subset
stringclasses 1
value | context
stringlengths 101
3.1k
| qid
stringlengths 32
32
| question
stringlengths 14
704
| answers
listlengths 1
1
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Search efforts turned into a recovery operation Monday for a U.S. Navy instructor pilot presumed dead after his plane crashed into Lake Pontchartrain, just outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, during a routine training mission, a Navy spokesman said.
The student pilot on the plane was rescued about two hours after the crash Saturday night and taken to a hospital for mild hypothermia and moderate injuries, according to the Navy. He has since been released.
The missing instructor pilot has been identified as Lt. Clinton Wermers, 33, of Mitchell, South Dakota. The Navy did not identify the rescued student pilot. The two pilots were attached to Training Squadron 6 at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Florida.
Initial reports were that both the pilots were clinging to the aircraft before it sank, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, which is assisting in the search. Lt. Brett Dawson, a Navy air training spokesman, told CNN Monday that the wreckage of the plane has been located and a salvage unit will be working to recover it. The cause of the crash is under investigation, Dawson said.
Air traffic controllers at Lakefront Airport in New Orleans notified the Coast Guard at 6:40 p.m. Saturday that a U.S. Navy T-34 training plane was no longer visible on radar, the Coast Guard said in a news release. The plane had been approaching the airport during a routine nighttime instrument training mission, the Navy said.
The T-34 is a single-engine, single-prop plane used for primary training for student pilots. It does not have an ejection mechanism, Dawson said. Instead, pilots can open the canopy, slide it back and roll out of the aircraft.
At the time of the crash, the temperature was 50 degrees Fahrenheit with calm winds, the Coast Guard said. The water temperature was 52 degrees.
CNN's Sarah Aarthun and Sara Pratley contributed to this report.
|
99d689d74a0349fbb939579e9419dd97
|
who is Lt. Clinton Wermers?
|
[
"The missing instructor pilot"
] |
NewsQA
|
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- The Mexican government has ordered 2,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in response to a wave of drug-related violence that is blamed for 200 deaths since January, officials announced Thursday.
Mexico has ordered troops to move near Juarez, shown here with El Paso, Texas, in the distance.
The troops are expected to depart Friday. The majority will be near the northern border of Mexico, in Juarez.
Juarez sits across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.
Officials said the violence in Mexico has increased in large part to competing drug cartels.
"In this battle we will show that no criminal group is capable to resist the strength of the Mexican government," Interior Minister Juan Mourino said at a news conference Thursday.
Defense Secretary Guillermo Galvan said 2,026 soldiers, 180 military tactical vehicles, three airplanes and more than a dozen drug detection devices would be employed in the military operation.
"Violence, and this needs to be stressed, generates organized crime of drug trafficking," said Mexican Attorney General Medina Mora. "It's not in any way a sign of strength, but a sign of weakness, deterioration and decomposition." E-mail to a friend
CNN en Espanol's Ariel Crespo contributed to this report.
|
1e62c4497eec4b1091691661500a891c
|
What wave of violence?
|
[
"drug-related"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The New Zealand All Blacks gave their nation double reason for cheer with a 20-6 win Italy before a massive crowd at the San Siro in Milan.
With their football counterparts qualifying for the 2010 World Cup finals with a win over Bahrain earlier on Saturday, it was left to Graham Henry's men to complete the double.
But they were given a tough fight by underdogs Italy, who were inspired by an 80,000 crowd in a stadium normally reserved for Serie A giants Inter and AC Milan.
Henry fielded a largely second-string team after last week's 19-12 defeat of Wales in Cardiff.
Italy briefly led as former Australian rugby league international Craig Gower kicked a penalty.
But New Zealand pulled ahead with two Luke McAlister penalties and Corey Flynn put them further ahead with the only try of the game after 25 minutes.
McAlister landed another penalty before halftime to send the visitors into the break with a 14-3 lead.
After the interval he kicked two further penalties with Gower getting his second for Italy.
The All Blacks next play England, who saw off Argentina 16-9 at Twickenham in a poor quality match in difficult conditions.
A late try by Matt Banahan gave Martin Johnson's men the edge and his sixth win from 13 games in charge.
Fly-half star Jonny Wilkinson provided all of England's points in the first half, with a drop-goal and two penalties as the scores were tied at 9-9 at the half.
Center Martin Rodriguez, one of a trio of Argentina debutants, kicked three penalties from five attempts to keep them level until the late home try.
In other international action, former England coach Andy Robinson led his new Scotland team to a 23-10 win over Fiji.
Johnnie Beattie and Graeme Morrison went over for tries for Scotland at Murrayfield.
On Friday night, France shocked world champions South Africa 20-13 in Toulouse.
The Tri-Nations champions paid the price for ill-discipline as Julien Dupuy kicked four penalties and Morgan Parra one.
Winger Vincent Clerc capped a fine performance for the home side with a try.
South Africa's points came from Morne Steyn with a penalty and drop-goal as well as converting a fine try by captain John Smit.
|
8679bc4f47994bc583f199574d980e24
|
who beat south africa
|
[
"France"
] |
NewsQA
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- China has canceled or postponed several military exchanges with the U.S. in reaction to last week's announcement that the U.S. is selling weapons to Taiwan, a Defense Department spokesman said Monday.
Apache attack helicopters are part of the $6.4 billion weapons deal between the U.S. and Taiwan.
Officials announced last week an intention to sell $6.4 billion in arms to Taiwan, though the deal still needs to be approved by Congress.
Maj. Stewart Upton said the sale does not violate the Taiwan Relations Act, which allows the United States to provide Taiwan with items for self-defense
Taiwan split from the Chinese mainland in 1949 and the United States has vowed to support them if China initiates an unprovoked attack.
The arms deal comes at a time when the United States needs China in negotiations over Iran's and North Korea's nuclear programs.
"The Chinese reaction is unfortunate and results in missed opportunities," Upton said. "We feel that the global security environment calls for U.S. and [Chinese] officials to maintain close relations to address common security challenges."
The "bilateral events" China called off or postponed involve "senior level visits and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief exchanges" scheduled to happen by the end of November, he said.
The Chinese ambassador was said to be on his way to the State Department Monday afternoon to protest the proposed weapons sale to Taiwan.
One U.S. official said the tension with China will not affect the role China is playing in negotiations with Iran or North Korea over its nuclear program.
The official declined to speak for attribution because of the sensitive diplomacy involved.
The arms deal package includes a variety of U.S.-made weapons systems, including Patriot III anti-missile system, Apache attack helicopters, Harpoon missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles.
|
d94943dc339b4d7d8c4e5403a2ab8449
|
What international agreement would potentially be violated?
|
[
"the Taiwan Relations Act,"
] |
NewsQA
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- United States accident investigators are probing two recent failures of airspeed and altitude indications aboard Airbus A330s -- the same type of plane that crashed into the Atlantic nearly a month ago.
Investigators are looking into incidents aboard two other Airbus A330s.
The planes landed safely and there were no injuries or damage, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday. One flight was between the United States and Brazil in May and the other between Hong Kong and Japan in June.
The probes were launched in the aftermath of the June 1 crash in the Atlantic Ocean -- when Air France Flight 447 was flying to Paris, France, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All 228 people on board the plane, an A330, were killed.
Investigators are looking at the possible role of airspeed sensors known as pitot tubes, among other factors, as a possible cause of the Flight 447 crash.
That flight sent 24 automated error messages in the four minutes before it crashed, the head of the French accident investigation board, Paul-Louis Arslanian, has said. The error messages all indicate there were problems with on-board information about the plane's speed, which can cause some of the plane's instruments to stop functioning, Arslanian said.
Search teams are looking for the bulk of the plane's wreckage and for its flight data recorders.
The first of the two incidents being investigated by the NTSB happened May 21, when a TAM Airlines flight from Miami, Florida, to Sao Paulo, Brazil, experienced a loss of primary speed and altitude information while in flight, the NTSB said.
"Initial reports indicate that the flight crew noted an abrupt drop in indicated outside air temperature, followed by the loss of the Air Data Reference System and disconnections of the autopilot and autothrust, along with the loss of speed and altitude information," the NTSB said.
The flight crew used backup instruments and the primary data was restored in about five minutes, the NTSB said.
Another "possibly similar" incident happened June 23 on a Northwest Airlines flight between Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan, the NTSB said.
Investigators from the NTSB are gathering data recorder information, monitoring system messages, crew statements and weather information, the NTSB said.
|
98af616da3ad44a79c98b3b01fc9f214
|
What failed aboard A330s?
|
[
"and altitude indications"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Chastity Bono, gay-rights activist and child of performer Cher and the late entertainer and politician Sonny Bono, is in the early stages of transitioning from a female to a male and will be known as Chaz, his spokesman said Thursday.
Activist Chastity Bono is transitioning from female to male and will be known as Chaz.
"Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity," Howard Bragman said in a written statement.
"He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones. It is Chaz's hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his 'coming out' did nearly 20 years ago."
Someone's decision to transition does not necessarily mean they are undergoing gender reassignment surgery, and in many cases they do not, said Mara Keisling, executive director of the Washington-based National Center for Transgender Equality.
"The whole media fixation on surgery is kind of misplaced," she said. "Almost no transgender people ever have surgery. We don't have any idea how many do." iReport.com: Do you have a transgender story?
An estimated one-quarter to one-half percent of the American population is transsexual, however, Keisling said. "It's sort of a general term that encompasses both or either a social transition or a medical transition."
Keisling said she was unaware of the specifics in Bono's case, but speaking generally, a transition means that he will now want to be "known, seen, viewed" as a male.
"The actual details depend on his needs and wants and his doctor's needs and wants," she said.
Bragman asked that the media "respect Chaz's privacy during this long process, as he will not be doing any interviews at this time."
Now 40, Bono as a little girl made regular appearances on her parents' show, "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour." As an adult, he has been a longtime gay-rights advocate and been closely associated with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. See more photos from Chastity Bono's life »
Bono's father, Sonny Bono, was a U.S. representative from California when he was killed in a skiing accident in January 1998.
|
87cf9b47601b4573a975d2f417ddb69d
|
What will Chastity Bono's new name be?
|
[
"known as Chaz,"
] |
NewsQA
|
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Jon Hamm has a confession to make: He hates his hair.
Jon Hamm poses with his partner, Jennifer Westfeldt, at the premiere of "The Day the Earth Stood Still."
That may come as a surprise to fans of the actor, whose slick-backed hair is part of his signature look on "Mad Men" -- the show that just earned him another Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a TV drama.
In the new movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still," Hamm sports a slightly different 'do, with his bangs combed rakishly over one eye. It was in the context of promoting the sci-fi remake that Hamm revealed his tonsorial frustration.
"It's the bane of my existence. Goofy hair," he said in a self-deprecating interview with CNN. "It never looks good ... It's a pain."
Hamm says he's always worn his hair long, but had to cut it for AMC's TV series, in which he plays a 1960s Madison Avenue ad executive. He says stylists on the show, armed with hair spray and blow dryers, mold his coiffure into a hard shell. Helmet hair has come in handy at work.
"I've had a piece of the set fall on my head and my hair didn't move," he said. "I had seven stitches in my head and my hair didn't move. That's impressive."
Whether it's his hair, good looks, acting chops or a combination thereof, Hamm's star is on the rise in Hollywood. Apart from his co-starring role in "The Day the Earth Stood Still," Hamm recently completed work on the murder mystery "The Boy in the Box." He hosted "Saturday Night Live" this fall, he's due to play Tina Fey's love interest on "30 Rock" and he continues to receive accolades for his work on "Mad Men" (nominations for an Emmy and a Golden Globe so far).
How does that make Hamm feel?
"Exciting is the right way to say it. It's been a good year. It's very exciting," he said. "I get to read a lot more scripts. I get to meet interesting people. I get to work with interesting people ... It's fun to be sort of invited to the party."
|
3704986f69d849908d068928b573caff
|
What show is Jon Hamm in?
|
[
"\"Mad Men\""
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- LeBron James has been named the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row after claiming 116 of a possible 123 first place votes.
It gave him a landslide win over the runner-up, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who had just four first place votes, with Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers in third.
The media panel, who decide the prestigious award, had no hesitation in opting for James, whose outstanding play has lifted the Cleveland Cavaliers into the second second round of the playoffs.
They beat Boston Celtics in game one of the best-of-seven series with game two on Monday.
"To be MVP is definitely an honor. It's a humbling experience," James told the NBA official Web site.
"To receive that while you are trying to win a championship, you have to balance it out. I've been able to do that so far."
Orlando center Dwight Howard was fourth overall.
James, who is determined to finally land the NBA championship with the Cavs after a series of near-misses, has averaged just shy of 30 points per game, with 7.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists this season.
It helped Cleveland to a league-best 61 wins in the regular season and left him a near-certainty for the MVP honor.
He is only the 10th player to win it twice in consecutive seasons, joining greats such as Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Magic Johnson.
"I'm just trying to do my job," James said. "Hopefully I can add onto that championship list of names and pass it on to someone when I'm done."
|
6bb92858753848b7a3ad9a8dd7597aae
|
Who is determined to bring the NBA Championship?
|
[
"LeBron James"
] |
NewsQA
|
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- A volcano in southwest Colombia erupted again Friday morning, raining ash on nearby residents and agricultural fields.
The Galeras volcano, erupting here in January 2008, is considered the most active volcano in Colombia.
None of the 8,000 residents who live near the Galeras volcano was reported injured, officials said. It is the second time in less than a week that the volcano has erupted.
The government's Geological and Mining Institute raised the alert level from yellow to red, and officials opened eight shelters for displaced residents. Authorities ordered the 8,000 people who live near the volcano to evacuate.
The city of Pasto, which has about 35,000 residents and is more than 12 miles (about 20 kilometers) from the volcano's crater, received a heavy downpour of ashes Friday.
The volcano, near Colombia's border with Ecuador, previously erupted Saturday. It has erupted several times since it became active again in 1989.
The only fatalities were in 1993, when nine people -- all scientists or tourists in or near the volcano's crater -- were killed.
The volcano's crater is 14,029 feet (4,276 meters) above sea level in the Andes Mountains. It is considered the most active volcano in Colombia.
Journalist Fernando Ramos contributed to this report.
|
4e641e007b6347f8a448e47d176878ec
|
where did they live near
|
[
"the Galeras volcano"
] |
NewsQA
|
(EW.com) -- "Joyful Noise," a squeaky-clean pop-gospel fairy tale featuring Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah in canned catfights, reflects the inspiration of "Glee" and God, in that order.
The "Glee" side, at least in my book, doesn't exactly amount to a recommendation, but it does mean that the movie's musical numbers are catchy and rollicking and, in their bright sunshiny way, rather soulful. In the small town of Pacashau, Georgia, times are hard -- every other storefront is empty -- but the Divinity Church choir has lifted local spirits by rising to become a semifinalist in the National Joyful Noise Competition. Can these spunky vocalists go the distance?
Not until they learn to work together in harmony. Which means that Vi Rose Hill (Latifah), the choir's new director, has to stop feuding with G.G. Sparrow (Parton), widow of the former choir leader, over the direction of the group's music. Vi Rose, feisty and smart-mouthed, favors tradition, while G.G., whose grandson Randy (Jeremy Jordan) is the new songbird on the block, is out to shake things up.
Parton now looks like a "Spitting Image" puppet (the film makes plastic-surgery jokes about her so that we don't have to), but she still has a way with lines like ''I'd call you stubborn, but that'd be an insult to mules!''
"Joyful Noise" also finds room for a teenager with Asperger's syndrome (Dexter Darden) who loves one-hit-wonder songs (but can he learn to love himself?), as well as a romance between Randy and Vi Rose's daughter Olivia (Keke Palmer). These two are pretty -- and as bland as balsa wood.
But each time the innocuousness starts to get to you, you're woken up by Randy and Olivia's swooning ''Maybe I'm Amazed'' duet, or a kid-choir rendition of Billy Preston's ''That's the Way God Planned It,'' or the final ''I Want to Take You Higher'' blowout. These numbers create a deep river of feeling, even when stuck in the shallow banks of a movie like this one. B-
See the full article at EW.com.
CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly
© 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.
|
aeb75d32a859476899edbd5b90e8053b
|
What is the name of the choir?
|
[
"Divinity Church"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Police have made an arrest in the home invasion slaying last year of a Southern California couple in their beach house, authorities said Monday.
Joshua Graham Packer, 20, of Ventura is facing charges including three counts of murder and two counts of robbery, Capt. Ross Bonfiglio of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department said.
Packer is accused of murdering Brock Husted, his wife, Davina Husted, and her fetus. The Husteds, who were both 42, were stabbed to death in their seaside home in Faria Beach, California, on May 20.
Chief Gary Pentis of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department said it appeared the suspect targeted the victims. "My personal opinion? This was not a random act," Pentis said at a news conference Monday.
Until the couple's slaying, the gated community of luxury homes had not recorded a homicide in 15 years, police said.
According to investigators, the Husteds were home with their two young children on the night of the slaying. Their daughter was asleep in bed, and their son was watching "American Idol" in the living room.
About 10:30 p.m., the suspect entered the home through French doors that face the ocean, police said.
The killer was dressed in dark clothing and wore a motorcycle helmet, authorities said. He walked past the child who was watching television and stabbed the Husteds.
Davina Husted was four months pregnant.
The home was not ransacked, and the alleged murder weapon was left at the scene, Bonfiglio said.
A sample of Packer's DNA taken after an arrest in Santa Barbara matched the genetic material found at the Husted crime scene, said Pentis the sheriff's department chief. He added that items from the victims' house were found at the suspect's home.
Scott Husted, the brother of Brock Husted, thanked the sheriff's department for solving the killings. "This is a milestone, a very huge milestone in this process," he said. "We're very grateful for the work the Ventura County sheriff's department has put in this case."
"This in no way takes away the loss our family has had. Brock was our baby brother."
Packer is being held on $2.2 million bail at the Ventura County Main Jail.
|
815752981cbb439699d039b336a3d2a8
|
Who was arrested?
|
[
"Joshua Graham Packer,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Defending champion Alberto Contador has issued an apology after he took advantage of his rival Andy Schleck's mechanical failure to seize the yellow jersey in the Tour de France.
Schleck, who was leading Astana rider Contador by 31 seconds in the overall standings going into stage 15 on Monday, dropped his chain while launching an attack on the day's final climb and had to stop to repair the problem.
Rather than waiting for his rival -- in keeping with the Tour's sporting traditions -- Contador and a group including fellow contenders Denis Menchov and Samuel Sanchez stole a march to the finish, gaining 39 seconds on Schleck.
Contador now leads Saxo Bank's Schleck by eight seconds in the overall standings, with Spain's Sanchez two minutes behind the leader in third and Russia's Menchov two minutes, 13 seconds back.
See Contador's Youtube apology here
Spaniard Contador was booed by the French crowd as he was awarded the yellow jersey on the podium and was heavily criticized by Schleck.
But after reflecting on the stage, Contador issued a video on Youtube saying: "The race was in full gear and, well, maybe I made a mistake. I'm sorry.
"At a time like that all you think about is riding as fast as you can. I'm not happy, in the sense that, to me, fair play is very important.
"The kind of thing that happened today is not something I like, it's not my style and I hope my relationship with Andy will remain as good as before."
Luxembourg's Schleck, the runner-up to two-time champion Contador last year, was angered by what he saw as a lack of "fair play" and vowed to take "revenge" on his rival.
"In the same situation I would not have taken advantage," Schleck said, AFP reported. "I'm not the jury, but for sure those guys wouldn't get the fair play award from me today.
"I'm really disappointed. My stomach is full of anger, and I want to take my revenge. I will take my revenge in the coming days."
In a similar situation in 2003, Germany's Jan Ullrich was praised for his sportsmanship after he waited for Lance Armstrong to recover from a collision with a spectator in the Pyrenees.
Armstrong then surged forward to win the stage by 40 seconds en route to the fifth of his seven Tour victories.
