Wednesday on child pornography charges after being extradited from Mississippi.
Jarred Harrell, 24, faces 29 counts of possession of child pornography in Clay County, Florida.
Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler has said Harrell is also sought for questioning in the abduction and murder of Somer Thompson, but has not said why.
Harrell was arrested in Meridian, Mississippi, by federal agents earlier this month, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist asked Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour to extradite him. The arrest followed a search of Harrell's residence, Clay County authorities said.
Somer Thompson was last seen in the Clay County town of Orange Park on October 19. Her body was found in a landfill in Folkston, Georgia, about 55 miles north of there. Authorities have not said how she was killed.
Somer's 10-year-old sister told police that Somer had been in a fight with another girl at school earlier that day and that she brought up the subject while she and her brother walked Somer home from school. Somer ran off, apparently upset. The sister said she lost sight of Somer in a group of other children leaving the school, according to a police report.
Police said in October that witnesses including several children reported seeing her that day on a sidewalk in front of a vacant house that was being renovated following a fire.
At Wednesday's hearing, a judge continued Harrell's $1 million bond.
|
768fcfa13cb340f7ab63478ef1369a2d
|
what is jarred being accused of
|
[
"possession of child pornography"
] |
NewsQA
|
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- In response to a spate of attacks allegedly by a drug cartel, Mexico more than tripled the number of federal police officers patrolling the state of Michoacan, a government spokeswoman said.
Drug violence is up in Michoacan state, shown by recent attacks on police in at least a half-dozen cities.
The government on Thursday dispatched 1,000 federal police officers to Michoacan state in southwest Mexico, increasing its presence to 1,300 total, Public Safety spokeswoman Veronica Penunuri told CNN.
At least 18 federal agents and two soldiers have been killed since the weekend in Michoacan, the home state of President Felipe Calderon.
The sudden spike in violence followed the arrest Saturday of Arnoldo Rueda Medina, whom authorities described as a high-ranking member of the drug cartel known as La Familia Michoacana.
Cartel members first attacked the federal police station in Morelia to try to gain freedom for Rueda, authorities said.
When that failed, drug gangs attacked federal police installations in at least a half-dozen Michoacan cities, according to authorities.
The Michoacan cartel also is accused in the slaying of 12 federal police officers whose bodies were found Tuesday on a remote highway.
Video from the scene showed three signs, known as narcomensajes, left by the killers. They all stated the same thing: "So that you come for another. We will be waiting for you here."
Since Calderon went after the drug cartels shortly after coming into office in 2006, more than 10,000 people have died across Mexico, about 1,000 of them police.
The state of Michoacan, on Mexico's southwest Pacific coast, is not alone in the wave of violence sweeping the country.
The border city of Ciudad Juarez set a record this weekend when its toll of drug-related deaths for the year topped 1,000, a distinction the Mexican city did not reach last year until September.
|
f1d38c5d59ec46e9b57570595c015070
|
What are the government responding to?
|
[
"a spate of attacks allegedly by a drug cartel,"
] |
NewsQA
|
Baghdad (CNN) -- Three security contractors, two of them American veterans and one from Fiji, have been freed in Iraq almost three weeks after they were detained by the Iraqi Army, U.S. Rep. Peter King said Wednesday.
The men, who were working for a security firm, were arrested by Iraqi Army forces in Mahmudiyah on December 9 but were not charged with any offense, said King, a New York Republican.
"I am pleased that these three men have been released after having been detained," King said. "With the unfortunate and clearly deteriorating security situation in Iraq and with al Qaeda in Iraq still very active, these men were in increasing danger with each passing day."
King said he got involved after being contacted by the wife of one of the men, Army veteran Alex Antiohos of Long Island, New York.
The other two contractors are Jonas March of Savannah, Georgia, and Kevin Fisher of Fiji, he said.
The congressman asked the U.S. State Department for help and wrote to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to appeal for their release, he said in a statement.
King said the three men were detained because the Iraqi military "did not like the 'mission request authorization' paperwork that had been issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior."
The United States is still negotiating with the Iraqi government about whether U.S. contractors will be granted any diplomatic protections under Iraqi law. The final U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq 10 days ago, after a war that lasted almost nine years.
CNN's Adam Levine contributed to this report.
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1a2a8cbed88a4e5ea85b2780eef49372
|
When did he get involved?
|
[
"after being contacted by the wife of one of the men,"
] |
NewsQA
|
DUBLIN, Ireland (CNN) -- Michael D. Higgins, a 70-year-old poet and politician, was elected Ireland's new president on Saturday.
Considered an elder statesman, the Irish Labour Party candidate-turned-president elect is a former government minister.
He is to be Ireland's ninth head of state and is scheduled to be inaugurated on November 11, one day after President Mary McAleese leaves office.
McAleese has been head of state 14 years, completing two seven-year terms.
The other six candidates -- including former Irish Republican Army commander Martin McGuinness -- have all conceded defeat.
McGuinness's campaign had been dogged by questions about his past ties to the IRA, an armed group that fought against British authorities in Northern Ireland but has since renounced violence.
He had been consistently third in opinion polls, while businessman and reality TV star Sean Gallagher had been vying alongside Higgins for the top spot.
Critics blamed Gallagher's performance in the country's final televised debate for his collapse in the polls.
McGuinness is expected to return to his role as Northern Ireland's deputy first minister.
The long counting process started Friday with Higgins confirmed as the winner late Saturday.
|
c41b458905d74a70b192003edfa40f59
|
Mary was head of state for how many years?
|
[
"14"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- "Usually when I mention suspended animation people will flash me the Vulcan sign and laugh," says scientist Mark Roth. But he's not referring to the plot of a "Star Trek" episode.
Roth is completely serious about using lessons he's learned from putting some organisms into suspended animation to help people survive medical trauma. He spoke at the TED2010 conference in Long Beach, California, in February.
The winner of a MacArthur genius fellowship in 2007, Roth described the thought process that led him and fellow researchers to explore ways to lower animals' metabolism to the point where they showed no signs of life -- and yet were not dead. More remarkably, they were able to restore the animals to normal life, with no apparent damage.