The 187.5 kilometer stage from Pamiers to Bagneres-de-Luchon - the second of four stages in the Pyrenees - was won by French champion Thomas Voeckler after a fine solo ride, finishing nearly three minutes ahead of the race favorites.
Voeckler's triumph gave France their fifth victory in 15 stages.
|
0e0cb31a6ed04026a46f663a827cd0da
|
What did Contador take from Andy Schleck in controversial fashion?
|
[
"the yellow jersey"
] |
NewsQA
|
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Twenty-seven million new cancer cases are expected by 2030, according to a report released Tuesday by the World Health Organization's cancer research agency.
Rates for breast cancer, shown here under a microscope, have tripled in some Asian countries.
That compares to 12 million new cases in 2007, the report found. The group forecast a 1 percent increase globally each year, with emerging economies such as China, Russia and India being hit the hardest.
The major culprit: tobacco.
"About 1.3 billion people smoke globally, making tobacco the major avoidable cause of death and disease worldwide," the report found.
Experts say less developed countries are especially vulnerable, predicting a 38 percent increase in those regions by 2030. Watch more on the report »
Tobacco killed 100 million people in the world last century and will kill a billion in the 21st century, unless changes are made, said John R. Seffrin, chief executive officer at the American Cancer Society, Tuesday.
Besides smoking, other causes for the rise in the disease include high-fat diets including fast food and decreased physical activity, reflective of increasingly western lifestyles, the report found.
In addition, the rate of breast cancer has doubled or tripled in countries like Japan, Singapore and Korea, according to the report. In Africa, 518,000 people have died from cancer since the start of 2008 -- cervical cancer being the leading cancer killer among women, the report found.
But there is good news for some Western nations. Cancer mortality rates are falling in Great Britain and the United States, said Seffrin.
Effective cancer treatment in developing countries, experts say, depends on prevention and more data.
"Awareness of the global cancer burden pandemic and its causes will help establish and enforce policies, resources and programs to control cancer and tobacco, and to de-stigmatize cancer," according to the WHO report.
CNN's Miriam Falco contributed to this report.
|
343f8d1751304033be09456f5564fb96
|
Which economies will be hit the hardest?
|
[
"China, Russia and India"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A Sudanese journalist could receive 40 lashings after she was caught wearing trousers.
Lubna al-Hussein was arrested with 18 other women this month for wearing indecent clothes.
A Sudanese court began hearing Lubna al-Hussein's case Wednesday. It will continue the hearing August 4.
At the time of her arrest, she was wearing pants, a blouse and a hijab, she said. Police accused her of wearing trousers that were too tight and alleged that her blouse was too transparent, al-Hussein said.
Al-Hussein, who works for a newspaper and the media department of the United Nations mission in Sudan, said she did nothing wrong. She has been released to her home in Khartoum.
The crime of wearing indecent attire has only one punishment under Sudanese law, a 40-stroke public flogging, according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.
"This case is the official retaliation against the reporter for her writings criticizing the Sudanese regime and extremists," the organization said in a statement.
Al-Hussein was arrested along with 18 others July 3 after Sudan's "discipline police" accused the women of wearing indecent clothes, al-Hussein said. Six were released, and 10 received the 40 lashes, she said.
Al-Hussein and two others fought the charges and hired attorneys, she said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke out against the decision Wednesday, saying he was "deeply concerned" and would take every effort to protect his staff member.
"The flogging is against the international human rights standards," he said. "I call on all parties to live up to their obligations under all relevant international instruments."
CNN's Umaro Djau, Talia Kayali and Tracy Doueiry contributed to this report.
|
04208d1a8bd34036b04576c82f0193c5
|
What were people rounded up for?
|
[
"wearing indecent clothes."
] |
NewsQA
|
LONDON, England (CNN) -- British police are reviewing the death of Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones, 40 years after the hard-living rocker was found dead in a swimming pool.
An autographed photo of Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones who was found dead in July 1969
Police in Sussex, in southern England, have confirmed they are examining documents given to them by an investigative journalist who has been researching events surrounding Jones' death.
Scott Jones, who is not related to the musician, has spent four years reviewing the evidence and speaking to key witnesses in the case.
In an article published in the Daily Mail in November 2008, Jones wrote, "I'm convinced Brian Jones' death was not fully investigated. The only question that remains is why?"
Brian Jones' body was found in the swimming pool after a party at his home in Cotchford Farm, East Sussex in July 1969. He was 27.
An inquest returned a verdict of death by misadventure, despite post mortem results showing he had not taken illegal drugs and had only consumed the alcoholic equivalent of three and a half pints of beer.
One of the most popular conspiracy theories that followed was that Jones was murdered by his builder, Frank Thorogood.
The theory gained credence after Thorogood allegedly confessed to the killing before his death in 1993. The storyline formed the basis of the 2005 film "Stoned."
Sussex police told CNN they could not say how long it would take to review the new material, nor whether it could lead to a full investigation.
There have been repeated calls for closer examination of the case since Jones' death, which came just three weeks after he left the Rolling Stones.
His drinking and drug-taking had taken a toll on his health and the band, and in 1969 Jones announced he was leaving.
In a statement he said, "I no longer see eye-to-eye with the others over the discs we are cutting."
Last year, Scott Jones published an article containing contents of an interview he conducted with one of the people present at Jones' home on the night of his death.
In the article, published in the Daily Mail, Jones' said Janet Lawson, the girlfriend of Rolling Stones tour manager Tom Keylock, gave him a version of events that contradicted her official police statement.
She is reported to have called her original statement, "a pack of lies... total rubbish."
Lawson's revised version of events is among the documents Jones has supplied to Sussex police. It is also believed to include previously unseen files released by the Public Records Office.
Lawson died of cancer soon after telling Scott Jones her new sworn testimony.
|
c7d7065c1c4b4afa8a4ebc6006474407
|
What is the location of the body found of Rolling Stones founder?
|
[
"swimming pool"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Actress Dixie Carter, best known for her role as Julia Sugarbaker on the TV show "Designing Women," has died, her agent said Saturday. She was 70.
She was 70. Carter died from complications arising from cancer, her publicist, Steve Rohr, said Sunday.
Carter was drawn to roles portraying steely Southern women. One of her more recent roles included a guest appearance on the show "Desperate Housewives," for which she was nominated for an Emmy in 2007.
"This has been a terrible blow to our family," her husband, the actor Hal Holbrook, told "Entertainment Tonight." "We would appreciate everyone understanding that this is a private family tragedy."
Carter and Holbrook met while filming the CBS-TV movie, "The Killing of Randy Webster."
Carter was born in 1939 in McLemoresville, Tennessee. In addition to her role as feisty Julia Sugarbaker, she's been on other television series including "Family Law" and "Diff'rent Strokes."
She also had a long career on Broadway and appeared on stage in "Southern Comforts" with her husband in 2006.
In addition to Holbrook, to whom she has been married since 1984, Carter is survived by two daughters, Mary Dixie and Ginna.
According to Rohr, Carter suffered from endometrial cancer, which forms in the the tissue lining the uterus.
|
3d0993e32a684601af3c84aa8d8c55cf
|
What age was carter when she died?
|
[
"70."
] |
NewsQA
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Polish authorities in Pakistan say they are monitoring local reports that Taliban militants have executed a kidnapped Polish engineer.
Pakistani Taliban militants offer prayers in Mamouzai area of
Orakzai Agency in November.
Piotr Stancza was kidnapped September 28 from the city of Attock in Punjab province. Stancza had been based there for a Polish survey company searching for natural gas.
Local reports and TV station Dawn News reported Stancza's execution Saturday.
Polish Embassy spokesman Peter Adams said his offices were aware of local media reports but were waiting to hear officially from Pakistani authorities. He said all efforts had been made by Polish authorities to pressure the Pakistani government to do whatever it could to secure Stancza's release.
"From the Polish side, we did whatever we could, pressuring the Pakistani government on the presidential and prime minister level," Adams said. "Problem was, this was solely Pakistan's responsibility. Demands were only towards [the] Pakistan government."
Adams said there had been no demands for ransom. The Taliban had demanded the release of Taliban prisoners being held by the government and a pullout of government security forces from the tribal areas.
Although there were assurances that the Pakistani government was doing everything it could and that Stancza would be freed soon, Adams said it was never clear what the government was actually doing to secure his release.
"We are waiting for confirmation and waiting for any answer [about] how this happened and why did this happen," Adams said.
A spokesman for Pakistan's interior ministry said that the reports of Stancza's death have yet to be confirmed and that the case of his kidnapping was a high priority for the government. Shahid Ullah Baig said the government had been working hard to retrieve Stancza unharmed but did not give details.
"The Pakistan government is doing its level best to secure his release," he said, adding, "Human life is more important to us than anything else."
Kidnappings and attacks against foreigners have risen sharply in recent months throughout the country. Most recently, an American working for the United Nations was kidnapped in Quetta, and Peshawar has been the scene of various attacks against foreign diplomats and journalists.
|
051f5ab479d3424e80d7564ed3e84a20
|
When was Piotr Stancza kidnapped?
|
[
"September 28"
] |
NewsQA
|
Khartoum, Sudan (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out Monday at "the powers of arrogance," saying that both Sudan and Iran were subject to "pressures" from the West because of their political positions.
"They pressure Sudan and Iran; why? Because we stand against the powers of arrogance," Ahmadinejad said during a visit to Khartoum.
Speaking to a crowd of cheering youths, students and supporters in Khartoum's Friendship Hall, Ahmadinejad criticized Europe and the United States for what he described as the "stealing" of Africa's wealth.
"They stole the riches of Africa," he said.
"Despite this wealth, we see poverty and deprivation."
Ahmadinejad arrived in Khartoum Monday morning on his way back to Iran after speaking to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and after a brief stop in Mauritania.
Western delegates walked out of his speech at the U.N.after he repeatedly condemned the United States and said some countries use the Holocaust as an "excuse to pay ransom... to Zionists."
"They don't want to see Sudan strong so they pressured it into a referendum," he said, in reference to the South Sudan referendum that led to the independence of South Sudan last July.
"Could there be a referendum in Europe, in the Basque (region of Spain) and other areas?" he asked.
"I am sure if there was a neutral referendum in the U.S., some states would secede from the U.S.," he continued.
"The waves of consciences have started especially in the Muslim lands," he said, in reference to the popular revolutions that have sprung out in the Arab world.
Earlier, Ahmadinejad and Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir met, along with a large team of ministers from both countries.
"We are looking for more economic cooperation with sisterly Iran," al-Bashir said in a meeting.
"We confirm our support for Iran's right to develop its nuclear technology for peaceful purposes," he added.
In a joint statement by both governments, Iran stated that it was "ready to transfer its experience in the science and manufacturing sectors, especially technical and engineering services, to improve Sudan's infrastructure."
|
345d06a1576c499b9fa10563d2f6c73e
|
What does he visit?
|
[
"Khartoum."
] |
NewsQA
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Navy is having hundreds of its older F/A-18 fighter jets inspected, including some flying operations over Afghanistan, for cracks in part of a wing assembly, officials said Friday.
Inspectors looking at F/A-18 fighter jets have found 15 with stress crack problems on the wings.
Some 636 F/A-18 A through D model Hornets in both the Navy and the Marine Corps are being inspected for stress cracks on a hinge connecting the aileron to the flaps on the back side of the wings, according to Navy spokesmen.
Inspectors started looking at the planes Thursday and have found 15 aircrafts with the problem. A panel on the wing can be swapped out with a new one to get rid of the problem.
The Navy is still looking at the hinge in question to see whether the problem is severe enough to ground the Hornets and come up for a permanent fix for the hinge.
Navy officials said there are no immediate plans to ground the 636 planes.
This month, a post-flight inspection of one F/A-18 found a crack, and it was determined to be systemic enough to warrant an inspection of the older F/A-18s, according to Navy officials.
The Navy also flies the Super Hornet, a newer version of the F/A-18. That plane is not part of this inspection.
Navy flight operations around the world will not be interrupted because of the inspections, officials said.
|
37dfe4b0bcda4536b7629c499a1bc93a
|
When did inspectors begin to look at the planes?
|
[
"Thursday"
] |
NewsQA
|
London, England (CNN) -- The fashion brand created by Alexander McQueen is to survive despite the designer's suicide last week, the label's majority stakeholder Gucci Group has confirmed.
"I believe strongly in the Alexander McQueen brand and its future," Gucci Group CEO Robert Polet said in a statement carried on the Web site of Gucci parent PPR.
The future of McQueen's 11-store, 180 employee fashion house had been uncertain following the 40-year-old's death, with industry experts speculating it was not successful enough to endure without its figurehead.
PPR on Thursday revealed a company-wide net profit rise of 6.9 percent to €984.6 million ($1,328 million) but a 4 percent revenue fall to €16.52 billion. It did not break down figures to reveal McQueen's turnover, but reports speculate the brand is running at a loss despite heavy celebrity endorsements.
The Times of London reported on Thursday that the label had struggled to make a profit and analysis of recent accounts showed it had liabilities of more than £32 million ($49 million).
PPR boss Francois-Henri Pinault said in a statement: "Lee Alexander [McQueen] was a pure genius and a poet who was imaginative and original. His art went beyond the fashion world. The Alexander McQueen trademark will live on. This is the best tribute that we could offer to Lee."
McQueen's death last week shocked the world of fashion, with many in the industry paying tribute to a man they described as a unique talent capable of becoming a major name.
A coroner on Wednesday said McQueen hanged himself in his wardrobe and left a suicide note
McQueen, who had dressed stars from Sarah Jessica Parker and Nicole Kidman to Rihanna and Sandra Bullock, killed himself nine days after the death of his mother. He expressed his devastation at her death on his Twitter account days before he died.
McQueen was born in 1970 in London's East End, the son of a taxi driver and trained in London's Savile Row, going on to study fashion at college before making his name with his own extravagant designs.
French luxury brand Gucci Group acquired a 51 percent stake in McQueen in 2001.
|
96f6472da1f6493999b5dfc9e8d22b9f
|
Will the McQueen label survive despite Alexander McQueen's death?
|
[
"is to"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- An ancient race that lived 2,700 years ago in the Gobi Desert may have been among the first to use cannabis for medical or religious purposes.
Researchers believe an ancient Gushi shaman may have consumed or burned pot for medical or religious purposes.
Nearly two pounds of the plant was found stashed in the tomb of a Gushi shaman. It was high in the chemical compounds that provide its psychoactive properties.
"It had evidence of the chemical attributes of cannabis used as a drug," said Dr. Ethan Russo, an author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Botany. "It could have been for pain control. It could have been for other medicinal properties. It could have been used as an aid to divination."
The Gushi people were a Caucasian race with light hair and blue eyes who likely migrated thousands of years ago from the steppes of Russia to what is now China. A nomadic people, they were accomplished horsemen and archers.
Chinese archaeologists excavating a network of 2,500 tombs near the town of Turpan in the Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region unearthed the shaman's grave, which contained the cannabis, along with a trove of artifacts such as bridles, archery equipment and a rare harp.
The shaman is thought to have been about 45 years old when he died. Many of the bodies recovered in the area were found in an incredibly well-preserved, almost mummified condition. The shaman, however, was a skeleton.
"The deceased was laid out on the bottom of this tomb on a little bier," Russo said. "This individual seemed to be very high status because of the variety and quality of the grave goods, including the equestrian equipment, the archery equipment and the large amount of cannabis."
Russo said no pipe for smoking the cannabis was found in the shaman's tomb. Researchers think he might have eaten the cannabis or possibly put it on a burning fire to create fumes.
They don't think it was used to make hemp clothing or rope, as some other early cultures did. Genetic analysis of the plant suggests it was cultivated rather than gathered from the wild.
This find is not the first or the oldest example of ancient people using cannabis, but it may be the best studied.
"There may have been older finds of cannabis, but not with this level of scientific investigation attached to them," Russo said.
|
0d6f077495114331bfffb198a9f3dd5c
|
Where were two pounds of potent canabis found stashed in?
|
[
"tomb of a Gushi shaman."
] |
NewsQA
|
YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) -- Courts in Myanmar have sentenced a blogger, a poet and several dissidents to several years in jail for anti-regime activities, a court official told CNN Tuesday.
Young people at an Internet cafe in Myanmar.
The verdicts were announced Monday and Tuesday, the court official said.
Blogger Nay Phone Latt was sentenced to more than 20 years in jail for his illegal Internet activities, the court official said.
The blogger was a "major source of information for the outside world" when the military junta used force last year to suppress anti-government demonstrations, said The Irrawaddy, an online newspaper published by exiles from Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.
The government exercises strict controls over media outlets in the southeast Asian country. Dissidents often turn to the Internet to disseminate information.
In the second case, poet Saw Wai received a two-year jail sentence for a poem he wrote for Valentine's Day that contained a veiled jab at the junta's leading figure, Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
The first words of each line in the eight-line poem, "February the Fourteenth" spelled out the message: "Senior General Than Shwe is crazy with power."
On Tuesday, the government handed down prison sentences to about a dozen members of a pro-democracy group known as the '88 Generation Students.
Irrawaddy said the members were each sentenced to 65 years in jail, but CNN could not independently confirm the figure.
Members of the group took part in the anti-government demonstrations that ended with the death of as many as 100 people last year after security forces clashed with thousands of protesters. The dead included 40 Buddhist monks.
Witnesses said the violent crackdown in September 2007 came as hundreds of monks defied a military ban on public assembly.
Until then, demonstrations led by the monks -- who are highly respected in the predominantly Buddhist country -- had gone largely unchallenged by the military, which has ruled the country since the 1960s.
The protests were sparked by a huge fuel price increase imposed by the military government, and quickly escalated. The action was informally dubbed the "Saffron Revolution" because of the maroon robes with saffron sashes that the monks wore.
|
c50a94ee58c04ce39a7c0510fc48a075
|
What are the charges?
|
[
"anti-regime activities,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The Wisconsin man accused of poisoning his wife with antifreeze and convicted of murdering her was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with no chance of parole.
Mark Jensen's chin quivers as a letter from his sons is read in court Wednesday before his sentencing.
Mark Jensen, 48, was found guilty Thursday in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, of killing his wife, Julie Jensen, in 1998.
The prosecution said the murder culminated years of torment.
"Your crime is so enormous, so monstrous, so unspeakably cruel that it overcomes all other considerations," Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder said before pronouncing the sentence. Watch the judge lower the boom »
Prosecutors contended that Jensen poisoned his 40-year-old wife with antifreeze and then suffocated her in 1998, but the defense argued that Julie Jensen was a depressed woman who killed herself and framed her husband.
Julie Jensen had given a neighbor a letter pointing an accusing finger at her husband should anything happen to her.
She also made foreboding comments to police and to her son's teacher, saying she suspected her husband was trying to kill her.
Her letter, read aloud in court, said in part: "I pray I'm wrong + nothing happens ... but I am suspicious of Mark's suspicious behaviors + fear for my early demise." Read the letter »
The case turned on the admissibility of the letter, which would have been considered unusable "hearsay" evidence if Schroeder had not ruled that it was a "dying declaration." In such cases, the defendant has no opportunity to face his accuser.
After the verdict, jurors told reporters that the letter gave them "a clear road map" to conviction, as one female juror phrased it.
Another female juror said he believed Mark Jensen was trying to push his wife over the edge. "He tortured Julie hoping she could be classically diagnosed as a nutcase," she said.
Several of the jurors were in the court gallery for the sentencing hearing Wednesday.
Jensen, dressed in blue jail fatigues, sat stoically while Julie Jensen's four brothers asked for the harshest possible sentence.
"I hope the court shows the same mercy and compassion that the defendant showed our sister," Patrick Griffin, the victim's youngest brother, said. Watch brothers demand justice »
But Jensen's chin quivered and his eyes watered when his attorney read a letter from Jensen's two sons, David and Douglas.
"He never failed to support us throughout this ordeal," the sons wrote in requesting mercy for their father. "... If anyone in this world is the epitome of loyalty, it is our dad." E-mail to a friend
CNN's Jim Kavanagh contributed to this report.
|
59f030cf9f894a3281e90e3870d996b1
|
What crime was Mark Jensen sentenced for?
|
[
"her"
] |
NewsQA
|
Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) -- The death toll from heavy floods and mudslides in Mexico increased Tuesday to 41, a government agency announced.
Most of the deaths -- 30 -- have occurred in eastern Michoacan state, on the central Pacific coast. The state attorney general's office released a list of the deceased Tuesday.
Another 12 people are missing after mudslides from two large hills, Michoacan Gov. Leonel Godoy said Tuesday.
The remaining 11 deaths resulted from a mudslide Saturday near the small town of Temascaltepec in neighboring Mexico state.
Interior Secretary Fernando Francisco Gomez Mont has declared a state of natural disaster for the Michoacan cities of Angangueo, Ocampo, Tiquicheo de Nicolas Romero, Tuxpan and Tuzantla. The declaration makes those cities eligible for money from the federal natural disaster fund.
The death toll in Michoacan had been 27 until three additional bodies were discovered Tuesday.
Godoy said officials are focusing on three tasks: searching for anyone who is alive, recovering bodies and removing boulders and downed trees. Officials are under pressure to act quickly, he said, because another cold front with more possible rain is expected within the next few days.
More than 3,500 Michoacan residents are homeless, the state government said on its Web site.
In addition to Michoacan and Mexico states, unusually heavy rain in the past week also flooded parts of Mexico City, the nation's capital.
Up to 37,000 people nationwide have been affected, government officials said.
On Sunday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon toured Valle de Chalco, another city in Mexico state on the eastern outskirts of the Mexico City metro area.
National Water Commission Director Jose Luis Luege said Tuesday that contaminated water from a sewage network there that overflowed Friday will continue to flood the town for at least another 48 hours. The break in the sewage pipe had been fixed, but it burst again.
Officials also built two dikes to contain the sewage but were unable to use them out of concern that they would burst under the intense pressure from the floodwaters, Luege said.
"It's a very complicated operation," he said.
More than 3,000 homes in Valle de Chalco were flooded.
Mexico state is bordered on the west by Michoacan and adjoins Mexico City on three sides -- north, east and west.
|
a014f02628004848bdc4bbd94ab96ee7
|
How many people were missing after the mudslide
|
[
"12"
] |
NewsQA
|
New York (CNN) -- Investigators suspect arson in a fire that killed five Guatemalan immigrants in Brooklyn, they said Monday.
"People are all concerned and very sad," said Maria Luz de Zyriek, the Guatemalan consul in New York. "This is a horrible tragedy."
Authorities continue to investigate and have not formally determined a cause, the Fire Department of New York said. The blaze damaged a restaurant and apartments in a three-story building in the Bensonhurst neighborhood, Frank Dwyer, a fire department spokesman, has said.
Luisa Chan, a mother of two, died in the blaze, said Mario Alvarado, a member of Jovenes Cristianos -- Christian Youth, a church with about 200 members, most of them Guatemalan immigrants, on 17th Avenue in Brooklyn.
Chan usually attended services on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, Alvarado said. The congregation mourned her on Sunday.
"The service was so quiet," he said.
Are you there? Share your story
Investigators have not publicly identified the victims, but the Guatemalan consul said they were all from the western part of the country. Two were from the state of Totonicapan and three were from the state of Quetzaltenango, she said.
After the fire broke out, Chan managed to get her 2-year-old son to safety, apparently by handing him to someone on the floor below, and threw her 2-month-old daughter toward a passerby, said Alvarado, who said he received that account from someone close to the family.
"Thank God they're safe," he said.
A 2-month-old baby was in critical condition, fire officials said, but the child was not immediately identified; three other people sustained injuries ranging from serious to minor.
Thirteen firefighters sustained minor injuries.
The fire started about 2:30 a.m. Saturday behind a door in one of the apartment units, Dwyer said.
"If somebody starts a fire there intentionally, that would certainly be looking to kill somebody, because there's no way for them to get out," Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said.
At Chan's church, members in mourning were waiting Monday for more information from authorities, Alvarado said. They also were getting ready for a memorial service and trying to comfort Chan's husband, who survived the fire, the consul said.
"The husband and wife belonged to that church. Everybody there knew them," said Luz, who went to the church during the weekend.
"Everybody there was so sad. Everybody was crying and praying for the husband," she said. "He's going to have to raise those two little kids now by himself."
CNN's Miguel Susana contributed to this report.
|
a384641b05d34e56befcb883b4fba86b
|
What caused the fire?
|
[
"Authorities continue to investigate and have not formally determined a cause,"
] |
NewsQA
|
BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- A Chinese couple tried to name their baby "@," claiming the character used in e-mail addresses echoed their love for the child, an official trying to whip the national language into line said on Thursday.
The unusual name stands out especially in Chinese, which has no alphabet and instead uses tens of thousands of multi-stroke characters to represent words.
"The whole world uses it to write e-mail, and translated into Chinese it means 'love him'," the father explained, according to the deputy chief of the State Language Commission Li Yuming.
While the "@" symbol is familiar to Chinese e-mail users, they often use the English word "at" to sound it out -- which with a drawn out "T" sounds something like "ai ta," or "love him," to Mandarin speakers.
Li told a news conference on the state of the language that the name was an extreme example of people's increasingly adventurous approach to Chinese, as commercialisation and the Internet break down conventions.
Another couple tried to give their child a name that rendered into English sounds like "King Osrina."
Li did not say if officials accepted the "@" name. But earlier this year the government announced a ban on names using Arabic numerals, foreign languages and symbols that do not belong to Chinese minority languages.
Sixty million Chinese faced the problem that their names use ancient characters so obscure that computers cannot recognize them and even fluent speakers were left scratching their heads, said Li, according to a transcript of the briefing on the government Web site (www.gov.cn).
One of them was the former Premier Zhu Rongji, whose name had a rare "rong" character that gave newspaper editors headaches. E-mail to a friend
|
adeab25477bd4cb698db4a6f3858faaf
|
What rules are there regarding names?
|
[
"using Arabic numerals, foreign languages and symbols that do not belong to Chinese minority languages."
] |
NewsQA
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- -- Federal officials have fined Exxon Mobil more than $6 million after it violated a three-year-old agreement to decrease air pollution at four of its refineries.
Exxon Mobil's refinery in Baytown, Texas, is one of four that the EPA said had high sulfur emissions.
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that the oil giant agreed to pay $6.1 million after Environmental Protection Agency officials determined the company had not sufficiently reduced sulfur emissions in its refineries in Baytown and Beaumont, Texas; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Torrance, California.
Exxon Mobil had paid a $7.7 million fine in its original 2005 agreement with the government and promised to install new emissions controls at the refineries.
The petroleum company said after the latest settlement its refineries now meet the required EPA standards on sulfur emissions.
The company's role in environmental pollution has been in the spotlight ever since the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska, the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
This past summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the company to pay $507 million in punitive damages from the incident, down from an original $2.5 billion judgment.
|
39cee40c32704319be73b555877d1128
|
Who says the company has not sufficiently reduced sulfur emissions?
|
[
"Environmental Protection Agency officials"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Vivienne Tam has become well known for creating clothes that appeal to all ages, ethnicities, and income levels. She has earned the reputation for offering a stylish and high-quality product while at the same time inviting the consumer to experience the inspiration behind it.
As a designer of clothing that "suggests tolerance, global acumen, and a Fourth of July faith in individual expression," Tam, in the words of fashion critic and curator Richard Martin, possesses an "idealistic globalism that transcends politics and offers a more enchanted, peaceful world."
Born in Canton, China, Vivienne Tam moved to Hong Kong when she was three years old. Her bi-cultural upbringing in the then British colony was the first stage in the development of her signature East-meets-West style.
After graduating from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Vivienne Tam moved to New York where she thrived on the excitement and energy of the fashion world. New York became a home for her and a continuing source of stimulation for her designs.
In 1994, Vivienne Tam launched her signature collection of Eastern inspired clothing with a modern edge on the New York runways. In 1995, she introduced the influential Mao collection that triumphantly crossed over from the fashion world into the art world. Then in 1997 Vivienne Tam launched the Buddha collection.
The public and celebrities around the world quickly embraced both collections. Some of the images became so popular that scores of designers even adopted the look into their designs.
Pieces of the collections were ultimately incorporated into the permanent archives of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, The Museum of FIT and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
In an era where the fashion industry is populated by numerous names and emerging new talents, Vivienne Tam has shown that she can consistently appeal to everyone from high-society to urban to teens, offering them fresh collections every season. She is poised to become the next multi-tasking, multi-successful designer and businesswoman. E-mail to a friend
|
ef958e3c8a6849ed986e3d0f501ddd9b
|
Where are her Items of work featured?
|
[
"Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, The Museum of FIT and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London."
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Residents of a western Pennsylvania neighborhood can return home Sunday after a chemical leak forced them to evacuate the night before.
Hundreds of residents were forced to flee Saturday after a chemical leak in Petrolia, Pennsylvania.
Authorities surveyed the neighborhood in Petrolia and determined that no traces of the toxic chemical remained, said Freda Tarbell, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
A leak at the Indspec Chemical Corp. plant in Petrolia on Saturday formed a cloud affecting at least 2,000 residents -- some of whom fled their homes. Others huddled indoors with their windows shut, authorities said.
Three people were taken to hospitals, but officials could not immediately say why. Watch why residents were asked to evacuate »
It was not immediately clear how many people were injured, though plant manager Dave Dorko said all employees and inspectors at the plant were safe and accounted for.
Tarbell described the chemical as fuming sulfuric acid, which is also known as oleum.
The plant uses the chemical during its production process, she said. The plant produces a chemical called Resorcinol -- essentially a strong glue used in the tire industry.
The leak affected between 2,000 and 2,500 residents, Tarbell said. Some stayed the night with friends and relatives and some sought refuge in shelters. Others opted to stay indoors and "shut their windows and doors to make sure the acid cloud was not entering their home," she said.
Ed Schrecengost, a former Indspec employee, said firefighters showed up at his son's wedding reception, urging the guests to leave.
"It's about as dangerous as you can get," Schrecengost told CNN affiliate WPXI. "It's a very fuming acid. A quart bottle of this material could fill a household in two seconds."
Dorko said the leak was caused by an overflow from a tank. The material, he said, evaporates easily, creating a toxic cloud.
CNN's Saeed Ahmed and Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report.
|
3628ef09ab174695b02635b10bef9e19
|
Who was taken to hospital?
|
[
"Three people"
] |
NewsQA
|
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq has appointed its first ambassador to Kuwait in two decades, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
Mohammed Hussein Bahr Al-Ulum was appointed to the post, the ministry said.
While Iraq has had an embassy and a chargé d'affaires in Kuwait since the regime of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein fell in 2003, it has not had an ambassador there since Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.
That invasion resulted in the United States' launching Operation Desert Storm, its first Iraq war, in 1991.
Kuwaiti's Kuna state news agency also reported the appointment, saying, "Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations have been developing since the fall of the Baath regime, with both nations expressing desires to develop bilateral relations."
In February 2009, a Kuwaiti envoy made his country's highest-level visit to Iraq since the invasion. Sheikh Mohammed Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah, Kuwait's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, said at the time that Kuwait wanted to strengthen and develop ties between the two nations, and congratulated Iraq on its recent provincial elections.
"This is Iraq which we have wagered on and we congratulate the Iraqis for this," al-Sabah said, according to Kuwait's official news agency.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who met with the delegation during the trip last year, said in a statement he told the Kuwaitis that the Hussein regime "harmed Arab relations."
"Some Arabs still view Iraq the same way they did under Saddam, but we tell them Iraq today is built on a constitution and on democracy," al-Maliki said at the time.
|
66fddbcd43b24eaf8034463142fdf414
|
What is the name of the new ambassador?
|
[
"Mohammed Hussein Bahr Al-Ulum"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Jose Mourinho has extended his contract at Serie A champions Inter Milan by 12 months until June 2012, killing off speculation that he could be on his way to Real Madrid.
Coach Mourinho has signed an extended deal ending fears he could wave goodbye to Inter Milan.
Former Chelsea supremo Mourinho took charge at Italian giants Inter a year ago following the departure of Roberto Mancini and has just guided the club to their fourth straight scudetto.
They also won the Italian Super Cup, but were eliminated by defending champions Manchester United in the first knockout round of the Champions League.
A statement on the Inter Web site read: "In response to the wish of the coach to continue the project started together a year ago, a wish welcomed with pleasure by the club as a sign of attachment and winning spirit, FC Internazionale announces the extension of Jose Mourinho's contract until 30 June 2012."
Mourinho had promised the fans more titles would be on the after lifting his first Italian title, but the eal issue refused to go away until Monday's statement.
When asked about the chance he could leave Inter, Mourinho had earlier told the club Web site: "There is still a 0.01% (chance). But for me this is not an important number, it just means that I am closer to Inter than to Real.
"I am satisfied with the relationship with the fans and with my players. I repeat, I am closer to staying at Inter than going elsewhere."
Those comments failed to impress Inter president Massimo Moratti, but the extended contract has settled any differences.
Mourinho made his mark at Porto in 2004 when he led the Portuguese team to the Champions League title, beating Monaco 3-0 in the final, before moving to Chelsea.
At Stamford Bridge he claimed the Premier League title in each of his first two seasons and the FA Cup the following campaign, but left the club in September 2007.
Not all Inter fans have warmed to the Portuguese since his arrival in Milan last summer.
He has been involved in several disagreements with the Italian media and his style of play has has not endeared him to parts of the Nerazzurri faithful.
|
1f9c1a01324749faad9d79b2e7361953
|
Who has Jose Mourinho extended his contract with?
|
[
"Serie A champions Inter Milan"
] |
NewsQA
|
Washington (CNN) -- Apparently no good deed goes unpunished for President Barack Obama, who was trying to make sure he didn't get a flabby belly after Thanksgiving but wound up with a fat lower lip instead.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the president received a dozen stitches after getting hit with an errant elbow during a Friday morning basketball game with White House aide Reggie Love and others at the Fort McNair military base in Washington.
The elbow belonged to Rey Decerega, who works for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. According to White House aides, Decerega went up for a shot and turned into the President, who was playing defense and accidentally got hit in the mouth.
"I learned today the president is both a tough competitor and a good sport," Decerega said in a statement released by the White House. "I enjoyed playing basketball with him this morning. I'm sure he'll be back out on the court again soon."
According to Gibbs, "After being inadvertently hit with an opposing player's elbow in the lip while playing basketball with friends and family, the president received 12 stitches today administered by the White House Medical Unit. They were done in the doctor's office located on the ground floor of the White House."
Aides said Obama was given a local anesthetic while receiving the stitches, and doctors used a smaller-than-usual filament. That increased the number of stitches needed to patch up the tear, but it made a tighter stitch so that the scar on the president's lower lip should be smaller.
Obama frequently plays basketball, works out on a daily basis, and was undoubtedly playing Friday to work off some extra Thanksgiving calories. An official White House menu showed that in addition to turkey and the usual trimmings, the first family dined Thursday on six types of pie: apple, sweet potato, pumpkin, banana cream, cherry, and huckleberry.
Asked by CNN if Decerega will be getting a presidential pardon, a top White House aide just laughed.
|
8053ca0781c649628469f6a694ce000a
|
What was the cause of Obamas stitches
|
[
"getting hit with an errant elbow"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Japan is grappling with its worst economic crisis since the end of World War II, the nation's economic and fiscal policy minister said Monday.
A businessman walks past a homeless man taking a nap at a Tokyo park.
The comments from Kaoru Yosano followed news of Japan's gross domestic product falling 12.7 percent in the fourth quarter in 2008.
"This is the worst economic crisis in the post-war era," Yosano said at a press conference, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency.
The global economic crisis has pummeled Japan, which depends largely on its auto and electronics exports. The slump in exports has led to tens of thousands of layoffs across Japan.
"Behind [the contraction in GDP for] the October-December quarter is a terrific downturn in exports," he said, according to Kyodo.
"Like other major countries, our country cannot avoid the pains of structural change," Yosano said.
To stimulate the economy, the Japanese parliament needs to act quickly on key budget measures, he said, referring to bills related to a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 and early passage of the state budget for fiscal 2009.
Asked about Japan possibly producing a new economic stimulus plan in the short term, Yosano said wide-ranging discussions would be needed first.
"After seeing this level [of GDP], it is our duty to think of various policy options," he added.
|
92c4248dc76a4475a2ded9ae294b5ca4
|
By how much did Japan's gross domestic product recently fall?
|
[
"12.7 percent"
] |
NewsQA
|
Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- The Japanese government has ordered repairs to seats aboard planes operating in several countries after accusing the manufacturer of falsifying safety test results.
Koito Industries Ltd. falsified fire- and shock-resistance test results in the design and manufacturing of its aircraft seats, the Japanese Transport Ministry said in a news release.
The company also failed to obtain the necessary approval from transportation authorities for the material it used in the back of seats, near the food tray drop-down, the ministry said.
The problem affects 150,000 seats.
The ministry has ordered Koito to fix the seats and establish quality-control measures.
The affected airlines operate in Japan, the United States, China and Singapore. The seats are mainly aboard Boeing and Airbus planes, The New York Times quoted Koito President Takashi Kakewaga as saying Monday in Tokyo.
Several airlines, including Continental Airlines, Singapore Airlines and All Nippon Airways, have postponed introducing aircraft recently because of delays in getting seats from Koito, the newspaper said.
Koito is Japan's largest supplier of aircraft seats, manufacturing them for 32 carriers worldwide. Koito also manufactures and sells electrical equipment and is involved in housing construction.
Toyota owns 20 percent of the shares of Koito Industries' parent company. The aircraft seat problem follows troubles with Toyota automobiles that have tarnished the company's image.
On Tuesday, Toyota's president apologized as he announced the global recall of more than 400,000 of the automaker's 2010 hybrid models, including the popular Prius, for problems in their anti-lock braking systems.
In addition, two problems involving gas pedals caused Toyota to recall 8.1 million vehicles worldwide since November.
CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki contributed to this report.
|
e5a8c656c46a40edb2201968b69ad198
|
How many seats were affected?
|
[
"150,000"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A California man convicted of the 2006 arson murders of five U.S. Forest Service firefighters was sentenced to death Friday.
Raymond Lee Oyler was sentenced Friday to die for the arson murders of five firefighters.
Raymond Lee Oyler, 38, of Beaumont was convicted in March of five counts of first-degree murder.
The convictions included two special circumstances: that the murders were committed during an arson and that multiple murders were committed.
Oyler also was convicted of 11 counts of arson and 10 counts of use of an incendiary device in those arsons.
The imposition of the death penalty by a judge was a formality. A jury earlier recommended capital punishment for Oyler. Watch as Oyler's sentence is read »
Firefighters Mark Loutzenhiser, 44; Jess McLean, 27; Jason McKay, 27; and Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20, died October 26, 2006, during the Esperanza fire outside Los Angeles. Fueled by Santa Ana winds, the wildfire enveloped their engine.
The fifth firefighter, Pablo Cerda, 23, died October 31, 2006, at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, where he had been taken after suffering burns over 90 percent of his body.
Days before being charged in Esperanza fire, Oyler had been arrested and charged with two counts of arson in a June 2006 fire in the Banning Pass area.
The 41,173-acre Esperanza fire destroyed 34 homes and 20 outbuildings, mainly in the Twin Pines and Poppet Flats areas, which had been under mandatory evacuations.
The firefighters died trying to protect a partially built house in Twin Pines, a rural mountain community.
CNN's Lynn Lamanivong contributed to this report.
|
89eede6ceb17486d9ff17aa303033bcb
|
Who caused five firefighter deaths?
|
[
"Raymond Lee Oyler"
] |
NewsQA
|
London, England (CNN) -- A candidate for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) was injured Thursday morning in a light plane crash, police said.