Read more about Roth on TED.com
The Web site of Roth's laboratory at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, describes the research this way: "We use the term suspended animation to refer to a state where all observable life processes (using high resolution light microscopy) are stopped: The animals do not move nor breathe and the heart does not beat. We have found that we are able to put a number of animals (yeast, nematodes, drosophila, frogs and zebrafish) into a state of suspended animation for up to 24 hours through one basic technique: reducing the concentration of oxygen."
Visit Mark Roth's laboratory
Roth is investigating the use of small amounts of hydrogen sulfide, a gas that is toxic in larger quantities, to lower metabolism. In his talk, he imagined that "in the not too distant future, an EMT might give an injection of hydrogen sulfide, or some related compound, to a person suffering severe injuries, and that person might de-animate a bit ... their metabolism will fall as though you were dimming a switch on a lamp at home.
"That will buy them the time to be transported to the hospital to get the care they need. And then, after they get that care ... they'll wake up. A miracle? We hope not, or maybe we just hope to make miracles a little more common."
|
208286de6a364c228ade5891f2c4b534
|
What will this technique possibly lead to?
|
[
"into a state of suspended animation for up to 24 hours"
] |
NewsQA
|
SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- One could say she has the determination ... but lacks the drive.
Driving agency estimates woman has spent more than $2,888 in exam fees.
A 68-year-old South Korean woman this week signed up to take her driving test once again -- after failing to earn a license the first 771 times.
The woman, identified only as Cha, first took the written portion of the exam in April 2005, said Choi Young-cheol of the Driver's License Agency in the southwestern city of Jeonju.
At the time, she made her living selling goods door-to-door and figured she would need a car to help her get around, Choi told CNN.
She failed the test. She retook the test the next day and failed again. And again. And again.
"You have to get at least 60 points to pass the written part," said Kim Rahn, who wrote about the unflappable woman in the Korea Times, an English-language daily. "She usually gets under 50."
In the beginning, Cha went to the license office almost every day. Now, she no longer works but still turns up once a week, Choi said.
The office estimates she has spent more than 4 million won ($2,888) in exam fees.
Cha's last failed attempt was Monday.
She tries for the 772nd time either Thursday or Friday.
-- CNN's Kathy Paik and Saeed Ahmed contributed to this report.
|
7d336def819f4d69b1ea6bdbe5b69657
|
how many time she signed up?
|
[
"771"
] |
NewsQA
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The number of dead in devastating floods triggered by torrential rains in India has risen to at least 271, and about a million people have fled their homes, officials said Monday.
An aerial view of a flood-affected area in Bijapur district in North Karnataka, India.
At least 192 people have died in the southern state of Karnataka, its disaster-management secretary H.V. Parshwanath told CNN.
More than 450,000 people there have been housed in 1,330 relief camps as authorities completed rescue operations in most of the flooded zones in the state, he said.
"The focus is now mainly on relief," Parshwanath said, adding that rains have now eased in Karnataka.
In neighboring Andhra Pradesh, authorities put the death toll at 51. Some 531,000 people have been evacuated to safety, with more half of them now sheltering in relief camps, said Dinesh Kumar, the commissioner of the state's disaster-monitoring department.
India has deployed the military to help with relief and rescue in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
More than a dozen teams of naval divers have been sent to the two flood-hit states, the country's defense ministry said.
Air force planes and helicopters have also been dropping food packets in the submerged regions.
The military has been able to rescue 1,336 people so far, it added.
Flood waters were now receding in two of the five worst hit districts of Andhra Pradesh, disaster official Kumar said.
But floodwaters from a local river might submerge the remaining three, he warned.
Flooding also killed at least 25 people in Maharashtra state, officials said. Three others died because of lightning strikes, said S.C. Mohanty, director of Maharashtra's disaster-management department.
About 3,000 people have been displaced because of flooding, he told CNN. Thousands of people die each year in India during seasonal monsoon rains.
More than 1,100 had been killed in monsoon-triggered flooding in different parts of the country as of last month, according to the disaster-management division of the federal home ministry.
|
c336960ac3214c73886491f6620c580d
|
What natural disaster has occurred?
|
[
"floods"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The last of six Texas A&M University mariners who went missing in the Gulf of Mexico was found dead Sunday afternoon, the Coast Guard said. The other five crewmates were rescued earlier in the day.
Members of the Texas A&M Offshore Sailing Team are shown in this photo from the team's Web site.
The deceased mariner was identified by the university as Roger Stone, the vessel's second safety officer.
The survivors -- four university students and a safety officer -- told the Coast Guard they were forced off their sailboat after it took on water and capsized.
"The flooding was so fast that the thing flipped over," Coast Guard Capt. William Diehl told CNN.
The sailboat, named Cynthia Woods, was one of about two dozen boats heading from Galveston, Texas, to Veracruz, Mexico, for the annual Veracruz Regatta race, which began on Friday.
Diehl said the boat was well-stocked with safety equipment -- including emergency radio beacons, life rafts and ring buoys -- but the crew could only manage to find four life jackets after the boat tipped over.
"The survivors told us that [when] they went into the water, they had four life jackets among the five, and they huddled together and they exchanged the life jackets among them so that they could stay afloat," Diehl said.
Communication with the boat was lost about midnight Friday, and the boat missed its 8 a.m. radio check the next morning, the Coast Guard reported.
A sailboat matching the description of the missing 38-foot boat was found overturned about 5:15 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.
The five survivors were found several hours later about 23 miles south of Freeport, Texas, according to the Coast Guard's press release. They were lifted to safety by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter around 2 a.m. local time and taken to University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for treatment.
The search for the missing crew member involved two Coast Guard helicopters, a Falcon jet, a Marine Corps C-130 -- which has night-vision capabilities -- and the Coast Guard cutter Manowar.
All of those on board the capsized sailboat were experienced sailors, Diehl said.
"They were very well trained," Diehl said. "Obviously [they were] the more senior cadets at the university here, and they had very experienced safety people on board."
When rescuers retrieved the capsized boat's hull, Diehl said the keel was missing.
"That's the part that keeps the sailboat balanced in the water," he said. "And from talking to the survivors this morning, that's where the flooding started for them."
The 725-mile Veracruz regatta began on Friday and boats are expected to arrive in Veracruz on Wednesday and Thursday.
|
d3d24f2d009a4bd082df2c2cc1a57c85
|
where was texas am sailboat
|
[
"Gulf of Mexico"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- British-based mining giant Rio Tinto announced plans to cut 14,000 jobs on Wednesday, just weeks after a planned buyout by rival BHP Billiton collapsed.
Rio Tinto has nearly $39 billion in corporate debt.
Rio Tinto made the announcement as part of a plan to cut its nearly $39 billion in corporate debt by an estimated $10 billion by the end of 2009. The company issued a gloomy forecast in October.
"Since that time, demand conditions have worsened further, and as a result the group's priorities have reoriented around conserving cash flow and reducing near-term borrowings," it said in a statement announcing the cuts.
The layoffs would include 5,500 direct employees and 8,500 contract jobs, the elimination of which would save about $1.2 billion a year, the company said. The layoffs would cost $400 million in severance packages, however.
BHP withdrew from its planned buyout in late November, citing a high level of debt the combined company would be required to service in "difficult" economic conditions and concerns about whether it would be able to sell off units Rio Tinto already had targeted for divestment.
Rio Tinto said it would consider selling off other elements of the company in an effort to raise more cash, but disclosed no details.
|
95bb6083de244dc398f48da1b241f170
|
What would the cost of severance packages be?
|
[
"$400 million"
] |
NewsQA
|
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A 24-year-old gang member was arrested Thursday in connection with a shooting at a Los Angeles bus stop in which eight people were wounded, city officials said.
Bystanders express shock after a shooting at a bus stop in Los Angeles Wednesday.
Billy Ray Hines is believed to have fired into a crowd of people at the bus stop. Hines was apprehended Thursday afternoon as he was walking down the street, about a half-mile from the scene of the shooting, Police Chief William Bratton told reporters.
Hines will face 10 counts of attempted murder -- one for each of the eight victims, and two more for what authorities believe to be his two intended victims, who were still being sought Thursday, Bratton said.
Authorities are also seeking the gun used in the incident, he said.
The shootings took place Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of Central and Vernon avenues, in an area where police are concerned about gang violence.
Five of the victims were children. An 11-year-old girl was shot in the chest, and another girl, age 11, was shot in the right arm. Three boys were wounded -- ages 10, 12 and 14.
One was shot in the leg, one in the buttocks and the third in the ankle, police said. One man was wounded in the leg and another in the ankle, and a woman was shot in the face.
"While no one died yesterday, the bullets unleashed shot through the core of the entire community," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in announcing the arrest Thursday. "The decent people of this community responded with force." Watch mayor, authorities discuss arrest of gunman »
Witnesses came forward after the incident to identify the gunman as Hines, Bratton said. The shooting was believed to stem from a dispute between the gunman and the two intended victims, he said. E-mail to a friend
|
9d87598616ac438f96ad3b1633e2ac69
|
Who will face attempted murder?
|
[
"Hines"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Lionel Messi inspired Argentina as the two-time world champions came from behind to defeat Colombia 2-1 in a South American World Cup qualifying clash on Tuesday.
Argentina went 1-0 down in Barranquilla after 44 minutes, when midfielder Javier Mascherano inadvertently deflected Dorlan Pabon's shot into his own net.
But La Albiceleste rallied in the second half, with two-time world player of the year Messi equalizing after 60 minutes when Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina failed to gather Jose Sosa's cross.
Substitute Sergio Aguero stole all three points for Argentina with six minutes remaining. The Manchester City striker was first to react when Ospina parried a shot from Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain, with Barcelona star Messi involved in the build-up.
How should football tackle racism?
The result kept Argentina second in the nine-team South American qualifying group, level on seven points with 2011 Copa America winners Uruguay and third-placed Venezuela.
Uruguay have a game in hand over both rivals, having played only three qualifiers.
"It was hard," Messi, who was awarded the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010 and is nominated for the accolade again this year, said after the match. "We did not deserve to go a goal behind, as they were not better than us.
"Sometimes you play better, and other times you have to fight harder. This game was one of those days."
Ronaldo nets double as Portugal reach Euro 2012
Venezuela joined Argentina on two wins, a draw and a defeat after beating Bolivia 1-0, with defender Oswaldo Vizcarrondo heading the only goal in the 23rd minute.
The defeat left visiting Bolivia rock bottom with just one point from four matches.
Ecuador moved into the fourth and final automatic qualifying spot courtesy of a 2-0 win over Peru in Quito.
Midfielder Edison Mendez broke the deadlock in the 69th minute after being set up by striker Christian Benitez.
Benitez, who plays his club football with Mexican outfit America, sealed Ecuador's triumph with a close-range strike in the closing minutes to keep his side unbeaten for 34 years in World Cup ties against Peru.
Chile climbed above Colombia into fifth place and the one playoff berth after a 2-0 success against Paraguay.
Claudio Borghi's team lost 4-0 to Uruguay last week, but Chile responded positively and took the lead through defender Pablo Contreras on 27 minutes.
Fullback Matias Campos sealed victory with five minutes left, as Chile moved onto six points.
The qualifying group usually has 10 countries, but Brazil's place is already guaranteed as the hosts of the 2014 tournament, when Mano Menezes' team will seek a sixth title.
|
9abe7f2c11b146aaa9762fcaf0465dc3
|
Who won the World cup qualifier?
|
[
"Argentina"
] |
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.
|
62bc94b507e544ef9bb5c8d5fc9f4bc8
|
Who fire at a plane?
|
[
"Islamic insurgents"
] |
NewsQA
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that would make suing for pay discrimination easier by altering a time limit on such suits.