Nigel Farage, 45, suffered minor head injuries and was being treated at a hospital, his party said. Details of his injuries were not available.
"We've had unconfirmed reports that either the banner got snagged up or there were cross-winds and it was an unfamiliar airfield to the pilot," a UKIP spokesman said.
It happened just after 8 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) at an airfield in southern Northamptonshire, near the Buckinghamshire constituency where Farage is running for election, Northamptonshire police said.
The pilot, who was airlifted to a hospital, had to be cut out of the plane, the party said.
Farage is currently a member of the European Parliament.
He is running in Buckingham against 10 other candidates: Speaker of the House John Bercow (Conservative); Colin Dale (Monster Raving Loony Party); David Hews (Christian Party); Geoff Howard (Independent); Debbie Martin (Independent); Lynne Mozar (British National Party); Patrick Phillips (Independent); John Stevens (Buckinghamshire Campaign for Democracy); Simon Strutt (Cut The Deficit Party); Anthony Watts (Independent).
|
a40074014baa4e6aa3141e6e39910f77
|
What is Farage a member of?
|
[
"European Parliament."
] |
NewsQA
|
(PEOPLE.com) -- It looks like Sinead O'Connor is walking away from her 16-day marriage bolder but wiser.
The "Nothing Compares 2 U" singer, 45, announced her split from fourth husband, Barry Herridge, on Monday, 18 days after the two tied the knot in a well-planned December 8 drive-through wedding in Las Vegas. Now, O'Connor tells Britain's Sun tabloid, "I don't think I will even date anyone."
What sabotaged the union? "It felt like I was living in a coffin. It was going to be a coffin for both of us, and I saw him crushed," she says of Herridge, 38. "The whole reason I ended it was out of respect and love for the man."
In addition, O'Connor owns up in the interview that she went on a frantic hunt for cannabis on their wedding night.
"We ended up in a cab in some place that was quite dangerous," O'Connor is quoted as telling the Sun. "I wasn't scared -- but he's a drugs counselor. What was I thinking?"
She adds: "Then I was handed a load of crack. Barry was very frightened -- that kind of messed everything up a bit, really."
See full article at PEOPLE.com.
© 2011 People and Time Inc. All rights reserved.
|
7e1abc71afbc4f799485c2a632078c06
|
Who was her fourth husband?
|
[
"Barry Herridge,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Five people were killed when their boat struck a barge in southern Louisiana, the Terrebonne Parish sheriff said Thursday.
The accident occurred Wednesday night in the Falgout Canal in Dularge, Louisiana, Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois said.
The bodies were not discovered until Thursday morning, when people began arriving on the barge for work and saw the boat and one body, Bourgeois said. The barge is being used to repair damage to the canal from past hurricanes.
The victims' damaged boat was partially submerged under the barge, he said. The barge was slightly damaged, he said.
The victims were last seen about 10 p.m. Wednesday leaving the Dulac, Louisiana-area en route to Bayou Dularge, the sheriff's office said.
The victims were identified as: Michael J. Carrere, 43, of the Bayou Blue area, Louisiana; Carey Meche, 52, of Metairie, Louisiana; Lawrence Flak, 54, of Conroe, Texas; Rene Gauthier, 59, of Houston, Texas; and William Voss, 49, of Katy, Texas.
They were entered in a fishing tournament that begins Friday, the sheriff said.
Additional details were not immediately available.
The accident occurred about 75 miles southwest of New Orleans.
|
5f8106799aff42b8b571749d6c857319
|
How many people died after boat his barge?
|
[
"Five"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A car bomb attack in Algeria has killed three people and wounded 23, the Algerian Press Service reported.
An Algerian policeman stands in front of destroyed buildings in Thenia.
The attack occurred Tuesday near an office housing judicial police in the city of Thenia, about 50 km (31 miles) east of the capital of Algiers, the agency said.
The blast destroyed about 20 houses, and a commission has been appointed to look after the victims, the press agency said.
Islamic extremists in Algeria and other North African countries have struck several times in recent years.
An al Qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility last year for the deadliest attack in Algiers in 10 years, a bombing that destroyed the prime minister's headquarters and a police base, killing at least 24 people and wounding more than 220.
Al Qaeda also took responsibility for a January 2 bombing that killed four and wounded 20 at a building housing security forces in Naciria, a city about 50 km (31 miles) east of Algiers. E-mail to a friend
|
fe704965dd4244b6bdac297ed8b1b6b7
|
Who took responsibility for the bombing?
|
[
"al Qaeda affiliate"
] |
NewsQA
|
Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- The office of a reformist Iranian member of parliament burned Tuesday night, and a reformist Web site said the act was the work of extremists.
Mir Hossein Moussavi, an opposition candidate in the disputed June 12 presidential election, blamed the fire at the office of Nasrollah Torabi on plainclothes militia on Moussavi's Facebook Web site, where he also posted photos.
The photos showed heavy damage, with charred furniture, peeling wallpaper and floors strewn with broken glass, debris and ashes.
Parleman News, a newsgathering organization for the Path of the Imam Khomeini faction of parliament, said the office was vandalized before it was torched. Khomeini was the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.
Torabi, who represents the southwestern province of Cahar-Mahal Bakhtiari in parliament, told Parleman News that he was awaiting the outcome of an investigation. The office is in the city of Shahr-e Kurd.
Torabi urged people not to react to the incident, according to Parleman News. He said intelligence agencies and the Interior Ministry must investigate the fire and punish those responsible.
The lawmaker said that after he gave a speech in parliament criticizing the government, he came under heavy criticism from government supporters, Parleman News said. No date was given for the speech.
"After that speech in the meeting of the Planning Council for Cahar-Mahal Bakhtiari [Province], we witnessed the anger of the province's governor-general," Torabi said.
Investigators "must not allow some people to use force, scare tactics and oppression to bring the three principles of independence, freedom and Islamic Republic under question," he added, according to Parleman News.
Torabi said that after he gave the speech, banners condemning him were distributed throughout Shahr-e Kurd, with the backing of the governor's office.
According to Moussavi, Torabi told the news organization: "In the middle of the night some made their last pathetic attempt and set the office of a representative of the people on fire with the aim of silencing the members of the parliament."
Moussavi called the fire an attempt at intimidation.
Opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have held sometimes-violent protests after he was swept into office for a second term despite accusations of election fraud.
The latest protest occurred Sunday on the Shiite Muslim holy day of Ashura, which marks the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Mohammed, as a martyr. A prosecutor said seven people died, including Moussavi's nephew, in the demonstrations.
|
964f9b3be27b4218a70fcd14a5ec81cd
|
who was under pressure?
|
[
"Torabi,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A man dressed as a priest caught at Amsterdam's airport with three kilos of cocaine under his vestments claimed to police that his packages contained "holy sand", Dutch police said.
Security officials conducting a normal security check at Schiphol airport last year.
Police stopped the man at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport as he was transiting on a flight from South America, Robert Van Aapel, a spokesman for the Dutch Royal Military Police told CNN by phone Saturday.
"He refused to be searched saying that he was a religious person and it was not allowed," Van Aapel said.
"However, this is normal procedure so our officers insisted. They asked him again and after the second time they carried out the search and discovered the man had packs strapped to his legs below his priest's clothes. He told us they contained holy sand," he said.
He said the man, who is aged around 40 and a Bolivian national, was arrested Thursday after arriving in to the airport on a flight from Lima, Peru. He was attempting to transit on a flight to Milan when he was apprehended with the cocaine, worth around €105,000 ($155,000).
The Bolivian appeared in court Friday on charges of drug smuggling, Van Aapel said.
Dutch police are trying to establish if the man is a real priest after he claimed to be a senior member of the clergy in the Bolivian capital La Paz, he added. E-mail to a friend
|
bb59569b73e747ea87fb3221de68b5c3
|
what was the reason to refuse to be searched
|
[
"a religious person and it"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The fallout from Adam Lambert's risqué American Music Awards performance keeps coming with "Good Morning America" canceling the singer's live performance scheduled for Wednesday morning.
ABC was flooded with more than 1,500 complaints, and the network sent an e-mail to potential concert goers letting them know that Lambert would not be performing on Wednesday.
"Given Adam Lambert's controversial live performance on the AMAs, we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning," a spokesperson for the network said.
"The Early Show" on rival network CBS was quick to announce that they have booked Lambert to perform and discuss the controversy on Wednesday morning.
Lambert shocked viewers with his sexually suggestive dance sequence that included simulated oral sex as well as Lambert kissing his male keyboardist.
The Parents Television Council, a Media watchdog group, also attacked the show as vulgar and urged its members on Monday to contact ABC, Dick Clark Productions and the show's advertisers with complaints about the content.
"Last night's 'American Music Awards' broadcast was nothing short of tasteless and vulgar. Adam Lambert, the second-place finisher in last season's 'American Idol' competition, chose to treat American families to simulated oral sex and other demeaning behavior," the PTC posted on its Web site.
Melissa Henson, director of communications and public education for the PTC, said the council wasn't concerned about Lambert's gay kiss. Its issue and focus are on the simulated oral sex, she said.
"The gender has nothing to do with it," Henson said. "It would be true if it had been a woman's face that was thrust into his crotch."
Henson also noted that this is not an anti-Adam Lambert campaign and said the council would have had no problem with Lambert performing live on "Good Morning America."
"As long as he keeps it clean," Henson said.
|
425742877c8e42c0b17a0523c1427c54
|
Who cancels Adam Lambert's live performance?
|
[
"\"Good Morning America\""
] |
NewsQA
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- U.S. authorities arrested six people Wednesday on suspicion of smuggling African elephant ivory worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, law enforcement officials said.
Imports of African elephant ivory have been banned in the United States since 1976.
The defendants arranged to have ivory from Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Uganda shipped into the United States disguised as wooden snakes, guitars and statues, authorities said.
"The defendants plundered precious natural resources for personal profit," U.S. Attorney Benton J. Campbell and other officials said in a statement. "Their illegal trade threatens the continued existence of an endangered species and will not be tolerated."
Federal agents tracked at least eight shipments, including one worth an estimated $165,000.
Federal agents used surveillance and shipping, phone and bank records to track the suspect shipments. Arrests were made in New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Texas.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security were involved in the law enforcement operation.
One suspect told an undercover federal agent during a purchase that it was difficult to bring ivory into the United States, but easy to sell it at high prices, the government statement said.
Two other suspects also are accused of paying a courier $15,000 to bring a shipment of ivory from Cameroon into the United States.
The U.S. banned ivory imports in 1976, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora effectively outlawed trade in elephant tissue in 1989.
Illegal trade in African elephant ivory is considered to be a major cause of the continuing decline of elephant populations in Africa.
The defendants are expected to appear in court in New York on Wednesday. They face jail terms of up to 20 years if convicted.
|
fbe241ce964042d58e26de31b8c2d736
|
Who is the U.S. attorney?
|
[
"Benton J. Campbell"
] |
NewsQA
|
LONDON, England (CNN) -- The Phenomenon is back. You may not have recognized him when he came on as a substitute for Corinthians in a Brazilian Cup match, though. After all, he's a few kilos heavier than the Ronaldo we grew to know and love in the last decade.
Comeback Brazilian: Ronaldo is playing competitive football again -- but will he reach his former glory?
However, at 32 years of age, Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima is attempting another comeback. Will it be a successful one?
As far as I am concerned, it won't.
Debate: Do you think Ronaldo can return to his former glory? Tell us in the Sound Off box below.
I have had the privilege of interviewing Ronaldo various times, and spent some one-on-one time with him in Italy and France. He's a great guy, friendly, humble and fun-loving.
However, that last personality trait has contributed to a turbulent career and lifestyle. Wherever he has gone, the striker has always made his mark, on and off the field. While he was helping Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Brazil win a multitude of titles, he also found himself in the headlines a multitude of times for all the wrong reasons.
It's true that Ronaldo has always been unfortunate with injuries - he has undergone three major knee operations. However, his love for a night out and for a playboy lifestyle may have also contributed to the breakdown of his body.
In my opinion, this is the reason he will struggle to stay fit and motivated for Corinthians this season. There are too many temptations for him in Brazil, and I don't see him being able to resist all of them.
Furthermore, he has won practically everything there is to win in the world of football, with the exception of the Champions League.
So it would be fair to say that he's not going to bend over backwards to make sure his new team wins some silverware this season. He will score the odd goal and make the odd highlight, but I don't expect his latest comeback to be a success.
|
1210e5f650604a1c9c5cc1846ac70d25
|
What age is he now?
|
[
"32 years of"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- World number one Roger Federer has crashed out in the second round of the clay-court Rome Masters event, losing in three sets to unseeded Latvian Ernests Gulbis.
The top seed looked set to cruise through after taking the opening set, but Gulbis fought back in the next two sets and, despite wasting six previous match points, the world number 40 eventually went through 2-6 6-1 7-5 in a match littered with unforced errors.
Federer, who will defend his French Open title at Roland Garros next month, looked woefully out of form and made under 50 per cent of his first serves as he slumped to defeat in just over two hours.
The win continued Gulbis' impressive 2010, which has seen him claim his first ever ATP Tour title at Delray Beach in February.
"It's incredible, I was shocked after the match, it's a great feeling: indescribable," Gulbis told reporters.
It was Federer's first opening round loss at the Foro Italico since losing to Andrea Gaudenzi in 2002 -- and the first time since the 2000 Monte Carlo Masters that the Swiss maestro had lost his first clay-court match of the season.
"I hope I can bounce back, it's usually what I do after a loss like this," said Federer. "When you lose, you understand how difficult it is to dominate this Tour.
"This knockout format is brutal -- one week you are great and the next week you are terrible," Federer told reporters.
There were no such problems for second seed and 2008 champion Novak Djokovic, who took under an hour to demolish Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-1 6-1.
And fourth seed Andy Murray also cruised through, easing to a 6-2 6-4 victory over home favorite Andrea Seppi.
However, 16th seed Juan Monaco was beaten 7-6 6-4 by Romanian Victor Hanescu, while ninth seed Mikhail Youzhny lost 6-4 4-6 6-3 to former world number one Lleyton Hewitt.
|
4a4e55ec58e5488fbc4cb05073701007
|
Who did Djokovic beat?
|
[
"Jeremy Chardy"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Police in Zimbabwe Monday failed to bring to court an opposition activist who was scheduled to become a government minister on Friday but was arrested instead.
Zimbabwe police officers at Mutare Magistrates Court where Roy Bennett's scheduled appearance was postponed.
Roy Bennett of the Movement for Democratic Change was supposed to be sworn in as deputy agriculture minister last week under a power-sharing agreement between the MDC and President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.
Bennett was charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism, sabotage and banditry. Police added another charge, contravening the Immigration Act, on the day he was scheduled to appear in court. They accuse Bennett of attempting to leave the country illegally.
His party has decried the charges as "trumped up."
His lawyer said Monday's court proceedings were canceled because prosecutors were unable to make it from the capital Harare to the court where the proceeding was to take place, in Mutare, 132 miles (213 km) away. It is unclear why local prosecutors are not being used.
Bennett's lawyer Trust Maanda says he hopes his client will appear on Tuesday.
"He is doing fine considering the conditions of the cells he is being kept in," Maanda said. "There is no food or running water, sanitation facilities are not working, the cells are overcrowded and there are no blankets."
Bennett was arrested on Friday while on his way to South Africa, where he has been living for three years.
Bennett, who is also the MDC party's treasurer, was pulled from an aircraft at the airport in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, the MDC said.
Police accuse him of funding the acquisition of weapons to commit the crimes he is charged with.
Bennett, a white coffee grower, is an old foe of Mugabe's government.
His farms were seized during the country's controversial land reform program. He has previously been jailed for assaulting Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa in parliament.
The arrest happened the same day that other MDC ministers in the new unity government took their oaths of office.
The power-sharing agreement came into effect only after months of on-again, off-again negotiations between Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, and the MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Under Mugabe's government, the country has gone from being one of the breadbaskets of Africa to dire poverty.
A cholera epidemic is raging, much of the population lacks adequate food and water, many public sector workers are on strike, and the country suffers such severe inflation it recently knocked 12 zeroes off its currency.
--CNN's Nkepile Mabuse contributed to this report.
|
99ea108290454079b8ccf412b21c8a42
|
What organization didn't agree with the conspiracy charges?
|
[
"Movement for Democratic Change"
] |
NewsQA
|
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Vladimir Putin spent the Russian New Year boogying to the hits of ABBA after spending $30,000 to fly a tribute band to a lake town north of Moscow.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flew an ABBA tribute band to Russia for a private concert.
According to Bjorn Again founder, Rod Stephen, Putin disco pointed to the ABBA classics "Super Trouper" and "Mamma Mia" at a gathering of only eight guests.
Stephen said he received a phone call from the Kremlin prior to Christmas.
"It was pretty mad. It was the type of phone call everyone gets everyday from Moscow. I thought someone was taking the piss."
Stephen said an agent in Moscow then set the gig up, and he was told it was for Russia's "number two."
He said the band were flown to Moscow and then had a nine-hour bus trip to Lake Valdai -- where Putin has held high-level meetings in the past -- on January 22 (the traditional date of Russian New Year's eve).
"The band and crew were searched at checkpoints by people with appropriately sized weapons," Stephen said.
He said the band played behind a heavy gauze curtain, which made it hard for them to see the audience.
However, the could make out Putin's profile and that of the other seven guests.
Stephen said it was initially "roaring" at the venue.
"When the band started people were sitting on sofas. But then Putin was up and dancing to Super Trouper and Mamma Mia, pointing fingers up and down."
The band played for an hour before being shown out as the guests went to watch a fireworks display.
Stephen said they were paid $30,000 and their expenses covered.
He described it as the "weirdest" gig the band had done.
"I've had phone calls from the agency saying 'don't talk to anyone else we are getting grief from the Kremlin,' but there was no non-disclosure contract."
|
40a80d8646c24290b49e1e2cd87e7ebf
|
Where did the ABBA tribute band fly to for a private concert?
|
[
"Russia"
] |
NewsQA
|
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Josephs and Marys in search of a room at the inn this Christmas are being made an offer they can't refuse.
Mary and Joseph ride a donkey to Bethlehem in a performance of the Nativity story near Guildford, England.
A British hotel chain is promising free accommodation to couples who share their first names with the couple from the Christian Nativity story.
Almost 30 Josephs and Marys had already signed up for the free night's stay at the Travelodge, said Shakila Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the hotel chain.
"The 'gift' of a free night's stay is to make up for the hotel industry not having any rooms left on Christmas Eve over 2000 years ago when the original 'Mary and Joseph' had to settle for the night in a stable," the company says on its Web site.
The offer is good at any one of the chain's 322 hotels in the United Kingdom, the Web site says. The couples must bring proof of identity and must prove that they are in a long-term relationship.
"If you satisfy the criteria, you get a free night in a family room for two adults and two children," Ahmed said. "There's also parking space for a donkey if needed," she joked.
Ahmed said the offer, which will run from Christmas Eve to Twelfth Night -- December 24 to January 5 -- had been very well-received.
"We've had a lot of interest. I think people like the fact that it resonates with the Nativity story at a time when the actual meaning of Christmas often becomes forgotten in festive overkill," she said.
Couples can register their names at a special e-mail address set up by Travelodge, which has hotels across the Britain, Ireland and Spain, Ahmed said. E-mail to a friend
|
53217b53c5594f4ba2ddc22d9808a24b
|
what They also have to prove?
|
[
"proof of identity and must"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- FBI agents Monday raided a rural Georgia peanut butter plant suspected as the source of a nationwide salmonella outbreak, a CNN affiliate reported.
The Food and Drug Administration launched a probe of Peanut Corporation of America on January 30.
The Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Georgia, was sealed off by federal authorities Monday morning, WALB reported.
The company is accused of knowingly shipping tainted products now linked to nearly 600 illnesses, including eight deaths, in 43 states. The recent outbreak has led to one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history, encompassing more than 1,000 products.
The Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations launched a probe of the company on January 30.