The act is named for Lilly Ledbetter, seen here in 2008. Her discrimination lawsuit victory was overturned in 2007.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which passed 250-177, would give workers alleging unequal pay the right to sue within 180 days of their most recent paycheck.
Current law says such employees must sue within 180 days of receiving their first unfair paycheck. Supporters of the new legislation say that, under the current law, an employer merely needs to hide unfair pay practices for three months before being able to continue them without penalty.
The act, named for a former Goodyear Tire employee who sued the company for gender discrimination in 1998, would effectively overturn a 2007 Supreme Court decision on the limit.
Ledbetter was awarded $360,000 in back pay by a federal judge in Alabama, but the verdict was overturned in a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in May 2007.
The court said that even though she filed her complaint within 180 days of when she first learned that she was getting paid less than comparable male employees, she had failed to file within 180 days of the first unequal paycheck.
After Tuesday's House vote, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the chamber had "taken a bold step" in passing the legislation.
"In doing so, it has injected fairness, reason and common sense back into policy," Pelosi said.
The legislation, which passed the Senate on Thursday, now goes to President Barack Obama, who has promised to sign it into law. It is the first major piece of legislation Congress has sent to Obama for his approval.
On the campaign trail, Obama and Republican nominee Sen. John McCain debated the bill. Obama heavily emphasized what he called the plan's benefits to working women, while McCain criticized it as a boon for trial lawyers.
Pelosi said Obama called to congratulate her on the bill's passage. Obama danced with Ledbetter at one of his inaugural balls, and she spoke at the Democrat National Convention at which he accepted his party's nomination.
"My case is over -- I will never receive the pay I deserve," Ledbetter said in that speech. "But there will be a far richer reward if we secure fair pay for our children and grandchildren, so that no one will ever again experience the discrimination that I did."
|
e6e8447cea7f4e0aa93f6f6748f736d4
|
What would the Act change?
|
[
"give workers alleging unequal pay the right to sue"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Los Angeles police have launched an internal investigation to determine who leaked a picture that appears to show a bruised and battered Rihanna.
Rihanna was allegedly attacked by her boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, before the Grammys on February 8.
The close-up photo -- showing a woman with contusions on her forehead and below her eyes, and cuts on her lip -- was published on the entertainment Web site TMZ Thursday. TMZ said it was a photo of Rihanna.
Twenty-one-year-old Rihanna was allegedly attacked by her boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, on a Los Angeles street before the two were to perform at the Grammys on February 8.
"The unauthorized release of a domestic violence photograph immediately generated an internal investigation," an L.A. police spokesman said in a statement. "The Los Angeles Police Department takes seriously its duty to maintain the confidentiality of victims of domestic violence. A violation of this type is considered serious misconduct, with penalties up to and including termination."
A spokeswoman for Rihanna declined to comment.
The chief investigator in the case had told CNN earlier that authorities had tried to guard against leaks. Detective Deshon Andrews said he had kept the case file closely guarded and that no copies had been made of the original photos and documents.
Brown was arrested on February 8 in connection with the case and and booked on suspicion of making criminal threats.
Authorities are trying to determine whether Brown should face domestic violence-related charges.
Brown apologized for the incident this week.
"Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired," the 19-year-old said in a statement released by his spokesman. "I am seeking the counseling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones and I am committed, with God's help, to emerging a better person."
CNN's Brittany Kaplan contributed to this report.
|
7b42ce1935014cd9ad9dbcf15e6a569b
|
Which celebrity was attacked by her boyfriend?
|
[
"Rihanna"
] |
NewsQA
|
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Military divers have found the body of a U.S. paratrooper who went missing last week in a river in western Afghanistan.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said the soldier was found close to where he disappeared November 4. Officials are continuing their search for a second paratrooper lost at the same time.
Both men -- from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division -- disappeared in the Morghab River near Afghanistan's border with Turkmenistan. The men were on a routine resupply mission, the NATO group said.
Family members identified the recovered body as that of Benjamin Sherman, 21, of Plymouth, Massachusetts.
They said he jumped into the river when he saw a fellow soldier struggling in the water.
"I know that day he jumped into the river to try to save his comrade was because he didn't just see another soldier in the water; he saw his brother," said Sherman's sister, Meredith, in a statement to CNN affiliate WCVB in Boston, Massachusetts.
"He didn't jump in because he was trained to but because that's what his heart told him to do."
Sherman's mother, Denise, said the family called him "the unstoppable one."
"I raised him with the understanding that when you choose to do something, you do it to the best of your ability," she said in a statement to WCVB. "He was powerful, ingenuous and determined."
CNN's Thomas Evans contributed to this report.
|
d31be78d5b2646ff99957a161545d355
|
Who identified the recovered body?
|
[
"Family members"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A fire at a karaoke bar and discotheque in Medan, in Indonesia's North Sumatra province, killed at least 20 people Friday night, according to a hospital.
At least two people survived, according to Aida Sofiati of the Pringadi Hospital in Medan.
Sofiati said 20 people were killed.
Mohammad Zein, a fire official, said the blaze started around 10 p.m., but firefighters were able to extinguish it within a half-hour.
He said the cause of the fire was not known.
|
26fa73e4b3b04adfb433c246d5b72c3a
|
What did the blaze hit?
|
[
"karaoke bar and discotheque in Medan,"
] |
NewsQA
|
Buenos Aires, Argentina (CNN) -- Latin America's first same-sex marriage, set to be held in Argentina on Tuesday, appeared derailed after a judge filed an injunction to stop the union until the issue can be reviewed further.
Judge Marta Gomez Alsina's ruling blocks an earlier holding by another judge that found city laws banning same-sex marriage unconstitutional, the court said in a statement.
Alex Freyre and Jose Maria di Bello had planned to make their marriage official at a civil ceremony and chose December 1 because it is World AIDS Day.
The registrar responsible for the civil marriages in Buenos Aires has been notified of the ruling, the court said.
The couple would attempt to get their wedding license anyway, the official Telam news agency reported.
"We're continuing with the preparations because we, as planners, nor the couple itself, have not been notified" of the injunction, said Maria Rachid, president of the Argentine Federation for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transsexuals, according to the news agency.
Gomez Alsina's injunction could not overturn the earlier ruling because she is a trial-level judge and not an appellate judge, Rachid said.
The original ruling was made on November 10 by another trial-level judge, Gabriela Seijas, who responded to a petition made by Freyre and di Bello.
Seijas ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage was illegal and ordered the proper authorities to grant the couple a marriage license if they applied for one.
The court's decision applied only to Buenos Aires. Same-sex unions in most of Argentina remain illegal.
"The law should treat each person with equal respect in relation to each person's singularities without the need to understand or regulate them," Seijas said in her ruling.
Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri said after the ruling that his government would not appeal the decision.
Monday's ruling was a temporary measure to postpone the marriage until Seijas' original ruling could be reviewed in depth, presumably by an appeals court or the supreme court, the court statement said
Countries in Latin America, a region strongly identified with the Catholic Church, have recently given more attention to gay rights.
In September Uruguay became the first Latin American country to allow same-sex adoption.
Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador are also addressing the issue of same-sex civil unions.
|
49dfb4886031406598f78692ac394350
|
what would the couple attempt?
|
[
"to get their wedding license"
] |
NewsQA
|
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Los Angeles firefighters and city crews worked for several hours Tuesday to rescue one of their own: a 22-ton firetruck that was nearly swallowed by a water-logged sinkhole.
Two firefighters crawled out of the truck's windows after it sank Tuesday morning. No one was injured.
The incident happened after four firefighters took the truck to the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Valley Village, where flooding had been reported after a water main break, just before 6 a.m. PT.
After seeing running water in the road, a fire captain instructed the rig's driver to back up and had two firefighters get out of the truck to direct it.
That's when the ground gave way and the front of the truck began quickly sinking. The driver and captain crawled out of the truck's windows to escape. The four firefighters were not injured.
Workers had to simultaneously pull and lift the truck to get it out of the sinkhole. Watch workers pull truck from sinkhole
CNN's Carey Bodenheimer contributed to this report.
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dfe934d9f9e049aa949be16553abd01d
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Did two firefighters escape?
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[
"crawled out of the truck's windows"
] |
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(CNN) -- Millions of Californians will duck for cover Thursday morning in one of the largest earthquake drills in the world.
Elementary school students in Burbank, California, take part in last year's earthquake drill.
"The Great California Shakeout" will kick off at 10:15 a.m. at schools, museums, fire stations and other sites across the state.
More than 6 million people have registered to take part in the drill, sponsored by various state agencies. About 5.5 million Californians participated in last year's drill, organizers said. iReport.com: Are you taking part in California's earthquake drill?
Senior citizens at the Vallecito Mobile Home Park in Ventura County were among last year's participants. They took cover for three minutes and some pretended to be injured so emergency workers could practice safety procedures.
This year's participants also can watch an animated video that shows how much damage a magnitude 7.8 earthquake can cause. iReport.com: Museum undergoes "fake quake" drill
Thursday's event comes two days before the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake. The magnitude 6.9 quake rocked Northern California in 1989, killing dozens, collapsing a 50-foot section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, damaging thousands of homes, and interrupting baseball's World Series.
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299979315983474e84cad6ceb80f32d9
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6 million in California registered to participate in what?
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[
"earthquake drill."
] |
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(CNN) -- The world has a new alliance to save vanishing frogs, toads and salamanders.
A frog swims in a pond in Munich, Germany, in June.
A coalition of organizations established the Amphibian Survival Alliance this month to conserve species threatened by deadly fungus, habitat loss, pollution, pesticides and climate change. The scientists said amphibians are the world's most threatened group of animals.
Though they thrived on Earth for more than 360 million years, one in three of the 6,000 recognized amphibian species are now at risk of extinction and as many as 122 species have gone extinct since 1980, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's amphibian specialist group.
"The world's amphibians are facing an uphill battle for survival," said James Collins of Arizona State University, co-chairman of the group.
He said the new alliance, formed at the Amphibian Mini Summit at the Zoological Society of London, will focus efforts on the biggest threat to amphibians: infectious disease and habitat destruction. The group includes amphibian specialists working in the wild as well as those in zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens worldwide.
"Amphibians have so much to offer humans," said amphibian specialist Simon Stuart. "Many have an arsenal of compounds stored in their skin that have the potential to address a multitude of human diseases."
But as amphibians die out, so do opportunities to develop new medicines, he said. The southern gastric brooding frog, for instance, could have led to the development of a treatment for human peptic ulcers had it not gone extinct, Stuart said.
"We simply cannot afford to let this current amphibian extinction crisis go unchecked," he said.
Andrew Blaustein, who began documenting amphibian declines two decades ago, said the loss of species was part of an overall biodiversity crisis.
"Amphibians seem to have been hit the hardest of all vertebrate species," said Blaustein, a professor of zoology at Oregon State University. "The long-term ecological repercussions of their decline could be profound, and we have to do something about it."
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ede576db4b794f49ba1b455bbc35a80b
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How many species are at risk of extinction?
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[
"one in three of the 6,000 recognized amphibian"
] |
NewsQA
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(CNN) -- Rock guitarist and singer Alex Chilton, known for his work with bands the Box Tops and Big Star, died Wednesday.
He was 59.
Chilton was having heart problems and died in an emergency room in New Orleans, Louisiana, said longtime friend and business associate John Fry.
"Obviously, we are all stunned and deeply saddened at this news," Fry said.
Chilton started in music as a teen in the 1960s, as vocalist for the psychedelic soul group the Box Tops, Fry said. They were known for the No. 1 hit "'The Letter" and songs such as "Neon Rainbow" and "Cry Like a Baby."
After that group disbanded in 1970, Chilton formed the Memphis rock group Big Star.
Though that band had a short life, breaking up in 1974, its music catapulted the group and Chilton to cult status.