Previously, the Peanut Corporation of America had said said it shipped products only after subsequent tests came back negative for salmonella.
Representatives from the company have not returned repeated calls from CNN.
|
d529effec4e44ebba9d0db29ec3dcffe
|
What has the outbreak led to?
|
[
"one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history, encompassing more than 1,000 products."
] |
NewsQA
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Searchers looking for a woman believed to have fallen from a cruise ship off the Yucatan coast of Mexico have seen no sign of her, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said Friday afternoon.
The Norwegian Pearl is on a seven-day Caribbean cruise.
Lt. Matt Moorlag, based in Miami, said crews would work into the night to find 33-year-old Jennifer Feitz, whose husband reported her missing aboard the Norwegian Pearl about 3:40 a.m. Friday.
Ship personnel called the Coast Guard for help when they couldn't locate Feitz.
Moorlag said he had not spoken with the woman's husband.
The search was centered about 15 miles east of Cancun, Mexico, in the Caribbean Sea, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Nick Ameen, a Coast Guard spokesman.
"Initial reports indicate the guest may have gone overboard while the ship was at sea, east of Cancun," a spokeswoman for the Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement.
AnneMarie Mathews said the ship left Miami on Sunday on a seven-day western Caribbean cruise.
The Coast Guard dispatched an Air Station Miami HU-25 Falcon jet crew, and a C-130 fixed-wing aircraft crew from the Air Station in Clearwater, Florida, also was headed to the site, Ameen said.
The Mexican government was aiding the search with a helicopter crew and three water- and ground-surface crews.
|
9168a89db4b2417bb59bd593ad1808a8
|
is the Mexican government helping?
|
[
"was aiding the search"
] |
NewsQA
|
Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- The beating of 12-year-old boy by a group of classmates at a Southern California middle school may be linked to a Facebook posting encouraging kids to target redheads, authorities say.
The redheaded boy was beaten up by a group of seventh and eighth graders at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas in two separate incidents Friday, according to a statement released Sunday by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
A Facebook page stating that Friday was "Kick a Ginger Day," referring to redheads and possibly inspired by an episode of the "South Park" series, may have sparked the injuries at the middle school, authorities said.
The boy's injuries were not serious, and no one has been arrested, authorities said Sunday.
|
89ddd4bdc0e0407da8e797c03b00099d
|
What age was the boy beaten by classmates?
|
[
"12-year-old"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has called on his team to continue their rejuvenated bid to win the English Premier League title in the wake of the horrific broken leg suffered by young midfielder Aaron Ramsey.
The 19-year-old Wales international has been ruled out for the rest of the season after sustaining fractures to the tibia and fibula in his right leg in Saturday's 3-1 victory against Stoke City.
The injury, caused by a challenge from Stoke's new England squad member Ryan Shawcross, brought back memories of the horror break suffered by Arsenal teammate Eduardo against Birmingham two years ago.
Ramsey is seen as a star of the future, having impressed after making 29 appearances in his second season with the club.
The Londoners battled back from 1-0 down at Stoke to move to within three points of leaders Chelsea, who had two players sent off in a 4-2 defeat at home to Manchester City on Saturday.
Wenger believes his team can still win the title despite recent defeats to Chelsea and second-placed Manchester United.
"It will be tight until the end," the Frenchman told the club's official Web site. "But this group is so strong mentally and have a unity, so this will give us one more reason to fight until the end and do it for him.
"We had some other problems two years ago. But on Saturday we had a midfield of Nasri, Fabregas, Ramsey, Song, Eboue. They have an average of 20 or 21 years old. Up front, Bendtner is 21 years old.
"At their age, to handle the game like they did is absolutely remarkable."
Wenger's dedication to "the beautiful game" has often seen his team criticized for being "soft" but he said that he often tells his players off for not committing to tackles.
"I encourage my players to play and be committed," he said. "I have a go at them when they don't put their foot in sometimes.
"But as well, sometimes I nearly feel guilty to do that because when Aaron goes for the ball like he did on Saturday and gets done like he did, it is not an easy situation.
"But the way I try to play the game, I believe, is the right way. When we don't win I get a lot of stick because of that way, but I still prefer to continue to play like that.
"We will respect the game, the opponents and try to give pleasure to people who watch us."
|
fef5a544246b45a3b13fc357b07d2f0a
|
who ruled out for rest of season with badly-broken leg?
|
[
"Aaron Ramsey."
] |
NewsQA
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Police in Connecticut say they have arrested a woman suspected of robbing at least six banks in the past week.
Police released photos of a suspect in the robberies of six New England banks.
Detectives from the Major Crimes division of the Connecticut State Police took Heather Brown into custody at about 3:15 p.m. The 34-year-old resident of Norwich, Connecticut, will be formally charged with robbery in the first degree, police said.
Investigators believe Brown robbed the banks, often while claiming to have a bomb.
"When she goes into the banks, she gives the teller information through a note or verbally that she has a bomb," said Sgt. Jim Keeney of the Connecticut State Police. "However, there haven't been any reports of an actual bomb."
Authorities say they believe the woman has held up banks in the Connecticut towns of Middletown, Montville, East Hartford and Windsor, as well as banks in West Springfield, Massachusetts and Westerly, Rhode Island.
Women commit 6.2 percent of bank robberies nationwide, up from 4.9 percent in 2002, according to recent FBI figures.
The one-woman crime wave in New England apparently began September 21 at the Citizens Bank in Montville, Connecticut. State police said "a lone white female ... entered the bank with a bag in her possession. The suspect approached the teller indicated she was in possession of a bomb and demanded cash."
The woman left the bag on a counter and bolted, police said.
Four days later, a woman entered a branch of the New Alliance Bank in East Hartford, Connecticut. Investigators with the East Hartford Police Department said she "left a note indicating that she had a bomb and demanded $1,000. She fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of money."
Police suspect she struck again the next day in Windsor, Connecticut.
|
7c10360c1ed8485fa754be77da788875
|
Police have who in custody?
|
[
"Heather Brown"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Authorities are asking residents in some some parts of south Australia to evacuate their homes as an impending heat wave prompted the nation to issue its first "catastrophic" brush fire warning.
The warning system was put in place to better alert residents after a devastating brush fire ravaged the southeastern state of Victoria in February, killing more than 170 people and destroying 2,000 homes.
During that fire, many residents stayed to defend their property.
Though authorities still cannot mandate that people leave, the new warning system urges people to flee.
The Code Red "Catastrophic" warning was issued for the Eastern Eyre Peninsula and West Coast districts in the state of South Australia. Are you there? Send your pictures, video
Such a rating means that even well-constructed and defended homes might not be safe from the blaze, the South Australian Fire Service said.
In addition, three other districts -- Flinders, North West Pastoral and Lower Eyre Peninsula -- were placed under an "Extreme" watch. Such a rating means that only well-constructed homes can withstand the flames.
An intense heat wave -- with temperatures climbing to 104 F (40 C) -- is expected to hit the areas until the weekend. The region is already in the midst of a severe drought. Coupled with low humidity and strong winds, the soaring temperatures will make it ripe for fires to ignite.
Any fire that breaks out will be uncontrollable, the fire service said. People in their path will likely die, it added.
|
69223fddf52e4cc18e01356007824fbc
|
What number of lives were claimed by the fire?
|
[
"killing more than 170 people"
] |
NewsQA
|
(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.
|
dcc08448fd3541ab87ed0b5b73887864
|
Number of years that Al-Marri has been in custody?
|
[
"seven"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Yahoo! announced Monday that the search is on for the Internet giant's next CEO.
Jerry Yang, Yahoo! co-founder, speaks at an electronics show in Las Vegas in January.
The new CEO will replace Yahoo! co-founder, Jerry Yang, who assumed the position in June 2007 and has since come under fire for failing to turn around the company.
Yang will step down when a replacement is selected.
Just two weeks ago at the Web 2.0 Summit, Yang was asked if he was the right guy to lead the battered portal.
Yang dodged the question by defending his passion for the company he co-founded 13 years ago.
"I didn't make the decision of being the CEO lightly," he said. "I wanted to make a change at Yahoo! that I believe I can make ... That's a dream that I felt I could achieve by being CEO and that's still the dream today."
Now, Yang plans to return to his former role as "Chief Yahoo" and will still have a seat on the board, Yahoo! said.
During his short tenure, Yahoo! has had two major rounds of layoffs and has seen its search market share shrink significantly while a series of reorganizations led to the departure of senior executives.
Wall Street and shareholders criticized Yang for falling short of reaching an agreement to sell the company to Microsoft.
Yang also was taken to task when Google pulled out of a controversial ad agreement earlier this month that would have boosted Yahoo's revenues by hundreds of millions of dollars.
Yahoo! said the search for a new CEO will encompass both internal and external candidates.
"Over the past year and a half, despite extraordinary challenges and distractions, Jerry Yang has led the repositioning of Yahoo! on an open platform model as well as the improved alignment of costs and revenues," said Chairman Roy Bostock.
"Jerry and the Board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level."
|
1cd8f8e1169b4e1f9947bc0f1916ef94
|
Who is Jerry Yang?
|
[
"Yahoo! co-founder,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho has been accused of "physical and verbal aggression" towards a journalist after Sunday's 1-1 Serie A draw at Atalanta.
The Italian Sport Union of Journalists (USSI) condemned Mourinho's alleged actions against Corriere dello Sport's Andrea Ramazzotti.
A statement from the USSI urged Inter president Massimo Moratti, and the country's governing sporting bodies to investigate.
It read: "The physical and verbal aggression of Inter coach Jose Mourinho towards our colleague Andrea Ramazzotti marks one of the lowest and alarming moments in the relations between football and sporting press.
"Mourinho was already cited, prior to the Champions League game with Rubin Kazan, for his uneducated and disrespectful tone that he used towards certain colleagues.
"This aggression marks an irresponsible and unacceptable escalation. USSI expresses not only its indignation, but a strong concern for gestures and the unspeakable behavior that only increases tensions and controversies.
"It asks president Moratti to intervene energetically so that a member of his club (Mourinho) adapts to the great tradition of civility of the club and of the Moratti family.
"It asks as well of the FIGC (Italian Football Federation) that the sporting justice panel intervenes to examine the behavior of Mourinho for eventual sanctions."
Mourinho watched Sunday's game from the stands as he served a one-match touchline ban.
Reports in Italy have claimed a heated argument took place between Mourinho and Ramazzotti outside the team bus.
Mourinho has not commented on the incident but Moratti told the club's official Web site: "For the moment I don't want to comment as I still don't have all the facts, but I'm sorry.
"I will talk to the head of the union to find out what he means by energetic action."
|
4eb627099dbb42879669b5fc6746b393
|
Where did the confrontation happen?
|
[
"Atalanta."
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A tornado swept through parts of Tupelo, Mississippi, on Thursday, damaging trees, power lines and overturning a 18-wheel truck, a law enforcement official said.
iReporter Graham Hancock saw damage Thursday at the Tupelo Furniture Market in Tupelo, Mississippi.
"Just a little earlier this morning, we began to get reports of damage starting from the west side of Tupelo," said Chief Deputy John Hall of the Lee County Sheriff's Department.
Hall said the storm moved north across the city to the Mall at Barnes Crossing. Nearby on U.S. 45, an 18-wheel truck was overturned, he said.
There were no reports of injuries, and Hall said authorities were assessing damages. Watch as a Tupelo resident describes the storm »
Jeff Snyder, general manager for the Mall at Barnes Crossing, said the shopping center sustained "minor property damage."
Terry Anderson, executive director of Tupelo Regional Airport, said the facility had minor damage, including some broken windows.
He said the airport was closed for about 10 minutes while the taxiway and runway were cleared. No flights were delayed, he said, and the airport is "up and running."
Mark Waddle, who works at the airport, said he saw the storm form.
"It was real small at first," said Waddle, an employee at the airport's Budget Car Rental counter. "All the clouds were twirling around."
Waddle said he watched as the tornado touched down near the airport.
"It looked like it hit some kind of transformer because the whole sky lit up blue," he said. "Then it kind of blew through the Tupelo airport. ... It was blowing so hard the trees were touching the ground."
Waddle said he was not aware of any significant damage to the airport apart from overturned trash cans and debris in tree branches.
"All of the people and all the vehicles and everything are fine up here at the airport," he said.
Bobbye Jones, who works at the Mississippi Department of Transportation in Tupelo, said the roof blew off the lab at the agency.
She said fallen tree branches also had damaged vehicles outside her office.
"Everything just got real dark," Jones said. .
A tornado watch, which denotes favorable conditions for tornadoes, is in effect until late Thursday afternoon for parts of northwestern Alabama.
|
fca5dbb768904bafbc390b08d0343667
|
Where is tornado watch in effect?
|
[
"parts of northwestern Alabama."
] |
NewsQA
|
Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- An evacuation order was lifted Wednesday morning for more than 500 California homes on hillsides vulnerable to mudslides, authorities said.
With the sun shining over much of Los Angeles, officials told people who live in the foothill areas of La Crescenta, La Canada Flintridge and Acton that they could return to their homes at 8 a.m. PT (11 a.m. ET).
Officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for those residents Tuesday morning as a precaution when heavy rains were predicted.
The dangerous mudslides did not develop, but this area was especially hit hard after a downpour Saturday unleashed a river of mud that damaged dozens of homes.
Several of the homes were declared uninhabitable.
A massive wildfire in the Angeles National Forest last summer burned hillsides where these homes are located.
|
af04673ebe0a4004848f5fea4ba92f7c
|
what has damaged southern california houses?
|
[
"a river of mud"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is asking parents to immediately stop using a series of inflatable floats for babies in swimming pools, announcing a voluntary recall of about 4 million floats Thursday.
The Squirtin' Tootin' Tugboat is among the floats covered by the recall.
The items -- which inflate to seat babies and toddlers as they float on water -- are manufactured by Massachusetts-based Aqua Leisure Industries.
The company has voluntarily recalled 14 models because the leg straps in the seat of the float can tear, causing children to slip into the water, posing a drowning risk, the commission said in a statement.
There have been 31 reports of float seats tearing, though no injuries have been reported, the commission said.
The floats were sold from December 2002 through June 2009 at retailers nationwide, including Target, Toys "R" Us, Wal-Mart, Dollar General, Kmart, Walgreens, Ace Hardware and Bed, Bath & Beyond.
The commission is asking consumers to stop using the floats and to send them back to the company.
Aqua Leisure officials could not be immediately reached for comment, but the company's Web site has posted the commission's recall advisory.
CNN's Gerri Willis contributed to this report.
|
6dd0e9aeab414996bf6f3c72c6fb4f13
|
how many reports does the agency says they have about seats tearing?
|
[
"31"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Longtime talk show host Larry King says he's joined an effort to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"It would be a thrill of a lifetime to be a part owner, a partial owner, of a team I grew up rooting for as a child in Brooklyn," the former host of CNN's "Larry King Live" said Wednesday."
"To go to a ballpark and have an owner's box, to even have a say in a possible trade -- are you out of your mind?" he asked rhetorically.
King says he's part of group of investors interested in acquiring the franchise, despite its apparent financial troubles and unresolved contract issues with Fox Sports.
Major League Baseball, which took charge of the team in April, has been embroiled in legal battles over future media rights after baseball Commissioner Bud Selig rejected a $3 billion television deal with Fox.
The beleaguered club then filed for bankruptcy in June and has since drawn a number of high-profile buyers into the bidding process after team owner Frank McCourt agreed to sell.
A court hearing over the Dodgers' future media rights is scheduled for December 7.
King's investor group, meanwhile, is led by insurance agent Dennis Gilbert, who also works as a special assistant to Chicago White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.
"What bigger thrill?" asked King, a native of Brooklyn, New York, which the Dodgers once called home.
The team, formerly known as the Trolley Dodgers because of the maze of trolley cars that Brooklynites once dodged in the streets, eventually shortened its name, then and moved to California, kicking off its first L.A. season in 1958, to the dismay of many New Yorkers.
"The emotional part would be that they'd have to carry me out," King said of his possible part-ownership stake in the team.
|
f2cae92fa7d34617959043a6450c170d
|
Who says he's bidding as part of an investor group?
|
[
"Larry King"
] |
NewsQA
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Eight police personnel were killed in an early-morning attack Saturday on a police security checkpoint in Pakistan's Punjab province, a police official said.
The attack happened at 3:30 a.m. Saturday (2230 GMT Friday). Some personnel were asleep in the checkpost guard quarters and others were standing guard when unknown militants attacked the checkpost from their vehicle, a police official from the Mianwali district of the province said.
All the men were killed by gunfire. The attackers then blew up the checkpost with explosives, the police official said.
The checkpoint was part of the NATO supply routes transporting goods from the port city of Karachi through Pakistan's northwestern region and tribal areas into Afghanistan.
Police told CNN that an attack a few days ago also targeted a checkpoint in the Mianwali district. Rocket fire damaged the top level of building but no one was killed in the attack.
|
8c74216220674159827a407fa9ea3b88
|
What did the attackers do to the checkpost?
|
[
"blew up"
] |
NewsQA
|
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.
|
d2494e0b234c4d07912ddc95d85d968b
|
What is the death toll?
|
[
"Seven"
] |
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."
|
b6e6c5ef0dfa4133a7e57ee808c980b8
|
what part of helicopter needs to be replaced?
|
[
"gearbox mounting"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The wife of al Qaeda's second-in-command has purportedly issued a message urging women to raise their children to love holy war and defend Muslim lands.
The message from Omaima Hassan Ahmad Mohammad Hassad, wife of Osama bin Laden advisor Ayman al-Zawahiri, said that since women could not fight, they should dedicate themselves to so-called holy warriors, or mujahedeen.
"I ask you to raise your children to obey Allah and love jihad [holy war] and to defend the Muslim lands," she said, in a message released by As-Sahab Media -- al Qaeda's production company.
"Fighting is not easy for women because they need a male guardian by their side. ... But we can place ourselves in service of the mujahedeen and do what they ask of us. We can help by supporting warriors with money or information or even by a martyrdom operation."
CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the document, which appeared on multiple radical Islamist Web sites.
Hassan also asked that Allah grant her and her Muslim sisters "patience and persistence until death," especially in the Palestinian Authority, and in Iraq, Chechnya, Afghanistan and Somalia.
CNN's senior editor for Middle East affairs, Octavia Nasr, said it is not a usual practice for women linked to al Qaeda to release messages.
"It signals that al Qaeda seems to be aggressively reaching out to the female population, whereas in the past their focus was mainly on men," she said.
|
fce061bb674c4730a29f2df45adcbb09
|
What should children be encouraged to do?
|
[
"love holy war and defend Muslim lands."
] |
NewsQA
|
St. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- Cindy McCain praised her husband, Republican presidential nominee John McCain, as "someone of unusual strength and character" in a speech to the Republican National Convention on Thursday.
Cindy McCain speaks at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night.
"You can trust his hand at the wheel," she said, adding: "But you know what -- I've always thought it's a good idea to have a woman's hand on the wheel as well. So how about Gov. Sarah Palin!" Delegates erupted in cheers at the mention of McCain's running mate, the governor of Alaska.
Cindy McCain said her husband's run for the White House "is not about us. It's about our special and exceptional country."
She called Americans the most generous people in history, and said "our hearts are still alive with hope and belief in our individual ability to make things right if only the federal government would get itself under control and out of our way," prompting cheers from the delegates. Watch Cindy McCain speak at the convention »
Cindy McCain wore jewelled pins reading "USMC" and "Navy" and a flag with a star in honor of her two sons in military service, Jimmy and Jack.
She introduced a Rwandan genocide survivor she identified only as Ernestine to illustrate the importance of forgiveness, and said John McCain also exemplified the virtue.
"Forgiveness is not just a personal issue: it's why John led the effort to normalize relations with Vietnam; to retrieve the remains of our MIAs; to bring closure to both sides," she said.
"That's leadership -- national leadership. And it's leading by example," she said.