"While Big Star struggled with success commercially, their early '70s, power-pop sound is often cited as directly influencing bands like Cheap Trick, R.E.M. and the Replacements," Billboard magazine said in its biography of Chilton's group.
The evidence of that: a song the Replacements released in 1987, called "Alex Chilton."
Part of the chorus of that song is "Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes 'round. They sing, I'm in love."
In the 1990s, Big Star got back together.
Chilton and the band were scheduled to perform at the South by Southwest music festival in Texas this weekend.
CNN's Denise Quan contributed to this report.
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d7e0b1da2b1b46758e99abdafeec22f8
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which is the name of this guitarist
|
[
"Alex Chilton,"
] |
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|
(CNN) -- Al Qaeda's north African wing has released an audio message from an Italian man whom it says it has kidnapped and has set a 25-day deadline for the Italian government to meet its demands.
The message was accompanied by a still photograph, posted on Islamist Web sites, showing a bearded man kneeling in front of a group of six armed and masked men.
The group, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, says the man is Cicala Sergio.
The group says it has been holding the man and his wife for two months. The audio message, dated February 24, urges the Italian government to meet the group's demands in 25 days -- although it was unclear what those demands are.
"If you want to guarantee the safety of these two Italian captives, you need to pressure your government and urge them to respond to the legitimate demands," the statement said.
CNN could not immediately determine the authenticity of the message.
In June, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb executed a British man after the British government did not give in to its demand to release Abu Qatada, a Jordanian considered to be al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe.
The group began life as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat with aspirations to overthrow the Algerian government.
Around 2004, it joined forces with al Qaeda and extended its reach across North and West Africa.
CNN's Saad Abedine contributed to this report.
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f121b74ab63a4820a4bcc1ed00b6bc53
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who is Cicala Sergio?
|
[
"an Italian man whom"
] |
NewsQA
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Shortly before President Obama departs for a trip to the Middle East, a new national poll suggests that one in five Americans has a favorable view of Muslim countries.
President Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visit an Istanbul mosque in April.
That view compares with 46 percent of the people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey who say they have an unfavorable opinion of Muslim countries. That's up 5 percentage points from 2002, when 41 percent indicated that they had an unfavorable view.
Meanwhile, three in 10 say they have a neutral opinion of Muslim countries.
The poll also suggests that most Americans suspect people in Muslim countries don't think highly of the United States. Nearly eight in 10 questioned say people in Muslim countries have a unfavorable opinion of the United States, with 14 percent saying Muslims hold a favorable view. iReport.com: Your perspectives on the Muslim world
But the poll indicates Americans seem to be split on whether such negative opinions by Muslims matter. Fifty-three percent of those questioned say they think Muslim views of the United States matter greatly or moderately, with 47 percent saying that Muslim opinions of the United States don't matter very much or at all.
The poll's release comes hours before the president flies to Saudi Arabia for meetings with King Abdullah. Following the stop in Saudi Arabia, Obama will head to Egypt, where he'll deliver a long-awaited speech Thursday on relations between the United States and the Muslim world. Watch the challenges Obama faces with the speech »
At a town hall in Turkey earlier this year, the president declared that "the United States is not, and will never be, at war with Islam."
Many Americans seem to agree with the president: Sixty-two percent of those surveyed say they don't think the United States is at war with the Muslim world, with 36 percent indicating that the country is at war with Muslim countries. Those numbers have remained stable since CNN's 2002 poll.
But the poll suggests that six out of 10 think that the Muslim world considers itself at war with the United States.
"The feeling seems to be mutual. We distrust Muslims. They distrust Americans. Views of Americans have not changed very much over the past seven years. There are some indications that Muslims' views of Americans have improved a bit since Barack Obama took office, but they are still not positive," said Bill Schneider, CNN senior political analyst.
The CNN/Opinion Research poll was conducted May 14-17, with 1,010 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
|
93a2f64e146645eabd7054699d0f8e2c
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Does the average American have a favorable view of Muslim countries?
|
[
"one in five"
] |
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Records from a cell phone used by President-elect Obama were improperly breached, apparently by employees of the cell phone company, Verizon Wireless said Thursday.
An Obama spokesman said the transition team was told Verizon Wireless workers looked through billing records.
"This week we learned that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-Elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account," Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless president and CEO, said in a statement.
"All employees who have accessed the account -- whether authorized or not --- have been put on immediate leave, with pay."
The Obama transition team was notified Wednesday by Verizon of the breach, said team spokesman Robert Gibbs. He said the president-elect no longer uses the phone.
McAdam said the device on the account was a simple voice flip-phone, not a BlackBerry or other smartphone designed for e-mail or other data services, so none of Obama's e-mail could have been accessed.
Verizon Wireless, meanwhile, has launched an internal probe to determine whether Obama's information was simply shared among employees or whether "the information of our customer had in any way been compromised outside our company, and this investigation continues," McAdam said in an internal company e-mail obtained by CNN.
"Employees with legitimate business needs for access will be returned to their positions, while employees who have accessed the account improperly and without legitimate business justification will face appropriate disciplinary action," McAdam said, "up to and including termination."
The company has alerted "the appropriate federal law enforcement authorities," McAdam said.
Gibbs said that while the Secret Service has been notified, he is not aware of any criminal investigation. He said he believes it was billing records that were accessed.
Gibbs said that anyone viewing the records likely would have been able to see phone numbers and the frequency of calls Obama made, but that "nobody was monitoring voicemail or anything like that."
CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry contributed to this report.
|
6ff16fa48b6348f196fefeb51d7bab36
|
Which employee accessed billing records?
|
[
"Verizon Wireless workers"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Despite some high-profile bombings in recent days, Iraq's security forces are ready to take over for U.S. forces this week to stabilize the nation's major cities, the U.S. commander in Iraq told CNN on Sunday.
Except for soldiers in advisory roles, all U.S. combat troops will leave Iraqi cities and towns by June 30.
Army Gen. Ray Odierno said he's seen a "constant improvement" in both the security situation and governance in Iraq to prepare for the June 30 deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from major cities.
"They've been working for this for a long time," Odierno said on CNN's "State of the Union."
In a separate interview on "Fox News Sunday," Odierno said all U.S. troops already were out of Iraq's major cities before Tuesday's deadline.
"We have already moved out of the cities," Odierno said. "We've been slowly doing it over the last eight months. And the final units have moved out of the cities over the last several weeks." Watch CNN's Michael Ware on the U.S. withdrawal »
The shift is part of the security agreement that former President George W. Bush's administration signed with Iraq.
In the CNN interview, Odierno blamed the recent violence in Iraq on "extremist elements using the timeframe and date to gain attention to themselves and divert attention from the success of Iraqi security forces."
The 131,000 U.S. troops in Iraq still will "maintain full coordination with Iraqi forces inside the cities" and continue to have intelligence capacity, Odierno said. With approval from the Iraqis, they also will carry out operations in major cities as necessary, he said.
Odierno said his goal is to help provide security that allows Iraq to hold planned national elections leading to the eventual removal of all U.S. troops by the end of 2011.
He said his biggest worry is a breakdown in stability such as a "consistent increase in violence" or a situation that Iraqi forces can't handle.
"I don't see that" happening, Odierno said. "I think we're on the right path."
Odierno also said Iran continues to "interfere" in Iraq, including training insurgents and paying surrogates. But he said his mission is limited to providing security within Iraq, no matter the provocation from Iran or elsewhere.
"I'm not authorized to do anything outside the borders of Iraq," he said.
Iran's government has repeatedly denied fomenting violence inside Iraq.
|
2f69160a378f481a946b27b73cf9e159
|
Who continues to interfere in Iraq?
|
[
"Iran"
] |
NewsQA
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(CNN) -- CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour has broadcast from some of the world's most challenging locations. Here, we bring together links to her documentaries and exclusive web-only footage.
Generation Islam (2009)
Christiane gives viewers a look inside the battle for the hearts and minds of youth in the Muslim world and travels to two of the places where the fight is most intense -- Afghanistan and Gaza.
- Generation Islam
- Video: The would-be suicide bomber
Buddha's Warriors (2008)
Christiane meets the Dalai Lama and spends time with his flock for CNN's 2008 special, "Buddha's Warriors," where she explores how people whose religion commits them to love, kindness and non-violence confront severe political oppression.
- Behind the scenes: Buddha's Warriors
- Interview with the Dalai Lama: On China | A moment of karma | On reincarnation
Notes from North Korea (2008)
Christiane travels to North Korea as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra makes a historic visit to one of the world's most closed societies. She examines the tense standoff with the U.S. over nuclear weapons and provides a rare look inside a notorious, top-secret nuclear facility.
- Notes from North Korea: Part 1 | Part 2
- Yongbyon tour: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
- Behind the scenes: Amanpour's notes
Scream Bloody Murder (2008)
Christiane reports from the world's killing fields, where genocide has raged as the world watched -- and traces the personal accounts of those who tried to stop the slaughter.
- Scream Bloody Murder
God's Warriors (2007)
Christiane travelled to eight countries over eight months to examine the impact of the rise of religious fundamentalism as a powerful political force in three faiths: Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
- God's Warriors
- Video: Rev. Jerry Falwell's final interview
Revolutionary Journey (2000)
Christiane, who left Iran at the start of the Islamic Revolution, returns to the country of her birth for an inside look at a country that after years of conservative Islamic rule, voted to keep President Khatami in office and his democratic reform efforts alive.
- Revolutionary Journey: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
|
171fef5e4b4749239dbf81d8b2e08c64
|
Where can you see her documentaries and web footage?
|
[
"CNN"
] |
NewsQA
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The family of a British soldier serving in Afghanistan has been forced from their home after a poisonous spider hitched a ride back with him and apparently killed their pet dog.
The camel spider's bite is not deadly to humans but can kill small animals.
Lorraine Griffiths and her three children, aged 18, 16, and 4, moved out of their house in Colchester, southeast England, and are refusing to return until the spider is apprehended, the UK Press Association reported.
Griffiths told the East Anglian Daily Times that the spider appeared after her husband, Rodney, returned from a four-month tour of duty in Helmand province, the arid southern Afghan frontline in the fight against Taliban extremists.
"My son Ricky was in my bedroom looking for his underwear, and he went into the drawer under my bed, and something crawled across his hand," she told the paper.
She said their pet dog Cassie confronted the creature, which they identified on the Internet as a camel spider, but ran out whimpering when it hissed at her. Watch the family that has been terrorized by the spider »
"It seems too much of a coincidence that she died at the same time that we saw the spider," she said.
The desert-dwelling camel spider, actually an insect rather than an arachnid, can run up to 25 kilometers (15 miles) an hour and reach 15 centimeters (6 inches) in length. Its bite is not deadly to humans but can kill small animals.
|
c0307af07dcb44ffaf290e289682b767
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What forced U.K. family from home?
|
[
"poisonous spider"
] |
NewsQA
|
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Four British Coastguard helicopters of the same model as the one that crashed off Canada last week have been grounded in Scotland to replace a gearbox mounting part, and all those models worldwide are expected to be grounded as well.
Sikorsky's Web site says the S-92 "is the most advanced aircraft" in its civil product line.
This move comes after the Transportation Safety Board of Canada indicated on Friday that the components must be replaced on Sikorsky-92 A helicopters across the globe.
The Canadian agency said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will issue an emergency airworthiness directive, effectively grounding all Sikorsky S-92 A helicopters worldwide until the parts are replaced.
On March 12, 17 people died when a Sikorsky S-92 A operated by Cougar Helicopters crashed or ditched in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland. One person survived.
Canada's transportation board on Friday said investigators found a broken main gearbox component that had been addressed in a January alert from Sikorsky.
Sikorsky's alert, on January 28, said the "main gearbox filter bowl assembly mounting titanium studs should be replaced with steel mounting studs." This "one-time modification" was to be done within 1,250 flight hours or within a year of the alert's issue date.