"This is a good man, a worthy man, I know," she said. "I have loved him with all my heart for almost 30 years and I humbly recommend him to you tonight as our nominee for the next president of the United States."
She left the stage to the strains of "Johnny B. Goode," which McCain often uses on the campaign trail.
|
0921ba57d8584e6cb725825a5221f7c8
|
What does American need?
|
[
"\"someone of unusual strength and character\""
] |
NewsQA
|
Editor's note: The staff at CNN.com has recently been intrigued by the journalism of VICE, an independent media company and Web site based in Brooklyn, New York. VBS.TV is Vice's broadband television network. The reports, which are produced solely by VICE, reflect a very transparent approach to journalism, where viewers are taken along on every step of the reporting process. We believe this unique reporting approach is worthy of sharing with our CNN.com readers. Viewer discretion advised.
Brooklyn, New York (VBS.TV) -- Recently, VBS headed to Naples, the capital of the Campania region in southern Italy, to shoot two documentaries about the Camorra, the most powerful but least understood of the Italian crime cartels.
One piece was about the peculiar world of the Camorra's homegrown Neapolitan pop stars, known as Neomelodics. The other, excerpted here, focused on the environmental emergency brought on by the Camorra's manipulation of garbage disposal in the region. Each proved to be a strange and infuriating experience.
The daytime hours were spent visiting housing blocks where every family had reported at least one case of cancer because of illegal toxic waste dumps behind their homes. Our evenings, however, were spent at town square celebrations sponsored by the Camorra two blocks away and attended by the same families we had met earlier that day. The Camorra, it was suddenly clear, was dumping toxic waste in people's backyards and then hosting Neomelodic pop concerts in their front yards.
See the rest of Toxic: Napoli at VBS.TV
Today, the Camorra's Naples is Italy on steroids, and it's the result of a marriage of convenience between two powerful Italian forces. Neapolitans we met were, on the one hand, fed up with the garbage situation. On the other, very few had any interest in pointing fingers at the Camorra.
The Gerlando family is a prime example. On one of the last days of our shoot, we spent an afternoon with sheep farmers Patrizia and Mario Gerlando at their home in the Campanian countryside.
The Gerlandos were forced to leave their home in the town of Acerra (a suburb of Naples) because all of their sheep were mutating and dying due to the high levels of dioxin in the pastures where they grazed. Despite Acerra being the most well-documented case of the Camorra's involvement in Campania's environmental crisis, after the cameras were packed away, Mario and Patrizia told us that the Camorra had nothing to do with anything and that it would take someone like Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to come fix the situation.
|
ca5e6fc15aa742928e70c8e80f129116
|
What are the consequences of years of pollution?
|
[
"sheep were mutating and dying"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Mourners gathered Saturday in a California church to remember slain Yale graduate student Annie Le, 24, whose body was found on the day she was to be married.
Yale student Annie Le's family said in a statement that "her laughter was infectious."
"You were born in my loving embrace," said Le's mother, Vivian Van Le, reading a poem she'd written in Vietnamese to those gathered for the funeral at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in El Dorado Hills, California.
Chris Le -- her son and Annie Le's brother -- provided a translation.
"The most wonderful gift that God had sent to me. ... You left life at too young an age, at the beginning of many great things. All the dreams and hopes of your future gone with you to your resting place," Vivian Van Le said, according to her son.
Le, a pharmacology graduate student, was last seen alive on September 8, the day she appeared in a surveillance video as she entered the four-story lab at 10 Amistad St., about 10 blocks from Yale University's campus.
Her body was found inside the basement wall of the building on September 12, the day she was to be married.
Authorities have charged Yale lab technician Raymond Clark, 24, with Le's murder. Bond has been set at $3 million, according to police. See timeline of case »
Vivian Van Le addressed her daughter's fiance, Jonathan Widawsky, on Saturday at the funeral, saying, "Even now, Annie is gone. But I still have you and love you very much, like my son, Christopher."
Widawsky is a graduate student in physics at Columbia University, according to Yale. Watch loved ones say goodbye to Le »
Monsignor James C. Kidder told the mourners that "the worth of Annie's life was not its length, it was its intensity of love."
Yale released a statement Friday, saying that a university memorial service would be held on October 12. The university is also establishing a scholarship in Le's memory.
It released a statement from her family, saying "Annie was loved by everyone who knew her and special to all those who came in contact with her. ... Her laughter was infectious and her goodness was ingenuous. ... We will always remember her beautiful smile, her fun-loving spirit, and the joy that she brought to us all."
|
3670da19043a4ad881d11b81a001bdc7
|
what did the mom say
|
[
"\"You were born in my loving embrace,\""
] |
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.
|
f4d3673b60ef4ab68ac8f873f34b5715
|
Who is suffering it's coldest winter?
|
[
"Britain"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- It seems the world of the golf cart is changing if certain industry manufacturers are to be believed. By shedding their normal surroundings, improving their dowdy image and hitting the streets -- "pimped up" carts may increasingly be seen away from the course.
Celebrities have been queuing up to jump on the buggy-wagon. The most recent purchase was by pop star Cheryl Cole, who bought husband and Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole a "Mini-Hummer" buggy as a gift, spending $8,000 customizing the cart with gold-plated hub caps, Swarovski crystals and a trunk for his golf clubs.
Dominik Jackson, owner of Mini-Hummer says demand for the vehicles has rocketed since 2006: "It started as a glorified golf buggy, but since adapting the look we've had demand from all over Europe and even from royal families in the Middle East." The carts are already on the roads in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, and the company are planning to launch a new fully enclosed Mini-Hummer in London next year.
While Europe is catching up with the trend, there has been a big market for "pimped" golf carts in the United States for some time. "I'd say about 99% of our sales these days are for individual use," says Randy Hopper, owner of Sick 'N' Twisted Designs, one of the largest bespoke golf cart manufacturers in California. "We build customized golf carts to the specific requirements of the customer - we pretty much do everything."
And this really means everything. Modern carts are now built with leather seats, wooden dashboard, surround-sound systems, iPod players, lower lighting and air bags, in a variety of themes - street, lifted, off-road and even Limo carts.
Sick 'N' Twisted customer Dave Johnson is having his golf cart pimped and modified to match the color of his boat: "It's going to be burgundy with 12-inch wheels, full sound system and air-bags that adjust the height of the cart." Dave insists that in his neighborhood, golf carts are more of an everyday than a luxury item: "They're practical, affordable and it's nice to cruise around and see your neighbors."
So is this a case of keeping up with the Joneses? "There's no official competition on our street, but people take notice of things like that. It's definitely seen as a status symbol."
While the golf cart remains a staple on the fairways, the souped-up street version is no longer just par for the course.
|
eb3d9a4c784b453e98988f515e72645a
|
What are adapted golf carts?
|
[
"built with leather seats, wooden dashboard, surround-sound systems, iPod players, lower lighting and air bags, in a variety of themes"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Tiger Woods has been told to go on television to try to finally end the controversy that has forced the world's No. 1 golfer to take an "indefinite break" from the sport.
The American superstar announced on his Web site on Friday that he was taking time out to resolve the issues caused by his "infidelity" to wife Elin, having been mired in controversy since he crashed his car outside his Florida mansion late last month.
Since then, several women have come forward to claim having had liaisons with Woods.
Woods' compatriot and fellow golfer John Daly, who has battled gambling and alcohol addiction and also been married four times, believes the 33-year-old should tell all on a television program such as the Oprah Winfrey Show, the UK Press Association reported.
"It's tough and it's going to be tough on him, but if I was him and Elin, I would go to Oprah, get on a show, get this thing aired out, tell the truth," former major winner Daly said.
Blog: Woods cannot erase this stain.
"And then it doesn't matter what the media says anymore because it's all out in the open and it would be a big sigh of relief for both of them."
British publicist Max Clifford, whose clients have included the likes of magician David Copperfield and television mogul Simon Cowell, agreed that Oprah would provide the best platform.
"Hopefully he can go on something like Oprah, maybe even with his wife, to show that they're making a real go of it," Clifford said. "The clever move would be for him to say, 'I'm coming back when Elin tells me the time is right.' That would be the masterstroke.
"The golf world will miss him more than he will miss them because you're taking the world's top player out, the biggest attraction, the one that everyone wants to see way, way above everybody else.
"That will encourage all of his fans to say, 'Come on Tiger, when are you coming back?' The demand for him to come back will get greater and greater."
Former European No. 1 Colin Montgomerie, who was second behind Woods at the 2005 British Open, believes that the 14-time major winner now seems a little less perfect.
"He is suddenly, I hate to say, more normal now," the Ryder Cup captain told the BBC Web site. "There is a mystique which has been lost now and let's hope that golf isn't damaged by that, and it shouldn't be.
"There was an aura, and that wall has been split slightly, so there are cracks and I feel that it gives us more opportunity of winning these big events now."
|
a397f6b05984480c8951c2fae41624d3
|
Who advised Tiger Woods to go on television?
|
[
"John Daly,"
] |
NewsQA
|
LONDON, England (CNN) -- An $80 million research project aimed at giving people 50 active years after the age of 50 was launched by scientists at the University of Leeds in northern England Tuesday.
The challenge is to ensure old people stay as fit as Brisbane centenarian Ruth Frith, seen competing at shot put during World Masters Games in Sydney this month.
About half of the babies born in Western countries today will live until they are 100 years old, according to recent research published in the medical journal The Lancet, so the challenge is to ensure they remain active throughout their old age.
While most of us will live longer than our parents and grandparents, the aging population means that in coming decades more people will suffer from age-related conditions such as osteoarthritis, heart disease and chronic back pain. Obesity and increased physical activity also put more pressure on our joints, causing them to wear out faster.
Scientists at Leeds University envisage that many of the body parts that flounder with age could be upgraded using own-grown tissues and more durable implants. This will mean artificial hips, knees and heart valves, for example, lasting far longer than the current 20-year typical lifespan.
"Our work is driven by the concept of 50 more years after 50 -- that is, making our second 50 years of life as healthy, comfortable and active as our first, so we can enjoy a higher quality of life," explains Professor John Fisher, who is an expert in artificial joints and tissue regeneration.
"We now have the technology available to do astonishing things, such as repairing the body by growing healthy new tissue through biological scaffolds and stem cell therapy. And a new generation of prosthetic hip and knee joints that last longer will avoid the need for further replacements."
Fisher says the center also hopes to gain a better understanding of degenerative diseases to allow for early diagnosis, rather than having to treat someone when they are already in crippling pain.
"For example, we're developing biosensor tools that can detect the presence of antibodies and proteins in the blood. All of these technologies will ultimately reduce suffering in patients through more timely interventions, shorter hospital stays and quicker recovery times."
So how do you feel about this. Are you looking forward to your old age? Do you believe you will remain active? Click here to send us your comments and we will try to use as many as possible in tonight's show.
|
32a3e419dff14551b246411903e558ab
|
How long will half of babies live?
|
[
"100 years"
] |
NewsQA
|
DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- Police in Irving, Texas, captured a convicted burglar Wednesday who escaped from a medical facility last weekend by rappelling off the building using a string of bedsheets, a department spokeswoman said.
Saturday night's escape was the third for Joshua Duane Barnes, 21, since June 2008.
Joshua Duane Barnes, 21, escaped Saturday night from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Hospital at Galveston. It was Barnes' third escape from authorities since June 2008. Each time, he was caught in four days. He will face felony escape charges, spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said.
According to the Criminal Justice Department's inspector general, about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, police received a call about a suspicious person in a park, Lyons said.
The man ran as police approached him, and police chased him. The man, later identified as Barnes, barricaded himself in an abandoned residence before surrendering to police without incident about 10 a.m.
Barnes was to be taken to one of the department's Huntsville-area prisons later in the day.
When authorities realized Barnes was missing Saturday, they noticed a hole in the wall where a vent had been removed. Barnes also had broken through a thick window.
Barnes was serving 35 years in prison for felony convictions including seven burglary charges, two escape charges and an aggravated assault charge in the Texas Panhandle area, according to a department statement. He began serving his sentence in January.
He was housed at a prison in Midway, Texas, but authorities said he was taken to the medical facility in Galveston last week after being hurt in a fight.
Barnes' two other escapes took place in Potter County in the Texas Panhandle while he was under the control of local authorities. On June 6, 2008, he fled the county courthouse shortly after being asked to take the stand during a probation violation hearing.
The second escape was on October 4, 2008, when Barnes fled the county jail recreational yard after hopping onto the corner of a roof and peeling back layers of sheet metal and galvanized fencing.
In both cases, he was found four days later, hiding out at motels.
CNN's Ed Lavandera contributed to this report.
|
6a519e6dcf9244daa8f87123d5b9253a
|
When was the escapee moved to the Galveston medical facility?
|
[
"later in the day."
] |
NewsQA
|
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Six Haitian orphans, seized by national authorities last week as they prepared to journey to the United States, will be able to leave the earthquake-devastated country Wednesday.
The U.S. Embassy retained custody of the children Tuesday and they were handed over to three American women who have been trying to escort them out.
The women had attempted to leave Saturday when angry Haitians demanded to see their paperwork. Police suspected that a key document the women were carrying -- a permission signed by Haiti's prime minister -- was a fake, something the women and U.S. officials deny.
There is no chance the paperwork is fake, said Sarah Thacker, one of the three women. Thacker, from Minnesota, was in Haiti to bring home her newly adopted son.
Police did not arrest the women, but temporarily placed the children under government custody at a local orphanage.
The women said Tuesday that they had been given permission to take the children to the United States. The women were staying with the children at a friend's house in Port-au-Prince.
Full coverage of Haiti earthquake
The incident came nearly a month after the arrest of 10 U.S. missionaries accused of trying to take 33 Haitian children out of the country without proper paperwork. Eight of them have been released on bail and have returned to the United States.
The question of Haitian children being removed from the country illegally came to the foreground after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake devastated parts of the country on January 12. Authorities feared that children left on their own -- because their parents died or they were separated from them -- would be targeted by child traffickers.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has backed Thacker's efforts.
"They have filled out all the paperwork," she said. "This is a legitimate orphanage that has brought other children to America. And I feel like these little babies are just caught up in this international dispute, and it's just not fair."
CNN's Gary Tuchman and Ismael Estrada contributed to this report.
|
43b5b454ec7a4c3797d540ae6168596e
|
Who is set to leave for the United States?
|
[
"Six Haitian orphans,"
] |
NewsQA
|
Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel declared himself impressed after road testing the new Pirelli tires that are to be used for the 2011 season.
The Red Bull driver was back at the Abu Dhabi circuit where he clinched his first ever drivers' championship crown last weekend, after edging out teammate Mark Webber and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
The Yas Marina track played host to all 12 Formula One teams as they began a two-day tire test on the Pirelli rubbers, set to replace Bridgestone from next year. A total of eight sets of tires are available to teams during testing.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who finished a disappointing sixth in the drivers' standings, was quickest in the unofficial timings on Friday, with Vettel in second.
"I think the tires behaved well, better than expected given the short amount of time Pirelli have had and they've done a good job," Vettel told the official Formula One website.
"Pirelli are obviously in the middle of their development and what we used today is not what we will race with, but it was a good start."
Massa was three-tenths of a second faster than Vettel, and completed 94 laps of the circuit using two different types of tires.
"It was a positive start to begin to understand the behavior of the Pirelli tires. I felt at ease right from the start and there were no unpleasant surprises," Massa added.
"We acquired a lot of data which will be useful for the Italian company to develop the tires still further for the start of the 2011 season.
"On the harder tires, there were some difficulties over a long run while the softs worked well both on the very first lap and also after they had done a larger number of laps."
McLaren test driver Gary Paffett claimed third place while Kamui Kobayashi of BMW Sauber was fourth.
"We have to hand it to Pirelli, the tyres are already on a good level and we feel it was a very positive day," said BMW Sauber technical director James Key.
"We feel we learned a lot about the way the tyres are behaving and responding to different set-up changes."
|
b564d631c84447558088271219c2176d
|
how many laps did Vettel complete?
|
[
"94"
] |
NewsQA
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S., Turkish and Iraqi leaders all held talks Monday about Kurdish rebels using northern Iraq as a launchpad for cross-border attacks into Turkey.
Turkish troops patrol near the border with Iraq on Monday.
President Bush chatted by phone with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while separately two senior Iraq national government figures met with the head of the country's Kurdish region.
The diplomatic moves came after Turkish warplanes pounded Kurdish separatist targets in northern Iraq on Saturday and Sunday as well as last week.
Bush and Erdogan talked about the dangers of the Kurdish separatist rebels along the Turkish-Iraqi border, the White House confirmed.
National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said they discussed their common efforts to fight terrorism, and the importance of the United States, Turkey and Iraq working together to confront the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
Bush has vowed to help Turkey fight PKK rebels.
The PKK has spent two decades fighting for autonomy for Kurds in southeastern Turkey, with some of its attacks launched from inside northern Iraq. The United States and European Union consider the group a terrorist organization.
Last week, Turkey's ambassador to the United States, Nabi Sensoy, said his country's maneuvers against Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq were based on intelligence provided by the United States.
In the Kurdish Iraq city of Sulaimaniya, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is Kurdish, and Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, who is Sunni Arab, met with Kurdish Regional Government President Massoud Barzani.
Iraqi Kurdish officials, while critical of the PKK, have denounced the Turkish bombing campaign. Last week, Barzani snubbed visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in protest of the attacks.
"We have vehemently condemned the bombardment. The bombing targeted safe and secure areas and innocent people. Several people were either killed or wounded," Barzani said on Monday at a press conference with the others.
"We held consultations with President Jalal Talabani and we will continue our consultations with other concerned parties to put an end to these aggressions and put to an end the shelling of villages."
The three Iraqi officials also dealt with national unity. They signed a "memorandum of understanding" to deepen relations further with their three parties: Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party and al-Hashimi's Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni Arab entity. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Kathleen Koch, Talia Kayali and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report
|
610f52283dbf40bfb4f11c561b93569b
|
Who must unite against PKK Kurdish separatists?
|
[
"U.S., Turkish and Iraqi leaders"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Accusing local media in the Orlando, Florida, area of a "barrage" of coverage, Casey Anthony's lead defense attorney asked Monday to have her death-penalty case moved from Orlando to Miami, Florida.
Casey Anthony is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee.
"The overwhelming majority of the media's coverage of this case has been negative for the defendant," says a defense motion filed in Orange County Circuit Court. Anthony, 23, is scheduled to go on trial on a first-degree murder charge in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee.
"The effects of the inflammatory and negative aspect of the media coverage in this case is best witnessed in the violent and harassing protests which have dogged the defendant and her family for many months now," the motion says.
Signed by Anthony's lead lawyer, Jose Baez, the motion says moving the trial far enough away from local media will "not end the coverage," which Baez said has produced thousands of articles and TV news reports, but will "have a chilling effect" on coverage.
Peter Odom, a defense attorney appearing Monday on HLN's Nancy Grace to provide analysis of the case, said, "All the defense has to show is that there's been extensive media coverage. That's a cinch."
"Secondly, that it will be impossible for them to find a fair jury pool," he added, referring to the Orlando area.
Baez cited a number of reasons in his request to the judge to move the case to south Florida, where he says it has been covered far less and there is a "large and diverse jury pool."
Local media in the Orlando area, he argued, have affected Anthony's chances of getting a fair trial not only in Orange County but in much of Central Florida. If the judge rejects his request to move the trial to Miami, Baez said Broward County, about a 45-minute drive north of Miami, is a second choice.
|
f20ffb0fa5d4447f9227e21d0bf5ee28
|
Where is the trial being moved to?
|
[
"Miami, Florida."
] |
NewsQA
|
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- At least 59 people were killed in a fire that broke out early Thursday at one of Bangkok's most upscale nightclubs, where about 1,000 revelers were ringing in the new year, Thai police said.
Rescue officials work at the scene of the fire in Thailand.
Most of the dead were Thai, but foreigners have been identified, among them from Australia, the Netherlands, Nepal and Japan, police said.
Another 100 people were believed injured.
The fire, at a club called Santika, started at about 12:35 a.m. (1735 GMT), police told CNN.
The blaze started near a stage where fireworks were being used as part of a performance, according to authorities. Watch the fire engulf the building »
Most of those who died in the building suffered smoke inhalation or were trampled in a rush to get out of the club, they said.
British citizen Andrew Jones said he was celebrating in the area when he walked up on the fire.
He said he saw victims being rushed out of the fire on stretchers and spoke to witnesses, including a fellow Briton who saw fireworks being lit onstage.
"He immediately ran out of the building, but immediately when he'd done that the lights went out and he couldn't see," Jones said.
The club is located in one of Bangkok's busiest commercial districts. Its Web site features images of bands and DJs performing on both indoor and outdoor stages, and says that it "innovatively blends the comfort of nature with the excitement of the Bangkok nightlife."
The site advertises the club's new year's party, which was named "Goodbye Santika."
CNN's Kocha Olarn contributed to this report.
|
22a8fddf7ea4411bafbe7b73ec72169d
|
What was the number of people that died?
|
[
"59"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Video of a fresh-faced Susan Boyle confidently singing a Barbra Streisand track to a room full of football fans in 1984 has been unearthed.
Susan Boyle as she looked during a performance filmed at a Scottish football club in 1984.
The "Britain's Got Talent" singing sensation, looking trim and a bit like Abba's Anni-Frid Lyngstad, is invited on to the stage at Motherwell FC's Fir Park Social Club to take part in a singing competition between rival fans by a man wearing a checked coat and bow tie.
Boyle, who had to wait 25 more years to be catapulted into the spotlight via her television appearance in front of Simon Cowell last month, quickly chats with the band before they launch into a low-key, lounge-style version of Streisand's "The Way We Were."
Boyle, her hair style a classic 1980s perm, confidently looks down the barrel of the camera, giving meaningful expressions as she moves slowly round the stage. Watch latest Boyle video
At one point she even takes the hand of a pearl-necklace wearing middle-aged woman in the front row and sings directly to her. Watch how things have changed in Boyle's hometown »
When she finishes, the crowd breaks into rapturous applause and Boyle gets a peck on the cheek from the MC before slipping quietly back to her table in the smoke-tinged room.
The video became public Friday after it was handed to Scotland's Daily Record newspaper.
Gerry McGuinness, 61, who watched Susan sing live that night and kept the video, told the Record that he remembered the evening clearly. Watch Boyle sing on Larry King »
"I can remember that she was a shy young girl, but also very attractive back then -- she turned a few heads when she came into the club.
"Even back then, I don't think anyone expected too much from her because she was so shy, but when she began singing people took notice."
The 47-year-old Boyle's appearance on "Britain's Got Talent," where she sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables," has now been viewed more than a 100 million times on YouTube. Watch Larry King interview Susan Boyle »
She famously told the show's hosts that she had never been kissed and lived alone with her cat in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland.
The world's media beat a path to her home, from where she even appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live."
Boyle has been installed by bookmakers as the favorite to win the show which, as part of the first prize, includes the right to perform in front of the queen.
|
eb7ba051b6d04f5f9b9f670c7af30dfc
|
Who was catapulted into spotlight after TV appearance last month?
|
[
"Susan Boyle"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- French fishermen suspended their blockade at three English Channel ports Thursday, allowing ferry traffic and freight to move through after two days of disruption, union leaders said.
French fishing boats blockade the port of Boulogne.
The French ports of Calais, Dunkirk and Boulogne were open again after French unions met Thursday and agreed to stop the blockade.
Union leaders have yet to agree on how the rest of their protest will develop, and whether the suspension will become permanent.
The fishermen began their blockade of the three ports Tuesday to protest European Union fishing quotas, which they say threaten their livelihoods.
The flotillas forced a halt to all cross-Channel traffic, including passenger ferries and freighters, stranding tourists on both sides of the waterway and causing a backlog of freight trucks.
P&O, the largest ferry operator on the Channel, said it had resumed running normal services to Calais.
"It is our hope that we'll be able to continue doing that throughout the day," spokeswoman Michelle Ulyatt said.
LD Ferries, which operates services to Boulogne, said it had canceled four sailings Thursday as a result of the dispute.
"We do not yet have any information on whether any of our services will be affected beyond 16th April," the company said in a statement.
French fishermen held four hours of talks with Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Michel Barnier in Paris on Wednesday, the French news agency Agence France-Press reported. Barnier offered the local industry €4 million ($5.3 million) in aid, but refused to budge on the fishermen's key demand that the European Union increase fishing quotas, AFP reported.
Both France and the European Union have ruled out any renegotiation, pointing out that French cod quotas have already been raised 30 percent since 2008, AFP said.
|
90dffb0db3aa4282a8d53ccae4ea55cb
|
What are fishermen protesting about?
|
[
"European Union fishing quotas,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- An angry Phil Mickelson hinted at legal action for being accused of "cheating" by fellow PGA Tour professional Scott McCarron.
The world number two carded a two-under 70 to be four shots behind third round leader Ryuji Imada at the Farmers Insurance Open, but for the second day in a row his post-round press conference centered on his use of a 20-year-old wedge with square grooves.
McCarron was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday, saying that Mickelson and others who had opted to play with the Ping-Eye 2 wedge were exploiting a loophole in PGA Tour rules.
"It's cheating, and I'm appalled Phil has put it in play," he said.
New rules introduced this year only allow for irons with V-shaped grooves, but because of a lawsuit filed by manufacturers Ping an exception has been made for wedges, with square grooves, which were made before April 1, 1990.
Mickelson is using one of those wedges at Torrey Pines this week and on Friday he was grilled about his use and McCarron reported comments.
Mickelson declined then to get into what he called "name calling" but mounted a stout defense of his use of the club, saying it was within the rules.
But after his fine third round on the South Course, Mickelson appeared to up the ante.
"We all have our opinions on the matter, but a line was crossed and I just was publicly slandered," Mickelson told the official PGA Tour Web site.
"And because of that, I'll have to let other people handle that."
Asked he was mounting a lawsuit, Mickelson said, "I'm not going into specifics what that meant."
Meanwhile, the PGA Tour has issued a statement to explain why the controversial Ping-Eye 2 wedges were approved for play, appearing to criticize McCarron for his comments.
"Because the use of pre-1990 Ping Eye 2 irons is permitted for play, public comments or criticisms characterizing their use as a violation of the Rules of Golf as promulgated by the USGA are inappropriate at best," read the final paragraph of the statement.
Mickelson said that it was "cool if they put that out there."
On the course, Imada shot a two-under 70 for a 13-under 203 and had a two-shot lead over Ben Crane (69) and Michael Sim of Australia.
U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover carded a 68 and was three shots behind with Mickelson a further stroke behind on his season-debut on the PGA Tour.
|
c14aa1ce405c4009be56450025191723
|
What does Phill Mickelson hint at?
|
[
"legal action"
] |
NewsQA
|
LONDON, England (CNN) -- One year before the FIFA World Cup kicks off, 26 teams of gay and lesbian footballers are battling for global supremacy in the Gay Soccer World Championships.
Players from the London Stonewall Lions hold the 2008 Gay World Soccer Championship trophy aloft
Co-ordinated by the International Gay & Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA), the tournament, which began on Sunday, is being hosted by the Federal Triangles club in Washington D.C., and supported by the local Major League Soccer (MLS) side D.C. United.
IGLFA spokesman Michael Pranikoff told CNN that the competition has been running annually since 1992.
"We started very small. There were just a few clubs from around the world. But we have gone from strength to strength. Last year the tournament was in London and sanctioned by the Football Association."
Pranikoff said there are no professional players involved, but the standard of play is strong and the teams in the top divisions are very competitive.
Although the tournament involves club sides -- rather than national teams, there is still a strong international feel with players from the U.S., United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Argentina, Italy, and Norway all taking part.
The London Stonewall Lions are the reigning champions in the men's division and expected to figure in Sunday's final at Trinity Washington University, he said.
Despite the competitive nature of the event, Pranikoff said there are also less serious divisions where there is a more important message.
"When you are on the pitch it's all about the game. But it's also about providing an environment where people can be free to be who they are.
"It's a lot about camaraderie too. There are a lot of places in the world where gays and lesbians aren't accepted."
So, is the competition restricted to only gay and lesbian players?
Not at all, said Pranikoff. "It's very open, we don't discriminate."
He said gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and heterosexual players were all welcome to play.
Pranikoff said he is happy with how the 2009 event is unfolding, despite numbers being slightly down on what was expected -- due to the effects of the recession, swine flu and the upcoming Out Games in Denmark which has made attending the football tournament unaffordable for some teams.
"This year we didn't have as big a global turnout as we hoped for but there have been a lot of challenges -- so we're pleased to have 26 teams here."
Outside of organizing the current world championships, the IGLFA has also been involved in helping other organizations at stamping out homophobia, Pranikoff said.
|
8de9f5f5616b406ab6b5a70d023d7092
|
How many countries are competing?
|
[
"26 teams"
] |
NewsQA
|
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A British soldier who was reported missing from a checkpoint in Afghanistan early Monday was found dead later in the day, the British Ministry of Defense announced.
"It is with great sadness that I announce the death of a soldier from The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland," said Lt. Col. Tim Purbrick, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, in a statement.
After an "extensive search," fellow members of NATO's International Security Assistance Force found his body in the Nahr-e Saraj District of Helmand Province, Purbrick said.
The soldier had suffered gunshot wounds. His identity was not immediately released.
A spokeswoman for David Cameron said the British prime minister is "deeply saddened by this news."
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh contributed to this report.
|
f1fcc2ab330f49909bfa5bfca084a6b6
|
Where was he found dead?
|
[
"Nahr-e Saraj District of Helmand Province,"
] |
NewsQA
|
PARIS, France (CNN) -- The French are in for a significant cultural shift next week if the Senate approves a new law from President Nicolas Sarkozy to allow more shops to open on Sundays.
The law would permit shops, department stores, and shopping malls to open on Sundays in 20 zones.
What seems routine in much of the Western world has been fiercely resisted in France, where Sundays have officially been set aside as a day of rest for more than a century and where a 35-hour workweek remains the norm.
The new legislation, if approved by the Senate, would overturn a 1906 law that forbids Sunday trading in all but the largest cities. It is part of a raft of reforms Sarkozy has pushed for since becoming president.
While the change is significant, it is not as much as the government originally hoped because Sarkozy had to deal with opposition from both the left and the right.
Socialists filed thousands of amendments to the president's original version of the law. Leftists and unions said it would effectively introduce a seven-day workweek and allow bosses to force employees to work Sundays.
Members of the president's own ruling conservative party opposed the law despite assurances it would boost economic activity, saying it would instead deprive families and church groups of their dedicated day.
If approved by the Senate, the law would permit shops, department stores, and shopping malls to open on Sundays in 20 zones of what are called "exceptional commercial" centers near three of the country's largest cities: Paris, Marseilles, and Lille.
Additionally, 29 areas involving about 500 cities and towns would be added to the list of tourist areas, which already allow some economic activity on Sundays.
The new law will, among other things, straighten out a somewhat chaotic situation in which some stores managed to obtain exceptions from the old law and others didn't, and where some stores found it made more sense financially to accept fines for breaking the old law because the income from Sunday sales more than made up for the penalties.
The measure passed the National Assembly last Tuesday by a vote of 282 to 238. It will go the Senate for three days of debate next Tuesday, where it is almost certain to be approved.
Opinion polls in France show that slightly more than half the population want shops to have the freedom to open on Sundays, according to Time magazine.
CNN's Jim Bittermann contributed to this report.
|
78e766722d3a49ca9c10622998ad600f
|
What law will it overturn?
|
[
"1906"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Indian batsman Virender Sehwag admitted he was not too disappointed after he fell seven agonising runs short of a world record third triple-century in the third Test against Sri Lanka.
The 31-year-old opener had moved from his overnight score of 284 to 293 before he chipped a flighted delivery from Muttiah Muralitharan back to the bowler who claimed the catch at the second attempt.
"I am very happy I got at least 293 runs -- I am proud of what I have achieved," Sehwag told reporters at the close of the third day's play.
"Not many people have got two triple centuries and followed that with 293. So there is nothing to be disappointed about.
"I tried to take my time, but maybe the ball was not there to be hit. I misjudged the length and the ball went straight into Murali's hands.
"I always tell myself to bat the full day, and if there is a ball to be hit, just hit it. If I'm able to bat the whole day we will be in a good position."
The innings, which lasted 254 balls and included 40 boundaries and seven sixes, was the backbone of India's highest-ever total of 726-9 declared in reply to Sri Lanka's 393.
India skipper Mahendra Dhoni hit an unbeaten century before he opted to declare with a lead of 333 before Sri Lanka saw off a difficult few overs in their second innings to close on 11 without loss.
Elsewhere, England claimed a 2-1 series victory over South Africa in Durban after the fifth one-day international was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Andrew Strauss' side became only the third team to beat the Proteas in a home one-day series after the umpires called the match off with the onset of another heavy downpour.
Meanwhile, a century from Dwayne Bravo was the highlight of a competitive opening day of the second Test between Australia and the West Indies at the Adelaide Oval.
The West Indies won the toss, elected to bat and finished the final session with momentum to be 336 for six at stumps.
|
8c6087d5829d4d0186524a6fe23ec935
|
How many runs was sehwag short of a record?
|
[
"seven"
] |
NewsQA
|
London, England (CNN) -- Union members representing British Airways cabin crew announced Friday they will hold two separate strikes this month in a dispute over working conditions.
The first strike will last three days from March 20, and the next will last four days from March 27, said Len McCluskey, the assistant general secretary of the Unite union.
There will be no strikes over the Easter period, he said. Further strikes could be called if needed, he said.
Will a British Airways strike impact you?
"Regrettably, management turned down a remarkable offer," McCluskey said.
British Airways, which lost hundreds of million dollars last year, responded by saying it is "extremely disappointed" with the union's decision. "We are very sorry for the stress and disruption Unite's decision will cause," the airline said in a statement.
"We are currently considering our response to this strike threat and what action we will need to take to minimize disruption."
The industrial action is over planned changes to cabin crew conditions, which BA says will save the carrier more than 60 million pounds ($91 million) a year.
Unite has said the plans call for working hours to be extended and crew levels to be cut, changes that it has said will damage customer service and the BA brand.
The two sides have been holding talks to avoid strikes. BA management submitted a formal offer to the union Thursday, Unite said, but added that the offer fails to address union concerns about crew numbers and service delivery.
That prompted Unite officials to announce the strike dates. There is still a chance the strikes could be averted.
Unite said union members will be able to vote on BA's offer on the first day of the planned strikes, and if they vote to approve it, the strikes will be canceled.
British Airways declined to share details of its offer with CNN. "Unite's action has no shred of justification," the airline said.
"British Airways' crew are rightly renowned for their professionalism and skills. Our entire package for crew recognizes that and is reasonable and fair."
BA said all union proposals so far would save the airline "significantly" less money than BA's own planned changes.
"In addition, Unite's plans would cut crew pay and allowances," BA said. "The reductions required to generate sufficient savings would leave each crew member between 1,000 and 2,700 pounds ($1,516 and $4,095) a year worse off. These proposals lack credibility, and Unite did not inform crew of them when it asked them to vote for a strike."
In December, a judge blocked a planned 12-day strike by Unite over the same issues that would have started just before Christmas.
|
4fa3de88bf3845e0a45e216864b4b86e
|
How long will the first strike last?
|
[
"three days"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Grammy Award winners Alicia Keys and John Legend will perform at "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute," airing on Thanksgiving on CNN.
John Legend will sing "If You're Out There" from his just-released album "Evolver."
Hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper, the program honors the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2008 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California.
The show will be broadcast globally on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español at 9 p.m. ET/PT November 27 (0200 GMT November 28).
Each of this year's top 10 CNN Heroes will be honored in a documentary tribute and introduced by a celebrity presenter.
Actors Cameron Diaz, Salma Hayek, Forest Whitaker, Meg Ryan, Terrence Howard, Lucy Liu, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale and Selena Gomez are among the stars participating in the event. See photos of the presenters »
In addition, actor Hugh Jackman will present People magazine's 2008 Heroes Among Us award to six recipients honored by the magazine this year. People is partnering with CNN for this portion of the telecast.
Keys will perform "Superwoman" from her hit album "As I Am." Legend, backed by the Los Angeles-based Agape Choir, will sing "If You're Out There" from his just-released album "Evolver."
The evening will culminate with the announcement of the CNN Hero of the Year, chosen through a six-week online poll that generated more than 1 million votes.
Viewers were asked to select the CNN Hero who inspired them the most from among the top 10 CNN Heroes selected by a blue-ribbon panel.
The Hero of the Year will be awarded $100,000 in addition to the $25,000 that each of the top 10 CNN Heroes receives. Voting for the CNN Hero of the Year has now closed. Watch a close-up look at the CNN Hero Award »
Award-winning producer-director Joel Gallen returns to executive produce this year's program. Among his credits, Gallen produced telethon events supporting victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina, winning an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award for "America: A Tribute to Heroes."
Kodak Theatre is a 3,400-seat venue that opened in November 2001 and is best known as the first permanent home of the Academy Awards.
|
eb3cc0223be34d1fbd8f917ca6b667d3
|
What winners are performing at CNN Heroes event?
|
[
"Alicia Keys and John Legend"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A Turkish television show is offering contestants what it claims is the "biggest prize ever" -- the chance for atheists to convert to one of the world's major religions.
The TV show offers converts to Islam the chance to visit Mecca.
The show, called "Tovbekarlar Yarisiyor," or "Penitents Compete," features a Muslim imam, a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk attempting to persuade 10 atheists of the merits of their religion, according to CNN Turk.
If they succeed, the contestants are rewarded with a pilgrimage to one of their chosen faith's most sacred sites -- Mecca for Muslims, Jerusalem for converts to Judaism, a trip to Tibet for Buddhists and the chance to visit Ephesus and the Vatican for Christians.
Ahmet Ozdemir, deputy director of Turkish channel Kanal T, which will air the show from September, said the program aimed to "turn disbelievers on to God."
"People are free to believe anything they want. Our program does not have a say," he said, according to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.
Contestants will be judged by a panel of eight theologians and religious experts prior to going on the show to make sure their lack of faith is genuine.
But the show has been condemned by Turkish religious leaders. The head of the country's supreme council of religious affairs, Hamza Aktan, told CNN Turk that it was "disrespectful" to place different faiths in competition with each other and accused Kanal T of using religion to boost ratings.
"To do such a thing for the sake of ratings, not only with Islam but with all religions is disrespectful," said Aktan. "Religion should not be the subject of this type of program."
Although Turkey has a predominantly Muslim population and culture, religion is a sensitive subject because of the country's staunchly secular constitution which outlaws most displays of faith in public life.
Last year the Islamist-influenced government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan clashed with the country's constitutional court when judges overturned the efforts of Erdogan's AK Party to lift a ban on female students wearing headscarves at public universities.
Aylin Yazan at CNN Turk contributed to this story.
|
eff0d70b797b4d5cb75d0c5885b45441
|
what did religious groups say?
|
[
"\"disrespectful\" to place different faiths in competition with each other"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The family of boxing great Joe Frazier on Wednesday announced details of his Philadelphia funeral services and said he died as "one of God's men."
Frazier, who handed the legendary Muhammad Ali his first defeat, died Monday, just a month after being diagnosed with liver cancer.
The 67-year-old athlete's remains will be in public view at the Wells Fargo Center from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday, the family said. "This will be an opportunity for his many fans, supporters and boxing lovers from around the world to pay their final respects to Joe Frazier."
The service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church.
"The Family of Joe Frazier continues to stress that they want everyone to know that Joe Frazier was a man of God and a man who loved all of his family," relatives said in a statement.
Star boxer Floyd "Money" Mayweather offered to pay for Frazier's funeral. The family said donations in Frazier's memory can be made to the American Cancer Society.