According to Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Sikorsky on Friday notified helicopter contractor CHC that aircraft operating out of Stornoway and Shetland in Scotland need the "urgent modification."
The British agency said that when it is clear how long the helicopters will be grounded or need to undergo engineering work, the agency "will take a decision on implementing a contingency plan for longer term air coverage. The aircraft on the south coast are unaffected."
|
1fda5f2ff3954ed5bfe016905d29c466
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Where did the Sikorsky-92 A crash?
|
[
"in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland."
] |
NewsQA
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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.
|
c95ea64bd7c94aaca962cbadea1343c1
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What area did the explosion target?
|
[
"a mostly residential"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Madonna said she hopes the Malawian girl she wants to adopt and the boy she already adopted "will one day return to Malawi and help the people of their country."
A judge has rejected Madonna's adoption application.
A Malawian judge this month rejected the American pop star's petition to adopt 3-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James, but her lawyer has filed an appeal.
"I want to provide Mercy with a home, a loving family environment and the best education and health care possible," Madonna said in an e-mail to The Nation, a Malawian newspaper. "And it's my hope that she, like David, will one day return to Malawi and help the people of their country."
Madonna's statement, which her publicist provided to CNN, steered away from commenting on her legal battle.
"Though I have been advised that I cannot publicly discuss the pending appeal regarding my desire to adopt Mercy, I do want to say how much I appreciate the level of support that I have received from the people of Malawi and my friends around the world," she said.
The judge who ruled against the adoption said she had "a gripping temptation" to approve it, but decided doing so would open doors to child trafficking, court records show.
"Anyone could come to Malawi and quickly arrange for an adoption that might have grave consequences on the very children that the law seeks to protect," Justice E.J. Chombo wrote in her ruling.
The judge also said she thought the child was in good hands at an orphanage.
Another Malawian judge approved Madonna's adoption of David Banda in 2006.
Chombo's ruling followed weeks of criticism by human-rights activists, who accused the mother of three of using her fame to circumvent a residency law for foreigners adopting in the southern African country.
Save the Children UK had also urged Madonna to let the child be raised by her relatives in her home community.
The denial was applauded by a coalition of Malawian nonprofits.
"Inter-country adoption is not the best way of providing protection to children. ... Supporting children from outside our country only helps five of the 1.5 million orphans we have," said Mavuto Bamusi, national coordinator of the Malawi Human Rights Consultative Committee.
Malawi government officials have said that they supported Madonna's second adoption.
The recently divorced singer was married to British filmmaker Guy Ritchie.
She has been involved with Malawi for several years and made a documentary, "I Am Because We Are," to highlight poverty, AIDS and other diseases devastating children in that country. She also co-founded a nonprofit, Raising Malawi, which provides programs to help the needy.
|
fcca797abad2499bb6ff82135956c445
|
what did the judge say?
|
[
"she had \"a gripping temptation\" to approve it, but decided doing so would open doors to child trafficking,"
] |
NewsQA
|
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- A court in Dubai has sentenced two Britons to three months in prison for having sex on a public beach in the Muslim country.
File image of one of the co-accused -- Vince Acors -- arriving at court in Dubai in September.
After they complete their sentence, the pair will be deported. They also have to pay a 1,000 dirhams ($367) fine for public indecency.
Police charged Michelle Palmer, 36, and Vincent Acors, 34, with illicit relations, public indecency and public intoxication after their arrest at a beach shortly after midnight on July 5.
Both denied that they had intercourse.
"The public (prosecutor) failed to produce corroborative evidence against my clients concerning having consensual sex and committing indecent gestures in public," said the pair's lawyer, Hasan Mattar.
He said the pair will appeal the verdict. Watch how case stirs up Dubai's bar scene »
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) -- where Dubai is located -- is home to thousands of expatriates and is among the most moderate Gulf states. Still, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom adheres to certain Islamic rules.
More than a million British visitors traveled to the UAE in 2006, and more than 100,000 British nationals live there, according to the British Foreign Office.
The country is in the midst of a building boom to position itself as one of the world's premier tourist destinations. It is already home to the world's largest mall, the world's largest tower, and -- despite being in the Middle East -- boasts the largest indoor snow park in the world.
-- CNN's Caroline Faraj contributed to this report
|
b894d801f04e43b18dc6a09f61e4c778
|
What were they charged with?
|
[
"illicit relations, public indecency and public intoxication"
] |
NewsQA
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(PEOPLE.com) -- Though the couple went public with their engagement in October, little is known about the relationship between the daughter of the late grunge god Kurt Cobain, Frances Bean, and her fiancé, Isaiah Silva, frontman of rock band the Rambles.
"We're each other's everything," Silva, 26, tells PEOPLE about Cobain, 19, and himself. "We're homebodies. We don't go out to clubs so you won't find us stumbling out of them with Lindsay Lohan. We stay at home, read books and watch 'Arrested Development.'"
Adds bandmate Mark Kuchell, "They're quiet and shy. They're a great couple. Frances comes to most of our shows that she can get into."
One of the last was the band's December set at the Viper Room, where Cobain and Silva were seen looking very loving and affectionate before and after the show.
"I love strong, opinionated, intelligent women," says Silva, who spent the first 18 years of his life in the Fullerton Assembly of God group, a faction focused on strict Christian values and the second coming of Christ. "Women in the [group] were totally oppressed, but I am very pro-woman."
Silva and his family severed ties with the group when he was 18. Despite Silva's unconventional upbringing, he fought for his individuality when he gravitated toward punk music, learned to play the guitar with pals and "always had long hair and always dyed it."
"I had to grow up much faster than I would have liked," he adds. "I've been through a lot. But now, I'm totally happy."
Catch the Rambles at SXSW in Texas in March and look out for their upcoming EP, recorded with producer Keith Stegall (Zac Brown Band).
See the full article at PEOPLE.com.
© 2011 People and Time Inc. All rights reserved.
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e1538d30b5454febb577256791f4b6f0
|
which magazine carried this interview?
|
[
"PEOPLE.com."
] |
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