The former heavyweight champion became a legend in his own right and personified the gritty working-class style of his hard-knuckled hometown, Philadelphia -- a fitting setting for the "Rocky" film series, starring Sylvester Stallone as hardscrabble boxer Rocky Balboa. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter called Frazier the "quintessential Philadelphia boxer."
"You could hear him coming, snorting and grunting and puffing, like a steam engine climbing a steep grade," Bill Lyon wrote in a Philadelphia Inquirer column about Frazier, nicknamed "Smokin' Joe."
Frazier used his devastating left hook with impunity during his professional career, retiring in 1976 with a 32-4-1 record and staging one last comeback fight in 1981.
Frazier bested Ali at 1971's "Fight of the Century" at Madison Square Garden. In the 15th round, Frazier landed perhaps the most famous left hook in history, catching Ali on the jaw and dropping the former champ for a four-count, according to Frazier's bio at the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Frazier left the ring as the undisputed champ and handed Ali his first professional loss.
Ali won a 12-round decision in a January 1974 rematch, setting the stage for the classic "Thrilla in Manila" just outside the Philippine capital in 1975. Ali took the early rounds, but Frazier rebounded before losing the last five rounds. By the end of the 14th, Frazier's eyes were nearly swollen shut, and his corner stopped the bout, according to the biography.
Frazier, a two-time heavyweight champion for nearly three years until he lost in January 1973 to George Foreman, ran a well-known boxing gym in Philadelphia for years.
|
3599b818868c425886bb0b0699a02b4a
|
In what city are the services to be held on monday
|
[
"Philadelphia"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A Nigerian militant group released pictures Sunday of two Britons identified as captive oil workers, saying the men were "alive and well" and that more such Western workers would be taken hostage if the country does not stop exporting its oil wealth.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta released this image of two men it claims are British hostages.
The photos, sent in an e-mail by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), show the men, identified as Robin Barry Hughes and Matthew John Maguire, standing on a dirt path wearing dirty shorts and flip flops.
The pictures were "recent," MEND said in a written statement, but it is unclear when they were taken.
MEND, formed in 2005, has taken American and European oil workers hostages in the past. The group is calling for more of the African nation's oil wealth to be pumped into the region -- instead of going to foreign investors -- and the release of political prisoners.
The United States Agency for International Development says more than 70 percent of Nigeria lives on less than a dollar a day -- the population is among the 20 poorest in the world.
Nigeria's federal government and oil companies split oil profits roughly 60-40. The money is then supposed to make its way down to the local governments to fund various projects, but little money actually reaches its intended destination.
The country's anti-corruption agency estimates between $300 billion to $400 billion has been stolen or wasted over the last 50 years.
"Our policy on kidnapping high value oil workers from Western Europe and North America remains unchanged and will continue to form an integral part of our pressure strategy in the emancipation struggle in 2009," MEND said in its statement. Watch special correspondent Lisa Ling meet militant group in a secret location
A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said the government was aware of the pictures.
"We call for their immediate and unconditional release and will remain in close contact with their families," the spokeswoman said, though she declined to elaborate on whether the families had seen the photos. "Our thoughts are with them on this deeply distressful time."
Violence in oil-rich Nigeria has been limiting crude supplies out of the country. MEND has been attacking oil pipelines in retaliation against government forces, limiting the amount of crude oil that can be exported.
MEND also repeated its threat that the men would be held hostage until the Nigerian government releases one of the group's members, Henry Okah, who was taken into custody last year and, according to local reports, is charged with treason.
|
c07588adeeed4aa0b02a0d636fbb47e9
|
Who demands profits be given to Nigerian people?
|
[
"Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta"
] |
NewsQA
|
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Seven insurgents were killed when a group of more than a dozen men launched an early morning attack on Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said.
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Clarence Counts said that five service members were wounded in the attack and a building suffered minor damage. He said the attack included rockets, small arms and grenades.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told CNN that 20 armed men wearing suicide vests stormed the base around 4 a.m. (7:30 p.m. Tuesday ET), with four of them detonating explosives at the entrances to allow the other men to move in. Mujahid said that a "major firefight" took place inside the base.
But Army Specialist Christina Dion, a spokeswoman who both lives an works on the base, told CNN that personnel were ordered to enter bunkers when the base came under attack and were allowed to return to their huts and tents about 90 minutes later.
"We're always prepared to deal with attacks on our base," Counts said. "The response this morning was immediate."
The fighting eventually tapered off about 7:30 a.m. local time, said NATO spokesman Lt. Col Todd Breasseale.
Another Bagram spokeswoman, Maj. Virginia McCabe, could not say if flights into and out of the air base had been stopped and said that authorities are investigating how the incident started.
"Established security procedures are in place," she said, adding that personnel with "mission-essential" responsibilities were continuing to work.
Bagram is a heavily fortified base, its perimeter guarded by high fences and thick, concrete walls. Dion said she didn't believe anyone could have made their way into the main portion of the base.
Taliban fighters have lobbed rockets into the base in previous attacks.
CNN's Adam Levine and Paula Hancocks contributed to this report.
|
9da3ceb512054558875b74fd0748eed2
|
what does the Army spokeswoman says about the personnel?
|
[
"five service members were wounded in the attack and a building suffered minor damage."
] |
NewsQA
|
Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- A 5.6-magnitude earthquake shook Cuba on Saturday.
The quake struck at 1:08 p.m. (2:08 p.m. ET) 22 kilometers (14 miles) below the surface and was centered 44 km (27 miles) south-southwest of Guantanamo, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
"So far, there haven't been any reports of major damages or injuries," a civil defense official in Havana told CNN nearly an hour after the quake. "It's still early."
There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage in Santiago de Cuba, which is 57 km (36 miles) from the epicenter, but a woman who runs a bed and breakfast there felt it.
"It was very strong," the woman said. "We ran and stood in the doorway. Neighbors were screaming and ran into the street. ... I haven't heard of any damages. Everybody is back inside."
"I don't think there are any damages, at least around here," said Mabel Martinez, who runs another bed and breakfast in Santiago de Cuba. "But people are definitely alarmed."
CNN's Shasta Darlington contributed to this story from Havana.
|
c77abd77a1c34e1ba911f13df8ff899b
|
in what country did this occur
|
[
"Cuba"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- Serbian police are conducting another search for war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic and another fugitive, the office of the war crimes prosecutor in Belgrade said Friday.
Ratko Mladic, pictured in 1993, is the highest-ranking war crimes suspect still at large.
The search, launched at the request of Serbian war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic, is being conducted around the town of Arandjelovac, 45 miles (75 kilometers) south of Belgrade, the prosecutor's office said.
Serbia is offering a reward of 1 million euros for information leading to the capture of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general wanted by the United Nations' International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, in the Hague. A reward of €250,000 is offered for information leading to the arrest of Serbia's other fugitive, Goran Hadzic.
Mladic is the highest-ranking figure from the conflict to remain at large following the July arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. Mladic commanded the Bosnian Serb military during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The U.N. tribunal indicted Mladic in 1995, along with 51 others, on charges involving war crimes and atrocities committed during four years of civil war.
In July 1996, an international arrest warrant was issued for Mladic after investigators collected evidence at the site of the Srebrenica massacre. Mladic stepped down as military commander in November 1996 and returned to Belgrade. But he disappeared after former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested in 2001.
The 66-year-old faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity over the killing of some 7,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995. He's also wanted for his role in the 1992 shelling of Sarajevo.
In 1992, as hostilities broke out in Sarajevo, Mladic led the "shelling and sniping to target civilian areas of the city and its civilian population and institutions, killing and wounding civilians, and thereby also inflicting terror upon the civilian population," the war crimes tribunal contends.
The status of Mladic is one of the major stumbling block's to Serbia's admission to the European Union. In April Serbia's government signed a preliminary agreement setting the country on the path to full EU membership. But ratification of the agreement was made conditional on Serbia sending Mladic to the Hague.
CNN's Ben Blake in London, England, contributed to this report.
|
6cc2076b2ffa4a1a86fd86c2f3e8ecbc
|
who commited the war crimes
|
[
"Ratko Mladic,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(PEOPLE.com) -- Getting engaged made "Biggest Loser" contestant Vinny Hickerson feel like he had "a million pounds of weight off my shoulders."
Figurative weight, that is.
Hickerson, 28, a singer in the country duo Trailer Choir, proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Lori Diaz, 29, during a date at the Grand Ole Opry that was filmed for the reality weight loss competition, and will air on Tuesday night's episode of "The Biggest Loser."
"I wanted to take her there because it's a place where so many dreams have come true, right there on that stage," Hickerson tells PEOPLE exclusively. "My biggest dream is to be a great husband and a great father, and fall in love."
"There was no one there but us and a camera crew," says Diaz. "We sat down in the front row and he gives me a spiel about how he loves me more than anything."
Hickerson popped the question with a ring from Nashville's King Jewelers. "I thought it looked like the Eiffel Tower, which makes people think of beauty and romance," he says. "Just like the first time I saw Lori, out dancing in a zebra dress, I had that same feeling like, 'Oh my gosh, this is the one.' "
The second biggest surprise of the evening? A private concert by the country group Thompson Square, who played their Grammy-nominated song "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not."
"I couldn't believe they were there just for us, in this huge, amazing place," says Diaz.
Hickerson has been open on the show about his goal to lose weight in order to become a fit future husband and father to Diaz's 9-year-old son, Brennon.
Before, "I wasn't out playing ball with Brennon and even watching him skateboard. I'd just sit in the car and watch," says Hickerson, who is down to 314 pounds after starting the show at 426 pounds "Now, there isn't anything I can't do!"
Adds Diaz of the proposal: "I'll never forget that night for as long as I live. It was so perfect, even more perfect than if I had planned it myself!"
See the full article at PEOPLE.com.
© 2011 People and Time Inc. All rights reserved.
|
0b55468fe8c042bf9d6e0dc31b7f7fbb
|
Vinny Hickerson is a singer in which country duo ?
|
[
"Trailer Choir,"
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- The bone fragment found near the California home where Jaycee Dugard is said to have been confined for 18 years is "probably human," a sheriff's spokesman said Tuesday.
Jaycee Dugard was locked in a shed tucked under a blue tarp in her alleged captor's backyard.
Investigators said they found the bone last week on a neighbor's property in an area that Dugard's accused captor and rapist, Philip Garrido, had access to.
The fragment, which was analyzed by an outside expert, will go on to the state DNA lab for testing, Jimmy Lee, director of Public Affairs for the Contra Costa County's Sheriff's Office said in an e-mail.
"The expert has determined that the bone fragment found in the backyard of Garrido's neighbor is probably human," Lee said.
"We will be requesting the state to see if it can develop a DNA profile on the fragment. It should be noted that it is not uncommon to find Native American remains in Contra Costa County," he said.
Garrido and his wife, Nancy, have pleaded not guilty to 29 felony charges, including rape and kidnapping, stemming from Dugard's disappearance when she was 11 years old.
Investigators believe Garrido kidnapped Dugard in 1991 in South Lake Tahoe, California, fathered two daughters with her and held her captive in a well-hidden compound behind his home in Antioch.
After the Garridos were arrested in August, investigators used cadaver dogs to search the couple's ramshackle home and the surrounding rural property for possible connections to unsolved crimes.
Police in Hayward, California, are trying to determine whether Garrido is linked to the 1988 kidnapping of Michaela Garecht, Hayward Police Lt. Chris Orrey said last week.
Garecht and Dugard were of similar age and appearance, both were abducted in daylight and a sketch of a suspect resembled Garrido, Orrey said.
In Dublin, California, investigators said last week they were looking into whether Garrido was connected to the 1989 disappearance of Ilene Misheloff, who was 13 when she was abducted.
Garrido was convicted of kidnapping and raping Katie Callaway Hall in 1976. He was released from prison after serving 10 years of a 50-year sentence. He was labeled a sex offender and put on lifetime parole.
CNN's Dan Simon contributed to this report.
|
698d678d9b3b42c98d0e259877bfb8a0
|
What did Nancy plead?
|
[
"not guilty"
] |
NewsQA
|
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China is shutting down a pair of smelting plants suspected of sickening several thousand children with lead poisoning, according to state-run media.
A Chinese boy gets treated for blood poisoning in Shaanxi province Aug. 15.
At least 851 children living near a plant in northwestern China's Shaanxi province were found to have excessive lead levels in their blood, according to the Xinhua news agency.
The Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co. would cease operations no later than Saturday, Xinhua reported Wednesday, citing local authorities.
County officials had agreed to relocate residents who live within 1,640 feet (500 meters) of the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co. in three years, but the relocation is behind schedule, Sun Hong, the company's general manager, told Xinhua.
The local government has pledged to speed up the relocation, Xinhua reported this month.
A second smelter also was closed Wednesday in central China and two of its executives detained, a local official said, according to Xinhua,
Initial tests showed more than 1,300 children in the Hunan province town of Wenping have excessive lead in their blood from the Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant. A second round of testing has been ordered to confirm the results.
The plant opened in May 2008 without gaining the approval of the local environment protection bureau, said Huang Wenbin, a deputy environment chief in Wugang City, Xinhua reported. The plant was within 500 meters (about a quarter mile) of three schools.
The poisonings have occurred against the backdrop of China's rapid industrialization, which has produced economic success and wrought environmental havoc. Hundreds of millions of Chinese lack access to uncontaminated drinking water, and air pollution is blamed for myriad deaths and illnesses every year. Toxic air enshrouds cities across the country, one of the most polluted in the world.
The government has stepped up anti-pollution efforts in recent years, but many companies flout such campaigns and laws.
|
57dbb448f8574f548db74dfd6a5fa731
|
When did this happen?
|
[
"Aug. 15."
] |
NewsQA
|
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Deadly blasts targeting foreign nationals in the Afghan capital Friday killed at least 17 people and wounded many others.
Authorities were trying to determine how many people died and the nationalities of those slain.
Kabir Al-Amiri, an employee at Kabul hospital, said eight Indians and one Pakistani national were among the dead. Afghan Interior Ministry officials said an Italian was killed, and the Indian Embassy said four Indians were killed in the attack.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks near the Safi Landmark Hotel in the neighborhood of Shahr-E-Naw, where there are a number of government buildings and U.N. offices as well as supermarkets, banks, diplomatic facilities and villas for well-to-do Afghans.
The force of the first explosion -- at about 6:30 a.m. (9 p.m. Thursday ET) -- shook parts of the Afghan capital as windows shattered and smoke billowed. The sound of gunfire filled the air.
The attack started with a suicide car bomb and four suicide bombers with explosive-laden vests, said Taliban spokesman Zaidullah Mujahid. Three of the bombers were killed, he said.
About 20 minutes later, a second large explosion occurred.
Afghan police blocked off roads leading to the area of the blasts.
CNN's Ben Wedeman contributed to this report
|
8686c1b1df704b94af1f4022220b3558
|
What is the number of people killed in attacks in Kabul?
|
[
"17"
] |
NewsQA
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A New York nightclub hostess identified by a supermarket tabloid as Tiger Woods' mistress has called allegations that she is romantically involved with the golf superstar false and "ridiculous."
In an interview published Tuesday, Rachel Uchitel told The New York Post that a disgruntled acquaintance sold the story to the National Enquirer and that "not a word of it is true."
"I work in clubs, and I am a businesswoman," Uchitel said. "I do not have sex with celebrities, and I have not had an affair with Tiger Woods."
Speculation has swirled around Woods since a wreck outside his Florida home early Friday left him with minor injuries and a citation for careless driving. The Florida Highway Patrol said Tuesday that its citation closes its investigation of the crash.
Woods was not required to talk to state police about the wreck and did not sit for an interview with investigators. He issued a statement Sunday saying he alone was responsible for the crash and denouncing "the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me." Opinion: Woods is only human
The 33-year-old golf phenomenon has won the Masters tournament and the PGA tournament each four times, as well as three U.S. Open titles.
Investigators have said they don't have details on why Woods was driving away from his home at such an early hour. A police report says the wreck was not alcohol-related.
Uchitel said she has met Woods twice, once in her capacity as the VIP director at a club in Manhattan's trendy Meatpacking District and another time through a mutual friend.
"That's my job: to know these people, to have a relationship with them, to hang out with them," she told the Post. "It doesn't mean I am having sex with them or an affair with them."
She said the allegations "must feel horrible" to Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren.
"The worst part of it, it's not true," Uchitel said.
|
6e32ea163d59478394a8c601234ad5d6
|
The false rumor must feel horrible to who?
|
[
"Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren."
] |
NewsQA
|
(CNN) -- A baby ape born in the UK is settling into a new life in a German zoo after flying from Birmingham to Frankfurt -- monkey business class.
Bili the bonobo is to be fostered by an ape at Frankfurt Zoo.
The three-month old male bonobo -- who is to be fostered by a family of German apes after being rejected by his natural mother -- was considered too young and too fragile to travel cargo class, a spokeswoman for the UK's Twycross Zoo told CNN.
Instead, the tiny ape named Bili checked in for the Lufthansa flight with special travel documents -- including a fake passport in the name of "Bili the Bonobo" -- before taking a seat in the cabin alongside a handler from Frankfurt Zoo, who had flown over to accompany him on his unusual journey.
"He was with his keeper all the way to make him feel more comfortable and relaxed, rather than being in a crate," said spokeswoman Kim Riley. "I just wish I'd been there to see the other passengers' faces."
Bonobos, which originate from the Democratic Republic of Congo, are considered particularly intelligent primates. They are the human species' closest relation in the animal world, sharing 99.6 percent of our DNA.
Bili was rejected by his mother after falling ill shortly after his birth and has required extensive nursing and medical care.
Zookeepers in Frankfurt hope he can bond with an adult female bonobo which has been trained to assist with hand rearing babies.
The zoo's bonobo community will also play and interact with Bili, helping him to acquire social skills. Bili will spend 30 days in quarantine at the zoo before being introduced to his new family, Riley said.
|
1497754ca64d4f7dab8b000d13b8aefe
|
Where will the bonobo ape start a new life?
|
[
"Frankfurt Zoo."
] |
NewsQA
|
Colombo, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Sri Lanka's response to a scathing United Nations report alleging war crimes and human rights violations has reached the president's desk.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa received the 400-page document on Sunday night. The response, compiled by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, will be presented to Parliament, though Rajapaksa did not say when.
At their president's urging, Sri Lankans took to the streets in May to rail against the U.N. report, which cites "credible allegations" that crimes were committed by both sides during the final stages of the country's civil war.
A three-member U.N. panel recommended that Sri Lanka immediately conduct an investigation into the alleged violations of international law.
Human rights groups have already alleged both government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels violated humanitarian laws and that thousands of civilians were killed during the war, which ended in May 2009 after the government declared victory. The rebels had fought a 26-year bloody separatist war that left thousands dead and large numbers of others internally displaced, according to the United Nations.
The U.N. report concluded there were "credible allegations, which, if proven, indicate that a wide range of serious violations of international humanitarian law and international humanitarian rights law was committed both by the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE (rebels), some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity."
In the war's final stage, which lasted from September 2008 to May 2009, the Sri Lankan army advanced into an area of northern Sri Lanka known as the Vanni, where about 330,000 people were trapped by fighting.
The report said the government used "large-scale and widespread shelling" that left many civilians dead.
Some of the shelling happened in no-fire zones where the government had encouraged civilians to congregate, the report said. Government forces also shelled a U.N. hub and food distribution lines and fired near International Committee of the Red Cross ships that were picking up the wounded, the report said.
The government also shelled hospitals on the front lines, some of them repeatedly, the report said.
"Most civilian casualties in the final phases of the war were caused by government shelling," the report said.
A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Ban hopes the U.N. report "will make a contribution to full accountability and justice so that the Sri Lankan government and people will be able to proceed towards national reconciliation and peace."
|
f5b2b7aa42e84ccc8e67a0b44109bb47
|
What does the report say?
|
[
"and human rights violations has reached the president's desk."
] |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.